Generic-Covering-Letter.ps1

Hello $strCompany, if you are reading this, you will no doubt be aware that you have asked me through your preferred recruitment consultant to write a covering letter, highlighting my blog and twitter feed and other such related information. I am fully aware that the public may read this, and if you happen to be working for my existing employer I will for your benefit note that I am speaking to the recruitment consultant on the understanding that I am only available for work once my current contract comes to an end.

So, $strCompany welcome to my blog. Feel free to read any of my posts. You can find links to my twitter and facebook pages up in the corner somewhere. ^

Your request got me thinking; the last time I wrote a covering letter I was a student applying for various graduate placement schemes at mostly automotive manufacturers. Those followed a mostly humble format where I tried to sell myself on the basis of having no experience but being madly into cars and motorbikes. This is of course, completely useless to me 15 years later. You see now, I am quite well grounded in my career, I'm good at what I do and I'm not afraid to tell people what I think; why, I even have a blog where I rant about anything and everything! How do I convey that with without seeming arrogant? I still have no idea, and I'm not sure I ever will! It's like that question in interviews where they ask you to name your weaknesses and you're supposed to have prepared some weaknesses to talk about. Except that none of us like talking about weaknesses so we are never really prepared. I have a weakness for Nando's caramel cheesecake but that's probably not appropriate here, except I just made it appropriate by writing it, knowing you'll read it and probably think to yourselves "Nando's do cheesecake?"

So I thought I'd try something different, and make my covering letter a blog post. What better way to declare that I think it would be really cool to work with you than to do it in pubic, on my blog?

So what else should this covering letter include? I'm wary that it's getting quite long already and I haven't really done much to convince you that you should hire me. Why would you want to hire me? I'm clearly a contractor. Why would I even want to stop contracting?
Well, although contracting is great, I'm constantly worried about not having work in 3 months time. For me (and perhaps also for Bobby McFerrin and Bob Marley), worry and happiness are mutually exclusive. So my path to happiness lies with a more stable permanent job. I also want to develop my career. It's all well and good being paid a lot of money for one bit part after the next, but I want to do more. I want to be directing things, driving things forward, and really making a difference with cool new stuff. This means I won't just take any job, and as a permanent employee I won't work for any-old employer. It has to be for a company worth working for. One that's going places, that has a decent product, that I can proudly talk about to my friends. A company that has great people who I will get on with and want to socialise with. So you'd want to hire me because based on my limited experience of your organisation, I want to work for you. Hire me because I've been in the business for 15 years, have lots of experience and knowledge and I'm not afraid to share it.

Don't delay, hire me today (no, not today actually, but when my contract comes to an end in a few months time).

Microsoft Surface and Windows RT

I happen to be working on a very exciting project with around 15 Microsoft Consultancy people. We are running the only full wave 15 deployment of the Microsoft platform in the world. If you're not the technical sort, what this means is that where I am working, we are looking to roll out Windows 8 and all the other latest versions of everything Microsoft within the next 6 months, and I'm technical lead on the SharePoint 2013 stream. I'm also working on a storage consolidation exercise, but I won't write about that now.

I've been a long time fan of Microsoft, not least because their products have kept me in employment most of the time for the last 17 years. So when I found out they were releasing a new tablet device to compete with the likes of iPad and Samsung Galaxy Tab, I naturally pre-ordered one. After all, Windows 7 was a great product and the preview of Windows 8 that I'd been working with was also a pretty nice experience. Furthermore, here was a shiny new product that I could actually see myself using.

If only I had actually seen myself using it before parting with my hard-earned cash for one.

First things first, the device hardware is mostly fantastic. A magnetic keyboard attaches to it and doubles as a case. The build quality is great and the screen is clear and vibrant. It has a USB port and a HDMI port so it's got connectivity, and really the only faults I could find are that it's a little on the heavy side, and the magnetic power connector is quite fiddly to use, especially in the dark. Oh and there's no USB charging so you have to carry a plug-in charger around with you if you think the battery might run out. If you've taken your Surface to work and gone out for drinks, don't try to plug it back into your charger when you get home.

Moving onto the software, once I got used to Windows 8 I found it a joy to use. I love the way it's been designed and after an initial frustration caused by my complete ignorance of the welcome video it tried to show me, I found it very natural and even found myself trying to swipe the screen of my regular laptop (now upgraded to Windows 8) on several occasions.

Unfortunately I've decided to return it, which in itself was a bit of a mission. I'll come to the reasons for returning it shortly, but let's just say my customer service experience with the Microsoft call centre wasn't great. They were unable to process the return for a week because apparently they hadn't taken payment from my card, and they didn't know when payment would be taken. Thankfully this has now been sorted and my return has been authorised.

So why am I returning it?
Well the short answer is, frankly it's useless if there's no wifi connection and it's launched without several key apps. The device is marketed as a mobile tool and it's all set up to use Microsoft Skydrive for storage by default. On a regular Windows 7 or Windows 8 Pro computer this wouldn't be a problem as there's a Skydrive sync application, which allows you to work with files locally and synchronises them to Skydrive when a connection is available. Sadly though there's no such application on Windows RT, the ARM processor version of the operating system that's installed on the Surface. Following several inquiries on the Microsoft support site, I decided to try and write a script that would approximate the way Skydrive sync works, but sadly the tools I'd hoped to use for that don't seem to work properly on a drive mounted from the web, leaving me with what is essentially a very expensive coaster.
It has other problems too. No facebook app, no native twitter app, and when you ask Microsoft staff why not, they direct you to the People Hub, which is about as useless as a chocolate teapot. Except that at least you can eat a chocolate teapot. The newsreader app I downloaded because Flipboard isn't available isn't bad, except that it doesn't pre-fetch any news, so if you want to read news while you're on the train, you can't because there's no wifi connection. And the device doesn't even have the option of a data connection so you're stuck. Add to that the stories doing the rounds about how Microsoft are making about $250 on each unit sold and I know I'm getting a raw deal. As far as I'm concerned Windows RT means Windows Return

It's a really unfortunate experiment, and for the price there are plenty of alternatives that will be more practical and more useful. I didn't expect to pay £650 to be a Microsoft beta tester for a product that isn't really ready for an already-competitive market.

What will I replace it with? Well I've just ordered a Sony Vaio Duo 11 ultrabook. It's got an 11 inch screen that runs at a much higher resolution than that of the Surface, Intel CPU so runs full Windows 8 and all the apps I need, and has a neat sliding keyboard action with the all-important trackpoint seldom seen on laptops these days. It has double the storage and considerably more  power, at the expense of £200 more in price, weighing a little more and having slightly less battery life. Because it's a Vaio I can expect it to be of decent quality and have a reasonable level of support, and it has the potential to replace all my computers at home, which is a bonus!

Can't wait for it to arrive!

24 Hours in Berlin

So last Friday I decided at about 11am that I was going to go to Berlin to skate in the BMW Berlin Inline Marathon. This would have been a great idea, except that it meant I had about 24 hours to get there. I’ve done the marathon before, and as long as the weather is good it’s one of the best routes you can skate. Check my video here:

Aside from the skate itself which you now know is really cool having watched the video, there were a couple of good reasons for this decision; namely 2 friends who I texted to wish them luck.
One of them is Emily. Emily is a bit of an action girl and was not just skating the marathon but also running the same race the following day. Please sponsor her; her donation page is here: http://virginmoneygiving.com/emilyorme
The other is a very close friend of mine who won’t be named. Actually she will, might as well plug her business too, which is sports rehabilitation and fitness conditioning. Her name is Kinga and she works independently at a company called Ambition Fitness – www.ambitionfitness.com
So I texted them both to wish them luck, and the responses that came back were something like this:
Kinga: I’ve never been to Berlin without you! Shame you couldn’t join!
Me: I looked into it but the flight and hotel was super expensive…
Kinga: Too bad, I had a spare space in the hotel as well!
Emily: You have no idea how much that means to me!
Me: Well I wish I could have been there to support you better…
But actually I could have been there. So I looked for a flight and booked it. Then booked airport parking. Then asked around to see if anyone who had a registration wasn’t going, so I could pretend to be them for a couple of hours during the race. Then I told Kinga I’d see her tomorrow. At first she thought I was joking but I assured her I wasn’t.
My flight was via Frankfurt so what followed was an epic journey of flight delays, the obligatory anal (not literally) German security at Frankfurt airport (only Frankfurt, other German airports seem more relaxed), and an epic fail of a skate that saw me have to stop 5 times to rest, because my back gave out about 2km in.
I did eventually finish though, and having met with friends and caught up with everyone, I was heading back to the airport within 24 hours of arriving.
I’m really pleased I went, as it’s given me a reminder of how unfit I’ve become. Starting today I went for a run in the morning; something I hadn’t done since 2006, and I felt great afterwards. My body is still aching but it was a great feeling watching the sunrise over Tower Bridge. I’ve also been eating healthily today, but it remains to be seen how long that will last. I’m fairly determined to get fitter again though, and lose the 10kg or so I’ve piled on since being in my prime 6 years ago!
Wish me luck

iPhone 5

Following my 24 hours with a Samsung Galaxy S3, I pre-ordered an iPhone 5. I didn’t really think I needed one at first, and I still don’t need one if I look at it philosophically, but I wanted one. At first I wasn’t going to buy one, but my justification was that my iPhone is my single most-used possession, apart from perhaps my flat or my bed, which don’t really count.
I’m happy justifying more than the cost of a new iPhone just on annual insurance for my motorbike, so why shouldn’t I get a better phone handset that works a little faster and has some better features?
So because I was about 5 minutes late ordering at 9am on launch day, my delivery time was estimated around the beginning of October. My brother ordered one the day after me and got a delivery time the day after too… so it surprised me when I went to visit at the weekend that he was sitting there with an iPhone. He told me his nano sim arrived so he went to the apple store in Brent Cross to check out the phone, and they had some in stock so he bought it and cancelled his apple store order. That of course prompted me to visit every apple store in London, but alas it was nowhere to be found (in stock) so I ended up just waiting for mine to arrive!
So far I’m very happy with it. I’m concerned that I’m slowly turning into an apple fanboy, and part of me wants to buy an Android phone for no other reason than to redress the balance, but that would be silly.
My biggest bugbear, aside from numerous applications crashing unexpectedly, is apple maps. It’s not completely useless but it is a huge downgrade compared to Google maps. Yesterday it told my friend to turn into a restricted bus-only traffic lane, which he did, only to realise it was restricted. I hope he doesn’t get a ticket! It’s not very good at finding things and the interface is very clunky.
But I know my way round most of London so hardly ever need to use it. I hardly ever needed Google maps either, so I guess it’s a moot point, and I am confident apple will fix it, especially after they issued their apology.
My other problem with it is the lightning connector. I prefer the connector itself, but it’s just rendered all my dock connectors and charging cables useless, and at £15 a pop the replacements didn’t come cheap.
Finally I have a problem with my mobile phone insurance company, who won’t accept apple’s PDF proof of purchase with a serial number on it as proof that I bought the phone. No, they want one that has the IMEI number on it. What a farce! I’ve complained, and they’ve tried to call back twice while I’ve been unavailable and they want me to dial a premium rate number to get back in touch with them. Fat chance of that happening. I do need to sort my phone insurance though!
Oh well, I guess that’s the price you pay for being one of the cool kids

24 Hours with a Samsung Galaxy S3

What’s wrong with all you people? Why do you keep buying this phone? What’s so amazing about it?
I suppose I should start with my phone requirements. Perhaps I’m special, or perhaps I’m just not afraid to say what I think about this craze for big screens on phones.
So here are my requirements:
1. My phone should be a smart phone. This means it should have a decent data connection and access to apps that I find useful.
2. I should be able to use my phone with one hand. This is very important. If I have to use my phone with 2 hands, I can’t even walk down the street while using it. That's not because I walk on my hands, but because a 2-handed phone naturally requires more concentration.
3. It should fit in my pocket comfortably.
4. It should have a decent battery life.
5. It should have a good screen resolution.
6. Using it should be more pleasurable than painful.
How does the Samsung fare?
1. It’s smart, but perhaps too smart. The data connection is fast, but it struggles to switch between wifi and data, and the result is that no matter how many cores the processor has, the phone has to keep up with me as I walk through the city, rather than being fast enough for what I want to do.
2. The screen is way too big. I can only imagine that Koreans all have huge hands, or the phone has been designed for gorillas. If I try to type with one hand, my thumb can’t reach across the screen and if I try, the inside of my hand touches the screen and messes up what I’m trying to type. I ranted about this on facebook and the response was that there are increasing media requirements from most people that need bigger screens. Seriously? Guys, if you want to watch movies on your phone, perhaps you should consider investing in a television. Or a tablet.
3. It doesn’t fit comfortably in my pocket. It’s too big, and sticks out of the top of my jeans. I couldn’t ride a bicycle with this phone in my pocket, so whilst I appreciate how thin and light it is, unless it folds like a piece of paper it’s no good for my pocket.
4. It passed this test. Battery life seemed good. Certainly better than my iPhone.
5. The screen resolution is good, and the colours are vibrant. But you can’t see it in direct sunlight. What’s the story with that?
5. Using it was more painful than pleasurable. The reason for this is that I would have had to spend a long time setting up the way I wanted it to be. I would have been fine doing that if I’d bought one, but it seemed like a lot of hassle for a phone that was already troubling me due to its physical size.
In case you’re wondering, no I would definitely not buy one. And now I’m worried that the iPhone 5 is going to be too big for my thumb as well

Dublin

I forgot to write about my trip to Dublin back in June. It was great! Not only did I get to see my best friend who'd moved to New York, I got to meet her baby, who's adorable!
The weather sucked. It was cold and wet, just as I'd been warned by everyone else who's been, but the people are friendly and it's true what they say about Guinness. It really does taste better in Dublin!

London 2012

What a year it’s been for London! The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, and then the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics.

In typical British fashion.

The Queen’s Jubilee weekend was a complete washout. It rained, rained again and rained some more. But people came out in their thousands to wish the Queen a happy birthday, myself included. I’d scoped out a great spot from which to watch the flotilla the day before, but when the time came my plan was thwarted by crowds so big it was impossible to get to my spot! So I didn’t get to see Her Majesty, but I did take several photos of wet people standing in the rain watching a big screen. I’ll post photos of this later, when I have a chance to go through the thousands of photos I’ve taken.

And then we had the Olympics.

I was full of scepticism about the Olympic Route Network. I predicted gridlock, traffic chaos and road rage. I was cynical about the corporate sponsorship. And I thought the whole thing would be a waste of public money. But I was wrong. For 2 weeks, driving through London was an absolute pleasure. And that was only the tip of the iceberg. I haven’t seen London with such a great atmosphere in my life, and I’ve lived here all my life. Everyone was friendly. Strangers were talking to eachother on the street. London 2012 Games Makers were posted on what seemed like every street corner, providing cheery directions and help to anyone who needed it. Signs were colourful, and the city felt alive.
A gorgeous friend of mine got me a ticket to the technical rehearsal for the London 2012 Opening Ceremony, so I was one of the first 80000 spectators to visit the venue. The ceremony was epic and all I could do was tell everyone they should cancel whatever plans they have and stay home to watch the ceremony. It was excellent! Sadly, I wasn’t able to watch it in the comfort of my own home. I had to settle for the TV screen in the Costa in Toddington Services, as I was driving up to the Lake District for a wedding that weekend. But what a show it was! And what a show the Olympics were! Team GB outdid themselves, and although I wasn’t able to visit any more Olympic events, I more than made up for it at the Paralympics.
I’ve got 9 t-shirts, a jumper, 3 Wenlocks, a Mandeville, 4 umbrellas, a towel, a bag, a cap and several tickets to events. And I almost (foolishly) bought a genuine Olympic torch on ebay! The torch was probably going a bit too far, but I am proud of having been part of the games. For the Paralympics I managed to go to the Opening Ceremony, Table Tennis, Goalball, Wheelchair Basketball preliminary match, Sitting Volleyball, Wheelchair Basketball gold medal match, a brief visit to Stoke Mandeville Hospital where the Paralympics began, Wheelchair marathon and finally the Closing Ceremony. And I haven’t had enough! I’m already looking at hotels in Rio for 2016!

The London 2012 Olympics truly have inspired a generation. Thank You.

I guess all that remains is for me to thank all those who made it possible. The Games Makers (especially friends of mine who were either performing at the ceremonies or in uniform at the events), Team GB, LOCOG, Boris Johnson, ALL of the corporate sponsors and of course the mascots, Wenlock and Mandeville!