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March 5th, 2013 | Posted by Leyths in BBC | My Life - (0 Comments)

A different direction for me

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sometimes it’s nice to try something different. My life for the past six months working with the BBC iPlayer team has consisted of typical front end development work; templates, PHP, fiddling around with CSS and maintaining my sanity while dealing with Internet Exporer 7 nightmares and I’ve decided to take a path leading in the completely opposite direction. Now, this isn’t to say that the time I’ve spent on my first  BBC graduate scheme placement hasn’t been immensely enjoyable; I’ve worked with a group of fantastic individuals on a project that both excites me and has helped me grow my skills and knowledge in Software Engineering, but after much thought I’ve decided to spend my next 6 months in Video Factory, the very antithesis of iPlayer’s front end work. Video factory provides a back-end media acquisition and transcoding pipeline (it makes the video files that people watch though iPlayer and other BBC services) and is primarily written as a service, in Java .

I chose this move because I don’t want to back myself into a corner, to be forever destined to do front end development work without having a chance to really try working on a large scale and business critical Java project. I also chose the move because I like to be challenged, to be assaulted by new terminology and ideas and to not spend my time on this graduate scheme unchallenged. We’ll see how I feel about Java and back-end work in 6 months ;) , but I’m sure whatever happens I’ll be grateful for the experience.

And that’s why I’ve started learning to draw, with the help of this fantastic book, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. It focuses around a series of exercises designed to cause a conscious shift away from verbal mental processing and into a visual mindset, while encouraging individuals who follow the book to gain confidence in their skills. I’ve only been at it a month on and off and I’ve managed to draw things that before I simply would have been unable to.

Drawing is also a method of escaping from the present and into a timeless, thoughtless place which almost inspires a certain degree of bliss in me. Hours pass as if they are minutes, and there is a certain satisfaction in seeing a drawing take shape.

All in all I’d love to keep up the drawing and to progress to the point where I’m really proud of my work, and then push outwards from that, maybe trying to paint or some other visual skill.

The next six months are going to be challenging but I know that the experience and the skills I’ll learn in a new team, with new practices and new tools will be immensely beneficial to me in future.

First two months at the BBC

November 2nd, 2012 | Posted by Leyths in BBC | My Life | University - (0 Comments)

The BBC's New Broadcasting House in central London

So!

Long time no speak; it’s probably time for an update.

Life has moved at a breakneck pace since my last post, I wrote and completed my dissertation which (if you’re interested) you can read here. That, plus lots of revision and late-night cramming lead to me graduating university with a first class degree, which is awesome. At the same time as writing my dissertation I panicked and fretted about finding a job and somewhere to live after my degree and I spent many weekdays travelling between Newcastle and London in interviews and trying my best to find somewhere I’d feel happy.

Broadly I applied for jobs as junior or graduate software engineers, and I got offers from a few awesome companies but in the end I was most drawn to the BBC’s Digital Media Graduate Scheme, a long-winded way of describing their software engineer grad scheme. More details are available on their site but the scheme consists of four 6 month rotations around different products and teams within Future Media and I’ve been lucky enough to be spending my first placement with the wonderful people in the iPlayer team.

One thing to say about the BBC; lots of acronyms. Any idea what any of the following stand for? DG, POD, N&K, K&L, MODAV, PIPS, PO, GEL, ORB, BC, NBH and I’ll stop myself there because the list is practically endless. It’s fair to say by the end of my first week I was thoroughly lost within the massive organisation which is the BBC but after a few weeks things have sunk in and I understand my place in the organisation.

My team have been awesome so far though, I’ve been given a lot of responsibility on the tasks I’ve been assigned in a relatively short amount of time, and I’m now broadly up to the workload of developers who have been on the team for several years. We work using the agile methodology in three week sprints and this broadly works well from my short time in the team, assuming nothing majorly unexpected comes up during the sprint (such as failing a load test, which can throw a spanner in the works).

Hopefully I’ll get to make some more technical blog posts as I learn more at the BBC but for now I’m just enjoying learning new things and putting into practice all the work I’ve done on my degree and in my own time. Until next time..!

Christmas, Dissertation Progress and a Year in Review

December 30th, 2011 | Posted by Leyths in Dissertation | My Life | University - (0 Comments)

I’ve been neglecting this blog for a while (mainly due to an inordinate amount of work and pressure I’ve been under) but as my commitments are all out of the way for a few days until the next round  of work begins for my January exams I thought I’d write how I’ve been getting on.

Christmas was a fairly standard affair, seeing close and extended family, overeating and oversleeping, and generally not doing much. My one lingering thought on the time was how sad and humbling it is seeing relatives grow older, it having been around three years since I’ve had any real contact with members of my extended family. My cousins children who were so young the last time I saw them are now fully fledged sproglets, running all over the place, screaming and laughing and generally making a nuisance of themselves ;) . Likewise seeing my nan, always knowing her as an elderly woman but seeing her now as a frail 90-something is extremely humbling and sad; ageing happens to all of us and while we forget about the passage of time seeing someone change so much in what seems like such a short period of time can really hammer it home.

Shortly before Christmas I went to London and saw the sights, had a calming and relaxing experience and it really helped me ease out of the work frame of mind and into one more prepared to spend a week off and not think about all the work that awaits me in January! I went to the Tate Modern, saw some brilliant bits of art and some pieces that went completely over my head, but it’s good to leave your comfort zone and try something new and to experience something you might not altogether be comfortable with normally.

I feel my batteries are sufficiently recharged at this point however to be really getting on with the next push in my degree program, the dissertation. I’m fairly happy with the progress made so far, around 5-6k words out of the 15000 soft requirement, and a fair bit of the programming part of the project done. I think writing the dissertation has actually helped my confidence when it comes to being less worried about reaching word-limits in essays, I don’t feel like I’m even half done with the writing portion of the dissertation, still having large amounts of the “implementation” chapter and not having touched the “evaluation” chapter currently, and it’s nice to not be fretting about the amount I’ve written. Feeling confident with where I am is pleasing, hopefully 2012 will be fairly relaxing regarding work and I’ll have enough time to get on with applying to various businesses regarding graduate jobs.

2011 was an odd year. Full of ups and downs and I feel like I’m ending on a positive, 2012 looks like from an academic standpoint it should be okay, and my only real concern is finding a graduate job, but my CV is written and my covering letters are beginning to be drafted so that will come when it comes. 2011 will strike me as a year where I met some good friends, my life changed and pivoted in what felt like a moment and the year where I truly began to feel pessimistic about the economic meltdown, having previously been fairly insulated by not looking for jobs and being a student. The year is finished now, and from it I’ve learnt a lot but 2012 for me will be probably one of the most important of my life, the path I choose and is opened for me will affect where I travel in the winding storybook of my life, lets hope it’s a good one!

Focaccia

October 17th, 2011 | Posted by Leyths in Uncategorized - (0 Comments)

My attempt at cheese and chive focaccia

I’ve been meaning to write a post on this for a while, but I’ve just found the time to sit down and put my thoughts on a most divisive topic into words, that topic being of course bread. Since watching the “Great British Bakeoff Masterclass” where Paul Hollywood gave his method for making a perfect foccacia I was spurned into putting my kneading skills back into practise. The recipe I followed is here and the results couldn’t be more pleasing, a crispy crust with a moist inside and packed with flavour. The first time I made it I didn’t add anything extra but adding chives to the mix and some grated cheddar on top when putting it in the oven had great results, I had actually eaten the whole loaf by the next day it was just that moreish.

The dough before cooking

 

While the dough looks very strange and seems far too wet while handling it, persevere, and follow the instructions given to the letter and don’t add more flour to make the dough easier to work with.

Perfect result

First Day

September 30th, 2011 | Posted by Leyths in Dissertation | My Life | University - (0 Comments)

My first day back at University proper started today, made up of the usual induction and welcome back lectures including a few more specific to the Stage 3 project and dissertation. When the lecturer asked for a show of hands of those who had a project organised it was easy to see the looks of terror on the faces of those whose hands remained firmly in their laps, thankfully because of my organised nature my project has been confirmed for a few months now and once things settle down I should be able to get cracking with it.

While I’m not sure of the exact topic my dissertation will be researched and written about, it falls under the project which was started over summer and the groundwork my colleagues and I laid down. The project is an interactive storybook application for children with Hemiplegia; a disorder which severely impacts the motor skills of an affected child from a young age, however with regular physiotherapy and frequent exercises the children can improve their range of movement. The application which is being built makes use of gestures in an interactive storytelling context, the aim of which is to rehabilitate the affected children in a way that is fun for them and the parent or medical profession in charge of their care. It is now up to me to discuss with my supervisor what area of the project will form my dissertation, but this will be done in the coming weeks.

Today was also one of the hottest days for a long time, shorts and t-shirt weather at the end of September! Knowing Newcastle I fully expect to wake up tomorrow and be blanketed in snow; the one thing you can be sure about the weather here is that it’s changeable and utterly unpredictable. Was very special to sit on the grass in front of the Civic Centre and eat my lunch while the world whirled by. Moments like this are rare but are to be treasured, bubbles of calm on the skin of an urban metropolis.

Sunset

September 27th, 2011 | Posted by Leyths in My Life - (0 Comments)

Living in a third floor flat has its perks, the beautiful sunsets being one of them. Being high up also dulls the noises from the bars on the next street, imparts a sense of looking down at the world and offers a wonderful fleeting feeling of safety. It’s probably a large part of why I’m so happy here, living at the top of my castle. It will be be a shame to move on.

Music of the day would have to be the brilliant Hannibal by Caribou.

Coping With Criticism

September 26th, 2011 | Posted by Leyths in Reddita - (1 Comments)

While I’m largely pleased with Reddita and the continued support I have put into adding new requested features and fixing the various issues which have arisen over its lifespan, unforeseen problems do occur and some customers may become frustrated or dissatisfied with the application. Sometimes particularly vocal critics arise, and often the shield of anonymity and the dehumanising nature of the Internet can cause people to use very candid language and to be very frank about issues and criticisms.

When issues spill out into the wider world it can be an opportunity to evaluate why such a failing has occurred, and at which point I failed to provide complete satisfaction to a user. Bugs and issues are inherent to all software projects, and it is naive to assume otherwise, but the impact can be minimised by providing a good line of communication to the end-user, allowing bug reports and grievances to be kept under control and to be dealt with quickly and effectively.

I encourage bug reports and other feedback vocally, my email is listed on both the Android Market page and inside the application, along with a “Submit Feedback” button and my Reddit username in case someone needs to contact me in that way, and I always endeavour to reply to anyone who contacts me, especially if the issue is serious. To-date I’ve released over twenty updates to Reddita, varying from the minor bug fix to adding new requested features.

While the upset user mentioned above did not contact me personally before posting I believe I have done as much as I can as a developer to facilitate easy lines of communication, and it is unreasonable to expect every user to take the time to write me an email or a bug report.

When someone has got so publicly upset it is only right to try and do your best to appease them. In my case I contacted the individual through Reddit, enquired about the circumstances of their issue, apologised and offered a full refund. I am always happy to offer refunds at any point if my work isn’t up to scratch.

I would never want to put my name to something I wasn’t pleased with, and I think the wealth of positive feedback I’ve had reflects this. At the end of the day things go wrong, and when criticised it is better to evaluate why such a failing came into existence rather than take offence or get upset at yourself or at a user.

New Beginnings

September 25th, 2011 | Posted by Leyths in My Life - (0 Comments)

In life, when things outside of your will begin to change it is rarely a drawn out process; more often than not it occurs at a frightening pace, throwing your values and assumptions into question, often prompting a period of reflection on your choices and judgements up until that point. In times like that you often look to those you trust and appreciate for inspiration, and it is because of my father that I’ve decided to begin writing this blog.

My dad is someone who loves records, of places and people, always imagining what might have happened in the past and wondering what might occur in the future, he often reflects on current events by looking back at his past through photos, videos and diary entries. Encouragement to take photos of my life, write down thoughts and events, to treasure conversations and moments are all sentiments he has attempted to pass onto me, and hopefully this blog will serve as a record of my life on which others and I can look back on in future.

If there is one thing I’d like to take from this often difficult, and always enlightening period of my life it is that you should always grab new circumstances and new opportunities with both hands, and focus on what can be and not what might have happened. With the advent of the final year of my degree now is a more important time than ever to make the right decisions and to grow and experience new things, and in the words of a close friend I need to “keep my chin up” and look towards the future; for these are the moments that define who I will be in years to come.

I don’t know how often I will update this blog, or what I will write about (hopefully a good mix of mopey reflections, current events and other technology observations), but hopefully in a few years when I look back it will provide a useful resource to learn from.