What's going on?

I have been uncharacteristically quiet lately. That is quite strange for me, and believe me it feels strange, to not be saying much. So I intend to change that, starting now, with this post.

I’ve been looking for work. It is a long and frustrating process trying to get through the varied and arbitrary requirements of HR departments and recruiters. To make matters worse, almost everyone contacted is closely following Alec Baldwin’s character in Glengarry Glen Ross ABC - always be closing. That is, you no longer get a polite “Sorry, you didn’t get the position”, you just get ignored (until you get cold called months later about another position).

That and most companies are required to advertise even when they have already picked someone from within leads to a lot of applications that go no where. It’s bleak, rude and impersonal but it is the modern job seeker system. I’m sure many of you have been enjoying the pleasures of such a system for some time now.

What can you do about it?

Well, for one you can try and find ways around the status quo (the best one is to get someone in a company to refer you). And the other is to get noticed. Spend more time creating instead of consuming and get some projects out there. I have been notably slack on this front lately and that needs to change. I have three projects I want to complete and get them up and out there over the next month.

1. Android weather monitor

A simple Android powered weather station that broadcasts its data in a common weather data format for others to use. Sensors are ridiculously cheap these so there is no real reason not to put them everywhere (because weather data is useful). This is mostly done but I need to clean up my code and push it up onto github.

2. Scut.tl - a pirate MMO

I have grand plans to try and implement a very simple MMO. What I want to create is a game that can be played on a mobile phone without a native app. Using Javascript for the client should make this possible. I’m thinking of writing the server with Scala Play and open sourcing the whole thing. It will be very simple, mostly a proof of concept and a way of forcing me to learn some new techniques.

3. Joining a startup as a technical advisor

I know a startup that has been floundering for a while and I have pitched them my services. I’m going to prototype their project for them and see where it goes from there.

I have not been in the right mental place to complete nanowrimo this year but I am still interested in finishing what I started. I’ll keep writing over the next few months. Eventually I will edit then package it all up into a tasty ebook. It isn’t dead, it’s just sleeping right now.

So that’s that. A few plans to keep me busy and to churn out some projects which will hopefully get me noticed. Failing that at least I will have something significant to point at next time a recruiter asks if I can code. But my other reasons are that I really just want to work on my own projects for a while.