Writing

• Japan

  Our original plan was to transit in China after a few hours to our final destination, Japan.

• Auckland

  After over 11 hours on the bus we arrived into Sky City in Auckland

• Wellington

  What we hadn't been told about Wellington was how windy the place was but as the plane skidded across the sky we were very aware.

• New Zealand Freedom Camping

  We picked up Chuck Norris from an industrial estate just outside Christchurch.

• Christchurch

  We landed in Christchurch in the afternoon, the sun was shinning but the air had lost its heat.

• Singapore

  Our coach ride to Singapore was comfortable and quick, around 4 hours including the time taken to cross the boarder.

• Malacca

  A short coach ride from Kuala Lumper was a town called Malacca

• Kuala Lumpur

  After a short but time changing flight we landed in Kuala Lumper the capital of Malaysia.

• Hat Yai

  After an uneventful ferry ride to Dom Sak we boarded a van heading for Hat Yai. Vans were mini busses which take people all over Thailand, although not as comfortable as busses they are cheap.

• Koh Samui

  A short ferry from Koh Phangan took us to Koh Samui. Larger and more developed than it's neighbor, everything stems from the main road that circles the island.

• Koh Phangan

  Taking the night bus to Koh Phangan was an experience, it was the cheapest way to get to the islands and counted as accommodation for the night, win win.

• Bangkok

  After a longer than expected layover in Cologne where we dined on boxed salads and crisps, we arrived in Bangkok. When stepping off the plane the heat from the engines seemed to be scorching, we soon realised it was just that damned hot!

• So... I failed

  Last year I had one focus: Get a six pack by the end of 2016.

• 3 reasons you need a Technical Director

  Recently I became a Technical Director, a rather painless transition. Yet, I spent the first few weeks getting to grips with what it really means to Direct Technology for people.

• I lost 8% body fat with one new years resolution

  I have always dabbled with lots of new years resolutions, packed with lofty goals and hard to reach achievements. I have also failed to tick off much from these lists.

• Release management

  Over the last year we have been busy building a new platform, a private affair with no production builds, user base or client to worry about. It was a peaceful time full of hasty changes, huge refactors and features that only lived a few sprints.

• Standing in the way of control

  Somewhere around the beginning of the internet there was a free hosting platform called GeoCities. Eventually bought by Yahoo it enabled anyone to create pages on the internet to share whatever they liked. It was closed in 2009 taking with it over 39 million user generated pages.

• Innovation and creativity

  When I was 8 years old I created a piece of technology that would change the world forever. This revolutionary piece of technology was made with colouring pencils and a slightly water damaged drawing pad. And without any special training, financial backing, or qualifications.