"It's learning!"
John Bristowe
This video provides a great example of how developers, like myself, learn:
We start off slow but then quickly speed up.
Minus the global destruction, of course.
Blog
Scenes from the Sydney .NET User Group (October 2011)
John Bristowe
Last night, a number of folks in the community met up to hear Anthony Borton (@AnthonyBorton) talk about Visual Studio and ALM. Having never met Anthony before, I was keen to introduce myself and hear what he had to say about some of the latest innovations that have made their way into Microsoft’s IDE.
Anthony spent some time providing some background about himself and sharing stories of his adventures overseas in America. He had been fortunate enough to have attended the BUILD conference in Anaheim, CA and was the beneficary of a sleek, Samsung-based Windows 8 tablet, which I was able to touch and hold for the first time. (More on this in a later blog post.)
Anthony then spent some time providing a high-level overview of Visual Studio vNext. There’s a lot to take in. According to Anthony, just as much as Visual Studio 2010 was a release that greatly enhanced the testing capablities on-offer, Visual Studio vNext is equally enhanced for the development side of the house. This makes sense, of course, when one considers that it is an IDE afterall. That stated, the features that Anthony demonstrated certainly will make the collective lives of developers a little easier, which is always nice to see. Much of the content and materials (by the way) that Anthony highlighted are readily available so make sure to check them out on via the Visual Studio 11 Developer Preview.
Overall, I came away looking forward to the next version of Visual Studio. As a strong supporter of the “developer cause”, it was nice to see many of the new features starting to take shape in the vNext bits.
Already, I’m looking forward to the next meeting of the Sydney .NET User Group. If you haven’t yet joined and you’re looking for a place to hang out for an evening and to have a chat with some fellow developers, why not drop by? The group meets the 3rd Wednesday of every month. Join the Facebook group and say “hello”!
Achievement Unlocked: First Week at Telerik!
John Bristowe
It’s been a crazy few days but I’m stoked to be a part of Telerik. In the past seven days, I’ve met with a number of great folks who work both here in the local office in Sydney and overseas. As for myself, there’s a lot of work to do! And like any other time you join a new organization, it can feel like you’re drinking from a fire hose:
Already, I’ve met with customers and had some awesome conversations about our products and technologies. Later tonight, I’ll be meeting up with folks at the Sydney .NET User Group.
Of course, all of this is goodness. Soon, I’ll be writing a number of articles on Kendo UI and other products from Telerik. Stay tuned!
"You tell 'em, Johnny. You tell the world!"
John Bristowe
Technical Folks in Australia You Should Follow on Twitter
John Bristowe
As a Developer Evangelist for Telerik, part of my role will be to support the technical community here in Australia. To that end, I plan to leverage a variety of events, sites, and tools. Among these, of course, is Twitter. (Follow me! I’m @JohnBristowe!) I’ve always found Twitter to be a great tool for taking the collective pulse of the technical community. If you’re looking for a way to stay up-to-date on what’s happening in your community, I’d recommend joining the conversation.
Here’s a list of a few folks in Australia that I currently follow (and so should you):
This list is, by no means, exhaustive; I’m sure I’ve missed a few folks. (Please let me know who I’ve missed!)
Many thanks to Nick Hodge!
Web Developers: Employed versus Unemployed
John Bristowe
A Short Video About Telerik
John Bristowe
A number of folks have asked me why I’ve joined Telerik. There are many good reasons, which I will highlight and detail over the next few weeks. That stated, I felt this video did a pretty good job of giving folks a small glimpse into what this company is all about:
As I navigate my way through my role, it will be my responsibility to introduce to its offerings and to demonstrate why – put simply – they’re awesome. Along the way, I’ll be working hard to support the developer community in Australia, New Zealand and beyond.
In the meantime, please check out our homepage and have a look around. If you have any questions, please feel free to drop me a line at john.bristowe@telerik.com.
First Day at Telerik (Sydney)
John Bristowe
Yesterday, I spent a few hours with my colleagues who make it the Telerik office here in Sydney: Vesselin Vasilev (@vvassilev), Andrew Marsland (@ajmarsland), and Dimitre Taslakov (@teledimi) who’s in town from Boston for the next few days.
As with any first day, I spent most of my time preparing my new laptop (a schweet Lenovo W520 baby!), discussed administrative matters, and started brainstorming ideas on how we can support the awesome developer community in Australia and elsewhere. It will be my role to ensure that folks know that we’re here to help. I plan to spend some time listening to the concerns of our customers and of the developer community at-large. I will also make myself available to the community for acitivities/events. As folks who know me know, I enjoy delivering presentations and sharing my insights and knowledge with others. That stated, if you have any questions, concerns, and/or comments about Telerik’s products and/or technologies, please feel free to drop me a line: john.bristowe@telerik.com.
Canadian HTML5 Coat of Arms Awesomeness
John Bristowe
My good buddy and HTML5 Canadian coconspirator, Andrew Howell just sent me shirts and laptops stickers of the Canadian HTML5 Coat of Arms we designed earlier this year:
Awesome.
I’ve also heard that you may see these around at TechDays. Why not sign up and find out?
My New Role: Developer Evangelist at Telerik
John Bristowe
Ever since my recent departure from Microsoft, many of you have asked what my next role will be. So, here it is:
I am tremendously excited to announce that I will be joining Telerik as a Developer Evangelist at the APAC office in Sydney, Australia. My role will be to engage and support the developer community, helping them better understand Telerik’s products and technology areas like .NET, HTML5, and much more. My family and I will be relocating to Sydney on October 9th.
I have been a fan of Telerik for many years and have already been impressed with its products. Over the past number of years, Telerik has expanded beyond its fantastic UI controls to a number of tools and technologies that totally kick ass. Telerik is a market-leading provider of end-to-end solutions for application development, automated software testing, agile project management, reporting, and content management across all major Microsoft development platforms. I was also impressed with Telerik’s commitment to supporting the developer community.
When this opportunity presented itself, it was a perfect fit for a number of important reasons. First, I’ve always loved Telerik’s products. I would strongly urge you to check them out; they warrant your serious attention. Second, my wife and I were already planning to relocate to Australia. Third, the developer communities in Australia and New Zealand are super-ultra-mega awesome. I want to support these great developers and help them out through Telerik’s offerings. And finally, it’s an opportunity for me to expand my experiences and skill sets. As many of you who know me, I’m all about career development. This role will challenge me in new and interesting ways. I’m looking forward to grabbing the bull by the horns and making a huge impact.