Rick Hurst Web Developer in Bristol, UK

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Month: January 2010

Plans for 2010

stones at putsborough

I thought i’d note down some plans for 2010, by revisiting my plans for 2009 to see how I got on and what still applies.

  • Launch a web app
    I didn’t get there with that, so carrying that one over. There’s various things on the boil…
  • Relaunch Too Old To Skate
    I managed this, although I still don’t consider it “finished” – I want it to return to more of a personal blog format – it seems a bit impersonal as it is, just regurgitating mostly other people’s content. Of course the lack of my own content is mostly down to me not skateboarding enough and not taking many pictures or filming anything, so getting away from the laptop and doing some of that is more important at the moment!
  • Attend at least one web conference
    Yep, want to do this again – I went to bamboo juice in cornwall and FOWD Bristol in 2009, and enjoyed them both. I think the value is in creative inspiration rather than specific technical content. Being a freelancer means that single day conferences are more suitable for me, as it can get a bit expensive (lost earnings plus fees/ hotels/ travel).
  • Attend at least one barcamp
    I had a good time at Bathcamp Barcamp again, so hopefully that will happen again, in a similar format (i.e. actual camping).
  • Fix on a php framework
    I’ve used cake on a couple of things and abandoned my plans to use magento, so zend framework has been increasingly sidelined. Cake is probably therefore the one i’ve “fixed” on, although it just isn’t relevant to most of the php work i’ve been doing, so it hasn’t become the focus of my development. I think getting a better grip on OO PHP5 in general is a better focus for me right now rather than concentrating on a particular framework.
  • Get to grips with plone 3 skinning
    Nope, didn’t touch plone this year, but i’m very interested in what is happening with plone 4, Dexterity and Deliverance, so hopefully there will be the opportunity to dip my toes into that.
  • Get further than “hello world” with Django
    I have got a bit further with that, but I haven’t used it on an actual commercial project yet. Hoping to get really stuck into django in 2010.
  • Better customer service (saying no to projects sometimes)
    I managed this really well for the first half of the year, then took on just one project too many in the second half, and spent the last few months doing nothing but firefighting again – hopefully i’ll get this right for the whole year in 2010.
  • Put up a proper portfolio
    No chance! I got as far as tagging a few blog posts with a “portfolio” tag though to at least keep track of stuff i’ve worked on.
  • Use and understand some technologies that i’ve been ignoring
    I’m using JSON a lot now, and someone explained to me what a decorator class was – I nearly understood, so that’s good!
  • Do more on-site freelancing for agencies.
    I did quite a bit of that in 2009 and enjoyed it, and will be spending at least the first few months of 2010 contracting at Aardman studios. I’m also really excited about the work i’m doing, and learning about the film making process so this is all good.
  • Keep trading and survive the credit crunch recession
    I survived 2009 and will be starting 2010 in a better financial position that I started 2009, bit i’m not resting on my laurels!

So it’s more of the same really this year, but I think i’m a bit more focused. I’m still working primarily with PHP, but i’m really keen to rekindle my python development skills, starting with Django. There’s at least one contract I would have loved to have applied for recently if I hadn’t neglected python over the past few years, so i’ll be making this focus of my self-learning throughout 2010.

archived comments

I’m writing my plan for 2010 as well, forget about Django, if you want I can introduce you to Ruby and Ruby On Rails 😉

Keep the good work, and best wishes for 2010.

Bonne annee

nicolas 2010-01-03 01:15:06

Thanks Nic, I am interested in ROR, but i’m trying not to spread myself too thinly! In the unlikely event that I find myself with spare time in 2010, I may take a quick look 🙂

Rick 2010-01-03 11:17:16

If you have any django questions just give me a shout – looks like I’ll be in the same building for at least a good part of this year 😀

Good post!

Dan Hilton 2010-01-04 11:41:40