Out of pure curiosity for a new thing to tinker with, I decided to buy a small scale crypto miner to run at home. I’m not massively interested in crypto, but actually more interested in solar as a power source. That sounds like a weird starting point but, my home has lots of tree shade so I have no idea how much actual power I will be able to generate. I feel like if I ask a solar installer, they are going to oversell it, so I’d rather experiment myself to get some data to work from. In the UK at the moment, I can’t plug solar into my home without having an electrician doing it and certifying it, which means the overhead costs are too high without committing to a full solar setup, so I wa... Read more

Why a macro pad? My first blog post will be about something that isn't software engineering. Over the last couple of years, I've become quite interested in keyboards and specifically mechanical keyboards. It's a device I use daily, not just for writing code but also for communicating with others. When I'm thinking about flow and how efficient I am with my work, the devices which I use to interact with the computer can be either a hindrance or a drag on my productivity. I’m not saying that having a great keyboard makes me a 10x developer. Certainly not. When I'm writing anything, if something is causing a lag between what I am thinking and how quickly and accurately I can get it into the comp... Read more

My Goal for this blog I do a fair amount of talking and technical writing within my role as a technical leader, which I enjoy. So, the purpose of this blog is for me to be able to do the same to a broader audience. I want to articulate my thoughts, things I’ve been trying out and to get feedback on how I can improve my writing. I don't profess to know it all, I like to learn things and will often talk about this from a first-time viewing perspective which will also help others see that everyone is a noob on a topic at some point and that's fine. In fact, for me, that is the joy of working in technology as there is always something to challenge me. Feel free to send any feedback to richard@... Read more