Nick Carroll » Photos

Christmas Party

Nick — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 08:24:31 +0000

I just got back from my company’s Christmas party in Melbourne. Yes, that’s right in Melbourne!. I was one of four that won a trip to the ThoughtWorks Melbourne office Christmas party, all expenses paid. The prize included hired car to and from the airport and one night’s accommodation in a serviced apartment. ThoughtWorks were even generous enough to pay for partners to go as well. A similar prize was offered to the Melbourne folks to attend the Sydney Christmas party held in November.

I have to thank Kai, a colleague and new hire for drawing my name from the office raffle. Kai worked with John and myself on a project before rolling off on Friday. Funnily enough Kai thought that he had seen the last of John and myself after 6 weeks of friendly “hazing”, but had unwittingly invited us to his office Christmas party. Anyway it was a good opportunity to get the team together for a photo (below) before we all move on to different projects next year.

The party kicked off at 7pm, but most of us arrived a little earlier at One Fitzroy in St Kilda. The entrance had red carpet laid out, a professional photographer (aka the Paparazzi), and a person interviewing all attendees. Our managing director gave some sound advice for the evening when interviewed, “pace yourself throughout the night and finish off with a bang”. It was very Hollywood, and everyone was dressed to impress. The night kicked off with beers and champagne, followed by an open bar, hors’ dourves, prizes, dancing, and lots more drinking into the early hours of the morning. ThoughtWorks certainly do know how to throw a party!

Almost Famous

Nick — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 08:11:40 +0000

One of my photos that I took during a trip to Moreton Bay in Queensland was recently selected for a Schmap dynamic travel guide.

I was working in Brisbane earlier in the year and decided to spend one weekend sightseeing with Kimmy. Brett Dargan, a colleague at ThoughtWorks, recommended heading down to Moreton Bay as something to do. Kim and I caught the train down to Moreton Bay from Central station in Brisbane. We had coffee at one of the local cafes, then walked along the bay area taking photos. One of our photos (shown below) of the picturesque bay area was selected from our Flickr account by Schmaps for their Moreton Bay travel guide.

Working interstate ain’t so bad

Nick — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 14:35:01 +0000

I’ve been traveling interstate for work on a weekly basis for the past 3 months, and will probably have another month or so to go before I head back to Sydney for work. I have already spent more time working in Brisbane than I have worked in Sydney, where my home office is located. I am also proud of the fact that I have also outlasted all my colleagues that were also traveling from Sydney and Melbourne to work in Brisbane.

Each week I fly to and from Brisbane, and I have been amazed with the number of people that do the same. It certainly keeps the airlines busy. In fact after seeing first hand that most flights are packed I decided to buy shares in the airline that I use, and they are actually starting to come good! Now that I am invested in air travel I actually feel a little better about having to wait around in airport lounges or waking up at 5am to catch an early flight.

I enjoy working with the Brisbane based ThoughtWorkers, as well as the permanent staff that work for the client. They are a great bunch of people, and working with them certainly makes work more enjoyable. If anyone is concerned about work-life balance, then I highly recommend moving to Brisbane for work. The weather is great and the hours are a lot shorter, mostly because Queenslanders are quite laid back. Not to mention that there are great beaches to the north and south of Brisbane, all within a two hour drive.

Each week the ThoughtWorks team gets together to do something fun after work. Most weeks it is having a yarn over a few beers, or dining at a local restaurant. This week we had poker night in my apartment, which I call the “executive suite”, since it is the only room in the serviced apartments building with a plasma screen tv. We have poker chips lying around at work for prioritisation sessions, so I decided to put them to use after hours too. We purchased pizzas and beers and played several hands of Texas Hold’em. A fun night was had by all.

Although I don’t mind traveling interstate for work, I also don’t find it to be sustainable. Eventually the early mornings, and the countless hours spent at airports will get to you. Not to mention the time spent apart from loved ones. For these reasons I am glad that I will be taking a break from traveling when the project is over, as I don’t want to get burned out and become completely jaded with traveling.

First Month at ThoughtWorks

Nick — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 13:25:13 +0000

UPDATE: My last month at ThoughtWorks.

I have just completed my first month at ThoughtWorks, a milestone for me that is worth blogging about. The month has gone by so quickly, mostly because I am thoroughly enjoying the work, the people I work with, and the culture that attracts so many people to ThoughtWorks like a moth to a flame. Since top ten lists are in vogue, I will give a list of reasons why I have enjoyed my first month.

Other ThoughtWorkers: I have had the chance to work with some of the most incredible software developers that I have ever met. These guys and gals really know how to thrash a keyboard around when pumping out quality code. It has to be said that working with really talented individuals makes work very enjoyable. Which goes to show that Roy’s social experiment is still going strong after all these years.
Ruby is such a cool programming language and I am so glad that I am working at a company that has completely embraced it. Ruby has been around in the US and Europe for a while, but it is still relatively new in Australia. I am waiting impatiently for the Aussie tech industry to catch up so that I can finally work on a Ruby project.
Meanwhile I have been ramping up on my Ruby skills, and there is no better place in Australia for learning Ruby. We have some of the best Ruby developers working in Sydney at the new ThoughtWorks Studios, and they open their doors after work each week for us to work on a Ruby project with them.
Agile is certainly an interesting approach to developing software. I have already been thrown head first into a large agile software development project, and I am already hooked on the agile koolaid. Over the weekend our client deployed the first release in time for a public launch of their system. It is the first large scale project that I have worked on, and it was a success right off the bat. The release was completed on-time, on-budget, and with 5 times less defects than any of their previous projects. Being part of a team that produced a result like this certainly made my first month a memorable one.
Open Communication: I have been amazed with how open the lines of communication are within the company. In the first two weeks I had met Martin Fowler our lead scientist, coffee with Bruce the Australian MD, and beers with Roy Singham the founder of the company. They all made themselves available to talk about agile, corporate strategy, and whatever the next big thing might be. I thought it was cool to be able to hang out with these guys. There aren’t many companies out there that have corporate leaders that like to hang out with their employees and have a general interest in them.
Geek Night is just one of many ThoughtWorks events that helps to facilitate knowledge sharing within the company. It is an after work event where developers head back to the ThoughtWorks office for a night of geeking out in front of a computer. We learn a new programming language whilst downing copious amounts of Coke Zero and rice cracker snacks.
Free food: I have put on a couple of kilos since I started work. It has to do with all the lunches and dinners that the company has put on. They keep a fridge stocked with beers, wine, soft drinks and fruit juice. As well as bowls of fruit and cupboards filled with biscuits, chips, and chocolates. Best of all they have a tab going for free coffee at a local cafe!
Consulting Dojo: There is one catch to the free food, on Fridays lunch is provided to attract all the ThoughtWorkers to the office to listen to one of our colleagues present on a consulting related topic. The presentations have been very interesting, and there is always a good turn out. The dojo is another example of knowledge sharing within the company.
Training and book budgets: Each ThoughtWorker is provided with their own personal budget for training and purchasing books. Essentially we are responsible for our own learning and personal development. So we can choose whatever course or conference we want to attend. There is just so much support for our career development.
Brand new Dell Latitude D620: It isn’t a Mac, but I have been very impressed with this piece of hardware. I really like the widescreen display, Intel Core Duo processor, and the feel of the keyboard. It also doesn’t get that hot from extended usage. It is the first Dell I’ve used, and I’m very happy with it.
Mobile phone and home broadband: This is a nice perk, having your company pay for your mobile phone and home broadband bills. I can finally afford ADSL2!

If this list makes you want to quit your job and work for ThoughtWorks, then you should seriously consider it. ThoughtWorks is on a recruiting rampage as we are experiencing tremendous demand for our services. Although you might want to quit your job after you have received an offer of employment as the recruiting process is quite lengthy, and only the best candidates make it through.

Adam and Jackie’s Wedding

Nick — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 10:43:16 +0000

Adam and Jackie’s Wedding

If you were to have an Aussie wedding, then you should do what my mate Adam and his partner Jackie did, get married on a beach on a perfect Summer’s day. Then hold the reception at the local Surf Life Saver’s club.

Jackie and Adam married on 15 November, 2006 in front of family and close friends on Avalon beach. The location was quite spectacular, and the weather held up nicely for the occassion. It was an awesome day.

I would like to wish the newly weds a happy and prosperous life together. Congrats!

It also seems as though their wedding has set off a trend amongst some of my other mates. David and Michele’s wedding will be in February 2007. And hot off the press… Ernie popped the question to Fiona yesterday in Argentina! Happy days!

The Rotomahana Challenge: Waratahs vs Crusaders

Nick — Sat, 04 Feb 2006 13:56:11 +0000

Rotomahana Challenge

I got a taste of things to come in the new Super 14 tonight, after watching a pre-season match between the Waratahs and last year’s Super 12 champions, the Crusaders. The match was promoted as the Rotomahana Challenge, and will be a feature game between the Waratahs and Crusaders for the next five seasons.

Although it was a pre-season match, both sides fielded full strength teams. Both sides played in last year’s grand finals, so it was going to be an interesting match.

The Crusaders were the first on to the field for their warm up session before the kickoff, and they were the first on to the field for the kick off. It was as if they were keen to get on with the job. Daniel Carter was the first to put some points on the board with a penalty kick for the Away team. This was soon followed by a break away try by man of the match Mose Tuiali’i, after scooping up a spilled line out ball, and dashing 20m to score the first try of the match.

Peter Hewat scored a penalty goal moments later, but then the Crusaders stepped up a gear and rushed in three more tries before the end of the first half. Ross Filipo scored a try down the short side, Aaron Mauger scored a try from a six on two play, and Chris Jack snatched an intercept to send Leon MacDonald for the final try of the first half.

As a Waratahs supporter I felt like leaving the game, as they didn’t seem to be able to do anything right in the first half. Credit to the Crusaders, as they were able to hold their defensive lines, and their back line worked well to smother the Tahs most lethal pairing of Sailor and Tuqiri on the wings. However watching the under 8s play during the half time break cooled some nerves before the second half started.

The second half started with the Waratahs trailing 27-3, but they weren’t down and out just yet. Ewan McKenzie threw on some impact players, and the game turned around completely. Within moments of making it on to the field Wyclif Palu made a break from a lineout, then passing to Rocky Elsom for a try in the corner. Peter Hewat made the conversion, and the Waratahs were looking like they had a chance of winning the game with a couple more trys from Shaun Berne and Wyclif Palu.
The Waratahs fought back to within a field goal from victory. The score was 32-30. With 5 mins to go the Waratahs had a brain explosion, make that two brain explosions where they attempted two drop goals to try and snatch the lead. I didn’t see the logic behind this strategy. They had time left to settle themselves and try to milk a penalty closer to the try line. In fact the Crusaders were down a man for the last 10 minutes of the match, so they could have gone for the try. Instead the two drop goals wasted precious time, and the Crusaders managed to send play back into the Waratahs half for the dying seconds.

The final score looked more respectable than the score at half time. But overall it was an exciting game to watch, especially when Tuqiri and Big Dell had ball in hand!

The OpenAir Cinema Experience

Nick — Sun, 08 Jan 2006 02:33:46 +0000

Panoramic view of the OpenAir Cinema

Last night I went to the OpenAir Cinema with Kimmy and some of her friends from work. It was quite an experience watching The 40 Year Old Virgin under the open sky at night, with the Sydney Harbour as an amazing backdrop to the big screen. The above panoramic view of the OpenAir cinema was taken moments before the big screen was erected.

During the evening there were some brief patches of rain, however it didn’t dampen our spirits. The staff at the OpenAir Cinema had provided us with full length ponchos, so we were able to enjoy the show without getting soaked. It was kind of fun watching the movie in the rain, and it kind of added to the experience.

The movie was hilariously, laughing-out-loud, politically incorrect, comical genious. And who would have known that the lead actor – Steve Carell – was one of the hobbits from Lord of the Rings!

It was a truly memorable experience, and one I truly recommend to others.

New Phone, New Network

Nick — Mon, 02 Jan 2006 06:32:19 +0000

Sony Ericsson K6008i

I have laid my Nokia 6100 to rest and replaced it with the Sony Ericsson K608i. I also switched networks from Optus to 3.

I have previously had phones with Telstra and Optus, so it was time to try another network. In all fairness though, I did have excellent coverage on the Optus network, which is why I was a little disappointed with leaving. But if a company lies to you, then you need to remind them every now and then that the customer is King, and exercise your right to do business elsewhere.

I was previously on a $33/month contract with Optus. I had completed the 24 month contract with them, but they lured me in for another year by giving me $5 of call credits per month if I stayed with them for another 12 months. I was thinking of switching to 3G, and therefore to 3, but the salesman lied to me saying that Optus would soon roll out their 3G network. This happened 6 months ago, and there still isn’t any 3G content on the Optus network compared to 3. I wasn’t happy being lied to, and there was an awesome deal with 3 that I just couldn’t resist, even if it meant paying a $60 fee to bail out of Optus’ 12 month contract, which I was halfway through.

The deal with 3 was to pay a $29 capped plan per month, and you get a Sony Ericsson K608i for $0/month, $120 call credits, and an additional $70 call credits to people on the 3 network. Now that is value for money! Certainly beats the uncapped $33/month plan that I was on with Optus.

I also signed up for an additional $3/month for the News content package. I am now able to read/watch breaking news stories on my mobile, which means I won’t have to buy the news paper on my train ride into uni. Even better, I was given a $50 credit to my account, which kind of negates the fee that I have to pay Optus. This was something unexpected, but it certainly sweetened the deal and heavily influenced my switch to 3.

So far my experience with the new phone and network have been positive. 3 now roams on the Telstra network, so there is excellent coverage. However, when roaming on the Telstra network you can only access limited 3G content, such as the News content. Otherwise on the 3 network you have access to lots of 3G content, such as live streaming coverage of test match cricket between Australia and South Africa.

The other package I’m considering is the email package, where I can send and receive as many emails as I want for another $3/month. This certainly works out much cheaper than using a Blackberry. In fact, I don’t really get what all the fuss is about Blackberrys.

One thing I don’t like about the phone is the 1.3 megapixel camera. It takes ordinary pictures during the day, and lousy pictures at night (as shown in my last post). Nevertheless, it is something I can live with, and it also means I still have a need for my Konica Minolta DiMAGE Xg.

New Year’s Resolution

Nick — Mon, 02 Jan 2006 03:52:14 +0000

Sydney NYE’05 Fireworks

Happy New Year!

It is that time of year again to declare my New Year’s Resolution. I actually have a couple this year. The first and foremost is to finish my PhD, which is something that I’ve been doing for the last three years. The second is to use my blog more often.

I’ve changed the tagline from “My life in bytes” to “Erudition of software engineering, e-portfolios, and life”. I’ve spent the last three years of my PhD working on software and e-portfolios, so I figured I should be writing more frequently about these topics, especially in what should be my final year of my postgraduate studies.

I also promise to further my work on dotFOLIO this year. I have been taking some time out on it for another software development project called Curriculum Central, which is a workflow based application for managing course outlines and logistics for Higher Education. The application is available from the OpenACS CVS repository as curriculum-central.

Curriculum Central and dotFOLIO are separate projects, but will be linked. I intend to allow students to import completed course information into students’ e-portfolios. Therefore they will be able to progressively understand their learning development, as well as gain a clearer picture of where they are heading with their studies. There will be more to come on these concepts.

Another related project I’ve been associated with is Beagle, which is a plagiarism detection web service. We successfully trialled this software with over 2000 blog postings from a first year unit of study in 2005, and discovered all cases of plagiarism. With information accumulated by dotfolio, we were able to determine who copied whom. The results were very surprising, and when Juan Jose and I get round to publishing our findings, the results should be a wake up call to all tertiary institutions, especially those that facilitate online learning activities.

Finally, the last thing that I will aim to do this year is work out what to do with myself once I finish my PhD. I’ve thought about working for a company, and I’ve also thought about starting a company. I would actually prefer the latter, and in all likelihood I will probably start a consulting group with a bunch of friends that I can sell the vision to. In fact, I’ve already roped my good friend Bennett into it, as he too will be winding up his PhD in Medical Research this year. I also registered a domain name today for the prospective consulting group. However I can’t see us getting together to work on a business plan until 2007 and beyond. So like all good things in life, this one will take time.

Not for the claustrophobic!

Nick — Sun, 16 Oct 2005 05:27:24 +0000

Street Theatre – Cram thyself into a box

It always amazes me what British backpackers would do for money. Take this woman for example, she managed to draw a crowd at Pitt St Mall on Saturday by squeezing herself into a tiny perspex box.

I couldn’t work out why people found that so amazing… some of my mates work in office cubicles that are half the size of that box!