2010 Unit Test Results

December 31st, 2010 1 year ago

Reproduce : PASS

Somehow we (my wife did all the hard work) produced a new little person of the female varitiy and she’s a rather pleasant little thing.

Nothing Doing from Joel on Vimeo.

Provide Shelter : PASS

At the start of the year we were living in a damp grotty one bed flat. By year end we now live in a lovely three bed semi-detached. Regratably this move has brought us closer to quite a few takeaways, but that can’t be helped.

Qualify as a Man : PASS

Evdence of this in man points :

Ownership of a shed (+1).
Ownership and usage of a lawn mower (+1)
Ownership and regular usage of an Axe and Billhook (they were anniversary gifts from my wife). (+1)
Building and stocking a wood store (+1)
Ownership of a chainsaw (and using it more often than I should) (+1)

Launch a new version of this site : PASS

For evidence of this see this very site. It took a good while to do, but finally got it up and out the door. Yes it’s missing some functionality that I’d like to have, but I’ve adopted a just-in-time development plan. That’s one of the benifits of being a developer. So far I’m only going to build a feature as and when I need it, and it’s being surprisingly effective. For an example of how not to do this see my co-worker Dave Brookes and his long in developement new site.

Speak at a Conference : PASS

EECI 2010 EU was a real highlight of my year. I’ve written up a brief overview of my presentation, but by far the best thing I got from it was sharing a drink with all my EE peers. Well except Stephen Lewis. That guy’s a jerk.

Fix Our Build Process : PASS

At the start of the year there was a massive burden of legacy code hanging around our (the View Creative web team’s) necks. After a slow start to the year things did get quicker and more streamlined, with generally less fouls ups across the board.

Over the last year I’ve been involved in bringing around 15 EE sites up to a live state. Of those three biggest and the ones I’ve had the most to do with (read: spent every waking hour working on for months) are as follows :

Maintain a Proper Backup System : PASS

Not only regular backups, but mirrors get taken too. With the most important things (photos, documents etc) all getting some dropbox love. After being stung on this in years past I think I’ve properly cracked this now.

Take the Dog out Walking More : FAILED

Oh it started out so well, but with the introduction of a large garden for the dog somehow this just got dropped somewhere in the year.

Hotdog from Joel on Vimeo.

To be clear : he does get walks, just nowhere near often enough as he deserves. This one will have to roll over to 2011.

Spend Less Time Infront of Rectangles : FAILED

Today I spend more time infront of the rectanges in my life than I did at the start of the year. I spend more time in front of my work rectangle (which also aquired a second work rectangle to boot).

Also to blame would the be the aquisition of an xbox (entertainment rectangle) and an ipad (both entertainment and work rectangles). Just be thankful I’ve avoided getting an iPhone this year else I’d never be away from them.

Avoid Food Products from Goats : FAILED

At the year start I’d say I had a healthy fear of products derived from goats. I can’t pinpoint exactly when this fear was faced and overcome, but now I actually find goat’s cheese rather pleasant (the hard & mature stuff – not the soft variety). In fact I’m eating a cracker with goat cheese on right now. So yes. Failed.

Attend the Gym Regularly : FAILED

And I do mean utterly failed. I would blame this one on the fact that my gym partner fell pregnant. (See here)