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Showing posts from July, 2016

Not so Brave New World

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley ISBN-13: 978-0099518471 I read this because it’s a classic dystopian novel. I hated it. I’m sure when it was first written it was revolutionary and visionary, but I found it hard to follow in places and frankly quite boring. I didn’t like or relate to any of the characters and a lot of the time it felt like Huxley was trying to shock by being overly controversial. At 288 pages, Brave New World took me over 6 months to read, because I just couldn’t get into it. I didn’t like it from the beginning, but once I’ve started a book, I like to finish it. With the likes of the Hunger Games and Divergent, we’ve been overwhelmed with dystopian futures just recently, so maybe I’ve got a general apathy towards Brave New World or just maybe it’s not very good. I’m looking forward to returning to Alastair Reynolds and Slow Bullets.

NorDev Event: Top 7 Agile Tips I learnt as a Product Manager & a mini summer social

What: Top 7 Agile Tips I learnt as a Product Manager & a mini summer social When: Wednesday, August 3, 2016, 6:30pm to 9:00pm Where: The King's Centre, King Street, Norwich, NR1 1PH RSVP: https://www.meetup.com/Norfolk-Developers-NorDev/events/232382796/ Top 7 Agile Tips I learnt as a Product Manager  Benjamin Mitchell ( @benjaminm ) Many people have experienced using Agile approaches within teams to deliver more working software, but what can be learnt from combing these approaches with Product Development? This talk will cover the top seven hard-earned tips I learnt from several years spent as a Senior Product Manger for BBC Worldwide. Ever wondered how you could influence the product you were building? How can you use Agile approaches to learn about what the right product to build is? How do you overcome defensiveness? How can you design experiments that challenge assumptions and encourage change? This talk will provide some answers, combining ideas from or

Britain’s Biggest Technology Company Sells Out To Japanese Tech Firm

If there was any concern that Brexit would have a negative impact on foreign investment in the UK, the doubts were somewhat quashed this week when ARM Holdings announced a takeover by Japanese tech giant, Softbank, in a deal worth a staggering £24bn. ARM Holdings is Britain’s biggest and most successful tech firm. Founded by entrepreneur, Hermann Hauser in 1990, the company made its mark with the vintage Acorn Archimedes and BBC micro:bit. Today, the ARM microchip powers practically every digital device imaginable, including computers, iPhones and Samsung’s range of mobile products. Last year, the company sold 15 million microchips – more than its US rival Intel has sold in its 48-year history. The ARM microchip is seen as the next-generation for microprocessor architecture, and whilst Britons have a right to be proud, we can’t help but feel it’s a shame the company is being sold to overseas investors. We’re also curious how the likes of Apple and Google feel knowing their i