Printing Up More Tech Request Forms

Tomorrow we'll have a full house over at the Ivory Wharf office. It will be the first time that all four of us will be working together.

This is a good opportunity for the marketing/business development team to get some technical request forms in. Rena and I have got a number of request forms ready to go, but I think we'll have to print up some more.

Welcome Sven!

We found someone! Dr Sven Baum has joined our small team and will be helping with all aspects of Turbo10 and Trexy.

Welcome Sven!

Another Interview Day

We have a busy day today. Nige and I are interviewing seven applicants for the Perl Programmer position.

Fingers crossed we find a someone suitable to help alleviate the heavy weight of code on Nigel's shoulders.

Calling a Code Cutter

I'm not really a code-cutter (i.e., hard core programmer). I'm an entrepreneur first. But to make my business dreams a reality I've had to cut code, and lots of it. Turbo10 + Trexy is over 110,000 lines of code! My natural instincts are to think at a high level, invent things, and move on, but coding involves mind-boggling attention to detail. I can do it - but it hurts. If stifles my ability to step back and strategically direct the business.

For the past five years I've been mired in technical hell and I've faced down some monstrous technical dragons on the way. But it's time for me to start moving on. We've just advertised for another programmer to help me! :-) This programmer will have a fantastic opportunity! If you're a code-cutter at heart then working for us is code-cutting heaven.

As Meg says, "lets put out the good vibes" ... Calling all code-cutters ... who is up to the challenge?

One Shot in the Locker -> New Cluster Please

Meg and I had a power debugging session over the weekend. We also decided to create a new cluster of servers purely for Trexy. This means we will decouple Trexy from the Turbo10 cluster. This has advantages and disadvantages. The major downside is I will need to maintain two clusters :-(. On the positive side a dedicated Trexy cluster means I can optimise the application and hardware to the specific load requirements of Trexy. It will run faster and feel smoother as a result. We want to put out the best product we can, so although this is a tough decision, if we're going to succeed it will be worth it - and we're not planning on failing. To quote an ex-Aussie Prime Minister, "we've got one shot in the locker" and we're firing it! So bring on the new cluster and lets get going! ;-)

Trexy Live Cache

The Trexy Live Cache enables you to blaze trails without installing the TrailBar™.

The Trexy Live Cache accesses web pages on your behalf and turns on trailblazing for the page you're viewing. A web-based version of the TrailBar appears at the top of the page. The WebTrailBar is a way of experiencing trailblazing without fully installing the TrailBar.

The WebTrailBar is slower than using the TrailBar and only works with a small number of search engines. To blaze trails faster on more engines it's best to install the TrailBar.

The finish line is in sight

It is Saturday and the sun is out in London. Nige and I are on a mission to kill bugs!

Going to do another round of TrailBar and result page testing this weekend. We are nearly there.

The last leg of the marathon is always the hardest...but we're determined to get to the finish line.

Demo

Tomorrow I'm doing a demo for Rena our new marketing assistant. Meg hasn't told her too much about Trexy. So far she's just been coming up to speed with Turbo10. Wait until she sees this!! ;-)

Email Policy

I did my first Masters thesis on "Flaming in Computer-Mediated Communication" which was a fun topic. Flaming is the propensity for people to butt heads in email and other computer-based communication. It happens because email is stripped of all the important softening cues of face-to-face communication. That's why emoticons (e.g., :-) ) help to put the emotion back into what can sometimes be a cold medium.

Meg and I have developed an email understanding over the years but now it's time to share this understanding with Rena our new marketing assistant. Wow. We must be getting bigger - we need an email policy! ;-)

Here is the Trexy/Turbo10 email policy:

• Efficient email is the name of the game.
• Don't send an email if possible. Emails take time to type and time to read. If it's important, pick up the phone or take a note of it and mention it at the next face-to-face meeting. Contentious topics are best left for face-to-face meetings.
• Limit the CC list. Only carbon copy those that need to know.
• Be brief, positive and clear.
• Send subject-only emails. Prefix the subject with ">". This convention means the recipient doesn't need to open the email (e.g., "> Out to lunch. See you soon! ").
• Don't open an attachment unless you trust it.
• When you write an email save the contents as a template - reuse email templates where possible.
• Take pride in what you've written. Check spelling and grammar before sending.
• Messages in public forums are for prosterity so take extra care.
• Make things as easy as possible for the recipient. If you want the recipient to do something include all the information they need in the email and a clear call-to-action.
• Treat others like you want to be treated. Put yourself in the position of the recipient. How would you feel if you received the email you're about to send?

A special day

The 11th of July is a special day for Nige and I. It marks the first day that we have someone working full-time with us.

It looks like the good vibes we sent out to help us find a suitable marketing assistant have worked.

Rena Ranchodbhai started today. Rena recently arrived in London from Pukekohe, New Zealand and has already made the enviable pilgrimage to *Pamps* - otherwise known as The Running of the Bulls in Pamplona.

I am really excited that she has started. Although we've only had one day together, I think she is going to be a great addition to our small team.

I look forward to working with her.

...No more lonely days working away in the Ivory Wharf office. (-:

The Final Cycle of Search

Here is the (fingers crossed) final version of the cycle of search diagram.

Two People

We've been keeping this blog for months now and never really introduced ourselves. I'm going to introduce my sister Megan and she's going to introduce me. So who are the two people behind Trexy? Nigel Hamilton and Megan Hamilton.

Trexy the Trailblazing Goat

Trexy is our trailblazing mascot. Apart from an adventurous spirit Trexy has lots of other personal qualities. We needed an animal that makes and follows trails. So why did we choose a goat? Turns out I spent too much time following a goat trail at university so it really had to be a goat. The only thing left to do was to give this trailblazing goat a name. It's at this point we wanted to pay homage to the main source of inspiration behind Trexy, a 1945 paper written by Vannevar Bush and his wild idea of a device that acts as an intimate supplement to individual and collective memory - a way of recording trails of association - the Memex.

Calling All Mascots

Meg and I put a lot of thought into what we wanted in a mascot. Here are the qualities we are looking for! :-)

Final Fortnight

This is it. Megan and I have set aside four days this week and four days next week to "bring the sucker home!" ;-)

Let's hope we can. It's been almost two years now ... Meg and I can't wait. It's time for Trexy to go out to the world!!

Trexy sticks with The Goo

I just published the new version of Trexy to the cluster. Things broke for a few minutes before I realised that changes to The Goo were impacting on Turbo10 and Trexy. The Goo is the system that sticks artefacts (e.g., templates, pages, robots, "things" etc) together behind the scenes and it also helps my programming productivity. I'm preparing The Goo so members of our expanding team can use The Goo too! Our philosophy is to keep everything lean and mean and the Goo helps us to fulfill the D.R.Y. principle - Don't Repeat Yourself.