J7mbo.co.uk

James Mallison

Busymeter

Development

I mainly develop applications using PHP5, HTML5 and CSS3 - however I firmly believe in using the best tool for the job, and so can learn new languages and technologies to adapt and solve a problem. An example of this would be turning away from MySQL and learning MongoDB because I believed my work project "Localise" would be better suited to a schemaless database architecture. I love minimalist and clean-style websites and applications.

Current

I'm currently working on a MongoDB Certification in my own time, and aim to gain Zend Certification over the course of the next year. My first work project is a semi-automated language translation application which will be used all over the EU.

History

I created a system during a summer 'casual' placement, originally for myself, to automate data entry within the Department of Work and Pensions. Although the systems were 'locked down', I researched new languages and technologies on my lunch breaks and ran all my code with languages already accessible to a default Windows installation, using only notepad to code with. I increased the amount of work I could handle by at least a factor of ten in the three months I worked there.

After meetings with leading figures within DWP, I received an "award and recognition" award and a great personal testimonial from a leading chief executive.

It's great to know that the 'work' I enjoy doing, both in and out of work time, is now used by thousands of staff every day, cutting costs and increasing productivity.

If you'd like to see an example of my client-side code, feel free to view the source of this page.
If you'd like to see an example of my server-side code, you can visit the portfolio tab on the left.

About Me

It's not all about coding! In my spare time, I'm a pretty normal person! I like to...

Better myself professionally: I'm always refining my code, writing new applications for myself and friends and coming up with new ideas for projects I can work on in my spare time. I'm currently working on an iPhone app for no reason other than because I enjoy it.
I run a dedicated server: My friends use a server I set up over in the Netherlands, so server maintenance is often a task I perform - for fun of course!
I keep up-to-date: The latest technology news is a great interest for me. I'm a big fan of a fantastic set of applications from Rockmelt to aggregate my news and keep me in the loop!
Bike rides out to the lakes: I ride a Honda CBR 600F and love sunny Sundays.
I'm a gamer: I'm often invited to participate in closed betas, and I'm on Xbox Live.
I snowboard: I regularly crash at Chill Factore in Manchester every few months.