Back on the Tools

For the past week I’ve dusted off my programming skills and conducted a dive into esoteric world of javascript, php, style sheets, html and Googlecharts. It’s been a while since I’ve really done some hard core development and I must admit that it’s been a bit of fun!

A number of times this past week I’ve entered what programmers call “the zone”….it’s a state of bliss where all of the functions, classes and methods seem to behave themselves. I used the same concept in my science fiction book for a character that is a sniper recon.

You can always tell when a programmer is “in the zone” as nothing seems to phase them as they tap away at their keyboard. I’ve experienced this state of euphoria, where times seems to stand still until I notice that I’ve been pulling another all-nighter. Typically, it’s the birds tweeting their morning calls that pull me back to reality and out of a complex embedded if statement burrowed somewhere in the code.

I must admit that there were a number of times where my PC bore the brunt of my anguish as I yelled at yet another error. These tend to be tumultuous times of absolute frustration that end in an “ahhaaa” moment when I realise my own stupidity.

So what have I been coding you may ask? It just so happens that the ParkLogic development team needed a helping hand on the downhill stretch for our new platform. Being a bit of a multi-tasker, I put up my hand to see what I could do to help out the team. I don’t think that it’s very often that one of the founders of a company jumps back into the code but what the heck.

This brings up an important point that I really value and that’s multi-tasking. Almost all of our team can perform operational, developmental or sales related tasks. It allows us to be extremely flexible in sorting out problems for clients as well a much deeper understanding of what it means to route millions of pieces of traffic each day around the world.

For example, there’s been many times where a client required a unique solution that relied upon my colleague in business development having a clear understanding of the technical challenges involved. Without an understanding of the DNS the client would still have been languishing in their problems.

So what am I actually building? It’s a completely revolutionary client interface that will provide unprecedented access to data for our client’s domain portfolios. It’s one to have the information and it’s an entirely different matter to mobilise it in such a way that decisions can be made.

As everyone knows, I love my data. I’ve always wanted to have every bit of it at my fingertips….and the first stage will be ready for “The Domain Conference” at Fort Lauderdale. We’ve literally rebuilt every part of the ParkLogic platform with the knowledge and understanding that comes from eight years of insight into the domain industry.

All I have to do is get back in the zone and hammer out another bug. Cheers!

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Michael Gilmour has been in business for over 32 years and has both a BSC in Electronics and Computer Science and an MBA. He was the former vice-chairman of the Internet Industry Association in Australia and is in demand as a speaker at Internet conferences the world over. He has also recently published his first science fiction book, Battleframe.

Michael is passionate about working with online entrepreneurs to help them navigate their new ventures around the many pitfalls that all businesses face. Due to demands on his time, Michael may be contacted by clicking here for limited consulting assignments.