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At VendAsta we use automated build scripts and a TeamCity server for continuous integration. Whenever someone commits code to a project, a whole suite of automated build targets are run against the code base to check things like unit tests, python syntax (via pylint) and code coverage. One thing that was missing from the mix [...]

Today at VendAsta we had our first full day of planning for the MyFrontSteps Sprint #2. We did some high level planning yesterday as well as demoing and a post mortem for the first Sprint. Having had a chance to relax this evening watching a few episodes of Long Way Round with my wife, there [...]

Here we are struggling to get our application tested thoroughly and polished up for the end of sprint when Facebook starts pulling all kinds of crazy shit on us.

I have been a long time fan of open source software. Over the years I have utilized countless open source projects to accomplish large tasks with ease for both my day job and my consulting work. Using these projects has always saved me a lot of reinventing the wheel and has made work on projects [...]

Today was my first day at VendAsta. Despite being incredibly sick, it was an awesome day. Everyone was super helpful and friendly. The coffee machine there absolutely lived up to its stellar reputation. And I am starting to get my groove on with the MacBook Pro. Perhaps the thing I was most impressed with today, [...]

On Friday I got my first taste of what it will be like working at VendAsta. I went there Friday afternoon to pick up my laptop – a MacBook Pro which I am using to write this. I have never worked with Macs before, so this is a somewhat novel experience. The shock to my [...]

Today was the first weekday of my post-Cover-All life. I had thought that it might be weird sleeping in and not going to work today but it was actually a great day. I got to spend a bunch of time with Kaelyn and watch a few episodes of Ken Burns’ The Civil War. All-in-all, a [...]

This morning I gave my two weeks’ notice at Cover-All. I have been there for three and a half years, but the time has come to move on. I have secured myself a programming position at VendAsta, a very progressive software development company here in Saskatoon. This move represents a very significant change in direction [...]

Seinfeldian Chains I am a huge fan of the productivity blog Lifehacker. I try my best to check out the site on a daily basis and am usually rewarded with a little tidbit or tool that helps to make my life much easier – it’s not all about Getting Things Done either. Recently, I read [...]

Wow! It has been a crazy few months. This past Monday we rolled out our new ordering system – a system that has been in the works for 17 months and was completely re-done in the past three. As I have mentioned here before, we were working on implementing DriveWorks, automation software for SolidWorks. Our [...]