One of the devs in our team here at Wonga came accross this useful tool.

If you find the need to install an SSL cert on your local machine for testing purposes, such is the requirement for testing the WongaAPI, you can download the IIS 6.0 Resource Kit Tools from Microsoft, which contains a tool called SelfSSL.

This is a simple command line utility which will install an ssl cert on localhost.

the tool kit can be downloaded from here:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=56FC92EE-A71A-4C73-B628-ADE629C89499&displaylang=en

For your enjoyment a ringtone of the Southern Service to Ashford International, oh the automated announcement goodness.
Warning this may confuse your fellow passengers unless you happen to be on that train to Ashford.

AshforInternationalSpeed.m4r (192.71 KB)

Before you let Steve Job's and his posse firmly place their arm up your back passage here's a few things you should know.

Firstly Apple have effectively fitted the iPhone with a chastity belt, if you want to have your wicked way with it you will have to Jailbreak it first, if you don't the following is a list of things you will have to put up with.

1 - You'll have to pay for custom ringtones and you can only choose from the songs / tones available on iTunes.

2 - If you want to make use of App Store and download apps (even free ones) you will have to setup an iTunes account, you will need a credit / debit card and have at least £1.50 in your account.

3 - If you want to load your own mp3's (not purchased via iTunes) you will still have to install iTunes to do this.

I have only had the phone a short while so  there may be more gotcha's to come.

Update:
It turns out iTunes is lying about No 1. you can use itunes to convert mp3 / Wav files in to AAC then rename the extension to M4R, reimport the file and it will appear as a ringtone.
+1 for it being possible -1 for lying to your customers Apple

I bought one of these a couple of weeks ago, to use on my commute to london.

The Good:

• Uber convienient have BB on the move
• Signal on the train is good without to much drop out.
• You can plug in a 4gb mcro sd card and turn it into a memory stick
• In a good signal area the downloads are fast 170kbps
  

The Bad:

This is a relatively expensive way to roam the WWW at 15 quid per GB but it only costs 39.99 to buy and you only pay for what you use unlike the pay montly alternatives. Perfect for me as I will only use it for small periods.

The Ugly:
The vodafone software that installs when you plug the device in to your Pc/Laptop is possibly one of worst programs I have had the misfortune to encounter in a long time.
If you plan to use this device whilst stationery and in a good signal area you will not have any problems. If you use it on a train / in a car then expect constant pop-ups that cannot be minimized.

The unecessary:
Adult Content Blocking is on by default, included is Skype.com ???
WTF Vodafone since when do Skype serve adult content.... Hmm they do however offer internet telephony, I wonder if that could be the real reason.
Which ever knob jockey at vodafone thought up this trick should be shot. It just annoys paying customers who can download skype the moment they are connected via WiFi, seriously misjudged move by Vodafone.

Update: Tip
You don't have to use the crappy vodafone software, after you have installed it open network connections and right click on the Vodafone connection and select connect. It is also possible to prevent the vodafone software from launching when you plug your dongle in, just go to the options in the app. The only thing you lose is the usage meter.

If you are using Sql Server 2005 straight out of the box on 32bit Windows 2003 / 2000 and you would like Sql Server to be able to address more than 2Gb of RAM you have to enable AWE.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms190731(SQL.90).aspx

I have decided to put a shed in the garden this is an account of what was involved and what the various bits cost.



Here she is a 5m x 5m Conrad from Factory Cabins Direct. She cost £2300 inc vat with 44m thick walls and double glazing and took about four weeks to arrive. I notice the price has just gone up to £2700. The shed arrived on the back of a truck with a Hiab crane, the driver was able to hoist the pallet off the truck an on to our drive. As you would expect the pallet was about 5m long and 1m high by 1m wide.

Leveling the site and running services to the shed

I found man with a digger who came and spent a day leveling a 5.0m x 5.0m site, he also dug a trench and laid an armoured cable and water pipe from the shed to the house, for this he charged £180. I wasn't able to be on site when he was working which was a mistake as he did not do a great job of leveling the site. I should have put up some visual markers for him to work to.

UPDATE:



The shed is up and part painted, it took about 10 man days to get to this stage.
The biggest lesson I learned was that it would have been much better to do this in the dry. A couple of times water got into the roof and floor boards causing them to expand and lift.

The total cost of the project worked out at five grand. About a thousand for the concrete base which required 10 tonnes of concrete due to the gradient. 800 for the cedar shingles. The rest went on paint, electricals fittings and fixings.

I needed to automate the upload of csv files to an SFTP server for print fulfilment. It was a bit trickier than I thought it would be so I recorded what I did in case I need to do it again someday.

1)     Download and install WinSCP from here: http://winscp.net

2)     Create a folder where files will be uploaded from and a sub folder called Archive

3)     Open WinSCP go to Options Select Storage and Set Configuration Storage to INI file (WinSCP.ini), close WinSCP.

4)     Add a the PATH to the WinSCP install folder in the Environment Variables

5)     Create a file in the upload folder called SftpScript.txt

6)     Create a .cmd file and add the following command, modify the path to SftpScript.txt

      winscp.com /console /script=C:\Files\PrintFulfilment\SftpScript.txt >> SftpUpload.log

7)     Add the following code to SftpScript.txt, update the parameters highlighted in red.

 

# Automatically answer all prompts negatively not to stall the script on errors

option batch on

 

# Disable overwrite confirmations that conflict with the previous

option confirm off

 

# Connect using a password

open user:password@ftp.somewhere.com

 

# Force binary mode transfer

option transfer binary

 

# Change to home directory

cd

 

# Upload the file to current working directory

put C:\Files\PrintFulfilment\*.csv

 

# Disconnect

close

# Exit WinSCP

Exit

 

8)     To prevent the same file being uploaded next time the command runs add the following to the .cmd File, updating the file mask and archive folder path.

 

MOVE *.csv C:\Files\PrintFulfilment\Archive\

I have recently changed job, I have moved from the relative safety of Tradeweb to Wonga an 18 month old startup. It's a very exciting place to work offering a very dynamic working environment.

The company is very focused on becoming the number one source of cash on demand. It offers cash direct to your bank account with in a few minutes of being accepted if you apply before 3pm. This presents a lot of challenges as nearly all customer scoring and verification has to done automatically.

The service is for people who need to borrow a small amount of cash for a short period of time (up to 30 days). It is only designed for use in emergencies. If you are accepted for a loan and repay on time your Wonga Trust rating increases and so does the amount you may borrow.

It's good to be back in a small company where I feel I can make a difference.