About Me

Who am I?

I'm Alastair Smith, a full-time Software Developer. I live in Cambridge, UK, and work for Citrix Systems on their Web Interface component. I play the bassoon to a high amateur standard, and take gigs as they come. See my Bassoon CV for more information.

Why do I blog?

I blogged on and off for a couple of years, but started doing so more seriously in June 2008 when I read Jeff Atwood's post on code kata. Kata originates in the martial arts, and is a form of effortful study. Jeff's top tip is to maintain a blog in this manner, and so I began.

What do I blog about?

I blog on a range of topics, that are loosely grouped into the categories of: programming (the main focus of the blog); music; cinema; science and technology; and "random stuff" (i.e., a bucket for everything else that doesn't fit one of the other categories).

What is "CodeBork"?

"Bork" is an expletive almost exclusively used by programmers. Generally, it's used to refer to something that's broken; e.g., "Try the other printer, this one's borked". "CodeBork" therefore refers to broken code, roughly equivalent to the more common term "headf**k".

All that is a long way round of saying "I made it up for my blog".