bencoffman.com/blog - Me

Falling Upstairs

Ben Coffman — Thu, 20 May 2010 02:34:04 GMT

What a wild month! London, Paris (loved Paris), and Barcelona, followed up with a gig in Philly working for the second biggest software developer in the world on their up front website, SAP.com. Before I dive into the limited aspects I can speak about SAP.com's technology I would like to point out the facet of SAP that has had, and will have, a lasting effect on me, the cafeteria. These people (SAP) treat their people good! Made to order sushi, made to order Thai, a Philly cheese steak that will challenge South Philly's finest and a Starbucks that feels like it was made just for me, all this within a short walk from my desk. Really, next to the BMW the Germans know how to do it.

Lets dive into my first day. I was sitting at my desk, after enjoying my oh-so-delicious lunch of Alaskan Cod; I hear this loud noise getting louder. Turns out it was a helicopter flying in with the American Co-CEO. As he gets out, much like a scene you might expect to see from Iron Man, he has a dream effect on me. He waves at the people there to greet him and follows up with a mock gun shot (I can only hope he made the clicking sound that goes with the mock gun shot) at one of the security guards as he steps into the Escalade, in my mind I say YES, awesome! I know right then and there I'm going to love it for my limited time here.

I digress lets talk about a website that needs to address more nations than a senator trying to get votes in NYC. In short, because this is all I will say and feel comfortable, they follow a Model View Presenter (MVP) development process in making their site. SAP's site addresses content based on what nation/region you are coming from all while maintaining a similar look and feel for every end user. Think localization is easy with .Net...not on this scale boys and girls! Now add a level complexity comprising of several teams in more countries than you can count on one hand, developing for this one site. To create a level of consistency across so many sites a template format was built and an engine on top of the .Net engine to address what should be displayed....this is all I will give up, but I can say it's fun and challenging.

Thanks to VML for making this small yet, incredible contract, possible.

London, Paris, Barcelona.

Ben Coffman — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 15:59:17 GMT

I just came back from touring 3 countries. UK - London, France - Paris, Spain - Barcelona.

The picture above was me on Tooly street in London. The significance of this street is it's where Chris Martin is walking at the beginning of the Fix You video. This song is so moving how could I not take the chance to stop here, plus the bus tour I was taking drives right by it. I think you might actually be able to see a bus at the beginning of the video.

This isn't a very tech post, but like I say in my description, sometimes you just have to turn the internet off. I'll have a few more photos in my "photos" section.

New Years Resolutions

Ben Coffman — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 05:05:55 GMT

I'm told the best way to keep your New Years resolutions is to write them down. What a better place than my personal blog to attempt to keep me on the strait and narrow. Here is my list.

1. Read 1 book a month.
Since I recently finished school I now have my time back to read what I like. I have decided to start off reading fiction for some feel good wins during the first couple months then move on to something that I may improve from. I'll do a quick post of every book I read.

2. Get my PMP
Apparently a Masters in Business Administration with a very strong focus in finance from a reputable, though not tier 1, business school isn't a big deal anymore. Being a slave to the corporate demands I'm diving into becoming a project manager professional (PMP). It might be a little interesting I suppose. Though I'm betting the challenge of organizing teams will be a tiny bit easier than calculating derivatives and bond valuations.

3. Finish my Second iPhone Application
My first application is a fun little Online Banking hack for the company I work for. The second one I would like to create is a wine cellar type application for the iPhone. I know a few wine'os out there that have a huge "library", I believe this would be useful and YES someone else has done this, but I think I can do it better. :)

4. Use Less Cliche Statements
This could just be me, but I feel statements I use such as "The grass is greener on the other side," are because I am lacking the creativity to express how I truly feel so I go with something easy to grab, because it's, what is said, and not necessarily indicative of my true feelings.