We recently welcomed Mr Alexander Stones to the team. Alex joins us as a Full Stack Developer and brings some much needed power to the fold. Alex is an inquisitive tech head at heart and his curious nature is a great fit for where we want to go as a business.
I spent ten minutes talking to Alex via Zoom, where we reminisced over the beige computers of yesteryear, condemned the throwaway nature of modern technology and mused over Beaulieu Motor Museum’s seemingly never-ending Bond exhibition.
Hi Alex – tell us a little bit about what you did before you joined AndAnotherDay.
Before AndAnotherDay, I was working as a web developer at a different agency. I worked there for about a year and prior to that I was doing some freelance work, all of this mostly related to WordPress.
What stood out to you about AndAnotherDay and the potential role?
When I heard about the role at AndAnotherDay, it really sounded right up my alley in terms of the kind of work I’d be doing. In fact, it all seemed to click into place perfectly – one of those ‘right place, right time’ moments.
I had an initial interview with Keiron and Tom, and both of them were just really pleasant to chat with. That’s a big deal to me – I like working with people who I can get along well with. I got really good vibes from them and the company from the get go, and that’s proven true so far.
When it comes to technology and personal interests, what makes you tick in your spare time?
I love to fiddle with things like old computers and Raspberry Pis, and I enjoy dabbling in many other things too. I recently got myself a tablet specifically for drawing (more or less like a Windows Surface). But overall, I like trying to maintain my older bits of equipment rather than just repeatedly buying new. It feels good to keep old tech running instead of throwing it away.
I own the somewhat retro Apple iMac with the integrated CRT screen and coloured case. I’ve seen people strip them out and turn them into a modern and usable machine with a Raspberry Pi and LCD screen. I’ve done a fair amount of emulation in the past, so this is something I’d love to try.
I’ve always enjoyed playing with software too – things like running Linux and modding computer games. Not too long ago I was trying to run Total War 2 on a Mac and get some mods going. This was a hex editor modification that I sadly didn’t get working, but sometimes that’s par for the course. It’s still fun even to explore and learn when it doesn’t work.
Let’s talk about big words like ‘metaverse’ and ‘artificial intelligence’. What’s your take on this and have you worked on anything similar?
I’m still very much in the WordPress zone when it comes to web tech. I guess you could call it Web 2.0 if you really want to, but I’m very much a web developer above all. I’ve fiddled with things like Kubernetes and TensorFlow.
The barrier to entry for things like AI and machine learning is constantly getting easier and more accessible, and the amount of cool and interesting projects you can do with just even a little bit of knowledge, software or hardware is really intriguing.
What have you found yourself working on in your first few weeks at AAD?
Currently, I’m building a custom WordPress site from the ground up. We’re creating a baseline theme where the client can then spool up multiple iterations of the site, which look somewhat different. They’ll be global variables that they can change to create their own versions of the site. So it’s like a reusable, iterative theme, but you can change the layout, the colours, the components, and I’m really looking forward to this all coming together.
In terms of working with the team, we’ve already created a spreadsheet where I’ve filled out all my skills and Tom and I have made a plan for my personal development and what to work towards, and I’m really happy with that. I’m keen to explore more React and JavaScript, which I’ve dabbled in before. I know a fair amount of JavaScript and I have done React projects, but hopefully getting into more things directly related to that and working on React projects and AndAnotherDay will really push me forward.
And finally, remote working. How’s that been for you?
I’ve always found remote work really beneficial, particularly working in development. There were a few times that I went into the office and I found I got much less done than I normally would at home. So it’s worked out incredibly well for me – it just suits how I like to work.
I do really enjoy the social aspects of the office and working together, and there’s definitely certain circumstances where it’s helpful. But I think as a developer it’s important to have the ability to just cut off contact when you need to focus. If you need somebody, you can contact them quickly and remotely without potentially disrupted their own flow.
A big thank you to Alex for taking the time to chat. Keep your eyes on our blogs and our socials to see what we’re working on.