So, what are you working on?

The question without an easy answer. Allow me to make a rambling, somewhat ambiguous attempt:

For the past 9 months now, I’ve been working for FXhome, a Norwich-based company producing special effects and photography software. A small but rapidly-growing company celebrating its 10th Birthday this very weekend, it has been nothing short of thrilling. I’ve had sometimes-enjoyable jobs in the past, but this one stands out in that it’s always exciting to go to work. On the occasion that my own tasks are dull or frustrating, there is always someone else in the company working on fantastic things.

But what are we doing? Well, from my job title you may infer that I work on websites, and from the tone of the preceding paragraph, you can surmise I think what we’re doing is excellent. I can also tell you that the future will be action packed. That’s it, sorry! (what a tease).

I can say a lot more about what I’ve been doing and not doing with my free time. Since leaving University I’ve started and abandoned a custom t-shirt company, started and stopped writing 3 computer games, come within weeks of starting a company with a friend, and toyed with ideas for half a dozen more projects. It is a familiar pattern for me, turning ideas into projects, becoming briefly and manically obsessed with them, before losing interest or deciding the outcome is not worthwhile enough to continue. More on that in some future post perhaps.

Some ideas however, do survive. I have been working on and off for a while to combine my interests of history and technology into something meaningful, and useful both to myself and others. Indeed, my PhD proposal did exactly that, and though I was unable to find financial support for the idea at University, I still plan on bringing the project to life at some point. Meanwhile, I am currently working on some web-based projects to bring history to a wider audience. A subject often thought of as dusty and dull (not helped by a national curriculum a little too Tudor-centric), I think there is a huge potential for presenting historical material in a more engaging way, and it seems I’m not the only one.

So, when can you expect to see some of this materialise? This year. I won’t commit to dates, since between my personality and other commitments, I do tend to miss self-imposed deadlines. Now I’ve tried answering the question, allow me to return it: what are you working on readers?