Welcome!

I'm Michael, a software consultant based on the South East of England.

If you have any interest in my work, then please visit:

Manticore Technologies Timestamp Red Sequence

Development Consultancy

Through Manticore Technologies I can provide full-stack development services specialising in .NET (C#), Microsoft Azure, Container based architecture and Web technologies.

Architecture Consultancy

Through Manticore Technologies I can help plan, cost, architect and review software projects of any size or scale.

About me

Some lists of stuff that I'm interested in.

Development

I've always been interested in new languages and software engineering techniques.

  • .NET (C#): My go to framework/language. I love the strong typing and functional capabilities.
  • Microsoft Azure: The Microsoft way of making things work in the Cloud.
  • Docker: Container-isation is truly the way to deploy applications in modern times.

Music

Long-time Spotify user. Discover Weekly is an awesome feature. I have massively divergent musical tastes. Mostly listen to Ambient/Electronica/IDM when programming so as to not be distracted by lyrics. Try this playlist for the sort of thing I like. When not working, I listen to Planet Rock.

  • Ambient/Electronica/IDM: Aphex Twin, Biosphere, Boards of Canada, Deepchord.
  • Rock/Metal: Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Rush, Tool.
  • Other: Nine Inch Nails, David Bowie.

Books

Long-time Audible user too. Driving or doing chores has become my 'reading' (listening) time.

  • Harry Bosch: Michael Connelly. Loved the Amazon Bosch show. Have listened to everything here series order.
  • Remembrance of Earth's Past: Liu Cixin. Fascinating hard Sci-Fi look at first contact and it's implications.
  • Sapiens / Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow: Yuval Noah Harari. A fascinating and sobering look at humans and where we're going.
  • The Culture novels: Iain M. Banks. Fantastic Science Fictions series - a place I'd love to live!
  • The Baroque Cycle: Neil Stephenson. Massive sprawling novel set in the 17th and 18th century.
  • The First Law: Joe Abercrombie. Gritty anti-heroes that are written with style.
  • The Gentlemen Bastards sequence: Scott Lynch. Really looking forward to Thorn of Emberlain.

Gaming

I'm a keen gamer. Destiny 2 is my current addiction! My gamer tag is Tyridan (an old World of Warcraft character name) or Lord Tyridan.

PlayStation

Primary gaming platform!

PlayStation

Gamer tag: Tyridan

Devices: PS5

Favourites: God of War series, Uncharted series, Batman: Arkham series

Playing: Destiny 2

Awaiting: Not much else for a while. Destiny 2 has sunk its claws in! :(

Xbox

For Halo really.

Xbox

Gamer tag: Lord Tyridan

Devices: Nothing at the moment

Favourites: Halo series

Playing: Cuphead

Awaiting: Nothing

iOS

The platform with the best mobile games first.

Game Center

Gamer tag: Tyridan

Devices: iPhone 13 Pro Max

Favourites: Grindstone, Monument Valley 2, Super Hexagon, Hearthstone

Playing: Grindstone

Awaiting: Diablo Immortal

Battle.net

Are Blizzard the most consistent (and controversial) game developer in the world?

Battle.net

Gamer tag: Tyridan#2748

Devices: Razer Blade 15" (RTX 3080)

Favourites: Diablo series, StarCraft series, Ex-WoW player...

Playing: Nothing

Awaiting: Diablo IV

Steam / Epic Store

Mostly a console gamer these days, but a few games still drag me back in.

Steam

Gamer tag: Tyridan

Devices: Razer Blade 15" (RTX 3080)

Favourites: Hades, Elite: Dangerous, Half-Life series

Playing: Halo Infinite

Awaiting: Nothing

Curriculum Vitae

Highlights from my CV. Click to LinkedIn on the left for a more detailed overview.

Current employment

April 2021
Present

Symprex

Software Consutlant (Contract)

Signature 365, email signature SaaS product. Developer or .NET 6.0 microservice system deployed using K8's with Vue.js front-end.
October 2018
April 2021

Ordnance Survey

Software Consutlant (Contract)

Address data processing system. Architect and lead developer of a highly-scalable .NET Core 3.1 microservice system deployed using Azure Container Instances (ACI).
February 2020
Present

Manticore Technologies

Director

Manticore Technologies is a software consultancy company specialising in .NET (C#), Microsoft Azure, Container based architecture and Web technologies.
June 2013
Present

Red Sequence

Director

Red Sequence is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) specialist. Timestamp is our flagship product.

Education

1998
2002

The University of Birmingham

BSc (Hons) Computer Science/Software Engineering with Business Studies

Contact

Feel free to get in touch with me by using the contact options on the left.