Weekly update: 28 March 2016

Kyle Redelinghuys -

This past week has been more eventful than others. A lot of amazing opportunity has been opened up, and big progress made towards some overarching goals.

South Africa

I am coming back to South Africa this week. It’s been three or so months since I’ve been home, and I’m looking forward to seeing friends and family. The work this side has been amazing, so I am looking forward to keeping on the same track while I am down there.

The USA has been a great opportunity, for now it is superceded by a greater one.

Exceptional Talent Endorsement

A month ago I applied to the UK Home Office, and the associated body Tech City, for a special visa aimed at exceptional individuals in the tech sector. In the next week I will be writing a detailed post on this entire process, but the summary is as follows.

I have been granted an endorsement by Tech City, and subsequently by the UK Home Office, as an “exceptional talent”. This allows me to move onto stage 2 of the process, which is applying for a visa. The visa is a highly sought after Tier 1 which allows me to work and live in the UK for five years, whereafter I can apply for citizenship. It is also not tied to any company, and let’s me start my own company.

Needless to say I am super stoked about this and the opportunities it brings. The reason for me coming back to South Africa so suddenly is to apply for this visa as it must be done in your home country.

Banking project

I made some headway on the banking project, but moving from synchronous TCP calls to asynchronous HTTP calls in iOS app has proven to be somewhat difficult. Half of me feels like I should just work around it and force synchronicity, using something like gomobile, but the other half wants to do it properly. The latter generally wins the day.

Help wanted. If you know any iOS, please help out. The problem is described briefly here and any help would be massively appreciated.

Misc

  • I’ve started making my way through the new Go books and they’re great
  • Really looking forward to seeing friends in JHB and CT
  • It’s been great having a friend and work colleague over for the last week
  • The cheery blossom festival in Washington DC was amazing

Conclusion

I’ll be in South Africa on Wednesday afternoon, aiming to be in a functional state by Friday. The week ahead involves applying for the visa, finalising some things around work and immigration, and reading as much as I can.