Alex Folch

My current employer, SPIKA, is looking for two JAVA Web Developers.

Requirements: In-depth knowledge of Java 6 programming, Servlet/JSP/JSTL, Spring MVC and SQL is a must, along with at least basic knowledge of Ajax, XML, Linux, Eclipse, Ant, Tomcat and Apache.

More information can be found at SPIKA jobs’ page.

I am currently unavailable for freelance work as I am touring Belgium and the Netherlands by bike.

I have set up a quick Drupal multilanguage website to blog about our journey. The url is http://www.alexamine.co.uk/benel2010/.

I plan to be back in London refreshed and ready for new challenges by the end of August.

A group of journalists, bloggers, professionals and creators want to express their firm opposition to the inclusion in a Draft Law of some changes to Spanish laws restricting the freedoms of expression, information and access to culture on the Internet. They also declare that:

1. Copyright should not be placed above citizens’ fundamental rights to privacy, security, presumption of innocence, effective judicial protection and freedom of expression.
2. Suspension of fundamental rights is and must remain an exclusive competence of judges. This blueprint, contrary to the provisions of Article 20.5 of the Spanish Constitution, places in the hands of the executive the power to keep Spanish citizens from accessing certain websites.
3. The proposed laws would create legal uncertainty across Spanish IT companies, damaging one of the few areas of development and future of our economy, hindering the creation of startups, introducing barriers to competition and slowing down its international projection.
4. The proposed laws threaten creativity and hinder cultural development. The Internet and new technologies have democratized the creation and publication of all types of content, which no longer depends on an old small industry but on multiple and different sources.
5. Authors, like all workers, are entitled to live out of their creative ideas, business models and activities linked to their creations. Trying to hold an obsolete industry with legislative changes is neither fair nor realistic. If their business model was based on controlling copies of any creation and this is not possible any more on the Internet, they should look for a new business model.
6. We believe that cultural industries need modern, effective, credible and affordable alternatives to survive. They also need to adapt to new social practices.
7. The Internet should be free and not have any interference from groups that seek to perpetuate obsolete business models and stop the free flow of human knowledge.
8. We ask the Government to guarantee net neutrality in Spain, as it will act as a framework in which a sustainable economy may develop.
9. We propose a real reform of intellectual property rights in order to ensure a society of knowledge, promote the public domain and limit abuses from copyright organizations.
10. In a democracy, laws and their amendments should only be adopted after a timely public debate and consultation with all involved parties. Legislative changes affecting fundamental rights can only be made in a Constitutional law.

Some references: Público, El Mundo, Enrique Dans, El País and Boing Boing

It is the time of year to plan and start new projects and my list of resolutions is ready.

My first goal is to redesign my website/portfolio. I have already begun this process by choosing a clean design that I found on Theme Forest and adapting it to fit my needs.

Currently, one of the main projects I am working on is the website for a magazine called Namaste that is published in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. Now that the first stage of the project is complete and the client is happy and able to easily edit the website’s contents, I have started with the second phase which consists of developing an advertisement directory and an events agenda.

In addition, I have had to redesign and tweak the website in order to include new elements, make the articles more readable and improve the information architecture. Working on this project has been a great challenge and has provided me an opportunity to improve my WordPress skills as well as gain experience that will prove to be helpful in future work.

Other tasks I have on my list are developing a complex system in Drupal and gaining experience with Magento, which apparently is the most powerful Ecommerce open source system available at the moment.

2008 was the year I decided to take a giant leap and start a freelance career. 2009, according to my plans, will be the year of consolidation. I am prepared and ready to take on new and challenging projects.

2009, here I come!