John and I have already started looking at backpacks. All the gear no idea springs to mind!

In all honesty I think we are all looking at hitting 5 miles pretty comfortably as a starting point. Not too difficult is the general consensus but this is in trainers, without weight on our backs and nice smooth pavements.

We will be upping the ante at the weekend with our first runs nearing 10 miles or 2 hours which ever comes first in woodland / on rough terrain. This will be our first sign of how difficult a hurdle we face.

We embrace the Commando spirit… Nothing Impossible!

What?
The Chara Challenge was founded in 2009 after 3 Commando Brigade Royal Marines returned from their third tour of duty in Afghanistan. During that tour 37 marines were killed in action and 167 were seriously wounded fighting the Taliban. 



The Chara Challenge is a demanding 30 mile cross-country race across Dartmoor carrying 32 pounds (15kgs) of weight excluding food and water. It is basically the same route, distance, weight and conditions trainee marines are subjected to as part of the selection process. This selection process is recognised as one of the if not the toughest in the world. The challenge is to complete the route in under 10 hours! (Marine selection is under 8 hours and under 7 hours for officers.)

The race is a real test of mental and physical endurance and character. It is also fun, immensely rewarding and worthy – the 2009 event raised over £100,000 for the supported charities.

Why?
Two reasons…
1. We are simply bonkers but like a challenge and it seemed like a good idea at the time.
2. We went to help raise money for the dependants of our marines who will not be coming home and for the care of those who are suffering from the injuries they have sustained serving their country.

Who?
The Dead Technical team are:
James Bush
Richard Bush
Alex Gray
John Randle
Ross Edgar
Henry Iddon

When?
The Chara Challenge 2010 will be run on Sunday 8 August.

If you would like to support us in the form of sponsorship please go here:
http://www.justgiving.com/deadtechnicalcharachallenge
All proceeds go to the Royal Marines Charitable Trust.

An excellent, demonstrable high-end understanding of ASP.NET v3.5 in C#. You should write efficient well-documented code and understand XHTML, CSS, JavaScript and all web development and production processes.

Experience, Core Compentancies & skills;
* ASP.NET v3.5 in C#, with some exposure to at least one other non-Microsoft technology such as PHP, Ruby on Rails or J2EE. .Net experience must include use of compiled code-behind functionality, not just ObjectDataSource code-forward tags and the like. Familiarity with the controls in the System.Web.UI namespace and with using code-only server controls.
* Familiarity with new .NET technologies; Windows Communication Foundation.
* Experience of complex integration with Flash platform including HTTP Handlers and web services and remoting such as Fluorine or WebOrb.
* Experience in one or more RDBMSes; Microsoft SQL Server, preferably with some exposure to at least one other RDBMS such as MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle or DB2
* Able to write formal technical documentation (technical / functional specs, database schemas etc)
* Knowledge of developing / following database schemas, preferably in Microsoft’s T-SQL
* Knowledge of developing / following object models (e.g. UML diagrams)
* Windows Server 2003/2008 administration (IIS 6 or 7 / DNS / Domains / Gateway services)
* Good working knowledge of semantic (X)HTML, CSS and JavaScript, including Ajax functionality and libraries such as jQuery
* Knowledge of at least one source control system essential, preferably SVN (or CVS) with Tortoise.
* Knowledge of Content Management Systems (CMSes) highly desirable
* Experience of working with localised (internationalized) content
* Experience of building robust, high-availability, high-load web applications.

We are expanding our development team and are looking for an experienced person with a natural interest and ability in website development, web 2.0 technologies, application development and social networking.

The candidate will be right at home writing object oriented code for websites and online applications. A solid understanding of the MVC pattern will be required.

Core skills include:
- PHP 4 and 5
- MySQL
- AJAX & Javascript libraries
- XHTML and CSS that are standards compliant, semantic and accessible.

Experience with PHP frameworks, content management systems and e-commerce platforms will also be highly advantageous, particularly:
- MVC
- Symfony
- WordPress
- ExpressionEngine

Knowledge of managing servers and other online infrastructure will be required for example:
- Linux
- Apache
- Domains and DNS
- Subversion / Version Control

Other skills that will be considered beneficial include:
- Facebook Apps
- iPhone Apps
- Flash / Flex – Action Script 2 / 3
- Natural SEO coding practices

Please get in touch if you would like to find out more or apply for the position.
Absolutely no recruitment agencies please. We have a preferred recruitment partner.

We are expanding our development team and are looking for an experienced person with a natural interest and ability in website development, web 2.0 technologies, application development and social networking.

The candidate will be right at home writing object oriented code for websites and online applications. A solid understanding of the MVC pattern will be required.

Core skills include:
- PHP 4 and 5
- MySQL
- AJAX & Javascript libraries
- XHTML and CSS that are standards compliant, semantic and accessible.

Experience with PHP frameworks, content management systems and e-commerce platforms will also be highly advantageous, particularly:
- MVC
- Symfony
- WordPress
- ExpressionEngine

Knowledge of managing servers and other online infrastructure will be required for example:
- Linux
- Apache
- Domains and DNS
- Subversion / Version Control

Other skills that will be considered beneficial include:
- Facebook Apps
- iPhone Apps
- Flash / Flex – Action Script 2 / 3
- Natural SEO coding practices

There will be plenty of opportunity to experiment and further your skills and explore new technologies.
Salary dependant on experience. Renumeration package to include private health care and pension contribution.
Immediate start.

Absolutely no recruitment agencies please. We have a preferred recruitment partner.

It’s built on the excellent jQuery JavaScript library so is dead simple to impliment:

A few lines of JavaScript and you get a great looking zoom feature for your users. Move your mouse over the image to view the effect.

We are expanding our development team and are looking for an experienced person with a natural interest and ability in website development, web 2.0 technologies, application development and social networking.

The candidate will be right at home writing object oriented code for websites and online applications. A solid understanding of the MVC pattern will be required.

Core skills include:
- PHP 4 and 5
- MySQL
- AJAX & Javascript libraries
- XHTML and CSS that are standards compliant, semantic and accessible.

Experience with PHP frameworks, content management systems and e-commerce platforms will also be highly advantageous, particularly:
- Symfony
- WordPress
- ExpressionEngine

Knowledge of managing servers and other online infrastructure will be required for example:
- Linux
- Apache
- Domains and DNS
- Subversion / Version Control

Other skills that will be considered beneficial include:
- Facebook Apps
- iPhone Apps
- Flash / Flex – Action Script 2 / 3
- Natural SEO coding practices

There will be plenty of opportunity to experiment and further your skills and explore new technologies.
Salary dependant on experience. Renumeration package to include private health care and pension contribution.
Immediate start.

Absolutely no recruitment agencies please. We have a preferred recruitment partner.

Dave is a multi talented graphic designer with a sharp eye for detail and layout who we have known for years. He is a favourite with the clients and the ladies alike so we are glad he has decided to join us.

Welcome aboard Dave!