Re: Consultancy company was [Job] BOFH wanted was: Re: Red Hat worm discovered
> IIRC, Sim City is one of Ken Livingstone's favorites. There can't be the option to revoke all bird feed sellers permits.
Re: Consultancy company was [Job] BOFH wanted was: Re: Red Hat worm discovered
* Alex Page ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) wrote: > On Fri, Jan 19, 2001 at 09:27:18AM +, Dave Hodgkinson wrote: > > > It should be mandatory for all public servants to be adept at Sim > > City. > > IIRC, Sim City is one of Ken Livingstone's favorites. > yip, and all devoted Sim City fan's sooner or later get bored and decided to see how they can screw up their City. Oh I know i'll make trafalgar square a pedestrian only zone -- Greg McCarroll http://www.mccarroll.uklinux.net
Re: Consultancy company was [Job] BOFH wanted was: Re: Red Hat worm discovered
David Cantrell <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > On Fri, Jan 19, 2001 at 03:34:31PM +, Leon Brocard wrote: > > > OK. We might as well do this quickly, how about Monday 12.30 at the > > New World restaurant in Chinatown. Everyone who is vaguely interested > > in a Perl Consultancy of some sort is invited. > > Count me in. > > The New World's on Gerrard St, isn't it? Gerrard Place. -- Piers
Re: Consultancy company was [Job] BOFH wanted was: Re: Red Hat worm discovered
From: "Greg Cope" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > No - just dont like the gun ho lets fry anyone on deathrow - and now a a > great chestnut one of them got to be president ... Fear not so much a leader of the Free World(tm) who is demonstrably unable to form grammatically correct sentences in his one, only native tongue but the fact that he's attempting to install one of the most hard-right anti-choice judges in existence to Attorney General. Abortion is barely even legal here; they'll be chasing womens' right to vote next... > > No, cable installation "engineers". All cable company phone > > support/accounts. > > Luckily I've not suffered from those. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/5/16186.html Paul
Re: Consultancy company was [Job] BOFH wanted was: Re: Red Hat worm discovered
On Fri, Jan 19, 2001 at 03:34:31PM +, Leon Brocard wrote: > OK. We might as well do this quickly, how about Monday 12.30 at the > New World restaurant in Chinatown. Everyone who is vaguely interested > in a Perl Consultancy of some sort is invited. Count me in. The New World's on Gerrard St, isn't it? -- David Cantrell | [EMAIL PROTECTED] | http://www.cantrell.org.uk/david/ Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced
Re: Consultancy company was [Job] BOFH wanted was: Re: Red Hat worm discovered
On Fri, Jan 19, 2001 at 09:27:18AM +, Dave Hodgkinson wrote: > It should be mandatory for all public servants to be adept at Sim > City. IIRC, Sim City is one of Ken Livingstone's favorites. Alex
Re: Consultancy company was [Job] BOFH wanted was: Re: Red Hat worm discovered
At 14:55 19/01/01, Neil Ford wrote: > >Dave Hodgkinson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > >Mmmm... so, when are we going to have a meeting about all this? >Well seeing as I will be amongst the great unwashed from next week, >anytime soon would be good. Me too!
Re: Consultancy company was [Job] BOFH wanted was: Re: Red Hat worm discovered
At 15:49 19/01/01, Dave Cross wrote: >I'd love to come along, but probably wouldn't have time to get there >and back during lunch. Can we do it one evening? An evening would be better for me, too... Natalie
Re: Consultancy company was [Job] BOFH wanted was: Re: Red Hat worm discovered
Leon Brocard <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > Dave Hodgkinson sent the following bits through the ether: > > > Sounds like a table at the New World one lunchtime... > > OK. We might as well do this quickly, how about Monday 12.30 at the > New World restaurant in Chinatown. Everyone who is vaguely > interested in a Perl Consultancy of some sort is invited. People > with business sense needed too, though: offices, computers and > bandwidth don't come cheap. Put me down for that. Might bring Gill as well. -- Piers
Re: Consultancy company was [Job] BOFH wanted was: Re: Red Hat worm discovered
Dave Cross sent the following bits through the ether: > I'd love to come along, but probably wouldn't have time to get there > and back during lunch. Can we do it one evening? OK, Penderel's Oak 6.30pm for those who can't make it to lunch. I'll go to both and take notes. Leon -- Leon Brocard.http://www.astray.com/ yapc::Europehttp://yapc.org/Europe/ ... All new improved Brocard, now with Template Toolkit!
Re: Consultancy company was [Job] BOFH wanted was: Re: Red Hat worm discovered
At Fri, 19 Jan 2001 15:34:31 +, Leon Brocard <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Dave Hodgkinson sent the following bits through the ether: > > > Sounds like a table at the New World one lunchtime... > > OK. We might as well do this quickly, how about Monday 12.30 at the > New World restaurant in Chinatown. Everyone who is vaguely interested > in a Perl Consultancy of some sort is invited. People with business > sense needed too, though: offices, computers and bandwidth don't come > cheap. I'd love to come along, but probably wouldn't have time to get there and back during lunch. Can we do it one evening? Dave...
Re: Consultancy company was [Job] BOFH wanted was: Re: Red Hat worm discovered
Dave Hodgkinson sent the following bits through the ether: > Sounds like a table at the New World one lunchtime... OK. We might as well do this quickly, how about Monday 12.30 at the New World restaurant in Chinatown. Everyone who is vaguely interested in a Perl Consultancy of some sort is invited. People with business sense needed too, though: offices, computers and bandwidth don't come cheap. Leon -- Leon Brocard.http://www.astray.com/ yapc::Europehttp://yapc.org/Europe/ ... All new improved Brocard, now with Template Toolkit!
Re: Consultancy company was [Job] BOFH wanted was: Re: Red Hat worm discovered
Neil Ford <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > >Dave Hodgkinson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > > > >> Piers Cawley <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > >> > >> > Big monitors on workstations are *not* rewards. They are essential > >> > tools for the job. Anything smaller than 19" is rapidly approaching > >> > too cramped for serious work. TFT monitors on workstations are > >> > rewards... > >> > >> 19" on the first port of the G400, a TFT on the second? > > > >Mmmm... so, when are we going to have a meeting about all this? > > Well seeing as I will be amongst the great unwashed from next week, > anytime soon would be good. Sounds like a table at the New World one lunchtime... -- Dave Hodgkinson, http://www.hodgkinson.org Editor-in-chief, The Highway Star http://www.deep-purple.com Apache, mod_perl, MySQL, Sybase hired gun for, well, hire -
Re: Consultancy company was [Job] BOFH wanted was: Re: Red Hat worm discovered
Dave Hodgkinson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > Piers Cawley <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > > > Big monitors on workstations are *not* rewards. They are essential > > tools for the job. Anything smaller than 19" is rapidly approaching > > too cramped for serious work. TFT monitors on workstations are > > rewards... > > 19" on the first port of the G400, a TFT on the second? Mmmm... so, when are we going to have a meeting about all this?
RE: Consultancy company was [Job] BOFH wanted was: Re: Red Hat worm discovered
> From: Greg McCarroll [SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > write a suggestions document of where the project management and > management functions are going wrong > > if they ignore it leave Do you know anywhere this has happened Greg? ;-)
Re: Consultancy company was [Job] BOFH wanted was: Re: Red Hat worm discovered
* Michael Stevens ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) wrote: > On Fri, Jan 19, 2001 at 10:32:16AM +, Michael Stevens wrote: > > On Fri, Jan 19, 2001 at 09:42:11AM +, Greg McCarroll wrote: > > > > yes and no. If you need to do an allnighter and its unavoidable (due to a > > > > client suddenly changing ther mind) then theres no problem doing it .. > > > > just charge em bigtime! > > > nope this is where your pimp/MD should of tied up the contract watertight, > > > so if they change their mind the deadline changes > > What do you do where this is not the case, other than think about finding > > a new job? > > Although, thinking about it, I can also note that the "find a new job" approach > seems to work... write a suggestions document of where the project management and management functions are going wrong if they ignore it leave -- Greg McCarroll http://www.mccarroll.uklinux.net
Re: Consultancy company was [Job] BOFH wanted was: Re: Red Hat worm discovered
Piers Cawley <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > Big monitors on workstations are *not* rewards. They are essential > tools for the job. Anything smaller than 19" is rapidly approaching > too cramped for serious work. TFT monitors on workstations are > rewards... 19" on the first port of the G400, a TFT on the second? Dave // on his latptop even though there's a 19" right next to it... -- Dave Hodgkinson, http://www.hodgkinson.org Editor-in-chief, The Highway Star http://www.deep-purple.com Apache, mod_perl, MySQL, Sybase hired gun for, well, hire -
Re: Consultancy company was [Job] BOFH wanted was: Re: Red Hat worm discovered
On Fri, Jan 19, 2001 at 10:32:16AM +, Michael Stevens wrote: > On Fri, Jan 19, 2001 at 09:42:11AM +, Greg McCarroll wrote: > > > yes and no. If you need to do an allnighter and its unavoidable (due to a > > > client suddenly changing ther mind) then theres no problem doing it .. > > > just charge em bigtime! > > nope this is where your pimp/MD should of tied up the contract watertight, > > so if they change their mind the deadline changes > What do you do where this is not the case, other than think about finding > a new job? Although, thinking about it, I can also note that the "find a new job" approach seems to work... Michael
Re: Consultancy company was [Job] BOFH wanted was: Re: Red Hat worm discovered
Dave Hodgkinson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > Greg Cope <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > > > IMHO developers should be given the environment that is what makes them > > confotable, an IBM research center was on the telly the other day that > > had a big open plan style area, as well as individaul offices, as well > > as Lego. The environment was totally focused to nuturing developers so > > that they create (hopefully good, bug-free(TM) code). > > Sounds like extreme programming to me... I *so* want to try this. I'm getting fed up of being sole programmer on projects. -- Piers
Re: Consultancy company was [Job] BOFH wanted was: Re: Red Hat worm discovered
David Cantrell <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > On Thu, Jan 18, 2001 at 04:51:18PM +, Greg Cope wrote: > > > What about a bed / kip room and of course a play room - and I do not > > mean some 70's swingers thing - a P2, etc ... > > Having something to crash on when pulling an all-nighter is, IMO, a bad > idea as it encourages pulling all-nighters. You just don't write good > code at 2 in the morning, and end up spending just as much time untangling > it as you did writing it in the first place. And in any case, if you > *need* to work all night, there's something wrong with the project > management. Oh yeah, we'd need to have project management skillz in the > group too. No need for a whole project mangler though to start with. > > As for toys - if they're not the *useful* sort of toy then they should be > rewards*, as opposed to being there right from the start. That way they > become a motivational tool. Although to be honest, I wouldn't be motivated > by lots of the things numija companies think are motivating like PS2s. > I'd be more for getting a bigger monitor on my workstation, or a punchbag > for the office. Or some clean jerrycans :-) Big monitors on workstations are *not* rewards. They are essential tools for the job. Anything smaller than 19" is rapidly approaching too cramped for serious work. TFT monitors on workstations are rewards... > * - eg, when the first big fat cheque arrives from a happy client, > get a PS 2. When we hit milestones *on time* in the next > project, get another game for it. Modulo the PS2 not necessarily being a motivator, that sounds like a plan. -- Piers
Re: Consultancy company was [Job] BOFH wanted was: Re: Red Hat worm discovered
David Cantrell <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > On Thu, Jan 18, 2001 at 04:42:55PM +, Greg McCarroll wrote: > > * Leo Lapworth ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) wrote: > > > People (no particular order): > > > > > > = Pimp = = Accountant = > > > = BOFH = = Security Guru = > > > = Perl Gurus' = = Perl Trainee Gurus = > > > > i'd add an MD/CEO who would initially do a lot of the > > pimping, the accountant could initially also be outsourced. > > the BOFH and Security Guru could be rolled into one. > > i'd also hire non-Perl programmers so that you didn't > > just have one leg to the stool > > Seems reasonable. Also think about Oracle and Sybase wizards > (combined with the BOFH and/or $language Guru roles initially) and > an NT person. Actually, *all* the tech people should be sufficiently > multi-skilled to be able to do two things reasonably well - that way > it's easier to pimp them, they can command more dosh, and they (and > the company) are protected if one of their skills goes badly out of > fashion. And one of the goals of gurus within the consultancy should be to help train up other folks who want to pick up that skill. Preferably in an environment where something real is being acheived. > > > Money: > > > Base salary and split proffit according to which category your in. > > > > founders split say 50% of the equity, 25% reserved for latecomers > > and 25% pencilled for VC types > > Just wait for the arguing about how that 50% gets split! That 50% gets split equally among the founding partners. > > > Open source / clients: > > > Create projects for open source community (sell to clients > > > with support). When not assigned to a specific money > > > making project or client create next project to OS and > > > make money from. > > > > agreed! > > Yup. Plan to make money from support contracts on this open source > stuff, and also from being a 'preferred implementor' using it. Indeed. Ooh, this sounds very tempting. -- Piers
Re: Consultancy company was [Job] BOFH wanted was: Re: Red Hat worm discovered
On Fri, Jan 19, 2001 at 09:42:11AM +, Greg McCarroll wrote: > > yes and no. If you need to do an allnighter and its unavoidable (due to a > > client suddenly changing ther mind) then theres no problem doing it .. > > just charge em bigtime! > nope this is where your pimp/MD should of tied up the contract watertight, > so if they change their mind the deadline changes What do you do where this is not the case, other than think about finding a new job? Michael
Re: Consultancy company was [Job] BOFH wanted was: Re: Red Hat worm discovered
Dave Hodgkinson wrote: > > Greg Cope <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > > > Dave Hodgkinson wrote: > > > > > > "Paul Makepeace" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > > > > > > > The US has much more to worry about than the UK, like high water tables, > > > > vicious weather and earthquakes. The smart money goes on hosting in Texas > > > > (San Antonio) not California though -- relatively > > > > earthquake/tornado/storm/etc-free! > > > > > > You're talking rackspace.com, I take it? ;-) > > > > Are they not in New York ? > > No. San Antonio if traceroutes are to be believed. I'll shut up then ;-0 > > > > > Dellhost are in texas - which I destest due to its attitude to capital > > P. > > You not been following the Confederacy conspiracy? > No - just dont like the gun ho lets fry anyone on deathrow - and now a a great chestnut one of them got to be president ... > > What like americans ? > > > > (present american company excluded) > > No, cable installation "engineers". All cable company phone > support/accounts. > Luckily I've not suffered from those. Greg > -- > Dave Hodgkinson, http://www.hodgkinson.org > Editor-in-chief, The Highway Star http://www.deep-purple.com > Apache, mod_perl, MySQL, Sybase hired gun for, well, hire > -
Re: Consultancy company was [Job] BOFH wanted was: Re: Red Hat worm discovered
David Cantrell <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > And the UK doesn't have high water tables (in some places and not in others, > just like anywhere else) or vicious weather (again, in some places not in > others, just like anywhere else). But it strikes me as being absurd that I > hear EVERY YEAR of the power going out for large areas of major cities in > .us, something which just doesn't happen in Europe. It should be mandatory for all public servants to be adept at Sim City. -- Dave Hodgkinson, http://www.hodgkinson.org Editor-in-chief, The Highway Star http://www.deep-purple.com Apache, mod_perl, MySQL, Sybase hired gun for, well, hire -
Re: Consultancy company was [Job] BOFH wanted was: Re: Red Hat worm discovered
Greg Cope <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > IMHO developers should be given the environment that is what makes them > confotable, an IBM research center was on the telly the other day that > had a big open plan style area, as well as individaul offices, as well > as Lego. The environment was totally focused to nuturing developers so > that they create (hopefully good, bug-free(TM) code). Sounds like extreme programming to me... -- Dave Hodgkinson, http://www.hodgkinson.org Editor-in-chief, The Highway Star http://www.deep-purple.com Apache, mod_perl, MySQL, Sybase hired gun for, well, hire -
Re: Consultancy company was [Job] BOFH wanted was: Re: Red Hat worm discovered
Greg Cope <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > Dave Hodgkinson wrote: > > > > "Paul Makepeace" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > > > > > The US has much more to worry about than the UK, like high water tables, > > > vicious weather and earthquakes. The smart money goes on hosting in Texas > > > (San Antonio) not California though -- relatively > > > earthquake/tornado/storm/etc-free! > > > > You're talking rackspace.com, I take it? ;-) > > Are they not in New York ? No. San Antonio if traceroutes are to be believed. > > Dellhost are in texas - which I destest due to its attitude to capital > P. You not been following the Confederacy conspiracy? > What like americans ? > > (present american company excluded) No, cable installation "engineers". All cable company phone support/accounts. -- Dave Hodgkinson, http://www.hodgkinson.org Editor-in-chief, The Highway Star http://www.deep-purple.com Apache, mod_perl, MySQL, Sybase hired gun for, well, hire -
Re: Consultancy company was [Job] BOFH wanted was: Re: Red Hat worm discovered
* Robin Szemeti ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) wrote: > On Thu, 18 Jan 2001, you wrote: > > > Having something to crash on when pulling an all-nighter is, IMO, a bad > > idea as it encourages pulling all-nighters. You just don't write good > > code at 2 in the morning, and end up spending just as much time untangling > > it as you did writing it in the first place. > > yes and no. If you need to do an allnighter and its unavoidable (due to a > client suddenly changing ther mind) then theres no problem doing it .. > just charge em bigtime! > nope this is where your pimp/MD should of tied up the contract watertight, so if they change their mind the deadline changes > and 2 because I was just so tied up in it and it was going so well that I > didn;t want to stop .. so I didn't ... the code from the latter is > untouched to date and some of the better code I've written. thats fine, but if you have such commitment to work surely you could grab a hotel that the business is friendly with and put it on expenses > play. One of the reason I hated a 9 to 5 job was people asking me to do > hard things before lunchtime and having to quit doing hard things because > it was 5:00. this is fine for internal work, but wrong for our earlier discussion about consultancy > > And in any case, if you > > *need* to work all night, there's something wrong with the project > > management. agreed > no matter how well planned the project I have yet to find a client who > hasn;t kept some small but deadly surprise as a secret to throw in just > when they know its getting close. Some of these bombshells are smaller > than others .. but they always seem to be there, waiting ... no problem > .. just expect em an be prepared .. and charge em BigTime :) how do you think IBM deal with this? if the client adds some crap, they change the deadlines/cost greg -- Greg McCarroll http://www.mccarroll.uklinux.net
Re: Consultancy company was [Job] BOFH wanted was: Re: Red Hat worm discovered
* Greg Cope ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) wrote: > > Thats were a few people have gone wrong lately then ;-) > yup -- Greg McCarroll http://www.mccarroll.uklinux.net
Re: Consultancy company was [Job] BOFH wanted was: Re: Red Hat worm discovered
Robin Szemeti wrote: > > On Thu, 18 Jan 2001, you wrote: > > > Having something to crash on when pulling an all-nighter is, IMO, a bad > > idea as it encourages pulling all-nighters. You just don't write good > > code at 2 in the morning, and end up spending just as much time untangling > > it as you did writing it in the first place. > > yes and no. If you need to do an allnighter and its unavoidable (due to a > client suddenly changing ther mind) then theres no problem doing it .. > just charge em bigtime! > > Personally I have done (thinks) about 4 this year ... two of them due to > sudden arrival of previously unannounced deadline .. (result: badly > implemented crap code, stress, huge costs and a re write a week later) > and 2 because I was just so tied up in it and it was going so well that I > didn;t want to stop .. so I didn't ... the code from the latter is > untouched to date and some of the better code I've written. > > There is nothing wrong per-se with working on into the night ... the lack > of interruption and no pesky phones ringing can be the ideal time to > engross yourself in the trickiest and most complex of problems ... but > trying to hack something together whilst knackered is a recipie for > disaster. My motto: if it feels good, do it. Code when you feel at your > most productive, if you don;t think your minds on the job bale out and > play. One of the reason I hated a 9 to 5 job was people asking me to do > hard things before lunchtime and having to quit doing hard things because > it was 5:00. > > > And in any case, if you > > *need* to work all night, there's something wrong with the project > > management. > > no matter how well planned the project I have yet to find a client who > hasn;t kept some small but deadly surprise as a secret to throw in just > when they know its getting close. Some of these bombshells are smaller > than others .. but they always seem to be there, waiting ... no problem > .. just expect em an be prepared .. and charge em BigTime :) Have you done much stuff under a DSDM style - ie. qrite a quick protype and then iterate on that ? (massive internal rewrites are allowed under this as it tries to stress the interface / functionality not the internal implentation) Greg > > I would be VERY interrested in working on a project managed by the XP > method. It sounds to good to be true, (and I;ve done enough project > managment to know that it probably is too good to be true) but I shure > would like to give it a go. > > -- > Robin Szemeti > > The box said "requires windows 95 or better" > So I installed Linux!
Re: Consultancy company was [Job] BOFH wanted was: Re: Red Hat worm discovered
On Thu, 18 Jan 2001, you wrote: > Having something to crash on when pulling an all-nighter is, IMO, a bad > idea as it encourages pulling all-nighters. You just don't write good > code at 2 in the morning, and end up spending just as much time untangling > it as you did writing it in the first place. yes and no. If you need to do an allnighter and its unavoidable (due to a client suddenly changing ther mind) then theres no problem doing it .. just charge em bigtime! Personally I have done (thinks) about 4 this year ... two of them due to sudden arrival of previously unannounced deadline .. (result: badly implemented crap code, stress, huge costs and a re write a week later) and 2 because I was just so tied up in it and it was going so well that I didn;t want to stop .. so I didn't ... the code from the latter is untouched to date and some of the better code I've written. There is nothing wrong per-se with working on into the night ... the lack of interruption and no pesky phones ringing can be the ideal time to engross yourself in the trickiest and most complex of problems ... but trying to hack something together whilst knackered is a recipie for disaster. My motto: if it feels good, do it. Code when you feel at your most productive, if you don;t think your minds on the job bale out and play. One of the reason I hated a 9 to 5 job was people asking me to do hard things before lunchtime and having to quit doing hard things because it was 5:00. > And in any case, if you > *need* to work all night, there's something wrong with the project > management. no matter how well planned the project I have yet to find a client who hasn;t kept some small but deadly surprise as a secret to throw in just when they know its getting close. Some of these bombshells are smaller than others .. but they always seem to be there, waiting ... no problem .. just expect em an be prepared .. and charge em BigTime :) I would be VERY interrested in working on a project managed by the XP method. It sounds to good to be true, (and I;ve done enough project managment to know that it probably is too good to be true) but I shure would like to give it a go. -- Robin Szemeti The box said "requires windows 95 or better" So I installed Linux!
Re: Consultancy company was [Job] BOFH wanted was: Re: Red Hat worm discovered
Dave Hodgkinson wrote: > > "Paul Makepeace" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > > > The US has much more to worry about than the UK, like high water tables, > > vicious weather and earthquakes. The smart money goes on hosting in Texas > > (San Antonio) not California though -- relatively > > earthquake/tornado/storm/etc-free! > > You're talking rackspace.com, I take it? ;-) Are they not in New York ? Dellhost are in texas - which I destest due to its attitude to capital P. > > > > > On the upside, the US doesn't have BT "engineers" to deal with... > > Trust me, they have much, much worse... What like americans ? (present american company excluded) Greg > > -- > Dave Hodgkinson, http://www.hodgkinson.org > Editor-in-chief, The Highway Star http://www.deep-purple.com > Apache, mod_perl, MySQL, Sybase hired gun for, well, hire > -
Re: Consultancy company was [Job] BOFH wanted was: Re: Red Hat worm discovered
David Cantrell wrote: > > On Thu, Jan 18, 2001 at 04:51:18PM +, Greg Cope wrote: > > > What about a bed / kip room and of course a play room - and I do not > > mean some 70's swingers thing - a P2, etc ... > > Having something to crash on when pulling an all-nighter is, IMO, a bad > idea as it encourages pulling all-nighters. You just don't write good > code at 2 in the morning, and end up spending just as much time untangling > it as you did writing it in the first place. And in any case, if you > *need* to work all night, there's something wrong with the project > management. Oh yeah, we'd need to have project management skillz in the > group too. No need for a whole project mangler though to start with. I was thinking of my mid afternoon kip, before going down stairs to the pub! I was only joking ;-) Totaly agree with the all nighter bit above. > > As for toys - if they're not the *useful* sort of toy then they should be > rewards*, as opposed to being there right from the start. That way they > become a motivational tool. Although to be honest, I wouldn't be motivated > by lots of the things numija companies think are motivating like PS2s. > I'd be more for getting a bigger monitor on my workstation, or a punchbag > for the office. Or some clean jerrycans :-) > > * - eg, when the first big fat cheque arrives from a happy client, get > a PS 2. When we hit milestones *on time* in the next project, get another > game for it. Ah, now motivational thoery is totally different - a PS2 is not that motivational for me, and I would imaging alot of people. What _is_ probably motivational about a PS2 equiped office is the environment that allows you to play with a PS2. IMHO developers should be given the environment that is what makes them confotable, an IBM research center was on the telly the other day that had a big open plan style area, as well as individaul offices, as well as Lego. The environment was totally focused to nuturing developers so that they create (hopefully good, bug-free(TM) code). What people seem to be missing is that you need clients - once you've got some doing the code is the easy bit. Greg > > -- > David Cantrell | [EMAIL PROTECTED] | http://www.cantrell.org.uk/david/ > >Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced
Re: Consultancy company was [Job] BOFH wanted was: Re: Red Hat worm discovered
"Paul Makepeace" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > The US has much more to worry about than the UK, like high water tables, > vicious weather and earthquakes. The smart money goes on hosting in Texas > (San Antonio) not California though -- relatively > earthquake/tornado/storm/etc-free! You're talking rackspace.com, I take it? ;-) > > On the upside, the US doesn't have BT "engineers" to deal with... Trust me, they have much, much worse... -- Dave Hodgkinson, http://www.hodgkinson.org Editor-in-chief, The Highway Star http://www.deep-purple.com Apache, mod_perl, MySQL, Sybase hired gun for, well, hire -
Re: Consultancy company was [Job] BOFH wanted was: Re: Red Hat worm discovered
On Thu, Jan 18, 2001 at 04:51:18PM +, Greg Cope wrote: > What about a bed / kip room and of course a play room - and I do not > mean some 70's swingers thing - a P2, etc ... Having something to crash on when pulling an all-nighter is, IMO, a bad idea as it encourages pulling all-nighters. You just don't write good code at 2 in the morning, and end up spending just as much time untangling it as you did writing it in the first place. And in any case, if you *need* to work all night, there's something wrong with the project management. Oh yeah, we'd need to have project management skillz in the group too. No need for a whole project mangler though to start with. As for toys - if they're not the *useful* sort of toy then they should be rewards*, as opposed to being there right from the start. That way they become a motivational tool. Although to be honest, I wouldn't be motivated by lots of the things numija companies think are motivating like PS2s. I'd be more for getting a bigger monitor on my workstation, or a punchbag for the office. Or some clean jerrycans :-) * - eg, when the first big fat cheque arrives from a happy client, get a PS 2. When we hit milestones *on time* in the next project, get another game for it. -- David Cantrell | [EMAIL PROTECTED] | http://www.cantrell.org.uk/david/ Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced
Re: Consultancy company was [Job] BOFH wanted was: Re: Red Hat worm discovered
On Thu, Jan 18, 2001 at 04:42:55PM +, Greg McCarroll wrote: > * Leo Lapworth ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) wrote: > > People (no particular order): > > > > = Pimp = = Accountant = > > = BOFH = = Security Guru = > > = Perl Gurus' = = Perl Trainee Gurus = > > i'd add an MD/CEO who would initially do a lot of the > pimping, the accountant could initially also be outsourced. > the BOFH and Security Guru could be rolled into one. > i'd also hire non-Perl programmers so that you didn't > just have one leg to the stool Seems reasonable. Also think about Oracle and Sybase wizards (combined with the BOFH and/or $language Guru roles initially) and an NT person. Actually, *all* the tech people should be sufficiently multi-skilled to be able to do two things reasonably well - that way it's easier to pimp them, they can command more dosh, and they (and the company) are protected if one of their skills goes badly out of fashion. > > Money: > > Base salary and split proffit according to which category your in. > > founders split say 50% of the equity, 25% reserved for latecomers > and 25% pencilled for VC types Just wait for the arguing about how that 50% gets split! > > Open source / clients: > > Create projects for open source community (sell to clients > > with support). When not assigned to a specific money > > making project or client create next project to OS and > > make money from. > > agreed! Yup. Plan to make money from support contracts on this open source stuff, and also from being a 'preferred implementor' using it. -- David Cantrell | [EMAIL PROTECTED] | http://www.cantrell.org.uk/david/ Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced
Re: Consultancy company was [Job] BOFH wanted was: Re: Red Hat worm discovered
Greg McCarroll wrote: > > * Greg Cope ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) wrote: > > Leo Lapworth wrote: > > > > > > > > > Location > > > A big pub in central London. > > > Top floors: development > > > Ground floor Pub: with comedy stand and terminal points for laptops > > > Basement: disco / conference room, big flat screens etc.. > > > > What about a bed / kip room and of course a play room - and I do not > > mean some 70's swingers thing - a P2, etc ... > > > > nope, they are rewards, rewards are for sucess ;-) Thats were a few people have gone wrong lately then ;-) > > -- > Greg McCarroll http://www.mccarroll.uklinux.net
RE: Consultancy company was [Job] BOFH wanted was: Re: Red Hat worm discovered
Neil> So who's any good at business plans... (I have a book but) I know a few things about setting up and running SMEs. Happy to sit down for an hour or so one evening with someone if it would be of assistance. Unfortunately, I'm far too tied up with current venture to get much more involved than this. Regs, J. . Message Central plc Suite K307 Tower Bridge Business Complex 100 Clements Road London SE16 4DG Web: www.msgc.com Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Tel: +44 20 7394 9511 Fax: +44 20 7231 8201 If you receive this email by mistake, please destroy your copy, having returned this copy to the sender. This email and any attachments to it may have been tampered with. Message Central plc cannot warrant the accuracy, completeness or freedom from viruses of this email or any attachments. You are strongly advised to check this email for viruses before downloading or opening any attachments. Opinions expressed in this email are those of the author and not of Message Central plc. -Original Message- From: Neil Ford [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: 18 January 2001 04:33 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject:RE:Consultancy company was [Job] BOFH wanted was: Re: Red Hat worm discovered [snip the first bit... all great] > >Location > A big pub in central London. > Top floors: development > Ground floor Pub: with comedy stand and terminal points for laptops Purleese wireless is the only way to go. :-) > Basement: disco / conference room, big flat screens etc.. > >I've got a contact who says he can get hold of a million or >so VC if this was an actually business plan, but then you >have to pay them back with interest and stuff. > >Ok, it's all a pipedream.. but what a nice one. > So who's any good at business plans... (I have a book but) Neil. -- Neil C. Ford [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.binky.ourshack.org
Re: Consultancy company was [Job] BOFH wanted was: Re: Red Hat worm discovered
* Greg Cope ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) wrote: > Leo Lapworth wrote: > > > > > > Location > > A big pub in central London. > > Top floors: development > > Ground floor Pub: with comedy stand and terminal points for laptops > > Basement: disco / conference room, big flat screens etc.. > > What about a bed / kip room and of course a play room - and I do not > mean some 70's swingers thing - a P2, etc ... > nope, they are rewards, rewards are for sucess ;-) -- Greg McCarroll http://www.mccarroll.uklinux.net
Re: Consultancy company was [Job] BOFH wanted was: Re: Red Hat worm discovered
* Tony Bowden ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) wrote: > On Thu, Jan 18, 2001 at 04:42:55PM +, Greg McCarroll wrote: > > > have to pay them back with interest and stuff. > > equity surely? ;-) > > Yes. But if you're successful the "interest" rate is huge ;) > > But if you're not, well, they lose the money and not you. > > FWIW It's much easier to negotiate with VCs if you're already > well established and actually have revenue and commitments and > stuff > well, this is all getting a bit close to the grain for me, if anyone wants to discuss the possibilities of a non-perl specialised arena consultancy feel free to to email me off list, however there may be nasty NDA's involved -- Greg McCarroll http://www.mccarroll.uklinux.net
Re: Consultancy company was [Job] BOFH wanted was: Re: Red Hat worm discovered
Leo Lapworth wrote: > > > Location > A big pub in central London. > Top floors: development > Ground floor Pub: with comedy stand and terminal points for laptops > Basement: disco / conference room, big flat screens etc.. What about a bed / kip room and of course a play room - and I do not mean some 70's swingers thing - a P2, etc ... Greg > I've got a contact who says he can get hold of a million or > so VC if this was an actually business plan, but then you > have to pay them back with interest and stuff. > > Ok, it's all a pipedream.. but what a nice one. > > Leo
Re: Consultancy company was [Job] BOFH wanted was: Re: Red Hat worm discovered
On Thu, Jan 18, 2001 at 04:42:55PM +, Greg McCarroll wrote: > > have to pay them back with interest and stuff. > equity surely? ;-) Yes. But if you're successful the "interest" rate is huge ;) But if you're not, well, they lose the money and not you. FWIW It's much easier to negotiate with VCs if you're already well established and actually have revenue and commitments and stuff Tony -- - Tony Bowden | Belfast, NI | [EMAIL PROTECTED] | www.tmtm.com | www.blackstar.co.uk my Uncle Sol had a skunk farm but the skunks caught cold -
Re: Consultancy company was [Job] BOFH wanted was: Re: Red Hat worm discovered
* Leo Lapworth ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) wrote: > People (no particular order): > > == > = Pimp = = Accountant = > == > > == = > = BOFH = = Security Guru = > == = > > === === > = Perl Gurus' = = Perl Trainee Gurus = > === === i'd add an MD/CEO who would initially do a lot of the pimping, the accountant could initially also be outsourced. the BOFH and Security Guru could be rolled into one. i'd also hire non-Perl programmers so that you didn't just have one leg to the stool > Money: > Base salary and split proffit according to which category your in. founders split say 50% of the equity, 25% reserved for latecomers and 25% pencilled for VC types contractors could expect to take a 50 to 75% drop in salary > Open source / clients: > Create projects for open source community (sell to clients > with support). When not assigned to a specific money > making project or client create next project to OS and > make money from. agreed! > Create client base with support contracts. also create partner arrangements, i can think of at least 3 big companies i maybe could arrange partnerships with, that in some cases would double the daily rate for consultancy > Location ;-) > have to pay them back with interest and stuff. equity surely? ;-) -- Greg McCarroll http://www.mccarroll.uklinux.net
