Re: Consultancy company was [Job] BOFH wanted was: Re: Red Hat worm discovered

2001-01-20 Thread Redvers Davies

 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

2001-01-19 Thread Greg McCarroll

* 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

2001-01-19 Thread Dave Hodgkinson

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

2001-01-19 Thread Dave Hodgkinson

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

2001-01-19 Thread Michael Stevens

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

2001-01-19 Thread Piers Cawley

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

2001-01-19 Thread Piers Cawley

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

2001-01-19 Thread Michael Stevens

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

2001-01-19 Thread Greg McCarroll

* 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

2001-01-19 Thread Andrew Bowman

 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

2001-01-19 Thread Leon Brocard

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

2001-01-19 Thread Natalie Ford

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.

AOLMe too!/AOL




Re: Consultancy company was [Job] BOFH wanted was: Re: Red Hat worm discovered

2001-01-19 Thread Natalie Ford

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

2001-01-19 Thread Piers Cawley

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

2001-01-18 Thread Greg McCarroll

* 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
snip ;-)

 have to pay them back with interest and stuff.
equity surely? ;-)


-- 
Greg McCarroll  http://www.mccarroll.uklinux.net



Re: Consultancy company was [Job] BOFH wanted was: Re: Red Hat worm discovered

2001-01-18 Thread Tony Bowden

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

2001-01-18 Thread Greg Cope

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

a contractor in a "quite period"

 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

2001-01-18 Thread Greg McCarroll

* 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

2001-01-18 Thread James Royan

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
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 -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

2001-01-18 Thread Greg Cope

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

2001-01-18 Thread Dave Hodgkinson

"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

2001-01-18 Thread Greg Cope

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!