It's a sad reality, but more often than not, it's simply not enough to have a great idea. In order to see a vision realized it often takes money and resources and this particular project required quite a bit and was developed and presented to the investors as something entirely different. As I understood things, once they caught wind of the true nature of the project and that it could potentially supply free power to everyone, they immediately shut it down - since that was in direct conflict to their goals. Whether or not all of this is true and correct, I would guess like anything else there are elements that have been distorted, points left out and some truths to it all.
The government may know the answer however, as they swooped in and grabbed all his documents once he died, and I'm certain that if he financially was unable to build his dream, that at the very least he would have had the plans to build it all worked out on paper. So there may be hope that eventually his work comes to light and perhaps his vision can be built and realized, although those that have the information are probably more likely to use it for financial gain or power and control.
I'm not 100% sure, but I believe that it would run using docker. Docker I believe uses the same base engine that VirtualBox uses, although from my limited use of this great tool, it runs significantly faster with less drain on resources. I don't believe that it would have any problems with accessing the GPU - at least no more than any other virtualization system, so would be a viable option to consider.
If money weren't a factor (which is never the case) the list of things I would add would be long, but a few items would definitely be convenient. Like everyone has one side of their house that faces to the West, and in the evening the sun shines through those windows annoyingly bright. Sure there are blinds and curtains, which do the job of blocking it, but I'd much rather have the LCD glass that goes from clear all the way to a limo tint with just a tiny electrical current (like a AA would last a year). I'd also definitely have everything wired for remote operation, so door locks, lights, and power outlets at a minimum. The HVAC would have motorized and controlled duct flow control to allow for the temperature control in each room to control the temperature in that room to whatever you want. I saw a really cool system on "This New House" where they used the swimming pool, and underground huge tank, and the house itself in this system that used thermodynamics to heat the house and pool in the winter and burn off heat for A/C in the summer and was basically completely self-sustaining with the whole system being powered by solar panels. Very cool. Oh the list of gadgets and innovative goodies is always so much longer and larger than my budget and savings... if I had any savings.
I too had my spurt when I was younger. You'd think that writing a check on your own checking account wouldn't be the end of the world, especially if you turn yourself in, but it cost me two years in prison and a nice record with felonies. Even though I paid the restitution and did my time, the system is setup in such a way that you really don't ever stop paying for mistakes - like I can never own a gun, even though I've never had anything remotely violent in any history, but such is life.
I started in the technology industry after all this happened, first at technical support and quickly advanced to systems administrator at an ISP. After a couple of years of that I went into programming and have never regretted it. I was lucky with the first company that I worked for after all this didn't care, and that paid off for that company as I took them from losing $30,000 a month into making a profit of around $22,000 a month within 8 months of being a sys admin. They sold off that company and asked me to move to a new company they were starting, built around a web site their in-house designer created that went viral and had over 3 million unique hits a day. All this spanned about 3 years and got some good experience under my belt.
If you can make it past the first 3-4 years, most companies are going to take your experience over a mistake long since gone by. I've passed background checks and only had one issue in over 17 years working at a programmer. It has been a non-factor, whether brought up and discussed or not, with every job I've had spanning those 17 years - and that covers a good amount of jobs. Personally I don't go out of my way to volenteer the information, but also won't lie if asked or there is a generic form asking about criminal past. Making mistakes is part of living life, and I think most people and companies understand that and will look beyond it, but it does take you showing and proving it first. I wouldn't change what happened, as it has defined a part of me, and I believe made me a better person because of it - but in the same breath, I certainly wouldn't repeat it. Either way I don't believe that it would hold you back working in the future once you've established that it is a thing of the past.
I'm very much in the same boat as you are, maybe even slightly worse off. I have a couple of degrees (architectual design and drafting and an associates in psychology), but I never even took a computer class in college. I stumbled into a job as technical support at a failing ISP, and as people around me kept getting canned, I assended the list of positions mostly by being the last man standing, until I was the systems administrator. Eventually I found a major flaw in the billing and provisions process, which had over 1100 cancelled accounts still active, and that turned the comany around from running at a $20,000 loss each month to making a profit. While I shifted into programming, which I liked a lot better and have stay in that field since, I don't have any certifications, publications, or formal education in the IT industry.
While getting the first few jobs were tough, I've found that most companies will take experience over having a degree anyday, and twice on Tuesdays. Also having been on the hiring end of thing half of the time, I will always take experience over any degree, regardless of how prestigious (Okay, maybe not over an MIT degree. lol) I've had too many newly hired employees with their shinny new computer science degree, and I've got to hold their hand for the first 6 months because they know little of what is current practices, so much as they know what is "suppose to be the proper method". The trouble with schooling is that a technology comes out and gains some traction, it must then be choosen and learned by a professor. He must then write a syllabus before the school can even offer it as a course, which is then at the mercy of school quarters. By the time a student signs up, takes the class, and finishes - it's technology that is 1 -2 years old, which in todays world is just about 1 - 2 years too late. 8-)
Personally I haven't had any issues with education being a factor for coming up on a decade. My question to you would be where and how are you applying for jobs? These days I don't even waste my time looking for a job, as most jobs that are listed are in the lower range of what I would consider a good position and company. I've done pretty much every job in the last 8 years all working through recruiters. Headhunting seems to be an exploding field, so it takes weeding through vast pile of them to find one that is of real quality and service, but once you find a place like that, they will take care of you and represent you well. I also like it because they negotiate the salary or wage for you, with your input and guidelines of course. Plus recruiters seems to get all the best positions, as companies don't want to waste time sifting through the sea of unqualified candiates either. My advice would be to find a good recruiter, and if you have the skills, you'll be their favorite person in the world.
There is a good side to reading another programmers code, which is in seeing other methods and approaches to solutions. For any given task, there are many ways in which it can effectively be programmed for. Grant 90% of solutions done are usually inefficient, unstable, bloated, or just outright wrong, but out of that other 10% you can find some interesting things, even if it isn't your preference or end choice. The main thing is to be open-minded. A programmer that believes their way is the only good way (which is most programmers) is a programmer that expands their knowledge and capabilities very slowly.
As for being able to read it, I would strongly suggest customizing a plug-in to your favorite IDE and have it reformat the code. Every programmer codes with their own style, and while you wish everyone used correct indenting and such, the reality is far from that. If you want to save yourself a lot of headache and time, just auto-reformat each page as you go through it. This not only will make it so you can save the source code with good formatting, but will also make it much easier for you to read and review. At least that's my two bits, which in today's economy counts for next to nothing. 8-) I've been in your position too many times, and any way you look at it, you've got a bunch of scanning through files ahead of you. Good luck.
Being a new business, I'm sure money is tight, and like all things - any solution comes at a cost. Fortunately there are very good solutions out there that cost very little or are free, but the cost comes in learning and being able to setup those method up. If I assumed you had a resident genius that was capable of setting up anything, I think your best solution would be to centralize your costs, meaning for starters you get a single pipe to the internet that you can use for both data and your phone system. Buy a decent workstation, load Linux on it, and then install Asterisk, which will handle all of your internal phones. The beauty of using Asterisk is you can still come out looking a feeling like a big company with plenty of resources, with video calling, conference calling, automated phone menu answering and routing, and even click-to-call for your support page.
You can also use that workstation to be your PDC running Samba and install something like Zimba to be your MTA. Depending on how heavy your load is, you may even be able to use that same box as your firewall, DHCP server, and DNS name server (or DNS relay). So now you've got your marketing guys that will run only Windows happy, as well as your tech people which are running Linux or Mac, and nobody complaining that they can't use that specific program (which is the only way they know how to do it). It all sounds easy and great, but I won't lie to you and say that it's easy and quick to setup all that, although it can be if your familiar with all of that. You do also have the option of bringing a person in to set all that up, although I tend not to trust systems that I don't understand or can't fix myself. This setup would however be a very low cost solution to everything you mentioned, but the cost is knowledge or the time spent learning it all, which there is a lot there.
I'll take that challenge - of course it in itself is highly situated to have distinct advantages in some languages and disadvantages in others. Don't misunderstand me though, as vim is my preferred editor for doing any quick editing on a configuration file, or pretty much any other task... other than coding.
Many editors have plug-ins that make it pretty powerful, such as validating code including recursive includes and requires for languages such as PHP or Ruby. Some editors can also do pre-compiling of the likes of Java and C. Personally I found a lot of freedom and ability to control the features you personally would use in jEdit, which runs on any platform, so it makes it handy when you don't have a choice for the pre-installed machine you'll be working on. I can do simple or complex regex search and replace for a selection, page, or entire project with one click. Each of the hundreds of languages supported can be custom colorized and is smart enough to separate out each even if all included in the same files (ex. PHP, Javascript, CSS, and HTML in one file).
While I've happily used jEdit for around 10 years, I've seen other good editors as well, such as Kate (although not a fan of KDE) and even editors like Bluefish have come a long way. Even if you use vim, your going to need the colorization plug-in, and the specialized language plug-in, and..... Point is stock, pretty much every editor is the same. You need to find an editor that fits with your needs and can expand as hopefully your programming progresses
While any server that is not completely within your level of control opens up possibilities of having it compromised, there is also no 100% guaranteed secure configuration that you could do even if it were 100% in your control. I would knock out the obvious first by doing a port scan on the server address to see what services may be running that aren't needed. Also make sure that MySQL is bound to the loopback IP and not the public IP (unless you have multiple servers accessing a central database server, in which case setup SSH secure tunnels with permission restrictions limiting only those servers - although it would be better to just install a second NIC on each server and also run a private network link between the servers). Code wise, I'd make sure that you are validating all submissions and are protected against SQL injection attacks. You can also change settings in PHP to be restrictive in memory usage, file upload size, and handling of requests by setting the minimum required value that your code base would need or use. This can be done in the Apache virtual host configuration, if they don't want to use those settings globally on a shared server. Lastly, when all else that can be done is handled, make sure to encrypt any sensitive data in the MySQL tables. Sure, if the server is compromised, the hash key string or other methodology key is contained either in the code base or in the unique key to the MySQL install, but it's one additional step and would require them to have much more data downloaded - which if nothing else, buys you time that they would need and for you to find them in the process. Oh, and depending on if your running in your own chroot setup, you can use non-standard ports for services like MySQL. Let's face it, the majority of hacking is done by script kiddies that are executing code or things they don't even fully understand. Protecting against the other 5% is a bit more involved, but also unlikely if you protect against the common automated attacks.
Good luck with your new site, and hope you have great success. If you take pride in your product, regardless of what it is, and make it as well as can be made and sold for a fair price - you may not make a boatload of cash overnight that screws the consumer like every other company in the world, but you will have steady and long lasting profit, as well as providing a value to the world. At least that's my two cents on a world with declining business ethics. 8-)
I do understand all to well what you asking for, and you'd think that it would be a fairly commonly found need, but apparently it's slim to none of anyone creating an all-in-one media manager. I too have a pretty large media collection consisting over about 1.5 TB of video, 80 GB of music, 30 GB of pictures, 28 GB of books, and other misc media. How to keep any sanity with it all has proven to be tasking.
While I'd love to know if you do find a good solution for it all, maybe some of the better solutions I've found will help you out or point you in the right direction. All of the following are open source Linux solutions that are pretty commonly found. I use Gallery to manage all my photos and even my self shot video, which is a pretty powerful and easy to install web based system. Couldn't really ask much more for organizing, managing, and making your collection available from anywhere - but still protected if so desired.
For my movie collection the best thing I found was Griffith, which is far from perfect or ideal, but is still young and they are making great strides with it's development. You can use one of a pretty long list of sources, which automatically grabs the majority of any movie details, downloads the poster and whatnot, but more importantly makes the information cross-reference friendly. So you can search for movies by director, or actor, or key grip if you want. Nice too that it imports and exports, although not in an ideal format.
The finally for music I kind of jump around between Clementine, Banshee, and Rhythmbox. All three are excellent players that handle a wide range of searching and playing ease, as well as recommending similar styles, genre, downloading covers and lyrics, etc. One key thing I absolutely have to have it mapping to my "extra" keys, which all three do. The Erognomic 4000 keyboard by Microsoft is about the only thing I've really liked that came from Microsoft, and I love it - even though way over priced. LOL
Oh if there were only a way to smash these together. Maybe if I find some spare time I'll start on a project doing just that, although "extra" time is tricky to come by these days...months... well last few years. *sigh*
I'd tell him to put the crack pipe down and back away.
It's one thing to work long hours if you have a vested interest in the company, or even if it's crunch time to buckle down and get project completed or back on track to the completely ridiculous timeline set, but something altogether different when it's just another job. Any reasonable person would understand that you don't get a grip more for nothing, so whether it be bonus incentives or other monetary compensation, or loosening that death grip on company ownership and profit sharing - either way, if no compensation is given, then you'll end up with the same amount (or less) of work done while requiring the long hours, and have a staff of disgruntled employees to boot.
I think every company deals with that same dilema, especially when the base language is PHP. I've found there is a vast range of competency with PHP coders, which I believe is largely due to these tech colleges cranking out graduates with barely enough skills accomplish a task, let alone doing it more efficiently with layered logic. I myself have been coding using PHP for 10 yrs+ all with MySQL or PostgreSQL as the backend, and not to be boastful, but have used about every possible method, tricks for improvements, and know all the possibilities forwards and backwards. I do not however have one of these certifications, or even knew they were really available or widely accepted as credited. Despite the lack of being certified, I have designed, built, and maintained literally hundreds of databases over the years, as well as acted at the DBA - although I'm far from a DBA (I do know my strengths and limitations LOL) and could only manage to do some simple DB optimization, clustering, replication, and what not.
If I were to be one of your applicants and you did choose to require or gave great credit towards those who were certified, then I would likely be passed over. I believe that you'd find it more common than not that applicants aren't certified. I had plenty of occasions being both the interviewer and the applicant, which in my opinion the most effective and least time consuming is to come up with a case scenario problem and have each applicant solve it right then and there - before even any discussions or name exchange. 8-) Have it require the code solution, the DB schema, and freedom to use whatever modules, tools, or whatever they are comfortable with. It's important to make the problem presented something that could be done many ways obviously, as well as have a most likely lesser known slick solution method. This way you get a chance to see their coding style, ability to problem solve, knowledge of solution techniques and methods, design and logic, practical application skills, and even formatting and comment habits. I believe it's better than just code samples or viewing previous work, since it's directly applicable to their current state. Plus you can talk about it after, with questions of why did you choose this method, and whey structure this into these blocks, etc.
The interview process may take quite a bit longer, but not for you - the company hiring for the position. For you it just takes an available cubical or room with a basic computer, or even just paper and a pencil will work. I know there are some problems or task available out there that are designed exactly for this purpose. There is one involving a mechanical clock that uses steel balls and a series of chutes that you create the software version of that is pretty good. Any way you look at the hiring process, it isn't much fun and you don't get a very accurate idea of exactly what they are capable of until you see them in action, which this is about as close as it gets - short of a trial period hire. LOL
I started my illustrious career in the IT world as a system administrator until shifting into programming, which I like much better and has remained my focus for the last 10 years. That's not to say I still don't get sucked into doing the sys admin work and even that of what should be a DBA.
Being as such, I've had to learn some things through the school of hard knocks, others by trial and error, and more through the vast abundance of resources and printed texts. While you can't go wrong by reading any O'Reilly publication, and I am a devout fan of always reaching for the O'Reilly book on any topic first (and they do have a book on virtually everything technical you could want to know), they still cannot cover everything. Any database is vast in it's complexity and configuration settings to optimize it's performance. Each has advantages over other DB's, like the fact that MySQL has virtually no overhead in LEFT JOIN statements, making it smarter to break tables down into chunks of data used for various purposes and split each into it's own table. Of course each DB also has it's handicaps, using MySQL again as an example, the fact that MyISam tables don't play well with InnoDB tables. MyISam tables are amazing for full text index and searching, but have no foreign key referencing ability like the InnoDB, so your left making a choice of data integrity or searchability.
I've found that the O'Reilly books are a great start, but for the neurotic programmer always reaching for improvement, I really think the best resource is in reading the full documentation provided by the DB. MySQL has a wealth of information in their on-line documentation, as well as PostgreSQL, including user feedback and comments. You will end up reading 100 pages for that one page that gives you the answer you wanted, and some pages may take you re-reading it 10 times to understand their way of explaining something, but they provide information I haven't seen in any other resource. While they don't have a "design" section, they do give tips throughout the entire content scattered. Like MySQL recommends tables to contain less than 15 columns, or how to define a column with the correct and most efficient data type and size, such as a column for a zip code. Would you use an integer? Valid only for US and wouldn't cover hyphenated additional 4-5 digit entries, but you could - and making it unsigned can reduce the size you need. If using a varchar column, it's no advantage limiting it to 10, as 16 takes up the exact same amount of memory by how MySQL allocates space. It's the little things like that which are handy, but more than a pain to have to read through the docs. Luckily that's where O'Reilly should come first and fills those gaps first, then torcher yourself with the documentation for the little improvements over time. 8-)
In my earlier years, being full of piss and vinegar, I was coding a minimum of 40 hours a week and up to 60 or even 70 hours. After working for several companies and a slew of projects, most of which generated millions in income for the business, I did a project that almost killed me. In order to hit the deadline, I worked on average 13.6 hours everyday for 4 months. I was beyond burned out, mentally exhausted, and just overall fried. Before delivery on the project I wanted to settle on the fees due for all the overtime, which quickly became a problem, even though every minute was logged. My philosophy on coding drastically changed after that.
Here is the truth and reality for every programmer. Any company you code for will take their sweet time coming up with specs and approval for a project. By the time you get it, they will undoubtedly want it yesterday, so you'll always be under a tight time crunch. You could have no life and kill yourself coding it and at the end get a shinny star or "great job" comment. If you work in a salary position, you may gain some respect, or even best case a small bonus, but is it really worth it? Unless you have a vested interest in the company, through something like stock options or profit sharing, it is worth it in the end. I suppose that is something to be answered on an individual basis. Personally for me, this is why I quit being a System Admin and became a programmer. I don't want to be on call 24/7 and when I've gone home for the day, I'm on my time.
As to if it's stealing doing less than 40 hours, well that's a question of ethics really, with no universal black and white answer. Although I believe most companies expect a certain amount of lost time during a day, they are for the most part paying you to work each day. Pride (or the lack there of) in doing what you do will determine the quality of your work. Easily the majority of businesses have little to no ethics or honor in how they conduct business. Most business models are based on the final profits, with little consideration as to how they got there, so long as the amount grows. I still believe any company making a quality product or service can make a good profit and still have honor. While it is easy to fall into what is common place in the business world and it's practices, I'd ask yourself if you believe it's fair and justified working 20 hours for a 40 hour paycheck. Would you have the same view if you were the employer instead of the employee? In the end, you are the only one that has to live with the choice, but remember that we are what we do - not what we think, believe, or say. Actions define a person.
Looking at what your trying to accomplish, there is much more to consider than just being able to create 3D objects. While there are some free CAD software programs out there that can do a very nice job of limited spanning functionality, it would take a dedicated team years to develop any FOSS project to the level of AutoCAD. While Adobe is porting Photoshop to Linux, and GIMP is a very impressive alternative, it takes years for professionals to realize all that Photoshop can do. AutoCAD is the same, and has become the industry standard. Not only has amazing built-in functionality, like structural analysis, stress testing, and the lates version can do 3D renderings and animations built right into it. In the long run, you'll have spent enough time and resources trying to work with a FOSS CAD program, then it would have cost to just purchase AutoCAD. Sad, but true, and is an area I wish there was at least a competitive FOSS application available.
Well the first problem I see is that your on a Windows platform, so security is the last thing you'll be able to enforce. LOL Windows also has a horrible user and group permissions system, so relying on that will also include many headaches and issue in your future... continually. Can't really help you in Windows world beyond showing you a hack to get around pretty much anything - thus why I say not to even try.
I've worked at companies that freely gave out root access to developers, and others that guarded access like a trade secret to their special formula. Ultimately I don't believe developers really need root access, but that is dependent upon having a system admin that is doing their job correctly, and also definitely helps to use a code revision repository (SVN or CVS). I've also found that just building a local environment when restriction are in place, allows me to do anything I need, as master of my own domain - okay, crappy outdated workstation. But in either scenario, administrative or root access isn't necessary. Is it handy to have? Certainly, and has helped in the development process, but necessary, no. I also believe though that if you don't have developers that are capable and that you trust, then you should reconsider who works for you, and as a result should feel comfortable allowing root access. Any developer with ethics, even if parting on the worst of circumstances, isn't going to sabotage the system or server. The tech world after all isn't really that big of a world, and everything always turns full circle sooner or later. At least that's my two duckets worth.
-Davey
I believe that every worker in the IT industry is looking for that big idea company that goes huge overnight, something like Oracle comes to mind. 8-) Personally I've made enough companies rich off of software that I've designed and written, but while their rich (or were for a moment until they went bankrupt), it didn't really effect things for me - other than being worshiped for the god that I am. LOL I also can't count how many companies I've worked for and just about killed myself with overtime hours. Every company when they finally decide they want something, need it yesterday and it's priority 1... until later that day and next item becomes wanted.
This being said, one of the first questions I ask is do they have profit sharing or stock options, and is that on the table as a negotiating item. Also as a company, what are their immediate needs and goals, as well as their long term projected goal. If they answer anything other than "Complete and utter world domination", then don't expect to ever get a pay increase. If they don't offer any vested interest in the company, and they are presenting a salary position, I'd be clear on what is expected of you and how overtime hours (which will be guaranteed more than less) are compensated. Also doesn't hurt to ask them what their policy is on concealed weapons and gun carry to the office. LOL
It's like reading my own post, as I too am 39 and have been coding in this technology branch for 12+ years, and also am at that same crossroad of moving more into management or staying where I'm at. I can completely relate to your indecision about this, as I've been the Sr. software engineer at several companies over the last 6 years or so, and as a developer it's about peak of where it's reasonable to go. I have also worked in a couple positions as the manager, in addition to being a developer, and even held the title of CTO of a small start company (for whatever titles are worth).
While you definitely still need to keep up on technology for both positions (at least you should), you definitely don't need to dig in near as deep in a managerial position, so there is what I believe to be a much less demanding need to learn and still stay competitive. For me personally, it's the constant need to learn new techniques and languages that keeps things interesting and enable to push the envelope of what's possible, but there are days I just don't want to have that demand on me. I don't know how things are in your position as a developer, but further back than I can remember, if I didn't know about it or had a question, well then I'll be referencing google searches until I figure it out - because there is nobody to ask, but plenty of other programmers asking you questions. Most management positions also pay better, although I couldn't say why, since it doesn't seem to be as skilled of a job. Managers also requires far more meetings, writing documents and creating graphs, as well as a lot of politics, personal interaction, and even the ability to be a bit of a salesman.
In the end, I dislike meetings (especially pointless ones) and office politics, I just like creating things - the harder or more impossible the better. The flip side to just creating things is you don't get near as much deciding power as in management, which is why I was lucky enough to get to run both at the same time. I will say this, the management experience definitely doesn't hurt on a resume and opens a lot of other possible doors having that under my belt, and you never know what possible opportunities will come in the future. Ultimately for me, I choose to stay coding over managing, since I enjoy creating applications far more than being the effective communicator and publicist. 8-) You should do what you love, or at least like the best - while factoring in pay cuts or increases as compensation for compromises. I've been debating just starting my own company, which is definitely more of headache by a mile, but also a much bigger payoff - so maybe that's an option you can consider. It wouldn't hurt to try a manager position, as you can always go back if it doesn't suit you, and then you have established experience - should you want to return.
When the workday is over, if your saying to yourself "Why does god hate me more than everyone else", then it's time to do something different. 8-)
I believe every coder runs into this, whether it's burn out from overload, or even a touch of spring fever. The main thing that is essential for me personally, is what I consider to be the most powerful and influential element known, music. Picking the correct complementing genre can put me right into the zone, focused, and ready to go. Of course the opposite is true as well, which I find the wrong type of music will distract me. I've refined my personal tastes and reorganized my music collection into specific genres, as well as playlists, so I have a nice healthy supply ready for any mood or need.
While music will almost always put me into the mindset that I need to be in to code, this is not to say that there are days when it doesn't matter what you do, it just isn't going to happen. These are rare, but I'm a firm believer that if you hit a day like that, simply leave and go do something you actually want to do. If you try to force it, you'll end up doing little to no work, hate every minute your there, and producing poor quality code that you'll most likely rewrite later. Granted you can do this everyday, or even often, but once in a while is to be human. I think you'll find that taking that time for you will reset you to be completely ready the next day. If not, then maybe coding isn't the best career option. 8-)
Well stated and correct. I've unfortunately been thrown the task (as many in the IT world get daily) more than once to recover deleted files from a employee no longer with the company, or just recover files from a damaged system or hard drive. Usually the option of paying a recovering shop $2000 - $5000 to retrieve the data isn't even a consideration for an option, although definitely preferred. First and foremost I make an exact copy of the drive using the dd utility, such as the following:
dd if=/dev/sda of=/dev/sdb bs=512 conv=noerror,sync
Then all recovery is done on the copy made, so worst case scenario and everything including the cat goes south, it's no harm - no foul, since you can just make another copy and try again.
Which tool to use really depends on what type of data your trying to recover, as each program targets specific functionality. Many do just try to repair partition tables, which is generally not what you want. I've had great success using ddrescue, and is probably my preferred - again, depending on what your goal in recovery is. Another great tool is http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk (Testdisk) which works well. Others that are a little more involved to operate and setup are http://www.student.dtu.dk/~s042078/magicrescue/manpage.html (magicrescue) and http://www.sleuthkit.org/sleuthkit/ (the sleuthkit) and there is some good information at http://dftt.sourceforge.net/ (http://dftt.sourceforge.net/) which might provide help and insight.
No matter how you look at it though, your in for a fun ride, so best to stock up on pain killers and red bull.
Having stumbled into contract work after the Internet bubble burst, and remained with a steady flow since then, my view of contracts has changed back and forth over the years. There is a lot of good advice in the postings, and I don't think that an enormous amount of time should be devoted or needed for any contacted work. Other than the definite legal protection a contact provides, I believe more than anything else it insures that both you and the client are on the same page, with the same vision and expectations. That natural course of any good project is inevitably going to mutate into something completely different. Anyone that's done even one contract, or project working full-time for a company, knows how bad feature creap can be. Outlining exactly what is expected and what will be included very clearly is key to you being able to stay within your projected estimate. Something as simple as a form, if not defined, quickly can turn into dynamically generated content dependent drop list with per field javascript validation and pre-submission login/password availability checking with ajax calls (as a simple example).
Once each elements additional time is added, for all the things that weren't made clear in it's definition, you'll find yourself quickly way over your estimate. More than whether you decide to require a signed contract, or are just spec-ing out a project, they key element to being a successful contact programmer (in my humble opinion) is clear communication. You'll need to fully understand every element to come up with a cost estimate anyway, I've found that bulleting features, blocking logic flow, and quick short listings of functions not only make coming up with an estimate easier (as you can do a time allotment for each point), but also keeps you on track throughout the project and have a clear picture of the wide scope right from the start. Having you and the client both see, understand, and discuss each step of the development will remove most points that can easily become deal breaking issues or law suits later. Expectations need to be the same for both client and developer and most clients won't appreciate or understand why one seamingly simple element is actually the hardest logic point, or why the what they perceive to be the most complex piece is just simple display of calculation of compiled database data (for example).
Having a simple, but clear contract no only protects yourself, it protects the client and if done correctly, makes it so there are no surprises and extra things that always find there way to sneak in. Lastly, and that 1-2 hours for creating the outline (which you can use as a contract too) in your total hours. The client will appreciate it, help them feel like they "are in the loop", helps alleviate any concerns or doubts, and clearly shows professionalism on your part. When you think about it, as long as it's kept within relative reason of simple and to the point and in proportion to the volume of the project, can it really hurt you in any way?
-Davey
In many of the past jobs that I've had, I've often been laid with the burdon of assisting or handling in the interview process for new applicants. With virtually every new hire that had little to no experience and a shinny new CS degree, it required a good 3-6 months of hand holding just to get that person to a point where they could contribute. My personal belief is that structured education institutions cannot become proficient, organize a course, create a sylabus, and then offer a class available fast enough to be a current state in the working market. Technology simply moves too fast, and being a year or two behind makes your marketability limited and legacy.
I've been the Sr. Software engineer, system administrator, or CTO of the last 5 companies I've worked at, and although I have a couple college degrees, I've never taken so much as one computer class at school. Books and information on the web will be available and very comprehensive long before a school offers them, although that is a different style of learning and not for everyone. There is a distinct difference however between learned principles from school and real world application, and they are rarely the same - at least that's my take on it.
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It's a sad reality, but more often than not, it's simply not enough to have a great idea. In order to see a vision realized it often takes money and resources and this particular project required quite a bit and was developed and presented to the investors as something entirely different. As I understood things, once they caught wind of the true nature of the project and that it could potentially supply free power to everyone, they immediately shut it down - since that was in direct conflict to their goals. Whether or not all of this is true and correct, I would guess like anything else there are elements that have been distorted, points left out and some truths to it all. The government may know the answer however, as they swooped in and grabbed all his documents once he died, and I'm certain that if he financially was unable to build his dream, that at the very least he would have had the plans to build it all worked out on paper. So there may be hope that eventually his work comes to light and perhaps his vision can be built and realized, although those that have the information are probably more likely to use it for financial gain or power and control.
I'm not 100% sure, but I believe that it would run using docker. Docker I believe uses the same base engine that VirtualBox uses, although from my limited use of this great tool, it runs significantly faster with less drain on resources. I don't believe that it would have any problems with accessing the GPU - at least no more than any other virtualization system, so would be a viable option to consider.
If money weren't a factor (which is never the case) the list of things I would add would be long, but a few items would definitely be convenient. Like everyone has one side of their house that faces to the West, and in the evening the sun shines through those windows annoyingly bright. Sure there are blinds and curtains, which do the job of blocking it, but I'd much rather have the LCD glass that goes from clear all the way to a limo tint with just a tiny electrical current (like a AA would last a year). I'd also definitely have everything wired for remote operation, so door locks, lights, and power outlets at a minimum. The HVAC would have motorized and controlled duct flow control to allow for the temperature control in each room to control the temperature in that room to whatever you want. I saw a really cool system on "This New House" where they used the swimming pool, and underground huge tank, and the house itself in this system that used thermodynamics to heat the house and pool in the winter and burn off heat for A/C in the summer and was basically completely self-sustaining with the whole system being powered by solar panels. Very cool. Oh the list of gadgets and innovative goodies is always so much longer and larger than my budget and savings... if I had any savings.
I too had my spurt when I was younger. You'd think that writing a check on your own checking account wouldn't be the end of the world, especially if you turn yourself in, but it cost me two years in prison and a nice record with felonies. Even though I paid the restitution and did my time, the system is setup in such a way that you really don't ever stop paying for mistakes - like I can never own a gun, even though I've never had anything remotely violent in any history, but such is life. I started in the technology industry after all this happened, first at technical support and quickly advanced to systems administrator at an ISP. After a couple of years of that I went into programming and have never regretted it. I was lucky with the first company that I worked for after all this didn't care, and that paid off for that company as I took them from losing $30,000 a month into making a profit of around $22,000 a month within 8 months of being a sys admin. They sold off that company and asked me to move to a new company they were starting, built around a web site their in-house designer created that went viral and had over 3 million unique hits a day. All this spanned about 3 years and got some good experience under my belt. If you can make it past the first 3-4 years, most companies are going to take your experience over a mistake long since gone by. I've passed background checks and only had one issue in over 17 years working at a programmer. It has been a non-factor, whether brought up and discussed or not, with every job I've had spanning those 17 years - and that covers a good amount of jobs. Personally I don't go out of my way to volenteer the information, but also won't lie if asked or there is a generic form asking about criminal past. Making mistakes is part of living life, and I think most people and companies understand that and will look beyond it, but it does take you showing and proving it first. I wouldn't change what happened, as it has defined a part of me, and I believe made me a better person because of it - but in the same breath, I certainly wouldn't repeat it. Either way I don't believe that it would hold you back working in the future once you've established that it is a thing of the past.
I'm very much in the same boat as you are, maybe even slightly worse off. I have a couple of degrees (architectual design and drafting and an associates in psychology), but I never even took a computer class in college. I stumbled into a job as technical support at a failing ISP, and as people around me kept getting canned, I assended the list of positions mostly by being the last man standing, until I was the systems administrator. Eventually I found a major flaw in the billing and provisions process, which had over 1100 cancelled accounts still active, and that turned the comany around from running at a $20,000 loss each month to making a profit. While I shifted into programming, which I liked a lot better and have stay in that field since, I don't have any certifications, publications, or formal education in the IT industry.
While getting the first few jobs were tough, I've found that most companies will take experience over having a degree anyday, and twice on Tuesdays. Also having been on the hiring end of thing half of the time, I will always take experience over any degree, regardless of how prestigious (Okay, maybe not over an MIT degree. lol) I've had too many newly hired employees with their shinny new computer science degree, and I've got to hold their hand for the first 6 months because they know little of what is current practices, so much as they know what is "suppose to be the proper method". The trouble with schooling is that a technology comes out and gains some traction, it must then be choosen and learned by a professor. He must then write a syllabus before the school can even offer it as a course, which is then at the mercy of school quarters. By the time a student signs up, takes the class, and finishes - it's technology that is 1 -2 years old, which in todays world is just about 1 - 2 years too late. 8-)
Personally I haven't had any issues with education being a factor for coming up on a decade. My question to you would be where and how are you applying for jobs? These days I don't even waste my time looking for a job, as most jobs that are listed are in the lower range of what I would consider a good position and company. I've done pretty much every job in the last 8 years all working through recruiters. Headhunting seems to be an exploding field, so it takes weeding through vast pile of them to find one that is of real quality and service, but once you find a place like that, they will take care of you and represent you well. I also like it because they negotiate the salary or wage for you, with your input and guidelines of course. Plus recruiters seems to get all the best positions, as companies don't want to waste time sifting through the sea of unqualified candiates either. My advice would be to find a good recruiter, and if you have the skills, you'll be their favorite person in the world.
There is a good side to reading another programmers code, which is in seeing other methods and approaches to solutions. For any given task, there are many ways in which it can effectively be programmed for. Grant 90% of solutions done are usually inefficient, unstable, bloated, or just outright wrong, but out of that other 10% you can find some interesting things, even if it isn't your preference or end choice. The main thing is to be open-minded. A programmer that believes their way is the only good way (which is most programmers) is a programmer that expands their knowledge and capabilities very slowly.
As for being able to read it, I would strongly suggest customizing a plug-in to your favorite IDE and have it reformat the code. Every programmer codes with their own style, and while you wish everyone used correct indenting and such, the reality is far from that. If you want to save yourself a lot of headache and time, just auto-reformat each page as you go through it. This not only will make it so you can save the source code with good formatting, but will also make it much easier for you to read and review. At least that's my two bits, which in today's economy counts for next to nothing. 8-) I've been in your position too many times, and any way you look at it, you've got a bunch of scanning through files ahead of you. Good luck.
Being a new business, I'm sure money is tight, and like all things - any solution comes at a cost. Fortunately there are very good solutions out there that cost very little or are free, but the cost comes in learning and being able to setup those method up. If I assumed you had a resident genius that was capable of setting up anything, I think your best solution would be to centralize your costs, meaning for starters you get a single pipe to the internet that you can use for both data and your phone system. Buy a decent workstation, load Linux on it, and then install Asterisk, which will handle all of your internal phones. The beauty of using Asterisk is you can still come out looking a feeling like a big company with plenty of resources, with video calling, conference calling, automated phone menu answering and routing, and even click-to-call for your support page.
You can also use that workstation to be your PDC running Samba and install something like Zimba to be your MTA. Depending on how heavy your load is, you may even be able to use that same box as your firewall, DHCP server, and DNS name server (or DNS relay). So now you've got your marketing guys that will run only Windows happy, as well as your tech people which are running Linux or Mac, and nobody complaining that they can't use that specific program (which is the only way they know how to do it). It all sounds easy and great, but I won't lie to you and say that it's easy and quick to setup all that, although it can be if your familiar with all of that. You do also have the option of bringing a person in to set all that up, although I tend not to trust systems that I don't understand or can't fix myself. This setup would however be a very low cost solution to everything you mentioned, but the cost is knowledge or the time spent learning it all, which there is a lot there.
I'll take that challenge - of course it in itself is highly situated to have distinct advantages in some languages and disadvantages in others. Don't misunderstand me though, as vim is my preferred editor for doing any quick editing on a configuration file, or pretty much any other task... other than coding.
Many editors have plug-ins that make it pretty powerful, such as validating code including recursive includes and requires for languages such as PHP or Ruby. Some editors can also do pre-compiling of the likes of Java and C. Personally I found a lot of freedom and ability to control the features you personally would use in jEdit, which runs on any platform, so it makes it handy when you don't have a choice for the pre-installed machine you'll be working on. I can do simple or complex regex search and replace for a selection, page, or entire project with one click. Each of the hundreds of languages supported can be custom colorized and is smart enough to separate out each even if all included in the same files (ex. PHP, Javascript, CSS, and HTML in one file).
While I've happily used jEdit for around 10 years, I've seen other good editors as well, such as Kate (although not a fan of KDE) and even editors like Bluefish have come a long way. Even if you use vim, your going to need the colorization plug-in, and the specialized language plug-in, and ..... Point is stock, pretty much every editor is the same. You need to find an editor that fits with your needs and can expand as hopefully your programming progresses
While any server that is not completely within your level of control opens up possibilities of having it compromised, there is also no 100% guaranteed secure configuration that you could do even if it were 100% in your control. I would knock out the obvious first by doing a port scan on the server address to see what services may be running that aren't needed. Also make sure that MySQL is bound to the loopback IP and not the public IP (unless you have multiple servers accessing a central database server, in which case setup SSH secure tunnels with permission restrictions limiting only those servers - although it would be better to just install a second NIC on each server and also run a private network link between the servers). Code wise, I'd make sure that you are validating all submissions and are protected against SQL injection attacks. You can also change settings in PHP to be restrictive in memory usage, file upload size, and handling of requests by setting the minimum required value that your code base would need or use. This can be done in the Apache virtual host configuration, if they don't want to use those settings globally on a shared server. Lastly, when all else that can be done is handled, make sure to encrypt any sensitive data in the MySQL tables. Sure, if the server is compromised, the hash key string or other methodology key is contained either in the code base or in the unique key to the MySQL install, but it's one additional step and would require them to have much more data downloaded - which if nothing else, buys you time that they would need and for you to find them in the process. Oh, and depending on if your running in your own chroot setup, you can use non-standard ports for services like MySQL. Let's face it, the majority of hacking is done by script kiddies that are executing code or things they don't even fully understand. Protecting against the other 5% is a bit more involved, but also unlikely if you protect against the common automated attacks.
Good luck with your new site, and hope you have great success. If you take pride in your product, regardless of what it is, and make it as well as can be made and sold for a fair price - you may not make a boatload of cash overnight that screws the consumer like every other company in the world, but you will have steady and long lasting profit, as well as providing a value to the world. At least that's my two cents on a world with declining business ethics. 8-)
I do understand all to well what you asking for, and you'd think that it would be a fairly commonly found need, but apparently it's slim to none of anyone creating an all-in-one media manager. I too have a pretty large media collection consisting over about 1.5 TB of video, 80 GB of music, 30 GB of pictures, 28 GB of books, and other misc media. How to keep any sanity with it all has proven to be tasking.
While I'd love to know if you do find a good solution for it all, maybe some of the better solutions I've found will help you out or point you in the right direction. All of the following are open source Linux solutions that are pretty commonly found. I use Gallery to manage all my photos and even my self shot video, which is a pretty powerful and easy to install web based system. Couldn't really ask much more for organizing, managing, and making your collection available from anywhere - but still protected if so desired.
For my movie collection the best thing I found was Griffith, which is far from perfect or ideal, but is still young and they are making great strides with it's development. You can use one of a pretty long list of sources, which automatically grabs the majority of any movie details, downloads the poster and whatnot, but more importantly makes the information cross-reference friendly. So you can search for movies by director, or actor, or key grip if you want. Nice too that it imports and exports, although not in an ideal format.
The finally for music I kind of jump around between Clementine, Banshee, and Rhythmbox. All three are excellent players that handle a wide range of searching and playing ease, as well as recommending similar styles, genre, downloading covers and lyrics, etc. One key thing I absolutely have to have it mapping to my "extra" keys, which all three do. The Erognomic 4000 keyboard by Microsoft is about the only thing I've really liked that came from Microsoft, and I love it - even though way over priced. LOL
Oh if there were only a way to smash these together. Maybe if I find some spare time I'll start on a project doing just that, although "extra" time is tricky to come by these days...months... well last few years. *sigh*
I'd tell him to put the crack pipe down and back away. It's one thing to work long hours if you have a vested interest in the company, or even if it's crunch time to buckle down and get project completed or back on track to the completely ridiculous timeline set, but something altogether different when it's just another job. Any reasonable person would understand that you don't get a grip more for nothing, so whether it be bonus incentives or other monetary compensation, or loosening that death grip on company ownership and profit sharing - either way, if no compensation is given, then you'll end up with the same amount (or less) of work done while requiring the long hours, and have a staff of disgruntled employees to boot.
I think every company deals with that same dilema, especially when the base language is PHP. I've found there is a vast range of competency with PHP coders, which I believe is largely due to these tech colleges cranking out graduates with barely enough skills accomplish a task, let alone doing it more efficiently with layered logic. I myself have been coding using PHP for 10 yrs+ all with MySQL or PostgreSQL as the backend, and not to be boastful, but have used about every possible method, tricks for improvements, and know all the possibilities forwards and backwards. I do not however have one of these certifications, or even knew they were really available or widely accepted as credited. Despite the lack of being certified, I have designed, built, and maintained literally hundreds of databases over the years, as well as acted at the DBA - although I'm far from a DBA (I do know my strengths and limitations LOL) and could only manage to do some simple DB optimization, clustering, replication, and what not.
If I were to be one of your applicants and you did choose to require or gave great credit towards those who were certified, then I would likely be passed over. I believe that you'd find it more common than not that applicants aren't certified. I had plenty of occasions being both the interviewer and the applicant, which in my opinion the most effective and least time consuming is to come up with a case scenario problem and have each applicant solve it right then and there - before even any discussions or name exchange. 8-) Have it require the code solution, the DB schema, and freedom to use whatever modules, tools, or whatever they are comfortable with. It's important to make the problem presented something that could be done many ways obviously, as well as have a most likely lesser known slick solution method. This way you get a chance to see their coding style, ability to problem solve, knowledge of solution techniques and methods, design and logic, practical application skills, and even formatting and comment habits. I believe it's better than just code samples or viewing previous work, since it's directly applicable to their current state. Plus you can talk about it after, with questions of why did you choose this method, and whey structure this into these blocks, etc.
The interview process may take quite a bit longer, but not for you - the company hiring for the position. For you it just takes an available cubical or room with a basic computer, or even just paper and a pencil will work. I know there are some problems or task available out there that are designed exactly for this purpose. There is one involving a mechanical clock that uses steel balls and a series of chutes that you create the software version of that is pretty good. Any way you look at the hiring process, it isn't much fun and you don't get a very accurate idea of exactly what they are capable of until you see them in action, which this is about as close as it gets - short of a trial period hire. LOL
I started my illustrious career in the IT world as a system administrator until shifting into programming, which I like much better and has remained my focus for the last 10 years. That's not to say I still don't get sucked into doing the sys admin work and even that of what should be a DBA.
Being as such, I've had to learn some things through the school of hard knocks, others by trial and error, and more through the vast abundance of resources and printed texts. While you can't go wrong by reading any O'Reilly publication, and I am a devout fan of always reaching for the O'Reilly book on any topic first (and they do have a book on virtually everything technical you could want to know), they still cannot cover everything. Any database is vast in it's complexity and configuration settings to optimize it's performance. Each has advantages over other DB's, like the fact that MySQL has virtually no overhead in LEFT JOIN statements, making it smarter to break tables down into chunks of data used for various purposes and split each into it's own table. Of course each DB also has it's handicaps, using MySQL again as an example, the fact that MyISam tables don't play well with InnoDB tables. MyISam tables are amazing for full text index and searching, but have no foreign key referencing ability like the InnoDB, so your left making a choice of data integrity or searchability.
I've found that the O'Reilly books are a great start, but for the neurotic programmer always reaching for improvement, I really think the best resource is in reading the full documentation provided by the DB. MySQL has a wealth of information in their on-line documentation, as well as PostgreSQL, including user feedback and comments. You will end up reading 100 pages for that one page that gives you the answer you wanted, and some pages may take you re-reading it 10 times to understand their way of explaining something, but they provide information I haven't seen in any other resource. While they don't have a "design" section, they do give tips throughout the entire content scattered. Like MySQL recommends tables to contain less than 15 columns, or how to define a column with the correct and most efficient data type and size, such as a column for a zip code. Would you use an integer? Valid only for US and wouldn't cover hyphenated additional 4-5 digit entries, but you could - and making it unsigned can reduce the size you need. If using a varchar column, it's no advantage limiting it to 10, as 16 takes up the exact same amount of memory by how MySQL allocates space. It's the little things like that which are handy, but more than a pain to have to read through the docs. Luckily that's where O'Reilly should come first and fills those gaps first, then torcher yourself with the documentation for the little improvements over time. 8-)
-Davey
In my earlier years, being full of piss and vinegar, I was coding a minimum of 40 hours a week and up to 60 or even 70 hours. After working for several companies and a slew of projects, most of which generated millions in income for the business, I did a project that almost killed me. In order to hit the deadline, I worked on average 13.6 hours everyday for 4 months. I was beyond burned out, mentally exhausted, and just overall fried. Before delivery on the project I wanted to settle on the fees due for all the overtime, which quickly became a problem, even though every minute was logged. My philosophy on coding drastically changed after that.
Here is the truth and reality for every programmer. Any company you code for will take their sweet time coming up with specs and approval for a project. By the time you get it, they will undoubtedly want it yesterday, so you'll always be under a tight time crunch. You could have no life and kill yourself coding it and at the end get a shinny star or "great job" comment. If you work in a salary position, you may gain some respect, or even best case a small bonus, but is it really worth it? Unless you have a vested interest in the company, through something like stock options or profit sharing, it is worth it in the end. I suppose that is something to be answered on an individual basis. Personally for me, this is why I quit being a System Admin and became a programmer. I don't want to be on call 24/7 and when I've gone home for the day, I'm on my time.
As to if it's stealing doing less than 40 hours, well that's a question of ethics really, with no universal black and white answer. Although I believe most companies expect a certain amount of lost time during a day, they are for the most part paying you to work each day. Pride (or the lack there of) in doing what you do will determine the quality of your work. Easily the majority of businesses have little to no ethics or honor in how they conduct business. Most business models are based on the final profits, with little consideration as to how they got there, so long as the amount grows. I still believe any company making a quality product or service can make a good profit and still have honor. While it is easy to fall into what is common place in the business world and it's practices, I'd ask yourself if you believe it's fair and justified working 20 hours for a 40 hour paycheck. Would you have the same view if you were the employer instead of the employee? In the end, you are the only one that has to live with the choice, but remember that we are what we do - not what we think, believe, or say. Actions define a person.
Looking at what your trying to accomplish, there is much more to consider than just being able to create 3D objects. While there are some free CAD software programs out there that can do a very nice job of limited spanning functionality, it would take a dedicated team years to develop any FOSS project to the level of AutoCAD. While Adobe is porting Photoshop to Linux, and GIMP is a very impressive alternative, it takes years for professionals to realize all that Photoshop can do. AutoCAD is the same, and has become the industry standard. Not only has amazing built-in functionality, like structural analysis, stress testing, and the lates version can do 3D renderings and animations built right into it. In the long run, you'll have spent enough time and resources trying to work with a FOSS CAD program, then it would have cost to just purchase AutoCAD. Sad, but true, and is an area I wish there was at least a competitive FOSS application available.
Well the first problem I see is that your on a Windows platform, so security is the last thing you'll be able to enforce. LOL Windows also has a horrible user and group permissions system, so relying on that will also include many headaches and issue in your future... continually. Can't really help you in Windows world beyond showing you a hack to get around pretty much anything - thus why I say not to even try. I've worked at companies that freely gave out root access to developers, and others that guarded access like a trade secret to their special formula. Ultimately I don't believe developers really need root access, but that is dependent upon having a system admin that is doing their job correctly, and also definitely helps to use a code revision repository (SVN or CVS). I've also found that just building a local environment when restriction are in place, allows me to do anything I need, as master of my own domain - okay, crappy outdated workstation. But in either scenario, administrative or root access isn't necessary. Is it handy to have? Certainly, and has helped in the development process, but necessary, no. I also believe though that if you don't have developers that are capable and that you trust, then you should reconsider who works for you, and as a result should feel comfortable allowing root access. Any developer with ethics, even if parting on the worst of circumstances, isn't going to sabotage the system or server. The tech world after all isn't really that big of a world, and everything always turns full circle sooner or later. At least that's my two duckets worth. -Davey
I believe that every worker in the IT industry is looking for that big idea company that goes huge overnight, something like Oracle comes to mind. 8-) Personally I've made enough companies rich off of software that I've designed and written, but while their rich (or were for a moment until they went bankrupt), it didn't really effect things for me - other than being worshiped for the god that I am. LOL I also can't count how many companies I've worked for and just about killed myself with overtime hours. Every company when they finally decide they want something, need it yesterday and it's priority 1... until later that day and next item becomes wanted.
This being said, one of the first questions I ask is do they have profit sharing or stock options, and is that on the table as a negotiating item. Also as a company, what are their immediate needs and goals, as well as their long term projected goal. If they answer anything other than "Complete and utter world domination", then don't expect to ever get a pay increase. If they don't offer any vested interest in the company, and they are presenting a salary position, I'd be clear on what is expected of you and how overtime hours (which will be guaranteed more than less) are compensated. Also doesn't hurt to ask them what their policy is on concealed weapons and gun carry to the office. LOL
It's like reading my own post, as I too am 39 and have been coding in this technology branch for 12+ years, and also am at that same crossroad of moving more into management or staying where I'm at. I can completely relate to your indecision about this, as I've been the Sr. software engineer at several companies over the last 6 years or so, and as a developer it's about peak of where it's reasonable to go. I have also worked in a couple positions as the manager, in addition to being a developer, and even held the title of CTO of a small start company (for whatever titles are worth).
While you definitely still need to keep up on technology for both positions (at least you should), you definitely don't need to dig in near as deep in a managerial position, so there is what I believe to be a much less demanding need to learn and still stay competitive. For me personally, it's the constant need to learn new techniques and languages that keeps things interesting and enable to push the envelope of what's possible, but there are days I just don't want to have that demand on me. I don't know how things are in your position as a developer, but further back than I can remember, if I didn't know about it or had a question, well then I'll be referencing google searches until I figure it out - because there is nobody to ask, but plenty of other programmers asking you questions. Most management positions also pay better, although I couldn't say why, since it doesn't seem to be as skilled of a job. Managers also requires far more meetings, writing documents and creating graphs, as well as a lot of politics, personal interaction, and even the ability to be a bit of a salesman.
In the end, I dislike meetings (especially pointless ones) and office politics, I just like creating things - the harder or more impossible the better. The flip side to just creating things is you don't get near as much deciding power as in management, which is why I was lucky enough to get to run both at the same time. I will say this, the management experience definitely doesn't hurt on a resume and opens a lot of other possible doors having that under my belt, and you never know what possible opportunities will come in the future. Ultimately for me, I choose to stay coding over managing, since I enjoy creating applications far more than being the effective communicator and publicist. 8-) You should do what you love, or at least like the best - while factoring in pay cuts or increases as compensation for compromises. I've been debating just starting my own company, which is definitely more of headache by a mile, but also a much bigger payoff - so maybe that's an option you can consider. It wouldn't hurt to try a manager position, as you can always go back if it doesn't suit you, and then you have established experience - should you want to return.
When the workday is over, if your saying to yourself "Why does god hate me more than everyone else", then it's time to do something different. 8-)
-Davey
I believe every coder runs into this, whether it's burn out from overload, or even a touch of spring fever. The main thing that is essential for me personally, is what I consider to be the most powerful and influential element known, music. Picking the correct complementing genre can put me right into the zone, focused, and ready to go. Of course the opposite is true as well, which I find the wrong type of music will distract me. I've refined my personal tastes and reorganized my music collection into specific genres, as well as playlists, so I have a nice healthy supply ready for any mood or need. While music will almost always put me into the mindset that I need to be in to code, this is not to say that there are days when it doesn't matter what you do, it just isn't going to happen. These are rare, but I'm a firm believer that if you hit a day like that, simply leave and go do something you actually want to do. If you try to force it, you'll end up doing little to no work, hate every minute your there, and producing poor quality code that you'll most likely rewrite later. Granted you can do this everyday, or even often, but once in a while is to be human. I think you'll find that taking that time for you will reset you to be completely ready the next day. If not, then maybe coding isn't the best career option. 8-)
Well stated and correct. I've unfortunately been thrown the task (as many in the IT world get daily) more than once to recover deleted files from a employee no longer with the company, or just recover files from a damaged system or hard drive. Usually the option of paying a recovering shop $2000 - $5000 to retrieve the data isn't even a consideration for an option, although definitely preferred. First and foremost I make an exact copy of the drive using the dd utility, such as the following: dd if=/dev/sda of=/dev/sdb bs=512 conv=noerror,sync Then all recovery is done on the copy made, so worst case scenario and everything including the cat goes south, it's no harm - no foul, since you can just make another copy and try again. Which tool to use really depends on what type of data your trying to recover, as each program targets specific functionality. Many do just try to repair partition tables, which is generally not what you want. I've had great success using ddrescue, and is probably my preferred - again, depending on what your goal in recovery is. Another great tool is http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk (Testdisk) which works well. Others that are a little more involved to operate and setup are http://www.student.dtu.dk/~s042078/magicrescue/manpage.html (magicrescue) and http://www.sleuthkit.org/sleuthkit/ (the sleuthkit) and there is some good information at http://dftt.sourceforge.net/ (http://dftt.sourceforge.net/) which might provide help and insight. No matter how you look at it though, your in for a fun ride, so best to stock up on pain killers and red bull.
Having stumbled into contract work after the Internet bubble burst, and remained with a steady flow since then, my view of contracts has changed back and forth over the years. There is a lot of good advice in the postings, and I don't think that an enormous amount of time should be devoted or needed for any contacted work. Other than the definite legal protection a contact provides, I believe more than anything else it insures that both you and the client are on the same page, with the same vision and expectations. That natural course of any good project is inevitably going to mutate into something completely different. Anyone that's done even one contract, or project working full-time for a company, knows how bad feature creap can be. Outlining exactly what is expected and what will be included very clearly is key to you being able to stay within your projected estimate. Something as simple as a form, if not defined, quickly can turn into dynamically generated content dependent drop list with per field javascript validation and pre-submission login/password availability checking with ajax calls (as a simple example). Once each elements additional time is added, for all the things that weren't made clear in it's definition, you'll find yourself quickly way over your estimate. More than whether you decide to require a signed contract, or are just spec-ing out a project, they key element to being a successful contact programmer (in my humble opinion) is clear communication. You'll need to fully understand every element to come up with a cost estimate anyway, I've found that bulleting features, blocking logic flow, and quick short listings of functions not only make coming up with an estimate easier (as you can do a time allotment for each point), but also keeps you on track throughout the project and have a clear picture of the wide scope right from the start. Having you and the client both see, understand, and discuss each step of the development will remove most points that can easily become deal breaking issues or law suits later. Expectations need to be the same for both client and developer and most clients won't appreciate or understand why one seamingly simple element is actually the hardest logic point, or why the what they perceive to be the most complex piece is just simple display of calculation of compiled database data (for example). Having a simple, but clear contract no only protects yourself, it protects the client and if done correctly, makes it so there are no surprises and extra things that always find there way to sneak in. Lastly, and that 1-2 hours for creating the outline (which you can use as a contract too) in your total hours. The client will appreciate it, help them feel like they "are in the loop", helps alleviate any concerns or doubts, and clearly shows professionalism on your part. When you think about it, as long as it's kept within relative reason of simple and to the point and in proportion to the volume of the project, can it really hurt you in any way? -Davey
In many of the past jobs that I've had, I've often been laid with the burdon of assisting or handling in the interview process for new applicants. With virtually every new hire that had little to no experience and a shinny new CS degree, it required a good 3-6 months of hand holding just to get that person to a point where they could contribute. My personal belief is that structured education institutions cannot become proficient, organize a course, create a sylabus, and then offer a class available fast enough to be a current state in the working market. Technology simply moves too fast, and being a year or two behind makes your marketability limited and legacy.
I've been the Sr. Software engineer, system administrator, or CTO of the last 5 companies I've worked at, and although I have a couple college degrees, I've never taken so much as one computer class at school. Books and information on the web will be available and very comprehensive long before a school offers them, although that is a different style of learning and not for everyone. There is a distinct difference however between learned principles from school and real world application, and they are rarely the same - at least that's my take on it.
- Davey