Hmmm. I just checked out this link and while it does show the $599 price, when I add it to a shopping cart the price changes to $2799. Is there some kind of special coupon code you need to input or is the $599 price from an old promotional that is over? It does look like a good deal for the $599 price.
Up until late last year I had been telecommuting as a CTO for a NY based media company for over two years. I live on a horse farm in Michigan. Part of the job was administrative, part design/coding. I was able to handle both effectively via phone/fax/email and the rare flight to New York. This wasn't my first telecommuting job, so I was prepared for the pitfalls.
I find that I'm far more productive as a programmer at home. Fewer unnecessary interruptions ("hey, check out this cool website!"). People have to think about what they want to tell you before firing off an email or picking up the phone. I always arrived at work on time:-).
Administration takes a bit more work. Longer phone calls are necessary to accomplish what can be done with the right facial expression in person.:-) But as long as the lines of communication are open on the social level this can work well. If they aren't you can get easily marginalized.
You need to setup your home work environment appropriately. Designate a room as your home office and only keep work related stuff there (this helps at tax time too). Get a separate phone and fax lines for business and have the company pay for it. (Your husband/wife/significant other will appreciate it and your company can be sure that they can get through to you) Get the best net connection you can and have the company pay for that too. (It is their business expense after all and they should be saving in health insurance since you work at home.:-) ) Get a file cabinet for all the extra paperwork the job will generate. Decide on specific times to start and leave work and make that clear with the company.
You do have to make yourself stop working and set limits with the company so that you don't get silly calls at 8pm asking how to setup a modem on a laptop for the umpteenth time because all the other tech people have gone home and you can always be reached at home. It is also too easy to continue working on a problem while you should be preparing dinner or giving your kids a bath or feeding the animals or any of a host of other necessary, if mundane, life tasks. You should have a real life outside of work. Go live it!
If you have small kids at home and both parents work, consider getting a sitter. You'll all be happier. Even if you both work at home. Otherwise tensions can rise when trying to decide who gets to watch the little one for parts of the day. If your kids are in school and somebody has to take them, consider putting some flexibility into your schedule so that you can share the task of taking your kids to school and picking them up. Sometimes the things they say in the car can make your day and put your work into its proper perspective!
When I need to collaborate on a project with other programmers we use CVS or something similar for source managment and we just sit on IRC or use email to discuss the details. It less of a hassle than setting up conference calls and people can come and go as they need to. Works just like being in an office except for visuals, which aren't always that important. Your descriptive skills improve enormously when you can't just say, "Look at this." You also tend to do a bit more background work when bugs come up to make sure you've covered all the possible problems before bugging other programmers.
Since leaving my old job, I've done consulting for another company in New York and one in New Hampshire. I work in a real office now, but look forward to working at home again. I just get more work done that way.
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Hmmm. I just checked out this link and while it does show the $599 price, when I add it to a shopping cart the price changes to $2799. Is there some kind of special coupon code you need to input or is the $599 price from an old promotional that is over? It does look like a good deal for the $599 price.
There is more than one place to get X for the yopy. You can also find X and an associated kernel for it at http://www.yopydeveloper.org/download.html.
I find that I'm far more productive as a programmer at home. Fewer unnecessary interruptions ("hey, check out this cool website!"). People have to think about what they want to tell you before firing off an email or picking up the phone. I always arrived at work on time :-).
Administration takes a bit more work. Longer phone calls are necessary to accomplish what can be done with the right facial expression in person. :-) But as long as the lines of communication are open on the social level this can work well. If they aren't you can get easily marginalized.
You need to setup your home work environment appropriately. Designate a room as your home office and only keep work related stuff there (this helps at tax time too). Get a separate phone and fax lines for business and have the company pay for it. (Your husband/wife/significant other will appreciate it and your company can be sure that they can get through to you) Get the best net connection you can and have the company pay for that too. (It is their business expense after all and they should be saving in health insurance since you work at home. :-) ) Get a file cabinet for all the extra paperwork the job will generate. Decide on specific times to start and leave work and make that clear with the company.
You do have to make yourself stop working and set limits with the company so that you don't get silly calls at 8pm asking how to setup a modem on a laptop for the umpteenth time because all the other tech people have gone home and you can always be reached at home. It is also too easy to continue working on a problem while you should be preparing dinner or giving your kids a bath or feeding the animals or any of a host of other necessary, if mundane, life tasks. You should have a real life outside of work. Go live it!
If you have small kids at home and both parents work, consider getting a sitter. You'll all be happier. Even if you both work at home. Otherwise tensions can rise when trying to decide who gets to watch the little one for parts of the day. If your kids are in school and somebody has to take them, consider putting some flexibility into your schedule so that you can share the task of taking your kids to school and picking them up. Sometimes the things they say in the car can make your day and put your work into its proper perspective!
When I need to collaborate on a project with other programmers we use CVS or something similar for source managment and we just sit on IRC or use email to discuss the details. It less of a hassle than setting up conference calls and people can come and go as they need to. Works just like being in an office except for visuals, which aren't always that important. Your descriptive skills improve enormously when you can't just say, "Look at this." You also tend to do a bit more background work when bugs come up to make sure you've covered all the possible problems before bugging other programmers.
Since leaving my old job, I've done consulting for another company in New York and one in New Hampshire. I work in a real office now, but look forward to working at home again. I just get more work done that way.