Re: Goodbye, Lingnu
providers which are also ISP - they suck, period! >> >> I think that this niche is mostly empty and people can get some >> jobs/contracts with such customers. >> >> If anyone want to register himself, I have a neutral forum for that. see >> here: http://hosts-forum.com/index.php >> >> Hope this helps, >> Hetz >> >> On Mon, Nov 14, 2011 at 3:02 PM, Omer Zak wrote: >> >>> We need some process for identifying the next niche to pursue, taking >>> into account current skill set, customers/contacts, and effort&expense >>> incurred in acquiring the competencies relevant for the next niche. >>> >>> Did anyone blog about such a process? >>> -- >> >> *?? ?? ??? >> ??-??? >> *? ?? ?? ? ?? >> ??? ?? ??? ??? ? Hulu? NetFlix? Pandora? >> Google Voice? ?? ??, ? <http://vps.net.bz/?p=406>. >> >> >> ___ >> Linux-il mailing list >> Linux-il@cs.huji.ac.il >> http://mailman.cs.huji.ac.il/mailman/listinfo/linux-il >> >> > -- next part -- > An HTML attachment was scrubbed... > URL: > <http://mailman.cs.huji.ac.il/pipermail/linux-il/attachments/2014/e82b57d3/attachment-0001.html> > > -- > > Message: 3 > Date: Mon, 14 Nov 2011 23:27:38 +0200 > From: Etzion Bar-Noy > To: "Nadav Har'El" > Cc: linux-il , geoffrey mendelson > > Subject: Re: [OFFTOPIC] Finding the next lucrative niche (was: Re: > Goodbye, Lingnu) > Message-ID: > > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" > > It doesn't matter. Because a customer needs a method of estimating a work, > does not make you his bitch(tm). You can estimate your work, but you seldom > work in a vacuum. You are working on his servers, on his setups, his > storage devices, around his network equipment. Under most cases, when I get > delayed, it's because of the customer, and not me. > > Example. One of the newer cellular suppliers has demanded that I install a > large system in their new server farm (16 blades and a storage). I have > prepared the system, and on the delivery day (which was very time-pressed > due to the customer), I have discovered that they had not installed 220v AC > there yet. Can't do anything with the servers. The funny thing is that > during that time, two or three weeks since, the system is just sitting > there, when the server room is being "built" around it. > > Ez > > On Mon, Nov 14, 2011 at 4:33 PM, Nadav Har'El wrote: > >> On Mon, Nov 14, 2011, geoffrey mendelson wrote about "Re: [OFFTOPIC] >> Finding the next lucrative niche (was: Re: Goodbye, Lingnu)": >> > Long ago I got out of the PC repair/support business when the 50 NIS >> > an hour people took over. >> >> Am I the only one bothered by all this "per hour" talk? >> >> What prevents a 50-NIS-per-hour consultant from telling you he worked >> for 4 hours on your problem, which it actually took him just one hour in >> his lab? >> Or a 200-NIS-per-hour consultant from finding your problem in 10 >> minutes, because he solved exactly this problem a week ago or wrote the >> necessary code already? >> >> So how is the "price per hour" a meaningful variable when comparing two >> consultants? >> >> -- >> Nadav Har'El | Monday, Nov 14 >> 2011, >> n...@math.technion.ac.il >> |- >> Phone +972-523-790466, ICQ 13349191 |Cats aren't clean, they're just >> covered >> http://nadav.harel.org.il |with cat spit. >> >> ___ >> Linux-il mailing list >> Linux-il@cs.huji.ac.il >> http://mailman.cs.huji.ac.il/mailman/listinfo/linux-il >> > -- next part -- > An HTML attachment was scrubbed... > URL: > <http://mailman.cs.huji.ac.il/pipermail/linux-il/attachments/2014/4a2f43da/attachment-0001.html> > > -- > > Message: 4 > Date: Tue, 15 Nov 2011 09:41:55 +1100 > From: Amos Shapira > To: "Nadav Har'El" > Cc: Shachar Shemesh , linux-il > > Subject: Re: Goodbye, Lingnu > Message-ID: > > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" > > On 14 November 2011 22:14, Nadav Har'El wrote: > >> So maybe the key to winning over your competitors isn't to charge less >> per hour, but rather to complete the job in less time. (you can
[OFFTOPIC] Medical practitioners and building trade people vs. software developers (was: Re: Goodbye, Lingnu)
On Tue, 2011-11-15 at 15:04 +0200, Tom Balazs wrote: > 2. The customer is often not able to understand the product or service > he is buying. That means they can't really understand whether or not a > job was done well. This is true in many fields. I am curious to know how do people in the building trades and in the medical area manage to attract high payment in exchange for excellence. How do they differ from software developers, who are often forced to race to the bottom? In those areas, there is the element of client not being fully cognizant of the product or service he is buying (alebit this element is not as pronounced in the building trades). --- Omer -- You haven't made an impact on the world before you caused a Debian release to be named after Snufkin. My own blog is at http://www.zak.co.il/tddpirate/ My opinions, as expressed in this E-mail message, are mine alone. They do not represent the official policy of any organization with which I may be affiliated in any way. WARNING TO SPAMMERS: at http://www.zak.co.il/spamwarning.html ___ Linux-il mailing list Linux-il@cs.huji.ac.il http://mailman.cs.huji.ac.il/mailman/listinfo/linux-il
job opening
I know this is not a windows list however if you read down, they want linux and asterisk skills too. I figured if someone had the skills, they may need the job. I know NOTHING about it, and replying to me will get you nowhere. Mentioning me to them will just get you blank looks. :-) This was taken from www.janglo.net. Geoff. System Administrator – Jerusalem Maintain, install, configure IT environment for medium sized telco company. -Windows 2008 R2, Active Directory, GPO, DNS, DHCP, IIS -Support MS SQL and MySQL servers. -Basic Linux experience required. Asterisk experience an advantage. -IP Telephony experience a plus. -Networking knowledge required: Firewall maintenance, VPN, switching, NAT, etc. -End User PC support. -Fluent English and Hebrew mandatory. -MCITP or CCNA Certified. -Residence in Jerusalem mandatory. Send CVs to: j...@talknsave.net -- Geoffrey S. Mendelson, N3OWJ/4X1GM My high blood pressure medicine reduces my midichlorian count. :-( ___ Linux-il mailing list Linux-il@cs.huji.ac.il http://mailman.cs.huji.ac.il/mailman/listinfo/linux-il
Re: [OFFTOPIC] Medical practitioners and building trade people vs. software developers (was: Re: Goodbye, Lingnu)
On Tue, Nov 15, 2011 at 3:20 PM, Omer Zak wrote:
> I am curious to know how do people in the building trades and in the
> medical area manage to attract high payment in exchange for excellence.
Why do you think they do? The vast majority of medical services are
provided by unionized personnel, as we all should be painfully aware
of. Their salaries may be low or high, but quality is not a factor
that determines them. Construction workers and architects (I happen to
know a bit about the latter profession for personal reasons) are
woefully underpaid and underappreciated in Israel, and quality does
not matter there either.
I suspect the only case that supports your statement is private
medical (or legal) practice - let me defer it for just a few lines...
> How do they differ from software developers, who are often forced to
> race to the bottom?
How often do you hear the statement "we _cannot afford to do it right_
- it is too expensive" ("expensive" means in terms of time or money or
both)? I hear it every day[1]. With this attitude, one's hope of
"attracting high payment in exchange for excellence" is lost.
The difference between staying alive or dying (or becoming an invalid)
may make you be prepared to pay a lot of money if a private physician
convinces you that with his services you have a better chance. Ditto
for staying out of jail with the help of a good lawyer. Living in a
house that will not crumble, or leak smelly dirty stuff from pipes, or
whatever is less drastic but still makes a difference (maybe not a lot
of difference if you buy an apartment you intend to let). In every
case, we are dealing with perceptions rather than facts at the time of
rate negotiation. Software or engineering services must only be "good
enough" even at perception level, and that bar is pretty low.
In addition, (really) shoddy work in either construction or medicine
has at least the potential of being punished, criminally or in
monetary terms. A software vendor typically assumes virtually no
responsibility for substandard products, and this further reduces the
incentive to pay for quality.
I basically agree with Shachar's calculations. One can invert his
argument (same thing, different angle): while his break-even point is
at par with a full time salary at the same hourly rate, his rate
actually should _include_ compensation for those periods of
"downtime", looking for new contracts, etc. This means that the hourly
rate for the actual work done for a particular customer _should_ be
quite a bit higher than his monthly salary divided by the number of
hours. The incentive to the customer should be that once Shachar does
his work he will not need to be kept on payroll, provided with office
space, equipment, benefits, all sorts of services, etc. However, the
associated savings are too difficult for a typical beancounter (or
board member who needs to approve it) to assess - costs are easy to
quantify, while savings are not. The proposition of having such a
qualified engineer as Shachar permanently on the payroll, available to
do whatever management directs him to do, etc., etc., somehow looks
cheap in comparison. In addition, one wants a consultant for stuff
that is outside one's core competency, so it looks like outsourcing,
which _must_ be cheaper than paying permanent staff, right? The
perceptions may or may not be wrong, but it does not matter if they
are.
[1] My attempts to say, "No, we cannot afford to do it _wrong_!"
usually fail to embed the message into the consciousness of my
interlocutors. Repeat after me: costs are easy to quantify, savings
are not.
Shachar, sorry about your venture, and best of luck at LiveU.
--
Oleg Goldshmidt | o...@goldshmidt.org
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Re: [OFFTOPIC] Medical practitioners and building trade people vs. software developers (was: Re: Goodbye, Lingnu)
On 15/11/2011, at 09:52, Oleg Goldshmidt wrote: > In addition, one wants a consultant for stuff > that is outside one's core competency, so it looks like outsourcing, > which _must_ be cheaper than paying permanent staff, right? No, it's almost always more expensive, but should only be used when not intended to be permanent. You can hire top talent for projects, then let them go do the next one elsewhere, on someone else's budget. > [1] My attempts to say, "No, we cannot afford to do it _wrong_!" > usually fail to embed the message into the consciousness of my > interlocutors. Repeat after me: costs are easy to quantify, savings > are not. Time and materials is my favorite type of contract. I will happily work hours on your project indefinitely until you tell me to stop. Especially if you don't want to pay for a proper project plan. > Shachar, sorry about your venture, and best of luck at LiveU. Ditto. sambo ___ Linux-il mailing list Linux-il@cs.huji.ac.il http://mailman.cs.huji.ac.il/mailman/listinfo/linux-il
Re: [OFFTOPIC] Medical practitioners and building trade people vs. software developers (was: Re: Goodbye, Lingnu)
sammy ominsky writes: > On 15/11/2011, at 09:52, Oleg Goldshmidt wrote: > >> In addition, one wants a consultant for stuff >> that is outside one's core competency, so it looks like outsourcing, >> which _must_ be cheaper than paying permanent staff, right? > > No, it's almost always more expensive, but should only be used when > not intended to be permanent. You can hire top talent for projects, > then let them go do the next one elsewhere, on someone else's > budget. Irony/sarcasm is not part of SMTP, is it? ;-) > Time and materials is my favorite type of contract. I will happily > work hours on your project indefinitely until you tell me to stop. > Especially if you don't want to pay for a proper project plan. T&M contracts typically include clauses that cap the overall cost (unless you are a doctor or a lawyer, I suppose). Then somehow the devious customer is so disorganized that the poor vendor reaches the cap before real work even starts... ;-) -- Oleg Goldshmidt | p...@goldshmidt.org ___ Linux-il mailing list Linux-il@cs.huji.ac.il http://mailman.cs.huji.ac.il/mailman/listinfo/linux-il
