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I'm pretty good with my estimations and have worked with people who are also pretty good at it. The biggest problem is bosses/management don't want to hear the actual estimate.
Long before Agile and Scrum, Novell adopted the mantra that all projects take two weeks. I was in one meeting where everyone on our team was asked how long it would take to finish--mind you it was just our team--and everyone said "two weeks". I said "five months." I got laid off six weeks later. The project took exactly five months to finish (and still didn't ship for another six months after that.)
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Joe Woodbury wrote: The biggest problem is bosses/management don't want to hear the actual estimate.
100% this!
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.(John 3:16) ![Badger | [badger,badger,badger,badger...]](https://codeproject.global.ssl.fastly.net/script/Forums/Images/badger.gif)
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Kent Sharkey wrote: Because wethey (managers, marketing, sells...) suck at defining projects
FTFY
M.D.V. 
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Kent Sharkey wrote: Because we suck at defining projects
Engineering is usually quite good at estimating the time required for a project. The problem is that Sales always wants it earlier so they can show it at the next expo, and they have the ear of Management.
Given that most companies are profit-driven, the company that delivers first is likely to get the most sales, and that Management is rarely held liable for any failures, there is no real solution to the problem.
Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.
-- 6079 Smith W.
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Daniel Pfeffer wrote: The problem is that Sales always wants it earlier so they can show it at the next expo
Not only Sales - the customers, too!
In my student days, one large project was implemented using an IBM prototyping system with APL as the prototyping language! It was really great (if you could handle APL...). The guy who introduced the system to us told about one 'problem': Customers testing out the prototype often would say: "That's exactly what we need; we'll take it. You'll receive our payment shortly. Thanks and goodbye!". So the developers must make sure to always leave some essential functionality out, and make that very clear to the customer, to stop him from running off with the prototype. Quite often, the customer had a hard time understanding why it would take another six months to implement the system - they had seen in running perfectly in front of their eyes, why would it take so long?
Not only salesmen but customers crave for news at every expo. I worked in a company where the sales people held back some new developments for expos/releases: As developers, we were eager to display all we had achieved, but the sales people said "No! We have enough news for this time, we'll hold the rest back, in case we don't get around to developing any eye catchers in the next round". We developers were told not to reveal any of the already-implemented functionality (it was not yet linked in the product sold) to customers; that should be a new big headline a few later. You don't gobble all the vitamin pills in the bottle in one go 
Religious freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make five.
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Increasingly, our cars will be controlled by a small number of powerful computers. Get ready for a right-hand turn with: 'ti --active:on --side:right --tick:3000'
It's The Year of Linux on Cars!
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I for once say "cheers" on that. Safety functionality in Windows... 
M.D.V.
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This newly revealed effort by Forest Blizzard involves the group exploring an issue that was part of the Windows Print Spooler service. Defend yourself by using up all the ink
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Quote: exploiting an old Windows Print Spooler issue
only "a", I would go more for "all", only that many other are still to be "found" (and I don't mean found by the hackers)
M.D.V.
If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about?
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We are proud to announce the .NET ecosystem’s first and only true Single Project solution, empowering developers with a unified approach across all 9 platform targets, spanning mobile, web, desktop, and embedded apps. "It's also a dessert topping!"
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A.k.a. a "hello world" of 1 gb system place requirements?
M.D.V.
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A model for you, and a model for you, and a model for you!
TechCrunch
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To quote Kraftwerk:
Quote: Sie ist ein Model und sie sieht gut aus
Ich nähm sie heut gerne mit zu mir nach Haus
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New Version of XKCD for this needed
M.D.V.
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I'd think that maybe three or four models should be enough for Europe.
(Also, 640 K should be enough for everyone.)
Religious freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make five.
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Things are not build like before anymore... (I am looking at you boeing) 
M.D.V. 
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And that's not something you can often say about anything any government agency built.
There are no solutions, only trade-offs. - Thomas Sowell
A day can really slip by when you're deliberately avoiding what you're supposed to do.
- Calvin (Bill Watterson, Calvin & Hobbes)
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Wow, I figured that one was done for.
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We’re opening up the operating system powering our Meta Quest devices to third-party hardware makers, giving more choice to consumers and a larger ecosystem for developers to build for No one is buying our VR gear, so maybe people won't buy other companies making our VR gear?
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No way I am letting something from Zuckeberg get that close to my brain
M.D.V.
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Dr. Charles Buhler, a NASA engineer and the co-founder of Exodus Propulsion Technologies, has revealed that his company’s propellantless propulsion drive, which appears to defy the known laws of physics, has produced enough thrust to counteract Earth’s gravity. He'd show it, but uh, it flew away!
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Kent Sharkey wrote: which appears to defy the known laws of physics
people a couple of decades back wouldn't think some actual things were going to be possible.
M.D.V.
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Until he puts it on a rocket that launches from the planet into orbit, I'm not going to hold my breath. We do know there is an anomalous force applied to probes doing gravity slings. They tend to come out faster than expected. However, this isn't the same amount of thrust that is needed to get off the ground.
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obermd wrote: We do know there is an anomalous force applied to probes doing gravity slings.
Not quite.
A "gravity sling" works by energy/momentum transfer. The spacecraft (+propellant) drops into the gravitational well of the planet, gaining kinetic energy at the expense of potential energy. The propellant is burnt close to the planet, leaving it close to the planet. This has the effect of transferring to the spacecraft both the momentum gained due to falling into the gravitational well and the momentum gained due to the burning of the propellant. Handled correctly, this will result in an increase is the spacecraft's speed over and above what it would get from just burning the propellant.
The momentum that the spacecraft picks up is not free; it comes from the momentum of the planet in its orbit. However, as the spacecraft is mauch smaller than the planet, the effect on the planet's orbit isn't measurable.
Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.
-- 6079 Smith W.
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