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Google for failed government IT projects and you'll get no end of leads
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/aug/19/costly-trail-british-government-it-disasters-universal-credit[^]
Any IT firm that accepts government work just treats it as a blank cheque and invariably ends up taking the Mickey. Add to this the fact that the government doesn't contact firms direct, it hires consultants who sub-contract to other consultants who find software firms who then sub-contract the work to other firms. Between government and coder are 4 or 5 firms, all taking a cut as the work passes its way down.
I've never worked in the public sector myself but I did once work on a government project and it's an eye opener. The waste and mismanagement is unbelievable, and trying to deal with public service workers is like trying to get blood from a stone. The project ran for years, cost hundreds of millions and was live for about a month before it was replaced by something else. No doubt that "something else" had also ran for years, cost millions and millions....
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I'll send you a copy of my autobiography, that should cover it.
Some men are born mediocre, some men achieve mediocrity, and some men have mediocrity thrust upon them.
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Thanks for the replies and the help so far!
Updated OP with my current progress, hopefully one more to go!
UPDATE: THE UNIT TEACHER SCREWED UP SAYING WHAT HE REQUIRED!!!!111!!!
Okay, time to adjust this whole darn thing then...
modified 19-Jun-15 6:36am.
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The only way to fail is to stop trying.
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PIEBALDconsult wrote: The only way to fail is to stop trying.
Absolutely. Failure should always be accomplished without effort. (I don't think that's really what you meant, is it?)
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True, there's nothing worse that expending extreme effort and then failing. Better to fail right off.
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"Short Circuits sold here"
No link, subject, or anything else.
What do you get when you cross a joke with a rhetorical question?
The metaphorical solid rear-end expulsions have impacted the metaphorical motorized bladed rotating air movement mechanism.
Do questions with multiple question marks annoy you???
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They did not mention a sale on parasitic thyristors[^]?
The language is JavaScript. that of Mordor, which I will not utter here
This is Javascript. If you put big wheels and a racing stripe on a golf cart, it's still a f***ing golf cart.
"I don't know, extraterrestrial?"
"You mean like from space?"
"No, from Canada."
If software development were a circus, we would all be the clowns.
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Interesting link.
What do you get when you cross a joke with a rhetorical question?
The metaphorical solid rear-end expulsions have impacted the metaphorical motorized bladed rotating air movement mechanism.
Do questions with multiple question marks annoy you???
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The result when such 'accidental transistors' fire is very much like a short circuit. My old Computer is from 1978 and completely CMOS. I don't think that the chips back then were protected against this. CMOS was not 'mainstream' at that time yet.
The language is JavaScript. that of Mordor, which I will not utter here
This is Javascript. If you put big wheels and a racing stripe on a golf cart, it's still a f***ing golf cart.
"I don't know, extraterrestrial?"
"You mean like from space?"
"No, from Canada."
If software development were a circus, we would all be the clowns.
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I think we're on the same stupid mailing list.
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Hmm, I think there's some mistake there. That should have been "For a short-circuit, solder here". 
Ok, I am out.
You have just been Sharapova'd.
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A man is telling his neighbor, "I just bought a new hearing aid. It cost me $4000, but it's state of the art. It's perfect!"
"Really?" answers the neighbor "What kind is it?"
"12:30."
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Reminds me of an anecdote heard more than 30 years ago. Two hearing-impaired people meet in the city.
A: What time is it now?
B: Just thought of going to the market.
A: Oh, I thought it was coffee time.
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Oldest, certainly! The original's in hieroglyphics! Best?
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Last week after a hefty dose of MS updates my main dev workstation started misbehaving. Starting some programs from mapped network drives would fail with the message 'Path not found ...' with the path to a file that I can get to in explorer. Further, double-clicking on a file such as a project file gave the same message. Further still, I could browse to the project from the IDE and it would open without a problem. Sadly, this mess is also affecting automated build procs so I need to figure it out fast.
Process Monitor (a great free tool) led me to a permissions issue with the CSC folder. Windows denied me access at first but then allowed me to take ownership of the folder and contents. 45 minutes into the process I got worried and clicked the Cancel button. 3 hours later and it is still cancelling! 
It's been a great system for the last 5.8 years but looks like it may be ready for retirement! On that note, my FIL called yesterday to brag about his new Surface Pro which MS apparently has on sale for the next few days. I'm seriously considering getting one but thought I'd ask here first if anyone has used or is using one of these for serious development. I would be considering the i5 model (256GB and 8GB) and most certainly a new external drive. The only thing holding me back is knowing what kind of bad@$$ rig I could build/buy for half the cost. Decisions, decisions, ...
"Go forth into the source" - Neal Morse
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My new(er) i7 laptop is running Windows 8.1 and the latest updates renderd the Fn key unusable and the stupid mousepad would previously be blocked when my mouse was plugged in, now cannot be turned off.
Ugh! I searched for answers for over an hour last night. It is so annoying when microsoft creates more work and unconfigures your machine with their updates. Terrible. 
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I had the Surface Pro 2 (256,8). It is fine for a development system. I was running SQL Server & Visual Studio on it without a problem. The screen is good, although a little small.
However, its biggest drawback is the keyboard. Both styles are terrible to type on. The touchpad is also very poor - I chose to take an external mouse with me everywhere. It also only has one USB port, so I needed to take a hub with me (mouse, camera, backup drive).
Unfortunately, mine got stolen from the boot of my car. Since I needed a laptop, I went straight to the store intending to buy a Surface Pro 3, but ended up with a Zenbook instead.
The Zenbook is great. The screen is bigger, the keyboard is a massive improvement, although it's still only a laptop keyboard. The touchpad is usable. It has 3 USB ports. Very happy with it.
Are the Surface Pros on special now, because the next generation is about to be released?
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NeverJustHere wrote: Are the Surface Pros on special now, because the next generation is about to be released?
I wouldn't be surprised, but it's not a deep discount, just 10%.
Thanks for the positive feedback on the Zenbook. 
"Go forth into the source" - Neal Morse
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Get a USB 3 dock (doesn't have to be Microsoft's overpriced one, this[^] is the one I have), hook up your mouse/keyboard/monitors/every other peripheral you can think of to it, and use it like any other PC. That's how I used mine until I decided I wanted to go 4K (which my first-gen Surface Pro can't do).
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Yeah, that was one of the motivating factors for getting my Surface Pro - it could drive my 30 inch 2560x1600 monitor, whereas the Zenbook can't. Although the number of times I actually hooked it up caused me to disregard that as a requirement when looking for a replacement.
When I was looking for USB 3 hubs, they all required external power - not nice when traveling (especially internationally).
The Surface Pro also has a dock available - although it is pricey for what it offers.
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I have used this (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Inateck-Gigabit-Ethernet-Network-Adapter/dp/B00ESVH4MO[^]with my surface pro. Doesn't require an external power source and provides a fast Ethernet port as well. Generally speaking the surface pro has been an excellent machine for development, but it really comes into its own when you need to travel to a client. Having a portable development platform in such a small form factor is fantastic.
Dom
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NeverJustHere wrote: When I was looking for USB 3 hubs, they all required external power - not nice when traveling (especially internationally).
But when you travel, are you really also bringing along a bunch of external peripherals with you? From my experience, when on the road, the Type keyboard is good enough. Still wouldn't want it to be my everyday keyboard though.
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Depends, of course, on the type of travel. I'm talking more than just a day trip. I'm talking several weeks away, with a camera or two, taking almost a hundred GB of photos/movies per week. Needs back up drives - always at least two - just in case.
Then being able to charge the phone, mp3 player and GoPro from the laptop means the only other external power bricks needed are for the camera batteries and (on long trips) the beard trimmer.
So yes, when I travel, I have at least 6 things to plug in to the laptop.
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