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Is his name "Jeff"? I worked for a Jeff once that said things like that all the time. He had once written some software in COBOL which apparently showed him that he was an expert programmer and all things were easy. This is why he always thought software developers were obviously overpaid and were constantly lying to him about how long things would take.
- I would love to change the world, but they won’t give me the source code.
modified 15-Apr-15 13:48pm.
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No, his name isn't Jeff 
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People lying is a reasonable expectation. Just think about it: http://dilbert.com/strip/2011-02-20[^]
GOTOs are a bit like wire coat hangers: they tend to breed in the darkness, such that where there once were few, eventually there are many, and the program's architecture collapses beneath them. (Fran Poretto)
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Funny you mention that - I had a spookily similar experience with a Geoff except in his case he'd written an application in MS basic so this made him an expert in high performance comms (serial data at 4800 baud) and real time programming (displaying said data on the screen, picking a colour at random for each new data item).
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I once helped staff an industry specific software presentation where loads of people were invited to come along for demonstrations cake and coffee
I had one potential who, for every aspect of the software I demonstrated, told me that his existing self made solution was faster, better, wider and cheaper. I took this for a while and then stood up, handed him back his business card, and told him that we couldn't help him.
He seemed shocked and I know everyone else in the room was as well but you just cannot help some people
It depends on how confident you are in your own abilities and how desperate you are for the work.
That was about 30 years ago and I am still working in the same market place today and also still have some of the same clients that became customers around that time (I would love to have said that particular demo day but cannot remember for sure)
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That's awesome. You weren't rude or anything and just told him the truth. Probably everyone in the room, including that guy, thought the same 
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"Good, Quick, Cheap. Pick any two."
Said with a smile, it can be tactfully delivered.
Doesn't work worth a damn in an email or text. 
Cheers,
Mike Fidler
"I intend to live forever - so far, so good." Steven Wright
"I almost had a psychic girlfriend but she left me before we met." Also Steven Wright
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Seems you have a choice to make. If you find yourself with enough work, simply stand by your estimate and let them either agree or go elsewhere. If you are short enough you are willing to risk being wrong then accept the counter offer.
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Way back (in 1996) I was the new guy in a software shop.
Graeme, one of the Directors, said "Robert, we have great new project for you to lead. Visual Basic, right up your alley, large budget, big multinational. The deal is all signed - fixed price contract. Dave will tell you all about it."
Dave, apparently, came up with the fixed price quote. The fixed price covered about 6 man-months at the then rate for developers.
Dave showed me his spec document, about 70 pages. It appeared to be a series of style notes for Win Forms. After listening to Dave for a while I said: "Dave - how many input forms are there in this system?".
"I don't know", says Dave, "you can figure that out when you design the system.".
"Dave, how did you come up with a fixed price for this system if you don't know what it does?".
"Oh", says Dave, smiling. "It doesn't really matter. We've got a huge budget, AND ... it's going to be written in VB which is really fast and easy!".
At this point I was thinking to myself: "Dave must be a total VB hacker with no real world smarts. I need to let him know that what seems really easy for him may not be for ordinary folk".
"So Dave", I said, "how much VB have you done?".
"Oh", says Dave, "none at all. But I've heard that it's really easy".
And yes, I did quit that company not long after ...
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Wow, is he still in business?  
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No - went under the next year. They had several projects run in the same manner.
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Also:
The client company really was a seriously big multi-national.
One of their "smart young men of the future", with a freshly minted MBA, was the reason our company was chosen - apparently against the advice of his seniors.
When the project crashed and burned (which it did) they sent him manage a two man office in Western China.
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Hello all,
Is there any free and easy to use software under the sun that would allow a group of people (let's say non techy neighbors) to share data, complaints, problems, ask for meetings, calendar, to send messages between them...
I've even though on creating a facebook group but this is a little bit... well... 
PS: I've not searched for anything but I've abandoned before trying I even don't know what to search...
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It's time to create a SharePoint site for your community (just kidding) 
Have you tried Slack [^]? I am using it for my team communication / file sharing, it is very useful and works just fine. Don't know about the calendar support, but rest will work just fine.
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Whats App group... 
if(this.signature != "")
{
MessageBox.Show("This is my signature: " + Environment.NewLine + signature);
}
else
{
MessageBox.Show("404-Signature not found");
}
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HobbyProggy wrote: Whats App group
:thud: :thud: :thud:
BTW, you can not share 'data' over it.
Programmer : A machine that converts coffee into code !
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But pictures !
if(this.signature != "")
{
MessageBox.Show("This is my signature: " + Environment.NewLine + signature);
}
else
{
MessageBox.Show("404-Signature not found");
}
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Rohan Leuva wrote: BTW, you can not share 'data' over it.
You could encode data in a picture format
To alcohol! The cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems - Homer Simpson
Our heads are round so our thoughts can change direction - Francis Picabia
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Is that the same place you can get medical advice?
WhatsApp Doc?
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WhatsApp Therapist would be an idea too
if(this.signature != "")
{
MessageBox.Show("This is my signature: " + Environment.NewLine + signature);
}
else
{
MessageBox.Show("404-Signature not found");
}
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Don't want them to have my cell phone... they know the door I live in... that's enough. 
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Google Calendar.
Have not explored all features; but should suffice, I guess. Works in tandem with Gmail (Google Docs also?).
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I'll check it. Thank you! 
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I think you might be moving into the realm of wechat[^] and whatsapp[^].
Or maybe something simpler (nothing to install), like yahoo groups[^].
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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No cell phone number for them... so only the third option would be ok.
I'll check it Mark, thank you!
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