fossley's comments

fossley | 13 years ago | on: Why I'm an Entrepreneur

I think the difference is an entrepreneur has orchestrated the whole process and isn't just a sales person. They are a dreamer building their dreams in to reality. Anything that reflects the achievement is massive. If you love carpentry, then seeing somebody love your table will be the same. Selling tables at Ikea will probably not be.

fossley | 13 years ago | on: Why I'm an Entrepreneur

Great post. It is a hard thing to sum up. I think this HBR article (http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2010/09/entrepreneurship_as_disease....) talking about it as a disease is one of the best I read.

fossley | 13 years ago | on: Ask HN: How do you sell yourself as a new freelancer to clients?

Agencies definitely worked for me. If you are good, it can be steady work without much of the risks.

fossley | 13 years ago | on: Ask HN: How do you sell yourself as a new freelancer to clients?

I don't have a portfolio site, but was successfully freelancing on the basis of referral for four years or so. I wouldn't take a random client on, because bad clients cost money. Reach out to anybody who trusts you to "get the job done" and get them to reach out. Networking and trust are essential.

Another idea getting your foot in the door as a freelancer at an agency. About 1/4 of my work (and best paid work) came that way. Gives you a client base to build from (though not your clients, it will give you demonstrable experience)

fossley | 13 years ago | on: How do I build a cluster of Raspberry Pis?

Need to buy more than one first ... im still waiting in the queue in the UK. Even then it is one-per-person.

fossley | 13 years ago | on: Ask HN: How do you learn to develop exploits?

http://nostarch.com/hacking2.htm/

A good book, not hugely in-depth, but enough to bootstrap some learning.

fossley | 13 years ago | on: Ask HN: How do you learn to develop exploits?

"I had an opportunity once to sit down with Don Knuth and play Halo on the X-box." ... best thing I will read today.

fossley | 13 years ago | on: Should I use Go or Javascript?

As a C programmer, this is flattering, but I also know it isn't true. I wrestled with Erlang for a good while before I got the hang of it. Going from C up the tree of C-like programming languages has its disadvantages.

fossley | 13 years ago | on: Ask HN: How do you get Freelance Gigs?

Spot on.

fossley | 13 years ago | on: Should I use Go or Javascript?

Knowing both C and Javascript, and loving them both ... I would go with Python+Flask as the sensible choice. However, Go is a cracking language but not all that mature. Javascript is great if you use a decent framework too.

As a C programmer though, I read http://startupitis.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/golang-its-amazing... and had to write some Go and didn't regret it. Not sure about its fit for web development, but good fun anyway. You may find yourself writing boilerplate with Go though.

Just play with them and see which you enjoy most. Enjoyment pays you back in productivity/motivation.

fossley | 13 years ago | on: Why Your McD's Burger Doesn't Look Like the One in the Ad

It used to be annoying that the food looks so different, but after that video ... I feel better ... and hungry. Some good communication there from the McMarketing Department

fossley | 13 years ago | on: Pure Python Operation System

Nice idea, though the way I see it, you are either:

(A) A user who doesn't care what language(s) their OS/toolchain/stack is built with; or

(B) A developer who sees the value in the right tool for the job. I love Python, but it isn't the right tool for all jobs

fossley | 13 years ago | on: Ask HN: I write queries at a top 3 retailer and I want to help you

na, just thought it was a good obfuscation is all. Fitting for your profession.

fossley | 13 years ago | on: Ask HN: I write queries at a top 3 retailer and I want to help you

Well, an analyst would protect an email like that ... seems legit.

fossley | 14 years ago | on: The Young Programmer: Arrogance and Abstraction

An article against ego that tries to encourage perspective, written by an author with such a big ego and lack of perspective he writes things like:

"Maybe, you think that because you avoid all the abstractions of higher level languages, you are somehow better and “purer.” Because you do pointer arithmetic and bit shifting, you really understand what is going on in a computer. No, you don’t. You understand C programming"

I'm sure somewhere in there is a heart-felt message though ... somewhere. I think he needs to meet more programmers.

fossley | 14 years ago | on: Are there any business books for Hackers?

... if only business followed the logic of programming languages ...

fossley | 14 years ago | on: Ask HN: Dealing with pre-launch competitors

"That's just your lizard brain freaking out." True. All sounds like sane advice to me! This thread has been a much needed re-balancing of my freaking out on the whole!

fossley | 14 years ago | on: Ask HN: Dealing with pre-launch competitors

Good post! I very much enjoyed reading it. You are right in many ways. Also greetings from fellow UKers.

fossley | 14 years ago | on: Ask HN: Dealing with pre-launch competitors

Nope, I don't feel like we have lost! But it is a critical point in the road and easy to lose perspective. so trying to get as much input as possible. You make some really good points :)

fossley | 14 years ago | on: Ask HN: Dealing with pre-launch competitors

Did the times when you didn't force a differentiation or change of direction due to competition turn out well for you?