imasr

"Right now" always seems to be our problem. I just tried to rent a flat and they were trying to enforce 10% price rices every 6 months, even though it's illegal. That's just one example of the "right now". Because I can make a buck, I will, don't matter what; then we blame on the politicians. There's so much we have yet to learn.

I guess they haven't seen War Games (the movie).

Relationships are hardly written in stone. Take the time to understand your feelings and talk to you ex. If you can't get to an understanding then is likely that the problems between you two go deeper than you think.

Except for number 9), the rest is not gonna happen.

First, thanks for your detailed replay (and to all others too).

I'm already working on a kind of 9-5 doing only iOS. I'm in Argentina that right now have a lot of work inflow because our low cost and less culturally differences than asian countries and almost in the same time zone.

I failed in a couple of startups of my own and though there's virtually no support to start-ups here, I'm no sure I have an eye for marketable things. I don't really care for the AppStore lottery anymore.

So as I'm realizing I'm less an entrepreneur than I thought I was, it may be a good thing to start steering to safer waters. After two years of J2ME and one of iOS, last week I had to think twice to make a query with a group by, and got kind of scared.

I'm not worried about being able to keep up with technology changes, but I don't want to get specialized in a market that has no depth.

A way to contact you?

Maybe I could help. I've been working on mobile dev last couple of years (iPhone/J2ME) remotely from Argentina. Email me if you're interested.

I'd give you 100 votes if I could! (gave you one, though)

I don't have any advice for you, but don't forget you did manage to launch a product, twice! To me that's amazing.

Yes, that's the exact explanation patent trolls give, though in fact there's no real evidence on that being true.

Top Gear made two episodes on the Indestructible Hilux (episodes five and six of series 3). Worth watching.

So you say because costs are high they should get protection?

it happened to me the other way around once and though the startup didn't make it, we're still good friends (He was a F&F investor)

That's exactly what I'm saying. You choose where you take risks, and I'd risk penis fracture every day, but think can postpone a phone call a few hours for the sake of 200 people at 10.000 feet.

If there's 0.000000001% of anything happen, why risk?

It is ok as long as you don't feel isolated. The moment you feel is hurting you or not allowing to live the life you'd like, it may become a problem.

Similar background 15K miles down south of you, though the same thing happen to me earlier this year and I had it coming. Too much work on things I didn't like. I took some time off to figure it out and it worked. If you can, don't rush it and try to focus on what you really enjoy, no matter how hard or crazy may seam at first, and you'll find it. The shallow scenery is an opportunity to us, oldies. Lets show we still have a few tricks and cooler than ever.

I think one might miss the point here, if one would take his writing too literally, that he ended up on an amazing success by just following what was good for him no matter how long did it take. The idea that you have to be willing to kill yourself in the process of being successful is a dangerous one, and will only be true measured by others standards.

I think this gives further credit to apple achievements and makes even clearer that designing good products goes far beyond any rule list anyone could make.

Does anyone think Google didn't plan for this? Isn't this a great excuse to displace Java and use their own language? I'm already scared.

Try not to fill guilty, because there is none for what you have received. Feel free to enjoy despite what you (and others around you) might believe you should/shouldn't. What would whatever you can accomplish mean if you're not happy? Are all those things you think you want, what will make you feel better? Maybe if that were true you'd had done them already. I repeat: Let the guilt go, and the rest will find way.

Drop me a line at rafael_imas@yahoo.com.

That's perfectly fine. It happened to me before of someone offering a job that wasn't for me but for a more Jr. developer and I ended-up passing it on to someone I knew and trusted. I'm from Argentina, and down here you have the leverage of currency being 1 to 4. Is not that you'll be paying cents an hour, but you'll be paying less and will pay someone above his/her local rate. Win-win.

I strongly disagree. Find a good programmer that will do a good job out of love and money, and will help you with more than just being a code-writing monkey.

Fair advice. I was in a similar situation and blew the whole thing off. I could not regret it more. Be patient an you'll get your reward.

On you own server you decide what and for how long data will be stored. In the government wants your server you can format your hard drive if you want (or whatever you think is fit). I bet you can't do that if your mail is on google (or yahoo, msn, etc for that matters)

I live in Argentina, and here companies are crazy about hiring IT people, no matter what your skills are, and most of them do offshore work for the US, paying barely standard fees here and cashing big there. Don't think have to say who wins and who loses with this practice. Have been thinking lately about this and believe one solution would be to equalize developer fees 'round the world, rise the bar and compete on performance. I know it sounds crazy, but have some ideas on things we could try to work this out. I'll post them here if you think it worths anything.

I believe it is a sign of how important this issue is to the community. I wouldn't underestimate it.

Get yourself a woman. Problem solved.

Maybe, instead of struggling against yourself, why not try to figure out what you really want. I don't mean what you believe you should want, based on your talents, but what you actually want. Perhaps what you really desire, you think is wrong or out of reach, so you focus on things that you believe can be done, but eventually doesn't fullfill your soul. But above all, don't despair, because you're not alone in these quest, and it's not an easy one.

Best wishes!