What to do?

[Frank]

I have my own company, only myself left, and I don't even make enough money anymore to pay the rent. My former companions cancelled all deals when I told them I wasn't going to help customers anymore as long as they wouldn't start paying my bills at last. (Ten months due.) And I seem to have lost all those customers at the same time. Not that I asked any of them, they just told me so.

I'm quite stupid, ain't I? I feel like it. I trusted them. Multiple times. Stupid me. NEVER trust commercial people to be honest to you. I have to demand, arrange and manage things myself from the start instead and stick to them. If I could. I think I'm a pretty good leader, but a very bad manager. All my friends agree to that.

Anyway, I don't feel like making a nuisance of myself and taking legal action (my accountant told me the contracts I had were void anyway), so what am I going to do next? I asked around for a job, but it seems nobody wants to hire me. They all know me by now it seems, even the ones I never met. I think I'm quite famous around here, but probably not the way I would want to be. I really have the idea they think that, while I'm very capable, I create and solve too many problems without their approval. They don't like that. They just want someone who isn't too bright and will happily do whatever they tell him to, even if it makes no sense.

What I can do: just about anything in IT, really. Seen it, done it all. From designing and making PCB's, microcontroller applications, special purpose computers, designing, building and managing networks, programming in any current language, workflow integration and support (applications, mostly), websites, ERP, systems management, workplace management, project leadership for any size of project (but not project management!), and most of everything else as well.

If you want something done, if it has to work well, ask me and I'll take care of it. I've proven that many times. And when it's done, most often they fire me or ask me to go and look for something else. Too many irritated people (managers, mostly) around. None of them care if it works, only that you do whatever they tell you to. I'm very good at what I do, but not very politically correct. Just very straightforward, capable and honest. Most of my former co-workers got the best end of the deal.

So. I really don't know what to do. Ideas?

 

[digitalwanderer]

Ouch, sorry to hear about the bad news. Where are you at or are you willing to relocate? Are you alone or do you have family?

 

[Frank]

Ouch, sorry to hear about the bad news. Where are you at or are you willing to relocate? Are you alone or do you have family?

No, I'm alone. And I'm willing to relocate. I just want to do what I do best and have people tell me I did it well, at the moment.

 

[Frank]

I do have a great idea, however. A real cyberspace, where everyone can hang around, build their own part of it and shop virtually. I've got it all worked out. But there is no way I could do all of that by myself at the moment. I wanted to earn enough money to do that. That was my goal.

 

[digitalwanderer]

I do have a great idea, however. A real cyberspace, where everyone can hang around, build their own part of it and shop virtually. I've got it all worked out. But there is no way I could do all of that by myself at the moment. I wanted to earn enough money to do that. That was my goal.

It's already been done, they call it "teh intraweb" or some such.

 

[RussSchultz]

You live in the EU, surely there's somebody there that hasn't heard of you yet.

 

[Frank]

I do have a great idea, however. A real cyberspace, where everyone can hang around, build their own part of it and shop virtually. I've got it all worked out. But there is no way I could do all of that by myself at the moment. I wanted to earn enough money to do that. That was my goal.

It's already been done, they call it "teh intraweb" or some such.

Nah, mine's much better. I took down my website some time ago, and I am really wondering if I shouldn't make it into something OpenSource. If I could find a way to pay all my bills, that is.

But I'm faily sure it would be one of the next best things. Otherwise, I wouldn't spend so much time on it.

I might do it any way: just to see if enough people think it would be as good as I think it would be. And make it happen.

 

[Joe DeFuria]

I do have a great idea, however. A real cyberspace, where everyone can hang around, build their own part of it and shop virtually. I've got it all worked out. But there is no way I could do all of that by myself at the moment. I wanted to earn enough money to do that. That was my goal.

xbox360

 

[Frank]

You live in the EU, surely there's somebody there that hasn't heard of you yet.

Well, in the Netherlands. In Limburg, to be exact. The piece in between Belgium and Germany. And I think I've made quite a name for myself, if I think about all the reactions I got. But of course, I have to be able to find a nice job somewhere. I'm working on that. It just didn't work so far.

 

[Frank]

I do have a great idea, however. A real cyberspace, where everyone can hang around, build their own part of it and shop virtually. I've got it all worked out. But there is no way I could do all of that by myself at the moment. I wanted to earn enough money to do that. That was my goal.

xbox360

Ok, let me explain. But it's quite a bit of information, so I'll do the easy parts first.

Nowadays, you have the World Wide Web. But it's just a bunch of unconnected sites, with varying and "flat" content. It might be a really good idea, to think of a standard (next to HTML and all the others), in which you could build a 3D represenatation, and put that up as part of your website.

You would want to make it as easy as possible for people to make their own 3D layout, preferrably a lot easier than the current mess of WWW "standards". With building blocks. And a "wizard" interface. Like, you walk around in 3D, as you would in a FPS or MMORPG, and be able to perform "magic", or type commands into your console window that change the layout of the 3D representation of your site, which would be permanent if you were the owner of the site. And everyone else (using the right client), could walk around in it and buy your stuff.

Of course, you need a central point, where you handle all the "portals" to all the other sites. Like a city. Where you can download the client. And which will track and execute all payments made, for virtual stuff as well as for buying real-life houses and delivering real pizza's.

Like that.

 

[Frank]

Did I tell you guys, that I'm the black sheep of the family? Anyone else but me and one of my sisters are managers or CEO's. Although I might be as well, but I don't think I am. And they wouldn't think of hireing me. They would laugh pretty hard when I would ask them, I guess.

No manager wants trouble. They want peace and quiet, a larger budget, and more people to rule. Projects or other changes make them nervous.

But I'm probably overreacting a bit at the moment.

 

[_xxx_]

I'm quite stupid, ain't I? I feel like it. I trusted them. Multiple times. Stupid me. NEVER trust commercial people to be honest to you.

You are naive. But now you learnt your lesson, I hope.

And why shouldn't you start legal action? What kind of work have you delivered to those? It's your time and your money you invested there, so you surely should fight.

 

[silence]

Ok, let me explain. But it's quite a bit of information, so I'll do the easy parts first.

Nowadays, you have the World Wide Web. But it's just a bunch of unconnected sites, with varying and "flat" content. It might be a really good idea, to think of a standard (next to HTML and all the others), in which you could build a 3D represenatation, and put that up as part of your website.

You would want to make it as easy as possible for people to make their own 3D layout, preferrably a lot easier than the current mess of WWW "standards". With building blocks. And a "wizard" interface. Like, you walk around in 3D, as you would in a FPS or MMORPG, and be able to perform "magic", or type commands into your console window that change the layout of the 3D representation of your site, which would be permanent if you were the owner of the site. And everyone else (using the right client), could walk around in it and buy your stuff.

Of course, you need a central point, where you handle all the "portals" to all the other sites. Like a city. Where you can download the client. And which will track and execute all payments made, for virtual stuff as well as for buying real-life houses and delivering real pizza's.

Like that.

arghhh...cant remember the name of prgram, its either Adobe or Macromedia that is made to create 3D online communities or something like that....

i even trie it, but it was too complex for me :?

 

[Blitzkrieg]

Whats the job market like in the Netherlands? What about countries close? I know Germany's is crap.
Come to NZ, you should be able to get a job piss easy here with our
shortages.
You can also have dual citizenship with NZ and Netherlands.

 

[Diplo]

It might be a really good idea, to think of a standard (next to HTML and all the others), in which you could build a 3D represenatation, and put that up as part of your website.

It was called VRML and it failed. Nowadays you would probably use X3D or SVG.

 

[hey69]

enough consultancy jobs over here in belgium.

 

[sytaylor]

How's your web design?...

 

[Frank]

I'm quite stupid, ain't I? I feel like it. I trusted them. Multiple times. Stupid me. NEVER trust commercial people to be honest to you.

You are naive. But now you learnt your lesson, I hope.

And why shouldn't you start legal action? What kind of work have you delivered to those? It's your time and your money you invested there, so you surely should fight.

Yes, I think I learned.

I am going to talk to all of them next week, and to my accountant (and lawyer, if that makes sense), and see what I can do about it.

 

[Frank]

Whats the job market like in the Netherlands? What about countries close? I know Germany's is crap.
Come to NZ, you should be able to get a job piss easy here with our
shortages.
You can also have dual citizenship with NZ and Netherlands.

The job market here has improved quite a bit, but it is still hard in IT, as the companies generally have had quite bad experiences with it. They want to really make sure they can trust the person they hire to do exactly what they expect of him. You know, at least five years experience of doing the same thing they want you to do and never any complaints.

I do have my own appartment, but if I could sell that, I wouldn't mind relocating. And I'm born in Zealand, so New Zealand does sound nice.

 

[Frank]

enough consultancy jobs over here in belgium.

Yes, I'm gonna ask my sister about that, she should be back from her one-year cruise around now. And she has a company close to Brussels.