Developers Newsletter #14 - 03-APR-2001
INDEX
1. A FEW WORDS FROM THE EDITOR
2. FREELANCE DEVELOPER (I)
- WHY WORKING FREELANCE?
- ALL ADVANTAGES?
- LIKE A TRAPECIST WITHOUT A NET
- WHY IS THE WORK OF A FREELANCE DEVELOPER SO UNDERVALUED?
- WHAT'S NEXT?
3. COPERNIC 2001
- WHAT IS COPERNIC 2001?
- FEATURES
- HOW DOES IT OPERATE?
- SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
- PERSONAL CONCLUSION
- WHERE TO GET IT
4. INTERNET BY EMAIL
- WWW4MAIL
- GETWEB
- MORE INFORMATION
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1. A FEW WORDS FROM THE EDITOR
In this issue we take a quick glance at the problems a freelance
developer has to face in the third world, we review Copernic 2001 and
we'll teach you how to retrieve web pages and download files if you only
have email access.
Best regards,
Ernesto De Spirito
eds2008 @ latiumsoftware.com
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2. FREELANCE DEVELOPER (I)
This article is meant for freelance developers in the so-called third
world. If you live in the more civilized first world, likely you won't
find this article useful, so I recommend you not to read it because it's
about a different reality than yours.
In past issues we've been talking about shareware developers, freeware
developers, etc., but what about freelance developers? Truth is that a
large number of our subscribers belong to this group, and some of them
insistently requested an article dedicated to addressing the problems a
freelance developer has to face... Well, I'll try to do my best here...
I'm looking forward for your feedback to publish it in the next issue
along with the continuation of this article.
WHY WORKING FREELANCE?
----------------------
Ask freelance developers and you'll surely get these answers:
1) "No boss"
2) "I don't like to be tied"
3) "I don't like the office timetable"
4) "I'd like to choose the people I work with"
5) "I don't like the salary of a fixed job"
6) "I can't find a fixed job"
ALL ADVANTAGES?
---------------
We would all be freelance developers then, but no, not all are
advantages:
1) "No boss"
Your clients become your bosses, although the treatment and the
relationship is certainly much different, if you know what I mean,
but you still have a boss.
2) "I don't like to be tied"
We have to agree that freelance gives a sensation of freedom not
attained when you have a fixed job, but you are still "tied" to
your work and your clients, and sometimes they can tie you too
much if you let them.
3) "I don't like the office timetable"
Freelance developers usually end up working more daily hours than
those who have a fixed job. If you want to get up at noon and work
till 4:00 A.M., it's up to you.
4) "I'd like to choose the people I work with"
The working environment in many companies is not precisely the
best. If you've worked in one of these places, I don't have to tell
you what your work mates are capable of doing to "secure" their
jobs or get promoted... Being independent you can choose the people
you work with, but certainly you can't choose the competition...
5) "I don't like the salary of a fixed job"
A freelance developer can get to earn more than one that has a
fixed job, but you don't have a minimum income, social benefits,
paid vacations, etc., and sometimes it's difficult even to get
paid.
6) "I can't find a fixed job"
Can it be true that in the IT era a programmer can't find a job???
Sure, why not? While some countries "import" IT professionals, in
others there are more professionals than jobs, and yet they can't
find jobs in other countries for one reason or another. Anyway,
freelance developers doesn't have the work guaranteed. On the other
hand, it is estimated that in 2002 the major employer in the US
won't be Microsoft, General Motors or any other top company. Do you
know who will be the major employer in the US? Oneself. And this
won't happen only in the US. It's a global tendency.
LIKE A TRAPECIST WITHOUT A NET
------------------------------
It's not easy to be a freelance developer. As a freelance developer you
don't have the security a fixed job gives, not only in terms of a fixed
salary, but also in terms of the backup the company that employs you can
give you and the support you can have from work mates.
While a few freelance developer succeed, the vast majority work a lot to
end up counting the pennies. OK, I'm exaggerating, but the truth is that
most freelance developers feel their work is underrated and underpaid...
and they are right to feel this way. :(
WHY IS THE WORK OF A FREELANCE DEVELOPER SO UNDERVALUED?
--------------------------------------------------------
Many colleagues say it's because people don't see us working and/or they
think the job is easy, that the computer does it all for us or something
like that. If they need to change the CPU cooler, they call a techie, the
guy comes, opens the machine, proceeds to replace the defective piece
with a new one, testes the new piece, puts the cover back and leaves in
less than an hour. And the best part is that he asks $ XX for that and
he gets paid without complaining. Why? Simply because they saw the guy
doing his stuff and they recognize that as working. For freelance
developers, the situation is usually different. They call us to talk
with us about what they want, then we interview all the people affected
by the project, then we go back home, develop the application, and when
we have it ready we go and install it. How much work was that? None. The
client only saw us talking all the time (he doesn't recognize that as
work), then we played solitaire at home and came back to put a diskette
--another demonstration of how hard our work is! :-) On top of all,
what happens if something doesn't work? For the client it would just be
another proof of our incapacity, another reason why we shouldn't get
paid a single cent for doing nothing, and worst of all for doing it
wrong! :-)
Leaving the exaggeration and the jokes apart, the reality is that due to
ignorance and other cultural factors, often our work is not recognized
as specialized, qualified or professional.
But there are other economical, social and cultural factors that created
a vicious circle which is difficult to break. Let me explain. Our
colleges and universities produce professionals that can't find a job
due to the economical situation, so inexperienced as they are they try
to enter the already overcrowded freelance developers market. A market
law says that too much supply and little demand bring the prices down,
and this is what happens. The inexperienced freelance developers are
ready to work for a very small reward, experience is the real value for
them, and they get freelance jobs because the economical situation
drives small companies to prefer cheap over good. The result is that
many seasoned professional ended up working for a low remuneration
because otherwise they can't compete with their younger colleagues, but
what kind of job can a demotivated person perform? What kind of job can
an inexperienced developer perform? In the end, the overall quality of
freelancDEVELOPERSopers work deteriorated significantly, giving the reason
to those clients who think our work is not professional. And this is how
we entered a vicious circle of loss of prestige from which it's hard to
see the way out.
WHAT'S NEXT?
------------
I'd love to hear your comments about this article and a bit about your
personal experience. In the next issue of this newsletter I'll discuss
some ways to revalue your job. I hope you find them useful.
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3. COPERNIC 2001
Since I started these newsletters I received many messages like:
- "Do you know where I can find this component? I've searched the web
high and low to no avail"
or
- "I can't find information about this subject in the net. Do you know
where I can get it?"
If you participate in a forum or mailing list you'll surely have seen
this kind of messages. It's not that all these people doesn't know how
to perform a search or that they are lazy and want somebody else to do
their job or something like that. No, first of all, no search engine
has it all, they have different contents so one would have to query
them all to get all possible matches, but that's impractical mainly
because it's already too time-consuming to query just one: too much
time is lost waiting for inaccessible or dead links, navigating back
and forth thru the results pages, and visiting pages that one doesn't
know how they appeared in the result because they don't contain the
keywords entered in the search! Here's where Copernic 2001 comes to the
rescue...
WHAT IS COPERNIC 2001?
----------------------
Copernic 2001 is an Internet software -just like your browser or your
email software- and it allows you to search the net querying the best
Internet search engines at the same time, storing the results of your
search in your computer.
Copernic 2001 Basic is free and has no expiration date. It features 7
categories: The Web (2 categories are available, one language or
country-based category is optional from a list of 14 available
categories), Newsgroups, E-mail Addresses, Buy Books, Buy Hardware and
Buy Software. Some 80 information sources are accessible with this
version. The commercial versions, Copernic 2001 Plus and Copernic 2001
Pro, on the other hand, offer some 90 categories, giving you access to
more than 1000 search engines.
The software features a search wizard, the ability to search using a
question or keywords, keyword highlighting in results and Web pages, a
detailed search history, automatic software updating and many useful
search management functions.
FEATURES
--------
* Quick search toolbar and search wizard to ease search creation
* Ability to search with a simple question (only in the English version)
or keywords
* Found documents are scored and displayed according to their relevancy
* Highlighting of keywords in results and Web pages
* Duplicate matches are automatically removed
* Invalid and unreachable document links may be eliminated
* Matching documents may be downloaded for off-line browsing
* Searches may be refined from downloaded documents by using search
operators (AND, OR, EXCEPT, NEAR), parentheses and quotes
* Search reports may be generated in Web page format for easy browsing,
filtering and sorting of documents
* Searches may be updated, grouped into folders, etc.
* Search reports may be exported or e-mailed in various file types
* Translating of found documents and Web pages opened with Result
Explorer using an online translation service
* Full Internet Explorer 4.0 (or later) integration:
- An ergonomically designed Result Explorer window can be used to
browse, filter and sort found documents easier and faster
- It includes a keyword toolbar to highlight keywords in any Web page
and easily trace each of them by scrolling pages
- The default Internet Explorer search window can be replaced by
Copernic 2001
- Copernic 2001 can be launched from the Quick Launch toolbar
- An online translation service may be accessed directly from Internet
Explorer
* Copernic Summarizer users can use integrated commands and buttons to
summarize found documents and Web pages opened with Result Explorer
and much more
HOW DOES IT OPERATE?
--------------------
Copernic 2001 doesn't just find information for you, it also stores the
results on your disk, organizes them in a clear manner and removes
duplicates automatically. Copernic 2001 lets you download search results
onto your computer for off-line browsing and consultation any time,
saving you lots of Internet connection time. Plus, it automatically
updates its list of search engines! Now you can always benefit from the
very latest in Internet search tools.
You don't need to be an Internet search expert to find what you're
looking for! Copernic 2001 is so simple and easy to use that you won't
need any prior training before conducting a search. There's no need to
spend time and energy getting to know all the different search engines
and choosing the ones that will best meet your needs. You just key in a
single request. No need to bother with the specific rules of each search
engine. You don't ever have to master them because Copernic 2001 does it
for you! You'll find what you need every time, quickly and effortlessly.
To formulate a request, simply choose your field of interest and enter
the keywords for your search. Because Copernic 2001 is an intelligent
piece of software, it will know which search engines are best suited for
your query. Then click the Search button, and you're done! Copernic 2001
will automatically connect with the most relevant search engines. After
only a few seconds, it will start to display results on the screen as it
finds them. When this is done, in just a few seconds instead of the
hours of work it would have taken you to do the same, Copernic 2001
eliminates duplicates and displays the results in order of relevance. It
also highlights your search keywords in results.
Copernic 2001 offers a wide range of functions to meet your needs and
preferences for the simple and efficient management of the obtained
results. Each function is accessed by a simple click on the appropriate
button. Here are a few examples of what Copernic 2001 can do for you:
* Double-click on a given result and Copernic 2001 immediately displays
the document selected in Result Explorer or your default browser,
depending on your configuration.
* One click on the Validate button and Copernic 2001 automatically
removes inaccessible or dead links, saving you time and frustration.
* One click on the Download button and Copernic 2001 downloads all the
documents found in your search to your disk, giving you instant access
to your search results!
* One click on the Browse button and Copernic 2001 produces a search
report in Web page format along with the browser tools suited to your
consultation needs.
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
-------------------
Operating System: Windows 95/98/Me/NT4/2000
Browser.........: Netscape 3 (or a later version), Internet Explorer 3
(or a later version) or a compatible browser
Processor.......: 486DX 66 MHz or higher
RAM.............: 15 MB (minimum)
Hard Disk.......: At least 10 MB of free disk space
PERSONAL CONCLUSION
-------------------
For me, Copernic means fruitful and efficient searches and I've
recommend it without a doubt to many people who contacted me asking
where to find this and that. I have been using Copernic 2000 for a long
time (and now Copernic 2001) and the more I use it, the more I'm
convinced it's an essential Internet tool like a web browser, an email
program or a download accelerator.
WHERE TO GET IT
---------------
Copernic 2001 is available at the Copernic web site:
English: http://www.copernic.com
French: http://www.copernic.com/fr/
For your convenience, these are the links to download the Basic edition,
which is free (adware) and doesn't have time limitations:
English: http://download3.copernic.com/copernicagentbasic.exe
Spanish: http://download3.copernic.com/copernicagentbasices.exe
French: http://download3.copernic.com/copernicagentbasicfr.exe
German: http://download3.copernic.com/copernicagentbasicde.exe
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4. INTERNET BY EMAIL
In the United States I believe that a flat rate for Internet 24/7 access
costs about twenty dollars per month, and that includes the telephone
bill. Where I live, twenty dollars can buy only the Internet access, not
the telephone bill, and the phone company charges about 3.3 cents the
minute, so apart from the monthly twenty dollars for the the ISP we have
to pay two dollars the hour of connection to the phone company, not to
say our wages are not as high as those in the States, to say it
elegantly, so Internet is very expensive for us as you can see.
Email-only access is cheaper, and many countries of the world have no
more than just email as their access to the net. We have full Internet
access where I live, but due to a reason of costs, many universities
provide only email access to their students, in the same way as many
companies provide only email access to their employees.
It's a lot of one misses having only email, but this doesn't mean that
you can't browse pages, perform queries or download files.
WWW4MAIL
--------
"www4mail is a free service that allows you to navigate and search the
whole Internet via electronic mail (e-mail) by using any standard
World-Wide Web (WWW) browser and a MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail
Exchange) aware e-mail program. E-mail messages get automatically passed
to your e-mail agent when you select (one or more) buttons that link to
other Web pages. UUENCODE and other options are also available."
There are many www4mail address:
www4mail@collaborium.org
www4mail@kabissa.org
www4mail@web.bellanet.org
www4mail@unganisha.idrc.ca
www4mail@ftp.uni-stuttgart.de
www4mail@wm.ictp.trieste.it
Want to try this service? For example, to get this newsletter from the
web, send an email to www4mail@collaborium.org and in the body of the
message write
http://www.latiumsoftware.com/en/developers/0014.txt
After a while (it can be an instant depending on the web traffic and the
load of the service) you'll get the file in your email attached to a
message.
Do you want to search the web?
http://www.alltheweb.com/cgi-bin/search?exec=FAST+Search&type=all&query=
http://www.google.com/advanced_search
http://lycospro.lycos.com/
http://search.yahoo.com/search/options
By default, web pages are modified to facilitate navigation using this
service. You can see that links in the pages have checkboxes for you to
select which ones you wish to explore using the options in the form
provided as a footer.
If you wanted the original unmodified page, in the body of the message
you should write TSOURCE before the URL, for example:
TSOURCE http://www.latiumsoftware.com/en/developers/
With www4mail you can download files from FTP servers, and you have a
weekly quota of 200 requests and 15 MB. Big files can be retrieved in
chunks to overcome the problem of mailbox storage-limitations or
unstable Internet connections. For more information about this service,
write HELP (or HELP ADVANCED for advanced information) in the body of
your message (and leave the subject line blank).
GETWEB
------
There are many getweb servers in the net. The following services are
capable of handling fill-in forms like www4mail, and some of them can
also download a web page with all its graphics, something www4mail
doesn't do:
getweb@emailfetch.com GET <URL> - in body
getweb@usa.healthnet.org GET <URL> - in body
page@grabpage.com URL: <URL> - in subject
text@pagegetter.com <URL> - in body (returns text)
web@pagegetter.com <URL> - in body (returns graphics page)
webgate@vancouver-webpages.com GET <URL> or DUMP <URL> - in body
webmail@www.ucc.ie GET <URL> or SEND <URL> - in body
www@web2mail.com URL - in subject (omit http://)
data@downloadslave.com <URL> - in body (in German)
I must warn you however that these services go down from time to time
and are not as fast as www4mail.
MORE INFORMATION
----------------
There's much more that you can do by email, like performing FTP commands
on an FTP server, searching for FTP files with Archie or Lycos,
exploring the Internet with Gopher, searching Gopher with Veronica or
Jughead and participating in Usenet groups.
To get you started, a good source of information can be found at
http://www.faqs.org/faqs/internet-services/access-via-email/
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HELP US!
We need your help to increase the number of subscribers to this
newsletter, and you can help us in two ways: 1) forwarding it to friends
and colleagues that may be interested in this publication, and 2) voting
for Latium Software in the Delphi rankings to give more visibility to
our web site that surely will bring more subscribers to the newsletter
and hopefully will increase the collaborations to help it keep going and
growing. To vote, all you have to do is follow these links:
http://top100borland.com/in.php?who=20
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This newsletter is provided "AS IS" without warranty of any kind. Its
use implies the acceptance of our licensing terms and disclaimer of
warranty you can read at http://www.latiumsoftware.com/en/legal.php
where you will also find a note about legal trademarks. Articles are
copyright of their respective authors and they are reproduced here with
their permission. You can redistribute this newsletter as long as you do
it in full (including copyright notices), without changes and gratis.
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Latium Software http://www.latiumsoftware.com/en/index.php
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Copyright (c) 2001 Ernesto De Spirito. All rights reserved.
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