John Colby
jwcolby at ColbyConsulting.com
Wed Feb 8 23:33:11 CST 2006
>Most of the ones I look at are so vaguely worded that I wonder how you can make a reasonable estimate of cost. And the answer is, I don't make an estimate of cost, I quote my hourly rate plus expenses, with a disclaimer that their spec is so vaguely worded that a fixed quote is not possible. Of course my hourly rate is about 5-10 times that of an Indian responding so if these companies are inclined to do that I can't compete. I actually got a phone call the other night from a company in India, quoting me $12 / hour for all kinds of offshoring work. John W. Colby www.ColbyConsulting.com -----Original Message----- From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com [mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Rocky Smolin - Beach Access Software Sent: Wednesday, February 08, 2006 11:36 PM To: Access Developers discussion and problem solving Subject: Re: [AccessD] [Fwd: Project Notification] Makes sense. The numbers sound right. I can't even compete with programmers in this country let alone overseas where the wage rate is so much lower. Most of the ones I look at are so vaguely worded that I wonder how you can make a reasonable estimate of cost. Rocky John Colby wrote: > Rocky, > > I do work with them. I have one client that I got through them, but I > suspect only because they wanted to actually meet to discuss it and > they were down on the coast. I have actually bid on perhaps 50 > projects and landed exactly one. > > However if you watch what goes by on that site you can get a good laugh. > > "I need a spider to scan the major bookseller web sites, looking for > my books. I need it to find the lowest price, then bid one cent below > that lowest price. Email me the results. And the total cost for this > project must be $75 or less". > > Uhhhh... OK. Idiot. Unfortunately quite typical. > > So yes, we are competing with India, Russia and China. OTOH, we also > probably have list members in India, and Shamil is in Russia. China > is less likely. > > Guru.com claim that less than 30% of all the contracts go overseas, > but you have heard the old saw about "liars, damned liars, and > statisticians". My guess is that less than 40% of all contracts even > get awarded, with 75% of them going overseas. 75% of 40% = 30%. > > And in spite of it all, I still respond if they sound like they have a > clue (which isn't all THAT often). > > John W. Colby > www.ColbyConsulting.com > > > -----Original Message----- > From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com > [mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Rocky > Smolin - Beach Access Software > Sent: Wednesday, February 08, 2006 10:36 PM > To: Access Developers discussion and problem solving > Subject: [AccessD] [Fwd: Project Notification] > > Any body work with Guru.com? Anybody have any success with it? Are > we competing with programmers in India, Russia, and China? > > Rocky > > > -------- Original Message -------- > Subject: Project Notification > Date: Wed, 08 Feb 2006 01:19:26 -0500 (EST) > From: Guru.com <info at guru.com> > To: bchacc at san.rr.com > > > > > Guru.com : Project Notification > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > > Dear Rocky: > > Within the last 24 hours, employers posted one or more projects that > match your profile(s). > > How to find the below project(s): > ---Sign in to your professional account: > http://www.guru.com/pro/login.cfm ---On the My Admin page, click the "Project Notifications" link. > > Want to stop receiving Project Notification emails? > Learn how here: http://www.guru.com/help/pro/invites.cfm#turn_off > --------------------------------------------------- > Profile ID: 611628 matches... > Project ID: 192572 > Title: Commission Calculation program > Category: Programming / Software / Database Development > Description: > We are a mortgage company where we hire Loan Agents on commission, > based on funded loans. > > We need a system that will calculate our loan agent's commission > according to percentage, deductions, fees, etc., > > We need to maintain a database of all Loan Agents and their earned > commission. We need to maintance a database of all loans funded. > > We need to be able to generate reports on specific loan commissions on > particular time frame. > > --------------------------------------------------- > > --------------------------------------------------- > Profile ID: 611628 matches... > Project ID: 192628 > Title: VBA/Access Function > Category: Programming / Software / Database Development > Description: > I need an VBA function to be used in an Access database that will > compare two strings. If the strings are match with only a two > character difference the function should return "True". If the > strings vary by more than a two character difference the function > should return false. The strings will have no punctuation or spaces. > I NEED THIS NO LATER THAN 02/08/2006 5pm CST. > > Examples: > Smith101MainStreet & Smiht101MainStreet = True Smit101MainStreet & > Smith101MainStreet = True Smith10111MainStreet & Smith101MainStreet = > True Smit101ManStreet & Smith101MainStreet = True > > Smith222MainStreet & Smith101MainStreet = False Smith101MaintainStreet > & Smith101MainStreet = False Smoth101ManyStreet & Smith101MainStreet = > False > > I will pay $45 for this function. I also have a large amount of > similar work and Access development that I would happily give to > someone that can show me quality and on time results. > > --------------------------------------------------- > > _______________________________________________________ > > This Project Notification will be deleted from your account in two weeks. > Avoid deletion, and save a copy to your Watch List. > - Sign in to your professional account: > http://www.guru.com/pro/login.cfm > - On the My Admin page, click the "Project Notifications" link. > - Click the "Add to Watch List" button. > > _______________________________________________________ > > Payment Protection Tip: > > Always remember to complete your transactions on Guru.com. It's the > safest way to sell services. > We offer two levels of payment protection through our mandatory > SafePay payment system-- Escrow and Invoicing. > > PAY PROTECTION LEVEL----PAYMENT OPTION > ---------------------------------------------- > Highest Protection------SafePay Escrow High Protection---------SafePay > Invoicing > > Because getting paid outside of SafePay is a high-risk transaction, it > is a violation of our Terms of Service. All payments from employers on > Guru.com must go through either SafePay Escrow or Invoicing. In > addition, receiving payment through SafePay is the only way to build > money-earned and feedback statistics, which attract future employers. *** More SafePay Information: > http://www.guru.com/help/pro/invoice.cfm > _______________________________________________________ > > Project Bidding Tips: > > - How to determine a time and cost estimate: > http://www.guru.com/resources/pro/fair_estimate.cfm > - View a sample proposal: > http://www.guru.com/resources/pro/sample_proposal.cfm > _______________________________________________________ > > Tips on How to Protect Yourself: > > - Smart Working Tips (PDF): > http://www.guru.com/resources/pro/pdf/smart_working.pdf > - How to identify and avoid fraudulent employers: > http://www.guru.com/help/pro/selection.cfm#beaware > _______________________________________________________ > > > Want to receive SafePay payments fast? Sign up for our free Direct > Deposit payment service now! More info: > http://www.guru.com/help/pro/payment.cfm#gurupay_dd > > > Sincerely, > Guru.com Team > > Please do not reply to this email. This mailbox is not monitored and > you will not receive a response. For assistance, please refer to our > Help Center > (http://www.guru.com/help/pro/professionals.cfm) or our Contact Us > page (http://www.guru.com/pro/contact.cfm). > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > Want to sign in? http://www.guru.com/pro/login.cfm Forgot your > Username and/or Password? > http://www.guru.com/pro/login_lostpassword.cfm > Need assistance? http://www.guru.com/pro/contact.cfm > > > > > > -- > Rocky Smolin > Beach Access Software > 858-259-4334 > www.e-z-mrp.com > > -- > AccessD mailing list > AccessD at databaseadvisors.com > http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/accessd > Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com > > -- Rocky Smolin Beach Access Software 858-259-4334 www.e-z-mrp.com -- AccessD mailing list AccessD at databaseadvisors.com http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/accessd Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com