Hey All,
I've been something of a low-level "lurker" on this site for a bit over a year now. Neat place, with a touch of that "old school" BBS feel to it. A friend of mine turned me on to joining up here when I asked him if he knew of any ways I could make some extra money on the weekends (we were both working at the same place at the time), and so I decided to give it a whirl, initially thinking this would be the perfect place to put my (and this is not to be immodest) extensive dev skill set and expert technical knowledge to work, overtime, and make some extra, no-hassle cash via PayPal, right?
Eh, not so fast there, cowboy... THIS place is, to turn a phrase, some "serious shit". In retrospect, I should have expected as much though from a place which styles itself as "BlackHatWorld" no? This is not the kind of forum one just "dives" right into. I mean, sure, you can, but be forewarned that if you do, injury is not just a possibility, it is a damn near certainty...
Your reputation is everything here, and it hinges on your living up to the expectation that you can "stand and deliver" when negotiating dealings with your fellow members. And second chances? Well, it's not exactly part of the vernacular around these parts of teh internetz...
So it occurred to me, after perusing ye olde forums a fair bit and taking it all in over an extended period of time, that the best way to set oneself up for lucrative opportunities down the road with fellow members would be to grow ones reputation slowly and steadily over time. Rather than being one of the "faceless" newbs posting a reply to an inquiry for freelancers saying, "hey! hey! hey! add me on skype! can't pm cuz i too new here! i do what you need at good price too man!!!"
Ya dig?
And ultimately, the journey has led me here: my introduction. I'm hoping this is the right step towards "putting myself out there" so that the community can get to know me a bit better, and eventually come to see the real value that I am capable of bringing to the table in virtually any technical/development scenario.
I'm not always the best at "selling" myself (that's just me being honest), and I don't have a *massive* portfolio of hundreds of flashy past projects to share. But I DO have a SHIT ton of experience; I have literally been a programming for over 20 years now, and I *just* turned 30. I have *never* been posed a technical question for which I was unable to (eventually, sometimes albeit after a little bit of research) give the CORRECT answer. Among those I have worked with and helped in person, out in the real world, I have a reputation for "never being wrong" (their words, not mine, and yea, not gonna lie, it annoys the *fuck* out of some people from time to time, notably my last boss...).
And I would very much like to start myself down the path towards building that exact same kind of reputation here.
I really do hope that is what the "Introductions" forum is meant to facilitate... I so, hit me up, and get to know me (most of the time, I really just enjoy being helpful when I can be, here and there).
... But then again, if its not, feel free to flame me and this post all the way down to hell.... I'll be sure to save you a seat!
:-D
laters...