Freelance Folder

>If you want to be a reasonable developer, you cannot get away without being expert at least one low-level language (C or C++), one high-level language (Python, Ruby, LISP, etc), some knowledge of OS fundamentals (threads, processes, filesystems), some knowledge of concurrency (threads, locks, message passing), understand how to design your own language and build a compiler or interpreter (Flex/Bison, lex/yacc, etc), and a good base in discrete math (at the minimum, ideally some knowledge of numerical analysis and probability would be very useful as well).

Okay, so I think when the OP was talking about 3-6 months for a developer job, they were referring to web dev. That is where I have seen the most "6 months to a position" stories. You certainly don't need all of that knowledge to put together a crud app or a front end with all of the frameworks and templates available.

You do need that knowledge when your app/site suddenly explodes with millions of users and your backend has gone thermonuclear due to being unoptimized.

In this case, the body of knowledge for a web developer is much smaller: HTML/CSS/JavaScript/A few frameworks. This is much more appropriate for the 1-3 year span.

Some quick google searches:

http://learnwithjeff.com/blog/2012/08/21/how-to-get-a-job-as-a-developer-in-less-than-six-months/

http://www.codeconquest.com/what-is-coding/programmer-6-months/

http://freelancefolder.com/how-to-become-a-freelance-web-developer/

Note: I know these are basically…

via: http://xrrg.com/x/r/53-web-20-feeds/

43 Folders. A different look into the minds of freelancers.
http://www.43folders.com/rss.xml

A List Apart. Since 1998 they’ve been promoting the proper use of web design methods. Their ideas are original and they’ve set in motion many critical layout standards.
http://www.alistapart.com/feed/rss.xml

AfterDawn. Optical Media meets Web 2.0.
http://rss.afterdawn.com/afterdawn_news.xml

Apple Hot News Ticker. Get the good stuff directly from the source. The Apple blog will keep you up to date with Official Apple announcements and product releases.
http://wdirect.apple.com/home/2008/ticker.rss

AppleInsider. Looking for iPhone, iTunes, or just Apple Rumors in general, AppleInsider is one of the authority blogs covering this topic.
http://www.appleinsider.com/appleinsider.rss

Ars Technica. Ars Technica is looked up upon for creating original content in the Technology industry.
http://feeds.arstechnica.com/arstechnica/BAaf

BetaNews.
http://www.betanews.com/rss2

BoingBoing. Looking for something totally unique, BoingBoing publishes interesting tidbits found from around the web.
http://feeds.boingboing.net/boingboing/iBag

CenterNetworks.
http://www.centernetworks.com/rss.xml

CodeBetter.
http://codebetter.com/blogs/MainFeed.aspx

Coding Horror.
http://feeds.feedburner.com/codinghorror/

Consumerist. Consumerist has gained trust from many people by making Corporate wrongdoings public knowledge. Consumerist has also connected companies…

> Someone wants a Facebook clone for $500? Simply respond "it's a huge amount of work and I won't be able to do it for that." If they press, explain why.

>Just saying "no, I can't help you" and walking away isn't doing yourself any favors.

You're right. But it's a grey area. There are some real crazies/idiots out there, and picking up a delinquent client is parasitic. If you work a large project, and the client pulls some bullshit to avoid payment, you may need to take them to court. This takes time you could be productive on other projects. A client who signs off on a design, and then complains that it's not what they want, will extend project. Too much of "could you make the yellow more yellow?" "I want people to smell cinnamon and peppermint." results in a poor finished product due to both frustration and a lack of communication.

Just dropping a client has it's own difficulties, and may not be possible depending on the agreement.

"I'll pay you $500 for a large project" is one indicator that could be a difficult client. Of course, it's not a truth, but I feel a good defensive game goes a long way.

It's sampling bias, but http://clientsfromhell.net and http://clientcopia.com/ are entertaining yet frustrating sites to see some of the worst of it. Let's add to the cynicism!

And a decent top ten list. These guys are more common than you'd believe. http://freelancefolder.com/bad-clients-and-how-to-avoid-them/

Other sites also impacted not listed on SEOmoz:

http://psd.tutsplus.com/tutorials/tools-tips/hdr-photography/
http://freelancefolder.com/5-tricks-that-make-you-more-attractive-to-clients/
http://www.webpronews.com/google-panda-update-2011-05

I found these through a fresher data source than SEOmoz. There may be more impacted (and might show what the security flaw is to someone more sophisticated than me).