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Stories and comments across the archive that link to amazon.com.

Comments · 40,271

  1. Re:Is Halo really that great? by Mortanius · · Score: 1 · on Bungie Vs. Miyamoto - Fight!

    There's four books so far

    The Fall of Reach, going into the history of the SPARTANs, ending just before the beginning of the first game
    The Flood, basically a straight novelization of the first game, a little bland if you've played the game, though they do throw in a few little extras you don't get from the game.
    First Strike which I haven't read yet, though judging from the amazon.com description sounds like it may bridge the gap between Halo and Halo 2. Someone who has read it could certainly flesh this out a bit more.
    Ghosts of Onyx which again I haven't read, though it sounds as though it takes place alongside either Halo 2 or Halo 3, and I believe wikipedia will tell you it deals with the SPARTAN III project.

    Additionally, as you noted, there's the graphic novel, a collection of four stories taking place at varying points in time throughout the Halo universe, published by Marvel. Though I'm not much of a graphic novel / manga enthusiast, I recall a friend saying the names involved with this were relatively big.

    There are also three soundtracks out, one for Halo and two for Halo 2 (and a single so far for Halo 3 available on the iTunes Music Store), though these don't necessarily expand the Halo universe; it is interesting to note though that on the first Halo 2 soundtrack there's some additional music not in the game, kind of a 'music inspired by' album, with four selections from Incubus, an opening track by Breaking Benjamin (though no longer available via iTMS) and a closing track by Hoobastank.

    On a personal note, if anyone could point me to a source for near-lifesize (i.e. 8ft is too big, but 4-5ft would be good) cardboard standups of Master Chief, I would be eternally grateful. Don't ask.

  2. Re:Is Halo really that great? by Mortanius · · Score: 1 · on Bungie Vs. Miyamoto - Fight!

    There's four books so far

    The Fall of Reach, going into the history of the SPARTANs, ending just before the beginning of the first game
    The Flood, basically a straight novelization of the first game, a little bland if you've played the game, though they do throw in a few little extras you don't get from the game.
    First Strike which I haven't read yet, though judging from the amazon.com description sounds like it may bridge the gap between Halo and Halo 2. Someone who has read it could certainly flesh this out a bit more.
    Ghosts of Onyx which again I haven't read, though it sounds as though it takes place alongside either Halo 2 or Halo 3, and I believe wikipedia will tell you it deals with the SPARTAN III project.

    Additionally, as you noted, there's the graphic novel, a collection of four stories taking place at varying points in time throughout the Halo universe, published by Marvel. Though I'm not much of a graphic novel / manga enthusiast, I recall a friend saying the names involved with this were relatively big.

    There are also three soundtracks out, one for Halo and two for Halo 2 (and a single so far for Halo 3 available on the iTunes Music Store), though these don't necessarily expand the Halo universe; it is interesting to note though that on the first Halo 2 soundtrack there's some additional music not in the game, kind of a 'music inspired by' album, with four selections from Incubus, an opening track by Breaking Benjamin (though no longer available via iTMS) and a closing track by Hoobastank.

    On a personal note, if anyone could point me to a source for near-lifesize (i.e. 8ft is too big, but 4-5ft would be good) cardboard standups of Master Chief, I would be eternally grateful. Don't ask.

  3. Re:Is Halo really that great? by Mortanius · · Score: 1 · on Bungie Vs. Miyamoto - Fight!

    There's four books so far

    The Fall of Reach, going into the history of the SPARTANs, ending just before the beginning of the first game
    The Flood, basically a straight novelization of the first game, a little bland if you've played the game, though they do throw in a few little extras you don't get from the game.
    First Strike which I haven't read yet, though judging from the amazon.com description sounds like it may bridge the gap between Halo and Halo 2. Someone who has read it could certainly flesh this out a bit more.
    Ghosts of Onyx which again I haven't read, though it sounds as though it takes place alongside either Halo 2 or Halo 3, and I believe wikipedia will tell you it deals with the SPARTAN III project.

    Additionally, as you noted, there's the graphic novel, a collection of four stories taking place at varying points in time throughout the Halo universe, published by Marvel. Though I'm not much of a graphic novel / manga enthusiast, I recall a friend saying the names involved with this were relatively big.

    There are also three soundtracks out, one for Halo and two for Halo 2 (and a single so far for Halo 3 available on the iTunes Music Store), though these don't necessarily expand the Halo universe; it is interesting to note though that on the first Halo 2 soundtrack there's some additional music not in the game, kind of a 'music inspired by' album, with four selections from Incubus, an opening track by Breaking Benjamin (though no longer available via iTMS) and a closing track by Hoobastank.

    On a personal note, if anyone could point me to a source for near-lifesize (i.e. 8ft is too big, but 4-5ft would be good) cardboard standups of Master Chief, I would be eternally grateful. Don't ask.

  4. Re:Is Halo really that great? by Mortanius · · Score: 1 · on Bungie Vs. Miyamoto - Fight!

    There's four books so far

    The Fall of Reach, going into the history of the SPARTANs, ending just before the beginning of the first game
    The Flood, basically a straight novelization of the first game, a little bland if you've played the game, though they do throw in a few little extras you don't get from the game.
    First Strike which I haven't read yet, though judging from the amazon.com description sounds like it may bridge the gap between Halo and Halo 2. Someone who has read it could certainly flesh this out a bit more.
    Ghosts of Onyx which again I haven't read, though it sounds as though it takes place alongside either Halo 2 or Halo 3, and I believe wikipedia will tell you it deals with the SPARTAN III project.

    Additionally, as you noted, there's the graphic novel, a collection of four stories taking place at varying points in time throughout the Halo universe, published by Marvel. Though I'm not much of a graphic novel / manga enthusiast, I recall a friend saying the names involved with this were relatively big.

    There are also three soundtracks out, one for Halo and two for Halo 2 (and a single so far for Halo 3 available on the iTunes Music Store), though these don't necessarily expand the Halo universe; it is interesting to note though that on the first Halo 2 soundtrack there's some additional music not in the game, kind of a 'music inspired by' album, with four selections from Incubus, an opening track by Breaking Benjamin (though no longer available via iTMS) and a closing track by Hoobastank.

    On a personal note, if anyone could point me to a source for near-lifesize (i.e. 8ft is too big, but 4-5ft would be good) cardboard standups of Master Chief, I would be eternally grateful. Don't ask.

  5. Solution.... by crt · · Score: 1 · on A "Bill of Lights" to Restrict LEDs on Gadgets?

    Solution: 1 bottle of white-out ($1.21)

  6. Re:Is that classified? by moosesocks · · Score: 1 · on US Military Launches YouTube Channel

    (IANAL) Although the link you posted isn't exactly what I'd call propaganda,the Smith-Mundt Act of 1948 does indeed make it illegal to broadcast or show US-funded propaganda to domestic audiences.

    This is mostly because of those absurdly racist WWI posters you probably saw in your high-school history class, and why you never saw much US-led propaganda after that (and believe me, it's not because we grew to be morally ABOVE those tactics).

    In the 40s, Disney produced a number of semi-propaganda shorts aimed at the WWII effort (and also a few bits that appear to be aimed at a South-American audience). It's on DVD, and is highly recommended.

  7. Re:Star of Christian Mythology by EsbenMoseHansen · · Score: 2, Insightful · on Ancient Star Found, Estimated at 13.2 Billion Years Old

    You're saying that people that were known to be blind since birth, were actually not? People who are missing a limb can be healed by modern magicians? A man who dies because of sickness and is in the grave for 4 days and begins to decompose can actually be alive? Can you seriously support this claim?

    Appears to. A man, who apparently was blind since birth and so forth. Look, magicians are good, they could easily fake all of the above. I once saw two magician (apparently) shoot each other with bullets (marked on the scene by a volunteer), through 3 panes of glass. Both caught the other's bullet with his teeth. Apparently. Yet, though I have no idea how, I do not believe that they actually did this. Same with the Jesus myth: If he actually appeared to do any of the stuff he is attributed to doing, he was faking it. In other words, a charlatan.

    As far as I'm aware, nothing about physical phenomena that appear in ordinary life on earth is missing an explanation, if you exclude the open questions of science. What I mean is that there is no scientist that could possibly claim with any degree of certainty that people can do today what Jesus did 2000 years ago. In trying to refute this truth, you reach irrational conclusions via irrational (and wrong) assumptions.

    Little evidence have survived the 2000 year span. My assumptions is the same with Jesus as anyone else: If they appear to do the impossible, most likely the appearances are deceiving. Of course, giving enough hard evidence, I might revise my idea of impossible, but if anything, the J-myth are backed by very dubious evidence.

    As for the historical evidence about the existence of Jesus, someone would think that we have at least 6 accounts for that by His students and one more by Josephus, a jewish historian. I'm really curious about who says otherwise and whether his claims are accepted by the scientific community.

    Hmm. I forget the name, it was an entire book. Darn, I hate my poor memory. Ah, google to the rescue: Did Jesus exists?. I don't have the necessary feel with the historical community to know whether this is an accepted historical hypothesis. Myself, I am undecided. He was either non-existing, a charlatan or a tool.

    People accept Jesus as God himself, because everything He said and did is true. Nothing more, nothing less.

    Then people are delusional. There is no garden gnomes, no fairies, no flying ufos or any other wishful thinking. There is just you, me and everyone and everything else.

  8. Re:Oh Boy... by DerekLyons · · Score: 2, Insightful · on Preventing Sick Spaceships

    In all seriousness this is an interesting issue I've never heard about before. You'd think the media would be all over this as an actual new space story,

    It's not a 'new' space story - not if you are actually familiar with the state-of-the-art, as opposed to feeding at the teat of the mass media. It's a well known issue - NASA was studying it as far back as Skylab. Heck, Michael Collins (yes that Michael Collins) used it as a plot point in his book Mission to Mars back in 1990!
  9. Re:Science is hard? by Nalgas+D.+Lemur · · Score: 1 · on Does Wikipedia Suck on Science Stories?

    No, you most certainly do not need to use big words, or even any fancy terminology at all, if you're explaining calculus, at least the basics. Calculus By and For Young People is a perfect example of that. It might not explain things in the same method as a high school or college class, but thanks to it, I understood things like the concept of limits better than other people who learned them in the "normal" way later on, and the idea behind derivatives (not all the history and mathematics behind them, just the concept and what they represent) can similarly be explained in less than 15 minutes.

    Concepts and the commonly used terminology to describe/refer to them are related, but they're not the same thing. It's just like a map vs. the terrain itself. The "big words" we use are just one way of representing the ideas, but they're not the ideas themselves, and they're not even the only way to represent them.

    Unsurprisingly, that book uses different representations of the ideas from the ones used when someone can be expected to have 10+ years of math classes in school already by the time they're towards the end of high school, at least partially because it's aimed at people who haven't even been alive that long. Not surprisingly, though, it introduces basic concepts and then builds on them, gradually becoming more complex...almost as if it were real math.

    Meanwhile, I should go post my positive review of it to balance out the negative ones complaining that it's too small. It's for little kids with little hands. Get over it. The content is more important than minor things like that. Sheesh.

  10. Re:Make it readable by Coryoth · · Score: 2, Insightful · on Does Wikipedia Suck on Science Stories?

    As an example, I just looked up the Wikipedia entry on Group Theory. The first paragraph is comprehensible, but virtually information-free. The second paragraph uses technical terms that I would have to look up for them to mean enough to be informative. Heh. You think that's bad, try looking up fibration, pre-sheaf, sheaf cohomology, adjoint functor, or topos. Compared to the category theoretic material, a lot of the math articles are positively comprehensible. There are efforts underway, within the WikiprojectMathematics, t try and make things more accessible. For instance the manifold page is relatively low level, and tries to give a general explanation of the ideas, with the technical details left to more specific articles like differentiable manifold and topological manifold (although, to be honest, both of those are in need of some work).

    Ultimately, however, it is hard because math is a very layered subject. Each idea builds upon the previous abstractions. You can bootstrap yourself straight into things via an axiomatic definition, but that fails to provide much in the way of context or motivation. I'm trying to slowly build my own explanation of more advanced mathematics at my website, The Narrow Road, building piece after piece and trying to keep track of the big picture and motivate things as we go along. That's a very slow process however: I'm only barely starting to scratch group theory and the beginnings of calculus -- algebraic topology, category theory, and topos theory, which are among my eventual goals, are a long way off yet.

    At some point you have to recognise that without appropriate background context with which to explain things, explanations of advanced mathematics are going to be excessively long. I think providing better context for modern mathematics would be a good thing (check out Conceptual Mathematics by Lawvere for instance, a high school level category theory text). In the present, however, most people have been exposed to concepts of number and arithmetic sufficiently that they have an intuitive idea o those abstractions, but the basic abstractions of, say, group theory (while not necessarily that much harder) aren't generally encountered so people tend to lack the context. I agree that the current Wikipedia articles could use some work, and cleaning up some of the unnecessary use of technical terms as a crutch (as so often happens) would be good. Still, there's no substitute for having a grasp of the abstractions upon which the particular idea you're looking at is based.
  11. Re:repairng your own vehicle by falconwolf · · Score: 1 · on Scientists Claim Major Leap in Engine Design

    Are you talking about A Torx T45 bit, or this crazy thing?

    It might be but I don't recall exactly what the tool was. All I recall was that I was mad that I needed a special tool just to change oil and oil filter.

    Falcon
  12. Re:repairng your own vehicle by cloudmaster · · Score: 1 · on Scientists Claim Major Leap in Engine Design

    Are you talking about A Torx T45 bit, or this crazy thing GM used on some ill-conceived four-bangers? There are lots of things that use big Torx fasteners. The seatbelts in that old Monte were probably held in with big Torx fasteners, in fact - my '75 and '80 GM cars were. :) That other deal, though, that's a special tool right up there with the screwdriver used to adjust a Quadrajet's idle mixture, and anything that you'd use to work on a Jetta. ;)

  13. The Education of T. C. Mits, 1944-prior art? by dpbsmith · · Score: 1 · on Scientists Offer New Way to Read Online Text

    I wonder if those researchers ever saw a 1944 book entitled "The Educations of T. C. Mits," by Hugh and Miriam Lieber? Listings at Amazon, and at abebooks

    It was intended to popularize mathematical concepts for laymen ("the celebrated man in the street," hence T. C. Mits), and it used exactly that style of formatting. As I recall, the introduction said something along the lines of

    This is not
        free verse

    but is simply
          an way to
                make reading easier.

    It seems they were right.

    Keep this book in mind as prior art if they try to patent the technique!

  14. Book on the subject by mariox19 · · Score: 1 · on Ceiling Height May Affect Problem-Solving Skills

    There's a book I've been meaning to read that you may be interested in: Last Child In The Woods.

    I think the title alone gives you a pretty good idea of what it's about.

  15. It was suggested years ago... by nicc777 · · Score: 2, Interesting · on Sun to Make Solaris More Linux Like

    I am now reading the book Rebel Code and it is interesting to notice that exactly this was suggested years ago. If the heads at Sun listened to the "sourceware" suggestion back then, they could have been miles ahead by now...

  16. Re:Move to Paradise by kchrist · · Score: 2, Interesting · on Where to Go After a Lifetime in IT?

    You can find your answer in Getting Out. I just finished reading it last week and while I don't remember the specifics on Costa Rica, it's got a weath of info on those very things about more countries than I had ever thought about visiting, much less moving to.

  17. Read this Book by bjcubsfan · · Score: 2, Informative · on Where to Go After a Lifetime in IT?

    I would strongly recommend reading What Color is Your Parachute? This is a great book to help you work through what new career you would enjoy. Although it may seem to be a job hunting book, it also focuses a lot on changing your career. Here's a quick summary from Amazon for the lazy:

    Richard Nelson Bolles offers hope and presents an inspiring and detailed plan for finding your place in this uncertain job market. WHAT COLOR IS YOUR PARACHUTE? has been the best-selling job-hunting book in the world for more three decades, in good times and bad, and it continues to be a fixture on best-seller lists, from Amazon.com to Business Week. It has well over eight million copies in print and has been translated into 12 languages around the world. With an extended preface that addresses job loss, vacancies, and outsourcing and updated references on how to use the Internet in your job-hunt throughout, the 2006 PARACHUTE addresses the top concerns of today 's job-hunters. In the words of Fortune magazine: "Parachute remains the gold standard of! career guides."

  18. 48 Days to the Work You Love by Abattoir · · Score: 1 · on Where to Go After a Lifetime in IT?

    This book will give you all the answers you need for choosing a career that is a vocation.

  19. Try reading Barbara Sher by cshay · · Score: 1 · on Where to Go After a Lifetime in IT?

    ..you may have seen her on PBS. She really has a good approach to finding fulfilling work. For example: http://www.amazon.com/Live-Life-You-Love-Step/dp/0 440507561

  20. Nation of Cowards by straponego · · Score: 2, Interesting · on Proposed Legislation Is Mooninite Fallout
    Snivelling cowards. That is what the USA has become. At least, that majority of it which supports this kind of law, this false sense of security.

    So, let me get this straight, betwetters. Every time I experience an object, sound, or symbol I don't recognize, or one which reminds me of something that could be used to inflict harm, somebody should go to jail?

    If you want your safety guaranteed to an arbitrary degree, well, I guess we'll have the brain in a vat plan available fairly soon. And before that, you're welcome to check yourself into total a surveillance camp. For the rest of us, a little common sense and a modicum of dignity will just have to get us by.

    Seriously, the best way, long term, to get people to make rational decisions throughout the day would be early exposure, in school, to elementary logic, statistics, and game theory. As important as pure math is, I think that this should be a separate set of classes, because... well, it'll be easier to market it if you tie it to real life. Here are a couple books I think should be required reading in high school:

    Innumeracy

    Prisoner's Dilemma

  21. Nation of Cowards by straponego · · Score: 2, Interesting · on Proposed Legislation Is Mooninite Fallout
    Snivelling cowards. That is what the USA has become. At least, that majority of it which supports this kind of law, this false sense of security.

    So, let me get this straight, betwetters. Every time I experience an object, sound, or symbol I don't recognize, or one which reminds me of something that could be used to inflict harm, somebody should go to jail?

    If you want your safety guaranteed to an arbitrary degree, well, I guess we'll have the brain in a vat plan available fairly soon. And before that, you're welcome to check yourself into total a surveillance camp. For the rest of us, a little common sense and a modicum of dignity will just have to get us by.

    Seriously, the best way, long term, to get people to make rational decisions throughout the day would be early exposure, in school, to elementary logic, statistics, and game theory. As important as pure math is, I think that this should be a separate set of classes, because... well, it'll be easier to market it if you tie it to real life. Here are a couple books I think should be required reading in high school:

    Innumeracy

    Prisoner's Dilemma

  22. Re:Frame rate perception by linzeal · · Score: 1 · on Vista vs. XP Game Stability and Performance

    I'm sorry but CRTs are still around even if the more popular Trinitron tubes are no longer being manufactured. Me and my girlfriend get migraines and we prefer a cheap used 17" monitor for long sessions at the computer than our 20" monitors, for one while the CRT has hummed along without complaint from moving around the house and the country, both of the LCD monitors have had to be returned under warranty for problems with holding a specific resolution or just turning on. When LCDs are as rock solid as my 12 year old 21" Sony Trinitron, maybe than I will switch completely.

  23. Re:Frame rate perception by linzeal · · Score: 1 · on Vista vs. XP Game Stability and Performance

    I'm sorry but CRTs are still around even if the more popular Trinitron tubes are no longer being manufactured. Me and my girlfriend get migraines and we prefer a cheap used 17" monitor for long sessions at the computer than our 20" monitors, for one while the CRT has hummed along without complaint from moving around the house and the country, both of the LCD monitors have had to be returned under warranty for problems with holding a specific resolution or just turning on. When LCDs are as rock solid as my 12 year old 21" Sony Trinitron, maybe than I will switch completely.

  24. our freedom by falconwolf · · Score: 1 · on Massachusetts Joins the Real ID Fight

    We haven't had freedom in the United States since the 1950s.

    Freedom was lost before the 1950s, some freedoms at least. By 1900 the USA didn't have the freedom and liberty Alexis de Tocqueville saw in the 1820-30s and wrote about in Democracy in America .

    Falcon
  25. Re:Listen... by labnet · · Score: 1 · on Australian Extradited For Breaking US Law At Home

    I agree with Kevin, that the masses seem opiated by the mass media.
    Scratch the surface of the internet though and discontent with the US govt is deafening, but the people seem impotent to do anything about it. Even 95% of /. seem to know the USA is becoming a fascist country, but again the people seem hypnotised... or apathetic. I suppose if you have food in your belly, a roof over your head, and TV, you are not terribly motivated to change the status quo.

    It seems more and more likely 9/11 was a false flag operation to start middle east incursions to ultimately prop up the fiat US dollar by keeping oil priced in USD. I wonder how it will end....

    http://www.amazon.com/Debunking-11-Mechanics-Defen ders-Conspiracy/dp/156656686X

  26. Re:Are consumers that dumb? by yuna49 · · Score: 1 · on Jobs to Labels- Lose the DRM & We'll Talk Price

    Mine switches to "Tape 2" when I put the device in the slot, but then it stays there. I'm using a device from Monster Cable in my '99 VW Passat. Reading reviews for this device on Amazon suggests that a lot of people have problems with all these devices including the competing items from Sony and Belkin. Some of the reviewers describe problems similar to yours. Some of these devices don't seem to work with certain brands of car stereos; some display weird behavior and mechanical noise; some work just fine. Maybe I'm just lucky, or maybe I haven't used it enough to start creating the problems others have encountered.

  27. The Light of Other Days by Jon+Abbott · · Score: 1 · on Mathematicians Design Invisible Tunnel

    One future application of this technology is covered in the book The Light of Other Days by Stephen Baxter and Arthur C. Clarke. In it, a company develops a way to spy on anyone, anywhere using light wormholes. It completely changes society because suddenly privacy is non-existent. The book is a very interesting read, and it's available on Amazon for a penny.

  28. Re:What about the Employers? by HellYeahAutomaton · · Score: 1 · on Bill To Outlaw Genetic Discrimination In US

    Yeah, and as an employee who has taken quite a few technical interviews it comes across like Shockley (a eugenics whackjob) brainteasers that are still in use today at Amazon, Microsoft and Google See: http://www.amazon.com/How-Would-Move-Mount-Fuji/dp /0316778494 .

    The sad part about it is that most interviewees don't even realize they are being patronized.

    You don't trust us. We don't trust you; and that is why employee retention is so difficult.
    Employers need to grow up, and show a little respect for their prospective employees.

  29. Re:All it needs... by Wolfrider · · Score: 1 · on Microsoft Invents Split Screen PC

    http://www.amazon.com/Samurai-Goes-Movies-Mark-Rog ers/dp/0741430002/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3/103-4213548-5198 255?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1178484979&sr=8-3 Does not approve
     
    // But I do ;-)

  30. Re:Champoined Needed - Sounds Good To Me by AKAImBatman · · Score: 5, Interesting · on Bill Gates' Management Style

    True enough. Though if you found this article interesting, you should try reading Barbarians Led by Bill Gates. It's an insider's perspective on the going-ons inside of Microsoft in the early days. It's especially freaky to learn that they started coding much of Windows in BASIC. (Which I suppose comes as no surprise given that the Microsoft of the time was known as "the BASIC company".) Just like in this article, Gates was described as the King of the Hill with whom very few of the developers wanted to tangle.

    A particularly amusing anecdote was when the author was working on a clock application for Windows. He found the BASIC flood-fill routine to be buggy and quite poor, and set about to rewrite it. He then headed for Gates' office to tell him that he wanted to replace the existing flood-fill routine "because it was crap". (Or something to that effect.) Some of his coworkers tried to warn him off, but he headed straight in and showed off his work to Gates. After forcefully championing his work to Gates, Gates agreed to allow the fix. As he came out of Gates' office beaming, one of the coworkers said to him, "You know who wrote the original flood-fill routine, don't you?"

    Yep, it was Gates. And the author had just told him that his code was crap to his face. Doh! :-P

  31. Learn how to create 'Use Cases' by 1iar_parad0x · · Score: 1 · on Writing Open Source Documentation?

    You can learn how to create good documentation by learning to create DOCUMENTATION. Essentially, what you're asking here is how to be a good technical writer. One of the best ways to do this is to learn about the software engineering process. You won't necessarily have to learn how to program, but you will probably end up learning a little UML (Unified Modeling Language).

    In the Unified Process (and many other software engineering methodologies) a technical writer/architect/project manager will create documentation to describe the problem and a potential solution (i.e. the design for a piece of software) to programmers, customers, and upper management. In fact 'working the documentation process' is a sound part of software engineering. One of the methods implored is to create a set of 'use cases'. A use case is a description of the actions on a system/piece of software. Often use cases (documented actions on the system) provide a great template for a user manual.

    Books on how to write use cases:
    Writing Effective Use Cases
    by Alistair Cockburn

    Use Case Modeling
    by Kurt Bittner, Ian Spence

    A book on how to create requirements documents (i.e. creating documentation):
    Managing Software Requirements: A Use Case Approach
    by Dean Leffingwell, Don Widrig

    A book on the Unified Process and Software Engineering (from Analysis to Code):
    Applying UML and Patterns: An Introduction to Object-Oriented Analysis and Design and Iterative Development
    by Craig Larman

  32. Learn how to create 'Use Cases' by 1iar_parad0x · · Score: 1 · on Writing Open Source Documentation?

    You can learn how to create good documentation by learning to create DOCUMENTATION. Essentially, what you're asking here is how to be a good technical writer. One of the best ways to do this is to learn about the software engineering process. You won't necessarily have to learn how to program, but you will probably end up learning a little UML (Unified Modeling Language).

    In the Unified Process (and many other software engineering methodologies) a technical writer/architect/project manager will create documentation to describe the problem and a potential solution (i.e. the design for a piece of software) to programmers, customers, and upper management. In fact 'working the documentation process' is a sound part of software engineering. One of the methods implored is to create a set of 'use cases'. A use case is a description of the actions on a system/piece of software. Often use cases (documented actions on the system) provide a great template for a user manual.

    Books on how to write use cases:
    Writing Effective Use Cases
    by Alistair Cockburn

    Use Case Modeling
    by Kurt Bittner, Ian Spence

    A book on how to create requirements documents (i.e. creating documentation):
    Managing Software Requirements: A Use Case Approach
    by Dean Leffingwell, Don Widrig

    A book on the Unified Process and Software Engineering (from Analysis to Code):
    Applying UML and Patterns: An Introduction to Object-Oriented Analysis and Design and Iterative Development
    by Craig Larman

  33. Learn how to create 'Use Cases' by 1iar_parad0x · · Score: 1 · on Writing Open Source Documentation?

    You can learn how to create good documentation by learning to create DOCUMENTATION. Essentially, what you're asking here is how to be a good technical writer. One of the best ways to do this is to learn about the software engineering process. You won't necessarily have to learn how to program, but you will probably end up learning a little UML (Unified Modeling Language).

    In the Unified Process (and many other software engineering methodologies) a technical writer/architect/project manager will create documentation to describe the problem and a potential solution (i.e. the design for a piece of software) to programmers, customers, and upper management. In fact 'working the documentation process' is a sound part of software engineering. One of the methods implored is to create a set of 'use cases'. A use case is a description of the actions on a system/piece of software. Often use cases (documented actions on the system) provide a great template for a user manual.

    Books on how to write use cases:
    Writing Effective Use Cases
    by Alistair Cockburn

    Use Case Modeling
    by Kurt Bittner, Ian Spence

    A book on how to create requirements documents (i.e. creating documentation):
    Managing Software Requirements: A Use Case Approach
    by Dean Leffingwell, Don Widrig

    A book on the Unified Process and Software Engineering (from Analysis to Code):
    Applying UML and Patterns: An Introduction to Object-Oriented Analysis and Design and Iterative Development
    by Craig Larman

  34. Learn how to create 'Use Cases' by 1iar_parad0x · · Score: 1 · on Writing Open Source Documentation?

    You can learn how to create good documentation by learning to create DOCUMENTATION. Essentially, what you're asking here is how to be a good technical writer. One of the best ways to do this is to learn about the software engineering process. You won't necessarily have to learn how to program, but you will probably end up learning a little UML (Unified Modeling Language).

    In the Unified Process (and many other software engineering methodologies) a technical writer/architect/project manager will create documentation to describe the problem and a potential solution (i.e. the design for a piece of software) to programmers, customers, and upper management. In fact 'working the documentation process' is a sound part of software engineering. One of the methods implored is to create a set of 'use cases'. A use case is a description of the actions on a system/piece of software. Often use cases (documented actions on the system) provide a great template for a user manual.

    Books on how to write use cases:
    Writing Effective Use Cases
    by Alistair Cockburn

    Use Case Modeling
    by Kurt Bittner, Ian Spence

    A book on how to create requirements documents (i.e. creating documentation):
    Managing Software Requirements: A Use Case Approach
    by Dean Leffingwell, Don Widrig

    A book on the Unified Process and Software Engineering (from Analysis to Code):
    Applying UML and Patterns: An Introduction to Object-Oriented Analysis and Design and Iterative Development
    by Craig Larman

  35. Re:This could be huge by DocDJ · · Score: 1 · on Super-Fast RDF Search Engine Developed

    Absolutely right, and it's not as if these academic chancers don't have form in this area - the importance of this "breakthrough" can indeed be overestimated, just like previous "breakthroughs"). The semantic web is nothing more than snake oil.

  36. Homebrew industrial tool control, eh? by stonecypher · · Score: 2, Informative · on Creating a Homebrew Industrial Process Monitor?
    Yeah, because if there are two words that go together, it's industrial and homebrew. :D

    There are a whole lot of things that go into handling an industrial system. If you're really going to try to do this on your own, you've got a lot of reading ahead of you; the cost of faults in an industrial system is typically prohibitively high. You're going to need a deep familiarity with modern methods. You're going to need to be familiar with direct hardware control, realtime coding (which is harder than most people think,) constant test polling, and all sorts of stuff most programmers never, ever have to deal with.

    This is not something you can take lightly. If you're going to do this, you have to get it right, the first time, and that means your test cases and regression tests have to be diamond-hard, your specification has to be absolute, and you have to know your timing will not fail. These are difficult issues, but with the appropriate know-how, this can be done.

    Here are some places to start:

    Embedded Control:

    Realtime:

    Integration:

    Testing:

  37. Homebrew industrial tool control, eh? by stonecypher · · Score: 2, Informative · on Creating a Homebrew Industrial Process Monitor?
    Yeah, because if there are two words that go together, it's industrial and homebrew. :D

    There are a whole lot of things that go into handling an industrial system. If you're really going to try to do this on your own, you've got a lot of reading ahead of you; the cost of faults in an industrial system is typically prohibitively high. You're going to need a deep familiarity with modern methods. You're going to need to be familiar with direct hardware control, realtime coding (which is harder than most people think,) constant test polling, and all sorts of stuff most programmers never, ever have to deal with.

    This is not something you can take lightly. If you're going to do this, you have to get it right, the first time, and that means your test cases and regression tests have to be diamond-hard, your specification has to be absolute, and you have to know your timing will not fail. These are difficult issues, but with the appropriate know-how, this can be done.

    Here are some places to start:

    Embedded Control:

    Realtime:

    Integration:

    Testing:

  38. Homebrew industrial tool control, eh? by stonecypher · · Score: 2, Informative · on Creating a Homebrew Industrial Process Monitor?
    Yeah, because if there are two words that go together, it's industrial and homebrew. :D

    There are a whole lot of things that go into handling an industrial system. If you're really going to try to do this on your own, you've got a lot of reading ahead of you; the cost of faults in an industrial system is typically prohibitively high. You're going to need a deep familiarity with modern methods. You're going to need to be familiar with direct hardware control, realtime coding (which is harder than most people think,) constant test polling, and all sorts of stuff most programmers never, ever have to deal with.

    This is not something you can take lightly. If you're going to do this, you have to get it right, the first time, and that means your test cases and regression tests have to be diamond-hard, your specification has to be absolute, and you have to know your timing will not fail. These are difficult issues, but with the appropriate know-how, this can be done.

    Here are some places to start:

    Embedded Control:

    Realtime:

    Integration:

    Testing:

  39. Homebrew industrial tool control, eh? by stonecypher · · Score: 2, Informative · on Creating a Homebrew Industrial Process Monitor?
    Yeah, because if there are two words that go together, it's industrial and homebrew. :D

    There are a whole lot of things that go into handling an industrial system. If you're really going to try to do this on your own, you've got a lot of reading ahead of you; the cost of faults in an industrial system is typically prohibitively high. You're going to need a deep familiarity with modern methods. You're going to need to be familiar with direct hardware control, realtime coding (which is harder than most people think,) constant test polling, and all sorts of stuff most programmers never, ever have to deal with.

    This is not something you can take lightly. If you're going to do this, you have to get it right, the first time, and that means your test cases and regression tests have to be diamond-hard, your specification has to be absolute, and you have to know your timing will not fail. These are difficult issues, but with the appropriate know-how, this can be done.

    Here are some places to start:

    Embedded Control:

    Realtime:

    Integration:

    Testing:

  40. Homebrew industrial tool control, eh? by stonecypher · · Score: 2, Informative · on Creating a Homebrew Industrial Process Monitor?
    Yeah, because if there are two words that go together, it's industrial and homebrew. :D

    There are a whole lot of things that go into handling an industrial system. If you're really going to try to do this on your own, you've got a lot of reading ahead of you; the cost of faults in an industrial system is typically prohibitively high. You're going to need a deep familiarity with modern methods. You're going to need to be familiar with direct hardware control, realtime coding (which is harder than most people think,) constant test polling, and all sorts of stuff most programmers never, ever have to deal with.

    This is not something you can take lightly. If you're going to do this, you have to get it right, the first time, and that means your test cases and regression tests have to be diamond-hard, your specification has to be absolute, and you have to know your timing will not fail. These are difficult issues, but with the appropriate know-how, this can be done.

    Here are some places to start:

    Embedded Control:

    Realtime:

    Integration:

    Testing:

  41. Homebrew industrial tool control, eh? by stonecypher · · Score: 2, Informative · on Creating a Homebrew Industrial Process Monitor?
    Yeah, because if there are two words that go together, it's industrial and homebrew. :D

    There are a whole lot of things that go into handling an industrial system. If you're really going to try to do this on your own, you've got a lot of reading ahead of you; the cost of faults in an industrial system is typically prohibitively high. You're going to need a deep familiarity with modern methods. You're going to need to be familiar with direct hardware control, realtime coding (which is harder than most people think,) constant test polling, and all sorts of stuff most programmers never, ever have to deal with.

    This is not something you can take lightly. If you're going to do this, you have to get it right, the first time, and that means your test cases and regression tests have to be diamond-hard, your specification has to be absolute, and you have to know your timing will not fail. These are difficult issues, but with the appropriate know-how, this can be done.

    Here are some places to start:

    Embedded Control:

    Realtime:

    Integration:

    Testing:

  42. Homebrew industrial tool control, eh? by stonecypher · · Score: 2, Informative · on Creating a Homebrew Industrial Process Monitor?
    Yeah, because if there are two words that go together, it's industrial and homebrew. :D

    There are a whole lot of things that go into handling an industrial system. If you're really going to try to do this on your own, you've got a lot of reading ahead of you; the cost of faults in an industrial system is typically prohibitively high. You're going to need a deep familiarity with modern methods. You're going to need to be familiar with direct hardware control, realtime coding (which is harder than most people think,) constant test polling, and all sorts of stuff most programmers never, ever have to deal with.

    This is not something you can take lightly. If you're going to do this, you have to get it right, the first time, and that means your test cases and regression tests have to be diamond-hard, your specification has to be absolute, and you have to know your timing will not fail. These are difficult issues, but with the appropriate know-how, this can be done.

    Here are some places to start:

    Embedded Control:

    Realtime:

    Integration:

    Testing:

  43. Homebrew industrial tool control, eh? by stonecypher · · Score: 2, Informative · on Creating a Homebrew Industrial Process Monitor?
    Yeah, because if there are two words that go together, it's industrial and homebrew. :D

    There are a whole lot of things that go into handling an industrial system. If you're really going to try to do this on your own, you've got a lot of reading ahead of you; the cost of faults in an industrial system is typically prohibitively high. You're going to need a deep familiarity with modern methods. You're going to need to be familiar with direct hardware control, realtime coding (which is harder than most people think,) constant test polling, and all sorts of stuff most programmers never, ever have to deal with.

    This is not something you can take lightly. If you're going to do this, you have to get it right, the first time, and that means your test cases and regression tests have to be diamond-hard, your specification has to be absolute, and you have to know your timing will not fail. These are difficult issues, but with the appropriate know-how, this can be done.

    Here are some places to start:

    Embedded Control:

    Realtime:

    Integration:

    Testing:

  44. Homebrew industrial tool control, eh? by stonecypher · · Score: 2, Informative · on Creating a Homebrew Industrial Process Monitor?
    Yeah, because if there are two words that go together, it's industrial and homebrew. :D

    There are a whole lot of things that go into handling an industrial system. If you're really going to try to do this on your own, you've got a lot of reading ahead of you; the cost of faults in an industrial system is typically prohibitively high. You're going to need a deep familiarity with modern methods. You're going to need to be familiar with direct hardware control, realtime coding (which is harder than most people think,) constant test polling, and all sorts of stuff most programmers never, ever have to deal with.

    This is not something you can take lightly. If you're going to do this, you have to get it right, the first time, and that means your test cases and regression tests have to be diamond-hard, your specification has to be absolute, and you have to know your timing will not fail. These are difficult issues, but with the appropriate know-how, this can be done.

    Here are some places to start:

    Embedded Control:

    Realtime:

    Integration:

    Testing:

  45. Homebrew industrial tool control, eh? by stonecypher · · Score: 2, Informative · on Creating a Homebrew Industrial Process Monitor?
    Yeah, because if there are two words that go together, it's industrial and homebrew. :D

    There are a whole lot of things that go into handling an industrial system. If you're really going to try to do this on your own, you've got a lot of reading ahead of you; the cost of faults in an industrial system is typically prohibitively high. You're going to need a deep familiarity with modern methods. You're going to need to be familiar with direct hardware control, realtime coding (which is harder than most people think,) constant test polling, and all sorts of stuff most programmers never, ever have to deal with.

    This is not something you can take lightly. If you're going to do this, you have to get it right, the first time, and that means your test cases and regression tests have to be diamond-hard, your specification has to be absolute, and you have to know your timing will not fail. These are difficult issues, but with the appropriate know-how, this can be done.

    Here are some places to start:

    Embedded Control:

    Realtime:

    Integration:

    Testing:

  46. Homebrew industrial tool control, eh? by stonecypher · · Score: 2, Informative · on Creating a Homebrew Industrial Process Monitor?
    Yeah, because if there are two words that go together, it's industrial and homebrew. :D

    There are a whole lot of things that go into handling an industrial system. If you're really going to try to do this on your own, you've got a lot of reading ahead of you; the cost of faults in an industrial system is typically prohibitively high. You're going to need a deep familiarity with modern methods. You're going to need to be familiar with direct hardware control, realtime coding (which is harder than most people think,) constant test polling, and all sorts of stuff most programmers never, ever have to deal with.

    This is not something you can take lightly. If you're going to do this, you have to get it right, the first time, and that means your test cases and regression tests have to be diamond-hard, your specification has to be absolute, and you have to know your timing will not fail. These are difficult issues, but with the appropriate know-how, this can be done.

    Here are some places to start:

    Embedded Control:

    Realtime:

    Integration:

    Testing:

  47. Homebrew industrial tool control, eh? by stonecypher · · Score: 2, Informative · on Creating a Homebrew Industrial Process Monitor?
    Yeah, because if there are two words that go together, it's industrial and homebrew. :D

    There are a whole lot of things that go into handling an industrial system. If you're really going to try to do this on your own, you've got a lot of reading ahead of you; the cost of faults in an industrial system is typically prohibitively high. You're going to need a deep familiarity with modern methods. You're going to need to be familiar with direct hardware control, realtime coding (which is harder than most people think,) constant test polling, and all sorts of stuff most programmers never, ever have to deal with.

    This is not something you can take lightly. If you're going to do this, you have to get it right, the first time, and that means your test cases and regression tests have to be diamond-hard, your specification has to be absolute, and you have to know your timing will not fail. These are difficult issues, but with the appropriate know-how, this can be done.

    Here are some places to start:

    Embedded Control:

    Realtime:

    Integration:

    Testing:

  48. Homebrew industrial tool control, eh? by stonecypher · · Score: 2, Informative · on Creating a Homebrew Industrial Process Monitor?
    Yeah, because if there are two words that go together, it's industrial and homebrew. :D

    There are a whole lot of things that go into handling an industrial system. If you're really going to try to do this on your own, you've got a lot of reading ahead of you; the cost of faults in an industrial system is typically prohibitively high. You're going to need a deep familiarity with modern methods. You're going to need to be familiar with direct hardware control, realtime coding (which is harder than most people think,) constant test polling, and all sorts of stuff most programmers never, ever have to deal with.

    This is not something you can take lightly. If you're going to do this, you have to get it right, the first time, and that means your test cases and regression tests have to be diamond-hard, your specification has to be absolute, and you have to know your timing will not fail. These are difficult issues, but with the appropriate know-how, this can be done.

    Here are some places to start:

    Embedded Control:

    Realtime:

    Integration:

    Testing:

  49. Homebrew industrial tool control, eh? by stonecypher · · Score: 2, Informative · on Creating a Homebrew Industrial Process Monitor?
    Yeah, because if there are two words that go together, it's industrial and homebrew. :D

    There are a whole lot of things that go into handling an industrial system. If you're really going to try to do this on your own, you've got a lot of reading ahead of you; the cost of faults in an industrial system is typically prohibitively high. You're going to need a deep familiarity with modern methods. You're going to need to be familiar with direct hardware control, realtime coding (which is harder than most people think,) constant test polling, and all sorts of stuff most programmers never, ever have to deal with.

    This is not something you can take lightly. If you're going to do this, you have to get it right, the first time, and that means your test cases and regression tests have to be diamond-hard, your specification has to be absolute, and you have to know your timing will not fail. These are difficult issues, but with the appropriate know-how, this can be done.

    Here are some places to start:

    Embedded Control:

    Realtime:

    Integration:

    Testing:

  50. Homebrew industrial tool control, eh? by stonecypher · · Score: 2, Informative · on Creating a Homebrew Industrial Process Monitor?
    Yeah, because if there are two words that go together, it's industrial and homebrew. :D

    There are a whole lot of things that go into handling an industrial system. If you're really going to try to do this on your own, you've got a lot of reading ahead of you; the cost of faults in an industrial system is typically prohibitively high. You're going to need a deep familiarity with modern methods. You're going to need to be familiar with direct hardware control, realtime coding (which is harder than most people think,) constant test polling, and all sorts of stuff most programmers never, ever have to deal with.

    This is not something you can take lightly. If you're going to do this, you have to get it right, the first time, and that means your test cases and regression tests have to be diamond-hard, your specification has to be absolute, and you have to know your timing will not fail. These are difficult issues, but with the appropriate know-how, this can be done.

    Here are some places to start:

    Embedded Control:

    Realtime:

    Integration:

    Testing: