We've been using the Borland Java "suite" for applications development at work, and I've found: 1) JBuilder 3.5 Enterprise is a great tool. Fast compiling, stable, etc. (As long as your machine has enough RAM to handle the requirements of the VM...) 2) Inprise AppServer is a useful tool, but still has enough little annoyances to aggrivate anyone. (Mostly with remote deploys) The Inprise AppServer (development liscense) comes with JBuilder Enterprise... Having support from Borland (and the BSD core, of course) might actually make the Mac a serious software development platform again...
The way I have learned many good software engineering techniques is simply by learning from others. The part I have always struggled with is "where to start" and "what's *really* important". (Especially with Java Enterprise technology...) Having experienced people around to ask questions and bounce ideas off of is the best experience you could have.
Unfortunatly, as a student there typically aren't that many experience software designers. (They usually don't teach as a primary profession...) Get a part time programming job for a local company if you can, or look for project teams formed in other university departments. (Especially teaching hospitals. They often need software comparable to anything in private industry...)
Learn from experienced people, and gain experience. The best way to learn.
I'll agree that sometimes the "old" method of publishing does get a little conservative, I do think this method does do a few things well. (I have been on both sides of the cueball, as a writer and referee...)
Slowing down publication is a good thing. It forces the writer to take the time to double check the data, make sure that the paper is readable, and the conclusions you are presenting are correct. (You'll be amazed at what you catch)
Contrary to popular belief, "peer review" does not (nor should not) happen instantly. When I recieved a paper to review, I would first read through it once, and then again to make sure that everything made sense. Then, I would go to the library and look at some of the prominent references mentioned in the paper, to get familiar with the research and see the paper "in context". (Again, science does not happen in a vacuum.) Many times a scientific paper is very specialized, and even experienced referees may not be innately familar with the subject matter. (Case in point: I was an experimentalist, and would often need to go find some of the latest theoretical work.)
Paper journals force you to live outside of your specialty. Online searches are too good at giving you 'exactly what you want'. When you thumb through the paper journal (or even the online version of a paper journal), you might find a paper that is pretty applicable to what you are doing. ("Hey, that's pretty close to what I'm trying to do!") You lose this with specific topic searches.
Paper journals provide what online forums struggle with: crap control. It's not a perfect system, but forces a little thoughtfulness into the process. (Besides, I can't imagine wading through a bunch of "FIRST POST" and "Hot grits in the pants" articles in the latest copy of Phys. Rev. Letters...)
I don't think the list was all that far off... Consider how the individual's life has changed since 1900... (can you say 'turn of the century' anymore??)
Considering how everything in the top ten is what made the move to the cities possible.. (and Hemos, without refrigeration, there would be no such thing as the "grocery store")
A lot of the items on the list have to do with *scale*.. I mean, there were roads, but no federal or interstate highway system... (A long way from the "Lincoln Highway")
I will agree that the bottom ten are pretty generic... I am surprised "the Internet" is rated as high as it is, being a phenonmenon of the last ten years or so... (in *popular culture* terms, folks...)
In terms of practical knowledge, maybe the value of 'G' may seem fairly unimportant, as we've pretty successfully launched space probes that use 'gravity assist' for years, but that doesn't mean we understand gravity..
Newton successfully laid the groundwork for everything we understand about gravity, which made other things like Kepler's laws make sense. Einstein added more to it by in essence equivilating gravity and acceleration.
BUT we still don't fundamentally understand what gravity is.
Newton: 'Gravity makes things fall to earth.'
How?
Einstein: 'Gravity bends space'.
How?
We really still have no idea about how the force of gravity is transmitted from one object to another. (The other fundamental forces all seem to have a medium to transfer force.)
The one interesting thing about this experiment is that it uses more precise methods to measure forces in the same ol' torsional pendulum experiment! (A pretty old technique..)
SETI is such a small part of what radio telescopes are used for, but I guess everyone must now equate radio astronomers with Jodie Foster.
I can see various applications, such as cheaper ways to communicate with satellites & space probes, cheap ways to do the "easy" radio astronomy somewhat better. (Like studying radio pulsars, etc. without using the big-time arrays), and even just for a teaching and prototyping tool.
I didn't see much mention of *that* in the MSNBC article....
I had the same problem, too. Mine was a little worse. Just when the "Shadows" started appearing (i.e. the show really started to hit the arc), the local FOX affiliate went belly up.
Something about not paying the power bill...
B5 just vanished in my area until TNT brought it to cable. (I think I did like the ability to watch everyday for an hour... some of the episodes left me so anxious to see the next part, I think the week pause would have driven me crazy...)
I have to admit: I like this news. Babylon 5 is (IMHO) one of the better shows to be aired on television. I never really got into it until TNT first picked it up and aired it at 7 PM ET.
For those who haven't seen it, watch. I guarantee that the story will have you hooked (after the first season "intro" episodes, at least)
Well, mass production does not *necessarily* lead to the end of craftsmanship, pride of work, etc. W. Edwards Deming basically proved this point over and over. (See "Out of the Crisis".)
As a matter of fact, the 'net seems to be bringing about the Deming business model exactly as he predicted. (Deming's 14 points in many ways seem oddly similar to the '95 theses')
It's been a long time since I read "Out of the Crisis". I think I'll have to dig it out again...
Although we've all been 'wired' for some time, there are still approximately 55 million people who think "AOL is the Internet". The book, while a good geek read, is also meant for all those that get the corporate (read: AOL-Time Warner, any "e-consultant" that advertises on CNBC) crap shoved down their throat.
To tell the truth, a lot of folks out there need a swift kick in the a** when it comes to "e-" whatever.
Seeming how the slashcode is written in Perl, I would assume a Win32 port would be fairly simple if:
Apache were available for Win32
You could run mod_perl on Win32.
As much as everyone likes to complain about the implementation, there's only so much you can do. (The beauty of Open Source development: if you want a feature, start coding!)
Well, you have to be careful *what* newspapers you read. I admit, there are a lot of papers out there that are nothing but crap from front page to last page. But if you look at the "upper echelon", like the NY Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, you'll find a lot of the stories there cover topics much deeper and thoughtfully than anything I've *ever* found online. The medium of the newspaper also forces you to see articles you otherwise might not actively seek online.
Try reading the New York Times on Sunday morning. If it takes you less than three hours to get through it, I'll be amazed.
The one thing that paper rags *do* miss on a lot is technology reporting. But then again, that's why I read Slashdot and ZDnn... I think I'll always be a fan of quality, printed newspapers, though.
Newspapers are far from dead, or replaced by a new medium. Many have done a fantastic job of moving content to the web to serve as either a continuation, or to impact a larger region that thier traditional circulation. For example, I regularly read newspapers from my old college town, although I am far outside the region of normal circulation. I also check the New York Times online occasionally, as well as read the paper version on Sunday mornings. No one focuses on content more than a newspaper. (A quality newspaper at that. Consider comparing the Sunday "Local Rag" vs. the NY Times)
There will continue to be a market for books until a reliable, useful, robust technology is invented to make reading online a more enjoyable experience than staring at a monitor. The paper medium tends to add a sense of weight to the words, and a sense of contemplation.
Despite all arguments to the contrary, a deep focus on content and lack of "interactivity" can prove a more worthwhile experience than a flashing news banner and cute graphics.
Well, to find a use for a public supercomputer, you would have to think about what large computer clusters are used for. I can think of a few:
Mathematical Simulations
Video/Image processing
Educational tool
That's all I can really come up with at the top of my head...
In my opinion, maybe such a system (or project) shouldn't focus so much on supercomputing, but just computing in general. If you could have a system that would provide shell accounts, with full access to languages, compilers, etc. Prehaps this system could provide students a way to have easy access to programming facilities, UNIX mail, etc.
The problem is, most of the current desktop machines are powerful enough to eliminate the need for time-sharing computer power. (At least, for what a "free" public computer would be used for)
The article states that FreeBSD is the choice for "Basic Web Serving" while Linux systems are the choice for "Advanced Web Serving".
Since no real numbers were given, it's pretty hard to draw this conclusion. I'll buy into the claim of "networking that's a bit more stable" and all, but does anyone have experience or hard numbers to back this up?
*shrug*.. I've never set up and run a Web server before...
With AOL now looking to protect 'corporate interests' with the Time Warner media divisions, we'll see a *lot* more of this.
While everyone rails on Microsoft as a complete monopoly, Steve Case is a lot closer than Bill Gates ever was to controlling both access and content. (At least most of M$'s web plays have not really succeeded)
The really disturbing thing is that most AOL users either don't notice or don't care... *shiver*
I suppose this question could be thought of in a different way: What if AT&T put a patent on UNIX and kept it completely proprietary? Chances are, the world of computing would be substantially different.
The trick of UNIX: it has always been availiable and highly adaptable to different environments. While this was changing in the 1980s (the UNIX wars), RMS, Linus and all of those open source programmers have insured that UNIX in some variant will always be in use.
If you look at recent corporate inroads, such as IBM-Intel, Phillips TiVo, etc., the market for UNIX like solutions is actually growing!
The press release really didn't give many specifics, but mentioned the launch of a "Russian-Ukranian Rocket" and a loss of the rocket 2600 miles down range.
Call me silly, but that sounds more like a *rocket* failure rather than platform/control specific issues. I hope companies looking at Sea Launch view it that way as well.
One thing I'm curious about now: how do the costs of Boeing's Sea Launch compare to the French Guiana ESA launch center? (anybody know?)
One would think that Linux would be ideal in a lot of schools. Unfortunately, administrators/teachers often need a little bit of encouragement. Typically, they need to *see* this stuff to be convinced. Here's what I would try:
Talk to your teachers, computer admins, etc. to see if there is a box sitting around you could "play" with (in an approved study hall, of course!)
Get that instructor/user interested. Have him see you install RedHat (or something similar. Redhat GUI installer is *not* hard at all.)
Install either KDE or GNOME. These two environments are just as friendly as Win 9x (IMHO).
If you are aiming for a programming class, install a IDE like Kdevelop.
Once you have a working system, see if some of the administrators would be interested in seeing this. (How 'bout a small club, and write up in the school newspaper?)
When dealing with administrators, use the following three points.
Money.
Money.
Money.
Most school administrators are worried about already tight budgets, especially in the technology area. Convince them that nothing has to be spent on new equipment. Linux and OSS development environments would be ideal for a school which typically has a bunch of old (386/486/Pentium/Old Macs) sitting around. Stretching life out of these guys is *always* welcome.
Of course, as a student you might not have enough "pull" to get these ideas across. Get a clueful (and respected) teacher on board. Get your parents involved. Get a group (not just you) involved. Call your school secretary and get a spot on the board adgenda. (School boards are usually *always* willing to listen to ways to save money and possibly avoid buying equipment for another year or two...)
Try getting *any* teachers on board. (Is there a "talented and gifted" teacher around? They are ususally most receptive.) Actually, it will also help if you have a computer teacher that is clueful about programming languages other than BASIC.
Slashdot Mirror
We've been using the Borland Java "suite" for applications development at work, and I've found: 1) JBuilder 3.5 Enterprise is a great tool. Fast compiling, stable, etc. (As long as your machine has enough RAM to handle the requirements of the VM...) 2) Inprise AppServer is a useful tool, but still has enough little annoyances to aggrivate anyone. (Mostly with remote deploys) The Inprise AppServer (development liscense) comes with JBuilder Enterprise... Having support from Borland (and the BSD core, of course) might actually make the Mac a serious software development platform again...
Unfortunatly, as a student there typically aren't that many experience software designers. (They usually don't teach as a primary profession...) Get a part time programming job for a local company if you can, or look for project teams formed in other university departments. (Especially teaching hospitals. They often need software comparable to anything in private industry...)
Learn from experienced people, and gain experience. The best way to learn.
- Slowing down publication is a good thing. It forces the writer to take the time to double check the data, make sure that the paper is readable, and the conclusions you are presenting are correct. (You'll be amazed at what you catch)
- Contrary to popular belief, "peer review" does not (nor should not) happen instantly. When I recieved a paper to review, I would first read through it once, and then again to make sure that everything made sense. Then, I would go to the library and look at some of the prominent references mentioned in the paper, to get familiar with the research and see the paper "in context". (Again, science does not happen in a vacuum.) Many times a scientific paper is very specialized, and even experienced referees may not be innately familar with the subject matter. (Case in point: I was an experimentalist, and would often need to go find some of the latest theoretical work.)
- Paper journals force you to live outside of your specialty. Online searches are too good at giving you 'exactly what you want'. When you thumb through the paper journal (or even the online version of a paper journal), you might find a paper that is pretty applicable to what you are doing. ("Hey, that's pretty close to what I'm trying to do!") You lose this with specific topic searches.
Paper journals provide what online forums struggle with: crap control. It's not a perfect system, but forces a little thoughtfulness into the process. (Besides, I can't imagine wading through a bunch of "FIRST POST" and "Hot grits in the pants" articles in the latest copy of Phys. Rev. Letters...)I don't think the list was all that far off... Consider how the individual's life has changed since 1900... (can you say 'turn of the century' anymore??)
Considering how everything in the top ten is what made the move to the cities possible.. (and Hemos, without refrigeration, there would be no such thing as the "grocery store")
A lot of the items on the list have to do with *scale*.. I mean, there were roads, but no federal or interstate highway system... (A long way from the "Lincoln Highway")
I will agree that the bottom ten are pretty generic... I am surprised "the Internet" is rated as high as it is, being a phenonmenon of the last ten years or so... (in *popular culture* terms, folks...)
Newton successfully laid the groundwork for everything we understand about gravity, which made other things like Kepler's laws make sense. Einstein added more to it by in essence equivilating gravity and acceleration.
BUT we still don't fundamentally understand what gravity is.
Newton: 'Gravity makes things fall to earth.'
How?
Einstein: 'Gravity bends space'.
How?
We really still have no idea about how the force of gravity is transmitted from one object to another. (The other fundamental forces all seem to have a medium to transfer force.)
The one interesting thing about this experiment is that it uses more precise methods to measure forces in the same ol' torsional pendulum experiment! (A pretty old technique..)
The computer research division is home to such UNIX "rock stars" such as Ritchie, Thompson, Kernhigan.
The sheer amount of talent and respect generated by Bell Labs is staggering.
Now, all you punks have gone and 'slashdotted' thier web server! I hope you're happy, you... you bastards!
I see good opportunities to annoy people.
I can see various applications, such as cheaper ways to communicate with satellites & space probes, cheap ways to do the "easy" radio astronomy somewhat better. (Like studying radio pulsars, etc. without using the big-time arrays), and even just for a teaching and prototyping tool.
I didn't see much mention of *that* in the MSNBC article....
Something about not paying the power bill...
B5 just vanished in my area until TNT brought it to cable. (I think I did like the ability to watch everyday for an hour... some of the episodes left me so anxious to see the next part, I think the week pause would have driven me crazy...)
For those who haven't seen it, watch. I guarantee that the story will have you hooked (after the first season "intro" episodes, at least)
Maybe this leaves the future open for Crusade???
As a matter of fact, the 'net seems to be bringing about the Deming business model exactly as he predicted. (Deming's 14 points in many ways seem oddly similar to the '95 theses')
It's been a long time since I read "Out of the Crisis". I think I'll have to dig it out again...
Although we've all been 'wired' for some time, there are still approximately 55 million people who think "AOL is the Internet". The book, while a good geek read, is also meant for all those that get the corporate (read: AOL-Time Warner, any "e-consultant" that advertises on CNBC) crap shoved down their throat.
To tell the truth, a lot of folks out there need a swift kick in the a** when it comes to "e-" whatever.
(Cripes, do I have stories...)
- Apache were available for Win32
- You could run mod_perl on Win32.
As much as everyone likes to complain about the implementation, there's only so much you can do. (The beauty of Open Source development: if you want a feature, start coding!)"Silicon Snake Oil" by Clifford Stoll is a fairly quick read. (A little dated, though...)
"Net Slaves".. (don't recall the author right offhand) about IT workers and the lives they lead..
Try reading the New York Times on Sunday morning. If it takes you less than three hours to get through it, I'll be amazed.
The one thing that paper rags *do* miss on a lot is technology reporting. But then again, that's why I read Slashdot and ZDnn... I think I'll always be a fan of quality, printed newspapers, though.
There will continue to be a market for books until a reliable, useful, robust technology is invented to make reading online a more enjoyable experience than staring at a monitor. The paper medium tends to add a sense of weight to the words, and a sense of contemplation.
Despite all arguments to the contrary, a deep focus on content and lack of "interactivity" can prove a more worthwhile experience than a flashing news banner and cute graphics.
- Mathematical Simulations
- Video/Image processing
- Educational tool
That's all I can really come up with at the top of my head...In my opinion, maybe such a system (or project) shouldn't focus so much on supercomputing, but just computing in general. If you could have a system that would provide shell accounts, with full access to languages, compilers, etc. Prehaps this system could provide students a way to have easy access to programming facilities, UNIX mail, etc.
The problem is, most of the current desktop machines are powerful enough to eliminate the need for time-sharing computer power. (At least, for what a "free" public computer would be used for)
*shrug* Just my opinion...
Besides M-net, the only other active BBS I know about is the ISCA (Iowa Student Computer Association) BBS at:
bbs.isca.uiowa.edu (use telnet)
ISCA BBS has been a great local-style bulletin board for many a year...
Any other active boards still out there?
The article states that FreeBSD is the choice for "Basic Web Serving" while Linux systems are the choice for "Advanced Web Serving".
Since no real numbers were given, it's pretty hard to draw this conclusion. I'll buy into the claim of "networking that's a bit more stable" and all, but does anyone have experience or hard numbers to back this up?
*shrug*.. I've never set up and run a Web server before...
Can you say "gimmick"?
At least they haven't resorted to using Bob Euker or scantily clad models... yet.
With AOL now looking to protect 'corporate interests' with the Time Warner media divisions, we'll see a *lot* more of this.
While everyone rails on Microsoft as a complete monopoly, Steve Case is a lot closer than Bill Gates ever was to controlling both access and content. (At least most of M$'s web plays have not really succeeded)
The really disturbing thing is that most AOL users either don't notice or don't care... *shiver*
The trick of UNIX: it has always been availiable and highly adaptable to different environments. While this was changing in the 1980s (the UNIX wars), RMS, Linus and all of those open source programmers have insured that UNIX in some variant will always be in use.
If you look at recent corporate inroads, such as IBM-Intel, Phillips TiVo, etc., the market for UNIX like solutions is actually growing!
Coming soon to "Slashmeat": Human Genome 2.0!
Call me silly, but that sounds more like a *rocket* failure rather than platform/control specific issues. I hope companies looking at Sea Launch view it that way as well.
One thing I'm curious about now: how do the costs of Boeing's Sea Launch compare to the French Guiana ESA launch center? (anybody know?)
When dealing with administrators, use the following three points.
Most school administrators are worried about already tight budgets, especially in the technology area. Convince them that nothing has to be spent on new equipment. Linux and OSS development environments would be ideal for a school which typically has a bunch of old (386/486/Pentium/Old Macs) sitting around. Stretching life out of these guys is *always* welcome.
Of course, as a student you might not have enough "pull" to get these ideas across. Get a clueful (and respected) teacher on board. Get your parents involved. Get a group (not just you) involved. Call your school secretary and get a spot on the board adgenda. (School boards are usually *always* willing to listen to ways to save money and possibly avoid buying equipment for another year or two...)
Try getting *any* teachers on board. (Is there a "talented and gifted" teacher around? They are ususally most receptive.) Actually, it will also help if you have a computer teacher that is clueful about programming languages other than BASIC.
Good luck...