From the article: "He just passed through Silicon Valley last week demonstrating his homemade graphics engine, and everyone from the designers at Nintendo to programmers at Apple has been left in shock."
Yeah, and after viewing the demo I could easily see it continue as: "...left in shock. They were heard to whisper, 'Is this guy serious?'"
Beyond the refresh rate of your video card is just wasted. I've seen smaller programs that could do what this one is doing better and faster. Would easily draw 60-80 FPS with little CPU usage.
Well, it seems that most people "in the know" agree that the biggest danger will be all of the people going crazy thinking somethings going to happen. However, I have a theory about this...
The media has been systematically making us immune to this kind of story. After the O.J. trial, Whitewater, Clinton-Lewinsky, S. Milosevich, etc. we just don't have the attention span that we used to.
I firmly believe that if a high placed politician committed a murder tommorrow and somehow managed to gain partisan support, we would all let him go after about 3 months. The public would cry, "Just let him go because I'm tired of hearing about it." Along with, "Damn !"
It sounds silly, but think about it. It isn't such a crazy point of view.
I think Y2K will roll over and everyone will breathe a huge sigh of relief. Not because everything worked, but because we can finally stop hearing about how Y2K means Yes to Kia and how our electric nose-hair puller is going to cease functioning come midnight December 31st.
I'm already starting to tune it all out and it's only August.
I also highly recommend this book. I have found the contents invaluable on numerous occasions.
One important thing that I got from the book is that there is no "one true way" of software development. Each project has its own nuances that may or may not warrant a specific approach. As a contractor, I have now gotten to use almost all of the major software life cycles.
Something to also consider is that the team itself will work differently under different life cycles. I personally have started to favor the "jelly roll" model. It's directed chaos can be adapted to many situations and its high output and use of numerous prototypes keeps both management/users and developers interested. However, there are some teams where it will break down rapidly or become too much work to keep it from breaking down.
Poor communication and/or poor team dynamic can be overcome, but it's often easier to choose a more classic life cycle that requires more stringent design and documentation. Some programmers really can't seem to produce quality stuff unless you've micromanaged their portion down into bite-sized chunks.
P.S.: In documentating a design, never underestimate the power of use-cases. They are both useful in making sure the design is complete/robust and imparting the ideas onto the other developers in the team. When you are presenting a "well understood" idea to a team of competent developers and every one of them goes, "Oh, I get it now." when they turn to the use-cases then you'll know what I'm talking about.
P.P.S.: Never overestimate the value of whiteboarding. If someone doesn't document it for review it's as good as useless. As an experiment, doodle a design on the whiteboard for you team. Then, have each one of them go back to their offices and put together a design document. They will be extremely different in ways that will surprise and possibly shock you.
Just in case you really don't understand the expression... (and many people don't) once you've eaten your cake, you no longer have it. You can hold onto your cake or you can eat it, but you can't do both.
"So a label like that absolves the vending machine company from liability"
Yeah, that was pretty much my point. Without specifically saying otherwise, they are automatically liable for any stupid thing I try to do with their equipment. We no longer have to take responsibility for our own actions.
Warning: Tipping or rocking may cause serious injury or death.
I agree with you completely. The above sticker, seen on a vending machine, is a prime example that we have become a society that is no longer held accountable for our own actions.
I envision a day where every product comes with a pamphlet/book of warnings, ie: Warning: A pencil in the eye can cause blindness. A pencil in the ear can cause brain damage.
Free speech is free like software (heh) not free like "above the law". However, it should almost always be free like beer.
Heh, given the choice I think I'd rather walk into a dark alley full of thieves than a dark alley full of lawyers. At least the thieves will only steal what I have on me...
Because if you don't bother then it weakens your ownership rights. If he doesn't fight for ownership now then it would be harder to fight for it later. Law sucks, but that's the way it is.
What the typical slashdot-I-didn't-read-it-but-I-have-a-comment crowd doesn't seem to understand is that this isn't HTML pages that this guy is linking to. He is linking directly to the Quicktime files. On top of that he makes no mention as to where the files are actually coming from.
This is an extremely sleazy thing to do in my opinion. I wonder how he would like it if slashdot linked directly to his http://www.movie-list.com/smalllogo.jpg image whenever it posted a movie story. I think this guy would get really pissed at the amount of traffic this would generate on his server. Bandwidth usage = $$.
Now, that being said, Universal did not handle this correctly. Calling in the lawyers will not fix their problem since I could easily post the same links to newsgroups, etc.. They really need to look for a technology solution. Heck, I can think of at least twenty pr0n sites that would be able to give them a clue.
In any case, both sides screwed up. If we end up having some clueless legal precedent set by this then BOTH parties should be blamed.
I'm inclined to blame movie-list more on this one. Universal has already talked to them once before and from their point of view this new stuff could look pretty spiteful. I still don't think they should have called in the lawyers but I understand why they did.
Yeah, except he wasn't linking to pages he was linking directly to the clips themselves. This would be the same as if I decided that I really like CT's Bill Gates Borg.GIF file but I didn't want to/legally couldn't store it myself and so just linked to it.
Re:What an amazingly bad idea
on
Beaming Money
·
· Score: 1
Having not read the site at all I won't comment too deeply, but it occurred to me that some sort of double-check system might solve the problems you mentioned above.
Meaning, both my PDA and the other party's PDA would record the specifics of the transaction including the amount of transfer and who the money was transferred from and to. Money wouldn't change hands until both ends had been synched to the server.
This may not be the way they're doing it and would certainly eliminate some of the convenience, but it would keep money from electro-magically appearing out of the ether.
With a $150 price tag, who do you think they are targetting?
They are targetting the "home user with ADSL that wants to sell a few things online". Anyone a little bigger would use some web-hosting/co-location setup. Anyone bigger than that would spend the $$$ to plan for the future.
Hmmm... I guess they could also be targetting the "new developer wants to learn about E-commerce" people too.
"What LegOS does is completely replace the firmware allowing you to write directly to the hardware in the OCX. At that point, you are only limited by what the hardware is capable of."
Ack! "Hardware in the OCX" should be "Hardware in the RCX"
Never again will I silently berate people for not having proof-read properly...
This isn't really as big a deal as it sounds. I mean, it's cool and all that they are thinking of other platforms, but it's use is limited.
There are two parts to programming the Mindstorms' RCX. One is the firmware that is on the programmable brick (RCX) itself. The other is the software driver on the PC (Spirit OCX).
It is the OCX that they are referring to when talking about an SDK. It is also the OCX they are talking about replacing with something less OS-specific.
The OCX just used the COM port to talk to the infrared tower which in turn talks to the RCX. The RCX will still be running the limited firmware that Lego provides.
If all you want to do is program to the existing firmware then there are already cross-platform solutions. NQC is a great example. It runs on PC's and Macs and in various OS's. However, it still deals with the same firmware limitations: only 32 variables, no call stack, etc..
What LegOS does is completely replace the firmware allowing you to write directly to the hardware in the OCX. At that point, you are only limited by what the hardware is capable of.
Yep, and it still ran a multi-tasking GUI that booted off of a floppy disk.
When MS finally put out Win95 I was fond of saying, "Gee, it's nice of them to finally put out some '80s tech."
I'll trust them where memory is concerned as long as it can take standard chips as expansion.
Nice thing about evolution.
on
NASA's X-37
·
· Score: 1
The nice thing about evolution is that it's all true. As long as we get there someday then even the space shuttle did _eventually_ make routine, safe, low-cost acces to space possible. Just as the Wright brother's first flight did.
So, it's probably not blowing smoke, but it isn't a very useful statement either... other than to drum up support.
It sounds like they intend to use this like point to point microwave, but in areas where microwave isn't feasible. This is becoming more and more of an issue with wireless local loop technology being the current vogue.
The problems with microwaves is that they scatter. Not only do you have to worry about the beam getting to the other end but you also have to worry about all of the reflected signal that will interfere with both ends and any other microwave sites. Plus there is the bleeding of signal out the back... the antenna patterns can be fairly complex and interference analysis is a very big business. Some would argue that the wireless local loop and point to multi-point markets have yet to be adequately addressed. The engineering can get very complicated. Especially if you are talking about small-scale dense areas like campuses and office complexes.
Also, the equipment for microwave is likely to be more of a hassle. If you aren't familiar with it there is a lot more to it than you might think. Compressors to keep the waveguides empty, etc.. (Fiber makes a pretty good waveguide for light.:) )
re: Weather. Light is highly attenuated by water droplets in the air but so are microwaves. This is all part of current reliability analysis when designing microwave links. There are known ways of limiting the affects of this and they might apply to light as well.
It would be interesting to have a reliability/attenuation comparison between microwave beams and light. If only I were a microwave engineer instead of the guy that writes some of their software... I might have more to say.
Re:Do you even know what you're talking about?
on
UN Proposes Email Tax
·
· Score: 1
It's a callous attitude, but if your program has a memory leak do you just buy more memory?
If I write a program and I want it to be free, I will release it under something like the BSD. Others are welcome to release it under whatever license they choose. I don't care if person A uses my code in a proprietary program. I don't care if person B uses shredded printouts to line the bottom of a bird cage. I'm giving my source code away while still maintaining my rights to the original. I write code because I need it. Anyone else can do whatever they want with it. I still have what I wrote.
I do however see the benefits of GPL. I just don't think I'll ever use it unless I happen to find myself using GPL'd code.
Slashdot Mirror
Interesting point...
:)
I bet if we built a tower several miles high, it would make launching satelites, etc. much easier.
Only, I doubt that they'll even get the term "Black Hole" right. My bet is on, "Blank Hole" or perhaps "Black Hood" or somesuch.
From the article:
"He just passed through Silicon Valley last week demonstrating his homemade graphics engine, and everyone from the designers at Nintendo to programmers at Apple has been left in shock."
Yeah, and after viewing the demo I could easily see it continue as:
"...left in shock. They were heard to whisper, 'Is this guy serious?'"
Beyond the refresh rate of your video card is just wasted. I've seen smaller programs that could do what this one is doing better and faster. Would easily draw 60-80 FPS with little CPU usage.
Well, it seems that most people "in the know" agree that the biggest danger will be all of the people going crazy thinking somethings going to happen. However, I have a theory about this...
The media has been systematically making us immune to this kind of story. After the O.J. trial, Whitewater, Clinton-Lewinsky, S. Milosevich, etc. we just don't have the attention span that we used to.
I firmly believe that if a high placed politician committed a murder tommorrow and somehow managed to gain partisan support, we would all let him go after about 3 months. The public would cry, "Just let him go because I'm tired of hearing about it." Along with, "Damn !"
It sounds silly, but think about it. It isn't such a crazy point of view.
I think Y2K will roll over and everyone will breathe a huge sigh of relief. Not because everything worked, but because we can finally stop hearing about how Y2K means Yes to Kia and how our electric nose-hair puller is going to cease functioning come midnight December 31st.
I'm already starting to tune it all out and it's only August.
I also highly recommend this book. I have found the contents invaluable on numerous occasions.
One important thing that I got from the book is that there is no "one true way" of software development. Each project has its own nuances that may or may not warrant a specific approach. As a contractor, I have now gotten to use almost all of the major software life cycles.
Something to also consider is that the team itself will work differently under different life cycles. I personally have started to favor the "jelly roll" model. It's directed chaos can be adapted to many situations and its high output and use of numerous prototypes keeps both management/users and developers interested. However, there are some teams where it will break down rapidly or become too much work to keep it from breaking down.
Poor communication and/or poor team dynamic can be overcome, but it's often easier to choose a more classic life cycle that requires more stringent design and documentation. Some programmers really can't seem to produce quality stuff unless you've micromanaged their portion down into bite-sized chunks.
P.S.: In documentating a design, never underestimate the power of use-cases. They are both useful in making sure the design is complete/robust and imparting the ideas onto the other developers in the team. When you are presenting a "well understood" idea to a team of competent developers and every one of them goes, "Oh, I get it now." when they turn to the use-cases then you'll know what I'm talking about.
P.P.S.: Never overestimate the value of whiteboarding. If someone doesn't document it for review it's as good as useless. As an experiment, doodle a design on the whiteboard for you team. Then, have each one of them go back to their offices and put together a design document. They will be extremely different in ways that will surprise and possibly shock you.
Just in case you really don't understand the expression... (and many people don't) once you've eaten your cake, you no longer have it. You can hold onto your cake or you can eat it, but you can't do both.
"So a label like that absolves the vending machine company from liability"
Yeah, that was pretty much my point. Without specifically saying otherwise, they are automatically liable for any stupid thing I try to do with their equipment. We no longer have to take responsibility for our own actions.
Warning: Tipping or rocking may cause serious injury or death.
I agree with you completely. The above sticker, seen on a vending machine, is a prime example that we have become a society that is no longer held accountable for our own actions.
I envision a day where every product comes with a pamphlet/book of warnings, ie: Warning: A pencil in the eye can cause blindness. A pencil in the ear can cause brain damage.
Free speech is free like software (heh) not free like "above the law". However, it should almost always be free like beer.
Heh, given the choice I think I'd rather walk into a dark alley full of thieves than a dark alley full of lawyers. At least the thieves will only steal what I have on me...
Because if you don't bother then it weakens your ownership rights. If he doesn't fight for ownership now then it would be harder to fight for it later. Law sucks, but that's the way it is.
What the typical slashdot-I-didn't-read-it-but-I-have-a-comment crowd doesn't seem to understand is that this isn't HTML pages that this guy is linking to. He is linking directly to the Quicktime files. On top of that he makes no mention as to where the files are actually coming from.
This is an extremely sleazy thing to do in my opinion. I wonder how he would like it if slashdot linked directly to his http://www.movie-list.com/smalllogo.jpg image whenever it posted a movie story. I think this guy would get really pissed at the amount of traffic this would generate on his server. Bandwidth usage = $$.
Now, that being said, Universal did not handle this correctly. Calling in the lawyers will not fix their problem since I could easily post the same links to newsgroups, etc.. They really need to look for a technology solution. Heck, I can think of at least twenty pr0n sites that would be able to give them a clue.
In any case, both sides screwed up. If we end up having some clueless legal precedent set by this then BOTH parties should be blamed.
I'm inclined to blame movie-list more on this one. Universal has already talked to them once before and from their point of view this new stuff could look pretty spiteful. I still don't think they should have called in the lawyers but I understand why they did.
Yeah, except he wasn't linking to pages he was linking directly to the clips themselves. This would be the same as if I decided that I really like CT's Bill Gates Borg .GIF file but I didn't want to/legally couldn't store it myself and so just linked to it.
Having not read the site at all I won't comment too deeply, but it occurred to me that some sort of double-check system might solve the problems you mentioned above.
Meaning, both my PDA and the other party's PDA would record the specifics of the transaction including the amount of transfer and who the money was transferred from and to. Money wouldn't change hands until both ends had been synched to the server.
This may not be the way they're doing it and would certainly eliminate some of the convenience, but it would keep money from electro-magically appearing out of the ether.
With a $150 price tag, who do you think they are targetting?
They are targetting the "home user with ADSL that wants to sell a few things online". Anyone a little bigger would use some web-hosting/co-location setup. Anyone bigger than that would spend the $$$ to plan for the future.
Hmmm... I guess they could also be targetting the "new developer wants to learn about E-commerce" people too.
"What LegOS does is completely replace the firmware allowing you to write directly to the hardware in the OCX. At that point, you are only limited by what the hardware is capable of."
Ack! "Hardware in the OCX" should be "Hardware in the RCX"
Never again will I silently berate people for not having proof-read properly...
This isn't really as big a deal as it sounds. I mean, it's cool and all that they are thinking of other platforms, but it's use is limited.
There are two parts to programming the Mindstorms' RCX. One is the firmware that is on the programmable brick (RCX) itself. The other is the software driver on the PC (Spirit OCX).
It is the OCX that they are referring to when talking about an SDK. It is also the OCX they are talking about replacing with something less OS-specific.
The OCX just used the COM port to talk to the infrared tower which in turn talks to the RCX. The RCX will still be running the limited firmware that Lego provides.
If all you want to do is program to the existing firmware then there are already cross-platform solutions. NQC is a great example. It runs on PC's and Macs and in various OS's. However, it still deals with the same firmware limitations: only 32 variables, no call stack, etc..
What LegOS does is completely replace the firmware allowing you to write directly to the hardware in the OCX. At that point, you are only limited by what the hardware is capable of.
Where can I download the source code for StarOffice?
Yep, and it still ran a multi-tasking GUI that booted off of a floppy disk.
When MS finally put out Win95 I was fond of saying, "Gee, it's nice of them to finally put out some '80s tech."
I'll trust them where memory is concerned as long as it can take standard chips as expansion.
The nice thing about evolution is that it's all true. As long as we get there someday then even the space shuttle did _eventually_ make routine, safe, low-cost acces to space possible. Just as the Wright brother's first flight did.
So, it's probably not blowing smoke, but it isn't a very useful statement either... other than to drum up support.
No d00d! COBOL Rocks! It k1x C's butt! It's b33n around s00 much longer. It r00lz man.
Ok, I'm going to geek out here for a second...
:) )
It sounds like they intend to use this like point to point microwave, but in areas where microwave isn't feasible. This is becoming more and more of an issue with wireless local loop technology being the current vogue.
The problems with microwaves is that they scatter. Not only do you have to worry about the beam getting to the other end but you also have to worry about all of the reflected signal that will interfere with both ends and any other microwave sites. Plus there is the bleeding of signal out the back... the antenna patterns can be fairly complex and interference analysis is a very big business. Some would argue that the wireless local loop and point to multi-point markets have yet to be adequately addressed. The engineering can get very complicated. Especially if you are talking about small-scale dense areas like campuses and office complexes.
Also, the equipment for microwave is likely to be more of a hassle. If you aren't familiar with it there is a lot more to it than you might think. Compressors to keep the waveguides empty, etc.. (Fiber makes a pretty good waveguide for light.
re: Weather. Light is highly attenuated by water droplets in the air but so are microwaves. This is all part of current reliability analysis when designing microwave links. There are known ways of limiting the affects of this and they might apply to light as well.
It would be interesting to have a reliability/attenuation comparison between microwave beams and light. If only I were a microwave engineer instead of the guy that writes some of their software... I might have more to say.
It's a callous attitude, but if your program has a memory leak do you just buy more memory?
So why haven't they stolen BSD?
If I write a program and I want it to be free, I will release it under something like the BSD. Others are welcome to release it under whatever license they choose. I don't care if person A uses my code in a proprietary program. I don't care if person B uses shredded printouts to line the bottom of a bird cage. I'm giving my source code away while still maintaining my rights to the original. I write code because I need it. Anyone else can do whatever they want with it. I still have what I wrote.
I do however see the benefits of GPL. I just don't think I'll ever use it unless I happen to find myself using GPL'd code.
Just wondering. :)
Sorry, I thought I dropped enough clues. Heh.
Igor Kreturs pronounced: I gore creatures. Ok, so maybe that doesn't work well on those for whom english/'merkan is a second language.
Maybe I should be less subtle next time. Nah.