As an engineer (not a programmer) who started with FORTRAN66 on punch cards (this Fortran77 stuff looks great!), I found the second section of code at least as easy to read as the first. It is both ugly and incorrect, however. First, at some point, the index variable needs to be incremented if you want to leave the loop at some point. Second, a.gt. would make much more sense than.not.(.le). Third, a DO WHILE loop would provide the modern loop construction that you want in standard FORTRAN.
All compilers are tools; use hammers for nails and screwdrivers for screws. If you want a job programming for me, learn FORTRAN, as that is what all of my existing tools are written in. If you really want a job, learn to write friendly front ends in any language that will link to my existing code, in its fully debugged and trusted form.
If you read the article, I think that they are simulating the oxygen content, not the pressure at 12 000 ft. From the article "Molecular filters inside the house remove oxygen, creating the thin air found at 12,000 feet." If the pressure were really 2/3 of an atmosphere, I'm not sure that you could make the walls strong enough to keep the house from collapsing!
I agree that the OS costs are immaterial, but I am not sure that I buy into the good enough. I struggle with the limitations of Windows every day. When I went from HP-UX to Windows, I lost virtual desktops, X11 remote logins (not for heavy duty work, but great from time to time), useful swap space (not just for multiple applications, but for an app that needed more RAM than I had), and the list goes on. I gained cheap hardware (works with Linux), MS Office (I can have Open Office with Linux), and - well I got support from IS if that is a gain. I don't know if IS can be open minded enough to give it a try, but I will be at the head of the line to sign up.
There is a ProE forum at www.prouser.org. Mentions of Linux always raise a lot of "Cool - when" responses. Most of the major CAD packages have come from either a UNIX or main frame background, as PC's have only had the required horsepower for 5-6 years. This is a market where $1000+ graphic cards are still discussed, and were the debate of how much memory is needed in a new workstation starts at 1G, with questions as to whether this is enough or not (NOT, if you are doing serious work on large assemblies.) The advantages of better memory and swap handling, better network stacks and stability keep SUN in business, as a PC with Windows maxes out at 1.6G of RAM (you can add more, but it won't be used). If you need 4G to do the job, you need UNIX.
The discussions abour SolidWorks and AutoCAD have their place, but putting a whole tractor in electronic form (I work for Deere & Co), with every bend in the sheet metal and bump on the transmission housing, requires more that those products can deliver. Is it worth it? It is when all pieces fit the first time, with no reworking of tools or expensive trial pieces for fit-up checks only.
While ProE is far from perfect, it is closer than the other tools I have tried. I was certainly sad the day I lost HP-UX and moved to WindowsNT, however. Windows2000 hasn't eased my pain.
I am a Linux user at home, and would jump at the chance to use it at work for ProE. I don't know the the IS group in a large corporation will be able to be that open minded, but I certainly welcome the change to give it a try.
From the article: "Conventional wisdom holds that children can only benefit from exposure to technology, and research shows that when the machines supplement an already strong curriculum, they can be an effective educational tool."
My children have attended a "lab school", run by a University as an extension of the College of Education. Because of the association with the university, the school has had excellent access to computers. The results have been poor. Teachers have abandoned traditional teaching methods and responsibilities in favor of "technology." The result is elementary students who cannot add, write or spell, but who can prepare PowerPoint presentations about nothing. The combination of computers and a weak program is a weak program. The combination of computers and a strong program is a strong program. The computer makes little or no difference, the program is everything.
Like most tools, a computer amplifies the skills of the user. Educated users with something to say or do can say or do it more quickly and with better results. Those without remain without. The skills needed for an average, non technical user can and will be mastered quickly when the time comes. The use of computers before that time is wasted, and detracts from the basic skills that must be mastered first!
Actuallly, punch cards are much older than 80 years. They were developed to tabulate the data for the 1890 census by Herman Hollerith (as in the hollerith code field(s) used in FORTRAN).
Another interesting fact - the cards are the size of a dollar bill. You don't think so? They are much larger? Punch cards are the size of an 1890 dollar bill.
hmm, the iMac wasn't great, but RAM (at least) was really pretty easy. yank the bottom off, two screws and a few cables later you have the mobo tray in your hands. Insert ram into socket on top.
Not spectacular (the cables were a nuisance, and on the original 233 getting the CDROM to drop back in right was difficult - not a problem on later ones) but I've had PC's that were much, much worse. The winner was a slot 1 board that I ended up having to remove from it's case:-)
I'm sure that this was thrown out as flame bait, but I will rise to the provocation anyway. bin Laden and other terrorists feed off of frustrantion, hunger and hopelessness. The best way to eliminate support for terrorists is to attack the factors that drive hopeless people to support terrorists for lack a better choices. I am not saying that all terrorists are motivated by economic and social factors, but that enough of their support depends on this to make third world improvements a good way to improve live for everyone.
A recent survey (essay) in the Nov 10-16 Economist (www.economist.com) discusses the surprising spread of technology into third world contries, and of the benefits to the inhabitants in terms of better diet, better governments, and a longer lifespan.
If we can assist and encourage the scientists and leaders in the third world to improve life in all countries, I think that terrorism will slowly whither away.
I go to Best Buy and purchase a CD. When I get home, it doesn't work in my CD player. I go back and they exchange it. The second one still doesn't work. I return the second CD, and the tech guy says - oh, this one won't play in a computer. I ask for a refund and they give it to me - Best Buy isn't going to turn a customer away over the sale of a CD.
How long to you think that Best Buy will put up with this misuse of a standard product - not long I hope!
I purchased a book on JavaScript about two years ago with an interesting bug. The book contained a CD with many examples. It was generally oriented towards Windows, but I assumed that there would be no problem in using the files on Linux and Macintosh systems. I was almost correct.
To my surprise, most of the code did not work. Investigation revealed the all files were referred to as *.html in the code on the CD. In a misguided attempt to DOSify the CD, all files were stored with 8.3 formatted names. Windows happily went looking for the xxxx yyyy z.html, translated the name into xxxxyy~1.htm and loaded the file. Linux and Macintosh computers went vainly looking for the actual name referenced in the code. I had to copy the files to disk and rename them all in order to use any of the examples! I think that this is an excellent illustration of both the baggage inherited from DOS, and the author's point that the name is a poor place for important information.
If you are building with new construction, try and provide a route from the baskent to the attic that can be used for running new cables. It shouldn't be a straight shot (for fire reasone), but if an electrition can run cales(s) from the basement to the attic, additional wires can be added later with much less difficulty. Whatever planning you do, you will undoubtably want to add something later.
If you are looking for 'mentees', start with your local Linux Users Group (or Windows Users, or Mac Users (or Amiga BSD users if you like)). Especially with Linux, you are likely to find some imtermediate level users who are ready to learn new skills and move to a higher level of computer usage. If the group you find consists completely of college aged CS majors, encourage them to expand their membership, taking in some high school students, or technical professionals from local companies who are interested in improving their skills.
My router is(was) a Dec Multia that I won in a contest at the Linux store. It has to be the slowest Alpha ever made, but it was small, quiet and chugged away. Alas, it has died and I can't figure out how to resurect it. It made a flexible and easily configurable firewall and router.
What we really have is a crisis of bad governments. Most of the food sent to hungry people either rots in storage and shipment, or is diverted before it ends up in the hands (or stomachs) of the people who are hungry. Aid agencies need more trucks, and better roads. Fewer cows in the EU or the US will not feed people in Africa. Better governments in the third world will.
Re:Solar wind will kill this thing
on
Macs In Space II
·
· Score: 1
I don't know if this true or a legend, but the story is that NASA was having problems breaking the glass in a lamp on the Lunar Rover. After several attempt to fix the lamp, someone realized that the purpose of the glass was to maintain a vacuum to prevent the filiment from burning out. On the moon, no glass was neeeded. The correct answer was to install a bare filiment!
I think that a hard drive case would be similiarly useless in space. The solution to that problem might be to provide a frame, and forget the case! There are probably other similiar opportunities. On the other hand, the cooling fan isn't going to work very well unless the entire computer case is sealed. Perhaps at space temperatures that will also not be a problem.
My point is that there will be both opportunities for improvements in the standard computer designs, and also unexpected problems!
In a display on the Iowa State Campus, they have a copy of one of the original memory drums from the ABC. They weren't able to determine the internal wiring without disassembly, and didn't want to risk damaging the original, so they took the original drum to a hospital and ran at scan. This this image, the internal wiring could be decifered, and the duplicate made
I had a similiar experience after Christmas this year. I work in a large office (200 desks, each with a computer), and we were all instructed to shut them off before leaving for the last time before New Year Y2k activities. As the room grew strangely quiet, you began to be able to pinpoint each individual computer that was still running. By the end, a computer that was on sounded like it was roaring.
I think that we get the noisy cases and components because we don't ask for specs, or complain about bad performance. I used a quiet iMac recently in a store, and was impressed. I plan to check as carefully as I can before my next purchase.
That would be because everything it's displaying is a borrowed viewer being pulled in through kparts - so it needs the integration glue in place to do that.
KDE is far more of a package deal than GNOME. The different pieces of the KDE desktop are far more interdependent than the pieces of the GNOME d thankfully, in kde2 the pieces are far more independent. Basically, you have to run some background faceless servers that implement kde's resource-sharing protocols (which are pretty lightweight), and then you can run kicker (the new panel) konqueror (which replaced kfm) and such all quite independently.
Who needs a 3D monitor. I already have a 3D monitor with a 2D display. What I would rather have is the inverse - a 2D monitor with a 3D display. That would make flat panel screens look bulky! Sort of like paint on the wall behind my desk.
Umm... Aqua is not being done with OpenGL. Apple rolled their own new display API (Quartz) which is based off Display PDF (NeXT always used display Postscript, but that had too many patent issues for apple's taste). OpenGL is also there, but it's not what's behind Aqua.
Re:This reminds me of a short story I read.
on
Laptops In Education
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· Score: 1
CJ HOoknose is correct - it is "The Feeling of Power", not "Professions." Sorry. (Professions is a great story, too, but for another thread.
Re:This reminds me of a short story I read.
on
Laptops In Education
·
· Score: 1
The story is called "Professions" and was written by Isaac Asimov in the late 1950's or early 1960's. I have given it to several educators and asked them to read it in response to discussions like this.
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As an engineer (not a programmer) who started with FORTRAN66 on punch cards (this Fortran77 stuff looks great!), I found the second section of code at least as easy to read as the first. It is both ugly and incorrect, however. First, at some point, the index variable needs to be incremented if you want to leave the loop at some point. Second, a .gt. would make much more sense than .not.(.le). Third, a DO WHILE loop would provide the modern loop construction that you want in standard FORTRAN.
All compilers are tools; use hammers for nails and screwdrivers for screws. If you want a job programming for me, learn FORTRAN, as that is what all of my existing tools are written in. If you really want a job, learn to write friendly front ends in any language that will link to my existing code, in its fully debugged and trusted form.
If you read the article, I think that they are simulating the oxygen content, not the pressure at 12 000 ft. From the article "Molecular filters inside the house remove oxygen, creating the thin air found at 12,000 feet." If the pressure were really 2/3 of an atmosphere, I'm not sure that you could make the walls strong enough to keep the house from collapsing!
I agree that the OS costs are immaterial, but I am not sure that I buy into the good enough. I struggle with the limitations of Windows every day. When I went from HP-UX to Windows, I lost virtual desktops, X11 remote logins (not for heavy duty work, but great from time to time), useful swap space (not just for multiple applications, but for an app that needed more RAM than I had), and the list goes on. I gained cheap hardware (works with Linux), MS Office (I can have Open Office with Linux), and - well I got support from IS if that is a gain. I don't know if IS can be open minded enough to give it a try, but I will be at the head of the line to sign up.
There is a ProE forum at www.prouser.org. Mentions of Linux always raise a lot of "Cool - when" responses. Most of the major CAD packages have come from either a UNIX or main frame background, as PC's have only had the required horsepower for 5-6 years. This is a market where $1000+ graphic cards are still discussed, and were the debate of how much memory is needed in a new workstation starts at 1G, with questions as to whether this is enough or not (NOT, if you are doing serious work on large assemblies.) The advantages of better memory and swap handling, better network stacks and stability keep SUN in business, as a PC with Windows maxes out at 1.6G of RAM (you can add more, but it won't be used). If you need 4G to do the job, you need UNIX.
The discussions abour SolidWorks and AutoCAD have their place, but putting a whole tractor in electronic form (I work for Deere & Co), with every bend in the sheet metal and bump on the transmission housing, requires more that those products can deliver. Is it worth it? It is when all pieces fit the first time, with no reworking of tools or expensive trial pieces for fit-up checks only.
While ProE is far from perfect, it is closer than the other tools I have tried. I was certainly sad the day I lost HP-UX and moved to WindowsNT, however. Windows2000 hasn't eased my pain.
I am a Linux user at home, and would jump at the chance to use it at work for ProE. I don't know the the IS group in a large corporation will be able to be that open minded, but I certainly welcome the change to give it a try.
From the article: "Conventional wisdom holds that children can only benefit from exposure to technology, and research shows that when the machines supplement an already strong curriculum, they can be an effective educational tool."
My children have attended a "lab school", run by a University as an extension of the College of Education. Because of the association with the university, the school has had excellent access to computers. The results have been poor. Teachers have abandoned traditional teaching methods and responsibilities in favor of "technology." The result is elementary students who cannot add, write or spell, but who can prepare PowerPoint presentations about nothing. The combination of computers and a weak program is a weak program. The combination of computers and a strong program is a strong program. The computer makes little or no difference, the program is everything.
Like most tools, a computer amplifies the skills of the user. Educated users with something to say or do can say or do it more quickly and with better results. Those without remain without. The skills needed for an average, non technical user can and will be mastered quickly when the time comes. The use of computers before that time is wasted, and detracts from the basic skills that must be mastered first!
Actuallly, punch cards are much older than 80 years. They were developed to tabulate the data for the 1890 census by Herman Hollerith (as in the hollerith code field(s) used in FORTRAN).
Another interesting fact - the cards are the size of a dollar bill. You don't think so? They are much larger? Punch cards are the size of an 1890 dollar bill.
hmm, the iMac wasn't great, but RAM (at least) was really pretty easy. yank the bottom off, two screws and a few cables later you have the mobo tray in your hands. Insert ram into socket on top.
:-)
Not spectacular (the cables were a nuisance, and on the original 233 getting the CDROM to drop back in right was difficult - not a problem on later ones) but I've had PC's that were much, much worse. The winner was a slot 1 board that I ended up having to remove from it's case
I'm sure that this was thrown out as flame bait, but I will rise to the provocation anyway. bin Laden and other terrorists feed off of frustrantion, hunger and hopelessness. The best way to eliminate support for terrorists is to attack the factors that drive hopeless people to support terrorists for lack a better choices. I am not saying that all terrorists are motivated by economic and social factors, but that enough of their support depends on this to make third world improvements a good way to improve live for everyone.
A recent survey (essay) in the Nov 10-16 Economist (www.economist.com) discusses the surprising spread of technology into third world contries, and of the benefits to the inhabitants in terms of better diet, better governments, and a longer lifespan.
If we can assist and encourage the scientists and leaders in the third world to improve life in all countries, I think that terrorism will slowly whither away.
I go to Best Buy and purchase a CD. When I get home, it doesn't work in my CD player. I go back and they exchange it. The second one still doesn't work. I return the second CD, and the tech guy says - oh, this one won't play in a computer. I ask for a refund and they give it to me - Best Buy isn't going to turn a customer away over the sale of a CD.
How long to you think that Best Buy will put up with this misuse of a standard product - not long I hope!
I purchased a book on JavaScript about two years ago with an interesting bug. The book contained a CD with many examples. It was generally oriented towards Windows, but I assumed that there would be no problem in using the files on Linux and Macintosh systems. I was almost correct.
To my surprise, most of the code did not work. Investigation revealed the all files were referred to as *.html in the code on the CD. In a misguided attempt to DOSify the CD, all files were stored with 8.3 formatted names. Windows happily went looking for the xxxx yyyy z.html, translated the name into xxxxyy~1.htm and loaded the file. Linux and Macintosh computers went vainly looking for the actual name referenced in the code. I had to copy the files to disk and rename them all in order to use any of the examples! I think that this is an excellent illustration of both the baggage inherited from DOS, and the author's point that the name is a poor place for important information.
If you are building with new construction, try and provide a route from the baskent to the attic that can be used for running new cables. It shouldn't be a straight shot (for fire reasone), but if an electrition can run cales(s) from the basement to the attic, additional wires can be added later with much less difficulty. Whatever planning you do, you will undoubtably want to add something later.
If you are looking for 'mentees', start with your local Linux Users Group (or Windows Users, or Mac Users (or Amiga BSD users if you like)). Especially with Linux, you are likely to find some imtermediate level users who are ready to learn new skills and move to a higher level of computer usage. If the group you find consists completely of college aged CS majors, encourage them to expand their membership, taking in some high school students, or technical professionals from local companies who are interested in improving their skills.
My router is(was) a Dec Multia that I won in a contest at the Linux store. It has to be the slowest Alpha ever made, but it was small, quiet and chugged away. Alas, it has died and I can't figure out how to resurect it. It made a flexible and easily configurable firewall and router.
What we really have is a crisis of bad governments. Most of the food sent to hungry people either rots in storage and shipment, or is diverted before it ends up in the hands (or stomachs) of the people who are hungry. Aid agencies need more trucks, and better roads. Fewer cows in the EU or the US will not feed people in Africa. Better governments in the third world will.
I don't know if this true or a legend, but the story is that NASA was having problems breaking the glass in a lamp on the Lunar Rover. After several attempt to fix the lamp, someone realized that the purpose of the glass was to maintain a vacuum to prevent the filiment from burning out. On the moon, no glass was neeeded. The correct answer was to install a bare filiment! I think that a hard drive case would be similiarly useless in space. The solution to that problem might be to provide a frame, and forget the case! There are probably other similiar opportunities. On the other hand, the cooling fan isn't going to work very well unless the entire computer case is sealed. Perhaps at space temperatures that will also not be a problem. My point is that there will be both opportunities for improvements in the standard computer designs, and also unexpected problems!
In a display on the Iowa State Campus, they have a copy of one of the original memory drums from the ABC. They weren't able to determine the internal wiring without disassembly, and didn't want to risk damaging the original, so they took the original drum to a hospital and ran at scan. This this image, the internal wiring could be decifered, and the duplicate made
Well, I like it for X11 forwarding (so convenient!)
I had a similiar experience after Christmas this year. I work in a large office (200 desks, each with a computer), and we were all instructed to shut them off before leaving for the last time before New Year Y2k activities. As the room grew strangely quiet, you began to be able to pinpoint each individual computer that was still running. By the end, a computer that was on sounded like it was roaring.
I think that we get the noisy cases and components because we don't ask for specs, or complain about bad performance. I used a quiet iMac recently in a store, and was impressed. I plan to check as carefully as I can before my next purchase.
That would be because everything it's displaying is a borrowed viewer being pulled in through kparts - so it needs the integration glue in place to do that.
KDE is far more of a package deal than GNOME. The different pieces of the KDE desktop are far more interdependent than the pieces of the GNOME d
thankfully, in kde2 the pieces are far more independent. Basically, you have to run some background faceless servers that implement kde's resource-sharing protocols (which are pretty lightweight), and then you can run kicker (the new panel) konqueror (which replaced kfm) and such all quite independently.
Who needs a 3D monitor. I already have a 3D monitor with a 2D display. What I would rather have is the inverse - a 2D monitor with a 3D display. That would make flat panel screens look bulky! Sort of like paint on the wall behind my desk.
you either use the keyboard or attach the USB mouse of your choice (I like my logitech 3-button+seperate wheel). iMac's mace great linux boxes :-)
Umm... Aqua is not being done with OpenGL. Apple rolled their own new display API (Quartz) which is based off Display PDF (NeXT always used display Postscript, but that had too many patent issues for apple's taste). OpenGL is also there, but it's not what's behind Aqua.
CJ HOoknose is correct - it is "The Feeling of Power", not "Professions." Sorry. (Professions is a great story, too, but for another thread.
The story is called "Professions" and was written by Isaac Asimov in the late 1950's or early 1960's. I have given it to several educators and asked them to read it in response to discussions like this.