I am currently finishing that same class. I agree, I have little clue as to what I was supposed to actually learn.
Mythical Man Month is a good read, I highly recommend it. Sure, it is full of things that you'll say "no duh" when you get done reading it, but you'll have read it and you'll know for certain not to make those mistakes. Plus you can whip it out when other managers ask you about software stuff and you'll look impressive because they haven't read it.
I would say this: be lazy. Try to avoid doing anything that makes more work for you and your team than is necessary. That doesn't mean that you should avoid work... it just means that you need to apply yourself and your team in the most efficient way possible.
I would also say this, don't be afraid to be certain of something and never be afraid to be proven wrong. If someone proves you wrong, concede the point and move on. Don't get stuck following a bad decision with justifications. Get back on track and move on.
100% Agree with BackupPC. I use it at home and have had to restore single files as well as whole computers. Runs like a champ on desktops or laptops alike!
For Banks, if you are worried about liability, you should just have "death holes" like in medieval times. Holes over the doors that drop marker ink onto anyone who leaves after the silent alarm is triggered. Just pump out a stream of marker ink from the top and sides and you've marked your thief. As long as the paint is non-toxic it won't matter if it hits them in the eye.
How to teach it? Don't know that there is one good way. I would make it a non-coding class. Why? Because the code and the problem set would just get in the way of learning what you are trying to teach. What you are trying to teach is information organization.
1) Requirements. This is really an interview process followed by a technical writing process.
2) Project Plan. Critical thinking followed by a technical writing process. (Not code writing, paper writing)
3) Project... a completed, or mostly completed project should be handed to the students. They then get to QA the project. The professor should grade them on how many bugs they FIND, not fix. There should be a couple of iterations of this project at different bug levels. Students should have to check the code out of source control, compile, test, and write a report about the bugs they found.
4) Bug Fixing... A student should be assigned to fix a bug found by a different student. The team approach could then be used to merge their fixes perhaps... if you wanted teams.
5) Product release. Following a set of instructions, build the package for delivery to the customer (professor)
It just occurred to me though that if you _do_ remove software patents then for _non_ trivial pieces of software engineering, pieces that may take years to write, you will end up with no protection. One of your own engineers could go, re-write your software in a different language, or even write it in parallel, and sell it themselves.
Now the market forces are different for software. But just because the cost to replicate a copy is $0.00 does not mean that you aren't due protection. Software's "manufacturing process" just so happens to be R&D time. A _good_ patent system would recognize that.
However, patents on _small_ or _trivial_ pieces of software is a different matter.
I've actually looked in to getting an embroidery machine. (My mother actually has one too)
Here's the rub. The machine costs $5000. The software for loading your own designs into it... another $5000 (last I checked)
Yes, these machines hook up to a computer via USB, they have their own CD drives and their own format for embroidery patterns. The patterns you can buy on CD for a pretty penny, more expensive than a music CD for sure.
If I were an AOL user I'd say Me Too... but this is slashdot and that is a stoning offense.
Instead I will merely state that you have expressed my opinion very well and if I had mod points I'd throw them your way.
DRM blows. MP3s ripped from your own CDs and _NOT_ shared, _NOT_ downloaded is the best all around solution to this whole discussion.
Of course it takes time to do this and patience. Plus you need a really good backup scheme to protect your time and money.
If someone asks you to share your library, just say NO. But invite them over to your house, pop some popcorn and listen to some music together... thats the whole point of this anyway.
I know from first hand experience that the gentleman who is writing the script is a fantastic RPer and I personally feel confident that he will do the series justice, especially if he is working with Margaret and Tracy.
I hate to burst your bubble, and I don't disagree with your statements.
However the network that he is talking about is not analogous to a LAN. Think of it more as a social network, like the six degrees of separation thing. Who you know matters very little until your network of friends gets to a certain critical size.
What he was trying to say with algorithm is that you can measure how valuable a social network, not computer network, is.
I have worked with many different computer programmers of all ages and all races from pretty much every country.
There are a lot of very talented individuals from India, China, Russia and America who make horrible computer programmers. Not because they do not understand the languages or how to program. Simply because they don't ask the right questions.
Given a problem to solve this kind of programmer (wherever they are from) will adequately solve exactly that problem. But there are several possible side effects of their solution:
1) More problems are found but not fixed. 2) The solution limits the application in some critical way, thus invalidating the main reason to use the application. 3) The wrong problem is solved.
I have seen this in many situations, at several companies, from programmers of all backgrounds.
What a true Computer Scientist needs to be good at is not solving problems, but defining problems. They need to be able to ask questions so that the actual problem is uncovered and not just some symptom.
If you can do that then you will go far in any computer field. If all you can do is take a specification and code it up then chances are you are just a code monkey and your job will be outsourced to someone in another country, company or cube.
I'll add one thing to your mind though, hopefully.
The Dark Ages are called that partially because a lot of knowledge was lost. We simply do not know and may never know what happened at certain points in history.
The key I think to information safety is to have curators who keep it alive.
A good example might be wikipedia, where people are actively collecting and preserving information.
A bad example might be a time capsule, because it goes dormant for a while and then when it is finally opened there is a large chance that parts of it will be damaged or that perception of the information contained will have changed. This includes digital works that are no longer decipherable (like punch cards would be to most folks, or printouts of programs in "dead" languages (insert your own examples here))
So for information to survive we must have active libraries of information. If it goes dormant it risks being lost for all time.
Don't you just love it when you've done something whimsical and folks try to take you seriously? Because that is the ultimate missing of the point.
I say to you JavaMoose, way to go man. We do not always have to have a good reason (or any reason at all) to do something like this when the whole point is the fun that you had doing it to begin with.
Seems more like a 52 year cycle. Maybe God's playing cards with the universe! (After all, Einstein said that he didn't play dice... so maybe its cards!)
I would be willing to bet that if a woman were to come up with an IQ test that women would do better at it than men.
Being smart doesn't make you better at anything other than being smart. If you can add two 8 digit numbers in your head then great. If you can lift a car over your head, good for you. If you can stomach the sight of blood enough to become a doctor, guess what... good for you.
Women, men, children, black, white, grey, whatever.... who you are is not defined by what you can do better than others. Nobody is the best at everything. Some people throw great parties or know how to make others laugh and feel better about themselves. If that is their greatest skill then so be it. Everyone should be happy with themselves or at least be given sufficient opportunity to be happy with themselves.
If your only way to be happy about yourself is to be better at something than others, find a new hobby.
seriously, isn't this kind of thing where a class action lawsuit should be filed?
3.9 million people, I'm likely to be one of them even though my accounts are already closed.
Another option would be to have all 3.9 million people request new social security numbers from the US Govt. There are only 1 billion numbers, eventually they'll run out.
If God is all knowing and all powerful, then why can't he have created us by using evolution?
From what I have learned, God can see all possible futures. So that means that he picked this one... this one happens to include evolution in it. If God didn't want us to study evolution then we wouldn't be studying evolution because it wouldn't exist.
Personally I was expecting somethings to be different than the books and one thing about the books that disappointed me was that Arthur didn't get the girl. So I am happy that this time he did. Trillian was always a hottie in my mind, even before there was a actress cast in her role.
I loved the movie specifically because it was different than the books, TV version and radio series. Douglas Adams said that it would be and it was and thats good enough for me.
I've read the books a half dozen times or so and I was not at all disappointed. In fact, this is the first movie in a long time that I've seen twice within 5 hours and I came out of it excited each time. Shrek is the last movie that made me laugh like that... admittedly Shrek was funnier, but its slapstick humor and that makes it different.
HHGG made a very good showing as a movie, I will go and see it again, I will buy the DVD and I will show this to my kids, after they've read the books.
HHGG is the only story to be told in every 20th century storytelling medium. Radio, Book, TV, Computer Game and now Movie.
I say congratulations! Good movie.
(And you can't complain that it was different from the book, all of the versions of the story are different from each other)
Slashdot Mirror
The rich get rich and the poor get iPhones?
I am currently finishing that same class. I agree, I have little clue as to what I was supposed to actually learn.
Mythical Man Month is a good read, I highly recommend it. Sure, it is full of things that you'll say "no duh" when you get done reading it, but you'll have read it and you'll know for certain not to make those mistakes. Plus you can whip it out when other managers ask you about software stuff and you'll look impressive because they haven't read it.
I would say this: be lazy. Try to avoid doing anything that makes more work for you and your team than is necessary. That doesn't mean that you should avoid work... it just means that you need to apply yourself and your team in the most efficient way possible.
I would also say this, don't be afraid to be certain of something and never be afraid to be proven wrong. If someone proves you wrong, concede the point and move on. Don't get stuck following a bad decision with justifications. Get back on track and move on.
Good luck too!
100% Agree with BackupPC. I use it at home and have had to restore single files as well as whole computers. Runs like a champ on desktops or laptops alike!
For Banks, if you are worried about liability, you should just have "death holes" like in medieval times. Holes over the doors that drop marker ink onto anyone who leaves after the silent alarm is triggered. Just pump out a stream of marker ink from the top and sides and you've marked your thief. As long as the paint is non-toxic it won't matter if it hits them in the eye.
It should be taught.
... a completed, or mostly completed project should be handed to the students. They then get to QA the project. The professor should grade them on how many bugs they FIND, not fix. There should be a couple of iterations of this project at different bug levels. Students should have to check the code out of source control, compile, test, and write a report about the bugs they found.
... A student should be assigned to fix a bug found by a different student. The team approach could then be used to merge their fixes perhaps... if you wanted teams.
How to teach it? Don't know that there is one good way. I would make it a non-coding class. Why? Because the code and the problem set would just get in the way of learning what you are trying to teach. What you are trying to teach is information organization.
1) Requirements. This is really an interview process followed by a technical writing process.
2) Project Plan. Critical thinking followed by a technical writing process. (Not code writing, paper writing)
3) Project
4) Bug Fixing
5) Product release. Following a set of instructions, build the package for delivery to the customer (professor)
I voted in Virginia and, at least in my county, I was offered the choice between a paper ballot and electronic. I chose paper.
Done.
It just occurred to me though that if you _do_ remove software patents then for _non_ trivial pieces of software engineering, pieces that may take years to write, you will end up with no protection. One of your own engineers could go, re-write your software in a different language, or even write it in parallel, and sell it themselves.
Now the market forces are different for software. But just because the cost to replicate a copy is $0.00 does not mean that you aren't due protection. Software's "manufacturing process" just so happens to be R&D time. A _good_ patent system would recognize that.
However, patents on _small_ or _trivial_ pieces of software is a different matter.
I've actually looked in to getting an embroidery machine. (My mother actually has one too)
Here's the rub. The machine costs $5000. The software for loading your own designs into it... another $5000 (last I checked)
Yes, these machines hook up to a computer via USB, they have their own CD drives and their own format for embroidery patterns. The patterns you can buy on CD for a pretty penny, more expensive than a music CD for sure.
So, no, I'm not surprised by this at all.
If I were an AOL user I'd say Me Too... but this is slashdot and that is a stoning offense.
Instead I will merely state that you have expressed my opinion very well and if I had mod points I'd throw them your way.
DRM blows. MP3s ripped from your own CDs and _NOT_ shared, _NOT_ downloaded is the best all around solution to this whole discussion.
Of course it takes time to do this and patience. Plus you need a really good backup scheme to protect your time and money.
If someone asks you to share your library, just say NO. But invite them over to your house, pop some popcorn and listen to some music together... thats the whole point of this anyway.
I know from first hand experience that the gentleman who is writing the script is a fantastic RPer and I personally feel confident that he will do the series justice, especially if he is working with Margaret and Tracy.
Joe H.
I hate to burst your bubble, and I don't disagree with your statements.
However the network that he is talking about is not analogous to a LAN. Think of it more as a social network, like the six degrees of separation thing. Who you know matters very little until your network of friends gets to a certain critical size.
What he was trying to say with algorithm is that you can measure how valuable a social network, not computer network, is.
I have worked with many different computer programmers of all ages and all races from pretty much every country.
There are a lot of very talented individuals from India, China, Russia and America who make horrible computer programmers. Not because they do not understand the languages or how to program. Simply because they don't ask the right questions.
Given a problem to solve this kind of programmer (wherever they are from) will adequately solve exactly that problem. But there are several possible side effects of their solution:
1) More problems are found but not fixed.
2) The solution limits the application in some critical way, thus invalidating the main reason to use the application.
3) The wrong problem is solved.
I have seen this in many situations, at several companies, from programmers of all backgrounds.
What a true Computer Scientist needs to be good at is not solving problems, but defining problems. They need to be able to ask questions so that the actual problem is uncovered and not just some symptom.
If you can do that then you will go far in any computer field. If all you can do is take a specification and code it up then chances are you are just a code monkey and your job will be outsourced to someone in another country, company or cube.
You raise an interesting point.
I'll add one thing to your mind though, hopefully.
The Dark Ages are called that partially because a lot of knowledge was lost. We simply do not know and may never know what happened at certain points in history.
The key I think to information safety is to have curators who keep it alive.
A good example might be wikipedia, where people are actively collecting and preserving information.
A bad example might be a time capsule, because it goes dormant for a while and then when it is finally opened there is a large chance that parts of it will be damaged or that perception of the information contained will have changed. This includes digital works that are no longer decipherable (like punch cards would be to most folks, or printouts of programs in "dead" languages (insert your own examples here))
So for information to survive we must have active libraries of information. If it goes dormant it risks being lost for all time.
Don't you just love it when you've done something whimsical and folks try to take you seriously? Because that is the ultimate missing of the point.
I say to you JavaMoose, way to go man. We do not always have to have a good reason (or any reason at all) to do something like this when the whole point is the fun that you had doing it to begin with.
Seems more like a 52 year cycle. Maybe God's playing cards with the universe! (After all, Einstein said that he didn't play dice... so maybe its cards!)
I Googled Jack Thompson, first web page gave me a reason for his cause an address and a phone number.
PA can't possibly be held liable for information that is so easy to get.
And if they need it, I would donate some money to pay their legal fees. I'm sure many others would too.
My question is this... who wrote the tests?
I would be willing to bet that if a woman were to come up with an IQ test that women would do better at it than men.
Being smart doesn't make you better at anything other than being smart. If you can add two 8 digit numbers in your head then great. If you can lift a car over your head, good for you. If you can stomach the sight of blood enough to become a doctor, guess what... good for you.
Women, men, children, black, white, grey, whatever.... who you are is not defined by what you can do better than others. Nobody is the best at everything. Some people throw great parties or know how to make others laugh and feel better about themselves. If that is their greatest skill then so be it. Everyone should be happy with themselves or at least be given sufficient opportunity to be happy with themselves.
If your only way to be happy about yourself is to be better at something than others, find a new hobby.
seriously, isn't this kind of thing where a class action lawsuit should be filed?
3.9 million people, I'm likely to be one of them even though my accounts are already closed.
Another option would be to have all 3.9 million people request new social security numbers from the US Govt. There are only 1 billion numbers, eventually they'll run out.
Is there a tool to determine if your machine is a Zombie?
Seriously. What would be the best way to know this?
... if you had kids and you wanted to protect them and you could VOULNTARILY put it on your car.
Or perhaps it could be required for only those proven to have driven drunk.
But not on my car, thanks.
Evolution is so elegant and beautiful though that to my mind it shows Gods power, not a weakness.
If God is all knowing and all powerful, then why can't he have created us by using evolution?
From what I have learned, God can see all possible futures. So that means that he picked this one... this one happens to include evolution in it. If God didn't want us to study evolution then we wouldn't be studying evolution because it wouldn't exist.
End of story.
Here here!
Glad to know that sanity still exists in the world.
Personally I was expecting somethings to be different than the books and one thing about the books that disappointed me was that Arthur didn't get the girl. So I am happy that this time he did. Trillian was always a hottie in my mind, even before there was a actress cast in her role.
I loved the movie specifically because it was different than the books, TV version and radio series. Douglas Adams said that it would be and it was and thats good enough for me.
I thought the movie was hillarious!
I've read the books a half dozen times or so and I was not at all disappointed. In fact, this is the first movie in a long time that I've seen twice within 5 hours and I came out of it excited each time. Shrek is the last movie that made me laugh like that... admittedly Shrek was funnier, but its slapstick humor and that makes it different.
HHGG made a very good showing as a movie, I will go and see it again, I will buy the DVD and I will show this to my kids, after they've read the books.
HHGG is the only story to be told in every 20th century storytelling medium. Radio, Book, TV, Computer Game and now Movie.
I say congratulations! Good movie.
(And you can't complain that it was different from the book, all of the versions of the story are different from each other)