I remember reading a story many years ago which was probably published in the late 1950s or 1960s. It was about an architect who murdered a rival by designing and having built a skyscraper with reflective widows controlled by a computer, ostensibly to maintain the interior environment of the building, but in reality as a way to focus the light of the sun on the rival's house, some miles away. The rival and his house were destroyed by a "mysterious" fire. I wish I could remember the name of the author and the the story title.
It's too bad that this oasis of unusuality is leaving the airwaves. I listened religiously to the Doctor from around 1973 to about 1980. After that time, it was harder to set aside the time to listen every week and I gradually lost interest. I did see a live Doctor Demento show sometime around 1977, when he came to my college and played some records from his vast collection that couldn't be played on the radio. I suppose that's one advantage of Internet broadcasting -- fewer restrictions on obscenity.
I want the software engineer who writes the drive-by-wire code for my car to UNDERSTAND COMPLETELY how the software works. I sure hope they don't grab some black-box libraries, slap them together and call it done.
After looking at the photos, I recognized the printer as being exactly like one I got as surplus around 1977. I adapted it to work with my Dad's Commodore PET through the parallel port. It had a spinning drum covered in raised numbers and symbols, and solenoid hammers for each column. By firing the hammers at the right time as the drum spun, I could make it print any number. I wonder what ever happened to it...
On a long cross country trip, I noticed much better fuel efficiency when driving the back roads at 55mph rather than the interstates (70-75mph). Driving my 1998 Saturn SW2, i got 40+ mpg on this trip (usual mileage around town is about 32mpg).
To get the best mileage, you have to to maximize distance traveled at the minimum possible minimum engine speed. The most important thing is to be in top gear, driving fast enough to avoid bogging down the engine and slow enough to minimize wind drag. Driving at slower speeds requires the use of a lower gear which increases the motor speed with a reduction in the distance traveled per engine revolution. That's why those charts show low mpg at low speeds, rising mpg in the middle and low again at high speeds.
I will add lots of logging to debug a specific problem and then rip it out when the problem is fixed. Permanent logging includes run time problems like serial communication errors, file not found, etc. I like to make various logging functions switchable, so user input can be logged for example, but only when needed. Once a program is running well, it should only log data for dire exceptions, unless regular accounting logs are needed.
There is a company in Flagstaff, Arizona doing electric conversions. They have several cars on the road right now, including an old land rover. See Electric Blue Motors for more information.
Disclaimer -- I work for the people who run this company.
In 1998, I read about Linux and thought it would be fun to install it and try it out on one of my computers. I went to the local computer store and found several different dsitributions available. It confused me and I didn't know which one to try, so I didn't get any of them. I did some more research and found FreeBSD. I liked the fact that there was just one distribution, controlled by one group. It was also free and open source, stable and widely used. I've now been using FreeBSD for nearly ten years. In the last couple of years, I've also dabbled with RedHat and Suse Linux with good results, but FreeBSD will remain my main OS.
My favorite processors are the Freescale 68HC908 series and the Atmel 89C51RC. I use these all the time in my work. I have also done some projects with the Atmel Tiny series which are OK, too. The PIC is very low on my list of preferred devices due to its weird instruction set. I like the 8051 because the architechture has been around for decades and I figure it's pretty safe to design into a product with a long expected lifetime. I like the 68HC908s because the instruction set is very nice to work with and the Flash based parts are reprogammable.
I would recommend assembly language programming for beginners for the reasons others have stated -- learning the underlying workings of the microprocessor.
If you want to learn to write books, you don't start by writing a book, you start by reading other peoples books. So, before you start writing code, read, read, read!
Well, that's one theory I heard about, which seems good enough on the surface, but in reality, you'll probably read just enough to find that one algorithm or method of doing something that you're looking for. If you want to write a terminal emulator, go grab the source code for a terminal emulator and see how they did it.
I remember watching a Mold-A-Rama make me a yellow Space Needle when my parents took me to the 1962 World's Fair in Seattle. I was 5 or 6 years old at the time. My big sister got an orange Space Needle. For some reason this memory is as strong or stronger than actually riding the elevator to the top of the real Space Needle, or any other memory I have of the fair. I remember the smell, the hot plastic that had to cool upside down, and the seemingly interminable wait while the machine did its thing. My Space Needle got thown away some years later, and though it would be nice to have one now, it wouldn't be worth $150 to me. $5.00, maybe...
Having the phone turned on means that it is likely to ring, distracting the driver. Then, answering the phone involves fumbling for it, looking at the caller ID, finding the right button to press in order to answer it, etc. Talking on the phone while driving has been discussed at length in other forums and I won't go into it here, but let's just say that I (and many others) agree that it's a Bad Idea.
Many nice tributes to Bob can be found in the guestbook at CaringBridge. I was especially impressed to see a recent entry from Isao Tomita, a true pioneer from the early days of electronic music.
So, how many people really have machines that have multiple users, anyway? I don't see why I should set up a non-admin account on a Windows XP box that only I use.
By the way, I'm constantly frustrated by my new Windows XP machine that won't let me do what would be normal tasks under Windows 98, even as the administrator (running legacy programs that need access to the parallel port, for example).
Slashdot Mirror
I remember reading a story many years ago which was probably published in the late 1950s or 1960s. It was about an architect who murdered a rival by designing and having built a skyscraper with reflective widows controlled by a computer, ostensibly to maintain the interior environment of the building, but in reality as a way to focus the light of the sun on the rival's house, some miles away. The rival and his house were destroyed by a "mysterious" fire.
I wish I could remember the name of the author and the the story title.
Cup holders.
It's too bad that this oasis of unusuality is leaving the airwaves. I listened religiously to the Doctor from around 1973 to about 1980. After that time, it was harder to set aside the time to listen every week and I gradually lost interest.
I did see a live Doctor Demento show sometime around 1977, when he came to my college and played some records from his vast collection that couldn't be played on the radio. I suppose that's one advantage of Internet broadcasting -- fewer restrictions on obscenity.
Yeah, because drivers and kernels are perfect and never have bugs.
I'll be happy when lynx supports HTML5. Though I'm not sure how well it will work with badger, badger, badger...
I want the software engineer who writes the drive-by-wire code for my car to UNDERSTAND COMPLETELY how the software works. I sure hope they don't grab some black-box libraries, slap them together and call it done.
Use it to display caller ID for incoming phone calls.
After looking at the photos, I recognized the printer as being exactly like one I got as surplus around 1977. I adapted it to work with my Dad's Commodore PET through the parallel port. It had a spinning drum covered in raised numbers and symbols, and solenoid hammers for each column. By firing the hammers at the right time as the drum spun, I could make it print any number. I wonder what ever happened to it...
On a long cross country trip, I noticed much better fuel efficiency when driving the back roads at 55mph rather than the interstates (70-75mph). Driving my 1998 Saturn SW2, i got 40+ mpg on this trip (usual mileage around town is about 32mpg).
To get the best mileage, you have to to maximize distance traveled at the minimum possible minimum engine speed. The most important thing is to be in top gear, driving fast enough to avoid bogging down the engine and slow enough to minimize wind drag.
Driving at slower speeds requires the use of a lower gear which increases the motor speed with a reduction in the distance traveled per engine revolution. That's why those charts show low mpg at low speeds, rising mpg in the middle and low again at high speeds.
I will add lots of logging to debug a specific problem and then rip it out when the problem is fixed. Permanent logging includes run time problems like serial communication errors, file not found, etc. I like to make various logging functions switchable, so user input can be logged for example, but only when needed. Once a program is running well, it should only log data for dire exceptions, unless regular accounting logs are needed.
There is a company in Flagstaff, Arizona doing electric conversions. They have several cars on the road right now, including an old land rover. See Electric Blue Motors for more information.
Disclaimer -- I work for the people who run this company.
There are two companies still making magnetic audio tape on reels: RMGI and ATR Magnetics.
More like 900 if you're talking about three digits (unless you add leading zeroes to the lower numbers).
In 1998, I read about Linux and thought it would be fun to install it and try it out on one of my computers. I went to the local computer store and found several different dsitributions available. It confused me and I didn't know which one to try, so I didn't get any of them. I did some more research and found FreeBSD. I liked the fact that there was just one distribution, controlled by one group. It was also free and open source, stable and widely used. I've now been using FreeBSD for nearly ten years. In the last couple of years, I've also dabbled with RedHat and Suse Linux with good results, but FreeBSD will remain my main OS.
My favorite processors are the Freescale 68HC908 series and the Atmel 89C51RC. I use these all the time in my work. I have also done some projects with the Atmel Tiny series which are OK, too. The PIC is very low on my list of preferred devices due to its weird instruction set.
I like the 8051 because the architechture has been around for decades and I figure it's pretty safe to design into a product with a long expected lifetime. I like the 68HC908s because the instruction set is very nice to work with and the Flash based parts are reprogammable.
I would recommend assembly language programming for beginners for the reasons others have stated -- learning the underlying workings of the microprocessor.
If you want to learn to write books, you don't start by writing a book, you start by reading other peoples books. So, before you start writing code, read, read, read!
Well, that's one theory I heard about, which seems good enough on the surface, but in reality, you'll probably read just enough to find that one algorithm or method of doing something that you're looking for. If you want to write a terminal emulator, go grab the source code for a terminal emulator and see how they did it.
I remember watching a Mold-A-Rama make me a yellow Space Needle when my parents took me to the 1962 World's Fair in Seattle. I was 5 or 6 years old at the time. My big sister got an orange Space Needle. For some reason this memory is as strong or stronger than actually riding the elevator to the top of the real Space Needle, or any other memory I have of the fair. I remember the smell, the hot plastic that had to cool upside down, and the seemingly interminable wait while the machine did its thing.
My Space Needle got thown away some years later, and though it would be nice to have one now, it wouldn't be worth $150 to me. $5.00, maybe...
Having the phone turned on means that it is likely to ring, distracting the driver.
Then, answering the phone involves fumbling for it, looking at the caller ID, finding the right button to press in order to answer it, etc. Talking on the phone while driving has been discussed at length in other forums and I won't go into it here, but let's just say that I (and many others) agree that it's a Bad Idea.
This shouldn't work on single occupant vehicles, since drivers should have their phones turned off at all times on the road for safety.
But I'm sure it will work anyway because enough drivers will ignore safety concerns and leave their phones turned on to allow good coverage.
OK, I don't get it. What's interesting about this anecdote? It sounds like the customer did exactly as requested.
I suppose crowbars and hammers should be outlawed, too, since they can be used for burglary.
I still buy CDs. I still buy vinyl, too.
Crack In The World
Many nice tributes to Bob can be found in the guestbook at CaringBridge. I was especially impressed to see a recent entry from Isao Tomita, a true pioneer from the early days of electronic music.
So, how many people really have machines that have multiple users, anyway? I don't see why I should set up a non-admin account on a Windows XP box that only I use.
By the way, I'm constantly frustrated by my new Windows XP machine that won't let me do what would be normal tasks under Windows 98, even as the administrator (running legacy programs that need access to the parallel port, for example).