Nicely put - I see the parent modded as Funny, if I had points, I would mark it as "insightful".
For the most part this is a puff piece with some mildly interesting comments (ie building adders & circuits using marbles is a nice image) - not as (yet another) soapbox for RMS to pontificate from.
Your missing the fact that the development machine that was used to develop this code probably had 64k or less of RAM - "pointer_to_the_structure_containing_the_information_about_xy" could result in the code not compiling due to memory constraints on the build machine.
I agree with what you're saying - a variable named "q" is probably a good example of somebody who's not a good coder and it could have been renamed to something like "ptr_xyInfo" and not blow the build machine.
I'm showing my age, but I still miss the "Dysfunctional Family Circus" and it is probably a great example of copyright owners shutting down a parody site rather than rolling with it.
You could argue that it was over the top (dad as a drug addled, homosexual S&M freak) but I daresay it didn't damage the brand and, in my own case, it gave me reason to start looking at the strip again (I thought it was nauseating when I was 10 years old) simply to start thinking about captions to contribute.
When I first saw the request, I wondered if it was for a copy protection scheme in which an entire (USB/FireWire) disk is loaded with the application and distributed with it.
We're just finishing a project in which image data (RGB and YUV) has to be blended together. The SoC we were working with had blending libraries that took advantage of blending hardware built into the processor.
Unfortunately, the blending was of poor quality and very slow.
The solution was to have an engineer write routines that would perform a custom blending algorithm that could be tweaked to provide the best image. In this case, he did a superior job and not only provided better image quality than the manufacturer's library but also ran faster.
I agree that management will want you to use existing code wherever possible, but when it comes down to it, if the existing pieces don't meet requirements, the coders have to know how to replicate the functions.
When I first saw this, I thought it was for powering VASIMR plasma engines.
Recently, AW&ST had an article suggesting that transit times between Mars and Earth 30 days could be possible using a continuously running VASIMR engine (it has an insanely high specific impulse). BUT, it would require a nuclear power source because the amount of solar panels (especially outside of earth's orbit) woudl be impractical.
Seriously, I mean increase the pressure inside the shuttle until you have the same differential as in space, which should cause the windows to expand just as they did in space and then pull out the knob.
Back around 1980, the most common piece of self modifying code was to implement a 16 bit index read/write/goto instruction in the Apple ]['s (and Atari and C64) 6502 processor.
The processor has an 8 bit index register but to allow it to access more than 256 byte addresses, you could either create 256 versions of the operation (each one accessing a different 256 byte address block in memory) or put the function in RAM and modify the instruction that selected the 256 byte address block.
Sorry, I know longer have the code and my 6502 manuals are packed away, but I'm sure somebody out there remembers and has an example.
I've come across several Josh's in my career and they have been labeled as geniuses simply because they did something first in a company. All it takes to be recognized as a genius is to get a product off the ground and "good enough" that somebody will buy it.
From there comes the rewards and the swelled head and the feeling that they are geniuses. The rewards come from PHBs that don't understand that what they did was all that special.
Right now, my team is rewriting an application written by a "genius" that is not documented, no comments, variable names were written in Hungarian (the guy who wrote the code is in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada), what does work is crappy and there is a lot of functionality left out (with the comment saying that he has shown the way so we can replicate it for the missing features). The code looks like a drunken monkey wrote it with no regard to conventional (or even consistent) indenting and spacing. Asking for questions just gets a reply like "Josh" and complaints from his manager demanding why we can't hire competent developers because he is too critical to the business to support us.
The one genius I have met from a start up, made sure that there were coding standards, insisted on documenting everything and put in place test requirements. When he left, nobody had anything but good things to say about him - and his peers (the people who matter in the long run) regard him as a genius.
Just a comment - we've had a Kohler 15kW Natural Gas powered generator that automatically comes on if power is interrupted for more than 10 seconds for the past year. We've needed it a couple of times now for multi-hour interruptions and it's worked well with the following comments: 1. Get an electrician that knows what he's doing and has experience with automated generators. I spelled out how everything was supposed to be wired and the bozo our contractor hired didn't trust my work beforehand and refused to wire up things like our refrigerator because he thought it drew too much current and then didn't believe my calculations 2. When you look at different generators, you will see that going to a water cooled unit (which is generally what you get when you are in the 22kW range) doubles the price. The 15kW units don't power the whole house, but more than enough to be liveable - you should get your Furnace, Air Conditioning (power goes out in the summer too), kitchen, basic computers & internet service, a couple of bedrooms and a TV/etc. working comfortably 3. The generators need maintenance. Plan on $500 or more a year - you can't do this yourself unless you are licensed for working around natural gas. 4. The units will test themselves once a week. Make sure they come on when nobody's going to be bothered 5. Don't try to do it yourself, the installation is somewhat expensive ($1,500-$2,000) and then you have to do the interior wiring (hooking up the Automated Transfer Switch (ATS) and deciding which circuits should be used). 6. The pricing of the units change during the year and what's going on. Right now would probably be the worst possible time to buy one - I wouldn't be surprised that their prices haven't doubled in your area. You should be looking in the late spring before hurricane season is the best.
Slashdot Mirror
Grub,
Very funny.
Reminds me of the Futurama "neutral" race which enraged Zap Brannigan.
Nicely put - I see the parent modded as Funny, if I had points, I would mark it as "insightful".
For the most part this is a puff piece with some mildly interesting comments (ie building adders & circuits using marbles is a nice image) - not as (yet another) soapbox for RMS to pontificate from.
myke
I have RTFA but nowhere does it explain how it works - just some vague notes on how data is crunched.
Does the display look like the picture in the Fortune Tech page, with actual 3D images that appear before other things around it?
If this is the case, then this is a major innovation. Why isn't it being reported anywhere else?
myke
Had he been a patent hound, he'd have died a rich man.
I know that this sounds cheesy, but if you go by the sentiments of Capra's "It's a Wonderful Life", he was a rich man.
Thanx Dennis and godspeed.
myke
Brilliant!
There's the title for your book.
I don't think the parent is funny - it's appropriate.
Thanx Steve
Not me - I only watch the "Ocho"
Shouldn't it be "255" and not "265"?
Or Kzinti
Mod parent up.
You've hit exactly the issue that I was thinking about => in terms of total energy, a cow puts out a lot less heat than a tank.
Even a big freon tank wouldn't help as you still have to dump that heat energy somewhere.
Didn't a big, fat cartoon character say something about obeying the laws of thermodynamics?
Your missing the fact that the development machine that was used to develop this code probably had 64k or less of RAM - "pointer_to_the_structure_containing_the_information_about_xy" could result in the code not compiling due to memory constraints on the build machine.
I agree with what you're saying - a variable named "q" is probably a good example of somebody who's not a good coder and it could have been renamed to something like "ptr_xyInfo" and not blow the build machine.
myke
Nice references.
I'm showing my age, but I still miss the "Dysfunctional Family Circus" and it is probably a great example of copyright owners shutting down a parody site rather than rolling with it.
You could argue that it was over the top (dad as a drug addled, homosexual S&M freak) but I daresay it didn't damage the brand and, in my own case, it gave me reason to start looking at the strip again (I thought it was nauseating when I was 10 years old) simply to start thinking about captions to contribute.
myke
When I first saw the request, I wondered if it was for a copy protection scheme in which an entire (USB/FireWire) disk is loaded with the application and distributed with it.
Disks are amazingly cheap right now.
myke
We're just finishing a project in which image data (RGB and YUV) has to be blended together. The SoC we were working with had blending libraries that took advantage of blending hardware built into the processor.
Unfortunately, the blending was of poor quality and very slow.
The solution was to have an engineer write routines that would perform a custom blending algorithm that could be tweaked to provide the best image. In this case, he did a superior job and not only provided better image quality than the manufacturer's library but also ran faster.
I agree that management will want you to use existing code wherever possible, but when it comes down to it, if the existing pieces don't meet requirements, the coders have to know how to replicate the functions.
myke
These the small dots that appear on a laser image - they are quite noticeable on laser based pico-projectors.
myke
Anytime Spirit/Opportunity are mentioned here, somebody puts in the post that they are amazing, considering they were designed to work for 90 days.
It should noted that they were designed to work no matter what for their initial 90 day mission and that running beyond that was expected.
Of course, running 6+ years is quite an accomplishment.
myke
The could have had the dome in place for the premier.
I almost feel like someone's pulling our leg here.
myke
When you posted:
-Only 8 of the 10 successfully ran on Windows 7, the other 2 failed to even start
I read it that two of the ten systems loaded with Windows 7 failed to boot. I should really have given MicroSoft more credit than that.
myke
Maybe it should have been noted that the Latveria's regent (and leading scientist), Victor Von Doom, was quoted as saying "Bwah-ha-ha-ha-ha!".
myke
When I first saw this, I thought it was for powering VASIMR plasma engines.
Recently, AW&ST had an article suggesting that transit times between Mars and Earth 30 days could be possible using a continuously running VASIMR engine (it has an insanely high specific impulse). BUT, it would require a nuclear power source because the amount of solar panels (especially outside of earth's orbit) woudl be impractical.
myke
Seriously, I mean increase the pressure inside the shuttle until you have the same differential as in space, which should cause the windows to expand just as they did in space and then pull out the knob.
myke
Back around 1980, the most common piece of self modifying code was to implement a 16 bit index read/write/goto instruction in the Apple ]['s (and Atari and C64) 6502 processor.
The processor has an 8 bit index register but to allow it to access more than 256 byte addresses, you could either create 256 versions of the operation (each one accessing a different 256 byte address block in memory) or put the function in RAM and modify the instruction that selected the 256 byte address block.
Sorry, I know longer have the code and my 6502 manuals are packed away, but I'm sure somebody out there remembers and has an example.
myke
I've come across several Josh's in my career and they have been labeled as geniuses simply because they did something first in a company. All it takes to be recognized as a genius is to get a product off the ground and "good enough" that somebody will buy it.
From there comes the rewards and the swelled head and the feeling that they are geniuses. The rewards come from PHBs that don't understand that what they did was all that special.
Right now, my team is rewriting an application written by a "genius" that is not documented, no comments, variable names were written in Hungarian (the guy who wrote the code is in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada), what does work is crappy and there is a lot of functionality left out (with the comment saying that he has shown the way so we can replicate it for the missing features). The code looks like a drunken monkey wrote it with no regard to conventional (or even consistent) indenting and spacing. Asking for questions just gets a reply like "Josh" and complaints from his manager demanding why we can't hire competent developers because he is too critical to the business to support us.
The one genius I have met from a start up, made sure that there were coding standards, insisted on documenting everything and put in place test requirements. When he left, nobody had anything but good things to say about him - and his peers (the people who matter in the long run) regard him as a genius.
myke
Just a comment - we've had a Kohler 15kW Natural Gas powered generator that automatically comes on if power is interrupted for more than 10 seconds for the past year. We've needed it a couple of times now for multi-hour interruptions and it's worked well with the following comments:
1. Get an electrician that knows what he's doing and has experience with automated generators. I spelled out how everything was supposed to be wired and the bozo our contractor hired didn't trust my work beforehand and refused to wire up things like our refrigerator because he thought it drew too much current and then didn't believe my calculations
2. When you look at different generators, you will see that going to a water cooled unit (which is generally what you get when you are in the 22kW range) doubles the price. The 15kW units don't power the whole house, but more than enough to be liveable - you should get your Furnace, Air Conditioning (power goes out in the summer too), kitchen, basic computers & internet service, a couple of bedrooms and a TV/etc. working comfortably
3. The generators need maintenance. Plan on $500 or more a year - you can't do this yourself unless you are licensed for working around natural gas.
4. The units will test themselves once a week. Make sure they come on when nobody's going to be bothered
5. Don't try to do it yourself, the installation is somewhat expensive ($1,500-$2,000) and then you have to do the interior wiring (hooking up the Automated Transfer Switch (ATS) and deciding which circuits should be used).
6. The pricing of the units change during the year and what's going on. Right now would probably be the worst possible time to buy one - I wouldn't be surprised that their prices haven't doubled in your area. You should be looking in the late spring before hurricane season is the best.
myke