However my first point was that up until this point, the linux kernel has not been controlled under a CMM level 5 process (far, far from it), and thus incorporating it into the space shuttle software would basically require rewriting it from scratch just to make sure it met CMM level 5 requirements. Since they would have to rewrite anything from scratch anyway, there is no point in using OSS that I can think of, unless an OSS project comes along that happens to be certified CMM level 5.
Bear in mind that CMM Level 5 is a process, not a product. It would be perfectly possible to install the Linux kernel sources in a NASA software repository, and begin maintaining it as a CMM L5 product. This would essentially result in a fork, since NASA engineers would have to rigorously test and merge any changes from the outside after that.
This might be a cool way to maintain a "super-stable" kernel, for high-availability applications. Interesting.
Re:Games on Linux
on
Gentoo Games
·
· Score: 4, Insightful
What I don't get is why spend time/money on games like America's Army. Is the game free software?
Free as in beer. I don't think it's open source. It is well-done, from what I've seen.
And why such blatant propaganda for militarism?
It's the American Way. (The American Way apparently consists of lots of violence along with minimal sex.;)
Flamebait: I wonder what Joe Lieberman thinks about the US Army being involved in creating violent video games. Of course, far be it from a Democrat to actually take a stand on something.:)
America's Army takes the wimpy way out - no blood etc.
It really ought to use Doom 3 type graphics to really educate people about war and the military - but no.
Yes, very original. Because no work that draws heavily on religious material to provide plot material for a story could be "serious". Not, say Moby Dick or Paradise Lost or Faust or... well, just about any serious work of Western literature.
You're comparing The Matrix with Moby Dick and Faust?
Do you know the difference between a "novel" and a "movie"? Do you really feel the craftsmanship of The Matrix is anywhere near the two examples you mentioned? The CG is nice, the action great, the plot, well...
The makers of the movie, unlike you, with your three dollar words and superficial intellectualism, are smart enough to recognize that the action that captures your interest and the meaning that lies behind the events often appear to live in separate universes. One might even say that was the whole point of the movie.
OK, let's discuss the "meaning that lies behind the events". What is your deep analysis of this topic?
Yet they both know that path AND walk it. As further evidence, the code name for the second movie was "The Burly Man", which is the name of the screenplay in Barton Fink; it's a wrestling movie, suggesting they have an ironic and knowing approach to the contradictions of an action movie and a movie of ideas.
Or that they liked Barton Fink...an equally likely hypothesis.
Rather than over-analyzing marginal science-fiction films for deep meaning, why not spend that time actually perusing the great works of literature? Most likely it's a much better use of your time.
They know exactly what they are doing on more levels than you know. Or are ready to know.
Wrong. They know they are making popular,mass-market,action films in order to make money. Anything else will be subjugated to that goal.
Don't get me wrong, I think The Matrix is a good movie and I'm anxious to see the sequel. Let's just not get carried away with the idea that "deep messages" are buried in these films.
Except that serious thought DOES goes into POP culture.
MTV isn't run by teenie boppers, it's run by Harvard grads who know how to bleed money out of sheep-like hordes of teenagers.
Of course, there's a difference between providing thoughtful, thought-provoking content and putting a lot of thought into how to best fleece the viewers.
MTV is such a great source of philosophical and religous thought, after all...;-)
'"We're interested in mythology, theology, and, to a certain extent, higher-level mathematics," Larry told Time in 1999. In a Warner Bros. Web chat that year, they were asked to what extent their allusions to myths and philosophy were intentional. "All of it," they said.'
Sure, ripping all the free plot elements was intentional.;-)
Did they intend the movie as a philosphical treatise or entertainment? You tell me.
The religious signficance of this movie can't be overestimated, IMO.
Oh please not the "neural networks are the holy grail" spiel. A neural network is no different from a computer with no software. You still have to figure out how to train and apply it. Neural networks are not magic pixie dust.
The "magic pixie dust" part of the neural network idea is that neural networks are designed to function similarly to biological neurons. Biological neurons are the only device we know of so far that provide "intelligent thought". It seems clear to me that building electronic neural nets in the spirit of biological brains is one of the most promising approaches in acheiving "true AI". So far neural nets are far below the human brain in complexity, but that is a temporary situation IMO.
We need to understand more of the brain's firmware in terms of how the infant brain connects to the world initially and how much of said brain is 'hardwired' to certain concepts like vision and language. It is very possible that someone will build human-complexity neural nets within the next 20 years or so. We live in interesting times!
That's your response? You didn't even address any of my questions. Your entire argument is that you think it is stupid?
Clearly reading comprehension isn't your strong point. Try again.
I have sufficient grounding in philosophy to have a valid opinion, thank you. The details of my readings aren't germane to this argument. Attack the argument, not the messenger.
Like Star Wars, The Matrix has incorporated religous elements, since they provide plot material. Very original, I'm sure.
Let me say it a different way - this is primarily an action movie. Any philosophical/ethical/religous underpinnings are strictly secondary, and no more meaningful or impressive than in most such movies. IMO, of course.
Who said that the two are mutually exclusive? Have you read Baudrillard's Simulation and Simulacra? Do you understand the significance of a blue pill and a red pill? Have you studied Carl Jung?
Don't assume that everybody is as ignorant as you are.
Having seen The Matrix, I think I have a reasonable basis for judgement. The plot was really rather superficial to the action - which was the point I think. To try and draw any deep philosophical conclusions from such fluff (especially when it is CG fantasy fluff) appears, well, stupid. Sorry.
But how do you teach a computer to respond with an answer to a question that the computer has never encountered before...
You make it capable of "learning", that is collating new information with the old. This has been done in limited ways, but with nothing like the flexibility of the human mind.
Neural networks are a promising beginning, but only a beginning. One thing to ponder is that, by definition, a truly intelligent machine will be unpredictable. Should make for some interesting times.;-)
BTW, nice "The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress" reference. Good book.
When you try to make Democrats out to be boogiemen, at least don't make your stories so obviously fabricated.
The California Family Rights Act provides for 3 months of UNPAID leave. Not that that matters much, I'm sure you'll still find a way to blame Democrats for the fact that you're having trouble finding a job.
I must admit that part of what I posted was from something heard on the radio...I apparently didn't get it quite right.:-/ I think what I was referring to is new legislation, which hasn't passed and hopefully won't. The current law does require the employer to pay health insurance for the employee during the time off.
What I didn't touch on in my previous post was the bevy of new taxes that're being proposed right now. Unfortunately, I can't find a good summary article but bills are in process that would additionally tax diapers, bullets, cigarettes, gasoline and a host of other items. Our local sales tax rate is already almost 8%!
As to whether or not Democrats are the "boogiemen", clearly they have had control of this state for many, many years. They are responsible for the current business climate which is definitely grim. Throw some more new taxes into the mix, and it will be ghastly. It won't necessarily take much more to drive significant numbers of businesses out of the state. If that happens, California may find itself in a full-blown recession. In the current fiscal climate, IMO other states will fare much better.
now the question is, will companies relocate to avoid charging their customers the tax?
Yes.
California (my native state, and where I reside for the moment) appears to be trying to tax its way out of its deficit.
This will of course fail miserably, because smart business owners will get the hell out of Dodge. It is already far more expensive to do business here than in most other states. The state legislature aggravated the problem quite a bit recently by passing legislation requiring any business with more than 25 employees to provide six months paid maternity/paternity leave to both spouses in the event of a birth.
I know Buck Knives recently announced it's leaving the San Diego area for Idaho, after being here since the 50's.
California is in a whole lot of trouble...and yes I blame the Democratic legislature over the last couple of decades. If you want to help out, a good start is the Recall Gray Davis site.
Even if he is recalled, I may no longer be here to enjoy it...software jobs are few and far between in these parts lately.
Even trained fighter pilots don't watch movies whilst flying!
Well, this is stretching it a bit. Fighter pilots have more displays than you can shake a stick at, including video displays (FLIR). The difference is, in a fighter plane you can watch the inside of the cockpit for extended periods much of the time. Not true in a car.;-)
I hope you read this, I think I set a "last post" record with this one.
Many of these issues are best addressed at the hardware level, IMO. First of all, the software people don't have to worry about it then!;-) For instance, look at RAID as a good example of reliable hardware (especially redundant RAIDS;). It is possible, using ECC memory and cache, and multiple CPUs, to be quite sure you're getting the correct results for a given calculation. You can also provide failover for continuous uptime.
Some of the rest of the article addressed issues of recovering from software errors as well. The first step is encouraging use of languages that don't constantly result in mechanical errors (stack exploits, wild pointers, freeing already freed space etc.). Many such solutions exist, from "safe" languages like LISP and Ada to managed languages like Java and Java--++ (C#). It is a much better approach to be able to design software as though the system is reliable, rather than working around an unreliable system.
All that said, an interesting approach to server software I ran across recently is Prevalayer.
A nice, simple, lightweight object persistence scheme. There is also a good article on it here. Prevalayer is able to recover from system crashes quickly using a saved state and a journal file. Neat stuff!
That companies entering the general purpose Palm PDA market have to compete with Palm (duh), Sony, and several other companies.
The Sony Palm PDAs are very nice. I'm currently using a Clie PEG-T665C. It has MP3 playback, memory stick expansion (which can also be used for WiFi), 320x320 TFT screen, jog dial, 16M memory, and a 66 MHz. Dragonball.
So far, I've been extremely happy with it! If I were a new company thinking of getting into Palm devices, I'd be very intimidated by Sony's products.
The device that probably has the most tongues wagging is coming from a startup called Tapwave that is planning to build a Palm OS device with an eye toward handheld gaming.
The game device isn't the one in the picture. That is the measurement device, the "Aceeca's Meazura".
The game device is supposed to have a 320x480 color TFT screen.
Now, why they used that "gameboy" like style for the measurement device is a good question...;-)
Java has uses but not all the ones sun is claiming.
Example?
What I have a problem with is academia and commercial companies choosing java because of the claims of Sun which were false.
I'm not too sure what you're talking about here...Java was probably not quite ready for prime time when it was originally hyped - many companies have been guilty of similar things.
Dont you think there are better alternatives like
1.python
2.eiffel
3.ruby
4. euphoria. ok not oop but could be good for applications in webbrowser(speed)
I don't necessarily view those as "better" alternatives, though you can use at least Python (and I think Ruby) with the JVM.
One area that's important to me is speed, which has always been touted as one of Java's strong points. It was overhyped at first, but Java performance is now quite strong, and gcj is looking very promising in that regard.
Java is largely living up to it's original promise...it's just taking a bit of time to get there.;-)
Slashdot Mirror
As I've said before: It's just a tempest in a [OpenGL] teapot.
Darwin might be a good starting place for an OS. ;-)
Cool stuff! This mission looks very workable. It is too bad that it's a one-shot flight.
Bear in mind that CMM Level 5 is a process, not a product. It would be perfectly possible to install the Linux kernel sources in a NASA software repository, and begin maintaining it as a CMM L5 product. This would essentially result in a fork, since NASA engineers would have to rigorously test and merge any changes from the outside after that.
This might be a cool way to maintain a "super-stable" kernel, for high-availability applications. Interesting.
Free as in beer. I don't think it's open source. It is well-done, from what I've seen.
And why such blatant propaganda for militarism?
It's the American Way. (The American Way apparently consists of lots of violence along with minimal sex.;)
Flamebait: I wonder what Joe Lieberman thinks about the US Army being involved in creating violent video games. Of course, far be it from a Democrat to actually take a stand on something. :)
America's Army takes the wimpy way out - no blood etc.
It really ought to use Doom 3 type graphics to really educate people about war and the military - but no.
As to Lieberman...who cares? ;-)
Truthfully, this will go exactly nowhere - even if IBM has to buy SCO.
You're comparing The Matrix with Moby Dick and Faust?
Do you know the difference between a "novel" and a "movie"? Do you really feel the craftsmanship of The Matrix is anywhere near the two examples you mentioned? The CG is nice, the action great, the plot, well...
The makers of the movie, unlike you, with your three dollar words and superficial intellectualism, are smart enough to recognize that the action that captures your interest and the meaning that lies behind the events often appear to live in separate universes. One might even say that was the whole point of the movie.
OK, let's discuss the "meaning that lies behind the events". What is your deep analysis of this topic?
Yet they both know that path AND walk it. As further evidence, the code name for the second movie was "The Burly Man", which is the name of the screenplay in Barton Fink; it's a wrestling movie, suggesting they have an ironic and knowing approach to the contradictions of an action movie and a movie of ideas.
Or that they liked Barton Fink...an equally likely hypothesis.
Rather than over-analyzing marginal science-fiction films for deep meaning, why not spend that time actually perusing the great works of literature? Most likely it's a much better use of your time.
They know exactly what they are doing on more levels than you know. Or are ready to know.
Wrong. They know they are making popular, mass-market, action films in order to make money. Anything else will be subjugated to that goal.
Don't get me wrong, I think The Matrix is a good movie and I'm anxious to see the sequel. Let's just not get carried away with the idea that "deep messages" are buried in these films.
MTV isn't run by teenie boppers, it's run by Harvard grads who know how to bleed money out of sheep-like hordes of teenagers.
Of course, there's a difference between providing thoughtful, thought-provoking content and putting a lot of thought into how to best fleece the viewers.
MTV is such a great source of philosophical and religous thought, after all... ;-)
Sure, ripping all the free plot elements was intentional. ;-)
Did they intend the movie as a philosphical treatise or entertainment? You tell me.
The religious signficance of this movie can't be overestimated, IMO.
The "magic pixie dust" part of the neural network idea is that neural networks are designed to function similarly to biological neurons. Biological neurons are the only device we know of so far that provide "intelligent thought". It seems clear to me that building electronic neural nets in the spirit of biological brains is one of the most promising approaches in acheiving "true AI". So far neural nets are far below the human brain in complexity, but that is a temporary situation IMO.
We need to understand more of the brain's firmware in terms of how the infant brain connects to the world initially and how much of said brain is 'hardwired' to certain concepts like vision and language. It is very possible that someone will build human-complexity neural nets within the next 20 years or so. We live in interesting times!
Clearly reading comprehension isn't your strong point. Try again.
I have sufficient grounding in philosophy to have a valid opinion, thank you. The details of my readings aren't germane to this argument. Attack the argument, not the messenger.
Like Star Wars, The Matrix has incorporated religous elements, since they provide plot material. Very original, I'm sure.
Let me say it a different way - this is primarily an action movie. Any philosophical/ethical/religous underpinnings are strictly secondary, and no more meaningful or impressive than in most such movies. IMO, of course.
I don't know why I even bothered posting.
That makes two of us... ;-)
Don't assume that everybody is as ignorant as you are.
Having seen The Matrix, I think I have a reasonable basis for judgement. The plot was really rather superficial to the action - which was the point I think. To try and draw any deep philosophical conclusions from such fluff (especially when it is CG fantasy fluff) appears, well, stupid. Sorry.
Ooops.
You make it capable of "learning", that is collating new information with the old. This has been done in limited ways, but with nothing like the flexibility of the human mind.
Neural networks are a promising beginning, but only a beginning. One thing to ponder is that, by definition, a truly intelligent machine will be unpredictable. Should make for some interesting times. ;-)
BTW, nice "The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress" reference. Good book.
I must admit that part of what I posted was from something heard on the radio...I apparently didn't get it quite right. :-/ I think what I was referring to is new legislation, which hasn't passed and hopefully won't. The current law does require the employer to pay health insurance for the employee during the time off.
Here's the article that mentions Buck: Summit looks at why firms leaving state
What I didn't touch on in my previous post was the bevy of new taxes that're being proposed right now. Unfortunately, I can't find a good summary article but bills are in process that would additionally tax diapers, bullets, cigarettes, gasoline and a host of other items. Our local sales tax rate is already almost 8%!
This is a slightly older article that talks about taxes in California
As to whether or not Democrats are the "boogiemen", clearly they have had control of this state for many, many years. They are responsible for the current business climate which is definitely grim. Throw some more new taxes into the mix, and it will be ghastly. It won't necessarily take much more to drive significant numbers of businesses out of the state. If that happens, California may find itself in a full-blown recession. In the current fiscal climate, IMO other states will fare much better.
Yes.
California (my native state, and where I reside for the moment) appears to be trying to tax its way out of its deficit.
This will of course fail miserably, because smart business owners will get the hell out of Dodge. It is already far more expensive to do business here than in most other states. The state legislature aggravated the problem quite a bit recently by passing legislation requiring any business with more than 25 employees to provide six months paid maternity/paternity leave to both spouses in the event of a birth.
I know Buck Knives recently announced it's leaving the San Diego area for Idaho, after being here since the 50's.
California is in a whole lot of trouble...and yes I blame the Democratic legislature over the last couple of decades. If you want to help out, a good start is the Recall Gray Davis site.
Even if he is recalled, I may no longer be here to enjoy it...software jobs are few and far between in these parts lately.
Well, this is stretching it a bit. Fighter pilots have more displays than you can shake a stick at, including video displays (FLIR). The difference is, in a fighter plane you can watch the inside of the cockpit for extended periods much of the time. Not true in a car. ;-)
I hope you read this, I think I set a "last post" record with this one.
I wonder how much of E-bay's bandwidth is now devoted to that page? ;-)
Many of these issues are best addressed at the hardware level, IMO. First of all, the software people don't have to worry about it then! ;-) For instance, look at RAID as a good example of reliable hardware (especially redundant RAIDS;). It is possible, using ECC memory and cache, and multiple CPUs, to be quite sure you're getting the correct results for a given calculation. You can also provide failover for continuous uptime.
Some of the rest of the article addressed issues of recovering from software errors as well. The first step is encouraging use of languages that don't constantly result in mechanical errors (stack exploits, wild pointers, freeing already freed space etc.). Many such solutions exist, from "safe" languages like LISP and Ada to managed languages like Java and Java--++ (C#). It is a much better approach to be able to design software as though the system is reliable, rather than working around an unreliable system.
All that said, an interesting approach to server software I ran across recently is Prevalayer. A nice, simple, lightweight object persistence scheme. There is also a good article on it here. Prevalayer is able to recover from system crashes quickly using a saved state and a journal file. Neat stuff!
system CRASH! ;-)
Not if it's turned in to NASA as it should be. Then, it's a public service.
You think it's easy finding a piece of Columbia at this point?
No, finding it is perfectly legal. Not notifying the authorities is illegal.
In fact, finding a piece of Columbia is quite a public service. NASA needs all the information it can get.
The Sony Palm PDAs are very nice. I'm currently using a Clie PEG-T665C. It has MP3 playback, memory stick expansion (which can also be used for WiFi), 320x320 TFT screen, jog dial, 16M memory, and a 66 MHz. Dragonball.
So far, I've been extremely happy with it! If I were a new company thinking of getting into Palm devices, I'd be very intimidated by Sony's products.
The game device isn't the one in the picture. That is the measurement device, the "Aceeca's Meazura".
The game device is supposed to have a 320x480 color TFT screen.
Now, why they used that "gameboy" like style for the measurement device is a good question... ;-)
OK...
Java has uses but not all the ones sun is claiming.
Example?
What I have a problem with is academia and commercial companies choosing java because of the claims of Sun which were false.
I'm not too sure what you're talking about here...Java was probably not quite ready for prime time when it was originally hyped - many companies have been guilty of similar things.
Dont you think there are better alternatives like
1.python
2.eiffel
3.ruby
4. euphoria. ok not oop but could be good for applications in webbrowser(speed)
I don't necessarily view those as "better" alternatives, though you can use at least Python (and I think Ruby) with the JVM.
One area that's important to me is speed, which has always been touted as one of Java's strong points. It was overhyped at first, but Java performance is now quite strong, and gcj is looking very promising in that regard.
Java is largely living up to it's original promise...it's just taking a bit of time to get there. ;-)