I did a course in my computer engineering degree last term called Formal Methods where half the course we spent learning the "Cleanroom" method of coding. To put it simply this method makes you specify functions through math and the prove via math that your code does do what it is intended to do. Projects that have used the cleanroom method have reported roughly 2-3 errors per 1000 lines of code (on the first compile) and over 75% of the code compiles and runs correctly on the first try. They are very impressive number but they come at a cost of a learning curve and spending more time properly defining functions and classes. After doing that course I have a whole new respect for software verification. If anyone wanted to teach how to write secure code they should really invest their efforts in this proven method.
I wanted to find some more information myself about Linux supporting 64-bit processors and this is what I found. Mandrake will have support by early 2003, I'm not sure if it's done now or not but it should be nearly done. Redhat is also offering support for the X86-64, check out the news release. Personally I think this is a great oppertunity for Linux to catch up to MS in market share. I look forward to upgrading...
Why should we waste so much time and money to stop something only a few people are doing. If you ask me they should just outlaw spam on a global scale and then throw spammers in jail. It's great so see such innovation in this field but is it really where we should be putting all of our resources to? Would it be more productive to loby the government to outlaw spam? Well of course that would make sense and it would destroy the need for all these anti-spam solutions. They don't want there own products to be worth nothing. There is money to be made off creating and stoping spam:)
I saw a post earlier that the card couldn't have the ability to wipe your boot record but did you install drivers with it or anything? In the past I am after installing some software on my computer and it screwed my bootsector royally. Check out this old article on slashdot about TurboTax writing to your boot sector. There is some very antisocial software out there and it's not always the hardwares fault:)
But i had to look up what Indemnity means. I myself am curious as to what companies will pay for damages for using their software. It would be nice to see Microsoft pay for the billions of dollars of damage there software causes on the internet due to worms and the sort.
The first work term I ever had in my Computer Engineering degree gave me one of my most memorable experiences. I worked for two sumemrs at a chicken plant which was assembly line labour consisting of 8 hour shifts. If anyone has ever done this before they will know it's very hard on the body to do any repetative motion for 8 hours. Then I entered engineering and lined up a great job with Nortel Networks (God rest their soul) for the summer. Let's just say I was amazed that I didn't have to tell anyone I was going for a break or that I was able to take off early and work flex hours. Hey I was young and it's a big step from a chicken plant to the Tech Industry.
Anyway I did a lot of cool stuff that term and I still use it on my resume. But the best feeling I found was at the end of the term when they offered me a job in either Ottawa or Toronto for my next work term. Now it doesn't seem that big of a deal but to me at the time I was pretty freakin happy:) So many other good stories but that one stands out in my mind.
I'm serious about this. Canadian Engineering schools tend to have funding available to help companies and non-profit organizations to hire coop students for 4 months. Let's just do a little math here. In my school a fair wage, in the current market that is, is 15 dollars an hour. You can get into a SECPAC fund and supplement 5 dollars an hour. So for a 40 hour week for 16 weeks you will only have to pay 10 dollars an hour for a grand total of 6400 dollars.
Now I'm aware there are even more programs in place at other schools that will fund even more than this so you would probably be able to get away with paying aprox. 3000 to have a computer engineering student working on a solution customized specificaly for you. My advice is to check with your local universitys engineering program or CS program and attempt to hire an intern. They will be able to program you something really good in 4-6 months I'm sure.
In our coop program we have found that since the big companies who used to hire the majority of our class (Nortel, Alcatel etc..) stoped posting jobs a lot of smaller companies are coming forward to fill in. I have a work term this term with a company of 13 people but I'm designing an embedded system from scratch and sticking linux on it. It's a great project but the pay isn't as high as I've had in the past. My advice for you is to check on the local start-ups in your neighbourhood. They are always looking for cheap talent. Although this being my 5th work term also helps out a lot when looking:) Startups offer great experience if you can get hired on with one. Looks great on the resume for when you want to look for a Microsoft job when you graduate.
I'm surpised that Air Quality wasn't mentioned here. I have all of my computer hardware in my basement too and I find that sometimes the air can get a little to dank. With the lack of windows in the room the poor ventalation I find really affects me when I'm working on my computer. Recently we installed a central air exchange unit in the house and it makes a huge change in my opinion.
I don't know about you guys but at my university the class average is usually around 65. If we have a higher than usual average going into finals the prof. will just end up making the exam unfinishable so he can bell curve the marks up to a 65. If the lowest marks you get in a class are B's then you got it easy. I'd love to be in a school where the profs are that nice to us. And no the students in my class are not stupid we are all very accomplished students. Any other schools out there follow this marking scheme?
One time we had a 84 class average and the dean of the Universtiy had to have a meeting with the faculty of engineering to figure out why the mark was so high. It was a project course so go figure eh?
How do you ID someone for hairspray? Come on..get real. A kid walks into the store and gets questioned why he is buying hairspray you know he isn't going to freak out and run out of the store scared that the police will get him he will just say for his hair. For that matter what store clerk will actually be able to ask that question while keeping a straight face. You can't stop people from building these but i'm sure you can catch people using them. Potatos flying at these speeds don't go unnotcied...unless your in a secluded area which is safe anyway.
And this will affect me when...
on
Reflections
·
· Score: 1
I can get a whoping 2 k/sec off the wireless network I'm on and that is on a very good day. Usually it's between.5 k/sec and 1 k/sec. All these speed increases in wireless networks but in actual fact the time to market on this product will proably be 20 years. I'm just sick of being teased with the knowledge of all these better networks:)
Well you don't lose the use of one of your hands when you're talking to a passenger or listening to music or the radio. I never have two hands on the wheel myself but I also drive a standard and I have to shift. Any idiot who attempts to eat or drink coffee while driving a standard shouldn't be on the road. Same goes for cell phones. How can you drive safely if you have to rest the cell phone on your neck when you need to change gears? Automatics are obviously easier to work with but do you make a law just for one type of car? How could you enforce it?
I think most people are capable of talking on a cell phone and driving but it's the ones who arn't i'm worried about. If you don't stop them they will only kill people. It's kinda like saying that I woudln't kill people and the majority of the people in the world wouldn't kill people so why make it a law not to kill people? well that's kinda extreme..
Did you ever try driving a standard while talking on a cell phone? It is a major problem in my opinion. I've used both and the hands free set feels like i'm just talking to a passenger not to a cell phone. Only catch is that it's annoying to put on half the time but well it's a lot safer.
Well I think the best thing that my province (Newfoundland) could do with cell phone abuse was to invoke a new law (December 2002) making it illegle to drive while talking on a cell phone. If you had a hands free setup then it's alright. You will get fined 180 dollars US and lose 4 demerits if the cops see you do this. Personally I think this is the best thing you can do. Cell phones ringing in movies is just an annoyance....Cell phones used on the road can kill people.
For a list of cell phone bans across the world check this out.
You use their software for free so why can't they "trick" you a little bit to get your e-mail and send you stuff. It's your own fault for not paying attention to what your clicking. Just because you CAN click next doesn't mean you should. I don't see anythign wrong with it at all. I either A) Avoid the software (Personally I hate RealPlayer) B) I never give out my real e-mail but either a hotmail account or something that is already spammed to hell. If you do either one of these then problems are solved.
I'm kinda surprised that this wasn't touched in the topic of pipelining. One of the major problem's with piplenes are the hazards that may occur Read-After-Write (RAW) could really screw shit up. Anyway to make a long story short Tomasulo's Algorithim can take care of some RAW hazards and WAW and WAR hazards that could stall a processor. If your really interested in this stuff it's a worth while topic to read up on.
Here is a great link if you want to visualize how this works.
Just a little bit of information. I can't remember what chip it was implemented on but I do think it was the Alpha 21264 (Correct me if I'm wrong) there was a 99.99% correct prediction. Using some crazy state machines and keep track of the choice made in the past at the same juncture to help influnce the choice. Pretty cool stuff...to bad I can't find a link to sneak in here with some cool information.
Why worry about it? They already have a patch so I don't think it's a big deal. If your a administrator who doesn't keep up with bugtraq or other mailing lists then your just asking for trouble. Just hope no one already exploited this hole on your system:)
Slashdot Mirror
I did a course in my computer engineering degree last term called Formal Methods where half the course we spent learning the "Cleanroom" method of coding. To put it simply this method makes you specify functions through math and the prove via math that your code does do what it is intended to do. Projects that have used the cleanroom method have reported roughly 2-3 errors per 1000 lines of code (on the first compile) and over 75% of the code compiles and runs correctly on the first try. They are very impressive number but they come at a cost of a learning curve and spending more time properly defining functions and classes. After doing that course I have a whole new respect for software verification. If anyone wanted to teach how to write secure code they should really invest their efforts in this proven method.
I wanted to find some more information myself about Linux supporting 64-bit processors and this is what I found. Mandrake will have support by early 2003, I'm not sure if it's done now or not but it should be nearly done. Redhat is also offering support for the X86-64, check out the news release. Personally I think this is a great oppertunity for Linux to catch up to MS in market share. I look forward to upgrading...
Why should we waste so much time and money to stop something only a few people are doing. If you ask me they should just outlaw spam on a global scale and then throw spammers in jail. It's great so see such innovation in this field but is it really where we should be putting all of our resources to? Would it be more productive to loby the government to outlaw spam? Well of course that would make sense and it would destroy the need for all these anti-spam solutions. They don't want there own products to be worth nothing. There is money to be made off creating and stoping spam :)
I saw a post earlier that the card couldn't have the ability to wipe your boot record but did you install drivers with it or anything? In the past I am after installing some software on my computer and it screwed my bootsector royally. Check out this old article on slashdot about TurboTax writing to your boot sector. There is some very antisocial software out there and it's not always the hardwares fault :)
I stand corrected. You're right though about employees spending time on the internet. Sure I posted that comment while I was at work. :)
But i had to look up what Indemnity means. I myself am curious as to what companies will pay for damages for using their software. It would be nice to see Microsoft pay for the billions of dollars of damage there software causes on the internet due to worms and the sort.
Violets are blue...
If I keep going..
I'll get mod'ed down too..
The first work term I ever had in my Computer Engineering degree gave me one of my most memorable experiences. I worked for two sumemrs at a chicken plant which was assembly line labour consisting of 8 hour shifts. If anyone has ever done this before they will know it's very hard on the body to do any repetative motion for 8 hours. Then I entered engineering and lined up a great job with Nortel Networks (God rest their soul) for the summer. Let's just say I was amazed that I didn't have to tell anyone I was going for a break or that I was able to take off early and work flex hours. Hey I was young and it's a big step from a chicken plant to the Tech Industry.
:) So many other good stories but that one stands out in my mind.
Anyway I did a lot of cool stuff that term and I still use it on my resume. But the best feeling I found was at the end of the term when they offered me a job in either Ottawa or Toronto for my next work term. Now it doesn't seem that big of a deal but to me at the time I was pretty freakin happy
I'm serious about this. Canadian Engineering schools tend to have funding available to help companies and non-profit organizations to hire coop students for 4 months. Let's just do a little math here. In my school a fair wage, in the current market that is, is 15 dollars an hour. You can get into a SECPAC fund and supplement 5 dollars an hour. So for a 40 hour week for 16 weeks you will only have to pay 10 dollars an hour for a grand total of 6400 dollars.
Now I'm aware there are even more programs in place at other schools that will fund even more than this so you would probably be able to get away with paying aprox. 3000 to have a computer engineering student working on a solution customized specificaly for you. My advice is to check with your local universitys engineering program or CS program and attempt to hire an intern. They will be able to program you something really good in 4-6 months I'm sure.
In our coop program we have found that since the big companies who used to hire the majority of our class (Nortel, Alcatel etc..) stoped posting jobs a lot of smaller companies are coming forward to fill in. I have a work term this term with a company of 13 people but I'm designing an embedded system from scratch and sticking linux on it. It's a great project but the pay isn't as high as I've had in the past. My advice for you is to check on the local start-ups in your neighbourhood. They are always looking for cheap talent. Although this being my 5th work term also helps out a lot when looking :) Startups offer great experience if you can get hired on with one. Looks great on the resume for when you want to look for a Microsoft job when you graduate.
Either all the ram that is bad ends up in answering machines or in my computer. I'm aftering going through my fair share of ram in my days.
I'm surpised that Air Quality wasn't mentioned here. I have all of my computer hardware in my basement too and I find that sometimes the air can get a little to dank. With the lack of windows in the room the poor ventalation I find really affects me when I'm working on my computer. Recently we installed a central air exchange unit in the house and it makes a huge change in my opinion.
I don't know about you guys but at my university the class average is usually around 65. If we have a higher than usual average going into finals the prof. will just end up making the exam unfinishable so he can bell curve the marks up to a 65. If the lowest marks you get in a class are B's then you got it easy. I'd love to be in a school where the profs are that nice to us. And no the students in my class are not stupid we are all very accomplished students. Any other schools out there follow this marking scheme?
One time we had a 84 class average and the dean of the Universtiy had to have a meeting with the faculty of engineering to figure out why the mark was so high. It was a project course so go figure eh?
How do you ID someone for hairspray? Come on..get real. A kid walks into the store and gets questioned why he is buying hairspray you know he isn't going to freak out and run out of the store scared that the police will get him he will just say for his hair. For that matter what store clerk will actually be able to ask that question while keeping a straight face. You can't stop people from building these but i'm sure you can catch people using them. Potatos flying at these speeds don't go unnotcied...unless your in a secluded area which is safe anyway.
I can get a whoping 2 k/sec off the wireless network I'm on and that is on a very good day. Usually it's between .5 k/sec and 1 k/sec. All these speed increases in wireless networks but in actual fact the time to market on this product will proably be 20 years. I'm just sick of being teased with the knowledge of all these better networks :)
Well you don't lose the use of one of your hands when you're talking to a passenger or listening to music or the radio. I never have two hands on the wheel myself but I also drive a standard and I have to shift. Any idiot who attempts to eat or drink coffee while driving a standard shouldn't be on the road. Same goes for cell phones. How can you drive safely if you have to rest the cell phone on your neck when you need to change gears? Automatics are obviously easier to work with but do you make a law just for one type of car? How could you enforce it?
I think most people are capable of talking on a cell phone and driving but it's the ones who arn't i'm worried about. If you don't stop them they will only kill people. It's kinda like saying that I woudln't kill people and the majority of the people in the world wouldn't kill people so why make it a law not to kill people? well that's kinda extreme..
I don't think kids in cars shoudl be banned maybe the people who can't handle the kids should be outlawed :) Kids don't have a clue what's on the go.
Did you ever try driving a standard while talking on a cell phone? It is a major problem in my opinion. I've used both and the hands free set feels like i'm just talking to a passenger not to a cell phone. Only catch is that it's annoying to put on half the time but well it's a lot safer.
You use their software for free so why can't they "trick" you a little bit to get your e-mail and send you stuff. It's your own fault for not paying attention to what your clicking. Just because you CAN click next doesn't mean you should. I don't see anythign wrong with it at all. I either
A) Avoid the software (Personally I hate RealPlayer)
B) I never give out my real e-mail but either a hotmail account or something that is already spammed to hell.
If you do either one of these then problems are solved.
Did someone hack this page? Seems it won't load for me :)
That's a lot of porn one could back up :)
Here is a great link if you want to visualize how this works.
Just a little bit of information. I can't remember what chip it was implemented on but I do think it was the Alpha 21264 (Correct me if I'm wrong) there was a 99.99% correct prediction. Using some crazy state machines and keep track of the choice made in the past at the same juncture to help influnce the choice. Pretty cool stuff...to bad I can't find a link to sneak in here with some cool information.
Why worry about it? They already have a patch so I don't think it's a big deal. If your a administrator who doesn't keep up with bugtraq or other mailing lists then your just asking for trouble. Just hope no one already exploited this hole on your system :)