I see the biggest reason that software is too complicated and feature-rich to maintain quality as being the need for a good match between customer and software.
The customer has certain needs and wants which no particular package can perfectly bring without some tailoring. But tailoring costs money and only so many customers can pay for it.
So rather than take the post-developement work route, a company will create a product that can (or seems to) expand and scale with the customer's needs. This results in a less-than-ideal solution for any customer. The software can only get more complicated and harder to adapt as time goes on.
So salesmen end up becoming the most important part of the whole process, because they only need to sell an image. Changing a products public perception is a lot easier than fixing its design flaws.
I'll come right out and say that my future in AO is shaky right now as a result of the slanderous and untrue article posted about me in the New York Times last Thursday.
Who has their future in a game? The real reason we are reading this is because this guy plays computer games too much and it is sad and disturbing. It is not disturbing enough to be made into a movie, but good enough for a few rounds in/.
I've been trying to pretend like everything is alright, but I get this sinking feeling, a feeling like I'm going to be judged for my online time and it's totally sucked the fun out of the game for me.
That sinking feeling is him realizing that he has invested large amounts of his life in a game and that the game is only a game. Your time is a sunk cost (as economists term it) and you will be judged by individuals based on your actions. This is reality.
If he cannot be proud of what he invests his time in, he is hiding. It is like hiding under the covers as a child. There is no logic to it, it is all based upon your limited perception and desire to escape from reality. Children tend to grow up though.
Without a competent sysadmin and specific application (triggered only for certain events/time lengths), this will go from handy to crude (much like many other tools, come to think of it).
At the end of the day or week or month, it is the individual who takes advantage of their personal resources, whatever they may be, that is successful. These are the hard (but smart workers), the innovators, and the individuals who improve themselves continuously. These are the persons who use their mind as a self-reflexive tool, not just a processor or storage device.
All humanity is aging - some people have used the time wisely. Find them.
The motivation to learn to program comes from many things, but really learning something comes from having a problem to solve. It is true there is fun and interest in doing meaningless things with a language, but the real passion comes from making something - or making it work.
Kids have to see the problems, limitations, and complications of the real world to understand how the computer enhances human thinking, not replaces it. This does not have to be a complicated understanding. A problem can be simply wanting see a different background with every login.
The point is, the kid needs to understand that he/she can do what he/she wants with the computer. He/She has control of the machine. If he/she wants more control, there are many ways to find it. The first step is the key: making the computer a tool for itself.
This problem will grow with more address space. Though the value of individual addresses will diminish in the future with IPv6, it is important to keep virtual property lines clear. This needs to be handled now. Exceptions made are only going to lead to problems in the future.
Minsky is making a very simple, profound point about AI. AI has not yet created a machine that can think, not just respond or answer. Design principles, logical methods, and theories are what make AI.
Robots will change with new components, designs, etc. AI is not just about robots. Robots are only the medium.
The same is true for programming. There are old and new languages, some in use and some not. But programming (TAOCP) is what will outlast the languages. Think big guys, that's what its all about.
Slashdot Mirror
I see the biggest reason that software is too complicated and feature-rich to maintain quality as being the need for a good match between customer and software.
The customer has certain needs and wants which no particular package can perfectly bring without some tailoring. But tailoring costs money and only so many customers can pay for it.
So rather than take the post-developement work route, a company will create a product that can (or seems to) expand and scale with the customer's needs. This results in a less-than-ideal solution for any customer. The software can only get more complicated and harder to adapt as time goes on.
So salesmen end up becoming the most important part of the whole process, because they only need to sell an image. Changing a products public perception is a lot easier than fixing its design flaws.
I'll come right out and say that my future in AO is shaky right now as a result of the slanderous and untrue article posted about me in the New York Times last Thursday.
/.
Who has their future in a game? The real reason we are reading this is because this guy plays computer games too much and it is sad and disturbing. It is not disturbing enough to be made into a movie, but good enough for a few rounds in
I've been trying to pretend like everything is alright, but I get this sinking feeling, a feeling like I'm going to be judged for my online time and it's totally sucked the fun out of the game for me.
That sinking feeling is him realizing that he has invested large amounts of his life in a game and that the game is only a game. Your time is a sunk cost (as economists term it) and you will be judged by individuals based on your actions. This is reality.
If he cannot be proud of what he invests his time in, he is hiding. It is like hiding under the covers as a child. There is no logic to it, it is all based upon your limited perception and desire to escape from reality. Children tend to grow up though.
Yet it is still so widely used. The /. logo itself is a gif.
here is a site that seems appropriate to this thread.
Bring on PNG/MNG.
Without a competent sysadmin and specific application (triggered only for certain events/time lengths), this will go from handy to crude (much like many other tools, come to think of it).
Age can be a handicap or an advantage.
Youth can be a handicap or an advantage.
At the end of the day or week or month, it is the individual who takes advantage of their personal resources, whatever they may be, that is successful. These are the hard (but smart workers), the innovators, and the individuals who improve themselves continuously. These are the persons who use their mind as a self-reflexive tool, not just a processor or storage device.
All humanity is aging - some people have used the time wisely. Find them.
The motivation to learn to program comes from many things, but really learning something comes from having a problem to solve. It is true there is fun and interest in doing meaningless things with a language, but the real passion comes from making something - or making it work.
Kids have to see the problems, limitations, and complications of the real world to understand how the computer enhances human thinking, not replaces it. This does not have to be a complicated understanding. A problem can be simply wanting see a different background with every login.
The point is, the kid needs to understand that he/she can do what he/she wants with the computer. He/She has control of the machine. If he/she wants more control, there are many ways to find it. The first step is the key: making the computer a tool for itself.
This problem will grow with more address space. Though the value of individual addresses will diminish in the future with IPv6, it is important to keep virtual property lines clear. This needs to be handled now. Exceptions made are only going to lead to problems in the future.
Linux will continue to grow, with or without any company's support. Linux does not need Oracle, but Oracle needs Linux.
It is a fact that as linux becomes more common, there will more poorly configured boxes, more default configurations, more simple passwords, etc.
I know we all are proud of how secure *nix's are, but they are secure because of good admin's and smart users.
In order for linux to come into mass acceptance and use, I think we will see some security sacrificed for ease of use and simplicity.
Minsky is making a very simple, profound point about AI. AI has not yet created a machine that can think, not just respond or answer. Design principles, logical methods, and theories are what make AI.
Robots will change with new components, designs, etc. AI is not just about robots. Robots are only the medium.
The same is true for programming. There are old and new languages, some in use and some not. But programming (TAOCP) is what will outlast the languages. Think big guys, that's what its all about.