I tell my friends who compare Macs to PCs that you can spend $350 on PC - but it will be lousy. No matter how much you spend on a Mac - it will be a good computer. You can buy a lousy PC, but you can't buy a lousy Mac.
I wrote an AIM client for the Cybiko Handheld Computer for Teens back in 2001. The Cybiko was toy of the year in 2000. It was a handheld computer with a full keyboard and GameBoy quality display. It also had a 2Ghz wireless connection so that up to 50 Cybikos could communicate.
If you connected one Cybiko to your PC through the serial port, you could use my software to do AIM communication on one or several other Cybikos remotely.
When smartphones came on the market the following year, the Cybiko died a quiet death and all the Cybiko staff migrated to game programming for flip phones.
Greg Smith
"Devcybiko"
Computer Scientists understand the theory of computing. Software Engineers understand how to build software. Information Managmentstudent know how to apply computers to business problems. IMHO CS students are not prepared for real world coding applications. If you're going to program you don't need a CS degree, you just need a background in the programming language du jour. If you're going to solve difficult problems with a computer, you need a CS degree (theory, algorithms, heuristics). But to build a web site, ECPI is good enough. I don't think current CS curricula creates a solid programmer. However, many enterprising young CS students are already involved in external activities (open source projects, web site construction) and are learning the key skills on their own.
I'd advise Nintendo to get out of the console business and focus on the hardware. So many companies have learned this in the past. Atari, Coleco, Sega, Cybiko. The real money is in software.
In my case, when I turned 40 I realized I had mastered software engineering. I went back to school for my master's and PhD. I also took Improv Comedy lessons and joined an Improv troupe. I started a writing group and became embedded in the writing community. I am now launching a new career in publishing.
The answer, in my mind, is that you have demonstrated excellence in your field - you can probably do so in another. Go back to square one and think about what thrills you. Then (in the words of Master Suzuki) approach it with the Beginner's Mind. Take the time to immerse yourself and grow into that new realm. Become an expert.
It will take time but it will be rewarding. And, it will stretch your mind in a new direction. This new mindset will improve everything from your work situation to your personal relationships.
Remember, you were smart enough to become the best in your field - there are other fields that are less challenging that you can dominate. Pick one. Stick to it. And within a few years you will have options.
Party On
I couldn't find it on either Amazon (for my Kindle) or on O'Reilly. But I got a lot out of the article. I was surprised that he didn't include versions for Linux, but maybe that's in another edition of the book.
while i waited 45 minutes to vote, i noticed that our voting machine counted 360 votes in the first hour. Thats one vote every 10 seconds. Not too shabby.
If all you want is to write code then you can go to ECPI or get a book and learn to write Java. If you want to understand Systems and set the foundation for a career in Computer Science, study the fundamentals and work in a job on the side that teaches implementation.
"Researchers are excited because they're the sort of microbes that might thrive in the ice sea announced on Mars yesterday"
Was the announcement made on Mars? Hmmm...
Re:If you are interested in solving math puzzles
on
Prime Obsession
·
· Score: 1
thats an interesting puzzle. a corrolary would be
md5sum(x) = cat(x)
Re:OO Design Voodoo is a better name
on
Holub on Patterns
·
· Score: 1
speak for yourself. 'we' (apparently not you) know what we're doing. patterns condense best practices so that, basically, we have names for the things we all do over and over again.
If i read the press release correctly it will be released in JAPAN on 12/12/04. This is not good for the american audience. when will it be released HERE? because i'm putting in my order for 3 NDS units and i'll have them 11/21/04 (in hand)
The new For loop may seem to be just syntactic sugar, but it isn't. It really does make the code look a lot cleaner
isn't that the definition of syntactic sugar?
i guess you *are* a moron. considering that refueling a plane is a multistep process with multiple points of failure (the refueler must forget, the pilot must ignore the fuel indicator, etc...) whereas rebooting the server has... how many points of failure? apparently just one. the original author is correct to call out the question.
in systems i've designed where one person is resposible for some event in a complicated workflow, the system sends an email out when the event draws near. it sends another as it is missed. it alerts the person's manager if it is late. if the FAA system has no such alerts, then the reboot event was poorly architected. if the FAA system DOES have such alerts, then the entire organization has a problem. it is never the fault of one individual when a system fails.
as i recall my basic physics, light is made up of basic Red, Green, and Blue wavelengths. you combine them to make all other colors. an object that reflects all wavelengths looks white. to make an object look black, it reflects none of the colors. and to make brown (as in say, a castle wall) you reflect some combination of colors.
in other words, objects absorb light to make it look some color - like brown.
so, if a castle wall absorbs all but the brown wavelengths of RGB, how can you get White to reflect? I don't think you can. the best the castle wall can reflect is some combination of RGB that it does not absorb.
To use an extreme example, imagine a plain black screen. it would not reflect any light and therefore the device would be useless if black were one of the colors you were displaying on using this projector.
Less extreme, i think this projector could never do much better than display a sort of generalized brown image on the castle wall.
Physics majors, shed some light on this?
I'm confused by the images. I see a brown "screen" in the form of a castle wall. But I see white light reflecting back. Likewise with the "Finding Nemo" fish. Isn't this a physical impossibility? As I remember my basic optics, all light is made up of Red, Green, and Blue. If an object reflects all three of these colors, then you see it as White. If it absorbs some of them, and reflects the rest, then you see other colors, like brown.
So, if a brown wall absorbs the components that make up anti-brown - how can it ever reflect white?
People give me stress. Technology makes it easier for me to deal with people.
While people can flame me in email, its nothing compared to the feeling of getting yelled at in person. Someone gives me stress on the phone, I hang up. If I have a problem to solve, i can find lots of people to talk to on AIM or I can browse the internet to get more information - reducing my stress. Watching the right television show, movie on DVD, listening to music on MP3, or lookng at pictures of my family on JPG reduces my stress.
People give me stress. Technology reduces my stress.
i have owned analog cable, digital cable, and digital satellite.
i prefer analog cable.
digital satellite: the cable ads are correct. you lose satellite signal during rain and snow. and you have to have the satellite sitting on a pole in your back yard pointing to a geosynchously orbiting satellite.
digital cable: the signal is just analog signals converted for digital transmission to your house. so you still get fuzzy pictures. its not like youre getting hdtv. also you have to have a separate cable-settop-box for each tv in the house.
analog cable: you get good reception and you can wire it all over the house for free. the only downside: the damn cable company requires you to wait by the door of your house until they arrive (sometime in a 4-hour period) and in some areas they insist on coming into your house and verifying that the connection works - which i believe is a violation of the FCC cable laws.
currently: i use digital cable in the living room and analog all over the rest of the house. i got the digital bundled with high-speed internet for a low-low price.
Thats an insulting attitude. It's like saying "Hey, you're an assembly line worker, why don't you just go out and start building something". The fact is that there is more to making a successful software company than writing code. In fact, the code is the easiest part of the process. To be successful in business you have to identify a need and convince someone to give you money to address the need. Software Engineers (typically) are not well suited to salesmanship.
IMHO you need at least 3 different personality types to start a software company. You need someone with creative energy and vision who can ariculate that vision in a way that motivates both clients and employees. You need a financially minded individual who can see the vision and convert it into dollars and cents - making sure that its a viable venture. and you need an imaginative technical lead who can turn the vision into a product that meets the needs of the client and keeps to the bottom line.
It's not just a matter of writing code and raking in the bucks.
Slashdot Mirror
It's an analog system that allows yearly, monthly, weekly planning and daily planning and logging. It also includes an app.
http://bulletjournal.com/compa...
I tell my friends who compare Macs to PCs that you can spend $350 on PC - but it will be lousy. No matter how much you spend on a Mac - it will be a good computer. You can buy a lousy PC, but you can't buy a lousy Mac.
I wrote an AIM client for the Cybiko Handheld Computer for Teens back in 2001. The Cybiko was toy of the year in 2000. It was a handheld computer with a full keyboard and GameBoy quality display. It also had a 2Ghz wireless connection so that up to 50 Cybikos could communicate. If you connected one Cybiko to your PC through the serial port, you could use my software to do AIM communication on one or several other Cybikos remotely. When smartphones came on the market the following year, the Cybiko died a quiet death and all the Cybiko staff migrated to game programming for flip phones. Greg Smith "Devcybiko"
They didn't include the $100/mo for broadband internet access or cell phone data plans.
I'm betting they will retire the MacBook Air in favor of the MacBook.
Computer Scientists understand the theory of computing. Software Engineers understand how to build software. Information Managmentstudent know how to apply computers to business problems. IMHO CS students are not prepared for real world coding applications. If you're going to program you don't need a CS degree, you just need a background in the programming language du jour. If you're going to solve difficult problems with a computer, you need a CS degree (theory, algorithms, heuristics). But to build a web site, ECPI is good enough. I don't think current CS curricula creates a solid programmer. However, many enterprising young CS students are already involved in external activities (open source projects, web site construction) and are learning the key skills on their own.
(Obviously when I said "focus on the hardware" I meant to say "focus on the software."
I'd advise Nintendo to get out of the console business and focus on the hardware. So many companies have learned this in the past. Atari, Coleco, Sega, Cybiko. The real money is in software.
In my case, when I turned 40 I realized I had mastered software engineering. I went back to school for my master's and PhD. I also took Improv Comedy lessons and joined an Improv troupe. I started a writing group and became embedded in the writing community. I am now launching a new career in publishing. The answer, in my mind, is that you have demonstrated excellence in your field - you can probably do so in another. Go back to square one and think about what thrills you. Then (in the words of Master Suzuki) approach it with the Beginner's Mind. Take the time to immerse yourself and grow into that new realm. Become an expert. It will take time but it will be rewarding. And, it will stretch your mind in a new direction. This new mindset will improve everything from your work situation to your personal relationships. Remember, you were smart enough to become the best in your field - there are other fields that are less challenging that you can dominate. Pick one. Stick to it. And within a few years you will have options. Party On
I couldn't find it on either Amazon (for my Kindle) or on O'Reilly. But I got a lot out of the article. I was surprised that he didn't include versions for Linux, but maybe that's in another edition of the book.
while i waited 45 minutes to vote, i noticed that our voting machine counted 360 votes in the first hour. Thats one vote every 10 seconds. Not too shabby.
If all you want is to write code then you can go to ECPI or get a book and learn to write Java. If you want to understand Systems and set the foundation for a career in Computer Science, study the fundamentals and work in a job on the side that teaches implementation.
"Researchers are excited because they're the sort of microbes that might thrive in the ice sea announced on Mars yesterday"
Was the announcement made on Mars? Hmmm...
thats an interesting puzzle. a corrolary would be
md5sum(x) = cat(x)
speak for yourself. 'we' (apparently not you) know what we're doing. patterns condense best practices so that, basically, we have names for the things we all do over and over again.
If i read the press release correctly it will be released in JAPAN on 12/12/04. This is not good for the american audience. when will it be released HERE? because i'm putting in my order for 3 NDS units and i'll have them 11/21/04 (in hand)
The new For loop may seem to be just syntactic sugar, but it isn't. It really does make the code look a lot cleaner isn't that the definition of syntactic sugar?
i guess you *are* a moron. considering that refueling a plane is a multistep process with multiple points of failure (the refueler must forget, the pilot must ignore the fuel indicator, etc...) whereas rebooting the server has ... how many points of failure? apparently just one. the original author is correct to call out the question.
in systems i've designed where one person is resposible for some event in a complicated workflow, the system sends an email out when the event draws near. it sends another as it is missed. it alerts the person's manager if it is late. if the FAA system has no such alerts, then the reboot event was poorly architected. if the FAA system DOES have such alerts, then the entire organization has a problem. it is never the fault of one individual when a system fails.
as i recall my basic physics, light is made up of basic Red, Green, and Blue wavelengths. you combine them to make all other colors. an object that reflects all wavelengths looks white. to make an object look black, it reflects none of the colors. and to make brown (as in say, a castle wall) you reflect some combination of colors. in other words, objects absorb light to make it look some color - like brown. so, if a castle wall absorbs all but the brown wavelengths of RGB, how can you get White to reflect? I don't think you can. the best the castle wall can reflect is some combination of RGB that it does not absorb. To use an extreme example, imagine a plain black screen. it would not reflect any light and therefore the device would be useless if black were one of the colors you were displaying on using this projector. Less extreme, i think this projector could never do much better than display a sort of generalized brown image on the castle wall. Physics majors, shed some light on this?
I'm confused by the images. I see a brown "screen" in the form of a castle wall. But I see white light reflecting back. Likewise with the "Finding Nemo" fish. Isn't this a physical impossibility? As I remember my basic optics, all light is made up of Red, Green, and Blue. If an object reflects all three of these colors, then you see it as White. If it absorbs some of them, and reflects the rest, then you see other colors, like brown. So, if a brown wall absorbs the components that make up anti-brown - how can it ever reflect white?
People give me stress. Technology makes it easier for me to deal with people.
While people can flame me in email, its nothing compared to the feeling of getting yelled at in person. Someone gives me stress on the phone, I hang up. If I have a problem to solve, i can find lots of people to talk to on AIM or I can browse the internet to get more information - reducing my stress. Watching the right television show, movie on DVD, listening to music on MP3, or lookng at pictures of my family on JPG reduces my stress.
People give me stress. Technology reduces my stress.
i have owned analog cable, digital cable, and digital satellite. i prefer analog cable. digital satellite: the cable ads are correct. you lose satellite signal during rain and snow. and you have to have the satellite sitting on a pole in your back yard pointing to a geosynchously orbiting satellite. digital cable: the signal is just analog signals converted for digital transmission to your house. so you still get fuzzy pictures. its not like youre getting hdtv. also you have to have a separate cable-settop-box for each tv in the house. analog cable: you get good reception and you can wire it all over the house for free. the only downside: the damn cable company requires you to wait by the door of your house until they arrive (sometime in a 4-hour period) and in some areas they insist on coming into your house and verifying that the connection works - which i believe is a violation of the FCC cable laws. currently: i use digital cable in the living room and analog all over the rest of the house. i got the digital bundled with high-speed internet for a low-low price.
Thats an insulting attitude. It's like saying "Hey, you're an assembly line worker, why don't you just go out and start building something". The fact is that there is more to making a successful software company than writing code. In fact, the code is the easiest part of the process. To be successful in business you have to identify a need and convince someone to give you money to address the need. Software Engineers (typically) are not well suited to salesmanship. IMHO you need at least 3 different personality types to start a software company. You need someone with creative energy and vision who can ariculate that vision in a way that motivates both clients and employees. You need a financially minded individual who can see the vision and convert it into dollars and cents - making sure that its a viable venture. and you need an imaginative technical lead who can turn the vision into a product that meets the needs of the client and keeps to the bottom line. It's not just a matter of writing code and raking in the bucks.
really, havent we seen enough of this type of "top ten list"? how did it make it to the slashdot home page?