It is like this: I like visiting certain parts of France, but I would not want to raise my family there. I have met French citizens I like, and most of them were women. I got along well with some French citizens who shared common interests such as skydiving, sailing, skiing, and mountaineering, but usually not in France. (French ski resorts, which were so charming and hospitable in the 60's, were the pits in the 80's.) Provence was nice, (no pun intended) but it's hard to get really good service on the Riviera these days.
So, regarding this topic, despite my low regard for French politics and culture, I have no reason to think that my opinions on the DRM would suit the French better than their own. RMS should leave French problems for the French to solve in the French way.
Not recently, and I doubt "going there" would make me anymore informed than researching from here does.
As for the protests: As I said, Economics will eventually turn them into believers. However, protesting is an age-old pastime in France and does not really constitute political action or change.
Diderot and Voltaire are not contemporary thinkers and never wrote about DRM. I made a generalization about France and the French, and a few exceptions does not disprove the merit of the generalization. This was, however, a personal opinion based on long experience with the French, going back to the Vietnam War.
This is a French problem, a fairly minor problem compared to other problems France has, and RMS has no standing and no business trying to influence French politics. (It's not as if they were collecting Jews for Nazi concentration camps!) If he could assemble a coherent, rational argument (as opposed to rants and raves), he might be able to rationally present it and be listened to. A petition is nothing more than a "squeaky wheel" and crowd behavior is usually bereft of rational thought. A few well-placed articles ridiculing French lawmakers by name, supported by good argument, and bolstered by the agreement of a few admired French thinkers (if that's not an oxymoron...) would do more to influence them than any fat, underdressed slob outsider showing up at the palace.
This stunt was bound to fail on a diplomatic level, and probably succeeded in it it's real purpose: RMS self-agrandizement.
France is a culture of peasants. The government is Paternalistic to the extreme. The citizenry accepts that the government will regulate their lives, and attempts at direct independence are futile. This is why France is the laughingstock of Europe, and that is why the French are so grouchy. Pity them and ignore them. Economics will make believers out of them in time.
I'd love to be able to buy vcd/dvd video albums at a reasonable price. Particularly if I can get them locally and don't have to play them on my zone-free DVD player.
(There was, back in 1986, a jukebox/video I saw in some bars. Pick your song/album, and the video showed on the screen. I want one!)
Same for an iTunes-type service. I'd gladly pay to download good videos from a legitimate site. Hell, I'd pay to download good videos from an illegitimate site since the record industry isn't meeting my customer demands.
However, the videos on Google Video, and YouTube are mostly JUNK! I want artist-approved videos, not crappy, half-baked attempts at self-agrandizement.
I had trouble wrapping my head around UML until I read Jaaksi's books (there's more than one), and I've been using Rational Rose since 1996. I never found or developed a clear system for making it work until I read his books.
A book that clearly describes the case for code generation (and the limits) is this one:
Yeah, that investigation was called the "AD/Cycle", and Fran Tarkenton was the CEO of Knowledgware at the time.
The thing is, on an abstract level, "Designing Code from Logically-Proven Constructs" (the title of a book by James Martin) makes total sense: If the base elements are logically proven, and if the complex elements are constructed of base elements, then the output will have no un-proven output. However, the design of the programs needs to be at a meta-level to the operation. (Thanks, Goedel!) I could, for instance, design a program to operate your sprinkler system perfectly by using logically-proven elements. I would have to design at a higher level to make allowances for the fact that you live in New Orleans and the sprinkler is now under 4 feet of floodwater.
The key, to me, is getting the best design upstream and having a clear logical system for translating the requirements downstream to an operational level. Criticisms will be leveled about model-driven architecture, UML and even flowcharts, but those are conceptual maps, not code. They are SUPPOSED to be more abstract than the code for clarity. (They are a language, and language is still imprecise. As Korzybsky said, "The map is not the territory.") Aristotelian logic still has its limits, so tools like this are good, but as the article implies, not sufficient at this time.
However, understanding the applications may be more important than the code. In a large project, after familiarizing myself with VB (using the books mentioned), I would suggest using a tool such as Rational Rose, Embarcadero or even Visio to get a UML documentation of the project, revise the model to reflect my current needs, generate the revised code from the modeling tool, then optimize the code to get the project revised in the shortest period of time. If you think you'd rather use a different language, most of the modeling tools will also generate other languages from the same model.
Each condition requires a true/false decision, plus an associated action.
Rule1 y y n n Rule2 y n y n
Actn1 x - - - Actn2 - x - - Actn3 - - x - Actn4 - - - x
Therefore the mathematically possible combinations = 2^n *2. (The example shown is 2^2 * 2 = 4 * 2 = 8.) A two rule program has 4 mathematically possible conditions and 4 mathematically possible outputs, therefore the programmer has to attend to 8 elements to cover the complexity of the program. With five conditions, the programmer would have 32 mathematically possible conditions with 32 mathematically possible actions, so the programmer would have to consider 64 elements to cover the complexity of the program. Of course, a good programmer recognizes that many of these elements are redundant and not logically possible, but the programmer still has to administer rules to cover the logically possible elements and actions. Now consider that a reasonable inventory program may have over a thousand conditions and you see the exponential increase in complexity.
I usually show a table with 2, 5 and 100 conditions and watch their eyes glaze over. No more arguments.
Big brother comments aside, I would welcome a computer that could read my facial expressions, track my eyes, and interact more on a non-verbal, non-keyboard level. This could be a big boon to education. I'd love to have something like this to accelerate student learning: The computer uses software analogous to programmed instruction married to Lozanov's suggestopedia, and when the monitor neural net detects the optimal moment of attention/relaxation, it presents the material to be learned....
Whoops, that DOES sound like brain-washing, but it's more effective than the current school system....http://www.johntaylorgatto.com./
Mike
Re:Jobs is like General MacArthur, "I" vs "We" ...
on
I, Woz
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· Score: 4, Interesting
My Dad knew General MacArthur personally, and suffered the consequences of that knowledge: He was shot at the battle of Agno Crossing, shot again and captured the day after Cristmas, survived the Bataan Death March (only, he says, because he was an officer) and spent 44 months in Japanese prison camps. Dad only expressed one criticism of MacArthur: MacArthur would not listen to views or acknowledge information that contradicted his own views or opinions. That is why the original conflict in the Phillipines was such a mess, and MacArthur's reputation is forever diminished in my mind by the hardship he caused American soldiers.
On the other hand, MacArthur was part of a system, and once the necessities of the system overcame the individual idosyncracies of the persons responsible for operating the system, he contributed something valuable to the final outcome.
The same is true of Steve Jobs: A business is a system. It requires certain talents and abilities in order to function. Sales without a good product will not survive, but an outstanding product without Sales will not survive either. In this case, the system provided both parties with what they wanted. They got to do what they wanted, they were rewarded for it, and (presumably) they both got satifaction and felt good about themselves from doing it. But without giving the system what it needed to function, neither would have been successful.
Thanks to all who remembered the real title of the book. I haven't found it yet, but I do remember that one of the appended notes claimed we missed a "mini-ice age" during the 18th or 19th century because of all the smoke produced by the blossoming Industrial Age.
I remember thinking this would be something cool to model (oops, no pun intended!) using System Dynamics. Unfortunately, the best System Dynamics software is not free, and I have not gotten around to writing my own version yet.
...and all that crap. All the Japanese, Chinese and Koreans I've ever known from those countries take family obligations and expectations very seriously. (Warning! Gross generalization detected!)
I find it hard to believe that a culture as deeply grounded in society and family as the Japanese would actually "abandon" their elderly. I'm more inclined to believe that there are simply not enough young bodies to care for the old bodies. Caring for an elderly person who is losing mobility and strength is a lot of work, and it seems the older they get, the more they try to hang on to their independence. Tools that will compensate for the deficiencies of an aging body are a way to allow a person to be independent longer and maintain their dignity. Nursing care is when you have to be given baths, medications, meals and helped to walk or wheel to the bathroom. Independence is being able to dress yourself, go where you want, transport your own groceries, clean your own house, cook your own food and accomplish the tasks that make your life worth living, such as gardening or reading. Reading books might now take a magnifying glass, but the magnifying glass gives you the independence to read the book when and where you want. (The average Japanese living space is crowded with lots of things in too little space. It's a lot like living in a submarine. Things are put away, and many times lots of things must be moved to do ordinary tasks like sewing or ironing. For the elderly, this could present a major problem.)
The immigration of nursing care is probably acceptable to someone who needs it, but a "companion" from a different culture, who doesn't share your history and doesn't speak your language well, is less desirable than being independent. (I wonder how many of the people who point to the availability of Indonesian and Filipino "care assistants" are the same who bitch because the Dell or HP technical support in Bangalore doesn't meet their standards..!?! Why is not wanting to be touched by a cultural stranger more "racist" than wanting to be able to clearly understand the person at the other end of the tech support phone?)
I had problems memorizing my multiplication tables in 4th grade. I wasn't slow, just too stubborn to do the work. My older sister and my mother drilled me all summer so I wouldn't be held back from 5th grade. I've got them down, but I still have a feeling of dislike for multiplication.
At age 13 I ran across a book called, "The Trachtenberg Speed System of Basic Mathematics" by Anne Cutler and Rudolf McShane. Within a couple of weeks I was doing complicated multiplication, division and square roots in my head without having to resort to my slide rule. Since then I've tutored college juniors, seniors and grad students who never got a handle on basic math, by teaching them this system. I believe I can teach any normal 4th grader to add, subtract, multiply, divide and calculate square roots in about 4 weeks. There are some "rules" to memorize, but they are rules about process, not data, and there are much fewer of them than a 12x12 times table. It aggravates the hell out of me that there are high-school graduates who can't do basic math well enough to operate a cash register.
People learn most from being rewarded for success, and sometimes the success is the reward.
I read a pretty good book this weekend: "Healing ADD" by Daniel Amen. He identifies 6 different types of ADD and questions some myths concerning the cause and effects. His research uses actual SPECT scans of the brain to determine if the diagnosis is correct, and discusses the different treatments available.
I like the idea of the scans (although they are expensive) to actually prove the existence of the disorder. I believe too many people are diagnosed with ADD and the wrong medications are often mis-prescribed for the type of ADD the patient has. (I have a client who recently dismissed a woman who was stealing and embezzling from him. She shows signs of Amen's "Type 6" ADD, and although she is on Aderral, she should probably be on anticonvulsant or antipsychotic drugs. The wrong prescription can make things worse!) Actual, physical PROOF of the diagnosis gives me more confidence in the treatment, and seems better than "intuitive" or "witch doctor" diagnoses. Amen asks, "Why should psychiatrists be the only doctors who don't examine the organ they are treating?"
There is some interesting information in the book about videogames and TV, especially his conclusions about the effects of the different scan rates. He also discusses natural treatments such as herbs and supplements, and corrective tasks such as biofeedbank and neural training. As I read the book, I was surprised to notice that low-carb diets and regular exercise enhanced the positive performance for the most common types of ADD.
Incidentally, one of the myths he addresses is the myth that people automatically outgrow ADD. With the research connecting long-term use of Ritalin to Parkinson's disease, I can see that other meds might be better for adults.
Yes, this technology goes back to the late 60's and early 70's. I remember "walk-through" simulations that gave a primitive view of walking through architecture, and a maze game called "Rat" that worked on CDC systems in the mid 70's at the University of Minnesota.
Someday, I hope to see a patent argument that results in a criminal charge of extortion for the patent squatter.
I would want to be able to announce/push a button/otherchoice to chose alternate routes if my shosen route is blocked, and I'd like a switch in the steering wheel to engage/disengage the display at will. I defineitely want a passenger to be able to choose routes if I'm driving.
This should be an opportunity for some enterprising geek.
I know people who were married by 15 and holding down full-time jobs to support a family. Treating everyone as if there was a real line instead of an imaginary line for maturity levels deprives early maturity of the opportunity to conduct themselves at a mature level. We have a system (US) that will prosecute a 13-year-old as an adult for committing a murder, but no mechanism for enabling a 13-year-old to conduct themselves as an adult in other areas, such as holding a job, creating credit, etc., etc...
One of the older books I read by a futurist (named marvin? something?...ticks me off that I can't find the book and can't find a reference by search engine!) said that if you want to see what the US will be like in 20 years, look at Sweden today. One of the predictons was that kids would be experimenting with sex at the age of 10-11, because the dangers were known and sex was safer. Lo, and behold, in the last year I've seen about 4 books purporting to help cope with the appearance of sexually active pre-teens. We have kids of that age in the most violent areas of our society committing brutal crimes. We have thousands of runaways and throwaways living on the streets and coping in less-than-optimal ways because we have no cultural mechanism for them to advance positively. If you have a teenager, ask them if they know of anyone in their age group who has run away or otherwise been forced to cope for themselves independently at an early age. (Don't press for details...it's none of your business, and you will only diminish communications.) And we think we are protecting people by rating GAMES? This is simply another example of creating a solution for a problem that doesn't exist. It is based on a gross generalization, in turn based on false or poorly-researched assumptions, designed to produce imagined results which cannot be proven as consequenses of the action. Think about it: If you restrict games to a 15-year old, what positive consequences do you expect?..and what research leads you to believe that these consequences are directly related to the action?
I would rather see more gratuitous sex in games than gratuitous violence. (The same goes for movies and music.) I don't think you develop mature adults through keeping them ignorant, but ignorant people are possibly more easily controlled, and certainly more susceptible to advertising. Here's a link on "extended chilhood" http://www.johntaylorgatto.com/multimedia/jtgsound _paradox.htm You might also find the rest of the site interesting.
I quit using drugs and alcohol 21 years ago, and I laugh at some of the beer-driven and pot-driven architecture of some of my early code. I didn't generate any MDA-driven code, generally because when I was doing MDA I got too horny and went looking for women. MDA is somewhat passe now, though. I think cPanel is a good example of Ecstacy-driven architecture, although I think there is some crack influence, also....8-)
Most courseware these days SUCKS! Most of it is re-hashed overheads and powerpoint presentations with a few clever illustrative multimedia tricks to try to keep people interested. How about an instructional format that guarantees that the participant learns?
IMO, the elements of good self-teaching courseware are Information, Simulation and Feedback. Back in the '60's B.F. Skinner and Norman Crowder developed the principles of Programmed Instruction. The web is an ideal medium for PI. In the early days, many companies like IBM, Honeywell, Xerox, Jepson, and many others were teaching subjects about 6 times faster than comparable courses, with about a 98% perfection rate on the part of the students. With the demonization of B. F. Skinner and behaviorism, coupled with the advanced development time necessary for good PI, the concept has pretty much died out. Current "Programmed Instruction" is usually just information broken down into small portions, sometimes with a question attached. One of the things that made PI effective in the past was that each frame was tested until 98%+ of the responses were correct. The theory (based on operant conditioning) is that people learn more by being successful and immediately reinforced for their success.
I was amazed to find out the the Atomic Energy Commission in Augusta, GA was, for a while, using the Atari game "Meltdown!" to teach the principles of nuclear reactors. Simulators of various types have been around for quite a while, and are unusually good forms of instruction. This is possibly due to the immediacy of the feedback.
Again, IMO, flexibility is more important than Flash (pun intended). For more information, see books by Robert Mager and Peter Pipe, B.F. Skinner and Norman Crowder, and for a fair web-based example, check out The Logic Cafe http://www.oakland.edu/phil/cafe/. (I'd rate this higher if I didn't have to download special fonts that seem to only work well on Windows.) The structure for this is downloadable and modifiable for other subjects.
You are the administrator. You tell THEM what's required to maintain the system properly. Your training is an essential component of network administration. They promoted you to the position, meaning they didn't go outside to hire someone who already had all the essential skills.
You obviously didn't sit down with management and get clear about all the responsibilities and outcomes; what's expected on both sides. You need to design a Win-Win solution and get them to buy in for their own benefit. If they pay for it, you should agree to an arrangement that doesn't leave them in the position of throwing money away. If you pay for it, you deserve a big raise and you are under no obligation to stay when another corporation offers you a raise and better benefits. Consider thinking up three alternatives that would satisfy you, and then negotiate the best elements of all of them for a Win-Win solution.
It may require some research to identify the gap between the skills you have and the skills you have to learn. Do it now, before the situation solidifies.
Some organizations will willfully ignore your plight, and before you know it you've spent years in the electronic sweatshop. Know what you want. For clarity, you might use the flowchart and worksheet from Robert Mager's, "Anayzing Performance Problems". http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1879618176/102-90 82980-8475324?v=glance&n=283155
Lastly, remember it's your life. The company doesn't care for you like your family does. Nobody ever died and said, "I wish I'd spent more time at the office." (unless they were married to my ex-wife). Your work and the rest of your life need to be in alignment.
These are my opinions, of course, based on 40 years of programming.
I forgot about the AD/Cycle stuff. Thank you for reminding me.
I knew Fran Tarkenton, briefly, in the 70's when I lived in Minneapolis. He's always been one of my favorite sports stars. I also have friends who worked for Knowlegeware in Atlanta. It's amazing to me what can happen to a good idea that gets executed poorly. Fran was also involved in Real Estate. I remember him saying specifically that it was important to think ahead, that he wouldn't be a football player forever.
Your definition of "wicked requirements" seems to be related to a form of System Dynamics. (Thank you for the book pointer. I'll read it.)
I agree with your statement: "...a methodology based on "correct" construction from "rigourous" specifications simply moves the problem to debugging the requirements." IMO, this is where the debugging process belongs. To me, it's like quality control: The further upstream you detect quality exceptions, the less useless work you have to do. I've been using decision tables since the 60's, and I personally think that the "Business Rules" concept is long overdue. I suspect that an automated development process will show up more quickly in well-defined subdomain like accounting a long time before it shows up in robotics or Economics.
Slashdot Mirror
It is like this: I like visiting certain parts of France, but I would not want to raise my family there. I have met French citizens I like, and most of them were women. I got along well with some French citizens who shared common interests such as skydiving, sailing, skiing, and mountaineering, but usually not in France. (French ski resorts, which were so charming and hospitable in the 60's, were the pits in the 80's.) Provence was nice, (no pun intended) but it's hard to get really good service on the Riviera these days.
So, regarding this topic, despite my low regard for French politics and culture, I have no reason to think that my opinions on the DRM would suit the French better than their own. RMS should leave French problems for the French to solve in the French way.
Not recently, and I doubt "going there" would make me anymore informed than researching from here does.
As for the protests: As I said, Economics will eventually turn them into believers. However, protesting is an age-old pastime in France and does not really constitute political action or change.
Diderot and Voltaire are not contemporary thinkers and never wrote about DRM. I made a generalization about France and the French, and a few exceptions does not disprove the merit of the generalization. This was, however, a personal opinion based on long experience with the French, going back to the Vietnam War.
This is a French problem, a fairly minor problem compared to other problems France has, and RMS has no standing and no business trying to influence French politics. (It's not as if they were collecting Jews for Nazi concentration camps!) If he could assemble a coherent, rational argument (as opposed to rants and raves), he might be able to rationally present it and be listened to. A petition is nothing more than a "squeaky wheel" and crowd behavior is usually bereft of rational thought. A few well-placed articles ridiculing French lawmakers by name, supported by good argument, and bolstered by the agreement of a few admired French thinkers (if that's not an oxymoron...) would do more to influence them than any fat, underdressed slob outsider showing up at the palace.
This stunt was bound to fail on a diplomatic level, and probably succeeded in it it's real purpose: RMS self-agrandizement.
France is a culture of peasants. The government is Paternalistic to the extreme. The citizenry accepts that the government will regulate their lives, and attempts at direct independence are futile. This is why France is the laughingstock of Europe, and that is why the French are so grouchy. Pity them and ignore them. Economics will make believers out of them in time.
Mike
Two options:
I'd love to be able to buy vcd/dvd video albums at a reasonable price. Particularly if I can get them locally and don't have to play them on my zone-free DVD player.
(There was, back in 1986, a jukebox/video I saw in some bars. Pick your song/album, and the video showed on the screen. I want one!)
Same for an iTunes-type service. I'd gladly pay to download good videos from a legitimate site. Hell, I'd pay to download good videos from an illegitimate site since the record industry isn't meeting my customer demands.
However, the videos on Google Video, and YouTube are mostly JUNK! I want artist-approved videos, not crappy, half-baked attempts at self-agrandizement.
Mike
Yup---definitely tired...I missed it completely. Mike
There you go, blaming your tools...
3 75871-4590326?v=glance&n=283155
There are environments that have had great success implementing UML in their design process. My favorite example is from Nokia:
http://www.powells.com/biblio?isbn=0521645301
I had trouble wrapping my head around UML until I read Jaaksi's books (there's more than one), and I've been using Rational Rose since 1996. I never found or developed a clear system for making it work until I read his books.
A book that clearly describes the case for code generation (and the limits) is this one:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1930110979/104-3
The author has apparently developed a network for the support of gode generation, and has some useful tools.
Now, what the world REALLY needs, is a method of making the UML tools in VISIO do what they are supposed to do...(Some tools ARE truly deficient!)
Mike
Yeah, that investigation was called the "AD/Cycle", and Fran Tarkenton was the CEO of Knowledgware at the time.
The thing is, on an abstract level, "Designing Code from Logically-Proven Constructs" (the title of a book by James Martin) makes total sense: If the base elements are logically proven, and if the complex elements are constructed of base elements, then the output will have no un-proven output. However, the design of the programs needs to be at a meta-level to the operation. (Thanks, Goedel!) I could, for instance, design a program to operate your sprinkler system perfectly by using logically-proven elements. I would have to design at a higher level to make allowances for the fact that you live in New Orleans and the sprinkler is now under 4 feet of floodwater.
The key, to me, is getting the best design upstream and having a clear logical system for translating the requirements downstream to an operational level. Criticisms will be leveled about model-driven architecture, UML and even flowcharts, but those are conceptual maps, not code. They are SUPPOSED to be more abstract than the code for clarity. (They are a language, and language is still imprecise. As Korzybsky said, "The map is not the territory.") Aristotelian logic still has its limits, so tools like this are good, but as the article implies, not sufficient at this time.
Mike
You must have been tired when you posted: The article you linked to is only readable by people who have a current membership. Too bad.
Mike
Visual Basic is not too bad for creating a large project. The trick is to be a decent Windows programmer. You would get almost all the knowledge you need to create good programs in Visual Basic by reading and applying the stuff in the Deitel books (Pick one according to your level of skill)3 75871-4590326?v=glance&n=2831553 75871-4590326?v=glance&n=283155
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0130293636/104-3
and then learning the essential stuff from Charles Petzold http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0735617996/104-3
However, understanding the applications may be more important than the code. In a large project, after familiarizing myself with VB (using the books mentioned), I would suggest using a tool such as Rational Rose, Embarcadero or even Visio to get a UML documentation of the project, revise the model to reflect my current needs, generate the revised code from the modeling tool, then optimize the code to get the project revised in the shortest period of time. If you think you'd rather use a different language, most of the modeling tools will also generate other languages from the same model.
I hope this helps,
Mike
Try it in terms of decision tables:
Each condition requires a true/false decision, plus an associated action.
Rule1 y y n n
Rule2 y n y n
Actn1 x - - -
Actn2 - x - -
Actn3 - - x -
Actn4 - - - x
Therefore the mathematically possible combinations = 2^n *2. (The example shown is 2^2 * 2 = 4 * 2 = 8.) A two rule program has 4 mathematically possible conditions and 4 mathematically possible outputs, therefore the programmer has to attend to 8 elements to cover the complexity of the program. With five conditions, the programmer would have 32 mathematically possible conditions with 32 mathematically possible actions, so the programmer would have to consider 64 elements to cover the complexity of the program. Of course, a good programmer recognizes that many of these elements are redundant and not logically possible, but the programmer still has to administer rules to cover the logically possible elements and actions. Now consider that a reasonable inventory program may have over a thousand conditions and you see the exponential increase in complexity.
I usually show a table with 2, 5 and 100 conditions and watch their eyes glaze over. No more arguments.
Mike
Big brother comments aside, I would welcome a computer that could read my facial expressions, track my eyes, and interact more on a non-verbal, non-keyboard level. This could be a big boon to education. I'd love to have something like this to accelerate student learning: The computer uses software analogous to programmed instruction married to Lozanov's suggestopedia, and when the monitor neural net detects the optimal moment of attention/relaxation, it presents the material to be learned....
Whoops, that DOES sound like brain-washing, but it's more effective than the current school system....http://www.johntaylorgatto.com./
Mike
My Dad knew General MacArthur personally, and suffered the consequences of that knowledge: He was shot at the battle of Agno Crossing, shot again and captured the day after Cristmas, survived the Bataan Death March (only, he says, because he was an officer) and spent 44 months in Japanese prison camps. Dad only expressed one criticism of MacArthur: MacArthur would not listen to views or acknowledge information that contradicted his own views or opinions. That is why the original conflict in the Phillipines was such a mess, and MacArthur's reputation is forever diminished in my mind by the hardship he caused American soldiers.
On the other hand, MacArthur was part of a system, and once the necessities of the system overcame the individual idosyncracies of the persons responsible for operating the system, he contributed something valuable to the final outcome.
The same is true of Steve Jobs: A business is a system. It requires certain talents and abilities in order to function. Sales without a good product will not survive, but an outstanding product without Sales will not survive either. In this case, the system provided both parties with what they wanted. They got to do what they wanted, they were rewarded for it, and (presumably) they both got satifaction and felt good about themselves from doing it. But without giving the system what it needed to function, neither would have been successful.
Mike
Thanks to all who remembered the real title of the book. I haven't found it yet, but I do remember that one of the appended notes claimed we missed a "mini-ice age" during the 18th or 19th century because of all the smoke produced by the blossoming Industrial Age.
I remember thinking this would be something cool to model (oops, no pun intended!) using System Dynamics. Unfortunately, the best System Dynamics software is not free, and I have not gotten around to writing my own version yet.
Mike
Didn't jerry pournell explain how the world escaped an ice age in the appendixes to his book, "Angels Down"?
Mike
...and all that crap. All the Japanese, Chinese and Koreans I've ever known from those countries take family obligations and expectations very seriously. (Warning! Gross generalization detected!)
I find it hard to believe that a culture as deeply grounded in society and family as the Japanese would actually "abandon" their elderly. I'm more inclined to believe that there are simply not enough young bodies to care for the old bodies. Caring for an elderly person who is losing mobility and strength is a lot of work, and it seems the older they get, the more they try to hang on to their independence. Tools that will compensate for the deficiencies of an aging body are a way to allow a person to be independent longer and maintain their dignity. Nursing care is when you have to be given baths, medications, meals and helped to walk or wheel to the bathroom. Independence is being able to dress yourself, go where you want, transport your own groceries, clean your own house, cook your own food and accomplish the tasks that make your life worth living, such as gardening or reading. Reading books might now take a magnifying glass, but the magnifying glass gives you the independence to read the book when and where you want. (The average Japanese living space is crowded with lots of things in too little space. It's a lot like living in a submarine. Things are put away, and many times lots of things must be moved to do ordinary tasks like sewing or ironing. For the elderly, this could present a major problem.)
The immigration of nursing care is probably acceptable to someone who needs it, but a "companion" from a different culture, who doesn't share your history and doesn't speak your language well, is less desirable than being independent. (I wonder how many of the people who point to the availability of Indonesian and Filipino "care assistants" are the same who bitch because the Dell or HP technical support in Bangalore doesn't meet their standards..!?! Why is not wanting to be touched by a cultural stranger more "racist" than wanting to be able to clearly understand the person at the other end of the tech support phone?)
Mike Burke
I had problems memorizing my multiplication tables in 4th grade. I wasn't slow, just too stubborn to do the work. My older sister and my mother drilled me all summer so I wouldn't be held back from 5th grade. I've got them down, but I still have a feeling of dislike for multiplication.
At age 13 I ran across a book called, "The Trachtenberg Speed System of Basic Mathematics" by Anne Cutler and Rudolf McShane. Within a couple of weeks I was doing complicated multiplication, division and square roots in my head without having to resort to my slide rule. Since then I've tutored college juniors, seniors and grad students who never got a handle on basic math, by teaching them this system. I believe I can teach any normal 4th grader to add, subtract, multiply, divide and calculate square roots in about 4 weeks. There are some "rules" to memorize, but they are rules about process, not data, and there are much fewer of them than a 12x12 times table. It aggravates the hell out of me that there are high-school graduates who can't do basic math well enough to operate a cash register.
People learn most from being rewarded for success, and sometimes the success is the reward.
Mike Burke
I read a pretty good book this weekend: "Healing ADD" by Daniel Amen. He identifies 6 different types of ADD and questions some myths concerning the cause and effects. His research uses actual SPECT scans of the brain to determine if the diagnosis is correct, and discusses the different treatments available.
I like the idea of the scans (although they are expensive) to actually prove the existence of the disorder. I believe too many people are diagnosed with ADD and the wrong medications are often mis-prescribed for the type of ADD the patient has. (I have a client who recently dismissed a woman who was stealing and embezzling from him. She shows signs of Amen's "Type 6" ADD, and although she is on Aderral, she should probably be on anticonvulsant or antipsychotic drugs. The wrong prescription can make things worse!) Actual, physical PROOF of the diagnosis gives me more confidence in the treatment, and seems better than "intuitive" or "witch doctor" diagnoses. Amen asks, "Why should psychiatrists be the only doctors who don't examine the organ they are treating?"
There is some interesting information in the book about videogames and TV, especially his conclusions about the effects of the different scan rates. He also discusses natural treatments such as herbs and supplements, and corrective tasks such as biofeedbank and neural training. As I read the book, I was surprised to notice that low-carb diets and regular exercise enhanced the positive performance for the most common types of ADD.
Incidentally, one of the myths he addresses is the myth that people automatically outgrow ADD. With the research connecting long-term use of Ritalin to Parkinson's disease, I can see that other meds might be better for adults.
Mike Burke
I couldn't find anything on this package. Could you provide a link?
Thanks,
Mike
Yes, this technology goes back to the late 60's and early 70's. I remember "walk-through" simulations that gave a primitive view of walking through architecture, and a maze game called "Rat" that worked on CDC systems in the mid 70's at the University of Minnesota.
Someday, I hope to see a patent argument that results in a criminal charge of extortion for the patent squatter.
Mike Burke
I especially like the one that "floats" the map in front of the vehicle: http://www.canadiandriver.com/articles/jk/021016.h tm
I wouldn't want to have to wear special goggles.
I would want to be able to announce/push a button/otherchoice to chose alternate routes if my shosen route is blocked, and I'd like a switch in the steering wheel to engage/disengage the display at will. I defineitely want a passenger to be able to choose routes if I'm driving.
This should be an opportunity for some enterprising geek.
MEB
Sorry, no cigar!
..and what research leads you to believe that these consequences are directly related to the action?
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I know people who were married by 15 and holding down full-time jobs to support a family. Treating everyone as if there was a real line instead of an imaginary line for maturity levels deprives early maturity of the opportunity to conduct themselves at a mature level. We have a system (US) that will prosecute a 13-year-old as an adult for committing a murder, but no mechanism for enabling a 13-year-old to conduct themselves as an adult in other areas, such as holding a job, creating credit, etc., etc...
One of the older books I read by a futurist (named marvin? something?...ticks me off that I can't find the book and can't find a reference by search engine!) said that if you want to see what the US will be like in 20 years, look at Sweden today. One of the predictons was that kids would be experimenting with sex at the age of 10-11, because the dangers were known and sex was safer. Lo, and behold, in the last year I've seen about 4 books purporting to help cope with the appearance of sexually active pre-teens. We have kids of that age in the most violent areas of our society committing brutal crimes. We have thousands of runaways and throwaways living on the streets and coping in less-than-optimal ways because we have no cultural mechanism for them to advance positively. If you have a teenager, ask them if they know of anyone in their age group who has run away or otherwise been forced to cope for themselves independently at an early age. (Don't press for details...it's none of your business, and you will only diminish communications.) And we think we are protecting people by rating GAMES? This is simply another example of creating a solution for a problem that doesn't exist. It is based on a gross generalization, in turn based on false or poorly-researched assumptions, designed to produce imagined results which cannot be proven as consequenses of the action. Think about it: If you restrict games to a 15-year old, what positive consequences do you expect?
I would rather see more gratuitous sex in games than gratuitous violence. (The same goes for movies and music.) I don't think you develop mature adults through keeping them ignorant, but ignorant people are possibly more easily controlled, and certainly more susceptible to advertising. Here's a link on "extended chilhood" http://www.johntaylorgatto.com/multimedia/jtgsoun
You might also find the rest of the site interesting.
Mike Burke
MEB
Yup-
I quit using drugs and alcohol 21 years ago, and I laugh at some of the beer-driven and pot-driven architecture of some of my early code. I didn't generate any MDA-driven code, generally because when I was doing MDA I got too horny and went looking for women. MDA is somewhat passe now, though. I think cPanel is a good example of Ecstacy-driven architecture, although I think there is some crack influence, also....8-)
Most courseware these days SUCKS! Most of it is re-hashed overheads and powerpoint presentations with a few clever illustrative multimedia tricks to try to keep people interested. How about an instructional format that guarantees that the participant learns?
IMO, the elements of good self-teaching courseware are Information, Simulation and Feedback. Back in the '60's B.F. Skinner and Norman Crowder developed the principles of Programmed Instruction. The web is an ideal medium for PI. In the early days, many companies like IBM, Honeywell, Xerox, Jepson, and many others were teaching subjects about 6 times faster than comparable courses, with about a 98% perfection rate on the part of the students. With the demonization of B. F. Skinner and behaviorism, coupled with the advanced development time necessary for good PI, the concept has pretty much died out. Current "Programmed Instruction" is usually just information broken down into small portions, sometimes with a question attached. One of the things that made PI effective in the past was that each frame was tested until 98%+ of the responses were correct. The theory (based on operant conditioning) is that people learn more by being successful and immediately reinforced for their success.
I was amazed to find out the the Atomic Energy Commission in Augusta, GA was, for a while, using the Atari game "Meltdown!" to teach the principles of nuclear reactors. Simulators of various types have been around for quite a while, and are unusually good forms of instruction. This is possibly due to the immediacy of the feedback.
Again, IMO, flexibility is more important than Flash (pun intended). For more information, see books by Robert Mager and Peter Pipe, B.F. Skinner and Norman Crowder, and for a fair web-based example, check out The Logic Cafe http://www.oakland.edu/phil/cafe/. (I'd rate this higher if I didn't have to download special fonts that seem to only work well on Windows.) The structure for this is downloadable and modifiable for other subjects.
Good luck.
You are the administrator. You tell THEM what's required to maintain the system properly. Your training is an essential component of network administration. They promoted you to the position, meaning they didn't go outside to hire someone who already had all the essential skills.
0 82980-8475324?v=glance&n=283155
e rformance%20Trainer.pdf
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You obviously didn't sit down with management and get clear about all the responsibilities and outcomes; what's expected on both sides. You need to design a Win-Win solution and get them to buy in for their own benefit. If they pay for it, you should agree to an arrangement that doesn't leave them in the position of throwing money away. If you pay for it, you deserve a big raise and you are under no obligation to stay when another corporation offers you a raise and better benefits. Consider thinking up three alternatives that would satisfy you, and then negotiate the best elements of all of them for a Win-Win solution.
It may require some research to identify the gap between the skills you have and the skills you have to learn. Do it now, before the situation solidifies.
Some organizations will willfully ignore your plight, and before you know it you've spent years in the electronic sweatshop. Know what you want. For clarity, you might use the flowchart and worksheet from Robert Mager's, "Anayzing Performance Problems". http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1879618176/102-9
There is a modified version of Mager's flowchart in this document: http://www.archertraining.co.uk/Documents/The%20P
Here's a spot that could help you determine your learning goals, although it's aimed at people designing courseware: http://www.bryanhopkins.co.uk/learning_design/lea
Lastly, remember it's your life. The company doesn't care for you like your family does. Nobody ever died and said, "I wish I'd spent more time at the office." (unless they were married to my ex-wife). Your work and the rest of your life need to be in alignment.
These are my opinions, of course, based on 40 years of programming.
I forgot about the AD/Cycle stuff. Thank you for reminding me.
I knew Fran Tarkenton, briefly, in the 70's when I lived in Minneapolis. He's always been one of my favorite sports stars. I also have friends who worked for Knowlegeware in Atlanta. It's amazing to me what can happen to a good idea that gets executed poorly. Fran was also involved in Real Estate. I remember him saying specifically that it was important to think ahead, that he wouldn't be a football player forever.
Your definition of "wicked requirements" seems to be related to a form of System Dynamics. (Thank you for the book pointer. I'll read it.)
I agree with your statement: "...a methodology based on "correct" construction from "rigourous" specifications simply moves the problem to debugging the requirements." IMO, this is where the debugging process belongs. To me, it's like quality control: The further upstream you detect quality exceptions, the less useless work you have to do. I've been using decision tables since the 60's, and I personally think that the "Business Rules" concept is long overdue. I suspect that an automated development process will show up more quickly in well-defined subdomain like accounting a long time before it shows up in robotics or Economics.