Compare computer science to other science - like architecture. Computer Science is still very immature with very few true best practices and standards. It will not die anytime soon.
Maybe this is slightly off topic, but my wife is an architect, and any time I want to stir up one of her co-workers I tell him tales of version control, automated builds, automated unit testing and bug databases linked to revisions.
None of this exists outside of the software business in anything like the same form. When it comes to producing information in a controlled fashion software is streets ahead of any other field.
Where I work we are outsourcing work to India, China and Russia becaue it is impossible to deliver on our projects with people hired locally.
When I was young you had to be a bit of a geek to tinker with computers at all. You had your 8 meg basic in rom, and a bit later, CP/M. Now people who want to tinker are building machines for gaming or some such and because what they are doing is much more mainstream, they don't think of it as being anything special so when they decide what to do for a living they don't think of computing as the way to go.
Sorry about the car analogy because I know we are all sick of that, but its a bit like I used to muck around with engines when I was 18 but never wanted to be a mechanic.
That's why you have ntp. It handles leap seconds automatically.
Yes, but I am talking about real time systems which are very time sensitive like radars. Consider that the radar head and the processing software are synchronised by different GPS clocks. The clock skew starts to happen and the downstream software immediately sees the rotation rate of the radar change by 1 second/rev. It assumes the radar is unstable and starts discarding data from that source. Meanwhile you have actual aircraft in the air which you have to track...
Actually Mars is a lot like Antarctica. The air temperature is sometimes above zero C, but mostly below.
Never the less, life survives there. At one stage one of the experiments which flew to mars on Viking was tried out in Antarctia and failed to detect life.
The cruise phase and orbiter operations sound quite a bit like Cassini, so I have a good feeling about that. But the Europeans have never landed a vehicle on Mars. The Russians pulled it off once or twice but NASA is the only organisation which could deliver a payload to the surface with any certanty.
I would be happier to see the science payload come from the ESA, and the vehicle from NASA. Seems a lot safer that way.
I dont think it matters too much, the opensim project has been making amazing strides using the BSD licensed libsecondlife code as a base. http://openmetaverse.org/wiki/OpenSim
Thanks for the link. It is exactly what I have been looking for.
This is rocket science, not something you'd patch with Windows Update.
I don't know about comsats, etc, but many space probes and rovers have had their software patched repeatedly to improve capabilities and work around hardware problems. The best example was Galileo, where the high gain antenna failed to deploy properly and new compression algorithms were uploaded to get the most out of the low gain antenna.
At kindergarten, everything is play for my four year old son, even if he is learning at the same time. He has access to computers at home, and uses them to play games, mainly flash applications on the web sites of popular characters.
So the younger you go, the more important game play is when you want to use software for education.
And where is the discounted version for American students?
I have to say I am surprised. Here in AU the uni bookshops and normal software shops have always been loaded with cheap "Academic" versions of major software. You just need a student ID to buy it, even off campus.
I always assumed it was a way for the publisher to lock people in early. I am surprised they don't do it in the states.
Microsoft are giving us poor university students a bit of a break on software that is normally completely unaffordable for us, and i say more companies should take a leaf for their book.
A guy I worked with last year enrolled at a part time course at Swinburne, bought Academic Office, and dropped out after one week. He got most of his fee back.
That's some shitty baggage, but it isn't 'risk'(if the legal climate were such that Bitkeeper could stop all development on Mercurial because of the prior contributions it would be risk, but that is not the case).
The risk I was referring to is one at my end, nothing to do with Bryan. I am now in charge of the tools environment, including source control, where I work. If I was to decide to change away from our current system I would have to factor in the risk that our license could be pulled on arbitary grounds, this putting a huge amount of paying work at risk. Software which is Free (as in freedom) carries less risk than BK.
Its a risk because I can't mitigate aganst it in any practical way.
Man, I know NASA is strapped for cash, but bicycles?
If you don't stay super fit you won't fly. That was the case from Mercury onwards and most of the astronauts ran long dstances every day. Running is cheaper than riding a bike so would you accuse them of being really cheap? BTW I ride a bike to work and its the best way I know to stay healthy, as well as being slightly cheaper than taking public transport.
"Head of Sales" translates to "IQ of 40, fantastic liar". Never ask sales anything.
Its hard when you don't have enough scale to do things properly. Small is OK. You can work on your own, specify it code it and sell it. Big is good. You can have a pipeline from customer requirements to specification to development to integration and validation. But in the middle is a zone where steps get compressed and people have to improvise. I have been there and its not good.
Slashdot Mirror
Maybe this is slightly off topic, but my wife is an architect, and any time I want to stir up one of her co-workers I tell him tales of version control, automated builds, automated unit testing and bug databases linked to revisions.
None of this exists outside of the software business in anything like the same form. When it comes to producing information in a controlled fashion software is streets ahead of any other field.
Just curious: what drove your choice of career? For me it was hacking with electronics as a 5-15 year old in the 1970's.
Isn't that what spreadsheets are for?
Where I work we are outsourcing work to India, China and Russia becaue it is impossible to deliver on our projects with people hired locally.
When I was young you had to be a bit of a geek to tinker with computers at all. You had your 8 meg basic in rom, and a bit later, CP/M. Now people who want to tinker are building machines for gaming or some such and because what they are doing is much more mainstream, they don't think of it as being anything special so when they decide what to do for a living they don't think of computing as the way to go.
Sorry about the car analogy because I know we are all sick of that, but its a bit like I used to muck around with engines when I was 18 but never wanted to be a mechanic.
I think the French should have persisted with metric dates.
Oh OK. I always use YYYY-MM-DD
Yes, but I am talking about real time systems which are very time sensitive like radars. Consider that the radar head and the processing software are synchronised by different GPS clocks. The clock skew starts to happen and the downstream software immediately sees the rotation rate of the radar change by 1 second/rev. It assumes the radar is unstable and starts discarding data from that source. Meanwhile you have actual aircraft in the air which you have to track...
Umm, why?
Actually Mars is a lot like Antarctica. The air temperature is sometimes above zero C, but mostly below.
Never the less, life survives there. At one stage one of the experiments which flew to mars on Viking was tried out in Antarctia and failed to detect life.
I think they should go looking for the Bunny which hopped through the Opportunity landing site all those years ago.
The cruise phase and orbiter operations sound quite a bit like Cassini, so I have a good feeling about that. But the Europeans have never landed a vehicle on Mars. The Russians pulled it off once or twice but NASA is the only organisation which could deliver a payload to the surface with any certanty.
I would be happier to see the science payload come from the ESA, and the vehicle from NASA. Seems a lot safer that way.
Thanks for the link. It is exactly what I have been looking for.
And in fact, when Tombaugh announced his discovery he didn't claim that it was a planet, only a Trans Neptunian Object.
Until it slips by a second. Doesn't sound like much but it plays hell with time sensitive systems.
It applies to the code
Or a Crichton novel: self reproducing repair robots take over outer space, threatening to turn shuttle fleet into spare parts.
I don't know about comsats, etc, but many space probes and rovers have had their software patched repeatedly to improve capabilities and work around hardware problems. The best example was Galileo, where the high gain antenna failed to deploy properly and new compression algorithms were uploaded to get the most out of the low gain antenna.
Satellites from competing companies?
I thouht PNG was supposed to be the end of JPEG
OTH perhaps this will be the end of "JPG"
At kindergarten, everything is play for my four year old son, even if he is learning at the same time. He has access to computers at home, and uses them to play games, mainly flash applications on the web sites of popular characters.
So the younger you go, the more important game play is when you want to use software for education.
I have to say I am surprised. Here in AU the uni bookshops and normal software shops have always been loaded with cheap "Academic" versions of major software. You just need a student ID to buy it, even off campus.
I always assumed it was a way for the publisher to lock people in early. I am surprised they don't do it in the states.
A guy I worked with last year enrolled at a part time course at Swinburne, bought Academic Office, and dropped out after one week. He got most of his fee back.
The risk I was referring to is one at my end, nothing to do with Bryan. I am now in charge of the tools environment, including source control, where I work. If I was to decide to change away from our current system I would have to factor in the risk that our license could be pulled on arbitary grounds, this putting a huge amount of paying work at risk. Software which is Free (as in freedom) carries less risk than BK.
Its a risk because I can't mitigate aganst it in any practical way.
If you don't stay super fit you won't fly. That was the case from Mercury onwards and most of the astronauts ran long dstances every day. Running is cheaper than riding a bike so would you accuse them of being really cheap? BTW I ride a bike to work and its the best way I know to stay healthy, as well as being slightly cheaper than taking public transport.
Its hard when you don't have enough scale to do things properly. Small is OK. You can work on your own, specify it code it and sell it. Big is good. You can have a pipeline from customer requirements to specification to development to integration and validation. But in the middle is a zone where steps get compressed and people have to improvise. I have been there and its not good.