I have been using Latex for a long time and have found this system to be useful for complex typesetting tasks.
It is particularly well suited for typesetting articles, by performing tasks such as cross referencing of bibliography entries, equation numbers, figure numbers, and the like. In addition, I feel that the Computer Modern fonts appear more professional than the fonts from the leading brand word processor.
The "number of defects" is at best a vague measure of the actual quality of the code, because this number is highly dependent on the method of counting defects. One bad statement in the code may trigger multiple instances that are recorded as defects, and conversely other bugs in the code may not show up at all in the test cases.
In short, a hypothetical future statement that w2k has 65k "bugs" and w2k-sp1 has only 33k "bugs" would be a completely meaningless comparison, and says absolutely nothing about the quality of either code.
There is no accurate measure of the "bugginess" of the code, particularly one as complex as w2k. For a very simple code, I may measure bugginess by testing all possible inputs (for example, consider a code with two bits of input, bit A and bit B, whose assigned task is to return (A OR B). If the code returns 0 for A=0,B=0 and 1 otherwise, the code is 0% buggy. If the code always returns 0, it got 3 test cases wrong out of four and is 75% buggy).
We often rely on anecdotal evidence to evaluate software ("We have fixed the problem in the PPP script") and compare different pieces of software but should take numerical measurements (such as this bug count) with a grain of salt.
Many of Katz' concerns seem legitimate, but the statement about malevolent governments is a little misplaced.
If we are ever unfortunate enough to fall under such a tyranny, the rulers would be able to do their work with or without computerized data bases. Just read your history books.
The Y2K Problem was superstition; there would have been anxiety at the approach of the "new millennium" even without the computer 2-digit date overflow.
If we were using a base twelve numerical system, there would have been a substantial fervor surrounding the arrival of the year 1728.
This trend reflects the changing times. As the Internet content becomes more important than the hardware itself, the magazines that focus on the computer hardware (and also PC software applications) diminish and disappear.
Just as people tend to be concerned about the content on the television rather than the television itself, people are becoming more focused on the content of the internet rather than the hardware they use to access the internet.
What really matters is the next removable storage format that will be accepted as the standard format.
A 3.5 inch floppy still holds the same 1.44 Mb that it held in 1980, and the CD Rom is still the same capacity it was in 1990 (although the players have gotten faster).
The Redesigned Economy, Prosperity
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As Katz' book review describes the insecurity of tech workers, this is simply a part of the larger trend toward less job security, in the New Economy as implemented during the administrations of Reagan, Bush, and Clinton.
Of course, the new environment has both positives and negatives. Intense competition has increased the pace of innovation, thus providing products to consumers at lower cost, and hence contributing to the prosperity of the late 1990's and early 2000's. A downside, as Katz describes, is the loss of job security, and some of the confidence of knowing that one may plan to move up the ladder over the long term.
However, prosperity always comes at a price. Would anybody want to return to the bad old days of stagflation?
The student who uses this service will risk a tremendous loss of privacy. The student will place on the database his grades, SAT scores, and whatever other information the colleges are demanding.
Anybody with $2000 (Who is to say what company or other entity would set up a "college" as a front?) can retrieve this information without the student's authorization.
How does the student know that what he places on Ecollegebid will not come back to haunt him, even in the far future?
The article stated that this was a preliminary finding. We should be careful not to jump to conclusions too soon.
It is possible that even if the Colorado and California teams did use incompatible units, that that may not have been the actual cause of the crash. Wait for the final investigaion to be completed before pointing fingers.
Yes, it will be another method (besides TV commercials, tracts, debates, etc.) for politicians to express their views to the voters. However an internet site may be unlikely to sway a voter, unless the voter agrees with the candidate's positions anyway.
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It is particularly well suited for typesetting articles, by performing tasks such as cross referencing of bibliography entries, equation numbers, figure numbers, and the like. In addition, I feel that the Computer Modern fonts appear more professional than the fonts from the leading brand word processor.
In short, a hypothetical future statement that w2k has 65k "bugs" and w2k-sp1 has only 33k "bugs" would be a completely meaningless comparison, and says absolutely nothing about the quality of either code.
There is no accurate measure of the "bugginess" of the code, particularly one as complex as w2k. For a very simple code, I may measure bugginess by testing all possible inputs (for example, consider a code with two bits of input, bit A and bit B, whose assigned task is to return (A OR B). If the code returns 0 for A=0,B=0 and 1 otherwise, the code is 0% buggy. If the code always returns 0, it got 3 test cases wrong out of four and is 75% buggy).
We often rely on anecdotal evidence to evaluate software ("We have fixed the problem in the PPP script") and compare different pieces of software but should take numerical measurements (such as this bug count) with a grain of salt.
If we are ever unfortunate enough to fall under such a tyranny, the rulers would be able to do their work with or without computerized data bases. Just read your history books.
If we were using a base twelve numerical system, there would have been a substantial fervor surrounding the arrival of the year 1728.
Note that the references in G Null's article are dated Oct '98 and earlier.
It seems that the article referred to in this post is substantially outdated.
Just as people tend to be concerned about the content on the television rather than the television itself, people are becoming more focused on the content of the internet rather than the hardware they use to access the internet.
We will know afterward whether NBC made a wise decision about airing the movie, when the ratings come out.
A 3.5 inch floppy still holds the same 1.44 Mb that it held in 1980, and the CD Rom is still the same capacity it was in 1990 (although the players have gotten faster).
Of course, the new environment has both positives and negatives. Intense competition has increased the pace of innovation, thus providing products to consumers at lower cost, and hence contributing to the prosperity of the late 1990's and early 2000's. A downside, as Katz describes, is the loss of job security, and some of the confidence of knowing that one may plan to move up the ladder over the long term.
However, prosperity always comes at a price. Would anybody want to return to the bad old days of stagflation?
Anybody with $2000 (Who is to say what company or other entity would set up a "college" as a front?) can retrieve this information without the student's authorization.
How does the student know that what he places on Ecollegebid will not come back to haunt him, even in the far future?
It is possible that even if the Colorado and California teams did use incompatible units, that that may not have been the actual cause of the crash. Wait for the final investigaion to be completed before pointing fingers.
Yes, it will be another method (besides TV commercials, tracts, debates, etc.) for politicians to express their views to the voters. However an internet site may be unlikely to sway a voter, unless the voter agrees with the candidate's positions anyway.