This is the best book you can get and the best I've seen for Compiler courses. I don't know how technical your course is, but you may find some use for Le x & Yacc ISBN: 1565920007.
That book will help you tremendously if you need to actually write a compiler. But don't neglect the dragon book. It's somewhat hard to follow sometimes, so make sure you go to clas too!
I remember answering similar questions when I was in school. The main issue that always came up was if the programmer wrote the program knowing that complications could threaten human life.
Typically it would be given in an example where the project pushed through into production without a test cycle, and a short product development life cycle, and a boss that wouldn't listen to reason (do they ever?). But let's ignore all of that and focus on the issue of use vs. creation. I suppose you could even complicate things further and include design vs. use vs. creation(development).
Design and Development:
Though slightly different, the two can go hand in hand. But the reason I've differentiated between them is that design precedes development. One would hope that any potential for problems would be detected before development even begins. But in a hurried job, this is often not the case. A lot of the design is in the hands of the programmers while they are developing. And that is the problem. Not that the programmers can't do a good job, but that the design typically becomes ad-hoc. And there is less forethought in a project that is developed with a loose design, or none at all for that matter.
Use:
I'm not so sure you can put all the blame on the user. A user may operate under the assumptions that the program/product is safe. They may even have assurance from the company/person that makes the product. Sure anyone is being naive if they think a program is bugless. But if you have a program and you think it'll work, it should. In the case of an accident, the user is free of guilt, the responsibility should lie with the coders.
Alternatively, if the user knows that the program could threaten a life or sabotage a system, and uses the program to do so, then the responsibility should lie on the user.
Anyone read "The Case of the Killer Robot?" I think it's a staple among Computer Science Ethics classes.
JFL (Just For Laughs...)
Now, if you ask me who really is responsible, I'd say it's the project manager;)
Perhaps I've misunderstood the Karma system, but it seems like a good systematic approach to controlling comments before everything goes to kahoots!
My concern is whether or not someone elses Karma is public to others, especially the moderators. It seems that Karma would help for 'QA' of comments, but suppose moderators were able to view your Karma level. They may (may being the key word) use the Karma level as a 'reputation' level. If my Karma level is +5, perhaps they will think that the quality of my posts are not as valuable as someone with a higher Karma, and this could affect how a post is moderated. Users with high Karma 'could' be more repected by moderators.
If anyone would care to explain this to me, please do so.
Most cases of CTS are still mis-diagnosed anyway. Doctors aren't educated enough on CTS or RSI's to really know the difference between one RSI and another. The symptoms are very similar for a lot of these RSI's, and most often, CTS is the suspected culprit.
My advice if you have wrist problems is: 1. Do some reading up on it. You'll be able to learn a lot and 'diagnose' yourself.
2. Buy a new mouse. Buy a trackball or touchpad. Most RSI's develop from mouse use.
3. Take Advil before you type. This won't solve the problem, but it will lessen the pain.
4. Never prop up your keyboard. Always leave it down. I've found that natural keyboards are very comfortable and are easy to adjust to. Another easy-fix is a foam pad: I'd reccomend the gel-filled ones.
5. If your wrists really hurt, go to the pharmacy and buy wrist braces. Wear them while you sleep at night (but no more than that). This will keep your wrists still at night and avoid inflammation from sleeping positions.
That is what your doctor will tell you when you first go in to see him. Of course, one of the best remedies is a couple of months off!
None of them get it, yourself included. Who didn't feel left out in high school. It wasn't just the geeks. Even the 'popular' kids had problems. No one is numb to this.
I'm tired of writers fixating on the geek. Writers like you, Jon, perpetuate the issues. Who really gives a fuck who is a geek and who isn't. Most anyone that you'd call a geek really doesn't even care. It's writers like you and the entire media that create the geek, that breath life into it's lungs, that have given him the dirty label he has.
And then two high school kids go out and try to blow up the school. A place where they felt foreign, unliked, whatever. Violence is never a way to deal with one's problems, I'm not ever going to say that what these kids did was right. But shit, the best you can fucking come up with is that they knew how to use the internet, that they used it to distribute information, and that they enjoyed Quake, Doom, and Duke'Nukem. What the fuck is that supposed to mean?
It means that you have as much a clue as anyone else. And I'm not speaking just to you Jon, you're not the only one to blame here. It's the entire media. Why don't you stop grasping at straws and get the real fucking issue for once.
Making generalizations based upon a video game and internet use stains everyone.
Until we start getting to the real roots of the problems, kids are still going to be the same way they've always been. Violence will be more pervasive. I doubt if we've seen the last of this. Lest we forget, misery loves company.
Rome wasn't built in a day. The images of hackers as menacing crackers won't be fixed the same way either. I'm glad that it got some press, but your comments are very noteworthy. I doubt if this article had any significant impact.
Perhaps we really shouldn't worry about the label. Just think of what some other professions have to got through! Like Lawyers and cops.
But the one part of the article that got me was a claim that the profession would grow at a rate similar to other professions. I know this is not true. In fact, despite the number of jobs in technology fields, fewer kids are going to school to study cs, ee, or comp e.
The article definitely makes me sympathize for Kevin. Everyone who's said it, he's no angel is right. But he's no felon either. He deserves a trial. Until then, the government has no right to hold him as they have done for the past 4 years.
It's interesting how the article paints Shimomura and Markoff to be the bad guys. Mitnick is being used as an example. He's the evil cracker that got busted.
Slashdot Mirror
That book will help you tremendously if you need to actually write a compiler. But don't neglect the dragon book. It's somewhat hard to follow sometimes, so make sure you go to clas too!
I remember answering similar questions when I was in school. The main issue that always came up was if the programmer wrote the program knowing that complications could threaten human life.
;)
Typically it would be given in an example where the project pushed through into production without a test cycle, and a short product development life cycle, and a boss that wouldn't listen to reason (do they ever?). But let's ignore all of that and focus on the issue of use vs. creation. I suppose you could even complicate things further and include design vs. use vs. creation(development).
Design and Development:
Though slightly different, the two can go hand in hand. But the reason I've differentiated between them is that design precedes development. One would hope that any potential for problems would be detected before development even begins. But in a hurried job, this is often not the case. A lot of the design is in the hands of the programmers while they are developing. And that is the problem. Not that the programmers can't do a good job, but that the design typically becomes ad-hoc. And there is less forethought in a project that is developed with a loose design, or none at all for that matter.
Use:
I'm not so sure you can put all the blame on the user. A user may operate under the assumptions that the program/product is safe. They may even have assurance from the company/person that makes the product. Sure anyone is being naive if they think a program is bugless. But if you have a program and you think it'll work, it should. In the case of an accident, the user is free of guilt, the responsibility should lie with the coders.
Alternatively, if the user knows that the program could threaten a life or sabotage a system, and uses the program to do so, then the responsibility should lie on the user.
Anyone read "The Case of the Killer Robot?" I think it's a staple among Computer Science Ethics classes.
JFL (Just For Laughs...)
Now, if you ask me who really is responsible, I'd say it's the project manager
Perhaps I've misunderstood the Karma system, but it seems like a good systematic approach to controlling comments before everything goes to kahoots!
My concern is whether or not someone elses Karma is public to others, especially the moderators. It seems that Karma would help for 'QA' of comments, but suppose moderators were able to view your Karma level. They may (may being the key word) use the Karma level as a 'reputation' level. If my Karma level is +5, perhaps they will think that the quality of my posts are not as valuable as someone with a higher Karma, and this could affect how a post is moderated. Users with high Karma 'could' be more repected by moderators.
If anyone would care to explain this to me, please do so.
jp hackworth
Most cases of CTS are still mis-diagnosed anyway. Doctors aren't educated enough on CTS or RSI's to really know the difference between one RSI and another. The symptoms are very similar for a lot of these RSI's, and most often, CTS is the suspected culprit.
My advice if you have wrist problems is:
1. Do some reading up on it. You'll be able to learn a lot and 'diagnose' yourself.
2. Buy a new mouse. Buy a trackball or touchpad. Most RSI's develop from mouse use.
3. Take Advil before you type. This won't solve the problem, but it will lessen the pain.
4. Never prop up your keyboard. Always leave it down. I've found that natural keyboards are very comfortable and are easy to adjust to. Another easy-fix is a foam pad: I'd reccomend the gel-filled ones.
5. If your wrists really hurt, go to the pharmacy and buy wrist braces. Wear them while you sleep at night (but no more than that). This will keep your wrists still at night and avoid inflammation from sleeping positions.
That is what your doctor will tell you when you first go in to see him. Of course, one of the best remedies is a couple of months off!
"Some of these reporters get it, some don't."
None of them get it, yourself included. Who didn't feel left out in high school. It wasn't just the geeks. Even the 'popular' kids had problems. No one is numb to this.
I'm tired of writers fixating on the geek. Writers like you, Jon, perpetuate the issues. Who really gives a fuck who is a geek and who isn't. Most anyone that you'd call a geek really doesn't even care. It's writers like you and the entire media that create the geek, that breath life into it's lungs, that have given him the dirty label he has.
And then two high school kids go out and try to blow up the school. A place where they felt foreign, unliked, whatever. Violence is never a way to deal with one's problems, I'm not ever going to say that what these kids did was right. But shit, the best you can fucking come up with is that they knew how to use the internet, that they used it to distribute information, and that they enjoyed Quake, Doom, and Duke'Nukem. What the fuck is that supposed to mean?
It means that you have as much a clue as anyone else. And I'm not speaking just to you Jon, you're not the only one to blame here. It's the entire media. Why don't you stop grasping at straws and get the real fucking issue for once.
Making generalizations based upon a video game and internet use stains everyone.
Until we start getting to the real roots of the problems, kids are still going to be the same way they've always been. Violence will be more pervasive. I doubt if we've seen the last of this. Lest we forget, misery loves company.
Rome wasn't built in a day. The images of hackers as menacing crackers won't be fixed the same way either. I'm glad that it got some press, but your comments are very noteworthy. I doubt if this article had any significant impact.
Perhaps we really shouldn't worry about the label. Just think of what some other professions have to got through! Like Lawyers and cops.
But the one part of the article that got me was a claim that the profession would grow at a rate similar to other professions. I know this is not true. In fact, despite the number of jobs in technology fields, fewer kids are going to school to study cs, ee, or comp e.
The article definitely makes me sympathize for Kevin. Everyone who's said it, he's no angel is right. But he's no felon either. He deserves a trial. Until then, the government has no right to hold him as they have done for the past 4 years.
It's interesting how the article paints Shimomura and Markoff to be the bad guys. Mitnick is being used as an example. He's the evil cracker that got busted.
The evil Bill Gates-ian guy uses one.
But my real excitement here comes from what this may do for people with RSI (Repetitive Strain Injuries).
hehe.
I was more amused by the posts that have followed his articles than the article itself.
My attention that is. I hope your basement has Radon.
hackworth