When I went through the Ontario system (1986), the requirement for engineering was 3 high schoool math courses in: Calculus, Algebra, and "Functions and Relations".
I did some Calculus T.A. work, and the new students are missing certain critical concepts. The new curriculum has eliminated Integration from High School Calculus. It is actually lucky that the students get any Calculus in High School at all. One of the original proposals for the new curriculum recommended eliminating Calculus entirely. The Engineering schools fought hard to keep Calculus in High School.
Some of the first year engineering students have not seen key trignometric functions like the sine function. Other students have not seen Sigma notation, which is used for for finite and infinite series. Almost all of the students struggle with the university Algebra course, which makes me suspect the high school introduction to vectors and matrix algebra was been watered down.
Reducing the high school requirement from three to two high school math courses hurts the undergraduate engineering students. Further, a subject like Calculus benefits from repeat exposures over a number of years. The students would benefit from an introductory Calculus course in Grade 11, a deeper course in Grade 12, and then the 4 more courses in first and second year university. That way, the students have had 4 years Calculus experience before they need to apply the hard stuff in 3rd and 4th year engineering. As it is, students might only see Calculus for 2 years at university, and I'm not sure if this is enough time to really absorb the subject.
As for the quality of the students themselves, the students from the new curriculum are different. They are very fast (faster than me) at solving problems with known forms. On structured problems, similar to ones they have seen before, they are very fast. Unfortunately, they are very poor at solving unstructured problems, and problems where they have not seen the solution technique in advance. It is like someone has beaten the creativity out of the students. They can write tests really well, but they can't do original math. I imagine the students will pick up the creativity as they gain experience. It is just that someone has removed the fun advanced questions that really get the students thinking from the curriculum. The high schools are somehow creating students that can do simple stuff, but lack deeper insights into what they are doing. The students haven't been allowed to try, fail, and sometimes succeed at solving the harder mathemetical questions.
1. Recommend a good strategy
2. Get Fired, Company wanted other (bad) strategy
3. Start new job
4. Get Hired back as an expensive consultant to fix the bad strategy and recommend implementing the good strategy.
5. Profit!!!
6. Keep a straight face until the bank cashes the check. (This step is hard.)
Remember, after you quit, you can't get fired! Enjoy the months of complete freedom.
Bell even throttled Cranky Geeks to 30 KB/s on me. The throttling is horrible, and the way they are doing it, you can't easily switch to a competitor. They throttle the competitor's connections too!
Tip: If you release and reacquire the PPPoE connection, it appears to temporarily fool the throttling software.
Looking at Claim 1 in the patent, Microsoft has patented profiling by running a target application in a virtual machine at run-time. They then use the profiling data to determine if the program is malware. The patent includes many different ways of saving the profiling output too.
I'm pretty sure the technology being patented is already in widespread use. Many virus companies create mini-virtual environments to find out what blocks of self-modifying code really do. Otherwise, a sufficiently well disguised virus can "hide" by encrypting the payload with random blocks of keys, and then only keeping the malicious code in memory as long as it is executing. In effect, the virus code is generating itself from a randomly encrypted block of memory at run-time. The virus scanner then has only a limited window of time to spot the dangerous code. To solve this problem, virus scanners allow blocks of self-modifying code to execute (in a safe manner), to see what they will actually do.
It could be that Microsoft's anti-virus technology is obsolete, and they are actually a long distance behind the competition.;-)
I always assumed that the flash updating programs would have lock outs to prevent someone from uploading an incorrect BIOS image when flashing the hardware. This would prevent people from flashing things, bricking their own hardware, and then trying to return it under warranty.
I add that feature to the embedded hardware that I design...
I dunno... about 2/3 of the way down in the 2.6.25.4 patch notes... yeah... right there:
- added support for elongated orbit millisecond pulsars.
I've been working on simulations of the 2.6.25.4 kernel running on neutron stars. Shortly after getting the 256-node Beowulf cluster simulation booted up, the cluster encounters severe gravitational disturbances. These interfere with network communications. I asked a physicist, and he started muttering something about event horizons and black holes. I think we are going to need a better patch.
Those conditions might not be prominently displayed before the ticket has been purchased. As such, one would wonder if the consent was properly given. Further, TicketMaster also has some language that they will not accept a return of the ticket. The same legal arguments that can be used to invalidate shrink wrapped EULA's would apply here as well. Essentially, you can't sell something to a customer with fine print locked inside that says: "If you open this, you agree to sell your house to me in exchange for the use of the software."
Also, even if you do consent to be recorded, the copyright still remains yours. You have to agree to license the copyright as well.
I have a machine in service with an embedded computer in it. The software for programming the computer does not support subdirectories. It dates from MS-DOS 1.1 from 25 years ago. It sort of works with MS-DOS 3.2 from 22 years ago.
Windows XP will still be in use after 2014. Not every piece of technology is easy to update.
My local university tried something like this. They had a fairly powerful computer (64-processors, SGI system) that they used for numerical simulations. It wasn't quite a supercomputer, but for the research group involved, it was their very own "supercomputer."
Enter Physical Plant. They were in charge of providing chilled water for air conditioning. In the dead of the Canadian winter, they failed to see the point of maintaining the 4 degree Celsius chilled water supply. Of course, a good sized supercomputer requires a fairly steady supply of chilled water.
Lot's of simulations bit the dust in the name of "efficiency" and "savings". I'm not sure if the supercomputer ever did work right after the first major overheat, when they completely turned off the chilled water supply.
The Eddington limit appears to limit the size of a star. At one point in time, it was thought that black holes formed from the collapse of stars. Later on, it was concluded that supermassive black holes are very good at feeding on neighboring stars, and thus supermassive black holes could form. The Wikipedia page on Black Hole Parameters has an explanation.
I'm almost finished with the virus that overwrites the MBR with GRUB stage 1!
You must work for Microsoft. Almost every Linux distribution in existence uses GRUB for a bootloader. Only Microsoft calls Linux "an evil virus-like plague," as it sweeps the world, eliminating proprietary software, vaporizing multinational corporations, and saving the poor from the ravages of the new generation of software robber barons.
Early in the decade it seemed that if you wanted a Windows alternative, Linux was it. Nowadays, an Apple Mac is undoubtedly the alternative...
Windows was Microsoft's effort to fight back against the GUI interface of the Apple Macintosh. Back in the old days of DOS, the Apple Macintosh was the "windowing operating system." UNIX and X-Windows systems also did graphics, but generally only for CAD (Computer Aided Design) applications.
Linux has never fought in the graphical environment and ease of use space. Traditionally, its strength has always been that it is a great Unix replacement. Today, Linux dominates the university and scientific computing landscape. Additionally, Linux is a great operating system for many focused, special purpose projects. Projects like embedded web servers, routers, and even small portable computers like the Asus Eee PC. In many of these applications, neither the Mac nor Windows are feasible alternatives.
Since the mid-80's, the dominant PC in the market has been an IBM Compatible PC running Microsoft Software. The Graphical arts people have always used the Macintosh, because initially it had good and easy to use graphics. Unix and Linux have dominated in almost every special purpose application environment that the other two architectures could not accomplish.
The new effect is that the Mac, Windows, and to a lesser extent Linux, can all run the same desktop applications, or at least the same types of desktop applications. The result has been Microsoft pushing the.NET languages, hoping to create such a large application monolith, that no one will ever consider switching from Windows again. In practice, people want a simpler, more reliable alternative to Windows. For ease of use, Apple is winning. For cost, adaptability, and reliability, Linux is winning.
The U.S. military actually manages its budgets fairly well, in comparison to others. The Soviet's essentially bankrupted their entire economy trying to maintain a military that ultimately it could not afford. The screw-ups in the Soviet unions management ultimately destroyed the Soviet Union.
The private sector makes massive screw-ups too. Companies go broke all the time. They pay for their mistakes. All told, the desire for economic survival and profit ultimately makes the corporate sector more efficient.
The U.S. military may not be great for managing budgets, but for a bureaucratic organization, the American model isn't too bad. At least, not when compared to the competition.
Some teachers tape everything. Even at university, all conversations with students should occur with an open door (or with staff witnesses). Just the accusations can be pretty damning. If you don't have videotape evidence to the contrary, good luck talking your way out of the situation.
After upgrading to the most recent version of Visual Studio, from Visual C++ 6.0, I found the help unusable. I started asking other developers what they used for online help. A number of developers recommended using Google for Microsoft Help. I tried it, and it works really well.
I would really like to know: How often are Google searches used by Microsoft's development teams?
Intrinsically safe circuits can ignite gasoline when they are hit by lightning. The concern in aircraft applications isn't that the fuel ignites in normal operation. Rather, it is suspected that some airplanes have exploded after being hit by lightning.
If enough power hits just the right wire, and the tanks are near empty (with lots of explosive fuel vapors), and enough planes get hit by lightning in flight in a sensitive location, then potentially disaster can happen. The accident data says fuel tank explosions occur, and this might be a possible cause. Safety problems demand a precautionary approach. Hence the desire to eliminate the wire going to the fuel tank.
Note: a widespread consensus exists that many possible ways for fuel tanks to ignite exist. As such, most of the focus is on minimizing the likelihood of ignition, rather than one specific cause, like the fuel tank wires themselves.
In Canada, you might have a case for wrongful dismissal. You stopped the activity from occurring after it occurred. Your not supposed to fire employees after every small infraction occurs. You need to try remedial action first. If you fired everyone that made a small mistake, you would run out of employees pretty quickly.
In Ontario, the speed limit only applies while you have wheels on the ground. In the air, you have no speed limit.
The flight simulators also have the 401 highway on the maps near the airport. I think the 747 pilots practice emergency landings on the 401 too. In a real emergency, this might be necessary. I don't think it has ever been tested with a big plane, because it is difficult to get the cars off the highway first.
Translators get paid in foreign dollars. Doctors are civil service positions in Russia, so they get paid poorly. A Doctor could moonlight as a translator in Russia, and make more money from translating than from saving people...
The FCC and Cell Phone companies were working on such a device. I think the project did not go anywhere. Essentially, it isn't in the cell phone companies interests to block people from sending and receiving calls. With the new location requirements on cell phones, it should be possible to automatically lock out cell phones in certain geographical areas (like hospitals.) Unfortunately, even this safety related function is not a high priority.
Faraday Cages take some planning to build. They are tougher than they look. My cell phone works in elevators, and they are almost 100% covered in steel. For a restaurant, you need to get all the windows covered with a metal mesh, then all the remaining walls, the ceiling, the floor, and the doors. In the kitchen, things get really complicated, because you have large access doors and air vents.
The easiest way for a restaurant or a commercial establishment to build a Faraday cage would be to employ an RF engineer at the initial stages of construction. A concrete structure with steel reinforcing would probably be the easiest structure to attempt. The required RF mesh could be incorporated into the existing steel and concrete reinforcements with minimum building code issues. The heating and air conditioning ducts could be grounded. I think the military has a product to handle the windows, and if they don't, you could ground standard steel window mesh. The hardest points to protect would be the doors. A standard entry way with two sets of doors (like what is used in most commercial buildings) might work, if the doors can be easily shielded and grounded.
Hey, Microsoft can get us computer users here in North America to pay twice for a computer operating system too. Once for the Vista license, and then a second time for the XP license...
Slashdot Mirror
When I went through the Ontario system (1986), the requirement for engineering was 3 high schoool math courses in: Calculus, Algebra, and "Functions and Relations".
I did some Calculus T.A. work, and the new students are missing certain critical concepts. The new curriculum has eliminated Integration from High School Calculus. It is actually lucky that the students get any Calculus in High School at all. One of the original proposals for the new curriculum recommended eliminating Calculus entirely. The Engineering schools fought hard to keep Calculus in High School.
Some of the first year engineering students have not seen key trignometric functions like the sine function. Other students have not seen Sigma notation, which is used for for finite and infinite series. Almost all of the students struggle with the university Algebra course, which makes me suspect the high school introduction to vectors and matrix algebra was been watered down.
Reducing the high school requirement from three to two high school math courses hurts the undergraduate engineering students. Further, a subject like Calculus benefits from repeat exposures over a number of years. The students would benefit from an introductory Calculus course in Grade 11, a deeper course in Grade 12, and then the 4 more courses in first and second year university. That way, the students have had 4 years Calculus experience before they need to apply the hard stuff in 3rd and 4th year engineering. As it is, students might only see Calculus for 2 years at university, and I'm not sure if this is enough time to really absorb the subject.
As for the quality of the students themselves, the students from the new curriculum are different. They are very fast (faster than me) at solving problems with known forms. On structured problems, similar to ones they have seen before, they are very fast. Unfortunately, they are very poor at solving unstructured problems, and problems where they have not seen the solution technique in advance. It is like someone has beaten the creativity out of the students. They can write tests really well, but they can't do original math. I imagine the students will pick up the creativity as they gain experience. It is just that someone has removed the fun advanced questions that really get the students thinking from the curriculum. The high schools are somehow creating students that can do simple stuff, but lack deeper insights into what they are doing. The students haven't been allowed to try, fail, and sometimes succeed at solving the harder mathemetical questions.
Actually, what I did was closer to the following:
1. Recommend a good strategy
2. Get Fired, Company wanted other (bad) strategy
3. Start new job
4. Get Hired back as an expensive consultant to fix the bad strategy and recommend implementing the good strategy.
5. Profit!!!
6. Keep a straight face until the bank cashes the check. (This step is hard.)
Remember, after you quit, you can't get fired! Enjoy the months of complete freedom.
Bell even throttled Cranky Geeks to 30 KB/s on me. The throttling is horrible, and the way they are doing it, you can't easily switch to a competitor. They throttle the competitor's connections too!
Tip: If you release and reacquire the PPPoE connection, it appears to temporarily fool the throttling software.
Additional tips would be appreciated.
Looking at Claim 1 in the patent, Microsoft has patented profiling by running a target application in a virtual machine at run-time. They then use the profiling data to determine if the program is malware. The patent includes many different ways of saving the profiling output too.
I'm pretty sure the technology being patented is already in widespread use. Many virus companies create mini-virtual environments to find out what blocks of self-modifying code really do. Otherwise, a sufficiently well disguised virus can "hide" by encrypting the payload with random blocks of keys, and then only keeping the malicious code in memory as long as it is executing. In effect, the virus code is generating itself from a randomly encrypted block of memory at run-time. The virus scanner then has only a limited window of time to spot the dangerous code. To solve this problem, virus scanners allow blocks of self-modifying code to execute (in a safe manner), to see what they will actually do.
It could be that Microsoft's anti-virus technology is obsolete, and they are actually a long distance behind the competition. ;-)
I always assumed that the flash updating programs would have lock outs to prevent someone from uploading an incorrect BIOS image when flashing the hardware. This would prevent people from flashing things, bricking their own hardware, and then trying to return it under warranty.
I add that feature to the embedded hardware that I design ...
I've been working on simulations of the 2.6.25.4 kernel running on neutron stars. Shortly after getting the 256-node Beowulf cluster simulation booted up, the cluster encounters severe gravitational disturbances. These interfere with network communications. I asked a physicist, and he started muttering something about event horizons and black holes. I think we are going to need a better patch.
Those conditions might not be prominently displayed before the ticket has been purchased. As such, one would wonder if the consent was properly given. Further, TicketMaster also has some language that they will not accept a return of the ticket. The same legal arguments that can be used to invalidate shrink wrapped EULA's would apply here as well. Essentially, you can't sell something to a customer with fine print locked inside that says: "If you open this, you agree to sell your house to me in exchange for the use of the software."
Also, even if you do consent to be recorded, the copyright still remains yours. You have to agree to license the copyright as well.
I have a machine in service with an embedded computer in it. The software for programming the computer does not support subdirectories. It dates from MS-DOS 1.1 from 25 years ago. It sort of works with MS-DOS 3.2 from 22 years ago.
Windows XP will still be in use after 2014. Not every piece of technology is easy to update.
My local university tried something like this. They had a fairly powerful computer (64-processors, SGI system) that they used for numerical simulations. It wasn't quite a supercomputer, but for the research group involved, it was their very own "supercomputer."
Enter Physical Plant. They were in charge of providing chilled water for air conditioning. In the dead of the Canadian winter, they failed to see the point of maintaining the 4 degree Celsius chilled water supply. Of course, a good sized supercomputer requires a fairly steady supply of chilled water.
Lot's of simulations bit the dust in the name of "efficiency" and "savings". I'm not sure if the supercomputer ever did work right after the first major overheat, when they completely turned off the chilled water supply.
The Eddington limit appears to limit the size of a star. At one point in time, it was thought that black holes formed from the collapse of stars. Later on, it was concluded that supermassive black holes are very good at feeding on neighboring stars, and thus supermassive black holes could form. The Wikipedia page on Black Hole Parameters has an explanation.
What happens if you don't drive? Currently, you don't need a driver's license to fly on a plane, at least here in Canada.
You must work for Microsoft. Almost every Linux distribution in existence uses GRUB for a bootloader. Only Microsoft calls Linux "an evil virus-like plague," as it sweeps the world, eliminating proprietary software, vaporizing multinational corporations, and saving the poor from the ravages of the new generation of software robber barons.
Windows was Microsoft's effort to fight back against the GUI interface of the Apple Macintosh. Back in the old days of DOS, the Apple Macintosh was the "windowing operating system." UNIX and X-Windows systems also did graphics, but generally only for CAD (Computer Aided Design) applications.
Linux has never fought in the graphical environment and ease of use space. Traditionally, its strength has always been that it is a great Unix replacement. Today, Linux dominates the university and scientific computing landscape. Additionally, Linux is a great operating system for many focused, special purpose projects. Projects like embedded web servers, routers, and even small portable computers like the Asus Eee PC. In many of these applications, neither the Mac nor Windows are feasible alternatives.
Since the mid-80's, the dominant PC in the market has been an IBM Compatible PC running Microsoft Software. The Graphical arts people have always used the Macintosh, because initially it had good and easy to use graphics. Unix and Linux have dominated in almost every special purpose application environment that the other two architectures could not accomplish.
The new effect is that the Mac, Windows, and to a lesser extent Linux, can all run the same desktop applications, or at least the same types of desktop applications. The result has been Microsoft pushing the .NET languages, hoping to create such a large application monolith, that no one will ever consider switching from Windows again. In practice, people want a simpler, more reliable alternative to Windows. For ease of use, Apple is winning. For cost, adaptability, and reliability, Linux is winning.
The U.S. military actually manages its budgets fairly well, in comparison to others. The Soviet's essentially bankrupted their entire economy trying to maintain a military that ultimately it could not afford. The screw-ups in the Soviet unions management ultimately destroyed the Soviet Union.
The private sector makes massive screw-ups too. Companies go broke all the time. They pay for their mistakes. All told, the desire for economic survival and profit ultimately makes the corporate sector more efficient.
The U.S. military may not be great for managing budgets, but for a bureaucratic organization, the American model isn't too bad. At least, not when compared to the competition.
Some teachers tape everything. Even at university, all conversations with students should occur with an open door (or with staff witnesses). Just the accusations can be pretty damning. If you don't have videotape evidence to the contrary, good luck talking your way out of the situation.
After upgrading to the most recent version of Visual Studio, from Visual C++ 6.0, I found the help unusable. I started asking other developers what they used for online help. A number of developers recommended using Google for Microsoft Help. I tried it, and it works really well.
I would really like to know: How often are Google searches used by Microsoft's development teams?
Intrinsically safe circuits can ignite gasoline when they are hit by lightning. The concern in aircraft applications isn't that the fuel ignites in normal operation. Rather, it is suspected that some airplanes have exploded after being hit by lightning.
If enough power hits just the right wire, and the tanks are near empty (with lots of explosive fuel vapors), and enough planes get hit by lightning in flight in a sensitive location, then potentially disaster can happen. The accident data says fuel tank explosions occur, and this might be a possible cause. Safety problems demand a precautionary approach. Hence the desire to eliminate the wire going to the fuel tank.
Further resources:
http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/EPA-GENERAL/1997/April/Day-03/g8495.htm
http://easa.europa.eu/doc/Events/fueltanksafety_24062005/easa_fueltanksafety_24062005_large_transport_ppt.pdf [pdf]
Note: a widespread consensus exists that many possible ways for fuel tanks to ignite exist. As such, most of the focus is on minimizing the likelihood of ignition, rather than one specific cause, like the fuel tank wires themselves.
In Canada, you might have a case for wrongful dismissal. You stopped the activity from occurring after it occurred. Your not supposed to fire employees after every small infraction occurs. You need to try remedial action first. If you fired everyone that made a small mistake, you would run out of employees pretty quickly.
I wish I still had Mod points. The Telecrapper 2000 http://www.pagerealm.com/tc2k/. This is exactly what I want.
Caution: don't /. the site to oblivion.
In Ontario, the speed limit only applies while you have wheels on the ground. In the air, you have no speed limit.
The flight simulators also have the 401 highway on the maps near the airport. I think the 747 pilots practice emergency landings on the 401 too. In a real emergency, this might be necessary. I don't think it has ever been tested with a big plane, because it is difficult to get the cars off the highway first.
Translators get paid in foreign dollars. Doctors are civil service positions in Russia, so they get paid poorly. A Doctor could moonlight as a translator in Russia, and make more money from translating than from saving people ...
The FCC and Cell Phone companies were working on such a device. I think the project did not go anywhere. Essentially, it isn't in the cell phone companies interests to block people from sending and receiving calls. With the new location requirements on cell phones, it should be possible to automatically lock out cell phones in certain geographical areas (like hospitals.) Unfortunately, even this safety related function is not a high priority.
Faraday Cages take some planning to build. They are tougher than they look. My cell phone works in elevators, and they are almost 100% covered in steel. For a restaurant, you need to get all the windows covered with a metal mesh, then all the remaining walls, the ceiling, the floor, and the doors. In the kitchen, things get really complicated, because you have large access doors and air vents.
The easiest way for a restaurant or a commercial establishment to build a Faraday cage would be to employ an RF engineer at the initial stages of construction. A concrete structure with steel reinforcing would probably be the easiest structure to attempt. The required RF mesh could be incorporated into the existing steel and concrete reinforcements with minimum building code issues. The heating and air conditioning ducts could be grounded. I think the military has a product to handle the windows, and if they don't, you could ground standard steel window mesh. The hardest points to protect would be the doors. A standard entry way with two sets of doors (like what is used in most commercial buildings) might work, if the doors can be easily shielded and grounded.
Hey, Microsoft can get us computer users here in North America to pay twice for a computer operating system too. Once for the Vista license, and then a second time for the XP license ...
At least the Nigerian's only pay Microsoft once!