Reading Linus Torvalds’ blog I came across this paragraph:
Not that I actually ever really minded wearing glasses, but I could not recognize my own kids when in a swimming pool and they were more than six feet away. And let’s face it. swimming after other peoples kids and tickling them is not socially acceptable. At least in the US.
Laughing…
I haven’t been following the US presidential race closely. I remember watching a few speeches by Ron Paul, and thinking that he is a really nice guy. But somehow I doubted that he could win. Barack Obama’s speeches were the next best thing, even though I saw just a few of them. Here is a quote from Slashdot discussion on the subject, that I particularly enjoyed:
The thing that absolutely amazes me is the international reaction to Obama’s win. I knew that the reputation of America and Americans had been battered over the past few years, but I never suspected that it was as bad as it was. I watched the results last night, said a little “huzzah!” when Obama was declared, listened as McCain gave a warm, dignified, and gentlemanly concession speech, and then went to bed thinking I’d seen it all. I woke up at about 4:45 this morning and I’ve been flipping between news stations ever since. I got a little emotional last night during the speeches, but I’m absolutely devastated by the number of non-Americans who are dancing in the streets over Obama’s win. I never thought I’d see video of a few hundred Chinese people jumping around and chanting “Obama! Obama!” A reporter in France walked up to a woman and simply said “Obama?” Her face lit up and she simply said “C’est formidable!” Kenyans are throwing feasts in his honor. Arab and Persian states are happy. Israel is happy. Pakistan is happy. Australians are losing their damned minds over it. Russia is… well, they’re kinda grumpy, but they’re not having a good year.
(read the rest of the comment)
Well, I guess I am in the happy and joyful crowd. It feels like something big happened. But we are yet to see if this feeling has any substance.
I came across an interesting opinion by David Cole regarding the use of Internet connected laptops in the classrooms, during lectures.
study found that laptop use was significantly and negatively related to class performance
While I was reading the article, I kept nodding my head a lot. Yes, if I was back in college and I could have an Internet connected laptop on my desk, I’d be even worse of a student than I was. YouTube, forums, emails, Twitter, and a whole lot of other attention grabbers would not leave much for plain old college education. At least in my case. I know.
But then, I started thinking if that was true for other people I know. And I couldn’t be so sure anymore. A few guys I know literally can’t stay for too much long wihtout a computer and some sort of Internet connection. It’s like food or oxygen – they just have to have it. And when they have access to a computer, it’s often amazing to see them use it. Lots of interesting, topic related stuff coming up. Fact checking. Exploring the topic deeper and wider. With quotes and all.
And that got me into this idea of a new generation.  Younger people, who grew up online. Web is in their blood. A desktop computer as an ugly concept, and an offline computer as a useless box. This kind of people. I don’t think they would be much distracted. In fact, quite the opposite – I think their grades would go up with better Internet connection and laptop-friendlier environment.
And that’s where I started worrying a little bit about the studies that were mentioned in the article. These studies may be very accurate now. And they are performed by bigger universities and colleges. The results of these studies will take a few years of propagating into smaller colleges and universities. And that’s where the problem will arise. By that time, most new students will of the web native generation, but their alma maters will be choosing to disconnect them and ban their laptops. Even though it probably won’t be too relative by then.
But then again, isn’t it like this most of the time? I think it is.
The software is checked very carefully in a bottom-up fashion. First, each new line of code is checked, then sections of code or modules with special functions are verified. The scope is increased step by step until the new changes are incorporated into a complete system and checked. This complete output is considered the final product, newly released. But completely independently there is an independent verification group, that takes an adversary attitude to the software development group, and tests and verifies the software as if it were a customer of the delivered product. There is additional verification in using the new programs in simulators, etc. A discovery of an error during verification testing is considered very serious, and its origin studied very carefully to avoid such mistakes in the future. Such unexpected errors have been found only about six times in all the programming and program changing (for new or altered payloads) that has been done. The principle that is followed is that all the verification is not an aspect of program safety, it is merely a test of that safety, in a non-catastrophic verification. Flight safety is to be judged solely on how well the programs do in the verification tests. A failure here generates considerable concern.
The above was written by R. P. Feynman, in Feynman’s Appendix to the Rogers Commission Report on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident, 1986. More than 20 years ago. Much recommended reading.
Found via Richard Feynman, the Challenger Disaster, and Software Engineering.
There is a lot of noise going about these news:
The Foreign Ministry is migrating all of its 11.000 desktops to GNU/Linux and other Open source applications.
That’s good. Both the noise and the news. But it’s not the first time that we hear about this or that government office moving to Linux desktops. It happened before. What I am more interested in hearing is the “after” life. Something along the lines of “Look, we moved to Linux desktops one year ago and we are doing better than ever. We are happier and we also spend less money”. How many of those moved roll back to what they had before? Why did they roll back? How many stay? How many of those who stay are more satisfied? How much cheaper it is for them?
That’s what I’d like to hear.