Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Frankly Speaking: HP+EDS
You can safely figure that HP CEO Mark Hurd will do his usual slashing at EDS. That'll be tough for the 20,000 or 40,000 or 60,000 EDSers who lose their jobs.
But for corporate IT, unless you want to snap up some of that newly liberated EDS talent, that's irrelevant. The big question is how HP+EDS will make your job tougher.
But for corporate IT, unless you want to snap up some of that newly liberated EDS talent, that's irrelevant. The big question is how HP+EDS will make your job tougher.
A Game of Pictures and Words
Knight mare
Hole Milk
Light Beer
Tap dancers
Card Shark
The King of Pop
I Pod
Gator-Aide
Dandy lions
Assaulted peanut
eggplant
Doctor Pepper
pool table
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Free Games
Check out the Web site of Jean-Baptiste Lamy, the co-inventor of the VCM medical glyphs, for free GPL games @ http://home.gna.org/oomadness/en/about_me___/index.html.
Links to the games are displayed at the top and on the left-hand side of the screen.
Links to the games are displayed at the top and on the left-hand side of the screen.
Road Signs for Physicians
French researchers have developed a new iconic drug information system inspired by road signs. This icon system is named VCM, short for 'Visualisation des Connaissances Médicales' in French, which means 'Visualization of Medical Knowledge.' See below:
Like road signs, the VCM graphical language uses a small set of graphical signs. The current dictionary contains about 130 pictograms displayed in 5 colors.
Like road signs, the VCM graphical language uses a small set of graphical signs. The current dictionary contains about 130 pictograms displayed in 5 colors.
Sex Differences in the Brain
Sex Differences in the Brain: From Genes to Behavior (2007) by Jill Becker, Karen Berkley, Nori Geary, James Herman, and Elizabeth Young, from Oxford University Press, is an edited volume that in its 3 major sections; Strategies, Methods, and Background, delves into sex dimorphisms in an evolutionary context. This book requires a strong background in biology, endocrinology, and neuroscience but is worth reading even with a weak background in these areas.
Evan Balaban, writing in Science magazine (Science 21 March 2008:Vol. 319. no. 5870, pp. 1619 - 1620), concluded:
"All readers will learn something of value from this book, even if they don’t agree with the views of particular authors. Information content is high, references are ample, and the continuity between different chapters has been skillfully coordinated."
Nancy Yanes-Hoffman offers a detailed review at her blog and while she has some criticisms she also concludes:
"While scientists and researchers have long needed a book like SEX DIFFERENCES, its readership should not be limited to academia. The questing student of any age will find answers to many thorny questions—as well as more challenges to his or her perspectives and relationships".
She also suggests sources for further reading
Evan Balaban, writing in Science magazine (Science 21 March 2008:Vol. 319. no. 5870, pp. 1619 - 1620), concluded:
"All readers will learn something of value from this book, even if they don’t agree with the views of particular authors. Information content is high, references are ample, and the continuity between different chapters has been skillfully coordinated."
Nancy Yanes-Hoffman offers a detailed review at her blog and while she has some criticisms she also concludes:
"While scientists and researchers have long needed a book like SEX DIFFERENCES, its readership should not be limited to academia. The questing student of any age will find answers to many thorny questions—as well as more challenges to his or her perspectives and relationships".
She also suggests sources for further reading
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Rules for Object Orientation
These constraints are intended to be excessively restrictive so as to force developers into object orientation:
1. Use only one level of indentation per method. If you need more than one level, you need to create a second method and call it from the first.
2. Don’t use the “else” keyword. Test for a condition with an if-statement and exit the routine if it’s not met. This prevents if-else chaining and every routine does just one thing.
3. Wrap all primitives and strings. This directly addresses “primitive obsession.” If you want to use an integer, you first have to create a class (even an inner class) to identify its true role.
4. Use only one dot per line. This step prevents you from reaching deeply into other objects to get at fields or methods and thereby conceptually breaking encapsulation.
5. Don’t abbreviate names. This constraint avoids the procedural verbosity that is created by certain forms of redundancy—if you have to type the full name of a method or variable, you’re likely to spend more time thinking about its name.
6. Keep entities small. This means no more than 50 lines per class and no more than 10 classes per package. The 50 lines per class constraint is crucial. Not only does it force concision and keep classes focused, but it also means most classes can fit on a single screen in any editor/IDE.
7. Don’t use any classes with more than two instance variables.
8. Use first-class collections. In other words, any class that contains a collection should contain no other member variables.
9. Don’t use setters, getters or properties. This is to enforce encapsulation as well as implementing dependency injection approaches and adherence to the maxim “tell, don’t ask.”
1. Use only one level of indentation per method. If you need more than one level, you need to create a second method and call it from the first.
2. Don’t use the “else” keyword. Test for a condition with an if-statement and exit the routine if it’s not met. This prevents if-else chaining and every routine does just one thing.
3. Wrap all primitives and strings. This directly addresses “primitive obsession.” If you want to use an integer, you first have to create a class (even an inner class) to identify its true role.
4. Use only one dot per line. This step prevents you from reaching deeply into other objects to get at fields or methods and thereby conceptually breaking encapsulation.
5. Don’t abbreviate names. This constraint avoids the procedural verbosity that is created by certain forms of redundancy—if you have to type the full name of a method or variable, you’re likely to spend more time thinking about its name.
6. Keep entities small. This means no more than 50 lines per class and no more than 10 classes per package. The 50 lines per class constraint is crucial. Not only does it force concision and keep classes focused, but it also means most classes can fit on a single screen in any editor/IDE.
7. Don’t use any classes with more than two instance variables.
8. Use first-class collections. In other words, any class that contains a collection should contain no other member variables.
9. Don’t use setters, getters or properties. This is to enforce encapsulation as well as implementing dependency injection approaches and adherence to the maxim “tell, don’t ask.”
Friday, May 16, 2008
Indiana Jones Playable Demo Game
You may find a playable demo of the upcoming Games for Windows-branded "LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures"@ http://www.lucasarts.com/games/legoindianajones/demo
or http://www.gamesforwindows.com.
or http://www.gamesforwindows.com.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
UK UFO Archives
Newly released UFO archives from the Ministry of Defense, United Kingdom @ http://ufos.nationalarchives.gov.uk/
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Sunday, May 11, 2008
A Human Face
An interesting site for the study of human face @ http://www.face-and-emotion.com/dataface/general/homepage.jsp
This site is referenced by the electronic games character designers. It is for people who want to know more about the human face, whether they are casual observers or professional analysts of the face.
This site is referenced by the electronic games character designers. It is for people who want to know more about the human face, whether they are casual observers or professional analysts of the face.
Congressional Testimony: Holistic Approaches to Cybersecurity
A Statement by Dr. James A. Lewis of Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) on the Holistic Approaches to Cybersecurity to Enable Network Centric Operations:
http://www.csis.org/media/csis/congress/ts080401lewis.pdf
http://www.csis.org/media/csis/congress/ts080401lewis.pdf
Friday, May 9, 2008
Proto-threads
Proto-threads are lightweight stack-less threads designed for highly memory constrained systems, such as small embedded systems or wireless sensor network nodes. Learn more about them @ http://www.sics.se/~adam/pt/
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
ASP .Net Community Site
The ASP.NET 2.0 Starter Kits for Visual Web Developer are fully functional sample applications to help you learn ASP.NET 2.0 and accomplish common Web development scenarios. Each sample is complete and well-documented so that you can use the code to kick start your Web projects. Find it @ http://www.asp.net/community/projects/
Resources for Computational Linguistics Applied to Requirements Engineering
Tools:
Wmatrix is a software tool for corpus analysis and comparison. Find it @ http://ucrel.lancs.ac.uk/wmatrix/
ReqSimile is a Java application that operates on requirement sets. Find it @ http://reqsimile.sourceforge.net/
Papers:
A linguistic-engineering approach to large-scale requirements managementNatt och Dag, J.; Regnell, B.; Gervasi, V.; Brinkkemper, S.Software, IEEEVolume 22, Issue 1, Jan.-Feb. 2005 Page(s): 32 - 39
Shallow knowledge as an aid to deep understanding in early phase requirements engineeringSawyer, P.; Rayson, P.; Cosh, K.Software Engineering, IEEE Transactions onVolume 31, Issue 11, Nov. 2005 Page(s): 969 - 981
Natural Language Processing for Requirements Engineering: Applicability to Large Requirements Documents@ http://www4.informatik.tu-muenchen.de/publ/papers/Scalability_WITSE04.pdf
A Linguistic Analysis of Requirements Errors and Its Application @ http://www.cs.virginia.edu/papers/icse.2002.pdf
Wmatrix is a software tool for corpus analysis and comparison. Find it @ http://ucrel.lancs.ac.uk/wmatrix/
ReqSimile is a Java application that operates on requirement sets. Find it @ http://reqsimile.sourceforge.net/
Papers:
A linguistic-engineering approach to large-scale requirements managementNatt och Dag, J.; Regnell, B.; Gervasi, V.; Brinkkemper, S.Software, IEEEVolume 22, Issue 1, Jan.-Feb. 2005 Page(s): 32 - 39
Shallow knowledge as an aid to deep understanding in early phase requirements engineeringSawyer, P.; Rayson, P.; Cosh, K.Software Engineering, IEEE Transactions onVolume 31, Issue 11, Nov. 2005 Page(s): 969 - 981
Natural Language Processing for Requirements Engineering: Applicability to Large Requirements Documents@ http://www4.informatik.tu-muenchen.de/publ/papers/Scalability_WITSE04.pdf
A Linguistic Analysis of Requirements Errors and Its Application @ http://www.cs.virginia.edu/papers/icse.2002.pdf
Free Prototyping Tool
Check out the free prototyping tool ProtoXaml @ http://www.codeplex.com/protoxaml.
You "sketch" a User Interface to gather feedback and ideas and turn it by a mouse click into an artifact that Designer and Developers can refine.
You "sketch" a User Interface to gather feedback and ideas and turn it by a mouse click into an artifact that Designer and Developers can refine.
User IQ
Simon Guest has developed a tool he had to help decide what user interface platform was the best from among the more than 30 user interface technologies that Microsoft has
Simon's app, UXIQ, asks 12 questions which you answer on a sliding scale. Ultimately, you're given three recommendations to decide on. Both the app and source are available on Simon's blog post.
Simon's app, UXIQ, asks 12 questions which you answer on a sliding scale. Ultimately, you're given three recommendations to decide on. Both the app and source are available on Simon's blog post.
Where Is Microsoft Going?
To find the answer, read Microsoft Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie's memo of October 2005 @ http://www.scripting.com/disruption/ozzie/TheInternetServicesDisruptio.htm
Friday, May 2, 2008
A Time When Words Were Used Beautifully
The exchange between Churchill and Lady Astor: She said, "If you were my husband, I'd put poison in your tea." And he said, "If you were my wife, I'd drink it.""
Gladstone, a member of Parliament, to Benjamin Disraeli: "Sir, you will either die on the gallows or of some unspeakable disease." "That depends, sir," said Disraeli... "on whether I embrace your policies or your mistress".
"He had delusions of adequacy." - Walter Kerr
"He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire." - Winston Churchill
"He is a modest little person, with much to be modest about." - Winston Churchill
"I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure." - Clarence Darrow
"He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary." - William Faulkner (about Ernest Hemingway)
"Poor Faulkner. Does he really think bi g emotions come from big words?" - Ernest Hemingway (about William Faulkner)
"Thank you for sending me a copy of your book; I'll waste no time reading it." - Moses Hadas
"He can compress most words into the smallest idea of any man I know." - Abraham Lincoln
"I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it." - Mark Twain
"He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends" - Oscar Wilde
"I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play; bring a friend -- if you have one." - George Bernard Shaw to Winston Churchill
"Cannot possibly attend first night but I will be able to attend the second night -- if there is one." - Winston Churchill, in response
"I feel so miserable without you; it's almost like having you here." - Stephen Bishop
"He is a self-made man and worships his creator." - John Bright
"I've just learned about his illness. Let's hope it's nothing trivial." - Irvin S. Cobb
"He is not only dull himself, he is the cause of dullness in others." - Samuel Johnson
"He is simply a shiver looking for a spine to run up." - Paul Keating
"There's nothing wrong with you that reincarnation won't cure." - Jack E.Leonard
"He has the attention span of a lightning bolt." - Robert Redford
"They never open their mouths without subtracting from the sum of human knowledge." - Thomas Brackett Reed
"In order to avoid being called a flirt, she always yielded easily." - Charles, Count Talleyrand
"He loves nature in spite of what it did to him." - Forrest Tucker
"Why do you sit there looking like an envelope without any address on it?" - Mark Twain
"His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork. - Mae West
"Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go." - Oscar Wilde
"He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts -- for support rather than illumination." - Andrew Lang (1844-1912)
"He has Van Gogh's ear for music." - Billy Wilder
"I've had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn't it." - Groucho Marx
Gladstone, a member of Parliament, to Benjamin Disraeli: "Sir, you will either die on the gallows or of some unspeakable disease." "That depends, sir," said Disraeli... "on whether I embrace your policies or your mistress".
"He had delusions of adequacy." - Walter Kerr
"He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire." - Winston Churchill
"He is a modest little person, with much to be modest about." - Winston Churchill
"I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure." - Clarence Darrow
"He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary." - William Faulkner (about Ernest Hemingway)
"Poor Faulkner. Does he really think bi g emotions come from big words?" - Ernest Hemingway (about William Faulkner)
"Thank you for sending me a copy of your book; I'll waste no time reading it." - Moses Hadas
"He can compress most words into the smallest idea of any man I know." - Abraham Lincoln
"I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it." - Mark Twain
"He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends" - Oscar Wilde
"I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play; bring a friend -- if you have one." - George Bernard Shaw to Winston Churchill
"Cannot possibly attend first night but I will be able to attend the second night -- if there is one." - Winston Churchill, in response
"I feel so miserable without you; it's almost like having you here." - Stephen Bishop
"He is a self-made man and worships his creator." - John Bright
"I've just learned about his illness. Let's hope it's nothing trivial." - Irvin S. Cobb
"He is not only dull himself, he is the cause of dullness in others." - Samuel Johnson
"He is simply a shiver looking for a spine to run up." - Paul Keating
"There's nothing wrong with you that reincarnation won't cure." - Jack E.Leonard
"He has the attention span of a lightning bolt." - Robert Redford
"They never open their mouths without subtracting from the sum of human knowledge." - Thomas Brackett Reed
"In order to avoid being called a flirt, she always yielded easily." - Charles, Count Talleyrand
"He loves nature in spite of what it did to him." - Forrest Tucker
"Why do you sit there looking like an envelope without any address on it?" - Mark Twain
"His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork. - Mae West
"Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go." - Oscar Wilde
"He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts -- for support rather than illumination." - Andrew Lang (1844-1912)
"He has Van Gogh's ear for music." - Billy Wilder
"I've had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn't it." - Groucho Marx
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Google Patent
Please take a look at the Google patent application named "Transportation Routing". Its number is US20060149461, available @ http://www.arnoldit.com/lists/google-patents/pat20060149461.pdf
Note the drawing and what is being claimed, not just cars, buses, and trucks: in principle routing of satellites and spaceships. The transportation routing system was done casually. It's an example of how Google can innovate in some very surprising ways that can't be predicted
Google's approach to research and development relies more heavily on mathematicians rather than on software programmers with computer science backgrounds, although the latter still make important contributions to the search engine company's work.
Note the drawing and what is being claimed, not just cars, buses, and trucks: in principle routing of satellites and spaceships. The transportation routing system was done casually. It's an example of how Google can innovate in some very surprising ways that can't be predicted
Google's approach to research and development relies more heavily on mathematicians rather than on software programmers with computer science backgrounds, although the latter still make important contributions to the search engine company's work.
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About Me
- Babak Makkinejad
- I had been a senior software developer working for HP and GM. I am interested in intelligent and scientific computing. I am passionate about computers as enablers for human imagination. The contents of this site are not in any way, shape, or form endorsed, approved, or otherwise authorized by HP, its subsidiaries, or its officers and shareholders.