I want us to stop predicting the future. We really don't do it very well. We are usually wrong. At least that seems to be the case with computing technology and other kinds of technology also. What do you think about our ability to predict the future?
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Why Are Computers So Damn Important?
When you think about it, computers are pretty important today. Name a single field in which computers are not in some way involved. I'm not meaning the small view of involvement wherein a computer is part of that domain. I'm talking about the large view of involvement where, in some way, computers have become a part of that field. Let's consider massage, a domain that might seem an odd one to choose as an example to support the notion that computers are important.
Computers are not important to the delivery of massage. Massage is still a service that is provided from a practitioner to a client. The computer has not intervened in the delivery aspect of massage. Even so we can find many examples where computers have become part and parcel of this most human field. For example, if I am a practitioner I might want to keep abreast of the latest information on massage techniques. Where would be a good place to maintain a current knowledge of techniques? Well, the answer to this question is of course the Internet. There is no more timely source of current information. If a massage practitioner wishes to maintain currency they must at least be able to use computers to navigate the Internet.
What about psychological therapy? How could computers possibly be involved with this domain? I could use the example above - the currency example - and it would be relevant to psychology also. But how about a more compelling example? What about virtual therapy? You no longer have to travel to a therapist's office - you can access the therapist directly over the Internet through, perhaps, a technology like telepresence. For a therapist this is an extension of their reach and their practice. In order to accomplish this the therapist must be aware of the possibilities and how technology can be used in this way. Some time ago (a long time ago) I had a conversation with a therapist about how there will come a time when it is common to have therapy sessions using the Internet as the delivery vehicle. At that time, the therapist poo-poo-ed the idea. And for good reason because so much of therapy has to do with non-verbal cues. Low and behold you can find therapists on the Internet who provide their services. As time goes along, this way of offering services will become more the norm and less an exception. But it depends on how people understand technology, and specifically the technology of computers.
We don't treat computer skills as mainstream skills. There are three ways that computer skills seem to be transferred these days. The first way is exposure to technology. People learn about computer technology directly through its use. This is a problem of course because the use of a technology does not imply understanding of the technology and understanding of the technology is extremely important in being able to understand how it can be used - even though people can still use technology.
The second way that computer skills seem to get transferred is from person-to-person. One person know how to do something, and likes doing it (take Facebook for instance), so they explain it to another person and that person starts to use it, and so on. Again, this sort of transfer does not imply understanding - only use. It is the same for video game hardware. Kids (and some adults) are extremely proficient users of video game technology, but do the understand the technology? It is more typical that they do not understand.
The third way that computer skills are transferred is through classroom exposure. Classes can be taken to learn various computer skills. If the person taking the class utilizes the skills they may end up remembering the information presented in the class. But if the person does not use the skills taught in a class they are soon forgotten, and the person may find doing or using what was taught in the class very difficult. The problem with this approach is that the course is "off to the side" and not part of the mainstream. It is not the case for example that taking a cooking course may involve computer skills - these are secondary to the cooking course. Of course if you consider that a recipe management system may be a tremendously powerful cooking tool, then computers should rightfully be part of a course on cooking.
If you were to look at programs in our schools today you would see that what computers are present are usually "off to the side." A science lesson for example may only use the computer to collect data, but more often than not the science lesson may not use the computer at all. And yet science today could not be carried out without the computer. The same could be said for medicine, mathematics, and even the arts. Computer music and computer art are now accepted kinds of art. The computer is a central element in the production of this art.
My point is that computers are damn important and should move from this position of being out of the mainstream to one in the mainstream. If anyhting the generation of younger students moving through middle school and high school today will rely more heavily on computer technology than anyone before them - and this will continue to be the trend because as far as I can see computers are here to stay.
Computers are not important to the delivery of massage. Massage is still a service that is provided from a practitioner to a client. The computer has not intervened in the delivery aspect of massage. Even so we can find many examples where computers have become part and parcel of this most human field. For example, if I am a practitioner I might want to keep abreast of the latest information on massage techniques. Where would be a good place to maintain a current knowledge of techniques? Well, the answer to this question is of course the Internet. There is no more timely source of current information. If a massage practitioner wishes to maintain currency they must at least be able to use computers to navigate the Internet.
What about psychological therapy? How could computers possibly be involved with this domain? I could use the example above - the currency example - and it would be relevant to psychology also. But how about a more compelling example? What about virtual therapy? You no longer have to travel to a therapist's office - you can access the therapist directly over the Internet through, perhaps, a technology like telepresence. For a therapist this is an extension of their reach and their practice. In order to accomplish this the therapist must be aware of the possibilities and how technology can be used in this way. Some time ago (a long time ago) I had a conversation with a therapist about how there will come a time when it is common to have therapy sessions using the Internet as the delivery vehicle. At that time, the therapist poo-poo-ed the idea. And for good reason because so much of therapy has to do with non-verbal cues. Low and behold you can find therapists on the Internet who provide their services. As time goes along, this way of offering services will become more the norm and less an exception. But it depends on how people understand technology, and specifically the technology of computers.
We don't treat computer skills as mainstream skills. There are three ways that computer skills seem to be transferred these days. The first way is exposure to technology. People learn about computer technology directly through its use. This is a problem of course because the use of a technology does not imply understanding of the technology and understanding of the technology is extremely important in being able to understand how it can be used - even though people can still use technology.
The second way that computer skills seem to get transferred is from person-to-person. One person know how to do something, and likes doing it (take Facebook for instance), so they explain it to another person and that person starts to use it, and so on. Again, this sort of transfer does not imply understanding - only use. It is the same for video game hardware. Kids (and some adults) are extremely proficient users of video game technology, but do the understand the technology? It is more typical that they do not understand.
The third way that computer skills are transferred is through classroom exposure. Classes can be taken to learn various computer skills. If the person taking the class utilizes the skills they may end up remembering the information presented in the class. But if the person does not use the skills taught in a class they are soon forgotten, and the person may find doing or using what was taught in the class very difficult. The problem with this approach is that the course is "off to the side" and not part of the mainstream. It is not the case for example that taking a cooking course may involve computer skills - these are secondary to the cooking course. Of course if you consider that a recipe management system may be a tremendously powerful cooking tool, then computers should rightfully be part of a course on cooking.
If you were to look at programs in our schools today you would see that what computers are present are usually "off to the side." A science lesson for example may only use the computer to collect data, but more often than not the science lesson may not use the computer at all. And yet science today could not be carried out without the computer. The same could be said for medicine, mathematics, and even the arts. Computer music and computer art are now accepted kinds of art. The computer is a central element in the production of this art.
My point is that computers are damn important and should move from this position of being out of the mainstream to one in the mainstream. If anyhting the generation of younger students moving through middle school and high school today will rely more heavily on computer technology than anyone before them - and this will continue to be the trend because as far as I can see computers are here to stay.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Opportunities
Recently I gave a talk to our student Computer Group. Ostensibly the talk was about what happens after you graduate. I like to think that soon after graduation a staircase appears (golden of course) and walking down the staircase is the most beautiful man (or women depending on your preference) you have ever seen. He/She is all glowee and haloee and in his/her arms is a bail (that's right, a bail, not a wad, or a bunch but a bail) of money. When he/she reaches you, he/she extends this bail of money to you and says "Here is your staring out money. It should last you a few years. While you have this money you are to go and figure out what it is you will do with your education and life. The only condition is that you are actively making the decision. Sitting around watching television or going to ball games won't do it for us (the supreme beings), so use this wisely." Once he/she finishes his/her speech, the person and the staircase are gone in sort of a flash fade.
Everything in this story is absolutely true except for one somewhat minor detail. It never seems that the bail of money comes to you during those first days. But everything else is pretty much accurate. Once you graduate, the real stuff comes, and that stuff is about making one or more decisions about your life moving forward. That decision doesn't have to be made quickly or haphazardly and can be fraught with many trials. It usually is fraught with many trials. It is a kind of birth where once again we are forced out from the warmth of the "school womb" to the cold cruel world.
The question is, what are you going to do with your life when you graduate? Do you have a job? Are you going to take a break? If a break, how long of a break? Are you going to do national or international service? Are you going to look for a job? Sometimes people get married when they graduate thus adding some complexity to the picture and question of what you are going to do when you graduate.
This post is not about knowing what you are going to do. Knowing is something that is very difficult. Sometimes these decisions are more of a process than an actual demarcation point in your life. For example, you may decide to go back to graduate school and when you go back you find that the activity that really makes you happy is doing chemsitry experiments. You decide, because of the pleasure you get out of turning small animals different colors (harmlessly of course), you are going to study chemistry along with having your computer science degree. This decision happened because of your ongoing studies, and not because (necessarily) you decided one day that chemistry was going to be the thing that made you happy.
It always surprises me when I meet a person that ahs followed a particular course in their life because that is the direction they began in, and that was the only direction they could go. All of your life you want to be a physician. You go through all of your schooling with that purpose, and in the end you become a physician. And you hate being a physician. A friend in college did just this. He studied to be a lawyer, is now a lawyer, and has hated being a lawyer almost from the first day. Does this make sense? I don't really think so. Whatever kept you on the path of physicianhood was artificial - it wasn't forcing you to be on the path, even though their may have been practical issues that you believed required you to be on the path. For example, you decided that physicianhood was the career that would give you the most freedom in your life - at some point. And once you have made that investment in time and money you can't can't change course - certainly not. You must stay and be a physician.
My own belief is that anyone that stays on a single path when they are as young as they will be when finishing college is not seeing (really) what lies ahead of them. Not seeing this could be for many reasons, but that is not important. What is important is to realize that if you are not seeing many options at the point of graduation it is because you haven't really considered what they might be. This is as true with being a doctor or a lawyer as it is being an IT or CS professional. We have lots of options when we graduate - not only the single of option of finding that job.
I have long thought of computing as that field of study where anything you wanted to create or become could be accomplished using the computer as a tool to do it. That is what our training it about. If you want to have a career in an IT group then you can have a career in an IT group. If you have an entreprenerial bent and want to explore a new business idea, knowing about and being able to use a computer to do so is a tremendous tool. If you want to teach computing you can do that also.
One of the amazing characteristics of our field is that it changes faster than any other field because it is technology is driving the field. There is hardly a device today that doesn't have an embedded processor in it. Each of these processors has programming. Can you conceive of a new device that has a computer in it? Do you have the inventor's bent? Computing and computers lend themselves extremely well to creating new inventions. Long before their were GPS's I had conceived of a laptop program that does what our GPS devices do today. I never pursued the idea because I had about 10,000 things going on, but this idea certainly has now become commonplace. The list of what you can do goes on and on.
My point in this posting is that the one thing you should do when you graduate is to take a moment and consider your options. If you don't think you have any options, then that in itself is a problem. What are the possibilities you might pursue? What does having a particular opportunity entail? If you have 3 opportunities in mind, if one doesn't pan out then you could fall back onto the other two. And opportunities are something you should continue to create for yourself. So if you are in the middle of an opportunity and it does not seem like it is going to work out, then create a few more and keep the list around. I assure you having such a list makes a much richer trip (you have multiple paths), and also makes life a little less worriesome. All of your eggs are not in a single basket and should not be in that basket.
Everything in this story is absolutely true except for one somewhat minor detail. It never seems that the bail of money comes to you during those first days. But everything else is pretty much accurate. Once you graduate, the real stuff comes, and that stuff is about making one or more decisions about your life moving forward. That decision doesn't have to be made quickly or haphazardly and can be fraught with many trials. It usually is fraught with many trials. It is a kind of birth where once again we are forced out from the warmth of the "school womb" to the cold cruel world.
The question is, what are you going to do with your life when you graduate? Do you have a job? Are you going to take a break? If a break, how long of a break? Are you going to do national or international service? Are you going to look for a job? Sometimes people get married when they graduate thus adding some complexity to the picture and question of what you are going to do when you graduate.
This post is not about knowing what you are going to do. Knowing is something that is very difficult. Sometimes these decisions are more of a process than an actual demarcation point in your life. For example, you may decide to go back to graduate school and when you go back you find that the activity that really makes you happy is doing chemsitry experiments. You decide, because of the pleasure you get out of turning small animals different colors (harmlessly of course), you are going to study chemistry along with having your computer science degree. This decision happened because of your ongoing studies, and not because (necessarily) you decided one day that chemistry was going to be the thing that made you happy.
It always surprises me when I meet a person that ahs followed a particular course in their life because that is the direction they began in, and that was the only direction they could go. All of your life you want to be a physician. You go through all of your schooling with that purpose, and in the end you become a physician. And you hate being a physician. A friend in college did just this. He studied to be a lawyer, is now a lawyer, and has hated being a lawyer almost from the first day. Does this make sense? I don't really think so. Whatever kept you on the path of physicianhood was artificial - it wasn't forcing you to be on the path, even though their may have been practical issues that you believed required you to be on the path. For example, you decided that physicianhood was the career that would give you the most freedom in your life - at some point. And once you have made that investment in time and money you can't can't change course - certainly not. You must stay and be a physician.
My own belief is that anyone that stays on a single path when they are as young as they will be when finishing college is not seeing (really) what lies ahead of them. Not seeing this could be for many reasons, but that is not important. What is important is to realize that if you are not seeing many options at the point of graduation it is because you haven't really considered what they might be. This is as true with being a doctor or a lawyer as it is being an IT or CS professional. We have lots of options when we graduate - not only the single of option of finding that job.
I have long thought of computing as that field of study where anything you wanted to create or become could be accomplished using the computer as a tool to do it. That is what our training it about. If you want to have a career in an IT group then you can have a career in an IT group. If you have an entreprenerial bent and want to explore a new business idea, knowing about and being able to use a computer to do so is a tremendous tool. If you want to teach computing you can do that also.
One of the amazing characteristics of our field is that it changes faster than any other field because it is technology is driving the field. There is hardly a device today that doesn't have an embedded processor in it. Each of these processors has programming. Can you conceive of a new device that has a computer in it? Do you have the inventor's bent? Computing and computers lend themselves extremely well to creating new inventions. Long before their were GPS's I had conceived of a laptop program that does what our GPS devices do today. I never pursued the idea because I had about 10,000 things going on, but this idea certainly has now become commonplace. The list of what you can do goes on and on.
My point in this posting is that the one thing you should do when you graduate is to take a moment and consider your options. If you don't think you have any options, then that in itself is a problem. What are the possibilities you might pursue? What does having a particular opportunity entail? If you have 3 opportunities in mind, if one doesn't pan out then you could fall back onto the other two. And opportunities are something you should continue to create for yourself. So if you are in the middle of an opportunity and it does not seem like it is going to work out, then create a few more and keep the list around. I assure you having such a list makes a much richer trip (you have multiple paths), and also makes life a little less worriesome. All of your eggs are not in a single basket and should not be in that basket.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
What is Valuable to You?
Here we are in Spring Term 2009. This is my third term at KU. I can't believe a year has already passed. Last term was a whirlwind. It went by fast that is for sure. And this term appears to be running at about the same speed as last even though I have somewhat less to do. The vacumn of available time always is filled beyond its capacity for new things to do. I just returned from a workshop on testing - that is testing software as software engineers view it. It was a great meeting. Why you ask? Because it wasn't just sitting around listening to people present papers with little or no time for comment. After a paper was presented it was discussed for as long as it needed to be discussed and that was pretty amazing. People at the meeting could question the presenter until they had no more questions opening the possibility for exploring new ideas and looking at the ideas presented. If only all conferences could be like this - of course they would have to be a lot longer. This meeting lasted 3 days and there were only about 6 presentations. And the schedule was fluid. So you didn't know what to expect each day. It was a great format for a conference. I usually dread attending these things, but this one more than "paid" for itself. Speaking of paying for itself, how are you feeling about the money and time you spend to be here at Kutztown?
As a teacher I believe it is important for us who do teach to make sure we are helping you learn what you need to learn so that when you leave KU you will be prepared for what is to come. Now having said this, I know, as you should, this is an impossible task. No one can really predict what you are going to face when you leave here, so how could any teacher achieve anything close to this goal? Well perhaps it is not correct to say that we prepare you for anything that you may face but rather we hope to prepare you in such a way that when you do face challenges you will know how to deal with them. As an educator that is one of my responsibilities.
When I was an undergraduate at Drexel studying Mathematics (there was no major in computing at Drexel at that time), I wondered why I had to take the courses I had to take. As a math major back then we were required to take five terms of Calculus - and this was considered introductory material. What came after that was even, how shall I say, even more interesting? We had a course called Intermediate Analysis. The one thing I remember from this course is that we had to prove that any point in space had other points around it. This was a very useful thing that we learned to prove. It allowed me to believe that it was okay that people were around me (considering me and the people points in space). Needless to say I didn't get it. Around the time I was taking this course, I also found "love." At least my first love in college. Imagine, being with my girlfriend vs. being in Intermediate Analysis. Hmm, what choice would you make?
Well, I am much older now, a grayhead if you wish, and I am on the other side of the street. And I am watching my students probably having the same dilemma as I did back then. Should I do something that I really want to do (love, geeking, etc.) or should I attend class? The latter of course is never as interesting or as important as the former. And as a teacher wanting to convey what I want to convey to you, what are my expectations and how hard should I push my students to be in class?
The thing is that you or your parents or the government is paying for your education. My father paid for my education to a point - I had to pay part of it also. But somehow the connection between spending money and going to school for that money is hardly made - except for those I think who are struggling to pay for their education. You see, if you don't embrace at least some of this possibly last experience at institutionalized education then you are truly wasting someone's (and possibly yours) money - not to mention time and space. And in today's economy do you really want to be doing that? Wasting money? Think about that for one moment. Picture a pile of money in front of you that has been set on fire and the money is going up in smoke. Not taking advantage of this part of your education is just that - watching money go up in smoke. So this leaves me with a dilemma. If you are throwing money away when you don't attend class or blow off your assignments do you realize you are wasting money, not to mention what you might get out of your classes?
When I was in school I did not feel I knew what my professors were teaching me - I just felt that for the most part the things they were teaching me were unecessary - why bother? So I did my share of money burning too. But amazingly enough I must have realized the value in this because I continued on to a Master's degree and of course a Ph.D. So I must have realized that there was value in this. To tell you the truth I never planned to teach as a career although I was always drawn to it, but now, as it turns out, that education has been paying me back. And there you have it, education as an investment. You don't know how or where it will pay you back, but it will at some point, do that, if you don't throw it all away. As the saying goes, "come to class, you might learn something," and I would like to add, "and earn something too.?" I look forward to your comments about this post.
As a teacher I believe it is important for us who do teach to make sure we are helping you learn what you need to learn so that when you leave KU you will be prepared for what is to come. Now having said this, I know, as you should, this is an impossible task. No one can really predict what you are going to face when you leave here, so how could any teacher achieve anything close to this goal? Well perhaps it is not correct to say that we prepare you for anything that you may face but rather we hope to prepare you in such a way that when you do face challenges you will know how to deal with them. As an educator that is one of my responsibilities.
When I was an undergraduate at Drexel studying Mathematics (there was no major in computing at Drexel at that time), I wondered why I had to take the courses I had to take. As a math major back then we were required to take five terms of Calculus - and this was considered introductory material. What came after that was even, how shall I say, even more interesting? We had a course called Intermediate Analysis. The one thing I remember from this course is that we had to prove that any point in space had other points around it. This was a very useful thing that we learned to prove. It allowed me to believe that it was okay that people were around me (considering me and the people points in space). Needless to say I didn't get it. Around the time I was taking this course, I also found "love." At least my first love in college. Imagine, being with my girlfriend vs. being in Intermediate Analysis. Hmm, what choice would you make?
Well, I am much older now, a grayhead if you wish, and I am on the other side of the street. And I am watching my students probably having the same dilemma as I did back then. Should I do something that I really want to do (love, geeking, etc.) or should I attend class? The latter of course is never as interesting or as important as the former. And as a teacher wanting to convey what I want to convey to you, what are my expectations and how hard should I push my students to be in class?
The thing is that you or your parents or the government is paying for your education. My father paid for my education to a point - I had to pay part of it also. But somehow the connection between spending money and going to school for that money is hardly made - except for those I think who are struggling to pay for their education. You see, if you don't embrace at least some of this possibly last experience at institutionalized education then you are truly wasting someone's (and possibly yours) money - not to mention time and space. And in today's economy do you really want to be doing that? Wasting money? Think about that for one moment. Picture a pile of money in front of you that has been set on fire and the money is going up in smoke. Not taking advantage of this part of your education is just that - watching money go up in smoke. So this leaves me with a dilemma. If you are throwing money away when you don't attend class or blow off your assignments do you realize you are wasting money, not to mention what you might get out of your classes?
When I was in school I did not feel I knew what my professors were teaching me - I just felt that for the most part the things they were teaching me were unecessary - why bother? So I did my share of money burning too. But amazingly enough I must have realized the value in this because I continued on to a Master's degree and of course a Ph.D. So I must have realized that there was value in this. To tell you the truth I never planned to teach as a career although I was always drawn to it, but now, as it turns out, that education has been paying me back. And there you have it, education as an investment. You don't know how or where it will pay you back, but it will at some point, do that, if you don't throw it all away. As the saying goes, "come to class, you might learn something," and I would like to add, "and earn something too.?" I look forward to your comments about this post.
Monday, December 8, 2008
What does it mean for a computer person to go green?
As this term comes to an end (Fall term), I find myself cogitating again about stuff as I work through various problems of my life. What's nice about being able to write a blog is that for the most part, you write it for yourself. If someone comes and reads it - that's cool too. So this subject is a little off as far as computer science goes - but is it really?
About a month ago I was upgrading some hard disk drives on an extremely inexpensive Dell server. The cost of the server was so inexpensive that I purchased two of them, and I have been upgrading their storage capacity ever since. These are perfectly good servers. They are reasonably fast and they are reasonably easy to maintain. For about $200 per server, I think I've gotten more than my moneys worth.
One server is used as the "main file server" and the other server is an image of the first (in case anything goes wrong with the first server). Well as I was upgrading two of the hard drives in sercer 1, I did something to the machine that caused it to basically die. I think the motherboard became fried from static electricity (wasn't wearing a grounding strap) and therefore the computer would not boot up and now I was going to test my backup system - the second server. And I had to replace the blown server. Well it turns out that Dell was offering another deal on the same kind of server that I had purchased so I bought another one. I set it up and we are back to running the two servers. Life is good.
I thought that I would take the case of the blown Dell server, replace its motherboard, power supply, and memory, and basically get another machine with a much faster processor and more memory for a minimum of expense. Unfortunately, Dell makes the use of their cases very difficult for anything but their computer parts. And this is where going green comes in.
Metal is an interesting substance. Steel for example is a very strong substance and will last a long time. Aluminum on the other hand can be strong depending on its thickness and is very pliable. We use metal to build stuff because of its strength, pliability, malleability, and longevity. Plastic of course is a substance that has tremendous longevity, and it some has toxicity when you make it, when you use it, and certainly when you throw it away. Why do we use these materials when we are going to throw them away in a couple of years? Or, put another way, why the he-double-ll can't I reuse the perfectly good Dell case? Seems to me this is a great thing to do as throwing it out will only contribute to our sum total trash heap in some land fill. I am thinking of the scenario portrayed in Wall-E where the Earth eventually becomes one very large land fill. Do we really want that?
I realize we are a culture that wants "the new" over the old. We long for that new glitzy thing over the old used and warn out thing. The designs of new things attract us and encourage us to buy. After all we are a consumer culture and when we stop consuming it affects the world. At this point, isn't it a little ridiculous? How many new models do we need?
So after I found out that the Dell case is non-standard in terms of not only its front panel connections, but its motherboard attachment configuration, and worst of all its rear panel consideration I sadly stopped my modifications in order to make a standard ASUS ATX motherboard fit. After all why bother? It would possibly cost more for me to retrofit the case than just buy a new case. But this bothers me because that means I have to throw out the Dell case and that is not a very green thing to do. Computer manufacturers might want to think in terms of not only recycling (as in the case of the Apple solid aluminum body laptop) by also in reuse. Reuse is a perfectly valid for of being green. Why not think this way when we manufacture a product?
About a month ago I was upgrading some hard disk drives on an extremely inexpensive Dell server. The cost of the server was so inexpensive that I purchased two of them, and I have been upgrading their storage capacity ever since. These are perfectly good servers. They are reasonably fast and they are reasonably easy to maintain. For about $200 per server, I think I've gotten more than my moneys worth.
One server is used as the "main file server" and the other server is an image of the first (in case anything goes wrong with the first server). Well as I was upgrading two of the hard drives in sercer 1, I did something to the machine that caused it to basically die. I think the motherboard became fried from static electricity (wasn't wearing a grounding strap) and therefore the computer would not boot up and now I was going to test my backup system - the second server. And I had to replace the blown server. Well it turns out that Dell was offering another deal on the same kind of server that I had purchased so I bought another one. I set it up and we are back to running the two servers. Life is good.
I thought that I would take the case of the blown Dell server, replace its motherboard, power supply, and memory, and basically get another machine with a much faster processor and more memory for a minimum of expense. Unfortunately, Dell makes the use of their cases very difficult for anything but their computer parts. And this is where going green comes in.
Metal is an interesting substance. Steel for example is a very strong substance and will last a long time. Aluminum on the other hand can be strong depending on its thickness and is very pliable. We use metal to build stuff because of its strength, pliability, malleability, and longevity. Plastic of course is a substance that has tremendous longevity, and it some has toxicity when you make it, when you use it, and certainly when you throw it away. Why do we use these materials when we are going to throw them away in a couple of years? Or, put another way, why the he-double-ll can't I reuse the perfectly good Dell case? Seems to me this is a great thing to do as throwing it out will only contribute to our sum total trash heap in some land fill. I am thinking of the scenario portrayed in Wall-E where the Earth eventually becomes one very large land fill. Do we really want that?
I realize we are a culture that wants "the new" over the old. We long for that new glitzy thing over the old used and warn out thing. The designs of new things attract us and encourage us to buy. After all we are a consumer culture and when we stop consuming it affects the world. At this point, isn't it a little ridiculous? How many new models do we need?
So after I found out that the Dell case is non-standard in terms of not only its front panel connections, but its motherboard attachment configuration, and worst of all its rear panel consideration I sadly stopped my modifications in order to make a standard ASUS ATX motherboard fit. After all why bother? It would possibly cost more for me to retrofit the case than just buy a new case. But this bothers me because that means I have to throw out the Dell case and that is not a very green thing to do. Computer manufacturers might want to think in terms of not only recycling (as in the case of the Apple solid aluminum body laptop) by also in reuse. Reuse is a perfectly valid for of being green. Why not think this way when we manufacture a product?
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Stifling Innovation
This particular topic has been on my mind for the last couple of weeks. And while I really wanted to make an entry about it I felt that I had to catch up on some of my other topics, i.e., "Have a Plan B." Previously I've written about the need for a new paradigm. Whether it be in programming or the operatinf system, or the computers we use, this technology will not change without new ideas allowed to see the light of day. I am reminded of a movie about this very topic - "Tucker - The Man and His Dream." (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096316/). I really like this movie. Jeff Bridges stars as Preston Tucker a rather energetic and crazy man who designs and builds vehicles. During the course of the story Tucker builds an automobile that is a better vehicle then the Detroit automakes can produce. These automakers did not like to be challanged - so as you might expect they launched a campaign to basically ruin Tucker. Although his auto did see the light of day, and he manufactured them, the automakers for a while looked like they were going to defeat Tucker and his auto.
Fast forward to today. Innovation in the computer industry. I really can't say that there hasn't been innovation. Look at the computers we have today as opposed to those 10 years ago. The desktop computer will likely disappear shortly for lack of need. What will be left are laptops and computers that act as servers and provide various capabilities to the laptop. A sort of virtual computing environment where we draw whatever computing power we need when we need it. Such a model practically eliminates the need for more powerful, fancier, and more sophisticated laptops or desktop computers. Will we get to this model of computing? Eventually I think. Does this model of computing run counter to the current model of computing - absolutley. Does it behoove Microsoft and Intel to stifle or curtail this type of computing? Absolutlely. How could it possibly be that every couple of years we would be more or lessed forced to buy a new laptop or desktop computer because our older computer is too slow or can't run some new flashy software. Again, making an analogy with the auto industry, a sort of planned obsolescence. What would that do to the Microsoft, Intel, and AMD business models? It wouldn't be pretty that is for sure. I am not saying that Microsoft or Intel or even Apple are stifling innovation, but it certainly would "rock their worlds" if the paradigm changed in this way. The point I am trying to make is that true innovation won't occur until the influence of the behemoths is neglible. As long as they do exist though innovation will occur in very small increments being doled out to the market at the time the behemoth's see fit. That is why Microsoft can bring a 9th, 10th, and maybe event a 30th version of Windows to the market.
For a while, Steve Jobs with NEXT Computer tried to go up against the behemoths. Unfotunately although the NEXT Computer did see the light of day, the company did not last a long time. The PC was far too entrenched to be replaced by anything innovative. Notice that we don't really see any new or different computers. They pretty much are all the same. Something truly different, ala Tucker, won't appear until (a) under the radar innovation has reached the point where its influence on what can be done cannot help but influence the type of computing platforms we see, or (b) the behemoths begin to loose their positions (as is just beginning to happen today). Neverheless we will have to wait.
Fast forward to today. Innovation in the computer industry. I really can't say that there hasn't been innovation. Look at the computers we have today as opposed to those 10 years ago. The desktop computer will likely disappear shortly for lack of need. What will be left are laptops and computers that act as servers and provide various capabilities to the laptop. A sort of virtual computing environment where we draw whatever computing power we need when we need it. Such a model practically eliminates the need for more powerful, fancier, and more sophisticated laptops or desktop computers. Will we get to this model of computing? Eventually I think. Does this model of computing run counter to the current model of computing - absolutley. Does it behoove Microsoft and Intel to stifle or curtail this type of computing? Absolutlely. How could it possibly be that every couple of years we would be more or lessed forced to buy a new laptop or desktop computer because our older computer is too slow or can't run some new flashy software. Again, making an analogy with the auto industry, a sort of planned obsolescence. What would that do to the Microsoft, Intel, and AMD business models? It wouldn't be pretty that is for sure. I am not saying that Microsoft or Intel or even Apple are stifling innovation, but it certainly would "rock their worlds" if the paradigm changed in this way. The point I am trying to make is that true innovation won't occur until the influence of the behemoths is neglible. As long as they do exist though innovation will occur in very small increments being doled out to the market at the time the behemoth's see fit. That is why Microsoft can bring a 9th, 10th, and maybe event a 30th version of Windows to the market.
For a while, Steve Jobs with NEXT Computer tried to go up against the behemoths. Unfotunately although the NEXT Computer did see the light of day, the company did not last a long time. The PC was far too entrenched to be replaced by anything innovative. Notice that we don't really see any new or different computers. They pretty much are all the same. Something truly different, ala Tucker, won't appear until (a) under the radar innovation has reached the point where its influence on what can be done cannot help but influence the type of computing platforms we see, or (b) the behemoths begin to loose their positions (as is just beginning to happen today). Neverheless we will have to wait.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
The Economy - Have a Plan B
I've been thinking alot lately about lots of things. Sometimes when this happens I don't write anything because there is too much thinking and not enough time for writing. Actually there is not enough time for anything these days as I move through Fall term with my students. But I also realized it has been some time since I've posted and being that this is my more or less periodical place to write about things that concern me and perhaps things that concern you. Of late of course what should be on everyone's screen is the economy. Even your radar screen as a student. Anyone who lives in this country should be concerned.
As a person growing up through the 60's, 70's, and 80's, I have lived through several of our recessions. When I started in our field back in the 60's there weren't many jobs in computing because computers were only beginning to enter the scene and computer people were just "becoming." Nevertheless when I started working as a programmer I was 16 years old, and since that time I have never been without work - some 40 years later. That speaks pretty highly of the resilience of our field I think. It has only been in the last few years that our field have become more worrisome in terms of employment. Companies and their management have become much more mercenary about their hiring and firing practices. It seems that the way they like to solve problems (the easiest way) when the economy becomes bad is to get rid of people. And, I have to say when this happens this mercenary attitude toward people makes things worse for the people who still have jobs. They are expected to do more because there were less people to do the work that still has to be done. In other words, the work force contracts but the work does not. Companies are stupid in this way but that is a topic for another post at another time.
My real purpose of this post is to suggest how you might become more economy resilient. In other words, as a student who will soon enter the work force (you may already be in the workforce, so if you are that is fine. This advice also applies to you.) Entering the workforce means many things especially if this is your first full time position. One of those things is the question of plan. What kind of plan do you have for yourself should your employment for some reason be ended?
I like to think about Plan B's. Plan B's are alternatives for solving problems. Life needs plan B's for an abundance of occasions. Some of these occasions are pretty serious. Some are not. They say that when you are down the best things to do is to get up and start again. If you have a plan B that is alot easier. At least you have something to do when you get up that may or may not lead to a better end.
So as a computer person, newly minted or otherwise, what do your plan B's look like? One of the things about our field is that it affords us the opportunity to have a plethora (I love this word) of plan B's. In other words we have many alternative paths to follow. And you should consider these when you start your first, forth, or tenth job. Always have a plan B.
Here are some plan B ideas.
While you are working, keep your eye on the job boards - Monster.com and Dice.com. See what jobs are coming up. Does anything look interesting? A better opportunity? A slightly different spin on what you are doing. If so, while you are employed it does not hurt to explore that possibility. This affords you some backup plan if your current employment should end. In fact you should ALWAYS be looking at what new opportunities arise. In this economy, and with the present state of company attitudes towards its employees there is no loyalty from employer to employee. So protect yourself, and keep your eye on what alternatives exist. If something seem interesting go for it. It never hurts. The only advice I have about this is if you are just starting a job, wait about a year before actually going on any interviews. This looks a little better to a different employer. And you can always answer the question about leaving your current employer, "I like to explore new possibilities to keep on top of those opportunities." If some interviewer wants to lecture you on the "wrongs" of doing that, smile politely, listen, and then they are done, thank them and walk away - this isn't a place you want to work.
Start your own business on the side. It is relatively inexpensive these days to set up a computer business of some sort. You know how to do that. You are a computer person. Technology is your friend. Do web development. Sell things on ebay. Create databases. Fix computers. Whatever it is, have it as a side activity. This is a way to have an active plan B that you can fall back upon if you need to and ratchet up in the event of a loss of primary employment. You can control how much side work you take on, so don't over commit. This is also a way to make some additional income so you can sock it away for a rainy day (also a Plan B).
Have an alternative skill. It just so happens that I was good at teaching. In fact I love to teach. So when I wanted to stop climbing the corporate ladder and start having a better and realer life I used y Plan B - go and teach. It is nine years now that I have been doing this. I work hard. There are always challenges, but I wouldn't give it up for the world. Education turns out to be an economy resilient profession.
So there you have it - three plan B possibilities. I am sure you can think of additional ones. If you do, post them. Other students may find them interesting and useful. Always remember to have a plan B. It will make life easier in most cases.
As a person growing up through the 60's, 70's, and 80's, I have lived through several of our recessions. When I started in our field back in the 60's there weren't many jobs in computing because computers were only beginning to enter the scene and computer people were just "becoming." Nevertheless when I started working as a programmer I was 16 years old, and since that time I have never been without work - some 40 years later. That speaks pretty highly of the resilience of our field I think. It has only been in the last few years that our field have become more worrisome in terms of employment. Companies and their management have become much more mercenary about their hiring and firing practices. It seems that the way they like to solve problems (the easiest way) when the economy becomes bad is to get rid of people. And, I have to say when this happens this mercenary attitude toward people makes things worse for the people who still have jobs. They are expected to do more because there were less people to do the work that still has to be done. In other words, the work force contracts but the work does not. Companies are stupid in this way but that is a topic for another post at another time.
My real purpose of this post is to suggest how you might become more economy resilient. In other words, as a student who will soon enter the work force (you may already be in the workforce, so if you are that is fine. This advice also applies to you.) Entering the workforce means many things especially if this is your first full time position. One of those things is the question of plan. What kind of plan do you have for yourself should your employment for some reason be ended?
I like to think about Plan B's. Plan B's are alternatives for solving problems. Life needs plan B's for an abundance of occasions. Some of these occasions are pretty serious. Some are not. They say that when you are down the best things to do is to get up and start again. If you have a plan B that is alot easier. At least you have something to do when you get up that may or may not lead to a better end.
So as a computer person, newly minted or otherwise, what do your plan B's look like? One of the things about our field is that it affords us the opportunity to have a plethora (I love this word) of plan B's. In other words we have many alternative paths to follow. And you should consider these when you start your first, forth, or tenth job. Always have a plan B.
Here are some plan B ideas.
While you are working, keep your eye on the job boards - Monster.com and Dice.com. See what jobs are coming up. Does anything look interesting? A better opportunity? A slightly different spin on what you are doing. If so, while you are employed it does not hurt to explore that possibility. This affords you some backup plan if your current employment should end. In fact you should ALWAYS be looking at what new opportunities arise. In this economy, and with the present state of company attitudes towards its employees there is no loyalty from employer to employee. So protect yourself, and keep your eye on what alternatives exist. If something seem interesting go for it. It never hurts. The only advice I have about this is if you are just starting a job, wait about a year before actually going on any interviews. This looks a little better to a different employer. And you can always answer the question about leaving your current employer, "I like to explore new possibilities to keep on top of those opportunities." If some interviewer wants to lecture you on the "wrongs" of doing that, smile politely, listen, and then they are done, thank them and walk away - this isn't a place you want to work.
Start your own business on the side. It is relatively inexpensive these days to set up a computer business of some sort. You know how to do that. You are a computer person. Technology is your friend. Do web development. Sell things on ebay. Create databases. Fix computers. Whatever it is, have it as a side activity. This is a way to have an active plan B that you can fall back upon if you need to and ratchet up in the event of a loss of primary employment. You can control how much side work you take on, so don't over commit. This is also a way to make some additional income so you can sock it away for a rainy day (also a Plan B).
Have an alternative skill. It just so happens that I was good at teaching. In fact I love to teach. So when I wanted to stop climbing the corporate ladder and start having a better and realer life I used y Plan B - go and teach. It is nine years now that I have been doing this. I work hard. There are always challenges, but I wouldn't give it up for the world. Education turns out to be an economy resilient profession.
So there you have it - three plan B possibilities. I am sure you can think of additional ones. If you do, post them. Other students may find them interesting and useful. Always remember to have a plan B. It will make life easier in most cases.
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