Category: Technology

The Evils of Multitasking

Posted on by

Ellen Ullman, author of the excellent, the Bug on the Evils of Multitasking:

Not that Microsoft is the only culprit; distraction is built into the fabric of today’s electronic world. Icons on the PC toolbar flash; ads on Web pages shimmer and dazzle; software companies send e-mail messages to say your software is out of date; word processors interrupt to correct your spelling; Web pages refuse to show themselves until you update a plug-in; lights on laptops blink at you every time the hard drive whirs into motion (which, I’m here to tell you, happens a lot more often than you would ever care to know). The screens of TV cable news programs make three-ring circuses seem calm. You can’t even enjoy the 10th rerun of your favorite “Law and Order” episode without a glittering promo fluttering at the corner of the screen.

UW Team Revives dying neurons Related to Alzheimer’s & Parkinson’s

Posted on by

Ryan Joerres:

The new findings could eventually help halt the progression of such diseases by averting the deterioration of the neurons involved in such diseases.
UW professor of pharmacology Jeff Johnson, the lead researcher of the group, has been recognized across the nation for his recent findings concerning Alzheimer’s disease and the natural defense mechanisms involved in similar neurodegenerative diseases.

Tool for Thought

Posted on by

Steven Berlin Johnson discusses the software he uses to organize his research, Devonthink.

This week’s edition of the Times Book Review features an essay that I wrote about the research system I’ve used for the past few years: a tool for exploring the couple thousand notes and quotations that I’ve assembled over the past decade — along with the text of finished essays and books. I suspect there will be a number of you curious about the technical details, so I’ve put together a little overview here, along with some specific observations. For starters, though, go read the essay and then come back once you’ve got an overview.

Does Not Compute: Technology Implementations….

Posted on by

Nicholas G. Carr continues his analysis of failed software projects. Carr wonders if we should scale back our technology expectations:

Equally important, they stopped trying to be creative. Rather than try to customize their software, they began looking for cheaper, off-the-shelf programs that would get the job done with a minimum of fuss. When necessary, they changed their own procedures to fit the available software. Old, generic technology may not be glamorous, but it has an important advantage: it works.
It may well turn out that the F.B.I.’s biggest problem was its desire to be innovative – to build a new wheel rather than use an old one within easy reach. When it comes to developing software today, innovation should be a last resort, not a first instinct.

Carr is mistaken in telling technology drivers to slow down with respect to innovation. The real question is whether or not top management has made the commitment to align their business processes with the technology (and provide leadership when tough decisions must be made). Carr, of course does not mention the many successful technology innovations we take for granted today, such as

  • Cell Phones
  • The Internet
  • Fast payment processing (credit cards)
  • Travel reservation systems

We take these innovations for granted, but each one required risk, leadership, mistakes and a willingness to make it work. There are no shortcuts. More on Nicholas G. Carr.

AT&T’s CTO recognizes what is required to succeed:

“The biggest challenge is not the technology,” he said, “but being able to change the culture.”

Biodiesel & Willie Nelson

Posted on by

Wired News:

“There is really no need going around starting wars over oil. We have it here at home. We have the necessary product, the farmers can grow it,” said Nelson, who organized Farm Aid two decades ago to draw attention to the plight of American agriculture.
Nelson told The Associated Press in an interview last week that he began learning about the product a few years ago after his wife purchased a biodiesel-burning car in Hawaii, where the star has a home.
“I got on the computer and punched in biodiesel and found out this could be the future,” said Nelson, who now uses the fuel for his cars and tour buses.
Peter Bell, a Texas biodiesel supplier, struck up a friendship with Nelson after filling up one of the tour buses, and the business partnership came together just before Christmas.

Fat links: alltheweb Clusty | Google | MSN | Teoma | Yahoo

Comair Shutdown: 16 Bit Buffer Overflow (essentially, an older design)

Posted on by

Richard Smith offers up some background, and links on the Comair shutdown this past weekend.

According to the article, Comair is running a 15-year old scheduling software package from SBS International (www.sbsint.com). The software has a hard limit of 32,000 schedule changes per month. With all of the bad weather last week, Comair apparently hit this limit and then was unable to assign pilots to planes.
It sounds like 16-bit integers are being used in the SBS International scheduling software to identify transactions. Given that the software is 15 years old, this design decision perhaps was made to save on memory usage. In retrospect, 16-bit integers were probably not a wise choice.

It’s generally amazing things work as well as they do 🙂 This example also demonstrates the importance of keeping software up to date….