Object-oriented programming was all the rage twenty years ago. Traditional programming languages like "C" evolved to "C++" or Objective-C and included these new extensions. Software developers jumped on the bandwagon and extolled the virtues of this huge "paradigm shift." So what was all this hype about? Creating reusable code.
Fast forward to today and object-oriented program is still popular. It just isn't stressed as much as when it first arrived. The same can be said about air conditioning in automobiles. It used to be a luxury but now comes standard in most new vehicles. So twenty years later we have to ask if this once new enhancement has delivered on all of its promises.
The original selling point of reusable code was that software developers could build small little programs that could be put together to build larger systems. That is something that has been realized, albeit a little differently than originally thought. Today we have a number of building blocks that developers don't have to recreate when coding complex software. Companies like Google, Twitter, and LinkedIn have created software like Hadoop, Storm, and Kafka. These programs can then be used to make larger systems. This is helping developers throughout the world. So has object-oriented programming delivered? I would have to say, "YES!"
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Monday, October 29, 2012
Rules For Everyone
I am watching a CBS special on Hurricane Sandy. It has already pasted the East coast of the United States and they are running short stories about the storm. Among a few of the reports are mentions of people sticking around even though they were told to evacuate. I guess some people think certain rules don't apply to them. We call those people idiots.
This morning I had to catch my weekly flight from Salt Lake to Oakland. I use the flight to catch an extra hour of sleep on Monday mornings. When the Southwest passenger took the middle seat next to me, I knew I would notice him for all of about 5 minutes. Then he pulled out his computer and started working. There is only so long before passengers are asked to turn off electronic devices and so I didn't give that a second thought. Soon the flight attendant asked passengers to shut down computers and cell phones. My neighbor did, but only long enough for the attendants to pass by. Then he pulled his computer out and began to work again covertly during the safety briefing. I thought about letting him know that he should turn it off but couldn't figure out how to do so without looking like an angry passenger. So I tried to get back to sleep. I guess he didn't think the electronics rule applied to him.
Certain rules exist to keep up safe. The electronics rule on airplanes is not because the electronics do anything to the plane or its navigation system. It is there because those electronics devices turn into projectiles during takeoff and landing. My seat neighbor was kind enough to put his computer away before it could cause harm. That was good for me as I hate getting hurt because someone else is an idiot.
This morning I had to catch my weekly flight from Salt Lake to Oakland. I use the flight to catch an extra hour of sleep on Monday mornings. When the Southwest passenger took the middle seat next to me, I knew I would notice him for all of about 5 minutes. Then he pulled out his computer and started working. There is only so long before passengers are asked to turn off electronic devices and so I didn't give that a second thought. Soon the flight attendant asked passengers to shut down computers and cell phones. My neighbor did, but only long enough for the attendants to pass by. Then he pulled his computer out and began to work again covertly during the safety briefing. I thought about letting him know that he should turn it off but couldn't figure out how to do so without looking like an angry passenger. So I tried to get back to sleep. I guess he didn't think the electronics rule applied to him.
Certain rules exist to keep up safe. The electronics rule on airplanes is not because the electronics do anything to the plane or its navigation system. It is there because those electronics devices turn into projectiles during takeoff and landing. My seat neighbor was kind enough to put his computer away before it could cause harm. That was good for me as I hate getting hurt because someone else is an idiot.
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Time To Vote
Today I voted. I will not be in my state of residence on Election Tuesday and so I took advantage of early voting here in Utah. There was one polling location open on Saturday and so I had to drive all the way to the city/county building in downtown Salt Lake. I was pleased I was able to vote as this is a very important election year.
In my eagerness to get downtown and vote, I probably didn't spend enough time researching the issues and/or candidates. My wife warned me that there were a few bozos and so I steered clear of them. What about everybody else? I hate political ads on the TV and so I tune them out. I don't think they are the best source of information anyways. As you may have a week or so before the election, I recommend you use your favorite Internet search engine and educate yourself on not only the candidates, but also the issues being voted on this year. I voted against any new taxes, but you may feel differently.
I try to avoid politics in my blog and so my only advice for the election this year is for the office of president: Mit Romney. While some believe it was nice to have a change in the Presidency these last 4 years, I think Obama's health care plan is just one more nail in the coffin for American jobs. I know a number of small to mid-sized companies that cannot afford the increase in health insurance premiums. With the ease of outsourcing jobs overseas these days, these small to mid-sized companies will find it much less expensive to employ someone in a foreign country.
In my eagerness to get downtown and vote, I probably didn't spend enough time researching the issues and/or candidates. My wife warned me that there were a few bozos and so I steered clear of them. What about everybody else? I hate political ads on the TV and so I tune them out. I don't think they are the best source of information anyways. As you may have a week or so before the election, I recommend you use your favorite Internet search engine and educate yourself on not only the candidates, but also the issues being voted on this year. I voted against any new taxes, but you may feel differently.
I try to avoid politics in my blog and so my only advice for the election this year is for the office of president: Mit Romney. While some believe it was nice to have a change in the Presidency these last 4 years, I think Obama's health care plan is just one more nail in the coffin for American jobs. I know a number of small to mid-sized companies that cannot afford the increase in health insurance premiums. With the ease of outsourcing jobs overseas these days, these small to mid-sized companies will find it much less expensive to employ someone in a foreign country.
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Helping Others
In one of my previous posts, I explained how to get free lift tickets to Snowbird Ski Resort. It is that time of year where the Snowbird Sports Education Foundation just listed all of their races for the coming season and normal people can sign up to help. In return for spending a day freezing on the side of a mountain, you will receive 2 passes that can be used on another day during the season. If you are looking for a cheap way to go skiing, this is it.
I have spent a better part of my evening going through the list of volunteers that have already responded and adding names to the website. Unfortunately there are a few regular volunteers that offer to help and then never show up. If you ignore them, they sign up again and again. If you try to confront them about it, they claim they attended every race they signed up for. It isn't any fun to be the bad guy but I have to make room for people that actually help out.
Speaking of helping out, I think the world would be a much better place if we all helped each other out. There is a regular on my Monday morning flight that gives me a ride from the Oakland airport to my office in Foster City. It is on the way to his job in Redwood City and so it is only a minor inconvenience to drop me off. In return for the favor, I pay the toll across the San Mateo Bridge. If I was taking public transportation to get to my office, I would have to pay $10 and the bridge is only $5. It turns out we both save $5, which can add up over the course of several years.
This week as we were driving after getting off the plane in Oakland, my co-commuter asked about getting a PlayStation 3. Working for a video game company gives me access to discounted consoles like the PS3 as well as discounts on games. He told me what he wanted and I placed an order for him. I saved him about 50% as opposed to purchasing everything in the store and I was happy to help him out. Do I expect anything in return? Nope, and that's the way it should be.
I have spent a better part of my evening going through the list of volunteers that have already responded and adding names to the website. Unfortunately there are a few regular volunteers that offer to help and then never show up. If you ignore them, they sign up again and again. If you try to confront them about it, they claim they attended every race they signed up for. It isn't any fun to be the bad guy but I have to make room for people that actually help out.
Speaking of helping out, I think the world would be a much better place if we all helped each other out. There is a regular on my Monday morning flight that gives me a ride from the Oakland airport to my office in Foster City. It is on the way to his job in Redwood City and so it is only a minor inconvenience to drop me off. In return for the favor, I pay the toll across the San Mateo Bridge. If I was taking public transportation to get to my office, I would have to pay $10 and the bridge is only $5. It turns out we both save $5, which can add up over the course of several years.
This week as we were driving after getting off the plane in Oakland, my co-commuter asked about getting a PlayStation 3. Working for a video game company gives me access to discounted consoles like the PS3 as well as discounts on games. He told me what he wanted and I placed an order for him. I saved him about 50% as opposed to purchasing everything in the store and I was happy to help him out. Do I expect anything in return? Nope, and that's the way it should be.
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Following Directions
This morning at work I helped perform an upgrade of some software I have helped create. It is made up of a bunch of small programs that have evolved over time. Each program is quite simple and very easy to understand. Together they form a complex system that runs on over a dozen different servers and process large amounts of data.
The upgrade seemed to be running smoothly and I was able to do my portion of the deployment without any issues. When we went to start several of the programs, we saw some errors. That led to everyone gathering around a collection of screens, trying to troubleshoot the problem as we were under a tight deadline to get the system back up and running.
As all of my stuff was working correctly, I acted as a messenger to one of our operations engineers who was at our data center in another part of the country. It would have been nice to talk to him on the phone but was impossible because of all the noise where he was. We had to resort to texting. The whole team worked together and we quickly diagnosed the problem. It turns out that the engineer doing most of the upgrade missed a critical step. Once we figured that out, everything came up nicely.
How did this critical step get missed? We had a list of instructions with every individual process outlined for the upgrade. The engineer was meticulously checking off each task as it was completed. After two pages of instructions, he got a little careless and checked twice after only completing one step. It was an easy mistake to make but shows the importance of carefully following directions. Not doing so in a car can get you lost. Not doing so with a bunch of computer servers can really screw things up.
The upgrade seemed to be running smoothly and I was able to do my portion of the deployment without any issues. When we went to start several of the programs, we saw some errors. That led to everyone gathering around a collection of screens, trying to troubleshoot the problem as we were under a tight deadline to get the system back up and running.
As all of my stuff was working correctly, I acted as a messenger to one of our operations engineers who was at our data center in another part of the country. It would have been nice to talk to him on the phone but was impossible because of all the noise where he was. We had to resort to texting. The whole team worked together and we quickly diagnosed the problem. It turns out that the engineer doing most of the upgrade missed a critical step. Once we figured that out, everything came up nicely.
How did this critical step get missed? We had a list of instructions with every individual process outlined for the upgrade. The engineer was meticulously checking off each task as it was completed. After two pages of instructions, he got a little careless and checked twice after only completing one step. It was an easy mistake to make but shows the importance of carefully following directions. Not doing so in a car can get you lost. Not doing so with a bunch of computer servers can really screw things up.
Monday, October 22, 2012
Internet Data and Telephones
We have a school holiday in Utah during the month of October for the Utah Education Association or UEA. It is a 2-day conference where teachers go and learn how to be better educators. The rest of us refer to it as Utah's Exodus to Anaheim as it is a great time to take the family to Disneyland. I know that Disneyland can be crowded and so I wanted to avoid it at all costs. Instead I took my wife and son someplace else. Unfortunately I still found myself yesterday morning at the Los Angeles International Airport trying to catch a flight back to Salt Lake. Chaos is the only word that can describe the situation.
Our previous flight had a mechanical issue and so we were late getting to Los Angeles. We landed with 20 minutes before our next flight was scheduled to depart. While we all managed to get to the new gate with 10 minutes to spare, the airline saw fit to give our seats away. We were told it was an oversold flight. There was one remaining available seat and so I sent my wife home assuming my son and I would be able to catch a flight later in the day. Unfortunately there were no available flights to Salt Lake and the best any airline could do was put me on a plane the next morning. That was unacceptable as I had to catch a 6:45 am flight this morning out of Salt Lake.
I was glad to have my iPhone with the Southwest app as I could verify that they didn't have any flights. You see, I was on another carrier and the rest of the airline industry doesn't get along with Southwest and so they don't share flight information. Being able to look that up on my own helped me realize what a dire predicament I was in. It also illustrates that just because you have Internet accessible data, doesn't mean your problems will be solved. In my case it only illustrated how really screwed I was.
With no flights available it was time to go to plan B: Hertz rental car. Salt Lake is only a 9-hour drive from Los Angeles. A single phone call later to 1-800-CAR-GOLD and I had a reservation for an economy car. I then spent the rest of the day having quality time with my son while we made the drive. I arrived at home just after 9pm. When I asked my son where he wanted to go next year for UEA, he replied, "Let's just stay home."
Our previous flight had a mechanical issue and so we were late getting to Los Angeles. We landed with 20 minutes before our next flight was scheduled to depart. While we all managed to get to the new gate with 10 minutes to spare, the airline saw fit to give our seats away. We were told it was an oversold flight. There was one remaining available seat and so I sent my wife home assuming my son and I would be able to catch a flight later in the day. Unfortunately there were no available flights to Salt Lake and the best any airline could do was put me on a plane the next morning. That was unacceptable as I had to catch a 6:45 am flight this morning out of Salt Lake.
I was glad to have my iPhone with the Southwest app as I could verify that they didn't have any flights. You see, I was on another carrier and the rest of the airline industry doesn't get along with Southwest and so they don't share flight information. Being able to look that up on my own helped me realize what a dire predicament I was in. It also illustrates that just because you have Internet accessible data, doesn't mean your problems will be solved. In my case it only illustrated how really screwed I was.
With no flights available it was time to go to plan B: Hertz rental car. Salt Lake is only a 9-hour drive from Los Angeles. A single phone call later to 1-800-CAR-GOLD and I had a reservation for an economy car. I then spent the rest of the day having quality time with my son while we made the drive. I arrived at home just after 9pm. When I asked my son where he wanted to go next year for UEA, he replied, "Let's just stay home."
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
A New Kind of Game
A few weeks ago, I had a coworker talk to me about an idea for a new type of game. I thought it was a great idea but needed some flushing out. Then a couple of days later I had a another friend give me another idea. This second friend also lives in Utah but works in the Bay Area. We fly out every Monday together and he gives me a ride from the Oakland airport to my office in Foster City. During the ride one morning, he suggested an idea for a computer video game.
Separately these two game ideas were pretty interesting. Combined, they make up a really amazing new kind of game. Tomorrow two of us and another friend are going to meet for lunch and start working on the idea. We will need to flush out a few details, but my hope is that we will be able to have a prototype running in time for the Christmas Holidays. Don't hold me to that date, as a number of unforeseen issues may arise, but that is my goal. Stay tuned as I will have more information as the game develops.
Separately these two game ideas were pretty interesting. Combined, they make up a really amazing new kind of game. Tomorrow two of us and another friend are going to meet for lunch and start working on the idea. We will need to flush out a few details, but my hope is that we will be able to have a prototype running in time for the Christmas Holidays. Don't hold me to that date, as a number of unforeseen issues may arise, but that is my goal. Stay tuned as I will have more information as the game develops.
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Secret Admirer
A few weeks ago I received an e-mail from an alleged secret admirer. I was pretty sure it was some sort of a scam and so I immediately deleted it. Then I started thinking about the e-mail a few days later. The fact that it made it through my spam filter had me questioning if it was a scam or not. It didn't take long for another e-mail to arrive elaborating on the original secret admirer message. I have to say that it was a bit flattering even though I am happily married. Deep down inside we all want to be admired by other people, even if they can't have us.
This second message got through my spam filter again and so I thought I would look into the anonymous e-card service to see if it was real. I confirmed my original suspicion as it didn't seem to exist. So I deleted the e-mail and went on my merry way.
Today I received a 3rd secret admirer e-mail and made a note of the pseudo name of the person who sent it. Then I did an Internet search on "lovebug1136" and discovered I am not the only one getting these e-mails. To see the same e-mails posted on sites just confirmed what I knew all along.
So what is the scam? You are asked to sign up for an online-dating service. Once you sign up, you can then search the pseudo name to see who "likes" you. The last thing I need is an online dating account. So if you get an e-mail from someone claiming to be a secret admirer and are not interested in creating an online dating account, you can probably delete it.
This second message got through my spam filter again and so I thought I would look into the anonymous e-card service to see if it was real. I confirmed my original suspicion as it didn't seem to exist. So I deleted the e-mail and went on my merry way.
Today I received a 3rd secret admirer e-mail and made a note of the pseudo name of the person who sent it. Then I did an Internet search on "lovebug1136" and discovered I am not the only one getting these e-mails. To see the same e-mails posted on sites just confirmed what I knew all along.
So what is the scam? You are asked to sign up for an online-dating service. Once you sign up, you can then search the pseudo name to see who "likes" you. The last thing I need is an online dating account. So if you get an e-mail from someone claiming to be a secret admirer and are not interested in creating an online dating account, you can probably delete it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
