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Submission + - IP Stacks Commendary getting an update (satchell.net)

Submitted by satch89450
satch89450 writes: Back in 2000, I asked about funding sources for updating the book Linux IP Stacks Commentary. Things change. Here is what I posted on my LinkedIn account:

History: 20 years ago, Heather BJ Clifford and I wrote a book, Linux IP Stacks Commentary, which walked through the Linux TCP/IP stack code and commented it in detail. (Old-timers will remember the Lion's Unix Commentary, the book published by University xerographic copies on the sly. Same sort of thing.) CoriolisOpen published it. And a bit later sank into the west. Nothing has been done since, at least not by us.

Now: when I was released from my last job, I tried retirement. Wasn't for me. I started going crazy with nothing significant to do. So, going through old hard drives (that's another story), I found the original manuscript files, plus the page proof files, for that two-decade-old book. Aha! Maybe it's time for an update. But how to keep it fresh, as Torvalds continues to release new updates of the Linux kernel? Publish it on the Web. Carefully.

After four months (and three job interviews) I have the beginnings of the second edition up and available for reading. At the moment it's an updated, corrected, and expanded version of the "gray matter", the exposition portions of the first edition. In addition, I have put forth ideas for making the commentary portions easier to keep up to date, after they are initially written.

The URL for the alpha-beta version of this Web book is https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.io?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.satchell.net%2Fipsta... for your reading pleasure. The companion e-mail address is up and running for you to provide feedback. There is no paywall.

Thanks to the work of Professor Donald Knuth (thank you!) on his WEB and CWEB programming languages, I have made modifications, to devise a method for integrating code from the GIT repository of the Linux kernel without making any modifications (let alone submissions) to said kernel code. The proposed method is described in the About section of the Web book. I have scaffolded the process and it works. But that's not the hard part.

The hard part is to write the commentary itself, and crib some kind of Markup language to make the commentary publishing quality. The programs I write will integrate the kernel code with the commentary verbiage into a set of Web pages. Or two slightly different sets of web pages, if I want to support a mobile-friendly version of the commentary.

Another reason for making it a web book is that I can write it and publish it as it comes out of my virtual typewriter. No hard deadlines. No waiting for the printers. And while this can save trees, that's not my intent.

The back-of-the-napkin schedule calls for me to to finish the expository text in September, start the Python coding for generating commentary pages at the same time, and start the writing the commentary on ICMP in October. By then, Linus should have version 6.0.0 of the Linux kernel released.

I really, really, really don't want to charge readers to view the web book. Especially as it's still in the virtual typewriter. There isn't any commentary (yet). One thing I have done is to make it as mobile-friendly as I can, because I suspect the target audience will want to read this on a smartphone or tablet, and not be forced to resort to a large-screen laptop or desktop. Also, the graphics are lightweight to minimize the cost for people who pay by the kilopacket. (Does anywhere in the world still do this? Inquiring minds want to know.)

I host this web site on a Protectli appliance in my apartment, so I don't have that continuing expense. The power draw is around 20 watts. My network connection is AT&T fiber — and if it becomes popular I can always upgrade the upstream speed.

The thing is, the cat needs his kibble. I still want to know if there is a source of funding available.

Also, is it worthwhile to make the pages available in a zip file? Then a reader could download a snapshot of the book, and read it off-line.

Submission + - Where's the Yelp for open-source tools? (functionize.com)

Submitted by Esther Schindler
Esther Schindler writes: Plenty of people have created systems to collect, judge, and evaluate open-source projects, including information about a project’s popularity, reliability, and activity. But each of those review sites – and their methodologies – have flaws. And sjvn gives an overview of the attempts — and perhaps, where the "wisdom of the crowd" might lead.

In 1997, well-known developer Patrick Lenz founded the first listing and announcement site for free and open-source software, freshmeat.net. It was meant to be the guide to open-source programs. But freshmeat never lived up to its promise.

Submission + - The Golden Age of computer user groups (arstechnica.com)

Submitted by Esther Schindler
Esther Schindler writes: The Home-brew computer club where the Apple I got its start is deservedly famous. But throughout the 80s and into the 90s, computer user groups around the world helped hapless users figure out their computer systems, learn about technology trends, and get product demonstrations of the latest whiz-bang applications. Ready for a step into the wayback machine?
 

Submission + - GNU GPLv3 At The Heart Of The Black Hole Image (www.tfir.io)

Submitted by arnieswap
arnieswap writes: Free and Open Source software was at the heart of this image. The team used three different imaging software libraries to achieve the feat. Out of the three, two were fully open source libraries. The source code of the software is publicly available on GitHub. Richard M Stallman, the founder of the GNU Project will be glad to see that both libraries (Sparselab and ehtim) are released under GNU GPL v3. Yes, you read it right – GNU GPL v3.

Submission + - 8 ways sci-fi imagines data storage (hpe.com)

Submitted by Esther Schindler
Esther Schindler writes: "Storage is a staple of both science and science fiction," writes Carol Pinchefsky. "It forms the basis, or a crucial component, of many a piece of speculative fiction. Looking back to look forward is always educational, or at least entertaining, so here are eight past visions of the storage future that either passed their error checks or succumbed to bit rot."

Why store vast quantities of data on a device when you can just slap it into someone's head?

Submission + - Kill the (robot) ump!

Submitted by Esther Schindler
Esther Schindler writes: Everyone who watches sports spends some amount of time yelling at the umpire or sports referee. For the past few years we've also been shouting, "Replace that ump with a robot!"

But is it technically feasible? Is the current level of AI and robotics tech up to the job? This article starts with the assumption that someone seriously wants to create a robot umpire or sports referee and then evaluates whether it possible to build an accurate and trustworthy augmented reality solution today.

Submission + - A new life for old AM broadcast towers

Submitted by Esther Schindler
Esther Schindler writes: Video may have killed the radio star, but other media certainly make old AM radio towers superfluous. ...Maybe.

As once-loyal listeners tune away, most AM stations are barely holding onto life, slashing staff and budgets as deeply as they can while struggling to find a return to profitability. Once upon a time, having a broadcast license of any kind was like having a permit to print money. In today’s world, that's no longer true.

But, with 10,000 AM broadcast towers in the United States, stretching high into the sky, there may be an opportunity for wireless carriers who don't want to argue with community opposition from neighborhoods where residents don't want yet another cell tower. The amount of money an AM station owner can pocket by sharing its tower with a wireless partner varies widely, depending on the tower's location, height, and several other factors. But it's certainly more income — and a way to keep "old" technology from becoming obsolete.

Submission + - Coping with Spectre and Meltdown: What sysadmins are doing

Submitted by Esther Schindler
Esther Schindler writes: In technical terms, Spectre and Meltdown are a security pain in the butt. In day-to-day terms, though, they're a serious distraction. Before you left on the holiday break, after all, you had a nice sensible To Do list for the projects you wanted to tackle after the new year.

Ha ha ha.

Instead, sysadmins have spent their time trying to keep up with the nature of the problem and its fixes (will it REALLY slow down computers that much? how can you tell that to the users?), and apply patches. Or, more specifically:

Ron, an IT admin, summarizes the situation succinctly: “More like applied, applied another, removed, I think re-applied, I give up, and have no clue where I am anymore.”

Feel like you're alone? Here's what other sysadmins have done so far, as well as their current plans and long-term strategy, not to mention how to communicate progress to management.

Submission + - Data science and the search for MH370

Submitted by Esther Schindler
Esther Schindler writes: How often are mathematicians heroes? Here's an example where scientists are... not exactly saving the day. But employing technology for good, certainly.

In the absence of physical evidence, scientists are employing powerful computational tools to attempt to solve the greatest aviation mystery of our time: the disappearance of flight MH370.

For example:

A DSTG team led by mathematician Dr. Neil Gordon set about developing a new technique to extract a path from a subset of the Inmarsat data called the Burst Timing Offset (BTO). This measured how quickly the aircraft responded each time the satellite pinged it, and was used to determine the distance between the satellite and the plane. Investigators used these calculations to draw a set of rings on the earth’s surface.

...The DSTG used its computers to generate a huge number of possible routes and then test them to see which best fit the observed data. Their endpoints were pooled to generate a probabilistic “heat map” of the plane’s most likely resting places using a technique called Bayesian analysis. These calculations allowed the DSTG team to draw a box 400 miles long and 70 miles across, which contained about 90 percent of the total probability distribution.

Cool stuff, even if we still don't know where the plane ended up.

Submission + - The space station gets a new supercomputer

Submitted by Esther Schindler
Esther Schindler writes: By NASA's rules, not just any computer can go into space. Their components must be radiation hardened, especially the CPUs. Otherwise, they tend to fail due to the effects of ionizing radiation. The customized processors undergo years of design work and then more years of testing before they are certified for spaceflight. As a result, the ISS runs the station using two sets of three Command and Control Multiplexer DeMultiplexer (C&C MDM) computers whose processors are 20MHz Intel 80386SX CPUs, right out of 1988.

The traditional way to radiation-harden a spacecraft computer is to add redundancy to its circuits or by using insulating substrates instead of the usual semiconductor wafers on chips. That’s expensive and time consuming. HPE scientists believe that simply slowing down a system in adverse conditions can avoid glitches and keep the computer running.

So, assuming the August 15 SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch goes well, there will be a supercomputer headed into space — using off-the-shelf hardware. Let's see if the idea pans out. "We may discover a set of parameters with which a supercomputer can successfully run for at least a year without errors," says Dr. Mark R. Fernandez, the mission’s co-principal investigator for software and SGI's HPC technology officer. "Alternately, one or more components of the system will fail, in which case we will then do the typical failure analysis on Earth. That will let us learn what to change to make the systems more reliable in the future."

Submission + - A Tech Bubble Killed Computer Science Once, Can It Do So Again? (ieeeusa.org)

Submitted by dcblogs
dcblogs writes: Enrollments in Computer Science are on a hockey stick trajectory and show no signs of slowing down. Stanford University declared computer science enrollments, for instance, went from 87 in the 2007-08 academic year to 353 in the recently completed year. It’s similar at other schools. Boston University, for instance, had 110 declared undergraduate computer science majors. This fall it will have more than 550. Prof. Mehran Sahami, who is the associate chair for education in the computer science department at Stanford, believes the enrollment trend will continue. “As the numbers bear out, the interest in computer science has grown tremendously and shows no signs of crashing,” said Sahami. But after the 2000 dot-com bust computer science enrollments fell dramatically and students soured on the degree. Could something like it happen again? Although there is some speculation of a bubble in tech, the academics believe too much has changed since that dot-com era in the economy.

Submission + - Steve Case on getting funding for innovation outside tech corridors

Submitted by Esther Schindler
Esther Schindler writes: Innovation occurs outside the Bay Area, New York, Boston, and Austin. So why is it so hard for a startup to get attention and acquire venture capital? Steve Case and Kara Swisher discussed this never-ending-topic recently, such as the fact 78% of U.S. venture capital last year went to just three states: California, New York, and Massachusetts. Case sees a "third wave" of venture capital funding and through his VC firm is investing in startups based outside major tech centers.

But, points out Stealthmode's Francine Hardaway, if you're in Boise or Baltimore you don't have to wait for Case to come to town. She shares advice about what's worked in other startup communities, focusing on the #YesPhx efforts.

Submission + - The real reasons companies won't hire telecommuters

Submitted by Esther Schindler
Esther Schindler writes: Those of us who telecommute cannot quite fathom the reasons companies give for refusing to let people work from home. But even if you don't agree with their decision, they do have reasons — and not all of them are, "Because we like to be idiots." In 5 reasons why the company you want to work for won’t hire telecommuters, hiring managers share their sincere reasons to insist you work in the office—and a few tips for how you might convince them otherwise.

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