BYTE Archives, Slingatron, Dry Asparagus, Hackers attack your car, and other mail.

Mail 784 Tuesday, July 30, 2013

archive.org has Byte digitized

http://archive.org/details/byte-magazine

Finally I can browse through all of the issues I had to recycle when I moved into an apartment in 1996 — I’d had a subscription since around

1986 and had saved all the issues.

Brioan Lane

Microsoft pen computing

I’ve not handled the Surface Pro, but I have been an avid user of Thinkpad pen-enabled tablets (both IBM and then Lenovo) for some years now, and I think Microsoft’s handwriting recognition works great. I don’t use OneNote much—mostly MindManager by Mindjet (a mind-mapping package), which forces a little more organization on me than OneNote does. I very much hope that Mr. Softy gets his tablet act together at some point…

Neil

Well, Microsoft handwriting recognition works on my handwriting because it was developed in Moscow, and I visited there at just the right time: they needed samples of American handwriting so I let Stepan copy about 100 pages of my handwritten log. I should look into pen enabled ThinkPads but I admit to being a bit intrigued by the Surface Pro. I loved the Compaq tablet but it was just too slow, alas.

Education

Jerry,

Had I shared this?

Top Ten No Sympathy Lines for Students

Top Ten No Sympathy Lines <http://www.uwgb.edu/dutchs/nosymp.htm>

Jim

If you have kids in high school or about to go to college, you should show them this. Of course that depends on where they will be going…

The real damage in the USAF

Dr. Pournelle,

Here is one source of some real damage in the USAF. Bottom line up front – Here is a senior enlisted member telling airmen that their job performance really doesn’t matter, and what matters is what they do in what would otherwise be their "free time". Basically, in the AF you have no personal life because you’re expected to work 24/7 so you can document how awesome you are at everything except your job. Family life and not killing yourself comes a distant third and fourth, behind volunteer extra duty and not fouling up your primary job. Excelling at your primary job becomes a single line in a 6 line performance report, and should be prioritized accordingly.

The source: http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123351830

From the source article: "To be competitive for awards and promotions, we must commit ourselves to goals such as education, passing the fitness exam, and community service. It is through completion of these expectations and requirements that we become better leaders, managers and Airmen. However, somewhere along the way, we fail to internalize the importance of why we fill these squares."

The commentary:

http://www.jqpublic-blog.com/?p=431

From the commentary article: "In one fell swoop, this article delivers a heartbreaking message to young airmen: you will not be promoted or recognized based on your duty performance. If you want to succeed in this Air Force, you’d better play the game we’ve defined for you, which has nothing to do with excellence on duty … but the checking of off-duty squares. Your work ability is pass/fail. Square-checking is where we will judge your worth."

This is real, and I think it is far more dangerous to national security than the taliban or our budgetary woes. Military members who want to actually do their military duties are more and more marginalized, family life is getting crushed, and the suicide rate continues to rise.

S

Impoverish America

Jerry,

Obama’s Energy Plan: Impoverish America by Robert Zubin, author (most recently) of Merchants of Despair

http://www.nationalreview.com/node/352362

Jim

Teacher certification

Dr. Pournelle,

In reference to comments on teacher certification (or any skill certification) I have a story.

I teach catechism (called CCD as you are aware but some of your readers may not be) at my parish and have been for four years. I teach teen aged boys, 13 – 17 years old. This takes three hours on Saturday for class plus the usual planning time. Since it is for the Church, it is volunteer work. I enjoy it and have some reason to believe I am effective at it. So far, nothing unusual.

Our bishop requires that catechists (teachers of catechism) be certified. He (quite reasonably) does not want children taught heresy. This requires 160 classroom hrs for the catechist in a 5 year period and continuing classes after that. Some of the classes are free. Most are inexpensive, $5-10 for 3-5 hours plus books sometimes (another $10-20). These classes are held at various parishes around the diocese usually in the evening or on weekends. Of course if you cannot make those, you can do the whole thing online at a Catholic university for a $40-50 registration fee plus books plus, occasionally other fees.

I have no problem with taking classes where my knowledge is deficient. The problem I have with this is:

1. There is no method in place for me to prove I already know the material, or what I know, 2. I have to pay to volunteer my time to help and use scarce free time for classes even if I know more about the material than the teacher.

The bishop is the controlling authority on this. No one can override him so it is not like he has to knuckle under to a superior or some outside organization such as a union.

So far I am way behind if I intend to be certified by the end of my fifth year, I only have about 50 or 60 hrs. I guess I am going to see how serious they are about this. They already cannot get enough volunteers.

Patrick Hoage

I suspect the certification process can be improved…

RE: Mr. Hellerstein

Jerry,

Responding to Mr. Hellerstein (Mail 779):

I entered the 1980’s with the delusion that we had elected an anti-intellectual President. I exited the decade working on that President’s defense initiatives and with a completely different notion.

Blaming Reagan’s election for what happened to schools during that period – a period of increasing school control by unionized Democrats – doesn’t scan. It is the Democrats who are anti-intellectual, who consistently refuse to fund cutting edge scientific and technical research in favor of turtle tunnels, and who would rather spend money paying people not to work than to spend it on research and development. (In the 60’s and 70’s we called that "eating the seed corn." It now comprises the vast majority of government spending. The remaining portion of government spending on "productive" use is devoted to equally political objectives with net long-term economic regret.)

J.

I missed this when it was sent but it is still relevant.

926 And All That

We’ve already discussed the phenomenal rate at which medieval archives are being uploaded.

Now Rory Stewart MP has some interesting things to say about making local history available to the public once it has been entered online- a transatlantic echo of calls to open access to scientific work carried out at public expenses

http://www.rorystewart.co.uk/a-meeting-of-kings/

—

Russell Seitz

Fellow of the Department of Physics Harvard University

Dry asparagus

Dear Dr Pournelle,

I suggest that the story you link to of someone complaining about dry asparagus is not actually a sign of a wholly novel Craziness Of Modern life ™, but rather of a well-known, ancient Craziness Of Petty Bureaucrats ™. The petty bureaucrat in question even admits to having gone looking for trouble:

> Olander admitted to being in an “ornery mood” the day he visited the store. “I just felt like stirring it up a little bit, letting them know that somebody cares,” he said, according to the recording.

In other words, someone with a bit of power wanted to pick a fight he thought he could win, saw some asparagus he didn’t like, and decided that he’d found his victim. Then he couched it in terms of racism because that’s the fashion. It is not clear that this is any better or worse than complaining about bad service, or allowing black people in your store, or the insolence of merchants, or the Bad Manners Of Youth These Days, which would have been the equivalents in the Good Old Days. I suggest that a change in the form of petty bullying is not actually a legitimate source of worry; if you can demonstrate that there is more petty bullying than there was in the past, irrespective of form, that’s a much better argument.

To be sure, in the days before the Internet, such a story would not be likely to be picked up nationally; I suggest, however, that this is a feature of the Internet and not specific to the accusation of racism. No doubt, if we’d had the web in the fifties, some petty civil employee would have made the news for complaining about the long hair of the employee at his local store, and suggesting that the city should Look Into It. The form changes, the contents are the same.

Regards,

Rolf Andreassen.

But the Civil Servants are our new aristocracy. Get used to it. Or, of course, you might actually take back your government.

Your Thoughts on the Slingatron Hypervelocity Launcher

Dr. Pournelle,

I’m curious to hear your opinion on something that’s come up on Kickstarter and Slashdot just recently–The Slingatron.

Here are the links to an article about the company and the Kickstarter page.

Before I make any pledges on Kickstarter, I’d be interested in your opinion on the feasibility of building a large scale Slingatron that would have the 6 – 7 kilometers per second velocity to get payloads into LEO.

The ability to get fuel into LEO would be a game-changer, making SSTO craft much more feasible if they could refuel before descending to Earth.

I can’t think of anyone with the physical sciences background that might be better at evaluating this.

RAH would be chuckling at the thought of Slingatron’s constructed on the moon!

Thank you,

Ray Ciscon

I did not find any links in your mail but I did look up Slingatron. A few minutes work with the numbers would convince you that to reach orbital velocity by using some kind of centrifugal device on the surface of the earth (or on high mountains) requires strengths of materials that we don’t have, and there are heat problems because of the very high velocity you must achieve while at low altitudes.

The same applies to linear acceleration devices, but those can at least be put on much higher mountain locations.

I wish them well, but I don’t think I will be investing just yet.

solar cycles 

Jerry,

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/07/28/solar-cycle-24-update-2/

Solar "nowcast"

28JUL2013 1400Z

www.solarham.com <http://www.solarham.com/>

SSN 64

F10.7 108

A=10 K=2

There have been 3 C2-C3 flares in the past 24 hours (actually since midnight Zulu) Forecast risk of M or higher flare <10% today

And I will again remind you…this has been anticipated for at least fifteen years:

Past and Present Variability of the Solar-terrestrial System: Measurement …

edited by Giuliana Cini Castagnoli, Antonello Provenzale

See figure 6 at bottom of page

http://books.google.com/books?id=45HGQBD79WwC&pg=PA42&lpg=PA42&dq=bolometric+solar+constant+measurement&source=bl&ots=drEMyJHnXU&sig=3CqbtFeHAuykcLaz3UL0ww-Vq5Y&hl=en&ei=Up5NTcjaF8j0gAeBlLjXDw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CBoQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false

Jim

And we are overdue for a major flare.

Too Patriotic?

Who are these people who think being patriotic is un American? Why is this Schulah guy occupying the position? 🙁

Iconic Ground Zero photo was nearly excluded from museum for being too ‘rah-rah’ American <http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/pic_fire_fight_Bl5WA1MEU7AaQeabPas4uK>

* By MELISSA KLEIN

* Last Updated: 5:47 AM, July 28, 2013

* Posted: 12:03 AM, July 28, 2013

This iconic picture of firefighters raising the stars and stripes in the rubble of Ground Zero was nearly excluded from the 9/11 Memorial Museum ­ because it was “rah-rah” American, a new book says.

Michael Shulan, the museum’s creative director, was among staffers who considered the Tom Franklin photograph too kitschy and “rah-rah America,” according to “Battle for Ground Zero” (St. Martin’s Press) by Elizabeth Greenspan, out next month.

“I really believe that the way America will look best, the way we can really do best, is to not be Americans so vigilantly and so vehemently,” Shulan said.

http://tinyurl.com/qxa4r7u

Aviation Human Factors Expert Earl Wiener Dies,

Jerry

You were, I think, in the same line of expertise, yes?

Ed

P.S.—See below the obit.

Aviation Human Factors Expert Earl Wiener Dies

Aviation Week & Space Technology Jul 22, 2013 <http://www.aviationweek.com/awin/awst.aspx> , p. 12

Earl L. Wiener , known to many as a founding father of aviation human factors, died on June 14 at his home in Menlo Park, Calif., after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease. He was 80.

Armed with military pilot training and a doctorate in psychology and industrial engineering, in the early 1980s Wiener began researching what happens when humans and computers attempt to coexist on a flight deck. Though his “day job” was professor of management science at the University of Miami, Wiener is widely known for riding in jump seats with his airline-pilot subjects as part of research projects funded by the NASA Ames ResearchCenter <http://www.aviationweek.com/awin/OrganizationProfiles.aspx?orgId=12097> . He worked on NASA <http://www.aviationweek.com/awin/OrganizationProfiles.aspx?orgId=19991> human-factors projects for more than two decades. “ Earl was an ongoing grantee,” says a NASA co-worker from that time. “He would publish a paper and 25 people would write their masters’ theses or doctoral dissertations on the topic.”

Wiener was an outspoken critic of the notion that technology, through automation alone, can solve aviation safety problems. “It is highly questionable whether total system safety is always enhanced by allocating functions to automatic devices rather than human operators, and there is some reason to believe that flight-deck automation may have already passed its optimum point,” states “Flight-Deck Automation: Promises and Problems ,” a 1980 paper he co-wrote with NASA ‘s Renwick Curry.

Compilations of scholarly papers by Wiener and his colleagues resulted in two seminal human-factors books, one of which— Human Factors in Aviation —is still in print today, albeit as a new edition with new editors.

Tap the icon in the digital edition of AW&ST to read how Wiener was highlighting the debate about the safety of cockpit automation long before this month’s Asiana accident, or go to AviationWeek.com/wiener <http://www.AviationWeek.com/wiener>

———————————————–

WIENER’S LAWS

(Note: Nos. 1-16 intentionally left blank)

17. Every device creates its own opportunity for human error.

18. Exotic devices create exotic problems.

19. Digital devices tune out small errors while creating opportunities for large errors.

20. Complacency? Don’t worry about it.

21. In aviation, there is no problem so great or so complex that it cannot be blamed on the pilot.

22. There is no simple solution out there waiting to be discovered, so don’t waste your time searching for it.

23. Invention is the mother of necessity.

24. If at first you don’t succeed… try a new system or a different approach.

25. Some problems have no solution. If you encounter one of these, you can always convene a committee to revise some checklist.

26. In God we trust. Everything else must be brought into your scan.

27. It takes an airplane to bring out the worst in a pilot.

28. Any pilot who can be replaced by a computer should be.

29. Whenever you solve a problem you usually create one. You can only hope that the one you created is less critical than the one you eliminated.

30. You can never be too rich or too thin (Duchess of Windsor) or too careful what you put into a digital flight guidance system (Wiener).

31. Today’s nifty, voluntary system is tomorrow’s F.A.R. (Federal Acquisition Regulation).

We were very much in the same line of business, but I was out of it before he got into it. RIP

Bye Bye Santa

Herewith, from the ElfCam, last weeks meltdown of the North Pole:

http://robertscribbler.wordpress.com/2013/07/22/how-ice-cam-2-learned-to-swim-as-the-north-pole-melted/

—

Russell Seitz

Fortunately Santa’s workshop has been temporarily relocated. His granddaughter Chrissie has also moved the research department…

Ticket quotas 

My hero.

http://hotair.com/archives/2013/07/25/video-auburn-cop-fired-for-blowing-the-whistle-on-ticket-arrest-quotas/comment-page-1/#comments

"Auburn, Alabama is home to sprawling plains, Auburn University, and a troubling police force. After the arrival of a new police chief in 2010, the department entered an era of ticket quotas and worse.

“When I first heard about the quotas I was appalled,” says former Auburn police officer Justin Hanners, who claims he and other cops were given directives to hassle, ticket, or arrest specific numbers of residents per shift. “I got into law enforcement to serve and protect, not be a bully.

…

“There are not that many speeders, there are not that many people running red lights to get those numbers, so what [the police] do is they lower their standards,” says Hanners. That led to the department encouraging officers to arrest people that Hanners “didn’t feel like had broken the law.””"

Now if he could just run for sheriff in my country, I’d vote for him in a heartbeat.

Read the comments as well. Some of them are … insightful.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

I would rather have pockets of this sort of thing than federal inspectors making sure it never happens…

Hackers Reveal Nasty New Car Attacks 

Henry Ford didn’t need an iCar…

http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2013/07/24/hackers-reveal-nasty-new-car-attacks-with-me-behind-the-wheel-video/

Subj: Hackers Reveal Nasty New Car Attacks

http://tinyurl.com/mwapnez

Stomping on the brakes of a 3,500-pound Ford Escape that refuses to stop–or even slow down–produces a unique feeling of anxiety. In this case it also produces a deep groaning sound, like an angry water buffalo bellowing somewhere under the SUV’s chassis. The more I pound the pedal, the louder the groan gets–along with the delighted cackling of the two hackers sitting behind me in the backseat.

Luckily, all of this is happening at less than 5mph. So the Escape merely plows into a stand of 6-foot-high weeds growing in the abandoned parking lot of a South Bend, Ind. strip mall that Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek have chosen as the testing grounds for the day’s experiments, a few of which are shown in the video below. (When Miller discovered the brake-disabling trick, he wasn’t so lucky: The soccer-mom mobile barreled through his garage, crushing his lawn mower and inflicting $150 worth of damage to the rear wall.)

“Okay, now your brakes work again,” Miller says, tapping on a beat-up MacBook connected by a cable to an inconspicuous data port near the parking brake. I reverse out of the weeds and warily bring the car to a stop. “When you lose faith that a car will do what you tell it to do,” he adds after we jump out of the SUV, “it really changes your whole view of how the thing works.”

http://www.forbes.com/forbes/ <http://www.forbes.com/forbes/>

Frightening

Inmates running the asylum, indeed.

<http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-07-25/homeland-securitys-future-home-a-former-mental-hospital>

—-

Roland Dobbins