Monday Links from the Bench Vol. XX

[NickFitz]

Is there a Bob who could do the needful?

It wouldn't be a problem changing the code, except that's a third party product - whenever they release an update, the change would need to be done again. If their update happened to involve the code that had been modified, it would become a lot messier than just re-applying a patch.

To quote Robert L. Glass:

It is almost always a mistake to modify packaged, vendor-produced software systems.

... With vendor-supplied software, there are typically rereleases of the product, wherein the vendor solves old problems, adds new functionality, or both. Usually, it is desirable for customers to employ such new releases...

The problem with in-house package modifications is that they must be redone with every such new release. And if the vendor changes the solution approach sufficiently, the old modification may have to be redesigned totally to fit into the new version. Thus modifying packaged software is a never-ending proposition, one that continues to cost each time a new version is used.

- Facts and Fallacies of Software Engineering, 2003, p.53

(I don't know why Amazon have appended the words "Agile Software Development" to the title - they aren't on the book, and some parts of it are quite critical of certain aspects of Agile.)

[al_cam]

As I keep saying, there's sod all I can do about the football

Not sure what's going on with the anti-capitalisation thing, if it's a setting that can be changed then something can be done, but otherwise it'll be in a bit of code that it might be too tricky to modify

Is there a Bob who could do the needful?

[NickFitz]

That looks pretty cool. But with only 4 commercial flights currently showing across the whole of Europe, it can't be entirely attributable to the ash cloud.

Ah, in the time I wrote the above and returned, a shed more flights appeared.

Yep, they seem to be having a few problems with their feed at the moment - they've got mainland Europe back, but all the planes that were over the UK and Ireland forty minutes ago seem to have dropped out of the sky

IIRC it was tracking over 800 flights when it was working properly; hopefully they'll get all their data working again soon - ah, and yes, it's back

[TimberWolf]

Rest in Peas: The Unrecognized Death of Speech Recognition - Until somebody has a bright idea, speech recognition by computers is as good as it's going to get. "In 2001 recognition accuracy topped out at 80%, far short of HAL-like levels of comprehension. Adding data or computing power made no difference. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University checked again in 2006 and found the situation unchanged. With human discrimination as high as 98%, the unclosed gap left little basis for conversation."

Isn't the story similar with grammar checkers (on text never mind speech)? But with a somewhat less than 80% accuracy rate.

[Churchill]

Ah, in the time I wrote the above and returned, a shed more flights appeared.

It'd be cool if you could make 'em crash...

[TimberWolf]

That looks pretty cool. But with only 4 commercial flights currently showing across the whole of Europe, it can't be entirely attributable to the ash cloud.

Ah, in the time I wrote the above and returned, a shed more flights appeared.

[TimberWolf]

RadarVirtuel.com - Google Maps mashup of commercial aircraft position data, updated in real time. Looks like the volcano isn't causing too many problems at the moment.

That looks pretty cool. But with only 4 commercial flights currently showing across the whole of Europe, it can't be entirely attributable to the ash cloud.

[Churchill]

That's not the attitude of a go getting contractor. Answer should be "Yes sir, right away sir, you're the customer and what the customer wants he gets!!!"

.... Why not put some additional opt out code in the profile section for bedwetters like Churchy?

Thanks MF! That was really sweet, have a

[MarillionFan]

As I keep saying, there's sod all I can do about the football

That's not the attitude of a go getting contractor. Answer should be "Yes sir, right away sir, you're the customer and what the customer wants he gets!!!"

.... Why not put some additional opt out code in the profile section for bedwetters like Churchy?

[NickFitz]

ftfy.

And the anti capitalisation tulipe!

As I keep saying, there's sod all I can do about the football

Not sure what's going on with the anti-capitalisation thing, if it's a setting that can be changed then something can be done, but otherwise it'll be in a bit of code that it might be too tricky to modify

[Churchill]

not really - i'm just about to make some more changes to cuk, including getting rid of that bloody football

ftfy.

And the anti capitalisation tulipe!

[NickFitz]

Nick, are you really on the bench, because I find that very hard to believe.

I will be arriving on the bench next month, and if you can't get off it, I am not sure I will.

Not really - I'm just about to make some more changes to CUK, including a mobile theme

[alreadypacked]

Nick, are you really on the bench, because I find that very hard to believe.

I will be arriving on the bench next month, and if you can't get off it, I am not sure I will.

[NickFitz]

Well, this makes it two hundred, not counting bonus linkys

• The Enemy Within - "When the Conficker computer “worm” was unleashed on the world in November 2008, cyber-security experts didn’t know what to make of it. It infiltrated millions of computers around the globe. It constantly checks in with its unknown creators. It uses an encryption code so sophisticated that only a very few people could have deployed it. For the first time ever, the cyber-security elites of the world have joined forces in a high-tech game of cops and robbers, trying to find Conficker’s creators and defeat them. The cops are failing. And now the worm lies there, waiting..." Excellent, detailed article by Mark Bowden on the world's most enigmatic botnet. Bonus linky: Atif Mushtaq of Fireye Malware Intelligence Labs has some of the geekier details.
  
  
• RadarVirtuel.com - Google Maps mashup of commercial aircraft position data, updated in real time. Looks like the volcano isn't causing too many problems at the moment.
  
  
• How to Make Visa Obey Your Every Desire: The Credit Card Concierge Experiment - When John Hargrave discovered that his new credit card came with a concierge service, he decided to see just how far Visa would go to satisfy his outlandish requests. "'I’m really stuck on 62 across,' I complained to Maurice, the concierge who helped me the following night... He put me on hold for about two minutes — the same amount of time it usually takes me to get through to someone at Visa — and came back with the answer."
  
  
• A pixel is not a pixel is not a pixel - I keep telling people that a pixel, as defined in CSS, is not a device pixel, but they don't listen to me. Maybe my Dutch friend ppk can convince you all. "These pixels have nothing to do with the actual pixel density of the device... They’re essentially an abstract construct created specifically for us web developers."
  
  
• The 5 Creepiest Unsolved Crimes Nobody Can Explain - "There are unsolved crimes, and then there are the kind of creepy, 'What the hell could possibly be going on here' capers that keep the cops, and anyone who hears about them, up at night."
  
  
• Rest in Peas: The Unrecognized Death of Speech Recognition - Until somebody has a bright idea, speech recognition by computers is as good as it's going to get. "In 2001 recognition accuracy topped out at 80%, far short of HAL-like levels of comprehension. Adding data or computing power made no difference. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University checked again in 2006 and found the situation unchanged. With human discrimination as high as 98%, the unclosed gap left little basis for conversation."
  
  
• Reading and Seething: Books That Make Us Angry - "If an author is getting the job done, their book will spark strong feelings in the reader. The books we remember the most evoke the strongest emotional reactions. The funniest memoirs, the saddest love stories, the most shocking biographies, the scariest novels. But what about the books that really tick us off? Anger is passionate, powerful and comes in many guises. But what would make a reader so angry they would hurl a book across the room?"
  
  
• The Last Days of the Dragon Lady - Cholene Espinoza reminisces about his time as a U-2 pilot. "The U-2 is nicknamed the Dragon Lady for good reason. You never knew what to expect when you took it into the air, no matter how seasoned a pilot you were."
  
  
• Why I Hate 3-D (and You Should Too) - Roger Ebert decries Hollywood's rush to technology. "I'm not opposed to 3-D as an option. I'm opposed to it as a way of life for Hollywood, where it seems to be skewing major studio output away from the kinds of films we think of as Oscar-worthy."
  
  
• DeadMalls.com - The web's most voluminous resource for those interested in abandoned shopping malls. "City Center will be closed forever in a few days. It's just a mall so big deal right? Yeah well, I'm still sentimental over it. City Center was designed by the same firm that built The Beverly Center in Beverly Hills which is where the bulk of Scenes From A Mall was filmed. When you watch that movie you can get a idea of what the first place I bought underwear in Columbus was like."

Happy invoicing!