David Cary

Interested in electronics / firmware / software / embedded.

How do I become a better programmer? HowToImproveProgrammingSkills.
How do I become a better engineer? HardwareEngineer?
RecentChanges, http://c2.com/cgi/quickChanges?days=10

I'm building a data store. I want it to have these properties:

No SinglePointOfFailure. If any single hard drive or other thing fails, users never even notice -- can still read and write files as always.
"hot repair" -- a technician can fix any single failure without taking the system offline.
"hot testing" -- I can confirm all the data is properly backed up, without risking overwriting the current "live" data with old "backup" data, and users can still read and write files as always during the test.

Surely I'm not the only person in the world that wants something like this. A few of the people I mention this to claim "All businesses big enough to have an IT department already have something like this". But when I ask "If such a system already really exists, where can I buy one (BuyDontBuild)?", no one seems to know.

If such a system doesn't yet exist, perhaps I'll not only build one for me, but start selling it to other people ...

"making stuff smaller"

DavidCary has programmed several EmbeddedSystems with little RAM, no hard drive, and anemic processors. This leads to an interest in "making stuff smaller".

I am porting ForthLanguage to a microcontroller with 256 Bytes (that would be 0.256 kiloBytes) of RAM. I suppose http://forthfreak.net/index.cgi?DavidCary would be a more appropriate forum to discuss it.

smaller software ForthValues ( GoodTightCode versus CodeBloat) ProgramCompression? RefactorMercilessly LanguageIdiomsEncouragingSmallMethods JamesNoble (SmallMemorySoftware)

With little RAM, it would be nice to have a "space-optimizing compiler". Perhaps CategoryDuplicationFindingTool could help?

smaller documentation (including Wiki): RefactorByMerging http:longs.cgi GentleReductionism MoreAboutExtraScripts YouArentGonnaReadIt CategoryWikiMaintenance MeatBall:LessRedundancy (2004-08-14: I created TimeToMakeItShort)

smaller development environment ProgrammingOnHandHelds CategoryForth

Other ways to make things smaller and simpler, in general: DataCompression? RidiculousSimplicityGivesRidiculousResources http://www.handhelds.org/z/wiki/Making%20stuff%20smaller (I created the page ProgrammingIsaSmallPart) (I created the page RealTimeTechniques) ReduceUnimportantInformation SimplifiedEnglish TheSimplestPossibleCompiler SmallIsBeautiful LifesTooShort

keyboards

I wrote code for processor inside a (prototype) computer keyboard for Donald Allen. (I created the page HalfQwerty) ErgonomicKeyboardWishList .

programming languages

DavidCary has programmed in over two handfuls of computer "languages", and is trying to become fluent in 3 natural languages. This leads to an interest in (ProgrammingLanguagesShapeThoughts: BlubParadox) PickAnOkToolForTheJob LittleLanguage LowKeystrokeFormalLanguages .

My Pascal teacher taught us to draw Nassi-Shneiderman flowcharts, and in another class I wrote a very crude prototype of piece of software to let users draw Nassi-Shneiderman flowcharts. Later I *almost* learned LabView. This and my interest in learning new programming languages leads to an interest in NassiShneidermanDiagrams LiterateProgramming VisualLanguage VisualProgramming VisualProgrammingLanguage GraphicalProgrammingLanguage (MentalShorthand?).

I even became the First Editor of the Visual Wiki http://visual.wiki.taoriver.net/ .

I discovered HyperCard and UseNet in college, so I was already pre-primed to understand the WWW when it came out. (I suppose you can get a pretty good estimate of my age from that fact.)

I spend too much time thinking about building robots, and not enough time actually building robots. LegoMindstorms

I list pages I'm interested in on AutoPcn? , even though it is (hopefully temporarily) disabled.

(I created SelfReplication)

I enjoy building/discovering good names. MeaningfulName (2003-12-30: DAV created CategoryNaming)

Other pages I found interesting that I should probably categorize:

(I created the page WorldPeace?, not realizing that we already have HowToAchieveWorldPeace?) (Then I went and created the RemoteStrangulationProtocol. Sigh.)

(I created the page DatingIsEasierThanProgramming) (I created the page ThingsYouShouldNeverDo, but then someone else made it ever so much better) (I created BlindAlley) (I created LearningJava) (2004-03-05 created HardwareErrata) (2003-01-14: created the page "WhatIsInformation") (2004-02-04: DavidCary created EmailHurdle) (2004-08-05: created "TestTheSystem") (2004-11-24:DavidCary: I created LanguageOfChoice and LanguagesOfChoice, and removed spaces from those phrases on many other pages.)

The day after I read IndexCard on Ward's Wiki, I bought a stack of 3x5 IndexCards. ShopForIndexCards. I find BuckminsterFuller (the person, or rather, the books he's written, not the WikiPage) very inspiring. I've built a few Platonic solids out of IndexCards. And I've started carrying around a HipTop? as described on the 43 Folders wiki http://wiki.43folders.com/ .

http://www.worldwidewiki.net/wiki/DavidCary

YouCanImproveMyEnglish

I am happy that other people (Thanks MarkIrons? !) fix the "space before the question mark" punctuation gaffe and my other typos.

To do

Todo: refactor GeographyExample HexGridIcosahedron HexGridSphere HexGridDisk to put "non-intuitive / common mistakes" up front. There seems to be a lot of redundancy on these pages; should I combine them and then break them back apart? Perhaps SphereTiling? and squares_vs_triangles_vs_hexagons? (2004-08-30: I created WithoutCause)

Todo: run the test at BetterForLoopConstruct on my machine.

Todo: read ChangeYourOrganizationDiary

Todo: compile the code at http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?LanguageLawyerRequired and see what my GCC compiler produces.

Should I add: GoalStatement? Should I add something about copyright: PrimarilyPublicDomain CopyRight CopyLeft OpenAuthor?

email d.cary+c2 at ieee.org or just stick comments here in this

WikiMailBox:

Replies:

(WristCncMachine??) wrist CNC machines

I just made that up on-the-spot for ProgrammableCalculators - I don't remember ever hearing that idea before. I extrapolated the idea of handheld devices having more and more ability. I interpolated between yesterday's refrigerator-sized ComputerNumericalControlled? metal-cutting mills, today's table-top FlutterWhumper?s, and EricDrexler's future thumb-sized Universal Assembler manufacturing plants. -- DavidCary

Mail

Dave, ...

Re: your job hunt, please have a look at SoftwareCompaniesInBoston. You will find an excellent list of places you can send your resumé to. It would not be a bad idea to make a similar list for other cities: Austin for example.

... -- ar

Thank you.

PS: An interesting PIM wiki written in VB: the one programmed by the amazing DonaldNoyes our own inventor busybee: Nyswiki. If you leave your name on his homepage, he'll send you a copy.

You are welcome. Unfortunately, the EddiesWiki wiki -- which contained the entire source code for EddiesWiki -- seems to offline now. I wonder if any other wiki exist that allow people to comment on source code. Well, other than http://communitywiki.org/odd/SoftwareBazaar/HomePage . -- DavidCary

Good stuff you did on the PowerTrip page, may I suggest adding NotInventedHere as an example of "Behavioral aspects" section entry? I do not want to change it myself to take away the QuickDiff credit that is yours.

One thing you scientists can help solve one of my queries. Years ago I saw lots of "solar powered" calculators, and decades ago we have watches that were "human motion powered". Do we not have enough energy to harness through these and other sources to keep a SmartPhone running? Or is it the economics (energy still too cheap) that have prevented resurgence of such "alternate energy" solutions?

-- DavidLiu DeleteWhenRead

''Good question. Does this article answer your question?:

"On 'Dick Tracy' Time" by Junko Yoshida, 2004-11-01 http://www.eetimes.com/consumer/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=51200433 " A typical watch, which can run without interruption for three years, needs only 1 milliamp; a cell phone integrated with DSP and RF capabilities needs at least 150 mA."

I think this 150 mA is in the receiver, which must be constantly turned on (otherwise it wouldn't know to ring when someone called you). 3 years times (1 mA / 150 mA) is about 7 days.

Hey Dave!

My name is Marcus and I noticed that you were looking for a Hackerspace in Tulsa. I started an electronics club last year, but now we need a place to meet. So the time is nigh, that we pool together some resources and start a hackerspace!

The only internet safe way to give you my contact information (that I can think of at the moment) is facebook. You can find me there under my full name Marcus Gaskamp.

I hope to talk to you soon!

Hey Marcus. I hope to talk to you soon. Do Tulsa electronics enthusiasts have a web site like http://geeksok.com/ ? I would like to set up a wiki for Tulsa electronics enthusiasts, if you don't have one already. My telephone number is on my resume at http://david.carybros.com/html/resume.html . -- David Cary

Hi Dave,

This is Robert Munafo. You wrote (in WikiWordsConsideredHarmful):

: (How did Robert Munafo search for C for his programming language comparison http://www.mrob.com/pub/lang_srom.html ?)

I include the word language as a mandated keyword (prefixed by +). http://us.yhs4.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?fr=altavista&itag=ody&q=%2B%22c+sucks%22+%2Blanguage&kgs=1&kls=0

CategoryHomePage CategoryWikipedians