Universal Rule

Book Reviews

Friday, March 28, 2003

-- Comment()
Software bug may cause Patriot missile errors: "U.S. military is investigating the possibility that a software problem in the Patriot Missile defense system may be responsible for targeting two friendly aircraft, but that other scenarios could just as likely be responsible for the mishaps." [InfoWorld: Top News]

This is interesting, but perhaps not true. In the Gulf war in 1991 there was a software problem with Patriots, which resulted in "friendly" casualties. I wrote about this in an essay titled What are the results computer errors? (The article is available in Finnish.)

Because of truncating the time counter to 24 bits, the missile lost all of its accuracy when kept online for a long time. Thus, Patriots missed the incoming targets. The solution was to boot the software in the missiles regularly.

The Patriot software problem is explained in detail in a GAO report.

Reasons not to become a scientist -- Comment()
Seb's Open Research points to Don't Become a Scientist: "I became a scientist in order to have the freedom to work on problems which interest me. But you probably won't get that freedom. As a postdoc you will work on someone else's ideas, and may be treated as a technician rather than as an independent collaborator. Eventually, you will probably be squeezed out of science entirely. You can get a fine job as a computer programmer, but why not do this at 22, rather than putting up with a decade of misery in the scientific job market first? [...] It is proverbial that original ideas are the kiss of death for a proposal; because they have not yet been proved to work (after all, that is what you are proposing to do) they can be, and will be, rated poorly. Having achieved the promised land, you find that it is not what you wanted after all."

Fortunately Seb also points out the cheerful and illustrated Career Guide for Engineers and Computer Scientists.

Fierce combatant -- Comment()
It seems that I have attracted a fierce combatant to this weblog. Here is my reply to the latest comment on USA, the politically correct killing machine.

If I'm agaist something, then I'm anti-tank. I did my service in the anti-tank division of the army, and got to know something about the war machinery.

Of course, it may happen that the US gambit pays off and there will be some kind of peace. But this is such a huge risk to take. I fear most for the civilians, and for those soldiers who are yet to die. Will this be another Vietnam? I sure hope not.