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GeneralRe: Wi-Fi-boosting 'smart surface' could help remote workers and students Pin
Mark_Wallace5-Apr-20 9:57
Mark_Wallace5-Apr-20 9:57 
NewsAmericans want an internet bill of rights to protect their online data Pin
Kent Sharkey5-Apr-20 9:00
staffKent Sharkey5-Apr-20 9:00 
GeneralRe: Americans want an internet bill of rights to protect their online data Pin
Mark_Wallace5-Apr-20 9:58
Mark_Wallace5-Apr-20 9:58 
GeneralRe: Americans want an internet bill of rights to protect their online data Pin
Nelek5-Apr-20 23:18
protectorNelek5-Apr-20 23:18 
NewsMicrosoft looking to give Windows 10 “dail-tone” reliability Pin
Kent Sharkey5-Apr-20 9:00
staffKent Sharkey5-Apr-20 9:00 
GeneralRe: Microsoft looking to give Windows 10 “dail-tone” reliability Pin
Mark_Wallace5-Apr-20 9:55
Mark_Wallace5-Apr-20 9:55 
GeneralRe: Microsoft looking to give Windows 10 “dail-tone” reliability Pin
Greg Utas5-Apr-20 10:10
professionalGreg Utas5-Apr-20 10:10 
GeneralRe: Microsoft looking to give Windows 10 “dail-tone” reliability Pin
kalberts6-Apr-20 6:54
kalberts6-Apr-20 6:54 
We sure could learn something from telecom switch guys about reliability, software updating and several other techniques. E.g. how to keep 99% of the switch up and running even when the last percent crashes. I have seen other specs where each module was assigned a percentage value: If a 1%-module was down for 25 minutes, i.e. 1500 seconds, you still had half of your downtime quota left. Also, when a module crashes, it is automatically restarted within a fraction of a second (and restart takes a fraction of a second). One switch I was in contact with always kept the previous software version available: If a given module had experienced three restarts, the next one would automatically rather install the previous, well tried version.

For some reason, unknown to me, telecom guys and other computer guys have developed two very different schools of thought, different terminology, different programming styles (and languages). If you got a degree in Linux server development, desktop application development or web design, you are probably no more prepared for writing telecom switch code than your old grandma.

My only hands-on experience with real telecom hardware was as advisor for four bachelor student's diploma project, installing and configuring a single-PC-card ATM switch. My own Master degree and ten years programming experience, teaching OSI and Internet protocols at college level for a few years, plus four bright and eager students was not enough to make any sense out of the (quite extensive) documentation provided; we scratched our head until bleeding and still couldn't grasp very much of it. The hardware vendor tried to help us, but he was talking the same language as the documentation... (We did get the switch running, that was all. But that was intended to be the introductory step of thorough testing; we never got to that.)

Earlier, I was in a research project where we evaluated the Erlang programming language. Understanding the syntax is within reach, but we were writing "C applications in Erlang syntax", and the telecom guys we were cooperating with shook their heads, and showed us how Erlang is meant to be used. We couldn't grasp it, and ended up doing our part of the project in Objective C.

I think it is a pity that we speak so different languages. The telecom language and way of thinking should be an integral element of any higher level software development education.
GeneralRe: Microsoft looking to give Windows 10 “dail-tone” reliability Pin
Greg Utas6-Apr-20 7:38
professionalGreg Utas6-Apr-20 7:38 
GeneralRe: Microsoft looking to give Windows 10 “dail-tone” reliability Pin
jsc425-Apr-20 22:48
professionaljsc425-Apr-20 22:48 
JokeRe: Microsoft looking to give Windows 10 “dail-tone” reliability Pin
Daniel Pfeffer5-Apr-20 23:21
professionalDaniel Pfeffer5-Apr-20 23:21 
GeneralRe: Microsoft looking to give Windows 10 “dail-tone” reliability Pin
Nelek5-Apr-20 23:08
protectorNelek5-Apr-20 23:08 
NewsOur journey to type checking 4 million lines of Python Pin
Kent Sharkey5-Apr-20 9:00
staffKent Sharkey5-Apr-20 9:00 
GeneralRe: Our journey to type checking 4 million lines of Python Pin
Marc Clifton5-Apr-20 13:32
mvaMarc Clifton5-Apr-20 13:32 
GeneralRe: Our journey to type checking 4 million lines of Python Pin
Kent Sharkey5-Apr-20 13:59
staffKent Sharkey5-Apr-20 13:59 
GeneralRe: Our journey to type checking 4 million lines of Python Pin
Mark_Wallace5-Apr-20 19:39
Mark_Wallace5-Apr-20 19:39 
NewsMicrosoft: Emotet took down a network by overheating all computers Pin
Kent Sharkey5-Apr-20 9:00
staffKent Sharkey5-Apr-20 9:00 
GeneralRe: Microsoft: Emotet took down a network by overheating all computers Pin
Mark_Wallace5-Apr-20 9:59
Mark_Wallace5-Apr-20 9:59 
NewsC++ proposal dismisses backward compatibility Pin
Kent Sharkey5-Apr-20 9:00
staffKent Sharkey5-Apr-20 9:00 
GeneralRe: C++ proposal dismisses backward compatibility Pin
Mark_Wallace5-Apr-20 9:53
Mark_Wallace5-Apr-20 9:53 
NewsRegex performance improvements in .NET 5 Pin
Kent Sharkey5-Apr-20 9:00
staffKent Sharkey5-Apr-20 9:00 
GeneralRe: Regex performance improvements in .NET 5 Pin
Mark_Wallace5-Apr-20 9:52
Mark_Wallace5-Apr-20 9:52 
GeneralRe: Regex performance improvements in .NET 5 Pin
David O'Neil5-Apr-20 14:09
professionalDavid O'Neil5-Apr-20 14:09 
GeneralRe: Regex performance improvements in .NET 5 Pin
honey the codewitch6-Apr-20 4:42
mvahoney the codewitch6-Apr-20 4:42 
GeneralRe: Regex performance improvements in .NET 5 Pin
#realJSOP6-Apr-20 0:34
mve#realJSOP6-Apr-20 0:34 

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