http://www.virtualtravelog.net/ Thoughts and essays by John R. Harris on System Design, The Internet, Globalization, Complexity, and Technology. en-us foobar@bigfoot.com 2007-09-09T22:08:33-08:00 hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 http://www.virtualtravelog.net/entries/2007/09/the_immortal_ga.html .flickr-photo { border: solid 1px #000000; } .flickr-yourcomment { } .flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; } .flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } The Immortal Game, originally uploaded by Virtual Traveler. This is a photo of a painting... 69@http://www.virtualtravelog.net/ Complexity 2007-09-09T22:08:33-08:00 http://www.virtualtravelog.net/entries/2006/04/delicious_tagro.html My del.icio.us tagroll 66@http://www.virtualtravelog.net/ Reviews 2006-04-24T02:03:36-08:00 http://www.virtualtravelog.net/entries/2004/08/movabletype_2661_entity_relationship_diagram.html An Entity Realtionship Diagram from Movabletype 2.661 65@http://www.virtualtravelog.net/ System Design 2004-08-28T17:57:10-08:00 http://www.virtualtravelog.net/entries/2004/08/online_banking_with_quicken_for_mac_why_i_dont_give_a_damn_about_free_checking.html Looking back over the past four years of using Quicken I can now see that I have gone through several distinct phases. These phases are parts of an unconscious optimization process aimed at reducing the overall cost and effort involved in managing our finances. I did not plan this process it just became obvious once I had access to complete and accurate data. The result is that the banks get less of my money and I spend less time managing it. From the banks perspective financial management software like Quicken is a "bad thing" because customers who use it are less profitable. 64@http://www.virtualtravelog.net/ Reviews 2004-08-22T22:29:19-08:00 http://www.virtualtravelog.net/entries/2004/07/wikipedia_article_for_the_term_computer.html I just re-wrote the first four sections of the Wikipedia article for the term Computer. The Current page is here. This link to the change history page for the article currently shows one change on line 6. This was a... 63@http://www.virtualtravelog.net/ Technology 2004-07-28T23:24:58-08:00 http://www.virtualtravelog.net/entries/2004/05/unprecedented_phenomena_the_implications_of_the_oklo_fossil_reactors.html Explaining unprecedented phenomena can lead to a cascade of new findings and theories. However, it is hard to handle unique evidence with scientific rigor. Sadly only a few scientists are prepared to risk damaging their careers by tackling such issues. 62@http://www.virtualtravelog.net/ Complexity 2004-05-11T19:58:29-08:00 http://www.virtualtravelog.net/entries/2004/03/charles_babbage_and_howard_aiken_how_the_analytical_engine_influenced_the_ibm_automatic_sequence_controlled_calculator_aka_the_harvard_mk_i.html In 1936, [Howard] Aiken had proposed his idea [to build a giant calculating machine] to the [Harvard University] Physics Department, ... He was told by the chairman, Frederick Saunders, that a lab technician, Carmelo Lanza, had told him about... 61@http://www.virtualtravelog.net/ Computer History 2004-03-30T23:03:36-08:00 http://www.virtualtravelog.net/entries/2004/03/ontology_review_2_the_international_system_of_units_si_us_resistance_to_adoption_of_the_metric_system.html Ontologies are like Khunian Paradigms; new ontologies are resisted by those who have a vested interest in the old system. Ontologies, like jargon, can form barriers to market entry that effectively exclude potential competitors and protect established players. Establised players are acting out of self interest in resisting change.

]]> 60@http://www.virtualtravelog.net/ System Design 2004-03-04T19:53:43-08:00 http://www.virtualtravelog.net/entries/2004/02/vannevar_bush_and_the_limits_of_prescience.html If anyone should ever have been capable of predicting the future it was Vannevar Bush in 1945. Unlike almost anyone else before or since Bush was actually in possession of ALL the facts - as only the head of technology research in a country at war could be...

]]> 59@http://www.virtualtravelog.net/ Computer History 2004-02-11T14:17:28-08:00 http://www.virtualtravelog.net/entries/2004/01/ontology_review_1_the_nhs_common_basic_specification_why_top_level_ontologies_dont_work.html The first of an occasional series of reviews that will illustrate some important general traits of ontologies. This review covers an ontology called the Common Basic Specification (CBS) that was designed in the late 1980s to bring much needed standardization and rationalization to the fragmented information management processes of the British National Health Service (NHS). This is my explanation of why it failed.

]]> 58@http://www.virtualtravelog.net/ System Design 2004-01-26T10:33:40-08:00 http://www.virtualtravelog.net/entries/2004/01/judging_the_likely_success_of_an_ontology.html By defining the anatomy or architecture of an ontology it is possible to judge the likely success of various examples. The anatomy I develop here is based on practical experience of systems I have designed, reviewed, or studied.

]]> 57@http://www.virtualtravelog.net/ System Design 2004-01-19T18:00:01-08:00 http://www.virtualtravelog.net/entries/2003/12/source_code_as_history.html When the history of early software development is written it will be a travesty. Few historians will have the ability, and even fewer the inclination, to learn long dead programming languages. History will be derived from the documentation not the source code.

]]> 56@http://www.virtualtravelog.net/ Technology 2003-12-29T23:33:33-08:00 http://www.virtualtravelog.net/entries/2003/12/visualizing_the_shrinking_world.html The changing relationships between time, distance, information, and money are at the heart of today's globalization trends. The cost of a 3-minute transatlantic phone call is an interesting metric since it fixes distance and the amount of information. These diagrams literally replace distance with cost and graphically show how the world is "shrinking" from a cost of information exchange perspective.

]]> 54@http://www.virtualtravelog.net/ Globalization 2003-12-11T15:33:53-08:00 http://www.virtualtravelog.net/entries/2003/11/linksys_befw11s4_wirelessb_broadband_router_problems_low_reliability_and_poor_fault_tolerance.html Judging by the reviews of this product it appears that many people have been unable to fix problems with this device. Below is my description of the problems I encountered and a solution that worked for me. Hopefully this will help others, but as always, your mileage may vary!

]]> 51@http://www.virtualtravelog.net/ Reviews 2003-11-29T15:15:00-08:00 http://www.virtualtravelog.net/entries/2003/11/the_evolution_of_the_modern_computer_1934_to_1950_an_open_source_graphical_history.html Some time between 1934 and 1950 the first modern computer was created. Pinning down exactly when that event occured is not easy. It depends on how you define the term computer and what you think is more important: The concept, the design, the first succesful test, or the first time the machine solved a real problem. This is the first release of an open source graphical representation of the evolution of the modern computer.

]]> 50@http://www.virtualtravelog.net/ Technology 2003-11-27T15:40:00-08:00