Movin’ on up, to the east side

Posted by svec on January 7, 2011 1 comment

After eight years in Austin my wife and I recently moved to Boston.*  Austin was a great place to live, but we were ready for a change, and we’ve enjoyed visiting the Boston area so much that we wanted to move there.  And here we are! Sadly, leaving Austin meant I had to leave my [...]

Embedded software and open source

Posted by svec on October 5, 2010 0 comments

Embedded guru and author Jack Ganssle’s latest “Embedded Muse” newsletter has a lot of good commentary on open source in embedded software projects: http://www.ganssle.com/tem/tem199.htm I subscribe to very few newsletters, and Jack’s is one of them.  I read every issue, it’s that good. If you work in embedded software, or software of any kind, you [...]

Creation, Ownership, Drive, and Motivation

Posted by svec on August 22, 2010 0 comments

Ben Pieratt says: “Creation is entirely dependent on ownership. Ownership not as a percentage of equity, but as a measure of your ability to change things for the better. To build and grow and fail and learn. This is no small thing. Creativity is the manifestation of lateral thinking, and without tangible results, it becomes [...]

Assigning Task Priorities with RMA

Posted by svec on August 15, 2010 0 comments

Embedded gurus Michael Barr and David Stewart have written a couple of great articles about assigning task priorities with RMA (the Rate Monotonic Algorithm): Introduction to Rate Monotonic Scheduling, by David Stewart and Michael Barr 3 Things Every Programmer Should Know About RMA, by Michael Barr The first article lays out the basics: RMA is [...]

Computers and Pigs in Space

Posted by svec on August 15, 2010 0 comments

The first computer went into space on March 25, 1965, according to this PragPub article by Dan Wohlbruck: http://www.pragprog.com/magazines/2010-08/when-did-that-happen It took 12 more years to launch Pigs in Space: http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Pigs_in_Space Only history can judge which was the greater accomplishment.

“Shaping Things” by Bruce Sterling

Posted by svec on July 11, 2010 0 comments

I just finished “Shaping Things,” by Bruce Sterling.  It’s a very broad look at the way technology, people, and society have changed – and changed each other – over time.  And since it’s by Bruce Sterling, it’s mostly focused on the possibilities of tomorrow. My favorite quote: “Tomorrow composts today.” Very cool – both the [...]

I love embedded, and so does Woz!

Posted by svec on July 5, 2010 0 comments

I love working in the embedded world.  Hardware + software = a great time and a great career. I came across this fantastic quote by Steve Wozniak in “Making it Big in Software,” by Sam Lightstone.  Woz is talking about designing the Apple II: “And I did every piece of software from the ground up, [...]

Hacks and Hack-Nots

Posted by svec on April 18, 2010 0 comments

The world is divided into two kinds of people: Hacks and Hack-Nots. Hacks people hack.  They want hardware and software (aka “technology” or “tech”) they can change, optimize, use as they please, modify, destroy, etc. – in short, they want to hack. Hack-Nots people do not hack. They don’t want to know what “hacking” means. [...]

Book Review: “Hardware/Firmware Interface Design”

Posted by svec on January 24, 2010 0 comments

I just finished Hardware/Firmware Interface Design: Best Practices for Improving Embedded Systems Development, by Gary Stringham.  Gary sent me a review copy of the book, btw, but I get no money for reading or reviewing it.  Though if you buy the book via my Amazon link, I get a bit of cash. Anyway – the [...]

The Importance of Selective Importance

Posted by svec on November 30, 2009 0 comments

Bob Sutton quoting Bill Vlasic quoting Terry Woychowski about bureaucratic and measurement inflation at GM: “But as soon as everything is important, nothing is important.” That quote applies to pretty much any area of life. Like money, priorities and importance can be devalued through inflation. Plan, measure, and react accordingly.