Marc's Musings

Links for 29 Nov 2006 [del.icio.us]

• Gingrich raises alarm at event honoring those who stand up for freedom of speech - "Gingrich, speaking at a Manchester awards banquet, said a 'different set of rules' may be needed to reduce terrorists' ability to use the Internet and free speech to recruit and get out their message."
• What the 80/20 Rule Tells Us about Reducing HTTP Requests - Time to focus on the other 80%...
• An HD video acquisition card with HDMI for Mac and PC - I hope that this hits shelves in the US sometime soon!

Links for 28 Nov 2006 [del.icio.us]

• Can I see your receipt, sir? - "Another fun approach, if you are detained, is to inform the store that they may indeed inspect your bags or your receipt, if and only if all items are immediately returned for a full refund."

Links for 27 Nov 2006 [del.icio.us]

• Bacon-of-the-Month Club - If you're looking for the gift that says "I love you," this is it!

Playing around with Zooomr

Just started playing around with zooomr. There are some things that I like about it and the way it handles geotagging, but I haven't quite groked the interface yet. It's definately different than Flickr, and that may or may not be a good thing. It relies more on AJAX, that's for sure.

More comments as I play around with it...

Links for 22 Nov 2006 [del.icio.us]

• The James Bond title sequences - GooTube playlist of all the Bond title sequences.
• Free online file conversion - Convert from one file type to another. 100MB limit.

Links for 21 Nov 2006 [del.icio.us]

• Airport Security - linked from Bruce Schneier
• e - The Collaborative Text Editor for Windows - seems interesting

Prolonging the solution

When I posted a couple of links the other day relating to software/management consultants, little did I know that today I would be living in an Office Space moment.

Long story short, my boss's boss needs to show that he is doing something about some of the issues we've been having (most relating to 3rd party tools, but I digress) so he brought in a consultant to find the silver bullet.

What's the first thing this consultant asks for? SLOC.

The next thing he asked for, however, really and truely boggles my mind. He wants to know the number of columns in our database schema. Not tables, but columns. This seems even more assanine then knowing SLOC.

Apparently he has some sort of tool that will tell him how many man hours it took to build, etc. Not sure how that factors in, but I'm sure it doubles the estimates or something. There's some geeking out after the jump, but I leave you with this fun little motivational poster.

Let's take a further look at why SLOC is bad. I present the following two pieces of code as an example (sorry for those that can't read C, that was easiest for me). They both print "Hello World!" however the second one introduces some error, and some potential for error (if you're a geek, you should be able to spot it immediately).

#include <stdio.h>

int main(int argc, char **argv)
{
   printf("Hello World!\n");
   return(0);
}

And the output from the SLOC tool:

Total Physical Source Lines of Code (SLOC) = 6
Development Effort Estimate, Person-Years (Person-Months) = 0.00 (0.01)
(Basic COCOMO model, Person-Months = 2.4 * (KSLOC**1.05))
Schedule Estimate, Years (Months) = 0.04 (0.45)
(Basic COCOMO model, Months = 2.5 * (person-months**0.38))
Estimated Average Number of Developers (Effort/Schedule) = 0.02
Total Estimated Cost to Develop = $ 126
(average salary = $56,286/year, overhead = 2.40).

#include <stdio.h>

int main(int argc, char **argv)
{
   char *p, *out_str;

   if ((out_str = (char *) malloc(11 * sizeof(char))) == NULL)
   {
      fprintf(stderr, "Unable to allocate memory\n");
      return(-1);
   }

   p = out_str;
   *p++ = 'H';
   *p++ = 'e';
   *p++ = 'l';
   *p++ = 'l';
   *p++ = 'o';
   *p++ = ' ';
   *p++ = 'W';
   *p++ = 'o';
   *p++ = 'r';
   *p++ = 'l';
   *p++ = 'd';
   *p++ = '!';

   printf("%s\n", out_str);
   return(0);
}

And the output from a SLOC tool:

Total Physical Source Lines of Code (SLOC) = 25
Development Effort Estimate, Person-Years (Person-Months) = 0.00 (0.05)
(Basic COCOMO model, Person-Months = 2.4 * (KSLOC**1.05))
Schedule Estimate, Years (Months) = 0.07 (0.80)
(Basic COCOMO model, Months = 2.5 * (person-months**0.38))
Estimated Average Number of Developers (Effort/Schedule) = 0.06
Total Estimated Cost to Develop = $ 562
(average salary = $56,286/year, overhead = 2.40).

I could have made the second one even more complex, but I decided not to. According to SLOC tools and consultants, the second option is worth more even though it is more prone to errors (buffer overruns), and is slower (dynamic memory allocation). Apparently the first example took a little under 2 hrs to write, and the second took just over 8 hrs--or one working day--of effort. Egads.

For comparison, here are the stats from the current project I am working on:

Total Physical Source Lines of Code (SLOC) = 459,796
Development Effort Estimate, Person-Years (Person-Months) = 124.95 (1,499.36)
(Basic COCOMO model, Person-Months = 2.4 * (KSLOC**1.05))
Schedule Estimate, Years (Months) = 3.35 (40.25)
(Basic COCOMO model, Months = 2.5 * (person-months**0.38))
Estimated Average Number of Developers (Effort/Schedule) = 37.25
Total Estimated Cost to Develop = $ 16,878,548
(average salary = $56,286/year, overhead = 2.40).

Links for 20 Nov 2006 [del.icio.us]

• Boeing 777 Wing Stress Test - Wow.
• Why can't Johnny download? - "Programmers do this naturally, because programmers know the difference between transmission of data by value and transmission of data by reference. But almost nobody else does." -- Don't be alarmed if I don't attach a file, but rather send you a URL.

Links for 17 Nov 2006 [del.icio.us]

• Cartoon hotel room - Be fun to stay in.
• Tell DHS to Help Keep RFID out of Government-Issued ID - Apparently the DHS has a draft document explaining the downsides of using RFID. Feel free to send them your comments and show your support for getting RFID out of our ID system.
• The S stands for Simple - Hilarious dialog on how "simple" SOAP is...
• Kansas man shoots himself in groin - Uhhh... oops.

Links for 16 Nov 2006 [del.icio.us]

• system76 :: Linux Laptops, Linux Desktops, Linux Servers - providing linux hardware for the masses

Links for 15 Nov 2006 [del.icio.us]

• The stages of an exploding laptop battery - Hope you returned your recalled batteries...
• How Two Hours Can Waste Two Weeks - so true

Links for 13 Nov 2006 [del.icio.us]

• Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields: Illinois - A selection of airports in IL that used to exist and how they look today. Links to other states as well.
• Marinated Shark Steaks - I never had shark before last night. It's really good as long as you don't overcook it. This marinade is very easy to throw together as well.

Links for 10 Nov 2006 [del.icio.us]

• The Lonely Libertarian: A View From a Disaffected Republican - I'm glad Frank's a lawyer because he knows how to say what I was thinking...

Links for 09 Nov 2006 [del.icio.us]

• On Vacation - This seems to ring true, even outside of architecture (the focal point of the cartoon)

Links for 08 Nov 2006 [del.icio.us]

• Deron Williams over Ike Diogu - For all of the Illini fans out there...

Links for 07 Nov 2006 [del.icio.us]

• Amazing 747SP Retirement Landing - What if you were planning to retire a Boeing 747SP and leave it on static display?
• Which is the real logo? - Flash game... I got down in the 30s range, but it took me 5 or 6 tries...

Paper or plastic?

Although I live in a country that requires the ability to vote electronically, I am happy to state that in Cook County, IL, I still get a choice. I was pleased that when I went to vote this morning I was presented with the option to vote paper. It's not as easy as punching a punch card anymore--it's done with a huge scantron sheet--but at least there is a verifiable paper trail.

I think what made me happier was the number of people, when presented with the option, either firmly chose paper, or asked "is there some sort of paper verification of my vote with the touchscreen?" Now, that being said, there were a lot of lines to draw on the paper scantron sheet. At one point my laziness kicked in and I was wishing for the touchscreen, but I feel more strongly about the need for a paper trail.

Apparently 90 other people in my precinct before me did, too, as the ballot verification machine had a counter on it.

Links for 06 Nov 2006 [del.icio.us]

• The Parable of the Two Programmers - See what happens when you find the simple, elegant solution to a problem?
• Pac-man chart - hehe

Links for 03 Nov 2006 [del.icio.us]

• The Comcast HD DVR Is Simply, Terribly Awful - The Tivo is like an Audi, but the Comcast drives like a 1972 Gran Torino Station wagon.

Links for 02 Nov 2006 [del.icio.us]

• Flying below the radar - This looks like fun!