Did they have to translate it into New Zealandish?
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
New Book - Foundational Principles of Cognitive Cybernetics
I've been stumbling with this one. It's my first serious book. I want something that will change the world. It's no small task.
What is cognitive cybernetics? And what are foundational principles? It attacks what must be the basis for developing synthetic thought, real thinking intelligent machines.
I got so mad reading Kurzweils childish pathetic attempt to understand all this that I just had to throw my gauntlet down in the ring.
In the meantime, "Poems for College Curmudgeons" will be coming out soon. A more light hearted affair. But this book, this big book sometimes I crumple into a paper ball just thinking of the hugeness and difficulty. I worry it will be a decade to complete but somehow it needs doing now. Onward.
What is cognitive cybernetics? And what are foundational principles? It attacks what must be the basis for developing synthetic thought, real thinking intelligent machines.
I got so mad reading Kurzweils childish pathetic attempt to understand all this that I just had to throw my gauntlet down in the ring.
In the meantime, "Poems for College Curmudgeons" will be coming out soon. A more light hearted affair. But this book, this big book sometimes I crumple into a paper ball just thinking of the hugeness and difficulty. I worry it will be a decade to complete but somehow it needs doing now. Onward.
My first computer....
It's hard to get across to newbies how far we've come. My first computer only had six letters I like to tell people. It looked like this:
OK that's a 6502 mine was a 8008. You'd punch away at that keyboard for hours entering pre-written machine codes. You'd have to calculate the jump offset of your branch or if statements. Can you imagine? Well anyways your reward for two hours of typing in low level codes was a number that looked like your expected result, something like 2718 on your calculation of the e constant. But of course it would say it in hex so it would say A9E. Sometimes it said A8E and you'd spend hours looking for a mistake. That's what computers were. Not video games. Not word processors. Not web browsers. A9E. Think about it.
Often when it said A8E you'd have to get out a soldering iron. Because the boards were early designs to support the processors and get them out for testing, but since so much was in design the boards would have jump wires where they needed a new connection. A lot would come lose or disconnect slightly. Then you'd get a program which said A9E sometimes and A8E sometimes. In the words of Tron you'd "bring out the logic probe" and track it down. Sometimes these connections gave way when it was hotter or more humid. Things we never worry about today. Can you imagine software that worked but not on rainy days? Yep that's the way it was.
We programmed a "star wars" game for our HP41CVs, a RPN programmabe uber calculator the size of a brick.
An MIT student stole mine and I was so pissed about that.
From RSKEY.org - "A stunning calculator even by today's standards, more than 20 years after its introduction, the HP-41C remains one of the best handheld calculating devices ever conceived. The HP-41C line remained in production for over 10 years, practically defining the high-end calculator industry throughout the 1980s. Numerous machines remain in use today, no doubt due in part to versatility offered by the calculator's four expansion ports. The HP-41C has been used in the most exotic places, including the Space Shuttle or the cockpit of the Concorde."
Why was it called the CV? Well because of course it had FIVE TIMES the memory of the 441 byte HP41C. TWO THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED and THIRTY THREE bytes. I mean, can you imagine the luxury of having a thousand bytes to spare? I constantly tell my programmers that I don't want to hear them whine that a 2k memory leak isn't a big deal, that leak was bigger than my whole development platform on the HP 41!
Here is what our first video game looked like: (each line of characters was displayed one at a time, one line per second. The sequence below would take six seconds:
> <
> <
> <
> <
> * <
Now what this was meant to simulate was luke firing his torpedo into the death star. You'd guess the left right position of the tube and enter a number. If you got it right you'd see:
XXXXXXXXXXX
that was a video game from the early eighties geek style. In order to see this game you'd need to load your code up with a strip reader, ten strips about four inches wide and half an inch tall. Having the extra magnetic card reader meant you were cool at a level that granted you immediate VAX access. We were geeks but the word hadn't been invented yet.
A rebuilt HP41cx with a card reader costs over 500 bucks today. That's how much people loved them. Can you imagine writing your senior thesis on a calculator with one line of text at a time?
''The HP-41CX was the same as the HP-41CV but added the Time module (stop watch plus clock with alarms), an Extended Functions / Extended Memory module, a text editor, and some additional functions."
Later the HP 71B came out. While the 41 only had 4k ram cartridges, whopping endlessly huge 32k RAM cartridges could be had for the 71. At the time it seemed like madness, who could possibly write a program that required 32,000 characters?
Later the ill-fated HP 42 would come out with TWO lines of text. TWO! Such luxury after starting with just four letters just a few years prior. This was amazing stuff. Where would it all end we wondered, where would it all end. My best friend fish told me that soon there would be portable calculators with eight lines of text but I told him that wasn't likely. I mean really four lines were more than enough for anyone.
OK that's a 6502 mine was a 8008. You'd punch away at that keyboard for hours entering pre-written machine codes. You'd have to calculate the jump offset of your branch or if statements. Can you imagine? Well anyways your reward for two hours of typing in low level codes was a number that looked like your expected result, something like 2718 on your calculation of the e constant. But of course it would say it in hex so it would say A9E. Sometimes it said A8E and you'd spend hours looking for a mistake. That's what computers were. Not video games. Not word processors. Not web browsers. A9E. Think about it.
Often when it said A8E you'd have to get out a soldering iron. Because the boards were early designs to support the processors and get them out for testing, but since so much was in design the boards would have jump wires where they needed a new connection. A lot would come lose or disconnect slightly. Then you'd get a program which said A9E sometimes and A8E sometimes. In the words of Tron you'd "bring out the logic probe" and track it down. Sometimes these connections gave way when it was hotter or more humid. Things we never worry about today. Can you imagine software that worked but not on rainy days? Yep that's the way it was.
We programmed a "star wars" game for our HP41CVs, a RPN programmabe uber calculator the size of a brick.
An MIT student stole mine and I was so pissed about that.
From RSKEY.org - "A stunning calculator even by today's standards, more than 20 years after its introduction, the HP-41C remains one of the best handheld calculating devices ever conceived. The HP-41C line remained in production for over 10 years, practically defining the high-end calculator industry throughout the 1980s. Numerous machines remain in use today, no doubt due in part to versatility offered by the calculator's four expansion ports. The HP-41C has been used in the most exotic places, including the Space Shuttle or the cockpit of the Concorde."
Why was it called the CV? Well because of course it had FIVE TIMES the memory of the 441 byte HP41C. TWO THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED and THIRTY THREE bytes. I mean, can you imagine the luxury of having a thousand bytes to spare? I constantly tell my programmers that I don't want to hear them whine that a 2k memory leak isn't a big deal, that leak was bigger than my whole development platform on the HP 41!
Here is what our first video game looked like: (each line of characters was displayed one at a time, one line per second. The sequence below would take six seconds:
> <
> <
> <
> <
> * <
Now what this was meant to simulate was luke firing his torpedo into the death star. You'd guess the left right position of the tube and enter a number. If you got it right you'd see:
XXXXXXXXXXX
that was a video game from the early eighties geek style. In order to see this game you'd need to load your code up with a strip reader, ten strips about four inches wide and half an inch tall. Having the extra magnetic card reader meant you were cool at a level that granted you immediate VAX access. We were geeks but the word hadn't been invented yet.
A rebuilt HP41cx with a card reader costs over 500 bucks today. That's how much people loved them. Can you imagine writing your senior thesis on a calculator with one line of text at a time?
''The HP-41CX was the same as the HP-41CV but added the Time module (stop watch plus clock with alarms), an Extended Functions / Extended Memory module, a text editor, and some additional functions."
Later the HP 71B came out. While the 41 only had 4k ram cartridges, whopping endlessly huge 32k RAM cartridges could be had for the 71. At the time it seemed like madness, who could possibly write a program that required 32,000 characters?
The Problem With Dell
I worked at Dell helping them launch a new factory. There are several problems with Dell. Things have come to a head with moves to take the company private, one wonders if to hide falling numbers and revenues.
Dell wants to be the small business one stop. It wants to make the IBM model work. But I'm not so sure IBM makes the IBM model work. And that's on the high end fat profit side.
Dell is moving aggressively into the cloud yet it's offerings aren't so memorable.
Dell is suffering from a lack of innovation in a huge way. I felt so bad for them I wrote Michael who I had met at my tenure there and requested a coffee meeting to discuss some ideas for the company. He declined. A really great new computer and new story that differentiates them would make a big splash.
Instead their old vp from India gutted most of their development team and is now busy doing the same for General Motors after gutting AMD. At Dell Hyderabad huge Eight foot tall pictures of Michael Dell tell the workers sayings about being productive and Dell like.
In the end innovation comes from people in free happy spaces, not death by cube land. For a while they can buy companies, but like trees transplanted, the will refuse to flower in the new soil. It's time for Micheal to wake up and get some real creative juices flowing because if not there's really no way to compete with the juggernaut coming from China and Asia. The margins on the PC business have gotten so small for Dell because there is no value add. Moving into new markets may not be the answer because you can't have a staid company innovate and compete at the level that marks the best and brightest of silicon valley.
Dell wants to be the small business one stop. It wants to make the IBM model work. But I'm not so sure IBM makes the IBM model work. And that's on the high end fat profit side.
Dell is moving aggressively into the cloud yet it's offerings aren't so memorable.
Dell is suffering from a lack of innovation in a huge way. I felt so bad for them I wrote Michael who I had met at my tenure there and requested a coffee meeting to discuss some ideas for the company. He declined. A really great new computer and new story that differentiates them would make a big splash.
Instead their old vp from India gutted most of their development team and is now busy doing the same for General Motors after gutting AMD. At Dell Hyderabad huge Eight foot tall pictures of Michael Dell tell the workers sayings about being productive and Dell like.
In the end innovation comes from people in free happy spaces, not death by cube land. For a while they can buy companies, but like trees transplanted, the will refuse to flower in the new soil. It's time for Micheal to wake up and get some real creative juices flowing because if not there's really no way to compete with the juggernaut coming from China and Asia. The margins on the PC business have gotten so small for Dell because there is no value add. Moving into new markets may not be the answer because you can't have a staid company innovate and compete at the level that marks the best and brightest of silicon valley.
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Are They Executives?
OK I've been a Vice president, a CEO, a CTO and similar ilk for countless companies for over a decade. I could refer to myself as "A Software Executive" but other than my resume I don't. My current title on linkedin is "freefloating curmudgeon". But more and more I see people who work in sales calling themselves executives. I think one of the bachelors on that tv show did this.
I'm sorry but "Ad Executive" does not mean "Executive" that's a misreading of the term which is more along the case of to execute not C-Level person in a company but they misuse it all the same.
Or time and time again I see people who were directors call themselves "executives" and I'm like HUH? No sorry, a director traditionally is NOT an executive.
Then there's the senior consultant at a big company who describes their title as " Senior Consultant (VP)". Uhm no! NO! you aren't a VP because if you WERE a VP your title would be "Vice President of Senior Consulting".
This weird title inflation has to stop. What also has to stop is schmucks at Amazon belittle-ING people who ARE and WERE executives as somehow being nowhere people for a director role. Give me a break. People, get YOUR TITLES RIGHT! Someone who has been a VP and CEO and CTO for ten companies... THAT PERSON IS AN EXECUTIVE AND IS MORE THAN QUALIFIED FOR A DIRECTOR ROLE! GOT IT!
If this keeps up I'll just become an Ad Executive and sell cheesy poofs all day and act all high and mighty. Hey, at least I'll still be an executive. And make more money it seems in our broken collapsed society.
I'm sorry but "Ad Executive" does not mean "Executive" that's a misreading of the term which is more along the case of to execute not C-Level person in a company but they misuse it all the same.
Or time and time again I see people who were directors call themselves "executives" and I'm like HUH? No sorry, a director traditionally is NOT an executive.
Then there's the senior consultant at a big company who describes their title as " Senior Consultant (VP)". Uhm no! NO! you aren't a VP because if you WERE a VP your title would be "Vice President of Senior Consulting".
This weird title inflation has to stop. What also has to stop is schmucks at Amazon belittle-ING people who ARE and WERE executives as somehow being nowhere people for a director role. Give me a break. People, get YOUR TITLES RIGHT! Someone who has been a VP and CEO and CTO for ten companies... THAT PERSON IS AN EXECUTIVE AND IS MORE THAN QUALIFIED FOR A DIRECTOR ROLE! GOT IT!
If this keeps up I'll just become an Ad Executive and sell cheesy poofs all day and act all high and mighty. Hey, at least I'll still be an executive. And make more money it seems in our broken collapsed society.
The Cloud Integration Stumbling block
One problem is that while Cloud infrastructures do great things to automate ONE application in the cloud, or the Amazon model, provide a bunch of services to work in the cloud to support you, they don't really provide cross-service functionality. A person can't register a cool application, use MySql, a workflow engine, and a messaging service, and then try to use a third party service which builds on that data. So you get a lot of silo'd apps in the cloud when the whole point is flexibility. And single point vendors are going to quickly realize that the cloud is more like the app store than a business offering, it is a marketplace and will grow organically.
But getting all the hooks in place is difficult especially where billing is involved. In most cases read only access is enough but how would a service provider handle someone who is pummeling their service - bill the original buyer? These kinds of contractual things and costs keep the cloud stuck in silo land. Moving large chunks of data around isn't practical. Simpler non data services like workflows or notification services fit in easily with todays model but advanced services that require more of the facebook model - access to data and ability to write to it - are a ways off.
I was looking at some of the local austin companies which got funded and one was Digby. Digby does exactly what I've railed AGAINST over and over by providing only half a solution - a solution users don't want. They've got such an impressive sales force they've gotten lots of big name companies to buy their service - locationpoint - which effectively broadcasts messages or coupons to users as they pass a store. But we've seen this before in several other companies. The problem is what's the incentive for the USER to install your software? Just to see this? I don't think so it's far from enough. All of these types of companies that try to sell dry bread to users with no filling will go the same route. They'll get some sales from big companies who are clueless and want some kind of mobile strategy but users will never adopt it. And yet many go on with such huge and impressive teams that they get funding and seem like legitimate companies. I think this market of crusty bread apps will wither and die. People need strong content before they will be incentivized to download something that isn't a game and will only blast them with advertising.
Foursquare suffers from exactly this which is why they are changing from their boring check in model. Checkins are great at airports, boring in life. Its one more sandwich that skimps on the meat for its users. I mean, sorry I'm too busy with my life to "check in" just to be hip and social. and no, getting a dopey "mayor of the pizza joint" competition doesn't really float my boat enough to bother with it either.
Then you have companies like Dish.fm which when no users would eat their stale sandwich decided to just SCAN YELP for all the data and reviews. Well at least they are providing some information to users but it's hardly very accurate or relevant in a way that's novel. Why not just read yelp?
Finally I began to read up on Austin's own Capital Factory and I have to say it seems to mean and I mean this in the best way, that a lot of dingbat companies with ridiculous business plans go through the place. They get to compete and finally earn 20,000 bucks in investment and a place in the incubator but really its like a bottom feeding VC business model. They get lucky 1 out of 20 but chew up a lot of companies in the way. Really its hard to say they do any worse than regular VC but the vetting for people who can actually SELL their product should be tougher. Maybe they need to focus on that instead of how to live on ramen noodles. Austin is a great city for startups if only that its so much cheaper I can't imagine doing a startup in san francisco with the two thousand dollar a month studio apartment. These places USED to be the startup mecas because they were cheap and people had garages. The vc's moved there and refuse to leave or branch out. But the startup companies can no longer afford to be there.
So the second kind of company takes it further and builds a mobile advertising platform which all the other mobile developers are just supposed to use. But do they have a profit sharing model and enough subscribers to make it worthwhile for the mobile developer to hassle and add it? Heck no! Another stale bread only sandwich for the users. Yet again, these kinds of companies are getting funding left and right. Come on VC, always ask the basic question - for whom does the bell toll. If users aren't going to enjoy eating it, there's just no way it will be successful.
There's a whole host of great startups that have great ideas that require an ECOSYSTEM of users and rewards for them. It's so tough to build and so risky. In todays pulled back investment environment the VCs arent going for them very much either but thats the kind of company that would work not the stale bread ones. Instead everyone is forced into bootstrapping and chicken mcNuggeet SaaS designs for their startups because that's what VCs are looking for. Empty and contains silicone, and in the end might kill you, but they seem tasty for the first few bites.
But getting all the hooks in place is difficult especially where billing is involved. In most cases read only access is enough but how would a service provider handle someone who is pummeling their service - bill the original buyer? These kinds of contractual things and costs keep the cloud stuck in silo land. Moving large chunks of data around isn't practical. Simpler non data services like workflows or notification services fit in easily with todays model but advanced services that require more of the facebook model - access to data and ability to write to it - are a ways off.
I was looking at some of the local austin companies which got funded and one was Digby. Digby does exactly what I've railed AGAINST over and over by providing only half a solution - a solution users don't want. They've got such an impressive sales force they've gotten lots of big name companies to buy their service - locationpoint - which effectively broadcasts messages or coupons to users as they pass a store. But we've seen this before in several other companies. The problem is what's the incentive for the USER to install your software? Just to see this? I don't think so it's far from enough. All of these types of companies that try to sell dry bread to users with no filling will go the same route. They'll get some sales from big companies who are clueless and want some kind of mobile strategy but users will never adopt it. And yet many go on with such huge and impressive teams that they get funding and seem like legitimate companies. I think this market of crusty bread apps will wither and die. People need strong content before they will be incentivized to download something that isn't a game and will only blast them with advertising.
Foursquare suffers from exactly this which is why they are changing from their boring check in model. Checkins are great at airports, boring in life. Its one more sandwich that skimps on the meat for its users. I mean, sorry I'm too busy with my life to "check in" just to be hip and social. and no, getting a dopey "mayor of the pizza joint" competition doesn't really float my boat enough to bother with it either.
Then you have companies like Dish.fm which when no users would eat their stale sandwich decided to just SCAN YELP for all the data and reviews. Well at least they are providing some information to users but it's hardly very accurate or relevant in a way that's novel. Why not just read yelp?
Finally I began to read up on Austin's own Capital Factory and I have to say it seems to mean and I mean this in the best way, that a lot of dingbat companies with ridiculous business plans go through the place. They get to compete and finally earn 20,000 bucks in investment and a place in the incubator but really its like a bottom feeding VC business model. They get lucky 1 out of 20 but chew up a lot of companies in the way. Really its hard to say they do any worse than regular VC but the vetting for people who can actually SELL their product should be tougher. Maybe they need to focus on that instead of how to live on ramen noodles. Austin is a great city for startups if only that its so much cheaper I can't imagine doing a startup in san francisco with the two thousand dollar a month studio apartment. These places USED to be the startup mecas because they were cheap and people had garages. The vc's moved there and refuse to leave or branch out. But the startup companies can no longer afford to be there.
So the second kind of company takes it further and builds a mobile advertising platform which all the other mobile developers are just supposed to use. But do they have a profit sharing model and enough subscribers to make it worthwhile for the mobile developer to hassle and add it? Heck no! Another stale bread only sandwich for the users. Yet again, these kinds of companies are getting funding left and right. Come on VC, always ask the basic question - for whom does the bell toll. If users aren't going to enjoy eating it, there's just no way it will be successful.
There's a whole host of great startups that have great ideas that require an ECOSYSTEM of users and rewards for them. It's so tough to build and so risky. In todays pulled back investment environment the VCs arent going for them very much either but thats the kind of company that would work not the stale bread ones. Instead everyone is forced into bootstrapping and chicken mcNuggeet SaaS designs for their startups because that's what VCs are looking for. Empty and contains silicone, and in the end might kill you, but they seem tasty for the first few bites.
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