NATS Software Failure: Old Code or Buggy Code?

 Computing, General, Media  No Responses »
Dec 142014
 

Anyone watching mainstream media for news about the software failure at NATS can be forgiven for thinking that old software is responsible for the problem that occurred recently causing many flight delays. The mainstream media seems to have clung onto the idea that the code is old and decided to blame that for the problems. You do have to wonder where they got these ideas from given that most journalists have the technology qualifications of a gnat. Perhaps from industry insiders who have a vested interest in selling new products perhaps?

Anyone who has written code can tell you that it is not old code that is responsible for software failures, but buggy code. Old code can be buggy, but so can new code. In fact as there has been less time to spend debugging it, new code is likely to have many more problems than old code.

That sounds like a recipe for leaving old code well alone. But it isn’t really. Old code needs to be updated and refreshed on a continual basis but not replaced in a “big bang” approach just because it is old.

Small changes and not big changes. Small changes are easier to do, quicker to do, and it’s feasible during testing to say that the small change is rubbish and to throw it away.

The more important a system is, the more important it is to evolve it towards the future rather than simply replace it with something newer and shinier.

And letting mainstream journalists dictate your IT strategy is always a mistake.

It’s Just Weather, Not The End Of The World

 General  No Responses »
Nov 052014
 

Moaning about the weather? You’re just making the world a little bit less happy and surprisingly often making yourself look ridiculous.

It’s fine to whinge a little bit when there are solid lumps coming out of the sky and the lumps are being driven horizontal in the wind, but complaining about normal weather is just a bit ridiculous.

Today for example, everyone is screaming about how cold it is. It’s actually a pretty normal temperature for the time of year, and as a bonus it was pretty sunny today. Every cloud has a silver lining.

As for the people who kept complaining that last week was cold … please! The warmest Halloween on record and you were complaining about the cold!

Now the following looks cold :-

(Stolen from Wikipedia).

There’s no bad weather; just the wrong clothes.

 

 

No Safety Net? No Safety Harness? Just Bloody Selfish

 General  No Responses »
Nov 032014
 

Yes I’m being a curmudgeon, but there is a point to this little range about Nik Wallender‘s epic high wire act in Chicago. And that is the lack of safety equipment does not really make the act any more impressive.

And the use of safety equipment would prevent turning Nik into a splat on the pavement below. Perhap Nik himself didn’t worry too much about this, but what about the people who would be shovelling up the mess into a bin bag? And yes, gruesome as it may sound, it would be shovelling into a bag.

The emergency services of course.

Who whilst they are probably far too used to cleaning up the mess, could probably do without an idiot risking adding to their already high risk of developing PTSD.

So remember when you’re congratulating Nik, that he’s a bit selfish. And should think about safety equipment next time – not to protect himself, but to protect others.

(Image from Wikipedia)

Tories Misunderstand The Minimum Wage

 Politics  No Responses »
Oct 152014
 

In today’s news we learn that a Tory minister has apologised for being caught saying remarks which imply that the disabled are not worth paying the minimum wage. To be fair, it’s probably not just him – probably most privileged Tories have a basic misunderstanding of the word “minimum”. And are in dire need of a bit of basic remedial English remedial education.

As an aside, I’m going to use some words like “incompetent”, “lazy”, “useless”, etc. to refer to people but this is not intended to apply to disabled people. I’m making a point about the minimum wage and not about disabled people; most of whom I am sure are worth far more than the minimum wage.

The minimum wage is just that … a minimum. Which means that no matter how poor, any employee who is just about avoiding being fired is worth that wage. The minimum wage is not a full wage, it is a basic minimum that any employer should want to exceed.

Anybody who exceeds the minimum requirements for performing on a job – even if they are not “excellent” or even “good” deserves more than the minimum wage.

Let’s emphasise that: If you are a good worker and you are being paid the minimum wage then you are under paid. You are being ripped off.

On the subject of the disabled in the work place, perhaps we should be thinking of them as people with certain limitation – just like the rest of us. The overwhelming majority of people out there are not capable of doing my job as well as I can do it because of their limitations – limitations in experience and the ability to think in certain ways. I cannot think off the top of my head of a single physical limitation that would prevent someone doing my job.

Some disabled people may need “special” arrangements to be able to do my job – a special desk for wheelchair users for example. But so do I – I’m tall, so I need a taller desk than usual, and I need a special pair of glasses to read the computer screen for an extended duration. Where is the difference?

Spending a few hundred (or thousand) pounds to adapt a work place to the needs of the worker is hardly an excessive price to pay – it’s a tiny proportion of the cost of employing someone. And employers should be doing this for every worker – adapting the work place for the needs of each individual who works there will make them feel valued, will probably make them more productive, and is less likely to make disabled people feel uncomfortable about asking for their special needs.

We all have special needs.

Malala Yousafzai to Share Nobel Peace Prize?

 Politics  No Responses »
Oct 102014
 

I’ve not got a problem with Malala Yousafzai winning some sort of prize – she deserves to. But a peace prize?

Campaigning for women’s education is hardly likely to lead to peace – the neanderthals that oppose women’s education aren’t likely to take being opposed peacefully. And I’m aware that comparing Islamic fundamentalists to Neanderthals is vastly insulting. To the Neanderthals.

But Malala is saying something that needs saying. Espousing truth as it were.

The trouble is the title of the prize: The Nobel Peace Prize. It’s often awarded for actions that do not promote peace, but for more general humanitarian accomplishments. Perhaps it should be renamed to the Nobel Humanitarian Prize or even the Nobel Truth Prize?

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