if IBM can make a value proposition in China with PPC, they actually have a chance at getting some market share outside embedded.

yes i agree

from TFA summary: "because the government has been actively pushing homegrown solutions over foreign technology, "

China is serious about this.

They are wise to the level of embedded spyware and also the way companies will lock you into proprietary everything.

Also, it's a wise move from an IT perspective. Especially for something as huge as China, pushing "homegrown solutions" on that economy of scale is a major change and it will have a noticalbly positive effect.

"Like turning an Aircraft Carrier"...that's China's IT infrastructure...it's so huge, it takes a long time to turn, so your criteria for deciding to change course is different...also the consequences of when you do change course are orders of magnitude different

as per my understanding, a person who asks this kind of question would choose "functional programming"

correct?

do you mean something akin to 'data-driven programming' described here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D... ?

maybe an example of the code you use can help me...you do games...so probably some in-house variation of...?

I voted "whatever works for the job" but from a philosophical standpoint, functional programming is the right choice.

I'm talking purely theoretical here...not real-life cases but thinking about what the best could be.

Functional programming is, to my understanding, a kind of rejection of abstraction ontologies as a problem solving method instead focusing on instruction as the paradigm.

Machines following instructions for given parameters. That's the most logical, simple, and elegant starting point.

A real world example: the high frequency trading software is written in Erlang

Electrical engineering is not in decline.

As tech advances we will need more engineers than ever. Outsourcing is not a solution here...it's low quality work that hurts your home market.

Here's the problem: ontology.

The distinctions between "electrical engineering" and "software engineering" are breaking down because so much of engineering work is software.

Look at astronomy. All astronomers are radio astronomers now. That doesn't mean we still don't need 'old-fashioned' regular-light astronomy skills...just that today's astronomer needs different skills than before.

It's still astronomy.

It's still engineering.

Snowden wasn't a "hero"...

*at best* he's a wannabe hacker at a mid-level job with delusions of gradeure who stole PowerPoint presentations

*probably* he was being blackmailed by non-state actors

everything about Snowden's intrigues are red flags...the presented narrative is ridiculous

you should be praising Ron Wyden...he's the only one in Congress who is trying to really address this issue...that's his job and he's no hero for just doing his job, but any hero worship of Snowden is misplaced

it's wrong *not* to give them the basic services humans need

their rights have been revoked...so they are "wards of the state" and must be treated humanely

here's a modest proposal: why not just kill all criminals?

solves the population, food, water, and global warming almost immediately if all US prisoners were executed right now

we sure as hell can't ever let anyone who has ever committed a crime out of prison...ever...no matter what the crime...that would be just insane

I'd trust a reformed ex-com before I'd trust the NSA and 'various banks'...one has at least has had accountability and rehabilitation

you're a fool if you think otherwise

the existence of those people does not, in any way, disprove my contention

yes!

why? because people in China, Asia, and the Middle East (think rich Quataris) *absolutely love* our pointless opulent bullshit consumer products

Americans are, arguably, the most discriminating, least hype-driven of the wealthy classes of the world

this is where I disagree

people would **love** a good reason to buy this thing

as it is, it doesn't do shit, needs a damn iPhone5 to work, and steals your privacy

American consumers need more before they fork over the cash

if they learn to design this around user function first (instead of stealing biometric data) then they'll engineer something Americans will love

ianap but fluid dynamics is actually really interesting and relevant

everything behaves according to fluid dynamics principles...well...that's reductive but it's true for so many things including planets, light waves and typewriters

was it wind or water?

was it liquid water or water vapor?

see how the distinctions start to change?

this is about the recent "Mars had a huge ocean" news story...it was an easy pick for news editors, it's fun and has a cool graphic of an artists's conception of Mars with a huge ocean...i get it...

but it's all "fluid"...right?

your reasoning all makes sense

when people choose face-to-face, most (if they are like me) are thinking from a different criteria...**efficient discussion that gets things accomplished**

email discussions can be good for efficient discussion compared to in person when available, but so much information is lost it often causes more misunderstanding than decisiveness

this is what i've been digging lately for computer work...it has no words but is not 'ambient' proper...if you want to get technical, this sub-genre is known as 'chillwave':

http://comtruise.bandcamp.com/

here is the link with samples (named after colors a bit down the page): http://mtcb.pwop.com/

it's basically music similar to what you'd hear in an elevator or while on hold with tech support

i encourage everyone to listen and tell me what you think...if you like it, buy it...this is one man's (correct) opinion