Monthly Archives: October 2011

dmr (1941 — 2011)

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#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <setjmp.h>
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static jmp_buf <a href=“http://cm.bell-labs.com/who/dmr/” target=“_blank” rel=“noopener”>dmr</a>;
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static void
function(void)
{
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;printf(“umquam\n”);
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;longjmp(<a href=“http://cm.bell-labs.com/who/dmr/” target=“_blank” rel=“noopener”>dmr</a>, 1);
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;printf(“meminisse\n”);
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int
main(void) {
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;if (setjmp(<a href=“http://cm.bell-labs.com/who/dmr/” target=“_blank” rel=“noopener”>dmr</a>) == 0) {
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;printf(“Noli\n”);
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;function();
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;} else {
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;printf(“oblivisci\n”);
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;}
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}

Charts: Koomey’s Law

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As a follow-up to my previous post about basic computer engineering laws, this recent chart depicting Koomey’s Law, teaching us that for a fixed amount of computational power, the need for battery will fall by half every 1.6 years, or the other way round, the energy efficiency of computers doubles roughly every 18 months; a real breadth of fresh air to the current trend to conserve energy in computing systems.

What I’ve Been Reading

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“Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.”

Søren Kierkegaard

In technology, predicting the future is risky business. Tracing parallels and contrasts between future and old technologies, in the best tradition of Odlyzko’s papers on the comparative history of technology, is the only foolproof way to reason about the future, with the only shortcoming of being forewarned that in hindsight, everything is obvious and foreseeable. The following books are the best sources to learn about the rising of past-centuries networks, before the Internet:

  • [amazon_link id=“0801846145” target=“_blank” ]Networks of Power: Electrification in Western Society[/amazon_link]. Through the looking-glass of Tom Hughes’ systematizing theory of Complex Systems, the best recollection of the battle of electrical standards (AC vs. DC), full of details of the similarities and differences of electric expansion in Germany, England and United States due to the impact of the state of affairs of each country.
  • [amazon_link id=“0393061264” target=“_blank” ]Railroaded: the Transcontinentals and the Making of Modern America[/amazon_link]. As the first infrastructure built in capitalism, it transformed the legal-economic system of its day to the current one we live within. Its fact-based approach is the best strength of the narrative, which otherwise should be read with distance and perspective to properly detach from the author’s opinions.
  • [amazon_link id=“0521131855” target=“_blank” ]Energy and the English Industrial Revolution[/amazon_link]. A masterpiece and the best short book on the Industrial Revolution, by one of the most important economic historian. You can get a taste of its content at this article written by the author itself.