I won't beat about the bush. The stupidity of some people/organisations sometimes astounds me. This post relates to a previous one (here) which basically suggests that people and organisations should be honest and upfront about something instead of trying to butter people up and reel 'em in setting false hope and expectation in the process.
For this to happen once is almost excusable - but for the same thing to happen again a matter of weeks later is just totally inexcusable, and in my opinion is nothing short of lies, and at the very best, sharp practice.
Most who read this won't know what or who I'm referring to - and most wouldn't care if they did, but I have to get it off my chest! In all honesty I don't know who is to blame in this particular instance (there are potentially a few possible culprits) but I bet it's the same person/organisation as the last time it happened - all I'll say is that it is not a very progressive way to work.
TTFN
Disclaimer: The views and opinions I post are the views and opinions of me, and me only, and do not reflect views or opinions of anyone or anything else. Views and opinions are subject to change without notice!
Saturday 9 February 2008
Wednesday 6 February 2008
Data is Key
Since this is a software development blog, I thought I should at least once in a while write something remotely related to software development;
Picture the scene... You have some real-world GIS data. You know that the data you have is amongst the most accurate and best quality of it's type, anywhere in the world. You have some third party tools from an SDK which is designed to take such data in one form or another and produce some other kind of output. Great, all's well, only it isn't.
What happens if this fantastic data you have contains values or parameters you're not aware of or has errors that are not apparent ? What happens if the format of your data is not acceptable to the tool(s) you have to process it ? What happens if the tool(s) you're using to process the data produce results that are unexpected or it simply doesn't work and crashes ?
If you are familiar with these questions then most likely you're working in Flight Simulator scenery development! And the answer to all these questions is a resounding "it doesn't work!".
Now, since you neither created the data nor wrote the tool(s) you're in for a rough ride most of the time. Occasionally the cause of a problem will be fairly obvious. Occasionally it will be extremely difficult to track down, requiring huge effort and an inordinate amount of time to finally get to the point you wanted to reach. In some cases it will require code level knowledge and programming skills to develop your own intermediary tools to pre-process the data to make it acceptable to the third party tool(s). [Edit] If this is not your bag, then as a colleague has just said "if it doesn't work for me then there's no writing a clever bit of code ... its down to getting my hands in the bucket of crap up to me elbows".
If this all sounds a bit vague then it probably is, but the point I am making is this :-
Data is key. If your process begins with data (of any sort) then that data had better be good or you'll be in with a battle. The old adage Garbage in, Garbage out applies to any process involving data.
Working on scenery is certainly an exercise in deferred gratification and unpleasant surprises. I write a lot of code before I see any results. When people post screenshots of my scenery I am usually surprised by what it looks like, because I spent most if not all of the development time working on code and not playing with the final product.
The unpleasant surprises come from the size of the data sets I'm working with; Given how big and varied the scenery is (and how unreliable data can be at times), there will always be locations where the particular local data causes something to break or produce bogus results.
So spare a thought for the poor software developer working on scenery the next time you're doing circuits at your local airfield or admiring the magnificent views whilst flying through the valleys of Snowdonia!
TTFN
Disclaimer: The views and opinions I post are the views and opinions of me, and me only, and do not reflect views or opinions of anyone or anything else. Views and opinions are subject to change without notice!
Picture the scene... You have some real-world GIS data. You know that the data you have is amongst the most accurate and best quality of it's type, anywhere in the world. You have some third party tools from an SDK which is designed to take such data in one form or another and produce some other kind of output. Great, all's well, only it isn't.
What happens if this fantastic data you have contains values or parameters you're not aware of or has errors that are not apparent ? What happens if the format of your data is not acceptable to the tool(s) you have to process it ? What happens if the tool(s) you're using to process the data produce results that are unexpected or it simply doesn't work and crashes ?
If you are familiar with these questions then most likely you're working in Flight Simulator scenery development! And the answer to all these questions is a resounding "it doesn't work!".
Now, since you neither created the data nor wrote the tool(s) you're in for a rough ride most of the time. Occasionally the cause of a problem will be fairly obvious. Occasionally it will be extremely difficult to track down, requiring huge effort and an inordinate amount of time to finally get to the point you wanted to reach. In some cases it will require code level knowledge and programming skills to develop your own intermediary tools to pre-process the data to make it acceptable to the third party tool(s). [Edit] If this is not your bag, then as a colleague has just said "if it doesn't work for me then there's no writing a clever bit of code ... its down to getting my hands in the bucket of crap up to me elbows".
If this all sounds a bit vague then it probably is, but the point I am making is this :-
Data is key. If your process begins with data (of any sort) then that data had better be good or you'll be in with a battle. The old adage Garbage in, Garbage out applies to any process involving data.
Working on scenery is certainly an exercise in deferred gratification and unpleasant surprises. I write a lot of code before I see any results. When people post screenshots of my scenery I am usually surprised by what it looks like, because I spent most if not all of the development time working on code and not playing with the final product.
The unpleasant surprises come from the size of the data sets I'm working with; Given how big and varied the scenery is (and how unreliable data can be at times), there will always be locations where the particular local data causes something to break or produce bogus results.
So spare a thought for the poor software developer working on scenery the next time you're doing circuits at your local airfield or admiring the magnificent views whilst flying through the valleys of Snowdonia!
TTFN
Disclaimer: The views and opinions I post are the views and opinions of me, and me only, and do not reflect views or opinions of anyone or anything else. Views and opinions are subject to change without notice!
Tuesday 5 February 2008
Site for Sore Eyes
Bit of fun, but interesting nonetheless :-
Mind Puzzles
TTFN
Disclaimer: The views and opinions I post are the views and opinions of me, and me only, and do not reflect views or opinions of anyone or anything else. Views and opinions are subject to change without notice!
Mind Puzzles
TTFN
Disclaimer: The views and opinions I post are the views and opinions of me, and me only, and do not reflect views or opinions of anyone or anything else. Views and opinions are subject to change without notice!
Friday 1 February 2008
Simmer for 2 hours
Jamie Oliver was on TV last night, and although I'm not a fan of his (although my wife is) I did see a few things that made me think;
The first was a cracking puff pastry pie made from beef, guinness and a few other nice things - looked very tasty.
The second was his insistence that one should "Simmer for 2 hours" the pie's filling before baking it in the oven. "Simmer for 2 hours" he said again, stressing how important that aspect of the process was.
I got thinking. When was the last time I was a "Simmer for 2 hours". Those of you who know flight simulation as a hobby will know what I mean by this. And those of you who don't will have to Google to find out more about it!
Anyway, the last time I was a "Simmer for 2 hours" was a very very long time ago. In fact it's something I don't really ever do anymore, largely down to working in the industry where every waking hour spent in front of the PC ends up being "work" rather than "play".
This just has to change. After all, it's the reason I got involved in the industry in the first place, right ? All "work" and no "play" makes for Jack (or rather Chris in this case...) a dull life...
TTFN
Disclaimer: The views and opinions I post are the views and opinions of me, and me only, and do not reflect views or opinions of anyone or anything else. Views and opinions are subject to change without notice!
The first was a cracking puff pastry pie made from beef, guinness and a few other nice things - looked very tasty.
The second was his insistence that one should "Simmer for 2 hours" the pie's filling before baking it in the oven. "Simmer for 2 hours" he said again, stressing how important that aspect of the process was.
I got thinking. When was the last time I was a "Simmer for 2 hours". Those of you who know flight simulation as a hobby will know what I mean by this. And those of you who don't will have to Google to find out more about it!
Anyway, the last time I was a "Simmer for 2 hours" was a very very long time ago. In fact it's something I don't really ever do anymore, largely down to working in the industry where every waking hour spent in front of the PC ends up being "work" rather than "play".
This just has to change. After all, it's the reason I got involved in the industry in the first place, right ? All "work" and no "play" makes for Jack (or rather Chris in this case...) a dull life...
TTFN
Disclaimer: The views and opinions I post are the views and opinions of me, and me only, and do not reflect views or opinions of anyone or anything else. Views and opinions are subject to change without notice!
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