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Article URL: https://github.com/ritabratamaiti/AnyModal

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42195687

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Article URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2024-11-20/ai-slowdown-is-everyone-else-s-opportunity

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42195672

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*Privacy Laws May Usher In 'Defensive DP': Hopper* By Esther Surden Of the CW Staff

WINDSOR LOCKS, Conn. – Faced with state and federal privacy laws, DP managers may be entering an era of "defensive computing," Capt. Grace M. Hopper recently warned a joint meeting of the Hartford, Conn., and Springfield, Mass., Data Processing Management Association (DPMA) chapters.

Hopper is head of the Navy's Programming Languages Section and a former DPMA "Man of the Year."

DP managers are suddenly finding the privacy laws require them to notify every individual on file there is a record on him, send him the content and permit him to make corrections.

They are also obliged to keep the files "accurate, complete and current," she had asked. "What does 'accurate, complete and current' mean?"

Many of these questions require management decisions. Management must decide such things as what is current and how often a file must be updated. It is up to computer people to warn management.

"All the privacy laws sound like rights the individual deserved," she continued, "and everyone will vote for them. They're the dangerous thing about them."

The privacy laws may triple the cost of maintaining all personnel files, she added.

"This probably means that, for the next five years, we will be doing defensive computing just as doctors are practicing defensive medicine in response to malpractice suits," Hopper said.

*Dangerous Saying*

On the future of data processing, Hopper said the most dangerous phrase a DP manager can use is "We've always done it that way."

In the past "we have failed to look into the future for all possible 'enemy actions,'" she said. "If we base our plans on the present, we fall behind and the cost of carrying out something may be more costly than not implementing it."

But "there is a line," she cautioned. "If you step over it, you don't get the budget."

DP managers, however, must come as close to it as they can, and they have a second responsibility. "You must keep pushing the line out further," she said.

"We must not only accept new concepts," Hopper told the managers, "we must manage their development and growth."

*More Computer Power*

Faster machines are needed to manage complex problems, she told the group. The Mark I added in 333 msec, she continued, and the today's machines can add in 300 nsec, but a machine that will add in 300 picoseconds is needed.

"This, however, is pushing the velocity of light," she said.

"We live in a world of increasing population and we must increase food supplies," Hopper said. "One way to do this would be with better weather forecasting.

The technology to do the forecasting exists," she continued, "but on today's machines it is costly and takes too long. More powerful computers could give more information on the economy, ecology and pollution," she said.

"To get more computer power, we don't need bigger computers, we should get a system of computers," she said.

Looking at the group, Hopper said, "You can immediately say it would cost too much, but the price of computing power is coming down."

Pointing to several microprocessor chips, she told the managers "we have to change an awful lot of people's minds."

"Can you imagine telling a DP room this will do the job? It will be difficult to tell people they have that power and can buy it for $250."

Interesting outgrowths of the computers on a chip are clubs for young people who pool their money to buy a computer, she said. Software for the micros is being developed by some of the best programmers in the country, spurred by contests for prizes, she noted.

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42195669

Points: 1

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Article URL: https://webvm.io/alpine.html

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42194791

Points: 1

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Article URL: https://cleantechnica.com/2024/11/17/core-battery-fundamentals/

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42194790

Points: 1

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Article URL: https://www.theregister.com/2024/11/20/dlink_rip_replace_router/

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42194785

Points: 1

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Avoid soupy salad greens with these shelf-life-extending tips from someone who handles fresh food for a living.

Article URL: https://hwisnu.bearblog.dev/ascii-snake-in-c/

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42194771

Points: 1

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Article URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrian_Schoolcraft

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42194762

Points: 1

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Article URL: https://robertheaton.com/2018/12/17/wavefunction-collapse-algorithm/

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42194753

Points: 1

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Article URL: https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/emacs-devel/2024-11/msg00534.html

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42194726

Points: 3

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