June 25, 2009 Hey Red, is space exploration worth it?
By
Patrick
Mannion
I went to hear Buzz Aldrin talk at a book signing last night. Make no mistake about it, he and the whole Apollo 11 crew are still genuine heroes, yet the event did little to relieve the nagging concern that there may be better ways to invest in our future than space exploration.
Meeting Mr. Aldrin was an honor I never imagined I'd have. I grew up in a small town on the west coast of Ireland. I was at the rear end of a family of 11 and we weren't exactly well off. I still see my father on his bike going from job to job with his tool bag on the back, or wheeling planks through crowds on the sidewalk. As my older brother often recalls, "We didn't have a pot to pee in, nor a window to throw it out of."
Later, things got better and he got a car. Also, the older ones moved out so the pantry shelves weren't always empty.
During those 'early' years I spent a lot of time in the town library, reading science fiction and looking at encyclopedias. Space and its exploration were strong among many themes in my reading and I, like many, always stopped dead at this picture (and still do):
Buzz Aldrin amidst the "magnificent desolation".
There's just something about it: the desolation, the anonymity of the face mask reflecting the achievement of the Eagle's landing, the emptiness of space behind him, the sheer defying impossibility of where he was standing for the first time and fulfilling the dream of billions that have come before him down through the ages.
So, last night, while in the throes of autographing his new book, Magnificent Desolation: The Long Journey Home From The Moon, he took a second to look up at who he was signing for and was taken aback to find our two kids smiling shyly at him. My young fella has bright red hair so that that naturally caught his eye and he asked spontaneously with a big smile, "Hey Red, how ya doin'." Well, I don't know who was grinning more: me or my wee fella. The second man to step on the moon called out to my son: how cool is that!
Aldrin signing for my son (he's the red 'patch' in the corner).
It's that sense of awe for real heroes like Aldrin, Armstrong, and all the others before and after, that makes this next question particularly difficult: It's been 40 years: Is it still worth it?
Heresy, I know, especially before an engineering audience, but help me out here: Putting the achievement itself aside, is there anything that's really come from space exploration that's really helped us in a practical sense? Getting 'out there' has forced us to push the limits of materials science and engineering, for sure. But what's the upside to future exploration? How will it advance the human condition? I know there are answers, but do they justify the expense and effort when there are so many other projects afoot where achieving the objectives clearly has long-lasting implications ?
So, here's my question to you: if you had $100 billion, and you had to advance the human condition, would you spend it on:
1: Decoding the human genome
2: Researching and mapping the inner workings of the brain (conscious, subconscious)
3: Nuclear fusion
4: Going to Mars (which Mr. Aldrin is working on)
If none of these appeal to you, what do you think would be the best way to spend $100 billion? Let me know. I'll add one or two more to the list, if need be, but these come to mind right now. I can be reached at pmannion@techinsights.com. Or on Twitter as Borg99.
In the meantime, I'm going to take another look at that photo above. Have a great weekend!
June 15, 2009 ADI launches online processor community help site
By
Patrick
Mannion
Analog Devices' digital signal processing group has jumped into the vendor-driven engineering community fray with an online community center where designers can get answers to their technical questions either from ADI specialists or their peers.
The site is called EngineerZone (ez.analog.com) and according to its own description, "is designed to provide a quick and easy way for users of ADI's Embedded Processors & DSPs to help each other with technical questions."
While it's currently focused on embedded processing and DSP, there is work afoot on an analog version, or so ADI tells me. Kind of odd that a company called Analog Devices should launch the digital help line first. Anyway...
Recognizing its audience time pressures, it's pretty straightforward: log on (easy to do, just takes a minute), ask question, wait for answer. As it's launching today and is still in 'beta', there may be a few kinks, but at first brush, there are none: it's intuitive and useful. Which is pretty much all you need. Here's a sample discussion, using the most recent question about PLL register setting in XML on the Blackfin processor.
There are some interesting nuances though, particularly with respect to user status level which is a way of allowing you to demonstrate your expertise (really beneficial if you're a consultant or independent contractor) and of getting rewarded with points for your effort. Get enough points and get raised to the next level.
Points are awarded for posting new forum threads and replying to existing threads. You will earn more points if your reply is chosen by the author as the 'correct' or 'helpful' answer in a thread. There are eight status levels, ranging from member to Grand Master.
May 26, 2009 Intel hiring DSP programmers
By
Patrick
Mannion
I don't want to read too much into this, as it's part of the natural way of things given recent processing trends, but this job opening does did stop me in my tracks: Intel Ireland seeking senior DSP software developer.
The ad headline and body induce a state of cognitive dissonance given the history of Intel and general-purpose processors (GPPs), as well as that of Texas Instruments, Analog Devices with digital signal processors (DSPs). I know we've been moving away from the notion of the standalone DSP as a category. TI showed that with its OMAP and ADI with its Blackfin, ARM has its DSP extensions and so on. But Intel advertising for DSP programmers? How contradictory is that?
In a recent report industry analyst Will Strauss, president of Forward Concepts, pointed out that discrete DSP chips themselves are only a small part of the DSP silicon universe, at only 11% of the $27 billion 2008 worldwide market for DSP silicon. Clearly, DSP functionality is now, more than ever, part of a system on chip (SoC).
I know there's a tendency to absorb facts that feed into our own view of the world, but there's more to this trend than just greater integration. A year ago I blogged about the Irrelevance of Silicon and now, more than ever, I believe that is the case.
It's not the silicon, it's the solution.
Don't get me wrong, it's the debates over DSP vs. GPP vs. FPGA that are irrelevant. It's now all about the optimization of silicon and software around a chosen end application. Let's face it, designers don't want to mess around with silicon choices and implementation woes. They need their app' up and running. Today. And the closer a vendor can bring them to that end game, regardless of the specifics of the underlying silicon, the better off they'll be. Hence, RISC/CISC/DSP/FPGA etc.. don't matter.
To see Intel, the quintessential GPP purveyor, and the historical antithesis of Texas Instruments, so vocally knee deep in that philosophy says volumes about its veracity. Also, that they're looking for experience not only with Intel, but also TI, ADI and ARM architectures is particularly telling.
If you apply for the position, good luck! And if you get an interview, let me know. It's near my old stomping ground and I can fill you in on some 'interesting' sights and sounds in the vicinity. I'll be there in July/August by the way.
As always, don't forget to sign up for our DSPDesignLine newsletter and feel free to contact me directly at pmannion@techinsights.com or login to leave a comment below.
May 08, 2009 Can Star Trek really be revisited?
By
Patrick
Mannion
Would it be really bad if I sneaked out this Mother's Day weekend to see the new Star Trek? My wife doesn't really want to see it, she wouldn't mind, right?
Wrong! As much as I'd really like to see how close the producers and director come to reincarnating the magic of the 'old' series, my focus will be striclty on the home front this weekend.
But what is it about the old series that still casts a spell over me? In hindsight, and maybe I'm reading too much into what was the mind of a child at that time, it had much do with the intoxicating combination of fantasty, science and recognition and acceptance of human frailty.
Kirk didn't have all the answers all the time, and maybe I was a bit envious of his alien seductions despite the risk they represented, but together with his well-disciplined, quixotic yet complementary team he always managed to live to tell the tale.
There have been many books written about Star Treks longevity, and the franchise's spin-offs have done well, though Capt. Picard was a bit too 'cold' and methodical to replace the also intelligent yet spontaneous and ever-flawed Kirt. However, this is the first time there's been an attempt to resurrect the original.
Here's a clip:
From what I've read, it sounds like a lot of fun and maybe I'll take a chance and sneak out. But I'm no Kirk, so maybe I won't. But if you do, let me know what you think -- and what it is about Star Trek, and 2000 A.D. (the comic series) and even X-Men that keeps us coming back for more. Have a great weekend.
Comment on this blog entry
