The hot story in the news this week is Volkswagen's reported brazen cheating in diesel engine emissions testing. This brought to mind a host of similar occurrences, from Samsung/HTC cheating at benchmarks to alleged cheating in SPC enterprise storage performance testing. Cynics say we should just assume we're being cheated, but is this a world in which we want to … [Read more...] about Your Mileage May Vary: Lies, Damn Lies, and Benchmarks
cars
The Myths of Standardization
“The nice thing about standards is that you have so many to choose from.” Andrew Tanenbaum's statement may be a cynical and dismissive, but it's not far from the mark. Indeed, there are a great many standards, perhaps as many as there are efforts to standardize the world around us! But what good are standards, really? The 3 Standard Types In technical fields, standardization … [Read more...] about The Myths of Standardization
Walled Gardens, Gilded Cages, and Right to Repair
Things are getting awfully complicated, aren't they? The custom parallel CPUs, proprietary communications networks, and encrypted data ports require extensive training, special tools, and a computerized reference library to comprehend, much less debug. And the manufacturers, who derive much of their money and differentiation from warranties and authorized repair centers, are … [Read more...] about Walled Gardens, Gilded Cages, and Right to Repair
Wow That’s One Amazing SUV!
I spotted this on a Ford commercial last night. Their new(ish) Edge SUV sure is fast! I imagine no other vehicle in any class even comes close to this top speed! Someone tell Bugatti and Pagani! Update: Because I've been asked, here are the answers you seek: The ad aired on the local educational access channel last night (10/17) around 10 PM It was the "Ilissa … [Read more...] about Wow That’s One Amazing SUV!