The Wrong Place, Wrong Time Complaint Thread
This discussion has been closed.
Daz 3D is part of 
Connect
DAZ Productions, Inc.
7533 S Center View Ct #4664
West Jordan, UT 84084
Licensing Agreement | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | EULA
© 2024 Daz Productions Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Comments
Morning. First fingers of dawn clawing at an inky black sky and not making much progress against the foggy night :)
Wasn't to bad here today. 73F and cloudy. We are expecting thunderstorms tonight
did somebody mention Dawn? lol
I have Dawn but haven't yet installed her
Blah, hotter than fresh poured asphalt right now. The past several months we have been exceptionally cool (just last week we were in the 80s) but now the Texas Summer heat has awoken with a vengeance.
As a software engineer in training, I take offense to that last line. That line is not funny at all.
as a former network and design engineer (who oversaw several software development projects), it actually sort of worries me that this offends you... As a former network administrator, it horrifies me. As a electrical engineer (that is what my actual degree is in), I would *probably* report you to the engineering society for possible ethics issues if you were already graduated and have a strong word with your instructors if you hadn't.
Well, let's think on this a moment;
you are developing a piece of software - what is the ONE thing, bar none, you can be absolutely *certain* of?
answer: that you have any idea what the function and purpose of the system that will one day run it actually is. This is especially true if the software you are coding is a piece of 'functional' software - driver, plug-in, etc. but continues to be true even in something like a game or (in DAZ's situation) a 3D rendering program.
Sure, you are designing for a certain target system - the one you idealize as where your code will run best. But just like everything else, 'ideal' situations are something you deal with in the classroom and almost never in the real world. Even in cases where you are working on a fairly 'dedicated' system, it isn't in practice true. Other demands will occur on whoever uses your software - be they personal, business or government; often these demands will NOT be something the user desires and (in the case of business or government) are equally often thrust upon the user/system by someone above who doesn't understand (if indeed, is even concerned with) the consequences. Then you have the other 'fun' issue of those users who have a little knowledge, but not real understanding (sources of the old adage, "A little knowledge can be dangerous") who tell their bosses (or do it themselves) they can do 'X' that was never planned for or intended in your ideal use of your software. Then we get into all of the people who install/run 'unauthorized' software onto systems.
The really *fun* part of this, as you will come to understand during your working life, is that what I have described above is the 'rule' rather than the 'exception' - probably less than 20% of those running your software will be using it as intended (with the possible exception of Photoshop.. they may be up to 30%).
Why is all that important? Because, quite literally, people's lives are at stake - not exaggerating for effect or being dramatic. Your software *will* get run on military computers, medical computers, government computers, laptops, business computers in 'critical' areas - many of which will also control or influence the actions of real world objects OR the actions of people in a time-critical area. It does not matter at ALL that it was not intended for use on such systems - you can bet with 100% certainty that it *will* be run on them. I am sure you can imagine all sorts of nightmare situations where a computer suddenly operates in an unexpected or erratic fashion that will get people injured or killed (and if it is a system in a ship, bridge, etc. quite possibly a LOT of people)... or the reverse where it is suddenly unavailable in a time critical function.
You've done it yourself - run something (most likely a game or 'unauthorized' software) on your school's computers.
Yes, there are lock-outs that are supposed to prevent unauthorized software from being installed - and there are ways that people *always* find around them.
now, obviously I am not suggesting you can somehow *plan* for these situations and then miraculously prevent them - you can't. Plus, I realize (and hopefully you do as well) that just your ordinary crash can do the same thing. (the difference with a crash event is that it IS something that you can't predict/prevent with great accuracy - otherwise you would have applied some fix to prevent it. It is an accident). However, you CAN make darn certain that your software runs as expected.
And here is where we (finally) address my comment: No, you can't somehow write code that will never accidentally cause a problem - especially where it is being used in an environment where it wasn't intended or shouldn't be - BUT when you write code that *intentionally* operates in an unpredictable, erratic, or uncontrolled manner the consequences become *your* fault/responsibility. The outcomes were preventable - easily in fact. While in my case it is just lost hours and lost work (which is painful, expensive and frustrating - but probably not the greatest concern beyond myself) when a program operates outside of it's specific configuration, in many cases in the real world the potential 'cost' is greater.
I suppose, depending on the type of person you are, that you can comfort yourself that in this liability / lawsuit happy world almost every entity or individual will attempt to cover up that there was something installed at anything other than the 100% factory specs and you / your organization will probably not be sued (or even know)... unless they are caught. Or, as is also the case, where they can show the software was configured to operate one way and it (worse - reproducibly) operated another so that they had no way of foreseeing the problem. Of course, it still would be difficult to *prove* negligence... if that is your concern. Mine was always the ability to face myself in the mirror - and I can.
Again - am I being overly dramatic? Actually no, in my engineering ethics course we quite literally covered a BOOK of 'case studies' and incidents where this very situation (though usually with hardware rather than software) were addressed, and we were pointed in the direction of where we could go look up the *hundreds* of other cases. When you tell/advise/whatever the user 'A' and then intentionally do 'B', any and most negative outcomes are indeed *your* fault.
So, with the software issue I was complaining about - what is the answer? Well, you *could* just have the software / installation wizard tell the user (instead of giving them the illusion of configuring it) that the software will periodically and automatically update itself and that said update may involve loss of use of the system, sudden shutdowns, reboots, etc. Of course, if you do, you had better *@#! sure have a monopoly or you won't have many customers... and that should tell you that this is something you shouldn't do. But it is still better than deceiving them and possibly causing disaster.
Why do you think that the numerous attempts to 'modernize' the FAA hardware/software keep failing after going into huge cost over-runs? I don't think you have to put much imagination into what would happen if an Air Traffic Controller were suddenly confronted with a laggy/locked or rebooting system where they had no ability to handle traffic for minutes (or longer). Worse still when it is not because their system shut down but because some boss or intern installed something on 'their' machine (that actually got installed on the server) and causes it. And yes, you can say, "But they weren't supposed to!", and yes, they weren't (maybe - you really don't know what the situation was), but it still comes back to: If the software had operated as configured, there would have been no problem and the reason that it didn't was intentional, not accidental.
Now, it may seem like I am attacking you - I am not - you said you were in training. I (sincerely) hope your training includes a good ethics course. I know I *never* thought or imagined when I was going through school that I would be doing anything where such would be a concern, but I found myself on two separate projects over the years where it was and there was no way to mystically 'secure' all access points where SOMEONE couldn't install unintended software - people were always finding ways around the ways we attempted or that were built in to the systems. That is why this falls under 'ethics' - you do your *best* to make sure 'bad' things don't happen and try to consider the possibilities. If you are really lucky, they won't - they still might, but if you did your best it is all anyone could reasonably expect (depending on how 'bad' the bad thing was, it still might not save your job or your career, but you will still be able to live with yourself). But if you intentionally lied, falsified, deceived, took shortcuts - whatever... it is your fault even if you don't end up in court. And really, will you be happy with yourself even if it 'only' makes people angry and miserable?
well it *IS* mid-June :) Heat has gotta hit sometime!
I well remember the summers down in Florida... all the heat plus humidity for kicks! From about mid-May through September you were almost *never* dry... cars were things of pain (and death if you somehow were stuck in one) - any reflective surface could raise burns... you quite literally could fry eggs on the sidewalks and car-dashes (they did it on the news one day). Shoes with softer rubber soles would *melt* on the asphalt walking across the parking lot.
... and some of my friends/family have wondered why I am not trying to move back! :roll:
don't worry about me.. Of course the joke offends me. Ah, there is no point in me trying to argue. I'm leaving this thread for a few days. Good bye.
...noble gases are only released in the House of Lords (usually after they have lunch at the nearby Tandoori house). :sick: ;-)
...same here, just don't have the resources right now to get what I need to make her useful.
...same here, just don't have the resources right now to get what I need to make her useful.
Yeah, the morphs and stuff are kind of expensive. For me, anyway.
Dana
...71° and sunny right now (after a somewhat chilly morning) Couldn't be more spot on for this time of year.
Had to wear my leather jacket to the interview I went to today as it is the only nice looking one I have (don't think showing up wearing my lighter one that has the San Francisco Giants logo on it would have been cricket) . When I got out, it had warmed up significantly and had to carry it on the way home. This jacket is so thick & heavy, it would qualify as armour.
...noble gases are only released in the House of Lords (usually after the have lunch at the nearby Tandoori house). :sick: ;-)
mmm tandoori.
some gastro distress, afraid to eat anything tnite. yowch kicked in halfway home. :shut:
humid. ick. 90 percents. they saying thunders later. bowling in asgaard?
feeling an urge to watch hunt for red october. capt ramius. sounds roman.
in the dawn's early light, proudly we hail ...
when i hear whitney houston singing it, it chokes me with emotion, sigh what a voice
there's a rmp coupie out. 18percents/24
hmm. dunno. my whole w/l over there comes to 45.04.
don't have enough, even with the coupie.
can't see what my dazzie w/l comes to, unless i do add all to cart button :lol:
uh oh, the big button broke something
yowie :lol: 259. + Aiko6
actually, izn't so bad, eh? considering
...noble gases are only released in the House of Lords (usually after the have lunch at the nearby Tandoori house). :sick: ;-)
What about ignoble gases?
What about ignoble gases?
rp = rendering plant :) never noticed smells during render, unless cpu is overheating
Uh oh, that can't be a good sign...
i forgot tim curry is in hunt for red october.
i don't think of him first in rocky horror, i think of him firstly in the lexx episode. poet man. they left him behind when brunnen gee evacuated the planet.
they adorable together :lol:
i remember, years back, the tickle feet render yoo posted :)
The roles I remember Tim Curry for most?
Legend (Darkness) and Stephen King's It (Pennywise)
Tim Curry is *awesome*!!
I love watching things he is in - he always brings so much passion and originality to his roles... (even the bad ones - like in 'The Shadow')
Nice!
Dana
Oh noes, Reid will have to put on some fast turns to get out of this one :)
they adorable together :lol:
i remember, years back, the tickle feet render yoo posted :)
yes it is very memorable :)
real nice pinks and blues, very authentic and making me long for summer again :)
well it *IS* mid-June :) Heat has gotta hit sometime!
I well remember the summers down in Florida... all the heat plus humidity for kicks! From about mid-May through September you were almost *never* dry... cars were things of pain (and death if you somehow were stuck in one) - any reflective surface could raise burns... you quite literally could fry eggs on the sidewalks and car-dashes (they did it on the news one day). Shoes with softer rubber soles would *melt* on the asphalt walking across the parking lot.
... and some of my friends/family have wondered why I am not trying to move back! :roll:
gloomy and cold here, doing it tough without sun this week, only fog and grey clouds so far :)
Got to travel across town for a meeting, traffic is slow as today. That is my complaint nao :)
Double Feature Night