Thanks Bob, thanks a lot

[Jonathan Loesberg]

Steven is right on. Except that the dispute should not be taken so seriously by any of its participants as long as they have wine to their taste available to them. Parker is just being a big endian. I have no desire to be a little endian in response.

 

[Steve Guattery]

originally posted by Jonathan Loesberg:
Parker is just being a big endian. I have no desire to be a little endian in response.

I'm curious about your use of the terms "big endian" and "liitle endian", particularly about the connotations of the terms (Parker is big endian because he likes big wines?). I'm familiar with the original definitions (I sometimes teach machine organization and have to explain the concepts to my students), but I'm unfamiliar with the use of these terms in other contexts. Are they in wider circulation than I thought? Thanks.

 

[Rahsaan]

I find it amazing that folks try to parse Robert Parker's words as if he were Plato.

Who cares.

 

[Jonathan Loesberg]

originally posted by Steve Guattery:

originally posted by Jonathan Loesberg:
Parker is just being a big endian. I have no desire to be a little endian in response.

I'm curious about your use of the terms "big endian" and "liitle endian", particularly about the connotations of the terms (Parker is big endian because he likes big wines?). I'm familiar with the original definitions (I sometimes teach machine organization and have to explain the concepts to my students), but I'm unfamiliar with the use of these terms in other contexts. Are they in wider circulation than I thought? Thanks.

I was using the terms as Swift did when he invented them for Gulliver's Travels and with his implications about the arbitrariness of the dispute. The dispute is real, of course: eggs do have big ends and little ends and one distinguish the different ends one might use to break them on. And one could have a preference. But it's hard to see why one would get worked up over the preference.

Why would one teach this bit of satire when teaching machine organization?

 

[scottreiner]

originally posted by Rahsaan:
I find it amazing that folks try to parse Robert Parker's words as if he were Plato.

Who cares.

ditto. it's not like, because of his influence on producers around the world, we can't find plenty of wines we love...

 

[Ian Fitzsimmons]

originally posted by Jonathan Loesberg:

originally posted by Steve Guattery:

originally posted by Jonathan Loesberg:
Parker is just being a big endian. I have no desire to be a little endian in response.

I'm curious about your use of the terms "big endian" and "liitle endian", particularly about the connotations of the terms (Parker is big endian because he likes big wines?). I'm familiar with the original definitions (I sometimes teach machine organization and have to explain the concepts to my students), but I'm unfamiliar with the use of these terms in other contexts. Are they in wider circulation than I thought? Thanks.

I was using the terms as Swift did when he invented them for Gulliver's Travels and with his implications about the arbitrariness of the dispute. The dispute is real, of course: eggs do have big ends and little ends and one distinguish the different ends one might use to break them on. And one could have a preference. But it's hard to see why one would get worked up over the preference.

Why would one teach this bit of satire when teaching machine organization?

People get mighty worked up about who makes the rules, any rules. However, Bob's rules aren't enforcable, so, as you suggest, why break a sweat?

 

[Steve Guattery]

originally posted by Jonathan Loesberg:

I was using the terms as Swift did when he invented them for Gulliver's Travels and with his implications about the arbitrariness of the dispute. The dispute is real, of course: eggs do have big ends and little ends and one distinguish the different ends one might use to break them on. And one could have a preference. But it's hard to see why one would get worked up over the preference.

Why would one teach this bit of satire when teaching machine organization?

Ah, you remind me of where the terms originally came from. That had been blotted from my mind by teaching them as they are used to refer to the order in which bytes are stored in computer memory (big-end or high-order bytes first, or little-end/low-order bytes first). The term was introduced by a computer architect with a sense of humor and a better memory than I have. The origin in "Gulliver..." used to be explained in textbooks, but the terms have become so well established in computer science that it's not mentioned in newer texts.

Now to wipe the egg off my face...

 

[MLipton]

originally posted by Steve Guattery:

originally posted by Jonathan Loesberg:

I was using the terms as Swift did when he invented them for Gulliver's Travels and with his implications about the arbitrariness of the dispute. The dispute is real, of course: eggs do have big ends and little ends and one distinguish the different ends one might use to break them on. And one could have a preference. But it's hard to see why one would get worked up over the preference.

Why would one teach this bit of satire when teaching machine organization?

Ah, you remind me of where the terms originally came from. That had been blotted from my mind by teaching them as they are used to refer to the order in which bytes are stored in computer memory (big-end or high-order bytes first, or little-end/low-order bytes first). The term was introduced by a computer architect with a sense of humor and a better memory than I have. The origin in "Gulliver..." used to be explained in textbooks, but the terms have become so well established in computer science that it's not mentioned in newer texts.

Now to wipe the egg off my face...

You and me both, Steve. It's been so many years since I read Gulliver's Travels that I'd long ago forgotten about the original use of those terms. Having been bit in the rear more than once by the NUXI problem, I had come to associate the terms only with their meanings in computer architecture. It's interesting to learn that their more recent meaning was a knowing reference to the ridiculousness of the dispute.

Mark Lipton

 

[Oswaldo Costa]

You scientists are just a bunch of eggheads. But which end?

 

[Unknown]

originally posted by MLipton:
It's interesting to learn that their more recent meaning was a knowing reference to the ridiculousness of the dispute.

making excuses for both RP and MSFT in the same thread is more than some of us can handle !

 

[VLM]

originally posted by Brzme:
I have to admit that I find this one rather funny, though wild boars are a real concern in Saint Julien en Saint Alban for my old serines. Any way, I am no sheep farmer.

Thank god, I'd fear for the sheep.

Do you like Bluegrass and/or New Orleans style jazz?

 

[Jonathan Loesberg]

originally posted by Steve Guattery:

originally posted by Jonathan Loesberg:

I was using the terms as Swift did when he invented them for Gulliver's Travels and with his implications about the arbitrariness of the dispute. The dispute is real, of course: eggs do have big ends and little ends and one distinguish the different ends one might use to break them on. And one could have a preference. But it's hard to see why one would get worked up over the preference.

Why would one teach this bit of satire when teaching machine organization?

Ah, you remind me of where the terms originally came from. That had been blotted from my mind by teaching them as they are used to refer to the order in which bytes are stored in computer memory (big-end or high-order bytes first, or little-end/low-order bytes first). The term was introduced by a computer architect with a sense of humor and a better memory than I have. The origin in "Gulliver..." used to be explained in textbooks, but the terms have become so well established in computer science that it's not mentioned in newer texts.

Now to wipe the egg off my face...

I have to plead the same ignorance in reverse. I had no idea that there was a context in which big endian and little endian would be a distinction that would matter.

 

[Bwood]

originally posted by mlawton:

originally posted by Bwood:
Bob. Eh.

Did you move to Canada?

I am thinking about it -- I know hockey will be broadcast in hi-def there; I think the problem is that EPL/CL likely will not be.

I blame Glasgow for pressing my "Bob button," which I thought no longer worked. .sasha has the right idea on the topic.

 

[Seth Hill]

originally posted by Jonathan Loesberg:

originally posted by Steve Guattery:

originally posted by Jonathan Loesberg:

I was using the terms as Swift did when he invented them for Gulliver's Travels and with his implications about the arbitrariness of the dispute. The dispute is real, of course: eggs do have big ends and little ends and one distinguish the different ends one might use to break them on. And one could have a preference. But it's hard to see why one would get worked up over the preference.

Why would one teach this bit of satire when teaching machine organization?

Ah, you remind me of where the terms originally came from. That had been blotted from my mind by teaching them as they are used to refer to the order in which bytes are stored in computer memory (big-end or high-order bytes first, or little-end/low-order bytes first). The term was introduced by a computer architect with a sense of humor and a better memory than I have. The origin in "Gulliver..." used to be explained in textbooks, but the terms have become so well established in computer science that it's not mentioned in newer texts.

Now to wipe the egg off my face...

I have to plead the same ignorance in reverse. I had no idea that there was a context in which big endian and little endian would be a distinction that would matter.

Actually, knowing the proper way to peel an egg could save 4 days of your life.

 

[Jeff Grossman]

originally posted by Seth Hill:
Actually, knowing the proper way to peel an egg could save 4 days of your life.

Maybe not the best thing to do with soft-boiled eggs?

 

[Jeff Grossman]

originally posted by Jonathan Loesberg:
I have to plead the same ignorance in reverse. I had no idea that there was a context in which big endian and little endian would be a distinction that would matter.

It only matters to those who attempt to implement computer instructions at a relatively fine level of detail.

If all you want to do is count, the endian does not matter.

 

[MLipton]

originally posted by Jeff Grossman:

originally posted by Jonathan Loesberg:
I have to plead the same ignorance in reverse. I had no idea that there was a context in which big endian and little endian would be a distinction that would matter.

It only matters to those who attempt to implement computer instructions at a relatively fine level of detail.

If all you want to do is count, the endian does not matter.

In fact, you have to be doing some serious data munging in assembly language or doing things in a HLL that would make their creators cringe. I recall getting into some trouble doing bit masking in FORTRAN long ago when I was manipulating single bits in I*4 variables.

Mark Lipton

 

[Jeff Grossman]

originally posted by MLipton:
In fact, you have to be doing some serious data munging in assembly language or doing things in a HLL that would make their creators cringe.

One of the um, er, oddest people I ever knew was a micro-coder. He programmed ALUs. Scary.

 

[MLipton]

originally posted by Jeff Grossman:

originally posted by MLipton:
In fact, you have to be doing some serious data munging in assembly language or doing things in a HLL that would make their creators cringe.

One of the um, er, oddest people I ever knew was a micro-coder. He programmed ALUs. Scary.

Sounds kinda like my late friend "Crazy Art," who lived (as far as I could tell) on steak, coffee and cigarettes, not necessarily in that order. Crazy Art wrote device drivers for a living, which meant real time programming on time share systems. Not for the faint of heart or the sane. Crazy Art, alas, was the former and keeled over from a massive coronary decades ago.

Mark Lipton
(Still in possession of the copy of "VAX/VMS Internals" that Art used to cadge off me)

 

[Jeff Grossman]

Love VMS. I've had to do deep dark things with it (i.e, rebuild the OS one file at a time).

The fellow I knew lived on blond wigs, leather mini-skirts, and mud.