Turbo Pascal 6 was the first high-level language I learned after BASIC and my first job out of college was doing Delphi development. I loved programming in Pascal, not so much because of the syntax (it gets a bit clunky at times) but because of the speed and ease-of-use of the development environments. Similar to having a REPL in a language, fast compilation is amazingly helpful for development iteration. If you can test ideas quickly, you can reason about things more quickly (at least in my experience).
For a very engaging documentary about the remaining team of Voyager 1 scientists, watch "It's Quieter in the Twilight". The ending kind of tails off, mostly due to the Covid pandemic, but it's a great look into how a group of aging scientists and engineers (the last to really understand how Voyager 1 works) are keeping it alive.
> ...but it's a great look into how a group of aging scientists and engineers (the last to really understand how Voyager 1 works) are keeping it alive.
That kind of brings up some interesting questions of team composition. When you're building something complicated that will last 50 years, you probably want a few people on the team who are: 1) talented, 2) very young (like fresh out of college), and 3) have the mindset of a lifer. You deliberately get them involved in all the stuff and put them in the room when all the decisions are made, then they serve to preserve the institutional knowledge of the project for the latter half of its lifetime.
I’m sorry but this comment just highlights how mind bogglingly bad we in tech are at documentation and knowledge transfer. The very idea that a single project can only survive as long as the same individuals are working on it is insane. For hundreds of years architectural projects have outlasted the original architect. Or just look at civil engineering: transportation networks, utility infrastructure, etc. The idea that every project must bring on a high schooler to maximise the longevity of a project before we have to start over is ludicrous. Our tech stack needs to prioritise stability, we need to learn how to document from our friends in other disciplines, our funding models need to expect smaller returns over much longer timescales, and we need a culture of celebrating those who do the tireless job of maintenance.
NASA, probably more than any private organization has reams of documentation. Every bolt is documented. Maybe, just maybe, electronic systems are more complicated than bridges and buildings that literally just sit there.
I do agree that we need to do a better job of celebrating the people that do maintenance which is what the vast majority of our field is based on.
This is interesting. When we talk about interstellar travel in the far future, this may be another issue to consider. The handover of knowledge will have to happen over at least a few generations.
It will end up being a software application whose development and upkeep sprints/projects will be measured in multiple years instead of weeks.
"NextNav’s Petition for Rulemaking. NextNav asks that the Commission reconfigure the Lower 900 MHz Band by creating a 5-megahertz uplink in the 902-907 MHz band paired with a 10-megahertz downlink in the 918-928 MHz band, shifting all the remaining non-M-LMS licensees to the 907-918 MHz portion of the band. Petition at 28–30."
A big part of Ham radio today is what are known as POTA (Parks on the Air) activations where hams go to different parks to make contacts with other hams. These are often low-power transmissions (Known as QRP, or 10W or less). I think a big driver of this is the fact that our cities have become so noisy.
Side note: if you read Hacker News, enjoy tinkering with electronics, and want to meet/talk to more people like you, I recommend becoming a Ham. The Technician and General exams from the FCC are relatively easy if you have any technical background and it's a great outlet for experimenting.
I actually intended to make these proper POTA activations, but I couldn't figure out the park identifier due to lack of cell service, and I also didn't bring anything for VHF to try doing so over APRS.
This has been on my list for a while now, and I've played with radio in various forms (allowed...) for the past few years and have quite the collection of baofang, many sdrs, a dish collecting goes16 images 24/7.. etc.
I am however, for whatever reason, adverse to the social, or seemingly kinda social, aspect of the proctored exams.
You just go and take the test. The guy administering it may want to talk about his granddaughter's wedding or his prostate or whatever but you can just take the test and go home. It's not illegal to be rude. You never have to see him again.
It's really not a big deal. They just watch as you take the test and then you go home. There's very little socializing (unless you want to, hams seem to love to talk to each other).
