Interesting Links for 12-01-2012

[andrewducker]

• Why the Raspberry Pi computer won't be built in the UK
  (tags: computers uk manufacturing )
• This Photograph Is Not Free
  (tags: photography business copyright )
• Some decent numbers on how often Scottish MPs would have changed control of the UK government
  (tags: scotland politics uk )
• The smartphone CPU wars are about to begin
  (tags: mobilephones

Comments

[gonzo21]

Photography is dead as a paid-for art. The internet has reduced the value of photography to zero.

[andrewducker]

Tell my wedding photographer that!

[gonzo21]

Ha. :) I'm sure if you asked around you'd find somebody prepared to do it for much less.

But no, that's true, high end photography of Events (tm) will survive. Although I'd be surprised if you can find a photographer who can make a living at it anymore, and if it isn't people who do it at their weekends as a hobby type thing to make a little extra money.

[andrewducker]

Oh, you can. But amateurs are just not as good 99% of the time. We looked at a _lot_ of photographers and there was a clear difference between people who do wedding photography and people who have a decent camera and are happy to take some photos on the cheap.

[drdoug]

On the Scottish MPs thing, I take the main point, but this:

1992 Conservative govt (Major)
---------------
Conservative majority: 21
Without Scottish MPs: 71
NO CHANGE

... leapt right out at me. The idea that the Major government would not have been profoundly changed had it had a majority of 71 rather than a Euro-rebel vulnerable 21 is ... rather at odds with how things seemed at the time, let's say.

[danieldwilliam]

My memory of the Major government was spending ages trying to work out if enough Tory MP's would die for a hung Parliament to result.

[drdoug]

Also, nice to see ancient classics like Fred Brooks' 'The Mythical Man-Month' reverified in modern settings.

[skington]

I thought the article could have been clearer if it had avoided all references to adding people to an existing project, and stuck to the much stronger (and far more interesting) claim that even if you don't change the number of people in a project, large numbers are worse.

[drdoug]

Yes. And there was intriguing stuff about a greater rate of errors with larger teams. I've not much experience of large teams but I'd be interested to get more insight in to why - whether it's Brooks' O(N^2) coordination cost biting, or less ownership/identification of the project (which might offer an idea for why large projects like the Linux kernel seem to suffer less from this) , or what.

[khbrown]

The old why can't nine women produce a baby in one month fungibility question?

One thing I did wonder about the article in the link was where teams of between 5 and 19 programmers were.

[danieldwilliam]

I think wedding photographers are providing a service rather than the photograph. One is buying their time not their output.

How much does a skilled individual cost for a day or two’s work?

[andrewducker]

Absolutely. For someone at the top of their game (plus an assistant) to be there for the day taking photos, and then spend time with the photos making them look awesome, is definitely worth the cash.

[channelpenguin]

Exactly. It's the time. Cost? You get me for £40-60/hr as a developer, or £25-50 as a rock singer (at the moment - this is likely to increase over the coming year).

[danieldwilliam]

Just so.

You can have me as a teacher of improvisational theatre for free.

As an accountant I’m available for multiples of what it costs to hire me for improv.