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"Team Ada: Ada Advocacy Issues (83 & 95)" <[log in to unmask]>
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Sat, 24 Jun 2000 11:34:40 +0100
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Dave Manneh <[log in to unmask]>
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pls unsubscribe me.

Ada Marketing wrote:

> Frank,
>
> Is this article available on line anywhere?
>
> We used to point to this movie since the graphic displays shown in their
> computer room were developed with our TeleUSE product.  Of course being a movie,
> most of the screens were just mock ups.  I had this strange feeling that it
> might not actually do anything if you pressed the various buttons. :)
>
> Beard, Frank wrote:
> >
> > Okay, I found the article about "Jurassic Park".
> >
> > It was in Federal Computer Week (September 27, 1993)
> > in an article titled "Tri-Ada '93 Speakers Urge More Ada Use",
> > by Connie Winkler.
> >
> > It's not exactly as I remembered, but close.  Some partial
> > quotes follow:
> >
> >      But In fact, the more than 1,000 attendees here learned
> >      that the distance between government Ada projects, such
> >      as blah blah blah, and the amazing dinosaurs in "Jurassic
> >      Park" may be shorter than they realized.
> >
> >      "The [Ada] community has been building games for the
> >      longest time; now think small and cheap and then you'll
> >      be there, " offered Way Ting, Vice President of the Visual
> >      Magic Division at Silicon Graphics Inc., Mountain View, Calif.,
> >      which generated the 3-D computer graphics for the hit movie.
> >
> > Further down in the article:
> >
> >      Although Ting does not dictate to his programmers which
> >      language to use, Ada is the perfect fit for today's interactive
> >      multimedia applications, he said.
> >
> >      Ting described how a Silicon Graphics Ada star programmed
> >      a voice recognition application in 4 1/2 days that used only
> >      3 percent of the CPU, while the C++ version took two months
> >      and consumed 17 percent of the CPU.
> >
> > So,  I'm not sure if any of the original "Jurassic Park" movie was
> > done in Ada, or just the voice recognition software mentioned.
> >
> > Frank
> >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: Beard, Frank [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> > > Sent: Friday, June 09, 2000 7:42 PM
> > > To:   [log in to unmask]
> > > Subject:      Re: Ada RTOS.
> > >
> > > Does anyone else recall that the animation/graphics for the
> > > movie Jurassic Park was written in Ada?
> > >
> > > I seem to recall reading an article that said they originally
> > > wrote it in C++, but it was taking 30% of the CPU.  They
> > > re-wrote it in Ada and it only took 3% of the CPU.  I also
> > > seem to recall that it was done by a group at Silicon
> > > Graphics on their workstations.
> > >
> > > That was a pretty good App, but nobody seemed to
> > > notice it was Ada.
> > >
> > > Frank
> > >
> > > > -----Original Message-----
> > > > From: Chris Sparks [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> > > > Sent: Friday, June 09, 2000 11:13 AM
> > > > To:   [log in to unmask]
> > > > Subject:      Re: Ada RTOS.
> > > >
> > > > Robin Reagan wrote:
> > > >
> > > > > The "high level of support" is where the money can be made (See ACT).
> > > >
> > > > I am assuming you are referring to the fact that ACT is not cheap.  I
> > > see
> > > > this
> > > > as a dual edged sword.  The high cost can real turn people off.
> > > >
> > > > > The support I have been getting from WindRiver is good technically but
> > > > is not
> > > > > what I consider in a timely manner.
> > > >
> > > > Amen to that!
> > > >
> > > > > The "Killer app" part is unimportant. What is important is showing
> > > > > (the non-Ada community) that Ada can compete where it counts. If we
> > > > can't
> > > > > show that Ada can compete in the area that is was designed for we have
> > > > no
> > > > > hope in other areas.
> > > >
> > > > I disagree.  Ada can compete anywhere, whether it was designed for
> > > > embedded software or not.  I convinced a down in the trenches C/C++
> > > > teacher in college when I did my graphics class that Ada really can do
> > > > graphics!  He didn't think it was possible.  I was even going against
> > > the
> > > > odds since I didn't have much in the way of supporting graphical
> > > libraries
> > > > to reuse.
> > > >
> > > > > The problem with Linux is the GPL. I work in an area that giving away
> > > > the
> > > > > source
> > > > > would not be acceptable to my employer (And I agree with this). Is
> > > there
> > > > an
> > > > > RT/embedded BSD?
> > > >
> > > > This giving away code or not giving away code is going to be a thorn.
> > > > True
> > > > we all benefit from free software, however, some of us like to earn
> > > money.
> > > > Call me crazy, however, I would hate to see my hard efforts go to a
> > > pirate
> > > > who makes money off my labor.  There may be some pieces of software
> > > > that is truly deserving of being free because of its common application
> > > or
> > > > lack of marketability.  These I don't have a problem with.  The other
> > > > types
> > > > of software, well, needs to be determined if it is a give away or some
> > > > other
> > > > form of licensing.
> > > >
> > > > Chris Sparks
>
> --
>
> Greg Gicca
> Aonix Ada Marketing account
> [log in to unmask]

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