The software problem

The profession of a software engineer is plagued by an inherent problem, that is of the intangibility of the work-piece. Ofcourse when the code doesn't work and strange messages are thrown out at the screen, the software engineer suffers, not able to find a physical object to cause grievous bodily harm to. But the problem doesn't end there.

It is very easy to undermine the complexity of the software engineer's work. One might click a button on the GUI waiting impatiently for an output, but rarely does one wonder about the algorithms, the synchronisation of resources, the arrangements to respect a gazillions standards that are hidden behind that button. The admiration that a machine with cranking levers or humming motors receives is much greater.

The intangibility problem is even more evident in the world of embedded solutions, where it is harder to perceive the software at work. When the customer comes grinning and clapping, "it works", waving the tangible microchip, the popular perception is that the microchip works, the toil of the software engineer is instantly vapored.

The software community is painfully aware of this problem. Just like Lord Farquaad's compensated his problem of (ahhem) stature by building a massive castle, software publishers seem to deal with the intangibility problem by releasing software in boxes more suitable for a month's supply of detergent or corn-flakes.

Calcium Overwhelming

During my last trip to Italy I happened to visit some caves in Toirano, a small town in the province of Savona. Escorted by a guide, we made a kilometer long trip into the womb of earth visiting the "Witches Cave"(grotta della strega) and the "Cave of St. Lucia" (grotta di santa lucia).

There are many caves in the region some even 13,000 years old, but only a few are open to general visitors. Since their discovery in 1950, the exploration of the caves has revealed many fascinating aspects. In the Witches Cave a lot of bear bones have been found, implicating the death of at least 200 bears over the years. It is believed that the bears hibernated in the caves in winters but due to the damp, dark conditions they developed infections and died there. Also some human imprints of knees, hands have been found in the caves. The guesses are that these imprints belong to a man, woman and a child that visited the cave thousands of years ago. Their purpose and fate are mysteries, which like many historical puzzles may never be solved.

Some deeper parts of the two caves were submerged in water when they were discovered. Now they have been drained providing easy access to some striking stalagmites and stalactite structures. Imagine a drop water which seeps through the entire mass of a mountain, dissolving many minerals in it, finally reaches the ceiling of the cave at the heart of a mountain. Here it slowly evaporates while hanging from the ceiling depositing the minerals it carried to form a tiny bump in the wall. This process continues over thousands of years and gives rise to a stalactite. Instead if the flow of the water is too great, stalagmites are formed more readily. But it is quite typical to find the stalactites and stalagmites in pairs. They gradually grow towards each other, meeting eventually and forming an entire column. In the Witches cave there was a column about 8 meter high which is called the "Tower of Pisa" by the local archaeologists.

An interesting mnemonic to distinguish the stalactites from the stalagmites is that the 'c' stands for ceiling and the 'g' stands for ground.

The trip was a very enriching experience. Surrounded by the columns of calcium in the cool 16 degrees(celsius, obviously) I felt overwhelemed by the creativity of nature and was reminded of the Marble temples of Dilwara in Mount Abu where calcium in a different form had managed to overwhelm me.