Software Diagnostics Library

Following the meaning of DATA and memory dump world view via universal memory dumps I finally deciphered the acronym DUMP:

Digital Universal Memory Phase

This is the view from phase space perspective. From the point of phase space perspective we can also say:

Digital Universal Memory Point

It was the letter P that I was thinking hard about. Fortunately, when I opened Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary on P section, it was “phase” word that grabbed my attention. Familiarity with classical physics and its Hamiltonian formulation provided the necessary glue.

- Dmitry Vostokov @ DumpAnalysis.org -

Some memory dumps can serve the role of a relic and be the subject of veneration. For example, a universal memory dump that reveals the eternity and infinity of Memory. Speaking about earthly artifacts, like computer memory dumps, some of them could be relics and subjects of personal veneration after being generated from a cult system or when a venerated person was working on a computer, for example, doing code construction or writing and composing great works of significant value.

- Dmitry Vostokov @ DumpAnalysis.org -

Instead of publishing another philosophical treatise ”On …”, OpenTask, iterative and incremental publisher, plans to release my collection of bugtations in somewhat extended version by the end of this summer:  

On Debugging: Bugtations and Other Humorous Quotations (ISBN: 978-1906717285)

The book also includes short biographical notes, commentaries and relevant explanations. Hope you would enjoy it. 

- Dmitry Vostokov @ DumpAnalysis.org -

Universal memory dumps come from astronomical observations:

Dumps “are meaningless without” symbols “to interpret them.”

Raymond Arthur Lyttleton, Quoted in Astroparticle Physics, page 50

- Dmitry Vostokov @ DumpAnalysis.org -

On universal memory dumps:

“[…] the first man who noticed the analogy between a” dump “and” an observation “made a notable advance in the history of thought.”

Alfred North Whitehead, Science and the Modern World

- Dmitry Vostokov @ DumpAnalysis.org -

Urstoff of Anaximenes is Air much like Memory in memoidealism. How do concrete objects develop from invisible Air? Through the process of condensation and rarefaction, quality arises from quantity (reduction process). Eternity of Urstoff is one of the main features of Milesian philosophers and memory religion. No additional worlds are possible in their philosophies. They are “materialists” because of their material Urstoff. Memoidealists are “idealists” because of their ideal notion of Memory.

- Dmitry Vostokov @ DumpAnalysis.org -

Indeterminate infinite Urstoff, out of which emerges the plurality of worlds that come and go, is the foundation of Anaximander philosophy. In memoidealism, Memory is indeterminate in the sense that it doesn’t represent determinate material substance. It is actually infinite too. The crucial feature of memoidealistic notion of memory is the fact that coming into existence plurality doesn’t perish. It is saved. In some sense Memory is apeiron of memoidealism.

- Dmitry Vostokov @ DumpAnalysis.org -

Memoidealism is characterized by the unity of philosophy and (computer) science. It has deep roots in practical memory (dump) analysis. The interpretation of observations as memory snapshots (universal memory dumps) leads to the declaration of Memory to be the One (or the First Principle) like Water in Thales practical scientific philosophy. We also observe that processes are memory snapshots as well, through their observational data. We try to understand the plurality of experiences through the unity of memory (the so called Unity in Difference).

- Dmitry Vostokov @ DumpAnalysis.org -

If we assume the model-based definition of software defects we can easily see that any changes to an underlying model can surface the new unanticipated defects and hide the known ones. New and evolving disciplines like software security engineering can change our views about solid code and create defects by introducing non-functional constraints on models. Another aspect of this is the interaction of a human debugger with code, the very act of reading code can create defects. However the latter effect is controversial and belongs to the evolving quantum theory of software defects (see my previous post about bugtanglement).

- Dmitry Vostokov @ DumpAnalysis.org -

A number of Copernican revolutions occurred or announced in various branches of various sciences. Now it’s my turn to say that action-based ”earth-centric” debugging is replaced by memory (dump) analysis as a “heliocentric” foundation of debugging. Because even in live debugging we have memory snapshots and differential memory analysis. Traces in trace-based debugging is another example of universal memory dumps. Therefore memory (dump) analysis comes first.

- Dmitry Vostokov @ DumpAnalysis.org -

Previously announced Memory Analysis and Debugging Institute was registered in the Republic of Ireland (No. 382026) last week.

- Dmitry Vostokov @ DumpAnalysis.org - 

In this part we start our discussion of Urstoff (Ger.), the primitive, primordial and basic element of everything and relation of memoidealism to Ionian school. In memoidealism, Memory serves the role of Urstoff as permanent primary element behind the process of state transition changes (technically speaking). In contrast, Ionians considered Urstoff to be of a material nature, for example, air (Anaximenes), fire (Heraclitus) or water (Thales). This abstraction (abstract materialism) of material elements parallels memory abstraction in memoidealism. Another parallel is the unity of science and philosophy.

- Dmitry Vostokov @ DumpAnalysis.org -

One day, last week, Dmitry was walking in Malahide Woods and thinking through his dangerous ideas about universal memory dumps and how to reconcile man-made PDB files with empirically discovered science files. Upon finding a problem resolution, Dmitry sat firmly on the ground and remained there happily for some time.

- Dmitry Vostokov @ DumpAnalysis.org -   

Sometimes a problem like a crash or a hang never happens again, the so called a unique computational event, like the extinction of dinosaurs if we apply biological metaphors. Biology science copes with such events via constructing historical narratives and multiple probabilistic explanations with cross data examinations. The same is true for memory dump analysis where we construct possible explanations based on evidence and collected supporting data. Like Ernst Mayr pointed, we try to answer both questions: “How?” and “Why?”. Usually the answer to the first question is very simple and straightforward, like NULL pointer access (proximate, functional causation) and the answer to the second question is provided by testing various possible historical narratives (ultimate or evolutionary causation) possibly involving an animate agent (a human user of a system).

- Dmitry Vostokov @ DumpAnalysis.org -   

During the last week of March I’m planning to take a break to write a mini-treatise explaining my dangerous idea in detail:

Parameterized Science: Universal Memory Dumps and the Grand Unification (ISBN: 978-1906717650)

This full color small publication should appear in print by the end of April and start an iterative and incremental publishing thread in philosophy.

- Dmitry Vostokov @ DumpAnalysis.org -

Today I found this book in a local bookshop but didn’t buy it because I couldn’t find enough dangerous ideas in it: 

What Is Your Dangerous Idea?: Today’s Leading Thinkers on the Unthinkable

So I give my own dangerous idea in return: in the future, all sciences, engineering and technology will be ultimately fused and concerned with universal memory dumps of empirical data where appropriate symbol files will be used for every science as we know today, these files called science files. The set of science files can be considered as a parameter, hence the name of this idea. In another words, there will be one Science of memory dump analysis and many sciences. All sciences will be finally unified.

Now the question. Would it be also possible to discover new sciences by finding a suitable set of science files corresponding to a collected dump of empirical data?

- Dmitry Vostokov @ DumpAnalysis.org -

Based on John Moore 8 science criteria we can consider Memory Dump Analysis (MDA) as a science:

1. MDA is based on data (memory dumps) collected in the field or re-pro / test environment.

2. Data (memory dumps) is collected to answer troubleshooting, debugging or forensics and intelligence questions. Observations in memory dumps are made to support or refute these questions.

3. Analysis of data (via memory dump analyzers, debuggers and log analyzers) is done objectively.

4. Troubleshooting, debugging or forensics hypotheses are developed and they are consistent with observations and compatible with general conceptual computer memory framework.

5. Troubleshooting, debugging or forensics hypotheses are tested and several comparable competing ones may be developed at any one time.

6. Generalizations are made that are valid universally within the domain of MDA.

7. The facts are confirmed independently.

8. Previously puzzling facts are explained.

It is also interesting to generalize the domain of MDA to empirical data collection via the so called universal memory dumps.

- Dmitry Vostokov @ DumpAnalysis.org -