A Congressman Who Can Code Assembly

christo writes "In what appears to be a first, the US House of Representatives now has a Congressman with coding skills. Democratic Representative Bill Foster won a special election this past Saturday in the 14th Congressional District of Illinois. Foster is a physicist who worked at Fermilab for 22 years designing data analysis software for the lab's high energy particle collision detector. In an interview with CNET today, Foster's campaign manager confirmed that the Congressman can write assembly, Fortran and Visual Basic. Will having a tech-savvy congressman change the game at all? Can we expect more rational tech-policy? Already on his first day, Foster provided a tie-breaking vote to pass a major ethics reform bill."

In other news

[Harmonious Botch (921977)]

...workers at the Illinois Voter's Department are investigating the results of the election. "We didn't know that a Diebold machine could register 68% for one candidate and 100% for another," said their spokesman.

Re:In other news

[A beautiful mind (821714)]

...and somehow the results were counted very fast!

thats great and all..

[pak9rabid (1011935)]

But I'd rather see a Congressman who can write sensible legislature.

Re:thats great and all..

[Foobar of Borg (690622)]

But I'd rather see a Congressman who can write sensible legislature.

Well, maybe he can start drafting all the legislation he proposes using IF-THEN-ELSE statements. If anyone complains, he can declare the House to be full of n00bs.

Re:thats great and all..

[SatanicPuppy (611928)]

If he drafts it in assembly it'll probably be more readable than normal legislation.

Re:thats great and all..

[rrohbeck (944847)]

If he drafts it in assembly it'll probably be more readable than normal legislation.

Thank goodness he doesn't know Perl.

Re:thats great and all..

[IthnkImParanoid (410494)]

But does he know LOLCAT?

OH HAI

IF MY_COOKIE.YOU_EATED_IT
  GOTO JAYL
IF U.BE_TAKIN(MAH BUCKET)
  GIV_MEH_BAK(MAH_BUCKET)
  GOTO JAYL
IF U.KILL(MY_MANS O MY_WOMANS)
  GOTO LECRIC_CHARE

GIV_MEH(ALL_U_MONEY * .4)

KTHXBYE

Re:Well, if he's a FORTRAN programmer

[tomhudson (43916)]

Actually, if he programs in assembler, he's not a congressman - he's an assemblyman.

Heretic!

[SatanicPuppy (611928)]

Surely someone who can code will make a superior congress-critter!

Meh. Smart is not the same as "Not evil." Lot smart people I wouldn't want to see in congress. The best situation is to have someone who is open-minded and willing to listen without being swayed by PACs.

Re:Heretic!

[The End Of Days (1243248)]

Quick translation service:

Someone who is willing to listen to me and like-minded people and also willing to ignore people I don't want him to listen to.

Or maybe you don't realize that PACs also represent people... which could be. There is a touch of the foolish and naive around here when it comes to politics.

Re:Heretic!

[SatanicPuppy (611928)]

No, actually, that's not what I meant. I've no illusions about my own rightness in all things; sometimes my view isn't going to be the best view. Someone who can listen to all sides and pick the best option is far better than someone who always chooses the same option, regardless of the situation.

And as for PACs...I don't think there is ever a case where I want my congress-critter to be swayed more by money than by the "rightness" of the idea, even if the money would have swayed them in the direction I personally believed in. Once you move in to financial politics, all you get is crap law, because law that benefits everyone is more "expensive" than law that benefits moneyed special interests who are willing to foot the bill.

Re:Heretic!

[Smidge204 (605297)]

Here's the thing, though.

He's not just smart. He's smart with a fairly rich background in applied sciences. In other words, he's a lot less likely to create or support legislature based on the perception that the internet is a bunch of tubes.

Given the current lineup, at least nice to balance some of the technical ineptness on capitol hill right now... even if his area of experience is somewhat narrow.
=Smidge=

Re:Heretic!

[Peaker (72084)]

In other words, he's a lot less likely to create or support legislature based on the perception that the internet is a bunch of tubes.

The internet has not only "information tubes" (connections), but also nodes that connect those tubes together with some logic (routers) and protocols dictating how information flows on those tubes.

But as a first-order rough approximation, calling the internet a "bunch of tubes" sounds as accurate as it gets. Can you find a term as short and simple as that that describes the internet, even as partially as that?

Re:Heretic!

[Smidge204 (605297)]

Perhaps you should read the full Ted Stevens quote before you say it's accurate.

I just the other day got, an internet was sent by my staff at 10 o'clock in the morning on Friday and I just got it yesterday. Why?

Because it got tangled up with all these things going on the internet commercially...

They want to deliver vast amounts of information over the internet. And again, the internet is not something you just dump something on. It's not a truck.

It's a series of tubes.

And if you don't understand those tubes can be filled and if they are filled, when you put your message in, it gets in line and its going to be delayed by anyone that puts into that tube enormous amounts of material, enormous amounts of material.

The truck analogy is actually much better, IMHO, because it represents the fact that large data sets need to be broken up into multiple packets and delivered separately. Each truck can take a different path, maybe even break down or get lost, and arrive at different times. A tube analogy makes it seem like all the data flows in a constant stream along a single, predetermined and rigid path. It's a horrible analogy, especially considering he compared it to a better one that he threw out.
=Smidge=

"computer network"

[globaljustin (574257)]

Can you find a term as short and simple as that that describes the internet, even as partially as that?

hmmm...yeah, how about "computer network" .. how's that for short and simple.

It's an easy concept to understand, for virtually anyone...far clearer than the ridiculous "tube" analogy (i believe someone posted the full text of the original context of the 'tubes' analogy below)

In fact, the concept of the internet shouldn't be more dumbed-down than "computer network"...some older folks might have to learn what the terms mean, but if a person can't bend their mind around that concept, well, we don't need them influencing politics anyway

Now maybe...

[Foobar of Borg (690622)]

Now maybe he can hack into the C-Span system so that, when he gives a speech before the House, it shows him as "Bill Foster (D-1337)".

Re:Now maybe...

[calebt3 (1098475)]

Everybody who recognizes it would read it as 'Delete'

Re:Now maybe...

[Sponge Bath (413667)]

Why would he want to be known as "Delete"?

Because "backspace" sounds gay.

What Assambly?

[by Anonymous Coward]

8086? MIPS? ARM? Would be nice to know.

Re:What Assambly?

[RAMMS+EIN (578166)]

That's so nerdy. A congressman can code assembly, and all you ask is "what kind?". I like. :-D

Re:What Assambly?

[TheRaven64 (641858)]

It was my thought too. Well, my second thought. My first was 'he can code in assembly and FORTRAN and admits to knowing VB?'

Re:What Assambly?

[frosty_tsm (933163)]

It was my thought too. Well, my second thought. My first was 'he can code in assembly and FORTRAN and admits to knowing VB?'

I sense a scandal brewing on just how much VB he knows...

Re:What Assambly?

[TooMuchToDo (882796)]

"I am code contributor #9"

Assembly language and VB?

[rucs_hack (784150)]

What kind of half breed freak is this guy?

Re:Assembly language and VB?

[evanbd (210358)]

Probably the kind that learned coding as a tool to use to pursue other ends, and learned the languages he needed to to get his job done. I'm inclined to think that's a good sign -- he's demonstrated a willingness to learn about the things he needs to learn about to get his job done. I think that bodes well for his career as a congressman, and a potential willingness to learn about more modern technologies as relevant to his job.

Re:Assembly language and VB?

[rucs_hack (784150)]

Interesting. Most scientists I know learn one language and stick with it exclusively, even to the point of making the language do things that others might do in a fraction of the time.

I'm currently having to build an entire experimentation framework in a language which doesn't even slightly suit the task, simply because the primary researcher has no interest in using anything but the language they know. And yes, I did try to change their mind.

All the same VB? At my university that language was barred from use in assignments, because it was considered to be without merit.

Re:Assembly language and VB?

[Atario (673917)]

I can also do assembly and VB (among others...), and I learned them purely as a programmer. Guess I grew up too interested in programming to get hung up on what language (or level of language) was "cooler".

Re:Assembly language and VB?

[NeoSkink (737843)]

A physicist. We normally end up coding in a new language with each new collobaration as you're brought into a culture where some language has already been established. On top of that, other groups will put out librarys and programs written in some other language, and you'll have to start using that to make use of their work.

Re:Assembly language and VB?

[Himring (646324)]

What kind of half breed freak is this guy?

Nazgul, once Kings of assembly, they now serve the dark lord....

Not any time soon

[faloi (738831)]

We won't see sensible tech legislation until the people that have some sensible ideas are donating more money to politicians than the people who don't.

So?

[LWATCDR (28044)]

We have had Presidents that could make a suit, run a nuclear reactor, fly off an aircraft carrier, and fly jet fighters. I am more interest in that he seems to have a good background in science than his coding skills.

Re:Nerdiest president

[Valdrax (32670)]

That's nothing. The man was a freaking genius if rumors are true. Supposedly, he could write in Latin with one hand and in Ancient Greek in the other at the same time. Of course, that could just be legendary.

Don't get your hopes up

[mnmn (145599)]

... he's a Visual Basic guy.

I'm not impressed!

[rholland356 (466635)]

Senator Bill Frist could do heart surgery, and look how well that turned out. The moron made a diagnosis based on edited videotape!

No, I'm afraid once a highly skilled individual gives himself or herself over to the dark side of politics, they promptly become yet another meat puppet to be toyed with by lobbyists and wealthy patrons.

Why would it?

[susano_otter (123650)]

Will having a tech-savvy congressman change the game at all?

Why would a tech-savvy human being be any more useful or valid as a politician than an education-savvy human being? Or a law-savvy human being? Or an entertainment-industry human being? Or a war-savvy human being? Or a bureaucracy-savvy human being? Or a classical literature-savvy human being? Or a propaganda-savvy human being? Or a violent revolution-savvy human being?

Is there something special about technology, that sets tech-savvy humans apart from all the other kinds of humans when it comes to politics?

Was his vote on this ethics-reform bill somehow informed by his tech-savvyness in some kind of game-changing way?

But will it do us any good

[Alzheimers (467217)]

Just remember how great it was to have a Doctor [wikipedia.org] in Congress.

Any Chance of an Ask Slashdot?

[Irvu (248207)]

This guy seems like a nice candidate for an Ask Slashdot. I would ask two:

(1) How do you feel about large-scale datamining projects such as the Total Information Awareness project? While the project itself is gone it is not the first of its type. Do such projects strike you as technically feasible or even usable?

(2) As someone who has written software how do you feel about software patents?

As a scientist from fermilab...

[nebaz (453974)]

Not only can he code assembly, he has his own private store of antimatter.

He was the model for Lessig's run

[gambolt (1146363)]

that never happened.

http://lessig.org/blog/2008/02/there_but_for_the_grace_of_god.html [lessig.org]

The fact that they are associates is definitely reassuring.

Everyone Codes

[jellomizer (103300)]

Coding skills doesn't really affect ones ethical/political views...

Spyware, Viruses, Addware, Internet Adds, ways around popup blockers, DRM, Military Software, and even Closed Source Software were all were done with people who can code. They are republicans who can code, there are democrats who can code, they even have moderates who can code. Religious People can code, as well as atheists, heck I knew someone who can code who is a Jehovah Witness. Some of the Terrorist can code, so do the good guys.
This is not really a big deal. Will it effect rational tech-policy probably not. Besides what you think it is less about not knowing the issues on a technical level it is about politics on who back you need to scratch. Yea we all laugh at the internet is made of tubes... But for most ISP if you get a huge amount of traffic you will slow down, like (a slimily word, not a direct comparison) having a lot of water going threw small amounts of pipes. It all boils down to do you want to support the new emerging internet technologies to make life easer for the old TelCos.

This guy is from my state

[gad_zuki! (70830)]

This guy is from my state and is realy a godsend for Illinois. He took the place of Dennis Hastert who is pretty much George Bush jr. Bill is a democrat which means that the more rural parts of illinois are also fed up with what passes for conservtism today. I hope we see more democrats from my state and continue to produce politicians like Abe Lincoln, Barak Obama and Bill Foster. I cant say how happy this makes me. After pretty much writing off this part of illinois to the republicans for decades its good to see some change. His campaign was a crazy longshot too.

A few scientists on our science committees will be nice. I think even blue-collar America is seeing the problem with theocratic elements. I dont think his geek cred is the big story here, the big story is that we're getting some more moderates in office as opposed to loud-mouth far-right idealogues. Thats a win-win for all, well, except the ultra-right.

Re:This guy is from my state

[wiggles (30088)]

No, this part of the state is heavily republican. I ought to know -- I voted for Foster in this election. He was the first Democrat I've ever voted for, and I still feel a bit dirty about it. As heavily as Chicago goes for Democrats, the suburbs go for Republicans.

The real reason Foster won this election is not because the district is jumping on the magic bus with the rest of the leftist hippies, it's because his opponent, Jim Oberweis, is an ass who has been trying to buy himself into office for years. He's lost three consecutive primaries -- the party faithful can see right through him -- but since he's a big contributor to the party (he's made millions off his dairy business, which turns out an excellent product, by the way), he convinced the bosses to let him run for a fourth time in a rigged primary for a 'safe' Republican district. They rigged the primary by not allowing any serious competition for the seat -- the only two opponents Oberweis had was an idiot who just wanted to be on the ballot and didn't even live in the district, and a state legislator who pissed off just about everyone in the state legislature. Then, when it came to campaign time for the special election, I was recieving two to three pieces of hate filled negative campaign fliers in the mail each day, which just turned me off. Foster, however, barely sent anything out. The DNC ran some TV ads, but not nearly as many as the RNC. In the end, though Oberweis won the primary (barely), he lost the election because there were enough Republicans in the district, like me, who hated him enough to vote in a baby killing, tax and spend, socialized medicine advocating, way out on the left wing commie liberal democrat (no offense to any baby killing, tax and spend, socialized medicine advocating, way out on the left wing commie liberal democrats reading this).

I hope the Republicans in this state realize their mistakes with this race and throw Oberweis under a bus before the November election. He won the primary for that election, too, so we'll have a repeat of Oberweis vs. Foster in November unless they fix this.

Hey, I did that!

[apsmith (17989)]

My one experience "coding assembly" was 20 years ago as an undergrad visiting one of the experiments at Fermilab. They had electronic detectors triggered various ways sending data to an old Digital PHP system that was supposed to analyze each event as quickly as possible, decide whether it was interesting enough to save to magnetic tape, and then go on to the next event a few microseconds later. The data acquisition code was, naturally, in assembly - and boy they had that pared down to the absolute essentials, not a wasted instruction. My job was to try to, instead of recording to tape, to send the data over a wire to a new VAX machine that had just arrived.

Not sure I ever ran into Foster though - I wonder what experiments he was on? Actually, I have met him since then, but that's another story...

It doesn't guarantee much

[Toonol (1057698)]

Almost all of you guys can code... and some of you have frightening opinions.

Especially you assembly hackers!

My first question, Congressman ...

[ClickOnThis (137803)]

vi or emacs?

all politics is local

[westlake (615356)]

Can we expect more rational tech-policy?

You can expect the new congressman from the 14th District [wikipedia.org] to vote the interests of the 14th District.

The first term congressman does not make policy. He will be two years learning the job and lucky to get a committee assignment that is remotely relevant to anything more significant than the coastal defense of Wyoming.

How did he end up in politics after Fermilab?

[damn_registrars (1103043)]

I can't help but wonder if he chose to go into politics after the recent Fermilab budget cuts [google.com]. Considering the way that the current US congress has butchered science spending (at least relative to operating costs), it would be no surprise if he decided he had to fight the machine from within.

So can Bill Gates

[timmarhy (659436)]

But i certainly wouldn't want him in congess. shudder

I know no one will read the article.

[cbart387 (1192883)]

What this actually means to tech policy remains unclear. Computer programming skills do not automatically lead to sound logic or wise positions on important issues. A quick read through Slashdot user comments easily demonstrates this.

That's got to be the best quote in the whole article.

Re:Woohoo?

[Z34107 (925136)]

You know what else assembly can do? Self-modifying code.

After all, your program is just zeroes and ones in memory. They can be added, subtracted, multiplied, and mutilated, just like anything else digital can.

So, for speed purposes, you can write a bastard of a for loop that changes the address of the jump statement at the end rather. It's hard to find a real practical purpose, other than on the TI-83 graphing calculators that only let you have 8811 bytes of code running at a time.

So... What can a congresscritter do who knows assembly language?

He can write self-modifying legislature!