Dimitris Papakonstantis
Engineer by profession. Scuba diver by hobby. Keen to learn all things about water
Location Aberdeen UK
Achievements
Activity
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very informative
and greatly appreciate the analysisbut for the biggest part of the course failed to see the connection / ethics side
the engineering analysis provided insight but everyone is wise in hindsight
the course also didn't seem to touch on systems integration or corporate culture as causes for these failures
i am glad i did this course...
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Dimitris Papakonstantis made a comment
i am an engineer
i found this course hard workthe case of VW emissions had direct ethics implications
and the same can be said about the manufacturers of the therac25 and their behaviour when faults were reportedbut i have failed to see the connection between ethics and the DIA and the Ariane 5 explosion
i understand that incompetence can be...
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When replicating code one has to ensure that the code is fit for service and meets the functional specification of the new application
mostly
the people that demanded this piece of code to be addedbut also someone should have an overall oversight that no software will interfere / compromise the flight
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What level of effort would it have taken to catch this bug in the first place? Who is ethically responsible for catching this bug?
debugging can be challenging on smaller pieces of code
i can not imagine how big it would be on such a big projectonce more i am finding myself confused
between ethics and competence
i really do not understand why...
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nice video
thanks for sharing -
-Is the Ariane 4 known to be completely fool-proof and bug-free?
presumably you mean: Is the software used for the Ariane 4 missions completely fool-proof and bug free?
maybe yes maybe not. the answer is i don't know. i am also not sure if it is important to know either
-What are the potential risks of copying code? Is this an ethical practice?
i... -
Dimitris Papakonstantis made a comment
i started this course thinking that i could use python on my website
but i think i was wrong -
@ZaneSlocombe that makes more sense :) thanks
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i do not believe that anyone would knowingly ignore error messages of that importance.
it also needs to be understood that the operators are under pressure to deliver desperately needing treatment.
i think it is fair to assume that the operators had some training prior to commencing operating the particular machine
it is the duty of the manufacturer...
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Why would hospitals continue a device that clearly has major flaws?
it looks like the therac-25 was in use for sometime before the first incident occurred
(introduced in 1982 and first accident reported in 1985)although i do not know what was the utilisation of these machines (how many treatments a day)
it looks like they were used a fair bit (maybe...
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i can see how by eliminating hardware it makes the unit more commercially competitive
i can also see how the software was considered to be reliable
but surely they must have had an understanding of the impact of removing the interlocks
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Dimitris Papakonstantis made a comment
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Dimitris Papakonstantis made a comment
3.5.3 was painful to read
way to technical -
Dimitris Papakonstantis made a comment
still confused between functions and objects
was hoping i would get to use dictionaries
but overall good coursei didn't attempt to create a game
because i didn't really understand what was I asked to create -
Dimitris Papakonstantis made a comment
am still struggling to understand the advantage of using class as opposed to using functions
i have started writing a program that would solve different dive tables used for dive planning
i understand how to do it using javascript and functions
i am yet to understand how to do it using python (dictionaries - sadly not is scope of this course) and if...
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Dimitris Papakonstantis made a comment
that's mine
still not sure i understand
or if i just get it done because of trial-and-error!https://github.com/dpapakonstantis/weather_programme
and also here:
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that was helpful
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Dimitris Papakonstantis made a comment
from the examples above i do not understand why is it better do do it this way rather than use functions
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Dimitris Papakonstantis made a comment
found this week hard to follow
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challenging
think the instruction could have been clearerso for example i can manage my project on GitHub and i can see version control there
but still don't understand how to work with GitHub on my PyCharm, ie check-out brach work on it implement etc
i am currently working on PyCharm and uploading the file on GitHub
also turns out you can run...
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Dimitris Papakonstantis made a comment
the default is in native keychain
but i am not clear what that means?also i don't understand how to get PyCharm to Enable Version Control Integration
i also had to find out that i needed Git installed
and it looks like someone forgot to mention that I needed to install it? -
Dimitris Papakonstantis made a comment
i think it went ok
i logged in with my newly created accountso did not use the token option
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Dimitris Papakonstantis made a comment
confused
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so it works but i don't understand why
i need to have
patient1_object = Patient("Tom", 18, 45, 2200)
patient2_object = Patient("Dick", 45, 88, 2500)
patient3_object = Patient("Jerry", 20, 10, 1500)the programme understands and asks for 3 inputs by the user and uses them to calculate
but if i remove them the programme returns an...
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Dimitris Papakonstantis made a comment
this is advanced magic!
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Dimitris Papakonstantis made a comment
seems way to advanced for me and what i am doing but let's see :)
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in general when i think about ethics i am focusing on conscious acts and decisions.
there is no doubt that negligence can be criminal, which makes me think that incompetence can be criminal too and that implies that incompetence can be unethical.
i guess examples of that may be found easier amongst physicians as well as engineers
but it is not easy to...
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this seems to me like the false dichotomy fallacy
going fully automated or not has nothing to do with ethics
there are many reasons why you may choose to fully automate or notfor example if you know that for the next 20 years the system will not change then you may opt for max automation
if you are developing a product that changes year after year...
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i can see a lot of incompetence and arrogance
i have not seen any evidence that false commitments made were knowingly
i have not seen anything unethical yetthe baggage system would replace manual , repetitive labour but that is not unethical
eliminating manual labour and repetitive tasks lies in the heart of engineering solutions
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From your perspective, does this seem like a reasonable feat?
The first flight of F-117 Nighthawk took place on 18 June 1981
The first flight of the Space Shuttle took place on 12 April 1981so building a conveyor belt shouldn't be that much of a challenge!
What are some of the challenges that one might encounter when building such an extensive...
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Dimitris Papakonstantis made a comment
stories like that make me sad
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As an engineer, my sole purpose of existence is to design, engineer and do my best to improve the world rather than be content with the world as it exists today!
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Dimitris Papakonstantis made a comment
2.2 and 2.3 definitely my favourite parts of this course so far
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As an engineer myself and a member of an engineer institution i will object to the notion that: "we rarely hear about a code of ethics for engineers"
My institution has By-laws and regulations and a code of conduct.
compliance is mandatoryIn terms of ethics further to my own personal values i work for an engineering company that has publicized and...
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Dimitris Papakonstantis made a comment
i am a mechanical engineer
i have worked in a number of different industries Power, Petrochemical, Oil & Gas as a designer, site engineer and consultant
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it's hard to believe that an organisation as big as VW does not have a robust Management of Change Procedure that would pick up something like that
if a half decent management of change process had been followed the proposal to develop, integrate and deploy 2 different versions of software would not have been approved.
we have to go through a management...
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i think there are a lot more to be learnt from that case study
the importance of an open culture at the workplace
where employees can raise their concernsfor example i know in my company we have a secure whistleblower line that anyone can report suspicious activity
we also have regular courses regarding ethics and integrity
the importance of a...
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Dimitris Papakonstantis made a comment
it is interesting to note how behaviour of individual companies and incidents of that magnitude have consequences way above and beyond the company.
so in this case for example this scandal all but terminated all future development of greener diesel engines
which i think is a loss for everyone
so for example other car manufacturers who had committed...
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Why would a highly reputable company want its employees to do unethical work?
I think it is a matter of culture and leadership
A culture that promotes integrity and ethical working would enable the means to speak out against unethical activities
Culture is the direct result of Leadership.
Competent leadership would have focused on long term...
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Dimitris Papakonstantis made a comment
last time i had to work on a team software project it was a long time ago when i was at uni
the software we were developing was pretty simple
and no one talked to us about version controli have been using trinket for this course and am finding it very useful
but quite problematic as i can't save the code
and also when i want to make changes / add... -
tricky
because i want the user to be able to enter the value zero for the add, subtract and multiply operationsso it seems to me that an if loop inside the divide function is better than a try / except in the input section?
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Dimitris Papakonstantis made a comment
i had to use the try / except
for my calculator programmewanted to make use that the user input was a number (and not string)
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Dimitris Papakonstantis made a comment
i find that the errors that the compiler / debugger can not find are really bad
so the program is running fine
but the output is wrongfor example the other days i made a typo
instead of "F" i typed " F"
the program was running and the debugger could not find anything wrong
but the output was wrongi find it difficult to debug errors like that
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Dimitris Papakonstantis made a comment
i recently completed a javascript course
i found that i made twice as much progress on this python course than on the javascript
still struggling with "for" and "while" loops
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terminating the loop was the first challenge
validating my choice number (add, multiply .. exit) was the second
i then struggled to get the programme to exit without asking for input
could not upload the code here (too many characters
but should be able to see it here: -
Dimitris Papakonstantis made a comment
that was difficult
but happy with the result
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print('This Programe Produces the first 100 Prime Numbers')print() #just a blank line to make it pretty
#we know that all even numbers are composite numbers because they divide by 2
#we know that all numbers ending in 5 are composite numbers because they divide... -
Dimitris Papakonstantis made a comment
this worked for me
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to_do_list = ['shower','work', 'gym', 'home', 'shower', 'dinner', 'listen To Harry Potter', 'sleep']new_item = 1
while new_item !="":
new_item = input('To Do List Item: ')
to_do_list.append(new_item)for items in to_do_list:
print(items)
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Dimitris Papakonstantis made a comment
firstly: this is exercise was challenging
second: i can not believe how fussy python is with indentation
thirdly: i really enjoyed thathaving functions allows code to be re-used
splitting the username and password helps with input validationa loop (maybe a goto?) that would allow the user to try again
for maybe 3 or 10... -
Dimitris Papakonstantis made a comment
wow!
that is
challenging...so how does python knows that a=x, b=y and c=z???
it will take me a while to get my head around this
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Dimitris Papakonstantis made a comment
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name = input('Enter name: ')
def say_hi(name):
return f'Hello and welcome to my program, {name}!'
print(say_hi(name))
************************that was so easy! (compared to the amount of effort i had to put in to get the same result in javascript!
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username = input('Enter username: ')
password = input('Enter password: ')if username == "JaneDoe" and password == "password123": print("Welcome Python Padawan")
else: print("User with name JaneDoe and password password123 does not exist!")
*******************************no errors
guess 1 way...
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Dimitris Papakonstantis made a comment
it took me weeks to make it to this point on html / javascript!!!
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Dimitris Papakonstantis made a comment
i don't understand why would you try
str_b[10]='S'
i mean it makes sense to try
print(str_b[10])
which gives m
but str_b[10]='S' ???
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Dimitris Papakonstantis made a comment
i ve joined stackoverflow to get help on a javascript project i was working
although a great wealth of information
it suffers from the same problem that all forums suffer
people who have too much time in their hands and very bad manners
users who have time to post a useless comment instead help out
having said that I dod got help and solved the...
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Dimitris Papakonstantis made a comment
i like javascript
because i can write the code and anyone can access it from a browseri see that i need a compiler to write python
so not sure how that works and how will that integrate with my website
but hopefully this question will get answered later on -
Manuals contain a lot of information.
Not all of that information is relevant to me at this point in time
so reading it does not register with me and therefore does not add valueI often find myself going back to the manual / documentation when I come
across issuesand this is my plan moving forward
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If the V2 software was already developed, why did Volkswagen just implement that alone?
it seems to me that VW did not implement just the V2 software alone. It seems to me that VW implemented V2 along with V1. I guess that the V2 software had a significant impact on the car performance that would make the VW cars not competitive.
What levels of...
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Dimitris Papakonstantis made a comment
wheel rotation
driver weight
steering
and ambient temperature changes -
Dimitris Papakonstantis made a comment
successfully installed PyCharm on my Linux Ubuntu 20.04
but i would also like to see how far i can get using online-python.com and trinket too -
Dimitris Papakonstantis made a comment
Who are you and what is your background?
I am a mechanical engineer and I work in compliance
My hobby is scuba divingWhat is your current knowledge about Python and programming?
have used qbasic, pascal, fortran, html and css and recently javascriptWhat would you like to do with the skills you’ll gain in this course?
i have design, built and now... -
Dimitris Papakonstantis made a comment
What have you learned this week?
i was not aware of the
-2021 to 2030 a Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development
or the
-United Nations Sustainable Development GoalsWhat facts or topics surprised you most?
the "systems" thinking and understanding the influence of socieoeconomic factors in marine and environmental conservation in...
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Dimitris Papakonstantis made a comment
with reference to: High-resolution global ocean models
since 2000 I have been running SETI@home
many more projects have joined on BOINC
(including Climate Prediction and LHC amongst others)is there something similar for ocean models?
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*What is Decade 2030 aspiring to achieve?
This Decade will aim to mobilize the ocean community behind the ideas of sustainability. This Decade will mobilise resources and technological innovation in ocean science needed to deliver key societal outcomes
-A clean ocean where sources of pollution are identified and removed
- A sustainably harvested and... -
meh
wanted to post eponymously as i have a padlet account but looks like i have to create a new account :( -
Dimitris Papakonstantis made a comment
q1: it was good to put what i ve learned in practice
i think that was a very instructive way to check my understanding
q2: how to prioritise which advantages of developing a bcm would make a greater impact and a better selling pitch
q3: it was useful to see other approaches in promoting the advantages of developing a bcm as opposed to highlighting...
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Dimitris Papakonstantis made a comment
What did you enjoy most about the course?
I enjoyed the exercisesIs there anything that you would change?
maybe more interaction with the educators, on other courses we had online sessions and the educators were more active in the delivery of the course. Also can update the materia (ie now published Oxfam financial report)What else would you like to...
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Dimitris Papakonstantis made a comment
What did you find that was good, stimulating, or relevant about this past week’s activities?
i liked the exercises, drove me to read and also think the cases considered . I think this is a great educational tool
Have this past week’s activities prompted you to explore ideas and concepts in greater depth?
i had not realised that there were national and...
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What challenges do you think SMEs would face when developing implementing and maintaining a business continuity management system?
Resources.
SMEs may not have the in-house expertise to develop BCP or the funding to outsource them.this can be seen as a nice too have but too expensive to adopt.
Also education. It could be that SME owners not informed /... -
The exposure of these events could be considered as a crisis but how do you think business continuity management could have helped before and after the event?
the The 2018/19 Report & Accounts are now available online
https://www.oxfam.org.uk/about-us/plans-reports-and-policies/archive/
looking at the net income
2016/17 report £408.6m
2017/18... -
the suggestion to use paper instead of electronic means as a backup sounds appealing
but you would have to duplicate and print a significant amount of paperwork to allow it to kick-off
otherwise you find yourself looking at a patient, all their records locked electronically in a computer you can not access
what good will paper do? -
The Morecambe Bay NHS Trust had a business continuity management system in place but they were still affected by the WannaCry attack.
Discuss how you think the system allowed them to ensure that no patient was affected, despite the unforeseen attack.
Watching Stuart Hosking-Durn in the video I was led to believe that the transition from electronic to...
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Dimitris Papakonstantis made a comment
How does this case study show the role of external parties in an organisation’s business continuity management?
I wonder what was the impact of the media.
For example I do not regularly check my bank account balance (makes for sad reading) but if i knew that there was an issue chances are i would attempt to login and possibly either fail or identify...
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Dimitris Papakonstantis made a comment
Take about 30 minutes to investigate a business continuity plan for a public sector organisation or local government in a country of your choice.
I am using the results of an audit conducted by the Aberdeen City Council on the BCM planning issued 26/09/2017, ref: IA:AC1804
Share a short summary of how the organisation plans for continuity in its own...
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Dimitris Papakonstantis made a comment
Carry out some of your own research and find an example of a company that does not meet the BITC definition of responsible business. Share your findings with your fellow learners and explain your reasoning.
I think that The Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) did not meet the definition of responsible business.
I think of that based on the gas leak...
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How do you think these risks compare to the risks identified in the material above?
although not following the same order i think that they have follower a PEAR approach and the results fall in similar groupsWhat other issues do you think/know the company have taken into account in identifying the major threats posed to their operations?
it is... -
How do the WEF Global risks compare to the UK National Risk Register? What similarities and differences can you see?
the scales are different but i would say that :
-both risk registers rank the threat of a pandemic pretty high
-both risk registers rank the threat of climate change / weather pretty high
-the WEF categorises broader risks whereas the NRR... -
Dimitris Papakonstantis made a comment
it is an educational exercise in the application of the Endsley model
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Dimitris Papakonstantis made a comment
What did you enjoy most about the course?
very interactive
good balance and accurate estimate of time required to studyIs there anything that you would change?
understand that PESTLE is a widely used tool but seems more appropriate to accountants rather than emergency services and in any case it seems to me that PEAR covers all that PESTLE covers and... -
Dimitris Papakonstantis made a comment
What was good or useful this week in expanding your understanding of the relationships between risk, incidents and leadership?
I really liked the Kissinger definition of leadership!I think that the Tannenbaum and Schmidt model adequately captures the relationship of leadership / decision making but am not convinced that the line is the best way to...
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Dimitris Papakonstantis made a comment
Loads!
-so although I am a strong believer in the requirement of technical skills for the leadership as means of earning respect, non-technical skills are equally important in managing people and making "political" decisions.
I found the NDM a bit confusing and can do with more reading on it!
I really liked the simplified version to of the Endsley...
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Dimitris Papakonstantis made a comment
on reading first:
perception of elements of the current situation
comprehension of the current situation
projection of future statusit didn't made much sense but
‘What?’,
‘So What?’ and
‘Now What?’made a difference
it is very important not only to have all the information required
but to assess it correctly to implement a corrective... -
Dimitris Papakonstantis made a comment
What was interesting or surprised you about the perspective described in the interview?
I am used to see the emergency services having primacy and i had not thought of a situation where they wouldn't so the Kashmir earthquake example came as a surprise to me.
I wonder how much was that a surprise to Dean Harris and if he has many similar examples. I...
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Dimitris Papakonstantis made a comment
Re Major Dick Winters
it's been a while since i read his biography but i would place him in a 1 or 2
i think this is expected considering that he was a military leader in a active servicehaving said that i think he was close enough to his team and had a good understanding not only of their capabilities but the "mood" so although he was making the...
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Dimitris Papakonstantis made a comment
tricky
need to be very carful in assessing the threat
and even more in confirming that the scenario is the samewhich is dangerous because although it feels like life repeats itself you find subtle differences every time
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Dimitris Papakonstantis made a comment
Imagine that you are buying a used car worth £2000, for which you are taking out a car loan.
Which elements of your decision-making follow the rational decision-making typology suggested previously and which elements are instinctual/gut feelings?
Seeing as my budget is fixed I would then
-look into the running (operating) costs of my options (cars... -
Dimitris Papakonstantis made a comment
Having seen the example of anchoring, investigate other types of heuristics and share how these affect decision-making in an emergency situation.
the availability heuristic. We judge the probability of an event by how quickly and easily examples of that event come to mind, by how available they are to us, rather than by identifying all of the alternatives...
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Is this an example of transformational or transactional leadership?
I think it is both.
On one hand he is talking about setting clear aims and objectives but at the same time he is placing himself in a position amongst his team so that he can communicate new orders / changes and actively get involved from the frontline making himself an example while...
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Thinking back to your chosen leader, what type of leader were they and how do you think their followers related to them?
I think transformational leadership includes but is not limited to transactional leadership. So a transformational leader will reward and punish as appropriate but further to that will work to enable an open and just culture where...
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Dimitris Papakonstantis made a comment
According to
Odumeru, James A; Ogbonna, Ifeanyi George (2013). "Transformational vs. Transactional Leadership Theories: Evidence in Literature". International Review of Management and Business Research. 2 (2): 355–361. ISSN 2306-9007.
"Transactional type of leadership is effective in crisis and emergency situations" I guess that is because...
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Dimitris Papakonstantis made a comment
Think of a famous character in history that you view as a good example of a leader.
Major Dick Winters
Write down three traits that this person possesses that you consider are essential elements of good leadership in emergency risk incidents.
-technically competent
-logical and rational thinker
-committed to his team -
Dimitris Papakonstantis made a comment
leadership is a challenging subject ever more during times of crisis.
I am looking forward to learn more about the non-technical skills and factors required for successful emergency management
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Dimitris Papakonstantis made a comment
In your view, what makes a good leader and what makes a good team?
A Good Leader should be:
Open
Honest
Qualified
Clear in communicating with the team
committed in the success of the teamA good team is made up of:
competent team members
free to express their opinionsThere needs to be trust between the Leader and the Team and the Team Members
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Dimitris Papakonstantis made a comment
What was good or useful this week in expanding your understanding of the treatment of risk?
Introduction to NIMS,
What questions arose for you?
I could do with a bit more information on the size of the risk matrix and what should i consider when selecting a risk matrix size
also i am going to have a look and see if there are any ISO 31000 courses...
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Dimitris Papakonstantis made a comment
What was the most important lesson you learned this week?
As much as i can see similarities of PESTLE with PEAR i can not see me using PESTLE because it seems to fail to consider harm to People and that to me is a fundamental consideration for any Risk Assessment
The US National Incident Management System (NIMS) seems too detailed and seems a bit of an...
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Dimitris Papakonstantis made a comment
How do you think scrutiny results in meaningful change?
Yes. Learning from incidents is very important in preventing them from reoccurring.
The Lord Cullen inquiry on the Piper Alpha Disaster 1988 resulted on 106 recommendation and significant changes in legislation in effect to this day.
On a different subject the investigation work and mitigations...
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Dimitris Papakonstantis made a comment
FYI the the Cullen Report into the Piper Alpha disaster in 1988 is also available here:
https://www.hse.gov.uk/offshore/piper-alpha-disaster-public-inquiry.htm
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Dimitris Papakonstantis made a comment
How do you think the way events develop on the incident timeline affects the way people make decisions?
I think the timing of events developing affects the way people make decisions.
If the transition from to the Incubation to the Dynamic Phase is too slow it could be that people will be less prepared for the the Dynamic Phase
If the transition to...
