From the Doghouse
A look at dogs having fun
Poser Gallery
My gallery of pictures I’ve created in Poser
My Science Fiction and Fantasy stories
Stories I’ve written
Nature by Carol
A look at the less technical side of life
Justifying My AI Hobby By Finding Blaze A Forever Home
From my early teenage years, technology has always played a significant part in my life. Though I was late to the party, I joined the technology revolution as the world transitioned from vacuum tubes to transistors in 1963. By 1975, I found myself in the midst of the...
Maximizing Profit: Reliable Designs Or Frequent Repairs?
When I retired, my wife strongly suggested I put some of that newfound free time into cleaning rather than gaining another level in my current game. My trusty old vacuum cleaner, however, decided it wasn’t up to the increased workload and promptly broke a belt. Of...
Want To Try Some AI Song Writing? Songer Makes It Very Easy.
It's an unfortunate truth that music plays a very small part of my life. So small that I’ve always felt handicapped as a writer because I don’t appreciate music. That probably stems from a lack of rhythm, I have none. I can’t even clap in time to music. Having lived...
A Solar Powered Emotional Epiphany
The rains finally made it to my place this week, answering my main concern on the Rubbermaid shed: how well would it keep water out? Turns out the answer is “not perfect but fairly well” and would have been better had my ego not insisted on a one man show. A small...
The Rubbermaid 7’ x 10’ Shed, A Review
This is a review of the Rubbermaid 7’ x 10’ shed but my story begins with a humbling confession of my own ignorance. When I bought my dream ranch, complete with a charming old barn, I was blissfully unaware of the storm of frustration that lay ahead. Neither the barn...
What Happened To Conversation?
I remember the day I made my first and last comment on LinkedIn. It was a discussion on a manned Mars mission and how it should be abandoned because the odds against the voyagers surviving were high. I remarked that Columbus’ crew probably faced the same fears. Boy,...
Random Posts
Technical Arrogance, No One Is ImmuneIf there’s one thing the engineering world is full of, it’s arrogance. Don’t get me wrong, I suffer from the same affliction. I think it comes with being an engineer. After you’ve done the simulations and all the testing, it’s not a surprise that your design works. Enough successes and sooner or later you come […]
Rest In Peace Kindle Write On, I Hardly Knew YouFrom the moment I learned about the existence of Kindle Write On, I felt this was a fantastic idea. Here was a place for aspiring writers to put their efforts under the eyes of a supportive community. Last February I opened an account, screwed up my courage and posted two of my stories there. I expected all sorts […]
Married To An Engineer – The AI VersionI’m going to be up front about this post, I did not write or modify any of the text. All I did was give a word limit, a tone (snarky) and a subject (married to an engineer), the AI behind ChatGPT did the rest. After reading this, I’m both amazed and intimidated. Yes, there are […]
Random Posts
Creeping Elegance, the Design of a RemoteI’m going to introduce a term that might be new to you, creeping elegance. It’s probably been the cause of more project failures than poor engineering. If you’re an engineer or a programmer you already know it way too well but just in case you’re not, let me give you an example. It has a […]
A BambuLabs X1 Carbon for Christmas? Careful What You Wish ForMy Prusa MK3 has been a true gem, but after a solid three years of unwavering service, the plastic pieces sadly started to show signs of wear, cracking under the strain. I was at a crossroads: should I invest in a shiny new printer, or breathe new life into my trusty old MK3? My heart […]
Toolbars, Software Trojans or Actual Benefit?Every year people spend millions of dollars on software that prevents other people from installing undesired programs on their computer. We’re constantly reminded that’s it far better to pay for software rather than download a pirated copy and risk installing a whole bunch of surprises. When the software is free, and there’s a lot of […]
Random Posts
Inspiration, It Might Be Closer Than You ThinkOn our journey through life we meet a number of people that have profound influences on us, our parents, our teachers, our friends, even our co-workers. I’ve been very fortunate to encounter a number of people who were very positive inspirations. As I sit here spending my Saturday morning taking my Udacity course, two friends […]
Why I Finally Allowed Microsoft To Put Windows 10 On My ComputerToday is the thirtieth day after I finally gave in and allowed Microsoft to put Windows 10 on my machine. That’s an important number for Windows 10. If you change to Windows 10 and decide you don’t like it, you have to do a roll back before 30 days have elapsed. After that you’re stuck unless you have […]
If You Want To Become A Better Writer, First Become A Better ListenerSix years ago, when I started Opinionbypen, I had a goal to become a better writer. Somehow I assumed that the constant practice provided by weekly posts would miraculously improve my writing. That’s certainly not the first thing I’ve ever been wrong about. Think about it this way. Suppose I want to become a boxer. […]
From the Doghouse -It’s all about them
A look at dogs having fun!
Short Stories
With posts like these, ever wonder what kind of fiction I would write?
Random Posts
TechnolustIt should come as no surprise to anyone that reads this blog that I suffer from Technolust. I certainly won’t die from it (that is unless my wife discovers how much I paid for my latest video card). This means that although I can’t always afford it, I always want …
Utility Software I Depend OnI thought a lot about my first post of 2013. I wanted to start the year with a great post. I considered one on Congress but my efforts would be insignificant compared to the spectacle they’ve already made of themselves. Statistics is always a good topic and the course from …- A BambuLabs X1 Carbon for Christmas? Careful What You Wish ForMy Prusa MK3 has been a true gem, but after a solid three years of unwavering service, the plastic pieces sadly started to show signs of wear, cracking under the strain. I was at a crossroads: should I invest in a shiny new printer, or breathe new life into my …
Using 1040 Advertising As A Revenue Stream, Why Not?Every once in a while I have an idea that’s almost brilliant. Google has made most of its money through advertising. Why can’t the US government do the same? Every year the IRS gets an update on where we live, how much money we made, and how we spend our …
Death By Productivity ImprovementHave you ever screamed in frustration when your favorite software company announced that they had come up with new methods of productivity improvement? Personally I’m tired of all the help I’m getting. Windows 8 serves as a perfect example of a productivity improvement that nobody wants. Unless your job consists …