Closing Out 2019 In Bits And Pieces
I admit it. Sometimes very logical conclusions completely escape me. I started Opinionbypen because I realized I was too isolated. At the time it never occurred to me that nobody cared. In order to people to take time out of their life and read my blog, they have to...
3D Printed Christmas Presents, A Good Idea Or Not?
One of the attractions of a 3D printer is all the money you can save with 3D printed Christmas presents. I mean who wouldn’t want that collection of cute animal figures you’ve been printing. Never mind that it took sixty hours to print and that they could...
Why Do I Care If My Random Number Generator Isn’t Random
I’m always amazed at how little interest people take in probability and random numbers. Is that RAND function in Excel really random? Is it possible to synchronize two random number generators and predict numbers? What is a weak random number generator and why would...
Negative Reviews, They Don’t Always Represent Bad Product
If, like me, you read a lot of reviews before making a purchase you wonder why a lot of big name companies are sending out shoddy merchandise. Sure it looks like the majority of people are completely satisfied with the product but there’s always a few dead on arrival...
It’s Absolutely Impossible For Us To Stop Being An Engineer
We all do it. When we’re reading a book or watching a movie containing elements of our expertise and the story does something so ridiculous that we find it impossible to enjoy the story. Even worse we find ourselves sharing our disgust with anyone willing to...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
My Approach To Identifying And Eliminating Email SpamI don’t know about you but I’ve completely stopped answering my phone. If you want to talk to me, leave a message. I’m guessing you already know why I made that decision; 99.9 percent of the calls are someone trying to sell me something or to scam me. In case …
Apathy, How To Waste Your VoteOver the last few months I’ve had some very harsh words for our politicians in Washington. My Mother-in-law pointed out that the politicians really aren’t to blame for our current situation. They may be totally incompetent and dysfunctional but it’s not their fault they are in office. The only reason …
Giving Criticism That Will Be Heeded, An Engineer’s GuidelinesWhen I started Opinionbypen, I had long discussions with myself wondering if I was tough enough for all the criticism I would get. I knew my writing needed help. I knew I my paragraph separation was accomplished by feel rather than doctrine. And, if we’re doing true confessions , my …
Style, What It Means To An EngineerIf you have an engineer within your close circle of friends, save yourself some trouble. Go to YouTube and watch “Dilbert – The Knack”. As the doctor is explaining young Dilbert’s condition he characterizes an engineer with two statements, “extreme intuition about all things mechanical and electrical” and “utter social …
Symbols Of Power, The Exclamation PointThey say symbols have power. My first response as an engineer is to deny that. Symbols don’t have any power, the power of a symbol is based only on our perception of the symbol. You could say symbols represent power. If we’ve never seen the symbol or don’t recognize it, …