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
Creating An Alexa Podcast For OpinionByPen Using Amazon Polly
In my previous post I took you on my journey to add Amazon’s speech synthesizer Polly to Opinionbypen. I have to admit I did this as an excuse to play with some of the emerging technologies offered by Amazon. Although there were a few minor obstacles along the way,...
Amazon Polly For WordPress, A Review And Maybe A Podcast
It’s inevitable that having mastered their own specialty, an artist will go on to explore other media. For example, a painter who has worked with oils will probably try watercolors. An experienced electrical engineer will probably think he’s capable of doing...
Is It Murder If You Club Your Beeping Carbon Monoxide Detector Into Silence?
I like to think that my wife has learned a lot from me about dealing with recalcitrant electronics. Still after analyzing the situation,when she uses a hammer to completely destroy a beeping carbon monoxide detector in her RV, I find myself applauding her initiative. ...
Why Are We Allowing The News Media To Manipulate Our Opinions?
I know, I vowed no more political blogs but that was last year. This really isn't about politics anyway. It's about the manipulation of our society by the news media. I believe the divisiveness we see today is driven largely by this manipulation. Remember the recent...
Why You Never Ask An Engineer, What Are You Thinking?
It’s been a beautiful evening. The meal was delicious. The waiter had been right, the dessert was to die for. Noticing the smile on his face, you reach out and gently grasp your beloveds’ hand. In a warm voice, full of love and contentment, you say, "What are you...
The HiBoost 4K LCD Phone Signal Booster, A Review
Having found no reviews on the HiBoost 4K LCD phone signal booster and being prevented from posting one on Amazon I decided to write a review myself. I bought mine from Amazon on October 19, 2018 and was impressed by the performance. I live in a rural area and was...
Random Posts
Married To An Engineer, A Matter of ConventionMy wife always groans when we’re watching a movie and the climatic point is the hero trying to defuse a bomb. She knows that in about 2.3 microseconds I’m going to make some derogatory comment about bombers always using the same wiring convention. As I always explain to her, unless you’re wiring them for the […]
Is Your Team Always Missing Deadlines? It Might Be You!Perhaps it’s my background in electronic design speaking, but I’ve always regarded time as sacrosanct. Consider this: when you’re designing a system that operates at 100 MHz, tolerating a signal that “usually” arrives on time is out of the question. Too late, or even a bit too early, and your entire system risks malfunction. Yes, […]
Poser Debut, an Engineer’s ReviewI think Smith Micro has a real hit with Poser Debut. As a engineer I’ve always been impressed by an artist’s ability to convey a message using a minimum of information. If I want to represent a bird in a picture I immediately think of feathers, beak, eyes and wings. I break the feathers and […]
Random Posts
Why Can’t I Find A Good Book, The Evolving Nature Of LiteratureThere’s nothing as wonderful as starting a new book and finding yourself totally immersed within the first chapter. Sadly, such books are becoming scarcer than finding a worthy political candidate. I find myself reading more books and enjoying far fewer of them. I used to think that this was caused by self-publishing but this has […]
What’s Your Opinion On MOOCs?A good friend sent me this link because he knew that I often recommend Udacity courses, San Jose State suspends collaboration with online provider. The story tells how San Jose University is scaling back their partnership with Udacity because things were not going as well as San Jose wanted. The story was interesting to me […]
Are You Blocking Me Again Or Is It My ISP Cache?Some weeks seem fated to go bad. I started last week getting stung by a scorpion and then I learned a new term, ISP cache. The scorpion sting stopped hurting long before I understood what kind of grief the ISP cache was causing me. When my aunt asked me why I was blocking her on […]
Random Posts
Terms and Conditions, a CautionEvery once in a while I read something that screams for a post. That’s the case with this news story, http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/02/tech/couple-fined-for-negative-review/. I’m not going to repeat all the details but it describes a couple who placed and order for a product they never received. Although they tried their best they could not get in touch […]
When Did the Definition of Unlimited Change?It always irritates me when I see commercials preying on our stupidity. I guess that’s why watching Sprint’s commercial extolling how their reliability is within one percent of everyone else, always results in my wife having to endure a rant on the difference between reliability and coverage. My lecture on the difference is usually cut […]- Can A Love Of Reading Be Considered A Secret Advantage?If you were to ask me what my professional secret advantage is, I would say I love reading. Seems to be a strange thing to brag about. After all, almost all of us can read. The fact that you are reading this post says you can read but do you enjoy it? When you need […]
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
The Martian Notifier, Another Smartwatch?In today’s world it’s a given that in every large gathering of people somebody’s ring tone will blare out. Choosing not to be that person, I try to always keep my phone on vibrate. Only two problems with that plan, because I keep my phone in a holster, I don’t …
Musings On Fear From an Engineer and Aspiring WriterI’ve never understood the fascination roller coasters hold for my wife. This from the woman who complains about my sudden starts and stops when I drive. Personally, I hate roller coasters. It’s not motion sickness or fear but when I ride one I’m wondering what safety margins did the engineer …
In Defense Of My Junk Box: Married to An EngineerJust about every electrical or mechanical engineer I know has some kind of junk box—a treasure trove of parts accumulated over the years, all saved with the hope they might come in handy someday. My own junk box started at a very early age. Too young to work a part-time …
An Engineer’s Observations On Becoming A Better SupervisorThere was a time, long ago, when I thought the design was everything. Not to brag, but I was really good at it. I did the hardware, the software and the testing. I was a one man show. Fortunately, my management recognized this limited the complexity of the designs I …
Bounce Rate, What It Means To Your Favorite SiteIn America we’re taught to tell someone something nice before we criticize them. I’ve never understood if this is supposed to soften the blow or if it’s a tool to boost their ego before it gets completely crushed. I’ve also been told by a few other cultures I work with …