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
Learning Through Analogy
I don't know about most people but when I'm learning a new task, I look for analogies with skills I already possess. I'm not always successful but sometimes I stumble on a valid analogy that exists between two totally unrelated fields. For example, the relationship...
Ramsay Hunt Syndrome, Three Years Later
I'd like to say that I wrote about my experience with Ramsay Hunt Syndrome for humanitarian reasons, maybe to share my story with other people suffering from the early phases, but those of you who know me would see right through that lie. I wrote that post to close...
3D Printer In The Home, Useful Or Just A Toy?
Last week my wife was complaining that she needed a funnel to put her spices in the spice jars. I could have shown her how to make a funnel out of paper or gone down to the store to buy her a funnel but those solutions never occurred to me, instead I used my 3D...
A Guide To Your Valentine’s Day Chocolate
Valentine’s day is always difficult for me. I love my wife but I have trouble remembering an arbitrary date hyped by advertising agencies to make poor fools like myself feel like lesser creatures if we don’t shower our wives with chocolate and presents. If you've...
Death By Productivity Improvement
Have 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...
Do Dogs Have Psychic Powers?
I'd like you to consider the possibility that dogs have managed to develop a psychic bond with us. I know the animal psychologists say that dogs are extremely perceptive and watch us for small clues. That’s why our dogs turn into a pack of whirling dervishes when my...
Random Posts
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 […]
A Look At Class Action Suits Using the Google+ SettlementWhen my sister asked me to write a post on class action suits, I greeted it with all the enthusiasm shown to managers showing up at the last minute asking for a white paper, before close of business. Never mind that the need has been languishing on their desk for the last two weeks. Still, […]
Windows 8While it seems like a year ago, it was only a few months ago that one of the primary initiators for this blog happened. Microsoft released the Windows 8 beta. With the exception of Vista, I’ve always tried to use the latest version of Windows. When Microsoft released the Windows 7 beta, I tried it […]
Random Posts
First ImpressionsWhen something irritates me, I tend to remember it a long time. Many, many years ago I applied for a summer job at Six Flags Over Texas. After filling out the resume and waiting for the interview I was told that they would not even interview me until I cut off my mustache. If they […]
A Mother’s Day Post On Political ChangeI should explain why I’m doing a political post for Mother’s Day. Last year I explained that I have to consider both my Mother and my Mother-in-law. When it comes to this blog both of them have given me strong encouragement to continue writing. They’ve only expressed one minor disappointment, both of them would like […]
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 headlines about a high school student harassing a Native […]
Random Posts
The Royal Cobbler, A Fairy Tale For Small BusinessA long time ago there was a cobbler of great renown. He made a comfortable living selling very nice shoes to rich people. As luck would have it, word of his skills reached the king. The king being a very noble and wise king ( they always are, aren’t they) decided to see the cobbler’s […]
The Rise and Fall of a Power ZombieWe’ve all been told about the coming zombie apocalypse. We’ve seen the movies of the zombie hordes but the reality is here, now and it’s far uglier. Forget the mindless searching for brains and more brains. That particular species of zombies accidentally migrated to Washington D.C. and died of starvation. No, if you want to […]
Sundae at the Agility NationalsSundae reports from Agility Nationals I’ve seen my world from hotel room windows all over America. Oh, sorry, I’m supposed to introduce myself first. Mom always insists on manners. My name is Sundae, I’m an Australian Shepherd and I compete in agility. Mom is always taking my pack brother and me […]
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
Musings On My Greatest Achievement As I Enter RetirementWhen I retired, there were a few questions that everyone seemed to ask: how did I feel about stepping into retirement (frankly, terrified) and what was my first project going to be (the rebuilding of my dilapidated well house). Yet, there was one question that genuinely made me pause and …
A Solar Powered Emotional EpiphanyThe 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. …
I Need You To Stop Watching Me, An Engineer’s ConfessionJust because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean no one is watching you. There’s a lot of truth to that statement. All my life, people have been watching me. No, I don’t mean spies, foreign agents or even the NSA. Not that I’m dismissing the notion that they might be lurking about …
What Are The Odds? You’ll Enjoy Udacity StatisticsDuring the Christmas and New Year’s holiday’s I was doing research on hard drive failures when I came across the white paper by Google on hard drive failures. It’s a really nice breakdown of hard drive failure statistics. A few caveats before I get into the details, the paper was …
The SainSmart Jinsoku LC-40 Laser Engraver, A ReviewI’ve always been fascinated by lasers. When I was much younger, I tried to make one using an LED and a transistor for amplification. Fortunately physics was against me and I think we’re all happy my attempt was a failure. That failure did nothing to diminish my interest in lasers. …