Whitewall Nebraska, A Study Into Current Reality

I’m proud to announce that I’ve been elected mayor of Whitewall, Nebraska. It was unanimous—or will be as soon as I update the websites I created for this event. Of course, you’ve probably never heard of Whitewall, Nebraska. That’s not surprising because it doesn’t...

Christmas Ideas From My Fox Alien 4040 Vasto

Shortly after I retired, Fox Alien put their 4040 Vasto CNC on sale. The timing was perfect. I had already decided I wanted to get serious about carving wood, and although I had highly modified my 3018 (now a 3040), it was limited. First impression: the Vasto is...

In Defense Of My Junk Box: Married to An Engineer

Just 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...

From the Doghouse

A look at dogs having fun

Poser Gallery

My gallery of pictures I’ve created in Poser

Nature by Carol

A look at the less technical side of life

Terms and Conditions, a Caution

Terms and Conditions, a Caution

Every 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...

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Synergy And A New Beginning

Synergy And A New Beginning

Synergy is a great word that’s become a victim of its own sexiness. A few years ago it seemed to be an unwritten rule that this word must be used in corporate mission statements everywhere. I sure you’ve seen statements like "Utilizing the synergy of our multiple...

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Time Travel, We All Do It

Time Travel, We All Do It

Read enough science fiction and sooner or later the subject of time travel will come up. I think we all agree that time travel is not only possible, it's inevitable. We are always traveling forward in time at a more or less fixed rate. I say more or less because our...

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Random Posts

  • It’s Absolutely Impossible For Us To Stop Being An EngineerIt’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 listen. My wife finally told me to shut up […]
  • How To Be A Successful Mass MurdererHow To Be A Successful Mass Murderer
    I’m not going to ask why you’re here. We’ve all thought about it. The jerk cutting you off on the freeway, the traffic jam you were stuck in because you were cut off or maybe it’s just the people you have to work with. You know, the ones demanding you honor their expired coupons or […]
  • Windows 10, Microsoft Doesn’t Get ItWindows 10, Microsoft Doesn’t Get It
    Have you ever been listening to someone and thought to yourself, “they just don’t get it.” No, I wasn’t talking about our politicians. Although given their actions over the last few year, it’s obvious that they don’t get it either.  Instead I was talking about some of our leading industries and the decisions they made. […]

Random Posts

  • Congress, Can We Force Politicians To Show Capability?Congress, Can We Force Politicians To Show Capability?
    As a nation we firmly believe in certification and training. I can’t charge people for doing their taxes without being certified. I can’t teach without a teaching certificate. I can’t wire someone’s house without a lot of training and a license. I certainly can’t represent someone in court without a lot of training and passing […]
  • How To Torture An Engineer, An Engineer’s Wife Shows You The WayHow To Torture An Engineer, An Engineer’s Wife Shows You The Way
    Ever wonder how to torture an engineer? You know you want to get rid of that smug know it all attitude. No, I’m not talking about staking us to an antbed. Over the years, my wife has developed some very effective techniques. Let me share an example with you. Last week I was sequestered out […]
  • A Milestone?A Milestone?
    Friday the 13th was an auspicious day for this blog. If you’ve read any of my posts, it should come as no surprise that I love numbers. I also want to know what the numbers represent. WordPress, the framework for this blog,  provides a very nice app that lets me know how many people have […]

Random Posts

  • CajunCajun
    Just to set the story straight, this is a blatant effort to placate my wife after my previous posts mentioning her. All kidding aside, I really do consider myself very fortunate to have the wife I do. Where I have a high technical affinity, my wife has an equally high affinity for animals. Over the […]
  • Why Did My Electric Blanket Fail? An Autopsy Into Its DeathWhy Did My Electric Blanket Fail? An Autopsy Into Its Death
    My electric blanket was just your typical, everyday electric blanket, barely a year old and lightly used. It came with a promising five-year warranty, a promise that quickly dissolved into nothing when the supplier conveniently went out of business or changed their name, a mere six months later. Then, as fate would have it, on […]
  • Email, A Training Tool For Poor PerformanceEmail, A Training Tool For Poor Performance
    In a typical game you have a number of obstacles that you have to overcome. Overcome enough of them and you gain a level. Not unexpectedly, the designers of these games often use psychologists to maximize the rush of endorphins you get for each accomplishment. It should come as no surprise that responding to your […]

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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

  • Is Your Team Always Missing Deadlines? It Might Be You!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 …
  • An Engineer Looks At AccountantsAn Engineer Looks At Accountants
    Put a group of engineers together discussing projects and sooner or later the discussion will turn to beancounters. No, beancounters aren’t an apparatus for counting individual beans, we use the term to refer to the accounting department. As you might guess, this is not a term of high regard. There’s …
  • Sundae Explains Why Fashion ChangesSundae Explains Why Fashion Changes
    While engineers are far more challenged by fashion than most of our species, I don’t believe a lack of fashion sense is limited to engineers. I have the basic rules down, well as long as I’m wearing nothing more than business casual. Throw a tie into the mix and I …
  • Why Isn’t There An American Micro Bit?Why Isn’t There An American Micro Bit?
    I don’t know if you’ve seen this headline, “Every 11-year-old in Britain is getting a free minicomputer,” or what you thought when you did but I found it amazing that this was being done in Britain. The Micro Bit giveaway is a program sponsored by the BBC in a joint …
  • After The Crash, Comparing Backup Software, Acronis, Aomei and ParagonAfter The Crash, Comparing Backup Software, Acronis, Aomei and Paragon
    The idea behind a software review is to give an unbiased appraisal of the program. Unfortunately most reviews are anything but unbiased. As hard as I tried, this review is no exception. After my experiences last month, I decided to see what else was out there for backup software. Given …
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