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
Color, Fashion and an Engineer
Have you ever considered what a wondrous thing it is to see color? In spring I get to enjoy the vivid green of my pasture, the bright red of the cardinals as they feast on the insects trying to eat my pasture, the mixed reds and yellows of my wife's roses, even the...
Office 2013 Terms, Marketing Ploy or Greed?
Revised March 6, 2013: After reading my post Microsoft had a change of heart and relented on allowing you to transfer your copy of Office 2013. They made the announcement today allowing you to transfer it every 90 days. They did not mention my blog in particular but...
Congressional Lottery, A Proposal
Sequestration or not, every member of Congress should be deeply ashamed of the service they've given us getting here. Many people have advocated getting rid of incumbents, term limits, campaign spending limits. I would like to offer my own solution. I believe I have...
An Attempt To Make Sense Of The Rules Of Writing
Over the last 3 months I've been trying to improve the content of my blog, both the pictures I use to illustrate my articles and the quality of my writing. As I expected, Poser has helped me to improve my pictures. I'm starting to understand the shortcuts and tricks...
A Study in Communication, Webhostinghub
I decided to try WebhostingHub because $10 for a year of webhosting looked too good to pass up. What I did not expect was a wonderful example of poor communication. I admit it, I'm cheap. I follow Rick Broida on Twitter because he comes up with some real bargains....
Wordfence, Protection For Your WordPress Site
I first realized how much I appreciate Wordfence when WebHostingHub told me I had excessive activity on my server and I would have to disable Wordfence. That's when I decided my relationship with WebhostingHub would be a short one. Wordfence is a free security plugin...
Random Posts
Married To An Engineer, Why Can’t I Have A New OvenI wanted my wife to write this from her point of view because if anyone in this marriage has suffered, it’s her. She wants a new oven and I continue to repair the old one. As long as it continues to work, why do we need to replace it? I realized just how different my way […]
Wilson Cellular Signal Booster, a ReviewI’ve been impressed by how well the Wilson Cellular Signal Booster does what it promises but there are a few caveats in using it. It doesn’t amplify your cell phone signal so much as it enables you to take advantage of a better signal if it’s available outside your house. If you don’t have a […]
An Engineer’s Plan For Romance On Valentine’s DayIt’s not that I hate Valentine’s Day but I certainly have reason to fear it. From my point of view, nothing good comes from this holiday. Forget it and I’m in the doghouse. Use the day to tell my wife I love her and my wife questions me about the other 364 days. Putting in a bird […]
Random Posts
Why Did My Electric Blanket Fail? An Autopsy Into Its DeathMy 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 […]
Windows 10 Upgrade, Can You Trust Microsoft?Somehow a discussion of trust seems very appropriate as Microsoft starts rolling out Windows 10 for free. Are they doing this to apologize for the mess they made of Windows 8? Are they hoping that giving free upgrades will convince Windows 7 users to upgrade? And if that’s the case, why do they care? Have […]
Heidi’s Heavenly Cookies, WowI enjoy writing this blog because I’m not constrained to a single topic. Today is all about cookies. Let me set the background. I love cookies. Everyone who knows me knows I love cookies. The only thing that lured me off my Atkins diet was cookies. My Food Scout quickly learned how much I loved […]
Random Posts
Sundae Thanks YouIn Udacity’s Psychology course, the second lesson discusses the ethics of psychological experiments and how important it is to make sure everyone involved understands they are taking part in a test. I’m sure my readers understood my previous post was an experiment but I’m not as sure about Sundae. Prior to offering treats to Sundae […]
Whimsy, This Engineer’s Stress ReliefSuch a funny word, whimsy. It’s almost self-defining, although that could be because I’ve known what it meant for so long. For the rest of you, it’s defined as a capricious humor and I think there’s far too little of it in today’s life. Most people tend to think of engineers as boring people with […]
Justifying My AI Hobby By Finding Blaze A Forever HomeFrom 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 personal computer revolution as the manager of […]
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
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 …
The Solar Powered Chicken Coop Fan ProjectSummers in Texas are brutal, especially if you’re a chicken locked up in your coop every evening. Sure, it’s for their own protection but on those evenings with little or no breeze, it can get very stuffy. Adding an electric fan would help but running a 200 foot extension cord …
Betrayal at Neverwinter Mod 6(If you’re not into MMORPGs, Neverwinter mod 6 in particular, do yourself a favor and skip this.) You say you want me to help you kill a dragon? Times must be worse than I thought when you have to scour taverns to get a group together. Still, like myself, I …
The Up Mini 3D Printer RevisitedThe 3D printer testing this week by Make magazine inspired me to do this follow-up post on my Up Mini 3D printer. I’ll answer the most obvious question first. Then again, maybe not, I still have no rational reason for why I bought the printer but I can enthusiastically say …
The Me Too Movement, One Woman’s OpinionI want to make it very clear that this was not written by me. I could give the standard disclaimer about the opinions expressed here and so on but as a male, I’m not qualified to express an opinion on the topic. However, as a woman who has spent over …