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
Driving Change With Comments – Force Multipliers
I had barely hit "send" on my last post when Zee, ever the critic, called me on it. I mean, she's penned a gallery of fire-breathing missives about shoddy products, clueless congressmen, and writers who wouldn't recognize a plot if it slapped them in the face. What...
Driving Change With Comments, You Should Do It
Grab any product you know like the back of your hand and check out its comments. Ditch the fake, fluffy ones—they’re as real as a three-dollar bill! Personally, I get a good laugh out of reading those one-star dramatics. Oh, and we’re ignoring the folks who say,...
Intelligent Garden Spiders? It’s Not Even Halloween
Let me make it clear, I don’t like spiders. It’s not like I run away screaming when I see one. I’ve been forced to share the bathroom with a wolf spider and we both survived but neither of us enjoyed that experience either. On the other side of the spectrum, my wife...
Musings On The Effectivity Of Lessons Learned Databases
People frequently suggest use of a Lessons Learned database as a best practice. Many companies have invested large amounts of time and money in creating those databases. Both the exceptional projects, where nothing goes wrong, and the plagued-ridden projects that...
Sundae, The Life And Times Of A Dedicated Companion
I’ve been fortunate enough to spend the last 14 years under very close supervision. If I tried to stay up too late, I was gently reminded it was past my bed time. Her displeasure was clear if I tried to snack too often. I was never allowed to sit at my desk too long...
Common Designs, Industrial Spies Or Technology, A Perspective
Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone, or did he? The truth isn’t nearly as clear as we’ve been taught. In fact, in America, it was a dead heat to the patent office. The telephone isn’t the only invention with murky origins. Consider wireless, the light bulb,...
Random Posts
How My Quest Took Me To Red Sneakers And ScrivenerIn my plan for 2016 I mentioned that I was going to get serious about my writing. I shared a few of my stories on Amazon WriteOn and received a rather lackluster response. The overwhelming lack of response made it obvious I’m not a natural. Well, it’s not like I expected to be great the first […]
Contempt For Others, An Object LessonDuring my career I’ve been fortunate enough to work with some very skilled engineers. I’ve managed to learn from all of them but one stands out from the rest, not because he was such a good engineer, although he was, but rather because he taught me a very valuable lesson on how not to deal […]
The Plan, How My Wife Became a GamerIf you read my About section, you will see my comment about being the envy of Gamers everywhere by having a wife who games. This is very true. There’s nothing like having spent the last two hours painfully making your way to the boss mob, only to have your raid leader say, “Sorry, wife aggro” […]
Random Posts
First Thoughts on Flying a Phantom DJ3 Advanced QuadcopterSeveral years ago, I found myself admiring a friend’s F16 RC model. It was almost five feet from nose to tail and although it had single ducted fan motor in the body to replicate the jet engine of the F16, it was supposed to be one of the fastest models out there. It had come to him as a […]
Utility Software I Depend OnI thought a lot about my first post of 2013. I wanted to start the year with a great post. I considered one on Congress but my efforts would be insignificant compared to the spectacle they’ve already made of themselves. Statistics is always a good topic and the course from Udacity is certainly worthy of […]
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 […]
Random Posts
Shouting Is A Poor Form Of CommunicationA few nights ago I was playing Tera with a friend who wanted to try it out. He was on a trial account and while he could receive messages from me he could not send them to me. This lead to a mildly frustrating 30 minutes involving phone texting and emotes. I understand the reasons […]
Email Scam or Luckiest Man Alive?I must be the luckiest man alive. Three weeks ago when I was looking at my bills and wondering how I was going to pay them, I got an email from an attorney in England. Some wealthy relative I didn’t even know about had died and left me his fortune. I immediately sent them all […]
Luck, Statistics and Long MeetingsIt was during one of those long company meetings that I started thinking about luck. You know the meeting, it seems like a contest between the presenters on who can be the most boring. Trying to stay awake through one of those verges on the impossible. In an attempt to look vaguely interested, I started […]
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
Do Electronics Have Feelings? How Can You Doubt It?This morning as I left the shower, I heard my wife barking out orders to Alexa in a very forceful tone. Although Alexa has become an essential fixture in our life when she becomes confused, we tend raise our volume and enunciate very clearly. Almost like we were chastising her …
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 …
Saying Thank You, It’s Not That HardThe first time I entered a library I was overwhelmed by all the information. At the time I was more interested in all the science fiction but I soon learned that there was much more than just fiction. I never considered how much work went into putting that repository of …
Most of My Knowledge Started With FailureThere are people who say I have an enormous ego, not that I disagree. I’ve gone so far as to write about my ego, although in that post I attributed my ego to being an engineer. There are even a few people who believe I deserve to have a big ego. …
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, …