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
Are You Sure?
I own an old DVD VCR. It's a good VCR but it has one issue that really irritates me. In order to record on a DVD I have to initialize the DVD. What I don't like is that is asks me four times if I'm sure that I want to initialize the disk. I could see asking me once,...
Controls
I want you to try an experiment. Pick a remote control that you use frequently and tell me what each switch does. Odds are that you can't. I would even guess that you only use a few of them. As an engineer I love choices. The more controls you give me the better. As a...
A Celebration
This is my 20th post on this blog. I realize that raw numbers don't really mean anything unless you attach importance to them but 20 is a significant number and I felt it should be celebrated. My big problem was how do you celebrate a blog? I'm sure there are some...
Sundae
While I enjoy the company of our dogs I realize that their motivations are sometimes very far from what we ascribe to them. When we try to humanize their behaviors we often misinterpret instinct for personality. At least that's what the canine behaviorists tell us....
Victory Dance
Among engineers there is a deep dark secret. After something goes incredibly right or when we find the solution to a problem that has been plaguing us for month , we do a victory dance. Mine is fairly vanilla but it's also on a purely involuntary basis. Think about...
Udacity Revisited
It's Thursday night and I'm doing my homework for week two of Udacity CS253 Web Application Engineering. I haven't even started doing CS387 Applied Cryptography content for this week. I may have bitten off a little more than I can chew for this run. My struggles cause...
Random Posts
Magic, An Engineer’s PerspectiveBeing an engineer isn’t easy. I don’t mean the bewilderment that comes with social interaction. I don’t mean dealing with math and science. I’m talking about trying to enjoy a good fantasy book. I’m drawn to fantasy because it gives me a vehicle to explore new concepts. The problem is that I automatically start thinking […]
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 for not understanding us. Maybe […]
The Path to Success is Filled With FailureWhen faced with a problem, engineers tend to fixate on solving the problem. Often we’re still looking for a solution when others would have given up long ago. It could be that I’m too stubborn to admit defeat but there’s nothing more satisfying than solving a difficult problem. I don’t get frustrated by failure, I […]
Random Posts
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 use for anticipating metal fatigue. […]
Married to an Engineer – Part 3, Brussel SproutsOver all the years my wife and I have been married one thing has remained constant, I hate Brussel sprouts. I’ve eaten stuff all over the world but nothing that tastes as bad as those little green balls of cabbage. When the marriage was still young my wife tried serving them to me in a […]
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 […]
Random Posts
Tired Of Being Spied On? Support Data Gathering TaxesIt’s fall again and with the lower temperatures I tend to take longer showers. Those of you that visit my site frequently know what that means, more time for me to think about solving world problems. My first shower of the season and I think I’ve really found a gem this time. It’s a given […]
Wordfence, Protection For Your WordPress SiteI 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 for WordPress sites. I’ve been using Wordfence ever since my […]
Solar Powered Wyze Cameras, An Engineering EvolutionAs with most engineering projects, it started with a need. In my case, as soon as I got high-speed Internet, I eagerly added several cameras. I chose Wyze because they are affordable, don’t require a monthly subscription, and offer excellent picture quality. Wanting to extend coverage beyond just my house, I opted to power the […]
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 The Effectivity Of Lessons Learned DatabasesPeople 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 quickly become fodder for our nightmares, provide ample lessons learned. …
Tis The Season For 3D PrintingJune 2014, that’s the date I got my UP! Mini printer and wrote my first post on 3D printing. That was my introduction to 3D printers and while I intend to get another, I wanted to first review my reasons for getting that initial printer. I tend to review my goals and my achievements for all …
A Plea For An End To Short Power CordsIn a world where we’ve given up all pretense of individual responsibility we’re flooded with an ever expanding universe of safety regulations, safety stickers and short power cords. When I look at the sticker on my lawn mower, “Caution! Do not reach under mower while blades are turning,” I can …
Nothing Personal But I Don’t Trust Your EmailThe idea for this post started with an email from a friend asking me if I had ever been an attorney and this link, http://abovethelaw.com/2013/02/inside-straight-assuming-that-people-are-idiots/. That’s two strikes against it right there, I dislike attorneys and I don’t like blind links. What swayed me to read this was the relationship …
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 …