Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips
We don’t accept every new gadget that comes from the mind of an engineer. New uses need to be demonstrated for new technologies to take hold. Either that or new generations come along with different values.
New technology comes every day. We immediately accept it into our lives without a thought of its long-term [...]

[Read more →]

by Dwayne Phillips
Frenzied paralysis - so many things in my mind that I cannot do any of them. I make a list to clear my mind and move from paralysis to action.
I can’t think. Well, that’s not true. I guess the problem is that I am thinking too much. Well, that is not true, either. [...]

[Read more →]

by Dwayne Phillips
People should use the systems they build. If they don’t who will? A new concept in the military - Optionally Piloted Vehicles - once again raises the issue of using your own systems.
“Eat your own dog food.” This is an old saying in computer terms - are computers old enough to have old [...]

[Read more →]

by Dwayne Phillips
A few observations from a few more days with the iPad. You touch the iPad with your hands, even with dirty hands. Handwriting recognition software is one of the apps that could change everything.
A few more impressions after a few more days with the iPad.
The number 1 question:
What can that thing do?
I don’t [...]

[Read more →]

by Dwayne Phillips
Initial impression - I like the iPad. Let’s not forget how far hardware has advanced in two years.
I bought an iPad this morning.
I have a model with WiFi and 16 Gigabytes of memory. As most people already know, it doesn’t have:

a phone
3G
a camera (neither video nor still)
GPS

After only a few hours:

The screen is [...]

[Read more →]

by Dwayne Phillips
As a designer and writer, two of my favorite tools are the blank sheet of paper and the pencil.
I love a blank sheet of paper. I love to have a pencil in my hand when I’m looking at a blank sheet of paper. This is freedom. There are no guidelines, no rules, nothing [...]

[Read more →]

by Dwayne Phillips
A challenge in systems engineering is tracing from requirements through design and implementation to testing. This is done in almost all development methods (often people do this without realizing it). I show a method of tracing that uses Microsoft Word features and link to a video demonstration of the technique.
A Requirements Verification Traceability [...]

[Read more →]

by Dwayne Phillips
Design reviews can be important parts of projects. At design reviews, we attempt to communicate clearly and minimize misunderstandings. There are several design reviews that are important to the success of a project. This essay describes one design review that people want to have but should never be allowed.
We have design reviews In [...]

[Read more →]

by Dwayne Phillips
Engineers create wonderful things now and then. Oblivious users turn the creations upside down and use them backwards. Such oblivious use teaches great lessons that smart organizations use before going to production.
Engineers have their babies. Not the human kind of baby, though some engineers have those, too, but the system-that-they-create kind of baby. [...]

[Read more →]

by Dwayne Phillips
Technical debt in a system builds as changes are made to the system. At some point, the expense and risk of the next change is prohibitive.
This is the first post I will make about fill-in-the-blank debt. These all go back to the concept of technical debt in a technical system.
Systems that are used [...]

[Read more →]