Working Up

Working Up in Project Management, Systems Engineering, Technology, and Writing

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BYOD

August 24th, 2023 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips BYOD or Bring Your Own Data is a big deal. It has been in computing since the start of computing. Nothing new here folks, but it is still important. Everyone is a data scientist (sort of). Everyone works for a data-centric organization (sort of). Data is the new oil (sort of). Data […]

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Tags: Communication · Computing · Data Science · Information · Language · Software · Technology · Word

The Screen Still Isn’t Big Enough

August 14th, 2023 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips We seem to think that everything will be on the screen and we don’t need to use pieces of paper. Years ago, we didn’t have the computers we have today. How many years ago? Twenty? Ten? Two? Years ago, some of us would take great pains to put lots of information on […]

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Tags: Clarity · Humility · Information · Knowledge · Notebook · Technology

You Would Think by Now…

June 29th, 2023 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips You would think by now that we would have straightened out all this mess with computers not quite working right. Sigh. Maybe one day. Over 30 years ago, (yes, I am that old) I was loading software onto a computer via 5 1/4″ floppy disks (yes, I am that old) and… kaput. […]

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Tags: Change · Chaos · Computing · Technical Debt · Technology

The (Un)Real Book Writers

May 29th, 2023 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Some people are using text-generating software to write a book a day. The world changes daily. Some people change while some don’t. Here is a story about some folks in India(?) who are putting several books a day every day onto online book sellers. The same bunch of folks are writing glowing […]

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Tags: Adapting · Artificial Intelligence · Jobs · Technology · Writing

The Stupid Hunters (still hunting down stupid everywhere)

May 8th, 2023 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Aha! I was sort of right. Now companies have teams of folks hunting down stupid in their systems to keep the world safe from stupid. Way back in 2015, I wrote a blog post about being a stupid hunter. This is not a hunter who is stupid, but a hunter whose job […]

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Tags: Analysis · Artificial Intelligence · Competence · Stupid · Systems · Technology · Testing · Visibility · Work

Why People Hate IT at Work

April 17th, 2023 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips The systems we use at work are woefully behind what we use at home. This is especially true if we work in a government organization. At the time I wrote this post, OpenAI demonstrated their GPT-4 with ChatGPT. That means I see how to summarize lots of things and understand what is […]

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Tags: Artificial Intelligence · Information · Technical Debt · Technology · Work

AI’s VisiCalc Moment

April 3rd, 2023 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips AI has moved from interesting to actual work. This is much like the arrival of VisiCalc, which changed the home computer from hobby to actual work. I was still in college the first time I saw an Apple computer. It was so new and odd that the Apple II just sort of […]

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Tags: Apple · Artificial Intelligence · Change · Chaos · Technology

The Computer is Down

March 2nd, 2023 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips We seem to be far more tolerant of technical failures. When I was a kid (we played baseball in the streets and things like that), I often heard the excuse, “The computer is down.” That excuse brought all sorts of grievous vexation that excuses usually bring. It was recognized as an excuse […]

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Tags: Accountability · Artificial Intelligence · Competence · Computing · Excuses · Technology

Increments, Perfection, Fear, Candor, and Pride

February 16th, 2023 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Today’s practice of delivering software and systems emphasizes continuous delivery. Today’s practice, however, fails at this. Technology is not the problem. CI/CD is continuous integration and continuous delivery (or deployment). Work everyday. As each little increment of capability is finished, deliver it. Perhaps we deliver every day and perhaps several times every […]

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Tags: Communication · DevOps · Expectations · Experiment · Honesty · Ideas · Leadership · Technology

What About the Teachers?

February 9th, 2023 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips In the past month or two, many have bemoaned the appearance of software that can write essays for students. I have yet to read concerns about software that teachers can use to write essay assignments. ChatGPT is ruining the world. Well, at least some folks think it is ruining their world. The […]

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Tags: Computing · Ethics · Machine Learning · Teaching · Technology · Writing