Working Up

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

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Entries from August 2009

Writing Seeds

August 31st, 2009 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips There are various techniques to start a piece of writing. One involves copying the words of another writer for a sentence or two until your brain warms and your own words flow. I think of those words as writing seeds. Staring at the screen with the little cursor bar blinking with a […]

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Tags: Writing

Consumer

August 27th, 2009 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Some musings about personal spending and saving. I’ve never been a good consumer. By that I mean that I have never consumed enough. It seems that the American economy in the past half-dozen decades has been driven by consumers. The more people consume, the more jobs there are for producers who then […]

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Tags: Culture · Money

The Final Book Published

August 27th, 2009 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips eBooks are taking over the world. Well, they won’t finish off the published paper books this weekend, but the trend is there. As with most things, I see some good and some bad in this. I think it is good that college textbooks are becoming available in digital form. Pay $10 for […]

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Tags: Design · Lifecycle · Technology · Writing

Leave Room for Learning

August 24th, 2009 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips I like to be ready. At times I forced myself to be less ready and learn during the moment. Those were quite satisfying. Project managers can take something from this and help their people learn. I like to plan. Well, not to plan, I guess what is really like is to be […]

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Tags: Learning · Management · Observation

Les Paul

August 20th, 2009 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips The guitar player and inventor Les Paul died on August 13th, 2009 at age 94. He influenced my life in several ways and continues to influence the lives of others in an American family. For information on Les Paul, start at the Wikipedia article. It was the summer of 1975. I was […]

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Tags: Music · People · Technology

Learning with Computers, SELinux Collides with HP Printer

August 17th, 2009 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips HP printers struggle to work under Linux if SELinux is “enforcing.” It seems that HP and others would have taken care of this foible by now. I have a new computer, actually two new computers. Well, they aren’t new and they aren’t really two, they are one. Now I have confused myself. […]

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Tags: Learning · Linux · Technology

Staying on Task

August 13th, 2009 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips We spend too much time avoiding some tasks. They are not interesting, praiseworthy, or worthy of note. We simply cannot stay on task. I recommend changing tasks – at least temporarily. There are many benefits to changing tasks. Some benefits apply to the original task. All the benefits apply to me. I […]

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Tags: Change · Health · Learning · Time

Some Essential Things for Life

August 10th, 2009 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Okay, soon after reading you may start disagreeing with me. This is about T H I N G S. People are not mentioned here as they are in a completely different and far more important area of life. These are NOT listed in order of importance. Pencil and Paper – to record […]

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Tags: Life

Some Essentials for Writers

August 6th, 2009 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips This is the first post with this title. In the future, I will probably have more with the same or similar title. Just some thoughts about things I find essential, or at least somewhat important, for a writer. Essentials Paper and Pencil – Yes, let’s start with some real basics here. If […]

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Tags: Writing

Baby Pictures and Sustainability

August 3rd, 2009 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Managers often start things that they cannot sustain. Great endeavors begin with gusto, but fade away quietly. I dislike these. There are ways around the continual disappointment of the unsustainable. I’ll never forget the evening. My dad had pulled out his slide projector (in case your are too young to recall these […]

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Tags: Culture · Management