by Dwayne Phillips What we saw with gas stations is known as a Denial of Service (DoS) attack. Flood a business with customers and the business fails. The scary part is that someone learned from the situation. Back in May of 2021 (boy, that seems like a long time ago), a pipeline was closed due […]
Entries Tagged as 'Concepts'
The Denial of Service Attack
August 30th, 2021 · No Comments
Tags: Concepts · Customer · Failure · General Systems Thinking · Observation · People · Reaction
Three More Explanations, Please
August 16th, 2021 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Things are the way they are because… Fine. That is one explanation. Let’s have at least three more. Few things are as difficult as explaining why something is the way it is. We see more brown leaves on trees this year than we have in the past. Well, the reason is… Really? […]
Tags: Alternatives · Analysis · Concepts · Experiment · General Systems Thinking · Science
Let Me Explain Myself, Then I Might Understand Myself
March 1st, 2021 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips There is much good in the act of sitting down with another person and explaining to them what I think I am doing. It isn’t always easy to explain to another person what I am about to do. It is, however, a good use of time. That act usually shows me what […]
Tags: Communication · Concepts · Ideas · Talk · Visibility
Can I have a Flat, Horizontal Surface, Please?
February 15th, 2021 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips The flat, horizontal surface is a natural. Home architects know their value. The designers of automobile interiors, however, seem to be living on another planet. In automobiles, the dash (the area above the displays) is curved and sloped. Flat surfaces don’t exist. So where do I set something that I want to […]
Tags: Concepts · Design · Fun · Ideas · Improvement
Gold Mine and Coal Mine
February 1st, 2021 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Are we spending time in gold mines or coal mines? Of course we want to be in gold mines. Untold riches. Right? Consider a few things. Gold Mine resource: Now and then we find a nugget of gold that is valuable almost beyond measure. Most of the time, most of the days, […]
Tags: Alternatives · Choose · Concepts · Resources · Time
Skimming and Diving
December 28th, 2020 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Sometimes we skim the surface to gather an overview. Sometimes we dive in deep to discover the details. I like an overview. I like the nitty gritty details. Which do we like? On which day? For me, the overview is easier. I learn the general idea. I tell people that “all I […]
Tags: Concepts · Energy · Fear · Ideas · Technology
Fundamentals and Reviewing
September 10th, 2020 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips We disdain the review of fundamentals. We disdain fundamentals. We disdain review. I forget why. Why do we hate it when someone says, “Let’s go back to fundamentals.” Like, “Let’s review some basics of grammar and punctuation.” Why do we struggle to say, “Let’s review…anything.” I forget why. Oh, wait. That’s it. […]
Tags: Concepts · Patience · Remember
Name Dropping and Other Follies of (Mis)Communicating
August 31st, 2020 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Please talk concepts, name product names. There used to be comedy routines back in the 1970s (yes, I am that old) that made fun of daytime soap operas. (For you younger folks, don’t worry, you didn’t miss anything as almost everything on television these days is a soap opera.) Anyways, the comedians […]
Tags: Communication · Concepts
Behold the Wonder of the Lip (protruding edge)
May 4th, 2020 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips There are persons and things that we don’t notice much, but who keep everything working and everyone smiling. Please notice and appreciate. lip: noun, the edge of a hollow container or an opening. “drawing her finger around the lip of the cup” Behold the wonder of the lip, that protruding edge that […]
Tags: Analysis · Concepts · General Systems Thinking · Humility · Listening · Notice
Software “Stacks”: A Bad Idea
March 19th, 2020 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips I don’t like the metaphor of the software “stack,” never have. Here is one explanation why. I wrote some software on a recent Saturday afternoon. I used Google’s Colaboratory, Jupyter Notebooks, Python, String libraries, Regular Expressions, HTML, and a few other things. I think folks call that a “software stack” these days. […]
Tags: Concepts · Software · Technology