Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips Questioned if I noticed little patterns in the data, I asked back about little tools. Several decades ago, I interviewed for a job in some sort of computer center that processed some sort of data. The descriptions were intentionally vague because the person speaking to me felt that it was all too […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Systems analysis is merely a few basic skills in what a person notices. From time to time I analyze systems. I analyze all types of systems, and most of those systems are usually not recognized as systems. I suppose I have a broad idea of what comprises a system. A fundamental skill […]

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by Dwayne Phillips News is happening when there is a disconnect in the pattern A leads to B. Consider this: A leads to B. So, find A, and when it leads to something other than B, you have a news story. For example, more money spent on schools leads to better student performance. When it […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Recent experience with Pluto shows us once again that all the expert ideas about remote things are usually wrong. Sensing something from a distance, a.k.a., remote sensing is difficult. I’ve written about this before. Everyone seems to know this, but that doesn’t stop people from acting as if they are exceptional. I […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Knowing how to repair a system indicates something about its quality. I know how to start the MS Windows task manager. You press the Crtl-Alt-Del keys at the same time. A window pops and displays option. One option is the task manager. The task manager allows me to kill processes that are […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Unless we are rich, we neglect those persons and things that are far from the normal. Economy requires neglect; sorry. In schools, we have big classes. We try to reach the middle of the class, the group near the center of the normal distribution (we used to call this distribution the “bell […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Sometimes you just want a system to be operating in some usable state. You will come back later and finish the job. Some 21st century software companies called it “good enough software.” The idea was that you had software that did something useful for the user. Once it reached that state, you […]

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by Dwayne Phillips The success of many endeavors should lead to dissolving the endeavor. It is unfortunate, however, that the result is often bureaucracy. I have seen it many times. Let’s start an association: to improve the performance of X, to increase the awareness of Y, to teach the practice of Z, or some such […]

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by Dwayne Phillips People with no experience in a situation do the unthinkable. Often, the unthinkable leads to the impossible, and we want to know about the impossible. Kids do things that are just, well, I struggle to describe them as they are out of the ordinary. Here are a few examples: My oldest son […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Go to the optimum, then back off a quarter turn on the knob. There you are. One principle of technology and systems in general is not to operate at the extreme. Go to the extreme, but move back just a bit towards the ordinary. Odd things occur at the extremes. This behavior […]

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