by Dwayne Phillips Thank you Kodak for making the simple, affordable cameras that allowed America’s working class to capture the last half of the 20th century for their grandchildren. My Aunt Mabel died about a week before Christmas 2011. She was 85 and died from the affects of a major stroke. We attended her funeral […]
Entries Tagged as 'Technology'
To Kodak, Thank You
January 12th, 2012 · No Comments
Tags: Family · Technology
The iPad – part 0.10 – Better Writing
December 1st, 2011 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips This iPad continues to improve. Is it Apple or everyone else? I am still using the iPad version 1. This thing continues to improve. For example, I am writing this blog post from the iPad. When it was new (how long ago was that?), I couldn’t write blog posts from the iPad. […]
Tags: iPad · Technology · Writing
Accepting Less Than Perfect
November 17th, 2011 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Self-driving cars are almost here. They are safer than human drivers. They aren’t perfect, but they are better. Nevertheless, we might repeat our past and not employ less-than-perfect computer systems. Maybe, however, our younger generations may accept it this time. Google has been working on self-driving cars. Others have as well. Those […]
Tags: Risk · Systems · Technology
The IED Solution
September 29th, 2011 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips There is a solution to IEDs. We have known it for centuries, but instead we look to technology. I saw this post recently about a research project that will have lasers find IEDs. Neat technology. I like technology; I guess that is why I have three engineering degrees and view the web […]
Tags: Systems · Technology
Running Linux Mint from a USB Stick
September 19th, 2011 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips I use PenDriveLinux to install Linux Mint on a 1GigaByte USB stick. I had a little spare time one weekend, so… I had seen several people mention Linux Mint. (I can’t seem to remember if it is Linux Mint or Mint Linux or even Lint Minux, but that is another matter.) So, […]
Tags: Computing · Linux · Technology
Problems Bypassed by Time
July 25th, 2011 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Many problems are solved; many others are not solved. And then there are problems that are not solved, but they just go away with time. The United States Postal Service, otherwise known by the often disdainful name of “the post office,” had a big problem. They had millions of envelopes a day […]
Tags: Communication · General Systems Thinking · Problems · Technology · Wikipedia
The Pull-the-Wire Test
June 20th, 2011 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips I have given many demonstrations of systems. I have watched even more demonstrations of systems. One thing I have learned to do during a demonstration is to pull a wire to see if the demonstration still works. Many years ago, I was involved in a 24-hour-a-day, seven-day test of a system. This […]
Tags: Problems · Systems · Technology
Knowledge Multipliers
April 11th, 2011 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Knowledge multipliers are pieces of technology that allow for experiment and growth of knowledge. With each generation, they are more plentiful, powerful, and inexpensive. 1986 – I have finished three years of full-time graduate school. I earned an MS in EE and have completed all the course work towards a PhD. All […]
Tags: Change · Computing · Learning · Technology
It is Still about the Input/Output
April 7th, 2011 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Much has changed in computing since the mid-1970s when I first took a computing class. What hasn’t changed much is that the keyboard and the display remain the most important parts of the computer to the vast majority of computer users. In the mid-1970s, I walked into a computer class as a […]
Tags: Computing · Technology
The iPad – part 0.9 – A Week-Long Conference
March 21st, 2011 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips I attend a five-day conference with only an iPad and ZaggMate bluetooth keyboard. It worked! I recently attended a conference at work – eight hours a day for five days. WiFi was to be available. Hmm, eight hours, WiFi, I wasn’t sure about power connections, I decided to try my iPad with […]
Tags: iPad · Meetings · Technology