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Entries Tagged as 'Vocabulary'

Popular Vocabulary

August 29th, 2024 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips It is easy to use vocabulary that is popular at this moment. It is a bit more difficult to explain the situation in plain English. That exercise, however, is often well worth the effort. Here is some popular vocabulary in the endeavor of software development: It’s nice to toss out one or […]

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Tags: Communication · Concepts · Expertise · Knowledge · Reframe · Vocabulary · Word

Vocabulary and Ceremonies

February 29th, 2024 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips We often use the vocabulary and ceremonies of a prescribed practice without actually doing anything worthwhile. Daily standup, peer review, prototype, minimum viable product, agility, AI, agent, etc.: examples of vocabulary that makes it appear as if something good is happening. Do they have a minimum viable product? Is there product much […]

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Tags: Communication · Honesty · Practice · Process · Vocabulary · Work

An Educated Guess

November 27th, 2023 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Sometimes it is worth the effort to identify the noun and the adjective. This is an educated guess. The word “guess” is a noun. The word “educated” is an adjective. Nouns are usually facts (a tree is a tree). Adjectives are usually chosen by a person and are subjective (what is a […]

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Tags: Clarity · Language · Logic · Reframe · Talk · Thinking · Vocabulary

Want AI to Succeed?

April 20th, 2023 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips I think OpenAI did this before I get around to writing this blog post, but if you want AI to succeed, stop calling it AI. There is a large part of society that doesn’t like “AI.” First, how do you pronounce “AI?” Is it “A” then “I” or it some word that […]

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Tags: Artificial Intelligence · Computing · Culture · Data Science · Vocabulary

Speaking English or Some Other Private Language

September 1st, 2022 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips If someone asks a question in English, please answer in English. Please avoid some other private language. In recent conversations, I asked, “Your research, how far ahead in time are you working? Your work may become reality in 1, 5, 10 years?” The answer was, “TRL 4.” (see this for a translation) […]

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Tags: Clarity · Communication · Conversation · Language · Respect · Vocabulary

The Right Word and the Wrong Word

August 4th, 2022 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips It is important to use the right or correct word and avoid using the wrong word. This is an old fundamental in writing and speaking. Why am I writing about this? Because I continue to encounter professionals who make this error often. What is the right word and the wrong word? Consider […]

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Tags: Choose · Communication · Fatigue · Vocabulary · Word · Writing

Free for More Meaningful Work

May 2nd, 2022 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Automation and artificial intelligence promise to take away the bane of some work and make us free for more meaningful work. Do we want that? Automation frees us from that old work that is just the same old same old. We will have time on our hands and be free for more […]

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Tags: Artificial Intelligence · People · Respect · Technology · Tools · Vocabulary · Work

Internet Discussion Chaos and Semi-Public Groups

April 1st, 2021 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Where will we go for discourse on the Internet? Semi-public groups for forums work. I like Seth Godin’s recent short essay on trust and how folks use the Internet. Godin described the early (1970s) online interaction as, “Because each of these groups were high-trust communities, it was easy to conclude that the […]

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Tags: Adults · Conversation · Ideas · Internet · Respect · Talk · Trust · Vocabulary

Software “Pipelines”: Another Bad Idea

April 30th, 2020 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips I don’t like the metaphor of the software “pipeline,” never have. Here is one explanation why. I recently wrote of my distaste for the metaphor of the software stack. Now I express a similar distaste for the software pipeline. Perhaps this goes back to the Unix pipe—shown with the “|” vertical bar. […]

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Tags: Communication · Software · Vocabulary

You Need Some Basic Vocabulary to Start

March 30th, 2020 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips People can learn. A little basic vocabulary plus the desire to work hard means they are qualified to move into something new. Years ago, a young woman told me about how she wanted to move into a Spanish linguist job. She had an English-Spanish dictionary and some books written in Spanish. She […]

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Tags: Commitment · Competence · Learning · Vocabulary