Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips I am a problem solver. Sometimes, however, solving a problem is the worst thing to do. This story made the rounds recently about how our military is experimenting with small jolts of electricity to keep sleep-deprived troops awake. The electricity might have fewer bad side affects than the current treatment — lots […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Younger adults are moving back into the cities. Is this some great trend or just the normal reaction to childhood? There is a big trend today: younger adults are moving from the suburbs back into the big cities. In Washington, D.C. it’s called gentrification, or is it re-gentrification, I get confused sometimes. […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Organizations strive for growth or progress, but are they accepting of the change that comes with it? Let’s assume that growth is good for an organization. If you don’t like growth, think of another word that would mean good things for an organization, e.g., progress, innovation, creativity, etc. and substitute your word […]

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by Dwayne Phillips My experiences teach me that younger technologists are much better at predicting the future than older technologists. Go back to 2007. I am working in a group that looks at technology trends so we can be ready for the future when it comes. We were considering operating systems for smartphones. The senior […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Facial recognition software can (probably) detect emotional reactions. We enter the age of the real-time political poll and its (largely unintended) consequences. A recent study delves into the use of facial recognition software in education. I like the idea. Have the computer detect confusion, frustration, etc. in students using computer-based training or […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Basic advice to managers about correcting the course of an endeavor. Be quick and be easy on everyone. The title of this little management advisory is from author and consultant Jerry Weinberg. He wrote about it in one of his books. I also found mention of this in a blog post by […]

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by Dwayne Phillips I suffered from this malady much of my life. I had an idea, but I didn’t have permission to do it. When you meet people who are like I used to be, give them permission. That is a really short blog post. Perhaps it should be a tweet or something else, but […]

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by Dwayne Phillips “They are against us” can be prevented. They want to take away our right to… They are coming to get us. They are going to tax us. They are going to do all sorts of harm to us. Whatever the issue, whatever the time, whatever the place, we tend to find ourselves […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Same song, “x” is replaced by something else. It is called “software compatibility.” A little history in the field of computing. In the beginning, the dominant cost was hardware. Two or three programmers could occupy the most expensive computer in the world. The computer cost a million times more than the programmer’s […]

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by Dwayne Phillips The definition of work is changing with more people forming distant, loosely connected teams. This requires people who can understand not only the words but the intent of a writer and a speaker. Here is a new definition of work: Work is something we do, not somewhere we go. For years, the […]

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