Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips And look, the same day I introduce the Yot Dow tag we have two stories that fit the tag. Both are from NASA (one of the biggest wasters of tax dollars in America). Here is one where NASA is using really old tech to control the space station. Yes it works, but […]

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by Dwayne Phillips There is a difference between deciding well and documenting a decision process well. The human condition means that we are mistaken a good portion of the time. Processes and documents can help, but they don’t erase that. I once worked in a government organization that prided itself on its excellent decisions. They […]

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by Dwayne Phillips A scheme for the government to use the idle computer time of taxpayers. I think the scheme will work, but I wish it never happens. An idea struck me this morning for a way to save billions of dollars of taxpayers money (without eliminating half of the Federal government). Here is the […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Most government agencies are dysfunctional. There are simple reasons. One reason is that the path to promotion lies in spending money, not bringing value per cost. Try to understand how people “get ahead” working inside a government agency. To make more money, you are promoted to a higher grade. I worked in […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Government employees retire and go to work for companies that the government is supposed to regulate and hire and such. This is a revolving door. Is it bad? This story from the past week discusses how Telcos hired retired government employees to help them influence how the FCC (current government employees) regulates […]

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by Dwayne Phillips The FCC released its National Broadband Plan this week. Sigh, where do I start with this thing? The Front Cover The PDF version that I downloaded from broadband.gov has no date on the cover. Does anyone at the FCC understand configuration management? Silly question. Go to the first line of the Preface: […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Just a thought on health insurance from an engineer. I see that President Obama doesn’t like what existing health insurance companies are doing with their rates and policies. It seems that the president wants health insurance companies to be non-profit and insure everyone regardless of pre-existing conditions. Health insurance seems to be […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Written rules and regulations restrict us. They also allow us to forget about some hazards and concentrate freely on the problem at hand. Restrictions can permit freedom. The trick is to learn where the areas of freedom exist and how to use them. A colleague was contrasting the type of people who […]

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by Dwayne Phillips To provide a system for users, we need to know the users. How can we know the users without being a user and forgetting about the providers? I once worked a couple of years in an American Embassy in Africa. A constant concern at the U.S. Department of State was that its […]

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by Dwayne Phillips I voted on Tuesday using a paper ballot where I filled an oval with ink to register my vote. This removed one computer from the voting system. I think that was a good thing. I voted on Tuesday. The voting place near my home in Northern Virginia used paper ballots. This felt […]

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