Working Up

Working Up in Project Management, Systems Engineering, Technology, and Writing

Working Up header image 4

Jobs and Robots and All That

June 2nd, 2014 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Automation is replacing human jobs. Sorry. That is bad news for people who want to work, and there is no way around it. Such is the nature of today’s new technologies. In recent centuries, new technology arrives and displaces workers. Those unemployed eventually find jobs in new industries that build and maintain […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Change · Technology · Work

“Tech” Companies

April 21st, 2014 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Somehow, at some recent point in time, someone tried to change the definition of a technology company. Blame it on old age, but I am fed up with what the media, in particular the technology media, calls a “Tech Company.” Headlines tell me that our President (Obama) is meeting with CEOs of […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Communication · Technology

There is a Diagram for That

April 17th, 2014 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips There is an old diagram that helps explain what a system does. Sometimes, these old diagrams are lost and need to be found again. Apologies to Google and the Chromecast, but it is a good example to mention. Me, i.e., old engineer: What is that? Young Engineer: It is a Google Chromecast. […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Communication · Systems · Technology · Thinking

In Praise of the Raspberry Pi

March 31st, 2014 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Praising the most successful education project in the history of man: the Raspberry Pi. Nobel Prize? Why not? Two years ago the Raspberry Pi was launched. 2.5 million units later, it is still going. Two years is a long time in technology—a very long time. (Wikipedia has a good article on the […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Education · Programming · Technology

LibraryBox2

March 27th, 2014 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips I build my own little LibraryBox2. I stumbled across this project recently and, since I am fascinated by libraries and distributing content, decided to try to build one. I am not good at this sort of thing, but why not try it? It worked! I have my own LibraryBox2 (see photo). LibraryBox […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Communication · Internet · Library · Meetings · Technology · Wikipedia

There is More to Color than Meets the Eye

March 10th, 2014 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Sometimes smartphones and the like only come in one color. There is more to adding colors than meets the eye. I used to work for an organization that built little gadgets. Every little gadget came in the same color: black. One year I worked on a project where I thought I was […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Systems · Technology

Jumpcut – A Wonderful Tool

February 24th, 2014 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips I sing the praises of Jumpcut: a little clipboard buffer for OS X. I do a lot of copying and pasting on my computer. That saves me untold hours of time typing. It also saves me from making data entry errors. I use Jumpcut: a little clipboard buffer for OS X. It […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Technology · Time

Run LaTex Online

January 23rd, 2014 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips I find an online tool for formatting LaTex documents I once wrote a book using LaTex – the electronic typesetting system. LaTex allows you to do things that you cannot do with just about anything else. The result is a document with an excellent, professional appearance – much better than anything MS […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Technology · Writing

A Simple Drafting Tool for Writers

January 16th, 2014 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips I try DRAFT – an online writing tool. Years ago I tried a web site called writely.com. It allowed a person to use a simple word processor online. That writer could then “share” what was written with other people who also had writely.com accounts. One day, as the stories go, Google bought […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Technology · Writing

Must See Family Holiday Apple Ad

December 18th, 2013 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips This Apple ad is deep in several aspects. Here is a precedent for this blog: a video inserted and on top of that it is an advertisement. To the reader, first watch the video, then read my comments. Apple Family Christmas Ad (1) There is the lost teenager in a big family […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Communication · Family · Ideas · People · Technology