by Dwayne Phillips The cell phone camera plus computer vision plus computer speech equals apps for the blind. I worked in computer vision during the 1980s and early 1990s. My work was mostly with having a computer transform an aerial image into a map. I didn’t foresee the technologies that would make the digital image […]
Computer Vision and the Blind
April 16th, 2012 · No Comments
Tags: Computing · Family · Health · Image · Technology
You Don’t Need Us
March 29th, 2012 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips There are times when a customer calls for a technical solution to one of their problems. They may, however, have a management problem instead. I work for a technology company. When our customers call, we deliver technical solutions to their problems. Sometimes, however, the customer comes with a fuzzy problem. We investigate […]
Tags: Management · Technology
The New I/O – The Camera
March 22nd, 2012 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Computers still have three basic parts: (1) processor, (2) memory, and (3) input/output (I/O). The latest addition to the I/O is the camera. This post is a little late – several years late, but better late…and so on. In the early 1970s, I was introduced to the computer. There were and still […]
Tags: Computing · Technology
The Nerd Dad – Zero to Hero
March 8th, 2012 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Long scorned by kids, especially teenagers, the nerd dad is now the hero. This story brought an idea back to mind. I had this idea first a couple of years ago, but didn’t blog about it. The time has come. The story linked above from The Telegraph bemoans that many parents don’t […]
Tags: Family · Technology
Entering and Using Unstructured Fiction Information
January 30th, 2012 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips I look at a couple of methods of storing information to be used in fiction writing: mediawiki software and good old HTML. Writing a large piece of fiction, like a novel, can be messy. How do you keep track of characters, places, dates, and all that stuff? The answer for many writers […]
Tags: Technology · Writing
To Kodak, Thank You
January 12th, 2012 · No Comments
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 […]
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