Working Up

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

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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. […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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, […]

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Tags: Computing · Linux · Technology

Problems Bypassed by Time

July 25th, 2011 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Many problems are solved; many others are not solved. And then there are problems that are not solved, but they just go away with time. The United States Postal Service, otherwise known by the often disdainful name of “the post office,” had a big problem. They had millions of envelopes a day […]

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Tags: Communication · General Systems Thinking · Problems · Technology · Wikipedia

The Pull-the-Wire Test

June 20th, 2011 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips I have given many demonstrations of systems. I have watched even more demonstrations of systems. One thing I have learned to do during a demonstration is to pull a wire to see if the demonstration still works. Many years ago, I was involved in a 24-hour-a-day, seven-day test of a system. This […]

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Tags: Problems · Systems · Technology

Knowledge Multipliers

April 11th, 2011 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Knowledge multipliers are pieces of technology that allow for experiment and growth of knowledge. With each generation, they are more plentiful, powerful, and inexpensive. 1986 – I have finished three years of full-time graduate school. I earned an MS in EE and have completed all the course work towards a PhD. All […]

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Tags: Change · Computing · Learning · Technology