Relativity Clouds???...
This is a good counterpoint to the typical engineering analysis that kills the fun...
Don’t believe in Santa Claus?
If you’re skeptical of Santa’s abilities to deliver presents to millions of homes and children in just one night, North Carolina State University’s Dr. Larry Silverberg, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, can explain the plausible science and engineering principles that could allow the Jolly Old Elf to pull off the magical feat year after year.
With his cherubic smile and twinkling eyes, Santa may appear to be merely a jolly old soul but he and his North Pole elves have a lot going on under the funny-looking hats, Silverberg says. Their advanced knowledge of electromagnetic waves, the space/time continuum, nanotechnology, genetic engineering and computer science easily trumps the know-how of contemporary scientists.
Silverberg says that Santa has a personal pipeline to children’s thoughts – via a listening antenna that combines technologies currently used in cell phones and EKGs – which informs him that Mary in Miami hopes for a surfboard, while Michael from Minneapolis wants a snowboard. A sophisticated signal processing system filters the data, giving Santa clues on who wants what, where children live, and even who’s been bad or good. Later, all this information will be processed in an onboard sleigh guidance system, which will provide Santa with the most efficient delivery route.
Silverberg adds that letters to Santa via snail mail still get the job done, however.
Silverberg is not so naïve as to think that Santa and his reindeer can travel approximately 200 million square miles – making stops in some 80 million homes – in one night. Instead, he posits that Santa uses his knowledge of the space/time continuum to form what Silverberg calls “relativity clouds.”
“Based on his advanced knowledge of the theory of relativity, Santa recognizes that time can be stretched like a rubber band, that space can be squeezed like an orange and that light can be bent,” Silverberg says. “Relativity clouds are controllable domains – rips in time – that allow him months to deliver presents while only a few minutes pass on Earth. The presents are truly delivered in a wink of an eye.”
link to full article
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
Friday, December 08, 2006
Another Manifesto...
I really like this one...and you thought only architect's wrote manifestos...
Making the most of your time
You can’t manage time. You can only manage yourself. Successful people manage to get a lot more out of their time. Here are nine things that you can focus on next year to make the most out of your time.
link to the other nine points
Making the most of your time
You can’t manage time. You can only manage yourself. Successful people manage to get a lot more out of their time. Here are nine things that you can focus on next year to make the most out of your time.
link to the other nine points
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Sunday, October 22, 2006
Robust Solutions…
Robust...
Main Entry: ro·bust
Pronunciation: rO-'b&st, 'rO-(")b&st
Function: adjective
Etymology: Latin robustus oaken, strong, from robor-, robur oak, strength
a : having or exhibiting strength or vigorous health
b : having or showing vigor, strength, or firmness "a robust debate"
c : strongly formed or constructed : STURDY "a robust plastic"
d : capable of performing without failure under a wide range of conditions "robust software"
A high-quality engineering effort will result in …
a robust understanding of a robust description of a robust solution…
Main Entry: ro·bust
Pronunciation: rO-'b&st, 'rO-(")b&st
Function: adjective
Etymology: Latin robustus oaken, strong, from robor-, robur oak, strength
a : having or exhibiting strength or vigorous health
b : having or showing vigor, strength, or firmness "a robust debate"
c : strongly formed or constructed : STURDY "a robust plastic"
d : capable of performing without failure under a wide range of conditions "robust software"
A high-quality engineering effort will result in …
a robust understanding of a robust description of a robust solution…
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Mavericks at work...
A good post by Guy Kawasaki...
Ten Questions with Polly LaBarre about her book "Mavericks at Work"
I mostly enjoy Guy's "Top Ten List" type posts, but he hasn't been doing many of those lately...
Ten Questions with Polly LaBarre about her book "Mavericks at Work"
The strategies, tactics, and advice in Mavericks at Work grew out of in-depth access to a collection of forward-looking companies. These maverick companies are attracting millions of customers, creating thousands of jobs, and generating billions of dollars of wealth. The book covers these topics:
- Forming strategies
- Unleashing ideas
- Connecting with customers
-
Enabling employees to achieve great results
I mostly enjoy Guy's "Top Ten List" type posts, but he hasn't been doing many of those lately...
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Parents weekend...
at PSU...
We had a great weekend visiting Jennifer up in State College, and had a lot of fun spending time with Jen.
My personal cool event of the weekend was a visit to the Breazeale Nuclear Reactor during their open house!!!
After signing in, a brief classroom presentation covered some general infromation and day to day issues regarding nuclear radiation. After that it was off to the reactor bay... I got to look down through the water at the working pile. It was glowing with a really diferent blue light. Very cool!!!
The students who were escorting us were very knowledgeable and willing to answer any questions the visitors had, even all my inane ones...
Especially cool was the fact that I got to bore the girls for the rest of the weekend with a variety of interesting facts about my visit...
Sunday, August 20, 2006
Planning and Doing…
For various reasons, I have been spending a lot of time on planning activities lately…
Plans are important…action without planning can produce random results…
But let’s not forget the “Doing” part…it’s just as important to put the same effort into execution as the planning…
It brings that quote to mind about a good plan executed with vigor is better than a perfect plan that never gets executed...Patton, I think...
Plans are important…action without planning can produce random results…
But let’s not forget the “Doing” part…it’s just as important to put the same effort into execution as the planning…
It brings that quote to mind about a good plan executed with vigor is better than a perfect plan that never gets executed...Patton, I think...
Monday, July 10, 2006
3 things I love about the shore...
Our “Geek Dinner” was originally scheduled as a backyard barbecue on the 4th of July…
And then we scheduled our vacation for the same week…oops…time for a change in plans…I guess the Stormhoek was coming along on vacation…
We vacationed at the Jersey shore when I was growing up…lots of great memories…
Now we take our kids to the shore and we do some of the same stuff that I remember doing as a kid…I hope to pass along some of the memories…among other things, like time at the beach, crabbing, and fishing, I have vivid memories of watching the sun set over the bay…
To this day, this is still one of my one of my favorite things to do down the shore…
That brings us to the label design idea…since the wine was coming along on vacation with us…
I had wanted to photograph the wine with the sun setting in the background…I was thinking it could make a great wine label…I wanted to provide an example of customers taking pictures of the wine doing their favorite thing…and having these pictures become label art for Stormhoek…
Unfortunately, it became a case of “good idea, questionable execution”…the porch wasn’t quite facing the right direction, and quite frankly, the sunsets weren’t that good that week…
But it was the 4th of July!!!...so the pictures became the fireworks instead of the sunset…again, great possibilities…I think maybe my photography skills leave something to be desired, but hey, we tried, we had some fun…and everyone will always remember the vacation I had that free wine from South Africa that no one had ever heard of before…
I hope you like the pictures…I don’t think they’re good enough to use for label art, but I’ll bet there are other people out there who could do better with the same concept…
Everyone submit their fave pictures…I’ll bet the Stormhoek crowd would enjoy them even if they don’t need a new label design… I’m looking forward to seeing some good pictures…
In my experience, projects have the best chance to succeed when they are a group effort…
P. S… we really enjoyed the Pinotage…and I hear it’s now available in South Jersey…
looking at the pinotage and the bay
just back from vacation...first day back to work, moving my office, project to catch up on...whewh!!!
we watched the fireworks on the 4th down the shore...I'll be posting some more about the event when I get the chance...enjoy the pictures...
the red and the white
watching the fireworks...
ooooohhhh....aaaahhhhh....
a good one...
another nice one...
the last picture...
And then we scheduled our vacation for the same week…oops…time for a change in plans…I guess the Stormhoek was coming along on vacation…
We vacationed at the Jersey shore when I was growing up…lots of great memories…
Now we take our kids to the shore and we do some of the same stuff that I remember doing as a kid…I hope to pass along some of the memories…among other things, like time at the beach, crabbing, and fishing, I have vivid memories of watching the sun set over the bay…
To this day, this is still one of my one of my favorite things to do down the shore…
That brings us to the label design idea…since the wine was coming along on vacation with us…
I had wanted to photograph the wine with the sun setting in the background…I was thinking it could make a great wine label…I wanted to provide an example of customers taking pictures of the wine doing their favorite thing…and having these pictures become label art for Stormhoek…
Unfortunately, it became a case of “good idea, questionable execution”…the porch wasn’t quite facing the right direction, and quite frankly, the sunsets weren’t that good that week…
But it was the 4th of July!!!...so the pictures became the fireworks instead of the sunset…again, great possibilities…I think maybe my photography skills leave something to be desired, but hey, we tried, we had some fun…and everyone will always remember the vacation I had that free wine from South Africa that no one had ever heard of before…
I hope you like the pictures…I don’t think they’re good enough to use for label art, but I’ll bet there are other people out there who could do better with the same concept…
Everyone submit their fave pictures…I’ll bet the Stormhoek crowd would enjoy them even if they don’t need a new label design… I’m looking forward to seeing some good pictures…
In my experience, projects have the best chance to succeed when they are a group effort…
P. S… we really enjoyed the Pinotage…and I hear it’s now available in South Jersey…
looking at the pinotage and the bay
just back from vacation...first day back to work, moving my office, project to catch up on...whewh!!!
we watched the fireworks on the 4th down the shore...I'll be posting some more about the event when I get the chance...enjoy the pictures...
the red and the white
watching the fireworks...
ooooohhhh....aaaahhhhh....
a good one...
another nice one...
the last picture...
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Lessons Implemented
another Bob Yerby story...
He started a project off with a meeting and an improvement topic came up...
"I don't want to hear about Lessons Learned..."
(Heresy!!!... Sacrilige!!!...the mobs were about to burn down the castle...)
"I only want to hear about Lessons Implemented..."
Take note of all the issues you want, but if you never change your behavior, whose kidding who? This was particularly interesting because of the shift in focus to actually making the required changes, not just talking about them, was a much bigger challenge...
He started a project off with a meeting and an improvement topic came up...
"I don't want to hear about Lessons Learned..."
(Heresy!!!... Sacrilige!!!...the mobs were about to burn down the castle...)
"I only want to hear about Lessons Implemented..."
Take note of all the issues you want, but if you never change your behavior, whose kidding who? This was particularly interesting because of the shift in focus to actually making the required changes, not just talking about them, was a much bigger challenge...
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Thursday, April 20, 2006
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
The Extended Conversation...
So I've been reading/ watching the global conversation about wine...no,really, there's a global conversation going on about wine...I kid you not...
What could that possibly have to do with this little tiny piece of the global conversation? It's kind of a long story... here goes anyway...
signed up for a geek dinner...for Stormhoek, a South African wine company...it's a big/ little marketing thing that hugh macleod came up with...read all about it here
with me so far? right...
so I'm glancing through the other people who have signed up...it's a pretty diverse crowd so far
so what is there possibly to gain from all this?...although just being amused is good enough for me...
then I notice the entry for BioBrewHaHa Seattle...interesting...read further...Life-Sciences Special Interest Group...curious...further comments..."The technology in biotech and wine are very similar..." google "userspace.com" and look for sanjay...it's a biotech instrument company, I think...they host a website for Laboratory Robotics Interest Group
Still with me? right...
this group has a Philadelphia Chapter with events now being covered in the Philly Pharm Bio Blog...
whew...long story...wine... to seattle...to biotech...back to Philly...
The "Extended Conversation"...
related link..."on becoming more viral..."
What could that possibly have to do with this little tiny piece of the global conversation? It's kind of a long story... here goes anyway...
signed up for a geek dinner...for Stormhoek, a South African wine company...it's a big/ little marketing thing that hugh macleod came up with...read all about it here
with me so far? right...
so I'm glancing through the other people who have signed up...it's a pretty diverse crowd so far
so what is there possibly to gain from all this?...although just being amused is good enough for me...
then I notice the entry for BioBrewHaHa Seattle...interesting...read further...Life-Sciences Special Interest Group...curious...further comments..."The technology in biotech and wine are very similar..." google "userspace.com" and look for sanjay...it's a biotech instrument company, I think...they host a website for Laboratory Robotics Interest Group
Still with me? right...
this group has a Philadelphia Chapter with events now being covered in the Philly Pharm Bio Blog...
whew...long story...wine... to seattle...to biotech...back to Philly...
The "Extended Conversation"...
related link..."on becoming more viral..."
Conversations about wine...
Dinner, too...
Planning on hosting a wine tasting dinner...
with the wine provided by Stormhoek, a South African wine company...what's up with that...
all part of the global conversation...frappr map here
sent an e-mail to Stormhoek about their label design conversation, went something like this...
Let me first apologize for not being completely up to speed on the status of your label design efforts...
If you're still looking at the label design, I would like to offer another suggestion...
Short version...
the label could contain a photograph taken and submitted by customers with the bottle in their favorite location, activity, etc. etc. etc. A rotating or changing series of photographs shows the on-going "conversation" or connection with your customers...
The longer version...feel free to skip this part...
I have signed up for one of the dinners and it turns out that we will be on our family vacation during the original date I was going to use..oh well, I'll bring the wine along...we'll try it out watching the sunset over the bay along the Jersey shore (traditional vacation spot on the east coast of the US)...one of my favorite things in the world to do...I figured I'd send you guys a good picture of the bottle in the sunset...(trying to keep this short...)...I was looking at gapingvoid the other day and noticed the guy who takes pictures of the t-shirt from all over the world...so, what if you asked customers to submit high quality pictures of a stormhoek bottle in their favorite place from all over the world...might make for some interesting label art...the customers are motivated by the concept of their picture "making the label"...you get the unique label you're looking for...and continue the conversation...
just a thought...looking forward to trying the wine...I'll send you the picture after our vacation...
no response yet...
update from gapingvoid...I guess hugh wants to keep the conversation going his way...
maybe post something about this on the wiki page?
Planning on hosting a wine tasting dinner...
with the wine provided by Stormhoek, a South African wine company...what's up with that...
all part of the global conversation...frappr map here
sent an e-mail to Stormhoek about their label design conversation, went something like this...
Let me first apologize for not being completely up to speed on the status of your label design efforts...
If you're still looking at the label design, I would like to offer another suggestion...
Short version...
the label could contain a photograph taken and submitted by customers with the bottle in their favorite location, activity, etc. etc. etc. A rotating or changing series of photographs shows the on-going "conversation" or connection with your customers...
The longer version...feel free to skip this part...
I have signed up for one of the dinners and it turns out that we will be on our family vacation during the original date I was going to use..oh well, I'll bring the wine along...we'll try it out watching the sunset over the bay along the Jersey shore (traditional vacation spot on the east coast of the US)...one of my favorite things in the world to do...I figured I'd send you guys a good picture of the bottle in the sunset...(trying to keep this short...)...I was looking at gapingvoid the other day and noticed the guy who takes pictures of the t-shirt from all over the world...so, what if you asked customers to submit high quality pictures of a stormhoek bottle in their favorite place from all over the world...might make for some interesting label art...the customers are motivated by the concept of their picture "making the label"...you get the unique label you're looking for...and continue the conversation...
just a thought...looking forward to trying the wine...I'll send you the picture after our vacation...
no response yet...
update from gapingvoid...I guess hugh wants to keep the conversation going his way...
maybe post something about this on the wiki page?
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Hope...
is not a plan...
That's a good one...from Bob Giorgio...
We spend a lot of time planning projects/ things...
be careful you're not just hoping...
We had a Plan...
That's a good one...from Bob Giorgio...
We spend a lot of time planning projects/ things...
be careful you're not just hoping...
We had a Plan...
Sunday, March 05, 2006
The next one...
I always liked that quote from H. H. Richardson...
Question: "What is your most important project?..."
Answer: "The next one..."
getting the next one, always the biggest challenge...
I think it takes some getting used too...there is no work without the next project...what do you do to get the next one...what happens if you don't get it...
I think it leads to a certain mentality...a bit of a predator approach...hunt down your next project...
I don't think everyone gets used to this approach...
another good question...what part to play in "the hunt"?
lead the hunt?...part of the pack?
Question: "What is your most important project?..."
Answer: "The next one..."
getting the next one, always the biggest challenge...
I think it takes some getting used too...there is no work without the next project...what do you do to get the next one...what happens if you don't get it...
I think it leads to a certain mentality...a bit of a predator approach...hunt down your next project...
I don't think everyone gets used to this approach...
another good question...what part to play in "the hunt"?
lead the hunt?...part of the pack?
Monday, January 30, 2006
Difficulties writing...
Writing is hard, or maybe blogging is hard…
I get a bunch of good ideas, but if I don’t get them down in writing right away I find I can’t remember all the nuances of what I originally had in mind…
I don’t want to say I have a hard time expressing myself…
I have a hard time with the logistics, I’m trying to get a project finished, 3 or so separate blogs underway, and still finding time a get some writing done, in a timely enough manner that I get the ideas down…before they all get away…
I get a bunch of good ideas, but if I don’t get them down in writing right away I find I can’t remember all the nuances of what I originally had in mind…
I don’t want to say I have a hard time expressing myself…
I have a hard time with the logistics, I’m trying to get a project finished, 3 or so separate blogs underway, and still finding time a get some writing done, in a timely enough manner that I get the ideas down…before they all get away…
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Losing Count...
Husband...
Father/ Dad...
Project Manager...
Process Architect...
Lead Architect...
Designer...
Artist...
Writer...
Painter...
Scupltor...
Hobbyist...
Blogger...
How many things am I trying to be?...
Father/ Dad...
Project Manager...
Process Architect...
Lead Architect...
Designer...
Artist...
Writer...
Painter...
Scupltor...
Hobbyist...
Blogger...
How many things am I trying to be?...
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