In September I had the privilege to attend a lecture at Duke University given by Dr Ehsan Samei, who last week had the unusual experience of watching his work get launched into space. One of my daughters is a space enthusiast, and so we pay close attention to anything that NASA is doing, and last… Continue Reading
Network Ops
Starbucks is focusing on faster Frappuccinos
Longstanding readers may have noticed that I’m a bit of a process nerd. I really enjoy figuring out how to do something, and then figuring out how to do it better and faster. I was therefore fascinated to read about Starbucks plan to overhaul the processes their baristas follow to make coffee. Take a look… Continue Reading
Are you cynical, curious, hopeful or skeptical?
I’ve been thinking a lot about mindset recently. In particular, trying to figure out what character attributes are helpful for someone in a technical role. So let me start by asking you, personally – which of the following attributes would you use to describe yourself? What about your team mates? Cynical Curious Hopeful Skeptical I’m… Continue Reading
NASA saves the Earth! – In a maintenance window
This evening (Monday, September 26, 2022) at 7:14pm EDT, the NASA DART spacecraft will intentionally crash into an asteroid named Dimorphos – hoping to change it’s course, thus saving the Earth from destruction! Ok, maybe that’s a slight exaggeration. You see, Dimorphos is not actually on course to hit the Earth, and even if it… Continue Reading
A Gang of Driverless Cars Blocks Traffic
I recently came across this post on Reddit, where someone had come across a group of about a dozen driverless cars all stopped in the middle of the same city block, effectively preventing any traffic from using that street. Obviously, any time a group of artificially intelligent beings decide to gather together in one place,… Continue Reading
Why maintenance windows are important – as shown by a very wet plumber
I recently came across this video on Youtube which shows a plumber try to replace a water pipe in an apartment without turning off the water. The video lasts 14 minutes. That’s 14 minutes of high-pressure hot water spraying everywhere. The plumber ends up drenched, probably with some minor burns, and the apartment (and the… Continue Reading