Doug's Sounding Board

1) As I watched them set up the difference engine I pictured a more practiced person setting it up in maybe half the time. Operators being a skilled profession in a world where the machines were completed and used in Babbage’s time. Cities would have computational centers that people send their work to. 2) The […]

Well, it’s still as money so anywhere money changes hands should be ok, but outside of post office vending machines you don’t find it so much. Yesterday I decided to try it in the vending machines at work. The snack machine just dropped it through, but the Coke machine happily reported it was a dollar. […]

I’m switching my preferred transliteration from Channukah to Chanukah.

Well, first the rain and then the heat, a few thousand weeds and grasses decided to start up. The weeds I can pull but I can’t go pulling individual blades of grass and single-leaf clover. A gopher has  moved into the yard. I think it’s feeding on the new bounty of weeds since the previous […]

I went to sleep at 1AM and the sky was perfectly clear so I set my alarm for the appropriate Aurigids time and when I woke up there was endless fog. Stupid weather!

It looks like the Diebold voting machine division is taking a step towards going away.

Hello? Is this thing on? How do I work this thing…   Stupid Why didn’t that get rid of it?   Stupid machines hate me.   $@#$%!

Sunday and Monday when I woke up (6:15AM) the temperature outside was 23 degrees F. Saturday was 27, this morning it was warmer at 25. Many of the plants in the area are freezing, including a good portion that were doing well from the landscaping. I’m hoping they will bounce back, Nicole thinks they’er dead […]

Last year was loaded with chaos. I’m looking forward to things being more normal and catching up this year.

“The education of the will is the object of our existence.”