Category: Uncategorized
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Rookie Mistake Painting
Weather finally started to cooperate for painting the big plane in the garage. Until this past weekend, it’s been surprisingly cool here in northern Virginia. Finally had two days of 75+ and low humidity when my schedule allowed. Time to paint the red parts of my plane. Everything was already primed a while back, so…
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My New Toy – The Beast
As an engineer, I feel the need to build stuff all the time, and it’s not always software. Aviation is another passion of mine. If I can’t fly the real ones, the radio control models work for me. After a long layoff from the hobby, I jumped in again with both feet. The best part…
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Disappointed in Apple
I’ve been using Apple products since the early 90’s. It started with a Mac Iici, and it moved on from there with one stretch where I left. Unfortunately, right now I’m starting to see similar issues to the last time I left. Back when I left last time, quality was becoming a problem. Lately I’m…
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Stop Sending Passwords in Emails!
As you may have noticed from my About Me, I build software, and much of that software requires serious security. Whether it be health data or educational, data security is king. What I can’t understand is why companies that claim a good privacy policy send me my password in an email. Whether it’s temporary or…
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Video: Behind the Scenes at Giant Keck Telescopes
Keck in Motion from Andrew Cooper on Vimeo. OK, I’ve said before that I worked on the Keck Telescope (see this post). I love seeing what is still a favorite project of my professional life. Those 36 (now 72) mirrors were the result of a ton of great engineering and a lot of painstaking work.…
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Software Lifespan
How long should our software last? I’m sure that there are software packages out there that were built decades ago, but I’m talking about packages still being actively updated and sold. Personally, I figure if I get 5-7 years out of system before a major refactor of some part of it, then I’m doing great.…
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Government honours veterans of Bletchley Park at last
Government honours veterans of Bletchley Park at last – V3.co.uk – formerly vnunet.com The surviving staff from Bletchley Park will finally(!!) be recognized, nearly 70 years later. Their work was thought to have shortened the war by 2 years and saved millions of lives, but until the 1970’s they weren’t even allowed to reveal what…
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June 6, 2009 – 65th Anniversary of The Great Crusade
OK, I know I’m a little off my usual topics again, but today is an anniversary. In the early morning hours on a Tuesday morning 65 years ago today, D-Day paratroopers began jumping into the French countryside. At first light, six divisions of soldiers from the United States, Britain, and Canada began landing on the…
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Patent Decisions Since 2000 Invalid?
Anyone see the NY Times article In One Flaw, Questions on Validity of 46 Judges? Basically, a law professor discovered a constitutional flaw in the appointment process for judges who decide patent appeals and disputes. This goes back to 2000. That means thousands of patent cases and billions of dollars in licenses. The really interesting…
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Follow up to high stakes salvage
A Crushing Issue: How to Destroy Brand-New Cars Last month, I pointed out an article about salvaging a ship in trouble. The salvage crew successfully saved the ship and its cargo of 4,703 Mazda vehicles (loosing one life in the process), but now what do you do with the cars? Turns out, it’s not easy…