7 'oops 7

Year start, 2026

2026-01-09T16:56:00.000-08:00

This blog is a data repository for a longitudinal look at the U.S. with regard to technology, business, science, and general knowledge-related disciplines that come into play in coping with the modern world. As such, it has companion blogs that are listed below with some explanation.

Truth Enginering - the first blog dealing with the major theme.
7'oops7 - dealing with complex systems, however had an initial focus related to program management on a large scale.
FEDaerated - pertains to business at all levels, but for a while was principally commentiong about the Federal Reserve and its long trek to relight the economy after the crash of 2007/8.

Remarks: Modified: 01/28/2026

01/09/2026 --

KBE, what is it?

2025-07-03T04:22:00.001-07:00

Moral: Brief intro to KBE. A start, thereof.

GenAI/LLM has lessons to learn beyond being silly and gluttonous. How can we derive these without ruining the plante?

KBE, continued draft article on Linkedin

Remarks: Modified: 07/03/2025

07/03/2025 --

What's in a name

2024-03-02T08:36:00.000-08:00

Note: This post is a mere recap. Related blogs will be linked to, later. Part of the motivation was a post by Jon Ostrower with respect to relations of Spirit and the unions from a year ago. Of late, the new is that the bad work seen might be handled by Boeing buying back the old organization. Where do I stand? Merely as having been there, did not take an offer from NewCo (lots of reasons), watched from afar (only talked to a couple of people there in a very indirect manner - feeling out the situation), went onto the modes that Boeing inspired (truth engineering, KBE - knowledge-based engineering, and a patent dealing with the filtering and smoothing of data - core issue of AI and ML). So, here goes.

---

It is no secret that I worked for Boeing. The sister blog (Truth Engineering) to this started about the same time. It deals with truth engineering which, for me, was motivated by working in engineering support for the 777 program, in the role of applying knowledge based engineering. The prior post in this blog mentioned a recent paper with regard to AI being more than ML.

Wait, what does that have to do with the current problem that is associated with an earlier program? After the 777 program demonstrated remarkable results which have stood up in time, KBE was applied to subsequent work which eventually led to the 787 project. It was about then that Boeing farmed out work via a NewCo. For several months, I worked on setting up that split and have written some general posts on the deal.

The same thing was done at Beech. There's a post titled Hawker spooked, or similar. Yes, I gave some of the details. We can recap that. Essentially, private equity ruined Beech just like it ruined that NewCo of Boeing that became Spirit. I watched this through the news and a bit of talking to local people.

So, on the technical issues, we will address those a couple of ways. One is that these are interspersed in this blog over the 17 years. Too, they deal with the future. Say, the idiocy of the OpenAI premature release in 2002? Bears with the same mentality.

Engineers are the mainstay of the economy. Without them, we'd be dragging our knuckles. Wait, do we see some of that even now?

The name, 7'oops 7? Well, 2005, July was my first day of retirment. Yes, coming on 19 years. One of my friends stayed with NewCo. The last time I saw him, we talked the reality of his situation. Yeap. Screwed by private equity. But, that'll be addressed in another platform. Though, I have to note that union busting was not unknown in attitude (I was in the rat hole that they said later was a bat cave - will depict some of that). So, from day one, there was stress. Not just of late.

Note: Boeing gave each employee an estimate of retirement benefits. Depending upon age, some went to NewCo with their full benefits. Many did not. Myself, I opted out and retired. My friend and I would go through his and ponder the future. That changed, drastically. Employees and the unions could give a better summary. I was in the Technical Excellence program and not of the union.

What has changed? Lots of things. We'll review those.

Okay, two years later, July 8, 2007 (7/8/7) was approaching. By then, I had heard that things were not progressing as expected. Okay. We'll punt that down the road a little to let me assess the situation. Remember, we're talking what was before the 737 problem. Process knowledge applies. And, there seemed to be a huge gap between the expectation and the status of the section to be delivered by Boeing at the time. But, it was going to be shipped anyway. What? Boeing had a huge media deal scheduled.

I was talking to my wife as we discussed what was going on. She said, seven 'oops seven. It stuck.

Note: Thi isn't hashing old stuff. With the 787, Boeing relaxed along almost all decision axes. That's not the way of engineering nor mathematics. It's too easy to lose sight of control. I've been in systems enginering from the getgo, in an engineering context. Anyway, this has to be discussed, sometime.

Now, later in July of 2007, I started the truth engineering blog. After the event mentioned above. Why? I was browsing and saw some use of "truth engineering" in Europe and thought that it was time to make a presence on the web. There are many avenues taken (or to take) with the concept. In fact, it's seminal to AI's future. Academia just doesn't know it yet. Too, it deals with analyzing history as well as the mathematics that everyone is relying on, especially with the computing modes being everywhere densely.

I started this blog in August, one month later. So, 1st posts of Truth Engineering and 7'oops7, respectively (Truth, can it be engineered?; Mission and method).

Note, please, that neither of these initial posts mention the "potemkin affair" that happened. But, for both, it had already happened. I was not sure how to address the issues seen and heard. In this blog, I mention Flightblogger who was the first that I saw who was talking about the empty shell (more or less). That was Jon's blog.

Also, notice that with this 7'oops7 blog's post, after Carson was out of the way (imagine, marketing running engineering?) and engineers took over, we see the 787 making progress. So, guess what? Financial cats out of MIT had misled the people using techniques that have no basis (tsk) except to pick pockets had created a serious situation. So, 2008 happened. That became the focus, for a while, until I pulled that to FEDaerated.

Then, 7'oops7 blog became oriented toward complex systems which is our reality going forward.

So, jumping back to now, there 307 posts here of different categories. Truth engineering has 315. FEDaerated has 331. All about the same count. Why? These are differing views of the same thing. We need more of that. I'm the author of all of these. Plus there are others.

But, mainly, in 2015, I switched to Quora. Same themes, for the most part. The dynamics differ.

So, I'm getting back to blogging. See this page for status: https://tgsoc.org/papers/. I am working with Larry Walker of the Sperry Knowledge Systems Center (KSC) to establish an overarching view of advanced computing in all of its aspects that is not reduced generally by academic influence. That's my take on the matters. Larry has other concerns. The KSC was thwarted from doing great work by business decisions that were suspect. At Boeing, KBE diminished after Wichita was sold. I will use the patent to start the discussion.

So, can industry and academia work well? Different hats, folks. As Larry says, no technical brain that he saw in the C-Suite kept his/her mojo. Now, the computer? Another factor? You bet. That's my focus from a view of generalizing western civilization's role in the development. AI needs this overview.

Remarks: Modified: 03/03/2024

03/03/2024 -- Adding more links.

AI, not solely ML

2024-02-04T12:23:00.000-08:00

Within the context of truth engineering which we have pursued for a few decades now, we want to carry on the discussion with entirely new contexts. Think of it this way, what we were doing before was classical. Now, we are brining in the relativity.

Why? The xNN/LLM emerg/surge of last year is the motivation. As such, there is a lot to discuss. "Truth engineering" was coined back in the early 2000s (after Y2K's emergence (and lack of surge) allowed resources to flow to other than maintenance). Let's call it this: "Tru'Eng". The late David Jakstis (metals expert) coined the term in response to a white paper that I had done under the auspices of The Boeing Company's Chairman Innovation Initiative.

Turns out, though, that the concept is core and at the fundamental level and was not emenable to exploition by the ca-pital-sino. I'll explain. But, that's a saving grace. So, my intent, now, is to cover the past three decades and then launch necessary discussions along with experiuments.

Yes, experiments? You bet. I will demonstrate what is latent with the newer modes supported by computing, in particular that dealing with the science of people which will round out physics and its views.

So, today, here is a list of the papers done so far. See "Assessment, in General" for more information.

1st - AI, not solely machine learning (Blog post, Linkedin**)
2nd - Knowledge and truth (Blog post, Linkedin**)
3rd - Physicalness and mathematics (Blog post, LinkedIn**)
4th - ML’s emerge/surge and data/decisions ()
5th - Where do we go from here?

Notes:
* "truth engineering" coined by David E. Jakstis in discussion of a white paper by John M. Switlik on their joint work with computational modeling for fabrication of forgings and castings.

** This is open to public read. Some Linkedin pages may require account.

The 4th of the series is in the works. ChatGPT and Bard will feature. The others will be looked at later. Then, the 5th will review across the first four and provide "epi" connections. That is, generalization is one of our abilities related to knowledge and the intelligence that is related. But, infinite regress is always around the corner. Too, "chaos" lurks.

Both of these can be tamed. How do we know? Ma Nature. Get used to respecting the old gal who got you here.

Incidentally, Boeing was mentioned. Their 777 project is seminal to the discussion. As well, as we probe the waters, see"Shattered dreams" for a reference with respect to culture.

Remarks: Modified: 02/06/2024

02/04/2024 -- Fixed typo.

New Year, 2024

2024-01-01T13:00:00.000-08:00

Notice the start of decline in our activity here when we moved to Quora (2015).

Here is a list of posts.

We will be active in 2024.

Remarks: Modified: 01/01/2024

01/01/2024 --

2007 until now

2022-12-30T12:59:00.006-08:00

This blog started in order in 2007 to continue work related to truth engineering, almost as if it were to be a model thrust. The topic (oops) tells it all; we actually ccover about all aspects of operational knowledge which is a vast, endless domain. Human creativity knows little bounds.

Except, the mathematicians think that they have tamed infinity. Nope. Not even close. And, in taking that stance, engineering has been led astray. The result? Messes. Yes, we will show how mathematics has failed due to several reasons.

So, given that? You see why this has taken so long. We will be back to this blog next year to carry on the torch.

In the meantime, follow discussion at Quora where most of our attention has been given and most of our energies spent since 2015.

Remarks: Modified: 09/18/2023

09/18/2023 -- Changed "over" to "cover" in the second sentence, second clause. Lately the passing of David E. Jakstis has taken our attention.

Grand challenge

2021-12-31T16:20:00.005-08:00

This is cursory as we have just become aware of a video that provides an important viewpoint. See the "Grand Challenge" post at the Truth Engineering blog for details and for further work on the subject.

FutureLaw presentation
Stanford Law School

Remarks: Modified: 12/31/2021

12/31/2021 --

MIT Sloan

2021-01-02T07:10:00.002-08:00

They gave us a gift: 737MAX: A Failure of Management, not just Technology. You know, I've waited 15 years for this. 7'oops7 results from watching Boeing. So, it's tied in with technical management at its core.

We will be going into how the computer is the main source for the confusion that we see. Another? SciFi and its addling of the human brain.

Remarks: Modified: 01/02/2021

01/02/2021 --

Lessons to learn

2020-10-27T11:18:00.003-07:00

Lots of themes are pending. In the financial world, the U.S. FED just pulled out all stops and placed us in unknown territory that's even more remote than where Ben/Janet left us. Lots to learn there; but, will we?

With respect to the computer's impact, as we see partly with the hype of DL masquerading as the new AI? We have a better handle on that which we'll get back to next year.

So, with the proverbial punt down the road, we'll let the year end.

Remarks: Modified: 12/29/2020

12/29/2020 --

7 oops 7?

2020-01-14T12:47:00.002-08:00

This blog (August 2007) and its sister (truth engineering - July 2007) started thirteen years ago. Why? Well, we'll get into more detail, but Boeing had a potemkin rollout in July of 2007. It was on the 8th day of July. With hoopla. National news.

And? Talking that they would fly soon. And, they could snap together sections. And, a lot more. But, the fuselage shown was mostly empty. Yes, indeed. We can go into the details as this was a major stumble. Mostly, we pointed to the fact that the marketing mind (say, Scott Carson) was not grounded in reality. Well, Boeing got this thing done. They went back to having an engineering focus.

The same thing needs to be done with the 737 Max and all of Boeing's work.

Why the name? Well, I knew early on that this was sham. Spirit, in Wichita, shipped an incomplete (severely so) section. There was not snap on. In fact, if you look at the reports, there were huge mismatches between sections.

What is a section? These are mostly used in a standard manner. From the nose back, you have the cabin, mid-way there is the wing section, and at the end is the tail. There are others depending upon the size of the plane. The idea was to have a section stuffed by a contractor. These would then be joined. Within three days was the goal.

There is a lot more, but why the name? Well I was walking and talking with my spouse about this idiocy. Even in Wichita, there was a huge deal with the shipment. She is the one who said this: "7 oops 7." I ran with that. Now, if you look at the blog's flow, you'll see that I followed the ins and outs. At some point, though, the engineers came through. I said, I'm out of here.

Now, I'm back. Due to the state of the computing reality. It's a shambles.

Not long after I started, guess what? The finance people were running amok, per usual. And, rumbles were surfing. Ah, that's down my alley. Except this. I felt like Rip van Wrinkle. How did I miss this stupidity?

I was focusing on engineering and the truth aspects. It's interesting that the main player in the mess was financial engineering (thanks, MIT - engineering school).

But, I got into the thing fast. And, Ben? Ah. Eventually, I started FEDaerated to have more of the proper focus. Yes, that started two years later (August 2009). With these three, 7'oop7, truth engineering, and FEDaerated, I could cover the basis that apply technically.

You see, these issues are mostly technical in a real broad sense. At times, they even overlap medicine's problems with their drug pushing ways. But, hey, who's perfect?

In any case, the computer has made things topsy-turvy, everywhere. So, oops will be the norm. Why? There are limits that need discussion.

BTW, we're in a financial mess, again, too. This I discussed over the past decade. So, again, I'm back.

Remarks: Modified: 01/14/2020

01/14/2020 --

Summary, 2019

2020-01-03T15:30:00.001-08:00

This year, we had the 737 Max in the spotlight. So many themes relate to that. We'll be back.

List of 2019 posts.

Remarks: Modified: 01/03/2020

01/03/2020 --

Cracks with meaning

2019-11-21T11:24:00.001-08:00

There have been only a few posts here the past few years. Of late, reports in the news almost motivated a post or two (say, about the cracks, a few weeks ago). But, not, for various reasons. Next year, perhaps. We shall see.

Today, The Atlantic put out an article that I could agree with. "How Boeing lost its bearings" is a look at how an anti-engineering culture developed. Say, like Carson who blabbed more than he understood.

Oh yes, that Indian subcontractor. Heard from them after I retired. Didn't take the lure.

Remarks: Modified: 11/21/2019

11/21/2019 --

Test by tragedy

2019-05-09T04:23:00.001-07:00

Have we come to that? Testing with people at risk. I am not kidding. I have been noticing declining quality for the past decade and one half. Some of this is due to computing. A lot of it is greed. Some of it is just immaturity augmented by SciFi's hold on the imagination. Lots to discuss.

The other day, I saw, in the biological context, some argument that sensor and simulation were equivalent. So, why spend the money for the former? Got that? No, just play the thing on a computer and use it as truth. That, people, is not a good sign. But, biology is loose. Don't believe me? Consider the strictness of trying to meet nature's hold on its material that is not from a life form.

Well, there are several reasons that people have let their love of abstraction go awry, one of which deals with metrics and what is measured. But, no abstraction, however much it might be enhanced by computing, approaches the 'beingness' of whatever that model might be trying to represent. SciFi has really warped things, too much. And, AI to the rescue? Not in the senses that I perceive to be thought of as a promise by some worldviews.

I know glossing over a whole lot of issues; however, we have gone too far in several directions leaving the natural result of befuddlement which comes from confounding without limit.

So, we'll just list a few particulars.

Recently, read where Boeing had not left the test pilots in the loop. Ah, human in the loop is a key issue (see discussions on truth engineering).
We started by looking at engineering and the complexity brought by computing. There was sufficient reason for this due to the marketing thrust that was driving things. At some point, an engineer was put in charge; things quieted since laconic is not a bad trait for an engineer; and the thing flew (what? yes, the 787).
Since the 777 started this trend and was quite good at it, there have been choices made that have not had a good effect. Some of those were reversed. Many were not. Again, just recently, I was noting that suppliers were complaining that they could not keep up the pace being set by the Company and its computers (run by people without proper acumen, it seems). Ah so, I thought. Then, the first of the tragedies.
After that, there was a focus on software correcting what might be a design issue. What? But, then, given the complexity of the approach, who is to know? Well, that was the role, formerly, of experts who spent years honing their decision making talents. People in the loop is a notion to be discussed. Why this is so is obvious from the proper viewpoint.
In this blog, we were gone, we said. Several times, with a brief look to see that the engineers were doing their marvels. You see, business and finance had a major failing. Idiots. That whole issue is still pending another take down by the world of nature. Never learn.
Hence, we started the Fedaerated blog. Of late, we have been on Quora (the motivation for this post).

Technology in and of itself is a blind alley. When will we learn this?

Remarks: Modified: 05/09/2019

05/09/2019 --

Modern ways

2019-03-13T12:09:00.004-07:00

Progress seems to go with complexity. Too, costs rise. Yet, people make oodles of money. Some, that is. The majority pick up the lean remains. So goes the economy under the ca-pital-sino which is abetted with computational assists.

We started this blog looking at engineering and its output which are products. That was a long while ago, namely 31 August 2007. That first month had only two posts. The other one was a 'seed' post with a list of topics. We will not go into the motivation, but an event that occurred on 07/08/07, with wide press coverage, was of precipitating influence. The tone of the blog dealt with the reality behind engineering and with the importance of that view, say, versus marketing.

Guess what happened? The engineers took over so the problems were righted in the one arena. On the other hand, Silicon Valley began to take a marketing focus. As in? Zuck's later testimony, smirking, to Congress where he said, we sell ads. I about puked, quite frankly. An enabler was Jobs' showing the world the possibilities of a mobile platform. From that, we got to where zombies went around with their noses tethered. To what? One ought to ask. We see more discussion now. In fact, we see less of those with a hand held high as if signaling some virtue by the mere fact of having the thing.

Myself? Have none (as in, nada). Never took a selfie. Claim myself to be 1G/2G and impervious to whatever is the addiction that afflicts computing. In fact, still looking to bring truth engineering to the table.

Incidentally, it was in 2007 that the financial industry looked to be more errant than was that of the industry of the original focus. Yes, we all suffered. This from December of 2007: Tranche or not. Remember, this was early. Cracks were being seen. I first noticed after I started to pay attention after retiring in 2005. By 2007, it was obviously going to be more than Ben knew. Lots happened there.

Oh yes, a saying was around and about in the early 2000. With regard to a particular program, it was this: this is not your father's plane. Today, President Trump grounded a fleet. Again, it's modern. What went wrong? I have heard lots of discussions. But, one thing has been on my mind the past decade and one-half, constantly. And, due to the appearances of everything being right, and we know that they are not, I never really took a deeper look. Ought I?

A billionaire is noted to be exploitative in this sense. Vendors are pushed to cut. They are expected to eat costs. This is so the higher-order capitalists (we'll describe those cats) can get a larger payout. There have been so many cases of this, some I have mentioned - leveraged buyouts, for example. Some of these cases were seen up close.

There was scuttlebutt of late (few months duration) that some vendors were saying, we cannot perform at that rate. In one ear and out the other, while observing one contractor just gleefully celebrating their good fortune. Yet, they complained, too. And, bragged on how they could ramp up.

Facebook has been down today. That outage might twist the drawers of the advertisers. In the context of this blog's original focus? Very dire, the consequences. Hence, Trump's grounding.

Computing is a mess due to factors that we can identify and discuss. This thing will be resolved, too, as engineers do that sort of thing. But, the underlying issue? Yes, we just might look further, in our own time. This is merely a milestone being put out there as a marker for future reference.

Remarks: Modified: 03/13/2019

03/13/2019 --

Summary, 2018

2018-12-25T09:19:00.001-08:00

This is our first post of 2018. We had only 5 posts in 2017. We did not do a summary last year, for several reasons. So, we are doing it early.

The lure of trash

2017-11-29T13:52:00.004-08:00

Or tranche. The 'oops' is still there. Too, ETFs now are a huge complicating factor. Everyone has seen them only on the upside where they provide a multiplying effect. On the down side, look for squashing to be huge.

This Quora question applies to the theme: Is-Wall-Street-working-on-a-way-to-bundle-student-debt-currently-at-1-5-trillion-dollars-into-tranches-to-sell-to-private-investors-all-over-the-world-like-they-did-with-real-estate-CDOs-prior-to-the-2008-meltdown.

Those finance types, they have to keep with their creativity. Some of these are PhD physicists who ought to know better.

Remarks: Modified: 11/29/2017

11/29/2017 --

Oops abound

2017-09-19T14:35:00.000-07:00

No post here does not mean that there is not an interest. I see 'oops' all of the time. Some of these almost make me want to write something; it is certain that the urge is there.

So, this week, I read a WSJ op-ed. We can look it up. They have a guy who writes about cars on a regular basis.

This time? He had a mea culpa. I was surprised, too, but really had thought this in the back of my mind. Some dude parks his Mercedes, for a few days, at an airport. He goes off. It was not that long, less than a week.

Heck, I do that many times. Leaving my car at a hotel (park and fly sort of thing) while I jet off somewhere. My car has always been ready when I returned. Except, last year, in the spring, some ant, in the flying stage, got settled in the door's insulation (driver's side). I did not see this. So, plenty of the burgers flew off when I hit the Interstate. But, then I noticed these little things. And, sure, enough, they had established a colony. A quick trip to the car wash took care of most of this. Otherwise, I just picked them off as I saw then for awhile. Eventually, no ants.

This dude? Dead car. Could not open the door. Why? Battery drained by the electronics put in by silly valley. What gives?

Yes, silly valley? But, auto engineers are supposed to have their feet on the ground, on the tires. Features that are not really necessary.

I'll get back to this. But, it does show how we have taken several wrong turns. Silly valley. Say that a lot. Source of oops. Want me to do a litany?

Remarks: Modified: 09/19/2017

09/19/2017 --

Ten years

2017-05-13T08:08:00.003-07:00

Ten years ago, I started this blog one month after I started the truth engineering blog. What precipitated this blog was the 'potemkin' even of the 787 project. With hoopla, a plane was rolled out and touted as being ready to fly. However, the test flight started about two years later.

Why would I have cared? I was watching a local subcontractor who had, formerly, been a Boeing site. The main notion was to have sections that were complete and joined together in Seattle (or wherever the final assembly was to be done). And, arrival of the pieces and first flight was supposed to be a matter of day. Nice concept. It eventually worked out.

But, up-front mouthing off got in the way of engineering. For a long time, this went on. Once the source of the issue was removed and an engineer took over. The program made progress and got into the sky.

And so, that was the end of that, right? Well, for the most part, downstream glitches popped up, but that is normal (out to be expected). The press (harpies) seems to not understand undecidability (which applies to any decision process, not just logic).

In fact, look at the idiots doing business press. They (and investors) want management to forecast to the dime future monetary concerns. What? These are smart folk being the dumbest ones on the planet. Guess what? As the 787 issues were resolved, the financial problems came to fore. Oh Lord.

Myself? I felt like Rip Van Winkle as I had not really paid close attention (for many reasons). So, there are enough posts here that lay out the issues. And, these are not resolved. The Fed (another blog that started later) brought their largess to bear, leaving themselves with a load of toxic crap that still has not been handled.

How to do this? We sure would like to watch this unfold. Also, big Ben tried to taper. That caused a tantrum. Investors? To me, it's like kids in a candy store. Where can we get a mature economy defined?

Given that people err, the 7'oops7 name stuck. Anything complicated has associated error. Business likes to talk risk management. Oh yes, those guys were talking in the 2007/8 timeframe that we would never have another serious downturn. Oh sure, everyone has forgotten? Well, guess what happened soon after that type of bragging.

Yet, there were not perps. None. Fortunately, the press gave us some snapshots of the rogues at a table. They were cowering before Congress, looking for assistance.

In any case, this graphic shows Wikipedia edits starting in 2005. The blogs started in 2007. And, that activity (requiring lots of research) took time. Then, later, the notion of re-looking at American history came to fore, with the added framework of real people who were here through it all. That, folks, needs attention.

To see specifics, go to this post on truth engineering (Ten years).

Remarks: Modified: 05/13/2017

05/13/2017 --

self-determination

2017-04-27T03:50:00.001-07:00

Below are some thoughts, on the state of things computing. And, I have two solutions that seem to be timely.

Recently, I re-looked at Javascript and was impressed. Why? It felt like being with the Lisp Machine decades ago, That was a powerful environment (the best was having two cards - Lisp and Unix); and, lots of development came thus.

Hence, I wrote this: Code or not. Be sure to follow the pointer about the 3D graphic engine. My proposal is a truth engine (with a corresponding work bench - one of my labs.
The adaptives - I had the opportunity to experience the results of the newer methods. The first bullet concerns issues that are very much needing attention. The WSJ, recently, had an op-ed about machine learning (et al). One MIT guy was quoted that we do not know. Ah, good professor, we do. Ever listen to an autodidact?
A concept needing some attention deals with our psyche. The information would very well apply to the topics of this post: childhood determination.

Finally, I wrote this after reading Adam's answer.

----- From Quora ------

Adam D'Angelo's answer to How he validated Quora? prompted this thought. I am 1G/2G, by choice. Not that I have not attempted to fit in. However, everywhere I looked it was insanity (yes). Quora stands out for reasons that we can discuss. Codacademy, too, was a fresh breath of air. FB? Not. 3rd Life? Perhaps, Blogger? Great (as cohort of Quora). Wikipedia? Needless to say, the epitome of a lot of things. CMS (Joomla, Drupal, Concrete5, and a whole lot more)? Not (to be discussed).

Aside: One reaction to the rapid rush to change was that I could see the security (and other) downfalls. It’s that other where we need a discussion (Carl, et al). Hence, I settled, for stability, on Linux and non-parametric methods. But, I am now bring in javascript to my HTML/CSS sites (TGSoc lab). As I do this, I’ll blog/discuss the philosophical issues.

The viewpoint? 0, 200, 400, 800. O? Of course, ‘tis now. 800? John and his cronies (this covered a large part of Europe), 200? That bit which created the flyover country. 400? Ah, the key (entry here, colonial times). This all applies (in a sense of symmetry, to this discussion).

So, two points related to various types of bifurcations.

My decades of software engineering dealt with highly specific problems, though we, of course, used hi-falutin’ mathematics an’d logics. The thing was that we were driven by users who had to do something. The main problem was managing expectations (divergence twixt a smart human’s look and what is possible via computing - very much applies to deep learning - Google, et al, okay?). Word to introduce? SEI (look it up).
Then came along agile, etc. This was driven by the match up of the human mind with the computer. It led, so far, to the muddy cloud (we can pick this apart and see where are the problems). At the same time, a generation came about that could exploit the situation. Guess what, fellas? That 400 is important (take Harvard, first example of youngsters rebelling - of a certain nature - we really need to study these - say, animal house of 1680 at that esteemed institution). So, the world ate up the stuff from the generation (me? only in part, remember 1G/2G in computing - at the leading edge in mathematics and modeling - in my mind ;>). Now, lots of this new computing reinforced imagination. Some of it helped memory (that is common). The driver, though, was the young buck perturbation spaces. Oh yes, we can talk the economic theory, too. Then, they pushed this off on the world. The result? Well, it’s far from a sustainable state (DOD, you goofed, admit it). Too, the young bucks made oodles of money (Stallman can be used as a counterpoint).

Now, Quora emphasizes thought. That is why you see the convergence (of course, the control via rules helps). Some of the answers have been superb. It’s chief competitor is Wikipedia that has the best accumulated summary of a topic that one can find, many times. Note, Wiki has no ads.

Now, it is, in part, the influence by the commercial minds that screwed things up. I can tell you tales. We need to support engineering, too (I agree with the funny tie guy, science is applied engineering - I said that before him). The computer will be a partner. ‘Enuf (Knowledge-based engineering - Wikipedia - old version, see corresponding sections on the Talk page).

And, so, humans are going to drive things. Our abilities are being ignored in the mad dash after all things automated. Our planet grieves. That was an aside. It is great to have the user remain in control. How are we going to do this? Well, I can relate to that given my experience in the 12 years since leaving an advanced computing position (retirement). We all can (and should) participate. Quora has been a great help in the matter. There are, no doubt, other examples.

Now, about code? Yes, everyone ought to. But, it needs to go along with our mental states. And, that is not borg’ing or altering the brain, necessarily. No, psychether is how it happens, in part. It’s more than Zen and such. However, to each her/his interpretation (that is the key, maintaining truth for oneself - autodidacts will be able to help show the way)

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And so, let the work begin.

Remarks: Modified: 04/27/2017

04/27/2017 --

We let the genie out of the bottle

2017-03-31T12:47:00.001-07:00

This is our first post of 2017. Lots going on. President Trump is now two months in office. How he is doing depends upon the person looking. One big story is that Russia paid for trolls to put out fake news.

You know, we let the genie out of the bottle. If we could go back 20 years, and given what we know, would we have done the internet release any different? I have written that this old guy was appalled at the lackadaisical manner in which it was thrown out to the public. The taxpayer funded its development. Ah, so many discussion to have there.

So, oops all around, don't you think?

But, the computer, in general, is still a source of all sorts of oops. So, we'll get back to that. I have been doing Quora for almost two years now. It has a question-answer format, but it also supports blogs. So, I'll be doing a blog there and here.

A question of late: If the US lost billions in the housing bubble burst of '07 and '08 (I lost 2/3 of my 401k), but it was all on paper, where did the money go? The link is to my answer. I have talked about that event here and in the Fedaerated blog. So, here are some of those posts there.

Cheshire multiple

Magical multiplier

Let them eat cake

Beyond your wildest dreams

Dampening the magical multiple

So, the computer is misused by the ca-pital-sino. And, part of that configuration uses (guess what?) the internet. Ah, yes genies were let out of the bottle. And, it was under Clinton's time of reign.

Posts in related blogs: Genie out of the bottle and Bottles and genies.

Remarks: Modified: 03/31/2017

03/31/2017 --

Summary, 2016

2016-12-30T12:48:00.000-08:00

Remarks: Modified: 12/30/2016

12/30/2016 --

New Day, again

2016-11-08T10:40:00.000-08:00

Back in 2009, we wrote a post (A New Day). After eight years under Bush, the country was starting down a new path. Notice that I mention fiance starting to look at its fiduciary duty. Gosh, that took a long time.

Today, we are in the cusp of a new path. It's noon, so no winner is known. How things will unfold the new two months is uncertain. But, we wanted to set the tone for our re-looks.

Essentially, we had, with this election, the flower-child times coming to fruit. There is a lot to think about with this. These types of transition times allow look backs without having to apologize.

Flower child? Yes, those idealistic, anti-establishment little folk who had their summer in 1967. That little bubble burst not long after. Rushing forward, we had bubbles bursting when the earlier post was written. The depth of the recessional times had not been seen. Actually, they never went away for some folks. We can write about all of that.

One candidate is 70; the other is 69. So, 49 years ago, they would have been 21 and 20, respectively. What were they up to in that seminal year? We have to look at that.

In the past 49 years, how many oops have we seen? Ah, an endless list have we with which to occupy ourselves.

See sister blog: Truth Engineering.

Remarks: Modified: 11/08/2016

11/08/2016 --

The road moved

2016-10-25T04:55:00.001-07:00

Out in the western region, there are roads that go for miles. They all follow the terrain. And, so, driving allows one to get familiar with our huge space of country. That is an integral part of the American Dream. Move about. Do so in peace and safety, somewhat.

The robot-car developers do not understand this. Or, are they just so intent on enslaving with their overlay via the muddy cloud, that their brains are warped. Power corrupts, as the saying goes.

So, people have accidents. Distractions are a major cause. I describe one below.

Disclosure: The past decade has seen me put 250K miles on the same vehicle on roads all of the U. S. In none of these trips was there some mobile device of the dumbing type involved. Yes, not twit, nor email; just music. The old FM/AM was sufficient augmented with CDs and tapes.

So, yesterday, I was buzzing along. Interstate situation. That means, 2 lanes each way, shoulder, markings, and such. And, out west. High speed. So, I was somewhere below 80 (mph) and the road had been mostly unchanging for several 10s of miles. Traversing a huge valley, okay?

I saw a car come up and pass, probably in the excess of 95 (mph). I turned my head to look, to the left, of course. Young lady with a heavy foot. Let's hope that she will be able to handle the consequences of driving like that.

Not more than a few seconds after I turned my head, I heard thump (and felt the vibration). I was being Newtonian. The road engineers put in a slight shift, but enough for my vehicle to go out of the bounds. It was not marked.

Marked? If you look now, you'll see curves marked heavily if they exceed a limit. Why? People have blithely gone off the road too many times on curves that just went past controllable conditions. I have taken those for years (night and day) with no problem. But, I do appreciate the warning.

It does not take much of a road change to cause havoc to the unaware. Nothing to worry about. You, the driver, are supposed to pay attention.

So, yesterday, the front-seat driver said, you went off the road. I said, no, the road moved away. Now, many try to correct the situation and do it too quickly. That is wrong. You just ease back. The thumps give you some additional information. And, in the better states, they are off the right line. Some have the thumps right at the line which does not give you much leeway. It is easy to drift off to the right just from subtle changes in elevation. Road warp, so to speak.

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Now why would someone drive in such a situation with a dumbing device being in their face? In long stretches, there can be many road changes due to natural causes or man-made messes. Too, at a high speed, the amount of yardage covered accumulates quickly.

And, with a situation of an unexpected curve, how much time and yardage is lost before the mind gets back to the task of driving?

Making robot cars is no the answer. In fact, there are rules of the road (driving counsels) that we need to get specified. We'll try to write one of those soon.

Remarks: Modified: 10/25/2016

10/25/2016 --

Ease versus quality

2016-09-30T13:01:00.000-07:00

This summer, I ran across several cases that puzzled me. I saw workers doing a process that was guaranteed to produce poor quality, as in, have poor results.

Yet, they blithely went about the work. Machoism? Idiots? Management intervention (same thing)?

In the first case, I asked some guy why they did it this way. You see, they had to do it over. He said that it was easier.

What? Where did we lose our sense of working for purpose?

Later, I talked to one manager. I said, your guys are doing things to make their job easier, not to do it better. He said, that's not right. However, I think that he was just pushing off the comment.

No wonder things are going to pot everywhere. Recalls up the wazoo. Shoddy work all around.

In another case, the guy said that this was the modern way. What? The older method gave better results. Matter of style? Not really.

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Now, at the same time, we see an emphasis on self-auditing. What idiot thought of that?

Remarks: Modified: 09/30/2016

09/30/2016 --

100 years old

2016-08-24T17:40:00.000-07:00

Illustration: Chad Hagen

This is a little tardy. IEEE Spectrum featured Boeing's anniversary. Remember the date, July 15. Part of the remarks deal with the 787 which was the motivation for this blog.

How is that? Well, the first posts (August 2007) dealt with mission seeds for posts. This Seeds post was updated for a few years with current topics. Too, this was a month after the event (termed Potemkin, another side of the story) in which the company rolled out an empty shell with a lot of hoopla. Marketing had ruled over engineers (Here we go again). That little thing went on for awhile, then, engineers were given their right of driving themselves, and things worked (2011, lookback).

It was about the time that the program was getting its act together that the effects of financial idiocy started to become so public as to be unavoidable. Actually, that took more of my attention as flightblogger (now history) was doing a good job of following developments. The blogger went over to the Wall Street Journal.

But, continuing with the 787. This blog (started in 2008) is still in operation: All things 787. There are other blogs that were reporting their views throughout the process.

A comment on the All things 787 post is interesting. It concerns an early plane that Boeing cannot sell. This is the suggestion.

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In general, many areas have crept up over the years that are of concern. Of late, Quora has offered a platform to use answering questions as a manner to organize material and thoughts. Activity here will start up, again, sometime in the future. In the meantime, congratulations to Boeing.

Remarks: Modified: 08/24/2016

08/24/2016 --