Monthly Archives: October 2003

Foul Ball: into the stands

Fans, chasing a foul ball at C.O. Brown Stadium in Battle Creek. Summer of 1998.

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(mis)Measures: a Vietnam story

Truth told, neither the CWO nor my TC cared a lot about the errors, except they looked bad in our reports. Both superiors knew I’d made one error and repeated it fourteen times (the double-count was a reporting artifact). They also knew that it would show as 28 errors on the computerized reports, and (near as any of us could tell) those reports were the main method Saigon used to evaluate CommCenter operations. They issued performance rankings based on those counts….

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Camera: Olympus Camedia C-50

I got some cash for Christmas in 2001, and earmarked it for a digital camera. What I wanted–a small, smart, high-resolution camera–wasn’t yet on the market for a price I was willing to pay, but it was clear that I’d find one within a year. About a year ago, I went shopping, and found this.

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Twenty Six Years

I’m still here….

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Frank Patrick: what he does, and what I do

Somehow it fits with the wisecrack which used to grace this journal’s banner: I kinda dabble….

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Profiles: you can’t expect a machine to do this well

Now: Build a system on that foundation. Which drivers need attention? How do you identify them? What sort of intervention is appropriate? How do you staff the agency? Where does it fit in the organization? How much of this can you do with a computer program?

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Web Design: a pet peave

A useful rule of thumb: A mouse is a poor data input device. Many users prefer to keep their hands on the keyboard.

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BC Yanks to Dubuque: a Quad Cities perspective

John Petrakis left delightful memories, but his teams were weak on the business side. I’d certainly hesitate before citing them as precedents in this discussion.

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Connections: Margie, IT, and Steve’s VPN access

Then I got sick. I showed up at work last Monday, but left early. Except that I attended a meeting on Thursday, no one saw me again until Friday morning.

Margie handled it.

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BC Yanks to Dubuque: perhaps

Both the Dubuque Telegraph-Herald and the Battle Creek Enquirer have stories about yesterday’s press conference in Dubuque….

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