Can a small startup turn billionaire capitalism on its head? — NOTE: Within this text, wherever gender is not key to the explanation, I am using the Elverson ey/em construction of the Spivak Pronouns. I am an advocate for real engineering. I’ve written extensively about how modern engineering has become a simple, desiccated procedure. Rich corporations hire software engineers largely for…

Why do we crave a transcendent purpose? — NOTE: Within this text, wherever gender is not key to the explanation, I am using the Elverson ey/em construction of the Spivak Pronouns. In 2002, I was at the Conference on World Affairs, held at the University of Colorado every April. I was attending a panel discussion between four scholars…

On the auction block again… — Yes, I abandoned my writing for a while. On January 28th, the competitor that bought Rosetta Stone from the hedge fund (yes, that Rosetta Stone) laid off all but a few engineers. The ones that remained found jobs shortly thereafter. …

What if there were such a thing? — Late in the 17th century, the seas around Britain were thick with ships heavy-laden with jewels, embroidered cloth, spices from the East and actual coin minted from gold and silver. Because of the tremendous value in any single ship, piracy was a lucrative vocation. Because a fool and his money…

You make your world. — (Expanded from an article in the Nederland, Colorado newspaper, The Mountain Ear) The world is not what is seen, it is what is perceived. We each look at the world and we understand it differently. It is likely that we see the same objects in the world; but, our worlds…

Modern technology is a con and we are the marks. I have a Samsung Android phone. It gives me all sorts of advanced features. I can configure it so that when I set it face down on the table next to my bed, it won’t issue notifications and disturb me…