Archive for February, 2010

As Time Goes By

By Jim Whitt It’s 4:58 PM, Tulsa time. I’m staring at the screen on my laptop surveying what will be my new website. I sent the latest changes for the site to Damon, my technology guru earlier today in a Word document. Suddenly, the changes start to appear miraculously on the screen much like the proverbial hand writing on the wall as described in the book of Daniel. I blinked a couple of times. I’ve been working too hard, I thought and called Damon, “Are you messing with me? I see the changes I sent to you appearing magically on… Read More

February 25th, 2010 at 8:09am

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So, You Want to Be a Guitar Hero?

By Jim Whitt I am not a guitar hero but I’ve played Guitar Hero. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, Wikipedia describes Guitar Hero as a series of music video games “in which players use a guitar-shaped peripheral to simulate the playing of lead, bass guitar and rhythm guitar across numerous rock music songs. Players match notes that scroll on-screen to colored fret buttons on the controller, strumming the controller in time to the music in order to score points, and keep the virtual audience excited.” I’ll come back to the excited part in a minute. I was… Read More

February 17th, 2010 at 6:00am

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Who’s the Boss?

By Jim Whitt I like heavy starch in my jeans. Not my everyday jeans but my Sunday-go-to-meeting jeans. The ones I wear for important occasions like funerals and speaking engagements. When I pick up my jeans at the cleaners I have a simple test to determine whether or not they have enough starch in them. I try to stick my hand up a pants leg. If it has enough starch in it, I have to peel it apart. If they pass that test they are starch-worthy. The place that does my jeans now has two employees at the location I… Read More

February 11th, 2010 at 9:23am

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Resilience Engineering

By Paula Lau Most people who know me well might be surprised by this — I actually enjoy reading Popular Mechanics magazine! There’s something fascinatingly mysterious about what engineers, scientists, and people who use the left sides of their brain think about. These intriguing thinkers translate ideas into the everyday objects, conveniences, and technological advancements I have come to take for granted. I believe the reason it is so interesting to me is because often when I’m reading articles about the latest innovations, I’m amazed at what people come up with. Charles H. Duell, a 1899 commissioner with the U.S…. Read More

February 3rd, 2010 at 10:11pm