... First, I wanted mention one of Kip's greatest qualities.  He's an excellent judge of character.  He hired me in 2015.... Kip is an OG.  If you're not sure what that means, visit Urban Dictionary.  He's one of the smartest people I know and a true distinguished engineer.  Kip doesn't prescribe to the let's just get it done philosophy that we've sadly grown accustomed to.  He'll spend time researching all angles and understanding the why.  It's that intellectual curiosity combined with a passion for perfection that makes him a powerhouse... Talking to Kip is sometimes like drinking out a  gushing fire hydrant.  You get used to filtering out everything you don't absolutely need and just focusing on what's needed to get your job done. That's a short-sighted approach.  It's those seemingly irrelevant tidbits that are the most important.  Those seemingly tangential turns are anything but.  

What's required to choreograph a successful migration to the cloud? What are the questions we need to ask? Does it even make sense to migrate? What are the benefits, what are the pitfalls? Can we put controls in place to minimize risk? What are those controls? How do we measure success?...

You've been tasked with setting up a website and time is of the essence. We'll run through a bare-bones guide to setting up a Drupal CMS on a LAMP stack with phpMyAdmin using Google Domains and AWS hosting...

If you worked for Google, what would your priorities be? Let's turn the spotlight on underserved communities...

Rags to riches tales abound in the media of prophetic technocrats who embraced and invested in Bitcoin over the past several years and are now sitting on millions of dollars.  Fear of missing out (FOMO) appears to have struck would-be investors looking to cash in on a potentially colossal payday.  Responsible investors should be asking some hard questions: What is Bitcoin and what is its intrinsic value? Will I make millions overnight or is it too late to invest in Bitcoin?  How risky is Bitcoin and what are the risks?  Perhaps you’ve heard horror stories about almost four million Bitcoin worth over one hundred and eighty billion dollars at September 2021 levels being lost – to never be regained.  Maybe you’ve heard of unsavory characters exchanging Bitcoin for illegal and inhumane activities.  Is Bitcoin investment-worthy or a speculative gamble?  This paper aims to lay out the different sides of the debate, but for peace of mind, investors should remain skeptical of Bitcoin digital currency on account of high volatility, adverse environmental impact, and absence of oversight and regulation...

In the 2013 Season 6 episode “To Have and to Hold”, of the popular Mad Men television series, fictional character Don Draper pitches an advertising campaign to Heinz.  Don’s bold idea for the ads was to not show the actual product – Heinz’ tomato ketchup, but to instead display appetizing foods that paired up nicely with ketchup, with the slogan, “Pass the Heinz.”  Don explains, “The greatest thing you have working for you is not the photo you take or the picture you paint, it’s the imagination of the consumer.  They have no budget, they have no time limit, and if you can get in that space you can run it all day”. Though the fictional Heinz executives end up passing on this innovative idea, the real Heinz team in 2017 ran the ad campaign to phenomenal success.  Though there are three advertisements in the campaign, the focus of this essay is on analyzing the ad featuring a delectable heap of golden-brown French fries.  By dissecting the novel use of absence in the ad, along with context, purpose, colors, and arrangement, we can create a formidable roadmap for both retaining and expanding market share...

One morning as you're sipping your cup of morning coffee and typing https://news.google.com into your browser, a message pops up on your screen from your broadband Internet Service Provider (ISP) stating that they've blocked all access to Google until further notice.  You shake your head in disgust and decide to stream a live news channel to catch-up on what's happening in the world.  Frustration builds as the video and audio jitter every few seconds - the stream is completely incomprehensible.  A small message in fine print appears on the bottom right of your television, informing you that the broadband provider has throttled news streaming channels and Netflix, and that perhaps you should purchase and install a few cable boxes for uninterrupted entertainment – for a “low” and “special” price of $54.99 per month for one year, plus $9.99 per month per rented cable box.  You receive an e-mail from your ISP later that day detailing how data caps will be imposed on your account because you have above average bandwidth utilization. As you silently scream in your head, you muse whether you should have educated yourself and participated in that nerdy internet debate before the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted to repeal net neutrality rules in 2017.  You recall a recent quote from Massachusetts Representative Andy Vargas, "The internet is an essential service just like water and electricity. We need to make sure we provide the same kind of protections for consumers".  It dawns on you that in this day and age of technology, net neutrality must be restored to preserve an open and fair internet...

For almost three quarters of a century, project management methodologies have evolved to embrace the one true constant - change.  Two of the most popular and core methodologies are Waterfall and Agile. The Waterfall model consists of a linear progression of project management phases, whereas the Agile model emphasizes iterative and collaborative techniques.  Though the philosophies of each model vary greatly, the underlying goal of successfully completing projects, remains the same...

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, business, events and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Our neighbor Stacy Hemingway looked flustered. We called her Stacy Hem and Haw because that's what she did best. She had volunteered to host a Fourth of July cookout, but with only a week to go, she was completely unprepared and complaining about having too much to do. I reached into my cooler to pull out a few ice-cold Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy beer and passed them around to the impromptu gathering of neighbors milling about on my driveway. I grinned as a few of our neighbors rolled their eyes at Stacy's outburst. "I'll take care of the dogs and music," I offered. My wife Anita turned towards me with a glance that after 8 years of marriage I immediately understood to mean, "Have you lost your mind? This isn't even our party. Grilling for a 100 plus?! You're going to DJ?" I offered up a smile, signaling that I would fill her in once everyone had left. I proceeded to ask Stacy rapid-fire questions about the party, hoping to prompt her into a concrete plan. As dusk began to fall, the neighbors dissipated, satisfied that the cookout would be a success - especially since everyone had taken my lead and volunteered to assist in some manner...