Author Archive: bfwebster

Webster is Principal and Founder at Bruce F. Webster & Associates, as well as an Adjunct Professor of Computer Science at Brigham Young University. He works with organizations to help them with troubled or failed information technology (IT) projects. He has also worked in several dozen legal cases as a consultant and as a testifying expert, both in the United States and Japan. He can be reached at bwebster@bfwa.com, or you can follow him on Twitter as @bfwebster.

rss feed Facebook Twitter Google Plus LinkedIn

Author's Website

Woot! It’s Gov. Sarah “Barracuda” Palin!

Woot! It’s Gov. Sarah “Barracuda” Palin!

| August 29, 2008 | 3 Replies

[series of updates below] Palin has been my second choice for GOP VP, after Condoleezza Rice. This is, IMHO, a great move by McCain; what may make it truly brilliant is if McCain makes the “one term and out” pledge at the GOP convention. That way, electing McCain-Palin gives Palin an almost certain shot at […]

Read More

Rating Obama’s speech

Rating Obama’s speech

| August 29, 2008 | 1 Reply

All in all, I thought it a very powerful, well-delivered speech. He is, without a doubt, the best orator that the Democrats have put forward since JFK; he is, I think, more polished than Reagan, though Reagan knew how to be folksy without sounding either stupid or condescending. I thought his attacks against McCain were […]

Read More

McCain head fake

McCain head fake

| August 28, 2008 | 1 Reply

This is wishful thinking on my part, but if McCain really wanted to steal Obama’s thunder, I think he should pick Condoleezza Rice as his VP candidate. Frankly, I still like her better than any of the names currently bandied about, and it would capitalize on PUMA sentiments. We’ll see. [UPDATED 08/29/08 — 0645 MDT] […]

Read More

“Inside-Out”: IEEE presentation in Longmont (09/02/08)

“Inside-Out”: IEEE presentation in Longmont (09/02/08)

| August 26, 2008 | Reply

On September 2nd, I’ll be speaking at a meeting of the Denver IEEE Reliability Society. It will be held at 5:30 pm in the Seagate Building in Longmont (CO), on Nelson Road between 75th Rd and Airport Rd. Here’s my abstract of the talk: INSIDE-OUT: Organizations too often treat software reliability as an ‘after the […]

Read More

Missing all the good stuff

Missing all the good stuff

| August 26, 2008 | Reply

Earlier this year, I was quite excited. Both the annual World Science Fiction Convention and the Democratic National Convention were coming to Denver (Sandra and I live in Parker, just outside of Denver) in the month of August. It would be a great two-fer! As it turns out, I have been in Colorado for maybe […]

Read More

Latest Baseline column up

Latest Baseline column up

| August 22, 2008 | Reply

My latest Baseline column is now up: Last week, I talked about some of the reasons why large organizations often reject the best solutions for a troubled IT project: fear, pride, budget, and the ever-present internal politics. This week, as promised, I will talk about what it takes to champion the right solution. I can’t […]

Read More

New Baseline column up

New Baseline column up

| August 15, 2008 | Reply

I have a new Baseline column up on the tendency of large organizations to reject the best solutions for a troubled IT project: The consultants, usually with the help of the employees in the trenches, would use their time, effort, and expertise to analyze the system under development or in production. They would arrive at […]

Read More

More quantum coolness

More quantum coolness

| August 14, 2008 | Reply

Yes, quantum entanglement is real, producing faster-than-light interactions at a distance: After performing multiple tests on two entangled photons, physicists have yet again found that the photons seem to be communicating faster than the speed of light – at least 100,000 times faster. The researchers hope that their results might encourage theorists to come up […]

Read More

Video o’ the day

Video o’ the day

| August 12, 2008 | Reply

OK, this is one of the most remarkable video I’ve watched in some time, on several levels. It’s funny; it’s politically relevant; the two characters are actually quite good at martial choreography; and it even has special effects: Be warned that it’s a bit long (9 minutes), but worth watching. Hat tip to Ace of […]

Read More

Yeah, this will catch on

Yeah, this will catch on

| August 7, 2008 | 1 Reply

Hey, Barack Obama has his own salute! Unlike his failed “presidential seal”, this Obama salute hasn’t been pushed (directly at least) by the Obama campaign, but rather by an LA-based “creative agency”. Of course, that may simply be to ensure plausible deniability when this is mocked as heartily as the presidential seal was. Now’s a […]

Read More