Born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, I graduated Benjamin Franklin High School 1964, MIT 1968 in electrical engineering, and U. C. Berkeley 1972 in electrical engineering and computer science. I am retired from a 36-year career at IBM, Silicon Valley, California, most recently in EDA (electronic design automation) at the Almaden Research Center. My wife Laurie is working on a real estate development project in Flagstaff, Arizona. Our daughter lives in Montana with her husband. Our son lives in San Jose with his wife and three children, including Our first grandson! This photo shows what he has been working on. Some family photos
Much of my time is now spent on web development for several websites.
With the time constraint of full-time employment behind me,
I have more time to read.
Most is in science, and most of that in physics and cognitive neuroscience.
How would my life have differed if I had stayed in physics at MIT
instead of switching into electrical engineering?
I am also reading and taking courses in early Christianity and Judaism,
including related philosophical and religious thought.
Most of my writing has been in this area.
I was active in the Other - Science section
of Yahoo Answers, where I am still the top answerer.
My main professional membership has been in
the IEEE.
Membership
in Mensa
and Triple Nine Society
provides opportunity for some fascinating discussions.
I have enjoyed participation in
the Big Ideas Reading Group, a Mensa group,
and have read all the books since I started at number 6.
At Valley Church,
I have been studying the history
and cultural context of the texts of
the New Testament,
and other contemporary works.
In my unofficial History of Israel class, I challenge doctrines based on a misunderstanding of
the text, their cultural context, and ignorance of modern scholarship
and textual criticism.
My political views have changed over time.
In today's world,
what are the best choices governments at
all levels can make?
They don't always match well with political party
platforms.
They match even less with what politicians actually do.
I'm happy to engage in discussion at this level.
We've seen the hazards of excessive governmental regulation,
unbridled industrialism,
and unwise deregulation.
The US has an unprecedented opportunity to
take a first step toward
"doing it right" with healthcare.
Will we capitalize on it?
Or will we let an old-fashioned power struggle
empower a repressive regime,
or derail any serious effort toward reform?
Ideologues on all sides are capable of arousing
opposition by publicizing a distorted caricature
of any proposal they don't like.
Can we get beyond that kind of knee-jerk reaction this time?
"You are altruistic and will be involved in many humanitarian projects." So said my fortune cookie in March 2018. I think that's a fortune worthy of some effort to live up to. Retirement has freed me of the obligation to work in order to survive. Some of my web development services are done without charge for some organizations and efforts I'm willing to support. I hope through my writing and through dialogs in Mensa, Triple Nine Society, and various Facebook groups, to promote knowledge and critical thinking. Until I find something else which does as much for the benefit of humanity, I focus my charitable giving toward The MIT Campaign for a Better World. Current president L. Rafael Reif has unified MIT giving programs under that theme. Even before that, as I observed many major scientific, engineering, business, and societal accomplishments, I saw how often and how strongly MIT was involved. So far, I have found no single place where my charitable giving has greater potential societal benefit than through MIT. Undergraduate education is now a small part of that.
My involvement with Valley Church in Cupertino, California, is detailed on my page on the Valley Church Community.
Our homestead is catching up from decades of neglect. I'm turning the tide against encroaching brush, weeds, and poison oak. I keep trying to do a garden, with limited success. We're both incorrigible packrats, so our house is still crammed with stuff.
My "career" in photography started with
Technique, the MIT yearbook,
where I was the living groups photo editor.
Most is now family, natural scenery,
artistic composition,
and an occasional wedding.
Here
are some samples (not
representative) of my work.
Ham radio has intrigued me since junior high school.
Talking (mostly in Morse Code) all over the country
and the world using equipment I scrounged surplus
or built myself was a big thrill.
I've been licensed continuously since then,
though not always active.
My current license is Amateur Extra class.
My favorite operating event has always
been Field Day.
My public service emphasis began with the Lexington Fire
of July 1985.
I served as the ARES Emergency Coordinator
for Saratoga for several years.
Our homesite was chosen partly for its excellence as a
radio site, but I haven't made much use of that.
I'd like to come up with a practical way to use passive
circuits to control the directionality of a phased
array of vertical antennas.
