OFB.biz: Open for Business - OFB.biz: Open for Business

Articles by Dennis E. Powell

Page 2 of 8.

The View from Mudsock Heights: Corporations are Insensitive to the Needs and Feelings of — Me

By Dennis E. Powell | Jun 13, 2010 at 15:25:26

We live in a time in which the greatest offenses one can commit include hurting someone’s feelings. A day does not pass that we do not hear of the need for “sensitivity training” for the “unenlightened” transgressors among us.

The View from Mudsock Heights: Awareness is Fine, But It Takes a Lot More Than That to Cure Diseases

By Dennis E. Powell | Jun 2, 2010 at 9:54:42

All the time we hear about it: the “race for a cure” or a “walk” for this or that illness. When it is explained why the event is being held, the phrase “raise awareness” is always included. Money is always raised, too; it’s never entirely clear what the money is used for. Perhaps it is used to purchase awareness from those who do not give it away.

The View from Mudsock Heights: Linux Has Come Far — In One Case, Maybe Too Far

By Dennis E. Powell | May 22, 2010 at 21:33:31

The free software movement, which in many respects means the Linux operating system, is a puzzle to those accustomed to paying for things. Software is expensive stuff — how good can the stuff be if it doesn’t cost anything?

The View from Mudsock Heights: The Way to Deal With the Alien Invasion is to Find Them, Cook Them, and Eat Them

By Dennis E. Powell | May 5, 2010 at 23:43:30

It was bound to happen, sometime. Indeed, two-thirds of the way through my sixth decade, with most of it spent near them, it surprises me it didn’t happen sooner.

The View From Mudsock Heights: We All Shall Witness the End of the American Space Program

By Dennis E. Powell | Apr 28, 2010 at 20:50:22

In mid-April the President of the United States announced his “space program.” It purports to move us toward sending human beings to Mars in a quarter century or so. It won’t do this. Instead, it merely the throws enough money at NASA and space contractors to keep their respective congressional districts happy. It’s a small amount by this administration’s standards of spending. It won’t take us to Mars or anywhere else.

The View from Mudsock Heights: We Have a Unique Place in the Legend and Lore of Mining

By Dennis E. Powell | Apr 15, 2010 at 0:6:10

There’s something about mining, and miners. We view those who go deep in the ground in a certain way, the way the Irish think of the men who go to sea.

The View from Mudsock Heights: a Television Show Reminds Us that Faith and Science are Separate Things

By Dennis E. Powell | Apr 7, 2010 at 23:20:27

A truly gorgeous Easter has just passed, one that meant more to me than previous Easters have, for reasons I’ll not go into here. As is customary, Holy Week television included lots of programming on the subject, much of it speculative “scientific” debunking of various religious traditions, some inspired by the best-selling heretical drivel of the novelist Dan Brown. The tone of this stuff is so consistent that I was truly surprised by a History Channel program about the Shroud of Turin.

The View from Mudsock Heights: The Septic System Got Fixed and I was Reminded of the Joys of Poetry

By Dennis E. Powell | Mar 28, 2010 at 14:40:10

Earl Coen stopped by the other day. The pump in the aeration system had been misbehaving and Earl knows motors and pumps about as well as anyone you’ll find, so hereabouts he’s the man to call.

The View from Mudsock Heights: The One Little Plant that Has Held Out Hope that Yes, Spring Will Finally Arrive

By Dennis E. Powell | Mar 21, 2010 at 13:25:8

My old German grandmother used to call it “schnitlau,” though I’ve never seen the word used elsewhere. It was her name for the small wild onions that grew all over the place on our little farm — the same ones that grow all over the place hereabouts.

The View from Mudsock Heights: When the Hoped-For Disaster Fails to Strike, Television News is Bared

By Dennis E. Powell | Mar 10, 2010 at 23:46:0

You’ve probably seen it: A movie or television drama that depicts news coverage of some anticipated disaster. It might be an alien invasion, or a nuclear attack, a volcano, an approaching asteroid, or — a tsunami.

The Danger of Peacemaker

By Timothy R. Butler

Here is a story. The leaders of a church have a personal agenda against someone and want to quiet him, exact revenge or what have you. They not only come at him within their church, they continue by following him outside of that church to any other church he seeks refuge at and any place he works, making a wreck of his life in the process. That is the sort of thing that only happened in the past, in dusty tales of witch-hunts in Salem or the Inquisition in Spain, right? Wrong: it is happening today, perhaps at a seemingly normal church near you.

Help Us Serve You

Open for Business strives to serve up the most interesting, relevant content possible; however, we can only do so with your help. Please take a few moments to fill out our online survey so that we can learn more about the interests of our readers, readers such as you.

Tap the Power of
Snow Leopard

Looking to get acquainted with Apple's latest operating system? Mac OS X Snow Leopard Bible, the definitive Mac OS X reference, features OFB's own Timothy R. Butler alongside Galen Gruman and Mark Hattersley.

© 2001-2010 Universal Networks, All Rights Reserved. Some content rights may be held by Universal Networks' providers and used under license. Powered by ServerForest and SAFARI. Learn about our privacy policy here.