I'm currently working at the Boeing Company on B-52 avionics systems, working on Systems engineering for Navigational Accuracy, Bomb Dropping Software for weapons like JSOW, JDAM, JASSM, and more. Most of the work involves analysis of Mil-Std-1553 messages between flight computers and weapons. JDAM was heavily used in Afganistan and Iraq. If you want to know more about the B-52, B-52 page. If you want to know more about the weapons, click here.
While I worked at McClellan Air Force Base, I had the opportunity to be directly connected to the Internet. The majority of business applications were served from a VAX cluster using DEC Protocols, centralized mail, with directory services, and terminals or computers with VT100 emulation. The F-111 Software Test Stations, used to simulate an F-111 in flight were also connected to the network. Realizing that these systems, ran TCP/IP network protocols, we decided that we could add them to our PCs and communicate with them from our offices, rather than making the trip to the lab.
Soon I found myself deeply interested in the possibilities! I began taking classes in UNIX, Local Area Networks, and Data Communications. Next we rented a 56 Kbps line, bought routers, CSU/DSUs, and constructed a link to another engineering company so that they could also work with the simulation computers from several miles away,
Reading the Technical magazines, we soon heard of the World Wide Web, and the first browser - Mosaic. It was a little tricky to get the winsock running, using shims to bind winsock to the packet driver. It was addicting to sit down in front of PC, and browse the Internet.
In recent years, partly in response to computer obsolescence, I have taken up woodworking. This is kind of a combination of my desire to build things that have lasting qualities, as well as enjoying the beauty of wood, Nature's doing. Here's some kitchen steps that I made. I cut the hidden dovetails by hand.
