Real Time View

  Wherever travel takes Margo and me, I often take photos at that location. A reminder of where we have been and a way to start conversations with family and friends. With today’s smartphones, it seems as though we are provided with endless device memory so much so that we can keep on snapping photos indefinitely. When it comes time to review the photos and to perform minor edits – I still cannot seem to capture a straight horizon – some photos don’t make the cut and are quickly deleted. The longstanding problem of trying to keep a foreground in focus while wrestling with the impact from different lighting strengths more often than not leads to barely recognizable photos and are usually the first to be deleted. This was the case when visiting business colleagues and clients but one or two photos that fell into this category had me thinking to the point where I opted to keep the questionable images captured by the smartphone. Maybe software can improve the quality? On the other han...

Travel has always been a part of our lives. Whether business or leisure, rarely did a week pass this year where we weren’t in planning mode for one trip or another. Not for Margo or me is the thought of heading out through the front door on our way to some destination ever giving us pause to wonder why? As our bags are brought up from storage to reside near our wardrobe, our imminent departure begins to look real. Even as our respective cultures differ on so many fronts where we find consistency is in seeing the world. Culture can be tough to define. Perhaps the best description of culture I came across was: Customs, laws, dress, architectural style, social standards and traditions are all examples of cultural elements. Deconstructing into these elements is helpful but might be a bit too vague for some. Although it is hard to argue with the role customs and social standards play in defining culture. Then again, there are plenty of other obvious examples. We have car culture; w...

The many times that Margo and I have driven across the Great Divide there have been occasions when the rules of the road needed to be stretched. On a number of occasions it was late winter - early spring and Mother Nature hadn’t relinquished her hold on the environment. Yes, when the snow falls you cannot argue with it; water may always win but snow comes a close second. Say what you may but oftentimes the prudent move to make is to turn around. In the April 24, 2022 post No risk! No win! With many other chances taken! to our social blog, Buckle-Up, we recalled how you can never count on favors from Mother Nature. As it so happened she began showing her indifference to our plans the moment dawn broke over our Cedar City Utah hotel with just the mountain crossing to cover before reaching home in Colorado. No sooner had we begun the climb to Vail Pass then all lanes of traffic came to a halt.  Between the concrete separation-barriers there were small openings so first responders cou...

So, another three years have passed by and I find myself writing a preview of what I will likely focus on in eighteen months’ time – my next three wishes for NonStop! It wouldn’t be fair on my family if I said 2019 had been a routine year for Pyalla Technologies. It started with the return flight from Sydney, Australia, and continued with three separate trips to Europe plus a lengthy road trip to Las Vegas for HPE Discover 2019 combined with stops in southern California and participation in N2TUG back in Texas. The miles have added up but all the while even as the adventurous life continued to unfold, there was so much news coming out of HPE that scarcely a day passed without a discussion or two over what it all means. Margo and I have our roots firmly anchored in NonStop, dating back to Tandem Computers where Margo had risen through the development organization all the way to the COO role under the stewardship of Bill Heil when Bill headed the NonStop Software BU. As for me...

HPE is pleased to have migrated to a very modern NonStop at the heart of its data center – what about you? I have no ambitions whatsoever to become a collector of antique cars. Try as I might, I can see nothing attractive about vehicles built 25 or 50 years ago even as I know so many of my friends hold dear to them the vehicles that they once envied in their youth but never could afford. We have a 2003 Corvette parked in the garage and with each passing year I wonder whether or not we have kept it for too long. It’s only fifteen plus years old but Margo and I are in no hurry to sell it as it is our only choice for track day fun outings. On the other hand, there is so much about this Corvette that even with the passage of just a few years, looks “old fashioned.” There is barely an electronic aid to be found and with the exception of traction control and ABS, it’s close to being considered an “analogue car”. Perhaps one reason for keeping older cars with few electronic aids is ...

HPE NonStop team has certainly unveiled much that has surprised the NonStop community and as unexpected as it may have been, it’s positioning NonStop to play in an even bigger marketplace for 2019! While this picture was taken during our recent trip to Sydney, this post will not be about Sydney, as even now memories are beginning to fade. Take a good look at this picture of a street – well a lane actually – that we ran across towards the end of our stay. It’s an artistic display, although at first it was difficult to actually make sense of it all and then it all fell into place! Underwood Street – it’s obvious, isn’t it?   As colorful as the streets of Sydney can be and in spite of all the creativity that is present even in the CBD (Central Business District), it’s still refreshing to see that someone with a “tongue in cheek” sense of humor would be allowed to put such an edifice in place in an otherwise out of sight lane. Yes, it’s different alright! For much of my IT ca...

They aren’t the standout element of a product and they may not attract any attention at all and yes, they are the rock that is the foundation for many of the products found on NonStop! Finishing up the walk-out lower level of our home was expedited considerably as it was being framed when we made the decision to buy the home and move to Windsor, Colorado. Having lived for almost twenty years in the village of Niwot, Boulder County, we elected to sell our former home and downsize to something more manageable. Fortunately, we had the opportunity to watch the framing of our new Windsor home to the point where during the framing process, we were able to customize certain aspects of each room and our requests were accommodated in a timely manner. On the other hand, our former Niwot home took almost a year to completely frame. Weather is a factor in Colorado, particularly when working on a house that at the time didn’t have a roof. In the intervening years, so much has changed wh...