While I could go into a lot of political details and express my opinions as others do on their web pages, I prefer to keep this simple. As far as my political views go, the more freedom allowed here on the web and elsewhere, the better life will be for all of us. When the Democrats quit lying about the rich and the Republicans quit trying to make me pray, perhaps I will start to enjoy voting again. It is also my hope that people will quit blaming science and technology for all the problems in the world.
Relaxing on the family farm.
High-Technology Apple Farming
Around the turn of the century, my grandfather, Philip Gibbons Sr., came out from Pennsylvania and took up farming. He worked on several farms as a manager until he was able to purchase his own. Sometime around 1920-30 he purchased an orchard outside of Milton-Freewater, Oregon. …
A Ride on NASA's Kuiper Arborne Observatory
Perhaps the high point of my work at the U of O was when I flew on NASA's Kuiper Airborne Observatory (KAO). Dr. Ira G. Nolt had designed a system to measure the water content of the atmosphere above the airplane. This was an experiment used to obtain information for proper calibration of the telescope on the airplane. …
College Computer Experiences
The University of Oregon had an IBM 360 mainframe available for all students to use. The drawback was that you needed to punch your program onto cards in FORTRAN, submit it into a queue, and wait 3 hours to see the results. …
My Plan to Save Apple Computer
(Or why they hired Steve Jobs instead of me.)
Apple hasn't been doing so well lately. Since Windows 95 came out, and people started reading the section Switching from Macintosh to Windows 95 in the Windows 95 Resource Kit, they have been running away from the Macintosh in droves (suggested reading for anyone interested in an example of the smug corporate world domination attitude of Microsoft). …