Happy new year! Although the long-awaited Concrete23 will not be released this year, I look forward to what lies ahead with OpenSees. Being the first full week of January, it's blog delurking time. Long time listeners, first time callers, say hello in the comments section and let everyone know what you're OpenSeesing in 2023.
Category: Random Bits
OpenSees Smarter, Not Harder
Having established the use of OpenSees as a verb, you knew adverbs that describe how one OpenSeeses wouldn't be far behind. For example: How did it go today?I OpenSeesed slowly. I had planned to build a frame model but got distracted by kitten videos. How was the workshop?It was good. I learned some useful tips … Continue reading OpenSees Smarter, Not Harder
Bad OpenSees Turkey Jokes
Today is Thanksgiving in the United States. A holiday meant for gratitude that has morphed into a day of eating copious amounts of turkey and other foodstuffs. If you have distant family members at the Thanksgiving dinner table who also use OpenSees, here are some jokes you can tell in order to break the ice. … Continue reading Bad OpenSees Turkey Jokes
I Missed Again
When I come up with "great" exam questions, only a handful of students get the correct answer while the remaining students misunderstand the question. Same thing happens on social media. Prior to Twitter's full-on death spiral, I tweeted a quiz on the MVLEM element, a formulation available in OpenSees for modeling shear walls. Only 5 … Continue reading I Missed Again
Blogged Higher and Deeper
Although it's been suggested to me, I hesitate to make a book out of blog posts because once a book is published, the content becomes static. I prefer to keep the blog dynamic, piling posts higher and deeper and retaining the ability to update posts, either to correct errors or to keep up with changes … Continue reading Blogged Higher and Deeper
Top 5 Posts
The blog is up to 254 posts. Some good, some bad, and some ugly. In addition to the age of posts, reasons for high or low view counts range from how often I post links on external sites, how nonsensical titles and/or previews deter further reading, or how closely post titles match common internet search … Continue reading Top 5 Posts
Don’t Delete This Bot
If the new CEO of Twitter comes for the bots, @OpenSeesTweets, the OpenSees Twitter Bot, will go away. So, let's take a moment to reflect on the growth of followers since the bot's inception in December 2019. 439 followers as of today. I occasionally have to update the bot to remove spammy tweets, but it's … Continue reading Don’t Delete This Bot
Verbing OpenSees
OpenSees--a system--is a noun. Nouns are often verbed. For example, "I will conference next week in Chicago." As a verb, "to OpenSees" is to build, analyze, program, or document finite element models in OpenSees. The standard verb tenses of "to OpenSees" are listed below. Present tense Simple present: I OpenSees every day. Present continuous: I … Continue reading Verbing OpenSees
Misalignment with OpenSees
OpenSees has been around, solving various earthquake engineering and other problems, for over 20 years. So, I become skeptical when someone reports an error in the fundamental mathematical formulations of OpenSees. Source: https://screenrant.com/the-office-uk-best-quotes/ Typically, the "error" comes down to misalignment of what you think OpenSees should do, e.g., based on your experience with another structural … Continue reading Misalignment with OpenSees
CyclopSees
I first came to know The Postman as a failed motion picture from the late 1990s. The movie starred Kevin Costner, who also starred in Bull Durham, the blog's most frequently referenced movie. Although I've never watched The Postman (not to be confused with Il Postino), I have read the original novel, written by David … Continue reading CyclopSees
Portwood Digital 