Recent content on Kendall Giles
If you are wondering why this now webpage exists, check out this page by Derek Sivers . 
 
 
 Film Title: The Fincastle Fire of 1870 Documentary, Historic Homes of Virginia; Roles: Supporting, Music Performance; Production: Mollasses Manifesto; Director: Bill Badgly; Filming Location: Fincastle, Virginia; Date of Filming: June 2026. 
 
 
 Teaching one graduate course: ECE…
Let me make something clear: I’d love to be paid to write on my website–please don’t hesitate to send money my way! But, alas, that hasn’t happened yet. Everything on this site is all me. 
 Sometimes people or companies send me products (e.g., books! guitars!) and I’ll review them on my website, though most of the reviews on my site are of products I’ve…

 
 
 
 Kendall Giles, Collegiate Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Virginia Tech, received his PhD in Computer Science from Johns Hopkins University and is PhD ABD in Science Technology and Society at Virginia Tech. Dr. Giles has over 20 years of work experience in government and with companies such as General Electric and Raytheon in…
Currently the best way to get in touch is via one of the social channel icons on the bottom of the page – eg, Bluesky, LinkedIn, etc. 
 If you’d like to keep up to date on a semiregular basis about what I’m doing and the various projects I’m involved in, consider subscribing to my newsletter: 
 
 


 
 
 Title: Dinners with Dolores: Family, Food, Fun 
 Author: Kendall Giles 
 Description: 
 On my mother’s 82nd birthday, I gave her a cookbook with 82 of her family recipes. 
 She cried for joy. 
 In addition to being a great cook, my mother is also an excellent artist, and throughout the cookbook I included not only pictures from her life, but also samples of…
The Erdos Number is a type of measure of distance in a social network, a variant of the small world phenomenon meme “Six Degrees of Separation,” which says that any two people in the world are six or fewer acquaintances apart. 
 For example, you might have heard of the “ Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon ” game where the challenge is to find a path between anyone involved in…

 Title: First Steps Toward Becoming Heroic 
 Author: Kendall Giles 
 Description: 
 First Steps Toward Becoming Heroic will help you become the person of your dreams, achieve worthwhile goals, and positively influence those around you. For those who are serious about changing their lives, contributing to their communities, and making the world a better place, this book will help…

 Title: Five Slices of Death 
 Author: Kendall Giles 
 Praise: 
 
 You took the lessons of 'Stabbing for Dummies' [a story in Dr. Arnzen's 100 Jolts: Shockingly Short Stories ] to a new level in your winning entry. 
 -- Dr. Michael Arnzen 
 
 
 A Dessert Worth Waiting For 
 In Five Slices of Death, author Kendall Giles neatly presents five short stories…

 
 I’m often asked for gear recommendations, especially for video content creation, so I thought I would create a specific page for that. I’m constantly trying to improve my technique and upgrade my gear, so expect that this page will be updated over time. Also please note that some links may be affiliate links–if you buy products using my links–at no cost to…

 
 
 
 Throughout the year I play the great Highland bagpipes solo and in several pipes and drums bands across the greater Roanoke Valley area for a variety of performances, including graduation ceremonies, Highland Games, retirement celebrations, parades, Renaissance Faires, church services, weddings, funerals, and other social and cultural events. 
 Here are some past…
This Privacy Policy governs the manner in which the website collects, uses, maintains and discloses information collected from users (each, a ‘User’) of the website (‘Site’). This privacy policy applies to the Site and all products and services offered by company. 
 Personal identification information 
 We may collect personal identification information from Users in a variety of ways,…

 
 
 I’ve got a fairly broad background, and enjoy giving talks and lectures on a variety of topics, including: 
 
 Science and engineering 
 Intersection of Technology and Society 
 Academia 
 Social media, blogging, and digital life 
 Writing, MFA programs, and self-publishing 
 
 
 As an example, here’s a resources page for the…

 Title: Surreal South '13 
 Editor: Josh Woods 
 Contributing Authors: 
 Michael Baughan, Helena Bell, Lynne Buchanan, Kevin Catalano, Katherine Chariott, Joshua Eure, Kendall Giles, Joey Goebel, Becky Hagenston, Blake Kimzey, Tawny Leech, Nathan Alling Long, Alexander Lumans, Alice Otto, Adam Padgett, David James Poissant, Ron Rash, Fred Venturini, Jeff Weddle, Josh Woods 
…

 Think Small is a biennial international miniature invitational art exhibition hosted by Artspace in Richmond, Virginia. Artspace is a non-profit gallery for the visual and performing arts. 
 
 The theme and challenge of Think Small is for artists to create work that will fit in a 3" by 3" space. 
 
 Text is also art, and so to fit into a 3" by 3" space, a complete story must…
SCIENCE, MATH, ENGINEERING, TECHNOLOGY, AND SOCIETY ARTICLES 
 
 'AI Risk Management Case Study.' Giles, Kendall. Virginia Tech . June, 2025. 
 'Engineering Gaze Case Study.' Giles, Kendall. Virginia Tech . June, 2025. 
 'Silicon Valley Ideologies Case Study.' Giles, Kendall. Virginia Tech . June, 2025. 
 'Review of Words and Power : Computers, Language, and U.S. Cold War…

 
 Currently I’m teaching at Virginia Tech . 
 Here’s a list of most of the courses I’m teaching or have taught over the years at various institutions and in various departments (for more details you could take a look at my vitae ): 
 • Critical Engineering Approaches to Innovative and Emerging Technologies (G)) 
• Computational Engineering (U) 
•…

 
 This year I really leaned into reading. I chose books that were challenging, moving, interesting, and that had good stories to tell. I wanted to read books that could change me and how I understood the world. 
 The list below are the books I finished reading in 2022. I’ve still got a few I’m currently reading–if I finish them before New Years I’ll update the…

 On Monday October 19, 2021 I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Joe Forte and Kira Dietz on their broadcast show “Stacks on Stacks” on 90.7 FM WUVT, Virginia Tech’s radio station . Their broadcasts are also available on the Stacks on Stacks podcast . 
 We discussed a variety of topics, including the growing importance of understanding the impact of technology on…

 
 

 
 
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 Books Read in 2022 
 
 
 
 
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 Guest Interview by Stacks on Stacks WUVT-FM at Virginia Tech 
 
 
 
 Jul…

 
	 Neewer 16-inch LED Ring Light: In Use (camera shown for scale, not included) 
 
 Like many who shifted to more remote work, especially over the last year, I had been using large umbrella lights for my video-meetings-from-home needs. However, when shooting at home, umbrella lights can be awkward to set up and take up a lot of space. This Neewer 16-inch LED Ring Light…

 
	 'Solar Powered STAR CLOCK of the Sapporo Station 札幌駅 in Sapporo Hokkaido Japan' by Arjan Richter is licensed under CC BY 2.0 
 
 Especially after 2020, that horrible, horrible year (for many, many people) you may be a little wary of starting an ambitious project in 2021. Maybe you’ve been wanting to start writing a novel. Maybe you’ve been wanting to start…
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What This Is 
'How Sausage Is Made: Becoming a Professional Writer' is a presentation I put together, more on the business side of being a writer than the craft side. I did a lot of research for this presentation, including interning in New York at a literary agency, doing a case study on a new pro writer, and interviewing 14 pro writers for their advice and suggestions. This page includes…
This is an archived project -- the app is no longer available on iTunes! 
 
 Description 
 Get and stay healthy using the Fitness Interval Timer LITE app. This app is useful for any timed activity, such as martial arts, bodyweight, kettlebell, weight, sprint, or HIIT training. 
 
 Key Features: 
 
 Customizable number of rounds 
 Customizable round work and rest…
Working in multidimensional spaces is not just for science fiction writers. 
 One important part of machine learning, data mining, pattern recognition, and knowledge discovery is transforming data of interest–images, texts, genomes, computer network packets, etc.–into multidimensional spaces for further analysis. In these spaces, sometimes composed of many thousands of dimensions,…

 Besides a healthy diet, these days I concentrate mostly on strength and conditioning using kettlebells and bodyweight exercises. I also like to do martial arts. 
 Here are a few of my published fitness and martial arts articles: 
 
 ' 6 Life-Changing Ways Your Black Belt Journey Can Transform You ,' Kendall Giles, Breaking Muscle , October 2014. 
 ' Bartitsu: The Steampunk…

 

You exercise to keep your body healthy, so too must you read for the benefit of your mind. And for enough energy to do both, be sure to drink lots of coffee. 
 Here’s a list of some books and papers I’m currently reading, hope to read, or have just finished. And there are some that unfortunately I could not even force myself to finish – these, like misfit toys, are the…
Decision making is often far from a straightforward task. For example: 
 
Suppose there is a need to swiftly navigate through a spatial arrangement of possibly forbidden regions, each region marked with the probability that it is indeed forbidden. In close proximity to any of these regions, we have the dynamic capability of disambiguating the region and learning for certain whether or not…

 THANK YOU so much for your support–I really appreciate it! 
 I’ll try to earn it by continuing to produce great content, by dreaming, exploring, making, writing, teaching, and doing. 
 From my heart, thank you.

 
	 AcuRite Atlas Weather Station: What Comes in the Box 
 
 The AcuRite 01007M Atlas Weather Station is a premium weather monitoring system for your home or business that includes temperature, humidity, wind speed, wind direction, rainfall, UV index, light intensity, and lightning detection (optional, but included in the one I ordered) sensors. The station comes with the…

 
	 AcuRite Temperature and Humidity Monitoring System: What Comes in the Box 
 
 Worried that your HVAC might stop working while you are on travel? Interested in micro-climate temperature and humidity readings and forecasts to inform how you plan your day? The AcuRite 01006M Temperature and Humidity Monitoring System is a set of three temperature and humidity sensors that can…

 
	 Acurite Smart Weather Station: Weather Station Outside 
 
 The Acurite Smart Weather Station is a 5-in-1 weather station that supports remote outside weather monitoring and includes a convenient web app. Included in the box is the display with power brick, one internet access point with ethernet cable and power brick, the weather station itself with mounting…

 
	 Image credit: Pedro via Flickr / Creative Commons 
 
 To end the year, I’ve got an article just out in Social Epistemology Review and Reply Collective : “Reflections on Academic Agonies and How to Avoid Them by Joseph Agassi” . 
 And here’s the book I reviewed: Academic Agonies and How to Avoid Them: Advice to Young People on Their Way to Academic Careers…

 
	 Gaiam Classic Balance Ball chair: box 
 
 When I started working from home I wanted a chair that would help me stay alert and comfortable when in long meetings and classes – the Gaiam Classic Balance Ball chair was such a hit that my wife got one too. The “Classic” model comes with an adjustable back support. 
 
 
	 Gaiam Classic Balance…

 
	 NETGEAR ReadyNAS 3312 12 Bay Network Attached Storage: Front 
 
 The ReadyNAS 3312 12 Bay Network Attached Storage is a high performance NAS ideal for a small office for file sharing, backup, HD streaming, virtualization, or disaster recovery. Enterprise features: 5 year hardware warranty is included, 24-hr replacement service, Serial number needed for coverage and…

 
	 Lello Musso Pola Ice Cream Machine: The Ice Cream Machine 
 
 The Lello Musso Pola Ice Cream Machine is a high-quality two quart capacity electric ice cream machine made in Italy. This is a commercial machine–it can make up to six quarts of ice cream, frozen yogurt, gelato, sherbet, or sorbet per hour. The dimensions of the machine are 12 1/4 inches high, 20 inches…

 
	 Saeco Philips PicoBaristo Super Automatic Espresso Machine: Everything in the Box 
 
 If you like coffee and want a machine to just do everything for you, including adding frothed milk to make specialty coffee recipes, then you may want to check out the Saeco Philips PicoBaristo Super Automatic Espresso Machine . And unlike some home coffee machines, with the included…

 
	 D'Addario DIY Solderless Cable Kit with Mini Plugs: Box Front 
 
 The D’Addario DIY Solderless Cable Kit with Mini Plugs allows you to create up to five custom-length cables for your pedal board or rack gear. The plugs can work for either straight or right angle connections, and the mini-plug form factor allows you to space your pedals close together on your…

 
	 Antisocial Media: Front Cover 
 
 Facebook is one of the most popular examples of “social media”, though Antisocial Media: How Facebook Disconnects Us and Undermines Democracy by Siva Vaidhyanathan makes a compelling claim that the way Facebook operates is in fact antisocial, predatory, and divisive. 
 The second chapter details that the author, a professor…

 
	 August Home Doorbell Cam Pro: Everything in the Box 
 
 The August Home Doorbell Cam Pro is a way to turn your mechanical chime doorbell into a camera that works with an application to provide you with many security and privacy features. I have the second generation, which comes with the security camera, a mounting plate, a wedge bracket, electrical sealing putty, mounting…

 
	 Samson Go Mic Mobile Wireless Lavalier Mic: What Comes in the Box 
 
 The Samson Go Mic Mobile Wireless Lavalier Mic is a lavalier wireless microphone complete system that comes with a receiver and accessories to connect to a variety of devices. In the box comes the lavalier mic, receiver, connecting cables, charging cable, charging brick, US and EU AC adapters, shoe mount…

 
	 Samson Go Mic Mobile Wireless Handheld Mic: What Comes in the Box 
 
 The Samson Go Mic Mobile Wireless Handheld Mic is a handheld wireless microphone complete system that comes with a receiver and accessories to connect to a variety of devices. In the box comes the handheld mic, receiver, connecting cables, charging cable, charging brick, US and EU AC adapters, shoe mount…

 
	 Revel Custom Cool Memory Foam Mattress: King Mattress, rolled and vacuum-packed 
 
 The Revel Custom Cool Memory Foam Mattress is a gel memory foam mattress made in the US that comes with a 10 year warranty. We got the King size labeled “medium-firm”, though the mattress felt more of a medium firmness. 
 
 
	 Revel Custom Cool Memory Foam…

 
	 Harry Potter Mystery Flying Snitch: Box Front 
 
 The Harry Potter Mystery Flying Snitch is an official Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts product, authorized and licensed by Warner Brothers. The snitch looks very realistic and is a 1:1 scale to the movie snitch. This toy won several awards, including the Awarded Independent Toy Award Gold 2018, the Tillywig Award, and the…

 Determined to break out of my beginner-guitar rut, I’ve decided to take the Paul Davids Next Level Playing guitar course . I made a video below to introduce the project and discuss my motivation. The course is broken into seven levels, and so as I make progress through the course my intent is to make a video discussing each level, then in my final video in the series I will give my…

 
	 Hohem iSteady Pro GoPro Gimbal: Everything in the Case 
 
 The Hohem iSteady Pro GoPro Gimbal is a 3-axis gimbal stabilizer that can be used with GoPro Hero7/6/5/4/3 cameras, but also with other similar-sized action cameras such as the Sony RXO, Yi 4K, AEE, and SJCAM sports cameras. The gimbal comes with a micro-USB charging cable, a tripod, a manual, and a semi-rigid…

 
	 Parker Jotter Fountain Pen Kit: Complete Set 
 
 The Parker Jotter Fountain Pen Kit is a kit that contains everything you need to start writing with the Parker Jotter fountain pen. The kit comes with one Parker Jotter fountain pen, one two-ounce bottle of Parker black Quink ink, two black cartridges, two blue cartridges, one ink converter, an instruction manual, and a…

 
	 Roland BTM-1 Bluetooth Speaker with Guitar Input: What Comes in the Box 
 
 The Roland BTM-1 Bluetooth Speaker with Guitar Input is a small Bluetooth speaker that allows you to also connect your guitar so that you can play along with audio tracks. In the box you get the speaker, manual and information, and a two foot USB-A to micro USB charging cable. The speaker’s…

 
	 Rivet Geometric Area Rug: With Couch 
 
 The Rivet Geometric Area Rug is a hand-tufted, medium-pile rug with a blue and ivory geometric pattern. The rug weighs about 22 pounds, measures 5 x 8 feet. A medium-pile rug (.3 to .5 inches) is best for medium-to-high traffic areas. 
 
 
	 Rivet Geometric Area Rug: Back of Rug 
 
 The rug is 100% polyester.…