Summerlee,
"I need to shoot more..." 
Bingo! You just discovered the solution. Practice, practice and more practice. I teach music at the local school in the Summer Music Program. I tell all the youngsters, 5th graders, that very "secret" to becoming good at whatever you do. Whether it be music, baseball, art, etc. or photography.
Go outside and shoot.
"In chapter of the article, they discuss IS and a tripod."
All I can say is test it for yourself. Don't be like Tommy Boy and just read stuff to draw your conclusions. Try it, you may be surprised. Again, I am not saying that every lens is this way just that I have not seen it on the ones I have tested.
This is a big reason I buy so many lenses. I am just curious on how they really work. I see it as a fun time 'hobby' if you will.
I could have a worse hobby like gofl, I guess. 
@ebiggs1 wrote:"In chapter of the article, they discuss IS and a tripod."
All I can say is test it for yourself. Don't be like Tommy Boy and just read stuff to draw your conclusions. Try it, you may be surprised. Again, I am not saying that every lens is this way just that I have not seen it on the ones I have tested.
This is a big reason I buy so many lenses. I am just curious on how they really work. I see it as a fun time 'hobby' if you will.
I could have a worse hobby like gofl, I guess.
I turn it off, anyway, whenever I'm mounted on a tripod. The feature is not something I rely on, but it is something to be aware of, that being that IS can go to sleep
You can occasionally hear IS motors at work in some lenses, which is what led me to research it and finding that article. I have found that IS can be significant drain on your camera battery, because it seems like it is always active for as long as the camera is "awake." That article confirmed by suspicions.
Your reaction of the article's content is the identical reaction when I have posted it in the past. You seem to have a bit of experience on the subject of IS on a tripod. Do you have any recommendations on a testing procedure? I wouldn't know where to begin. I always turn it off, because it doesn't seem to help with shutter vibrations, anyway. Maybe IS doesn't help with shutter vibrations because it has gone to sleep!
Just as most Standard IS algorithms are not suited for panning, most of the IS algorithms may not be suited for the type of harmonic vibrations that a tripod may create. I suppose you could almost say that certain lenses have an extra hidden mode, tripod mode.
Have a safe and happy Memorial Day, Ernie, and the rest of the gang, too.
I know I said I would take more photos with the 100-400 on my tripod, but I had my 55-250 on, and saw tons of birds out of my window, so just went with that lens-hand held, for now. Here are two photos. The one of the woodpecker - I really tried to focus on the eye. The other birds, it was a bit harder to do that. So when I focus on the eye, it appears that the surrounding area is a little sharper. I need more practice, but wanted to show you two more photos since. Again, I know it's on my other lens and not pertinent to my original question. On another note, I downloaded DPP free from Canon. I will need a tutorial on how to use that. Wow - don't know where to begin. I wish I was retired so I could play more with this.
