Colony Collapse Syndrome: are we feeling it begin for us?

POSTED BY: chrisisall
UPDATED: Friday, August 30, 2024 14:46
VIEWED: 3256
PAGE 2 of 4

FIRST PAGE PREV PAGE 1 2 3 4 NEXT PAGE LAST PAGE

MALBADINLATIN

Monday, February 26, 2007 10:50 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by citizen:
Most programmers just aren't very good. Add to that the fact that most project leaders are executives with little if any real experience or knowledge in the field and you get unrealistic design goals heaped on incapable people. Not to mention the fact that the customer rarely if ever has a bloody clue as to what they actually want.

I used to work for a software company and you are absolutely correct in this statement. I had hoped it would get better over time, but...

"You can believe your eyes...or you can believe me." -Groucho Marx

FLETCH2

Tuesday, February 27, 2007 1:07 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by citizen:
Quote:
Originally posted by chrisisall:
Point taken, as computers were designed for inventory purposes initially.

Inventory work is actually one of the latest uses, prior to the cheap computing revolution of the late 70's/early 80's due to the microchip computer time was simply to expensive to be wasted on something trivial like inventory work, not to mention the extreme limitations on computer space.

Actually Chris is sort of right. While governments and academia always have the first and the biggest a lot of the big IBM mainframes sold in the 1960's and DEC Mini's sold in the 1970's ran warehouse and factory management systems. In the early/mid 80's two companies I worked for ran factory inventory on mainframes and were using small unix boxes or later PC's for "office automation" tasks.

One firm was an engineering company. When an order came in it was broken into starting sub assemblies and these were assigned to "operators" who would fabricate the item. One of the pieces of paper the machine generated was a inventory requisition authorising the parts needed from stores. Periodically a reconcilliation sweep was done to match actual physical inventory with what the machine thought they had. And yes, this and other programs where writen in Cobol, ran on a mainframe, and were considered a mainstream computing task.

Most early computer systems were batch processors which made them useful for things like generating bills and keeping bank records up to date, but inventory control can be done just as easily with batch processing as any other number crunching task, the thing that makes modern systems different is that they can give you totals in real time allowing JIT style inventory management.

SOUPCATCHER

Tuesday, February 27, 2007 8:30 AM

What does the link have to do with bees? I must have missed something.

CHRISISALL

Tuesday, February 27, 2007 8:13 PM

Bees are dying in colonies. Their systems are just collapsing with no obvious cause. Like our empire.

*cue eerie music* Chrisisall

SOUPCATCHER

Tuesday, February 27, 2007 9:15 PM

Ah, okay. Thanks. I was trying to figure out what the article you linked to, "Tips on Controling Your Spending for the Holidays" had to do with bees and I wasn't coming up with anything.

CHRISISALL

Tuesday, February 27, 2007 9:35 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by SoupCatcher:
"Tips on Controling Your Spending for the Holidays"

FRAK! They switched it!
The gist was that in 21 states bee colonies are dying, threatening many crops that depend on the bees for pollination, and that the cause is unknown.
I postulate that it is part of a very big change on our planet that also involves the orbit, global warming, increase in EMR, and information overload.
I feel this is a signifigant time for this world- a make or break time for our governments and our ways of life.
I see a possible future where every person on Earth has a plasma-screen TV, but not enough (good) food in their bellies. A sort of glossy poverty.

Dark Chrisisall

SOUPCATCHER

Tuesday, February 27, 2007 11:46 PM

Oh. That makes more sense. Hmmm. And doesn't sound good at all.

Thanks for the summary.

CHRISISALL

Wednesday, February 28, 2007 12:13 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by SoupCatcher:
doesn't sound good at all.

Hope that possible future ain't possible.

But a plasma TV....might be worth it

Chrisisall

SHAMELESS

Thursday, March 1, 2007 8:54 PM

Just to throw in my two cents on computers...

The problem with programs nowadays is that the only man with enough whatever (money? influence? whatever you need) to make it happen who realized that computers could be VERY useful for personal reasons - rather than just for business - wasn't a programmer, and that's why the popular stuff isn't necessarily the most effective stuff. Or something like that. This is what I was told, but that's not necessarily a bad source of info!

------------------------------------------
RPG launcher bought in third world country illegally - $10
Landmines - $50 per
Attack/track dogs bred 1st class - $250-500 per
Highpowered assault rifles - $600 per
The look on your face when I show up on your doorstep with a bigfoot - ... Priceless

"You gotta love that the first pirated HD DVD is the one about space pirates who broadcast a video that the government wants to keep secret.

Can't stop the signal."
-reavers_ate_my_dvd

CITIZEN

Friday, March 2, 2007 3:17 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by shameless:
Just to throw in my two cents on computers...

The problem with programs nowadays is that the only man with enough whatever (money? influence? whatever you need) to make it happen who realized that computers could be VERY useful for personal reasons - rather than just for business - wasn't a programmer, and that's why the popular stuff isn't necessarily the most effective stuff. Or something like that. This is what I was told, but that's not necessarily a bad source of info!

There were many before gates who gave computers to home users, Clive Sinclair for instance. Gate's break into the home arena was coincidental and down solely to being the OS supplier to IBM for the IBM PC 80086, which due to IBM's own disbelief led them to let they're patent slip on the machine architecture that lead to any company being able to produce 'IBM compatibles' driving prices down and therefore acceptance up. Ironically it's also why the IBM on out over the Mac's closed standard.

More insane ramblings by the people who brought you beeeer milkshakes!
No one can see their reflection in running water. It is only in still water that we can see.

FIRST PAGE PREV PAGE 1 2 3 4 NEXT PAGE LAST PAGE