To: SI Bob who wrote (3459 ) 3/6/2005 4:09:07 AM From: jmhollen Respond to As usual, you IT folks tend to underestimate what we engineers in the industrial controls and instrumentation field do. We simply do it in a more modular and efficient manner most of the time. Fortunately, we don't have to mess with distractions like 'Banner Ad' cartoon content, etc."..Chicken Checker.." for an associate division of Monsanto a few years back. That system monitored broiler chicken growth weight, daily environmental conditions, and water-&-feed consumption in real time 24/7 for 70 days. The purpose was tracking growth and conditions from new chick loading to mature bird shipment at broiler husbandry facilities anywhere in the world (via dial-up). It's kind of fun to watch birds playing king of the mountain on weigh scales located somewhere in Bumphudge, GA from my laptop anywhere I choose. You could also see a weather front pass through their area, by watching the temperture transmitter data changes as the wind direction reversed.'Screens' I develop for their daily use. So, we're both involved in visual presentations to people for slightly different applications.Human Engineering folks at Martin-Marietta on the 'MX' missle launch controls was very enlightening; ...what to put where - colors - sizes - nomenclature, etc. etc. And, it's always nice to have had at least a 'little itty-bitty part' to play in bringing down the Berlin Wall, ...which 'MX' and 'SDI' certainly did.
