25 Years of IBM’s OS/2

April 5, 2012

I remember using OS/2 back in the day when I worked at a bookstore.  It was a pretty stable OS and I don’t recall any problems with it. The only problem I recall was an occasional hardware problem.

Although I’m a Windows guy, I have to admit that apparently there were times in the past that Microsoft used heavy-handed tactics in its quest for OS dominance.

OS/2 started out as a joint IBM/Microsoft product.  Overtime however, Windows became mainstream and OS/2 became more of a nerd operating system.

Leave a Comment » | IBM, Microsoft, OS, Software | Permalink
Posted by UrbanTechGuy

FBI’s New Sentinel (Case Management) System-Almost ready for deployment

April 2, 2012

Due to cost over-runs and frequent project delays, FBI CIO Chad Fulgham decided to transfer the remaining development of the project “in-house” using the Agile software development process.

Essentially, Agile uses an iterative approach to software development (design, coding, testing, etc.), with tasks and goals broken down into short time-frames, typically from one to four weeks.

The new software is supposed to assist agents to collaborate and to “connect the dots” on investigations.

Apparently, Sentinel’s user interface, influenced by consumer apps, is intuitive enough that PC-savvy users would have no problem adapting to it.

An exclusive look

1 Comment | Agile, Government, Software | Permalink
Posted by UrbanTechGuy

Warehouse robots come of age

March 29, 2012

Modern warehouse robotics

Background:

“After his experience at Webvan — which raised and then lost over $1 billion in investor capital — Kiva founder Mick Mountz realized that there had to be a breakthrough in cost reduction for large scale distribution businesses to get to the next level. He came up with the simple, but very clever, idea of having the shelves come to the packing stations at the warehouse, rather than having workers go and retrieve each product from the shelves.”

Now, modern warehouse bots trek around the warehouse via a combination of high-speed sensors and a bar code grid to fetch needed items and bring them to human workstations.

Very impressive stuff.

Leave a Comment » | Robots, Software | Permalink
Posted by UrbanTechGuy