Kurth,
I know a bit about bar code, having been
an editorial student of the field since the
mid 70's when editing Byte, and having
founded Bar Code News in 1981. Bar code is
no different from entering a database key
by hand, just slightly automated and orders of magnitude
more reliable in practice in situations
where it works well (no dirt, oilstains, etc.
to obscure the pattern...)
My company, Helmers Publishing, has published
__the__ magazine for applications of bar
code since its start as Bar Code News in 1981
(called ID Systems Magazine since 1987...)
Its major editorial and advertising focus these
days is applications of automatic idebntification
(i.e. bar code mostly) to tracking of objects
(packages, etc. ) in the supply chain of industry.
I.e. the area of your potential clients...
Re the physical basis of bar code, we publish
"The Bar Code Book" by Roger Palmer, now
retired after a long career with Intermec.
AN OPEN SOURCE ASIDE: Automatic identification
(bar code et al) is an industry of open source
specifications from day one... Intermec's
success with Code 39 and the Grocery Industry's
pioneering of the UPC code with IBM both set the
standard for all bar code symbologies that have
been successful in the marketplace. While not
called open source, all major bar code symbologies
(even UPS might have been presured this way) have
completely open defined specs. A habit that Dave
Allais (founder of Intermec) helped pioneer with
the first widely used industrial/commecial
symnbology, Code 39. Dave's company (Intermec)
made printers of the specialized bar code impact
variety in an era years before laser
and inkjet printers ... When he dreamed up Code 39
in the early 1970's when Intermec was his entreprenurial
gig, he needed other companies to come up with scanners
for his bar code to complete the system. So he
published the specs of the Code 39 symbology
far and wide. Pre the recent coining of the
term "open source", by Christine Peterson of the
Foresight institute, this was exactly the
technical tactic of open source -- bar code
symbologies, to be useful have to be widely
adopted, which can only occur if the specs are
widely available!
We can exchange offline re specifics and I can
consult with my editorial staff re your specific
applications of Linux -- I love the idea of pushing
Linux editorially as an incidental part of an
application story... low key marketing at its best...
See me at the Feb 26 GNHLUG meeting in Nashua...
Enuff for now...
...Carl
--------------------------------=|=---------------------------------------
Carl Helmers, Chairman and Founder, Helmers Publishing, Inc.
--< Publishers of
ID Systems and Desktop Engineering magazines
(what else do you do after starting the late lamented BYTE magazine?)
[Favorite look and feel: Linux running X on a big screen]
EMAIL: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
WEB: www.deskeng.com
www.idsystems.com
SNAILMAIL: 174 Concord Street, Peterborough, NH 03458
PHONE: 603.924.9631 -=- FAX: 603.924.7408
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
(-|-)
-----Original Message-----
From: Kurth Bemis
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: 2/20/01 5:04 PM
Subject: package tracking / warehousing systems?
a trucking company approached me recently and asked about making their
warehouses more automated. their looking for a solution that makes it a
sinch for them to know what is coming off of each truck as it comes
in. they want to enter this information into a barcode and then just
slap
a barcode on the pallet then when they scan it to know all about the
pallet. its a lot more complicated and i'd be looking for ANY input
about
how i can go about implementing a system like the above or if anyone can
point me to a company that does this stuff. I'm really looking for a
linux
solution because of the low overhead on the system requirements. :-)
~kurth
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