Information about Eugene Marais is very interesting in itself. A journalist, a doctor and a lawyer who after the Boer war went into a secluded life to living with baboons. This obviously had to come to an end with the Boer farmers returning and chasing out the baboons from their habitat. He then researched into termites which was published in Afrikaans in South Africa. This was plagiarised by Maurice Maeterlinck in his work. This seems to have affected the health of Eugene. Subsequently he took his life.
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Termitaries.
Interesting recount of observations by one Eugene Marais. He has seen huge termitaries to the size of 40 feet. They ground below them is not hollow. (Surprised? so where did the mud and water for this come from? Did they manufacture water?). There have been huge rocks found at different height of the termitory. How did they reach there? Another observation is the effect of magnetism on the construction of such termitories. Earth's magnetic field to be precise. Should read " The Soul of the White Ant" By Eugene Marais.
Monday, August 21, 2006
Bucket Brigades
Ever heard of Bucket Brigades. Well, it kind of proves that nature seems to have solutions to all our problems. Brings me back to what my uncle argued with me about. We did not invent anything. We just keep discovering.
Aparently, companies (Revco Drug Store) have implemented the Bucket Brigade concept in their assembly lines to receive improvements in their productivity levels. The concept goes something like this: A small or old or slow or young ant explores the neighborhood to locate and gather seeds/food. It picks up the food and walks back till it meets a bigger and faster ant. The bigger one takes the seed and walks back till it meets a still bigger ant. The ants relieved of the weight now go back to performing their duties. Bigger ants work closer to the nest.
Well, consider this set up in an assembly line in a warehouse for stocking and delivery. Workers inherently know who does what work better. With work independence arrives the ability to order themselves (moi experimente with Semler again?). The Bucket Brigade starts off.
Why do the bigger & faster ants operate from near the nest.. well.. seeds are prone to be predated upon. With the amount of effort invested in, the seed increases in value as you progress closer to the nest.
The big question is how do you use this concept in a knowledge intensive framework..(crap.. i hate all this jargon).
Advantages:
* Work independence
* People can balance for one another. People can go on leave. Others can still manage.
* Team work and co-operation.
http://www.lionhrtpub.com/ee/spring04/bucket.html
Aparently, companies (Revco Drug Store) have implemented the Bucket Brigade concept in their assembly lines to receive improvements in their productivity levels. The concept goes something like this: A small or old or slow or young ant explores the neighborhood to locate and gather seeds/food. It picks up the food and walks back till it meets a bigger and faster ant. The bigger one takes the seed and walks back till it meets a still bigger ant. The ants relieved of the weight now go back to performing their duties. Bigger ants work closer to the nest.
Well, consider this set up in an assembly line in a warehouse for stocking and delivery. Workers inherently know who does what work better. With work independence arrives the ability to order themselves (moi experimente with Semler again?). The Bucket Brigade starts off.
Why do the bigger & faster ants operate from near the nest.. well.. seeds are prone to be predated upon. With the amount of effort invested in, the seed increases in value as you progress closer to the nest.
The big question is how do you use this concept in a knowledge intensive framework..(crap.. i hate all this jargon).
Advantages:
* Work independence
* People can balance for one another. People can go on leave. Others can still manage.
* Team work and co-operation.
http://www.lionhrtpub.com/ee/spring04/bucket.html
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