[ExI] will work for food

[Adrian Tymes]

--- On Wed, 4/14/10, spike <spike66 at att.net> wrote:
> > ...On Behalf Of Adrian Tymes
> > --- On Wed, 4/14/10, spike <spike66 at att.net>
> wrote:
> Solution: foil detectors.  Foil bends magnetic fields
> in a predictable way,
> easily detected by airport-style security systems. 

People complain about these at airports, where they
have to go.  "Unacceptable burden" describes it at
optional places, such as stores with competitors.

> Alternate solution:
> all-plastic shopping carts, package all the products
> without metals, and
> stock the shelves with only known-electromagnetic signature
> metalspassing
> thru an airport-ish metal detector.

That slightly limits the range of products you can carry,
but it could be managed.

> Regarding swapping tags, I disagree.  RFIDs can be
> placed deep within the
> packaging or on the product in such a way that it cannot be
> found

Except for produce.  Grocery stores are pushing for packaged
produce so they can just get barcodes - misrings are a major
problem in the industry - but producers and customers are
resisting it.  If you could find a cheap - half-cent or less
per unit of produce - way to fix this, applicable across
most varieties of produce, you'd have a business
opportunity.

> , so tiny
> are they.  The RFIDs can be placed on the product at
> the factory (cheaper
> that way) before being placed into that maddeningly clever
> and intricate
> modern plastic packaging

Assuming the factory owner agrees to do it for your one small
retail chain.  You can't skip this by pointing to benefits
once you are big: you will start out small, probably with
just one or maybe a few stores, and you will have to deal
with this problem and set up vendor relations while you are
at that size.  If you can not make it through this step, you
can not get to be big, for there is no path.

> Some of us use self-checkout at Home Despot.  When the
> cart is passed thru
> the metal detector and all the RFID tags are read, the
> weight of the cart is
> also measured, and compared with the sum of the weight of
> the cart and all
> the stuff the RFID thinks is in that cart.

Sure, if you have items of substantially different weight.
But a pound of ice and a pound of deluxe Name Brand ice
cream both weigh a pound, despite having different prices.
Still, more solutions of that nature might be able to
minimize the problem to an acceptable level.

> Hmmm, OK solution: the customer doesn't have RFID, but
> rather pays for the
> products in the usual way, with a credit or debit card.

This essentially reduces the concept to self-checkout,
which a number of stores are trying.  It's easier with
hard and/or packaged items, such as the Home Depot
example you mentioned, because bar codes can be applied.
Again, that might be the main problem that needs to be
overcome to make this obviously economical (to those
you'd need to get cooperation from to get the resources
to start this up).

> > Assuming you know what to ask for.  A human might
> know that 
> > "burrito wrappers" means "tortillas", but a computer
> won't 
> > know that unless someone (probably some human) tells
> it 
> > specifically, and so on for all other variations on
> food 
> > terms.  Not a problem for you and me who are used
> to coming 
> > up with alternate search terms (all hail Google), but
> this 
> > might be a problem for many people...
> 
> Sure, but it is also a solution, for the computer can
> learn

Only if the customers teach it, and teach it wisely.  If
you open the computer to learn from whoever walks up to
it, there is a high risk that vandals would corrupt its
knowledgebase with profanity and false knowledge, to the
point that honestly using it would become an unpleasant
chore, which would drive away customers.

> > > It has a lot of "stick
> > > it to the man" in it, since the Searses and
> Macyes would be 
> > crushed in the stampede right past their businesses.
> > 
> > Unfortunately, whoever's running the supply chain for
> this 
> > new store becomes "the man" by definition...
> 
> I have a solution for that too.  In the US we arrange
> tax advantages that go
> to "minority owned business" and women qualify as
> minorities.  Consequently
> a lot of small mercantile oriented businesses are female
> owned and operated.
> These would be directly in the line of fire of WWFF, so the
> equal
> opportunity crowd can sleep at night knowing that by
> shopping at WWFF they
> stick it to the man and stick it to the woman equally.

Unfortunately, "the man" in that context is gender-neutral.
;)

> Never work for libertarians Adrian: we might win. 

If I were somehow in charge of the Libertarian party -
yes, I know, oxymoron, but just for sake of argument -
the first thing I would do is make sure the party gets
a candidate - someone, anyone who will carry the
Libertarian torch - on the ballot for every partisan
race (as in, everywhere where the ballot lists what
party a candidate belongs to) in every location the
party has ballot access.  (At least, where the amount
of resources - for signature gathering et al - to get
a candidate on the ballot is not substantially
higher than for the major parties.  I believe the
Libertarians have this status in California, for
example.)

That alone would get the party a dramatic increase in
number of elected officials, just from voter
discontent with incumbents where the other major
party fields no strong (or, often, simply no)
opposition.  That in turn would substantially increase
the resources the party has to work with - from third
party contributions to elected officials, state
resources gained by having people in office, and
increased voter registration once such a thing makes
the party seem more legitimate in the public eye -
which would enable it to seriously contest other
races.  I would probably stage this for an off-year
election, to minimize other issues that would distract
the news media from giving the party free publicity.

The above would apply were I to gain control of any
other non-major political party, or start my own.

I believe that is a strategy they can follow if they
wish to be seen as more legitimate, and it is not one
that the major parties can mostly prevent.  Next time
you look at a ballot, see how many of the minor races
- not the president, not the governor, and not
Congress, but instead the state legislature and
similar minor (but still important enough to list
party affiliation) races - simply don't have any
third party candidates.  All that would take to fix
is a group of volunteers with a wide enough
geographic dispersion, and timing.


> Regarding the name WWFF, I have been struggling to
> introduce a T in there
> somehow, in order to have the acronym suggest a familiar
> and comforting
> catchphrase.

*shrugs*  Given how irreverent the idea is anyway, why not
just put it in the official acronym?  "But what does it
stand for?"  Doesn't need to stand for anything.

Alternately, design the logo so the first F strongly
suggests a T.

> ps It just occurred to me that the reason I am getting so
> few responses in
> my continuing job search is that potential employers are
> googling my email
> address and finding posts such as this one.  Normal
> rocket scientists just
> don't write this kind of stuff, they really don't. 
> Rather than being a
> gawking customer, I may soon find myself working stoned and
> nekkid at the
> local WTF.

These posts don't show up high when I google myself.  That
one nanotech interview I did years ago keeps trumping most
of the other results.

Besides, having a public track record of trying to actually
solve problems is not inherently a bad thing.