OrchidWiz CD
 

I took OrchidWiz to judging on Monday 11/21. I showed it to several of
the judges and we all came away wondering why the AOS is bothering to
create an awards CD of their own. This thing kicks ass and its already
here. Why don't they just buy him out?

At first I only saw the use of this program in terms of researching AOS
awards. It really does a mind blowing job of providing data for
comparing awards. It'll list a flower's awards from 1932 to the most
recent AQ in a table, and you can click on the heading in each column to
re-sort the data according to that criterion. So if you want to compare
according to petal width you can. If you want to compare to dorsal sepal
width, you can. If you want to compare to natural spread, you can.
Click of a button. Very cool

Even cooler is you can compare the offspring's awards (if there are any)
to the stats for the parents' awards. It will give you the size range
and where this flower falls withing that range.

No award photos but it does have photos from contributors and open
source drawings, like from Lindliana. So the parent trees show thumbnail
pictures if he has them. And not only one picture but whatever he has.
So click on C mossiae will bring up a variety of color forms and
drawings. Click on the thumbnail and the image enlarges. Very cool.
Now, its not like he has a ton of photos. Far from it. But the feature
will evolve, I hope, as people send in pictures.

But aside from AOS awards, I mean, the list of what this disk does goes
on and on. When I looked at the web page it sorta was - I dunno - I was
mystified as to what was so great about the product that I'd dump
Wildcatt for this, or plunk down additional money for this. There
wasn't really anything on the webpage that made me want to buy this.
But I took a leap of faith. I think the web page is so vague because you
*can't* list everything this program does. Its like trying to describe
the taste of an apple. I'm sure as the word gets out people will bring
it to meetings and you'll be able to check it out for yourselves.

Sheesh, it even has culture guides, LOL!! Based of parental species
makeup - and yes he cautions you that there's no guarantee of genetic
make up in a complex hybrid.

If you never needed Wildcatt you won't want to buy this either. You can
use the RHS database and you'll be OK. If you already have Wildcatt and
rarely use it, you won't need this either. Why bother? For you its
redundant. If you need to research parentage, breeding lines, or awards
this is the program to get.

I'm not connected with OrchidWiz, or anything. Heck I can't even recall
the name of the fellow who created the CD.

K Barrett

OrchidWiz CD
 

Good review writeup Kathy, I was going to buy it but now I will just
ask you! *G*
I will just stick to growing the plants etc.

--
Cheers Wendy

Remove PETERPAN for email reply

K Barrett wrote:
I took OrchidWiz to judging on Monday 11/21. I showed it to several
of the judges and we all came away wondering why the AOS is bothering
to create an awards CD of their own. This thing kicks ass and its
already here. Why don't they just buy him out?

At first I only saw the use of this program in terms of researching
AOS awards. It really does a mind blowing job of providing data for
comparing awards. It'll list a flower's awards from 1932 to the most
recent AQ in a table, and you can click on the heading in each column
to re-sort the data according to that criterion. So if you want to
compare according to petal width you can. If you want to compare to
dorsal sepal width, you can. If you want to compare to natural
spread, you can. Click of a button. Very cool

Even cooler is you can compare the offspring's awards (if there are
any) to the stats for the parents' awards. It will give you the size
range and where this flower falls withing that range.

No award photos but it does have photos from contributors and open
source drawings, like from Lindliana. So the parent trees show
thumbnail pictures if he has them. And not only one picture but
whatever he has. So click on C mossiae will bring up a variety of
color forms and drawings. Click on the thumbnail and the image
enlarges. Very cool. Now, its not like he has a ton of photos. Far
from it. But the feature will evolve, I hope, as people send in
pictures.
But aside from AOS awards, I mean, the list of what this disk does
goes on and on. When I looked at the web page it sorta was - I dunno
- I was mystified as to what was so great about the product that I'd
dump Wildcatt for this, or plunk down additional money for this. There
wasn't really anything on the webpage that made me want to buy
this. But I took a leap of faith. I think the web page is so vague
because you *can't* list everything this program does. Its like
trying to describe the taste of an apple. I'm sure as the word gets
out people will bring it to meetings and you'll be able to check it
out for yourselves.
Sheesh, it even has culture guides, LOL!! Based of parental species
makeup - and yes he cautions you that there's no guarantee of genetic
make up in a complex hybrid.

If you never needed Wildcatt you won't want to buy this either. You
can use the RHS database and you'll be OK. If you already have
Wildcatt and rarely use it, you won't need this either. Why bother?
For you its redundant. If you need to research parentage, breeding
lines, or awards this is the program to get.

I'm not connected with OrchidWiz, or anything. Heck I can't even
recall the name of the fellow who created the CD.

K Barrett

OrchidWiz CD
 

wendy7 wrote:
Good review writeup Kathy, I was going to buy it but now I will just
ask you! *G*
I will just stick to growing the plants etc.




I was thinking of you when I wrote it. Ask for it for Christmas, *G*.

But let's say you *did* want to clean up your tags.(let's be frank, your
tags are a mess, LOL!! and we've known each other long enough that I can
say that and not hurt your feelings)

1) You could ask me.

2) You could search the RHS database. (The RHS database is a pain in the
neck because one has to spell out the genus, and I can never rememeber
if its sophrolaeliocattleya or sophrolaeliacattleya. I never know
whether there really *are* no results or if I misspelled the genus...)

3) You could use Wildcatt or OrchidWiz.

OrchidWiz allows you just to put in a name and every orchid with those
keystrokes anywhere in the name shows up. So for example we put in
'Winston Churchill' and came up with Paph Winston Churchill and we were
all amazed to find out there was a Lc Sir Winston Churchill. In
Wildcatt you'd never have found the cattleya cross because it only
searches in one section, like 'paphs', or 'dendrobiums'. Also in
OrchidWiz if there's a plant whose name has changed - like diacrum for
caulaurton (or however you spell it) that shows as a synomym. I have to
look to see if it lists all the changes the RHS has made to Oncidium.
Like Colmanara Wildcat is something else now. (Yes, it does! And shows
a cute little picture that you can enlarge to viewing size.)

Let's say you only remember the clonal name of an orchid. In Wildcatt if
you only knew the clonal name of an orchid you'd go to 'AQ search', in
'clonal' you'd type in 2 dots, the clonal name and 2 dots, click
'search' and see what comes up. I mean, why do you have to put 2 dots in
front and behind a clonal name in order to search? Here you click on
'search', a drop down menu offers a search on orchid, genus, cultivar
(Ray), or image. Or exhibitors only. You can check all of Wilford
Neptune's CCMs, *G*. (shows 100 awards.) What's interesting about
Wilford is sometimes he's Wilford, "MD" or "Dr." Wilford. In Wildcatt
you have to know which one you are searching for. Here you just type in
'Wilford' and all the Wilfords show.

So, I didn't mean to talk you out of it. Does this pique your interest
more?

K

OrchidWiz CD
 

In article DB%hf.9907$dv.7456@fed1read02,
says...
Good review writeup Kathy, I was going to buy it but now I will just
ask you! *G*
I will just stick to growing the plants etc.


Well, I bought it and it came two days ago, but for some reason, it does
not like me and is refusing to start. Alex, poor guy, is on his
Thanksgiving vacation and trying to help me in spite of it! We'll get it
fixed once he gets back to his office.
The screen saver is nice, though.
--
--
Reka

This is LIFE! It's not a rehearsal. Don't miss it!
http://www.rolbox.it/hukari/index.html

OrchidWiz CD
 

Reka wrote:
In article DB%hf.9907$dv.7456@fed1read02,
says...

Good review writeup Kathy, I was going to buy it but now I will just
ask you! *G*
I will just stick to growing the plants etc.



Well, I bought it and it came two days ago, but for some reason, it does
not like me and is refusing to start. Alex, poor guy, is on his
Thanksgiving vacation and trying to help me in spite of it! We'll get it
fixed once he gets back to his office.
The screen saver is nice, though.

Alex had to save me too. Loaded right up on my desktop, hated my
laptop. He sent another CD, no worries. I haven't tried the
screensaver. What's it do?

K Barrett

OrchidWiz CD
 

Thanks for the information, Kathy. This sounds like something we ought to
have for when the judges come calling to our show.

Diana

OrchidWiz CD
 

K - In case you do need to go to the RHS site in future (e.g, for things
too new to be in your latest update of Orchidwiz) -- just leave the genus
field blank. Much easier that way, although it will sometimes get you some
"extraneous" hits. I'd rather get extra than miss the right one, and it's
usually easy to sort them out [the exception being when the same grex name
has been to, say, a C. and a Blc. or Lc. -- a practice that I don't think
should be permitted, but apparently it is]. Kenni

2) You could search the RHS database. (The RHS database is a pain in the
neck because one has to spell out the genus, and I can never rememeber if
its sophrolaeliocattleya or sophrolaeliacattleya. I never know whether
there really *are* no results or if I misspelled the genus...)

OrchidWiz CD
 

In article ,
says...
Reka wrote:
In article DB%hf.9907$dv.7456@fed1read02,
says...

Good review writeup Kathy, I was going to buy it but now I will just
ask you! *G*
I will just stick to growing the plants etc.



Well, I bought it and it came two days ago, but for some reason, it does
not like me and is refusing to start. Alex, poor guy, is on his
Thanksgiving vacation and trying to help me in spite of it! We'll get it
fixed once he gets back to his office.
The screen saver is nice, though.

Alex had to save me too. Loaded right up on my desktop, hated my
laptop. He sent another CD, no worries. I haven't tried the
screensaver. What's it do?

K Barrett

It cycles grex pics along with their parents. Gets me drooling to get
the program going.

Why didn't it like your laptop? My PC says "Cannot start your
application. The workgroup information file is missing or opened
exclusively by another user." I have tried just about everything I can
think of.

--
Reka

This is LIFE! It's not a rehearsal. Don't miss it!
http://www.rolbox.it/hukari/index.html

OrchidWiz CD
 

Yes Kathy & Frank knows how bad my tags are. You can't hurt my feelings,
I am thick skinned but very shy.....remember.
Yes you've got me going again. Sounds like the database was built
using Microsoft Access.
Will have to put it on my list for Santa.
--
Cheers Wendy

Remove PETERPAN for email reply
"K Barrett" wrote in message
. ..
wendy7 wrote:
Good review writeup Kathy, I was going to buy it but now I will just
ask you! *G*
I will just stick to growing the plants etc.




I was thinking of you when I wrote it. Ask for it for Christmas, *G*.

But let's say you *did* want to clean up your tags.(let's be frank, your
tags are a mess, LOL!! and we've known each other long enough that I can
say that and not hurt your feelings)

1) You could ask me.

2) You could search the RHS database. (The RHS database is a pain in the
neck because one has to spell out the genus, and I can never rememeber if
its sophrolaeliocattleya or sophrolaeliacattleya. I never know whether
there really *are* no results or if I misspelled the genus...)

3) You could use Wildcatt or OrchidWiz.

OrchidWiz allows you just to put in a name and every orchid with those
keystrokes anywhere in the name shows up. So for example we put in
'Winston Churchill' and came up with Paph Winston Churchill and we were
all amazed to find out there was a Lc Sir Winston Churchill. In Wildcatt
you'd never have found the cattleya cross because it only searches in one
section, like 'paphs', or 'dendrobiums'. Also in OrchidWiz if there's a
plant whose name has changed - like diacrum for caulaurton (or however you
spell it) that shows as a synomym. I have to look to see if it lists all
the changes the RHS has made to Oncidium. Like Colmanara Wildcat is
something else now. (Yes, it does! And shows a cute little picture that
you can enlarge to viewing size.)

Let's say you only remember the clonal name of an orchid. In Wildcatt if
you only knew the clonal name of an orchid you'd go to 'AQ search', in
'clonal' you'd type in 2 dots, the clonal name and 2 dots, click 'search'
and see what comes up. I mean, why do you have to put 2 dots in front and
behind a clonal name in order to search? Here you click on 'search', a
drop down menu offers a search on orchid, genus, cultivar (Ray), or image.
Or exhibitors only. You can check all of Wilford Neptune's CCMs, *G*.
(shows 100 awards.) What's interesting about Wilford is sometimes he's
Wilford, "MD" or "Dr." Wilford. In Wildcatt you have to know which one you
are searching for. Here you just type in 'Wilford' and all the Wilfords
show.

So, I didn't mean to talk you out of it. Does this pique your interest
more?

K

OrchidWiz CD
 

Reka wrote:
In article ,
says...

Reka wrote:

In article DB%hf.9907$dv.7456@fed1read02,
says...


Good review writeup Kathy, I was going to buy it but now I will just
ask you! *G*
I will just stick to growing the plants etc.



Well, I bought it and it came two days ago, but for some reason, it does
not like me and is refusing to start. Alex, poor guy, is on his
Thanksgiving vacation and trying to help me in spite of it! We'll get it
fixed once he gets back to his office.
The screen saver is nice, though.

Alex had to save me too. Loaded right up on my desktop, hated my
laptop. He sent another CD, no worries. I haven't tried the
screensaver. What's it do?

K Barrett


It cycles grex pics along with their parents. Gets me drooling to get
the program going.

Why didn't it like your laptop? My PC says "Cannot start your
application. The workgroup information file is missing or opened
exclusively by another user." I have tried just about everything I can
think of.



We figured the 1st CD didn't like the laptop's picky CD drive. It kept
installing halfway, them a variety of errors would come up: file not
found, Please confirm access. I'd click on retry and pfft. nada. Alex
sent a new CD and voila, no troubles.

K

OrchidWiz CD
 

Thanks Kenni! One of these days I'll tell you the story about tracking
down parentage for Odm. Rawdon Jester. Turns out another fellow and I
were both using the RHS database & getting completely different results.
We also both complained to Julian Shaw about it (unbeknownst to each
other.) Shaw must have thought we were crazy.

K

Kenni Judd wrote:
K - In case you do need to go to the RHS site in future (e.g, for things
too new to be in your latest update of Orchidwiz) -- just leave the genus
field blank. Much easier that way, although it will sometimes get you some
"extraneous" hits. I'd rather get extra than miss the right one, and it's
usually easy to sort them out [the exception being when the same grex name
has been to, say, a C. and a Blc. or Lc. -- a practice that I don't think
should be permitted, but apparently it is]. Kenni


2) You could search the RHS database. (The RHS database is a pain in the
neck because one has to spell out the genus, and I can never rememeber if
its sophrolaeliocattleya or sophrolaeliacattleya. I never know whether
there really *are* no results or if I misspelled the genus...)

OrchidWiz CD
 

"K Barrett" wrote in message
...
Reka wrote:
In article ,
says...

Reka wrote:

In article DB%hf.9907$dv.7456@fed1read02,
says...


Good review writeup Kathy, I was going to buy it but now I will just
ask you! *G*
I will just stick to growing the plants etc.



Well, I bought it and it came two days ago, but for some reason, it
does
not like me and is refusing to start. Alex, poor guy, is on his
Thanksgiving vacation and trying to help me in spite of it! We'll get
it
fixed once he gets back to his office.
The screen saver is nice, though.

Alex had to save me too. Loaded right up on my desktop, hated my
laptop. He sent another CD, no worries. I haven't tried the
screensaver. What's it do?

K Barrett


It cycles grex pics along with their parents. Gets me drooling to get
the program going.

Why didn't it like your laptop? My PC says "Cannot start your
application. The workgroup information file is missing or opened
exclusively by another user." I have tried just about everything I can
think of.



We figured the 1st CD didn't like the laptop's picky CD drive. It kept
installing halfway, them a variety of errors would come up: file not
found, Please confirm access. I'd click on retry and pfft. nada. Alex
sent a new CD and voila, no troubles.

K

Sounds like a few bugs need to be fixed with the software.
Keith

OrchidWiz CD
 

Hi All, I have had Orchidwiz for a while-- didn't have any problem
installing it on Windows XP but I'm sure you will find Alex very
helpful if you do have a problem. The screensaver (that come free) is
fascinating. It shows a hybrid & it's parents & keeps changing. I can't
get passed Cattleyas but I'm sure there is more (seems to be endless) I
have noticed several people have added disclaimers saying they are not
in any way part of the company. I am not either. As a matter of fact I
had no clue who Alex was tho I go to the West Palm Judging a lot (he's
a student judge) I did introduce myself to him last judging. BUT I
probably sound like a salesman I'm so happy with this program. In a
previous post on this thread someone said "It kicks ass" Perfectly
stated !!! This program is an Orchid Wiz !! I'm sure it will be better
w/more photos but it has plenty now. Good Growing, Bill

OrchidWiz CD
 

In article , keith.kent3
@REMOVETHISntlworld.com says...
Sounds like a few bugs need to be fixed with the software.
Keith


No, Alex assumes my problem was a mistake on his part when burning the
CD. He is sending me a new one.
--
Reka

This is LIFE! It's not a rehearsal. Don't miss it!
http://www.rolbox.it/hukari/index.html

OrchidWiz CD
 

"Reka" wrote in message
.. .
In article , keith.kent3
@REMOVETHISntlworld.com says...
Sounds like a few bugs need to be fixed with the software.
Keith


No, Alex assumes my problem was a mistake on his part when burning the
CD. He is sending me a new one.
--
Reka

This is LIFE! It's not a rehearsal. Don't miss it!
http://www.rolbox.it/hukari/index.html

A bug with the software provider then.
Keith

OrchidWiz CD
 

Kathy, You have me piqued! *G* Is all the data on one disk or do you have
to hook up
to a web site & glean from there? (Not sure of the computer terminology)
Also are the updates like those from the old Sanders books, new stuff?
--
Cheers Wendy

Remove PETERPAN for email reply

K Barrett wrote:
wendy7 wrote:
Good review writeup Kathy, I was going to buy it but now I will just
ask you! *G*
I will just stick to growing the plants etc.




I was thinking of you when I wrote it. Ask for it for Christmas, *G*.

But let's say you *did* want to clean up your tags.(let's be frank,
your tags are a mess, LOL!! and we've known each other long enough
that I can say that and not hurt your feelings)

1) You could ask me.

2) You could search the RHS database. (The RHS database is a pain in
the neck because one has to spell out the genus, and I can never
rememeber if its sophrolaeliocattleya or sophrolaeliacattleya. I
never know whether there really *are* no results or if I misspelled
the genus...)
3) You could use Wildcatt or OrchidWiz.

OrchidWiz allows you just to put in a name and every orchid with those
keystrokes anywhere in the name shows up. So for example we put in
'Winston Churchill' and came up with Paph Winston Churchill and we
were all amazed to find out there was a Lc Sir Winston Churchill. In
Wildcatt you'd never have found the cattleya cross because it only
searches in one section, like 'paphs', or 'dendrobiums'. Also in
OrchidWiz if there's a plant whose name has changed - like diacrum for
caulaurton (or however you spell it) that shows as a synomym. I have
to look to see if it lists all the changes the RHS has made to
Oncidium. Like Colmanara Wildcat is something else now. (Yes, it
does! And shows a cute little picture that you can enlarge to
viewing size.)
Let's say you only remember the clonal name of an orchid. In Wildcatt
if you only knew the clonal name of an orchid you'd go to 'AQ
search', in 'clonal' you'd type in 2 dots, the clonal name and 2
dots, click 'search' and see what comes up. I mean, why do you have
to put 2 dots in front and behind a clonal name in order to search? Here
you click on 'search', a drop down menu offers a search on
orchid, genus, cultivar (Ray), or image. Or exhibitors only. You can
check all of Wilford Neptune's CCMs, *G*. (shows 100 awards.) What's
interesting about Wilford is sometimes he's Wilford, "MD" or "Dr."
Wilford. In Wildcatt you have to know which one you are searching
for. Here you just type in 'Wilford' and all the Wilfords show.

So, I didn't mean to talk you out of it. Does this pique your
interest more?

K

OrchidWiz CD
 

wendy7 wrote:
Kathy, You have me piqued! *G* Is all the data on one disk or do you have
to hook up
to a web site & glean from there? (Not sure of the computer terminology)
Also are the updates like those from the old Sanders books, new stuff?

All the data and the screen saver is on one CD disk. You pop it in the
computer, it first puts on an installing software (microsoft program)
then installs itself. Like I said, on my desktop it was bang-zoom.
Done. No worries.

I can't recall what it says from the webpage, but I think it updates 4
times a year. I think the cost was $20 per update. You can skip an
update if you want, the next update includes all previous information.
Wildcatt updates twice a year, and I cant recall the amount for that.

K Barrett

OrchidWiz CD
 

Bill wrote:
Hi All, I have had Orchidwiz for a while-- didn't have any problem
installing it on Windows XP but I'm sure you will find Alex very
helpful if you do have a problem. The screensaver (that come free) is
fascinating. It shows a hybrid & it's parents & keeps changing. I can't
get passed Cattleyas but I'm sure there is more (seems to be endless) I
have noticed several people have added disclaimers saying they are not
in any way part of the company. I am not either. As a matter of fact I
had no clue who Alex was tho I go to the West Palm Judging a lot (he's
a student judge) I did introduce myself to him last judging. BUT I
probably sound like a salesman I'm so happy with this program. In a
previous post on this thread someone said "It kicks ass" Perfectly
stated !!! This program is an Orchid Wiz !! I'm sure it will be better
w/more photos but it has plenty now. Good Growing, Bill


I know! I was trying to decide if I sounded like a salesman, and vowed
to stop posting on the subject, LOL!! Its hard not to gush.

The real question is WHY the AOS is trying to create their own CD when
this one is here!!! Already done. Only for award photos?? That'd be
the only draw. And from what I understand there's an award photographer
who is holding out on their use of his photos, so they are going ahead
without his pictures anyway.

K Barrett

OrchidWiz CD
 

In article ,
says...
wendy7 wrote:
Kathy, You have me piqued! *G* Is all the data on one disk or do you have
to hook up
to a web site & glean from there? (Not sure of the computer terminology)
Also are the updates like those from the old Sanders books, new stuff?

All the data and the screen saver is on one CD disk. You pop it in the
computer, it first puts on an installing software (microsoft program)
then installs itself. Like I said, on my desktop it was bang-zoom.
Done. No worries.

I can't recall what it says from the webpage, but I think it updates 4
times a year. I think the cost was $20 per update. You can skip an
update if you want, the next update includes all previous information.
Wildcatt updates twice a year, and I cant recall the amount for that.

K Barrett

$29.95, and I don't know if they are accumulative like OrchidWiz's. Plus
Wildcatt costs 160 to begin with and no photos.

--
Reka

This is LIFE! It's not a rehearsal. Don't miss it!
http://www.rolbox.it/hukari/index.html

OrchidWiz CD
 

K Barrett wrote:
[snip]

The real question is WHY the AOS is trying to create their own CD when
this one is here!!! Already done. Only for award photos?? That'd be
the only draw. And from what I understand there's an award photographer
who is holding out on their use of his photos, so they are going ahead
without his pictures anyway.

K Barrett

And replying to my own post:

What would it take to get this onto a PDA or other hand held device?
There are several with larger screens now, so viewing information in a
small screen isn't the limiting factor anymore. THAT'S what we need. I
should email Alex and ask. If he can get it onto a pda he'd make a
million bucks.

K Barrett

OrchidWiz CD
 

Keith: I have not yet tried this software [I've been a little too busy
recovering from H. Wilma], but I do have acquaintance with Alex Maximiano.
He's a good guy.

I see him regularly at shows, and he takes a lot of pics of my plants. I
assume but don't know that at least some of them are in this program.
Unlike _many_ other photographers, Alex has always been extremely courteous
and considerate. E.g., he always asked permission, made sure to stay out of
the way of paying customers while he was shooting, and didn't muck up my
booth or break plants moving things around to get "the perfect shot." Alex
also sent me copies of the pics he took of my plants, for my own use. [Lots
of photographers say they'll do this, but only about 5% actually follow
through and do it.]

We are all human, which means we all make errors from time to time. If
Alex makes a mistake, and then makes it right at no cost to the purchaser,
without lengthy hold time to phone-in a complaint, making the purchaser fill
out and mail lengthy forms, or even return the defective one, he's way ahead
of most software providers I've dealt with -- although I should also note
that Helga at WildCatt is also very good in this regard. When I needed to
re-install WildCatt a while back, she sent me a new (then-current) CD free
of charge so I wouldn't have to go through the process with my ancient
original and a whole pile of update disks.

If you don't want, or don't want to spend the $$ for, the product he's
developed, that's certainly your free right and choice. But it doesn't seem
like a good reason to denounce the product, or the producer, sight-unseen,
on a public forum.
--
Kenni Judd
Juno Beach Orchids



"keith ;-)" wrote in message
...

"Reka" wrote in message
.. .
In article , keith.kent3
@REMOVETHISntlworld.com says...
Sounds like a few bugs need to be fixed with the software.
Keith


No, Alex assumes my problem was a mistake on his part when burning the
CD. He is sending me a new one.
--
Reka

This is LIFE! It's not a rehearsal. Don't miss it!
http://www.rolbox.it/hukari/index.html

A bug with the software provider then.
Keith

OrchidWiz CD
 

I didn't think we had any say in how AOS used our award photos?
-danny

"K Barrett" wrote in message
...
The real question is WHY the AOS is trying to create their own CD when
this one is here!!! Already done. Only for award photos?? That'd be the
only draw. And from what I understand there's an award photographer who
is holding out on their use of his photos, so they are going ahead without
his pictures anyway.

K Barrett

OrchidWiz CD
 

You don't. But the photographer undoubtedly has a contract with AOS ...
Kenni
"danny" wrote in message
.. .
I didn't think we had any say in how AOS used our award photos?
-danny

"K Barrett" wrote in message
...
The real question is WHY the AOS is trying to create their own CD when
this one is here!!! Already done. Only for award photos?? That'd be the
only draw. And from what I understand there's an award photographer who
is holding out on their use of his photos, so they are going ahead
without his pictures anyway.

K Barrett

OrchidWiz CD
 

I am a judging photographer, and I don't really have a contract with AOS
that I know of.
-danny

"Kenni Judd" wrote in message
...
You don't. But the photographer undoubtedly has a contract with AOS ...
Kenni
"danny" wrote in message
.. .
I didn't think we had any say in how AOS used our award photos?
-danny

"K Barrett" wrote in message
...
The real question is WHY the AOS is trying to create their own CD when
this one is here!!! Already done. Only for award photos?? That'd be
the only draw. And from what I understand there's an award photographer
who is holding out on their use of his photos, so they are going ahead
without his pictures anyway.

K Barrett

OrchidWiz CD
 

I don't know what the hold up is either. As far as I know you grant the
AOS use of your pictures for whatever purpose they want. (its in the
Handbook somewhere and I think on the place where you sign -
photographer's list (??? I may be wrong about that) I have been led to
believe its Charles Marden Fitch who's the main holdout, but no one has
ever truely stated his name as the holdout... so this could be rumor.
As far as I'm concerned the judging region (of whomever is holding out)
needs only have a second person with a digital camera to take pictures
of awarded plants. Use those for AOS purposes.

K Barrett

danny wrote:
I am a judging photographer, and I don't really have a contract with AOS
that I know of.
-danny

"Kenni Judd" wrote in message
...

You don't. But the photographer undoubtedly has a contract with AOS ...
Kenni
"danny" wrote in message
...

I didn't think we had any say in how AOS used our award photos?
-danny

"K Barrett" wrote in message
...

The real question is WHY the AOS is trying to create their own CD when
this one is here!!! Already done. Only for award photos?? That'd be
the only draw. And from what I understand there's an award photographer
who is holding out on their use of his photos, so they are going ahead
without his pictures anyway.

K Barrett

OrchidWiz CD
 

"Kenni Judd" wrote in message
...
Keith: I have not yet tried this software [I've been a little too busy
recovering from H. Wilma], but I do have acquaintance with Alex Maximiano.
He's a good guy.

I see him regularly at shows, and he takes a lot of pics of my plants. I
assume but don't know that at least some of them are in this program.
Unlike _many_ other photographers, Alex has always been extremely
courteous
and considerate. E.g., he always asked permission, made sure to stay out
of
the way of paying customers while he was shooting, and didn't muck up my
booth or break plants moving things around to get "the perfect shot."
Alex
also sent me copies of the pics he took of my plants, for my own use.
[Lots
of photographers say they'll do this, but only about 5% actually follow
through and do it.]

We are all human, which means we all make errors from time to time. If
Alex makes a mistake, and then makes it right at no cost to the purchaser,
without lengthy hold time to phone-in a complaint, making the purchaser
fill
out and mail lengthy forms, or even return the defective one, he's way
ahead
of most software providers I've dealt with -- although I should also note
that Helga at WildCatt is also very good in this regard. When I needed to
re-install WildCatt a while back, she sent me a new (then-current) CD free
of charge so I wouldn't have to go through the process with my ancient
original and a whole pile of update disks.

If you don't want, or don't want to spend the $$ for, the product he's
developed, that's certainly your free right and choice. But it doesn't
seem
like a good reason to denounce the product, or the producer, sight-unseen,
on a public forum.
--
Kenni Judd
Juno Beach Orchids



"keith ;-)" wrote in message
...

"Reka" wrote in message
.. .
In article , keith.kent3
@REMOVETHISntlworld.com says...
Sounds like a few bugs need to be fixed with the software.
Keith


No, Alex assumes my problem was a mistake on his part when burning the
CD. He is sending me a new one.
--
Reka

This is LIFE! It's not a rehearsal. Don't miss it!
http://www.rolbox.it/hukari/index.html

A bug with the software provider then.
Keith

Hi Kenni.
Snip
If you don't want, or don't want to spend the $$ for, the product he's
developed, that's certainly your free right and choice. But it doesn't seem
like a good reason to denounce the product, or the producer, sight-unseen,
on a public forum.

I dont see how saying there could be a bug with the software denouncing the
product/producer,this happens all the time with new software and different
operating systems.Remember when XP came out there were huge problems.I have
had software not work or crash on my pc ,i am sure we all have.And Reka
stated it was the mistake of the producer ,i said a bug sarcasticly
following on from my post.Which it obviously was.
Thanks Keith

OrchidWiz CD
 

I'd go for that, especially if it could be made small enough to fit in a 1
or 2 GB SD card, which is what I put the maps for my Garmin GPS Palm on.
Murri

"K Barrett" wrote in message
...
K Barrett wrote:
[snip]

The real question is WHY the AOS is trying to create their own CD when
this one is here!!! Already done. Only for award photos?? That'd be the
only draw. And from what I understand there's an award photographer who
is holding out on their use of his photos, so they are going ahead
without his pictures anyway.

K Barrett

And replying to my own post:

What would it take to get this onto a PDA or other hand held device? There
are several with larger screens now, so viewing information in a small
screen isn't the limiting factor anymore. THAT'S what we need. I should
email Alex and ask. If he can get it onto a pda he'd make a million
bucks.

K Barrett

OrchidWiz CD
 

Turns out a PDA type program was what Alex had been trying to make. I
guess the program is too big to run (with any functionality) on a PDA.
I've looked at PDAs since posting this (becasue I never believe anyone
had have to figure it out for myself) and I see that the processors are
very slow, and they have miserable memory. The OrchidWiz program is big
and a slow processor would only make it crawl at a snail's pace, no?

That said there are a few HP iPAQs with large screens that work in
either portrait or landscape... or tablet PCs.

K Barrett

K Barrett

Lady Blacksword wrote:
I'd go for that, especially if it could be made small enough to fit in a 1
or 2 GB SD card, which is what I put the maps for my Garmin GPS Palm on.
Murri

"K Barrett" wrote in message
...

K Barrett wrote:
[snip]

The real question is WHY the AOS is trying to create their own CD when
this one is here!!! Already done. Only for award photos?? That'd be the
only draw. And from what I understand there's an award photographer who
is holding out on their use of his photos, so they are going ahead
without his pictures anyway.

K Barrett

And replying to my own post:

What would it take to get this onto a PDA or other hand held device? There
are several with larger screens now, so viewing information in a small
screen isn't the limiting factor anymore. THAT'S what we need. I should
email Alex and ask. If he can get it onto a pda he'd make a million
bucks.

K Barrett

OrchidWiz CD
 

You might suggest to Alex that he do a pared down version- no pics, just
text, and use the simplest graphics for the interface. My palm is capable of
using whatever size of SD card you feel like giving it, and I think there
are 5 or 7 GB cards availible now.
Murri

"K Barrett" wrote in message
...
Turns out a PDA type program was what Alex had been trying to make. I
guess the program is too big to run (with any functionality) on a PDA.
I've looked at PDAs since posting this (becasue I never believe anyone had
have to figure it out for myself) and I see that the processors are very
slow, and they have miserable memory. The OrchidWiz program is big and a
slow processor would only make it crawl at a snail's pace, no?

That said there are a few HP iPAQs with large screens that work in either
portrait or landscape... or tablet PCs.

K Barrett

K Barrett

Lady Blacksword wrote:
I'd go for that, especially if it could be made small enough to fit in a
1 or 2 GB SD card, which is what I put the maps for my Garmin GPS Palm
on.
Murri

"K Barrett" wrote in message
...

K Barrett wrote:
[snip]

The real question is WHY the AOS is trying to create their own CD when
this one is here!!! Already done. Only for award photos?? That'd be
the only draw. And from what I understand there's an award photographer
who is holding out on their use of his photos, so they are going ahead
without his pictures anyway.

K Barrett

And replying to my own post:

What would it take to get this onto a PDA or other hand held device?
There are several with larger screens now, so viewing information in a
small screen isn't the limiting factor anymore. THAT'S what we need. I
should email Alex and ask. If he can get it onto a pda he'd make a
million bucks.

K Barrett

OrchidWiz CD
 

Kathy, I am still following this thread & wouldn't it be easier just
to have a laptop with you?

--
Cheers Wendy

Remove PETERPAN for email reply

K Barrett wrote:
Turns out a PDA type program was what Alex had been trying to make. I
guess the program is too big to run (with any functionality) on a PDA.
I've looked at PDAs since posting this (becasue I never believe anyone
had have to figure it out for myself) and I see that the processors
are very slow, and they have miserable memory. The OrchidWiz program
is big and a slow processor would only make it crawl at a snail's
pace, no?
That said there are a few HP iPAQs with large screens that work in
either portrait or landscape... or tablet PCs.

K Barrett

K Barrett

Lady Blacksword wrote:
I'd go for that, especially if it could be made small enough to fit
in a 1 or 2 GB SD card, which is what I put the maps for my Garmin
GPS Palm on. Murri

"K Barrett" wrote in message
...

K Barrett wrote:
[snip]

The real question is WHY the AOS is trying to create their own CD
when this one is here!!! Already done. Only for award photos?? That'd
be the only draw. And from what I understand there's an
award photographer who is holding out on their use of his photos,
so they are going ahead without his pictures anyway.

K Barrett

And replying to my own post:

What would it take to get this onto a PDA or other hand held
device? There are several with larger screens now, so viewing
information in a small screen isn't the limiting factor anymore.
THAT'S what we need. I should email Alex and ask. If he can get it
onto a pda he'd make a million bucks.

K Barrett

OrchidWiz CD
 

I think I can help here.
"wendy7" wrote in message
news:i0okf.63044$qw.48095@fed1read07...
Kathy, I am still following this thread & wouldn't it be easier just
to have a laptop with you?

For a program like this, this would be the smartest option. A relatively
new PC or laptop would certainly be capable of giving decent performance
with this kind of application.

As always, the trick is to design your application for a specific target
platform, and recognize that some platforms are totally inadequate for some
applications at a given time. A PDA may be totally inappropriate for an
application with the amount of data managed by OrchidWiz, right now, but the
PDA of 2015 may be well suited to such an application.

--
Cheers Wendy

Remove PETERPAN for email reply

K Barrett wrote:
Turns out a PDA type program was what Alex had been trying to make. I
guess the program is too big to run (with any functionality) on a PDA.
I've looked at PDAs since posting this (becasue I never believe anyone
had have to figure it out for myself) and I see that the processors
are very slow, and they have miserable memory. The OrchidWiz program
is big and a slow processor would only make it crawl at a snail's
pace, no?
That said there are a few HP iPAQs with large screens that work in
either portrait or landscape... or tablet PCs.

The graphics required for this kind of application are not likely the
problem, although they made need to be revised to better suite the platform.
The big problem will be the slow processor and pitiful memory. The only
time I would consider current PDAs for a database application is if the
database is maintained on the internet and the client application running on
the PDA used greatly simplified queries (processed largely on the server so
that only a single record is sent to the PDA). One MIGHT get acceptable
performance then, but I have my doubts.

The suggestion of porting it to a PDA, though, may well prove feasible a few
years down the road. A few years ago, I developed a simple GPS application
that served to collect data real time, and it ran on DOS with only 640K RAM,
and a 1 MB memory stick. If the database is kept tiny (less than 1 to 2 MB)
one can put a simple database application on an anemic machine. Mine even
had a pretty good graphical interface. It did not, though, do any
significant processing beyond displaying the interface and collecting and
storing data.

I'd guess you won't see OrchidWhiz on a PDA without significant refactoring
to optimize the program for a much smaller computer, improved programming
techniques, and improved hardware. Remember, there was a time when
databases existed only on mainframe computers. Years later, they could be
found on much smaller machines until they eventually made an appearance on
desktop machines, first high end workstations and then PCs. Early on in the
history, database software appeared for PCs, but that software was very
primitive and entirely unsuited for commercial use. Over the same period,
though, software technology, and programming techniques improved to the
point where now a decent desktop or notebook computer could easily handle a
commercial database, at least for small and medium sized businesses, as well
as web applications. Just as there were programs back in the 80's that
would only run on mainframes with acceptable speed, there are manay programs
right now that should not be run on anything less than a relatively new PC,
and I know of very specialized programs that, even today, need a
supercomputer or a cluster of compute servers in order to complete a task in
a reasonable amount of time (such as a week or two). Some environmental
simulation programs need a sizable cluster of compute servers (with the
dastest processors available), terabyte storage, and a few weeks to complete
one simulation.

PDA technology is too new and anemic for the kinds of software I presently
develop, but maybe that will change in five to ten years. While PDA
technology is interesting, I will not be porting any of my software to it
any time soon. Maybe I'll consider that when I can get a PDA that can
handle the same workload that my new desktop can handle (it has an Athlon 64
X2 3800+, with 1 GB RAM and an immense hard drive). I don't think I'll see
a PDA with that power any time soon.

Cheers,

Ted

--
R.E. (Ted) Byers, Ph.D., Ed.D.
R & D Decision Support Solutions
http://www.randddecisionsupportsolutions.com/
Healthy Living Through Informed Decision Making

OrchidWiz CD
 

On Sat, 3 Dec 2005 19:56:50 -0500 in Ted Byers wrote:

For a program like this, this would be the smartest option. A relatively
new PC or laptop would certainly be capable of giving decent performance
with this kind of application.

And a bit too bulky to carry around in someone else's greenhouse
complex.

As always, the trick is to design your application for a specific target
platform, and recognize that some platforms are totally inadequate for some
applications at a given time. A PDA may be totally inappropriate for an
application with the amount of data managed by OrchidWiz, right now, but the
PDA of 2015 may be well suited to such an application.

IMHO, OrchidWiz currently has the shortcoming of the application
cannot be broken from the collection of data.
Given the data, a geek can kludge up an adequate interface to access
the relevant subsets of the data from a PDA.
I know that I could have used some remote access to genus description
and renaming tables Saturday and one or two pictures.
The bandwidth of the various PDAs with long distance wireless data
access would have been adequate to retrieve that information, even
though current generation PDAs would have been illsuited to
running the entire application.

[Various Snippage concerning power of PDAs]

One thing I'll never understand is why tasks
that could be done on the pocket computers of 20 years ago
now require almost the same resources as tasks that couldn't
be done on the pocket computers of 20 years ago...

--
Chris Dukes
Suspicion breeds confidence -- Brazil

OrchidWiz CD
 

"?" wrote in message
rg...
On Sat, 3 Dec 2005 19:56:50 -0500 in
Ted Byers
wrote:

For a program like this, this would be the smartest option. A relatively
new PC or laptop would certainly be capable of giving decent performance
with this kind of application.

And a bit too bulky to carry around in someone else's greenhouse
complex.

True, but that is a context where one could obtain good performance from a
client/server application in which most of the application resides on a SOHO
wireless LAN. In this conext, the LAN will have plenty of unused bandwidth,
so communication between the PDA and the desktop computer running the server
application would be almost instantaneous. The program running on the PDA
would be what we call a thin client with almost all processing being done by
the server application.


As always, the trick is to design your application for a specific target
platform, and recognize that some platforms are totally inadequate for
some
applications at a given time. A PDA may be totally inappropriate for an
application with the amount of data managed by OrchidWiz, right now, but
the
PDA of 2015 may be well suited to such an application.

IMHO, OrchidWiz currently has the shortcoming of the application
cannot be broken from the collection of data.

I am not sure I understand you here. A capable software engineer could
break a given application into any collection of components that he sees as
appropriate. One of the things I can see PDAs of today as being able to
handle well is that of data collection and storage. Coupled with a GPS
device, such as system would be priceless for field biologists who'd prefer
to do medium to long term studies on a selection of specimens using
non-destructive techniques and technologies. All it would take is a
software engineer to develop a little application to tie it all together
(probably about a man-year for a commercial quality data collection
application).

Given the data, a geek can kludge up an adequate interface to access
the relevant subsets of the data from a PDA.
I know that I could have used some remote access to genus description
and renaming tables Saturday and one or two pictures.
The bandwidth of the various PDAs with long distance wireless data
access would have been adequate to retrieve that information, even
though current generation PDAs would have been illsuited to
running the entire application.

Here it seems like you're visualizing the kind of client/server application
I was coemplating about.

[Various Snippage concerning power of PDAs]

One thing I'll never understand is why tasks
that could be done on the pocket computers of 20 years ago
now require almost the same resources as tasks that couldn't
be done on the pocket computers of 20 years ago...

This is a complex issue, but I can offer suggestions on a couple factors.
First, many software houses are too cheap to hire experienced software
engineers, engineers who know how to use available hardware well. After
all, one can get a kid who still doesn't know he's still wet behind the ears
for half the visible cost of an experienced software engineer. Some of
these kids will be a whiz for certain tasks, but most will flounder for a
while, taking several times as long to complete a task as an experienced
software engineer would take. They just don't have the experience. IMHO,
an ideal software development team will include both a number of these kids
and a few old guys like me. ;-) Then you'd get the enthusiasm and energy
of the young guided by the experience of the old. Second, many 'software
engineers' lack the discipline of delivering only what is needed. I have
seen plenty of applications in which the developer added features just
because he could, and largely for the purpose of impressing his peers.
Third, most applications, and operating systems, suffer bloating because of
feature creep and gold plating. Fourth, many of these programs are built to
run on Windows or the standard distributions of Linux. MS has provided a
stripped down version of Windows for portable devices, and one can strip
down a distribution of Linux to a similar degree, but I doubt that either OS
could be stripped down enough to run on an 8086 PC. Even a supercomputer of
20 years ago would have been hard pressed to run either OS as they exist
now. That said I have seen special, relatively modern versions of unix that
have been developed specifically to run on anemic processors such as the
8086, but this is for embedded applications that no consumer will ever use
directly. Some of the smart applicances use it, but more often the
applications control equipment in industrial settings. The companies that
specialize on this market have been developing such tiny versions of unix
for years specifically for embedded applications. I have talked with
hardware engineers who do this, and sometimes they will even forgo the OS
and embed those features of the OS that they need right in the application
they're developing, using either C or assembler. But you and I will never
start, or try to use, such applications. They are designed to run the
moment the smart device is powered up, and then run continuously, without
user input, until it is powered down.

Yes, you're right in the trend you're seeing. It is not inevitable, but it
is understandable in terms of other trends in the industry, including the
fact that, in a sense, new applications carry the baggage of twenty years of
IT history to one extent or another. For consumer applications, that
baggage is embedded through the OS and would be outrageously expensive to
remove.

Does this help?

Cheers,

Ted

--
R.E. (Ted) Byers, Ph.D., Ed.D.
R & D Decision Support Solutions
http://www.randddecisionsupportsolutions.com/
Healthy Living Through Informed Decision Making

OrchidWiz CD
 

wendy7 wrote:
Kathy, I am still following this thread & wouldn't it be easier just
to have a laptop with you?


Well. yes, I have a laptop. I use it for shows where I have a table to
set it up at. And (dare I say this out loud?) I need to use a mouse
with it. I just can't get used to the dang finger board. So. That's
not the problem. One would (in a perfect world) like to have this at
one's fingertips, like a tricorder from Star Trek. Granted, if I was
into orchids when I was 9 yrs old I'd have the capacity to learn all
this stuff for myself and carry it in my brain, however I can't remember
anything anymore, so I need help.

Laptops - even today - weigh a ton. Sure there are ones that weigh 2.9
lbs, but imagine carrying around 1/2 a bag of sugar all day and imagine
what that would do for your arm or back. And they are bulky. You'd bump
inot plants and knock them off benches. PDAs weigh ounces and fit in a
pocket. Most require a stylus in order to operate their keyboards, and
I understand the screen gets dinged up from all the typing, but there
are ones with mini keyboards available.

I wonder about screen brightness in a GH situation (Lord knows the LCD
screen on my digital camera is worthless in a GH) - but that concern
would hold true for either a laptop or a PDA.

And as for whomever said a smaller version of OrchidWiz (or Wildcatt for
that matter) without pictures or most of the functions could indeed work
on a PDA. I'm pretty sure Alex has that (or can come up with it), since
he was working on a PDA type program to begin with. But the functions
are what you want in the first place.... so why bother?

As to whomever said any geek could take apart the program and work on it
themselves. Indeed. I know a person who has done that with Wildcatt.
I know 2 people who have done that with the old AOS award CD. No doubt
someone's already working on OrchidWiz, LOL!! That's not the problem.
The problem is being creative enough to know what functions one would
like and making it work. So then it becomes an exercise in 'what
features can you live without?" and then 'what features do you
absolutely need?' and one gets stymied and gives up to go get a glass of
wine. Let's face it, creativity takes brains and vision. I ain't got
neither.

I have asked out of work silicon valley programmers if they could
rewrite Wildcatt for a PDA and they have told me the operating systems
for a PDA, either PalmOS or microsoft's OS are a real bear. However if
one was dedicated one could write a program to allow Wildcatt to work on
a microsoft OS PDA. (There's that word again - dedicated...) I have
wondered, what with everything else getting outsourced to India, why I
couldn't hire a programmer to do this for me. Which got too
complicated, and I went and got a glass of wine. Probably some brie, too.

I understand the size of the program won't fit on a PDA. I understand
there's not enough memory in a PDA to move data around in order to make
it work in a rapid fashion. I understand the chips aren't fast enough
in a PDA to handle the speed at which one would want the data moved and
accessed. What I don't understand is why one can't carry OrchidWiz on a
512 memorystick and access it via the PDA. Like an outboard harddrive.
I think the answer is because PDAs don't have a USB port in which to
plug the memorystick. Even still, the computer runs so slowly you'd
probably die and vultures could pick your bones clean before you'd
access the data you want.

Ok, I've written enough and there are leaves to rake.

K Barrett

OrchidWiz CD
 

Kathy, this is getting scary! I can relate to almost everything you wrote.
The only differance is that you are younger than I by a decade!
I too could not get used to the fickle finger board and the laptop I
borrowed had a huge battery as well.

I poked the Palm III to death! (A cheapie, $29)
I could see the screen ok but just searching on my data base of about
2500 entries, I could run back to the house, grab a cup of coffee & get
back in time to just see the record I had called up appear.
I've got orchids to pot! *g*
--
Cheers Wendy

Remove PETERPAN for email reply

K Barrett wrote:
wendy7 wrote:
Kathy, I am still following this thread & wouldn't it be easier just
to have a laptop with you?


Well. yes, I have a laptop. I use it for shows where I have a table
to set it up at. And (dare I say this out loud?) I need to use a
mouse with it. I just can't get used to the dang finger board. So.
That's
not the problem. One would (in a perfect world) like to have this at
one's fingertips, like a tricorder from Star Trek. Granted, if I was
into orchids when I was 9 yrs old I'd have the capacity to learn all
this stuff for myself and carry it in my brain, however I can't
remember anything anymore, so I need help.

Laptops - even today - weigh a ton. Sure there are ones that weigh
2.9 lbs, but imagine carrying around 1/2 a bag of sugar all day and
imagine what that would do for your arm or back. And they are bulky.
You'd bump inot plants and knock them off benches. PDAs weigh ounces
and fit in a pocket. Most require a stylus in order to operate their
keyboards, and I understand the screen gets dinged up from all the typing,
but there
are ones with mini keyboards available.

I wonder about screen brightness in a GH situation (Lord knows the LCD
screen on my digital camera is worthless in a GH) - but that concern
would hold true for either a laptop or a PDA.

And as for whomever said a smaller version of OrchidWiz (or Wildcatt
for that matter) without pictures or most of the functions could
indeed work on a PDA. I'm pretty sure Alex has that (or can come up
with it), since he was working on a PDA type program to begin with. But
the functions are what you want in the first place.... so why
bother?
As to whomever said any geek could take apart the program and work on
it themselves. Indeed. I know a person who has done that with
Wildcatt. I know 2 people who have done that with the old AOS award CD. No
doubt
someone's already working on OrchidWiz, LOL!! That's not the problem.
The problem is being creative enough to know what functions one would
like and making it work. So then it becomes an exercise in 'what
features can you live without?" and then 'what features do you
absolutely need?' and one gets stymied and gives up to go get a glass
of wine. Let's face it, creativity takes brains and vision. I ain't
got neither.

I have asked out of work silicon valley programmers if they could
rewrite Wildcatt for a PDA and they have told me the operating systems
for a PDA, either PalmOS or microsoft's OS are a real bear. However
if one was dedicated one could write a program to allow Wildcatt to
work on a microsoft OS PDA. (There's that word again - dedicated...)
I have wondered, what with everything else getting outsourced to
India, why I couldn't hire a programmer to do this for me. Which got
too complicated, and I went and got a glass of wine. Probably some brie,
too.
I understand the size of the program won't fit on a PDA. I understand
there's not enough memory in a PDA to move data around in order to
make it work in a rapid fashion. I understand the chips aren't fast
enough in a PDA to handle the speed at which one would want the data moved
and accessed. What I don't understand is why one can't carry
OrchidWiz on a 512 memorystick and access it via the PDA. Like an
outboard harddrive. I think the answer is because PDAs don't have a USB
port in which to
plug the memorystick. Even still, the computer runs so slowly you'd
probably die and vultures could pick your bones clean before you'd
access the data you want.

Ok, I've written enough and there are leaves to rake.

K Barrett

OrchidWiz CD
 

On Sun, 04 Dec 2005 09:27:19 -0800 in K Barrett wrote:
[Great snippage]
Two paradigm shifts for you.
1) Yes, some PDAs can have oodles of persistant storage via some sort of
removable memory or flash device. But for this sort of task, it's sort of
like transferring 50lbs of fertilizer with a teaspoon.
2) There are PDAs on the market with long distance wireless access (Usually
data over the same networks that your cell phone uses).
The PDA doesn't have to have enough oomph to search all the data.
It needs enough oomph to be able to send out to some server "Hey, I'm
looking for information on X" and receive a couple screenfuls (80x24
text) of response.

Now back on topic... who was the twisted person that came up with
Oncidium Twinkle, and has that person done anything similar?
There's just something cute about having a plant with more pseudobulbs
than I can count and 7 spikes in a 4" pot.


--
Chris Dukes
Suspicion breeds confidence -- Brazil

OrchidWiz CD
 

Oncidium Twinkle was registered by W.W.Goodale Moir in 1958. He was one of
the more prolific breeders out there, so there's bound so be something else
worth having from him. He focused a lot on tolumnias and their
intergenerics, but worked pretty much in the entire onciidinae group.

--

Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com
Plants, Supplies, Artwork, Books and Lots of Free Info!


"?" wrote in message
rg...
On Sun, 04 Dec 2005 09:27:19 -0800 in
K Barrett wrote:
[Great snippage]
Two paradigm shifts for you.
1) Yes, some PDAs can have oodles of persistant storage via some sort of
removable memory or flash device. But for this sort of task, it's sort of
like transferring 50lbs of fertilizer with a teaspoon.
2) There are PDAs on the market with long distance wireless access
(Usually
data over the same networks that your cell phone uses).
The PDA doesn't have to have enough oomph to search all the data.
It needs enough oomph to be able to send out to some server "Hey, I'm
looking for information on X" and receive a couple screenfuls (80x24
text) of response.

Now back on topic... who was the twisted person that came up with
Oncidium Twinkle, and has that person done anything similar?
There's just something cute about having a plant with more pseudobulbs
than I can count and 7 spikes in a 4" pot.


--
Chris Dukes
Suspicion breeds confidence -- Brazil

OrchidWiz CD
 

If you've seen the parents, there's nothing twisted about it. This was a
rather obvious cross for someone to try. Both parents are small with
branching spikes. The colors that came out of it were probably a surprise.
-danny

"?" wrote in message
rg...
Now back on topic... who was the twisted person that came up with
Oncidium Twinkle, and has that person done anything similar?
There's just something cute about having a plant with more pseudobulbs
than I can count and 7 spikes in a 4" pot.


--
Chris Dukes
Suspicion breeds confidence -- Brazil

OrchidWiz CD
 

"K Barrett" wrote in message
...
wendy7 wrote:
I wonder about screen brightness in a GH situation (Lord knows the LCD
screen on my digital camera is worthless in a GH) - but that concern would
hold true for either a laptop or a PDA.

This is a valid concern. I have an excellent notebook, but the screen on it
can not be used unless the light is very subdued (as happens at dawn or
dusk). However, there are improvements coming For example, I have an Acer
AL1913 flat screen, thin panel monitor. It is amazing. I can easily read
it in the brightest of light. Once the technology used in it has been
adopted in PDAs, this won't be an issue any more.

And as for whomever said a smaller version of OrchidWiz (or Wildcatt for
that matter) without pictures or most of the functions could indeed work
on a PDA. I'm pretty sure Alex has that (or can come up with it), since he
was working on a PDA type program to begin with. But the functions are
what you want in the first place.... so why bother?

Stripping down the application would be a mistake, IMHO as a software
developer. A smarter approach would be to transform the application into a
combination of client and server applications. This would be routine for an
experienced software engineer, taken almost automatically when there is a
need to use an application on an under-powered machine. The idea is to have
a thin client application which handles almost nothing but data transfers to
and from the server, and displaying it on the screen. It is my
understanding that many PDAs have a stripped down version of Windows. If
they have a standard Internet Explorer binary, they don't need anything else
on the PDA, and the application developer can use standard web programming
techniques to provide all the expected functionality using probably a blend
of web pages and applets. Of course, the program will still probably be
slow because of the need for bandwidth across the Internet, but it should be
usable if the developer has done his homework in optimizing his database
access for performance across a heavily used network.

As to whomever said any geek could take apart the program and work on it
themselves. Indeed. I know a person who has done that with Wildcatt. I
know 2 people who have done that with the old AOS award CD. No doubt
someone's already working on OrchidWiz, LOL!! That's not the problem. The
problem is being creative enough to know what functions one would like and
making it work. So then it becomes an exercise in 'what features can you
live without?" and then 'what features do you absolutely need?' and one
gets stymied and gives up to go get a glass of wine. Let's face it,
creativity takes brains and vision. I ain't got neither.

As I said, if I were hired to work on such a project, I would not look at
stripping away some of the functionality. Instead, I'd work on a
client/server web application with the thinest client interface that I can
deliver.

BTW, if one of my students slandered themselves in the way you did, they
would have received a scolding like they never experienced before! You are
respected and valued, and I hope you won't slander yourself again. Besides,
I am probably the only one here who has cause to say depricating things
about myself! ;-)

I have asked out of work silicon valley programmers if they could rewrite
Wildcatt for a PDA and they have told me the operating systems for a PDA,
either PalmOS or microsoft's OS are a real bear. However if one was
dedicated one could write a program to allow Wildcatt to work on a
microsoft OS PDA. (There's that word again - dedicated...) I have
wondered, what with everything else getting outsourced to India, why I
couldn't hire a programmer to do this for me. Which got too complicated,
and I went and got a glass of wine. Probably some brie, too.

Based on what I saw in India, you are not likely to save much, and there are
countless "developers" there I would not consider hiring. While I met some
outstanding developers there, your problem would be how to distinguish
between those who know what they're doing and those that don't. My approach
would be to offer software engineering courses to kids whose only
qualification would be that they can read and write English well (and if
they have more skills, so much the better). Then I can teach them everything
they need to now about software engineering. There are two ways to gain
employees who are capable and useful: try to hire them, or train them in
house. I prefer the latter.

I'd suggest that your least expensive, and yet most reliable, option is to
go to the nearest, good quality college or university, and arrange with the
IT faculty to hire a student to work on your project under the supervision
of one of the faculty. In that way, you get the enthusiasm of a kid who
still loves IT, but working under the guidance of an expert who presumably
understands how to get an application developed. And students will work for
a small fraction of te cost of a software development consultant.

I understand the size of the program won't fit on a PDA. I understand
there's not enough memory in a PDA to move data around in order to make it
work in a rapid fashion. I understand the chips aren't fast enough in a
PDA to handle the speed at which one would want the data moved and
accessed. What I don't understand is why one can't carry OrchidWiz on a
512 memorystick and access it via the PDA. Like an outboard harddrive. I
think the answer is because PDAs don't have a USB port in which to plug
the memorystick. Even still, the computer runs so slowly you'd probably
die and vultures could pick your bones clean before you'd access the data
you want.

The reason for all you've noted here in this paragraph is that the processor
has to handle all the processing involved in the application. You can
accomplish what you're after by offloading most of the required processing
to a server, resulting in a thin client. What you lose in the cost of
transfering data over the Internet will be more than compensated for by the
power of server side computation. That said, the developer has to get a
good handle on the demands placed on the server so that he can ensure that
his server machine can handle the load. This is relatively easy if the
program is accessed only through an Intranet (a network that exists only
within an office or building). It can be challenging, though, if the
program is configured to be accessed through, or from the Internet.

Does this help?

Cheers,

Ted

--
R.E. (Ted) Byers, Ph.D., Ed.D.
R & D Decision Support Solutions
http://www.randddecisionsupportsolutions.com/
Healthy Living Through Informed Decision Making

OrchidWiz CD
 

Ted Byers wrote:
"K Barrett" wrote in message
...

wendy7 wrote:
I wonder about screen brightness in a GH situation (Lord knows the LCD
screen on my digital camera is worthless in a GH) - but that concern would
hold true for either a laptop or a PDA.


This is a valid concern. I have an excellent notebook, but the screen on it
can not be used unless the light is very subdued (as happens at dawn or
dusk). However, there are improvements coming For example, I have an Acer
AL1913 flat screen, thin panel monitor. It is amazing. I can easily read
it in the brightest of light. Once the technology used in it has been
adopted in PDAs, this won't be an issue any more.


And as for whomever said a smaller version of OrchidWiz (or Wildcatt for
that matter) without pictures or most of the functions could indeed work
on a PDA. I'm pretty sure Alex has that (or can come up with it), since he
was working on a PDA type program to begin with. But the functions are
what you want in the first place.... so why bother?


Stripping down the application would be a mistake, IMHO as a software
developer. A smarter approach would be to transform the application into a
combination of client and server applications. This would be routine for an
experienced software engineer, taken almost automatically when there is a
need to use an application on an under-powered machine. The idea is to have
a thin client application which handles almost nothing but data transfers to
and from the server, and displaying it on the screen. It is my
understanding that many PDAs have a stripped down version of Windows. If
they have a standard Internet Explorer binary, they don't need anything else
on the PDA, and the application developer can use standard web programming
techniques to provide all the expected functionality using probably a blend
of web pages and applets. Of course, the program will still probably be
slow because of the need for bandwidth across the Internet, but it should be
usable if the developer has done his homework in optimizing his database
access for performance across a heavily used network.


As to whomever said any geek could take apart the program and work on it
themselves. Indeed. I know a person who has done that with Wildcatt. I
know 2 people who have done that with the old AOS award CD. No doubt
someone's already working on OrchidWiz, LOL!! That's not the problem. The
problem is being creative enough to know what functions one would like and
making it work. So then it becomes an exercise in 'what features can you
live without?" and then 'what features do you absolutely need?' and one
gets stymied and gives up to go get a glass of wine. Let's face it,
creativity takes brains and vision. I ain't got neither.


As I said, if I were hired to work on such a project, I would not look at
stripping away some of the functionality. Instead, I'd work on a
client/server web application with the thinest client interface that I can
deliver.

BTW, if one of my students slandered themselves in the way you did, they
would have received a scolding like they never experienced before! You are
respected and valued, and I hope you won't slander yourself again. Besides,
I am probably the only one here who has cause to say depricating things
about myself! ;-)


I have asked out of work silicon valley programmers if they could rewrite
Wildcatt for a PDA and they have told me the operating systems for a PDA,
either PalmOS or microsoft's OS are a real bear. However if one was
dedicated one could write a program to allow Wildcatt to work on a
microsoft OS PDA. (There's that word again - dedicated...) I have
wondered, what with everything else getting outsourced to India, why I
couldn't hire a programmer to do this for me. Which got too complicated,
and I went and got a glass of wine. Probably some brie, too.


Based on what I saw in India, you are not likely to save much, and there are
countless "developers" there I would not consider hiring. While I met some
outstanding developers there, your problem would be how to distinguish
between those who know what they're doing and those that don't. My approach
would be to offer software engineering courses to kids whose only
qualification would be that they can read and write English well (and if
they have more skills, so much the better). Then I can teach them everything
they need to now about software engineering. There are two ways to gain
employees who are capable and useful: try to hire them, or train them in
house. I prefer the latter.

I'd suggest that your least expensive, and yet most reliable, option is to
go to the nearest, good quality college or university, and arrange with the
IT faculty to hire a student to work on your project under the supervision
of one of the faculty. In that way, you get the enthusiasm of a kid who
still loves IT, but working under the guidance of an expert who presumably
understands how to get an application developed. And students will work for
a small fraction of te cost of a software development consultant.


I understand the size of the program won't fit on a PDA. I understand
there's not enough memory in a PDA to move data around in order to make it
work in a rapid fashion. I understand the chips aren't fast enough in a
PDA to handle the speed at which one would want the data moved and
accessed. What I don't understand is why one can't carry OrchidWiz on a
512 memorystick and access it via the PDA. Like an outboard harddrive. I
think the answer is because PDAs don't have a USB port in which to plug
the memorystick. Even still, the computer runs so slowly you'd probably
die and vultures could pick your bones clean before you'd access the data
you want.


The reason for all you've noted here in this paragraph is that the processor
has to handle all the processing involved in the application. You can
accomplish what you're after by offloading most of the required processing
to a server, resulting in a thin client. What you lose in the cost of
transfering data over the Internet will be more than compensated for by the
power of server side computation. That said, the developer has to get a
good handle on the demands placed on the server so that he can ensure that
his server machine can handle the load. This is relatively easy if the
program is accessed only through an Intranet (a network that exists only
within an office or building). It can be challenging, though, if the
program is configured to be accessed through, or from the Internet.

Does this help?

Cheers,

Ted



Wow! Now there's an explainantion I can understand, LOL!!

Ted, all I can say is you must be a very fast typist and have a clear
train of thought in order to say as much as you do in one post. My
hat's off to you. I probably take 20 minutes to type *anything* even
this little missive.

Thank you and yes it does help.

K Barrett