When I was a kid, my brother and I used to run string between a pair of tin cans as our backyard versions of walkie-talkies. One of us would shout into his can while the other strained to capture a sound wave or two at the other end, but the truth was that the cans got in the way. The normal talking voice was far superior.
Of course, that didn’t stop us from investigating other communications practices, like the time our Cub Scout den tried our hands at smoke signals, setting up our base of operations on a parched hillside above Los Angeles. From the standpoint of excitement the experiment proved to be a raging success, summoning a very spirited cavalry charge from a pair of shiny and very noisy fire trucks led by a red-faced captain who suggested in no uncertain terms that we not seek merit badges on his turf.
Today’s kids have electronic devices that make not only those but also the ones I used in the Marine Corps look painfully primitive. I am constantly amazed at the facility with which teenagers can take and send photos to their most immediate circle of friends, at the same time texting the captions and then posting the whole mess to the entire population of the planet, some of whom seem thrilled to receive things that to me are about as intelligible as what came out of the string-and-can approach.
So how do your job-site communications systems measure up to what’s already passé on the playground these days? With cell phones all but ubiquitous, and laptops and touch pads coming onto the scene at the speed of heat, all we need now is for the kids to come up with teleportation devices.
In the meantime, what works for you? Are you using a pad or phone? Are you setting up a local network? Are you finding these advanced systems work well for you or that the amount of data they can deliver is actually impeding your workflow?
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Upcoming Forester University Webinars
April 12th, 2012
Water Auditing 101
Reduce your water waste and cost! Join Troy Aichele, LEED AP (O+M) of Aichele and Associates LLC to explore the key attributes, uses, and efficiency/cost opportunities of water audits. Aichele will lead a discussion of what a water audit includes, who performs the audit, where and when they should and can be performed, and the opportunities that exist in performing a water audit. Join us and gain an understanding of the potential savings possible, rebates available, and how quickly this unobtrusive work can be implemented from audit to installation to optimize your water use and minimize your cost. Read more...
April 18th, - May 25th, 2012
Sediment and Erosion Control
Master Class Series
Join industry expert and bestselling author Jerald S. Fifield, Ph.D., CISEC, CPESC and Tina R. Evans, PE, CISEC for a comprehensive 6-part online master class and workshop series (0.9 CEUs / 9 PDHs) exploring the ins and outs of effective sediment and erosion control plan design and review based on Fifield’s recently released 3rd edition of the bestselling manual Designing and Reviewing Effective Sediment and Erosion Control Plans (included in your Master Class Series package).
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April 26 th, 2012
BMP Nutrient Sources and Transformations -
How to Optimize Nutrient Removal in SCMs
Are your Stormwater Control Measures (SCMs) effectively removing nitrogen and phosphorus from runoff? Join Bill Lucas to explore how to select and design SCMs to improve nitrogen and phosphorus retention. After an overview of nitrogen and phosphorous forms, sources, and transformations, Lucas will discuss how nitrogen and phosphorus transformations can be optimized in SCMs; how to select and design SCMs for settings; and how to tailor these programs to meet TMDL requirements more cost effectively.
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