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Post by the light works on Feb 7, 2016 5:08:03 GMT
so: shopping line strategies and zombie killing revisit.
I feel the same as Adam and Jamie about the results, and I really can't fault their methodology. - although I think the last test might have been a bit biased against malfunction.
shopping line strategy, again, well executed. the result does make sense. there is probably some fine tuning that could be done, to get better results, but in the end it is limited by the ability of the cashiers.
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Post by silverdragon on Feb 7, 2016 10:06:48 GMT
The most valuable asset in any business is the ability of the staff.
So yeah, a good cashier against a bad one can skew results.
I am always dubious against the Zombie episodes.
My own logic denies the premise that zombification apocalypse can ever happen, so I tend to stop thinking.
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Post by GTCGreg on Feb 7, 2016 15:31:26 GMT
Myth CONFIRMED!
When you go shopping, take a chainsaw.
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Post by the light works on Feb 7, 2016 15:53:19 GMT
The most valuable asset in any business is the ability of the staff. So yeah, a good cashier against a bad one can skew results. I am always dubious against the Zombie episodes. My own logic denies the premise that zombification apocalypse can ever happen, so I tend to stop thinking. I think without spoilers I can say the test involved trying to speed up the checkout process. if your cashiers can process 10 customers per hour each, then you will not exceed 10 customers per hour regardless of the configuration of the line. on a vaguely related note, I recall seeing an anecdote about a community somewhere where queuing up was the community social pastime. people with no obligations would go queue up somewhere just to chat with their queuemates. people who were there for a legitimate purpose were politely passed to the front of the queue. |
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Post by the light works on Feb 7, 2016 15:56:55 GMT
Myth CONFIRMED! When you go shopping, take a chainsaw. I do not know if it was addressed that most chain saws have a limited fuel supply. and it only seems fair to me that if Adam got to use his favorite idea, then Jamie should as well. I demand a revisit with C-4. |
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Post by GTCGreg on Feb 7, 2016 15:57:46 GMT
The most valuable asset in any business is the ability of the staff. So yeah, a good cashier against a bad one can skew results. I am always dubious against the Zombie episodes. My own logic denies the premise that zombification apocalypse can ever happen, so I tend to stop thinking. I think without spoilers I can say the test involved trying to speed up the checkout process. if your cashiers can process 10 customers per hour each, then you will not exceed 10 customers per hour regardless of the configuration of the line. on a vaguely related note, I recall seeing an anecdote about a community somewhere where queuing up was the community social pastime. people with no obligations would go queue up somewhere just to chat with their queuemates. people who were there for a legitimate purpose were politely passed to the front of the queue. Probably better than a singles bar. |
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Post by the light works on Feb 7, 2016 16:02:23 GMT
I think without spoilers I can say the test involved trying to speed up the checkout process. if your cashiers can process 10 customers per hour each, then you will not exceed 10 customers per hour regardless of the configuration of the line. on a vaguely related note, I recall seeing an anecdote about a community somewhere where queuing up was the community social pastime. people with no obligations would go queue up somewhere just to chat with their queuemates. people who were there for a legitimate purpose were politely passed to the front of the queue. Probably better than a singles bar. true, there was probably some chatting up going on as well. |
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Post by breesfan on Feb 7, 2016 22:14:42 GMT
I didn't care for the zombie myth but the shopping one is interesting.
Never did think the way supermarkets did the lines were better even though I think sometimes it's more disorganized. I know it was a test but I thought they should have had 10 checkouts instead of 5 but then usually they don't have enough cashiers. LOL
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Post by Antigone68104 on Feb 8, 2016 1:04:04 GMT
I know it was a test but I thought they should have had 10 checkouts instead of 5 but then usually they don't have enough cashiers. LOL I was at the grocery store earlier today, and even with all the last minute Super Bowl party shoppers they were running under 5 cashiers. About the only place I've seen the serpentine layout is at the base commissary, and when we saw this in the season preview the friend with commissary privileges was immediately insisting that serpentine would win. I haven't talked to her about the results yet, but it'll be interesting to hear what she has to say. I wonder if serpentine just "feels" more efficient because the line moves more steadily? Never having used a chainsaw, I don't know how many cuts you can expect out of a single tank of gas. It would have been nice if that had been addressed. I also would have liked to see some basis for Adam's assumption that he could hit brains as rapidly as his fake saw was set for. Maybe that was stuff cut out of the episode for time constraints ... or maybe Adam just wanted to play. (I also note that Adam's face was rapidly soaked by his fake sprayback. Given the assumption in modern zombie fiction that it's caused by a virus, he was walking dead as soon as the first batch of pretend biohazard hit his lips.) |
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Post by the light works on Feb 8, 2016 1:41:22 GMT
I know it was a test but I thought they should have had 10 checkouts instead of 5 but then usually they don't have enough cashiers. LOL I was at the grocery store earlier today, and even with all the last minute Super Bowl party shoppers they were running under 5 cashiers. About the only place I've seen the serpentine layout is at the base commissary, and when we saw this in the season preview the friend with commissary privileges was immediately insisting that serpentine would win. I haven't talked to her about the results yet, but it'll be interesting to hear what she has to say. I wonder if serpentine just "feels" more efficient because the line moves more steadily? Never having used a chainsaw, I don't know how many cuts you can expect out of a single tank of gas. It would have been nice if that had been addressed. I also would have liked to see some basis for Adam's assumption that he could hit brains as rapidly as his fake saw was set for. Maybe that was stuff cut out of the episode for time constraints ... or maybe Adam just wanted to play. (I also note that Adam's face was rapidly soaked by his fake sprayback. Given the assumption in modern zombie fiction that it's caused by a virus, he was walking dead as soon as the first batch of pretend biohazard hit his lips.) I think Adam just wanted to play. |
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Post by ironhold on Feb 8, 2016 5:03:24 GMT
Shopping Myth:
Will the team make available the product packaging artwork they created? All they'd have to do is make it available to print.
As far as the experiment itself goes, I saw a few ways to further their experiment.
1. Insert a selection of random customers that have coupons. Each randomly-assigned couponer will be given a selection of coupons that they must use to buy product from the shelves. One couponer will be told to *deliberately* present more coupons than they have eligible product, a second couponer will be given an expired coupon to try and use, while a third couponer will be given a coupon that does not read properly.
2. Insert a selection of random customers that are talkative. They'll try to talk to the cashier, and may even attempt to talk to other people in line.
3. As Adam noted, insert a magazine rack next to each register so that people can kill time by having something to look at. For this one, the team can use leftover copies of the "Mythbusters Gazette" that they could have had printed up if they were to do that myth I suggested on newspaper folding.
Zombies
1. If I had a ranged weapon, I would be firing it from the maximum effective range of the weapon. Yet each time Jamie went to fire, he fired from practically point-blank range. This gave him less time to compensate for jams and clip changes.
2. The chainsaw experiment presumed that the chainsaw would work first time, every time. This rarely, if ever, happens. Use a chainsaw long enough, and it's going to bog down or otherwise fail to work properly.
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Post by silverdragon on Feb 8, 2016 8:47:14 GMT
More than you have strength to use the chainsaw for....
They aint light, or easy to swing either, unless its a smaller one (Like my favoured "Gator" saw) and then its the right too for the job...
You dont take a two foot blade to an 18inch trunk.
Dont know where I saw it or heard it, but somewhere in the back of my mind there is a "rule" that the chainsaw blade should be at least twice as long as the tree is thick, and that has to do with cooling of the chain as it spins, otherwise you just burn instead of cut?... perhaps someone else can fill us in on that, because I only have a 18inch blade on the larger one, anything bigger than that can cut I need specialist help anyway.
True.
I spend more time cleaning than I do using on mine.
Random clogs aside whilst using, it takes a good half hour to remove dirt before storing the thing after use, and re-oiling the chain and tank, add to that the obligatory chain tensioner adjustment after what seams an inordinately short time using the thing, if I spend half hour cutting, it can be an hour fiddling with the thing, because you have to stop every now and again to let it cool down and remove the clogs out of the scoop thats supposed to aim the chips away from you....
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Post by Antigone68104 on Feb 8, 2016 15:37:44 GMT
1. If I had a ranged weapon, I would be firing it from the maximum effective range of the weapon. Yet each time Jamie went to fire, he fired from practically point-blank range. This gave him less time to compensate for jams and clip changes. That may have been required for safety reasons. Jamie's a good shot, but none of the zombies were wearing paintball armor -- the further away he stood, the harder it would be to get a guaranteed shot to the face protector. |
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Post by the light works on Feb 8, 2016 15:49:06 GMT
More than you have strength to use the chainsaw for.... They aint light, or easy to swing either, unless its a smaller one (Like my favoured "Gator" saw) and then its the right too for the job... You dont take a two foot blade to an 18inch trunk. Dont know where I saw it or heard it, but somewhere in the back of my mind there is a "rule" that the chainsaw blade should be at least twice as long as the tree is thick, and that has to do with cooling of the chain as it spins, otherwise you just burn instead of cut?... perhaps someone else can fill us in on that, because I only have a 18inch blade on the larger one, anything bigger than that can cut I need specialist help anyway. True. I spend more time cleaning than I do using on mine. Random clogs aside whilst using, it takes a good half hour to remove dirt before storing the thing after use, and re-oiling the chain and tank, add to that the obligatory chain tensioner adjustment after what seams an inordinately short time using the thing, if I spend half hour cutting, it can be an hour fiddling with the thing, because you have to stop every now and again to let it cool down and remove the clogs out of the scoop thats supposed to aim the chips away from you.... better models of saw are a bit more reliable. I have never heard anything about having your bar twice as long as the girth of the tree - and if that was a thing, we would have loggers driving around with 6 foot long saws, which hasn't been common since we had 6 foot diameter trees. the more important thing is to have enough engine for the amount of chain you will be pulling through the tree. as for standing maintenance, unless it is a bad saw or in bad conditions, you can easily burn a tank of gas without needing to do any maintenance. my standard maintenance is to check chain tension when I start work, then sharpen the chain each time I fill it up. on a properly adjusted saw, filling gas and bar oil should happen at the same time. the discharge chute usually only clogs if you are working with gummy material, or you are working where you have limited room for the chips to disperse. If I am working continuously, I easily spend more time cutting than I spend fiddling, but I definitely am not in good enough shape to spend an eight hour workday swinging the saw as loggers do.. Attachment DeletedAttachment DeletedAttachment Deletedthis, as I recall, was done on one tank of gas. |
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Post by the light works on Feb 8, 2016 15:52:43 GMT
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Post by The Urban Mythbuster on Feb 8, 2016 21:48:14 GMT
My biggest objection to the chainsaw test was the weight factor. Adam was essentially using a hollow shell of a chainsaw. So, the effective weight of his chainsaw was probably only 10-15% the actual weight of a chainsaw. Using a full weight chainsaw would lead to fatigue much quicker than Adam's test rig.
Other factors to consider:
1) How often does your chainsaw actually start on the first pull?
2) What about the likelihood of the blade jamming on the cranial bone (skull)?
On a side note, Adam's comments in regards to the size of the supermarket test and the volunteers were quite interesting. He admitted that they could/would never be able to imagine that their test to get to a scope as large as this or they would have involved so many volunteers over. the years (3500+)
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Post by WhutScreenName on Feb 8, 2016 21:55:52 GMT
I DID have a problem with the methodology of the shopping line. During the big Black Friday sales here in the US, almost all stores implement a serpentine shopping line. They do this for a couple of reasons, not just speed. But, since the myth was about speed I'll address that. The issue I had is this, I've NEVER seen a serpentine line that ONLY allows 1 customer at the counter at a time. what SHOULD have happened in my opinion is that they had 2 people at every checkout, 1 who is currently checking, and 1 that is ready to check, maybe even with their stuff on the belt already. I think this would greatly improve the speed and would make serpentine faster (given that the checkers and all other variables were the same)
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Post by the light works on Feb 9, 2016 6:18:57 GMT
I DID have a problem with the methodology of the shopping line. During the big Black Friday sales here in the US, almost all stores implement a serpentine shopping line. They do this for a couple of reasons, not just speed. But, since the myth was about speed I'll address that. The issue I had is this, I've NEVER seen a serpentine line that ONLY allows 1 customer at the counter at a time. what SHOULD have happened in my opinion is that they had 2 people at every checkout, 1 who is currently checking, and 1 that is ready to check, maybe even with their stuff on the belt already. I think this would greatly improve the speed and would make serpentine faster (given that the checkers and all other variables were the same) I had thought of that, as well. you still have some chance of being stuck behind a slowpoke, but then you won't get two in a row. |
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Post by WhutScreenName on Feb 9, 2016 13:54:30 GMT
I agree that you'll still have those who are stuck behind a slow poke, or a price check etc... but that's no different than the free for all either, which is why I believe it would be faster.
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Post by the light works on Feb 9, 2016 15:16:24 GMT
I agree that you'll still have those who are stuck behind a slow poke, or a price check etc... but that's no different than the free for all either, which is why I believe it would be faster. overall, it would not serve more customers per hour, but there would be more perception of motion in the line, and unless you arrived just after a perfect storm of incompetence, you wouldn't be stuck behind multiples of the world's slowest customer. addendum: most stores where they have had do-it-yourself checkout that I have been in, they have one line serving multiple checkouts. |
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