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| Hong Kong and San Francisco (Library of Congress). |
East Bay Business Times, June 2007.
East Bay Press Club Award Winner.
Sensor and Wi-Fi technologies are putting
more science into the art of vineyard management, a business known for clinging
to traditional methods.
Grape Networks Inc. of San Ramon announced June 6 what it
believes is the largest wireless sensor network for agriculture, consisting of
200 sensors spread over 50 acres in the Central Valley.
Livermore's Wente Vineyards
has been working with sensors that attach to the leaf of plants to test for
stress, as well as with other probes.
And several companies are developing new sensing devices,
including Wine Technology Marlborough, of Marlborough, New Zealand,
whose experimental fermentation probe may be coming
to California wineries soon.
The need for sensors is great. Mildew, frost and other
conditions can wreak havoc on a vineyard overnight, which makes monitoring a
necessity. And viticulturists say the place to look is in the plant's immediate
vicinity, as opposed to relying on aerial photos or weather reports.
Grape Networks is working with a few
major California wineries including Beringer Vineyards
in Napa, running large wireless sensor networks. The sensors - run by two
standard AA batteries - are basically tiny computers, with a CPU, memory, and,
very importantly, inexpensive, low-power radios that both receive and transmit
data. They test for frost, mildew, temperature and disease.
The networks have two main advantages, says Grape Networks
co-founder and CEO, Peter Tsepeleff. First, the
sensors create a "mesh network," that is, one spread by a web of
components, in this case the sensors. The sensors pick up one another's data
and pass it on, ultimately to a gateway, from which it is sent over the
Internet to be read on a computer or mobile phone.
The mesh capability allows networks to be set up in rough
terrains, getting around hills, trees and other obstructions to radio
reception, as sensors pass on each other's data.
Second, the wireless capability makes the sensors mobile. As
conditions change or there is concern for a certain area, sensors can be moved
- unlike systems on which the sensors are hard-wired to a central unit.
Other companies have worked with similar
networks, including the IT consultant Accenture, which made headlines in 2004
with a 30-acre wireless network at Pickberry Vineyards
in Sonoma County.
Wente Vineyards is using sensors both
in the soil and on the leaves at its Arroyo Seco vineyards
near Monterey.
Vineyard manager Keith Roberts explained that as the summer
heats up, they need to watch for stress in vines. This is normally done once a
week with pressure chambers, which are used to pressurize leaves with nitrogen
to determine stress.
But the company has also been experimenting with a new type of
stress sensor, called a Phytogram, at the
Arroyo Seco vineyard.
The Phytogram, developed by
Agricultural Electronics Corp. of Tucson, Ariz., has tiny stainless
steel wires that are attached to the petiole - the stem holding the leaf - to
test for stress.
Thirty to 35 of these per site - in some 10 sites at Wente - are hard-wired to a central microprocessor
unit with a built-in cellphone that sends
the data back to the sensor's developer for processing, with the data then made
available over the Internet.
The system takes readings at 15-minute intervals 24 hours a day
- as opposed to the once-a-week-readings otherwise obtained with pressure
chambers.
And Roberts said the sensors have so far appeared to be reliable
with consistent numbers and that they will probably be adopted into wider use
soon.
The company also uses soil sensors to measure for moisture at
depths of one foot to five feet, helping to determine when the plants need
water. This is not only out of concern for cost, Roberts said, but also
understanding of the need for sustainability.
This could become a bigger concern in Livermore, where
record low rainfall and closed Delta pumps have driven home the need to
conserve water.
Grape Network's Tsepeleff said
his company is now adding moisture sensors to monitor water use, as customers
have asked for them.
Roberts stresses that all of these are still tools, not total
solutions.
He looks at them the same as shovels, which are still used to
check soil.
ESkye Solutions Inc., a provider of
business software for wineries and beverage companies, is also looking
seriously into adapting its products to include vineyard sensors.
Richard Gulson, vice president of
the winery production systems division at eSkye,
whose winery business is based in Glen Ellen, said they see the possibilities
in such technology, but said they are moving slowly to see how quickly wineries
adopt the technologies.
These tools will be among the topics discussed July 17 at the
Wine Industry Technology Symposium in Napa, where participants will
explore issues ranging from vineyard-management software to the use of Web 2.0
in the industry.
The symposium was begun by industry professionals in 2005 to
showcase technology used in the business.
It may be that the wine industry is shedding its reputation for conservatism as it works to ferment new agricultural techniques.
John Sailors, All Plus Magazine. August 2016.
The launch of Pokémon Go was a giant success with more than 100 million installations in the first month. In no time, the game was earning more than $10 million per day on the iOS and Android stores.
Pokémon Go was praised because it got young people to go outside and get exercise. The real success, though, is not about exercise or money. It's about the game's technology: augmented reality. Pokémon Go shows us just how wonderful this technology is and gives a look into the future.
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A trite legend but accurate anecdote for the plant’s history, in the early 1800s people across America and Europe were terrified by an ornamental fruit that was pretty but highly poisonous, the love apple. According to the story, a man named Robert Gibbon Johnson announced to the community of Salem, New Jersey, that he was going to eat a basket of the deadly fruit in public. And as the townsfolk looked on in front of the courthouse, Johnson proceeded to openly consume a quantity of love apples and failed to keel over and die as expected, demonstrating that the tomato was, surprise, no danger at all.[1]
_by_Diogo_Ribeiro._Original_from_The_Beinecke_prep%2001.jpg "Diogo Ribeiro's 1529 Vatican Planisphere.") |
| Diogo Ribeiro's 1529 Vatican Planisphere. (Source.) |
 |
| Reception of the Manila galleon by the Chamorro at Guam, c. 1590. |
March 6, 1521: Ferdinand Magellan's fleet reached Guam after a deadly three-month crossing of the Pacific Ocean. In explaining the encounter, biographers typically highlight the sensational story of larcenous natives that met the fleet and how the Spanish thereby chose the name Ladroni Islands ("Thieves' Islands") for Guam and Rota.[1] Stories like that sell books. But the two eye-witness reports of the experience tell a second story, of the Chamorros' amazing boating skills and boats, and the only accounts we have of course offer only the Europeans' perspective.
Copy for a client website, by John Sailors, August 2024.
Boxing is much more than just a popular sport. Boxing provides a comprehensive, full-body workout for men and women, children and adults—without even having to face actual opponents. In addition to offering excellent cardio, boxing tones your muscles, builds your core, sheds extra pounds, and provides an outlet for letting off steam. And it’s an exercise suited perfectly for classes but one you can do on your own, pretty much anywhere. Whether you want to develop self-defense skills or just find a fun way to exercise, you’ll find an array of benefits when you jump into the ring.
Copy for a client website, by John Sailors, August 2024.
A solid financial plan helps people manage all aspects of their finances, including income, expenses, spending, savings, investments, and retirement planning. Here are the fundamental steps to building a personal financial plan.
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Artificial intelligence is no longer something we are preparing for. It is here. Adoption of generative AI has spiked as companies strive to stay ahead of the curve, and as a result, early adopters are left to find or create best practices as they integrate AI into various business functions. For most, they need to think on their feet, so to speak.
That spike in new AI use was measured in McKinsey & Co.’s recent survey showing the state of artificial intelligence in early 2024. Of respondents, 65 percent said their organizations used generative AI regularly. That was nearly double the number reported in the company’s previous survey ten months earlier. And basic adoption—using AI for at least one function—grew to 72 percent of respondents.
Copy for a client website, by John Sailors, August 2024.
A federal judge in Texas struck down the Federal Trade Commission’s new rule banning noncompete agreements just weeks before the ban was scheduled to go into effect. The ruling leaves employers across the country breathing a sigh of relief. Companies large and small have grown to rely on the agreements to protect trade secrets along with their investments in recruiting and training. Here’s a look at what employers need to know about the ruling and the ban.