Paris, 25 February 2008
EFITA newsletter / 350 / European Federation for Information Technology in Agriculture,
Food and the Environment
This 350th edition of the EFITA newsletter with 3 excellent jokes!
Last joke
Lucky no Dutch men were involved in the joke!! Haha!
Contact: Fokke De Jonk
E-mail: fokke.dejong(a)wur.nl
Center for Agro-Informatics Research (C@IR) in Pakistan
C@IR is currently running a 35-people strong US$ 0.5M project on establishing
an Agriculture Data Warehouse using Pest Scouring and Met data. C@IR are also
interested in becoming a member of EFITA.
See: http://www.agroict.org/
Contact: Ahsan ABDULLAH - Professor & Head C@IR
E-mail: ahsan.abdullah(a)nu.edu.pk
International Field Robot Event 2008
12 - 14 June 2008 - OSNABRUECK, Germany
The 6th edtion of the International Field Robot Event will take place in Osnabrueck/Germany.
University and professional teams are invited to bring their own robot to the
open-air field robot contest. Autonomous navigation and application examples
are major tasks. Next to the classical competition schools can participate at
the Field Robot Junior, moreover high-tech agricultural technology is shown.
Sponsoring of the event or teams is an option. The event is a "Selected
Landmark 2008" of the initiative "Germany - Land of Ideas".
See: http://www.fieldrobotevent.de
Contact: Arno RUCKELSHAUSEN
E-mail: fieldrobotevent(a)fhos.de
ENEREGION - Summer School 2008 on "Regional Potentials for Renewable
Energy Generation"
24 June – 4 July, 2008 – SALZBURG - Austria
(http://www.zgis.at/summerschools/)
is dedicated to the theme of "Regional Potentials for Renewable Energy
Generation" and is hosted by Salzburg University's Centre for Geoinformatics
(Z_GIS <http://www.uni-salzburg.at/zgis>).
In a set of lectures, group work and practicals participants focus on using
Geographic Information Systems and Spatial Analysis techniques to model spatial
patterns of demand as well as regional potentials of solar, thermal and photovoltaic,
wind, biomass, geothermal and hydropower resources. In order to assess the current
state of the art regarding the technologies of renewable energy generation for
a sustainable development in Europe, the Summer School will provide an insight
into leading edge developments of regional potentials for energy generation.
Participants have the opportunity to attend sessions at the Geoinformatics Forum
2008 (http://www.gi-forum.org/) symposium
dedicated to "Energy for the Future". Applications are accepted until
May 15, 2008. Due to limited places we strongly recommend an early registration!
For registration and further details please visit our webpage at http://www.zgis.at/summerschools/.
See: http://www.uni-salzburg.at/zgis/klug
Contact: Hermann KLUG
E-mail: hermann.klug(a)sbg.ac.at
New submission deadline: 4th International Conference on Information and
Communication Technologies in Bio and Earth Sciences - HAICTA 2008
18 - 20 September 2008 - ATHENS, Greece
See: http://infolab.aua.gr/haicta/conf/
The Second International Conference on Computer and Computing Technologies
in Agriculture (CCTA2008) & Special Symposium on Safety Management, Inspection
and Traceability Technology for Agro-products Quality (SMITA2008)
18 - 20 - October 2008 - BEIJING - China
As an agriculture-oriented conference, the targeted participants of CCTA2008
and SMITA2008 are from government, institutes and large companies and regional
development agencies and consultants all over the world. It aims at illustrating
the experiences and publications of the government and institutes, the profitable
technologies and policies in agriculture.
CCTA2008 and SMITA2008 provide an international platform for exchanging the
ideas, strategies, models, methods, technologies and solutions, etc about the
challenges
All the participants will have opportunities of exchanging their knowledge,
strategies and experiences and learning the effective ways to overcome legal,
organizational and financial barriers when launching collaborative initiatives.
>>> Topics
> For CCTA2008
Topics and areas include, but are not limited to, the following Technologies
in Agriculture:
Applied Mathematics
Numerical Analysis
Simulation, Optimization, Modeling
Systems Theory
Circuits and Systems
Neural Networks
Fuzzy Systems
Optimization
Multidimensional Systems
Computing & Computational Science
Statistics
Telecommunications
Signal Processing
Computer Science
Multimedia
Wireless and Optical Communications
Agricultural Decision Support System and Expert System
GIS, GPS, RS and Precision Farming
Agricultural System Simulation
Intelligent Monitoring and Control
ICT applications in Rural Area
> For SMITA2008
The topics cover but not limit to:
Strategies of agro-products quality safety management and traceability
Science and technology of agro-products quality safety management, inspection
and traceability, such as:
Bar code
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)
Certification of food and agro-products
Good Agricultural Practices (GAP)
Hazard Analysis of Critical Control Point (HACCP)
Production safety management of agro-products
Supply chain management
Early warning for diseases and insect pests of plant and animal Rapid testing
technology of farmland environment quality and agricultural products safety,
etc.
Rapid testing technology of farmland environment quality and agricultural products
safety, etc.
>>> Paper Submitting
Authors are invited to submit the abstract no later than March 14th, 2008. Formatting
information is available on the website listed below. Abstracts should clearly
show the originality of the work and relevance to the scope of the symposium.
Abstracts will be reviewed by the Academic Committee, and the selected abstracts
will be invited to be published as a full paper by May 19, 2008. All the accepted
papers will be published in the Proceedings of CCTA 2008. The selected best
papers will be published in a special issue of the International Journals (we
have applied, and will let you know the results as soon as possible). Other
papers will be published in the IFIP Series in Springer Press in USA, which
was listed in ISI Proceedings. The abstracts and papers for CCTA2008 should
be submitted to the Secretary at ccta2008@sina.com while abstracts and papers
for SMITA2008 to smita@nercita.org.cn.
See: http://www.iccta.cn
See: http://smita.nercita.org.cn
European Conference on e-Learning (ECEL 2008)
6-7 November 2008 - AGIA NAPA - Cyprus
Over the last ten years, the way in which education is delivered has changed
considerably with the advent of new technologies. e-Learning is one such development,
so much so that it is now regarded as a field in it?s own right. Thus, the 7th
European Conference on e-Learning (ECEL 2008), offers an opportunity for those
involved in the study, implementation and delivery of e-learning to meet and
exchange ideas and experiences.
The conference, to be held in November 2008, invites qualitative, experience-based
and quantitative papers, case studies and reports of work in progress on both
the theory and practice of all aspects of web-enabled technology in learning
and teaching. Submissions are welcomed from academics, teachers, practitioners,
vendors and government departments.
Topics may include, but are not limited to: e-Learning platforms, portals and
Virtual learning environments; Course design; Emerging and best practices; Partnerships
in e-Learning; Evaluation of e-Learning; Cross-cultural education; e-Learning
strategies; Social benefits of e-Learning; e-Learning effectiveness and outcomes;
Web-based learning, including Wikis and Blogs; Academic participation and freedom;
Learner autonomy; Security and confidentiality; Self-learning integrated methodology;
Ambient intelligence; Assertive and assistive educational technology; Computer-aided
assessment; Learning content management systems; AV-communication and other
media; Digital classrooms; Blended learning; Collaborative on-line learning;
Content repositories; Data envelopment analysis; Meta data standards; Ontologies;
Pedagogical models; Needs analysis; Global trends in e-Learning; Corporate training;
Managing quality in e-Learning; Synchronic software; Educating the educators;
Web 2.0 technologies; Mobile learning; Simulated communities; Online mentoring;
e-Benchmarking; Cultural, social and gender issues; Personalisation; National/international
strategies.
See: http://academic-conferences.org/ecel/ecel2008/ecel08-call-papers.htm
Searching for the Meaning of Life
Many times when I am troubled or confused, I find comfort in sitting in
my back yard and having a vodka and cranberry along with a quiet conversation
with Jesus.
This happened to me again after a particularly difficult day. I said 'Jesus,
why do I work so hard?'
And I heard the reply: 'Men find many ways to demonstrate the love they have
for their family. You work hard to have a peaceful, beautiful place for your
friends and family to gather.'
I said: 'I thought that money was the root of all evil,' and Jesus' reply was:
'No, the LOVE of money is the root of all evil. Money is a tool; it can be used
for good or bad'.
I was starting to feel better, but I still had that one burning question, so
I asked it. 'Jesus,' I said, 'What is the meaning of life? Why am I here?'
He replied: 'That is a question many men ask. The answer is in your heart and
is different for everyone. I would love to chat with you some more, Senor, but
right now, I have to finish your lawn.'
Maths Magic .......for VERY clever people only!
Think of a number between 3 and 999.
Multiply it by 3.
Now add 5 to the result.
Take away the number you first thought of.
Now add 7.
Subtract 2.
Add back the number you first thought of.
Now, close your eyes ...
And scroll down......
Dark, isn't it?
Contact: Mick HARKIN
E-mail: harkin(a)iol.ie
Shipwreck Romance
An Aberdonian was washed up on a beach after a terrible shipwreck. Only
a sheep and a sheepdog were washed up with him. Looking around, he realised
that they were stranded on a remote deserted island. After being there a while,
he got into the habit of taking his two animal companions to the beach every
evening to watch the sun set.
One particular evening, the sky was a fiery red with beautiful cirrus clouds
the breeze was warm and gentle - a perfect night for romance. As they sat there,
the sheep started looking better and better to the lonely Aberdonian. Soon,
he leaned over to the sheep and put his arm around it.
But the sheepdog, ever protective of the sheep, bared his fangs and growled
fiercely until the man took his arm from around the sheep. After that, the three
of them continued to enjoy the sunsets together, but there was no more cuddling.
A few weeks passed by and, lo and behold, there was another shipwreck.
The only survivor was a beautiful young woman - the most beautiful woman the
man had ever seen. He was in a bad way when he rescued her and he slowly nursed
her back to health over the following weeks.
One day, when the young maiden was well enough, he introduced her to his evening
beach walk ritual. It was another beautiful evening red sky, cirrus clouds,
a warm and gentle breeze - perfect for a night of romance.
Pretty soon, the Aberdonian started to get "those feelings" again.
He fought the urges as long as he could, but he finally gave in and, realising
he now had an opportunity, leaned over to the young woman, cautiously, and whispered
in her ear:
"Would you mind taking the dog for a walk?"
Contact: Mick HARKIN
E-mail: harkin(a)iol.ie
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