Paris, 7 September 2009


EFITA newsletter / 427 / European Federation for Information Technology in Agriculture, Food and the Environment


To read this newsletter on the efita.net web site...
See: http://www.efita.net?d=6703


Efita 2009
All authors are invited to have a look at the efita.net web site to check if there is something wrong!
Contact: Guy WAKSMAN
Mél : waksman(a)acta.asso.fr


HGCA R&D Conference “Precision in arable farming – current practice and future potential”
28 - 29 October 2009 - Belton Woods Hotel - Near Grantham - Lincolnshire UK
This conference will explore many aspects of ‘precision farming’ based on recent research, including interpreting soil and yield maps, crop canopy sensing and precision weed control. If your interest is to get the best out of cropped land, whether you are a practitioner or sceptic, grower or researcher, this conference will provide much of interest and lively debate.
See http://www.hgca.com/document.aspx?fn=load&media_id=5428
Contact: Andrew CRAGG
E-mail: acragg(a)farmline.com


From Ehud, king of questionnaires
I am now in the processes of trying to summarize our recent JIAC session on "Commonalities of Technological Innovation". Difficult but I hope to prevail. The efita.net will be most helpful for this.

Following my accessing efita.net I would like to suggest separating "conferences and seminars" from "books". With this in mind can I suggest to put our EFITA e-book as a separate item in the efita.net home page? The e-book has been downloading now for more than a year at more than 10000 times a month. As a special EFITA project it is worth noting. In addition would it be possible to change the book's date to 1.1.2009 - which was the book's latest update with more to come?

The Springer book which currently shares the "conferences, seminars and books" listing is not an EFITA project. If you decide to list several recommended books in this list (not a bad idea) we should get together to figure out a suitable short list. I will be glad to help with such a project. We must remember however that it appears under the EFITA site heading which is not commercial.

I wholeheartedly support your decision to maintain the efita.net format as you expressed it so well in the "EFITA newsletter / 425 "I know that this efita.net web site that I maintain since 2000 (if I well remember) is "old fashion". But I do believe that the most important point is not to build beautiful web sites but to feed them regularly. I see sites like this one of acta-informatique.fr that are very efficient thanks to an excellent CMS and that are far more successful than other sites the costs of whose were much higher.
Warm regards and all the best,
Contact: Ehud GELB
E-mail: gelb(a)agri.huji.ac.il


My answer (GW): I put the e-book in the home page and changed the date.
I am waiting for your list of recommended books.


PEER − Publishing and the Ecology of European Research (Supported by the European Commission eContentplus programme)
PEER (Publishing and the Ecology of European Research) is a pioneering collaboration between publishers, repositories and the research community, which aims to investigate the effects of the large-scale deposit (so called Green Open Access) on user access, author visibility, journal viability and the broader European research environment.

The project will run until 2011, during which time over 50,000 European stage-2 (accepted) manuscripts from up to 300 STM journals will become available for archiving.
See: http://www.peerproject.eu/

Contact: Barbara BAYER-SCHUR
E-mail: bayer-schur(a)sub.uni-goettingen.de


Two PhD Research Positions at Wessex Institute of Technology (UK)
Applications are invited, from suitably qualified candidates, to work in the field of Modelling of Acoustic Waves and Bubble Dynamics. These positions are funded by a major new project including 17 participating institutions from the EU, as part of the Nanotechnology call of the FP7 European Commission Programme, which will be starting in Autumn 2009.
The main objective of the project is design of production line for medical antibacterial textiles by use of nanoparticles.
- Position 1: Modelling acoustic waves in bubbly liquid
- Position 2: Modelling multiple bubble dynamics
See: http://www.wessex.ac.uk

Contact: Viktor POPOV
Email: viktor(a)wessex.ac.uk.


Wanted: Full Professor and Endowed Chair for Dairy Industry Economics
The position is salaried according to W3 (full professor equivalent). The successful candidate will be appointed for 5 years. The funds endowed by major companies of the German dairy industry and associated institutions towards this position will provide salary and staff appropriations. The successful candidate will dedicate themselves to excellence and innovation in both education and research. He or she is expected to take an active role in the communicating and collaborating with other institutes and colleges locally, nationally, and internationally. Furthermore, the successful candidate will develop and implement courses in the master program of dairy science and agricultural economics.

The appointee is expected to conduct research in the areas of supply chain and risk management for the dairy and food industry, as well as competitive analyses with a focus on the strategic orientation of firms. In addition, the appointee is expected to establish close working relations with the dairy and food industries with an emphasis on establishing an applied research and extension program.

The appointee is expected to show proof of an excellent research track record including very good qualifications (PhD, habilitation or equivalent thereof in agricultural economics, agribusiness, economics or related areas), significant teaching experience and an established interdisciplinary profile. Knowledge of German is not required; the successful candidate is, however, expected to teach in tolerable German after a reasonable time. In addition, s/he should possess outstanding networking skills.

CAU is working to promote gender equality by increasing the percentage of women among the faculty. Qualified female scholars are especially encouraged to apply. Disabled people will also be given preferential treatment.

Please submit your application together with the usual documents (CV, resume, lists of publications, and grants received, etc.) not later than September 30th, 2009 to:


The Faculty of Agricultural and Nutritional Sciences
Christian-Albrechts-University at Kiel
Department of Agricultural Economics

Contact: Dr. Rolf A.E. MUELLER, Prof.
Email: raem(a)ae.uni-kiel.de


Indian teacher explaining the word F…
See: http://wind9.multiply.com/video/item/138


New version (for me!) of an old one
Two men were adrift in a life boat following a dramatic escape from a burning freight vessel. While rummaging through the boat's provisions, one of the men stumbled across an old lamp. Secretly hoping that a genie would appear, he rubbed the lamp vigorously. To the amazement of the castaways, a genie came forth!

This particular genie, however, stated that she could only deliver one wish, not the standard three. Without giving much thought to the matter the man blurted out, "Make the entire ocean into beer!"

Immediately the genie clapped her hands with a deafening crash, and the entire sea turned into the finest brew ever sampled by mortals. Simultaneously, the genie vanished to her freedom. Only the gentle lapping of beer on the hull broke the stillness as the two men considered their circumstances. The other man looked disgustedly at the one whose wish had been granted.

After a long, tension-filled moment, he spoke: "Nice going! Now we're going to have to pee in the boat."


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