EFITA Newsletter / 744

Châtenay-Malabry (FR - 92290), 11 July 2016

EFITA newsletter / 744 - European Federation for Information Technology in Agriculture, Food and the Environment

To correspond with me (GW), please use this address: guy.waksman(a)laposte.net

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Britain and EU
I so share your sadness at the now inevitable loss of EU membership. I would not go so far as to say I love the EU more than the UK, but it is certainly preferable to the mean-spirited, xenophobic horror that England seems to have become. Maybe Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP can offer us some faint ray of hope.
Contact: Dr Dick MORRIS
E-mail: dickm(a)waitrose.com

How technology disrupted the truth? Katharine Viner (Director The Guardian)
Social media has swallowed the news – threatening the funding of public-interest reporting and ushering in an era when everyone has their own facts. But the consequences go far beyond journalism
(...)
When the prevailing mood is anti-elite and anti-authority, trust in big institutions, including the media, begins to crumble.

I believe that a strong journalistic culture is worth fighting for. So is a business model that serves and rewards media organisations that put the search for truth at the heart of everything – building an informed, active public that scrutinises the powerful, not an ill-informed, reactionary gang that attacks the vulnerable. Traditional news values must be embraced and celebrated: reporting, verifying, gathering together eyewitness statements, making a serious attempt to discover what really happened.

We are privileged to live in an era when we can use many new technologies – and the help of our audience – to do that. But we must also grapple with the issues underpinning digital culture, and realise that the shift from print to digital media was never just about technology. We must also address the new power dynamics that these changes have created. Technology and media do not exist in isolation – they help shape society, just as they are shaped by it in turn. That means engaging with people as civic actors, citizens, equals. It is about holding power to account, fighting for a public space, and taking responsibility for creating the kind of world we want to live in.

See: https://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/jul/12/how-technology-disrupted-the-truth

Ladybird (g robot) developer awarded researcher of the year
See: http://sydney.edu.au/news/84.html?newsstoryid=13686

"Ladybird" autonomous robot to help out down on the farm
Ladybirds are happily welcomed by gardeners into their yards, knowing that they will consume the most prolific plant pests like white flies, mites, and aphids. Imagine, then, how useful an autonomous, solar-powered, intelligent robotic ladybird could be on a farm. Enter the University of Sydney’s "Ladybird," not actually an eater of insect pests, but a robot capable of conducting mobile farm reconnaissance, mapping, classification, and detection of problems for a variety of different crops.
The Ladybird farm robot is the culmination of a lot of previous work from a research team lead by Professor Sukkarieh at Sydney University, committed to the development of farming robotics in such things as sensory technology, materials advances and complex autonomous mechanisms.
See: http://www.gizmag.com/ladybird-autonomous-intelligent-farm-robot/32776/
See: https://youtu.be/mgdksX9u08E

Data aggregation: What does it mean? And why should you care?
Explaining how this important management tool can work for your farm.
In the past five years, one key word has made its way into the farm vocabulary - data. For some it's a four-letter word in the worst sense of the meaning, given that it's an item that needs a whole new kind of management. Yet there's one phrase that often comes along with data - data aggregation. And understanding what that means may help you better understand your options when looking at data agreements, and determining how best to make use of all that information you have on the farm.
See: http://farmindustrynews.com/precision-farming/data-aggregation-what-does-it-mean-and-why-should-you-care

Thermal imaging company uses heat to scout fields
See: http://farmindustrynews.com/variable-rate/thermal-imaging-company-uses-heat-scout-fields

Qu’est-ce que l’agriculture connectée
Voir : http://www.innovaction-agriculture.fr/agriculture-numerique/agriculture-connectee/

Qu'est-ce que l'agriculture de précision ?
Voir : http://www.innovaction-agriculture.fr/agriculture-numerique/agriculture-de-precision/

Qu'est-ce que la robotique ?
Voir : http://www.innovaction-agriculture.fr/agriculture-numerique/robotique/

A guy asks his girlfriend to marry him and she says yes, so he buys her a new Mini – she loves this car and goes everywhere in it

One day, she picks up her kids from school. She’s got a boy and a girl.

As she’s driving down the road, a car pulls up in front of her and they have a really nasty accident and she falls in to a coma.

When she wakes up from the coma there is a doctor next to her and she quickly asks the doctor, „Where is my son? He was brilliant at football, better than Beckham and could have played for England.‟

The doctor replied, „I’m so sorry, in the accident he lost his leg, he won’t be able to kick a football any more.‟

The woman asks „Doctor, where is my daughter? She was really good at tennis and could have been the best in the world and won Wimbledon.‟

The doctor says, „Sorry but she lost her arms in the accident and she won’t be able to pick up a racket any more.‟

She begins to cry.

„Doctor,‟ asks the woman, „how long have I been in this coma?‟

The doctor replies, „Six months.‟

„So what’s the date?‟ asks the woman.

„April 1st,‟ says the doctor.

The woman begins to laugh „So you were joking then, were you?‟

Doctor: „YES!... they both died on impact.

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Contact: Guy WAKSMAN
E-mail: guy.waksman(a)laposte.net

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Jokes, Quotes and Anecdotes... an Anatomy of Wit
Mick Harkin, ex Secretary of EFITA, who has kept us amused with his Friday Jokes over the years, has published a book on Amazon entitled "Jokes, Quotes and Anecdotes... an Anatomy of Wit".
See: http://www.jokesquotesandanecdotes.com
Contact: Mick HARKIN
E-mail: mickjharkin(a)gmail.com

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