Robots: Coming to a Farm Near You

        I accidentally found an article in a newspaper on the research and development of robots in agriculture. Now I don't know where I've been hiding the last few years, but I was very surprise that the development of robots in agriculture has progressed as far as it has. I'm well aware of GPS used on farms. However, there still must be an operator for the equipment. Someone has to adjust equipment on the go and and monitor for any problems.


      A hundred years ago agriculture was a very labor intensive industry. That was almost one hundred years after the reaper had been invented. Fruit farming and vegetable farming are still highly labor intensive. So that's where most of the research on robots has been centered. A number of robots have been developed to pick fruit and prune trees. Most of his work is done now by laborers who must hand pick the fruit.


     Other robots have been developed to operate on grain farms. Seeders have been developed to sow crops. Harvesters have been developed to harvest grain crops.


     Most robots are in a prototype stage. the next hurdle is to be able to mass produce them. In order to mass produce they need a market. The market will develop if they can persuade farmers to buy these machines. The machines have to be able to cost effective for the agricultural industry.


      So I ask myself where I've been the last ten years when all this has been going on? Obviously under some  very large toadstool!

Cashless Society Coming Next.

      We've had  vague knowledge a way back in our head that someday we might not have any cash in circulation as we have today. I recently listened to a documentary and was surprised at how soon it may be that we do not have cash in circulation any longer. 


     In my last post I wrote about the penny being discarded in our cash. Many comments were on the sentimental value of the penny. However all commenters could see the practical reasons for getting rid of the penny. Other comments could look ahead to the loss of the nickel


     It was a few days after these comments that I discovered the reality of a whole country without cash. This may be coming sooner than we think. Most of us have cell phones and are connected to the Internet.


     There is now technology developed that would allow us to do business with out cash. We would have a chip on our cell phone. This chip would communicate with the chip in our bank card which is in our pocket. We would simply key in the price of the total of the items we are purchasing and away we go. The Canadian mint is assessing one system now. 


     Sweden is much further advanced in going cashless. They have a cashless system in place. However, cash is still in circulation. About 90% of Swedes go cashless. There are a few people for whatever reasons still want to use cash.


    One must look behind and wonder when we started using cash. What did we use before cash? 


    So I guess quite soon we will be able to say, "Have chip. Will shop."

My Penny is Lost!

      A month ago the Canadian government abolished the penny! That's right . No more pennies for Canada. 


       The penny cost 1.6 cents to produce so to cut out the penny would save the government money. Now what could I buy for a penny?  I couldn't come up with an answer. In fact, what could I buy for 2,3,or 4 cents. I don't think we've been able to buy anything for a penny for a long time. The penny now has been used to set a neat sounding price like $4.99. So you come home every day and empty your pockets and the penny jar gets fuller each week. So I don't think the penny will be missed for monetary purposes.


      The government stopped making pennies on the day of the announcement. Pennies will be accepted in business for some limited time. Fund raisers have been quick to latch onto a good idea. Many penny jars have been set up for various charities to raise money. I noticed that the jars all had tons of pennies.


     Now one of the things not considered in doing away with the penny is the place it has in our language. Many sayings have been generated around the penny. The word penny is of British origin. Americans have chosen to use the term cent. Sayings that may die are: Penny or your thoughts; Shiny as a new penny; Cost a pretty penny; A penny saved is a penny earned; In for a penny; A bad penny always turns up; Penny ante; See a penny, pick it up, all day long you will have good luck. I would think these sayings would disappear over time. When the penny has been gone for several generations the use of these terms in our language will probably disappear.


    So a sad good bye to the penny which was sort of the work horse in our money system. How soon will it be before we discard the nickel?


       

Titanic Centennial

        Since  this week is the hundredth  anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, there has been much discussion on the news. 


       The sinking of the Titanic was a major disaster in several ways. Over 1500 people lost their lives. A major vessel was lost on it's first voyage. A comedy of errors occurred which led to the disaster.


     Over the last 100 years the Titanic sinking has provided the reason for many books to be written. People are still fascinated with the sinking. Many heroic tales have been told of how people survived and died. It was horrendous for all as they thought they were on an extremely modern and safe ship. Within the last 10 years a major movie was made. Many newspaper articles and interviews have occurred on the topic. This week I heard several documentaries. One documentary was on the band that played on the ship and how it played to almost the last minute. The band members got off the ship but because they were in the water they soon perished from hypothermia.


     Recent technology has enabled us to go down to the Titanic and look around. Again more was learned to explain what happened. Treasure seekers have been able to access the wreck. There is controversy regarding the ethics of taking things from the wreck. Salvagers assure us that the things the have were picked up from the ocean floor and not taken from the ship as the ship is considered a grave site.


     Survivors provided eye witness accounts of events. The last Titanic survivor died only a few years ago. Families are still able to name members who were lost in the disaster. 


     Many investigations have taken place as to why the Titanic sank. There is till some dispute as to what actually happened. The investigations have led to many rules to improve navigation and safety. The basic building of ships was changed so that the bulkheads would prevent water from moving from one compartment to another. The type of steel used to build ships was changed because of the Titanic sinking.


     It's difficult to consider the technology of the time. They did not have radar or sonar. They only had Morse code for a radio system. Visual sailing was all they had. They knew that this area could  have icebergs but they continued on. Other ships in the area stopped for the night.


    I think that today we have benefited from the Titanic disaster by having more reliable engineering practices. Laws have been enacted to enforce safety regulations. Life boat space and life jackets must be provided for all people on a ship.


    We have all benefited from this great tragedy. 100 years have provided us with much information. I'm sure there is still more to learn. We also must remember this tragedy.

Peregrine Falcon Web Cam

       I have just put on a link to a Peregrine Falcon nest. The nest is one placed on the top of a 100m (330 ft) tower in Red Deer Alberta. This is the third year the web cam has been placed on the tower. The first year three eggs hatched and all three birds fledged. Last year none of the eggs hatched and later in the summer the female was found dead under the tower. It is suspected that she succumbed due to a poison. Tests are being done on the body to see if it was poison and if so what poison.


     Now, the link for the Owl web cam has not been successful. This year the owls did not choose the nest. That site is showing still pictures from last year's web cam and also still pictures from the beaver web cam.


      Enjoy the season watching the web cam.

Millennium Madness: Remember It?

       Recently I have been thinking about the approach of the third millennium and all the hype surrounding it's approach. In the late 1990's more and more was being said and written about the approaching millennium. I'm sure that in back rooms discussion of the upcoming millennium occurred well before the late 90's. 


      Some of the issues reported seemed very practical. The computer issue was obvious. Computers had been inadequately programmed to show dates. So if changes weren't made a whole host of problems would occur with incorrect dates. When it came to legal, business, government and historical issues the possible effects were enormous. Frantic efforts were made to update the computer system to handle the 2000's in dates. Stories on this issue were common and they always emphasized the doubt about the success of changing computer programs. It made for good story telling. Stories abounded about a total computer collapse. So there was tremendous fear mongering. 


    Well, the millennium came and surprise, surprise the world of computers did not end. Nor did the world end.


      Aside from the computer issue there were many other wild stories about the coming of the millennium. The end of the worlders added their two cents worth. There were various groups who had reasons to predict that the end of the world would come. Many other religious groups had discussions as it related to their faith.


     When you think about it it seems like the millennium issue happened only recently. Twelve years have passed since that momentous change from one millennium to another. Slowly the issue has left our minds and it seems like a distant dream. I'm sure someday we will look back and ask what all the fuss was about.

Snow, Snow and More Snow

      Snow seems to be a popular topic on Hiawatha House. There have been four posts on snow in 2012.  I like snow and where I live we have some interesting snow occasions.

The lilac hedge full of snow

     Yesterday we had weather warnings for heavy snowfall. We were warned that we could get from 10 - 25 cm(4-10 in.) of snow. About 7:00 PM light snow started but it melted as it hit the ground. By 10:00 PM it was snowing heavily. I looked out at 2:00 and 4:00 AM and the sky was full of snow. If I wasn't so lazy I would have gone outside and taken a picture of the snow falling in the street light. 

The poor old car was heavily covered

     Now I know that I can blame this snow on followers in the north west U. S. The forecaster guy said that this system got organized in the north west U. S. So what happens is a moist Pacific air mass hits the west coast. Winds begin and a low pressure system forms. If conditions are right the low pressure system can become very large. As it moves eastward the winds will turn and blow toward the east side of the Rockies. The air mass has to rise as it approaches the Rockies. So when air rises and cools moisture drops out of it. That's where we come in and get the big dump of snow.

A snow laden juniper

    So this morning there was about 8 cm on the ground. Trees were covered. The temp was about minus 2 C or plus 27 F. Needless to say it was a very beautiful morning. 

You just have to look at these kids and you know they're having a ball.

My neighbor's house decorated with snow.