Robot farmhands prepare to invade the countryside - New Scientist

Public article on some of the types of things I work on. -- Noel
Robot farmhands prepare to invade the countryside - tech - 01 June 2009 - New Scientist

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Yard and Garden Update (6/28/2009)

We had some nice evenings to enjoy the yard and garden this past week. I did spend one evening removing about 15 gallons of sprouting/rotting elm seeds from our roof gutters. As we got into the weekend for some flower bed expansion projects, rain came and interfered with progress. We are expanding the front yard bed and the south backyard bed (shown below).

Ilene layed out the new extent of the bed with a garden hose. The new boundary was made possible by the removal of the swing set. She then sprayed the grass inside the new boundary so it wouldn't become a weed in the new bed.

We lined up a friend with time and a trailer to do the roto-tilling with a rental machine. The rain this weekend and last left our Fargo clay pretty cloddy and difficult to work with. Every few feet the machine had to be stopped and the tines cleaned. Later this week, once things have dried out a bit, our friend will be back to roto-till peat moss into the hopefully drier soil. We had hoped to get the extensions planted, but have run out of time with the wet soil delay. The goal is now to get the edging installed and continue developing the soil with organic matter so it is ready to go next spring.

The veggie garden is doing well and is providing some greens and herbs for cooking. The grass planted a month ago, in the foreground, is also doing well. We will need to lift the fabric which had been protecting it. We were also pleased that our maple and new burr oak survided a brief, but intense thunderstorm last night which saw winds of over 50 mph.

Some petunias..
and another current bloom.

Life was simpler when books were books...

We take for granted that it took decades if not centuries for the printed book (post Gutenburg) to take its current form with covers, title page, table of contents, chapters, and index. Not only did sequence of big parts have to be decided, but also details like reading from front to back vs back to front.

Given this lengthy evolution, I should not be surprised that books in alternate formats are still evolving and need to have some kinks worked out. The Kindle 2 and Kindle 2 DX from Amazon are probably furthest along this evolution, easily allowing a user to switch from text to audio and back to text very easily.

The task I am trying to support is my wife's consumption of Charles Dicken's book David Copperfield for her next Book Club meeting. The Kindle DX would be the easy way out at a cost of $500 for the reader and book. What I have done, for under $5, is set her up in a variety of text and speech devices and modes. Here is what has worked, so far, and what hasn't.

• The Fargo Public Library provides audiobooks for download via NetLibrary. Key caveat is that they download to Windows Media Player as a temporary file. SAVE IT IMMEDIATELY or risk loosing it when you shift away from Media Player. Very disheartening after a 2 hour download at 1.5 Mbs DSL. The file supposedly has Digital Rights management (DRM), but I haven't seen evidence of it on my PC, Garmin Nuvi 760, or iPod Touch.
  
  
• A great source of public domain audiobooks is librivox.org which has over 2000 titles available in mp3 format, broken into chapters. For my iPod Touch, I got the Audiobooks app from Traveling Classics. Unfortunately, on Saturday June 20th, they had to stop selling it...something to do with being required to only stream audio vs dowloading it onto the device :-/ . I suppose the work around is to download mp3s from librivox.org into an iTunes playlist (but see below).
  
  
• Text is available from Google Books in PDF format and from Standard Works for iPhone (video below). The iPhone/iPod Touch reader has some nice features for annotations, bookmarks, highlighting, etc.
  
  

Once the audio and text versions are in hand, there is a need to easily synch reading and listening. Some observations....

• The NetLibrary audio is in one big file (~750 MB). It becomes crucial that the player be able to stop and resume where you left off. Otherwise, you always have to start at the beginning of the book, which in the case of David Copperfield, is 35-40 hours of listening. The single file also makes it difficult to listen to a chapter/reader a chapter/listen to a third chapter because the file lacks chapter demarcations. The player should support hopping around within the file, not just jump to start of file or jumpt to end of file which works ok for 4 minute songs. Again to summarize: player should have start/resume and within file movement.
  
  
• The librivox recordings are broken up into chapters: one mp3 file per chapter, up to about 30 minutes in length. Same issues here: player should be start/resume and allow you to move around within a file, not just move to the beginning or end.
  
  
• Once the audio chapters are manageable, the synching with text chapters needs to be done. This could be a pain if one medium uses chapter numbers and the other chapter titles. One then needs a Rosetta stone with both chapter numbers and titles. The table of contents from a Google Books edition might be a place to get this.
  
  

Next the book consumer needs to be trained on installed software and hardware and then find the time to listen to the book...which it turns out she isn't liking. At least I've got the capability worked out for summer travels during which are family often listens to audio books,

Yard and Garden Update (6/21/09)

It was a rainy this past week and stormy 20+ miles south of Fargo. Parts of the watershed had over six inches of rain, tornados, etc. We actually looked a bit dry yesterday on a beautiful solstice weekend Saturday. Today we had nusence rain in the afternoon with about 0.1 inches. There was a break about 3:30, so daughter L and I went for a bike ride to survey the flood resulting from the heavy rains south of town.

The Red River is supposed to crest tonight at 28 feet which is 10 feet above flood stage. This is considered moderate flooding which can be readily handled. The main casualties are the parks, bike paths, and golf courses along the river. Many had just been cleaned up and reseeded from our big flood (crest at 42 feet) earlier this spring. A highlight was seeing a wild turkey on the Minnesota side of the river after riding across the 12th Ave N toll bridge.

This week's feature blooms are poppies and pictures are from guest photographer, daughter T.

Yard and Garden Update (6/14/09)

Ilene was busy with Vacation Bible School and I was out of town this past week, so only one project to report.

Ilene is expanding the size of two flower beds: the one in front (shown here) and the one on the south side of the back yard. Her technique is to mark the expansion area with a garden hose and then spray the grass to be converted to garden with round up. Soon a friend will come with a tiller to work up the soil and work in some peat moss. Edging is planned which means I will be called in for spade work.

The perenial bed has irises and daisies and petunias in bloom, Oh My! (The petunias in the window box are annuals.)

The new bed, where the spruce trees used to be, has a dahlia in bloom with kale in the foreground. Veggies are up as is the newly seeded grass.

The front yard has purple allium (past prime) and bleeding hearts in bloom. Hostas are visible near the bleeding hearts.

This is our new 7 foot high burr oak which was planted about 10 days ago. It can live hundreds of years and won't start producing acorns for about another 30 years or so. Peak acorn production will be between ages 75 and 150. Initial growth could be about a foot a year.

Boulevard Trees in Fargo

We lost an American Elm on our boulevard last year and just had it replaced by the city with a Burr Oak. The forester's office was very good in working with us on our species preference. Just call or email them after your elm or ash is removed. (Pre-emptive removal of marginal ash trees is begining now even though the emerald ash borer is still 250 miles away.)

Also note that Fargo residents are to get a tree permit before planting a tree anywhere on their property. A little bit of planning can prevent a lot of expense and headaches in have trees grow into power lines, nesseciating frequent pruning which still may not prevent damage.

Below is the list of trees that were options for us. The city provides information on the species.

• Accolade Elm
• Cathedral Elm
• Hackberry
• Northern Acclaim Honeylocust
• Green Mountain Sugar Maple
• American Linden
• Bur Oak

North Shore Lake Superior Vacation Guide

Last summer I had put this together for friends taking a vacation there based on our 19 years of vacationing on the Norwegian Riviera. I had planned to post it to my web site, but AOL turned off all its personal web pages. Thus I share it here.

Last Update: 20 July 2008

Quick Start Info for Planning Your Own North Shore Vacation

• Get the Visit Duluth Guide at www.visitduluth.com
  and ship schedules at www.duluthshippingnews.com
  .
  
  
• Favorite places to stay
  
  
  
  • Bob's Cabins on Lake Superior, our base for 18 years www.bobscabinsonlakesuperior.com
    , is 25 miles from the lakefront in Duluth and within 25 miles
    of Gooseberry Falls, Split Rock, and Tettegouche State Parks.
    We also like Two Harbors, just 4 miles away, for its small town
    feel and convenience.
    
  • Naniboujou Lodge, www.naniboujou.com,
    is a nice retreat
    
  • We had a nice stay at the Best
    Western Superior Inn & Suites in Grand Marais and want
    to go back. Good jump off for Thunder Bay day trip along with
    Naniboujou.
    
  
  
• Other places to stay
  
  
  
  • The lakefront (aka Canal Park) in Duluth has a number of
    chain and non-chain hotels. A bit crowded and touristy compared
    to the above.
    
  • Larsmont Cottages www.larsmontcottages.com
    is close to Bob's Cabins and is more upscale.
    
  • Frinds have liked Bluefin Bay www.bluefinbay.com
    which is further up the shore .
    
    
  
  
• Dining in Duluth: Little
  Angies' Cantina (Mexican) and Grandma's (general) at the
  lakefront. Va Bene
  (Italian) on the boardwalk. All have outdoor seating. The Portland
  Malt Shoppe is a nice stop when walking from supper at Va
  Bene back to the lakefront.
  
• Dining in Two Harbor's area:
  
  
  
  • Betty's Pies is
    a family tradition and a North Shore classic.
    
  • The Ledge
    Rock Grill at Larsmont Cottages is a lunchtime favorite.
    Sit at the counter by the kitchen and chat with the chef.
    
  • The Vanilla Bean
    has been a favorite but has dropped below the above in preference.
    
  
  
• Dining Further up the lake:
  
  
  
  • Northern
    Lights Roadhouse in Beaver Bay is a favorite. Ilene likes
    the fish cakes and Noel last had an hunter's pie with elk.
    
  • The Wild Onion
    Cafe is right across the street from the harbor in Grand
    Marais .
    
  • Naniboujou Lodge
    has a "must see, must eat" dining room. Take this in
    when you hike to the Devil's Kettle in Magney State Park.
    
    
  
  
• Things to do in Duluth/Two Harbors (rainy)
  
  
  
  • Glensheen or Fairlawn
    mansion tours
    
  • Irving
    or Meteor
    ship tours
    
  • Great Lakes Aquarium
    
  • Lake Superior Marine Museum
    on the lakefront
    
  
  
• Things to do in Duluth/Two Harbors (sunny)
  
  
  
  • Hang
    out at the ship canal park and watch
    a ship come or go or take a harbor tour on the Vista
    Fleet
    
  • Walk or bike the lakewalk
    in Duluth
    
  • Visit the Rose
    Garden at Lief Erickson Park
    
  • Lake Superior Zoo .
    
  • Hang out by the lake and read
    
  
  
• Highlights up the shore (more details at the the Lake
  Superior Circle Tour web site...these are our favorites)
  
  
  
  • Tour
    the Two Harbors Lighthouse or walk
    around the lighthouse and breakwater
    
  • Search for sea glass at the Flood Bay State Wayside
    
  • Hiking at Gooseberry
    Falls State Park (includes easy, paved segment)
    
  • Split
    Rock Lighthouse tour .
    
  • See Minnesota's highest waterfall at Tettegouche
    State Park .
    
  • Visit the Devil's Kettle at Judge
    C. R. Magney State Park .
    
  • Learn about voyageurs at Grand
    Portage National Monument, particulalry during the Voyageur
    reunion in early August
    
  • See the High Falls of the Pidgeon River on the US/Canadian
    Border at Grand
    Portage State Park after a 1/4 mile walk on a paved trail
    
  
  
• Highlights on the iron range
  
  
  
  • Tour the underground iron mine or particle physics lab at
    Soudan Underground Mine State Park .
    
  • Visit the International
    Wolf Center in Ely .
    
    
  
  
• Future adventures
  
  
  
  • Isle Royale National Park
    ... just so the lake isn't rough when we want to cross
    
  • Thunder Bay Ontario
    .. bring your passport and just 60 miles from Grand Marais
    
  • Apostle Islands National
    Lake Shore ... we took the ferry to Madeleine
    Island once, but the lake was too rough for the island tours
    
  
  

 

Yard and Garden Update (6/8/09)

Cool and ....

Fill in the blank and that describes much of the week. The early days were warm along with Thursday, when the four of us had lunch at Ribfest. We had "Cool and near frost" on Wednesday when it was 37 F for the last drive to school for the academic year. It was "Cool and breezy" on Friday followed by "Cool and showery" on Saturday.

Because of the rain, I don't have pictures for today. We got our new burr oak early in the week, the grass seed is sprouted, and stuff has grown. Hopefully pictures will follow next weekend...

Summer Begins

Yesterday I was a bit confused about summer arriving since it was 37 degrees in the morning and it was the last day of school and taxi service to Ben Franklin Middle School.

Today it was more clearly summer with 57 degrees when I biked to work for the first time this season. I was pleased with my 15 minute time and the lack of traffic. At lunch time, Ilene and the girls joined me at the Fargodome for lunch at the 14th annual rib fest. The wind was a bit strong, but otherwise a beuatiful day to be eating BBQ in a big tent.

Tonight I got some time on the patio before a cold front blew in. It was raining elm seeds which was to the chagrin of the heads grounds keeper who noted that they seem to fall just as the rest of the garden was cleaned up.

Trash Day Eve during Clean Up Week

Not only is it Trash Day Eve, the night before trash is picked up on Fargo's weekly schedule, but tonight is Trash Day Eve during Clean Up Week. For those outside our little metro, Clean Up Week is an annual event where the city picks up a lot of stuff for free. Stuff like furniture, tires, electronics, appliances, and the like. Not only is it a time to get rid of large items no longer wanted, but it is a time to go curb shopping and bring home treasures put out by others.

So far this week has been modest for its intake at our house: a few paving stones, some plastic buckets with a towel and brush, and a box of flower vases.

On the giving side, we've been pleased with how much of our refuse has been picked up already by others. All that's left for the trash folks tomorrow are a box of broken glass, a wooden trellis in tough shape, and a furniture box filled with styrofoam blocks.

Our top give-away item was our ~10 year old Charbroil grill which still worked. We put it out Saturday with a sign listing its faults, namely, that it had to be started with a match and that it ran hot because the burners and heat distribution metal was aged and in need of replacement. We even threw in our old grill brush and the pair were gone within a few hours.

Other items we've put out which have been picked up include the following:

* A children's plastic chair which was pretty stained
* The broken blocks removed from our stepping stone path over
Memorial Day weekend
* A fan which didn't work
* A stick Shark (sweeper) Ilene had picked up on the curb, tested, and decided
to recontribute

So that's the excitement of Clean Up Week so far. I've been eying a chair upgrade for the Man Cave, but passed on some strong candidates. I like what I have, I just don't know how long it will last. Given that my route to work is via Monday and Tuesday trash pick-up zones, I doubt I'll get any more curb shopping in this year.

-- Dakota Noel