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Sunday, July 22, 2012

Sharing a moment


It's Sunday. I'm busy. But, I'm taking a moment to share this image with you. I loved the light and the moment. It is, by the way, my granddaughter.

Cheers!

Friday, July 20, 2012

Giving trolls exactly what they want; Well, maybe not exactly.

Nicola Brookes of Brighton, England, had her life upended by the Internet. Trolls publicly attacked the innocent English lady on Facebook. Brookes fought back. She petitioned the high court to force Facebook to release the identities of the trolls and won. Facebook has agreed to comply with the court order.

Brookes plans to bring a private prosecution against at least four alleged Internet trolls. "They wanted a reaction from me and now they have got it," Brookes said.

Internet trolls, like the ones that attacked Brookes, are not brilliant Internet hackers, despite often being portrayed that way in the main stream media. They are cowardly bullies, often attacking people they don't know, emboldened by their poor understanding of the anonymity of the Web.

These bullies are rarely anonymous. Their identities are known, not just publicly. They usually leave an easily followed trail. As I said, these are not brilliant hackers. These are jerks hiding behind the anonymity offered by Facebook or Twitter or the like.

In most cases, Facebook and Twitter know these bullies identities but keep the information guarded for legal reasons. Now, a pattern is emerging showing how to use the courts to pry this information free.

As Brookes so succinctly put it, these folks want "a reaction", they crave attention, let's give them what they want and give it to them in spades.
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If you are thinking of setting up an online memorial, check out the linked post by The Cyber Safety Lady: Problems with Trolls and Facebook Memorials and Tribute Pages.

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Welcome to the third world

A tourist assists in cranking open a lock on the Trent-Severn Waterway.

Years ago I used to say, "Don't bother visiting the third world. Just wait. The third world is coming to a neighbourhood near you." I had no idea how right I was.

On the weekend my wife and I drove to Peterborough for a family event. Saturday was free, so we drove about the city doing some touristy stuff. For instance, we checked out the local locks on the Trent-Severn Waterway.

The TSW has a history predating Canada itself. The canal has roots going back to about 1833. But the waterway is no longer needed for the transport of goods and has attracted the attention of the federal government budget cutters.

I talked to two tourists who had assisted staff with cranking open a lock. The tourists thought it was great fun. The lock staff appreciated the help. The lock staff is short handed.

The story I heard from locals was that the government was cutting the period of canal operation from 16 weeks to 8 weeks. Tour boat operators and canal boat rental companies would be hard hit financially if this comes to pass. They may not be able to make enough in such a short period of operation to remain in business.

You can read more about this by following these links:


Like I said, "Welcome to the third world."

Monday, July 9, 2012

Kaleidoscopes

My granddaughter in a kaleidoscope produced image.

When I was a young boy, one of my favorite toys was a kaleidoscope. It worked with a rotating ring and small pieces of randomly tumbling bits of coloured plastic. Then in the '60s, well into my teens, I discovered kaleidoscopes that break the world into a kaleidoscopic image. I thought this was really cool.

These units were inexpensively made out of a cardboard tube, a plastic lens and three little mirrors taped together; yes, I took one apart to inspect its innards.

I was so impressed that I bought one for each my nieces and nephews. I took them for a walk around their neighbourhood and we viewed their usual world in an unusual way.

The other day I found my old '60s kaleidoscope forgotten in a box in the basement. I wondered if I could capture the images it created. I positioned the lens of my point and shoot in front of the viewing hole and voila I had a picture.

I know there are apps available for the iPhone to manipulate images and give them the kaleidoscope look, but I enjoy watching the images form and evolve on my camera back. If the idea of an app interests you, check out Kooleido for your iPhone.

I'm wondering how hard it would be to make a proper little kaleidoscope to attach to the front of my point and shoot. There are instructions on the Internet for the old-fashioned children's toy and even suggestions on making one for use with a camera. If I make one that works, I'll post some pictures.

For high quality results, Photoshop may be the best answer. Start with a fine quality image and let Photoshop take it from there.

Flowers on the patio as seen through my kaleidoscope.
To see my best efforts, check out these. I tried my little gadget on my lilies.

Friday, July 6, 2012

Higgs Boson

This is a fine little animated feature explaining the Higgs Boson. The feature starts about forty seconds in. Cheers!

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Concerns about the future of farming

Farms are more than businesses; they are vital to Canada's economic strength.

 

Today I noticed a posting on my brokerage site reporting a Bank of Montreal survey that tracked the concerns of Quebecors about rural Francophone youth turning their backs on farming and moving to the city.

 

 60 per cent of Quebec residents surveyed believed the migration of young people from rural to urban centers was having a harmful impact on the family farm. On this both urban dwellers and rural residents were in agreement.

 

 The age of Quebec farm operators has climbed to an average age of 51.4 years (up from 49.3 years in only five years), and operators under age 35 have declined eight percent in the same time period. In light of this, the BMO survey asked a range of questions on the impact of youth migration from farms to urban centres.


In addition to the negative impact on the family farm, Quebecers also said that the youth migration from the farm to the city was having  significant negative consequences on the: 

  • Supply of labour (66 percent) 
  • Transfer of knowledge to next generation (58 percent) 
  • Rural economy (58 percent) 
  • Agriculture sector (56 percent)

"It is easy enough to take agriculture for granted when you have a grocery store full of food, but to sustain this, we need young people in agriculture," said CFA President Ron Bonnett. "BMO's study shows ALL Canadians are sharing similar concerns and recognize the importance of the sector, and this is encouraging. Broad public support is what's needed to secure the future of our farms and food."

"A farm is more than a business; it's vital to Quebec and Canada's economic strength, and this survey highlights the value Canadians place on family farms being able to survive and prosper," said David Rinneard, National Manager, Agriculture, BMO Bank of Montreal.

The family farm is under assault. It is not just the draw of the city that is sucking the youth from the land. Giant corporations are taking over more and more control of food production. It is a tough, competitive world out there on the farm. London, Ontario, must not be too complacent about its position in the middle of Ontario's farm belt. So much has slipped by, and out of, the city over the past few years. Let's not let agriculture take the hit that our industrial base has.

Monday, June 25, 2012

ReThinking abandoned orchards

Abandoned fruit trees in southwest London.

I often drive by the abandoned Cornell Orchard on Southdale Road just west of Colonel Talbot Road. The take-out where I buy a shawarma with fries is located where the old Cornell store once stood. It burned some years ago. There were rumors about the abandoned orchards, about the burning of the retail store, gossipy stories filled with murky facts swirling in a fog of local myth.

Recently, The London Free Press ran a story on the abandoned operation with a picture of the "tapped-out orchard" where "weeds grow between what were once rows of fruit trees." The story made me think about those abandoned trees and wonder why no one was interested in harvesting the apples. 

It could be there are legal issues preventing these particular trees from being cared for. But what about other orchards? Why is it not uncommon to see abandoned orchards in southwestern Ontario? Or to read stories about orchards being bulldozed? (Today, the fall of 2016, the former Cornell Orchard has been uprooted and the dead trees sit in large, piles in the cleared field.)

Apple growing in abandoned orchard.
With a little research I learned one should not be too quick to tear out orchards. Old fruit trees can be renovated and transformed both aesthetically and in terms of productivity. With some luck, a mature orchard can be encouraged to again produce fruit. 

But this gets harder and harder if the orchard is left untouched too long. Diseases will get firmly established, destructive insects will flourish and time will take its inevitable toll. So, why are our older orchards not being cared for and replanted when necessary? Read on.

I learned that apple trees originated in the Tien Shan mountains in southern Kazakhstan. The last surviving wild apple forests are to be found in those mountains in Central Asia. Those forests are now threatened by urbanization and modern agricultural methods. Many wild apple species are facing extinction.

If one wants to breed an apple for resistance to disease and to drought, the malus sieversii is a good apple to investigate. Thought to be the source species for many of today's farm grown varieties, the malus sieversii is on the list of endangered apple species, along with 44 other apple tree species found in Central Asia.

Over-exploitation and human encroachment are among the main threats to the forests of Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan. These forests are home to more than 300 wild fruit and nut species including apple, plum, cherry, apricot and walnut. These valuable, unique, heritage trees are under threat.

Wild genes carry resistance to diseases such as apple scab, a fungus that can devastate crops. A lot of our domestic fruit supply comes from a very narrow genetic base, it is imperative that scientists are able to return to heritage fruit tree species for inclusion in breeding programmes. In the future, this may not be possible. The heritage trees are disappearing.

Sadly, the BBC reports these countries lack the resources to conserve their valuable trees. But there is nothing unique here. We don't seem to be able to protect our North American fruit tree species from the threat of extinction. The Gravenstein, a very old variety of apple first recorded in Denmark in 1607 and brought to the U.S. around 1826 was praised by Luther Burbank as one of the best apple varieties is facing extinction today.

Luther Burbank, the man who developed the Russet potato, once said, "The secret of improved plant breeding, apart from scientific knowledge, is love." As twenty-first century folk have moved from the land to the city, maybe we are losing our love for plants, for farming, for the world that produces the foods that keeps us healthy.

London, Ontario, sits in the middle of some of the richest farmland in the world. And yet, London is somewhat divorced from food production --- traditional food production. In fact, some food production today may be somewhat divorced from food. The Casco plant in London takes corn and after some fancy processing pumps out high fructose corn syrup. There are those who would argue that this sweet concoction from the lab is not food -- at least not a good use of food: corn.

Fruit is shipped to Canada from around the globe.
We no longer need Ontario fruit trees for fruit. Fresh pears can come from South America, and canned peaches from Greece. Apples come from lots of places except that in the future they may not come from Kazakhstan. Or from southwest London.

Read: The Toronto Star article, Ontario fruit growers losing ground

 
Many believe fruit growing operations are threatened in Southwest Ontario.