chicob

I hope RSS keeps being provided for most sites. I listen to a lot of podcasts, and I keep track thanks to RSS.

Most podcasting platforms behave the same way: they put themselves in between listeners and broadcasters and limit the way people can share the audio, how it is synchronized with some device, and always making sure that our browsing data can me monetized in some way.

So podcasters usually have a never-ending list of platforms, which not always overlap, and which I would never subscribe anyway.

I find this annoying, and that is why I've always used RSS. For news, it allowed me to skim through the stuff I didn't want to read and also to miss all of the annoying ads.

Now, it seems many RSS reader behave the same way: users need a login in order to access a closed environment that monetizes your reading habits.

Fortunately, I found QuiteRSS (https://quiterss.org), a cross-platform FOSS for RSS with backup, import/export, and adblocking.

I like it a lot. I guess the only way it could be improved is by making it fully portable.

Cool. I think I have some use for this.

> there is no idea, it's just pure ornament

Exactly. It feels like a complete void.

I was trying to find examples of a kind or architecture that is the complete opposite, thought of F. L. Wright, and found this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organic_architecture

Without questioning her skill and professionalism, I don't really like any of her buildings, because I don't like unnecessary, uncalled-for shape. Today, architecture has a whole new range of possibilities thanks to new materials and technologies, but just because one can doesn't mean one should.

And when I say this, I also have in mind other kinds of design, from cars, furniture, shampoo plastic bottles, fonts and GUIs. If any shape is possible, aesthetics usually goes down the drain.

In the particular case of buildings, these are made to last and have an imposing quality of their own, given their size and location. And famous architects have an visionary aura that only adds to the disappointment and dismay of the common citizens that will have to live in the shadow of those behemoths, whether they like it or not.

The possibilities for Star Wars puns are endless.

There are alternative explanations that theorized that the 2nd law is not linear for extremely weak forces.[1] Thus, two masses that were sufficiently far apart would experience an attraction larger than that predicted by an inverse square law.

I think some particular applications of these theories were proved wrong some years ago, but I can't find those results.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modified_Newtonian_dynamics

In desktop Firefox there is a dark background option, which is my favorite, along with serif font. I used to postpone my reading list until reading mode came about, because the white screen is just too much sometimes.

I often use the reader mode in Firefox. Although it is not the same as a dark mode for a whole webpage, it is pretty good at removing clutter and making a web text easier to read. With the added bonus that there are no permissions involved (although I suspect the latter are absolutely necessary for the addon to work, without sharing data to 3rd parties).

It is even possible to save a bookmark in Firefox with reader mode already enabled, by adding about:reader?url= before the url.

I use this in measuring field areas. Like the text reads, this is Green's Theorem.

The area of a triangle ABC can be determined by doing the cross product of any of the vectors that are the translation from a vertex to another (e.g. AB⨯AC = |AB|.|AC|.sin{^BAC}). More rigorously, this is the area of a lozenge, which then has to be divided by two.

Imagining a point X inside a convex polygon, it is easy to see a set of triangles with vertex X in common.

In fact, the polygon can not only be concave but point X can be outside the polygon, since the sine will compensate for negative and positive angles, subtracting any weird triangle out of the sum in the end.

Computationally, the point X should be as close as possible to every vertex, so that rounding errors are minimized.

The fact that no one can remember a reason for why mosquitoes should not be exterminated is not a reason in favor of total extermination.

The Four Pests Campaign is thought to have contributed significantly for the death of around 30 million people in China.

And fish eat mosquito larvae. So there's that. Anyone observing larvae in a pond's surface will notice that they will shake and dive whenever a change in lighting occurs. That tells me that they probably have non-aquatic predators. I'm gessing dragonflies, although I suspect these insects only prey on adult mosquitos.

I'm not sure of this. And that is exactly the point, because Google must be completely sure of what is doing.

There are no known cultivars of olive that are resistant to X. fastidiosa.

Phylloxera attacks the root, and so grafting with resistant stocks protects the scion.

In the case of X. fastidiosa, the bacteria can spread on the whole adult structures of the plant when infected vectors feed on the xylem, so grafting is not a solution.

In Portugal, Phylloxera became a synonym for madness, since the losses were colossal. I fear that Xylella fastidiosa might become the next "madness"...

I know nothing about agriculture in the Caribbean, but I would suggest taking advantage of the local produce and starting there.

Do you have any ideas on what you want to grow?

I checked the Caribbean Agriculture Agricultural Research and Development's website (www.cardi.org) for some information. They have annual reports, that stop at 2011 for some reason. I would read some of them to get an idea of what are the current trends.

One idea that comes to mind after reading the 2011 report is producing high quality seeds. Grain prices for direct consumption are not as interesting.

I would also search for local farming associations to get to know what people are doing.

I suspect that the Caribbean will be more susceptible to climate change than other regions, so food security might become very important in a near future.

Good luck!

The irrigation controls have a direct and significant impact in yield. Other tools raise profitability by contributing to greater efficacy and less waste. The pH meter, for example, pretty much payed itself the first time it was used.

The wild variety (Olea oleaster) is not as messy.

No. But I did some research on tree-like hierarchical associative memories. They have branches and all!

They're in different fields. Almond trees are more susceptible to soil moisture and need better drainage. Pest control is different, and having them all together means farmers would have to spray both crops for a problem only one of them has, and a given pesticide may be allowed for almond trees but not for olive trees (e.g. the insecticide phosmet is not allowed in olive trees destined for olive oil; lambda-cyhalothrin applications are limited to two per campaign in olive orchards; many recommend against using glyphosate for weed control in the first years of an almond orchard.)

There are some annuals that might be interesting, such as clover, that help with erosion and nitrogen fixation. Native plants serve as buffers for auxiliary species and some (Brassicaceae) act as a prophylactic against fungal infections (Verticillium). Innoculation with mycorrhizae also helps.

Perennials might be interesting in riparian zones, to help with drainage and unusual surges of flow.

Yes.

Climate change has brought difficulties in weather forecasting and dam management. Major rivers in Portugal have their sources in Spain, which gives this country a relative position of power in water storage in times of need. In the past, Portugal did make the case that Spain did not respect the law regarding water usage. Weather extremes are also important because of damage and insurance coverage.

Irrigation based in artificial reservoirs creates the risk of salination, which is already being monitored. I get regular reports on the quality of the water I use.

Segundo sei havia mais árvores de fruto: laranjais, pomares, figueiras, e também amendoais. Os olivais eram de sequeiro, e no meio fazia-se cereal.

Yes: not considering everything that comes with a tractor these days, it's basically irrigation programmers, pH meters, humidity probes, sonars and speed-adjustment controllers for sprayers.

I hope someday I will be able to show HN some simple electronics of my own.

Subsidizing old-style agriculture has two major benefits in my opinion: i) it allows for a smoother transition towards more advanced practices without crushing regular farmers and ii) it helps containing production surpluses, which has been, historically, a major concern in the European Union.

Regulations also help with avoiding surpluses, raising the bar for food safety, and have the added benefit of (arguably) fostering adaptability while giving the Union a relative protection from external markets.

Regarding the technological adoption in Portugal, I guess it depends on the sector you're considering. I really can't speak for other areas, but in the case of agriculture there have been some major investments in the past that allow for more productive practices even if not supported by major breakthroughs. It's mostly automation of harvesting, adoption of new practices and new pesticides, quality control and more training.

Here it is:

http://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/energy/environment/a-blas...

I really like Hacker News, and I usually read my tech-related news here first. Farming is kind of the family business, and I love it.

I am also a physicist by training, and thus my interest in technology in general. Agriculture is becoming increasingly technological, and everything from farming gadgets to John Deere tractors hacking has come up many times. There are even some Plasma Physics applications to agriculture, so the interdisciplinarity never ends!

The "because it's interesting" is also an accurate answer!

Olá!

I don't think it will matter, because many times the problem starts at the nursery. There are many nurseries, both inside the EU but also outside, like Morocco for example. When orchards are being installed across the country, it really could start anywhere. Weather does not seem to have any importance in the spreading of the disease.

What happened with the palm weevil (Rhynchophorus ferrugineus) doesn't necessarily apply here: X. fastidiosa infects a wide range of plants including ornamental plants, so it is really a matter of 'when', not 'if' or 'where'.[1]

As of February 2017, there were 132 confirmed cases in Balearic Islands that are now considered lost for the bacteria.[1] As far as I know, there are no confirmed cases in Morocco, which is why many farmers look there for safe nurseries.

[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xylella_fastidiosa#Hosts [2]https://www.elmundo.es/baleares/2017/02/28/58b5aec5e2704e067... (Spanish)

Thanks!

One way to minimize the risk is to quarantine the batches in stub nurseries, and to be as zealous as one can regarding the sanitary passports.

In the past, Alentejo had many orchards that, thanks to the State policy of the dictatorial regime, were drastically replaced by large fields for cereal production. This resulted in what is now known as the pseudo-steppe (of a particular ecological interest), which is recognized today as the traditional landscape of Alentejo.

Many regret the sudden change into olive production, but few know how things were different a century ago.

I'm an olive and almond producer in Portugal.

In preparation for this very serious issue, since that the only thing I can do is to minimize the risk of infection, I tell all personnel to spray bleach on trimming scissors for each tree, the case of high density orchards, and for every 10-15 trees (or each row) in super high density orchards.

I also try to monitor for infection vectors like Cicadellidae, and for possible ill trees in the vicinities.

I will report any suspect case to the authorities, be it my neighbours' or my own.

I am also looking for affordable insurance that covers this kind of problem.

Also related to new agricultural issues arising from globalisation and worthy of attention are the zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha), the water hyacinth (Eichhornia ssp.), and the Asian clam (Corbicula fluminea) that obstruct irrigation pipes.

This reads like what has become the standard Facebook PR response: they claim to be committed to improvement, but will ultimately do nothing actually effective. On the one hand, because it is excruciatingly difficult in what is relevant, and on the other hand, because they won't ever come close to harm their business in what is actually feasible.

Mass tourism is the prostitution of places.

And what about safety to farmers?

I've used phosmet, an organophosphate insecticide, and I don't like to use it. You can know it's around in the warehouse, still in the original sealed packages, just by smelling it. A feeling of dry mouth and eyes usually follows.

And it's not because it's a dangerous substance - most pesticides with very few exceptions are dangerous - but because it is very hard to handle.

Phosmet is usually sold as a fine powder, and as it is the case of most soluble powders, it disperses in air easily. I always ask for liquid insecticides, but these are not always available.

Masks are not particularly useful: cotton masks are of little to no use, filters are compromised by facial hair[1] and air supply masks are crazy expensive.

If farmers respect the required safety intervals, harm to consumers is considerably minimized. The main hazard comes to people that come in contact with larger concentrations of pesticides: manufacturers, sellers and farmers.

Now I just open the package carefully underwater, if the sprayer is full enough and the package is to be completely emptied. This minimizes dispersion considerably.

[1] http://multimedia.3m.com/mws/media/463742O/facial-hair-and-r...

Without trying to be picky, I would say that copying is not consuming. So DRM is not anti-consumer, but anti-freedom.

The way words are thrown around theses days is kind of orwellian, and this has gotten into everyday's vocabulary. Part of this issue is philosophic in nature, and the absence of a proper public discussion is conditioning the way we speak in a perverse way.

Consuming requires the exhaustion of the good being consumed: food is eaten, and consumed; clothing is worn, and consumed. This does not apply to data, and to culture in general.

We consume tickets for the right to watch movies in a theater, or visiting a gallery. But we do not consume the movies or the art exhibition.

We could argue whether the limitation of freedom is justified in a given situation, and that is a whole different and interesting discussion, but confusing concepts has led to the generalized (and wrong) conclusion that scarcity pertains to any good we buy, in particular those of cultural nature.

Large-scale geoengineering has the potential for unexpected consequences that could seriously damage the environment. This applies to olivine mining and desert flooding.

Personally, I think a good compromise lies in resorting to algal blooms in a controlled setting.

Algal blooms have another advantage: there is already hypertrophication around farming regions where water bodies are polluted with fertilizers.

So the ideia is to build artificial reservoirs as buffers for algal blooms that not only pollute the water, jam irrigation systems and decrease biodiversity, but also as a means for carbon fixation. The algae would then have to be harvested, processed and buried. A fraction of it could be used to produce biofuels, thus reducing the need for fossil fuels, and for fertilization, which would reduce the usage of artificial, carbon-releasing fertilizers.

My only doubt is whether the scalability is interesting enough.

When I read articles such as this one I still see a lot of hype.

I'm not a Luddite or anything, bu I think the future of sustainable, productive agriculture lies in agronomic science, not laser-robot overlords or the next OGM fad.

If driving a car is less demanding than driving a tractor, let alone a tractor coupled with equipment, since we're still some years away from generalized self-driven cars, what can we say about farming in general?

There's a lot of work to be done that would make agriculture sky-rocket in terms of efficiency and environment protection.

The last great changes in agriculture have been to lock away the farmer from the equipment, managing software, and crops they use, and to make it easier for large companies to guarantee sales and futures markets to gamble on predicted yields.

In the past, the food industry was in between farmers and consumers. Now it seems independent farmers are the middle man corporations want to remove: an annoying part of the chain of production.

So this has nothing to with technological advances, but in feeding the hype that everything can be automated with ease. This is a publicity stunt for the zeitgeist of the AI dream.

And, by the way, pest and weed control is not a triviality. Not if you want to do it right. Automation is not the mere substitution of humans: it's also the adaptation of the chain of value so that it can be automated. It always comes with a cost that is sometimes underestimated.