25 Oct: Tech advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) might help New Zealand move toward a solution for helping feed the world which will require food production to double to meet a growing population demands, says a Kiwi tech expert. New Zealand IoT Alliance executive director Kriv Naicker says the new government needs to support the tech industry, in particular the NZ IoT Alliance and its sister organisation the New Zealand AI Forum to help address a growing food shortage. “Farmers’ uptake of technology is becoming the norm in the rural sector. Smart farming and precision agriculture is helping farmers get better results on the land with enhanced tech forecasting and IoT sensor data collection and analytics, optimising resources and supplies,” Naicker says. “We know the world is heading toward a major food supply crisis. By 2050, the planet’s human population will reach beyond nine billion, requiring food production to double to meet demands. “Agriculture has long been considered the backbone of New Zealand and with timely help from the tech sector, the country faces an exciting challenge and opportunity to create sustainable economic growth and establish ourselves on the world stage. “The future of food and the alternative ways to feed a growing global population will be discussed at a plant-based conference in Christchurch in early December. Key key tech leaders will attend the Feed the World 2030: Power of Plants Hackathon event on December 2 and 3. This will provide an opportunity for agritech food innovators, scientists, industry experts and tech entrepreneurs to begin shaping New Zealand’s agricultural platforms for the future. “We have seen movie produces James Cameron and Sir Peter Jackson enter the food supply arena by creating a Future Foods project, looking at plant-based protein.” “How much will these guys leverage IoT and AI to drive cutting-edge innovation in this sector? Both Sir Peter and Cameron have identified the huge potential in this area and will need to leverage significant IoT and AI to achieve farmer to plate innovation.“Digital agriculture, in the form of precision farming, big data, sensor technology and drones, delivers a new potential for productivity gains across rural New Zealand.
“Tech promises to cut costs and enable faster repayment of both irrigation scheme and farm infrastructure capital, while allowing farmers to demonstrate their compliance with environmental and other regulatory requirements,” Naicker says. NZTech’s Digital Nation report last year showed that the tech sector was worth more than $16 billion to the economy.
| A MakeLemonade release || October 24, 2017 |||
25 Oct: Engineering's professional body IPENZ will now be known as Engineering New Zealand. The organisation that represents engineers in New Zealand have also launched a new Membership Pathway, which creates a professional home for engineers from all disciplines at all stages of their careers.
While Engineering New Zealand currently has a record 20,000 members it wants to attract even more engineers so it can better speak out for the profession. They want to encourage senior managers, academics, engineering geologists, technicians and technologists to join, as well as engineering professionals from the rapidly growing fields like mechatronics and software.
With the new name comes a new logo, a stylised butterfly that portrays a powerful example of innovation, change and brilliance. "It also represents transformation, a spokesperson said,which is the heart of what engineers do to make a positive difference to people’s lives. A butterfly is the perfect symbol for an organisation representing the profession at the heart of every major transformation in human history. As well as designing buildings and infrastructure, today’s engineers are creating screens from nanoparticles, launching rockets and mimicking nature to kill predators.”
Souce: An Engineering New Zealand release || October 18, 2017 |||
Leave vote is stupidity akin to electing Trump, says mogul … blood thinners protect against dementia … and spotting borderline personalities in the office . . .by Warren Murray
Top story: ‘Hard to understand why they wanted to ruin it’
Hello – it’s Warren Murray bringing you today’s briefing.
More difficult than a moonshot, nearly as stupid as electing Trump. They could only be talking about one thing: Brexit. A German risk analyst has delivered the former assessment, saying exiting the EU is “incomparably more complex” than the Apollo programme – partly because Nasa at least understood what it was getting into. The latter, more blunt summation comes from Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire former New York mayor.
“I did say that I thought [Brexit] was the single stupidest thing any country has ever done but then we Trumped it … it is really hard to understand why a country that was doing so well wanted to ruin it.” The City of London has meanwhile warned that businesses are liable to start pulling out of the UK by the end of the year because the government keeps contradicting itself about whether a transitional deal with the EU will be agreed sooner, later or not at all.
Catch up on today's briefing from The Guardian here || October 25, 2017 |||
The Angle-Rite® clamping system from Meridian Stainless helps reduce shrinkage distortion that commonly occurs during tube and pipe welding. The system is designed to allow complete setup, cutting, and welding while the clamp is attached, so the angle and rotation of tube and pipe are maintained throughout the entire process.
The system comprises a primary clamp that prebends the intersected tube before welding. The secondary clamp holds the intersecting tube or pipe in a precise angle to be miter cut using the reciprocating saw attachment or notched using the abrasive or hole saw notcher. Following cutting, the secondary clamp holding its tube or pipe is rejoined with the primary clamp and its attached tube or pipe. The angle and rotational alignment of the tubes or pipes are retained throughout the entire process.
With the system clamping the primary and intersecting tube or pipe in place, the welder can weld the joint without requiring a third hand. The primary clamp’s bending force compensates for weld stress distortion during the welding process.
| Source: theFabricator || October 25, 2017 |||
Now the fun begins on US late night talk shows.
For the National Party, trouble does not travel alone.
The Eminem verdict against the National Party gives United States late-night talk show hosts still another opportunity to immerse themselves in the New Zealand broadcasting argot in which for example there is the fush und chups cuisine the Puntucth camera along with the rapper himself described here as Im’n’im.
The use of the track in the 2014 campaign was though no joke for the copyright holders of the riff who lawyered up the moment they heard the National Party election version of it.
The fine against the National Party cited as $600,000 may of course be subject to an appeal.
The problem for the party though is that the fine will represent only a proportion of the money spent on the defence of the case
There is also the degree to which the National Party can lay off the fine against the political marketing consultants instrumental in the selection of the track.
It is not known for example if the National Party had imposed fee retentions against the outcome of the copyright case.
This involvement of third parties in the case is a delicate one.
It is not known if the National Party or its consultants carry insurance against this kind of contingency.
Unlike standard text or prose anything in the musical sphere is subject to the most rigorous copyright enforcement and this is one reason why in any outtake from anything musical the copyright holders must be cited.
Given the complexity of musical copyright, and the extremely unlikely possibility of it being contravened by a political party, there are strong grounds for believing that the National Party remains substantially exposed to this judicial action.
In the meantime and in the knowledge of their own liability to the United States late nighters such as John Oliver, broadcasting editors might themselves become cautious about the now standard New Zealand broadcasting patois in which sentences such as this routinely emerge…..
“Walkeen eenter the sceenema the group of woman were gunner see Im’n’im.”
Translation:
Walking into the cinema the group of women were going to see Eminem
25 Oct: New opportunities aimed at improving access to employment in the primary sector will be considered for incorporation into Matariki – Hawke's Bay's Regional Economic Development Strategy and Action Plan. The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) has been leading work in Hawke's Bay aimed at increasing the uptake of employment in primary industries, one of the region's largest sectors. The work is part of the Regional Growth Programme.
"Hawke's Bay has over 25% of its workforce employed in primary industries. There's a growing need to attract more locals into primary sector to meet current and future growth," says Ben Dalton, Head of the Regional Growth Programme at MPI. "Increased economic growth will come from the primary sector and it's estimated there will be between 3,000 and 4,400 new primary industries jobs by 2025 in the region."
MPI, as an action point under Matariki, canvassed a group of Hawke's Bay stakeholders about the feasibility of setting up a local joint venture primary industries training hub, however, locals interviewed felt there was no need to progress this. Instead, stakeholders provided MPI with potential opportunities aimed at improving the consistency and quality of local training in the region.
The opportunities include an increased focus on horticulture, viticulture and forestry, meeting specific workforce needs such as trained seasonal workers and supplying management, supervisors and logistics roles in the pipfruit industry. Stakeholders also asked for more collaboration between industry and tertiary training and an increased focus on skills gaps such as driver's licenses, literacy and numeracy, and improvements to the quality of training.
Immediate actions for MPI are to continue growing awareness of primary sector employment opportunities amongst young people, bringing together the local forestry sector to discuss recruiting and retaining trainees, and continuing work with local iwi and stakeholders to extend primary sector employment to at-risk young people through Youth Employment Pathways. The Youth Employment Pathways programme supports young people, at risk of long-term unemployment, into sustainable work.
The opportunities will be considered for inclusion in the refreshed action plan.
The Regional Growth Programme is an across government initiative co-led by the Ministry for Primary Industries and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) which aims to increase jobs, income and investment in regional New Zealand.
A further break-down of recommendations can be found in the report, Investigation into the feasibility of a joint venture primary industry training hub in the Hawke's Bay.
| An MPI release || October 25, 2017 |||
25 Oct: Food manufacturers looking for pallet wrappers that deliver speed, reliability, economy and safety need look no further than the Octopus Ring Pallet Wrapper from Signode. The last step of many food manufacturing processes, pallet wrapping helps ensure products are not only secure and ready for shipping but also that they arrive at their final destination in good condition.
Businesses which use pallet wrappers want the process to be completed with a minimum of fuss and without putting staff in physical danger. In summary, they are looking for machines that are reliable, accurate, fast and safe.
Haloila, a member of the Signode Industrial Group, has been manufacturing the Octopus automatic rotary ring stretch wrapper for over 30 years. With over 6,000 units installed world-wide, these high speed systems are capable of wrapping up to 135 pallets an hour.
“Businesses which use the Octopus want to achieve a higher level of reliability, whether to cope with their current demand, or due to increased production necessitating a faster solution,” Andre de Wet from Signode (the exclusive suppliers of the Octopus range in Australia and New Zealand) told Food & Beverage Industry News.
Fully automatic, the machines employ the “Octopus ring method”, whereby the wrapping film reel is suspended from a ring and it revolves around the pallet. The ring is raised and lowered according to the wrapping program.
Continue to read the full article here || October 25, 2017 |||
Palace of the Alhambra, Spain
By: Charles Nathaniel Worsley (1862-1923)
From the collection of Sir Heaton Rhodes
Oil on canvas - 118cm x 162cm
Valued $12,000 - $18,000
Offers invited over $9,000
Contact: Henry Newrick – (+64 ) 27 471 2242
Mount Egmont with Lake
By: John Philemon Backhouse (1845-1908)
Oil on Sea Shell - 13cm x 14cm
Valued $2,000-$3,000
Offers invited over $1,500
Contact: Henry Newrick – (+64 ) 27 471 2242