Central Perk: 27 iul. 2013

sâmbătă, 27 iulie 2013

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

Farm Robots to Make Migrant Worker Vegetable Pickers Obsolete; Welcome the "Lettuce Bot", the "Grape Bot", the "Strawberry Bot"

Posted: 27 Jul 2013 11:16 AM PDT

The migrant worker agricultural jobs that few legal US citizens are willing to do for the price farmers are willing to pay will vanish within a decade as robots will soon be able to perform even those tasks cheaper.

Welcome the "Lettuce Bot", the "Grape Bot", the "Strawberry Bot"

Time reports Robots to Revolutionize Farming and Ease Labor Woes.

On a windy morning in California's Salinas Valley, a tractor pulled a wheeled, metal contraption over rows of budding iceberg lettuce plants. Engineers from Silicon Valley tinkered with the software on a laptop to ensure the machine was eliminating the right leafy buds.

The engineers were testing the Lettuce Bot, a machine that can "thin" a field of lettuce in the time it takes about 20 workers to do the job by hand.

The thinner is part of a new generation of machines that target the last frontier of agricultural mechanization – fruits and vegetables destined for the fresh market, not processing, which have thus far resisted mechanization because they're sensitive to bruising.

Researchers are now designing robots for these most delicate crops by integrating advanced sensors, powerful computing, electronics, computer vision, robotic hardware and algorithms, as well as networking and high precision GPS localization technologies. Most ag robots won't be commercially available for at least a few years.

On the Salinas Valley farm, entrepreneurs with Mountain View-based startup Blue River Technology are trying to show that the Lettuce Bot can not only replace two dozen workers, but also improve production.

"Using Lettuce Bot can produce more lettuce plants than doing it any other way," said Jorge Heraud, the company's co-founder and CEO.

The Lettuce Bot uses video cameras and visual-recognition software to identify which lettuce plants to eliminate with a squirt of concentrated fertilizer that kills the unwanted buds while enriching the soil.

Blue River, which has raised more than $3 million in venture capital, also plans to develop machines to automate weeding – and eventually harvesting – using many of the same technologies.

Another company, San Diego-based Vision Robotics, is developing a similar lettuce thinner as well as a pruner for wine grapes. The pruner uses robotic arms and cameras to photograph and create a computerized model of the vines, figure out the canes' orientation and the location of buds – all to decide which canes to cut down.

In southern California, engineers with the Spanish company Agrobot are taking on the challenge by working with local growers to test a strawberry harvester.

The machine is equipped with 24 arms whose movement is directed through an optical sensor; it allows the robot to make a choice based on fruit color, quality and size. The berries are plucked and placed on a conveyor belt, where the fruit is packed by a worker.

End of the Migrant Worker

Natural News reports Farm robots to make human ag workers obsolete within a decade.

Technology is about to take over America's fruited plains - robots, it seems, are all the rage down on the farm, and their introduction and spread will make human farm work a thing of the past.

Right now hordes of migrant workers tend to "America's Salad Bowl," located in sunny California, as they have for the past 100 years. But the coming machines will usher in the end of an era.

And many farmers are welcoming the technological advances. They see bots as easing the illegal immigration problem, increasing productivity at less cost (which could be passed onto consumers even as farm profits are bolstered), boost quality and provide a more consistent product.

"Almost three-fourths of all U.S. hired farm workers are immigrants, most of them unauthorized. The U.S. food system - particularly fruit and vegetable production - depends on immigrants more than any other sector of the U.S. economy," says a report by the Bread for the World Institute.

Robots will cost plenty - for the largest farming operations, millions of dollars - but farm operators say the expense will be worth it.

Still, there is much research and development to be done. Right now, bots - machines in general - are clumsy and bulky. They are not always able to detect when fruit and vegetables are ready to be harvested or picked. They can't always detect between produce and leaves. And they don't have the dexterity of a seasoned farm worker.

Machinery and machine technology has made farming easier and more efficient for centuries. The development continues.

Two Predictions

Technology will improve much faster than currently estimated
By the time Congress addresses the illegal immigrant problem, the nature of the problem will have radically changed

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

Payroll Employment for Age Group 18 to 29 Shows Fewer Full-Time Employment "Regardless of Education"

Posted: 27 Jul 2013 12:07 AM PDT

A Gallup Poll on US Payroll Employment for Age Group 18 to 29 shows Fewer Young Adults Holding Full-Time Jobs in 2013.

Fewer Americans aged 18 to 29 worked full time for an employer in June 2013 (43.6%) than did so in June 2012 (47.0%), according to Gallup's Payroll to Population employment rate. The P2P rate for young adults is also down from 45.8% in June 2011 and 46.3% in June 2010.

Younger Americans Less Likely to Have Full-Time Work Now, Regardless of Education

Older Americans More Likely to Hold Full-Time Jobs Now Than a Year Ago

The lack of new hiring over the past several years given a recovering economy seems to have disproportionately reduced younger Americans' ability to obtain full-time jobs. On the other hand, Americans aged 30 to 49 this June were, at 61.4%, about as likely to have a full-time job as they were in June of each of the prior three years.

The percentage of Americans aged 50 to 64 who have a full-time job increased in June 2013, to 48.2%, from 46.6% a year ago and 45.7% in June 2010. Similarly, 8.4% of Americans 65 or older had a full-time job in June 2013, compared with 7.2% in June 2012 and 6.2% in June 2010.

The slow economy of recent years has limited new hiring. This has likely increased the percentage of older Americans with jobs, as companies may be placing a greater value on their experience and productivity and as older workers decide to continue to work when given the opportunity to do so. It also may suggest that far fewer workers are retiring voluntarily. In turn, this may imply that the current labor participation rate will increase, as those who involuntarily left the workforce return in greater numbers than expected once the U.S. economy begins to grow significantly.

These results are not surprising. Here is a snip from my May 1, 2008 post on the Demographics Of Jobless Claims

Ironically, older part-time workers remaining in or reentering the labor force will be cheaper to hire in many cases than younger workers. The reason is Boomers 65 and older will be covered by Medicare (as long as it lasts) and will not require as many benefits as will younger workers, especially those with families. In effect, Boomers will be competing with their children and grandchildren for jobs that in many cases do not pay living wages.

Social Security Cliff in Sight

And so here we are. Boomers are competing with their children and grandkids for jobs. Demographics are awful. And the ramifications of an aging workforce with fewer workers than ever vs. retirees puts stress no only on public union pension plans, but also on Social Security.

For further discussion, please see Social Security Cliff in Sight; Retirees Will Outlive Trust Fund; Ramifications of Nonmarketable IOUs and Privatization

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

More personal pins and a privacy policy update

We've added a few new tools to help you see more pins you like, and fewer pins you don't, when you come to Pinterest. Over the next few weeks, you'll be able to:

Quickly edit your home feed.
Use the Edit button to get your home feed just how you want it. Go to Follow Boards to see boards you might want to follow based on stuff you've already pinned and popular boards on Pinterest. Or, go to Unfollow Boards to stop seeing pins from boards you're not that into anymore. You can edit from the web or your phone—try it out!

See more personalized pins.
If you're interested, we'll suggest pins and boards based on info like websites you've visited and things you've pinned. So if you're planning a party and have gone to lots of party sites or pinned party-themed decorations, we'll try to suggest pins to make your event a hit.

You can learn more about personalized pins in our Help Center or updated privacy policy. Or if you're not interested, you can easily change your account settings. And of course, we also respect Do Not Track.

We'll keep working hard to make your home feed a little better. In the meantime, please let us know how you feel about the new tools!

—The Pinterest Team

Happy pinning!

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A Better Bargain for the Middle Class

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A Better Bargain for the Middle Class

In this week’s address, President Obama tells the American people about his speech at Knox College on Wednesday, where he discussed the cornerstones of what it means to be middle class, including having a good job, a home that is your own, quality education, a secure retirement, and affordable health care.

Watch this week's Weekly Address.

Top Stories

NCAA Champions: On Tuesday, President Obama welcomed the NCAA Champion Louisville Cardinals to the White House. President Obama, an avid basketball fan, celebrated the team’s accomplishments both on and off the court – praising their cumulative 3.3 grade-point-average, the thousands of dollars they helped raise for charity, and their determination, despite physical obstacles, to win the men’s NCAA title.

Vice President and Dr. Biden in India: The Vice President and Dr. Biden traveled to India and Singapore, as part of their six-day trip – meeting with leaders and visiting schools and aid workers to discuss the important opportunity to strengthen our partnerships within the region and reaffirm our commitment to rebalancing U.S. foreign policy toward the Asia-Pacific. When they arrived in New Delhi on Monday, they visited Mahatma Gandhi’s granddaughter and toured the Gandhi Smriti museum.

On Tuesday, the Vice President met with Indian Prime Minist Dr. Manmohan Singh, President Pranab Mukherjee, and Vice President Hamid Ansair. The leaders discussed the relationship between the United States and India. Later, Vice President Biden spoke at a dinner hosted by Indian Vice President Hamid Ansari, where he spoke about the importance of the partnership between the two countries. During the day, Dr. Biden visited the settlement of Kachhpura, where USAID Health and Urban Poor Program has been stationed since 2011.

Speaking from the Bombay Stock Exchange on Wednesday, the Vice President spoke about moving both the U.S. and Indian economies forward – noting that American interests were very similar to Indian interests. Dr. Biden hosted a roundtable discussion to hear more about how groups are working to improve nutrition in India and visited The Dilaasa Crisis Intervention Department for Women, a center for female survivors of domestic violence.

Women at the Indian Institute of Technology met with Vice President Biden on Thursday for a roundtable discussion. The Vice President spoke about the importance of engaging women in science, technology, and engineering and explained what the U.S. is doing to promote STEM in the United States. Dr. Biden visited an all-girls school, where she taught a grammar lesson.

National Council of La Raza: First Lady Michelle Obama spoke to more than 1,800 people at the National Council of La Raza’s Annual Conference on Tuesday, highlighting the importance of healthy eating, while keeping in mind the tradition and culture behind food. “While food might be love, the truth is that we are loving ourselves and our kids to death,” the First Lady said. “So we need to step up. We need to own this as a serious problem in our communities.”

#ABetterBargin: Kicking off a series of speeches about the economy, President Obama boarded Air Force One on Wednesday and took off for the Midwest. His first stop was Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois – the place he made his first speech on the economy after being elected as U.S. Senator back in 2005; the President also traveled to the University of Central Missouri. At both events, the President discussed the economic progress we have made in the last five years, and encouraged Americans that we’re not done yet.

“As a country, we’ve recovered faster and gone further than most other advanced nations in the world. With new American revolutions in energy and technology and manufacturing and health care, we're actually poised to reverse the forces that battered the middle class for so long, and start building an economy where everyone who works hard can get ahead.

But -- and here's the big “but” -- I’m here to tell you today that we're not there yet. We all know that. We're not there yet. We've got more work to do.”

Instagram: While President Obama was preparing to head to Illinois, the Chief Official White House Photographer, Pete Souza, launched his own Instagram account – giving followers a behind-the-scenes look at the presidency. Follow his Instagram here, and then go follow the official Instagram accounts for the White House and First Lady Michelle Obama.

Meeting with the President of Vietnam: President Truong Sang of Vietnam visited the White House on Thursday for a bilateral meeting with President Obama in the Oval Office. The leaders discussed the Trans-Pacific Partnership and other ways the U.S. and Vietnam can work together to create jobs in both countries.

Talking Infrastructure: Reiterating his speeches on the economy in the Midwest the day before, the President visited Jacksonville, Florida on Thursday. The President said,

“We’ve got to help more manufacturers bring more jobs back to America. We’ve got to keep creating good jobs in manufacturing. We’ve got to create good jobs in wind and solar energy. We’ve got to tap into this natural gas revolution that’s bringing energy costs down in this country, which means manufacturers now want to locate here because they’re thinking that we’ve got durable, reliable supplies of energy. We’ve got to create more jobs today doing what you’re doing right here at JAXPORT -- and that’s building this country’s future.”

Iftar Dinner: Muslim Americans were invited to the White House on Thursday night to celebrate an Iftar dinner. President Obama, who has hosted this event for five years, thanked the community for their contributions to the United States.

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Seth's Blog : Millions of words and only six emotions

Millions of words and only six emotions

The intellectual part of the human mind can spin delightful or frightening stories, can compare features and benefits, can create narratives that compel us to take action.

But all of these words are merely costumes for the six emotions built deep in our primordial soup:

Anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness and surprise.

Being angry at a driver who cuts you off in traffic is chemically similar to being angry to a relative you cuts you out of his will. We tell ourselves different stories (the traffic story will probably not last nearly as long in the echoes of our consciousness as the bitterness of the bequest story, for example), but still, there are only six buttons being pressed.

Knowing that there are only a few keys on the keyboard doesn't make it easier to write a pop hit or a great novel, but it's a start. In the case of someone with an idea to spread or a product to sell, knowing that you've only got six buttons might help focus your energy.