RFA Ethanol Podcast

Christmas Gadgets

Chuck Zimmerman

So what kind of cool gadgets did you get for Christmas. Actually, I meant to say “tools” instead of gadgets. They can be tools if used properly!

I’ll start with the Apple TV. I got one that will be replacing my original unit. Of course that means I will have to have the Remote app for my iPad and iPhone to control it with! This has been called a hobby for Apple. They went over a million units in sales last week at $99/ea. Not exactly a hobby I’d say. It allows you to watch HD movie and TV show rentals, Netflix movies and YouTube videos along with iTunes music and photos from your computer. I’m sure we’ll see it continue to develop too.

So if you got cool gadgets feel free to comment and share what you got, what you like and what you’re going to do with them.

Equipment

How Does This Thing Work?

Melissa Sandfort

Item #48 on our wedding registry: automatic can opener, a.k.a. item #8 that still sits on the pantry shelf and has never been used. I guess I shouldn’t say never. I think my husband used it once or twice.

Raise your hand if you still use the old-fashioned kind where you have to manually turn the knob. I know, there are hundreds of people out there who complain of wrist pain and arthritis and are looking for a scapegoat, but from the show of hands, I’d say technology may not have won this one.

This is a photo of an old bottle cap lifter and can opener from my grandmother’s collection of antiques. Her mother and grandmother both used it, and to give you an idea, her grandmother was born in 1860 and married at the age of 31. I’m thinking she was using the bottle opener then. In 1891, I doubt they worried about smooth edges on the lid.

So, item #48 will remain on the shelf. Maybe my son will write about it as “one of mom’s antiques” some day.

Until we walk again …

Uncategorized

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • EGT, LLC, announced it is building two high capacity shuttle train loaders in Montana to ensure that EGT can efficiently ship wheat from a key growing region to the company’s export grain terminal.
  • Allflex USA is introducing a one-piece, self-piercing tag called the A-Tag.
  • Vivando fungicide from BASF Crop Protection has received full registration from the U.S. EPA and the California Board of Pesticide Regulation.
  • Ag Growth International Inc. announced the acquisition of 100% of the outstanding shares of Tramco Inc.
    Zimfo Bytes

    Cooking With Your iPad

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Got iPad? Want to use it in the kitchen more? Get the Cookineo App.

    A recent study (OTO Research Fullsix November 2010) covering user interest for iPad content, has reported a paradox : although the kitchen is the room where we spend most of our time every day, it is not a spontaneous answer to the question “where do you use your iPad?” This would suggest that browsing a recipe website on iPad does not completely fill the need. This is why the creators of Cookineo have revolutionised kitchen assistance by inventing a new “cooking experience”.

    It involves using technology with a unique obsession: to make life easier for those who prepare meals daily. This means:

    1. Recipes illustrated step by step with a very few words.
    2. Navigation through the steps of the recipe is done by clapping hands and without touching the screen.
    3. A pictorial summary in order to access data only in case of blackouts.
    4. Amounts calculated by the number of guests.
    5. An indicator, “4 square balance nutrition”, which makes allowances for choice and reminds you to balance your diet over time.
    6. Converter of menu into a shopping list to avoid any forgotten ingredient.
    7. Mailing and printing of a shopping list.
    8. A service available everywhere, even without WiFi access.

    Apps, Food

    Agvocate Training at AG CONNECT Expo

    Chuck Zimmerman

    The AgChat Foundation will be holding an agvocate training session in Atlanta during the 2011 AG CONNECT Expo. It will be held January 8 from 3-6pm. If you’d like to attend then get your ticket by registering now.

    Training is a major pillar of the Foundation and this unique opportunity provides an excellent opportunity for farmers attending AgConnect equipment show, American Farm Bureau Federation’s annual meeting and the National Cotton Council’s Beltwide Cotton Conference a chance to spend a few hours focused on telling their farm’s story using social media.

    Ray Prock, ACF secretary and a dairy farmer from California, says “The concept is to take advantage of the opportunity of having so many good agvocates gathered in one place, broaden the Foundation’s reach & further empower a small group of farmers to increase social media skills and knowledge.”

    Prock said the plan includes a three-hour hour hands-on session featuring ACF Board members and others in the AgChat community as trainers and presenters.
     Read More

    Ag Groups

    A Blurb About Blurb

    Cindy Zimmerman

    For the past three years, we have been creating year-end photo albums for some of our clients with a service called Blurb. There are others out there that can do the job, but I started using Blurb and have stuck with it and I think it’s just great – easy to use and not very expensive for a really high quality product.

    If you want to check out the books we have done, just go to Blurb.com and type zimmcomm in the search box and all of our books will come up – or you can just use this link. I wish we could do photo albums for all of our clients, but they are a bit time consuming – although I am getting better at it every year! Next year I hope to make a few personal ones for our family. Daughter Chelsea has used iPhoto on the Mac to make some for family. She is currently designing one for Chuck’s brother and his family, who just lost their house to a fire last weekend, that includes some of the many photos we have taken on visits there over the years. I’m sure they will treasure it.

    In this age of digital photography, I have heard many people complain that looking at pictures on the computer is just not the same as having those prints in nice albums that you can take out and pour through the memories, and most of us just don’t want to take the time and trouble to have them printed to put in albums. Doing it on-line is a great way to solve that dilemma – and with custom backgrounds and colors and text boxes, etc – it’s actually easier, more fun and makes really long-lasting and beautiful books that can be bring memories for years. Plus, you can make multiple copies to share!

    The fire that destroyed Chuck’s brother’s house really made us think about all those memories we have lining the shelves of our house. We have at least 40 albums containing more than 10,000 photos that we could never get out of the house if there were a disaster. So the big project next year will be to get them all digitized to save – along with the 70,000 plus digital that we already have on the home server from work and personal events over the past seven years or so! I had already looked into getting our old 8mm videos digitized by a service called iMemories and they do photos as well. If anyone has already used a service like this and have some feedback, please let us know.

    Wishing everyone a blessed and joyful holiday full of memories that will last forever!

    Photography

    Farmers Night Before Christmas

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Thanks to Aimee Chandler, Ag Program Coordinator, University of Illinois Extension for a farmers rendition of the Night Before Christmas. I hope you enjoy it.

    FARMERS NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS 2010

    Twas the night before Christmas when down on the farm
    The animals were resting in the warm, cozy barn.

    Now was the time to reflect on the past year
    Saying thank you for all the great things they had here.

    A calf had been born to the brown and white cow
    All bedded in straw from up in the hay mow.

    The horses they whinnied with such a great joy
    They were a present picked out for the farmer’s young boy.

    The pigs they all squealed with every ounce of their might
    For the farmer’s wife gave them extra apples tonight.

    Even the dogs gave a bark to say thanks
    While wagging their tails the children all yank.

    A nice quiet night is what they all thought
    But little did they know quiet it was not.

    When what to their wondering eyes should appear
    But the farmer’s whole family had all gathered here.
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    Farming

    New Look for Corn Commentary

    Cindy Zimmerman

    Have you seen the new look for the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) blog Corn Commentary?

    ZimmComm New Media gave the three year old site a face lift that just went live last month. Corn Commentary was developed in 2007 to provide NCGA with an outlet for providing opinions on issues impacting the industry, especially in the areas of environment, food safety, health and energy.

    The blog was recently updated with a new design and multiple staff members of NCGA have taken over as primary contributors to the blog, which includes new posts several times a week. The new design also incorporates a Flickr photo album feed, as well as links to social network profiles on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. In addition, there is a live Twitter feed of tweets by Corn Commentators and a featured video built in to the new design. Those Corn Commentators include Ken Colombini, NCGA communications director; Mark Lambert, NCGA senior communications manager; and NCGA communications managers Cathryn Wojcicki, Susan Powers and Janice Tolley Walters.

    Check it out and let us know what you think!

    NCGA

    Jazz It Up At Ag Media Summit in 2011

    Chuck Zimmerman

    As we deal with cold why not think ahead to a warm New Orleans and an awesome Ag Media Summit? Here is some new information taken from the latest Livestock Publications Council newsletter. Thank you Diane!

    The AMS program committee has been hard at work since the conclusion of the 2010 AMS and there are some exciting announcements of speakers who have been confirmed. We are taking a unique angle with this year’s keynote speaker at Tuesday’s luncheon and will hear from Ted Jackson who is a staff photographer for the New Orleans Times-Picayune. He paddled into the Lower Ninth Ward just after the levee broke and spent harrowing days in the devastation that followed, challenging himself both as a photographer and as a human being. He’s going to share his stories and images with us. According to program chairman, Steve Werblow, “We are in for an unforgettable look at Katrina and New Orleans that will touch us personally and professionally”. For some insight on Ted, click here.

    Other news:

    Ann Wylie is back! She is a dynamic and insightful writer and coach and will conduct four workshops on Monday.

    Photographer Peter Krough will deliver two sessions on digital workflow management. The step after shooting a photo is knowing what to do with it and where to find it next. Krough is expert at every step of the process.

    Other topics for the 2011 Jazz It Up Ag Media Summit are:

    Measuring results in digital media.
    Sales and marketing
    “How-to” session on surveys and statistics
    Ethics case study review
    “Nuts and bolts” session with photography

    These are just a few teasers to whet your appetite for AMS 2011! Have a topic you want more
    information on? Let us know we might still have time to get them on the docket.

    Ag Media Summit