Blackberry Twilight meeting in Henderson Co. June 16

Who: The Henderson County Commercial Blackberry Growers (and surrounding counties)

What: Twilight Blackberry Meeting

When: Thursday, June 16, 2011 at 6:30 PM

Where: Steve Dalton's Farm, 756 Dalton Trail Dr., Hendersonville, NC 28792 (Sugarloaf Mtn.)

Speakers:
Dr. Gina Fernandez, Small Fruit Specialist, Horticultural Science Dept., NCSU will discuss current cultural practices.

Dr. Hannah Burrack, Small Fruit Entomology Specialist, Entomology Dept. NCSU will discuss insect issues, in particular, the Spotted Wing Drosophila Flies (new soft fruit insect).

Grower, Steve Dalton, will discuss his operation, this seasons growing conditions, plus a tour of his new walk in cooler.

Marvin Owings, Interim County Extension Director, update on Cane Blight Disease in the county.

App to find local berries

Carolina Farm Stewardship Association (CFSA) has an iPhone"App" to help you locate local produce, including blackberries, raspberries and other fruit.  I tested it out and found four farms producing berries within 25 miles of Raleigh.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/nc-sc-farm/id357413311?mt=8

Blackberries (and Raspberries) Need Water

Did you know that blackberries are almost 90% water? 

During the harvest season, blackberries and raspberries need at least an inch of water a week. In years like this one, especially in parts of central and eastern NC, growers need to irrigate their berries to insure that they produce a plump juicy berry!

Know when your bus is late with live transit updates in Google Maps

(Cross-posted on the Official Google Blog)

Often when I’m taking public transit, I arrive at my stop on time only to anxiously check my watch and look down the street for my bus, which is running late once again. Those extra minutes I’m forced to wait seem like an eternity, and the only information I can access on my phone is when the bus was supposed to arrive.

Starting now, Google Maps for mobile and desktop can tell you when your ride is actually going to arrive with new live transit updates. We partnered with transit agencies to integrate live transit data in four U.S. cities and two European cities: Boston, Portland, Ore., San Diego, San Francisco, Madrid and Turin.



When you click on a transit station or plan a transit route with Google Maps and there are delays or alerts related to your trip, you’ll now see “live departure times” (indicated with a special icon) and service alerts.

Live transit departure times after tapping on a station

Live service alerts when receiving transit directions

Live departures and alerts on desktop

We’re working with our public transit partners to help them provide live data to more people in more cities. You can get live transit updates in the latest version of Google Maps for mobile (requires Android 1.6+), as well as Google Maps on all supported desktop and mobile browsers.

Posted by Sasha Gontmakher, Software Engineer

Blackberry Virus Project

NC State University is part of a multi-state team that is trying to identify and control viruses that are a concern to blackberry growers in the region. The symptoms can be wide ranging. Some plants have smaller distorted leaves like the leaves in the photo above. While others have leaf discoloration, fruit distortion or a combination of these traits.
This project is headed up by researchers at the University of Arkansas. For more information see http://arkansasagnews.uark.edu/4800.htm. Photo: Gina Fernandez.

Blackberry and Raspberry Portal

Check out the NC Market Ready Blackberry and Raspberry Portal. It is designed to be a one stop shop for "all" (almost all?) things you need to know to grow blackberries and raspberries in NC.  There are links to production and IPM guides, marketing information, budgets and much more.

Today we posted a checklist for chores that need to be done in the crop this summer. This list is updated and posted every 3 months. Previous lists are available and there is a RSS link so you can have the list automatically sent to you.

http://www.ncsu.edu/enterprises/blackberries-raspberries

E220s Lenovo ThinkPad edge review

The Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E220s offers a good balance of portability and performance in a business laptop.
For some people, a laptop needs to be a full-fledged computer that offers some portability as a secondary factor. For others, portability takes center stage at the expense of performance. Ideally, we'd like to have both, but a certain amount of compromise is always necessary.

A solid entry

Mysterious spots on tunnel raspberries

An Extension agent found these spots on tunnel raspberries last week. The fruit has been sent to the clinic for identification. We have a couple of theories on what it may be, and will let you know what it is as soon as we receive confirmation.

Blackberry pinching/tipping

When primocanes reach 3-5 ft, they need to be pinched or tipped (see top photo above). Pinching does two things. First, it maintains a manageable canopy height. Second, it  will enable the canes to produce laterals. These laterals will produce fruit next year.

The ideal diameter to pinch is small enough so you can remove it easily with your hands and not use a pruner. Wider diameter cuts that need a pruners create larger wounds. These large wounds do not heal as quickly and are therefore more prone to infection. The middle photo above shows a cane before tipping and the bottom photo shows the same cane after it has been tipped.

The primary disease that occurs as a result of the larger pruning wounds is Cane Blight. Cane Blight of Blackberry, is caused by Leptosphaeria coniothyrium. For more information on this disease see Dr. Phil Brannens publication at http://www.caes.uga.edu/publications/pubDetail.cfm?pk_id=7380.

Blackberry season approaching

Yesterday I visited 2 blackberry farms. One of the farms has a "Shift Trellis." This type of trellis is moved to different positions through the season. In the spring before buds break it is placed in a horizontal position so the fruiting laterals grow toward the sun, all on the same side of the canopy. Once the fruit has set, the trellis is shifted to about a one o'clock position, so the fruit faces the afternoon sun. Here is a picture of the fruit in the green stage.

Coming soon: make your phone your wallet

(cross-posted to Official Google Blog and Google Commerce Blog)



Today in our New York City office, along with Citi, MasterCard, First Data and Sprint, we gave a demo of Google Wallet, an app that will make your phone your wallet. You’ll be able to tap, pay and save using your phone and near field communication (NFC). We’re field testing Google Wallet now and plan to release it soon.

Google Wallet is a key part of our ongoing effort to improve shopping for both businesses and consumers. It’s aimed at making it easier for you to pay for and save on the goods you want, while giving merchants more ways to offer coupons and loyalty programs to customers, as well as bridging the gap between online and offline commerce.

Because Google Wallet is a mobile app, it will do more than a regular wallet ever could. You'll be able to store your credit cards, offers, loyalty cards and gift cards, but without the bulk. When you tap to pay, your phone will also automatically redeem offers and earn loyalty points for you. Someday, even things like boarding passes, tickets, ID and keys could be stored in Google Wallet.

At first, Google Wallet will support both Citi MasterCard and a Google Prepaid Card, which you’ll be able to fund with almost any payment card. From the outset, you’ll be able to tap your phone to pay wherever MasterCard PayPass is accepted. Google Wallet will also sync your Google Offers, which you’ll be able to redeem via NFC at participating SingleTap™ merchants, or by showing the barcode as you check out. Many merchants are working to integrate their offers and loyalty programs with Google Wallet.

With Google Wallet, we’re building an open commerce ecosystem, and we’re planning to develop APIs that will enable integration with numerous partners. In the beginning, Google Wallet will be compatible with Nexus S 4G by Google, available on Sprint. Over time, we plan on expanding support to more phones.

To learn more please visit our Google Wallet website at www.google.com/wallet.

This is just the start of what has already been a great adventure towards the future of mobile shopping. We’re incredibly excited and hope you are, too.

Posted by Rob von Behren and Jonathan Wall, Founding Engineers on Google Wallet

Check-ins and rating places get easier with Google Maps 5.5 for Android

(Cross posted from Google LatLong Blog)

We’ve made it easier to check in and out of places, rate various locations, and get transit information with Google Maps 5.5 for Android. This release adds ‘check in’ and ‘rate and review’ buttons to Place pages, the option to edit your home/work address for Latitude, and redesigned transit station pages.

Read below for more details about the new features, which we hope will improve your user experience, a topic we take very seriously as there are now more than 200 million users of Google Maps for mobile across platforms and devices worldwide.

New check-in and rating buttons added to Place pages

Now when you open a Place page from your mobile device, you can check in to places with Google Latitude or submit a rating or review by clicking on two new buttons at the top of the listing.

This past week I had the chance to explore the Computer History Museum during my visit to San Francisco from across the pond in London. Once nearby, I could quickly open the museum’s Place page and check in.

When I was ready to leave and head to lunch, in a few seconds I could go back to the Place page and rate the museum – which certainly earned the 5 star rating it received from me.

Update home and work address for your Latitude Location History

Last month we released the Location History dashboard for Latitude which estimates how much time you spend at home, work, and everywhere else. If your home or work address changes, or you’d rather set a different address to represent ‘home’ and ‘work,’ you can now edit these addresses within Latitude.

Change home/work location from Location History dashboard

View the redesigned transit station pages

It’s been about two years since we added transit directions in Google Maps for Android. Since then, we’ve increased the coverage from 250 cities to more than 440 and counting - the most recent being Washington, D.C. To make it easier to plan your transit route, we updated the transit station pages in this release to better organize the information you need.

Each page now includes a list of upcoming scheduled departures for different lines, all the transit lines serving the station, and links to nearby transit stations.


Download Google Maps 5.5 for Android here to try out the new check-in and rating buttons, update your Latitude Location History home/work address, check out a transit station in a nearby city, or just make sure you have the latest version of Google Maps for Android. This update requires an Android OS 1.6+ device anywhere Google Maps is currently available. Learn more in our help center.

Posted by Luis Sigal, Software Engineer

HTC Desire HD vs iPhone 4 Video Review

Few months ago I published iPhone 4 vs HTC Desire HD Comparison Chart that become very popular among my blog visitors. It become one of my top posts during last few months. From that I observed, a lot of people are confused by the specifications of iPhone 4 and HTC Desire HD and they got difficulties in choosing better device to buy for themselves. Then I search it myself and found a very nice Video review done by gsmonlinepl. So I thought to share this video at my blog, so that people can get more idea on these devices (iPhone 4 and Desire HD). "ElNinoLalibre" who wrote one of most liked comments on the video says.

Apple iPhone is like Nintendo. Remember when Nintendo owned the gaming market and everyone thought it was unbeateable. Then came Sony and Microsoft and took over the gaming market. The same thing will happen to iPhone as HTC, Samsung etc close in. I still respect Apple since they have created this business, BUT I am confident that they will get out-thought by others. The iPhone is a great phone but the HTC Desire is superior in quality and performance.

Please take a look at the video below.

Google Maps on your mobile browser

(Cross-posted from the Google Lat Long Blog)

With 40% of Google Maps usage on mobile devices, we want you to have a consistent Google Maps experience wherever you use it. So, today we’re announcing our updated Google Maps experience for mobile browsers on Android and iOS.

Now, when you visit maps.google.com on your phone or tablet’s browser and opt-in to share your location, you can use many of the same Google Maps features you’re used to from the desktop. This will allow you to:

• See your current location
  
• Search for what’s nearby with suggest and auto complete
  
• Have clickable icons of popular businesses and transit stations
  
• Get driving, transit, biking, and walking directions
  
• Turn on satellite, transit, traffic, biking, and other layers
  
• View Place pages with photos, ratings, hours, and more
  
• When signed into your Google account, access your starred locations and My Maps

This past weekend, I was at a team off-site at a ropes course and needed to find a good deli spot to grab lunch. I opened Google Maps on my mobile browser and searched to locate a popular deli nearby. A few finger taps later, I had viewed photos and reviews on the deli’s Place page and found the quickest way to get there using driving directions- all from my mobile browser.

Google Maps for mobile browsers is platform independent - you will always get a consistent experience and the latest features without needing to install any updates, no matter what phone you use.

To get started exploring Google Maps in your mobile browser, go to http://maps.google.com or any domain where Google Maps is available. Learn more in our help center.

Posted by Alireza Ali, Software Engineer

Launch a mobile business with The Guide to the App Galaxy

The Guide to the App Galaxy, which we showed off last week at Google I/O, is designed to help mobile app developers—regardless of platform—navigate the complexities of launching an app and building a business on mobile. As you maneuver through the "galaxy” using the arrow keys on your keyboard, you’ll get the basics about app promotion, monetization and measurement—with tips from Google as well as successful developers. Read more on the Official Google Blog.

Post content by Lauren Usui, Product Marketing Manager