Local NC High School Varsity Baseball & Softball Schedules and Stats - Spring 2019

Check out the upcoming schedule, results, and statistics on your favorite local Avery and Watauga NC High School Baseball & Softball teams at MAXPREPS.Com   Good luck to everyone as the 2019 season gets well underway.

Watauga County Pioneers - Varsity Boys Baseball Team
Watauga County Pioneers- Varsity Girls Softball Team

Avery County Vikings - Varsity Boys Baseball Team
Avery County Vikings - Varsity Girls SoftballTeam

Smart Gardening Tools and Technologies - 2018

This article is all about ‘smart’ gardening technologies and tools now available to the average homeowner. You might get a kick out of what is already out there.

Those of you who have read my posts on ‘Smart’ Hats, ‘Smart’Fishing Rods, ‘Smart’Kayaks, ‘Smart’Guns, and ‘Smart’Hiking Sticks - you already know I really often don’t know what I’m talking about. I’m just no longer a big outdoorsman. Instead of going outside to hike, kayak, fish, hunt, or garden, I much prefer to stay at home and interact with the many interconnected and entertaining ‘smart’ systems installed throughout my home.

However, I still know how to get up and go plant flowers, cut bushes, and mow the lawn if needed. Nowadays, whenever I get ready to go out to garden, I first ask my ‘smart’ assistant, Alexa, to start up the robotic lawn mower, my personal drone, and bring up the video feed and data from my lawn cameras, various plant and soil sensors, sprinkler system, ‘smart’ bird feeders, etc… and display the data on my big screen TV. That way I know what I will be facing. Then I grab my trusty ‘smart’ hat, ‘smart’ hiking stick, chair, and smartphone -- and head outdoors.

Horticulture is the science and art of growing plants – e.g. fruits, vegetables, flowers. It covers the fields of plant conservation, landscape restoration, soil management, landscape, garden design, and more. Gardening generally refers to the construction, cultivation, and maintenance of the gardens envisioned by a landscape artists. Gardening is heavily focused on the growing and cultivation of flowers and plants. ‘Smart’ Gardening generally refers to the design, development, and maintenance of gardens using the latest in modern technologies and tools, e.g. artificial intelligence, robots, drones, apps...

Examples of ‘Smart’ Gardening Technologies & Solutions

Gardening today need not be like gardening back in your Mom’s day. Today, it’s all about ‘smart’ gardening. The following are some recent published articles about ‘smart’ gardening technologies and tools you might want to know more about:

• 'Smart' Gardening: Using Home Tech for the Perfect Law
• Never Kill a Plant Again: 7 Gadgets to Make You a Gardening Pro
• How does your garden grow? With high-tech apps and robotics 
• Cutting Edge: The Latest Lawn Mower Technology
• Robotic lawn mowers get voice assistant and GPS upgrade
• First smartphones, then smart homes, now prepare for the smart lawn
• Alexa, start mowing! Husqvarna launches "Just ask Alexa!" for robotic mowers

The 1^st generation of ‘smart’ technologies for homeowners and gardeners is now here – but imagine what technologies and capabilities the next generation of ‘smart’ solutions will include. For example – think augmented reality software, artificial intelligence (AI), self-driving vehicles, drones… and then onto your outdoor recreation ‘Smart’Fishing Rods, ‘Smart’Kayaks, ‘Smart’Guns, ‘Smart’Hiking Sticks ... Will the wonders never cease.

As I said before, whenever I go outside nowadays to play tennis, ride around in my boat, or watch a ballgame, do a little gardening… I now try to be ‘smart’ about it. What about you?

Other Selected Links

• ‘Smart’ Gardening Events
• C/Net 'Smart' Garden Buying Guide
• ‘Smart’ Gardening YouTube Videos
  

Have a piece of pie!

Android Pie that is, Android 9.0 has been released and I have already received it on my Pixel 2XL phone. I'm really liking it a lot.  It has been the smoothest upgrade in my experience and I've been using Android phones since the Droid days.  When Project Fi was introduced I got my first Nexus phone and have been upgrading ever since.  Pie makes my Pixel 2XL seem like a new phone and while many of you don't like changes I like to explore the latest software.  Usually you find that newer software doesn't run as well on older devices but at least I don't find this to be the case here.  The user interface is quick and smooth and I am enjoying the gesture based navigation.  All of the other changes that I've noticed seem to be for the better.  To state that the software seems more intuitive falls in line with Google's continued push into AI based products. More and more things just work and help you do what you want to do.  I think I will have another slice.