How would you like a self-aware, computer ordering kiosk which profiled you by your facial features, ethnicity, age, and sex? As Americans, I doubt that would go over well here – as our society is notoriously very politically correct, but that certainly won’t keep China from doing it at their fast-food restaurants which have American corporate roots, including Yum Brands – KFC, that’s right Kentucky Fried Chicken.

There was an interesting article in Kiosk Marketplace News recently, posted on December 28, 2016 titled; “KFC China develops customer facial recognition technology to suggest menu items,” with excerpts also taken from The Daily Pot explaining how;

“The technology reads facial expressions and other visual information, like age and gender, to determine how individuals with similar traits typically order. Then, the technology matches those preferences with appropriate menu items. KFC is working with Baidu, a Chinese web services company, to turn this idea into reality. The machines will look at a customer’s age, gender and facial expressions to make their best guess. If a 5-year-old is held up to the camera, the kiosk should suggest a kids menu. If an adult walks in at 8 a.m., it might be time for some biscuits.”

The customer can then look at the suggestions, make modifications or reject them, either way the artificial intelligent machine will remember their face and change the suggestions next time to better suit their variations in desired tastes and over time modify those suggestions with all people of similar facial features. It will attempt to make the adjustments to more accurately meet the customer’s preferences during the next visit.

Can you imagine how appalled people in the US would be if such machines existed here? I can hear the “racist” boycotting of such fast-food outlets if a machine noted someone was a black athlete, and suggested more “white meat” fried chicken because it would naturally have more L-Tyrosine for building muscle, merely because the artificial intelligence behind the kiosk machine noted the athletic facial features like a squarer jaw bone, and the dark skin – noting that the individual was black, with faster muscle twitch, and assumed that this is the kind of food that person should eat, or would enjoy eating. If the kiosk tried to suggest a water-melon soda, BLM would probably stage city-wide protests – as that would be going way too far.

Likewise, people would be upset if the machine seeing a rounded face Hispanic woman went on to suggest; more mash-potatoes and gravy + supersized drink + tortillas on the side and spicy Mexican style family pack bucket of chicken. And it’s not that this might be a perfectly reasonable consideration, one which the heavy set lady might actually like – it’s that it is way overboard on the cultural stereotyping. Even if it didn’t offend either of these guests individually, I bet we’d all feel a little offended at such a scheme. So, let’s think about where we want all this artificial intelligent stereotyping to go, how far is too far? Yes, a heavy subject I know, so think on it. Be Great, Don’t Hesitate.

Learn Why You Should or Shouldn’t Consider Adopting a Wild Mustang

When the Spanish explorers of centuries past first came to the western half of the Americas in search of gold and other valuables, they brought horses with them in order to make their journeys easier. As time went on some of the horses escaped and created a new class of horse known as the wild mustang.

Over time other Spanish horses as well as horses from cattle ranchers and farmers would get loose and would end up breeding with the mustangs and creating herds of these animals. In the 1800’s there were over 2 million wild horses thriving on wilderness land throughout the west, but unfortunately they were hunted for military use, pet food, and to keep them from eating food the ranchers wanted for their own horses and livestock. They were hunted to the point of near extinction and today fewer than 25,000 of them are still in the wild.

Because of this, in 1971, the United States government passed the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act in an effort to protect this dying breed of horse. They later amended this act to allow for the roundup of the mustangs and to allow people to adopt a mustang as a pet. If you are interested in adopting a pet mustang, you need to take a few things into consideration before you decide a mustang is the right pet for you. Below are a few of the pros and cons of adopting and caring for a pet wild mustang. You are going to notice there are more and larger cons to adapting this animal than there are with many others.

What is your patience level? In order to properly care for a pet mustang you will need to realize that up until now it was really wild. Because of this, it won’t be as easy to break as a domesticated horse born in captivity. You will need to learn or already possess the skills necessary to convince the mustang that you aren’t going to hurt it and that you have its best interests in mind. If you have less of a tolerance threshold you may want to adopt a younger one mustang as they will be easier to train than an adult.

If you don’t already have a horse or at least have some horse knowledge you will need to think long and hard about adopting a mustang. Many people think they are helping when they adopt one without knowing a lot about horses. Below you will find out about the requirements to adopt a mustang. It would actually be a disservice to the mustang if it gets an owner who doesn’t know what they are getting into.

Do you have the time to train the wild mustang? You must realize that there is a very slim chance that you will be able to ride your pet mustang within the first year of adoption. You will need to put a lot of work into properly breaking the horse and getting it acclimated to human interaction. Because of this, it will take a lot of time to get the horse “rider ready”. So if you are looking at adopting a horse you can ride tomorrow-wild mustangs aren’t a good choice for you.

Are you prepared for the surprise of a new foal? There is a chance that a wild mustang who is adopted less than 11 months after being captured is pregnant so you will need to be prepared for this surprise as well as be prepared for the attitude that will accompany the pregnant mare.

Do you have the proper knowledge and facilities to take care of your injured or sick pet? These horses will be recently captured and thus a lot more susceptible to illness or prior injuries than horses born in captivity. Therefore it is imperative that you either have medical knowledge in caring for horses or have the ability to hire someone who does, in order to facilitate any unforeseen illness or injuries that might present themselves.

These are just a few of the cons that accompany adopting a pet mustang. Some of the pros to adopting are that wild mustangs are a testament to the beauty of nature and undoubtedly these horses with proper training can exceed the expectations of even captivity bred horses. They are naturally strong, intelligent and rambunctious and should be admired for their benefits as well as their imperfections. Not only will you gain a friend when you adopt a wild mustang but you will be helping to preserve a part of the Old West.

You’ve probably heard a lot about boondocking–camping without hookups–and wondered why anyone would want to camp where there were no water, sewage, or electrical connections. All modern RVs have been manufactured to be independent of these appendages that hook them up to land-based resources. All RVs have a holding tank for fresh water, and most of the time two holding tanks for waste, one from the toilet and one from the shower and sinks. They also have a house battery or batteries to supply 12-volt electricity to the RV and a generator to produce electrical power to the 120-volt and 12-volt systems, and to recharge the batteries. Camping without these hookups opens up many more possibilities on the vast natural areas and public lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the National Forest Service (FS) for enjoying your RV lifestyle. First, though, you have to get comfortable with camping without hookups, which limits your amount of drinking water, battery electricity, and waste disposal capacity. Here are seven ways to conserve your natural resources and transition from hookups to boondocking.

1. Start off by boondocking for just one or two nights at a campground that does not have hookups, and won’t tax your onboard systems. But to go longer than that you need to learn some conservation techniques and alter some wasteful habits.
2. Conserve your fresh water supply by taking Navy showers-rinse down, turnoff water, soap up, rinse off. Wash your hands the same way. Filling your gray water tank is one of the more limiting factors in how long you can boondock, so prevent as much waste water from entering the tank as you can.
3. When washing dishes, use a small bowl of soapy water. Rinse dishes in a tub of water, rather than under a running faucet. Wipe food off your dishes before washing. Use a small bowl of soapy water to wash and a plastic tub of water for rinsing. With a little practice you will be surprised at how much water you previously wasted.
4. Carry extra Jerry jugs or gallon containers of water to dump in your tank when your pump starts sucking air.
5. To conserve electricity so that your house batteries last as long as possible, turn off lights, TV, radio, porch light, computers and any other electrical appliances or tools when they are not being used. Use rechargeable battery operated book lights for reading.
6. If you need to use a 120-volt appliance like the microwave, blender, or coffee grinder, or your battery-draining water pump, schedule using these in the same block of time while running the generator, which will power them directly without pulling amps out of your batteries.
7. To find public land boondocking campsites, stop at ranger stations and visitor centers upon entering public lands and ask about “dispersed camping” areas. Find public lands on state maps that show recreational lands. Most roads to these sites will be dirt but were built solidly for logging and cattle trucks and fire-fighting equipment and most should be suitable for RVs.

For more information as well as RVing tips and destinations visit my Healthy RVLifestyle website or check out my eBook, BOONDOCKING: Finding the Perfect Campsite on America’s Public Lands, a complete manual on boondocking.

Solar – Environmental, Health and Safety Impacts

Some environmental impacts from solar energy development include general land use impacts, visual impacts, impacts from hazardous materials, and potential impacts on water and other resources. In addition, because utility-scale solar energy sites require large areas for solar radiation collection, the large arrays may impact the natural sunlight, rainfall and drainage of the covered area. This in turn may have unknown effects on local plants and animals.

Disrupting land areas can also impact existing uses, like livestock grazing and any existing archeological resources. Existing uses of tribal lands may also need to be evaluated. Visual impacts from reflective surfaces are more subjective aesthetic issues. However, thoughtful siting decisions can help avoid more egregious visual impacts.

Photovoltaic panels, although sealed, have the potential for hazardous contamination if they are damaged or improperly disposed. In addition, concentrating solar systems may contain or use liquids such as oils or molten salts that can present spill risks.

Finally, water is used for cooling in parabolic trough and central tower solar systems because they use conventional steam generated electricity. In the arid Southwest, this extra demand for water resources is problematic as is the possible accidental contamination to the cooling water itself.

Currently the Bureau of Land Management is working with the Department of Energy on a joint Solar Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) to reduce environmental impacts of solar energy production on Federal lands. Under this PEIS, potential sites will be examined in California, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado and Utah. This effort includes determining the need for new transmission access to and from the sites. The PEIS is also meant to reduce the normal permitting time required for applications. Within the scope of the PEIS are only lands that are excellent solar candidates, with the correct slope, with proximity to existing transmission lines and at least 2,000 acres of BLM public lands. Also sensitive lands, such as wilderness and lands with conflicting uses were excluded. The BLM is trying to be more environmentally sensitive in looking at its renewable energy land use plans. They will not only use the PEIS, but will do site-specific impact studies.

Solar – Energy Security

In cooperation with the Department of Energy, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has several solar energy research and development initiatives underway. One of these is the Photovoltaic (PV) Manufacturing Research and Development (R&D) project. One goal of this project was reduce costs overall by improving products and manufacturing processes. NREL and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) initiated the project in 1991 as the Photovoltaic Manufacturing Technology (PVMaT) project. In 2001, NREL extended this successful project and renamed it the PV Manufacturing R&D Project. Since its start, this project has issued more than 70 subcontracts to 40 solar companies. In 2007, many of the research projects were incorporated into the current portfolio of the DOE Solar Energy Technologies Program.

Another NREL project seeks to work with the U.S. PV industry and university researchers to advance PV performance and systems engineering, improve systems reliability, and develop technology suitable for integration into residential and commercial building structures. Core to this work is performance monitoring, characterization, and modeling of emerging-technology, small (<5 kWp), grid-connected, prototype PV systems installed and operating at the NREL Outdoor Test Facility. NREL’s systems engineering research and development (R&D) work also includes activities to support the development of industry consensus, adopted codes, standards, and certification that cover PV systems, components, and installation practices. This research is important to the DOE Solar Program because it provides independent data, analyses, and assessments of the performance and reliability metrics that are essential for benchmarking candidate technologies.

References

Solar Energy Development Programmatic EIS, “Solar Energy Development Environmental Considerations,” http://solareis.anl.gov/guide/environment/index.cfm.

National Renewable Energy Laboratory, “Systems Engineering,” http://www.nrel.gov/pv/systems_engineering.html.

With states and municipalities restricting access to some of our favorite trails around the country, finding a good place to ride freely is becoming a bit more difficult each year. Luckily, there are still some great places to ride. Colorado features several that offer terrific scenery and challenging rides for every level of rider. Here are five spots in the Centennial State that you should try to visit.

Texas Creek ATV Trails

These trails run along the Arkansas River in central Colorado. They mainly run a circle around Table Mountain with some trails narrowing enough to only allow the passage of a single ATV. Beginners will want to stick to the eastern side of the mountain where the trails are pretty straight-forward. More experienced riders can tackle sandy trails and rock formations on the western side.

Cuchara Recreation Area

Cuchara offers the full experience: camping, fishing, hiking, and (most importantly) a variety of trails to ride. You are going to enjoy the diverse wildlife and riders of all levels can find trails that they will enjoy. Camping is primitive, but permits cost $13. The trails are snow-covered four to five months of the year.

Lefthand Canyon OHV

This is a great free area to ride. Well, it was free when this post was written, so checkout http://www.parks.state.co.us to make sure. The entire Roosevelt National Forest is a beautiful place to ride, but Lefthand is exceptional. Technical trails are intermingled with rocky hill climbs. Primitive camping and riding are available year-round.

Grand Valley OHV

Grand Valley is a free ride in every sense of the word. You are free to ride anywhere and there are no fees. There are 25 miles of open area that feature loose dirt, hardpacked soil, steep hills, and some rocky areas.

North Sand Hills Special Recreation Management Area

The name says it all… sand. About 300 miles of it. Year-round riding across dunes and trails that will take you through aspen and sagebrush. You get to ride fee-free and have access to primitive camping.

You can find out more about these trails by heading over to http://www.blm.gov, the US Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management website.

While you are on the website mentioned here, look at trails in other states as well. Colorado offers some great vacation riding opportunities, but it is not the only state where you can get your ATV dirty.

If you own an ATV you might like to take a dusty vacation to an ATV off road area play-ground and have a blast all week-end. For those who live in California there are many ATV and Off Road Recreation areas. For instance there is Pismo Beach, which is a total blast on the sand dunes and you can camp out with the other ATV recreational vehicle crowds and ride all weekend until you are sore, tired and just plain raced out.

But Pismo Beach, CA is not the only place to ride as BLM has set aside several other areas as well. One popular place is along Hwy 8 just past Yuma, AZ on the California side and you will see at least 50-150 motor homes, trailers and off-road vehicles on the sands.

Some people who go there make jokes and say; We are helping our country and watching out for illegal aliens as the Border Patrol sits on the hill to do the actual lookout. However, in reality the Border Patrol sees little action along that stretch due to all the ATV’ers and they mostly watch the ATV vacationers have fun all day in envy, while they work 24/7 in the dry sand and heat.

Another great place is along the 15 Fwy and Hwy 247 there is BLM property where Sand Rails each year race out there in the Desert. The area is just before Barstow, CA as you head North towards Las Vegas out of the Los Angles Basin. ATVs are welcome and it too is a favorite place for ATV tailgater parties, camping, having fun and or racing. Please consider this in 2006.

A group of midgets have been getting restless lately about the “BLM” “campaign” and wanted to form a group of protestors under the name of “Midgets Lives Matter”.

However, protestors think very “little” of the small people. So, the “little” known “MLM” has been funding grammar school kids to protest with midgets. This hasn’t panned out because the children wanted money and not cookies, which they were promised.

Of course, this movement is “small potatoes” compared to “BLM”. “Our group is ‘shrinking’.” said, Tinee Short, founder of the MLM organization. “We try to get the cops’ attention by committing crimes, resist arrest so the cops will try to shoot us. But, we’re so small, they keep missing.” We also sing in peaceful protest, “We’re off to see the Wizard, and “Over the Rainbow” but nobody pays attention to us. We’re funded by the “Yellow Brick Road Society” but we have been cut “short” by the “Judy Garland and Toto Fan Club”.

Short said, “We plan to go nationwide to spread our ‘little’ message but we want it to grow. We don’t want it to go ‘over our heads’, but we’ve got to be heard.” She continued, “We get angry when we go into some popular restaurant such as McDonalds and the clerk ‘looks down’ at us, and said, “you kids want the ‘Happy Meal’? Do you want us to ‘super-size’ your meal’?”

These restaurants just want to harass us. They’ve really gotten away with programs to mock us with the ‘The Big Gulp’ Chant, and the ‘Super-Size Me’ Song.”

“Mr. Lollipop” who didn’t want us to use his real name is another MLM proponent stated, “The public sees us in the wrong way. They look down and jump to the conclusion that we live like the midgets on the set of “The Wizard of Oz”. We don’t live in some fairyland like ‘Munckinland’ where we wear bright, colorful, stupid costumes. We don’t sing and dance around with fake sugary scenery. We don’t live under fake vegetation, like flowers. We’re live in ghettos, trailers and trashy homes. The few who have made a living off of being midgets sold their soul to the tall people in Hollywood.”

Lollipop continued, “We get up in the morning, work, have families-some of which are big. We even get married and have kids, like tall people do.”

MLM’s president, named “Sledgehammer” (not his real name) replied to our interview, “This is how God made us. He created tall people too. But we are forever in the Lord’s debt we weren’t made any shorter.”