Cheap Home Decor

Homeowners in 2011 are becoming more and more savvy at reading the signs of the times. Things aren’t great right now when you consider the state of the U.S housing market, and the increasing awareness that nothing can be considered business as usual.

But, in many ways, this shift in paradigm can be considered something of a catalyst to creativity, and with homeowner self-education when it comes to home improvement trends. Homeowners are seeking to change the status quo more so than ever. To do this, they’re using their creative brains, and their increasing awareness of staying to budget.

They are more likely to put an emphasis on efficiency and cost savings. The

(Read the full post about ‘Home Improvement Trends 2011′…)

Qbo Open-Source Bot Par Excellence

Qbo is a kind of smaller, cheaper PR2–he’s an open-source robot platform (using the ROS operating system developed for PR2), which could aid robot research as well as educating students in robotics and computer programming. The first real video of the diminutive little chap rolling around has arrived, and it’s a demo of how he can automatically interact with people. The flaw you may spot here is how close he gets to some folks–amusingly a feature of the tracking algorithm, which recognizes faces that are farther away for tall people.

(Read the full post about ‘This Week In Bots: Open-Source Learning Bots, Sensitive Robo-Skin, Robot Soccer, Chocolate Printer Bot, And More’…)

very exciting news from Migardeners place, and so much more! plus we show you how to fight back on the war against garden pests. suit up soldier, your being recruited!

When it comes to pest control in the landscape and garden, it’s essential to check your plants out on a regular basis.

Thanks to the sharp eyes of our summer assistant, we averted a major problem with one of the new varieties of ornamental popcorn and plants in the new ornamental grass display at the Gateway Learning Gardens in Springfield.

While watering the plants this past week, our assistant noticed the ornamental popcorn in one of our prominent container plantings had some missing leaf parts. Upon further inspection, the culprit was identified as armyworm.

Those who farm, and perhaps turfgrass managers (golf courses, sod farms, lawn care), are familiar with the grass pest.

Armyworms are caterpillars with chewing mouthparts that can remove fairly large chunks of leaf tissue in one setting. T

(Read the full post about ‘How to protect plants from garden pests’…)