After spending last week at GIS doing lots of software demos, I received many questions on how I was able to quickly manipulate the screen size of multiple devices in places where you usually can?t do it. While it varies with every operating system and program, it is very easy to do. For some, the font sizes on mobile devices and even laptops are too small. This is especially true if you are showing others software or text from the device.
Why am I telling you this? Because a great many of y
Recently I had the chance to catch up on a few webinars (one of the main perks of TurfNet). One that I particularly enjoyed was Frank Rossi's "Plant Health, Plant Smealth." In it Dr. Rossi talks about the role of plant health elicitors in our turf programs. He speaks to their efficacy in some cases, but is quick to caution us not to become too dependent on them as a quick fix. The one line that stuck with me was, "we get distracted."
Dr. Rossi made the critical point that if we see these pr
Due to lax OPSEC procedures at GCSAA or possibly a disturbance in the space-time continuum, the Rockbottum CC TV crew was awarded media credentials for GIS 2014!
We moved quickly, before they realized what they had done, and hopped in Buddy's truck for the ride to Orlando.
Here is our first report filed from Orlando:
Futurists or Futurologists are scientists and social scientists whose speciality is to attempt to systematically explore predictions and possibilities about the future and how they can emerge from the present, whether that of human society in particular or of life on earth in general.
Here we are, post-GIS2014 and all it's big reception and huge announcement glory and it is time to look at the future.
I've met and hung with a couple Futurists. Howard Rheingold wrote a book called "The
Just the other day my wife told me a story an acquaintance of hers shared. It was the story of a little girl having a difficult time adjusting to her newborn sibling. The little girl had been an only child for the first five years of her life and was now fearful that her parents wouldn't have enough love left for her after they loved the new baby. We've all have heard the tale in one version or another and the answer is always the same; Love grows with each new child that we embrace. This little
Last fall I provided a tutorial on using TurfNet from devices like smartphones and tablets. It makes it very easy to view things like the Forum, Jobs Board, and more all from any device. This month, Peter and the team at TurfNet have launched a new version of the site which looks great, and it works even better on mobile devices. While the basics of my previous full tutorial (read here) are the same, there are a few changes to the navigation and getting to areas of the site. So, here's a few tip
Since the last few training films from Rockbottum CC have been so deadly serious, we decided to lighten up a smidgen and offer an important warning tainted with a nanogram of silliness.
After all, there will be plenty of serious next week in Mouse Town.
I've been ranting this past year about the demise of "Plant Health" as a viable term in golf turf management. The fact is the longer I ruminate about the concept that we think we can make a plant healthy, the more ludicrous plant health seems. The existence of an organism on a golf putting surface is entirely related to stress tolerance.
Quote
Developing perennial surfaces requires a golf turf manager to understand
ALL the stresses the plants are under-imposed by us, the weather or the p
It's no secret that the rate of change today outpaces any other in history. What used to be measured in centuries now often comes down to a matter of years or even months.
I read a lot of novels. Turns out most are police or legal procedurals, with an occasional classic thrown in for contrast. My wife buys the new books for the local library (it's a small Vermont country store-type library, in a room off the Town Hall - to give you a sense of scale), so I get first crack at the new ones com
Once upon a time, during my incarceration as a teenage migrant golf worker, I ran off. Yes, I went over the wall, leaving Dad without a cup-changing, greensmowing night waterman.
Since childhood--possibly toddler-hood--I had been mowing and swing-blading dark-to-dark every summer. I had excavated so many irrigation holes that I felt like Charles Bronson digging tunnels in a WWII Stalag escape movie. I feared career burnout at age 17, so . . .
"Do it for free and the doors will open.
Here at The Rock, we've seen a significant increase in requests for information on video production. Video can be an important component in the Golf Course Superintendent's set of skills, especially in the area of communication. In true TurfNet style, we want to help.
The following video is the first in a series designed to make the GCS a little more familiar with video terminology, production techniques and the range of equipment involved in producing good quality video.
There will
It's mid January and we are well under way with 2014. We have shaken of the dust of last year, got out our pen and paper and are ready to go to town with our long list of New Year's resolutions. This year is going to be different, I can feel it, it's going to be the best ever (screeeetcccchhh ? insert the sound of the needle dragging across the vinyl).
Hold on. Let's take a step back and think about this for a minute. Where is your list of resolutions from last year? Does it look disturbingl
There are countless articles and tips out there about writing an effective cover letter across many industries. What works and what doesn't in our industry? It varies with every club but there are some basic guidelines to work from that give you the best chance for success. So, here's a list of things to consider when writing an effective cover letter in the golf maintenance world.
Write a cover letter! You might think this is par for the course, but many in our industry do not even include
I'm admittedly a little late with my year-end backward glance and look-forward prognostications. But so it is these days... so much to do, seemingly so little time.
2014 is a milestone year, of sorts. TurfNet turns 20 on February 1 and I turn 60 on July 4. I'm not sure which is more monumental. Probably the former, given the odds.
As I have said many times, one of my first goals as a newbie entrepreneur slicing through the uncharted waters of a paid information service/networking plat
(gazetteer |gaziti()r|
noun---a geographical index or dictionary.
ORIGIN early 17th cent. (in the sense journalist): via French from Italian gazzettiere, from gazzetta (see gazette). The current sense comes from a late 17th-cent. gazetteer called The Gazetteer's: or, Newsman's Interpreter: Being a Geographical Index)
I used to send out a yearly rundown of the craziness of my travels and someone suggested that I should more widely distribute this as it was supposedly good reading. I stole t
The #1 tool for great turf is almost always the mind of the golf course superintendent. Here at The Rock, we don't have a superintendent with a great mind, all we have is . . . me.
Therefore, we must rely on our Top Turf Tool, the Chainsaw.
Watch the following Rockbottum CC training film* to learn important secrets for success with your turf.
*Note: This video has been buried in the archival vault (an old whiskey barrel near the wash rack) and we recently resurrected, re-edited and
This winter I will be diving into building great career materials, but before I do I wanted to include a nice summary of things you can do to improve your career opportunities. My business partner, Greg Wojick (former career superintendent and long-time TurfNet member), recently put together the following list, and I thought it would be a nice start to the new year for us. We will dig deep into some of these in later columns. For more on Greg and his background, click here.
Looking to
Rockbottum Country Club TV is back for 2014 with The Buddy 'n Randy Show, for what was supposed to be a comprehensive look at the coming year in golf.
Somehow, Buddy knocked us off the rails with his inability to focus, so we will try again next week on the comprehensive thing.
The following VIDEO is worth negative CEUs, so I wouldn't mention it to anyone.
Repeat after me, I (your name here) resolve to get rid of that tree (or trees) responsible for the epic all day frost, the weak turf, the surface roots, the buckled path, the increased need for spray apps and the various tree stuff caught in the reels and dragged across the green.
That's a pretty attainable New Year's Resolution. Even if you just get one tree, you win.
I know, I've counseled 'Pick Your Battles' for years, but this is one of those line-in-the-sand fights that often deter
I admit it. I am a sucker for this time of year. Once the snow starts falling, the tree is up and the eggnog starts to flow, it can be the very best time of the year. For most of us, the general business of the golf season is wound down, so it can be a great time to sit back and relax.
Yet the holidays can get away from us if we let it. If all we focus on are Black Fridays, Cyber Mondays, and all the shopping days until Christmas eve, it can be easy to lose focus. The marketing machine is i
I absolutely can not believe that it is Christmas 2013. Can't. Because it seems like just 28 days ago it was March of 2013 and Christmas 2012.
Clearly something happened this year in what seemed to be fleeting days filled with fun, hassle, joy and abject stupidity.
It seems like this time of year polarizes lots of people. (see what I did there...Polar...). Be it family stuff or religious stuff or weather stuff or just plain stuff, the Holidays put people to the act of decision of some so
This Christmas, as you enjoy the warmth of bright lights, colors, grand feasts and fleeting moments of memories of childhood, take a moment to remember our active-duty military out there far from home.
Even for hardened troops, Christmas can be a rough time; loneliness tends to creep in, no matter how many others are nearby.
For military families with young children and a loved one on deployment, a feeling of emptiness stands ready to overwhelm the festive aura.
Let's remember our ac
This past week I have been working on getting end of year notes to clients and friends in the industry ready to send out, and I wanted to do something similar for all of you Turfnetters reading this blog.
It has been great to write these past couple of months and I hope that it has assisted you in your career. I am really honored to be associated with TurfNet and special thanks to Peter for all his efforts in the industry.
It would be easy just to type out some thanks to you guys, but af
