We can debate the ethical considerations until we're all exhausted, but the point remains that the law is the law until someone changes it... and the law provides copyright protection to your images and stiff/severe penalties to anyone who impermissibly uses those images.

It's the same argument when someone gets arrested for marijuana possession in a state where such is not legal. You can argue the morality/ethics of whether marijuana should be allowed, but you're still going to jail for violating the existing laws.

This conversation veered off sharply, and it's largely my fault for being the first one to identify the copyright violation and suggest that a lawsuit might be appropriate. But we're all losing sight of 'why' I suggested that a lawsuit might be appropriate - it wasn't because of the technical violation, it was the snotty attitude of the vendor that he was somehow doing the owner a favor by swapping out the pictures. Whether it makes financial, moral, or ethical sense, that is the type of attitude that leads to lawsuits in the future. Believe it or not, as a litigation attorney, I generally encourage my clients not to file lawsuits and attempt friendly resolutions where possible. The problem was resolved here when the vendor took the photo down, but he then thought it proper to mouth off to the owner. If the owner took offense to this, was litigious by nature, wanted to teach a lesson, or held any of 100 other personality traits, there easily could be a lawsuit to which the vendor would have no defense (putting the money back in the bank vault does not excuse you from the original bank robbery). The vendor would be facing $10,000+ of liability (in addition to his own attorneys' fees), and it would all be because of his attitude. Trust me when I say that I see this all the time - lawsuits that could be avoided before someone feels compelled to open their mouth for the sole purpose of pissing the other side off.

Are images / photographs "implicitly" copyrighted, ie, if I upload a random picture from my camera to instagram with no claim of copyright, is it a violation of copyright law for someone to utilize it?

Quote from: savemejebus on January 30, 2019, 12:46:20 PM

It's certainly something you could take issue with (in a legal action/demand letter) if you thought it was worth your time. I've represented clients on both ends of this, and it usually results in some sort of nuisance payment being made to avoid litigation under the copyright laws. Of course, that assumes you have a defendant you can identify (fairly easy if they're in the USA as you'd just need to order one of their products to get their info) and with the funds to pay something. There are some photographers out there that probably make a decent living suing/threatening to sue businesses that are using their images.

Other than a use that qualifies as "fair use," yes it would be a violation of copyright law. Given that the pictures are being used for commercial use, that doesn't qualify as fair use. I am sure there are hundreds of millions of images online that are being utilized in a way that is actionable copyright infringement, but the vast majority of those are likely not financially worthwhile for the owner to pursue.

I have no doubt there are lawyers out there getting rich shaking down companies left and right for $5,000 here, $2500 there, etc. 

Are there any suggestions or recommendations on growing these in containers?

I'm no expert, so take this with a grain of salt, but I had zero luck with Pickering in a pot. I tried for a couple years and generally pampered it, but it was always sickly and never grew more than a few inches. Never fruited. I thought it was a goner for sure, but put it in ground around 4 years ago and it immediately took off and quickly became one of the healthiest trees in my yard. It's incredibly easy to maintain (so far) and is very reliable with flowering/fruiting. I don't love the fruit, but it's hard to argue with the benefits of the tree. I just never had any success with it in a pot.

My children (the freaks that they are) don't like our lemon zest (too sweet) but they go nuts over our Glenn mango. Point being that everyone has their own personal opinions and tastes, so you might feel Cogshall is the greatest mango in the world and absolutely hate Pina Colada, or vice versa. Your best bet would be to wait until summer, try a ton of different varieties, and make up your mind at that point. Many of us went the route of Fairchild or Pine Island Nursery recommendations sight unseen (myself included) and ended up removing trees later upon the realization that we didn't like what was planted (I'm looking at you, Carrie mango). My yard would have a somewhat different selection today if I had the benefit of this forum before planting out 50 trees.

As to front yard, I agree with skhan as to the locals. If you're on a quiet street with good neighbors, you're probably good with anything. If not, anything that remotely looks like a fruit is going to be looted. Doesn't really matter if it's a green mango or other odd fruit - they'll pick it in the middle of the night or weeks before it ripens. That said, I have both a sapodilla and a Cogshall mango in my front yard, but also have security cameras, two hungry great danes, and an arsenal sufficient to overthrow a Central American nation, so there's that.

Finally, if you're in West Pines, Bender's Grove is right around the corner from you (Weston/Davie border). Mike is a member here and sells both fruit and trees.

Woke up to a non-windy, beautiful day, so I decided to be proactive and spray some of the mango trees with copper. Mixed up some spray, donned some protective gear, and felt tremendously accomplished by 7:30 a.m. when I was done.

Of course, fast forward to 10am, and it's pouring.

This happens every time, so if anyone wants rain in the future, just let me know and I'll go out to spray the yard.

Came across these on Youtube and thought they'd be useful to people here. These are more useful than most of the videos I've seen from the USA. This is obviously more tilted toward commercial growing, but I found each of the videos very educational (I subscribed to the channel so I could come back and watch these when needed).

Selective Harvest - How to raise your mango yield

Anthracnose Control for Mango Farmers

From Farmer to Farmer: Fruit Fly Control

How to prune a mango tree (engl)

How to prune - Canopy management for mango

BBS Control for Mango Farmers

Battery powered pole saw all the way. It's an investment, but I use the blower, hedge trimmer, and chainsaw already. The pole saw worked extremely well in pruning ever-growing mangoes this year.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/EGO-10-in-Pole-Saw-Attachment-for-EGO-Power-Head-System-PSA1000/301276692

First year with fruit on our Monroe tree. I have no idea when it's time or how to tell when it's time to pick Florida avocados. Any insight?

No words will ever adequately describe sex to a virgin.

sure there is. sex is like a properly ripened lemon zest

Quote from: savemejebus on August 22, 2018, 01:55:02 PM

Quote from: forumfool on August 22, 2018, 09:35:59 AM

Humans are members of the animal kingdom. Like other animals it is our nature to kill for various reasons. What should separate humans from other species is our ability to be humane to others since we have the ability to empathize and understand suffering. Burning an animal alive is a form of torture. Not a laughing matter imo. I worked in animal shelters for years you see some bad stuff and these are supposed to be people’s pets. Including dogs and cats intentionally set on fire.

I disagree. What separates us from other species is our ability to be inhumane. There are very few other species that kill/torture for sport/boredom. Only dolphins and apes come to mind. Just about everything else kills as quickly/efficiently as possible.

Devils Advocate:::
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0ZH3VzjZGU
https://vimeo.com/47167442

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3Z1guM8c3g

https://www.toptenz.net/top-10-animals-that-can-eat-living-things-in-one-bite.php

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPs27xGxshc

I forgot about cats which everyone knows/accepts are evil incarnate.

How do you keep the fruit flies from ruining the peaches?

generally, you don't. we cover a lot with organza bags when still small and the fruit flies still get 25 - 50% of the peaches. I suppose I could add fruit fly traps and other measures, though nothing is going to be super effective.

Quote from: savemejebus on August 04, 2018, 10:10:01 AM

from mango to soursop...

Does not seem like a good swap to me...

13 or 14 other mango trees. We're swimming in them.