Project Myco-Jack: The Blight Sentinel Network

Story & Concept:
In the spirit of 'Neuromancer', the farm is a data matrix, and fungal spores are silent, invisible assassins. 'Myco-Jack' allows a farmer to 'jack in' to this biological cyberspace, seeing the unseen threat before it manifests. Echoing '12 Monkeys', the system is a time machine of sorts, piecing together fragmented environmental data to forecast a localized biological apocalypse (crop failure) and give the user the power to change that future. It transforms the farmer from a victim of circumstance into a data-driven 'sentinel', guarding against the coming plague.

How it Works:

1. The Sentinels (Hardware): The project uses a network of cheap, independent, solar-powered sensor nodes. Each 'Sentinel' is built around a low-cost microcontroller (like an ESP32 or Raspberry Pi Pico W) housed in a rugged, 3D-printed, weather-proof case. They are equipped with sensors to measure hyper-local temperature, humidity, and, most critically, leaf wetness duration. This is the 'Salary Insights' scraper component, but instead of web pages, it scrapes the physical environment for specific, high-value data points that are normally invisible.

2. The Ghost Network (Connectivity): The Sentinels communicate wirelessly. For small-scale or greenhouse operations, they can form a simple WiFi mesh network. For larger fields, they use LoRaWAN (Low Power, Long Range) to transmit their small data packets to a single gateway 'console' connected to the internet. This creates a low-cost, decentralized data collection grid.

3. The Oracle (Backend & Prediction): The data is fed into a simple cloud backend or even a local server running on a Raspberry Pi. Here, a Python script acts as 'The Oracle'. It doesn't use complex AI, but rather established, scientifically-validated disease models (e.g., the 'Mills Table' for apple scab or 'Blight Units' for potato blight). These models are essentially algorithms that calculate disease risk based on the duration of leaf wetness at specific temperature ranges. When the accumulated risk score crosses a critical threshold, the system knows an infection event is imminent.

4. The Terminal (User Interface): The user interface is a stark, simple web dashboard, accessible via phone or computer. It displays a single, vital piece of information: the 'Blight Risk Level' on a scale from 0 to 100. When the risk level becomes critical, the system sends an immediate SMS and email alert with a simple message: 'ALERT: FUNGAL INFECTION IMMINENT. RECOMMENDED SPRAY WINDOW: NEXT 12 HOURS.'

Niche, Low-Cost, High Earning Potential:
This project is niche, focusing specifically on fungal disease prediction, a major pain point for high-value crops like wine grapes, potatoes, tomatoes, and cannabis. The hardware for a single Sentinel can be built for under $30, making it extremely low-cost to deploy. The high earning potential comes from its clear value proposition: a small monthly subscription fee for the alerting service (SaaS model) or selling pre-configured kits is a tiny investment compared to the thousands of dollars a farmer can lose from a single blight outbreak. It saves money on preventative chemical sprays (only spraying when necessary) and dramatically increases the probability of a successful harvest.