Notre Dame Physics Balsa Bridge Building Contest

The Physics Balsa Bridge Building Contest is held every year for Notre Dame's Physics 11 and Physics 12 students. Participants would have to build a bridge made of balsa wood under certain restrictions. For example, the bridge can have a maximum mass of 100 grams. Prizes are awarded for strongest bridge, and workmanship and design.



This was a bridge my partner and I designed for last year's contest:



The overall record is currently held by Matt Sullivan in the 2000 contest



If you want to look into this contest, check out the following link:
http://www.balsabridge.com/

Here are some photos from last year's contest:
http://www.myndrs.com/bridge07/index.html
Photos from other years are available on the contest homepage.

Vancouver is a city of many interesting bridges, here is my favourite:

The Alex Fraser Bridge

If you're interested in bridges in general, check this link found from the "Additional Links" section.

Our "Hello World" Programs

In ICT, we've been working on different program languages such as Java, Turbo Pascal, C++, and Visual Basic. Everytime we were introduced into a language, we would start by working on a "Hello, World!" program. Despite the code being different everytime, the general message of the program would be the same. Here are some examples:

Visual Basic:

Turbo Pascal:

Java:

C++:

ICT 12 Computer Disassembly

On December 18th, the ICT 12 class was assigned to take apart a Compaq DeskPro desktop computer. I wasn’t here at this time, but my partner Jason of our group, LJ Global Tech, took care of the disassembly himself. Pictures of the inside of our assigned desktop computer were taken. In our pictures, a lot of the parts are identifiable as key components of the computer. For our disassembly, we were given a tool set with tools designed to take apart computers. In the photo to the right is one of the most important components of the computer. The “block” shown here in the middle contains the computer’s hard drive, CD drive, and floppy disk drive hardware. The cords connected to this “block” are power and data cords connected directly to the three hardware components. The picture here below shows more key components to the computer. This includes the computer’s motherboard, power source, and cooling fan. The following class on December 20th 2007, the class moved on to reassembly of the computer. I was able to take part in the reassembly portion of this project. During reassembly, a lot of computer components looked familiar as I identified the components mentioned earlier. When the computer was put together, we tested it to see if it was operational. It failed to start, but we identified the problem to be a disconnected cord from the power source to the motherboard. On the second test, we got our computer to run smoothly at an operational level.

More OLPC Stories...

Here is a story about a very poor and unfortunate Peruvian village with the wonderful privilege of enjoying OLPC laptops.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/ptech/12/25/onelaptop.onevillage.ap/index.html


Here is another article that reports that Microsoft and the OLPC Foundation are coming into terms to make a version of Windows on the OLPC laptops.

http://www.news.com/8301-13579_3-9847295-37.html?tag=nefd.top

These are both good stories that you should check out.

More on Digital Cameras...

In class, we were asked to look for a camera from the Greater Vancouver list. What really grabbed my attention was the Sony DSC-T70. It has a nice, slim and stylish design that allows you to comfortably keep it in your pocket. What's also great about this 8.1 megapixel camera is that is has an 3 inch LCD touch screen. It removes the inconvenience of buttons to allow the huge LCD screen to fully capture your pictures. This camera also has the Super SteadyShot image destabilization and very high sensitivity to prevent and picture blur. It also has a powerful 3.0x optical zoom, and face and smile detection.

You can get it at Best Buy or Future Shop for around $350 (not including taxes)

Want to learn more about this camera take a look here.

Digital Cameras in the Lower Mainland

There is a site that manages a list of digital cameras and the prices they sell for here in Vancouver:

http://www.ndrs.org/iol/cameras.htm

This gets updated every year and each camera is detailed by the following:

• Company (Sony, Canon, etc.)
• Model
• Megapixels (5.0, 8.0, etc.)
• Prices (not including taxes)
• Authorized Vendors
• Maximum Optical Zoom
• Other Details

If you're living in the Lower Mainland and interested in getting yourself a camera, maybe you should check this site out. Also, if you have came across a camera here in the Vancouver that is not on this list, contact the person who manages this site. Peter Vogel can be reached through the following:

vogelp@gmail.com

List the details as shown above and include any comments you have about your camera. If you agree to it, he might "interview" you for his newspaper column.

Visual Basic: Digital Clocks

Recently in class, we used Visual Basic to create our own Digital Clocks. They operated on one second intervals as according to our system/computer clocks. With this program, we added new features that we learned about. First of all, we added menu controls, such as the "File" and "View" menus that you are all familiar with. We also added an "About Digital Clock" form accessible through our "Help" menu. The about form showed a version number, company name, registration information, and a copyright warning. This is the usual stuff that is found in almost all "About" forms of any program. Check your browser and click Help>About [Program]. That's what the "About" form looks like. We also learned to remove the minimize and maximize command buttons. These are the line and square buttons found on the top right corner of the window beside the "X" (close).

Google Analytics

I have signed up to Google Analytics. What this means is that I have installed a tracking device onto my blog so I can keep track of those visiting it! I have faced troubles with proper installation so as of now, I only have 8 hits. To make up for the lack of numbers though, I got a visitor from Italy, where I have no relatives. The rest of the hits are from here in Canada. I can also track what Internet Browser was used and if they came to this blog through search engines or direct links.

Does Google Analytics sound interesting to you? Maybe you should check it out.

Visit the website at http://google.com/analytics and sign up!

"One Laptop Per Child"

"One Laptop Per Child" or "OLPC" is a non-profit organization with the goal of developing low-cost laptops for children who can't afford to have the education that could never have if this opportunity were to pass them. This idea was unveiled by Nicholas Negroponte. All this can become a reality but the organization asks for your help. OLPC needs your donations to make this real for all the unfortunate children in the world.

Here's a picture of the OLPC-XO model:

















If you're interested in learning more, visit the OLPC website at:
http://www.laptop.org/

Also, you can check out http://bcc.rcav.org/07-01-29/columns.htm for a news article that promotes the OLPC organization.

***UPDATE***
Here is a review from a man who got his hands on an OLPC-XO laptop:
http://www.tabletpcreview.com/default.asp?newsID=1014
Come and check out what he's got to say!

Here is another article on the OLPC from the Wall Street Journal:
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/Extra/Wny$100LaptopProjectIsUnderSiege.aspx
It seems to focus on OLPC being a threat to other companies...

ICT 12 Student Blogs

This is a list of the blogs of my ICT 12 classmates:

Cecilia Abreu
Amanda Alberti
Maria Arcadi
Laura Bordignon
Jason Cadacio
Jon Catapia
Jaime Dy Tioco
Joey Ficetola
Kathryn Jarin
Eliza Labrador
Ysabel Lago
Natalie Luongo
Micaela Monk
Sarah Navarro
Ryan Parmiter
Julian Sales
Julienne Serrano
Emily Shim
Tomasz Sowa
Robert Straw
Precious Toca
Stephanie Tan
Adrianna Wong
Greg Ziarek

Beginning of ICT 12

Well, what we're beginning now in ICT 12, or Information & Communications Technology 12, is computer programming. We will be working with programs like Turbo Pascal, C++, and even Visual Basic. Currently, we're working with the Turbo Pascal language, programming operations like multiplying three number together, averaging a mark from 5 classes, and displaying "Hello" messages to the "World."

Eventually, there will be times when we will create our own programs. All the updates will be posted...

Lester Aquilario
ICT 12 Block D

NDRS: Know~Love~Serve