Balsa Bridge Building Contest

It's time for our school's annual Balsa Bridge Building Contest! Our school's Physics 11 and 12 classes are doing their annual Bridge Building Contest. The contest is held in our school's auditorium.

Here is a link to the Bridge Building Contest.

http://www.balsabridge.com/

Here is a link to some photos of last years contest.

http://www.myndrs.com/bridge07/index.html

Here is an interesting link from the Additional Links list on the Balsa Bridge Building Contest site.

http://www.matsuo-bridge.co.jp/english/bridges/basics/index.shtm

RECORD HOLDER
The current record holder is Matthew Sullivan from 2000 with a record of 209.4kg.

DESTRUCTION

Unfortunately, not all bridges stand under the pressure of the weights.

SPONSORS
Some sponsors for this event are:

Vancouver is a city with many interesting bridges. My favorite would be the Alex Fraser Bridge.

OLPC Update

There has been a delay in the delivery of our OLPC laptop. Our donation for the "Give One Get One" program has already gone to the placement of a machine somewhere else in the world. Despite the delay we will be awaiting for the arrival of our laptop.

Here is a message that our teacher recieved from Nicholas Negroponte about the delay.

Please accept my apologies for the delay in receiving your XO laptop. Give One Get One was such a phenomenal success that we over-taxed our order processing and payment systems. Demand exceeded supply. Additional XO laptops are being built now and will be delivered in 45 to 60 days. If you wish to reconsider your contribution in the face of this delay, we will issue a refund to you. We have set up a dedicated phone line for these requests. The number is 1-800-883-8102. In the meanwhile, please know that laptops are in the process of going to Mongolia, Cambodia, Afghanistan, Rwanda and Haiti as part of the "give one" side of the equation. Fortunately, OLPC's mission of getting laptops to the children in these countries has not been delayed. In Mongolia, the children are already enjoying themselves and learning new things with their XO laptops. Please see: http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Ulaanbaatar. Eliminating poverty through learning is gaining wider acceptance thanks to support like yours.


Sincerely,



Nicholas Negroponte
Chairman
OLPC Foundation

Visual C++

Visual C++ is the new program we have started working on in our ICT 12 class. We have recieved a booklet containing a bunch of Visual C++ program codes. We were assigned to download Visual C++ at home and run the assigned program. Our first program will be "Hello World". I am interested on how this program works and how it is different to the other program we have used so far.

You can download Visual C++ for yourself. Just go to this link:
http://www.microsoft.com/express/2005/download/default.aspx

ICT 12 Computer Disassembly Project

During my ICT 12 class, we were given the opportunity to disassemble a old computer. each group received a Compaq DeskPro computer to take apart. We got a kit full of tools to help disassemble the computer. First, we took a picture of the front and the back of the computer with our group name — Wonarro. For the top cover, we slid it off the computer and then we took another picture of the inside. Then we used screwdrivers to take the screws out from the back of the computer, so that we can take apart the different parts on the inside. Once the computer was open, we started to take various parts out. The components we identified were:

1. Network card
2. Sound card
3. Riser board
4. Hard Drive
5. Floppy drive
6. RAM
7. Motherboard
8. Front panel
9. CPU cooling fans
10. CPU
11. Power Supply
12. Backup Battery
13. Cooling Fins

After we identified the various parts, we had to put the parts back into the computer. To do this, we put the parts where they belong and screwed it back onto the computer. Once, we finished putting it back in, we were assigned to test the computer if it runs. My partner and I were unable to test our computer because we did not have time.

Camera!

My ICT teacher has created a Digital Cameras Survey webpage. It includes various types of cameras, the prices and where you can purchase them in Vancouver.

Click here to visit the Digital Cameras Survey

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On this webpage, you can view the camera I have recieved for Christmas; the camera is a Sony DSCW55 Cyber-Shot.

HIII!!!

I have applied Google Analytics to my blog!
I have had this program on my blog for about a week.
I currently have a total of 29 people visit my blog.
I have had 2 people visit my blog from the Philippines and 27 people from Canada!
Hopefully more people will visit my blog!

:)

One Laptop Per Child

Nicholas Negroponte, an MIT professor, has created the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) organization. Their goal is to provide children in developing countries the opportunity to each have their own low-cost laptop.

Our ICT 12 class is considering to put together our money and purchase one of these laptops. We plan on taking part of the "buy two, keep one" proposal; we will try to purchase two, and in return we get to keep one laptop.