Picture Taken on Jul-20-07 in Osigo, Veneto, Italy

Picture Taken on Jul-27-07 in St. Peter's Basilica, Rome, Italy

Thursday, May 22, 2008

OLPC's New XO Laptops

The OLPC program is working on the next generation of XO laptops, with such features as a touch screen keyboard and a target price of $75. To find out more about these new developments, click here.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Microsoft and OLPC

Last week, Microsoft announced that it will be teaming up with the OLPC program to release another version of the XO laptop, which will have the capacity to run Windows XP. Even with this new progress, the founders of OLPC are not giving up on the Linux software that functioned in the first XOs. Instead, OLPC is working to create laptops that will be able to use both Windows and Linux, depending on the user's preference.

To find out more about this story, click here!

Thursday, May 1, 2008

BALSA Bridge Building Contest @ NDRS

Each year, the Physics 11 and 12 students of Notre Dame test their skills in building the strongest, and lightest, possible bridges of balsa wood. With this contest being one of the most popular of its kind, guest who are not affiliated with the school even send in their bridges for the competition. The current record of the most weight held is 209.4 kg. Maybe someone will break this record during the next contest on Tues. May 6, 2008!

Some of the prominent sponsors of this competition include the Association of Profession Engineers and Geoscientists of BC, Simon Fraser University's School of Engineering Science, and the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering. For a list of all sponsors, click here.










Vancouver is a city of many interesting bridges. Here's my favourite:

The Port Mann Bridge -- Coquitlam-Surrey BC

















Interested in finding out a bit more information?
Click here to visit the Official Contest Site, and/or click here to view some of the 2007 contest photos.

















































































Visit this additional link from the Balsa Bridge website, which outlines basic bridge types, by clicking here.



Friday, April 25, 2008

Web 2.0 Expo

After almost 2 million votes, 100 of the most innovative Web Apps were chosen and displayed at http://www.webware.com/html/ww/100/2008/winners.html.

Some of those applications present in the top 100 include:

(a software program which allows its users to explore interactive, multi-layered maps of our entire planet.) Using this program, one can also explore the progressive changes that have occurred across the earth's surface over time.

(a free instant messaging service which allows people from various IM networks such as MSN, Yahoo Messenger, AIM, and GoogleTalk to chat with each other in an internet browser.)


(a web-community where people can showcase their brilliant photography/PhotoShop skills and receive comments from others for free.) Contests are also held in which people can enter their photos for the chance to receive a monetary prize.

(a website from which people can access over 20 different work productivity programs, after signing up for free.) These products allow for the creation of written documents, spreadsheets, presentations similar to those Microsoft PowerPoint, and access to chat and e-mail, just to name a few.


(an interactive to-do list which is capable of sending the user timed reminders through Gmail, the iPhone, SMS, Skype, and various other compatible IM services.) This application can either be accessed through a free sign-up, or for a $25 annual fee, which provides access to new features and technical support.

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Visual Basic Multi-Form Project

For our most recent assignment in ICT class, we were required to complete a multi-form project consisting of several of the programs we had previously created in Visual Basic. We were also asked to create a theme for the project, and to redesign our programs to fit accordingly. I decided to create my multi-form project with a travel theme, which includes several programs such as "Finding your Passport," an "Expenses Calculator," and a paint program, just to name a few. Our class was also required to design one or two "easter eggs" or hidden aspects to be found, within our programs. Examples of my project's "easter eggs" are outlined below.


On the menu screen of my project, pressing "shift-p" will cause a graphic of the French city of Paris to appear with the words "Bon Voyage!"




























From the menu screen a second "easter egg" is also accessible when the user presses "ctrl-g". When this takes place, a new form appears which is comprised of several pictures of the famous travelling gnome. By clicking a command button at the bottom of the form, the program user can return back to the menu.



Thursday, April 10, 2008

My chance to use an OLPC XO!

I was pleasantly surprised when I finally had the opportunity to use this little laptop, as its toy-like frame actually holds quite a few complex programs. Once I got the XO running, I clicked through every one of these programs, including those of "TurtleArt," (a rather complicated art design program), "Memorize," (a program resembling the famous card matching game), "Calculate," (a well-designed calculator for solving all types of equations including those of complex mathematics), "Record," (a program that makes use of the XO's built-in camera and microphone),"Pippy," (a compilation of several basic programming codes which can be run and observed), "Paint," (a program similar to the Window's Paint Program), "Write" (a simpler version of a Microsoft Word type program), and the Internet Browser.

I really could not find very much to complain about regarding this machine, considering its original purpose. The children in third-world countries who are given an XO for themselves will certainly benefit substantially from the varied programs offered within it. Unlike those in my class who have used the XO before me, I did not experience any problems with "freezing" programs, or the necessity of restarting the laptop itself. Although some applications did take a while to start-up, the waiting period was not unbearably long. The children who get to use these laptops will not be too distraught by this waiting time either, so it is only a minimal distraction. The only disappointment I faced with the XO was being unable to successfully connect it to my wireless Internet connection. I know it is possible, but even through the various routes I took in trying to get the connection up and running, I still remained unsuccessful.

Even though I was not able to get the Internet running properly, I was still able to access the World Factbook Maps that were available in the Browser. These would certainly be very educational for any child learning about our world's geography. Another program which I found to be quite entertaining was the "TamTam" application. It was quite fun creating songs with various instruments/voices and having them play back.

The overall functionality of the XO laptop is very well designed, with the "home" screen being very easy to navigate, and the buttons on the keyboard conveniently directing the user to various menu screens (including one to connect to various Internet network connections and to see any other XO laptops in the area). The keyboard itself is understandably quite tiny, but once the user gets used to it, typing is hardly slowed. As I regularly work on a laptop with a touchpad instead of a mouse, the XO's set up, in a similar manner, is to my liking. The user also has the option of rotating the actual screen position 360 degrees around, as well, although I'm not sure how much one would use this specific function.

OLPC's XO laptop is an amazing and innovative creation, from which any child in a third-world country can benefit. This program has certainly done a lot to help those who are most in need, with educational opportunities that will set them on the path towards a brighter future.

To find out more about OLPC visit http://laptop.org/.





I've included some various photos of my use of the XO laptop below. Take a glance if you like!

"TamTamEdit" Program

















"Home" Screen

















"TurtleArt" Program















































"Memorize" Program


















"Calculate" Program (with the screen position rotated)


















"Record" Program




















World Factbook Maps Available in the "Browser"





















"Pippy" Program

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Various "Hello, World" Programs

Each time we start to learn a new programming language in our ICT class, we are required to design a "Hello, World" program as our first assignment. I have placed some examples of various "Hello, World" programs I have created with Turbo Pascal, Visual Basic, Python, Visual C++, and JAVA below. These examples can be useful if you're simply looking to compare the finished output of these different programs. Click on each screen capture for a larger view.


Turbo Pascal:












Visual Basic:




















Python:













Visual C++:













JAVA: