Ipod Nano

The ipod nano is a little device that allows you to listen to music on the go.  There is no need for cd’s or a cd player, you just go online and buy music from a legal site such as itunes. It’s small but can hold up to 4 mgb (megabytes). It also lets you upload pictures and videos. You can upload any type of music you want as long as it’s not downloaded illegally. Its for sale at the apple store in various locations such as malls, outlets, ect. There are many types of ipods that have made its creator wealthy.

The Elephant pump

Elephant pumps are pumps that were introduced in rural areas of Africa such as places in Zimbabwe and Malawi. The are called “elephant pumps” because they are so large. These pumps are used to get clean water and give it to the people. They are made locally and are maintained by the community. The way you operate them is by peddaling. Kind of like a bicycle. Sometimes kids who have never ridden a bicycle “play” on them and pump the water.

Phillip’s airplanes

In Africa there is a man names Phillip Isohe who enjoys making model airplanes and buses. These buses and airplanes are very detailed and they work. They are homemade made from scratch and were displayed at an “ArtBots” show last year. Phillip says he feels good when he makes these things. A video of Phillip’s planes can be seen here: http://www.zoopy.com/video/detail/id/12667?t=afrigadget

Fingding Elephants using a GPS system

A woman named Katherine Houreld has written an article about how the Ol Pejeta Conservation, a private ranch in Kenya and a group dedicated to saving elephants called Save the Elephants are using an animal collar that is GMS/ GPS based. The collars are put on the elephants and other animals to track and monitor their movements and locations. A group of biologists placed a collar on an elephant named Kimani. The collar allows park rangers to track where Kimani is using Google Earth and Google Maps. It also allows them to monitor its locations at all times. The elephant would sometimes roam away from where the reservation was to go raid farms for crops. The park rangers would get a signal when this would happen thanks to the collar.

My accomplishents

These are my accomplishments for the project Mrs. Martin has assigned my class and I. Last week i took notes and did research on the constitution.  My partner Alex and me both decided what parts we were to have and what we were to do. We started to work on our parts and i am finishing up the brochure right now. Hopefully we get a good grade.

Color changing glasses

You know how some of us – A lot of us wear glasses? We also always change our clothes, so why not get glasses to match our clothing?  They may be too expensive but there are a pair of glasses that you can make any color you want just by using water – based ink.  These glasses are th RbG Rainbow Glasses. They are made of hollow plastic frames that can be emptied out at the end of the day. You just need to fill them with ink. You can make them any color you want even clear.

Have you ever been texting during the day but then the sun gets in your way and makes it hard to see the screen and words? Annoying isn’t it? Well a compansy called Epson has come up with new technology that helps you see it better. The product is called the ‘Photo Find High Reflect’ and it helps you see the screen better by using the natural light, that normally makes it hard to see, to light up the screen. Lets hope we get to use it

Robots

Have you ever wanted to build a robot but never have? There can be many reasons for it, the parts being to expenisive or the robot itself being to complex for you to build. This new robot called the MSR-H01 is suprisingly not. A man named Matt Denton modeled this robot after another one he had already made called the iC Hexapod. This new robot is like his old robot. It comes in many colors such as red, black and silver (awesome colors). Each part to make this robot cost about one hundred and seventy dollars. You can buy the parts through its online store. All together this robot cost about a thousand dollars to make. Matt Deton says the robot is pretty easy to make, his sister and girlfriend were able to make it when they had no expiriance what-so-ever is robotics. This robot is kind of like having your own pet spider.

The White House’s lawn

Many people are expecting change from newly elected president, Barack Obama. We all want that change to happen. But forst for that change to happen, President Obama needs to move into the white house. The White House has an 18-acre lawn and a Victorey Garden. A man named Roger Doiron made a video suggesting that the president replace some of that land and make something like a park or nothing new at all. There are already 23 million acres of lawn in the United States (not inculding this lawn) If we ever want to get together with friends of  family we can do it at the park. So why not get rid of some? Roger Doiron made a video suggesting this and giving facts on why we should do it. By doing this, he has inspired people to be the change in their community.

The Swahili Bed

The swahili bed is very useful in the hot and humid East African Coast.  It can be used as a bed, table, couch, and just about everything else. Its super comfortable and perfect for the climate in the East African Coast. This bed is also rot resistant and bug resistant. The beds are made from locallly grown from mvuli or mbamba kofi trees. Then straps for the bed are made out of palmetto leaves and soaked in salt water and woven into rope. The Swahili bed was recently featured in an article in the MAKE magazine.

Vocabualry Words.

1. Swahili- a member of a Bantu people of Zanzibar and the neighboring coast of Africa. Also a languauge.

Alot of people who love in Africa know how to speak Swahili.

2. Resistant- a person or thing that resists. to repel.

The swahili bed is bug resistant.

3.mvuli- a type of tree found in some parts of Africa.

The mvuli tree is used to make the swahili beds.

4.mbamba kofi- another type of tree found in different locations in Africa.

My mother wants to buy a mbamba kofi tree.

5.Humid- containing a high amount of water or water vapor; noticeably moist

The waether today is quite humid.

Sua Community Junior Secondary School’s informative talk.

Over 600 students at the Sua Community Junior Secondary School, all recieved a very useful and informative talk from Peter Martinez. He is A Peace Corps volunteer from California. He talked to the students about HIV/AIDS, STI’S, Teen age pregnancy, Alcohol Abuse, and Domestic violence. Mr. Peter also told them the statistics on the rate of HIV infection where they live.

Nata Village Lodge.

The Nata Villiage now has a new lodge that is located at the intersection of two roads,  Francistown and Maun road. Nata once had only one accomodation lodge but lost it when a fire burned it down. The lodge is a great center of activity and attraction for both tourists and the people living there. It is an important place because it leads into the Chobe and the Okavango Delta. The owners are Seloma Tiro and Susan Tiro.

Donations At Work.

With the help of donations, students from the Sua Secondary School Health Club and Nata Primary School were able to paint two murals depicting staying healthy. Students hope that the murals reach out to the people of Nata Village and give them a message to stay healthy. They have all worked very hard on these paintings. They will continue to make murals so more people get their message.

The Nata Village Now Has Internet Access

The Nata Village now has internet access in three different locations. The post office, Wild Butchery (a store), and North Gate Lodge all have computers. The post office has six and  Wild Butchery has four. You can make copies and send faxes at the post office and you can send faxes at Wild Butchery.

Donations

Three people, Peter Martinez, Kenewang Rancholo and SelomaTiro, from the RADS (Remote Area Development Service) group in Africa have donated something wonderful for the kids in the RADS hostel. They have donated nine soccer balls for the kids to play with at the recreation facility after school is over. The kids play after they’re done with home work and they get to excersize. They make teams and learn how to compete well.

Laptop of the future.

Designer Hao Hua considers his new creation, the D-Roll laptop or Digital Roll Laptop, “the next generation of laptops.” It doesn’t look like a laptop you would see today, it looks more like an artists scroll. It is set like a normal laptop and it is protable since it rolls up for storage or transportation. The straps on the sides serve as places to plug in your USB devices. It has a removable webcam that you can use on the computer, or wear it on your wrist. Hao Hua put alot of effort into his design, you can see pictures here:http://dvice.com/archives/2009/04/d-roll_laptop_c.php

Vocab words for march 31

1.Adequate- to have enough but not to much.
We have an adequate amount of water.

2.Bayonette- a blade that can be attached to a rifle.
The gun that was on sale had a bayonette.

3.Colony- an overseas possession or territory ruled by its mother country.
There were once 13 colonies.

4.Controversial- something that is a subject of stron opposing points of view, opinions, beliefs, etc.
The movie was very controversial and political.

5.Fleet- a group of ships.
There was a fleet in the harbor this morning.

Ping Pong Dining Table (blog for march 30)

This diner table is also a ping pong table. You can eat here and play  ping pong at the same time. It looks really classy and fancy so, it doesnt seem so ridiculous. In the center of the table is a rectangular shaped vase filled with flowers that serves as a decoration for the table and as a net for the table. This is pretty cool. Here are some pictures.

http://dvice.com/archives/2009/03/ping_pong_dinin.php

Vocab words for march 24.

1.Hungarian-a native or inhabitant of Hungary.

Designer David Raffai, is a Hungarian designer, he is from Hungary.

2.staggered-To move or stand unsteadily.

He staggered throughout the entire speech.

3.interior-being within; inside of anything;

The interior of the car was made of leather and painted orange.

4.recessed-Withdrawn; secluded.

The seats in the car were recessed to make it more open.

5.concept- an idea.

The concept of the car will one day come true.

vocab words for march 17.

1.tournament-a trial of skill in some game, in which competitors play a series of contests.

The soccer tournament took over two hours to finish.

2.rapid-happening speedily.

The physical test was rapid.

3.Tebelopele-a Non Governmental Organization (NGO) that provides free testing for any citizen or non-citizens who whish to know their HIV staus.

The Tebelopele tested over 463 people who wished to know their status.

4.mobilization-to assemble or marshal (armed forces, military reserves, or civilian persons of military age) into readiness for active service.

The mobilization of the boat was done in one day.

5.spectacular-marked by or given to an impressive, large-scale display

The show was spectacular, there were so many fireworks and lights.