Copacetic

(This is my fourth Science Week Post)

Well this is an easy one as well. The Internet. Sure the Internet has helped everyone, but for geeks, programmers and developers everywhere, the ability to understand that your idea was not unique or stupid or even new is a huge win. Better still, finding a reference implementation on the web (for free) meant no  more building software from whole cloth.

In the 80’s when I first started doing software the first job in every project was writing the infrastructure layer, the stuff to do the stuff so you could do the job. Now that doesn’t happen. Twitter, Bebo, YouTube, MySpace, Facebook, Flickr, you name it,  alllaunched in a year, instead of two because they could focus on building their application  as opposed to their core libraries. More importantly, the web allowed them to establish the quality of the components they selected using an tried and tested method of the scientific community, independent peer review.

None of this could have happened without the internet.

(Third Science Week post)

It has to be the Philips HTs9800w home cinema system,

A bargain at around €600. This Home Entertainment system recently hit the Top Ten in Stuff magazine. Three big wins,

• Wireless rear speakers
• Nice price
• Looks great

Now just gotta wait for them to arrive in Ireland.

(This is my second Science Week Post)

Well this was an easy one for me as I have mentioned it in the past. Landmine Detection, or more specifically a tool to detect the absence of landmines.  Absence is important because while the efforts of the miltary are devoted to finding a safe route through mine fields, the civilian population must establish that all their fields, paths, villages and workplaces are free from mines.

This device would have to be,

• Low cost
• Easy to manfacture locally (at all the locations where landmines exist)
• Capable of detecting and destroy plastic mines amongst others

The ultimate goal is of course a device that makes mining (especially anti-personnel mines) obsolete by making them completely ineffective.

First Science Week Post : My Favourite Invention from Childhood

As a kid my favourite invention had to be Lego (the old style stuff where you built stuff from blocks as opposed to the new style where you connect the wing part to the body part). I spent hours in my bedroom constructing whole worlds from collections of basic pieces. A simple idea only made possible by the existence of low cost manfacturing and cheap plastic.

Lego lasts forever (pretty much) which means all the lego you had as a kid is useable by your kids. How many other toys can you say that about?

Its is all out interests in the Tech Sector to promote the learning of Science. To that end I’m happy to support Science Week. Full request from Edelman below:

Science Week Ireland 2007 invites you to take part in the Science Week blog competition.  Everyday a Nintendo Wii with Wii Sports is up for grabs, all you’ve got to do is to tell us something about your favourite inventions.

 

This year Science Week Ireland explores this theme and illustrates just how much science surrounds us every day.  We are constantly surrounded by science, technology and engineering in the modern world. We are woken by talking alarm clocks, dress in man-made fibres, check the TV weather, listen to radio news or traffic reports, use electricity to make our breakfast. And all that is before we have even left the house.

 

We would like you to tell us a little bit about the role science plays in your everyday lives.  We are inviting you to answer each of the following questions:

v      Tuesday - Q What was the favourite invention from your childhood?

v      Wednesday - Q What invention do you want to see most in the future?

v      Thursday - Q What’s the next gadget that you want to buy?

v      Friday - Q Which invention has helped you most with your working life? 

v      Saturday - Q In your opinion what was the best invention in 2007? 

All you have to do is write a blog post on the question each day.  Why not find out what your fellow bloggers think and tag them.