Do you know how to reuse computers?

Do you know how to reuse computers?

This video presents how the FAIR equips schools with computer labs built from recycled computers. Linux is the platform that makes this economically viable, and the result is a spread of IT knowledge among people that would otherwise miss out on this cornerstone of modern society. Unfortunately, you need to know Spanish or Norwegian to understand the audio or subtitles, respectively.

But you get the idea, don't you? Even though you have the latest in computer technology for yourself, the equipment you phase out can still be of use to others. In Scandinavia, large amounts of computers are being discarded each year. They are thrown away because they are not fast enough, or do not have enough disk space etc. We replace them for new computers that are faster, more modern, and have up to date features and functions - rarely because the old computer is broken! In developing countries, institutions such as schools, universities and hospitals, have a great need for IT in order to join the global information community, and enjoy its many benefits. Information technologies are an important prerequisite for the development and sustainability of democracy, education and health-care.

FAIR is working to bridge the digital divide between countries that are technically more developed and those that are technically disadvantaged. Schools in recipient countries are provided with integrated and effective computer solutions for use in IT classes - based on open source software and reused hardware, which otherwise would have been discarded and destroyed during recycling. You can help FAIR in its efforts by donating your own equipment, convincing your employer to become partner, or by becoming a personal member. The choice is yours, but the responsibility is with us all!

And by the way, I am biased as I am a member of FAIR's board.

GoOpen 2012 in Oslo

The market for free and open source software in Norway is being assisted by the government via the Friprogsenteret. As part of its outreach they arrange the annual Go Open conference. This year's iteration was held in downtown Oslo 23. April 2012.

My association with FAIR allowed me to staff a stand where conference participants could be informed about our projects to bring computer technology to schools in developing countries. This effort is important to let those populations take part in the fast development of ICT technology. But cost is a critical issue, and FAIR keeps cost down by refurbishing equipment that otherwise would be recycled destructively into school sets. This way selected schools can take work to close the gap between rich and poor countries, building a better future. In addition, FAIR has a take-back scheme whereby used electronics is taken back to Norway for recycling. This way neither FAIR or its partners can be accused of dumping electronic waste.

Clockwork knowledge

Have you ever seen such a cool wall clock. My 14 year old got it as a birthday present from one of his aunts. The clock has been produced by Tekna and uses elementary(?) mathematics to represent the hours. My kids do not understand it all yet, but they were amused by my enthusiasm.

The clock has now replaced the old kitchen wall clock, so that we get more exposure to mathematics every day.

The values in green are linked with Tekna's history. You can read about it in the Wikipedia page. Or you can visit their web site at http://www.tekna.no.

FLL competition @ Kjeller

Last Saturday the local final in the First Lego League was arranged at Akershus University College. My youngest was part of the Team Kebabgeeks that got the fifth place out of ten competing groups. And they were nominated for the prize for best presentation.

The picture shows a panorama of one of the robot challenges, with my team in red. As the competition developed they got really excited, and contrary to my expectation they expressed the desire to participate next year as well. Whether they do or not, I think they have got an experience they will remember the rest of their lives, and maybe influence the path they take later in life.

TraceTracker Data Uploader and the 5 step model

Earlier this week I had a customer in central Europe wanting a canned version of a product demonstration I just gave them. Well, the raw material proved too large to be distributed in email, so I ran it through Windows Movie Maker before uploading it to my YouTube account. I guess I should have used the TraceTracker account, but I forgot. Anyway, according to rumors it was a great success.

If you need a manual way to upload traceability information to the Global Traceability Network you can take a look yourself here.

Salami and tomato on lego

This year's topic for First Lego League is "food factor". This means that the participants shall study food quality issues, find ways to improve it, build lego robots to solve tasks etc. And my youngest kid has drafted me to help his team!

The different tasks in the challenge have not been distributed among the participants yet, but it feels like an adventure. At home we started by locating his brother's Lego Mindstorm set, so that we can practice at home. I even took some parts and build myself a salami and tomato on lego. What a treat!

Part of the challenge is to find some candidate food products for further study. I had hoped to find some fish products that carry information about the catch, the vessel and so on, but that proved more difficult than expected. I found one processed product from Domstein, but it contained too many ingredients compared to the limit in the challenge.

It remains to be seen where the project develops, but I hope for a memorable learning experience for the kids.

See you later, calculator

The abacus and the slide rule have both been replaced by new technology. When I went to school electronic calculators with scientific notation were becomming available. These days, in Norway, kids are at some point expected to have graphing calculator, but isn't this an anachronism?


With desktop and laptop computers have we have access to tools like Matlab, Mathematica, Macsyma and Gnu Octave. And schools are beginning to use tablet computers. Isn't the natural consequence that calculators go away, and that tablet computers take over the role of both the standard computer and the calculator. Maybe the concept of the Dynabook is eventually becomming a reality?

Currently, the rules in the Norwegian educational system rules out tablets, but there is time for a change, don't you think?

There may be hope for math education

This guy is awsome. My oldest son and I attended Scott Flansburg's show at Smuget in Oslo this evening. I do not know if my son was comming voluntarily, but after the show he was enthusiastic about trying it all out.
But what would the teachers say? His fear was that they would not appreciate the alternative techniques. I think that is part of the challenge with the Norwegian schooling system - teachers are trained to be able to teach everything without being specialized in anything. So they have one approach (hopefully) to how things should be done, and anything else should be corrected.

Scott told the audience that he had had discussions with the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research. Schooling may be a key agenda point in future elections, and I wish more people than me were willing to look for other political forces to put right the sorry state of our education system. And if we ended up with celebrating good theoretical achievements in addition to those of athletes, then we may be better prepared.

In the picture of the flyer you can see that the ministry is one of the sponsors of the event (lower right corner). But I stumbled across it by accident, so I suspect that the ministry actually does not want this kind of attention.

By the way, here is Google translated coverage of OECD's advice on how the Norwegian schooling system should be improved.