Technology – Arduino Unboxing

The Arduino project puts low cost advanced technology in the hands of children and their curious adult friends. These are literally PLCs, Programable Logic Controllers that are used to make lego toys work or model trains. The same principles are applied in advanced technology systems.

Guizhou recently hosted the “Big Data Valley” concept at a Big Data Conference. Guizhou is pushing technology and this project is intended to help begin the education process.

The Arduino Unboxing video is an inspection of all the parts in a good Arduino Kit, together with projects. We simply open the box and talk about the parts that we received. Some simple technology language is used, along with text to help the student look up the various terms in use:

CLICK HERE –> Arduino Unboxing

Colorful Guizhou Helicopter Rides

Chishui is located in the extreme north of Guizhou Province. It has beautiful bamboo forests, rivers, mountains and waterfalls. The helicopter ride cost 400 rmb to 1200 rmb per person and is unlike any other tours in China. The helicopter can take three passengers at a time. Tours can last from five minutes to more than twenty minutes.

Chishui is shown in the video, but tours are available in three other beautiful locations in Guizhou . . . Libo, Huanguo Shu Waterfall, and Du Shan.

For further information call Robin at 15597701004 or send an email to 247819328@qq.com. You can also contact tourguizhou@gmail.com .
http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMTU5ODExNjA0OA==.html?from=s7.8-1.2&xbox |

The Rooftop Cafe of Dong Men

View from the patio.

View from the patio.

The Rooftop Cafe is located directly across the street from the Starbucks coffee house and Pizza Hut, and is near the Hunter Plaza. Walk down the hill from the Dong Men bus station about fifty yards and turn right. You climb the stairs and turn left at the top of the stairs, walking through a steel door into a large lobby area. Go to the elevators on the far side of the lobby and go up to the 30th floor. The room number is 3004. The Café is located on three levels, literally a rooftop garden.

The The Rooftop Café has four meeting rooms including the third level floor which is a private area which might be called  the building’s 32nd floor. There are panoramic views of the city from all three floors. The cafe is decorated with a local Guizhou wood, which appears to be cedar, very warm wood walls and floor. The furniture is also wood.

The Cafe mainly serves coffee however it has fruit juice, cocktails, beer, and some desserts. Prices are very competitive, particularly in this neighborhood. The manager’s name is Shadow and if you have questions, or if you have a group that needs a meeting room, be sure to call her at 1-398-411-3214.

Getting There

Baby has Arrived !

My housemate’s baby has arrived.  I just talked to the father, and the kid made his first appearance at 8:20 AM this morning (June 3, 2016), about five or six hours after letting everybody know that he was ready for the world. (Mother went into labor at between 2 and 3 AM). He’s a boy.

Baby Coming

As an old bachelor, without children, I don’t have any experience of someone having a baby near me.  I have a large apartment which is shared with a Chinese couple, expecting a baby. The baby is due in two weeks, and I asked the future mother if there was anything I could do. . . “No.”

So I asked for the husband’s phone number, just in case, and she said that he wouldn’t understand me anyway, but she gave me the number. So this morning at 3 AM I hear some rustling around, doors opening, etc. She says, “Maybe we will go to the hospital.”, “Anything I can do?”, “No. My husband is getting the car.” I told them not to worry, I will make sure that all the doors are locked . . .

I am very attached to this couple. So how long do I have to wait before I call the husband for an update? So what do you say to somebody who is waiting . . . especially if they don’t speak English? Sheesh !

Hopefully everything will come out OK and I’ll get good news in due course.

Voting

Absentee Voting Information for U.S. Citizens Abroad

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2012/08/196950.htm

also:
http://www.tourguizhou.com/archives/9934

Media Note

Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC
August 27, 2012

The Department of State encourages all U.S. citizens overseas to vote, and offers non-partisan assistance online and through our embassies and consulates around the world.

U.S. citizens can now request their blank ballots electronically. Depending on your state or county, you can get your ballot by email, fax, or internet download. To start, U.S. citizens should go to www.FVAP.gov to fill out a new Federal Post Card Applications (FPCA). Even U.S. citizens who are already registered to vote or who have voted in previous elections should complete new FPCAs in 2012 to ensure they receive their ballot via the fastest delivery method possible.

The registration process for overseas voters has changed in many states this election cycle. Deadlines and eligibility rules for voting in state and local elections vary by state and are rapidly approaching, with some deadlines less than a month away. Additional information about absentee voting for U.S. citizens abroad can be found online at www.FVAP.gov or travel.state.gov.

The State Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs will be available live during a twitter Q&A with @TravelGov on August 28 at 9 a.m. EDT to answer questions about how to vote while abroad. Representatives from the Office of Overseas Citizens Services and the Federal Voting Assistance Program will be on hand to answer questions about registering to vote and submitting a ballot from overseas.

U.S. Citizens are encouraged to submit questions in advance to @TravelGov, using the hashtag #AskState. Questions may also be tweeted live during the Q&A.

This effort supports the Department’s 21st Century Statecraft efforts, complementing traditional foreign policy by harnessing the digital networks and technologies of an interconnected world.

Big Data Conference of Guiyang had VR 3D Glasses

My students Wang Min and Bai Zhong Jun attended the conference and helped me talk to the exhibitors. 20160525_155235Wang Min loved to play with the Virtual Reality Three Dimensional Glasses.  When you view the world through these glasses, it takes you to a differenct world and a different reality.  When you turn your body around, you are looking at a different world behind you, but in fact you are standing in the middle of a conference.

 

Big Data Comes to Guiyang

IMG_20160524_154944

Photo taken the day prior to opening day.

From May 25 to May 29, a Guiyang hosted the China Big Data Industry Summit and China ECommerce Innovation and Develpment Summit. I attended the confernce with two of my students.  Wang Min is a student studying Hospitality Manageent at Guizhou Normal University and Bai Zhong Jun is a student of Software Engineering at Guizhou University.

Sign advertising the event

Sign advertising the event

These signs are everywhere in Guiyang.

These signs are everywhere in Guiyang.

The Big Data Conference in Guiyang brought companies from all over China and from around the world. Companies that were represented include:

  • Amazon
  • AliBaba
  • Huawei
  • Huipu
  • Dell
  • Microsoft
  • Qualcomm
  • Foxcomm
  • Hewett Packard
  • Baidu
  • Tencent
  • Jingdong
  • Tellhow
  • Teamsun
  • Scistor

The Big Data Conference had good attendence by State Owned Businesses which can provide services and financing to companies with interesting projects, projects that can employ Guiyang’s technical labor force. A small stream can grow to a river and an ocean. Guizhou Province of China aspires to become the “Big Data Valley” of China. The private and public comapnies represented here suggest that this is very feasible.