Step by step method and recipe to make garbage enzymes

Sept 23, 2009

This article will provide you with a simple method and recipe to make garbage enzymes. Don’t worry if you are new to this as you will be guided through step by step on how to make garbage enzymes.



First and foremost, what is garbage enzymes and why are people making them? Garbage enzyme is a multipurpose liquid that can be used as a cleansing agent, purifier, fertiliser, blockage solution, etc. It is actually a smart way of using your kitchen wastes instead of throwing them out. When you make garbage enzymes using kitchen wastes like vegetables and fruits, it goes through a process of fermentation. This fermentation process will release ozone gas that will help to reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Thus, making homemade enzymes is also an excellent way to do our part in safeguarding the environment.



The method and recipe to make garbage enzymes provided in this post are courtesy of Inner Journey. The author of Inner Journey has taken proper workshops in understanding how different types of enzymes are made and is an active enzyme producer in her own rights.

Before you begin, you should know that the process of producing enzyme is not an overnight thing. To make garbage enzymes the correct way, you need to leave it to ferment for 3 months before it is ready to be used.

Basic Ingredients To Make Garbage Enzymes:

* 1 part sugar
* 3 parts vegetable and/or fruit dregs
* 10 parts water
* A plastic container (recommended: use a substantially large plastic mineral water bottle which is air tight)

Tip: If you want nice smelling garbage enzymes, try using citrus fruits like oranges and pineapples!

Method To Make Garbage Enzymes:

* In the plastic container, dilute the sugar in water.
* Then, add in the fruit/vegetable dregs
* Be sure to leave about one third of empty space in the plastic container for the fermentation process
* Close the container tightly
* During the first month, open the container’s cap twice a day to release the gas that has built up
* Once in a while where necessary, you may push the floating garbage downward
* Place the container in a cool and ventilated area

After the first month, the ingredients in the container should be stable and you won’t need to release the gas anymore. At this stage, you just need to leave it alone to ferment for another 2 months before using it. It’s that easy!

Have a go at making your own garbage enzymes. You can be as creative as you can get, using whatever kitchen wastes you may have. And have fun!

Source: http://www.usefultipsforlife.com/step-by-step-method-recipe-to-make-garbage-enzymes

Little speaker, mighty sounds - Star

Sept 4, 2009

KUALA LUMPUR: THE X-mini capsule speaker has evolved and is now in version II with more technology goodies thrown in to let music fans enjoy their music more.

The matte black device offers a larger 40mm driver to deliver more precise highs for superb sound clarity, said Singapore-based XM-I Technology Pte Ltd.

Additionally, it comes with the company’s BXS (Bass Xpansion System) that is designed to drive a fuller, richer low-end response.

This new model also provides users with better volume control by opting for a dial control unlike its predecessor’s two-step switch.

The speaker has a short 12cm cable that connects the device to a music source such as mobile phone or MP3 player. However, what’s more interesting is that users can plug the speaker into other X-mini II to form an almost endless daisy chain of the same device, enabling them to pump up the volume.

Its rechargeable battery (which charges via USB) also lasts three times longer than the first version, providing a marathon 12 hours of audio output, the company said.

The X-mini II retails at RM129.

What are you doing today?

Enter the Twitter world. Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?



Why Twitter?

Because even basic updates are meaningful to family members, friends, or colleagues—especially when they’re timely.

* Eating soup? Research shows that moms want to know.
* Running late to a meeting? Your co–workers might find that useful.
* Partying? Your friends may want to join you.

How does it work?

With Twitter, you can stay hyper–connected to your friends and always know what they’re doing. Or, you can stop following them any time. You can even set quiet times on Twitter so you’re not interrupted.

Twitter puts you in control and becomes a modern antidote to information overload.

How could Twitter benefit you as stakeholders of Open University Malaysia (OUM) Perak?

Whether you are a student, tutor, or prospective students who wants to know more about happenings at OUM Perak, twitter provides you just that. As such effective May 13, 2009, OUM Perak has started tweeting and has added Twitter into its blogs: http://oum-perak.blogspot.com and http://bbmp-1103.blogspot.com.

This is another way for us to reach out to you and keep you posted with what is happening. Have fun.

Mosquito Trap DIY

Fancy how to make a workable mosquito trap to thwart off mosquitoes and dengue? Recently I received this tips from a friend which I thought will be useful. Here's how you do it:

1. Cut a plastic bottle in half, keep both parts. Can be Coca Cola / Pepsi bottle.
2. Take the lower portion of the bottle. Dissolve the brown sugar in hot water. Let it cool down to ~70 deg F.
3. Add the yeast. Carbon dioxide will form (This will attract the mosquitos)
4. Cover the bottle with a dark wrap and place the top portion upside down like a funnel. Place it in a corner in your house.
5. In 2 weeks you will be surprised by the number of mosquitos killed.

See the pictures below:




And this is the expected result:


Good luck.

Chewing gum may raise math grades in teens - Bernama

April 23, 2009

An Afghan girl blows a bubble gum in Kabul January 23, 2003. REUTERS/Erik de Castro/FilesBy Julie Steenhuysen

CHICAGO (Reuters) - In a study likely to make school janitors cringe, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday that chewing gum may boost academic performance in teenagers.

Many U.S. schools ban chewing gum because children often dispose of the sticky chaw under chairs or tables.

But a team led by Craig Johnston at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston found that students who chewed gum during math class had higher scores on a standardized math test after 14 weeks and better grades at the end of the term than students in the class who did not chew gum. The study was funded by chewing gum maker Wrigley.

"For the first time we've been able to show in a real-life kind of situation that students did perform better when they were allowed to chew," said Gil Leveille, executive director of the Wrigley Science Institute, a research arm of Wm Wrigley Jr Co, which is now a part of Mars Inc.

Leveille said Wrigley has gotten feedback from many of its gum customers who say chewing gum helps them stay focused.

So, four years ago the company started the science institute to see if some of these claims have merit.

The researchers at Baylor studied four math classes or 108 students aged 13 to 16 years old from a Houston, Texas, charter school that serves mostly low-income Hispanic students.

About half got free Wrigley's sugar-free gum to chew during class, homework and tests. They chewed at least one stick of gum 86 percent of the time they were in math class and 36 percent of the time they were doing homework.

The other half went without.

After 14 weeks, the gum chewers had a three percent increase in their math scores on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills achievement test, a small but statistically significant change, according to Johnston and colleagues, who presented their findings at the American Society for Nutrition scientific meeting in New Orleans.

They found no difference in math scores between the two groups in another test called the Woodcock Johnson III Tests of Achievement. However, the gum-chewers did get better final grades in the class than their non-chewing peers.

Another Wrigley-funded study found that college students in a lab who were given difficult computer tasks had lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol when they were chewing gum compared to when they were not.

Leveille said he thinks chewing gum helps reduce stress so students can do their best work. And while he is aware that many schools have a dim view of students chewing gum in class, he hopes the findings may change that a bit.

"It's not a matter of chewing. It's a matter of gum disposal," Leveille said, adding that that can be overcome by teaching proper disposal behaviors.

"If that fails, he quipped, "We'll have to provide the janitors with scrapers."

© REUTERS 2009

E-books open new chapter for LCD makers - Malaysian Insider

April 1, 2009

Author Stephen King holds up a pink Amazon Kindle 2 electronic reader at a news conference in New York in this Feb 9 file photo. — Reuters pics

TAIPEI, April 1 — Ask C.T. Liu about future growth engines for his company, LCD maker AU Optronics, and he whips out his Kindle e-book in lieu of an answer.

Strong reception for the Kindle, the brainchild of web retailer Amazon, is attracting a growing number of developers looking to tap interest in devices that let consumers read newspapers, magazines and books in a digital form that updates wirelessly and saves paper.

Sony Corp has joined the paperless wave with its own e-readers, partnering with Google to offer public domain books that are no longer protected by copyright.

Other believers in the dawn of a paperless age include Taiwan’s Netronix, which is making similar models with touch screens, and Dutch Polymer Vision, set to soon introduce a pocket e-reader with rollable displays.

“We see it as a new industry,” said Liu, a senior vice-president at AU, the world’s No.3 LCD maker whose panels are part of Dell, Hewlett-Packard and Apple PCs, as well as Sony LCD TVs.

“It replaces paper, printing, publishing, text books, and so on,” said Liu, in charge of AU’s consumer display business.

The growing number of models could help to bring down prices and boost sales, making these portable readers the next breed of must-have gadgets.

The new Amazon Kindle 2 electronic reader is held by a reporter at a news conference in New York in this Feb 9 file photo.

Weighing less than a typical paperback, e-books use a new generation of light, flexible and interactive display, or e-paper. Once the power is off, its images remain unchanged on the screen as it needs no added light source to read.

Because they require no backlighting like traditional LCDs, e-books consume far less power and are also much lighter. A typical Kindle can be read for days without recharging.

The bright future of e-books is particularly attractive to major LCD makers in Asia, including AU and hometown rival Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp, at a time when they are struggling with sluggish sales of PCs and flat-screen TVs.

AU, which booked a record loss in the October-December quarter, is branching out to the new display sector by buying a 21 per cent stake in e-paper specialist SiPix Imaging Inc.

THE END OF PAPER?

Amazon.com Inc’s Kindles have proved a hit since their launch in 2007. Citigroup estimated the US online retailer sold a half-million Kindles in 2008, about one-third more than the number of iPods sold by Apple in its first year.

Some critics argue that e-books could become the victim of their own success if cellphone makers take notice and start to incorporate the newer LCD technology into their own models and include similar reading applications.

Other kinds of devices could also try to incorporate e-book-like applications.

“There will be more low-cost digital reading platforms coming out. Netbook PCs, for example, are much cheaper,” said Jeremy Huang, who tracks the e-book market for the Market Intelligence Centre, a private industry researcher in Taiwan.

Netbooks, low-cost mini-notebook computers, sell for as little as US$299 (RM1076), while a Kindle retails for US$359 and the latest model of the Sony Reader is priced at about US$349.

Market research firm iSuppli Corp forecasts global e-book display revenue will rise to US$291 million by 2012, representing an annual growth rate of 143 per cent from 2007. That is still much smaller than about US$72 billion for large LCDs last year.

To help drive the e-reader market, some analysts say book publishers could subsidise a low-cost e-reader, or even give one away, with a multi-year subscription, similar to how telecom operators subsidise cellphones in return for service contracts.

The use of e-paper displays in other devices, such as signs, could also help to build economies of scale, bringing down costs.

Supporters imagine a day when e-paper versions of portable newspaper and magazine readers might be rolled up or folded, and carried to the beach or read on the train by commuters.

The timing of e-readers seems particularly good as the ink-stained newspaper market is struggling and some papers are cutting their print editions due to the recession and as more people go online to get news for free.

In February, US-based Plastic Logic signed strategic deals with media partners, including the Financial Times, USA Today and Zinio, for its first e-readers to target business users. The devices boast a large display and weigh less than many printed magazines.

In South Korea, LG Display Co Ltd has been developing A4-size colour flexible e-paper among other potential products for the e-reader market.

“Screens will replace papers, that’s given. But I doubt whether e-books will make a sizeable market in the next two years,” said Park Hyun, an analyst at Prudential Investment & Securities.

“They are preparing for the new business, but it won’t mean much for their business or earnings until the market grows in size.” — Reuters

SkyBlue Portable Media Player

Feb 14, 2009. Posted by Richard Ng

As I was window shopping at one of the shopping malls in Ipoh, I stumbled upon a gadget known as SkyBlue Portable Media Player. From far it looks like Nokia 6210. Next to this item I saw some other gadgets that looked like I-Pod.

The Skyblue PMP is as big as the size of the palm measuring 3cm by 5cm

The gadget has a price tag of RM200. Since it is "not sooo expensive" compared with other established gadgets, I asked the salesman how it functions. To my surprise, it has a high resolution and can support MP3, MP4 and other movie formats. It comes with 2GB storage space and can support additional 4GB.

I downloaded one of my video clips and play it with this gadget. It was superb.

The other day, I was also looking at some second PDA at the same complex and I found an O2 that cost RM500. I thought of buying the O2 for my research purposes. But with this gadget selling at RM200, I did not hesitate at all to buy one.

I brought back to my office after that and tested it. I am amazed that it functioned as expected.

I tested the video on this gadget. In the background is my PC which I am running the YouTube video.

For students who wish to download video clips from YouTube, you need a software which can be downloaded free from the following website:

http://www.download.com/YouTube-Downloader/3000-2071_4-10647340.html

With this affordable gadget I hope students who are weak in Math will buy one and download the video clips posted in http://bbmp-1103.blogspot.com so that they can be viewed at any time any place. This is the mobile learning era. Once your course has completed, you can continue using the gadget to play MP3 musics and even download pictures from the PC.

INNOVATION MAKES MATH APPROACHABLE – Sun

Dec 2, 2008

Silver Medalist Richard Ng with his certificate and medal won at the AAOU 2008 International Conference in Tian Jin, China

MATHEMATICS might not be most people’s cup of tea but for Richard Ng of Open University Malaysia (OUM), it is his passion. Ng, who is the director of Perak Learning Centre, initiated a math project, which culminated in a research paper entitled E-Mathematics: Pre-instructional and Supplemental Instruction and their Impact on Students’ Online Participation and Final Exam Score.”

This paper was presented at an international conference recently and won a silver medal. He said the paper was conceived out of his love for math and the accolade was something that he had not anticipated. The conference which was organised by the Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU) in Tianjin, China, from Oct 14 to 16, attracted over 200 participants from Asian open and distance learning institutions. The highlight was the project paper presentation. This year, the gold medal went to China while the bronze medal went to South Korea. Calling it his pet project (which he started in August 2007), he said: “Math is not a complicated subject as perceived by many. I strongly feel that learners will be inspired when math is taught in a correct way.”

The silver medal won

“To put it in easier terms, this is all about learning and discussing math online. The learners go through two stages – T-Zero and Online Supplemental Instructions. “The first stage sees the usage of a special software to key in mathematical symbols to derive answers. “In the second stage, a method called Supplemental Instructions (SI) is teamed up with online learning.”

The certificate awarded to members of the project team

“SI which was pioneered by Deanna Martin in 1973 at the University of Missouri in Kansas City, applied to conventional learning through a coaching system. “Senior learners who are good at math, teach junior learners through specially arranged extra classes.

“I have tweaked the idea to enable online SI coordination. Though the fundamentals are the same, this is more flexible as the learners need not have face-to-face interaction,” he said.

For a start, the pilot project involves learners from the OUM Perak Learning Centre. The response has been encouraging. “We have roped in learners with math proficiency to be mentors to their junior course mates.

“A significant outcome is that the barriers caused by inferiority complex have been greatly reduced.

“I am glad to see an increase in learners’ online involvement and activities,” said Ng who specialises in Math, E-Commerce and Marketing.

“I believe this format will help learners comprehend math in a fun way. Learners will be trained on software usage, ways of typing mathematical symbols and how to post and answer questions online. “They can turn to their mentors and tutors for guidance along the way. Research has it that collaborative learning has a significant impact on study excellence.

The Sun write-up as appeared in the paper on Dec 2, 2008 pg 20

“This will prevent learners from dropping out of their programme, thus helping OUM to increase its retention rate.”

Ng feels OUM needs to continuously enhance its online capacity to make learning attractive to learners.

“OUM is a viable option for many working people who want to further their studies while working. “OUM shoulders a huge responsibility to make learning less stressful in a creative way.”

Details, call 03- 2773 2002, e-mail enquiries@oum.edu.my or log on to www.oum.edu.my

Using Video to Guide BBMP1103 students

OUM Perak has pioneered another innovative approach in guiding OUM students in learning Mathematics using video lecture. The project is the brainchild of Richard Ng, Director of OUM Perak, who is also a tutor for the BBMP 1103 Management Mathematics course for the past 3 years. A series of mini lecture based on certain basic fundamental areas taken from the module developed by Open University Malaysia (OUM)were video taped and then uploaded onto YouTube.

These videos were then organized using a blog set up for the purpose of providing supplemental materials for students. The videos are good especially for weak students as it can be viewed over and over again. The video is then followed by a set of guided questions posted in the student's online forum. The students are asked to answer these questions after viewing the videos. The blog can be viewed through the following URL --> http://bbmp-1103.blogspot.com

Most popular video watched for over 100 times - the video on Inverse Matrix

This project is very important as its success will lead to improvement of teaching pedagogy and also spearhead OUM's mobile learning. Students who have iPod can donwload these videos and have them played at their own space and time. The approach will also enhanced students' grasp in the mathematics course which has been regarded as one of the difficult courses.

More than 95% of OUM students are working adults and most of these students have left schools for more than 5 years. Coming back to school after so many years to take up the math course is a big challenge for these students. Based on observations carried out over the last one year, many students have absented themselves from the final exam. Those who sat for the final exam often left in less than an hour after the exam has started.

The new approach will be able to improve on the students attendance in the exam as their confidence will be increased The students' final exam score can also be improved with proper guidance from the tutors and also with the help of these videos.

Initial feedbacks from students who have started using this new approach have been very encouraging. Here are some of their comments:

=====================================================

Viewed yesterday & was impressed! Great job! You're really helpful to us!

It's amazing how instructions are so much clearer when we see & hear them, instead of just reading from the module.

Jessica Choong Wai Theng

Now I can answer the assg. Q2 after watching your video, It's not easy to complete the answer but your video very helpful and understood.

Anuar Bin Mohamad Zain

Thanks Richard for providing such imformative lessons in video display

Alex Chan Chin Chee

Have downded but could play the video. these way it help us alot to understand the subject. Great job thanx for your hard work appreciated.

Vimala /P Sivapragasam

Although we have to study text book, watch video, answer question, pratise exercises from text book, can't breath sometimes.... but I feel so satisfy, this is a real meaning of learning...You are great sir...

Thank you very much

Choo Swee Peng

Your effort is definetely a great help for us. But it is also a big challenge for us as to keep up with your active momentum. Indeed you are really a proactive tutor who keeps us awake almost all the time.

Shamini Sally

Wow, Sir, what a good video, u r just like our Angel.

Tang Hui Sim

I really appreciate ur iniative in uploading the Videos Lecture. It helps a lot. I'm able to understand more detail about the Properties of Numbers. Thank You so much..

Azfazeida Binti Arshad