Thursday, September 19, 2013

Chinese Mid-Autumn Moon Festival

Today’s Autumn Moon, known in American as the Harvest Moon and autumnal equinox, marks the second most important date in the Chinese calendar. During this time Moon Cake is shared with friends and family. My Moon Cake arrived yesterday, compliments of the Yang Yu and the Wu Family; former HICAP students, who stay in touch.
I shared the Moon Cakes with my co-workers, who enjoyed the beautifully decorated sweet lotus delights.

Wishing all a Happy Moon Festival!

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Space Earth and the Voyagers


I can hardly contain my excitement about Voyager 1’s most recent finding. Launched 16 days apart, Voyagers 2 and Voyager 1 have traveled in space for the past 36 years; blessing earth’s intellects with data plethoric. The Voyagers are the gift that keeps on giving.

This is the first time that humanity has transitioned from our solar system's solar bubble into interstellar space. The plasma wave science team detected increased pressure in the heliosphere. The pitch of electron plasma oscillation confirmed that Voyager entered the Oort Cloud. The shuttle passed through the heliopause; this is the boundary between solar and interstellar plasma.


It is apparent to me that the dark matter of the universe is detectable by its density. And, its density verifies its weight. I theorize that these heavy densely enmeshed charged particles fuse and are so tightly wound that they explode into photon emitting light, thus, star birth.

Thursday, June 27, 2013

Konami Code

Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A; when A, B are not available 1, 2 are used. Konami Code, to be entered before game demo begins during the title screen, enables the player to beat the game. First used in 1986 for players who found games too difficult to attain higher levels; these codes give a full set of powers usually attained over time.
Konami Code is the gamers' cheat sheet. Enjoy.

QR Codes

QR Codes were created in 1994 to track trucks during manufacting by Denso Wave; which is a subsidiary of Toyota. This pictoral two dimensional matrix barcode is comprised of binary alphanumeric Japanese symbols written in Chinese called Kanji; made up of multiple interwoven error correction blocks where data is placed from right to left in a zigzag pattern. Storage capacity is affected by high error correction. Four bit indicators are used to convey other information and to select the encoding mode. Japanese passports are encoded with a QR Code containing a 56 bit algorithm used for encoding visas.
Discussion D in 2011 was the last HICAP lesson on QR Codes. The author is revisiting this subject because QR is more popular than ever and showing up in magazine ads, on billboards, almost everywhere.
QR means quick response. The way to use these codes is to point your smart phone camera eye at the code to engage and the target url will automatically be uploaded to your device. Fun, right!

Friday, June 21, 2013

Summer 2013

Zephyr whispers the Summer Solstice in at 1:04 am; this unique day in New York City is marked by 15 hours of daylight. In Anchorage, Alaska, 19 hours of daylight is experienced. On this day, the Harlem Internet Computer Access Program ends our HICAP 2012-2013 year. This year, we introduced www.hicapv.blogspot.com, our Virtual Learning Lab; which translates and disseminates technical computer education facts.
The blog that you are currently visiting translates scientific data, provides technical pertinent information and highlights accomplishment.
Today's posting of Scientific Notation at the Virtual Leaning Lab will be the last lesson discussion for HICAPV until Fall 2013.
Enjoy Summer!

Monday, April 22, 2013

National Voluteering Week

Pencil.org thanks all the New York City volunteers who add their expertise to the children in our Public Schools.
PENCIL Web Banners

Thursday, April 11, 2013

IPv6

IPv6 is a hot topic at the Internet Society. IPv6 means Internet protocol version 6. Internet protocol is the communication system that directs Internet traffic. IP addresses are the unique numbers assigned to each device: computer, printer, etc. IPv6, developed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), is slated to replace the current IPv4 to remedy address exhaustion. The easiest way to recognize which version an IP address is by the separators. IPv4's numeric sequence is separated by decimals. The IPv6 sequence is separated by colons and has a 128 bit address; version 4 is only 32 bit. Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) is the global management agent which oversees five regional registries and assigns blocks of IP addresses to our local Internet Service Providers (ISP).
 
Some of the advantages of IPv6 are:
  • authentication
  • cost efficient bandwidth cost limits
  • forward flexibility for future options
  • real-time quality of service options
  • expanded addressing; supports more levels of addressing hierarchy, more addresses; auto configuration of addresses
  • upper layer transport
  • has a scope field to multicast addresses and anycast to send a data package to any group of nodes (Nodes are hosts that are not routers)
The Internet Protocol Suite has an application layer, transport layer and link layer.
Although this topic is very important, you will receive the advantages of this protocol without knowlege of why or how it works; but it is fun to know.

Sunday, March 31, 2013

Women's History Month honors Dr. Dorothy I. Height

Women’s History Month is a worldwide celebration that highlights accomplishments.


The Harlem Internet Computer Access Program dedicates the month of March to All Phenomenal Women who sustain the lives of others by always rising to the circumstantial occasion. For this reason HICAP pays homage to Dr. Dorothy Irene Height. In her activist support for all people, her organization created opportunities for children to reach their optimal potential. Dr. Height could be seen in the marble pillared corridors of her office at 633 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C., just a stones throw from the White House; conducting business on behalf of Continental Societies, Inc. which has a Five-Point Programmatic Thrust—Health, Education, Employment, Recreation acronym HEER. Her program, also, embraces the Arts and Humanities. Dorothy Height continued to crusade tirelessly on behalf of others for seven decades.
As a youth, she was invited by First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt to spend a weekend of preparation for the World Youth Conference that was held at Vassar College.
Dorothy Height, known as an International Humanitarian, was a visiting professor at the University of Delhi in India in the 1950s. Awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1994; and in 2004, she received the Congressional Gold Medal for advocating for racial and gender equality.
The beauty of this humanitarian extended from her heart to her attire. Known for donning beautiful hats, she hosted a fabulous headwear extravaganza each spring showing artistically fashionable hats.
A Congressional Medal replica authorized by Public Law 108-162, was struck and features the image of Dr. Dorothy I. Height. In 2010, Congresswoman Norton introduced a bill to have the Post Office located at Two Massachusetts Avenue in Washington, DC named for Dr. Height. The building at 633 Pennsylvania Avenue where her offices were located is, now, known as the Dorothy I. Height Building.

We thank you, Dorothy
for living your enduring mission of service to all people.

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

First Day of Spring

Today is first day of spring and the first day of the Astrological Calendar. The Vernal Equinox begins today at 7:02 a.m. in the Northern Hemisphere. The sun sets at approximately 7:08 p.m. There is approximately an equal amount of day and night time hours, thus the equinox.
Time of sunrise and sunset reminds me of a scientific quatrain called,
'The Sun'
The sun neither sets nor rises
That is the stuff of poets dreams
The sun is affixed in a whirling universe
Life just isn't as it seems
.

Thursday, March 14, 2013

DASH

Techies love acronyms and abbreviations; it is their language. As you know, www is an abbreviation for the World Wide Web; which means that text can be transferred throughout the world to anyone with the hardware to receive it. Text is boring to non-techs. To provide more bells and whistles to the average computer user, http was put into place. HTTP means Hyper Text Transfer Protocol and when you see https://, you are entering a secure site; such as bank, governmental, etc. With http://, beyond just reading text, you are able to see and hear colorful video clips (once they load), yeah!
The Internet Society recently sent me an e-mail stating that a new standard is being applied that enables high quality media streaming called DASH,which stands for Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over http, nice. This newest technology is supported by Microsoft, Adobe, Google. DASH is predicted to take over the market by 2015, we shall see!

Thursday, February 28, 2013

Black History Month

HICAP the Harlem Internet Computer Access Program
honors
CHARLES BOLDEN
for
Black History Month 2013

Charles Frank Bolden, Jr., is the first African American to permanently lead the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Before coming to NASA, he logged over 6,000 hours in flying time serving as a United States Marine Aviator and test pilot.

Charles Bolden was chosen as an astronaut candidate in May of 1980. In 1981, he joined NASA as a proud African American astronaut who flew four missions logging 600 space hours before retiring. While at NASA, Mr. Bolden piloted the Space Shuttle Columbia to deploy the SATCOM KU Satellite used by us to downlink and to receive satellite TV. While piloting the Space Shuttle Discovery, he deployed the Hubble Space Telescope whose transmissions have inspired awe as they reveal the magnificent beauty of our universe.

After retirement, Charles Bolden was hired as Administrator in charge of NASA.

Check out: www.nasa.gov to find out more about the leadership qualities demonstrated by Charles Bolden and to view breath taking images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope.

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Chinese New Year

Gung Hay Fat Choy!
4711


The Chinese New Year always coincides with the Lunar New Year. This year is known as the Year of the Snake; officially beginning at 12:01 a.m. February 10th, 2013 and extends through January 30th, 2014. This fifteen day new year celebration is so important to Asians that, traditionally, they do not go to work for much of this period.

Day One

The first day, which starts at midnight, gives honor to the God of Heaven and Earth. People do not cook on this day. No animal products are consumed. This is believed to increase longevity and is especially observed among Buddhists. Folks keep away from any harm that may be caused by knives and other sharp objects.
On this special occasion, people visit with senior members of their family, salute them, and exchange red envelopes which consist of money. Joy is expressed by setting-off fireworks and firecrackers.

The Second Day
On the Second Day, people pray to their ancestors as well as to God to bring them good luck and prosperity in the coming year. Married women stay at home or go home for a visit.
The second day is also considered as the birthday of all dogs; therefore people are kind to dogs and customarily give them doggy treats.
Business men, especially those of Cantonese descent, conduct a prayer known as ‘Hoi Nin’ to bring good luck to their businesses in the forthcoming year.

Third and Fourth Day
On these two days, the in-laws are paid respect by sons-in-law. To prevent arguments, it is believed that home visits should not be done on these two days. This is a good time visit the gravesites of loved ones who have past away during the past three years.

Day Five
This day is called ‘Poo Woo’, the day in which people welcome the God of Wealth and stay in their homes. It is considered to be the birthday of the Chinese God of Wealth. People do not visit the homes of others, since it is believed to bring bad luck.
Natives of Northern China eat dumplings in the morning of the fifth day.
Natives of Taiwan re-open their businesses on this day to bring good luck to their businesses.
There is a fire works display to impress the God of Wealth.

The Sixth Day
People pray to God for their good fate and wellbeing on this day. This is a day to visit with loved ones, relatives and friends; but, not close family members.

Day Seven
The Seventh Day celebrates the birthday of the Human Being. Everyone is one year older on this day. We eat noodles to enhance longevity and raw fish (yusheng) for achievement. This is the day that farmers exhibit their crops. They make seven drinks out of seven vegetables on this day.

Day Eight
The Eighth Day is our Family Reunion Dinner to celebrate the eve of the birthday of the Jade Emperor. From this day onward, people start to return to work.

Day Nine
The Ninth Day is the birthday of the ruler of heaven—the Jade Emperor. People pray and give offerings to God.

The Tenth Day
People continue to celebrate the birthday of the Jade Emperor. They invite their friends and relatives for dinner.

The Eleventh and Twelfth Day
Folks continue to invite their relatives and friends over for dinner.

Day Thirteen
It is the day when people eat only pure vegetarian food to clean their system, because of the mass consumption of food during last two weeks. It is also a day devoted to Guan Yu, the God of War. Business men pray to this God to overcome all the difficulties in their path.

The Fourteenth Day
This day is for the preparation of the Lantern Feast that is to be held the next day.

The Last Day
On this day people carry lanterns, light candles and walk through the street to bring good fortune. Rice dumplings are consumed on this day. This day marks the end of all celebrations of Chinese New Year. Happy New Year...!


Saturday, January 5, 2013

Chanukah * Diwali * Christmas * Kwanzaa

In the western hemisphere, the Winter Solstice marks the first day of winter; the day with the least amount of daylight hours. During this period of time, we compensate by lighting candles, trees, windows, our lives and our hearts with joy and goodwill.


A Festival of Lights is herald in by lighting eight candles in celebration of Chanukah from December 8 through December 16th in 2012.
The United States celebrates the five day Hindu light festival called Diwali, which explodes in pyrotechnics on December 12th signifying the triumph of light over darkness, intelligence over ignorance....
We then decorate every thing in sight with LED lights in preparation for the Twelve Days of Christmas beginning on December 25th.
The day after Christmas is a week long lighting of symbolic candles in the Kwanzaa tradition beginning December 26th until January 1st. As clocks struck midnight through each time zone fireworks erupted in celebration of the New Year.
All of this illuminated beauty culminates on January 6th with the Epiphany, Three Kings Day also known as the 'Day of the Lights.'
May your New Year be illuminated...