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343 days ago
Both a phrase from a Snap song and the tagline from an Energizer Bunny commercial, today this has more meaning with respect to the Ice Storm of 2008 last Thursday. A combination of heavy rain, strong wind, and rapidly freezing temperatures resulted in a record number of power outages across New Hampshire. PSNH, the state's largest electric company, reported that at the height of the problem more than 350,000 of their 500,000 customers were in the dark. Most of the problems resulted from falling tree limbs pulling down power lines, but there were also the occasional direct causes of transformers icing over (and subsequently blowing -- man, those light up the skies!), and even the random car knocking over a power pole. This morning, the report was that the lights were back on for all but 100,000 customers, and I'm pleased to say that as of 6:40am I had power. In some parts of the world, I know, electric power is at best sporatic. Some places only have electricity for a limited ...
368 days ago
So, okay, I mentioned before that this past weekend the FIRST Robotics team that I run had an outstanding FIRST LEGO League tournament at our school. It was everything you could ever hope for: the veteran members and adults helped lead the newer members through everything that needed doing, the teams of middle schoolers and their families had a good time, the events ran on schedule, and the results turned out pretty much good enough that no one could complain about anything. We've heard from numerous guests that, once again, our team did a great job. And then there was the "inside story": One FLL Team (Team A) had some issues with a parent who was getting, shall we say, a tad too enthusiastic about getting the kids to follow his way of doing things. Under the guise of "look what my son did over the weekend", he tried to strong-arm the rest of the seventh graders into abandoning their efforts and adopt the LEGO bot that he (and his son) built at home. ...
373 days ago
Today, Team 811 pulled off yet another outstanding FLL tournament. This was our sixth year of running Cardinal Chaos (as we call it), where we open the BG gymnasium up for a dozen or so middle- and junior high-school FIRST LEGO League teams and host a local competition for them. This one was really special for me, because I had almost nothing to do with it during the day. You see, I got suckered into being the head coach for the Nashua Catholic Regional Jr. High FLL team. (Actually, FLL team s , but that's a story for another entry.) Anyway, since my FLL team was attending Cardinal Chaos, it wouldn't have really seemed appropriate if I was running the event as well. So, after getting everything set up and organized, Thursday I turned to the team and announced that they were essentially on their own. ("If you need something that only a school representative can handle, call me. Otherwise, if anyone needs anything, find another mentor.”) The Team 811 kids and mentors ...
374 days ago
Tomorrow morning, at the BG Gymnasium, (FIRST Robotics) Team 811 will be hosting the 6th annual Cardinal Chaos FIRST LEGO League competition. A bunch of local middle- and junior high schools will be bringing their LEGO-based robots to our school to see how well they do in this year's challenge: Climate Connections. There are about 18 "missions" on the playing field (a 4' x 8' plywood sheet boardered by 2x4 walls), and the teams have 2-1/2 minutes to complete as many of them as they can. Points are awarded for each mission completed, and deducted for each penalty (for example, each time the robot fails to return to base and has to be manually retrieved). The 6th-8th graders have been working on their creations since mid-September, so Saturday's competition is the culmination of their efforts. I'll see if I can get some pictures posted.
