Chicken manure to help power U.K. homes

Source (Cnet)

The picturesque Cotswolds of England will soon be using those lovely animals dotting its hillsides to provide power to some of its homes.

A turnkey biogas station made by Alfagy plans to convert agricultural waste, including both feedstock and manure, into electricity.

The plant, which is scheduled to open November 1, is located on the southern outskirts of Cirencester, an ancient Cotswolds town famous for being a thriving mercantile city during the Roman Empire. But Alfagy says the station could reduce at least two of the area’s current imports by using what its people have on hand.

While there have been several projects over the years looking at cow manure as an energy source, this Alfagy plant will use the manure of smaller farm animals, as well as agricultural feedstock.

Participating farmers will deliver corn, wheat, agricultural-plant waste, chicken litter, and pig manure to the station. The farmers will be paid for the biomass and also receive heat for their animal barns, grain-drying bins, and homes.

The agricultural waste is converted into biogas in an anaerobic digester. The station will use a combined heat and power (CHP) system in which one 260-kilowatt CHP unit can perform at a 42.9 percent electrical efficiency, according to Alfagy.

The station is expected to produce about 1 megawatt of electricity per year, enough to power about 350 Cotswolds homes (Cirencester’s population is about 19,000). The station will also create digestate fertilizer.

“This ‘digestate’ is a powerful fertilizer that decreases the average fertilizer costs by up to 100 percent, which is a major cost to farmers and the environment. Normal fertilizer production uses large amounts of fossil fuel [and emits] significant quantities of carbon dioxide, and the finished product is transported over great distances to farmers. Whereas [if] the fertilizer is produced locally at the power plant, there is no necessity in importing it from the U.S.,” Alfagy said in a statement.

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Social networking is a modern phenomenon that can enrich communication and build friendships globally that were unimaginable 20 years ago – let alone the growing impact for business. But it has a dark potential.

I was told recently by a Headteacher of a large secondary school that whilst social networking was largely under control at school, it was the misuse at home (or out of school) that caused the most upset during school. Hours were spent trying to investigate comments and claims involving incidents that rarely occurred or began during school hours. Controlling this serious form of so called cyber bullying when it’s enacted over the Ethernet, as cowardly as ever, with the bullies hiding behind cruel lies, insinuation and gossip against their helpless victims is not easy

How can we prevent this long lasting damage before the legacy is left to fester on its victims?  It’s not possible to stop it all, but like traditional bullying, awareness and effort will go a long way.  Involving and raising understanding with parents is more than ever a key requirement. 

Bullies need to be shown how and what impact their actions have, innocent or not.  Parents must take responsibility for actions and not rely on the school to discover and solve the bullying.

Support of parents, teachers and friends by following the wealth of advice is all part of reducing this social crime.

There is loads of good advice to circulate and read by clicking on the links below and making the first step to helping a victim feel less alone and afraid by something they feel is beyond support.

• Childline
• Children and Young People Now
• TeacherNet
• Thinkuknow Teachers and Trainers Area (CEOP)
• Bullying.co.uk
• GovernorNet discussion forum
• Teachers TV
• BBC
• Modern Governor

 Source ( McAfee )

It’s common knowledge that you can catch computer viruses on porn Web sites. But did you know it’s also risky to surf the Web searching for free movies or music?

A study from McAfee to be released on Tuesday finds that adding the word “free” when looking for entertainment content in search engines greatly increases the chances of landing on a site hosting malware.

For instance, searching for free music ringtones increases the chances of hitting a malicious site by 300 percent, according to the report, “Digital Music & Movies Report: The True Cost of Free Entertainment.”

Searching for “lyrics” for a particular artist is twice as risky on average as searching for “ringtones” for the same artist for the first five pages of results, the report found.

And including the term “MP3″ increases the riskiness of music searches in general. There has been a 40 percent increase in the number of Web sites that are delivering infected MP3 files or that seem to be built for purposes of financial fraud or delivering malware, according to the report.

Meanwhile, McAfee found malware associated with a number of Web sites around the world advertising free downloads of sports games, movies, and TV shows.

Twelve percent of sites that distribute unauthorized content are distributing malware, and 7 percent of sites offering unauthorized content have associations with cybercrime organizations, the report concluded.

“The sites often look very professional and attempt to lure the user with the idea of a ‘trial period’ or even some nominal fee that is much less than what may ultimately be charged,” the report says. “Once the user agrees, they have to authorize their computer to access and interact with computers that are involved in a wide range of schemes–from money laundering to stealing credentials such as user names and passwords. In addition, with this access, your computer is profiled–with all of its software versions, user agents, and any other date–and this information can be provided to third parties for malicious purposes. (This is often called ‘fingerprinting.’)”

To reduce the chances of landing on malicious sites, McAfee recommends avoiding the use of the word “free” in searches for entertainment content, avoiding clicking on links in banner ads on content sites that aren’t well established, not clicking on links posted in forums and on fan pages, keeping security software up to date, and using safe search plug-ins like McAfee Site Advisor that warns of potentially risky sites.

Also pay for the content you want from reliable sources itunes is a good one to start you can find music and films on there and they are not over priced.

The hardware depends on the size of the hall but the application is similar for Secondary and Primary schools. We usually do a demonstration on completing the install and I love to see the faces of the staff as its potential begins to dawn. The gasps and smiles alone as the electric screen descends almost make it worthwhile. (I even had a round of applause from a hall full of children seeing it for the first time – we hadn’t even switched the projector on!)The sound system has got to be good and blowing the roof off is often the aim.

The installation must result in easy use for the staff and (dare I suggest) pupils and so complicated mixer desks and permanent connections are out.So imagine a multi media cabinet with high quality components that can be wheeled in and out of the hall. Put in a mixture of hardware

As the teachers begin to discuss and see the impact that this presentation system can have on learning we soon see it used every minute of the day. Now we need a solution for the booking sheet!What do you use yours for?please leave your comments here

What we recommend from a supplier:

High lumen projector, Automatic Screen, Lockable AV cupboard, AV equipment, High quality audio system,Projector security, Education aware installation, training session for staffSolutions from under £2000 at www.smartmoveit.co.uk or www.lamphouse.co.uk

Imagine creating the lesson framework in Word or Notebook that you send out over Wi-fi to all the FizzBooks in the classroom. The pupils write notes and complete activities and submit them back to you live. The teacher can see all the FizzBook screens from her computer and turn them all blank or throw up one to the Whiteboard for a pupil to explain. She can send a web link or page to all the FizzBooks for the pupils to see, copy or read and save on time and photocopying.
Then the teacher simply creates a question and the system becomes a complete response system. The answers can be anonymous or form part of a lesson or terms assessment. The graphs and data are easily created or displayed for immediate feedback to topic questions or simple assessment of what direction to take the lesson.

The pupils can use it as an eBook, laptop or even touch sensitive tablet PC – it’s amazing and really fun to use. It doesn’t have a CD/DVD drive but does have two USB ports so connecting one is still an option if additional software is necessary.

Sally mckeown writes (http://www.sallymckeown.co.uk):

The touch screen can be used with finger or stylus so will be good for children with dyspraxia or who have poor fine motor skills. The best features are that the screen flips round so children can easily show off their work to others. It also has a decent size screen, will last the whole school day without needing to recharge its batteries and has a built-in camera and microphone to make it easy for children to create their own multimedia. It also has Office 7 and software which will turn handwriting into text and help pupils with their note taking.

Fizzbook Spin is just the sort of machine which should be part of the Home Access Project. Hopefully it will soon be a regular feature in UK classrooms.

Hurry up October!

The latest version FizzBook Spin 10.1 eliminates all of the remaining concerns. The price is reasonable and starts at £369 up to about £489 for the professional version with a 3 year warranty (www.fizzbooks.co.uk/products).

The FizzBook is from Zoostorm computers and is packed ‘inside and out’ with features designed to revolutionize the classroom in much the same way as the Interactive Whiteboard. It will allow the power of a computer to combine with the enormous potential of the web by allowing easy, safe and robust access for pupils. Yes is has all the latest gizmos with a built in camera for social media, conferencing and field trips, Wi-fi for connecting to the web and intranet, touch screen technology for ease of use. The design is cool, “I think it’s good because it’s a normal computer but then it’s more because you can drop it and spill stuff on it and can still do loads of cool stuff” (Jack aged 12).  It comes with Microsoft Works and Windows Starter or Professional but that’s only the start. The amazing part is what it allows the teacher to see and use with the pupils… See my next blog to find out more.

So what’s the catch? Well the only one I’ve found is that it’s not available until October 2010. Even then the demand has been so high that back orders exhaust most of the stock for this initial batch so you might be too late.

Nearly two-thirds of UK parents cannot afford after-school activities for their children, a poll suggests.

This rises to nearly three-quarters of those parents below the poverty line, the online poll of 854 parents for Save the Children indicated.

It suggested that even basic activities, such as catch-up clubs for those falling behind, can be costly.

Nearly half of the parents polled said they were having to pay more than £10 per child a week.

However, most of the parents thought their children would miss out if they did not take part in such activities.

The previous government encouraged schools to offer a wide range of after-school and breakfast clubs, and research suggests taking part in extra-curricular activities boosts results.

But just over a fifth of parents said they are paying more than £20 a week or £1,000 a year for activities.

Head of UK policy for the charity, Sally Copley, said: “Children who do after-school activities have more confidence, see the world in different ways, have a stronger sense of identity – and this ultimately translates into doing better in exams and getting a better job.

“We’re particularly concerned poorer children are missing out as a result.”

Children of parents with professional jobs were nearly twice as likely to have music lessons than children in a household with a gross income lower than £15,000 a year, the charity says.

Sport was the most popular activity, with 48% of parents of four- to 18-year-olds saying that their child did some form of sporting activity.

But 29% said their children did not do any activities outside of normal hours. And this rose to 39% among those from families on less than £15,000 a year.

Half of the parents questioned said none of the activities their children did were provided by schools.

The interactive PJD7383i and the PJD7583wi negate the need for costly interactive white boards as teachers are able to write directly onto the projected image with the included interactive pen without the need for alignment or calibrationAn additional teacher-friendly feature is evident in the 7 Series’ “short throw” projection, allowing 80-inch images to be projected from less than one metre away. This will put an end to teachers being blinded by the Projector Lamp. A microphone input is also included and every projector in the range is 3D-ready to help future-proof the investment.The entire ViewSonic 7 Series (PJD7382, PJD7383, PJD7583w, PJD7383i and PJD7583wi) features advanced Crestron network control using the LAN, enabling a central IT department to monitor the status of the devices at all times, taking the responsibility for maintenance and management away from the teacher in the classroom and reducing the total cost of ownership.”Teachers and trainers need to constantly differentiate if they are to effectively communicate and capture their classes attention.” explains James Coulson, European marketing manager at ViewSonic. “With the ViewSonic 7 Series projectors, we’ve incorporated new features that will be of the most benefit to teachers, like short throw projection, a microphone, familiar USB connectivity, 3D capabilities and an interactive pen for improved class participation.Further innovative features the range incorporates include a USB wireless dongle with a WiFi range of up to 328 feet and a driverless, auto display USB presentation functionality allowing the teacher to run a presentation without connecting to a PC. All devices also feature USB and LAN display, providing the flexibility lets you choose how to send content to the projector either via USB or LAN, rather than having to use a video cable.The ViewSonic 7 Series will include two wide screen models (7583w and 7583wi) that will be launched towards the end of this year.For details on the ViewSonic 7 Series of projectors please visit Viewsonic.

About ViewSonic

ViewSonic® Corporation is a leading global provider of visual display and computing products. ViewSonic develops, markets and supports a broad range of innovative products, including computers, LCD monitors, projectors, Projector Lamps, LCD TVs, digital signage solutions, digital photo frames and other consumer electronics products.