Today was a beautiful day we spent the whole day outside and build tree guards.

We first were split into five groups of five. Each group had a different responsibilities.

One group had the responsibility of digging the holes for the panels.

Another group had to set the wood on the floor and have the two pieces flushed and ready for the next group.

I was in the group that had to drill the srews into the wood all ready set on the floor.

The next group had to help Amilcar put the panels in the dirt to asemble the tree guards.

The last and final group had the responsibility to pick up the trash.

• Everyone helped construct a tree guard for the trees that are located in front of the building
• Tree guards help protect the trunk of the trees caused from the weather, animals and people
• Cambium is a thin layer of cells that is located on the bark of the tree
• This thing layer helps transport water and nutrients to and from the leaves and roots
• The cambium also produces new wood and bark tissues for the tree to grow
• When putting a tree guard, you have to make sure there’s enough room for the tree to grow in the future
• The process of building the tree guards:

1. Place two pieces of 2 by 4 of wood vertically and then place two 2 by 8 pieces on top of the 2 by 4 horizontally to make a panel
2. Make sure the pieces of wood meet evenly at the corners. The spacing between the horizontal 2 by 8 would be one finger
3. Next was to drill down the pieces of the wood to make the panel
4. Then dig out 4 holes around the tree for the panel to be placed
5. Two panels are placed parallel to each other and connected by two 2 by 8
6. Then put back the dirt into the hole and also place the dirt around the panels to secure the stability of the panels

• I helped nail down wood but it did not come out the way it was suppose to look like and someone else did it for me
• The goal for the day was to build 6 tree guards and it was achieved

• On Moday, in the morning of monday we were learning the different types of motors
• There was DC motor, Servo motors, and stepper motors which was include from what we learn that day
• But the main topic was using a motor to make a turbine. soon after lunch we work on making our turbine and the challenge was that who can make a better wind turbine so we got to work shaping out our wings of our turbine but we was close and doing good so far but time ran out and have to continue it another time.
• Now for today we went out to the streets and help on making a green way with a guy named amilkart if im right.
• While we was helping on the green way we was building tree guard so we got enough supply of wood, nails, shovels, and power screwdrivers.
• After that we started nailing the wood together which we took turns and had a hard time cause we split up in groups but it didn’t work so some shovel the ground and some nail the woods and some help putting the tree guards together.
• It was a hot sunny day so it was good to work outside but was too hot and we work on this after lunch as well so it took a while and we also got our hand dirty as well but it was worth it but we completed six tree guard and could not finish the whole thing cause we didn’t have time but anyway we did well and it was fun for some who did work and i hope we can do an outside activity again.

• today at green fab we spend the day out side.
• we went out side for the day and we was working on the trees.
• we was making trees guards so the people wont kill the trees. i also was working on putting screws on the trees guards so the could stick together.
• Amilcar was the one that helped us and told us what to do on the trees.
• at 12 pm we went to lunch but i stud helping for a little wile and den i went to lunch.
• wen i came back from lunch i started helping right away by screwing some screws on the wood (i got good at it)
• i also helped by getting some wood at the S.S.B. main office it was heavy but i dint got credit for it.

• it was a really interesting day i hope all my class mate and my teachers had a interesting day too.

Today at green fab I;

• went outside and built tree guards for the trees at barretto point park
• what I’ve done today was apart of what I’ve done 2weeks ago at green fab when i met the collage students
• today while making tree guards I have went through a whole process of making them
• we have cut pieces of wood to combine them and screw them together so they can hold and protect the tree
• we also worked with an ex convicted named Amilkcart
• he was our special guest of the day to help us make the tree guards
• finally we cleaned up and came back to green fab and blog

last Tuesday, in the morning we worked more on google sketch-up and in the after noon presenters from ITP. they talked about different types of windmill and how they work they also showed us some examples. than we got to design our own wind turnbinds blade and test it out to see if it really worked. I had some ideas to try out, the first design worked perfect but it was based on another design so I decided to remodel the blades but ran out of time so didnt get to finish it.

Today, all day we was working outside building tree guards to protect the trees. last week we was told abut the project so I knew that was coming. even thou at first I was annoyed to hear what we are going to do. I tried to stay positive and to be honest it was fun. I got to use a drill to drill in screws into woods to build the panels that needed. it was hard work but it was fun working outside in the fresh air on a nice sunny day. after we was done building the panels I got to use a shovel to dig up dirt to plant in the panels than drill some more woods to each side of the panels to make like a square type of shape around the tree. I like the drilling part the most even thou it was a difficult task. it looks easy at first but hard when you give it a try. I forgot what the tree guards are meant to do but if I remember correctly they are used to keep the soil around the tree from washing away in the rain. it sounds like a easy job to build the guards and install them around the trees but its a hard tire-ding,and a dirty  job. not only school-day to day went fast thanks to the project but also I feel proud of something that’s going to help the community in the future.

• 3/15/2010 we learned about different kind off motors.
• Those motors was DC motor, Servo motor, and stepper motor.
• Afternoon we did work on wind turbine.
• Every group had to made they own wind turbine wings , so far our group had the good wind turbine wings but we didn’t had enough time to finish that we have do that another time.
• Today we was doing green work trees guard all day.
• i like that work it was fun to do a.
• we did work on 6 trees guard.

Today in GreenFab we stood outside building tree guards. We started working on this in the morning. We did build and put in place the tree guards and it was a nice day to do so. We started by placing the pieces of the thiner wood on the floor and apart from each other. Than we layed to pieces of wood on top of the others and made sure that it was lined up perfectly. Than we screwed the pieces of wood about an finger size away from each other, we used a power drill to do so. After we did that we also had to hold it in place around the tree in the holes that were dug for them. Than there were to more pieces of wood that were screwed in. When it was made sure that was the way they wanted it we had to fill the hole with dirt and sweep the rest of the dirt into the tree. Amilkcart he spent 8 years of 11 in jail, help with this process, he screwed the sides together and showed us how it was going to be done. In all we made 6 tree guards. My day went pretty well bye for now :]

On march 16th  at greenfab we continued working in our houses in google sketchup. Than Carlos taught us how to save it and put it into inkscape. We save it as a 2D graphic we save it as a pdf. After that we open it into inkscape. Then I had to fix it up by deleting  the extra line that was in my house. Then today at greenfab we were making tree guards. I was excited about the activity. Then I went to lunch to refill my energy then I went back making the tree guards. I had drilled screws into woods. I had enjoyed drilling. Then I had to shovel the dirt from the trees so we could put the tree guard in the dirt. But by accident I hit Emdad on the head after he just got hit by the shovel Ariel had. I had said sorry though. By the end of today we had made 6 tree guards.

Today what we did was make tree guards for the trees. The first things we did was get the wood. After that we had to start making parts of the tree guards. We had to work in groups because this was a big job. We also had to drill in some screws to keep the tree guards together. We did this all day. We also had to dig holes to put the tree guards in to keep them in one place. After that we put the dirt back.

      Today during the morning in GreenFab we continued working in our houses in google sketchup. Than Carlos taught us how to save it and put it into inkscape. We save it as a 2D graphic we save it as a pdf. After that we open it into inkscape. Than from there we have to erase all the extra lines, and than we are able to go and cut it from the laser cutter. I was still working on my windows so I’m still not done with putting it on inkscape.   

      In the afternoon we had visitors from ITP Chris and Jeff. We did a project with horizontal axis wind turbines (HWAT). They brought a wind turbine with out the wings and we were to create wings in which when the wind pushed it it would move. Ours moved it had a hollow inside. We used two half circles and paper to make the cylinder shape. Ours did work it had a “consistent” movement. Well today was a pretty nice day. :]

 Today at Greenfab we were working on sketchup. We were going to laser cut what we had done on sketch up and put it on inkscape. First we had to export in 2D graphics and save it as a PDF. After that you go to inkscape and open it. You want to take out any extra lines and fix everything. Then after that you have to save it as a EPS and a SVG. From there you have to laser cut it. During the afternoon we had to make blades for a wind turbinde. It was a lot of fun. We had to be creative and make an effective blade. Chris and Jeff which are from ITP made the wind turbinde ande wanted us to make the blades. They also helped us make the blades.

I’m not saying that everything’s fine. I’m just happily noting that in a week of looking, we didn’t find mad crowds frantically pushing and clawing in desperation or snatching boxes and sacks from old women as they walked away. I even saw people standing “more or less” in a single line at distribution sites. Note how the big yellow bladder full of water is both full of water and does not have a million people trying to get water. So like I said, it’s not that everything is honkey dorey, but it seems the initial frantic responders can take a breath.

water bladders, no lines or mad crowds

water bottles in truck, unattended, and not being mobbed

guy carrying box of relief supplies

people carrying sacks from food distribution

men carrying sacks from food distribution

girls carrying sacks from food distribution

This hospital has 30 doctors and a total of 200 staff. It is completely empty inside except for hospital administration who are adamantly working from their offices as an example to the staff and patients who aren’t willing to be inside the building. The structure was surveyed and bolstered by several international organizations, but still patients refuse to come inside. They see about 70 patients a day.

All the tents outside are wards. The big pagoda is the ob/gyn and birthing area.

Surgeries are being done in three rooms in a separate single story hard building run by Cuban doctors.

The French Red Cross provided a water purification system, but it broke after a few day’s use. Somehow, no one told me – the geek – that it was broken so I didn’t ask for more specifics. I only know second hand, “it stopped working”. Instead, the Red Cross trucks in bottled water.

- I learned ideas for an ecomachine those are support plants, waste treatment, light sense and make tanks.
-I also learned some sources for freshwater they are SYMS center, central park.
-There was a guy presenting his name was peter he was talking about ecomachines , composers , decomposers and producers.
-We went on a trip to a waste management center. There they collect all the bronx garbage and ship them to virgina to there waste dumps in the ground.
- They took us on a tour to show us what it looks like inside.There was garbage getting piled up.
- At 11:48 they clean up then at 12:01 they start all over again.
-In order to get in the building we needed to wear the construction hat and jacket.

Today in GreenFab during the morning we had a presentation by a guy named Peter. He talked to us about Eco machines. These are machines that are self sustaining, stable system that employs ecologic process to accomplish target service intended to the designer. There are three rules to having a Eco Machine which is that there must be three distinct cells/gradients in each designated for a specific group. This means there must be a producer a consumer and a decomposer. We need something like plants(algae) to be a producer but we can’t just have them because it might take over the whole thing, so to even that out we put a producer (fish) this can eat the producer it “in check” but we need a decomposer to eat the dead things or waste the producer, produces, these are the decomposer they eat what the producers don’t. They said we will make one. We will also have to add water and make sure everything is going well. So lets see how this project goes.

Than we went on a trip to the waste management site and took a tour walk to see what they did and where they did it. We talked to a couple of employees. These people take all the garbage that we produce (everyone in the Bronx) and pack it down and put it on a train 2 Virgina. These trains can carry about out the same as 4 trucks. The process takes about 8 days. And everything has to run on the specific time it cannot be late! That will back up service and make it harder for another train to go by and might take even longer to get there. That we went outside and took a tour of the place. I was terrified I didn’t like being that high from the ground. After that we went back for a Q&A and thanked them for having us. We walked back to the train and came back to the ssbx classroom to do this.

• At the morning, both of the class had brief presentation with a person name Peter

• From that presentation we learn many facts on Eco-machines and how they benefit the environment and that Eco-machines is a self-sustainable system that employ ecological process to accomplish target service intended by the designer.

• we also learn how organism in a tank can survive without being fed by having a producer, consumer, and a decomposer and they support each other in order to survive.

• after that the class and i went to a trip to 138th and visit a manageable waste facility and learn interesting facts on what they do to our garbage on a presentation that Rachel explain to us which she the Public relation manager.

• They take 100% of the Bronx garbage and everyday garbage garbage are always coming to the facility so that more work for them and garbage are always coming.

• Next when the garbage is organize they transfer  it to a train since it easy and less pollution than a truck and hold more garbage and sent to Albany then sent to Virginia to end up in a land fill on a hole on a safe property.

• Last we heard and learn how burning garbage is another good source fr turning it into fuel and also mean not a lot of garbage into the landfill and to make sure there is space for future landfills. Any ways in the end, I Enjoy spending time there and learn facts on what happen to our garbage here in the Bronx.

Today in greenfab during the day we sat and herd presentation by Peter. He talked to us about Eco machines, these are machines that are self sustaning and have a stable system. also Eco manchine shold encompass  at least 3 distinct cells/gradient,each clesignated for aspecific group. when the presentation was over Peter showed us a Eco machine. Then for the Afternoon Carlos took the both classes to the waste mangement site. As we got there both classes went to the a room and we talked to some people. Then we took a tour around and went to a site that pick and move the garbge. After that it was Q&A time, then we took pictures, and it was over. All in all, today was a pretty fun day:-).

Today at Green fab I:

• we went on a trip to a waste dump on 138 and 3rd avenue during the trip we learned how all of the Bronx garbage gets composed
• we also talked about what an ecosystem is and how it works
• It is a tank with three or more sides an has three factors for a life form to survive in the tank
• It can be used to grow plans and other forms of producers
• Also learned how to work your way up in the waste dump facility

today at green fab i cam late to class because i woke up late and on my way to green fab the police stop me.

because i came late i miss some off the presentation.

when i came in there was a men named peter he was talking making a Eco matching he also was talking about the main three thing u need to build one, consumer producer and decomposer

a Eco matching is is a self sustainable, stable system that employ processes service intend by designer

also today we wen on a trip on 138 street we went to Waste Management (W.M)

the class and i went and we was learning about what they do with the garbage.

there was 5 people over the but i only remember one of the worker name it was John hes the manager of the place he told us that there garbage don’t pass through the Bronx that it got there own train tracks he also told us that it only got 2 stops the stops are Albany and then Virginia.

John also told us that with there garbage they do golf parks and the use there garbage to use it for energy

then we went back to green fab.

• Trash is picked up and send to a waste transfer facility where the waste would be reduced
• The waste management station helps reduce the amount of garbage that’s going to the landfills
• 4 garbage trucks would be reduced into one can or barrel so it would be easier to send out into the landfills
• From the WM the garbage is transfered to Albany and then send to Virginia where the landfill is located
• Some landfills where turned into parks (such as golf parks)
• In New Hampshire there’s a burn waste facility were the waste is burned into renewable energy
• The energy from the burn waste facility provides energy to one of the New Hampshire College
• The eco machine treats waste water naturally to re-useable quality

Today at greenfab we had a guest speaker. His name was peter. He was talking to all of us about eco machines. An eco machine is a machine that can help clean water and grow plants. I thought it was pretty cool that a machine could grow plant,food and help clean our water. This machine was the future of the united states. Then after lunch we had went on a trip to a waste mangment center. It was cool to me, you seeing what other people throw out and also how they role over garbage. There were so many cool machine that deals with the garbage. I also learned where the garbage go to after they put it in the cotainers. The garbage goes to virginia and then gets dumped.

Today in the morning we had a presentation about Eco-machines, “Eco” stands for ecology.  An Eco-machine is a self-sustaining, stable system that employes ecological processes to accomplish target services intended by the designer.  We learned about the Rule of 3. Which the rule of 3 meaning you need to have three or more gradients in your eco-machine.  You need producers, consumers, and decomposers to make your Eco-machine. An example we learned of this is a Goldfish, snails , and crayfish.  They all need eatch other to survive and prosper.  They are self organizing meaning you can only provide the ingredients, and a general direction then nature decides the rest.

During the afternoon we went to the waste management facility. There we learned how they manage and transfer all the waste they receive everyday.  Ed the tour guide for me and Carlos told us about how they compact the all the garbage.  After compacting it the garbage takes up about half the volume it did before making it easier to collect and transfer more at one time saving fuel and being more environmentally friendly. We also learned about how clean they are with there facility.  Everyday they clean the floors of the storage room where they keep the garbage in order to minimize the amount of bacteria and smell.

Yesterday saw a great turnout at the FabTable (held every 6 weeks). Our hosts were Thuur, Bart and Peter at the brand new FabLab Groningen.

They opened their doors March 1st (official opening on the 31st). With delegations from The Hague, Utrecht, Amsterdam, Enschede, Leuven (Belgium) and even Iceland, it was a great afternoon that stretched well into the evening over dinner in the ‘Het Paleis’ venue where the FabLab is located as well.

FabLab Groningen, Smari McArthy and Thuur Caris in conversation

The beautifully renovated 19th century former chemistry lab of the local University is a fitting environment for the newest FabLab in the Netherlands. The building is populated with lots of different companies and artists, making it into a major hub for the creative industry in the north of the Netherlands. A theater and conference venue, hotel accommodation, rooftop apartments as well as a restaurant make it a great spot in a quickly redeveloping area just a few minutes walk north of Groningen’s city center.

FabLab Groningen has a Trotec 60W laser cutter, a Zcorp 3D powder printer and a 3D full color scanner to go with it, a Modela CNC router, a vinyl cutter, as well as a home built vacuum-form (at 50 Euro!), a t-shirt press, and a rotary engraver. Of course they are also connected to the Polycom video-conferencing system (using a software based solution, not the expensive Polycom hardware). The big screen providing a window on the other labs is mounted on a wall that is painted with a world map showing the various locations of FabLabs from around the world.

Conversations, and Polycom screen and cam mounted on wall with FabLab world map

Discussions during the FabTable ranged from business models to our shared efforts around the different websites we run, legal aspects and creative commons for product development, and organizing the Fab6 conference in August. Elmine did a whole range of video interviews for both the FabLab documentary she is making, as well as the FabLab video channel the good people of 23Video provided us with. Over dinner we swapped more stories, enjoying the beer, food and hospitality of the restaurant two doors down from the FabLab in the inner court yard of this amazing facility ‘Het Paleis’.

More pictures in this photoset, and FabLab Groningen’s own photo stream.

In Haiti internet access is a luxury. In greater Port-au-Prince I saw many (slow) internet cafes. Some are still standing and functioning, others are ad hoc.

Internet cafe at a tent city in Petionville.

hardstructure cybercafe near the port

At least one ISP is going via microwave to DR then off the island. The national wired telco was heavily damaged. Digicell, the largest wireless carrier in the country is still up, their servers are in the basement of their building and are running off of generators 24/7 (this was already nearly true prior to the earthquake because the grid electricity, Ed’H (electricy d’Haiti), wasn’t reliable).

Digicel building approximately 5 minutes after the earthquake. Photo taken by unknown security guard in nearby building, photo courtesy of F. Magloire.

The remaining wired infrastructure is delicate. In many cases, fallen buildings and snapped poles (unlike in USA, most poles are concrete) are being precariously supported by the cables themselves. Comparing photos from one month ago to the beginning of my visit to photos at the end, after the rains began, more of this will be pulled down as the rubble slides and the water undermines rubble piles.

fallen buildings rest on cables. Photo by B. Triliegi

partially fallen poles, their weight hanging on the wires

this pole is fine but many of the wires snapped and are lying loosely

The wires are hot. Maybe. Sometimes. But it seems enough to light up much of the city at night. Some of the light I can see at night are self-contained – batteries, propane/kerosene, or generator. But I saw plenty of wired street lights on too, and in visiting with some of the larger hospitals we found that their Ed’H was still “on”, if yet more reduced in hours than pre-earthquake.

it's a little difficult to tell by the foreshortening in the pic, but this pole's weight is borne by the cables on top which are stretched completely taut. The rubble pile at the base is both contributing to the stability of the pole now, but as the pile continues to spill out it will put more weight on the pole.

ask any electrician - dangling HV wires aren't a bit scary, not at all... Note the contrast between the building that fell and the green building which did not.

a proper Cumberland off of this pole -- small gauge wires leading to shacks in Cite Soleil

Suffice it to say, the wired infrastructure has a lot of work ahead. In the case of electricity delivery, this is the only way to go. Most wealthier homes have generators but don’t seem to have battery banks or automatic switchovers and the cost of diesel (which must be shipped into the island country) is prohibitive to run the generators 24/7.

Bringing the best (not necessarily newest) technology to bear is important. The scale of rebuilding is so massive and complex systems so fragile that you really need to take the concept of “distributed” as far as you can go. Below, instead of wired Ed’H for power, these solar powered street lamps are still standing and working.

self-contained solar powered street lamps

Comms, including internet, phone, and TV, are the most obviously ripe for replacement with the best wireless hardware. Skipping over the historical development timeline by not rebuilding a cabled or wired telephony infrastructure and laying down a solid, redundant, reliable wireless system to restore services to better than they were pre-earthquake, then possibly later bolstering with a nationwide fiber backbone concurrent with the large-scale physical demolition and reconstruction.

The cell tower is standing while all the other lines in the picture have snapped. The UHF/VHF antennas appear fine, too.

a distributed system of uplinks and point to point RF nodes could restore comms quickly. (Those of you who can identify the dish - keep quiet, I'm trying to make a point here, and I don't care that it's DISH TV.)