Go Animate!

Another fantastic resource that allows Learners to make cartoons and charachters for free! Againt he websites allows learners to make their own cartoon strips and can do it on a number of topics such as Hot deserts or a cartoon on what I learned in class today. This is a great tool as it is engaging and free to use online!



http://goanimate.com/

Pixton- Useful Comic Strip Website

Pixton.com is a great website that allows learners to create online Comic Strips that can be used as a valueable way to display concepts, ideas and as a revision tool.




The website offers learners with he opporuniy to create their own storyboards giving them the opportunity to be creative and engaged in the activity. However the software is cost money to be registered and use, however it canbe downloaded for a 14 day trail whoch could be enough time to use it for a topic.

The True Cost of Pineapples in UK Supermarkets

UK supermarket price wars are wrecking lives in the developing world, according to a new campaign launched tomorrow by Consumers International (CI). Recent deep cuts in the price of pineapples on the British high street have inflicted unacceptable damage on those living and working on plantations in Costa Rica, the consumer group says.
An investigation by Guardian Films [click for video], with funding from CI, has found a catalogue of environmental and social damage caused by intensive tropical fruit production in Costa Rica, from where three-quarters of pineapples sold in the UK come.
Our findings include evidence that:
• The constant use of agrochemicals has led to contamination of drinking-water supplies to communities around the plantations. One group of villages, bordering plantations that either supply or are owned by Del Monte, has been forced to collect water from tankers for more than three years.
• Repeated chemical accidents have inflicted serious damage on the local environment. In June this year, a fire at a chemical dump used by the multinational trader Dole caused a toxic cocktail to spill into the nearby river. Fish and other wildlife including crocodiles were killed along miles of waterways. The pesticide involved is sprayed by Dole on its bananas. Dole told us that it was co-operating with the authorities investigating the accident.
• Workers reported suffering serious health problems from exposure to the chemicals used on pineapple plantations, including in some cases accidental chemical poisoning on Del Monte and Grupo Acon farms. Grupo Acon supplies Tesco, Asda, Dole and Fyffes.
• Price cuts in European supermarkets have led to wages being drastically cut by Grupo Acon, workers said.
• Efforts to join independent trade unions to improve conditions are said to have been met with repression and mass sackings on Del Monte and Grupo Acon plantations.
Consumers International, which acts as an umbrella group for independent consumer organisations across Europe, says its own research has shown that conditions in Costa Rica's tropical fruit industry are unacceptable. It accuses supermarkets such as Tesco and Asda of complicity despite their public commitments to source food responsibly.
"Their positive intentions are being undermined by retail price cuts and aggressive procurement practices that lead to cuts in wages and insufficient resources to improve working practices," said Catherine Nicholson, CI's programme co-ordinator. "Consumers want low prices but not at the cost of fair living conditions for producers."
Del Monte, which exports 50% of Costa Rica's pineapples, told us it had strict controls on chemicals to minimise accidents. It said that the government was monitoring the drinking water situation. It also said that all its workers were free to join unions. Grupo Acon did not respond to the allegations in our film but later said that it had strict protocols to deal with accidents. Dole declined to comment on conditions at its supplier. Fyffes, supplier to Asda of some Grupo Acon fruit, told us that it had checked in audits and was satisfied that all its suppliers had an open attitude to unions and did not discriminate against union members. Asda told us that it had reiterated to suppliers the high ethical standards expected of them.
Tesco told us that it was already actively engaged in improving standards: "After two years working with suppliers in Costa Rica, we have brokered agreement to invite independent labour experts to review labour practices and identify ways to strengthen them. That project is underway and is examining issues including pay, labour relations, seasonal labour and health and safety."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/2010/oct/01/high-cost-cheap-pineapples-supermarkets

Human Poo to Power Homes

Next time you flush the toilet, you could be doing your bit for green energy. After being stored for 18 days, human waste will from today be returning to homes in the form of renewable gas.
Centrica is opening a plant at Didcot sewage works which will be the first in the UK to produce renewable gas for households to use.
National Grid believes that at least 15% of all gas consumed could be made from sewage slurry, old sandwiches and other food thrown away by supermarkets, as well as organic waste created by businesses such as breweries.
However, there are fears in the industry that the government's spending cuts could make it more difficult for companies to come up with the £10bn needed to develop the new plants and pipelines.
Because it is more expensive to produce renewable gas, companies say they need to be paid twice the market rate for it to make economic sense.
But a proposed subsidy, scheduled to come into force in April, has yet to be approved and there is speculation that the government could delay or scrap it.
The Didcot facility is a pilot project to demonstrate the technology and will supply about 200 homes with gas. The project is a joint venture between Thames Water, British Gas and Scotia Gas Networks.
One industry expert likened the process to a "cow's stomach on a life support machine". The sewage sludge is collected in air-tight vats which are heated and enzymes added to speed the anaerobic digestion process and break down the material. Methane is produced and then it is purified ready for use.
Landfill sites can also produce methane gas which is then typically used to generate electricity. But British Gas says supplying renewable gas directly is much more efficient, as about two thirds of the energy is lost when electricity is generated.
This Friday, Adnams the brewer will open an anaerobic digestion facility in Suffolk using waste slurry which will provide renewable gas to about 235 homes. British Gas is also involved in this project and is planning to open three more.
Gearóid Lane, managing director of communities and new energy at British Gas, said: "This renewable gas project is a real milestone in Britain's energy history, and will help customers and the environment alike. Renewable gas has the potential to make a significant contribution to meeting the UK's energy needs. Gas from sewage is just one part of a bigger project, which will see us using brewery and food waste and farm slurry to generate gas to heat homes."
Next time you flush the toilet, you could be doing your bit for green energy. After being stored for 18 days, human waste will from today be returning to homes in the form of renewable gas.
Centrica is opening a plant at Didcot sewage works which will be the first in the UK to produce renewable gas for households to use.
National Grid believes that at least 15% of all gas consumed could be made from sewage slurry, old sandwiches and other food thrown away by supermarkets, as well as organic waste created by businesses such as breweries.
However, there are fears in the industry that the government's spending cuts could make it more difficult for companies to come up with the £10bn needed to develop the new plants and pipelines.
Because it is more expensive to produce renewable gas, companies say they need to be paid twice the market rate for it to make economic sense.
But a proposed subsidy, scheduled to come into force in April, has yet to be approved and there is speculation that the government could delay or scrap it.
The Didcot facility is a pilot project to demonstrate the technology and will supply about 200 homes with gas. The project is a joint venture between Thames Water, British Gas and Scotia Gas Networks.
One industry expert likened the process to a "cow's stomach on a life support machine". The sewage sludge is collected in air-tight vats which are heated and enzymes added to speed the anaerobic digestion process and break down the material. Methane is produced and then it is purified ready for use.
Landfill sites can also produce methane gas which is then typically used to generate electricity. But British Gas says supplying renewable gas directly is much more efficient, as about two thirds of the energy is lost when electricity is generated.
This Friday, Adnams the brewer will open an anaerobic digestion facility in Suffolk using waste slurry which will provide renewable gas to about 235 homes. British Gas is also involved in this project and is planning to open three more.
Gearóid Lane, managing director of communities and new energy at British Gas, said: "This renewable gas project is a real milestone in Britain's energy history, and will help customers and the environment alike. Renewable gas has the potential to make a significant contribution to meeting the UK's energy needs. Gas from sewage is just one part of a bigger project, which will see us using brewery and food waste and farm slurry to generate gas to heat homes."

Touchscreen Breakthrough could revolutionise Education

A new multi touch screen technology has been unvieled by Jeff Han. The touch screen technology allows users to interact with the screen using multi 'pressure points' allowing the users to multitask on screen doing a number of tasks at the same time as well as allowing many users to use the touchscreen at the same time. This technology could revolutionise smart boards in classrooms as it would allow learers to do a number of tasks and work in collaboration wih other learners.

The new touch screen also comes with many applications that could potentially be used in many ways that could have a massive impact in the way learners interact with with smartboards and with ICT. Such applications include uploading and editing images and more interestingly using NASA's data images of the Earth to create an interactive planet Earth that can e accessed at the movement of a finger and creating 3D images, check out the clip below to see the touch screen in action.http://www.ted.com/talks/jeff_han_demos_his_breakthrough_touchscreen.html