IDEA It Lab: Hands-on activities for little engineers - Fibonacci numbers

Topic: Applying math - Fibonacci numbers can be found in daily life.
Architects use Fibonacci numbers and Golden Ratio as tools to measure beauty. When they design a building, they would consider the proportion and measurements according to Golden Ratio, 1.618
It is amazing to find this ratio in nature.

Video to view: Nature By Numbers
Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkGeOWYOFoA

Activities: Observe the world around you. See if there is any proportion or shape even color that caught your eyes. See if you can find a certain ratio on the object you are observing.

Flower power: a creative idea to manage TV time

TV....TV.... TV....!
Between my daughter and I, we always argue how much is too much TV time. She still can't read or understand how long is half an hour. I decided I need to create a system that is better than checking at the clock.

We made flowers from streamers and skewer, glue it and tie it with twist ties. I call it the "flower power...." One flower equal half an hour of TV time. Every time she watches TV for half an hour, I'll take it out from the pot. By doing that, she understands how much TV show she can watch and decide a head of time.

This really reduce the arguing and negotiation. E.g She likes to watch Arthur, Martha speaks, George, World word, Cyber space, Kratt brothers. If she watches all, it will take up 3 hours. Her TV time is 2 hours. So in the morning, she will decide which TV shows she wants to watch.

We made it flower because it's beautiful and skewer and streamers were the available materials. I think you can make it something else according to your children's favorite stuff.

So far, it works for me and I think it worth sharing...
What do you think?

Baked potato ooops...

Oops ... It happened many times.

Just like today, I suppose to make baked potato for dinner. I set the oven to bake to 400F, then I set the timer for the soup... not realizing when the timer went off, I actually cancelling the baking as well... I thought I had a nice warm baked potato... I actually have a cold, uncooked potato. Dinner should be ready in 15 minutes... What should I do?

Hubby googled how to make a baked potato using microwave. It's pretty easy. Cut a deep 'X' on the potato, cover it with wet towel and microwave it according to the size. Not knowing the definition of big or huge potato, I just do a trial and error. I set for 5 minutes for 1 potato and it turned out beautifully. I put all 3 potatoes and set for 5 minutes it turned out OK. I needed more minutes, so I added another 3. The dinner is ready on time. Everyone thinks it's a good baked potato dinner.

It's one of the time when I said to my self that I'm glad I made a mistake as now I know how to make baked potato using microwave.

Wouldn't you agree?

Picture link from howtobakeapotato.com

The Med at Boulder... a reasonably priced restaurant to eat

Last Sunday afternoon, we were in Boulder. The kids just done skating at One Boulder Plaza and it was around 4:30. We want to get something to eat and go to church. We found out there is a church on Sacred Heart of Jesus on Mapleton and 13th in Boulder that starts at 6pm.

Where to eat?
We learned there is a restaurant called The Med (Mediterranian ) in Boulder, on Walnut and Broadway that serves tapas. Plus... they have happy hour from 3-6:30 pm every day.
That sounds perfect. So, we decided to drive there. We arrived at almost 5. The hostess said it will take about 15 minutes before we get our seat. 5-10 minutes later, our name was called. We ordered the tapas, get some bread for a start, tapas arrived, we have happy tummies.

We left at around 5 to 6 and we still have enough time to go to church. Everyone have their own favorite. My daughter likes the baked feta, and mozzarella cheese. I like bacon wrapped dates, prosciutto with melon and calamari. There are a lot of good tapas choices. With the happy hour price, their tapas and service are unbeatable.

Wouldn't you agree?

Lime juice me... a tip when you ran out of acid for jewelry pickling

I ran out of "pickle", acid that I need to clean sterling silver due to oxidation during soldering process.
Thanks to Jusuf Baba, I borrow his idea on using lime juice.
So, opened up my fridge, cut a slice of lime and squeeze the juices. I added some hot water and put them in the crock pot.



See before and after picture.

One hour later... voila...
It does take a little longer time compare to store bought acid. Besides, I have some lime enough to make my favorite drinks. Margarita anyone....?

From Narita to Yuzawaya in Shinjuku

On the way to the US, I have 9 hours transit time in Japan. I could choose sit down in the airport or I could try exploring Japan in 9 hours... I decided to choose the later one.

We arrived at 8 am at Narita airport. After custom, look for info and money exchange, we're ready to go out at around 9. From Narita airport, I went downstairs to where the trains are. But before doing that, there is a convenient store that sells some omisubi ( Japanese rice ball). I decided to buy some just in case we got hungry on the way.


We took Keisei Line and head to Nippori station. It took about 1 hour to get to Nippori station. From there, we took Yamanote line to Shinjuku for the next 15 minutes. The cost was about 1190 Yen for adults. Children pays 1/2 price, while children younger than 5 is free. Total trip time was about 1.5 hours ( including the time to buy ticket, time to ask the officer which line to go and time to get familiarized with the situation.


We went to Takashimaya building. On the same building, they have Tokyu Hands and Yuzawaya. We went to Tokyu Hands first but then decided to go to Yuzawaya. It's comparable to "JoAnn" but it stacks up about 5 floors up. I looked for paper... washi paper to be exact.



My jaw dropped to see rows and rows of papers. You could easily mistaken it for fabrics.
I spent about 1.5 hours there, looking for fabrics, paper, rubber stamps... if only I have more time.
Then, I went in line to pay. They have line A and B. Lucky for me, Ami, our friend's daughter helped read the Japanese word. Line A if you need some cuttings while B, you just pay. So, I went to line B.

We had beef bowls for lunch, in a small store kind of across Takashimaya building. It's yummy and cheap. Only about $3 a bowl.

We have to catch 5 pm flight, so we decided to head back at around 2:30 pm. We arrived at 4 pm at Narita and we have enough time to go through the custom, board and sit in the plane.

I think it was the best 9 hours in Japan for me...

Resep bagaimana membuat play doh (playdough) buatan sendiri

We're back home from our trip to Indonesia. There are so many changes from the last time we visited. I saw so many people are on cell phones and there are more kids play stuff like play dough are becoming more common there.

So, I thought I want to share home made play dough recipe I used to make when our children were younger. Please excuse my Indonesian...

Resep 1:
1/4 cup garam
1 cup tepung
1/4 cup air

Campur garam dan tepung di mangkok lalu tambah air. Di aduk, pencet-pencet sampai menjadi seperti konsistensi tanah liat. Mungkin harus tambah air. Resep ini tidak tahan lama, bisa rusak.

Idea lain, bisa di tambah pewarna makanan atau kilau2.

Resep 2:

1 cup baking soda (sodium bicarbonate)
1/2 cup tepung jagung (maizena)
3/4 cup air

Campur baking soda dan tepung di panci pakai tangan. Lalu di tambah air. Orang dewasa bantu untuk taruh di atas api kecil. Aduk terus sampai menggumpal. Jangan masak terlalu lama karena bisa hancur.
Setelah dingin, anak kecil boleh mengadon sehingga lembut.

Translated from http://www.kiddinaround.com/pages/3-Easy-Recipes-for-Making-Homemade-Play-Dough.html

How to choose a boots

Well... may be the title is a bit general. I think I should say how I chose a boots. Well... here's how it all begin.

I decided I want a boots for my birthday gift. Not any boots... I want a cowgirl boots with lots of intricate details on the shaft, with heels that looks like a true cowgirl boots and comfortable. Hubby got one for me but not quite what I have in mind. I decided to go to Sheplers

Originally, I'm looking for $40-50 boots. After walking in the store, I realized it won't get me anywhere. There's one Old West Corona Boots that is around $60 but they didn't have my size. So, I have to order one.

The lady in the store helped measure my feet. I'm standing up straight, with the socks on, I saw my toes is touching line number 7 and about 1/16" more. The lady in the store said I'm 7 or 7.5, B or C. ( I have a wide feet). I ordered 7.5 B.

It shipped to my house. I tried it on. It looks great, but few minutes later, I feel something is hurting my toes.... I walked around the house, something is not quite right.

I decided to shop for more boots. With Black Friday is coming, I keep looking for some more options online.

There is one that caught my eye. Ariat Heritage Leather Cowboy Boots- J-toe, Wingtip. It has intricate detail, the color I liked and it was on sale. I decided to buy one and shipped it to my house. It wowed me the minute it came out the box,... I put it on... I walked... and it ouched me. It has a nice sole, nice perfect look I was looking for, but it hurts my toes, again...

Three times is a charm... right? I decided to go to Sheplers again and talked more about how to choose a boots.
I have a wide feet. My option would be square toes instead of pointy toes. Not all square toes are made equal. I tried Ariat Legend square toe, it's still hurts. Looking at my feet, I may need to find a wide square toe shoes.


Heel... I want to have a comfortable everyday boots... I learned there is a cowboy heel and roper heel. The cowboy heel is made for easy horse riding. It looks nicer to me.. but I need the boots for everyday use, not so much for riding.

Sole... Ariat has a special sole technology. It really feels like the sole is gripping your feet.
It feels a very comfortable sole. I would have chose Ariat if only it didn't squeeze my toes.

Shaft... ah... that's where the beauty lies... It shows the details of the boot maker.

After returning Ariat, I finally settled on Boulet Boots. The sole is not as cushy as Ariat's but my toes are happy. I figured, if necessary, I could buy Ariat foot bed or get Dr. Scholl insoles. In addition to that, I love the details and the color of the Boulet Boots.

House for sale in Waukesha Wisconsin

Our house is for sale... may be not quite appropriate for the blog theme, but I think it's blog worthy...



Location:
North west of Waukesha, cross street Meadowbrook and Northview. It's close to St. Anthony's, Meadowbrook, Montessori School, GE Healthcare headquarter, University of Wisconsin - Waukesha, parks, daycare, Sentry, Pewaukee Lake, bike trail, pharmacy, banks.


Features:
3 bedroom, 2 bath, built in 1999, two tiered large freshly painted deck, heated garage, in ground firepit, new patio door glass, new garage door spring, finished semi basement, GE washer, dryer, stove and refrigerator.


Good size kitchen and dinette with lots of cabinet. Main rooms are all in the same level. Finish semi basement is great for a family or recreation room. A secluded den is cable ready for an office. Flat backyard is great for a pool or even possible expansion.



The property is within walking distance to park, bike trail and Meadowbrook elementary school, with tested rating 9 out of 10 by Education.com http://www.education.com/schoolfinder/us/wisconsin/waukesha/meadowbrook-elementary/?page=test-scores#tab-test-scores.
It is near Pewaukee lake, near grocery stores, banks, pharmacy, restaurants, post office, I-94, near daycare, near University Wisconsin Waukesha. The location is private, bordered by mature trees.


Living room is facing some greenery. There is no neighbor across the street.


Main bedroom has a big walk in closet.


One of the bedrooms.

One of the full bathroom

Closed utility room with utility tub.

Did I tell you we have in ground fire pit? We always do a summer solstice party enjoying the fire with friends and family.

A plus: You can see Waukesha fireworks located at Waukesha Fair Ground from the deck. If you are lucky, hot air balloons may be in the area during the Waukesha State Fair. A honey crisp apple tree that will bear fruit in the next year or two and raised vegetable garden ready for planting. Last but not least, this is the place that inspired all the great works I've done...:)
Wouldn't you agree?


Please contact me for info.

Teacher's gift idea

It's Christmas time... what should you give for your teachers? When I post that question on my page, usually the answer would be gift card...

This year, I decided we should do something different... as now my daughter gets a little bit older, she can do handmade items. We decided to make a name necklace.

I let her practice in a piece of copper sheet for several times. Started with the right technique of hand stamping, then try stamping on a straight line and a curve. After 7 tries, she decided to do it on a piece of sterling.



I drilled the hole for jumpring and close soldered it. I think it's a pretty good for a first timer... Wouldn't you agree?

Simple stringing necklace for kids

Looking for a project for kids? How about this simple stringing necklace. You can choose the simple colored beads and some interesting bead for vocal point. The child can learn about pattern, counting and perhaps some patient...



Any stringing material would do as long it fits the holes. I use 49 strand nylon coated steel wire for stringing material. I end the necklace using self closing clasp and jump ring. It turn out that it's so easy to open and close, that she could take the necklace off herself.

What do you think?

Quick and dirty halloween costume

"Mommy...mommy, I want to be a leopard for Halloween...."

"Yikes..." that was my first reaction. She wants long gloves, mask and shoe cover in Leopard prints. I have no clue how to do it.... She said "please... please... puh leeezzz". I told her I will try to make it but no promise.


We went to a craft store and looked for Leopard prints she likes. We found a suede type fabric with sparkles on it and it's on sale. We bought 2 ft fabric costs around $3.50 with coupon.

I found this quick way to make glove in you tube.

So, I brave myself making a pair of gloves.... a long gloves to be exact.

Then the next one is mask. She wants leopard ear and mask.... I searched on the interenet and found how to make a hat on youtube and modify it from there,


This is how my pattern looks like. I add the cat ear on top and add 4" on the bottom for the mask.
Then, I make a cut for the nose and eyes and the mask.



Of course, I have to add a tail, just like in my previous blog on how to make cat's tail. She then wears black tops and bottom and the new leopard costume.

It took me about 3 hours total to work on it. If I could make it better, I'd make the ears stiffer.
I saw similar outfit at Walmart, that comes with ear head band, tail and gloves for $15. I could have gotten that one and safe time.

But I think that 3 hours worth spending... (so I can share my experience with you).
Just like Mastercard ads...

Fabric for Halloween costume, $3.50
Time spent searching for how to... 2 hours
Time spent making costumes... 3 hours.
The feelings... priceless...

Watermarking on Corel Paint Shop Pro X3

Now... you have made the silhouette like in my past project and would like to post it on the internet. If you are really concern that someone may copy your picture for personal use, you may want to watermark your work.

First, is to create your own watermarking. You can write anything. I write mine "Copyright Bigib". Open new file, I chose 300x200 pixels, color transparent, RGB 8 bits channel, OK.
Click Text tool (A on a box), choose your font, size and create as vector. Since I will be putting the watermark on a black surface, I chose white background (color of the letter) and null foreground (color for the letter outline).


To add a keyboard short cut copyright symbol, use alt+0169. For registered symbol use alt+0174, for trademark symbol, use alt+0153. I then add the wording "Bigib". When you are happy with the wording, click apply (green check mark on the palette). You then can move the writing to the center or anywhere you like it.

Then file, save as PSP image. You are now ready to watermark your picture. Open the picture file you want to add watermarking. Zoom in or out so you can see both images.


Go to image, watermarking, visible watermarking. A new window till open up. You can browse and chose the new image you just made. You also have the opportunity to set the opaque, emboss, size and even placement. I want to place mine in the center.

And then save the final picture as jpg. Now you can upload to the internet. The watermarking helps deter someone from using your image.


There is also an option where you can track your image, which is using image, watermarking, embedded watermark that would take you to Digimarc. This is a service you need to subscribe.
For me, I think I'm happy with the visible watermarking.
Happy trying...

How to make silhouette with Corel Paint Shop Pro X3

You have a nice picture and you want to make a silhouette? I learned that making silhouette is as easy as 1, 2, 3, 4.

1. Using a program called Paint Shop Pro by Corel Draw, choose a picture you want to make a silhouette. I chose a giraffe picture I took when visited Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.
Open the file. Using a magic wand, I traced her. If it's not showing, view, palettes, tool option from the menu. Hold the shift key if you want to include the picture, hold ctrl key if you want to exclude the picture.

2. Choose selection, invert. You are telling Paint Shop to choose the background, not the subject. Choose material (on the right hand side or choose view, palettes, material) and using a dropper, choose the far right color (white). Right click your mouse. It will change the color to white. Then edit, clear.
You will have a giraffe with white background.

3. Choose, selection, invert. You are telling Paint Shop to choose the subject. I want to change the giraffe color to black. On the right hand side, choose material. Bring your mouse the bottom very far left and right click your mouse. This will choose the color black. Edit, clear.
This will make the giraffe looks black.

4. Subject is almost perfect. I use marker tool to darken the area that is imperfect. When you are happy, select the subject using select tool, copy special, copy merge, paste as new image and save the file. You just make your own silhouette project.

Buying a house of your dream

We recently moved and needed to buy a house. I thought I share my experience in house hunting. Whether this is your first time buyer or not, it may be a good idea to learn it again.

First, what you have to do is to set some money aside for your new house. If you don't have cash to pay the house in full, you need a mortgage. A pre-qualifications from your lender is recommended so you know how much house you can buy. Current conventional 30 years mortgage interest is around 4%. To avoid Private Mortgage Insurance, you need to put 20% down. Depending on the city where the house is located, closing costs could ranged from $2500 - $5000. Lenders may required you to put 2 month reserves for taxes and insurance. If you are looking to buy a $300,000 house, you will probably need about $68,000.

If you don't have that much money, there is an option to get an FHA home loans that only requires to put 3.5% down, which significantly reduce the money to set aside around $10, 5000 plus closing costs, earnest money and other reserves.

If you are a first time home buyers, you may qualify for some first time home buyers credits if you purchased your house by July 2011. Please check with IRS publications.

As I was searching for houses, other than regular sale houses, there are HUD houses available for sale. Unlike regular sales houses that sold by the house owner, HUD houses is sold by Federal Agencies.

If you do want to buy a HUD homes, you need a real estate brokers. Referrals from friends or internet directory for realtors is a good start. I suggest you do your own interview to choose the one that fits with your work style. Some brokers needs a contract, some don't. Most brokers will provide you list of houses according to your parameters, shows the houses, do a comparative market analysis (CMA), write and submit a contract, negotiate on your behalf, help with house inspection and do the closing. Zillow.com, Trulia.com or Redfin.com are some of real estate search engines you can use. Other than house listing, some provides lists of realtors, information about neighborhood, advice, etc. I found out that Zillow are not always accurate with the newest house listings.

After the contract is accepted, the next step would be a house inspection. House inspector helps find major flaws in the house. Some brokers have worked with house inspectors in the past. It's a good idea to choose home inspectors you are comfortable with.

If the house looks fine, then you will come to the closing, sign the paperwork and you are a new home owners. Congratulations...

A trip to Water World

While we're in Denver, we took the opportunity to visit Water World. If you happen to be drinking lots of Mountain Dews, keep the cans as it has $6 coupon off. If you are not, you could sign up to get one.

The park opens at 10. We arrived there about 10:30 which I considered late. Once we got in, we went to Captain Jack's area. If the benches are full, you could try other places like Big Top or Thunder Bay. There area lockers and bath house close to the area. We rented a locker for our valuables.

Some rides requires tube. If you are traveling alone with kids, you may want to rent a tube. If you want to save some money, you can carry the tube yourself to the starting point. I have to warn you that it's a bit heavy...

We tried most of the rides, including Voyage to the center/earth, Raging Colorado, Wally's world, Lost river of Pharaoh, Captain Jack, Thunder Bay, Storm, Big Top, Space bowl (this one, you need to be able to swim), H2O arena and gondola. We ran out of time...

We were there on a Friday... last weekend before school starts. Despite 30 min wait or more on each ride, we had fun and plan to come back.

When we come back, we'll plan it some time in the middle of summer, middle of the week. Hopefully the lane will be shorter. This time, we'll try to arrive 10 min before they open...

Morning Glory Fine Craft Fair August 13-14, 2011

Visiting Milwaukee? Wondering what to do in Milwaukee in August?

Morning Glory Fine Craft fair is a must to see. About 140 fine craft artist will be showing in Down Town Milwaukee in Marcus Center of Performing Arts ground from August 13-14, 2011

Morning Glory Fine Craft Fair go back 37 years, when Margaret Rahill, the former Curator of the Charles Allis Art Museum, and Leslie Brockel, a former board member of the Wisconsin Designer Crafts Council, came up with an idea for an art fair on the grounds of the museum.

Best of all... free admissions...

Hope to see you all there...

My experience moving with United Van Lines

We are moving out of state... we need a mover. How to choose one?
We decided to search on the internet and found abundant information about how to choose a mover, say like the one in eHow.
We decide to interview 3 candidates, Graebel, Allied and United Van Lines. They all accredited by BBB.

I called each companies and all of them have a very fast respond to send their sales person in. They walked around the house and gave estimate. Amazingly, they all came with similar quote, similar service including wrapping the sofa, putting carpet and door protector. One thing that I think differentiate Graebel and United, all Graebel crew employed by Graebel while United (Barrett Moving) is contracted out.

Since we asked the quote more than 2 month from our moving date, United will re do the quotation again, but the other two didn't offer that service. They would do it if you ask.

We went through each estimate and talked to each of the sales person with questions and narrowed down to two movers and decided on one. We chose United because the sales person is very easy to communicate both by email or phone. Tony M is very professional, can explain questions in detail and very structured.

We requested "not to exceed" quote instead of "straight talk" to cap our moving expense.
Then, we're connected with the coordinator, Muge. She is very easy to communicate, explains our questions in very detail and clear.

About 2 days before the loading day, the packers crew came. Three ladies came and put all of our stuff in the boxes within 6 hours. They left few open boxes for our blankets and our last minute items. They numbered every box.

On the loading day, a huge truck parked in front of our drive way. They arrived within the time estimated. Two very strong men and a driver came, put door protection and started taking box by box out in the staging area before they put all in the truck. The last items to go in are bigger items like bike, lawn mower, shelf, .. those that can't go in a box. It took them about 8 hours to load everything up. I'm glad that all of our stuff can fit into one truck.

Three days later, about 1035 miles away from our home, the truck arrived, on time. The only familiar face is the driver. They have two other strong men to unload the boxes and assembly the beds. It took them about 5 hrs to unload everything.

I have a good experience with them. They are very professional and reliable. Yes, if I move out of state again, I'd choose them... But I think it's going to be a long time before we need a mover again...

Martha's journey

I'm Martha... a fan tail gold fish. I'm sharing my story about a long trip I made.

My owner wasn't sure about how to bring me along for the long 16 hrs trip they are going to take. So they went to a pet store and ask for information.

Here are the tips they got.
1. Take all the decorations out from the aquarium
2. Take half of the water out. Please keep my water clean by not putting too much food in it.
3. Cover my aquarium so the water won't splash.
4. Put me on the floor of the car, not in the trunk.
5. During the trip, if you need too make an overnight stop, don't leave me alone in the car. It can get too cold or too hot.
6. When you stop, take this opportunity to open my cover for fresh oxygen.

It may be a good idea to put layers on the bottom of the floor. I still splash...

Once you get to the new place, you can add the decorations back, add some water and make yourself home.

Just a tip to transport fish for a long trip...

How to clean gunk from steel shot tumbler.

If you are using steel shot tumbler to polish or clean sterling silver, after a few tumbling, the stell shot will eventually turned "gunky".

There is a solution you can get at a jewelry store to clean it or you can choose a simpler, more affordable option, classic coke.

Just pour the coke till it all cover the steel shot and let it run for at least 20 minutes and then rinse it. You will be surprise to see the result. Your steel shot is as clean as new.

What do you think?