Fashion, Science & Technology: World’s Lightest Material

Kind of clearing some of the older possible entries these days, hope you don't mind.

At Christmas, I was walking in UNIQLO and saw this amazingly light down jacket, whether the design is nice or not really depends on your personal taste but inarguably it has got to be the lightest down jacket by far!

Image from Uniqlo

Not sure if they still have stocks after the recent cold weather in Hong Kong (in fact, the cold weather sweeps across the entire Northern Hemisphere, with 63 associated deaths in Japan and coldest morning ever recorded of minus 32.6 degrees Celsius in Esashi, Hokkaido).

Having seen this down jacket, I was reminded of a slightly outdated news which dates back to 21st November, 2011, which talks about the successful invention of the lightest man-made material.

Image from laughingsquid.com

Quoting from the news article from New Technology News,

"It’s about one hundred times lighter than Styrofoam, with a density of 0.9 mg/cc (Milligram per Cubic Centimeter) and has extraordinarily high energy absorption properties. This is a new type of metal which is 99.9 percent air, as show in the image it can sit on top of a dandelion fluff without crushing it. This pioneering research was carried out by a research engineering team at the University of California, Irvine, HRL Laboratories and the California Institute of Technology."

Exactly what this material is made from has not been disclosed, and the suggested uses of "this metal in thermal insulation, battery electrodes and products that need to dampen sound, vibration and shock energy" does not sound exciting enough to me in any ways, but I'm continuously impressed by the release of amazing achievements in science and technology in recent days. Who knows? Maybe one day we really can wear Zero-weight clothes and shoes!!!



Vocabulary:
Northern Hemisphere -- (n) [U]

Northern Hemisphere is highlighted in yellow
Image from Wikipedia

Dandelion -- (n)

Dandelion
Image from Wikipedia

fluff -- (n) [U] small loose bits of wool or other soft material, or the down (= soft new hairs) on a young animal

Resources:
Uniqlo Page 4-5
http://www.uniqlo.com/en/essay/

Northern Hemisphere @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Hemisphere

63 dead as lowest-ever temperatures hit Japan @ CNTV
http://english.cntv.cn/program/newshour/20120205/111852.shtml

World’s Lightest Material @ New Technology News
http://www.newtechnologynews.com/technology/worlds-lightest-material/

The 'Eiffel Tower of micro-architecture' @ YouTube
http://youtu.be/GlGvL1CMl5E

Dandelion @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dandelion

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/fluff_1?q=fluff

danfodil

Message: Locky's English Playground on Singtao Student Page!!

Dear all,

Locky's English Playground is expanding!!! After the establishment of this Blogger blog, followed by Facebook page, YouTube Channel and Sina Weibo, it is taking one more step to the newspapers!!!

As of today, Locky's English Playground will appear on Singtao Student Page as a column and I have officially become a newspaper columnist (till the end of school year)!!! I would like to thank my student Agnes Hui for offering this opportunity to me to benefit more secondary school students / readers. As a teacher, more help to others means making more than a difference. Isn't that the mission of all educators?

From this Friday onwards, our Friday entry will also be the entry on the column, maybe with slight differences. I'll see what I want to add or delete.

Hope you will like our Friday special entries.

Cheers,

Locky
Founder of the Locky's English Playground

Academic Research (Literature Review): Smartphones for Teaching and Learning, Angels or Demons?

School kids using Smartphones to learn in Singapore
Image from flickr

Title: Author: Descriptors:  Publication Date:  Pages:  Last Updated:

Literature Review -- Smartphones for Teaching and Learning, Angels or Demons? Law, Locky English, ESL, EFL, Multimodality, Internet Culture, Popular Culture, Smartphones, Internet, Learning, Teaching, 2012-02-01 12 2012-07-11

Introduction:

There have been debates as to whether or not wireless devices such as smartphones or laptops should be allowed in the classrooms or even integrated them into teaching (Murray, 2011; Fang, 2009; DeVille, 2011; Rapp, 2011). As educators, understanding the benefits and the drawbacks of such mobile devices would be critical to the future of education. This article covers some of the latest literatures regarding smartphones which includes its development and application in education, looks into the importance, popularity, versatility, wireless mobility, interface personalisability, successful implementation of smartphones and dilemmas, offers educational apps for evaluations and case studies for further readings. The article concludes with an indication of the future of smartphones in education as part of mobile learning or M-learning (Sharma & Barrett, 2010).

Opinions:
For those of you who would like to read academic papers written by me. Hope this will be useful for those of you researching in related areas as well.

Resources:
Literature Review -- Smartphones for Teaching and Learning, Angels or Demons? @ Locky's English Playground

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B9emHQBd5COmcGlrel9KQy1aODA

News & Technology: Samsung Galaxy SII with ICS

Samsung Galaxy Note
Image from cbsistatic.com

A quick entry on a piece of news from Samsung, and that is after Galaxy Nexus has been rolled out with Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0), Galaxy SII and Galaxy Note will soon as proven by a post on Samsung's Norway Facebook. I wonder why a Korea-based company will allow the news to "leak" on a Norway Facebook.

Image from cbsistatic.com

This news surely sparks off some heat for the long-waited, ice-frozen "anticipants".

Some of you might be asking, what's so special about this Ice Cream Sandwich, well, thanks to my student and friend Angus, here's the video he found,

To sum up, basically I would say, Ice Cream Sandwich is an operating system which trashes iOS 5 so badly, if the Gingerbread 2.3.5 isn't already trashing it.

I've been an anticipant since the day I first got my SII. You too?

However, as mentioned in this article, we might have to wait till April to get the update, and for Hong Kong, it could be even later... fingers crossed! Let's hope it will come sooner, like end of February!



Vocabulary:
spark (off sth) -- (vb) [T] to cause the start of something, especially an argument or fighting
anticipant -- (n) [C] a word created by Locky, from anticipate + participants, refers to someone who has been anticipating to participate in an event or an activity.
trash -- (vb) [T]  informal to destroy or severely damage something
fingers crossed / cross your fingers(also keep your fingers crossed) -- to hope that things will happen in the way that you want them to

Resources:

Samsung's Galaxy Note and S II getting Ice Cream Sandwich soon @ CNet.com
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-57368795-1/samsungs-galaxy-note-and-s-ii-getting-ice-cream-sandwich-soon/

Samsung Galaxy S II and Note to get Android 4.0 by March @ The Mobile Indian
http://www.themobileindian.com/news/5025_Samsung-Galaxy-S-II-and-Note-to-get-Android-4.0-by-March

Samsung Norway Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/SamsungNorge/posts/354558884556535

Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich Introduction video @ YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrYZDWuBptI


http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/trash_4
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/cross-your-fingers_2?q=fingers+crossed#cross-your-fingers_2__1

Message: New Logo for 2012!!!

Locky's English Playground is changing to a new logo, leave me a message and tell me how you think about it!

Thank you!

Locky

People & Photography: Tom Ang, Books & App

Image from Tom Ang

An Asian who definitely loves Hong Kong (and many other countries in fact), Tom Ang is a highly-experienced photographer with over 42 years of photo-shooting who taught in the University of Westminster for over 12 years, a best-selling author who has written 21 books and more, a true passionate educator!

Here are just some of his best.

I came across this book while loitering in a Joint Publishing flagship bookstore and I found this book Digital Photography Masterclass and I loved it! It only costs $150 after special discount, it was fully written in English and there are numerous descriptive words and photography terms to learn, wonderful photos beautifully colour-printed on every page, wonderfully suits the taste of any English and/or photography lovers.

Image from Tom Ang

I really wanted to get it, but because it was really thick and I didn't have hands to carry, so I haven't bought it. I have yet to return to the bookstore but I  will definitely get it next time!! If you have even a bit of interest in photography, I highly recommend you go to your nearby bookstore and pick up any one of these books and give it a go!!!

Image from Tom Ang

Before I sign off, iPhone users will be happy to get this little gift from me (actually Tom Ang), and that is Tom's Photography Tutorial App with 85 tutorials of the book How to Photograph  Absolutely Everything. It is NOT free but it is not expensive either.


Here's the link: http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/dk-tom-angs-digital-photography/id483102633?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D4%2522%2520target%253D%2522itunes_store%2522%253EDK%2520Tom%2520Ang%2527s%2520Digital%2520Photography%2520-%2520Dorling%2520Kindersley

More about his books after I have get my hands on them.

Vocabulary:
loiter -- (vb) [I] to move slowly around or stand especially in a public place without an obvious reason
give it a go -- (idiomatic) to try or to attempt
get my hands on sth -- to succeed in obtaining something


Resources:

Tom Ang Official Website
www.tomang.com

Tom Ang @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Ang

Tom Ang Photography app for iPhone @ Tom Ang
http://www.tomang.com/?page_id=112&bookId=13

DK Tom Ang's Digital Photography @ App Store
http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/dk-tom-angs-digital-photography/id483102633?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D4%2522%2520target%253D%2522itunes_store%2522%253EDK%2520Tom%2520Ang%2527s%2520Digital%2520Photography%2520-%2520Dorling%2520Kindersley

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/loiter?q=loiter
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/give_it_a_go
http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/get+hands+on