Mr. O! A Video Blog from the Children's Museum of Houston » In The News

Stay Hungry and Foolish for Steve Jobs

Mr.O — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 20:09:56 +0000

This is a picture of the first computer I ever used: The Apple II+. I recall many hours sitting in front of it, learning to program in Basic, then, as we upgraded, I started playing games like Zork, Wizardry, Autoduel, and Ultima. Oh, and I did homework on it, I promise, Mom!

That little piece of technology slowly and irrevocably changed my life. As it continued to evolve, I evolved with it, learning new programs, new techniques of how to utilize it, and how to make it a part of my life. And I always wanted more.

Whether you are a Mac or a PC, you still owe your love of computers to Steve Jobs. Because it was him and Steve Wozniak that saw the potential for personal computers far before the computers were capable to reaching that potential. It was that foresight that has now made personal computers something in nearly everyone’s home, office, and school. And it was his belief in elegant and simple that makes them as user friendly as they are. iPods, iPhones, iPads, and all the other brands that are working to be more than what Apple created all were born from that same spark, that same need of taking what people didn’t even know that they wanted, making it elegant and simple, and then helping us see the potential.

It was Steve Jobs’s innovative mindset that pushed Apple to create the wonderful gadgets we know and love. And that, in turn, inspired his competitors to try to outdo Apple, which in turn made him work to be more innovative. No one rested on their laurels in that industry and they all pushed hard and we can all indirectly thank the rapid rate of technological growth to Steve Jobs’ vision.

Many people paying tribute to Steve Jobs are looking back at his accomplishments and asking what would life have been like if he hadn’t come around. But I’m not sure this is the right approach. Steve Jobs was a forward thinker. I believe that we should all take a moment and consider where we would end up 10 years from now if he were still alive, and push towards that horizon.

Above is a video from a commencement address he gave in 2005 at Stanford University. If you don’t have time to watch all 15 minutes, there are four main points to get from it:

You can’t connect the dots of your experiences towards a future goal by looking forward. But, moving forward with the belief that the dots will eventually connect will give you the courage to follow your heart and dreams wherever they may take you.
Find what you love to do and do it. If you haven’t found it, keep looking and don’t settle.
Our time here is limited, so don’t waste it living a life based on other people’s dogma and dreams. Live your own life based on your heart and intuition
Stay hungry. Stay foolish.

Rest in peace Steve Jobs and know that I will stay hungry and stay foolish.

Getting a Sense of Smell

Mr.O — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 15:30:21 +0000

Our noses are amazing! Did you know we are nanosensors – instruments that can detect things billionths of a meter in size? That is basically what our sense of smell is able to do. And even though our noses aren’t as sensitive as some animals, they are still pretty sensitive.

Try out our Smelly Balloons experiment highlighted in this O Wow Moment episode from the Children’s Museum of Houston. Just add a little flavor extract to a latex balloon and you can still smell it! Create several and make a game to see how many people can guess correctly! But, just be careful about with whom you play the game…

Nanoscale science, the study of the behavior of particles that are billionths of a meter in length (think around the size of small viruses) and their potential applications is constantly in the news! But how to make sense of it all? Well the Children’s Museum of Houston is fortunate to be a part of the Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network (NISE Net) which has lots of information about nanoscale science and nanotechnology, including some basic introductory information as well as fun activities through its website at www.whatisnano.org. Many thanks to NISE Net who, thanks to a generous grant from the National Science Foundation, funded this O Wow Moment Episode.

2nd Annual CMH Pi Day Pie Fight

Mr.O — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 18:12:36 +0000

Pi Day (March 14th – 3/14 – 3.14 – get it?) is a celebration of all things pi. Remember from your geometry class that pi is a numerical ratio of the circumference of a circle (how big around it is) to its diameter (how far across it is). It is always the same – a non-repeating infinite series of numbers that begins 3.14159. It is used in all sorts of calculations and is a pretty indispensible mathematical tool.

So, to celebrate all things pi, the Children’s Museum of Houston hosts an annual Pi Day event, including math games, puzzles, giant paper chains, etc. However, it also happens to be Albert Einstein’s Birthday! And what is a birthday party without pie? (no, not cake…work with me here!)

So, we have started an annual tradition of a pie fight! A glorious spectacle not to be missed that involved 50 Pie Fighters, 55 cans of shaving cream, and over 500 pies! But, just in case you did miss it, enjoy the video of this year’s event! And, if you’d like, here is a link to last year’s Pi Day Pie Fight. Just make sure to come out for next year’s fight!

By the way – the pies are shaving cream pies – not exactly tasty. So, we also do pudding pies afterwards for everyone to enjoy!

***On a side note, a BIG thanks to Regions Bank for sponsoring our “O Wow Moments”!

Thank You Region’s Bank!

Mr.O — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 18:25:38 +0000

A BIG thank you to Region’s Bank. They have very generously dontated $5,000 towards the work we do on the blog and with the O Wow Moment video series. We appreciate their generosity and support of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics learning!

Check presentation by Ryan Colburn, President - Houston Region's Bank (center) to Children's Museum of Houston Executive Director Tammie Kahn (right) and Director of Education Technology Development Keith Ostfeld, aka Mr. O (left).

FlowWorks is STILL Frozen

Mr.O — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 20:00:46 +0000

Yeah, not much surprise given it was still below freezing all last night. Here are some photos from today. Enjoy and stay warm!

The full Tower and Cauldron with icicles everywhere!

Another up-close of the FlowWorks "sign" with pipes and water (now ice) wheels.

On the back of the Tower, the Dish under the Archimedes' Screws

The Hydro-Switchboard is totally frozen over. I feel for the rubber duckies!

The Junior Pipelines Squirters. Note the icicles all around the rim...

FlowWorks is Frozen!

Mr.O — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 15:54:44 +0000

Well, it dropped down to around 22°F last night and FlowWorks froze over. Enjoy the photos!

FlowWorks sign under the Cauldron

Icicles on our Cauldron!

The splash from the Big Pour created these icicles

The surface of the Currents has frozen over, but the water is still flowing underneath

One of the balls is frozen into the surface of the Locks

The Aqueduct Maze is wrapped in ice

The surface of the Dam is encased in ice and the Floodplain is filled

Given that the temperature will only get above freezing for a few hours before dropping back down into the 20′s, be sure to check back tomorrow for more photos!

Mr. O Conquers Radio!

Mr.O — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 19:53:14 +0000

Sure, I’m already out on the internet in video form, I’ve been in print articles, I’ve done live presentations, and I’ve been on TV many times, but now I’ve mastered the radio medium! Houston P.A. (public affairs) radio show hosted by Laurent Fouilloud-Buyat, which is just the fancy French spelling for Foo-You Boo-ya! (at least, that’s the way he puts it), was my latest forum for talking about my two favorite subjects: science education and the Children’s Museum of Houston! We had a great time talking together and, in fact, we chatted for so long that we decided to do a sequel on the spot! So, Mr. O will be making a return this summer to Houston P.A., so keep an ear out!

Check out Laurent’s blog (esp. my entry) here. It also has a link to a copy of the interview on podcast (which you can listen to instantly here).

Droids at CMH

Mr.O — Sat, 29 May 2010 14:00:05 +0000

Last Saturday we hosted our annual Young Inventors’ Showcase and we were visited by two very special guests – astromech droids based on those seen in Star Wars! Dan Stuettgen with his R6D1 and Jaime McShan with his R2D2, both members of the Texas Area Droid Builders, were kind enough to show off their many, many hours of hard work with their fully remote-controlled droids and, as you’ll see, the kids LOVED them. Enjoy!

New Exhibit Sneak Peek

Mr.O — Thu, 27 May 2010 15:26:21 +0000

The Children’s Museum of Houston has a new exhibit about to open Friday, May 28th! Here’s a little sneak peek into Secrets of Circles…

We hope to see you out here this summer! Don’t miss it!

Oil Plumes in Gulf Coast

Mr.O — Mon, 17 May 2010 16:36:54 +0000

Although there has been progress in slowing it (as you can see in the video above), the oil spill coming from BP’s oil well in the Gulf of Mexico appears to be much worse than realized, which isn’t all that surprising. After all, they are dealing with the spill occurring as a massive rate about a mile below the surface of the water. At that depth, they are dealing with very low temperatures and very high pressures, one of the reasons the first attempt to cap the well by BP was unsuccessful. So now we have video evidence from the site of the actual leak showing that the leak may be 5-14 times faster than believed to be based on surface appearances.

But why don’t the two correlate? After all, the oil has to be somewhere. Well, scientists have also discovered very large oil plumes. Think of them as “oil clouds” under the ocean’s surface, in some cases miles in size and at various depths. These plumes help explain the discrepancy between the video flow evidence and the satellite images of the spill. But, how is that possible when we learned in elementary school science that oil is less dense than water and will float in water?

Well, BP added in another variable – the use of chemical dispersants injected directly into the oil flow. The goal was to break up the oil into much smaller particles that would spread out much further, thereby decreasing the overall concentrated effect of the oil spill, a worthy goal. However, if the oil was broken up into small enough droplets, they may not have the ability to rise as rapidly, creating the oil plumes which are starting to choke of the oxygen supply to the affected areas and may result is mass kills of ocean wildlife. Read more about it here.