News

Rock it retro style with The Beatles: Rock Band

If you don't know who the Beatles are, ask your Mum which of them she had a crush on, or which one your Dad tried to do cool impersonations of.

And if that doesn't work, try the new video game The Beatles: Rock Band, coming out in September.

You can play it on your Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 or Wii, and it costs $59.99. You can also get guitars for $99.99 and the whole game and guitar package for $249.99. The game will work with all Rock Band instrument
controllers and current music-based video game controllers.

The Beatles: Rock Band is an interactive video game published by MTV Games and developed by Harmonix, the creator of Rock Band (www.rockband.com). They makers say they had the creative input and blessing of band members Sir Paul McCartney and Ringo Star - the two surviving members of the band - along with the widow of former band member John Lennon (George Harrision was the other Beatle).

Spelling his way to the US of A

The NZ Vegemite Spelling Bee Final (www.spellingbee.co.nz) was held in Wellington on Saturday 21 March. After 90 minutes of nail-
biting drama, Christopher Jury, a 13-year-old from Hamilton Boys High School, was declared champion.
"You could hear a pin drop in the hall. It was round after gruelling round," said the event's manager, Janet Lucas. "The calibre of this year's contestants was exceptionally high." Christopher's winning word was "iterative". He says he's excited about the prospect of representing New Zealand at the US Final but realises he'll have to do a lot of preparation.

Big Aussie bank targets school banking

Did you know 75 percent of 8-12 year olds either don't have a bank account or rarely use one?

That's according to an ASB Bank SmartStart Survey. How many banks can you name? More than half of the students surveyed could only name one. And maybe you're one of those kids surveyed who thinks money comes "from a hole in the wall". The survey, carried out with Young Enterprise Trust, asked over 450 eight- to 12-year-olds from 20 schools about their understanding of saving money. The CEO of the Young Enterprise Trust says the habit of saving is becoming a lost art in New Zealand. "School banking is important because it starts the habit of saving while young. As New Zealanders currently spend $1.14 for every dollar they earn, we want to reverse this trend for the next generation of earners," says Donna Dentice. The first step to financial literacy is learning you have to actually earn the money before the "hole in the wall" will let you have it.

Student stretched by stubborn tents

From now on, packing the tent away at the end of a camping trip will be less of a chore thanks to an innovative invention developed by a 12-year-old Matamata school student. Beth Hampton discovered many people found getting tents back into their bags a challenge, so she went looking for a solution. She set about researching, developing, designing and constructing a new kind of tent bag. Beth says it took about two months to develop her stretchy tent bag which she then trialled with a canoeing guide, family and friends. "They came back and loved it," says Beth. Beth's project won her an award last year at the Matamata Intermediate Science and Technology Fair and Ingham's East Waikato Science and Technology Fair. "Science and technology is fun and exciting," says Beth. "I encourage people to get involved."

Want to be a data detective?

What are your favourite school subjects? How much does your school bag weigh? And which super-power would you choose if you could? About 50,000 Year 5 to Year 13 students are answering these questions and a host of others for the online CensusAtSchool 2009. The 35-question survey aims to raise students' interest in mathematics and statistics, and provide a sketch of what they're thinking, feeling and doing. "It's about making numbers practical, fun and relevant to young people," says co-director Rachel Cunliffe, a statistics lecturer at the University of Auckland's Department of Statistics. "We're encouraging them to be data detectives." The census is part of an international effort to boost the statistical capabilities of young people in Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada and South Africa.

Shower Boss wins sustainable design award

Queuing for the shower was the driver behind Emil Martin's winning entry in the AUT University Sustainability Design Challenge 2008. Being from a family of four teenage boys, the Christchurch teenager was used to his parents yelling "Don't be so long in the shower!" The brief was to develop an idea for an object, product or device that could minimise people's impact on the environment, contribute to improving the environment or both. Emil decided to design a device that could limit shower time to reduce use of electricity, water and shrink the power bill. He came up with Shower Boss, a programmable device that can be fitted to an existing shower between the mixer and the shower head. Emil won the Adobe Creative Suite 3 Design software suite, and maybe he won't be hassled in the shower any more.

The galaxy's coolest spy comes to PlayStation2

The galaxy's most lovable secret agent, and star of one of 2008's most popular PSP (PlayStation Portable) titles, has charmed his way onto PlayStation2. Part of the multi million-selling Ratchet and Clank franchise, lovable spoof-spy adventure Secret Agent Clank arrives on PlayStation 2 this Spring for PAL regions. Discover why this cheeky little robot made such a splash on PSP last summer at www.ratchetandclankps3.com/secretagentclank.

Technology innovation has a cool new home

The University of Canterbury is opening a new ICT Innovation Institute called NZi3 to "make IT sexy to school leavers". The university says it wants to combat the shortage of qualified IT graduates, which it puts down to parents who experienced the dot-com bubble bursting telling their kids not to go into the industry. The institute also wants to overcome the computer nerd image surrounding IT. It's hoped the purpose-built facility will be finished in time for an opening function later this month, where Prime Minister John Key will be a guest. An example of the research being done is the development of an indoor helicopter that surveys the inside of buildings and transmits pictures to computers for analysis. Founding partners include IBM, HP, Jade Software and Tait Electronics.

The Formula 1 of the soapbox world

In the Pakn'Save Eastern Suburbs Soap Box Derby, Sacred Heart School won with a time of 34.330 seconds. Pt England School came second in the event with a time of 34.459 seconds, but also won the best pit crew, best-designed car and fastest driver categories. The event took place in Auckland's Eastern Suburbs, at Stonefields Road Race Track on Sunday 22 March. Both winning teams now go to the national champs on 4 April in Glenfield. Pt England School is sponsored by the company Kordia, which provided the kids with radios. Each school had five drivers and five pit crew. 

HP and Te Papa show you the Monet

If you want to get up close and personal with a great piece of art, check out Te Papa, where a local printer has produced a giant print of painter Claude Monet's masterpiece "Camille Monet and a Child in the Artist's Garden in Argenteuil". The 5x5m reproduction was printed on an HP Scitex XP5300 grand format printer by Wellington-based printer Benefitz, and is hanging in the museum foyer. Museums wouldn't let you touch Monet's original, but Te Papa will let you get up close to this huge remake to see the colours and brush strokes and become an expert in his painting techniques.

First NZ Computer Clubhouse scholarships

Wiki Ripia and Ngawai Manuel, both from Otara in South Auckland, have been awarded the first local scholarships from Intel and the Computer Clubhouse.

The scholarships were awarded in the same week as the grand opening of the Clubhouse, which is part of an international network of 100 facilities where people up to the age of 18 use technology with the help of mentors.

Ngawai says the award will help towards a Bachelor of Business this year. "My family would have struggled to help me, so the scholarship means as much to them as it does to me."

The pair's scholarships recognised their commitment to the Clubhouse, community involvement, academic achievement and future goals, the local organisers of the Clubhouse say. Ngawai also attended the Computer Clubhouse Network's biannual Teen Summit in Boston.

The Clubhouse has been in New Zealand since 2005 and had its grand opening in February in Otara.

Clubhouse projects include digital artwork, producing music CDs, writing, filming and editing short movies, and design-engineering projects.

The building was opened by Mayor of Manukau City, Len Brown, with Gail Breslow, the Global Director of the Intel Computer Clubhouse Network and Stephen Tindall. The Tindall Foundation was a contributor to the project.