Note: There will be two parts to this blog entry: one part will be a Q&A section and the other part is just some extra information in blog format. Also note that the Q&A section is not 100% accurate but only a slight difference to what had taken place.
A: I am a student at Adelaide University and currently studying electrical and computer system engineering.
Q: What made you study?
A: I went to a Year 10 camp and after that I took a tour of University and that motivated me to study in the course that I do now.
Q: How did you learn how to touch type?
A: I learnt how to touch type by using MSN.
Q: What is your project?
A: Making XOs and testing them in an oven I bought on eBay to see if it withstood 65 degrees and it did. This was because the places that it was distributed were extremely hot.
Q: How long did you work on this?
A: 10 weeks.
* Joel shows a map on the projector *
Q: What is the green arrow on the map?
A: The green arrow is MIT and that was where I got my internship.
Q: What does MIT stand for?
A: MIT stands for Massachusetts Institute of Technology and that is where computers and the internet come from. The Guitar Hero also originated from there. The MIT buildings are very weird and are blocked shaped.
Q: Are you a Linux or Microsoft fan?
A: I am a Linux fan.
Q Why are you a Linux fan?
A: I am a Linux fan because it has free open source software.
* Joel opens another map *
Q: Why is there another arrow on the map?
A: The arrow there is pointing to Romania because they were going to get XOs. In Romania Macs are very expensive and everyone uses windows.
* Joel shows a picture of a rundown broken XO. *
Q: What happened to the XO?
A: It went through a trial and that trial caused the XO to be badly damaged.
Q: Aren't XOs really durable and strong?
A: They are strong but 1 in 500 will break to a normal drop.
* Joel shows a picture of him with electrical measuring equipment connected to an XO.
Q: What component in an XO used the most power?
A: The monitor used the most power and the CPU was next in line for high power usage.
Q: Do you have to check every XO for power usage?
A: No, only 1 in 1000 XOs is checked. The ones that are checked usually end up broken.
* Shows a picture of people developing the XO. *
Q: Who are they?
A: The woman is Mary Lou Jepson and she was the one who designed the display monitor on the XO. Another person in that photo is Richard Smith and he made the low level parts of the XO.
Q: What are the green sticks on an XO?
A: Excellent question, they are there to help lessen damage if the XO drops. The green sticks are also used as antennas for wireless communication.
* Shows a picture of another map with different coloured arrows and markers.
Q: Why are the pointers and markers different coloured?
A: The green markers are trial sites and the purple coloured ones are places that the XO are already being distributed. This is map is one year old.
Q: How long did you stay in America?
A: I stayed in America for approximately 3 months and had a lot of fun. I also worked with many other experience engineers and learned a lot.
Q: What courses did you take?
A: I took Maths 1, Maths 2, Physics, Geography and Accounting.
EXTRA INFORMATION SECTION:
Joel told us that he instructed an eight year old girl and a ten year old boy how to reconstruct and repair an XO. He said on their first try they took around 30mins to fully repair it. He also showed us a video for proof. He then showed us another video about a campaign in America to buy two XOs. They keep one and donate the other to someone across the world that needs it.
After some chit-chat he told us that he was on a team helping to develop a Google Chrome for the Linux. Joel said he made it that Google Chrome could show the memory size of pictures on Google Chrome and the 'Proxy Settings button.'
The lesson was fun and I bet everyone in class had learnt a lot of new things regarding the XO.
