For the People. With the People.

 

 

The last project realizing by Sustain Haiti makes me proud of being part of this great organization. Last year, we met with Kenson (member of a local organization in Ca-Ira, Leogane) who was very interested in working with us to provide clean water to the people of Ca-Ira. people, live in part of the city, used to work or take canoes for a long distance to get clean water. Now, they have water in their backwards or couple yards away due to the new well and water system we teamed up with the local population and other NGOs to drill.

The project had been done in two phases:

1. The drilling- Near to 140 feet deep and was drilled with some sophisticated equipment. We were able to team up with Alpha and Omega of Georgia State to make the drilling possible and pay for the cost. The water is coming with a speed that vanishes away all the concerns we had on the quantity and quality of the water. We anticipated using three inch diameter pipes; but the pressure and the volume of the water is so strong after the drilling, we had to use four inch pipes instead. The speed… you can fill up your five gallon bucket in exactly four second. In addition, the water has been tested drinkable by CARE with no treatment for more than 24 hours contained in a recipient.
   
2. The piping and tap water- with so much water pressure, we decided to distribute the water at different points in the area to serve about 5,000 people. There are six water points or stations on the well: three are located in the West, two East, and one North from the well (see illustration below). Nearly two miles PVC pipes have been use to build the system.
   

   Not to forget… most people and landlords along the road, where we passed the pipes, have tap water in their backyards.
   

   And the big protagonists to make it happen: Sustain Haiti working side by side with the local people in Ca-ira and Bwa Lam. People like Kenson from Ca-Ira (he is the MAN), Frantz Nasson from route Ca-Ira, and the group Aegon.
   

To Sustain Haiti, many people are grateful to the dream team for playing a key role to make project possible. They love what you did for them. –they want me to thank Dustin for his great leadership and vision on this project and for extending his trip to make sure it happened, and all the volunteers from the States, Canada, Columbia, and Leogane who work so hard- You guys rock!!!

Above all, big thank you to big sponsor, Pinnacle Security for their support- Mickey and Kevin (VPs at Pinnacle), thank you guys for your vision and your leaderships. Without you, guys, great project like this and many others we're doing would not be possible. Go Pinnacle Security!

Reach the Children really reached out to the poor children of the true God in Haiti by taking good care of us. Special thank you to Pat and Kevin Clarson; and for Mary Harris… she is awesome!!!

And at last not the least, to the Doers… Thank you to the Sustain Haiti US team who worked so hard this summer to fulfill our needs. To Josh for an outstanding PR. Rob and Tyler, great logistics guys! Ben, very proactive health manager. Zack, Warner, and Dustin… The MANAGERS who are the Super Heroes!

Team, you did not change the world this summer. But you greatly changed Haiti. Way to go team!!!

 

1Ca-Ira Water System

 

 

For the People. With the People.

 

 

The last project realizing by Sustain Haiti makes me proud of being part of this great organization. Last year, we met with Kenson (member of a local organization in Ca-Ira, Leogane) who was very interested in working with us to provide clean water to the people of Ca-Ira. people, live in part of the city, used to work or take canoes for a long distance to get clean water. Now, they have water in their backwards or couple yards away due to the new well and water system we teamed up with the local population and other NGOs to drill.

The project had been done in two phases:

1. The drilling- Near to 140 feet deep and was drilled with some sophisticated equipment. We were able to team up with Alpha and Omega of Georgia State to make the drilling possible and pay for the cost. The water is coming with a speed that vanishes away all the concerns we had on the quantity and quality of the water. We anticipated using three inch diameter pipes; but the pressure and the volume of the water is so strong after the drilling, we had to use four inch pipes instead. The speed… you can fill up your five gallon bucket in exactly four second. In addition, the water has been tested drinkable by CARE with no treatment for more than 24 hours contained in a recipient.
   
2. The piping and tap water- with so much water pressure, we decided to distribute the water at different points in the area to serve about 5,000 people. There are six water points or stations on the well: three are located in the West, two East, and one North from the well (see illustration). Nearly two miles PVC pipes have been use to build the system.
   

   Not to forget… most people and landlords along the road, where we passed the pipes, have tap water in their backyards.
   

   And the big protagonists to make it happen: Sustain Haiti working side by side with the local people in Ca-ira and Bwa Lam. People like Kenson from Ca-Ira (he is the MAN), Frantz Nasson from route Ca-Ira, and the group Aegon.
   

To Sustain Haiti, many people are grateful to the dream team for playing a key role to make project possible. They love what you did for them. –they want me to thank Dustin for his great leadership and vision on this project and for extending his trip to make sure it happened, and all the volunteers from the States, Canada, Columbia, and Leogane who work so hard- You guys rock!!!

Above all, big thank you to big sponsor, Pinnacle Security for their support- Mickey and Kevin (VPs at Pinnacle), thank you guys for your vision and your leaderships. Without you, guys, great project like this and many others we're doing would not be possible. Go Pinnacle Security!

Reach the Children really reached out to the poor children of the true God in Haiti by taking good care of us. Special thank you to Pat and Kevin Clarson; and for Mary Harris… she is awesome!!!

And at last not the least, to the Doers… Thank you to the Sustain Haiti US team who worked so hard this summer to fulfill our needs. To Josh for an outstanding PR. Rob and Tyler, great logistics guys! Ben, very proactive health manager. Zack, Warner, and Dustin… The MANAGERS who are the Super Heroes!

Team, you did not change the world this summer. But you greatly changed Haiti. Way to go team!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Emergency Services

After a nice ride to Port-au-Prince to drop Craig (one of our volunteers), I did all the driving around the city since it is a very different style than other countries. Although, Dustin was behind the wheel after we left the city on our way back to Leogane. When we saw a young man laying in the middle of the road… he was dead… He was standing in the back of a “Tap Tap”, which a common transportation in Haiti, when a truck the back of the Tap Tap. As we’re passing by, I could see other people covered with blood and looked desperate for help. It didn’t take us more than a second to decide to turn around the vehicle and get two of them, the worst one, in the car with the help on some local guys. Because the traffic was so bad, I had to keep honking as we were trying to pass other vehicle on the road. “No time to lose. It’s emergency time”. Dustin, in the back of the truck, did a perfect job to stop the bleedings and get them water. After twenty minutes of ride, we could finally get them to the hospital.
What a relief it was when we finally got into the hospital! The ER crew was right there waiting to rush them. I could say at that time, after a job well done, we did some good today. Saving life! There were the perfect strangers to Dustin and me but, as the Good Samaritan, we did exactly what the Lord would do.
Aren’t we here to support the Haitian people? How could we dare saying that while driving by someone who needs help and not helping out?
In Sustain Haiti, this is what we come to do and this is exactly what we’re doing. It is our common believes.
In fact, the difference between us and others NGOs around is our accessibility to the people in the city of Leogane. Every day you can notice a bunch of kids and young friends in front of our gate saying hi to us. They know and recognize most of our volunteers by names. Which I am proud of, and I can bet you won’t find such amongst others, even those working with kids and youth.
What a blessing we have to be able to serve the people in Haiti. We do not have any pride for our accomplishment rather, we feel humble in front of such great love. How grateful I am for being part of the Sustain Haiti group!

Eyes’ Witnesses and Doers of Haiti!

This post was published to Rony's Technical Blog at 7:42:23 PM 5/29/2010
Eyes’ Witnesses and Doers of Haiti!


Now a month since I’ve been back to Haiti, and the things I am a witness of give me a bittersweet feeling. One of the things I have the privilege to see every day is the resilience of the Haitian people. Whether most of them are sleeping under a simple sheet as shelter, they still can smile and very excited about life. Instead of tears, they transform their fear into sarcasm, instead of mourning, they are showing how grateful are they for being alive and worshiping according t their beliefs with faith and devotion. Amongst them, I count many friends and relatives.
Everything that is happening now in the country makes me feel humble.
Like my visit last week to town of Beaudin. Although close to Leogane and Jacmel, it is unbelievable to see the misery existing there. It takes one hour and forty five minutes be motorcycle to get to a place that could easily be doing in twenty five minutes because of the condition of the road. It is really hard to imagine such way of life. This is a place where what supposed to be normal or basic is a luxury. Even drinking water is not a right for those people. Most of them don’t even know if the word “ELECTRICITY” is even real. For all their life, they have not seen it at least once.
However, being around those poor individuals makes me humble. Everything they do is an expression of misery for me, whereas, they manage to turn everything to joy. I am mad hearing their stories about how far and how difficult was it to go get some water miles away down the cliff, but the smile they have by sharing such story make me feel stupid. How can someone has courage to keep going on with life? How can someone can be so happy when what it suppose to be a right or the basic of life becomes a luxury? Besides, they are on their own. And no one cares about their existence.
“I have a dream today” that one day people many areas of Haiti will be able to drink clean water to quench their thirsts, and eat to satisfy their hunger. I will not rest or die before it happens.

An orphange yard in Beaudin.

The source of water of the town.

On the way to the town of Beaudin

The road.

Haiti after a week

After spending one week on the streets of Port-au-Prince and Leogane, there isn’t enough words to describe the situation although it is three months now since the disaster happened. In order to have a better understanding urgency existing in the Haiti, I decided to take a walk around the city. Mostly, I could not believe that so many places that I use to know do not exist anymore. Besides, due to the condition of the road, it is extremely difficult to get around the city. It can take two to three hours just to travel one two miles. But if you the art of driving in Haiti, it can be a lot faster. As I walked down the street where my dear friend Luc died, I became to realize how tragic was January 12 for the population. I understand how hard it is for people who hard to be in Haiti during tragedy.

I decided to visit with some families who lost everything on January the 12 disaster. I scarcely can believe where the courage to smile comes from. As I was visited with Luc’s family, I had to be strong and hiding my tears from them. However, it was so sad to hear them telling how they slept when the rain came. Can you imagine a six-year old boy standing on corner of some piece of metal waiting for long hours before to be able to sleep at 11 in the evening? Not more than one hour after I left it started to rain. The worst part is the landlord asking them to move out of the property. Four people living in a space smaller than the kitchen they used to own is not fun at all. Unfortunately, this is the new way of live on the streets of Port-au-Prince: eat whatever you can find, drink whatever is giving, sleep wherever you find, and smile to as much as people you meet. However, we are so thrilled to be here between those humble people.

A qui se confier?

On dit souvent que ''Nul n'est prophète a son pays. ''Ou encore ''Ce n'est qu'après leurs mort que les grand sont devenues grands.'' Si nous comprenons bien ces dires la, nous saurons aussi pourquoi les Humanistes ont toujours été l'objet de persécutions et des offenses. Commençant par le plus grand des Humanistes – Jésus Le Christ – Lui qui était venu pour nous apprendre le chemin de la perfection : l'amour de Dieu et du prochain, et le respect de soi-même et le respect en vers autrui. Était devenu un sujet de moquerie pour nous qui lui avons été crucifié. Prenons le cas du vrai père de l'Amérique, le Voyant Lehi qui prophétisait 600 av. J-C de la venue d'un Messie, on cherchait à lui ôter la vie. Parmi les persécuteurs, familles et amis.

Pouvons-nous aussi ignorer la mort injuste du père de la philosophie morale – Socrate ? Lui qui a légué beaucoup pour l'humanité relatant la vie en communauté. Ne connaissant même pas que la naissance de Seigneur était de l'autre coté de la porte, il a enseigné a ses élèves que le sage doit espérer en un séjour divin après la mort.

Des humanistes comme : Mohandas Gandhi et Mère Theresa en Inde, Nelson Mandela de l'Afrique du Sud, Harriet Tubman des Etats-Unis, ou encore plus près de chez nous, l'immortel Jean Dominique. Ces gens là ont combattu non seulement pour la liberté mais aussi pour l'épanouissement éthique de l'humanité. Leurs contributions apportées influencent le monde à perpétuité. Ainsi, Jean Dominique n'a pas été un homme politique comme on veut faire son portrait, mais il a embrassé la politique comme véhicule de changement, pour faire connaitre aux politiciens le sort des défavorisés du pays.

Ainsi, Guesno Mardy a choisi de faire connaitre au monde que les enfants sont le demain de notre société. on n'arriverait jamais à comprendre son service a l'humanité tant qu'on n'aurait pas la chance voir des enfants qui ont été aidés à réaliser ses potentiels. Guesno Mardy n'avait pas choisi le chemin des orphelins à des buts lucratifs. Mais étant qu'Humaniste tout comme les autres Humanistes, il est quelqu'un qui vit et subit les misères que connaissent la majorité de la population Haïtienne ; il a décidé de ne pas laisser souffrir, comme il a, la génération montante de la société Haïtienne.

Les épreuves de Guesno Mardy ne sont a cause d'un intérêt mesquin, mais a cause qu'il est un vrai humaniste tout comme Mère Theresa qui a consacrée sa vie auprès des malades défavorisés. Encore, tout comme Harriet Tubman
qui a bravés tous les dangers pour l'émancipation des ''Negros'' entre les mains des ''Blancs''.

Aujourd'hui, s'il est demandé de citer un héro contemporain de la terre montagneuse, fièrement le premier à citer est Guesno MARDY.

Il est notre héro et l'inspiration pour la grande partir de la jeunesse haïtienne, particulièrement les enfants défavorisés.

D'ici ou dans l'au-delà, ses œuvres seront toujours reconnues.

 

Spenchy 

The King of pop memorial service is live here!!!

Live streaming video by Ustream

Data Loss, a Fault Tolerance?

As vast as IT can be, it is only one thing information or Data manipulation. That is why when it comes to data protection everyone should feel concerned. Whether directly or indirectly, we all can be affected by the loss of data. Regarding this issue 43% of PC users in the world lose some data. To prevent this, people are advice to do online back-up. For many, online backup of their data looks like a great opportunity while others think it is not that great. It is important to address this issue so that our readers can decide whether to consider online Back-up of their data or not.

    According to CNN, of those who store personal data on their machines, only 57 percent back up their data. Among users who don't back up their data, over a third said it hadn't occurred to them to do so, while another 31 percent said it simply wasn't important to them (CNN Money). Many between them continue to do their back-up using the tradition methods of CD, DVD, and additional hard drives. These are great and smart ways to keep data safe against threats.

    These methods, as mention earlier, are good especially with the involvement and hackers, computer crashes, and threats. They are safe until fire or any other natural disaster happens. The possibility of failure happens to arrive. So, there are still some inconveniences with those personal and safe methods of backing up data. According to USA Today, About 70% of business people have experienced data loss due to accidental deletion, disk or system failure, viruses, fire or some other disaster (USA Today).

    Although it might have some inconvenience also, it seems that the solution to the crisis of data safety depends on in online back up. There is no need to carry them anymore and online back \-up can be accessible anywhere in the world. You can develop your own patterns to keep them safe in case of system hacking. For example divide important data in different segment that only you can understand you restore the file in a whole. Online back-up can save you in many cases regarding the convenience and accessibility that it offers.

Ref

CNN Money: Data backup no big deal to many, until... (2009) Retrieved in February 10, 2009

http://money.cnn.com/2006/06/07/technology/data_loss/index.htm

 

USA Today: Lost digital data cost businesses billions (2006). Retrieved in February 10, 2009

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/technology/2006-06-11-lost-data_x.htm

How to shut down your computer remotely

Once in a while it happens to be that we have some do on a PC like: Installing software, running an antivirus. But unfortunately, something comes up and requires leaving immediately. So, leaving the computer open can make you worry of other people using it.

You might wonder how you can set up your system to shut down automatic. This is the reason I write this tutorial, I will explain in details how to shut down your computer remotely.

To get started, you will need:

1. An E-mail account ( pop3 like Gmail)
   
2. An Outlook account
   
3. A Cell Phone
   
4. A kwiry account
   

Step one: you need to create a file names "shutdown.bat" in notepad with the line of "c:\windows\system32\shutdown –s –f –t 00"

The second step is to set up Outlook as pop3 account.

To do so, go to tools, Account settings, new, then select Microsoft Exchange, PO3, IMAP, or HTML

Then next to enter your POP3 E-mail account and password.

Our incoming mail server will "pop.gmail.com" if our email is an email account and our outgoing mail server will be "smtp.gmail.com". Fill out the rest then click on More Settings.

Click on advanced. Incoming server will be setting up at 995 and outgoing server at 587 then ok to close the box. Click next. Then finish.

Now we are going to create our kwiry account. We go to www.kwiry.com

We sign up to an account that will allow us to send text messaging to our email account.

Now we go back to Outlook. We will set up send/receive to be updating every minute.

Then we go tools, Rules and Alerts. Click on new Rule. Then blank Rule, check messages when they arrive. Select Specific subject, then Specific word. Type in the box " your kwiry-shutdown"

Then we select start application, and the application then browse for the application file "shutdown.bat". Then we click next and then finish.

Now to shutdown our PC, we are going to send a text message from our cell phone to "59479" with the word "shutdown".

Here we go! It's working for me.

Thank you for commenting my blog.

Your DHCP is not authorized?

Most of the time you start your Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) and it returns an error. This issue occurs most of the time with the use of an incorrect IP address for the DHCP server that is being authorized in Active Directory Domain Services. Therefore, Active Directory Domain Services does not recognize the DHCP server when the DHCP server role is installed. It can be very difficult to resolve since Server Manager does not prompt you when Active Directory Domain Services does not recognize the DHCP server.

The first in resolving the issue is to:

1. Click on Start, Administration Tools, then DHCP.
   
2. In the DHCP MMC snap-in, right-click the DHCP server name, and then click Authorize.
   
3. To exit the DHCP MMC snap-in, click Exit on the File menu.
   

This should put you on the right path to resolve the issue. Although, you might need to restart the DHCP Server before the change can take effect. Then click Start, Network, Network and Sharing center, and then make sure the Server and the Network are connected. The go back to Server Manager DHCP services are started. Make sure it sets on automatic. However, you need to make sure you setup statics addresses on the Server and on the Client.

This should let you ping your IP from any Client on the Network.

Reference:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/954416

The Beauty of GIS

Geographic Information System is a powerful computer system that allows business to be more competitive than ever before. The idea behind GIS is to make geographical information available at the fingertips to the users of the technology. Knowing the necessity of this tool, this article is designed to give a better understanding of Geographic Information System GIS.
GIS has four interactive components: an input subsystem for converting into digital form (digitizing) maps and other spatial data; a storage and retrieval subsystem; an analysis subsystem; and an output subsystem for producing maps, tables, and answers to geographic queries. GIS is frequently used by environmental and urban planners, marketing researchers, retail site analysts, water resource specialists, and other professionals whose work relies on maps. GIS also helps in decision making about where might be a potential risk for businesses.
The use of GIS for your business idea will help you to be on top of the core competition. “It facilitates modeling of processes in both space and time and has been the focus of much research investment. It has a massive range of potential applications in a wide range of areas, such as the planning of public facilities” (Britannica). “GIS represents points as individual, uniform chunks of the Earth, usually squares, called grid cells. Collections of grid cells represent lines and areas” (Michael N. DeMers).

Instruction in GIS operation and use is now a core component of many degree programs. Many universities offer specialist qualifications in GIS and conferences of GIS users are by far the largest regular gatherings involving geographers. To some this modern expression of cartography comprises a geographic information science, part of a larger field of geoinformatics; it provides many geography graduates with a heavily demanded key skill, and its research and applications potential offers a secure foundation for the discipline's future.

References:
Encyclopedia Britannica: Geography Information System. (2009).
Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved February 6, 2009,Encyclopædia Britannica Online: http://search.eb.com/eb/article-272859

Michael N. DeMers: GIS. (2009). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved February 6, 2009, Encyclopædia Britannica Online: http://search.eb.com/eb/article-9396653

Clustering your server!

This week in my Windows 2008 Server class, I had the assignment to create a share folder with a quota. But while restarting my server, it crashed and had to be reinstalled.So, I couldn't finish my task.
I wonder if I were a network administrator how I could avoid getting fired for that. Then I thought I about the figure in the 4th page of the book "Hands-On Microsoft Windows Server 2008" by Micheal Palmer, ISBN: 9781423902384, the figure is about CLUSTERING SERVER. I then immediately realized how beautiful and relaxing is it to cluster my network.
In fact, the Microsoft Cluster Server (MSCS)is a software included in the Windows Server Enterprise that will allow you to connect two servers together, as you can see in the figure. That will the second one to take over instantly in case of a failure on Server one. This process calls FAILOVER.

In order for the standby server to take over, it has to know when the main server is down. The standby Server must synchronize its state with the state of the failed server. There are basically three different approaches to synchronization:
1- Transaction log which is a periodic update of the standby with the active server.
2- Hot standby is a copy immediate of the active server before the crash by the standby one.
3- Shared storage is when both servers are active at the same time in the same database.
Either one of those three methods will allow your standby server to be backing up automatically a crash is occur.
I hope this post will bring new idea to you about how to avoid your system entirely down.

An easy way to use successfully Windows deployment Services

As an important tool to save money and time on installation desired on a network, Windows Deployment Services (WDS) can be installed in a very simple way. Whether you are have its successor: Remote Installation Services (RIS) installed and willing to deploy Windows Vista or older Windows versions on your network, this step by step tutorial will guide you to a successful and happy deployment.

If you have Windows 2003 with PS2 with RIS installed but configured yet, to install Windows Deployment Services, click it from Add/Remove Windows Components. When the installation is completed, restart the server. It will a few minutes to complete the installation.

Now that the installation is complete, you need to configure the server following these steps:

1) On the Start menu, click Administrative Tools, and then click Windows Deployment Services.

2) In the left pane of the Windows Deployment Services MMC snap-in, expand the server list. If there is not a server listed under the Servers node, right-click the Servers node and click Add Server to add the local computer.

3) Right-click the server that you want to manage, and click Configure Server. If the server is not in the servers list, right-click the Servers node to add a server.

4) At the Welcome page, click Next.

5) At the Remote Installation Folder Location page, do one of the following:

a. If this is a new installation of Windows Deployment Services (that is, if the server has not been running RIS), click Next to accept the default location of C:\RemoteInstall.

b. If the server has been running RIS (that is, if you are moving from Legacy to Mixed modes) you should specify the location of your existing RemoteInstall folder. However, note that the location should not be on the system partition.

6) If the Microsoft DHCP service is on the server that is being configured as a Windows Deployment Services server, set DHCP Option 60 to PXEClient and set Windows Deployment Services to Do not listen on Port 67.

7) On the PXE Server Initial Settings page, select how you want the server to respond to clients. Known client computers are computers that have been created (prestaged) in Active Directory before the operating system is installed. For more information, see the PXE Boot chapter at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=81031.

8) Click Finish to complete the configuration.

9) Clear the Add images to Windows Deployment Services now check box, then click Finish.

10) If you want to modify any of the settings of the server, right-click the server in the MMC-snap in, and clicking Properties.

Now you're done configuring the server, all you have left is to add images. One of the most popular pieces of software used to make the process smooth is the Norton Ghost. Although, there is many on the market that you can choose from, I would recommend the Norton Ghost.

Thanks for reading my blog.

References: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc766320.aspx

My first blog

This is the new blog that I created to share about my finding in my computer classes.