Tech

National Engineering Month

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March is National Engineering Month (NEM) – Canada’s biggest celebration of engineering and engineering technology. To find out more details on what’s happening this month, visit www.nemontario.ca.

On March 4, 2015, as part of NEM and Engineers Without Borders, I delivered a “Water for the World” Workshop for Grade 8 students at the New Toronto Public Library in South Etobicoke. My co-presenter Fidel and I introduced the students to the issues surrounding global access to clean water, and how they can make a difference. As part of the workshop, we had the student create a (rogue) water filter. The water filters that they made are not the ones being used in urban homes, rather they are something that would be used by people in poorer countries/areas where their water source consists of dirty, somewhat muddy water (e.g. Sub-Saharan Africa).

Below are a couple of pictures from the workshop.

EWB W4TW New Toronto Public LibraryEWB W4TW Water Filter Activity

Need Gas? Gas stations along your route are now shown by Google Now

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google-now-gas-stations-on-routeHow many times has it occurred that you need gas, and when you try to search for a gas station on your phone, that gas station is impractically out of your way? Well, now apparently, Google Now displays gas stations that are actually relevant to your route.

Just make sure that when you check your phone, you have pulled over your car to the road side; or a passenger in your car can check it for you. Stay safe!

Source: Engadget | Image Credit: Kevin McLaughlin

Car Body Panels Will Soon Have Sense of Touch and Will Let You Know When Someone Damages Your Car

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Rover-Coupe-Dented-001 - by Lee from FlickrGerman automotive part supplier Hella has developed an electronic sensor that will detect dents and scratches on car body panels. Onboard cameras and GPS can be linked to the sensor to record evidence, so you will have information available whenever someone damages your car even when you are away from the car. The intelligent panels, however, are not expected to be in use by car manufacturers until 2018.

References: Engadget, Ward’s Auto | Image Credit: Lee

Get Cash Back on Groceries You Buy Easily Without Coupons

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Checkout 51
Checkout 51

If you love to use coupons, or wish you could use coupons but don’t have the time to gather, clip, and organize coupons, there’s an alternative way for you to be able to save money by getting cash back on groceries you buy. Thanks to a few apps you can download on your smartphone or tablet, you could simply just scan the receipt with the items that are featured that week, and you’ll easily get cash back on them. Once you’ve reached a certain amount, you can choose to cash it out, and they will send you a cheque or send you the amount through PayPal.

There are a number of apps available out there, but a lot of them only cater to those in the United States. If you live in Canada, here’s a list of those apps you can use:

What’s even better is you could still use coupons AND use these apps to pile on the savings!

Do you use any of these apps? Do you know of other similar apps that are available in Canada? Let me know in the comments!