Today was one of those days where a lot got done and a lot got undone. Early in the morning, I got off the phone with OLE Nepal rescheduling our meeting in regards to the low-power consumption computers. I also corresponded with the developer of the game “Canabalt”. He is interested in the idea of developing a educational version of his game to teach touch typing to kids without English as a prerequisite: education that is not only fun, but purely visual. He also plans on adapting some of his other games for this purpose. Just from our few emails, I can tell that he’s a great guy who seems very interested in helping us out.
However, today wasn’t all good. As I was testing the power consumption of the computers, a loose connection in the multimeter came undone and shorted out the power supply. The controller on the computer split in half from the surge, and quickly caught fire. This burned Shyami’s thumb, showered sparks all over my arms and hands, and ruined the motherboard (although the hard drive and RAM were not damaged). I feel terrible, because Shyami had no idea about the danger of electronics. While he is fine now, a 20A current is like a kick in the chest, and I feel terrible and irresponsible that he got hurt. I quickly took him to the bathroom to run his thumb under cold water, but there’s still a small burn mark on his hand. Ouch.
To make up for it, I took him out to get lunch. Our neighbor (who is around Shyami’s age) came out with us, so I brought my dSLR and my point and shoot and let them walk around taking photos of whatever they wanted, just like yesterday. Here are some of the photos they took.
Alternative Title: Charles Ruins a Photograph
Once we got back, I was glad to learn that we have received our first donation over $10! With this most recent donation, we are just five US dollars short of the money to buy the parts for the first computer paid for entirely by donations. Thanks everyone!
That’s all for now.
Charles
I was born in London, England. At the age of ten, I moved to Hong Kong, which opened up a whole new part of the world: Asia. Since then, I have enjoyed traveling to different locales around the world. Having graduated from High School, I am taking a gap year to work on a computer project in Nepal, and later a cultural immersion trip in Ghana. This is the blog I am using to keep the world notified. 
well done charles! i just stumbled upon your website to see how you are doing. congrats. hope all is well in nepal. proud of you man!
Charles, I have only briefly met you–in Hyde Park. Your Father generously sent me your website, and I have devoured everything written to date. I am astonished, delighted, and a bit awed by who and what you are and are doing. Thanks. Gail