US$35 Raspberry Pi 2 Model B to run Windows 10 - Why Windows Developer Program for IoT is Microsoft 's IoT Push

To be honest, I’ve not been keeping up much of late with the development of the Raspberry Pi computer that's meant to give children in Third World Countries access to a computer to learn Programming as per my blog article entitled “The Evolution of the Raspberry Pi Computer into a Mainstream Wearable Computer - How to teach Computer Programming using Flying Sword of Dragon Gate”

But this morning on Monday February 2^nd 2015 when I awoke and check my Twitter feed, it was as if Christmas had arrived. Virtually every Tech Twitter feed that I subscribed was covering the launch of the Raspberry Pi 2 Model B that surprisingly costs only US$35 as noted in the article “Raspberry Pi 2 runs free Windows 10, costs $35”, published February 2, 2015 1:21 AM PST by Luke Westaway, CNET News.

This bit of News was also announced on the Raspberry Pi Foundation blog in the article “RASPBERRY PI 2 ON SALE NOW AT $35”, published 2nd Feb 2015 by Eben Upton, Raspberry Pi, the company that makes the Raspberry Pi 2 Model B, so called because there are two versions of this computer on a circuit board.

This helpful video from Element14 should also help to get you up to speed.

So aside from the price for this minicomputer, Raspberry Pi 2 Model B, which is cheaper than the US$149 Intel Compute Stick as detailed in my blog article entitled “US$149 Intel Compute Stick at CES 2015 – Computing Power in the Palm of your Hand that needs a Processor Upgrade”, what makes this dream come true for Raspberry Pi CEO and Founder Eben Upton so special?

It’s the fact that for the same price of the older model, the US$35 Raspberry Pi 2 Model B is packing some serious computing power.

US$35 Raspberry Pi 2 Model B - Upgrade is 4.5 million served and counting as Barbarians at the Gates

That’s right; you've read my heading holding your head at the right angle.

This Raspberry Pi 2 Model B can run potentially run Windows 10, the latest version of Windows as noted in the article “Raspberry Pi 2 unveiled with faster processor and more memory”, published 2 February 2015 By Leo Kelion, BBC News.

Windows 10 launched on Wednesday January 21^st 2015 as noted in the article which comes to genuine Windows 7 and Windows 8 Users as an upgrade free for one year only as noted in the article “Windows 10 Will Be A Free Upgrade For One Year”, published 1/21/2015 by Erik Kain, Forbes.

This launch came at just the right time, as their list of rivals in the hobby mini computing world is growing:

1.      Arduino

2.      BeagleBone Black

3.      Gizmo 2

4.      Hummingboard

5.      Intel Galileo

Whether or not they're in it for commercial purposes or just interested in getting children in the Developing World to have computing power to do Programming and experience the joys of using a computer to write programs remains to be seen. Still the competition is welcome, as the new Raspberry Pi 2 Model B is packing the heat.

The Raspberry Pi Foundation’s original Raspberry Pi is selling at a fast clip:

1.      200,000 sold every month

2.      4.5 million sold thus far since launch

In fact, they may eventually beat the Sinclair computer as the best selling British computer of all time to quote Raspberry Pi Founder and CEO Eben Upton, quote: “The surprise to us is that people don't buy just one Raspberry Pi. There are a lot of people with five or six. And we think those people are naturally going to want this. We are very very close to it being the bestselling British computer. I think another half a million and we will go past the Sinclair Spectrum as the bestselling British computer”.

So the competition has a lot to catch up to!

US$35 Raspberry Pi 2 Model B - A Faster SOC Processor with the same Snag Carpeting

According to the Raspberry Pi Blog, the upgrade was done in such a manner so as to preserve the connectors already being used on the original Raspberry Pi. Thus, hobbyists will not have to change anything on their Television sets or their projects to use the Raspberry Pi, which was really designed to teach kids who don't have a computer how to program, needing only Television set equipped with HDMI port.

The main upgrades include a new SoC (System on a Chip) the, BCM2836, a 900MHz quad-core ARM Cortex-A7 from Broadcom Corporation. This replaces the original BCM2835, a single 700MHz ARM11, but retains the same Processor packaging and pin configurations and functions, making it a simple snap onto the board.

Micron chipped in with a 1GB SDRAM, a serious memory upgrade from the 256MB of SDRAM that the original Raspberry Pi 1 Model B and the later upgrade Raspberry Pi 1 Model B+ possessed.

Despite this, it ran very well, being fully optimized to run the following Linux OS Distributions, which the new Raspberry Pi 2 Model B still supports:

1.      Ubuntu

2.      Iceweasel

3.      KOffice

Interestingly too, the new Raspberry Pi 2 Model B can also run Ubuntu Snappy Core, bringing this mini project board into the remote control world of the IoT (Internet of Things) as noted in my blog article entitled “Ubuntu Snappy Core for IoT – Why Ubuntu is excellent for Girls Who Code Developing Drones and Robots for IoT”.

All in all, it just a faster Raspberry Pi 2 Model B but with better shag carpeting, really!

US$35 Raspberry Pi 2 Model B - Same Ports and Open Source OS with Python Programming Tools

Along with the glorious OS choices, you also get the same connectivity features on your Raspberry Pi 2 Model B System Board as noted in the article “Raspberry Pi 2 runs a version of Windows 10 and is just $35”, published February 2, 2015 8:59 AM PST, by Luke Westaway, CNET News:

1.      4 USB ports

2.      1 HDMI

3.      1 micro USB power source

4.      1 Ethernet Port

5.      1 microSD Card slot with 64GB SD Card support

If your existing projects external devices connecting to your older Raspberry Pi Model B+, fret not, the new Raspberry Pi 2 Model B still has you covered, making your project still work without any changes in the configurations of the external I/O pin connectors:

1.      40-pin extended GPIO

2.      4-pole stereo output and composite video port,

3.      1 CSI camera port for connecting the Raspberry Pi camera

4.      DSI display port for connecting a Capacitive Touch Screen

So for those of you who are fans of programming in Python, the same libraries and software that came with the original are still available on the kit at purchase:

1.      Libav

2.      LibreOffice

3.      Pixman

4.      PyPy

5.      Scratch

6.      WebKit

7.      XBMC/Kodi

Raspberry Pi 2 Model B and Windows 10 - Running Windows Developer Program for IoT (Internet of Things)

For now however, the Raspberry Pi 2 Model B is launching with ARMv6 Raspbian as its core OS with the option to download ARMv7 Debian!

During the rest of 2015, the Raspberry Pi Foundation will be testing to see if they can upgrade via just changing the build libraries, making updating as simple as downloading a self-extracting package that can just swap out old libraries and register and install new ones.

The new Raspberry Pi 2 Model B also support Windows Developer Program for IoT (Internet of Things), not Windows 10 as the hype suggests in Raspberry Pi Founder and CEO Eben Upton on the Raspberry Pi Blog, quote: “For the last six months we've been working closely with Microsoft to bring the forthcoming Windows 10 to Raspberry Pi 2 Model B. Microsoft will have much more to share over the coming months”.

This Windows Developer Program for IoT is basically a package similar to Ubuntu Snappy Core that Microsoft is rolling out in a bid to get Developers designing Applications that can connect Hardware to the Internet. Thus the plan is to make this Windows Developer Program for IoT available to make any electronics product remote controlled with your Smartphone or Tablet and receive software updates from the Cloud, in keeping with the mantra of the IoT.

So says General Manager of Windows IoT Group, Kevin Dallas, on the Microsoft Blog article “Windows 10 Coming to Raspberry Pi 2”, published February 2, 2015 by Kevin Dallas, Windows Blog commenting on the new Raspberry Pi 2 Model B support for Windows Developer Program for IoT and yes, hyping it as Windows 10.

He gave his support for the Raspberry Pi 2 Model B, quote: “We see the maker community as an amazing source of innovation for smart, connected devices that represent the very foundation of the next wave of computing, and we're excited to be a part of this community”.

His blog doesn’t; mention that the Raspberry Pi 2 Model B but rather that Laptop and Computers upgraded for free to Windows 10 as noted in the article “Windows 10 Will Be A Free Upgrade For One Year”, published 1/21/2015 by Erik Kain, Forbes can be used for Software Development and Hardware simulations using Windows Developer Program for IoT.

In short, you can use a Laptop running Windows 10 as a simulator for the Windows Developer Program for IoT software package, a premise also offered by their competitor  Ubuntu Snappy Core as noted in my blog article entitled “Ubuntu Snappy Core for IoT – Why Ubuntu is excellent for Girls Who Code Developing Drones and Robots for IoT”.

Raspberry Pi 2 Model B and Windows 10 – US$35 Project running Windows 10 is possible

Still, with the new BCM2836, which is as 900MHz quad-core ARM Cortex-A7 from Broadcom Corporation, it’s possible that Windows 10 may be able to run within the 1GB of RAM on the Raspberry Pi 2 Model B.

I have to believe that Raspberry Pi Founder and CEO Eben Upton on the Raspberry Pi Blog is indeed being truthful when he says that Windows 10 is coming, quote: “For the last six months, we've been working closely with Microsoft to bring the forthcoming Windows 10 to Raspberry Pi 2. Microsoft will have much more to share over the coming months. The Raspberry Pi 2-compatible version of Windows 10 will be available free of charge to makers”.

Best of all, there are some twenty five (25) project you can try out if you’re not sure what to start experimenting with as noted in the article “25 fun things to do with a Raspberry Pi”, published 14 March 2014 11:20 am GMT by David Hayward, CNET News.

So is this is something that the Girls Who Code Club here in Jamaica as described in my blog article entitled “Girls Who Code Clubs Christmas eCard Project - Workshop for Software Coding Females creating Evangelion Pilots passing on their knowledge” can order online for their club Meeting at the various schools around Jamaica?

Yes you can, as you even have the option to get the original models Raspberry Pi Model A and Raspberry Pi Model B+ for US$35 as well as the updated Raspberry Pi 2 Model A that costs US$28.

At US$35 for a Raspberry Pi 2 Model B Project board, you're getting a taste of Programming for the IoT in 2015, the Year of the Sheep!

Here's the link:

Order Raspberry Pi 2 Model B Project at Element14  

Order Raspberry Pi 2 Model B Project at RS Components

ARMv7 Kernel

Ubuntu Snappy Core for Raspberry Pi Model B

Raspberry Pi Foundation

Element14 Videos on Raspberry Pi

How Marley Natural and Privateer Holdings benefit from Amendments to the Dangerous Drugs Act 2015

“There is probably no better known cultural icon related to cannabis than Bob Marley. He called cannabis the herb and he said the herb is the healing of the nation. And he wasn’t talking about a country, he was talking about mankind.”

CEO of Privateer Holdings Brendan Kennedy, commenting during the Press Release on Tuesday 18 November 2014 during the launch of Marley Natural line of Marijuana Products

Friday February 6^th is fast approaching.

For those of my readers who are Jamaican, that’s the honourable Robert “Nesta” Marley’s Birthday, for which free events involving Corporate Sponsors Digicel and various Reggae Artiste are being planned at the Bob Marley Museum, 56 Hope Road and Tuff Gong International, 220 Marcus Garvey Drive Kingston as stated in the article “Free Events On Marley's 70^th”, published Friday January 30, 2015, The Jamaica Gleaner.

The day's activities include discussions on reggae music, fashion and Film. But Marijuana (Cannabis Sativa) will be on everyone lips aside from Ben and Jerry's Bob Marley-themed Satisfy My Bowl Ice Cream as noted in my blog article entitled “Ben and Jerry's Bob Marley-themed Satisfy My Bowl Ice Cream flavour - 30th Anniversary Tribute to Bob Marley's Legend for his 1Love Foundation”.

This Birthday celebration is special as the Marley’s have entered into a partnership with Seattle-based private equity firm Privateer Holdings to make a branded Marijuana (Cannabis Sativa) product called Marley Natural as stated in the article “Reggae icon Bob Marley's family to lend name to cannabis brand”, published Tuesday, November 18, 2014 10:54 AM, The Jamaica Observer.

So says their Press Release on Tuesday November 18^th 2015 on the newly minted Marley Natural Website, possibly a placeholder for an E-commerce website to be launched with that URL (Universal Resource Locater) a little late in the 2015. Here’s a snapshot!

Despite the announcement last year in November 2014, very little has been leaked to International media as reported in “Official Bob Marley Marijuana Is Coming”, published Nov. 18, 2014 by Jacob Davidson, Time Magazine and “Bob Marley family launches ‘first world cannabis brand’”, published 19 November 2014, BBC News as to the details of the deal between the Bob Marley Family and Privateer Holdings.

What we do know is that Bob Marley had so “much things to say” about Marijuana (Cannabis Sativa) and as such, implies that Marley Natural is a part of his “conscious vibrations”, so to speak! To quote Rita Marley, Bob’s widow: “My husband believed ‘the herb’ was a natural and positive part of life and he felt it was important to the world. He looked forward to this day.”

But based on the potential products, this “first world Brand” of Marijuana (Cannabis Sativa) may potentially become a Jamaican and International competitor to Dr. Henry Lowe Medicanja, which in October 2014, a mere month later, launched their IPO (Initial Public Offering) as noted in my blog article entitled “Dr. Henry Lowe Medicanja's parent BTRDI launching IPO in 2015 - Why P.J. Patterson “fly the gate” for Hemp and Marijuana products to cure 84 ailments”.

So what is Marley Natural and will the 70^th Birthday of Robert “Nesta” Marley be a revelation of more details on the range of products to come from this partnership?

Marley’s and Privateer Holdings – Marley Natural in keeping with Father’s Spirit

Bob Marley, it seems, agrees with all of this as suggested in the article “Bob Marley fronts marijuana brand to sell healing power of the herb”, published Tuesday 18 November 2014 12.44 GMT by Dominic Rushe, the UK Guardian.

At least that’s what Cedella Marley said during the Press Conference back on Tuesday 18^th November 2014 announcing the deal, quote: “My dad would be so happy to see people understanding the healing power of the herb. He viewed the herb as something spiritual that could awaken our well-being, deepen our reflection, connect us to nature and liberate our creativity.”

Queue the Promotional video for Marley Natural!

The Marley Natural brand, which will be based in New York, will be used for a range of hemp-infused topicals and accessories made with Marijuana (Cannabis Sativa) grow on Farm in states where growing, production and processing of the plant is legal. It not only involves the plant, but as the making of e-Cigarettes, Rolling paper, Hookas and other paraphenalia associated with the traditional usage of Marijuana (Cannabis Sativa), that being smoking.

The agreement is set to kick off in the Second or Third Quarter of 2015 and is expected to last some 30 years, during which time the Marley name will be used on packaging. Plans also involve the Marley's making deals with Farmers to grow Marijuana (Cannabis Sativa) might involve Jamaican growers.

Debates on amendments to the Dangerous Drugs Act 2015 - Marley’s stand to benefit

For this reason, there is a bit more anticipation surrounding Bob Marley's Birthday. With the Senate (Upper House) now debating the amendments to the Dangerous Drugs Act 2015  as reported in my blog article entitled “Marijuana Decriminalization Debates coming January 30th 2015 - Cannabis Licensing Authority to regulate Jamaica’s Marijuana Industry as Hemp free from stigma”, now seems the right time to jump back on the Marijuana bandwagon.

Already the Upper House Debates have gone in the direction of the Rastafarians, with evident attempts from the Opposition to define “Rasta” and who are members of the Rastafarian Faith.

This in order to give them special leeway to smoke and imbibe the “Holy Sacrament” as noted in the article “Define rasta under ganja Bill — Opposition”, published Monday, February 02, 2015 by BALFORD HENRY Observer senior reporter, The Jamaica Observer.

Jamaican musicians have always been singing about Marijuana (Cannabis Sativa) as noted in the article “Moving The Marijuana”, published Sunday January 25, 2015, by Mel Cooke, Gleaner Writer, The Jamaica Gleaner, stirring up public consciousness about Marijuana (Cannabis Sativa) legalization.

Once the amendments to the Dangerous Drugs Act 2015 are passed into law, we might be seeing a gold rush towards making everything from Marijuana and Hemp based Soaps and teas, but also Marley Branded clothing promoting Bob Marley’s love for the Holy Sacrament.

That includes product made by Bob Marley backed Marley Natural and the little-known Medicanja. Can you say “competition”?

More as the Debates on the amendments to the Dangerous Drugs Act 2015 continues!

Here’s the link:

Marley Natural

Computer Hacking at MICO – Roast Breadfruit and How to install and Test Portable Apps on a Thumb Drive

I’ve improved my cooking methods so as to make more food with less, now incorporating food not only from Hi-Lo in Cross Roads but vegetables from downtown. Bagjuice and Peppersteak as noted in my blog article entitled “Cooking Restart at MICO - How to Cook a Meal in under 30 minutes and make Drinks with Bag Juice” now with Roast Breadfruit at JA$100 is now on the menu.

I purchase Roast Breadfruit from a Lady located outside of the Hi-Lo Supermarket in Cross Roads for JA$100. Good deal for a good size snack that lasts for weeks that you can cut and eat as is or fry like French fries or potato chips!

After my experiences last year with using the computers at the MICO University College, I’ve come back for my Second Semester of my Professional Diploma in Teaching a lot wiser. This time on campus, I’m no longer wearing my warm and fuzzy Green Hat on a campus overflowing with females and PNP  (People’s National Party) colours.

This time, as the theme of my Teacher Reflection Blog MICO Wars: The Teacher Force Awakens, I’ve come prepared for War!

Computer Hacking at MICO – How Portable Apps helps me avoid computer without proper software

Instead, I’m now wearing my Black Hat, symbolizing to all females on the MICO University College that Lindsworth Deer is in his Hacker mode i.e. Bluefox mode. Where I’m from, May Pen, Clarendon, May Pen is no play Pen.

As part of my transformation to my old Hacker self, I’ve begun walking with my 16 GB Thumb Drive which I’ve yet to christen with a name. But never mind that. As a part of the new me, I’ve come prepared against using computers on Campus that have slow Internet Browsers as well as slow Adobe Acrobat to read *.pdf files.

That software is Portable Apps, which I discovered after watching this video online.

The advantage of Portable Apps is that the programs are not installed into the computer, but running from a *.exe in a Portable Apps folder. This reduces the amount of installed programs on my Laptop by reducing them down to mere *.exe files, making them portable on a thumb drive as well. 

I can theoretically make my favourite programs executables and copy them unto a thumb drive and carry them anywhere I want to use them, be it on a computer at the MICO University College or any computer that doesn’t have all the programs that I need!

How to install Portable Apps – Roast Breadfruit makes a Hungry Man Patient

Since I already have a Dropbox Account and an active Dropbox folder on my Dell Latitude D520 Laptop that’s only got about 80 GB, I went to the Portable Apps website, downloaded the software and began the installation process in Dropbox as shown below.

Once installed, it’ll appear in your list of Programs. You then download all the programs you need to use. In my case, that list includes the common ones missing from the computers at MICO University College:

1.      Firefox Browser

2.      Google Chrome Browser

3.      Mozilla Thunderbird email client

4.      Skype

5.      uTorrent

6.      VLC

It then installs them one Application at a time. Now would be a good time to fry some Roast Breadfruit that I purchased from a Lady located outside of the Hi-Lo Supermarket in Cross Roads for JA$100 and munch Breadfruit chips, which are as tasty as plantain chips.

This while Portable Apps installs itself in my Dropbox on my Lappy!

After it installs itself, it’ll take awhile to upload its various components to the Cloud. You’ll notice it actively doing so after the installation of the programs you selected from the list are complete. Good to note here that this updating happens often, so be prepared to wait while it updates itself and then synchs to the Dropbox Cloud.

Once it finishes synching up to the Dropbox Cloud, everything should be all green. You can take a peek into the Portable Apps folder and see all your fully installed Portable Apps as shown below.

At this point, you can take it for a spin on your computer to see how it works. Basically it loads from the Cloud Drive on your computer and gives you a menu that appears from the Right hand corner of your Desktop’s Taskbar, giving you the option to choose which programs you wanna run.

The advantage here is that these programs are not installed into the computer, but running from a *.exe in the folder. This not only reduces the amount of deeply integrated programs by reducing to *.exe files, making your computer run faster, but also makes them portable in a thumb drive as well. 

That’s what I decided to test out next.

Portable Apps on MICO University College – Testing out Portable Apps on my Thumb Drive

Created a folder on my 16 GB Thumb Drive and copied my Portable Apps folder from Dropbox to a folder appropriately named Portable Apps as shown below. Make sure you copy the Portable Apps folder from Dropbox folder as well as the associated Start, Autorun and .dropbox files.

Once at MICO University College, it then plugged my 16 GB Thumb drive into a computer in the E-Learning Lab and ran the program and lo and behold it worked! The Portable Apps program menu opened in much the same way it did on my Lappy at home.

Even more exciting when, for the First time, I was able to access my Gmail and Microsoft Outlook emails on Mozilla Thunderbird, my email client which I now use in portable form  on my Dell Latitude D520 straight on this computer here in the E-Learning Lab!

I basically browsed though my Gmail emails and answered a few emails from my Microsoft Outlook. It was an awesome and surreal experience, as I was able to access Mozilla Thunderbird and use it as if were installed on the E-Learning Lab’s computers.

So that’s it folks. It works. Best of all, I purchased Roast Breadfruit from a Lady located outside of the Hi-Lo Supermarket in Cross Roads for JA$100.

Have fun using Portable Apps to not only lighten the load on your computer, making it run a little faster but also allow you to carry your necessary computer programs around with you on your Thumb drive.

How US$1500 monthly from HWFMU helps College Jamaican Males impregnate Professional Women

“In life you have to move slowly. In a small population like ours, you don't really want to overexpose yourself too quickly. I think people are still being sensitised to the whole concept of assisted conception”

Head of the HWFMU Professor Joseph Frederick commenting to the Gleaner on the HWFMU (Hugh Wynter Fertility Management Unit) plans to screen Jamaican men to provide sperm for IVF (In Vitro Fertilization)

Folks, I’m gonna have a lot of fun with this article. Please count how many times I use a pun about penis and masturbation thought this article!

When I initially read the story on Sunday January 25^th 2015 about the HWFMU (Hugh Wynter Fertility Management Unit) planning to buy sperm from Jamaican male donors for US$1500 (JA$173,325.00) per month as reported in the article “Big Bucks For Sperm - But Only A Handful Of Men Would Qualify For US$1,500 Per Month Offer If The Programme Is Introduced”, Published Sunday January 25, 2015, by Nadine Wilson-Harris, Staff Reporter, The Jamaica Gleaner, I thought it was a joke of some sort.

Maybe, UWI, it seemed, was trying to help out the UWI male population who were masturbating on the Halls by giving them a way to make money to pay down on their tuition money before they got blocked from taking exams. 

But jokes aside, this isn't some kind of scam. Evidence of this can be seen from the requirements, not many men can rise to the occasion:

1.      19 to 39 years old

2.      5"9" in height

3.      Able to ejaculate three (3) time per week per month

4.      Enrolled at a university or have a degree

5.      Genetically perfect specimen

6.      Good health

7.      HIV Test Twice Yearly

It's even sparked a rush by taximen ready to make cash by just releasing their excess load into a machine and not on a young schoolgirl as noted in yet another article in this Sunday Gleaner article “Rush To Earn From Sperm”, Published Sunday February 1, 2015, by Nadine Wilson-Harris, Staff Reporter, The Jamaica Gleaner.

So yes this is legit; you can apparently make money from masturbating!

But why is it that suddenly the HWFMU is seeking Jamaican men to artificially inseminate Jamaican women whose men cannot rise to the occasion? As with all things in life, it’s about quality, not quantity. And as I’ll explain in this article, it would possibly suggest that impotence is on the rise in Jamaica due to our diet and lifestyle!

US$1500 per month for Jamaican Sperm - HWFMU need Highly Educated Jamaican Sperm 

What initially seems to be shakin' down is the fact that it's cheaper to just get Jamaican men to donate sperm rather than to ship it frozen from the Cryobank in California, the usual source of fresh sperm used in fertility treatments to quote Head of the HWFMU Professor Joseph Frederick: “We have to buy the sperm from overseas and they come down frozen, so if we could get fresh sperm down here, that would be very good Particularly when we have a problem with a couple where a man's sperm is very bad or he doesn't have any sperm at all, we have to order”.

Many are called but few can stick it, being as the usual sources for the international sperm bank are law, medicine and business College students at Harvard or Stanford. This logically implies either a lot of White and Asian students at Harvard or Stanford are impregnating Black Jamaican women or the few black men on these prestigious colleges are supplying a country of almost 3 million people with Sperm.

However, Head of the HWFMU Professor Joseph Frederick dismisses this notion with a chuckle; couples want sperm that's labeled “Made in Jamaica”, quote: “They would tell you that they don't want somebody who is too far removed from their physical attributes in terms of the colour of their skin, height, and then of course all of them say that they want somebody who is educated. Sometimes they want so much that you think they want superman”.

This makes Jamaica appear both intellectually and sexually impotent, to quote Head of the HWFMU Professor Joseph Frederick: “Our stringent donor qualification process (including genetic and infectious disease screening) allows less than one per cent of all applicants to make it into our programme”.

After all, shouldn’t there be enough young men that meet the criteria that can take on the challenge of impregnating infertile females? Given the stringent requirements, that may not be the case.

So what does the Jamaican UWI, UTECH or Teacher College student have to do to measure up to this 9 foot pole yardstick? Here are the requirements repeated again if you still unable to get it to stand up:

1.      19 to 39 years old

2.      5"9" in height

3.      Able to ejaculate three (3) time per week per month

4.      Enrolled at a university or have a degree

5.      Genetically perfect specimen

6.      Good health

7.      HIV Test Twice Yearly

So rather than import American sperm to impregnate Jamaica women, just like our importation of food from First World Countries as noted in my blog article entitled “Jamaica's Basic Item Food Bill mostly from 1st World Countries - Buy Jamaican Build Jamaica made from Imported Raw Materials in containers that says Made in Jamaica”, the HMFWU has decided to go local.

Demand for Jamaican Sperm – IVF in a country where Masturbation is a Common Taboo

But could it be a case that impotence is on the rise? After all, it's one of the possible reason, aside from the fear of a twice yearly HIV test that I can think up to explain the shortfall in men standing up and impregnate some highly educated Jamaican Black Sista's!

Jamaican men are known to drink a lot of alcohol and men from the higher echelons of society tend to drink beer and wine, which is known to cause decreased sexual performance based on the research of the RSPH (Royal Society for Public Health) as noted in my blog article entitled “RSPH Study on Caloric Knowledge of Alcohol – British Drinkers Clueless on Caloric Content of Wines as EU moving to label Wines by December 2014”.

Foods that have a high level of Fats and Sugar are associated with increasing incidence of Lifestyle diseases such as Heart attack and Stroke. An incidence of a Stroke or a Heart attack or simply being obese may case restricted blood flow to the sexual organs making sexual intercourse difficult for these high-born Professionals.

To that end, the Ministry of Health had a plan to implement a Fast Food Health Tax to reduce the cost of the paying for the health care of persons suffering from these preventable lifestyle disease as posited in my blog article entitled “Min. of Health, Dr. Fenton Ferguson proposes financing Health Care via a Fast Food and Junk Food Tax - Jamaican High Schoolers Addiction to American style Fast Food”.

But Head of the HWFMU Professor Joseph Frederick would not bow to such an assertion. Rather, he pointed out that the lack of Jamaican Sperm Donors is more about culture as Fertility treatments in Jamaica are quite new, quote: “You find that because of that, a lot of men, unless they have a particular commitment, they are not just going to come off the road and give sperm and go through all that trouble”.

Translation: unless the person receiving your sperm is a family relative, men are reluctant to donate. 

This is especially true given that donating effectively means masturbating to ejaculate sperm into a receiving machine that resembles a oversized vacuum cleaner, masturbation being taboo in Jamaica albeit widely practiced under the quiet, to quote Head of the HWFMU Professor Joseph Frederick: “Masturbation in our culture is not an easy thing for most men to come and do just like that. So unless you have a particular interest, you don't tend to come”.

Demand for Jamaican Sperm - Ambitious Professional Women wanting to be Mothers later in life

Despite this, I still think impotence may be on the rise. Up until now, these few White, Asian and Black students at Harvard or Stanford were doing a fine job of impregnating our highly educated Jamaican women. But the fact that they're calling in the Jamaican reserves implies several possibilities:

1.      The Harvard or Stanford can't keep up with the increasing demand for their sperm

2.      Local production of Jamaican sperm is no cheaper than importation

3.      More infertile couples are specifically demanding Jamaican Sperm as opposed to American sperm

4.      There has been an increase in the number of infertile couples in Jamaica

5.      There has been an increase in the number or highly educated females seeking to have a child but unable to find a suitable mate

But again, it seems that Head of the HWFMU Professor Joseph Frederick did a fantastic job of defending his wicket, pointing out that as women strive to achieve more in life, many are also opting to store their eggs at the HWFMU for fertilization later.

After achieving their dreams, they then plan to get pregnant using these younger, fresher eggs.  Problem is, an AWFUL LOT of Jamaican Professional women, possibly single, are opting to do this.

The HWFMU is also very competitive when compared to international Egg and Sperm banks:

1.      US$12,000 internationally for a round IVF (Invitro-Fertilization) Treatment

2.      US$600 per annum to store Sperm and Eggs

At the HWFMU, which is highly subsidized, the prices for couples are a lot lower for the same professional service:

1.      US$7,000 for a round IVF (Invitro-Fertilization) Treatment

2.      US$200 per annum to store Sperm and Eggs

Thus with such dirt-cheap prices, it’s no wonder that professional women, unable to find a man that doesn’t have a problem with a successful Black Woman are now taking up the option to just store their eggs until the time is right.

Some may even be opting to start families as a single parent using their Eggs or sell them to older couples seeking to get pregnant for profit, albeit I’m not sure if the HWFMU allows that, being as their services are geared specifically at couples.

Combine all of this, it's clear that increasing demand is begin placed on the HWFMU to find genetically suitable donors. So they're looking to Jamaica with a reward of US$1500 (JA$173,325.00) for any man that can masturbate three (3) per week.