Memory and me

Forgetfulness, as I think I may have said before, though I can’t quite remember where or when, is a greatly underestimated attribute.

We know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information upon it. It is that second type that I see as well-directed forgetfulness. Just look at those poor people who appear on TV general knowledge contests and seem to know everything.

Their brains must be absolutely cluttered up with the stuff like names, dates, chemical elements, results of sporting encounters, kings, queens, Latin terms for flowering plants... the list is endless.

Yet the vast majority of such things can be looked up in seconds. Why fill your mind with it all and risk leaving no room for wisdom?

I have always been an advocate of FOM, the thinking person’s answer to a computer’s RAM, or random Access Memory. FOM is Forget Only Memory.

It’s a way of storing just a trace of anything that goes in one ear and out the other. Things you once knew, albeit briefly, and if pushed, you can work out where you saw them and find them again.

The brain is too important an organ to fill facts. Just put them away somewhere safe and keep a short mental note of where they are, leaving your mind free for higher things.

As far as I can see, this technique has only one disadvantage, which I discovered at the weekend. I forget where I was at the time or what I was doing, but I had to fill in details of something or other on a form and add the date at the bottom.

I must confess to feeling a degree of embarrassment when, after filling in the day and the month, I could not remember what year it was. I had a strong feeling it was 2010 or 2011, but was not sure which.

Fortunately, thanks to my writing skills, I knew that I was 22, and cannot forget when it began, so I added one to the other and came up with 2011 for the year, which turned out to be spot-on.

Thinking about this lapse, I suddenly realised why it had happened: plastic money. In the days before credit cards and debit cards, we had to write cheques for everything and cheques had to have a date on them.

By the end of the first week in January, we had written the year so many times, there was no forgetting it. Nowadays, it’s just the PIN and perhaps the three-digit doodah from the back of the card that anyone is interested in.

There are still many things that are worth remembering, such as the word for a point on a mammal’s back that it cannot reach to scratch. It’s ‘acnestis’ in case you have forgotten, and it’s very difficult to look up if you ever do forget it.

Having delegated so many of our memories, such as telephone numbers and passwords, to our mobiles and computes, there must be a danger that we are all losing the ability to remember the vital acnestes in life.

Personally I can be confident. I have written ‘2012’ on a piece of paper and put it securely in my top pocket.

I would strongly advise you all to do the same thing before it is too late or 2013, whichever comes sooner.

Time for more proverbs or can I say semi-pro verbs

• Beggars can't be choosers. Besides, making good choices is probably not their forte.




• Behind every great man is a great woman. Behind her is the guy's wife, and boy is she pissed.




• The best defense is a good offense. And gun turrets.




• Better to light a candle than curse the darkness. Save the cursing for when the candle spills hot wax on you.




• A penny saved is a penny earned, but if you're counting the pennies, you're screwed.




• Neither a borrower nor a lender be. Just take the damn thing.




• Where there's a will, there's a way to contest it.




• Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do.




• Good things come to those who wait tables.




• Haste makes waste. Donuts make waist.




• Honesty is the best policy, but the premiums are unaffordable.




• If we were meant to fly, we'd have wings. If we were meant to be too fat to fly, we'd have wings with ranch sauce.




• Love is blind. This explains why it feels like it keeps whacking you with its cane.




• Misery loves company. Especially this one company I used to work for.




• Nature abhors a vacuum. So does my house.




• Time wounds all heels.




• Forewarned is forearmed, but oblivious is elbowed in the gut.




• If you can't beat them, join them to a chair with duct tape. Then beat them.




• Money is the root of all evil. So money does grow on trees; you just have to dig for it.




• Blood is thicker than water. But give it a good scrub and the cops will never know.




• Charity begins at home. Or so my neighbour kids told me when they begged 5 bucks off me.




• Cleanliness is next to godliness. But it's even closer to annoyingliness.




• The early bird catches the worm. So sleep in, unless you like worms for breakfast.




• Discretion is the better part of valor. But it's the most critical part of cowardice.




• Don't punch a gift horse in the mouth.




• It takes one to know one. But it doesn't take anything to know nothing at all.




• Laugh and the world laughs with you. Cry and the world laughs at you.




• A person is known by the company he keeps. Especially the CEO.




• A picture paints a thousand words. But they're really tiny and hard to read.




• A rising tide lifts all boats. Then it smashes them on the rocks.




• Crime doesn't pay. But the perks are awesome.




• He who hesitates is lost. You can tell because he's looking at a map.




• It's no use crying over spilled milk. Acid, however, is worth a complete breakdown.




• Let sleeping dogs lie. But torture the cats for the truth.




• Many hands make light work. But electricity makes lights work.




• A friend in need is a friend in debt.




• A good man is hard to fine.




• A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. So don't even start or you'll be walking for friggin' ever.




• A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. But not as dangerous as a little dynamite.

I think that's enough for today..... more to come soon.

Age-Old Logic

When my present research is over, there will be no more aging.

Obviously I am not proposing stopping people from growing old. We’ll always have older people around, driving slowly in the left lane with the blinker on, saying completely inappropriate things in loud voices, and telling the rest of us that we don’t call home often enough.

But what I can and will change is our age.

Time marches on, minute by minute, day by day, and year by year. Even when it seems like time is standing still, like when you’re in line at the bank counter or you’re sitting next to someone on the train that’s talking on a mobile phone in tedious detail about every one of her children.

Even then, time is racing by, pushing us further toward the cliff of our existence into the chasm of our not. And as the years roll by, they add to our age, one by one. Another birthday cake eaten, another year gone.

Some try to cheat the system by simply telling people the wrong number for their age. But everyone knows. And it's rather sad.

But there’s a better way. Why change the number when we can change the number system?

For millennia, humans have used the decimal system, in base 10.

I suppose this came from our having ten fingers available, but that makes it a cruel joke that we’re taught not to count on our fingers in school.

But haven’t we lived with that system long enough? Don’t you think we’ve gotten smarter in the last couple thousand years?

Did Plato have reality TV? No, he just had reality.

Did Copernicus have the internet? Of course not; he just had the galaxy.

Did Benjamin Franklin have glasses? Well, yes, but they probably looked a lot dumber than today’s designer glasses and certainly cost far less.

And he certainly didn’t have contact lenses that he could lose, tear, and have to replace every few days.

So isn’t it time that we had a shiny new number system, too?

In fact, we should have several to represent the fact that our society is complex, diverse, and horribly bad at math.

My research concludes that, our age can be kept artificially low by increasing the base that we count in.

For example, if you are about to enter your 40th year, then you might tell people, truthfully, that you are 37 (in base 11). Or if you are feeling particularly spritely, you can tell them that you’re having your 28th birthday (in base 16).

Or if you’re feeling young and completely nerdy, you can say that you’re 2A (in base 15).

The system also works in reverse. If you’re only 14 and you feel you really really need that six-pack of beer, then you can tell the clerk at the 'Modern Wines' that you’re 22 (in base 6).

No longer will people have to construct elaborate and pathetic lies about their age; they can simply tell the truth while using the power of Math.

Remember: It’s not how old you are, but how old you feel...

hoping for the best is to realistically consider the worst..

Some doctors will predict the worst possible outcome for their patients.

Whenever I go to my doctor, I try to envision the worst-case scenario for my latest injury. For a neck issue, I went with paralysis.

For my shoulder, I opted for amputation. And I make a habit of telling my doctor that I’ll see her the next time my body falls apart, unless I’m dead.

My doctor seems to find these predictions alarming and rushes to assure me that the surgeon is not going to amputate, or that my cold is not lethal. But I find it comforting to know the worst that can happen and to verbalize it.

Sure, I probably just have a sore throat - but what if it's an early indicator of Bubonic Plague? Or what if that slight headache really is a brain tumor?

The optimist would say that you should look on the bright side. See the positive aspects of any situation and hope for the best. I do consider myself an optimist. To me, the glass is always half full. But I wouldn't drink it because it could be laced with cyanide.

My method of hoping for the best is to realistically consider the worst. Then things can only get better from there. And if things are as bad as I predict, I have the satisfaction of being right, which always feels good.

For example, maybe amputation is an extreme outcome for a sore shoulder. But what if the injury takes a long time to heal? Or what if it requires surgery, which can have risks and complications?

These would be unfortunate to one simply hoping for the best. But in my world, they’re not so bad compared to hauling out the bone saw and hacking off the limb.

With me, doctors will clearly outline the bleakest possibilities for patients. For example, doctor might say, “You appear to have a cough, Mr. Naik. This may just be the cold that is going around, but it could also be the beginning stages of any number of terminal diseases.

You should put your affairs in order just in case. See you next time, unless you’re dead.

Sure, these consultations might be a bit of a shock at first. But imagine, after each illness recedes, how wonderful you’ll feel just to be alive.

Until the last one, of course. Your doctor will eventually be right about the worst case scenario, which will give them that satisfying "I told you so" feeling.

That'll be nice for them.

Doomsday.... and am really excited..

Apparently, the world is coming to an end today.

And I’d just gotten used to the place. It seems worth spending a few minutes preparing ourselves.

I mean, the world only ends once.

Here are some tips for how to deal with "The End":

• Brush your teeth. There’s nothing like starting on a long journey and realizing your breath stinks. And who knows when you’ll see a tube of Crest again?


• Put a lot of food out for the dog. Hell, just open the rest of the bag out onto the floor. We’re going to be gone for a while.


• Make sure the stove and coffee pot are turned off. Check them twice. Three times. You don’t want to worry about that for the rest of eternity.


• Bring comfy shoes: We always want to look our best, but nobody looks good when they’re hobbling along for miles because of the blisters. And you don’t want to break a heel in all the kerfuffle.


• Pack light: The holy book has never been clear on the baggage rules. Will we be able to check bags? Does the first bag cost $25? Is there enough room in the overhead, or do we have to take up precious leg room for our carry-ons? Better to pack light and avoid the hassle.


• Leave the parka at home and bring a windbreaker instead.


• Take those pills: We don’t know what the travel accommodations will be like, so if you’re at all prone to motion sickness, it’s best take your pills in the morning. Besides, they might help you sleep. It could be a long journey


• Bring something to read. Long flights with no entertainment are so tedious; don’t risk it.


• List your accomplishments: Just in case there’s an opportunity for an upgrade, you might want to list out all of the good things you’ve done in your life. Just for a reminder (they probably know already). If they do have a rewards program, these will probably be your points. And you don’t want to travel in coach if you don’t have to.


• Get some good sleep the night before. It's always more fun to travel when you're well-rested.


• Lock your door and sit on the curb. Like the stove, don’t wonder whether you remember to lock it. And go outside to sit on the curb and wait. Wouldn’t it be embarrassing if they stopped by to get you and you didn’t hear them because you were in the bathroom? Don’t run that risk.

That's all I can think of.

I need to go check the stove and coffee pot.

See you tomorrow....

red wine makes a metal compound superconductive.... I knew it

Yoshihiko Takano (R), professor of Japan’s National Institute for Material Science and researcher Keita Deguchi (L) display a superconductive metal compound, which is seven times higher when dipped in red wine than for ethanol or water at his laboratory in Tsukuba city, suburban Tokyo on March 10, 2011. – AFP Photo

TSUKUBA: Japanese scientists at a boozy office party stumbled across a discovery they hope will help revolutionise efficient energy transmission one day: red wine makes a metal compound superconductive.

The researchers plan to showcase their surprise findings later this year, the 100th anniversary of the discovery of the phenomenon of superconductivity, the zero-loss flow of electricity through certain materials.

The “eureka” moment came when National Institute for Materials Science researchers found that an iron-based compound became superconductive after being soaked in alcoholic drinks such as beer, wine and sake.

Red wine was the hands-down winner in producing the desired physical effect, although no-one is quite clear yet on how exactly it worked, said researchers at the institute in Tsukuba, east of Tokyo.

The ratio at which compounds became superconductive was seven times higher when dipped in red wine than for ethanol or water. It was four times higher for white wine and three times higher for beer, sake and whisky.

“The better it tastes, the more effective it is,” the institute’s lead researcher Yoshihiko Takano said, while allowing that taste is subjective.

“There may be a connection between the substance we humans sense as a taste and the substance that induces superconductivity.”

“It is as if a detective was tracking down the culprit in a suspense story — the guy is in the glass, but we still don’t know if he is acting alone or conspiring with others.”

The team hopes the find will help in the quest to one day unleash the potential of superconductivity to build power infrastructure that reduces energy use and mankind’s reliance on climate-changing fossil fuels.

When an electric current passes through a conductor such as copper and silver, part of the charge is lost as heat, a loss that increases with the distance the charge travels.In superconductivity — first discovered in mercury in 1911 — electrical resistance suddenly drops to zero in some metals when they are cooled to near absolute zero (-273 degrees Celsius, -459 Fahrenheit).

This also produces a strong magnetic field — an effect which has found applications, including in MRI body scanners.

To achieve zero-loss power transmission now, cables encased in tubes can be cooled with liquid nitrogen to make them superconductive — but the complex and expensive technology has not been commercially used on a large scale. Power companies have run only small-scale and pilot projects.

The dream is, however, to one day find materials that can become superconductors at room temperature, which would allow zero-loss transmission of power over vast distances.

“This may sound like the stuff of dreams, but electricity generated by solar power in the Gobi desert (of China and Mongolia) could be transported to the other side of the globe,” said Takano.

“The sun is always shining somewhere on Earth, and the dream is for electricity to be transported to far-away places with no power loss.

“Imagine there is a ring of superconductive cables along the equator with solar cells attached at certain places. If there were branches, clean electricity could be dispatched to the remotest rural areas.” Mamoru Mohri, a former astronaut who heads the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation in Tokyo, said advances in superconductivity could ring in “an era in which we don’t have to burn as much fossil fuel”.

Takano’s team made their discovery when they put tablets of an iron-based compound called Fe(Te,S) into alcoholic drinks at an office party a year ago.

The team found that after being soaked for 24 hours in red wine or other alcoholic beverages, the compound became superconductive when cooled to about minus 265 degrees Celcius (minus 445 Fahrenheit).

Takano plans to present his findings at a European conference in September in The Hague, near Leiden where Heike Kamerlingh Onnes discovered superconductivity 100 years ago.

Reiji Ogino, power-industry analyst at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities, said the hunt for new electricity transmission methods has sped up as the world looks to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

“I’m looking forward to seeing a technical breakthrough,” Ogino said — but he cautioned that it remains unclear how much it would cost to replace existing transmission networks.

Tomoaki Fujii, who heads equity research at Morningstar Japan, said superconductivity is “a technology with high expectations”, but said that it is “a bit too early” to start buying related stocks just now.

“We haven’t seen superconductivity used for electricity transmission even 100 years after it was discovered,” he said. “And we would have to see how smoothly it could actually be utilised”.

The mystery of antioxidants...

A young lady just rang to ask if I was interested in antioxidants.

“Passionately,” I said, and she told me she was happy to hear it, because she
wanted to tell me about the antioxidants in Nescafé.

“We hear a lot about the benefits of antioxidants these days,” I ruminated, “but there is nobody speaking up for the oxidants. We would, after all, have no need for antioxidants if there were no oxidants, an indisputable fact for which I have always felt that oxidants never receive the credit they deserve.”

“Be that as it may,” she said, “most people do not realise the antioxidant
benefit of coffee in general and Nescafé in particular and...”

But before she could continue, I found myself interrupting somewhat ungallantly, with a thought that had suddenly occurred to me: “If coffee contains antioxidants, does instant coffee contain instant antioxidants?” I asked. “If it doesn’t, I fear it could lead to you making and drinking the coffee before the antioxidants arrive, leaving them turning up late when the cup is empty and being flushed away with the washing up.”

“I’m sure that doesn’t happen,” she said. “In fact, the benefits of the
antioxidants in Nescafé...”

But my mind was becoming absorbed with a topic I had introduced earlier. “It’s a bit like antibiotics and probiotics, I suppose,” I said.

“I remember a couple of years ago when several probiotic foods appeared on the market, the antibiotics were furious. ‘We are performing a valuable function fighting disease’, they said, ‘and our biotic opponents ought not to be allowed to call in a mercenary force of probiotics to support them.’

Outright war was only averted when a probiotic spokesorganism came up with
a peace plan involving the partition of the biotic empire into separate regions
of influence for the antibiotic and probiotic movements.

Of course, if the antioxidants were to join forces with the antibiotics, it could force the oxidants into an alliance with the probiotics, leading to a drastic increase in tension.”

“I hadn’t thought of it like that,” my caller replied, “but I am sure that drinking a cup of...”

“And where, we must ask ourselves,” I interrupted again, “do the antiperspirants fit into all this?

Given the potential power of the antibiotic and antioxidant alliance, they would find it hard not to sign up for a grand, anti-everything league, finally giving up the position of neutrality they have held for so long, thanks to there being nobody specifically marketing perspirants as such.

Come to think of it, with the antibiotic and antioxidant alliance calling themselves the AAA, as they surely will, this seems bound to drive the other AAA, the Amateur Athletic Association, into the arms of the probiotics and oxidants, and since athletics is a highly effective way of producing perspiration, that makes it even more likely the antiperspirants will join the other antis.

Very worrying. I think “I need a cup of coffee.”

“Antioxidant Nescafé?” she offered.

“No,” I said: “I hate instant coffee.” And we left it at that.

Why is India still Turbans & Camels?

Most books on India have a disproportionate number of pictures and stories from Rajasthan.

To outsiders, the idyllic world of camels, cows, colourful saris and handle-bar moustaches seems to convey a more authentic feel that the rest of homogenized India.

While relative proximity to the nation's capital has helped, I feel that the Rajasthan theme is rather overworked and it is time that writers and cameras moved on. Simply being drawn to the visual appeal of Rajasthan is rather superficial.

To me, local culture in other regions is equally rich. Reflecting on William Dalrymple's essay on the oral tradition of Rajasthan titled "Homer In India" (The New Yorker, Nov 20, 2006, Issue 38), I feel I might need to alter this view.

A young Harvard classicist named Milman Parry had a brilliant theory that Homer's works, the foundation upon which all subsequent European literature rested, must have originally been oral poems, and that they contained certain recurring formulas that he thought were a product of traditions of oral transmission.

He believed that to study Homer properly you had first to understand how oral poetry worked, and that since Yugoslavia was the place in Europe where such traditions had best survived he caught a ship to Yugoslavia in 1933 to prove it in the field. Parry was described as a sort of "the Darwin of oral literature".

He writes:

While I was staying at Rohet, I heard about what seemed to be the most remarkable survival of all: the existence of several orally transmitted epic poems. Unlike the ancient epics of Europe--the Iliad, the Odyssey, Beowulf, and the Nibelungenlied (the basis of Wagner's "Ring Cycle")--which were now the province only of academics and literature classes, the epics of Rajasthan were still very much alive.

They were preserved by a caste of wandering bhopas--shamans and bards--who travelled from village to village, staging performances.

It is perversity that the most backward, conservative regions are often culturally the richest? More than any other part of the country, large chunks of Rajasthan remained under the authority of the local hereditary rulers. It was only after the abolition of the privy-purses in 1971 (Thanks to Indira Gandhi) that the age-old feudal structure started to really erode. This raises a difficult moral question.

Moreover, the Gujars are very often illiterate, and illiteracy seems an essential condition for preserving the performance of an oral epic. It was the ability of the bard to read, rather than changes in the tastes of his audience, that sounded the death knell for the oral tradition. Just as the blind can develop a heightened sense of hearing, smell, and touch to compensate for their loss of vision, so it seems that the illiterate have a capacity to remember in a way that the literate simply do not.

This was certainly the conclusion of the Indian folklorist Komal Kothari. In the nineteen-fifties, Kothari came up with the idea of sending one of his principal sources, a singer from the Langa caste named Lakha, to adult-education classes.

The idea was that he would learn to read and write, thus making it easier to collect the many songs he had preserved. Soon Kothari noticed that Lakha needed to consult his diary before he began to sing. Yet the rest of the Langa singers were able to remember hundreds of songs--an ability that Lakha had somehow begun to lose as he slowly learned to write.

In the Yugoslavian case the recordings survived, but the actual oral tradition did not. Death of oral tradition takes along with it an entire subset of culture, leaving behind only a skeleton of words preserved in mummified form on CDs.

Sad, but can it be preserved in a living form? If it can, then what about the moral implications as suggested above?

I agree that it is a bit of a leap to generalize from oral tradition to culture in general; but, are more developed regions of India culturally shallower than more backward regions like Rajasthan?

Local culture in other regions are equally rich, but not as well preserved. If so, then I should not begrude Rajasthan's pre-eminent position on the covers of those books.

When I read about traditions dying, I feel that I am personally responsible in a way.
Yet, culturally we are relatively better off as this paragraph from the essay suggests,

Anthony Lane noted in this magazine in 2001, in the aftermath of the attacks on the United States, that the people of New York again and again compared what had happened to them to films: "It was like 'Independence Day' "; "It was like 'Die Hard' "; "No, 'Die Hard 2.' " In contrast, when the tsunami struck at the end of 2004, Indians were able to reach for a more sustaining narrative than disaster movies: the catastrophic calamities and floods that fill the Mahabharata and the Hindu tradition in general.

But then, we might have much more to lose too.

Signal acquisition module targets audio and vibration testing

ADLINK Technology Inc. has released the PCI-9527, billed as their first 24-bit high-resolution dynamic signal acquisition module specifically designed for audio testing, acoustic measurement, and vibration analysis applications.

The PCI-9527 features two 24-bit simultaneous sampling analogue input channels with a sampling rate up to 432 KS/s, two analogue output channels with update rates up to 216 KS/s, and one external digital trigger I/O connector.

The PCI-9527 has a dynamic input range of more than 100 dB, an adjustable input range from ±0.316 V to ±40 V, and analogue inputs that support software-configurable features for AC or DC coupling and integrated electronic piezoelectric (IEPE) sensors for interfacing with an accelerometer sensor and microphone.

Overall, the PCI-9527 offers the flexibility needed to create a variety of automated test systems.

Potential uses of the PCI-9527 include production testing for television sets, MP3 players, and other multimedia devices where high-quality sound is essential.

It can also be integrated into monitoring systems for mission-critical machinery, such as turbines in a power station. Defects in the metal components of the turbines would generate abnormal sounds and vibration in operation, which would require high-dynamic range audio equipment to detect.

The PCI-9527 includes drivers and SDK support for mainstream Windows operating systems as well as third-party applications, including LabVIEW.

ADLINK also provides the Dynamic Signal Assistant APP Utility, an application designed to assist system integrators in validation and reduce overall design cycle time.

Image courtesy: ADLINK

More info @ ADLINK website – PCI-9527 product brief

DrDAQ low-cost USB data logger

DrDAQ from Pico Technology is far more than just a data logger plugged on USB. With its software complements Picolog and PicoScope, DRDAQ doubles as a signal generator and an arbitrary waveform generator (AWG) too.

Thanks to the built-in sensors for light, sound and temperature you can start using your USB DrDAQ Data Logger straight out of the box.

The USB DrDAQ also has an RGB LED that you can program to show any 1 of 16.7 million colours. When you want to do more with your DrDAQ you can, thanks to the external sensor sockets.

DrDAQ is ideal fore use in colleges and labs because it also contains a basic oscilloscope or spectrum analyzer. By running the supplied PicoScope software DrDAQ becomes a single-channel scope with a 100 kHz bandwidth, 8-bit resolution and the ability to measure voltages of up to ±10 volts. Both PicoLog and PicoScope are fast and easy to use. USB DrDAQ also includes 4 digital input/outputs.

In input mode these give you even more monitoring options. When used as outputs they enable DrDAQ to control external devices.

Two of the digital I/Os include a pulse-counting function when used as inputs, and a pulse- width modulation (PWM) output capability.

DrDAQ is manufactured by Pico Technology (distributors worldwide).

More info @ http://www.picotech.com/distrib/us/

Hot swappable 2-channel 2-wire multiplexer with bus buffers

Linear Technology’s LTC4312 is a hot-swappable 2-channel 2-wire bus multiplexer that allows one upstream bus to connect to any combination of downstream busses or channels. An individual enable pin controls each connection.

The LTC4312 provides bidirectional buffering, keeping the upstream bus capacitance isolated from the downstream bus capacitances. The high noise margin allows the LTC4312 to be interoperable with I2C devices that drive a high VOL (> 0.4V).

The LTC4312 supports level translation between 1.5V, 1.8V, 2.5V, 3.3V and 5V busses. The hot-swappable nature of the LTC4312 allows I/O card insertion into, and removal from, a live backplane without corruption of the data and clock busses.

If both data and clock are not simultaneously high at least once in 45ms and DISCEN is high, a FAULT signal is generated indicating a stuck bus low condition, the input is disconnected from each enabled output channel and up to 16 clocks are generated on the enabled downstream busses.

A three state ACC pin enables input and output side rise time accelerators of varying strengths and sets the VIL, RISING voltage.

Flat panel antennas offer superior directional characteristics

The PN Series of panel antennas from Antenna Factors is designed for long-distance directional communication in wireless link networks.

Operating in the 2.45-GHz band with 16 dBi of gain and a directivity of 23° in both the horizontal and the vertical planes, they offer better performance than typical Yagi antennas, increasing the range and reliability of wireless link networks.

The sleek, attractive flat panel package is rugged and fully weatherised, making the antennas equally suited for indoor or outdoor applications.

Each antenna includes complete mounting hardware for standard masts. In its present range the PN Series panel antennas deliver both value and outstanding performance.

Image courtesy: Antenna Factor

More info @ Antenna Factor website

Upper Airway Stimulation device offers hope for sleep apnea sufferers

Loud snoring is not just a tiring irritation for partners but can also be a sign of sleep apnea.

The National Institutes of Health reports that more than 12 million Americans suffer from the most common of the three varieties – obstructive sleep apnea, where the upper airway is repeatedly blocked during sleep.

There are a number of treatment options already available and Minneapolis-based Inspire Medical Systems is about to add a shocking new addition to the treatment options on offer.

The new system – which is about to enter clinical trials – electrically stimulates the nerve at the base of the tongue to keep it from blocking the air's journey to and from the lungs, and so offers the patient a good night's sleep.

An apneic can experience a cessation of airflow for more than ten seconds, but is generally partly awoken to take a breath. Even so, this lack of sound sleep can lead to other problems.

Persistent oxygen starvation often results in daytime fatigue, lack of concentration and decreased alertness and can go on to increase the risk of heart attack and stroke. Depression, muscle pain, inefficient metabolism, diabetes, impotence and a host of other ailments are also associated with sleep apnea.

One of the main causes of the most common variety of the condition – obstructive sleep apnea – is caused by the tongue and throat muscles becoming too relaxed and blocking the airway. Most sufferers are treated using a system known as continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), where air is blown through the nose throughout the night and which can be very effective if used all the time.

But such a system is not for everyone and studies have shown that the technique is often abandoned by a significant percentage of sufferers.

Using well-established technologies from the fields of cardiac pacing and neurostimulation, Inspire Medical Systems has developed a system specifically to help those who are plagued by that troublesome tongue. The Upper Airway Stimulation (UAS) therapy designed by Inspire Medical Systems stimulates the nerve that controls the base of the tongue with a small electrical pulse during sleep, to keep it toned and in place.

A pacemaker-like device is implanted under the skin, near the collarbone, and a wire is fed to the problematic twelfth cranial nerve. A sensor detects when the sufferer takes a breath and instructs the implant to stimulate the nerve.

The system is adjusted so that the tongue receives just enough current to keep it from blocking the airway but not enough to disturb sleep (or result in any rude mid-snooze gestures) and a remote allows the patient to activate and deactivate the system. A timer can also be set so that the zapping is delayed until after the user is asleep.

Inspire Medical Systems' hypoglossal nerve stimulation technology has just recently been given the all-clear for Stimulation Therapy for Apnea Reduction pivotal clinical trials by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and will soon be heading to key sites throughout the U.S. and Europe.

However, sufferers reading this might like to note that only those who tick all of the right boxes will be accepted into the trial, so cases where some other tissue causes the problem will not make it through. The results of the study will form the basis of a pre-market approval application to the FDA.

Source courtesy: Gizmag

Haptic exciters simulate mechanical key movement and act as audio drivers

HiWave Technologies PLC (formerly known as NXT), a provider of electronics solutions for audio and haptics, has announced combined haptic touch and audio exciters for touch panels and screens used in industrial, home automation, automotive and consumer electronic products.

Applications include pad computers, hand-held and integrated displays and controllers.

When used with HiWave driver modules, a pair of NXHX14C exciters disperses bending waves evenly over the surface of touch panels so that users experience the sensation of depressing mechanical keys when they touch the panel surface.

The simulated mechanical movement enhances the human interface, enabling faster and more accurate keystrokes.

The same transducers also convert the touch screen into a flat panel loudspeaker with nominally flat response from 200 Hz to 15 kHz.

This eliminates the need for separate loudspeakers and amplifiers, enabling more compact products with fewer components. It also reduces bill of materials and manufacturing costs.

The exciters are designed for use with touch screens up to 19” and are available in 1-W and 2-W (RMS) versions with nominal drive impedances of 4, 8, 16 or 32 ohms.

Each exciter consists of a 14-mm diameter voice coil mounted on plastic suspension. Overall height is just 11 mm.

Image courtesy: HiWave

More info at: HiWave website

It's a dog's life indeed

You walk through the tall weeds, stooping down. Your hind legs propel you smoothly, your fore-legs balance you correctly. Your fur rustles in anticipation as you examine your prey from a distance. It moves slowly and sluggishly but it can be fast as needed.

You edge toward it as your father taught you, making little noise.

It doesn’t notice you.

You circle to the left, gliding out of the tall weeds and into the tall grass. The green, unshorn grass crackles and bristles beneath you as you motion forward as your keen sense of hearing alerts you to the presence of something behind you.

You glance backward; your slanted eyes take in a human visage. You pay no attention to the witless thing and move on, blinking as you readjust to the light of the field in front of you.

You circle back into the weeds, traversing slowly back and forth toward the creature.

Now you’re within ten yards of it.

You can almost taste its warm blood in your mouth as you near it. A few more yards and you’ll be ready to pounce.

You move ever forward, keeping as prostrate as possible. As you move into the next yard a manicured lawn appears beneath your feet. You dodge it because it offers you no cover and dash behind the nearest tree.

You circle around the diminutive grass and traverse into the weeds.

Now you’re behind it.

Approaching cautiously, you wait. It turns, nearly seeing you rustling behind it.
You get a slight chill as you move into the thicker weeds, just in case you aroused his suspicion.

Hunting was strenuous when you were smaller, but now you’re skilled. Your eyes absorb the light outside the dim shadows, getting a better fix on your kill.

It looks straight into your eyes and you into its. Now is the time. Your powerful hind legs thrust you forward.

Being a feline has its advantages. Your front claws now extended, you grind them into the birds body on contact.

It certainly was the time.

The bird pecks at your face as you claw and bite your dinner. It pecks you with all of it’s might, but you swat it as though it was nothing. Finally the bird gives up the fight, allowing itself to be won as a meal.

You tear at it with your teeth. The warm blood trickles down your mouth and throat.

You savor the occasion.

You gnaw at it for a few minutes and then decide to show your trophy to your owners.

As you walk into your house, you notice one of the smaller humans making grotesque noises and flees at the sight of you. You continue to the eating hall and scratch at your masters leg, dropping the bird at her feet.

You’ll never understand why they shoo you out of the house with a broom whenever this happens.

LED array delivers record 1050 lumens at 11 watts

Cree’s new XLamp® CXA20 LED array is the first lighting-class array aimed at accelerating the LED lighting revolution and can enable a 60-watt A-lamp equivalent while consuming just 11 watts.

With a single, uniform optical source, compact 22-mm x 22-mm footprint, and simple two-screw attachment, the CXA20 array can simplify the manufacturing process for customers who require a single component in their light-engine design.

When used in a traditional downlight application, luminaires based on the CXA20 are delivering 38-percent more illumination than a 26-watt CFL or a 100-watt incandescent bulb, while consuming a mere 14 watts.

The CXA20 LED array delivers 1050 lumens at 11 watts, or 2000 lumens at 27 watts, with a 3000-K warm-white color temperature. Samples are available now with standard lead times with production volumes targeted for late Q1 calendar 2011.

For more info look at : http://www.creeledrevolution.com/

Someone asked me what kinda music I listen to when I'm stressed.

While the list is big, here's one that may help you, my blog readers, nix away some stress.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3S4dBk4E1g&ob=av3e

Enjoy!

So I began to wonder yesterday about what could be the loudest possible noise on earth; so I googled my question and this is what I came up with.



Top Ten Loudest Noises (Increasing order)

10. Rock Concert/Speakers:

A 400,000 Watt rock concert or a similar set of speakers mounted in a vehicle can reach ear-splitting decibel levels. Is it any reason most promoters recommend you wear ear protection to stave off the 135-145 decibel sound waves?


9. Fireworks

Though not typically heard up close, fireworks are still explosions and are very loud. The sound heard from the sky is pretty loud, though not damaging, but at the bursting point the decibel levels reach a staggering 145-150. Even tests are performed under strict sound proofing to avoid any ear injury.



8. Gunfire

Gunfire for anyone unfortunate enough to be standing near it can be quite damaging to the ears registering at a quite loud 145-155 decibels. This is the very reason why you should always wear ear protection when on a firing range.





7. NHRA Dragsters

Sitting next to a dragster as it fires up its engines and screams down the raceway can be more than just loud; it can be damaging to your entire body. At the 155-160 Decibel range not only will it severely to permanently damage your hearing, but it also vibrates your vision and makes it temporarily difficult to swallow. That’s why no one stands next to them.







6. Space Shuttle Launch (And my favorite)

When the rockets fire, it is wise and, in fact, fully enforced, that you stand at least a half-mile away lest you get inundated by 165-170 decibels of painful sound. Unlike many other loud noises, the shuttle rocket sound is constant as it creates the thrust necessary to lift it from the ground.





5. The Blue Whale

Blue whales mostly emit very loud, highly structured, repetitive low-frequency rumbling sounds that can travel for many miles underwater. These songs may be used for communicating with other blue whales, especially in order to attract and find mates. The call of the blue whale reaches levels up to 188 decibels. This extraordinarily loud whistle can be heard for hundreds of miles underwater. The whale is the loudest, and, the largest animal on earth.

4. Volcano – Krakatoa

The 1883 the Krakatoa eruption ejected more than 25 cubic kilometres of rock, ash, and pumice and generated the loudest sound historically reported at 180 Decibels: the cataclysmic explosion was distinctly heard as far away as Perth in Australia approx. 1,930 miles (3,110 km), and the island of Rodrigues near Mauritius approx. 3,000 miles (5,000 km).

3. 1-Ton TNT Bomb

Standing as close as 250 feet away from the impact, the resulting explosion from a 1 ton bomb creates a decibel count of 210. Without sufficient hearing protection, not to mention a complete sound-resistant bunker surrounding you, you could quite literally die from the intense vibrations that would literally shake you apart. Unless, of course, you were under the bomb.

2. 5.0 Richter Earth Quake

A sufficient enough quake to rend the ground in twain and destroy buildings, whole rock, and human life reaches a decibel level of 235. If you are caught in the epicenter and are unlucky enough to not be above the ground in a plane or helicopter, the intense noise and vibrations could kill you long before death by any falling object.

1. Tunguska Meteor

The Tunguska event was a massive explosion that occurred near the Podkamennaya (Under Rock) Tunguska River in what is now Krasnoyarsk Krai of Russia, at 7:40 AM on June 30, 1908. The explosion was most likely caused by the air burst of a large meteoroid or comet fragment at an altitude of 5 to 10 kilometers (3–6 mi) above Earth’s surface. It was measured with the similar impact of a 1000-Mega-ton bomb with a decibel rating 300-315. This is often considered to be the loudest single-event in history.

Bonus: Lake Taupo Eruption

Lake Taupo is a large lake in the middle of the North Island of New Zealand. The lake is the caldera that resulted from a massive volcanic erruption in 180 AD. It is New Zealand’s largest eruption in 20,000 years. It ejected around 120 cubic kilometers of material, of which 30 cubic kilometers were ejected in the space of a few minutes. It is believed that the eruption column was 50 kilometres high, twice as high as the eruption column from Mount St. Helens in 1980. The resulting ash turned the sky red over Rome and China. This eruption was reportedly heard in China. Lake Taupo today, is one of New Zealand’s popular tourist attractions for its beauty and swimming. The fact that the lake is the largest fresh water lake in Australasia, and approximately the same size as Singapore, ensures it is a huge ‘must do’ component to many tourists.

>Look there, ohonekanobione, what is that?
>That looks like a small cone.
>But it's swaying in the wind!
>You're right, it is!
>There seems to be so many of them, where are we?
>This is all alien to me; I have no idea whatsoever.
>Let's move faster, press the booster switch and increase throttle.
> I am, I am, but the apparent laws of motion seem to be different here.
>Let me handle it, you look out and make sure we're not being tracked or followed.
>Okay, krastymoki, but it does seem harder to exit than enter.
>I know, just make sure we don't lose altitude, who ever is down there will not like us snooping on them.
>Look, I can see some lights down below, what are they?
>They seem to be moving like us, but only they are lower in altitude than us.
>Yes, weird things going on down there!
>Hey, what is that?
>What is what, Ohonekanobione?
>Seems to me like a giant object flying far away from us.
>Ho boy, is this a weird place or what!
>You bet! I have never seen anything like this before.
>Me neither, but we have been given orders and we have to execute them.
>I wonder why Mastekyuman assigned us this task?
>I wonder too, I feel safer at home than wandering so far.
>I'm just glad, Mastekyuman didn't tell us to explore this place by walking.
>Me too, I don't feel safe even up here.
>This place looks so primitive, nothing like our place huh?!
>Oh yeah, we are miles ahead, this is just one big disappointment.
>What say we leave some mark on that ground there and vamoose?
>Good idea, what kinda mark should we leave?
>Hmm, try concentric circles with smaller circles around it.
>Okay, done.
>Let's scoot!

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

>What was that, Rick?
>Alert the control tower!
>I saw them beaming at some trees earlier and then shine rays on a field nearby.
>Alert the chief, I think we have a UFO situation here.
>Okay, keep your eyes on the radar and keep me posted.
>Sure thing.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>


>Hey, they are beaming on us.
>Forget these primates, let's get out of here.
>Sure, weird planet huh, Ohonekanobione?
>Yes, our planet is a lot safer, and I don't think these people like us very much.
>Yeah, weird, and all we came to do was extend a hand of friendship.
>Guess that's outta the window.
>Yeah, let's tell the chief that this Blue planet is the least intelligent planet and that we found nothing significant except beings with 2 legs, 2 hands, 1 head; unlike us with 1 leg, 3 hands and 2 heads.
>Haha, Blue planet people sure are weird.

atomic no 64 - Gd

Since I saw a funtional stirling engine recently, I made the mistake of entering the search term "perpetual motion" on youtube.com.

Then I lost an hour of my life looking at videos claiming to make perpetual motion engines out of natural magnets. These videos fascinate me because I presume they are all fake.

It seems to me that if any of these devices worked I wouldn't have to hunt around on youtube to find them. I'd already have one in my dad's garage charging his electric car.

So what is up with these videos?

One theory is that all of the inventors started out seriously trying to build perpetual motion machines, realized at some point they couldn't do it, and decided to salvage something out of the effort by making fake videos and getting some attention.

Another theory is that the so-called inventors never intended to do anything but create fake videos. But it sure seems like a lot of work for that. That option seems unlikely to me.

Lastly, we must entertain the possibility that the laws of physics have some sort of loophole, inventors sometimes find it, and the big corporations send around hit men every time it happens. That's why you never see the invention beyond youtube.com or some local news show. But that seems unlikely too. So it remains a mystery.

As I was googling around on this topic, I discovered that there is an element called gadolinium (Gd) that is attracted to magnets up to about room temperature, then it abruptly loses its attraction.

It seems to me you could build a generator using that principle. All you need is an external source of heat, and not much of it, to power the thing.

A natural magnet could attract the gadolinium, which creates some mechanical energy, and some portion of that energy could be used to introduce heat from the outside that makes the gadolinium non-magnetic and puts the device back to its original position.

Some of that energy from the return trip would turn off the outside heat source and the process repeats forever. It would only operate at about room temperature, but that's still pretty nifty.

The inside of my house, for example, is always at about room temperature, so there is no shortage of that environment.

Yeah, I know, someone probably already invented it.