6th sense technology - “Mistry” unveiled

The innovation “6^th sense technology” as Pranav Mistry calls it will allow you to make just one expression on knowing about it, and that would be ‘jaw-dropping’. A mind-blowing conception that has led to a new technology, which none would have thought would come true and that’s the linking of physical and digital world. To help you to understand this easily, the imagination in the movie “Minority report” when the actor just moves his hand and fingers across the digital images appearing on the wall to browse through information is going to become possible in reality.

Pranav Mistry, a student of MIT is the master mind of the 6^th sense technology. He and his team at MIT media lab has developed a 6^th sense device which comprises of a camera, projector, mirror, a pair of colour papers and a communication device like cell phone. When you wear this device and stand before a wall, you can draw an image in the air using your fingers and you can see the image that you are drawing, on the wall in front of you. Wear this device and walk out in your park, make a gesture of taking a picture with your fingers in front of a tree, guess what, the picture of the tree is stored in you device. Amazing, isn’t it?

You would have seen in the movie “Harry potter”, where in the wizard’s world videos appear in the newspapers. This can also be done with Pranav’s device. Wear the device, and start reading a newspaper, the device will scan the images and text in the newspaper and display videos related to the news on the newspaper held in your hand.

If you want to know the time, just draw a circle on your wrist using your fingers and a clock will appear at that position. If you are sitting bored and want to play a game, all you have to do is to hold a paper in your hand; the game will be screened on the paper. Use the same paper as your joystick and play the game. All this are not imagination, but is possible in the real world. Watch what more miraculous stuff this technology can do at http://www.ted.com/talks/pranav_mistry

The basic laboratory model of the 6^th sense device costs only 300$. The most shocking and appreciable thing is that Pranav is planning to make an open source publication of this new technology so that more people can use this technology to develop 6^th sense devices. His motive is to reduce the number of gadgets used for various tasks and use just one device that performs the operation of the entire lot, by linking the physical world and the digital world. I guess, the Matrix world is not too far now!!!

Don’t miss this presentation video on 6^th sense technology by Pranav: http://www.ted.com/talks/pranav_mistry_the_thrilling_potential_of_sixthsense_technology.html

Not on lap’s top

Laptop - The name of the gadget suggests that this is something to be used on top of the lap. Yes, and that has been a practise since it has been an important part of everyone’s life. But have you ever thought if the name laptop was the right choice for this gadget? From mainframe computers which occupied almost a 10x10 room to the personal computer, then to desktop PC and to laptops and notebooks. The evolution sounds to be interesting. The amount of heat generated by this machine has almost been considerably reduced proportional to its size, but could not be eliminated. It still has the property of radiating heat energy over prolonged usage. With the increased usage of wireless networks, the laptop usually finds its seat on the comfort laps more than in fixed locations as desks or tables. So what are the consequences of placing the laptops on laps?

• Skin allergies- Laptops are inclined to produce more heat over continuous usage placing on the lap, as its heat radiation is compressed and allow it to warm the skin. This may potentially lead to skin allergies or even skin burns.
• Back ache - Few reports also state that the usage of laptops over the laps also leads to back ache. In a state of mind to adjust the body posture to view the screen better, the person forgets to sit erect with the laptop.
• Burns - Several accidents have been reported in recent times caused due to battery leakage indeed causing burns, when working in the laptop placed over the lap.
• Biggest fear “Infertility” - There has been a widespread fear that the heat generated from the laptop when placed on the lap, will traverse between the legs and affect the scrotal temperature, in turn reducing the sperm count. But there has been no approved study or research to prove this fact.

I was least bothered about placing the laptop on my laps until i saw the following statement in Apples laptop user guide – “Do not leave the bottom of your MacBook Pro in contact with your lap or any surface of your body for extended periods. Prolonged contact with your body could cause discomfort and potentially a burn.”

Is your lappy still on your lap or safe on a desk?

Read more on this:
http://ezinearticles.com/?Bad-Effects-on-Having-Laptop-on-Your-Lap&id=402338
http://www.qa-health.com/f7/

Landlines are inevitable

Graham bell invented the telephone in 1876, with the intention of transmitting voice or other sounds telegraphically. The advances in technology proceeded to predict the usage of landline phones for transmitting human creatures on to other part of the world as portrayed in the movie “Matrix”. But will the landline phones exist till the technology progresses to achieve this and yet more predictions and innovations linked to it?

The usage of landline phones has been outcome by the invention and introduction of mobile phones in the market. The technology of carrying the phone as wherever you go and using it in any part of the world has made the mobile phones to deteriorate the usage of landline phones. The number of landline users in the world is 1.5 billion which is absolutely lesser compared to the 3.7 billion users of mobile phones. Most of the landline customers are in the process of dropping the landline phones and forwarding the calls to their personal mobile phone numbers to enjoin connectivity.

White noise is a disaster recovery exercise in which the landline phones of the area of protocol are disconnected and the telephonic mode of communication is brought to a halt. The “White noise” exercise was recently experimented at London and a detailed study was made on the effect of unavailability of landlines. A communication collapse was encountered as a result of the zero access to one of the primary modes of telegraphic communication. The major effect was in the mode of internet access which was directly or indirectly connected through landlines. It finally proved that the usage of landline phones is inevitable.

Read more on this:
http://www.beaumontenterprise.com
http://www.mylot.com/w/discussions/2151583.aspx


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Surplus food

This photograph can be frequently seen alongside display boards ”Do not waste food”. This poignant photo won the pultizer prize in 1994. The photo depicts that the vulture is waiting for the child to die, and the child is indeed longing for a bit of food in order to survive. This photo has left lasting impressions on millions of people and have also urged many to take up the resolution of not to waste food.

Now there is yet another fact that will urge few more millions as not to waste food at any cost. A charity organization in Pakistan is feeding 40000 people a day, who have no means to pay for even one meal a day. The organization states that the situation has gone worse since the recession has struck, because more people are flooding into the food distribution centres as their wages cannot afford even a meal per day.

If its almost 40000 people affected by famine in one country, the number of people affected by famine all over the globe goes countless. Lot of organizations have come into action to take care of the food that goes wasted during parties or functions. They indeed hand over the wasted food to people who are waiting in queues to get one free meal a day, which is almost their only source of food.

The following links helps you to donate food to the famine affected people:

http://feedingamerica.org/

http://www.43things.com/things/view/2702480/donate-our-extra-food

http://www.givespot.com/donate/food.htm

Breakfast news

Make sure not to skip my breakfast whatever it costs. I took this decision after i happened to know quite few interesting and shocking facts about the side effects of skipping breakfast. If you are in the practise of skipping your breakfast regularly, take a look at this post and you will not dare to do it again.

The stomach produces an acid for digestion which makes the digestion of the food easier and simple. This acid is generated in the stomach regardless of whether you have consumed your food or not. If you have had your food at the right time, then the food mixes with the acid and gets digested as per body norms. In case if you had skipped your food, there is no companion for the acid to mix with and hence the acid stays in the stomach leading to acidity disorders, which in turn leads to ulcer and indirectly leads to other diseases including heart problems.

Researches have proved that skipping breakfast can make your body prone to 128 kinds of diseases ranging from ulcer to heart problems. The most interesting fact is that people who skip breakfast are more prone to weight gain. The body will be yearning for energy in the morning mainly through food, air and water. A person normally has his last course of food between 8 to 9 p.m. and the next chance for the body to gain energy through food is almost 10 to 12 hours after that. In other words the body is void of enough energy during that 10 hours and hence it should be supplied in large amounts at the next possible opportunity. This practise of supplying the body with enormous amount of energy early in the morning helps an individual to lead the day bright and energetic.

Eat your breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner as a beggar.


For more health tips:
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/
http://www.naturalpedia.com/
http://www.healblog.net/

War of the worlds

When your clock ticks 11:00 A.M. on 11th November, you can become a volunteer towards world peace. All you have to do is to observe 2 minutes silence and pray for those innocent lives that were lost in the ego clashes between countries in the name of world war season I and II. But why should you do it on 11th of November and not any Sunday. Because, the first season of world war ended on this particular day and hence it is observed as Armistice Day.

So when did the series begin. What was the reason of thousands of humans from different regions clashing against to become the most powerful nation on earth? Franz Ferdinand, the then archduke of Austria was assassinated on 28th June 1914 and this day in history marks the beginning of First World War. The war ended on 11th November 1918 killing 8,556,315, injuring 21,219,452 and leaving 7,750,945 missing or without identification.

The second series of the mass killer termed as “World war II” began on 1st September 1939 following German invasion of Poland and a series of other events such as declaration of war on Germany by France and Britain, Germany’s attack on USSR and more. To the Americans, the war started on December 7th 1941 following Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbour. But the war officially started in 1939. The war officially ended in 1945, but there are no specific dates for the same. The probable reasons for the end of war are Armistice on August 14 1945 and formal surrender of Japan on 2nd September 1945. The Second World War claimed more than 60 million lives. There is no steady count for that till date because the aftermath of this war was worse than its earlier version.

Courtesy:

http://www.firstworldwar.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II

Seat belt in Coldplay

I wanted to have a break from work at noon and logged on to youtube to watch the video of a song from the album “Coldplay”. The name of the track is "The scientist". The music was mild and sweet that trickled nostalgic feelings while listening to it. The song depicts the memories of a Romeo who has lost his Juliet in an accident. The video of the song has been framed in a unique manner as if it takes us to the flashback of the guy’s life, by screening every sequence in the reverse mode. Kudos to the choreography and the editing works . I was indulged in the romantic lyrics of the song, without making an effort to realise the prime motive of the song. At the end of the song, the accident as how the guy lost his love is shown and in that they portray the necessity of the seat belt. As they both happen to cruise happily in their car, their car crashes on to a hill and the guy stays alive, but for the girl who is thrown out of the car as she fails to wear her seat belt.

Even earlier i have seen a couple of videos that suggest the importance of seat belts while driving. But above all, when it comes to the realisation of not losing our life alone, but also not that of our loved ones, the message reaches straight to the heart and the brain. As per statistics, 63% of people killed in accidents are not wearing seat belts. When its just a belt around the waist and body, which is not gonna pain the skin, then i think its better to go for it than lazily avoid it. Click here to get the message in a lighter way.

Safe driving makes a journey – “Happy journey”.

Courtesy:
http://www.car-accidents.com/pages/seat_belts.html
http://www.youtube.com/

Charge it with your Pulse

A healthy human heart beats 72 to 80 times in a minute. But as you read this blog , your pulse rate might go up out of excitement. Ever wondered that human pulse can give life to non-living substances also? I guess no ... But a kido from an indian school thought out of the box and is in ways to prove it. Sarojini a 15 year girl from a school in India accidently shared a crazy idea with her school teacher that the human pulse can be used to charge a mobile phone. And the response from the teacher was a big "What?". But later as the student explained the process as what she had in her mind, the teachers were indeed more interested to help it come true.

Sarojini's idea was to charge the mobile phone using the heat in the palm , indirectly generated by the pulse. They worked for nearly four months to design a charging system comprising of sensors which can be placed on the mobile phones. As a person holds the mobile with in the palms, the heat from the palm can be used to charge the mobile phone.

The craziest fact is that, hardly few would have noticed the heat energy is generated with in the palms, and yet fewer would have known that it is as a result of the pulse generated by the heart beat. Crazy ideas are easy to pop up in miind , but not all get a chance to implement them. Sarojini was lucky enough to get the right platform to make her dreams come true. The teachers helped the kid to present the idea in the IGNITE presentation competetion held in India. The ideas were noticed and recognized and now has been picked up by the Stanford university.Now she has a long way to go with the road clear ahead and achieve her ambition to become a scientist.