Brilliant water-based eyeglasses for the masses: No optician required

British inventor Josh Silver, a former professor of physics at Oxford University, has come up with a game-changer of a product design with his water-lensed glasses.

Silver has devised a pair of glasses which rely on the principle that the fatter a lens the more powerful it becomes. Inside the device's tough plastic lenses are two clear circular sacs filled with fluid, each of which is connected to a small syringe attached to either arm of the spectacles.

The wearer adjusts a dial on the syringe to add or reduce amount of fluid in the membrane, thus changing the power of the lens. When the wearer is happy with the strength of each lens the membrane is sealed by twisting a small screw, and the syringes removed. The principle is so simple, the team has discovered, that with very little guidance people are perfectly capable of creating glasses to their own prescription.

You can mass-produce millions of these, rather than manufacturing myriad individual lenses each tuned to a user's specific vision deficiencies. And while the one-size-fits-all mentality may not fly in developed nations, Silver's goal is to help the hundreds of millions of people in developing countries who suffer from poor eyesight.

Silver calls his flash of insight a "tremendous glimpse of the obvious"--namely that opticians weren't necessary to provide glasses. This is a crucial factor in the developing world where trained specialists are desperately in demand: in Britain there is one optometrist for every 4,500 people, in sub-Saharan Africa the ratio is 1:1,000,000.

The implications of bringing glasses within the reach of poor communities are enormous, says the scientist. Literacy rates improve hugely, fishermen are able to mend their nets, women to weave clothing. During an early field trial, funded by the British government, in Ghana, Silver met a man called Henry Adjei-Mensah, whose sight had deteriorated with age, as all human sight does, and who had been forced to retire as a tailor because he could no longer see to thread the needle of his sewing machine. "So he retires. He was about 35. He could have worked for at least another 20 years. We put these specs on him, and he smiled, and threaded his needle, and sped up with this sewing machine. He can work now. He can see."

So far 30,000 of Silver's specs have been distributed, but more are on the way; his eventual target is 100 million pairs.

For more info: 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/dec/22/diy-adjustable-glasses-josh-silver 

Now here is a quote I like:

When I was a kid I used to pray every night for a new bicycle.
Then I realised God doesn’t work that way, so I stole
one and prayed for forgiveness.

- Emo Philips

Courtesy:
http://www.banksy.co.uk/manifesto/

I have always said that I should have been born a few generations ago, either in Hyderabad or Lucknow, so that I could enjoy the decadence of life in those days. Be born in a Rich family, spend your life around the kothas of the day, keep drinking and keep enjoying life. :(

It is not that, I don't enjoy now, but I think I would have had a freer reign in enjoying life those days.

History tells us that Tehzeeb (culture) was taught to rich kids by sending them to the popular kothas.

Well....
Hyderabadi Mehman-nawazi (hospitality) is something I like and believe in. It is truly eastern, mid-eastern in soul and heart. And for this Mehman-nawazi, the food is at the core. Anyone who knows me can tell you that I am a food junkie. :)
Hyderabadi food has a rich variety to choose from and..here are some of them:

Hyderabadi Biryani has no parallels among the connoisseurs of biryani. Travelers have written that in the past a typical Hyderabadi feast would have no less than 26 different varieties of Biryani a dish which has the reputation of being an aphrodisiac. It is of course the most famous dish from Hyderabad. But history tells us that, the origins of Biryani are in left over Awadhi pullao. :)

There are many versions of how the Hyderabadi Biryani originated.
One says, the Nizam tasted common man's food and liked it so much that he called it Biryani and ordered the cooks to make it. But practically speaking, I would not imagine a Nizam ever eating common man's food.

Another version of it, which I believe is more true, is that Biryani has its roots in Awadhi pullao.
The cooks created a new dish by using left over pullao rice and meat, arranged it in layers and thus created Biryani. :)

The difference between biryani and pullao is that while pullao may be made by cooking the items together. Biryani, is used to denote a dish where the rice is cooked separately from the other ingredients.

Perhaps, equal to this rice dish, for Hyderabadis, is Haleem. The best and worst thing about Haleem is that it is largely available only in month of Ramadan. It is the best thing because people keep waiting for this month to savour this mouth-watering dish and it is the worst thing about Haleem as people who miss it in Ramzan may need to wait for a year.
A succulent dish of meat, wheat, ghee, cooked to a porridge-like consistency, its name Haleem literally means patience, because it takes long hours to prepare.
I can tell you all Hyderabadis irrespective of their faith, wait for Ramadan just to eat this.

Hyderabadi Mirch Ka Salan - Fried Peppers in a gravy sauce
Hyderabadi Bagare Baigan - Eggplant Curry
Dal Dhokli - Dumplings in Lentil Curry
Kalmi - Moong Bean (lentil) Patties
Do Pyaza - Hyderabadi Curry, with lots and lots of onions.
Double Ka Meetha - Bread Pudding
Kubani Ka Meetha - Apricots with Whipped Cream
This for me is the king of desserts. "Kubani Ka Meetha" eaten with icecream or custard.

Apart from all this, Hyderabad has a good number of Tea (Irani) Cafes and Bakeries. Because of these cafes in every nook and corner of Hyderabad, one can taste a variety of biscuits, cakes, pastries, puffs, rolls, and of course the Irani Samosas.
Snacks and Bakery items served in these Cafes are somewhat indigenous in nature. Here are a few of them for you to relish upon:

Osmania Biscuit - A typical biscuit named for the last Nizam. Served in all the cafes, bandis and tea stalls, ubiquitously.
Chand Biscuit - Another Hyderabadi biscuit. Apparently, it got the name becoasue of its shape resembling a crescent moon.
Fan Biscuit - A longish wafery biscuit.
Dilkhush - A sweet snack item which has lot of cream and other sweet stuff tucked in a bun.
Luqmi - A namkeen (salty) snack with just a little vegetable and spicy filling in a flat square patty.
Bun-Maska - Bun with butter and sugar on it.
Irani Samosas - Small crisp samosas with fired onions.

And...to top all of this is the Irani Chai.
It might have come to Hyderabad from Iran via the cafes in Bombay, but, now...it does belong to Hyderabad heart and soul.
And... the business in tea in Hyderabad. I am talking about a daily revenue of about 8-10 Crores and this in a city with an estimated population of around 8 million.
Each cup of Tea costs around 3-4 INR. Now do your own math! :)

Unique in the Irani Cafes of Hyderabad:
You go to a cafe, order tea and samosas or biscuits. The waiter brings you the tea and a plate full of samosas or biscuits. You eat as many samosas as you want and just get billed for what you have eaten.

And I say again... This is a big week in terms of scientific achievements.

Here is one more news item..

A self-powering cell phone that never needs to be charged because it converts sound waves produced by the user into the energy it needs to keep running

http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/008200812031123.htm

In the meanwhile, let us hope that someone creates a cheaper way of Wastewater treatment and desalination plants. Look at this news. This talks about Middle East, but I personally believe it will be true for all over the world.

http://www.pump-zone.com/global-news/global-news/water-and-desalination-projects-in-middle-east-likely-to-attract-120-billion-in-investments-by-2020.html

But the bigger news this week is: 

A gadget which makes water out of thin air

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1088769/The-800-invention-makes-water-straight-air-help-millions.html

http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/008200811241520.htm

Using the same technology as a de-humidifier, the Water Mill is able to create a supply of drinking water by capturing it from an unlimited source - the air.

The machine draws in moist air through a filter and over a cooling element which condenses it into water droplets. It can produce up to 12 litres a day.

The Water Mill will also generate more water when storms pass over, as the humidity in the air rises. In keeping with its ecodevelopment, the machine uses the same amount of electricity as three light bulbs.

Its maker, Canadian firm Element Four, estimates a litre of water will cost about 50c to produce.

This when it reaches the common people and becomes a bit cheaper, will be a huge boon for mankind.

This looks like a very big week for the world.

For people who missed these:

Here is an invention to generate Electricity from Ocean Currents:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/energy/renewableenergy/3535012/Ocean-currents-can-power-the-world-say-scientists.html

http://www.examiner.com/x-243-Progressive-Politics-Examiner~y2008m11d30-wave-power

http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12/01/rivers-looking-attractive-for-energy-again/?hp

 

And..a proposal for Offshore wind power

http://blogs.wsj.com/environmentalcapital/2008/12/01/a-shore-thing-why-offshore-wind-power-will-likely-struggle/

This certainly looks good.

Let us hope that the invention reaches the common mankind real fast.

This is the excellent team I have been working the past few months.

Jit-Jitendra is the guy in the front, in the pink shirt.

Moses is the guy in the Brown t-shirt, one of my Best friends. He is recovering from Nuemonia right now. The fool he is, he works too hard. I keep telling him and Justin, not to work so hard. 

Joe Ryburn, another great friend, is the guy behind Jit, in the green shirt. 

Couple of people not clear in this picture:

David Taylor, the traveller. Met him in Argentina, and he is one of the best people I have ever worked with. Another, work hard person. He is the guy in the right corner in the back in the blue shirt.

Marie MacDonald, the best lead anyone can ever work with. No competition there.

She is on David's left.

Next to Marie, with the white hair, tall guy is Naresh Gamanlal. One of the best people you will ever meet. Speaks (fluently) and writes 7 languages. 

Mumbai!! :)

What else do you expect in a country being led by Vote bank Politics.
No proper immigration policy, no checks on illegal migrants, corruption across all spectrum of the society starting from the lowest to the highest.

Terrorism is a fight for God and Country for some. And..what the jihadists are doing is waging a war on tyranny. So, from their point of view, yeah, innocents do die in war. Does it matter? No!!

Look at the people dead in Mumbai or for that matter anywhere in India. No one really cares about them. Neither the government, nor the public in general.

But the silver lining in this whole tragedy!!! No one negotiated with the terrorists. Just go in and Cleanup.

Would the government behave the same way if some VIPs or VIP family members were in there??

Lot has changed in this world, in the past few months!!!!

Change has won in the US, and now we have Obama in the White house.

He is assembling a really good team, if what I am seeing on the news is true.
He reminds me of one of the old US presidents. Not sure if it is FDR or Truman or Eisenhower. That president said, If I make my enemies my friends, I will not have any enemies left.

And, this is what Obama is doing. Hillary is in his team now. And..he has brought in Gates as his defense secretary.

But, you cannot take my view of a person to be the best. That is what I thought about George W Bush. I really thought he assembled a good team to start with. And.. look where we are now. Though I believe he did a couple of good things, the overall rating is bad.

:)

Mc Cain, I would have voted for him, if it was not for Sarah Palin, who says it is "God's Will". So my dear Sarah, it was "God's Will" that I don't vote for you!

My friend Jitendra has started writing his blog, and it is really good.
http://jitendragahlot.blogspot.com/

Now, he has inspired me to update this blog. And..now I will keep it up to date.