Sunday, December 11, 2011
Answer to The Universe and Everything
Douglas Adams, James Watson and Francis Crick sat at a noisy Charing Cross pub on a balmy summer afternoon in London. The wonderful Kinks number, Sunny Afternoon, played on the jukebox.
"So the Ultimate Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe and Everything", Adams paused as he took a big swig of ale,"Is 42."
"Well, old chap", Watson began, "We don't know about the Universe and Everything, but the answer to Life sure is 23. There are 23 pairs of chromosomes in every human being. The chromosomes contain tightly packed DNA, pieces of which are genes, which is the code, the very essence of human life. 23 is the holy grail, 23 is Life!", he exclaimed with a flourish, splashing some ale as he emphatically set his glass down on the creaky wooden table. Crick nodded approvingly.
Adams frowned, and then slowly grinned like a chesire cat, "Elementary, my dear Watson, it's 19, then. The answer to the Universe and Everything."
"So the Ultimate Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe and Everything", Adams paused as he took a big swig of ale,"Is 42."
"Well, old chap", Watson began, "We don't know about the Universe and Everything, but the answer to Life sure is 23. There are 23 pairs of chromosomes in every human being. The chromosomes contain tightly packed DNA, pieces of which are genes, which is the code, the very essence of human life. 23 is the holy grail, 23 is Life!", he exclaimed with a flourish, splashing some ale as he emphatically set his glass down on the creaky wooden table. Crick nodded approvingly.
Adams frowned, and then slowly grinned like a chesire cat, "Elementary, my dear Watson, it's 19, then. The answer to the Universe and Everything."
Labels: Witticisms
Saturday, December 10, 2011
A Polarized View
Polarized sunglasses are an absolute must for Indian-city dwellers. This is applicable for all cities save for Bangalore, for the Bangalore sky is an overcast grey most of the time. Much unlike most other big Indian cities, where the sun shines in disconcertingly bright splendor for most part of the year. Delhi, Mumbai (where today the 10th of December feels like A Midsummers Night's..Nightmare), Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad- all scorchers. Bangalore weather is always Coming up: Coming down.
The Case
Yes, so the case for polarized sunglasses. The problem with urban landscapes, when carefully placed under a bright source of light such as our sun, is the reflected light which hits the eye of the viewer. Intense glare off the car's metal surface, glare off the puddle of water, glare of the glass building. Leaves a permanent grimace on the face of the hapless beholder. Now everything we see around of course, is thanks to reflection, one could reflect. However, that is scattering, or diffuse reflection. Specular reflection is off smooth surfaces. The cause for glare, is the specular reflection of the sun on some smooth surface hitting your eyes. Most of the objects we view are through diffuse reflection.
(Wikipedia)
Common surfaces that reflect specularly: glass, polished metal, and liquids. Glass and polished metal, we see a lot of in urban landscapes. And specular reflected light is horizontally polarized. And the lenses on polarized lenses are made of material that block out this horizontally polarized light. Voila! Glare-free vision.
So sunglasses with UV protection, good; polarized sunglasses with UV protection, great. The lenses are especially great when driving, for the glare off vehicles in front of you is eliminated. Auto rickshaw drivers and cabbies are ones who badly need polarized glasses. They are on the road all the time, and must suffer a lot from the glare off vehicles. Polarized lenses are so effective, I think, that it should be an occupational requirement, like say glasses in the chemistry lab- all auto/cab drivers need to wear polarized UV glasses. Or there should be a drive to educate them on the benefits and comforts that they bring.
A little of that human touch
An afterthought- a paragraph added 24 hours after the original post- inspired by R, here's "a little of that human touch" (a wonderful Springsteen number) : I bought Aviator-style sunglasses a month ago, and I am extremely pleased by the purchase. Thanks to P, too, for bringing up the bright, anti-bright idea in the first place, which...fired my imagination, and...loosened my purse strings. Due to my custom fit prescription lenses, the signature Ray Ban at the top corner does not exist. However, the original lenses were not polarized. So now, it's not just a Ray Ban, it's a Specular-Ray Ban.
The Case
Yes, so the case for polarized sunglasses. The problem with urban landscapes, when carefully placed under a bright source of light such as our sun, is the reflected light which hits the eye of the viewer. Intense glare off the car's metal surface, glare off the puddle of water, glare of the glass building. Leaves a permanent grimace on the face of the hapless beholder. Now everything we see around of course, is thanks to reflection, one could reflect. However, that is scattering, or diffuse reflection. Specular reflection is off smooth surfaces. The cause for glare, is the specular reflection of the sun on some smooth surface hitting your eyes. Most of the objects we view are through diffuse reflection.
(Wikipedia)
Common surfaces that reflect specularly: glass, polished metal, and liquids. Glass and polished metal, we see a lot of in urban landscapes. And specular reflected light is horizontally polarized. And the lenses on polarized lenses are made of material that block out this horizontally polarized light. Voila! Glare-free vision.
So sunglasses with UV protection, good; polarized sunglasses with UV protection, great. The lenses are especially great when driving, for the glare off vehicles in front of you is eliminated. Auto rickshaw drivers and cabbies are ones who badly need polarized glasses. They are on the road all the time, and must suffer a lot from the glare off vehicles. Polarized lenses are so effective, I think, that it should be an occupational requirement, like say glasses in the chemistry lab- all auto/cab drivers need to wear polarized UV glasses. Or there should be a drive to educate them on the benefits and comforts that they bring.
A little of that human touch
An afterthought- a paragraph added 24 hours after the original post- inspired by R, here's "a little of that human touch" (a wonderful Springsteen number) : I bought Aviator-style sunglasses a month ago, and I am extremely pleased by the purchase. Thanks to P, too, for bringing up the bright, anti-bright idea in the first place, which...fired my imagination, and...loosened my purse strings. Due to my custom fit prescription lenses, the signature Ray Ban at the top corner does not exist. However, the original lenses were not polarized. So now, it's not just a Ray Ban, it's a Specular-Ray Ban.
Labels: TechTock
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