Power implant aims to run on body heat

"Life-saving medical implants like pacemakers and defibrillators face a big drawback: their batteries eventually run out. So every few years, patients need surgery to have the batteries replaced.

Now a company in New York state is planning to tackle the problem by providing patients with an implantable power source that recharges their implant's batteries using electricity generated by the patient's own body heat." (For the full article go to NewScientist.com .)

At first, this might sound like good news. But if you think it over, you'll realise what's happening. It all started with those watches which run on body heat (are they sill in the market?). If such devices used up our body heat, wouldn't we be left feeling extremely cold? Those life-saving implants could well be the end of our lives. Of course, if they'll probably be low powered, and since our body generates a lot of BTUs of body heat, I don't think that will matter anyway.

But still, imagine a person has every known injury, and requires several medical implants. If that person is treated with implants which make use of "biothermal batteries", he would lose a considerable amount of body heat.

This is terrible I tell you! Things are happening almost exactly as they did in "The Matrix", the only difference being that instead of machines turning us into sources of energy, we ourselves are doing so. The entire human race could become batteries!!!

Comparisons Galore

Today was one of those days. What days you ask? The days when my mind goes into an unfathomable place, with scattered thoughts. Well, I'm not talking about religion or the meaning of life here. I'm talking about something more serious. I'm talking about the similarities between "The Lord Of The Rings" and "Harry Potter" (The books, not the movies).



Of course, Joanne Kathleen Rowling is quite a fascinating writer, and it must be said that she is responsible for several children to turn to books in this modern age of computing. I presume that the concept of a wizard school, and a parallel world based entirely on magic, etc. are of her own making. But there are some similarities between her creation and JRR Tolkien's epic adventure. Keep in mind, I'm not accusing her of copying from JRR Tolkien, but merely pointing out the similarities between the two stories.



Lets start with the main characters. Frodo Baggins and Harry Potter. Well, there's not much to say here, so the only things in common would be that both face a heavy burden, and have a difficult task to perform (I know its vague, but read on).



Next, the people the main characters rely on. Frodo relies on Gandalf, just as Harry relies on Dumbledore. Both Gandalf and Dumbledore are old, wise men; both of them act as a guide to the respective characters, both are good at magic.



And then there's Aragorn and Sirius. Both of them would give their lives to protect the main characters, though Sirius does end up doing so while Aragorn doesn't die in the end.



Now for the Nazgul and the Dementors. The Ring-wraiths or Black Riders and the Dementors are both clad in black, both have a deadly weapon (The Dementor's Kiss and something of the Nazgul, I forgot). Both of them remove any feeble presence of happiness.



There is one stark difference though, when it comes to the uncles of the main characters. Mr. Dursley hates every inch of Harry, but Frodo is Bilbo's favourite nephew. And also the difference in the way the Elves are projected.



Ah well, maybe with a little bit more of thinking, I'll come up with something better next time...

Some Bloggers really do abandon their blogs...

I first became a blogger somewhere in February of this year, and had 3 blogs to my name back then. Out of those 3, one had only one post, another had about 10 (it was a team blog). The third blog was something I was dedicated to; it was a kind of diary. I mostly kept track of daily happenings and activities. After a month or so, I became busy with a lot of things, and completely forgot about these three blogs of mine.

This month, before I created this blog, I was hit on the head by the other member of that team blog. He wanted to develop the blog further. After a long conference, we decided not to. But I wanted to continue my personal blog, so I went back to that diary of mine.

As I read each post, I became more and more aware of how much information I had given away in that blog. It could make some one invade my privacy (though I really don't have it anymore these days). The instant reaction of mine was to delete that blog, a reaction that I now deeply, deeply regret. I had started that blog to remember my past if I survived long enough to read it later. Now it has gone. I have most certainly given up on that first blog and my personal blog, but I'm not sure about the team blog yet.

I've recently found out that I'm not alone in the field of abandoning blogs. The new Blogger NavBar has opened the way to dozens of deserted blogs, most of them having only one post, posted way back in March or June. Many of these bloggers have just posted a message saying "Testing".

Forget old blogs. Look at the relatively new ones, the ones started in mid June to end July. Even these have just one message, testing this blogging "thingie". What happened later? Did the blogger find no time to blog? Or was it lack of interest? I guess the answer would vary from person to person. At least these bloggers should have the courtesy to delete the blogs like I did, so that someone else who really has an interest in blogging can have that url (oh boy, here I go again).

What exactly am I doing this for? Oops, wrong question. I hate answering questions like that. In fact, if someone asks me a question like that, I get angry. REAL angry. Angry enough to make someone cry or to break a piece of furniture. I feel that by blogging, my energy gets used up, and none of it is left to make me angry. Or at least I hope it does, or someone's going to be sorry...

(In case you were wondering, this is my fourth blog)

The Laughing Man vs The Ranting Human

Any fan of "Ghost in the Shell:Stand Alone Complex" would know the "Laughing Man", being the only "malefactor" whose name springs up in most of the episodes. An intriguing characteristic of the Laughing Man is his famous logo, the one that looks similar to a smiley and has "I thought what I'd do was, I'd pretend I was one of those deaf mutes" written around it.

The Laughing Man logo from Ghost in The Shell : Stand Alone Complex
Source : Google Images

The constant recurrence of the Laughing Man logo in the show, combined with my fascination of artistic works(:D) set me thinking... If the Laughing Man can have a logo of his own, so can the Ranting Human! And so, I commenced work on this brainstorm (yeah, right) of mine. But, as luck would have it, this brainstorm was not quite unlike the others; I didn't know what to do next!

Being a bit of a Photoshop enthusiast, I decided to aquire a picture of the Laughing Man logo and modify it to my needs... a bad idea. The Laughing Man was nowhere near the likes of me, a totally different persona. Back to the drawing board, literally.

This time, I gave it a lot of thought. I came up with a bundle of weird ideas, (not worth mentioning here) but in the end, it doesn't even matter - too much Linkin Park I guess. Actually, in the end, I DID create a logo. Check it out:

I'm not going to elaborate on how I went about doing it... an artist never reveals his secrets( or does he?)

Friday the 13th is back!!!

Ah yes, the infamous Friday the 13th. Feared by many, it's also the title of a movie series... But I think I'll stick to the date rather than the movies. There have been quite a few Friday the 13s recently: June 13, 2003, then February 13, 2004, and now, August 13, 2004 is a Friday again – enough to send chills down your spine. Here's some info I found on Indiatimes.com



"So why do people fear Friday the 13th? What makes people so jittery, even stopping them from going to work on this day? Thirteen is an out and out occult number. Apparently, witches meet in groups of 13 to receive orders from their masters and this 13th being a Friday,its a deadly combination.But is this combination really dangerous? What is the mystery and rationale behind the fear of Friday the 13th?



The myth of the dread of 13: The number 13 is dreaded by most people the world over. Hotels do not have room number 13; even the opera houses in Italy avoid this number. One reason for the dread of 13 is because it is an occult symbol, in occult it signifies the skeleton with scythe (death) reaping down men (the picture of a crowned head of a man fallen at the point of the scythe). At its back, is a female head with flowing hair parted in the centre. This is a symbol of the conception of realisation. This number indicates death, transmutation, deception, destruction, hope, faith and rebirth. In the Kabala, at number 13, arises the Emperor, completely armed to gain his empire. In fact, the occult school says, 'He who understands 13 hath the keys of

power and Dominion.'



The ill-luck associated with the number 13 originated from the fate of Jesus as the 13th guest among his 12 apostles in the Biblical account of the Last Supper. The Bible tells us that one of the dinner guests – apostles – went on to betray Jesus Christ, setting the stage for the crucifixion of Jesus on the next day—a Friday! It was, for many years, designated the day for capital punishment and informally referred to as "hangman's day."



More Facts



• Number 10 Paraskevidekatriaphobics is the phenomenon which describes

those afflicted with a morbid fear of Friday the 13th.

• 8% of Americans won't go to work on Friday the 13th.

• Some won't eat in restaurants.

• Many wouldn't think of setting a wedding on the date.

• Chinese and Egyptians regarded the number as lucky.

• The Turks so disliked the number 13 that it was practically expunged

from their vocabulary (Brewer, 18 9! 4).

• Many cities do not have a 13th Street or a 13th Avenue.

• Many buildings don't have a 13th floor.

• If you have 13 letters in your name, you will have the devil's luck

(Jack the Ripper, Charles Manson, Jeffrey Dahmer, Theodore Bundy and

Albert De Salvo all have 13 letters in their names).

• It was on a Friday, supposedly, that Eve tempted Adam with the

forbidden fruit.

• Tradition also holds that the Great Flood began on a Friday.



It is said

• Never change your bed on Friday; it will bring bad dreams.

• Don't embark on a trip on Friday or you will have misfortune.

• If you cut your nails on Friday, you cut them for sorrow.

• Ships that set sail on a Friday will have bad luck.



Friday The 13th Is Also Considered Unlucky Because...

• There are thirteen lunar months in a year, and the day Friday (named

after the Goddess Frigga) was sacred to many Goddesses, including

Aphrodite, Venus, and their African counterpart Yemaja.

• Friday is the day of the Goddess Freya and because Christian monks

considered everything associated with female divinity unlucky.

• Friday the 13th was especially unlucky since it combined Freya's

sacred day with her sacred number.

• Her number, 13, was drawn from the 13 months of the pagan, lunar

goddess-given menstrual calendar.

• When pagan votaries of Freya continued to celebrate her rites on

Friday, the Church designated her day as the day of "devil worship." "



So am I afraid? Of course not!!!!

Death : something to fear or something to look forward to?

A lot of people I know fear death. If the things in my previous post were to come true, a majority wouldn't. I think some of them fear it because they would lose their loved ones, but I feel that the main reason most people fear death is because they don't know what to expect. Many do not know what happens after death (including me). Is there an afterlife? Does only the body die and the soul survive? Is there a soul?



The way I've been brought up, I've been made to think that our quality of living in the present life is based on the good things we have done or the sins we have committed in our past life, and when we die, our next life depends on the things we have done in our present life, and so on. So that means a soul exists, to have different lives. But now I wonder, was there a past life? If there was, will there be a future life? I do not know, and I don't think anyone knows.



Some of my kin say that we will not have another life if we live an honest and well meaning present life, that we would be forever rid of a human body and be free of this cruel world. I'm not sure if that's what we have been told from days of old, or if it's just their opinion.



If there exists no such afterlife, why should one fear death? I don't know if there's an afterlife, but I still don't fear death. In fact, I really don't care whether I live or die. I can't explain why, but I really don't care. It is of no importance to me.



For those of you who do fear death, there is a book I stumbled upon on a website, called "Facing Death: Images,Insights and Interventions". The book was written by Sandra L. Bertman, who founded the Medical Humanities Program at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center and holds certificates in grief counseling and death education. This handbook outlines how she uses the visual and literary arts to "improve our professional abilities to deal with death and dying." Her premise is that the arts provide a valuable vehicle for exploring and making bearable the prospect and fact of death.



I guess I wouldn't need that book, but I would encourage anyone who fears death to read it, a friend of mine says it's a good book. Instead of fearing death, enjoy life to the best extent possible...

Pain really is 'all in the mind'

"Doctors and nurses have known for many years that some people are more sensitive to pain than others. Now brain scans of people experiencing the same painful stimulus have provided the first proof that this is so. But the scans also suggest that how much something hurts really is "all in the mind".

"We saw a huge variation between responses to the same stimulus," says project leader Bob Coghill of the Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. "The message is: trust what patients are telling you."

Another article from NewScientist.com. Now this is something I truly believe in (except in the case of headaches). Many a time have I heard someone complaining that their legs hurt or their neck hurts. That would probably be due to an overdose of running or using a mobile phone for too long. But what irks me most is when someone says that they cannot bear the pain.

I can't understand why people can't bear pain, especially the mature ones. They should realize that pain is just the result of a few electrical signals transmitted by the nerves to the brain, to stop whatever it is we're doing which causes that pain. Its a normal reaction, nothing unbearable.

I've always been able to bear pain as far as I can remember (though some people complain that I have a short term memory). It doesn't take a lot of effort to bear pain, just concentration. Keeping my mind on something different works for me. When it comes to a friend of mine, he finds it easier to bear pain by concentrating on the area of pain and repeating to himself "there is no pain" (There is no spoon either).

Apropos, there is another article on the same site showing how pain can be prevented by using a method of "brain-watching", which involves placing electrodes on the scalp, ergo not yet used on humans. Imagine the possibilities. Injections would be painless for babies. People could walk barefoot over fire. And many more...

But it also has its negative aspects. More number of cowards would start committing suicide, since the fear of pain is lost, but not their fear of life. Euthanasia would become an art form, and so on.

The next time someone says they can't bear pain... I think I should send them this. Or should I?

Chances of aliens finding Earth disappearing?

"A pioneer of the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) has warned that for any intelligent aliens trying to search for us, "the Earth is going to disappear" very soon. Frank Drake's point, made at a SETI workshop at Harvard University on Friday, is that television services are increasingly being delivered by technologies that do not leak radio frequencies into space. But he added that in some ways the observation is good news for SETI, as it means that the failure of Earth-based observers to detect aliens so far may be less worrisome than it would otherwise seem."



This is an excerpt from an article at NewScientist.com . I've always wondered whether there really were aliens. My father believes in them, he believes crop circles are formed by them (oh, and he's seen too many Steven Spielberg movies). There was a time, when I was a little kid, I used to think there were aliens in outer space. But do I still believe?



I'm not sure I have enough experience in these matters. There are so many people in several countries across the world, who claim all this to be hogwash. But there are an equal number of people who do believe. And of course, there are these few people who don't actually believe but claim to have seen a UFO, just for the sake of publicity.



The basic science taught to me in my school days only included our solar system, consisting of the 9 planets. In recent times, NASA has successfully landed their rover on Mars, and it doesn't seem like there are any advanced life-forms. And even with the International Space Station and other advanced telescopic devices, there has been no record of any such "alien" activity.



But the universe consists of several systems like ours, and nobody knows how many; though Frank Drake might. For he has developed an equation for estimating the number of detectable intelligent civilizations on other worlds. But that isn't my topic, so I'll deal with it later.



So how do we know for sure? Probably, we would have to wait for them to contact us, if they exist. Or we could wait for NASA and other leading space organizations to give us the details... maybe not. For government aided space organizations may already have knowledge of existing life-forms other that ours in outer space, and may be hiding it from us, for reasons only they know.



In the end, back to my question to myself... do I believe? Do I choose to believe? I don't know. If the Oracle from the Matrix were here, she would have probably told me that I've already made that choice, and I only have to understand it. Hmm... I think I'm bad at understanding things...

Matrix or Ghost In The Shell??

The Matrix showed us how artificial intelligence could mean the end of all humanity, how A.I could imprison our minds in a virtual reality, without us realizing it at all. In my opinion (and I’m a very opinionated person), the Matrix trilogy is a truly brilliant achievement by the Watchowski brothers.

Owning each DVD of the trilogy myself, I keep watching the movies over and over again. No matter how many times I see it, I’m still amazed; and I’ve always wondered how the brothers came across the idea.

It has a well-planned story, great technical aspects, and of course, the screenplay and direction is simply stunning. And the credit for these must go to the brothers. But should they be credited for the idea too?

A few weeks after I bought the last DVD of this trilogy, I came across a TV anime, called Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. I was really impressed with the storyline, and in every episode the plot unfurls in a very complex manner and unpredictable manner. And I couldn’t help observing the similarities between this cartoon show and the Matrix movies.

Intrigued by the similarities, I searched for information regarding which came first: GitS or Matrix? I found out that there had been a GitS anime movie, back in 1995. Stand Alone Complex was derived from the movie. The Matrix was released much later. In both movies, A.I is concerned, though the Matrix has a significantly different storyline.

Still curious, I rented out a DVD of GitS, and some of the scenes in the movie reminded me of the Matrix itself! Again I searched for information regarding any such plagiarism. I came across this website: A Matrix & GitS Comparison. It shows scene-by-scene comparisons between the Matrix and GitS.

But the author of the website simply feels that the Watchowski brothers were merely paying respect to GitS, and not copying it. I feel the same way, because as I said earlier, both have totally different storylines. So, maybe, the credit should go to the brothers…

Handwriting problems...

It’s nearly been two months since I last wrote with a pen, and now I regret it. Every word I write (except monosyllables of course), my hand and arm hurt (the fingers too). I’ve found it easier to do 15 sets of weight lifting with a pair of 20 pound dumbbells.



But I have to try, it is important that I relearn to write. I observe that the pattern of my handwriting has changed; I do not write in a pure cursive form as before. Instead, I tend to write each letter separately, in a disjoint manner. When I consciously make an effort to correct this, the words become narrower, ergo the words become harder to comprehend.



I also notice that I incline to leave a kind of margin before I start a sentence, and as I proceed to the next paragraph, this margin widens, leading to a sloping series of paragraphs. I don’t like this; quite frankly, this perturbs me.



But all these are things that I already know. What I do not know is “how”. How do I correct these abnormalities, and how do I improve my handwriting? Some would say that writing long passages would help. But I do not feel this to be true, repetitive writing merely helps one write in a straight line, which can be managed by writing in a ruled book. It doesn’t change the way a person forms letters of the alphabet.



Another common solution to this problem of mine by many would be to buy a “Cursive Writing” practice book, like the ones they use in primary schools. That is preposterous in my opinion, for using such a book is just plain mimicry; we just imitate an existing style of writing, and do not form our own style, destroying any instance of individuality we might have had.



As I finish this, I wonder: Will the era of the pen ever come to an end? Will the people of this world throw away pens forever? Only time will tell…

Gmail is here...

Google sure took a lot of time to realise the true potential of this ranting human. I got an invite to Gmail!!! Google must be glad...