Latest Inventions

posted by admin on Sep 27

We are on the verge of SmartGarments being the norm!

Apple and Nike have been cooperating on some technology that will combine their sales power with the latest technology. They are hoping to make iPods that will only work if you are wearing certain Nike clothes. After Digital Right Management went free-for-all with 7Digital, the leading companies need the ball back in their court.

This might seem like a weird venture with the intention of just selling more clothes to people, but thinking about the possibilities it offers, it’s not that bad an idea.

What are the Benefits:
Well, the basic theory for this technology at the moment is for a companion component of Apple’s iPod to be inserted into a piece of Nike footwear and possibly clothes.

The software in this component would enable the ‘wearer’ to monitor their athletic performance, such as tracking their heart rate or counting the distance travelled in a set time. Great for athletes who are serious about their performance and to improve their achievements.

There is also talk for the software to be able to act almost like a GPS cross SatNav, allowing the runner/walker/rower to be alerted as to the best route to an endpoint or specific location such as a restaurant or scenic route.

There is even talk of this component being able to warn the wearer of damage to the sports shoes or other equipment which could affect performance or safety.

Great idea in my book - especially if you are serious about your outdoor pursuits.

What are the arguments against:
Well, the main concern is the exclusivity of the whole deal - basically you can’t get the software to work unless you have purchased certain items of clothing. You are almost being forced to buy certain products that you may not otherwise have purchased.

In theory wouldn’t need to buy these exact clothes and an iPod if you were going to use a standard mp3 player of your choice with separate pedometer and heart rate monitor and when you also carried around a GPS phone or SatNav gadget and did it all yourself.

I’m afraid that this attitude is a bit narrow minded in my eyes, as we are always made to buy the exact equipment that inventors invent otherwise they wouldn’t make any money from their efforts and wouldn’t bother inventing a whole host of other great stuff.

Can you imagine a world where Ford made parts that fitted a Volkwagen, Nokia made phone components that fitted onto a Siemens handset or Boeing traded mechanical parts with Airbus? It just wouldn’t happen - so why can’t Apple and Nike make clothes that only work with their personal parts?

Why should we be able to buy cheap superstore running shoes to use with the special iPod when they haven’t contributed at all to the technological advances that made it possible?

Anyway, the chirping alarm would keep going off from the moment you put them on, to tell you that they were no good for running and the soles were too thin!

Why use cutting edge technology in cheap equipment? Would you fly for 10 hours in a ‘plane if the spare parts were all made by your local dollar store?

posted by admin on Jul 8

This Year is the Year of the Potato!!

This root vegetable is a member of the nightshade flowering plant family (a herbaceous annual for those allotment holders among us) - and was first found to be edible around 8,000 years ago local to Lake Titicaca in what is now Peru and Bolivia.

It was cultivated by the indigenous peoples in the area for years, only making it the Europe around the 15th century - and which made Sir Walter Raleigh famous (before the Queen of England had him killed!!!)

The Potato today:
The UK is the currently the 11th biggest grower in the world with 5.5 million tonnes of potatoes being produced a year. China is number 1 at the moment, with around 70 million potatoes grown a year!  The UK is losing it’s leading edge in more ways than one - and there are only around 3000 growers at the moment compared to 70,000 in the last century.

Worldwide stats show that 75,000 square miles of spuds are grown across the globe every year, with at least 7,500 varieties being cultivated by various growers.  These include King Edwards, Jersey Royals, desiree, roosters, piper maris, osprey, and new Mayan Gold.

Potatoes are the 4th most important crop to the human population this century, coming after maize, wheat and rice respectively - although with the current ‘food crisis’ this could be set to change with production of all being drastically increased to keep up with demand.

Grow Your Own?
Potatoes - unlike other crops - thrive in most locations with very little human help - and they are very nutritious too with high potassium levels, high vitamin c content and different beneficial fibres to name a few.

As a result, their use is increasing in developing worlds, but for unknown reasons ‘use’ is decreasing in the west.  There are currently school drives underway, that are encouraging kids to grow and eat their own potatoes instead of eating white rice and pasta which are generally fatty and high in calories (rice breaks down into sugar very easily).

Just stick some ’seed potatoes’ or just some old potatoes you forgot to eat that are sprouting ‘eyes’, into some deep earth trenches spaced apart and cover over.  Water the earth when dry (preferably at night so the water gets into the ground rather than evaporating in the sun) and soon you will have shoots.  When the plants get around 20 cm’s high, bank up some earth around the stem to support the plant tops and keep watering the earth.

When the plants start to look withered or start to droop, check under the soil at the top for any potatoes - if you like what you see - dig them up and cook that day for the best taste!  You can store them in a very dark, cool spot for a few days.  Don’t pick too many at once - just leave them in the ground until you need them……

The Future for Potatoes: 
With more mouths to feed and less land and energy to use for crops - current thinking is aimed towards genetic manipulation of vegetables and animals to maximise yield.  By creating crops that can produce more seeds for the next crop, or making plants that need less water, or grow in colder climates, more food can make it to the people who need it.

In developed world, we generally pay for whatever we want, whether it’s out of season or difficult to grow with low yeilds - we just pay more.  Whereas in developing countries communities can only survive if their crops are suited to the land and they grow enough of them each season.

Should we change our views?? 

A survey by the institute of Grocery Distribution asks 4000 shoppers every year about their habits regarding brands of food - and for the first time EVER they rated the ethics of a brand over the quality.  This means that people would rather choose products that are ethical and natural (paying more if they have to) than buy cheaper varieties that have been treated with chemicals or manipulated genetically to improve yield.  So will GM potatoes make it in the real world? 

With many huge benefits to the growing human population in developing countries - including disease resistance and better growth - will these ‘changes’ outweigh the cost of limited food?  Would you rather pay more money for less product - or pay less for greater amounts of genetically manipulated foods?

Many site are offering advice about growing, eating, and understanding new varieties and the science behind them - including the following: www.britishpotatoes.co.uk, www.potatoesforschools.org.uk and www.bbcgoodfood.com. 

Would you buy GM??

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posted by admin on May 15

Believe it or not - the Guinness World record holder for the Worlds Heaviest Man is now trying to break the record for the worlds ‘greatest weight loss’.

Obviously, the prerequisite for winning this award means that you need to weigh more than 52.5 stone in the first place, plus a normal body weight on top! This was the amount of weight lost by the current weight-loss world record holder Rosalie Bradford from the US, who lost her humongous amount of weight in the 1990’s.

To beat her - the world’s heaviest man (Snr Manuel Uribe from Mexico) is hoping to lose a staggering 68 stone to reach his target weight of just 20!

Since starting his diet in 2006 - with free medical help offered by Dr Barry Sears form the US - he has lost an amazing 37 stone already (that’s 4 whole me’s!).

They chose to follow a sensible diet that wouldn’t affect his health by losing the weight too fast and selected the Zone Diet, which is high in protein and low in carbohydrates, including fish, chicken, egg-white only omelets, plenty of vegetables - and weirdly - peanuts!

Manuel Uribe currently lives in Mexico with his mother and is dieting while confined to a reinforced bed that he has been unable to leave for the past six years! It is not reported at what weight he will need to reach in order to be able to walk again.

The 42-year-old - who still weighs in at more than 51 stone - hopes to achieve his massive weight loss by the year 2010. This means that he would have lost 68 stone in 4 years - that’s around 17 stone a year - so that’s a whole Victoria Beckham every 6 months.

Although he was recorded as the World’s Heaviest Man in the 2008 edition of the Guinness World Records (and this was after 2 years of dieting don’t forget), it is possible he could lose that title for 2009 with other grossly over-weight, bed-ridden individuals vyeing for his title!

So if you are either the 2nd or 3rd heaviest mean in the world - start eating more now so you can be crowned in 2009 before the other one beats you - or Manuel gives up the diet! It’s worth a shot to get into the Guinness record books isn’t it? Unless you have plans to grow the Worlds largest turnip instead……

posted by admin on May 11

It seem that everywhere you look, someone is claiming to have a ‘new’ dieting aid - with The Pink Patch being the latest in a long line.

With heavy and risky advertising on MSN’s home page and FaceBook, this company are making outrageous claims about the effects of their product - ‘Get Skinny’ and ‘Lose 2 stone in a Month’ are among the most noticeable.

What is it?
Basically it is a combination of ingredients with well known actions - like appetite suppression and the ability to break down fats - combined into a slow release ‘patch’ - similar to a Nicorette patch.

As we know that these ingredients are used in many other diet aids, it’s not to difficult to see that they could be of use in weight loss. But what makes the Pink Patch so different?

Well, it’s claiming that it’s easier for us ladies because we don’t have to ‘worry’ about when to take pills, or forcing ourselves to eat a salad instead of a bar of chocolate because this natural remedy takes care of all that for us and we can just carry on enjoying our lives.

As expected, there are a few clangers way down the bottom of their sales page which make you realise just how similar it actually is to any other diet plan:

Expect to lose between 1-1.5lbs a week
Use with a sensible diet
Use with regular exercise
Don’t drink alcohol - except for the odd glass of red wine (if you have to)
Only have one glass of coffee a day
Drink plenty of water

Does it work?
I firmly believe that if you really want to lose weight, you would do all these things anyway, and without having to buy these patches (or any pills for that matter). The appetite suppressant may seem like the answer for many women out there - but you will get this effect naturally if you eat little and often and consume your correct balance of proteins, fats and carbohydrates.  So I suppose, the patch should work if you do everything they recommend - as it’s just common sense dieting advice.

It claims it has no side-effects, but then on the same page claim that it affects your hormones and can relieve PMS. Well if it can affect PMS - what else could it affect?

Wanna Try It? 
If you still think it’s worth a try, then go visit their web page - the free trial is only about 2 weeks worth of patches, costing you the £4.95 postage and packing. If you want the jumbo money-saving pack of 4 months worth of tablets (£77.96) it gets you free postage!

But then, if they claim you can lose 5lb in 1 week - how many people out there need to lose 80lbs in the first place??????

Long Term Weight Loss: 
If, however you are serious about losing weight permanently and without short-term gimmicks, try searching for ‘The 6 Meals A Day’ diet in Google - there are some great motivational blogs out there.

In just a few days you will have your appetite under control and start to enjoy eating smaller meals with more protein in them, like chicken breast with steamed broccoli florets and asparagus stems, sirloin steak with yam and sweet potato mash, lobster on a bed of zucchini and green beans, the list goes on…………….

And, Good Luck.

PS - if you are going to cheat on a diet - do it in style. Rather than shove down a bar of chocolate or an entire pack of biscuits when no one can see you - get home and whip yourself up a lovely chicken stir fry with chunky vegetables! It’s better for you and why should you hide from anyone? It’s your body and your diet.

You want to feel you are cheating the diet - and we all need to do that occasionally - but don’t cheat yourself