posted by admin on Jun 2

Bored of Earrings and Tattoos? Maybe you need optical surgery!

There are many ways for humans to adorn their bodies with color and jewelry – and many are hundreds if not thousands of years old.

However – there is one that is so new it is still only carried out in one place and is awaiting its patent!

Eyeball Implants!

Taking the idea of ‘lizard’ or ‘Devil’ contact lenses one step further – this surgical body modification will implant a small piece of shaped material in the outer layers of the eye ball, like a heart or star.

So if you have enough piercings, tattoos and brandings already – why not stick a four-leafed clover or $ sign in your eye!

JewelEye:
Well this is just what you can get at the Netherlands Institute for Innovative Ocular Surgery – an implant in your superficial, interpalpebral conjunctiva!

It apparently doesn’t ‘interfere with the ocular function of the eye’ – like how you see and move your eye – although I could imagine it could be quite irritating until you get used to it!

And the material used is totally inert and can be shaped to almost any solid shape by the manufacturers – perfect for that ‘unique’ touch that everyone is after.

Implanting The Jewel:
With just an eye anaesthetic between you and the implant – you eye is cleaned thoroughly while you are awake – the qualified opthalmic doctor creates a small pocket in your outer eye with liquid, to about the size of the implant.

The implant is then ‘slipped’ into this pocket with normal forceps and patted dry.

Antibiotic drops need to be used for at least 1-2 weeks after implantation, and then that’s it – all done!

People have had these implants in their eyes for over a year and have had no problems at all – so at least there is that to reassure you of this ‘new’ procedure.

Fancy Getting One?
Well, you will need to go to Holland first as only 2 clinics currently offer this type of cosmetic surgery.

However, if you are interested in learning more – go to their website to look at the procedure taking place as well as more detailed information on the procedure.

Let us know if you have had this done anyone!

posted by admin on May 24

Nobody wants to be tracked while they are driving – but now young people are begging to!

The Co-Operative Society have come up with a great way to find out how safe their new drivers are – and charge them accordingly; by using what they are calling ‘Smartbox’.

Now normally we don’t want to give too much information away about ourselves if we can help it – but when we can be rewarded for our behaviour (and there is money to be saved) we don’t mind!

For example, many people changed to metered water in the UK recently so that they only paid for the water they used – showing that they were using less than the average person. However, water-wasters stil aren’t being penalised as they are only paying the ‘set rate’ still.

But with car insurance it is different! You pay more money for insurance if the insurance companies know that you are more likely to cause them trouble. The equivalent of charging people a huge amount for their water if they don’t commit to a meter to show their exact usage.

How It Works:
Well, young drivers are much more likely to have an accident in their car if they drive too fast, drive irresponsibly and drive in the dark – so their premiums are set high to cover the costs of repairing cars if they drive irresponsibly fast at night!

photo credit: thienzieyung

However, many young drivers don’t drive like that – but are statiscally within the same group – and you can’t take their word that they will behave behind the wheel. So in comes the Smartbox.

Basically, this device is fitted discretely in the vehicle and wired up to the cars electrics – like a black box of sorts – and records various details about driving speed, acceleration as well as having GPS facilities and a slock to record time of day.

Add all of this collected information together and they can tell when, where and how the car is being driven – and reward of penalise as necessary.

The machine can’t lie – so it can easily sort the wheat from the chaff so to speak!

Why Would You Do It?
If you have ever tried to get a car insurance quote when you are young and a new driver – you will know why you would be willing to be ‘recorded’ by the Smartbox: car insurance can be – and regularly is – over £1000 per annum. Way too expensive for most youngsters.

So, why not show that you can be a responsible driver in exchange for massive savings over the year?

All the data collected can be viewed online with the Co-Op, detailing which areas of driving you are very good at and letting you know the areas where you could improve your driving. It isn’t just about the money – it is about creating safer roads for the driver and all other road users.

Literally as you drive safely to and from work or college every day you are saving money – and it can be many hundreds of pounds over the year and into your next years premium too.

And, due to the tracking set up for the driving skills – your car is also tracked if it ever gets stolen!

If I was faced with the choice (and I know I am a good driver) – I would fit one!

posted by admin on May 15

Think that solar panels look unsightly – and you have a heritage home?

Well, worry no more – there is an eco invention that is right up your street! It’s one of the eco inventions that I think all eco advances should be:

It doesn’t take any extra effort from you than fitting a normal ‘solar panel’
It doesn’t create any extra work from you or your family to run
It doesn’t mean that you have to ‘put up’ with a second rate service
It doesn’t mean that you have to lower your standards of appearance or behaviour

The reason that these photovoltaic panels don’t do any of the above is because they are in the shape of and have the appearance of actual roof tiles. Yes – they are sheets of ‘slate’ virtually identical to actual slate tiles!

What a fantastic idea – why didn’t we think of it sooner?

No Extra Effort:
These photovoltaics are so easy to incorporate into your roof that they won’t cause you any more strife than fitting normal pv panels.

Well obviously you won’t be fitting them – an experienced and qualified fitter will do that for you – but I mean they won’t need excessive paperwork to be completed; won’t need extra support scaffolding once in place – and they can’t really ‘fall off’ either.

No Extra Work:
You don’t need to pay to much attention to them either. You don’t need to remember to turn them off when you leave the home (like your lights and electricals); you won’t need to ration their use (like turning off the tap while tooth-brushing); and you won’t need to remember to wash them out before recycling them.

They run themselves with no effort what so ever – just put your feet up and watch a movie!

Same Standards:
Unlike turning down the heating and wearing more jumpers, eating less meat, wearing your clothes more times, using less petrol and not flushing the toilet after every ‘number 1′ – using these photovoltaic slate panels doesn’t affect anything at all in your life.

Just like all alternative energy sources – the power that they generate will be backed up with mains electricity should you have any problems – I mean we all know that it isn’t sunny everyday! So don’t fret about a cloudy day – as the combination of energy sources is seemless. You won’t even know when your kettle is boiling on sunshine and when it needs fossil fuels!

Same (Or Better) Appearance:
And as with few eco alternatives – these slates are actually improving the appearance of your home while you are striving to be ‘green’. You haven’t got giant shiny panels on your south facing – and possibly – street facing roof. The appearance and value of your home should be unaffected by installing these.

And this is particulalry important if your home is a listed building, or you don’t want to distract from its cute cottage or castle appearance with standard solar panels.

Rather than growing broad beans up your front wall and a pile of different colour recycing bins and boxes filling up your front garden – these eco inventions will be all but invisible on your home.

That’s how eco friendly inventions should be!

Visit www.solarslate-ltd.com for more details…..

posted by admin on May 7

Just a really quick post here to let you know that the world has gone mad!

I was in a local book store today, and happened to be standing next to a Gift Card display rack – and noticed that 1 of the cards was for Farmville.

I looked again – and yes, it was a £10 Gift Card for a make believe game on the Internet! A whole actual real £10 to be used buying pretend farm machinery and silver ponies.

Now I know that we spend far too much money on unnecessary clothes, electronics, music and apps – but to spend money on virtual ‘farm’ shopping seems a step to far!

A book gift card can educate, a clothing gift card can make the perfect night – but a Farmville gift card can only buy imaginary equipment to farm your imaginary crops to feed to your imaginary animals……

That is all I have to say on the matter!

posted by admin on Apr 29

When was the last time that you took a First Aid Course?

If it was more than a year ago – you could well be out of date! There have been changes to the way of thinking when dealing with an emergency situation, and you should keep up.

By changes, I don’t mean that everything is totally different and that the ‘old’ way won’t save a life anymore – what I mean is that through experience and advances – the way to do things has been improved; both for the casualty or for the First Aider.

For The Casualty:
Firstly – we are only trying to save your life – we aren’t fixing things or making things better: we are just keeping you alive.

Whether that means dragging you out of a car or pulling you off the road – as long as it means that we can get you breathing normally, we dont mind.

What if your legs are broken? Well firstly – they are already broken anyway; and secondly – if you aren’t breathing then what does it matter what we do with your legs? It’s a choice: broken legs or not breathing?

I know which I would choose!

For The First Aider:
It is so simple now that you can’t go wrong. Rather than having to remember how many fingers up the breast bone for CPR, what to do for a young person instead of an adult, etc – it’s all the same.

People used to get so so worried that they were doing CPR in the wrong place, or using too many fingers – that people weren’t being given immediate First Aid. People were delaying emergency actions due to the worry of minor details; and lives were lost, so it’s all the same now.

Only children under 1 get anything different these days – and it makes for very fast first aid!

You only get a few minutes to really save a life – so make sure they count. Don’t waste time planning what you are going to do or waiting to ask someone else – just do it, and do it fast!

If you are worried about what to do – then book yourself onto a refresher course to make sure you are up to date – and don’t wait for work to put you on a course! Don’t you want to know first aid to save your family and friends rather than a customer in your store or office?

I’ll be taking a course every 6 months to make sure that I make a difference!