Many of us are so stressed out we forget what matters most in life, family and the time we spend with them. It’s not technical, it’s uncomplicated and it’s plain and simple enjoyment with the family. We don’t always have the luxury of focusing on family but what better time to be passionate about yours, than a time like now when the economy is on the rocks and stresses abound. Sound crazy, don’t count us out yet for stress is the number one cause of disease on this planet and is one thing all of us geeks could use a lot less of.
Whether you go on vacation to some far away land or go out of town to a local place you all enjoy, the outcome should always be the same, family time. Being passionate of your family is one of the most neglected ideals of this time and age for we are all so obsessed with making money and buying stuff. Have you ever noticed that the cheapest and most simple ideas make the best impressions on your kids. Those times when everybody seems to get caught up in the moment for no reason at all and everybody remembers as it were yesterday sending everybody to stop what they’re doing and simply talk and reminisce. Now that’s some thing to live for and remember, like the trip to New Jersey you took where everybody just had fun in sun and surf.
Come on people, learn to live again and spend some time with the people you love about the most and stop caring about everything else for a moment and begin living again, begin being human again.
Velcro – The Unsung Hero of Sneakers
The invention is now celebrating its 50 year anniversary and many have used it yet not even known the name of the humble hook and loop thingy that makes the distinct rip sound without actually ripping, VELCRO. As it turns out, the product was initially patented by a Swiss engineer, George de Menstral in 1941 while on a hunting trip in Switzerland. He was intrigued at how cocklebur seeds clung to his socks and dog by the way and wondered what significance a product that could mimic the said seed and the wonders it would do for daily life, he let it off as another idea into the magic bag of tricks. After a decade, he came about the idea again and became serious about the incident and started work on a man-made equivalent to the errant seed that stuck to almost anything.
Under the microscope, the cocklebur seeds had many tiny hooks that clung or hooked onto the woolen pants that he was wearing that one day he was hunting in the Swiss mountains. Wool as we all know is made from fibers out of the coats of sheep and they had a natural loop that allowed the bush’s seeds to hook onto. He first tried to make the device out of cotton which failed, settling on nylon as a better solution to the problem. The nylon was spun and then cut to form the hooks that were needed to closing to the loops which was made of fibers loosely wound onto a mesh packing. The invention failed to catch on for a while for fashion designers saw it as ugly and very unappealing for their clothing lines. The only people who loved the stuff were those guys in space who hated the hassle of having to do zippers in space as they put on and off their space suits.
Little did people know that the stuff is to become mainstay of sneakers and much other stuff we take for granted today. Nearly all models of shoes have a piece of Velcro on them and modern life would be impossible without it. It has you sealing up the duffel bag you carry your stuff in, it holds your tents and other stuff together, car seats are held up by them and of course the sneakers which have benefited the shoelace challenged folks of this earth for so long. Out with the lace and in with the rip, the ripping Velcro that is. Many fail to see that Velcro is a brand name and refer to all those fasteners on the market as such. Little do they know that the brand has existed for quite some time and that may be the reason why infomercials refer to them as simply fasteners or hook and loop fasteners.
The Cardboard Bicycle (From the Archives)
What better way to become green that to get the most popular and least polluting mode of personal transport and having it made out of what else, cardboard. Yep, cardboard, that stuff that is used for all types of packaging for mostly all the stuff we buy. From cellphones, TV’s and other consumer electronics, they all come in cardboard boxes. It is not only cheap and extremely recyclable, it is also light and quite strong (well if you don’t drive it in the rain that is, kidding it is waterproof and will not break-up in the rain). It also addresses the most plaguing problem with respect to bikes which is theft. In the UK alone, thousands of bikes are stolen each and every year and the statistics keep rising.
Some bicycles are indeed expensive with all the aftermarket upgrades and rare alloys that they now come in. From carbon fiber to tungsten and titanium parts, they are all vandalized or stolen even when chained to a lamppost. The cardboard bike is also cheap at $30.00 and when they reach the end of their life (which is still miserably short at 3 months) they can be disposed of easily without worry of pollution or contamination of the environment. The cardboard parts are simply re-made into other cardboard products then re-injected into the cycle once again. The cardboard used by the inventor was used to make pallets or crates and was rated to carry 2,500lbs(but he does agree that a stronger version for heavier people might be needed). The cardboard bike is still in the prototype stage and any commercial product would still have to undergo further testing and testing for it to go into full-scale production.