Location: Sunnyvale, CA Time Sunday Apr 27th 2008. 1230pm

So I was out running on saturday and I was this great looking yet rare part of a rainbow in the sky. I guess there must be some refraction theory behind it…I wished I had a better camera to use as a wall paper but since I was out running, my Ipaq 6828 will have to suffice

A closer look at the streak of cloud

Doing a search for “Rainbow in the clouds” led me to this National Geographic article which unsuprisingly had a much better picture than mine

a href=”http://zhouwenhan.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/060619-rainbow-fire_big.jpg”> http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/06/060619-rainbow-fire.html June 19, 2006—It looks like a rainbow that’s been set on fire, but this phenomenon is as cold as ice. Known in the weather world as a circumhorizontal arc, this rare sight was caught on film on June 3 as it hung over northern Idaho near the Washington State border (map of Idaho). The arc isn’t a rainbow in the traditional sense—it is caused by light passing through wispy, high-altitude cirrus clouds. The sight occurs only when the sun is very high in the sky (more than 58° above the horizon). What’s more, the hexagonal ice crystals that make up cirrus clouds must be shaped like thick plates with their faces parallel to the ground. When light enters through a vertical side face of such an ice crystal and leaves from the bottom face, it refracts, or bends, in the same way that light passes through a prism. If a cirrus’s crystals are aligned just right, the whole cloud lights up in a spectrum of colors. This particular arc spanned several hundred square miles of sky and lasted for about an hour, according to the London Daily Mail.

A Youtube Video of a rainbow in the cloud. Taken in Singapore! My hometown! what a coincidence

1. You think of the consequences before you act.

2. You find it hard to spend as you know that earning money is not that easy as spending money.

3. You realise that time is precious and you do not have much left.

4. You get the idea that things you done 1 year ago feel extremely retarded to you now.

5. You start getting wedding invites.

6. When you meet up with friends, the topics goes like this “Last time”, “In the past” , ” Remember that time when we…”.

7. You suddenly ask yourself what is the meaning/purpose of your life.

8. You can do something you do not like everyday even when there is no one pushing you to do it.

9. You see other kids and you ask either 1) How old they are, 2) Where they are studying.

10. You forgot what it is like to be a kid and how irrating adults can be when they all ask the same questions.

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Smart Homes have been touted as the Next Big Thing. However they have been around for decades and any futuristic movie is sure to showcase their potential. Currently the uptake of smart homes have been disappointing to say the least. Here we provide you 10 Reasons Why Smart Homes Can’t Get Into Your Home.

1. Complex to setup
Home users are do not want to spend their time choosing and installing smart home modules. Not only do they require extensive renovation and wiring skills that most home users do not have, they also require a familiarity with technology that is uncommon in most home owners. Initial setting up of the system involves creating profiles, users etc that homeowners find the process too long winded. Salesman also find that half an hour or more of the selling phase is spent on getting users to setup their home accounts. By this time, the home owner would have lost all interest.

2. Complex To Use
Home users fear that smart homes will out smart them and have unpredictable actions. The control scheme for smart homes is also complex as it requires extensive learning and setting of controls. There are many modules to keep track off and this adds stress to the user.

3. Need extensive change in home environment
Most homeowners do not renovate their homes frequently thereby eliminating the chance for home control systems to enter their households. We need a smart home that is plug & Paste. If we have a system that is installable just via a wall socket, many more home owners will be receptive to the idea of smart home systems.

4. Multiple Stakeholders
Currently there is no dominant design and company in the smart home market. Users are unsure if the system they choose will still be supported throughout the lifespan of their homes. Given that most home owners do not move for around 9 years once they move in, they want to be sure that their system will be supported for the span of their stay.

5. Not targeted at middle class mass market
The Market is currently targeted at high end homes where users are willing to pay a premium for a smart home system when they renovate their homes. Middle class homes are not being targeted as they are unwilling to pay the price for a smart home system.

6. Too much technology can be a bad thing
In general, opinion was fairly mixed on the issue of whether new technology in the home is a good or bad thing. Generally, it is agreed that the statement ‘I welcome new technology in my home because it saves me time and effort’ resonates with the majority. However, others felt fairly negative about the prospect of more technology in their home and almost two in five agreed with the statement ‘I do not see the need for more technology in my home’.
Many voiced concerns about the prospect of dealing with new technology. Almost half indicated that they were worried about how complicated new technology would be to use and the same proportion agreed that they found it difficult to keep upwith the latest technology for the home.

7. Over Concern regarding system failure
Because the exposure to smart home systems are so low, it is expected that many people are concerned over the failure of these systems. Even seen a person use the computer for the first time? They were so worried that anything wrong they do will send the computer to a graveyard, never to be revived. We just need more exposure to get over this road block.

8. No obvious use
Smart homes may provide so many features that are sure to bring you convenience and enable you to live like a virtual king. But as a package, there is no one clear benefit that is a killer feature. For platform products to succed, there must be a killer feature! The computer in its early days relied to spreadsheets to get into offices. The internet had email. What does a smart home have that everyone will definitely want?

9. The computer is your smart home
Who needs a smart home when we have the PC. Most of us spend a lot more time in front of our computers than anywhere on your home. Everyone is expected to have a computer sooner or later and this will create bubbles of intelligence in your home. Each family member with a computer has already created a smart room. Maybe we just need to incorporate medical/safety sensors into USB form so that they can operate from computers.

10. Beginning of S curve
Smart home market is certainly still at the bottom of an S curve. There are many companies with a great variety of products. The consumers are not very sure of what they really want and the companies are just throwing products out and see what sticks.

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1. Panic PIN

You use this PIN at the ATM when you are being robbed. Say if your PIN is 1234, you key in 4321 (in reverse order) at the ATM. You will still be accepted and can withdraw money. But the police will be notified to come and rescue you. You can also give the reverse code when you are coerced to give out your PIN.

2. Tractor balloon driven airship

A balloon driven plane that can control the horizontal direction. I am not sure the physic will work out since most of the force provided by the ballon will be up instead of horizontal directed.

3. Tails For All

Tails for Humans.

“One of my profoundest regrets about being human is that I am not equipped with a splendid and useful tail, like many other members of the animal kingdom.” Mickey the Fish

Hmm…a human with a fish nickname wishing he has a tail? I guess a tail will be really useful if we need to swing around trees. Maybe a tail can help us by controlling the computer mouse too.

4. Cream Cheese Ring

Preformed Cream Cheese Rings for Bagels

I don’t really like Bagels but cream cheese on it will make it better. But gastronomically sinful it is.

5. Evil laugh activated hand dryer

The hand dryer is activated by your evil laugh instead of the usual or infra red sensor. So you laugh, rub your hands dry and boost your evil ego at the same time.

6. Custard-Filled Speed Bumps

A custard-filled, speed-sensitive speed bump.

This bump would allow safe passage to all law-abiding vehicles. Custard will change from liquid to solid at low speed. But at high speed, the hump would burst showering the offending vehicle with incriminating custard.

7. Film Noir Home

A very ‘wired’ home which knows what you’re doing and uses voice synthesis to announce, in the first person, what you are doing

For example, you wake up in the night and go and get a glass of water. As you fill your glass from the kitchen tap, a dark, gravelly voice announces “It was late at night and I couldn’t sleep - I was thirsty so I went to get a glass of water”.

If you record down everything, it becomes like a computer stored memory of your life.

8. Flocking Road Cones

Create a solar-powered artificially intelligent motorised road cone that, through the simplest behaviour model possible ends up grouping around holes in the road.

Wow…I actually like this idea. But of course they must learn how to avoid cars. Maybe a simpler idea is to just place 2 cones at the ends of the line that you want to form. After placing the end cones, the rest of the cones will just form a straight line by themshelves.

9. Supermarket Pirates

While your faithful assistant pushes your trolley, you ride, in full pirate captain regalia, in the bows. On sighting a laden merchant ship / somebody else’s trolley, unfurl the Jolly Roger, come alongside, board ship and plunder. Should trouble be sighted on the horizon in the form of the King’s Navy, or even store security, flee to the Checkout Havens. If cornered, defend to the last man with tins of beans and packets of biscuits.

10. carrymehome.com

This is a service that calls 5-6 people to carry you home when you are tired. Reminds me of the human powered carriage service back in olden china.

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1. “I married your mother because I wanted children, imagine my disappointment when you came along.” - Groucho Marx

2. “Here lies my wife: here let her lie ! “

3. She has discovered the secret of perpetual middle age. - Oscar Levant (about Zsa Zsa Gabor)

4. Joan always cries a lot. Her tear ducts must be close to her bladder. - Bette Davis (about Joan Crawford)

5. It’s a new low for actresses when you have to wonder what’s between her ears instead of her legs. - Katherine Hepburn (about Sharon Stone)

6. She needs open-heart surgery, and they should go in through her feet.- Julie Andrews (about columnist Joyce Haber)

7. Monica Lewinsky has agreed to host a new Fox reality show called Mr. Personality. Lewinsky says this way, when people ask her the most degrading thing she’s ever done, she’ll have a new answer. Tina Fey on Saturday Night Live

8. “His album was called ‘Bad’ because there wasn’t enough room on the sleeve for ‘Pathetic’.” The Artist Formerly Known As Prince having a go at Michael Jackson.

9. Do you mind if I sit back a little? Because your breath is very bad. - Donald Trump (to Larry King)

10. If I were married to you, I’d put poison in your coffee.- Lady Astor (to Winston Churchill) If you were my wife, I’d drink it.- Winston Churchill, in reply

ps:I just love Churchill’s wit!

This article is a continuation of 10 Smart Insults from Famous People

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1. “He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire” Winston Churchill

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1. Researchers found that the majority of the subjects they studied were not able to identify anything they had done recently to try to increase their happiness or life satisfaction.

Happiness can be increased by planning to be happy. Have you identified what makes you happy? This list helps you do so!

2. Researchers who studied peoples level of interest in and attention to strangers found that people who were sad spent 35 percent more time focusing on strangers who looked unhappy than on strangers who looked happy.

If you are unhappy, you tend to notice people who are unhappy too. Looking at happy people might you feel happier.

3. People become about 1 percent more likely to hold a positive image of their bodies with each year of age after forty.

As you get older, you grow more confident or more accepting of your less than perfect body. Thus removing a major source of unhappiness. It also help that your friends are going through the same phase and physical appearance becomes less of a competition point.

4. Those who strongly identified with their current age became 2 percent less satisfied with their lives with every passing year, while those who infrequently thought in terms of their age showed no such negative trend.

Caring less about age brings more happiness?

5. Those over fifty who showed a high degree of resistance to change were 26 percent less likely to feel optimistic about their futures.

You need to get a change in direction if you are to feel that your life is going somewhere.

6. People in their sixties and beyond who had a long-term plan to accomplish something were 31 percent more likely to report that they enjoyed their lives.

With goal setting, you get a sense of satisfaction and a feeling that you are actually using your life effectively as there is a benchmark of your progress.

7. Those who considered themselves a success were 25 percent less likely to feel anxious about their lives, 14 percent less likely to be selfish, and 45 percent more likely to say they enjoyed their lives.

Everyone’s definition of success is different. What is yours?

8. Recent retirees were 15 percent more likely to be happy than those of a similar age who continued working full-time, but within six months retirees happiness fell behind that of those of a similar age who were working if the retirees did not have an active lifestyle.

Again, everyone needs something to do to feel their self worth. Without work, how do you ascertain your self work? Volunteering or part time jobs certainly help. Having an active online lifestyle do help too.

9. Those who said they regularly took notice of something beautiful were 12 percent more likely to say they were satisfied with their lives.

I really like this one. Why not start today. Change your desktop wallpaper to something is looks beautiful. Scenery usually helps.

10. Studies have shown that each additional enjoyable activity that people over fifty engage in per month increases their likelihood of life satisfaction by 2 percent.

Active body=active mind= happiness. Its that simple. Happiness comes through action.

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