Have you noticed that loud buzzing sound, like a gigantic swarm of bees coming right at you from your TV (or computer) no matter which world cup game you try to watch? This new world-wide sensation has become the dominating theme for the currently on-going 2010 World Cup hosted by South Africa, and the culprit is a South African "traditional instrument" (but the cheap plastic version) called Vuvuzela.
The vuvuzela is a long plastic horn/trumpet type instrument. It came to international attention during the run-up to the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup, also hosted at South Africa as a testing run for the following year's World Cup tournament. As FIFA's official web site puts it:
The vuvuzela has become part of the official South African football fans arsenal. It is a plastic trumpet which makes a distinctive noise, comparable to an elephant blowing their trunk. A stadium can often erupt with noise from fans blowing on their vuvuzelas. The South African Football Association, in a community-building project, has helped manufacture the colored plastic trumpet.
At the price of only 60 South African Rand (approximately $8 USD), this plastic horn quickly gained the hearts of many South African football (the international football, not American football) fans whether rich or poor, and soon became a symbol representing the South African flavor for the sport of football. And as the many football fans from all over the world gathered at the South African nation, the fashion quickly caught on among everyone. When tens of thousands of fans blow their beloved plastic trumpets at the same time inside the same stadium, the effect can be quite dramatic and annoying to some.
Broadcasters have complained about the constant annoying buzzing noise created by the many vuvuzelas, complaining that they are ruining the viewers' World Cup experience, and asked for a ban of the plastic trumpet at the World Cup. Some viewers had opted to mute the games just to get rid of the constant noise. Some players also complained that the noise can affect players' ability to perform in the field. Spain striker David Villa, who played at the Confederation Cup had said:
"In many parts of the game it can bother you a bit because you can't communicate anything to a teammate who's more than 10 meters away from you."
The vuvuzela, a long plastic horn, is just about the most
popular item in South Africa right now. -- Photo: AFP
Dutch coach Bert van Marwijk actually banned spectators from blowing their vuvuzelas at his team's training sessions, and a London Doctor also warned that the vuvuzela can spread cold and flu germs. However, most viewers didn't mind the noise and actually liked it because it really brings out the enthusiasm at the stadium and make the experience more alive. And for those spectators at the stadium, this is one thing everyone must have. It also makes a great souvenir. England defender Jamie Carragher said that he had been asked to bring some back and his kids had been on the phone asking for two. FIFA president, Sepp Blatter, also defended South African fans' right to blow their vuvuzela horns at the World Cup:
"I have always said that Africa has a different rhythm, a different sound," the FIFA president Sepp Blatter said in a Twitter message on Monday. "I don't see banning the music traditions of fans in their own country."Blatter went on to ask: "Would you want to see a ban on the fan traditions in your country?"
So if you are quite annoyed by the buzzing sound from your TV (or computer), how can you improve the situation? Here are some suggestions:
Use a noise-canceling headphone such as these ones. Turn it on, but don't plug it into anything.
Watch your World Cup games on a desktop computer with very loud fans, so the loud noise of the fan covers the noise of the vuvuzelas and you get annoyed by the noisy fan instead --- this is my personal solution!
Buy a vuvuzela from an online store (e.g.this one) for each of your family members (and maybe friends) and then blow them as loud as you wish toward your TV (or computer) without exceeding the annoyance threshold of your neighbor. You can even use your vuvuzelas for a lot of other things as this web site has suggested:
1. Cricket bat.
2. Hearing Aid.
3. Petrol funnel.
4. Water sprayer. (force trumpet side down into water)
5. Drinking funnel. Nuff said.
6. 4G mobile communication
7. Walking stick,
8. Light saber. (Just insert a torch) as seen on Starwars….
9. Jousting Stick (simply insert one into another.)
10. And of coarse… supporting any team/thing you like…..
Having decided, he began tracing the handwritings on the steel plate and tried to memorized everyone word of it.
“I must completely memorize this thing, so that the formulas will simply bolt out when I teach him and he will never have any doubt about it. Only that my voice is too different from that of the senior master Ren. I’ll really have to lower my voice. I’ve got an idea! I can shout at the top of my lungs for the next two days and dampen my voice. Then I’ll also mumble when I speak, so it’ll be hard for him to detect anything unusual.”
In the next while, Linghu Chong would spend some time reading the formulas on the steel plate, and then spend the next moment shouting out loud. He knew that the dungeon was located deep underground, and with the many gates, even if he were to burn firecrackers in the cell, people outside would still not be able to hear anything. Crying at the top of his lungs, he cursed the Four Skunks of Jiangnan for a good while and then began singing songs and theater opera. Eventually, even he, himself, couldn’t withstand his own ugly singing. He burst out into loud laughter. Then he would go back to memorizing the formulas on the steel plate.
Suddenly, Linghu Chong came upon a few sentences: “Make Dan-Tian[1] an empty box and a deep valley. Empty box can store objects; deep valley is a reservoir for water. When inner energy flows through, distribute into the acupoints in the Ren Channel.”
He had actually traced these sentences with his fingers a few times before, but since he detested all energy cultivation techniques in his mind, he never really thought about the meaning inside. Now when they caught his attention, he was very dumbfounded.
“When Master taught me inner strength cultivation, the main essentials were all about storing inner energy inside Dan-Tian. The more vigorous and dense the inner entry streams inside Dan-Tian, the stronger the inner strength. Why would this formula say that there should be no inner energy stored inside Dan-Tian? If inner energy cannot reside inside Dan-Tian, then where inner strength would be coming from? No inner strength cultivation methods out there will ever suggest something like this. Is this technique a joke? Ha-ha! Black-White is a wicked and despicable man. Why don’t I pass this method on to him and make a fool out of him?”
He traced the handwritings on the steel plate and slowly pondered over the meaning. The first several hundred characters taught techniques on how to disperse one’s own inner strength and energy. The more he read it, the more shocked he felt.
“Who in the world would be so stupid and willing to dissolve the inner energy he had once diligently cultivated over his entire life? Unless he was determined to end his life. But if he wanted a suicide, he could just easily slash his throat with his own sword. Why make it so complicated? To dissolve inner energy this way is much more difficult than cultivating inner energy. Besides, what good does it do?”
He mulled over the matter some more and found himself in great depression.
“Once Black-White hears these formulas and techniques, he would know immediately that I am just messing with him. For sure he won’t fall for it. I guess my plan is not going to work at all.”
Linghu Chong became more and more annoyed as he recited the words again and again, “when there’s inner energy steams inside Dan-Tian, distribute them into the Ren Channel, like a bamboo is empty inside, like a valley is always void….” Anger built up as he went on and eventually he gave a good smack at his bed and cussed loudly, “Damn it! This guy was angry for being stuck in the dungeon, so he decided to play tricks and make fun of other people.”
He scolded for a while and then fell asleep again. In his sleep, his mind seemed to have started following the formulas on the steel plate and began the exercise. When he thought of the sentence “when there’s inner energy steams inside Dan-Tian, distribute them into the Ren Channel,” a stream of inner energy actually dispersed into his Ren Channel, and he felt ineffable comforts all over his body. This went on for a good while in his wooziness. Half-sleep and half-awake, Linghu Chong could feel the energy streams inside his Dan-Tian still flowing toward the Ren Channel. But all of a sudden, he realized what was going on.
“Oh, no! If my inner energy keeps flowing out like this, I’d turn into an invalid!”
Startled, he sat up hurriedly. The inner energy streams immediately flowed backward from the Ren Channel, and he found himself consumed by strong nausea and dizziness. After a long while, he was finally able to breathe normally. Then, a thought suddenly struck him and brought him a pleasant surprise.
“My inner injuries are so difficult to cure all because I have running wild inside me seven or eight heterogeneous inner energy streams from the Peach Valley Six Fairies and Monk No-Commandment. Even Dr. Ping One-Finger couldn’t cure me. Great Master Fang-Zheng, the abbot of the Shaolin Temple, said before that only the Tendon Altering Sutra of Shaolin would allow me to gradually tame and dissolve these heterogeneous inner energy streams. But aren’t these inner energy cultivation techniques carved on the steel plate teaching me exactly the same thing – how to dissolve the inner energy streams inside me? Ha-ha! Linghu Chong, you are such a fool! While others fear the loss of their inner energy, you actually fear that the inner energy wouldn’t go away. Now there’s this amazing method just perfect for my case. How wonderful!”
He knew that what happened was only because he dreamed what he thought. Because he recited the formulas again and again when he was awake, those meditation techniques and breathing exercises carved on the steel plate had occupied his entire mind. Once he fell asleep, his subconsciousness took over and simply started following suit involuntarily. However, since his mind was not focused in his dreams, he didn’t really follow the formulas letter to letter. Now, having figured out the great benefit, he found great inspiration. He carefully traced the carvings on the steel plate two more times and made sure he understood the true meanings before sitting down cross-legged in a meditation pose and beginning the energy cultivation step by step.
Only about two hours into the meditation, he could already sense a fraction of the heterogeneous energy streams, which had been stuck and getting wild in his Dan-Tian region for a long time, dispersing into his Ren Channel. Although he still couldn’t rid them out of his body, the pain and tension caused by those energy steams rolling over inside him had certainly been greatly reduced.
Great joy welled up in his heart and he couldn’t help but jump to his feet and sing at the top of his lungs. He soon realized how ugly and hoarse the singing was. Turned out his previous day’s screaming and shouting were very effective and had really done it for his voice.
“Ren Woxing! Ren Woxing! You had left these formulas behind with the intention to cause harm. You probably had no idea that one day I’d run into them and actually benefit instead of suffer from them! If you knew this, you’d probably turn over in your grave and cry! Ha-ha! Ha-ha!” he thought to himself.
He continued working on dispersing energy steams without any break. The more he exercised, the more comfortable he felt. Then he thought.
“After I completely disperse the energy streams from the Peach Valley Six Fairies and Monk No-Commandment, I could very well start all over with our Huashan School’s inner strength cultivation, following the instructions taught by Master. Although I’ll have to start from scratch again, and it might take a lot of time and effort, chances are, my life probably would be safe now. If Brother Xiang eventually comes and rescues me out of here, there’s a new life waiting for me out there in the martial world!”
Then he had a different thought, “Since Master had already banished me from the Huashan School, why bother practicing Huashan School’s inner strength? There are plenty of inner strength cultivation methods from the many schools in the martial world. Why can’t I study from Brother Xiang or even Ying-Ying?” Desolation and excitement entangled in his mind.
After eating the day’s meal, he practiced the techniques again and felt a great sense of soothing in his entire body. Not able to contain his joy, he burst into hearty laughter. Then, Mr. Black-White’s voice all of a sudden rose from outside of the prison door.
“How are you, revered mister? I have been humbly waiting outside for a good while!”
[1] Dan-Tian is an acupoint, but is normally used to refer to the lower abdomen region where inner energy can be stored at.
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Video of the Day:
Another great fighting scene in Kung Fu movie Ye Wen --- Ye Wen was Bruce Lee's Master in the style of Yong Chun. Here Ye Wen was played by Donnie Yen.
In a previous post, I talked about several robots used to fight oil spill at the Gulf of Mexico. Today I will focus on only one of them -- the iRobot 1KA Seaglider.
The Seaglider robot was originally developed by the Applied Physics Laboratory at University of Washington. It is submarine like UUV (Unmanned Underwater Vehicle) or AUV (Autonomous Underwater Vehicle) used to collect oceanology data under the surface of ocean water. (Go here to see more pictures.)
Seaglider ready to launch (Photo credit APL-UW)
Seaglider in action (Photo credit APL-UW)
Seaglider is 1.8 meter long with wing span of one meter and weighs only 52 kg dry. Powered by 24V Lithium battery, Seaglider has a cruising range of 4600 km and can dive up to 1000 meters. As shown in the short animation below, the robot doesn't have any propeller and flies through water using changes in buoyancy for thrust. This minimum energy consumption allows the robot to stay in water for very long missions that many times last months long.
The Seaglider robot had been used to "track deep-diving mammals by their high-frequency clicks and squeals." It had also been deployed to the poles months underneath the sea ice for a study of climate change as shown in the video below. Every once a while, the robot would surface and then using the long antenna in its tail to send data to a satellite, which then become accessible from web-enabled devices. The operator can also upload preset way points to the robot for it to survey a certain region. The robot is also capable of loiter and drift modes that will allow the robot to maintain neutral buoyancy at any depth.
In June 2008, the Massachusetts based robotics company, iRobot (yes, the one that makes the popular home vacuum cleaner robots), purchased the Seaglider technology to mass produce it for military use. With its top speed at 25 cm/s, I'd think the robot is probably going to used for reconnaissance use instead of the more action-packed 007 style attacking missions. However, at $100,000 a piece, I don't know if this is tax money well spent. In the BP Oil Spill Crisis currently in progress, iRobot has sent several of this sleek autonomous submarines to the Gulf of Mexico to help collect ocean data and track the movement of the oil spill.
Obviously, this robot is only good for the very patient type users. However, I just can't help asking this question, "if, by any chance, the robot gets swallowed by a big fish, will the fish get diarrhea?"
Picture of the Day:
How often do you see this man in a suit? And can you believe these two used to be teammates?
Argentina's coach Diego Maradona (L) speaks to midfielder Juan Sebastian Veron after substituting him during their 2010 World Cup Group B soccer match against Nigeria at Ellis Park stadium in Johannesburg June 12, 2010.
Photograph by: DAVID GRAY Credit: REUTERS
The Deepwater Horizon drilling rig burns as oil
pours into the Gulf of Mexico.[The Canadian Press]
If you follow the news somewhat, then you probably have heard about the Oil Spill at the Gulf of Mexico. The BP-owned well has been leaking for nearly two months, causing great disaster to the environment and ocean lives. In the process of fighting the oil leak, many new robotics technologies were put to test and proved to be very handy tools for gulf researchers.
iRobot Seaglider Robot
One robot used is the iRobot Seaglider, a deep-diving UUV (Underwater Unmanned Vehicle) used to detect and map leaked oil in the gulf. Seaglider was originally developed by University of Washington and later acquired by iRobot in June 2008. The robot is powered by changes of buoyancy and does not need a traditional propeller, which allows it to go on missions that last many months long. Sensors on the robot can detect levels of dissolved oxygen in the water, temperature, salinity, other ocean properties, and the presence of oil all the way down to 1,000 meters. The robot has been used to locate and monitor clouds of dispersed oil droplets. Data can be uploaded to a satellite and then distributed via the web to any web-capable devices around the world.
Scripps Glider: Spray
Another robot used is the Spray robot, which is also a submarine type underwater glider, developed under ONR (Office of Naval Research) support by Scripps Institute of Oceanography and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Scientists. The robot is "fitted with a sensor similar to the one used used to measure chlorophyll, which is essential for the growth of plants." Scientists hope that the sensor can also pick up the spreading oil leak. The glider can dive up to 1,500 feet deep, and then periodically surface to relay data back to the scientists. It is also possible to use an i-Phone to command the glider, such as telling it to go up or down, turn, or to turn on/off sensors.
BP engineers also used ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicles) type robots to wield clamps and haul machinery in slow machine below the surface of the gulf to cap the renegade well. Video feeds showed the robots using a circular saw-like device to cut small pipes around the leaking riser. I cannot find more information about what kinds of ROV robots were used, but from the video below (from the perspective of the ROV robot) you can see that the ROV robot had arms and grippers tele-operated by human operators to perform manipulation tasks.
Isn't it amazing that we see robots everywhere these days? They are in the air, under the sea, and even in people's homes (not mentioning those ones on other planets). I sure have picked the right career! :)
Picture of the Day:
Giant Isopod that hitched a ride on an ROV in the Gulf of Mexcio. The subject of Isopocalypse 2010.
On June 3, 2010, the third stage of the Mars-500 Project kicked into gear at the Russian Academy of Sciences' Institute of Biomedical Problems in Moscow, Russia, where six volunteers from four different countries would spend their next 520-days inside a locked experiment facility simulating a long enduring trip to Mars.
The Mars-500 project is a ground-based experiment simulating manned flight to Mars. The main purpose of the experiment is to evaluate how the long isolation, especially the 20-minutes delayed communication with the outside world, affects the state of health and working capability of the crews.
The project has three stages. The first, 15-day stage took place in 2007 and was only designed to test out the facility. The second, 105-day stage happened in 2009 with 6 volunteers living in the isolated living complex. Currently in progress is the third stage, and another 6 volunteers will actually simulate a complete 520-day mission to Mars -- yes, that's how long the round-trip takes.
The 6 volunteers (professional astronauts, scientists, and engineers) will spend the entire duration of the experiment in a sealed facility with no windows and a '20-minute, one-way time-delay in communications to mirror the real lag in sending messages over the vast distance between Mars and Earth. It's almost like serving an 18-month jail term, but only worse, because they won't ever see the sun and have to live off canned food. They will also be under constant supervision and will be going through many scientific tests each day.
I have always been a big fan of space exploration. Call me Chicken Little if you wish, but with enough nuclear bombs that can blow up our planet over 300 times with only the push of a button, and with so many maniacs in this world, we've got to spread the seeds for human kind before the dooms day, before we wipe out ourselves completely from this universe. Therefore, great shout outs to these 6 volunteers who are willing to make the sacrifice for the benefit of the entire human race (think of all the World Cup games they are going to miss!!). I wish them a very productive "journey" and the greatest success! If I ever get locked up for 18 months, the entire book of Smiling Proud Wanderer would have been translated. LOL!
In order to successfully establish human outposts (or colonies) on another planet, it is essential to have intelligent worker robots working alongside human crews. Although we already have several robots roaming on top of the Martian surface, they are mainly for scientific exploration. What we really need are robots that can work as a team building/assembling equipments and living complexes. Some of them can be sent to Mars before the humans to get things started. Because of the long distance and long communication lag, they would have to be quite capable of autonomous operations, probably at some basic level tasks. Then more robots would go along with the human crews. These robots don't have to be fully autonomous, but will need to be able to interact with human well and take directions/supervisions from human operators efficiently/effectively. Robots have great advantages over human for these kind of space exploration because they don't need to eat, breathe, be entertained, and will never need a psychiatrist during such long space trips.
Picture of the Day:
The South African players dancing on the sideline in celebration of their goal against Mexico in the 2010 World Cup. It is so wonderful that the host nation gets to score the first goal of the tournament! Go Africans!
