Peter Ladefoged R.I.P.

Remembering Peter Ladefoged. Prof. Ladefoged was a consultant to the SDC Speech Understanding Project that I worked on in the 1970s. He was a great guy and taught us all about acoustic phonetics, and incidentally how to have a good time.

Dear Lord

"Dear Lord," the preacher began with arms extended and a rapturous look on his upturned face, "without you we are but dust..."

He would have continued, but at that moment one very obedient little girl (who was listening carefully) leaned over to her mother and asked quite audibly in her little girl voice, "Mommy, WHAT is butt dust?"

Cryonics trusts

Interesting Wall Street Journal article (a free one) about cryonics trusts. Instead of leaving your money to heirs, leave it to yourself, when you are revived after being in cryonic suspension. Not exactly settled legal territory! Beware the last minute will produced by your children. Some think to bury gold coins in National Parks - remember that the next time you are pounding in the tent stakes or digging a latrine.

New Martin 5K Ukulele

Martin stopped making ukuleles a number of years ago. They continued to import some of lesser quality. There's been a steady market for the vintage ones. Now, they are re-introducing the top-of-the-line Martin 5K ukulele. It's all koa with fancy appointments. List price is $5,199 - pretty steep for a uke but discounts will no doubt be available.

I'm eager to read the first review of the new Martin ukulele. They sold all the old jigs when they stopped making ukes, and no doubt many of the old-timers who made them have retired. So we'll have to see if the new ones are up to snuff.

Ukelooza 2006

WHAT: UKELOOZA 5! --- Rain City Projects' fifth annual Hawaiian-themed fundraising cabaret!

WHEN: Monday, January 23, at 7:30 pm

WHERE: Re-bar, 1114 Howell St (at the corner of Howell & Boren 4 Hoel

HOW MUCH: $10 (price includes a free ticket for our raffle)

CALL: Reservations not required.

WHO: Ukelooza features a fantastic line-up of ukulele-heavy acts including:

• The hot jazz style of Miss Mamie Lavona (the Exotic Mulatta) and Her White Boy Band!
• The brainy sexy sights and sounds of Vis-a-Vis Society (Rachel Kessler and Sierra Nelson of The Typing Explosion)!
• The Kentucky-fried characters of Troy Mink!
• The breathy-quirky pop of Leeni!
• A macabre Hawaiian folktale from storyteller Bret Fetzer!
• The sultry swinging sounds of Antoinette!
• Vigorous ukulele cover tunes from Eric Ray Anderson!
• Readings from Seattle playwrights chosen for RCP's new MANIFESTO SERIES, to be announced at Ukelooza 5!
• Hosted by cute-as-a-button clown queen Stephanie Roberts!

Top 10 Nanotech Products 2005

1. Tiny Chips Are Suddenly Hip - Apple Computer's iPod Nano
   Apple Computer's latest marketing campaign for the 4 GB pencil-thin iPod Nano player may be the event that kicks public awareness into overdrive. But does this device represent nanotechnology or marketing hype? The answer is "yes" on both counts. Inside the iPod Nano are memory chips from Samsung and Toshiba. Samsung, the biggest producer of NAND and DRAM flash memory chips in the world, uses semiconductor manufacturing methods with precision below 100 nanometers. This precision, in part, is what enables the iPod Nano's 4 GB NAND flash memory.
2. Fat Busting With Nanotech - Shemen Industries Canola Active
   A healthier version of canola oil has been created by NutraLease, an Israeli startup, using 30 nanometer capsules, which, because of their small size can seep through tissues for better biodelivery of nutrients. Another Israeli company, Shemen Industries, is using the process to create Canola Active, a brand of cooking oil infused with plant phytosterols that inhibit the absorption of cholesterol in the blood and lower the risk of heart disease. NutraLease's nanoscale structures form a liquid carrier that improves absorption of phytochemicals and reduces LDL cholesterol levels by up to 14%.
3. Tootsie Roll's Nanotech Nemesis - O'Lala Foods Choco'la Chewing Gum
   Cocoa butter has never been compatible with the polymers that give gum its elasticity. In fact, the fats found in chocolate will cause chewing gum to fall apart. Chicago-based O'Lala's solution is to incorporate nanoscale crystals, modifying surface morphology and giving its gum a creamier texture and chocolate flavor. Choco'la gum is commercially available in suburban supermarkets north of Chicago at specialty chocolate stores and on the company's Web site at. A pack of 12 pieces will cost you about $1.25.
4. A Nanotech Facial - Zelens Fullerene C-60 Face Cream
   Zelen Fullerene C-60 Day Cream, as the name implies, incorporates nanoscale Fullerene C-60, a derivative of the late Nobel Laureate Richard Smalley's buckminsterfullerene carbon. It turns out that the material has remarkable antioxidant properties. Zelens claims its newly released day cream is the first to harness the power of Fullerene C-60 carbon for cosmetics applications. That helps to explain the product's £150 ($250) price tag. Unless you're traveling to the U.K., add on a shipping charge. Customers on this side of the pond can obtain a jar via direct order by e-mailing enquiries@zelens.com.
5. A Nano-ville Slugger- Easton Sports Stealth CNT Bat
   Easton Sports, based in Van Nuys, Calif., teamed with Zyvex in Richardson, Tex. to create the Easton Stealth CNT bat. The "CNT" stands for carbon nanotube technology from Zyvex's NanoSolve product line. The spaces between the fibers in your ordinary, run-of-the-mill carbon fiber bat contain only resin, which weakens the bat's power. Easton's solution was to disperse Zyvex's material into the base resin. The result is a bat that gives sluggers of all ages optimized flex, responsiveness and more "kick" through the hitting zone for maximum performance--within legal limits of the game, of course. Swinging this kind of technology at the plate will cost you $175 and up.
6. Casual Apparel With Nano-Style - Nanotex
   Nano-Tex in Emeryville, Calif., made our top ten last year for its contribution to dryer, more comfortable mattress covers. The company returns this year with a long list of nano-enhanced clothing with fibers that have tiny whiskers aligned by proprietary spines to repel liquids, reduce static and resist stains--without affecting feel. Nano-Tex plans to launch an extension of its Coolest Comfort family of patented moisture wicking enhancements for resin-treated knits and other cotton garments. The enhancement keeps consumers dry and comfortable by pulling moisture away from the body at least ten times faster than most resin-treated cotton fabrics available today.
7. Stink-Proof Nano Soxs - ARC Outdoors, ArcticShield Socks
   Another nano-improved apparel application made our list: Military PX stores stateside and abroad are now selling ArcticShield polyester socks from ARC Outdoors in Broken Arrow, Okla. They incorporate 19-nanometer silver particles within their fibers. Long known for its antimicrobial properties, silver has been used previously to provide protection against odor and fungus in socks. The material never bonded well with polymers, however, and needed to be applied as a spray, or woven directly into the fabric as an uncomfortable metal thread. NanoHorizons developed a proprietary process that solved this silver-to-polymer bonding problem. Now sold as E47 Polyester Master Compound, it helps to make a comfortable synthetic fiber sock with permanent resistance to odor and fungus.
8. Behr NanoGuard Paint and
   
9. Pilkington Activ Glass
   Shiny Happy Homes. Now available at Home Depot and other retailers, Behr Kitchen & Bath paint incorporates NanoGuard technology developed by Behr Process in Santa Ana, Calif. Nano-sized additives lend greater density to the water-based acrylic latex carrier. As the carrier dries, the NanoGuard additives help create a harder, more durable film resistant to water, mildew, stains and grease. Coated with a few dozen nanometers of a photoactive film, Pilkington's new Activ [sic] glass effectively cleans itself, as natural radiation from sunlight chemically reacts with organic dirt deposits on the surface. When it rains, or when you turn a hose on it, the hydrophilic film causes water droplets and dirt to spread evenly over the surface.
10. Cleaner Air Through Science - NanoTwin Technologies, NanoBreeze Air Purifier
    A patented NanoTube is the active component behind the NanoBreeze Air Purifier from Salem, N.H.-based, NanoTwin Technologies. The tube itself is large enough to handle, but it is wrapped in a fiberglass mesh coated by a layer of titanium dioxide crystals that measure 40 nanometers in size. Switched on, the NanoTube radiates UV light that charges the crystals to create powerful oxidizing agents that destroy airborne germs and pollutants circulating over the tube's surface.

(List compiled by Dr. Debajyoti Sarangi, Switzerland.)

Not evil?

An appreciation of Starbucks coffee. From San Francisco, no less.