In Texas it is illegal to dry clothes in the sun!

I never knew that there were so many restrictions to personal freedom in Texas till I read a letter from one of the harassed residents to the editor of Dallas Morning News recently. The writer lamented that the home owners association (HOA) of the community she lives in has outlawed clotheslines. And as such she had been forced to use the noisy, power-hungry drier.

The letter was followed up by an interesting and humourour column by Steve Blow, one of my favourite columnists. In this easy-to-read essay Blow fondly remembered his childhood fun times in the backyard when he and his siblings had swung off clotheslines much to the irritation of their mother and also about the fresh, crispy feel of sun-dried clothes etc.

I wonder what is going wrong with Texas, on the one hand there is extreme freedom. One can buy M-16 machine guns off the shelf in a hunting goods store and shoot anyone who steps into their yard without permission. All in the name of Freedom to protect self and family. But on the other hand there are extreme restrictions. If one wants to go hiking, he/ she has to follow a pre-set, well-defined and often barricaded and paved hiking trail. And if one wants to have a compound wall around their property the HOA has to approve it and if they don't your home site has to remain naked and exposed.

And now there is this new law which I am becoming aware of. You can't dry your clothes in the sun. That is it, you have to use a drier, spend electricity and pay the bill. No wonder corporations are making money in the US. If 300 million people are forced to not use the FREE unlimited natural resource of solar energy and use exhorbitantly priced, finite resource of electricity, the corporations which provide electricity will obviously make tons of money.

In places like Texas where 8 months a year there is abundant and bright sunlight one should encourage use of solar energy for everything: Lighting, heating, drying clothes and whatever else possible. But no, that would be cheap, only poor dry their clothes in the sun, not rich Texans. Anyway, who am I to coment on these idiosyncracies... I am after all not from here.

A radical approach to therapies of the future

I came across this radical approach to therapy online and thought I'd blog about it. It is intersting that these medical researchers are suggesting that future therapies and cures to serious illensses could be in the stem cells. And where are these stem cells found in abundance: menstrual blood of women. Where did I find this bit of news, on one of the most popular news websites: CNNMoney

The newsreport online talks about today’s hectic lifestyle, where most women are juggling careers, family, relationships, and a host of activities and seem to have forgotten that they could possibly suffer from some form of serious illness. According to the article the key to treatment of a number of health maladies such as osteoporosis, heart ailments, paralysis, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, may be found within the womnan's body - in vital stem cells.

And these people have found the best way to harvest the stem cells from a woman's own menstrual blood and store it for future use. How do they do it?. C'elle has developed a brand new technology to provide women with a safe and easy method of collecting and preserving stem cells found in her menstrual fluid each month.

Apparently C’elle’s has developed a non-invasive collection process through which one can process menstrual cells and store at a very low temperature for potential cellular therapies in the future. These packs are available for purchase online at a special introductory price.

I have appended the press release of the company for better clarity.

Press Release
Taking Control: Future Therapies for a Host of Serious Diseases May Be Found in Women's Menstrual Blood

July 07, 2008: 01:28 PM EST
OLDSMAR, Fla., July 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- With today’s hectic lifestyle, where most women are juggling careers, family, relationships, and a host of activities, the idea of possibly facing a serious illness in the future is not something that readily comes to mind -- especially when a woman is in the prime of her life. But what most women don’t know, is that the key to treating a number of possibly life-threatening diseases that she, a parent, a sibling or even her children may face in later years, such as osteoporosis, heart disease, stroke, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, may be found within her own body -- in vital stem cells, which can now be harvested from her own menstrual blood.

Now, thanks to the revolutionary research and technology of C’elle, a service dedicated to providing women with a safe and easy method of collecting and preserving stem cells found in her menstrual fluid each month, even the busiest woman can take control of her future, right in the privacy of her own home. With C’elle’s non-invasive collection process, menstrual cells are processed and cryo-preserved (stored at a very low temperature) for potential cellular therapies that may be used in the future. These self-renewing cells one day may even be used for sports medicine or cosmeceutical treatments, such as anti-aging therapies.

"C’elle enables and empowers a woman to take control of her future health, and possibly of those genetically closest to her, in a fast, painless and stress free way," said Michelle Kay, Marketing and Sales Manager for C’elle. "We live in exciting times, as science and technology are discovering how extremely valuable menstrual blood stem cells really are, and the enormous treatment potential they represent for future therapies. C’elle’s ongoing research is supporting these promising findings."

For more information about C’elle, please call 1-877-892-3553 or visit www.celle.com.

Website of a disgruntled Harley owner

The legendary Harley Davidson is definitely my all time favourite when it comes to motorcycles. But then I am fully aware of the ups and downs of owning a thumper motorcycle. It is expensive, time consuming and one has to spend a lot of time off the bike working on it to keep it in great form that we love it in. Anyway coming to the point I recently found this interesting website promoted by a disgruntled Harley owner.

Ths website reads like the diary chronicle of a Harley owner who has had lot of trouble with his bike. This man who calls himself as the "IT guy" who maintains the web-page. He has written his pains and pleasure experiences with the Harley Davidson motorcycle and has provided a platform for people to discuss the good and bad things about the motorcycle. The disclaimer on the site clearly states that "everyone who writes on the site takes ownership of what he/ she says. "Therefore, as a matter of policy, all posters on this page will be added to my e-mail list and will receive e-mails whenever there are additions to this page. If an e-mail address bounces repeatedly, the corresponding post will be removed from this web-page," reads the text on the homepage.

According to the owner of the website he has had several bad experiences with the motorcycle as well as the dealer who sold it to him. A summary of the problems reads something like this:

Summary of the problems I have personally experienced with a brand new Sportster in less then 5 years and 20,000 miles:
1. two major oil leaks: one and two
2. one major electrical failure (stranded, followed by a trip to a dealer)
3. gear shifter sticks for 5000+ miles (dangerous!! no longer happening)
4. fuel cock died, bike would not start, had to tow to shop
5. broken mirror
6. bubbling of chrome on top of air cleaner
7. periodic extended power losses (becoming less frequent?)
8. "dieseling" since the day I bought it, tune-ups have no effect

I recall the years I owned the Enfield Bullet, often referred to as the Indian Harley. And believe me I could have started a website like this. I owned the Enfield for five years and had a host of minor and major problems with it. The bike would give up at the most unexpected situations and create embarassing moments for me.

Stylish Prescription Glasses at Low Prices

In my experience I have seen that many people, especially don't like to wear glasses. Back home in India when young (unmarried) girls had eye problems and were advised to wear glasses they would get contact lenses made. This because wearing glasses were often considered unattractive and made them look geeky. But since the advent of stylish frames this trend has changed. Now many women consider even prescription glasses as an essential part of their fashion accessories and get several made to suit their clothes.

Getting stylish prescription glasses can be quite expensive, the frames cost a lot and the more stylish the higher the cost. I recently came across zennioptical.com an online store which sells prescription glasses. Zenni Optical offers complete single vision eyeglasses starting from as low as $8. This is a ridiculously low price to pay for a pair of stylish glasses.

The selection of frames available on zennioptical.com is so large that you will find it difficult to select one or may end up ordering more than one. They offer single vision lens, sunsensor (photochromic) lens, tinted sunglasses lens, bifocal lens and progressive lens. And all these at incredibly low prices. How does Zenni manage these low prices? Well it is simple, they sell only their own manufactured frames, from factory direct to customer. This kind of direct targeting eliminated middlemen and drastically cuts cost of advertising. So once these big ticket items are off the budget prices for end users can be kept low and affordable. And this secret Zenni Optical has learnt well.

High gas prices making people do strange things

I read this nearly full page article in the Dallas Morning News with great amusement. The article titled "Hypermilers driven to maximize gas mileage" talks about several individuals who have made adjustments to their driving lifestyles and do strange things to derive the maximum gas mileage out of their cars.

The article starts off with the case study of one Chuck Thomas. How does he manage to get more bang for his buck? He drives at a steady 50 mph on highways even as other cars zip past him at 70 mph or more. I have seen on US highways driving at 50 is near impossible, motorists behind you come threateningly close and do all kinds of things to make you speed up. But these "Hypermilers" are obstinate they don't go faster. Then what else do they do, they install high-tech gadgetry to track gas mileage on their dashboard guages. Then often they stop the car and push it into their parking slots to save a few drops of fuel. And the results have been astounding to say in the least. Chuch is getting 80-90 mpg (miles per gallon) out of his car which is supposed to deliver only 53 mpg.

I find it outright ridiculous that Americans are indulging in such acrobatics to save gas. Fuel is only $4 per gallon here compared to approximately $6 per gallon in India and I don't remember having done any of these kind of acrobatics to save fuel. I had three advantages one, my car is small it is powered by a 3-cylinder 800 cc engine and delivers a whopping 40 mpg on highway and 30-35 mpg in the city. And then I prefer to ride the motorcycle most of the time and only when it is absolutely necessary I take the car out.

But what do I say about American cars and the roads here. I have time and again seen one individual driving a huge V-8 truck or Luxury SUV which delivers about 12-17 mpg. The present fuel crises is chasticising Americans to a great extent it is showing them that they can't ignore environment completely and exploit the finite resources endlessly. Now thanks to $4 per gallon fuel prices many people here are thinking about economical and smaller cars. If they had thought about these things 10 years ago, probably the mortgage crises could have been avoided. Think about it!

IT Certification, the highway to satisfying careers

Since the advent of personal computers and the resulting automation of several mundane tasks there has been a large and growing demand for trained and certified IT professionals. Becoming an IT expert is not about knowing how to write programs or how to operate computers, it needs a much larger diaspora of skills training, orientation and attitudes. There are certifications in different niche areas of the IT industry. You could be a certified network expert, or a microsoft certified system expert or qualify for any one or more of the several similar certifications available. But without proper training and certification you can't land your dream job.

In the current market the largest demand is perhaps for professionals with Cisco certification. Cisco offers several niche areas in which you could get certified such as voice, network or security. Different certifications prepare you for distinctly different roles in the industry. For example a CCNA Voice certification prepares you for jobs such as voice administrator, voice engineer, and voice manager. The certification is proof that you are trained and able to configure and manage the latest technologies for VoIP infrastructure.

Career opportunities for people with Cisco certification are tremendously large. For example according to Certification Magazine's 2007 Annual Salary Survey the average salary of a CCNA professional is around US$74,810. And if the person has a professional-level CCVP voice-based certification beyond the CCNA, there is possibility of a 23 percent salary hike.

I personally haven't yet experienced the uniquely uplifting and professionally dispensed Cisco training. But I hope to sign up for a programme soon and get myself certified in one of Cisco's leading fields of IT. I am confident that this certification will catapult my career to great heights and enable me to gain respect among peers and colleagues. One of the sole aims of becoming a Cisco-certified professional is to get access to the amazing careers in the IT field. A field in which there is constant career growth and excitement of learning and implementing new technologies.

Entrepreneurial Kids!

I had this experience yesterday evening when I was walking home from the swimming pool in our apartment complex. I saw two kids with their skateboards playing in the empty parking lot. One of them was slightly chubby and looked like the typical hyperactive kid. The other wore thick spectacles and looked like the studious types. Both of them were attired in complete safety gear for skateboarding, knee pads, elbow guards, helmets were in place and they were enjoying themselves on the wheels.

I have always been enamoured by skates and skateboarding and stopped to chat up with the kids. "Hey! Do you skateboard everyday?" I asked. "Yes, we are having holidays now. Do you have anything for us to do?" said one of the kids. I hid my surprise at the open question and asked them whether they could teach me how to skate board. "Yes of course!" said both in unision. I was taken aback because I was not prepared for such an enthusiastic response. Moreover I was still attired in swimming clothes and sandals. "Not today, I will be here tomorrow." I replied.

"You don't have to do it. Just watch us do and you will learn a little," said the chubby kid and both of them launched themselves on the boards and started whirling around me making odd curvaceous patterns. After sometime they stopped and started talking to me. "This is summer, we don't have school. We want to perfect our skating and then perform stunts," said the chubby kid who was obviously more vociferous than the geeky looking one. In the same breath he continued "Yesterday we earned five bucks at the basketball court by fetching them balls which went out. We are always looking for jobs so we can make some candy money."

This caught me completely by surprise. These are two kids, probably 10-12 year olds and they already want to work and earn money. They are not looking for handouts but for jobs to make money. I wish I had had this kind of entreprenurial spirit and acumen when I was their age. I recall our former president APJ Abdul Kalam's constant emphasis that education institutions should focus on creating entrepreneurs and not employees. Now I understand what he meant. This kind of enterprise is what is absolutely necessary for the economic progress of a country.

Renting luxury cars at 50% discount!

One of my favourite hobbies is travelling to distant and exotic locations. But travelling has its own complications and you need mobility wherever you go. Whenever I visit a far off place I have to opt for car rental, because I don't like hiring taxis or depending on public transport. Both of which can be frustrating, unreliable and delay us to a great extent. But with gas prices heading north I was mentally preparing myself to pay more the next time I travelled.

But now I have found this great resource which will enable me to travel and pay less for car rental. Isn't it amazing, you travel and get a great deal for renting your favourite car? Yes it is. And if Advantage car rentals has its way it will revolutionise the very way in which we travel.

For this summer they have some really cool deals which will help you save money even if you are making last minute plans. Advantage's fleet of cars have the best of SUVs, Luxury cars and Convertibles, you can rent them across the country, irrespective of where you are going. From Las Vegas to Chicago, there are car rental deals which will be cheaper than you expect. Check out Advantage's special offers on their user friendly and informative website.

If you are not already floored by these offers there is another offer from Advantage which will make you want to book your rental car now. Advantage is offering upto 50% discount when you rent any of their Luxury or Convertible cars. And what is more you can reserve your set of wheels online on the website and don't have to worry about your transportation needs in a far off location.

Flying using party balloons

Ever heard of someone flying using party balloons? Does it sound crazy and outlandish... well it might for you but not for Kent Couch, a resident of Oregon. He has been using helium filled party balloons to fly from place to place since a long time. Yesterday he created a record of sorts when he flew 235 miles from Bend, Oregon to a small village in Idaho.

According to a newsreport in today's Dallas Morning News Kent has been doing this kind of crazy stunts on and off and this time he took the adventure a little far. Strapped to his lawn chair, he lifted off from his gas station with the help of his ground support crew and flew of 9 hours across the Oregon Desert and landed in the middle of a field in a farming community in Idaho. A flier, sky diver and adventurer Kent hopes to do many more flights soon.

I found some pictures of this amazing balloon flight on the internet and a youtube video which I am posting here for your information. To know more about Kent Couch and his adventures you can visit his website.