(Source Video: Dannielle Blumenthal)
Showing posts with label Water. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Water. Show all posts
December 27, 2013
December 1, 2013
Skiing The Rainbow
The waves were insane though...
The instructor tells us, "Oh be careful, because the waves can turn the jet ski over--especially when you're coming in and out--and it weights 900 pounds!"
Trying to get on this thing with the sand shifting under my feet and the waves making this thing flip up like a bucking bronco--let's just say that I had more than a few second thoughts.
But for my daughter's sake, we went forward--BTW Rebecca, you were very brave and I thank you for making me do these things and come out of my comfort zone.
It was a scary, but amazing time, and a spectacular rainbow came out for the event (in fact, it was a double rainbow, which I had never even heard of).
Being a bunch of city kids, this was an awesome sight for us.
Thanks to my wife for taking the short video of our journey today, and thank you to G-d for bringing me to this moment.
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
July 22, 2013
Do NOT Wash Hands
It's a drinking fountain and says: "Please do not wash your hands. Thank you."
So somebody wrote underneath it "here."
And somebody else crossed that out and wrote "ever."
I guess people are fed up with all the signs reminding them to wash.
Seems like we have a hygiene rebellion on our hands! ;-)
(Source Photo: Dannielle Blumenthal)
July 2, 2013
Dirty Little People
Take a guess?
Only 5%!
And that's based on almost 4,000 people they observed--but how many would've washed correctly if they thought no one was watching?
The dirty stats (while under observation):
- 23% didn't use soap.
- 15% of men and 7% of women didn't even use water.
- Average washed for just 6 seconds! (CDC says you need at least 20 seconds with soap and water to kill germs)
From what I've seen, unless their is a touchless water faucet and automatic towel dispenser, not too many people wash their hands--they don't want to get them dirty by touching the same bathroom devices that the other people just touched.
Another no-no for people is touching the bathroom door handle--more germs!
What do some people do--they use (wads of) toilet seat protectors to pull the door open--then guess what's missing for the next guy or gal?
Most public bathrooms are disgusting--if everyone could just have their own, they would keep it clean out of self-interest and maybe wash their hands a little more too.
Next time we have a recession and need to invest in "shovel ready" infrastructure projects to keep America working--how about we build some (read lots!) clean bathrooms and throw in the automatic wash features, pretty please. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
May 27, 2013
Attempting a Serenade
1. When I was kayaking, a guy in another boat races after us. He yells out about his wife leaving her keys in the boat. He gets so excited he falls in the lake...this really happened.
2. A couple getting married in the park are taking pictures by the lake. The photographer eggs the lady on to go down to the bank of the water with her new adoring husband. She hesitates, but finally gives in and then falls on her butt in the mud in her beautiful gown... oops.
3. This must've been the weekend for outdoor weddings, because we saw another couple getting married on the hiking trail's overlook. It was a beautiful place for a ceremony and quite economical too. We wondered what they had planned if the weather hadn't cooperated and it had rained--perhaps, "Ah, why don't we get married next week instead!"
4. A couple comes up to me asking if I've seen their lost dog. They are screaming into the woods to see if they can locate the Airedale Terrier, Rosie. I asked what happened to their dog, and they explain that the dog saw some deer and chased after them into the woods and didn't come back. They are there with their extended family with walkie-talkies and all searching and putting up signs. The next day, I am surprised to see the lady sitting on a stoop in the woods with the dog wagging its tail. I ask if this is the lost dog and what happened. And she tells me how the dog found its way out of this enormous park and walked along the side of the road home, until the neighbors sighted her and called them with the news.
5. And finally in this video, I just sort of spontaneously burst out into serenading this lovely lady. All's well that ends well. ;-)
May 26, 2013
Mayim Chaim
You can only live about 3 days without water--that's why protecting our water is so critical.
Emergency Management (May/June 2013) says, "There are numerous ongoing threats to our water supply. Some of them [natural or man made] could be catastrophic."
- Water poisoning: Already in the 1st century, Roman Emperor Nero poisoned the wells of his enemies. These days you'd need a large supply, like "several dump trucks of cyanide or arsenic to poison a reservoir. Plus the water system is monitored and has purification protections such as chlorine, so it's not that simple. We can also issue "boil alerts" for people to boil the water before drinking it. Then again, we saw what some radiation did to the Japanese water supplies after Fukushima.
- Blowing it up: The water system infrastructure can be disrupted using explosives, so keeping intruders far away from it is important to keeping it safe.
- Earthquakes/Hurricanes: Much of the water system pipes are old--some built during the Civil War--and these can be destroyed by natural disasters or even a construction crew jackhammer hitting in the wrong place.
- Electrical outage: If you shut down the electricity, you shut down the water pumps...and even with generators taking over for a while, your up against the clock, if you don't get the juice flowing again soon.
- Cyber Attack: Our water systems, like other industrial control systems are vulnerable to cyber attack. A hacker that gets control of the systems could overheat it, overtreat it, flood it, or otherwise break it and shut it down.
Keeping our water infrastructure secure, the water supply safe and potable, the transport pipes intact, the electricity working, and the systems under control--are not little matters--they are the difference between life and death for millions.
As in The Rime of The Ancient Mariner, when the ship gets blown off course into unchartered waters and the crew is thirsty for water and desperate to survive, the poet states, "Water, Water. Everywhere. And All The Boards Did Shrink; Water, Water, Everywhere. Nor Any Drop To Drink."
In Hebrew, there is a short saying that sums up this topic, "Mayim Chaim"--water is life. ;-)
(Source Photo: Dannielle Blumenthal)
April 20, 2013
Survivable Water Pipes
As we know, water is critical to every living creature, and in an earthquake, when there is damage to the water infrastructure, such as the underground piping, people can be left without this basic life-sustaining commodity.
When traditional solid cast-iron piping is used, an earthquake can cause these to deform and buckle. However, with a new ductile pipe design by Japanese company, Kubota--the pipes are built in a chain-like fashion and expand and contract, flex and bend, but do not easily break.
According to the Wall Street Journal (14 April 2011), Kubota earthquake-resistant pipes even withstood the 9.0 quake in Japan in 2011, and it can withstand "shaking, landslides, and extreme temperatures.
Now Los Angeles is piloting this pipe along 2 miles of its 7,000 miles of piping--they are focusing on "the most vulnerable, fault-line-adjacent areas," since the piping is 2 1/2 times the price of regular piping.
In the absence of having a device like the Star Trek Replicator to synthesize food and water on the fly, it makes a lot of sense to upgrade our water systems and other critical infrastructure to protect us from the disasters that come.
"Tea, Earl Grey, Hot" needs to be available not just in good times, but also in bad. ;-)
(Source Photo: Kubota)
February 13, 2013
Flying Under The Ocean
This is a cool video of a new experimental swimsuit called "oceanwings."
Similar to wingsuits for BASE jumping (skydiving), oceanwings have underarm and between the leg wings or spans of material that essentially gives a person float.
With oceanwings, instead of flying through the sky, you can fly through the water.
They are made by Aqua Lung which makes and sells professional and recreational scuba diving equipment.
For someone that loves the water, oceanwing diving looks beautiful, calming, and a heck of a lot of fun.
Not sure in the video, how the guy is breathing under water (since they don't seem to show any sort of air tank), but maybe he is just going on bated breath. ;-)
December 11, 2012
Escaping From A Submerged Vehicle Gets Easier
Of all things, here's an innovation to the seat belt.
In the movies, we've all seen cars plunging into the water and submerging with people trapped inside.
Wired Magazine (11 December 2012) reported on a new escape belt that helps people get out of the vehicles and to safety.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administation, almost 400 people die a year from car accidents that result in accidental drowning.
Now Dutch company, Fijen TMLS has developed a seat-belt that releases when water goes in the interior and dissolves a salt pill in the latch.
The mechanism costs as little as $40 and according to the company's website can "be assembled on all seatbelt releasers in just a few simple steps."
From the pictures of the assembly instructions, I am not sure it is quite so easy.
Also, it is unclear how long the device is good for, since on one hand, their website states that the "Escape Belt lasts 6 months" and on other hand that "the cartridge will need to replaced after 2 years."
In any case, I think the idea is a good one as long as the belt remains secure when not submerged and will not release accidentally with any simple spill or splash. ;-)
November 25, 2012
Helicopter Ride Over Miami Beach
We went on a awesome excursion today...a helicopter ride over Miami Beach.
We got picked up and taken to the air strip in Pembroke Pines.
Then, in a $450,000 helicopter traveling at 115 miles per hour, we got the ride of our lives.
With the sky clear blue, the sun shining bright, and the air cool and refreshing--what a great experience!
I put this in my memory bucket along with the jet skiing we did last year.
I thank G-d for the amazing opportunities and to experience this with my family.
Probably the funniest thing was when our pilot Jason asked "do you want to have a nice ride or a crazy time?"
I didn't know we had to choose...especially after signing the waiver. ;-)
(Source Video: Andy Blumenthal)
November 21, 2012
Beauty And Kindness In Miami
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The beauty of the water, beaches, islands, intercoastal, modern high-rises, and more is just amazing to me.
All this while we have the seasons changing up north.
This evening, in a restaurant, when I took out my phone for a moment, I accidentally dropped my wallet.
I could have easily lost it and would've been up a creek!
I was really taken aback when someone came up and says holding out my wallet, "Excuse me, I think you must've dropped this."
I was really grateful, and then not sure who else may have picked up my wallet before this person gave it back to me, I quickly started flipping through it to make sure everything was still there.
Thank G-d!
And thanks to this nice person for being so honest and kind.
When I left the restaurant, I stopped by their table to profusely say how much I appreciated what they did and to wish them a happy Thanksgiving--the real meaning, indeed. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
September 30, 2012
Survival x 3
That basically, the rule of thumb is that you can live:
- 3 minutes without air.
- 3 days without water.
- 3 weeks without food.
No, I don't intend to test these assumptions--but thanks. ;-)
This "Rule of Three" reminded me on these three kayaks I saw--Red, White, and Blue--navigating the Shenandoah River.
They are together, like three legs of a stool--strong, upright, and moving forward.
I like this rule of thumb and wanted to share with others with might benefit.
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
August 26, 2012
WATERgate
The waterfalls remind me more of the landscaping around Floridian high-rises or the water flumes at Walt Disney parks than of what you normally see around town, here.
I liked these aesthetically and think we generally need more integration of nature and art into our urban (and often sterile) environment.
A little more green, a little more clean, and a lot little less crime and congestion--and don't forget a decent climate--those were some of the things that I look for in attractive places to live and to work.
While no place is perfect, having grown up on the upper west side in Manhattan and then Riverdale (in the Bronx) and now in the D.C. area, let's just say that there are differences all around us. ;-)
Then again, as my father always taught me, you can live anywhere--if you have your health, family, and a good job.
He's right, a place is just a place--and it's the people and love between them that makes it great.
So water sculptures aside, give me a real home, and that's the best place in the world that I want to be.
(Source photos: Andy Blumenthal)
August 21, 2012
Howie Mandel Was Right All Along
If you don't, this little green slime creature is going to come and get you.
It reminded me of the other day heading into the bathroom, and I see this guy coming the other way out of one of the Stalls.
He actually does head to the sink to the wash his hands--he's in the minority in this country, I understand.
Well the sink is one of the automatic ones and has no faucets.
The guy sticks his hands underneath....nothing.
He starts waving his (dirty) hands...and still nothing.
After the third try...he throws his hands up, looks at me, and says, "Now that's awkward" and proceeds to walk out the bathroom holding his hands literally at full arms length.
I hoped that he didn't run into anyone he knows on the way and reached out to shake their hands--because they would've gotten a nasty surprise, indeed.
This sign tells it the way it is--sorry folks. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
January 20, 2012
Clean Water From A Bicycle
Love this product called The Aquaduct for helping people in developing countries get clean water.
Using the power of pedaling, water that is loaded into the back of the bike is "cycled" through a filter and run into the clean container in the front.
This can be done by actually riding the bike home with the water or refilling the clean container in stationary mode.
The Aquaduct reminds me of some similar products that I saw and blogged about in July at a Peace Corps exhibit that used bicycles for shelling corn and charging cell phones.
What's great about The Aquaduct is that is a simple, all-in-one solution that transports, filters, and stores water--it was the winning entry (out of 102) in the Google Innovate or Die competition.
For 1.1 billion people without clean water in the world, The Aquaduct solves the problem for transporting and sanitizing water.
In Judaism, we say "Mayim Chaim"--that water is life, and this innovative pedal-powered transit and filtration machine can help bring life-saving water to the masses.
January 1, 2011
A House for The People
National Geographic (January 2011) reports that one out of every seven people—or 1 billion people—in this world lives in slums.
Forbes (11 June 2007) predicts “By 2030, an estimated 5 billion of the world’s 8.1 billion people will live in cities. About 2 billion of them will live in slums, primarily in Africa and Asia, lacking access to clean drinking water and toilets, surrounded by desperation and crime.”
Harvard Business Review (January-February 2011) shares an innovative idea by Vijay Govindarajan to design and mass-produce houses for the poor for $300! Moreover, these units would include “basic modern services such as running water and electricity…[and] create shared access to computers, cell phones, televisions, water filters, solar panels, and clean-burning stoves.”
The breakthrough idea of the $300 high-tech house is that this is not something governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), or charities would develop and deploy, but rather one that is a challenge for commercial interests who can take lead on creating mass scale, “ultra low cost, high value housing…as a mega opportunity, with billions in profit at stake.”
While I understand that the profit motive is very compelling and efficient in getting results, I would suggest that when it comes to helping the poor and downtrodden that we need to temper this as a driving factor, and let our humanity and conscience kick in as well. In other words, sure make a profit, but by G-d have a heart.
With The $300 House, aside from the notion of truly helping people—en masse—and making a genuine difference with moving them from slum houses to homes is the concept of leapfrogging them in their technology. Think about it:
- Solar power
- Walter filtration
- (Even) Tablet PCs
This reminds me of the One Laptop Per Child initiative of 2005 that sought to put $100 laptops in the hands of hundreds of millions of disadvantaged schoolchildren to advance their educational opportunities. It expands and augments it to make the change impactful to people’s lives on the ground today in terms of how people are able to care for themselves and their families, so that they can get to a brighter tomorrow and put that education to work.
While we may never be able to fully eradicate poverty, we can certainly significantly raise the status of living for the masses that need help through commercial opportunities, technological proliferation, and of course, through a charitable heart.
June 23, 2008
The Water Crisis and Enterprise Architecture
According to Wikipedia: “The Earth has a finite supply of fresh water, stored in aquifers, surface waters and the atmosphere. Sometimes oceans are mistaken for available water, but the amount of energy needed to convert saline water to potable water is prohibitive today, explaining why only a very small fraction of the world's water supply derives from desalination.
There are several principal manifestations of the water crisis.
- Inadequate access to safe drinking water for about 1.1 billion people
- Groundwater overdrafting leading to diminished agricultural yields
- Overuse and pollution of water resources harming biodiversity
- Regional conflicts over scarce water resources sometimes resulting in warfare
Waterborne diseases and the absence of sanitary domestic water are one of the leading causes of death worldwide. For children under age five, waterborne diseases are the leading cause of death. At any given time, half of the world's hospital beds are occupied by patients suffering from waterborne diseases. According to the World Bank, 88 percent of all diseases are caused by unsafe drinking water, inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene.”
How critical is water to life?
While a person can live 4-6 weeks without food, survival without water is limited to between 3-7 days. (http://www.survivaltopics.com/survival/how-long-can-you-live-without-food/)
The Wall Street Journal, 23 June 2008, reports that that a new invention, “The LifeStraw is a personal, portable water purifier,” “that “has the potential to save many lives.”
The LifeStraw was created in 2005, is 10 inches long, and weighs 4.3 ounces. “One straw is capable of purifying at least 700 liters (182 gallons) of water, removing an estimated 99.9% of bacteria and 99% of waterborne viruses.”
This is a game-changing invention:
“The product, which costs as little as $3, has won a number of awards including the 2008 Saatchi & Saatchi Award for World Changing Ideas.”
So simple, yet so effective:
“When someone sucks through the straw, the water flows through textile and iodine filter, which kill off viruses and bacteria.”
Already hundreds of thousands have been purchased and are being distributed in countries with non-potable water.
As an enterprise architect, nothing is more satisfying than seeing an innovation that saves lives and improves the way of life for millions of people around the world.
While we are all introduced to inventions such as those “As Seen On TV” with new doodads for kitchen appliances, household/personal/car-care, tools, and novelty items, the introduction of something truly extraordinary like the LifeStraw just makes one do a double-take.
As an enterprise architect, I believe we need to hold up transformative innovations, such as the LifeStraw, as examples of best-in-class architectures that combine business process improvement with technology innovation that positively impacts millions of otherwise suffering people around the world.
As I go about my day-to-day responsibilities I’d like to keep this one in mind as an inspiring example of what can be achieved when technology is applied to global problems. Perhaps you’d like to do the same!
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