Archive for September, 2010


AMAZING CLOTHES LINE

There’s an outdoor sensor which detects moisture.  So the washing is automatically withdrawn into the tiny shed by a motor somewhere.

MINI BUBBLE & SPAR BATH FOR FEET OR PETS

The English language newspaper mentioned this as a device for washing small pampered pets, which it can be.  Pictures elsewhere show a cat that was cured of dermatitis after two weeks of daily baths.  (I bet it was glad when that was over)!  Similar benefits for people with skin problems.  The water gets energized somehow with positive or negative ions.  They are claiming it’s oxygen doing the trick but I feel it’s compressed air. (A common translation error – if it is an error)?

At about AUD $3000 it’s a luxury hot bath for feet.

A compressor somewhere puts tiny bubbles in the water which account for the milky look.  There is a heater somewhere that will keep hot water hot.

The benefits are many.

Ideal for hospitals or for those who have know the benefit of hot foot-baths.

I would not mind one of these……

Website details will be added here, later.  Remember to click your refresh button.


LED LIGHT BULBS

Tonia Jiang of unibrite-tech.com

Many Australians are seriously worried about the new light bulbs which are being forced upon us as energy saving devices.  (If you break one there are toxic fumes – warning leave the house).

Here is the solution but it’s five times more expensive than the current expensive bulbs.  In a few years the cost of LED bulbs will reduce dramatically.  This is the future. LED bulbs are cool to touch.

DEVICE FOR MODERN DOCTORS

This diagnostic apparatus is being used by about eighty physicians in Taiwan already.  In ten minutes a patient’s weak points in various organs can be determined.  Cancer (whether present or not present) can be detected.  Plus  the aura and strong points.

Both hands are firmly placed on the metal sensors. Results for the physician are shown on a computer monitor nearby.

Probably only Chinese and complimentary practitioners are going to be interested in Australia.  Mainstream might take more convincing.  How it actually works is for the buyer to determine.

The website details will be posted here. Thanks to Mr. Kevin Chen (pictured) for demonstrating and giving me the result,  a reading to that of a 30 year-old, if I understood correctly.

WATERPROOF ROLLER DOOR AND MORE

The main invention is a water-tight door, a roller door.  Not for a garage but for any building in a flood prone area. (Lower right picture with model).

Other devices by the same company are odor prevention drain plugs that also prevent regurgitation of drain water – a problem when flood waters begin to rise.  The secret in a rubber flange fitted to a spring loaded lid (in reverse).   That’s probably an hilarious description for experts but so long as you get the gist of it. (Both larger pictures show this device).

The toilet idea (top left picture) would be ideal for ships in a rough sea.  It’s a method of stopping septic tank contents spilling.  Brilliant – even luxury ships can have a serious problem in the lower deck cabins.

‘GROWING YOUR OWN’ – NOW  WITH LED LIGHTS

This would be popular in South Australia I’d imagine.  Saves money on power bills too.

Faces of some of the many thousand Taiwanese who came to grief during the era of White Terror (martial law) during the era 1947 to 1985 are displayed outside the restaurant at the Peace  Park.  The indoor exhibits are currently under renovation.

A pair of  friendly guys from the southern city Kaohsiung are in town with their collection of marine shells.

There were helmet and Triton shells that have taken a month to engrave.

The giant clam with gold inlaid will set you back about  AUD $2250

ALMOST A FULL MOON TODAY

In Australia we (they) are tossing up between a National Broadband Network to 95% of all homes with fiber optic cable underground OR wireless towers on all the buildings and cable strung between poles down the streets.  “They” are kidding themselves.  Iron ore and coal exports are going through the roof with sales to China and one half of the government (the opposition) is pretending to be poor!

‘They” do not understand what broadband is and could be yet ‘they’ are capable of making decisions preferring a slow speed cheaper system.

SFB

Spotted at 228 Peace Park this morning.

This would be a good idea in Australia.  Maybe it’s already happening?

double click to enlarge

APOLOGY to long term Taiwan residents as this will be very tame.  For new visitors read on.  The colors have been exaggerated – as an art form?

All Taipei MRT rail stations have maps at the exits – which is terrific.  Other charts show all the stations in easy to understand color codes.  Getting around Taipei on the MRT is therefore easy – except it scared me during the first few months I was here.

The tiny alleys offer the best adventures.  A few steps past McDonalds I turned into one of these today.  Being a Saturday morning it was ‘market day’.    Fruits and vegetables, plenty of fresh fish on display by various vendors.

A ramp led into a roundish building which turned out to be the vegetarian horror shop.

If I wanted pictures of live chickens alongside other fresh chicken chopped-up body parts this is where it happens.  (It might be an idea to shield this visual information from the live chickens, adrenalin fear does not improve things at all).

No pictures of chickens and other meats were made.  An exit and onto the watermelon slices and fresh peaches.

The tiny temple would be one of hundreds on the island.  Antique art much older than most things in Australia, probably?

New Taiwan Dollars  NT $1000 is currently about $33 Australian dollars.

(NT$1000 has been close to $50 in past years – a bit cruel).

Get a pocket compass before arriving in Taipei.  You’ll understand why, later.

First tip will be: Catching bus from Taoyuan  airport (formerly CKS International) to Taipei Main Station.

A compass will help: fast-find departure area for buses. Otherwise taxi cost NT$1000 and no quicker.

double-click picture

First time I’ve seen anything like this.  It’s posted on wikipedia.org as being updated yesterday. I  present it here for your interest and comment.

ZERO OF WW2

Data from The Great Book of Fighters

General characteristics of A6M Zero

  • Crew: 1
  • Length: 9.06 m (29 ft 9 in)
  • Wingspan: 12.0 m (39 ft 4 in)
  • Height: 3.05 m (10 ft 0 in)
  • Wing area: 22.44 m² (241.5 ft²)
  • Empty weight: 1,680 kg (3,704 lb)
  • Loaded weight: 2,410 kg (5,313 lb)
  • Powerplant: 1× Nakajima sakae 12 radial engine, 709 kW (950 hp)
  • Aspect ratio: 6.4

Performance

  • Never exceed speed: 660 km/h (356 kn, 410 mph)
  • Maximum speed: 533 km/h (287 kn, 331 mph) at 4,550 m (14,930 ft)
  • Range: 3,105 km (1,675 nmi, 1,929 mi)
  • Service ceiling: 10,000 m (33,000 ft)
  • Rate of climb: 15.7 m/s (3,100 ft/min)
  • Wing loading: 107.4 kg/m² (22.0 lb/ft²)
  • Power/mass 294 W/kg (0.18 hp/lb)

Armament

  • Guns:
    • 2× 7.7 mm (0.303 in) Type 97 machine guns in the engine cowling, with 500 rounds per gun.
    • 2× 20mm type 99 canons in the wings, with 60 rounds per gun.

Divergence of trajectories between 7.7 mm and 20mm ammunition

  • Bombs:
    • 2× 60 kg (132 lb) bombs or
    • 1× fixed 250 kg (551 lb) bombs for  attacks by Kamikaze

FORMOSA was a Japanese colony until 1945 – Zero aircraft were based here and some presumably were  the Kamikaze’s which attacked American ships off Okinawa.

One Japanese pilot who had an interesting story during WWII.  This pilot ran out of fuel and crash-landed on a coral atoll lagoon down near the equator at Nukuoro where I took the underwater picture.

His grand-daughter is now married and living in USA.  He fathered  two additional children on other islands!

The aircraft was 80% intact and in shallow water just off a beach, in the area known today as the Federated States of Micronesia, Eastern Caroline Islands.

We made underwater pictures of the aircraft during our expedition in 1969, plus 16mm movie footage.

These would make a TV story if we can find  details on the pilot’s fate after the war.

A remote chance is that he survives today but in his late eighties.