Saturday, October 31, 2009

Time to Fall Back

Tomorrow is Sunday, November 1. At 2:00 AM tomorrow, the United States of America will move its clock back by one hour. The “standard time” will then begin.

USA changes its clock forward by one hour at 2:00 AM on the second Sunday in March. This is the beginning of “daylight saving time”. At 2:00 AM on the first Sunday in November “standard time” begins. There is a famous saying about changing the clock in USA: Spring forward and fall back.

Why they want to change the regular time to “daylight savings time” for 6 months? About 85% of the Americans have no idea. They just change the clock because every one does that.

Benjamin Franklin conceived this idea. The main reason for daylight savings time is energy conservation. If there is more sunlight in the evening, homes and shops do not have to turn on their lights as early and therefore save energy and fuel. USA went on daylight saving time during World Wars l and 2 to save energy and fuel for the war effort. The current national system of daylight saving system was implemented in 1973 through a law passed by the U.S. Congress. This was done at that time because of prevailing oil shortage at that time.

Many people hate daylight saving time. People are irritated to change several clocks in the home twice a year. Most of the home appliances like TV, DVD Player, Oven, Microwave Oven, A/C Thermostat, and Landline Phones have clocks. This is in addition to wrist watches and alarm clocks. Many feel it contributes to sleep disorders. Some people argue that there is not that much energy savings because of constant running of air conditioners during summer months. Also, if there is more evening time, people go on many different tasks and visit friends and therefore use more gasoline.

Quite a number of people at work will come late by one hour at the beginning of “daylight saving time”. Their excuse: I forgot to change the clock. I am yet to see any employee come one hour early at the beginning of “standard time” saying they forgot to change the clock.

There are many who suggest having a compromise. Change the clock by 30 minutes only one time and make that time a permanent one.

There are some states in USA and other U.S. territories that are exempt from this change. They do not change their clocks at all. They are: Arizona, Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands. This is because either they have more natural sunlight or they are tropical.

Places that are located near Equator, The Tropic of Cancer, and The Tropic of Capricorn have more sunlight. The Tropic of Cancer runs through India. Therefore no time change is necessary for India.

Monday, October 26, 2009

Guess What This Is?

Recently Insignia posted a blog with many photos. At the end, she posted a photo and did not tell what it is. She just wrote: “And finally, a task for you all. Can you taka a guess, what this could be?”.

From that blog, I got an idea to post a photo of an object that I have and ask our friends to tell what they think it is. This is certainly not a one upmanship. This certainly follows the idiom: Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Here it is. Please take a close look at this and post your comments as to what you think it is.


Post Script: The above photo object is a wine pourer. Please see the photo below. It allows you to pour wine without drips.


Saturday, October 24, 2009

Match Fixing?

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished. October 21. Luxembourg Tennis Open. Caroline Wozniacki, ranked number 6 in the world, was leading in the first round against Anne Kremer of Luxembourg. The score was 7-5, 5-0. At that moment she retired from the match because of hamstring injury.

Looks like she was having hamstring injury problem from the beginning. When the score stood at 3-0 in the second set, her dad told her to retire before winning the match because her injury will prevent her from playing in the next round. This was picked up over the microphone and heard by the people watching the match on the internet.

Caroline did a wonderful gesture for her opponent by allowing her to advance to the next round in front of her hometown spectators. She said:

“I could possibly have finished the match, but felt there was no way I could get ready for the second round on Thursday, so I chose the sporting way and let her go through. She's also [playing] at home.”

What did Caroline get for her sportsmanship? WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) is now investigating Caroline for 3 big offences, gambling, match fixing, and tennis integrity.

Serena Williams verbally assaulted a line judge and she got a slap on the wrist.

I had written the following in reply to a comment on a previous posting:

Wimbledon. The year 1960. Semi Final Match. India’s Ramanathan Krishnan vs. Australia’s Neale Fraser. A shot from Fraser was called “out” in favor of Krishnan. Krishnan interceded and told the umpire that it was “in”. Krishnan, instead of gaining a point lost a point. Eventually that call was instrumental in Krishnan losing the match to Fraser.

Next week, a Tamil weekly, Kalki, put the picture of Krishnan on the cover and put a caption from Bhagvat Gita: "Paritranaya Sadhunaam vinashaya cha dushkritamDharma sansthapnarthaya sambhavami yugay yugay" (Whenever there is downfall of Dharma (righteousness), I incarnate to re-establish the Dharma.)

May be Krishnan would be investigated for match fixing in today’s world.