Sunday, March 27, 2016

Great TED Video Demonstration of Microsoft HoloLens



A must-see TED video. WOW ! This demo of the "Microsoft HoloLens" is amazing.

Please click the arrow in the center of the above image to view Alex Kipman's marvelous TED video that demonstrates the next advance in Virtual Reality. (Many thanks to my son-in-law, Avi, for turning me onto it.)

Last month, my friend Peggy gave me "Google Cardboard", a simple, inexpensive, and rather primitive Virtual Reality viewer that uses an ordinary smart cellphone as the interactive display. I've enjoyed great fun with it: virtually riding a roller coaster; traveling thru space to the Moon, to Venus, to the other Planets and their moons; hovering above our beautiful Earth and diving down to a city in France, swooping along streets among virtual buildings.

While "Google Cardboard" is a wonderful example of Virtual Reality, especially considering the very low cost, the "Microsoft HoloLens" appears to be way, way, way beyond it! I look forward to the day when this type of device becomes available within the general consumer budget. I'm sure that day will come, and relatively soon. Considering my advanced age (:^) I can hardly wait. WOW !

Ira Glickstein

Tuesday, March 1, 2016

A Great Toe-Fungus Cover-Up

Daily treatment, over many months, is required to cure toe-fungus. You must wash and dry your feet thoroughly and then apply a topical solution such as tavaborole (Kerydin) to the surface of the affected nail. The medication does its work by penetrating through the nail plate. 

I do water-aerobics in public pools several times a week and was concerned that exposure of the affected area to the pool and shower environment might cause re-infection. My wife suggested that I could cover the affected area using a finger cut from a disposable glove.  A great idea, but I found that the cover-up would often work its way off the toe, even when covered by a pool shoe.

The image below shows my creative solution.
(1)  Make two cuts in the disposable glove. Cut directly across to separate a finger "A", and diagonally to separate the thumb and wrist area "B". Note that "B" includes part of the glove area between the thumb and the first finger.
(2) Fold about 1/4" of "A" over as shown to strengthen the edge, improve the seal, and reduce chances of tearing.
(3) Stretch "A" and pull it completely over the affected toe.
(4) Stretch "B" and pull it completely over "A" and secure the end around your heel. (5) Side view of final result.
I use latex gloves because they are more stretchy and less likely to tear than other disposable glove materials.

You may reuse the Great Toe-Fungus Cover-Up several times. Since latex has a tendency to stick to itself, you should drape "A" and "B" over a plastic knife or other suitable material between uses.

Enjoy! And please comment about how this idea works for you.

Ira Glickstein