Only in India?

To all those people who crib about cattle on the Indian streets, here's proof that this happens in the US too...

A couple of years ago, I was in New Mexico on a research project. On 11th Jan, 2005, having pretty much nothing else to do, I thought I'd check out the Very Large Array antennae. On the way, on this very straight NM-52 highway, there was this herd of cattle peacefully crossing the road. I had to stop and let them cross before going ahead.

So all those who say no such things happen in the US of A, better quit now.

"Ideas worth spreading"

Technology, Entertainment, Design.That's what TED stands for. Started in 1984 as a conference of people from these three fields, TED is now something much much bigger. I got attracted to the TEDTalks some time ago and have been a regular at the site. Just felt it would be a nice thing to put some talks that I like up on my blog and invite some discussions...

Here's one by Juan Enriquez where he talks about growing energy much the same as growing grains.

What will they think of next?

Well... after cotton, silk, nylon, rayon, polyester, and what not, we now have some new and interesting cloth materials. Bamboo and hemp!! These guys have hit on an idea to make t-shirts out of bamboo and hemp fibers. I think this is a cool idea, given that most of what they say about being environment-friendly is true. We definitely need more such "alternative" forms of everything we use.

But the one thing that really puts me off is the price. Why? If the cost of growing these plants is lesser than cotton, AND they provide more fiber per acre, AND they provide more harvests than cotton, AND you want to make them popular, why are the prices a wee bit in the higher segment? If you are really honest about popularizing these materials, wouldn't it make more sense to price them lower and make buying the shirts more attractive?