Check out my new blog..

Hi..
Check out my new blog which I started on a more serious note.. Here is a brief account of what the blog is about..

Ever wondered how things work around us? Be it our body or the computers or how the nature sustains itself and the like.. Well this blog explores all such small things and explains how it works, So that you know your world inside out.. Read on, and widen your knowledge..

Here's the link: Pique Your Curiosity
Looking forward to your support and comments too.. :)

Sutra 3- Vertically and crosswise

Long time, since we touched upon the subject of vedic mathematics. So, here it is.. the third sutra of subject


Vertically and crosswise:
Its application in multiplying numbers is fairly well known now but in fact its range of application is very great


MULTIPLICATION


If you are not aware of its use in multiplication here is an example.


Suppose we want to multiply 33 by 44:

Multiplying vertically on the right we get 3×4 = 12, so we put down 2 and carry 1 (written ₁2 above).
Then we multiply crosswise and add the two results: 3×4 + 3×4 = 24. Adding the carried 1 gives 25 so we put 5 and carry 2 (₂5).
Finally we multiply vertically on the left, get 3×4 = 12 and add the carried 2 to get 14 which we put down.
The simple pattern used makes the method easy to remember and it is very satisfying to get the answer in one line. It is also easy to see why it works: the three steps find the number of units, number of tens and number of hundreds in the answer.
This multiplication can also be carried out from left to right, and this has many advantages. Let us find 33 × 44 from left to right:

Vertically on the left, 3×4 = 12, put 1 and carry 2 to the right (1₂ above).
Crosswise we get 3×4 + 3×4 = 24 (as before), add the carried 2, as 20, to get 44 and put down 4₄.
Finally, vertically on the right 3×4 = 12, add the carried 4, as 40, to get 52which we put down.
We always add a zero to the carried figure as shown because the first product here, for example, is really 30×40 = 1200 and the 200 is 20 tens. So when we are gathering up the tens we add on 20 more. This does not seem so strange when you realise that a similar thing occurs when calculating from right to left: when we started the first calculation above with 3×4 = 12 the 1 in 12 was counted as 1 in the next column even though its value is 10.
Although the first method above is useful for mental multiplication the second method is better because we write and pronounce numbers from left to right and so it is easier to get our answers the same way. This method can be extended to products of numbers of any size. Another advantage of calculating from left to right is that we may only want the first one, two or three figures of an answer, but working from the right we must do the whole sum and get the most significant figure last. In the Vedic system all operations can be carried out from left to right (right to left is not excluded though) and this means we can combine operations: add two products for example. We can extend this further to the calculation of sines, cosines, tangents and their inverses and the solution of polynomial and transcendental equations (Nicholas et al, 1999).
DIVISION
The above left to right method can be simply reversed to give us a one line division method.
Suppose we want to divide 1452 by 44. This means we want to find a number which, when multiplied by 44 gives 1452, or in other words we want a and b in the multiplication sum:

Since we know that the vertical product on the left must account for the 14 on the left of 1452, or most of it, we see that a must be 3.

This accounts for 1200 of the 1400 and so there is a remainder of 200. A subscript 2 is therefore placed as shown.
Next we look at the crosswise step: this must account for the 25 (₂5), or most of it. One crosswise step gives: 3×4 = 12 and this can be taken from the 25 to leave 13 for the other crosswise step, b×4. Clearly b is 3 and there is a remainder of 1:

We now have 12 in the last place and this is exactly accounted for by the last, vertical, product on the right. So the answer is exactly 33.

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First Aid

Hi.......

Owing to the raise in the accidents in the city, due to traffic, rash driving, and many other reasons, it has become more than important for everyone to know about the basic First Aid techniques to save themselves and others during times of emergencies... Leave alone the accidents, it is always better for everyone to be aware of First Aid... So, here are some of the tips which will help you along the way... Let us start with some of the small wounds and procedures to deal with them...

Cuts, Scrapes And Small Wounds:

Well, almost everyone knows that we have clean our hands and the wound with soap or antiseptic lotion, clean he wound, guage it and check out for infections. Here is one tip that some of you might not know..Never put alcohol or tincture of iodine directly into a wound. This will damage the flesh and slow healing.

Control of External bleeding:

Here again, we have to determine the type of the wound first. It can be of the following types..

• Incision is the type of wound made by cutting with a sharp knife or sharp piece of metal.
• Laceration is a deep wound with associated loss of tissue — the type of wound barbed wire would cause.
• Abrasion is a wound where the skin layers have been scraped off.
• Puncture wounds are perforations, and may be due to anything from a nail, knife or bullet.

In any kind of wound involving bleeding, do the following:

• Apply pressure on the wound to check bleeding
• Apply dressing
• If possible, keep the injured part above the level of the heart
• Call for medical aid, in case of profused or uncontrolled bleeding

In cases of amputaion, extra care has to be taken.The casualty must reach the nearest hospital as soon as possible.

In the meanwhile:

• Apply immediate pressure to stop any bleeding.
• Apply a large pad or dressing to the wound.
• Treat for shock.
• Collect amputated part — keep dry, do not wash or clean.
• Seal the amputated part in a plastic bag or wrap in waterproof material.
• Place in iced water — do not allow the part to come in direct contact with ice. Freezing will kill the tissue.
• Ensure the amputated part is sent to the hospital with the casualty.

Lets look at other first aid techniques in the blogs to follow....

Get the New Google Chrome

Hi everyone...

        Google has launched a new web browser.. Google Chrome... This new browser is really coooool... It a has minimal Interface but smart enough to wipe out the other browsers... I was using initaially using IE... very long back, but with the introduction of the tabbed browsing with Mozilla Firefox, switched over to it. I also downloaded the recent Firefox 3. I am totally disappointed with the working of Firefox3. It crashed frequently and I lost much of my time in restoring it... Now, I downloaded the Chrome. Hmmm.. Lets see how this works out. The first impression has been good for me...

        Some of the features I liked in the Chrome:

• Minimal Interface (Though I hope new skins are developed)
• Smart browing - This browser is intelligent enough to track your most visited sites, your fav searches, bookmarks, recently closed tabs and displays it each time you open a new tab. This feature really is time saving and cool
• Stability - Ah.. This was the main reason I downloaded Chrome. The previous browser I had, crashed every now and then. I lost all my data on other tabs too. Chrome promises the users that when a webpage in one tab malfunctions it does not affect the other tabs. (Chrome uses multi-threading oops multi-processes running in a single browser). Lets see if it really lives up to its promises.
• Minimal interference by Download popups - The downloading items are listed in the bottom of the page, rather than annoying popups. Though there were third party download bars available for other browsers, I hope an integrated one will have a better performance.
• Better Performance - This one is for the people who understand the working of the webpages and the browsers. Now-a-days almost all the webpages have javascript coding. Chrome has a new JavaScript engine V8 which increases the performance of such websites.
• Task Manager - Wonder what this is doing in a web browser. Well, as I ahd already mentioned, Chrome works as a multi-process under a single browser. (Don't worry if you are not technically strong and don't understand it. All you need to know is this...) In case you feel that the performance of the browser is going down, you can open the Task Manager (Right click on the title bar and lo you have it..), find out which tabs are using more resources and shut it down if needed.
• Private browsing (The incognito mode) - Imagine for some reason (fishy though) you need to browse privately, without leaving traces in the Histroy, bookmarks or the recently visited tabs, you can at any time switch to the Incognito mode from the menu. Happy private browsing withoout fear of leaving any traces.... I wonder for what reasons you'll use it..
• Dynamic Tabs - You have the freedom of organizing your tabs according to your hearts content with this feature..

          I suppose these are some (of the many more) features that would impress many to switch to Chrome.

Help Accident Victims

I recently read a news article about the accident of a woman, on the streets of Mumbai, and the indifference with which the people treat such cases. The article describes how the people turned a blind eye towards such accidents. How can anyone just ignore a person who lies dying on the road? People of India are known for their caring and helpful nature. Is this how the country shows its development? By turning a blind eye when one lies in a death bed.. What could be the reasons for such behavior?

Some surveys have shown that some people prefer not to involve themselves in such situations for fear of the harassment by the Hospitals and the Police aftermath. I am not trying to find fault with anyone here, but just a look into how the situation can be changed. Many surveys have revealed that the people of India are afraid of the Police. The main reason being as to how they are being portrayed in the films. Though some films portray cops as heroes, most of the films show them as people who accept bribes, do jobs only if politically and personally favorable. But, sometimes it reflects the reality. The Government should take strict measures to weed out such cops who hinder the development of the country. The politicians should be responsible enough to take such measures and going in the same thread, the people should elect proper leaders.

So, finally it comes down to the common man to make the difference. Lets come back to the issue at hand. Some of the small things you could do in cases of emergencies...

• Immediately rush the victim to the nearby hospital, and ask the doctor to go through the medical needs. Many people have the wrong notion that hospitals, should not or do not allow the accident victims treatment until it is informed to the police and the FIR is shown. For your information these are the rules, the Indian law observes...
  

1. “Every injured citizen brought for medical treatment should instantaneously be given medical aid to preserve life and thereafter the procedural criminal law should be allowed to operate in order to avoid negligent death. There is no legal impediment for a medical professional when he is called upon or requested to attend to an injured person needing his medical assistance immediately. The effort to save the person should be the top priority not only of the medical professional but even of the police or any other citizen who happens to be connected with that matter or who happens to notice such an incident or a situation”.
2. “There are no provisions in the Indian Penal Code, Criminal Procedure Code, Motor Vehicles Act, which prevents doctors from promptly attending to serious injured persons and accident cases before arrival of the police and their taking into cognizance of such cases, preparation of FIR and other formalities by Police.”

• Administer First Aid
  
• Incase you don't have a transportation medium for taking the victim to the hospital, sought the help of the vehicles which are passing by... Here again comes the second issue. Mostly many people don't want to offer help to these victime due to fear of spoiling their upholstery. Is the life of a fellow being less than the upholestry? Just give a moment of thought about it... Better, all the vehicles can be equipped with a stain free material to be used in such cases of emergency. A small thought - The Government should make it mandatory for all the vehicles to be equipped with such materials, apart from the tool kit, First Aid box. Atleast then, there won't be such complaints. Such small amendments can make huge impacts.

"Ask not what the country has done for you, but what you can do for the country"

Remember your small help can save the life of a person and the grief of many others.

Materials for Origami

Get your Modeling tools ready...

Having seen what makes Origami,lets see what it takes to make Origami.

First lets start with the basic tool and the only tool(almost).. The paper.
Though readily available, it takes a right kind of paper for different models to bring out its best... There are various kinds of paper that can be used for Origami. The different kinds are listed below... Go on... Grab the right paper you need for your model..

• Origami paper comes in many grades, types, and sizes. They are usually square in shape, though some are circular or rectangular. The most common type is colored on one side and white on the bottom size.
• Duo paper has one color on the top, and another color on the bottom. This type of paper is great for models where both sides of the paper will be visible.
• Foil paper looks like aluminum foil on one side and white on the bottom side. This paper is a little more difficult to fold because, once folded, it will make a crease mark. In other words, there’s no room for mistakes with this type of paper.
• Washi and chiyogami paper: Washi simply means handmade Japanese paper. Washi is more textured and softer than ordinary office paper. There are lots of different kinds of washi made from different plant fiber. Chiyogami is a kind of washi with traditional Japanese imagery imprinted on it.
• Really big paper: The biggest origami paper we found was from Paper Jade (31” x 22”). If you need even bigger paper, try buying a roll of wrapping paper and cutting it to size with a cutting tool.
• Really small paper: are great for making origami models for greeting cards and origami jewelry.
• Circular Origami Paper There are very few sources of circular origami paper because there are relatively few diagrams starting with a circle.However, circular paper is often used in kirigami.
• Animal print origami paper: for kids, it's sometimes nice to use origami paper with animal prints on it. Be warned though: sometimes the animal patterns look great on a flat sheet of paper, but they don't match up properly when folded. Still... kids are imaginative and would appreciate them.

For those of you, who were unable to get the right size of paper get your second tool ready...
The paper cutter...

How to Cut Paper

The simplest way to cut paper is with a pair of scissors. Alternatively, you can use a sharp knife and slice along the inside of a folded edge. This may leave an undesirable jagged edge.

About Paper Cutters

If you are a serious paper folder, you might consider investing in a paper cutter. There are two kinds of paper cutters: the guillotine type and the razor type.

• The guillotine type has a lever which you can press downwards and it will “chop” the paper. These cutters are good, but when they are well used, the lever may become loose. At this point, it is necessary to manually push the lever close to the cutting edge before you chop.
  

• The razor type has a sharp blade which will “slice” paper as you move the blade up and down. After much use, the blade may become dull and you may wish to buy a replacement blade.
  

• A third option is a self-healing cutting mat often used in quilting. These mats are made of a composite material so that they are not damaged by cutting knives. Cutting mats often have 1” and ¼” grid lines, but you still need a ruler and a hobby knife (such as a rotary cutter) to make the cut.

Once, you have these both... you are ready for the journey to the wonderful world of Origami...