Headline July 14, 2014

''' TECHNOLOGY AND US : 

THE SUFFERING SOCIETY "'

IN THE DEVELOPING WORLD  -  'the sound of silence'  seems to be unbearable. One wonders, if that is any way unlawful, too:

Riders and drivers buzz around on roads, streets, near schools, hospitals, and where ever,  in cars and motorbikes with perforated silencers, and even without ones:

Oblivious, and uncaring for the havoc they wreak on the mental health of the society. They seem to obtain some kind and form of fiendish pleasure. Little do they know that-

Efforts to regulate the nuisance of distracting noise dates back at least as far as the 6th century BC,  when the Greek colony of Sybaris decreed that-

Along with roosters, tinsmiths and potters had to live outside the city because of the noise they made.

Some 25 centuries later Charles Babbage,  -an English mathematician who is remembered as one of the forefathers of computing, waged a series of campaigns against organ grinders and other forms of street music.

Both would surely approve of the way in which designers have lately started playing more attention to devising products that makes less noise.

Steve Jobs of Apple was a pioneer in this regard. He insisted that the original Mackintosh computer,  launched in 1984, should not have an internal cooling fan, but rely instead on convection cooling to keep it quiet.

This made it silent but prone to overheating, and fans were added to later models.

Yet with computers,  as with anything else,  quietness tends not to be a quality that buyers regard as terribly important. Survey shows that only about  25%  of people consider:

 How noisy the product will be when buying it, according to Mike Goldsmith, a former head of acoustics at, Britain's National Physical Laboratory.

But many of them come to regard this, and half of such disgruntled shoppers say they would pay as much as 50% extra for a product that makes half as much as noise.

Last year Quiet Mark, a British not-for-profit  company, was launched to encourage manufacturers, to make quitter products.

It was founded by Poppy Elliott,  the granddaughter of John Connell,  who found the Noise Abatement Society in 1959. Ms Elliott believes that a quiet environment is necessary to enable people to fulfil their intellectual and creative potential.

She points to a report on the health effects of noise published by the World Health Organisation in 2011,  which found that in western Europe, excessive noise was second only to:

Air Pollution as a cause of environmental  ill-health,  Quiet Mark campaigns for quitter products and awards  a stamp of approval to products or schemes that minimise noise,  including:

 Kettles, blenders, hairdryers and washing machines   -and even hotels  and silent musical instruments.

Quietness makes economic sense because excessive noise is usually the sign of waste and inefficiency. Quieter products may cost more, but they generally consume less energy,:

Which makes them cheaper to run.

Boring claims that its  fuel-efficient  787  airliner, for example is the quietest aircraft in its class.

Less noisy aircraft are welcomed by people  living near airports and flight paths,  but they also make flying less stressful for passengers travelling in them.

That is why  NASA,  America's space agency, pays close attention to the noise levels experienced by astronauts.

It carefully measures and models the sound output of the equipment it sends into space, on the basis that a quieter working environment increases concentration and reduces fatigue.

It applies the same attention to detail on Earth, with stringent noise standards in its ground facilities, and introduced a  "buy quiet"  procurement scheme in  2009. 

The Honour and serving of the cost continues. Thank you for reading. And see you on the delight of the next one.

With respectful dedication to all the Students, Professors and Teachers of the world. See Ya all on  -!WOW!     -the World Students Society Computers-Internet-Wireless:

''' Surgical '''

Good night and God bless!

SAM Daily Times - The Voice of the Voiceless