It won't change the world, but it will change your voice. Canda-based IVL Technologies' On-Key Karaoke Hand Held Player looks like a simple microphone, but as you warble into it, a microprocessor "corrects" your pitch.The idea came to IVL's president Phil Scott in 1983 when he took up the flute. Frustrated by his own tin ear, he conceived an instrument-pitch detector that transformed musical notes into digital format. It didn't sell well, but it spurred Scott to search for other applications, including pitch detectors and harmonizers for commercial karaoke systems.
"Karaoke's the modern equivalent of the family singing around the piano," says Scott. » Continue reading
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Everyone has his own hangover cure: caffeine, exercise, greasy food, Bloody Marys -- even the pills and potions sold in by chemists. But none have been proven to cure hangovers, says Jeff Wiese, an American associate professor of medicine who has spent several years studying the condition. Caused mainly by dehydration, hangovers are best treated by drinking water and taking paracetamol, which is easy on the stomach. (Heavy drinkers, who are at risk for liver disease, shouldn't take paracetamol without a doctor's okay.)
Kindness not only makes life sweeter, it may make it longer, according to American researchers. Stephanie Brown, PhD, asked 423 older couples if they had helped a friend or neighbour just once in the previous year. Five years later, those who had were 50% more likely to outlive those who hadn't.
Your family knows your habits and moods, but do they know your core values? An ethical will would tell them. Ethical wills aren't new -- they're in the Bible -- but they're catching on as those now in their 50s yearn to preserve their parent's wisdom and pass on their own. "We want to leave a legacy beyond our assests," says Dr Barry Baines, author of Ethical Wills: Put in Your Values on Paper. Wills can be any length and shared any time. They're as different as the individuals writing them: Baines tells his kids the importance of religion and respect. Retired lawyer Michael Greenspan, 61, wrote 18 life rules, including "hold on to true friends" and "dance like no ones watching."
If you really want to know something, don't email your question to hordes of people. Researchers have found that the more people you email, the more likely each recipient is to ignore it.
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