In memory of Nobel Laureate Sir Charles K. Kao

2009 Nobel Laureate for Physics late Sir Charles K. Kao

(Picture from Wikipedia)

An optoelectronic keyboard is a type of keyboard that uses light sensors to detect key presses. Instead of using traditional mechanical switches, the keys of an optoelectronic keyboard contain light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and photodetectors. When a key is pressed, the photodetector detects the interruption of light caused by the key, and the corresponding keypress is registered. 

Optoelectronic keyboards are often used in environments where durability and resistance to liquid spills are important, as they have no moving parts and can be sealed to protect it from damage.

The first “optoelectronic keyboard” was developed by Hewlett-Packard in the 1960s.

Fibre optics was discovered in the 19th century, but its full potential as a means of transmitting data was only realised in the 1960s. 

In 1966, Charles K. Kao discovered the potential of glass fibres for transmitting light signals, which later led to the development of practical optical fibre cables.

Sir  Charles Kao was a renowned physicist and engineer. He was born on November 4, 1933, in Shanghai, China, and passed away on September 23, 2018. 

Sir Charles Kao is most famously known for his groundbreaking work on the practicality of using optical fibres for long-distance telecommunications. In the 1960s, he foresaw the potential of optical fibre cables as a viable solution for transmitting large amounts of information over long distances. At the time, copper wires were the standard for communication, but they suffered from limited bandwidth and significant signal loss.

Sir Charles Kao's research and experiments in the late 1960s led him to demonstrate that the attenuation (loss of signal) within an optical fibre could be significantly reduced if the fibre’s impurities were minimized. This discovery paved the way for the development and commercialization of fibre-optic communication systems, which revolutionized global telecommunications.

In recognition of his pioneering work, Sir Charles Kao, along with Willard S. Boyle and George E. Smith, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2009. This prestigious honor solidified his status as a key figure in the advancement of modern telecommunication technology.

Aside from his contributions to the field of fibre optics, Sir Charles Kao held various academic and industry positions throughout his career. 

He obtained his Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the University of London and later pursued a Ph.D. in electrical engineering at the Imperial College London. 

Our paths crossed here in London as he was simultaneously working at the research centre of Standard Telephones and Cables (STC) in Harlow. This research centre of STC was affiliated with the research centre where I was working, the Rubber and  Plastics Research Association of Great Britain (RAPRA) in Shawbury. 

My work was on durability of polymeric materials, including the alternate material for fibre optics, acrylics.

Sir Charles Kao's work continues to be highly regarded and has profoundly impacted the telecommunications industry, facilitating the fast and efficient transmission of data around the world. His contributions to the development of optical fibre cables have revolutionized long-distance communication and laid the foundation for the digital age we live in today.

The potential of acrylic fibres as a fibre optic medium was discovered by a team of researchers at Bell Laboratories in the United States.

Engineers at Bell Laboratories discovered the potential of acrylic fibres as an optical fibre cable in 1970.

 

The first company to produce acrylic fiber for fibre optic cables was DuPont.

I am releasing this entry about Sir. Charles Kao and fibre optics, as in 1996 I wrote a confidential paper on my thoughts on “optoelectronic keyboards” which was not about the use of optoelectronic switches but on keyboards which would actually consist of mini screens as keys!

This concept arose out of the problems associated with original mobile phone numeric keyboards. 

Although IBM had already developed a touch keyboard for its mobile phone,  Signal, in 1994, it was nowhere near the possible potential.

When I exchanged my ideas and views with Steve Jobs in 1997 when he had returned to Apple from NEXT, it was well received, but it was only taken more seriously when Apple iPhone was released  in 2007, but only taking a very small part of my keyboard concept into consideration.

QWERTY keyboard

AZERTY Keyboard

DVORAK Keyboard

Here are the four pages of the text of my original paper “Optoelectronic Keyboards - Basic Concept, User Friendliness and Technology Shift” written  in 1996. 

It was first shared confidentially with my then son-in-law, Tony Manninen.

After doing a patent search, which showed that my concept was unique, I shared it with Steve Jobs. 

Unfortunately, the email exchange with Steve Jobs was through my now defunct internet account findians@findians.com as my service provider in Canada went bust and I lost my domain name. 

However, if someone is able to search Steve Jobs’s archives, it may be possible to retrieve our correspondence.

Sir Charles Kao developed Alzheimer’s in 2003. But he could still recall people and names and still carried on his research work. 

As I care for Annikki, stricken with Alzheimers, I still have hope that, like Sir Charles Kao, Annikki will continue to contribute to society, as she has done for the last 50 years, just by the sheer joy she conveys daily to all of us around her. 

Sir Charles Kao used most of his Nobel Prize money to set up a foundation to help those suffering from Alzeihmers.

I thought to release this blog today, 4th November 2023 as it is the 90th birthday of the late Sir Charles Kao, who influenced some of my work on acrylic polymer optoelectronics fibres in the late 1960s.

Strange Finnish Banking Law?

Before we got married, Annikki had no bank account. She used to get paid in cash on a Friday morning. By Friday night she would have spent all of it at various local shops in the area!

I had a bank account in Barclays Bank on Finchley Road in London. Since I only got money transfer twice a year from India, I had to budget my life and live strictly within that budget. 

At that time we were only allowed £600 as the student transfer plus the fees for our college, which was a princely sum of £240.

It was very difficult to manage on  £600. That is another story I will blog another time. 

When we moved from London to Shrewsbury after I graduated and we got married I  started our joint bank account. 

Ever since then we have always had joint bank accounts as there was no saying my or your money.

We lived of a strict budget and the sum spent on our wedding, a grand sun of  £100 overdraft from the Barclay’s Bank in Shrewsbury was cleared by us in one year

When we moved to Indi,a again we had only a joint bank account. There Annikki was in charge of the money and budgeting. She had a few extravagances as I would be travelling round India almost 20 days s month.

On one such trip I returned to find my office room had been turned into a zoo with birds, and even a mongoose as a pet. 

That is also another blog for the future!  

When we moved back to Finland we started our Nordea account. As child benefit was paid only to the mother of the children, a Postipankki account was started in Annikki’s name. But she converted it to a joint account.

That Postipankki account has over time become a Danske bank account but we hardly use it

Because Annikki got a loyalty card from the S-Group, they started a bank account to pay the monthly bonus. 

Annikki again converted it into a joint acount over two decades ago.

Last week we found that the S-Psankki account was not working. 

All our salaries, now pensions are all paid into our Nordea account and we transfer s small sum for our monthly living expenses to the S-Psnkki account as we do almost 100% of our shoppang in Prisma.

Today we went to the customer service of S-Pankki to find out why our bank account was not working.

The lady went through all the requirements as our names, address, email address and finally the telephone number. 

Then came a shock, as she said that our account was stopped because we have the same telephone number. She said the Finnish law demands that we must have our own phone numbers as they have to send text messages (OTPs) to us individually for the verification code.

Annikki, who is quite meek and mild, was flabbergasted at this. She said on our family we had only one telphone and we did not intend to get a new phone justfor the convenience of the bank.

I told the lady that the Nordea bank had no such requirement. Even on Paypal the same phone number is used for both of us.

Annikki was ready to stop the S-Panikki account altogether as we only use it to get the deposit of the monthly bonus.

Better sense prevailed and I told the lady that Annikki would not be using her access to the account and only I woulkd use it so only one phone number would suffice!

We think it is stupid to ask customers to have separate phone numbers for the convenience of the bank. 

The Nordea system is more relevant as they provide one with s code calculator and with that both of us can access the bank without access to text messages ffom the bank. 

The only reason we keep the two banks are because the Nordea one is used by me as my Personal

Identifier  and the S-Pankki one is for Annikki.

I hope this new set up will not make it more complicated for us. 

Annikki has no intention to buy a phone and the iPhone does not have a dual SIM option!

Remembering my sister. Nalini

Nalini 1937

16th September 2023 would have been the 76 th birthday of my elder sister, Nalini. She passed away on October 29th 1960’from tetanus.

In my menoirs I have covered her life.

Nalini in London with Queen Mother Mary. 1960

Nalini was a beautiful person and I miss her dearly.

I wonder what goes through her mind?

Zebras by Annikki - made for my mother.

 Took 7 months.

As I look out of the window, I see my better half of the last 45+ years doing many things in the garden. Moving small things here and there, and sometimes really back breaking work like moving a load of sand from one place to another so as to put a rubber sheet underneath so that the grass does not grow through the sand. She does things painstakingly, and occasionally stands back to enjoy what she has done. She seems to know exactly what should be done, when and where!

I thought to myself that all through my working life and since, I have been busy, not with the express purpose of making money, but the end result of what I did was make money. Even as I help many tens of people today in Oulu, Tampere and Espoo/Helsinki, the final result is that I am gaining some monetary benefit, however much I try to disregard that aspect of my work.

But looking at Annikki pottering around, I thought of all that she has done in the last 47 years that I have known her. Almost 99% of it has not been for money or financial return. All her paintings were for her personal pleasure.

On the page of Annikki as an Artist which I created on her 60th birthday, there are two photographs.

The first is of the only painting she has ever sold, and that too with great regret. The second photograph is of the large tapestry she created for my mother almost 30+ years ago. This hung on my mother's living room wall till her passing away and now adorns our living room wall!

The gingerbread houses and the cakes she has designed were for the pleasure of her family and friends. The gardens she has so painstakingly created and maintained have been for the pleasure of those who want to enjoy it. The food she cooks, the clothes she washes, the houses she has maintained - all for her pleasure and of her family. She does those things as her "duty" to her family members, never thinking it is a duty.

I thought to myself whether I could ever be like her! I felt I would never achieve that sort of status in my life - a person who has been so selfless in her work and who enjoys everything she does. She is happy when others are happy. She is sad when others are sad.

How many people are like that in this world?

No doubt many of you will say that their mothers and their wives are of the same mould.

I agree that the work of a woman is priceless.

I remember seeing an article in "The Times" of London, many decades ago, which valued the work of a woman, housewife, mother. The conclusion was that no man would be able to pay his better half enough for the work she does to run the family. This is more so today than it was a few decades ago.

I value Annikki for all that she has been and is - Daughter, Girlfriend, Wife, Daughter-in-law, Mother, Grandmother, Artist, Author, Educator.

I wish everyone had a person like her in their life!

Our journey to India

We left Oulu only by 1 pm on Friday afternoon as there were so many loose ends to tie up. It snowed heavily most of the 600km. I was glad I had got the winter tyres on and the drive was uneventful. Couple of stops for Mika to smoke his cigarrettes..

We stayed at one of Raantel's apartments in Helsinki. Although we have had it for a month we have not had any residents in it. Annikki, Mika and I were the first to stay there. It was not yet ready, so our friends, Ganesan and Levi, must have had have a tough task on Sunday making it ready for the two Indian software engineers who were to arrive on Sunday.

On Saturday I met with Christian, had lunch with him at the FORUM while Annikki and her sister, Anneli went to church. Then we went to Sello, the huge shopping complex in Leppavaara. It is just too big to be convenient. We found nothing we wanted there. There was no service in either PRISMA of the K-Citymarket, which were both so huge that all the Prisma's and Citymarkets in Oulu would fit into these! Later I had time to visit Ajith and discuss a possible visit to his Ayurvedic Rest Centre on the Kabini River on the border of Karnataka and Kerala.

We had to leave at 5:30 am for the airport so I ordered an Airport Taxi, leaving the car parked outside our apartment for Levi to park at one of other apartments. the Taxi came right on time and for € 32, we had a convenient ride to the airport. Certainly a service to be recommended.

Despite my telling Annikki, she insisted on taking some tubes of hand cream etc., which were larger than the allowed size. Sure enough she had to give them up quite unwillingly at the security. All the soft drinks and juices Annikki had saved for the air journey had to be thrown away! (Hope she has learnt the lesson!)

The Finnair flight to London was not very comfortable as the space between the seats was so small. We certainly hoped for larger seats and more leg room on the British airways flight from London to Mumbai.

London Airport is HUGE. We had to take a bus from Terminal 2 where we arrived to Terminal 5, where the international and domestic British Airways flights depart. The coach journey was 10 minutes.

We had to go through another security before entering Terminal 5. Really terrible. Just because I left my watch on, I had to encounter a full public body search.

We wondered what benefit all this was as a determined terrorist would know HOW to beat this security process. We were amazed to see a little 10 year old girl having to undergo a body search! A complete sham.

The departure gate for our flight needed yet another journey in a fast train from one part of Terminal 5 to another. There we waited for our flight which was a another full one. To our dismay the seats were narrower than the last flight and the leg room between the seats was even tighter.

Luckily the in-flight TV had some great British and American comedy programmes and a couple of drama TV presentations, plus we were served two meals and time went fast -the eight hours flew away and we were in Mumbai. Annikki enjoyed herself watching the flight path on the TV all the way from London to Mumbai! To each his / her own.

It was 20 past midnight on 19th October 2009 when we disembarked. More on that in my next blog posting.