Nokia Phone to the rescue!

 I have been using the iPhone for over 15 years. 

Old trusted Nokia, where the keyboard has faded!

Before that, like every Finn,had  I was a Nokia phone user. 

There were intervals where I used Jolla and then went back to a Nokia, but came back to the iPhone. 

Part of my collection of mobile phones from 1987: 2 Mobiras, Jolla, iPhone 4, Nokia clam shell, other 2 Nokia antiques, an Häger internet phone.  (My only Samsung was lost in Helsinki and my Nokia 920 was lost at Delhi Airport.)

When my iPhone 4 gave up the ghost, my friends, The Gang of 18 from around the world (Canada, India, Israel, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, UK, USA)  made sure I got an iPhone as a present so I would keep in touch with all my classmates. 

It has been very reliable, till yesterday, when it refused to charge.

I was in a desperate situation, as I have several phones, right  from the original Nokia, when it was called Mobira, but the problem was all of them are in a safe place but I did not know where the charging cables were.

It was a desperate search as without a phone I am dead to the world. With our two daughters,  it is OK as they used FaceTime and we can call each other from my MacBook Air.

The problem was that to even call a taxi to go to the repair shop  is a problem without a phone, as we are both house-bound. 

I found some charging cables and played around till I found the one which matched one of my ancient Nokia phones. I got the phone charged. Then the problem was of getting my micro SIM from the iPhone to fit the Nokia. 

I knew I had a lot of adapters, but when you want one, it is impossible to find it. Annikki’s  grandfather had a saying that when one stops looking for something, it will just come to hand!

I found an old wireless adapter with an old SIM and in its old large holder frame. I fixed my mini SIM to that, and voilà, worked.

I called my taxi service. Annikki and I went right  across town to the K-Citymarket in Rusko, where I knew FONUM has a service centre working on Sinday.

The two youngsters were most helpful. 

While Annikki and I did our shopping they fixed  my iPhone. They found some dirt had got into  the charging port and they cleaned it out.

When we got back, it was working fine.

The charge was to be €25.

I asked them to change my Elisa home network connection to 5G from the present 4G, which was just €2 per month more than my present charge. I also bought a wireless INSMAT wireless charging station. No more dirt likely in the charging port! The boys did not charge me for cleaning the iPhone. I got the charging station for just €4. 

I bought a SIM card for my old trusted Nokia and now that is hanging next to my TV for hopefully another unlikely emergency..

The lesson learnt with this experience is that although I have everything to handle any situation, I have left everything disorganised after my health issues got to the foreground. 

Now is the time to reorganise as I have all these beautiful gadgets, all sitting there and I waste so much time when an emergency arises.

I am on 5G from tomorrow. I hope that will help get my blogs out faster. 

I have some great news for our blog readers as we shall concentrate on a new schedule to help you get to the blog you want to read in a more organised fashion.

I have two new blogs lined up for December and a couple of older focused ones will come back on line, completely refurbished. 

I will give you the calendar schedule shortly.

Here are the list of our blogs:

1. Collectibles By Annikki (Daily)

2. Jacob’s Blog (Weekly)

3. News (Weekly) Findians  Breaking News

4. Maliyakal Family Blog (New) (Weekly)

5. Kandathil Family Blog (New) (Weekly)

6. Seventh Heaven for Cathedralites (Fortnightly)

7. Oulu Best (Worst) Buy (Fortnightly)

8. JM Politics (Fortnightly)

9. Findians (Fortnighly)

10. Findians Editorial (Fortnighly)

11. Findians Briefings (Fortnightly)

12. Kooler Talk (Web Version) (Monthly)

13. Art of Kamutaza's Tembo (Monthly)

14. CHAFF (Chamber for Assistance of Finns and Foreigners) (Monthly)

15. Photographs from Finland and India(Monthly)

16. Last Will and Testament (Monthly)

17. Move The UN (Monthly)

18. Mobile Snowman (Winter)

19. Talk Show Ratings (When news is available!)

Do stay turned for this BREAKING NEWS which we have scheduled for the next Finnish Independence Day on 6th December 2023.

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!