NBA Finals 2014: Whose time ahead?

The 2014 NBA Finals have been nothing but full of action and the basketball fans are making the most out of it. Although Spurs beat Heat in the Game 3, there’s no telling which of these two teams will come on top in the Game 4 to be held in South Florida.

As far as odds are concerned, Spurs have odds in their favour (1-2), while for Miami odds are against them (9-5).

Miami’s Route to Success: Check struggle at point guard

They may have the best player in LeBron James, but the struggle at the point guard position has been their biggest cause of worry in the recent games. While this puts a lot of pressure on Mario Chalmers and Norris Cole, they have to do what they do the best— to get the ball to the best players on the team. If Heat has to pull out a victory in the Game 4, these players have to overcome their struggle to play well.

San Antonio’s Route to Success: Team Play

While Miami relies on offensive strategy, San Antonio plays smartly on both offensive and defensive fronts. There is no dearth of good players in Spurs like Duncan and Parker, but the strength of this team lies mainly on the willingness of every member and their ability to work as one team. Of course, Head Coach Gregg realizes this and that’s why he preaches them this team-first mentality at all the times. 

As the two best teams in the NBA, takes on each other in the remaining games, it would not be difficult to say that the series is going to be a six or seven.

FIFA World Cup 2014 Preview: Group Stage Survival

Finally, it is the day all football lovers in the world have been waiting impatiently for a long time. The biggest sporting event in football’s history, FIFA World Cup Brazil 2014, kicks off this Thursday at Itaquerao stadium in Brazil. The biggest, costliest and arguably the most controversial tournament in the football’s history will start with a star-studded ceremony followed by a match between the host nation and Croatia.

Let’s take a quick glance at the teams that have a better chance of winning over others in individual groups. 

In Group A, it’s Brazil and the rest of them. There is expected to be a tough fight between Croatia and Mexico for the second place. As far as skills are concerned, Croatia outguns Mexico this time. But passion and proximity might turn the game in favour of Mexico. Cameroon, undoubtedly, will secure the fourth place.

In Group B, Spain is the favourite, while Netherlands is supposed to take the second place and face the winner of Group A (which is supposed to be Brazil) in the first knockout. Still one can’t rule out Chile, who can pull off an upset. Australia will take the fourth place as expected.

In Group C, Ivory Coast with Didier Drogba is still believed to make it to the top with Colombia following second. While Colombia will miss Radamel Falcao dearly, Greece and Japan still don’t pack enough punch to make it to the top.  

Group D is definitely the Group of Death. Italy is favoured to be the winner of the group, although an upset with England can’t be ruled out. The match between England and Uruguay will definitely be a nail biting one. Costa Rica will have to be contented taking the last position. 

In Group E, France is considered to make it to the top without any difficulty. There will be a tussle between Ecuador and Switzerland for the second place. Honduras can rest assured as their fourth position is going nowhere.

Group F has Argentina written all over it. What needs to be seen here is the tussle for the second place between Nigeria, who hasn’t made it to group stage since 1998, Iran and first timer Bosnia-Herzegovina.

In Group G, there will be a major tussle between Germany and Portugal for the top position. Although Germany has the edge player-wise, but with Ronaldo in his current form, Portugal will be a force to be reckoned with. Ghana and USA will have a good match, which Ghana is supposed to win—putting USA in the fourth position.

Group H is the dark-horse group and Belgium is the favourite to finish at the top. The match between Russia and South Korea will be an interesting one and the player to watch out will be Son Heung-min from South Korea. Algeria will secure the fourth position.

All eyes are now set for the first match of the tournament between the host Brazil and Croatia. No host has ever lost their first match in world cup and this time too we are expecting to see the same trend. All eyes will be on Neymar from Brazil and his left leg, and Rakitic, the midfielder from Croatia.

How are the lenses of spectacles made?

Have you ever thought, what is the most important component of spectacles? It’s the lenses. They protect our eyes from the harmful UV rays and also help us see things clearly in case we have eyesight problem. They not only enhance our looks but also give protection against dust and other small

The convex lenses were the first ones to be made to cure far-sightedness and then came the concave lenses to treat short-sightedness. But, do we know how they are manufactured? Here is the process that the lenses go through to become a part of the spectacles.

In the past, the opticians relied on separate optical laboratories to produce lenses. But now, there are many full-service outlets that make lenses for customers at the same place. These outlets get plastic pieces which are injection moulded and look like hockey pucks. The other raw materials used to produce 

lenses for spectacles are-

• Adhesive tape

• A liquid with a lead alloy base

• Dyes and tints

The manufacturing process involves several steps.

Surfacing and blocking

The laboratory technician inputs the optical prescription data into the computer and it provides a print out of the information necessary for producing the required prescription. Then the technician places the lens in a lensometer to locate and mark the optical centre – the point that should be in line with the pupil of the customer. He then mounts the lens blank into a carrier block made of lead alloy and inserts it into a lens lathe. The lathe trims layers of material from the back side of the lens to get the desired thickness and precision.

Polishing

When the lens comes out of lathe the backside is a bit rough. He then places the lens in a fining machine called lap, which polish the back side of the lens. First, each lens is rubbed against a rough fining pad made of soft sandpaper. Then the laps are removed from each lens and soaked in hot water for a few minutes. After that they are attached back to the lenses and placed in the fining machine, where the final fining pad is attached. The machine rotates the pad in a circular motion while a polishing compound consisting of aluminium oxide, water and polymers flow over the lenses.

Edging

After polishing the lens is much thinner than the time when it started. But it still needs to be cut down to a smaller size. The lens is now put into a lens edger along with the frame selected for it. The edger uses a digital tracer to capture the three-dimensional image of the frame and by using a diamond cutting wheel, cuts the lens to the precise measurements provided by the optician.

Coating

In this final process, the lenses are dipped into a tint container and can be coated to resist scratching, block UV rays or to reduce reflections. The lens usually receives up to 16 ultrathin layers of metal oxide coatings. After drying, the lens is ready to be inserted into the desired frames.

During the whole production process these spectacle lenses undergo four basic inspections - three of them happening in the laboratory and the fourth one at the optical outlet. They include checking the optical prescription, verifying the optical centre placement, verifying the frame alignment and visually checking for scratches. 

After all this is done it is ready to be delivered to us