iblog

Steve Robinson:

Every Saturday I take a look at the strangest gadget from the past week. This week, it’s the Voice-Activated Microwave from Daewoo

"I Want To Speak To The Chef..." The R&D Department at Daewoo were bored. They were tired of finding new ways to sell cars, and needed a new project to keep them occupied. Suddenly, there was a bang from the kitchen. The work experience boy had left the spring rolls in the microwave too long and the whole place was on fire. After they had doused the flames, one of the team had a brainwave. Suppose they built a microwave that knew what you wanted to cook? One that could understand the human voice, so you could request what you wanted to heat up and let the oven do the work? How about 40 different commands, with 95% accuracy across a range of accents? We need never burn the microwave popcorn again, they thought! Unfortunately, what they didn’t stop to realise is that no-one in their right mind is going to start talking to the microwave. The kids will give you very odd looks when they come home from school and you’re standing in the kitchen chatting to a metal box. It’s ‘Buck Rodgers’ meets ‘One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest’, and it’s one ready-made idea too far. Daewoo's Voice-Activated Microwave is due for release in America in 2007. Daewoo.com

Steve Robinson: Christmas came early this month for the iPod Family. Little brother ‘Nano got a durable coat in flashy colours with a better battery life. Little baby ‘Shuffle lost his cheap plastic coat but was given an aluminium finish with built-in clip. And daddy iPod treated himself to a 60% brighter screen and huge 80GB option. Unfortunately, these improvements are (mostly) little more than cosmetic enhancements. Take the iPod Nano. Upon its release in September 2005 it was criticised for a lack of durability. Along came the Sansa e200 range from Sandisk, with an impressive 20-hour battery life and strong aluminium coating, which had Steve Jobs in a bit of a worry. Take a look at the ‘new’ ‘Nano’s improvements and it’s not difficult to see the reason for the update. But surely Apple’s R&D department must have tested their model and known of the fault before it was released? In five years there have been 28 iPod models, with a ‘new’ version every 6 months for the past few years. By dressing up their new iterations as though they are a novel step forward, they can fix some quite obvious flaws with their design whilst selling even more units to the ‘gotta have ‘em all’ consumer. Apple’s need to maintain dominance over the market, their drive to be ‘innovative’ and commercially successful is sadly leaving its mark on the quality of their units.

Stav: The Control Arms Campaign, a campaign to stop the proliferation of small arms, supported by Oxfam and Amnesty International and myself for that matter is about to produce the required results. After three years and more than a million signatures it reached its target, lobbying the UN General Assembly to legislate for an International Arms Trade Treaty. In October the UN General Assembly will vote for a resolution to start work towards an Arms Trade Treaty . It has also succeeded in securing strong backing by the Foreign Office. Last Thursday 13th September, Foreign Office Ministers received foreign diplomats in an attempt to persuade them to support the resolution in New York in October. The thorny issue in the text of the resolution seems to be the inclusion of the term ‘human rights’. Although Non Governmental Organisations and the Foreign Office are in favour of using the term, there is strong opposition by states that have a poor record on the subject. The Foreign Office, which co-authored the report, hopes to reach consensus so that the resolution can pass unanimously. If you would like to support this campaign, you can add your signature to the control arms petition. It’s definitely a worthwhile cause.

Stav: The London Fashion Week opened on monday in the capital. Although I haven’t been invited, I am pleased that London is now becoming as important as Milan, New York and Paris when it comes to showcasing new trends in fashion and clothing. What I found pleasantly surprising this year though, was the debate to debate to ban extremely thin models so that the Fashion industry cannot be blamed for rising levels of anorexia and bulimia, especially among teenage girls. Milan and Madrid took the first step forbidding extremely thin models to participate in their respective fashion weeks. Should London should have followed their example?

Stav: Pope Benedict XVI got into serious trouble last week with followers of Islam. He delivered a speech about the historical and philosophical differences between Christianity and Islam, focusing on the correlation between violence and faith at Regensburg University in his homeland Germany. The Bavarian born Pontiff, upset Muslims when he quoted the remarks of the Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Paleologos, who claimed in Constantinople (present day Istanbul and capital of the former Christian Byzantine Empire) "Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." The particular quote caused offence to the Muslim world, which rejects any criticism of the prophet. There was widespread condemnation in Friday prayers in mosques in Beirut, Karachi, Cairo and Turkey, where the Pope is expected to visit. Maybe next time the head of the Catholic Church decides to comment on Islam, he should also mention the Catholic Church’s own past including acts such as the Spanish Inquisition and the crimes committed in the name of Christianity by the Conquistadores in Latin America.

Stav: I recently found out what all the fuss was about when I received an I-pod as a gift a couple of months ago and it seems the white gadget that recently re-launched itself, now storing movies and videos, has taken millions of fellow music lovers by storm. I-pods have definitely changed the way we store and listen to music, however only a small percentage of the music stored in I-pods is actually purchased from I-tunes, Apple’s online music store. Most music originates from burning CDs and sharing of music files. This is certainly true in my case, as I haven’t visited the I-tunes store as yet. According to Jupiter Research, who carried out research on the subject, this will have profound implications for the online music market. They also claim that only 5% of music stored in the device will be bought from online music stores, the majority of which will be generated by Apple’s I-tunes music store. The report concludes that free music is still highly appreciated and sought after by music lovers. It is also predicted that appetite for buying CDs will continue in the digital age. I guess a lot of us still remain old fashioned when it comes to buying music.

Lottie: It's rather comforting to know that you can find pretty much anything on the internet, even when/if you're not trying. I came accross this website the other day quite by chance:http://www.justducks.co.uk/Duck_pond.htm, which led me to the largest collection of novelty rubber ducks i've ever seen. I particularly like the exclusivity of the title 'just ducks', which seems to point to an internet world so vast that everything can be separated and metioculously categorised and no two unrelated subjects need ever collide. And yet, the beauty of the web is that, duck lover or not, if i type that word in one of my e-mails an add for this site instantly pops up..

Lottie: Today is September 11th, so we might stop and remember something that happened 5 years ago to the day. I put it this simply because this is how we, the indirectly associated masses, remember; through a date or similar trigger. A day like this demonstrates both the persistence and transience of events. Although disasters such as the destruction of the World Trade Centre are unlikely to be forgotten, in media terms we are provided with just a short lease of rememberance at the appropriate time. In other news today, the Ugandan Lord's Reisitance Army moved in tentative steps towards peace with their country and 13 Army recruits were killed in Baghdad. As one conflict ends, others will begin and others will rage on regardless of whether we notice or write about them. The ceremonies held today are not just important for what they commemorate, but for how they beg us not to forget or miss the rest..

Lottie: i noticed that one of the top stories on the BBC News website today was the 'shocking' revelation that many of us are concerned about how the fast pace of modern life affects our health. I then followed a couple of links which told me that people who are in loving relationships are generally less stressed out even if they hold down high pressure jobs. Who knew! I imagine that people with tough jobs, who come home to evil monkeys in their closet and dry rot, would probably see a rise in blood pressure?

Lottie: In France, if you wish to excuse yourself to go to the toilet, it is acceptable and common to say 'je vais faire du pee-pee'. To me this sounds childish and well, a little embarassing, but a friend pointed out to me today that saying 'i need a wee' in england isn't any better. I might conclude then, that if nothing else unites these two sparring countries (my French teacher constantly makes jokes about the English being idiots, animals, du pee-pees etc) then it is a similarly peurile attitide to bodily functions, rude bits, things that sound like rude bits. You might consider the French to be plus sophistiche, but however strongly they protest they will happily share our toilet humour, and strangely, somewhat ashamedly, that makes me feel at home here.