iblog

Rushda: There is a wonderful scene in the film Short Circuit in which a robot (Number Five) proves that he is actually alive and conscious by laughing at a joke. Well, scientists haven’t quite managed the laughing yet but advances in robot technology are such that robots are starting to behave more ‘emotionally’. Feelix Growing is a research project which aims to develop robots so they can learn from humans and interact in an emotionally appropriate manner. Robots are likened to babies who learn to identify facial expressions and other movement patterns by picking up information from the world around them. Artificial neural networks are being used so that robots actually learn new information about their owner (whether they are happy, sad, angry, and so on).

Predictably as a philosophy student, what I find most interesting about this is how much would be needed to show that the robot was actually emotional. Though this is controversial in the philosophy of mind, I think even though robots have the potential to mimic every kind of ‘emotional’ behaviour, most would still not accept that the robot would be actually feeling the emotions the behaviour is designed to represent. Sorry number five, but perhaps it’ll take a lot more to show you are alive!

Anna: I haven’t achieved much yet today, as the latest National Geograohic magazine flumped onto my doormat this morning. One article stood out especially for me - an account of the “Ivory Wars” raging in Zakouma National Park in southeastern Chad. I think we all assume ivory is a bit passe, one of those hot topics of the 1980’s that we assume is all sorted out now. A bit like wearing fur, being aware about AIDS. Basically, old news. Sadly, that’s far from true and poaching of elephants is rife in hard-to-police central Africa. The main market is the Far East. This is where I get really, really angry - why the hell would you condone the slaughter of a beautiful, intelligent creature for the sake of having a bit of ivory inlaid in your cutlery handles?? And I’m not one for cultural intolerance, but frankly I don’t give a toss if traditional Chinese medicine requires ground-up ivory for pills and potions. I just don’t think it should be tolerated by the world community. Stop the demand, and the poaching will also cease. As with coca production in South America, the “producers” in the developing world get the blame while the fat-cat middlemen live it up in Monte Carlo.

Anyway, rant over. If you need convincing that Zakouma is somewhere incredibly special, you don’t even have to buy National Geographic magazine. Just visit their website to read more and watch a 10 minute video documentary about the last remaining place on earth where you can see herds of up to 1000 elephants.

Caroline: For children growing up in the post war years, the refrain “You’re not getting down from the table until your plate is clear” was familiar. Nowadays parents are told not to make a fuss if their offspring don’t want to eat and as adults we are being advised to stop eating when we are full or risk weigh gain. Diners in Hong Kong however, are going to have to ignore that advice as restaurants threaten to start fining diners who leave anything on their plate. The reason is that Hong Kong is running out of landfill sites to dispose of their waste and is trying to encourage people to think before ordering something which they cannot finish. It all sounds a bit Orwellian although the good news for my daughter’s boyfriend at least is that there must be a gap in the employment market for someone like him who has never been known to refuse seconds and hoovers up leftovers at speed!

Caroline: Reading about the obese 8 year old who risks being taken into care if his family do not address his problem made me think about the programme I watched on Sat about Jack, the morbidly obese 16year old. The programme followed his journey to New York where he was fitted with a gastric band to help him reduce his weight from 21st. According to Jack dieting has never worked for him but I was left wondering just how much effort he and his family had put into his diets or whether they saw the gastric band as an easy solution. His relationship with food was demonstrated by the feast which his mother produced for him the night before he started his pre-op diet. Jack was seen bingeing on pizza, burgers, sausage rolls, quiche, scotch eggs and pork pie to name but a few. Ironically after only two weeks of the pre-op diet he had lost a stone and a half. Perhaps if he had shown the same determination to stick to other diets this drastic step need never have been taken.

Rushda: Designer handbags have always been the ultimate accessory for the fashion-conscious woman. Indeed some women have actually spent thousands on expensive designer bags, as they are said to boost the look of any outfit. One example of a such a bag is a Louis Vuitton patchwork bag which is currently being sold for a staggering £23,484: a price greater than that of a Mercedes car! I admit the bag looks kind of trendy but I’m sure I’m not alone in thinking that this is crazy, especially for those who aren’t celebrities and can’t afford to splash out every day. Personally I’d like to have some money left over to put in any bag I buy!

Anna: The first time I ate an avocado, I thought it was disgusting. More akin to biting into a bar of soap than sampling a delicacy. All I can say is, I must have had a sourly unripe specimen, because nowadays I can’t get enough them. Being a veggie, avocado is a great sarnie stand-by for me and there are loads of other ways I like to enjoy the humble alligator pear. Drizzled with olive oil, sprinkled with pine nuts, chopped and added to a salad, mashed into guacamole…

Did you know the word comes from the Spanish aguacate, in turn derived from the Aztec name - ahuacatl? And did you know avocados grow on trees? A good tree can yield 500 fruits in a season! And there’s another fact - an avocado is a fruit not a vegetable. And do be aware that a few slices of the good green stuff will give you a dose of more than 25 essential nutrients. Aah, there is no end to the fascination for me. If you are a fellow avocado aficionado, check out the website of the California Avocado Commission. Yeah, I’m not too sure on the human sacrifice front, but the Aztecs definitely got it right with their love of avocados.

Rushda: Anyone who’s seen the film Dirty Dancing must remember the famous sexy dance of the romantic couple at the end. Well, a couple loved it so much that they recently performed the routine for their own wedding, unaware that the video of the dance would become a hit on YouTube, having over 140,000 hits at the time of writing this, and also be in the papers. I don’t know whether they’ll look back and laugh or cringe for their bravery but I think it must have certainly lifted spirits to have a funky little dance number for the bride and groom instead of a boring ballroom dance. Although I don’t think their routine has anything over the original, and although it is not quite my cup of tea, they certainly look like they’re having the time of their life, going into their new life together with style!

Stephanie: So many people (myself included) spend hours of guilty voyeuristic pleasure on networking sites such as myspace and facebook. It’s a small wonder then, that potential employers have begun to exploit these resources as a means of really getting to know their prospective employees… So, you might want to reconsider truly baring all on your myspace pages - tone down your drunken antics perhaps? Slip in a few lines about your fantastic work ethic and punctuality? Ok, perhaps a little obvious - but it’s something worth considering at your next interview. You never know who’s watching…

Stephanie: In the first year of World War I more than one million men chose to join the fighting in Europe. I struggle to comprehend the horrors they faced or the terrible ways in which so many men died. But I find it even more impossible to imagine that a similar patriotism would prevail today in the face of a similar crisis. I can’t imagine many boys being compelled to lie about their age in order to defend our country, as was common in both World Wars. On the contrary I can’t help but envision a sudden rise in debilitating illnesses. “Me? Go to war? Oh no I’m sorry, much as I’d love to, I’m a chronic asthmatic. As of. Now.” Am I simply too cynical? Perhaps. But what would you say, if Queen and country came knocking? Would you rally to the flag? Or would you dive behind the sofa and pretend you’re not in?

Virgil: With the release of Microsoft Windows Vista and its flagship Office 2007 suite of desktop publishing applications, there has been a lot of hype and excitement, and a general sensation of advancing to a new digital level. Everything is “easier” and “faster” than before, you can do more of what you want, and it’s all so good that the Vista slogan is simply “Wow.”

But amidst all this, I find a saddening thought. With all this new gadgetry, everything has been dressed up in funky animation, graphics, bright colours and swish backgrounds. Gone are the good old days when writing a Word document was a simple and mild procedure which didn’t assault you with an attempt to make you shout “Wow.”

These attempts to be cooler are exhibited most poignantly in this: the loss of the default font, Times New Roman. From Office 2007 onwards, all applications use the new font Callibri, a sans-serif ‘new age’ alternative to the curled and omnipresent tradition with its squiggly ‘g’s. It is a tradition I will miss; Times New Roman, I salute you in your passing.