iblog

Rushda: I’ve always thought that trainers are the most boring kind of footwear. Either they remind me of cringeworthy P.E. lessons at school or, on the other extreme, they are the epitome of the geek-chic crowd who wear boring but oh-so-cool converse. Obviously trainers are essential for sport, but that’s never interested me that much, being (and I shamefully admit it) pretty unathletic myself.

Recent developments of trainers, however, have made even me tempted to grab a pair and that’s quite impressive considering you can’t actually do that much with a shoe. First you have NikeiD, which allows you to design your very own Nike trainer, from the type of shoe to the colours, to even having your name on them. Great for the trendy and fashion-conscious amongst us. Then, for those who prefer functionality over aesthetics, there’s Adidas’s new “intelligent shoe”. This shoe contains a sensor, microprocessor and a motor which actually adjusts the sole after each stride and changes the cushioning depending on the running surface. Well well, I never knew trainers could be so exciting!

Stephanie: Public transport has its drawbacks. I used to lament the often ridiculous prices (how are we expected to ‘go green’ when the bus fares are extortionate, the services unreliable and the ride uncomfortable?) However, these complaints have been downgraded to a bearable inconvenience in comparison to my latest pet-hate. I am of course referring to the recent epidemic of mobile-phone-stereos, which play incessantly on each and every commute. The tinny sound of music played too loud through inadequate speakers is coupled with the dire quality of the music, which for some unknown reason always features a high pitched chipmunk-esque voice squeaking to a reptitive and irritating beat. There’s no cure for this rapidly spreading disease of inconsiderate passengers I’m sure, but perhaps I might release some pent up bus-rage, and breathe easier when it happens again tomorrow.

Caroline: As any parent will tell you, having your teenager learning to drive can be a headache. Not only is it extortionate to insure them (£1500 when my son started learning six years ago) but once they have passed their test you lie awake with the horrendous statistics going round and round in your head, wondering whether they are going to make it home safely. In America the introduction of DriveCams in young drivers’ cars has had a marked effect on the accident rate. Images are only saved just before and just after what the insurance company calls “risky driver events” and parents can log on to a special website to see what has been going on. Although teenagers are not surprisingly complaining about the invasion of their privacy I have to say it sounds a good idea to me and maybe when they become parents they will understand why!

Virgil: People are more fascinated by the idea of humanoid robots than ever before. First there’s everyone’s favourite, Asimo, the walking, dancing brainchild of Honda. The ultimate goal of the Asimo project is to create something that humans can accept into their homes, like a maid.

But Asimo is a robot - he doesn’t think or feel. So next you have emotional robots. As reported by my iblog colleague Rushda, technology is being developed that allows robots to interact emotionally with humans, detecting happiness and sadness, anger and anxiety.

The latest addition to this saga is robots that learn like humans. Whilst AIs capable of learning have been around for decades, they have always done it in a very unnatural way. However, a new robot, Dexter, has begun to learn how to walk in the same way as a baby does: being stood up and encouraged to balance. In his first attempts, you can watch Dexter very tentatively moving his leg forwards and then retracting it, experiencing being imbalanced for the first time, and trying to work out what to do. It’s almost cute.

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.

Rushda: Gone are the days when all you’d get from a computer game would be obesity and repetitive strain injury on your thumbs. Now, game consoles such as the new Nintendo Wii and the already popular Dance Mats are allowing gamers to burn calories whilst playing because they require physical movement as well as traditional button pressing. Not only are they just as fun (if not more so), they are a healthy option for those who like to play games. I still think that nothing beats going outside regularly and getting proper exercise, but for those who can’t bear the idea of leaving their console, this is a great way to get the best of both worlds.

Steve Robinson: Mobile phone company Vodafone have recently tied up a deal to provide Google Maps on handheld devices, including PDAs and Mobiles. The service allows customers to use Google’s location-specific searches on the go, effectively rivalling more advanced GPRS software (as long as you know where you are). More interesting still is that the recently announced iPhone from Apple will feature Google Earth as standard. In the ‘States, Apple made an exclusive deal with Cingular for the rights to sell the iPhone on their network alone. It is expected that a similar deal will be struck in the UK with one of the major network operators (though not 3, since the iPhone is not 3G-compatible). So, the question is, with Vodafone supplying Google Map services to mobiles, and iPhone yet to announce a network partner for their Google Earth-enabled phone, will these two giants set to broker a deal in the coming months? A deal seems highly likely anyway, with Vodafone as the most ubiquitous operator in the country, but perhaps this is the first hint that an agreement might have already been made.

Caroline: Do you ever have difficulty thinking what to give the person who has everything? Well how about an O’Neill H3 Series Video Backpack? It is just the thing for people who are frustrated at not being able to video themselves on the ski slopes. The backpack has a lens attached to a flex so that the camera can be put on your goggles. There is a joystick in the shoulder strap allowing you to operate the camera remotely. Not content with all this gadget wizardry, O’Neill have gone the extra mile and included other bits and pieces which will enable the happy recipient to listen to their iPod and make hands free calls as well. Let’s hope that they are competent skiiers and not easily distracted otherwise there could be trouble ahead!

Virgil: Scientists have developed a new robot that is the size of a pill, designed to help cure a cancer patient. The ‘pill’ is swallowed as normal and travels through the body’s usual digestive system, all the way along searching for a tumour, transmitting information back to a PC, and taking photos with a tiny camera. At the end, the pill simply goes down the loo.

The camera on the robot was borrowed from an existing invention, PillCam, which was used to test for inflammation in the intestines. The new robot builds on this technology by not only sending pictures, but fully analysing someone’s insides, and transmitting its findings back to a database.

The breakthrough could mean that it will be easier than ever before to tell what areas of a patient’s body have been affected by the cancer, and it will be even more accurate too.

Virgil: A farmer living in Somerset has used a bit of scientific know-how to come up with a rather green way of powering his Jaguar car. By taking all the rotting apples from his farm and storing them in two large underground tanks at his house, he can collect the methane which they produce as they decompose; a quick conversion on the car allows it to be powered by this gas. His XJ6 Jag now runs on 40p a litre and still returns 28 miles per gallon, and has a reported 10% increase in power! The farmer, a green enthusiast, hopes to turn his little apple tanks into plants, and make a bigger thing about methane propulsion, which is much more popular on the continent than in Britain - something he’d like to change.