iThings

I’m not going to lie, I was slightly disappointed with the article that followed such a dramatic title – "NBC executive slams Apple for "killing music industry"". I was expecting something a little more juicy and exciting, and well, even just more informative. I’m really not even sure how to comment on this, or what my opinion is quite frankly. What I’ll say is this – I agree with the author in that "Until iTunes came along, the major record labels were adrift in the digital wilderness, watching CD sales plummet and an entire generation become addicted to illegal downloading […]". I, personally, have not bought an actual CD in probably 5 years and Limewire has pretty well become my only link to the outside world of music. I will also admit to the fact that, after a couple of years of resisting social conformity, I too, like that vast majority of red-blooded North American citizens, have bought an iPod…and accessories to match.
I think that there has been an ‘Apple-Mac-iPod-iPhone-iTunes-iWhatever’ revolution and to be quite honest, the iCurrent is just too strong to swim up against. So my message to you, NBC, is to just go with the flow and pick yourself a nice sweet and ripe Apple…

Bile and Prime Ministers??

"What to do with the ex-PMs and all that pent-up bile?" – despite my severe and embarrassing lack of knowledge in the politics department, I did in fact find this title rather intriguing. I think it was primarily because of the odd and rather funny attachment of ex-Prime Ministers to pent-up bile – not generally a common association. Bile, in case one was unaware, is "a bitter, yellow or green alkaline fluid secreted by hepatocytes from the liver of most vertebrates. In many species, it is stored in the gallbladder between meals and upon eating is discharged into the duodenum where it excretes waste and aids the process of digestion of lipids" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bile). Fortunately, the article itself was just as witty and descriptive as the title that had proceeded it. Because, sadly, the names of the Prime Ministers were pretty much the only things that I really recognized throughout the article, it really helped that the language, diction and syntax provided a bit of humour. I found the elaborate descriptions, metaphors and personifications particularly comical – for example, "Jean Chrétien swills the bile around on his palate like vintage wine", and "Of the 19 prime ministers in the Fifth French Republic, only two managed to climb the extra rung on the greasy pole to become president". In addition, I found it interesting and quite humorous how the author makes it seem as though ex-PMs are like a serious bug or rodent problem, starting off the article with "In the modern world, as we all live longer, here's a new problem. What do we do with ex-prime ministers?". Overall, although I may not have followed all the political technicalities, I did actually enjoy this article – amazing what a few well-phrased metaphors and a little bit of humour can do.

It probably will happen...

https://shanalogic.com/item_images/1266_lyn_robot_fulla.jpg

I think that the title of this article pretty well says it all – Sex and marriage with robots? It could happen. But beyond the fact that, well, ‘anything is possible’, I do think that this is a likely possibility. With all the technology and research now available + the increase in promiscuity and sexual liberation + the exploration of different kinds of sexual partners and relationships = the perfect conditions for this type of revolutionary process to happen. I agree with Levy that human-like robots can help ""people who find it hard to form relationships, because they are extremely shy, or have psychological problems, or are just plain ugly or have unpleasant personalities"", and may serve as "an outlet for criminal sexual urges", such as pedophiles. In addition, these robots may "reduce human prostitution and the problems that come with it". BUT it should be emphasized that the consequences and actual outcomes of such a strong introduction are still unknown – and as with almost anything, there will be downsides. I, personally, would rather be married to a real person rather than a robot – I think that resorting to the ‘love’ of a robot would greatly lower my self confidence in creating and maintaining a ‘real’ relationship. Furthermore, as we have discussed in class (Turing), I do not think that every emotion, feeling and touch can be programmed. I think that it has to be natural to feel ‘real’. Although feeling ‘real’ may not be important to everyone, and everyone may not have experienced something ‘real’ to compare a robot’s love and touch to – so when, and if this robotic-love-making revolution takes place…I won’t be the one to judge.

"Voters roundly reject MMP" - my opinion?

"Voters roundly reject MMP" – even the title of the article contains foreign information to me. To be honest I really don’t know much about politics and quite frankly I have never found interest in them (although I probably should). So as I was thinking about how I could give an opinion on something that I hardly know anything about, I realized that that in itself is something interesting – that I would say the majority of the youth today do not know much about the political world that surrounds them and influences their lives everyday.
"Larry Gordon, campaign manager for the citizens' group Vote for MMP, said it appeared many voters simply didn't get the information they needed to decide. He said Elections Ontario, which said it sent out millions of leaflets and spent $6.8-million, still could have done more to spread the word." Although I might be taking this quote slightly out of context, it does point out that perhaps there hasn’t been enough done to inform voters and potential voters. I, personally, have (and I’m slightly embarrassed saying so) been legally able to vote for the last 2 years and have not done so once. I think that schools (especially high schools) should inform their students of what is happening in their city’s politics, not just what happened in World War I. I feel that if I was perhaps encouraged by my parents and taught by my teachers earlier on, I would probably be more involved today. Of course, I do have to take some of the blame…

VIDEO GAME GROUPIES - Master Chief from Halo 3 is the new Brad Pitt

You know what they say, "a picture is worth a thousand words" and I guess 16 pictures must be worth, well, A LOT of words. These "Halo Hype" pictures tell quite a story…the entire world has completely lost their minds (or at least the North American part)!!! Since when are computer-generated-animation characters the new movie stars??? And video games the new blockbuster hits??? I’m not going to lie, I did see this new age fast approaching but I was hoping that maybe, just maybe, if I closed my eyes really tight and wished really hard, that it might just go away. Gone are the days when adolescents went outside to play, now the Nintendo Wii is considered the new exercise!?! I just recently heard that parents started buying their kids Nintendo Wiis in order to get them to do some physical activity, and that in some cases the kids actually lost weight. And I guess I shouldn’t just point the finger at the 12 – 17 year olds, this phenomenon has transcended far into the young adults and even the middle-aged groups.

I remember when I was my little cousin’s age (7 years old) and how I would play dress-up and make arts and crafts with my friends. That definitely is not the case when my little cousin’s friends come over – its NHL hockey video games and any type of action-packed-shoot-at-everything-in-site-blood-and-guts video games that are the new playtime activities. My boyfriend and even my 16-year-old sister are perfect examples of how video games are the modern solution to boredom and the freshest way to procrastinate doing your homework, dishes, laundry…pretty much anything. What happened to going to the mall, looking through a magazine, or watching a movie as forms of procrastination???

Brad Pitt (The Old) VS. Master Chief (The New)