Saturday 25 February 2012

Maize ball

Why don't you imagine there is a small village in the north of Brazil. You live there. You own the small farm and you plant the maize. It's Thursday morning and your wife is just preparing you some porridge. Suddenly, you hear this unearthly boom. You look out the window and it seems like half of the universe fell down right on your ground. What would you do?
a) Would you lock yourself in your small hacienda and wait for redemption?
b) Would you call the Police, Army, emergency service and: media, along with The Sun on Sunday?
c) Would you go outside and play with extraordinary objects?

What would you do? Jose Valdir Mendes, who owns the farm has done nothing. He asked her wife to stay inside for couple of hours. Eventually, interested in the natural force, went outside and saw an enormous funnel in the ground with a huge ball inside, with turned out to be a part of orbiting satellite.

Wyobraźcie sobie małą wioskę na północy Brazylii. Mieszkacie tam. Jesteście właścicielami małego gospodarstwa. Sadzicie kukurydze. Jest czwartkowy poranek i Wasza żona przygotowuje Wam owsiankę. Nagle słyszycie huk. Wyglądacie za okno i wydaje Wam się, że na polu leży kawałek wszechświata. Co robicie?
a) Zamykacie się w hacjendzie i czekacie na ratunek?
b) Dzwonicie po policję, straż i służbę zdrowia oraz media: w tym The Sun on Sunday?
c) Wychodzicie na zewnątrz i oglądacie kosmiczne obiekty?

Co robicie? Jose Valdir Mendes, który jest właścicielem owej farmy nie zrobił nic. Rozkazał żonie zostać w środku na kilka godzin. Wreszcie, zaciekawiony super nienaturalnym zjawiskiem, wyszedł z domu i zobaczył ogromny lejek, a w nim: kulę, która okazała się kawałkiem sztucznego satelity.

Thursday 23 February 2012

Modern Robin Hood

Do you remember The Robin Hood? It's the one who took away from the rich and gave to the poor. Contemporary philosophers are wondering, whether it was good - natured and ethical, really... but nevertheles: he was a hero. Just like 48 years old Emma Harrison, which gave the job to hundreds of thousands people in the United Kingdom. Is she a hero? Not necessarily. Robin Hood used to live in a forest, she is staying in worth millions pounds residence. Her company earned last year about £180m. She paid herself almost nine millions.
The company A4e, which is being funded by The Government was established in 1991. As the founder admits: 'our main goal is to improve people's lives'. So far, she has easily improved her own, living in the villa with a cinema, night club, couple of pools and 100 acres of land. The company: Action for Employment claims that only providing this £9m Emma is able to pay herself back the stress and risk she incurs at work. Apparently, it is still not enough for to whom it may concern. Emma earns quite a lot on her home, which she has previously hired to the company owned for... £462m. Besides, there work of a4e seems to be dubious. According to the Daily Mail, the agency managed to place people in jobs that lested no more than 24 hours, but a4e took the payment-by-result money from the Deparment of Work and Pensions.
Emma, after her previously faithful firends, seeks publicity. Widely known to British media, has performed in 'Make me a Million', 'Benefit Busters' (Channel 4) and 'Rich and Jobless' (BBC1). The last title strongly relates to Mrs Harrison, which quickly and easily took advantage of her unemployed. Now, they hold it against her. Just like The Scotland Yard, who investigates Emma for fraud.

Pamiętacie Robin Hooda? To ten, który zabierał bogatym i dawał biednym. Współcześni filozofowie zastanawiają się nad robinhoodowską etyką, ale abstrahując od sporu: był bohaterem. Zupełnie jak 48 - letnia Emma Harrison, która dała pracę setkom tysiecy ludzi w Wielkiej Brytanii. Jest bohaterką? Niekoniecznie. Robin Hood mieszkał w lesie, ona mieszka w wartej miliony funtów willi. W zeszłym roku jej firma zajmująca się poszukiwaniem pracy dla 'długoletnich' bezrobotnych, zarobiła 180 milionów. Sama Emma, prawie dziewięć.
Sponsorowana przez brytyjski rząd firma a4e działa od 21 lat. Jak mówi założycielka: chcemy poprawiać ludzkie życia. Jak dotąd, wspaniale poprawia swoje. Mieszka w willi z barem, klubem nocnym, basenami i 100 - akrowym gospodarstwem. Jej organizacja: 'Akcja dla zatrudnienia' (Action for employment) utrzymuje, ze tylko dzieki 9 milionom zarobku, Emma jest w stanie odplacic sobie stres i ryzyko, ktore w pracy ponosi. Okazuje sie jednak, ze samej zainteresowanej te pieniadze nie wystarczaja. Zarabia nawet na domu, ktory wynajela wlasnej firmie jako miejsce kilkudniowego zebrania za... bagatela 462 miliony funtow. Oprocz przekretow pienieznych, dochodza tez te zwiazane z dzialalnoscia a4e. Daily Mail donosi, ze czesc z bedacych pod jej opieka bezrobotnych otrzymala prace trwajaca 24 godziny, a sama firma: zwrot pelnej kwoty od Departamentu Pracy i Emerytur Brytyjskiego Rzadu.
Emma, wedlug oddanych jej wczesniej przyjaciol, zatraca sie i szuka reklamy. Bardzo popularna w swiecie brytyjskich mediow, ma za soba wystepy  miedzy innymi w 'Make me a million', 'Benefit Busters' (Channel 4) i 'Rich and Jobless' (BBC1). Tytul tego ostatniego doskonale zdradza charakter Pani Harrison, ktora szybko i latwo zarobila na swoich bezrobotnych. Oni sami, maja jej to teraz za zle. Tak jak Scotland Yard, ktory prowadzi sledztwo w sprawie oszustwa finansowego.

The advert that can tell who you are

If a few years ago we were able to differentiate between what is reality and what is not, today films have been only a continuity of what we are living in our everyday life.
Well, as I have a particular interest in what is related to media and advertising , I found out about this new advert that is now in London, the advert that can "read" passers-by. It customizes its content to match the people's wishes. I know, this idea seems to be taken from a movie. To be honest, I think that the people who thought about it were visualizing the sci-fi film, Minority Report. Maybe that is the reason why Tom Cruise ( who is playing the main character) is often used as aN example.
Technologists call it The Star Trek effect. Why? Simple: because every time people are presented sci-fi imaginary gadgets on screen ( touch screen, social networking, iris recognition), scientists are making everything humanly possible to transform the film into reality. That is what happened with this ad.
Even though the number of ads that a person is bombarded every day (more 300 in case you were wondering) it's worth making the distinction about what is really important to remember. Children charity "Plan UK" installed this board on Oxford Street that is able to tell the gender of the passers- by. It's using facing recognition, so if the person who is looking at the ad is female, she will see something different from a male. It sounds like future...Maybe it is!
So, if you happen to pass on Oxford Street look after this ad and prepare to be surprised! 

Monday 20 February 2012

School not for boys

Despite all the advantages of being a boy when you're twelve ( playing football, wearing trousers and learn how to swear ) it is apparently terribly hard to be a schoolboy in the UK. You can make every effort, but if your work is going to be marked by female teacher - you lost. The Centre for Economic Performance published the report which accuses mistresses of giving lower marks... to boys only. Now we know why pupils prefer to play outside, rather than listen to furious lady, who, additionally is trying to ruin their grades. According to one of the country's leading academic researchers, the result is 'fascinating'. Boys don't seem to be that happy. However, it is not as bad as it seems, as much as 15% of teachers are man!
It seems like the research revealed the truth that we all know. My former history teacher was that fascinated with boys, that none of them ever appeared on the exam, knowing the promotion will be given anyway. Otherwise, my poor mum could not pass her economy exam, because of the lecturer who loved her that much and never let her go. How is it in your school? Did you ever struggle to outsmart your teacher with girly dress or gallant smile?

Pomimo wszystkich niepodważalnych pozytywów bycia dwunastoletnim chłopcem ( granie w piłkę, chodzenie w spodniach, nauka pierwszych przekleństw ), najwidoczniej niezmiernie trudno jest być uczniem w brytyjskiej szkole. Możesz wylewać ostatnie poty, ale w konfrontacji z nauczycielką (!) nie masz szans. The Centre for Economic Performance opublikowało raport, który oskarża kobiety i zaniżanie ocen... chłopcom. Wiemy już, dlaczego dzieciaki wolą wagarować, niż wysłuchiwać wściekłej nauczycielki, która też z powodzeniem rujnuje ich świadectwa. Według jednego z ekspertów w dziedzinie brytyjskiej edukacji, wynik ten jest fascynujący. Mniej zafascynowani wydają się uczniowie. Nie jest jednak najgorzej, całe 15% grona pedagogicznego stanowią mężczyźni.
Wynik nie jest chyba zaskakujący. Moja była nauczycielka historii tak uwielbiała chłopców, że żaden z nich nie pojawiał się na klasówkach, wiedząc, że i tak do matury przystąpi. Moja mama - na przekór - nie mogła zdać egzaminu z ekonomii, bo zakochał się w niej prowadzący. Jak to jest w Waszej szkole? Mieliście okazję przekupić nauczyciela sukienką albo szarmanckim męskim uśmiechem?

What are we missing?

Have you ever wondered how many moments do you miss because you don't have time? How many moments do you miss because you don't MAKE time for anything except work? These questions can have a simple and easy answer, that can be better understood through an example.


Let's make a short exercise of imagination. Let's pretend that you are at a metro station in Washington,DC. It's a cold day in January.There is a man who plays the violin at rush hour. What would you do?
For the ones who were in the position to make a decision at that time, it was a simple one.In 45 minutes,1100 people passed by, not paying attention to the fact that someone was trying to give their day a bit of colour. They didn't stop. Some of them didn't even notice that there was music around them. The only persons who stopped were some children, who were quickly told by their parents to hurry. The result was sad. Out of 1100 people only 6 of them stopped to listen, but who, soon enough continued their journey.The violonist collected  $32. 
The thing that no one knew, was that the violonist was Joshua Bell, one of the most talented musicians in the world. He had just played one extremely difficult piece, on a violin worth more than  $3.5 million. Just a couple of days before, he sold out at a theater in Boston, where the seats were about $100.


This is a real story. This is a story about how we are missing important aspects that seem meaningless. 
The next time you see someone playing the guitar or the violin somewhere at a tube station in London just ask yourself: is this going to be the next Joshua Bell? 

Friday 17 February 2012

99 reasons why and 99 new endings

Caroline Smailes, Newcastle-born author had an idea. There is no longer end-reaching books, no curiosity, no interest. Nevertheless ''99 reasons why'' fulfils our needs. We! choose the story, we choose the ending. Caroline decided to finish her book in... 11 ways. Therefore, you decide if you want the characters to be killed, or to marry them, give them children. I don't know whether they can win the lottery ( I have not read the book yet) but you are being the one who decide. I am not entirely sure, if she will get The Nobel prize for it, since the two books she wrote so far were not really successful. Nevertheless, she was the first to make you decide. How would you finish your favourite books, as 'Harry Potter' or 'Lord of the Rings'. Make up new stories!

Caroline Smailes otworzyła nowy etap w historii literatury. Urodzona w Newcastle autorka postanowiła nie doprowadzać swojej powieści do końca. ''99 powodów dlaczego'' kończy się więc na 11 sposobów, sam wybierasz, który Ci się podoba. Więc: możesz uśmiercić bohaterów, możesz ich wzbogacić, dać im dziecko, może wystrzelić w kosmos (nie wiem, powieści nie przeczytałam). Jak donosi The Independent, nasza bohaterka chciała zaimponować czytelnikom, którzy zawiedzeni byli zakończeniami jej poprzednich powieści. Trudno powiedzieć, czy Smailes zasłuży na Nagrodę Nobla. Jak dotąd, jej dwie książki nie przyniosły większych zysków. 99 powodów uruchamia jednak wyobraźnię. Można dobrać alternatywne zakończenia do np. ''Harry'ego Pottera'' czy ''Władcy Pierścieni''. I tak, Harry mógłby połączyć się z Voldemortem i stworzyć imponujące imperium zła. Albo mała 'Lolita' padająca w objęciach swojego 40-letniego adoratora. Wymyślajcie nowe zakończenia!

Thursday 16 February 2012

Living in virtual-social media week




There is no possible way that you live in the UK and you are not familiar to what social media is and what influence it has over people. It affects everything: the way people think, how they do business and how they communicate with each other every day. For some, there is enough to read someone's Facebook status to know what they are doing, where they are at a particular moment and with whom. For others, the term of social media has a total different understanding, one that is directly linked to their jobs and careers, making the professional collaboration easier and the relationships between them more open and at the same time more accessible. 
For those of you who are living in London at the moment, or who  are just visiting London between 13 and 17 of February and are curious enough to find out more about this subject this is your moment: social media week. It is happening in all the world's biggest cities: Hamburg, Hong Kong, Miami, New York, Paris, San Francisco, Sao Paolo, Singapore, Tokyo, Toronto and Washington, DC. If you are currently living elsewhere, don't worry. You can watch most of the events live here: http://new.livestream.com/pages/smw, as this media world is more and more present not only in the real environment, but in the virtual one as well.

One of the aspects that is really important to state about social media is that it works best when it brings people together not in online communities and places, but in real life, the life in which every one of us is living right now.

Adina Petrescu

Tuesday 14 February 2012

14th

It's a bit of a shame that I'm starting now. My first post should be rather objective and reserved. To do so, I should have started yesterday. Not on the 14th of February. This is not the best time for political, cultural or social issues. Actually, social fits the best. It is indeed a social feast. On my way home I passed hundreds of people with roses and chocolates. The ones without were surely reaching to top London's restaurants, having the vision of spending 70 pounds for a set menu, drinking Laurent - Perrier rose and looking deeply into the eyes of the one they love. In the end, it all comes to economy and politics. One of the top Valentines gifts are pants with David Cameron ( http://www.notonthehighstreet.com/twistedtwee/product/man-pants-boris ). I, on my way again, haven't seen anyone wearing them. Maybe the fortune pants have been taken only by the ones that sent their own card to the Prime Minister. It's been 27 milions of them: soldiers, prostitutes and homeless people, in order to oppose to human trafficking. The Valentine card has been also given to the only polar bear in the UK. Three-year-old Walker is  expected to be paired-up by the end of the year. Kate Middleton gave her love to Liverpool's charities. She got back thousands of flowers. All the pairs in love had the free entry to the volleyball game in Wroclaw.  Justin Bieber visited sick six-yeard-old girl. Hugh Hefner, the 85-year-old Playboys father took his two 20-year-old girlfriend to italian cafe. Panda bear in Edinburgh has eaten her Valentine cake. Habitants of Uzbekistan could not celebrate, as the 14th is now the day for memory of their famous poet: Bobur. I, similarily to Uzbeks, got no card. This is why, I dedided set up the blog.

Despite the announcement, it has been about the politics, economy and society. It was not, oddly enough, about love. So here we go: I love you mum and dad. Thanks.
I start the blog that won't be objective and chilled. Young Londoners are here to help me. You - potential readers will help me as well.
So I started. On the 14th of February 2012. Happy Valentines.
Anna Kowalska

Troche szkoda, ze zaczynam dzisiaj. Pierwszy post powinien byc raczej obiektywny i chlodny. Zeby tak bylo, musialabym zaczac wczoraj. Nie czternastego lutego. To nie najlepszy czas na polityczne, kulturalne i spoleczne wymysly. Wlasciwie, spoleczne owszem. To na pewno swieto spoleczne. W drodze do domu mijalam setki ludzi niosacych roze i czekoladki. Ci, ktorzy ich nie niesli, biegli pewnie do najlepszych londynskich restauracji, zeby wydac 70 funtow za obiad, ktory popija rozowym Laurent-Perrier, patrzac przy tym wszystkim w oczy swojej wystrojonej ukochanej. Ekonomia i polityka. Jednym z najlepiej sprzedajacych sie walentynkowych prezentow byly majtki z podobizna angielskiego premiera ( http://www.notonthehighstreet.com/twistedtwee/product/man-pants-boris ). Ja w metrze nie widzialam nikogo, ktory mial je na sobie. Moze zrobili to tylko Ci, ktorzy Davidowi wyslali wlasna Walentynke. Takich bylo 27 milionow: zolnierze, prostytutki i bezdomni w ramach sprzeciwu wobec handlu ludzmi. Kartke na Walentynki dostal tez jedyny polarny niedzwiedz na wyspach. Slub trzyletniego Walkera zaplanowano na koniec roku. Kate Middleton odwiedzila dzisiaj liwerpulskie domy dziecka. Nie rozdala ani jednej kartki, ale wyszla obdarowana kwiatami. We Wroclawiu kazda zakochana para mogla obejrzec mecz Gwardii za darmo. Justin Bieber odwiedzil chora szesciolatke. Hugh Hefner, 85-letni ojciec Playboya zabral swoje dwie dwudziestoletnie dziewczyny do wloskiej knajpki. Panda z Edynburga zjadla walentynkowe ciasto. Troche odwrotnie bylo w Uzbekistanie, w ktorym wladze zabronily obchodzic Walentynki, 14 lutego uznajac swietem ich swietnego poety - Bobuna. Ja - podobnie do Uzbekow nie dostalam kartek i nie pilam Perrier Rose. Dlatego, wlasnie dzisiaj, zaczelam pisac bloga.

Wbrew zapowiedzi, bylo o polityce, ekonomii i spoleczenstwie. Nie bylo - o zgrozo - o milosci. W ramach rekompensaty: Kocham Was Mamo i Tato. Dziekuje.

Zaczynam bloga, ktory nie bedzie chlodny i obiektywny. Pomoga mi w tym mlodzi londynczycy. Pomozecie Wy, ktorzy zechcecie go czytac.

Wiec zaczelam, 14 lutego 2012. Dobrych Walentynek.
Anna Kowalska