Textbooks replaced by smartphones and e-readers

Summary:

Old textbooks are dying out in British schools. Since children start to learn how to handle and work with smartphones and e-readers at such an early age these days, most schools see no further use in textbooks. Handheld technology does change the way that information is delivered to students and children. It allows them to access their information anywhere, anytime and at any place, which is a huge possibility. They also get the chance to search for more information about a certain subject in class then when they only have access to textbooks.

My opinion:

I think it is a good idea to let children and students ''upgrade'' from textbooks to smartphones and e-readers in class. Nowadays many people have smartphones and e-readers, since they can be used to search alot of information on, more then anything else because you have access to the Internet. Some schools already let students use laptops in class. The 21th century is a century marked by technology. It will be much more efficient to use smartphones and e-readers in class then using textbooks. You do not have to buy new textbooks because you can just use your e-reader or smartphone to use the information required for class lessons.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/8979087/Textbooks-being-replaced-by-smartphones-and-e-readers.html

IPhone's Siri accent troubles

Summary:
The new IPhone 4s is causing some troubles with it's voice-recognition program. Some British users are less than happy. The reason is that  Scottish and Welsh accents cannot be recognized by the Siri system. Many Scottish and Welsh people bought the IPhone 4s especially for it's Siri application. The app was designed to work in the UK, US and Australian accents, but right now it does not work properly. A bizzare question about the new Siri System: The question "Can you dance with me?" is interpreted as "Can you Dutch women" and so on. Apple said it's recognition of accents will continue to improve. 



My opinion:
I think this is a bad problem made by Apple. They should have been sure that it works for most British speakers with an accent or dialect, but instead it only works for fluent English  and American speakers. I hope  Apple comes with a solution quickly, because right now many Scottish and Welsh people spend alot of money on the new IPhone 4s but they do not get to use it's full futures so far, which is really annoying if you ask me and all the people that bought a new IPhone 4s.


http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4013260/iPhones-Siri-ous-accent-troubles.html

Prince Harry: Fighting Taliban

Summary:
Prince Harry has confirmed that he will take on the Taliban for the second time. His first reaction was: I cannot wait! Harry let slip his excitement at the Sun's Military Awards gala. He joined his brother Wills and sister Kate to honour our Forces heroes next year in Afghanistan. Last summer The Sun revealed that the Price is about to return to Afghanistan in 2012, which, as we can see now, is actually true. He told everyone at the ceremony in London that He cannot wait to get out there! Harry has finished his Apache helicopter pilot training in America. It was a tough job that he is really looking forward to put his skills to the limit at the battlefield.



My opinion:
I think it is not a very wise decision made by Prince Harry to go to the battlefield at Afghanistan, but it is very heroic to do so. I hope he will survive his time over there and complete being a succesfull Apache helicopter pilot in his fight against the Taliban. Since Prince Harry is a soldier I can understand why he wants to do this. It is indeed very brave and I wish him the best luck, althought it might not even be the best decision he made in his life.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/campaigns/our_boys/4012272/Harry-Im-ready-for-Taliban-again.html

Cheap car hire deals

Summary:

Car hire customers should take extra care this Christmas before they decide to hire a car. What looks like a cheap deal could end up costing you hundreds of pounds. Last year many people got scammed by certain car hire companies who advertise in many UK Newspapers saying they have special and cheap car hire offers, when people transferred hundreds of pounds they never received their cars. The British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (BVRLA) says that similar scams are being planned this year. Should you think you got scammed, call the police immediately because they know what to do.

My reaction:

Car hiring is always risky if you ask me, like when you go on vacation you face the chance that you pay a lot of money but never receive your car for a couple of weeks. I think it is a usual scam that happens a lot worldwide and particular at Christmas times in the UK. If you see an advertisement saying ‘’free car delivery and collection with affordable rates guaranteed’’ You just call the company and want that deal immediately. After a while you found out you got scammed which is a really bad thing when it comes to Christmas times, where everyone should feel happy.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2011/dec/16/beware-bogus-car-hire-offers

Farmers face an unusual year

Summary:
Farmers in the UK, especially in the south-east are of England have faced a very strange and uncommon year. It is not really bad, but just strange. There is hardly any frost, temperature have not been below zero degrees yet and the fruit that is growing has not vanished yet because of the warm temperatures. That they got fruit at the end of November is very strange. Last December the temperature was very cold, now it still is very warm. Overall it has been a dry year. 17 inches of rain so far. Normally they get around 30 inches. Major concern at the moment is that the reservoir to store our water is very low. They haven’t been able to fill it yet. They need more rain because the ground is so dry. Farmers see this as a difficult challenge.


My opinion:
I can imagine how hard it must be for farmers to face with a very strange and unusual year. Each year a farmer does the same routine. He starts planting fruits and vegetables and after a while he harvests them, but this year it has been different because of the warm weather England has dealth with the last couple of months. It must be very hard to be a farmer in the UK right now. Dealing with situations you have never dealth with before. I hope all the farmers can come up with a solutions to this unusual situation.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-15869905

Rioters poor & young

Summary:
After a research on the people who took place in the August riots in England it is revealed that they were young, poor and less educated then average. Figures from the government shows that 13% of those people that got arreseted were gang members. In terms of ethnicity: 46% was black, 42% was white, 7% was Asian and 5% were knowns as ''others''. The police of England admitted that they did not have enough officers avalaible on the first nights of the riots. For the future it is important the government has enough police officers, because riots like these can happen anytime anywhere.


Riots spread to several areas of England over a number of days in August

My opinion:
The August riots came out of nowhere if you ask me, it started off with a peacful march because a person was shot down by a police officer. Out of nowhere many gangmembers started to riot for the sake of violence and to gain wealth. It is very characteristic to see that many of these people where gang members and most of them were poor, and less educated trying to find a better life by robbing banks, cloth stores, computer stores etc. Many people have been arrested which is a good thing I think since riots like these need to be prevented at all costs.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-15426720

Poorest in England live 7 years less

Summary:
People who live in England's poorest areas live an average of seven years less then people who live in the richest areas of England. This was researched by a major report on health inequalities. Researchers and doctors say that the government must spend much more money on preventing illness. They also call for an increase in the minimum wage, which allows everyone to have a healthy lifestyle. Even the people in the poor areas of England. The facts has been shown by the researchers it is now time the government takes the next step.



My opinion:
It is very sad to see that people who have a better lifestyle and feel more comfortable live seven years longer then people who are not able to live this kind of lifestyle. Therefore I agree with the researchers that it is time the government makes clear what they can do in these areas to prevent people from dying at such an early age compared to people who live in richer areas. From an early age people in poor areas should be protected in someway to avoid them dying at a young age.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8508204.stm

Smartphone users in the UK

Summary:

Nearly one in three adults uses a smartphone nowadays in the United Kingdom, according to a report by the telecoms regulator Ofcom. Apple is in the lead with their IPhone to be the most popular smartphone. However, teenagers seem to like Blackberry even more. The increase of smartphone usage causes a dramatic rise in mobile internet use. Facebook was the most visited website on smartphones, with around 43 million hours spent on it in December 2010! Most teenagers spend their time on Social networking, whilst adults do more emailing and internet surfing on the internet.

More smartphone time is spent on Facebook than any
other service according to Ofcom.

My opinion:

I think smartphones are about to take over the world. Ten years ago no-one had a smartphone. Nowadays everyone has a smartphone except a few people. In each class like 80% has a smartphone which isn’t less than 3 years old. I do not have a smartphone because I didn’t really feel the need to have one, but now the time has come that I do really need to get one, to survive in the 21th century with all its technologies and improvements worldwide. Therefore I am going to buy a smartphone very soon, to stay connected with the rest of the world.

http://www.digitalhen.co.uk/news/technology-14397101