NEW TECHNOLOGIES

If we look back to some years ago, we'll see that our dependence on technology has increased a lot. Back then, technology was something useful that could make your life easier, but you could live without it.

Now, this has changed. Nowadays we depend so much on technology that we feel so lost when something happens and we can't access to it. We are at a point in which we tend to use internet for everything, even if it's something we could solve without it. And not only to solve problems, also in our free time is usual to use the internet or any other technology before doing an activity that doesn't require it. For example, let's say you have free time and you can choose between reading a book and sufing on the internet, a lot of people would choose the internet, although they don't actually want to look up for something specific, they'll just spend the time there.

I don't thing using the internet that much is bad: it's a useful tool and it increases a lot the activities you can do. But I think we should try to not to depend so much on it, because if one day we can't access to it, there will be a collapse of everything and a huge breakdown.

An little example of this that I have seen in the last weeks, is that recently, in the high school

there is a new rule: we can't use the mobile phones inside the buildings. When they told us, there was people who complaint and that was disgusted by this new rule. In my case, I rarely bring my mobile phone at school, because I don't feel like I really need it, but I can understand that people who are used to bring their cell phone at school don't agree with this new rule. They don't agree because it bans something they normally do and that is normal and usual for them. But in some people, it allowes you to see the dependence on the phone that they have. When you are inside the high school, between the classes, you practically don't have time to look at your mobile phone, only during the break time, which you spend outside, so you are allowed to use your mobile phone. So I thing this rule is not a big deal, and we should all be capable of being at least three hours without needing to check our phones. 

In conclusion, from my point of view, the internet and technologies are such good and useful tools, and we have to take advantadge now that we have them, but we have to be aware of how much we use them, in order not to create a situation of dependence and to be able to carry on with our normal lives in case one day we can't have access to it anymore.  

USA ELECTIONS

Yesterday, on the November 8^th, 2016, the United States elections for president were held, after seven years of Obama's presidency. The Democratic party was lead by Hillary Clinton, and the Republican one by Donald Trump, who finally won the elections and has now become the 45th US president.

In his victory speech, he adressed to all the people who didn't support him, saying that now it's time to work together to make the country better. He also mentioned his beaten opponent, Hillary Clinton, recognizing her hard work during the electoral campaign period, and he thanked her for all the effort. As they say in the news, this has been a major shock for the majority of the population and for the media, after all the forecasts had pointed out Clinton's victory. They compare this shocking results to the ones in the Brexit vote, in the UK.

Trump is not a conventional president at all. He was a reality TV celebrity, and he was rather new in the political world. But as we can see, this didn't stop him of beating other Republican candidates, who have been into poltics for years, and finally, of becoming the new US president. Another thing that makes him different was his kind of campaign, in which he counted with a small and disorganized group behind him. Also, the way he talked in his speeches and the things he said made him cause a major controversy, specially on the Internet, where most people were against him because of his ideologies. He is seen as a racist, homophobic and a misogynist. But on the other side, there was also people who gave him support, mainly because his determined personality, and for the declarations he made about United States needing a big change, and a government repair.

The news reports that the majority of Trump supporters are non-educated white people and that the fact that he was accused of sexual women assault, caused a decrease of women who voted him. Then, there is a mention to the famous wall between Mexico and US, that Trump said he would built if he became president.

Finally, the news concludes remembering the certainty a lot of people had of him not becoming the president of the country and his response to these thoughs, in which he showed that he was confident with himself and trusted in winning the elections, which he finally did.  

PERSONAL OPINION:

I'm not fully informed of all the election process in the United State, and I don't know a lot about the political programme of each candidate. What from what I know, I'm not very keen on neither of them, but if it's necessry to choose, I definitely choose Hillary Clinton. I think it's a shame that a person like Donald Trump, who is racist, misogynist and homophobic has become the president of the United States, and it actually scares me what can happen next, considering the importance and influence of that country in the whole world.  

VOCABULARY:

· Gleefully: alegrement

· Upend: enderrocar

· Flout: desobeir

· Forsee: preveure

LINK: http://time.com/4563685/donald-trump-wins/

HUMOUR

It is a well-known fact that humour has plenty of benefits, physical and psychological ones, but does it really play an important role in life?

In the first place, I believe that anything that has any kind of benefit is important in our life. As I see it, it is important to let go all those things that have a bad impact in our life, and to hold onto what can improve it, such as humour and laughter.

Secondly, I feel life would be sad without humour. Some people think that humour is a secondary thingm, less important than other “serious elements”, and that it is not important for us to go on with our life. In my opinion, however, life needs to be a combination of serious and “relaxing” moments, in which you can let yourself ho and enjoy. And laughing is one of these relaxing moments. It is sometimes necessary to disconnect and to laugh until your belly hurts, just to be able to get strength and carry on.

It seems to me that, as a result, things will become easier to overcome and life will feel more complete.

All in all, I strongly believe that humour plays, not only an important role, but an essential role in our lives, because it only provides good things and because of its importance in making our lives complete. 

CLIENT-FACING WORK

Client-facing work is complicated, both for the clients and for the way you have to act.

Sometimes there are clients that are just so annoying and disrespectful, as well as there are employees like this. And that's something that I hate.

On the one hand, if you work in a job in which you are facing the public, you should try to be polite and to treat your clients well, so they'll come again. I know that it can sometimes be difficult, because of some kind of clients that just make you lose your nerves. But I think that one of the main things if you work facing the public, is to have patience and to know how to put a smile on your face and still be kind even if you are exhausted or tired of the clients.

In my opinion, it's annoying when you go into a shop and the employee answers you in a rude way or just in a way that doesn't make you feel good. And another thing I find annoying is when the employee follows you to control that you don't steal anything. It's understandable, becaue employees are human and they can have a bad day; and it's also understandable that they want to aviod people stealing. But I think they should try to control that, because, for example, in my case, it makes me feel intimidated and uncomfortable, and it doesn't make me want to go again into that shop. Of course, everyone can have a bad day, but the problem comes when someone uses this excuse to be always rude.

On the other hand, as a client, I think we should all try to be understanding and to bear in mind that we can all make mistakes or have a bad day. If an employee makes a mistake, it's not necessary to go there and shout or complain in a bad way; you can just say, politely, to the employee that he has made a mistake. And also I think that is important to understand that, most of the times, employees are not the boss, and they are just doing what they are told to do. It means that maybe they don't agree in the way they have to do something, but they can't decide to do it in another way, so it has no point complaining about something they can't change.

After all, I think it is, as many other things, a matter of empathy, which I think it's not abundant in the nowadays society. We should all try to walk in other people's shoes, to see their difficulties and to act in a reasonable way. This way, we would be so much understanding with everyone, and we'll all feel better with each other, avoiding fights and arguments.

METEOROLOGISTS TRAPPED BY POLAR BEARS

Five meteorologists have spent about two weeks trapped in their laboratory located in a remote Russian island due to a herd of polar bears that stayed ouside the door. The island is part of the archipielago of the Izvesty TSIK Islands, and it's a place where polar bears are common. Even so, this year the population of these mammels has increased a lot.

The meteorologists have run out of flares they normally use to scare the bears, what makes them be choiceless in the face of the bears. Thses bears have been sleeping outside the windows of the laboratory, as the men have reported to a news agency via satellite phone.

In order to not harm them, the meteorologist's only option is to wait for a boat from the city of Arkhangelsk, which will bring flares to scare the bears and release the weather experts. The boat will take about a week to get there, and meanwhile they have had to stop doing work that requires going outside.

Some environmental experts have declared that polar bears are an endangered specie, affected by the global warming which melts the ice where they normally live, making it difficult for them to hunt. That's probably why they have gone near humans: to get food.

PERSONAL OPINION:

I found this news curious and I hope everything goes fine and anyone gets wounded. I like the fact thay refuse to harm the polar bears, even though they have the weapons to do it. I think it's exacly what they should do, as bears are an endangered specie. Also, apart from finding it curious, it also makes me sad, becaue it is a sign of what polar bears are suffering because of global warming.

VOCABULARY:

· to swarm: moure's en ramat o grup

· flare: llum d'emergència/ balisa

· chief: líder, cap

LINK: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/russian-meteorologists-are-trapped-polar-bears-2-800-miles-moscow-n647366

COULD 3D PRINTED HAIR FOLLICLES HELP WITH HAIR LOSS?

The company L'Oreal has considered the possibity of use 3D printed hair follicles as implants, and that's why it has partnered with the bio-printing company Poietis, which has already created some cell-based objects.

Even though, as they say, it is too early to be getting excited, they believe that maybe in a period of three years the process of printing hair follicles will be possible and adapted.

If everything goes as it is planned, after having printed hair follicles they expect to be able to study them and to answer some questions about hair loss, in order to fight and prevent it.

If they are able to get this, the next step will be to implant those follicles. They will use a specific technique that has been already used by Poietis several times, which allows the printing of organic material. This technique uses a laser and requires a previous digital map, the needed printing tools and a quite complex method, and Poietis says it normally takes about 10 minutes to print a small piece of skin, but in the hair follicles case it will take more because of its complexity.

The charity Alopecia UK stated that this is a good idea and it's fantastic that an enterprise is using money and time to help the people with hair loss problems, but they also think it is too early to get excited about it. And also, they are concerned about the price the treatment will have, in case it becomes a reality, because it will probably be possible only for a few people.

PERSONAL OPINION

I totally agree with Alopecia UK, I think it is very interesting and it is good that a company is studying the hair loss and working on the prevention and solution for it. But in case this is finally a possible, not everyone will be able to afford it, and it will only be available for some people.

But even though that will maybe be a problem in the future, I still believe this is a good initiative and helpful to explore it. Because I think that, once it has been possible and they know how to do it, they can try to find a way to make it cheaper, so more people can afford it and benefit from it.

VOCABULARY

· Tissue: teixit muscular, múscul

· Droplet: goteta

· Nozzle: tovera (boquilla)

LINK: http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-37484835 

JOKE