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Showing posts with the label technology
What is Moore's law?
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In 1965 Gordon Moore, co-founder of Intel , observed that the number of transistors per square inch on integrated circuits had doubled every year since the integrated circuit was invented. Moore predicted that this trend would continue for the foreseeable future source Computers are getting faster and (relatively) cheaper with each passing year. The phones we carry in our pockets are far more powerful than the ones that sent the Apollo astronauts to the Moon. Moore has suggested that his law will not continue indefinitely - suggesting 2025 as a possible end date. Others have speculated about what might replace it . This BBC radio documentary is a useful introduction to the theme. Download The English Language Teaching Pack for only £1.99
What is a troll?
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Twitter CEO: 'We suck at dealing with abuse ' An internet troll is someone who posts malign comments online. The intention is to insult or ridicule a group or individual. Where does the word come from? The etymology is complex - there are trails to an old French hunting term troller and a norse one describing a mythological monster. Why did troll catch-on online? The Internet use of troll probably derives from a slang term used by US naval pilots in the 1970s - see here . So trolls just insult people for fun? Trolling can simply consist of crude abuse but some self-confessed trolls pride themselves on their cunning attacks on their victims. One strategy is to join a group under false pretences and then goad genuine members of the group with ridiculous, provocative or abusive comments. Are they just an unpleasant nuisance? Sometimes trolling can have a sinister impact Jojo Moyes revealed in an article in the Daily Telegraph Trolling - posting inf
Where does the word robot come from?
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A rare example of a Czech word ('robota') entering English: robot was introduced to the public by the Czech interwar writer Karel ÄŒapek in his play R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots), published in 1920. The play begins in a factory that makes artificial people called robots, though they are closer to the modern ideas of androids, creatures who can be mistaken for humans. They can plainly think for themselves, though they seem happy to serve. At issue is whether the robots are being exploited and the consequences of their treatment. source Kathleen Richardson points out in this BBC broadcast that our notions about robots are fanciful - they are generally clumsy, ineffective machines. Audio: Where does the word robot come from?’ So robots are not going to rule the world any time soon. But are they going to challenging for the Marathon Gold Medal at the next Olympics? On this evidence, perhaps not: A version of this post is included in the English FAQ Te
What is a MOOC?
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A MOOC is an online course with open enrolment and no fees. MOOCs are now offered by a variety of educational providers including some of the best universities in the world, including Stanford & MIT. MOOC advocates see the movement as offering the chance to give poorer/more remotely located students access to the best available education - see here . For a view on how this might impact on the future of university education - see here & here
What is 4G? How is it different to 3G?
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Standard answer: 4G is the fourth generation of broadband mobile phone licences. Download/upload speeds are much faster. Alternative answer: The Parable of the Mobile Phone Bandwidth In the beginning there was a thing called the telephone. You used it to call someone from somewhere - your house, if you were rich enough. Then Mr Cooper invented a portable phone. Martin Cooper inventor of first mobile phone People thought ‘what if I could carry a phone with me? Then I could talk to my friends inside my house and outside, too. Cool! How to do this? First of all you needed a new telephone network with new numbers. And so was born the first generation of mobile telephony. The first mobiles were gigantic but they soon got smaller and smaller (see Moore's Law ). You could write messages on them, too! Even cooler! 2G Then the pointy heads (step forward Mr Jobs) had another idea. Why not use your phone to look up maps or that funny cat on YouTube? Well at first that it
What is graphene?
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The new silicon? Graphene has been called a "miracle material" and it is thought that it could become as common as plastic in a few years. It is a single layer of carbon atoms arranged like honeycomb, but it is stronger than diamond, more conductive than copper and more flexible than rubber. Some scientists believe that graphene will be the key element in driving product innovation in the near future. Posted with Blogsy
What are tweet seats?
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Anyone attending an afternoon showing of a family film will observe that the big screen is not the only one glowing in the cinema. Now it appears that an increasing number of US theatres are running up the white flag to those desperate for their phone fix: An American theatre is the latest to offer so-called 'Tweet seats' where audience members are encouraged to post comments about the performance on the social messaging site. The Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis, Minnesota, has formalised a growing trend in theatre audiences to use their phones from within auditoria by giving obsessive tweeters a section of their own. Its management have roped off a special balcony-level section of the theatre 'that will not be disruptive to other patrons.... Read more :
What is a Google fight?
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When you search to compare the number of results for two competing keywords. For example I wanted to know whether EFL or ESL was the most used term to describe teaching English as a second (or foreign or other) language. For those of you who won't sleep without knowing who won this epic Google-fight, ESL was the clear winner. Many thanks to Chiew @ClilToClimb for bringing this to my attention .