GP blog: April 2006

Sunday, April 23, 2006

Getting on Board

Pg 34\ Global Business (Billboards) \ TIME \ 24 April 2006
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-what does this button do?-

Interactive billboards are becoming increasingly involved in our everyday lives; and whether we like them or not, they are here to stay. Billboards have evolved from just one advertisment per board to as many advertisments as you want. Some billboards are programmed to display one advertisment every 8 seconds, which i find is definitely more effective than having just one advertisment per board. Also, now that these billboards can interact with consumers, marketers can actually see how effective their advertisments are.

By pressing a button, you might be able to hear a sample of music from the latest album of a rock band, by turning on the Bluetooth function in your mobile phone, you might be able to download coupons to redeem samples of the new perfume that just came out on the market.

I think that with this kind of technology, advertising will get increasingly competitive; with companies outdoing each other in the interaction of the advertisment with the consumer. This will make people sit up and notice making the advertisment even more competitive.

In London digital displays mounted on buses can even be constantly updated with new advertisments to suit the people in that area, which I think is great because then people can see advertisments about what they are interested in and the companies would not have wasted their money putting advertisments up just because people did not notice them.

Next time you see an interactive billboard, push the button or dial the number. After all, it's free and you never know what will happen next. -- DE

Stem Cells That Kill

Pg 38 \ TIME \ 24 April 2006
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- Oh My Gosh-

It is interesting to see how science has advanced over the past years, and with the War on cancer going on since more than 30 years ago, it's about time somebody has found something which leads to a potential cure.

This new discovery of how malignant tumours are mainly cellular noise with only about 3 to 5 % of the entire cell mass being cancerous cells. It explains why when some tumours have been removed, they can grow back again, simply because the cancerous cells were removed. However it is presumptious to assume that locating these cells is easy; some of these cancer stem cells are extremely dangerous, and others are not. Also, not all the cancer stem cells have been isolated for each different type of cancer.

The new discovery brings hope for those who have loved ones suffering from cancer, for those whose loved ones have perished by it, for those who suffer from it, and for those who have cancer in their family's medical history. By understanding these stem cells, a potential cure can be derived.

Irv Weissman, the scientist who first isolated these stem cells said that it would take years before any research yields a cure, and also said "Don't expect anything before 5 years, but be angry if you don't see anything in 15 years." To finally see the War on cancer won would bring trememdous joy to the world's population, and I for one am marking my calendar. -- DE

Friday, April 21, 2006

Our Cousin the Fishapod

Pg 42 \ Paleontology \ TIME \ 17 April 2006
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-Crash goes Darwin and his theory of evolution?-

Amazing! First it was humans from apes, now its mammals from fish! I find this rather difficult to believe as they are two completely different species; they are warm and cold blooded respectively.. how can they possibly be from the same family?

Admittedly all evidence proves Darwin's theory of evolution, yet how true can it be when people say that our ancestors were fish and apes? Every christian believes and knows that God created the world, thus we would not believe that Darwin's theory of evolution (humans from apes) truely exists. Of course there is mutation and change in animals but I am not inclined to think that there would be such extreme genetic change that apes became humans in the end? Sometimes I think that maybe God put these "transition" animals on this earth to confuse us.. -- DE

Thursday, April 13, 2006

Man Raped 5 Daughters -- With Help From His Wives

Pg1 \ The Straits Times \ Friday \ April 14 2006
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-that is just despicable. 'nuff said-

I just cannot understand the lengths some people will go to just to fulfil their lusts and sexual desires. Incest is a disgusting act that I'm sure all religions condemn. This man was too much; he even got backing from the Quran, a holy book no less, saying that a man has ownership over his children and can have sex with them. I find that outrageous as it is a prime example of reading too deeply into the text and interpreting word into something that it does not mean at all. This is the sort of misinterpretation that might potentially lead to extreme activites.

What I find even more despicable was that his wives helped him rape his daughters. When they should be protecting their daughters, they helped their husband to rape his daughters instead. One was even so enamoured that she monitered her daughters' menstrual cycles so that they would not get pregnant after the sex sessions. Despite this, two of his daughters did get pregnant and had to go for abortions. It is sad that this should happen because these girls had to go through abortion at 14 years of age. They are too young to face such physical and mental trauma, which will leave them scarred for life. -- DE

Thursday, April 06, 2006

The Perfect Score

Pg 48 \ Society \ Newsweek \ March 27 2006
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-excel under pressure they say. I say it breeds cheaters!-

Students these days are just too pressured to succeed thus the human phenomenon of cheating. Academic cheating has skyrocketed over the past decade, making schools rethink the "security" during tests. Metal detectors, identity scanners and having tests in secure rooms just to name a few measures.

I think that these are rather extreme measures and it all boils down to the fact that many parents have not clamped down on moral values. I think kids nowadays are too spoilt and have not learnt the goodness of moral values. Cheating is bad. Even cheating in order to succeed is bad. It has a negative impact on the mind and adversely effects those with even the slightest conscience.

Perhaps if kids these days fully understood the implications of cheating and the negativity it has on people, they might not cheat so often and think twice before doing so. Education is of vast importance in such cases.

Pressure on kids to succeed is too great and it weighs down on them. I suggest that such pressure be reduced by eisure activities and cutting back on unecessary homework. :) -- DE

A First: Bladder Rebuilt from Patients' Cells

Pg 4 \ Prime \ The Straits Times \ Wednesday \ April 5 2006
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-the impossible becomes the possible-

Medicine and technology has advanced at a blistering rate; what was impossible before is just there on the horizon. More can be achieved, spare parts can be grown, leading us closer and closer to perhaps finally cloning a human being.

This new operation has brought hope for those with spina bifida (a spinal cord disease that harms the bladder). This is a step towards actually constructing the whole bladder itself, and towards constructing even more complicated organs such as the heart, kidneys and liver. This is much like constructing spare parts in the event that an organ is faulty. What's so good about this (and better than organ transplants) is that there will be no rejection of the organ which is inserted into the patient's body. It means the patient will not need to take drugs to prevent their bodies from rejecting the donated organs and risking the side effect of becoming addicted to the drugs in the process.

This makes me think: if "spare parts" are available to us, many will take it for granted; people will not care for themselves as they used to before because they know that even if they spoil their heart or kidneys with the wrong diet or lack of exercise, they can get replacements. Irresponsibility and complacency on our part will lead to our own unfortunate ends. So even if we can get our internal organs fixed and replaced in the near future, we should definitely remain responsible for ourselves and take good care of ourselves. Science can only get us so far, we must not become complacent and lazy just because advances in technology has made life more convenient for us all. -- DE

Wednesday, April 05, 2006

Toss the Wallet and Grab the Mobile

Pg 14 \ The Technologist \ Newsweek \ April 10 2006 (as stated on magazine)
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-payment by phones? what next?-

I think that it would be really cool and convenient if we were able to make payments merely by tapping our mobile phones on pay points. It would make transactions much faster, easier and less messy (as compared to using cold hard and perhaps dirty? money)

Yet this new option of payment leads me to think about how it may not be as good as it seems. For those who tend to leave their mobiles around, or for those who lend their phones to others to use, money is easily stolen and misused by others. Also, so much of each individual's personal information is stored inside each mobile phone; how safe is our information going to be with each transaction?

Mobile phones are not the most strong gadgets either; they are rather fragile. There is no guarantee that people will not drop their mobile phones by accident, or some sort of mishap occuring that would result in the mobile phone getting damaged or spoilt. If payment by mobile phone will be considered by many as the only way for them to pay for transport such as subway turnstiles, or just to pay for daily neccessities, a damaged mobile phone would cause the owner to be stranded.

Thus having mobile phones as our wallets may not neccesarily be such a good thing after all. -- DE

Saturday, April 01, 2006

Healing Powers

Pg 28 \ Africa \ Newsweek \ April 3 2006 (date given in issue don't ask me why)
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- women are the FUTURE! -

This article has greatly impressed me, it shows just how great women can be, and that men are not necessarily better than women. In fact, it shows just the opposite. In patriarch-dominated Africa, Rwanda, Nigeria and Liberia are examples of women who stand at the helm and take control. The reason why women dominate Parliament in these areas (50% to be exact) is because of genocidal killings, and women outnumber men by seven to three.

I highly respect these African women who step up and confront the many problems that Africa has, especially those that concern the welfare of women in Africa; since their male couterparts have been so unwilling to touch them. They stand by what they believe for in the face of danger, even though by doing this they put their lives in danger. Women like Dora Akunyili (pictured above) is a prime example of this. These heroic acts make their male counterparts seem cowardly and selfish; since they allowed corrupt ways to eat into Africa and allow the wicked to get rich by selling drugs and going into illegal trades, while the honest remain poor and suffer.

Women at the helm are a promising prospect of better times, but they have a long way to go before Africa can be truly corrupt-free. Thus to help them, I believe that if we can support them in any way, we should. After all, women should support each other, especially when male chauvinists make life so difficult for us all. -- DE

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