MADRID LIVE.FM

 

I don't know if you have already seen that there is a new 'element' in the tag 'Webpages recommended by students'.

 

You have an access from it to a radio station in English about life in Madrid. They inform you about cultural life in Madrid in general and also about activities in English. Everything is in English as its public, among others, is foreign people living in Madrid.

 

I hope you enjoy it!

 

Leave your comments, please if you think there are interesting programmes for your classmates.

 

In UK, street objects will talk back to passersby through phones

The Hello Lamp Post! project in the UK is using existing codes on street furniture as a way for residents to start up a text message conversation with the object.

21st February 2013 in Tourism & Travel.

With the rise of the Internet of Things, we’ve already seen the EVRYTHNG platform provide a way to link stuff with digital information through unique identification codes. Now the Hello Lamp Post! project in Bristol, UK is using existing codes on public objects to make them more interactive and drive tourism.

The brainchild of creative agency PAN, the scheme has been picked as the winner of Watershed’s Bristol City Council-funded Playable City competition, which aims to showcase creative use of technology in the region. The project utilizes the fact that objects such as lamp posts, bollards, post boxes and bus stops are already marked with unique codes. Players will be able to text the code to a special phone number in order to start a conversation with it. Messages use artificial intelligence technology to simulate human speech, while also revealing stories about the city.

The project is a fun way to make public space more interactive and friendly, while also attracting visitors by helping them learn about its history. Could this scheme work in your part of the world?

Website: www.watershed.co.uk/playablecity

QUESTIONS FOR 'PLAYING THE ENEMY' (Introduction & chapters 1 & 2)

Answers the following questions as you read the book. We'll make corrections in class on March 13th & 14th.

Introduction 

1. Where and when did John Carlin speak to Mandela about writing the book?
2. What other sportsmen does Carlin mention as having been a shaper on political perceptions?
3. Who did Carlin have a very emotional interview with and why did this surprise him?
4. What does Carlin say are the basic conditions for a fairy story?  Do you agree?
5. In what way does Carlin say Mandela had the edge over other charismatic politicians?

Chapter 1  Breakfast in Houghton

1. What ritual could Mandela never fail to do no matter where he was?
2. What ritual annoyed his cell mates on Robben Island?
3. How did the Springboks feel that they could play a part in politics by winning the final?
4. What figure did Mandela’s bodyguard, Moonsamy, compare Mandela to on entering the stadium?
5. Name two things they were afraid could happen in the stadium to upset the atmosphere.

Chapter 2    The Minister of Justice

1. What made white people in South Africa leave and go to Britain, Australia and the USA in 1985?
2. Why did Botha decide to set up a meeting between Mandela and Coetsee?
3. Describe what happened when Mandela’s lawyer, Bizos, visited him in prison.
4. Describe Badenhorst and his management of the prison.  Describe how things improved when he left.
5. What changed when Mandela returned to prison after being discharged?
6. Describe Mandela’s relationship with Christo Brand.
7. How did Mandela win over Van Sittert?

BELGISTAN

And today something completely different and scary from my point of view.
Will it never be possible to have a world in peace, free of totalitarian ideologies, a world where we all respect the others?

Belgistan  

Listen and judge by yourself.


 

In the Netherlands, bike paths heated during winter months

I suppose a lot of cyclist in Spain would love to have something like this on our roads. Don't worry, spring is closer!

A test project in the Netherlands seeks to use the energy generated by the sun to heat bicycle paths during the winter.

12th November 2012 in Eco & Sustainability.

If commuters’ surplus body heat can be used to keep an office building warm, then why not store the heat that beats down on bike paths during the summer and use it to keep them ice-free in the winter months? That, indeed, is precisely the premise behind a test project currently being conducted in the Netherlands with help from Dutch engineering firm Tauw.

Currently under consideration in the Dutch province of Utrecht as well as the city of Zutphen, the proposed plan would call for underground pipes to be placed some 50 meters below the bike paths in question, according to a TreeHugger report. There they would collect the heat generated during summer months and store it for use later to de-ice and warm the paths in the winter, thus making travel by bicycle both safer and more appealing.

The cost of the heating system would reportedly be between EUR 30,000 and EUR 40,000 per kilometer, but that may well be made up for in the savings reaped via the salt and straw that would otherwise be used in winter as well as through reduced accident costs. Transportation entrepreneurs in other wintry parts of the world: one for inspiration?

 

Website: www.tauw.nl

 

BRITISH ENGLISH AND AMERICAN ENGLISH

It's always useful to know some of the differences between British and American English. In this poster you can see some examples.

Published by one-europe.info