The best team in the world?

Barcelona was deserted. The streets empty. The shops silent. While a few sad souls strayed across the square, kept company by damp pigeons, the majority of Barcelona's citizens were laughing in disbelief, crying or cheering. And Barça won 5-0. A fair fight won by the better team... indeed, by the best team in the world? Or a disaster, a combination of bad luck and poor refereeing? What do you think?

Worth the effort?

I once saw a video of an experiment in which experimenters trained a monkey to play a joystick video game. They then linked the monkey's brain to a computer and started recording the signals created while the monkey moved its arm and hands as it played. Then they matched the signals with the movements within the game. Once the matching was flawless, they sent the 'translated' brain signals direct, in real-time, from the monkey's brain to the game console.


What do you think the monkey did?

a. freaked out
b. got confused
c. stopped
d. played on with arm movements
e. played on using 'thought' alone.

Well, it immediately and without any apparent concern or confusion, continued playing the game using 'mind-control' alone.

You see, once we can do things by thought alone, why would we bother making an 'effort'? All this makes me think of Wall-E and the human 'master-race' (hence the picture). Oh, and in case you thought that this is all 'pie-in-the-sky', watch this:

Who will dominate - human or robot?

This video features a number of scientists talking about how artificial intelligence will change or 'improve' or lives in the near future. It follows on from the one we watched in class which featured augmented reality (eg. contact lenses with internet access) and naturally-evolving artificial intelligence (called 'Polyworld') - if you want to watch again go to youtube.com/watch?v=iTE2u2aloDc&feature=related (or for the video about cities and smart dust, see youtube.com/watch?v=rKXjJZGMpVo&feature=related).



For me, the most interesting and worrying moment is when Kevin Warwick starts to explain his work. Kevin's goal is nothing less than to be the one who ushers in a new age of cyborg humans. He states:

"The future I see [as] very rosy if you are a cyborg, or if you are an artificial intelligence machine. If you are a human, well, your time's up."

If he's right, you might want to get on the winning side as soon as possible - why not apply to be his research assistant? You can find out more about him at www.kevinwarwick.com

What makes Kevin special is his degree of personal commitment. In 1998 he started experimenting with a transponder chip (inserted in his forearm) connected to his nervous system. This chip provided a link between his nervous system and other electronic devices.  It allowed him to operate doors, lights, heaters and other computers without lifting a finger. He was able to use his hand movements to operate a cyborg hand or (as if he were disabled) a motorised wheelchair.

Obviously this 'connectivity' is limited as it is only one-way. So can you guess what his stage two was? To study the transmission of signals between people. He upgraded his chip and then went ahead and implanted another in his wife - so that they could 'communicate' movement to each other at a distance. And the next step? Obvious, logical and potentially frightening:  to progress from movement to the transmissions of thoughts and emotions.

What do you think? Is this research exciting? interesting? irrelevant? scary? worrying? necessary? dangerous?

Last minutes with his best friend

Last minutes with his best friend

Have you ever judged someone when he sacrifices his dog? Or even considered what he must have felt at the time before doing it?


Jason Wood tells us all about his experience. The video shows the last minutes he spends with his dog, Oden, who's struggle with cancer finally comes to an end. He talks all through the video describing his thoughts and what he feels.

One of the most powerful ways in which he describes Oden is saying how he stayed by his side all through his suffering, how he did everything for him, he says that what was sick about him was that he was about helping everyone . One of the most impressing things he says is that 'I don't think I showed him how to love, I think he showed me how to love'.

This man has some kind of religious belief and he mentions God saying that he is love, and that to him, that dog was God. He describes how the feelings he had were like childish fears because he really doesn't want him to go, he realises he's a 'soft dude' though he wants to be the tough guy that can put his dog dow. He says that Oden had done his job in life and that it was time to go for him because he didn't want to stay there.

Jason is talking all throughout the video as a documentary in an informal way because he wants to open to people and let them know what it feels like. We can see scenes of him riding a bike before and after Oden's death, and we can see he is meditating (I say he is because he's like out of this world) about all the process, about what his dog means to him. Also, all scence where the dog is seen and when his death is shown, how Jason reacts to it, makes it much more realistic.

In my opinion I don't think no one really knows what he feels like, specially and understandably those who haven't had a dog in their life, unless you have lived the experience. We don't realise the importance they can have for certain people and because of that sometimes really though decisions have to be made, like sacrifice.

This is an amazingly moving and beautiful video, which I think can open everyone's mind and heart. Seriously, it is worth watching.


Here are some quotes that may invite you to watch it:

''He was there the whole way through with me, from the beggining to end, and there he was lying next to me as if it was another day.''

''He was so loyal, so down for the guys I loved.''

''I'm like I'm gonna miss you, don't go...don't go.''

''I may sound crazy but he had like some irreversable job, like god gave him a job to do here and take care of people.''




So, what do you think about this video? Has it made some kind of impact on you? What do you think about the love a dog can give you?

Kesha in Barcelona

Like most of you probably know, the famous American singer, Kesha is coming to do a concert in Barcelona. The artist is going to be performing next saturday 11 of december in Razzmatazz 2. Although the singer has been writing songs from an early age, her breakthrough only came in 2009 when she appeared on one of Flo Rida's number one single, 'Right Round'. Also, later on that year, she released her debut single 'Tik Tok' which reached the number one position in eleven different countries. Her album, Animal, debuted number one in the USA, sold over two million copies worldwide and accumulated three top ten singles.

Do you like or know Kesha?
Are you going to her concert in Barcelona?

Below i will attach a video with one of her most popular tracks from her new album, Cannibal, which was released on the 19th of November. The track's name is 'We R Who We R' and it debuted at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 (famous US music charts).

Do you like 'We R Who We R'?
Will you/have you listened to Cannival?

How about if we show him some manners?

A friend of mine showed me a video last year (the one below) of a man who got dressed like a kangaroo and started to create chaos in the places he passed through. At first sight I laughed and laughed thinking it was funny, and I still think it is. After some time I reflected and thought about that. If you stop and think of how much damage this man produces to society it's disgraceful. This man is fined each time but his fans pay him his fines. If we all now do as he does in Barcelona the city would be a chaos and nobody could live peacefully; there would always be a silly person who ruins whatever you're doing or bothers you without any reason.


You'll probably have laughed at this video, but think about it!

• Should they fine him in greater amounts?
• Could the government or police threat him with prison?
• Is there another way of entertaining your fans without harming others?

European Music Awards 2010 tonight.

This year, Madrid is the lucky city that will host the European Music Awards, probably the most important and international music awards in Europe apart from the BRITs. The awards will be held this night, so this means that many international stars are already in Madrid, which puts our country in the spotlight for music fans all over the world tonight!

In case you are interested, you can watch the show tonight on MTV at 21:00.

There is a long list of performers that will hit the stage tonight, including Katy Perry, Linkin Park, Rihanna, B.o.B, Hayley Williams... Apart from these, many other stars will enjoy the awards, that will surely be a lot of fun to watch and hopefully will include many surprises.

Some of the nominated artists are Lady Gaga, Kings Of Leon, Rihanna, Miley Cyrus, 30 Seconds to Mars, Paramore, Muse... You can check out the whole list of nominees here: http://ema.mtv.es/votar

Are you excited about these awards? Will you watch them? Are any of your favorite singers nominated?

If you watch it, you can also comment what you thought of the awards in general and if you think the winners deserved their prices.

LACK OF RESPECT?

Next weekend we are receiving here in Barcelona at Sagrada Familia the pope, Benedictus XVI. People wait anxiously this moment when he will proceed with a mass. Others instead don't like the Pope or similar and they mock about him with parody videos. Watch up this two videos and comment about what do you think the manners of this people should be. (the second video is in catalan but it was a perfect example)


I think personally this people have no manners. If they are not Christians we can accept it because everybody is free to be what they want. But for me it is not permissible allowing this parodies that are insults to the church. You can always support your thoughts without having disrespect to others.

New Music- KINGS OF LEON

Kings of Leon's latest album has just come out and it is causing quite a stir in the music industry as they seem to have gone back to their country-rock roots and have moved away from their more anthemic and commercial album "Only by the night". Personally I am glad that they have done this and I think that the idea of them reconnecting with their Southern roots and music is a plus point as, although clearly brilliant and accomplished their last album was rootless and they seemed to have given up on their origin in pursuit of the fame and recognition that they deserved. However, it isn't only a country-rock album, I would like to applaud the albums sheer musical diversity ranging from gospel, angular post-punk, bonafide country to 50's style songs. This shows me the band hasn't lost it's restless, experimental edge and that is what makes them such an exciting band.

The reason this album entices me so much is that I discovered KOL when they where a weird, but clearly genius, american country rock band with a twist which had indecipherable lyrics and odd looks and I feel that they have finally come back to their early days. The early days which, I must add, really made me fall in love with KOL.

However I have merely stated my own opinion and I must add that not everyone agrees with my view. One detractor from the album is Luke Lewis from NME who classifies the album as, "jettisoning innovation and emotion". I believe that this is a very harsh opinion but I respect and I have included his review for you all to read.

http://www.nme.com/reviews/kings-of-leon/11653

Finally I want you to get a taste for the latest sample of KOL genius so I have included one of the best songs on the newest album:

So what do you think of the new album? Who do you agree with? Do you prefer "Use somebody" to this newest album? Do you think that it is a good or a bad thing that they are trying to reconnect with their roots?

And most importantly do you even like or know about Kings of Leon?

What are you scared of?

It was Halloween yesterday and, around the globe, people were watching scary movies or listening to bloodcurdling stories. However, some people have to deal with extremely strange phobias everyday of their lives!

I've been looking up different phobias that people suffer, and some of them are absolutely irrational and bizzare. It is said that our mind can be manipuled to be scared of almost anything and judging the incredible number of phobias that exist, I believe this is true.

In this video, this man explains some children the most common phobias that people have.

Most of these fears are understandable and many people suffer them. Do you fear any of these things, or do you know someone who does?

Anyway, it gets more complicated; there are phobias that are so rare that doctors don't even know how to treat people who suffer them.

This video shows some of them. However, I can't believe all of them are true!!

So, do you think they are true? Do you know any other strange phobias?