Self-driving cars will also drive us round the bend

Nowadays it is a well-known fact that machines are quickly learning to think on their own, but may this robot revolution be a real danger to our society? Government officials say that autonomous vehicles will make transportation safer, more accessible, more efficient and cleaner. Indeed, self-driving vehicles are just the tip of the autonomous revolution. Furthermore, in 2016 autonomous robot doctors performed a surgery. Despite this, many people are against self-driving cars for some reasons.

On the one hand, many decisions made by autonomous machines have moral implications. Little is determined about what ethics machines follow or who decides what those ethical assumptions should be, though. A man died when an autopilot system didn’t recognize a tractor-trailer turning in front of his Tesla Model S and his car plowed into it. For this reason, how autonomous cars make decisions in life-and-death situations is becoming an important question. Actually, it is very difficult to decide which lives the vehicle should sacrifice.

On the other hand, some people think that robots are about to invade our lives. But if robots are the future, where do humans fit in? Well, we don’t have to automate everything just because we can. If not, it will be worse for all of us. People should stay realistic and know that a robot is never the same as a human. We need to think about our view of jobs and quickly, if we are to avoid becoming obsolete. Some experts predict the obsolescence of human labour in the future.

Finally, in my opinion whether or not autonomous machines’ impact will be positive or negative depends both on who regulates the technology and what it is used for. If we don’t use machines in an appropriate way, they will be terminators instead of heroes. As well, I consider that they should have more feelings. Above all, robots should be designed in ways that assure human safety and security. What’s more, it should always be possible to find out who is legally responsible for the robot in case of an accident.

Earth Day 2018

Earth Day? What is it? Earth Day is an annual globe-spanning event which urges people to think about how their actions and presence affect the environment. It has been celebrated for 50 years. It began on April 22, 1970. These day millions of people took the streets to protest about the negative effects of 150 years of industrialisation. This year 2018, Earth Day was focused on ending plastic pollution, especially the ‘single use and throw away’ culture associated with the material. Furthermore, it has been honoured with a Google Doodle in which world famous anthropologist and animal lover Jane Goodall appears.

Who is Jane? Jane Goodall, otherwise known as Doctor Jane Goodall, who is 84 years old, is a legendary anthropologist. She is famous for her study of chimpanzee social and family life in Tanzania in the 1960s. She theorised that human aren’t the only species who have individual personalities. She even observed human behaviours including hugs and kisses on the back of chimps. Google says that Jane shares her personal message to the world on Earth Day 2018, including some of her inspiration and what we can all do to have a positive impact on our planet. Something that caught my eye was that she said that she was born loving animals and her whole childhood really was animals and animals.

In fact, what is a Google Doodle? Google Doodles were born in 1998. The search engine founders Larry and Sergey drew a stick figure behind the second ‘o’ of the name of Google as a message to they were out of office at the Burning Man festival. The company decided that they should decorate the logo to mark cultural moments and it soon became clear that users really enjoyed the change to the Google homepage. Me, personally, I prefer the doodlers which are designed to play. The doodler I enjoyed the most was the one which honoured pangolins.

All in all, I think that celebrating Earth Day is a good action. This is an opportunity to warn people about how polluted our oceans, water and wildlife are, especially because of plastic. Additionally, I reckon that more people should take part in these marches. However, we can do simple things to make a difference like stopping buying one-time-use items, reusing plastic bags, diving into second-hand shopping and natural fibres and carrying our own utentsiles and reusable water bottle, among other things.

                                         

What are 'manbags' for?

To begin with, a manbag is a bag that a man uses for carrying his money, keys, mobile phone, etc. In fact, these designer accessories are being carried on the arms and shoulders of many modern men but they’re not just for looking good, they’re practical too. Nowadays they are the height of fashion.

According to a report, in Britain they are still very tied up with that idea of masculinity that is almost so fragile that it can be dented by carrying a bag. They think a lot about that in this country in a way that may not be what European men do. Besides, with people like Louis Vuitton, Fendi, Gucci and Dolce and Gabanna designing these bags they bound to have a hefty price tag. Nearly a quarter of 16-34 year olds have bought one, though.

On the contrary, women are more into carrying bags. They almost always use this type of accessories. For them there is a great range of bags: handbags, purses, backpacks… Currently our bag says a lot about ourselves. It is very important because it influences too much our image. Having a designer bag is synonymous of being a famous and a wealthy person. The more lavish it looks, the more popular you are.

To conclude, I think that everybody chooses to wear a bag or not. All of us can wear an additional item added to something to make it more useful or attractive. And this mustn’t be a laughing stock. In my case, I prefer wearing a small bag because it is lighter to transport. Actually, I am not walking up a mountain to need to carry some sturdy bag. Despite this, I usually carry lots of things in my bag, for example some make-up, perfume, a small mirror, tissues, my pocket, my phone…

Some advice for my fellow students 2018

If you are doing 2º Bachillerato next year, it is very important to know these useful pieces of advice. This is Andrea telling you about next year:

-I think you should read all the reading books during the summer. Besides, you should do

the activities included in the book and the projects.

-You must revise the irregular verbs. If not, you won’t be able to write them properly.

-You have to do lots of exercises that you will find in Albert’s site. As well, you will

find some mock exams.

-Study every day, especially new grammar structures.

-If I were you, I would write all the comments (you can do some of them during the

summer). Once Albert corrects them, you should post them in your own blog.

-Don’t keep your notes untidy, you should save them in your site to revise them whenever

you need.

-You’d better do all the old Selectivity exams. The more exams you do, the better for

you.

And remember time is money. You have to get organized and take things a day. This is your most important year, so you have to do your best.