How the Internet is Changing Life Forever

These days with inexpensive air travel, mobile phones, email and the Internet, teenagers see the world as a smaller place than it appeared to their grandparents. Of these innovations, the Internet appears to be the one with the most potential for global influence, and which will change lives the most.

For example, up until recently friendships developed over a lifetime but that has now changed. People often made friends locally at school and continued those friendships into adulthood, but many young people today find the majority of their friendships over the Internet. This is not restricted to teenagers. Paula Sen, who has just turned 30, says: I‘ve met most of my best friends over the Internet, through common interest forums. I couldn't live without the Internet. It's my lifeline.'

The Internet has also greatly influenced the way people buy and sell goods. International Internet shopping is now common, with people buying all sorts of goods, from sites such as Amazon, the most successful online retail site. The international auction site eBay allows millions of participants to buy from and sell to strangers, setting their own prices. But beware - there are as many unscrupulous salespeople online as on the high street.

One of the Internet's greatest success stories is Wikipedia, the free online encyclopaedia, which is compiled and updated by its users. It carries far more content than any other encyclopaedia and is a great starting point for research, but remember to double-check important facts as it does contain errors. If you don't have time to check your facts, consider purchasing a reliable online encyclopaedia such as the Encyclopaedia Britannica. The other major information resource on the Internet is Google, a search engine which finds and ranks web pages according to the number of links made to them.

Probably the biggest impact that the Internet has had is the way in which it has influenced social networking. The most frequently 'googled' word in the world recently was Bebo - the social networking site - followed by My Space. People can meet new friends through sites like these, they can renew old acquaintances through sites like Friends Reunited and they can also play games with each other in virtual worlds such as Second Life. This Internet-based, three-dimensional virtual world is 'inhabited' by more than 6.6 million residents from around the world, and global companies such as Adidas and Toyota even have outlets there. It's now much easier to share experiences with others too. Sites such as YouTube allow people to upload and share videos, with unlikely clips becoming huge hits and a number of figures becoming Internet phenomena. Many people remember watching 'sabre boy' wielding an imaginary light-sabre, and laughing out loud at his antics.

Much of the power of the Internet lies in the fact that people are developing new ways to be creative and innovative, combining ideas and skills without an organisation or hierarchy. No one is in overall control. Collective creativity and collaboration are the key ideas. But even more powerful than this is its power to solve crimes, help change the world through giving to charities on sites like justgiving.com or find missing individuals: one website for a missing child was visited by over 40 million people within days of its being set up.

4. Why is it essential to control technology? (MB – p.41-43; p.53-54; p.60-61; p.61-62 t/s 16-17; Inside Out – p.59)

Giving Up TV

First off, I have to admit the falseness of the title. You can't give up television. You might want to. You might try. You might even succeed for about twenty-four hours. But, eventually you will go back. I know. I've spent the last three years trying to wean myself off the box in the corner.

It started simply. I have satellite TV, and therefore have, at the best guess, some 200 or so channels available, eighty percent being completely devoted to shopping. Of the remainder, some I felt I couldn't live without. There were channels offering comedy, a host of BBC entertainment programmes I had previously enjoyed, drama, a huge choice of instant headline news to gorge upon, historical documentaries...

Then one day I found, with an audible start, I had been sitting for over an hour flicking listlessly through all seven million or so channels, resting on each programme for no more than thirty seconds or so.

A thought suddenly occurred to me. I was falling out of love with television. I've been in love with television now for almost my entire life. When I first fell in love, television needed frequent breaks from me. Then came twenty-four-hour television. The satellite revolution brought more delights I couldn't get enough of. More awful talk shows. More cheap adverts. A twenty-four-hour diet (though most go off between three and six a.m., thus giving me a chance to grab some sleep) of television without limits.

And we both lived happily ever after.

Until that day, when I had wasted an hour of my life on television without actually finding anything to entertain, inform or educate me.

Never mind. The next night, I was back, lying in front of The Box in the corner, idly flicking. And finding nothing. At that point, I decided to give up television. It's been nice knowing you, but it's over. So long, and thanks for all the eyestrain.

But it isn't possible. I didn't manage to give up. But I did manage to detach. If I missed a programme I had read about I didn't mourn or worry. I let the programme go. Next I gave up surfing. Easy. It was never rewarding - proof not only that television had fallen out of love with me at the same time I had fallen out of love with television, but that television had come to hate me personally. Finding other things to do was easy.

I went back to reading, devouring a whole book in an evening. Finally came news. I love news, possibly more than I love television. So this was the hardest to give up. But television actually helped. Ceefax gave me instant, always-on news at any time, better written and more succinct than television or radio has ever managed. But that leaves a single gap. ―The Simpsons‖. I can't tear that final link. The equivalent of keeping a wedding album years after the divorce is, for me, ―The Simpsons‖. Whilst every other programme has dropped away, ―The Simpsons‖ remains. One day, I know I'll give that series up too. At that point television will be part of my history. I'll remain forever fond of the good times, and sour at how I was betrayed. But I'll be free.

Some time after the next episode of ―The Simpsons‖.

5. Smart gadgets of today – prospect for the future or useless fun? (MB – p.44-45 t/s 10, 48-51)

6.

7. 1. non-polluting

8. 2. very new

9. 3. old-fashioned

10. 4. simple to operate

11. 5. long-lasting

12. 6. useful

13.

14. a) cutting edge

15. b) durable

16. c) easy to use

17. d) environmentally friendly

18. e) green

19. f) handy

20. g) hard-wearing

21. h) obsolete

22. i) out-of-date

23. j) practical

24. k) state-of-the-art

25. l) user-friendly

26. 5. In pairs. Look at the pictures. What adjectives would you use to describe them? Discuss a piece of technology you like or dislike.

27. 6. Before you listen make sure you know these words and phrases:

28. 1. to detest, an emergency, a pest, to loathe sb/sth, to put one‘s headphones on, state-of-the-art, to drown out the noise, inconsiderate, to take a call.

29. 2. a chrome surface, durable, right away, to be handy for sth, a fellow-traveller, to sneak a look at sth.

30. 3. to keep doing sth, identity fraud (uncountable), user-friendly, to be green, to recycle.

31.

32. 7. Listen to three people describing technological equipment and make notes to answer the questions with details:

33. 1. What piece of technology is mentioned by each speaker?

34. 2. What do they like or dislike about the technology they mention?

35. 3. Is the first speaker a technophobe? Prove it by quoting him.

36. 4. Is the second speaker a fashion addict? Prove it by quoting her.

37. 5. Is the third speaker an important person in the world? Does he take care of the environtment? Prove it by quoting him.

Smart Stuff

Introduction

Increasingly over the last few years, we have become familiar with the range of small electronic gadgets that come under the heading 'smart' accessories. Joggers, for example, run with heart-rate monitors, and shop assistants carry pocket-sized computers. But these are just the first examples of a whole range of new products that promises to change our lives in all sorts of surprising ways.

Part A

As a scientist at Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Lab, Rosalind Picard tries out all kinds of smart accessories before they go on the market. One of these was the so-called 'frown headband'. It came as a shock to Rosalind to realise just how often she frowned. Stuck in a traffic jam recently, waiting for the cars to move forward, Rosalind kept hearing the sounds of the tiny sensor inside the band worn around her forehead - each time she frowned in frustration, the sensor gave out a signal.

Headbands that check facial expressions are just one of the things she and her colleagues have designed. Their aim is to make ready-to-wear items that both look good and give the wearer useful feedback. Body sensors, like those in Rosalind's headband, can detect physical changes that the wearer might not otherwise be aware of. Hidden inside watches, rings or shoes, these sensors can check for signs of stress, give information and offer advice.

Part B

Another computer scientist, Steven Feiner, is working on a pair of glasses that will do more than help you to see. Imagine you want to try a restaurant in a foreign city but you're not familiar with the dishes on the menu. If you are wearing a pair of Steven's glasses, all you have to do is glance above the restaurant's doorway and your glasses will immediately become windows to the Internet, offering you full details of the meals served inside. Are you one of those people who lack confidence when giving a talk to an audience? Look to the right and the glasses will flash your notes in front of your eves.

They could also prove useful for cooks who want to check a recipe without leaving sticky fingermarks all over their cookery books. At the moment, Steven's invention looks more like a pair of ski goggles than a pair of glasses. It's a headset connected to a hand-held computer and a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, which tracks the wearer's position. Students who don't mind being stared at have tried out the Star Trek-like device on campus. But Steven says that these head-worn displays will eventually get smaller, lighter and smarter as technology improves. As they will be relatively cheap, he foresees them replacing the notebooks and manuals that workers have to carry. He predicts that they will be useful to surgeons, giving them instant access to a patient's medical notes while carrying out operations.

Conclusion

And of course, new technology has a fashionable as well as a useful application. A chemical engineer named Robert Langer has invented a new-microchip that, if put inside a ring, can give off different scents according to a person's mood. That, of course, may or may not appeal to you. And, in the end, it is shoppers, not scientists, who will determine which of these smart accessories will succeed as fashionable items and which are destined to join history's long list of crazy inventions. Steven Feiner, concerned that vanity may prevent some people from wearing his glasses, is already working on the idea of contact lenses with the same features.

It is clear, however, that as small computer displays get brighter and cheaper, they will pop up in all sorts of easily-wearable accessories, even in the buttons on your coat. What's more, this is something that's going to happen a lot sooner than we all expect.

6. What life does the Amish community lead? (MB – p.62-65)

The Amish broke away from the Mennonites nearly 300 years ago when differences arose among Anabaptist leaders in Switzerland and Alsace. Seeking a stricter lifestyle including the Streng Meidung, or shunning, which includes the social avoidance of erring church members. Tensions ran high and eventually in 1693, a complete split occurred. Forty years later, many Amish responded to William Perm's invitation to come to America and settle the land. No Amish now remain in Europe. Currently there are approximately 145,000 Amish men, women and children living in 22 states in the United States and in Ontario, Canada. There are 220 Amish settlements accommodating over 900 geographically determined church districts.

Persistence of tradition and slowness to modernize have characterized the Amish as they have steadily sought to carve out their lifestyle which is a culture apart from the world. Even at the dawn of the 21st century, Amish are characterized as humble folk – hard-working, neighborly, otherworldly, agrarian, God-fearing, ethnically homogeneous – who live the simple life and live it well.

Searching for general characteristics that encompass all Old Order Amish groups even in their cultural and religious variations, the following seem dominant:

1. Separatism.

Otherworldliness, non-conformity based on Biblical teachings in Romans 12:1-2 and II Cor. 6:14. This pervades the entire lifestyle of the Amish (dress, language, work, travel and education).

2 Simple Life.

Simplicity and humility are stressed in Amish community. Education and training are limited to elementary levels. Amish warn of the "pagan" philosophy and the intellectual enterprise of "Men man." Historically, they avoid all training associated with self exaltation, pride of position, enjoyment of power and the art of war and violence. Nevertheless, many Amish are very rich, because the Amish-style furniture which they produce is very much acclaimed in the outer world. But you will never be able to tell a rich Amish from an Amish with medium income by the way they dress, look or style their house.

3.Family Life.

Amish marry Amish. No intermarriage is allowed. If a young Amish doesn‘t marry in his/her early twenties the community arranges a marriage, searching eligible partners. So bachelors and bachelorettes are rare (although the politically correct word ―bachelorette‖ is not used by the Amish – they stick to the traditional term ―old maid‖). Divorce is not permitted and separation is very rare. They are strictly monogamous and generally patriarchal. Sex roles are clearly defined. The average family size is 7-8 children. Homosexuality is not recognized as an acceptable lifestyle.

4. Harmony with the Soil and Nature.

Manual labor is good (Amish have little regard for labor-saving devices). Hard work and thriftiness are virtues. Amish believe that God is pleased when people work in harmony with nature, the soil, the weather and care of animals and plants. Amish always live in rural community. By contrast, the city is viewed as a center of leisure, non-productive spending, and often as the stage for evil and wickedness. Still, at the age of 18 any Amish is allowed to leave the community for 1 year and see the world, live in a city or travel. They are free not to return as well, but they most often do, because individualism is not in their nature.

5. Mutual Assistance.

Amish do not survive outside of community. There is much neighboring in the community, and helping each other is the most common way of socializing. They carry no life or property insurance; the church assists in cases of major loss. Large families generally give assurance of care for the elderly. Retired Amish farmers do not receive Social Security.

6. Disciplined Church Community.

Discipline in the Amish community can be sometimes harsh and uncompromising. Baptized members are morally committed to church rules. Erring members are generally excommunicated and shunned until there is forgiveness and restoration to full fellowship.

7.What peculiarities make English the most widely spoken language in the world? (MB – p.75-78)

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