"What to do with ex-PMs and all that pent-up bile?"

The article explains how since humans are living longer, we have a problem with all the ex-prime ministers. What are they to do after they have lost all power? Apparently they feel they are an embarrassment and this leads them to become bored and grumpy with their existence.

I personally don't believe it is the citizens issue to decide how to make previous PMs' lives better. The end of the article explains how ex-PMs in other countries have gone on to achieve more and, thus, they are no longer grumpy about their existence. Since every other citizen has to provide their own happiness, so should Prime Ministers.

And, plus, no one other than yourself can make you happy.

"Sex and marriage with robots?"

After reading this article, I am very worried about our future. I can see human beings using robots as potential sex toys, but I think that having a significant relationship between a robot and a human is stepping over the line.

The article suggests humans are able to develop feelings towards computers through the example of students becoming attracted to Eliza. And, obviously, if robots are programmed and designed for humans to have the ability to interact with them, then there will be a strong potential for attraction. But a human must understand the key word "PROGRAMMED." A robot is programmed to share the same interests but does not have emotions and, therefore, cannot fall in love with it's apparent significant other. How are you supposed to marry someone to something that doesn't understand the concept of marriage on an emotional level? The robot may look and talk like it's in "love" with the human but it wouldn't have any emotional attachment to it's "significant other."

And what about reproduction?

"Voters Roundly Reject MMP"

The article discusses how the mixed-member proportional in Ontario was voted against by over half of the voters. Supporters of MMP argue that Elections Ontario didn't do enough to inform the voters of what they were voting on. "It appeared many voters simply didn't get the information they needed to decide," said a supporter of a mixed-member proportional in Ontario.

If the entire voting population was not informed of the situation, then the results were skewed. Many voters against the MMP argue that since more than half of the voters voted against, then the result is clearly a no. But if the population was generally well-informed about the new system, would've the results been different? Maybe, maybe not. Anyways, since (apparently) most of the voters WEREN'T well-informed, the vote can not be viewed as what the voters do want.

"Halo 3 Hype"

The trailer that would've made some gamers jump for joy:


To clarify, I am not a gamer. And from that statement you can conclude that I would NEVER line up for 24 hours in order to purchase a video-game which I would then race home to play for another 24 hours. But no, I didn't choose this article to waste my time bashing those people who do so, because I probably would do the same thing for something this big that I was passionate about. Reading the article I realized the impact that video games are having on our culture (and no, not that they make children more aggressive and violent).

With Halo 3, you can wear a headset and talk to the other people that you are gaming with over the network. What does this mean? A new form of communication and interaction that has developed through technology other than IM, telephones, etc. Individuals can now communicate with the people they are playing with and against. It's almost like a schoolyard game of capture the flag. The article states:

"There's this wonderful online playground where groups of people can jump in, drive large vehicles, shoot against each other and talk and have conversations with headsets," Abel explained. "That kind of social mass appeal has driven a lot of people to want to get this in order to start playing with their friends now."
Let's re-read that: "shoot against each other" while "[talking] and [having] conversations with headsets."

This is appealing?
Maybe if it was Mario Party with headsets.
What happened to Hide-and-Seek?

Anyways, my point is that the idea that you can communicate with people miles away that you're gaming with is actually a pretty cool technological advance. And although at this point this form of communication doesn't effect me, I can probably assume it will soon enough considering how technology develops.