Adidas + computer technology = Smart shoes

The new shoe contains a microchip in its arch that adjusts the degree of cushioning to surface conditions. Capable of making 5 million calculations per second, the microprocessor continually monitors the impact of your stride; the chip then tells a motor-driven cable system to tighten or loosen, making the cushioning firmer or softer. "What we have, basically, is the first footwear product that can change its characteristics in real time," says Christian DiBenedetto, leader of the top-secret team that developed the adidas 1.
That is a very good idea, because it improves the performance, but it has a problem, the price. It is very expensive ($250) for many people. It is true that profesional competitors, who has sponsors and much money do not care about it, but in regional competitions or even in schools or colleges, not all students can afford it

can computers think?

At a time when computer technology is advancing at a breakneck pace and when software developers are glibly hawking their wares as having artificial intelligence, the inevitable question has begun to take on a certain urgency: Can a computer think? Really think? Yes, machines can think in principle, but not necessarily in the same way we do. Computers can think if one admits that the question is to be answered by experiment and observation, comparing the behaviour of the computer with that behaviour of human beings to which the terms “thinking” is generally applied.

I don't have nothing to hide

I think that it's a good idea to monitor how the employees use computers at work because they are there to work and not to chat with their friends. If they want to chat or to read their private email, they must use their personal computer at home. As you are working for someone and they pay you for that, it is not illegal if your boss monitors your computer, you must be doing what he wants and nothing more.

Are singers so poor?

It is illegal to use networks to share copyrighted music or video files but copying music from the radio to an audio cassette not. It seems a joke. Are really getting poor music companies? No. And the singers? No. So, in my opinion, it isn't wrong to download some music, and when you really like a group you can buy the CD.

Is really plagiarism what they do?

Is really plagiarism to search in Internet for information? And if you copy the information from an encyclopedia? Nowadays, Internet is a very useful tool where you can search for information. What you can’t do is copy and past a whole work that is in Internet. But if you look for information and with all that information you write the task,that's not plagiarism. The teachers should ask about the task once that the students write it, so they could see if the have learned something.

A weekend in Saint Tropez

Saint Tropez

Saint-Tropez is a commune of the Var département in southern France, located on the French Riviera. The seaside resort town Saint Tropez is still very popular with the tourists famous and wealthy. Set on the lovely blue water of the Bay of Saint-Tropez, this modern version of a medieval town is most popular for the line of yachts along the quai, and the facing line of terrace cafés, divided by a parade of strolling tourists and slow cruising expensive cars.

Saint-Tropez was the antique Athenopolis, or Heraclea Caccabaris, the name used again by the Thermidoriens in 1793. In "modern" times, the town was listed as Ecclesia Sancti Torpetis in 1055, named after one of Nero's centurians who was beheaded in Pisa for the sake of his religion. Torpès' body and his head, along with a dog and a cock, was placed in a boat and set adrift. The dog and cock were intended to devour the man's remains, but he was still intact, so to speak, when the boat came ashore where the town of St Tropez stands today. The current name of Saint Tropez came after the Revolution.
Weather conditions in St Tropez are almost perfect year-round. Even when rainfall does occur, it doesn’t usually set in for long and visitors can be sure that most days of their holiday will be sunny. Temperatures do not fluctuate greatly during the year, with the town escaping the searing heat of summer and cold damp winters that characterise some other Mediterranean locations.

Map os Saint Tropez

I think that the best hotel in Saint Tropez is Byblos Hotel.

Information and reservations
Avenue Paul Signac
83990 Saint-Tropez - France
Tel: +33 4 94 56 68 00
Fax: +33 4 94 56 68 01
Email: saint-tropez@byblos.com

Acces
By air
International Airport Nice-Côte d’Azur: 57 miles (1h30 approx.)
National Airport Toulon-Hyères: 32 miles (50 min approx.)
Airport de la Môle Saint-Tropez: 11 miles (25 min)

By train
Toulon: 43 miles (1 hour)
Saint-Raphaël: 25 miles (40 min approx.)

By road
Motorway A8, exit le Muy or Le Luc.

By sea
Cannes/Saint-Tropez in 1h30 at a speed of 25 to 27 knots
Nice/Saint-Tropez in 2 h at a speed of 25 to 27 knots
Monaco/Saint-Tropez in 2h20 at a speed of 25 to 27 knots

Travelling to Orlando

Total Trip Duration: 9 days / 8 nights
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Leave
US Airways 741
Economy
Boeing 767
9hr 0min
3673 miles

Depart:
12:45pm afternoon
Madrid, Spain Madrid Barajas (MAD)
1 stop

Arrive:
3:45pm afternoon
Philadelphia, PA Philadelphia International (PHL)

Change planes. Time between flights: 2hr 30min

US Airways 755
Economy
40% on time
Airbus A321
2hr 45min
857 miles


Depart:
6:15pm evening
Philadelphia, PA Philadelphia International (PHL)


Arrive:
9:00pm evening
Orlando, FL Orlando International (MCO)

Total duration: 14hr 15min
Total miles: 4530 miles


Thursday, February 14, 2008
Return
US Airways 1626
Economy
40% on time
Boeing 757
2hr 26min
857 miles

Depart:
5:00pm evening
Orlando, FL Orlando International (MCO)
1 stop

Arrive:
7:26pm evening
Philadelphia, PA Philadelphia International (PHL)

Change planes. Time between flights: 1hr 19min

US Airways 740
Economy
Boeing 767
7hr 25min
3673 miles


Depart:
8:45pm evening
Philadelphia, PA Philadelphia International (PHL)


Arrive:
10:10am morning
Madrid, Spain Madrid Barajas (MAD)

This is an overnight flight.

Total duration: 11hr 10min
Total miles: 4530 miles



1 traveler, round-trip
Airfare
$728.00

Taxes and Fees
$93.04

Total trip cost
$821.04
USD