Peter: introduction in three parts

A book, film, or TV series enjoyed

A few years ago, or maybe ten years ago now, I decided to lighten my bookshelves, which had become loaded with thousands of books. I hadn’t bought a paper book for some years, and even the ones I had I’d largely replaced with Kindle versions. I love reading on Kindle — I can switch conveniently from my tablet when reading at home to my phone when out and about. About the only drawback with Kindle now is that I have to type notes: it doesn’t yet offer the option of scribbling handwritten notes. 

Pride of place on my shelves
in the company of Austen's
other masterpieces

I sent my impressive-looking hardcover books to my brother, who now proudly displays them on his bookshelves in Australia, where they sit safely unread, waiting for me to visit and browse them again. I gave away most of my paperbacks to local homes where they would be read. But I kept a few back from the cull: a few novels from my high school days, my paper copies of Shakespeare, a few that carry strong nostalgic connections with my personal history, and a set of well-read novels by Jane Austen. Her Pride and Prejudice seems to me the best novel ever written in English. 

For those not familiar with this story, it has also been made in films a few times, most recently starring Keira Knightley, who, as Mr. Darcy astutely points out, “smiles too much.” The Keira Knightley version of Pride and Prejudice is OK, but like every other film version I’ve seen is a poor substitute for the real thing. The exception in adaptations for the screen is the excellent BBC production starring Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy. This version of the story keeps its excellence by faithfully following Austen’s story in every detail, and most importantly by keeping unaltered almost all of her brilliant dialogue. The speech of each character presents them as believable, fully formed human beings, with credible motives for their acts. While treating the serious issues facing respectable women in polite society 200 years ago, Austen can also make us laugh at the pretensions she displays so brilliantly. We, at least I, also wonder how much of the foolishly respectable Mr. Darcy, the self-deluding heroine Elizabeth, or the scheming Mrs. Bennet, rightly terrified of the poverty into which she and her daughters could so easily be thrown by laws and social customs of the conservative traditions of their society. Happily, all turns out well in the end, save for the bad characters who get their just deserts. 

Even though I’ve read this novel so many times that three of my cherished paper copies are falling apart from the constant reading, it still gives great pleasure every time I read it again and discover new details, new complexities, new connections among the schemes and themes, or simply relive old pleasures. The fourth paper copy is safe from the normal wear and tear of reading: these last ten years or so, I read the novel on Kindle, where it never deteriorates, but I could not bring myself to sacrifice the well-read paper editions to the cause of decluttering my home. They keep their place on the shelf that has been their home these past 15 years. 

The only screen adaptation that comes close to the original's perfection — 
so sensible of the BBC to have copied most of Jane Austen's dialogue.

 

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And a book, film or TV series not enjoyed 

not recommended

When it came out some years ago, probably more than ten years ago, a lot of my friends read Dan Brown’s novel The Da Vinci Code. It was certainly very popular, so although I had some doubts about its value, I decided to read it to find out what all the fuss was about. Bad decision! I’m sure there are even worse books out there, but Brown’s very famous novel is one of the worst I’ve ever read. 

I thought that the story wasn’t bad. It’s a fun plot with the nasty Catholic church repressing knowledge has been that religion’s habit since it began 2,000 years ago. And who could not like plotting priests, lying bishops and a murderous holy group determined to do their god’s work, to fight for him, and kill for him? Add in a shocking truth that has been kept secret for the same 2,000 years and you have the foundation for a great story. 

The problem is that Dan Brown is a terrible writer. His short sentences in simple, repetitive language make his characters seem like slightly retarded fools, ever amazed by silliest things as they blunder into one amazing solution after another. If Robert Langdon were a real Harvard University professor, Harvard would be at the bottom of the international university rankings. 

In fact, the childish language and shallow, constantly repeated emotions and dialogue made this so hard for me that I almost gave up and didn’t bother finishing it. But I bravely struggled through until the bitter end when the unbelievable characters came to their melodramatic ends and the terrible secret was revealed to shake the world. 

recommended

To be fair, I gave him a second chance, and Brown’s later books have improved greatly with practice of his craft. The last one, Origin, was well-written and enjoyable. And fortunately for Mr. Brown, when the film adaptation of The Da Vinci Code was made, the script writers and directors kept the plot whilst greatly improving on the dialogue that told the story. The film was well worth watching: not a masterpiece of cinema, but fun entertainment. 

This is 354 words, which is at the upper limit. You can also see the Google Doc prepublication version. 

After you paste in your work, format the titles of book, movies, and TV series in italics, which is a standard style.  And you are welcome to add a relevant image or two. 

 

 

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A regular habit 

Although I’ve tried the background options that some people use during video meets on Zoom or the Google Meet app that we use, I’ve chosen to stick with reality. The reason for this regular habit is that I notice that the apps that create the backgrounds sometimes think that hand gestures, clearly not being face, are part of the background, which can look a bit odd at times. Yesterday I was teaching an online class where one of the students was using a background that displayed a cool looking photograph of stars across the night sky, but when she picked up her bottle of water, it was blended into the background, making it look as though she was drinking from a bottle of galactic majesty. And since I sometimes use gestures, I decided it would be a better habit to let people see my actual background. Two of the things on display in every class among other clutter are my coffee grinder and my coffee drip filter machine, both essential tools for one of my most enduring regular habits. 

Mmm ... 

For about the last 45 years, I’ve supported a serious drug addiction. I realized how dependent I was about 25 years ago when a friend invited me to stay at his family home in Sukothai for a few days. I packed my small bag and we set off. But I had forgotten to pack coffee. There was no coffee to be had in the small village. That night, the headaches began, and they did not pass. After a most unpleasant night, the first thing on the agenda for the following day was a trip into the nearest town to buy some instant coffee. I don’t much like it, but drug addicts can be too choosy. It was not as enjoyable as the two large coffees made from fresh ground beans that I drink every day, but it did the job. That was probably the first time I had been caught without coffee for twenty years. I have never been caught without access to my drug of choice since. 

My day always begins with a simple ritual: I wake up, push the button to grind coffee, put the ground beans and water in the coffee maker, turn on my computer, and then brush my teeth while the coffee brews. Then I sit down and enjoy the large, black coffee as I browse the newspapers I habitually read. In the afternoon, the coffee habit is repeated.

 

Skillful 4: Reading & Writing, page 45 - After you watch, 3

What is it?

In their discussion questions that conclude watching the video about nuclear power in Switzerland, Warwick and Rogers (2018, p. 30) invite us to discuss follow-up questions, giving and arguing for our own opinions on related questions.

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What do you think? 

• 

  Click to see images full size

  Why do you think it is taking so long for countries to move towards using cleaner, renewable energy sources?
   

You have 10:00 minutes to plan and write a response to the question. I suggest you divide your time roughly as:

• planning = 2:00 minutes (It's usually a good idea to plan before you start to write.)
• writing = 6:00 minutes, and
• editing = 2:00 minutes.

 

A helpful strategy

Imagine you are writing for someone who has not read the question you are answering or the article that the question follows up. Your aim is to clearly communicate your response to that reader, so it might help to paraphrase the question at the start of your response to it. But you need to rewrite (paraphrase) the idea in the question as a statement.
Because your writing should make sense independently of the question it might be answering, it is usually useful to give background, which can often be done by paraphrasing the question into statements that begin your answer. This is also a useful strategy in exams such as IELTS and TOEFL.

______________________ 

Reference

• Warwick, L. & Rogers, L. (2018). Skillful 4: Reading & Writing, Student's Book Pack (2nd. ed.). London: Macmillan Education

Skillful 4: Reading and Writing, page 44 - Discussion point 3

Discuss (v.) & discussion (n.) 

page 44

In every unit of Skillful 4, authors Lindsay Warwick and Louis Rogers make frequent use of the verb discuss (2018). The noun discussion is in fact the very first word of every unit, and the third word in every unit is the verb, for example on page 152. Rogers and Zemach almost always collocate the verb discuss with the object noun partner, or put them in close proximity. They clearly intend the discussion to be spoken, which is what we sometimes do, but in many cases, it helps our reading and writing class more to have a written discussion of the questions the authors ask us to discuss.

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Why hold the discussion on an online forum? 

Apart from the fact that ours is a reading and writing class, there are several solid reasons for holding at least some of our discussions online. 

• It practices response writing for fluency. Unlike in more formal academic writing, the goal is not to do research or even to plan carefully, but to quickly communicate your own ideas on a topic or in response to an issue. You should still write complete sentences organized in paragraphs, but we are not looking for a carefully planned piece of work that was extensively reviewed and revised after it was first written and posted. Response writing is not academic writing; it does, however, practice the fluency that is also important in more formal work.  
   
• This sort of response writing is common at universities today. As part of their assessment, students are often expected to participate in online discussion forums that explore issues raised in lectures, seminars, or tutorials. This sort of response writing is a common component of academic work. 
   
• Brainstorming and sharing ideas independently of face-to-face group discussion typically produces a wider and more thoughtful variety of responses, which is good for the group. See, for example, the articles on this in the Harvard Business Review by Art Markman (2017), Andrew O’Connell (2010), and Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic (2015). (If you are interested, read some of the sources I've cited here after our class. They are all short.) 

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Warwick and Rogers' question 

We have already shared our ideas on the first two discussion point questions, which relate to your own county's energy production. The third question asks asks for your personal opinion on a related issue that is often controversial today, so we will hold this discussion online, here on our class blog.  

• Do you think we should continue to use fossil fuels? Why or why not? 

click them to see images full size

You have 8:00 minutes to write your answer in the comment box below. 

I suggest you spend 2:00 minutes to plan your answer. (Planning is usually a good idea.) That will leave you another 6:00 minutes to write your response to the question, stating your opinion and its support.

Why should we agree with you rather the opposite answer? 

 

A helpful strategy

Imagine you are writing for someone who has neither seen the question you are answering. Your job is to clearly communicate your response to that reader. Because your writing should make sense independently of the question it might be answering, it is usually helpful to give background, which can often be done by paraphrasing the question into statements that begin your answer. 

 

Remember: sentences in paragraphs 

This is response writing. You want to communicate your ideas fluently as if you were speaking for a few minutes to someone actively listening. However, that person can't stop you to ask questions or clarify, so it's important to state your ideas in complete sentences organized into paragraphs. 

 

Follow up

Finally, before you publish your comment, check "Notify me" below the comment box. You want to get updates on new contributions to the discussion.  

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References

• Chamorro-Premuzic, T. (2015, April 2). Why brainstorming works better online. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2015/04/why-brainstorming-works-better-online
   
• Markman, A. (2017, May 18). Your team is brainstorming all wrong. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2017/05/your-team-is-brainstorming-all-wrong
   
• O'Connell, A. (2010, February 4). Sometimes, it’s better to brainstorm alone. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2010/02/when-its-better-to-brainstorm
   
• Warwick, L. & Rogers, L. (2018). Skillful 4: Reading & Writing, Student's Book Pack (2nd. ed.). London: Macmillan Education 

Welcome to EAP RW4 unit 3 and to our class blog

Welcome to Skillful 

Click to see
images full size.

Welcome, and thank you for registering for the class this term.

Our aim is to cover all of unit 3 of Skillful 4: Reading and Writing, which we should be able to do in our 16 hours of classes over the next five weeks (there is a one-week break for Songkran in the middle). In addition to your paper book, there is also a very useful digital version of the text, and an online workbook for further practice. 

If you have not already done so, please register for the digital version of Skillful, and then join both the online class and the online Workbook class, for which there are short presentations posted on Classroom. 

As with the Google Apps for Education that we will use and this class blog, it might take a couple of sessions for you to become familiar with these tools, but I am confident that you will find that initial effort worthwhile. By moving some of the work to out-of-class activities, we can then focus our class time on preparation for and discussion of the skills you will practice at home, or wherever you like.

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Introduction to students — page 6 

The digital version of  the
book is very convenient

In her introduction to students on page 6, the series consultant, Dorothy E. Zemach, gives some strategies for successful learning, one of which is to "be an independent learner" (in Rogers & Warwick, 2018). As Zemach suggests we do in her comment, it is one way for you to "practice English outside of class." Some of the topics you will write about here are the unit topics, but I also like Zemach's suggestion that "reading for pleasure and using the Internet in English" are important, so your writing here will not be limited to the topics of the units that we study over the next four weeks.
 
Another point that I like in her introduction is Zemach's emphasis on practice, for which she suggests that we do "a little bit each day." The research on this is strong: regular deliberate practice in small chunks of time is far more effective than long sessions once or twice a week (Schwartz et al. 2016, ch D). Since we meet twice a week, and on consecutive days, this is especially important to bear in mind.   

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Question

As Warwick and Rogers often do, giving readers a specific question or two to respond to is often an effective way to engage readers. It helps to check that we understand what we have read, that we have thought about the ideas critically, and to that we can apply them to our own of more general situations. 

• Which one of the five strategies that Zemach introduces on page 6 do you think will be most useful for you to focus on over the next five weeks? 

It's good if you think all five are useful, but this question asks you pick one of them, so you will have to write a little more to explain your choice of that one over the others. 

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References 

• Schwartz, D. L., Tsang, J. M., & Blair, K. P. (2016). The ABCs of how we learn: 26 scientifically proven approaches, how they work, and when to use them. [eBook edition]. W. W. Norton & Company. https://www.amazon.com/ABCs-How-Learn-Scientifically-Approaches-ebook/dp/B016CAJLBA/ref=sr_1_1 
   
• Warwick, L. & Rogers, L. (2018). Skillful 4: Reading & Writing, Student's Book Pack (2nd. ed.). London: Macmillan Education 
   

Anik: Bank boss rejects work from home as the 'new normal'

Summary

In “Goldman Sachs: Bank boss rejects work from home as the 'new normal'” (2021) published on the BBC News online portal, we are told that, in some industries, working from home may not replace the on-site traditional workplace. According to David Solomon, CEO of the American company Goldman Sachs , lack of social interaction and direct mentorship are disadvantages of working from home policy, especially for innovation-driven companies like his. Jamie Dimon from JP Morgan shares the same opinion as he raises the concern about dropping work efficiency during work from home period. However, some bank executives disagree with this, saying that work from home policy will continue. Technology companies like Facebook and Twitter are also taking a totally different stand, where work from home policy is encouraged and may become their future norm.

______________________ 

Response

Having read the article “Goldman Sachs: Bank boss rejects work from home as the 'new normal'” on the BBC, I strongly agree with the CEOs from both Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan that working from home may not be the future norm.

The arguments raised by these two CEOs against the work-from-home policy are the absence of social interaction, the lack of mentorship and sinking productivity rate. These are the points that I can relate to my own experience. As a teacher of German language, I also experienced a sudden transition from an offline traditional class at school to the virtual classroom on Zoom and Google Classroom as a response to the worsening pandemic situation. However, I realized that it is not easy to stay focused during an online class. One of the main reasons may be the lack of direct and indirect social interaction both between students and teachers and among students themselves. Furthermore, on a normal day at school, I myself usually observe my students through their gesture and the way they interact with their peers so that I know if more explanation is needed. This is almost impossible in an online classroom. In addition, I also heard lots of complaints from my students that they are stressed because there is no room for talking with their friends during the day while all classes are online. In contrast, students can at least interact with each other during the break at school, but online classrooms leave no room for talking at all. And I am sure that this argument is also applicable to online offices too.

There are also concerns about privacy issues and work life balance. Working from home may invade the most private space of a person, that is, their home. During the online meeting, employees may experience an embarrassing moment such as a sudden interruption from their family members, for example, mom calling them to do dishes or a daughter suddenly running to the screen. Moreover, the unclear boundary between professional and private life may have negative health implications on the employee, for example, the rising mental health concerns.

Despite its disadvantages, work from home policy may allow the employee to have more time for their family as they can save time commuting on the road. The more quality time with their family means the better mental health of the employee. Therefore, remote workplace should still be considered as an alternative. However, more study should be conducted to find out more about the positive and negative effect of work from home policy.

______________________ 

Question

To what extent do you agree with the statement: “a virtual workspace/classroom leaves no room for privacy”?

                                            ______________________ 

Reference

• Goldman Sachs: Bank boss rejects work from home as the 'new normal'. (2021, February 25th). BBC. https://www.bbc.com/news/business-56192048

Skillful 4: Reading & Writing, page 37 - Critical thinking: academic words

What is it?

The three critical thinking questions in exercise 3 on page 37 invite us to practice the academic vocabulary in exercise 1. That is: 

• attribute (v)
• bulk (n)
• constitute (v)
• format (n)
• infer (v)
• intrinsic (adj)
• proportion (n)
• solely (adv)   

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Questions

1. To what extent do you agree that the bulk of technological advancements are positive?  
   
   
2. In what ways has technology diminished our levels of privacy? 
    
3. To what do you attribute increased levels of cybercrime? 

A helpful strategy

Imagine you are writing for someone who has not read the question you are answering or the article that the question follows up. Your aim is to clearly communicate your response to that reader, so it might help to paraphrase the question at the start of your response to it. But you need to rewrite (paraphrase) the idea in the question as a statement. 

_________________________________

Reference

• Warwick, L. & Rogers, L. (2018). Skillful 4: Reading & Writing, Student's Book Pack (2nd. ed.). London: Macmillan Education

Phing : Everyone loves fries

Summary

According to “Can Belgium claim ownership of the French fry?” by Emily Monaco (2018), while Belgium claims that the fry is their iconic heritage dish referring to a Belgium legend and written references,  French culinary historian disagree with two  reasons. Not only doesn’t the timeline of potatoes emerging in Belgium match with the Belguim legend and the fact that peasants in the 18th Century used fat wastefully for cooking is also doubtful. Moreover, Pont-Neuf, French 18th century street food, is similar to French fries. In terms of making this dish emblematic and unique, England has done well. Fish and chips with modern adaptations have become a classless British national dish. In France, the fry is served with grilled meat, and the potatoes are cut into perfect rectangles. Belgium is the only country  where the fries are presented as a meal.

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Response

To be honest, despite the word ‘French’ in French fries, this dish had never given me any picture of France or Belgium. I wondered why I had no idea about Belgium fries before. The first image in my mind is some American teenagers eating French fries with friends in a diner or fast-food restaurant. It might be a consequence of watching TV shows and growing fast-food companies. I ate  fries for the first time at KFC and I think that almost Thai people have a similar experience as me. Most people in Thailand buy French fries from American fast-food franchises such as McDonald, Burger King and KFC. After reading, I found that I rarely see characters in French movies or TV shows with French fries. However, I haven’t watched lots of French entertainments or any Belgium ones. I think that I should explore more about other cultures or more diverse  kinds of movies because there are lots of interesting points to learn.

I agree with the article that fish and chips become a British iconic dish without a name label. Some of my friends went to England and this style of fries dish is the one that they sought for.  

This article also reminds me of the case of the Crying tiger trademark. Crying Tiger is a beef-grilled dish which is a well-known northern Thai dish. However, this Thai dish shares some similarities and the English name as “crying tiger” with a Malaysian beef dish. After a Malaysian formerly registering the trademark for the name of the dish, his action led  to a discussion about the origin of the Crying tiger and whether its name should be possessed by a nation.

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Question

What is a Thai iconic dish in your opinion?

______________________ 

Reference

• Monaco, E. (2018, July 31). Can Belgium claim ownership of the French fry? BBC. http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20180730-can-belgium-claim-ownership-of-the-french-fry

Phum: Red Dead Redemption 2: More than a game Experience.

Summary

According to “Five things to know about Red Dead Redemption 2” by Zoe Kleinman, the installation of Red Dead Redemption requires 145G on the PlayStation 4 console and 120G for the personal computer (PC).  The causes that make this game this large are the world in the game, which is very natural and detailed. There are almost 200 species of wildlife in it. Also, every big chapter of the game’s storyline is very long, up to 8-10 hours per chapter, and this game has eight, along with a ton of side quests and activities that are waiting for the westerner to do. The team of developers took almost 6 years on the game, the company almost getting sued by developers and programmers after pushing them to work for 10 hours per day with no weekend in order to solve the glitches and the performance problem to put the game  on sale before Christmas.   

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Red Dead Redemption 2: A more than a game Experience.

In the old-time for me, computer games had a really little disk usage; hence, it is just a mini-activity with 8-bit resolution and a short play-time. But now, as the development of the game industry goes, the space  usage of the game is bigger along with them. In the 90s, Bioshock required only 5GB of space for installation and rose  to  twice in Bioshock III Infinite, which is 12GB for installation, and these series are only the straight storytelling game.  For the notorious game named GTA IV, its requirement is 22 GB. Both series are the upgrades from the 8-bit to high-resolution with great performance graphic software (Which is now called a “Creation Platform”), and coming to the age of the biggest space usage game (As they claim) that burn your computer up to 120GB, it can be shown that the game industry in the past 10 years has  improved so fast as the higher requirement of your computer needs to upgrade.

   And why it is very big, let’s see on the developer. First, all of those in the Rockstar Company are working hard in merely six years, along with the working crunch on this project for getting this big project done. The rumor says that Rockstar got sued by the people who work under this project about the labor law that they got forced to work 10 hours for six days a week (which Rockstar themselves come out to prove that it is only the rumor). And by the hard work of all people, the game was finished in a playable state and ready to sell  before Christmas.

Red Dead Redemption 2  is an Open-World game that represents the life of the Western world in the early 20th century with full details inside the game. Think of the game that the AI inside it will dynamically drag you to have a shower or ask if you are fine outside the camp after you went out too long and did a lot of activity such as dueling or hunting. Speaking of the hunting, there are more than 150 species of wildlife along with humans that they have put into this virtual world with the life path of their own; the eagle will hunt the snake, the bison will live with the herd, labor goes to work in the morning and back to their camp in the night with the variety of activity that you as a player will feel really guilty to interrupt. 

For me, Red Dead Redemption 2 is the game that creates the brand new standard for every upcoming quality game that will be released, with the heart-touching story about the Gunslinger era that will come to the dead-end with a diversity of the society along with the activity that relates to that time to do inside the game. It’s not that weird that the history teacher brings this game as his social material.  

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Question

Did the game can be one of the teaching material?______________________ 

Reference

• Kleinman, Z. (2018, October 22). Five things to know about Red Dead Redemption 2. BBC. https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-45940734 
• https://freegametips.com/red-dead-redemption-2-a-university-will-use-it-to-teach-history/
  

Emma: The New Way of Gossiping

Summary

According to “Chinese users flock to Clubhouse amid soaring popularity” by Mary-Ann Russon (2021), although Chinese people in the mainland are prohibited from discussing controversial  topics which are censored  by the Chinese government, they can freely do so by using Clubhouse. The mobile application allows thousands of  Chinese users of iphone to easily bypass China’s Great Firewall to arrange private audio chatrooms. As the app has been gaining popularity and many of the Chinese users started sharing what they have seen in the chartrooms on Twitter, it is likely that the Chinese government will limit access to Clubhouse in the future. Prior to its popularity among Chinese people, Clubhouse was launched in May 2020 and has been being used by many tech leaders in Silicon Valley and US celebrities for free of charge. However, the founders of Clubhouse has a plan for making money from the app.

______________________ 

Response

When I saw the news article, it reminded me of freedom of speech. I think everyone has the right to express their opinions. However, I am a bit confused about the principle in some situations. For example, I was taught at school to be careful of  what I said to other people, as that was considered as politeness. At school I learn many Thai proverbs about speaking and talking. Thai proverb such as ‘Kwan Par Sak’ helps me to avoid saying  something bluntly, because that can hurt my audiences’ feelings, or ‘Bpaak Bpraa-săi Nám-jai Chuêrd-kor’ helps me be sceptical about what people say to me, as they might not be honest and want to manipulate me. I think it is difficult to say or communicate something to other people, as there might be negative consequences caused by our words. 

Before reading this news article, I saw many news articles about censorship in China. As the advancement of information technology is increasing in the country, the government is trying to block the activities of its citizens. I remembered news that reported about using facial recognition to scan its citizens in the public areas. I don’t like it. I mean I would be unhappy if the Thai government does the same as the Chinese government does in China. I think it a bit violates  my privacy. I also recalled news that reported about the social credit score system in China. The government is monitoring all of the transactions of its citizens’ spending. In other words, they keep records of what each individual has bought so far and then they measure the credibility of those individuals by the behaviour on buying. For example, if a man has been buying a lot of video games, he would get a low credit score as his behaviour seems to be irresponsible. In contrast, if that man has been buying a lot of drypers, he would get a high credit score as his pattern of buying shows that he is responsible. I hope Thai government won’t do the same thing in Thailand.

______________________ 

Question

Do you think that people can express or speak freely?

______________________ 

Reference

• Russon, M. (2021, February 8). Chinese users flock to Clubhouse amid soaring popularity. BBC. https://www.bbc.com/news/business-55971009 

Earth: Do Streaming Algorithms Negatively Impact on Film?

Summary

Director Martin Scorsese says the art form of
cinema needs to be protected against streaming
services.

In “Are streaming algorithms really damaging film?”, Alex Taylor (2021) reports that when he interviewed him, film director Martin Scorsese expressed pessimism that cinema is being devalued in terms of “content” despite streaming services keeping movies alive during lockdown. According to Taylor, Scorsese criticized a lack of curation, by which algorithms based on individuals’ viewing habits damaged the art form and treated the viewer as a consumer. Responding to the work of algorithms on cultural damage, Elinor Carmi, a research  associate at Liverpool University’s communication and media department, said the problem spans all formats from films, TV and music sold in the name of personalization. This aims to “get the right titles in front of each member at the right time”. In addition, Tufayel Ahmed, Journalist and media lecturer suggests that streaming services are an easy target and much more complex in reality, but are simply made in our image.  

                                                              ______________________ 

Response      

The BBC news story “Are streaming algorithms really damaging film?” really attracted me when I was browsing news among current news stories on Wednesday morning. This topic reminded me that media streaming platforms on the  Internet outstrip traditional services on TV and cinema. During lockdown, streaming services are an alternative source of entertainment for watching on-demand shows and keeping movie experiences alive. In my view, I am optimistic about streaming algorithms, not as Martin Scorsese is, but I am not sure whether streaming algorithms devalue films or not.

I do not quite agree with Scorsese that cinema is being devalued in movie contents. Although steaming platforms provide recommendations based on our viewing habits, not all of them damage the art form of contents as curations are happening behind the scenes without us knowing them, such as the Criterion Channel. In addition, I concurred with Elinor Carmi, who said that streaming-service algorithms present different types of contents on films and music to meet our personalization. Most movies we watch on streaming services like Netflix use algorithms to meet our preferences and viewing behaviors. “Emily in Paris” and “The Queen’s Gambit” are the most popular movie series and I am one of the watchers who had spent massive amounts of time watching these romantic and drama series on these sites.

However, I believe there are other reasons to reduce watching movies on cinema. First, during the lookdown of pandemics, cinemas are shut to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Cinemas are places with a high risk of easily spreading germs because of the lack of airflow moving and being crowded areas. Secondly, people feel uncomfortable to spend their time in a theatre. Watching movies among people who may be sick or infected with musty smell makes us worry and panic in spite of covering with face masks. Also, sometimes it is uncomfortable to sit on small seats with limited space, while watching a movie at home provides a larger space where we can stretch and lie on the couch anytime and eat whatever we want. This also prevents ourselves getting infected and spreading infectious agents to others.

Therefore, it is hard to justify whether streaming algorithms are really damaging film or not. It depends on each individuals preference and the purpose why we watch. Everyone just enjoys watching what they want that meets their favorable viewing habits. In my opinion, cinema is not being reduced on the value of art forms as they always appear in the scenes, which are hard to see, but if we take a look closer, we will see them. 

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Question

What are some negative and positive effects of streaming-service algorithms?

______________________ 

Reference

• Taylor, A. (2021, February 21). Are streaming algorithms really damaging film?. BBC. https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-56085924 

Mean : Looking through vending boxes

Summary

Serving salads in vending machines

In “Singapore vending machines now dispense salmon, crab and even cacti”, Tim McDonald (2021) reports that vending machines tend to be popular and various kinds of products are provided in Singapore.  Freshly cooked local food and juice, books, cacti, et cetera are now available.  Several entrepreneurs said that the more machines, the more decent profits.  Consequently, vending machines are much more seen in Singapore. But why in Singapore?  Manish Kumar, the managing director of Norwegian Salmon, says “a compact, densely populated city like Singapore is ideal”. Moreover, Singaporeans are likely to have a lot of interest in this convenience . Since vending machines act as unstaffed, convenient stores with  availability of 24/7, people can still use them while other stores are closed. Moreover, the government also takes advantage of contactless services to provide free masks to the public during the pandemic. 

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Response

This article pinned out the point very well. It describes why vending machines are so popular there, why they give a lot of importance to these machines and more. I was truly surprised that there are vending machines for books. When I first read it, I came up with the idea of how people can choose the book from its cover. By the way, I had just imagined that we can only see the cover but in reality, they might have some preview on the screen for customers. Moreover, I also wondered why people need vending machines for books. It is understandable that cooked food or fresh juices or bread are provided by vending machines but how does it work with books?

In this news, they also mentioned about having vending machines around the cities, for  which they raised Japan as an example. I would like to talk about my experience using vending machines in Japan as I visited several times. The first time I went to Japan, It totally opened my world. There are many sophisticated innovations created for building a great standard of life. Vending machines are also included here. At that time, three  years ago, it was such  brand new technology for me because there was not much available in Thailand. It is inevitable that it is so convenient. My family and I enjoyed buying snacks and drinks very much. They are located everywhere or even on every floor of the hotel. The price and quality of products were the same as a convenience store, which was reasonable to buy. 

Once the vending machine has the concept of contactlessness. In Singapore, the government is able to apply the machine well to the pandemic situation. They offered some free face masks on vending machines. I strongly appreciate this point. I want to mention more about  the situation of having no staff. This is also the good point of vending machines especially for entrepreneurs. They do not need to pay for several counter-employees. Overall, I must say the vending machine trend  is a good development in many respects . Try it when you have your chance.

 

______________________ 

Question

What is your opinion about having vending machines around Bangkok city?______________________ 

Reference

• McDonald, T. (2021, February 22). Singapore vending machines now dispense salmon, crab and even cacti. BBC. https://www.bbc.com/news/business-56066064 

Peter: A jump to the Dreamtime

Summary

Photographing the painting and
ancient wasp nests on site

According to “Australia: Oldest rock art is 17,300-year-old kangaroo” (2021), the leader of an indigenous Australian organization has emphasized its importance for ensuring that traditional “stories are not lost” of the recent discovery that an Australian Aboriginal rock painting can be confidently dated to 17,300 years ago. Using radio-carbon dating on mud-wasp nests from both above and below the image of the famously Australian image, which was painted in red clay, the research team could be certain that it was created between 17,500 and 17,100 years ago. One researcher added that similarities to much older rock paintings in Indonesia, now dated back to 45,000 years, suggest possible connections between the two cultures in the region. 

Unlike my summary of the longer, more complex article about Bill Gates, this one took 26 minutes planning + 12 minutes to write + a few minutes to edit, so about 40 minutes altogether. Again, you can see my planning notes and my composing in the Google Doc. 

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Response

My country's coat of arms

The first thing that attracted me to this story in the BBC News as I was browsing just before our class last Tuesday was that it’s about Australia. And not just Australia, but our iconic marsupial the kangaroo. Even though I grew up in an area with plenty of kangaroos, also koalas, the fun of spotting one jumping around a paddock or along a road never failed to thrill. It is fitting that the kangaroo, along with the emu, grace my country’s national coat of arms. Kangaroos are also delicious. On my annual visit to see family and friends, I also get in a kangaroo steak. I wonder how many other nations gobble down their national animals. (Yes, we also eat emu meat in Australia, but I prefer duck from my brother’s farm to emu.) 

When I actually read the article, the science there impressed me. Radio-carbon dating is not new, but the way the scientists used the ancient mud-wasp nests, some of which the artists had painted over and some of which had been built by wasps over the new art work, was clever. It’s a bit like forensic science in detective shows on TV, where the smallest detail can unlock the mystery. 

And the actual age of the ancient paintings is a mystery worth unlocking. We’ve known for a long time that humans had occupied the land now know as Australia for about 50,000 years before the British turned up to claim it in the name of their king at the time, and then proceeded to suppress and kill off the original inhabitants as such “saviours” tend to do while making up amazing stories about how they were bringing civilization and the joys of religion and so on to the native people being turned into despised outcasts on what had for thousands of years been their homeland. At least my Italian ancestors arrived much later and we came as refugees escaping economic hardship and political repression in late 19th century Italy. 

Australia's oldest kangaroo,
or so the story now says

Of course, Australia’s Aboriginal people also told themselves stories. The kangaroo is most likely a character in one of those ancient Dreamtime stories of tribes who once covered Australia with their thousands of different languages, traditions and cultures. It was, in fact, the last sentence of the article that persuaded me that I wanted to summarize and respond to it. That sentence quotes an Aboriginal community leader: “‘It's important that Indigenous knowledge and stories are not lost and continue to be shared for generations to come,’ she said.” In my summary, I thought them important enough that I quoted four words from this quotation in my source. 

17th century telling of the story
where God punishes Adam and
Eve for seeking knowledge

I agree that stories are extremely important to human beings. And like examples that can clarify our ideas in an essay, it doesn’t always matter whether the stories we tell are fact or fiction, just that they can be believed on some level by the human groups that they bind together, which is what our stories do when we share them in recited poems, in books, in movies, in opera, in ballet, in TV series, or on rock paintings. The ancient religious stories of every culture are not true, but they are still powerful stories, even when people who believe in the religion interpret the ancient stories as metaphors rather than as facts. The story of  the creation of the world, of the Earth and of humans related in the Judeo-Christian Bible’s book of Genesis, for example, tells how God worked hard to create the world and everything in it in six days, and then rested on the seventh day. This ancient story is totally not true, but its power is seen in every country every week: even in Thailand, the week is seven days long, and Sunday is the day of rest. The ancient Middle-Eastern story still rules. And that same origin story in the Bible conveniently made women the servants of men, and gave humans the right to plunder the Earth, as we have done with results that might not prove catastrophic to ourselves. No god is going to save us. We perhaps need better modern stories founded on healthier moral values than the commands of dictatorial gods. But as with the ancient stories of the Aboriginal people, we need to remember, to tell and to critically review our stories from the past to understand what we are today, and what we might be able to be tomorrow.  

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Question

What are some positive and negative effects that have come from the traditional stories of your culture? 

______________________ 

Reference

• Australia: Oldest rock art is 17,300-year-old kangaroo. (2021, February 23). BBC. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-56164484

Peter: Gates to a better future

Summary

Justin Rowlatt
interviewing Bill Gates

In “Bill Gates: Solving Covid easy compared with climate”, Justin Rowlatt (2021) says that when he interviewed him, billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates expressed optimism that humanity would be able to solve it, despite climate change being far more challenging than Covid-19 has proven. According to Rowlatt, Gates thinks that the “moral conviction” of concerned young people can help push governments to adopt the policies needed to encourage greener economic decisions so that the full cost of the energy and goods we consume is paid for, rather than being inflicted on the environment as in the past. Responding to the conspiracy theories some level at him, Gates, who recently published How to Avoid a Climate Disaster, said he has and will continue to ignore them as he now raises his voice to speak on the urgency of climate change in addition to his work of many years on global health issues. 

You can view both the Google Doc in which I composed this summary and a pdf print of the planning I did in MS OneNote. 

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Response

Family meal at my brother's
home on my last visit

I wish I could be so optimistic about our species’ future as Bill Gates is, but I’m not sure that history favours Gates’ confidence that we will overcome the challenges posed by the climate change crisis that is already affecting us. In my own country, Australian, for example, scientists attribute the increasing severity of bushfires that destroy homes and bush habitats to climate change. They predict this will only increase in coming years. In 2019, my brother’s farm near the city of Lismore, was smothered in smoke from bushfires for almost two months. And it was dry. His usually lush, green grass and trees turned brown. He was very lucky that the bushfires only came close. Several of his neighbours were not so lucky, although only a couple of homes in the area were lost to fire. Other rural and semi-rural areas of Australia were not so lucky. And because the rain is less reliable, he's had another dam dug on his property. 

As Gates correctly identifies, a cause of global warming and related harm to the Earth and the living things on it, plants and animals such as ourselves, is that our economic systems since at least the time of the Industrial Revolution a couple of hundred years ago have allowed polluters not to pay the economic cost of their factories and extraction of resources. Electricity plants used to spew smoke from coal into the air that everyone must breathe. Paper manufacturers could flatten forests to get the raw materials they needed, and car drivers could make the air of Bangkok disgusting for the rest of us who live here. I agree with Gates that the full economic cost of these practices should be paid for by consumers. I’m not sure how radically Gates wants to change things, perhaps not as much as I think they should be changed. Car manufactures and sellers, for example, should be taxed at a high enough rate to fully pay for the government to undo the pollution that they cause. That would mean that fuel for cars should be much more expensive. I realize that this would slow economic growth, but such radical action might also save our planet, and therefore save our species from extinction. 

But I often read in the news of people who do not believe in climate change, or who don’t believe that humans cause it. This willful ignorance or rejection of the consensus of science is irrational and dangerous, as most unreason is, whether from the greedy denial that smoking causes cancer or the strange stories that religions tell to justify violating other people in other groups. 

Cattle (and a sister)
on my brother's farm

And that seems to me the deeper problem. Humans have always preferred their own interests of the interests of their group over fair sharing with others. As Gates says, the people of India naturally want, and deserve equally, the same standard of living enjoyed by people like my family in Australia. That means a lot of construction. I agree with Gates that technology can provide answers where religion and other ideologies, such as unregulated capitalism, fail or make things worse. I liked, for example, Gates’ example of meat grown in laboratories as an alternative to meat from cows, pigs, chickens and so on, but I fear that some, such as the US beef industry, will reject it as being unnatural. Actually, my brother raises beef cattle on his farm, and I’m not sure how he feels about cultured beef steaks replacing steaks from his delicious cattle, or his wonderful free-range ducks that I always enjoy on my visits.  

Technology is not the problem. We humans seem to me the real threat to our continued existence on a sustainable Earth. 

As I expected, the 600 words in my response took only about 35 minutes to write. It was much easier than the short summary paragraph. Then I had some fun finding and adding a few images.

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Question

Singapore has approved
lab-grown chicken for sale

Now that cultured meat grown more efficiently in factories without killing animals is becoming available, should traditional meat taken from slaughtered animals be taxed at a high rate to encourage consumers to switch to lab-grown meat? 

______________________ 

Reference

• Rowlatt, J. (2021, February 15). Bill Gates: Solving Covid easy compared with climate. BBC. https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-56042029

Skillful 4: Reading & Writing, page 30 - Critical thinking

What is it?

In their critical thinking exercise that concludes the reading "Instant Gratification", Warwick and Rogers (2018, p. 30) invite us to discuss two follow-up questions on streaming and online gaming.  

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Questions

• What do you think are the main reasons for the increased popularity of streaming and online gaming?
   
• What are some of the disadvantages of streaming services? How can these affect performers?
 

You have 15:00 minutes to plan and write a response to the two questions. I suggest you divide your time roughly as:

• planning = 3:00 minutes (It's usually a good idea to plan before you start to write.)
• writing = 9:00 minutes, and 
• editing = 3:00 minutes.

A helpful strategy

Imagine you are writing for someone who has not read the question you are answering or the article that the question follows up. Your aim is to clearly communicate your response to that reader, so it might help to paraphrase the question at the start of your response to it. But you need to rewrite (paraphrase) the idea in the question as a statement. 

Because your writing should make sense independently of the question it might be answering, it is usually useful to give background, which can often be done by paraphrasing the question into statements that begin your answer. This is also a useful strategy in exams such as IELTS and TOEFL.

_________________________________

Reference

• Warwick, L. & Rogers, L. (2018). Skillful 4: Reading & Writing, Student's Book Pack (2nd. ed.). London: Macmillan Education

Prim: The Best in Hide and Seek

Talking about the favorite games in my childhood reminds me of myself as a kid who attended primary school. The memories are nearly faded away. At that time, my favorite game was influenced by my personality and the surrounding environment. Me as an energetic girl with a smile on my face, ran to school every day to play with my friends. But to be honest, actually, I ran because I was late. Anyway, I really played a lot at that time. I think all of you can imagine which kind of kid species I was back then.,.. an annoying one. So let’s move on to what made me happy at that period of time.

It is true that I was born in quite a special era. I was lucky to be in the middle of technology development, so I have felt life both ways before smartphones, Ipad, and Twitter have started. Which is kind of a blessing, The game I enjoyed at that time evolved real people, real action, and real scenarios. Hide and seek, run and chase, frozen chase, Crew chase, jump rubber band, jackstone, and my favorite one is Hide and Seek. The game gives me creativity and it was very fun back then. As I remember the old-time thoughts, My heart fills with happiness and joy. 

Another factor here is my school environment. My school was different from most other schools. The place is filled with nature. Why? Begin with the concept of learning methods and teaching technique, which were quite strange. I learned how to plant and grow rice, how to garden and clean, how to cook rice without electricity, and separate garbage before throwing it away. We even had a rice farm inside the school, which also included a park and pond to study the ecosystem. So It allowed me to create my fantastic play zone for several years, which forms me to be a happy person, positive thinking, and lively to this day.

Although I didn’t appreciate that knowledge at that time because I was too happy to not stay still in the classroom, now I realize they teach the concept of creativity and gave me a lot of lessons and skills to live.