Week 5 [06.05 - 12.05] Why world love Game of Thrones?

When the first season was created, fans of good fantasy were simultaneously delighted and full of fears. Is one of their canonical works, "A Song of Ice and Fire" (Title of the first volume of books George R.R. Martin), in television adaptation will not be sterilized from the content, and what's worse - from the quality of the original. The fears turned out to be unfounded.

The crossroads of the huge story and the HBO brand caused that with each season the popularity of the series increased, and consequently - fantasy as a genre. Millions of viewers around the world who have not come close to fantastic prose understand that the presence of dragons does not mean production for children or escapist seekers. Next to adventures and emotions, so well devoted in the series, a lot of philosophical, religious and economic considerations there. And above all - human characters that are not simply good or bad. Here the division into good and evil as such is blurred. The global phenomenon of "Game of thrones" is precisely what this is about. "Game of Thrones" didn't start the serialized revolution, but from today's perspective it is its biggest beneficiary. And he will certainly be in the canon of the most famous television series forever.

The screenplay for the entire first season of the series received the Hugo award in the category "best dramatic presentation" in 2012. In contrast, the scenarios for the episodes of Blackwater Bay and Rains of Castamere received the Hugo award in the category "the best dramatic presentation (short form)" in the years 2013 and 2014 respectively.

Average viewership of the 6th series in the United States is 23.3 million, by 15 percent. more than the previous season. In Poland, it amounted to 110,000, which is by 23 thousand. watching more than last season. The final episode of the seventh series, The Dragon and the Wolf, was watched by over 16.5 million viewers. In 2011-2019 the Game of the Throne was won by Totals wins 239 and 715 nominations

The directors of the final series include the creators of the series: David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, but it is a curiosity that the plot of the series has long since overtaken issued books. Benioff and Weiss learned the key elements of the plot from the writer and on this basis work on the next episodes. The last season will have four directors. The first episode of the decisive final season of the "Game of thrones" season had its premiere on 14/04/2019. It will be the shortest season of all consisting of 6 episodes. 

1) Do you ever seen Game of Thrones?
2) Do you watch other TV series?
3) Do you prefer movies or TV series?

Sources:
1) statistics GOT: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_of_Thrones

2 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQzdMyuz0Lf4zo4uGcEujFw

3) https://www.filmweb.pl/serial/Gra+o+tron-2011-476848

Week 4 [22.04 - 28.04] Have you ever heard about the Boosted Board?

 

Few years ago I've started watching Casy Naistat's vlogs on YouTube. Long story short for you that might not knowing him, as a busy New Yorker he tries different form of transportation to save as much time during the day as possible. From obvious reason car isn't the best option in Big Apple. Subway also got disadvantages. Using your own bike is one of the possibility but it's quite hard to take a bike to taxi/public transport and from what I know theft of bicycles is a plague in NY. Next point on the list might be sharing a bicycle but even on our Warsaw experience most of us know what's the technical condition of them. He used to skate a lot so it came quite natural that skateboard in different forms become one of his most often used way of traveling through the city. It has a lots of advantages : competitive size, able to take with you to PT or even plane, useful in big city. But long distances on traditional skateboards (including longboards) are painful to overcome.

Here I come to the main topic - Boosted Board is a Californian company that combined electric motors, bamboo deck of longboard, efficient battery and wireless controller. As an outcome we received well designed, 14 mile range with extended battery (~ 22 km) and max speed over 24 mph (~ 38 km/h) electric skateboard.

After few years later Boosted Board company developed different variants of their skateboard depends on customer needs. For now, we can choose between size, range and of course price configuration ( unfortunately they're producing one of the most expensive electrical skateboards on the market).

Last summer I've got an opportunity to try one for a few minutes and I have admit that it's a brilliant device (toy as well!!). I never was much a skate-guy so I know that I'll have to practice a lot and I guess it might cost me few injuries but I think that (beside the cost of purchase- estimated around 8k zł after taxes for top model) at some point it might become my new and main way of moving around the city. It's fast, accurate and small enough to let you combine the way of traveling.
On the market there are lots of  much cheaper alternatives (but also quality is on different level) so I think that this way of transport can be affordable for almost everyone.

Questions:
1. Did you ever use any electric vehicle?
2. Do you think that small electric vehicle can be alternative to public transport?
3. What should be changed (except price) to encourage you to buy electric skateboard?

 Feel free to share your opinion!



Source:
1. Casy Neistat and Marques Brownlee  YouTube channels.
2. https://boostedboards.com/

Week 4 [22.04 - 28.04] Hard dance music

There is a certain genre in electronic dance music that is very different from others. That group has a characteristic heavy beats and tempo in 4/4 time (sometimes called Four on the floor). Without surprise this genre is known widely as “Hard Dance Music”.

Everything started in the early nineties when house music from the USA came to dominate dancefloors in Western Europe. Later on, that kind of music started to evolve in every country in their own way. For example in the UK, house was transformed into UK garage and jungle. In Germany house was mixed with trance. That new subgenre was called Acid Trance. Also they are pioneers in hard trance genre.

Figure 1. Bonzai Records. One of the first Belgium hard dance music label.

In the meantime, musical influences have arrived to the neighboring country - Holland. Finally tempo has been increased from 150 to 190 beats per minute. Music producers started to add some shifted and distorted pitch and that’s how gabber has been born (nowadays we call it early-hardcore). In that country this type of music became so popular that listeners created their own subculture called gabber. They are known for their unique outfit style. Gabbers spend their time in crowded clubs so they wear thin clothes. That’s why they usually wear tracksuit trousers, particularly one brand called Australian. Because of the fast tempo a normal dance would be really tiring, gabber listeners created new form of dancing called Hakken. In those times organizations with hardcore music events started to work such as Thunderdome or Mysteryland.

Figure 2. Mysteryland 2017 Q-dance stage.

As time goes by music producers start to use new technology in their productions to create something new. For example lots of gabber tracks were made with Roland Tr 909 drum machine.
A new age of hardcore was called mainstream and producers started to embrace a slower style characterized by a deeper, harder bass drum that typically had a longer duration. Tracks started to become more melodic. At the same time one of the well known gabber music producers called The Prophet combined hardcore and trance music. He took a simple bass line and started to play it in the reverse. That technic created a new genre called hardstyle.
Hard music has a lot of subgenres. In this article I ommited a lot of concepts and facts to not to complicate this topic too much. As you see hard dance music is very extensive definition, particularly Hardcore.

Questions:
1. What do you think of electronic dance music? Do you have friends that are into it?
2. Have you ever been on any music festival? How was your experience? Have you been there alone or with friends? If not, are you going to take part in any in the near future?
3. Do you think fanbase of hard dance music will grow or it will decrease?

Sources:
1. https://www.hardnews.nl/en/
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardstyle
3. http://techno.org/electronic-music-guide/

Week 4 [22.04 - 28.04] VAR - new era in football?

Nowadays, modern football is not just a sport, but also a big business. Players earn enormous salaries, with luxury contracts and play under high pressure to win trophies each season. 

They’re aware that sometimes one mistake can cost not only a lost cup but also a huge money.

How about the situation, when the referee made a mistake? His decision cannot be changed, also after the match. Because of that, players are cheating during matches and trying to put additional pressure on referees. Several years ago, people started discussion about some system for checking the most important decisions made by referee during the match.

Over the years, some improvements have been made: the number of referees was increased, goal-line technology was added but still, it hasn’t solved problem at all, as they couldn't see everything on the pitch.

After a couple of years, it was created, tested and currently VAR (Video Assistant Referee) is actively used in top football leagues and Champions League.

The main purpose of this system is to help referee with choosing the right decision when during match, some situation is unclear to judge. Before the system appeared, referee could only talk with lines referees for double check his decision.

How it works?

VAR system does not need to be present on the stadium. Normally, it’s headquartered in a remote location away from the game. All details can be viewed on URL below:

 

This system moves football to higher level, as it can reduce human mistakes to minimum, referee can watch disputable situations a couple of times before he made a final decision. But is that really true?

The system can be used only in four situation from the list below:
1) Goals – to check if goal was scored properly
2) Penalties – to decide if penalty should be given or not
3) Red cards – to check if player should be sent off
4) Mistaken identity – to check if decision was made on wrong player

What is interesting, referee doesn’t have to use it if he is confident with his current decision. So some crucial decisions can be made without VAR consultation.
Another fact is that it delaying time spent on analysing final decision. Players are waiting for final decision, but the timer is not stopped during that time.

Also, last matches proven that it can ruin typical football spirit and emotions. For example, in the last seconds of the game, player from Manchester City scored a goal, which caused euphoria on the stadium. Then, referee got message from VAR that goal should be cancelled because of offside:

          

So theoretically, the system is a perfect solution for current football problems but the reality shows that firstly, it’s not ideal and secondly, if football will completely switch to new "VAR thinking", we would have to avoid thinking like “this was a little touch, no penalty should be given" during football matches, as cameras can show everything.

1) Do you watch football? Have you heard about (or watched) any controversial situation, where VAR could help?
2) Do you think that VAR system helps or it changes games to more schematic and boring?
3) Do you think that in the future, full match control is proper for game spirit? Should it be limited or extended?

Sources:
1) https://www.90min.com/posts/6304526-var-for-dummies-a-step-by-step-explanation-of-video-assistant-referees
2) https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/47690634 3) https://www.theguardian.com/football/2019/feb/21/var-drama-schalke-manchester-city-debates-enhanced-experience
4) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdwOL08NfxQ

Week 4 [22.04 - 28.04] Can cardboard be worth more than gold?

Oh yes it definitely can, and even way more than that. Before I explain let me briefly tell you about a game called Magic the Gathering.

In 1993 Richard Garfield created Magic the Gathering and it was published by Wizards of the Coast. It is referred either as Collectible Card Game or Trading Card Game, and to this day it is still very popular and every year new cards are released. Typically it is played as one vs one with pre-build decks consisting of 60 cards, but there are more different formats that people can play. For example Commander format uses 100 card decks, which include special Commander card that the deck should be revolved around and it is played by more than two players where every player is looking for himself. In this article I won’t be explaining the rules since it would take a bit too much, but if you were interested to know how to play it, I recommend having a look at the official basic guide at https://magic.wizards.com/en/magic-gameplay, and trying playing it online for free: https://magic.wizards.com/en/mtgarena or visiting one of the official local game shops.

Here is a small MTG skit followed by its Pro Tour report:

Magic the Gathering is not only a community of collectors and players who love the game, there is also a group of investors so to say, who try to predict card prices. Some of them buy sealed products wait until they are no longer printed, and resale for more. There are also brave enough people who try to manipulate the market, by buying the whole supply of certain cards.

I guess you might already have an idea why cardboard can be more expensive than gold. Typical card weights around: 1.8 grams and 1.8 gram of gold as of Today is worth: 74,80$, so as long as a card is worth more than that it will be worth more than its gold equivalent, and let me tell you, there are loads of cards worth more than that.

Card prices fluctuate a lot. Cards that are often used in many decks and haven’t been reprinted for a while tend to either keep their prices high or even slowly go up. For example Scalding Tarn hasn’t been reprinted for a while and is played a lot. Currently its average price is 99.74$.

Source

Other than that prices can be affected by content creators who mention that certain card is very powerful. That’s what happened with Paradox Engine, right after one of the popular Youtube channels released a video where they talked about it, it spiked to 49$:

Source

Whole different sums of money are in Vintage Magic. First ever printed set called Alpha had a very limited print run, and created one of the most iconic card: Black Lotus. The oldest cards that aren’t played, but instead bought by collectors, are often graded by certified companies. Grading depends on a few factors like no scratches cards, no edges damaged etc. Recently on eBay Black Lotus graded 9.5 out of 10 was sold for 166,100.00$, which is currently the record. Interestingly just 7 month ago the same grade Black Lotus was sold for “only” 87,100.00$.

Source

If you are interested in Magic the Gathering don’t get scared off by those prices. As I mentioned at the beginning there are many different formats in MtG, meaning some cards are legal in certain formats and some aren’t. For example, Black Lotus is legal only in the Vintage format, which is probably the most expensive format to play. Also the expensive cards are mostly used in a competitive environment, for a casual play you don’t really need those.

Questions:

1. Have you ever heard about Magic the Gathering before? If not, would you be interested in trying it?
2. Does those prices seem crazy to you or are they justifiable?
3. Have you ever collected anything or had a hobby that can get expensive?

Sources:

1. https://www.reddit.com/r/magicTCG/comments/80kc1f/til_any_magic_card_worth_more_than_about_77_is/
2. https://www.mtggoldfish.com/price/Zendikar/Scalding+Tarn#paper
3. https://www.mtggoldfish.com/price/Aether+Revolt/Paradox+Engine#paper
4. https://www.ebay.com/itm/1993-Magic-The-Gathering-MTG-Alpha-Black-Lotus-R-A-BGS-9-5-GEM-MINT-PWCC-/143136537077?_trksid=p2047675.m43663.l10137&nordt=true&rt=nc&orig_cvip=true

Week 4 [22.04 - 28.04] The effects of using the phone at work

   The history of the negative impact of technological innovations on productivity in the workplace dates back to the times when it appeared in offices for landline phones. The continuous information cycle, notifications indicating the arrival of "very important" messages, multichannel content flow in the network have meant that productivity at work is constantly decreasing. 

Figure 1 Distracted employee

   According to research conducted by the Central Bank of the UK, smartphone users reach their devices at least once every seven minutes. The research shows that performing tasks that require focus while reading e-mails and receiving calls reduces the employee's IQ by ten points compared to the colleagues who perform duties at work without this type of disruption. Lowering IQ by ten points can be compared to a sleepless night. The employee who has been notified by the phone during his task, needs about half an hour to return to the right level of concentration. Employees began to get used to the fact that something constantly bothers them at work, so they do not even achieve the level of focus necessary for productive task performance and are proactively looking for incentives that keep them off the job.

Figure 2 Multitasking and cell phone as a performance killer

   According to the research carried out by MIT, performing many activities at once, so popular during the times of the Internet and increased information circulation, is the enemy of productivity. Although technology has contributed to productivity growth earlier, in the middle of the first decade of the new century, the number of scatters in the workplace has reached a critical point.

Figure 3 A slight exaggeration, will you agree?

Questions:

1. Do you think that technology in the workplace has a negative impact on productivity?
2. Do you think that the employees who are distracted are less happy and have lower level of satisfaction with their own work?
3. Can we somehow prevent the negative effects mentioned in the above post?

Sources:

1. https://www.businessinsider.com/cell-phone-sabotages-productivity-2018-3?IR=T
2. https://www.cnbc.com/2016/06/09/top-distractions-at-work-and-how-to-increase-productivity.html
3. https://flexteaminc.com/cell-phone-no-nos-on-the-temp-job-scene/

Week 4 [22.04 - 28.04] Textalyzer

Textalyzer

A mobile phone is almost an inseparable part of today's reality. At home, on the bus,
on the street you can more and more often see people staring at smartphones. Unfortunately,
sometimes it ends in fatal accidents.

Source

Using a smartphone while driving is not only punished with a fine, but above all, stupidity.
Unfortunately, it is not always possible to prove that the collision was caused by a person
who stared at the phone.

The United States can become pioneers in the field of testing whether the driver of
the vehicle used the telephone before an accident. It will be possible thanks to the
device named “Textalyzer”. Its task will be to analyze the phone of drivers involved
in the collision. The device is going to check the use of applications such as Facebook,
Messenger, Whats Up and as well as games.

Source

The creators of the device, provide privacy, they declare the device will not have access
to the user's private data, nor will it store. The only task of the device is to check if the
phone was in use shortly before an accident.

Similar information can be obtained from mobile operators. After all, they "see" the
movement of the owner of the smartphone, if he does not use the VPN application.

While an operator may answer the question whether, a smartphone was used to make
a phone call or SMSs before accident, it will not answer the question whether these
actions were performed by the driver using a handsfree or virtual assistant.

Access to one's smartphone is a total insight into his private life. Such access can be
abused. Some drivers may refuse to connect the Textanalyzer to their smartphone.
And because the device does not break the protections, it will not do anything to force
its connection to the locked phone.

That's why councillors from the United Stated  suggest drivers who do not agree to access
the phone using the Textanalyzer should have the driving license  suspended for 90 days.

Research conducted by the Motor Transport Institute shows that using a mobile phone
while driving can be the cause of up to every fourth accident on Polish roads.

In summary - we have a problem. And probably much bigger than we think, because
in the case of a collision it  is probably never revealed that loss of attention was
the result of staring at the phone.

1. Should we fight with this problem? If yes, how?
2. Would you agree to police use  of Textalyzer on your phone?
3. Can you suggest another way to check if the phone was used before the accident?

Sources:

1.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Textalyzer

2.https://www.foxnews.com/auto/nevada-new-york-consider-using-textalyzer-in-distracted-driving-accident-investigations

3.https://www.cellebrite.com/en/blog/a-new-tool-to-combat-distracted-driving-may-be-on-the-way/

4.https://motoryzacja.interia.pl/wiadomosci/bezpieczenstwo/news-szokujace-dane-ile-wypadkow-powoduja-smartfony,nId,2600387

Week 3 (01-07.04.2019) Future of translation

Long time ago in a galaxy far far away there was a blue planet. Residents of this world were rather friendly but had problems with comunication. There was a story that preach about superior race that try to build a tower high enough to conncet lands with heavens. Unfortunately for them, God decided to disrupt their plans and put a spoke in humans wheel. From that moment people had to speak in different languages around different lands.

(0:48 he started presenting the device)

Recently I've watched a youtube video about new technologies and one device catch my attention. After quick reserch I found out more about new translating devices and get a feeling that soon we might witness huge change in interpersonal comunication. Of course videos I posted afore are more of a triler than a true oscar winnig movie becouse we are seeing very adjusted situations when intelocutors spoke very clearly and had great accent. Still their potential for further develompent is huge and as an argument I could quote situation with smartphones. Not long ago when first Iphone 3s appeared most of us had been using mobile phones (personally I even forgot how to call previous
generation). How many years expired when Iphone 5 arrived ? I think at that time most of society have been using smartphones. It's only my guess but chances for connecting this two devices are pretty high. For me possibility to change my headphones in a little real time translator sounds awsome. I don't have to worry about awerness of english language when speaking with locals in any location in the world at least not untile battery run down. Different story is how it change our realtions with others. When I was watching video I got hold of an impresion that conversers tend to be more focus on tool itself. Perhaps becouse it was something new but I'm afraid that the case was the device becoming an obstacle. When talking to another person you aren't only speeking but whole setting play a crucial role. I can't imagine situation when I lose chance to observe gesture or facial expressions becouse my attention consume a translator. Also people become more and more expedient and I wouldn't be surprised to see situations when even knowing interlocutor language we would depend on the devices rather ourselves. Not to mention that learning new languages help developing better memory and cognitive thinking.


Would you rather try buing new translator or langueage course ?
In your opinion this type of devices is a future of comunication for humankind ?
Do you see new generation of translators beneficial for building deep relationships with people from other countries ?

Week 3 [01-07.04.2019] Coworking space

Have you ever heard about so called coworking spaces? Briefly speaking, coworking space is a workspace occupied by employees from various companies (people working in coworking space are called “community”), sharing some amenities such as kitchens, meeting rooms etc. Usually coworking spaces are most convenient for freshly launched startups, small businesses and freelancers. The opportunity of socialising with coworking community members may be particularly attractive for contractors, who work from home on a daily basis and feel isolated from other people. Demand on such worksplaces is successively growing, given the rising number of tech startups and freelancers on the market, It is a real global trend considering that coworking offices are all over the world – in Asia, America, Europe. One of the biggest coworking nets is WeWork which has some offices in Warsaw as well. Coworking space poses for sure a good response to multiple problems and challenges of the modern workplaces – nothing is ideal though -  let’s ponder its pros and cons then:

Advantages of coworking space:

1)    Relatively low cost and flexibility

As opposite to traditional, single-company offices, coworking space does not require long-term commitment and can be rented by short period (e.g. month). It is appreciated in particular by small tech startups. Thanks to the flexibility of coworking space model, le ss financially stable companies can  rent the space for shorter time.

2)    Facilities shared by coworking space members

Various utilities and appliances may be pretty costly to buy/organize– coworking space is “all-inclusive” by nature, that is members of the community can make use of shared facilities such as:

·      High-speed internet wifi network,

·      Free coffee in the kitchen,

·      Printers/scanners,

·      Parking space,

·      Meetings rooms.

3)    Scalability of available work space

When a given company thrives, it needs more space for new employees – coworking space is more scalable  than a private office and  should meets your demand on new office space.

4)    The atmosphere of creativity

People from different companies, sitting together for hours on a daily basis may positively impact on each other and boost mutual creativity. Sharing ideas and seeking advice is therefore very easy in coworking space. Entrepreneurs may gain new business contacts in that way,

5)    True sense of being a member of community

A number of events are organized in a coworking space, such as weekly happy hours, dinners, breakfasts, parties to help community members meet each other.

Disadvantages of coworking spaces:

1)    Too high cost
For a big company (with hundreds of employees) coworking space may not be an option – it is much cheaper to organize its own private office, such established companies do not require community/social network either,

2)    Lack of privacy

The workspace is shared and employees from various companies can see other all time (in Warsaw WeWork there are no walls, but glass dividers) – you may be afraid that the people from the office located next to your area may hear you when you talk about them ;) Some companies that for instance work with private/sensitive information cannot located in coworking space for that reason.

3)    Too much distraction

Most of the people come to the office to work, not to have fun – too many parties/integration events may be distracting for them in the long term.

Questions:

1) Have you ever worked in coworking space (e.g. WeWork in Warsaw)?

2) Do you find working in coworking space attractive or it would be too distracting for you?

Sources:

1) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0RSc9mtZp4

2) https://hbr.org/2015/05/why-people-thrive-in-coworking-spaces

3) https://www.chargespot.com/workspaces/coworking-spaces/
4) https://www.wework.com/pl-PL/l/warsaw