Week 5 [14.12-20.12] Extremely talented and gifted breed of Border Collie dogs

Of all the existing dogs, one breed that stands out in particular is definitely the Border Collie. Border Collies are an extremely intelligent and hardworking dog breed. It is not new that all dog breeds have different levels of average intelligence. This breed definitely dominates when it comes to intelligence

Border collie is hard to confuse with any other breed of dog. They are medium-sized and have beautiful black and white fur. They give the impression of athletic dogs. Their intelligent and attentive gaze attracts attention. The eyes of these dogs reveal a change in attitude. When interacting with people, their gaze is cheerful and faithful. However, when working, she very quickly turns into watchful and strict.

                            https://www.psy.pl/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/shutterstock_647057674-e1500379340806.jpg

 

The history of this breed dates back to 1893. Its progenitor were dogs called Old Hemp. Even then, only 12-month-old dogs of this breed impressed with above-average herding skills. Modern Border Collies are descended from the Old Hemp breed. The first Border Collies were separated in 1915, but the Fédération Cynoloqique Internationale did not recognize the breed as official until 1976.

                                     https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e4/AuldHemp.jpg

 

As I mentioned, this breed is an extremely intelligent and hardworking breed of dogs. The role of the shepherd dog is to guard the herd, alert them against danger (as well as try to scare the danger away), prevent the herd from separating, and actively support the shepherds in herding sheep between the pens. They can be actively focused on their tasks for many hours throughout the day. Border Collies work very well with other herding dogs. If you are interested see for yourself Border Collie dog in action:

·

                                 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-axoEocnxg&ab_channel=It%27sMeortheDog

                            https://i.etsystatic.com/5302623/r/il/c4c53e/713637725/il_570xN.713637725_ew1z.jpg

 

There is probably no such second breed in terms of training and sports potential. They practically learn tricks themselves. In a few attempts you can teach them new tricks, where the same trick takes tens or even hundreds of approaches to dogs of other breeds. At Agility competitions, where they have to overcome an obstacle course in the shortest possible time with as few errors as possible, they leave the competition far behind. See it for yourself if you are interested:

·       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbQZ4FGv9ug&ab_channel=FOXSports

·       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8FfNQ_E0l0&ab_channel=NanaBorderCollie

 

                                https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/35/Border_Collie_agility_A-frame.jpg

 

Unfortunately, this dog breed is not the best choice for average people. They require a lot of attention and it is very difficult to meet their intellectual and sports requirements. The Border Collie is definitely a dog for experienced dog owners who can devote a lot of time and effort to them. They can become quite descriptive and want to break things in the home. It is similar with hunting dogs. People who want to adopt or buy specialized dogs should be sure of how to care for such a dog. It is not enough to go for a walk two or three times a day. Having such a dog is hard work, but it certainly pays off emotionally :)

 

                    https://static.fajnyzwierzak.pl/media/uploads/media_image/original/wpis/140/opinie-o-border-collie.jpg

 

1.     Which dog breed is your favorite and why?

2.     Have you heard of other intelligent dog breeds?

3.     Would you like to own a border collie? Would you be interested in training dogs?

4.     If you saw the attached videos, how did you like them? What do you think about the breed's potential and abilities?

 

Sources:

https://www.zooplus.pl/magazyn/psy/rasy-psow/border-collie

https://petportal.pl/zawody-agility-klasyfikacje-warunki-startu-przebieg-konkursu-i-oceny/

https://wamiz.pl/pies/rasy/341/border-collie

 

You're either the best or the worst. People are with you or against you.

Black and white thinking. 

Those who think in black and white terms tend to view everything in an oversimplified, unambiguous way – there might be good and bad but there’s no room for so-so. They don’t do of things by halves. They’re either passionate, giving it their all, or not being bothered, because deep down, they feel, to put it bluntly, a task is a waste of time and energy. They prefer to save their efforts for what matters, what they think is achievable and will have positive effects. The rest isn’t worth a second glance. Of course, pre-selecting tasks to avoid ambiguous and uncertain goals can be a useful thought pattern, but it may also lead to opportunities being dismissed too quickly.Should we ignore risky options or is it wise to focus on those with more potencial? After all a person might have an ability to simplify reality, perceptions and experiences, but life is more complex. It can’t be broken down into neat categories because it’s not black and white. It’s full of shades of grey. 

https://www.psychowiedza.com/2014/01/albo-albo.html

  

 

Disorted reality 

Thinking in absolutes and using polarizing words can be emotionally damaging, as a person might go from being great one minute to their life ‘being ruined’ the next. Black and white thinking, also called dichotomous thinking or splitting, can even turn into a mental trap: having only two options limits a person’s range of actions while at the same time intensifying thoughts and feelings. In the long-run, it can affect appreciation for life, so try to reframe such thinking by breaking the habit and bringing back the centre-ground and balance. Let’s say, for instance-that you’ve just turned 40, and a colleague or friend has commented that you’re now “old”. That doesn’t necessarily make them a bad person, but possibly an insensitive one (and definitely inaccurate).A French-Cuban American diarist Anaïs Nin 

said: “ We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are” because reality is what you make of it after all.

 

 

https://www.glospedagogiczny.pl/artykul/umiejetnosc-krytycznego-myslenia

 

Power of perception  

Each person possesses a unique set of filters through which they see the world. This perception defines the {subjective) reality and forms the foundation of a person’s world. Your perception of today is influenced by your memories, values, beliefs and environment. It’s a filtering system that helps the conscious mind process the mountain of information with which it is confronted. The brain actually sees far more than what it allows people to register, largely using self-constructed filters to limit the constant barrage of information. But if these filters are constructed to select some elements while ignoring others, they can also distort the overall view. After all parameters change and filters may need recalibrating for an optimal and balanced field of vision. If you change the structure of your perception, you also change the structure of your world. These pointers may help to make those perceptual changes: 

·      Try excluding absolute words from your vocabulary 

·      Limit time with people for whom there are only extremes

·      Think beyond the narrow constructs of success and failure

·      Give short shrift to your negative internal voice 

Also, remember that you hold the power to transform the world from black and white into glorious colours. 

 

 

SOURCES:  

https://mindsofhope.eu/czarno-biale-bialo-czarne-czyli-wszystko-albo-nic/

http://pl.help-is-at-hand.com/myslenie-czarno-biale/

https://www.psychologia.be/2020/07/08/myslenie-czarno-biale/

https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percepcja

 

   

QUESTIONS:

 

1)  Should we ignore risky options or is it wise to focus on those with more potencial?

2)    How do you perceive the world? Can you see everything clearly - the challenges as well as the opportunities - or is there only what you want to see?

3)    In other words, is your vision broad and all-encompassing or restrictive and one-sided?

Week 5 [14.12-20.12] CD Projekt

CD Projekt

I think everyone in Poland knows what it is, but if not let me explain. CD Projekt is a Polish publisher, distributor and producer in the video game industry, with head quarters located in Warsaw and departments in Cracow and Los Angeles. First, they started with distributing video games which they were translating to polish language. In 2002 they created CD Projekt Red to produce video games. Their first video game published in 2007 was The Witcher (only on PC), which was created in cooperation with Andrzej Sapkowski, game of course is based on his books. In 2011 they continued with The Witcher 2 which was available not only on PC but also on Xbox 360. Their biggest success was releasing 3rd part of The Witcher in 2015 (available on all platforms PC, Ps4 and Xbox One). 

Why The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was such a success? 

One of the biggest things that people love about the game is character of Geralt, he is a character that is hard to find in any other big RPG games. As in the books he is a very likable and unique with his personality (badass with a good sense of humor and kinda good heart). Of course not only the main character is a reason to buy a game, the studio paid a lot of attention to the details in game. It succeeds splendidly at its main goals (world, characters, quests, stories, presentation) and ranges from great to respectable in everything else (like graphics, atmosphere, combat and exploration). A bit in numbers: The Witcher 3 was sold in over of 50 millions of copies. Even if the game was released in 2015 it had it second youth in 2020 after Netflix came out with their series. Sales in the first three months of 2020 was incredible. But enough about The Witcher.

Cyberpunk 2077

About Cyberpunk 2077 I’m going to say a bit less and more about sales. It is an open-world, action-adventure story set in Night City, a megalopolis obsessed with power, glamour and body modification. Main character is V, a mercenary outlaw going after a one of a kind implant that is the key to immortality.  

Pre-order of Cyberpunk 2077 started on 9th of June 2019, game really fast became number one of the bestsellers on the platform called Steam. Games debiut on the night 9-10 of December 2020 and on the Friday morning CD Projekt informed that estimated sales of the pre-order version topped the total sum of all expenses incurred in connection with the production of the game, as well as costs related to marketing and promotion. So the everything they spent to create a game paid off, now It is the question, how much CD Projekt is going to earn with this game since with that amazing sales after 2 nights of pre-order. And a fun fact, on of the Hollywood superstars to lend his voice in game, is the one and only Keanu Reeves, which is the face of a character in a game, he also promoted Cyberpunk 2077 at E3 for Xbox, which cased a fun scene during it.

Bio:

www.redit.com

www.pl.wikipedia.org

www.cdprojekt.com

www.wyborcza.biz

www.bbc.com

Questions:

Do you enjoy playing video games? 

Did you know what CD Projekt was?

Have you ever played any of their games, if yes what was your experience with it?

Week 5 [14.12-20.12] The Ethical Dilemma of Self-Driving Cars

 

The Ethical Dilemma of Self-Driving Cars

 

Each day the technology industry is making a huge step forward into the future. Not only does it provide us with great solutions for existing problems but it also creates new obstacles and makes us deal with them. I’ve recently seen interesting animation on TED about an ethical dilemma of self-driving cars. Designing autonomous cars, developers  need to predict their behaviour on the road. Since the first car on the road people were made to make spontaneous decisions on the road when there was a dangerous situation. Such decisions aren’t planned and often are more intuitive. Autonomous cars can’t make such decisions and programmers simply have to prepare particular instructions for different scenarios. There we meet the ethical dilemma which is described thoroughly in the below video on TED :

What do you think about the dilemma mentioned in the video? I’m almost sure that the complexity of this dilemma makes it impossible to solve in a ‘good’ way. We have to define  our understanding of a ‘good’ way because at first glance it seems that there is no such way. Companies developing software for AI devices have a hard nut to crack. Maybe they should simply implement the functionality of random choice in such situations? After watching it I’ve decided to find out more on the internet and I’ve bumped into an interesting website with the machine moral dilemmas. I’ll attach the link to it below but before going there, try to think of any other dilemmas that such machines can have. You can find different scenarios there and also solve a quiz by judging and sharing your opinion in the comments. I’d never think that such a website can exist.

Figure 1 https://singularityhub.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/autonomous-car-hud-head-display-self-driving_shutterstock_1190801794-1068x601.jpg

To sum up, we can notice that ethical dilemmas may be a big problem in AI for machines, devices, and robots without the human brain and intuition. In some areas, technology can be as good as humans or even better but it seems that there will remain areas where it’s hard to determine what would be better. The human making intuitive decision or the robot doing what the programmer has implemented for such a scenario?

 

• What is your opinion on the topic of ethical dilemmas?

•  Can you think of any other ethical problems in AI?

•  In what way autonomous cars should make decisions in such tough scenarios?

Website: https://www.moralmachine.net/

TED: https://www.ted.com/talks/patrick_lin_the_ethical_dilemma_of_self_driving_cars

 

Week 5 [14.12-20.12] Eco detergents

 

Christmas is coming so it’s time for gifts CLEANING

https://rootiko.com/diy-natural-cleaning-products/

We all know Christmas is a time when we can be with our families and friends, but before we do, we have to prepare our houses/flats for their visit. We all know Christmas cleaning is not easy at all. There is so much to do. We all have many kinds of detergents, some of them are cheap, some of them are not. Again, some work perfectly, others just can’t do the job.

               Have you ever thought about making your own detergents? Some time ago I saw an article about eco cleaning products and detergents. I found out they are really easy to prepare, what is more, they are good for our health (we use only products harmless for human body) and of course they are much cheaper than those available in markets.  

               When it comes to me, I decided to make some natural detergents because of the fact that I am pregnant right now and I try to avoid all of chemical detergents.

I saw lots of recipes but I’ll write my favorites.

 

Bathroom cleaner – I love it because there is no need to wear gloves. It is cheap and it works - removes limescale very easily! Also you can choose the scent you like.

What do you need?

-0,5l of warm, boiled water

-2/3 glass of citric acid

-1/4 glass of salt

-essential oil (whatever you like)

-about 1,5 spoon of xanthan gum

-1 spoon of dish soap (eventually)

Pour salt and acid into warm water and stir until dissolved. Then add xanthan gum and blend it. Leave it for couple of minutes and check the density. It should be like a jelly. It is very tricky because xanthan gum changes its density after couple of minutes, so we should add this carefully. When we have a density we like, we should add essential oils. There are simply houndreds of them. One of the best (in terms of fighting with lethal bacterias) is a tea tree. If you do not like its scent, you can add whatever you want (lavender, orange, cinnamon, eucalyptus).

Extra fact! My blender was coloured after blending carrots with butter and I was unable to clean it properly for a while. Guess what happened after making bathroom cleaner? As you can imagine now I have a brand new, clean and shiny blender! 😊

 

Washing powder:

-1 glass of natural soapflakes

-1 glass of borax

-1 glass of baking soda

-½ glass of citric acid

-15 drops of essential oil you like

The secret is to make the powder properly. If you do not do this the right way, no one knows what will happen.

You have to put all the ingredients in one box and mix it, and it is done!

 

And Fabric Softener:

-200ml of warm (boiled) water

-2 spoons of citric acid

-10 drops of tea tree essential oil

This one is not that simple, before mixing all of the ingredients we somehow have to make water warm. One of my ideas is to boil it in a kettle. Another one is to use a pot instead of a kettle.

 

 Enjoy Guys 😊

 

1 What do you think about eco detergents?

2 Have you ever done anything like this yourself?

3 What do you think about DIY idea at all?

  

Usefull links:

https://rootiko.com/diy-natural-cleaning-products/

Week 4 [30.11-06.12] John Tolkien Legendarium of Middle-earth

 

 John Tolkien Legendarium of Middle-earth

I am a fan of John Tolkien's novels and I think that everyone has seen at least one film from the Legendary of Middle-earth. In this article, I want to tell not only about the films from the trilogy of The Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit, but also about his other works that precede them.

I will make a short intro on The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit to make it clearer what the conversation will be about.

So, The Lord of the Rings film trilogy is comprised of three live action fantasy epic films directed by Peter Jackson. The trilogy was among the highest-grossing films of all time, unadjusted for inflation. They are critically acclaimed, winning 17 Academy Awards in total, as well as wide praise for the cast and innovative practical and digital special effects.

Set in Middle-earth, the three films follow the young Hobbit Frodo Baggins as he and the Fellowship embark on a quest to destroy the One Ring, to ensure the destruction of the Dark Lord Sauron.

The Hobbit film trilogy tells the story of a young Hobbit Bilbo Baggins (who is Frodo's uncle) who embarks on an adventure that will change his life and the fate of all of Middle-earth.

In these films, it is briefly mentioned several times that the events take place in the ‘Third Age’ and the last events of the plot just finish it. But how many people know how many ages there were in total and how long they lasted? who were the main characters of the films and how old were they? and most importantly, what preceded those events?                                     

All these questions can be answered by reading only one book The Silmarillion, this book is a kind of bible of the Tolkien Legendarium. But for those who are not Tolkien fandom, reading it will be quite difficult, for the Silmarillion is replete with complex names, titles,                                                             characters, and so on. 

At the beginning it is about how the world was created: “Eru ("The One"), also called Ilúvatar ("Father of All"), first created the Ainur, a group of eternal spirits or demiurges, called "the offspring of his thought. Melkor – whom Ilúvatar had given the "greatest power and knowledge" of all the Ainur ... Many Ainur accepted, taking physical form and becoming bound to that world. The greater Ainur became the Valar, while the lesser Ainur became the Maiar. The Valar attempted to prepare the world for the coming inhabitants (Elves and Men), while Melkor, who wanted Arda for himself, repeatedly destroyed their work; this went on for thousands of years and, through waves of destruction and creation, the world took shape.”

And so, looks familiar? like from the Bible? Eru is the God, the Valar are the archangels and the Maiar are the angels. Melkor - the main villain of the entire Legendarium, is the oldest of Valar –“ whom Ilúvatar had given the "greatest power and knowledge"” he is something like Lucifer and his brother Manwe who became the main among the Valar and led the army against Morgoth (as Melkor was later named).

 And so we see that the main villain is not Sauron at all, as shown in the films, and this is because - he is just Mayar, an ‘angel’ and initially only was a servant of Morgoth until he was expelled from the world at the end of the First Age. 

So now we know who Sauron really was, but who then were Gandalf, Saruman and Radagast? They were exactly the same "angels" as Sauron, only inferior to him in strength, but still they were Mayar. When I was child, I often confused the names Sauron and Saruman, and if you have ever thought about the similarity of their names, then here is the answer. Even before the countdown of time (yes, the world already existed long before the first age began) Sauron and Saruman were in the retinue of one Valar(archangel) and in some way were brothers by belonging. This explains the similarity of their names, that both of them had a penchant for engineering different structures and machines, both created their own race of orcs (only according to the film version) and of course both leaned to the dark side.

In fact that Gandalf and other wizards were much stronger, but when the Valar sent them to Middle-earth to help people in the battles against Sauron, they wanted them only to give guidance and advice to people, inspire courage and hope in their hearts and people themselves had to defeat Sauron, so the wizards looked old and had all the human needs. If it were not for this limitation in power, then I think that Gandalf, Saruman and Radagast might have defeated Sauron themselves.

 

I will not write about people, elves, dwarves, hobbits, orcs and other inhabitants of Middle-earth, as they have been sufficiently described in films, especially in the director's versions (the duration of each film is from 3 to 4 hours). I will briefly tell you about the Ages. The First Age began with the appearance of people, but the elves appeared in the world for a long time ago, this is why for the beginning of the First Age there were many events, when the evil of Morgoth became, how elves and dwarves appeared and many other interesting things. But it was during the First Age that the peak of Morgoth's power and the greatest wars occurred when all people, dwarves, elves, Mayar(angels) and Valar (archangels) fought against the Morgoth and his warriors. When the war was won and Morgoth fell, the consequences were so huge that half of the existing world were destroyed. (This is why when the Valar sent the wizard to the Middle-earth to help in the fight against Sauron, they didn’t want them to help physically to avoid such destruction). This Age lasted up to a thousand years (it isn’t known exactly).

 After the fall of Morgoth, the Second Age began, which is about the rise of the Numenor (ancestors of Aragorn), the wars against Sauron and the fall of Numenor. It is about the events of this Age that Amazon is now making a series, which will tell who the Numenoreans are, why they were so great and then fell, about Sauron and the Rings of Power and how he fought with the elves for them, in the Second Age Elrond has one of the key roles, as the films say the Second Age ends with the victory of men and elves against Sauron in the battle of the last alliance. It lasted 3441 years. The Third Age was not as eventful as the others and the main ones began in 2941 of the Third Age when Bilbo Baggins began his journey and ends in 3021 when Elrond, Galadriel, Gandalf, Frodo and Bilbo depart from the Grey Havens. 

Sources:

I wrote this article from memory, I read main books(on my opinion) from the series of the Legendarium of Middle-earth(The Lord of the Rings 1,2,3; The Silmarillion; The Children of Húrin; Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth ), I spied the exact dates and counts and quotes from Wikipedia(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Silmarillion), and the images are just from google photos(The Silmarillion, LOTR, Melkor, Sauron, Hobbit, Rings, The Ring, Balrog)

QUESTIONS:

    1. Have you watched all the Legendarium films and are you waiting for the Amazon series? 

    2. Are you a fan of Tolkien and what books have you read?

    3. For hardcore fans :) Do you know some interesting facts about the author, his books, the films, or even about filming or directing them?

For example, that Galadriel is Elrond's mother-in-law, or that Elrond is half-elf, his father was a human and his mother was an elves, he was born with his brother, ordinary people, but in childhood they were given the choice: to live on as people or become elves, Elrond chose an immortal lot, but his brother wanted to stay mortal and became the first king of Numenor and lived for almost a thousand years. So Aragon is a distant relative of Elrond, and Arwen in a some way his aunt ;)