Tracking your parents

Issue for debate: If parents are allowed to monitor their children´s activities, what happens when those children become adults? Are the children allowed to monitor their parents? And when does it become spying? These kids decided to do just that, hacking their father´s computer and using GPS to locate him and maybe even murder him. Raises the question of how far one can go with surveillance and what if it is in the interest of the subject itself such as a mentally ill family member? Technology creating more questions than answers again...

Official: World economy worst since 1930s

Thanks to fat cat stock exchange greed, we´re now in the same position the world was in around the time of the great depression, according to the UN.

European import duty limits

At last! They´ve finally increased the limit allowed for importing goods from abroad. This means that if you buy anything over the internet, you only have to pay customs duty if the value is more than 150 Euros (except if it´s from a private individual in which case it´s still 45). You still have to pay tax on your purchases, but it´s still a vast improvement. There´s lots of stuff in America or China which you can´t get here, so every incentive helps. Also if you bring anything back with you, the limit has been increased to 430 Euros. So next time you´re in the US, bring an extra case with you.

New drug to combat jet lag

Tasimelteon is a new drug that will go on trial next year that influences the levels of melatonin and helps to shift the body´s natural sleep rhythm, making you sleep longer when your sleep pattern has changed. My trick is always to step into the new rhythm of sleeping and eating as soon as possible, though the killer for me is always when you´ve been flying all night and arrive early in the morning. No matter how I try I always feel dopy in those situations. I guess I just like my sleep.

New ways of spreading God´s Word

How about a glossy magazine? The Bible Illuminated is a just one of the novel ways to spread the New Testament to the modern world. It was never this exciting when I was at school. Apparently Jesus Loves Porn Stars too. Still, although I can agree with the basic Christian principles (which are pretty much the same as every other religion), I don´t feel a need to belong an organised church. That´s when the whole power system of ideology kicks in, and I don´t want any part of that in whatever form.

Robots take to the stage

The Japanese have this thing about robots, trying ever more to make them more socially responsive and acceptable. Now theyŕe taking part in stage plays. To me this isn´t so much cutting edge (programming steps into a computer is nothing new), but the application is interesting.

NASA´s Lost Toolbag

The toolbag that a NASA astronaut dropped while repairing the ISS during a spacewalk has been filmed from earth. The thing is worth about $100,000 dollars so as a result there´ll be some procedural changes to ensure that they remain tethered in the future.