Sunday, June 26, 2022

A Great Surprise

A great surprise 

One day in 2009, me and my friends were playing football as usual when suddenly my father came along and told me that I had to go back home because a friend of him was coming all the way from another city to visit us. Of course that I wasn’t really happy to flunk out the match, but as my dad looked pretty content that I was going to meet his friend, whom he had invited, I just smiled and headed back home. 

After a while, some members of our family started to arrive home but there were no signs of that  mysterious friend that I longed for to see. Because of that, I started asking about who this person was, and why he wanted to meet me if he was just my father’s friend. Furthermore, as I was asking too much, my parents decided that it would be better if I helped my grandma with some cooking stuff instead of wondering even more about the situation. 

Eventually, after probably more than an hour later, I began thinking that this guy probably had put off this meeting because it was a Sunday and he probably had to wake up early the next day. But suddenly, someone appeared,it was my great uncle carrying a suspicious little handmade wooden truck with something covering its trailer, which I immediately told to uncover. As soon as I did that, I came by a little puppy, which my parents told me that was this friend who longer for me. 

Finally, this dog really became my friend and after more than 12 years, I still remember that day as one of the most remarkable ones.




Compare


A Great Surprise 

One day in 2009, my friends and I were playing football as usual when out of the blue my father came along and told me that I had to go back home because a friend of his was coming all the way from another city to visit us. Of courseI wasn’t really happy to dip out the match, but as my dad looked pretty insistent that I was going to meet his friend, whom he had invited,SoI just smiled and headed back home. 
 
After a while, some members of our family started to arrive home,but there were no signs of the mysterious friend that I waiting to see. Because of that, I started asking about who this person was, and why he wanted to meet me if he was just my father’s friend. I suppose I was asking too many questionsso my parents decided that it would be better if I helped my grandma with some cooking stuff,instead of wondering even more about the situation. 

Eventually, after probably more than an hour,I began thinking that this guy probably had put off this meeting because it was a Sunday and he probably had to wake up early the next day. But suddenly, someone appeared. It was my great uncle carrying a suspicious little handmade wooden truck with something covering its trailer, which I was immediately told to uncover. As soon as I did that, I came upon a little puppy, which my parents told me was this friend who had been longing to meet me. 

Finally, this dog really became my friend and after more than 12 years, I still remember that day as one of my most remarkable.

Sunday, April 10, 2022

(Advanced) Facial Recognition Technology - Uses and Risk Factors


With the introduction of the iPhone X, Apple brought to the forefront facial recognition technology, or what they call FaceID - a way for users to be able to unlock their phone just by looking at it. The technology has been around for decades, but not until now has it started raising questions about safety and security. Just recently, a controversial Stanford University study used face recognition to determine whether someone was gay or straight. Kathryn Ryan speaks with Clare Garvie - a privacy lawyer who researches the risks of face recognition technology at Georgetown University.

Listen:


Facial recognition tech


Uses

Law Enforcement:
1.
2.

Retail outlets
1.
2.

Social meid platforms
1.
2.

In Russia
1.

Apple and Facebook
1. information not __________ to anyone else

"Face First"
1. makes templates ___________________ -
2. Collects the information from _____________


What are the laws regulating use of face recognition tech?

What happens in practice?


Risk Factors

What makes face recognition so powerful?

1._________________
2. Often done ________________
3. Companies are started to adopt ___________
4. An Israeli company called ________________ market product that supposedly ______________
5. Even though the science is not proven _____________________
6. The Saudi Government uses _____________ and could use it to s________ visitors to the country or e________ or eligibility of citizens to _________.
7. Facial recognition tech is a H____ Gr____ for marketing.
8. It can give advertisers and retailers a _______________ about their customers.

Discuss

What issues does this technology raise?
Is there anything that could be done about the risk factors mentioned?
Can you think of any other uses and/or risk factors?

Revise Collocations

More on Face First here:

Face First

More on Faception:

Faceception

Kronos Quartet try out facial recognition technology

How reliable is AI at telling us about ourselves?

An art project is looking at how machines might perceive the world compared to humans.
While the Kronos Quartet perform, the artificial intelligence (AI) Sight Machine uses algorithms to read the musicians' genders, ages and emotions.
A projection of what the AI is interpreting is displayed behind the musicians, but how reliable is the AI in what it sees?




Tuesday, October 19, 2021

The Grammar of Adjectives



Adjectives - order, type etc....

Do number 2 (Types of Adjective) first.



1.bikiniyellowpolkadotworeitsy-bitsyteenie-weenieshean.
2.littlethosepuppiesspottedcutelookblack-and-whiteatDalmatian.
3.beautifulbeachdeserteddiscoveredgoldenwesandythis.
4.productionnewenormousfacilitycaranpurpose-builtthey'veopened.
5.teacheryounggotSwedishPTwe'vetallagood-looking.
6.newsmartphonehimselfhe'sanall-bells-and-whistlesboughtjustamazing.
7.shegorgeouswearingawaspurpleeveningbacklessdresssilk.
8.inlivetheyhalf-timberedcottageoldcountryablack-and-whitetiny.
9.wearingahebrightly-colouredratherwasattractivetiesilkPaisley-pattern.
10.SwissI'vethisjustboughtarmyincrediblesee-throughmulti-functionknife.








OpinionSizeOtherAgeShape
Spectaculartallilluminatedmodernthin
ColourPatternOriginMaterialPurpose
greyplaininternationaldenimlandmark

Which Auckland building would these adjectives describe?




The Sky Tower
Auckland Museum
The Metropolis Hotel















Image result for the sky tower

Try to think of some adjectives to describe this building:

Opinion:
Observation:
Size:
Other:
Age:
Shape:
Colour:
Pattern:
Origin:
Material: 
Purpose:





















Opinion:
Observation:
Size:
Other:
Age:
Shape:
Colour:
Pattern:
Origin:
Material: 
Purpose:










































































































Related image



Opinion:
Observation:
Size:
Other:
Age:
Shape:
Colour:
Pattern:
Origin:
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Purpose:





















































































































Image result for the northern club auckland



Opinion:
Observation:
Size:
Other:
Age:
Shape:
Colour:
Pattern:
Origin:
Material: 
Purpose:



Look at these collocations of adverbs and adjectives:


deeply apologetic
severely disadvantaged
hauntingly beautiful
genuinely surprised
bitterly disappointed
vaguely amused
strangely relieved
woefully misinformed*
haphazardly arranged



Isn't this kind of language wonderful?

Some of these collocations are quite standard, but some are quite original. Which would you say are more standard and which convey a more original idea?


Also, how can we rearrange the form of these phrases (except for *): clue: a deep apology














Can you remember?

a ____ apology

my _______ apologies, deepest sympathies, condolences....

haunting ________

they are at a ______ disadvantage

I was in _________ surprise

it was a bitter __________

he looked at his students in ________ amusement

what a strange ________ it was to finally arrive.

his office was a in a rather __________ state of arrangement




Practice

Practice: do 2a and 2b