An Age of Magic

How long is a new laptop meant to last these days?

I have no faith at all in modern-day technology. That new laptop I bought for my son at this exact time last year – for his birthday – has simply stopped working. Wont turn on, wont do nothin’. It was not an el cheapo machine either, we saved for the better part of a year to buy it and we have just found out the manufacturers laptop warranty will not cover the repairs.

Not to worry though, I am a dab hand at stamping my foot at returns counters in stores and know my consumer rights from a to z and shall expect very soon to be taking delivery of a brand new laptop for my son. It is just as well he made a back up disc last month as he has been doing his exam course work and to lose it would have been a catastrophe.

Popularity: 26% [?]

Asthma can still kill, even today.

One of my kids suffers periodic asthma, not too seriously mind you but enough for us to have needed to run him off to hospital in the middle of the night on three occasions. Nowadays, so long as you get medical attention fast enough, they can do a lot to alleviate an attack – my son gets his oxygen measured via a pulse oximeter which tells you how much oxygen is in his bloodstream, and so they can decide whether or not to keep him in overnight. So far he has been allowed to go home after a couple of hours.

It must have been dreadful years ago when there was no effective treatment for asthma and children died very easily; in fact the Hollywood actor Robert Donat died of asthma aged in his 40’s. Thank god for modern day medicine.

Popularity: 51% [?]

So that’s what Plato was talking about!

His works have been scrutinised and debated for more than 2,000 years by the greatest minds in history. But it turns out the Greek philosopher Plato still has a few surprises up his sleeve. In an extraordinary discovery, a British academic claims to have uncovered a series of secret messages hidden in some of the most influential and celebrating writings of the Ancient World. The codes suggest that Plato was a secret follower of the philosopher Pythagoras and shared his belief that the secrets to the universe lie in numbers and maths.

Claims that an ancient text contains secret messages should normally be taken with a large pinch of salt.

Plato, who died around 347BC, is arguably the greatest of all the Greek philosophers. With his mentor Socrates, and student Aristotle, he laid down the foundations of Western philosopher and science.

Popularity: 24% [?]