8/27 competition law (antitrust law)

Hi everyone:

Did you noticed that there was a big news this week? Several big LCD manufacturers were accused to violate antitrust law in the U.S., 3 AU Optic senior managers went there for the hearing but they were restricted to leave. LCD stocks dropt to the floor.

Do you know what is “antitrust law”? Do you know its origin and effect? We're going to discuss it this evening. Please read the link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antitrust

Below is the agenda:

Warm up chatting:
1. Please tell us what have you done, where have you been in the past week. Do you have any plan for the coming week?

Facts of the topic (look it up in the article):
2. When and where was the most ancient competition law practiced?
3. What organization is responsible for executing international competition law now?
4. What are the 3 elements of this law?
5. What is the penalty for the violation?
6. What is this law intended to control?
7. Why this law is call “antitrust law” in the U.S.?
8. What else did you notice in the article?

What do you think about the topic:
9. Why are the 3 elements important to the competition law?
10. Do you know any cases that are possible to (or already) violate antitrust law? Tell us the story.
11. Do you agree that competition is important so the government must protect it?
12. Will this law affect your industry? What does your company usually do to prevent from possible sanction?
13. Do you believe this law really fair? Why or why not?

Natural Beauty

Hey guys,
    I would like to discuss the topic of "natural beauty" with you. It seems most people are not satisfied with what they are born to look like. You can always hear people around you complaining about their face or figure ex. “I am so fat” or “My eyes are too small”. Nobody is flawless, that’s for sure, but what is the exact reason that we are always not happy with our own appearance? That's the question I'm curious about and I am interested to know what you think. Here is a super short clip that I hope all of you can watch before the discussion.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtGt_XzBEbI

And these are questions we will discuss on this Friday.

1. Have you ever heard people complaining about their appearance? How often and what is the complaint most about?

2. Have you ever tried to change your look? It can be anything like losing weight or dying your hair. Share with us the reason why you want to do the change if you want.

3. What do you think about the girl in the clip? Which do you prefer, her natural look or look with heavy makeup and is “photoshopped”?

4. What do you think about plastic surgery? Do you approve of it? Why or why not?

5. Followed by the previous question, if you just know a person (let’s say it’s your friend) who has gone through a plastic surgery, will that fact affect your opinion about him/ her?

6. What’s your idea of “beauty”? How do you set your standard?

7. If you can choose your appearance, do you want to be a good-looking (by good-looking I mean as good as a supermodel) person? Why or why not?

All about Valentine's (guys, sorry for the delay )

http://www.history.com/topics/valentines-day

1. What is the origin of Valentine's Day? (Why do we celebrate Valentine's Day?)
2. How do you celebrate Valentine's Day back in high school?
3. What do you usually do for Valentine's Day?
4. What do you plan on doing the next Valentine's Day?
5. Do you make any special food for Valentine's Day?
6. On Valentine's Day, is it more common for men to give gifts to women or for women to give gifts to men?
7. What are common gifts that people give on Valentne's Day?
8. What is your favorite Valentine's Day memory?
9. What is your Valentine's dream? If you could do anything or receive anything on Valentine's Day, what would it be?
10. Would you want to get engaged or married on a holiday? Why or why not?
11. What is Valentine's Day like for singles? (What do single people do on Valentine's Day?)
12. Do you think Valentine's Day makes single people feel lonely?
13. Do you think Valentine's Day is too commercial or consumerist?
14. What is your favorite kind of Valentine's Day chocolate?

• Do you prefer milk, dark, or white chocolate?
• Do you like nuts or caramels in your chocolates?

8/6 Topic

Hey, everyone,
I'd like to talk about multi-tasking with you this week.
Please read these two articles.

Yes, People Still Read, But Now It's Social.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/20/business/20unbox.html?hpw

Tweet Less, Kiss More
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/17/opinion/17herbert.html?_r=1

Here are the questions,

1.Do you have an experience of multi-tasking while you're driving, using the computers, or waiting on a line?

2.Do you think multi-tasking is more efficient?

3.How often do you check your mailbox or facebook or blog a day? In your opinion, is multi-tasking an admirable talent or a nervous disorder?

3.Do you own a device like Kindle, ipod touch, or iphone? Talk about your experience using it. If you don't have one, will you consider buying one?

4.Accessible devices mentioned above are springing up, what do you think about people crazy about using these products rather than experiencing lives or exploring the world themselves?For example, we contact with our friends on Facebook or through MSN, or better, talking to them on the phone, rather than meeting them in person.

5.Have you ever been annoyed by a person around you who is multi-tasking? For example, a man who talk on the phone all the time. How did you deal with that?

6.Do you think multitasking can undermine relationships between families and friends?

7.What level of a multi-tasking person do you think you are? Do you enjoy being like this?

Cindy

7/30 Robots

Read the article and watch the clips if you have sufficient time.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/11/science/11robots.html?scp=4&sq=social%20machines&st=cse

Questions:
1.If a robot can do anything for you, what do you want it to do the most?
2.If you were able to afford an English-teaching robot which can correct your bad pronunciation, solve your confusion, would you like to purchase one? Why or why not?
3.In the period of time that severe disparity of education resources prevails, do you think robots can probably be a way to mitigate the problem?
4.In one of the videos, the old ladies regard the seal robot as a pet, stroking its body and coaxing it with tenderness. Do you think humans can ever develop this kind of relationship with robots as they do with pets and other living creatures?
5.With the advantage of technology, do you think human beings are able to overcome any difficulties? Or do you think too much technology only brings catastrophes to the earth?
6.Taking all the advantages and disadvantages of Hi-tech into consideration, do you still support the improvement of technology or do you want to step back to the era when the earth has not been damaged so badly.

7/16 discussion

Dear all:
Sorry for late posting, I'm really short of ideas about discussion topics...><

We have not read an article for a long time.
So let's read the article below and discuss some questions.

"In an era of austerity, reasons to fund the arts"

http://0rz.tw/mreOK

Here are the questions:

1. What art (music, architecture, cultures, etc) do you like?

2. In your opinion, do you think the government should continue funding the art industries even when it's in an economic recession?

3. If your were a politicians, would you keep funding the art industries when the society is in a financial crisis?

4. Do you think art is the privilege for the wealthy?

5. How much are you willing to pay for an artistic or cultural feast?

Any more questions are welcome :)

Kevin

7/9 topics : superstition

Dear all:
The fllowing 2 news are so funny. That’s discuss something about “superstition”. Here are the qustions.
1. Do you ever consult any fortuneteller by any kind of form before? (Tarot cards, astrology, date of birth, ask the gods for a prophecy and so on)
2. Do you ever play anyfortunetelling game via internet? What do you want to know from it?
3. Do you believe that your horoscope (star signs) influences your character?

New 1:German 'psychic' octopus predicts Spanish win
A "psychic" octopus in Germany, which appears to have correctly predicted every World Cup game involving the national team so far, has picked Spain over Germany in the semi-final.
Paul, from the Sea Life Aquarium in the western city of Oberhausen, chose a mussel from a jar with the Spanish flag instead of one with a German flag.
The creature has a record of predicting German victories, although during Euro 2008 he wrongly picked Germany as the victor against Spain.
New 2:'People want to eat' Paul the octopus
Germany face Spain in the World Cup semi-final later today - will the team's spectacular winning run come to an end? According to Paul the psychic octopus, it will.
Paul, who lives in an aquarium in western Germany, has correctly predicted the results of all their matches so far.