Topic Reading-Vol.2582-5/7/2019

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

Is it worth it to fly an ultra-low-cost airline?

One of the most mysterious prices is airfares. When you fly from A airport to B that is serviced only by one carrier, you most likely pay a standard economy-class fare, which costs like a first-class fare. But when you search for a lower fare well in advance in a route where multiple airlines compete, you may have a better chance to find a heavily discounted ticket, like below $200 from London to New York. However, the fare goes up as high as the standard fare if you book closer to the departure date. Does the cost to fly an airplane change so much? In fact, the only cost variance airlines have to bear for the same route is fuel, whose prices change time to time while other costs, such as staffing, operation, and depreciation are almost fixed. So, what makes airfares different so much is competition and demands. Low-cost carriers offer bargain prices to pack as many passengers as possible and charge baggage fees and sell in-flight meals and drinks during the flight. If no one checks in baggage and buys any drink or meal, the airline makes no money or lose some. Big airlines have upper-grade seats that generate most of their revenues. So, if there are no business class passengers or generous economy class passengers booked their seats at the very last moment, they are in trouble.

Enjoy reading the article and learn about airlines’ dynamic pricing mechanism for competition.

https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/low-airfares-airlines/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.2581-5/6/2019

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

Indonesia's planning minister announces capital city move

Located on the northwest coast of the world's most populous island, Java, Jakarta is the capital of Indonesia, the most populous Muslim-majority country. The megacity is the center of economics, culture, and policy of the world’s fourth most populous country. Sitting on swampy land and crisscrossed by 13 rivers, the megacity with a population of 10 million has two serious problems. It has the world’s worst traffic congestion. With over 13 million motorcycles and 4.4 million cars running on the roads, rush hour is a nightmare. Another problem of Jakarta is that the city is sinking at a rate of one to 15cm a year. Half of Jakarta is already below sea level and large parts of the city are predicted to submerge by the middle of the century. In fact, some places in Jakarta has sunk four meters four decades. Besides the geographical factor, the major cause of this sinking problem is the fact that over 60% of the residents pump out water from the ground for their everyday use.

So, the newly reelected president wants to relocate the capital to another island.

Is this a good solution or best use of tax? What will those abandoned residents and businesses do with the sinking problem? Should the government be the first to evacuate from the sinking capital?

Enjoy reading the article and learn about a solution that only saves the government but not the 10 million residents of the sinking capital.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-48093431

Topic Reading-Vol.2580-5/5/2019

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

Should AI be used to catch shoplifters?

How does it sound to train an AI algorithm by surveillance data to identify potential shoplifters? A Japanese tech venture developed a shoplifting warning system that alerts the shop staff when it detects a suspicious figure. It doesn’t examine a person’s biological profiles, such as gender, age or race. Instead, it monitors shoppers’ facial expressions, movements, and clothing. With the system, shoplifting losses were reduced by nearly 80% at convenience stores, according to the tech startup.

Critics argue that it violates privacy. The developer says the system just gives warning based on the behaviors of suspicious shoppers and leaves the judgment for action to the store personnel.

Since the system is to prevent shoplifting, it seems to be beneficial for both the store and potential shoplifter. In fact, there already are similar systems being used in public places to prevent crimes and acts of terrorism. Does it violate privacy?

People seem to sacrifice privacy for convenience but become reluctant to give it up when it comes to security.

Enjoy reading the article and think if preventive use of AI violates privacy.

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/04/18/business/ai-vaak-shoplifting/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.2579-5/4/2019

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

China's recycling ban has sent America's plastic to Malaysia. Now they don't want it -- so what next?

Even if everyone is environmentally conscious enough to properly sort and dump plastic waste into recycling bins, the collected wasted needs to be properly recycled by someone somewhere on the globe. Then how much of the used plastic is collected, how much of the collected plastic is recycled domestically, and how much of the exported plastic is illegally processed or dumped? Your environmentally conscious act to your place might be causing environmental nightmare somewhere else.

Especially since January 2018 when China stopped importing plastic waste, much of the exported plastic waste from developed countries like the US started to land in other developing Asian countries like Vietnam, Thailand, and India. Then these countries took tougher actions to restrict such plastic import from foreign countries. This ripple effect turned Malaysia into a final destination of some of the plastic waste from the US. If the imported plastic waste reaches to a properly managed and operated recycler, it will be fed into a series of machines to be washed, crushed and sliced into small flakes, and then melted and processed to become small pellets that are sold to plastic users. But not all the imported plastic waste ends up such desirable reincarnation.

Enjoy reading the article and seeing the video to learn about what happens to plastic waste once collected.

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/04/26/asia/malaysia-plastic-recycle-intl/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.2578-5/3/2019

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

Smart Speakers: Why your voice is a major battle in music

Smart Speakers like Amazon Echo and Google Home are getting popular especially in English speaking countries. Among the multiple features that these voice-activated devices offer, such as weather news, traffic information, reading podcasts and ordering food or diapers, the most popular request for smart speakers is to play music. The request can be very specific like the title, musician, or label, or could be rather indirect like the type, genre, or mood of the music the user wants to hear. Then, how does the “Smart Speaker”, not a human DJ of a radio station, pick up songs that suits your taste or mood?

That is what Algorithm does by searching the metadata. Metadata is the information embedded in an audio file that is used to identify the content, such as the name of the album and artist and the title, as well as the writer, producer, and publisher of the music.

Sounds like the tags of a homepage. Indeed, the chance a certain music title is picked up by those algorithms depends on the metadata. If the name of the musician or the title of the song is hard to remember or pronounce, it is less likely to be chosen no matter how suitable it is to the listener. It seems that smart speakers are taking place the place of radios and human DJs.

Enjoy reading and learn about the technology and new rules of the game music industry and musicians have to deal with.

http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20190416-smart-speakers-why-your-voice-is-a-major-battle-in-music

Topic Reading-Vol.2577-5/2/2019

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

Mongolia: A toxic warning to the world

Ulaanbaatar is the capital of Mongolia, a landlocked country in central Asia. It is also the largest city with a population of over 1.3 million, nearly half of the population of the country. Ulaanbaatar is also known as the world’s coldest capital, where minimum temperatures drop below minus 20 degrees Celsius in winter months, when many of the capital’s residents burn raw coal to heat their houses and coal-fired power stations run at their full capacity to supply enough electricity needed to warm the city.

Here is the problem. Since Ulaanbaatar lies in a valley where high mountains shield the city from winter winds, the smog caused by coal-burning stuck in the valley, resulting in disastrous air pollution. And who are the most vulnerable to air pollution? Young children. They suffer severe breathing problems and lung diseases even wearing masks. Indeed, Ulaanbaatar is not just the coldest but also the most air-polluted capital in the world. And it’s not hard to imagine what is happening to the surrounding environment.  

Watch the video and learn the changes occurring in the grassland, herds and pastoral lives in Mongol.

https://www.bbc.com/reel/video/p074bqzb/mongolia-a-toxic-warning-to-the-world

Topic Reading-Vol.2576-5/1/2019

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

Centuries ago, women ruled Japan. What changed?

Today May 1, 2019, a new Emperor, Naruhito, is enthroned in Japan and its era name is changed to Reiwa, meaning beauty or order and harmony. He is the 126^th emperor of the world's oldest monarchy. This succession has been long expected and accepted among Japanese ever since he was born in 1960 as he is the first son of the just abdicated emperor, Akihito. However, when a new emperor’s first child, Aiko, was born in 2001, Japanese people celebrated the birth in the royal family but in the meantime a little disappointed simply because it was a girl.

Under current law, only the male heirs of the former emperor can succeed to the throne. Accordingly, there are only two male royal family members are in line to the throne, the Crown Prince Akishino, the new emperor’s younger brother, and his 12-year-old son, Hisahito.

This male-only succession was established back in 1889 under the Meiji Restoration initiatives. Despite the fact that there had been ten eras that were reined by female emperors, those Meiji leaders decided to base their constitution from the Prussian constitution, which forbade women from ascending the throne. Because of the shrinking royal line, it has been discussed as to whether to allow a female emperor or to keep princesses to stay in the royal family. However, predominantly male-controlled Japan’s diet, with only under 14% female representation in both upper and lower house combined, it seems to take long or never to amend the law unless the problem becomes unsolvable. After all, Japan is a country that respects “harmony” the most.

Enjoy reading and learning about the new era and emperor in Japan and its future concern.

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/04/27/asia/japan-female-rulers-akihito-abdication-intl/index.html