Prefixo out:
- outrage
- outage
- outbreak
- outcome
- outnumbered
Conv.
- convened
- conveyed
sexta-feira, 23 de outubro de 2015
Palavras parecidas em inglês
Segue a lista de algumas palavras em ingles que eu sempre confundo:
Prefixo out:
Prefixo out:
A história do conflito
Source: bbc
Vocabulary:
Text:
Syria: The story of the conflict
More than 250,000 Syrians have lost their lives in four-and-a-half years of armed conflict, which began with anti-government protests before escalating into a full-scale civil war. More than 11 million others have been forced from their homes as forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad and those opposed to his rule battle each other - as well as jihadist militants from Islamic State. This is the story of the civil war so far, in eight short chapters.
1. Uprising (=revolta) turns violent
Pro-democracy protests erupted in March 2011 in the southern city of Deraa after the arrest and torture of some teenagers who painted revolutionary slogans on a school wall. After security forces opened fire on demonstrators, killing several, more took to the streets.
The unrest (=agitação) triggered nationwide protests demanding President Assad's resignation. The government's use of force to crush the dissent merely hardened the protesters' resolve. By July 2011, hundreds of thousands were taking to the streets across the country.
Opposition supporters eventually began to take up arms, first to defend themselves and later to expel security forces from their local areas.
2. Descent into civil war
Violence escalated and the country descended (=mergulhou) into civil war as rebel brigades were formed to battle government forces for control of cities, towns and the countryside. Fighting reached the capital Damascus and second city of Aleppo in 2012.
By June 2013, the UN said 90,000 people had been killed in the conflict. However, by August 2014 that figure had more than doubled to 191,000 - and continued to climb to 250,000 by August 2015, according to activists and the UN.
The conflict is now more than just a battle between those for or against President Assad. It has acquired sectarian overtones, pitching the country's Sunni majority against the president's Shia Alawite sect, and drawn in neighbouring countries and world powers. The rise of the jihadist groups, including Islamic State, has added a further dimension.
3. War crimes
A UN commission of inquiry, investigating alleged human rights violations since March 2011, has evidence that those on both sides of the conflict have committed war crimes - including murder, torture, rape and enforced disappearances. Government and rebel forces have also been accused by investigators of using civilian suffering - such as blocking access to food, water and health services - as a method of war.
In February 2014, a UN Security Council resolution demanded all parties end the "indiscriminate employment of weapons in populated areas". Since then, activists say, more than 6,000 civilians have been killed by barrel (=barril) bombs dropped by government aircraft on rebel-held areas. The UN says in some instances, civilian gatherings have been deliberately targeted, constituting massacres.
Islamic State has also been accused by the UN of waging (=empreender) a campaign of terror in northern and eastern Syria. It has inflicted severe punishments on those who transgress or refuse to accept its rule, including hundreds of public executions and amputations. Its fighters have also carried out mass killings of rival armed groups, members of the security forces and religious minorities, and beheaded (=decapitados) hostages, including several Westerners.
4. Chemical weapons
Hundreds of people were killed in August 2013 after rockets filled with the nerve agent sarin were fired at several agricultural districts around Damascus. Western powers, outraged (=indignado) by the attack, said it could only have been carried out by Syria's government. The regime and its ally Russia blamed rebels.
Facing the prospect of US military intervention, President Assad agreed to the complete removal or destruction of Syria's chemical weapons arsenal as part of a joint (=conjunta) mission led by the UN and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). The destruction of chemical agents and munitions was completed a year later.
Despite the operation, the OPCW has since documented the use of toxic chemicals, such as chlorine and ammonia, by the government in attacks on rebel-held northern villages between April and July 2014 that resulted in the deaths of at least 13 people.
Islamic State has also been accused of using homemade chemical weapons, possibly including the blistering agent sulphur mustard, against Kurdish forces and civilians in northern Syria.
5. Humanitarian crisis
More than four million people have fled Syria since the start of the conflict, most of them women and children. It is one of the largest refugee exoduses in recent history. Neighbouring countries have borne (=suportado) the brunt of the refugee crisis, with Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey struggling to accommodate the flood of new arrivals. The exodus accelerated dramatically in 2013, as conditions in Syria deteriorated.
A further 7.6 million Syrians have been internally displaced within the country, bringing the total number forced to flee their homes to more than 11 million - half the country's pre-crisis population. Overall, an estimated 12.2 million are in need of humanitarian assistance inside Syria, including 5.6 million children, the UN says.
In December 2014, the UN launched an appeal for $8.4bn (£5.6bn) to provide help to 18 million Syrians, after only securing about half the funding it asked for in 2014. By a year later, it was less than half funded.
A report published by the UN in March 2015 estimated the total economic loss since the start of the conflict was $202bn and that four in every five Syrians were now living in poverty - 30% of them in abject poverty. Syria's education, health and social welfare systems are also in a state of collapse.
Syrian refugees in the region
6. Rebels and the rise of the jihadists
The armed rebellion has evolved significantly since its inception. Secular moderates are now outnumbered (=menor número) by Islamists and jihadists, whose brutal tactics have caused widespread concern and triggered rebel infighting.
Capitalising on the chaos in the region, Islamic State - the extremist group that grew out of al-Qaeda in Iraq - has taken control of huge swathes (=faixas) of territory across northern and eastern Syria, as well as neighbouring Iraq. Its many foreign fighters in Syria are now involved in a "war within a war", battling rebels and jihadists from the al-Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front, who object to their tactics, as well as Kurdish and government forces.
In September 2014, a US-led coalition launched air strikes inside Syria in an effort to "degrade and ultimately destroy" IS, helping the Kurds repel a major assault on the northern town of Kobane. But the coalition has avoided attacks that might benefit Mr Assad's forces or intervening in battles between them and the rebels.
In the political arena, opposition groups are also deeply divided, with rival alliances battling for supremacy. The most prominent is the moderate National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, backed by several Western and Gulf Arab states. However, the coalition has little influence on the ground in Syria and its primacy is rejected by other groups, leaving the country without a convincing alternative to the Assad government.
US-led coalition air strikes in Syria and Iraq
7. Peace efforts
With neither side able to inflict a decisive defeat on the other, the international community long ago concluded that only a political solution could end the conflict in Syria. However, a number of attempts by the Arab League and the UN to broker ceasefires and start dialogue have failed.
In January 2014, the US, Russia and UN convened (=convocou) a conference in Switzerland to implement the 2012 Geneva Communique, an internationally backed agreement that called for the establishment of a transitional governing body in Syria formed on the basis of mutual consent.
The talks, which became known as Geneva II, broke down in February after only two rounds. The then-UN special envoy Lakhdar Brahimi blamed the Syrian government's refusal to discuss opposition demands and its insistence on a focus on fighting "terrorists" - a term Damascus uses to describe rebel groups.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says the organisation's long-term strategic objective remains a political solution based on the Geneva Communique. The UN special envoy Staffan de Mistura has also proposed establishing a series of "freeze zones", where local ceasefires would be negotiated to allow aid deliveries in besieged areas. But his attempt to broker a truce in Aleppo in March 2015 was rejected by rebels in the city, who feared the government would use it to redeploy its forces elsewhere and that IS militants would simply ignore it.
8. Proxy war
What began as another Arab Spring uprising against an autocratic ruler has mushroomed (=cresceu rapidamente) into a brutal proxy war that has drawn in regional and world powers.
Iran and Russia have propped up the Alawite-led government of President Assad and gradually increased their support.
Tehran is believed to be spending billions of dollars a year to bolster Mr Assad, providing military advisers and subsidised weapons, as well as lines of credit and oil transfers. In September 2015, Russia launched an air campaign against Mr Assad's opponents. Moscow said it was targeting only "all terrorists", above all members of Islamic State, but many of the strikes hit Western-backed rebels and civilians.
The Syrian government has also enjoyed the support of Lebanon's Shia Islamist Hezbollah movement, whose fighters have provided important battlefield support since 2013.
The Sunni-dominated opposition has, meanwhile, attracted varying degrees of support from its main backers (=apoiadores) - Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other Arab states along with the US, UK and France. However, the rise of hardline Islamist rebels and the arrival of jihadists from across the world have led to a marked cooling of Western backing.
US-led coalition aircraft provide significant support to Kurdish militia fighters seeking to defend three autonomous enclaves in the country's north from attacks by IS. But a programme to train and arm 5,000 Syrian rebels to take the fight to IS on the ground has suffered embarrassing setbacks.
Vocabulary:
- Uprising turns violent
- The unrest triggered
- country descended into
- by barrel bombs
- of waging a campaign
- beheaded hostages
- outraged by attack
- of a joint mission
- countries have borne the brunt
- are now outnumbered by Islamists
- of huge swathes of territory
- Russia and UN convened a conference
- has mushroomed
- from its main backers
Text:
Syria: The story of the conflict
More than 250,000 Syrians have lost their lives in four-and-a-half years of armed conflict, which began with anti-government protests before escalating into a full-scale civil war. More than 11 million others have been forced from their homes as forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad and those opposed to his rule battle each other - as well as jihadist militants from Islamic State. This is the story of the civil war so far, in eight short chapters.
1. Uprising (=revolta) turns violent
Pro-democracy protests erupted in March 2011 in the southern city of Deraa after the arrest and torture of some teenagers who painted revolutionary slogans on a school wall. After security forces opened fire on demonstrators, killing several, more took to the streets.
The unrest (=agitação) triggered nationwide protests demanding President Assad's resignation. The government's use of force to crush the dissent merely hardened the protesters' resolve. By July 2011, hundreds of thousands were taking to the streets across the country.
Opposition supporters eventually began to take up arms, first to defend themselves and later to expel security forces from their local areas.
2. Descent into civil war
Violence escalated and the country descended (=mergulhou) into civil war as rebel brigades were formed to battle government forces for control of cities, towns and the countryside. Fighting reached the capital Damascus and second city of Aleppo in 2012.
By June 2013, the UN said 90,000 people had been killed in the conflict. However, by August 2014 that figure had more than doubled to 191,000 - and continued to climb to 250,000 by August 2015, according to activists and the UN.
The conflict is now more than just a battle between those for or against President Assad. It has acquired sectarian overtones, pitching the country's Sunni majority against the president's Shia Alawite sect, and drawn in neighbouring countries and world powers. The rise of the jihadist groups, including Islamic State, has added a further dimension.
3. War crimes
A UN commission of inquiry, investigating alleged human rights violations since March 2011, has evidence that those on both sides of the conflict have committed war crimes - including murder, torture, rape and enforced disappearances. Government and rebel forces have also been accused by investigators of using civilian suffering - such as blocking access to food, water and health services - as a method of war.
In February 2014, a UN Security Council resolution demanded all parties end the "indiscriminate employment of weapons in populated areas". Since then, activists say, more than 6,000 civilians have been killed by barrel (=barril) bombs dropped by government aircraft on rebel-held areas. The UN says in some instances, civilian gatherings have been deliberately targeted, constituting massacres.
Islamic State has also been accused by the UN of waging (=empreender) a campaign of terror in northern and eastern Syria. It has inflicted severe punishments on those who transgress or refuse to accept its rule, including hundreds of public executions and amputations. Its fighters have also carried out mass killings of rival armed groups, members of the security forces and religious minorities, and beheaded (=decapitados) hostages, including several Westerners.
4. Chemical weapons
Hundreds of people were killed in August 2013 after rockets filled with the nerve agent sarin were fired at several agricultural districts around Damascus. Western powers, outraged (=indignado) by the attack, said it could only have been carried out by Syria's government. The regime and its ally Russia blamed rebels.
Facing the prospect of US military intervention, President Assad agreed to the complete removal or destruction of Syria's chemical weapons arsenal as part of a joint (=conjunta) mission led by the UN and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). The destruction of chemical agents and munitions was completed a year later.
Despite the operation, the OPCW has since documented the use of toxic chemicals, such as chlorine and ammonia, by the government in attacks on rebel-held northern villages between April and July 2014 that resulted in the deaths of at least 13 people.
Islamic State has also been accused of using homemade chemical weapons, possibly including the blistering agent sulphur mustard, against Kurdish forces and civilians in northern Syria.
5. Humanitarian crisis
More than four million people have fled Syria since the start of the conflict, most of them women and children. It is one of the largest refugee exoduses in recent history. Neighbouring countries have borne (=suportado) the brunt of the refugee crisis, with Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey struggling to accommodate the flood of new arrivals. The exodus accelerated dramatically in 2013, as conditions in Syria deteriorated.
A further 7.6 million Syrians have been internally displaced within the country, bringing the total number forced to flee their homes to more than 11 million - half the country's pre-crisis population. Overall, an estimated 12.2 million are in need of humanitarian assistance inside Syria, including 5.6 million children, the UN says.
In December 2014, the UN launched an appeal for $8.4bn (£5.6bn) to provide help to 18 million Syrians, after only securing about half the funding it asked for in 2014. By a year later, it was less than half funded.
A report published by the UN in March 2015 estimated the total economic loss since the start of the conflict was $202bn and that four in every five Syrians were now living in poverty - 30% of them in abject poverty. Syria's education, health and social welfare systems are also in a state of collapse.
Syrian refugees in the region
6. Rebels and the rise of the jihadists
The armed rebellion has evolved significantly since its inception. Secular moderates are now outnumbered (=menor número) by Islamists and jihadists, whose brutal tactics have caused widespread concern and triggered rebel infighting.
Capitalising on the chaos in the region, Islamic State - the extremist group that grew out of al-Qaeda in Iraq - has taken control of huge swathes (=faixas) of territory across northern and eastern Syria, as well as neighbouring Iraq. Its many foreign fighters in Syria are now involved in a "war within a war", battling rebels and jihadists from the al-Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front, who object to their tactics, as well as Kurdish and government forces.
In September 2014, a US-led coalition launched air strikes inside Syria in an effort to "degrade and ultimately destroy" IS, helping the Kurds repel a major assault on the northern town of Kobane. But the coalition has avoided attacks that might benefit Mr Assad's forces or intervening in battles between them and the rebels.
In the political arena, opposition groups are also deeply divided, with rival alliances battling for supremacy. The most prominent is the moderate National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, backed by several Western and Gulf Arab states. However, the coalition has little influence on the ground in Syria and its primacy is rejected by other groups, leaving the country without a convincing alternative to the Assad government.
US-led coalition air strikes in Syria and Iraq
7. Peace efforts
With neither side able to inflict a decisive defeat on the other, the international community long ago concluded that only a political solution could end the conflict in Syria. However, a number of attempts by the Arab League and the UN to broker ceasefires and start dialogue have failed.
In January 2014, the US, Russia and UN convened (=convocou) a conference in Switzerland to implement the 2012 Geneva Communique, an internationally backed agreement that called for the establishment of a transitional governing body in Syria formed on the basis of mutual consent.
The talks, which became known as Geneva II, broke down in February after only two rounds. The then-UN special envoy Lakhdar Brahimi blamed the Syrian government's refusal to discuss opposition demands and its insistence on a focus on fighting "terrorists" - a term Damascus uses to describe rebel groups.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says the organisation's long-term strategic objective remains a political solution based on the Geneva Communique. The UN special envoy Staffan de Mistura has also proposed establishing a series of "freeze zones", where local ceasefires would be negotiated to allow aid deliveries in besieged areas. But his attempt to broker a truce in Aleppo in March 2015 was rejected by rebels in the city, who feared the government would use it to redeploy its forces elsewhere and that IS militants would simply ignore it.
8. Proxy war
What began as another Arab Spring uprising against an autocratic ruler has mushroomed (=cresceu rapidamente) into a brutal proxy war that has drawn in regional and world powers.
Iran and Russia have propped up the Alawite-led government of President Assad and gradually increased their support.
Tehran is believed to be spending billions of dollars a year to bolster Mr Assad, providing military advisers and subsidised weapons, as well as lines of credit and oil transfers. In September 2015, Russia launched an air campaign against Mr Assad's opponents. Moscow said it was targeting only "all terrorists", above all members of Islamic State, but many of the strikes hit Western-backed rebels and civilians.
The Syrian government has also enjoyed the support of Lebanon's Shia Islamist Hezbollah movement, whose fighters have provided important battlefield support since 2013.
The Sunni-dominated opposition has, meanwhile, attracted varying degrees of support from its main backers (=apoiadores) - Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other Arab states along with the US, UK and France. However, the rise of hardline Islamist rebels and the arrival of jihadists from across the world have led to a marked cooling of Western backing.
US-led coalition aircraft provide significant support to Kurdish militia fighters seeking to defend three autonomous enclaves in the country's north from attacks by IS. But a programme to train and arm 5,000 Syrian rebels to take the fight to IS on the ground has suffered embarrassing setbacks.
terça-feira, 29 de setembro de 2015
A sua casa esta prestes a se tornar muito inteligente?
Source: bbcnews
Vocabulary:
Text:
You're driving home from work. Your connected car pings your estimated time of arrival to your smart home, which springs into life.
The thermostatically controlled heating comes on; your chosen lighting scheme glows welcomingly; the oven begins warming up the casserole you cooked the night before.
When you arrive the garage door swings open automatically and your car self parks; your front door opens automatically, too - the facial recognition security system identifies you - no more fumbling (=desastrado) for keys.
As you enter your nicely warmed home - dust-free courtesy of robot vacuum cleaners - music wafts through each room to suit your mood.
This is one vision of the smart, or connected, home. But how realistic is it and how soon could it happen?
Mass market
All of the technologies making such a scenario possible are here already, says Holger Knoepke, vice president of connected home for German telecoms giant, Deutsche Telekom.
His company has just launched a report highlighting the huge business opportunity it believes the connected home presents for retailers (=varejistas), insurers, manufacturers, utilities and telecoms companies.
"We realised that the smart home will be a mass market - 50% to 80% of people say they're interested in smart home services," says Mr Knoepke.
"They could end up paying €5 to €10 a month, which equates to more than €15bn (£11bn; $17bn) a year in Western Europe by 2019."
His firm is developing an open platform, similar to Samsung's SmartThings, to act as a gateway for all these connected gadgets, from motion-detecting lighting systems to smart energy meters.
Nearly 40 partners, including big names such as Philips, Bosch, Sonos and Samsung, have signed up to the platform so far.
BMW is already testing car-to-home communications in its 7 Series luxury saloon.
Energy saving
But it seems we've been talking about the connected home for years. Why hasn't it taken off yet?
Well, we didn't have smartphones, fast home wi-fi or a wide-enough selection of gadgets (=aparelhos) equipped with networked computer chips, believes Mr Knoepke.
Now, the conditions are right, he says.
Smart meters and thermostats - given an added push by governments - will be able to regulate energy usage in the home, and it's this ability to save on heating and electricity bills which will be one of the key drivers of growth in connected home technology, he believes.
Michael Philpott, principal analyst at technology research firm, Ovum, agrees saying: "By 2020 the majority of us will have a smart energy meter and smart thermostats, and other devices will be connected to it, such as your fridge, so it becomes more efficient in its energy consumption.
"Once consumers start to use this technology they'll start to wonder what else can they do with it."
Smart everything
As more of us use smartphones and apps, retailers and manufacturers are gaining confidence that there is a market for connected products, argues Steve Macdonald, marketing director of Hoover's "white goods" division.
The kitchen appliance manufacturer recently launched Hoover Wizard, its family of wi-fi enabled machines that can all be controlled by an app.
"It's all about staying in touch with your home even when you're out," he says. "Say you get an alert telling you the washing programme has finished, you could press a button on the app to recycle the washing to keep it fresh."
In another example, he says you could set a lower fridge temperature when you're on your way back from doing a big supermarket shop. And the oven will alert you when it needs cleaning.
But isn't this sort of functionality "nice-to-have" rather than "must-have"?
"People have exceptionally busy lives so this kind of remote control gives you a little extra time," argues Mr Macdonald.
"We believe the market will move quite quickly - by 2017 all our white goods will be connected. The whole market will have gone that way by 2020."
Remote security
But the service most likely to propel (=impulsionar) the smart home into the mainstream is home security, some believe.
US telecoms giant AT&T is building its Digital Life smart home product around security, offering subscribers video cameras, window and door opening sensors, remote door locking, and motion detectors, all operable from a smartphone, tablet or PC.
"Many service providers are starting off with security, because there's an existing home security business model in place," says Mr Philpott.
"In the UK about 30% of homes have some kind of home alarm, and about 10% of those pay monthly for a professional home security service."
Security is also a big concern in Germany, says Mr Knoepke: "Our market research tells us people are very interested in home monitoring because burglary (=roubo) is going up ...people are afraid."
And it's not just security against burglars that matters - remote alerts from smoke, carbon monoxide, and water leak detectors could all help nip household disasters in the bud, reducing insurance pay-outs and potentially saving lives.
Talk to me
But lack of interoperability could be one reason why the smart home boom takes longer to happen than some analysts and tech companies are forecasting.
Deutsche Telekom says this is why it's gone for an open platform approach rather than a proprietary system that only works with gadgets made by one or two manufacturers.
Apple and Amazon, on the other hand, seem to want to create their own ecosystems.
Other tech companies have been banding together to agree common standards to allow all these gadgets to talk to each other in a language they can all understand.
The only problem is they've been banding together in separate groups.
In 2013, the Linux Foundation formed the AllSeen Alliance along with Qualcomm, LG Electronics, Panasonic, Sharp and others.
The following year, Google's Nest, Samsung and others formed Thread, while a group comprising Intel, Samsung, and Dell formed the Open Interconnect Consortium.
And the Home Gateway Initiative, set up by broadband service providers, has been going since 2004.
"Anything that confuses the consumer will be a barrier," says Mr Philpott. "Consumers are only going to buy into the smart home if it makes their life much better or much cheaper.
"We're not there yet."
Vocabulary:
- lighting scheme glows welcomingly
- no more fumbling for keys.
- presents for retailers
- selection of gadgets
- to propel the smart home
- because burglary is going up
Text:
You're driving home from work. Your connected car pings your estimated time of arrival to your smart home, which springs into life.
The thermostatically controlled heating comes on; your chosen lighting scheme glows welcomingly; the oven begins warming up the casserole you cooked the night before.
When you arrive the garage door swings open automatically and your car self parks; your front door opens automatically, too - the facial recognition security system identifies you - no more fumbling (=desastrado) for keys.
As you enter your nicely warmed home - dust-free courtesy of robot vacuum cleaners - music wafts through each room to suit your mood.
This is one vision of the smart, or connected, home. But how realistic is it and how soon could it happen?
Mass market
All of the technologies making such a scenario possible are here already, says Holger Knoepke, vice president of connected home for German telecoms giant, Deutsche Telekom.
His company has just launched a report highlighting the huge business opportunity it believes the connected home presents for retailers (=varejistas), insurers, manufacturers, utilities and telecoms companies.
"We realised that the smart home will be a mass market - 50% to 80% of people say they're interested in smart home services," says Mr Knoepke.
"They could end up paying €5 to €10 a month, which equates to more than €15bn (£11bn; $17bn) a year in Western Europe by 2019."
His firm is developing an open platform, similar to Samsung's SmartThings, to act as a gateway for all these connected gadgets, from motion-detecting lighting systems to smart energy meters.
Nearly 40 partners, including big names such as Philips, Bosch, Sonos and Samsung, have signed up to the platform so far.
BMW is already testing car-to-home communications in its 7 Series luxury saloon.
Energy saving
But it seems we've been talking about the connected home for years. Why hasn't it taken off yet?
Well, we didn't have smartphones, fast home wi-fi or a wide-enough selection of gadgets (=aparelhos) equipped with networked computer chips, believes Mr Knoepke.
Now, the conditions are right, he says.
Smart meters and thermostats - given an added push by governments - will be able to regulate energy usage in the home, and it's this ability to save on heating and electricity bills which will be one of the key drivers of growth in connected home technology, he believes.
Michael Philpott, principal analyst at technology research firm, Ovum, agrees saying: "By 2020 the majority of us will have a smart energy meter and smart thermostats, and other devices will be connected to it, such as your fridge, so it becomes more efficient in its energy consumption.
"Once consumers start to use this technology they'll start to wonder what else can they do with it."
Smart everything
As more of us use smartphones and apps, retailers and manufacturers are gaining confidence that there is a market for connected products, argues Steve Macdonald, marketing director of Hoover's "white goods" division.
The kitchen appliance manufacturer recently launched Hoover Wizard, its family of wi-fi enabled machines that can all be controlled by an app.
"It's all about staying in touch with your home even when you're out," he says. "Say you get an alert telling you the washing programme has finished, you could press a button on the app to recycle the washing to keep it fresh."
In another example, he says you could set a lower fridge temperature when you're on your way back from doing a big supermarket shop. And the oven will alert you when it needs cleaning.
But isn't this sort of functionality "nice-to-have" rather than "must-have"?
"People have exceptionally busy lives so this kind of remote control gives you a little extra time," argues Mr Macdonald.
"We believe the market will move quite quickly - by 2017 all our white goods will be connected. The whole market will have gone that way by 2020."
Remote security
But the service most likely to propel (=impulsionar) the smart home into the mainstream is home security, some believe.
US telecoms giant AT&T is building its Digital Life smart home product around security, offering subscribers video cameras, window and door opening sensors, remote door locking, and motion detectors, all operable from a smartphone, tablet or PC.
"Many service providers are starting off with security, because there's an existing home security business model in place," says Mr Philpott.
"In the UK about 30% of homes have some kind of home alarm, and about 10% of those pay monthly for a professional home security service."
Security is also a big concern in Germany, says Mr Knoepke: "Our market research tells us people are very interested in home monitoring because burglary (=roubo) is going up ...people are afraid."
And it's not just security against burglars that matters - remote alerts from smoke, carbon monoxide, and water leak detectors could all help nip household disasters in the bud, reducing insurance pay-outs and potentially saving lives.
Talk to me
But lack of interoperability could be one reason why the smart home boom takes longer to happen than some analysts and tech companies are forecasting.
Deutsche Telekom says this is why it's gone for an open platform approach rather than a proprietary system that only works with gadgets made by one or two manufacturers.
Apple and Amazon, on the other hand, seem to want to create their own ecosystems.
Other tech companies have been banding together to agree common standards to allow all these gadgets to talk to each other in a language they can all understand.
The only problem is they've been banding together in separate groups.
In 2013, the Linux Foundation formed the AllSeen Alliance along with Qualcomm, LG Electronics, Panasonic, Sharp and others.
The following year, Google's Nest, Samsung and others formed Thread, while a group comprising Intel, Samsung, and Dell formed the Open Interconnect Consortium.
And the Home Gateway Initiative, set up by broadband service providers, has been going since 2004.
"Anything that confuses the consumer will be a barrier," says Mr Philpott. "Consumers are only going to buy into the smart home if it makes their life much better or much cheaper.
"We're not there yet."
sexta-feira, 25 de setembro de 2015
Amor livre no século 21
Source: news australia
Vocabulary:
Text:
Free love in the 21st century: Why polyamory is taking off
LAST weekend I was having pillow talk with Scarlett* (25). We had been on a date the night before. It was only our third or fourth. We had gone to the theatre, followed by a bar, then eventually back to my apartment for sex. We woke with hazy headaches, bruised (=machucados) bodies and whimsical conversation.
“What’s on for the rest of your weekend?” I quizzed in a hungover drawl (=sotaque de ressaca). “Oh, I’m just planning to spend some time with my boyfriend Chad* (29).”
While this dialogue may sound Ashley Madison-esque to those who hold more traditional values, that couldn’t be further from the truth. In the past decade society has seen a rise of couples (especially the more youthful) exploring polyamory and open relationships — the practice where a committed couple also separately and openly engage in dating and sexual relationships with others, sometimes casual and sometimes more serious.
“Poly to me is dating or otherwise being in a relationship (sexual or romantic or both) with more than one person, or being open to that,” notes Scarlett, who has dated Chad for three years. “I was still poly when I was only dating one person, the same as how dating a man doesn’t remove my queer (=homossexual) identity. When talking about my current relationship I usually say I’m in an open relationship, because I feel like poly sometimes implies that I’m only interested in multiple committed relationships (or at least that’s how I see it used) whereas right now I’m perfectly happy casually dating or sleeping with other people while having one live-in committed relationship with Chad.”
Contrary to popular belief, polyamory and open relationships aren’t primarily about allowing your partner a get-out-of-jail-free card to indulge in sexual exploits with other people (a concept much closer to swinging which is generally more associated with older married couples). To many the act of engaging in dating is about the fundamental experience that comes from the exploration of the human condition. Meeting new people, learning from their worldview and expanding your perspective on the world around you.
“I identify as a queer pansexual with an interest in various forms of fetish play,” says Chad. “Because of this I tend to think that in a lot of cases it is impossible for one partner in the traditional sense to fulfil all needs when it comes to the rather broad concept of intimacy. This is something I fell naturally into doing over time as I worked it out.”
It’s an unspoken truth that while in the formative stages of any relationship you will both be dating other people, and that once entering a monogamous bond you will still have flirtatious (=paquera) feelings for others time-to-time. It’s difficult not to see the appeal of being able to date multiple people at once without guilt.
“I think it’s always been something which has made sense,” details Scarlett. “But it’s only been the last four or five years when I’ve felt able to try and have poly relationships. I like that I can provide different kinds of support to different partners/lovers and similarly get different things from them.”
“I like to have minimal boundaries (=limites),” adds Chad. “I don’t see how holding someone back from something they feel the urge to partake (=participar) in as constructive behaviour (assuming they aren’t harming themselves or others).”
That’s not to say that you can simply jump into the open relationship ocean without any form of an emotional lifejacket.
“My first few attempts at open relationships didn’t go so well — the first was trying to open up a relationship which had previously been monogamous, where I was more interested in it than him,” says Scarlett.
“The others were when I started dating people already in long term relationships and issues arose with balancing the needs and interactions between everyone involved. I learned a lot about how to conduct myself in open relationships and relationships more generally from those experiences, even though they were quite painful at the time.”
Of course, as with any form of relationship, boundaries must be drawn and communication is imperative.
“When I’m interested in going on a date with a new person I make sure they know about Chad right from the start, because if someone isn’t comfortable with an open relationship then they’re not the person for me. Another important thing for me is that they respect my other relationships.”
“I like to think communication between all parties is key,” says Chad. “But I also think that is true with any kind of relationship. It shouldn’t be a challenge and if it is, perhaps it’s not for you.”
“Chad and I have one main rule which is to always use condoms if we’re with a partner where the sex we’re having calls for them. Aside from that we’ll usually mention if we went on a date (we don’t have a requirement for pre-approval or anything like that). We also both get STI tests reasonably often, but I think that’s just something which anyone who is sexually active with more than one partner should do, whether those partners are in series or parallel.”
Polyamory will never be for everyone, but the same can be said for monogamy. They both fall at the opposite ends of a very broad spectrum, one that many people occupy the middle-ground of for much of their lives.
The important thing for couples like Scarlett and Chad is being upfront and honest. And there’s definitely something to be said about that.
Vocabulary:
- bruised bodies
- in a hungover drawl
- my queer identity
- flirtatious feelings
- minimal boundaries
- to partake
- Aside from that we’ll
Text:
Free love in the 21st century: Why polyamory is taking off
LAST weekend I was having pillow talk with Scarlett* (25). We had been on a date the night before. It was only our third or fourth. We had gone to the theatre, followed by a bar, then eventually back to my apartment for sex. We woke with hazy headaches, bruised (=machucados) bodies and whimsical conversation.
“What’s on for the rest of your weekend?” I quizzed in a hungover drawl (=sotaque de ressaca). “Oh, I’m just planning to spend some time with my boyfriend Chad* (29).”
While this dialogue may sound Ashley Madison-esque to those who hold more traditional values, that couldn’t be further from the truth. In the past decade society has seen a rise of couples (especially the more youthful) exploring polyamory and open relationships — the practice where a committed couple also separately and openly engage in dating and sexual relationships with others, sometimes casual and sometimes more serious.
“Poly to me is dating or otherwise being in a relationship (sexual or romantic or both) with more than one person, or being open to that,” notes Scarlett, who has dated Chad for three years. “I was still poly when I was only dating one person, the same as how dating a man doesn’t remove my queer (=homossexual) identity. When talking about my current relationship I usually say I’m in an open relationship, because I feel like poly sometimes implies that I’m only interested in multiple committed relationships (or at least that’s how I see it used) whereas right now I’m perfectly happy casually dating or sleeping with other people while having one live-in committed relationship with Chad.”
Contrary to popular belief, polyamory and open relationships aren’t primarily about allowing your partner a get-out-of-jail-free card to indulge in sexual exploits with other people (a concept much closer to swinging which is generally more associated with older married couples). To many the act of engaging in dating is about the fundamental experience that comes from the exploration of the human condition. Meeting new people, learning from their worldview and expanding your perspective on the world around you.
“I identify as a queer pansexual with an interest in various forms of fetish play,” says Chad. “Because of this I tend to think that in a lot of cases it is impossible for one partner in the traditional sense to fulfil all needs when it comes to the rather broad concept of intimacy. This is something I fell naturally into doing over time as I worked it out.”
It’s an unspoken truth that while in the formative stages of any relationship you will both be dating other people, and that once entering a monogamous bond you will still have flirtatious (=paquera) feelings for others time-to-time. It’s difficult not to see the appeal of being able to date multiple people at once without guilt.
“I think it’s always been something which has made sense,” details Scarlett. “But it’s only been the last four or five years when I’ve felt able to try and have poly relationships. I like that I can provide different kinds of support to different partners/lovers and similarly get different things from them.”
“I like to have minimal boundaries (=limites),” adds Chad. “I don’t see how holding someone back from something they feel the urge to partake (=participar) in as constructive behaviour (assuming they aren’t harming themselves or others).”
That’s not to say that you can simply jump into the open relationship ocean without any form of an emotional lifejacket.
“My first few attempts at open relationships didn’t go so well — the first was trying to open up a relationship which had previously been monogamous, where I was more interested in it than him,” says Scarlett.
“The others were when I started dating people already in long term relationships and issues arose with balancing the needs and interactions between everyone involved. I learned a lot about how to conduct myself in open relationships and relationships more generally from those experiences, even though they were quite painful at the time.”
Of course, as with any form of relationship, boundaries must be drawn and communication is imperative.
“When I’m interested in going on a date with a new person I make sure they know about Chad right from the start, because if someone isn’t comfortable with an open relationship then they’re not the person for me. Another important thing for me is that they respect my other relationships.”
“I like to think communication between all parties is key,” says Chad. “But I also think that is true with any kind of relationship. It shouldn’t be a challenge and if it is, perhaps it’s not for you.”
“Chad and I have one main rule which is to always use condoms if we’re with a partner where the sex we’re having calls for them. Aside from that we’ll usually mention if we went on a date (we don’t have a requirement for pre-approval or anything like that). We also both get STI tests reasonably often, but I think that’s just something which anyone who is sexually active with more than one partner should do, whether those partners are in series or parallel.”
Polyamory will never be for everyone, but the same can be said for monogamy. They both fall at the opposite ends of a very broad spectrum, one that many people occupy the middle-ground of for much of their lives.
The important thing for couples like Scarlett and Chad is being upfront and honest. And there’s definitely something to be said about that.
quinta-feira, 24 de setembro de 2015
Pelo menos 717 mortos na Arabia Saudita
Source: bbc news
Vocabulary:
Text:
Hajj stampede: At least 717 killed in Saudi Arabia
At least 717 people taking part (=participando) in the Hajj pilgrimage (=peregrinação) have been killed in a stampede near the Islamic holy city of Mecca, officials in Saudi Arabia say.
Another 863 people were injured in the incident at Mina, which occurred as two million pilgrims were taking part in the Hajj's last major rite (=ritual).
They converge on Mina to throw stones at pillars representing the devil.
Preparations for the Hajj were marred (=marcadas) when a crane (=guindaste) collapsed at Mecca's Grand Mosque this month, killing 109 people.
It is the deadliest incident to occur during the Hajj in 25 years.
Pilgrims travel to Mina, a large valley about 5km (3 miles) from Mecca, during the Hajj to throw seven stones at pillars called Jamarat, which represent the devil.
The pillars stand at three spots where Satan is believed to have tempted the Prophet Abraham.
At the scene - Tchima Illa Issoufou, BBC Hausa
Saudi ambulances arrive with pilgrims who were injured in a stampede at an emergency hospital in Mina, near the holy city of Mecca, on the first day of Eid al-Adha on September 24, 2015.
People were going towards the direction of throwing the stones while others were coming from the opposite direction. Then it became chaotic and suddenly people started going down.
There were Nigerians, Nigeriens, Chadians and Senegalese among (=entre) other nationals. People were just climbing on top of others in order to move to a safer place and that's how some people died.
People were chanting (=cantando) Allah's name while others were crying, including children and infants (=bebês). People fell on the ground seeking help but there was no-one to give them a helping hand. Everybody seemed to be on their own.
It affected some members of our group. I lost my aunt as a result of the stampede and at the moment, two women from our entourage - a mother and her daughter - are still missing.
The Saudi civil defence directorate said in a statement that the stampede occurred at around 09:00 local time (06:00 GMT) at the junction of Street 204 and Street 223.
The pilgrims were walking towards the five-storey structure which surrounds the pillars, known as the Jamarat Bridge.
The incident happened when there was a "sudden increase" in the number of pilgrims heading towards the pillars, the statement said.
This "resulted in a stampede among the pilgrims and the collapse of a large number of them", it added.
Security personnel and the Saudi Red Crescent were "immediately" deployed to prevent more people heading towards the area, the directorate said.
The Saudi health minister, Khaled al-Falih, said the crush occurred because pilgrims failed to follow directions.
He said "many pilgrims move without respecting the timetables" established by authorities.
2006: 364 pilgrims die in a crush (=esmagar) at foot of Jamarat Bridge in Mina
1997: 340 pilgrims are killed when fire fuelled by high winds sweeps through Mina's tent city
1994: 270 pilgrims die in a stampede during the stoning ritual
1990: 1,426 pilgrims, mainly Asian, die in a stampede in an overcrowded tunnel leading to holy sites
1987: 402 people die when security forces break up an anti-US demonstration by Iranian pilgrims
Timeline: Deadliest stampedes
The hundreds of wounded have been taken to four hospitals in the area by the more than 220 rescue vehicles sent to the scene.
Amateur video and photographs posted on social media showed the bodies of dozens of pilgrims on the ground. They were all dressed in the simple white garments (=vestes) worn during the Hajj.
The civil defence directorate said the victims were of "different nationalities", without providing details.
Iran's state news agency, Irna, said at least 43 Iranians were among the dead.
The UK Foreign Office said it was in contact with the local authorities and was urgently seeking more information about whether British nationals were involved.
Saudi-owned al-Arabiya TV reported that the head of the central Hajj committee, Prince Khaled al-Faisal, had blamed the stampede on "some pilgrims with African nationalities".
But the head of Iran's Hajj organisation, Said Ohadi, told Irna that two paths close to the scene of the incident had been inexplicably closed off by the Saudi authorities, resulting in the build-up in pilgrims.
What rituals do pilgrims perform? The pilgrimage takes place in several stages over five days, including circling the Kaaba (a cube-like building in the centre of the mosque) en masse and throwing seven stones at pillars called Jamarat which represent the devil.
How many people go? Well over a million pilgrims from outside Saudi Arabia, and several hundred thousand from inside the kingdom, converge on the site each year.
How do the authorities cope? Authorities deployed 100,000 security personnel and 25,000 extra health workers this year, as well as 100,000 air-conditioned tents for temporary accommodation.
Why do millions gather in Mecca every year?
The Saudi authorities have spent billions of dollars on improving transport and other infrastructure in the area in an attempt to try to prevent such incidents.
The Hajj is the fifth and final pillar of Islam. It is the journey that every able-bodied adult Muslim must undertake at least once in their lives if they can afford it.
Grey line
Hajj visitors - in numbers
Vocabulary:
- taking part in the Hajj pilgrimage
- major rite
- were marred when a crane collapsed
- when a crane collapsed
- among other nationals
- were chanting Allah's name
- children and infants
- in a crush at foot
- white garments worn
Text:
Hajj stampede: At least 717 killed in Saudi Arabia
At least 717 people taking part (=participando) in the Hajj pilgrimage (=peregrinação) have been killed in a stampede near the Islamic holy city of Mecca, officials in Saudi Arabia say.
Another 863 people were injured in the incident at Mina, which occurred as two million pilgrims were taking part in the Hajj's last major rite (=ritual).
They converge on Mina to throw stones at pillars representing the devil.
Preparations for the Hajj were marred (=marcadas) when a crane (=guindaste) collapsed at Mecca's Grand Mosque this month, killing 109 people.
It is the deadliest incident to occur during the Hajj in 25 years.
Pilgrims travel to Mina, a large valley about 5km (3 miles) from Mecca, during the Hajj to throw seven stones at pillars called Jamarat, which represent the devil.
The pillars stand at three spots where Satan is believed to have tempted the Prophet Abraham.
At the scene - Tchima Illa Issoufou, BBC Hausa
Saudi ambulances arrive with pilgrims who were injured in a stampede at an emergency hospital in Mina, near the holy city of Mecca, on the first day of Eid al-Adha on September 24, 2015.
People were going towards the direction of throwing the stones while others were coming from the opposite direction. Then it became chaotic and suddenly people started going down.
There were Nigerians, Nigeriens, Chadians and Senegalese among (=entre) other nationals. People were just climbing on top of others in order to move to a safer place and that's how some people died.
People were chanting (=cantando) Allah's name while others were crying, including children and infants (=bebês). People fell on the ground seeking help but there was no-one to give them a helping hand. Everybody seemed to be on their own.
It affected some members of our group. I lost my aunt as a result of the stampede and at the moment, two women from our entourage - a mother and her daughter - are still missing.
The Saudi civil defence directorate said in a statement that the stampede occurred at around 09:00 local time (06:00 GMT) at the junction of Street 204 and Street 223.
The pilgrims were walking towards the five-storey structure which surrounds the pillars, known as the Jamarat Bridge.
The incident happened when there was a "sudden increase" in the number of pilgrims heading towards the pillars, the statement said.
This "resulted in a stampede among the pilgrims and the collapse of a large number of them", it added.
Security personnel and the Saudi Red Crescent were "immediately" deployed to prevent more people heading towards the area, the directorate said.
The Saudi health minister, Khaled al-Falih, said the crush occurred because pilgrims failed to follow directions.
He said "many pilgrims move without respecting the timetables" established by authorities.
2006: 364 pilgrims die in a crush (=esmagar) at foot of Jamarat Bridge in Mina
1997: 340 pilgrims are killed when fire fuelled by high winds sweeps through Mina's tent city
1994: 270 pilgrims die in a stampede during the stoning ritual
1990: 1,426 pilgrims, mainly Asian, die in a stampede in an overcrowded tunnel leading to holy sites
1987: 402 people die when security forces break up an anti-US demonstration by Iranian pilgrims
Timeline: Deadliest stampedes
The hundreds of wounded have been taken to four hospitals in the area by the more than 220 rescue vehicles sent to the scene.
Amateur video and photographs posted on social media showed the bodies of dozens of pilgrims on the ground. They were all dressed in the simple white garments (=vestes) worn during the Hajj.
The civil defence directorate said the victims were of "different nationalities", without providing details.
Iran's state news agency, Irna, said at least 43 Iranians were among the dead.
The UK Foreign Office said it was in contact with the local authorities and was urgently seeking more information about whether British nationals were involved.
Saudi-owned al-Arabiya TV reported that the head of the central Hajj committee, Prince Khaled al-Faisal, had blamed the stampede on "some pilgrims with African nationalities".
But the head of Iran's Hajj organisation, Said Ohadi, told Irna that two paths close to the scene of the incident had been inexplicably closed off by the Saudi authorities, resulting in the build-up in pilgrims.
What rituals do pilgrims perform? The pilgrimage takes place in several stages over five days, including circling the Kaaba (a cube-like building in the centre of the mosque) en masse and throwing seven stones at pillars called Jamarat which represent the devil.
How many people go? Well over a million pilgrims from outside Saudi Arabia, and several hundred thousand from inside the kingdom, converge on the site each year.
How do the authorities cope? Authorities deployed 100,000 security personnel and 25,000 extra health workers this year, as well as 100,000 air-conditioned tents for temporary accommodation.
Why do millions gather in Mecca every year?
The Saudi authorities have spent billions of dollars on improving transport and other infrastructure in the area in an attempt to try to prevent such incidents.
The Hajj is the fifth and final pillar of Islam. It is the journey that every able-bodied adult Muslim must undertake at least once in their lives if they can afford it.
Grey line
Hajj visitors - in numbers
sexta-feira, 18 de setembro de 2015
Crise imigração Hungria fecha fronteira
Source: bbcnews
Vocabulary:
Text:
Migrant crisis: Hungary's closed border leaves many stranded
Hundreds of migrants are stranded at the Serbia-Hungary border after the Hungarian government closed the frontier with a new razor-wire (=arame farpado) fence.
The move aims to stop migrants who are trying to enter the EU.
After new Hungarian laws came into effect overnight (=durante a noite), police sealed a railway crossing point that had been used by tens of thousands of migrants.
Some have been searching for a way through the fence, while others threw down food and water in protest.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has suggested his country is planning to build a fence to keep migrants out along part of its border with Romania - a fellow EU member - to prevent the bypassing of the current frontier.
The EU is facing a huge influx of migrants, many fleeing conflict and poverty in countries including Syria, where a civil war has been raging (=travada) since 2011.
At the scene: James Reynolds, BBC News, on the Serbia-Hungary border
Right next to the border, refugees and migrants are searching in desperation for ways into Hungary. One group from Afghanistan crowded in front of a portable cabin built into the fence. A boy tried to open the door handle. The group hoped that this cabin might be a new front door into the European Union. But no-one answered them.
A few metres away, another group began a protest. They sat on the road and threw their bottles of water and loaves of bread (=pães) into a pile. "We don't want food or water until we cross the border," shouted one man.
An hour later, a crowd right next to the border fence started to move forward. The hunger strikers abandoned their protest to join the bigger crowd - in the hope of finding a way into Hungary. But I didn't see anyone being allowed to cross.
Grey line
The EU's border agency says more than 500,000 migrants have arrived at the EU's borders this year, compared with 280,000 in 2014. The vast majority have come by boat across the Mediterranean.
The Serbian minister in charge (=encarregado) of the government's working committee on migrants, Aleksandar Vulin, argued that the closure of the border by Hungary was unsustainable.
He told the BBC's Lyse Doucet that contact between Serbian and Hungarian officials had been minimal.
"We have some kind of negotiations, if you can say so, with Hungarian counterparts, with a police officer - someone who is in charge, through the fence. And we ask, can we talk somewhere... can we find some place to see each other? They said no. Through the fence."
In other developments on Tuesday:
Twenty-two people, including four children, drowned after a wooden boat following the most popular recent migrant route, between Turkey and Greece, sank; 249 of those on board were rescued
179 refugees stepped off (=desceram) a Munich-Berlin train in Saxony after the emergency brake cord was pulled, German media say
Extra powers
Hungary declared a state of emergency in two southern counties as the new laws came into force.
Anyone who crosses the border illegally will face charges, and 30 judges have been put on standby to try offenders.
The laws also make it a criminal offence - punishable by prison or deportation - to damage the newly built 4m (13ft) razor-wire fence along Hungary's 175km (110 mile) border with Serbia.
Police buses will now take asylum applicants to registration centres, but if their applications are refused they will now be returned to Serbia rather than being given passage through Hungary.
The state of emergency gives police extra powers and could allow the deployment of troops, if parliament approves.
Hungarian authorities said more than 9,000 people - a new record - crossed into the country on Monday before the border was closed. Some 20,000 crossed into Austria from Hungary.
Police said they had arrested 60 people accused of trying to breach the fence on the border with Serbia.
Hungarian government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs said: "The official and legal ways to come to Hungary and therefore to the European Union remain open. That's all we ask from all migrants - that they should comply (=cumprir) with international and European law".
The European Commission said it was seeking clarification of parts of the new Hungarian legislation, to check whether it was in line with EU asylum rules.
Starting on Tuesday, the EU has agreed to relocate 40,000 migrants from Greece and Italy to other EU states. But it has yet to agree on mandatory quotas for a further 120,000 asylum seekers.
At talks in Brussels on Monday, a majority of states had agreed in principle to the idea of relocating a further 120,000 through mandatory quotas, and there was hope the proposal could be finally approved at a meeting on 8 October.
Germany and Austria are calling for a special meeting of EU leaders next week to discuss the crisis.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel told a news conference that "this problem can only be solved together. It is a responsibility for the entire European Union".
However, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary have opposed the quotas.
German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said on Tuesday there should be ways of "exerting pressure" on states that refused binding quotas, possibly by reducing the amount of EU funding they receive.
But the Czech state secretary for the EU, Toma Prouza, said such threats were "empty but very damaging to all"
A spokeswoman from the UN refugee agency, Melissa Fleming, said she expected migrant "chaos" to continue in the absence of more decisive action by the EU, with migrants seeking a new route.
Germany introduced temporary border controls on Monday. That slowed down the passage of migrants from Austria, where about 2,000 people slept in railway stations overnight.
Austria - one of several EU countries to say it would tighten border controls - is starting to deploy hundreds of troops to help the police deal with migrant arrivals ahead of the new measures coming in at midnight (22:00 GMT).
The moves are a challenge to the EU's Schengen agreement on free movement, although the rules do allow for temporary controls in emergencies.
Vocabulary:
- razor-wire fence
- into effect overnight
- war has been raging since 2011
- loaves of bread into a pile
- minister in charge of the government's
- stepped off a Munich-Berlin train
- comply with international
Text:
Migrant crisis: Hungary's closed border leaves many stranded
Hundreds of migrants are stranded at the Serbia-Hungary border after the Hungarian government closed the frontier with a new razor-wire (=arame farpado) fence.
The move aims to stop migrants who are trying to enter the EU.
After new Hungarian laws came into effect overnight (=durante a noite), police sealed a railway crossing point that had been used by tens of thousands of migrants.
Some have been searching for a way through the fence, while others threw down food and water in protest.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has suggested his country is planning to build a fence to keep migrants out along part of its border with Romania - a fellow EU member - to prevent the bypassing of the current frontier.
The EU is facing a huge influx of migrants, many fleeing conflict and poverty in countries including Syria, where a civil war has been raging (=travada) since 2011.
At the scene: James Reynolds, BBC News, on the Serbia-Hungary border
Right next to the border, refugees and migrants are searching in desperation for ways into Hungary. One group from Afghanistan crowded in front of a portable cabin built into the fence. A boy tried to open the door handle. The group hoped that this cabin might be a new front door into the European Union. But no-one answered them.
A few metres away, another group began a protest. They sat on the road and threw their bottles of water and loaves of bread (=pães) into a pile. "We don't want food or water until we cross the border," shouted one man.
An hour later, a crowd right next to the border fence started to move forward. The hunger strikers abandoned their protest to join the bigger crowd - in the hope of finding a way into Hungary. But I didn't see anyone being allowed to cross.
Grey line
The EU's border agency says more than 500,000 migrants have arrived at the EU's borders this year, compared with 280,000 in 2014. The vast majority have come by boat across the Mediterranean.
The Serbian minister in charge (=encarregado) of the government's working committee on migrants, Aleksandar Vulin, argued that the closure of the border by Hungary was unsustainable.
He told the BBC's Lyse Doucet that contact between Serbian and Hungarian officials had been minimal.
"We have some kind of negotiations, if you can say so, with Hungarian counterparts, with a police officer - someone who is in charge, through the fence. And we ask, can we talk somewhere... can we find some place to see each other? They said no. Through the fence."
In other developments on Tuesday:
Twenty-two people, including four children, drowned after a wooden boat following the most popular recent migrant route, between Turkey and Greece, sank; 249 of those on board were rescued
179 refugees stepped off (=desceram) a Munich-Berlin train in Saxony after the emergency brake cord was pulled, German media say
Extra powers
Hungary declared a state of emergency in two southern counties as the new laws came into force.
Anyone who crosses the border illegally will face charges, and 30 judges have been put on standby to try offenders.
The laws also make it a criminal offence - punishable by prison or deportation - to damage the newly built 4m (13ft) razor-wire fence along Hungary's 175km (110 mile) border with Serbia.
Police buses will now take asylum applicants to registration centres, but if their applications are refused they will now be returned to Serbia rather than being given passage through Hungary.
The state of emergency gives police extra powers and could allow the deployment of troops, if parliament approves.
Hungarian authorities said more than 9,000 people - a new record - crossed into the country on Monday before the border was closed. Some 20,000 crossed into Austria from Hungary.
Police said they had arrested 60 people accused of trying to breach the fence on the border with Serbia.
Hungarian government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs said: "The official and legal ways to come to Hungary and therefore to the European Union remain open. That's all we ask from all migrants - that they should comply (=cumprir) with international and European law".
The European Commission said it was seeking clarification of parts of the new Hungarian legislation, to check whether it was in line with EU asylum rules.
Starting on Tuesday, the EU has agreed to relocate 40,000 migrants from Greece and Italy to other EU states. But it has yet to agree on mandatory quotas for a further 120,000 asylum seekers.
At talks in Brussels on Monday, a majority of states had agreed in principle to the idea of relocating a further 120,000 through mandatory quotas, and there was hope the proposal could be finally approved at a meeting on 8 October.
Germany and Austria are calling for a special meeting of EU leaders next week to discuss the crisis.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel told a news conference that "this problem can only be solved together. It is a responsibility for the entire European Union".
However, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary have opposed the quotas.
German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said on Tuesday there should be ways of "exerting pressure" on states that refused binding quotas, possibly by reducing the amount of EU funding they receive.
But the Czech state secretary for the EU, Toma Prouza, said such threats were "empty but very damaging to all"
A spokeswoman from the UN refugee agency, Melissa Fleming, said she expected migrant "chaos" to continue in the absence of more decisive action by the EU, with migrants seeking a new route.
Germany introduced temporary border controls on Monday. That slowed down the passage of migrants from Austria, where about 2,000 people slept in railway stations overnight.
Austria - one of several EU countries to say it would tighten border controls - is starting to deploy hundreds of troops to help the police deal with migrant arrivals ahead of the new measures coming in at midnight (22:00 GMT).
The moves are a challenge to the EU's Schengen agreement on free movement, although the rules do allow for temporary controls in emergencies.
quinta-feira, 17 de setembro de 2015
iOS - Swift vs Objective C
Source: switf inforworld
Vocabulary:
Text:
Programming languages don’t die easily, but development shops that cling (=agarram) to fading paradigms do. If you're developing apps for mobile devices and you haven't investigated Swift, take note: Swift will not only supplant Objective-C when it comes to developing apps for the Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and devices to come, but it will also replace C for embedded programming on Apple platforms.
Thanks to several key features, Swift has the potential to become the de-facto programming language for creating immersive, responsive, consumer-facing applications for years to come.
Apple appears to have big goals for Swift. It has optimized the compiler for performance and the language for development, and it alludes to Swift being “designed to scale from ‘hello, world’ to an entire operating system” in Swift’s documentation. While Apple hasn’t stated all its goals for the language yet, the launches of Xcode 6, Playgrounds, and Swift together signal Apple’s intent to make app development easier and more approachable than with any other development tool chain.
Here are 10 reasons to get ahead of the game by starting to work with Swift now.
1. Swift is easier to read
Objective-C suffers all the warts (=verrugas) you’d expect from a language built on C. To differentiate keywords and types from C types, Objective-C introduced new keywords using the @ symbol. Because Swift isn’t built on C, it can unify all the keywords and remove the numerous @ symbols in front of every Objective-C type or object-related keyword.
Swift drops legacy conventions. Thus, you no longer need semicolons to end lines or parenthesis to surround conditional expressions inside if/else statements. Another large change is that method calls do not nest inside each other resulting in bracket hell -- bye-bye, [[[ ]]]. Method and function calls in Swift use the industry-standard comma-separated list of parameters within parentheses. The result is a cleaner, more expressive language with a simplified syntax and grammar.
Swift code more closely resembles natural English, in addition to other modern popular programming languages. This readability makes it easier for existing programmers from JavaScript, Java, Python, C#, and C++ to adopt Swift into their tool chain -- unlike the ugly duckling that was Objective-C.
2. Swift is easier to maintain
Legacy is what holds Objective-C back -- the language cannot evolve without C evolving. C requires programmers to maintain two code files in order to improve the build time and efficiency of the executable app creation, a requirement that carries over to Objective-C.
Swift drops the two-file requirement. Xcode and the LLVM compiler can figure out dependencies and perform incremental builds automatically in Swift 1.2. As a result, the repetitive task of separating the table of contents (header file) from the body (implementation file) is a thing of the past. Swift combines the Objective-C header (.h) and implementation files (.m) into a single code file (.swift).
Objective-C’s two-file system imposes additional work on programmers -- and it’s work that distracts programmers from the bigger picture. In Objective-C you have to manually synchronize method names and comments between files, hopefully using a standard convention, but this isn’t guaranteed unless the team has rules and code reviews in place.
Xcode and the LLVM compiler can do work behind the scenes to reduce the workload on the programmer. With Swift, programmers do less bookkeeping and can spend more time creating app logic. Swift cuts out boilerplate work and improves the quality of code, comments, and features that are supported.
3. Swift is safer
One interesting aspect of Objective-C is the way in which pointers -- particularly nil (null) pointers -- are handled. In Objective-C, nothing happens if you try to call a method with a pointer variable that is nil (uninitialized). The expression or line of code becomes a no-operation (no-op), and while it might seem beneficial that it doesn’t crash, it has been a huge source of bugs. A no-op leads to unpredictable behavior, which is the enemy of programmers trying to find and fix a random crash or stop erratic behavior.
Optional types make the possibility of a nil optional value very clear in Swift code, which means it can generate a compiler error as you write bad code. This creates a short feedback loop and allows programmers to code with intention. Problems can be fixed as code is written, which greatly reduces the amount of time and money that you will spend on fixing bugs related to pointer logic from Objective-C.
Traditionally, in Objective-C, if a value was returned from a method, it was the programmer’s responsibility to document the behavior of the pointer variable returned (using comments and method-naming conventions). In Swift, the optional types and value types make it explicitly clear in the method definition if the value exists or if it has the potential to be optional (that is, the value may exist or it may be nil).
To provide predictable behavior Swift triggers a runtime crash if a nil optional variable is used. This crash provides consistent behavior, which eases the bug-fixing process because it forces the programmer to fix the issue right away. The Swift runtime crash will stop on the line of code where a nil optional variable has been used. This means the bug will be fixed sooner or avoided entirely in Swift code.
4. Swift is unified with memory management
Swift unifies the language in a way that Objective-C never has. The support for Automatic Reference Counting (ARC) is complete across the procedural and object-oriented code paths. In Objective-C, ARC is supported within the Cocoa APIs and object-oriented code; it isn’t available, however, for procedural C code and APIs like Core Graphics. This means it becomes the programmer’s responsibility to handle memory management when working with the Core Graphics APIs and other low-level APIs available on iOS. The huge memory leaks that a programmer can have in Objective-C are impossible in Swift.
A programmer should not have to think about memory for every digital object he or she creates. Because ARC handles all memory management at compile time, the brainpower that would have gone toward memory management can instead be focused on core app logic and new features. Because ARC in Swift works across both procedural and object-oriented code, it requires no more mental context switches for programmers, even as they write code that touches lower-level APIs -- a problem with the current version of Objective-C.
Automatic and high-performance memory management is a problem that has been solved, and Apple has proven it can increase productivity. The other side effect is that both Objective-C and Swift do not suffer from a Garbage Collector running cleaning up for unused memory, like Java, Go, or C#. This is an important factor for any programming language that will be used for responsive graphics and user input, especially on a tactile device like the iPhone, Apple Watch, or iPad (where lag is frustrating and makes users perceive an app is broken).
5. Swift requires less code
Swift reduces the amount of code that is required for repetitive statements and string manipulation. In Objective-C, working with text strings is very verbose and requires many steps to combine two pieces of information. Swift adopts modern programming language features like adding two strings together with a “+” operator, which is missing in Objective-C. Support for combining characters and strings like this is fundamental for any programming language that displays text to a user on a screen.
The type system in Swift reduces the complexity of code statements -- as the compiler can figure out types. As an example, Objective-C requires programmers to memorize special string tokens (%s, %d, %@) and provide a comma-separated list of variables to replace each token. Swift supports string interpolation, which eliminates the need to memorize tokens and allows programmers to insert variables directly inline to a user-facing string, such as a label or button title. The type inferencing system and string interpolation mitigate a common source of crashes that are common in Objective-C.
With Objective-C, messing up the order or using the wrong string token causes the app to crash. Here, Swift again relieves (=ajuda) you from bookkeeping work, translating into less code to write (code that is now less error prone) because of its inline support for manipulating text strings and data.
6. Swift is faster
Dropping legacy C conventions has greatly improved Swift under the hood. Benchmarks (=referência) for Swift code performance continue to point to Apple’s dedication to improving the speed at which Swift can run app logic.
According to Primate Labs, makers of the popular GeekBench performance tool, Swift was approaching the performance characteristics of C++ for compute-bound tasks in December 2014 using the Mandelbrot algorithm.
In February 2015, Primate Labs discovered that the Xcode 6.3 Beta improved Swift’s performance of the GEMM algorithm -- a memory-bound algorithm with sequential access of large arrays -- by a factor of 1.4. The initial FFT implementation -- a memory-bound algorithm with random access of large arrays -- had a 2.6-fold performance improvement.
Further (=outras) improvements were observed in Swift by applying best practices, resulting in an 8.5-fold boost for FFT algorithm performance (leaving C++ with only a 1.1-time performance gain). The enhancements (=melhorias) also enabled Swift to outperform (=superar) C++ for the Mandelbrot algorithm by a factor of a mere 1.03.
Swift is nearly on par with C++ for both the FFT and Mandelbrot algorithms. According to Primate Labs, the GEMM algorithm performance suggests the Swift compiler cannot vectorize code the C++ compiler can -- an easy performance gain that could be achieved in the next version of Swift.
7. Fewer name collisions with open source projects
One issue that has plagued (=atormentado) Objective-C code is its lack of formal support for namespaces, which was C++’s solution to code filename collisions. When this name collision happens in Objective-C, it is a linker error, and the app can’t run. Workarounds exist, but they have potential pitfalls (=armadilhas). The common convention is to use a two- or three-letter prefixes to differentiate Objective-C code that is written, say, by Facebook versus your own code.
Swift provides implicit namespaces that allow the same code file to exist across multiple projects without causing a build failure and requiring names like NSString (Next Step -- Steve Jobs’ company after being fired from Apple) or CGPoint (Core Graphics). Ultimately, this feature in Swift keeps programmers more productive and means they don’t have to do the bookkeeping that exists in Objective-C. You can see Swift’s influence with simple names like Array, Dictionary, and String instead of NSArray, NSDictionary, and NSString, which were born out of the lack of namespaces in Objective-C.
With Swift, namespaces are based on the target that a code file belongs to. This means programmers can differentiate classes or values using the namespace identifier. This change in Swift is huge. It greatly facilitates incorporating open source projects, frameworks, and libraries into your code. The namespaces enable different software companies to create the same code filenames without worrying about collisions when integrating open source projects. Now both Facebook and Apple can use an object code file called FlyingCar.swift without any errors or build failures.
8. Swift supports dynamic libraries
The biggest change in Swift that hasn’t received enough attention is the switch from static libraries, which are updated at major point releases (iOS 8, iOS 7, and so on), to dynamic libraries. Dynamic libraries are executable chunks (=pedaços) of code that can be linked to an app. This feature allows current Swift apps to link against newer versions of the Swift language as it evolves over time.
The developer submits the app along with the libraries, both of which are digitally signed with the development certificate to ensure integrity (hello, NSA). This means Swift can evolve faster than iOS, which is a requirement for a modern programming language. Changes to the libraries can all be included with the latest update of an app on the App Store, and everything simply works.
Dynamic libraries have never been supported on iOS until the launch of Swift and iOS 8, even though dynamic libraries have been supported on Mac for a very long time. Dynamic libraries are external to the app executable, but are included within the app bundle (=pacote) downloaded from the App Store. It reduces the initial size of an app as it is loaded into memory, since the external code is linked only when used.
The ability to defer (=adiar) loading in a mobile app or an embedded app on Apple Watch will improve the perceived performance to the user. This is one of the distinctions that make the iOS ecosystem feel more responsive. Apple has been focused on loading only assets, resources, and now compiled and linked code on the fly. The on-the-fly loading reduces initial wait times until a resource is actually needed to display on the screen.
Dynamic libraries in Swift make it possible for programming language changes and improvements to propagate faster than ever before. Users no longer need to wait for iOS point releases to benefit from any performance or reliability improvements Apple introduces into Swift.
9. Swift Playgrounds encourages interactive coding
Swift’s newly introduced Playgrounds are a boon (=bênção) to experienced developers. The Playgrounds were partially inspired by the work of former Apple employee Brett Victor. Playgrounds enable programmers to test out a new algorithm or graphics routine, say 5 to 20 lines of code, without having to create an entire iPhone app.
Apple has added inline code execution to Playgrounds to help programmers create a chunk of code or write an algorithm while getting feedback along the way. This feedback loop can improve the speed at which code can be written because the mental model that a traditional programmer needs can be replaced with data visualizations in Playgrounds. Programming is an iterative process, and any strain that can be reduced or used to complement the creative process will make programmers more productive and free them to solve bigger problems, rather than focusing on boring details that traditional compilers have imposed on programmers.
Note: From my experience in teaching novice programmers, Playgrounds are not as powerful for beginners as they are for experienced programmers. Simply showing how a variable works in the Swift playground doesn’t help a beginner understand the need for a Floating point variable versus an Integer variable. The need becomes obvious when you show an app that can remember your last scroll position in the Facebook news feed. For beginners, the “why” question can only be answered with a working example: an iPhone app.
10. Swift is a future you can influence
Objective-C isn’t going anywhere, but it won't see as many major changes, thanks to the introduction of Swift. Some Swift features will likely migrate over to Objective-C, but Objective-C’s legacy in C means it can absorb only so much.
Swift provides the development community a direct way to influence a language that will be used to create apps, embedded systems (if Apple ever licenses an embedded framework and chip for third parties), and devices like the Apple Watch.
Apple is focused on providing the best consumer experience and is building only those features deemed worthy of attention. With the Swift 1.2 release in Xcode 6.3, Apple has already fixed thousands of bugs reported with the popular Apple Bug Reporter utility. The team supporting the development and evolution of Swift is very interested in how the language can be improved to better support the development community that builds apps and systems using Swift.
Swift: The more approachable, full-featured language
The bulk of changes that allow Swift to rise above Objective-C stem from dropping the legacy language that Objective-C was built upon. Apple isn’t moving away from Cocoa, which is their API and code library for creating the experiences that feel Apple-esque. Instead, they are providing full-featured parity and making it easier to interact with new APIs that support features like Force Touch or Taptic Feedback.
Many legacy decisions were designed to make compiler design easier. Swift is focusing on making the app developer’s job easier by jettisoning the mental strain of legacy coding practices. As modern compilers improve, more information can be inferred from less code.
With Swift, programmers have half as many code files to maintain, zero manual code synchronization, and far less punctuation to mistype -- leading to more time spent writing quality lines of code. Code is now self-documenting in Swift with the addition of optional types: a compile-time safety mechanism for returning a value or no value, which is a common issue with asynchronous operations, network failures, invalid user input, or data validation errors. ARC is unified in Swift between both procedural C-style code, as well as object-oriented code using Apple’s Cocoa framework.
Developers will find that they write less code in Swift, and modern language features support them in keeping lines of code more readable. Swift will keep the entire Apple ecosystem at the forefront of programming as it continues to evolve, thanks to dynamic library support in iOS and Swift. Open source projects, third-party SDKs, and frameworks that integrate with home automation, devices, and social services will be easier to integrate without increasing build times. Swift is almost as fast as C++ in some algorithms and the latest release of Xcode 6.3 and Swift 1.2 point to additional performance optimizations on the horizon.
Add to that the fact that Playgrounds and Swift enable a new way to program with visual feedback that assists the development of algorithms using inline data visualizations. A shorter feedback loop and graphical descriptions make the iterative coding process even easier to start.
Ultimately, Swift is a more approachable full-featured programming language that will allow developers to not only build apps but also target embedded systems like the new lower-power Apple Watch for many years to come
Vocabulary:
- that cling to fading paradigms
- all the warts you’d expect
- carries over to Objective-C.
- Swift again relieves you from
- Benchmarks for Swift code performance continue to
- Further improvements were observed
- The enhancements also enabled Swift
- to outperform C++
- One issue that has plagued Objective-C
- potential pitfalls
- executable chunks
- app bundle downloaded
- ability to defer loading
- are a boon to experienced developers
Text:
Programming languages don’t die easily, but development shops that cling (=agarram) to fading paradigms do. If you're developing apps for mobile devices and you haven't investigated Swift, take note: Swift will not only supplant Objective-C when it comes to developing apps for the Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and devices to come, but it will also replace C for embedded programming on Apple platforms.
Thanks to several key features, Swift has the potential to become the de-facto programming language for creating immersive, responsive, consumer-facing applications for years to come.
Apple appears to have big goals for Swift. It has optimized the compiler for performance and the language for development, and it alludes to Swift being “designed to scale from ‘hello, world’ to an entire operating system” in Swift’s documentation. While Apple hasn’t stated all its goals for the language yet, the launches of Xcode 6, Playgrounds, and Swift together signal Apple’s intent to make app development easier and more approachable than with any other development tool chain.
Here are 10 reasons to get ahead of the game by starting to work with Swift now.
1. Swift is easier to read
Objective-C suffers all the warts (=verrugas) you’d expect from a language built on C. To differentiate keywords and types from C types, Objective-C introduced new keywords using the @ symbol. Because Swift isn’t built on C, it can unify all the keywords and remove the numerous @ symbols in front of every Objective-C type or object-related keyword.
Swift drops legacy conventions. Thus, you no longer need semicolons to end lines or parenthesis to surround conditional expressions inside if/else statements. Another large change is that method calls do not nest inside each other resulting in bracket hell -- bye-bye, [[[ ]]]. Method and function calls in Swift use the industry-standard comma-separated list of parameters within parentheses. The result is a cleaner, more expressive language with a simplified syntax and grammar.
Swift code more closely resembles natural English, in addition to other modern popular programming languages. This readability makes it easier for existing programmers from JavaScript, Java, Python, C#, and C++ to adopt Swift into their tool chain -- unlike the ugly duckling that was Objective-C.
2. Swift is easier to maintain
Legacy is what holds Objective-C back -- the language cannot evolve without C evolving. C requires programmers to maintain two code files in order to improve the build time and efficiency of the executable app creation, a requirement that carries over to Objective-C.
Swift drops the two-file requirement. Xcode and the LLVM compiler can figure out dependencies and perform incremental builds automatically in Swift 1.2. As a result, the repetitive task of separating the table of contents (header file) from the body (implementation file) is a thing of the past. Swift combines the Objective-C header (.h) and implementation files (.m) into a single code file (.swift).
Objective-C’s two-file system imposes additional work on programmers -- and it’s work that distracts programmers from the bigger picture. In Objective-C you have to manually synchronize method names and comments between files, hopefully using a standard convention, but this isn’t guaranteed unless the team has rules and code reviews in place.
Xcode and the LLVM compiler can do work behind the scenes to reduce the workload on the programmer. With Swift, programmers do less bookkeeping and can spend more time creating app logic. Swift cuts out boilerplate work and improves the quality of code, comments, and features that are supported.
3. Swift is safer
One interesting aspect of Objective-C is the way in which pointers -- particularly nil (null) pointers -- are handled. In Objective-C, nothing happens if you try to call a method with a pointer variable that is nil (uninitialized). The expression or line of code becomes a no-operation (no-op), and while it might seem beneficial that it doesn’t crash, it has been a huge source of bugs. A no-op leads to unpredictable behavior, which is the enemy of programmers trying to find and fix a random crash or stop erratic behavior.
Optional types make the possibility of a nil optional value very clear in Swift code, which means it can generate a compiler error as you write bad code. This creates a short feedback loop and allows programmers to code with intention. Problems can be fixed as code is written, which greatly reduces the amount of time and money that you will spend on fixing bugs related to pointer logic from Objective-C.
Traditionally, in Objective-C, if a value was returned from a method, it was the programmer’s responsibility to document the behavior of the pointer variable returned (using comments and method-naming conventions). In Swift, the optional types and value types make it explicitly clear in the method definition if the value exists or if it has the potential to be optional (that is, the value may exist or it may be nil).
To provide predictable behavior Swift triggers a runtime crash if a nil optional variable is used. This crash provides consistent behavior, which eases the bug-fixing process because it forces the programmer to fix the issue right away. The Swift runtime crash will stop on the line of code where a nil optional variable has been used. This means the bug will be fixed sooner or avoided entirely in Swift code.
4. Swift is unified with memory management
Swift unifies the language in a way that Objective-C never has. The support for Automatic Reference Counting (ARC) is complete across the procedural and object-oriented code paths. In Objective-C, ARC is supported within the Cocoa APIs and object-oriented code; it isn’t available, however, for procedural C code and APIs like Core Graphics. This means it becomes the programmer’s responsibility to handle memory management when working with the Core Graphics APIs and other low-level APIs available on iOS. The huge memory leaks that a programmer can have in Objective-C are impossible in Swift.
A programmer should not have to think about memory for every digital object he or she creates. Because ARC handles all memory management at compile time, the brainpower that would have gone toward memory management can instead be focused on core app logic and new features. Because ARC in Swift works across both procedural and object-oriented code, it requires no more mental context switches for programmers, even as they write code that touches lower-level APIs -- a problem with the current version of Objective-C.
Automatic and high-performance memory management is a problem that has been solved, and Apple has proven it can increase productivity. The other side effect is that both Objective-C and Swift do not suffer from a Garbage Collector running cleaning up for unused memory, like Java, Go, or C#. This is an important factor for any programming language that will be used for responsive graphics and user input, especially on a tactile device like the iPhone, Apple Watch, or iPad (where lag is frustrating and makes users perceive an app is broken).
5. Swift requires less code
Swift reduces the amount of code that is required for repetitive statements and string manipulation. In Objective-C, working with text strings is very verbose and requires many steps to combine two pieces of information. Swift adopts modern programming language features like adding two strings together with a “+” operator, which is missing in Objective-C. Support for combining characters and strings like this is fundamental for any programming language that displays text to a user on a screen.
The type system in Swift reduces the complexity of code statements -- as the compiler can figure out types. As an example, Objective-C requires programmers to memorize special string tokens (%s, %d, %@) and provide a comma-separated list of variables to replace each token. Swift supports string interpolation, which eliminates the need to memorize tokens and allows programmers to insert variables directly inline to a user-facing string, such as a label or button title. The type inferencing system and string interpolation mitigate a common source of crashes that are common in Objective-C.
With Objective-C, messing up the order or using the wrong string token causes the app to crash. Here, Swift again relieves (=ajuda) you from bookkeeping work, translating into less code to write (code that is now less error prone) because of its inline support for manipulating text strings and data.
6. Swift is faster
Dropping legacy C conventions has greatly improved Swift under the hood. Benchmarks (=referência) for Swift code performance continue to point to Apple’s dedication to improving the speed at which Swift can run app logic.
According to Primate Labs, makers of the popular GeekBench performance tool, Swift was approaching the performance characteristics of C++ for compute-bound tasks in December 2014 using the Mandelbrot algorithm.
In February 2015, Primate Labs discovered that the Xcode 6.3 Beta improved Swift’s performance of the GEMM algorithm -- a memory-bound algorithm with sequential access of large arrays -- by a factor of 1.4. The initial FFT implementation -- a memory-bound algorithm with random access of large arrays -- had a 2.6-fold performance improvement.
Further (=outras) improvements were observed in Swift by applying best practices, resulting in an 8.5-fold boost for FFT algorithm performance (leaving C++ with only a 1.1-time performance gain). The enhancements (=melhorias) also enabled Swift to outperform (=superar) C++ for the Mandelbrot algorithm by a factor of a mere 1.03.
Swift is nearly on par with C++ for both the FFT and Mandelbrot algorithms. According to Primate Labs, the GEMM algorithm performance suggests the Swift compiler cannot vectorize code the C++ compiler can -- an easy performance gain that could be achieved in the next version of Swift.
7. Fewer name collisions with open source projects
One issue that has plagued (=atormentado) Objective-C code is its lack of formal support for namespaces, which was C++’s solution to code filename collisions. When this name collision happens in Objective-C, it is a linker error, and the app can’t run. Workarounds exist, but they have potential pitfalls (=armadilhas). The common convention is to use a two- or three-letter prefixes to differentiate Objective-C code that is written, say, by Facebook versus your own code.
Swift provides implicit namespaces that allow the same code file to exist across multiple projects without causing a build failure and requiring names like NSString (Next Step -- Steve Jobs’ company after being fired from Apple) or CGPoint (Core Graphics). Ultimately, this feature in Swift keeps programmers more productive and means they don’t have to do the bookkeeping that exists in Objective-C. You can see Swift’s influence with simple names like Array, Dictionary, and String instead of NSArray, NSDictionary, and NSString, which were born out of the lack of namespaces in Objective-C.
With Swift, namespaces are based on the target that a code file belongs to. This means programmers can differentiate classes or values using the namespace identifier. This change in Swift is huge. It greatly facilitates incorporating open source projects, frameworks, and libraries into your code. The namespaces enable different software companies to create the same code filenames without worrying about collisions when integrating open source projects. Now both Facebook and Apple can use an object code file called FlyingCar.swift without any errors or build failures.
8. Swift supports dynamic libraries
The biggest change in Swift that hasn’t received enough attention is the switch from static libraries, which are updated at major point releases (iOS 8, iOS 7, and so on), to dynamic libraries. Dynamic libraries are executable chunks (=pedaços) of code that can be linked to an app. This feature allows current Swift apps to link against newer versions of the Swift language as it evolves over time.
The developer submits the app along with the libraries, both of which are digitally signed with the development certificate to ensure integrity (hello, NSA). This means Swift can evolve faster than iOS, which is a requirement for a modern programming language. Changes to the libraries can all be included with the latest update of an app on the App Store, and everything simply works.
Dynamic libraries have never been supported on iOS until the launch of Swift and iOS 8, even though dynamic libraries have been supported on Mac for a very long time. Dynamic libraries are external to the app executable, but are included within the app bundle (=pacote) downloaded from the App Store. It reduces the initial size of an app as it is loaded into memory, since the external code is linked only when used.
The ability to defer (=adiar) loading in a mobile app or an embedded app on Apple Watch will improve the perceived performance to the user. This is one of the distinctions that make the iOS ecosystem feel more responsive. Apple has been focused on loading only assets, resources, and now compiled and linked code on the fly. The on-the-fly loading reduces initial wait times until a resource is actually needed to display on the screen.
Dynamic libraries in Swift make it possible for programming language changes and improvements to propagate faster than ever before. Users no longer need to wait for iOS point releases to benefit from any performance or reliability improvements Apple introduces into Swift.
9. Swift Playgrounds encourages interactive coding
Swift’s newly introduced Playgrounds are a boon (=bênção) to experienced developers. The Playgrounds were partially inspired by the work of former Apple employee Brett Victor. Playgrounds enable programmers to test out a new algorithm or graphics routine, say 5 to 20 lines of code, without having to create an entire iPhone app.
Apple has added inline code execution to Playgrounds to help programmers create a chunk of code or write an algorithm while getting feedback along the way. This feedback loop can improve the speed at which code can be written because the mental model that a traditional programmer needs can be replaced with data visualizations in Playgrounds. Programming is an iterative process, and any strain that can be reduced or used to complement the creative process will make programmers more productive and free them to solve bigger problems, rather than focusing on boring details that traditional compilers have imposed on programmers.
Note: From my experience in teaching novice programmers, Playgrounds are not as powerful for beginners as they are for experienced programmers. Simply showing how a variable works in the Swift playground doesn’t help a beginner understand the need for a Floating point variable versus an Integer variable. The need becomes obvious when you show an app that can remember your last scroll position in the Facebook news feed. For beginners, the “why” question can only be answered with a working example: an iPhone app.
10. Swift is a future you can influence
Objective-C isn’t going anywhere, but it won't see as many major changes, thanks to the introduction of Swift. Some Swift features will likely migrate over to Objective-C, but Objective-C’s legacy in C means it can absorb only so much.
Swift provides the development community a direct way to influence a language that will be used to create apps, embedded systems (if Apple ever licenses an embedded framework and chip for third parties), and devices like the Apple Watch.
Apple is focused on providing the best consumer experience and is building only those features deemed worthy of attention. With the Swift 1.2 release in Xcode 6.3, Apple has already fixed thousands of bugs reported with the popular Apple Bug Reporter utility. The team supporting the development and evolution of Swift is very interested in how the language can be improved to better support the development community that builds apps and systems using Swift.
Swift: The more approachable, full-featured language
The bulk of changes that allow Swift to rise above Objective-C stem from dropping the legacy language that Objective-C was built upon. Apple isn’t moving away from Cocoa, which is their API and code library for creating the experiences that feel Apple-esque. Instead, they are providing full-featured parity and making it easier to interact with new APIs that support features like Force Touch or Taptic Feedback.
Many legacy decisions were designed to make compiler design easier. Swift is focusing on making the app developer’s job easier by jettisoning the mental strain of legacy coding practices. As modern compilers improve, more information can be inferred from less code.
With Swift, programmers have half as many code files to maintain, zero manual code synchronization, and far less punctuation to mistype -- leading to more time spent writing quality lines of code. Code is now self-documenting in Swift with the addition of optional types: a compile-time safety mechanism for returning a value or no value, which is a common issue with asynchronous operations, network failures, invalid user input, or data validation errors. ARC is unified in Swift between both procedural C-style code, as well as object-oriented code using Apple’s Cocoa framework.
Developers will find that they write less code in Swift, and modern language features support them in keeping lines of code more readable. Swift will keep the entire Apple ecosystem at the forefront of programming as it continues to evolve, thanks to dynamic library support in iOS and Swift. Open source projects, third-party SDKs, and frameworks that integrate with home automation, devices, and social services will be easier to integrate without increasing build times. Swift is almost as fast as C++ in some algorithms and the latest release of Xcode 6.3 and Swift 1.2 point to additional performance optimizations on the horizon.
Add to that the fact that Playgrounds and Swift enable a new way to program with visual feedback that assists the development of algorithms using inline data visualizations. A shorter feedback loop and graphical descriptions make the iterative coding process even easier to start.
Ultimately, Swift is a more approachable full-featured programming language that will allow developers to not only build apps but also target embedded systems like the new lower-power Apple Watch for many years to come
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