Hi there and welcome to Mondays Levy Letter. Its been quite a weekend for sport hasnt it? Whatever your favourite event is at the Olympics, Im sure its quite hard not to get caught up in the emotion of it all. And its been a great show from Team GB!
Spam We all hate spam clogging up our inboxes, but technology designed to deter fraudsters from registering fake email accounts could help with historical research. This email tool could help digitise books and newspapers dating back hundreds of years. If you regularly surf the net, youll recognise the technology as the little boxes on web pages that show squiggly letters or numbers that you then have to write out correctly in order to enter the site. Well, this technology was devised eight years ago to prevent fraudsters computers setting up email accounts automatically, which could then send out spam. But this technology can now transcribe old documents and newspapers dating back from the nineteenth century. The programme, called Captcha, shows the user a word from the old manuscript that you might not be able to decipher and shows it to other people. When three or more people type in the same word, then the computer will decide that this must be the right word and relays it ! back. This new system should be able to speed up the process of deciphering old manuscripts to about one hundred and sixty texts a day. The Invisible Man Stuff of legend and blockbuster films, the invisible man may soon not be just fantasy. The technology to create a human being invisible may be a step closer after scientists came up with a material that could bend light around objects. This scientific breakthrough that seems to me to have come straight from the movies could lead to technology that will transform anything, from people to large objects like tanks and ships, invisible to the naked eye! So Harry Potters invisibility cloak might not have to rely on magic to work! Unfortunately, the technology is still quite a few years off in the making, but the research has taken quite a dramatic turn and is certainly very exciting to keep an ear out for. This research is being funded by the American military for obvious uses in warfare. But it would be very strange to think that in our lifetime we could see The Invisible Man come into fruition! Our Rainy Summer We might be moaning that the summer looks like its over as the rain clouds start to loom on the horizon, but its not all bad. Honest! The wet summer is just what Britains truffle hunters want! A bumper crop of truffles is expected, because of superb truffle-growing weather. Heres the recipe for the perfect black diamond truffle a chilly spring followed by sunshine and then summer rain. Well, that does sum up the years weather doesnt it? British truffles arent highly regarded in the very elitist restaurant industry, but they can still expect about £180 a kilo. That would be a very nice harvest! I dont think theres much use me checking my window box for truffles, but one Plymouth couples gardener found truffles growing in the roots of one their beech trees! So quick, as soon as youve read this, perhaps you should go and check to see if youve got any growing! Theres apparently one secret location in Wiltshire that has become the most productive supplier of Brit! ish truffles, which produced about 200kg last year and theyre hoping to produce a lot more this year can you do the maths for that? Pigs are the traditional animal used to sniff out the truffles, although dogs can be used. The Wiltshire farmer in his secret location though prefers to take his shoes and socks off and dig them out with his bare toes! I hope his feet are clean! Enjoy your day and get in touch if you want to let me know what you were up to at the weekend. Of course, Id love to see any pictures if you were out and about and get in touch if theres a story you think we should be covering. Take care, Peter Your email address will be held by the BBC and kept confidential, and will only be used in relation to this newsletter. You will be given the option to unsubscribe from this newsletter each time you receive it. Please visit the BBC's Privacy & Cookies Policy (www.bbc.co.uk/privacy) for more information And for the latest news and more where you live, go to: http://bbc.co.uk/humber and http://bbc.co.uk/lincolnshire ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the BBC Look North newsletter, go to http://www.bbc.co.uk/england/looknorthhull/newsletter/newsletter_index.shtml, enter your email address in the unsubscribe box. 1.94.4
