Raymond Tomlinson is the man who invented e-mail. Tomlinson introduced the @ symbol into our electronic communications. Every time you give someone or something your e-mail address, you are using his invention.

Tomlinson didn’t invent the @: That honor lies somewhere long before he was born. It’s unclear still how the circle found its way around the a, but during the Renaissance the symbol slowly crept into texts as a way to denote how much something cost per unit. So you might see something like: “10 loaves of bread @ 25 pence each.” For hundreds of years, the symbol was mostly used by merchants, and nobody else. Fast forward to 1971, and Tomlinson borrowed the symbol to mean “located at” in an e-mail address. And that’s how we mainly use the symbol today.

If you’re from the United States, you probably know the @ as the “at” symbol. But in other parts of the world, that’s not always how they refer to the little squiggly a. Here are some of the other ways of referring to our friendly e-mail address signifier.

1. ITALIANS SEE A TINY SNAIL.

The Italians call the symbol a chiocciola or a “snail,” to describe its spiral shape.

2. HUNGARIANS SEE A SLIMIER ANIMAL: A WORM.

In Hungarian, the @ is likened to a wiggly earth-eater and called a kukac, which means “little worm” or “maggot.”

3. ARMENIANS THINK THE @ IS A CUTE LITTLE DOG.

They call the @ ishnik or “puppy.”

4. GERMANS HAVE A SPECIFIC MONKEY IN MIND FOR THE @.

German slang call the symbol klammeraffe or “spider monkey,” which is delightfully specific in the way you expect from Germans.

5. THE DUTCH ALSO SEE A MONKEY, BUT A LESS SPECIFIC ONE.

The Dutch have a similar nickname as the Germans: They call it an apestaart or “monkey’s tail.” No specific species this time.

6. IN DANISH YOU GET TWO ANIMALS TO CHOOSE FROM.

In Danish, the @ gets two names, both animal in origin. Sometimes, it’s a grisehale or “pig’s tail.” But most of the time it’s a snabel or “elephant’s trunk.” 

7. THE TAIWANESE SEE A MOUSE.

In Taiwanese the @ symbol is called “little mouse.”

8. ISRAELIS HAVE FOOD ON THE BRAIN WHEN IT COMES TO THE @.

To Israelis, the @ is often called a “strudel,” as in the delicious layered pastry.

9. IN CZECH AND SLOVAK THE @ ALSO POINTS TO FOOD.

In Czech and Slovak, the @ symbol is called a zavináč or rollmops. For those uninitiated, a rollmop is a fillet of pickled herring, rolled up around a savory filling, often olives or pimentos.

10. IN SWEDISH IT’S ALL ABOUT THE SWEET BUNS.

Swedish has a few names for the @, but one of them is kanelbulle or “cinnamon bun.”

11. THE CHINESE SEE THE @ AS FANCY.

The Chinese have a couple of different ways of referring to @ but one of them is “flowery A.”

12. IN SERBIAN THE @ IS WILD.

In Serbian, the @ has gotten out of hand, and is called “crazy A.”

13. VIETNAM HAS TWO NAMES FOR THE @, BENT AND HOOKED.

The Vietnamese have different names for the @ in the northern and southern bits of the country. In the North @ is A còng or “bent A,” and in the south the @ is A móc or “hooked A.”

14. IN RUSSIAN IT’S ALSO CALLED AN ANIMAL

“Doggie” or “little doggie” – “szobáká” or “szobácská”.

Which one is your favourite?

 source: mentalfloss

Can you match the countries and the different names for ‘at’?

Key:

1. h.

2. n.

3. i.

4. a.

5. g.

6. b.

7. f.

8. m.

9. k.

10. c.

11. l.

12. d.

13. j.

14. e. 

IMPORTANT PHRASES

How may I help you? – Miben segíthetek?
I’d like to order broadband internet. – Szélessávú internetet szeretnék rendelni.
… was a customer of ours. – … az ügyfelünk volt.
We can connect you straight away. – Azonnal csatlakoztatni tudjuk.
That sounds great! – Ez nagyszerűen hangzik.Which … did you choose? – Melyik …-t választotta?
It also includes … .  – Ez a/az …-t is magába foglalja.
at no extra charge – külön díjazás nélkül
Does it apply to … ? – Ez vonatkozik a …-ra/-re is?
That will be perfect. – Az nagyszerű lesz.
Can I have your credit card details? – Megkaphatnám a hitelkártya adatait?

IMPORTANT WORDS

to order – (meg)rendelni
broadband internet – szélessávú internet
postal code – irányítószám
previous owner – korábbi tulajdonos
customer – vásárló, ügyfél
to connect – kapcsolni, kapcsolódni
straight away – azonnal
unlimited –korlátlan
usage – használat
internet access – internet hozzáférés
wireless – vezetéknélküli
to include – magába foglal
to apply – alkalmaz, vonatkozik
landline – vezetékes telefon

Television and high-speed internet have become a necessity for many people in the 21^st century. Television is not only a form of entertainment but also a source of information for a significant number of the population, and is especially helpful for the elderly, who often have trouble reading newspapers. In the developed world the internet has taken over the role of television as a source of information for the younger generations, while providing entertainment as well. The main advantage of having an internet connection during your stay abroad is, on the one hand, the possibility to communicate with friends and family at no additional costs, and on the other hand, access to on-line banking and other services.

Cable TV subscription

You can typically order cable television subscription from various providers, after checking their offers and packages. Most cable providers take orders by phone on a toll-free number and send the set-top box via post to your home for self-installation, along with the contract to be signed and returned. If your home has a cable TV socket available, there is no need to send a technician as setting up cable TV is quite simple nowadays and the service is switched on remotely. Make sure you do activate the cable card though, or the set-top box won’t be able to connect to the network. Many shows are subtitled for the hard of hearing, which is also very useful for language learners. You can also improve your English if you pick a service that can record TV shows, so you can replay the parts that are difficult to understand. If you want to cancel your subscription, you can do so by phone, and the set-top box needs to be returned to the provider.

Internet subscription

The two main types of internet are cable internet and DSL (digital subscriber line). Whichever you pick you will need a cable modem or a DSL modem that is plugged into a wall socket. You can either buy one or pick a provider that offers modems for rent or for free, depending on your package. More and more people need wireless internet as well for their tablets or phones, so make sure you discuss the option of getting a Wi-Fi router from your provider. If you would like to use two desktop computers or connect your laptop for a faster connection than through Wi-Fi, an ADSL splitter will sort the problem. Depending on the status of the network, connecting your home to the internet may take days or weeks, which can be frustrating. In such cases the best solution is to buy a USB stick, also called a dongle, which provides broadband internet on a pay-as-you-go basis.

Google has finally launched the much awaited Kiddle, a customised search engine for children. Entering the search site, one finds Kiddle written in the characteristic colourful Google style, this time set not against the plain white of Google, but a colourfu lalien planet surface. There is also a red droid alien waiting to answer all your queries.

While the search interface is largely the same, with different search options including the usual web, images, news and videos, the search results are clearly modified for a younger audience. For example once you type Obama (in big blue fonts), in the search box, you would not have the President’s website, Obama’s twitter handles, the latest news on top or his Wikipedia page at the top, as is the usual case with standard Google. Instead, you would have a list of links to Obama’s pages on biography.com, britannica.com, famousbirthdays.com etc. each of which would be   by a large picture of the American President.

The search results are also not as cluttered, and come well-spaced with a bigger font, easier for kids to read.

On its ‘About’ page, Kiddle also explains the logic behind its search results.

Safe sites and pages written specifically for kids, which will be handpicked and checked by Kiddle editors, would usually be featured in the first three results. The next rung would include safe, trusted sites that are not written specifically for kids, but have content written in a simple way, easy for kids to understand.

Finally, after this would follow safe, famous sites that are written for adults, providing expert content, but are harder for kids to understand.

If the child types something ‘unsuitable‘ for kids, one of Kiddle’s alien droids would come hob-nobbing with the message “Oops, looks like your query contained some bad words. Please try again!”

Lastly, Kiddle has also announced that they “don’t collect any personally identifiable information, and (their) logs are deleted every 24 hours”.

The company says it is 90 per cent accurate when scanning typical images which appear on social networking sites. Face.com has previously limited the availability of the software over concerns about invasion of privacy. But it has now released the Photo Finder software to developers building applications allowing people to search for anyone on the internet.

Gil Hirsch, chief executive of Face.com, told The Sunday Times: “We have launched a service that allows developers to take our facial recognition technology and apply it immediately to their own applications. The technology is already being used by 5,000 developers. You can basically search for people in any photo. You could search for family members on Flickr, in newspapers, or in videos on YouTube – but it would take a lot of processing power.”

The use of facial detection technology has only been used by the UK Border Agency. Google has a tool – Picasa – which allows users to organise their photos by tagging matching faces and Facebook uses Photo Finder. Supporters of the software, including the Red Cross, have said it could be used to track people lost in humanitarian disasters.

But there are strong concerns over the accuracy of the technology and its impact on privacy. Simon Davies, director of Privacy International, said: “I think this will make many people very uneasy. The regulators have been hugely behind the curve of protecting people’s privacy on the internet. We need to push for much tighter international rules.”

Daily Mail