Arachnophobes beware!

By Jolanta Grant

Professor Hart of the University of Gloucestershire said that the mild summer meant the weather has not been able to thwart the quantity of prey available to spiders, meaning they had more to feed on than usual- which lead to experts saying what many of us arachnophobes dread to hear, larger-than-usual house spiders will be crawling over the door mats of many UK homes soon.  

Males spiders finding warmer environments in homes and seeking to pry out females is always foreseeable in this season, but due to the warm summer this year, spiders have been feeding on the abundance of prey in the last few months. This means we are not only predicted to see a greater quantity of spiders arranging themselves behind wardrobes, and wrapping themselves in silky safety nets on higher ground, but exerts are implying that they will be bigger too... Yes that's right, let's blame the summer.

It was the fact that the summer was so mild that drove the motive of spider survival. The not too hot or cold weather gave the spiders a wider access to their prey which kept up the biodiversity this month of male and female spiders. Both sexes stay in their webs until the autumn when the males become more nomadic and search for females.

Alongside the fact that people are seeing house spiders more frequently due to the increase in their population and more frequently because last winter was quite mild, or even because the conditions around them have become better (attracting more spiders) the point that Professor Hart tries to hit home is how useful they are at pest control.

'We want to encourage people to respect and learn more about their little house guests' - quite a proposal for you fellow arachnophobes!

Autumn Awareness – How to keep your pets safe this season

By Pippa Wilson
The trees are browning, the weather is turning colder and the 5^th of November traditionally translates to millions of cats and dogs cowering under sofas and stools wondering what all the commotion is about...

Fireworks tend to be extremely stressful for your pet as they are loud, unexpected and cause them to feel anxious and vulnerable. We don’t often realise that dogs can not only hear the loud banging, they can also sense the vibrations, making the whole firework display a very traumatic affair!

The best way to calm your pet is to close the curtains, put the light on and play some music to mask the sounds of the fireworks outside. If your pet sees you are anxious, it will display similar signs so the best idea is to ignore the fireworks. Pretend they aren’t happening and your pet may believe that too!

The use of calming pheromone diffusers are becoming increasing popular as they help your pet feel calmer and safer. Adaptil for dogs and Feliway for cats are recommended to be used at least 48 hours before the fireworks are due to start.

Fleas and ticks are also a massive issue for cats and dogs in the autumn; they thrive in long grass and woodland areas so are easily transferred onto your pet’s fur. Make sure your brush your pet after any possible contact with fleas and keep up to date with your pet’s regular flea treatment.

Having a quick chew on a conker is also a big no-no! Conkers, acorns and fallen fruits can cause stomach upsets so make sure you don’t let your dog sneak one into his bed to nibble on!

All in all, as long as your pet is clean, calm and conker free, you should be in for a wonderful autumn!

 

Why the Apple Watch marks the beginning of a customizable revolution

There’s no doubt that people love standing out. Whether it’s using fashion sense, personality or technology, people want to be different.

I’m by no means an apple fan, I don’t own any apple products, but I can’t deny the huge influence that apple has on the technology market. The IPhone revolutionised smart phones, the Macintosh having a giant impact on the customer market, turning people that use computers from people who invested a huge amount of time to get it working, with limited options for the average consumer, to putting computers in the “mainstream” so to say.

I’m not excited by the watch itself, I’m not rich enough to buy it, and the Apple Watch “Edition” which includes a 18 carat gold casing is just a better way of putting a giant  “I’m Rich, Mug Me” target on you then wearing a giant gold medallion saying exactly that. What I am excited for however is the prospects that it brings to the table.

Sure, there’s been smart watches before, Samsung released the galaxy gear earlier this year to a very modest (to say the least) reception. The problem with it was that it looked, well it looked like something a cut and paste business man wears to his meeting, to match with his Bluetooth headset.

 

 

Apple have been really clever in how customizable the watch is. Similar to IPhone cases, you can customize the watch straps in a wide variety of apple owned mechanisms, through classic leather straps to magnetic straps, similar to IPad cases, and the clever thing that they have done is allowed it to be removable, meaning that if you get bored with your normal leather brown strap, you can just replace it with a better looking metallic one, or however you like. You can even customize the clock face.

And if there is anything people want, it’s to look unique. You don’t want to be another face in the crowd, you want to have something that says you. This is why I think that the Apple Watch is marking the start of a great revolution in personalised electronic equipment. Sure there have been others before, but usually personalisation is kept to a minimum, sure you can change the layout of your computer, but it’s still the same, sure you can have a new case for a phone, but you’ll only show it off to your friends once or twice and then they’ll forget about it, and unless you’re extremely unsociable, they won’t see it a lot.

The Apple Watch is the start of a personalised revolution in the both physical and online media. Whether it’s the best Smart Watch it’s left to see, but I’m expecting a lot more customizability in future brand new electronics, and who knows? Maybe soon enough we’ll have complete customizability, set any layout, icon; start up sound, even shape that you want, all it needs is an easy way to do it.

If you’re listening google, I’m expecting a share of the profits. 

Damian Bemben
Columnist