21.2.2019

Artificial Intelligence to Revolutionise the Developing WorldArtificial Intelligence is the fastest-growing market in the world right now and is showing no signs of slowing down. According to Forbes magazine, investment into AI start-ups by venture capitalists has increased 6X since 2000. Artificial Intelligence is when machines are programmed to carry out humanised tasks and in effect, make machines ‘smart’. In recent years it has become apparent that different tasks, which would normally require supreme human intelligence, are being carried out by machines faster and easier than humans could ever think of. With the use of faster compute, better algorithms and bigger data,Artificial Intelligence is finally starting to become a reality for humans. Paradoxically, however, we have created this advanced technology but there are people living in the world who still don’t have access to basic needs such as food, water and shelter. What I ask is that we stop for a minute and think; Is there a way that we can use Artificial Intelligence to revolutionise the developing world forever?Evidently, one of the biggest problems in developing countries is the lack of food available to them, which leads to starvation. The World Food Programme stated that 842 million people are suffering from hunger around the globe, with 98% of sufferers living in developing countries. The food crisis in these countries is evidently clear for everyone to see. They are crying out for a successful system to be put in place to rectify the crisis and that is where Artificial Intelligence comes in. In order for the food availability in these countries to increase, it would require a modification of the current agricultural systems in developing countries by using machine-based technology. Firstly, devices like drones and micro sensors could be used to closely monitor crops in order to find out if there are any problems and to provide the farmers with the key information they need to decide when the perfect time to harvest would be. The farmers would then be updated via their phones if anything critical arises. The UN reported that each year roughly 20-40% of global crop yields are destroyed due to pests and disease. However, artificial intelligence can go a long way toward stopping this problem. Robots can be used to target specific weeds and destroy them with pesticides rather than using the traditional blanket sprayer. This would mean that all the unaffected, healthy crops would survive, and crop production would rapidly increase. Additionally, autonomous pickers could be introduced to take the place of labour workers in farms. These machines are used to pick fresh berries two times quicker than a human can. Paul Bissett, who is the chief operating officer at Harvest CROO Robotics, described how the robot works in one simple sentence; "We're collecting 50 to 100 images a plant, and all of those images are fed into our AI system in order to tell us, OK, this is a good berry, this is one we want to go after.” The potential of these AI systems cannot be underestimated, and we need to utilise the various new technologies in developing countries in order to give them a fighting chance of ending starvation.Moreover, a problem that developing countries face is their deficient water supply. In an article published by Eco MENA in 2016, they reported that 3.2 million children die each year from unsafe drinking water in developing countries. Can you imagine what the reaction would be like if a developed country like the US or UK ended up in the same situation? There would be complete outrage, but when it happens in developing countries society just accepts it and moves on, not enough is being done to help the struggles of the less fortunate people in these countries and it is time for that to change. The first key problem regarding the water crisis is water pollution. India is an example of a developing country which is languishing due to a sustained water pollution crisis, 163 million people lack access to safe water and The World Bank reported that roughly 21% of communicable diseases come from unsafe water and lack of hygiene practices. However, artificial intelligence can be used to help countries like India in their battle against water pollution. Scientists can use the feedback gathered by Artificial Intelligence and recommend better practices for water quality issues by implementing AI’s ability to improve research standards, data security and control processes, AI is able to do all of this by being able to generate predictive estimations, simulations and case by case analogies.Furthermore, the standard of third world educational systems is yet another severe issue that developing countries continue to struggle with. An article published by the Canadian government estimated that around 59 million children in developing countries do not have access to basic education and those who do attend school are taught at a severely low level; 250 million children cannot read, write or count even after 4 years of schooling.It is clear something drastic needs to happen for developing countries to finally close the huge education gap that currently exists between them and developed countries because if this gap continues to widen then it may become too late for developing countries to ever invest in their education systems and inspire children to achieve highly valued professions rather than their main priorities in life being marriage, providing food and ultimately staying alive. Artificial Intelligence offers a fresh outlook for developing countries education systems and the prospects of AI being used to transform the lives of young children in developing countries is very, very exciting. The most influential use of AI in education systems would be the ability to create personalised learning that can be viewed by the pupil anytime, anywhere. This would make the child the most important person in the teacher-pupil relationship and would eliminate the current problem of children in developing countries having to walk long distances to get to school every day. In addition to this, the child can learn at their own pace and the automated machine would create tasks and provide materials based on that child’s personal goals and progress.All things considered, Artificial Intelligence evidently has the potential to redefine developing countries forever and the governments of these countries need to wake up and finally realise that investing into AI is the key to solving the extant crises that they have created as they have failed to provide necessary funding required to change the fortunes of their people for many, many years. I am not saying that these changes are going to happen overnight and, of course, there are some questions over the use of Artificial Intelligence but in 5-10 years if the problems highlighted in developing countries has not improved and the financial gap between these countries and those which are considered developed continues to widen, will the government officials be asking themselves; What if we had used Artificial Intelligence in 2018?

24.2.2019

One could argue that filters like this are a waste of time but that rather depends upon where you live and the 'quality' of your water.By that I mean the taste and minerals which, if you are a tea-urn like my wife matters. Also I live in Norfolk where the water is from deep underground where it picks up epic amounts of calcium carbinate which furrs up anything hot with limescale practically overnight.So, for years we have used a water filter that removes taste and chemicals such as chlorine and also reduces the limescale on our kettle to negligible amounts.Now, I'm no eco-herbalist-homeopathic type person. I'm a marine engineer and have no issue with chemically treating the water to make it safe and on ships do so all the time.

22.7.2017

We have had a Maxtra filter for several years. We live in a fairly hard water area, and the main reason we have the filter is for my wife to avoid getting a scummy surface on her tea. (I drink only coffee, with which I can’t tell any difference.)At present these are a similar RRP to the ordinary Maxtra filters, but currently there is very little price reduction so costs 50% more. Presumably it will come down over time.So, what’s the difference? We couldn’t tell any difference in the taste.-There are two changes which, curiously, are not mentioned on the product page, but are listed on Brita’s website. One is “25% finer mesh for better reduction of coarse particles”, and it looks as if this is true.

28.12.2015

First off these are great value for money: a 12 pack breaks down as £2.49 per cartridge. Over 30 days that's 8 pence per day. To buy a 1.5 litre bottle of Volvic is about 64p from the supermarket, so that's a saving of 56p per day / £16.80 per month! Not to mention that fact that shop bought plastic bottles contain Phthalates. Although water, in and of itself, does not go bad, the plastic bottle it is contained in does "expire" and will eventually start leaching chemicals into the water. If you look at the expiry dates on bottled water, it's 2 years, so in theory that water could have been sitting on the shelf for that long! For me personally, I like cold fresh water,

29.7.2017

If this product interests you, be sure to start with a clearer idea than I had about what is being offered for review. It is a little box of three water filter cartridges, and anything we are given by way of ‘instructions’ obviously presumes previous acquaintance with this supplier’s product range. If you don’t have that, you are liable to find the accompanying diagrams as clear as mud, which is how I found them, and not just myself either but also two other practical and savvy friends to whom I appealed for assistance.The cartridges seem to be intended to fit into a companion jug, but at least I was able to rig up something close enough for the purpose of filtering my local Pennine tap water.

14.7.2017

Once again I face a dilemma reviewing a Vine product! I have used BRITA filters for over 20 years and have therefore spent a fortune, replacing each one on a monthly basis. I must say that unlike some reviewers, I have not noticed that the build up of limescale in my kettle is less after using these items, but it does remove the chlorine and other additives and the water tastes fresher and similarly there is little or no aroma other than water.What I am not sure about is how much better they are over the in line filter on my Samsung fridge freezer, where the individual filters are more expensive but last for 6 months at a time, with little if any deterioration over the 6 month period - we are a sad family as I insisted that we undertake a blind tasting,

16.3.2019

Oh Brita filters.. my wife keeps insisting on drinking only filtered water. Yet people are not dropping like flies so I assume tap water is fine. If anything, UK tap water is supposed to be among the safest in the world.Moreover you only have to research for 30 seconds to see that these Brita filters only take out a limited amount of stuff found in tap water and probably also the beneficial bits.In our case my wife wants to take out the hard water with the help of these filters. Well.. apparently Brita filters only reduces the hard water a little bit. While there is research suggesting hard water is actually better for your heart.. while if it takes out fluoride, which is unproven I believe,

17.7.2017

I have been using the old style Maxtra filters for years and have enjoyed a better tasting glass of water compared to straight from the tap, no lime scale in my Kettle, coffee machine and iron which alone rates this product highly from myself. I have had my kettle for 6 years used often and there isn’t a speck of lime scale inside it.My only real downside is the cost for the new + filters are quite a bit more. I’m sure that these are better than the old ones as technology moves forward and Brita have been making these for years and I daresay researching too. This said myself and my partner cannot taste any difference with a glass of water or cup of tea over the original!I have tested the filter

22.7.2017

We live in a hard water area so using a water filter is important to us for both enhancing the taste of our drinks and preventing limescale building up in the kettle and coffee machine. We have used the older Brita Maxtra filter system for quite a while and have been very pleased with the performance of the cartridges – the new Maxtra+ offers even better results, but at a price. The new “plus” filters fit our older Maxtra jug perfectly but I think that some newer Maxtra+ jugs will only work with these new filters. It is difficult to tell much difference in the taste of the water between the old and new filters and the limescale performance seems about the same – that being good.

3.11.2019

I have found these filters to be very good at removal of chlorine from tap water which is by far my main reason why I didn't drink tap water as the taste did bother me. By bringing both filtered and unfiltered water under the light there is a visible difference in the number of particles in the water, the filtered water had none floating about (these are not dangerous). I conducted a blind test to verify if the taste of the filtered water was truly better at least to me personally and I have found that in 90 per cent of cases it did. However, from time to time the water did taste sweet to me.It is important to take a look at the latest water report of your local water supplier to check if they

16.7.2017

Once you've used water filters and experienced the difference that they make to water quality, you probably won't go back to being without. These filters are an updated design- they look more streamlined and modern rather than utilitarian- the flimsy tag carry handle of the old filters has gone- and the grip has been incorporated into the filter.We live in a soft water area now - but it is a horrible experience to drink tap water due to strong chemical taste - these filters eliminate that and provide very high quality drinking water. If you are a tea fanatic, tea tastes much better with water filtered through these devices. When we did live in a hard water area,

26.7.2017

I've used these Brita Maxtra+ water filters in my old Brita maxtra jug and in my coffee machine. I do think they improve the flavour of tap water and greatly improve the quality of the tea you can make from it too. What I'm not sure about is if there's an appreciable difference between standard maxtra filters and these new improved maxtra+ ones.These new filters apparently have 25% finer mesh and have new micro carbon pearls which reduce chlorine and impurities and so improve the taste of water. It's also great that the cartridges can be recycled. They have ion exchange pearls which help to protect against limescale build-up.

18.7.2017

In both a blind tasting and a scum test, Matxra+ produced distinctly better results than Maxtra, as far as we’re concerned. Our chalky South Downs water tastes dreadful, unfiltered, and until now has been less than perfect even after filtering, with a slightly musty, brackish taste and still some film on tea. With Maxtra+, the taste is significantly better and the film has gone, at least with a new cartridge.Unfortunately, Maxtra+ is significantly more expensive than Maxtra at present. The last Maxtras we bought from Amazon were just £24 for 12. They’re £38 at present, while 12 x Maxtra+ are £64. Ouch. I strongly recommend setting a price alert with the camelcamelcamel or keepa browser extension.

2.6.2015

This product is good and price is also good. But just be careful about amazon prime membership.If amazon asked you to try a trial version of amazon prime, just be careful. If you accept it and the period of the trial is finished you will automatically become a member of amazon prime and amazon will charge you. In UK it is 79 GBP per a year. Apparently they send you an email with instruction on how to cancel your membership but if you don't see the email (like me and my colleague) among so many emails from amazon and don't follow the instruction and cancel your trial amazon prime membership then you become a member automatically. They don't send a paper receipt to your address so you wouldn't notice that they have debited your account.

2.8.2017

I suppose water filters could now be considered a mature market judging by the number of Brita pack options and don't forget the New Improved/Best Ever versions that will come out every now and again justifying a price increase. The market also has other manufacturers and Amazon sell them in their Basic range. So there's plenty of choice and traps for the unwary in buying a box of filters and finding they don't fit the water jug.If you live in a hard water area with lime scale building up in the kettle and iron these filters work a treat. The taste questions is more subjective and I'm not convinced that drinking a glass from the tap or from the Brita jug offers too much difference (or improvement)

BRITA Maxtra+ Filter Cartridge - Reviews

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