By Konstantina Panagiotakopoulou

   What is the true job of a journalist? How does the truth relate to this and how does the media get involved? But before we get into the grill, let’s learn a few things about journalism.

In a simplistic way, journalism is the collection of information and news with the main goal of informing citizens as correctly as possible. Nevertheless, journalism also includes the personal opinion or comments of the person who practices it.

The truth in journalism:    

  Certainly an integral part of journalism is the truth. At first glance the truth is one, and it does not change. But let’s take an example. There is a car accident on a main road. The witnesses who saw the incident with their own eyes are invited to testify. There are objective facts that make up the accident, and besides, with a camera that may have been at the scene, all of this is confirmed. But when we arrive at the time of the testimony, we see that the truth is differentiated when it is captured either in oral or in writing by different people. Everyone saw the same thing, everyone was in front, but the truth was presented in a different way by everyone. Therefore we conclude that, yes, there are many truths.

The role of media:                     

The development of the media in recent years has therefore contributed significantly to this. Everyone can speak their truth. Now unfortunately to the point where they sell you a lie for the truth and try to make the whole world believe them. Today, unfortunately, we have passed the stage as a society where the media was an auxiliary agency for informing the citizens and has now become the main agency of lies and defamation. Perhaps this is a key reason why the entire ethics of objective truth and the interests of humanity has changed.

About the work of a journalist:

Every day we visit blogs, sites, electronic newspapers and read articles and texts on various topics. Either police or political news, movie reviews, etc. But who writes these articles? Who is hiding behind each text?

Much of what we read, news we are informed by and facts we are anxious to know, is written by a journalist. But what is the job of a journalist really? Why is this particular profession debased and desecrated daily by people?

Many people think that a journalist interviews popular and famous people, tells the news on television programs or gossips on morning shows. And yet they are not wrong in their belief. Unfortunately this exists.

Unfortunately, it happens, and indeed to the majority of people who practice this profession. And I think these are the people who not only should not be called journalists both by society and by themselves but at the same time desecrate and erode the value of journalism to the greatest extent. A journalist is called to seek the truth, to investigate. To deal with her. To look for it, to write it, not to be afraid to say it at any cost. The journalist is a defender of the truth, becomes its fighter, recognizes its value. At the same time, it is obliged to inform the citizens and expose every propaganda, lie and nonsense of the society. He is bound to expose every respectable citizen who commits a crime and keeps a cover up because he has money and power, no matter how dangerous that is. A journalist pursues the truth to help create a more humane society.

By Nick Koutras

VTEC (Variable Valve Timing & Lift Electronic Control) is a system developed by Honda to improve the volumetric efficiency of a four-stroke internal combustion engine, resulting in higher performance at high RPM, and lower fuel consumption at low RPM. The VTEC system uses two (or occasionally three) camshaft profiles and hydraulically selects between profiles. It was invented by Honda engineer Ikuo Kajitani. It is distinctly different from standard VVT (variable valve timing) systems which change only the valve timings and do not change the camshaft profile or valve lift in any way.

VTEC, the original Honda variable valve control system, originated from REV (Revolution-Modulated Valve Control) introduced on the CBR400 in 1983 known as HYPER VTEC. In the regular four-stroke automobile engine, the intake and exhaust valves are actuated by lobes on a camshaft. The shape of the lobes determines the timing, lift and duration of each valve. Timing refers to an angle measurement of when a valve is opened or closed with respect to the piston position (BTDC or ATDC). Lift refers to how much the valve is opened. Duration refers to how long the valve is kept open. Due to the behavior of the working fluid (air and fuel mixture) before and after combustion, which have physical limitations on their flow, as well as their interaction with the ignition spark, the optimal valve timing, lift and duration settings under low RPM engine operations are very different from those under high RPM. Optimal low RPM valve timing lift and duration settings would result in insufficient filling of the cylinder with fuel and air at high RPM, thus greatly limiting engine power output. Conversely, optimal high RPM valve timing lift and duration settings would result in very rough low RPM operation and difficult idling. The ideal engine would have fully variable valve timing, lift and duration, in which the valves would always open at exactly the right point, lift high enough and stay open just the right amount of time for the engine speed and load in use.

 There is also a link to a YouTube video for you to understand better how the V-TEC works: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-R0LvgywiWk&t=425s

Sources: YouTube and Wikipedia

By Penny Dafogianni & Loenora Solomou

Money Heist (in Spanish: La Casa de Papel; literally, The Paper House) is a Spanish television series created by Álex Pina. It’s crime/thriller drama. The series was initially intended as a limited series and premiered on 2 May 2017, on Spanish network Antena 3. Antena 3 distributed the first two parts of the series in Spain, before the series was acquired in late 2017 by Netflix that edited and re-released the two parts worldwide; and will release a new, third part in 2019. Netflix announced in its first report of 2018 that Money Heist was the most-watched, non-English language series ever on their streaming service.

• PLOT

This show deals with a heist… but not just any heist: the takeover of Spain’s Royal Mint by a diverse group of criminals, with the goal of forcing the workers to print 2.4 billion euros in untraceable banknotes over the course of 10 days.

In the planned robbery, the group is to follow three rules:

- No Killing: as part of what they want is to appear to be Just like Robin Hood, they intend not to hurt anyone, because, if they kill anyone, they will lose the battle of public opinion.

- No Names: Everyone (save for The Professor) is nicknamed after a city. This, supposedly, prevents attachments and avoids the potential problem of someone outing them.

- No Personal Relationships: this, technically, is supposed to prevent attachments and allow the group to go on their way without a problem once the robbery is done.

The day of the heist coincides with the visit of a group of students, among who stands out Allison Parker, the daughter of the British Ambassador to Spain, and who is to play an important role in the Professor’s plan. The first phase of the plan goes swimmingly, but soon it becomes obvious that no plan survives contact with the enemy, and even the most obsessive Crazy-Prepared plans can be screwed up by human nature.

• PRODUCTION

Location

The headquarters of the Spanish National Research Council, Money Heist’s principal filming location:

Although the storyline is set at the Royal Mint of Spain, the series was filmed at the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) headquarters, which bears a passing resemblance to the Mint in Madrid.

Music

The Italian anti-fascist song «Bella Ciao» is sung multiple times throughout the series. The character Tokyo recounts in one of her narrations, «The life of the Professor revolved around a single idea: Resistance. His grandfather, who had fought against the fascists in Italy, taught him the song and he taught us.»The song is also played in other emblematic moments, such as when the thieves succeed in their escape out of the Mint – a metaphor for freedom.

Cast

• Úrsula Corberó as Silene Oliveira (Tokyo): The protagonist and narrator; she was a runaway robber until scouted by the Professor to participate in his plan.
• Itziar Ituño as Raquel Murillo: An inspector of the National Police Corps who is put in charge of the case.
• Álvaro Morte as Sergio Marquina (The Professor / Salvador «Salva» Martín): The mastermind of the heist who assembled the group.
• Paco Tous as Agustín Ramos dos Hermanas (Moscow): A former miner turned criminal and Denver’s father.
• Pedro Alonso as Andrés de Fonollosa (Berlin): A jewel thief and the Professor’s second-in-command.
• Alba Flores as Ágata Jiménez (Nairobi): An expert in forgery in charge of printing the money for the group.
• Miguel Herrán as Aníbal Cortés (Rio): A young hacker and Tokyo’s boyfriend.
• Jaime Lorente as Daniel Ramos (Denver): Moscow’s son who joins him in the heist.[2]
• Esther Acebo as Mónica Gaztambide: One of the hostages who is Arturo Román’s secretary and mistress.
• Enrique Arce as Arturo Román: A hostage and the Director of the Royal Mint of Spain.
• María Pedraza as Alison Parker: A hostage and daughter of the British ambassador to Spain.
• Darko Peric as Yashin Dasáyev (Helsinki): A veteran Serbian soldier and Oslo’s cousin.
• Kiti Mánver as Mariví Fuentes: Raquel’s mother.

REVIEW

The action shots are excellent throughout the series. The use of flashback scenes to develop character backstories and the study time before the heist, allows the action to begin in the first episode. The show is very well made and extremely clever. Who is good and who is evil is immediately clear, but at times it can be hard to tell who you’re rooting for. We highly recommend checking it out; it’s the best show we’ve watched. To sum up, it’s an adrenaline-pumping, TV-version of a page-turner. One episode is never enough.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Money_Heist

By Alex Kafkas, Vasilis Asimakopoulos & Evaggelos Kanellopoulos-Kotsonis (A Class)

Hyper cars are top of the line supercars that are the absolute finest in most, if not all, elements of a standard supercar. These elements include, but are not limited to, acceleration, price, rarity, top speed, sound and appearance. Hyper cars take certain qualities of high performance cars to a new level, such characteristics include exhilarating performance, the use of light weight components and advanced production processes in construction and innovative and ergonomic design. Although all such characteristics could apply to super cars as well, usually hyper cars excel in all the characteristics of super cars while being heavily expensive. A hyper car’s goal is to be faster than any other car while being luxurious and appealing. They utilise high performance derivatives of the engines found in super cars and are constructed from lightweight materials such as carbon fiber, in order to achieve their goal of being unbeatable. They also utilise exclusive and unique interior components for being comfortable as well as special for their owners. Unlike super cars, hyper cars are fully customisable and are made as the owner desires. Every hyper car is unique in terms of specification and the attention to detail put on producing it fulfilling the desire of those who want to own a special car specifically made for them.

Criteria

When it comes to deciding the qualifying factors that determine if a supercar can make it under the hypercar title, we see a lot of unclear and open-ended criteria. The qualifications are not obvious or easy to designate due to the fact that there is not a 100% straight forward book definition of hypercar since it is just coming into our daily language. In order to be submitted into the hypercar family, the vehicle needs to meet all the criteria of a supercar while continuing to push the boundaries in performance. Having up-to-date technology and modernized, creative and unique design are a few main topics that most of the open-ended criteria fall under. Almost every aspect of a hypercar should be a step into the future for automotive technology, engineering technology and exterior body design. Dreaming up, creating and putting together these ultimate machines can be looked at like a competition to see who can come out with the newest and most sleek new desired machinery. Certain supercars like the Lamborghini Murcielago and the Ferrari Enzo are slowly sliding down the supercar scale due to the fact that hypercars are advancing more and more with every generation. Although the advancement in technology seems impressive and like a step into the future, it sets back previously known hypercars and challenges the creators to build the newest, most crazy and desirable version of their automobile. At this rate, every remarkable breakthrough we learn and apply to these vehicles today will very soon be tomorrow’s common feature when the next cooler update is created. Do not be discouraged if you think less of supercars after educating yourself on this topic, because all this means is that the advancement of supercars will quickly increase and upgrade as well. A few things to keep in mind when deciding if a car can switch from the «super» to the «hyper» title are how well they exceed the normal statistics in, acceleration, top speed, price, exclusivity, style, handling, and horsepower and torque.

Sources

• https://gearpatrol.com/2015/06/22/supercar-hypercar-defined
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qjJ6pvkypM
• Wikipedia

By Panagiotis Michalatos (A Class)

Marvel Comics is the common name and primary imprint of Marvel Worldwide Inc., formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group is an American publisher of comic books and related media. Since the 1960s, it has been one of the two largest American comics companies, along with DC Comics. Located in New York City, Marvel has been successively headquartered in the McGraw-Hill Building on West 42nd Street (where it originated as Timely Comics in 1939).

Marvel started in 1939 as “Timely Publications”, and by the early 1950s had generally become known as “Atlas Comics”. Marvel“s modern incarnation dates from 1961, the year that the company launched “The Fantastic Four” and other superhero titles created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko and many others.

Marvel Comics #1 (Oct. 1939), the first comic from Marvel precursor Timely Comics.

 Cover art by Frank R. Paul.

Martin Goodman founded the company later known as Marvel Comics under the name “Timely Publications” in 1939. Timely’s first publication, Marvel Comics #1 (cover dated Oct. 1939), included the first appearance of Carl Burgos” android superhero, “the Human Torch”, and the first appearances of Bill Everett’s anti-hero, “Namor the Sub-Mariner”, among other features. The issue was a great success, with it and a second printing the following month selling, combined, nearly 900,000 copies. In 1950 the name of Timely Comics changed to Atlas Comics but their post-war comics that they published was out of fashion. The problems for Atlas Comics didn’t stop there because this time a new player joined the game, DC Comics. Atlas did not achieve any breakout hits and, according to Stan Lee, Atlas survived chiefly because it produced work quickly, cheaply, and at a passable quality.

The first modern comic books under the Marvel Comics brand were the science-fiction anthology Journey into Mystery #69 and the teen-humor title Patsy Walker #95 (both cover dated June 1961), which each displayed an «MC» box on its cover. Then, in the wake of DC Comics“ success in reviving superheroes in the late 1950s and early 1960s, particularly with the “Flash”, “Green Lantern”, and other members of the team “the Justice League of America”, Marvel followed suit.

(The first comic of Marvel)

On August 31, 2009, The Walt Disney Company announced a deal to acquire Marvel Comics’ parent corporation, Marvel Entertainment, for $4 billion or $4.2 billion, with Marvel shareholders to receive $30 and 0.745 Disney shares for each share of Marvel they own.

Soures:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvel_Comics#Atlas_Comics

http://www.worldcollectorsnet.com/features/comics/marvel-comics/

By Maria Mikroni, Katerina Bourtzila, Stavroula Raggava & Aggeliki Fraggou (A class)

Mass media not only influence public life, but also affect our society both in a positive and a negative way. By the term mass media we mean newspapers, magazines, television, and radio.

It is true that mass media help us significantly to be educated. Everyone would agree that from mass media we acquire a deep knowledge concerning a variety of topics like history, biology, medicine, etc. Moreover, we get informed about other countries’ civilization, culture and customs. Apart from that, we also entertain ourselves by watching the wide range of television programmes or even by listening to the radio.

But of course there is a negative aspect, too. Manipulation is something that we everyday experience due to the abundance of mass media. What press does, is to lead people to behave in a specific way. We have become passive receivers of everything they present us and we immitate it. I strongly believe that media influence us in a bad way and it is not accidental that since they appeared, violence, criminality and rudeness have increased in a dramatic way. What is more, social relationships are affected a lot by them and that’s why isolation and alienation are one increase.

Concluding, I would like to say that we must all demand quality from the mass media and not be dominated by them.

By Evangelia Katseri & Konstandina Kloukinioti (B class)

On the evening of 13 November 2015, a series of Islamic terrorist attacks occurred in Paris. Beginning at 21:20, three suicide bombers struck near the Stade de France, followed by suicide bombings and mass shootings at cafés, restaurants, and a concert hall in Paris.

The attackers killed 130 people, including 89 at the Bataclan theatre, where they took hostages before engaging in a stand-off with police. There were 368 people who were wounded, 80–99 seriously. Seven of the attackers also died, while authorities continued to search for accomplices. The attacks have been the deadliest in France since World War II. France had been on high alert since the January 2015 attacks in Paris that killed 17 people, including civilians and police officers. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant claimed responsibility for the attacks, saying that it was in retaliation for the French airstrikes on ISIL targets in Syria and Iraq. The President of France, François Hollande, said that the attacks were an act of war by ISIL planned in Syria and organised in Belgium.

In response, a state of emergency was declared and temporary border checks were introduced. On 15 November, France launched the biggest airstrike of Opération Chammal, its contribution to the anti-ISIL bombing campaign, striking ISIL targets in Al-Raqqah. On 18 November, the suspected lead operative of the attacks, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, was killed in a police raid in Saint-Denis, along with at least two other people.

BATACLAN

The gunmen entered the building through the main entrance about 30-45 minutes after the rock group the Eagles of Death Metal had begun their performance. Witnesses reported seeing bodies on the pavement near the doorway. Once in the building, they fired onto the crowd. Their first move was to shoot everybody standing at the bar. Witnesses recalled seeing a movement in the crowd below, as people began to realise what was happening and scrambled away from the killers. Many people dropped to the ground, but there was little cover in the concert hall. The gunmen shot at random into the mass of people lying down. An hour after entering the concert hall, BRI officers reached a door on the first floor. A voice behind the door – a concert-goer being held hostage – told them there were two men holding them, each with an explosive vest. Police union spokesman Nicolas Comte said officers entered and advanced behind a metal shield, which was hit by 27 bullets.»The officers realised they had to finish things quickly. They managed to shoot one and soon, as he saw that, the second one blew himself up.»The siege was over, but the marathon task of saving the lives of those who had been critically injured was just beginning.

PRIER POUR PARIS! PRIER POUR LE MONDE!

By John Nikolopoulos, Apostolos Stamatopoulos, Nick Oikonomou and George Tsioulos (B Class)

Gunmen have shot dead 12 people at the Paris office of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in an apparent militant Islamist attack.

Four of the magazine’s well-known cartoonists, including its editor, were among those killed, as well as two police officers. A major police operation is under way to find three gunmen who fled by car.

President  Francois Hollande said there was no doubt it had been a terrorist attack «of exceptional barbarity».

It is believed to be the deadliest attack in France since 1961, when right-wingers who wanted to keep Algeria French bombed a train, killing 28 people. The masked attackers opened fire with assault rifles in the office and exchanged shots with police in the street outside before escaping by car. They later abandoned the car in Rue de Meaux, northern Paris, where they hijacked a second car.

Witnesses said they heard the gunmen shouting «We have avenged the Prophet Muhammad» and «God is Great» in Arabic («Allahu Akbar»).The number of attackers was initially reported to be two, but French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve later said security services were hunting three «criminals». He said that Paris had been placed on the highest alert.

Global condemnation

The latest tweet on Charlie Hebdo’s account was a cartoon of the Islamic State militant group leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Charlie Hebdo’s website, which went offline during the attack, is showing the single image of «Je suis Charlie» («I am Charlie) on a black banner, referring to a hashtag that is trending on Twitter in solidarity with the victims.

THE FREEDOM OF THE SPEECH

David Cameron has vowed that Britain will «never give up» the values of freedom of speech as he pledged to stand «absolutely united» with France after the Charlie Hebdo attack.

The Prime Minister said he had offered the support of the UK’s intelligence agencies to help track the attackers during a phone call to French President François Hollande.

He also suggested that Britain’s threat level could rise from «severe» to «critical» – its highest rating – in the wake of the attack as the Metropolitan Police reviewed what actions should be taken.

Cameron’s position was the most important message of the event.

Alber Underzo, the cartoonist of Asterix, after the attack at the Charlie Hebdo’s office decided to remember his job after many years for drawing a sketch on his opinion about the strike. The 80-year-old cartoonist said in the French magazine “Figaro”: I just want to express my affection of the cartoonists, who pay their work with their lives!”

By Dimitris Pefanis (A Class)

Trapped in our selfish lifestyle, we have forgotten the tragedy that has been taking place for the past few days and still continues. The fire that broke out on the ship known as “Norman Atlantic” has affected a lot of innocent lives.

The tragedy began on the 28^th of December 2014. Although the cause is still unclear, the fire broke out in the garage of the ship, when sailing near the Albanian shores. Its destination was Italy. It was undecided whether the ship would be tugged to the Albanian, the Greek or the Italian shores while 478 people on board were in peril. With the permission of the Greek Prime-Minister 5 helicopters and an airplane departed immediately to rescue the people on board. The Italian authorities also sent a tugboat. Right now the ship has reached the Italian port of Printizi.

The most important concern is above all the losses of human lives. 10 people have deceased and 38 were missing. From those who where rescued there are some testimonials that they where actually saved by miracle. Two more corpses have been found when it reached the port but they still cannot be dragged due to the bad weather. Let’s hope this tragedy will come to an end.

A lot of accusations for this fire is laid upon the captain of the ship “Artzilio Tzakomatsi” and its owner “Carlo Vizentini”. The most tragic of all is that more than ten people have lost their lives. Perhaps if the crew was more responsible, there would be no such tragedy.

By Thanos Andrikopoulos

On December 28, 2014, the Norman Atlantic caught fire in the Strait of Otranto, the Adriatic Sea on a route Patras – Ancona. The fire broke out on the car deck shortly before 6:00 a.m., half an hour after leaving Igoumenitsa, Greece, at the time carrying 222 vehicles, 487 passengers and 12 crew members. The incident happened in the Greek waters near the island of Corfu. There were gale force winds and rain. At least 13 people lost their lives. On December 31^st it was announced that on board there were 499 people, 487of which were passengers and 12 crewmembers. This figure does not include stowaways, probably aboard the ship. After the catastrophe there are still missing a total of 98 persons. A group of 49 managed to escape in a lifeboat, but others were prevented since two of the four lifeboats were destroyed by fire.

The Norman Atlantic was towed to the port of Brindisi, Italy, on January 2, 2015. There continued to burn in the port for almost two weeks until January 10, when the firemen were finally able to enter for inspection. Immediately the Italian authorities opened a criminal investigation of the fire. But the ship had been inspected in Patras, on December 19 and six serious deficiencies were found concerning emergencies. In recent days there came to light a testimony of a passenger, who had seen Afghan immigrants who had boarded the ship hidden in a truck, and had lit a fire in the garage of the ship to get warm, so the police feel that this might be a possible cause of the destruction.

The Norman Atlantic is a ferry owned by the Italian shipping company Visemar di Navigazione and by December 2014 belongs to the company ANEK Lines. The ship was built in 2009. Its length is 186 meters, width 25.6 meters and draft of 6.71 meters. It has two diesel engines MAN B & W 9L48 / 60B which give a top speed of 24 knots (44 km / h). It has accommodation for 850 passengers and 2,286 lane meters accommodation for vehicles.

  On 29 August 2014 the Norman Atlantic made its last journey ….

(SOURCE: Wikipedia)