The Everest Blog Helping you make the most of your environment

Technology has come on leaps and bounds over the past twenty years or so. Some of the products and devices that we now take for granted couldn’t possibly have been predicted in the 1970s, or even the 1980s.

Who’d have thought that we’d be able to carry our entire music collections around with us in our pockets? Or that we’d be able to watch a film on a device in the palm of our hand?

The technological advances of the late 20^th Century and early 21^st Century are nothing short of amazing, and we are only just starting to explore the possibilities.

There is one area of technology that has not developed in the way that experts predicted in the 20^th Century – robotics.

Many people will remember television programmes like Tomorrow’s World that predicted the technology of the future. Fans of this type of show will remember that robots featured heavily, with experts even predicting that they would be in widespread use by the start of the 21st Century.

They predicted that we’d all have intelligent robots helping us at home, doing things like waking us up in the morning, walking the dog, cleaning our double glazing, or doing the washing up. However, as of yet these robots are yet to become anywhere near common.

One of the closest things to this fantasy becoming reality is Honda’s Asimo.  In this video you can see Asimo unscrewing the lid from a bottle, giving people directions and even hopping on the spot.  Unfortunately there’s nothing here that would make him useful around the home just yet!

But is this necessarily a bad thing? Plenty of sci-fi films have warned of the dangers of having artificial intelligence in the home – if our robots become too intelligent maybe they could get bored of doing the housework and try to rise up against us…

Whatever way you look at it (well, assuming the robots are kind) having a humanoid with artificial intelligence at our disposal would certainly be handy, and if we always remember Asimov’s laws of robotics – that robots cannot endanger humans and must obey our commands – then we should be able to prevent an apocalypse of our own doing… they’d certainly make the cleaning easier!

How would you feel about having a robot helping out around the house?

Relocating from your current area to pastures new involves a lot of careful planning and the whole process can be a large upheaval for both you and your family.

In order to minimise the stress of the move, it’s important to fully research the area you are about to move to and evaluate it in terms of its local infrastructure, quality of life and local amenities. If you have children, moving to a town that is within the catchment area of good local schools may also be high on the agenda.

Deciding which area of the country you move to will be dependent on your personal needs and preferences. If you love the outdoors, then a move to a rural area or areas by the coast may be ideal. If, on the other hand, you love the hustle and bustle of city life, then moving to a large metropolis with an established cultural scene and good job prospects may be the best option.

The UK’s town and cities are so diverse that it can be hard to whittle down your wish list to just a few. Here is a quick summary of some of the best areas to relocate to in the country.

The best village in the UK

You may never have heard of Winkleigh, nestled as it is between Dartmoor and Exmoor, but according to a recent analysis of police figures, Land Registry information, Ofsted reports and ONS population data, this humble rural idyll came out on top as the best village in the UK in 2011. Workers in the area are said to enjoy higher than average household salaries at £37,566 as well benefitting from lower than average house prices at £150,837.

Where to grab a property bargain

According to the government’s recent House Price Index, the North East (£129,501), Wales (£143,441) and Scotland (£158,868) proved to be the most ideal places to grab a property bargain last year. If you compare property prices in these regions with the average price for London (£349,178) and the average price in England (£214,852), it is not difficult to understand why.

Best coastal locations

The UK has many stunning coastlines and some areas even enjoy their own balmy microclimate. According to a recent Tripadvisor poll, the following areas of the UK have some of the most stunning beaches and are an ideal place to relocate for families who are fans of surfing and breathing in healthy amounts of fresh sea air:

1. Bournemouth, Dorset
2. St Brelades, Jersey
3. Woolacombe, Devon
4. St Ives, Cornwall
5. Tenby, Pembrokeshire

If you could, where would you most like to relocate to?