Alexander's Gallery

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 02:23:01 +0000
So You Don't Want A Carbon Tax

Image via Wikipedia

I wrote this in response to receiving a mass email from a friend, advocating for people to return to sender, information from the government on the carbon tax. We have seen these kinds of emails in the past and we will see them in the future, no doubt.

I replied to the original email that this was a sad thing to be passing on and received a reply that had concerns and repeated some of the usual claims that we have heard that are quite deliberately being promoted but are basically bogus.

This is my reply to that.

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Wed, 05 Oct 2011 02:23:01 +0000
Apple: iOS 5, iCloud Both Launching October 12
At one point during today's Apple "let's talk iPhone" dog and pony show, all the live blogs paused and I wondered whether Apple had unveiled its super-secret Cupertino mothership and blasted off.

Source: http://feeds.digg.com/~r/digg/topic/tech_news/popular/~3/yxQmgJdatsI/apple_ios_5_icloud_both_launching_october_12

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Wed, 05 Oct 2011 02:23:01 +0000
Hold That Smile - The Victorians

When Joseph-Nicephore Niepce took the first photograph in 1828, his photographic plate required an exposure of eight hours. That exposure time was drastically reduced across the course of the nineteenth century, so that by the 1890s the Collodion process had cut exposure times to two or three seconds.

Nevertheless, a three second exposure meant that subjects had to stand very still to avoid being blurred, and holding a smile for that period was tricky. As a result, we have a tendency to see our Victorian ancestors as even more formal and stern than they might have been.

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Sun, 03 Oct 2010 04:46:10 +0000
Chasing Mummies: Archeology as Reality TV

Image by vintagedept via Flickr

Dr Zahi Hawass the Egyptian archaeologist is well known to those who enjoy historical documentaries.  He is highly respected in his field and is the current Secretary General of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities.  I have always found his manner rather abrasive and have tended to avoid his offerings.  However, his new TV show program on the History Channel: 'Chasing Mummies' is quite a different affair; this is actually riveting and addictive television.  The producers of 'Chasing Mummies' seem to have recognised the potential of Dr Hawass' explosive temper and have harnessed it to great effect.

In one incident, Dr Hawass' assistant Casey Fitchner gets completely blasted by the good doctor for being late to work.  Later, while exploring inside the Stepped Pyramid, Fitchner asks if there is somewhere she can go to the bathroom.  Dr Hawass informs her in no uncertain terms that the pyramid is a holy place and of course she can't go.  Later, she can no longer resist the call of nature and wets herself on camera.  Dr Hawass' outbursts make Gordon Ramsey look kindly and avuncular.

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Sat, 03 Jul 2010 05:38:49 +0000
FBI: Russian spy suspects used ordinary gadgets

Before James Bond heads out on a mission, he has to stop in Q's laboratory for custom-made gadgets such as an exploding watch. Life wasn't so dashing for the suspected Russian spies arrested this week: They allegedly relied heavily on off-the-shelf consumer electronics.

"In the old days, they'd have special KGB-type equipment. Now they use normal computers, normal laptops," said Sujeet Shenoi, professor of computer science at the University of Tulsa and a frequent consultant to the FBI. "Technology is so powerful now that you don't have to have special-purpose equipment anymore."

According to the FBI's complaints that sought the arrest of the 11 suspects, the array of tools included laptops, flash memory cards and at least one prepaid cell phone. The suspects are accused of backing that up with old-fashioned spy technology such as short-wave radios, invisible ink, and a classic, manual encryption method known as a "one-time pad."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tech/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100702/ap_on_hi_te/us_tec_russia_spy_arrests_tech

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Tue, 04 May 2010 02:28:14 +0000
Software Piracy
Copyright is a form of intellectual property protection for a variety of literary and artistic endeavours. Everyone who has used the internet has at one time or another copied material illegally. This is due to the popular misconception, that once material is posted to the internet it can be freely copied: this not the case. Unless the author of the material has stated that is available for public use, then permission has to be obtained from the author for the material to be used. File sharing sites, is another issue that ...

Copyright is a form of intellectual property protection for a variety of literary and artistic endeavours. Everyone who has used the internet has at one time or another copied material illegally. This is due to the popular misconception, that once material is posted to the internet it can be freely copied: this not the case. Unless the author of the material has stated that is available for public use, then permission has to be obtained from the author for the material to be used.
File sharing sites, is another issue that concerning copyright laws. These sites/programs allow people to share material over the internet, this allows for copyrighted material to be shared and copied form one person to another. Some people believe this is okay as there is no transaction of money for the material: this is not true. File sharing is one of the biggest problems concerning copyright laws on the internet as there is no way to monitor all the information being shared between people and block and copyrighted material from being sent.
Now days because it is so easy to share copyrighted material over the internet and it is so frequently done many people do not see it as a crime that affects the authors finically. Although many people would not steal a cd from a store, download free music from the internet is socially acceptable on the internet.
The reason why people copy and break copyright laws is because they don’t want to pay for it. What most people don’t think about while there waiting happily as their download finishes, is that they are part of a mass group that is stealing from the author. This author has probably spent many hours of work developing a program hoping that in the end he can share with all of us and maybe get paid, to earn a living so he can continue provide us with software we want and need. But all those people who pirate software and wish for everything on the internet to be free or cheaper, are really just saying , we value what you have created but could you just do it for free? Would you do your job for free? Or cheaper? Highly unlikely, but that being said people that claim authors aren’t protecting their material enough, well all that can be said about that is, if people really want something enough, they’ll do anything, even if it might cost them jail time or a $50,000 fine.

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Mon, 01 Mar 2010 22:51:15 GMT
How To Create a Microsoft Access Macro to Export Information to Excel or Word:
1.Click on the "Macros" option in the "Objects" menu.

2.Click "New" in the upper-panel of the database window to create a new macro.

3.Click in the "Action" field.

4.Click on the drop-down arrow and go to "MsgBox".

5.Go to the "Action Arguments" pane by clicking in the "Message" field or pressing "F6". To toggle to and from the "Action Arguments...

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Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:18:12 GMT
Database Assessment Task 2010
Please find attached:  Database Assessment Task 2010  

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  Dilbert Daily Strip

Reuters: Technology News

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 13:35:40 -0500
Super Bowl advertisers seek buzz on social media
NEW YORK (Reuters) - In the age of Twitter and Facebook, many Super Bowl viewers will use the commercial breaks to go online and see what people are saying about the game. This year, advertisers want them to tweet about their favorite commercials as well.

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Sun, 29 Jan 2012 11:08:35 GMT
Facebook 'prepares to go public'
Facebook will begin the process of becoming a publicly-listed company this week, valuing the social networking site at between $75bn and $100bn, reports suggest.

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Sun, 29 Jan 2012 16:22:05 +0000
$270 Spark Linux tablet is powered by (and generates funds for) KDE Active Plasma

You’ve got a ton of choices right now if you’ve started shopping for the perfect tablet to meet your needs. But which one do you pick? Should you stick with a big brand name? What if you’re a staunch supporter of free, open source software? Is there a tablet out there that’s right for you? [...]

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