Swine Flu

It’s in everyone’s thoughts at the moment. At the moment we have 70 Australians being tested. What is possible these days is we can discover through technology what is going on in other countries. We can actually help each other to fight a major health threat. What impresses me most is how a number of countries, including my own, have got some sensible safety practices in place without creating a big song and dance. We have people in airports, hospitals, at government level, in all sorts of areas with protocols and procedures to keep us safe. Things are moving quite quickly and efficiently to identify and isolate possible carriers of the virus. There isn’t a witch hunt. It has been done in a considered fashion. We need to be sensible about this. It will spread because it is easily shared and caught but we seem to have things which will help. I have watched the news in different countries and it is really heartening we have a world which just changes gear and gets on with managing the problems . I’d rather that than chaos and mess management. Well done us!

Recession Buster

A recent visitor to my blog let me know about the AngstCorner site. If nothing else it will put a smile on your face because it is tackling the recession head on. If you give it a whirl it gives you a few opportunities to get your frustration out and know you are not alone. It is an interactive site so you are putting your anger, your worry and your angst to work for you…so take a look. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

The times really are changing

Just recently , I have become aware of just how much things are changing. They have been changing all the time , of course, but every once in a while you reach a level of critical mass the the changes tumble into something. You Tube is bigger and more popular than ever. It has a lot more serious content now and it is much more widely used by everyone, not just daft school kids on mobiles. Podcasts are now a really good way to keep yourself informed and more and more people are using them to educate and teach. You can see now that with a Facebook type set up, podcasts and something like You tube, we could actually dispense with schools and create global classrooms. We have the technology. Some students might suit the Facebook/You Tube/Podcast approach better because they are like a lot of people…they don’t like to be tied to time and a desk. Then I have noticed on my other blog that people are now viewing it from iPhones and the like and using USB stick internet. This has been happening more and more often over the last 2 weeks. Our mobile technologies are now up and running an as they infiltrate the mainstream they will free us all up. No longer tied to wires. It’s exciting really!

CNET

I have known about CNET for a a while. I think a computer magazine got me onto it. it’s the place I now go to look up all things technological. It gets me up to speed very quickly so that I can see what is popular, what’s good, what’s around. it also has a very good download section so you get a chance to discover new apps and the sorts of things which are currently popular. I am blogging about it because it’s a site I have taken for granted really and assumed others knew of it. If you don’t, take a look because it really is a helpful site if you want to get to know technology better. I also check out the reviews if I am planning on buying something. The site hasn’t let me down yet! If I had a phone which easily went on the Net I’d be using it as I went shopping. What I do now is look for things on line, find the best prices and then CNET is one of the places I check the reviews before I go out to buy. It is good because you can actually sound like you know what you are talking about and that invariably means you’ll get more and better help from the sales assistant.

Google Street View

Britains privacy watch dog has cleared Google Street View because people tweet, blog and Facebook. The logic escapes me, but still. There is no connection between clear pictures of someone which they didn’t agree to have taken and being on Twitter, Facebook or blogging. That is not random visual stuff for the whole world to see. I am curious to how it would go sown in SA because no child here can be photographed at school without the parents’ permission. No one can photograph us now without permission. So if Google has photographed us? The attitude seems to be, oh well, Google has invested all this time and billions in this technology which we are now using for GPS trackers which we can sell, satellite navigation which we can sell …and then people see to like going to look up places on the Net so they can go there. Doesn’t really matter if they are unbalanced. Safety is a non issue with regard to Google Street View. Then we had the terrible realisation during our lethal bush fires in Victoria that Google Maps didn’t even have Flowerdale on there. The fire trucks couldn’t see how to get there or how severe it was to rescue the people so the people of Flowerdale were left on their own to fight the worst fires in our history. In that sense street view saves lives and helps to deploy much needed resources and relief. Street View invades privacy,t here is no question of it, but it also has the power to keep people safe and saved. It means rescuers can see images before they go and rescue. That helps to keep them safer than they have ever been. Then there is the small matter of Makono. In Africa. That’s not worthy of being on Street View. Bad luck if you want to go there and find out about it. Street View is only for certain people and areas. I can see the benefits , but this was foisted upon us with no discussion what so ever. Run it through and then let’s see what they do mentality. They won’t be able to get us once we have done it. I hate that mentality. Hate it. A world built on bullying isn’t what I want or need. Consultation never goes astray.

Unix Tutorials

Apple is built on Unix which is a form of Linux. I felt much better when I found terminal on my MacBook and could play around with a bit of code. It made me feel more at home. This site is very helpful and was the first site I came across when I wanted to learn more about Linux. it is very straight forward. It demystifies and gently takes you through some processes so by the time you practise a few of the things you actually feel like you can understand Linux/Unix. Like a lot of people though who are familiar with Linux code, it tends to move too fast for a newbie. You realise you are dealing with people whose brains are really fired up and who are so enthusiastic about what they are trying to teach you. I followed what I could and practised it. I used this site while I was on a computer and just typed in what was said. I skipped the bits I didn’t get…and some I have understood a bit later after I looked at another couple of sites. The main tenet of this site is not to be afraid to experiment. This is fundamental to learning. Just get in there and start doing. Some things you’ll be prepared to work at and other things will be above your head…for now. Don’t worry. Just do what you can, puzzle what you can and come back on another day to what you cannot do. I think the subconscious works some things out for you while you work on other stuff. I certainly don’t believe in getting bogged down in what I can’t so, which is why I liked this site. It helped me to do and understand more than I ever thought I would be able to.

Addicted to games

“Nearly one in 10 American children who play computer games are pathologically addicted, according to new research. “

This article is well worth the read and it’s good to see it out there in public because I have had friends who have been through misery with their children because they tried to break the addiction cycle. One teenage boy became quite violent for a while because he just couldn’t see how much he had changed. In my experience the parents have really had to trade on the close relationships they had built with their child as a littlie so they could use that closeness and trust to eventually win through. One boy got really hooked when his Mum was diagnosed and treated with cancer. He told me he meant to do his homework and then he just ended up on the gaming sites and then was too tired to do his homework. His grades went down. He looked ill. This is where we , as adults, can all play a part. If the problem is out there, if we are given good advice,then there is some way of helping the gaming addicts. Even if you set clear ground rules while children are young, they can become a law unto themselves in their teenage years and that is a very tricky patch to negotiate. I think we can all play a helpful part in that.

My Word is my Bond

Image via WikipediaSome might consider Roger Moore the worst James Bond, but he is still the longest running Bond, he still has a wicked sense of humour and he is still laughing all the way to the bank. At 80 that’s not a bad achievement. His autobiography My Word is my Bond, looks like it is typical of how the world just cannot really get to him. He was in the series The Saint. Perfect for the character of the Saint . That was his role and they used to show the reruns until the world became too harsh for the Saint. he was a different type of James Bond and must have been pretty successful in the role because he kept it for so long. Then the world became too harsh for that type of Bond. The world might like to criticise but Roger Moore has always been able to keep things in perspective and values his own judgement of himself. At 80 he can look at his life and have a laugh and continue to enjoy it. The fact he has no bitterness that the world has no longer has a need for him means he knows that life values him more. What a lucky man.

Third Party Support for Technology

Whenever I have wanted to get to know more about computers or a particular OS, I have gone and got magazines which usually come with CDs or DVDs to show you current programmes or technology. The support on the cover disks has always been helpful to me and the magazines have always been a great source of mostly intelligent information…for Windows and PCs. I am therefore shocked to find that in Adelaide, at least, we don’t have choices for Linux and Mac. The MacFormat I got was pretty helpful. The other Mac magazines were nothing. There was nothing in them to help you as a user or they were far too facile. With Linux it’s worse. There is not one I can find which I can relate to. A couple are far too advanced for me but would be good value for those who really know what they are doing. The others were nothing, like the Mac ones. But there simply were not the choices for Mac and Linux and that is disappointing. When I went into bookshops some had THE book on Mac and nothing on Linux and then I got to Dymocks…and hallelujah…I had CHOICES! They had a range of computer books for elementary, intermediate advanced and then super advanced people. That was such a relief! The magazine market needs to be woken up if we are going to broaden our OS experiences.

Mac, Windows or Linux?

I actually use all of these operating systems now. We still have XP on one of the desktops. The other one has Vista and the laptops have Vista. Now I have rescued this old one and it is operating really quite well on Linux. I just couldn’t use it any more with Windows. It was getting too hot. It is true what they say on the Net about Flash affecting NECs. You can really notice it when you load Flash sites on Ubuntu. Windows was managing it all but you couldn’t isolate the problem. So the laptop was just getting too hot to use! I have to use a MacBook for work. It drives me crazy because it’s WYSIWIG…and what you get is very efficient,you just can’t customise it or the customisations have to be reloaded each time you get to the desktop. Like DeskCover. Great little app but it has to be turned on all the time as far as I can tell. The iLife stuff doesn’t particularly appeal to me but I confess iPhotos is very clever in the way it manages images so quickly and well. People who are not really computer users as such live the MacBook. it is a computer they can turn on and immediately do things with in iLife. When it comes so some of the publishing stuff it’s a different matter. I like the Mac more since I found Terminal and since I made my Dock do a Mexican wave. I want a personal computer and I find the Mac controls me too much. Goes like a bomb on the Net though. Just charges around and loads the pages instantly. I never feel like it’s my laptop though. Linux I like because it has a thinking approach as well as being pretty easy to use. The whole Linux thing is very helpful. I can solve things very quickly. It is simple and fuss free. I love the screensavers. Some clever ideas there. I like the sorts of games it loads because they are just fun and you can do things like chess, sudoko and mahjonng. It’s essentially about keeping your brain active. Windows I don’t have a problem with. I have become used to t and I can customise it to my needs. What I don’t like about Windows is its jealous behaviour if it doesn’t like a programme or software. Once you tame it though, Windows becomes quite helpful. At this stageI could run a Windows only computer or a Linux only. With the MacBook I am glad to get off and get onto a different system. A lot of others do not feel this way,but the truth it we need a choice in operating systems to cater to our learning styles.