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The latest news about local education and or international
Better Time Management for Improved Cash Flow
Aug 2nd
We’ve all heard it: time is money. And as much as we sometimes hate to look at it in such base terms, it’s mostly true. As service providers (designers and developers), the time we spend on a project is directly proportional to how much we’re getting paid. How we spend our time also has a big effect on when money comes in. If we want to get a better grip on our cash flow, we need to get a better grip on our time first. Sure, we all recognize that the time we spend working effects our overall income. But it’s often hard to see the relationship between time management and cash flow. Regardless of how muddy the relationship seems, there are direct ties between how you manage your time and how much money comes in when. Read on for more information on how to better manage your time so you can better manage your finances.
Top 10 Android Apps
Mar 29th
Android’s been around for more than a year, and in that time developers have whipped up some great apps. Whether you’re a new Android owner or a pro looking for new tools, these 10 great and free apps belong in your arsenal.
1. ASTRO File Manager
This is one of those apps you hope gets some attention, if only to be bought by Google or otherwise integrated into the basic phone software. ASTRO File Manager does a great job of letting you navigate files on your SD card and accessible internal memory, sure, but it also has its own built-in task killer, backs up applications, can send files as email attachments (not all that easy or intuitive from the mail client, for some reason), and much more. It’s the Leatherman of Android utilities, and a must-have on any serious geek’s phone.
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Top 10 Windows 7 Booster Applications
Mar 20th
Windows 7 is a big improvement over Vista, and a pretty convenient OS in general—but it’s by no means perfect. These 10 downloads improve Windows 7’s looks, functions, and make it easier, safer, and more convenient to upgrade to.
1. Install all your necessary apps at once
The first few times you re-installed an operating system, it probably felt like an adventure, something fun, a test of your tech prowess. At this point, though, you might just want to skip the part where you spend an hour grabbing Firefox, Picasa, an anti-virus app, WinAmp, uTorrent, and other must-have apps from the net. Ninite is your ticket out of redundant installations. Head to the web site, check off the apps you need from a huge range of good, free software, and download the resulting customized installer app.
Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) with support for HTML5
Mar 16th
Today Microsoft made a pretty cool announcement at MX10. Normally an announcement about a new version of Internet Explorer would not be a big deal. However, this time we find that MS is going to give us some new features that just might make it a big deal. One of the first is new support for GPU accelerated HTML5 based graphics.
There is also support for a new JavaScript engine, Direct 2D, CSS3, Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), XHTML parsing, and a few other items. The announcement included the release of a developer’s preview. This preview does not include a new GUI so things won’t look exactly stunning but it will give developers a chance to get in at the ground floor and get the next version of IE right.
Of course the GPU acceleration will be another place that NVIDIA and AMD can argue, and any version of Internet Explorer (no matter how open) is sure to cause Anti-Trust rumblings somewhere. It will be an interesting time until this one is released…
Top 10 Google Apps Marketplace Apps
Mar 15th
Google’s Apps suite for domain owners and businesses has finally received some star treatment with the launch of the Apps Marketplace. Which Google-friendly apps are free, worth the cost, and entirely useful? These 10 are definitely worth a look.
1. OffiSync
It’s not for lack of trying, but Google’s web-based Docs app can’t do everything that Microsoft’s desktop Office suite can pull. Whether it’s revision tracking, macro recording, or database integration, you can skip the back-and-forth file swapping with the Apps version of OffiSync, a utility that does just what you might think. Save a file in Word, Excel, or PowerPoint, and with OffiSync set up, it will save simultaneously to your Google Apps space. You get the feature-rich editing services of Office and the easy sharing and peace-of-mind storage of Google, all at once. [Apps Marketplace link] Price: free.
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High Blood Pressure Cure
Dec 26th
A one-hour operation that could cure high blood pressure has been carried out in Britain for the first time.
The procedure, which has been hailed as the most exciting development in the field for 50 years, appears to disrupt signals from the brain that help keep blood pressure raised.
Initial tests suggest it can be effective within three months of treatment and doctors hope it will allow some sufferers to come off medication completely.
The procedure is called renal sympathetic-nerve ablation and involves inserting a wire into a blood vessel close to the kidneys to burn through nerves which carry signals that stimulate high blood pressure.
Anthony Henry, a 68-year-old retired chef from Stratford, east London, became the first person to have the operation, The Daily Telegraph said.
His blood pressure reportedly came down after just two weeks.
Professor Martin Rothman, who led the surgical team at the London Chest hospital, told the Telegraph: “This relatively trivial procedure has the potential to make a serious improvement to the quality of life for the patient.
“It is very efficient and can lower the blood pressure enough to reduce stroke mortality by 50 per cent.”
An estimated 15 million people in the UK suffer from some high blood pressure, also known as hypertension.
[Yahoo! News]
Water Found In Another Planet!
Dec 17th
This is how I imagine GJ1214b, a super-Earth discovered only forty light-years away from us, orbiting a red dwarf star in the constellation of Ophiuchus. The good news: It’s three parts water. The bad news: The beaches are too hot.
400 degrees Fahrenheit, that’s how hot. But still, there are signs which indicate the planet has a gaseous atmosphere. GJ1214b itself is composed mostly of water and other ices, with one fourth of it being rock. As Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics’ graduate Zachory Berta puts it: “Despite its hot temperature, this appears to be a waterworld. It is much smaller, cooler, and more Earthlike than any other known exoplanet.”
The other good news is that it was discovered by an array of eight 16-inch optical telescopes using Apogee U42 CCDs, a kind of sensor which is used by amateur astronomers all over the world. The array is part of the MEarth Project, which monitors 2,000 red dwarves for signs of planetary activity.
The next step would be to direct Hubble to the planet—which orbits the star in only 38 hours—and analyze its atmosphere. After that, we will send Kevin Costner in a one-way spacecraft.
Master’s degree at 17 for precocious Austrian
Dec 15th
A high school diploma at 15 and a bachelor’s degree at 16: precocious teenager Marian Kogler has now become Austria’s youngest master’s graduate at the age of 17.
Vienna’s University of Technology (TU) announced on Monday that the young man had completed his master’s degree in computational intelligence.
He also holds a bachelor’s degree in software and information engineering, and has now embarked on a doctorate in computer science at the TU.
The son of a writer and an administrative assistant, Kogler could read and write at the age of three.
Part of his master’s research has been presented at international conferences and published in scientific journals, according to his professor Rudolf Freund.
One of Sunderland’s greatest supporters receives another honour
Dec 14th
One of Sunderland’s most committed ambassadors received a second award in a week today (Thursday, December 3) for his outstanding contribution to the city.
Earlier this week Revd Cannon Stephen Taylor received an MBE from the Queen for his services to the Sunderland community. Today he was also honoured by the University of Sunderland for his work.
Revd Taylor is a highly respected figure in Sunderland and its communities.
Revd Taylor chairs the Sunderland Partnership, which brings together the public, private and voluntary sectors in the city to create more effective working. The Partnership has enabled Sunderland to successfully address a wide range of issues.
Under his chairmanship Sunderland has become one of the most advanced broadband cities. Under Digital Challenge the Partnership is pioneering new ways to widen access to older people and others who might be digitally excluded.
Sunderland is now a Fair Trade City, supporting and promoting awareness of Fair Trade issues. Sunderland Partnership TV is a community service keeping residents up to date with issues in the city on screens across Sunderland.
Revd Taylor served the church in Chester-le-Street, Newbottle and Hartlepool before coming to Sunderland Minster in 2000 after the Bishop of Durham invited him to take on a church/civic role.
Revd Taylor has taken Sunderland Minster from being a church with a parish to a church for a city. He is also Chaplain to Sunderland AFC, Sunderland RNLI and the Empire Theatre.
Revd Taylor received an Honorary Fellowship in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the community and in helping shape a vision for the people of Sunderland through partnership and the sharing of good practice. [University of Sunderland]
Everything You Need To Know About Chrome OS
Dec 13th
Until today, Google’s Chrome OS has been little more than a wordy concept. Now, finally, we truly know what it is, what it looks like, and how it works. Here’s the breakdown:
Google went to great pains to emphasize that today’s event wasn’t a launch—that’ll come a year from now, apparently, with a public beta still well over the horizon. This is all about a seeing the OS for the first time; understanding in real terms how it’s different from what’s out there; figuring out why you might actually want to use it; etc. So! Here’s what we knew going in:
Google Chrome OS is an open source, lightweight operating system that will initially be targeted at netbooks” and “most of the user experience takes place on the web.” That is, it’s “Google Chrome running within a new windowing system on top of a Linux kernel” with the web as the platform. It runs on x86 processors (like your standard Core 2 Duo) and ARM processors (like inside every mobile smartphone). Underneath lies security architecture that’s completely redesigned to be virus-resistant and easy to update.
Like I said, there were plenty of questions. Onwards: