"I have to keep my strength up."
Correct Spelling and Grammar Is Not Necessary
Language proficiency in English speaking countries is falling. It is only recently that eBooks have taken off and people have gone back to reading pages of words in grammatically correct sentences. Even the new wave of e-reading is under threat as computer users transform the written word into the spoken word with software. A classic book can now be listened to on the way to and from work.
Though texting is decreasing in popularity it is partially responsible for the failure of young people to learn correct spelling and grammar. Even dictionaries have a problem is choosing whether to cover words that are phonetically clear but are not accepted generally by the majority of writers. If such words become very popular, dictionary creators will have no choice but to include them.
The problem with language is highlighted by the strange and funny errors seen in newspapers because proofreaders are no longer employed. One sees words such "betterest' and phrases like "Thats there job". Obviously, many reporters just do not know correct spelling and grammar. How did they possibly get their degrees in journalism? It even goes further than this: the majority of teachers cannot write acceptable sentences. Pupils have nothing to learn from them.
The rot started with the spread of calculators. Children no longer had to learn to do adding, multiplication. division and subtraction. Learning mathematical tables by rote is not done anymore. It seems that new technology makes oral communication so dominant that the "art" of writing messages can be ignored. This makes learning correct written expression irrelevant.
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Science
Can Mankind Survive the New Technology?
Will Mankind survive the technological change? Since the year 2000 the world has changed extremely quickly. Our social lives have altered forever. At the turn of the century only a quarter of Australians were connected to the Internet. Now three quarters have Internet access with two thirds of these having broadband. Only a third of Australians had mobile phones in the year 2000. Today, just about everyone has one, including children. Verbal communication faded in favor of texting. Even this is now declining in favour of voice and video.`
We bought newspapers, magazines and books for news, general information, instruction and direction mapping. Now we do this over the Internet or by using direction indicators that speak to us. Relationships now begin on the digital information highway. We pay bills without even using a card or cash. And take our favorite music with us everywhere we go.
Even ordinary emailing has been somewhat superceded by Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Skype. The eBook has taken off and become commonplace.
But are we losing something? Yes we are. Verbal communication skills are declining as people go to and from work without actually speaking to anyone. A robotic "Good Day" or "Good Morning" is not enough. The problem is these changes are here to stay. They are permanent and there is no turning back. With the technological revolution, providing information about all people, has come world misery as people live in fear of their lives from those who would blow themselves and others to pieces. The world is now in a state of war and it is going to be that way for some time. Finally we have the economic downturn with a recovery a long way off.
People have also become obsessed with watching other people via television. Anyone will do, celebrity or just anyone. We get the "ooh", "ah" for a day or so as famous people die or get into mischief. There are friends everywhere on the Internet but they are not really people we actually know.
Neuroscientists say children will grow up with brains wired in an odd way. They will be adults with short attention spans who want pleasure and more new pleasures every moment. These "new" people will want a say in everything. Maybe we will reach a point where the masses will not be allowed to choose who governs them. Countries where everyone wants everything are ungovernable.
We bought newspapers, magazines and books for news, general information, instruction and direction mapping. Now we do this over the Internet or by using direction indicators that speak to us. Relationships now begin on the digital information highway. We pay bills without even using a card or cash. And take our favorite music with us everywhere we go.
Even ordinary emailing has been somewhat superceded by Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Skype. The eBook has taken off and become commonplace.
But are we losing something? Yes we are. Verbal communication skills are declining as people go to and from work without actually speaking to anyone. A robotic "Good Day" or "Good Morning" is not enough. The problem is these changes are here to stay. They are permanent and there is no turning back. With the technological revolution, providing information about all people, has come world misery as people live in fear of their lives from those who would blow themselves and others to pieces. The world is now in a state of war and it is going to be that way for some time. Finally we have the economic downturn with a recovery a long way off.
People have also become obsessed with watching other people via television. Anyone will do, celebrity or just anyone. We get the "ooh", "ah" for a day or so as famous people die or get into mischief. There are friends everywhere on the Internet but they are not really people we actually know.
Neuroscientists say children will grow up with brains wired in an odd way. They will be adults with short attention spans who want pleasure and more new pleasures every moment. These "new" people will want a say in everything. Maybe we will reach a point where the masses will not be allowed to choose who governs them. Countries where everyone wants everything are ungovernable.
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Society
Donkey Attack
People have much affection for the humble donkey. It is seen as being quiet and friendlier than the horse. Donkeys do, however, kick and bite when they are made to do something they don't want to do, or are prodded and poked unnecessarily.
A Swedish lady kept a donkey with her horse. She thought it would make the horse happier and quieter. One day she separated the donkey from the horse. It became violent biting the lady's thumb. Furthermore, its teeth latched on firmly. She could not get it free the animal's mouth. Help arrived and a crowbar was used to pry the thumb away from the vicious bite.
The owner was taken to the nearest hospital and they found no breaks in her bones. She was bandaged, given a tetanus injection and taken home. A week late puss was oozing from the wound - she had not been given antibiotics. A sample taken from her hand showed the presence of Staphylococcus hyicus. This is common is the mouths of horses, but was not known to cause infection in humans.
The experience left the woman with a permanently numb area at the tip of her thumb. When you next feel like patting an animal that appears to be mild and friendly, just of think of the pain endured with the damaged thumb.
Society
Where Is the Internet Going?
There isn't much doubt that mobile devices will soon outnumber the fixed PC. It is surprising that it has taken so long. People are tripping over each other to make pre-orders on the iPhone. There will probably be a rush for Microsoft's new offerings. In recent years Google's Android products have been racing forward, generally at the expense of Microsoft, not Apple.
Web developers are slowly making a change as well. Old "easy" website building is a thing of the past. It seems websites have to provide a "traditional" PC type website and have another built-in for mobile devices. There must be an automatic link in the main website so that only the smaller site is sent to mobiles. Though many users have said they prefer looking at traditional sites with a small handheld, even though it means moving around a page to see all the info, download times are just too long for this to continue.
HTML5 was envisaged to make it easier for developers, standardizing code. The opposite has happened. Infighting has occurred between the Internet powers that be in the US and developers choosing to go their own way. They don't like to hear that their good ideas have been dropped by the controlling body. Up to six web architectures are doing the rounds on mobiles. This makes writing apps so complex that it rules out simple web building by the home web builder. New web building software will have to be capable in so many areas. This will make the software program download huge - and expensive.
The Internet is moving inevitably forward. Data cloud services have made smaller devices possible. Storing things actually on a mobile is no longer necessary. We will have to wait and see if the new fixed system RT from Microsoft is broadly accepted. How many customers will buy something that will only run Microsoft software fixed at the time of purchase? The market could get angry.
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Internet
Consuming More Tea and Coffee Prevents Diabetes - Doubtfu
Claims about consuming certain things to improve health are way off beam. Every now and then supposed new research shows that if you eat this or don't eat that your health will improve. Years late we discover that the "experts' were totally wrong and your health was actually damaged. This happened with margarine, milk, eggs and so on.
What is the latest? Well, apparently drinking up to three cups of coffee or tea each day reduces the risk of getting diabetes. Look around. Do you see people who drink these beverages regularly with diabetes? You sure do. There are thousands of them.
The University of Sydney says “If such beneficial effects were observed in interventional trials to be real, the implications for the millions of individuals who have diabetes mellitus, or who are at future risk of developing it, would be substantial.”
Their trials must be wrong. Surely millions of regular drinkers who have diabetes are thinking, "Why me? Why have I got the disease". Eight percent of people in the US have diabetes and many of them drink coffee every day. In fact tea and coffee are two of the most consumed commodities on earth.
When you read the text of research papers two important factors are played down: exercise and weight loss. Another issue is the finding that consumption of decaffeinated coffee reduced risk even more, so caffeine did not "cause" this reduction. Decaffeinated coffee is identical to ordinary coffee in every way except the caffeine level. Could it be that heavy tea and coffee drinkers consume less sweet soda?
What is the latest? Well, apparently drinking up to three cups of coffee or tea each day reduces the risk of getting diabetes. Look around. Do you see people who drink these beverages regularly with diabetes? You sure do. There are thousands of them.
The University of Sydney says “If such beneficial effects were observed in interventional trials to be real, the implications for the millions of individuals who have diabetes mellitus, or who are at future risk of developing it, would be substantial.”
Their trials must be wrong. Surely millions of regular drinkers who have diabetes are thinking, "Why me? Why have I got the disease". Eight percent of people in the US have diabetes and many of them drink coffee every day. In fact tea and coffee are two of the most consumed commodities on earth.
When you read the text of research papers two important factors are played down: exercise and weight loss. Another issue is the finding that consumption of decaffeinated coffee reduced risk even more, so caffeine did not "cause" this reduction. Decaffeinated coffee is identical to ordinary coffee in every way except the caffeine level. Could it be that heavy tea and coffee drinkers consume less sweet soda?
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Society
Vampires Could Be Right About Consuming Blood
Maybe vampires have got it right - infusing blood into one's body from a younger person is good for you. Saul Villeda did tests on rats. He injected older mice with blood from younger mice. The mice with ailments related to age got better. They actually became younger looking. Effects of aging were reversed.
It is rumoured that Saul has infused himself with blood from young virgins. Though blood from virgins is really not necessary. Blood from any younger person will do.
He has connected the circulatory systems of young and old mice together for several days. The older mice definitely became younger looking. Autopsies showed a 20 per cent increase in brain stem cell activity for the aging mice.
There is a down side. When the blood systems of mice were joined together young mice actually aged. If this is true. And there is no reason to think otherwise. Factors in blood that cause changes in the aging process could be identified and used as a medicine. It would be unfortunate if the young received remuneration from older people for their blood.
When it was found that a drug-like high could be obtained from playing sounds with different beat rates into each ear, people began using this system to temporarily enter "dreamland". If selling one's blood on the streets becomes the norm, what a frightening scenario that would be.
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It is rumoured that Saul has infused himself with blood from young virgins. Though blood from virgins is really not necessary. Blood from any younger person will do.
He has connected the circulatory systems of young and old mice together for several days. The older mice definitely became younger looking. Autopsies showed a 20 per cent increase in brain stem cell activity for the aging mice.
There is a down side. When the blood systems of mice were joined together young mice actually aged. If this is true. And there is no reason to think otherwise. Factors in blood that cause changes in the aging process could be identified and used as a medicine. It would be unfortunate if the young received remuneration from older people for their blood.
When it was found that a drug-like high could be obtained from playing sounds with different beat rates into each ear, people began using this system to temporarily enter "dreamland". If selling one's blood on the streets becomes the norm, what a frightening scenario that would be.
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Health
Watch Out for Fowl Attacks
A three month old boy was brought into the emergency section of a local hospital with deep cuts to his head. X-rays showed skull fractures. In consultation with the boy's parents doctors discovered that the child had been the target of an attack by a rooster.
Such assaults are not uncommon. In another incident a sixteen months old girl had a swollen face and seizures after a rooster went for her head. She had to have intravenous penicillin. An operation was carried out to drain an abscess on her brain. Unfortunately, she died.
Adults have also been attacked. A sixty year old women developed lockjaw after being pecked on the face. She was given a tracheotomy to help her breath. To assist recovery the hospital kept her sedated for a month in a darkened room.
Chickens are dirty creatures pecking around in the dirt. Bacteria thrive on their bodies. Tetanus injections must be given when an attack by a fowl is suspected. People should be watchful of all birds. Even pet birds are unpredictable and can suddenly become violent.
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Society
Men No Longer Have an Identity
It seems women are changing to fit into the new technical society. Men, on the other had, see traditional values fall away and struggle for an identity. The old 40 hour week is gone for ever. Men in particular are working more hours, up to 65 hours a week. They feel that they are always on call to go back to work. There is nowhere to hide. Mobile phones have moved the "work/finished-work" barrier right into the home. Despite more women in the workforce, men feel that they have to work to leave women free to look after children.
Men and women are living separate lives. They are not communicating. Even though couples share the same bed, men feel that they are left out and on their own. They want to have quality time with the children. With the mobile always ringing they don't get the chance.
Mothers are so tied up with their children that they won't even consider taking a part-time job to free up more of their partner's time. Society has been moving too far away from the traditional to meet the demands of modern women. In the process men have been forgotten. Many men now feel that getting married was the worst thing they had ever done. They get no appreciation from their partners and are fiercely told by females that the role of men is to work and provide.
It is sad that many men stay in a relationship because they fear their partners will say that they want a divorce, take over half the property and leave the man financially burdened for life. They earn good money but have to ask female partners if they can spend money on what they want rather than on what they need. Surveys show it is a myth that women spend more hours on domestic duties than men doing formal work.
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Society
Asteroids Can Have Magnetic Fields
It has been found that asteroids can have magnetic fields. This was quite a surprise. Planets have magnetic fields due to a moving molten metal core. Mercury has a very strong field. The reason for this is not yet known.
Vesta is a large asteroid with a diameter of 525 kilometer. It was first identified in 1807 by Heinrich Wilheim Olbers. It is the most easily seen asteroid from Earth. Smaller asteroids hit Vesta and some of the debris falls to Earth. The fallen "rocks" can be linked to Vesta because they have the same spectral color match.
Vesta is unusual for an asteroid as it once had a crust, mantle and molten metal core. The orbiting dawn spacecraft/satellite confirms this. It is now frozen and no longer active. A meteor named Alan Hills A81001 composed of Vestan crust fell to Earth in the Arctic. When it was analysed it was found to have a weak magnetic field. The original crust gained a magnetic field when it cooled 3.7 billion years ago. An impact a billion years later hit the frozen crust. This melted and refroze some crust which resulted in magnetism being transferred, imprinted, on rock which became the Alan Hills meteor.
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Science
A Great Australian Dies
An outspoken man has died with little fanfare and hardly a report in the media. Yet this man spoke out about injustice in Australia all his life. His name was Arthur Murray. Australians once lived longer than people anywhere else - the white people that is. "Blackfellas" died young and they could not even vote.
Aboriginal men were hired at very low rates of pay in outback cotton fields. Arthur worked with them. Pesticides were dropped directly on top of them, planes flying so low the workers had to quickly lie face down in the mud. The white pilots didn't care. In 1973 thousands of dead fish floated in the Namoi River, killed by pesticides.
Arthur had had enough. He went on strike with other Aboriginals. Five hundred disgruntled men marched through the center of Wee Waa. The local newspaper said they were radicals. They were called boongs and niggers, though many had vomited in the fields after spraying and some suffered from permanent coughing. Their tents were burnt and they went hungry.
Arthur was targeted by police. They trumped up a charge of trespassing on the property of the Returned Serviceman's Club. In court he made a statement that was to start a movement and change Australian law. He said that all of Australia was Aboriginal land so he had the right to go anywhere. Police hatred continued. His son was arrested for drunkenness and died mysteriously in a cell. Arthur managed to get his son's body exhumed and it was shown that he died from a broken sternum - he was beaten to death.
The police didn't win though. Even today police say the Wee Waa station is haunted by Eddie Murray's ghost. They asked the Aboriginals to do a "smoke Out" cleansing of the cell. They refused.
A man who came at the right time to change things, Arthur Murray died at the age of 70. The life expectancy of Aboriginal men is 45 years.
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Science
Spider Eats Bird
Is it safe to go out? Well maybe not. A spider was seen eating a bird in Cairns, north Queensland.
The golden orb weaver spider usually eats insects. It is a step up for it to consume a bird. The bird had flown into the spider's web and become weak. Then the spider attacked it.
Golden orb spiders grow much larger than the one shown in the photograph. Though they were not thought capable of eating a whole bird.
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Science
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