Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

BILD GETS NASTY!

September 28, 2016

Now they won’t let me read the headlines because I’ve turned off my java script! – the second biggest threat to online security (the first being unique identifier headers – perma-cookies).

Needless to say I went to one of the many other newspaper sites which don’t make such restrictions.

BILD INFO MESSAGE:
Why can’t I see bild.de. You have deactivated java script for your browser. Activate java script now to read our articles again.

PERMA-COOKIES
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/two-ways-your-isp-is-spying-on-you-and-how-to-be-safe/

ONLINE TRAFFIC MONITORS:

http://www.hageltech.com/dumeter/features
http://download.cnet.com/BitMeter-2/3000-2381_4-10398686.html

SOUND GRIPE:

September 10, 2016

BLOCKBUSTER!

I recently had occasion to visit a German newspaper site and was disappointed and annoyed that I was blocked from reading the articles! The reason being that I have an ad-blocker installed. However if I were so desperate to read this particular newspaper they would let me if I signed up for a subscription at a cost of €19.99 per year. For this very reasonable price, I would get the paper up to twice as fast and with up to 90% less ads. Is this extortion or sound commercial sense? The paper has to make money somehow and not everyone has an ad-blocker; have they tried charging the merchants double for delivering their ads? Somehow getting my debit card out and stumping up the money would leave me feeling slightly “poorly”. I would rather go to the news-stand and pay for a “real” paper which you can feel and which stays where you put it and slowly turns yellow over the ages – and the ads don’t blink, flash or give you an epileptic fit! The site in question is “BILD.de”.

BLOCK TV ADS:

I’ve not tried this device but the company states that it will block ads on a TV set.
http://www.tvadblocker.co.uk

IMAGES FROM ITALY

September 4, 2016

PISA:

pisa-photo1106

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/6z0yr5lqfycd88q/AACwOemCy0KH6LttbM9W6Msua?dl=0

THE LEANING TOWER:

Photo1208

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/18r8i79l1vk2boy/AACj5-kKdgWr40aA0Qoia5BIa?dl=0

LUCCA:

IMG_20100101_054524

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/e5778n37n5ewfx1/AAC0ICbZ6gXbe-cuwq4e-00ca?dl=0

FLORENCE:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/wo4t2rqi5kcgvye/AACotmorfEad_rv7gbg_mEJga?dl=0

MESTRE:

http://www.dropbox.com/sh/rvc6e9y8oabn94w/AACTyNAPajv6e516N6y0oMGya?dl=0

AROUND THE COLOSSEUM:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/tgyvi1dq3gm6ly1/AAD_MFYYNyxIswI7BygVUdvma?dl=0

Original name Flavian Amphitheatre

Colosseum, Rome, completed AD 82

Giant amphitheatre built in Rome under the Flavian emperors. Construction of the Colosseum was begun sometime between AD 70 and 72 during the reign of Vespasian; the structure was officially dedicated in AD 80 by Titus in a ceremony that included 100 days of games. Later, in AD 82, Domitian completed the work by adding the uppermost story. Unlike earlier amphitheatres, which were nearly all dug into convenient hillsides for extra support, the Colosseum is a freestanding structure of stone and concrete, measuring 620 by 513 feet (190 by 155 metres) overall. Three of the arena’s stories are encircled by arcades framed by decorative half-columns in the Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian orders; the structure’s rising arrangement of columns became the basis of the Renaissance codification known as the assemblage of orders.

The amphitheatre seated some 50,000 spectators. It was the scene of thousands of hand-to-hand combats between gladiators, of contests between men and animals, and of many larger combats, including mock naval engagements. However, it is uncertain whether the arena was the site of the martyrdom of early Christians.

The Colosseum was damaged by lightning and earthquakes in medieval times and, even more severely, by vandalism; all the marble seats and decorative materials disappeared. A restoration project was undertaken in the 1990s. Changing exhibitions relating to the culture of ancient Rome are regularly mounted.

“Colosseum.” Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica, 2011.

A VISIT TO THE VATICAN:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/iareesriofll2du/AAAqMBYFgI5ndOhr-Htg84XEa?dl=0

August 28, 2016

1341,0,0,0,351,256,331,2,2,207,53,0,0,100

http://www.4shared.com/folder/pjhZiqyG/SETTLE.html

A CHALLENGE:

July 15, 2016

Let’s hope this doesn’t go wrong! Boris Johnson as Foreign Secretary! It will certainly help on his road to maturity but hopefully not at the expense of GREAT Britain; There must be subtle tactics working here!

An Americans’ view
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2016/07/14/new-cabinet-may-signal-britains-retreat-as-a-western-power/

Uncle Sam joins the club
http://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/hamburg-taught-the-world-that-the-us-no-longer-matters/ar-BBE4gLE

ANDREA LEADSOM BOWS OUT WITH GRACE

July 11, 2016

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-36763208

POLITICAL SOUND-BYTE:

July 9, 2016

From The Times newspaper: A quote from Andrea Leadsom.
“[Mrs May] possibly has nieces, nephews, lots of people, but I have children who are going to have children who will directly be a part of what happens next.”

Such insensitive, crass and opportunistic comments from Andrea Leadsom should rule her out from any high office let alone the highest office in the Land. I suppose the same goes for single men!

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/andrea-leadsom-disgusted-times-front-page-theresa-may-motherhood-children-tory-leadership-a7128386.html

THE WAY FORWARD

June 28, 2016

There are people and parties trying to make political capital from this historic vote. This is not the time to discuss further division: The Pound is being hammered, shares have dived and we’ve triggered a global financial crisis. We must let the dust settle and get this “divorce” over with as quickly as possible. The new Prime Minister should invoke Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty as soon as possible irrespective of what’s in store; We have made our bed and we must lie in it.

June 24, 2016

IMG_20160624_131736-crop-A3

IPSO FACTO

May 23, 2016

The Sun newspaper has had a judgement made against it by IPSO the press regulatory watchdog. The judgement refers to a complaint by Buckingham Palace regarding an article that appeared on the front page of the paper on the 9th March 2016.
The article implied that the Queen was in favour of a Brexit after they were informed by a source that she said that the EU was heading in the wrong direction. The Sun has published the findings but the editor Tony Gallagher disagrees and said that he would do the same thing again knowing the detail of the sourcing and conversation. I don’t know all the details but if the Queen actually said that she believes we should leave the EU then the media has a duty to report this. However, it was only reported that she is passionate about the EU and believes it is going in the wrong direction: This is not the same thing. I am also passionate about the EU and also Britain (having lived through its decline as a world power) and believe that the EU has lost its way, but I will be voting to stay on the 23rd of June. (I think we will be better off staying and changing the EU rather than leaving and risk wrecking it.) We all make mistakes and the editor should recognize and accept this.

The envy of the world:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-5167273/The-questions-UK-world-asks-Google.html

TOP SCHOOLS

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-38157811

BEST UNIVERSITIES

https://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings-articles/world-university-rankings/top-universities-world-2018

https://www.timeshighereducation.com/student/best-universities/best-universities-world

What’s the significance of this statistic?

“…foreign citizens make up about 41 per cent of the student and academic body.”

It doesn’t matter what nationality the students have – it’s their QUALITY that counts.

QUOTAS:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/08/30/french-council-fined-having-many-female-managers

https://www.thejournal.ie/readme/column-gender-quotas-do-women-no-favours-and-undermine-democracy-284733-Nov2011/

The BALTIMORE MUSEUM OF ART will only acquire works by women in 2020!

RIGGING THE GRADES:

“These new measures will look at how we can protect our globally recognised higher education system by discouraging universities from undermining the reverence a degree qualification from the UK commands.”

“Based on evidence, we will propose measures to tackle any specific inflationary practices that appear to be undermining the integrity of the system. We will be publishing recommendations for consultation next month to make sure the public can continue to have confidence in the classification system.”

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2018/oct/22/uk-universities-face-grade-inflation-crackdown

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7290333/Inside-African-essay-factories-producing-essays-cheating-UK-students.html

Competition is the mother of progress.

COULD DO BETTER YORKSHIRE:

HELP WITH HOMEWORK FROM A PUBLIC LIBRARY

ANECDOTE:

A taxi driver once told me that he picked up four students after a night out and one of them asked him how much the fare would cost; He replied eight pounds. That same student or another one then asked him how much was that each. Astonished that they couldn’t divide eight by four he told them two pounds fifty!