Archive for January, 2011
A year of hope (Philippines)
For more than 10 years, Mike has been writing monthly commentaries on Taiwan and the Philippines, two countries in which he has lived and worked, for a European NGO that monitors the progress of freedom, democracy and transparency in emerging …
Core Interests (Taiwan)
For more than 10 years, Mike has been writing monthly commentaries on Taiwan and the Philippines for a European NGO that monitors the progress of freedom, democracy and transparency in emerging markets. His latest report on Taiwan, reproduced here, looks …
Introduction to computers – from numbers to networks
From numbers to networks
The early electronic computers were purely number crunchers – after all that is the derivation of the word “computer”, it is something that computes. Number crunching machines have been around for many hundreds of years – …
Introduction to computers – however did we get here?
However did we get here?
This introductory module is really about a personal journey.
I have been working with computers most of my adult life. I was an undergraduate at Adelaide University in the late 1960s and remember the computer …
Childhood holidays
Australia has changed greatly from the days of my youth. I grew up in Adelaide during the 1960s and when I was at school, Bob Menzies was the Prime Minister and had been there for so long it seemed like …
Our changing climate – Why Australians should be concerned
This article was one of a series published in late 2009 ahead of the Copenhagen climate conference. The recent Queensland flooding has rekindled some discussion of climate change, extreme climate events and climatic vulnerability and this article is one of …
Stories from the gate
Every day, runaway workers can be seen milling around the gate at the entrance to the Labour Office of the Philippine Embassy in Abu Dhabi. Despite the risk, they run away because of ill-treatment. Overwork, no pay as well as …
White slavery
Reza comes from the province of Zambales in the Philippines. Her home is a small town just north of the Subic Bay Freeport. She is 29 years old but no longer working. She is seeking to recover from tuberculosis which …
The importance of punctuation – Dashes and hyphens, inverted commas
The appendixes to Effective Writing provides a succinct list of common writing errors. It is not a complete list but rather a compilation of some of those I come across most frequently as an editor.
Dashes and hyphens
There are …
Converting PowerPoint to video
With social networking and especially blogging, becoming so popular these days, many people want to add PowerPoint presentations to their websites. If you are using a collaborative space to work on a presentation with colleagues, then uploading a PowerPoint presentation …
Strategies for social networking
The development of Web 2.0 which allows users to build their own web content, combined with the convergence of web and mobile phone technologies has produced an explosion in the number of people who are involved in the social networking …
Five questions that lead to effective writing
Communication is both an art and a science. It involves the ability of the author to relate essential facts and ideas to the reading audience in a manner that the audience is able to understand and then, as needed, act …
The importance of punctuation – use of capitals, colons and semi-colons
The appendixes to Effective Writing provides a succinct list of common writing errors. It is not a complete list but rather a compilation of some of those I come across most frequently as an editor. A handy reference to have …
The overlooked “Office” suite
When was the last time you opened Microsoft Works? Works is a simple office or home application suite that comes with your (Windows) operating system.
A few years back Works was sold as a stripped-down version of Office. Now Microsoft …
The importance of punctuation – sentence construction
From Effective Writing – combining creativity with productivity
Correct sentence construction involves a number of rules and here we mention only those that cause common problems.
Brackets and the variants
There are three types of brackets now commonly used in …
Getting a better return from MS Office
Are you among those that are still using Office 2003 or earlier because the user interface of later Office suites appears too daunting? Or have you migrated to Office 2007 or 2010 but keep asking yourself “how do they do …
Social media is becoming an important business tool
The Facebook phenomenon has impressed all of us. What started out as a social site for college friends to keep in touch with one another has now become an indispensable business tool. While many companies “know” they have to have …
