“You don’t need to invent anything, you just have to do traditional research where you look at history and then compliment that with scientific research where you’re trying to do something new. That can lead to a lot in the business and technology sectors these days” – Bill Buxton
A chat with Microsoft Principal Researcher Bill Buxton, Part I
Good news! It seems that we are pretty close to have a “REAL” new OS from Microsoft. According to the site Techfragments.com, we could have a Windows 7 release candidate any time soon:
“Microsoft has indicated in their blog that the next release of Windows 7 will not be a Beta 2 but a release candidate, indicating that they’re pretty close and they want people to start testing the release, especially because all the features are done.” Read more information here…
I have estimated that we could have it on the July/Aug timeframe, which raises the question of: Is it possible to have the full product by late September or October? – Coincidentally, with the back to school season.
Let’s keep our fingers crossed…
“The PS4 will also continue to utilize the existing CELL architecture, rather than launch something brand new. Bravo, says me, because forcing developers to effectively pick up and move from their established country to Timbuktu every half a decade is a surefire way to cripple launch cycles and leave “un-anointed” third-party developers out in the cold. What’s more, a twice-powerful PS3 would almost certainly offer enough “oomph” to keep the plaudits coming from the hardcore faithful, while allowing Sony to more vigorously reach out to the Nintendo “casual” market with a steady stream of cheap-to-develop titles. The idea by 2011, presumably, would be to have a pinched and tweaked CELL SDK that absolutely purrs.” blogs.pcworld.com
Read more information here >>>
Tags: Playstation4, PS4, Sony, Cell processor
Really good article from Kaieteur News
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Visas cannot be guaranteed by Consultants
Canadian immigration website says…
Immigration representatives do not have special connections with Canadian government officials and cannot guarantee anyone a visa.
This is according to the official website of Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC).
Recently several persons have been reportedly conned by individuals who claimed that they were in a position to secure them student visas to study in Canada.
The website www.cic.gc.ca, warned persons not to be the victim of a scam. ‘If the offer seems too good to be true, it probably is’. It pointed to some of the schemes used by con artists.
These include guaranteed work permits, free scholarships, high paying jobs in Canada with minimal or no experience needed, and free air tickets and accommodation.
Schemers would also fool gullible people with the offer of earning CAN$4000 a month as a hotel cleaner.
In the recent cases highlighted by this newspaper, several persons were shown application forms to a Canadian institute, which the schemers purported were from the university.
In fact these forms can be downloaded from the internet.
The website stated that persons who are seeking to immigrate to Canada do not need to hire an immigration consultant to apply for a visa or for Canadian citizenship.
It explained that only authorized officers at Canadian Embassies, High Commissions and Consulates can decide whether or not to issue a visa.
The website warned that persons should not be tempted into using false documents as this will result in the refusal of their application.
“Beware of internet scams and false websites,” the website warned.
Processing fees are the same at all Canadian visa offices around the world and fees in local currency are based on official exchange rates and correspond with the amount in Canadian dollars.
The website stated that Canadian visa offices will never ask anyone to deposit money into an individual’s personal bank account or to transfer money through a specific private money transfer company.
However, there is nothing wrong with having a professional assist with the filling up of visa application forms or even offering advice on the procedure of applying for a visa. This is, however, not necessary and they cannot guarantee a visa for any amount of money.
Several persons who have been victims of the recent scheme have made reports to the local police, who have since launched an investigation. A leading legal luminary told Kaieteur News yesterday that persons who had paid money to the scheme in Canada should report the matter to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
Canada boasts one of the world’s most transparent immigration systems in the northern hemisphere.
Since the announcement of Windows 7, some rumors and comments have been invading the internet filled with bad news for the Linux Community. Just when the Linux Desktop was having some serious gains on the market, Microsoft released Windows 7 as a solution for: a) Replace the failed Windows Vista, b) Offer a better solution for those corporate users with Windows XP, and c) As and advance of the hard times coming for the Linux and even the Mac OS X fans.
I know a lot of people will argue that it is premature to have an assumption like this but if you have had the opportunity to try out the Windows 7 Beta, you will now for sure what I’m talking about.
Based on this and to make things more interesting, I will be posting some polls around:
- Is Linux on a Death Row?
- Does Windows 7 stand out against Mac OS X?
Additionally, I have found some information supporting this post here: http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/01/26/linux-keeps-dying/
Tags: dyingLinux, Mac OS X, Windows 7, Microsoft, Windows Vista
According to the site Techradar.com, there are some concept images and specs relating to the Playstation Enso or the Playstation 5.
Source: Techradar.com
Quick dream specs:
- USB 4 connection
- DVD Drive with terabyte capacity
- Backward compatibility with DVD and CD data
- SD memory slots for terabyte capacity memory disks
- Wireless Controls
- Wireless Connectivity with Internet
- Console will have rechargeable batteries
- 3D projector that projects 3D images into the physical space between you and display device
- Touch buttons for power and eject
- Blue Lights that glow in correlation to the battery status
Tags: Playstation5, Sony, Playstation Enso
On my last post, I’ve received a comment explaining that even though Canada is looking for newcomers in order to cope with its labour shortage, still, some qualified immigrants “struggle” to find a job here. It is true that some employers become “newcomers barriers” and that the cultural shock has some major impact in our live as an immigrant. But different signals from the market itself indicate that this trend is slowly changing and with tons of help from the Government (check link at the bottom of the post), it’s becoming less troublesome to land a good job at this present time.
Source: The Globe and Mail.com
In 1906, a young man named Samuel Cohen arrived in Montreal with nothing more than a few dollars in his pocket and the name of a shop owner who happened to come from his village in the Ukraine. This newcomer spoke neither English nor French and knew not a soul.
He got lucky. The shop owner gave the man space in the corner of his store to start a shoe-repair service. Years of hard work, and the operation expanded into socks. Eventually, it became a successful Montreal-based clothing store.
More than a century later, and Sam’s grandson, David, is hoping to replicate his grandfather’s success by establishing an online social network between immigrants in the process of coming to Canada, and established Canadians who can offer advice on how to find jobs and settle in the country.
“Were it not for the generosity of that shop owner, who really wasn’t a friend of his but who was willing to help out someone from the same hometown, it would have been much harder,” says Mr. Cohen, an immigration lawyer for the past 25 years.
“The idea is to find a way for people to connect even before they’re here. And it’s based on the premise that people, when they are here, are willing to help.”
So now someone from, say Nigeria, can post a profile and find people in Canada from his hometown. A professional engineer from India could ask questions about job availability in different cities. Or a Canadian hospital recruiter can find and hire a nurse from the Philippines before she even arrives in the country.
It’s one of several new ideas popping up across Canada to better integrate immigrants into the work force. And as employers realize that hiring newcomers is good for business — boosting trade ties, generating new ideas and helping serve ethnic communities more effectively — they too, are rethinking old practices.
“We’ve adapted our interviewing techniques for newcomers,” says Daniela Perciasepe, director of human resources at Enbridge Gas Distribution Inc. in Toronto.
That’s after noticing many new Canadians, nervous about a job interview and anxious about their English, sometimes had trouble understanding or answering questions. It’s not that they weren’t qualified. It was that the formal interview environment was clouding their responses.
So, when interviewing newcomers for Enbridge’s internship program, the company now lets them arrive an hour early. It distributes the questions in advance and gives people a chance to clarify wording and think over their answers.
“We recognized we would get a better sense of their strengths if we reduced their anxiety levels,” Ms. Perciasepe says.
Enbridge’s motivation to try and attract more immigrants is twofold: It wants to ensure its workers reflect the local community, and it recognizes that new Canadians will soon become the main source of growth in the country’s labour force. “We just wanted to be ahead of that curve,” she says. “We know there’s lots that bring experience and education and we wanted to be sure we tapped into it.”
Employers’ attitudes toward hiring immigrants have shifted dramatically in the past year or two, said Marva Wisdom, a Guelph, Ont.-based consultant on diversity (who prefers the term “inclusivity.”) “It will ramp up quickly within the next couple of years,” she said. “So much research now shows that we are no longer isolated — that the global village is a much closer place than we think.”
That said, “in terms of organizations that specifically go out and seek new immigrants, it’s still not where it should be.”
Canada brings in about 250,000 immigrants a year and now has the second-highest proportion of immigrants among Western nations.
Many newcomers, however, struggle to become integrated into the work force. Scores of highly trained immigrants wind up working at jobs far below their capabilities. Canada’s last census showed the earnings gap between immigrants and Canadian-born residents has widened in the past few decades.
Nadeem Anwar bucked that trend. The 42-year-old from Karachi, Pakistan, arrived in Toronto last March with his wife and three children.
For months, he searched for jobs that would match his decade-long experience in financial services. No nibbles. Instead of settling for more casual work, he spent time volunteering and seeking out other professionals.
Last fall, he enrolled in a financial services connection program that helped him prepare for the Canadian Securities Course, revamp his résumé and do mock job interviews (“I learned that in interviews here, you must stay focused and not stray from the core thing.”).
His revised résumé — and bolstered confidence — helped land him a full-time, permanent job in December at the Bank of Nova Scotia, where he’s currently in training to become an account manager for small businesses.
“I wanted to be somewhere where there’s a long-term opportunity to grow,” he says. “I feel lucky to be here.”
For Scotiabank, which operates in more than 50 countries, hiring people like Mr. Anwar remains a top priority — even as the economy slows.
Involvement in programs that support hiring immigrants “is the one place where we’re really not looking at cuts,” said Deanna Matzanke, director of global employment strategies. “It’s a great investment and we don’t want to abandon it.”
What’s spurring Scotia? The wish to reflect growing immigrant populations among its staff and a constant need for more multilingual workers. As well, that global experience can help smooth transitions when the bank makes a merger or acquisition, Ms. Matzanke says.
Many cities across Canada are now offering newcomers programs that promote mentoring, internships, or a chance to network. In Halifax, for example, next month the city will launch a new approach to helping immigrants get connected. It has signed up 40 employers and professionals, who will have coffee with a newcomer to offer advice and answer questions. Each expert will then give the person three names they can call for further guid
ance.
“It’s a pay-it-forward idea,” said Fred Morley, executive vice-president and chief economist of the Greater Halifax Partnership economic development organization. “It gives people a one-on-one, personal experience and provides an opportunity to find a connection.”
Back in Montreal, Mr. Cohen hopes his free-of-charge (and ad-free) website is another way to make those connections. “I just hope this will facilitate the path for new Canadians,” he says.
Selected organizations that link skilled immigrants with potential employers
Think our current economic problems are bad?
They’re just the tip of the iceberg if Canada’s workforce doesn’t undergo some serious restructuring and fast, a Halifax-based think-tank said in a December study.
With the first wave of baby boomers entering retirement age and a lack of young people entering the skilled trades, Canada will be into a huge labour shortage in the next five years that could last for decades.
A study from the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies predicts labour shortages will cause a declining standard of living, a poor economy and high inflation if things don’t change.
Beginning sometime in the middle of the next decade for the first time in at least a hundred years, the number of people willing and available to work in Canada will be smaller than the number of jobs potentially available for them, Dalhousie University Professor Emeritus Dr. Jim McNiven stated in the report.
An across-the-board general labour shortage will become a fact of Canadian economic life “for as far ahead as demographers are able to forecast,” McNiven wrote.
How do we solve this coming crisis?
Since Canadian birthrates are way down from previous years, we’re going to have to boost immigration far beyond traditional levels, the study says. Labour productivity will need to be increased at a faster rate than the historical average by encouraging the growth of higher-paying industries, by improving business practices and increasing skill and education levels of the workforce.
“If nothing changes, in 2026, one job in every eight will go begging,” McNiven wrote.
The Atlantic Institute for Market Studies Executive Vice President Charles Cirtwill says McNiven’s paper is timely because it shows even a long-term recession will do little to delay the point in time when there will be too few workers to support Canada’s economy.
But that’s in the future. What about now?
The federal government has indicated Tuesday’s budget could contain $30 billion worth of fiscal stimulus earmarked for upgrading national infrastructure like roads, sewers railroad lines, bridges and other big-ticket items.
But analysts like John Clinkard with the construction industry research firm Reed Construction Data have warned of the risks in using a massive infrastructure-spending program to pull the economy out of recession.
“Infrastructure projects are frequently mentioned as a way of offsetting the slowdown,” Clinkard said in a report.
“However, given the relatively small pool of underutilized workers in general — and of construction workers in particular — there is a significant risk that efforts to provide short-term stimulus to the economy will face challenges in the form of skilled labour shortages.”
Cirtwill agreed.
“Pouring billions into supposedly ‘saving’ jobs might make for a good sound bite, but given what this paper tells us about the shrinking work force and the real labour shortage it begs the question: saving jobs for whom? We need different answers to these pressing questions and the coming months will demonstrate if we are up to the challenge, or not.”
Source: Miramichi Leader Online
Source: Engadget.com
In a sudden retch of pigmentation, Sony just spat out the “Carnival Colors” collection of PSPs. Starting March 5th in Japan, the new colors matched with a 2200mAh battery will set you back a tax-inclusive price of ¥19,800 (about $223). Otherwise, you can drop ¥24,800 (about $279) for the 4GB Memory Stick PRO Duo (Mark2), PSP pouch, wrist strap and cloth bundle. Now go ahead, revel in your paganism before ritualistically prostrating yourselves at the feet of the Lord Knight of consumer electronics. Mmm, feels good doesn’t it?
Tags: PSP, Sony, Memory Stick
Is Apple doing business in a different World? This was a title for one of my post this week base on Apple’s Q4 earning reports. Today, reading some information on the internet, came across with this great article that it is a TRUE answer to the initial question: Apple’s secret sauce: A simple product line.
