More on the theme of Childrens books - how to get them reading and loving it?
There is an old proverb that is applicable in many life situations, none more so than this - "if you give a man a fish, he can feed his family for a day - but if you teach that man to fish, he can feed them all their lives.." (anon) The same can be said for reading.. just giving a child a book might engender a love of reading, but working at it and teaching your child that reading is fun and worthy, can make them an avid book reader for life. One post that I recently read, told of a man who got his little baby boy reading while in the cot. Got the child into such a routine that the baby demanded a book every morning. What a gift! "... Research has proven, time and again, that reading is the key to success. It is a skill that crosses all barriers: economic, religious, ethnic and social. It requires little, if any, financial investment since public libraries are free to use...." [https://buffalonews.com/2019/04/17/letter-spread-the-joy-of-reading-through-books-for-kids/] If you want a smart society, then make people smart. Teach children the joy of getting lost in a book, a great story. It doesn't matter if you are six or sixty six. I have struggled with my own kids to get their heads out of the smartphone or the tablet, and have had limited success. Fortunately, now they are writing songs, so at least some literary effort is being made. So, I would like to suggest that it is up to our generation - (I am a baby boomer) - to generate younger peoples' interest in reading. When I was a young Naval officer, I spent a lot of time away from home - no internet, no smartphones, not much in the way of TV or movies at sea, so, naturally you read - the Navy has a nickname for everything - a good story was a "dit" - various types of dits - 'warries', 'cowdy's' 'detective dits' - probably the most prominent - sometimes a biography or an autobiography, but anything you can read reasonably quickly from your bunk in your limited downtime (not forgetting of course, those highly literary articles that were the only reason we read "Playboy"). Well, it was more or less words on paper so that probably qualified. But I digress. Thousands of new books published every day - how to read them all? Who cares, you can never eat at every restaurant either, but you can have a good, old-fashioned go at it. There is a finite number of letters in our alphabet, and virtually a finite number of words in our vocabulary, so, in theory you could say that there must be a finite limit to the number of books that can be written. Who, in their right mind, would believe that? They say that if you put ten thousand monkeys in a room, each with a word processor, for a long period of time, then, statistically, one of them could write "War and Peace" - I'd like to see that. The human brain is not a logic super computer that works purely on statistical theory. The synapses of our brain don't work on pure logic, and thank goodness. It is this absolute wonder of the human psyche that we need to impart to our children. Whatever intellectual stimulation we dish up they will soak up. Happily, we are seeing a great new trend of people writing more childrens' books - it may be that that is because it is a relatively simple genre to write and is a vehicle that is loved and for which there is huge demand on the newer platforms like Amazon and the like. Whatever the explanation, it seems that the Gen X and now Gen Y parents seem to be adopting it as they are the generations that grew up with social media and electronic platforms and are now seeing that it is important to start their offspring on the right path. If that engenders a love of reading in the coming generations, I will be their greatest admirer. Kids are our future. Let's get them ready for it with the best start we can.
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https://www.newstatesman.com/best-childrens-books-easter-2019 BOOKS 17 APRIL 2019 THE BEST NEW CHILDREN’S BOOKS FOR EASTER - FROM FLOWERS AND FRIENDSHIPS TO WOLVES AND WARS. BYAMANDA CRAIG – New Statesman Cloud Hope springs eternal, and in children’s books at least, spring’s hopes are eternal too. Flowers and friendships can banish the blues – even when you’re Cyril of Cyril the Lonely Cloud (Tim Hopgood, Oxford University Press, £11.99, ages 3+), always being blamed for ruining the day. Floating over picnics, cities and oceans, Cyril gets bigger and sadder until he comes to a hot new land. A joyful, witty celebration of rain and difference. What Do Machines Do? Some childrenare more interested in machines than nature, and for them What Do Machines Do All Day by Jo Nelson and Aleksandar Savic is riveting fun. Cranes, computers and vending machines have never looked more handsome (Wide-Eyed, £11.99, 3+). But what about manners? When a Dragon Comes to Stay Caryl Hart and Rosalind Beardshaw’s When a Dragon Comes to Stay (Nosy Crow, £6.99 3+) has some excellent tips about what not to do when it comes to sharing toys, eating at table and being helpful. It’s funny, charming and not too twee. The Suitcase More moving is Chris Naylor-Ballesteros’s The Suitcase (Nosy Crow, £11.99, 4+), one of the most empathetic children’s books on giving kindness to strangers ever published. A weary, furry stranger arrives with one suitcase, which it tells the other animals contains a chair, a table, a wooden cabin and a teacup. Be warned, this will make you burst into tears. How to Light Your Dragon As a metaphor for curing depression, How to Light Your Dragon by Didiér Levy and Frédéric Benaglia (Thames & Hudson, £12.95, 5+) is funny and inspired. A child tries to relight his pet dragon’s fire by bouncing, tickling, cheating at cards and more, but nothing stirs the despondent multicoloured monster. Could a kiss be the answer? Hello Lighthouse An outstanding picture book, Sophie Blackall’s Hello Lighthouse (Orchard, £6.99), is partly about loneliness. A lighthouse on the edge of the world is kept going by a man whose vertical, dutiful life, exquisitely conveyed, is brightened through the seasons by the arrival of a wife, then a baby. Give this to four-year-olds plus; it is perfection. The Secret Starling Judith Eagle’s heroine in The Secret Starling (Faber £6.99) is lonely without knowing it. Brought up in isolation in a crumbling manor house, Clara finds herself abandoned by her creepy uncle. Then Peter arrives with his rescue cat, and the children are swept into an irresistible adventure for eight-year-olds plus that draws on The Secret Garden and The Wolves of Willoughby Chase. The Middler The heroine of Kirsty Applebaum’s debut The Middler (Nosy Crow, £6.99) has an unusual problem: she’s living in a dystopian world in which middle children are overlooked and unheard. Yet when Maggie meets another girl from beyond the town’s boundary, she finds that wanderers are not as she had been led to believe. Strikingly original and featuring a spirited heroine, it’s a great story for ages 9+.h The Girl with the Shark's Teeth Pair it with Cerrie Burnell’s engagingly fantastic marine adventure The Girl with the Shark’s Teeth (Oxford University Press, £6.99, 9+) for a pull of the Wild Deep. Bloom Challenging authority is what Nicola Skinner’s delightful debut Bloom(HarperCollins, £12.99) is about, as two girls reap what they need from a trapped witch and her seeds. Humorous, original and just the thing for ages 7+ in need of a fresh start. The Midnight Hour A whole magical people is trapped in the secret world of The Midnight Hour by Benjamin Read and Laura Trinder (Chicken House, £6.99, 8+) and Emily must find her mysterious parents there. Pursued by monsters, our sparky heroine and her hedgehog must save the night. I haven’t enjoyed this kind of caper so much since Harry Potter. A Pinch of Magic There’s another sort of trapped witch in A Pinch of Magic, Michelle Harrison’s spellbinding story for ages 11+ (Simon & Schuster, £6.99). The three Widdershins sisters can never leave their marshy island. Each inherits a deadly curse and a magical object at 13: how can they win a fresh start and become normal girls? One Shot My favourite heroine this season is in Tanya Landman’s One Shot(Barrington Stoke, £7.99, 11+). Based on the famous American sharpshooter Annie Oakley, it tells how young Annie learns to use her beloved Pa’s rifle, and then to survive in a man’s world. Tough and almost unbearably honest about the brutalities of poverty and powerlessness, its deceptively simple prose and narrative drive are stunning. Boys are still being ill-served by children’s publishing. Pog All hail, then, Pádraig Kenny’s Pog (Chicken House, £6.99, 7+) about a small (male) furry creature living in an old house where a brother and sister move after their mum dies. The most appealing small magical creature since the Nis in Katherine Langrish’s Troll Fell books, Pog is up against evil forces and needs help. A Wolf Called Wander (Andersen, £6.99, 8+) concerns Swift, a young wolf who must survive without his pack. Like the classics written by Jack London and Michelle Paver, this is both a detailed evocation of an animal’s life and a notable exploration of courage, loneliness and family. Rosanne Parry’s prose and the lavish pictures by Mónica Armino are based on a true story. Midnight at Moonstone Lara Flecker’s Midnight at Moonstone (Oxford University Press, £6.99, 9+) has Kit defy her overbearing academic family to live with her grandfather in the decaying Moonstone museum, where at midnight feuding historical costumes come magically to life. How Kit saves them – and herself – makes for a charming E Nesbit-esque romp. Now or Never The heroism of non-white soldiers in both world wars is often overlooked, but Bali Rai’s excellent Now or Never (Scholastic, £6.99, 9+) helps redress this. His idealistic hero, Private Fazal Khan, endures bullying and bombing all the way to Dunkirk; when he finds “decency and honour, even in hell” it is through friendship not the British empire. Lark The best hero of all comes, however, in Anthony McGowan’s Lark(Barrington Stoke, £7.99, 11+). The final part in his quartet about two brothers, Nicky and Kenny, it is a slim novel that stands alone as an exceptional piece of writing from the author and a dyslexia-friendly publisher that is consistently impressive. Poor, and with parents more absent than present, Nicky must look after his mentally handicapped big brother Kenny. But when they take their dog up on the moors for a picnic in winter, they have no idea how dangerous it could be. As taut as Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, Lark rings with truth, humour, humanity and pathos. My hope is that it wins prizes. Thanks to AMANDA CRAIG - New Statesman https://www.newstatesman.com/best-childrens-books-easter-2019 Recently I set out to do some freelance writing. I wanted to do it because (a) writing is my hobby and I am good at it and (b) to make some money, in my spare time, when I would probably be on my computer, anyway.
So you join up with a freelancing site and register your profile, and one of the first things that you notice is that there are a lot of people registered as writers, from countries where English is not the native language. So, naturally, I see an advantage. I put into my profile that English is my native language and I have been writing it for a long time. Not too long into my newfound career I picked up a couple of jobs to write on various subjects such as doing business in foreign countries and an article on renewable energy, which I assume was part of a much larger work, and I was being given the job to write as a sub-contractor. No problems there. So, off I went. I wrote the introduction free-hand (about 2,500 words). Completely unique content. Then for the technical material, clearly I consulted country guides and technical guides. This is where it begins to come unstuck, because obviously, when researching, you are going to have to use technical phrases, and if you use someone else's work you attribute it. Personally, I like to use detailed footnotes, but my employer wanted end-notes - no problem. Then I discovered something that I have never needed before, nor come across in my writiing life - PLAGIARISM CHECKERS - tons of them! I have been writing legal, business, trade and technical papers, opinions and advices for well over forty years, virtually on a daily basis and this has opened my eyes. It seems that there is a thriving industry out there of people who will cheat on your behalf, and there is an equally thriving nest of software developers who develop anti-cheating software such as TURNITIN, PC CHECKER, GRAMMARLY and many more, both free and paid versions. There are "do my assignment" sites such as:-
An absolute eye-opener! I work through a legitimate freelancing platform. You post your qualifications, take some tests to raise your rankings and all communication is done via their chat bot. However, and naively at first, I learned the hard way how not to get paid. So called "employers" find you on the freelancing site and immediately ask you to communicate outside of the freelance platform on Skype or What's App. Basically, if you fall for that you are likely to do a whole lot of work for no pay. Of course, there is always the sweetener that "...we have a great team of writers and there will be plenty of ongoing work..". Don't fall for it! I was astounded by the number of people who contacted me to write assignments, and moot papers and basically to cheat for them. I cottoned on to that pretty quickly. Anyway, I digress! So, even though I am prepared to edit some of the material and do a bit of para-phrasing now and then, my unique content is just that - UNIQUE!- and my borrowed content is that which I borrow for the purposes of "fair dealing" and I ensure that I properly atttribute it and do not use huge slabs of other peoples' text, but that was not good enough for my employer, so I decided to invest in some paid Anti-Plagiarism software and I was horrified because my employer (from the Indian continent) would not accept anything other than 100% unique content!, despite the fact that I tried to explain that when doing research that is not the case. Imagine writing a legal opinion and having to quote great slabs of law from cases and statutes only to have your employer tell you that it is plagiarism!! Ludicrous, and even more so when they are simply not understanding the concepts and asking for continual re-writes. Even my professionalism backed up at that point, and I reminded my employer that the project was worth pennies and I was losing money. So, after running it through 3 different plagiarism checkers, I gave up and submitted copy that was apparently 10% plagiarism. The irony is that many of the original phrases that I had written free-hand (straight out of my visceral armoury) were classed as "duplicate content"- imagine that - writing something like "solar energy is produced by the heat of the sun"- not particularly earth shattering, but good old plagiarism checker wants me to know that it is not UNIQUE - as if I didn't already know that. So, I politely thanked my employer and reminded her that I no longer wanted to write for an audience of ONE - by that I mean Mr Google and his algorithms. I prefer to write for people who appreciate my work. Now think about the logic behind this. If you take logical or authoritative writing and rewrite it so that no plagiarism checker can pick up any duplication at all, there is a very good chance that you have bastardised or "dumbed down" the work so much that it is very likely useless and, ironically, if you are going to take someone else's words and twist them into "uniqueness", then how morally honest is that anyway? So that was a worthwhile experience and I will keep doing it, but not for people who only want me to write for their Plagiarism checker. It's a new world out there, folks and the internet never ceases to fascinate me. You can still teach this old dog new tricks (attributed to Anon)! Postscript: I ran this essay, which was written totally in freehand without reference to any source, through one of my plagiarism checkers and achieved a score of 100% , I am happy to say - from Duplichecker.... however, then I ran it through the dreaded PC X Checker and it turns out that my original thoughts are the same as 5 other peoples':
How do you spot an email scam? Why are they so prevalent? These days there are billions of emails sent on a daily basis. If you try to send scam messages through social media, there is a very high chance that, with the Social Media platforms and their sophisticated algortithms, you will be caught and blocked, possibly completely banned from using that platform. But with email, many, if not most of the Email Service Providers try very hard with Spam or Junk filters to filter out possible scam traffic but it is a very hard task, as they do not want to overly tax you by putting every possible dodgy email into your Junk Mail folder and a lot of Spam is fairly harmless, so you can't block everything I set my Junk mail settings pretty high and go in there pretty regularly, and I still find a fair bit of mail that I am happy to have in my Inbox. There is also a lot of nuisance mail and probably some Spam mail, but guess what, the Scam Mail still manages to get through into my Inbox on a regular basis. HOT TIPS So, what to do? 1. NEVER, EVER click a link in an email if you are not certain it is totally safe. That is the quickest way to let viruses, trojans, and other nasties onto your hard drive, and worse still, any network that you are hooked into, and to give scammers your personal details. 2. Check the email address of the SENDER - I get emails all the time with a Bank Logo on it or a PAYPAL logo, and these look real, and authentic. So much so, that many people click away with blind trust, only to find that they have, again opened themselves up to a scammer. Always take a second to check where it came from. 3. At the moment, in my country, there are emails and fake phone calls circulating purporting to be from the Australia Federal Police, telling you that you are about to be prosecuted for tax evasion, and probably many more like them. What do you do? 1. Always check the sender email address, because most of the time they don't even bother to disguise them. 2. For example, If you get a dodgy email from the Australian Tax Office and the sender is something like" iytc#@booboomail.com" - you can be fairly certain it's not coming from any government department. It is a simple shift of your eyes to the "From" field and will cost you nothing, but a second of your time. 3. HANG UP THE PHONE - a real government department is not going to ring you. You would most likely receive formal mail from them, probably followed by a proper Court summons. 4. If in doubt take their number and tell them that you will call them back. 5. Ask them what department they work for and the name of their supervisor and ask for their switch number - they will almost certainly hang up on you at that point. 6. Google the phone number - there are a lot of sites out there now where you can report scam calls and the chances are they have already been reported. The comforting thing is reading the comments to see that the people reporting the calls have had the same experience that you have had. Just type the number with the area code into your address bar and you will be amazed more often than you think. 7. Watch Out for Nigerian Scams - these are getting through less frequently, these days, but the classic is where some "poor" African lady tells you that she has found a secret stash of $20 million from her late husband's will, or a public servant has uncovered a stash of bribe money and needs your help to move it out of the country, in return for which you will earn 5% commission - I am not kidding, in years gone by many people have been ripped off for millions on this one and worse, been killed or injured - if you don't believe me just google it or go to Wikipedia. WHAT IS RULE NUMBER ONE? .. in fact, rules 2 and beyond? "IF IT APPEARS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, IT PROBABLY IS.."
Here is some more courtesy of ScamWatch.....
How to spot a fake Documents are easily faked. Some will look just like the real thing but others might have warning signs, such as:
Scammers will often try to take advantage when you’re feeling vulnerable and try to extract more money from you through a follow up scam. Some common follow up scams include:
Have you had a bad experience with a scam or a virus? Let us have your comments below with any other tips or experiences. Are you an international trader? Where do you trade? Do you know all there is to know about trading across international borders? I doubt that there are many people out there who can say that they do. What is more important is that people who are dipping their toes into the world of international trade at least understand that .."they don't know what they don't know.." ...and there are more and more people as the advent of Amazon and dropshipping and ebay selling grows, more and more new entrepreneurs are out there having a go, and good for them. The world definitely needs more entrepreneurs. What are the unknowns? Here is a sample of a few..
...and trust me - that is just a small sample. How to travel efficiently, what to take, how to plan ahead. Are you just heading out to a Trade Show and hoping for the best? Have you got someone at the other end who will assist you? Does your bank understand international financing? These are all the things (and more) that I have referenced in my new book - "International Trade - The Ins and Outs of Import and Export". It is not an academic tome, but a good light read designed to get you thinking, planning, looking in the right places and getting good advice before you put your toe in the water. I hope you will head over to my Sales Page and also www.johngates.com.au for a look - or you can find it as Smashwords (www.smashwords.com/books/view/870894) #waterthedesert First published by me at Linked In on 15th October 2018 (original content) I'm no expert or scientist, but my interest was sparked, a little while ago, when I saw a quote in a reasonably academic publication that went something like .."90% of the rainfall that falls on northern Australia finds its way back to the ocean.." From there I learned that there are many projects and research studies that show that it is all possible, to catch that water and channel it in the right direction. All the experts seem to have differing views or different barrows to push and, as usual in this country, a talkfest results in nothing happening. It's easy for politicians to make grand statements about nation building, but not so easy when it comes time to find the funds. It's certainly more effective than a whole lot of desalination plants, where you then have to get rid of the salt and brine and that usually means being pumped back into the ocean in very high concentrations, which doesn't make for happy sea life. Look at the success of the Ord River Scheme and the Snowy Mountains scheme - they were true nation building projects - we need more. I like the idea of making immigrants move out of the large cities and live in regional areas, that the PM announced the other day. I also like the idea of people who don't need to go to a physical city office, moving into regional areas. That is more and more possible these days with remote workers, and e-commerce sellers, and has always been the case for writers, composers and many people who are not saddled by having to follow the '9 to 5' grind. Cities are encouraging developers to build high rises to stop urban sprawl, so why not also encourage people to move to smaller communities, to find work, and make that work worth their while. Maybe if we start these immigrants close to the coasts we will eventually build communities that move the water further inland. Do you suppose we will ever "water the desert"? They need jobs, many will be skilled, let's not create jobs for the sake of creating jobs - that's just another form of social welfare, but creating jobs for the sake of nation building and leaving the place better than your generation found it, is a noble aspiration, particularly if it is driven the by private sector, who innovate and employ people with efficiency in mind. It seems like state and federal governments are never going to be brave enough to spend the billions that are needed on the big infrastructure projects, so if we can get people to go and live in remote areas, maybe it is possible that with some wealthy industrialists, who are prepared to take a punt, a bit of ingenuity and many hands making light work, that we could, ultimately look at projects like "watering the north". Big thinkers are needed. Perhaps a condition of Foreign Investment approvals could be that a percentage of it is channelled into large infrastructure projects without us being in a position that we are beholden to the financier, who would get tax breaks and visa rights etc, but not control of our national assets. Big thinkers are needed. It could take hundreds of years, but if people of good will, a few benefactors, a whole lot of foreign investment and willing workers come together we could build regional centres right across the country. What do people think? I wrote this article back in 2016 because I was curious about Bitcoin, and what I discovered was that Bitcoin is driven by a technology called the Blockchain, and is only a small part of it. It will have many and various applications and will disrupt and revolutionise many industries. To say that 'Bitcoin is the Blockchain', is a bit like saying ... 'Email is the Internet' - we all know that the internet is a lot more. In years to come, Blockchain technology will speed up commerce and get rid of many outdated systems, as well as getting rid of online fraud and will have other benefits, so here is an update of my article with some more intelligent people helping out and all fully attributed as I am no expert So, read this first and then the updates, because in writing about Bitcoin, I was unwittingly writing about its platforn, the Blockchain HOW BITCOIN WILL IMPACT YOUR BUSINESS? 26/7/2016 I came across an affiliate site using Bitcoin the other day and, as with all new, disruptive technology I thought I had better look into it, at the risk of missing out on something or getting left behind, so what follows is the little bit of research that I have been able to do on it (and I stress “little” ) – I recommend that you do some of your own. It’s obviously here to stay! The site that I am talking about is an Australian site called Bitify. (www.bitify.com). You can buy and sell anything that is legal and you can be an affiliate, but you can only pay and receive in Bitcoin or as they described it "BITCOIN BTC AND LITECOIN BTC". What? You mean there is more than one? I don't even know about the first one yet! How do I Get Some of These Bitcoins? Rather than try and write my own informed, or otherwise, account, I checked out a couple of websites to see if I could find a simple explanation. So here are a couple of articles with links to their websites: ____________________________________________________________ Still Don't Get Bitcoin? Here's an Explanation Even a Five-Year-Old Will Understand Nik Custodio (@nik5ter) | Published on January 9, 2014 http://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-explained-five-year-old/ We’re sitting on a park bench. It’s a great day. I have one apple with me, I give it to you. You now have one apple and I have zero. That was simple, right? Let’s look closely at what happened: My apple was physically put into your hand. You know it happened. I was there, you were there – you touched it. We didn’t need a third person there to help us make the transfer. We didn’t need to pull in Uncle Tommy (who’s a famous judge) to sit with us on the bench and confirm that the apple went from me to you. The apple’s yours! I can’t give you another apple because I don’t have any left. I can’t control it anymore. The apple left my possession completely. You have full control over that apple now. You can give it to your friend if you want, and then that friend can give it to his friend, and so on. So that’s what an in-person exchange looks like. I guess it’s really the same, whether I’m giving you a banana, a book, a quarter, or a dollar bill … But I’m getting ahead of myself. Back to apples! ...let's say I have one digital apple. Here, I’ll give you my digital apple. Ah! Now it gets interesting. How do you know that digital apple which used to be mine, is now yours, and only yours? Think about it for a second. It’s more complicated, right? How do you know that I didn’t send that apple to Uncle Tommy as an email attachment first? Or your friend Joe? Or my friend Lisa too? Maybe I made a couple of copies of that digital apple on my computer. Maybe I put it up on the internet and one million people downloaded it. As you see, this digital exchange is a bit of a problem. Sending digital apples doesn’t look like sending physical apples. Some brainy computer scientists actually have a name for this problem: it’s called the double-spending problem. But don’t worry about it. All you need to know is that it’s confused them for quite some time and they’ve never solved it. Until now. But let’s try to think of a solution on our own. Ledgers Maybe these digital apples need to be tracked in a ledger. It’s basically a book where you track all transactions – an accounting book. This ledger, since it’s digital, needs to live in its own world and have someone in charge of it. Just like World of Warcraft, say. Blizzard, the guys who created the online game, have a “digital ledger” of all the rare flaming fire swords that exist in their system. So, cool, someone like them could keep track of our digital apples. Awesome – we solved it! ProblemsThere’s a bit of a problem though: 1) What if some guy over at Blizzard created more? He could just add a couple of digital apples to his balance whenever he wants! 2) It’s not the same as when we were on the bench that day. It was just you and me then. Going through Blizzard is like pulling in Uncle Tommy (a third-party) out of court (did I mention he’s a famous judge?) for all our park bench transactions. How can I just hand over my digital apple to you in the usual way? Is there any way to closely replicate our park bench transaction digitally? Seems kinda tough … The Solution What if we gave this ledger to everybody? Instead of the ledger living on a Blizzard computer, it’ll live in everybody’s computers. All the transactions that have ever happened, from all time, in digital apples, will be recorded in it. You can’t cheat it. I can’t send you digital apples I don’t have, because then it wouldn’t sync up with everybody else in the system. It’d be a tough system to beat. Especially if it got really big. Plus, it’s not controlled by one person, so I know there’s no one that can just decide to give himself more digital apples. The rules of the system were already defined at the beginning. And the code and rules are open source – kinda like the software used in your mom’s Android phone. Or kinda like Wikipedia. It’s there for smart people to maintain, secure, improve, and check. You could participate in this network too – updating the ledger and making sure it all checks out. For the trouble, you could get like 25 digital apples as a reward. In fact, that’s the only way to create more digital apples in the system. I simplified quite a bit … But that system I explained exists. It’s called the Bitcoin protocol. And those digital apples are the bitcoins within the system. Fancy! So, did you see what happened? What does the public ledger enable? 1) It’s open source, remember? The total number of apples was defined in the public ledger at the beginning. I know the exact amount that exists. Within the system, I know they are limited (scarce). 2) When I make an exchange I now know that digital apple certifiably left my possession and is now completely yours. I used to not be able to say that about digital things. It will be updated and verified by the public ledger. 3) Because it’s a public ledger, I didn’t need Uncle Tommy (third-party) to make sure I didn’t cheat, or make extra copies for myself, or send apples twice, or thrice… Within the system, the exchange of a digital apple is now just like the exchange of a physical one. It’s now as good as seeing a physical apple leave my hand and drop into your pocket. Just like on the park bench, the exchange involved two people only. You and me , we didn’t need Uncle Tommy there to make it valid. In other words, it behaves like a physical object. But you know what’s cool? It’s still digital. We can now deal with 1,000 apples, or 1 million apples, or even .0000001 apples. I can send it with a click of a button, and I can still drop it in your digital pocket if I was in Nicaragua and you were all the way in New York. I can even make other digital things ride on top of these digital apples! It’s digital after all. Maybe I can attach some text on it – a digital note. Or maybe I can attach more important things; like say a contract, or a stock certificate, or an ID card … So this is great! How should we treat or value these “digital apples”? They’re quite useful aren’t they? Well, a lot of people are arguing over it now. There’s debate between this and that economic school, between politicians, between programmers. Don’t listen to all of them though. Some people are smart; some are misinformed. Some say the system is worth a lot; some say it’s actually worth zero. Some guy actually put a hard number on it: $1,300 per apple. Some say it’s digital gold; some say it's a currency. Others say they’re just like tulips. Some people say it’ll change the world; some say it’s just a fad. I have my own opinion about it, but that’s a story for another time. Hey kid, you now know more about Bitcoin than most. __________________________________________________________________ BITCOIN SIMPLIFIED From: http://bitcoinsimplified.org/ Bitcoin was invented as a peer-to-peer system for online payments that does not require a trusted central authority. Since its inception in 2008, Bitcoin has grown into a technology, a currency, an investment vehicle, and a community of users. In this guide we hope to explain what Bitcoin is and how it works as well as describe how you can use it to improve your life. What is Bitcoin? Since anything digital can be copied over and over again, the hard part about implementing a digital payment system is making sure that nobody spends the same money more than once. Traditionally, this is done by having a trusted central authority (like PayPal) that verifies all of the transactions. The core innovation that makes Bitcoin special is that it uses consensus in a massive peer-to-peer network to verify transactions. This results in a system where payments are non-reversible, accounts cannot be frozen, and transaction fees are much lower. Where do bitcoins come from? We go more in-depth about this on the page about mining, but here’s a very simple explanation: Some users put their computers to work verifying transactions in the peer-to-peer network mentioned above. These users are rewarded with new bitcoins proportional to the amount of computing power they donate to the network. Who controls Bitcoin? As we mentioned above, there is no central person or central authority in charge of Bitcoin. Various programmers donate their time developing the open source Bitcoin software and can make changes subject to the approval of lead developer Gavin Andresen. The individual minersthen choose whether to install the new version of the software or stick to the old one, essentially “voting” with their processing power. It is in the miners’ best interest to only accept changes that are good for the Bitcoin currency in the long run. These checks and balances make it difficult for anyone to manipulate Bitcoin. How to get started with Bitcoin. The best way to learn about Bitcoin is to get some and experiment. We have written articles about how to set up your own Bitcoin wallet, how to acquire bitcoins, and how to use bitcoins to help you get going. We have also written about a number of other Bitcoin topics if you prefer a hands-off approach to learning. If your questions remain unanswered, please contact us and ask us anything you like. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Wikipedia Had a Go at It, Too - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitcoin .. …..and here is the Wikipedia Version (only the summary – use the link above to see the full research). Bitcoin is a digital asset and a payment system invented by Satoshi Nakamoto. Nakamoto introduced the idea on 31 October 2008 to a cryptography mailing list,[12] and released it as open-source software in 2009.[13] There have been several high profile claims to the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto; however, none of them have provided proof beyond doubt that back up their claims.[14] The system is peer-to-peer and transactions take place between users directly, without an intermediary.[15]:4 These transactions are verified by network nodes and recorded in a public distributed ledger called the blockchain,[16] which uses bitcoin as its unit of account. Since the system works without a central repository or single administrator, the U.S.Treasury categorizes bitcoin as a decentralized virtual currency.[1] Bitcoin is often called the first cryptocurrency,[17][18][19] although prior systems existed[note 5] and it is more correctly described as the first decentralized digital currency.[15][22] Bitcoin is the largest of its kind in terms of total market value.[23] Bitcoins are created as a reward for payment processing work in which users offer their computing power to verify and record payments into a public ledger. This activity is called mining and miners are rewarded with transaction fees and newly created bitcoins.[15] Besides being obtained by mining, bitcoins can be exchanged for other currencies,[24] products, and services.[25] When sending bitcoins, users can pay an optional transaction fee to the miners.[26] In February 2015, the number of merchants accepting bitcoin for products and services passed 100,000.[27] Instead of 2–3% typically imposed by credit card processors, merchants accepting bitcoins often pay fees in the range from 0% to less than 2%.[28]Despite the fourfold increase in the number of merchants accepting bitcoin in 2014, the cryptocurrency did not have much momentum in retail transactions.[29] The European Banking Authority[30] and other sources[15]:11 have warned that bitcoin users are not protected by refund rights or chargebacks. The use of bitcoin by criminals has attracted the attention of financial regulators,[31]legislative bodies,[32] law enforcement,[33] and media.[34] Criminal activities are primarily centered around darknet markets and theft, though officials in countries such as the United States also recognize that bitcoin can provide legitimate financial services.[35] --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- …………………..anyway, there you have it – it looks like it’s here to stay – I know you get them by Mining, whatever that means, but I still have no idea how to do that , but I will find out, so I encourage you to read up about it and help me out with any useful comments. Here’s to your success! Tell us what you think. ,,and then I came across this one that puts it into perspective...
WHAT IS BLOCKCHAIN IN AGRICULTURE? ORIGINAL SOURCE: https://www.codeheroes.com.au/blog/blockchain/what-is-blockchain-in-agriculture Thanks very much to the guys at CODE HEROES for this useful article, that is helping me to open my eyes to the blockchain They are web developers based in Brisbane, Australia and have a lot of achievements under their belts. Check them out if you need help with a project Blockchain has been revolutionary for agriculture enabling both consumers and farmers to see the entire journey of their produce and track it at any point. Currently, a lot of trade in agriculture is still recorded on paper which is prone to fraud, loss of information, or just incorrect information. The three major benefits of blockchain to the agriculture industry are:
Security The method through which the data is stored has ensured that blockchain is computationally too expensive to crack. This creates a completely secure environment without taking away any control over the data from the industry. Competitive Transparency of all information within the blockchain creates a competitive advantage by beating international companies that masquerade their products as Australian produce. When consumers are informed, they won’t buy from companies claiming to be something they are not. This keeps Australians buying local produce. They already want to buy locally and ethically but don’t know which brands to trust. Blockchain is a trusted way for them to tell the difference. Efficiency Blockchain speeds up transactions and ensures accuracy by enabling the customer to interact directly with the farmers or companies, without the need of a subjective third party who may have their own interests in mind. Provenance Blockchain increases transparency and traceability; once information is logged in the blockchain it is unchangeable, making problems like fraud a thing of the past. This enables customers to see where their produce comes from and enable them to actually buy from locals through transparency. USE CASES Soybeans Business problem Louis Dreyfus Co. is a trading company that buys and sells soybeans. Their processing time for transactions took around 2 weeks, slowing down business for selling soybeans. The system relied on paper and faxes, where things such as a typo could set back the process days. Blockchain solution The system to exchange these soybeans was extremely complex, dealing with rules and regulations on how the goods should be handed over, when and how to pay, and receipts going to multiple people. Blockchain was able to mitigate common problems within the previous system including identifying errors in the data, and ensuring each stakeholder had the appropriate documents in a matter of minutes. Shipments could be tracked throughout the whole process and factors such as temperature could be closely monitored and adjusted with both selling and buying parties informed if any issues occurred. Recently blockchain has been used to reduce food waste and also fraud, and also help to monitor crops and animals. Outcomes They managed to cut down their processing time from 2 weeks to only 1, doubling their efficiency. The time taken for paper-based logistics was reduced by 80%, meaning communications was faster and people got paid quicker. A-Guide-To-Digital-Marketing-2018 In the realm of business branding and development, moving to digital is all the buzz. So, what precisely is digital promotion and how do we utilize it to promote and improve our digital presence and marketing efforts? Digital Marketing Defined The shift to digital media will be driven by promotion services, business people, and consumers equally. The ever-increasing requirement to reveal quantifiable results makes going digital a necessity. Most digital websites, social networking sites, and mobile advertising are realising that it is a lot less difficult to track than conventional marketing and advertising media like print advertisements. Added to which is the increasing use of mobile platforms to get the business message across, to find those"buyer-ready" buyers, or to get potential buyers into your sales funnel, and onto your list so that you don't lose them on the first attempt. We will cover sales funnels in another post For businesses, the cost of doing business digitally is very competitively priced and most kinds of digital advertisements are truly competitive. Using an internet site, engaging clients in conversations through social networking and email advertisements are low priced alternatives to publishing advertisements and direct email. These digital solutions are all available to organizations of almost any size, and also help level the playing field for startups, smaller enterprises and independent advisers seeking fresh business enterprises. For example, the speedy pace of life makes digital advertisementing crucial. When individuals have need of products and services, gone are the days of thumbing through a phone book to see them. We whip out our cellular apparatus or check out our computers to get replies – we expect, and get, instantaneous results. Regardless of what size your company is small or large to moderate-sized firm/venture (SMB or even SME) – you are able to effectively promote your company through cheap digital stations. The core of our advertising campaigns is your site. Invest in your Web Site, and be sure that it does the following:
You need to employ a professional website site design firm that’s proficient in web development and search engine optimization. As your website remains the core from which all other channels lead, it needs to be thought of as one of your best company investments. Once you’ve got your internet site right, then you need to establish routine monthly or bi-monthly email campaigns and join clients via social networking. If you’re genuinely on a shoestring budget, then these are efforts need to be done in-house or to get a very low priced agency who will not break your limited budget. Make certain everyone’s time and efforts lead customers back to your own website where they are able to fully participate in your organization, products, and pick the channels whereby they contact you personally. You can put aside some digital advertising and marketing dollars for search engine optimization and pay per click advertisements. Many organizations now rely heavily on being uncovered on the web to acquire new clients. A frequent misconception among business people, when starting out is the "build it and they will come" approach and that just having a site ensures that clients will see it. Your website has to be constructed with the proper phrases and words, metadata, page articles and linking strategies that’ll allow it to reach top search positions. Just building it is "ground zero" - if that is all you do it is like having a shop in a back street with the doors closed and no signs - nobody will find it - you need those signposts on the main street, whatever form that they may take, to point ready buyers to your store. Because many important phrases and phrases have stiff competition for high search positions, you’ll want to enhance your SEO campaigns with pay per click advertisements. Getting started with pay per click promotional initiatives can be somewhat daunting, but with just a tiny bit of time, hard work and education, that can also be accomplished in-house, or even for a fair price through a digital marketing and advertising bureau. Beyond email, social networking advertising and internet search engine marketing tactics, you also have available a bunch of additional digital advertising and marketing methods. Mobile advertisements, radio, tv, electronic billboards plus even more are available as promotion outlets. Whatever digital campaigns you opt for, they have t connect to your base – your website. So, that was digital marketing 101 - we'll folllow with more great advice on a weekly basis. If that very general description has whet your appetite for more information please GET IN TOUCH for a chat about how we can work with you on your digital marketing. Have a great week! |
AuthorsJohn and Lillian Gates - Business consultants in Brisbane Australia - contact us for a chat! Archives
May 2022
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