Download Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac - Buy from Amazon

Microsoft has released the Mac version of Office 2011 in trial format. The trial version lets you assess Office for Mac 2011 for a 30-day period; once this period is over, you get the choice of uninstalling the program, buying the suite from a store or purchasing a product key online.

The 30-day period is half the length of time that Microsoft currently allows Office for Windows users to test out the Office 2010 suite, as they get a full 60-day test drive.

The trial version of Office for Mac Home and Business 2011 includes the new versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, the suite's word processor, spreadsheet, presentation programs respectively, and revamped and renamed e-mail client

Although some Mac users may have been put off from having any Microsoft software near their computers, Office for the Mac has not only been selling extremely well, the reviews of the latest version have been glowing. The only real competition on the Mac at the moment is the now dated iWork suite and Microsoft believes it is the perfect time to give Office for Mac a try.

Those who are interested in trying out the Office suite can download the free version from the Microsoft Office for Mac website. The cost of a product key or full-boxed edition of Office for the Mac 2011 varies from site to site, so it is well worth shopping around once your trial has ended.

You can also Buy Genuine Microsoft Office 2011 with Product Key here.

Read More

2:34 AM | 0 comments

Launch Date Of Internet Explorer 9 RC - '10 February'

Microsoft is all set ready for the launch of its most awaited browser Internet Explorer 9 as it attempts to remain competitive in the browser marketplace. Microsoft delivers everything in its latest browser IE9 to compete with other browser platform and become browser king with its contenders Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Opera.

Microsoft Internet Explorer 9 RC build was leaked out earlier and Winreview.ru has posted some screenshots of that leak. The version which will be going to hit the web is 9.00.8073.6018 (WIN7_IE9_Partner.110121-2300). It is believed by many that Microsoft is gearing up for the release of IE 9 and the RC builds are of near final quality. Microsoft is also taking privacy to a new level, allowing the browser to block a website's ability to use location based services too.

Microsoft has just announced through its media press release about Internet Explorer 9 event on February 10th. The announcement will take place in San Francisco.

Microsoft is gearing up for the launch of IE 9 as it attempts to remain competitive in the browser marketplace. For Microsoft, IE 9 represents its latest attempt to remain the browser king while it fights off contenders Firefox, Chrome and a host of others. If Microsoft does not find a way to stop users from leaving the platform, its market share will continue to drop until it is no longer the market leader.

Read More

2:10 AM | 0 comments

Kindle outsells paperbacks

Amazon Says Kindle Book Sales Exceed Paperback Sales

Considering the bargain-basement pricing of many kindle books, it was inevitable that the time would come when kindle sales would overtake paperback sales, and even those of remaindered hardbacks.

For exactly the same reason, it is no surprise that the surge has had a nasty impact on the company spreadsheet.  As Amazon also says, profits have plunged.
Total sales were up to a tad under thirteen billion dollars for the fourth quarter of 2010, up 36% from last year's report. But operating income declined by $2 million, descending to $474 million.

The company says they sold "millions of third-generation Kindles" in the quarter, and indicates "Kindle books have now overtaken paperback books as the most popular format on Amazon.com" and "this milestone has come even sooner than we expected - and it's on top of continued growth in paperback sales." The company adds that, "since the beginning of the year, for every 100 paperback books Amazon has sold, the company has sold 115 Kindle books."

The data is unclear, or so the pundits say, but it seems abundantly clear to this economic amateur that kindle sales and books sales are rising due to lower prices.  What is murky is whether it heralds a sea-change in the reading habits of the public.

Read More

12:20 PM | 0 comments

Long and thoughtful comment on student cheating

The Shadow Scholar and the prevalence of cheating in tertiary education


Author and university lecturer Caron Dann wrote a really interesting commentary to my last post, on the booming and lucrative business of pseudonymously writing papers for desperate students. 

As it is rather too long to fit in the comments box, and Caron is a writer I really respect, I take the liberty of copying it below:




I'm a university lecturer and I know this goes on. It's the reason we need to keep exams and they need to be worth a significant percentage of the unit's final mark (40% in the case of the unit I teach).



One young person I know said students can buy essays over the internet for as little as $30.


There's another good way of evaluating students, and that's by presentation, during which they have to answer questions from other students and for which at least a part of the content has some personal element. Even if the material is plagiarised, they at least have to do preparation in order to present it to the class, thereby learning something.


I agree with Ed Dante about the desperation. It's unfair for incompetent students to be passed at first-year level - particularly if they are lazy, haven't the English skills or are just not up to it - because they then end up 'desperate' later on, having learned very little.


I also think schools don't prepare students for tertiary education. In Australia, at least half the high school graduates go directly on to tertiary learning, yet most haven't the faintest idea what it entails. Many - especially private school students - seem to have been coached a lot at school in narrow areas, for the sole reason of getting good marks in their leaving certificate so they can get in to the uni course of their choice. Meanwhile, they don't know the basics of their subject or even of academic writing or how to use a library catalogue. Many first years have no idea that cutting and pasting from the internet is plagiarism.


Meanwhile, classes keep getting bigger and bigger, since we made universities "businesses". Classes are so big that tertiary teachers often can't possibly learn the names of everyone. So the student becomes a nameless face among the masses and if she or he falls behind for any reason, they do indeed become desperate.

Read More

4:27 PM | 0 comments

Confessions of an academic cheat

How to make a living out of lazy rich kids

A hair-raising article has made its appearance in a no lesser periodical than the Chronicle of Higher Education.

Ed Dante is the pseudonym of a writer on the East Coast of the United States, who makes a very good living writing papers for lazy or incompetent students who are willing to pay.

As he happily confesses, he works for an online company that employs about 50 writers who create original essays for cheating students -- 'scholars' who supply the guidelines of what is needed, and then stump up the bucks on receipt of the paper.  'On any day of the academic year,' he says, 'I am working on upward of 20 assignments.'

He excuses himself and his colleagues by adding that the clients are truly desperate -- so desperate, in fact, that they can't even spell the word: 'I have seen the word "desperate" misspelled every way you can imagine.'   It's also a truly bizarre situation -- these are young men and women in graduate school, without the writing talent to compose something as simple as a grocery list.

Which makes it easy for 'Ed Dante' to blame others for his suspect way of making a living -- 'I live well on the desperation, misery, and incompetence that your educational system has created,' he says.  And though he is fearfully busy, he would like to start a conversation -- a 'discussion about custom papers and how they differ from more detectable forms of plagiarism, or about why students cheat in the first place.'

My initial question would be whether it is plagiarism at all, because presumably the papers are all well researched, and all original.  (One hopes so, anyway, as it would retrieve a little light from the situation.)  I suppose it depends on whether a nitpicking lawyer would charge the wayward student with having pinched the work of the anonymous writer he has paid to write his paper.

The next question -- who on earth would pay to cheat -- is answered in the essay.  Three kinds of clients supply Ed Dante's income:  the students for whom English is a foreign language, the hopelessly incompetent writers, and the lazy rich kids.  Between them, they provide earnings of over $60,000 per annum.

And what about his future, now that he has blown the secret?  He is due to do even better.  Mediabistro has just broken the news that the pseudonymous Ed Dante has signed a contract with Bloomsbury Press to write a book about the business, called The Shadow Scholar.

Read More

2:33 PM | 0 comments

Shorter reading on your kindle

Amazon Launches First Singles List

Back in October, I mused about the advantages of a new Amazon initiative, of issuing shorter works on kindle at a greatly reduced price.

Now, the idea has come into concrete (or digital) reality.

Amazon has posted their first list of just over 20 Kindle Singles.  As promised, they are short nonfiction digital works -- 'typically between 5,000 and 30,000 words,' they say, which covers a lot of territory.  It is rather hard to tell just what you are buying, too, as there are no page counts. Customers' only way of judging is to guess by the price -- currently ranging from 99 cents to $2.99 -- and kilobyte counts to estimate how much wordage they are getting for their money.

Among the titles is a version of Pete Hamill's piece on immmigration, They Are Us.   Originally lbilled last year as a Little Brown 40,000 to 50,000-word digital original, it failed to appear. Hamill had not delivered as intended, it seems, reportedly backing off the project because of his wife's illness.

Priced at 99 cents and running 91 kilobytes, it would appear to be a shorter version.

Other contributing authors include Jodi Picoult (writing on parenting), Darin Strauss, Evan Ratliff, Mark Greif and Jonathan Littell. The site says the first offerings were "selected by our team of editors."

Read More

12:45 PM | 0 comments

Windows 7 Service Pack 1 Update List Leaks

The rumors about latest Windows 7 Service Pack still continues. Now Russian website Wzor has leaked a list of updates which compiled Windows 7 Service Pack 2 (SP2), the site claims that work on Windows 7 SP2 started in the fall of 2010, ahead of the finalization of SP1. We have already mentioned before in our blog about Release Date of Windows 7 SP 2 in middle of 2012.

Microsoft is said to include no less than 132 updates for x86 Windows 7 SP2, as much as 171 updates for x64 Windows 7 SP2 and 114 updates for IA-64 Windows Server 2008 R2 SP2 systems.

Microsoft had previously released an RC version of its upcoming service pack last October. The version, windows6.1-KB976932, had been officially released possibly due to the leaked version surfacing earlier in the same week. The Service Pack will provide several enhancements to Windows 7 including Remote FX and many incremental updates to the platform. The Release Candidate can be found here and weighs in at 865.4MB for the 64 bit version and 514.7MB for the 32 bit version.

The build reportedly went final on January 18, 2011, according to Techarp, and subsequently leaked to torrent sites on January 20th.

Here are the details of the reportedly final RTM build:

x86

Build: 7601.17514.101119-1850

File: Windows6.1-KB976932-X86.exe

Size: 563,934,504 bytes

SHA-1: C3516BC5C9E69FEE6D9AC4F981F5B95977A8A2FA

MD5: 4BF28FC00D86C936C89E2D91EF46758B

CRC: 5EB0FA87

x64

Build: 7601.17514.101119-1850

File: Windows6.1-KB976932-X64.exe

Size: 947,070,088 bytes

SHA-1: 74865EF2562006E51D7F9333B4A8D45B7A749DAB

MD5: 28D3932F714BF71D78E75D36AA2E0FB8

CRC: 068C79C6

Microsoft have yet to announce a date to ship Windows 7 SP1 stating rather vaguely that it will be made available in the first half of 2011 as an integrated release.

As this release is an RC, a release candidate, it should be a stable version of the service pack, but as with any software that is not the final release version, install at your own risk.

Update: You can Download and Install Windows 7 Service Pack 1 here

Read More

7:45 AM | 0 comments

Google Hiring New Talents and Comers - Join Google! for better Future

If you'r looking for a promising job, then why not Join Google!. Google is hiring new comers in their organization, so if you want to build your career with world's largest and biggest company Google so join it today.

Today, Google post on their blog about latest induction in company. Google announced that they added 4,500 workers in 2010. This number is seems to be high but wait, it still comes second to 2007 when they added 6,000 new people. Now Google wants to expand their business even more and bigger with new employees, claiming this year will top 2007 and become their biggest hiring year in company history. Google says;

"We�re looking for top talent across the board and around the globe and we�ll hire as many smart, creative people as we can to tackle some of the toughest challenges in computer science"

It seems that business must be going good at Google, however, which is buying small sites and startups (including failed attempt for GroupOn) pretty rapidly. The company acknowledged that new hires would work on what they consider startups within Google even though most of last year's hiring took place in engineering and sales. Google was quick to assure that there is a job for any interest.

If you think you�re eligible and wants to join the team, check out google.com/jobs.

Read More

7:26 AM | 0 comments

In awe of Dennis Lehane

I repeat, I am totally in awe of Dennis Lehane.  

Which means that I am ashamed to say that I discovered him when I picked up one of his books in a bargain bin -- and only bought it because the bargain was five books for thirty dollars, and I could find only four authors in the bin I could trust to deliver a good yarn.  This title, A Drink Before the War, looked promising, so I added it to the other four. 

It is billed on the jacket as "A Kenzie and Gennaro Thriller," so I expected a private detective partnership in the Batman and Robin mode, which was exactly what I got -- except that this pair of tough private eyes is not quite the same as anything I have ever encountered in the genre before. Kenzie has a soft heart under the given granite exterior, and though he is in love with the beautiful Gennaro of the melting caramel eyes, he gets utterly nowhere, because she is in love with her husband ... who beats her.  Kenzie has hospitalized him at least once, but it doesn't make any difference. 

An unusual background, do you not agree?

The plot is one of those complicated political ones, which tangles and unravels after Kenzie and Gennaro are given the job of tracking down Jenna Angeline, a black cleaning woman who has stolen confidential papers from the State House in Boston.  Staying alive is the hard part, in a hard-driven story that zips from extortion to gangs to bombed out ghettos to child prostitution.  As the title promises, it all leads to all-out war.

All in all, a page-turner. 

I sallied out eagerly in search of another Dennis Lehane -- and found Shutter Island.   Did it turn out to be another episode in the action-packed life of the Kenzie-Gennaro duo?  No, it did not.

Instead, I found myself racing breathheld through one of the most brilliant psychological mysteries I have ever read, grippingly and scintillatingly written.  I got to the end, turned back to the beginning, and read it again -- that is just how good it is.  The only other time that has happened to me with a book in this genre is Robert Cormier's equally spellbinding I am the Cheese.

Two US Marshalls are summoned to Shutter Island, a stormswept island off the Massachusetts coast that is the site of a particularly grim mental institution -- a place that houses the most violent and vicious of insane murderers, where the danger from the inmates is so great that the patients are outnumbered by the guards.  One of the murderers has vanished from her locked room . . . and a hurricane descends, isolating the island and its mentally tortured inhabitants, along with panicked guards, enigmatic doctors, and the two bewildered marshalls.

But is that a true summation of the situation?  No.  For nothing on Shutter Island is quite what it seems ...

Read More

6:51 PM | 0 comments

Release Date and Pricing of Nintendo 3DS Announced

The Release Date and Pricing of most awaited console Nintendo 3DS has been announced by Nintendo. The company has now announced specific details about the gaming platform. According to Nintendo�s site, the 3DS features a glasses-free 3D screen, a 3D �depth slider� to allow the player to adjust just how three dimensional they want their games to be, and a motion/gyro sensor to detect movement. The system is backwards compatible with the DS (with the exception of Game Boy Advance accessories). There�s also several built-in pieces of software with the 3DS, including a tool to create your Mii, an activity log, a web browser, and more.

The Launch Date of Nintendo 3DS is going to be March 27 and the Pre-Order Price will be $249.99. It will be available in two colors, Aqua Blue and Cosmo Black, and have a lineup of 20 games available at launch. This makes the 3DS the most expensive console that Nintendo offers, since the retail price of the Wii has dropped to $199.99. Compared to other handheld gaming devices, the 3DS seems a bit expensive � you can purchase a PSP for $150 or a DSi XL for $160, but those systems obviously lack the 3D hook. For sake of comparison, the Sony PSP released with the same street price back in 2005.

One interesting hardware feature that is built into the device is a 3D camera. According to the site, it can be used to take pictures that can be displayed in 3D on the device.

Read More

8:44 AM | 0 comments

Follow Apple App Store On Twitter Now !!

After brings Apple iTunesMusic on Twitter, now Apple has launched Apple App Store on Twitter with the twitter name @AppStore, new Twitter account for its popular iOS and Mac App Store. The new @AppStore Twitter account only made its debut a few hours ago, but it has already amassed more than 35,000 Twitter followers as of this writing. For comparison, its sister account, @iTunesMusic, has more than 680,000 followers.

As the accounts first tweet explains, @AppStore will feature new apps in Apple�s iOS and Mac App Stores and provide exclusive offers for Twitter users. For example, the account�s second tweet provided a quick pitch and a link to Nike�s Training Club App.

Creating a Twitter account for the App Store seems like a simple and effective way to generate more buzz and more downloads about featured apps. It�s essentially the same thing Apple has been doing with its App Store Facebook Page, which has nearly 1 million fans. Apple also has five popular iTunes Twitter accounts tweeting about new films, music and TV shows.

Still, Apple is known for its lack of engagement in social media. The company doesn�t have official Facebook or Twitter accounts. While the @AppStore account is a refreshing addition to Apple�s social media roster, don�t expect Steve Jobs, Tim Cook or Apple, Inc. to be tweeting anytime soon.

Follow @AppStore on Twitter Now.

Read More

8:26 AM | 0 comments

Secret of Facebook Marketing - Interesting Facts about Facebook Marketing

Everybody wants to know about the secret of facebook marketing facts. To enhance your online business presence on most popular social networking websites like Facebook, Twitter, MySpace etc you must know the facts and figures about latest trends. So today i am going to share the secret of Facebook Marketing, which will helps you to build and make your social networking strategy more effectively.

Dan Zarella, author of the new Facebook Marketing Book, recently published an interesting statistics report about Facebook Marketing Facts.

Have a look on the following Facebook Marketing Statistic chart.

Click to Enlarge Image!

Read More

8:33 AM | 0 comments

Wireless Bluetooth Headsets - Best Available Headsets for Phones

After the revolutionary change in trend of Mobile Phones and Smartphones with Bluetooth technology, now every single mobile phone holder wants to use classy and stylish Bluetooth Headsets with their smartphones and mobile phones.

The demand of Bluetooth Headsets is dramatically increases in past few years, but to choose and buy the best and stylish Bluetooth Headset is the first priority of every mobile phone owner. So today i am going to share Best Available Bluetooth Headsets for mobile users. We have picked up 5 classy Bluetooth headsets that will keep you connected on the go and which suits on your style.

So have a look on following Best 5 Bluetooth Headsets Available in the market which you can buy without any hesitation!

Get your Favorite Bluetooth Headsets for your Mobile Phone Device Now!!


1) Plantronics Discovery 975

Gorgeously minimal, Plantronics� Discovery 975 is ideal for anyone looking for a particularly elegant solution for wireless cellphone conversations. Striking in its simplicity, the 975 is more than just good looking, its carry case conveniently charges the earpiece, a clever design that means you can juice up on the go.

Click and Buy It!

2) Motorola Oasis

Boasting all day comfort, the Oasis is no slouch in the looks department, with a modern black and chrome finish and a tidy, behind-the-ear design. Motorola claims the Oasis is the lightest headset available, but it still manages to pack in voice prompt commands, dual-mics for noise cancellation and the ability to pair with two Bluetooth devices at the same time.

Click and Buy It!

3) Jawbone Icon

Jawbone makes hip headsets for the cool kids. The Icon is the company�s flagship model (in Jawbone�s words, �simply the best friggin� headset on the planet�). It�s available in 10 unique styles, all of which are cool and contemporary. The gadget also comes with seven different earbud options, so it�s safe to say you�ll almost certainly find a combination to suit your taste.

Click and Buy It!

4) BlueAnt Q2

With a classic design, the Q2's simple good looks are backed up by some serious technology. This high-end headset won�t draw unnecessary attention to itself, yet it will offer you comprehensive voice recognition commands and text-to-speech technology that announces the names of incoming callers and reads aloud SMS messages. You can get all of that wonderful Star Trek tech with none of its clunky looks.

Click and Buy It!

5) Jabra Stone

Arguably the most dramatic design on this list, Jabra�s Stone headset is about as far removed from your standard wireless Bluetooth accessory as you can get. The Stone boasts cool, curvaceous looks, as well as a portable charging unit that the headset slots neatly into, and it is available in both black and white. If you want to stand out from the crowd, the Stone is a rocking option for you.

Click and Buy It!

Read More

2:49 AM | 0 comments

90% of Windows copies are pirated in China says Microsoft

According to Microsoft's CEO, Steve Ballmer, when he met with a number of high ranking government officials, including United States president Barak Obama, and Chinese president Hu Jintao, according to NetworkWorld.com.

Steve Ballmer raised some issues and concerns with Chinese president Hu, discussing how 90% out of 100% copies of Windows in China are pirated and only 10% is legit. Microsoft estimates that 90% of China uses some form of pirated software on their computer, with over half of the countries residents still using Windows XP and Internet Explorer 6, a claim which is backed up by StatsCounter.com.

84% of Chinese users still running Windows XP and over 50% using Internet Explorer 6, Microsoft addresses the concern that these users may be at risk of worms, Trojans, spyware and other malicious software running on their computers. The reason for China still running dated software on their computers is because of piracy. Some users are too afraid to upgrade, in case they can't bypass the security system on the operating system.

White House quoted Obama raising the concerns from Steve Ballmer says;

"We're making progress on making sure that the government procurement process in China is open and fair to American businesses. And we've made progress as a consequence of this state visit".


"Some of it has to do with intellectual property protection. So we were just in a meeting with business leaders, and Steve Ballmer of Microsoft pointed out that their estimate is that only 1 customer in every 10 of their products is actually paying for it in China. And so can we get better enforcement, since that is an area where America excels intellectual property and high-value added products and services."

Microsoft has been battling piracy for years in America, and has gained tremendous ground in the market.

Read More

2:06 AM | 0 comments

A highly unusual feminist and the pre-cursor of the haiku

What came before the English haiku?

Many of us learned in school about the beguiling Japanese haiku poetry form, which was adapted for English and American use, and is still popular today.  Basically, the poem consists of three lines, the first five syllables long, the second seven syllables, and the last five.  There must also be a reference to a season, and the linking of two poetic images.

An example, from American poet Richard Wright's haiku collection:

Whitecaps on the bay
a broken signboard banging
in the April wind


To my surprise, while researching the short life of Sydney Parkinson, the talented natural history draughtsman who sailed (and died) on the Endeavour, I found that the cousin he admired and loved, Jane Gomeldon, was the inventor of the 'maxim,' the pre-cursor of the English haiku.

The World in general is a State

Of Surprise

Each wondering at the Conduct of their

Neighbour

Jane is more famous (or infamous) for the remarkable life she led than for being the originator of this neat, satirical form of poetry.  Born Middleton, she was a Quaker, born in Newcastle to a family of Quaker glassmakers, and because of this background was unusually well educated for a woman of that time.  Unfortunately, however, she fell in love with a cad at a very young age, and had the bad judgement to marry him.  This was Francis Gomeldon, an officer in a Regiment of Foot. 

Quickly realizing her blunder, she fled to France, where she had many adventures in the guise of a man, including paying court to a pretty young nun, who was silly enough to elope with her.  In 1740 her estranged husband placed an advertisement in the Newcastle Journal, announcing that she had left him.  Jane responded with her own advertisement, describing his cruelty, and accusing him of ransacking the fortune her mother had left her, despite the legal requirement written into it reserving it for her own use.  In 1742 she brought a suit against him, on the grounds of cruelty.

Eight years later, her husband died, but -- surprise, surprise -- left nothing to her in his Will.  Luckily, it seems, she was still solvent, because after cousin Sydney was hired by Joseph Banks to travel with him, she hatched a plan to voyage on the Endeavour, too.  It came to naught, unfortunately.  While she would not have been the first woman to go around the world dressed as a man, she certainly would have written a very good book, revealing who knows what ...

Read More

1:19 PM | 0 comments

Google Voice 'Number Porting' Feature - Port Your Phone Number

After introducing Google Voice into iPhone, Google is now comes up with its new Google Voice Number Porting Feature for their users. Google is now currently testing a new feature for Google Voice called 'Number Porting', through which users will get the ability to port their existing landline or cell phone number over to Google Voice.

BGR reports that the new number porting feature is open to a selected number of Google Voice users, but it comes at a price. Google is charging a $20 number transfer fee, payable through Google Checkout. However, there may be other fees for transferring your number over. Your current landline or carrier may charge you an additional early termination fee, which could range in the hundreds of dollars to end a contract.

You can convert your number with a few clicks, you can have people call the regular phone number that you�ve been using all these years, without having to teach them to call a different number just so you can use Google Voice and all its Gmail like features. Simply click on Settings in the top right, then click voice settings, and finally, on the phone tab, click change / port. Click that and you�ll soon be done. Follow the two easy steps and pay the $20 transfer fee, and you'll have all your incoming calls forwarded to Google Voice.

Users with a contract should check with their carrier first, to ensure they aren't going to be nailed with an early termination fee.

Check out this Google Official Video for more information!

Read More

9:21 PM | 0 comments

Why DID he call himself TUPAIA?

Bora Bora from Raiatea.  Ron Druett photo

When did Tupaia change his name?

It is currently believed that it was when warriors from Bora Bora invaded Tupaia's home island, Raiatea, and Tupaia was forced to flee to Tahiti, that the high priest changed his name.

The story originally came from the scientist on the Resolution on Captain Cook's second discovery voyage, Johann Forster, who copied down gossip that Tupaia was originally called ‘Parooa’ (Paroa).  Humiliated after the battle where the Raiatean forces were routed, he changed his name to Tupaia, meaning ‘beaten’ -- or so Forster claimed. This is also mentioned by Forster's assistant, Dr. Sparrman, but this is probably because he heard it from his employer, secondhand.

So, how true might the legend be?  It was common enough for Polynesians to change their name following some life-changing event, but 'beaten'?  It seems a strange choice for a man who was as talented and proud as the man who called himself Tupaia, whose considerable talents as a politician and strategist were quickly recognized after he arrived in Tahiti.

There is a chance that the name-change came about later, after the 'discovery' of Tahiti by Captain Wallis of HMS Dolphin in 1767, when the clever high priest proved his value yet again.  Demonstrating a gift for languages, the high priest picked up English fast enough to act as intermediary between the British sailors and his mistress, the glamorous high chief Purea, negotiate with Wallis himself, and communicate Wallis's needs to the Tahitian noblity.  Two years later, when the Endeavour arrived, Captain James Cook and Joseph Banks found this gift for translation even more useful -- so useful, indeed, that they carried the talented linguist with them when the ship left Tahiti on 13 July 1769.

I am informed by Sri Lankan scholar Somasiri Devendra that the Tahitian name ‘Tupaia’ most probably has its root in the Sanskrit word ‘Thuprasis’, since evolved into the word ‘Thuppaiah’, which means . . . wait for it . . . ‘translator’.

Read More

1:44 PM | 0 comments

Entries called for "layman's" science book prize

Royal Society of New Zealand announces $5000 prize

Seeking to promote popular science writing in New Zealand, the Royal Society is calling for entries for this award.

Time is short.  The deadline for entries (five finished books plus a filled-in form, available on their website) is 4 February.

Judging is equally quick.  The shortlist will be announced 25 March.

And the winner will be announced at the Auckland Readers' and Writers' Festival in May.

Read More

12:07 PM | 0 comments

Release Date of Windows 8 and Windows 7 SP Leaked Out

The latest news and information about Windows 8 and Windows 7 SP2 Launch Date has been leaked out by Wzor.net, who is very well known for as Infamous Leaker. Wzor.net has confirmed the news about the launching of Windows 8 pre beta and about Windows 7 SP2 launch.

According to Wzor.net Windows 7 SP2 is already actively underway since the autumn of 2010, and if all goes according to plan then the appearance of a second service pack, Service Pack 2 for Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2 is expected in mid-2012 " and looking forward to Windows 8, Wzor states, " Windows 8 is scheduled for the very end of 2012, so it really can be called: Microsoft Windows 2012 Apocalypse Edition, at least the server version will be named as Windows Server 2012."

Further, for more recent information, the site states that Microsoft is planning two betas for Windows 8 and states that at least one, if not both versions, will be for public consumption and three months after the RC is released, Windows 8 will go RTM. Specific dates were not mentioned.

By far the biggest bombshell is that "according to our information, Microsoft will plan to begin selling boxed retail versions of Microsoft Windows on Monday January 7, 2013!�

Again all this information comes from a reputable leaker but as with any information, its subject to verification. Hopefully the information is on track but as for Windows 8 leaks, Wzor states, �Possible leaks in the network of test assemblies may be expected only close to the appearance of the first beta version of Windows 8 Beta 1"

Read More

8:24 AM | 0 comments

The remarkable story of Tupaia's pet bird



From Peter Brown,
New Illustrations of Zoology
 ... plate VII. (London, 1776).
Courtesy National Library of Australia.

 Tupaia’s lorikeet

A heartwarming story from his biography, Tupaia, the remarkable story of Captain Cook's Polynesian navigator.

While it was not unknown for a sailor to make a pet of a bird, fowl were much more commonly stewed and eaten, in an effort to give variety to the shipboard diet. Sydney Parkinson, draughtsman on the Endeavour, recorded in Botany Bay that they ‘saw a great number of birds of a beautiful plumage; among which were two sorts of parroquets, and a beautiful loriquette: we shot a few of them, which we made into a pie, and they ate very well’. So, when Tupaia adopted a lorikeet he had winged, he not only broke with tradition, but he saved a bird from the pot.

Peter Brown, the man who painted Tupaia's bird after it arrived in England, was a natural history artist of Danish descent who exhibited at the Royal Academy, and was botanical draughtsman for the Prince of Wales. He is most famous for his book, New Illustrations of Zoology ..., which includes the earliest published illustration of an Australian bird, described as a ‘Blue-headed and bellied Parrot’ that had been brought to England from Botany Bay, New South Wales, by Joseph Banks. The caption also records that the painting was made on ‘November 3 1774’ — evidence that Tupaia’s bird was still alive on that date.

After arriving in England, Banks gave the lorikeet to Marmaduke Tunstall, a wealthy collector and sponsor of natural history expeditions, who had established a museum and a menagerie of live animals at his home in Welbeck Street, London, and at the same time told Tunstall that the bird had belonged to ‘the unfortunate Tupia, a native of Otaheite’. In 1776 Tunstall moved the entire museum — which, according to his memoir, included ‘a large collection of curiosities brought by Capt. Cook from Otaheite’ — to his estate at Wycliffe in North Yorkshire.

In 1791, a year after Tunstall’s death, the collection was sold to his friend, George Allan of Darlington, for the highly discounted sum of £700 (the birds alone had cost Tunstall £5,000). In 1822 it was purchased by the Literary and Philosophical Society of Newcastle for display in a new town museum. Did it include Tupaia's bird, now dead and stuffed?  No one knows, for that is where the story stops.  The Tunstall collection is now held by the Great North Museum: Hancock, in Newcastle, England, but whether Tupaia’s bird is still there is impossible to tell.  None of the staff can find it.

Read More

6:45 PM | 0 comments

Design underway for illustrated edition of TUPAIA

The illustrated Tupaia

Yes, the blog had to be put aside.  It was time that had to be devoted entirely (almost) to the design for the beautiful edition of TUPAIA that Random House New Zealand is going to publish in May.  Sorting out the images and writing the captions took up every spare moment over Christmas and the New Year, with the indefatigable Alex Bishop returning to work early January ("It's spooky in the office with no one else there," she confided), to lay out spreadsheets.

Ron was hard at work, too, producing maps and sketches like the one of HMS Dolphin to the right, above.

Now, it is ready to be handed over to the designer, who will work with the first proofs and the images as they come in -- mostly from the amazing collection of the National Library of Australia, but some from the picture collection of the Alexander Turnbull Library, too, with also an honourable mention of the oil painting of Robert Molineux that is held by the Hocken Library of the University of Otago, Dunedin.

Read More

6:31 PM | 0 comments

Download Facebook App for Java Enabled Feature Phones

There are many Facebook Apps available online for iPhone, Mac and Android smartphones, But now Facebook have launched its Mobile App for Java enabled feature phones. Now Java users can also use Facebook Apps in their Feature Mobile Phones.

Today, the largest social network introduced Facebook App for Feature Phones through a partnership with Snaptu, extending to simpler devices functionality previously available only to smartphones. The app will give feature phone users access to Facebook messages, events, pictures, news feeds, profiles and more.

The app gives users a better, almost smartphones like Facebook experience that includes simple homescreen navigation, contact syncing and fast scrolling of updates and photos. The new application works on 2,500 different models of devices from the likes of Nokia, Sony, Ericsson, LG and other manufacturers.

You can download this Facebook Application from Snaptu Right here.

Users will be able to use the Facebook app without incurring data charges.

The app is available on the following carriers in the following countries and will launch on more networks and in more areas soon:

• Dialog (Sri Lanka)
• Life (Ukraine)
• Play (Poland)
• StarhHub (Singapore)
• STC (Saudi Arabia)
• Three (Hong Kong)
• Tunisiana (Tunisia)
• Viva (Dominican Republic)
• Vodafone (Romania)

Launching soon:

• Mobilicity (Canada)
• Reliance (India)
• Telcel (Mexico)
• TIM (Brazil)
• Vivacom (Bulgaria)

Read More

1:55 AM | 0 comments