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R.I.P., Windows Media CenterPosted on May 5, 2015 by Rob Just reading the ZDNet article R.I.P., Windows Media Center Disappointing. Windows 10 may not be the turnaround in attitude we were hoping for. There is a US industry mantra of “We will be number one…. Or get out”. But only one company can ever be number one and have the largest market share. Companies talk about being “customer centered” but the two things don’t mix. Unfortunately Microsoft seem to only pay lip service to consumers. So back in the real world: Yes it costs money to pay people to maintain products. Yes to ensure that every game & technology I buy works beyond 5-10 years is difficult. But as a consumer and developer that’s what I want. And if other platforms & companies do a better job at serving minorities then they’ll get my money. In the long run Microsoft are shooting themselves in the foot. It’s like when you go into a store regularly for some piddly thing, but once a year make a large purchase. The store discontinues all piddle items that don’t sell much. So now people no longer have a reason to enter the store, and sales in general fall (even though only the piddly items were removed). Personally, these kind of piddly decisions just push me further towards Apple and Google. No matter how justified they may be. Rob AHCI interface for SATA disks in Windows 8Recently while bench-marking my new OCZ Vertex 4 SSD, my PC builder suggested I may get better results by using Intel’s AHCI interface (for SATA disks). Turns out my new Windows 8 PC was already enabled for AHCI. Philip Elder (SBS MVP) informed me that 99% of PCs they see are already enabled. For Windows 8 here’s how to enable AHCI. Since Windows Vista you can change over to AHCI without losing disk data.
After restarting the PC, the AHCI drivers should be installed and Device Manager will show AHCI drivers for the disks. 8.1 is a good score for Disk data transfer rate [Windows Experience Index] Spam-Be-GonePosted on November 14, 2008 by Rob
Read the full story from WindowsIRPro.com Time’s Up BrumbyPosted on January 31, 2008 by Rob ![]() Greenpeace activists unfurl a banner on Melbourne’s iconic Flinders Street railway station, sending a strong message to Premier Brumby on his controversial decision to lift the ban on genetically engineered (GE) food crops. Victoria’s ban on genetically engineered (GE) food crops expires on 29 February. Says Greenpeace genetic engineering campaigner, Rebecca Hubbard, “Victoria is running out of time before it loses its GE free status. More… Video Report (The Age) GreenPeace News Articles: GM Cross-pollinationPosted on January 12, 2008 by Rob GM crops can contaminate adjacent non-GM crops by various means. The canola seed is tiny and easily spread through wind, animals, birds, seed transport spills etc. Even before GM Canola crops are allowed in Australia, contamination is being found in Australian grain from research being done by the Tasmanian Government…
But what about contamination through cross-pollination? Here genes traits are transferred from one crop to another. Which crops are sexually compatible with the current GM crops? Do we know? Currently we are seeing new herbicide resistant super-weeds growing up around the GM-crops. These weeds have taken on the herbicide resistance traits given to the GM crops. Could this spoil the integrity of our existing pure crops? If Western Australia get their way and grow GM wheat, will it cross-pollinate with Spelt? (Spelt is a distant cousin of Wheat and now in common usage by health bread manufacturers). If weeds can take on the traits of GM crops then who really knows what we can expect. We are genetic altering life, and life is self replicating. Once released into the world, you may not be able to reverse that decision. Like Cane Toads introduced into QLD Australia you could be stuck with them for ever. The 2004 documentary “Unnatural Selection“ tells a story of a GE salmon farm (commercial research). A flood caused 100, 000 GE fish to escaped into the river ways. Some scientists estimated these larger more aggressive Salmon could in fact cause the natural fish population to die out within just a few years. This is of course worst case scenario, but it just shows again that we playing with fire. But hey as long as someone is making a profit EU Regulations permit very low levels of accidental or ‘adventitious’ presence of GM plants in an organic crop at a threshold of 0.9% (lowered recently from 1%). Bio-Diversity The other problem we have is one of bio-diversity. I’m just starting to understand what this means. So we have Monsato and others buying up all the seed companies around the world. Their aim is to control the worlds food supply. The natural diversity in the world, that comes from farmers collecting their own seed generation after generation will be lost as Monsanto moves in with their limited palette of GM seeds. In the space of only a decade we now have most of USA and Canada growing GM food crops from a very limit variety of seed. Some say we have already lost some varieties of seed. Thank God for projects like the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway. Currently there is an oversupply of food for the planet (we just neglect to share it with those who are hungry). So don’t beleive the Monsanto spin that says we have a moral obligation to go GM. Worst case scenario … if the traits in these untested GM genes fail catastrophically, we could have a world wide famine. Green Peace Trolley WatchGreenPeace run a program called Trolley Watch. When you see a Genetically Modified (GE) food label in your supermarket, take a photo and upload it to GreenPeace. So it’s a shame file. Yet another way to use consumers power. Currently we only have a dozen or so products labelled in Australia. Loop holes in Australian labelling laws allow potentially 1000′s of GE products in Australian stores.
What else can you do? Holly Schiach, Greenpeace, talks to Sydney audience about Trolley Watch in Australia. Holly tells how Lowans Healthfoods finally gave in to removing GE food from their Lowans and Greens lines, after they received many letters from consumers. GM Food Part 4 – GM in AustraliaPosted on December 27, 2007 by Rob Are GM food crops allowed in Australia?Currently no. However on the 27th Nov, the Victorian and NSW governments announced that their bans on growing GM Canola would lapse on February 29 and March 3 2008, respectively. Premier Brumby will let Bayer, Monsanto and their agribusiness allies roll out herbicide tolerant GM canola in Victoria without restriction or public notice. In contrast, NSW has extended its ban till July 2011 but will exempt some GM canola growing for commercial and research purposes, on a case-by-case basis. According to GeneEthics.org, Bayer, Monsanto and the US government formed an agribusiness coalition to overturn the bans. Why are we going GM in Australia?With so many scientists and experts voicing clear concerns against GMO, why are ourpoliticians letting GM Canola crops into Australia? Australia’s new Chief Scientist and longest-serving chief of the CSIRO Plant Industry division, is Dr Jim (William James) Peacock. While he’s been smearing critics of genetically modified (GM) food as “unprincipled minorities” and “self-serving” activists, he forgot to mention a few things about himself.
This detective work came from Kath Wilsons blog. Thanks Kath! The Story So Far
From an article by Wendy Frew – March 28 2006, The Sydney Morning Herald Is there GM Labeling in Australia?Yes. GM foods must be labeled in Australia. However… there are exceptions. These foods don’t require labeling: Food Additives and processing aids, Highly refined foods (such as refined oils, sugars and starches), Flavourings (including individual aromatic, carrier and other components) at no more than 1 g/kg (0.1%) in the final food, Food intended for immediate consumption (vending machine food, fast foods, resturant food, take-away foods). Also the standard allows for the unintentional presence of a GM food not more than 10 g/kg (1%) per ingredient. So McDonalds; BurgerKing, KFC can all legally can sell GM foods without labeling (but you can ask them). Most of the processed food in the supermarket can contain GM additives and flavours without labels. Each ingredient in a food can contain up to 1% of GM content with no labelling required. If I read the AU Gov web site correctly, oils made from GM grain don’t require labelling either. Yet there is evidence that GM foods are causing health problems. I’m certainly not happy with these exceptions. Like too many other house holds, allergies dominate my families lives, so for us pure unadulterated foods, with proper labeling is essential.
Other Jot NotesThose warning against the fast adoption of GM include Juliet McFarlane: A canola, wheat and sheep farmer from Young in NSW is wary of claims being made for GM crops. McFarlane is a founding member of the Network of Concerned Farmers. Again I’d like to acknowledge all the great work done my NCF and by Julie Newman who runs the web site. Crop Contamination by Test CropsEven before GM Canola crops are allowed in Australia, contamination is being found in Australian grain from research being done by the Tasmanian Government… Jeffrey Smith responds to Andrew Bolt’s personal attackAuthor Jeffrey Smith was invited to Australia in Dec 2007 after Brumby lifted the ban on GM Canola. He was invited to speak at parliament house. Controversial columnist Andrew Bolt did some mud slinging and petty name calling. Smith again responded with more solid information on the dangers of GM food. Jeffrey’s response via The Herald Sun…
2 Responses to GM Food Part 4 – GM in Australia
The Big Picture: The Story of StuffPosted on December 27, 2007 by Rob |