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Friday, January 29, 2010

Interview - Video> Liberal MP for McMillan Mr. Russell Broadbent Speaks to OCSN (29/1/2010)

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Russell Broadbent is the Liberal MP for the federal seat of McMillan, Victoria. Mr. Broadbent today spoke to One Cuckoo Short of a Nest on topics ranging from the federal Liberal party’s chances gaining seats next election to issues in the electorate.

The video of this interview can be viewed below. There is a transcript of the interview below the video.

A note: There are two mistakes in the questions to Mr. Broadbent. One is that it was not specified that offshore processing was in relation to asylum seekers. The other is that the quote from Peter Costello’s memoirs is inaccurate. The error is that in the interview it is said that Mr. Costello would have ratified Kyoto if John Howard had stood down after the election. The memoirs actually state that this policy change was lined up for if Mr. Howard had stood down after APEC. These errors should not alter the meaning of the replies.

Video:
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(19.4MB, WMV Format, 14:08 Minutes)
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Transcript:
OCSN:
Mr. Broadbent, when Tony Abbott recently became leader of the Liberal Party you immediately gave the new leader your full support. My first question to you is where do you think you stand in the Liberal Party? Mr. Abbott is firmly a Liberal dry as he asserted with the reappointment of Philip Ruddock to the front bench, however back in 2006 you Petro Georgiou, who I’ve seen described as a dissident, and Senator Judi Moylan crossed the floor on [then PM] Howard’s policy on immigration of offshore processing [for asylum seekers]. That was very much the stance of a Liberal wet. Do you see yourself as a wet or a dry, or do you not believe in this classification in the party?

Mr. Broadbent: Well, I don’t believe in the classification in the party as you have put it because I’ve never put myself in boxes, I’ve always seen myself to be actually in the centre. I take a common sense point of view to each situation as it arises rather than I have a view on all things about…. in only one way, and I don’t. And so that affords my the ability to make a decision, and have the respect of my party to make a decision on the issues as they arise.

OCSN: Do you see some members of your party as having this kind of wet-dry divide, I mean the party is obviously divided over, well, for example, climate change which is very much a progressive or non-progressive, sorry, which is very much a modern or an old fashioned party stance in the party which is split right down the middle… over this issue do you see the divide in that aspect?

Mr. Broadbent: Yes, there is a divide in the aspect you have described however, it’s more along the lines of groupings, groupings of people. Especially within the Liberal party, groupings of people out of New South Wales, groupings of people out of Victoria, people who see themselves to be on the right but then when tested don’t actually align with that group, so, it is a moving feast in opposition of people that are grouping themselves together rather than a wet or a dry. As people like... it’s simplistic to describe it in that manner.

OCSN: So, so do you see… so there are distinctive groups within the party but is the party as a whole do you feel united on major policy… on most major policy?

Mr. Broadbent: 80% we would agree, not only with the rest of the party, 80% of the situations that arise in the Parliament are supported by both parties, the Greens, by independents; there is a view about where the nation should be going. We argue about the 20%, and sometimes the 20% gets the largest amount amount of play because it’s the controversial issue. But basically the Liberal party as a whole would be aligned with each other right across the board.

OCSN: You mentioned a while back on your website that the Liberal party doesn’t support Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme. You did however mention that a report commissioned by the coalition, the Pearce Report, indicates that a broader approach needs to be taken in the form of an Emissions Trading Scheme. The report suggest also that the Canadian System should be investigated. Your support of Abbott’s outright blocking of the scheme would seem to go against this. Would you still consider an ETS in combating climate change if those investigations suggested in the coalition’s report were carried out?

Mr. Broadbent: The leadership change of last year meant that the group following Abbott’s lead on this issue won the day, and I as a member of Parliament have to respect that my party decided, which I’m a part, my party decided where they wanted to go on the issue, and it’s up to me to support that. I don’t see this as a conscience issue as I have stood in the past, this is a policy issue. The party has taken a stance on a policy issue, and it’s up to me to see where the party goes on this. Unless they were… unless I saw it that they were outrageously wrong, and with a total inability whatsoever to deliver on climate change. We’ll have to see what he comes up with next week in his approach to how we might combat climate change.

OCSN: Do you yourself believe in climate change as being an issue for Australia?

Mr. Broadbent: It’s an issue for Australia and an issue for the world.

OCSN: So you do believe that it exists?

Mr. Broadbent: Absolutely.

OCSN: Peter Costello mentions in his memoirs that if Howard had stepped down after the last election [edit: should be APEC] he would have ratified Kyoto. Would you have supported the ratification of Kyoto as a definitive course of action for… for combating climate change.

Mr. Broadbent: No, I think it was a.. Kyoto was a political statement to garner support for perhaps the climate change… general climate change issue, general environmental issue and because we hadn’t ratified Kyoto, although we had performed very well as a nation in regard to the Kyoto targets, but because we hadn’t ratified it became a political issue, a political statement. So, the Government, he would have ratified Kyoto, as a political statement he would have ratified Kyoto, very much the same as Malcolm Turnbull would have ratified Kyoto to get it off the political… plate.

OCSN: So do you believe that was Kevin Rudd’s motive for ratifying… for agreeing to the protocol?

Mr. Broadbent: Well I don’t know what Kevin Rudd’s personal motives were, but it was a political tool he used in the run up to the last election.

OCSN: You have said recently that you “learnt early that in politics you do lose some times.” After last election where the Liberal party didn’t gain any seats and in fact lost many, did you feel the party could make a quick comeback and win the next one? You have lost your seat twice yourself.

Mr. Broadbent: Yes but we held very well at the last election campaign here in this electorate, and we’ll be working very hard to do that again, we don’t take anything for granted we will be working very hard to do that again the next election. History shows that there’s only one party that’s only had a one term Government. It would be very difficult for the Libs to come back wholly to government at the next election campaign, the Liberal-Nationals, but you never know in politics, we have to keep trying.

OCSN: Do you think that the Liberal party could rather quickly recover from this rather turbulent term in opposition?

Mr. Broadbent: Whenever you’re given an incentive, or a goal, yes, people will work together very quickly. It’s up to any party to look at their leaders, support their leaders, get in behind their leader and back their leader as best as they possibly can. I have… that has been my approach all the way through even if I’ve had disagreements, always backed their leadership as best as I possibly could.

OCSN: Do you think that the Liberal party may gain a significant number of seats next election or is it too early to tell?

Mr. Broadbent: It’s too early to tell. The polls at this stage are horrific for the Liberal and National parties. I mean, if the polls remain as they are today, we will be wiped out. But, they always come closer come election time. So you can get closer to the point at election time, that’s when you’ve got to make… when people begin to make their decision about who they want to support for the next election campaign. And so until you come up to that time of the election and people begin to focus, they’re not focussing, they are focussing on the tennis and everything else at the moment, it’s only when they have to make that decision people will probably garner support for the party of their choice.

OCSN: Do you feel confident in the policies as they stand at the moment in gaining a large swing of voters?

Mr. Broadbent: Well the policies are not out there yet, from either the Prime Minister or the… the government have their policies of the day so the, they are governing, they are making decisions. There will be a budget out in May, that’s more policy run out. And the Liberal Party and the National Parties have not really put their policies out for the people and they won’t do that yet until the run up to the election campaign. But quite often people make a decision early, if they have made a decision early it will be very difficult for us to win at the next election campaign. But, in politics, you just can’t say what next week will deliver. We don’t know, so you work hard, this could be the first time there is a turnaround and Rudd becomes a one term government but we’ll have to see how that works out. It’s seat by seat, state by state, seat by seat, and whoever ends up with the largest number of those seat wins.

OCSN: After all, yeah, a week is a long time in politics.

Mr. Broadbent: It is.

OCSN: We are now at the start of a new decade, where do you see the Liberal Party in ten years?

Mr. Broadbent: I would hope I see the Liberal Party in Government in ten years, with a new Prime Minister, that is comfortable in the role of Prime Minister and governs for the whole country. Governs for the whole country, and has regard for those who are least able to look after themselves as a priority.

OCSN: Labor’s National Broadband Network is set to help connect rural areas of Australia to high speed internet. How could the electorate of McMillan benefit from such a scheme in relation to small business and home users?

Mr. Broadbent: If I believed their national broadband scheme was going to work and actually would get to those rural subscribers, which I don’t believe it will and we’ve just had a meeting with the communications people today about small areas of McMillan that can’t get ADSL. Now, I don’t believe that Labor’s program, at 43 billion dollars, will deliver outside of the 80%, 85% of Australia that can get it now, because it won’t be commercially viable. They have no business plan and I think it’s a bucket of money that can be used much better elsewhere, and I believe that communications, as a whole, internationally communications are moving so quickly that we don’t know what we’ll be using in three years time or a years time. So, why would we be trying to introduce something that may be out of date by the time we introduce it at such an enormous cost to this country? And I thought that Governments were moving out of the control of communications, and that was supported by both Governments, and now we’re finding ourselves intervening in controlling communications. Governments should be getting out of that and letting the marketplace drive what happens in communications. And then the people in the remote areas, at least through the agreements with Telstra, and only through Government support will we be able to get the sort of coverage to those people that they desire.

OCSN: So do you believe the National Broadband Network’s company should be privatised as soon as possible?

Mr. Broadbent: No I don’t think it should go any further than its gone I don’t… I’m not a believer in the National Broadband Network. I just don’t think it’s going to happen. I think it’s going to fall in a hole… well, fall in a communications hole. I think that communications, as I said before, worldwide are moving so quickly we just don’t know what sort of new facilities we’ll be using in that time.

OCSN: In November of last year you were involved in a debate on the National Bike Path Program were you were strongly advocating bike paths as a benefit to community health, transport and the environment. Darren Chester mentions Moe, a city in your electorate, and other cities in the Latrobe Valley would benefit from bike trails between them. Are you planning such a scheme in this area?

Mr. Broadbent: There’s a fantastic trail between Warragul and Drouin now, which is being regularly used. I mean, it has a huge high use rate for walkers, runners, bike tracks. So if there were an opportunity to promote such an idea, it would be great. But there’s a fairly great distance between those two and you’d have to consider the expense of doing that and whether the opportunity is there for the facility to go through. But, look basically bike paths while supported nationally, through some programs, they are a state and local government responsibility and we have to have regard for that. So, it’d be up for the state to say look it’s a great idea and we’d like you to fund it. We’d have to consider it in the budget outliers then.

OCSN: Through your website, you have asked your electorate for some local solutions to what you describe as a financial storm. This is of course in relation to the global financial crisis. From this request and from your own opinion, what action do you have planned to shelter your constituents from this storm?

Mr. Broadbent: I don’t think there’s anything that I can do to shelter my constituents from the financial crisis that engulfed the world. All we need to be doing though is be very careful about the financial decisions we make and the investments we make… and make sure that they are prudent investments and any advice that can be given through Government or through or any other organisation, should be taken on board. So, you know, you have got to work with your accountant, you have got to work with people, and I suppose that if you are too greedy and you invest in things that look too good, they probably are.

OCSN: Mr. Broadbent, thank you for your time.

Mr. Broadbent: Thank you. Thank you very much.

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With thanks to Mr. Russell Broadbent and his office
Interviewer: William Kulich
Sound and Video: Name removed by request
Produced exclusively for One Cuckoo Short of a Nest.
www.onecuckoosnest.com
###

ocsn

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

G’day Australia

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scrossAustralia – known around the world for its droughts, accent and flies. Australia’s national anthem Advance Australia Fair– known around the country… or not.

Australia has an odd reputation for its citizens not knowing all the words to its national anthem. However could we be forgiven as the song has only officially been our national anthem since 1984? And there’s the fact that the anthem was changed on two occasions.

The national anthem in its present state has two verses. It may come as a surprise to many that Advance Australia Fair was originally four verses long. The original first verse has been kept, however verse two, which looked at the British discovering Australia (not that they were actually first, mind!), was replaced by a new second verse when the song was sung at federation. This verse was later changed again when the song became the national anthem in 1984.

The present second verse is an amalgamation of the themes of the original second, third and fourth verses. The third verse of the original, pre-federation version looked at how other nations see Australia and its English colonisation. Verse four looked at how the Australian people would defend the country if it were attacked.

Throughout all these changes, the simple tune has remained the same.

Advance Australia Fair has not stood unopposed as our national anthem however. There is a movement which wishes that the anthem should be changed to Waltzing Matilda, which has scored highly in polls on preferred national anthem.

In 2007 filmmaker Curtis Levy ran for a seat in the senate in New South Wales, promising that if elected he would fight for the anthem to change to Waltzing Matilda. A program which will air at 9.25 tonight on ABC1 looks at his campaign.

Australia Day marks arrival of Captain Cook’s First Fleet in 1788. The celebration of the occasion has been unwelcome in some Aboriginal groups who see the event as Invasion Day.

Another debate that regularly arises on Australia Day, especially this year with a visit last week from future monarch of Australia Prince William, is that of an Australian Republic. This is however, according to Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard, not on the Labor Government’s agenda at the moment.

However, for the moment at least, our anthem and day are both here and today is the day to celebrate them – so have fun this Australia Day!

Friday, January 22, 2010

On A Friday: Parliament Speed Dating (Cartoon)

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Parliament Speed Dating Cartoon by William Kulich www.onecuckoosnest.com [click image to enlarge]
Captions:
Julie Bishop: “Next!”
Tony Abbott to Julia Gillard: “Sorry Julia, I have to leave you now”

Cartoon by William Kulich

 OCSN

Sunday, January 17, 2010

How To: Bring Admin Tools to Your Fingertips

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admin toolsApplies to:
Microsoft Windows 7 (32- and 64-bit editions).
Microsoft Windows Vista (Recommended usage for 32-bit editions only).
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This is a little trick which is a really handy way to quickly access administrative tools. It is really simple to implement, however it is mentioned on the internet that this can crash 64-bit editions of Windows Vista. The example screenshots in this tutorial were taken in 64-bit Windows 7, which proves that it can be stable in 64-bit 7.

The process to create a link to this utility is really very simple. Firstly, create a new folder anywhere on your computer or on removable media. The trick to making this folder special is the name – name the folder anything you like (without using punctuation is the best way to ensure that this will work) and add the following to the end of the name:

.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}

Deselect the folder to change the name and the folder’s icon should change to the control panel icon (image: top right). The name you gave the folder should be the only visible part of the name.

Opening the folder will present a screen sorted into categories corresponding to different areas of Windows.

This trick may also work for users without administrative access, however these users may be prompted to enter administrator credentials when changing settings.

image

OCSN

Friday, January 15, 2010

On A Friday: One Year of One Cuckoo

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Today marks the first birthday of One Cuckoo Short of a Nest, and to celebrate the milestone this article will look back at how OCSN has changed over the past year.

A (not very) brief history of One Cuckoo Short of a Nest:

Further Unimportant and Useless History:
Original title graphic:
ocsoanlogo1a
Later title graphic:
CuckooTitle
Title graphic #3:
image
Current title graphic:
One Cuckoo Short of a Nest Title 

And that’s enough self indulgence! This past year has been fun for me to bring you and I hope everyone around the world who reads One Cuckoo Short of a Nest has found the website informative!

One year, 61 posts (inclusive), a whole lot more to come!

ocsn

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Google’s Stand for Free Speech

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googlechinahomepage_thumb8 The Implications of Google’s Actions in China on the Labor Government’s proposed internet Censorship.

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In a firm stand against the Chinese government’s human rights policies, Google yesterday announced that they will no longer provide the same search censoring service to China that they once did.

Google’s webmail service, Gmail, and several other internet services were subject to cyber attacks last month which Google have traced to China.

In a post on The Official Google Blog entitledA new approach to China”, Google’s Chief Legal Officer David Drummond stated that “we [Google] have decided we are no longer willing to continue censoring our results on Google.cn”.

Drummond continues to explain that Google will “discuss [how Google could run] an unfiltered search engine within the [Chinese] law, if at all.” This is backed up by a statement that Google “may well [have] to shut down Google.cn, and potentially [its] offices in China” if an agreement with the Government cannot be reached.

Drummond’s post indicates that the attacks were on the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists, and that Google have a strong belief in human rights and freedom of information. He comments that when Google China was launched in 2006 it was intended to make uncensored information more easily available in China, and that Google had experienced “discomfort” in agreeing to censorship.

Communications Minister Senator Stephen Conroy announced in December of last year that he plans to put legislation which would censor Australia’s internet to parliament before next election.

The Australian system will be implemented as a blacklist targeting “refused classification” (RC) websites. RC websites contain material which is not allowed a rating in Australia due to illegal actions being portrayed. A report leaked last March however suggests that some websites possibly outside of the initial scope of RC content may also be blocked, including some pages on the online encyclopaedia Wikipedia.

What are the implications of this on Google’s service in Australia? If the search engine were to leave Australia it may cause greater public unrest than in China where Google is not such a dominant search engine.

Google’s stance on freedom of information may lead to some disputes on service with the Australian Government, however the ISP-level filtering forwarded by Senator Conroy may mean that filtered content found on Google will lead to a dead link and not the blocked website.

Google’s actions in China show how a large information carrier such as Google can attempt to hold an entire country’s Government at ransom.

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Tuesday, January 12, 2010

News: Sunraysia/Mildura Region Will Be First To Receive Satellite Digital Television Conversion Subsidy

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IMAGEIn response to requests from the Liberal party for Labor to provide more information on the proposed free-to-air satellite digital television  service, the office of the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy has today outlined details of the scheme to One Cuckoo Short of a Nest.

In an article published on One Cuckoo Short of a Nest (OCSN) last week entitled “Labor Announces Satellite Broadcasting to Improve Rural Digital Television Reception”, a spokesperson for the Shadow Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy Tony Smith MP explained that the Liberal party had “not been provided with enough information from Labor” on the details of the upgrades.

The satellite scheme aims to remove “blackspot” areas of free-to-air digital television reception which will otherwise be left without television when the analogue signals are cut off.

Today by email, the office of the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy Senator Stephen Conroy answered questions on the scheme. The questions cover the time frame of the scheme, availability of public information and how the subsidy for satellite television conversion will work. (A full transcript can be found at the end of this article).

When asked what time frame the project will be started and completed in, the spokesperson replied “the measures to upgrade 100 ‘self-help’ towers and launch the digital satellite service will be in place before analogue services are switched off in each regional broadcast license area. [The] switchover [will commence] with the Sunraysia/Mildura region on the 30th of June 2010 and it will progress according to a region-by-region timetable until the 31st of December 2013.” The spokesperson also said that more information on the switch-offs is available at http://www.digitalready.gov.au/rolloutmap.aspx.

OCSN asked when full information on the details of the scheme will be released to the public and other parties, to which the spokesperson replied “the Government will be writing to ‘self-help’ transmission licensees detailing the new measures as well as providing further information to local communities shortly.”

Commenting on how the subsidy will work, the spokesperson explained that “residents [who] rely on a self-help retransmission facility that is not converted to digital will be eligible to receive a satellite conversion subsidy. The satellite conversion subsidy recognises past community investment in analogue television transmission infrastructure and is intended to ease the cost burden for the households where they will need to install a satellite dish and equipment because they are reliant on terrestrial self-help towers that are being switched off. A pilot of the satellite conversion subsidy will be piloted in the Sunraysia/Mildura region.”

The infrastructure upgrades could be considered part of the “nation-building for the future” outlined in Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s New Year’s Message.

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Full email interview transcript:

OCSN: In roughly what time frame will the project be started and completed in?

Spokesperson: The measures to upgrade 100 ‘self-help’ towers and launch the digital satellite service will be in place before analogue services are switched off in each regional broadcast license area. Switchover commences with the Sunraysia/Mildura region on 30 June 2010 and it will progress according to a region-by-region timetable until 31 December 2013. More info here: http://www.digitalready.gov.au/rolloutmap.aspx.

OCSN: When will full information on the details of the scheme be released to the public and other parties?

Spokesperson: The Government will be writing to ‘self-help’ transmission licensees detailing the new measures as well as providing further information to local communities shortly.

OCSN: How will the subsidy work?

Spokesperson: Residents that rely on a self-help retransmission facility that is not converted to digital will be eligible to receive a satellite conversion subsidy. The satellite conversion subsidy recognises past community investment in analogue television transmission infrastructure and is intended to ease the cost burden for the households where they will need to install a satellite dish and equipment because they are reliant on terrestrial self-help towers that are being switched off. A pilot of the satellite conversion subsidy will be piloted in the Sunraysia/Mildura region.

ocsn

Friday, January 8, 2010

On A Friday: Lipstick on a Pig

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Cartoon - Lipstick on a Pig ocsn

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

News: Labor Announces Satellite Broadcasting to Improve Rural Digital Television Reception

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IMAGEThe Labor Government is set to introduce satellite television  broadcasting as part of a series of infrastructure upgrades to provide digital television to “blackspot” areas.

In a media release published yesterday on the Labor Party website the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy Senator Stephen Conroy said "This is a fantastic outcome for people in regional Australia, many of whom have received limited television services for many years."

Senator Conroy also claimed that "All regional Australians will now receive the same television services as people in the cities.” He also mentioned a “dedicated local news channel” in the system.

The cost of the satellite system is yet to be determined, and the Government is promising subsidies to “eligible” households who are not upgraded by the broadcasters.

Digital terrestrial transmitters will also be upgraded as part of the scheme, with new transmitters in Underbool and Ouyen near Mildura to be built. The Mildura licence area will be one of the first affected in the analogue television switch off, with the old signals ceasing prior to June this year.

The Liberal Shadow Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy Tony Smith MP said in his own media release yesterday that he hopes the scheme “doesn’t end up as yet more Labor pie in the sky.” Smith also suggests that rural viewers should “believe it when they see it.”

A representative of Tony Smith’s office today told One Cuckoo Short of a Nest that it is “too early to say” whether the Liberals would continue with a satellite system if in power or opt for terrestrial upgrades instead. The representative explained that the Liberal party had “not been provided with enough information from Labor” on the details of the plan, including on how the subsidy will work or how much it will cost to upgrade the 100 transmitters involved. When asked if they saw an opposition policy being released on rural digital television services, the representative stated that “there will be a lot of policies released before the next election”, including a “full policy released” on this portfolio.

Free TV Australia’s CEO Julie Flynn has stated in a Free TV media release that “this is a big win for regional viewers who will lead the way in the transition to digital-only services.” The media release also states that “Free TV broadcasters are pleased” with the Government funding of a satellite service for those unable to receive terrestrial services.

Flynn also states that “Free TV will continue to work with the Government to deliver a smooth transition to digital services for all Australian viewers”.

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To view a list of current Australian free-to-air television channels, see “What’s On The Box?”.

ocsn

Sunday, January 3, 2010

How To: Display the Old Right-Click Menu in the Windows 7 Taskbar

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IMAGE: Taskbar default right click menu

Microsoft made many changes to how users interact with programs in Windows 7, one of these changes involved the replacement of the menu that appears when you right-click on a program’s icon in the taskbar.

The new menu provides many enhanced and useful commands for programs designed to use it, including fast links to certain features in that program and recently opened documents. These features are all very useful, however the original functionality of this menu has been removed as a result.

image: closed program shift right-clickThat is not to say that the old menu is not gone forever, it does however require an additional command to make it appear. Holding down the ‘Shift’ key whilst right-clicking will bring back the old menu. With the shift key held down, right-clicking a closed program’s icon will bring forward the standard shortcut menu (with a very slightly different layout), and right-clicking an open program will, in most cases, open the old right-click menu from Windows 95 – Vista. It’s as simple as that! Some programs do show modernised menus for open programs, such as Microsoft’s Paint and Messenger.

Windows 7 is far more functional and much easier to use than any previous version of Windows. It is especially good for touch screen computers with the new interface designed with this application in mind. Although the new layout of the operating system, such as the taskbar right-click menu, may appear to be reduced in functionality, simple command adjustments within 7 make the new Windows far more productive and accessible than before.image: open program shift right-click

ocsn

Friday, January 1, 2010

On A Friday: HaPpY NeW YeAr!

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Good morning and welcome to 2010!

Ten years ago a new millennium had just started, nine years ago it was the start of the 21st century, and one year ago was the start of 2009.

What got us where in the year just passed? Here is a light hearted review of 2009 which looks at a select number of events that were in some way significant (or not) to the year just passed.

OCSN 2009 Revisited Image Preview

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So how did you find the last decade? America’s Pew Research Center recently released the newest instalment of a decade-by-decade rating of the last 50 years. In this, Americans’ perception of the 2000s has shown to be the lowest of any decade yet. Exactly 50% of those surveyed said their impression of the decade was generally negative. This is a jump from the same statistic for the 1990s, in which only 19% ranked the decade poorly.

This high negative is best explained by another statistic released by the Pew Center, which shows the November 11th terrorist attacks to be most widely considered the “most important event of the decade”.

But has the decade really been as bad as this research has shown? It really depends on who you ask. The research mentioned above is only a study of a fraction of the American population (779 people) and doesn’t represent any other country around the world.

One good piece of information to take from this study is that many of the people surveyed think that next decade will be better than the 2000s. Given the rating of the 2000s that won’t be hard!

ocsn

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