THE WEB (WWW) TURNS 20

THE WEB (WWW) TURNS 20

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="416" caption="The Web turns 20"][/caption]

On August 6th, 1991, Tim Berners-Lee, a British physicist at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN), in Geneva, created the first-ever web page—a summary of his WWW project along with explanations to help visitors build websites of their own and to search the web for information... today, the rest is Web History. It has dramatically changed the way we do things. Read more here. and here for timeline.

Read More

MASS UPRISING IN LONDON

MASS UPRISING IN LONDON:

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="416" caption="A woman leaps from a burning building in Surrey Street, Croydon into the arms of police officers. The town was hit by rioting and a huge fire"][/caption]

Civil unrest /riots in London by citizens who are perhaps discontent with simmering poverty and neglect in the city, according to a report, Martin Fletcher says "caught in a poverty and joblessness cycle, young people in many British urban areas have little hope of a better life." The killing of a 29 year old father, Mark Dugan, heightened the spark for an uprising whose time had come.. you can get the scoop here and more here.

Read More

US STRIPPED OF ITS AAA CREDIT RATING

US STRIPPED OF ITS AAA CREDIT RATING:

John Santiago works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Friday, Aug. 12, 2011. (AP Photo/Richard Drew) Photo: AP"

The US was stripped of its AAA credit rating by S & P. Following the downgrade, the US stock market which has witnessed continuous plunge since late July 2011 got its worst hit on Monday August 8th - the S&P index plunged by 6.7 percent in the first trading session (the biggest slump since December 2008). In response to the downgrade, the Federal Reserve said "it will leave benchmark interest rate at a record low through mid 2013. Amidst uncertainty and fear and slump in major banks stocks in the US, the stock market remained largely volatile during the week - on this note it was reported that "never before has the S & P 500 index reversed moves that large each day over four sessions."  Read more here & here.

In another news. JAPAN CUTS GROWTH FORECAST TO 0.5%: To reflect the slump in output following the March earthquake, Japan cuts its economic growth forecast for 2011 to 0.5% from 1.5%. Watch Video here.

Read More

GOVERNOR FASHOLA SIGNS LAW AGAINST ABANDONMENT OF PREGNANT WOMEN

GOVERNOR FASHOLA SIGNS LAW AGAINST ABANDONMENT OF PREGNANT WOMEN:

A pregnant woman

Governor Fashola signs law against abandonment of pregnant women. Read more here. It is now illegal in Lagos State for any man to impregnate and desert a woman.

Read More

Al Pacino's transformation into Phil Spector: Lessons for Nollywood

You almost wouldn't know the difference between Al Pacino, left,  and Phil Spector (a one time movie producer serving a 19 years to life jail term for the murder of actress Lana Clarkson).

Al Pacino (Left) & Phil Spector (Right), Aug 2011"

Late last year, it was announced that Al Pacino will take on the role of Phil Sector in HBO biopic movie - read more here.

Al Pacino & Spector as seen on ABC, July 7th 2011[/caption]

Although the movie air date is not set yet, Al Pacino is already doing a pretty good Phil Sector.  To this, Courtney Hazzlet, says - "If the quality of the film relies heavily on Pacino's ability to transform into Spector,  it has a good chance of doing well. "

Bringing it Home: Nollywood producers, actors and actresses need to learn from this: to play a role well, you have to be able to bring the role to life in all spheres - character, appearance, behavior, in talking, in reacting, in thinking and so on.  This requires immersing yourself in the role wholly by becoming the character you are playing. Doing that involves a lot more from majority of Nigerian actors, actresses and movie producers than they are currently giving.

Really to act well, you can't just be yourself, you need to become the character.

As usual, we welcome your stories and musings. if you've got something to share, jump in...

XOXO

Read More

Gorgeous Print Dresses by Duro Olowu

We love these maxi dresses, jump suit, ready to wear to work from Duro Olowu's 2011 Spring/Summer Collection. They are simply gorgeous and bold in African Prints.

All images are from www.duroolowu.com.

Read Duro Olowu's tale on Inspiration here or check Essense.com designer Spotlight on Duro Olowu here.

Read More

Adobe Acrobat Professional: More Than Just a Reader

Many of us are familiar with file extensions with ".pdf" (Portable Document Formats), a file format created by Adobe Systems in 1993 for document exchange.

When you convert your documents to PDF, it means your text, design and formatting stay intact. You are able to quickly share the documents with friends, family, and colleagues. What could be more interesting, your viewers don't have to worry about installing specific applications before they can view your file.

And so everyone loved PDF, it became the buzz word; it was the order of the day and the today still the global most loved format for exchanging documents across multiple platforms.

What is more interesting today is that, Adobe Reader has been extended to include more powerful features but now under the Acrobat family.

The designers were quick to differentiate between Adobe Reader and the Adobe Acrobat family (Adobe Acrobat Professional, Standard and Pro Extended).

Adobe Reader is free and it’s simply just your document reader – it is the software to view, print and collaborate on PDF files. But Adobe Acrobat Professional or the Standard version gives you more flexibility and control over your content.  Read more on the difference here.

Here are some of its features.

• Easily convert your files (any form of content – images, word documents, Excel spreadsheets etc) to PDF from within the Acrobat Professional/Standard window and also combine existing PDF documents.


• You are able to protect documents easily with the enhanced security features.


• You can easily create, customize dynamic electronic forms, automate the forms and distribute them to the recipients.


• Quickly Integrate content, insert logos and define navigation.


• Edit existing PDF files and quickly save edited versions.

In short the Acrobat Professional/Standard enables you to deliver dynamic PDF content. It’s simply an extraordinary solution to common problems.

I have been using it for about 2 years and it has really eased my processes and work-flow. And guess what, I’m still loving it.

Click here for more information.

Read More

Basic Keyboard Navigation Skills in Windows

Some Keyboard shortcuts that you may find useful in Windows environment.

THE WINDOWS KEY
Windows key (or Ctrl Esc)	Opens the start menu (same as clicking the start menu)
Windows + E	Opens My Computer (saves you time and the sometimes the stress of holding the mouse while you are typing on the keyboard)
Windows + F	Opens the Search Window (this is surely fast)
Windows + Pause/Break	Opens the system properties window (useful when you want to stop an unresponsive application)
Windows + D	Shows the desktop (very useful when you have several applications opened)
NAVIGATION BASICS
The Arrow Keys	To move between items in the active area
Tab Key	To move between fields or controls
Alt + Tab	To move between active applications
Shit + Tab	To move backwards through tabs
Ctrl + Tab	To move forward through tabs
OTHER USEFUL CONTROLS
Alt + F4	Closes an active applicationOpen the shutdown window dialog box when know application is running or active
Ctrl + F4	Closes the active document but not the application.
Alt + D	Moves the focus to the address bar. This works in Windows Explorer and your Web Browsers

Read More