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Free Internet

Today, an announcement had released by Vodafone NZ. That was about the FREE mobile data usage for limited period, saying that they will give free 100MB for first 3 month to new OnAccount (Post-pay) users.

By now, using the internet by mobile was not so common. As far as I know, many people in NZ have a simple mobile phone, just with calling, txting, and alarm etc. But nowadays, many smartphones like iPhone or BlackBerry or moble phones that have a connectivity to the net have released, giving the demand of data connection.

But the problem is, in NZ, there is no unlimited data usage plan. This means that, of course, the connectivity to the internet have a restriction and it seems to be critical especially for iPhone or BlackBerry.

I should say that the situation of the internet in NZ is out of date: very slow and very restricted. Even 100MB per month must be not enough for power-users, and may be for usual users, it is still meaningful because of its freebie. I hope it become the first step of the unlimited internet connection.

Note: 13/07/09 Afternoon

Speaking

[Describe a mistake you have made in your life that you regret.]

You should:

• say what the mistake was
• say when you made the mistake

and discuss why you regret making it.

Expressions

problem -> problematic

If she had (she’d) [come|-ed] last year, she would (she’d) have (she’d've) [found|-ed] a job.

Writing

[THE ADVANTAGES OF LEARNING ANOTHER LANUAGES]

(Introduction)

There are numerous advantages in learning another language.
It should not be surprising that English, Spanish and Mandarin are becoming increasingly popular, given that they are so useful.
The advantages of leaning another language can be divided into three broad areas: a personal satisfaction, as a support for business an as a way of promotiong international tolerance.

(Body 1)

It is thought that learning another language helps to develop personal satisfaction because as people studay as a second language they get exposed to a wide variety of experiences at the same time. When you make a friend from another country, it is essential that you can communicate in the same language. Additionaly by mastering other languages people become more confident because of their achievement; it is intrinsically pleasing.

(Body 2)

International business has increased very significantly in recent years.
English is the main means of communication, so more and more business people have begun leaning it.
In addition the vast majority of emails are in English.
However, English is not the only medium; Mandorin and Spanish are also two of the most important languages.
If business people study one of them, it will contribute to improve communication with foreigner companies.
Therefore, learning different languages can promote global trade.

(Body 3)

Learning a language can also be a way promoting international torelance. It provides greater opportunities for direct communication with foreigners. It leads to people getting closer to each other as a consequence began to appreciate culture diffecences. In addition, language learning helps to breakdown national stereotypes, given that when people communicate well they would understand better each other and racial backgrounds.

(Conclusion)

It has been shown in this essay that there are considerable advantages in learning another language.
These advantages are not restricted to personal reasons; they are also important from an international perspective.
Without English international business would not be so efficient.
However, given the number of international crises, parhaps the most important role of learning an additional languages is in the promotion of international understanding.

Vocabulary

• problematic : [adjective] constituting or presenting a problem or difficulty

Apple Script and Automator

Macintosh has a lot of features. There is no complainment that Apple Script, a programmable script language for Mac, is one of them. With Apple Script, you can automate some tasks, like sending messages on Mail or managing informations of songs on iTunes.

Although Apple Script is designed to understand and use for developers, it is not easy to guess that is even difficult to use for non-developers. Don’t need to be disappointed; Apple is offering alternate solution, which is called Automator.

Automator is able to be considered as like Graphical Apple Script. It is consisted by a lot of operation unit blocks, like “Select a file” or “Copy a file” etc. Users can arrenge these unit blocks sequencely by drag & drop. For example, you can create an operation such as “selecting all files in a folder”, “filtering by the name”, and “moving proper files to another folder” by just arrenging these suitable blocks graphically and easily. I think Apple Script and Automator are the two greatest advantages of Mac.

There is another feature on Macintosh. That is called Folder Action. This is the feature that you can run your Apple Scripts or Automator operations whenever you put file(s) into a folder. With these features, you can make an automated operation to upload a photograph to your online album just putting it into a specific folder. This Folder Action seems to make an extra load for Finder, but it is worth using; you can save your operations, or of course your time.