Geoff Cumming, La Trobe University
Curious Kids is a series for children. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to [email protected] You might also like the podcast Imagine This, a co-production between ABC KIDS listen and The Conversation, based on Curious Kids.
Great question! That question really puzzled me when I was a kid. And so as a grown-up, I decided to research it and write a paper about it. Let’s turn the clock back. About 150 years ago, all letters and business papers were written by hand. Most likely they were written using a pen that had to be dipped in ink every word or two. Writing was slow and messy. Then some clever inventors built a machine for typing. The first typewriters were big heavy metal machines that worked a bit like a piano. Have you ever seen the inside of a real piano? You press a key and some clever levers make a felt hammer hit just the right piano string to make a note. Read more: Curious Kids: How long would garden snails live if they were not eaten by another animal? Early typewriters were similar. They had all these levers with a metal alphabet letter at the end of it. You had to press a letter key quite hard to make the metal lever fly across and hit the paper. Hit the A key and the A lever would hit the paper and type A. The paper then shifted a bit to the left, so the next key would hit in just the right place next to the A. Press more keys and you could type a word, or even a whole book. The first machine had the letter keys in alphabetical order. The trouble was that if you hit two keys quickly the levers would jam. Jams were most likely when the two keys were close together on the keyboard. Rearranging the letters could reduce jams. Christopher Sholes was an American inventor who was most successful in reducing jams. He tried various arrangements, always trying to reduce the need to type two keys that were close together. The best arrangement he could find was similar to the QWERTY keyboard we all use today. (Look at the top row of a keyboard to see why it’s called QWERTY.) He sold his invention to the Remington Company in the United States. In the 1870s, that company built and sold the first commercially successful typewriters. They used the QWERTY keyboard. For 100 years or so after the Remington typewriter arrived, vast numbers of people all over the world trained to become touch typists (meaning they could type even without looking much at the keyboard). They were employed to type letters and all other kinds of things for business and government. Because so many people became so skilled at using QWERTY, it became very difficult to get everyone to change to any other key arrangement. Many other key arrangements have been tried. Some are claimed to be easier to learn or faster to use than QWERTY. But none has proved good enough to beat QWERTY. It seems that we are stuck with this layout, even if jams are no longer a problem. QWERTY was developed for the English language. Some other languages use variations. For example, AZERTY is commonly used for French, QWERTZ for German, and QZERTY for Italian. Perhaps you can find someone from India, Thailand, Japan, Korea, or China. Ask them to show you the keyboard they use in their language. You’ll never regret being able to touch typeNow, on any keyboard, feel the F and J keys carefully and find some tiny bumps. Place your first fingers on those keys, and your other fingers along the same row. Your left fingers should be on ASDF and your right on JKL;. These are called the “home keys”. Keep your fingers resting lightly on the home keys. Type other letters by moving just one finger up or down and perhaps a little sideways. Learn how to do that quickly, without watching your fingers, and you can touch type! When I was a teenager, I owned a typewriter. I made a cardboard shield to stop me seeing my fingers as I typed. I used clothes pegs to fix it to the typewriter. Then I found a touch-typing book and started to practise, making sure that I kept my fingers on the home keys and always used the correct finger to type each letter. After lots of practice, I could touch type. I love being able to touch type. It has helped me all my life, first as a student, then in everything I have done since. Now with computers it’s easier than ever to learn to touch type, even if QWERTY at first seems strange. There’s lots of good software to help (your school may have some), some of it feeling like a game. Find software that you like, and put in some practice. It may seem hard at first, but persist and you will soon get good at it. Find a friend or two and do it together. Perhaps make it a competition. You’ll never regret being able to touch type. Read more: Curious Kids: why do eggs have a yolk? Hello, curious kids! Have you got a question you’d like an expert to answer? Ask an adult to send your question to [email protected] Geoff Cumming, Emeritus Professor, La Trobe University This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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Paul Strangio, Monash University
One of Australia’s preeminent historians, Stuart Macintyre, once observed of John Curtin, the Labor Party leader revered for navigating this nation through the dangers of the second world war, that he
Scott Morrison is no John Curtin. Yet, because of his incumbency coinciding with what is the most perilous peacetime challenge the country has faced in living memory, Morrison now seems destined to be a significant Australian prime minister. Remember this is the “accidental” prime minister, who obtained the office almost by default after Liberal Party conservatives botched their assault on Malcolm Turnbull’s leadership in August 2018. He then miraculously survived the May 2019 election largely courtesy of Bill Shorten’s chronic unpopularity and Labor’s poorly calculated campaign. Fresh from that victory, Morrison’s government spent the following months frittering away the public’s goodwill. It appeared bereft of a discernible policy program, was divided over climate policy, and tainted by the scandal over its pre-election pork-barrelling of community sport funding grants. Then there was Morrison’s mishandling of the summer bushfires calamity. Put together, it was a record that had the hallmarks of him joining the ranks of the beleaguered set of post-John Howard prime ministers who have each struggled to leave a substantial imprint on the nation. But now that unflattering history seems like it dates from another age. In the new all-encompassing COVID-19 reality, Morrison has recovered if not the public’s trust, at least its ear, as he has presided over a series of momentous health and economic related responses to the pandemic – the latest among them the gargantuan $130 billion “JobKeeper” payment. The pace and scale of these actions arguably even puts in the shade the policy pyrotechnics of the famed first fortnight of Gough Whitlam’s government in December 1972. Timing, in short, can be everything in politics. It has long been recognised that crises present both an opportunity and a danger for leaders. As Macintyre’s observation suggests, Curtin’s reputation – he is commonly lauded as Australia’s greatest prime minister – sprang from a fortuitous congruence between the challenges he met during 1941-45 and his own leadership repertoire. On the other hand, James Scullin, another Labor leader who was ostensibly equally gifted as Curtin, had his prime ministership broken by the crisis of the Great Depression. Powerless to arrest the country’s descent into economic freefall, Scullin is typically ranked at the bottom of the heap of Australia’s national leaders. Read more: How Australia's response to the Spanish flu of 1919 sounds warnings on dealing with coronavirus In other words, while Morrison’s prime ministership seems fated to have an import that was unimaginable only weeks ago, this is no guarantee that it will be remembered as a success. How skilfully his government manages the crisis and the recovery phase will be the true test. It will be months, perhaps even years, before we will be able to fully measure whether Morrison was the appropriate leader for this time. The political science literature suggests that in a crisis a leader has to perform at least three essential tasks. The first is to authoritatively interpret the causes, dynamics and consequences of the unfolding crisis. The second is to mobilise and coordinate and, where required, recalibrate existing governing systems to facilitate an appropriate response. Thirdly, it must persuasively explain the crisis to the public and the nature of the government’s actions. Against these benchmarks, the jury is still out regarding Morrison’s response to the COVID-19 emergency. At least initially, and to be fair in common with most of his counterparts internationally, Morrison appeared slow to fathom the gravity of the threat. There are legitimate questions about whether his government’s actions were sufficiently expeditious and proportionate. In terms of tweaking governing systems, a “national cabinet” (COAG by another name) has been established as the key decision-making forum for dealing with the crisis, and an advisory network of health bureaucrats and medical experts created. There are also reports of a heavy reliance on treasury officials, the government seeking counsel from an informal group of business leaders, and the prime minister has also brought on board the former Rudd government minister and ACTU chief, Greg Combet, to provide a conduit to the trade union movement. Indeed, it has been striking to note how willingly Morrison has leaned on public service advice in all this. It is a sharp contrast with a prime minister who had hitherto spoken disdainfully of the “Canberra bubble” and also a far cry from his government’s bloody-minded reluctance to heed expert opinion on climate change. When it comes to public communication, Morrison early on sent out too many mixed messages. He resorted to hectoring rather than informing and calming. But those tendencies have been less evident in recent days, and he appears to be doing much better than during the bushfires crisis when he lost control of the narrative at the beginning and never recovered it. There will be other things that will help determine Morrison’s effectiveness in dealing with the current crisis, not least his own psychological resilience and the robustness of the personal support network that he has around him. For most of us, the relentless pressures that Morrison and other leaders internationally are enduring at this time are nigh on unthinkable. Part of the legend of the naturally pensive Curtin is that, worn down by the tribulations of governing during war, he literally worried himself into an early grave. There will also be a question of how Morrison readapts once the worst of the crisis is behind us. Like what happened to Kevin Rudd following the Global Financial Crisis, a potential danger for the future harmony of Morrison’s government is that he will have become habituated to small-circle decision making. “Events, dear boy, events”, is what the British post-war prime minister, Howard Macmillan, is reputed to have replied when asked by a journalist what he feared most as a leader. Yet unanticipated events can make as well as break a leader. Morrison is currently finding that out – as are we, anxiously looking on. Paul Strangio, Associate Professor of Politics, Monash University This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Apple plans to release several new products in the first half of 2020, including Ultra Wideband tags, high-end wireless headphones, a 4.7-inch iPhone, refreshed iPad Pro models, and refreshed MacBook Pro and/or MacBook Air models, according to the latest forecast from well-known Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. "We forecast that Apple's major new hardware products in 1H20 include the 4.7-inch LCD iPhone, iPad Pro, MacBook Pro/Air, smaller wireless charging mat, UWB tag, and a high-end Bluetooth headphone," wrote Kuo in a research note with TF International Securities, a copy of which was seen by MacRumors. Our insight on these products:
4.7-inch iPhone: Apple is widely rumored to be planning to release a new low-cost iPhone with a similar design as the iPhone 8, including a 4.7-inch LCD display and a Touch ID home button, but with a faster A13 chip and 3GB of RAM. The device is expected to launch by the end of March, with pricing predicted to start at around $399 in the United States. iPad Pro refresh: New models with a triple-lens rear camera system that supports 3D sensing for augmented reality are expected to be unveiled as early as March. MacBook Pro/Air refresh: It is unclear if Kuo is referring to the possibility of either a new MacBook Pro or MacBook Air or both, but previous rumors suggest that a 13-inch MacBook Pro with a scissor switch-based Magic Keyboard will launch in the first half of 2020, following in the footsteps of the 16-inch MacBook Pro last October. Apple last refreshed the MacBook Air in July 2019 with a True Tone display and a lower $1,099 starting price. Ultra Wideband tags: Last year, MacRumors uncovered evidence of Apple working on Tile-like item tracking tags in iOS 13 code, including a potential "AirTags" name. As with iPhone 11 models, Kuo believes the tags will support Ultra Wideband, which would likely make it possible to locate the tags with much greater accuracy than Bluetooth LE and Wi-Fi. High-end headphones: Kuo did not provide any details about these headphones beyond claiming that they will support Bluetooth. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman previously reported that Apple-branded over-ear headphones were under development, but it is unclear if they were canceled, became the Beats Solo Pro, or otherwise. MacRumors has also uncovered evidence of Apple developing new Powerbeats4 headphones, but the existing Powerbeats3 are not considered high end. Small wireless charging mat: No further details were shared. Apple canceled its much-anticipated AirPower charging mat last year due to quality concerns. That mat would have been able to charge an iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods case simultaneously, regardless of where each device was positioned on the mat and with deep iOS integration. Farther out, Kuo said the worst scenario for Apple related to the new coronavirus outbreak would be postponing the qualification and mass production schedules for new products in the second half of the year. "If there are no significant improvements regarding the coronavirus epidemic in the foreseeable future, we predict that Apple may delay new material adoptions or lower test requirements for components to shorten qualification processes and launch new products in 2H20 on schedule, and the lower spec will likely hurt the ASP of materials or components," wrote Kuo.
For years now the operating system Apple uses for its tablets has been evolving into a distinct beast, and this year Apple embraced that shift by forging iPadOS 13 from the framework of iOS 13. Itâs still recognizably iOS 13, mind you, so donât expect to flip on your iPad this week and find an interface that resembles what youâd find on a MacBook.
On the other hand, iPadOS 13 certainly does a lot to take the iPad seriously as a MacBook replacement. File management has improved, websites in Safari usually look much like they do on a desktop, and the home screen is more more useful. Thereâs a whole bundle of stuff we think you should try out, but hereâs what should take priority. First off, though: Make sure you update all your apps before digging too deep into the update.
iPadOS is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. for their iPad line of tablet computers. The successor of iOS 12 on iPad, it was announced at the company's 2019 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC),[10] as a derivation from iOS but with a greater emphasis put on multitasking. It was released on September 24, 2019.
Today’s Post Written By: Rae Lynn DeAngelis (RGI Conference Speaker)
Have you ever tried to navigate your way through a Rubik’s cube? The goal of this brainteaser is to line-up coordinating colors on each side of the block. Back in the ‘80s this challenging puzzle was all-the-rave. Nearly every child had one, and if you didn’t have one, you knew someone who did. The cube was packaged with all the colors properly aligned (proving the puzzle was indeed solvable), but as soon as you began twisting and turning the blocks this way and that, all the colors became jumbled. The challenge of the piece was to realign the cube back to its original form (but as far as I could tell—the task was impossible).
Apple announced loads of new updates to its iPhone operating system at WWDC back in June, and they're due for public release in just a couple of weeks. One of the biggest surprises was that iOS 13 won't appear on the iPad, which gets its own iPadOS. But both platforms will see plenty of new features and design tweaks, which we outline in this article.
As well as iOS 13 and iPadOS, the company also announced updates to macOS, the Apple Watch's watchOS and Apple TV's tvOS. For a comparison with last year's iOS update, see iOS 13 vs iOS 12. When is iOS 13 available? We expect iOS 13 to be released to the public around 17 September 2019. The iOS 13 Public Beta is available right now for those that want to preview the software ahead of release. But bear in mind that this is test software and may not function optimally (indeed, one of our colleagues found that the first iOS 13 beta stopped the Messages app working, which is reasonably catastrophic). Most people would be well advised to wait until the public launch of iOS 13.0. You'll be able to download it for free on compatible iPhones from September - roughly a week after the new iPhones are announced, which is pretty much guaranteed to happen at the company's press event on 10 September. Some pundits are currently predicting that iOS 13 will appear a little later than the 17th, on the basis that a supposedly leaked internal company document hints at a launch date of 23 September. But 9to5Mac, for one, believes this to be a fake. Which iPhones are compatible with iOS 13? Can your iPhone run iOS 13? It will be available on iPhone 6s or later (including iPhone SE). Here's the full list of confirmed devices that can run iOS 13: iPhone 6s iPhone 6s Plus iPhone SE iPhone 7 iPhone 7 Plus iPhone 8 iPhone 8 Plus iPhone X iPhone XR iPhone XS iPhone XS Max iPod touch (7th gen) The late-2019 iPhones will also run iOS 13 (it will be preinstalled) but we don't yet know what they'll be called. iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro are currently popular rumours. New iOS 13 features Apple announced a heck of a lot for iOS 13, and further features have been discovered as users get to grips with the beta. Here, we've broken them down by headline feature or first-party app. Performance Craig Federighi, SVP of Software Engineering, said on stage that iOS 13 will bring: 30% faster Face ID unlock 50% smaller app download sizes 60% smaller app update sizes 2x faster app launches Take these numbers with a pinch of salt as they will be rounded, and the speed claims will apply to specific models of iPhone - whichever are most favourable to the numbers. But all devices will benefit from some performance improvements. Dark Mode iOS 13 release date & new features: Dark Mode The showiest new feature in iOS 13 is a system-wide Dark Mode, something that isn't ubiquitous on Android phones. Apple showed how it works across the operating system and throughout its first party apps - Messages, Photos, Mail - they all take in a dark theme to give a unified black look to your iPhone. It's a small thing, but it will make your phone feel like new for a while. And if you have an iPhone with an OLED display (iPhone X, XS or XS Max) it'll actively save you battery life, as OLEDs work by lighting up pixels. Dark parts of display mean less energy used. Hooray! Dark Mode won't automatically work with third-party apps: it'll be up to developers to build in compatibility. You can be pretty sure that absolutely all the major players will do this, however, so fear not. We explain how this feature is implemented in How to use Dark Mode on iPhone. Security & privacy A great new feature is developers' ability to build in a Sign in with Apple option into their apps, much like you can currently do to sign into services with Google or Facebook. When built in, even if you're using a service for the first time, you'll be able to confirm your ID with Face ID or Touch ID to sign in with a new account using just your Apple credentials. Sponsored Links Australia: New Wifi Booster Stops Expensive Internet Australia: New Wifi Booster Stops Expensive Internet Wise Web Savings [Photos] Sean Connery Is Almost 90, Where He Lives Now Will Surprise You [Photos] Sean Connery Is Almost 90, Where He Lives Now Will Surprise You My Top Gadgets [Pics] Remember 'The Human Barbie'? Well, You Should See Her Now [Pics] Remember 'The Human Barbie'? Well, You Should See Her Now ShootOldschool Recommended by The winning feature here is the option whether or not to share your email address with the app - you can select no, and Apple will create a unique random email address assigned to you to cover it. It's positively privacy minded, and great news for you. Since the announcements in June, Apple has added another headline privacy-focused feature to iOS 13's armoury: VoIP calls from apps such as Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp will be restricted in the way they can run in the background to prevent them from collecting user data without reason or permission. Keyboard Taking a page out of Android circa 2013, the Apple default keyboard now supports swipe typing. About time, too! iOS 13 release date & new features: Swipe typing Safari Safari will get small updates to include quick options to change text size and adjust preferences for specific websites. Music Real-time lyric playback for supported tracks is now built into Music, whether you're using Apple Music streaming or playing from your downloaded library. Apple's email app now supports rich fonts. Which is nice. Notes Notes will get a lot more useful in iOS 13 with a better interface and options. Where it has been feature-light it will get a great Gallery view and proper folder system with tagging to help you archive better. Reminders iOS 13 release date & new features: Reminders The Reminders app has been rightly given some love. We've found its interface confusing and unhelpful, so Apple has given it a full overhaul with smart lists, a better layout and organisation options, plus people tagging which syncs with Messages for collaboration. Maps Apple had a PR disaster when it launched its terrible v1 of Maps, so it's good to see it seemingly get even better in iOS 13. Apple claimed its cars have driven four million miles to collect better road, terrain and building data. You will also get things like favourites and collections to group routes and frequently used searches, while Lookaround is an Apple version of Google's Street View. Messages As well as getting a lick of dark paint with the rest of the Apple apps, Messages got an update to include something a bit more fun (or annoying, depending on your opinion) in Memoji and Animoji integration. You can add your Memoji or Animoji to your contact card and see your contacts' better in the app. Memoji stickers will let you send Bitmoji-esque stickers of your face to anyone with Messages, but Apple says it will work with third party messaging apps such as WhatsApp. It also said these stickers will work across all iOS devices with an A9 chip or later (iPhone 6s and above). Camera A small update to portrait lighting will give more granular control to existing presets, while adding a new one to let you get better results, we hope - portrait lighting has not been great since its introduction on the iPhone 7 Plus. Photos iOS 13 release date & new features: Photos The Photos app will let you easier edit your snaps within the app. As well as saturation, brightness and contrasts, Apple says it'll be adding more to tweak your photos without having to use third party apps like Snapseed or VSCO. A big whoop went up in the keynote when Apple confirmed you'll be able to rotate video, a problem you probably don't realise you have quite often. You will also be able to apply filters and effects to videos in iOS for the first time. You'll also be able to view photos by year, month or day, all with better auto play and presentation to bring your photos to life within the app, as well as supposedly surface memories better. Location Locations services will be more granular as they are in Android. You will be able to share location just once if you want, and the app will have to ask you for permission to share every time after - with the option to deny, of course. It'll also build in background tracking alerts and apparently apply better Wi-Fi and Bluetooth protections for location sharing, but Apple didn't specify in the keynote how this works. AirPods A couple of new features will come to AirPods if you upgrade to iOS 13. Siri will read you incoming messages and, with Announce Messages, let you reply without using any trigger words. This cool feature will be available for third-party messaging apps too. You'll also be able to share audio between iOS 13 devices with a tap, playing audio to two pairs of AirPods. Finally, iOS 13 on iPhone will let you HandOff audio to your HomePod and vice versa. This will work for all audio including phone calls. Casio G-shocks are fun and affordable digital watches that pack a surprising amount of useful features. World time, stopwatch, timer, tide-graph, and moon phase are just a few of the things an ordinary G-shock is capable of. What’s even better, most G-Shock owners aren’t even aware of some of their watches have hidden and secret capabilities. In this article, we’ll explore some of the lesser known Casio G-shock secret features along with some interesting diagnostic modes that can help you discover functionality and even find potential problems. LCD Display Test CASIO G-SHOCK LCD DISPLAY TEST MODE Just like a car’s dashboard, most Casio G-Shock models have an LCD test that will illuminate every possible segment of the LCD display. This can help you determine if there is any damage to a particular display function that might prevent you from knowing if it’s activated or not. This is also a neat way to see all of the hidden display features embedded in your watch. To access LCD diagnostic mode:
CASIO G-SHOCK TILT SENSOR DIAGNOSTIC MODE All Casio models with the auto-illumination feature use a basic tilt sensor to determine the position of the watch face. If you’re having problems with your Auto-EL, you may have a faulty tilt sensor. Luckily, Casio engineers have built in a tilt-sensor diagnostic mode that you can use to diagnose potential problems. To access the tilt-sensor diagnostic screen:
CASIO G-SHOCK SOLAR SENSOR DIAGNOSTIC MODE G-Shock models with the “tough solar” designation use special batteries and an array of small solar panels to stay charged. If you’re having problems charging your watch even when it’s exposed to direct sunlight, you may have damaged your solar panels. To test if your solar panels are functional, you can use the built in solar diagnostic mode. To access the solar diagnostic screen:
Power Saving Mode CASIO G-SHOCK POWER SAVING MODE Another great feature buried in the Casio G-Shock manual is the ability to automatically conserve power when not in use. The power-saving feature will automatically turn off the display after 60-70 minutes of inactivity. In this sleep mode, all other functions of the watch (including alarm and radio sync) remain active. After 6 or 7 days of inactivity, the watch will go into “deep sleep” mode which turns off auto-receive, beeps and tones, illumination, and display. To turn on power saving mode:
G-SHOCK AUTO ILLUMINATOR MODE ACTIVATED This is probably one of the better-known hidden features of the Casio G-Shock, but still one that many people don’t realize exists. Most G-Shocks with the backlight illumination feature actually have an “auto-illumination” mode, a nifty feature that automatically illuminates the watch when it is tilted towards your face 15 degrees. Although this feature is known to drain your battery faster, it’s smart enough to disable itself if the watch falls below full charge. Additionally, the feature will only remain active for six hours before needing to be re-activated manually. To turn on auto-illumination:
We hope you enjoyed this quick tutorial on accessing secret and hidden features inside your Casio G-shock, please post any secret or hidden functions we may have missed in the comments below! Post by Joel Skermiebro
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