BRASILIA: Brazil experienced the smallest loss of its extensive Amazon rainforest over the past year in more than two decades, the government said, attributing the change to its tougher environmental policies.
[ad#post]
Historically a large portion of deforestation in Brazil can be attributed to land clearing for pastureland by commercial and speculative interests; misguided government policies. One of the major concerns arising from deforestation in Brazil is the global effect it produces on climatic change. The rainforests are of vital importance in the carbon dioxide exchange process, and are second only to oceans as the most important sink on the planet to absorb increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide resulting from industry.

The most recent survey on deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions reports that deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon is responsible for as much as 10% of current greenhouse gas emissions due to the removal of forest. The problem is made worse by the method of removing the forest where many trees are burned to the ground emitting vast amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, not only affecting air quality in areas of Brazil but affecting the carbon dioxide levels globally in addition as a result.

In 2005 the burning of the forests in Brazil created widespread health implications across the Amazon region, including airport closings and hospitalizations from smoke inhalation.

But that was 45 per cent less than what was lost during the previous 12 month period to inroads by ranchers, loggers and other human development in the planet’s largest expanse of tropical forest, officials said.

‘Brazil is going to give the world a gift,’ said Environment Minister Carlos Minc.

‘We are going to do a lot, and we are also going to demand a lot’ from the industrialized world, he said.

Minc attributed the slowing pace of rainforest loss to the government’s efforts to shut down illegal logging operations and require that settlers have title to their land.

A US study published last month in the journal Science found that the scope of the forest’s degradation is twice as great as previously estimated due to selective logging under the forest canopy.

Many years later, both brothers flew to Sydney, Australia in order to present their nascent project called Google Wave. They confidently claim to ‘put an end to’ the world of electronic emailing and alter internet communication forever.
[ad#post]
According to the brothers, email is basically based on the snail-mail format. The sender sends the message and the receiver receives it. However the purpose of Google Wave is to make electronic-mailing collaborative and instant. While the sender types the message, the recipient is able to read whatever the text says. In that way the recipient can jump in and form his/her reply before the message is displayed on screen.

Google Wave allows users to collaborate on editable documents. They can share photos, update their blogs or other electronic journals, schedule appointments and communicate in big groups. Wave enables its users to start conference calls as well.

True to the core of their technological cause, Google Wave will have a 60-person team in Sydney, Australia. This will allow users access to customer assistance. Along with other many attractive features, Google Wave translates languages. Communication has never been so easier to comprehend.

Google users and fans anticipate for this new invention. The brothers seem excited and worried at the same time. Their main concern is to provide easily maintainable technology for their users. Google Wave promises to provide instant communication, hyper-speed transferring and secure sharing.

Jens Rasmussen spoke to the press, “I don’t want Google Wave to be a one-hit wonder. I have fears like any computer whiz would. Glitches, rebounds, errors, anything is possible. We brothers just want to keep Google’s name honest to its claim: Better, faster technology.” No one doubts that, Jen. Google Wave will amaze its users.

[ad#post]
Social networking is an excellent example where the internet can be both blessing and pain. There are two widely differing points of view here: that social networking encourages isolation by replacing real life interaction while the other view makes the case for maintaining friendships and promoting friendships – making the world smaller, in fact. Either way, used in moderation, social networking sites can be excellent ways of getting to know other people and how other people around the world live their lives, thereby reducing racial tensions and promoting harmony amongst people whose lives are widely diverse.

One argument that is put forward in favor of social networking is that it enhances people’s social skills, making it easier in the real world to make friends with others when face-to-face. Following on with this train of thought, the internet has spawned the email which also helps us keep in touch with distant family and friends. This is great if, like me, your family is spread around the globe. So, from that perspective, the internet really is a blessing rather than a pain – it is so much easier and quicker to make contact.

When it comes to researching and study skills, the internet is invaluable although you do have to carefully sift through to obtain the most credible information. It can be argued that students should learn the value and skill of library research and that the facility for library research could be lost as the result of the internet. Personally, having studied for my degree without the aid of the internet, I feel there is a valid place for both kinds of research and students should still be encouraged to make use of both resources. The internet has a valuable place for today’s students as higher education has evolved along with everything else: the internet has made it easier for young people today to express themselves through forums and blogs. Blessing or pain, the internet has enabled individual thought and expression to be widely and openly disseminated – and that can only lead to a future where tolerance is the uppermost concept.

The internet has revolutionized the way we do business, in just about every area of life we can think of. Office life is totally different to how it was prior to the internet, not to mention ATMs, parking meters and traffic control systems. There are so many advantages to the internet that they are difficult to calibrate: there are probably almost as many problems detracting from its usefulness. One thing I do know, however, blessing or pain – the internet is here to stay!

[ad#post]
The IT industry has penetrated every facet of modern life and is a fact of contemporary society – from banks to security; EPOS systems [electronic point of sale] in stores; to online banking and the facility to make payments online. Without software engineers, none of this would be possible to the extent that IT is utilized today. Where software engineers are suitable trained and skilled they can only envisage an encouraging future career and should have no worries about getting a well-paid job and keeping it: the future of these software engineers is assured. The individuals who do need to be concerned are those who call themselves software engineers but lack the pre-requisite qualifications to back up their claims. Without appropriate qualifications, these people simply are not marketable amongst the global community.

Proven qualifications that are obtained from a recognizable examination board will get you the chance of a suitable job anywhere in the world – and there are plenty of jobs out there for suitably skilled individuals: but, without the backup of those acknowledged qualifications the world most definitely will not be your oyster! While the future of software engineers is practically assured for the foreseeable future, you do need to ensure that your knowledge is in the area that is required: you need to find out what kinds of programmers are the ones in demand and keep on top of the skills that are being asked for in the global marketplace.

The future is changing and, to ensure the future of software engineers such as yourself, you need to keep abreast of what those changes are then update your skills accordingly. Wireless technology, accessories in cars and buildings, traffic lights and other programmable road signs, not to mention all the medical advances that are dependent on computer technology: they all require software engineers to program and code. Technology advances and, to ensure the future of software engineers, you need to keep on top of those advances: new computer languages and tools will be needed. The ultimate outcome is that the future of software engineers is ensured well into the future but, to have a job, you will have to be good – in fact, you will have to be very good indeed – because the competition to get a job, and keep it, is going to be phenomenal.

[ad#post]
investors will simply go elsewhere. As a result, Pakistan remains marginalized in a developing world and, one of the first fields that are going to suffer as a result of this is the IT field in Pakistan.

Another factor affecting economy growth in Pakistan is the state of the electricity outrages. One of the largest sectors within Pakistan’s current economy is the industrial sector and, whenever the electricity supply has downtime, industry is detrimentally affected – and this ultimately has dire consequences on the overall economy of Pakistan. Since the industrial sector employs the largest number of Pakistan’s workforce, their livelihood is threatened. Moreover, established industry cannot possibly be sustained in the face of such frequent shutdowns on the power grid. This will eventually result in established industrial companies in Pakistan deteriorating and having to shed jobs, culminating in a further increase to the prevailing unemployment ratio. The overall impact on the Pakistan job market is dire and, if these power cuts continue, it can only get worse. This is hardly conducive to the development of the IT field in Pakistan.

Nevertheless, on a more positive note, the current global recession has paved the way for new employment opportunities as major World leaders in business seek to find alternative ways to stave off further down-turns in the market. This has provided major opportunities for outsourcing and off-shoring – both of which have had excellent connotations for the IT field in Pakistan: an unsought opportunity that has fallen into the lap of Pakistan’s IT freelancers! This amazing opportunity is now a burgeoning marketplace for freelancers to maximize their skills and sell their expertise to the global marketplace. Working from home in the IT field in Pakistan is becoming a way for those with the knowledge and wherewithal to surmount the difficulties with unemployment in an uncertain job market and bring much-needed resources into a country that desperately needs such an influx of income.

Just a quick click online to one single website called Line O Work revealed 15 jobs currently available: genuine jobs in the IT field in Pakistan. So, the jobs are there – albeit, not very many of them. There are many factors, however, that will simply have to change if Pakistan is to take its rightful place amongst the global economy and, the most secure and enduring way for the IT field in Pakistan to flourish is for industry in Pakistan, in general, to be able to develop and not be hampered by the continuing political stakes in the country that are adversely and detrimentally affecting its people.