Paris

By train:

Although taking the Eurostar train between Paris and London via the Chunnel (the underwater tunnel underneath the English Channel) is usually not the cheapest way to travel between London and Paris, it is certainly the fastest and most convenient (the journey only takes 2.5 hours). The Eurostar leaves from the center of London and arrives at the Gare du Nord in the center of Paris (check out hotels around the Gare du Nord). This means no hassle in getting to/from the train on either end of the trip.

When buying your Eurostar ticket, you will also be offered First and Second class options. First class fares include complimentary drinks and meal, but much like First Class on airplanes, the slightly bigger seats and free meal is hardly worth the extra money for a relatively short journey. Unless you have extra cash to burn, stick to riding in the 2nd class cars. Plus, all passengers have access to a bar car serving drinks and snacks.

Although airlines like Ryan Air offer some pretty fantastic looking fares for flights between London and Paris, keep in mind that airports are not located in the center of these cities. This means you’ll have to take into account not only transportation costs to and from the airports in both cities, but also time and hassle. By the time you factor in these logistics, the Eurostar train fares may seem to be a way better deal than before.

The Eurostar is also a high-speed train, so the whole journey from London to Paris is over in a few short hours. Plus, while you’ll be in darkness while you are traveling underneath the Channel, the pastoral views of southern England and northern France are beautiful and provide travelers with interesting (and very green) scenery to enjoy as the train speeds by.

For those traveling to southern France, Eurostar also now offers a direct high-speed train from London to Avignon. There is also a route directly from London to Brussels (a good jumping off point for those traveling on to Amsterdam or other European destinations east of the UK).

Remember that while you don’t need to arrive hours before your Eurostar train like for an airplane, it is important to arrive at least 30 minutes before departure to allow for check-in.

Paris has several train stations. The most important ones are:

• Gare du Nord: the main railway hub for international high-speed trains like the Eurostar from the UK and the Thalys from the Benelux and Germany.
• Gare de Lyon: for (TGV) trains to Lyon, Aix en Provence, Marseille, the French Riviera, Geneva, and Italy.
• Gare d'Austerlitz: for destinations in southwestern France (Toulouse, Bordeaux), the Loire Valley, and Spain.
• Gare Saint-Lazare: for trains in the direction of Normandy (central Northern France).
• Gare de l'Est: for trains towards eastern France (Strasbourg, Alsace), parts of Germany, Luxembourg and central/eastern Europe.
• Gare Montparnasse: for TGV trains serving Nantes and Bordeaux.

By plane:

 

While taking the train from London to Paris will definitely save you time (hard to believe, but the high-speed train gets you from London to Paris faster than most flights), rock bottom prices on discounts flights from London to Paris may tempt you into taking to the air. However, keep in mind that while taking the train from London to Paris takes you from downtown to downtown, flying will require you to find transportation to and from the airports on both ends. You’ll also need to factor in extra time for check-in and security at the airport. If you do decide to fly, Ryan Air and Easy Jet tend to have the best prices on cheap flights to Paris from London and a variety of other cities.

 

By ferry:

 

Although the completion of the chunnel stopped most people from traveling by ferry between the UK and France, those with time to spare can still get from London to Paris by way of train and boat (you have to purchase the tickets separately).

However, the journey is much longer (about 9 hours), so it is definitely not the way to go if you’re on a tight schedule. This option also can cost more than the Eurostar, but those who chose to take the ferry will have a unique and exciting travel experience (and avoid the underwater Channel tunnel if it freaks you out too much).

Ferries between the France and England sail from the scenic White Cliffs of Dover, which is a sight in and of itself. While the journey can be choppy, windy and cold in the winter months, you’ll get to enjoy the rugged scenery of the French and English coastlines.

Here’s how you’d go about taking a train/ferry combination from London to Paris:

Step 1: Take a train from London to Dover. Regular trains run from London’s Charing Cross to Dover every 30 minutes (journey time 1 hour 50 minutes). There’s also a half-hourly service from London’s Victoria train station.

Check UK train times & fares at www.nationalrail.co.uk. Allow at least 65 minutes in Dover, preferably a bit more, between your train arrival and planned ferry departure, as there is a 45-min check-in for the ferry. Just buy your London-Dover train ticket at Charing Cross station on the day of travel, no advance reservation is necessary or even possible, you buy a ticket and hop on.

On arrival at Dover Priory station, take a bus (£2, every 20 minutes), taxi (about £4) or a long walk (around 30-40 minutes) to Dover Eastern Docks where the P&O & Sea France ships leave, or walk (20 minutes) or taxi to the Speed ferries terminal.

Step 2: Sail from Dover to Calais by ship. The traditional option is to sail from Dover (Eastern Docks) to Calais on a ship run by either www.seafrance.co.uk or www.poferries.com. Ferries sail every hour or two, crossing time is 1 hour 30 minutes. You can book online in advance or just buy a ticket at the port, there are almost always places available. While those hoping to have a futuristic voyage across the Channel will be disappointed, it is no longer possible to cross the Channel by hovercraft, as the company Hoverspeed stopped all their Dover-Calais sailings in November 2005.

The ferries arrive at Calais Maritime ferry terminal in France. If you have a backpack or other light luggage you can walk across the now-reopened footbridge into town. It’s a 10 minute walk to the market place in the town center, or a 15 minute walk to Calais Ville station. If you have heavy luggage or cannot walk far, take a shuttle bus from the ferry terminal to Calais Ville station, the bus fare is £1. Make sure you allow at least 60 minutes in Calais between the ferry arrival and the departure of the train to Paris.

Step 3: Take a train from Calais or Boulogne to Paris. Coming from Calais, you normally take a local train to Boulogne and change there onto an express from Boulogne to Paris. There are relatively few trains between Calais or Boulogne and Paris, so it’s the timings of these few French trains that will determine which of the frequent British trains and ferries you need to catch between London, Dover and Calais or Boulogne to connect. Booking online might save a few pounds if you corner a cheap non-refundable, non-changeable ‘prems’ fare, but it’s not expensive or difficult to simply buy a ticket at the station when you get there.

 

Consider questions like:
How have phone altered over time?
How has mobile phone usage changed over time?
How has phone design improved?
Why do some people keep using their first phone?
Why are phone companies keen to offer you a new phone every few years?

In the 1980s cellphones were reminiscent of bricks!


(Above is a prime example of a cellphone from the '80s)

The first cellphone that was widely used was the Motorola DynaTAC - a bulky phone that could barely fit in your pocket, hardly effective - but it was a product of its time and was used by American's and the English alike.

Phones have altered not only in looks but in functions: in the 1980s people couldn't even comprehend the prospect of playing games on your phones, now phones are like personal computers. It's insane really to think about how many durastic changes there has been in technology going back to the 1980s.

Phones were initially used for phonecalls - now phonecalls seem to be a rarity among teenage cellphone users.

Internet Safety & The Law

By definition a virus replicates itself and is capable of causing harm to the computer, or files and programs. Occasionally a data recovery software system is needed to retrieve any lost data. A virus can be as simple as a disruption of service or a program that causes an Internet connection to fail -- or as complicated as a spyware program designed to send personal information back to its creator. Viruses can attach themselves to virtually any file type used by any computer such as exe, doc, txt, ddl, inf, iso, and so many more. Most commonly the viruses attack the boot sector of the hard drive and the boot information. This allows the virus to replicate itself upon the booting of the computer and makes it more difficult to remove.
Computer viruses can be spread in one of three ways; email attachments, files downloaded, and from removable media. It should be noted that an individual is no more likely to get a virus form the Internet than they are from a piece of software or media file. Viruses cannot be spread in a plain text email and must be part of an attachment to be effective. Even then most attachments need to be opened in order for the virus to be released. Although not technically viruses, worms and trojans are constant threats as well. Instead of replicating themselves into another file or program they hide and wait for a trigger then attack and steal info or relay user preferences for the web and frequently visited sites for browser hijacking.
The first computer viruses were seen on the IBM 367/370 and Univac 1108 computers in the 1980s but the exact date of the first virus is up for debate. These viruses created havoc on early users by dropping letters from displays and changing saved files and documents at random. Literally dozens and even hundreds of viruses started to pop up disabling speakers, hard drives, and system files. The Brain virus marked the introduction of the virus to the boot sector and the start of antidotes and anti-virus software. At first these were virus specific; a sort of antibody for a specific infection. Soon, companies developed full blown anti-virus programs with the ability to clean multiple viruses in one software package.
Viruses present risks of losing personal information to identity theft, a redirection of the user's browser, the ability for the virus' author to place ads and links on a page the user uses most often, and a complete destruction of a computer or server. These could be very small hindrances to complete failures of security and hardware; some of the most damaging viruses are those that infect the boot sector and registry files of the computer which contain passwords and configuration settings for the computer. Virus protection comes in many forms today and most commonly used are anti-virus programs. These programs use a list of known viruses to check against as well as the ability, in some cases, to monitor for new threats based upon the architecture of the detected program or file. Spyware and malware protection are more specific and specialized anti-virus programs designed to seek out programs that steal or watch your information.

Copyright can protect:

• literary works, including novels, instruction manuals, computer programs, song lyrics, newspaper articles and some types of database
• dramatic works, including dance or mime
• musical works
• artistic works, including paintings, engravings, photographs, sculptures, collages, architecture, technical drawings, diagrams, maps and logos
• layouts or typographical arrangements used to publish a work, for a book for instance
• recordings of a work, including sound and film
• broadcasts of a work

You should only copy or use a work protected by copyright with the copyright owner's permission.
Copyright applies to any medium. This means that you must not reproduce copyright protected work in another medium without permission. This includes, publishing photographs on the internet, making a sound recording of a book, a painting of a photograph and so on.
Copyright does not protect ideas for a work. It is only when the work itself is fixed, for example in writing, that copyright automatically protects it. This means that you do not have to apply for copyright.
A copyright protected work can have more than one copyright, or another intellectual property (IP) right, connected to it. For example, an album of music can have separate copyrights for individual songs, sound recordings, artwork, and so on. Whilst copyright can protect the artwork of your logo, you could also register the logo as a trade mark.

Half of all Americans now have cell phones. Someday everyone will. But as use of these handy and sometimes life-saving devices spreads, so too will the incidence of people using their phones inappropriately in public spaces. I recently heard a lawyer in a public restroom stall negotiating the details of her client’s divorce. And as headsets get smaller and smaller I find it harder and harder to tell if someone is trying to strike up a conversation with me or simply calling home to their sweetie.
Except for speaker-phone conference calls and “Grab the upstairs extension, honey” situations, a phone call has traditionally been a between-two-people activity. But the boundaries between public and private have gotten blurry now that we can yak wirelessly on buses, trains and subways, and in restaurants, waiting rooms, theaters and as we roll our carts up and down the supermarket aisles.
This public blabbing is getting bothersome.
Wireless retailer Letstalk.com, which conducts an annual survey about cell phone etiquette, reports that over the past few years we’ve become less tolerant of others using cell phones on public transportation, in restaurants and theaters, and in bathrooms. Joni Blecher, Senior Manager, Content & Community for LetsTalk, doesn’t think those boundaries will “bend very much” when this year’s survey gets underway. If anything, she says, “We’ll see more people more opposed to using cell phones on public transportation.”
So Blecher joins me and travelers everywhere who’ve ever had to listen to someone else’s boring cell phone call in urging everyone to become cell-phone savvy.

No-one doubts, after Egypt, that you can organise a revolution on Facebook. The question for those of us not presently caught up in this kind of political activism is: can you truly socialise there?
Aaron Sorkin, creator of the West Wing and scriptwriter of The Social Network, was asked in a recent interview what he thought of the way Facebook is changing the nature of our relationships.

Buying Computer Systems

Planning a Computer Purchase

Today computer systems are consumer commodities much like appliances and automobiles. And like these consumer products, the potential purchaser is faced with a daunting assortment of brands, models, features, etc. Price, of course, is an important consideration and many of these choices may have a significant impact on the bottom line. Faced with so many choices, what should you do?

Computer systems, as you have learned, are composed of both hardware and software. The hardware components are the devices that make up the system: the CPU, main memory, peripherals such as the video monitor, keyboard, mouse, storage devices such as a hard drive, CD/DVD drive, and the like. Software is just as important. Without programs to direct its processing, the computer is about as interesting as spare parts. Software are sets of instructions that define what the computer hardware does. A computer requires both system software (i.e., an operating system) as well as applications software to be fully functional. Applications software are the programs that we use to perform specific tasks: word processing, browsing the Web, sending and receiving e-mail, doing numerical computations, etc. The point, then, is that computer purchase decisions should be based on a careful consideration of how both the hardware and software will be used to meet your needs.

Unfortunately, many consumers overlook the software and consider only the hardware when they purchase a computer system. After all, you must have a computer system first before you can install or use software applications. But, this may lead to eventual problems and unnecessary expense, if your software needs do not match your hardware purchase.

In the succeeding sections, we will suggest a simple strategy to use when planning for the purchase of a computer system.

Making an Inventory of Uses

A good starting point for planning your next computer purchase is to decide: how do you plan to use your computer? Make a list or inventory of the normal tasks that you plan for your computer. For example, a typical list might include

• writing and printing papers for courses
• sending and receiving electronic mail
• surfing the Web
• creating charts and graphs for coursework
• making computer art or drawings
• create and publish your own Web pages

These are common tasks; you may others that you would add to the list. The most important thing is to think about what your most common or everyday uses will be.

The next step is to consider what sort of applications software will you need to perform these everyday tasks. The table below identifies the type of application that you would normally use for the task identified.

Transferring Images Between Phones

When it comes to getting photos from your phone to your computer, there are a variety of options. There’s mounting the phone to the computer, sending an email, or syncing with a program like Dropbox or Google+ for a wireless solution. But Android’s greatest strength is choice, and bump has added another option.
Bump, already known for wirelessly transferring contact information and files between phones, now allows users to wirelessly bump photos from their phones to their computers. The way it works is that someone with bump visits bu.mp and enables location data. After launching the Android app, users select which photos they wish to send and then tap the space bar on their computer’s keyboard.
The photos start magically transferring into the browser window, where users have five options:

• Browse through the photos to see how they look on a larger screen, and remove those they find least desirable
• Save individual images to the desktop by clicking the download button
• Download all of the photos stored in a .zip archive file
• Get a link they can send to friends and family to share the images
• Share the photos to Facebook

All of these are features that can already been done in other ways, and in some cases more easily, so what’s the advantage of this new feature? I’d say instant access would probably be the most likely. At the moment, I don’t have a USB cable to mount for normal file transfer, so bump serves as a capable alternative. Should I need to open images in Photoshop or share on Facebook/Google+ using their desktop options, this is a better option than relying on mobile.