Wet Fish in the Face for the Ageists

All you employers who think anyone over 50 is too old to learn, READ!

http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/australian-news/13599066/record-breaking-graduate-from-port-stephens/

ABC © Enlarge photo

A 97-year-old New South Wales man will set another world record today when he graduates from Southern Cross University at Lismore.
Allan Stewart from Tea Gardens, north of Newcastle, will graduate with a Master of Clinical Science - Complementary Medicine, making him the world's oldest university graduate.
It will surpass the Guinness World Record he set in 2006 when he completed a law degree.
Mr Stewart is no stranger to academia, having completed his first degree at the University of Sydney in 1936.
He says students back then were a lot more formal.
"We had to wear very conservative clothing in those days," he said.
"Up here, university students and undergraduates are mostly in holiday gear."
After a long career in dentistry Mr Stewart then went back to university to tackle law, finishing that degree at 91.
He completed the six-year law degree in four-and-a-half years because he said at his age, time was of the essence.
This afternoon's degree will be his fourth.
His lecturer Dr Sonia Brownie says she did a double take when she first got his enrolment application.
"When I initially saw his application I trotted back down to the student liaison team because I saw the date of birth was 1915," she said.
"I said to them to check that he indeed was a man well into his senior years."
Dr Brownie says Mr Stewart has studied mostly by correspondence online and is excellent at time management.
"He says that he's intellectually in his prime in the early part of the morning and the day," she said.

A letter to the program 'Saturday Extra' on ABC Radio National on 02/10/2010 following a discussion on Student Union fees.


02 Oct 2010 8:13:50am

In the late 1990s and 2000s I studied part time externally from UNE. I paid just under $2000 in compulsory SU fees. In return for this I had around half a dozen evenings in the SU operated bar of which 3 were 'welcomes to residential schools' with free orange juice and wine, by the SU.

The longer Australia is free from the plague of COMPULSORY SU fees the better!!

Note that at UNE the SU was bankrupted during the compulsory fee era. Apparently something to do with owning cinemas and pubs.

Ha Ha Ha!

Railway Level Crossings Railroad Grade Crossings

STOP signs and RED lights at railway crossings mean STOP!
Video

Aperture f Number

The aperture measurement, the f number, is derived from a ratio. This ratio is the diameter of the hole which lets the light through divided by the focal length of the lens. For example the old lens I use as a magnifying glass has a 25mm diameter and 50mm focal length. Divide the 25 by 50 to get 1/2 (ie half). The f number is the lower part of the fraction, the denominator, f2. This is the maximum aperture of the lens. Each increase in f number represents half the amount of light entering the camera. So changing from f8 to f11 has the same reduction in light into the camera as changing from 1/250th to 1/500th of a second exposure. This also means that 1/500th at f8 lets in the same amount of light as 1/250th at f11 or 1/60th at f22. f22 is a typical minimum aperture. When the aperture gets smaller (bigger number) the effect of the glass lens is reduced and the lens starts to behave as a pinhole camera. A manual lens should have marks either side of the 'focus' mark with f numbers These indicate the manufacturer's suggested range of acceptable focus for the f number. This means the f4 marks will be closer to the 'focus' mark than the f16 marks. This is called 'depth of field'.

When a lens has a longer focal length the diameter of the lens has to be increased to have the same f number. For example a 200mm focal length (telephoto) lens needs a 100mm diameter to have a f2 maximum aperture.

Recruitment Agencies

Recruitment Agencies are CRIMINALS. They continually commit the crime of AGE DISCRIMINATION! Date of birth is their most important selection criteria all telecoms and IT positions. They have destroyed my careers in these fields.

The Australian Government has proposed contructing a national broadband network with fibre to most homes and businesses. Taxpayer money will be a significant part of the funding. Many particularly the Federal Opposition are against it due to the cost to taxpayers.

Taxpayers funded the development of Australia's telephone system via the Postmaster Generals Dept. Taxpayers funded the development of most of Australia's railways via State and Commonwealth Governments. The market could not build these.

I'm glad to see a political Leader who can see past the current electoral cycle to Australia's longterm interest. He must have learned something while living in China.