RGdot

Month: July 2009

  • Green Living: Improving Health Today And Tomorrow

    Green Living: Improving Health Today And Tomorrow

    Much attention has been paid in recent years to what seems to be a growing environmental conscience in the United States. Going green used to be considered expensive and a luxury for those who could afford the trend. Now it appears that we are learning that not only is adopting more environmentally conscious attitudes good for our economic situation, but also our…health? Yes, if we dig a bit deeper we can see that dirty industries and backwards policy is actually harming the health of the earth for our children and the health of her inhabitants today.

    How Does Environmental Policy Affect Public Health?

    There are two levels of health consequences associated with dirty industry, both direct and indirect. The direct consequences are examples like increased asthma rates in areas with high smog indices. Chlorofluorocarbon release into the atmosphere has shown to decrease the filter of direct sunlight on the planet, resulting in more concentrated ultraviolet light reaching the surface of the earth. Perhaps it is no surprise then that in countries with depleted atmospheric gas, skin cancer rates are among the highest in the world.

    The indirect health consequences are harder to see immediately, but closer examination reveals that these are, in fact, perhaps the most hazardous. Bi-products of dirty and backwards industries, such as coal and oil processing, include cancer causing substances like asbestos and benzene. A U.K. study conducted in 2002 indicated that coal and oil industry workers are at a much higher risk of developing pleural mesothelioma (associated with asbestos exposure) and leukemia (traced to benzene and heavy-metal exposure). Dr. Valerie Rusch among many other doctors who specialize in this area understand that these are substances that can be directly traced to antiquated pre-regulation equipment in industries whose environmental hazards are even more inherent.

    Can we really afford to continue on the path we were on before? Investment in clean industry means not a healthier planet for our children and grandchildren, but also a healthier place for us to live today.

    —June 25, 2009 Written by Bill Hawthorne with the maacenter

  • FreeFileSync Manages Your Folders And Files

    FreeFileSync Manages Your Folders And Files

    FreeFileSync is described by its author as

    …is an Open-Source folder comparison and synchronization tool. It is optimized for highest performance and usability without restricted or overloaded UI interfaces


    FreeFileSync
         FreeFileSync has a simple yet attractive, with well made icons, interface that synchronizes folders and compares files and folders. The options to compare are based on file size and date and also the file contents. The help button to the right of the big rectangular compare button attempts to explain how the comparison is calculated in both the aforementioned possibilities or features.
    The synchronization feature is more detailed and includes the possibility to copy files between folders so that they are identical or to copy files and overwriting any that already exist in the other folder or to even delete files that already exist in the other folder.

    FreeFileSync is also capable of saving configurations to be loaded to make future uses even more automated. Batch files can also be saved to ease work for every use with identical folders. Files can also be filtered so that certain file types are not included in the syncing procedures. FreeFileSync is available both for Windows and Linux machines.

  • Text Master Notepad Alternative

    Text Master Notepad Alternative

    Text Master is certainly not alone in the world of Windows Notepad alternatives but is nevertheless a useful entry. It is described by its author as

    Text Master is a plain text editor with extra features and is a good alternative of NotePAD.


    Text Master
         Text master, of course, looks a lot like Notepad and the additional features are mostly categorized into one menu item, or toolbar. Those features include the following. Add Date in various formats. Analyze Text to get character, word, line and other counts. Combine Lines that are separated by a configurable separator, such as a comma for example. Crypto, a beta feature I did not test, to scramble lines. Delete Unnecessary Lines to delete empty or identical lines. Extract text has a few parameters that belong in a more solid programming setting rather than a notepad like software. Filter Lines chops or shortens lines starting from both their start and end. Generate Email List looks for emails in the open text document. Generate Word List converts the open document into an alphabetical list of the words it contains. Import Picture As Text only works with bitmaps. Insert Numbers adds line numbers. Insert Text adds text to the beginning or ending of all lines. Keypress Simulator is a time waster more than anything else, presenting the open document with a type writer effect. Randomize Lines and Reverse Line Sequence and Line Contents are also more fancy effects than anything else. May be the same can be said about Sort Lines and Trim Lines (from both, left or right sides). Finally Uppercase & Lowercase converts text into one of all uppercase, first letter uppercase or all lowercase.

    It is also possible to use F11 to maximize the workspace and additionally find or find and replace text. Text Master runs on all Windows versions and is a 560KB download.