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Stratagem September FlyerWe Care!Over 25 years experience in the Canberra IT market |
In this Issue:
Fast Facts about Canberra - Meet a Cheetah at the National Zoo for $150
IT News & Views - Strip the money out of gov IT and you strip the services - Defence aims to boost image content search capability
Jobs
What's on in Canberra
Useful Links
Quote
Joke : History Worth Reading!
Update! Update! Update!
$ Fast Cash - Refer a Friend
Staff @ Stratagem |
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Fast Facts about Canberra
Meet a Cheetah at the National Zoo for $150
Get up close and personal with these amazing African cats.
Go into the enclosure with our unrestrained Cheetah and pat and play with them!
Ever dreamed you might be able to handle some of the world's most amazing wildlife?
Cheetahs are the fastest land animal in the world, and in the wild they are found only in Africa.
Canberra's National Zoo & Aquarium offers one of the most amazing animal experiences in
Australia - the opportunity to have hands-on contact, pat and play with one of these amazing cats.
During your Meet A Cheetah experience, you will be in the same enclosure as the unrestrained cheetahs.
At all times an experienced zookeeper will be with you to answer your questions and guide you as you
interact with this incredible animal.
http://bcl.redballoon.com.au/outdoor-activities/aquarium-zoo/meet-a-cheetah-and-the-national-zoo
IT News & Views
Strip the money out of gov IT and you strip the services
IT will cop the blame when service levels drop as many agencies are already playing catch up
Mahesh Sharma (Computerworld)17 August, 2010 07:22
The decision to strip out over $400 million from an ICT investment fund will cause
a deterioration of government services, with the blame to rest on the shoulders of
the ICT industry, according to an analyst.
The reduction in the funding pool for ICT projects also means agencies will be forced
to play “catch up” instead of deploying innovative new technologies to deliver new and
improved government services, according to Longhaus director Peter Carr.
The Gillard Labor government recently announced it would slash almost half of a $ 1billion
ICT investment fund, established after British expert Peter Gershon reviewed public sector ICT efficiency.
The Gershon review recommended a number of measures to cut ICT costs across the government, with over
half of these savings to be diverted to an ICT reinvestment fund.
The Prime Minister recently promised that if Labor is elected the fund would be
stripped of $447.5m to help return the federal budget to surplus.
Mr Carr said the reduced technology funding could cause an increase in the breakdown
of agency services - such as the recent Defence payroll scandal, and the late payments made by the Tax Office.
“You can't strip out that much money and not reinvest it and not think that the right levels
of maintenance are being done on existing systems,” Mr Carr said. “There will definitely be
an increased likelihood of project failure.”
The IT industry will cop the blame, he said.
“What tends to happen is when government services fail, the finger gets pointed at
systems behind,” Mr Carr said. “Who shoulders the blame when government services go awry?
Especially when we're talking about the delivery of social welfare payments to single mothers.
“The IT industry will take the blame for poor policy decision.”
Under the changes, agencies will be forced to compete for funding for the projects
but Labor upheld a promise to use the remainder of the fund - around $557m – for 44 projects across 20 agencies.
However, Mr Carr said these projects were planned years ago in response to old problems,
and don't address the current agency needs and demands.
“The important thing we're still talking about projects have been in planning for
couple of years and aren't necessarily about the latest and greatest and innovation.
“The government is playing catch up, in a couple of years there will need to be a large injection of capital.”
An AGIMO spokesman could not comment on the claims because the government is in caretaker mode.
http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/357186/strip_money_gov_it_strip_services/?fp=4&fpid=5
Defence aims to boost image content search capability
THE Department of Defence is funding researchers at the University of Adelaide to build
a prototype of an image-content search capability It will be for better surveillance and reconnaissance.
The Australian Centre for Visual Technologies will develop the image-search technology to allow
Defence agencies to search vast available databases of video and still imagery.
"There are billions of images and videos on the web, but unless someone has actually gone
through and manually labelled the images, or video, then it is really hard to find what
you are looking for," ACVT deputy director Anthony Dick said.
"We are developing some technology to actually index and understand the content of the images themselves.
"So you could give our search engine an image, rather than typing in text, and ask it to look for other
images that contain the same object."
Dr Dick said there was currently no commercial system available, but the problem was an active area of research.
The project recently received $684,000, under the Department of Defence's Capability and Technology
Demonstrator Program, which is managed by the Defence Science and Technology Organisation .
Looking through a large volume of image data was currently a labour-intensive, manual process.
It could currently take Defence personnel months to search a database of satellite imagery for
a particular structure or object.
"Once we have reduced the images down to the essential parts, then the second piece of technology
is something that can search through these reduced images really quickly," Dr Dick said.
"We would like to be able to search through databases of millions of images and retrieve results in seconds."
Dr Dick said the capability had many applications for defence, such as surveillance and reconnaissance
in a war zone or border protection. "Any application where you want to pick interesting events out
of a large volume of video or image data is what we are aiming for," he said.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/australian-it/defence-aims-to-boost-image-content-search-capability/story-e6frgakx-1225906057216
Jobs
We are currently seeking the following people:
Tender 10084 - Security Analyst (AC Only / 1/10/10 for 12 mnths)Closes 6/9/2010
Tender 10075 - 2x Technical Writers (AC Only / ASAP for up to 9 mnths)Closes 8/09/2010
Tender 10072 - COBOL Mainframe Developer (AC Only / Start on or before 1/10/10
for 12 mnths + 12 mnth extn)Closes 8/09/2010
Tender 10087 - Test Analyst (AC Only / 4th Oct 10 - 30 June 2011)Closes 13/09/2010
Tender 10085 - Non-Ongoing Technical Writer (AC Only / EL1 - $84,505 - $92,141 pa /
ASAP for 6mnths + poss 6 mnth extn)Closes 13/09/2010
Keep an eye on our Contracts Page on our website for the latest jobs. http://www.stratagemcc.com.au/
If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact Kathryn or Lynne on 6239 1888.
What's on in Canberra
3 September (Friday) 2010 - Footy Colours Day - Wear your team's colours -
AFL, NRL, rugby union or soccer and help raise funds for the Fight Cancer Foundation.http://www.footycoloursday.com.au/
5 September (Sunday) 2010 - Father's Day
11 September to 10 October 2010 - Floriade - A flower festival which aims to celebrate spring.
Includes workshops, seminars, exhibitions, markets and concerts. Commonwealth Park, Canberra.http://www.floriadeaustralia.com/
24 September (Friday) 2010 - ACT School Term 3 Ends http://www.bcl.com.au/school-holidays.htm
27 September (Monday) 2010 - Family and Community Day Public Holiday
Useful Links
Howards Storage World: Would you like to live in an organised home? If the answer is yes - then you're in the right place! They have literally thousands of products to help you in your quest. Add in a little helpful advice from the friendly staff in store - and you'll be well on your way to living clutter free. http://www.hsw.com.au/
Webreference: Webmasters reference library - www.webreference.com/
Gibson Research Company: Shields Up testing. This site has loads of information on IT Security and other really interesting sites. Check out how vulnerable your PC is. www.grc.com
Quote
Habits make or break you.
Joke : History Worth Reading!
Quite interesting well worth reading.
There is an old Hotel/Pub in Marble Arch, London , which used to have a gallows adjacent to it.
Prisoners were taken to the gallows, (after a fair trial of course) to be hung.
The horse drawn dray, carting the prisoner, was accompanied by an armed guard, who would stop
the dray outside the pub and ask the prisoner if he would like ''ONE LAST DRINK''.
If he said YES, it was referred to as 'ONE FOR THE ROAD' If he declined, that prisoner was 'ON THE WAGON'
So there you go. More bleeding history.
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They used to use urine to tan animal skins, so families used to all pee in a pot
& then once a day it was taken & sold to the tannery. If you had to do this to
survive you were, "Piss Poor", but worse than that, were the really poor folk,
who couldn't even afford to buy a pot, they "Didn't have a pot to Piss in" &
were the lowest of the low.
The next time you are washing your hands and complain, because the water temperature
isn't just how you like it, think about how things used to be.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here are some facts about the 1500's:
Most people got married in June, because they took their yearly bath in May and
they still smelled pretty good by June. However, since they were starting to smell,
brides carried a bouquet of flowers, to hide the body odour.
Hence the custom today, of carrying a bouquet when getting married.
Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water.
The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons and men,
then the women and finally the children.
Last of all the babies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it.
Hence the saying, "Don't throw the baby out with the Bath water!"
Houses had thatched roofs, thick straw piled high, with no wood underneath.
It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the cats and other small animals (mice, bugs)
lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof.
Hence the saying "It's raining cats and dogs."
There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house. This posed a real problem in the bedroom,
where bugs and other droppings could mess up your nice clean bed. Hence, a bed with big posts and
a sheet hung over the top, afforded some protection. That's how canopy beds came into existence.
The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt. Hence the saying, "Dirt Poor."
The wealthy had slate floors, that would get slippery in the winter when wet, so they spread thresh
(straw) on floor to help keep their footing.
As the winter wore on, they added more thresh, until, when you opened the door, it would all start
slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entrance-way. Hence: a thresh hold. (Getting
quite an education, aren't you?)
In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle, that always hung over the fire.
Every day, they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and did not
get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight,
then start over the next day. Sometimes stew had food in it that had been there for quite a while.
Hence the rhyme: ''Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot, nine days old''.
Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special. When visitors came over, they would hang
up their bacon, to show off.
It was a sign of wealth that a man could, "Bring home the Bacon." They would cut off a little, to share
with guests and would all sit around talking and ''Chew the fat''.
Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high acid content caused some of the lead to
leach onto the food, causing lead poisoning & death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for
the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous.
Bread was divided, according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle,
and guests got the top, or ''The Upper Crust''.
Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The combination, would sometimes knock the imbibers out for
a couple of days. Someone walking along the road, would take them for dead and prepare them for burial.
They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and
drink and wait and see if they would wake up. Hence the custom of ''Holding a Wake''.
England is old and small and the local folks started running out of places to bury people. So,
they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a bone-house and reuse the grave. When
reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside
and they realized they had been burying people alive. So they would tie a string on the wrist
of the corpse, thread it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell.
Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night, (the graveyard shift) to listen for the bell;
thus, someone could be, ''Saved by the Bell'' or was considered a ''Dead Ringer''
And that's the truth. Believe it or not. Now, whoever said History was boring ! ! !
Update! Update! Update!
It is very important that we have the latest information on file when presenting you for new contracts. Please make a point of updating us with:
Changes to your resume.
Current work requirements.
Preferred contract rates.
Contact details.
Availability.
Email: stratagem@stratagemcc.com.au
$ Fast Cash - Refer a Friend
In these economic times extra dollars wouldn't go astray. We would like to show our
appreciation for telling your friends how they can benefit from working through
Stratagem by offering you a cash bonus. Simply refer your friend to us and be sure
they mention your name, or let us know that you have referred them. If we find them a position,
you are entitled to receive your cash bonus.
Stratagem offers a referral fee of:
$500 for a contract under 12 months.
$1000 for a contract of 12 months+.
We would like to extend our referral incentive to include giving us a lead to a
department that is looking to fill a position. If we end up being successful then
we will be sending you a mixed dozen bottles of wine. So if you hear of anybody
looking for a contractor or two, let us know, and you could end up with a dozen
bottles of wine. There are no limits on how many bonuses you can collect.
We are always interested in talking to anyone, either already contracting or
considering taking the step. We have access to an enormous marketplace and are
well situated to successfully place contractors.
Who do you know that is looking for work?
If you have any questions please do not hesitate us!
Staff @ Stratagem
| Jenni Oliver |
Managing Director |
| Tony Oliver |
Database Support |
| Kathryn Hughes |
Account Manager |
| Lynne Watson |
Recruitment Consultant |
| Amanda O'Neill |
Recruitment Consultant |
| Shakira Reinpacher |
Recruitment Consultant |
Our friendly staff are here to help you. Give us a call at the office on 02 6239 1888 if you need assistance.
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