All the team at Human Edge & Computer Techniques would like to wish you and your families a safe and happy holiday period. We look forward to continuing to provide informative newsletters to you in the New Year. The support centre will close on December 24 and re-open on January 6.
 IBM Announces World's Smallest Working Silicon Transistor
Have you ever noticed how our computers, mobile phones and other appliances seem to be getting progressively smaller? Advances in technology mean that we can now rely on more compact, efficient tools to get our day-to-day jobs done.
Scientists at IBM recently announced that they have produced the world’s smallest working silicon transistor. The transistor is only 6 nanometers long, making it 10 times smaller than transistors currently being produced. A nanometer is one billionth of a metre!
Dr Randy Isaac, vice president of science and technology at IBM Research explained the significance of this new development; “The ability to build working transistors at these dimensions could allow us to put 100 times more transistors into a computer chip than is currently possible.” Imagine the power and speed of a computer with this number of transistors compared to the one you are using now!
As well as improving the performance and speed of chips, this new development will lower the manufacturing cost and power consumption of transistors, which is good news for both us and the environment.
If you would like to find out more about this exciting new technology use the link below to go to the IBM website:
http://www.ibm.com/news/us/2002/12/091.html
How Do I?
How do I extract the relevant student data from VASS21 for importing into First Class?
The VASS Export Student Details function produces a pipe delimited file. The fields in the file are: Candidate Number, External Student Identifier, Student Surname, First Name, Second Name, Address Line 1, Address Line 2, Suburb, State/Country, Postcode, Phone Number, Date of Birth (dd/mm/yyyy), Year Level, Form Group and VCE Course result. The VCE Course Result will be blank until the VCAA run the Satisfactory Completion process at the end of the year.
To extract the student data from VASS21:
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Go to STUDENT ADMIN>EXPORT STUDENT DETAILS
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Select the appropriate year level from the YEAR LEVEL drop down box
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If you wish to include non home school students click on the INCLUDE NON HOME SCHOOL STUDENTS radio button
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Click on the EXPORT STUDENT DETAILS button. The FILE DOWNLOAD pop-up box will appear.
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Ensure the SAVE THIS FILE TO DISK radio button is checked
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Click on the OK button. The SAVE AS pop-up box will appear.
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Select a directory to store your file in the SAVE IN field
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Rename the file student.txt in the FILE NAME field (choose a file name appropriate to your needs but ensure that it is saved with a .txt extension).
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Click on the SAVE button
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Click on the CLOSE button
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You must now open the file in Microsoft Excel so that the TEXT IMPORT WIZARD appears.
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Open Microsoft Excel
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Select FILE>OPEN
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From the LOOK IN field, select the directory where you stored your file.
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Select TEXT FILES in the FILES OF TYPE field
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Select the .txt file that you saved previously
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Click on the OPEN button. The TEXT IMPORT WIZARD - Step 1 of 3 pop-up box will appear.
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Click on the radio button next to DELIMITED
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Click on the NEXT button. The TEXT IMPORT WIZARD - Step 2 of 3 pop-up box will appear.
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Click on the TAB radio button to de-select it
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Click on the OTHER radio button to select it
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Enter the pipe character (|) in the OTHER field. The pipe is usually located on the same key as the backslash symbol above the Enter key on your keyboard.
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Click on the NEXT button. The TEXT IMPORT WIZARD - Step 3 of 3 pop-up box will appear
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Click on the FINISH button
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An Excel file of student details will appear
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The fields currently required are candidate number, surname, first name, year level. You can remove any other fields not required.
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SAVE the Excel file in CSV format
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Note that the VASS programmers are writing a new field into their program that will ease some of the data transference. We will keep you posted on the progress of this upgrade and adjust First Class accordingly.
Website of the Week
http://www.isubscribe.com.au
Stuck for gift ideas this Christmas? A magazine subscription could be the perfect solution!
The isubscribe website provides magazine subscriptions online and features over 750 magazine titles to choose from. You can search for magazines either by title or by category.
The benefit of subscribing online is that your request is received instantaneously; there is no need to wait for postal delivery. This means that your subscription can be processed much faster, and you receive your first magazine earlier! (Magazines are sent via regular mail.)
Another benefit of using the site is the opportunity to win prizes such as DVD players and cars when you subscribe to particular magazines. If you also choose to subscribe to the free isubscribe newsletter you will receive notifications of offers of the month, giveaways and competitions.
The isubscribe Gift Centre is the place to purchase your gift subscription. Once you have ordered your subscription you can email an isubscribe icard to the recipient letting them know that a great gift is coming their way! These cards can also be printed in the event that your gift recipient does not have access to email.
Magazine subscriptions make great gifts as they continue to give throughout the year. And, as they say on the website, it is great to be able to look forward to something other than bills in your letterbox!
Quote of the Week
"Most people never run far enough on their first wind, to find out if they've got a second. Give your dreams all you've got, and you'll be amazed at the energy that comes out of you."
William James, Psychologist
For more information, please contact:
Robert Bakker
Human Edge Software
Phone: 1300 301 931
Fax: +61 3 9690 2802
Email: firstclass@humanedge.biz
Human Edge adheres to a policy of not sending unsolicited (SPAM) e-mail. You are receiving this e-mail because you are listed as a contact for a product or service that our organisation provides or have requested that this service be activated for you. If you are receiving this message in error or wish to have our records changed please advise us via return e-mail or call us on +61 3 9690 5044
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