So now they're killing Microsoft Paint

Ah, the pain is unbearable!
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jul/24/microsoft-paint-kill-off-after-32-years-graphics-editing-program
Lovely. So how exactly am I supposed to do a quick Print Screen without it?
And what's worse, if you'd like to give a nice photo of your right-click-mouse menu, that's near impossible without our beloved Paint.

Of course, once Microsoft makes up their mind, there's not much you can do. We all remember how in the good-old-days you could easily create a menu and deploy it in MS-Access. Yes, you can do it in versions post 2003, but you'll have to use the Registry for that. Ouch!

Why are all programming languages in English?

tl;dr
That's because English (or ASCII to be exact) is the computer's native language.

What does it mean?

ASCII is the simplest code page, since you need only 7 bit  to produce. Since it was defined in America in 1960, it is obviously in English. That's when space was limited, and therefore characters accents (which are necessary for French and German, for example) were simply not included. So if I want to create a new computer language that can be imported all round the world it *must* be in ASCII, therefore in English. As a standard, all computers produced must adhere to it. Every computer in the world must be able to produce these characters. Every keyboard in the world shows those characters clearly.
If you're asking yourself how come in the pre-Unicode era did people write in a non-English language, then the answer is that in the Extended ASCII code (for characters that sits in number 128-255) the alphabet of one other languages was included (depends on the code page attached). So there was a code page for Hebrew, Greek, French, Russian, Spanish and other languages with a "simple" alphabet (around 30 letters) which isn't represented by the English Alphabet.
That's also the difference between "varchar" (which assumes ASCII code, could be the extended page; that's good enough for only one extra language) to "nvarchar (which assumes Unicode code, and therefore could include all languages).

And yet, nowadays in the new Unicode days, the first 128 characters are still our dear-old-ASCII codes.

Is it difficult to learn programming in English, for a speaker of another language?

tl;dr: no.
Functional English (to be able to speak some basic phrases) consists of 1500-2000 words. The words in any computer language consists of much smaller vocabulary:
In C there are 32 reserved words
In Pascal there are 53 reserved words
And Basic leads with 174  reserved words.
So you just need to learn "those words" in order to write code, and to know where every key is on the keyboards. That's all. And I am speaking here from experience: I remember learning a bit of computing on my brother's commodore computer when I was around 11. As the commands in any computer language are quite short, the main words I remember (in Basic) were: 
PRINT 
IF
GOTO 
and LOOP. If you are short of a word you can always use a word in your native language written in English letters, so if you want to define an object named "tomato" but you don't know how to write tomato in English, you can always get away with "tomate" (Spanish, French), 
ntomáta (Greek), pomidor (Russian) or agavania (Hebrew).

(I've read that post in my Linked In feed, by somebody who obviously knew very little about computers or linguistics, and decided to answer her questions).

How to create a good professional website? 10 tips to improve your SEO

SEO, for those who don't know, are Search Engine Optimization. When Google looks up something, it ranks the entire search results by a certain algorithm. Here is a very simple list which describes how can a simple and humble non-IT professional improve their chances of being found on Google when somebody tries to look them up.
In my previous post I've said that not everybody need a website. If you're a lawyer (let's say) and your name is listed in all the leading listings possible, then you don't need a website. How do you check it?
Simple: Google your name + profession. If it is a very common name then add the location as well. If you can easily find yourself and you phone number in the list that's great. No need for a website, your job here is done.
If you don't find yourself easily, then you have a problem, even if you claim that no publicity is needed, that the word of mouth works very well; if  your friend wants to recommend you and since they last used your services they lost your card/mobile number/email address then you lost a potential connection, and that's a pity.
Maybe all you need is a good Social Media Professional Page: It could be either on LinkedIn, Facebook, Google+ or other. Depends on your preferences. If you need to choose only one (since you don't have the energy for more), then I think that for artistic people Facebook is preferred, while for the rest of us professionals LinkedIn is preferred. A Google Plus page is very useful as well.

But, assuming you have a website, and you do wish for people to find you quickly.

1. The company has a name? Excellent. Make sure that it includes the main line of business in the title. Don't call yourself "surfboard" if your a lawyer. You're a lawyer that likes surfing? find something that composite of both words. "No-Shark Solicitor", for example.
2. Nevertheless, don't make the name too generic. "Sydney Lawyers" won't help anyone. It really won't. Find a name that sticks and that you like. A bit of creativity is a good thing. 
3. If you have more than one branch: Put the address of the main branch first. When your company is searched online via Google , Google puts the address of the first address that it finds first. It's not always the desired result.
4. Yes, you do need a "main branch". Or at least "main location" or where this company had originated from.
5. Good practice: add "opening hours" next to each branch name. 
6. Good practice: have short profile listing of the people that work in your company. When you list the main professionals, it also makes your company easier to find. Let's say that I'm not sure that I spelled your company name correctly. I might Google one of the professionals in your company. If one of the first 5 listings is of your company, then your company would get more "hits" via Google and I can find the contact that I'm looking for.
7. Good practice for listing your name or your contacts: list your name as well as the nickname. Robert (Bob) Smith, for example.
8. Every now and then look at the website and make sure it is readable and that you can navigate in it easily. Read it through and make sure there are no typos, or any weird "computer marks" there. And make sure that the "Opening hours" (clause 5 above) and the "Our Team" (clause 6 above) are still correct and up-to-date.
9. Make sure that the look is modern and up to date: look at your website on different devices, and make sure that even if you change the size of the browser (or even just tilt the smartphone) it is still readable.
10. Have you changed your company name recently? Make sure that in your website it is stated clearly: "New Name", formerly known as "old name", and add the "old name" to the meta data of the website (your web developer knows what I'm talking about). "Recently", by the way, could mean even 10 years. I had to look up a company by the name it was listed in my company's database and the name had changed 7 years ago. 
11. If you just purchased the domain, put a business card as your website while it is "under contraction". This way people can contact you even if your website isn't bright and flashy!
12. The last tip here is the most important one:
    Since Google claims that more searches are done on the Mobile device than on the PC, you must make sure that your  website is mobile friendly!

And one last tip which is very important:

The point of this tips column is to make sure people can find you when they look you up online. 

I hope that this information had helped you. Any other very basic tips? Let me know about them in your comments!

You don't really need a website

I was given a most horrible assignment of data entry. The task is basically to search up names of companies in Google. I could use my time more efficiently by using Sensis API and the likes but as it's not always possible I decided to look up the companies one by one.
And this is what I learned:

1. All of these companies are unique, special and different. They all offer exceptional value and excellent service. They are all highly professional, experienced and have excellent customer service. 
2. Other companies just have contact details in their website. Could you please make sure that it looks well? Maybe update the look of it once every ten years or so? 
3. Small business owners don't always have a website. I know it sounds crazy, but you don't really need one if you don't have the time to manage it, or if your name isn't too generic. Just make sure that you can be found in Yellow pages and the professional listings. For example. Lawyer's listings or Accountant Listings, if you're a lawyer or an accountant. Artists and those who work with art can keep a Facebook page, it's also a good way to make sure that those who look for you can find you.
4. If your name is generic ( or if you share it with someone else who is more famous then you) , then make sure that in LinkedIn your title includes your location as well as your profession. This way you're easily found without the hassle of maintaining a website. 
5. If you do have a website, make sure that it is Mobile friendly.

Even if you prefer to say that you're not into being famous and increasing your workload, be aware that maybe an existing client would like to look you up (as they've lost their mobile or something like this). So having a clear listing is always important.

So you don't really need a website, just make sure that you can be easily found online.

The difference between A/B testing and the Facebook experiment

I assume you've heard about the Facebook experiment in which they've changed the feed of news for random people in order to affect their mood. Many people are outraged. Some say: "well, what are you so surprised about, it's a simple A/B testing and people in marketing and advertisement had been doing this for years?"
And I say: "yes, it's a simple A/B testing. but what did they try to achieve?"
A/B testing is posting the same message in different wordings, or changing the font/layout, in order to...

• produce more clicks
• engage your audience
• create more sales 

And they are fine with me because I assume I know what's the interest is. Yes, the car company would like me to purchase their car (or that I would recommend it to my friend). Yes, the newspaper wants me to read their news. Yes, the twitter marketer would like me to follow their tweets. Yes, the people in twitter would love me to invoke my sleeping account. No surprises here. 

But what is Facebook's agenda?

Are they trying to make me more engaged? are they trying to sell me something? would they like me to start a revolution? No, they're trying to see how the feed affects my mood, in order to make sure that I won't shy away from FB if everything is sad around me, or that I wouldn't be depressed if everyone around me are going on holidays, which is a common theme in my feed around Christmas time.

Which is obviously rubbish, since if let's say it's the December 8th, 1980, and John Lennon had just been shot, I assume if I'd turn to FB I wouldn't find many smiling faces. Would that make me shy away from my Social Network?

And if (as it happened) I happen to have two new nieces in a gap of one month, it's not that bad to look at new photos of them in my feed, is it?

So they are a bunch of manipulative jerks. What a surprise. My ex is a network researcher in FB. I'm happy that as far as I found out he wasn't involved in this experiment, but I wouldn't be too surprised. Yes, I still own an account on FB.

And now to the classic question:

How do we protect ourselves?

If it's an advertisement we know what the hidden agenda is. If we read the newspaper we know what they want. And if we read a "news" article which is simply hidden my marketing we have learnt to protect ourselves from that as well. My solution? Shy away from FB. Make sure to keep you social network social, not only in the network.