Salute

A Soldiers Poem

If I die in war zone
Box me up and send me home.
Put my medals on my chest,
Tell my mum I did my best.

Tell my dad not to bow,
He won't get tension from me now.
Tell my brother to study perfectly,
Keys of my bike will be his permanently.

Tell my sister not to be upset,

Her brother will not raise after sunset.

And tell my love not to cry,

Cause I'm a soldier and I was born to die.

Lest we forget

---

I found that poem on one of my friends Facebook, I'm not sure if they wrote it or whether they found it but I thought I should share it regardless.

Now I am completely against war, but that doesn't mean I don't appreciate the sacrifices made not just by the men and women but by their families and friends who get left behind also. Also the animals: we don't think of them but they die for us too.

For many, today was a day of mourning and in the eyes of an eight year old, who may not even know why we do this, is a day of remembrance. You can see the people holding back tears from their eyes as they place a poppy on a piece of stone. Only a few will ever know their true story and yet a country will become almost silent to say thank you.

I've always found it remarkable: whilst you are thinking for two minutes in silence, so is everyone around you and the majority of the country. Sharing the same thoughts.

Nobody is born to die. This day isn't about one war or even two - it isn't even about a war as far as I'm concerned. It's about sacrifice for someone else, to put yourself in the line of fire to save a person you don't even know.

So for that, I am eternally grateful.

Until the next time,

Kris

Auditions

Hi everyone,

I have been quite busy this half term with homework, the bane of every teens life. So I haven't had time to post anything but after my exam tomorrow I will start working on some new stuff, however, I am organising for my Duke of Edinburgh project a group film project.

This project will consist of three trailers with the best idea being turned into a short film. As a consequence I need help! So if you are an aspiring writer, actor, musician, cameraman (or woman), or even a director and want to get involved I would love to hear from you.

My email address is kristurner1997 (at) gmail (dot) com or you can email me by clicking here which will open your preferred mailing software.

Until the next time,
Kris

How To: Physical Security

Hi, this week I'm going to be telling you how to secure your computer from those unwanted guests. This is a series of tutorials but the first issue we will be addressing is protection against someone who has physical access to your computer. These methods protect your computer not your files so if someone removed your hard drive they could open your files. In next week's tutorial we will prevent this.

Disclaimer

I am not responsible for any damage you cause whilst following this tutorial. Nor am I responsible for any actions you may take before, during or after reading this. In other words don't blame me, this tutorial is for educational purposes only.

Most of us only want to keep family out of your computer and often a strong password will keep the primitives at bay. But how do you know if your password is strong? It should:

• Have a Mixture of lower case and upper case letters.
• Contain one or more numbers in them
• Not consist of a word from any dictionary
• If possible contain punctuation.
• Not be easily guessed such as a pets name.

An example of a strong password is, for the chemistry geeks: P3riod1C.Table and just for the record this isn’t my password I only came up with it because I have a periodic table on my wall and using the online password checker howsecureismypassword.net you can see that it would take an average computer 4 billion years to crack your password and what sibling can ever be bothered to wait that long?

So that will keep out some of your family, but what about those whom are more technically able? A simple password isn’t going to keep them out. Why? Think about it: when you send your PC off for repair how do the technicians gain access to your computer?

You see what Microsoft fails to tell their customers is that they decided they want a backdoor in their system. This back door just happens to be in the form of a secret, hidden Administrator account. What’s worse is the security on this account; non-existent. That’s right folks, right now on your Windows computer there is a massive gaping hole in your perfect password.

Don’t believe me? I’ll prove it: on your computer goto Start > All Programs > Accessories > Command Prompt or type cmd.exe in your start menu. This will open a black window which makes you look very hackeresque. Type in ‘net user’ into this window, without the quotes of course, and this will list all the accounts on your computer and as you can see Administrator is there.

I have blanked out the computer name for security reasons

However we can quickly fix this. You have two choices you can deactivate the account which I prefer because I can always access the data should I ever need to or you can delete it however this is permanent. You will, however, need your own administrator privileges (normally the person who had access to the laptop first or install software) to make these security changes.

Re-open command prompt but this time right click on the icon and click Run As Administrator. Read the message box and click allow (or the equivalent)

To Deactivate (Recommended)

In Command Prompt type in ‘net user Administrator’ this lists all the details of the account including the last logon which can be useful. Now we are going to disable the account type:

 net user Administrator /active:no

You will receive a command saying that the command completed successfully. If you wish to reactivate the account just substitute no for yes.

To Delete

This is simple, yet I don’t think it is anymore secure but should you wish to purge this account simply type

 net user Administrator /delete

You will receive a command saying that the command completed successfully. This account will no longer be listed if you type in net user.

But for those who, like myself, are truly paranoid there is one more layer of security: a BIOS password. The Basic Input Output System is a layer of computer software which we will not go into detail over however it is separate to the OS and therefore it is harder to hack (however not that hard if you know how). Again this password protects your computer not the files stored on the hard drive.

Now this is the difficult part because it varies between different computers and you have to hit the button at the right time. When you turn on your computer you will be presented with your computer manufacturer logo. At this point read the instructions at the bottom of the screen. The option you want will say something like press [F2] to enter BIOS.

Now it doesn’t take a computer science degree to realise that you need to press F2. This will bring you to another ‘hackeresque’ screen, normally blue, you should note that your mouse will not work here. Navigate using the arrow keys to the Security tab. Now navigate to the ‘Set Supervisor Password’ and press enter. Now enter your password which is normally a maximum of 8 characters remembering our guidelines from earlier on.  One last thing is to ensure that Password Check is set to Always this will mean you have to enter your BIOS password every time you logon.

This approach is not practical, however, should you need to share the computer. Make sure you Save and Exit.

If you get stuck or run into any problems just leave a comment below and I'll get back to you.

And that's it, your computer is protected against your family.

Until next time,

Kris

PS: I have created some cool graphics for A New Perspectives. You can get our desktop background below by clicking on it. Don't just right click and save because you won't have the right resolution.

Being True

“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.” 

― Oscar Wilde

I have never really wrote around a quote before so this is a first for me. I was in the middle of writing a post that just didn't suit me. I don't know why but it didn't probably because I had never experienced the feelings myself.

So if you don't know who Oscar Wilde is then he is some eccentric poet from 1800's who, in all honestly, was a bit full of himself.  He was, nevertheless, inspirational. I'm not quite sure if that's the right word, but what I am trying to say is that I agree with most of his ideas.

Whilst being sentenced to hard labour on the charges of sodomy (performing homosexual acts is the politest way I can put it because I will not be using certain words on my site because I might just die of embarrassment - and that must have been the longest bracket's ever wrote) he managed to remain witty and true to himself through the entirety of the court case.

When first I was put into prison some people advised me to try and forget who I was. It was ruinous advice. It is only by realising what I am that I have found comfort of any kind. 
-De Profundis

And then there was the the transcendentalism of Ralph Emerson. He believed in the inherent goodness of a person and was often perceived to be the champion of individualism which, sadly, appear to have been forgotten in the modern day. When asked to sum up his beliefs his single doctrine (core belief) was the "infinitude of man"

Or then there was madness personified in Allen Ginsberg, a person who certainly didn't mind what people thought of him and who certainly didn't hold back in what he said to them.

Sure, most of you will think I'm on drugs again and talking some load of utter twaddle but if I was to define my doctrine it would be that I'd rather be hated for being the annoying bundle of loudness and energy which I am then pretend to be something I'm not.

And for that I am extremely sorry to those poor souls that I call friends.

'Till next time,

Kris 

Helpless

NOTE: This post may contain some images which readers may find some pictures of animals of animal testing that may be emotive yet need to be seen. Don't worry this isn't a post about trying to make you vegetarian this is just one of the reasons I am.

So I was in the shower yesterday and there was a fly on the wall. Yeah it's completely irrelevant, until, it slipped into the water and was trying to get out. Now anyone who has even seen anything like that knows that the reason they can't fly away is because his wings were now wet and too heavy.

So I saved him, I picked him up and I know it sounds crazy but he looked so helpless not being able to fly away especially since we had been the cause. When his wings dried out I released him outside and he just flew away. I don't think I could ever deliberately kill something that looked so scared.

You probably know that I'm a bit weird when it comes to saving animals, I shoved someone out of the way when they were trying to kill a bee and opened a window for him to leave because that's all he wanted to do. 

I think that's why we get sadistic adults because they were never taught hurting animals was wrong. Some people setting spiders on fire is fun or playing how many ants can you squash but it's not it's just cruel. Do you know why Beagle dogs are chosen for animal testing? It's because they aren't naturally aggressive. Does anyone else see a flaw with that? I mean they put these animals into tests were they might die because they are innocent? Like I said people are screwed up. 

That's why I'm vegetarian and that's why I avoid products that haven been tested on animals.

So anyway that is my convoluted rant on why the human race is screwed up, not because they eat meat, but because of the sadism of youth.

Until next time,

Kris

Dots

From close up the painting just looks like a random collection of dots - like the blurred lights of a city. But take a step back and suddenly everything makes sense, all those random dots form a perfect picture. I never understand drawing with dots but now? Now I think I do - either that or I am being far too philosophical but hey isn't that what life is about? Finding meaning when there is none.

Do you remember those dot by dot books we had when we were younger? The ones you had to link up following the numbers and you could never guess what it was until you were near the end - maybe that's what life is; a dot by dot but without the numbers.

How are we supposed to see the point we are too close to the page. Sometimes, we just need to take a step back and appreciate the beauty. And one day when we are old and grey and we've linked all the dots then maybe... just maybe we will have answered the question that we, the human race, ask all the way through our lives: what's the point?

It's just a short post today but I had a revelation. I thought it only right to share it with you; you know it will have been a year on Thursday since I wrote that first post Butterflies. It feels like a life time though it was just a year and yet I've changed I can remember writing it: where I was sitting, what I was feeling and I don't regret a second of our time together.

Yours looking back,
Kris
PS: Don't you dare stop reading. I love you all!

Back to School

Well it's the rubbish part of the school holidays that adverts just love to rub in. Has anyone ever noticed that we finish school and automatically shops start advertising "Back to School"?

Leave me alone! I don't want a new pencil case! Ooh, but I do want those pens. But yeah I'm back at school on Tuesday, which for most people is their last year in high school. One thing I am looking forward to, however, is finding out my school timetable just so I can moan at it.

But I can guarantee for everyone in Year 11 when you get back to school you will have "The Talk", which will go something like this...

"Welcome back"... "this is possibly the most important year of your lives so far"... "you are the oldest in the school"... "set an example for the others".

We will be all fine and dandy until the fire bell goes off where the conversation will go something like "Year 11... this was a malicious attack"; and I am willing to place bets on that.

Well enjoy your last days of freedom,

Kris

PS: I still don't have one of those God awful ties... oops.

If Life Was A Fairytale

If life was a fairytale? If life was a fairytale I would change a lot of things: a lot of things about me, a lot of things about life, a lot: but it's not and I can't.

Because life isn't a fairytale and I doubt it ever will be.

"Life sucks, then we die"

It is one of the most depressing quotes I have heard, yet its one of the easiest to believe. But would you ever read a book if the character was always happy? Would you watch a film if it was all smiles? Of course you wouldn't, but somehow in some screwed up way - it sorts its self out.

So in this completely, random post which I just wrote and I am determined not to change it at all because I'll lose this feeling if I don't. The feeling that life is truly, at times, screwed up. Everyone's life is; it's a fact of life.

But what's the point of having emotions if you can't express them so thats what I am doing now, in this awfully written post - expressing, with the hope that I will not only help myself but maybe, just maybe somebody else.

"If life isn't about chasing unrealistic dreams: what is it about? Giving up?"

 And that ladies and gentlemen, that is my quote to the world.

Kris

Olympic Torch

A pointless event; that was the view of a some and I suppose it is just another flame, I can do it with a match. What makes it so special? Is it that the flame comes from Mount Olympus?

I, however, have a different theory. The torch is special because its about being part of something; the olympics started in Greece 8000BC before restarting in 1894 and for every person standing in the pouring rain to see a flame travel past you know you've just become a part of history.

Quite proud of this photo I had to contend with giants to take it!

Through all the rubbish in the world, the crisis in the Euro zone, global warming, wars and yet millions of people are turning out to see a torch? No, they're coming in millions to see hope. You will be able to see that you saw the torch in person, but one thing did annoy me with the ceremony the carriers were supposed to be inspiration people and I know inspiration people but some of the people just aren't. 

Then afterwards it was the Carnival, now if you don't know this year I'm in the school show and for some unknown reason they managed to get us a float at the carnival and lets just say I know why the Queen doesn't ever wave properly. After two house of waving my hand was about to drop off! It was still amazing with everyone on the float even if we were about to have a breakdown from singing 'We Go Together'!

But just because you didn't carry the torch don't feel like you've never done anything important because what's the point of running with a torch if no one's there?

I'm on my work experience next week so I may not be able to get to a computer but I'll try and write in advance.

See you soon,
Kris

---

Also because we feel that not everyone deserved to be awarded was rewarded for their inspirational behaviour A New Perspectives will be running its own competition to find the most inspirational person in our school. So get your top three nominations in soon with a the reason why you think they should; you will remain anonymous if you wish.

Hurry up and give someone the credit they deserve. In order to nominate someone click here and thank you.

Smile

Smile: a facial expression formed by flexing the muscles near both ends of the mouth. In some cases a smile can be seen around the eyes.

That's the definition of a smile, but a smile is so much more; it's a sign of happiness, it's a sign of joy. It's contagious and its an international symbol no matter where you come from in the world people know what it is.

Yeah! I can tell you're smiling at this...

Many biologists actually think the smile originated as a sign of fear. Some Primalogist (a person who studies primates) trace the smile to over 30 million years ago of evolution to the original smile which was thought to be a "fear grin" stemming from monkeys and apes who often used barely clenched teeth to show predators that they were harmless. 

Did you know that actually when I tell you to smile, it can actually be helping your mood - some scientists believe that smiling actually makes us happy. Try it, then try a frown and see if that makes you grumpy.

Which leads to another question that leaves some scientists another question: do we smile because we are happy or are we happy because we smile?

Useless Fact: Smiling is a signaling system that evolved from a need to communicate information of many different forms. One of these is advertisement of sexual interest. Female smiles are appealing to males, increasing physical attractiveness and enhancing "sex appeal. "


So this song is actually amazing but people in the UK have never really heard of it so we are going to see if we can change that the image on the right is the popularity concentration we are going to make sure that the UK turns green.

Smile,

Kris.

PS: To all my readers, have a nice holiday everybody! You're amazing!

Foxes

This is one thing I really don't get - why do people want to kill foxes?

Leave them be!

Most people I won't let you kill a wasp so God help you if you try to kill a fox in front of me, the reason I'm actually writing about this today is because we have foxes! Yes that's right they have made a nest (I think that's the right term?) under one of our neighbours shed's and she has had cubs so now we frequently get a visit from them.

About 21,000 - 25,000 foxes are killed annually by organised hunts and that is ONLY 5% of fox death's so in the UK an estimated 460, 000 foxes die every year. Let's say 1 in every 5 foxes is a mother or father that mean's that 36, 800 fox cubs left without mother's or father's.

"Canine Mange is a terrible condition that left untreated will see the death of the infected fox. We believe that if a condition can be treated then it should be, regardless of whether the householder is unwilling, or unable to pay for the treatment. If you have seen a fox with mange and would be willing to provide food (in the form of a jam or honey sandwiches each night), the treatment can be sent to you free of charge."

If you do have a fox with the mange you can save it for all most no cost you - visit the Fox Welfare Society if you live in the UK and show some compassion.

Kris
PS: The unedited fox video is below and the music is from Jurassic Park. There is a signup form on the right of this page that will allow you to be notified every time I publish a new post.

Dating Tips

Yeah, I know you all want to learn how to become a pro at dating like me. Just in case you didn't notice that was sarcasm, I'm not a pro at dating I am not going to pretend to be.

But me not being in relationships has allowed me to notice things that other people might of missed, so this is Kris' Top 10 Tips for Guys and Gals. This is just supposed to be for fun I wouldn't listen to everything I say and certainly don't take offence at it.

For Girls

1. Guys, even if they aren't, want to feel manly and when you know how to make them feel like  that they will love it.

2. You may not know this since you aren't a guy but guys are just as self-conscious as girls, except they don't admit it. When you turn them down and they suddenly start to insult you to their friends its actually self-preservation kicking in; they don't want to find a fault in themselves so they find it in you.

3. Girls, do you know how angry/sad you get when your guy looks at another girl they feel exactly the same way when you look at another guy. So don't do it.

4. You can't expect your boyfriend to stop hanging around with his friends because guess what they're his friends. That also includes a girl who he's friends with because even though a guy has a friend who's a girl that doesn't mean they are sneaking around behind your back because for all you know she might be the one who helps get on with you.

5. If you don't want a boyfriend who's a 'player', it's quite simple don't date one.

For Guys

1. I know for some of you this may be hard to believe, but a girl doesn't belong in a kitchen and she will get angry if you think so.

2. When a girl says you don't have to get me anything (for her birthday or Christmas ect.) what she is really saying is that I want you to get me something but not because you have to but because you want to.

3. Again another shocker, staring isn't as bad as touching another girl (lets say her name is Girl B) but it hurts the same because the girl (Girl A) will instantly compare herself to the girl (Girl B) you were staring at. She will spend forever trying to figure out what she (Girl B) has that she (Girl A) doesn't.

4. Your girlfriend is still going to be the same girl as she was before; don't expect her to stop doing what she enjoys, if she liked shopping she still will, if she liked football she still will - don't expect her to change and don't try and make her.

5. Don't insult her - you'd think this would be obvious and yet you still hear some people saying that their girlfriend is too fat or any other rubbish you think of. May I just say that also mean's that girls shouldn't say the things to her boyfriend.

So that concludes Kris' Top Tips, don't leave it to late to say something to the person you like,

Kris

Big, Blue Planet

So here I am sitting on the top floor of a restaurant listening to the ambient noise of people chatting and of people laughing. The normal restaurant environment. Then you realise how very small you are and how infinitely big the universe is.

You'll never know the name of the guy in the red shirt who is sitting less then a meter away from you, you'll never know whether that girl who was sitting at the bar was waiting for a date or whether the lady with the rat in her house ever managed to catch it.

The chances are I'll never meet these people again and that scares me, sometimes the world is impossibly small but for the rest of the time the planet is far to big and then even then our big, blue planet is tiny compared to the rest of the universe. Even somebody you see everyday its unlikely you know a lot about them.

There is over 500 billion planets in our galaxy alone but scientists estimate that there are also 500 million life-cable planets.

So just remember everyone you see has a story. They all came from somewhere; they are all going somewhere but we'll never know.

Kris

Knocked Down

It's one of the worst feeling knowing that you've failed at something, whether its a jump, an essay or even a relationship, meaning its one of the hardest feelings to overcome.

When we fail at something, especially when you failed somebody else as well it can feel like there is no point carrying on, that everyone has you pegged you as a failure. But it's that very idea that makes me want to do it again, to wipe that smug smile of someone's face because you couldn't do it. To make some proud of what you managed to do. To defy people's expectations.

Sometime's we will have to think differently to somebody else, to everybody else: but that doesn't mean how you think is wrong. So the next time you feel like you should give up just remember these words from Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail."

   

Life may seem impossible, but we can overcome it and we have will, together.

Kris

Excuse Me! What!

I'm sorry but I'm confused. Why would you continue to run an event where the same bad thing happened every year. The Grand National in my opinion should be cancelled permanently.

In the UK as well as many other countries blood sports are illegal and they should be but yet last year two horses at the Grand National, the world renown horse racing competition held annually, had to be eutanized (which in plain terms means killed) because of injuries.

Yet this year two more horses had to be killed because of idiots such as J.P. McManus. J.P. McManus was the owner of one of the horses which had to be put down, Syncronised. Syncronised had been the winner of the Cheltnam Gold Cup last month. The RSPCA described the deaths as "totally unacceptable" and called for "an urgent examination" of the race.

Syncronised is the horse on the left who has just collapsed.

Look at how the horse has fallen. Then tell me that horse racing is right. The start was delayed when Synchronised unseated jockey Tony McCoy, but race organizers said the horse was "thoroughly checked" by a veterinarian and allowed to line up in the 40-horse field.


If I ever meet someone responsible for something as cruel as this trust me I'm going to punch them in the face. So next year I ask you just not to support the race, don't bet, don't watch and definitely don't enter into it. If you want to bet go to a casino and ruin your own life not a horses.


Kris
PS: What are your views? Post them in the comments below.