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Jumat, 18 November 2011

Hacking : Pro and Contra ?

Do you know what a hacker is? Well, a hacker is a person who enjoys exploring the details of programmable systems on computers and they like to stretch the capability of the systems. And you know what, the activities they do in the computers are called ‘hacking’.

So, what’s the problem with ‘hacking and its hackers’? Well, the problem is whether ‘hacking and its hackers’ is legal or illegal? What I mean is that people in the world have many different views about hacking and the hackers. Some of them take sides, but many object.

To get back to what I was saying previously, let us see the positive points of a hacker, shall we? Although in most places breaking into computer systems is considered illegal, I believe that hackers don’t do anything illegal because they only want to know and try the systems. I dare to say that a hacker likes finding the strengths and the weaknesses of a computer system. They feel proud if they can find the weaknesses. So I don’t really see the crimes in this case. In addition, these hackers sometimes help the police catch the ‘white collar criminals’, such as bank robbers, money launderers, credit card forgers. For example, in 2000, the U.S. hackers caught some Singaporean hackers who made ‘Virus Love’ to break up the programs of the U.S. National Security system.

Nevertheless, those who object to the good points of a hacker say that hacking is a crime. The reason is that some hackers use their brilliant skills to break into banks and other vital institutions where they can get money, destroy information, and the worst thing is they can get secret information and sell it to another country. This is a treachery.
Take for example, in 1994, The U.S. government broke a conspiracy of computer hackers out of Majorca, Spain. These hackers were responsible for accessing and eliminating 190,000 telephone credit card numbers over computer bulletin boards in America and Europe. Seeing this fact, I don’t blame those who think negatively about hackers.
To put the whole thing in a nut shell, I personally think that hackers are not bad people with their brilliant skills. However, they could be bad because of money orientation to get the wealth. That’s just the point.
 

The Effects of Acid Soil

Soils with a pH of less than 7.0 are acid. The lower the pH, the more acid the soil. When soil pH falls below 5.5, plant growth is affected. Crop yields decrease, reducing productivity

Soils provide water and nutrients for plant growth and development. Essential plant nutrients include phosphorus, nitrogen, potassium and sulfur. Plants require other elements such as molybdenum, in smaller quantities. Some elements eg aluminium and manganese, are toxic to plants.

Nutrients become available to plants when they are dissolved in water. Plants are able to take up phosphate, nitrate, potassium and sulfate ions in solution.

The solubility of nitients changes with pH. In acid soils (low pH), molybdenum becomes less soluble and aluminium becomes more soluble. Therefore, plant growth may be affected by either a deficiency of molybdenum or too much aluminium.

Both crop and pasture plants are affected by acid soils. there may be a range of symptoms. Crops and pastures may be poorly established resulting in patchy and uneven growth. Plant leaves may go yellow and die at the tips. The root system of the plant may be stunted. Crops may yield less.

Plants vary in their sensitivity to low pH. Canola and lucerne are very sensitive to acid soils so do not grow well. Lupins and triticale are tolerant to soils of low pH so they still perform well.

Land can become unproductive if acid soil is left untreated. Incorporating lime into the soil raises the pH. Therefore, liming soil can reverse the effects of acid soil on plants and return a paddock to productivity.