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bnkSEPA v 2.0

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 This is an engine written in Python that takes a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet and converts into a file that will be processed by the Financial Institution. Other financial institutions that use the same format may also benefit from this ETL ( Extract Transform Load ) engine. The Excel workbook consists of the following worksheets: Payment Information Record — This sheet holds information of the payee account. This will be entity that will upload the file to the bank Credit Instruction Record — This sheet contains the transactions that are to be processed. The maximum number of transactions can be increased (this has already happened). An increase in the number of transactions will require changes to both the Excel and the Python code. Control — This worksheet performs the following functions: It stores within it the password provided by the bank to encrypt the transmission It stores the filename that will be used to package the transmission It provides a summary of the posting

Great technology links - Great learning at zero cost - December 2023

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In this edition of GTL, we look at three resources that are aimed at helping both adults and children stay safe in the digitally connected world we live in. The attack surface related to this topic is wide, and each new technology that becomes embedded in our lives provides another opportunity for those out there to scam us or make money without our consent. InternetMatters.org Type: Child Internet Safety https://www.internetmatters.org/ InternetMatters.org is a British not-for-profit organisation launched in May 2014 by the UK's largest internet service providers, BT, Sky, TalkTalk and Virgin Media. It offers child internet safety advice to parents, carers, and professionals. It is really well organised. There is content available by age group and topic, and there are sections that schools can tap into. One also finds guides and activities that parents and their children can participate in. The site's content is kept up-to-date. For

Animated Christmas Card 2023 formatted for Social Media

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XMAS Card 2023

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Advent Calendar 2023 Promotional Video

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Advent Calendar 2023 Promotional Video created in Adobe After Effects and Adobe Premiere Pro. Watch till the end!   Follow This, That and Maybe , the Other:

Suggest links for Great technology links — Great learning at zero cost

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If you discover a link for inclusion in the Great technology links - Great learning at zero cost share it as a comment.  Only forward a link if:  You have personally verified it by consuming and following the content. Don't simply forward an email you found in your inbox or on social media.  It's free. Free means without restrictions, without limitations, and without having to take any action to use the content.  It is about technology (broadly speaking).  It's in English.  It's Legit. Follow This, That and Maybe , the Other:

Great technology links - Great learning at zero cost - November 2023

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Computers and the Internet Type: Training https://www.khanacademy.org/computing/computers-and-internet Khan Academy is a non-profit organisation that produces multimedia lessons covering mathematics, science, economics, life skills, languages, and many other subjects. It also offers courses from partner sites. The lessons on Khan Academy are aimed at both students and adults. For students, the content is classified based on the US education system. Khan Academy was founded in the early 2000s by Sal Khan. He started tutoring his cousin in math. Eventually, Khan made the lessons available on YouTube. The Computers and the Internet module consists of five units, each broken down into short modules. Those who take the course earn master points. Snap! Type: Programming https://snap.berkeley.edu/ Snap! is a graphical programming language for both children and adults. Snap! uses coloured j

The Benefits of AWS DirectConnect

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AWS DirectConnect enables organisations to establish dedicated and private network connections between their data centre and AWS Availability Zones. This service provides a secure, reliable, and high-bandwidth connection, creating a direct, Point-To-Point (PTP) link between the organisation and AWS. Without DirectConnect, data would have to be transmitted over the public internet. This adds an added risk that organisations may want to avoid. Without AWS DirectConnect: The organisation would have had to expose its data centres via public IP addresses because connectivity to AWS would take place over the internet. On the public internet there may be nodes that operate the harvest-now, decrypt-in-the-future surveillance strategy that relies on the acquisition and long-term storage of currently unreadable encrypted data awaiting possible breakthroughs in decryption technology that would render it readable in the future. When using the public internet, the maximum possible perfo

How Software Obsolescence Impacts Organisations

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Any organisation that uses software must deal with the topic of software obsolescence. Irrespective of whether end users interact directly with it or if it is embedded within a device, the day will come when the software is outdated and no longer supported. Software obsolescence happens because of technological, functional, regulatory, and security factors, or a combination of them. Organisations mature and evolve through mergers, acquisitions, organic growth, and changes in company direction. Each one of these adds systems that will someday become obsolete. Ignoring software obsolescence has consequences, namely: Security risks: Outdated software is more likely to have known security vulnerabilities that can be exploited by attackers. Compliance risks: Organisations that use outdated software may be in violation of government regulations. Performance issues: Outdated software may not run as efficiently as newer software and may not be compatible with newer hardware. Compatibilit

TT(M)O logo and amination sequence

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This, That and (Maybe) , the Other   has a new logo and animation. The shorthand version TT (O) M. Hope you like it.   Follow This, That and Maybe , the Other:

A brief history of Open-source Software and how you can be part of the action

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The journey In the 1950s and 1960s, computer systems came bundled with source code that had to be compiled. Because of the high acquisition and operation costs of computers, only universities and large companies could afford them. These same entities had the resources to find and fix bugs in the code and add functionality to meet their needs. Rather than keep these changes close to their chests, a sense of community emerged wherein the source code with code adjustments was shared with others. The idea lies in the sharing of knowledge. As the number of users and the contributions increased, it became necessary to catalogue and coordinate these contributions, and repositories were created. These repositories allowed users to search for code that added new functionality or corrected a bug. The community would iteratively take the code and compile it on their systems. If they improved the code, they would upload these improvements to the repositories, benefiting others. Placing code in t

Amazon Polly

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Amazon Polly is a TTS (Text-to-Speech) service that, according to Amazon, uses deep learning. The GUI interface is straightforward; one selects one of the two engines, Neural or Standard. Neural is more human sounding. Languages and voices can vary depending on the engine. Voices reflect the dialect, register, and jargon that are typical for a region or country. For example, under English, there are Australian, British, Indian, Irish, New Zealand, South African, US, and Welsh variations. Once the language is selected, the Voice drop down list is populated with available voices for that language. As with languages, certain voices are only available for a particular engine. Voices vary in pitch, loudness, speed, and tonality to simulate different ages and sexes. These controls make it possible to generate speech as a young girl or an old man. There is an option to enable Speech Synthesis Markup Language (SSML) to fine-tune the generated output. Amazon supports a subset of the W3C SS

Great technology links - Great learning at zero cost - October 2023

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Azure Fundamentals AZ-900 Complete Course   Type: Course   https://marczak.io/az-900/ The Microsoft Azure AZ-900 is the first step towards a career in Microsoft Azure. This website contains the entire course, including video tutorials, cheat sheets, study aids, and practise tests. The first seven episodes are excellent as a general introduction to Cloud concepts. Following that, the focus shifts more towards Microsoft's own Cloud solution. This course is ideal for anyone interested in learning about the cloud, learning about Microsoft Azure, or comparing Azure options to AWS services. This course is three years old. Anyone planning to take the AZ-900 examinations should be informed that the course curriculum has changed. TechDirt   Type:  Podcast    https://www.techdirt.com/edition/podcast/ This podcast is for you if you're interested in legislative technology policy and politics surrounding issues like the US's 26-word Section 230, EU legi