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Appena jdoqqu l-4.30 p.m. jasal mix-xogħol iz-ziju Willie. L-ewwel ma tkun tistennieh hi ‘Funny’il-kelba taz-ziju Dward. Appena f’dak il-ħin dejjem tisma’l-istess marċmilitari fuq ir-Rediffusion; magħrufa bħala r-Rediffusion March, tibda tferfer denbha u tmur dritt quddiem l-antiporta.

Iz-ziju Willie għandu uniformi. Jaħdem mar-Royal Electrical & Mechanical Engineers (REME). Filgħodu joħroġkmieni iżda ma jdumx ma jiġi d-dar. Jasal ftit wara li nispiċċa jien mill-iskola.

Iz-ziju Willie minn dejjem kien kapaċi jagħmel dak kollu li jara. Mill-bitħa saqqaf parti u għamel workshop. Fih hemm ħafna partijiet ta’karozza. Steering, sparking plugs, swiċċijiet, fanali bix-xibka quddiem, ċineg u wkoll ħames roti kbar.

In-nanna Alice u z-zija Connie jgħidu li darba z-ziju Willie għaqqad karozza f’din il-kamra. Għamilha taħdem iżda ma setgħetx toħroġfit-triq, għax il-bibien tal-kmamar huma iżgħar minnha. Iżda għamilha biex jara jirnexxilux iħaddimha. U rnexxielu.

Ix-xogħol tal-injam hu l-aktar li jħobb jagħmel. Minn kemm in-nannu ilu bil-ħanut, iz-ziju Willie qed jagħmel ġugarelli tal-injam il-ġmiel tagħhom. Jagħmel forom ta’tfal jew ta’annimali mill-plywood, li jaqtagħhom bl-arkett, imbagħad, separatament, jagħmel is-saqajn, li jwaħħalhom u jirribattihom b’wajer tal-inxir mal-aljetta; jorbothom fuq pjattaforma  tal-injam li jaħdmilha r-roti fuq it-torn u meta torbotha bi spaga u tmexxiha il-forma jew forom jibdew jiċċaqilqu. Dawn jiġu ferm isbaħwara li jiżbogħhom b’żebgħa taż-żejt. Lili dejjem jagħtini wieħed li jkun jogħġobni.

Il-lum se jagħmel xi ħaġa differenti. Iridni ngħinu. Fit-terrazzin tellajna l-primus, patalott taż-żebgħa u gradjol (qisu kaldarun) itqal minni. Fil-gradjol qed idewweb iċ-ċomb.

Jien qed innaddaflu żewġnofsijiet ta’forom tas-suldati. Hu jorbothom flimkien bil-clips.  Xħin idub iċ-ċomb, iridni nersaq minn maġenbu. Itella’ċ-ċomb bil-kuċċarun li għandu speċi ta’żennuna, u jferra’minn ġenb li qiegħed apposta f’tarf tal-forom. It-tużżana forom li għandu, fosthom ta’annimali, siġar, suldati u footballers, nimlewhom kollha. Meta l-forom jiksħu u jaqlagħhom minn ma’xulxin joħorġu l-mudelli jleqqu taċ-ċomb.

Bħalma jagħmel bil-ġugarelli tal-injam, iz-ziju Willie joqgħod jiżbogħil-mudelli bi pniezel irqaq. Jaf jagħmel ukoll kaxxi tal-kartun li jiksihom b’karti kkuluriti biex jiġbdu l-għajn. It-tfal iħobbuhom wisq dawn is-suldati u jixtruhom. M’hawn ebda kwalitàoħra mnejn jagħżlu. Suldati kollha xorta għajr għall-kuluri li jagħmlilhom iz-ziju Willie.

Żmien ilu għamel kastell kbir ħafna, xi tliet piedi kwadru. Miżbugħisfar bil-fili tal-ġebel suwed. Ilu ħafna merfugħfuq gwardarobba f’kamra tas-sodda. Naħseb li jew jiswa ħafna flus jew ħadd ma għandu fejn jagħmlu. Tgħidx kemm ili nitlobhulu. Qatt ma jgħidli le. Dejjem “mhux għalissa”.

Iz-ziju Fred jirrakkuntali li meta z-ziju Willie kien żgħir u jara xi ħaġa togħġbu kien jistaqsi “Dik x’inhi, dik għalfejn, dik tihieli”. Illum qed nagħmel bħalu. Flok nitolbu l-kastell, nilgħabha tal-ibleh u nistaqsih dak x’kien, dak x’inhu u biex jagħtihuli. Aktarx li dak il-ħin jew ftakar f’li kien jgħid hu, jew qallu xi ħaġa z-ziju Fred: niżżel il-kastell mnejn kien u tahuli. Kemm iħobbni z-ziju Willie. Issa l-istejjer li nivvinta tas-suldati jkunu ferm isbaħ. Meta d-dar għand in-nanna jiġi xi wieħed jew aktar minn ħuti, nagħmlu ors nilagħbu bis-suldati f’dan il-kastell. Min idaħħalhom f’kamra, min joħroġhom minn oħra taparsi se jagħmlu d-drill u mbagħad naqblu li għandna noħorġuhom għall-ġlied. Il-ħmerija hi li mill-istess ġlied tas-suldati, nispċċaw niġġieldu bejnietna, għax ħadd ma jkun irid li s-suldati tiegħu joħorġu telliefa.

Minħabba f’hekk, u biex ma mmorrux inkissru l-kastell taz-ziju Willie, dan jitteħdilna min-nofs u jerġa’jsib ruħu fil-għoli fejn ma nilħquhx. Hu kastell il-ġmiel tiegħu li jħaddimli l-immaġinazzjoni biex dejjem ninseġstejjer differenti għas-suldati tiegħi.

Awtur: Charles B. Spiteri

Niltaqgħu erbat itfal, jien, Lolly Mizzi, Josette u oħtha Violet Zammit u filgħaxijiet nintasbu fuq xi tarġa tal-bieb ta’barra u noqogħdu nilagħbu flimkien. Logħob sempliċi u taħt il-ħarsien ta’min hu akbar minna.

Mhux dejjem nilagħbu l-istess logħob. Xi minn daqqiet insibu l-ġibs jew xi ġebla li tikteb. Fuq il-bankina npinġu l-passju. Naqtgħu l-morra min jibda. Min jiġi, irid jitfa’l-ġebla fuq l-ewwel numru minn disgħa. Imbagħad naqbżu l-ewwel b’żewġsaqajn; imbagħad fuq waħda; imbagħad fuq tnejn; fuq waħda; fuq tnejn; fuq waħda, u nduru u nerġgħu imorru bl-istess mod sa ma naslu mnejn inkunu bdejna. Fil-ħinijiet li nilagħbu, ma tantx jgħaddu nies minn fuq il-bankina tagħna. U meta jgħaddu, naħseb li jiggustawna nilagħbu tant, li jinżlu din l-imbierka bankina.

F’xi jiem oħra, l-aktar qrib San Martin, nilagħbu bil-ġellewż. Niffurmaw mina b’sugħajna tal-id ix-xellugija. It-tielet subgħa nqegħduh fuq is-subgħa l-werrej u fuqhom nagħmlu ġellewża. Imbagħad inferrxu xi sitt ġellewżiet oħra u nimbuttawhom bħaż-żibeġbl-id il-leminija. Fi tliet imbuttaturi, kull ġellewża mis-sitta jridu jkunu daħlu taħt il-mina mingħajr ma taqa’dik ta’fuq il-wiċċtal-id.

Logħba oħra li kienet toħdilna ftit ħin mhux ħażin kienet ‘Bum bum il-bieb’. Tnejn minna noqogħdu naħa u t-tnejn l-oħra n-naħa l-oħra. Iż-żewġpari noqogħdu id f’id  u nimxu ’l quddiem u lura. L-ewwel tnejn jibdew u l-oħrajn iwieġbu vers kull wieħed: “Bum bum il-bieb, oh ġijo ġijo ġella, bum bum il-bieb oh ġijo kavallier”.

“Min ġie, min ġie, min ġie, oh ġijo ġijo ġella, min ġie, min ġie, min ġie, oh ġijo kavallier”.

“Ġie l-Paxxadore, oh ġijo ġijo ġella, ġie l-Paxxadore, oh ġijo kavallier”.

“X’irid il-Paxxadore, oh ġijo ġijo ġella, xi jrid il-Paxxadore, oh ġijo kavallier”.

“Irid tifel sabiħ, oh ġijo ġijo ġella, irid tifel sabih, oh ġijo kavallier”.

“Min huwa dan it-tifel, oh ġijo ġijo ġella, min huwa dan it-tifel, oh ġijo kavallier”.

“Hu (isemmu l-isem), oh ġijo ġijo ġella, hu (isemmu l-isem), oh ġijo kavallier”.

“X’intuh lil dat-tifel, oh ġijo ġijo ġella, x’intuh lil dan it-tifel, oh ġijo kavallier”.

“Nagħtuh (u nivvintaw xi ħaġa sabiħa), oh ġijo ġijo ġella, nagħtuh (l-oġġett), oħġijo kavallier”.

CU x’aktar għal dat-tifel oh ġijo ġijo ġella, u x’aktar għal dat-tifel oh ġijo kavallier”.

“Nagħtuh xebgħa stanga, oh ġijo ġijo ġella, nagħtuh xebgħa stanga, oh ġijo kavallier”.

U fl-aħħar tintemm bil-kliem “Ħuduh la triduh, għax aħna m’għandniex x’nambuh. L-istess logħba kienet issir għal tifla flok tifel skont il-ftehim tal-par.

Meta nkunu rridu l-kwiet nilagħbu ‘Ara ġejja l-mewt għalik’. Xi ħadd minna joqgħod bilqiegħda fuq tarġa ta’bieb b’rasu baxxuta biex ma jarax. L-oħrajn noqogħdu qaqoċċa u nkantaw flimkien. “Ara ġejja l-mewt għalik, biex tixwik, biex taqlik, ara ġejja, ara waslet, din id-daqqa min tahielek?”U wieħed minna jagħtih daqqa ħafifa.

Naturalment min ikun qala’d-daqqa jrid jaqta’min tahielu, u jekk jagħmel dan jamar penitenza lil min messu. Ġieli nivvintaw penitenza iebsa, bħal inwaqqfu lil xi ħadd biex jgħidilna l-ħin.

Logħba oħra ftit storbjuża kienet tkun ‘Iż-żunżana ddur iddur’. Tlieta minna noqogħdu kokka f’ċirku u l-ieħor jew l-oħra ddur madwarna u tlissen: “Iż-żunżana ddur iddur, fuq il-bejt tal-kaċċatur, meta tasal f’nofs ta’baħar, tagħmel paqq, paqq, pumm.”U min ikun idur, iqiegħed ġebla wara xi ħadd minna t-tlieta. Dan ikun irid jerfagħha, iqum jiġri u f’temp ta’ġirja ta’ċirku wieħed, irid imiss lil min ħallihielu warajh. Jekk le, ikollu jlissen il-kliem hu u jdur warajna flok iż-żunżana.

Meta jibda jidlam sew, Josette u Violet jidħlu d-dar tagħhom biex jorqdu. Jien u Lolly nibqgħu mqajmin u niftiehmu x’kastigi nagħtu l-għada, meta nerġgħu niltaqgħu għal-logħob.

You can easily make and view tracked changes and comments while you work in a document. By default, Microsoft Office Word uses balloons to display deletions, comments, formatting changes, and content that has moved. If you want to see all of your changes inline, you can change settings so that tracked changes and comments display the way you want.

Here are some links for tutorials on how to use track changes.

Track changes while you edit – Word 2007 – Can be used for 2010, very similar

Review, accept, reject and hide tracked changes – Word 2007

Review, accept, reject and hide tracked changes – Word 2010

Part 1 – Tracking Changes in Word 2010 – Document Reviewing Tools

If video is not available, you can view it here.

Part 2 – Tracking Changes in Word 2010 – Document Reviewing Tools

This video cannot be embedded but can be viewed here.

Yvonne Fenech, tfajla tampari li toqgħod faċċata tagħna iżda qatt ma tilgħab ma’ tfal oħra, għadha kif qalgħet tricycle sabiħa ferm. Toqgħod iddur biha fuq il-bankina tagħhom li hi aktar wiesgħa minn tagħna.

Liz-ziju Willie dejjem ngħidlu biex jagħmilli waħda, għax jgħid li mhix diffiċli. Ilbieraħ qbadt miegħu, tant li dejjaqtu. Peress li l-mama’  ta’ Yvonne ġieli toqgħod tkellem lin-nanna u liz-zijiet, iz-ziju Willie talabha tisilfu t-tricycle tat-tifla biex jieħu l-mudell minn fuqha u jagħmilli waħda.

Illum waranofsinhar għandu jmur għaliha. Xħin ġie mix-xogħol erġajt semmejthielu. Kiel u flimkien sejrin għaliha. B’xorti ħażina hemm Yvonne. Naħseb li qed tinduna għal xiex morna u lili qed tħarisli bl-ikreh meta jien qed nitbissmilha.

Is-Sinjura Mer, il-mamà tagħha tidher ġejja timbotta t-tricycle mill-kamra ta’ ġewwa. Yvonne ma tridx li noħduhielha. Tipprova tiġġieled u z-ziju Willie jgħidilha li dalwaqt nagħtuhielha lura. Ma’ dan il-kliem infaqgħet tibki u s-Sinjura Mer kellha taqfilha f’kamra biex nistgħu nieħdu r-rota sad-dar.

Qed infittex karta u lapes. Iz-ziju Willie għandu rutella li qed jieħu l-qisien biha. Fuq il-karta jpinġi l-mudell u jniżżel id-daqsijiet. F’inqas minn kwarta lesta kulma kellu bżonn. Erġajna qsamna t-triq bit-tricycle. Yvonne għadha qed tibki. Tinstema’ minn barra. Miskina. Tort tiegħi. Iżda għaliex għandu jkollha tricycle hi biss?

Xħin iz-ziju Willie ċempel il-qanpiena, ġiet tiġri u l-biki waqaf. Irringrazzjajnieha u morna d-dar. Minn għada t-tricycle se tibda tinħadem. Hekk qed iwegħidni z-ziju Willie.
F’inqas minn ġimgħa għandi t-tricycle jien ukoll. Li steering miżbugħ bil-porporina lewn il-fidda u hi ħamra tgħajjat. Sal-brejkijiet għandi. Kemm jaf jaħdem iz-ziju Willie. Kemm hu bravu! Kulma jara jaf jagħmlu.

Għandi ġenn biex immur dawra biha, l-aktar issa fl-għaxijiet sajfin. Iżda n-nanna ma tridnix noħroġha barra, l-aktar għax ma tridx li jarawha t-tfal li nilgħab magħhom. Mhux biex ma jsuquhiex, iżda biex ma jwebblux lill-ġenituri tagħhom, għax mhux kulħadd jaf kif jagħmilha u z-ziju Willie mhux se joqgħod jagħmel waħda lil kulħadd.

Iz-ziju Fred iwegħidni li jekk immur tajjeb fit-tagħlim tal-iskola joħroġni ftit hu fit-tard. Għalhekk l-iskola qed noqgħod attent aktar mis-soltu. Kif nasal id-dar, l-ewwel ħaġa li nagħmel wara l-ikel hu li nlesti l-homework. Imbagħad nobdi lin-nanna billi mmur nixtrilha l-ħobż. Nitla’ maz-zija Connie s’għand il-mamà u l-papà u seba’ mitt sena biex nerġa’ lura d-dar. Madankollu ma nafx meta z-ziju Fred se jkollu l-aptit li wara l-ikel joħodni għal din id-dawra li semmieli.

Fl-aħħar il-ġurnata waslet. Wara li lestejt l-itinerarju kollu tal-jum, in-nanna qed tistaqsini l-multiplikazzjoni. Nafhom bl-amment. L-aktar tqila hi tad-disgħa. Fl-aħħar sibtilha tarfha wkoll. L-ewwel wieħed disgħa waħdu (9). Tat-tieni, n-numru wieħed quddiem u ta’ warajh wieħed inqas mid-disgħa (18). Tat-tielet, in-numru tnejn quddiem u numru inqas mit-tmienja wara (27). U tibqa’ sejjer hekk, iżżid wieħed minn ta’ quddiem u tnaqqas wieħed minn ta’ wara sad-disa’ multiplikazzjoni.

Ole’. Tajjeb wisq. Iz-ziju Fred joħroġli t-tricycle barra, naqsmu mal-faċċata l-oħra għax il-bankina usa’ u nerħulha bil-mod il-mod sal-flyover tal-Bombi. Qabel nixegħilha l-bozza bil-batterija li z-ziju Willie għamilli fin-nofs, fuq quddiem. Iz-ziju Fred iħallini nġerri ftit basta n-naħa ta’ ġewwa tal-bankina. Jien lanqas ma rrid niġri wisq biha għax għadha ġdida. Bilqiegħda fuqha, qisni qed insuq xi ħaġa kbira.

Imsieken ħuti, dal-ħin naħseb li reqdin. Min jaf kieku qegħdin miegħi! Kieku nħallihom jirkbu wara, basta s-sewwieq inkun jien! Mhux għalija għamilha z-ziju Willie?  

Is-sema ikrah. Skur ħafna. Se tagħmel ix-xita minnmument għall-ieħor. Ma nixtieqx noħroġ nilgħab fit-terrazzin, għalkemm diġà ħriġt biex għalift lit-tiġieg, lill-fniek u lill-ħamiem.

Ġewwa, għalkemm il-kmamar huma kbar, hawn ħafna iktar sħana. U mil-logħob m’jiniex nieqes. Qed nifrex il-kotba tat-tpinġija fuq il-mejda tal-pranzu li għandna fis-sala. Noqgħod inpinġi ftit biex ikolli x’nagħmel.

F’daqqa waħda ragħda u ħoss qawwi ta’ xita nieżla. Ix-xita nħobbha u isbaħ mill-gallarija m’hawnx, fejn nista’ ngawdiha. It-triq tindaf minnkollox. Anki min-nies, li soltu telgħin u neżlin, min għax-xogħol, min għax-xirja u min għal passiġġata. Jidhru biss uħud jiġru bla għata jew b’umbrella fuq rashom.

Il-ftit karozzi li għaddejjin, jisprejjaw l-ilma li jirfsu lejn il-bankini. Fit-triq tagħna, Triq San Ġużepp fil-Blata l-Bajda, il-bankini huma għoljin u ma’ kull naħatat-triq hawn qishom gandotti maċ-ċinta tagħhom, biex l-ilma tax-xita jaqa’ malajr fihom u jmur fil-baħar.

Fil-gallarija, fejn hawn l-iskrivanija taz-ziju Fred hawn mejda ċkejkna li ġieli nagħmel il-homework  fuqha. Din il-gallarija tiġi eżatt fuq il-bieb tal-ħanut tan-nannu. Filgħaxija, in-nannu Karm itella’ miegħu l-gazzetti li ma jkunx biegħ biex imbagħad jagħtihom lil raġel tal-istamperija li jiġi biex jitħallas u jieħu l-gazzetti mhux mibjugħa.

F’jum bħal dan, jien l-għors tiegħi inqatta’ paġna minndin, u oħra mill-oħra bla ma jagħtu fil-għajn. Metanqatta’ xi sitt gazzetti differenti, nintefa’ fuq il-mejda ċ-ċkejkna u nagħmel id-dgħajjes tal-karti. Tgħallimt mill-iskola kif nagħmilhom u għandi żewġ mudelli. Wieħed li d-dgħajsa tiġi kemxejn kbira u l-ieħor tiġi iżgħar bl-istess daqs ta’ karta iżda jkollha żewġ tined fuq kull tarf tad-dgħajsa.

Bħalissa n-nannu żgur ma joħroġx fil-bieb tal-ħanut, għax il-kesħa. Allura bil-mod il-mod niftaħ purtella waħda u b’saħħti kollha nixħet dgħajsa għal taħt il-bankina. Metama jiġux laġenba jkunu sbieħ ‘jaqdfu mat-tranja’ tal-gelgul tal-ilma li jkaxkar kollox mit-triq.

Imbagħad f’daqqa waħda d-dgħajsa ssib l-ewwel gandott. Iddur tnejn fil-kurrent tal-ilma u dritt għal isfel hi wkoll. Waħda waħda nitfa’ s-sitt dgħajjes. Jekk xi waħda ma tiġix fil-gelgul ta’ ilma, nitfa’ oħra u oħra u fl-aħħar noħroġ mid-dar inkiss inkiss biex inqiegħda fl-ilma jien stess.

Metajidlam, jinstama’ leħen ta’ xi ħadd ibigħ. In-nanna tittawwal mill-gallarija. Jien nittawwal ukoll. Raġel qsajjar, bil-qorq għalkemm fix-xita, jiġbed ħmar, li min-naħa tiegħu jiġbed karru bil-wiċċ mgħotti. “Min inbigħlu sfineġ, min inbigħlu bigilla”.

L-ikla tal-lejla hekk se tkun. In-nanna qed tgħidli biex immur nixtri. Sfinġa tal-bakkaljaw, tfuħ immens tliet soldi ’l waħda. B’sikpenz bigilla. timla sjuna mdaqqsa. Sakemm tagħtini l-flus u sjuna, tal-bigilla jilħaq jitbiegħed ġmielu, għax meta ma jwaqqfu ħadd biex jixtri, jibqa’ miexi jgħajjat l-għajta tal-bejgħ.

Metanixtri l-bigilla ngħidlu jitfagħli l-bżar. Dan mhux bħal tad-dar, frak fil-bott, iżda likwidu aħmar nar. Jgħiduli li hu magħmul mill-bżar aħmar. U waħdu tgħidx kemm jaħraq!

Resources for the textbook An Introduction to JAVA Programming

Keyboard Class

import java.io.*;
 public class Keyboard {
     public static String readString() {
         BufferedReader br;
         try {
             br = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(System.in));
             return br.readLine();
         } catch (Exception e) {}
         return null;
     }
     public static int readInt() {
         return Integer.parseInt(readString());
     }
     public static byte readByte() {
         return Byte.parseByte(readString());
     }
     public static short readShort() {
         return Short.parseShort(readString());
     }
     public static long readLong() {
         return Long.parseLong(readString());
     }
     public static float readFloat() {
         return Float.parseFloat(readString());
     }
     public static double readDouble() {
         return Double.parseDouble(readString());
     }
     public static char readChar() {
         return readString().charAt(0);
     }
     public static boolean readBoolean() {
         return Boolean.parseBoolean(readString());
     }
 }

EasyScanner class

import java.util.*;
public class EasyScanner {
    public static int readInt() {
        Scanner sc = new Scanner(System.in);
        int i = sc.nextInt();
        return i;
    }
    public static double readDouble() {
        Scanner sc = new Scanner(System.in);
        double d = sc.nextDouble();
        return d;
    }
    public static String readString() {
        Scanner sc = new Scanner(System.in);
        String s = sc.nextLine();
        return s;
    }
    public static char readChar() {
        Scanner sc = new Scanner(System.in);
        char c = sc.next().charAt(0);
        return c;
    }
}
EasyScanner.java

Appendix 2 – Solutions

2.1   Paper 1 – Type question

• total, num
• for loop
• public, class, int, for

2.2   Paper 2A – Type question

1. A class defines a new data type which once defined can be used to create objects of that type.
2. public class Ellipse { double radius1, radius2;double Calc_Area( ) { return (Math.PI * radius1 * radius2); } }
3. public class Shapes { public static void main (String args[]) {Ellipse e1 = new Ellipse(); Ellipse e2 = new Ellipse();e1.radius1 = 1 + Math.random() * 10; e1.radius2 = 1 + Math.random() * 10; e2.radius1 = 1 + Math.random() * 10; e2.radius2 = 1 + Math.random() * 10;System.out.println(“Ellipse 1 has radii :”+ e1.radius1 +” and ” + e1.radius2); System.out.println(“Ellipse 2 has radii :”+ e2.radius1 +” and ” + e2.radius2);System.out.println(“The area of Ellipse 1 is : ” + e1.Calc_Area()); System.out.println(“The area of Ellipse 2 is : ” + e2.Calc_Area()); } }

2.3   Paper 2B – Type question

1. A class defines a new data type which once defined can be used to create objects of that type.
2. public class Square { int length; void displayArea() { System.out.println(“Area of Square : ” + (length*length)); } void displayPerimeter() { System.out.println(“Perimiter of Square : ” + (4 * length)); } }
3. public class Shapes { public static void main (String args[]) { Square s = new Square(); s.length = 5; s.displayArea(); s.displayPerimeter(); } }

Download files (see contents of zip file below)

Code shown above

KeyboardClass.java KeyboardClass.class EasyScanner.class

Solution 1

Time.java

Solution 2

Numbers.java

Solution 3

Pizza.java

Solution 4

Calc.java UseCalc.java

Solution 5

BMI.java

Solution 6

Circle.java useCircle.java

For the past couple of years the National Library of Malta has been hosting a series of lectures, generally of historical interest, within its magnificent reading room.  These lectures are always a pleasure to attend and have always been highly interesting.

The recent lecture by Robert Thake, a final year law student at the University of Malta, entitled ‘Censoring nationalism in eighteenth-century Malta: Agius de Soldanis and Acciard’s Mustafà Bassà di Rodi’, was no different.  The library reading room was packed, with a large number of people standing in the back.  Despite the fact that the lecture actually lasted twenty five minutes more than it was meant to, the audience appeared to be captivated and demonstrated no signs of boredom, rather the contrary.  Indeed, the lecture, which concerned the publication of a highly controversial and extremely rare book on Malta, was very well delivered, highly illustrated and genuinely gripping, with a number of related documents housed within the library being brought out and displayed to give the lecture a more tangible feel.  The book in question, entitled Mustafa Bassa di Rodi, was printed in Naples in 1751 and despite being printed under the name ‘Michele Acciard’ has always been attributed to the Gozitan historian and patriot Francesco Agius de Soldanis. 

The lecture was accompanied by the publication of Robert Thake’s first book‘Patriotism, Deception and Censorship: De Soldanis and the 1751 Account of the Uprising of the Slaves’ which examines every aspect of the book from its publication in January 1751.  Patriotism, Deception and Censorship takes the reader through the various stages of the publication of Mustafa Bassa di Rodi, and outlines in great detail the contents of the publication, pointing out the numerous seditious and offensive statements which led to its swift and merciless destruction at the hands of Grand Master Pinto.  Apart from questioning the abilities of the Grand Master to rule his Island, the author of Mustafa Bassa di Rodi challenged the legitimacy of the Order’s occupation of Malta citing the Privileges granted unto the Maltese population by King Alfonso of Spain to justify his stance.  Following the publication of the book, both de Soldanis and Michele Acciard were subjected to rigorous judicial trials in Rome and Naples respectively.  The book was hunted down and destroyed, however, much to the Grand Master’s dismay, Michele Acciard and de Soldanis were both found innocent and released. 

Through this publication, Robert Thake also brings to light a number of previously unpublished manuscripts and pamphlets, including two manuscripts written by de Soldanis himself.  Thake also uncovered new editions of Mustafa Bassa di Rodi, and examines a pair of mysterious clandestine manuscripts of Mustafa Bassa di Rodi, probably written due to the lack of availability of the actual book itself. 

Throughout the centuries, Mustafa Bassa di Rodi has proved to be fertile ground for speculation, however, thanks to Robert Thake’s book ‘Patriotism, Deception and Censorship: De Soldanis and the 1751 Account of the Uprising of the Slaves’, this question may be put to rest once and for all.

Malti Aħjar bi Sforzi Żgħar! Ktieb tat-Taħriġ

Charles Daniel Saliba, BDL 2012, pp. 88
ISBN: 978-99957-733377
Price: €7.75

Charles Daniel Saliba has also launched his latest book on the Maltese language. This one, featuring the latest developments in Maltese orthography, is aimed at self-learners who want to bring their knowledge up to date and to improve their grammar and spelling. It is the companion workbook for the pocketsize Malti Aħjar bi Sforzi Żgħar! (Small Effort, Better Maltese!), whose reprint is released at the same time. Multi-topic worksheets and exercises help learners improve proficiency by brushing up their Maltese grammar while learning the new spelling rules. The author is a Maltese language teacher who has taught all MATSEC levels, so he knows where students find difficulties and has designed practical exercises to help them: specific and general exercises on different aspects of the Maltese language; exercises on Deċiżjonijiet 1, the new orthographic regulations published by the National Council for the Maltese Language; three Maltese language proficiency exams; creative revision exercises and games like crosswords and snakes and ladders; and advice on writing and examples of essays, formal and informal letters, emails, circulars and memos. All the answers are in the back of the book.This book is now available in bookshops.

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John J. Camilleri

I’ve been asked many times how to enter Maltese characters on a computer – i.e. ċĊ, ġĠ, ħĦ and żŻ.

It turns out there’s a lot of misconceptions out there, and many people think that typing Maltese and other non-Latin characters requires a special keyboard and/or specially installed fonts. This is completely not true, and all users with a moderately modern computer are able to enter such characters by simply adding a selecting a different keyboard layout from their OS.

If you just want to see the steps for setting up and/or selecting a different keyboard layout on your device, click here.

“Maltese Fonts” and why they’re such a bad idea

A few years ago, everyone thought these so-called “Maltese Fonts” were the solution to entering Maltese characters into your computer. These fonts are just copies of the usual fonts we all know (Arial, Times etc) but with certain characters redrawn, such that when you type a [ it is displayed as a ġ, } becomes Ħ and so on. Now if all you’re doing is typing into a word processor and printing directly from the same computer, the solution seems to work.

But what happens if you want to send a Maltese document to someone who doesn’t have these fonts installed? Well, they will still be able to open the document, but in place of the proper Maltese characters they would see different punctuation symbols. So the phrase Għażiż Ċali would become something like:

G]ai `ali

People just accepted this, and would say to each other “you need to install the Maltese fonts in order to read the document”. But, it gets worse. What if you’re entering text somewhere which doesn’t allow you to change fonts? I you were filling in a form on  a web page or even writing an email, you would just forget the use of Maltese characters altogether.

To summarise, “Maltese Fonts” are a very short-sighted and inelegant solution. Thankfully, due to a little something called Unicode, all modern computers today will allow you to enter (and read) Maltese and other non-Latin characters, simply by changing your keyboard layout settings (see below).

“Maltese Keyboards” and why you don’t need one (but might still want one)

Another misconception I’ve heard is that in order to enter Maltese characters, you require special hardware — i.e. a “Maltese Keyboard”. This is not true, because all a Maltese keyboard really is is a standard US/UK keyboard with different symbols printed on the keys. Circuitry-wise, everything else is identical. In fact any keyboard can be used to enter any type of character, simply by changing your computer settings.

However, that being said, users may find that having a Maltese keyboard is helpful since they don’t need to remember that they need to press the [ button to produce a ġ and so on.

You can view original article by John J. Camilleri here.