Using a querystring parameter to identify recipients of an email is not new or news worthy.

I know people have differing opinions on Java but I used the book 'Objects First with Java: A Practical Introduction Using BlueJ' when I began programming, it starts with the basics and is very easy to follow. BlueJ is also an excellent IDE for teaching/learning programming, although not useful for any real software projects and you are likely to want to move on to a proper IDE such as Eclipse or Neatbeans. Java is the only language I have learnt from a book, all other languages I have learnt from following documentation, googling problems, and posting on StackOverflow.

Upon finishing secondary school in 2006, I don't recall having being taught anything other than how to use Microsoft Office.

Isn't this just basic mathematics? Surely most children know that if you increase the number on the right hand side of a multiplication by one, the end result increases by the left hand side.