world refuses to lose?

world refuses to lose?
Following the capture of Palmyra by Daesh in May of this year, historian Tom Holland wrote that ‘to mutilate a country’s past is to cripple its future.’ Following this argument, the imminent destruction of one of the most spectacular Greco-Roman ruins in the Middle East would not be mere collateral damage, but would have long-term repercussions for generations to come. In August and October, fears were confirmed with the explosive demolition of Palmyra’s Temple of Baalshamin (and later the Arch of Triumph),

 just days after Daesh publicly beheaded the site’s antiquities director. Satellite images and photographic evidence supplied by the extremist group reduced the 2,000-year-old structure to a pile of rubble. And yet, weighed up against loss of life and that of entire communities, reports on material destruction seem to fall flat. But can the plight of civilians be separated so rigidly from their cultural heritage? Are we overlooking the many forms that violence can take when it comes to terrorism?

The destruction joins a long list of obliterated ancient sites and symbols that once epitomised the Middle East’s pre-Islamic cultural heritage and diversity. Similar historical sites and artefacts in Iraq have been targeted this year, justified by Daesh in their fight against ‘idolatry’ and the upholding of their fundamentalist interpretation of Islamic law. Researchers and activists also point towards the incentive of a large financial gain and the profit of the looted antiquities and relics. January witnessed the central library of Mosul ransacked and thousands of books burnt; in February, Daesh demolished masses of ancient artefacts at the city’s central museum; in March, a video emerged showing jihadists blowing up the 3,000-year-old Assyrian city of Nimrud; in April, footage was broadcast in April depicting militants violently damaging Iraq’s ancient city of Hatra with sledgehammers and assault rifles. Such calculated and personal destruction of beautiful wall structures and statues, bit by bit, makes for painful viewing.

Yet while 2015 appears to have witnessed an unprecedented scale of destruction, vandalism of cultural heritage is nothing new. The erasure of the past in order to legitimise a current regime is an act that has been carried out in varying levels throughout history.. Famously, the Library of Alexandria (Egypt) was one of the most significant libraries of the ancient world, until its destruction by fire and the loss of an incalculable mass of cultural knowledge. Opinions vary, but many sources seem to corroborate a fire set by Julius Caesar during his siege of Alexandria in 48 BC. Socrates of Constantinople later writes of the elimination of all pagan temples in the same city, around AD 391. Clearly, the destruction of cultural monuments dates back a long way, often perpetrated in the midst of war and in the name of religious extremism.

Even today, Daesh is not a sole player in its attempted eradication of any memory and history at odds with its own ideologies. Since 1985 especially, fast-paced and ongoing demolition of sites associated with early Islam is commonplace in Saudi Arabia. Today, the government’s planned expansion of Mecca’s Grand Mosque has led to the obliteration of surrounding eighth-century marble columns and arched porticos, as well as the extensive destruction of multiple mosques and key sites dating from the time of Muhammad. When compared with widespread responses of international indignation to Daesh’s movements in Iraq and Syria (as well as similar condemnation in other countries, such as when the Taliban blew up the Bamiyan Buddhas in Afghanistan in 2001), Western reaction to Saudi Arabia’s state-sponsored destructive activity has been noticeably absent.

Extensive media coverage of Palmyra, along with the UN announcing the Temple’s destruction as a ‘war crime’, resulted in some people declaring the absurdity of such grief over material loss in the face of much greater attacks on and disruption of human life. Yet why does it have to be an either/or matter? If there’s a question of coverage deficiency on Daesh’s brutal massacres in the Middle East, or a rather Eurocentric media output in the West (which is certainly an issue), we have a problem that needs to be dealt with in its own right. The answer is not to decrease other avenues of media representation on issues such as the destruction of Palmyra, but to raise awareness of all of Daesh’s crimes to the same necessary level and quality of discussion.

Although Daesh’s campaign against ancient history is not a direct assault on human life, it is an assault on human culture and the nature of this unique civilisation. It is an assault on thousands of years of preservation, care, creativity, and worship. As Holland goes on to argue, it’s not just a matter of preserving the past: ‘When, in due course, the killing stops, the blood dries, and the Syrian people attempt to refashion something out of the rubble to which their land has been reduced, they will need symbols.’ The destruction of these sites and artefacts is as important for the future as it is for the past.

However, as Daesh continues to threaten centuries of historical symbolism and achievement, changes are being implemented to conserve and make known some of the greatest historical wonders of the world, wonders that do still exist. Efforts at conservation and chronicling of cultural heritage is an outlet for solidarity in the face of terrorism, for revival in the face of destruction, for cultural appreciation in the face of cultural vandalism. One detrimental impact of war in the Middle East has been a huge hit to tourism and an obstacle to cultural awareness and enjoyment of one of the most historically rich regions in the world. Hope comes from an unlikely source

Just last month, Google Street View expanded its coverage to the ancient archaeological site of Petra (and twenty-nine other sites across Jordan), allowing history enthusiasts to enjoy a narrated tour of the ruin’s extensive tombs, sites and amphitheatres with a click of their keyboard. The launch joins a number of ‘world wonders’ already viewable from Google, such as the temples of Angkor in Cambodia and the ruins of Pompeii. Although concerns over virtual tourism are not lost on me – certainly ‘travel’ of this type is not going to generate much local revenue –, the move has been hailed by many as a new era of accessible cultural knowledge for all,

 especially when tourism in many of these areas has dwindled in recent years due to increasing conflict. Advocates of such technology also point out damage in the past caused by the thousands of tourists visiting sites like Petra every day. Is technology and highly-advanced cyber-viewing a new way of promoting both the preservation and accessibility of history?

While I’m not sure that the long-term vision of allowing tourists to explore the world from their armchairs is particularly wise, I’m inclined to think that the temporary virtual exploration of sites either threatened by future destruction or rendered unvisitable by violence in the Middle East could be a good thing. Stories of violent destruction and inhumanity are so unrelenting that the rich abundance of culture and history hidden within the borders of war-torn countries tends to be overlooked. Failing to value their heritage would be adding to the existing tragedy. We should look forward to a time in which computer-simulation of tourism becomes unnecessary –
but, for now, technology and history seem to be improbable allies banding together in defiance of a common enemy....

New Year, New You In College

 How to Start Off the Semester 

For many students, the New Year marks an opportunity for a fresh start. Whether your life could benefit from increased productivity and organization, or just a general sense of change, here are several ideas to help you start the New Year on the best possible note.

Establish a routine

If your goals for the New Year include a boost in productivity, consider strengthening your organizational skills first. Establishing great habits early in the spring term can also help you lower your stress levels come final exam time.

Purchase a planner and write in it as much as possible. Record every task that you must complete—homework and project due dates, household chores, upcoming concerts, work shifts, etc. Listing your obligations and events in one place can help you prepare for each week, and you can also avoid overbooking yourself.

Remember to set aside time for extracurricular activities and relaxation, but aim to over-estimate the amount of studying you will do each week. Many people find that it feels fantastic to sit down and finish the day’s work well before the end of their scheduled review session. Routine can ease the weight of heavy workloads, so when the end-of-term crunch sets in, you will already be in the habit of chipping away at your scholarly to-do list every day.

Focus on your extracurriculars

It’s also worthwhile to set extracurricular goals. After all, it’s important to live a balanced life! Endeavor to earn a faster mile time than you ever have before or finally put your idea for a short story down on paper. You can also join a new club to broaden your interests and social circles. The most difficult moments of your semester will be less draining if another activity exists to take your mind off of school from time to time.

Reflect on the previous year

Last, use the New Year as a chance to reflect. Implementing new strategies for success is only half the story of positive change—the other half involves reinforcing those habits that have been working thus far. Look back, and try to identify the study habits, routines, and other aspects of life that contributed to your success over the past year.

Keep them in mind when the challenges of the New Year present themselves. If it helped to eat a small meal before exams, keep doing so. If studying before bed worked better for you than studying in the afternoon, plan your review sessions accordingly. If rewarding yourself with a trip to the movies after finishing an important paper rejuvenated you, search for show times between your final revisions.

Similarly, reflection can present a chance to spot the habits that were not successful, and you can then minimize these occurrences in your life. Procrastinating on papers until the last possible moment is one common example. It can be difficult to leave these routines behind, but the New Year is your opportunity to aim for the best you.

With the successes of the past year in mind, as well as a desire to curb harmful habits and to seize the wonderful opportunities that present themselves, the New Year will be your best yet

History of SeaWorld

SeaWorld’s long-standing history dates back to the early 1960’s, when four graduates of UCLA originally had the idea to construct an underwater restaurant. When those plans were eventually deemed unfeasible for construction purposes, they decided to go another route and open up a marine zoological park. Thus, SeaWorld was born.

The first SeaWorld was not built in Orlando, but actually in San Diego, Calif. With an initial investment of only .5 million dollars, SeaWorld San Diego opened on March 21, 1964 with only 45 employees, several dolphins, sea lions and two seawater aquariums. The park was an instant success, drawing in over 400,000 visitors its first year alone. Four years later, in 1968, SeaWorld offered its stock publicly, enabling the company to further its growth opportunities. Soon after, in 1970, a second SeaWorld park opened in Aurora, Ohio, near Cleveland. Then, when Walt Disney World opened in Central Florida during SeaWorld Ohio’s second season of operation, Orlando immediately became the top choice for a third SeaWorld theme park. While SeaWorld Ohio was only a seasonally-operated park because of its climate, a new year-round park, SeaWorld Orlando, opened in 1973 to instant success, much like its predecessors.

While SeaWorld is now under the realm of Anheuser-Busch, that wasn’t always the case. William Jovanovich, who owned the publishing company Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, or HBJ, bought out the SeaWorld chain for just .7 million dollars in 1976. But soon after, HBJ became the target of large companies who were poised for a takeover, which led to an increased amount of debt for the company.
HBJ began selling off its assets, but maintained that its theme park division was not for sale, even solidifying that by opening up SeaWorld’s largest theme park in 1988 in San Antonio, Texas. But continued budget concerns forced layoffs at the SeaWorld parks, and when Jovanovich retired in December of 1988, his replacement, Ralph D. Caulo, restructured the company and sold the theme park division to Anheuser-Busch, which placed the four SeaWorld theme parks under its subsidiary, the Busch Entertainment Corporation. The BEC had originally entered the theme park market in 1959 with the opening of Busch Gardens in Tampa, Fla. 

Busch immediately began to sink millions into its new theme parks, including expanding SeaWorld Orlando, adding thrill rides and a brand new Shamu stadium, along with other areas and programs. Discovery Cove opened under the BEC in 2000, and on March 6, 2007, plans were also announced to build a water park that only SeaWorld could build, Aquatica. Aquatica was opened on March 1, 2008, here in Orlando,
Florida. Anheuser-Busch sold SeaWorld Ohio to Six Flags in 2001, but the three remaining parks are still committed to SeaWorld’s founding principles, which are quality in the areas of education, entertainment, research and conservation. They are also accredited by the American Zoo and Aquarium Association (AZA), a recognition that means that these facilities have achieved high levels of animal husbandry technique, medical care and management competence in their zoological exhibition, collections, public education and park operations.

History of C++ Info

During the 60s,
while computers were still in an early stage of development, many new programming languages appeared. Among them, ALGOL 60, was developed as an alternative to FORTRAN but taking from it some concepts of structured programming which would later inspire most procedural languages, such as CPL and its succesors (like C++). ALGOL 68 also directly influenced the development of data types in C. Nevertheless ALGOL was an non-specific language and its abstraction made it impractical to solve most commercial tasks.

In 1963 the CPL (Combined Programming language) appeared with the idea of being more specific for concrete programming tasks of that time than ALGOL or FORTRAN. Nevertheless this same specificity made it a big language and, therefore, difficult to learn and implement.

In 1967, Martin Richards developed the BCPL (Basic Combined Programming Language), that signified a simplification of CPL but kept most important features the language offered. Although it too was an abstract and somewhat large language.

In 1970, Ken Thompson, immersed in the development of UNIX at Bell Labs, created the B language. It was a port of BCPL for a specific machine and system (DEC PDP-7 and UNIX), and was adapted to his particular taste and necessities. The final result was an even greater simplification of CPL, although dependent on the system. It had great limitations, like it did not compile to executable code but threaded-code, which generates slower code in execution, and therefore was inadequate for the development of an operating system. Therefore, from 1971, Dennis Ritchie, from the Bell Labs team, began the development of a B compiler which, among other things, was able to generate executable code directly. This "New B", finally called C, introduced in addition, some other new concepts to the language like data types (char).

In 1973, Dennis Ritchie, had developed the basis of C. The inclusion of types, its handling, as well as the improvement of arrays and pointers, along with the later demonstrated capacity of portability without becoming a high-level language, contributed to the expansion of the C language. It was established with the book "The C Programming Language" by Brian Kernighan and Dennis Ritchie, known as the White Book, and that served as de facto standard until the publication of formal ANSI standard (ANSI X3J11 committee) in 1989.

In 1980, Bjarne Stroustrup, from Bell labs, began the development of the C++ language, that would receive formally this name at the end of 1983, when its first manual was going to be published. In October 1985, the first commercial release of the language appeared as well as the first edition of the book "The C++ Programming Language" by Bjarne Stroustrup.

During the 80s, the C++ language was being refined until it became a language with its own personality. All that with very few losses of compatibility with the code with C, and without resigning to its most important characteristics. In fact, the ANSI standard for the C language published in 1989 took good part of the contributions of C++ to structured programming.

From 1990 on, ANSI committee X3J16 began the development of a specific standard for C++. In the period elapsed until the publication of the standard in 1998, C++ lived a great expansion in its use and today is the preferred language to develop professional applications on all platforms.

C++ has been evolving, and a new version of the standard, c++0x, is being developed to be published soon, with several new features.

A Brief History of Computers and Networks,

                                                  Part II
In 1943 development begins on the Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer (ENIAC) in earnest at Penn State. Designed by John Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert of the Moore School, they get help from John von Neumann and others. In 1944, the Havard Mark I is introduced. Based on a series of proposals from Howard Aiken in the late 1930's, the Mark I computes complex tables for the U.S. Navy. It uses a paper tape to store instructions and Aiken hires Grace Hopper("Amazing Grace") as one of three programmers working on the machine. Thomas J. Watson Sr. plays a pivotal role involving his company, IBM, in the machine's development.
Early in 1945, with the Mark I stopped for repairs, Hopper notices a moth in one of the relays, possibly causing the problem. From this day on, Hopper refers to fixing the system as "debugging". The same year Von Neumann proposes the concept of a "stored program" in a paper that is never officially published.
Work completes on ENIAC in 1946. Although only three years old the machine is woefully behind on technology, but the inventors opt to continue while working on a more modern machine, the EDVAC. Programming ENIAC requires it to be rewired. A later version eliminates this problem. To make the machine appear more impressive to reporters during its unveiling, a team member (possibly Eckert) puts translucent spheres(halved ping pong balls) over the lights. The US patent office will later recognize this as the first computer.
The next year scientists employed by Bell Labs complete work on the transistor (John Bardeen, Walter Brattain and William Shockley receive the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1956), and by 1948 teams around the world work on a "stored program" machine. The first, nicknamed "Baby", is a prototype of a much larger machine under construction in Britain and is shown in June 1948.
The impetus over the next 5 years for advances in computers is mostly the government and military. UNIVAC, delivered in 1951 to the Census Bureau, results in a tremendous financial loss to its manufacturer, Remington-Rand. The next year Grace Hopper, now an employee of that company proposes "reuseable software," code segments that could be extracted and assembled according to instructions in a "higher level language." The concept of compiling is born. Hopper would revise this concept over the next twenty years and her ideas would become an integral part of all modern computers. CBS uses one of the 46 UNIVAC computers produced to predict the outcome of the 1952 Presidential Election. They do not air the prediction for 3 hours because they do not trust the machine.

Small portion of the IBM 701 Courtesy IBM

IBM introduces the 701 the following year. It is the first commercially successful computer. In 1956 FORTRAN is introduced(proposed 1954, it takes nearly 3 years to develop the compiler). Two additional languages, LISP and COBOL, are added in 1957 and 1958. Other early languages include ALGOL and BASIC. Although never widely used, ALGOL is the basis for many of today's languages.
With the introduction of Control Data's CDC1604 in 1958, the first transistor powered computer, a new age dawns. Brilliant scientist Seymour Cray heads the development team. This year integrated circuits are introduced by two men, Jack Kilby and John Noyce, working independently. The second network is developed at MIT. Over the next three years computers begin affecting the day-to-day lives of most Americans. The addition of MICR characters at the bottom of checks is common.
In 1961 Fairchild Semiconductor introduces the integrated circuit. Within ten years all computers use these instead of the transistor. Formally building sized computers are now room-sized, and are considerably more powerful. The following year the Atlas becomes operational, displaying many of the features that make today's systems so powerful including virtual memory, pipeline instruction execution and paging. Designed at the University of Manchester, some of the people who developed Colossus thirty years earlier make contributions.
On April 7, 1964, IBM introduces the System/360. While a technical marvel, the main feature of this machine is business oriented...IBM guarantees the "upward compatibility" of the system, reducing the risk that a business would invest in outdated technology. Dartmouth College, where the first network was demonstrated 25 years earlier, moves to the forefront of the "computer age" with the introduction of TSS(Time Share System) a crude(by today's standards) networking system. It is the first Wide Area Network. In three years Randy Golden, President and Founder of Golden Ink, would begin working on this network.
Within a year MIT returns to the top of the intellectual computer community with the introduction of a greatly refined network that features shared resources and uses the first minicomputer(DEC's PDP-8) to manage telephone lines. Bell Labs and GE play major roles in its design.
In 1969 Bell Labs, unhappy with the direction of the MIT project, leaves and develops its own operating system, UNIX. One of the many precursors to today's Internet, ARPANet, is quietly launched. Alan Keys, who will later become a designer for Apple, proposes the "personal computer." Also in 1969, unhappy with Fairchild Semiconductor, a group of technicians begin discussing forming their own company. This company, formed the next year, would be known as Intel. The movie Colossus:The Forbin Project has a supercomputer as the villain. Next year, The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes was the first feature length movie with the word computer in the title. In 1971, Texas Instruments introduces the first "pocket calculator." It weighs 2.5 pounds.

With the country embroiled in a crisis of confidence known as Watergate, in 1973 a little publicized judicial decision takes the patent for the computer away from Mauchly and Eckert and awards it to Atanasoff. Xerox introduces the mouse. Proposals are made for the first local area networks.
In 1975 the first personal computer is marketed in kit form. The Altair features 256 bytes of memory. Bill Gates, with others, writes a BASIC compiler for the machine. The next year Apple begins to market PC's, also in kit form. It includes a monitor and keyboard. The earliest RISC platforms become stable. In 1976, Queen Elizabeth goes on-line with the first royal email message.

During the next few years the personal computer explodes on the American scene. Microsoft, Apple and many smaller PC related companies form (and some die). By 1977 stores begin to sell PC's. Continuing today, companies strive to reduce the size and price of PC's while increasing capacity. Entering the fray, IBM introduces it's PC in 1981(it's actually IBM's second attempt, but the first failed miserably). Time selects the computer as its Man of the Year in 1982. Tron, a computer-generated special effects extravaganza is released the same year.

K2 Dream of a 2004 season

K2 North: a Dream of a 2004 season, with a few “clouds”

Even on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the first climb of K2, the mountain continues to live up to expectations as a mountain of no compromises and no gifts!

After 3 years when not a single climber was able to reach the summit of the mountain (the last being Jose Antonio Garces on July 22, 2001 by way of the Abruzzi Spur), the 2004 season has seen no less than 43 summits to date (all from the south side) [this was before yesterday]. An absolute record – never before have there been this many successful summits achieved in a single season, especially when one realizes that in total, including this year – there have only been 241.

It is a record for the number of Italian climbers on the summit this year: 11 total, 5 on the K2 – 2004 – 50 years later team, (all summiting without oxygen). Of these 11, Silvio Mondinelli and Karl Unterkircher were the first two Italians to summit since Hans Kammerlander did so on July 22, 2001.

All of this occurred in a year which initially presented itself as one of the worst in terms of weather, at least until the last days of July. This too would have been a record: 200 climbers and no less than 11 expeditions on the south side.

On the north side of the mountain, only two expeditions were present: the Korean, which concluded tragically with the death of three climbers, and the Italian K2-2004 team, attempting the North Corner route, which was climbed originally in 1996 by an international expedition guided by Krzysztof Wielicki, who reached the summit with two other Russians, an American and the Italians Marco Bianchi and Christian Kuntner.

Out team of 7 climbers, who announced that they were packing for a return home, due to the continuing weather problems, will make their way back with equipment which will first travel by camel and then by air

World Beautiful Country

Argentina
She may have wanted the country to hold back its tears, but it’s pretty certain Evita shed a few when considering its incredible beauty.
From the urban splendor of Buenos Aires, rated one of the most beautiful cities in the world, to the massive expanse of the Pampas, Argentina is a land of evocative beauty. The Iguazu Falls, which straddle, Argentina and Brazil, are generally regarded as one of the two most impressive and beautiful waterfalls in the world – with only Victoria Falls in Zambia / Zimbabwe being rated above it with frequency.
Probably the scenic highlight of the country, though, is Patagonia. It is a world of stunning glaciers and impossible towering spears that tear the sky. Monte Fitzroy and Monte Cerro are possibly the most famous of all the mountains in the area, skewering the air above them with their six thousand feet high cliff faces. Aconcagua is the tallest mountain outside of the Himalayas.
The Perito Moreno Glacier is one of only three Patagonian glaciers that is actually growing, Its average height is 240 feet above the water, and 558 feet ice depth.
Considering that it makes up an area almost five times the size of Manhattan, it’s unsurprising that this area makes up the third largest fresh water reserve in the world – and it is visually astonishing.
Namibia
The desert nation of Africa is hauntingly beautiful. It’s Germanic influence is evident throughout the country, which is one of the world’s natural treasure troves.
Etosha national park is indisputably one of the world’s greatest game reserves. Before the rainy season, it offers wildlife viewing that rivals the very best reserves on Earth. The Caprivi Strip is a water wonderland, with the Epupa falls generally regarded as the second largest waterfall in an arid area. The Erongo mountains, Spitkoppe and Brandberg are amongst the most remarkable mountains in the world, and the Namib Naukluft feature on the list of mountains that one must see, but that are often unknown.
The deserts to the South of the country are in many ways the highlights of the stunning nation. The skeleton coast, where glorious dunes plunge into stunning Atlantic waters with almost no inhabitants, is justifiably world famous. Even more so is the area of Sossusvlei, also in the enormous Namib Naukluft. It is usually seen as the single most beautiful desert scape on Earth. Dead Vlei, found within the greater Sossuvlei area, is an astounding area featuring trees petrified by centuries with little rain, and it often reduces first time visitors to speechless wonder.
Namibia is without any doubt one of the world’s most scenically magnificent countries.
 China
The world’s third largest country has some of its finest scenery. The Mekong River is one of the most extraordinary rivers in the world, arising in the vast Tibetan Plateau. This plateau is the largest and highest plateau in the world, with tens of thousands of glaciers including the Rongbuk, Midui and Hailuogou that eventually help feed the Mekong and many other rivers. If regarded as a canyon, the Yarlung Tsangpo Canyon is certainly the largest on Earth, stretching over 300 miles in length and attaining a mind boggling maximum depth of almost 20,000 feet near Mount Namcha Barwa in the Himalayas.
And of course the Himalayas are probably the ultimate visual highlight of the great country of China. Everest and Mount Qogir, the two tallest mountains on earth, are both on the border of China. Nine of the world’s fourteen ‘Eight Thousanders’ are in China or on the Chinese border.
Aside from the Himalayas, Mount Hua, Mount Tianmen and mount Tianzi are stunning. The Detian Falls, on the border with Vietnam, have been listed as some of the most beautiful waterfalls in the world and the hills of Guanxi province are utterly astonishing.

As if that wasn’t enough, China has urban beauty and cultural beauty that rivals anywhere on the planet. Its cities, including Beijing and Shanghai, are world famous and in a prominent list Hong Kong has recently been rated one of the world’s most beautiful. The Forbidden City, The Temple of Heaven and the Great Wall of China are just three of the magnificent ancient structures that justify China’s place in the most beautiful countries on earth.