Hey, baka di mo ito alam o... baka nakalimutan mo na ito !!! (Wait, I'm animated, wait for me to move) !!! Posted 11/1/09 Kazakhstan Several years ago, a British comedian made a movie called "Borat" about a fictional foreign journalist's misadventures visiting the United States. The journalist was supposedly from Kazakhstan. The movie wasn't intended to insult Kazakhstan, but to ridicule people whose view of foreign cultures were limited. Some people who saw the movie thought Kazakhstan was a fictional nation. But it is very much a real place, an enormous country landlocked between Russia to its north, China to the east, and the nationsl of Turkemenistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgystan along it southern border. At one million square miles, it is nearly four time sthe size of Texas. This vast nation is located in the center of a region known as Eurasia, so called because it is where Europe meets Asia. For much of the 29th century, Kazkhstan was part of the Soviet Union, suffering some of the most devastating consequences of Soviet policies. During the 1920's, the Soviet's agricultural system caused mass starvation in Kazakhstan, killing 1.5 million people - 40 percent of the population. Today, Kazakhstan is a sovereign, multicultural, politically stable country rich in natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, coal, oron ore, gold and uranium, with an economy larger than all other central Asian states combined. Its capital, Astana, is a modern, booming city. It is an ancient land rich in historic significance. It was part of the vast empire ruled by Attila the Hun, the 5th century emperor and military general whose relentless campaign against the Roman Empire triggered its downfall. It was the land of the 11th century Mongolian conqueror Ghengis Khan, whose empire included central Asia and much of China. The earlies civilization record in Kazakhstan was the nomadic Scythiansaka tribe. Then came the Huns, Turks, Mongols and Chinese. In the 15th centruy these groups began to unite as a single people sharing a national identify. By the early 16th centuray, the nation-state of Kazakh emerged. Kazakh literally means "free people". In the 1800's, worn down by years of fending off attacks and invasions from the Chinese, Kazakh sought military protection from Russia. Russia in turn conquered the country in 1871. After Russia's communist revolution , Kazakh became the Soviet state of Kazakhstan in 1936. When the Soviet Union collapsed, Kazakhstan declared independence and elected its first president in 1991. The "free people" were free once again. .....check erlanidrissov.com for more information. Posted 10/30/09 HTTP - Hyper Text Transfer Protocol WWW - World Wide Web URL - Uniform Resource Locator The Internet A loosely-linked group of young scientists, engineers and students followed their passions - and changed the world. The Internet was started by the U.S> military nearly 60 years ago. The Department of Defense wanted a small group of researchers and scientists working for its Advanced Research Project Agency to be able to share information by linking their computers together. The revolutionary technology that allowed these computers to share information is known as packet switching, and the computer network ARPA created was the first packet switching network in the world. The network was named ARPANET, and was eventually renamed the Internet. The Internet was not invented by any one person or specific gorup of individuals but is the result of the contributions of many visionary scientists and engineers from the worlds of government, academia and private industry. But there are several people universally recognized as the human genius behind the Internet. Leonard Kleinrock - as a graudate student at MIT, Kleinrock developed the principles of packet switching, the data-communication technology that makes the Internet possible. Kleinrock served as an adviser during the building of ARPANET. J.C.R Licklider Licklider was a visionary computer scientist who first conceived of computers as devices for communication, not just as giant calculators. He was the first person to describe the idea of a world-wide network of computers, which he called an "Intergalactic Network". His published work foresaw just about all of the components of the modern Internet. Robert Taylor As young computer enthusiast, Robert Taylor was inspired by the work of J.C.R. Licklider. He eventually took over Licklider's job as the director of ARPA's office of information processing. Basically, the ARPANET was Robert's brainchild. It was his idea to link ARPA's computers together. He autholrized the funding to research andbuild the ARPANET. Larry Roberts When it was time to actually build the ARPANET, Robert Taylor wanted a young MIT computer scientist named Larry Roberts for the project. Roberts had experience in computer networking and served as the principle architect of the Internet. Vin Cert and Robert Kahn One of the major obstacles of the early Internet was the problem of linking different computer networks together. Each network "spoke" its own language. Cerf and Kahn solved this problem by developing the transmission control-protocol, a protocol of all computers could use to communicate. This became the standard for all Internet communication. Posted 9/30/09 www.amnh.org/exhibitions Butterflies & Moths some of the world's mostbeautiful insects are butterflies and moths. There are 150,000 known species of butterflies and moths. Butterflies and moths belong to the insect order Lepidoptera. These winged creatures, and the caterpillars they start out as, come a variety of colors and sizes. The Atlas moth is as big as a dinner plate, while the Western pygmy blue butterfly is not much wider than your thumb. What's the difference ? There is a fine line between what can be called a butterfly and what can be called a moth. But in general, these are helpful clues: Butterflies fly durig the day, but moths fly at night. Butterflies have knobs, or clubs, on the ends of their antennae, while moths do not. Butterflies have smooth, slender bodies; moths are plump and fuzzy. Butterflies rest with their wings held together, straight up in the air, while moths spred them apart and to the sides. Butterflies are often brightly colored; moth are often shades of brown and other "earth tones". The English word "butterfly" is very old, and its origin is now known for certain. One story is that butterflies were named after crafty witches who were believed to take their shape, fly into villagers' homes and steal milk and butter. In other languages, the name for this insect has nothing to do with butter. As with many creatures, colors give butterflies camouflage. Camouflage is the ability to blend into the surroundings. Certain color patterns on their wings help butterflies and moths blend into the background of flowers and plants, so predators cannot see them. Their colors also serve a purpose for mating. When butterflies are courting, colors help males and females of the same species find each other. A blue butterfly will look for another blue butterfly, orange will look for orange, etc. Color is also helpful for protection. Certain brightly colored butterflies, like monarchs, tast bad to birds and other predators. Bright wings are like a big sign that says "I tasted bad, stay away". Other butterflies and moths that might taste perfectly fine to birds have colors that mimic, or look like, the bad tasting species. As a result, predators stay away from them, too. Posted 10/08/08 Hurricanes wreak havoc ! A hurricane has three parts: Eye - the low pressure calm center of the storm; Eye Wall - the area around the eye with the most violent winds and Rain Bands - thunderstorms circulating from the ye that feed the condensation and evaporation cycle that powers the storm. The word hurricane is similar to words used by other cultures to describe these violent and deadly storms. Hurakan is the name of a Mayan god that blew his breath over the water. Hurricanis the name of an ancient evil Caribbean god. With as many as 100 tropical storm forming during hurricane season, naming them is necessary to keep track of them. Both male and female names are used. If a storm has killed many people, or cost a lot of money in damages, its name is retired and not used again. Deadly storm names Agnes, Hazel, Andrew, Camille Gloria and Katrina are retired. Hurricane Katrina was the costliest natural disaster in the American history, causing more than $ 81 billion in damages. Autumn or Fall Season - Just how do the leaves change color? Chemical changes are taking place in the leaves throughout the spring and summer. During these seasons, leaves act as factories that manufacture food for the trees. The leaves get their green color from chlorophyll. They also contain yellow or orange carotenoids - which, by the way, are also responsible for the carrots' orange color. All of these colors exist in the leaf. But during the spring and summer, since the leaf is in full food - production mode, the chlorophyll is dominant. As fall sets in, the dwindling daylight and cooler temperatures cause the chlorophyll to break down. It's here that the other colors appear, making fall the most colordul time of the year. The brightest leaf colors will appear when the days are sunny and somewhat warm, with cool nights below 45 degrees. Sugar is made in the leaves during the day and trapped there at night. The caputred sugar helps form the red pigment called anthocyanin. A warm, dry summer and early rain in autumn will stop the leaves from falling too fast, giving their colors a chance to show. The leaves finally fall when a special layer of cells develops and destroys the tissue that attaches them to the tree. The place where the leaf grewis marked by a scat. The dead fallen leaves create a blanket on the forest floor and contain large amounts of calcium and potassium that were used to nourish the tree that they came from. As they decompose, they give these minerals back to the earth. Posted 4/1/08 The establishment of the National Disaster Coordinating Council is embodied in Sec. 2 of PD 1566. The Secretary of National Defense heads the NDCC with the heads of 18 departments/ agencies as members. These include the Chief of Staff, Armed Forces of the Philippines; Secretary-General, Philippine National Red Cross; Philippine Information Agency; Executive Secretary and the Administrator, Office of Civil Defense who is the Executive Officer of the Council. It is through the NDCC member-agencies that disaster preparedness, prevention, mitigation and response carry out its corresponding tasks and responsibilities under the NDCC system. The NDCC, unlike other department coordinating bodies, does not have its own regular budget to disburse. It operates through the member-agencies and its local networks, which are the regional and local disaster coordinating councils. NDCC Functions At the national level, the NDCC serves as the President’s adviser on disaster preparedness programs, disaster operations and rehabilitation efforts undertaken by the government and the private sector. It acts as the top coordinator of all disaster management and the highest allocator of resources in the country to support the efforts of the lower DCC level. In the discharge of its functions, the NDCC utilizes the facilities and services of the Office of Civil Defense as its operating arm.
NDCC Functions - At the national level, the NDCC serves as the President’s adviser on disaster preparedness programs, disaster operations and rehabilitation efforts undertaken by the government and the private sector. It acts as the top coordinator of all disaster management and the highest allocator of resources in the country to support the efforts of the lower DCC level. In the discharge of its functions, the NDCC utilizes the facilities and services of the Office of Civil Defense as its operating arm.
The New Year's Eve Ball was a geodesic sphere, six feet in diameter, and weighed approximately 1,070 pounds. It was covered with a total of 504 Waterford crystal triangles that varied in size and ranged in length from 4.75 inches to 5.75 inches per side. For the 2007 New Year's Eve celebration, 72 of the crystal triangles featured the new "Hope for Peace" design, consisting of three dove-like patterns symbolizing messengers of peace. The remaining 432 triangles featured Waterford designs from previous years, including the Hope for Fellowship, Hope for Wisdom, Hope for Unity, Hope for Courage, Hope for Healing, Hope for Abundance, and Star of Hope triangles. These crystal triangles were bolted to 168 translucent triangular lexan panels which were attached to the aluminum frame of the Ball. The exterior of the Ball was illuminated by 168 Philips Halogená Brilliant Crystal light bulbs, exclusively engineered for the New Year's Eve Ball to enhance the Waterford crystal. The interior of the Ball was illuminated by 432 Philips Light Bulbs (208 clear, 56 red, 56 blue, 56 green, and 56 yellow), and 96 high-intensity strobe lights, which together create bright bubbling bursts of color. The exterior of the Ball featured 90 rotating pyramid mirrors that reflect light back into the audience at Times Square. All 696 lights and 90 rotating pyramid mirrors were computer controlled, enabling the Ball to produce a state-of-the-art light show of eye-dazzling color patterns and a spectacular kaleidoscope effect atop One Times Square. The now-retired 2000-2007 New Year's Eve Ball is the property of the building owners of One Times Square. Posted 10/ 19/07 |
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Posted 10/08/08
Hurricanes wreak havoc ! A hurricane has three parts: Eye - the low pressure calm center of the storm; Eye Wall - the area around the eye with the most violent winds and Rain Bands - thunderstorms circulating from the ye that feed the condensation and evaporation cycle that powers the storm. The word hurricane is similar to words used by other cultures to describe these violent and deadly storms. Hurakan is the name of a Mayan god that blew his breath over the water. Hurricanis the name of an ancient evil Caribbean god. With as many as 100 tropical storm forming during hurricane season, naming them is necessary to keep track of them. Both male and female names are used. If a storm has killed many people, or cost a lot of money in damages, its name is retired and not used again. Deadly storm names Agnes, Hazel, Andrew, Camille Gloria and Katrina are retired. Hurricane Katrina was the costliest natural disaster in the American history, causing more than $ 81 billion in damages. Autumn or Fall Season - Just how do the leaves change color? Chemical changes are taking place in the leaves throughout the spring and summer. During these seasons, leaves act as factories that manufacture food for the trees. The leaves get their green color from chlorophyll. They also contain yellow or orange carotenoids - which, by the way, are also responsible for the carrots' orange color. All of these colors exist in the leaf. But during the spring and summer, since the leaf is in full food - production mode, the chlorophyll is dominant. As fall sets in, the dwindling daylight and cooler temperatures cause the chlorophyll to break down. It's here that the other colors appear, making fall the most colordul time of the year. The brightest leaf colors will appear when the days are sunny and somewhat warm, with cool nights below 45 degrees. Sugar is made in the leaves during the day and trapped there at night. The caputred sugar helps form the red pigment called anthocyanin. A warm, dry summer and early rain in autumn will stop the leaves from falling too fast, giving their colors a chance to show. The leaves finally fall when a special layer of cells develops and destroys the tissue that attaches them to the tree. The place where the leaf grewis marked by a scat. The dead fallen leaves create a blanket on the forest floor and contain large amounts of calcium and potassium that were used to nourish the tree that they came from. As they decompose, they give these minerals back to the earth. |
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The establishment of the National Disaster Coordinating Council is embodied in Sec. 2 of PD 1566. The Secretary of National Defense heads the NDCC with the heads of 18 departments/ agencies as members. These include the Chief of Staff, Armed Forces of the Philippines; Secretary-General, Philippine National Red Cross; Philippine Information Agency; Executive Secretary and the Administrator, Office of Civil Defense who is the Executive Officer of the Council. It is through the NDCC member-agencies that disaster preparedness, prevention, mitigation and response carry out its corresponding tasks and responsibilities under the NDCC system. The NDCC, unlike other department coordinating bodies, does not have its own regular budget to disburse. It operates through the member-agencies and its local networks, which are the regional and local disaster coordinating councils. |
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Tubbataha Reefs in Palawan - Formed from the eruption of undersea volcanoes nearly 15 million years ago, Tubbataha or "long reef" in the Samal tongue plays host to 479 kinds of fish that frolic amongst 396 types of soft and hard coral. Other denizens include seven breeding seabird, nine marine mammal, seven shark and two turtle species.
The north and south reefs has each a single small islet that protrudes from the sea, separated by a channel eigth kilometers wide. The north islet also serves as a nesting site for both marine turtles and seabirds, including terns, red-footed and brown boobies and frigate avaians. The Tubbataha Reefs form the apex of the coral triangle, the world's centre of marine biodiversity. In 1998, fishing, collection and harvesting of any life form was banned throughout its 33,2000 span. However, piracy and an dillegal fishing pervades. To minimize any external intrusions, a composite team from the Philippine Coast Guard maintains a ranger station on a single sand bar. |
