Publicat de: noiscriem 8/09/2013 Categorie: engleza

Libyan Desert, desert, northeastern

Africa, northeastern section of the Sahara, in eastern Libya,

western Egypt, and northwestern Sudan. In Egypt, it is also known as theWestern Desert. The arid
region of sand dunes and stony plateaus rises to 1907 m (6256 ft) at the point where the borders of
Libya, Egypt, and Sudan meet. Western Sahara, region in northwestern Africa. Formerly known as
Spanish Sahara, it was an overseas province of Spain from 1958 until 1976, when it was partitioned
between Mauritania and Morocco. Since 1979, it has been occupied entirely by Morocco. Western
Sahara encompasses about 267,000 sq km (about 103,000 sq mi); it is bounded on the north by
Morocco, on the northeast by Algeria, on the east and south by Mauritania, and on the west by the
Atlantic Ocean.

With a hot, arid climate, and composed mostly of rocky and sandy soils, the region is not suitable for
sedentary agriculture, but some sheep, goats, and camels are raised by nomadic herders. The territory
has rich deposits of phosphates, notably at Bu Craa; exploitation of the deposits began in the early
1970s. The population (1993 estimate) of the region is about 206,629, mostly Berbers and Arabs. The
main towns are El Aain, or Laayoune, which was formerly the capital of Spanish Sahara, and Ad
Dakhla, which was formerly Villa Cisneros.
Portuguese navigators visited the area near modern El Aain in 1434 but did not establish lasting
settlements. Spain held the region from 1509 to 1524, when it was taken by Morocco, which thereafter
ruled it for more than three centuries. In 1884 Spain established a protectorate over the coast from
Cape Bojador to Cape Blanc; Franco-Spanish agreements in 1900, 1904, and 1920 extended the limits
of the protectorate. Spain divided its possession into two separately administered districts, Ro de Oro
in the south and Saguia el Hamra in the north. The two were amalgamated in 1958 when the overseas
province of Spanish Sahara was established.
In the early 1970s nationalists in Spanish Sahara sought independence for the territory, while
Algeria, Mauritania, and Morocco laid claims to the area. In late 1975, as Morocco prepared to launch a
massive nonviolent invasion of Spanish Sahara, Spain agreed to relinquish the area to Mauritania and
Morocco. The Spaniards departed in February 1976; two-thirds of the territory was then occupied by
Morocco and the rest by Mauritania. Algeria protested the partition and supported the Popular Front for
the Liberation of Saguia el Hamra and Ro de Oro (Polisario Front), a nationalist group seeking to
transform the former Spanish Sahara into an independent country. The Polisario staged several
guerrilla raids into Mauritania and Morocco during 1976-1978. When Mauritania surrendered its portion
and made peace with the Polisario in 1979, Morocco laid claim to all of Western Sahara and continued
the war alone. The Polisario-backed Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic received the recognition of the
Organization of African Unity (OAU) in February 1982, when it was admitted as a member. Between
1980 and 1987, as the war continued, Morocco constructed a wall of sand and rock 3 m (9 ft) high and
almost 3200 km (2000 mi) long around Western Sahara that successfully limited Polisario's capability
of attacking from Mauritania and southern Algeria.
Under a United Nations-sponsored peace plan, a truce took effect in Western Sahara in September
1991, and a referendum on self-determination was planned to follow. However, this referendum has
been postponed repeatedly due to disagreements over the number of Western Saharan eligible voters.

Oases in the desert include Al Kufrah and Al Jaghbb, in Libya, and Siwa and Baryah, in Egypt. Major
deposits of petroleum and natural gas underlie the northern edge of the desert, in Libya.
Nubian Desert, region in northeastern Sudan, bounded by the Nile River valley on the west and the
Red Sea Hills on the east. Primarily a rocky sandstone plateau, the Nubian Desert is a poor, remote
part of the Sahara. Although scattered towns and villages exist along the Nile, life in the desert's
interior is precarious and generally limited to areas close to the desert's seasonal watercourses, or
wadis. The climate is hot and dry with a brief rainy season during July and August. Rainfall is scanty
and averages less than 15 mm (less than 0.6 in) annually in the northern town of Wdalf on Lake
Sudan (called Lake Nasser in Egypt) and no more than 40 mm (1.6 in) per year in the south near the
town of Abarah. The average daily temperature in June, the hottest month, is about 45 C (about
110 F).
Economic activities in the Nubian Desert are restricted to subsistence agriculture and raising produce
for sale at local markets. Farmers grow date palm and fruit trees, grains, and vegetables along the Nile
and wherever else the desert's limited surface and groundwater resources will allow. Livestock,
particularly goats, are raised as well. The interior of the Nubian Desert along the Wadi al llq, which
drains the Red Sea Hills into the Nile between Aswn and Wdalf, is a major route for herding
camels to meat markets in Egypt. The region's low rainfall, thin and poorly developed soils, and rocky
plateau topography limit the width of the Nile's floodplain, and thus the extent of fertile land. The
agricultural zone along the Nile is therefore unsuitable for large-scale irrigation projects. Instead,
farmers are restricted to small, intensively cultivated fields nourished by water raised from the Nile by
diesel-powered pumps. Although small deposits of gold, copper, diorite, emeralds, and semiprecious
stones were extracted from the Nubian Desert during ancient times, these minerals now occur in
insufficient quantities to make exploitation profitable.
Few formal transportation routes exist in the Nubian Desert. The Nile's great loop in northern Sudan is
broken by a series of cataracts, or waterfalls, that make navigation difficult. A railroad line runs from
Wdalf to Abamad, and from there a branch line extends to Kuraymah. The region's one
developed, but unpaved, road follows the railroad, while short segments of road parallel the course of
the Nile in the agricultural area. The majority of roads in the region are unpaved and poorly
maintained. Riverboats, which travel between the Nile's cataracts, are the region's main form of
transportation.
The Nubian Desert is part of the ancient region called Nubia, specifically Upper Nubia, which was
occupied successively by Egyptian and Kushite (sometimes called Ethiopian) kingdoms for several
thousand years. These kingdoms ruled along the corridor of the Nile and derived importance from their
strategic location, which linked sub-Saharan and northern Africa. The area became an important
cultural and trade center. Nubia was converted from paganism to Christianity in the 6th century AD. In
the 14th century the region was gradually converted to Islam by Arab conquerors, who brought Arabic
language and culture to Nubia. Nubian sites from the pre-Christian era are of great interest to
archaeologists and historians. Between Abr in the north and the area of Kuraymah and Maraw in the
south, on both banks of the Nile, there is a series of modestly scaled but important and accessible
temples, pyramids, and other monuments that attest to the power and prosperity of the Nubian
kingdoms. The ruins linked to Napata, one of the ancient capitals of the Kushite kingdoms, which are
located in the present-day area of Kuraymah and Maraw, are of particular significance.

Arabian Desert or Eastern Desert, arid region, eastern Egypt, lying between the Mediterranean Sea on
the north, the Red Sea and the Gulf of Suez on the east, the Nubian Desert (along latitude 22 N) on
the south, and the Nile River on the west. The western edge of the desert is demarcated by cliffs that
rise steeply from the Nile Valley. To the east the terrain, mostly a rugged plateau, slopes upward to a
range of jagged volcanic mountains bordering the Red Sea. Elevations in the range, which descends
abruptly to the sea, exceed 2135 m (7000 ft). Aridity makes human habitation difficult, but a few small
agricultural villages subsist in little basins in the plateau and mountains. Deposits of turquoise,
phosphate rock, nitrates, petroleum, salt, and building stone are here, but are of limited economic
significance.
The name Arabian Desert is also applied popularly to the Rub al Khali (Empty Quarter), also called the
Great Sandy Desert, of the Arabian Peninsula, one of the hottest and most sparsely inhabited sand
dune deserts of the world.
Qattara Depression, desert basin in the northeastern Sahara, northwestern Egypt. A largely sandy
region with salt lakes and marshes, it reaches a depth of 133 m (436 ft) below sea level. Its total area
is about 18,000 sq km (about 7000 sq mi). Because it is impassable to vehicles, the Qattara
Depression was important during World War II (1939-1945) as the southern end of the British defense
lines at Al Alamayn (El Alamein).
Ahaggar Mountains, also Hoggar Mountains, plateau region, southern Algeria, in the center of the
Sahara. It is an arid, rocky, upland region that rises to a maximum elevation in Mount Tahat (3003
m/9852 ft). On its southwestern edge is the oasis town and Saharan crossroads of Tamanrasset.
Emi Koussi, volcanic mountain in northern Chad. The highest peak in Chad and the Sahara, Emi Koussi
dominates the southern quarter of the Tibesti, a mountainous volcanic plateau. Standing at 3415 m
(11,204 ft), Emi Koussi towers over the nearby countryside. Although some surrounding volcanoes
continue to emit smoke, Emi Koussi has been dormant throughout recorded history. Located in one of
the hottest and most remote places on earth, the mountain's sides display a spectacular scenery of
sharp cliffs, narrow gorges and rugged foothills.
The surrounding plateau has significant subterranean water reserves and is dotted with hot springs. To
the north, rock paintings dating from 5000 to 2000 BC suggest that the climate and natural life of the
area were much more lush than they are today. Around AD 1230, the Kanem-Bornu Empire, centered in
the Lake Chad region, expanded into the area. Today several hundred Teda people live on the
mountain's slopes. Descended from the original Berber inhabitants of the central Sahara, they are
fiercely independent Muslim nomadic herders. The political instability of Chad throughout the 20th
century has prevented the mountain from being thoroughly studied.
Tibesti, also Tibesti Mountains, mountainous region of the central Sahara, in northern Chad, extending
into northeastern Niger and southern Libya. The mountains are of volcanic formation and rise abruptly
above the surrounding plains. The highest peak, Emi Koussi, has an elevation of 3415 m (11,204 ft).
The presence here of deep-cut stream beds and ancient rock carvings depicting hippopotamuses and
elephants indicate the existence of a more humid climate in the past.
Sahel, region in western Africa, serving as a transition zone between the arid Sahara on the north and
the wetter tropical areas to the south. A relatively sparse savanna vegetation of grasses and shrubs

predominates. Rainfall averages between 102 and 203 mm (4 and 8 in) and falls mostly from June to
September. Nomadic herding and limited cultivation of peanuts and millet are possible in most areas.
Desertification of the Sahel has been sped up by an extended drought between the late 1960s and
early 1980s, the worst in 150 years, and the stress of increasing human and livestock populations.
Desertification, whereby soil loses its ability to retain moisture and allows deserts to encroach on
arable land, is shrinking the size of the Sahel and causing famine in much of the region.
Sudan (region), vast geographical region of northern Africa, extending east to west across the
continent. It forms a semiarid transition zone between the Sahara on the north and the wet tropical
regions on the south. Desert and scrublands predominate in the north, grading into grasslands and
savanna to the south. The name Sudan (Arabic, black) is a reference to the black peoples who
historically have inhabited the region.
Sirocco, hot, dry, dust-laden southerly winds, originating in the Sahara and blowing off the North
African coast during the spring and summer. While passing over the Mediterranean Sea, these winds
pick up moisture, and when they arrive on the north shore, blowing chiefly across Italy, Sicily, and
Malta, they produce humid, oppressive, and rainy conditions.
Tuareg, tribal people of the Sahara. They speak a Berber language, Tamarshak, and have their own
alphabet. In ancient times, the Tuareg controlled the trans-Sahara caravan routes, taxing the goods
they helped to convey and raiding neighboring tribes. In modern times, their raiding was subdued by
the French who ruled Algeria. The political division of Saharan Africa since the 1960s has made it
increasingly difficult for the Tuareg to maintain their pastoral traditions.
Tuareg society distinguishes among nobles, vassals, and serfs. Slave-stealing expeditions have been
abolished, but the black descendants of former slaves still perform the menial tasks. Social status is
determined through matrilineal descent. Converted by the Arabs to Islam, the Tuareg have retained
some of their older rites. Among the Tuareg, for example, mennot womenwear a headdress with a
veil.
Many Tuareg starved in droughts in the 1970s, and others have migrated to cities. Today more than
300,000 Tuareg live in Algeria, Tunisia, Mali, Libya, Burkina Faso, and Niger.
Kabyles, Berbers of coastal Algeria, Tunisia, and some oases in the Sahara, organized into a
confederation of tribes. The vernacular of the Kabyles is Hamitic.
The Kabyles are monogamous and patriarchal. Although they generally follow an agricultural
economy, during the French occupation of Algeria they were introduced to such occupations as
trading, field labor, industrial work, and military service. The family group lives in a compound
composed of rectangular houses. Their pottery, which is made by the women without the use of a
potter's wheel, is decorated in geometric patterns; it has been closely studied by archaeologists
because of its resemblance to the pottery of ancient Greece. The Kabyles are Muslims of the Sunni
sect.
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Publicat de: noiscriem 8/09/2013 Categorie: engleza

Bucharest is the capital and largest city of Romania, located in the southeastern part of the
country. The city is situated about 65 km north of the Danube River, near Ploieti, on the banks of the
Dmbovia River. Bucharest lies on a generally level plain and, including suburban districts, occupies an
area of about 300 sq km.

The first written appearance of the name Bucuresti dates from 1459, when it was recorded in a
document of Vlad III the Impaler, the ruler of Walachia. Vlad III built the fortress of Bucharest--the first
of many fortifications--with the aim of holding back the Turks who were threatening the existence of
the Walachian state. By the end of the 16th century, Bucharest was South-Eastern Europe's largest
christian city. In 1640, a traveller remarked that the population of the city exceed 100,000. Under the
Ottoman suzerainty that was eventually established, Bucharest developed rapidly as the main
economic centre of Walachia, becoming the capital in 1659.
In 1859 Bucharest became the administrative center of the united principalities of Walachia and
Moldavia, under Ottoman suzerainty. By the decisions of the Congress of Berlin, which provided for a
general settlement of the Balkan situation after the Russo-Turkish War of 1877 and 1878, Romania was
recognized as an independent country with Bucharest as its capital. German troops occupied
Bucharest from December 1916 until mid-1918 during World War I. During World War II Romanian
dictator Ion Antonescu admitted German troops into Romania in October 1940, and the Germans
occupied Bucharest until 1944. Weakened by Romanian insurrection and Allied bombings, the Germans
surrendered when Soviet forces entered the city in August. Soviet military occupation lasted until
1958.
The city is divided into two sections by the Dmbovia River and is crossed by two wide boulevards.
Bucharest contains six administrative districts; the adjacent rural area forms a seventh district. Most
industrial areas are located in the suburbs, while the city is primarily residential. Bucharest, known as
the Paris of the Balkans in the early 20th century, was a cosmopolitan city before 1944 when its
architecture, city planning, and culture were French-inspired. After a Communist government came to
power following World War II (1939-1945), French cultural qualities were ended, although the
architecture remains. During the 1980s, under the orders of Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceauescu, a
vast area on the banks of the Dmbovia was razed, including houses and historical monuments.
Buildings of North Korean architectural style were then erected.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the city's streets were lit by electric bulbs and petrol lamps. In
1904, the public trasportation system saw the introduction of electric street cars. After World War I,
Bucharest strengthened its position as the most important city of a greatly enlarged country.
In 1930 the population of Bucharest was 631,288. By the 1950s, as a result of industrialization and
urbanization policies, the population doubled, and it has continued to increase steadily. The population
was 2,037,000 in 1997.
Bucharest is a major industrial center and the main financial and trade center of Romania. The city
accounts for about 20 percent of the country's industrial production. Industries include heavy
machinery, aviation, precision machinery, agricultural tools, furniture, electronics, chemicals, textiles,
leather goods, wire, soap, cosmetics, and food processing.

Noteworthy secular structures include the Palace of Justice (1864), the Stirbey Palace (1835), the
National Bank (1885), the Presidential Palace (previously Cotroceni Palace; 17th century with later
additions), and the buildings of the Central Library of the University (1893). In the 20th century, the
Cantacuzino Palace (1900), the Central Post Palace (1900), the Central Savings Bank (1900), the Royal
Palace (1935), the Central Army House (1913), and the Arch of Triumph (1920) were built. Among
Bucharest's outstanding religious structures are the Antim Monastery (1715) and the Patriarchate
Church (1665). Bucharest has many parks and wooded areas, including Herstru, a large park with
lakes.
The city has a large number of churches, usually small, in Byzantine style. Apart from the Curtea
Veche (Old Court) church, the Antim Monastery (1715) and the churches of Stavropoleos (1724) and
Spiridon (1747) are of considerable architectural interest. The most important centres for higher
education are the Technical Institute of Bucharest (founded 1819) and the University of Bucharest
(founded 1694). In addition, there are several academies in both arts and sciences, as well as
numerous research institutes.
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Publicat de: noiscriem 8/09/2013 Categorie: engleza

Chicago city
Chicago (city), Illinois, United States. Chicago is the third-largest city in the United States and one
of the country's leading industrial, commercial, financial, and transport centres. It extends some 47 km
(29 mi) along the south-western shore of Lake Michigan, occupying flatland traversed by two short
rivers: the Chicago River and the Calumet River. Both rivers have been linked by canals with the Illinois
and Mississippi rivers, establishing Chicago as the connecting point in the waterway route between the
Mississippi Valley and the Great Lakes-St Lawrence Seaway. The city's rapid growth was due in large
part to its location, with ready access to markets and raw materials; it has the world's busiest airport,
Chicago-O'Hare International Airport. The population of Chicago in 1992 was estimated to be
2,768,483 (3,005,072 in 1980). The immigrant heritage of Chicago's population remains very strong,
and there is hardly an ethnic group in America not represented there. In 1990, German ancestry was
claimed by more people in Chicago (270,334) and in the metropolitan area (1,429,336), than any
other, and this was followed by Polish (261,899) and Irish (237,113) ancestry in the city. Among the
major minority groups, blacks account for almost one in five in the metropolitan region as a whole,
while Hispanics represent approximately one in nine residents. Black presence in the suburban zone
has hardly altered in the recent past, whereas Hispanic proportions outside the central city are
growing.
II

INDUSTRY AND LEISURE

Aided by an excellent distribution network, Chicago is America's most important rail and haulage
centre and is a significant port handling both domestic and international trade. Great Lakes freighters
and river barges deliver bulk commodities such as iron ore, limestone, coal, chemicals, oil, and grain.
Some of this freight is destined for processing plants in the heavily industrialized Calumet River area.

Foreign vessels arrive via the St Lawrence Seaway, bringing such products as cars, steel, fish, and
alcoholic beverages and carrying away machinery, farm equipment, hides, and timber, as well as a
variety of food products.
The Chicago metropolitan area has the highest number of manufacturing employees in the United
States. Chicago's largest employer is the electrical goods industry, followed by the steel, machinery,
fabricated metals, foods, printing and publishing, chemicals, and transport equipment industries. It is
one of the nation's leading producers of steel, metal goods, confectionery, surgical appliances, rail
equipment, soap, paint, cosmetics, cans, industrial machinery, printed materials, and sporting goods.
Chicago houses the headquarters of numerous corporations and is a major wholesale market for grain,
machine tools, food produce, fish, and flowers. The Chicago Board of Trade and the Chicago Mercantile
Exchange are among the world's largest commodity markets. The city is a leading convention centre,
with extensive hotel facilities, including McCormick Place-on-the-Lake, a multi-purpose exhibition
complex on Lake Michigan. Chicago is divided into three sectionsthe North (largely residential), West
(mainly industrial), and South (diversely residential) Sides. The centre, known locally as the Loop,
shares shops and entertainment facilities increasingly with the city's multiplying suburbs.
Chicago has one of the world's most beautiful lakefronts. With the exception of a few miles of industry
on its southern extremity, virtually the entire lakefront is devoted to recreational uses, with beaches,
museums, harbours, and parks, which include Grant Park opposite the city centre, Lincoln Park to the
north, and Jackson Park to the south.
The world's first skyscraper was constructed in Chicago, in 1885, spawning the innovative Chicago
School of architecture. Among the renowned architects whose buildings have shaped the city's skyline
are Louis Sullivan, William Le Baron Jenney, Daniel H. Burnham, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Ludwig Mies
van der Rohe. The central part of the city has several of the world's tallest buildings, including the
Sears Tower, which at 110 storeys high is the tallest in the United States. Construction of tall office
buildings continues.
Chicago is home to the Cubs baseball team at Wrigley Field; the White Sox baseball team at
Cominskey Park; the Bears American football team; the Blackhawks ice hockey team; and Bulls
basketball teams.
Chicago is a major centre of higher education, with numerous colleges and universities. The
prestigious University of Chicago (1890) was the site in 1942 of the world's first controlled nuclear
chain reaction. Other schools of higher learning include Northwestern University (1851), the Illinois
Institute of Technology (1940); Loyola University of Chicago (1870), De Paul University (1898), and the
Chicago State University (1867).
Chicago contains several distinguished museums. These include the Art Institute of Chicago (1879),
one of the country's largest art museums; the Field Museum of Natural History (1893); and the Du
Sable Museum of African-American History. In Hyde Park are the Oriental Institute and the Museum of
Science and Industry (1893). In Lincoln Park are the Chicago Academy of Sciences (1857) and the
Chicago Historical Society (1856). Also notable is the Museum of Contemporary Art. The Chicago
Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1891, is considered one of the world's finest.
III

HISTORY

In 1673 the French explorers Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet passed through what is now the site of
Chicago. They found a low, swampy area that Native Americans, mainly Sauk, Mesquakie, and
Potawatomi, called Checagou, referring to the wild onion that once grew in marshlands along Lake
Michigan. About a century later, Jean-Baptiste Point du Sable, a Haitian trader of African and French

descent, established the first permanent dwelling near the mouth of the Chicago River. By 1837,
helped by harbour improvements and the start of construction of the Illinois and Michigan Canal,
Chicago's population had reached 4,000. Growth was very rapid, bolstered by the completion of the
canal in 1848 and the coming of the railways in the early 1850s. The consolidated Union Stock Yards
opened in 1865 to handle the cattle, pigs, and sheep shipped by rail to Chicago for slaughter and
packing. The city was first predominantly a port and trading centre for raw materials from the Midwest
and finished goods from the East, but it soon developed as a major national railway junction and an
important manufacturing centre.
Waves of immigrants from Europe, which included Poles, Jews, Russians, Czechs, Lithuanians, Serbs,
Italians, and Greeks, meant that Chicago became a chequerboard of different ethnic communities. The
generally low paid jobs and sub-standard living conditions of immigrants were exposed in the 1906
novel The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. Southern blacks seeking better opportunities migrated north after
World War I.
During the second half of the 19th century, the city's large industrial worker population campaigned
actively for an eight-hour work day, better working conditions, and better wages. Workers clashed with
police on several occasions, including the Haymarket Square Riot of May 4, 1886. Two civilians and
seven policemen were killed, and approximately 150 people wounded. In nearby Pullman on June 27,
1894, workers of the Pullman Company, manufacturer of sleeper trains, struck in response to unfair
wage practices and the living and working conditions of the company town. The American Railway
Union responded with a support strike. Workers and their families were attacked by rail deputies,
federal troops, and city police. At least 30 people were killed and 100 wounded before the strike was
broken on July 17.
By 1890, due largely to its annexation of several suburbs, Chicago's population had surpassed one
million. Alternate periods of corruption and reform characterized the city's political history for many
years. In the summer of 1919, race riots erupted throughout America, the worst occurring in Chicago
when a black youth swimming in Lake Michigan drifted into an area reserved for whites and was
stoned and drowned. Police refused to arrest a white man whom black observers considered
responsible, and angry crowds gathered on the beach. Violence erupted and continued throughout the
city for 13 days, resulting in 38 dead, 537 injured, and 1,000 black families left homeless. The shocked
national reaction helped launch efforts towards racial equality through volunteer organizations and
reform legislation. During the Prohibition era (1919-1933) Chicago became notorious for its
bootleggers and gangsters, such as Al Capone, and for gang warfare, epitomized in the St Valentine's
Day Massacre of 1929. The city's physical expansion in the 20th century was largely guided by the
Burnham Plan of Chicago (1909), a design for the city's future inspired by the world's Columbian
Exposition. Population continued to grow until it reached a peak of more than 3.6 million in 1950. In
recent decades extensive road building and slum clearance have been undertaken to alleviate urban
decay.
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Publicat de: noiscriem 8/09/2013 Categorie: engleza

Croatia

(Hrvatska) has come a long way since the summer of 1991, when foreign tourists fled

from a region standing on the verge of war. Now that stability has returned, visitors are steadily

coming back to a country which boasts one of the most outstanding stretches of coastline that Europe
has to offer. This return to normality has been keenly awaited by Croats, but patriotism - and a sense
of the nation's place in history - remains a serious business here. Croatia was an independent kingdom
in the tenth century, fell under the rule of Hungary in the eleventh, and was subsequently absorbed by
the Austro-Hungarian Empire before becoming part of the new state of Yugoslavia in 1918. Croatian
aspirations were frustrated by a Yugoslav state which was initially dominated by Serbs, and then (after
1945) ruled by Communists. Croatia's declaration of independence on June 25, 1991 was fiercely
contested by a Serb-dominated Yugoslav army eager to preserve their control over portions of Croatia
in which groups of ethnic Serbs lived. The period of war - and fragile, UN-supervised ceasefire that
followed - was finally brought to a close by Croatian offensives during the summer of 1995. Croatia's
capital, Zagreb , is a typical central-European metropolis, combining elegant nineteenth-century
architecture with plenty of cultural diversions and a vibrant caf life. At the northern end of the Adriatic
coast, the peninsula of Istria contains many of the country's most developed resorts, with old Venetian
towns like Porec and Rovinj rubbing shoulders with the raffish port of Pula . Further south lies
Dalmatia , a dramatic, mountain-fringed stretch of coastline studded with islands. Dalmatia's main
town is Split , an ancient Roman settlement and modern port which provides a jumping-off point to the
most enchanting of Croatia's islands, Brac , Hvar , Vis and Korcula , where you'll find lively fishing
villages and the best of the beaches. South of Split lies the walled medieval city of Dubrovnik , site of
an important festival in the summer and a magical place to be whatever the season.
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Berlin, city in northeastern Germany, capital of a united Germany from 1871 to 1945 and again
since 1990. It lies on the flatlands of the North German Plain at the confluence of several rivers and
amid many lakes. The city's slight elevation made it a site for human settlement even in prehistoric
times. Berlin has a population of about 3,454,200 (1992 estimate) and an area of approximately 889
sq km (343 sq mi).
After World War II (1939-1945) Berlin, badly damaged during the war, was situated within the German
Democratic Republic (GDR; also known as East Germany). The city was subsequently partitioned into
East Berlin and West Berlin. The divided city not only symbolized the collapse of the German Empire, of
which it was the capital, but also became a focus of Cold War tensions between the Communist nations
led by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and the group of Western nations led by the
United States. The Berlin Wall, a barrier separating East and West Berlin built by the East Germans in
1961, blocked free access in both directions until November 1989; during the time it stood, at least 80
people died attempting to cross from East to West Berlin. By the time Germany was unified in October
1990, much of the wall had been torn down. A few small segments remain as memorials.
Economy
Following the division of the city of Berlin in 1949, the economies of the two halves of the city were
integrated into the economies of the two newly separated republics of Germany.
The economy of East Berlin was totally integrated with that of East Germany and also benefited from a
steady stream of visitors from West Berlin and West Germany. East Berlin was the hub of East
Germany's commercial, financial, and transportation systems, and, although it comprised less than
one-half of the former unified city, it was also a huge manufacturing center. Among its principal
manufactures were steel and rubber goods, electrical and transportation equipment, chemicals, and
processed food. The Spree River, which is connected by waterways with the Baltic Sea, widened in East
Berlin to form a major inland harbor. An airport at Schnefeld, just south of the city, served both East
and West Berlin.
Much of West Berlin's industrial capacity was destroyed in World War II, and its economy suffered again
during 1948 and 1949, when the USSR blockaded the area in an attempt to drive out the Western
powers. Beginning in the 1950s, however, West Berlin's economy was revitalized with a great deal of
assistance from West Germany and from the United States, which provided support under the
European Recovery Program (Marshall Plan). The city soon became an important manufacturing
center, producing electrical and electronic equipment and substantial quantities of machinery, metal,
textiles, clothing, chemicals, printed materials, and processed food. The city also developed as a
center for international finance, for research and science, and for the important West German film

industry. It was linked to West Germany by highways, canal systems, a railroad, and airplane services,
which used Tegel, Tempelhof, and Gatow airports in West Berlin and Schnefeld airport in nearby East
Germany.
With the destruction of the Berlin Wall in 1989 the two halves of the city were once again physically
integrated. Their economic integration became official in July 1990. East Berlin underwent a greater
economic upheaval, with many formerly state-owned businesses succumbing to privatization.
While reunification (Die Wende, or the change) allowed many families and friends long separated by
the Berlin Wall to reunite, it also brought with it numerous economic and social problems. Berlin has
been forced to deal with housing shortages, strikes and demonstrations, unemployment, and increases
in crime and right-wing violence against foreigners. Unification costs in Germany have led to increased
taxes, reduced government subsidies, and cuts in social services.
Points of Interest

The imposing Brandenburg Gate (1788-1791), inspired by the Propylaea of the Acropolis in Athens,
Greece, is located at the western end of Unter den Linden, a famous boulevard in Berlin that extends
east to Museum Island, in the Spree River; the Brandenburg Gate was closed to free access until
December 1989. On or near the boulevard are the classical-style State Opera House (1743); the State
Library (1774-1780); the baroque Arsenal building (1695-1706; designed by Andreas Schlter), now
housing a historical museum; Saint Hedwig's Cathedral (1747-1773); the Gothic
Church of Saint Nicholas (late 14th-early 15th century); the French Cathedral of the Platz der Akademie
area, the heart of the French quarter in the 17th century; and the University of Berlin (1810), whose
faculty has included 27 Nobel Prize winners and philosopher G. W. F. Hegel. Well-known streets
crossing Unter den Linden are the Friedrichstrasse and the Wilhelmstrasse, on which once stood the
Reichschancery of Adolf Hitler.
Berlin's most famous boulevard is the Kurfrstendamm, which is lined with fashionable hotels,
restaurants, shops, and movie theaters. At the boulevard's eastern end is a ruined tower, all that
remains of the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church (1891-1895; destroyed during World War II),
maintained as a reminder of the destructiveness of war. Adjacent to the ruins are a polygonal church
and its separate campanile (1959-1961). Branching from the Kurfrstendamm is the Tauentzienstrasse,
a major shopping street and the site of the Europa Center (1963-1965): a 22-story complex of
restaurants, shops, offices, cinemas, a planetarium, and an ice-skating rink. To the northeast is the
Tiergarten park, largest of Berlin's nearly 50 parks, which extends about 3 km (about 2 mi) to the
Brandenburg Gate. In the Tiergarten are the large, modern Congress Hall (1957); the Reichstag
building (1884-1894), once the seat of the German parliament, which was gutted by fire in 1933 and
again damaged at the end of World War II, but which has since been largely restored; the Berlin
Zoological Garden, the largest and one of the oldest in the world; and an aquarium. Near the
Tiergarten is the Kulturform complex, including the Museum of Applied Arts; the Bauhaus Archives and
Museum, commemorating the Bauhaus school of architecture and design (1919-1933); the Musical
Instrument Museum; the National Library; the New National Gallery (1968), designed by Ludwig Mies
van der Rohe, housing a collection of 20th-century art; and the striking Philharmonie Concert Hall
(1963), an asymmetrical structure that serves as the home of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.
Southeast of the Tiergarten is Oranienburger Strasse and environs, the heart of prewar Berlin's Jewish
district. Revitalization of the area has included restoration of the New Synagogue (1866), which was
badly damaged on Kristallnacht (see Holocaust) and by bombing. The synagogue is now a center for
the study and preservation of Jewish culture. The area is also known for its art galleries, cafs, bars,
and artists' studios. Berlin's oldest Jewish cemetery is nearby.
Museum Island, in eastern Berlin, is the site of the Pergamon Museum (1930), with a fine collection of
Greco-Roman and Asian art; the Bode Museum, with displays of ancient Egyptian and Byzantine art;
and the National Gallery (1866-1876), with exhibitions of 19th-century painting.
On the eastern bank of the Spree is Alexanderplatz, a large square with restaurants and stores; nearby
are the Television Tower (365 m/1197 ft) and Red Town Hall. A statue facing the eastern entrance to the
town hall commemorates the Trummerfrauen (Rubble Women), thousands of women of all ages who
cleared up vast quantities of rubble left in Berlin after World War II.
Forests and farmland cover nearly one-third of Berlin. In the southwestern part of the city is the vast
Grunewald forest, which contains a great deal of woodland and the large Wannsee, formed by the
Havel River, as well as a Renaissance-style hunting lodge (principally mid-16th century, with 18thcentury additions), the large Olympic Stadium (built for the 1936 Olympic Games), and a broadcasting
tower (1924-1926) measuring 138 m (453 ft) high. Other points of interest include Charlottenburg
Palace (begun 1695), which houses the Museum of Decorative Arts, and the neoclassical Humboldt.
In the Dahlem district of western Berlin, near the Grunewald, are a group of famous institutions, which
include the Painting Gallery, with displays of European painting from the 13th to the 16th century; the
Ethnological Museum; the Sculpture Gallery; museums of Indian, Islamic, and East Asian art; and the
German Folklore Museum. North of the Dahlem district is the Bridge Museum, displaying 20th-century
German Expressionist art by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, and others. Other museums

in the city include a museum of Greek and Roman antiquities; the Brhan Museum, with Art Deco and
Jugendstil collections displayed in period settings; and the Egyptian Museum, which contains a worldfamous bust of Nefertiti, queen of Egypt in the 14th century BC.
Besides the University of Berlin, institutions of higher education include the Bruno Leuschner College
of Economics (1950); the Hanns Eisler College of Music (1950); the Free University of Berlin (1948),
founded mainly by professors and students dissatisfied with conditions at the University of Berlin in
East Berlin; and the Technical University of Berlin (1879). Additional cultural facilities include museums
of Berlin and German history, the Comic Opera, and the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm, home of the
Berliner Ensemble, noted for productions of plays by German dramatist Bertolt Brecht, its founder. Also
located in Berlin are the German Film and Television Academy (1966) and the College of the Arts
(1975). Additional performing-arts facilities include the German Opera and the Hebbel Theater. The city
is the site of an annual film festival and numerous other festivals. Berlin hosts the annual Grne
Woche, Germany's largest agricultural fair.
In Berlin's northern suburb of Sachsenhausen is the site of one of the first concentration camps in
Germany, built in 1936; the site is now a memorial. After the war Soviet secret police used the camp to
house war criminals, former Nazis and military officers, and opponents of the occupying regime. The
camp was closed in March 1950. In 1992 arsonists set fire to the camp museum during a wave of
attacks against foreign asylum-seekers.
Berlin has an efficient integrated system of subways, elevated train lines, buses (including all-night
service), and trams.
European Metropolis
In 1871 Berlin became the capital of the unified German Empire. During the following decades the city
grew into a major industrial center, specializing in machinery, electrical goods, and textiles. Culturally,
Berlin won worldwide fame for its excellent theaters, concerts, and exhibitions; commercially, it
benefited from a wide network of railroads converging at the city. Extensive construction of factories
and commercial buildings attracted thousands of workers, most of whom were housed in large tracts of
shoddy tenements.
After World War I (1914-1918) Berlin's adjacent communities were incorporated into the city,
increasing its population to 3,850,000. Berlin suffered economic setbacks during the troubled Weimar
Republic (1919-1933), but the wealth of its theatrical, musical, and other cultural offerings remained
unrivaled.
During the restrictive Nazi years (see National Socialism), Berlin's cultural life lost much of its prestige.
An ambitious building program, by which German dictator Adolf Hitler aimed to make the city the
world's foremost capital, was architecturally uninspired and never completed. In 1936 the city was host
to the Olympic Games. During World War II large parts of Berlin were destroyed by air raids and,
toward the end of the war, by artillery fire and street fighting. By 1945, about 50,000 prewar buildings
had been destroyed, many were in ruins, and the city contained some 75 million cu m (101,250,000 cu
yd) of rubble. Berlin's population was 2,800,000, down from its prewar 4,400,000.
National Capital
When Germany reunified in October 1990, a reunited Berlin once again became the national capital.
The seat of the federal government was scheduled to shift from Bonn to Berlin by the year 2000,
although the Bundesrat (federal council) and eight federal ministries will remain in Bonn. Renovation of
the Reichstag building is under way to accommodate the Bundestag (lower house of parliament); the
surrounding area will house federal government offices. South of the Reichstag, Potsdamerplatz is
scheduled for major development, including a $2-billion office complex to open in 1998. In September
1994 French, British, and U.S. troops formally left Berlin. Following the departure of Russian troops the
month before, the event marked the end of an occupation that had lasted for nearly 50 years.
After the unification of Germany in 1990, subsidies once provided by the German government ended,
forcing the Berlin government to make extensive cuts in its budget in the mid-1990s. Public service
jobs were trimmed, and costs for social services increased. Angry postal and construction workers
went on strike, and children and teachers protested the cuts in education and services. In addition,
expenditures by the government increased as it helped rebuild East Berlin to bring it up to the
standards of West Berlin.
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Bruce Willis is one of the richest and most popular actors of todays cinema. He likes what he does and claims that
he is satisfied with his life and job. He was born in Idar Oberstein in Germany on March 19, 1955.When he told his
parents that he was going to be an actor, they didnt take him seriously. He didnt even finish his drama course at
university. When he was 20, he went to New York where he wanted to try his luck. Unfortunately, to begin with he was

only a bartender and a security guard. After many castings and TV spots, he finally got his first chance. He took part
in a TV series called ,,Moonlighting in which he co-starred with Cybill Sheperd. In 1988 he starred in the block buster
movie ,,Die Hard which quickly brought him popularity. Another famous film he took part in was ,,Pulp Fiction by
Quentin Tarantino. When asked what is most important for him now, Bruce always answers: ,,My three daughters.
He is still a loving father and he spends a lot of time with them. With some friends he is the co-owner of the famous
Planet Hollywood restaurant chain. Whats more hes only beginning his career.
Read more at http://www.noiscriem.net/2013/08/bruce-willis.html#Sm2P3sBf7bxHvdXk.99

Christmas traditions
Christmas
From old English Cristes maesse (Christ's Mass), older still, Yule, from the Germanic root geol. In some
languages:
English: Christmas, Yule, Noel
German: Weihnachten
Finnish: Joulu
Swedish: Jul
Italian: Il Natale
Spanish: La Natividad
French: Noel
The traditional Christmas is not a single day but a prolonged period, normally from 24th December to
6th January. This included the New Year, thus increasing the festival value of Christmas.
Magi
From old Persian language, a priest of Zarathustra (Zoroaster). The Bible gives us the direction, East
and the legend states that the wise men were from Persia (Iran) - Balthasar, Melchior, Caspar - thus
being priests of Zarathustra religion, the mages. Obviously the pilgrimage had some religious
significance for these men, otherwise they would not have taken the trouble and risk of travelling so
far. But what was it? An astrological phenomenon, the Star? This is just about all we know about it.
Christmas card
The practice of sending Christmas greeting cards to friends was initiated by Sir Henry Cole in England.
The year was 1843 and the first card was designed by J.C.Horsley. It was commercial - 1000 copies
were sold in London. An English artist, William Egley, produced a popular card in 1849. From the
beginning the themes have been as varied as the Christmas customs worldwide.
Star
The astrological/astronomical phenomenon which triggered the travel of the Magi to give presents to
child Jesus. Variously described as a supernova or a conjunction of planets it supposedly happened
around the year 7 BC - the most probable true birth year of Christ. Star is often put to the top of the
Christmas tree.
Christmas DayThe traditional date for the appearance of Santa Claus, obviously from the birthdate of
Jesus (the word Christmas is from old English, meaning Christ's mass). This date is near the shortest
day of the year, from old times an important agricultural and solar feasting period in Europe. The
actual birthday of Jesus is not known and thus the early Church Fathers in the 4th century fixed the day
as was most convenient. The best fit seemed to be around the old Roman Saturnalia festival (17 - 21
December), a traditional pagan festivity with tumultuous and unruly celebrations. Moreover, in 273
Emperor Aurelianus had invented a new pagan religion, the cult of Sol Invictus (invincible sun, the
same as the Iranian god Mithra), the birthday of this god being 25th December (natalis sol invicti). The
Christian priests obviously saw this choice as doubly meritorious: using the old customary and popular
feasting date but changing the rough pagan ways into a more civilized commemoration.
The first mention of the birthday of Jesus is from the year 354. Gradually all Christian churches, except
Armenians (celebrating 6th January which date is for others the baptismal day of Jesus and the day of
the three Magi), accepted the day. In American/English tradition the Christmas Day itself is the day for
Santa, in German/Scandinavian tradition the Christmas Eve is reserved for presents.

Christmas symbolics
Candles,fires: Summer, warmth, paradise, end of darkness, Jewish Hanukkah
Tree: Eternal life, Paradise tree, pagan symbol
Apples: Apple of Paradise
Reindeer: A prop
Santa Claus: St Nicholas, pagan deity
Gifts: Customary (Romans, pagans everywhere), Magi
Mistletoe: Peace, kisses
Holly: Christ's crown of thorns
Gnomes: Pagan entirely
Straw: Stable & crib, pagan, handy material for deco
Sock: A prop (as chimney etc)
Christmas Crib
Jesus was born in a stable in Bethlehem. In Catholic countries this fact is brought to mind with
miniature replicas of the nativity scene. The manger, animals, miniatures of Jesus, Joseph, Maria, the
shepherds and the Three Magi are part of this very popular symbol. It was started (says the legend) by
St Franciscus of Assisi. The Pope has his own in Rome but nowadays the custom is followed in
Protestant countries, too.
Mistletoe
Sacred to ancient druids and a symbol of eternal life the same way as Christmas tree. The Romans
valued it as a symbol of peace and this lead eventually its acceptance among Christmas props. Kissing
under mistletoe was a Roman custom, too.
Decorations
Anything goes nowadays. In old times they were simple, wood, paper, straw and often very intricate.
Themes follow the general taste of each time but national traditions can be discerned even now.
Christmas gifts
There are many roots of this custom. There is St.Nicholas the anonymous benefactor, there is the
tradition of Magi giving precious gifts to Jesus, there is the Roman custom of giving gifts of good luck to
children during Saturnalia. The day of gift giving varies greatly in different
Christian cultures and times:
6th December - in memory of St. Nicholas
24th December - Christmas Eve
25th December - Birthday of Jesus
1st of January - the New year
6th of January - The Epiphany, day of the Three Wise men, the Magi
The giver of the presents are many: Jesus himself, Old Father Christmas, Santa Claus, a Goat, Befana
(the female Santa in Italy), the three Magi, Christmas gnomes, various Saints, the Kolyada (in Russia),
the Joulupukki (in Finland). The oldest Finnish tradition did not necessarily involve a giver of the
presents at all: an unseen person threw the gifts in from the door and quickly disappeared.
Christmas carols
The Catholic Church valued music greatly and it is no wonder that the early Christmas songs date from
4th century (the earliest known is Jesus refulsit omnium by St.Hilary of Poitiers). The Mediaeval
Christmas music followed the Gregorian tradition. In Renaissance Italy there emerged a lighter and
more joyous kind of Christmas songs, more like the true carols (from the French word caroler, meaning
to dance in a ring). These songs continued to be religious and in Latin, though. In Protestant countries
the tradition, as everything Christmas-related, intensified.
Luther wrote and composed his song "From Heaven above I come to You". Music by Handel and
Mendelssohn was adapted and used as Christmas carols. The old Finnish/Swedish collection Piae
Cantiones was translated and published in English in mid - 19th century. The most famous of all, Silent
Night (Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht) was written by the Austrian parish priest Joseph Mohr and composed
by Franz Gruber, church organist, in 1818. In 19th century and later many popular songs were written
by composers (e.g. Adam, Sibelius). The themes of songs surpassed religion and the totality of
Christmas paraphernalia found its way to carol music.

Christmas plays
Religious plays were part of the Medieval Christian tradition and many of them were connected with
Christmas. The plays were often communal with pageants and general participation. A popular theme
was the coming of the Magi (the Three Kings), because the plot allowed lots of pomp and decorative
props to please the audience. These plays live on in many places, for instance in Finland in the form of
the traditional Star Boys drama.
Food
Christmas means eating in most parts of the Christian world. In old societies hunger was the supreme
king and eating was the highest contrast, the supreme way to nirvana. Meat of some kind was the
most important dish (was this connected with the words of Jesus, "this is my flesh"?), often pork,
ham,goose, (later turkey), fish (carp, salmon). An innumerable variety of cakes and pastries, often very
intricate and only baked for Christmas were and are known throughout the world. Cakes could be hung
from the Christmas tree, too.
Read more at http://www.noiscriem.net/2013/08/christmas-traditions.html#RKVqvo53uLR2YKHm.99

Publicat de: noiscriem 8/09/2013 Categorie: engleza

Egyptian civilization
According to the Egyptian account of creation, only the ocean existed at first. Then Ra, the sun, came
out of an egg (a flower, in some versions) that appeared on the surface of the water. Ra brought forth
four children, the gods Shu and Geb and the goddesses Tefnut and Nut. Shu and Tefnut became the
atmosphere. They stood on Geb, who became the earth, and raised up Nut, who became the sky. Ra
ruled over all. Geb and Nut later had two sons, Set and Osiris, and two daughters, Isis and Nephthys.
Osiris succeeded Ra as king of the earth, helped by Isis, his sister-wife. Set, however, hated his brother
and killed him. Isis then embalmed her husband's body with the help of the god Anubis, who thus
became the god of embalming. The powerful charms of Isis resurrected Osiris, who became king of the
netherworld, the land of the dead. Horus, who was the son of Osiris and Isis, later defeated Set in a
great battle and became king of the earth.
Local Gods
From this myth of creation came the conception of the ennead, a group of nine divinities, and the triad,
consisting of a divine father, mother, and son. Every local temple in Egypt possessed its own ennead
and triad. The greatest ennead, however, was that of Ra and his children and grandchildren. This group
was worshiped at Heliopolis, the center of sun worship. The origin of the local deities is obscure; some
of them were taken over from foreign religions, and some were originally the animal gods of prehistoric
Africa. Gradually, they were all fused into a complicated religious structure, although comparatively
few local divinities became important throughout Egypt. In addition to those already named, the
important divinities included the gods Amon, Thoth, Ptah, Khnemu, and Hapi, and the
goddesses Hathor, Mut, Neit, and Sekhet. Their importance increased with the political
ascendancy of the localities where they were worshiped. For example, the ennead of Memphis was
headed by a triad composed of the father Ptah, the mother Sekhet, and the son Imhotep. Therefore,
during the Memphite dynasties, Ptah became one of the greatest gods in Egypt. Similarly, when the
Theban dynasties ruled Egypt, the ennead of Thebes was given the most importance, headed by the
father Amon, the mother Mut, and the son Khonsu. As the religion became more involved, true deities
were sometimes confused with human beings who had been glorified after death. Thus, Imhotep, who
was originally the chief minister of the 3rd Dynasty ruler Zoser, was later regarded as a demigod.
During the 5th Dynasty the pharaohs began to claim divine ancestry and from that time on were

worshiped as sons of Ra. Minor gods, some merely demons, were also given places in local divine
hierarchies.
Iconography
The Egyptian gods were represented with human torsos and human or animal heads. Sometimes the
animal or bird expressed the characteristics of the god. Ra, for example, had the head of a hawk, and
the hawk was sacred to him because of its swift flight across the sky; Hathor, the goddess of love and
laughter,was given the head of a cow, which was sacred to her; Anubis was given the head of a jackal
because these animals ravaged the desert graves in ancient times; Mut was vulture headed and Thoth
was ibis headed; and Ptah was given a human head, although he was occasionally represented as a
bull, called Apis. Because of the gods to which they were attached, the sacred animals were venerated,
but they were never worshiped until the decadent 26th Dynasty. The gods were also represented by
symbols, such as the sun disk and hawk wings that were worn on the headdress of the pharaoh.
Sun Worship
The only important god who was worshiped with consistency was Ra, chief of cosmic deities, from
whom early Egyptian kings claimed descent. Beginning with the Middle Kingdom (2134-1668 BC), Ra
worship acquired the status of a state religion, and the god was gradually fused with Amon during the
Theban dynasties, becoming the supreme god Amon-Ra. During the 18th Dynasty the pharaoh
Amenhotep III renamed the sun god Aton, an ancient term for the physical solar force. Amenhotep's
son and successor, Amenhotep IV, instituted a revolution in Egyptian religion by proclaiming Aton the
true and only god. He changed his own name to Akhenaton, meaning Aton is satisfied. This first great
monotheist was so iconoclastic that he had the plural word gods deleted from monuments, and he
relentlessly persecuted the priests of Amon. Akhenaton's sun religion failed to survive, although it
exerted a great influence on the art and thinking of his time, and Egypt returned to the ancient,
labyrinthine religion of polytheism after Akhenaton's death.
Burying the dead was of religious concern in Egypt, and Egyptian funerary rituals and equipment
eventually became the most elaborate the world has ever known. The Egyptians believed that the
vital life-force was composed of several psychical elements, of which the most important was the ka.
The ka, a duplicate of the body, accompanied the body throughout life and, after death, departed from
the body to take its place in the kingdom of the dead. The ka, however, could not exist without the
body; every effort had to be made, therefore, to preserve the corpse. Bodies were embalmed and
mummified according to a traditional method supposedly begun by Isis, who mummified her husband
Osiris. In addition, wood or stone replicas of the body were put into the tomb in the event that the
mummy was destroyed. The greater the number of statue-duplicates in his or her tomb, the more
chances the dead person had of resurrection. As a final protection, exceedingly elaborate tombs were
erected to protect the corpse and its equipment.
After leaving the tomb, the souls of the dead supposedly were beset by innumerable dangers, and the
tombs were therefore furnished with a copy of the Book of the Dead. Part of this book, a guide to the
world of the dead, consists of charms designed to overcome these dangers. After arriving in the
kingdom of the dead, the ka was judged by Osiris, the king of the dead, and 42 demon assistants. The
Book of the Dead also contains instructions for proper conduct before these judges. If the judges
decided the deceased had been a sinner, the ka was condemned to hunger and thirst or to be torn to
pieces by horrible executioners. If the decision was favorable, the ka went to the heavenly realm of the
fields of Yaru, where grain grew 3.7 m (12 ft) high and existence was a glorified version of life on earth.
All the necessities for this paradisiacal existence, from furniture to reading matter, were, therefore, put

into the tombs. As a payment for the afterlife and his benevolent protection, Osiris required the dead
to perform tasks for him, such as working in the grain fields. Even this duty could, however, be
obviated by placing small statuettes, called ushabtis, into the tomb to serve as substitutes for the
deceased.
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The proverb A friend in need is a friend

indeed
is one of the most known proverbs, and it teaches you that a real friend is a person who is

there for you when you need him, it helps you when you have a problem, it keeps your secrets, shares things with
you, bares you with all your qualities and defects. Of course, you have to treat all your friends the way you want to be
treated and you always have to tell your friend the true, this is the only way to keep a real friend. A persson, must look
at himself inside and outside as like a mirror, not in one deceptive way, you have to reflect your personality without
misrepresenting it. The friendship is based on confidence and spirit of sacrifice. I think nobody could live without
friends, no matter how rich or how intelligent you are. Friendship is the most important term to keep peace on Earth.
Without it nobody could live happily an the planet. In our days, very often there is a negative form of friendship
manifestation, and I think that teen-agers from all over the world have a different opinion about friendship. A real
friend, always is next to you, when the rest of the world is agenst you.You can count on his support and that he will
help you get throw the problem. This is my opinion about friendship, and I thing that without my friends I couldnt
make face of all the problems I have
Read more at http://www.noiscriem.net/2013/08/a-friend-in-need-is-afriend-indeed.html#OLvvTUd2j8TPktIX.99

Artificial intelligence is defined as the ability of a machine to think for itself. Scientists and theorists continue
to debate if computers will actually be able to think for themselves at one point. The generally accepted theory is that
computers do and will think more in the future. AI has grown rapidly in the last ten years chiefly because of the
advances in computer architecture. The term artificial intelligence was actually coined in 1956 by a group of scientists
having their first meeting on the topic. Early attempts at AI were neural networks modelled after the ones in the
human brain. Success was minimal because of the lack of computer technology needed to calculate such large
equations. AI is achieved using a number of different methods. The more popular implementations comprise neural
networks, chaos engineering, fuzzy logic, knowledge based systems, and expert systems. Using any one of the
aforementioned design structures requires a specialized computer system. In order to tell that AI is present we must
be able to measure the intelligence being used. For a relative scale of reference, large supercomputers can only
create a brain the size of a fly. It is surprising what a computer can do with that intelligence once it has been put to
work. Almost any scientific, business, or financial profession can benefit greatly from AI. The ability of the computer to
analyze variables provides a great advantage to these fields. There are many ways that AI can be used to solve a
problem. Virtually all of these methods require special hardware and software to use them. Unfortunately, that makes
AI systems expensive. Many new AI systems now give a special edge that is needed to beat the competition. Created
by Lotfi Zadeh almost thirty years ago, fuzzy logic is a mathematical system that deals with imprecise descriptions,
such as new, nice, or large This concept was also inspired from biological roots. The inherent vagueness in everyday
life motivates fuzzy logic systems. In contrast to the usual yes and no answers, this type of system can distinguish
the shades in-between. Fuzzy logic's structure allows it to easily rate any input and decide upon the importance.
Moreover, fuzzy logic lends itself to multiple operations at once. Fuzzy logic's ability to do multiple operations allows it
to be integrated into neural networks. Two very powerful intelligent structures make for an extremely useful product.
This integration takes the pros of fuzzy logic and neural networks and eliminates the cons of both systems. This new
system is a now a neural network with the ability to learn using fuzzy logic instead of hard concrete facts. Allowing a
more fuzzy input to be used in the neural network instead of being passed up will greatly decrease the learning time
of such a network. Another promising arena of AI is chaos engineering. The chaos theory is the cutting-edge
mathematical discipline aimed at making sense of the ineffable and finding order among seemingly random events.
Chaologists are experimenting with Wall Street where they are hardly receiving a warm welcome. Nevertheless,
chaos engineering has already proven itself and will be present for the foreseeable future. Making recommendations
on which AI systems work the best almost requires AI itself. However, there is something that can be said about this.

On the one hand, neural networks require massive amounts of computing resources that restrict their use to those
who can afford it. On the other hand, fuzzy logic is practically a win-win situation. Although some are rather simple,
these systems perform their duties quickly and accurately without expensive equipment. They can easily replace
many mundane tasks that other computer systems would have trouble with. The chaos theory has potential for 8
handling an infinite amount of variables. This gives it the ability to be a huge success in the financial world. While the
expert systems, knowledge-based systems, and cased-based reasoning systems are here to stay for a long time.
They provide an efficient, easy to use program that yields results that no one can argue with. Designed correctly, they
are can be easily updated and modernized. While the massive surge into the information age has ushered some old
practices out of style, the better ones have taken over with great success. The rate of advancement may seem fast to
the average person, but the technology is being put to good use and is not out of control.
Read more at http://www.noiscriem.net/2013/08/artificial-intelligence.html#C3Bki0sQBLJxyQFD.99

In the beginning Gates'

was mainly concerned and involved with technical

development of new products in order to attract consumers. Since Microsoft controls the largest
percentage of the market than any of its competitors Gates puts more focus on the organization itself
and its employees. Microsoft's mission is to continually advance and improve software technology and
to make it easier, more cost effective and more enjoyable for people to use computers. In order for
Microsoft to continue on its fruitful path the development of intelligent decision makers, otherwise
known as managers, must be trained. Gates' realizes the importance of every single individual. He also
knows he cannot be at the table to make ever single day-to-day decision, instead of trying to be in a
hundred place at once. Gates' attempts to train well oiled managers. He has even published articles
that reveal his expectations and qualities he attempts to instil into Microsoft managers. Here are Bill's
ten qualities of a good employee:
1. Choose a field thoughtfully. By choosing a field one enjoys, it makes it easier to generate
enthusiasm towards one's work. This is true for both a manager and an employee.
2. Hire carefully and be willing to fire. A strong team is vital, because a mediocre team provides
mediocre results, no matter how well it is managed.
3. Create a productive environment. This is a particular challenge because it requires different
approaches depending on the environment. Sometimes productivity is maximized by providing
everybody his or her own office and other times by moving everybody into open space. Sometimes
financial incentives stimulates productivity and motivation. Usually a mixture of approaches is
necessary to reach desired productivity.
4. Define success. This is done by providing employees with a clear definition of success and how they
should measure their achievements. Goals must be realistic. For example, project schedules must be
set those who actually do the work. People will accept a bottom-up deadline they helped set, but
maybe overwhelmed by a schedule imposed from upper management that doesn't map reality.
Unachievable goals undermine an organization.
5. To be a good manager, you have to like people and be good at communicating. This quality is
generally impossible to fake. If an individual doesn't genuinely enjoy interacting with people it will be
hard to manage well.
6. Develop your people to do their jobs better than you can. Transfer your skills to them. This is an
exciting goal, but it can be threatening to a manger that is worried about training his replacement.
Many managers like to see their employees increase their responsibility because it frees them up to
tackle new or undone tasks.
7. Build morale. It should be made clear there's plenty of good will to go around and that there is not
just one hotshot manager getting all the credit. Explain to employees the importance of their work to
the company and customers. Giving people a sense of importance increases motivation to complete
the task to the best of their ability and provides the feeling of satisfaction after completion.
8. Take on projects yourself. Managers need to do more than communicate. Nobody wants to work for a
boss who just delegates tasks. It is important for a manager from time to time to take on less
attractive task to provide examples of how his or her employees should meet challenges.
9. Don't make the same decision twice. Managers should have the confidence in their well thought out
decision in order to not leave any avenues open for rediscussion. A manager should never have to
second-guess himself or herself.
10. Let people know whom to please. It should be made clear whom employees have to please,
whether its the 13 manager, the managers boss or someone else higher up. There is a risk of
paralysis when employees start to question whom they are supposed to make happy. The beauty of

Gates' tips is they are pretty much common sense, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to incorporate
these aspects into his or her employee. Making processes clear and simple always seems to
accomplish the goals was set out to. Gates' believes in talking with employees and customers rather
than talking at them. By conducting conversations individuals, especially customers, can understand
and allow them to provide feedback that is taken into consideration allows Gates' to build a lasting and
trusting relationship with employees and customers.
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Culture and Civilization

THE RENAISSANCE PERIOD IN THE EUROPEAN CULTURE
Introduction
Renaissance, period of European history that saw a renewed interest in the arts and in the classical past. The
Renaissance began in 14th-century Italy and had spread to the rest of Europe by the 16th and 17th centuries. In this
period, the fragmented feudal society of the Middle Ages, with its agricultural economy and Church-dominated
intellectual and cultural life, was transformed into a society increasingly dominated by central political institutions, with
an urban, commercial economy and lay patronage of education, the arts, and music.
Background
The term renaissance, meaning literally rebirth, was first employed in 1855 by the French historian Jules
Michelet to refer to the discovery of the world and of man in the 16th century. The great Swiss historian Jakob
Burckhardt, in his classic The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy (1860), expanded on Michelets conception.
Defining the Renaissance as the period between the Italian painters Giotto and Michelangelo, Burckhardt
characterized the epoch as nothing less than the birth of modern humanity and consciousness after a long period of
decay.
Modern scholars have exploded the myth that the Middle Ages were dark and dormant. The thousand years
preceding the Renaissance were filled with achievement. Because of the scriptoria (writing rooms) of medieval
monasteries, copies of the work of Latin writers such as Virgil, Ovid, Cicero, and Seneca survived. The legal system
of modern continental Europe had its origin in the development of civil and canon law in the 12th and 13th centuries.
Renaissance thinkers continued the medieval tradition of grammatical and rhetorical studies. In theology, the
medieval traditions of Scholasticism, Thomism, Scotism, and Ockhamism were continued in the Renaissance.
Medieval Platonism and Aristotelianism were crucial to Renaissance philosophical thought. The advances of
mathematical disciplines, including astronomy, were indebted to medieval precedents. The schools of Salerno in Italy,
and Montpellier in France, were noted centres of medical studies in the Middle Ages. See also Astronomy; Medicine;
Philosophy.
Characteristics
The Italian Renaissance was above all an urban phenomenon, a product of cities that flourished in central and
northern Italy, such as Florence, Ferrara, Milan, and Venice. It was the wealth of these cities that financed
Renaissance cultural achievements. The cities themselves, however, were not creations of the Renaissance, but of
the period of great economic expansion and population growth during the 12th and 13th centuries. Medieval Italian
merchants developed commercial and financial techniques, such as bookkeeping and bills of exchange. The creation
of the public debt, a concept unknown in ancient times, allowed these cities to finance their territorial expansion
through military conquest. Their merchants controlled commerce and finance across Europe. This fluid mercantile
society contrasted sharply with the rural, tradition-bound society of medieval Europe; it was less hierarchical and
more concerned with secular objectives.
Breaks with Tradition
The Middle Ages did not, of course, end abruptly. It could be false, however, to regard history as perpetual
continuity and the Renaissance as a mere continuation of the Middle Ages. One of the most significant breaks with

tradition came in the field of history. The Historiarum Florentini populi libri XII (Twelve Books of Florentine Histories,
1420) of Leonardo Bruni, the Istorie fiorentine (Florentine History, 1525) of Niccol Machiavelli, the Storia dItalia
(History of Italy, 1561-1564) of Francesco Guicciardini, and the Methodus ad Facilem Historiarum Cognitionem (Easy
Introduction to the Study of History, 1566) of Jean Bodin were shaped by a secular view of time and a critical attitude
towards sources. History became a branch of literature rather than theology. Renaissance historians rejected the
medieval Christian division of history that began with the Creation, followed by the incarnation of Jesus Christ and the
anticipated Last Judgement. The Renaissance vision of history also had three parts: It began with antiquity, followed
by the Middle Ages and then the golden age of rebirth that had just begun. Whereas medieval scholars looked
askance at the pagan Greek and Roman world, believing that they were living in the final age before the last
judgment, their Renaissance counterparts adored the ancients, condemned the Middle Ages as ignorant and
barbaric, and proclaimed their own age to be one of light and the rebirth of Classicism. This view was expressed by
many Renaissance thinkers known as humanists.
The Renaissance idea of humanism was another cultural break with medieval tradition. According to the American
scholar Paul Oscar Kristeller, this frequently misinterpreted term meant the general tendency of the Renaissance to
attach the greatest importance to classical studies and to consider classical antiquity as the common standard and
model by which to guide all cultural activity. Classical texts were studied and valued on their own terms, no longer
serving merely to embellish and justify Christian civilization. The intense interest in antiquity expressed itself in a
feverish and successful search for classical manuscripts: the dialogues of Plato, the histories of Herodotus and
Thucydides, and the works of the Greek dramatists, poets, and Church fathers were rediscovered and critically edited
for the first time. Because of emigrant Byzantine scholars, who, after the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks,
taught in Florence, Ferrara, and Milan, the study of Greek flourished in the 15th and 16th centuries. Although the
study of ancient literature, history, and moral philosophy sometimes degenerated into a slavish imitation of the
classics, it was meant to produce free and civilized human beings, people of taste and judgment, citizens rather than
priests and monks.
The perfection of the body by physical training, an ideal rarely acknowledged in the Middle Ages, became a
prominent goal of Renaissance education. Humanistic studies, along with the great artistic endeavours of the age,
were given encouragement and financial support by such leading families as the Medici of Florence, the Este of
Ferrara, the Sforza of Milan, the Gonzaga of Mantua, and the dukes of Urbino, the doges of Venice, and papal Rome.
The Arts
The recovery and study of the classics entailed the creation of new disciplines-classical philology and
archaeology, numismatics, and epigraphy-and critically affected the development of older ones. In art, the decisive
break with medieval tradition occurred in Florence around 1420 when linear perspective was scientifically
understood, which made it possible to represent three-dimensional space convincingly on a flat surface. The works of
the architect Filippo Brunelleschi and the painter Masaccio are dazzling examples of the uses of this technique.
Donatello, who is considered the founder of modern sculpture, created the bronze David, the first life-size nude since
antiquity. From the mid-15th century on, classical form was rejoined with classical subject matter, and mythological
motifs derived from literary sources adorned palaces, walls, furniture, and plates. The ancient practice of striking
medals to commemorate eminent figures such as the Florentine statesman Cosimo de Medici was reintroduced by
Pisanello. Portraits of notable figures, emphasizing individual characteristics, were painted by Piero della Francesca,
Andrea Mantegna, and Sandro Botticelli.
Science and Technology
Progress was also made in medicine and anatomy, especially after the first translation of many ancient works of
Hippocrates and Galen in the 15th and 16th centuries. Some of the most advanced Greek treatises on mathematics
were translated in the 16th century, and advances made beyond the ancients included the solution of cubic equations
and the innovative astronomy of Nicolaus Copernicus, Tycho Brahe, and Johannes Kepler. By the end of the 16th
century,Galileo had taken the crucial step of applying mathematical models to the subject matter of physics.
Geography was transformed by new empirical knowledge derived from explorations beyond Europe and from the first
translations of the ancient works of Ptolemy and Strabo.
In the field of technology, the invention of printing in the 15th century began to revolutionize the dissemination of
knowledge. Printing increased the quantity of books, helped eliminate errors, gave scholars identical texts with which
to work, and turned intellectual endeavour into a collaborative rather than a solitary activity. The use of gunpowder
transformed warfare between 1450 and 1550. Artillery proved devastatingly effective against the stone walls of
castles and towns. The medieval army, led by cavalry and supported by bowmen, was gradually replaced by one
made up of foot soldiers carrying portable firearms and masses of troops with pikes; such forces were the first
standing armies of Europe.
Politics
In law the tendency was to challenge the abstract dialectical method of the medieval jurists with a philological and

historical interpretation of the sources of Roman Law. As for political thought, the medieval proposition that the
preservation of liberty, law, and justice constitutes the central aim of political life was challenged but not overthrown
by Renaissance theorists. They contended that the central task of government was to maintain security and
peace.Machiavelli maintained that the creative force (virt) of the ruler was the key to the preservation of both his
own position and the well-being of his subjects-an idea consonant with contemporary politics.
Italian city-states were transformed during the Renaissance from communes to territorial states, each of which
sought to expand at the expense of others. Territorial unification also took place in Spain, France, and England. The
process was aided by modern diplomacy, which took its place beside the new warfare when the Italian city-states
established resident embassies at foreign courts. By the 16th century, the institution of permanent embassies spread
northwards to France, England, and the Holy Roman Empire.
Religion
Renaissance churchmen, particularly in the higher echelons, modelled their behaviour on the mores and ethics
of lay society. The activities of popes, cardinals, and bishops were scarcely distinguishable from those of secular
merchants and political figures. At the same time, Christianity remained a vital and essential element of Renaissance
culture. Preachers such as San Bernardino of Siena, and theologians and prelates such as SantAntonino of
Florence, attracted large audiences and were revered. In addition many humanists were concerned with theological
questions and applied the new philological and historical scholarship to the study and interpretation of the early
Church fathers. The humanist approach to theology and scripture may be traced from the Italian scholar and poet
Petrarch to the Dutch scholar Desiderius Erasmus: it made a powerful impact on Roman Catholics and Protestants.
Evaluation
Some medievalists contend that the inflated eloquence and vapid Neo-Classicism of much humanist writing
undermine the claim that the Renaissance was a turning point in Western civilization. Although these contentions are
valid to some degree, the Renaissance clearly was a time in which long-standing beliefs were tested; it was a period
of intellectual ferment, preparing the ground for the thinkers and scientists of the 17th century, who were far more
original than the Renaissance humanists. The Renaissance idea that humankind rules nature is akin to Sir Francis
Bacons concept of human dominance over natures elements, which initiated the development of modern science
and technology. Medieval notions of republicanism and liberty, preserved and defended with classical precedents by
Renaissance thinkers, had an indelible impact on the course of English constitutional theory and may have been a
source for the conception of government espoused by the Founding Fathers of American constitutionalism. Above all,
however, the Renaissance has bequeathed monuments of artistic beauty that stand as perennial definitions of
Western culture. See also Renaissance Art and Architecture.
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THE IMPACT OF COMPUTERS Computer technology not only has solved problems
but also has created some, including a certain amount of culture shock as individuals attempt to deal with the new
technology. A major role of computer science has been to alleviate such problems, mainly by making computer
systems cheaper, faster, more reliable, easier to use. Computers are forever present in the workplace. Word
processors-computer software packages that simplify the creational and modification of documents-have largely
replaced the typewriter. Electronic mail has made it easy to send messages worldwide via computer communication
networks. Office automation has become the term for linking workstations, printers, database system, and other tools
by means of a local-area network. An eventual goal of office automation has been termed the paperless office.
Although such changes ultimately make office work much more efficient, they have not been without cost in terms of
purchasing and frequently upgrading the necessary hardware and software and of training workers to use the new
technology. Computer integrated manufacturing is a relatively new technology arising from the application of many
computer science subdisciplines to support the manufacturing enterprise. The technology of CIM emphasizes that all
aspects of manufacturing should be not only computerized as much as possible but also linked together via a
computer communication network into an integrated whole. In short, CIM has the potential to enable manufacturers to
build cheaper, higher-quality products and thus improve their competitiveness. Making a telephone call no longer
should conjure up visions of operators connecting cables by hand or even of electrical signals causing relays to click
into place and effect connections during dialing. The telephone system now is just a multilevel computer network with
software switches in the network nodes to route calls get through much more quickly and reliably than they did in the
past. A disadvantage is the potential for dramatic and widespread failures; for as has happened. The downside of this
technology is the potential for security problems. Intruders can see packets traveling on a network and can perhaps
interpret them to obtain confidential information. Computer technology has had a significant impact on retail stores.
All but the smallest shops have replaced the old-fashioned cash register with a terminal linked to a computer system.
The terminal may require that the clerk type in the code for the item; but more and more frequently the checkout

counter include a bar-code scanner, a device that directly reads into the computer the UPC printed on each package.
Cash-register receipts can then include brief descriptions of the items purchased, and the purchase information is
also relayed back to the computer to cause and immediate adjustment in the inventory data. The inventory system
can easily alert the manager when the supply of some item drops below a specified threshold. In the case of retail
chains linked by networks, the order for a new supply of an item may be automatically generated and sent
electronically to the supply warehouse. In a less extensively automated arrangement, the manager can send in the
order electronically by a dial-up link to the suppliers computer. These developments have made shopping much
more convenient. The checkout process is faster; checkout lines shorter; and the desired item are more likely to be in
stock. Computer technology has been incorporated into automobiles. Computers are involved (CAD systems) not
only in the design of cars but also in the manufacturing and testing process, perhaps making use of CIM technology.
Todays automobiles themselves 18 include numerous computer chips that analyze sensor data and alert the driver to
actual and potential malfunctions. Although increased reliability has been achieved by implementing such
computerization, a drawback is that only automotive repair shops with a large investment in high-tech interfaces and
diagnostic tools for these computerized systems can handle any but the simplest repairs.
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The Internet, once concealed inside government agencies and universities, has become the

largest single form of communication worldwide. With a number of online individuals exceeding thirty
millions and the number of networks that act as gateways for users exceeding fifty thousands, the
Internet's boundaries can only be imagined. Often described by the media as the information
superhighway, the internet offers to customary users a wide variety of services, but also some
drawbacks. Any form of communication via the internet is cheaper and rather faster than any service
from other facilities. The electronic mail (email), for instance, allows any user on the internet to send
nearly instantaneous electronic message to anyone else. The internet phone, which is slowly but
surely replacing the regular phone, enables anyone to make free long distance calls, through the
computer. With the appearance of streaming technologies, broadcasting companies and radio
stations are transmitting regularly over the internet, which makes them accessible anywhere on the
globe.
The only costs involved in using these internet services, and many others not mentioned, are the costs
of the user's computer, the modem , and the telephone lines used to dial in, all of which can be
relatively cheap. One of the recent innovations the internet made available is online commerce, which
includes online shopping, online banking, online trading and many more. This opens up a new
international world of trading. Consumers, overcoming any kind of disability, can effectively dive into
an immense range and selection of merchandise, effortlessly compare prices and quickly shop from
remote locations. Perhaps, waiting to carry out regular transactions in financial centres is very
frustrating. This is not true anymore with the expansion of the internet to include online banking.
People can, anytime and anywhere from the globe, access their bank accounts, pay their bills, transfer
their money and even trade their stocks. The internet is, beyond doubt, the most efficient and
economic tool of the next generation. But, the dark side of the internet reveals some serious
drawbacks. First, it was not designed with tight security in mind.
This was demonstrated, at least once a month, by so-called crackers: growing minorities of people
with nothing better to do than spoil everyone elses enjoyment. Crackers dedicate their work to
purposely infect programs and distant computers that access the internet. In July 1997, successfully
capturing and distributing credit card numbers of NBA and ESPN users, crackers achieved the first
widely known attack on internet credit card data. On the same year, another cracker known as Snak
was taken into custody by FBI agents after he had stolen over one hundred thousands credit card
numbers from an internet service provider (ISP) located in northern California. Nevertheless, the
internet tasking force (ITF), a group of knowledgeable engineers whose sole task is to reinforce the
integrity of the internet, is taking significant measures to prevent such unlawful actions. Secondly, the
internets structures do not only transport data, but it also transports compact and yet very harmful
intruders: computer viruses. These artificial clever beasts that destroy data, have existed since the
very first birth of personnel computers.
With the growth of the internet, virus authors have been faced up to nothing but a widespread gate to
the information superhighway, efficiently supplied with new viruses. Veronica, last centurys award
winning virus, transformed to inoperative rather hundred thousands of computers and thousands of
networks around the globe for quite few days; financial institutes deciphered the heartbreaking event
to more than a few million dollars of 52 vanished money. This is wonderlessly why internet

communities are very much concerned about security. Occasionally, information takes lengthy periods
to load on the computers screen; just enough to frustrate impatient users. This is often due to delays
that occur at endpoints, and on the internet's paths, which can be thought of several four lane
roadways with neither traffic officers nor civilized drivers. The rate at which data is transmitted and the
number of systems, are being improved, but not at the same level as the number of new users. This is
one of the main reasons behind the delays. The information superhighway, as any other invention,
has its strengths residing in its popular aspects the World Wide Web, email, online commerce, and
many others. The internet has also its weaknesses, some of which can be very damaging. I believe,
however, that these drawbacks will be overcome in time as technology advances and methods of
securely transmitting, receiving, and retrieving information improve.
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Literature is a term used to describe written or spoken material. Broadly speaking, "literature" is used to
describe anything from creative writing to more technical or scientific works, but the term is most commonly used to
refer to works of the creative imagination, including works of poetry, drama, fiction, and nonfiction. "The difficulty of
literature is not to write, but to write what you mean; not to affect your reader, but to affect him precisely as you wish."
-- Robert Louis Stevenson "Man is losing his humane qualities today. As a result, there has been a loss of
sensitivity. The only way out of this problem is to engage oneself in music and literature. Music and literature help
lead a peaceful and healthy lifestyle" - Mr Patil Literature helps us understand and make sense of the world around
us. Through literature, we explore the human condition and analyze how and why people think the way they think and
feel the way they feel. Literature enables us to develop our minds analytically and promotes open minds. We see the
world through the eyes of different writers from different cultures and in turn learn the ways to deal with things
happening around us. Without literature, we lack insight and understanding of human nature. Everyone should,
therefore, study literature. My favourite writer is Liviu Rebreanu .He is a novelist, playwright, short story writer, and
journalist. I found his novel Ion the most interesting of its all writings. It introduce us in the life of the paesants and
intellectuals of Transylvania before the war. The novel Ion brings him the consacration and the prize of the Romanian
Academy.
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NATURE
When you live in a big city you surely have stress problems. Pollution, noise, crwods, nervousness, overtaxing work
(maybe at home, too), these are the things that can make you say that you are tired, and you want to forget about
them, at least for a while. The sollution is very simple: just get in a train and go to a calm place, somewhere in nature.
It could be near a small lake, in a forest, on a coast or in the mountains. All you have to do is to relax, to forget about
your everyday problem, because usually people have the tendency to enter into automatism, like a machine: wake up
in the morning, go to work, drink coffe, go shopping, return home, watch TV, go to bed and then start all over again.
Nature could be a mirror for ourselves in which we can see who we become and which are the really important things
in our lives. In this way nature can be a place of meditation and at the same time an inexhaustible source of energies.
Also nature should be an example of harmony and balance for our lives. Nature is, for me, more than the place where
I can be myself, it is also a teacher and a friend close to my heart. I hope that a lot of people who think and feel like
me. I also hope that I have pointed enough reasons to convice you to return to nature, to respect her and to protect
her.
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money is the root of all evil

It is a common saying that

. According to the Random House
Dictionary of Proverbs and Sayings, the phrase first appeared in English circa 1000 A.D. The saying originated in the
New Testament. For the love of money is the root of all evil. Timothy, 6:10. One of the very first acts of evil
committed in the Bible has nothing to do with money. In the Book of Genesis, Cain kills his brother Abel because he
is jealous that Abels offering to God was better received than his own. He is jealous that Abel has achieved higher
status than him. Capital as such is not evil; it is its wrong use that is evil. Capital in some form or other will always be
needed. Gandhi In my honest opinion, money is not necessarily the source of all the evils in the world. Nearly
every crime can be attributed to money in some form, drug addicts stealing to buy a fix, murder committed for the
sake of taking someones money etc. I think most would agree, for example, that High School shootings are 'evil,' but
there is rarely a financial motive. Similarly child abuse is almost universally considered evil but generally doesn't have
a financial motive. Most of the wars in history have been started indirectly in the name of either money or religion. As

well as these, people in todays society are pressured to become as successful as they can, and this is usually
measured on how financially successful they are. Money is surely not the root of all evil. We all need money to
survive but it depends on the person that this can cause many trouble. There are people who does everything for
money and think that this is the only thing what it is important in life. They are wrong : friendship, love, honesty are
more important. Live like the honest people and don't let money make the boss of your life. Don't act like criminals,
they steal, they rob banks or shops, they kill persons for the money but this happens only by a certain percentage of
the people. We need money to live on physically and negotiate in this world. However, nothing corrupts humans as
much as power and money. As Bruce Springsteen sang, "poor men want to be rich, rich men want to be King, and the
King aint satisfied til he rules everything." In our quest for happiness, we succumb to the world instead of desiring the
things of Heaven, and therein lies the problem. Money and the trappings that go along with it have the power to
corrupt us. Money in and of itself is not evil, rather it is how we view money and what place of importance we put it in
that has the potential for evil. God blesses us according to His riches and glory, and what we do with those blessings,
including money, is up to us.
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, smoking in public places

In my opinion
should be prohibited. There are many reasons that
support this point of view, but today I want to concentrate on three reasons. One reason is that is harmful for nonsmokers, another reason is that smoking is a cause of pollution, and a reason is that smokers have other ways to
receive nicotine. Firstly, smoking is harmful for non-smokers. Smokers should have the right to smoke, but it's not
reasonable if that right is harmful to others. Obviously, if people smoke in public places, non-smokers have no choice
but to become secondhand smokers. Don't non-smokers have the right to choose not to be secondhand smokers?
Secondly, smoking is a cause of pollution. There is a lot of research that shows that many kinds of gases that are
released by smoking and are harmful for the environment, such as tar and carbon dioxide. Everyone knows that now
the environment is getting worse and worse. Do you want smoking to be another source of the problem? Lastly,
smokers have other ways to receive nicotine. Nowadays, we have many ways to receive nicotine, such as nicotine
gum and nicotine patches. Smokers can use these products instead of smoking. Do you really want people to smoke
in public places instead of using these new products? In conclusion, I want to say that there are no reasons left to
permit smoking in public places, and I also think that maybe this is the time for people to quit smoking. Banning
smoking is not just for us, but for this world and for everyone who has to live in this world after us.
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The Internet can be very useful for companies to advertise

and sell their products.

Since anyone can have access to the Internet, sellers can reach the majority of the consumers through the use of the
Internet. The two companies Sina and ASM both rely on the Internet to run their companies receiving revenues
through the Internet and reaching their audience. Sina is a company that has become the most heavily trafficked
Web sites in the Chinese language market. (Laudon, 18). Sina is known in China for providing firstrate,
comprehensive, up-to-the-minute news, it also offers popular chat rooms, community platforms, financial information,
online shopping platforms, search and free email throughout its four sites. (About Sina, 1). Sina uses the Internet to
link people all over to other Chinese language sites. The Internet is very essential for Sina to operate its business.
The Internet is the way that Sina operates with its users. Revenues are generated for Sina by advertising for
companies on its Web site that is primarily for the U.S. and Taiwanese. Sina is hoping to generate profits through
charging subscription fees for access from users to their sites and to add electronic commerce and Internet telephone
capabilities to its Web sites. Asia Source Media (ASM) offers services via Internet for companies participating in
global trade. (Laudon, 18). ASM used to be an Asian trade magazine that eventually installed software and offered
an interactive catalogue of products and factories on CD-Rom and converted its catalogue to a Web site. Consumers
view products and then contact the sellers using email. Using email and the Web sites helps the buyers and sellers
come together saving money on costly travel or telephone calls. ASM helps to provide users online information on
trade shows, product alerts and discounted prices from factories. ASM earns its revenues by accepting ads to be
displayed on its Web site. (18) as well as getting paid for listings by sellers and very soon to be buyers. The whole
make up of these two businesses relies wholly on the Internet to run them. Both of the companies generate all their
revenues through use of the Internet. If there were no Internet, Sina would not be able to advertise on the Internet
therefore not being able to generate revenue and not surviving as a company. Both of the companies use the Internet
to better serve their customers and potentially adding new customers in the long run as well. Without the Internet
these companies would not be able to operate their business and not serve their customers or gain potential new

ones. These two companies help their customers find what information or products they are looking for in the comfort
of their houses or offices. The Internet saves the customers time and money by proving a fast way to retrieve what
they are looking for. Without the Internet the customers would have to search for products and information by going to
these sellers to shop around or by sitting on the phone for hours calling these sellers for information. They can just
click a button and find whatever they need or are looking for in less time and money.
Read more at http://www.noiscriem.net/2013/08/internet-advertisements.html#pVymyvOAApByAHyP.99

Technology and Efficiency

The market for computer products is a multi-billion dollar business where one can find a perfect balance of
technology and efficiency. The huge industrial market is lead by such names as IBM, Hewlett Packard, and Compaq.
The steps that are taken to bring the computer from several small components to a desktop product are organization
of the manufacturing facility, assembly of hardware, installation of software, and a test process. The production of a
high quality product is important to computer buyers. Manufacturing factories produce approximately 14,000 systems
weekly. Companies generally use 2 methods of computer assembly. One method involves complete unit assembly by
one person, the other being group assembly where several people construct a single computer (the latter method is
known as assembly line production). When assembling a computer, there are 8 to 10 major components installed
including the processor speed chip, the motherboard, RAM (Random Access Memory), diskette drive, modem or
network card, video card, hard drive, sound card, and CDROM. Before the components are placed into the computer,
each part undergoes an extensive testing process called quality control . Quality control ensures that faulty systems
are not shipped. As an initial step, prior to the assembly process, an inspection of the outer case to ensure that there
are no scratches or defects. The brand name and indicator labels are put onto the computer case at this time. Next
the motherboard is installed and prepared for the processor chip. The chip (which is often a Pentium chip) is attached
to the motherboard along with the RAM component. Once the chip and RAM are installed, the internal speakers and
sound card are placed into the case. The hard drive, disk drive and CD-ROM drive are attached to the computer
chassis. All these components are then attached to the motherboard with cables so that they may communicate with
each other. Power supply is then applied to the computer and other additional components such as the video card,
and modem are added near a final stage of assembly. After all these components are installed to create the finished
PC, the unit is thoroughly inspected to ensure that all the cables connections are in place and all other defects are
fixed. Inspectors also ensure that cables are in appropriate places so that they do not touch components. The CMOS
(complementary metal-oxide semiconductorcircuitry for the memory and processor) is set up at this time. The top
cover is placed onto the computer and it is shipped off for further testing. All companies differ in their testing of
finished products. A common practice in most companies includes the 48-hour burn in period. After it, final diagnostic
tests are completed to ensure all components are working well. If a computer is ordered with sound cards, speakers
are attached to the unit and they also are tested. Mouse and keyboard components are tested manually by
connecting a testing mouse and keyboard to the ports. The computer is then shipped from the manufacturing site to
the distribution center. Here, additional tests are possible as computers are randomly checked and inspected. The
computer is then further shipped to department or retail stores for sale to the consumer. In conclusion, the production
of a computer from a number of components to a finished product is a complex procedure.() The usefulness of the
computer and subsequent consumer demand for improved models will keep pressure on manufactures to build more
efficient, high quality machines in future years.
Read more at http://www.noiscriem.net/2013/08/technology-and-efficiency.html#YgwCLMlGLWUalykH.99

The nature of human relations is evolutionary. It changes over time as our society adjusts to
our ever-changing environment. These changes can be positive or negative, and sometimes necessary changes
have both positive and negative consequences on our lives. It seems that the overall nature of current human
relations can best be determined by examining human interaction in a few key areas. Interaction in the workplace, the
school, and the home, as well as interaction among strangers, can be analyzed to provide an accurate description.
There are many factors that can have an effect on our interaction in each of these settings. The workplace is an
environment in which there is generally a high degree of personal interaction. Recent technological advances have
made it much easier for people to communicate with one another. The emergence of the Internet in the 1990's has
forever changed the way that people will interact with one another. E-mail has become a way to connect with co-

workers anywhere in the world. No longer is one confined to only communicating with people in their department or
office. The increasing popularity of cellular phones had also changed human relations. One can now be reached
virtually anytime, anywhere. Although technology has made human relations easier in the workplace, it has also
decreased the amount of face-to-face interaction. Technology has also created the virtual workplace, where people
can work from the confines of their own home. This has drastically reduced the amount of personal interaction
between workers. The cultural diversity of the typical workplace has increased greatly over the last decade. This
increase in diversity has come from a couple of sources. First, many companies were forced to diversify to comply
with equal opportunity laws. Second, companies began to discover that people from different ethnic backgrounds
were helpful in working with a wide spectrum of customers. Regardless of the reasons, this increasing diversity in the
workforce has caused a change in human interaction. People are now being exposed to others with many different
cultural backgrounds, beliefs and customs. This has forced people to expand their horizons and learn the proper
ways to relate to people from other cultures. Many times language barriers exist, and it can be difficult to establish
effective communication. The threat of violence has been an increased concern for many companies. Workers today
feel as though they are just one part of a machine, and could easily be replaced. This has degraded the quality of
personal interaction in the workplace. It seems that this trend toward violent behavior is crossing the generation gaps
and invading our schools as well. Advancing technology and growing diversity are having an impact on the
environment of schools across the nation. These aspects of change are having many positive influences on the
quality of education available to our students. Advances in computers and the internet make limitless amounts of
information accessible to students. Cultural diversity in schools helps children to learn at a young age that there are
many things that can be learned from other people's cultures. These changes are very important to society as a
whole because they indicate that future generations will be more accepting of differences and better able to
accommodate others. These social skills that children learn at school have a strong impact on how they will relate to
others throughout their lives. Nearly everyday people face situations in which they interact with strangers. These
interactions are very common, since one naturally meets new people while going about one's daily routine. The
nature of human relations between strangers is complex and dependent upon certain situations. Most of the time
these interactions are polite or at 32 the least non-committal. Unfortunately, there seems to be a trend in recent times
towards distrust and outright violence in a growing percentage of these daily social interactions. Communication with
strangers involves relatively greater degrees of uncertainty thus people may feel higher levels of anxiety. This may
explain the growing number of people who are choosing to interact with strangers via Internet chat rooms. In this
situation there is no face-to-face contact, so people do not have to worry about how they are perceived if they were to
make a mistake. Anxiety is reduced, making this interaction between strangers easier.
Read more at http://www.noiscriem.net/2013/08/the-current-nature-of-humanrelations.html#hY7vpUGx7UwY17UC.99