Showing posts tagged wikipedia

The mall has seven zones modeled on international cities, nations and regions, including Amsterdam, Paris, Rome, Venice, Egypt, the Caribbean, and California. Features include an 25 metres (82 ft) replica of the Arc de Triomphe, a replica of Venice’s St Mark’s bell tower, a 2.1 kilometres (1.3 mi) canal with gondolas, and a 553-meter indoor-outdoor roller coaster.

Since its opening in 2005, the mall has suffered from a severe lack of occupants. Much of the retail space has remained empty, with over 99% of the stores vacant. The only occupied areas of the mall are near the entrance where several Western fast food chains are located and a parking structure repurposed as a kart racing track. A planned Shangri-La Hotel has not been constructed.

—http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_South_China_Mall

Chinese word for “crisis”

The Chinese word for “crisis” (simplified Chinese: 危机; traditional Chinese: 危機; pinyin: wēijī; Wade–Giles: wei-chi) is frequently invoked in motivational speaking along with the statement that the two characters it is composed of represent “danger” and “opportunity.” Some Western linguists consider this analysis fallacious, arguing that the character jī alone does not necessarily mean “opportunity.” […] The use of the term probably gained momentum when John F. Kennedy delivered a speech in Indianapolis on April 12, 1959:

“When written in Chinese the word crisis is composed of two characters. One represents danger, and the other represents opportunity.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_translation_of_crisis

After proving Euler’s Identity during a lecture, Benjamin Peirce, a noted American 19th century philosopher/mathematician and a professor at Harvard University, stated that “It is absolutely paradoxical; we cannot understand it, and we don’t know what it means, but we have proved it, and therefore we know it must be the truth.” [6] All inspired by π (Pi) Day. Or rather…. um… Tau day?

After proving Euler’s Identity during a lecture, Benjamin Peirce, a noted American 19th century philosopher/mathematician and a professor at Harvard University, stated that “It is absolutely paradoxical; we cannot understand it, and we don’t know what it means, but we have proved it, and therefore we know it must be the truth.” [6]

All inspired by π (Pi) Day. Or rather…. um… Tau day?

His mnemonic associations were so strong that he could recall them after many years. After he discovered his own abilities, he performed as a mnemonist; but this created confusion in his mind. He went as far as writing things down on paper and burning it, so that he could see the words in cinders, in a desperate attempt to forget them. Reportedly, in his late years, he realized that he could forget facts with just a conscious desire to remove them from his memory, although Luria did not test this directly.

(for more: 60 Minutes segment on superior autobiographical memory; Wired article on Jill Price)

The pictorial composition of the painting is constructed upon two pyramidal structures. The perimeter of the large mast on the left of the canvas forms the first. The horizontal grouping of dead and dying figures in the foreground forms the base from which the survivors emerge, surging upward towards the emotional peak, where the central figure waves desperately at a rescue ship. The viewer’s attention is first drawn to the centre of the canvas, then follows the directional flow of the survivors’ bodies, viewed from behind and straining to the right. According to the art historian Justin Wintle, “a single horizontal diagonal rhythm [leads] us from the dead at the bottom left, to the living at the apex.”  Two other diagonal lines are used to heighten the dramatic tension. One follows the mast and its rigging and leads the viewer’s eye towards an approaching wave that threatens to engulf the raft, while the second, composed of reaching figures, leads to the distant silhouette of the Argus, the ship that eventually rescued the survivors. (Image by Tyrenius) —http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Raft_of_the_Medusa View high resolution

The pictorial composition of the painting is constructed upon two pyramidal structures. The perimeter of the large mast on the left of the canvas forms the first. The horizontal grouping of dead and dying figures in the foreground forms the base from which the survivors emerge, surging upward towards the emotional peak, where the central figure waves desperately at a rescue ship.

The viewer’s attention is first drawn to the centre of the canvas, then follows the directional flow of the survivors’ bodies, viewed from behind and straining to the right. According to the art historian Justin Wintle, “a single horizontal diagonal rhythm [leads] us from the dead at the bottom left, to the living at the apex.”  Two other diagonal lines are used to heighten the dramatic tension. One follows the mast and its rigging and leads the viewer’s eye towards an approaching wave that threatens to engulf the raft, while the second, composed of reaching figures, leads to the distant silhouette of the Argus, the ship that eventually rescued the survivors.

(Image by Tyrenius)

—http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Raft_of_the_Medusa

“
Von Neumann invariably wore a conservative grey flannel business suit - he was even known to play tennis wearing his business suit - and he enjoyed throwing large parties at his home in Princeton, occasionally twice a week.[24] Despite being a notoriously bad driver, he nonetheless enjoyed driving (frequently while reading a book) - occasioning numerous arrests as well as accidents. He reported one of his car accidents in this way: “I was proceeding down the road. The trees on the right were passing me in orderly fashion at 60 miles per hour. Suddenly one of them stepped in my path.”[25] (The von Neumanns would return to Princeton at the beginning of each academic year with a new car.) It was said of him at Princeton that, while he was indeed a demigod, he had made a detailed study of humans and could imitate them perfectly.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_von_Neumann
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanuki View high resolution

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanuki

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanuki View high resolution

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanuki

In its original medieval usage, donjon meant a keep, the main tower of a castle which formed the final defensive position to which the garrison could retreat when outer fortifications were overcome. The word dungeon is based on Old French donjon, which is derived from Latin dom(i)niōn- “property” (and ultimately dominus “lord”). By association of a tower with a prison, its English meaning has evolved over time to mean an underground prison or oubliette, typically in a basement of a castle.

In French the term donjon still refers to a “keep”, and the term oubliette is a more appropriate translation of English “dungeon”. Donjon is therefore a false friend to “dungeon” (for instance, the game “Dungeons and Dragons” is titled “Donjons et Dragons” in its French editions).

An oubliette (from the French oubliette - literally “forgotten place”) was a form of dungeon which was accessible only from a hatch in a high ceiling. The word comes from the same root as the French oublier, “to forget,” as it was used for those prisoners the captors wished to forget.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oubliette

Gift originally had the same meaning in English and German. About a thousand years ago, this word was sometimes used as euphemism for “poison” in German. During the centuries following, by a process of “pejoration”, this meaning of “Gift” became predominant. Today, “poison” is the only meaning for German “Gift”, except in the word Mitgift (“dowry”) which in German means das Mitgegebene, “that which is given with (the wedding)”.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_friend