Apocalypse 2012

Apocalypse- this word is becoming more and more popular in our world, and when you add 2012 you get something that part of people afraid off. But what it really means, and about what is this hype about.

It all starts about 1000 years ago in Middle America. This is the land, in that time, belongs to Mayan Civilization. 21 December 2012- this is the last day, month and year indicated in Mayan Calendar. At this time will be the end of our world, or our civilization. Mayan, as a general rule, didn’t make any mistakes in their forecasts. They were able to define all moves of the Earth, calculate the exactly date of Sun and Moon eclipse- with fidelity to seconds. Ancient priest professes that in every 11 500 years is repeated particular system of a planets and stars. This system induce disasters in all Solar System-and even in favour of it., such as planets destruction or dislocation of magnetic poles of the Earth. Last incident took place in 9792 year BC. And another is going to happened in 2012 AD.

Mayan Calendar

Calamity 2012 is support not only in Mayan forecast but also in numbers and in observation of the glaciations on the Earth. There is a probability that in this time there will be explosion on the Sun, which is normal and it happened periodically.

About verge on the end of the world also mention Nostradamus. According to him after that will be new period in humanity history. The famous American prophet says that dislocation of the magnetic poles of the Earth is connect with renew surface of the Atlantis.

Followers of the New Age is also uses this famous date. They are saying that this will be the end of the bad Fish Era and will stared full of happiness Aquarius Era, but it will be precede by the calamitys.

But, according to the PAN professors the culmination moment of the dislocation of the magnetic poles of the Earth will not be so calamity. It is only about impair magnetic field, but not dislocation the poles. The occurrences like this had happened on our planet about hundred of times. Before our ancestry came down from tree and when our sort evolve there were three incidents like this, and…………we survive

What says descendants of ancient Mayan: " They say that the world will end in December 2012. The Mayan elders are angry with this. The world will not end. It will be transformed."

What is also interesting, Egyptians foretelled the same date end of the world as Mayan. This two forecasts appeared independently.

By this time appeared a lot of films which action is happened at the end of world 2012. Such as:
1. 2012 Doomsday
2. 2012
3. 2012: The War For Souls (in production-premiere 2010)

What are you thinking? Is there really be the end of Our world in 2012?

The famous prison

Have you ever wondered how to look like the prison in old times? It was not like today with all the comforts of buildings, corresponding to humanitarian standards. In the old days prisons were built by the prisoners themselves. Their origin was paid for by the death of many people.
Over the buildings were impressive, massive, awesome its very structure. Most were built of stone, to the absence of electronic security systems, to prevent escape. Today they are not used as intended. But it is worth it because I know it is not only part of the history of the world but unusual examples of architecture.

PAWIAK

The prison is located in the heart of Warsaw and is called Pawiak (the name comes from the street Pawia, where the main gate was situated). The prison was built in 1830-1836 in accordance with the design by an architect from Warsaw Henryk Marconi.
Since 1863 the prison was a political jail with a male and female department. During the period when Poland was annexed members of the National Government, insurgents, activists were kept imprisoned. Beside the Warsaw Citadel, Pawiak was in the times of the revolution 1905 -1907 the main political prison. So when 10 of prisoners from the PPS organization managed to escape from the jail, everyone was very impressed. Under Russian rule Pawiak was a political, investigation and criminal prison. So it was when Poland was independent.

During the German occupation till March 1940 the prison Pawiak was ruled by the Justice Department of the General Government. In March 1940 Pawiak became an investigation prison controlled by the Security Police and Security Service of the Warsaw District, mainly by Department 4 - the Secret State Police - Gestapo. It was the largest political prison in the occupied Poland.
After suppressing the Uprising in the Ghetto prisoners were shot on the neighbouring streets - Dzielna, Gęsia, Zamenhoffa, Nowolipki. Since October 1942 executions were held in public on the streets. The names of the killed persons were placed on notices or announced through a loudspeaker. br> We will never be able to complete the list of how many Jewish people were in Pawiak and Serbia in the years 1939 - 1944. It has been verified that there was a large number after closing the Ghetto in November 1940, and also during the first liquidation action in July and August 1942.
The Germans began the liquidation of the Prison in July 1944. On 30 July 1944 the last evacuation transport was sent with 1400 men prisoners to the concentration camp Gross-Rosen and 400 women to Ravensbrück. Only few men managed to survive.

KILMAINHAM GOAL

Kilmainham Gaol is an old prison, located in Dublin, which is now a museum. Kilmainham Gaol has played an important part in Irish history, as many leaders of Irish rebellions were imprisoned and some executed in the jail. The jail has also been used as a set for several films.
The jail was first built in 1796. Children were sometimes arrested and imprisoned here, the youngest said to be a seven year-old boy. Many of the adult prisoners were also deported to Australia.
Kilmainham Gaol is one of the biggest unoccupied gaols in Europe. Now empty of prisoners, it is filled with history. It has aptly been described as the ‘Irish Bastille’.
When the Gaol was first built public hangings took place at the front of the Gaol. However, from the 1820s onward very few hangings, public or private, took place at Kilmainham.

GULAG

Untypical prison is Gulag. The Gulag or GULAG was the government agency that administered the penal labor camps of the Soviet Union. The term is infamous for its association with remote places where prisoners were kept and sometimes disappeared. The camps housed all types of criminals, but are well known as mechanisms for repressing political opposition and for holding political prisoners.Gulag is the acronym for The Chief Administration of Corrective Labor Camps and Colonies (Russian: Главное Управление Исправительно-Трудовых Лагерей и колоний; Glavnoye Upravlyeniye Ispravityel'no-Trudovih Lagyeryey i koloniy) of the NKVD. Eventually, by metonymym, the usage of "Gulag" began generally denoting the entire penal labor system in the USSR, then any such penal system



There were at least 476 separate camps, some of them comprising hundreds, even thousands of camp units. The most infamous complexes were those at arctic or subarctic regions. Today's major industrial cities of the Russian Arctic such as Norilsk, Vorkuta, Kolyma and Magadan, were camps originally built by prisoners and run by ex-prisoners. Anne Applebaum, author of Gulag: A History, explains: "It was the branch of the State Security that operated the penal system of forced labour camps and associated detention and transit camps and prisons. Though it imprisoned millions, the name became familiar in the West with the publication of Aleksander Solzhenitsyn's 1973 The Gulag Archipelago, which likened the scattered camps to "a chain of islands."


FORD BOYARD



Fort Boyard is a fort located between the Île-d'Aix and the Île d'Oléron in the Pertuis d'Antioche straits, on the west coast of France. It is 61 metres long, 31 metres wide, and its walls are 20 metres high. The construction of the fort was first considered during a build-up of the French armed forces undertaken by Louis XIV between 1661 and 1667, but Vauban, his leading military engineer, famously advised against it, saying "Sire, it would be easier to catch the moon with the teeth than take on such an endeavour in such a location". Fort Boyard was to form a line of fortification with Fort Enet and Fort de la Rade on Île-d'Aix to protect the arsenal of Rochefort from Royal Navy incursions.
Construction of the fort did not begin in earnest until 1801, under Napoleon, in order to protect the coast (and especially the arsenal of Rochefort) from possible incursions by foreign (and especially British) navies. At that time, cannons only had a limited range, and the distance between the two islands of Aix and Oleron was too large to block the passage.
Following difficulties in establishing a firm base (stone blocks had to be installed on the sandy sea bed during low tide, where they could still sink under their own weight) the project was suspended in 1809. Construction resumed in 1837, under Louis-Philippe, following renewed tensions with the United Kingdom. The fortifications were completed in 1857, with sufficient room for a garrison of 250 men.
However, by the time of its completion, the range of cannons had markedly increased, making the fort unnecessary for national defence.Under the Paris Commune of 1871, Fort Boyard was briefly used as a prison, before being abandoned a few years later. Over time, the fort slowly crumbled and deteriorated into the sea as it was left unmaintained.In 1961 the Commune sold the fort to the département of Charente-Maritime. Six years later, the final scene of the French film Les Aventuriers was filmed at the remains of the fort.In 1988, restoration work commenced on Fort Boyard, in order to prepare it for a television game show, also named Fort Boyard. The fort was electrified and a jack-up barge has been installed on the side in order to facilitate access to television crews. Restoration on the fort finished in 1989 and filming commenced in 1990. Fort Boyard has been used as the set for the show to this present day.
Today, Ford Boyard inspires many people. There are even recorded television programs, in which people are faced with various surprises and secrets of the fort.

ALCATRAZ

Due to its isolation from the outside by the cold, strong, hazardous currents of the waters of San Francisco Bay, Alcatraz was used to house Civil War prisoners as early as 1861.Following the war in 1866 the army determined that the fortifications and guns were being rapidly rendered obsolete by advances in military technology. Modernization efforts, including an ambitious plan to level the entire island and construct shell-proof underground magazines and tunnels, were undertaken between 1870 and 1876 but never completed (the so called "parade ground" on the southern tip of the island represents the extent of the flattening effort). Instead the army switched the focus of its plans for Alcatraz from coastal defense to detention, a task for which it was well suited because of its isolation. In 1867 a brick jailhouse was built (previously inmates had been kept in the basement of the guardhouse), and in 1868 Alcatraz was officially designated a long-term detention facility for military prisoners. Among those incarcerated at Alcatraz were some Hopi Native American men in the 1870s.

In 1898, the Spanish-American war would increase the prison population from 26 to over 450. After the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, civilian prisoners were transferred to Alcatraz for safe confinement. By 1912 there was a large cellhouse, and in the 1920s a large 3-story structure was nearly at full capacity. On March 21, 1907, Alcatraz was officially designated as the Western U.S. Military Prison, later Pacific Branch, U.S. Disciplinary Barracks, 1915. In 1909 construction began on the huge concrete main cell block, designed by Major Reuben Turner, which remains the island's dominant feature. It was completed in 1912. To accommodate the new cell block, the Citadel, a three-story barracks, was demolished down to the first floor, which was actually below ground level. The building had been constructed in an excavated pit (creating a dry "moat") to enhance its defensive potential. The first floor was then incorporated as a basement to the new cell block, giving rise to the popular legend of "dungeons" below the main cell block. The Fortress was deactivated as a military prison in October 1933, and transferred to the Bureau of Prisons.
During World War I the prison held conscientious objectors, including Philip Grosser, who wrote a pamphlet entitled 'Uncle Sam's Devil's Island' about his experiences.

This trip can be for some shocking but I think it worth it.

Do you think that such prisons are needed? Whether prisoners should be viewed as humanitranie may condemn them to a slow death? Can people who have fled from such strongholds are heroes or ordinary lucky?

Or maybe someone would like to experience the adventure of life and to enjoy in this prison, month ...?

Photography and information com from http://www.wikipedia.pl/ and http://www.hornerschool.com/

Log in!

Social services, like Facebook, MySpace or Polish Nasza-Klasa become more and more popular. We can discuss about our interests, present our pictures, music etc, creating some communities (sometimes they correspond to the real ones - like classes on Nasza-klasa or Classmates) and of course make friends.

People and relations between them are the most important thing in social networking - we can find our classmates from primary school or even some celebrities and meet new, interesting people around the world.
There are also social services, which connects several group of people - mothers, ecologists, travelers, religious communities or people with disabilities.

Now I'd like to show you some popular (and also less popular ;-)) social websites.

Facebook
"Facebook helps you connect and share with the people in your life."

Users can add friends and send them messages, and update their personal profiles to notify friends about themselves. Additionally, users can join networks organized by city, workplace, school, and region. The website's name stems from the colloquial name of books given at the start of the academic year by university administrations with the intention of helping students to get to know each other better. The website currently has more than 350 million active users worldwide. Because of the open nature of Facebook, several countries have banned access to it including Syria, China, Iran, and Vietnam. (source:www.wikipedia.org)

www.facebook.com

MySpace - "a place for friends"

This is a bit different type of social service. Like on Facebook, users can communicate and take up with other people. The most important function of the website is profile - prsonal site of each user. Apart from standard options - like writing about themselves or adding photos - people can run their blogs and create music profiles (MusicMySpace section). Probably that is why that service is really popular among young artists (singers, music bands and so on) - they can promote themselves in a place, where many people can find them.

www.myspace.com

Cloob

Persian-language social networking website, mainly popular in Iran. After the locally (and internationally) popular social networking website Orkut was censored by the Iranian government, a series of local sites and networks emerged to fill the gap, with Cloob being one of them. Its main page contains the title Iranian Virtual Society and states that all content is controlled in accordance with Iranian law, a policy intended to lower the risk of government censorship. Its has an invite-only registration system.

The site has been censored by Iranian Government for December 2009. (source: www.wikipedia.org)

www.cloob.com


Nasza-Klasa

Polish website which main idea was finding old and previous classmates and making virtual classes. Its users represents various age groups (while majority of social services connect rather teenagers and young adults). Its symbol is Mr Sponge, about who we generally don't know to much - he sometimes appears, when service isn't available. There is a theory, that Mr Sponge wants to capture the world.
At Nasza-Klasa we can also find profiles of many celebrities. However... it's very hard to find there e.g. Michael Jackson. Not because he's dead. When we write his name in searching engine, we can read: 'There is too much answer which suit to your question. Give more details of searching.'

www.nasza-klasa.pl






Mr Sponge is watching!


Here you are some links to other (possibly) interesting social websites - of course they're only examples:

• www.anobii.com - website for booklovers, who can share reviews, discuss about books and find people with similar intrests
• www.mychurch.org - Christian website. You can find your church, post a prayer request or find your friends
• www.irc-galleria.net - the largest social networking in Finland - maybe something for Monika K.? :-)

Do you belong to any social service? What do you think about such websites?

Are they - in your oppinion - safe at all for their users?

Alternative ways of learning.

Last time on the class we were talking about education systems in some countries. There all were wery similar in some sides. But science knows some alternative methods of leaning. They are sometimes funny, but can we be sure that they works?
I'll describe some of them. Maybe some of you had contact with some of this tricks? Tell us something about that. Do these methods works?

Mnemotechnics
In most of schools the most iimportant is one, old rule : "Repetitio est mater studiorum". But mnemotechnics is based on another rule. Here the most impirtant is to imagine. People who teach mnemotechnics often says that all you need to remember even the most difficult thing is just to associate it with something almost trivial or funny.
There are many kinds of this learning method like "hooks", "chain", or "digit-letter" system.
Its good to know these methods for yourself but if I have to be truth, I never tried them.

Mind maps.
Start making note from centrally located, colorful drawings, from which create lines and curves in every direction. Drawing will reflects your brain structure and way of thinking based on associations. It is prooved that this method makes brilliand effects!

Foto reading.
It is unusual, even for many magical way of reading. With a special focus photography, the entire page of text are transmitted to the right hemisphere, which are processed and remembered. All the information goes to the unconscious mind, and are activated to consciousness by means of appropriate techniques. Photo reading deepens intuition and creativity and allows you to unlock the potential of the right hemisphere neglected in the course of the standard education.

Fast reading.
It is conscious reading process runs in the same way as the traditional reading but 5 times faster. Reading the text is processed step by step, in a completely linear. During a quick reading, the reader starts the analytical and logical reasoning, which allows critical and closely follow the text.

"Chemical helpers"
In world fully of stress some people are looking for substances which can help them to get on. Some people calls that "alternative way to learn" so I decided to add it here. I'm not going to write here the names of this matters, but its no problem to find it on the web. Not all of them are legal, so be warned before using it.
I rather wanted to ask you. Is this kind of support worth of use in your opinion?

UNUSUAL SPORTS

There are plenty of weird and unusual sports in the world, and even some of the mainstream sports may seem a bit unusual to you.

Shin Kicking

Wife carrying

See my top List of Unusual Sports. You probably don't agree - see what do you think?

Extreme Ironing
Get out your iron and ironing board and try out this extreme sport: players go to a remote location and iron clothes! As the Wikipedia article states: Extreme ironing is “the latest danger sport that combines the thrills of an extreme outdoor activity with the satisfaction of a well-pressed shirt.

Pooh- Sticks
The unusually named sport of Pooh-Sticks comes from the popular children's stories of Winnie the Pooh. Not only is the name a little unusual, so is the sport. It involves standing on a bridge and dropping your stick in the water, then racing to the other side to see who’s stick goes the fastest. Wow, what excitement. Pooh Sticks started when a lock-keeper noticed walkers throwing their sticks into the river and rushing to the other side of the bridge to see whose stick emerged first. This gave her the idea of creating a fundraising event using this sport, and so the World Pooh Sticks Championships was born






Zorb ball


According to the official website of the Zorb Ball, “Zorb is the sport of rolling down a hill inside a giant inflatable ball and where New Zealand once again leads the world in stupid things to do while you’re on a vacation.” I didn’t know that New Zealand was the leader in stupid things to do while on vacation, but this weird unusual sport looks like it might be fun.Wife -carrying The Finish Wife Carrying Festival is held annually in Finland in early July, and requires a man to negotiate a 253.5 m course while carrying their wife on their back. The course includes various surfaces and getting through dry land and water based obstacles. The prize to the winner is a mobile phone, and more importantly they also win their wife's weight in beer!




Rules It may seem like just a bit of fun, but there are some official rules that have to be followed. the 'wife' must be over 17 years old. the 'wife' must weigh at least 49 kilograms. you do not have to be married to the 'wife', any suitable female will do. dropping and bouncing the 'wife' incurs a 15 second "fine". you must have fun!



Underwater hockey

A sport that actually looks like it might be fun to play, as well as being quite offbeat, is underwater hockey. As the name suggests, it is similar to hockey, with the aim being to whack a 1.5 kilogram lead puck into your opponent's goal using a short, hooked stick. Competitors wear masks, snorkels and fins and a thick glove to protect them from the puck and the pool bottom. Each team has six players in the water and up to four substitutes. The game was developed in the 1950s by the British Navy to keep their divers fit, and has a reasonably loyal following in Australia. Strategy is said to be very important, as is remembering to come to the surface to breathe on a regular basis.

What do you think about that kind of sports?
Have you ever seen any unusual sports like this?

'Why can't my life be a musical?!'

Sometimes, especially when my life seems to be peculiarly grey and sad, I ask myself such a question: ‘Why can’t my life be a musical?!’. People love musicals, such shows give them lots of good, clear and irreplaceable entertainment. But we should think about one thing: is living in the musical world really such a great and pleasant adventure? There are some rules which we can encounter in almost each musical performance.

Rule number one: In the musical everything is possible. This is one of the most important rules. We should remember that in musicals almost everything is probable. You don’t believe? Do you want to see cats which are dancing and singing? Watch Andrew Lloyd Webber’s ‘Cats’. Do you think that Death cannot fall in love with a woman? Sylvester Levay’s ‘Elisabeth’ will change your mind. Are you convinced that vampires don’t exist? Jim Steinman and Michael Kunze who have created ‘Dance of the Vampires’ have a different opinion.

Elisabeth (Maya Hakvoort) and Death (Máté Kamarás) in 'Elisabeth'

Rule number two: There should be at least one enamoured couple. People love to read about huge emotions so they like stories with the romantic plots. Love doesn’t have to be fortunate and executed, sometimes it’s even better to show love which cannot have a happy ending because it is more pathetic. They’re many examples of unhappy lovers: Phantom and Christine from ‘The Phantom of the Opera’, Roger and Mimi from ‘Rent’ or Sara and Alfred from ‘Dance of the Vampires’. And how many great songs tell about the hopeless love!

Rule number three: Musical can be about everything. Each topic is good for a musical. There were stories about hippies (‘Hair’), animals (‘Cats’), Harry Potter (‘Harry Potter the Musical’), historical figures (‘Elisabeth’) or even about Jesus (‘Jesus Christ Superstar’). It’s really hard to be original while creating a new musical.

Rule number four: All music genres fit to the musical. They’re no limitations when it’s about musical style. Musicals' creators have already experimented with all possible genres. In ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ there is almost classical music, ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ is one of the most famous rock-operas, ‘Mamma Mia’ is based on the most popular ABBA’s songs and in ‘Boyband’ we can find the greatest productions of famous boysbands.

Ola Salo in the Swedish version of 'Jesus Christ Superstar'

Rule number five: When there’s a crowd on the stage you can be almost sure that it will start to sing and dance. Musicals’ authors love splendour and brilliance. One crowd scene is something indispensable in every musical. Experts in ‘crowd-subjects’ are the authors of Bollywood movies which are some kind of musicals too. In such productions often tens of people (who generally appear from nowhere) follow main characters singing incomprehensible songs about love.

Rule number six: The ending should be very touching. Musicals should arouse emotions and the ending has to be pathetic. It doesn’t matter if moves us unexpected death (‘Hair’), solitude that afflicts one of the characters (‘The Phantom of the Opera’) or wedding (‘Mamma Mia’). The final effect is quite the same: we feel strong emotions that often are unobtainable in daily life.

Final scene from musical 'Hair'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8DkmzIcDeA

These were some typical features which are present in most of musicals. People can like them or not, but it’s a fact that they’re very popular. As we can see, characters from such productions are not always as happy and carefree as we think that they are. But wouldn’t it be nice, just once in life, to go through the street, stop, start to dance and see that all the wayfarers are dancing with us? I think that it might a bit scary but also great experience.

And what do you think about the musicals? Do you like them or not? Which shows are your favorite ones?

E-learning

In times of profound change, the learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.

Al Rogers


What’s e-learning?

e-Learning is learning that takes place in an electronically simulated environment. It can be done using an internet connection, a network, an intranet, or a storage disk. It uses a variety of media like audio, text, virtual environments, video, and animation. e-Learning, in some ways, is even better than classroom learning methods as it is a one-on-one learning method, it is self-paced and it has an experiential-learning format.

What are the Advantages and disadvantages of e-learning?

Advantages

• Class work can be scheduled around personal and professional work
• Reduces travel cost and time to and from school
• Learners may have the option to select learning materials that meets their level of knowledge and interest
• Learners can study wherever they have access to a computer and Internet
• Different learning styles are addressed and facilitation of learning occurs through varied activities



Disadvantages

• Unmotivated learners or those with poor study habits may fall behind
• Lack of familiar structure and routine may take getting used to
• Students may feel isolated or miss social interaction
• Instructor may not always be available on demand


The Future is E-Learning

Research shows that online learning will be the future of training and education, especially for professionals with very busy schedules but want to upgrade their skills for better employability. Because E-Learning offers the flexibility of learning at your own time and pace, no need to take time out from work, or sacrifice precious moments away from your friends and loved ones.

Learners will become more independent and self-taught as it becomes increasingly easy and convenient for them to find information and knowledge at their fingertips - and right in their workplace

And if you want additional credentials on your CVs, there are online learning course providers who offer courses with Certification. Short courses are usually the preference with online learning, but many universities are now also offering it especially for Graduate Programs.




Where are the Examples of eLearning?

I give you some ideas on how the Web can be used in providing teaching and learning resources. There are so many way to start e-learning like blogs, games, crosswords, videos, chat sessions and many many more. I am sure you will find sth you like.

http://designing.flexiblelearning.net.au/gallery/all.htm


A summary of online education

Online education can help all people from all walks of like
gain the education they want to better themselves or to advance
in the career they already have. Whether you are a working
parent or an unemployed bachelor, there are courses available
for you to complete through online education.



Online education offers many benefits and few pitfalls when
compared to the more traditional 'classroom' approach but you
should carefully consider your options before jumping in.

There are costs associated with virtually all online education
courses but these are usually little more than the costs to
study at a college and when you consider that there are no
travelling expenses and no extra living costs, you may find
online education to be a much more financially viable option.


What do you think about e-learning? How the education will look like in the next 10 or 20 years?