Archive - 2016 - blog

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The Tomb of the Unknowns is a monument dedicated to American service members who have died without their remains being identified. It is also known as the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, but it has never been officially named so. On March 4, 1921, the United States Congress approved the burial of an unidentified American serviceman from World War I in the plaza of the new Memorial Amphitheater. On November 11, 1921, the unknown soldier brought back from France was interred below a three-level marble tomb. The bottom two levels are six marble sections each and the top at least nine blocks with a rectangular opening in the center of each level through which the unknown remains were placed through the tomb and into the ground below. A stone other than marble covers the rectangular opening.  read more »

Snowboarding in the Himalaya, Nepal

Ice Climbing at Dusk in Ouray Ice Park, Colorado

Ice Climbing in Zirknitzgrotte, Austria

Snowboarding the Pemberton Ice Cap, British Columbia

Backcountry Skiing Mount Superior, Wasatch, Utah

Ice Climbing in Kootenay National Park, Canada

Snowboarding Mount Ruapehu, New Zealand

Skiing Under the Northern Lights in Norway

Skiing the Pemberton Ice Cap, British Columbia

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Car Hacking: What Every Connected Driver Needs to Know - many new cars are equipped with wireless technology that can make a driver's time on the road more stress-free and entertaining, but the technology can also bring a dark side. Two hackers were able to take control of a connected Jeep Cherokee from their living room as a Wired reporter, who agreed to be their test case, drove the SUV down the highway at 70 mph, according to the article.

Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek, the two hacking experts behind the stunt, were able to access the SUV's Internet connected computer system and then rewrite the firmware to plant the malicious code allowing them to commandeer the vehicle, including everything from the air conditioning and music to the Jeep's steering, brakes and transmission, according to Wired.

TheGuardian - The problem with self-driving cars: who controls the code? Every locked device can be easily jailbroken
Should autonomous vehicles be programmed to choose who they kill when they crash? And who gets access to the code that determines those decisions? The Trolley Problem is an ethical brainteaser that’s been entertaining philosophers since it was posed by Philippa Foot in 1967: a runaway train will slaughter five innocents tied to its track unless you pull a lever to switch it to a siding on which one man, also innocent and unawares, is standing. Pull the lever, you save the five, but kill the one: what is the ethical course of action?  read more »

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dailymail.co.uk -Gallipoli anniversary ceremony: with solemnity and quiet dignity Queen and Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, each placed a wreath at the war memorial. The ceremony marked the 100th anniversary of the end of the disastrous First World War campaign on the Gallipoli peninsula. During the ceremony the Queen and Philip, who is patron of the Gallipoli Association, stood still as the Last Post was played by a bugler and a minute's silence was observed. Then, with solemnity and quiet dignity, they each placed a wreath at the war memorial dedicated to local men who fought in the Great War and paid the ultimate sacrifice.  read more »

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Sweden '[we] cannot cope' - closes borders to those without passports or ID cards: Sweden, with a population of 9.8 million, took 160,000 asylum seekers in 2015, a higher number of refugees per capita than any other country in the European Union. In September, prime minister Stefan Lofven said: 'My Europe takes in people fleeing from war', but by last month he admitted ' [we] cannot cope' - closing the borders to those without passports or ID cards.

Thousands of commuters traveling across the five-mile road and rail bridge and accompanying tunnel between the Danish capital Copenhagen and Malmo in Sweden were yesterday told to expect their journeys to take half an hour longer than the usual 40 minutes.

The decision to close the borders to those without passports or ID cards marks a massive turnaround for the Swedish government, which had been the most welcoming to migrants but changed course after more than 160,000 applied for asylum last year – the highest number per capita in Europe.  read more »

2016 ~ Year of Tree
How wonderful!
7 billion people plant or rescue
7 billion trees -
Earth will be greener
air fresher, neighbourhood prettier
Everywhere bloom magic flowers
we will be healthier
and surely happier
in a new year, Year of Tree
2016!