Westflügel vom Schloss Sondershausen.

Das Schloss Sondershausen war bis 1918 die Residenz der Fürsten zu Schwarzburg-Sondershausen. Die umfangreiche Anlage kann eine annähernd 800jährige Baugeschichte mit bedeutenden Raumfassungen vorweisen. Die derzeitige Optik des Schlosses rührt weitestgehend von der klassizistischen Umformung des Komplexes durch den Berliner Architekten Carl Scheppig. Der einstige Fürstensitz mit dem Schloss- und Stadtmuseum bildet einer des wichtigsten Sehenswürdigkeiten der Stadt Sondershausen und ist für Besucher zugänglich.

From an architectural and art historical point of view Sondershausen Palace can be considered as one of the most important palace complexes in Thuringia. It is an irregular four-wing complex. With its imposing silhouette the former Schwarzburg residence dominates today's district town of Sondershausen in the Kyffhäuserkreis district.

Since 1994, the former residence of the princes of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen is the property of the Palace, Castle and Gardens Trust of Thuringia. Today it houses the Palace Museum of Sondershausen and the districet school of music, called Carl-Schroeder-Konservatorium.

haircut jezz, www.motor-hairport.com

Sextans A [UGCA 205, DDO 75, PGC 29653]

10 11 00.5 -04 41 30 (152.7560, -4.6902)

Sex A s a dwarf irregular galaxy located at 1.32 Mpc (4.3 million light-years), in the outskirts of the Local Group as probable member.

DECam

Acknowledgments

The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) data are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (“CC BY 4.0”, Summary, Full Legal Code). Users are free to share, copy, redistribute, adapt, transform and build upon the DESI data available through this website for any purpose, including commercially.

This image used data obtained with the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI). DESI construction and operations is managed by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of High-Energy Physics, under Contract No. DE–AC02–05CH11231, and by the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center, a DOE Office of Science User Facility under the same contract. Additional support for DESI was provided by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), Division of Astronomical Sciences under Contract No. AST-0950945 to the NSF’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory; the Science and Technology Facilities Council of the United Kingdom; the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation; the Heising-Simons Foundation; the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA); the National Council of Science and Technology of Mexico (CONACYT); the Ministry of Science and Innovation of Spain (MICINN), and by the DESI Member Institutions: www.desi.lbl.gov/collaborating-institutions. The DESI collaboration is honored to be permitted to conduct scientific research on Iolkam Du’ag (Kitt Peak), a mountain with particular significance to the Tohono O’odham Nation. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Energy, or any of the listed funding agencies.

Six Interlocking Irregular Triangular Prisms #2 54 units In my hand..

I have always liked the wonderful visual complexity Aaron P. managed to squeeze into so few units in his first 6 triangular prisms compound : www.flickr.com/photos/42647582@N07/11088800503/in/datepos...

and always thought it would be nice to design another different one. So here it is! Fortunately with a few calculations and some POV-ray, I was able to get a fairly decent rendition after only one attempt.

Designed by me.

Folded out of copy paper. (5 different types of units, just like Aaron's)

U.S. Army Soldiers from the 7th Special Forces Group fast-rope out of a UH-60 Blackhawk during Fast Rope Insertion and Extraction training as part of Emerald Warrior at Hurlburt Field, Fla., April 22, 2015. Emerald Warrior is the Department of Defense's only irregular warfare exercise, allowing joint and combined partners to train together and prepare for real world contingency operations. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Kenneth W. Norman/Released)

The 2018 Serpentine Pavilion, London by Frida Escobedo

An irregular galaxy in the constellation Sculptor.

Student centre of Ryerson

Inverlochy Castle is a ruined, 13th-century castle near Inverlochy and Fort William, Highland, Scotland. The site of two battles, the castle remains largely unchanged since its construction. It is now in the care of Historic Environment Scotland.

Inverlochy Castle was built circa 1270–1280 by John "the Black" Comyn, Lord of Badenoch and Lochaber, and chief of the Clan Comyn. It may have been built on the site of an earlier Pictish fortification and settlement, which the historian Hector Boece (1465–1536) records as a "city" that was destroyed by Vikings. Robert the Bruce succeeded to the Scottish throne in 1306. In 1307 King Robert captured and burned the castle. The Comyns were thus dispossessed, and the ruined castle was unoccupied for a time. In 1431, clansmen of Alexander MacDonald, Lord of the Isles, defeated King James I's larger army in the first Battle of Inverlochy, fought close by the castle. It came under control of the Clan Cameron until 1501.

In 1505, the partially ruined castle was granted to Alexander Gordon, 3rd Earl of Huntly, who was charged by King James IV with repairing the castle for use as a Royal garrison. His brother William Gordon, Laird of Gight, became master of Inverlochy, and was slain commanding the Camerons at Flodden. In 1645, the castle served as a stopping-off point for the royalist army of James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose during his campaign against the Covenanter forces of the Marquess of Argyll. This culminated in a victory for the royalists in the second Battle of Inverlochy, on 2 February 1645. In the 19th century, the estate was bought by James Scarlett, 1st Baron Abinger, who built a Scottish baronial style mansion to the north-west, which is now the Inverlochy Castle Hotel. Minor enhancements, including the restoration of loops and battlements, were carried out by Lord Abinger in advance of the visit of Queen Victoria in 1873.

Inverlochy is now a ruin, but is unusual because it has remained unaltered since it was built in the reign of King Alexander III. The castle is sited on the south bank of the River Lochy, at the strategically important entrance to the Great Glen, a key passage through the Scottish Highlands. With one side defended by the river, the castle's other three sides were originally protected by a water-filled ditch. Inverlochy is a castle of enceinte, with its main defence being a substantial curtain wall. The simple layout comprises a quadrangular courtyard, 31 by 27 metres (102 by 89 ft) across, surrounded by a wall up to 2.7 metres (8.9 ft) thick and up to 7.6 metres (25 ft) high, with round towers at each corner. The largest of these, known as the Comyn Tower, is 6.1 metres (20 ft) across the interior, and served as the castle's "donjon", or keep. The smaller towers are 14 feet (4.3 m), and all four have stairways curving up within the thickness of the walls. The main entrance was to the south, with a "water gate" facing the river to the north. Both entrances were defended by a portcullis, and the south door may have had an interior gatehouse.

The ruined castle is now a scheduled monument.

The Highlands is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots language replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands. The term is also used for the area north and west of the Highland Boundary Fault, although the exact boundaries are not clearly defined, particularly to the east. The Great Glen divides the Grampian Mountains to the southeast from the Northwest Highlands. The Scottish Gaelic name of A' Ghàidhealtachd literally means "the place of the Gaels" and traditionally, from a Gaelic-speaking point of view, includes both the Western Isles and the Highlands.

The area is very sparsely populated, with many mountain ranges dominating the region, and includes the highest mountain in the British Isles, Ben Nevis. During the 18th and early 19th centuries the population of the Highlands rose to around 300,000, but from c. 1841 and for the next 160 years, the natural increase in population was exceeded by emigration (mostly to Canada, the United States, Australia and New Zealand, and migration to the industrial cities of Scotland and England.) and passim  The area is now one of the most sparsely populated in Europe. At 9.1/km2 (24/sq mi) in 2012, the population density in the Highlands and Islands is less than one seventh of Scotland's as a whole.

The Highland Council is the administrative body for much of the Highlands, with its administrative centre at Inverness. However, the Highlands also includes parts of the council areas of Aberdeenshire, Angus, Argyll and Bute, Moray, North Ayrshire, Perth and Kinross, Stirling and West Dunbartonshire.

The Scottish Highlands is the only area in the British Isles to have the taiga biome as it features concentrated populations of Scots pine forest: see Caledonian Forest. It is the most mountainous part of the United Kingdom.

Between the 15th century and the mid-20th century, the area differed from most of the Lowlands in terms of language. In Scottish Gaelic, the region is known as the Gàidhealtachd, because it was traditionally the Gaelic-speaking part of Scotland, although the language is now largely confined to The Hebrides. The terms are sometimes used interchangeably but have different meanings in their respective languages. Scottish English (in its Highland form) is the predominant language of the area today, though Highland English has been influenced by Gaelic speech to a significant extent. Historically, the "Highland line" distinguished the two Scottish cultures. While the Highland line broadly followed the geography of the Grampians in the south, it continued in the north, cutting off the north-eastern areas, that is Eastern Caithness, Orkney and Shetland, from the more Gaelic Highlands and Hebrides.

Historically, the major social unit of the Highlands was the clan. Scottish kings, particularly James VI, saw clans as a challenge to their authority; the Highlands was seen by many as a lawless region. The Scots of the Lowlands viewed the Highlanders as backward and more "Irish". The Highlands were seen as the overspill of Gaelic Ireland. They made this distinction by separating Germanic "Scots" English and the Gaelic by renaming it "Erse" a play on Eire. Following the Union of the Crowns, James VI had the military strength to back up any attempts to impose some control. The result was, in 1609, the Statutes of Iona which started the process of integrating clan leaders into Scottish society. The gradual changes continued into the 19th century, as clan chiefs thought of themselves less as patriarchal leaders of their people and more as commercial landlords. The first effect on the clansmen who were their tenants was the change to rents being payable in money rather than in kind. Later, rents were increased as Highland landowners sought to increase their income. This was followed, mostly in the period 1760–1850, by agricultural improvement that often (particularly in the Western Highlands) involved clearance of the population to make way for large scale sheep farms. Displaced tenants were set up in crofting communities in the process. The crofts were intended not to provide all the needs of their occupiers; they were expected to work in other industries such as kelping and fishing. Crofters came to rely substantially on seasonal migrant work, particularly in the Lowlands. This gave impetus to the learning of English, which was seen by many rural Gaelic speakers to be the essential "language of work".

Older historiography attributes the collapse of the clan system to the aftermath of the Jacobite risings. This is now thought less influential by historians. Following the Jacobite rising of 1745 the British government enacted a series of laws to try to suppress the clan system, including bans on the bearing of arms and the wearing of tartan, and limitations on the activities of the Scottish Episcopal Church. Most of this legislation was repealed by the end of the 18th century as the Jacobite threat subsided. There was soon a rehabilitation of Highland culture. Tartan was adopted for Highland regiments in the British Army, which poor Highlanders joined in large numbers in the era of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars (1790–1815). Tartan had largely been abandoned by the ordinary people of the region, but in the 1820s, tartan and the kilt were adopted by members of the social elite, not just in Scotland, but across Europe. The international craze for tartan, and for idealising a romanticised Highlands, was set off by the Ossian cycle, and further popularised by the works of Walter Scott. His "staging" of the visit of King George IV to Scotland in 1822 and the king's wearing of tartan resulted in a massive upsurge in demand for kilts and tartans that could not be met by the Scottish woollen industry. Individual clan tartans were largely designated in this period and they became a major symbol of Scottish identity. This "Highlandism", by which all of Scotland was identified with the culture of the Highlands, was cemented by Queen Victoria's interest in the country, her adoption of Balmoral as a major royal retreat, and her interest in "tartenry".

Recurrent famine affected the Highlands for much of its history, with significant instances as late as 1817 in the Eastern Highlands and the early 1850s in the West.  Over the 18th century, the region had developed a trade of black cattle into Lowland markets, and this was balanced by imports of meal into the area. There was a critical reliance on this trade to provide sufficient food, and it is seen as an essential prerequisite for the population growth that started in the 18th century. Most of the Highlands, particularly in the North and West was short of the arable land that was essential for the mixed, run rig based, communal farming that existed before agricultural improvement was introduced into the region.[a] Between the 1760s and the 1830s there was a substantial trade in unlicensed whisky that had been distilled in the Highlands. Lowland distillers (who were not able to avoid the heavy taxation of this product) complained that Highland whisky made up more than half the market. The development of the cattle trade is taken as evidence that the pre-improvement Highlands was not an immutable system, but did exploit the economic opportunities that came its way.  The illicit whisky trade demonstrates the entrepreneurial ability of the peasant classes. 

Agricultural improvement reached the Highlands mostly over the period 1760 to 1850. Agricultural advisors, factors, land surveyors and others educated in the thinking of Adam Smith were keen to put into practice the new ideas taught in Scottish universities.  Highland landowners, many of whom were burdened with chronic debts, were generally receptive to the advice they offered and keen to increase the income from their land.  In the East and South the resulting change was similar to that in the Lowlands, with the creation of larger farms with single tenants, enclosure of the old run rig fields, introduction of new crops (such as turnips), land drainage and, as a consequence of all this, eviction, as part of the Highland clearances, of many tenants and cottars. Some of those cleared found employment on the new, larger farms, others moved to the accessible towns of the Lowlands.

In the West and North, evicted tenants were usually given tenancies in newly created crofting communities, while their former holdings were converted into large sheep farms. Sheep farmers could pay substantially higher rents than the run rig farmers and were much less prone to falling into arrears. Each croft was limited in size so that the tenants would have to find work elsewhere. The major alternatives were fishing and the kelp industry. Landlords took control of the kelp shores, deducting the wages earned by their tenants from the rent due and retaining the large profits that could be earned at the high prices paid for the processed product during the Napoleonic wars.

When the Napoleonic wars finished in 1815, the Highland industries were affected by the return to a peacetime economy. The price of black cattle fell, nearly halving between 1810 and the 1830s. Kelp prices had peaked in 1810, but reduced from £9 a ton in 1823 to £3 13s 4d a ton in 1828. Wool prices were also badly affected.  This worsened the financial problems of debt-encumbered landlords. Then, in 1846, potato blight arrived in the Highlands, wiping out the essential subsistence crop for the overcrowded crofting communities. As the famine struck, the government made clear to landlords that it was their responsibility to provide famine relief for their tenants. The result of the economic downturn had been that a large proportion of Highland estates were sold in the first half of the 19th century. T M Devine points out that in the region most affected by the potato famine, by 1846, 70 per cent of the landowners were new purchasers who had not owned Highland property before 1800. More landlords were obliged to sell due to the cost of famine relief. Those who were protected from the worst of the crisis were those with extensive rental income from sheep farms.  Government loans were made available for drainage works, road building and other improvements and many crofters became temporary migrants – taking work in the Lowlands. When the potato famine ceased in 1856, this established a pattern of more extensive working away from the Highlands.

The unequal concentration of land ownership remained an emotional and controversial subject, of enormous importance to the Highland economy, and eventually became a cornerstone of liberal radicalism. The poor crofters were politically powerless, and many of them turned to religion. They embraced the popularly oriented, fervently evangelical Presbyterian revival after 1800. Most joined the breakaway "Free Church" after 1843. This evangelical movement was led by lay preachers who themselves came from the lower strata, and whose preaching was implicitly critical of the established order. The religious change energised the crofters and separated them from the landlords; it helped prepare them for their successful and violent challenge to the landlords in the 1880s through the Highland Land League. Violence erupted, starting on the Isle of Skye, when Highland landlords cleared their lands for sheep and deer parks. It was quietened when the government stepped in, passing the Crofters' Holdings (Scotland) Act, 1886 to reduce rents, guarantee fixity of tenure, and break up large estates to provide crofts for the homeless. This contrasted with the Irish Land War underway at the same time, where the Irish were intensely politicised through roots in Irish nationalism, while political dimensions were limited. In 1885 three Independent Crofter candidates were elected to Parliament, which listened to their pleas. The results included explicit security for the Scottish smallholders in the "crofting counties"; the legal right to bequeath tenancies to descendants; and the creation of a Crofting Commission. The Crofters as a political movement faded away by 1892, and the Liberal Party gained their votes.

Today, the Highlands are the largest of Scotland's whisky producing regions; the relevant area runs from Orkney to the Isle of Arran in the south and includes the northern isles and much of Inner and Outer Hebrides, Argyll, Stirlingshire, Arran, as well as sections of Perthshire and Aberdeenshire. (Other sources treat The Islands, except Islay, as a separate whisky producing region.) This massive area has over 30 distilleries, or 47 when the Islands sub-region is included in the count. According to one source, the top five are The Macallan, Glenfiddich, Aberlour, Glenfarclas and Balvenie. While Speyside is geographically within the Highlands, that region is specified as distinct in terms of whisky productions. Speyside single malt whiskies are produced by about 50 distilleries.

According to Visit Scotland, Highlands whisky is "fruity, sweet, spicy, malty". Another review states that Northern Highlands single malt is "sweet and full-bodied", the Eastern Highlands and Southern Highlands whiskies tend to be "lighter in texture" while the distilleries in the Western Highlands produce single malts with a "much peatier influence".

The Scottish Reformation achieved partial success in the Highlands. Roman Catholicism remained strong in some areas, owing to remote locations and the efforts of Franciscan missionaries from Ireland, who regularly came to celebrate Mass. There remain significant Catholic strongholds within the Highlands and Islands such as Moidart and Morar on the mainland and South Uist and Barra in the southern Outer Hebrides. The remoteness of the region and the lack of a Gaelic-speaking clergy undermined the missionary efforts of the established church. The later 18th century saw somewhat greater success, owing to the efforts of the SSPCK missionaries and to the disruption of traditional society after the Battle of Culloden in 1746. In the 19th century, the evangelical Free Churches, which were more accepting of Gaelic language and culture, grew rapidly, appealing much more strongly than did the established church.

For the most part, however, the Highlands are considered predominantly Protestant, belonging to the Church of Scotland. In contrast to the Catholic southern islands, the northern Outer Hebrides islands (Lewis, Harris and North Uist) have an exceptionally high proportion of their population belonging to the Protestant Free Church of Scotland or the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland. The Outer Hebrides have been described as the last bastion of Calvinism in Britain and the Sabbath remains widely observed. Inverness and the surrounding area has a majority Protestant population, with most locals belonging to either The Kirk or the Free Church of Scotland. The church maintains a noticeable presence within the area, with church attendance notably higher than in other parts of Scotland. Religion continues to play an important role in Highland culture, with Sabbath observance still widely practised, particularly in the Hebrides.

In traditional Scottish geography, the Highlands refers to that part of Scotland north-west of the Highland Boundary Fault, which crosses mainland Scotland in a near-straight line from Helensburgh to Stonehaven. However the flat coastal lands that occupy parts of the counties of Nairnshire, Morayshire, Banffshire and Aberdeenshire are often excluded as they do not share the distinctive geographical and cultural features of the rest of the Highlands. The north-east of Caithness, as well as Orkney and Shetland, are also often excluded from the Highlands, although the Hebrides are usually included. The Highland area, as so defined, differed from the Lowlands in language and tradition, having preserved Gaelic speech and customs centuries after the anglicisation of the latter; this led to a growing perception of a divide, with the cultural distinction between Highlander and Lowlander first noted towards the end of the 14th century. In Aberdeenshire, the boundary between the Highlands and the Lowlands is not well defined. There is a stone beside the A93 road near the village of Dinnet on Royal Deeside which states 'You are now in the Highlands', although there are areas of Highland character to the east of this point.

A much wider definition of the Highlands is that used by the Scotch whisky industry. Highland single malts are produced at distilleries north of an imaginary line between Dundee and Greenock, thus including all of Aberdeenshire and Angus.

Inverness is regarded as the Capital of the Highlands, although less so in the Highland parts of Aberdeenshire, Angus, Perthshire and Stirlingshire which look more to Aberdeen, Dundee, Perth, and Stirling as their commercial centres.

The Highland Council area, created as one of the local government regions of Scotland, has been a unitary council area since 1996. The council area excludes a large area of the southern and eastern Highlands, and the Western Isles, but includes Caithness. Highlands is sometimes used, however, as a name for the council area, as in the former Highlands and Islands Fire and Rescue Service. Northern is also used to refer to the area, as in the former Northern Constabulary. These former bodies both covered the Highland council area and the island council areas of Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles.

Much of the Highlands area overlaps the Highlands and Islands area. An electoral region called Highlands and Islands is used in elections to the Scottish Parliament: this area includes Orkney and Shetland, as well as the Highland Council local government area, the Western Isles and most of the Argyll and Bute and Moray local government areas. Highlands and Islands has, however, different meanings in different contexts. It means Highland (the local government area), Orkney, Shetland, and the Western Isles in Highlands and Islands Fire and Rescue Service. Northern, as in Northern Constabulary, refers to the same area as that covered by the fire and rescue service.

There have been trackways from the Lowlands to the Highlands since prehistoric times. Many traverse the Mounth, a spur of mountainous land that extends from the higher inland range to the North Sea slightly north of Stonehaven. The most well-known and historically important trackways are the Causey Mounth, Elsick Mounth, Cryne Corse Mounth and Cairnamounth.

Although most of the Highlands is geographically on the British mainland, it is somewhat less accessible than the rest of Britain; thus most UK couriers categorise it separately, alongside Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man, and other offshore islands. They thus charge additional fees for delivery to the Highlands, or exclude the area entirely. While the physical remoteness from the largest population centres inevitably leads to higher transit cost, there is confusion and consternation over the scale of the fees charged and the effectiveness of their communication, and the use of the word Mainland in their justification. Since the charges are often based on postcode areas, many far less remote areas, including some which are traditionally considered part of the lowlands, are also subject to these charges. Royal Mail is the only delivery network bound by a Universal Service Obligation to charge a uniform tariff across the UK. This, however, applies only to mail items and not larger packages which are dealt with by its Parcelforce division.

The Highlands lie to the north and west of the Highland Boundary Fault, which runs from Arran to Stonehaven. This part of Scotland is largely composed of ancient rocks from the Cambrian and Precambrian periods which were uplifted during the later Caledonian Orogeny. Smaller formations of Lewisian gneiss in the northwest are up to 3 billion years old. The overlying rocks of the Torridon Sandstone form mountains in the Torridon Hills such as Liathach and Beinn Eighe in Wester Ross.

These foundations are interspersed with many igneous intrusions of a more recent age, the remnants of which have formed mountain massifs such as the Cairngorms and the Cuillin of Skye. A significant exception to the above are the fossil-bearing beds of Old Red Sandstone found principally along the Moray Firth coast and partially down the Highland Boundary Fault. The Jurassic beds found in isolated locations on Skye and Applecross reflect the complex underlying geology. They are the original source of much North Sea oil. The Great Glen is formed along a transform fault which divides the Grampian Mountains to the southeast from the Northwest Highlands.

The entire region was covered by ice sheets during the Pleistocene ice ages, save perhaps for a few nunataks. The complex geomorphology includes incised valleys and lochs carved by the action of mountain streams and ice, and a topography of irregularly distributed mountains whose summits have similar heights above sea-level, but whose bases depend upon the amount of denudation to which the plateau has been subjected in various places.

Climate

The region is much warmer than other areas at similar latitudes (such as Kamchatka in Russia, or Labrador in Canada) because of the Gulf Stream making it cool, damp and temperate. The Köppen climate classification is "Cfb" at low altitudes, then becoming "Cfc", "Dfc" and "ET" at higher altitudes.

Places of interest

An Teallach

Aonach Mòr (Nevis Range ski centre)

Arrochar Alps

Balmoral Castle

Balquhidder

Battlefield of Culloden

Beinn Alligin

Beinn Eighe

Ben Cruachan hydro-electric power station

Ben Lomond

Ben Macdui (second highest mountain in Scotland and UK)

Ben Nevis (highest mountain in Scotland and UK)

Cairngorms National Park

Cairngorm Ski centre near Aviemore

Cairngorm Mountains

Caledonian Canal

Cape Wrath

Carrick Castle

Castle Stalker

Castle Tioram

Chanonry Point

Conic Hill

Culloden Moor

Dunadd

Duart Castle

Durness

Eilean Donan

Fingal's Cave (Staffa)

Fort George

Glen Coe

Glen Etive

Glen Kinglas

Glen Lyon

Glen Orchy

Glenshee Ski Centre

Glen Shiel

Glen Spean

Glenfinnan (and its railway station and viaduct)

Grampian Mountains

Hebrides

Highland Folk Museum – The first open-air museum in the UK.

Highland Wildlife Park

Inveraray Castle

Inveraray Jail

Inverness Castle

Inverewe Garden

Iona Abbey

Isle of Staffa

Kilchurn Castle

Kilmartin Glen

Liathach

Lecht Ski Centre

Loch Alsh

Loch Ard

Loch Awe

Loch Assynt

Loch Earn

Loch Etive

Loch Fyne

Loch Goil

Loch Katrine

Loch Leven

Loch Linnhe

Loch Lochy

Loch Lomond

Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park

Loch Lubnaig

Loch Maree

Loch Morar

Loch Morlich

Loch Ness

Loch Nevis

Loch Rannoch

Loch Tay

Lochranza

Luss

Meall a' Bhuiridh (Glencoe Ski Centre)

Scottish Sea Life Sanctuary at Loch Creran

Rannoch Moor

Red Cuillin

Rest and Be Thankful stretch of A83

River Carron, Wester Ross

River Spey

River Tay

Ross and Cromarty

Smoo Cave

Stob Coire a' Chàirn

Stac Polly

Strathspey Railway

Sutherland

Tor Castle

Torridon Hills

Urquhart Castle

West Highland Line (scenic railway)

West Highland Way (Long-distance footpath)

Wester Ross

Irregular Hyperboloidal Polarly Diminshed Quasi-Crossed Triangular Prism 7 units

As per a request, this is one frame of the 30 compound I made most recently. The proportions here are thicker and a little different than in the actual model, but the shape is essentially the same. These units are from the first version I attempted. Hopefully this helps clarify the design a little- as you can see, there are potentially several ways of describing this shape, depending on whether you see it as based on a triangular prism, or tetrahedron, or something else.

me as Miyuki Shiba from The Irregular at Magic High School (Idol Version).

photo by Butterfly Dreams (facebook.com/ButterflyDreamsCosplay)

facebook.com/calssara.cosplay

calssara.deviantart.com

calssara.com

THIS PHOTO IS UNDER COPYRIGHT!

DO NOT USE WITHOUT PERMISSION!

Sharing just with FULL credit of cosplayer's and photographer's name and website link !!!!

Twelve Interlocking Irregular Hyperboloidal Dodecahedra 360 units 2-fold view.

It has been a few months since I have done a good complex wireframe design. The general idea for his compound is one I have been thinking about for some time, but I was stirred into action to design this because it is, despite all appearances to the contrary, a dodecahedral equivalent of the compound of 6 Hexahedra I designed most recently. Here, each irregular dodecahedron represents one facial plane of a macro-dodecahedron which interacts with adjacent polygonal faces. There are 4 different types of pentagons in each dodecahedron, 2 of which are regular, and the symmetry of each frame itself is cyclical.

Also, on a more personal note, Daniel Kwan's 6 Irregular Dodecahedra was always one of my favorite models- it just has such balance and visual complexity (that is the reason it is the thumbnail photo for the Wireframe Group) . Thus this is in a sense a nod to that design, in my own style. I'm not sure this has the same visual elegance as Daniel's model, but it is certainly more than a match for complexity.

Designed by me.

Folded out copy paper.

me as Miyuki Shiba from The Irregular at Magic High School (Idol Version).

photo by Butterfly Dreams (facebook.com/ButterflyDreamsCosplay)

facebook.com/calssara.cosplay

calssara.deviantart.com

calssara.com

THIS PHOTO IS UNDER COPYRIGHT!

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Sharing just with FULL credit of cosplayer's and photographer's name and website link !!!!

Installed on the southern nave of the former Saint George's Presbyterian Church, the Great War memorial window was commissioned by the Saint George's Presbyterian Parish in 1921 and dedicated to the fallen. There were twenty fallen men from the congregation who died in the conflict between 1914 and 1918. The names are listed on a polished brass plaque beneath the window. The window was done by successful British born, German trained, Melbourne stained glass artist William Montgomery. The window features an Australian soldier in army uniform with his gun and slouch hat at his side in the left-hand main panel. In the right the heavenly vision of a beautiful woman in classical robes and long flowing blonde hair. The line from the bible quoted in Chronicles 29:1 "Thine o Lord is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty" is quoted at the top of the dedication panels. This window obviously eludes to the sacrifices made by the men of the parish during the Great War. Not only does it depict a Great War Australian soldier, but the maiden in splendid robes holds a laurel wreath aloft in her right hand and a martyr palm frond in her left hand. The Laurel wreath symbolises martial victory, crowning a successful commander during his triumph. The martyr palm frond represents the victory of spirit over flesh, and its depiction in this window indicates that it is dedicated for the fallen martyrs on the brass plaque beneath the window. The lady also walks amid a bed of lilies of the valley, also known as the May lily. This means "return to happiness" and most often symbolizes chastity, purity, happiness, luck and humility, eluding again to the sacrfifice the fallen men made for their country and the people of the congregation. The quatrefoil of the stained glass window features two martyr palm fronds and a crown, symbolising the place in heaven these twenty martyrs received.

Rising proudly on the rise of a hill, the former Saint George’s Presbyterian Church, which stands on the corner of Latrobe Terrace and Ryrie Street on the outskirts of the Geelong central business district, began its construction in 1860. Designed by architect Nathaniel Billing in Victorian English Gothic style, the original large nave of the church, with vestry and apse were constructed of irregularly coursed basalt with Hawksbury River freestone dressings. The initial build was erected and completed in 1861 by contractors Brown and Gibson. The foundation stone was laid on 12 June 1861. The large and finely constructed church reflects the wealth of many of the church's foundation patrons, which included Francis Ormond and other Western District Squatters. The former Saint George’s Presbyterian Church is a significant and intact work of Nathaniel Billing, who was well known for ecclesiastical architecture. The original church was expanded with the addition of transepts in 1908, and finally a spire and tower in 1936. The tower and spire were donated as a seventy-fifth anniversary gift by wealthy parishioners James McPhillimy and his sister Louise. The McPhillimy family were not only wealthy parisioners, but were also long time worshipers at Saint George’s Persbyterian Church. They began worshiping there in 1886.

The inside of the former Saint George’s Presbyterian Church is quite plain, with white painted walls and three rows of blackwood pews separated by two aisles. The church features examples of its original latticed quarry glass lancet windows with one band of coloured glass, as well as several figurative stained glass windows installed later. This includes two pairs of lancet windows manufactured by Ballantyne and Company of Edinburgh, which are perhaps the church’s most beautiful windows for their wonderful colours and beautiful hand-painted details. There is also two windows by Melbourne stained glass manufacturers Brooks Robinson and Company installed in the 1930s, and a fine heritage listed stained glass window by one of Melbourne’s leading stained glass artists, William Montgomery, which commemorates the fallen of the Great War. The church’s rose window and great western window created by Melbourne stained glass manufacturer Ferguson and Urie are the oldest windows, and like the quarry glass windows, are original.

Saint George's Presbyterian Church was forced to close its doors in 2015 owing to dwindling congregation numbers, and whilst the Presbyterian Church still owns the church and manse, the manse is now rented out and has been used for both commercial and residential purposes. The church itself sits idly, its slowly weathering exterior requiring significant restoration, its garden sinking into neglect and its interior lying beneath a sheet of thick dust.

I am very grateful to the retired Presbyterian Reverend Andrew Bray, caretaker of the church at the time of photographing, for giving me an hour of his time and for letting me photograph the interior and stained glass windows so extensively.

Nathaniel Billing was born in Brightwell, Oxfordshire in 1821. Articled to the prestigious office of Sir Gilbert Scott in London, he later commenced his own architectural practice in Slough under his own name. Nathaniel married his first wife, Henrietta in 1850. Three years later the pair and their family immigrated to Australia. he was appointed to the Colonial Architect's Office in Belfast (now known as Port Fairy), but commenced his own practice there in 1855. In Port Fairy he designed Saint John's Church of England in 1856 and the Bank of Australasia in 1857. That same year, Nathaniel left Port Fairy and moved to Melbourne, where he soon had a thriving practice. In Melbourne, most of his commissions were ecclesiastical. He designed All Saints Church of England on Chapel Street in 1861 which with a seating capacity of 1,500 is the largest Church of England in the southern hemisphere, Saint Margaret's Church of England in Eltham in 1861, alterations to Melville House in Collins Street in 1881, "Steamshall" a Victorian Italianate villa in Kew in 1882, Saint Paul's Cathedral in Sale in 1884, Saint Matthias' Church of England in Richmond in 1885, the Fitzroy Cricket Ground grandstand in 1888, and extensions to Saint George's Church of England in 1889 in conjunction with the architects firm Dalton and Gibbons. Nathaniel's first wife Henrietta died in 1867 after nineteen years of marriage, four sons and five daughters. Nathaniel remarried in 1869, taking Mary Anne Hooke as his wife. They had no children together. Nathaniel's fourth child, William Urban Billing, joined his firm in 1880 and practiced as Billing and Son. They worked together until 1895 when Nathaniel retired. Nathaniel died at his home in Westbury Street East St Kilda in 1910 at the age of 88.

William Montgomery (1850 - 1927) was an artist who specialised in stained glass painting and design. He was born in England in 1850, and studied at the School of Art in Newcastle-on-Tyne. In his final year William was awarded one of only three National Art Scholarships that year to study at South Kensington School of Art (now the Royal College of Art). He was employed by the leading London stained glass firm, Clayton and Bell, before joining Franz Mayer and Company in Munich, Germany. Over the next seven years he not only designed windows he also trained others in the English style of glass painting. William arrived in Melbourne, Australia, in 1886 during the Boom Period provided by the Gold Rush. Melbourne was at the time one of the wealthiest cities in the world, and was in the throes of a building boom. He quickly set up his studio at 164 Flinders Street in the heart of Melbourne, bringing with him the latest in European style and design and achieving instant success amongst wealthy patrons. He worked equally for Catholic and Protestant denominations, his windows being found in many churches as well as in mansions, houses and other commercial buildings around the city. This extended to the country beyond as his reputation grew. A painter as well as stained glass window designer William was a founding member of the Victorian Art Society in Albert Street, Eastern Hill. William became President of its Council in 1912, a position he held until 1916. He was a trustee of the National Gallery of Victoria. His commissions included; stained glass windows at Christ Church, Hawthorn: St. John's, Heidelberg, St. Ignatius', Richmond: Christ Church, St Kilda: Geelong Grammar School: the Bathurst Cathedral and private houses "Tay Creggan", Hawthorn (now Strathcona Baptist Girls Grammar), and "Earlsbrae Hall", Essendon (now Lowther Hall Anglican Grammar School). The success of William Montgomery made Melbourne the leading centre of stained glass in the Southern Hemisphere. William Montgomery died in 1927.

Villafranca del Cid - Castelló

30 Interlocking Irregular Hyperboloidal Triangular Prisms v7.1 (15 Irregular Hyperboloidal Octahedra) 270 units

3-fold view. This has been, without doubt, the longest running and most frustrating model to design in many years for me. The original 30 Irregular Triangular Prisms model I did last fall was unstable and weak. That was not really a surprise given the distortion of the prisms and their exclusively surface woven interaction.

Since then I have been through so many alternative solutions to make a strong construction, including woven solid patterns, different types of tetrahedral connections, and prismatic compositions. For various reasons, they were not successful. This one, at last, is mostly successful.

Here, 1 of the 3 legs of each triangular prism from the original compound has been removed (the inner ones from the first compound), and an edge added to each of the two vertices on either side of the removed edge. These 2 new edges extend through the center of the model to connect to another opposite prism. 30 inner edges are added total, and though they join to form 15 “octahedral prisms”, they can still be view as 30 triangular prisms, where 1 leg crosses the model and joins to another prism.

Almost all of the units here are upgraded from plain edge units to make them stronger, and though I could still use a few tweaks, I think it is fairly successful now.

Designed by me.

Folded out of copy paper.

Three Intersecting Irregular Snub Disphenoids 66 units

In my hand.

Here is the promised refold of 3 snub disphenoids. The shape of each frame is actually a rhombic prism with added edges, but in fact a snub disphenoid is basically just a cube where each square face is divided into two triangles. I first attempted this almost three years ago, and after failing with a version that had no intersections, I gave up on it indefinitely. However, I recently revived the concept, with a variation I long knew should work- a version where the units under the 2-fold axis's have modeled intersections.

The first version I finished a few days ago had brighter colors, I know, but I had a finite amount of those colors, so I opted with colors I had in greater quantities.

Designed by me.

Folded out of kami.

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on explore!

5. August 2014, # 373

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Thanks to all for the friendly comments and favs!

Five Interlocking Irregular Hyperboloidal Hexeaugmented Truncated Tetrahedrically Distorted Hexahedra 150 units

In my hand.

Whew, long enough name for you? This is a quintessential example of my designing style, so you should be used it by now. ;-D

Last spring I worked out several different truncated "tetrahedral thingies" compounds, and this was one of the better ones, imo. The paper proportions here are extremely thin- the longest one is almost 1:12.5, so to fit it in copy paper I had to fold with units that were .875" wide. While that isn't the thinnest I have ever done, it is the thinnest I have ever been necessitated to do. I used exceptionally paper consuming locks on the triangular face vertices for strength. I like that the longest units extend further into the center of the model, it gives the model a sense of volume that can only be conveyed in person.

Designed by me.

Folded out of Cordenons' Stardream paper.

Agios Ilias (Greek: Άγιος Ηλίας "Saint Elias"; Turkish: Yarköy "village of a cliff", previously Ayiliya) is a village in the Famagusta District of Cyprus, located 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) north-east of Trikomo. It is under the de facto control of Northern Cyprus.

Traditionally, Agios Ilias was primarily inhabited by Greek-speaking Orthodox Christians. In 1973, it had 355 inhabitants, all of whom were Greek Cypriot. In August 1974, they were forced to flee their village by the approaching Turkish army. Today, Agios Ilias is inhabited by settlers from the Denizli Province of Turkey.

The first school was established in the village during the Ottoman period, in 1865. Before then, the village priests (and perhaps monks) provided some teaching from religious books held in the church.

Northern Cyprus, officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), is a de facto state that comprises the northeastern portion of the island of Cyprus. It is recognised only by Turkey, and its territory is considered by all other states to be part of the Republic of Cyprus.

Northern Cyprus extends from the tip of the Karpass Peninsula in the northeast to Morphou Bay, Cape Kormakitis and its westernmost point, the Kokkina exclave in the west. Its southernmost point is the village of Louroujina. A buffer zone under the control of the United Nations stretches between Northern Cyprus and the rest of the island and divides Nicosia, the island's largest city and capital of both sides.

A coup d'état in 1974, performed as part of an attempt to annex the island to Greece, prompted the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. This resulted in the eviction of much of the north's Greek Cypriot population, the flight of Turkish Cypriots from the south, and the partitioning of the island, leading to a unilateral declaration of independence by the north in 1983. Due to its lack of recognition, Northern Cyprus is heavily dependent on Turkey for economic, political and military support.

Attempts to reach a solution to the Cyprus dispute have been unsuccessful. The Turkish Army maintains a large force in Northern Cyprus with the support and approval of the TRNC government, while the Republic of Cyprus, the European Union as a whole, and the international community regard it as an occupation force. This military presence has been denounced in several United Nations Security Council resolutions.

Northern Cyprus is a semi-presidential, democratic republic with a cultural heritage incorporating various influences and an economy that is dominated by the services sector. The economy has seen growth through the 2000s and 2010s, with the GNP per capita more than tripling in the 2000s, but is held back by an international embargo due to the official closure of the ports in Northern Cyprus by the Republic of Cyprus. The official language is Turkish, with a distinct local dialect being spoken. The vast majority of the population consists of Sunni Muslims, while religious attitudes are mostly moderate and secular. Northern Cyprus is an observer state of ECO and OIC under the name "Turkish Cypriot State", PACE under the name "Turkish Cypriot Community", and Organization of Turkic States with its own name.

Several distinct periods of Cypriot intercommunal violence involving the two main ethnic communities, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, marked mid-20th century Cyprus. These included the Cyprus Emergency of 1955–59 during British rule, the post-independence Cyprus crisis of 1963–64, and the Cyprus crisis of 1967. Hostilities culminated in the 1974 de facto division of the island along the Green Line following the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. The region has been relatively peaceful since then, but the Cyprus dispute has continued, with various attempts to solve it diplomatically having been generally unsuccessful.

Cyprus, an island lying in the eastern Mediterranean, hosted a population of Greeks and Turks (four-fifths and one-fifth, respectively), who lived under British rule in the late nineteenth-century and the first half of the twentieth-century. Christian Orthodox Church of Cyprus played a prominent political role among the Greek Cypriot community, a privilege that it acquired during the Ottoman Empire with the employment of the millet system, which gave the archbishop an unofficial ethnarch status.

The repeated rejections by the British of Greek Cypriot demands for enosis, union with Greece, led to armed resistance, organised by the National Organization of Cypriot Struggle, or EOKA. EOKA, led by the Greek-Cypriot commander George Grivas, systematically targeted British colonial authorities. One of the effects of EOKA's campaign was to alter the Turkish position from demanding full reincorporation into Turkey to a demand for taksim (partition). EOKA's mission and activities caused a "Cretan syndrome" (see Turkish Resistance Organisation) within the Turkish Cypriot community, as its members feared that they would be forced to leave the island in such a case as had been the case with Cretan Turks. As such, they preferred the continuation of British colonial rule and then taksim, the division of the island. Due to the Turkish Cypriots' support for the British, EOKA's leader, Georgios Grivas, declared them to be enemies. The fact that the Turks were a minority was, according to Nihat Erim, to be addressed by the transfer of thousands of Turks from mainland Turkey so that Greek Cypriots would cease to be the majority. When Erim visited Cyprus as the Turkish representative, he was advised by Field Marshal Sir John Harding, the then Governor of Cyprus, that Turkey should send educated Turks to settle in Cyprus.

Turkey actively promoted the idea that on the island of Cyprus two distinctive communities existed, and sidestepped its former claim that "the people of Cyprus were all Turkish subjects". In doing so, Turkey's aim to have self-determination of two to-be equal communities in effect led to de jure partition of the island.[citation needed] This could be justified to the international community against the will of the majority Greek population of the island. Dr. Fazil Küçük in 1954 had already proposed Cyprus be divided in two at the 35° parallel.

Lindley Dan, from Notre Dame University, spotted the roots of intercommunal violence to different visions among the two communities of Cyprus (enosis for Greek Cypriots, taksim for Turkish Cypriots). Also, Lindlay wrote that "the merging of church, schools/education, and politics in divisive and nationalistic ways" had played a crucial role in creation of havoc in Cyprus' history. Attalides Michael also pointed to the opposing nationalisms as the cause of the Cyprus problem.

By the mid-1950's, the "Cyprus is Turkish" party, movement, and slogan gained force in both Cyprus and Turkey. In a 1954 editorial, Turkish Cypriot leader Dr. Fazil Kuchuk expressed the sentiment that the Turkish youth had grown up with the idea that "as soon as Great Britain leaves the island, it will be taken over by the Turks", and that "Turkey cannot tolerate otherwise". This perspective contributed to the willingness of Turkish Cypriots to align themselves with the British, who started recruiting Turkish Cypriots into the police force that patrolled Cyprus to fight EOKA, a Greek Cypriot nationalist organisation that sought to rid the island of British rule.

EOKA targeted colonial authorities, including police, but Georgios Grivas, the leader of EOKA, did not initially wish to open up a new front by fighting Turkish Cypriots and reassured them that EOKA would not harm their people. In 1956, some Turkish Cypriot policemen were killed by EOKA members and this provoked some intercommunal violence in the spring and summer, but these attacks on policemen were not motivated by the fact that they were Turkish Cypriots.

However, in January 1957, Grivas changed his policy as his forces in the mountains became increasingly pressured by the British Crown forces. In order to divert the attention of the Crown forces, EOKA members started to target Turkish Cypriot policemen intentionally in the towns, so that Turkish Cypriots would riot against the Greek Cypriots and the security forces would have to be diverted to the towns to restore order. The killing of a Turkish Cypriot policeman on 19 January, when a power station was bombed, and the injury of three others, provoked three days of intercommunal violence in Nicosia. The two communities targeted each other in reprisals, at least one Greek Cypriot was killed and the British Army was deployed in the streets. Greek Cypriot stores were burned and their neighbourhoods attacked. Following the events, the Greek Cypriot leadership spread the propaganda that the riots had merely been an act of Turkish Cypriot aggression. Such events created chaos and drove the communities apart both in Cyprus and in Turkey.

On 22 October 1957 Sir Hugh Mackintosh Foot replaced Sir John Harding as the British Governor of Cyprus. Foot suggested five to seven years of self-government before any final decision. His plan rejected both enosis and taksim. The Turkish Cypriot response to this plan was a series of anti-British demonstrations in Nicosia on 27 and 28 January 1958 rejecting the proposed plan because the plan did not include partition. The British then withdrew the plan.

In 1957, Black Gang, a Turkish Cypriot pro-taksim paramilitary organisation, was formed to patrol a Turkish Cypriot enclave, the Tahtakale district of Nicosia, against activities of EOKA. The organisation later attempted to grow into a national scale, but failed to gain public support.

By 1958, signs of dissatisfaction with the British increased on both sides, with a group of Turkish Cypriots forming Volkan (later renamed to the Turkish Resistance Organisation) paramilitary group to promote partition and the annexation of Cyprus to Turkey as dictated by the Menderes plan. Volkan initially consisted of roughly 100 members, with the stated aim of raising awareness in Turkey of the Cyprus issue and courting military training and support for Turkish Cypriot fighters from the Turkish government.

In June 1958, the British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, was expected to propose a plan to resolve the Cyprus issue. In light of the new development, the Turks rioted in Nicosia to promote the idea that Greek and Turkish Cypriots could not live together and therefore any plan that did not include partition would not be viable. This violence was soon followed by bombing, Greek Cypriot deaths and looting of Greek Cypriot-owned shops and houses. Greek and Turkish Cypriots started to flee mixed population villages where they were a minority in search of safety. This was effectively the beginning of the segregation of the two communities. On 7 June 1958, a bomb exploded at the entrance of the Turkish Embassy in Cyprus. Following the bombing, Turkish Cypriots looted Greek Cypriot properties. On 26 June 1984, the Turkish Cypriot leader, Rauf Denktaş, admitted on British channel ITV that the bomb was placed by the Turks themselves in order to create tension. On 9 January 1995, Rauf Denktaş repeated his claim to the famous Turkish newspaper Milliyet in Turkey.

The crisis reached a climax on 12 June 1958, when eight Greeks, out of an armed group of thirty five arrested by soldiers of the Royal Horse Guards on suspicion of preparing an attack on the Turkish quarter of Skylloura, were killed in a suspected attack by Turkish Cypriot locals, near the village of Geunyeli, having been ordered to walk back to their village of Kondemenos.

After the EOKA campaign had begun, the British government successfully began to turn the Cyprus issue from a British colonial problem into a Greek-Turkish issue. British diplomacy exerted backstage influence on the Adnan Menderes government, with the aim of making Turkey active in Cyprus. For the British, the attempt had a twofold objective. The EOKA campaign would be silenced as quickly as possible, and Turkish Cypriots would not side with Greek Cypriots against the British colonial claims over the island, which would thus remain under the British. The Turkish Cypriot leadership visited Menderes to discuss the Cyprus issue. When asked how the Turkish Cypriots should respond to the Greek Cypriot claim of enosis, Menderes replied: "You should go to the British foreign minister and request the status quo be prolonged, Cyprus to remain as a British colony". When the Turkish Cypriots visited the British Foreign Secretary and requested for Cyprus to remain a colony, he replied: "You should not be asking for colonialism at this day and age, you should be asking for Cyprus be returned to Turkey, its former owner".

As Turkish Cypriots began to look to Turkey for protection, Greek Cypriots soon understood that enosis was extremely unlikely. The Greek Cypriot leader, Archbishop Makarios III, now set independence for the island as his objective.

Britain resolved to solve the dispute by creating an independent Cyprus. In 1959, all involved parties signed the Zurich Agreements: Britain, Turkey, Greece, and the Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders, Makarios and Dr. Fazil Kucuk, respectively. The new constitution drew heavily on the ethnic composition of the island. The President would be a Greek Cypriot, and the Vice-President a Turkish Cypriot with an equal veto. The contribution to the public service would be set at a ratio of 70:30, and the Supreme Court would consist of an equal number of judges from both communities as well as an independent judge who was not Greek, Turkish or British. The Zurich Agreements were supplemented by a number of treaties. The Treaty of Guarantee stated that secession or union with any state was forbidden, and that Greece, Turkey and Britain would be given guarantor status to intervene if that was violated. The Treaty of Alliance allowed for two small Greek and Turkish military contingents to be stationed on the island, and the Treaty of Establishment gave Britain sovereignty over two bases in Akrotiri and Dhekelia.

On 15 August 1960, the Colony of Cyprus became fully independent as the Republic of Cyprus. The new republic remained within the Commonwealth of Nations.

The new constitution brought dissatisfaction to Greek Cypriots, who felt it to be highly unjust for them for historical, demographic and contributional reasons. Although 80% of the island's population were Greek Cypriots and these indigenous people had lived on the island for thousands of years and paid 94% of taxes, the new constitution was giving the 17% of the population that was Turkish Cypriots, who paid 6% of taxes, around 30% of government jobs and 40% of national security jobs.

Within three years tensions between the two communities in administrative affairs began to show. In particular disputes over separate municipalities and taxation created a deadlock in government. A constitutional court ruled in 1963 Makarios had failed to uphold article 173 of the constitution which called for the establishment of separate municipalities for Turkish Cypriots. Makarios subsequently declared his intention to ignore the judgement, resulting in the West German judge resigning from his position. Makarios proposed thirteen amendments to the constitution, which would have had the effect of resolving most of the issues in the Greek Cypriot favour. Under the proposals, the President and Vice-President would lose their veto, the separate municipalities as sought after by the Turkish Cypriots would be abandoned, the need for separate majorities by both communities in passing legislation would be discarded and the civil service contribution would be set at actual population ratios (82:18) instead of the slightly higher figure for Turkish Cypriots.

The intention behind the amendments has long been called into question. The Akritas plan, written in the height of the constitutional dispute by the Greek Cypriot interior minister Polycarpos Georkadjis, called for the removal of undesirable elements of the constitution so as to allow power-sharing to work. The plan envisaged a swift retaliatory attack on Turkish Cypriot strongholds should Turkish Cypriots resort to violence to resist the measures, stating "In the event of a planned or staged Turkish attack, it is imperative to overcome it by force in the shortest possible time, because if we succeed in gaining command of the situation (in one or two days), no outside, intervention would be either justified or possible." Whether Makarios's proposals were part of the Akritas plan is unclear, however it remains that sentiment towards enosis had not completely disappeared with independence. Makarios described independence as "a step on the road to enosis".[31] Preparations for conflict were not entirely absent from Turkish Cypriots either, with right wing elements still believing taksim (partition) the best safeguard against enosis.

Greek Cypriots however believe the amendments were a necessity stemming from a perceived attempt by Turkish Cypriots to frustrate the working of government. Turkish Cypriots saw it as a means to reduce their status within the state from one of co-founder to that of minority, seeing it as a first step towards enosis. The security situation deteriorated rapidly.

Main articles: Bloody Christmas (1963) and Battle of Tillyria

An armed conflict was triggered after December 21, 1963, a period remembered by Turkish Cypriots as Bloody Christmas, when a Greek Cypriot policemen that had been called to help deal with a taxi driver refusing officers already on the scene access to check the identification documents of his customers, took out his gun upon arrival and shot and killed the taxi driver and his partner. Eric Solsten summarised the events as follows: "a Greek Cypriot police patrol, ostensibly checking identification documents, stopped a Turkish Cypriot couple on the edge of the Turkish quarter. A hostile crowd gathered, shots were fired, and two Turkish Cypriots were killed."

In the morning after the shooting, crowds gathered in protest in Northern Nicosia, likely encouraged by the TMT, without incident. On the evening of the 22nd, gunfire broke out, communication lines to the Turkish neighbourhoods were cut, and the Greek Cypriot police occupied the nearby airport. On the 23rd, a ceasefire was negotiated, but did not hold. Fighting, including automatic weapons fire, between Greek and Turkish Cypriots and militias increased in Nicosia and Larnaca. A force of Greek Cypriot irregulars led by Nikos Sampson entered the Nicosia suburb of Omorphita and engaged in heavy firing on armed, as well as by some accounts unarmed, Turkish Cypriots. The Omorphita clash has been described by Turkish Cypriots as a massacre, while this view has generally not been acknowledged by Greek Cypriots.

Further ceasefires were arranged between the two sides, but also failed. By Christmas Eve, the 24th, Britain, Greece, and Turkey had joined talks, with all sides calling for a truce. On Christmas day, Turkish fighter jets overflew Nicosia in a show of support. Finally it was agreed to allow a force of 2,700 British soldiers to help enforce a ceasefire. In the next days, a "buffer zone" was created in Nicosia, and a British officer marked a line on a map with green ink, separating the two sides of the city, which was the beginning of the "Green Line". Fighting continued across the island for the next several weeks.

In total 364 Turkish Cypriots and 174 Greek Cypriots were killed during the violence. 25,000 Turkish Cypriots from 103-109 villages fled and were displaced into enclaves and thousands of Turkish Cypriot houses were ransacked or completely destroyed.

Contemporary newspapers also reported on the forceful exodus of the Turkish Cypriots from their homes. According to The Times in 1964, threats, shootings and attempts of arson were committed against the Turkish Cypriots to force them out of their homes. The Daily Express wrote that "25,000 Turks have already been forced to leave their homes". The Guardian reported a massacre of Turks at Limassol on 16 February 1964.

Turkey had by now readied its fleet and its fighter jets appeared over Nicosia. Turkey was dissuaded from direct involvement by the creation of a United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) in 1964. Despite the negotiated ceasefire in Nicosia, attacks on the Turkish Cypriot persisted, particularly in Limassol. Concerned about the possibility of a Turkish invasion, Makarios undertook the creation of a Greek Cypriot conscript-based army called the "National Guard". A general from Greece took charge of the army, whilst a further 20,000 well-equipped officers and men were smuggled from Greece into Cyprus. Turkey threatened to intervene once more, but was prevented by a strongly worded letter from the American President Lyndon B. Johnson, anxious to avoid a conflict between NATO allies Greece and Turkey at the height of the Cold War.

Turkish Cypriots had by now established an important bridgehead at Kokkina, provided with arms, volunteers and materials from Turkey and abroad. Seeing this incursion of foreign weapons and troops as a major threat, the Cypriot government invited George Grivas to return from Greece as commander of the Greek troops on the island and launch a major attack on the bridgehead. Turkey retaliated by dispatching its fighter jets to bomb Greek positions, causing Makarios to threaten an attack on every Turkish Cypriot village on the island if the bombings did not cease. The conflict had now drawn in Greece and Turkey, with both countries amassing troops on their Thracian borders. Efforts at mediation by Dean Acheson, a former U.S. Secretary of State, and UN-appointed mediator Galo Plaza had failed, all the while the division of the two communities becoming more apparent. Greek Cypriot forces were estimated at some 30,000, including the National Guard and the large contingent from Greece. Defending the Turkish Cypriot enclaves was a force of approximately 5,000 irregulars, led by a Turkish colonel, but lacking the equipment and organisation of the Greek forces.

The Secretary-General of the United Nations in 1964, U Thant, reported the damage during the conflicts:

UNFICYP carried out a detailed survey of all damage to properties throughout the island during the disturbances; it shows that in 109 villages, most of them Turkish-Cypriot or mixed villages, 527 houses have been destroyed while 2,000 others have suffered damage from looting.

The situation worsened in 1967, when a military junta overthrew the democratically elected government of Greece, and began applying pressure on Makarios to achieve enosis. Makarios, not wishing to become part of a military dictatorship or trigger a Turkish invasion, began to distance himself from the goal of enosis. This caused tensions with the junta in Greece as well as George Grivas in Cyprus. Grivas's control over the National Guard and Greek contingent was seen as a threat to Makarios's position, who now feared a possible coup.[citation needed] The National Guard and Cyprus Police began patrolling the Turkish Cypriot enclaves of Ayios Theodoros and Kophinou, and on November 15 engaged in heavy fighting with the Turkish Cypriots.

By the time of his withdrawal 26 Turkish Cypriots had been killed. Turkey replied with an ultimatum demanding that Grivas be removed from the island, that the troops smuggled from Greece in excess of the limits of the Treaty of Alliance be removed, and that the economic blockades on the Turkish Cypriot enclaves be lifted. Grivas was recalled by the Athens Junta and the 12,000 Greek troops were withdrawn. Makarios now attempted to consolidate his position by reducing the number of National Guard troops, and by creating a paramilitary force loyal to Cypriot independence. In 1968, acknowledging that enosis was now all but impossible, Makarios stated, "A solution by necessity must be sought within the limits of what is feasible which does not always coincide with the limits of what is desirable."

After 1967 tensions between the Greek and Turkish Cypriots subsided. Instead, the main source of tension on the island came from factions within the Greek Cypriot community. Although Makarios had effectively abandoned enosis in favour of an 'attainable solution', many others continued to believe that the only legitimate political aspiration for Greek Cypriots was union with Greece.

On his arrival, Grivas began by establishing a nationalist paramilitary group known as the National Organization of Cypriot Fighters (Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston B or EOKA-B), drawing comparisons with the EOKA struggle for enosis under the British colonial administration of the 1950s.

The military junta in Athens saw Makarios as an obstacle. Makarios's failure to disband the National Guard, whose officer class was dominated by mainland Greeks, had meant the junta had practical control over the Cypriot military establishment, leaving Makarios isolated and a vulnerable target.

During the first Turkish invasion, Turkish troops invaded Cyprus territory on 20 July 1974, invoking its rights under the Treaty of Guarantee. This expansion of Turkish-occupied zone violated International Law as well as the Charter of the United Nations. Turkish troops managed to capture 3% of the island which was accompanied by the burning of the Turkish Cypriot quarter, as well as the raping and killing of women and children. A temporary cease-fire followed which was mitigated by the UN Security Council. Subsequently, the Greek military Junta collapsed on July 23, 1974, and peace talks commenced in which a democratic government was installed. The Resolution 353 was broken after Turkey attacked a second time and managed to get a hold of 37% of Cyprus territory. The Island of Cyprus was appointed a Buffer Zone by the United Nations, which divided the island into two zones through the 'Green Line' and put an end to the Turkish invasion. Although Turkey announced that the occupied areas of Cyprus to be called the Federated Turkish State in 1975, it is not legitimised on a worldwide political scale. The United Nations called for the international recognition of independence for the Republic of Cyprus in the Security Council Resolution 367.

In the years after the Turkish invasion of northern Cyprus one can observe a history of failed talks between the two parties. The 1983 declaration of the independent Turkish Republic of Cyprus resulted in a rise of inter-communal tensions and made it increasingly hard to find mutual understanding. With Cyprus' interest of a possible EU membership and a new UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 1997 new hopes arose for a fresh start. International involvement from sides of the US and UK, wanting a solution to the Cyprus dispute prior to the EU accession led to political pressures for new talks. The believe that an accession without a solution would threaten Greek-Turkish relations and acknowledge the partition of the island would direct the coming negotiations.

Over the course of two years a concrete plan, the Annan plan was formulated. In 2004 the fifth version agreed upon from both sides and with the endorsement of Turkey, US, UK and EU then was presented to the public and was given a referendum in both Cypriot communities to assure the legitimisation of the resolution. The Turkish Cypriots voted with 65% for the plan, however the Greek Cypriots voted with a 76% majority against. The Annan plan contained multiple important topics. Firstly it established a confederation of two separate states called the United Cyprus Republic. Both communities would have autonomous states combined under one unified government. The members of parliament would be chosen according to the percentage in population numbers to ensure a just involvement from both communities. The paper proposed a demilitarisation of the island over the next years. Furthermore it agreed upon a number of 45000 Turkish settlers that could remain on the island. These settlers became a very important issue concerning peace talks. Originally the Turkish government encouraged Turks to settle in Cyprus providing transfer and property, to establish a counterpart to the Greek Cypriot population due to their 1 to 5 minority. With the economic situation many Turkish-Cypriot decided to leave the island, however their departure is made up by incoming Turkish settlers leaving the population ratio between Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots stable. However all these points where criticised and as seen in the vote rejected mainly by the Greek Cypriots. These name the dissolution of the „Republic of Cyprus", economic consequences of a reunion and the remaining Turkish settlers as reason. Many claim that the plan was indeed drawing more from Turkish-Cypriot demands then Greek-Cypriot interests. Taking in consideration that the US wanted to keep Turkey as a strategic partner in future Middle Eastern conflicts.

A week after the failed referendum the Republic of Cyprus joined the EU. In multiple instances the EU tried to promote trade with Northern Cyprus but without internationally recognised ports this spiked a grand debate. Both side endure their intention of negotiations, however without the prospect of any new compromises or agreements the UN is unwilling to start the process again. Since 2004 negotiations took place in numbers but without any results, both sides are strongly holding on to their position without an agreeable solution in sight that would suit both parties.

the shoes that gosia will get married in

special eh?

This model was discussed between Aaron and myself here: www.flickr.com/photos/42647582@N07/7399623306/

We both independently designed the model based on our discussion and revealed both versions at the OUSA NYC 2012 convention.

You can see his completed version here: www.flickr.com/photos/42647582@N07/7517840468/

In mine, I have adjusted the shape so that the non-equilateral faces of each octahedron are isosceles. This means there are only 2 unit lengths.

EDIT: See the cheatsheet here: www.flickr.com/photos/8303956@N08/7595366640

Thirty Interlocking Irregular Equatorially Truncated Triangularly Distorted Dipoles 270 units 3-fold view.

This is the next step building on the idea used in the 12-compound and moving towards 30 Irregular Cubes with 7 different unit types. (Obviously the proportions are going to have to be thinned dramatically to accommodate 90 more units.) In the mean time though, I do like the thickness of the proportions given the complexity of the design here- this reminds just a little of Aaron's 15 irregular hexahedra. As with the 12 compound, working with duplicated dipoles is harder than their corresponding polygons. I might consider a compound involving duplicated square dipoles in the future as well.

I know I haven't posted a lot recently, but this is not because I have not been folding- I actually have several projects ongoing at the present and have had this done for a week or two- I just haven't taken the time to upload a lot.

Designed by me.

Folded out of copy paper. (5 different paper proportions)

(via Old Faithful webcam)

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Beehive Geyser is the tallest regularly-performing geyser in the Geyser Hill Group of Yellowstone's Upper Geyser Basin. Eruption columns are steady, relatively slender, and reach 150 to 200 feet high. In recent years, Beehive Geyser erupts approximately once a day for about five minutes. Eruptions are usually preceded by an eruption from Beehive's Indicator Geyser, located about 7 feet away from the northeastern base of Beehive's cone.

Beehive Geyser's cone is about 4 feet tall and subcylindrical. The vent at the summit is relatively small. The cone itself is composed of geyserite - also called siliceous sinter. Geyserite is a friable to solid chemical sedimentary rock composed of opal (hydrous silica, a.k.a. opaline silica: SiO2·nH2O). It forms by precipitation of hydrous silica from hot spring water. Geyserite is the dominant material at & around Yellowstone hot springs and geysers (the Mammoth Hot Springs area is a major exception to this). The silica in the geyserite is ultimately derived from leaching of subsurface, late Cenozoic-aged rhyolitic rocks by hot and superheated groundwater. Rhyolite is an abundant rock at Yellowstone.

The outer walls of the cyclindrical portion of Beehive's cone are slightly irregular and nondecorated. The summit is mostly covered with nodulose to pustulose geyserite.

Location: 44° 27' 45.41" North latitude, 110° 49' 47.98" West longitude

----------------------

A longer version of this video that depicts more of Lion Geyser's eruption is posted at:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=mX5rBc6x4Hk

Haircut by Silvia

[One of a series of 8 images] This is a creative commons image, which you may freely use by linking to this page. Please respect the photographer and his work.

The J. T. Moore house in the historic Oakwood section of Raleigh, North Carolina, was built about 1886 (as a plaque on the house states) or about 1893 as other information indicates. Moore was a cotton broker when he built this compact but asymmetrical wood frame Queen Anne cottage on a brick foundation. There’s a second level bedroom and bath in the 1 1/2 story. The house today is painted blue and white with a complementary gray roof; the roofline is irregular with a dominating front gable over the projecting bay. The gable is ornamented with shingling, alternating between rows of rectangular and fish-scale patterns, each of a different color. The gable also shows a decorative floral-pattern vent. Slender turned posts on the wrap-around porch support the porch roof, decorative bracketing at each post; the porch balusters mimic the blue-white pattern of the posts in neatly done millwork. The side gable to the right shows a window. I neglected to see what view the left side offered. The windows in the bay are 2/2 sash, but to either side the windows are 2/4. The front entry is a single-leaf wood door with bottom panel and a transom at the top. Having been on the market, the house sold in 2011 for $430,000. I’ve not been able to determine with resources available if the house is on the National Register. It should be. Photos date from March 2011 and October 2012.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Haircut by Ramona

Lago Paranoá, Brasília, DF, Brasil 16/9/2015 Foto: Tony Winston/Agência Brasília

Fiscais da Agência Reguladora de Águas, Energia e Saneamento Básico do Distrito Federal (Adasa) e integrantes do Batalhão Ambiental da Polícia Militar continuam, na manhã desta quinta-feira (17), com a inspeção de terrenos às margens do Lago Paranoá. Até a tarde de quarta-feira (16), haviam sido encontradas 57 irregularidades, entre pontos de captação de água, lançamento de esgoto e drenagem de terrenos. A ação, iniciada na quinta-feira (10), faz parte das atividades da Semana Lago Limpo, promovida pela autarquia.

The elephant sprays the water at irregular intervals so the children hurry to run away to avoid getting wet

Location: Queen's Road, Central, Hong Kong

Rollei 35 Classic

Sonnar 40 mm f/2.8 HFT

Kodak T-Max 400 push to 1600

Yellow filter

T-MAX Dev (1+4)

8:30 min @20ºC

Development details on FilmDev

Descripció:

Casa fortificada amb torre rodona i elements medievals. Les Torres Altes de Foix és una masia situada a ponent del terme, a l'extrem d'una plana envoltada de bosc. És de planta formada per diversos cossos que fan pensar en un edificació del conjunt per etapes. Hi ha superposició de construccions. Possiblement la torre de planta circular sigui l'element més antic de la masia. Es troba situada en un extrem de l'edifici. Hi ha també una interessant finestra de pedra i picada, geminada. El material emprat en la construcció és la pedra, tallada en carreus irregulars.

patmapa.gencat.cat/web/guest/patrimoni/arquitectura?artic...

A casa da Barca está neste lugar de Cambados, á beira da ponte do mesmo nome que comunica as dúas beiras do río Umia. Esta ponte foi construída por iniciativa privada para resolver a comunicación pola costa dentro da comarca do Salnés, nun punto no que tradicionalmente se cruzaba o río mediante unha barca. Os promotores foron Patricio Moreno, José Cuervo, José Manuel Carreró Mascato e Javier Zárate, levándose a cabo a obra entre 1868 e 1878. O uso da ponte estaba regulado mediante unhas taxas que se cobraban nesta casa da Barca, construída no 1877, tal e como indica unha cartela sobre o lintel. Por iniciativa de Miguel López de Carrizosa de Giles, marqués de Mochales, deputado en Cortes polo partido de Cambados, o Estado compra a ponte no 1902 por un total de 200.000 pesetas, quedando desde entón libre de peaxe o paso por ela.

A chegada no 1856 de Jose María de Luyando Hormaechea, VII marqués de Montesacro, supón unha certa revolución en San Tomé do Mar, onde os seus habitantes trataban de estender os beneficios da condición de matriculados no mar dos mariñeiros ao resto da poboación e de levaren a cabo negocios con que superaren a crise de 1842-52 en que desaparecera practicamente a sardiña da nosa ribeira. Desde 1840 levaban o beneficio de xeito irregular da barca das Estacas, da que era arrendatario José Aragunde, a quen se lle embargan no 1860 –tras preito do marqués- 3.066 reais. Tamén se pretende embargar a Manuel Pérez del Río, depositario teórico dos fondos, ao que non se lle atopa nada. A sentencia será favorable ao marqués en data de 21 de xaneiro de 1861. O uso da barca sería imprescindible para o paso do río até a construción da ponte. A casa, pola súa parte, sería dividida en varias vivendas e alterada en parte posteriormente.

MÚSICA: Luis Emilio Batallán - Viaxeiro

youtu.be/nNAJMNkZqpU

Irregular stone steps in the National Trust garden at Cragside, Northumberland.

56/124 pictures in 2024

Set of two brooches

Ten Interlocking Irregular Hyperboloidal Triaugmented Omnitruncated Digonal Dihedra 150 units

3-fold view.

This, is, undoubtedly, the most time consuming project I have ever designed. I folded it three times in total to get the perfect proportions and angles, and combined with the design process, this took almost 40 hours to perfect. The compound is unique- it was a compound of ten irregular hexahedra before, but with the addition of thirty units which connect the frames, it has become something special. Tracing the connection between the frames is quite entertaining. I can only imagine at future presentations the number of people who will be scratching their heads trying to figure out what exactly is going on here. I'm not entirely sure myself. xD The exterior vertices roughly represent the vertices of a stellated rhombic triacontahedron...hmm.

Designed by me.

Folded out of Zanders' Elephant Hide paper.

The highly invasive wild chervil has an interesting flower with irregular petals.

Three Intersecting Irregular Tetragrammoidally Distorted Octagonal Prisms 84 units 4-fold view

This model followed directly on the heels of the 6-compound. Although it is less labor intensive, conceptually it is a slight step up from the 6-compound, as the faces are not regular stars, the angles at the star points are even narrower (assembling them is a moderate challenge), and the inner edges result in inverted, modelled, 4-point intersections. Like the six compound, this is a bit tight and could use a refold, but I have another variation I want to work on first.

Designed by me.

Folded out of copy paper.

!0.96 million light years away

2019.12/3

社8516 8570F+8561F

Photographed by: © SAM Nasim

Email: sam_nasim99@yahoo.com /

sam.nasim99@gmail.com

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Six Interlocking Irregular Crossed Pentagonal Antiprisms 240 units 5-fold view. This model has been long awaited and in the works, ever since I did a comparable 3-compound with square antiprisms. A minor error meant that I botched the proportions on the first attempt and when I project is 240 units, a botched attempt means a long time before another attempt is made. :P

The proportions on this second version are perfect, and overall I’m pleased with the result, although I would admit that the construction looks a bit generic. I rendered another 6 pentagonal crossed antiprisms compound with non-interacting pentagonal antiprisms, but I do not think that I am going to fold it, at least at present time.

I am working on another compound now which is fairly basic conceptually, but should not look as generic regardless.

Designed by me. Folded out of copy paper.

This 3m tall, irregularly shaped, top-heavy granite stone stands in a field close to the St. Buryan - Penzance road.