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PREFACE
"SHADHINOTA is My Cause for the 40th Celebration of BANGLADESH Independence. The land, the mighty rivers and the natural beauty makes Bangladesh a land of unparalleled splendor and magnificence. Bangladesh was liberated after a prolonged war of Independence the declaration of which was given on 26th MARCH 1971. One of the worst genocides Genocide in history took place at the behest of an autocratic regime in the name of Political stability spearheaded by the then Pakistan President Yah ya Khan. After 9 months of Liberation war and the sacrifice of 3 million lives Victory came. In addition to the loss of lives countless others were rendered homeless, the infrastructure including roads and bridges and factories lay in ruins. The people of Bangladesh have shown time and again how resilient they are. After each and every disaster, natural or man-made the people have again stood up and started all over again from scratch.
My Effort here is to pay tribute to the valiant sons of the soil and the ‘die hard’ attitude of a people who can still smile in the face of adversity however great it may be. I plan to make a collage of images that represent the lives of the people of Bangladesh. I encourage you to upload a photo each day till I have a total of 40 images for the Cause SHADHINOTA in the group Frame BANGLADESH"
If You have some time in Hand Plz Listen a patriotic Modern Bangla Song as as our Cause Song ,Hridoy Amar Bangladesh
6:18 one of the last photos of the session in the long awaited mist or rather fog. I was looking also for some sun but there were no rays at all. The light was easy anyway - lower the contrasts, better the backgrounds. Beautiful morning in the type I like very much.
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📷 Canon EOS R + Canon EF 70-200mm f/4 L IS USM
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All rights reserved © Kajetan Mroczek 2024
Please ask for permission to use this photography commercially or not.
At the Pittsburgh Zoo in Pittsburgh, PA.
For some reason, starting with this photo chosen randomly, willows seem to have a cosmic significance for me tonight. I keep coming across references to them. Maybe I'm in a strange attractor eddy about them.
I looked up the symbolic meaning of willows, and they signify stability, hope, and recovery, which bodes well for 2022.
Aston Martin DBS is a 6.0-litre V12 powered, race-bred, two-seater shaped by the aerodynamic demands of high performance, with an exquisite interior that marries beautifully hand-finished materials with the very latest in performance technology. Race-derived materials and components and Aston Martin’s unrivalled hand-build expertise makes the DBS a luxury sports car without equal.
Aston Martin DBS Specifications:
Body:
- Two-door coupe body style with 2+0 seating
- Bonded aluminium VH structure
- Aluminium, magnesium alloy and carbon-fibre composite body
- Extruded aluminium door side-impact beams
- High Intensity Discharge headlamps (dipped beam)
- Halogen projector headlamps (main beam)
- LED rear lamps and side repeaters
Engine:
- All-alloy, quad overhead camshaft, 48-valve, 5935 cc V12. Compression ratio 10.9:1
- Front-mid mounted engine, rear-wheel drive
- Fully catalysed stainless steel exhaust system with active bypass valves
Projected Performance figures:
- Maximum power: 380 kW (510 bhp/517 PS) @ 6500 rpm
- Maximum torque: 570 Nm (420 lb ft) @ 5750 rpm
- Maximum speed: 307 km/h (191 mph)
- Acceleration: 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) in 4.3 seconds
Transmission:
- Rear-mid mounted, six-speed manual gearbox
- Alloy torque tube with carbon-fibre propeller shaft
- Limited-slip differential
- Final-drive ratio 3.71:1
Steering:
- Rack and pinion
- Servotronic speed-sensitive power-assisted steering
- 3.0 turns lock-to-lock
- Column tilt and reach adjustment
Wheels & Tyres
Wheels:
- Front: 8.5" x 20"
- Rear: 11" x 20"
Tyres:
Pirelli P Zero
- Front: 245/35
- Rear: 295/30
Suspension:
Front:
- Independent double wishbone incorporating anti-dive geometry
- Coil springs
- Anti-roll bar and monotube adaptive dampers
Rear:
- Independent double wishbones with anti-squat and anti-lift geometry
- Coil springs
- Anti-roll bar and monotube adaptive dampers
Adaptive Damping System (ADS) with Track mode
Brakes:
Front: Ventilated carbon ceramic discs, 398 mm diameter with six-piston calipers
Rear: Ventilated carbon ceramic discs, 360 mm diameter with four-piston calipers
Dynamic Stability control (DSC) with Track mode, including anti-lock braking system (ABS), electronic brakeforce distribution (EBD), emergency brake assist (EBA) and traction control.
Dimensions:
Length: 4721 mm
Width: 1905 mm excluding door mirrors, 2060 mm including door mirrors
Height: 1280 mm
Wheelbase: 2740 mm
Fuel tank capacity: 78 litres
Weight: 1695 kg
Interior:
- Semi-aniline leather and Alcantara interior
- Matrix alloy facia trim and Iridium Silver centre console finish
- Carbon-fibre door trims and door pulls
- Auto-dimming rear-view mirror & garage door opener (USA and Canada only)
- Sports seats with ten-way electric adjustment, including height, tilt and lumbar adjustment
- Memory seats & exterior mirrors (three positions)
- Dual-stage driver/passenger front airbags
- Side airbags (sports seats only)
- Heated seats (sports seats only)
- Heated rear screen
- Automatic temperature control
- Organic Electroluminescent (OEL) displays
- Trip computer
- Cruise control
- Hard Disk Drive (HDD) satellite navigation system*1,2
- Bluetooth telephone preparation*1
- Powerfold exterior mirrors
- Front and rear parking sensors
- Tyre-pressure monitoring*1
- Alarm and immobiliser
- Remote-control central door locking and boot release
- Battery disconnect switch
- Battery conditioner
- Tracking device (UK only)
- Boot-mounted umbrella
*1 Not available in all markets
*2 Includes Traffic Messaging Channel (TMC) in Continental Europe
In-car entertainment:
- Aston Martin 700 W premium audio system with Dolby® Pro Logic II®
- MP3 player connectivity
Optional Equipment:
- Lightweight seats with six-way adjustment, including front and rear height adjust (Does not include side airbags or heated seats feature. Not available in USA or Canada)
- 20" alloy wheels with graphite finish
- Satellite radio system (USA only)
- Piano Black facia trim and centre console finish
- Leather storage saddle
- Personalised sill plaques
- Auto-dimming interior rear-view mirror*1
- Auto-dimming interior rear-view mirror with garage door opener (Europe only)
- Alarm upgrade (volumetric and tilt sensor)
- Tracking device*3
- First-aid kit
- Ashtray and cigar lighter
*1 Not available in all markets
*3 Complies with UK Thatcham Category 5 requirements. Excludes subscription. Standard in UK.
Jason De Caires Taylor named this sculpture Vicissitudes, commenting on the future trajectories of these children.
This sculpture was seen in the Molinere Beausejour Marine Protected Area, Grenada. This was the first of the underwater sculpture parks created by Taylor, who has more than 1,200 underwater sculptures in Australia, UK, Cyprus, France, Maldives, Indonesia, Mexico and Bahamas.
The sculpture park in Grenada was founded in 2006 and Vicissitudes was added in 2007. Initially, Vicissitudes was intended to be the community of children holding hands and looking toward their futures. But as the currents modified these sculptures, some had to be propped up, and these were tied together for stability. Many people (including me) interpreted the ties as manacles, and the sculpture a reminder of slavery in the history of Grenada.
Taylor fully intended that his sculptures be colonized by the species looking for a place to live on a healthy marine surfaces.
With heartfelt and genuine thanks for your kind visit. Have a wonderful and beautiful day, be well, keep your eyes open, appreciate the beauty surrounding you, enjoy creating, stay safe and laugh often! ❤️❤️❤️
there is stability in walking an uncertain path, because you never allow yourself to be misled by what you think you know.
...a.j. darkholme
Created in Stability Ai.
Filters: PSE21 and Topaz Studio.
Thank you for your visit, faves and kind comments.
And a little jazz tune from planet earth:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2SAmDJ_SMg
When I was in my 40's, I used to dress up and go to a cigar club owned by one of the Hollywood legends on Saturday nights. It had smoky mahogany walls and ceilings and beautiful, rich red elegant chairs that one could almost melt into, fantastic oil paintings on the walls.. I was often the only woman there, and those of us there knew we were there for the gorgeous piano jazz. The place is gone now, but I have lovely memories of the music, and can go back if I close my eyes.
'I'm just mad about saffron'. A bunting to brighten up a dull Monday morning 😊 This beautiful brightly coloured male Yellowhammer or Yellow Bunting as it was sometimes called in the books I used to ponder over when I was a young boy, perched for me just long enough for me to get a shot off! … a little bit of bread and no cheeeezze.
Farmland habitat changes...
Many granivorous farmland birds in the UK have declined substantially since the 1970s, coinciding with widespread agricultural intensification. The population trend of the Yellowhammer is, however, unique, since after a long period of stability it started to decline in the late 1980s. This study quantifies Yellowhammer habitat associations on British farmland before and during the decline (1988 and 1993), using Common Birds Census (CBC) data from the British Trust for Ornithology. In both years, variation in Yellowhammer densities between farmland CBC plots was strongly correlated with three main habitat parameters. Yellowhammer density increased with the proportion of the plot area growing cereals, and with crop diversity and hedgerow length, and was highest at intermediate altitudes. Farms dominated by grass and non-cereal crops, and those lacking cereals were most likely to lose territories between 1988 and 1993. These results suggest that there may be a critical availability of cereal cultivation below which Yellowhammer populations cannot persist, which may explain the recent pattern of range contraction in the pastoral north and west of the British Isles. They do not, however, explain the recent population decline recorded by the CBC in southern and eastern Britain, where cereal cultivation is predominant. This decline is probably not a direct consequence of summer land-use change, and requires further investigation...Farmland habitat change and abundance of Yellowhammers Emberiza citrinella: an analysis of Common Birds Census data
A. Kyrkos,J.D. Wilson & R.J. Fuller
Many thanks for visiting my Flickr pages ...Your visits, interest, comments and kindness to 'fave' my photos is very much appreciated, Steve.
Yellowhammer Notes and Information:
The Yellowhammer is another member of the Bunting Family. It is most often found in agricultural and wooded areas. Males are unmistakable as they are bright yellow, females and young birds are like a ‘ghost’ of the male.
The song of the Yellowhammer will attract your attention and help identify the bird as it is well known and very easy to learn.
Identification:
Adult:
Adult males and females have different plumage.
Yellowhammers are medium sized Buntings and measure in at about 16cm.
Male
Tail is longish, dark brown with white outer tail feathers, rump is brick red, back is heavily streaked and fairly pale, buffy with some dark chestnut with straw coloured streaking.
Wings are chestnut with darker centres to the feathers.
The upper side of the bird shows a yellowish buff wash.
The most obvious feature of the Yellowhammer is the bright lemon yellow head, breast and underparts.
The head shows a darker surround to the ear coverts and some dark crown streaking.
The breast has an orange wash and dark streaking down the flanks.
Bill is grey, legs brown eyes dark.
Female
Female Yellowhammers lack all the yellow head of the male and instead show an olive head with varying amounts of yellow around the face and chin.
It also shows a yellow ear spot.
Overall the birds shows less of a yellow tone and appears darker and moor olive in tone, it is also more streaked on the breast and flanks.
Bill black, legs dark and eye black.
Juvenile
Juveniles appear from late April onwards and look very similar to adult females, head pattern not as dark and generally browner, shows pale ear spot.
Status and Distribution
The Yellowhammer is a common breeding resident in the UK with 700,000 pairs. It occurs in all counties throughout the UK.
In winter numbers increase as migrants come to the UK from Continental Europe to escape their cold winters, migrants start to arrive in October to winter in our less severe climate.
Habitat/Food
Yellowhammers tend to feed on the ground, they occur in farmland type habitat throughout the UK also woodlands, open areas such as wooded pastures. If you can coax them into the garden they will happily take Seed Mixes from the ground or Bird Table.
Song/Call
Song; The song is well known....’ A little bit of bread and no cheese’ delivered in a high buzzy tone…..’chi chi chi chi chi chi chi chi cheezze’ . The cheese note is lower in tone than all other notes..
The larger team movements of a dragon dance differ from the smaller, more playful motions of a two-person lion dance. Unlike a Western dragon that brings mayhem, a Chinese dragon is a good thing. As a leader at the top of the chain, a dragon drives away lesser evil forces. That retains good fortune and a safe haven for a community.
One more thing. The powerful dragon represented the imperial power of the Emporer, a centralized power of immense proportion, whose privileged purpose was to bring protection, stability, and prosperity to China's folks.
Today the KCS no longer exists as an independent company. Now part of the CPKC.
With the exception of a few trips to Mississippi, most of my experience with the KCS has been along the former Gateway Western lines. The KCS takeover of the ATSF dependent GWWR brought stability to a line that had become redundant to the newly formed BNSF. The KCS continued the upgrade of the physical plant that GWWR started and the route is now in better shape than ever. The Bartlett Grain loading facility at Jacksonville has brought much needed traffic to an under utilized line and hopefully the new company will continue to bring in additional business.
I must admit that from a railfan point of view that after being able to photograph GWWR and ATSF powered trains, I initially wasn't really excited with the KCS takeover with their gray engines and all but when they brought back the Southern Belle scheme first to the business train and then to the rest of the fleet my opinion quickly changed.
Shown here is a westbound extra MESKC passing through the small village of Hillview IL on a Saturday afternoon in March of 2016. In a few miles they will cross the Illinois River at Pearl. The lead units look great in the belle scheme. Goodbye KCS.
© National Geographic Yourshot (Editors' Favourite, July 2019). Story and assignment: “Rites of Passage.
Swahili racing teams come together several times a year to compete in traditional hand-crafted Arabic-styled Mashua dhows in the Lamu Archipelago just off Kenya's northern Swahili Coast.
Intense village rivalries build over the years, often reaching pitch fever on race day. This magnificent racing dhow and crew are in the lead as they move into the final leg of the race. They are the ultimate winners and will return to their village on the island of Pate with team bragging rights and a certain village swagger that will likely last several months until the next race.
Six crewmen in the lead dhow are perched on an adjustable plank that hangs out over the choppy waters for added balance, speed, and stability. About sixteen young crewmen all together are crowded into each dhow to give the necessary weight, balance and stability against a stiff coastal trade wind.
The ubiquitous trade winds have been instrumental in the evolution of Swahili culture and commerce over the years since it was first established in the 14th Century as an Omani trading outpost and settlement on the classic coastal run between Zanzibar and the Arabic world further to the north.
The art of Swahili dhow racing requires considerable team skill as the dhows tack and manoeuvre back and forth through the Manda channel and ultimately out to the edge of the open sea. The finest dhows are selected from each village to race under sail through a complicated series of buoys, combining speed and balance with elaborate tacking and maneuvering competence.
The races are usually organized in conjunction with a cultural festival or an Islamic religious holiday. This Shela-based race on the island of Lamu is organized yearly by Peponi's on New Year's Day.
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Outrigger boats (bangka) are used in the Philippines at all sizes. You can find them from small canoes to midsize ferry boats.
The outrigger canoe is a type of canoe featuring one or more lateral support floats known as outriggers, which are fastened to one or both sides of the main hull. Smaller canoes often employ a single outrigger on the port side, while larger canoes may employ a single outrigger, double outrigger, or double hull configuration.
Using an outrigger or double hull configuration greatly increases the stability of the canoe, but introduces much less hydrodynamic inefficiency than making a single hull canoe wider. Compared to other types of canoes, outrigger canoes can be quite fast, yet are also capable of being paddled and sailed in rougher water.
Basilica of Saint Mary of the Angels and Martyrs at the Diocletian Baths in Rome, the last great architectural project from the genius of Michelangelo.
Meridian Line built by Francesco Bianchini. Stability of the site over centuries is a requirement for high precision astrometry such as the inclination of the Earth axis over its orbit plan. The exact durations of a lunar month and a tropical year were other scientific tasks of this Meridian Line.
www.santamariadegliangeliroma.it/paginamastersing.html?co...
Standing motionless behind the protection of branches and fallen trees, these native Mule Deer watched me cautiously. Their large radar ears shifted at my every movement. Mimicking their stillness, I stood there in the open field like a ridiculous statue dressed in thick winter's clothing. I shifted my weight ever so slightly, adjusting the front foot for stability. The twigs underneath crunched and the smaller doe twitched nervously...And in that second, I snapped a series of shots.
I have been searching for them all season long. A few weeks ago, I caught sight of two large stags dashing out of the dense trees, only to quickly disappeared. It will be snowing again soon, and I'm sure we'll meet again...
This absolute shambles of an airline made Sunwing look like the epitome of organisation and stability.
Starting operations on 23 May 2015 with an inaugural flight from Athens to Toronto via Montreal, SkyGreece managed to last only 3 months before ceasing all operations on 27 August of the same year.
In between they managed to break their sole aircraft not once but twice resulting in abrupt cancellations for weeks at a time and passengers left on their own to sort themselves out.
I did at least manage to catch this rarest of birds at YYZ a week or so after the final SkyGreece flight awaiting a better fate - It would end up flying for the Brazilian Air Force from 2016-2019 before heading into retirement, likely still scarred by its 3 months operating for one of the most incompetent airlines the World has ever seen.
Bhungas are traditional houses unique to the Kutch region in Gujarat. The houses are circular walled with thatched roof. They are known for their structural stability in earthquakes and for being climate responsive. It also protects against sandstorms and cyclonic winds.Rudra Hills across the Rudramata reservoir near Bhuj ..Kutch region Gujarat.
The house/hut like structure in foreground is called a Bhunga.
Bhungas are traditional houses unique to the Kutch region in Gujarat. The houses are circular walled with thatched roof. They are known for their structural stability in earthquakes and for being climate responsive. It also protects against sandstorms and cyclonic winds.
It is constructed using locally available materials like clay, bamboo, timber, etc. Structurally the roof is placed on two thick wooden posts placed across the circular walls. These two posts bear the weight of the roof. Wooden framed windows are set at a lower level for cross ventilation. The low hanging roofs cover the walls against direct sunlight and add to the insulation from the environment. The thatched roof is built on top of the walls resting on a spiral frame forming a cone.
The traditional bhunga requires periodic maintenance, a regular application of lipai or lime plastering to the walls and floor, and the replacement of the dried grass on the roof. The exterior walls are adorned with colourful paintings while the interiors are decorated with exquisite mud and mirror work.
Editing : None .. SOOC
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This is a replica of a Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5a, a British biplane fighter used during World War I. The S.E.5a was known for its speed, stability, and ease of control, making it one of the most effective Allied aircraft of the war. It was powered by engines such as the Wolseley Viper, as indicated by the marking on the nose of this aircraft.
Added legs, tried a new way for the hands. Articulation and stability is way way better than the previous version now!
A classic “stellar dendrite” snowflake – always a crowd-pleaser! But the real treasure here isn’t the snowflake itself, but the camera gear used to photograph it. This was shot with a Micro Four Thirds camera and a standard macro lens. Nothing exotic, nothing extreme; camera gear you may already have!
I often push the limits of what cameras can capture, right up to the resolving limits introduced through diffraction. At a certain point, no matter how expensive or advanced your camera equipment, you can go no further. However, such equipment can be intimidating to people that want to casually explore a subject. For this snowflake, I used the Lumix GX9 and the Leica 45mm F/2.8 macro lens. The Panasonic 30mm macro or the Olympus 60mm macro would have had comparable results. The Lumix GX9 is an excellent tiny travel camera!
I’ve long suggested that the Micro Four Thirds system is great for macro photography, as you have a perceived magnification increase when you compare the field of view of cameras with larger full-frame sensors. A 1:1 macro lens on full-frame camera would “feel” like a 2:1 (2x) macro lens at the closest focusing distance – which is a huge advantage for subjects like snowflakes. Ideally, you’d want to have at least 2x-3x magnification with larger sensors, sometimes much more than this.
The Leica 45mm macro (Panasonic Leica DG Macro-Elmarit 45mm f/2.8 ASPH. MEGA O.I.S. Lens) is a very decent macro lens that I happen to have had handy at the time of this shooting. However, if there was a lens I’d recommend people buy for snowflake photography on the m4/3 platform, hands down it’s the Laowa 50mm F/2.8 macro: www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1585695-REG/venus_optics_v... . Less expensive than most macro lenses, good quality glass, manual focus only but with the ability to shoot 2:1 magnification, you can get the equivalent of 4x on larger sensors. Perfect for snowflakes!
The photos are not just taken with a camera and a lens, but also a ring flash. The best on the market is also far from the most expensive. I always use the Yongnuo YN-14EX II: www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1462725-REG/yongnuo_yn_14e... . It’s designed to work with Canon TTL, but I just use it on my Lumix cameras in manual mode. Works perfectly that way (though they also make a native Sony version, manual exposure is ideal for snowflakes).
Are there some limitations? Sure. The GX9 as a small buffer, so only a few dozen images can be captured before you have to wait a while. The resolution of the camera is only 20MP, but for most of my career that was the range I was completely comfortable with. I would argue that there is also an advantage in having a larger camera body for certain subjects, as the extra heft can aid in stability. But the question is: can you photograph a snowflake with extreme detail with a smaller “every-day” camera setup? Yes.
eBook: Macro Photography – The Universe at Our Feet: skycrystals.ca/product/pre-order-ebook-edition-macro-phot... (fully instructive on all things macro, including how to photograph snowflakes)
Buy Me a Coffee: www.buymeacoffee.com/donkomphoto
Platypod Exclusive DonKom Macro Studio Bundle: www.platypod.com/products/don-kom-macro-bundle
Inspired by Mortal Engines
Quite possibly my worst build ever in terms of stability.
Now is indeed the time to visit
It is a matter of concern that free people needs peace, harmony and stability.
BahaI, house of worship. The Bah'i Faith is an independent world region, divine in origin and scientific in its method.
All are welcome to meditate and pray in silence.
"Poutokomanawa is a large, carved wooden post found inside a traditional Maori ancestral house or meeting house, not a standalone totem pole. It functions as a central support post that holds up the ridgepole of the roof, providing structural stability and symbolically representing a carved ancestor. These posts are a form of whakairo rakau, or wood carving, which is a significant art form in Maori culture. "AI Summary. The Poutokomanawa at the Albatross Centre, Harrington Point Road, Otago Peninsula, Dunedin, New Zealand. Unfortunately I didn't take a photo of the label at the bottom of the post to get the detailed description of that particular post but here is a Facebook description of the post by the Royal Albatross Centre.
"The carving you see is the poutokomanawa or heart post carved from mataī that stands in the middle of the Royal Albatross Centre. It was carved by the people of Ōtakou in 1990, 150 years after the initial signing of Te Tiriti, and beautifully represents their whakapapa, their ancestry, those that came before. Tahu Pōtiki stands at the top, leader of Kai Tahu, and below him are his descendants who travelled south, some who eventually settled at Pukekura." www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1127020052804541&id=1...
CENTRAL JAPAN (Jan. 29, 2020) An F/A-18F Super Hornet assigned to the “Diamondbacks” of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 102 conducts flight operations in the vicinity of Mt. Fuji. VFA-102 is attached to Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 5, forward-deployed to the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations in support of security and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. (U.S. Navy photo by Lt. Alex Grammar)
A moment of calm following a few whirlwind months. After an unexpected and expedited international move I am ready for some peace and stability.
As tensions had risen in Historica, the people of Mophet and its surroundings had grown increasingly nervous. Although accustomed to hardships for generations, the recent inflow of money and resources to the region had meant that the standard of living had risen dramatically. This had led to many of the inhabitants changing their rugged nomad lifestyles into a more “civilized” way of life. Thus, they no longer felt safe as rumors had spread throughout Kali that bands of robbers and thugs roamed freely, taking whatever they desired. There was also a widespread notion that merchants and armies from the north would try to use the current instability to attack and destroy some of the more important cities and settlements along the oil road, in an attempt to establish new trade-routes, thus endangering the position that Mophet now had acquired.
Now a central hub along the oil road, the leaders as well as the common folk, realized they had to take steps to ensure they would not be attacked. The city had, until recently, been somewhat unprotected against attack in terms of fortifications and instead relied on good relationships with local tribe-leaders. With the city growing and more of the markets and small farms that made up the outskirts of it being exposed, a decision had to be made.
Tabib D’Odo discussed the matter with a good friend of him, a half-elf that went by the name of sir Gideon. Tabib had met him a few times on his travels to Barqa and the two had gotten along very well. Gideon, being a seasoned fighter and now one of the leaders of the neighboring city of Barqa, advised Tabib to immediately start to reinforce Mophet against what might come. “If nothing else, strong walls and turrets usually cast some doubts in the hearts of any potential attacker” said Gideon.
Being a city that basically had consisted of several smaller settlements slowly merging together, there were already some walls and fortifications in place from times passed. This however provided protection mostly to the inner parts of Mophet, and did little to ensure the safety of the many people working the markets and gardens/farms on the outskirts of the city. Given the good relationship with Barqa, and the income that had been generated through trade, Tabib was able to quickly muster a large number of builders to help the local carpenters and masons already hard at work. They began raising and strengthening some of the larger sections that still remained intact in the outer parts of the city, as well as building entire new sections to make sure the city would be well protected in case of any attack. Turrets were built and an increased number of guards also started to patrol the walls as well as the surroundings to make sure none tried to enter without permission.
So this is my entry to challenge III (fortifications) over on Guilds of Historica. Had a blast building this and I hope you all like it :)
IMF Monetary and Capital Markets Department seminar "From Crisis to Stability: the Role of the Financial Sector Assessment Program Sharing Country Experiences" at IMF Headquarters in Washington, D.C. during the 2011 IMF World Bank Spring Meetings on Thursday, April 14, 2011.
IMF Photograph/Ryan Rayburn
This is a European Wool Carder Bee (Anthidium florentinum) that was snoozing in my Lavender. For this shot I focused on the leading edge of the bee's face and then twisted my wrist to push the top of the frame deeper into the scene. The result is a "magic angle" that creates the illusion that there is a lot of depth. Those three orbs on the critter's forehead are simple eyes, and it is thought that they are used to help maintain stability while flying.
Tech Specs: Canon 80D (F11, 1/250, ISO 200) + a Canon MP-E 65mm macro lens (set to around 2x) + a diffused MT-26EX-RT with a Kaiser adjustable flash shoe on the "A" head (the key), E-TTL metering, -1/3 FEC). This is a single, uncropped, frame taken hand held. In post I used Topaz Sharpen AI and Clarity in that order. I used an artificial flower to keep the background from being black.
Hof, in Öræfi, is a small village in southeast Iceland, approximately 30 kilometers east of Vatnajökull, and 20 kilometers south of the Skaftafell National Park. Like many Icelandic villages, houses here are roofed with turf, a practice that developed in Northern Europe as early as the Iron age. In order to protect themselves and their livestock from the harsh climate, the settlers constructed shelters using the trees to provide a framework and covering the frame with turf. Near the end of the 18th century, a new style developed with the ends of the buildings made of wood and the turf covering the sides and roofs. Some of these buildings have survived to present times. The Hofskirkja Church is one such building.
Hofskirkja Church, dedicated to saint Clement, was built in 1884, and was the last turf church built in the old architectural style. Its walls are thick and assembled of rocks to give stability as well as insulation, an important element to consider in the Icelandic climate. The roof is made of stone slabs and covered in turf. It is one of six churches in Iceland still standing, which are preserved as historical monuments. Records say that the church was built by the carpenter Páll Pálsson, while the lock and hinges of the church door were made by Þorsteinn Gissurarson, who was a well-known blacksmith from Hof.
The church is maintained by the National Museum but also serves as a parish church.
Building turf houses was widespread in Iceland where turf was used on houses of both the poor and the wealthy, and on all types of houses - homes, stables, and churches. In the 20th century this changed dramatically, as fewer and fewer turf-houses were being built. Now at the start of the 21st century, only a few craftsmen practice the trade, and the knowledge is being passed on mainly through the heritage sector.
Imaging planetary interiors using seismic pulses was one of the most important tasks before deciding whether the Federation should colonise and terraform a new planet. Shallower resources could be mined, and deeper strata revealed information about the planet's composition and tectonic stability.
Little rover for the 40th anniversary of Classic Space. Old grey of course. Saw Alec Hole use this windscreen arrangement too, but I promise I built this before I saw his lovely Tanker Rover!
C'è sempre aria fredda pur se splende il sole ! Una notizia è che quel pesco ornamentale che avevo postato ghiacciato, non sta fiorendo, quei petali un pò fioriti dai germogli stanno volando via nell'aria fredda !
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Fino alla metà di aprile le settimane trascorreranno tra giornate miti e soleggiate e fasi piovose e relativamente fredde, con le piogge che bagneranno con insistenza le regioni settentrionale e centrali, accompagnate ancora da nevicate !
Nella seconda parte di aprile invece l'atmosfera tenderà ad una maggior stabilità e le regioni cominceranno a correre spedite verso l'estate, ma solo nelle regioni meridionali. Nel resto dell'Italia il tempo rimarrà più incerto !
Nell'ultima parte della stagione l'alta pressione si impadronirà dell'Italia con giornate calde e piene di sole !
(meteo clima)
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Non c'è cammino troppo lungo per chi cammina lentamente e senza premura; non c'è meta troppo lontana per chi vi si prepara con la pazienza.
(Jean de La Bruyère)
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There is always cold air even if the sun is shining! A news is that that ornamental peach tree I had posted frozen, is not blooming, those petals a flowery from the buds are wishing away in the cold air!
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Up to the middle of April the weeks will pass between mild and sunny days and rainy and relatively cold phases, with the rains that will steeply insist the northern and central regions, still accompanied by snow!
In the second part of April, however, the atmosphere will tend to a greater stability and the regions will begin to run sped towards the summer, but only in the southern regions. In the rest of Italy the weather will remain more uncertain!
In the last part of the season the high pressure will seize Italy with hot and sunny days!
(meteo climate)
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There is no too long path for those who walk slowly and without care; there is no goal too far for those who prepare themselves with patience.
(Jean de La Bruyère)
The art of Wolfgang Laib is both sensuously material and rigorously abstract. His media - milk, marble, rice, pollen, beeswax - evoke associations of generation, sustenance, shelter, stability, and community, while his forms - circle, rectangle, triangle, cone, and pyramid - are the simple truths of Euclid's geometry and Sengai's Zen ink brush. Laib wants us to receive his work as spiritual and timeless, and all its simplicity, refinement, and reflexivity combine to provoke us into a state of contemplation and stillness. Laib aims straight for the viewer's sensorium, invoking not only sight but also smell, touch, and taste.
The Rice House is a returning theme in Laib's work. These houses always center the space, transforming it into a landscape in which they stand alone as if on a wide, open plain. The form of the "Rice Houses" is reminiscent of Christian reliquary shrines (i.e. sacred artifacts) or of sarcophagi, but their content is quite different. Especially in the case of reliquary shrines they have no ritual value without their sacred core. The calm, clear beauty of the house creates a distance between object and viewer. Laib's studies in medicine gave the artist a strong awareness of death as an integral part of life. The interpretation of these small objects as small treasure chests or loving votive offerings seems equally appropriate since the connection of such enclosures with the nurturing of seeds, plus the sprinkling of pollen, signifies life and renewal within the cycle of nature.
Polynesian navigation or Polynesian wayfinding was used for thousands of years to enable long voyages across thousands of kilometers of the open Pacific Ocean. Polynesians made contact with nearly every island within the vast Polynesian Triangle, using outrigger canoes or double-hulled canoes. The double-hulled canoes were two large hulls, equal in length, and lashed side by side. The space between the paralleled canoes allowed for storage of food, hunting materials, and nets when embarking on long voyages. Polynesian navigators used wayfinding techniques such as the navigation by the stars, and observations of birds, ocean swells, and wind patterns, and relied on a large body of knowledge from oral tradition.
Navigators travelled to small inhabited islands using wayfinding techniques and knowledge passed by oral tradition from master to apprentice, often in the form of song. Generally, each island maintained a guild of navigators who had very high status; in times of famine or difficulty, they could trade for aid or evacuate people to neighbouring islands. As of 2014, these traditional navigation methods are still taught in the Polynesian outlier of Taumako in the Solomons and by voyaging societies throughout the Pacific.
Both wayfinding techniques and outrigger canoe construction methods have been kept as guild secrets, but in the modern revival of these skills, they are being recorded and published.
The Polynesians' primary voyaging craft was the double canoe made of two hulls connected by lashed crossbeams. The two hulls gave this craft stability and the capacity to carry heavy loads of migrating families and all their supplies and equipment, while a central platform laid over the crossbeams provided the needed working, living, and storage space. Sails made of matting drove this ancient forerunner of the modern catamaran swiftly through the seas, and long steering paddles enabled Polynesian mariners to keep it sailing on course.
A medium-size voyaging canoe 50 to 60 feet long could accomodate two dozen or so migrants, their food supplies, livestock, and planting materials. R_25784