2013 year of the black Snake

Chinese name of the Snake: She
Sixth sign of Chinese Zodiac
Time of day under the reign of the Snake: 9-11 a.m.
Correspondent sign in the Western Zodiac: Virgo
Element: Fire
Polarity: Negative

Year of the Snake reasserts its rights on the 10th of February, 2013, and will last till the 31st of January, 2014.

Cosmic element of the year is Water, color – black.  

Year of the Snake will correspond to such colors as black, blue (light-blue), and green.
 

This 2013 year of Snake is meant for steady progress and attention to detail. Focus and discipline will be necessary for you to achieve what you set out to create.

The snake is a studious creature. Preferring quiet predictability to ruckus and mayhem. Peaceful solitude is also a Saturn preference. It's not surprising that Saturn has such a strong influence during the year of the Snake. 

In 2013 horoscope Saturn is in harmonious relationship to Mercury, planet of communications; Neptune, our connection to the cosmic whole; and Chiron, the wounded healer. The Trine is a supportive aspect, an aspect of past earned easy situations. A blessing, also known as Grace. But Saturn is still into hard work. It's heavy even when it's good. A new-found ambition to greatness will inspire you to be all you can be, and provide you with the follow through to actually achieve your goals. Saturn knows how to take on responsibility. And, the year of the Snake also supports added responsibility,
The element is Water which is characterized with mobility, dynamism, and changeability.

So, the talisman of 2013 is a Black Water Snake. Black color is the Space, Arctic night, darkness on the Abyss, this is a color of deep waters. The Black Snake will bring people unexpected changes, instability, and changeability. That is why it is important in the year of Snake to plan everything beforehand, and evaluate adequately before taking any actions. You need to be more careful and cautious than ever.  

During the 2013 Snake year be prepared to feel like you are on shaky ground. Not quite settled. Uranus is active this year and likes to shake us out of false realities with sudden shocks- lightning bolt change can occur when Uranus comes out to play. Out of the blue realizations create major change. Mars is just itching to go through all this. It makes for super tense times. But also creates movement and growth.

Be extra careful with your work this 2013 year of the black Snake. Signing documents of any kind requires very thorough attention. 2013 horoscope predict it is a good year to begin important detail work. Research and investigation are supported. The Snake has sneaky energy that can be to your advantage. Look for the holes in the loop.

Deep transformation and healing are often represented by the Snake. Moreover according to general 2013 horoscope Pluto exposes what is hidden through a deep revealing of subconscious material. Slowly we begin to see the reasons for things, we understand the root cause of some dysfunction. Just like the snake, slowly we shed our skin. We become shiny and new as we acknowledge and release the past.

Create a safe space to work from this 2013 year. The Snake likes protection, needs to feel safe and secure to utilize its special analytical skills. This is the year to make headway in slow and methodical ways. Saturn will assist this effort as well. Things will definitely be accomplished as you focus forward.

There is no need to put yourself out there. Consider this 2013 year to focus within. You won't be drawn to social situations as you are more interested in serious progress not superficial chit chat. Allow yourself withdrawal as it is necessary to self reflect and ponder situations.

Celebrate the 2013 year of the black Snake with dark colored clothing. Honor this transformative beginning with a day positive thoughts. It is tradition to place a pine twig out to represent the Snake. In mythology the Snake often represented healing of the physical body while shifting to a more spiritual outlook. Expect a true release of past blockages this 2013 year. A great deal of quite progress can be made in the 2013 year of the Snake with the help of the planetary energy. Slow and steady wins the race in 2013 year of Snake.

Character of people born in the year of the Snake
Such people are complex beings, they are clever and men of few words from their birth. Their business is always going well, but they are stingy very often. They are sometimes egoistic and conceited. However they can be very active in their friends’ life. They are often too active, not believing other people and relying only on themselves.

Determined and ambitious characters of Snakes take their failures hard. Retaining their apparent composure Snakes are very passionate. They are usually very attractive on the outside and inwardly, that, taking into consideration their frivolity, can lead to some family problems.

Ideal compatibility with: Ox and Rooster.
More or less compatible with: Rat, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep.
Absolutely incompatible with: Tiger and Pig.

/source: gotohoroscope.com, astrogod.com

Super Bike Untuk Orang-orang Yang Rendah

Di bawah adalah antara Super Bike untuk orang-orang yang rendah ( ketinggian dalam lingkungan 160cm - 155cm , 150cm maybe boleh, tapi kener lowered kan 1 ker 2 inci) boleh ride.

1. KTM Duke 200 ( seat height = 810mm / 31.9" )

  

 2. Megelli 250 S / R (seat height = 800mm / 31.5")

3. 2012 Ninja 250R (seat height = 775mm / 30.5" )

4. Ducati Monster 696 ( Seat height = 770mm / 30.3" )

Mungkin ader lagi a few super bike yang seat rendah di pasaran malaysia, cuma yang di atas jer aku dah test naik. Ni untuk yang belom di lowered lagi. standard. klu lowered, moto kategori 500cc pon dapat. Tapi berat laa.

The Differences between the reboot The Amazing Spiderman and previous spiderman franchise

When Spider-Man swings back into theaters, there will be some big changes in store for audiences accustomed to the previous franchise.



The trailer yielded lots of new details about Peter Parker’s upcoming return to the big screen, but one of the most significant takeaways from it was confirmation of some of the ways this version of the webslinger will differ from his big-screen predecessor.

British actor Andrew Garfield puts on the webbed mask and replaces previous franchise headliner Tobey Maguire this time around, but that’s not the only big change audiences should expect from what’s being billed as the “untold story” of Spider-Man.

Here are five more changes you can look forward to when your friendly neighborhood wall-crawler swings into theaters in July.

Mechanical Web-Shooters

Same Raimi’s “Spider-Man” franchise became the target of much criticism early on when it was revealed that Peter Parker’s webs would be an organic product of his mutation rather than the wrist-mounted mechanical devices he uses in the comics. That diversion from the source material is corrected in Marc Webb’s upcoming reboot of the franchise, as the new footage clearly shows Peter Parker developing, testing, and making ample use of artificial webs and a web-shooter with a red glow. In one particular scene, Peter is seen fiddling with the web-shooter and accidentally setting it off, resulting in his face being webbed to the device. In another scene, Spider-Man toys with a car thief before sticking him to a wall with a series of web shots — with the red glow of the web-shooter pulsing each time he slings a web at his target. There’s also a nice, up-close shot of the web-shooter itself in the new trailer for “The Amazing Spider-Man.”

Quipping while Thwipping
Rather than the progressively more angsty, emo Peter Parker we saw in the last “Spider-Man” franchise, the webslinger is clearly returning to his joke-a-minute roots in “The Amazing Spider-Man.” In the footage shown yesterday, there were very few scenes of Spidey in costume that didn’t also involve a steady stream of jokes coming from the wall-crawler. During the aforementioned run-in with the car thief, Spider-Man toys with the criminal for a while as only a high-school kid can, dropping to his knees when the guy pulls a knife and exclaiming, “Oh no, is that a real knife? Aargh! That’s my only weakness!” — only to stick him to the wall with a barrage of webs a second later. If nothing else, this film’s take on Spidey brings him back to being that playful brat fans love, but criminals hate.

Spider-Man is Public Enemy #1
With the exception of eternal Spidey-hater J. Jonah Jameson, the previous “Spider-Man” films were largely a webslinger love-fest, with Peter Parker enjoying life as a celebrated hero loved by the public. This time around, Spider-Man clearly won’t be winning any popularity polls, as the new footage included quite a few scenes in which Spider-Man is being chased, attacked by, or attacking police officers around New York. To make matters worse, much of that anti-Spidey sentiment seems to come from Gwen Stacy’s father, George Stacy (played by Denis Leary), a high-ranking NYPD officer. One especially tense scene shown during the preview event featured Peter and Mr. Stacy arguing about Spider-Man’s intentions over dinner and making things extremely uncomfortable for Gwen.

He Does Whatever a Spider Can
While past installments of “Spider-Man” on the big screen did a great job of presenting the range of Peter Parker’s spider-given abilities, “The Amazing Spider-Man” appears to be taking things one step further when it comes to Spidey’s enhanced agility and “spider sense.” In the footage shown during yesterday’s event, there was one particularly great scene in which Spider-Man is seen dodging bullets by first twisting from side to side and then flipping over the gunman in one fluid motion from a standing position. Rather than presenting his enhanced reaction time via a sudden switch to slow-motion (a la the previous films), “The Amazing Spider-Man” appears to take the opposite approach, with the world moving at normal speed while Spider-Man reacts instantaneously to everything that occurs. In the aforementioned scene, Spider-Man dodges left, then right, at the same time each shot is fired, and then jumps behind the gunman the moment the third shot is fired — mimicking the sort of blink-and-you-miss-it movement of real-world spiders when threatened.

Loving the Man, Not the Mask. During the preview event for “The Amazing Spider-Man,” actress Emma Stone explained that one key difference between her character, Gwen Stacy, and Peter Parker’s love interest from the previous films, Mary Jane Watson, is that Gwen falls in love with Peter, not Spider-Man. That difference might seem small when mentioned in passing, but it’s a key component of Peter Parker’s history in both the comics and, apparently, in the upcoming film. During one scene shown during the event, Gwen is seen telling Peter — who happens to be wearing his Spider-Man costume at the time — that she already worries about whether her policeman father will come home every night, and stresses that she doesn’t want to have the same concerns about Peter. Along the same lines, Gwen and Peter’s relationship appears to develop well before he dons a costume and starts fighting bad guys. When measured against the infamous upside-down Spidey kiss between Mary Jane and Peter in the first “Spider-Man” film and the struggles he had convincing Mary Jane to love him when he wasn’t wearing the mask, this dynamic should make for a major tonal shift in the reboot that sets “The Amazing Spider-Man” apart from the previous franchise.

/sources

CLAUSE 15.0 - PRACTICAL COMPLETION AND DEFECTS LIABILITY

PAM 98 Clause 15.1 has defined 'Practical Completion' as follows: When the Architect is of the opinion that the works are practically completed,meaning that the Contractor has performed and completed all the necessasry Works specified in the Contract and the patent defects existing in such Works are "de minimis", the Architect shall forthwith issue a Certificate of Practical Completion.

The words 'de minimis' are derived from the maxim 'de minimin non curat lex' meaning 'law does not concern itself with trifles.' However, without referring to further case law, the term is difficult to understand. The term 'de minimis' was used in the case of H.W. Neville (Sunblest) ltd v William Press (1981) 20 BLR 78 where the judge said: 'I think the word practically complete..gave the Architect a discretion to certify that the Contractor had fulfilled its obligation...where very minor de minimis work had not been carried out, but if there were any patent defects...the Architect could not have given a certificate of practical completion.'

It must be noted that under PAM 98 definition, Practical Completion can be issued when '...the patent defects existing in such Works are "de minimis...' whereas under the definition in Neville (Sunblest), there should be no patent defects. The PAM 98 definition allowing for patent defects is therefore contrary to the definition in Neville (Sunblest).

For a more detailed understanding of Practical Completion,please also refer to the cases of Westminster County Council v J Jarvis [7 BLR 64], Emson Eastern Ltd v EME Development Ltd [55 BLR 114], and Mariner International Hotel v Atlas [2007] 1 HKLRD 413.

To be continued on Clause 15.1 Practical Completion And Defects Liability.

/sources from Handbook For PAM Contract 2006

Contrasting Concepts of Harmony in Architecture: The 1982 Debate Between Christopher Alexander and Peter Eisenman

Just an old interesting reading article i like to share.

Contrasting Concepts of

Harmony in Architecture:

 

The 1982 Debate Between

Christopher Alexander

and Peter Eisenman

An Early Discussion of the "New Sciences" of

Organised Complexity in Architecture 

Editors’ Introduction

This legendary debate took place at the Graduate School of Design, Harvard University, on November 17^th 1982. Not long before it, Alexander had given a talk on The Nature of Order, which was to become the subject of his magnum opus of architectural philosophy. The original version he envisaged was less than half the size of the final four-volume work as it now stands, but its main ideas were already formulated.

 

Before the debate Eisenman had listened to the tape of Alexander's talk – one of the first public presentations of the ideas in The Nature of Order. What followed was thus partly shaped by those ideas. What ensued can be said to represent an historic occasion: Alexander is presenting his basis for the New Paradigm in Architecture at the same time as Eisenman presents his competing, diametrically opposed, deconstructivist claim for such a Paradigm.

 

The importance of the debate has been widely recognised. Twenty years later, the Harvard Graduate School of Design republished it alongside three other seminal documents from the post-1969 period: an early piece by Alexander Tzonis on the “end of ideology in architecture”, excerpts from a 1994 conference on “De-naturalized Urbanity”, and a recent debate on urbanism between Rem Koolhaas and Andres Duany. Some people may only have heard of the 1982 encounter because Alexander said Eisenman was “fucking up the world" in a public forum; but if this is all one knows about it, one is not prepared for the generally good-natured tone of most of the exchanges.

READ MORE HERE @ www.katarxis3.com

 

Brief bio of Christopher Alexander:

Christopher Wolfgang Alexander (born October 4, 1936 in Vienna, Austria) is a registered architect noted for his theories about design, and for more than 200 building projects in California, Japan, Mexico and around the world. Reasoning that users know more about the buildings they need than any architect could, he produced and validated (in collaboration with Sarah Ishikawa and Murray Silverstein) a "pattern language" designed to empower anyone to design and build at any scale. Alexander is often overlooked by texts in the history and theory of Architecture because his work intentionally disregarded contemporary Architecture discourse, appealing more through methods consistent with his theories than through established practices. As such, Alexander is widely considered to occupy a place outside the discipline, the discourse, and the practice of Architecture. In 1958 he moved from England to the United States, living and teaching in Berkeley, California from 1963. He is professor emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley. Now retired (though still active), he is based in Arundel, Sussex, UK.
/source Wikipedia


Brief bio of Peter Eisenman:

Peter Eisenman (born August 11, 1932 in Newark, New Jersey) is an American architect. Eisenman's professional work is often referred to as formalist, deconstructive, late avant-garde, late or high modernist, etc. A certain fragmenting of forms visible in some of Eisenman's projects has been identified as characteristic of an eclectic group of architects that were (self-)labeled as deconstructivists, and who were featured in an exhibition by the same name at the Museum of Modern Art. The heading also refers to the storied relationship and collaborations between Peter Eisenman and post-structuralist thinker Jacques Derrida.
/source Wikipedia

If Architects had to work like Programmers

I saw this funny articles while in my senior colleague's room. Oh, and this picture here had nothing to do with the article. Btw, this is a very old article. Enjoy!

Dear Mr. Architect!

Please design and build me a house. I am not quite sure of what I need, so you should use your discretion. My house should have between two and forty-five bedrooms. Just make sure the plans are such that the bedrooms can be easily added or deleted. When you bring the blueprints to me, I will make the final decision of what I want. Also, bring me the cost breakdown for each configuration so that I can arbitrarily pick one.

Keep in mind that the house I ultimately choose must cost less than the one I am currently living in. Make sure, however, that you correct all the deficiencies that exist in my current house (the floor of my kitchen vibrates when I walk across it, and the walls don't have nearly enough insulation in them).

As you design, also keep in mind that I want to keep yearly maintenance costs as low as possible. This should mean the incorporation of extra-cost features like aluminium, vinyl, or composite siding. (If you choose not to specify aluminium, be prepared to explain your decision in detail.)

Please take care that modern design practices and the latest materials are used in construction of the house, as I want it to be a showplace for the most up-to-date ideas and methods. Be alerted, however, that kitchen should be designed to accommodate, among other things, my 1952 Gibson refrigerator.

To insure that you are building the correct house for our entire family, make certain that you contact each of our children, and also our in-laws. My mother-in-law will have very strong feelings about how the house should be designed, since she visits us at least once a year. Make sure that you weigh all of these options carefully and come to the right decision. I, however, retain the right to overrule any choices that you make.

Please don't bother me with small details right now. Your job is to develop the overall plans for the house: get the big picture. At this time, for example, it is not appropriate to be choosing the color of the carpet. However, keep in mind that my wife likes blue.

Also, do not worry at this time about acquiring the resources to build the house itself. Your first priority is to develop detailed plans and specifications. Once I approve these plans, however, I would expect the house to be under roof within 48 hours.

While you are designing this house specifically for me, keep in mind that sooner or later I will have to sell it to someone else. It therefore should have appeal to a wide variety of potential buyers. Please make sure before you finalize the plans that there is a consensus of the population in my area that they like the features this house has.

Please prepare a complete set of blueprints. It is not necessary at this time to do the real design, since they will be used only for construction bids. Be advised, however, that you will be held accountable for any increase of construction costs as a result of later design changes.

You must be thrilled to be working on an interesting project as this! To be able to use the latest techniques and materials and to be given such freedom in your designs is something that can't happen very often. Contact me as soon as possible with your complete ideas and plans.

P.S.:
My wife has just told me that she disagrees with many of the instructions I've given you in this letter. As architect, it is your responsibility to resolve these differences. I have tried in the past and have been unable to accomplish this. If you can't handle this responsibility, I will have to find another architect.

P.P.S.:
Perhaps what I need is not a house at all, but a travel trailer. Please advise me as soon as possible if this is the case.

Autor: unbekannt

Raspberry Pi is a $25 computer for schools | Sync™ Blog

Raspberry Pi is a $25 computer for schools | Sync™ Blog