Bunaken

Bunaken is an island of 8 km², part of the Bunaken National Marine Park. Bunaken is located at the north of the island of Sulawesi, Indonesia. It belongs administratively to the municipality of Manado. Scuba diving attracts many visitors to the island.

Bunaken National Park extends over an area of 890.65 km² of which only 3% is terrestrial, including Bunaken Island, as well as the islands of Manado Tua, Mantehage, Nain and Siladen.

The waters of Bunaken National Marine Park are up to 1,566 m deep in Manado Bay, with temperatures ranging between 27 to 29 °C. It has a high diversity of - corals, fish, or sponges. Notably, 7 of the 8 species of giant clams that occur in the world, occur in Bunaken.

Oceanic currents may explain, in part, why Bunaken National Marine Park has such a high level of biodiversity. Northeasternly currents generally sweep through the park but abundant counter currents and gyros related to lunar cycles are believed to be a trap for free swimming larvae. This is particularly true on the south side of the crescent-shaped Bunaken Island, lying in the heart of the park. A snorkeler or diver in the vicinity of Lekuan or Fukui may spot over 33 species of butterfly fish and numerous types of groupers, damsels, wrasses and gobies. The gobies, smallish fish with bulging eyes and modified fins that allow them to attach to hard surfaces, are the most diverse but least known group of fish in the park.

Kuta Beach

Kuta is administratively a district (kecamatan) and subdistrict/village (kelurahan) in southern Bali, Indonesia. A former fishing village, it was one of the first towns on Bali to see substantial tourist development, and as a beach resort remains one of Indonesia's major tourist destinations. It is known internationally for its long sandy beach, varied accommodation, many restaurants and bars, and many renowned surfers who visit from Australia. It is located near Bali's Ngurah Rai Airport.Kuta was the site of the October 12, 2002 1st Bali bombing (202 killed) and the October 1, 2005 2nd Bali bombing (26 killed).

The Balinese Provincial Government have taken the view that the preservation of the Balinese culture, natural resources and wildlife are of primary importance in the development of the island. To this end they have limited tourist development to the peninsula on the extreme southern aspect of the island; Kuta beach is on the western side of this peninsula and Sanur is on the east. To the north of the peninsula no new tourist development is supposedly permitted.^{[citation needed]}.

To the south, Kuta Beach extends beyond the airport into Jimbaran. Other nearby towns and villages include Seseh (6.4 nm), Denpasar (4.5 nm), Ujung (1.8 nm), Pesanggaran (2.0 nm), Kedunganan (2.9 nm) and Tuban (1.0 nm). (Wikipedia.com)

BT Tower - London

The BT Tower in London, England, previously the Post Office Tower and also the London Telecom Tower, is a tall cylindrical building at 60 Cleveland Street in Fitzrovia. The main structure is 175 metres (574 feet) tall, with a further section of aerial bringing the total height to 188 metres (620 feet).

Hirtory of The Post Office Tower
The tower was commissioned by the General Post Office (GPO). Its primary purpose was to support the microwave aerials then used to carry telecommunications traffic from London to the rest of the country.
The tower was designed by the architects of the Ministry of Public Building and Works: the chief architects were Eric Bedford and G. R. Yeats. Typical for its time, the building is concrete clad in glass. The narrow cylindrical shape was chosen because of the requirements of the communications aerials: the building will shift no more than 25 cm (10 inches) in wind speeds of up to 150 km/h (95 mph). Initially the first sixteen floors were for technical equipment and power, above that was a 35 metre section for the microwave aerials, and above that were six floors of suites, kitchens, technical equipment and finally a gridwork aerial. To prevent heat build-up the glass cladding was of a special tint. The construction cost was £2.5 million.
Construction began in June 1961. The tower was topped out on July 15, 1964 and it was operational from October 8, 1965. The building contractors were Peter Lind & Company.
The tower was officially opened to the public on May 16, 1966 by Tony Benn and Billy Butlin. As well as the communications gear and office space there were viewing galleries, a souvenir shop, and a slowly rotating restaurant, the "Top of the Tower", on the 34th floor, operated by Butlins. It made one revolution every 22 minutes. An annual race up the stairs of the tower was established and the first race was won by UCL student Alan Green.
A suspected IRA bomb exploded in the roof of the men's toilets at the Top of the Tower on October 31, 1971 and it was subsequently closed to the public for security reasons. The restaurant closed in 1980 when Butlins' lease expired and non-BT-approved access to the building ceased. In 1981 it was superseded as the tallest building in Britain by the NatWest Tower (renamed Tower 42).

The Londong BT Tower Today
When the GPO telecommunications services were split off in 1981 (in advance of the 1984 privatisation) the tower was renamed the London Telecom Tower. After the rebranding of the company in 1992 it became the BT Tower. The building is still not open to the public. The restaurant has been re-opened, and is now used by BT for corporate sponsorship events and promotions: since the re-discovery of spare parts for the mechanism, they even rotate it occasionally. Occasional broadcasts are made from the top of the tower, including BBC Radio 1 DJ Chris Moyles on his birthday, 22 February 2006.
The tower is still in use, and is the site of a major UK communications hub. Fibre optic links have replaced microwave links for most mainstream purposes, but the tower is still used for microwave links. The base of the tower contains the TV Network Switching Centre which carries broadcasting traffic and relays signals used by the BBC and other television broadcasters.
A renovation in the 2000s installed coloured lighting projecting onto a new 360-degree light panel, extending out from the old light boxes, bearing the company logo, as part of BT's 'connected world' corporate styling. Seven colours are programmed to vary constantly at night and are intended to appear as a rotating globe. The success of this is debatable but the building's night appearance is now more distinctive. The tower has always been a useful late-night navigational beacon for nearby residents, especially the numerous university halls within walking distance.
Until the mid 1990s, the building was officially a secret, and did not appear on official maps. Indeed, even by taking a photo of it you were breaking the Official Secrets Act. Its existence was finally "confirmed" by Kate Hoey, MP, on 19 February 1993: "Hon. Members have given examples of seemingly trivial information that remains officially secret. An example that has not been mentioned, but which is so trivial that it is worth mentioning, is the absence of the British Telecom tower from Ordnance Survey maps. I hope that I am covered by parliamentary privilege when I reveal that the British Telecom tower does exist and that its address is 60 Cleveland Street, London."
The BT Tower was given grade II listed building status in 2003. Some of the Antennae on the building are no longer used, however because the building is listed, they cannot be removed, as it would alter the features of the building.
Entry to the building is provided by two high-speed lifts which travel at 6 metres per second, reaching the top of the building in 30 seconds. Interestingly, due to the high-speed of the lifts, an Act of Parliament was passed to vary fire regulations, allowing the building to be evacuated by using the lifts - it is the only building in the country to hold this status.

Appearances In Fiction
Large portions of the 1966 Doctor Who serial The War Machines were set in the tower.
In the 1967 film Smashing Time it appeared to spin out of control and short-circuit the whole of London's power supply.
The tower is featured in the most famous scene in The Goodies when it is toppled over by Twinkle the Giant Kitten in the episode Kitten Kong.
The tower is destroyed through sabotage in Alan Moore's graphic novel V for Vendetta. It's also featured in the film adaptation with the name Jordan Tower albeit it's not destroyed. According to the novelization, the tower is headquarters for both the BTN and the "Eye", the visual surveillance division of the government.
The tower is destroyed in the James Herbert novel The Fog by a Boeing 747 whose captain has been driven mad by fog.
The design of the starship HMS Camden Lock from the BBC 2 science fiction sitcom Hyperdrive is based on the tower.
In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Harry is spotted flying over the tower in a Ford Anglia with his friend, Ron Weasley.
It appears on the cover of Saturday by Ian McEwan.

(Wikipedia.com)

Great Wall of China

The Great Wall of China ( Traditional Chinese: 萬里長城; Simplified Chinese: 万里长城, pinyin: Wànlǐ Chángchéng; literally "The long wall of 10,000 Li (里)¹") is a Chinese fortification built from the 5th century BC until the beginning of the 17th century, in order to protect the various dynasties from raids by Hunnic, Mongol, Turkic, and other nomadic tribes coming from areas in modern-day Mongolia and Manchuria. Several walls, also referred to as the Great Wall of China, were built since the 5th century BC, the most famous being the one built between 220 BC and 200 BC by the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang; this wall was located much further north than the current wall built during the Ming Dynasty, and little of it remains.
The Great Wall is the world's largest man-made structure, stretching over a formidable 6,352 km (3,948 miles), from Shanhai Pass on the Bohai Sea in the east, at the limit between " China proper" and Manchuria (Northeast China), to Lop Nur in the southeastern portion of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region . Along most of its arc, it roughly delineates the border between North China and Inner Mongolia.

Notable Areas
The “North Pass” of Juyongguan Pass is known as the Badaling. This particular area of the Great Wall is where most tourists visit. When used by the Chinese to protect their land, this wall was well manned by guards so as to guard China’s capital, Beijing. However, Badaling is very difficult to access. Made out of stone and bricks from the hills, this portion of the Great Wall is 7.8 meters high, and 5 meters wide.
Representing the Ming Great Wall, Jinshanling is considered to have the most striking sights of the Great Wall. It runs 11 kilometers long, ranges from 5 to 8 meters in height, and 6 meters across the bottom, narrowing up to 5 meters across the top. Wangjinglou is one of Jinshanling’s 67 watchtowers, rising 980 meters above sea level.
ShanHaiGuan Great Wall is referred to as the “Museum of the Construction of the Great Wall”, because of a temple, the Meng Jiang-Nu Temple, built during the Song Dynasty. The ShanHaiGuan Great Wall is known for many different things, both with the construction of the wall, and also its history.
The first pass of the Great Wall was located on the ShanhaiGuan (known as the “Number One Pass Under Heaven”), the first mountain the Great Wall climbs, Jia Shan, is also located here, as is the Jiumenkou, which is the only portion of the wall that was built as a bridge.

Characteristics of The Wall
Before the use of bricks, the Great Wall was mainly built from earth, stones and wood. Due to the difficulty in transporting the large quantity of materials required for construction, builders always tried to use local resources. Over the mountain ranges, the stones of the mountain were exploited and used; while in the plains, earth was rammed into solid blocks to be used in construction.
Before and during the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC), because the earth buildings could withstand the strength of small arms such as swords and spears and there was low technology of productivity, the Great Wall was primarily built by stamping earth between board frames. Consequently, only walls of just earth or earth with gravel inside were built. No fortresses were constructed along the wall, and no bricks were used in the gates at the wall's passes. Much of these sections have eroded away by now. During the time following the Han Dynasty (202-220 AD), earth and crude stones remained common building tools.
Bricks were heavily used in many areas of the wall during the Ming Dynasty, as well as materials such as tiles, lime, and stone. Bricks were easier to work with than earth and stone as their small size and light weight made them convenient to carry and augmented construction speed. Additionally, they could bear more weight and retain their integrity than rammed earth. Stone, though more difficult to use, can better hold well under its own weight than brick. Consequently, stones cut in rectangular shapes were used for the foundation, inner and outer brims, and gateways of the wall.
The steps that form the Great Wall of China are very steep and tall in some areas of the wall. Tourists often become exhausted climbing the wall, and traverse no more than a mile because of this reason. Along the wall on either side, are “holes” where the builders of the Great Wall didn’t place any bricks. They are a little over a foot tall, and about 9 inches in width. These holes were used to shoot arrows out of when being attacked.

Condition
While some portions near tourist centers have been preserved and even reconstructed, in many locations the Wall is in disrepair, serving as a playground for some villages and a source of stones to rebuild houses and roads. Sections of the Wall are also prone to graffiti and vandalism. Parts have been destroyed because the Wall is in the way of construction sites. Intact or repaired portions of the Wall near developed tourist areas are often plagued with hawkers of tourist kitsch. After one of the many runs for charity along the Great Wall, H.J.P Arnold questioned several runners about the status of the wall. A typical response was "The wall was clearly discernible and only moderately eroded along 22% of the run. The Wall was usually discernible but frequently broken/eroded 41% of the run, and scarcely discernible and almost totally eroded 37% of the run."

Watchtowers and Barracks
The wall is complemented by defensive fighting stations, to which wall defenders may retreat if overwhelmed. With more than 10,000 watch towers (which were used to store weapons, house troops, and send smoke signals), each tower has unique and restricted stairways and entries to confuse attackers. Barracks and administrative centers are located at larger intervals.
Communication between the army units along the length of the Great Wall, including the ability to call reinforcements and warn garrisons of enemy movements, was of high importance. Signal towers were built upon hill tops or other high points along the wall for their visibility.

Recognition
The Wall was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987.
Mao Zedong had a saying, Simplified Chinese: 不到长城非好汉, Traditional Chinese: 不到長城非好漢, pinyin: Bú dào Chángchéng fēi hǎo hàn, roughly meaning "You're not a real man if you haven't climbed the Great Wall".

From Outer Space
Richard Halliburton's 1938 book Second Book of Marvels said the Great Wall is the only man-made object visible from the moon, and a Ripley's Believe It or Not! cartoon from the same decade makes a similar claim. This belief has persisted, assuming urban legend status, sometimes even entering school textbooks. Arthur Waldron, author of the most authoritative history of the Great Wall, has speculated that the belief might go back to the fascination with the "canals" once believed to exist on Mars. (The logic was simple: If people on Earth can see the Martians' canals, the Martians might be able to see the Great Wall.)
In fact, the Great Wall is only a few meters wide - similar in size to highways and airport runways - and is about the same colour as the soil surrounding it. It cannot be seen by the unaided eye from the distance of the moon, much less from Mars. If the Great Wall were visible from the moon, it would be easy to see from near-Earth orbit, but from near-Earth orbit it is barely visible, and only under nearly perfect conditions; it is no more conspicuous than many other manmade objects.
Astronaut William Pogue thought he had seen it from Skylab but discovered he was actually looking at the Grand Canal of China near Beijing. He spotted the Great Wall with binoculars, but said that "it wasn't visible to the unaided eye." US Senator Jake Garn claimed to be able to see the Great Wall with the naked eye from a space shuttle orbit in the early 1980s, but his claim has been disputed by several US astronauts. Chinese astronaut Yang Liwei said he could not see it at all.
Veteran US astronaut Gene Cernan has stated: "At Earth orbit of 160 km to 320 km high, the Great Wall of China is, indeed, visible to the naked eye." Ed Lu, Expedition 7 Science Officer aboard the International Space Station, adds that, "it's less visible than a lot of other objects. And you have to know where to look."
Neil Armstrong stated about the view from Apollo 11: "I do not believe that, at least with my eyes, there would be any man-made object that I could see. I have not yet found somebody who has told me they've seen the Wall of China from Earth orbit. ... I've asked various people, particularly Shuttle guys, that have been many orbits around China in the daytime, and the ones I've talked to didn't see it."
Leroy Chiao, a Chinese-American astronaut, took a photograph from the International Space Station that shows the wall. It was so indistinct that the photographer was not certain he had actually captured it. Based on the photograph, the state-run China Daily newspaper concluded that the Great Wall can be seen from space with the naked eye, under favorable viewing conditions, if one knows exactly where to look .
These inconsistent results suggest the visibility of the Great Wall depends greatly on the seeing conditions, and also the direction of the light (oblique lighting widens the shadow). Features on the moon that are dramatically visible at times can be undetectable at other times due to changes in lighting direction; the same would be true of the Great Wall.
Based on the optics of resolving power (distance. versus the width of the iris: a few millimetres for the human eye, metres for large telescopes) an object of reasonable contrast to its surroundings some four thousand miles in diameter (such as the Australian land mass) would be visible to the unaided eye from the moon. But the Great Wall is of course not a disc but more like a thread, and a thread a foot long would not be visible from a hundred yards away, even though a human head is.