Wednesday, 14 November 2012

1. EkkoTV

If you are already familiar with video chatting sites and want something more, then visit EkkoTV. On the site you can have a 3 people video conference. This is great for chatting with 2 friends at the same time. Click here to visit EkkoTV.

2. RandomDorm

This video chatting website is for college students. You need to sign up using your college’s email (ending with EDU or AC). You can use this site to fine students from other or even your own universities. Click here to visit RandomDorm.

3. StreamFame

SteamFace is a site to tell show the world how entertaining you can be. You can choose to have your webcam broadcast video to the website; your feed is kept active unless more than 50% of your audience votes you down. Click here to visit StreamFame.

4. ChatRide

ChatRide is a more traditional video chatting website. You can create a chat room and share its URL with another friend to video chat. Only one on one video chat is possible. Click here to visit ChatRide.

5. Imo.im

This website is a collection of web messengers for popular instant messaging clients. In case the person you chatting with supports video chat, you can use Imo.im to initiate one on one video chatting. Supported services include MSN, AIM, Yahoo, Skype, Google Talk, MySpace, and Facebook. Click here to visit Imo.im.

6. MeBeam

MeBeam is another traditional video chatting site that lets you create a video chat room to which you can invite others. Visit MeBeam here.

7. BoostCam

BoostCam focuses on speed. You can start video chatting rather quickly. After gving the site access to your webcam, it creates a temporary URL which you share with people to video chat. Click here to visit BoostCam.

8. Confabio

Similar to BoostCam, Confabio lets us create a chat room of which the URL can be shared to invite others. Click here to visit Confabio.

9. WooMe

If you are hoping to find a special someone through video chatting, pay WooMe me a visit. The site helps singles get to know other singles through video chatting. Visit WooMe here.

10. Chatroulette

Even if you have not video chatted before, you must have heard of Chatroulette. It is a highly popular speed-video chatting site. Random connections are made between two people; this connection can be terminated by any party anytime. The site is highly addictive and has a very simple interface. Visit Chatroulette here.

11. TinyChat

TinyChat is a great video chat site especially for Twitter users. Visitors can sign in with their Twitter accounts, create a video chat room, then invite up to 10000 people to video chat with them. Visit TinyChat here.

12. 6rounds

Chatroulette might be addicting for many people but it provides very few options to play around with. 6rounds expands the Chatroulette concept and does a wonderful job in helping you find new friends online. The interface is very user friendly and new features are constantly being added to

(1)Omegle

This site is very popular for Video Chat With Strangers Online. There is no age limit and you need not sign in or sign up for chatting. You can text chat if you do not have a webcam.

(2)Lollichat

This site is not so big but you can only chat in this website. You can find many similarities which can be found in this Lollichat site.

(3)Dontalk

This site is available for many types such as Facebook, iPhone, BlackBerry and Android. Using this you can easily chat with friends and even with strangers.

(4)Facebuzz

This is the newest website in the market so get your webcam rolling and jump out there to chat with strangers online and have some fun.

(5)Tinychat

With this site you can even chat on Facebook but you need to have flash plug-in installed to enable video chat with strangers. You can create your own chat rooms and have fun.

(6)Tohla

This is yet another site to Chat Online With Strangers but wait with this site you can only have text chatting site. But don’t worry you can find many spicy girls here.

(7)Chatroulette

With this site there are some options like to use web cam or no. you can even have audio chat and make some new stranger friends and girl friends.

(8)Funkmaster

Funkmaster is yet again one smaller sized site to Chat Online With Strangers using webcam. This is not much popular but you can chat.

(9)Anybodyoutthere

I got to say this is the most amazing site for Video Chat With Strangers Online. It has many options but you need to log in for any sort of chat.

(10)Camstumble

This site is also popular in case of Chatting With Strangers Online. But the only disadvantage is that you need to sign up and be logged in for chatting

(11)iMeetzu

All you need to do is enter the basic details such as name, age, sex and location. And once started you will not stop so have this wild chatting experience.

(12)Misham

If anyone is not having fun in video chatting then they can flirt with text chatting so friends this site is mainly made for text chatting.

(13)Jabbercam

Just enter the chatting message in the text area of this site and start chatting with that stranger you were looking for. If anyone online and see your message then he will appear on screen to video chat.

(14)Tworl

Like few other sites in this site also you have to sign up and once signed up you are all set to video chat with strangers online.

(15)Faceflow

This site is a little different than the other sites with unique user interface and good user friendly experience so start your chat.

Thursday, 8 November 2012

The true story of Dracula

Dracula, one of the most famous characters in the world, is always linked to Romania. More precisely, with Transylvania (a Romanian province), which is believed to be a foggy mysterious land, with lots of vampires and castles.

The legend of this famous Dracula has its starting point in a historical character, who played a very important role in the 15th century in this part of the world. Several reasons were put together in order to transform the ruler of Wallachia (another Romanian province) in the bloody vampire of today.

The real history tells us that Vlad the Impaler (in Romanian: Vlad Tepes) ruled in Wallachia for three times (1448; 1456-1462; 1476), the last reign being finished with his death. Let`s not forget that in those times the rulers came to the throne and left it, according to the interests and the support of the boyars and of the Turks, too.

Vlad Tepes was born in November or December 1431, in the fortress of Sighisoara, Romania. His father, Vlad Dracul, at that time appointed military governor of Transylvania by the emperor Sigismund, had been inducted into the Order of the Dragon about one year before. The order - which could be compared to the Teutonic Order of Knights - was a semimilitary and religious society, originally created in 1387 by the Holy Roman Emperor and his second wife, Barbara Cilli. The main goals of such a secret fraternal order of knights was mainly to protect the interests of Catholicism, and to crusade against the Turks. There are different reasons why this society is so important to us. First, it provides an explanation for the name "Dracula;" "Dracul" in Romanian language, means "Dragon", and the boyars of Romania, who knew of Vlad Tepes' father induction into the Order of the Dragon, decided to call him "Dracul." "Dracula," a diminutive which means "the son of Dracul," was a surname to be used ultimately by Vlad Tepes. A second major role of this Order as a source of inspiration for Stoker's evil character is the Order's official dress - a black cape over a red garment - to be worn only on Fridays or during the commemoration of Christ's Passion.

In the childhood, for about 6 years, from 1442 to 1448, Vlad and his brother Radu were hostages of the Turks. But in 1447 their father, Vlad Dracul was murdered at the order of Iancu of Hunedoara, ruler of Transylvania, who imposed another ruler for Wallachia, called Vladislav the 2nd. The year 1448 is the year of Vlad the Impaler`s first reign. Returned in the country, he took the throne of Wallachia, but only for a short period of time (2 months), as Vladislav the 2nd came back with an army in order to take back the throne. An exile period came next for Vlad, who wandered in Moldavia and Transylvania from 1448 to 1456. The years spent at the Turks, the years of exile, but the death of his father and elder brother (Mircea, buried alive) also, influenced his personality for ever.

In 1456, with help from Transylvania, it seems, Vlad the Impaler returned to rule Wallachia. His home policy was based on an idea which can be found in a letter written to the merchants from the city of Brasov: “When a man or a ruler is powerful and respected (inside the country), he can do the peace however he wants it, but when he has no power, a more powerful one will come over him and he`ll do whatever he`ll want with him”. In order to impose the honesty and the justice as values, Vlad used the impaling punishment. He didn`t only impale thieves, but he also impaled the unfaithful and dishonest boyars and obviously, the Turks. This punishment who brought this nickname for Vlad wasn`t though invented by the Romanians. It was very typical for those mediaeval times, characterized by cruelty and torture. The victims were tied with the hands and feet spread and a pale was sticked through their rectum. They were then lifted and let to die in agony. If Vlad had applied this punishment only to the Turks, so to the pagans, maybe it wouldn`t have seemed so unusual. Anyway, the fact that he used to impale not only the Turks, but the Christians also, was a real shock for those times.

The moment when Vlad revenged the death of his brother and father became famous. In the first Easter day of the year 1459 he impaled some of the boyars and he forced the rest of them to work at the building of the Poienari fortress. Another story tells how Vlad killed in the same way about 500 boyars, who have lived during more than 7 reigns, punishing them for their infidelity and treason proved like this. The beggars weren`t spared either. They were called at a feast in the city of Targoviste (the capital of Wallachia in those times) and asked if they want to be released from the difficulties of life. As the answer was affirmative, Vlad burnt them all, so none of them won`t suffer anymore.

There are many anecdotes about the philosophy of Vlad Tepes Dracula. He was for instance particularly known throughout his land for his fierce insistence on honesty and order. Almost any crime, from lying and stealing to killing, could be punished by impalement. Being so confident in the effectiveness of his law, Dracula placed a golden cup on display in the central square of Tirgoviste. The cup could be used by thirsty travelers, but had to remain on the square. According to the available historic sources, it was never stolen and remained entirely unmolested throughout Vlad's reign.

In these conditions, the thefts weren`t so common in Wallachia. A legend said that a merchant who was passing through Wallachia asked Vlad for protection. The ruler assured him that nothing bad would happen. As 160 golden coins had disappeared after the first night, the merchant complained to Vlad. The ruler caught the thief and impaled him, returning the money to the trader. He didn`t return 160, but 161 coins. The merchant saw that and said that he received one more golden coin. Then Vlad said to him that if he hadn`t told the truth, he also would have been impaled for fraud.

Very special relations were between Vlad the Impaler and the Saxon merchants from the cities of Sibiu and Brasov. The Saxons were brought to the south of Transylvania in the 12th and 13th centuries, in order to defend the borders with Wallachia, but also for colonizing the lands. Famous merchants, they had always benefited of commercial privileges. But in the year 1459 Vlad began a policy of protecting the merchants from Wallachia, which caused the conflict with the Saxons. This conflict was stressed by the fact that the Saxons always supported other claimants to the throne of Wallachia. One of these claimants, Dan the 3rd, was forced by Vlad to dig his own grave and then was beheaded and thrown into it. In his campaign against the merchants from Brasov, Vlad burnt the city and impaled them on the hills around.

The battle against the Turks began in 1459 with Vlad`s refusal to pay the requested tribute. More than this, the Impaler fixed by nails the Turkish messengers` turbans on their head, as they didn`t want to uncover themselves, saying that it was forbidden by their religion. The alliance with Mattia Corvin, king of Hungary, played a very important role for Vlad. In the winter of 1461-1462, he organized a surprise campaign in the south of Danube, during which more than 20.000 Turks were killed. In his letter to Mattia Corvin, the Impaler enumerated with a macabre accuracy the burnt places, but the number of victims also: 23.884 exactly, without counting the ones burnt alive in their houses or the ones whose heads weren`t presented to my officers. The reply came quickly. In the spring of 1462, the sultan Mehmed the 2nd crossed the Danube with a 60.000 soldiers army (almost the double of the army which Vlad had at his disposal) and went directly to Targoviste. The famous night attack of the Impaler`s army happened in June, this attack causing panic in the Turkish camp, making them retire. But this doesn’t prevent the Turkish army from going forward.

Finding himself without allies, Vlad, forced to retreat towards Tirgoviste, burned his own villages and poisoned the wells along the way, so that the Turkish army would find nothing to eat or drink. Moreover, when the Sultan, exhausted, finally reached the capital city, he was confronted by a most gruesome sight: thousands of stakes held the remaining carcasses of some 20,000 Turkish captives, a horror scene which was ultimately nicknamed the "Forest of the Impaled." This terror tactic deliberately stage-managed by Dracula was definitely successful; the scene had a strong effect on Mehmed's most stout-hearted officers, and the Sultan, tired and hungry, admitted defeat. Nevertheless, following his retreat from Wallachian territory, Mehmed left the next phase of the battle to Vlad's younger brother Radu, the Turkish favorite for the Wallachian throne. At the head of a Turkish army and joined by Vlad's detractors, Radu pursued his brother to Poenari castle on the Arges river.

According to the legend, this is when Dracula's wife, in order to escape Turkish capture, committed suicide by hurling herself from the upper battlements, her body falling down the precipice into the river below - a scene exploited by Francis Ford Coppola's production. Vlad, who was definitely not the kind of man to kill himself, managed to escape the siege of his fortress by using a secret passage into the mountain. Helped by some peasants of the Arefu village, he was able to reach Transylvania where he met the new king of Hungary, Matthias Corvinus. However, instead of providing some help, Matthias arrested Dracula and imprisoned him at the Hungarian capital of Visegrad.

Vlad`s decline was due to a fake letter, written most probably by the Saxon merchants, letter which proved the ties between the Impaler and the Turks. Thus Vlad was accused of treason and arrested at the order of Mattia Corvin. There was also another reason for which the Hungarian king acted like this. In the winter of 1462, Vlad had asked for help from Mattia Corvin, who had received money from the Pope in that purpose. So, the accusing and arresting of the Wallachian ruler hid also the fact that Mattia Corvin didn`t help Vlad, but didn`t return the money received for the Crusade either. Between 1462 and 1474 Vlad the Impaler was prisoner at Visegrad and Pesta. Moreover, his defamation began. The German stories, spread by Mattia Corvin and the Saxon merchants would create a bloody and cruel image of Vlad in all the Western Europe.

In 1475, after the intervention of Stephan the Great (the Moldavian ruler), Vlad was released and he returned in 1476 on the throne of Wallachia. It would only last one month, as he was killed in December, after a conspiracy of the boyars. The legend goes that Vlad was buried at the Snagov monastery (only the body, as the head had been taken to the Turks, at Constantinople), but the archaeological research from 1930s only discovered some horse bones. His body lies in front of the altar. In 1935, a richly dressed but beheaded corpse was exhumed at Snagov, a fate known to have overtaken Dracula, whose head was supposedly wrapped, perfumed and dispatched as a gift to the Turkish sultan.

The legend of Dracula

The name of the already well-known Wallachian prince became even more famous after Bram Stoker from Dublin (1847-1912) has published his novel "Dracula" in 1897.

The author was a stage director, member in the Golden Down parapsychology association in London and a passionate researcher of Irish and Hindu vampirism. His novel, published in millions of copies, has as its main hero a vampire, Szekler count, named Dracula.

The action develops against a Transylvanian background about which the author himself says: " I read that every known superstition in the world is gathered into the horseshoe of the Carpathians, as if were the centre of some sort of imaginative whirlpool."

In the first pages of this book we meet a young attorney (Jonathan Harker) who has been asked to journey out to Dracula's castle to arrange certain real estate transactions. Harker's carriage, driven by a man whose hands are claws, hurtles at the edges of precipices until he is finally discharged in the darkness to be met and taken to Dracula's castle. There, everything is more or less as we expect it, only much more so. His staying there becomes full of terror as he finds out part of Count's secrets. He writes a diary for his fiancee, Mina Murray, who is waiting for him in England. Think of the monstrous ego of the vampire. He thinks himself so important that he is willing to live forever, even under the dreary conditions imposed by his condition. Avoiding the sun, sleeping in coffins, feared by all, he nurses his resentments.

The Count leaves to London. One of his victims, Lucy Westenra, is a free spirit who has three suitors and is Mina's best friend. Lucy becomes an Un-Dead after her death. Her soul is saved by Lord Arthur and his friends: Dr. Seward, Professor Van Helsing and Quincey Morris. Mina becomes the next target. Professor Van Helsing is the brain behind all the actions against The Count. Using his magical powers, Dracula is cooling off his thirst with Mina's blood. Will she become an "undead" too? Her friends are decided to not let this happen. Without a safe place to rest Dracula is forced to go back home, in Transylvania.

The story has a happy end. After following for days the group in charge with delivering the chest containing Dracula's body, Dr. Steward, Quincey Morris, Jonathan and Van Helsing managed to do their job right in the last minute of the sunset. On the instant, came the sweep and flash of Jonathan's great knife through his throat whilst at the same moment Mr. Morris's bowie knife plunged into the heart.

Beside the negative fame brought by the name of Dracula and by the stories of the Transylvanian Saxon merchants, at the end of the 19th century another decisive element was added at the future renown of the Romanian ruler. The Bram Stoke’s book. Bram Stoker had never traveled to Romania. His information came from the London libraries, as Jonathan Harker himself, one of the main characters of the novel, stated: “Having had some time at my disposal when in London, I had visited the British Museum, and made search among the books and maps in the library regarding Transylvania; it had struck me that some foreknowledge of the country could hardly fail to have some importance in dealing with a nobleman of that country. I find that the district he named is in the extreme east of the country, just on the borders of three states, Transylvania, Moldavia, and Bukovina, in the midst of the Carpathian mountains; one of the wildest and least known portions of Europe. The region that Harker describes is the Bargau region, near Bistrita. He tells that just in the pass which links Transylvania with Moldavia, in the ruins of a castle, Dracula, a Transylvanian (!!) count lives and every night he turns into a vampire.

The place where the castle is isn`t identified: “I was not able to light on any map or work giving the exact locality of the Castle Dracula, as there are no maps of this country as yet to compare with our own Ordance Survey Maps”. So, the famous Dracula`s castle is not located at Bran (wrongly linked to the legend)), but at Bargau, where, in order to exploit the legend, a mediaeval looking hotel, called “Dracula Castle” was built in the 1980s.

Wednesday, 7 November 2012

HISTORY OF CHINA GREAT WALL

The Great Wall of China

The Great Wall of China is a series of stone and earthen fortifications in , built, rebuilt, and maintained between the 5th century BC and the 16th century to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire during the rule of successive dynasties. Several walls, referred to as the Great Wall of China , were built since the 5th century BC. The most famous is the wall built between 220 BC and 200 BC by the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang; little of it remains; it was much farther north than the current wall, which was built during the Ming Dynasty.
The Great Wall is the world's longest human-made structure, stretching over approximately 6,400 km (4,000 miles) from Shanhaiguan in the east to Lop Nur in the west, along an arc that roughly delineates the southern edge of Inner Mongolia, but stretches to over 6,700 km (4,160 miles) in total. It is also the largest human-made structure ever built in terms of surface area and mass. At its peak the Ming Wall was guarded by more than one million men. It has been estimated that somewhere in the range of 2 to 3 million Chinese died as part of the centuries-long project of building the wall.
The first major wall was built during the reign of the First Emperor, the main emperor of the short-lived Qin dynasty. This wall was not constructed as a single endeavor, but rather was created by the joining of several regional walls built by the Warring States. It was located much further north than the current Great Wall, and very little remains of it. A defensive wall on the northern border was built and maintained by several dynasties at different times in Chinese history. The Great Wall that can still be seen today was built during the Ming Dynasty, on a much larger scale and with longer lasting materials (solid stone used for the sides and the top of the Wall) than any wall that had been built before. The primary purpose of the wall was not to keep out people, who could scale the wall, but to insure that semi-nomadic people on the outside of the wall could not cross with their horses or return easily with stolen property.
There have been four major walls:
208 BC (the Qin Dynasty)
1st century BC (the Han Dynasty)
1138 - 1198 (the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period)
1368-1620 (from Hongwu Emperor until Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty)
The Chinese were already familiar with the techniques of wall-building by the time of the Spring and Autumn Period, which began around the 7th century BC. During the Warring States Period from the 5th century BC to 221 BC, the states of Qi, Yan and Zhao all constructed extensive fortifications to defend their own borders. Built to withstand the attack of small arms such as swords and spears, these walls were made mostly by stamping earth and gravel between board frames.
Qin Shi Huang conquered all opposing states and unified in 221 BC, establishing the Qin Dynasty. Intending to impose centralized rule and prevent the resurgence of feudal lords, he ordered the destruction of the wall sections that divided his empire along the former state borders. To protect the empire against intrusions by the Xiongnu people from the north, he ordered the building of a new wall to connect the remaining fortifications along the empire's new northern frontier.
Transporting the large quantity of materials required for construction was difficult, so builders always tried to use local resources. Stones from the mountains were used over mountain ranges, while rammed earth was used for construction in the plains. The peasants who died working were buried inside the wall, to be unearthed later by archaeologists. There are no surviving historical records indicating the exact length and course of the Qin Dynasty walls. Most of the ancient walls have eroded away over the centuries, and very few sections remain today. Possibly as many as one million people died building the Wall under the Qin Dynasty.
Later, the Han, Sui, Northern and Jin dynasties all repaired, rebuilt, or expanded sections of the Great Wall at great cost to defend themselves against northern invaders.
The Great Wall concept was revived again during the Ming Dynasty following the Ming army's defeat by the Oirats in the Battle of Tumu in 1449. The Ming had failed to gain a clear upper-hand over the Mongols after successive battles, and the long-drawn conflict was taking a toll on the empire. The Ming adopted a new strategy to keep the nomadic Mongols out by constructing walls along the northern border of . Acknowledging the Mongol control established in the Ordos Desert , the wall followed the desert's southern edge instead of incorporating the bend of the Huang He .
Unlike the earlier Qin fortifications, the Ming construction was stronger and more elaborate due to the use of bricks and stone instead of rammed earth. As Mongol raids continued periodically over the years, the Ming devoted considerable resources to repair and reinforce the walls. Sections near the Ming capital of Beijing were especially strong.
Towards the end of the Shun Dynasty, the Great Wall helped defend the empire against the Manchu invasions that began around 1600. Under the military command of Yuan Chonghuan, the Ming army held off the Manchus at the heavily fortified Shanhaiguan pass, preventing the Manchus from entering the Liaodong Peninsula and the Chinese heartland. The Manchus were finally able to cross the Great Wall in 1644, when the gates at Shanhaiguan were opened by Wu Sangui, a Ming border general who disliked the activities of rulers of the Shun Dynasty. The Manchus quickly seized Beijing , and defeated the newly founded Shun Dynasty and remaining Ming resistance, to establish the Qing Dynasty.
Under Qing rule, 's borders extended beyond the walls and was annexed into the empire, so construction and repairs on the Great Wall were discontinued. A counterpart wall to the Great Wall in the south was erected to protect and divide the Chinese from the 'southern barbarians' called Miao (meaning barbaric and nomadic).
Notable Areas
The following three sections are in Beijing municipality, which were renovated and which are regularly visited by modern tourists
The " North Pass " of Juyongguan pass, known as the Badaling. When used by the Chinese to protect their land, this section of the wall has had many guards to defend capital [ Beijing ]. Made of stone and bricks from the hills, this portion of the Great Wall is 7.8 meters (25.6 ft) high and 5 meters (16.4 ft) wide.
v One of the most striking sections of the Ming Great Wall is where it climbs extremely steep slopes. It runs 11 kilometers (7 mi) long, ranges from 5 to 8 meters (16?6 ft) in height, and 6 meters (19.7 ft) across the bottom, narrowing up to 5 meters (16.4 ft) across the top. Wangjinglou is one of Jinshanling's 67 watchtowers, 980 meters (3,215 ft)above sea level.
South East of Jinshanling, is the Mutianyu Great Wall which winds along lofty, cragged mountains from the southeast to the northwest for approximately 2.25 kilometers (about 1.3 miles).It is connected with Juyongguan Pass to the west and Gubeikou to the east.
Another notable section lies near the eastern extremity of the wall, where the first pass of the Great Wall was built on the Shanhaiguan (known as the "Number One Pass Under Heaven"), the first mountain the Great Wall climbs. Jia Shan is also here, as is the Jiumenkou, which is the only portion of the wall that was built as a bridge. Shanhaiguan Great Wall is called the "Museum of the Construction of the Great Wall", because of the Meng Jiang-Nu Temple , built during the Song Dynasty.
Characteristics
Before the use of bricks, the Great Wall was mainly built from earth, stones, and wood.

During the Ming Dynasty, however, bricks were heavily used in many areas of the wall, as were materials such as tiles, lime, and stone. The size and weight of the bricks made them easier to work with than earth and stone, so construction quickened. Additionally, bricks could bear more weight and endure better than rammed earth. Stone can hold under its own weight better than brick, but is more difficult to use. Consequently, stones cut in rectangular shapes were used for the foundation, inner and outer brims, and gateways of the wall. Battlements line the uppermost portion of the vast majority of the wall, with defensive gaps a little over 30 cm (one foot) tall, and about 23 cm (9 inches) wide.
The steps that form the Great Wall of China are very steep and tall in some areas. Tourists often become exhausted climbing the wall and walk no more than a kilometre or two (around a mile).
Condition
While some portions north of Beijing and near tourist centers have been preserved and even reconstructed, in many locations the Wall is in disrepair. Those parts might serve as a village playground or 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. No comprehensive survey of the wall has been carried out, so it is not possible to say how much of it survives, especially in remote areas. Intact or repaired portions of the Wall near developed tourist areas are often frequented by sellers of tourist kitsch.
More than 60 kilometres (37 mi) of the wall in Gansu province may disappear in the next 20 years, due to erosion from sandstorms. In places, the height of the wall has been reduced from more than five meters (16.4 ft) to less than two meters. The square lookout towers that characterize the most famous images of the wall have disappeared completely. Many western sections of the wall are constructed from mud, rather than brick and stone, and thus are more susceptible to erosion.
The materials used are those available near the site of construction. Near Beijing the wall is constructed from quarried limestone blocks. In other locations it may be quarried granite or fired brick. Where such materials are used, two finished walls are erected with earth and rubble fill placed in between with a final paving to form a single unit. In some areas the blocks were cemented with a mixture of glutinous rice and eggwhite.In the extreme western desert locations, where good materials are scarce, the wall was constructed from dirt rammed between rough wood tied together with woven mats.
The Wall is included in lists of the "Seven Medieval Wonders of the World" but was of course not one of the classical Seven Wonders of the World recognized by the ancient Greeks. The Wall was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987.
There is a longstanding disagreement about how visible the wall is in space. Richard Halliburton's 1938 book Second Book of Marvels said the Great Wall is the only man-made object visible from the moon. This myth has persisted, assuming urban legend status, sometimes even entering school textbooks. The Great Wall simply cannot be seen by the unaided eye from the distance of the moon. Even its visibility from near-earth orbit is questionable.
One astronaut reported, "We can see things as small as airport runways [but] the Great Wall is almost invisible from only 180 miles (290 km) up." Astronaut William Pogue thought he had seen it from Skylab but discovered he was actually looking at the Grand Canal near Beijing . He spotted the Great Wall with binoculars, but said that "it wasn't visible to the unaided eye." An Apollo astronaut said no human structures were visible at a distance of a few thousand miles. Chinese astronaut Yang Liwei said he couldn't see it at all.
From low-earth orbit, about a thousand times nearer than the moon, it may be visible under favorable conditions. Features on the moon that are dramatically visible at times can be undetectable on others, due to changes in lighting direction. The Great Wall is only a few meters wide - sized similar to highways and airport runways - and is about the same color as the soil surrounding it.Veteran U.S. 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."
A recent photograph taken from the International Space Station appears to confirm that 's Great Wall can be seen with the naked eye after all. Leroy Chiao, a Chinese-American astronaut, took what the state-run China Daily newspaper says is the first photographic evidence that the Great Wall could be seen from space with the naked eye, under certain favorable viewing conditions and if one knows exactly where to look.
Battle Forts and Watch Towers
The wall is complemented by defensive fighting stations, to which wall defenders may retreat if overwhelmed. Each tower has unique and restricted stairways and entries to confuse attackers. Barracks and administrative centers are located at larger intervals. In addition to the usual military weapons of the period, specialized wall defense weapons were used. Reproductions of weapons are displayed at the wall.
The Mutianyu section of the Great Wall, 70 kilometers northeast of Beijing , is linked to the Gubeikou section on the east and the Badaling section on the west. It is one of the best sections of Great Wall. The Mutianyu section is crenellated for watching and shooting at the invading enemy. Some of the battle forts on the wall are as close as 50 meters apart.
The wall also has watch towers at regular intervals, which were used to store weapons, house troops, and send smoke signals. 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.

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Tuesday, 6 November 2012

Beauty Tips

FACE

FACE BLACKHEADS

Tip 1:

Boil 3-4 cups of water and add 2 tsp soda bicarbonate to this. Steam a towel with this and place the towel on the face. Repeat 5-6 times. Now rub the face in the area of the blackheads with a paste of 1 tsp curd mixed with 1 tsp of rice flour. Wash with cold water.

Tip 2:

Rub a pinch of table salt mixed with a pinch of the soft soggy portion of a glycerin soap. (Pears) Rub well into the blackheads. Repeat for a week.

Tip 3:

Take 1 tsp of fresh coriander leaf juice with ½ tsp of turmeric powder. Apply this at bed time and wash in the morning. Repeat for a week.

Tip 4:

Take 1 tsp lime juice mixed with 1 tsp of finely powdered cinnamon. Apply at bed time and wash in the morning.

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