Digital sign mouse

Chinese engineers resolved the problem with additional touch-terminals for PC where digital sign is required.

10 Most Magnificent Trees in the World.

"A tree is a wonderful living organism which gives shelter, food,
warmth and protection to all living things. It even gives shade to
those who wield an axe to cut it down" - Buddha.

There are probably hundreds of majestic and magnificent trees in the world - of these, some are particularly special:

10. Lone Cypress in Monterey

(Image credit: bdinphoenix [flickr])

(Image credit: mikemac29 [flickr])

Buffeted by the cold Pacific Ocean wind, the scraggly Lone Cypress [wiki] (Cupressus macrocarpa) in Pebble Beach, Monterey Peninsula, California, isn’t a particularly large tree. It makes up for its small size, however, with its iconic status as a stunningly beautiful tree in splendid isolation, framed by an even more beautiful background of the Pacific Ocean.

9. Circus Trees

As a hobby, bean farmer Axel Erlandson [wiki] shaped trees - he pruned, bent, and grafted trees into fantastic shapes and called them "Circus Trees." For example, to make this "Basket Tree" arborsculpture, Erlandson planted six sycamore trees in a circle and then grafted them together to form the diamond patterns.

Basket Tree (Image credit: jpeepz [flickr])

The two-legged tree (Image credit: Wikipedia)

Ladder tree (Image credit: Arborsmith)

Axel Erlandson underneath one of his arborsculpture (Image credit: Wilma Erlandson, Cabinet Magazine)

Erlandson was very secretive and refused to reveal his methods on how to grow the Circus Trees (he even carried out his graftings behind screens to protect against spies!) and carried the secrets to his grave.

The trees were later bought by millionaire Michael Bonfante, who transplanted them to his amusement park Bonfante Gardens in Gilroy in 1985.

8. Giant Sequoias: General Sherman

(Image credit: Humpalumpa [flickr])

Giant Sequoias [wiki] (Sequoiadendron giganteum), which only grow in Sierra Nevada, California, are the world’s biggest trees (in terms of volume). The biggest is General Sherman [wiki] in the Sequoia National Park - one behemoth of a tree at 275 feet (83.8 m), over 52,500 cubic feet of volume (1,486 m³), and over 6000 tons in weight.

General Sherman is approximately 2,200 years old - and each year, the tree adds enough wood to make a regular 60-foot tall tree. It’s no wonder that naturalist John Muir said "The Big Tree is Nature’s forest masterpiece, and so far as I know, the greatest of living things."

For over a century there was a fierce competition for the title of the largest tree: besides General Sherman, there is General Grant [wiki] at King’s Canyon National Park, which actually has a larger circumference (107.5 feet / 32.77 m vs. Sherman’s 102.6 feet / 31.27 m).

In 1921, a team of surveyors carefully measured the two
giants - with their data, and according to the complex American Forestry Association system of judging a tree, General Grant should have been award the title of largest tree - however, to simplify the matter, it was later determined that in this case, volume, not point system, should be the determining factor.

7. Coast Redwood: Hyperion and Drive-Thru Trees

There is another sequoia species (not to be confused with Giant Sequoia) that is quite remarkable: the Coast Redwood [wiki] (Sequoia sempervirens), the tallest trees in the world.

The reigning champion is a tree called Hyperion in the Redwood National Park, identified by researcher Chris Atkins and amateur naturalist Michael Taylor in 2006. Measuring over 379 feet (155.6 m) tall, Hyperion beat out the previous record holder Stratosphere Giant [wiki] in the Humboldt Redwoods State Park (at 370 feet / 112.8 m).

The scientists aren’t talking about the exact location of Hyperion: the terrain is difficult, and they don’t want a rush of visitors to come and trample the tree’s root system.

That’s not all that’s amazing about the Coast Redwood: there are four giant California redwoods big enough that you can drive your car through them!

The most famous of the drive-through trees is the Chandelier Tree [wiki] in Leggett, California. It’s a 315 foot tall redwood tree, with a 6 foot wide by 9 foot tall hole cut through its base in the 1930s.

Chandelier Tree. (Image credit: hlh-abg [flickr])

6. Chapel-Oak of Allouville-Bellefosse

Chapel-Oak of Allouville-Bellefosse (Image credit: Old trees in Netherlands & Europe)

(Image credit: dm1795 [flickr])

(Image credit: Luc Doudet)

The Chêne-Chapelle (Chapel-Oak) of Allouville-Bellefosse is the most famous tree in France - actually, it’s more than just a tree: it’s a building and a religious monument all in one.

In 1669, l’Abbe du Detroit and du Cerceau decided to build a chapel in (at that time) a 500 years old or so oak (Quercus robur) tree made hollow by a lightning bolt. The priests built a small altar to the Virgin Mary. Later on, a second chapel and a staircase were added.

Now, parts of the tree are dead, the crown keeps becoming smaller and smaller every year, and parts of the tree’s bark, which fell off due to old age, are covered by protective oak shingles. Poles and cables support the aging tree, which in fact, may not live much longer. As a symbol, however, it seems that the Chapel-Oak of Allouville-Bellefosse may live on forever.

5. Quaking Aspen: Pando (The Trembling Giant)

Quaking Aspen (Image: Wikipedia)

Aspen grove (Image credit: scottks1 [flickr])

Quaking Aspen in winter (Image credit: darkmatter [flickr])

Pando [wiki] or the Trembling Giant in Utah is actually a colony of a single Quaking Aspen (Populus tremuloides) tree. All of the trees (technically, "stems") in this colony are genetically identical (meaning, they’re exact clones of one another). In fact, they are all a part of a single living organism with an enormous underground root system.

Pando, which is Latin for "I Spread," is composed of about 47,000 stems spread throughout 107 acres of land. It estimated to weigh 6,600 tons, making it the heaviest known organism. Although the average age of the individual stems are 130 years, the entire organism is estimated to be about 80,000 years old!

4. Montezuma Cypress: The Tule Tree

The Tule Tree Towers over a church next to it (Image credit: jubilohaku [flickr])

Full width of the Tule Tree (Image credit: Wikipedia)

Close-up of the tree’s gnarled trunk. Local legends say that you can make out animals like jaguars and elephants in the trunk, giving the tree the nickname of "the Tree of Life" (Image credit: jvcluis [flickr])

El Árbol del Tule [wiki] ("The Tule Tree") is an especially large Montezuma cypress (Taxodium mucronatum) near the city of Oaxaca, Mexico. This tree has the largest trunk girth at 190 feet (58 m) and trunk diameter at 37 feet (11.3 m). The Tule tree is so thick that people say you don’t hug this tree, it hugs you instead!

For a while, detractors argued that it was actually three trees masquerading as one - however, careful DNA analysis confirmed that it is indeed one magnificent tree.

In 1994, the tree (and Mexican pride) were in jeopardy: the leaves were sickly yellow and there were dead branches everywhere- the tree appeared to be dying. When tree "doctors" were called in, they diagnosed the problem as dying of thirst. The prescription? Give it water. Sure enough, the tree soon recovered after a careful watering program was followed.

3. Banyan Tree: Sri Maha Bodhi Tree

The Banyan tree is named after "banians" or Hindu traders who carry out their business under the tree. Even if you have never heard of a Banyan tree (it was the tree used by Robinson Crusoe for his treehouse), you’d still recognize it. The shape of the giant tree is unmistakable: it has a majestic canopy with aerial roots running from the branches to the ground.

Banyan tree (Image credit: Diorama Sky [flickr])

Closer view of the Banyan aerial root structure (Image credit: BillyCrafton [flickr])

If you were thinking that the Banyan tree looks like the trees whose roots snake through the ruins of the Ta Prohm temple like tentacles of the jungle (Lara Croft, anyone?) at Ankor, Cambodia , you’d be right!

Banyan tree (or is it silk-cotton tree?) in the ruins of Ta Prohm, Ankor, Cambodia
(Image Credit: Casual Chin [flickr])

One of the most famous species of Banyan, called the Sacred Fig [wiki] or Bo tree, is the Sri Maha Bodhi [wiki] tree in Anuradhapura, Sri Langka. It is said that the tree was grown from a cutting from the original tree under which Buddha became enlightened in the 6th century BC.

Planted in 288 BC, it is the oldest living human-planted tree in the world, with a definitive planting date!

(Image credit: Images of Ceylon)

(Image credit: Wikipedia)

2. Bristlecone Pine: Methuselah and Prometheus, the Oldest Trees in the World.

Methuselah Grove (Image Credit: NOVA Online)

Bristlecone pine grove in which Prometheus grew (Image credit: Wikipedia)

The oldest living tree in the world is a White Mountains, California, bristlecone pine (Pinus longaeva) named Methuselah [wiki], after the Biblical figure who lived to 969 years old. The Methuselah tree, found at 11,000 feet above sea level, is 4,838 years old - it is not only the oldest tree but also the oldest living non-clonal organism in the world.

Before Methuselah was identified as the world’s oldest tree by Edmund Schulman in 1957, people thought that the Giant Sequoias were the world’s oldest trees at about 2,000 years old. Schulman used a borer to obtain a core sample to count the growth rings of various bristlecone pines, and found over a dozen trees over 4,000 years old.

The story of Prometheus [wiki] is even more interesting: in 1964, Donald R. Currey [wiki], then a graduate student, was taking core samples from a tree named Prometheus. His boring tool broke inside the tree, so he asked for permission from the US Forest Service to cut it down and examine the full cross section of the wood. Surprisingly the Forest Service agreed! When they examined the tree, Prometheus turned out to be about 5,000 years old, which would have made it the world’s oldest tree when the scientist unwittingly killed it!

Stump of the Prometheus Tree. (Image Credit: James R. Bouldin, Wikipedia)

Today, to protect the trees from the inquisitive traveler, the authorities are keeping their location secret (indeed, there are no photos identifying Methuselah for fear of vandalism).

1. Baobab

The amazing baobab [wiki] (Adansonia) or monkey bread tree can grow up to nearly 100 feet (30 m) tall and 35 feet (11 m) wide. Their defining characteristic: their swollen trunk are actually water storage - the baobab tree can store as much as 31,700 gallon (120,000 l) of water to endure harsh drought conditions.

Baobab trees are native to Madagascar (it’s the country’s national tree!), mainland Africa, and Australia. A cluster of "the grandest of all" baobab trees (Adansonia grandidieri) can be found in the Baobab Avenue, near Morondava, in Madagascar:

(Image credit: Wikipedia)

(Image credit: plizzba [flickr])

(Image credit: Daniel Montesino [flickr])

In Ifaty, southwestern Madagascar, other baobabs take the form of bottles, skulls, and even teapots:

Teapot baobab (Image credit: Gilles Croissant)

The baobab trees in Africa are amazing as well:

Baobab in Tanzania (Image credit: telethon [flickr])

Baobab near Bulawayo, Zimbabwe (Image credit: ironmanix [flickr])

There are many practical uses of baobab trees, like for a toilet:

A toilet built inside a baobab tree in the Kayila Lodge, Zambia
(Image credit: Steve Makin [flickr])

… and even for a prison:

A "Prison Baob" tree in Western Australia (Image credit: yewenyi [flickr])

Bonus: Tree That Owns Itself

Son of the Tree That Owns Itself (Image Credit: Wikipedia)

Legend has it that the Tree That Owns Itself [wiki], a white oak in Athens, Georgia was given ownership of itself and the surrounding land by Dr. William Henry Jackson in 1820! The original tree had died long ago, but a new tree (Son of The Tree That Owns Itself) was planted at the same location from one of its acorns.

Bonus 2: The Lonely Tree of Ténéré

The Tree of Ténéré in the 1970s, before a truck crashed into it (Image credit: Peter Krohn)

The Tree of Ténéré or L’Abre du Ténéré was the world’s most isolated tree - the solitary acacia, which grew in the Sahara desert in Niger, Africa, was the only tree within more than 250 miles (400 km) around.

The tree was the last surviving member of a group of acacias that grew when the desert wasn’t as dry. When scientists dug a hole near the tree, they found its roots went down as deep as 120 feet (36 m) below to the water table!

Apparently, being the only tree in that part of the wide-open desert (remember: there wasn’t another tree for 250 miles around), wasn’t enough to stop a drunk Libyan truck driver from driving his truck into it, knocking it down and killing it!

Now, a metal sculpture was placed in its spot to commemorate the Lonely Tree of Ténéré:

(Image credit: Nomad’s Land, main website)

---

I’ll be the first to acknowledge that this list is far from complete: there are many more magnificent trees in the world (for instance, see the List of Famous Trees [wiki]). If you have any addition of noteworthy tree (and stories about trees), please leave it in the comment section.

Courtesy http://www.neatorama.com/2007/03/21/10-most-magnificent-trees-in-the-world/

Michael Jordan

Bangladesh parties after India upset

Cricinfo staff March 18, 2007

Bangladesh's victory over India has sent the country in delirium © Getty Images

A government ban on public gatherings was forgotten in Bangladesh as thousands of jubilant fans partied into the night after the national cricket team's shock World Cup victory over India. Deafening sound broke the night silence as thousands roared and waved flags on the Dhaka University campus and elsewhere in the capital to celebrate the five-wicket win at Port-of-Spain.

Fakhruddin Ahmed, the head of the military-led government, joined the late-night crowd to congratulate the Bangladesh on their historic feat. In a message to the team in the Caribbean, he praised the team's "consistency, determination and all-round performance in the field," a government statement said.

But fans that partied through the morning were more ecstatic. "We will be the world champions. The days of shame are over. It's time to show what our boys can do," said Harunur Rashid, a university student who watched the game on giant screens on the campus. Rashid and thousands of others joined an impromptu party in the heart of the Bangladesh capital, defying the interim government's ban on all marches and processions. "They marched through the areas in and around the campus. They were waving flags and chanting Bangladesh! Bangladesh!" Nizam Ahmed, a police officer, said.

"It's a rare day in our cricket history. So who cares if there is ban on processions?" said Rajib Ahsan, another student. "Even the police officers watched the matches in front of the giant screens the university has set up. They also celebrated this great victory."

Bangladesh has been under a state of emergency since January, when the country's president cancelled elections and stepped down as the head of the interim government. A military-backed new government took over and imposed the ban on processions, meetings, marches and rallies as part of the emergency measures. Millions of Bangladeshis stayed up into the wee hours of Sunday morning to watch the match being shown live from the Caribbean.

The government power company even conserved electricity for the night to ensure uninterrupted coverage. As the match progressed, many supporters said prayers for the team. "For any victory, there is always an element of luck. I prayed to Almighty God so that this luck factor does not conspire against us,' said Muktadeer Hossain, a bank teller.

Fans also held victory processions in the western Bangladesh town of Narail, hometown of man-of-the-match Mashrafe Mortaza, whose 4 for 38 helped bowl India out for just 191. The police also said there were impromptu late-night processions in Chittagong, the country's second biggest city and the hometown of 17-year-old Tamim Iqbal, who hit his maiden half-century in the match.

© Cricinfo

Although it was a sad day to the Indians.... after reading this stuff it gave me a diif joy in seeing how they fought so hard to get this victory.... my congrats to all the Bangladeshis... and all the best India... you can do it in the next match...

Open A Beer Bottle With A Piece Of Paper

17th Annual Photo Contest Winners 2005

17th Annual Photo Contest Winners 2005

First Prize: Leng Bai

14-day trip for two to Guatemala, including Lake Atitlán and Antigua.

"Photography is a good way to dive into life, to record life," says Leng Bai, a clerk at the First Northeast Electrical Power Engineering Company in Tieling City, China, who has been taking photos for more than 20 years. He captured this shot of 80-year-old musician Zuozheng He in Yunnan Province in the city of Lijiang, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Most of Lijiang's residents belong to the Naxi ethnic group. He is playing traditional music on the Chinese lute. "Naxi ancient music is a precious asset to China," explains Bai. "Since today few people can play the music, I am worried about its future. That's why I wanted to use the camera to record the image." (Hasselblad 503CW, 50-80mm zoom lens, Kodak VS100 film.)

Second Prize: Larry Louie

Six-day walking tour for two in County Kerry, Ireland.

Canadian Larry Louie, an Edmonton optometrist, took this photograph in the "blue city" of Jodhpur during a trip to India in 2004. "I was wandering in some of the back alleys when I noticed an elderly lady sitting in the shade in front of her home. The blue buildings of the area seemed particularly intense in the shade on a bright, sunny day," explains Louie. As he was trying to communicate with the older woman, her daughter came out of the house. "The moment the daughter stopped beside her mother, the whole scene seemed complete, balanced. The rest was just luck; the way the clothing and shoes were so complementary to the background, providing an almost monochromatic image." (Contax N1, Zeiss 24-85mm zoom lens, Fujichrome Provia film.)

Third Prize: Andy Lin

Six-day windjammer sailing cruise for two along the Maine coast.

"I am in awe of photography's ability to transform thought and emotion—the artist as modern-day alchemist," says New Yorker Andy Lin. A photo editor for Overspray street art magazine and drummer for the rock band Nozomi Phoenix, Lin also tends bar on Manhattan's Lower East Side. He took this photograph of a former bonded laborer who was painting at Vidhayak Sansad, an organization in Maharashtra, India, that has identified and released slaves for more than 20 years. "It was one of the most magical and inspirational places I have ever been," says Lin. "There are good fights being fought all around the world; our media doesn't always inform us of them, but there are victories." (Asahi Pentax 6x7, Pentax 45mm lens, Fujicolor NPZ 800 film.)

4th Prize: Fakrul Islam

Olympus Camedia C-770 digital camera and a copy of the National Geographic Photography Field Guide.

Fakrul Islam forgot his raincoat on an evening outing in his native Bangladesh. When there was a sudden change of weather, Islam ran for shelter, from which he looked out on this scene. "Nature's beauty attracted me to the image," says Islam, a political science lecturer in Sylhet, a city in northeastern Bangladesh on the Surma River. Islam says that whenever he's not working, he likes to take photographs. "My theory behind photography is to capture unusual presents for the future." (Nikon F601, 19-35mm Sigma zoom lens, Fujichrome Provia 100 film.)

5th Prize: Catherine Hall

Olympus Camedia C-770 digital camera and a copy of the National Geographic Photography Field Guide.

Catherine Hall was traveling in the Nevada desert when the temperature soared to more than 100 degrees. She found refuge from the heat and dust in a tent, where she encountered a man doing yoga. "His white, sand-covered feet had an amazing contrast against his dark skin," she says. Hall, an assistant for professional photographers, says everyone in the tent thought she was crazy when she lay down to get the shot. "My camera often gives me the ability and courage to approach people with different backgrounds." (Canon EOS 3, Canon 28-80mm 2.8 L series zoom lens, Kodak E200 film.)

6th Prize: Charles Meacham

Olympus Camedia C-770 digital camera and a copy of the National Geographic Photography Field Guide.

Charles Meacham, who won Traveler's 15th annual photo contest, teaches English in Taiwan to support what he describes as his "traveling, photographing lifestyle." Meacham had been traveling by public bus in southern Ethiopia for about a month when he came to a small village just outside the Omo Valley. There he took this portrait of two tribal boys. "Too many people focus on the poverty and problems of a destination," explains Meacham. "I see these things, too, but I also see beautiful people wherever I go." (Canon 1v, Canon 28-70mm 2.8 L series zoom lens, Fujichrome Provia 100 film.)

7th Prize: Sheila Pressman

Olympus Camedia C-770 digital camera and a copy of the National Geographic Photography Field Guide.

Sheila Pressman, a research scientist who lives in California, took this photo on a rare cloudless day in Neko Harbor, Antarctica. "I had my camera out, ready to shoot when one penguin stopped beside the whale bones and posed for me," says Pressman. "The sun created an intensity of color, and the penguin added a touch of whimsy, which were both irresistible." (Canon PowerShot G5 digital, built-in 7.2-28.8mm zoom lens.)

8th Prize: Jim Kane

Olympus Camedia C-770 digital camera and a copy of the National Geographic Photography Field Guide.

Jim Kane of Philadelphia, who started the travel company Culture Xplorers, has done some exploring of his own. He took this photograph during Semana Santa in Antigua, Guatemala. It was nearly dusk when Kane heard music from a children's procession and headed outside. "I came across these two boys trying to reignite the copal incense they were carrying in the procession. The purple robes, the gesture of holding the burner, the fact that they were lost for a moment in their own world in the middle of one of Latin America's largest religious celebrations, all combined to create a moment worth capturing." (Nikon D70 digital, Nikon kit 18-70mm zoom lens.)

9th Prize: Chantelle Rytter

Olympus Camedia C-770 digital camera and a copy of the National Geographic Photography Field Guide.

Chantelle Rytter was the first person to arrive at the top of an Atlanta skyscraper on Valentine's Day morning. Rytter, who works in event planning, enjoys photographing from balconies. "The shifts in the weather and light over a terrific distance satisfies my eye like watching the ocean," says Rytter. "The fog blanket is always my favorite. It only happens a few times a year and not for very long. It is a magical perspective on a familiar scene. It's clearly Atlanta, but Atlanta dreaming." (Canon PowerShot S1 IS digital, built-in 5.8-58mm zoom lens.)

10th Prize: Alex Rostocki

Olympus Camedia C-770 digital camera and a copy of the National Geographic Photography Field Guide.

Alex Rostocki snapped this photograph during Semana Santa in Seville, Spain. "I got this shot on an extremely narrow street in a 'people jam,' which allowed me to get so close that I was standing in the procession," explains Rostocki, an attorney who lives in Connecticut. "I was fascinated with the eyes of the penitents peering out from their hoods." During the week Rostocki was in Seville, he never saw a penitent remove a hood. "It was these little mysteries that drew me to take this photo." (Nikon D70 digital, Nikkor 18-70mm zoom lens.)