Prince Georgy Yevgenyevich L'vov (March 23–July 21)
Alexander Kerensky (July 21–November 8)
DeposingList of leaders of Russia
Alexey Peshekhonov
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
The West End of London is an area of Central London, England, containing many of the city's major tourist attractions, businesses, and administrative headquarters. It also includes most of its major theatres, and indeed the term "West End" has become synonymous with London's commercial theatre (see West End theatre). Colloquially and symbolically, the West End can be seen as one of three poles in central London: the City for finance (and to a lesser extent business in general), Westminster for government (Whitehall and Parliament), and the West End for entertainment and retail.
Location
Taking a fairly broad definition of the West End, the area contains the main concentrations of most of London's metropolitan activities apart from financial services, which are concentrated primarily in the City of London. There are major concentrations of the following buildings and activities in the West End:
The annual New Year's Day Parade takes place on the streets of the West End. West End Live, a showcase of musical theatre, takes place in Leicester Square in June.
Art galleries and museums
Company headquarters outside the financial services sector (although London's many hedge funds are based mainly in the West End)
Educational institutions
Embassies
Government buildings (mainly around Whitehall)
Hotels
Institutes, learned societies and think tanks
Legal institutions
Media establishments
Places of entertainment: theatres; cinemas; nightclubs; bars and restaurants
Shops
ActivitiesUsing the broadest definition, these are the inner districts of the West End, which were all developed by about 1815:
The districts to the south, north and west of Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens were developed between the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815 and the late 19th century, in some cases based on existing villages. The more fashionable of them were generally regarded as being in the West End at that time, but the extension of the term to these areas west of Park Lane is less common nowadays. The last two listed especially are fringe cases:
Bloomsbury
Covent Garden
Fitzrovia
Holborn
Marylebone
Mayfair
Seven Dials
Soho
St. James's
Westminster
Knightsbridge
Belgravia
Pimlico
Chelsea
South Kensington
Bayswater
Paddington
Notting Hill
Holland Park Districts in the West End
Albemarle Street
Baker Street
Bond Street
Carnaby Street
Charing Cross Road
Gower Street
Great Marlborough Street
Great Portland Street
Harley Street
Haymarket
High Holborn
Kingsway
Old Compton Street
Oxford Street
Park Lane
Piccadilly
Regent Street
Shaftesbury Avenue
The Strand
Tottenham Court Road
Wardour Street
See alsoLondon Underground Stations in the West End
National Rail Station in the West End
Baker Street
Bond Street
Charing Cross
Covent Garden
Embankment
Goodge Street
Great Portland Street
Green Park
Holborn
Hyde Park Corner
Leicester Square
Marble Arch
Oxford Circus
Piccadilly Circus
Regent's Park
Temple
Tottenham Court Road
Warren Street
Westminster
Charing Cross Station.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Asin Thottumkal (Tamil:அசின் தோட்டுங்கல்) (born on October 26, 1985) is an Indian film actress. She began her career acting in minor roles as a supporting artist in the Malayalam cinema industry, while also attending an acting studio, to follow her dream to act. After her debut in the Malayalam film industry, she acted in Telugu language films in which Asin gained Indian cinema's attention in 2003 by playing the role of Vasantha in Shivamani 9848022338 , her first major hit. The Tamil language film, Ghajini, is her first blockbuster, and since then she has acted in over twenty Indian films, with her main intention being Tamil language ventures. She, like many other actors has had a rich upbringing into the industry, with her father, Joseph Thottumkal being a noted businessman and her mother, Seline Thottumkal, being a doctor.
PersonalSunday, October 28, 2007
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Address munging is the practice of disguising, or munging, an e-mail address to prevent it being automatically collected and used as a target for people and organizations who send unsolicited bulk e-mail. Address munging is intended to disguise an e-mail address in a way that prevents computer software seeing the real address, or even any address at all, but still allows a human reader to reconstruct the original and contact the author: an email address such as, "no-one@example.com", becomes "no-one at example dot com", for instance. Any e-mail address posted in public is likely to be automatically collected by computer software used by bulk emailers — a process known as e-mail address harvesting — and addresses posted on webpages, Usenet or chat rooms are particularly vulnerable to this. Private e-mail sent between individuals is highly unlikely to be collected, but e-mail sent to a mailing list that is archived and made available via the web or passed onto a Usenet news server and made public, may eventually be scanned and collected.
Disadvantages
Disguising addresses makes it more difficult for people to send e-mail to each other. Many see it as an attempt to fix a symptom rather than solving the real problem of e-mail spam, at the expense of causing problems for innocent users.
Disguising e-mail address in a systematic manner (for example, user[at]domain[dot]com), is just as bad as not disguising the address at all as such addresses can be revealed through a simple Google Search.
Alternatives
As an alternative to address munging, there are several "transparent" techniques that allow people to post a valid e-mail address, but still make it difficult for automated recognition and collection of the address:
An example of munging "user@example.com" via client-side scripting would be:
The use of images and scripts for address obfuscation can cause problems for people using screenreaders and users with disabilities.
According to a 2003 study by the Center for Democracy and Technology, even the simplest "transparent name mangling" of e-mail addresses can be effective.
Friday, October 26, 2007
15 million worldwide (including more than 9 million in Belarus)
Belarusians or Belorussians (Belarusian: Беларусы, Biełarusy, previously also spelled Belarussians, Byelorussians and Belorusians, also White Russians) are an East Slavic ethnic group who populate the majority of the Republic of Belarus and form minorities in neighboring Poland (especially in the former Bialystok province), Russia, Lithuania and Ukraine. Noticeable numbers have immigrated to the United States, Brazil and Canada in the early 20th century. Since the breakup of the USSR several hundred thousand have immigrated to the European Union, United States, Canada and Russia. Introduced to the world as a new state in the early 1990s, the Republic of Belarus brought with it the notion of a re-emerging Belarusian ethnicity, drawn upon the lines of the Belarusian language. There are over 8 million people who associate themselves with the Belarusian ethnicity today.
The native language of the territory of Belarus is Belarusian; however the majority of Belarusians in Belarus are able to speak Russian and often use it as their day-to-day language (especially in Minsk and other large cities).
The prefix Bela- translates into "White" so these people were sometimes called White Russians (though not to be confused with the political group of White Russians that opposed the Bolsheviks during the Russian Civil War). This name was in use in the West for some time in history, together with White Ruthenes, White Ruthenians and similar forms. Using the term "White Russians" is misleading as it incorrectly suggests being a subgroup of Russians and some Belarusians take offense for it being applied. Belarusians trace their name back to the people of Rus and not to Russians, who are also descendants of the people of Rus.
The Belarusian people trace their distinct culture to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and earlier Kievan Rus and the Principality of Polatsk. Most Belarusians are descendants of the East Slav tribes Dregovichs, Krivichs and Radimichs. Early East Slavs also mixed with the local Balts, especially in the west and north-west of today's Belarus. In 13th-18th centuries Belarusians were mostly known under the name of Rusins (Ruthenians) or Litvins (Lithuanians), which refers to the state of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (Litva, Vialikaja Litva) of which the White Ruthenian lands were part of since the 12th century and where Ruthenian language was an official tongue. On the grounds of the dominance of Ruthenian language (which later evolved into modern Belarusian language) some Belarusian historians believe the Grand Duchy of Lithuania to have been their national state when it existed.
After World War I Belarusians had their own statehood, with varying degrees of independence - first as the short-lived Belarusian National Republic under German occupation, then as the Byelorussian SSR from 1919 until 1991, which merged with other republics to become a constituent member of the Soviet Union in 1922). Belarus gained full independence with the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Infomercials are television commercials that run as long as a typical television program (roughly 28 minutes, 30 seconds). Infomercials, also known as paid programming (or teleshopping in Europe), are normally shown outside of peak hours, such as daytime or late night (usually 2:00am to 6:00am). There are many people who claim to have started the modern infomercial business. The word infomercial is a portmanteau of the words "information" and "commercial". As in any other form of advertisement, the content is a commercial message designed to represent the viewpoints and to serve the interest of the sponsor. Infomercials are often made to closely resemble actual television programming, usually talk shows, with minimal acknowledgement that the program is actually an advertisement.
Infomercials are designed to solicit a direct response which is specific and quantifiable and are, therefore, a form of direct response marketing (not to be confused with direct marketing). The ad response is delivered directly to television viewers by infomercial advertisers through the television ad. In normal commercials, advertisers do not solicit a direct response from viewers, but, instead, brand their product in the market place amongst potential buyers.
Infomercial advertisers may make use of flashy catchphrases (such as "Set it and Forget it" for the Showtime), repeat basic ideas, and/or employ scientist-like characters or celebrities as guests or hosts in their ad. The book As Seen on TV (Quirk Books) by Lou Harry, Sam Stall and Julia Spalding highlights the history of such memorable products as the Flowbee, the Chia Pet, and Ginsu knives. The Flowbee and Ginsu were put on air by infomercial guru Kevin Harrington. Many infomercials have limited time offers and/or claim one can only purchase the wares from television, that slightly pressure the viewers into buying their products. The Ab toner fitness item has had its technical claims questioned on occasion by some disgruntled customers.
Because of the sometimes sensational nature of the ad form and the questionable nature of some products, consumer advocates recommend careful investigation of the infomercial's sponsor, the product being advertised, and the claims being made before making a purchase. At the beginning of an informercial, stations and/or sponsors normally run disclaimers warning that "the following program is a paid advertisement," and that the station does not necessarily support the sponsor's claims. (See External Links for two such examples.) A few stations take the warning further, encouraging viewers to contact their local Better Business Bureau or state or local consumer protection agency to report any questionable products or claims that air on such infomercials.
HistoryFrequently used themes for infomercials include:
Cooking utensils, for instance:
- Ron Popeil's inventions, most recently the Showtime Rotisserie
Chef Tony infomercials, most recently peddling cutting knives and convection ovens
The Lean Mean Fat Reducing Grilling Machine by George Foreman
Weight-loss and fitness products, a particularly common theme.
- Nutritional supplements said to cause rapid weight loss in only a few days. Usually accompanied by a trick guarantee that says "if you don't lose up to 10 pounds..." thus giving the company an "out" if the consumer loses less than 10 pounds.
Exercise equipment
- Tony Little was a pioneer in this department with his various contraptions.
Various items entitled the "Ab-(something)," generally simple contraptions
Bowflex resistance-based home gym.
Exercise tapes
- Richard Simmons and the Buns of Steel lines were early pioneers of this format.
The most recent version of this is the Winsor Pilates system by Guthy-Renker, an infomercial hosted by Daisy Fuentes
Health and beauty products
- Nutritional supplements peddled by people such as Robert Barefoot, Michael Pinkus, and Kevin Trudeau. These supplements are often peddled as natural cures for a number of ailments, with the lack of scientific evidence to back it up being blamed on a government and/or pharmaceutical conspiracy. After questions were raised about the effectiveness of these supplements, Trudeau instead wrote them into a book and now sells the book instead.
Proactiv Solution, a popular over-the-counter acne treatment made famous through infomercials
Various makeup and skin treatments, said to make the person look younger. Jane Seymour is among the latest entries into the genre.
Tooth whiteners. These were particularly popular in the 1990s, when home whitening systems were just hitting the market.
Electric toothbrushes.
Orthotics
Compilation albums and sets
- A fairly recent addition to the market is the television compilation set, primarily sold by Guthy-Renker. Such shows, which are generally non-syndicated, are usually endorsed by the producers of the original series. Recently advertised programs include The Dean Martin Show, The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts, Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In, and Burt Sugarman's Midnight Special.
The Time Life Music Collection, usually selling about 150 hit songs from a particular era on an 8-CD compilation. Themes include Classic Country collections, Malt Shop Memories (a doo-wop collection), Soul Ballads, and various decades. These are usually hosted by a Time Life representative and a famous member of that era or genre (for instance, a soft rock compilation infomercial was recently co-hosted by Air Supply). Several other music compilers have also begun this strategy.
Cleaning products, such as those sold by Billy Mays including OxiClean and Orange-Clean
Home improvement items, such as extra-long paint rollers, and the Little Giant Ladder System, the latter currently advertised with an infomercial featuring Richard Karn
Get rich quick schemes
- Make money through real estate investment
Don Lapre's classified ad system
Investment and market schemes and workshops, often plugging spread trades and options as either loss-proof or big money earners.
Self-help
- Anthony Robbins's motivational tapes
Lucinda Bassett's Attacking Anxiety and Depression, a depression and anxiety treatment system
Televangelism - Most religious broadcasters in the United States use some form of brokered infomercial programming.
Girls Gone Wild videos and other similar media. Popular products and personalities
"But wait!" (after pitching one deal and before pitching another, better deal. For example: "But Wait! Call in now and we'll knock off one payment, and add (product)")
"For (number) easy payments of (price), (product) can be yours!
"And if you aren't satisfied, you can try (product) risk free for (number) days"
"If you call within the next（number) minutes, you'll also get..."
- Anthony Robbins's motivational tapes
- Make money through real estate investment
- A fairly recent addition to the market is the television compilation set, primarily sold by Guthy-Renker. Such shows, which are generally non-syndicated, are usually endorsed by the producers of the original series. Recently advertised programs include The Dean Martin Show, The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts, Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In, and Burt Sugarman's Midnight Special.
- Nutritional supplements peddled by people such as Robert Barefoot, Michael Pinkus, and Kevin Trudeau. These supplements are often peddled as natural cures for a number of ailments, with the lack of scientific evidence to back it up being blamed on a government and/or pharmaceutical conspiracy. After questions were raised about the effectiveness of these supplements, Trudeau instead wrote them into a book and now sells the book instead.
- Richard Simmons and the Buns of Steel lines were early pioneers of this format.
- Tony Little was a pioneer in this department with his various contraptions.
- Nutritional supplements said to cause rapid weight loss in only a few days. Usually accompanied by a trick guarantee that says "if you don't lose up to 10 pounds..." thus giving the company an "out" if the consumer loses less than 10 pounds.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
For the abstract strategy board game, see Surakarta (game).
Surakarta (its formal name; locally it is referred to as Solo) is an Indonesian city of approximately 500,000 people located in Central Java. It is some 65 km (40 miles) northeast of Yogyakarta, and 100 km (60 miles) southeast of Semarang. The city was a center of power during the 18th century Mataram Sultanate. It is also at times called Soerakarta.
Name
The eastern part of the town is bordered by Bengawan Solo River, the longest river on Java. The river is the inspiration for the song Bengawan Solo, a 1940s composition by Gesang Martohartono which became famous throughout much of Asia.
Government
Surakarta is divided into 5 subdistricts (kecamatan): Banjarsari, Jebres, Laweyan, Pasar Kliwon, and Serengan.
Subdistricts
There are 2 major markets in the city, namely Pasar Klewer and Pasar Gede. Pasar Klewer is famous as the biggest textile market in the region.
Important Places
This is the older of the two royal cities in Central Java (the other is Yogyakarta), and its ruling family can lay claim to being the rightful heirs to the Mataram dynasty. Like Yogya, Solo has two royal palaces and a number of museums, yet its tourist industry is nowhere near as developed. The city's main source of income is from textiles, and Solo has the biggest batik market on Java. Solo also makes an ideal base from which to visit the home of Java Man at Sangiran, as well as the intriguing temples Candi Ceto and Candi Sukuh.
History
A series of wars and clashes between the Adipati (dukes) followed the death of the last Sultan of Demak Bintoro, the first Islamic kingdom in Java. One of the prominent powerful dukes was Jaka Tingkir, son-in-law of the late sultan. After defeating the last opponent duke of Jipang-Panola, Jaka Tingkir aka. Sultan Hadiwijaya claimed the throne and moved the capital to the city of Pajang, located about 8 miles from the present-day Surakarta. His adopted son, Sutawijaya, formed a conspiracy and killed him with the favour of an assassin. Then, he ascended the throne and once again, moved the capital to Mataram in the present-day province of Jogjakarta, and a new dynasty was founded. It was such an irony to find out that Sutawijaya was the man of the battle which fought against the duke of Jipang-Panola and killed the duke, gained the victory for Pajang.
Founding The Dynasty
Up until 1744, Solo was little more than a quiet backwater village, 10km east of Kartasura, the contemporary capital of the Mataram kingdom. But in that year the Mataram susuhunan (king), Pakubuwono II, backed the Chinese against the Dutch, and the court at Kartasura was sacked as a result. Pakubuwono II searched for a more auspicious spot to rebuild his capital, and in 1745 the entire court was dismantled and transported in a great procession to Surakarta, on the banks of the Kali (River) Solo. It was said that the place he chose to be the new palace was sited on a small lake. It was also said by the "babad" or official record of court historians that the lake was drained by the favor of the mythical queen of the southern sea, Nyi Roro Kidul.
However, the decline continued, and in 1757, after the kingdom of Mataram was divided into the Surakarta Sunanate (northern court) and the Jogjakarta Sultanate (southern court), another rival royal house of Mangkunegoro was established by Raden Mas Said aka. Pangeran Samber Nyowo (The Slayer Prince) right in the centre of Solo. It marked the success of Dutch policies in East Indies, which were known as "divide et impera" (divide and conquer). Mataram held so much influence in Java, yet it remained nothing more than falling under the Dutch's hands. Thereafter, Solo's royal houses wisely avoided fighting and instead threw their energies into the arts, developing a highly sophisticated and graceful court culture. The gamelan pavilions became the new theatres of war, with each city competing to produce the more refined court culture. Wayang Kulit and Wayang Wong are some theatrical arts still performed today.
Pakubuwono II
Perhaps the most significant ruler of the twentieth century, was Pakubuwono X. His relationship with the Dutch, and his large family, and his popularity contributed to perhaps the largest funeral procession that ever occurred in Solo. He had contributed large expenditure on the Royal Graveyard at Imogiri in the main sections of the graveyard, as well as towards the new section that he was buried in. In the era just prior to independence Surakarta had European, Chinese and Arab quarters.
Pakubuwono X
After hearing the proclamation of Indonesian Independence, both Mangkunegara VII and Pakubuwono IX declared Surakarta a part of Republic of Indonesia (RI). Because of this support, President Soekarno declared Surakarta as Daerah Istimewa Surakarta (DIS)/"Surakarta Special Region".
In October 1945, an anti-"swapraja" (anti-feudalism/anti-monarchy) movement was established in Surakarta. One of the leaders of this movement was Tan Malaka, a member of the Indonesian Communist Party. This organization wanted to abolish all feudal kingdoms in Surakarta, the Surakarta special region (DIS), and replace all regents in Surakarta. The key debate was whether the end of Dutch rule should bring a total change in the government, or whether the ancient and historic institutions, giving the people a link to pre-colonial times, should be retained.
October 17, 1945, KRMH Sosrodiningrat, the vizier of Mangkunegara kingdom was kidnapped and murdered by communists. The new vizier, KRMT Yudonagoro and 9 other officials from Kepatihan were also kidnapped and murdered by the same movement in March of 1946.
In 1946, the capital of Republic of Indonesia (RI) was moved to the nearby city of Yogyakarta.
On June 16, 1946, the DIS was abolished replaced with regency (kabupaten) of Surakarta. This event is commemorated as the birthday of the city of Surakarta. This only has administrative and not civic significance.
On June 26, 1946, Prime Minister of Indonesia Sutan Syahrir was kidnapped by a rebel movement led by Major General Soedarsono, the commander of 3rd division.
President Soekarno (more often called Sukarno) was angry at this kidnapping and on July 1, 1946, 14 civilian leaders of this movement, including Tan Malaka was arrested by Indonesian police.
On July 2, 1946, the rebel leaders were freed from Wirogunan prison by rebel troops, led by Maj. Gen. Soedarsono.
President Soekarno asked the local military commander in Surakarta, Lieutenant Colonel Soeharto (later becoming President Soeharto [oten spelled Suharto]) to arrest Major General Soedarsono and the rebel group. Lt. Col. Soeharto refused to follow this command unless it was given directly by the Military Chief of Staff, General Soedirman. President Soekarno was angry at this rejection of his authority to give direct commands to all levels of the military, and called Lt. Col. Soeharto a stubborn ("koppig") officer.
Lt. Col. Soeharto pretended that he supported the rebellion and persuaded Maj. Gen. Soedarsono and his group to stay at his Head Quarters at Wiyoro, Surakarta for their own safety. Later that night he persuaded Maj. Gen. Soedarsono to meet President Soekarno at his palace on the next morning. Lt. Col. Soeharto secretly informed the presidential guard troops about Maj. Gen. Soedarsono plan on the next morning.
On July 3, 1946, Maj. Gen. Soedarsono and his group was arrested by the presidential guard troops near the palace. PM Syahrir was released unharmed. Several months later, Maj. Gen. Soedarsono and his group were pardoned and released from prison.
Later this rebellion was called the "failed July 3, 1946 coup". This event is mentioned in President Soeharto's autobiography published in 1988.
From 1945 to 1948, the Dutch re-occupied various regions in Java. The remaining area of Republic Indonesia were in Yogyakarta, Surakarta and surrounding areas.
In December 1948, the Dutch attacked and occupied the cities of Yogyakarta and Surakarta. The Indonesian army led by General Soedirman started a guerrilla war from surrounding areas. The Dutch said that RI was destroyed and no longer existed.
To disprove this claim, the Indonesian army conducted large scale raids into the cities of Jogyakarta and Surakarta called "Serangan Oemoem". The Indonesian troops managed to beat the Dutch troops and occupy the city for several hours. The leader of the raid to Yogyakarta was Lt. Col. Soeharto. The leader of a similar raid on Surakarta on August 7, 1949 was Lt. Col. Slamet Riyadi.
To commemorate this event, the main street on the city of Surakarta is renamed as "Brigadier General Slamet Riyadi Street".
Struggle for IndependenceBy 1950 Surakarta had a population of 165,484 In 1950 Surakarta, or Solo, was a trade center for such agricultural products as rice, rubber, corn, indigo, cassava and sugar. It also had seen the development of some industries. These included tanning, textiles and machinery. Also batik making was a common activity.
Independence
From October 1965 to 1966, there was a large scale chaos in Central Java, because of an abortive coup by a rebel group called "Dewan Revolusi" or G30S.
1960s troubles
In the early 1980s, Abubakar Basyir and Husein Al Habshi established Pesantren Ngruki, an Islamic school in Surakarta. Their views are considered by some to be extreme and hard line, a threat to the pluralistic and democratic nature of Indonesian society.
In 1984-1985, an extreme Muslim group with connections to the Ngruki school began plotting violent actions. They planned to attack foreign tourists in the nearby Borobudur temple and on the island of Bali. However the bomb at Borobudur exploded prematurely early in the morning, and no one was hurt. The bomb sent to Bali exploded prematurely on the "Pemudi" bus on the way from Surakarta to Bali.
In 1985, Basyir and Habshi were arrested by the police. They were sentenced to several years in prison. They appealed the sentence and during the appeal process, Basyir managed to escape to Malaysia and stayed there for 14 years. In Malaysia, Basyir and Sungkar established the "Jihad Islam" (JI) organization.
In May 1998, there was a large scale riot in Surakarta, because of oil price hikes. A mob ransacked and burned the office of the Surakarta mayor and other nearby government buildings. The destroyed buildings have since been rebuilt.
In 1999, Basyir returned to Indonesia and established an Islamist group called Majelis Mujahiddin Indonesia (MMI) in Surakarta. This group often conducts sweeps against foreign tourists from the USA, the UK, Denmark, and Italy in Surakarta.
From 2002 to 2005, terrorists related to the JI group were blamed for bomb attacks against foreign tourist in various areas in Indonesia. Some believe most JI terrorists are alumni of "Pesantren Ngruki" in Surakarta. However since most of these Islamist radicals are still at large it is hard to say what their full history is.
Recent Developments
Although people in Central Java use the same language named boso Jowo (Javanese), they have special characteristics which differentiate from which region they come. For example, for the word "cold" (dingin in Indonesian, especially for weather), people in Surakarta use the word adem, but people in Semarang use the word atis. The Javanese language of Surakarta and Yogyakarta is used as the standard for all Javanese speakers throughout the nation. However it should be born in mind that Indonisias official language is not Javanese, so this languge is of less importance than its number of native speakers would suggest.
Cuisine
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Nikolai Alexandrovich Bulganin (Russian: Никола́й Алекса́ндрович Булга́нин, Nikolaj Aleksandrovič Bulganin; June 11 [O.S. May 30] 1895 – February 24, 1975) was a prominent Soviet politician, who served as Minister of Defense (1953-55) and Prime Minister (1955-58).
Bulganin was born in Nizhny Novgorod, the son of an office worker. He joined the Bolshevik Party in 1917, and in 1918 he was recruited into the Cheka, the Bolshevik regime's political police, where he served until 1922. After the Russian Civil War he became an industrial manager, working in the electricity administration until 1927, and as director of the Moscow electricity supply in 1927-31. From 1931 to 1937 he was chairman of the executive committee of the Moscow City Soviet.
In 1934 the Communist Party's XVII Party Congress elected Bulganin a candidate member of the Central Committee. A loyal Stalinist, he was promoted rapidly as other leaders fell victim to Joseph Stalin's Great Purge of 1937-38. In July 1937 he was appointed Prime Minister of the Russian Republic (RSFSR). He became a full member of the Central Committee later that year, and in September 1938 he became Deputy Prime Minister of the Soviet Union, and also head of the State Bank of the USSR.
During World War II Bulganin played a leading role in the government, and also in the Red Army, although he was never a front-line commander. He was given the rank of Colonel-General and was a member of the State Committee of Defense. In 1944 he was appointed Deputy Commissar for Defense, under Stalin, and served as Stalin's principal agent in the High Command of the Red Army. In 1946 he became Minister for the Armed Forces and was promoted to the rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union. He also became a candidate member of the Politburo of the Communist Party. He was again Deputy Prime Minister of the Soviet Union, under Stalin, from 1947 to 1950. In 1948 he became a full member of the Politburo.
Monday, October 22, 2007
Chris Johns is a photographer and currently Editor-in-Chief of National Geographic Magazine.
Born in Oregon in April 1951, He studied agriculture at Oregon State University and photojournalism at the University of Minnesota. Johns, who began his photography career as a staff member at The Topeka Capital-Journal (where he and Gerald Ford's daughter Susan Ford were the paper's two interns in 1975). He was named National Press Photographers Association's Newspaper Photographer of the Year in 1979. After joining National Geographic, he contributed extensively, shooting two cover articles before becoming an editor.
Johns has photographed extensively in Africa. The foreword to Johns' photography book Valley of Life: Africa's Great Rift was written by Nelson Mandela.
He lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia with his wife and daughters.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Auburn University
Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a state university located in Auburn, Alabama, USA. With more than 23,000 students and 1,200 faculty, it is the largest university in the state, a private liberal arts school affiliated with the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. The college was donated to the state of Alabama in 1872, when it became the state's public land-grant university under the Morrill Act and was renamed the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Alabama. In 1892, the college became the first four-year coeducational school in the state. The college was renamed the Alabama Polytechnic Institute (API) in 1899. In 1960, its name was officially changed to Auburn University, as it had long been popularly known. Auburn is one of only 13 American universities designated as a land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research center.
History
The school was reopened in 1866 following the end of the Civil War and has been open ever since. In 1872, control of the institution was transferred from the Methodist Church to the State of Alabama for financial reasons. Alabama placed the school under the provisions of the Morrill Act as a land-grant institution, the first in the South to be established separate from the state university. This act provided for 240,000 acres (971 km²) of Federal land to be sold in order to provide funds for an agricultural and mechanical school. As a result, in 1872 the school was renamed to the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Alabama.
Under the provisions of this act, land-grant institutions were also supposed to teach military tactics and train officers for the United States military. In the late 1800s, most students at the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Alabama were enrolled in the cadet program, learning military tactics and training to become future officers. Each county in the state was allowed to nominate two cadets to attend the college free of charge.
In 1892, two historic events occurred: women were first admitted to the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Alabama, and football was first played as a school sport. Eventually, football replaced polo as the main sport on campus. In 1899, the school name was again changed, this time to Alabama Polytechnic Institute.
On October 1, 1918, nearly all of Alabama Polytechnic Institute's able-bodied male students 18 or older voluntarily joined the United States Army for short-lived military careers on campus. The student-soldiers numbered 878, according to API President Charles Thach, and formed the academic section of the Student Army Training Corps. The vocational section was composed of enlisted men sent to Auburn for training in radio and mechanics. The students received honorable discharges two months later following the Armistice that ended World War I. API struggled through the great depression, having scrapped an extensive expansion program by then-President Bradford Knapp. Faculty salaries were cut drastically, and enrollment decreased along with state appropriations to the college.
During World War II, API again found its place training officers for the U.S. Military on campus; Auburn produced over 32,000 troops for the war effort. Following the end of World War II, API, like many colleges around the country, experienced a period of massive growth caused by returning soldiers taking advantage of their GI Bill offer of free education. In the five-year period following the end of the war, enrollment at API more than doubled.
Post-Civil War
Recognizing that the school had moved beyond its agricultural and mechanical roots, it was granted university status by the Alabama Legislature in 1960 and officially renamed Auburn University, a name that better expressed the varied academic programs and expanded curriculum that the school had been offering for years. Like most universities in the American South, Auburn was racially segregated prior to 1963, with only white students being admitted. Compared to the images of George Wallace standing in the door of the University of Alabama, integration went smoothly at Auburn, with the first African-American student being admitted in 1964, and the first doctoral degree being granted to an African-American in 1967.
Today, Auburn has grown since its founding in 1856 to have the largest on-campus enrollment in the state of Alabama, with over 23,000 students and a faculty of almost 1,200 at the main campus in Auburn. Additionally, there are over 6,000 students at the Auburn University Montgomery satellite campus established in 1967.
Name Change: Auburn
Auburn has traditionally been rated highly by academic ranking services. According to the most recent rankings from U.S. News & World Report, Auburn is ranked 38th among the nation's top 50 public universities and is tied for 3rd among public universities in the SEC (sharing this spot with the University of Tennessee and the University of Alabama). Auburn University is typically the highest-ranked university in the state of Alabama in the U.S. News & World Report rankings, having held the number one ranking in the state for 12 of the past 14 years, and was ranked below another university only on one occasion (and tied this year). Auburn was the only college or university in Alabama included in the inaugural edition (1981) of the widely respected Peterson's Guides to America's 296 Most Competitive Colleges, .
Auburn is a charter member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC), which is comprised of 11 of the largest Southern public universities in the US and one private university, Vanderbilt. Among the other 10 peer public universities, 2 are ranked ahead of Auburn by U.S. News & World Report, and 2 others tie Auburn. This high ranking and reputation for academic quality is in spite of the fact that Auburn's $316 million endowment
The university currently consists of thirteen schools and colleges. Programs in engineering, architecture and business have been ranked among the best in the country and Auburn also boasts strong programs in veterinary medicine, mathematics, science, agriculture, and journalism. The university's core curriculum has likewise been recognized as one of the best in the nation.
The Ginn College of Engineering has a 134-year tradition of engineering education, consistently ranking in the nation's top 20 engineering programs in terms of numbers of engineers graduating annually. The college has a combined enrollment of close to 4,000. Auburn's College of Engineering offers majors in civil, mechanical, electrical, industrial, polymer and fiber engineering, aerospace, agricultural, chemical engineering, computer science, and software engineering, and--more recently--began a program in wireless engineering after receiving a donation from alumnus Samuel L. Ginn. In 2001, Ginn, a noted US pioneer in wireless communication, made a $25 million gift to the college and announced plans to spearhead an additional $150 million in support. This gave Auburn the first Bachelor of Wireless Engineering degree program in the United States. Auburn University was the first university in the Southeast to offer the bachelor of software engineering degree and the master of software engineering degree.
Auburn has historically placed much of its emphasis on the education of engineers at the undergraduate level, and in recent years has been ranked as high as the 10th largest undergraduate engineering program in the US in terms of the number of undergraduate degrees awarded on annual basis. The Ginn College of Engineering is now focused on growing the graduate programs, and recent rankings demonstrate the increasing profile of graduate engineering education at Auburn. The Ginn College of Engineering was recently ranked 60th nationally overall and 35th among public universities that offer doctoral programs in engineering by U.S. News and World Report. Last year, the College ranked 67th among all engineering programs and 40th among such programs at public universities. "America's Best Graduate Schools 2006" ranks the Ginn College of Engineering's graduate program in the Top 100 graduate engineering programs in the US. Auburn's Industrial and Systems Engineering, Civil Engineering, Chemical Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering were all ranked in the top 100.
The architecture profession's publication Design-Intelligence recently ranked Auburn's School of Architecture as the No. 1 school in the South for preparing its graduates for the professional field. In addition, the school was ranked No. 10 in value nationally, with a 9th place national ranking for the Interior Architecture program. Of critical mention here is the School's Rural Studio programme, founded by the late Samuel Mockbee.
Auburn's Economics Department, in the College of Business, was ranked 123rd in the world in 1999 by the Journal of Applied Econometrics. Auburn was rated ahead of such international powerhouses as INSEAD in France (141st) and the London Business School (146th). Auburn's MBA Program in the College of Business has annually been ranked by U.S. News and World Report magazine in the top ten percent of the nation's more than 750 MBA Programs.
Nationally recognized ROTC programs are available in three branches of service: Air Force, Army, and Navy/Marine Corps, the latter being the only one of its kind in Alabama. Each of these three ROTC units is ranked among the top ten in the nation. Over 100 officers that attended Auburn have reached flag rank (general or admiral), including one, Carl Epting Mundy Jr., who served as Commandant of the US Marine Corps. Auburn is one of only seven universities in the Nuclear Enlisted Commissioning Program, and has historically been one of the top ROTC producers of Navy nuclear submarine officers.
In addition to the many outstanding ROTC graduates commissioned through Auburn, two masters degree alumni from Auburn, four-star generals Hugh Shelton and Richard Myers, served as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the last decade. Both officers received their commissions elsewhere, and attended Auburn for an M.S. (Shelton) and M.B.A. (Myers).
Auburn has graduated six astronauts (including T.K. Mattingly of Apollo 13 fame) and one current and one former director of the Kennedy Space Center. 1972 Auburn Aerospace Engineering graduate Jim Kennedy, currently director of NASA's Kennedy Space Center, was previously deputy director of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). Several hundred Auburn graduates, primarily engineers and scientists, currently work directly for NASA or NASA contractors. Hundreds of Auburn engineers worked for NASA at MSFC during the peak years of the "space race" in the 1960s, when the Saturn and Apollo moon programs were in full development.
Auburn University owns and operates the 334-acre Auburn-Opelika Robert G. Pitts Airport, providing flight education and fuel, maintenance, and airplane storage. The Auburn University Aviation Department is fully certified by the FAA as an Air Agency with examining authority for private, commercial, instrument, and multiengine courses.
Auburn University has been recognized as having some of the best agriculture, fisheries, and poultry science programs in the South. The Old Rotation on campus is the oldest continuous agricultural experiment in the Southeast, and third oldest in the United States, dating from 1896. In addition, the work of Dr. David Bransby on the use of switchgrass as a biofuel was the source of its mention in the 2006 State of the Union Address.
Modern Healthcare ranked Auburn University's Physicians Executive M.B.A. (PEMBA) program in the College of Business ninth in the nation among all degree programs for physician executives, according to the Journal's May 2006 issue. Among M.B.A. programs tailored specifically for physicians, AU's program is ranked second.
Academics
College of Agriculture, 1872
College of Architecture, Design and Construction, 1907
College of Business, 1967
College of Education, 1915
Samuel Ginn College of Engineering, 1872
School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, 1984
College of Human Sciences, 1916
College of Liberal Arts, 1986
School of Nursing, 1979
James Harrison School of Pharmacy, 1885
College of Sciences and Mathematics, 1986
College of Veterinary Medicine, 1907
Graduate School, 1872 Schools and year originated
Student life
For most of the early history of Auburn, boarding houses and barracks made up most of the student housing. Even into the 1970s, boarding houses were still available in the community. It wasn't until the great depression that Auburn began to construct the first buildings on campus that were "dorms" in the modern sense of the word. As the university gradually shifted away from agricultural and military instruction to more of an academic institution, more and more dorms began to replace the barracks and boarding houses.
Auburn's first dorms were hardly luxurious. Magnolia Dormitory, built in the 1950s and demolished in 1987, was once used by the state of Alabama in its defense against a lawsuit brought by state prison inmates. The inmates claimed that housing two men in a cell of particularly small dimensions constituted 'cruel and unusual punishment.' The state argued in court that students at Auburn actually paid to live in even smaller living spaces—at Magnolia Dorm. The inmates lost the case. Its "twin", Noble Hall, used as a women's residence, was demolished only in 2005 and was condemned during at least the final year in which it was inhabited.
In the last twenty years, the city of Auburn has experienced a rapid growth in the number of apartment complexes constructed. Most Auburn students today live off-campus in the apartment complexes and condos, which surround the immediate area around the university. Less than 25 percent of Auburn students live on campus.
Auburn's on-campus student housing consists of three complexes located at various locations over campus -- "The Quad", "The Hill", and "The Extension".
"The Quad" is the oldest of the four, dating to the Great Depression projects begun by the Works Progress Administration and located in Central Campus. Made up of eleven buildings, the Quad houses undergraduate students. Nine of the buildings are coed by floor, the remaining two are female-only.
"The Hill" is made up of 14 buildings and is located in South Campus. The Hill houses mostly undergraduate women with the exception of the two high-rise dormitories (Boyd and Sasnett), which are coed by floor. All of the Hill dormitories house at least one sorority with their chapter rooms in the basement.
"The Extension" is a block of six buildings (labeled A, B, C, D, E, and F), each comprised of two-bedroom apartments, housing undergraduates.
"The Village," formerly known as married student housing, recently housed a variety of students, to include undergraduates, graduates, and married students. In May 2006, this housing complex was closed to students and was demolished during the summer and early fall of 2006; however, it will be rebuilt in 8, 4-story buildings to accommodate 1,700 residents. The new Village is scheduled for completion in 2009 and is rumored to be primarily for sororities.
Housing
Male Greeks in Auburn are roughly divided into two separate areas: Old Row and New Row. "Old Row" traditionally was made up of the fraternities whose houses were located along Magnolia Avenue on the north side of campus. "New Row" is made up of fraternities whose houses were located along Lem Morrison Drive southwest of campus. However, being an "Old Row" or "New Row" fraternity doesn't really depend on where the house is located but on the age of the fraternity. Ergo, there are some "Old Row" fraternities with houses on "New Row" Lem Morrison Drive because they moved there. Today's "Old Row" on and around Magnolia Avenue was once the "New Row," as the first generation of fraternity houses at Auburn were on or near College Street. Most of these houses were demolished by the end of the 1970s, and only two fraternity houses remain on College today.
There are sixteen sororities represented at Auburn University. Sorority recruitment is a week-long process held by the Panhellenic Council in August every year. Sororities are located not in individual houses like Auburn fraternities, but in the designated dorms located on the Hill. This has had the unintended side effect of keeping dues for these sororities among the lowest in the nation. Each dorm has a sorority "chapter" room within it for the sorority designated to that dorm.
Greek associated students make up roughly 18 percent of men and 34 percent of women at Auburn. Many of the Student Government Association Presidents have been greek.
Greek life
On to vict'ry, strike up the band! Give 'em hell, give 'em hell, Stand up and yell, hey! War Eagle, fight for Auburn, Power of Dixieland! 
The Auburn University Marching Band
Lefthit