Within a decade, technical diving has moved from being the preserve of extremists to becoming a main stream, yet specialized, field. The rationale behind technical diving has been reached only after passing through a series of challenges and scrutiny in the past. In the late 1980s the International Association of Nitrox Technical Divers became the first specialized technical training centre,...
The English colonists in North America were neither adventurers nor the rulers of great and ancient peoples. Unlike various colonizers down the ages, they had no need to impress the native people, nor did they have a strong local tradition to fit into. They were simple, hard-working people, often craftsmen, seeking a better life across the sea. There was little stone suitable for building, and...
There are few beaches on Hong Kong Island you can reach after a hike, rewarding your efforts with relaxing scenery, a cool swim and perhaps even some rolling surf. I'm going to suggest a fantastic and scenic route.
Starting from a bus stop at the beginning of Shek 0 Road is a great trail that leads up and over Dragon's Back, perhaps the finest short hike in Hong Kong If you have time to...
You may be surprised to find that many of your favorite brands are franchises. In fact, without realizing it, you most likely do some sort of business with a franchise every day. You've eaten at Baskin-Robbins, Cinnabon, Dunkin' Donuts, KFC, Pizzeria Uno, and Carvel Ice Cream Bakery. You've relied at H&R Block, to ship packages at The UPS Store, and to repair your car at Midas Auto Service...
As the Roman Empire distintegrated amid war and rebellion, living standards in western Europe declined precipitously, and so did the population - to a third of what it had been. Poverty and lawlessness were universal. Marauding pirates converged on the West from Africa, Scandinavia and the Russian Steppes, pillaging deep into the European heartland. The Eastern Roman Empire retained its central...
If you are looking for capital from outside sources, it's not enough to show you are passionate about the idea - you must have a business plan and the prospect of a good return for your investors. You do lose some control by inviting others in to finance your business, but often there would be no business without their help; investor may bring useful skills along with their money.
When you...
Freedom and liberation were the passwords of the 1960s counter-culture, and that meant freedom to act, sing, draw and design in any way one pleased. This "hippie" era saw the emergence of designers like Buckminster Fuller and Paolo Soleri as cult heroes. Free forms and bright colours were characteristic of the new Aquarian age. Form was no longer dictated by function but liberated by fashion.
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At the same period in the late 1920s, three houses were designed which encapsulated the differing strands within the new view of architecture, by then often called "Modernism": the Dymaxion House by Richard Buckminster Fuller in the USA; "Les Terraces" outside Paris by Le Corbusier for the Stein and de Monzie families; and Haus Moller in Potzleinsdorf, a Viennese suburb, by Adolf Loos.
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Out of the immediate military reach of the great empires of Egypt, Babylonia, Assyria and Persia lay the Aegean coast (now western Turkey), the Aegean islands and the valleys of the hilly Greek peninsula beyond. The communities here developed their own small economies and benefited from the cultural and technological advances of the big empires while remaining politically independent.
The...
Yes, love is everywhere. Love is in me and you too. But yet we still ask what love is. And at the same time we might not know how to love! Everyone wants to love and be loved in life. Call it addiction to love or whatever; love is a feeling that cannot be described in words. It has to be felt. Scientifically it is difficult to tell the causes of love. Love has depth. It cannot be defined...
