08S09 Class Blog

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Interesting Read

Here's 2 articles,
one: It's better to trust the compass than machine
&
two: A remarkable feat by a single man who left behind the blueprints of nature to the World

1)Big Blunder for Marines

Tell it to the marines... we've invaded the wrong country

An attempt to show off their prowess at dawn assaults went badly wrong for a unit of heavily armed British Royal Marines at the weekend when they accidentally invaded the wrong country.
The platoon of some 30 marines stormed from a landing craft on to the San Felipe beach in the Spanish town of La Linea, carrying 60mm mortars and SA80 assault rifles, and took up defensive positions on the sand.

Instead of being fired on with blank rounds by fellow British soldiers pretending to be the enemy, the marines found themselves being stared at by startled local fishermen.

The enemy, when they appeared, turned out to be two blue-uniformed officers from La Linea's municipal police force, who informed the detachment of marines that they were not, as they had thought, in Gibraltar.

"They were told that they must have made a mistake. This sort of thing does not happen very often here," a police spokesman in La Linea said yesterday.

The marines beat a hasty retreat and went off to find the real Gibraltar. This, locals observed, was easily recognisable because it had a 1,398ft high rock sticking out of it.

Embarrassed Ministry of Defence officials in London admitted yesterday that the invading force, which had come from the helicopter carrier HMS Ocean, had got lost in bad weather on Sunday morning and ended up "attacking" a different country.

"It was clearly an embarrassing and unfortunate incident," an MoD spokesman said. "They made their apologies and left."

A La Linea police spokesman said: "We reported the incident to the relevant authorities at the interior ministry."

The local Europa Sur newspaper reported yesterday that Spain was considering making a formal diplomatic complaint to the British embassy in Madrid.

An embassy spokesman said yesterday that no such complaint had been received but admitted that senior diplomats on both sides had discussed the incident.

The British invasion of Spain came just as the two countries were in the middle of a delicate process of trying to sort out their 300-year-old wrangle over the Rock.

Historically it has been the Spaniards who have tried to invade Gibraltar. La Linea itself gets its name from the "firing line" for Spanish cannon. The reversal of roles has done little to ease tensions on either side of la verja, as Gibraltarians call the frontier with Spain.

HMS Ocean had reportedly stopped off in Gibraltar on its way to the Persian Gulf.

The MoD spokesman explained the marines would have guided themselves from the warship to the beach with an ordinary compass.

But he did not think disciplinary action likely: "I am sure some lessons have been learned."

2) Coral Castle: Mysterious Monument to Lost Love

How Did One Small Man Move 1,100 Tons of Stone to Build a Marvel of Engineering?
By SAM CHAMPION, DARCY BONFILS and JONANN BRADY

Like the ancient wonders of Stonehenge or the Great Pyramids of Egypt, there is an incredible and mysterious creation right here in the United States.

Coral Castle, in Homestead, Fla., just south of Miami, is an intricate rock garden made of enormous pieces of coral, many of them weighing several tons.

But more amazingly, Coral Castle was built entirely by one man — Latvian immigrant Ed Leedskalnin, who stood just 5 feet tall and weighed 100 pounds. To this day, no one knows how he did it.

Monument to Lost Love

Leedskalnin was jilted by his 16-year-old fiancee Agnes Scuffs in Latvia just days before the wedding. Heartbroken and hoping to win Scuffs back, Leedskalnin traveled to the United States in 1923 and dedicated his life to building a monument to her, which he called Rock Gate Park. It was a project that he continued to work on until his death in 1951.

The castle is an extraordinary feat of engineering, and experts have puzzled over how Leedskalnin, who only had a fourth-grade education, constructed Coral Castle by himself. He reportedly did all of the work in the dark of night, in order to keep his secrets.

For example, how did this little man build a 9-ton coral gate constructed so precisely that you can push it open using one finger?

The castle also has a 40-foot tall, 28-ton obelisk, a sun dial that still keeps perfect time and a Polaris telescope that is perfectly aligned with the North Star.

Leedskalnin lived a reclusive, self-contained life at the castle — he built a water well, a fountain, a barbecue and several pieces of furniture, including an enormous heart-shaped table, 25 rocking chairs, a bathtub, beds and a 5,000-pound throne.

Did Aliens Help Him Build It?

There are many theories on how Leedskalnin accomplished this amazing feat. Some say he had help from extraterrestrials, others believe he discovered the secrets behind anti-gravity and levitation.

Leedskalnin was a self-taught expert on magnetic currents, and one theory holds that he positioned the site to be perfectly aligned with Earth's poles to eliminate the forces of gravity, allowing him to move stones weighing several tons each.

Even Albert Einstein couldn't figure it out, says Jon Pasturing, an engineer who visited Coral Castle as a child.

Pasturing has also wondered how Leedskalnin did it, but he rules out extraterrestrials and magnetics.

Pasturing believes Leedskalnin employed a basic engineering principle, block and tackle, which uses a pulley system to hoist heavy objects into place.

"You can move a 20-ton rock if you have enough of a sophisticated block-and-tackle system," Pasturing said.

Old photos seem to back the idea. They show Leedskalnin raising stones with a giant pulley, and another pulley was found in his tool shed.

Leedskalnin took those secrets to his grave, but Coral Castle stands as a magical gift he gave to the world.

~Tay~

Thursday, November 20, 2008

first time blog in class blog......

As the saying goes, an apple a day keep the doctors away, a joke a day keep u laughing all the way. so i going to share with you all some jokes to stay happie.

Joke 1) Holmes and Watson Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson were going camping. They pitched their tent under the stars and went to sleep.

Sometime in the middle of the night Holmes woke Watson up and said: "Watson, look up at the stars and tell me, what do you see?"

Watson replied: "I see millions and millions of stars."

Holmes said: "And what do you deduce from that?"

Watson replied: "Well, if there are millions of stars, and if even a few of those have planets, it's quite likely there are some planets like earth out there. And if there are a few planets like earth out there, there might also be life."

And Holmes said: "Watson, you idiot, it means that somebody stole our tent."

Jokes 2) Three women are about to be executed. One's a Japanese, one's an American, and one's a Chinese. The guard brings the Japanese forward and the executioner asks if she has any last requests.

She says no, and the executioner shouts, "Ready! Aim..." Suddenly the Japanese yells, "EARTHQUAKE!!!"

Everyone is startled and throws themselves on the ground while she escapes. The guard brings the American forward and the executioner asks if she has any last requests.

She say no, and the executioner shouts, "Ready! Aim..." Suddenly the American yells, "TORNADO!!!" Everyone is startled and looks around for cover while she escapes.

By now the Chinese has it all figured out. The guard brings her forward and the executioner asks if she has any last requests. She says no, and the executioner shouts, "Ready! Aim..."

And the Chinese yells, "FIRE!!!"

lol not funny i think, but the class blog a bit rusty so come up with some crap......

Monday, November 17, 2008

Hey people
Badminton this thurs morning 10a.m ( currently booked for 2 hrs but still can extend )
@ Jurong West Sports Complex.

* we'll be meeting in sch @ 9.30a.m
PKS will be driving us there.
those who wanna come along and meet us please TAG to let us know.

* Those who need rackets please let us (LHM or YiQian) know
asap so we can borrow from PKS.

* Currently going :
LHM
Yi Qian
PKS
Uncle Ming
Chew Beng
Bervyn
Jin Wen
(others welcomed too. just tag )

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Hie guys,
anybody interested in playing badminton this coming Thursday (morning) with Mr Peh. Location is either at Jurong West or Jurong East Sports Complex. After which there will be a birthday celebration for Mr Peh cos this coming Friday is his birthday. Location to be comfirmed. If you are interested, please sms GJ or just tag on the tag board asap. Thank you.

bbq pics

hey guys! these are the bbq pics...sorry if they are not exactly in order and that i took so long to load it up...oh ya, some pics weren't taken by me...

fire trouble

mr shades - ls

our class's chairperson aka gkim's husband *hehe*
i didn't take this photo!!!

smoky

delwin helping to set up the fire

smoky chalet with 2 ppl slping thru it

Monday, November 10, 2008

Chalet Briefing ( 12-14 nov 08 )

Hi all,
as instructed by Guangjie to post about meet up before going down to chalet this coming Wednesday

Chalet Check-in time:

2.30pm

Chalet venue:

Costa Sands Resort (Pasir Ris)
159M, Jalan Loyang Besar, Pasir Ris Park, S'pore 509404
Unit C-10

Transport:

Train to Pasir Ris then,
switch to bus service 354 &
alight at bus-stop next to Downtown East

1. We'll meet on Jurong East Mrt platform as a class @ 11.30am
(Some buffer time for late comers)
If you are going to be late,
kindly inform someone who has reached.

Helpers to carry items are excluded. (They are taking taxi)

We'll then decide where to eat for lunch,
either at Jurong East or Pasir Ris

2. Bring Class-tee for the BBQ night

Lastly, When you have read this post,
do acknowledge it by tagging received with your name that's
reflected on NRIC (roger that and others not considered)

No Nicknames/shortforms

Help spread this message to fellow classmates!

Don't acknowledge on behalf of others
Thanks

Let's look forward to a fruitful chalet :)

Regards, Tay

Saturday, November 8, 2008

Incredible but possible--Tay

More for all to Enjoy!

Archery

Trick shot by Rob Mollien
*Turn on your speakers*

Human Tetris