Maldives ibu's Eyes

Maldives To Fight Rising Sea Levels With Floating Islands

The tiny island nation of the Maldives is under serious threat from rising sea levels caused by climate change. No part of the 1200 islands which make up the Maldives is more than six feet above sea level, so as sea-levels rise (as they will if rampant climate change is not stopped), the entire nation will be under water. Because of this, the Maldives government is pulling out all the stops in the fight against climate change. Not only has the entire country gone carbon neutral, educated all of their children in environmental science and furiously built retaining walls around every island, but the government is buying up land in nearby nations as a place to retreat to when the Maldives disappears. Now it appears that the intrepid Maldivians have come up with a new strategy to fight the rising tide: creating mini floating islands!

The Maldives government and Dutch Docklands/Dutch Watervalley just signed an agreement today to develop several floating facilities for the islands, including a convention center and golf courses. Designed by architect Koen Olthuis of Waterstudio.NL, the people who brought you the Citadel floating apartment complex and these amazing floating homes, the renderings for the amphibious mini-cities appear depict star-shaped, tiered islands with indoor spaces hidden under lush green-roof terraces, complete with interior pools and beaches.

While exact design details of these new floating islands are still unavailable, we do know that Dutch Docklands knows a thing or two about creating water developments using methods and procedures that reduce impact on underwater life and minimize changes to coastal morphology. We also know that architect Koen Olthuis is a force to be reckoned with, so we can’t wait to see these creative designs come to fruition.

At the signing ceremony, Mahmood Razi, Chairman of the Privatisation Committee said the Maldives plans to seek the assistance of Dutch Docklands to develop floating housing units in the Maldives in the future.

dutch
watervalley & docklands (Maldives)

N. Velidhoo Year 2013, Dreaming of a Home in Paradise? Don't Just Dream a Dream . .

High holiday: Marijuana smokers across the US and Canada light up to celebrate 4/20 Day

Marijuana smokers across the US and Canada lit up yesterday in public parks and outside statehouses to observe the movement's annual high holiday, known as 4/20

A demonstrator who shaved a marijuana leaf into his chest hair smokes a joint on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada

April 20 has become a de facto holiday for marijuana advocates, with large gatherings and 'smoke outs' in many parts of North America

A woman wears a joint costume at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco

The gatherings carry on a tradition that began in San Francisco in the early 1970s, where a group of students met every day at about 4:20 p.m. to smoke marijuana

A woman passes a joint at 4/20 celebration in front of the state capitol building in Denver, Colorado

Most Americans still oppose legalising marijuana, but many believe pot has medical benefits and the government should allow its use for that purpose

A person smokes a joint resembling a marijuana plant while attending the annual 4/20 smoke-in in Vancouver

A man blows marijuana smoke into a soap bubble during the 4/20 event on Norlin Quad at the University of Colorado in Boulder

Alex Leach of Boulder exhales after taking a drag off a joint at the University of Colorado

An estimated 12,000 to 15,000 people all exhale marijuana smoke as the clock hits 4:20pm on Norlin Quad at the University of Colorado in Boulder

Members of the Boulder Police Department and University of Colorado Police Department wander through the crowd during the 4/20 event on Norlin Quad at the University of Colorado

A street preacher has marijuana smoke puffed in his face as he confronts smokers at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco

Someone rolls a joint on Hippie Hill in Golden Gate Park

A man smokes from a bong during a 420 Day celebration on Hippie Hill in Golden Gate Park

Marijuana smokers gather at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco

A man wearing a 420 T-shirt user smokes a joint on Hippie Hill in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco

A man smokes a blunt at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco

A man lights up his pipe during a rally at Civic Centre Park across from the Capitol in Denver, Colorado

Tracey Wood lights a pipe filled with marijuana for her boyfriend Micah Moffet at a 4/20 event in front of the state capitol building in Denver, Colorado. Moffett was legally prescribed the drug for chronic pain resulting from a motorcycle accident in 1991

A man with a marijuana plant painted on his hair attends the 420 event in Vancouver

A person wearing a t-shirt parodying the emblem of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games attends the annual 420 event in Vancouver

A person sells marijuana while attending the annual 420 smoke-in at the Art Gallery in Vancouver

A person smells hash for sale at the Art Gallery in Vancouver

A demonstrator smokes a marijuana joint on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada

A man waves a Canadian flag with a marijuana leaf on it during a rally for the legalisation of marijuana in Toronto

..A gun is seen on the ground after an altercation during a rally calling for the legalisation of marijuana in Toronto

A man is held on the ground by members of the public after an altercation during a rally calling the legalisation of marijuana in Toronto. Police arrested the man after a gun was seized... source from
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Singapore tour

Where Facebook profiles go when we die?

One day, we all are going to die. And when you do, what happens to you're online presence?. Here's how Facebook is dealing with the dead people.

If you're one of those who are addicted to Facebook, Facebook will be the most important fixture in you're digital mausoleum. I mean, it's a basically a catch-all for your memories, with timestamped comments, loads of personal info, and pictures. (Oh dear god, the pictures...) It's the first place acquaintances look after someone dies, and the first place the press will look if your death was particularly public or tragic.

How one can deal with a dead profile. Here are the options:

• Report an account to be memorialized: Accounts can be turned into digital insta-memorials. This is a service Facebook actually offers:

"Please report this information... so that we can memorialize this person's account. Memorializing the account removes certain more sensitive information like status updates and restricts profile access to confirmed friends only."

This is a safe option, since it gives the deceased a certain degree of privacy, without eliminating their memory forever. As depressing as it may sound, there's a form you can fill out for this.

• Take the account down: From the memorialization FAQ:

"We do honor requests from close family members to close the account completely."

If you make a special request (again through the form) you can have the account removed completely. You've pretty much gotta be someone's parent or spouse for this one, though.

• Sue for access: Need to see your family member's Facebook profile, for closure? This treads well into some gray area, but it turns out, you can sort of do this. Sometimes. From Legacy Locker:

"If your family is intent on gaining access to your Facebook account, they'll have to resort to legal action against Facebook. Not surprisingly, this is becoming increasingly more common...

The deceased was a young adult who had been hit by a drunk driver while on his motorcycle. The mother was aware that her son was a prolific Facebook user and wanted access as part of the grieving process. She wanted the ability to communicate with his friends and maintain the connection to her son. His virtual self was one of the key things she had left to remember him by."

The woman had access to her son's account, and it was only when Facebook realized the boy was dead that they revoked it. She sued to get it back, and eventually:

"Facebook provided the parents an electronic snapshot of their son's Facebook page to see everything contained within it. This included all messages, wall postings and photographs. Facebook also permitted ongoing access to the public portion of the page. This is akin to the view that any "friend" would have of the page."

New concept at Maldives

They say: eating tuna gives good brains …. I would like to find out, in particular of course about the Maldives
We need some help, from you, but just some brain-storming
As you could figure out somewhere else on this Couchsurfing, Hospitality Club wants to bring lower-budget tourists to Maldives.
Sun, water, sea, beach … it’s freely available, but not every potential tourist can afford – or wants to do so – the expenses of staying in a resort. These are beautiful places, with excellent services, kind of heaven on earth … though only accessible for the better off “angles” for such heaven …
We think that more people like to come as tourists to Maldives, that there are different people who are interested in, that there are quite a number of lower-budget tourists who could make it for the Maldivian paradise
That leads to the inhabited islands, where tourism like that could also contribute to local economic and thus social development
So, we will try to convince tourists to join us in Maldives. To come to Malé by regular flights, booked by themselves, on our tips and advice.
From arrival we’ll take care of them. One night staying (any choice), and then transport to Noonu Velidhoo.
For the staying : we will talk to the Ministry of Tourism about the idea of ‘home staying’.
It would be a new concept for the Maldives and already in use since many years in most of European countries. It is an inexpensive alternative for staying in resorts or (star)hotels. Simply because those options are too expensive for this kind of tourists.
Alternative staying could be in a local guesthouse – which come also available in Noonu Velidhoo soon.
Next and major point: what are these tourists going to DO in Velidhoo?
Tourist facilities or holiday activities are not too much available … though we must assure the tourists that we have enough time pass activities for our tourists, to avoid they would get ‘bored’ because of not that much happening. Let’s be realistic.
So, our tourists stay in a decent room with attached bathroom. For their breakfast and other meals (if included in their package) the tourists come to resto bistro Mama Mia.
Next to that, we have to offer them “things to do” in the time they have available, next to “eating, sleeping, shitting” – another saying in Noonu Velidhoo
The sun, sea, water, beaches are there, and we will have a boat and guys who can manage these things.
So, we have been thinking to offer the tourists in Velidhoo ‘activities’ like :
free non-paying activities
•beach and sun bathing – clean beach, refreshers available
•swimming – instructor can be hired
•we provide a map of Velidhoo with ‘to do’ and ‘to see’, like all shops and other cafeteria, fisher men, …. seasonal festivities, local culture, …
•"meet the locals” – we organise a meeting with a family at home, local youth, mosque, school, …
paying activities like:
(We’ll have a boat and qualified locals to manage that, Ahmed, Muaz and others, also trainees)
- Snorkeling – day and night time
- Big game fishing
- Night fishing
- Sun set and dolphin cruise
- Sun rise …
- Daily trips to uninhabited islands
..
But we still feel we should look for more, different, alternative ideas.
So, we need your help, your brain storming
Consider this list above, and give us more ideas about what we could offer to tourists on the islands of Maldives.
“If at first the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it.” - Albert Einstein, not me
Any contribution is welcome. All ideas will be considered. Ideas can lead to different thoughts.
Feel free, let us know.
Leave your creativity behind on this discussion board, or drop us a mail: ecogreenmaldives@gmail.com
Thanks anyhow, we’ll keep you updated!

Your profile should speak for you!

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The Real Meaning of Adventure

What is adventure? Some people believe that adventure is not just that extreme and dangerous experience that one could find existing. On the contrary, they believe that it is an attitude that helps us face the obstacles present in our daily routine. For example, the challenges we have to deal with, the new and different options that life offers, the unknown that is at all time waiting for us, represent an adventure in itself. And it is in this adventure that the human beings discover themselves.

The word adventure has different meanings for different people. Generally, adventure implies thrill and excitement, risks and dangers, and the unexpected and extraordinary experiences. The adventurous people are always on the look out for things that will evoke new feelings and sensations. This is the definition of adventure commonly accepted. However, there are others for whom adventure means much more than this. They associate adventure with a certain bent of mind that helps them enjoy life to the fullest, by accepting it as it unfolds before them. They see opportunities in difficulties and treat hurdles as stepping-stones. They accept everything knowing very well that there is nothing without its pluses and minuses.

Therefore, life is seen as an adventure in itself. It is the manner in which you decide to view and live your own life. And the approach you have to life will certainly affect the way you experience this mysterious journey which we are part of. Some people believe that traveling, sightseeing or hanging on a rope is what an adventure stands for. But the problem may be that they are not experiencing their life as an exploration and their boring life leads them to lookfor excitement outside themselves.

This hidden and deeper meaning of adventure can only be understood by changing one's point of view towards life. This will not only enable you to identify the raison d'etre of your life, but will also help you recognize your strengths and weaknesses, and accept yourself as a person. However, one needs to realize that one just doesn't stumble upon adventures just like that. It is only through discovering our own strengths that we can uncover these adventures, and derive wisdom from them. As human beings, we are posed in the world in such a manner that we are compulsive adventurers. And, being so, we are capable of shaping our own lives and destinies, through a positive and constructive approach.

Life is a rare opportunity. With a little faith we can change the very meaning of life. Hurdles and obstacles can be used as openings and opportunities to discover the extent of our strength and courage. The secret lies in living life as an ever-new, ever-fresh adventure and being open to accepting whatever comes our way.