Topic: Heads or Tails - page 3. (Read 5887 times)

Late 20th century: World Heritage Site designation

The Bidoul/ Bidul or Petra Bedouin were forcibly resettled from their cave dwellings in Petra to Umm Sayhoun/ Um Seihun by the Jordanian government in 1985, prior to the UNESCO designation process. Here, they were provided with block-built housing with some infrastructure including in particular a sewage and drainage system. Among the six communities in the Petra Region, Umm Sayhoun is one of the smaller communities. The village of Wadi Musa is the largest in the area, inhabited largely by the Layathnah Bedouin, and is now the closest settlement to the visitor centre, the main entrance via the Siq and the archaeological site generally. Umm Sayhoun gives access to the 'back route' into the site, the Wadi Turkmaniyeh pedestrian route.[21]

On December 6, 1985, Petra was designated a World Heritage Site.

The Bidouls belong to one of the Bedu tribes whose cultural heritage and traditional skills was proclaimed by UNESCO on the Intangible Cultural Heritage List in 2005 and inscribed[22] in 2008.

In 2011, following an 11-month project planning phase, the Petra Development and Tourism Region Authority in Association with DesignWorkshop and JCP s.r.l published a Strategic Master Plan that guides planned development of the Petra Region. This is intended to guide planned development of the Petra Region in an efficient, balanced and sustainable way over the next 20 years for the benefit of the local population and of Jordan in general. As part of this, a Strategic Plan was developed for Umm Sayhoun and surrounding areas.[23]

The process of developing the Strategy considered the area's needs from five points of view:

a socio-economic perspective;
the perspective of Petra Archaeological Park;
the perspective of Petra’s tourism product;
a land use perspective;
an environmental perspective
Petra today[edit]
27 sites in Petra are now available on Google Street View.[24]

In 2016 archaeologists discovered a large, previously unknown monumental structure buried beneath the sands of Petra using satellite imagery.[25][26][27]

We Happy Few takes its cues from the novels like 1984 and Brave New World. This isn’t a criticism; both books are wonderful reads and you owe it to yourself to sit down and begin turning those pages. Currently in Early Access you step into the shoes of Arthur, a man who works in a building where they censor articles to ensure that nothing bad seems to be happening. You see, sometime during World War II the Germans successfully invaded Britain, and to repel those invaders something so horrible was done that the entire population ended up taking a drug called Joy which makes everything seem…wonderful. It also has the rather lovely effect of making them forget things. People wear strange white masks with permanent smiles, and while on Joy they have a spring in their step and a friendly greeting for everyone. Joy alters their perception of the world, as evidenced when Arthur is pressured into hitting what a group of people see as a pinata, but is actually the corpse of a rat which they proceed to consume, believing it to be delicious candy. IN reality Britain is a mess, with huge swathes of it eating horrid, rotten food and barely surviving. It’s a fascinating world with a heavy atmosphere that feels unique within the world of videgames, although I’m sure someone will hastily correct me. People amble around with creepy white masks on, jumping up and down in puddles and going about their lives with such eery cheerfulness. Damn it, people, this is the UK. People aren’t cheerful here.

Thanks to a flashback caused by a newspaper article Arthur stops taking his Joy, becoming what others refer to as a Downer, something which is very much frowned upon by the rest of society. He begins to see the world for what it is before getting chased by the creepy police force and whacked on the head. Somehow he awakens to find himself in the slums rather than dead, without any Joy pills and with little hope of surviving among the other riff-raff. He has a goal, though; escape. To do that he has to work his way out of the slums, blend in with the rest of society and eventually get his freedom.

Since the release of Pokémon Go in early July 2016, the app has outperformed all expectations. At the time of this writing, over 7.5 million users had downloaded the game in the United States alone, sending Nintendo's stock climbing by 10% in the first week. What makes Pokémon Go so massively appealing? Let's take a look at some of the factors behind the game's success.

As previously mentioned, millions of people joined up as Pokémon trainers within the first week—according to some estimates, the game has been installed on 1 in every 20 Android devices in the U.S. That huge and immediate fanbase means the app is not just a game, but a social experience. Players have organized huge Pokémon Go outings, including a Poké-walk in Australia that drew over 2,000 people for a day of catching and camaraderie. Trainers marched single-file through the park like leaf-cutter ants, only pausing to hit up Pokéstops or pursue a Pikachu.
Pokémon Go has an element of competitive gameplay adding to the fun. Gyms in the game are not held by fictional characters, but by other trainers. Join one of three teams, and use your Pokémon to attack a Gym in a hostile takeover, or defend it on behalf of your team. Gyms in populated areas may change hands multiple times per day, and everyone understands that's the way things are. Battles are conducted between trainers and the game's AI, and there's no in-game communication system—which means there's very little chance to have hard feelings if your Pokémon is defeated.

To start, why might you want to custom build a quadcopter or drone as opposed to simply going to the store and buying one. First, when tinkering with things, you're more likely to break it, fry it, or, in our case: crash it! The issue here is that commercially available drones tend to come with a lot of proprietary parts. What this really means usually is that the company has a monopoly on those specific parts and they charge as such. Also, as you decide to change things, if you have custom built your quadcopter, you can switch out motors, propellers, a frame, and all sorts of things easily with a custom build.

Despite it likely being a better choice to build a quadcopter, it can be quite the hurdle to figure out all of the things you need and how to put one together. If you're like me when I first started, you don't know that not all motors spin in the same direction, for example.

The first choice you have to make is what size of quadcopter / drone you want to make. There are various sizes, but the most popular size is the 250 for custom quadcopters, and then 500ish for the commercial drones. The number corresponds to the distance, diagonally between the motors. At first, I chose to go with a 525, but the 525 is quite large, and not as much fun to fly in my opinion. It does more damage if it does crash, and requires a bit more space to safely fly around. The 250 size is a total blast to fly, much easier to do very quick maneuvers with, and doesn't need as much space to fly safely. A 500 is not double the size of a 250, it is more like 4x the size, so keep this in mind. In this tutorial, we'll wind up building a 250, but feel free to build whatever size you want. The actual needed materials and build process is the same. Costs are also ~ the same, so it really does not matter beyond personal preference.

Is this thread still being checked?

Whenever we ask, “What is love?” it’s usually because a) we’re unsure if a certain special someone really loves us, or b) because a certain special someone just accused us of not really loving them.

When we are truly engaged in giving and receiving love, we don’t ponder such philosophical questions. It’s only when something is lacking that we begin to analyze and contemplate what that thing actually is. For example, nobody sits down to a full meal and asks, “What is a pastrami sandwich?”

So, if we’re even asking the question, “What is love?” it probably means that we don’t feel completely loved, or that someone doesn’t feel completely loved by us.

15 Things You Might Not Know About Mr. Bean

Rowan Atkinson may have more than 50 acting credits on his resume, but to most of the world he’ll always be best known as the ridiculously rubber-faced Mr. Bean. As the iconic British comedy series celebrates its 25th anniversary (complete with a newly remastered DVD set from Shout! Factory), we uncovered 15 things you might not know about Mr. Bean.

1. MR. BEAN BEGAN LIFE ON THE STAGE.

Though it was on January 1, 1990 that Mr. Bean made his television debut on England’s ITV, Rowan Atkinson began developing the character more than a decade earlier, while he was pursuing his master’s degree in electrical engineering. “I was asked in my first term at Oxford to do a sketch in this one-night show at the Oxford Playhouse, and I’d never written anything,” Atkinson recalls in The Story of Mr. Bean, a feature on The Whole Bean DVD. “I’m not really naturally a writer, so I just had to invent sort of 5 minutes of something at 48 hours’ notice. I just stood in front of the mirror and started to mess about with my face. And this strange, surreal, sort of non-speaking character evolved.”

2. ONLY 14 EPISODES WERE EVER PRODUCED.

Even the most dedicated fans have trouble reconciling the fact that only 14 episodes of the live-action series were ever produced. It did, of course, spawn two movies, an animated series (which returned to British television earlier this year), a video game, and some books, including Mr. Bean’s Definitive and Extremely Marvelous Guide to France.

3. THE SERIES WAS BROADCAST IN NEARLY 200 COUNTRIES AROUND THE WORLD.

Because the bulk of the comedy is physical, not narrative, Mr. Bean has not gotten lost in translation. “There doesn’t seem to be a country in the world, or not that I have visited, or indeed none that I have heard of, who don't seem to get him, who don’t seem to understand and enjoy the character of Mr. Bean,” Atkinson told ABC. “I think, and I’ve always assumed, it’s because he’s basically a child trapped in a man’s body."

4. ATKINSON HAS FAITH IN HIS FACE.

While the beginning of Mr. Bean started by looking in the mirror, Atkinson decided to put faith in what he was doing with his face following that first successful performance at Oxford. “In the sketch the following Sunday, I just went through a whole lot of facial expressions,” Atkinson said in a BBC World Service radio interview in January. “I’m not sure whether there was a particular narrative, a logic to it, but I did my best and it certainly solicited laughter. But since then, I’ve hardly ever looked at my face … I hope it’s doing what I think it’s doing.”

5. THE GUY WHO DIRECTED LOVE ACTUALLY DEVELOPED THE CHARACTER WITH ATKINSON.

Atkinson’s creative partner at the time, and the man who helped develop the character of Mr. Bean, was writer-director-producer Richard Curtis. The two collaborated on Not the Nine O’Clock News and Blackadder before Mr. Bean ever hit the airwaves. Curtis would later make the jump to the big screen as the writer of Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill, and Bridget Jones’s Diary, and the writer-director of Love Actually, The Boat That Rocked, and About Time. (Which explains Atkinson’s cameo in Love Actually.)

6. ATKINSON WAS INSPIRED BY JACQUES TATI.

Over the years, Atkinson has repeatedly cited French comedian Jacques Tati as one of the great influences on Mr. Bean. “My interest in physical comedy was from discovering a film by Jacques Tati called Mr. Hulot’s Holiday,” Atkinson says in The Story of Bean. “It just struck a chord with me. I so admired it, because it was an uncompromising comic attitude and setting that I really admired.”

7. MR. BEAN DOESN’T SPEAK IN FRENCH EITHER.

Before he made his small-screen debut, Atkinson tried out the Mr. Bean character on the audience at the Just For Laughs festival in Montreal, Quebec. In order to ensure that the character’s near-silent comedy would translate, he requested to perform for a French-speaking audience as opposed to the English-speaking attendees.

8. HE COULD HAVE BEEN NAMED AFTER ANOTHER VEGETABLE.

It wasn’t until shortly before Mr. Bean hit the airwaves (and after production had already begun) that the character actually got his name. Originally, he was going to be called Mr. White. Then the show’s creators began throwing around some vegetable names, and considered Mr. Cauliflower before deciding on Mr. Bean.



9. MR. BEAN IS THE MAN WHO LIKES TOILETS.

Mr. Bean doesn’t speak often, but when he does the voice he uses is the same one Atkinson used to voice “The Man Who Likes Toilets” sketch on Not the Nine O’Clock News.

10. ATKINSON THINKS MR. BEAN IS AN ANARCHIST.

Atkinson often refers to the character of Mr. Bean as “a child in a grown man’s body.” And in a 2003 interview with IGN, he called him “sort of such a natural anarchist. But at the same time, Mr. Bean is a very, very self-contained character because he's so sort-of introspective and so selfish and self-centered that there's no particular need to have another person in the scene to make him funny.”

11. YES, HE REALLY CAN WIGGLE HIS EARS.

Mr. Bean’s legendary ear wiggle is one trait Atkinson has in common with his on-screen alter ego. While promoting Mr. Bean’s Holiday, ABC’s David Stratton asked “perhaps the most crucial question of the entire interview: can you really wiggle your ears?” To which Atkinson simply replied, “Yes, I can.”

12. MR. BEAN PERFORMED AT THE OLYMPICS.

When London hosted the Summer Olympics in 2012, Mr. Bean was on hand for the opening ceremony, where he ushered in the games with a rendition of “Chariots of Fire.”

13. ATKINSON RETIRED THE ROLE IN LATE 2012.

In an interview with The Telegraph in November of 2012, Atkinson admitted that Mr. Bean’s time was coming to an end. “The stuff that has been most commercially successful for me—basically quite physical, quite childish—I increasingly feel I’m going to do a lot less of,” Atkinson said. “Apart from the fact that your physical ability starts to decline, I also think someone in their fifties being childlike becomes a little sad. You’ve got to be careful.”

14. IN 2015, BEAN ROSE AGAIN—FOR A FUNERAL.

Never say never: On March 13, 2015 a brand-new Mr. Bean sketch, “The Funeral,” premiered to celebrate Comic Relief, and in honor of Bean’s 25th anniversary.

15. MR. BEAN’S CREATORS COULD NOT HAVE PREDICTED ITS SUCCESS

When asked about Mr. Bean’s enduring appeal during a BBC World Service radio interview earlier this year, executive producer Peter Bennett-Jones said, “I don’t think anyone could have anticipated quite how successful and long-lived it would be. Coming up to 25 years is an extraordinary thought since we first went on air on January 1, 1990. Mr. Bean’s been very good to us all, so we love Mr. Bean.”

There are over 1.3 billion journeys on the tube each year. Yet if you're a regular commuter, you'll know travelling on the London Underground is often fraught with delays and cancellations. If that happens, you may be entitled to a refund. Here's how to claim it.

Also see our TfL Overcharge Refunds guide for how to claim if you couldn't touch out, and Oyster Card Refunds how to claim back credit if you have and old card.

How long do I have to be stuck on the tube for before I can claim? Delays on the tube can be fury-inducing, especially when they make you late. But if your journey is delayed by at least 15 mins, you don't just have to put up with it.

Whether you travelled using an Oyster card, contactless card or paper ticket, you can ask Transport for London (TfL), which runs the tube, for a 'service delay refund'.
To calculate the 15 mins, TfL looks at what time you touch in and out, then compares your journey time to the average.

Is that on every tube? Not exactly. TfL has rules about what's classed as a 'service delay'.

If you’re delayed for more than 15 minutes and for "reasons within TfL's control", then you can get a refund. This includes anything which is TfL's fault – for example, a defective train, faulty track or overrunning engineering work.

But it won't pay up if the reason doesn't count as something within its control, eg, adverse weather, security alerts or a person ill on the train.

In practice, however, we've found TfL is sometimes lenient with these rules, so it may pay up anyway. While there are no guarantees, it's usually worth a punt, as you may get a refund.

Brilliant... so is the process automatic? No. Sadly, TfL's not that nice. You'll need to apply for the refund.
To apply online, go to the TfL website and log in to your TfL or Oyster account (if you don't have an account, you'll need to sign up for free first). Click on 'Service Delay Refunds'. You'll be asked to provide your journey info and either your Oyster card or paper ticket details.
To apply over the phone, call TfL customer services on 0343 222 1234 (this costs the same as a normal 020 number). Give them the same information as mentioned above.
Don’t worry, you won't need to post paper tickets – you just need to enter some numbers from them. If the gate ate your ticket at the end of the journey, you should call customer services.

You have to claim within 28 days of the delay. TfL says it usually takes a couple of days and it processes 'most' refunds within seven days. It will email to tell you if your claim has been successful.
What about if I paid by contactless card or Apple Pay? Not a problem. Sign up or log on to a TfL account as above, and add your contactless card or Apple Pay account. You can register these before or after the delay. Then choose the contactless card/Apple Pay account, and click ‘Claim for a service delay’.

As an aside, you can track your journey history for contactless cards and Apple Pay accounts. Just click the account to see 12 months’ worth.

What can I get back? No matter how and what you paid for your journey, you'll get back the value of a single fare for the distance you travelled at the time you travelled. Even if you have to get off before you intended, the refund’s still based on where you touch in and out.

This applies even if you didn't pay full whack. Let's say you made the journey on a daily or weekly travel card – you'd still get the pay-as-you-go single fare back. If your journey started at peak time, it refunds the peak fare.

For example, if you were delayed when travelling during peak time from Balham to Bank (Zone 3 to Zone 1) using an Oyster card, you'd get £3.30. See the TfL website for full information on fares.

And how do I get it? You have a choice.

You can provide your bank details and get the refund paid into your account. (If you were travelling on a paper ticket, this is your only option.)
You can get the refund in the form of web credit in your online account to use next time you top up or buy a travel card online.
If you have an Oyster card, you can get the refund loaded back onto it as pay-as-you-go credit. This happens when you next touch in at a station of your choice.
The Oyster card needs to be registered before you can receive a service delay refund (you can still do this after the delayed journey).

What if my tube's delayed and I'm late for a flight or a concert as a result? Can I claim for that? No. TfL says it won't provide compensation for anything other than the delayed journey on services.

Can I get off the Underground and take another form of transport if my tube's delayed, but still claim for the delay? If it doesn't count as a 15-minute delay under the touch-in, touch-out rule, you could always call customer services and plead your case, but you're not officially entitled.

I'm not a fan of the tube – what if I'm travelling on another form of public transport in London? You might be in luck – many of the transport systems operated by TfL follow similar rules.

On the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) it works the same as on the tube – you can claim for a delay of more than 15 minutes if the cause is within TfL's control.
London Overground comes under National Rail’s conditions of carriage, so if a cancellation delays you by over 30 minutes you’re eligible for a refund (you must touch in and out).
On the Emirates Air Line, refunds are issued if you are delayed for more than 15 minutes.
For all the above, as with the tube, you can apply for a refund via the TfL website or by calling customer services on 0343 222 1234. Alternatively, if you're delayed on the Emirates Air Line, you can ask for a refund in person at the ticket office immediately after the disruption to your journey.

Sadly, if you're travelling on a bus, you simply can't get a service delay refund – no ifs, no buts. If you're travelling through London with another train operator, for example on Thameslink, you'll need to go straight to the train company to claim. See our Train Delays guide for a full how-to.

Ok, so I know how to claim a refund – but what if I want to complain about TfL? If you've complained to TfL but it still won't budge, a free online complaints tool can help.

Resolver* helps draft your complaint and manage it too. It's free, and offered by a firm called that we like so much we work with it to help people get complaints justice.

If the complaint isn't resolved, Resolver will automatically escalate it to watchdog London Travel Watch, which can ask to TfL to resolve your case. It doesn't have power to force TfL to do anything it doesn't want to do, though.

If all else fails, you could technically take your claim to court. Think carefully about whether you want the hassle of this, though, and whether it's worth it – far better to use this as a last-resort threat.