Happy New Year 2008
New Year is finally here. It is with a mixed feeling that I welcome the new year.
The end of 2007 and thus the start of 2008 marks the beginning of a new crossroads in life. ‘A’ Levels are over and thus am now closer to stepping into the “real world”. In 2008, a few things will happen:
- Nerve-wrecking wait for ‘A’ Level results will be over as it comes out in around March.
- Finally get started on fulfilling my National Service.
- Finish a final school project before getting started on point 2.
- Start thinking and planning the pathway to the next crossroad.
These stuff aside, I’ll like to wish everyone out there a Happy New Year 2008!
Treaty Of Versailles
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Treaty Of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles aimed to preserve peace, prevent another world war and to weaken and punish the aggressors. The Treaty had territorial, military, economic and political terms.
The territorial terms were to weaken the aggressor, allow for self-determination and restore captured land. Alsace-Lorraine was transferred to France with Germans being expelled. Eupen, Morenset and Malmédy were transferred to Belgium, leading to its restoration. North Schleswig was transferred to Denmark. West Prussia, Posen and Upper Silesia, also known as the Polish Corridor was transferred to Poland. It cut off East Prussia from Germany, making it difficult to rule. Danzig became a free city under the League of Nations with foreign affairs under Poland. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were made independent. Memel was transferred to Lithuania. The Saar was to be under the League for 15 years. Anschluss was forbidden as self-determination not applied to losers of war. Rhineland was to be demilitarized for 15 years under Allied control.
For Germany’s colonies, Tanganyika,
some partsmost parts of Cameroon and some parts of Togoland were transferred to France.Most partsSome parts of Cameroon and most parts of Togoland went to Britain. Shantung and North Pacific Islands were given to…
The full essay can now be found at: http://fusedthought.com/2007/12/30/treaty-of-versailles/
Songs of an Outing
Yesterday can be counted as quite a tiring day.
First i up at 8am in the morning for training. Maybe I asked for it, but wanted to join my Juniors for the last training of the year…. and Gosh!.. Can really say that I am losing touch. Can’t read the land conditions properly and releasing the ball wrongly.. Well, shan’t talk about depressing stuff.
After the training, I rushed home and rushed back down to Sentosa again. The place really have changed! Its definitely much more developed and improved in terms of outlook. The stuff there are much more fun compared than last time… However, the Sentosa Express was just like taking an LRT or MRT which I take almost everyday.. Sad to say, for a local, it seems really overpriced. However, I guess its more worth it if you are a tourist.
The few of us went down the luge twice (which was a ride down a sloping mountain). Though it was a little weird when one of the employees asked us whether we were tired and we should return home… still wondering what he meant by that.. After that it was 4Dmagix. Quite a funny experience. However, its quite actually quite similar to the Science Center but only with additional wind blowing in the theater to simulate the windy conditions in the movie and short blasts of water and wind on your neck and face.
The final destination to the Songs of the Sea was the best attraction in our view. The setup was quite interesting.. well, anyway, a picture says a thousand words:
Dinner at KimGary was interesting enough. A mix of East and West…
IE8 Standards Compliant?
It seems too good to be true… On a recent entry into the IEBlog, Dean Hachamovitch announced that Internet Explorer 8 has successfully rendered the Acid2 test.
This news is expected to be more significant to web developers than to the average web user. For the uninitiated, Acid2 is a test page for web browsers published by The Web Standards Project (WaSP). It aims to help browser vendors ensure proper support for web standards in their products. When correctly rendered, it would show a smiley face.
However, up to this point, none of the major browsers in use today (the non-beta versions of Firefox and Internet Explorer) can render the picture correctly.
The final release of IE8 is still unknown though.. For their part, there are subtle hints in the post regarding the final support IE8 will have… In a paragraph, it was said that:
When we look at the long lists of standards (even from just one standards body, like the W3C), which standards are the most important for us to support? ………… Many advances in web technologies, like the img tag, start out as unilateral extensions by a vendor. The X in AJAX, for example, has only started the formal standardization process relatively recently. ……………….. Different individuals have different opinions about different standards. The important thing about the Acid2 test is that it reflects what one particular group of smart people “consider most important for the future of the web.”
So we just have to adopt a wait and see attitude..
Domestic policies of Mussolini
I was thinking for sometime and well, decided to include a once weekly essay focused article…
Looking at what should I start writing about, it seems that one of the essays I wrote on my previous blog was quite well visited according to the statistics on my old blog… So for a start, I’ll be posting or writing some of the History Essays I did, or what some of my friends did in my secondary school.
A note to those friends whose essay I took, since I can’t remember who wrote what, if you do want to claim ownership to some content and want it removed, email me.
I’ll start with an essay I know I wrote… so here’s the 1st in the essay series:
Domestic policies of Mussolini
The domestic policies of Mussolini can be divided into three parts, political, economic and social.
His political policies aimed to help him consolidate his power. Mussolini, as a prime minister of a coalition government, did not have full control as there were only 35 fascists. He had to exercise moderation and seek cooperation to entrench power. Mussolini formed a government that would please most people with only 4 out of 14 people were fascist. He kept all important posts for himself like home affairs. In his first speech, he threatened to disband parliament if members did not cooperate and even went on to ask for full power for a year. Parliament consented to his request. Thus, this became a basis for his power.
The Fascist Grand Council was formed in 1923, a ruling body of the fascist party controlled by Mussolini. The members were appointed by Mussolini and the council and the council became more important, making all decisions, rendering the government inactive.
The police was totally replaced by the Fascist, and came under Mussolini’s direct control. They arrested political opponents and did not take action against acts of violence by MSVN, a new militia created from the quadri, Mussolini’s private army.
There was effective suppression of opposition as political opponents were…
The full essay can now be found at: http://fusedthought.com/2007/12/23/domestic-policies-of-mussolini/
