Twitter Outages = Snow Day On The Internet

Twitter Outages = Snow Day On The Internet

By Unknown → Friday, December 13, 2013

Colombia has found the wreck of a Spanish galleon that sank off the coast of Cartagena and is thought to be laden with emeralds and gold and silver coins, President Juan Manuel Santos said on Friday.

More details will be provided at a news conference on Saturday, Santos said from his Twitter account.

The San Jose sank in 1708 in the Caribbean Sea close to the walled port city of Cartagena. It was part of the fleet of King Philip V as he fought the English during the War of Spanish Succession.

"Great news! We have found the San Jose galleon. Tomorrow we will provide details at a press conference from Cartagena," Santos tweeted.

The government's claim on Friday did not shed light on a legal wrangle with Sea Search Armada, a US-based salvage company which had a long-standing suit against Bogota over ownership of the wreck. SSA said in 1981 it had located the area in which the ship sank.

SSA and the government were partners back then and following international custom, they agreed to split any proceeds. The government later said any treasure would belong to Colombia.

In 2011 a US court declared the galleon property of the Colombian state.

The Taj Mahal is a best Nice Place in India

The Taj Mahal is a best Nice Place in India

By Unknown →

The Taj Mahal is the India's most famous monument, which is in the running to be voted as one of the seven new Wonders of the World, flanks a stinking, garbage-infested river and is almost always enveloped by dust and smog from belching smokestacks and vehicles.

India's most famous monument, which is in the running to be voted as one of the seven new Wonders of the World, flanks a stinking, garbage-infested river and is almost always enveloped by dust and smog from belching smokestacks and vehicles.

Millions of Indians hope the majestic white marble mausoleum, which took 17 years and 20,000 workers to build, will feature on the Wonders list, but conservationists and environmentalists are urging people to pay attention to its darker side.

"If things continue like this, the Taj Mahal's age will decrease, like that of a diseased man," said K.S. Rana, a leading campaigner for saving the Taj, located in Agra, a four-hour drive from New Delhi.

"Because of the pollution, there will be a corrosion effect, a deterioration of sorts in the stones."

Earlier this year, a parliamentary committee said airborne particles were being deposited on the poignant 17th century monument's white marble, giving it a yellow tinge.

But the committee said while air pollutants such as sulphur dioxide and nitrous oxide gases were generally within permissible limits, "suspended particulate matter" had been recorded at high levels except during the rainy season.

Environmentalists and historians worry the soot and fumes would eventually dull the gleaming white monument.

The New York City Busy Street in USA

The New York City Busy Street in USA

By Unknown →

When Seema Shrikhande goes to work, she drives. When she takes her son to school, they drive. And when she goes shopping, to the bank or to visit friends, she gets into her car, buckles up and hits the road.

Driving is a way of life for Americans but researchers say the national habit of driving everywhere is bad for health.

The more you drive, the less you walk. Walking provides exercise without really trying.

Ideally, people should take 10,000 steps a day to maintain wellness, according to James Hill, professor of pediatrics at the University of Colorado.

But for those who only walk from their home to the car and from their car to an office and back again, that figure can sink to only 1,000 steps.

A car culture forces people to make time to exercise and driving long distances reduces the time available to work out.

"If it (Atlanta) was a city where I walked more I would automatically get a lot of the exercise I need. Now I have to ... schedule it into my life. Sometimes it's very difficult because I'm busy," said Shrikhande, a professor of communications at Oglethorpe University in Atlanta.

Obesity and heart disease are two of many problems associated with a sedentary lifestyle.

Car dependence makes it harder to get the 75 minutes of intense weekly exercise or the 150 minutes of moderate exercise the government recommends, said Dr. Dianna Densmore of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Lawrence Frank of the University of British Columbia has even quantified the link between the distance people drive each day and their body weight.

"Every additional 30 minutes spent in a car each day translates into a 3 percent greater chance of being obese," he said. "People who live in neighborhoods with a mix of shops and businesses within easy walking distance are 7 percent less likely to be obese."