Tuesday, November 22, 2011
TED; Ancient Wonders captured in 3D
Ancient monuments give us clues to astonishing past civilizations -- but they're under threat from pollution, war, neglect. Ben Kacyra, who invented a groundbreaking 3D scanning system, is using his invention to scan and preserve the world's heritage in archival detail. (Watch to the end for a little demo.)
Ben Kacyra uses state-of-the-art technology to preserve cultural heritage sites and let us in on their secrets in a way never before possible.
As a child, Ben Kacyra was taken to visit the ruins of the ancient city of Nineveh near his home town of Mosul in Iraq, giving him an abiding appreciation for the value of history. So when the Taliban destroyed the Buddhas of Bamiyan in Afghanistan in 2001, the Iraqi-born civil engineer was dismayed. In 2002, he founded California-based nonprofit CyArk in order to apply a highly accurate, portable laser-scanning technology he’d originally developed for monitoring nuclear power plants and other structures – to preserving the world’s cultural heritage sites, what Kacyra calls “our collective human memory”.
CyArk’s methods are fast and accurate: pulsed lasers generate 3D points of clouds, which render surfaces at accuracy to within millimeters. Combined with high-definition photography and traditional surveying techniques these data make it possible to create highly detailed media – photo textured animations, 3D fly-throughs – that digitally preserve our knowledge of heritage sites against natural disaster, war, and neglect, and make them accessible to the world. Among the sites already scanned are ancient sites in Mexico, the leaning tower of Pisa, and Mount Rushmore.
Crossing borders, this Afghanistan girl has fans in Pakistan too
Posted: Wed Nov 23 2011
Spectators watching the first round bout of the 1st South Asian senior Karate championships between K Wathsala of Sri Lanka and Meena Asadi of Afghanistan would have been surprised by the cheers for the Afghan girl. The majority of the cheers — Mashallah Meena — were coming from the Pakistani contingent. Although she was wearing the badge of Afghanistan on her karate outfit - gi - till only a few months ago she was winning medals for Pakistan.
Hazaras (a tribe) from Kabul, Meena’s family had fled to Quetta during the civil war in Afghanistan in the early 1990’s. While money was tight, Meena says that wasn’t as big a problem as the society’s refusal to come to terms with a girl playing games. This was a contact sport.
“I was very headstrong so when I turned 13, I went up to the coach at a club and said that I wanted to learn. He had no problem as long as I could pay. He would make me train in the corner, but I was thrilled just to learn,” says the slightly built 19 year old who competes in the sub 48 kg category. It turned out that she was pretty good at it. Just three months after she joined she won a local competition, which was also the first time her parents came to know of their daughters passion.
Indian Express
Spectators watching the first round bout of the 1st South Asian senior Karate championships between K Wathsala of Sri Lanka and Meena Asadi of Afghanistan would have been surprised by the cheers for the Afghan girl. The majority of the cheers — Mashallah Meena — were coming from the Pakistani contingent. Although she was wearing the badge of Afghanistan on her karate outfit - gi - till only a few months ago she was winning medals for Pakistan.
Hazaras (a tribe) from Kabul, Meena’s family had fled to Quetta during the civil war in Afghanistan in the early 1990’s. While money was tight, Meena says that wasn’t as big a problem as the society’s refusal to come to terms with a girl playing games. This was a contact sport.
“I was very headstrong so when I turned 13, I went up to the coach at a club and said that I wanted to learn. He had no problem as long as I could pay. He would make me train in the corner, but I was thrilled just to learn,” says the slightly built 19 year old who competes in the sub 48 kg category. It turned out that she was pretty good at it. Just three months after she joined she won a local competition, which was also the first time her parents came to know of their daughters passion.
Indian Express
Sunday, November 20, 2011
PPP MNA continues to protest govt inaction over Hazara killings
By Qamar Zaman
Published: November 21, 2011
MNA Nasir Ali Shah says party has failed to deliver. PHOTO: AFP/FILE
ISLAMABAD: At a time when the Pakistan Peoples Party-led government is a target of the opposition’s scathing criticism, its member in the National Assembly from Quetta, Syed Nasir Ali Shah, seemed to have joined the opposition chorus saying that the PPP had failed to “deliver”.
“The PPP has distracted from its manifesto and has failed to deliver,” said the PPP leader while talking to The Express Tribune on Sunday with special reference to the Hazara community killings last month outside Quetta.
“I had stated this in party meetings and even in a meeting at the President House,” said Shah while adding: “I had joined the PPP for its manifesto and the vision given by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto.”
“The party should stop promoting personalities and give preference to its manifesto.”
Shah had boycotted the NA and staged a sit-in at the entrance of the Parliament House in October after 14 people of the Hazara community – an ethnic minority that follows Shia Islam – were gunned down outside Quetta in the second such incident within a fortnight. Shah is still not attending the NA session.
The onslaught against the government by Shah, who is an ethnic Hazara himself, was vehemently backed by the opposition. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had staged a token walkout to express solidarity which was joined by some members of the ruling PPP and its coalition partners as well.
The PPP leader from Quetta has not participated any NA session thereafter but the government seems be indifferent to his opposition.
The MNA said that the Balochistan government had lost all credibility and was incompetent to handle the law and order situation in the province. “The only solution to the problem is imposition of the governor’s rule and new elections in Balochistan,” he added.
“I will continue my protest till the day the government accepts my demands of a governor rule and fresh elections,” he said in response to a question regarding future plans of his ongoing protest.
Shah revealed that the government has made several attempts at defusing his sit-in.
“There had been statements on PTV that I have ended the protest on government’s behest,” he claimed, saying he had never made any such announcement.
It is quite unfortunate that the law and order situation in Balochistan has even worsened due to government’s apathetic attitude, he lamented.
Responding to a query whether he approached the leadership prior to or after his ongoing sit-in, Shah said: “It was the last option for me as I already had raised the issue on all forums.”
When asked whether he had any plans of following the footprints of former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi who bid farewell to the PPP recently, Shah said: “I would continue my struggle while staying within the party.”
Published in The Express Tribune, November 21st, 2011.
Published: November 21, 2011
ISLAMABAD: At a time when the Pakistan Peoples Party-led government is a target of the opposition’s scathing criticism, its member in the National Assembly from Quetta, Syed Nasir Ali Shah, seemed to have joined the opposition chorus saying that the PPP had failed to “deliver”.
“The PPP has distracted from its manifesto and has failed to deliver,” said the PPP leader while talking to The Express Tribune on Sunday with special reference to the Hazara community killings last month outside Quetta.
“I had stated this in party meetings and even in a meeting at the President House,” said Shah while adding: “I had joined the PPP for its manifesto and the vision given by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto.”
“The party should stop promoting personalities and give preference to its manifesto.”
Shah had boycotted the NA and staged a sit-in at the entrance of the Parliament House in October after 14 people of the Hazara community – an ethnic minority that follows Shia Islam – were gunned down outside Quetta in the second such incident within a fortnight. Shah is still not attending the NA session.
The onslaught against the government by Shah, who is an ethnic Hazara himself, was vehemently backed by the opposition. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had staged a token walkout to express solidarity which was joined by some members of the ruling PPP and its coalition partners as well.
The PPP leader from Quetta has not participated any NA session thereafter but the government seems be indifferent to his opposition.
The MNA said that the Balochistan government had lost all credibility and was incompetent to handle the law and order situation in the province. “The only solution to the problem is imposition of the governor’s rule and new elections in Balochistan,” he added.
“I will continue my protest till the day the government accepts my demands of a governor rule and fresh elections,” he said in response to a question regarding future plans of his ongoing protest.
Shah revealed that the government has made several attempts at defusing his sit-in.
“There had been statements on PTV that I have ended the protest on government’s behest,” he claimed, saying he had never made any such announcement.
It is quite unfortunate that the law and order situation in Balochistan has even worsened due to government’s apathetic attitude, he lamented.
Responding to a query whether he approached the leadership prior to or after his ongoing sit-in, Shah said: “It was the last option for me as I already had raised the issue on all forums.”
When asked whether he had any plans of following the footprints of former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi who bid farewell to the PPP recently, Shah said: “I would continue my struggle while staying within the party.”
Published in The Express Tribune, November 21st, 2011.
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