Sun's 'quiet period' explained 13 August 2010

Solar physicists may have discovered why the Sun recently experienced a prolonged period of weak activity.

The most recent so-called "solar minimum" occurred in December 2008.

Its drawn-out nature extended the total length of the last solar cycle - the repeating cycle of the Sun's activity - to 12.6 years, making it the longest in almost 200 years.

During a solar minimum the Sun is less active, producing fewer sunspots and flares.

The new research suggests that the longer-than-expected period of weak activity may have been linked to changes in the way a hot soup of charged particles called plasma circulated in the Sun.

The study, conducted by Dr Mausumi Dikpati of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Colorado and her US colleagues, is published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

The Sun's activity strengthens and weakens on a cycle that typically lasts 10.7 years. Since accurate records began in 1755, there have been 24 such solar cycles.

The 23rd cycle, which ended in December 2008, was both longer than average and had the smallest number of sunspots for a century. Sunspots are areas of intense magnetic activity that are visible as dark spots on the star's surface.

Currents of fire

The new research suggests that one reason for the prolonged period of weak activity could be changes in the Sun's "conveyor belt".

Similar to the Earth's ocean currents, the Sun's conveyor transports plasma across its surface to the pole. Here, the plasma sinks into the heart of the Sun before rising again at the equator.

During the 23rd cycle, these currents of fire extended all the way to the poles, while in earlier cycles they only extended about two thirds of the way.

Dr Roger Ulrich of the University of California, Los Angeles, a co-author of the study, said the findings highlighted the importance of our monitoring of the Sun.

The research team used sophisticated computer simulations to show how changes in the conveyor might have affected cycle duration. They found that the increased length of the conveyor and its slower rate of return flow explained the prolonged 23rd cycle.

However, Dr David Hathaway, a solar physicist from Nasa's Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama, who was not involved in the latest study, argued that it was the speed and not the extent of the conveyor that was of real importance.

The conveyor has been running at record high-speeds for over five years. Dr Hathaway said: "I believe this could explain the unusually deep solar minimum."

The Sun's conveyor transports plasma across its surface to the pole, where it sinks before rising at the equator
taken from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-10967292

China examines milk powder 'premature puberty' reports 12 August 2010

Beijing parent Wang Gang recently discovered his 13-month-old daughter had been diagnosed with premature breast growth, China Daily reports

China's government is investigating reports that a brand of powdered milk caused infant girls to grow breasts. It is being alleged that hormone-tainted milk from Synutra International caused several cases of premature puberty in Hubei province. The Chinese firm, whose shares fell by up to 35% on the news, strongly denies its products were tainted. Food safety problems involving milk powder and other products have alarmed Chinese consumers in recent years. Two years ago, the chemical compound melamine was found in milk products made by 22 Chinese firms. Hundreds of thousands of children were poisoned and six died.

Powder samples

A panel of nine experts on endocrine, paediatric and food safety issues had been assembled to investigate the tainted milk allegations, the health ministry announced on Thursday. The ministry was directly investigating the claimed premature puberty cases at the request of Hubei province and would publish its conclusions soon. Samples taken from the market where the milk powder was purchased, as well as from the homes of the infant girls, were already being tested. China Daily, the country's leading state-owned English-language newspaper, reported the cases un Hubei this week, quoting from a report by the Beijing-based Health Times newspaper. At least three infants in Hubei were found to have abnormal levels of the hormones estradiol and prolactin, which stimulates the production of breast milk, Health Times reported. The infants' parents feared that their conditions were linked to their milk powder, produced by Synutra, and a leading children's doctor in the region was quoted by Health Times as calling for the powder to be analysed. On Tuesday, the father of a 13-month-old girl in Beijing told China Daily his daughter had been diagnosed with symptoms of premature puberty.

'Unwavering product quality'

The chairman of Synutra, Liang Zhang, has said that there is "no scientific evidence" to support the allegation that Synutra products were responsible for the cases.

"While we offer our sympathy to any families experiencing health challenges, we firmly believe that our products are not involved in the claims recently made, and we feel this media event will pass," he said in a statement.

"We firmly believe they will illustrate our unwavering product quality and commitment to consumer safety."

A food safety expert for the World Health Organization, Dr Peter Ben Embarek, said China's test results were expected within days and that the agency would then examine them.

"At first look, it looks very surprising," he told the Associated Press, adding that this was the first time he had ever heard of such a case.

taken from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-10955585

Holiday Homework

Malaysia men guilty in 'Allah' row church attack 13 August 2010

Two Malaysian men have been found guilty of setting fire to a church in January in a row over non-Muslim use of the word "Allah". The two had claimed their burn injuries were sustained at a barbecue. But a judge in the capital, Kuala Lumpur, said this was a fabrication and jailed them for five years. The attack on the Metro Tabernacle Church in Kuala Lumpur was the first of a series of attacks on houses of worship following the "Allah" row. Eleven churches, one Sikh temple, three mosques and two Muslim prayer rooms became targets of arson and other incidents.Raja Muhammad Faizal Raja Ibrahim, 24, and Raja Muhammad Idzham Raja Ibrahim, 22, were both convicted of mischief by fire.

Judge S M Komathy Suppiah said that their crime struck at the very foundations and tenets of a civilised society. Religious tensions in multi-ethnic Malaysia increased after a court ruled in December 2009 that a Roman Catholic newspaper could use the word "Allah" in its Malay-language edition to describe the Christian God. The government has appealed against the ruling. Christian groups say they have been using the term in reference to God in the Malay language for decades. But some Muslim groups are suspicious of their motives, saying that the use of the word Allah is a ploy to encourage Muslims to convert to Christianity, something that is illegal in the country. Malay Muslims make up almost two-thirds of the country's population, but there are large Hindu and Christian communities.

taken from:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-10961282

More than 10,000 set human domino record 13 August 2010

It is amazing! A total of 10,276 people in China's Inner Mongolia have broken the world record for the biggest human domino chain, toppling a record set a decade earlier in Singapore by more than several hundred. The participants in the city of Ordos sat cross-legged and fell backwards in a line that snaked across an enormous square in a record which took an hour and 20 minutes on Thursday. The group of mainly high school students spent more than twelve hours over three days to train for the event. The previous record had been set in 2000 by 9,234 Singaporean students. The ceremony in the Inner Mongolian city of Ordos kicked off with Chinese basketball star and former NBA player Mengke Bateer passing a basketball to the first domino in line, who then all fell backward in turn. The human dominoes were a success with new record is 10,276 people and is also a new Guinness World record. This event also shows that anything could be accomplished if you have the heart to do it.

References
http://news.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BNews/Asia/Story/A1Story20100813-231996.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1302457/More-10-000-Chinese-students-smash-human-domino-World-Record.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-10962757

Analysis of the poem" Children in the Darkness"

1. Point of View
In this poem the poet felt sorry and terrible for the children which are captured in the war as he stated that the these children will not see the light and he asked will the children be given a candle, a chance, a chance to learn reading and dancing

2.Situation and Setting
In this poem, the situation is in a war where children are captured to learn how to fight so that they could become soldiers and fight in war. These are evident as the poem stated that "There are children in the darkness Who someone will teach to fight" and "Or will a war consume them"

3.Language/Diction
In this poem, the words the poet use were effective in showing the terible state the children are in. In this poem 4 stanzas are used and in each stanza, there are 4 lines. There are some repetition in the poem like "There are children in the darkness" which is used to emphasis on the living conditions of the children and words like "Could we" are being repeated. Most of the words at the end of each line rhymes with the previous word at the end of the previous line.

4.Personal Response
This poem let me understand the state of the children that are being captured in war and also cause me not to take things for granted as the children that are captured do not have anything.

Background information about the poem: Children in the Darkness

The poem Childeren in the Darkness by Henry M Bechtold is talking about the children which are captured during the war and are forced to learn how to fight instead of learnikng things that are thought in school, so they could become soldiers i n the future. Theses children were held captive in places that are very dark and these children could not escape at all. These children are not given a chance, they could not read and they could not dance. Their lives will be destroyed in the war suffering very terribly.

Background about how the poet got the idea of writing this poem

The poem Children in the darkness by Henry M Bechtold is written in the year 2010. This poem was written when Henry M Bechtold was sitting in his hotel room in Saigon just before Christmas 2009 and was trying to write a poem about the girls who work in the park and how badly men treat them. He was angry but unable to write anything that did not sound trite or weak. He looked at the TV and the news was on. He did not know what the news reader was saying but in the background was a photo of a small boy with a helmet and an automatic rifle. This poem flowed out. The words just came to him and he typed as fast as he could to get it all down.

War Poetry: Children in the Darkness

Children in the Darkness

There are children in the darkness
Who have not seen the light
There are children in the darkness
Who someone will teach to fight

Chalk and blackboards will not be
To this door there is no key
From this life they can not flee
And these children are not free

Could we simply light a candle
Could we give them half a chance
Could we teach them how to read
Could we teach them how to dance

Or will a war consume them
Their body and their soul
Will their life and blood be poured
Down some endless thirsty hole

Back into the darkness
From which there is no flight
Back into the darkness
Into which there shines no light
Henry M Bechtold

Dual Core Dragons

This are rare cards from the series 4. Each of them have a new ability. These cards ae 'dual core dragons'. Instead of dealing one damage to your opponent, it will deal two damage instead! So you better look out for this cards.

Ascension of Dragons, 4th release (English ver.)

“Ascension of Dragons“ is the fourth release in the hottest new trading card game from Bandai. “Ascension of Dragons” is the biggest set to date and introduces over 160 new cards from the world of Battle Spirits.

Coming in 7 . 5 . 2010

Memories of Brisbane

This are some photographs that are taken in Brisbane...

Brisbane exchange programme

This might be a bit too late ……

During the sabbatical week, I went for the Exchange Programme with Citipointe Christian College. I have observed between the school and life in Brisbane and that in Singapore to be very different. The students in Brisbane get to choose more than half of the subjects they want to take unlike Singapore as Singapore have a fixed amount of subjects which you need to take. This will ensure the students to have a more enjoyable learning journey as the subjects they choose are the subjects they like. They also had a wider range of subjects and some of the subjects that were taught there for example business and accounting are subjects that could not be found in any secondary schools in Singapore. They are also required to move to different classes for different lessons so they do not have a classroom of their own. They also had a more relax time table in comparison with Singapore’s as they had a longer recess and lunch in comparison to Singapore. They also have a lesser amount of subjects thought per day so most of time their bags will be quite light. They also do not have a canteen so they are always allowed to eat anywhere they want. I felt that I am blessed as I have a very big canteen in my school with a great variety of food comparing to the stall that provide the students there with food as the stall only sells titbits and drinks. The students there are also friendlier as they are easier to be friends unlike the students in Singapore as the students in Singapore will normally bully and insult the weaker ones but these actions could not be seen in the schools in Australia. The school in Australia also starts later had Singapore. This is something good as the people there will have more sleeping hours causing them not to be so tired the next day causing them to sleep during school lessons. During the trip to Gold Coast, I had realised something new. The seats of the toilet bowl are made of metal unlike the ones seen in Singapore. The host for my home stay as an old lady. She is also very friendly and kind. The food that she prepared is also very delicious. After dinner, she would definitely play a card game called “Skip-Bo’ with us. She also let us watched a video about Jesus. When we went home after school and we felt hungry, she would prepare more food for us. This shows that Australians cherish family time. The night before we leave for the airport, our family host prepared two books about life for us and also gave us a set of Skip-Bo cards as she saw the two of us enjoying the game. She also prepared a gift for our mothers. Some of the things that I think the Singaporeans could learn from the Australians are to be hygienic as the toilets in Australia are very clean unlike Singapore. Singaporeans could also be friendlier as the students and even passer-bys made us feel welcome as they will always wave their hands and say hello to us or even give as a high five when we walk past. I hope to go to Brisbane again as it is a very wonderful place.

The tournament...

This tournament is one of the best that i have participated in. From this tournament, i got to meet new people and made new friends. Even though i did not clinch the champoin, but i really enjoyed it.

A Battle Spirits Tournament that was organised recently...

Date: 24/4/2010
Registation: 10.30am
Venue: Pomo shopping mall (Beside parklane)
Entry Fees: $9 (you can choose to get either 2 Japan booster or 3 english booster) + 1 entry promo cards.

This tournament will be a bit special as you are allow to use Japanese card from BS01 - Bs07

Battle Spirits Tournament 2010

There will be a Battle Spirits Tournament at Singapore!!

Dare: 13 March 2010 (Saturday)
Time: 10.00 AM
Venue: SMU - Settkers Cafe (opp National Museum)
Tel: 6333 5229

Weiss Schwarz(ws)Introductory Strategies and Combos Part 10: Character Positioning Associations

Character cards in front of this Card: Only cards that are in the Backline have abilities with “In front of this card” and they describe the following associations. Left Backline associates with the Left Center Stage as well as Middle Center Stage cards. Right Backline associates with the Middle Center Stage and Right Center Stage cards.

Character cards behind this Card: Only cards that are in the Center Stage have abilities with “Behind this card” and they describe the following associations. Left Center Stage associates Left Backline, Middle Center Stage associates with Left and Right Backline while Right Center Stage associates with Right Backline.

Character cards that are Facing this card: Only cards that are in the Center Stage have abilities with “Facing this card” and they describe the following associations. Left Center Stage associates with the opponent’s Right Center Stage, Middle Center Stage associates with the opponent’s Middle Center Stage while the Right Center Stage associates with the opponent’s Left Center Stage.

Weiss Schwarz(ws)Introductory Strategies and Combos Part 9: Ability Terminology Explanation

大活躍 BODYGUARD: When this card is in the middle position of your Center Stage and is not in Reverse Mode, all your opponent’s Character cards that attack has to declare a Front-Attack against this card.

応援 ASSIST: Cards in front of this Character card gains the following ability

アンコール ENCORE: When this card is sent to the Waiting Room, you may pay the cost for this ability. Return that Character to the Stage in it’s previous Border in Rest Mode.

アラーム ALARM: When this card is on the top card of your Clock slot, the following abilities trigger.

助太刀Z レベルX ［Y 手札のこのカードを控え室に置く］ BACKUP Z LVX (Y send this Character card from your hand to your Waiting Room): (Counter) pay Y Cost, target Character gains +Z Power)

絆（Y）/【X】 BOND （Y）/【X】: When you play this card from your hand to the Stage, you may pay X Cost to activate this ability. After that, from your Waiting Room, choose 1 “Y” and put it in your hand.

集中 BRAINSTORM: Flip X number of cards from the top of your Deck, then send those cards to the Waiting Room, the following ability triggers.

チェンジ CHANGE: Switch cards with the current Character card with the ability as stated on the card text.

Weiss Schwarz(ws)Introductory Strategies and Combos Part 8: Character Card Abilities

In the game of WS exist a wide range of card abilities. The explanation of the abilities will show the diversifying effects that stretch over the whole game.

CARD ABILITY TYPES

The following are the different main classification of different abilities in this game.

1) 【自】【A】【Auto】

This classification of abilities trigger upon a certain fulfilment stated on the card ability. They also happen on the opponent’s turn as long as the text is fulfilled.

2) 【起】【S】【Startup】

This classification of abilities are abilities that can only be triggered at the turn player’s Main Phase. They can be activated any number of times as long as the ability requirements can be fulfilled.

3) 【永】【C】【Continuous】

This classification of abilities are abilities that are not triggered but affects the card by the conditions set by the text. The card is affected in real time and might also be active during the opponent’s turn depending on the card’s text.

————

There are several types of Character abilities and i have listed them under a few different types:

1) Assistance

These cards basically support cards either in the front lines by certain means or they help by providing certain evasions, boosts and other effects. There are different kinds of supporting Character cards as well. Some of them boost Character cards by improving their Power, Soul, Level, or take their place when they are sent to Waiting Room.

Some support Character cards have specific requirements or targets for their abilities. Usually they revolve around Character card names, position or Character card Traits. Effective positioning or target selections can help the player attain certain boosts they require.

2) Boost

These cards are Character cards that boost their own stat abilities through certain conditions present on the Stage. They usually tap on the existence of certain cards that are in play on the Stage.

3) Control

This series of Character cards are used to control either the Stage, your hand or opponent’s hand. They can range from non-combat Character card destruction, hand control, play control as well deck control. Some cards allow the player to manipulate what they want in their hand, deck. or Waiting Room. These cards sometimes affect cards and send them to Memories too.

4) Counter/Backup

This series of Character cards are used to foil your opponent’s plans to rid you of Stage presence. You can use this to prevent the Reverse of important Character cards. Of course, your opponent can return the favour when you attack with it…

5)Advance Summon/Change

These types of cards are special in the sense that they forego the Level restriction of the game rules and summon out a Character of a higher level then the player. These cards normally perform very efficiently, however their costs are usually abysmal, thus Stock control will become a challenge in such decks

6) Special

These types of cards are Character cards that do slightly different things. They are cards that deal damage without commencing battle, remove damage, or other purposes such as cost payment substitution. They alter the Stage or condition of the game in ways normally not attainable by just conventional play alone. Special play of Character cards to the Stage are also included in this category.

Weiss Schwarz(ws)Introductory Strategies and Combos Part 7: Character Traits

CHARACTER TRAITS

Below is a list of traits that i remember from my experience with the game. Remember, this list is not exhaustive and more are added in every set.

• Alien
• Angel
• Animal
• Backpack
• Buddhism
• Banana
• Book
• Bread
• Brigade Chief
• Bully
• Colony
• Committee Chairman
• Cook
• Dango
• Dark Hero
• Death
• Demon (Akuma)
• Delinquent
• Detective
• Disease
• Doll
• Double Tooth
• Dragon
• Elemental
• ESP
• Fairytale
• Familiar
• Fan
• Forehead
• Frog
• Gem
• Glasses (Megane)
• God
• Gourmet
• Headphones
• Japanese Traditional Costume (Wafuku)
• Jewel
• Last Will
• Love
• Maid
• Magic
• Manga
• Master
• Mecha
• Milk
• Music
• Muscle
• Net Game
• Ninja
• Nurse
• Occult
• Oddeye
• Otaku
• Pajamas
• Pot
• Police
• Prinny
• Pumpkin
• Pun
• Priestress (Miko)
• Ramen
• Rose
• Royalty
• Sake
• Salmon (Shiake)
• Science
• School Infirmary
• Servant
• Snack
• Shadow
• Spirit
• Sports
• SOS Brigade
• Starfish
• Student Council (Chairman)
• Steward
• Swimsuit
• Tea
• Teacher
• Television
• Television Order
• Theatre
• Toys (Omochia)
• Transvesile
• Twins
• Umbrella
• Unison
• Undead
• Void
• Waitress
• Warrior
• Weapon

Weiss Schwarz(ws)Introductory Strategies and Combos Part 6: Character/Event Abilities

WS has many uses for Climax cards and thus, Character as well as Event cards also use Climax cards in their abilities. Being such an important card, Climax cards can help a player archieve some extremely powerful abilities. Below are just some of the cards that utilises or revolves around Climax cards for abilities

【Startup】 Brainstorm
【起】 集中



Concentrate abilities are rather unique. By gambling a certain number of Climax cards at the top of your deck, extremely powerful abilities can be archieved. These range from massive Character stat increment, massive handsize increment, massive recovery as well as massive decrement in opponent’s Character card stats. Of course there are ways to cheat out these Concentrate abilities as well.

Climax Abilities： 【Auto】［Cost］ When this card attacks and the Climax card 「Card name」 is in your Climax slot, you may pay cost to activate the following ability.
クライマッ能力: 【自】［コスト］ このカードがアタックした時、クライマックス置場に「カード名前」があるなら、あなたはコストを払ってよい。

There are Characters in this game which has incredible abilities when used with Climax cards. These abilities are normally rather broken or Powerful as they hinge on the Climax card’s presence in the Climax slot. What is even more awesome about these is that as long as there is the Climax on the Climax slot, it doesn’t matter how many of the Character cards you have on the Stage. All of these cards will be able to enjoy the ability the Climax card will provide them. There are now cards which also allow the use of these abilities if it is at the top of the Clock (Alarm abilities).

【Startup】 [Put 1 Climax card from your hand to your Waiting Room]
【起】［手札のクライマックスを1枚控え室に置く］



This new ability type was introduced first in LS expansion and is also now heavily utilised in the new LBEX set. At times when Climax cards are stuck in your hand, there is now the option to just use it for an ability instead of Clocking or force activating it. These abilities normally are rather good too, ranging anywhere from advance summoning to deck searching to added abilities.

【Passive】When there are X Climax cards in your Waiting Room
【永】 あなたの控え室のクライマックスがX枚以上なら

There are Characters which also take advantage or require a certain number of Climax cards in the Waiting Room to activate. These cards normally have added bonuses to them when the above is fulfilled and can really cause some chaos in the Stage due to these abilities.

【Auto】 When there is a Climax card in your Climax slot
【自】 あなたのクライマックスがクライマックス置場に置かれた時

In the new LBEX set there is a new card which just require a Climax card to be in your Climax slot to trigger it’s ability. Really useful when you need to stack abilities with other Characters and gain that added advantage.

Weiss Schwarz(ws)Introductory Strategies and Combos Part 5: Damage Cancellation

WS is a game which is unique in the sense that there is not much control a player can enjoy when it’s not during his turn. In fact, one of the only ways to prevent a player from losing is by Damage Cancellation. During Damage Step of any battle, cards are flipped over in the Resolution Area to determine whether the attack damages go through.

When a Climax card is flipped over, any prior and future damage in this attack are prevented. These damage can come from abilities or high power Soul damage and can be prevented by pure luck and probability. Basically these cancellations save a player from losing. This is why Climax cards which are stuck in Stock or your hand must be used up quickly so that a player has a better chance to prevent damage after his deck is refreshed.

Weiss Schwarz(ws)Introductory Strategies and Combos Part 4: Trigger Check Advantage (Climax cards )

Some +1kP+1S Climax cards have an added advantage to them. These cards have special advantages when you encounter them in moments of Trigger Check and they are also based on the colours which they come from.

Two Souls

The most basic Trigger Check ability. This Triggr Check abilitiy also resides in all other types of Climax cards. This adds two Souls to the Character that is attacking.

(Return@: During your Trigger Check, when this card is revealed, you may choose and return 1 Character card from your Opponent’s Stage to his hand.)
（戻＠：このカードがトリガーした時、あなたは相手のキャラを1枚選び、手札に戻してよい）



The Hurricane icon, always accompanied by another Soul icon boost. This ability is useful when you need to get tricky Characters off the stage at a critical point in the game. It can help you increase your damage count by allowing you to do a Direct Attack, or preventing a powerful Character from performing Encore. Added with the 2nd Trigger icon of a Soul, this is a rather useful ability when you Trigger it in mid/late game.

(Gather@: During your Trigger Check and this card is revealed, you may put 1 card from the top of your Deck to your Stock.)
（溜＠：このカードがトリガーした時、あなたは自分の山札の上から1枚を、ストック置場に置いてよい）



The yellow bag. This Trigger ability is extremely useful when the deck it resides in require a lot of Stock. Often, these cards will help you gain Stock for either Encore or heavy cost abilities.

(Pick Up@: During your Trigger Check and this card is revealed, you may choose 1 Character card from your Waiting Room and add it to your hand.)
（拾＠：このカードがトリガーした時、あなたは自分の控え室のキャラを1枚選び、手札に戻してよい）



The door. Extremely essential for most Control decks. With full control of whatever cards you need at any point of time in your game, this Trigger ability simply gives you the option to Clock away Characters you don’t need early and recover them when you need them. Extremely useful stuff.

(Draw@: During your Trigger Check and this card is revealed, you may draw 1 card)
（引＠：このカードがトリガーした時、あなたは1枚引いてよい）



The book is most probably the least uesful of all the Trigger check abilities. While giving you a 1 card hand advantage, one must weigh in the fact that there is no control over what card you get in that draw. Arguably, handsize is not really that much of a factor in this game as each turn a player can gain this advantage by Clocking. Then there’s the drawback of overdrawing, causing your library to deck out too fast and cause a Refresh.