The meetings of the Metropolis Standing Commissions on Financing of Urban Services and Infrastructure, Urban Mobility Management and Metropolitan Performance Measurement, will be held in Seoul and Tehran respectively. Commission 4 on Urban Mobility Management and Commission 2 on Financing of Urban Services and Infrastructure have organized a joint meeting on Financing Urban Mobility which will be held in Seoul from 11 to 15 June 2007. Working sessions will provide a focal point for exchanging ideas and experiences in order to improve the financing of public transport systems. Participants will also be able to experience for themselves Seoul?s public transport systems. During the seminars on mass transport planning and on transportation and air quality which will take place before the meeting, projects being undertaken in various metropolises will be presented. The Commission on Urban Mobility Management is chaired by Berlin and Seoul and the Commission on Financing of Urban Services and Infrastructure by Montreal and Sao Paulo. Meanwhile, members of Commission 5 on Metropolitan Performance Measurement will hold a meeting in Tehran on 19 and 20 June 2007 and will organize training sessions for technical municipal officers and other experts in Mashhad from 21 to 23 June 2007. The Commission 5 events due to take place in Iran will concentrate on governance and the environment: both key elements for the sustainable development of the metropolises. The Commission on Metropolitan Performance Management is a joint project by Metropolis and UN-HABITAT, led by Melbourne, and which involves the collaboration of various independent experts.

If you receive an email that appears to be from eBay that requests sensitive personal information, be cautious. The email may be a "spoof" or "phishing" email. The people who send these fake emails hope that unsuspecting recipients will reply or click on a link contained in the email and then provide sensitive personal information including passwords, social security numbers or credit card numbers. Legitimate eBay emails eBay will never ask you to provide account numbers, passwords or other sensitive information through email. If eBay does request information from you, a copy of that email will be in the My Messages box in My eBay. If you have any doubt that an email really is from eBay, open a new browser window, type www.ebay.com, and sign in. Any email that looks as if it is from eBay, mentions a problem with your account or requests personal information, and is not in My Messages in My eBay, is a spoof (fake) email. Spoof emails Spoof emails often include the use of the eBay logo and an eBay address in the "From" line (for example, "From: support@ebay.com") The email may mimic common eBay emails, such as notifications of problems with your account, “Ask seller a question” emails or offers to become an eBay PowerSeller. Spoof emails typically have the following characteristics. Requests sensitive information. (Example: Please update your credit card number.) Starts with a generic greeting. (Example: Dear eBay member) Has an urgent tone for quick action. (Example: “Ignoring this message will result in a suspension of your account within 24 hours”.) Contains links to Web pages that resemble the eBay sign-in page. (Example spoof Web link: http://signin-ebay.com/) When you receive a suspicious email Do not click on any link in the email. The purpose of spoof email is to lead you to a Web site and attempt to collect personal information and commit identity theft or other crimes. Report the email by forwarding it to spoof@ebay.com. eBay will review the email and let you know if it was legitimately sent by eBay. Important: In order for eBay to investigate your report, you must forward the email without adding attachments, adding text or altering text.

Concrete is one of the easiest building materials to work with. Follow these step-by-step instructions on how to lay your own concrete. Materials checklist Sharp sand Stone aggregate Dry cement or ready-mix concrete for small jobs Steel reinforcing - F52 for 100mm thick concrete (driveways, etc) Steel reinforcing - F42 for 75mm thick concrete (paths, etc) Bar chairs - 50mm for 100mm thick concrete Bar chairs- 40mm for 75mm thick concrete Formwork timber - straight boards at least 25mm thick and as wide as the concrete's depth Stakes 50mm square and long enough to cover depth of concrete plus about 300mm for driving into the ground 50 x 2.8mm bullethead Sheet of plywood or hardboard Sacking or polythene sheeting Concrete is one of the most versatile building materials. It lends itself well to a wide variety of shapes and forms. You can use it to create a family entertainment centre, build a patio, garden path or driveway, or provide a hard and durable floor that will last a lifetime in your garage, workshop or garden shed. There’s no need to hide behind the excuse that you’ve never concreted anything before either – concrete is also one of the easiest building materials to work with. The techniques for laying anything from a shed floor to a garden path are much the same, once you know the basic rules for mixing up the ingredients, making formwork, laying and levelling. And in this MitrePlan Project Planner, we provide you with the know-how. Just follow the step-by-step instructions and you’ll find working with concrete relatively simple. All you need are the right tools and the right materials from your Mitre I0 specialist – and you’re on your way. Step 1: let's plan ahead Unlike most building materials, concrete is hard to dispose of if you make a mistake. So plan your job carefully. Make a sketch of it if necessary. What you are concreting is also an important consideration. For example, you may want to use ready-mixed concrete if you are laying a large driveway or garage floor. This is delivered in bulk by large trucks, so you must have formwork in place and a couple of helpers ready to off-load it. It is also sensible to check with your local authority before starting about any regulations or restrictions, particularly in relation to existing drains or pipe runs. Step 2: buying your materials Concrete is made by mixing cement, sand, stone aggregate and water. For small jobs, it’s best to buy pre-mixed concrete in 40kg bags. Then all you do is add water. For larger projects, it’s cheaper to buy the materials separately and mix yourself. Cement is normally sold in 40kg bags. Sand and aggregate are both sold by the tonne or fraction of a tonne - the minimum is usually a quarter of a tonne. Different projects require different thicknesses of concrete and the mix must be adjusted accordingly. Basically, the greater the load on the slab the thicker it must be. Here are the most common mixes: Suitable where a minimum thickness of 100mm is needed, such as driveways, garage and workshop floors, - one part cement, 2 1/2 parts sand, four parts aggregate. Used for light duty strips and bases up to 75mm thick - garden paths and the like, - one part cement, two parts sand, three parts aggregate. Where great strength is not needed, such as garden wall foundations, bedding in slabs, and so on, - one part cement, three parts sand, six parts aggregate. To calculate the volume of cement and aggregates needed, multiply the area’s length by its width by the required thickness of concrete. Then use this handy guide to estimate your quantities, allowing for wastage by rounding up volumes to the nearest half or whole cubic metre. Mix, Cement, Sharp Sand, Aggregate To make 40kg Step 3: preparation First, measure and mark out the area to be concreted. Stretch stringline between pegs driven in the ground, then remove the top soil until you’ve accurately marked out the shape of the area. Use a builder’s square to set the corners accurately. Then dig down to the depth you want the concrete. The prepared area should extend about 150mm beyond the edge of the finished slab so there is space for preparing the formwork (Fig. 1). Be sure the ground is firm, level and free from vegetation. If it is soft and loose, add a layer of stones or broken bricks and tightly compact into the surface with a sledge hammer. If laying immediately over an old concrete base, completely break up the old first and compact it or your new concrete will also crack. This is a kind of box that keeps the concrete in place while it hardens and provides an edge for levelling the poured concrete. Hammer in pegs at 1m intervals around the outside of the entire area. Place the formwork boards against the pegs using your stringline to accurately align them. Use a spirit level to ensure the tops will be flush with the finished level of your concrete. If required, check that the formwork is slightly lower on one side so rainwater can run away. If near a home, slope away from the house. Then nail the boards to the pegs making sure there are no gaps between boards, or boards and ground where concrete can seep through. Step 5: mixing the concrete At this stage, you should also consider adding a colouring agent to your mix. Liquid and powder forms are available in a range of earthy colours to highlight the overall design of your path or driveway.

WASHINGTON - Detailed plans for the new U.S. Embassy under construction in Baghdad appeared online Thursday in a breach of the tight security surrounding the sensitive project. ADVERTISEMENT Computer-generated projections of the soon-to-be completed, heavily fortified compound were posted on the Web site of the Kansas City, Mo.-based architectural firm that was contracted to design the massive facility in the Iraqi capital. The images were removed by Berger Devine Yaeger Inc. shortly after the company was contacted by the State Department. "We work very hard to ensure the safety and security of our employees overseas," said Gonzalo Gallegos, a department spokesman. "This kind of information out in the public domain detracts from that effort." The 10 images included a scheme of the overall layout of the compound, plus depictions of individual buildings including the embassy itself, office annexes, the Marine Corps security post, swimming pool, recreation center and the ambassador's and deputy ambassador's residences. U.S. officials said the posted plans conformed at least roughly to conceptual drawings for the new embassy, which is being built on the banks of the Tigris River behind huge fences due to concerns about insurgents' attacks. Dan Sreebny, a spokesman for the embassy in Baghdad, declined to discuss the accuracy of the posted images. "In terms of commenting whether they're accurate, obviously we wouldn't be commenting on that because we don't want people to know whether they're accurate or not for security reasons," he said. Berger Devine Yaeger's parent company, the giant contractor Louis Berger Group, said the plans had been very preliminary and would not be of help to potential U.S. enemies. "The actual information that was up there was purely conjectural and conceptual in nature," said company spokesman Jeffrey Willis. "Google Earth could give you a better snapshot of what the site looks like on the ground." Some U.S. officials acknowledged that damage may have been done by the postings and used expletives to describe their personal reactions. Still, they downplayed the overall risk. "People are eventually going to figure out where all these places are, but you don't have to draw them a map," said one senior official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk about the embassy project. Few are, and in Baghdad, the construction is under heavy guard and treated with extreme secrecy. It is off-limits to all but those with special passes, surrounded by tall, concrete blast walls and impossible to see except from the air. The images posted on the Web site show that the $592 million embassy, expected to be completed in September on prime real estate two-thirds the size of Washington's National Mall, will be a spacious and comfortable facility, albeit dangerous. Identified as the "Baghdad U.S. Embassy Compound Master Plan," the images show palm-lined paths, green grass gardens and volleyball and basketball courts outside the Marine post, as well as the swimming pool. "In total, the 104-acre compound will include over twenty buildings, including one classified secure structure and housing for over 380 families," the Web site says. It says the compound will include the embassy building, housing, a PX, commissary, cinema, retail and shopping areas, restaurants, schools, a fire station, power and water treatment plants as well as telecommunications and wastewater treatment facilities. A U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee report last year said embassy security will be extraordinary: Setbacks and perimeter no-go areas will be especially deep, structures reinforced to 2.5 times the standard and five high-security entrances, plus an emergency entrance-exit.

WTF

what is this thread ?

.....? any one to explain to me ?

I'm really scared.

Was this when the off-topic forum was opened or something?

I have no idea what this thread means and why I made it.

What the hell?