K's Learning Diary

Money serves its primary function as a medium of exchange. Without it we will be forced to barter for everything. Barter economies are highly inefficient as every transactions become unbearably complicated, In the old days, human civilizations tended to barter for food and other everyday necessities. Only until 5000 years ago, in the area of modern day Iraq, the shekel was used as currency. The shekel represented a certain weight of barley equivalent to gold or silver. It eventually became a coin currency (a natural advancement to avoid having to weigh every time).  In the same way, the British currency is called the pound because it was originally equivalent to a pound of silver. The first ever banknotes were issued in 7th century China. but it took another 1000 years before paper money was adopted in Europe by Sweden's Stockholms Banco in 1661. Money is a  unit of account, a yardstick against which things can be priced, which helps us to judge the value of somethin

Had other Dubai pieces in mind, but limited time today means a quick write-up. Ever hit "send" only to be hit with instant regret? Maybe a typo lurked in the email, or worse, it went to the wrong person entirely! This scenario crossed my mind a few years back. Wouldn't it be amazing to set an expiry date or schedule deletion for sent emails?  Actually, some email services already offer this! Big String is one example. However, this function is actually available to most people already, it is just not very well known. If you  use outlook, then you can give it a go. In outlook, there is actually a "Recall" function that allow you to delete erroneous email before it's read by the recipient. We tried it today, and it worked!  After making a massive mistake pressing the "Send" button. Go immediately to your "Sent" folder. Locate the email that you desperately want to kill/ destroy.  Double click on the sent mail, to open it up in a stand

I hope I have understood this correctly and I am not misleading the general public :S. In 1798, English economist Thomas Robert Malthus (1766-1834) published and pointed out in his famous work - An essay on the Principal of Population , the worrying fact that Humans were growing unsustainably at a much faster rate than their sources of food - just like cells overgrowing on a limited size Petri dish, it was a disaster waiting to happen.  With limited resources, humans were likely to undergo three main challenges: famine, disease and war. People would not have enough to eat, become prone to diseases and are more likely to fight each other for the increasingly scarce resources. It seemed that the human race was unsustainable. Indeed, the same rhetoric can be heard today over other current environmental issues. So how did we escape the seemingly inevitable doom? Since the publication, the world population has grown from 980 million to 6.9 billion. What was unforeseen back the

A trip to Dubai is not complete without a visit to its tallest and one of the finest architectural marvels—the famous Burj Khalifa. Currently the tallest man-made structure in the world at 829.84 m (2,723 ft), construction on Burj Khalifa began on 21 September 2004, with the exterior of the structure completed on 1 October 2009. The building officially opened on 4 January 2010. A few notes on the design of the Burj from Wikipedia : The design of Burj Khalifa is derived from patterning systems embodied in Islamic architecture. According to the structural engineer, Bill Baker of SOM, the building's design incorporates cultural and historical elements particular to the region. The Y-shaped plan is ideal for residential and hotel usage, with the wings allowing maximum outward views and inward natural light. The design architect, Adrian Smith, has said the triple lobed footprint of the building was inspired by the flower Hymenocallis. The tower is composed of three elements arrange

A wide variety of choices to choose from when travelling in Dubai: Taxi, metro, bus, Abra, private jet, helicopters... Taxi : Taxi is not expensive at all, especially when travelling as a group (bear in mind that a big car accommodating 6 people may actually cost the same as a small car accommodating 4). For a group of 6, average cost per person per journey is around 8 AED. However, regular size taxis are more widely available; you will need to look harder and ask around a bit more for the bigger cars. Metro : The Dubai metro website provides extensive information on the metro system. There are mainly 2 lines, the green line and the red line. http://dubaimetro.eu/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/routemap1.jpg The green line surrounds the airport and occupies the Deira area, where a lot of the traditional, cultural sites are. The red line takes you south-west to the malls and Burj. Dubai metro green line: View  Dubai Metro green line  in a larger map Dubai