Quick dirt and cheap(?) narrowband Internet connexion

a letter from Knuth to the U.S. Patent Office in Sept. 2003.

Letter to the Patent Office
From Professor Donald Knuth

Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks
Box 4
Patent and Trademark Office
Washington, DC 20231

Dear Commissioner:

Along with many other computer scientists, I would like to ask you to reconsider the current policy of giving patents for computational processes. I find a considerable anxiety throughout the community of practicing computer scientists that decisions by the patent courts and the Patent and Trademark Office are making life much more difficult for programmers.

In the period 1945-1980, it was generally believed that patent law did not pertain to software. However, it now appears that some people have received patents for algorithms of practical importance--e.g., Lempel-Ziv compression and RSA public key encryption--and are now legally preventing other programmers from using these algorithms.

This is a serious change from the previous policy under which the computer revolution became possible, and I fear this change will be harmful for society. It certainly would have had a profoundly negative effect on my own work: For example, I developed software called TeX that is now used to produce more than 90% of all books and journals in mathematics and physics and to produce hundreds of thousands of technical reports in all scientific disciplines. If software patents had been commonplace in 1980, I would not have been able to create such a system, nor would I probably have ever thought of doing it, nor can I imagine anyone else doing so.

I am told that the courts are trying to make a distinction between mathematical algorithms and nonmathematical algorithms. To a computer scientist, this makes no sense, because every algorithm is as mathematical as anything could be. An algorithm is an abstract concept unrelated to physical laws of the universe.

Nor is it possible to distinguish between "numerical" and "nonnumerical" algorithms, as if numbers were somehow different from other kinds of precise information. All data are numbers, and all numbers are data. Mathematicians work much more with symbolic entities than with numbers.

Therefore the idea of passing laws that say some kinds of algorithms belong to mathematics and some do not strikes me as absurd as the 19th century attempts of the Indiana legislature to pass a law that the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter is exactly 3, not approximately 3.1416. It's like the medieval church ruling that the sun revolves about the earth. Man-made laws can be significantly helpful but not when they contradict fundamental truths.

Congress wisely decided long ago that mathematical things cannot be patented. Surely nobody could apply mathematics if it were necessary to pay a license fee whenever the theorem of Pythagoras is employed. The basic algorithmic ideas that people are now rushing to patent are so fundamental, the result threatens to be like what would happen if we allowed authors to have patents on individual words and concepts. Novelists or journalists would be unable to write stories unless their publishers had permission from the owners of the words. Algorithms are exactly as basic to software as words are to writers, because they are the fundamental building blocks needed to make interesting products. What would happen if individual lawyers could patent their methods of defense, or if Supreme Court justices could patent their precedents?

I realize that the patent courts try their best to serve society when they formulate patent law. The Patent Office has fulfilled this mission admirably with respect to aspects of technology that involve concrete laws of physics rather than abstract laws of thought. I myself have a few patents on hardware devices. But I strongly believe that the recent trend to patenting algorithms is of benefit only to a very small number of attorneys and inventors, while it is seriously harmful to the vast majority of people who want to do useful things with computers.

When I think of the computer programs I require daily to get my own work done, I cannot help but realize that none of them would exist today if software patents had been prevalent in the 1960s and 1970s. Changing the rules now will have the effect of freezing progress at essentially its current level. If present trends continue, the only recourse available to the majority of America's brilliant software developers will be to give up software or to emigrate. The U.S.A. will soon lose its dominant position.

Please do what you can to reverse this alarming trend. There are far better ways to protect the intellectual property rights of software developers than to take away their right to use fundamental building blocks.

Sincerely,
Donald E. Knuth
Professor Emeritus

Links:

http://lpf.ai.mit.edu/Newsletter/programming.freedom.11.html

http://lpf.ai.mit.edu/Patents/knuth-to-pto.txt

http://www.pluto.it/files/meeting1999/atti/no-patents/brevetti/docs/knuth_letter_en.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Art_of_Computer_Programming

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Knuth

http://www-cs-staff.stanford.edu/~knuth/

http://www.digital-copyright.ca/discuss/1104

http://swpat.ffii.org/gasnu/knuth/swpatknuth.en.pdf

http://swpat.ffii.org/gasnu/knuth/index.en.html

Book

Those pictures are from the public presentation of a book, a friend of mine wrote.

Not it first book, but only one and half year after the first.

link:

http://www.pedepagina.pt/gato8.htm

http://lasers-in-the-jungle.blogspot.com/2005/05/book-presentation.html

UPDATE:

Satellite Photo:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=38.746649,-9.18275&ie=UTF8&z=17&ll=38.746645,-9.182746&spn=0.004192,0.013497&t=k&om=1&iwloc=addr

The (Silver) Cock and the Clock

(aka Lucan’s Tower)





The location can be seen in a map recently publish in this blog, in

http://lasers-in-the-jungle.blogspot.com/2006/12/monsanto.html [look for number 19!]

some links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monsanto_%28Idanha-a-Nova%29

http://viajar.clix.pt/com/tesouros.php?id=513&lg=en

http://www.golisbon.com/portugal/cities/monsanto.html

http://maps.yahoo.com/broadband/#mvt=m&trf=0&lon=-7.115493&lat=40.045325&mag=4

Monsanto

(high resolution version)

Although in a governmental publication about one of the most publicised tourist destination, the map does does not have a "compass rose", not even a "north symbol". And no scale too.

So it is very difficult to compare it with other map(s).

Postcard from Tomar

Manueline Window of the Chapter House of the nave of the Convent church

Links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convent_of_the_Order_of_Christ


http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/265

31+ years ago

I have lived in this house, for a month, back in August 1975 (Agosto de 1975, 1975 hot summer)

I have never return, until yesterday. Driving in the nearby E802/A23/IP2 highway I decided to take a 12 kms detour and take this picture.

All the place was changed, as you might as well guess, but I managed to find the spot.

BUT from the picture we can see that the house has been VERY closed to be consumed by fire very recently. We can see burned trees as far as 10 meters.



Satellite photo of the house:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=40.05653,-7.53219&ie=UTF8&z=18&ll=40.056001,-7.53381&spn=0.002037,0.006748&t=k&om=1

P type geographic features

populated place
a city, town, village, or other agglomeration of buildings where people live and work
Louriçal do Campo (1.4Km)
Torre (1.4Km)
São Fiel (3.4Km)
São Vicente da Beira (3.4Km)
Casal da Fraga (3.4Km)
Paradanta (4.6Km)
Soalheira (4.6Km)
Pereiros (4.6Km)
Castelo Novo (4.7Km)
Vale de Urso (5.6Km)
Barroca do Mercado (6.2Km)
Sobral do Campo (6.2Km)
Partida (7.1Km)
Vale de Figueiras (7.3Km)
Souto da Casa (7.6Km)
Alpedrinha (8Km)
Enxabarda (8Km)
Mourelo (8Km)
Alcangosta (8.6Km)
Catraia e Candais (8.6Km)

H type geographic features

stream
a body of running water moving to a lower level in a channel on land
Ribeira de São Vicente (3.4Km)
Ribeiro da Partida (6.8Km)
Ribeira das Enguias (7.1Km)
Ribeira da Enxabarda (8.6Km)
Ribeiro da Borralheira (8.6Km)
Ribeiro do Mioso (8.6Km)

T type geographic features

mountain
an elevation standing high above the surrounding area with small summit area, steep slopes and local relief of 300m or more
Alto da Praça (5.7Km)

mountains
a mountain range or a group of mountains or high ridges
Serra da Guardunha (4Km)

A type geographic features

first-order administrative division
a primary administrative division of a country, such as a state in the United States
Distrito de Castelo Branco (6.2Km)

second-order administrative division
a subdivision of a first-order administrative division
Concelho do Fundão (9.7Km)

S type geographic features

abandoned railroad station
Castelo Novo (6Km)

My Telecom ProblemS

My professional email is malfunction, for the last 4 or 5 days.

Also my mobile phone is not working for 2 weeks (I got the recorded messages through the Internet....)

If you send-me me something important in the last 2 weeks, please send it again

The email of this blog is OK (see in the headers...) USE IT

Also: help me choose a new mobile phone
(details: http://wifi-pda-phone.blogspot.com )

YOU have been warned!

...Mohammed sees women strung up by hooks thrust through their tongues by a green demon. Their crimes were to "mock" their husbands and to leave their homes without permission. Persian, 15th century

2006 Transit of Mercury (November 8)

Not a GREAT show, I am afraid.

Interesting:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_drop_effect

http://www.aas.org/publications/baas/v35n5/aas203/26.htm

http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/OH/transit06.html


UPDATE: But a good day to discuss the results of the american elections

my Chronicles from the Sprawl (18/n) - Lost in Translation

I saw this billboard in the L'Enfant Plaza metro station, in Washington. A few dictionaries and encyclopedias latter I haven't figure out yet the meaning of the word "score" in this context.

Satellite Photo:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=38.88390,-77.024964&ie=UTF8&om=0&t=k&z=17&ll=38.883901,-77.024964&spn=0.004126,0.013475



(

a photo of the Lincoln Memorial - and link to the Satellite Photo - is here:

http://lasers-in-the-jungle.blogspot.com/2006/09/my-chronicles-from-sprawl-15n.html

)

UPDATE:

"A group of twenty units is often referred to as a score"

cf. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/20_(number)

Victoria Opportunity

I bet the "Opportunity" will be around between 6 and 12 months

A question of kilotons (kt)

As can be seen from the pictures is very difficult to confirm with seismological data explosions below 2 kt even with close seismic stations. Seismology easily estimate the magnitude of the explosion/earthquake, but not its nature. Morever good results could take a couple of weeks to publish.

Keep in mind that North Korea has an tradition of announcing achievements nobody else managed to see.

(see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kwangmy%C5%8Fngs%C5%8Fng )

I believe that a small robotic plane, charged with chemical detectors, lunched by the US from S. Korea or from the sea will be able to detect nuclear explosions with less then ONE kt (even if underground).

Saying that I must add that, in my opinion

(a) any exposition below 2 kt (some will say 10kt) is probably a failure because large quantities of chemical explosives (in the range of 10 - 20 t) are typically used in crude devices to detonate the plutonium in the 2kt - 20kt range, except if highly sophisticated technology is available to detonate small amounts of plutonium with small amounts of explosives.

(b) using chemical explosives to simulate a SMALL nuclear explosion is insane, costly and dangerous (but possible). We are speaking of 1-2 kt of conventional explosives that could be coupled with a plutonium device, just in case it works or not, keeping always below seismic decrimination (i.e. 1 - 2kt)

(c) China in between a rock and a hard place. If it supports Pyongyang, as it usually does, Taiwan will have a REALLY nuclear bomb in less then 2 years (Japan, South Korea and the Republic of China could develop a fission bomb in less then 6 months, including lunching capacity).

(d) In 2 weeks those matters would be much more clear.

more links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_weapon

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_North_Korean_nuclear_test

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Korea_and_weapons_of_mass_destruction

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_North_Korean_nuclear_test

Victory!

Don't be fooled by the picture, the crater, known as "Victoria Crater" is approximately 750 meters wide (about 7 football fields) and 70 meters (the height of a 20 stories building) deep.

my Chronicles from the Sprawl (17/n) - Korean War Memorial

Photo: Korean_War_Veterans_Memorial. Please not the false reflections drawn in the background wall.

Between the "Washington Monument" and the Potomac river we can see a lot of memorials.

Probably the least know but, in my opinion, one of the nicest is the "Korean War Memorial".

Satellite Photo:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=38.89955,-77.05548&ie=UTF8&t=k&om=1&z=19&ll=38.887822,-77.047819&spn=0.001031,0.003369&iwloc=A

More links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jefferson_Memorial

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_Delano_Roosevelt_Memorial

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_memorial

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_Memorial

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II_Memorial

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DC_World_War_Memorial

my Chronicles from the Sprawl (16/n) - Watergate I & II

The Watergate Complex is linked to at least two very known presidential scandals.





Photo 1: The "Watergate Hotel" (Watergate complex).

Photo 2: 700 New Hampshire (Watergate complex). In the background, the "Kennedy Center for Performing Arts".

Satellite Photos:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=38.89955,-77.05548&ie=UTF8&z=19&ll=38.89955,-77.05548&spn=0.001031,0.003369&t=k&om=0

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=38.893972,-77.036605&ie=UTF8&t=k&om=0&z=19&ll=38.898097,-77.054753&spn=0.001031,0.003369&iwloc=A

Link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monica_Lewinsky

my Chronicles from the Sprawl (15/n) - Washington DC in Science Fiction III

Planet of the Apes (2001)







Photo 1: Lincoln Memorial

Photos 2 e 3: Frames of the 2001 film, "Planet of the Apes"

Satellite Photo:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=38.889367,-77.050091&ie=UTF8&t=k&om=0&z=17&ll=38.889367,-77.050091&spn=0.004125,0.013475

More links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_memorial

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planet_of_the_apes

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planet_of_the_Apes_%281968_film%29

my Chronicles from the Sprawl (14/n) - Washington DC in Science Fiction II

Logan's Run (1976)





Photo 1: Reflecting Pool (and, on the background, the Washington Monument and - far away - the Capitol dome).

Photo 2: A frame of the 1976 film "Logan's Run".

Satellite Photo:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=38.893972,-77.036605&ie=UTF8&t=k&om=0&z=19&ll=38.889338,-77.045075&spn=0.001031,0.003369&iwloc=A

More links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Monument

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Capitol

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logans_run

my Chronicles from the Sprawl (13/n) - Washington DC in Science Fiction I

Film: The Day The Earth Stood Still (aka Klaatu barada nikto)





Photo 1: The Ellipse as seen from the top of the Washington Monument (the White House is near the center of the picture).

Photo 2: The Ellipse in a frame from the film.

Satellite Photo:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=38.893972,-77.036605&ie=UTF8&z=17&ll=38.893972,-77.036605&spn=0.004125,0.013475&t=k&om=0

my Chronicles from the Sprawl (12/n) - Smithsonian IV

National Air & Space Museum (Washington, DC)





Apollo 11 Command Module

Satellite Photo:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=38.88831,-77.019863&ie=UTF8&z=17&ll=38.88831,-77.019868&spn=0.00415,0.013475&t=k&om=0

another link:

http://www.nasm.si.edu/exhibitions/gal100/apollo11.html

my Chronicles from the Sprawl (11/n) - Smithsonian III

National Air & Space Museum (Washington, DC)





Photo 1: "Sputnik I" and "Pioneer 10" (replicas)

Photo 2: "Sputnik I" and "Voyager10 " (replicas). Also seen "The Spirit of St. Louis" on background and a "X15" in foreground right (originals).

Satellite Photo:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=38.88831,-77.019863&ie=UTF8&z=17&ll=38.88831,-77.019868&spn=0.00415,0.013475&t=k&om=0

more links:

http://www.nasm.si.edu/exhibitions/gal100/sputnik.html

http://www.nasm.si.edu/exhibitions/gal100/pioneer.html

http://www.nasm.si.edu/exhibitions/gal100/stlouis.html

http://www.nasm.si.edu/exhibitions/gal100/X-15.html

my Chronicles from the Sprawl (10/n) - Smithsonian II

National Museum of Natural History (Washington, DC)





Photo 1: Dinosaurs

Photo 2: Washington Smithsonian Museums - as seen from the top of the Monument.

Satellite Photo:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=38.891171,-77.025871&ie=UTF8&t=k&om=0&z=17&ll=38.891175,-77.025876&spn=0.00415,0.013475

my Chronicles from the Sprawl (9/n) - Smithsonian I

National Gallery of Art (Washington, DC)





Photo1: Mind Power? No, just the flash reflexion.

Photo2: Classic Antiquity.

Satellite Photo:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=38.891446,-77.019997&ie=UTF8&z=16&ll=38.891446,-77.019997&spn=0.008301,0.026951&t=k&om=0

More Links:

http://www.si.edu/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_antiquity

my Chronicles from the Sprawl (8/n) - Nine Eleven

Ground zero through a protective wire mesh laid in place, probably, by the reconstruction workers.

(advanced topic for signal processing: lookout for Nyquist's - De Moivre's - patterns at different magnifications).

Satellite photo:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=40+42+41.32+N+74+00+43.92+W&ie=UTF8&z=17&ll=40.711478,-74.0122&spn=0.004042,0.013475&t=k&om=1

my Chronicles from the Sprawl (7/n) - Imagine

Photo 1: Strawberry Fields Memorial

Photo 2: Dakota Building (entrance)

Imagine
John Lennon

Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today...

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one

Satellite photos:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=40.77573,-73.97526&ie=UTF8&t=k&om=1&z=17&ll=40.775732,-73.97526&spn=0.004038,0.013475

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=40.77637,-73.97665&ie=UTF8&z=17&ll=40.776374,-73.976655&spn=0.004038,0.013475&t=k&om=1

also of interest:

http://www.centralparknyc.org/virtualpark/southend/strawberryfields


[ In July to October, 2006, I plan a series of posts celebrating the 20th anniversary of the William Gibson "Sprawl Trilogy". This is one of such posts. To find the other posts just search for the link near the upper right corner of any page of this blog. Click HERE for more details ]

my Chronicles from the Sprawl (6/n) - Marcel Duchamp @ Philadelphia Museum of Art (revisited)

see also:

http://lasers-in-the-jungle.blogspot.com/2006/07/marcel-duchamp_08.html

Satellite photo:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=philadelphia&ie=UTF8&t=k&om=1&z=19&ll=39.965336,-75.180586&spn=0.001022,0.003369

[ In July to October, 2006, I plan a series of posts celebrating the 20th anniversary of the William Gibson "Sprawl Trilogy". This is one of such posts. To find the other posts just search for the link near the upper right corner of any page of this blog. Click HERE for more details ]

my Chronicles from the Sprawl (5/n) - Grover's Mill Pond, NJ

Satellite photo:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=40.312624,-74.60563&ie=UTF8&t=k&om=1&z=19&ll=40.312624,-74.605633&spn=0.001016,0.003369

my Chronicles from the Sprawl (4/n) - Masonic Boston

satellite photo:


http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=43.6,-79.3&ie=UTF8&om=1&t=k&z=19&ll=42.357484,-71.061837&spn=0.000985,0.003369&iwloc=A

my Chronicles from the Sprawl (3/n) - Postcards from THE falls

Satellite photo:


http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=43.6,-79.3&ie=UTF8&t=k&om=1&z=15&ll=43.081302,-79.070663&spn=0.015578,0.053902

my Chronicles from the Sprawl (2/n) - The North

Toronto (Canada) - The farthest north point in my journey.

Picture: Downtown Toronto with the CN Tower - the World’s tallest building [ http://www.cntower.ca/portal/ ]



satellite photo:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=43.6,-79.3&ie=UTF8&t=k&om=1&z=18&ll=43.641825,-79.387314&spn=0.001929,0.006738

my Chronicles from the Sprawl (1/n) - Have car, will travel

Have car, will travel




The house was not included :-(

Kandinsky & Dali

His offices were located in a warehouse behind Ninsei, part of which seemed to have been sparsely decorated, years before, with a random collection of European furniture, as though Deane had once intended to use the place as his home. Neo-Aztec bookcases gathered dust against one wall of the room where Case waited. A pair of bulbous Disney-styled table lamps perched awkwardly on a low Kandinsky-look coffee table in scarlet-lacquered steel. A Dali clock hung on the wall between the bookcases, its distorted face sagging to the bare concrete floor. Its hands were holograms that altered to match the convolutions of the face as they rotated, but it never told the correct time. The room was stacked with white fiberglass shipping modules that gave off the tang of preserved ginger. "You seem to be clean, old son," said Deane's disembodied voice. "Do come in."

William Gibson, "Neuromancer", 1984

[ In July to October, 2006, I plan a series of posts celebrating the 20th anniversary of the William Gibson "Sprawl Trilogy". This is one of such posts. To find the other posts just search for the link near the upper right corner of any page of this blog. Click HERE for more details ]

1939/45 (those who do not know history are condemned to repeat it)

Possibly 62 million people lost their lives in World War II—about 25 million soldiers and 37 million civilians, with estimates varying widely. This total includes the estimated 12 million lives lost in the Holocaust.

un resolutions 425/1391/1496 (those who do not know history are condemned to repeat it)

In May 2000, more than 22 years after United Nations Security Counsel Resolution 425 was passed, Israel withdrew its troops from southern Lebanon. Prior to the withdrawal, opposition voices inside Israel were putting high pressure on the Israeli government to withdraw from Lebanon as they saw no valid reason for staying there and having to sustain the Lebanese resistance attacks.

Lebanon had not lived up to its end of the Resolution which called for the Lebanese government to assert its control over the southern region.Lebanon was called on by UN Resolution 1391 of 2002 and urged by UN Resolution 1496 of 2003 to do so.

As a result of Lebanon's inability to assert control of the region, Hezbollah,funded by Iran holds de facto sovereignty over much of South Lebanon.

World War 4

Thursday, July 27, 2006
Associated Press

In the message broadcast by Al-Jazeera television, Ayman al-Zawahiri, second in command to Usama bin Laden, said that Al Qaeda now views "all the world as a battlefield open in front of us."

The Egyptian-born physician said that the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah and Palestinian militants would not be ended with "cease-fires or agreements."

"It is a Jihad for the sake of God and will last until (our) religion prevails ... from Spain to Iraq," al-Zawahiri said. "We will attack everywhere." Spain was controlled by Arab Muslims until they were driven from power at the turn of the 16th century.

He also said that Arab regimes were complicit in Israeli fighting against Hezbollah and the Palestinians. "My fellow Muslims, it is obvious that Arab and Islamic governments are not only impotent but also complicit ... and you are alone on the battlefield. Rely on God and fight your enemies ... make yourselves martyrs."
...

1947/48/49 (those who do not know history are condemned to repeat it)

In 1947, following increasing levels of violence together with unsuccessful efforts to reconcile the Jewish and Arab populations, the British government decided to withdraw from the Palestine Mandate. The UN General Assembly approved the 1947 UN Partition Plan dividing the territory into two states, with the Jewish area consisting of roughly 55% of the land, and the Arab area roughly 45%. Jerusalem was planned to be an international region administered by the UN to avoid conflict over its status.

Immediately following the adoption of the Partition Plan by the UN General Assembly on November 29, 1947, David Ben-Gurion tentatively accepted the partition, while the Arab League rejected it. Attacks on civilians chiefly by Arabs but also by Israelis soon turned into widespread fighting between Arabs and Jews, this civil war being the first "phase" of the 1948 War of Independence.

The State of Israel was proclaimed on May 14, 1948, one day before the expiry of the Palestine Mandate.

Following the State of Israel's establishment, the armies of Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, and Iraq joined the fighting and began the second phase of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. From the north, Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq, were all but stopped relatively close to the borders. Jordanian forces, invading from the east, captured East Jerusalem and laid siege on the city's west. However, forces of the Haganah successfully stopped most invading forces, and Irgun forces halted Egyptian encroachment from the south. At the beginning of June, the UN declared a one-month cease fire during which the Israel Defense Forces were officially formed. After numerous months of war, a cease fire was declared in 1949 and temporary borders, known as the Green Line, were instituted. Israel had gained an additional 26% of the Mandate territory west of the Jordan River. Jordan, for its part, held the large mountainous areas of Judea and Samaria, which became known as the West Bank. Egypt took control of a small strip of land along the coast, which became known as the Gaza Strip.

During and after the war, then Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion set about establishing order by dismantling the Palmach and underground organizations like the Irgun and Lehi. Those two groups were classified as terror organizations after the murder of a Swedish diplomat.

Large numbers of the Arab population fled or were driven out of the newly-created Jewish State. (Estimates of the final refugee count range from 600,000 to 900,000 with the official United Nations count at 711,000.) The continuing conflict between Israel and the Arab world resulted in a lasting displacement that persists to this day.

Immigration of Holocaust survivors and Jewish refugees from Arab lands doubled Israel's population within a year of independence. Over the following decade approximately 600,000 Mizrahi Jews, who fled or were expelled from surrounding Arab countries and Iran, migrated to Israel.

Turn on red

For someone from Europe driving in the USA probably to most weird thing about traffic laws is the fact that quit often you can cross a red light if you are turning right (and some times if you are turning left).

Unfortunately the exact law varies from state top state and sometimes changes from one part of the state to another.

Also a large collection of traffic signs supersede or, sometimes, reeenforce the generic laws.