Is There Any Hope Really?

Large number of suicides occurs each year at the Golden Gate Bridge between San Francisco and Marin County. One person jumped off the Golden Gate Bridge every 15 days on average, according to documentary 'The Bridge'. Film captured 19 people as they took their final plunge, and then offers interviews with grieving families.

After a fall of approximately four seconds jumpers hit the water at 75 miles per hour (120 km/h) with the force of a speeding truck meeting a concrete building. The jump is fatal 98 percent of the time. Accessibility is the biggest factor in making the Golden Gate Bridge the world's No. 1 suicide magnet. It makes suicide so easy and that is what makes it so dangerous. More than 1,250 suicides were reported since the time the bridge opened, on May 27, 1937.

Various methods have been proposed and implemented to reduce the number of suicides. The bridge is fitted with suicide hotline telephones, (sometimes inoperative, as you can see), and staff patrol the bridge in carts, looking for people who appear to be planning to jump. The bridge is now closed to pedestrians at night. Cyclists are still permitted across at night, but must be buzzed in and out through the remotely controlled security gates.

Attempts to introduce a suicide barrier have been thwarted by engineering difficulties, high costs, and public opposition. The estimated cost of a barrier is between $15 and $20 million. One recurring proposal is to build a barrier to replace or augment the low railing, a component of the bridge's original architectural design. New barriers have eliminated suicides at other landmarks around the world, but were opposed for the Golden Gate Bridge for reasons of cost, aesthetics, and safety. The load from a poorly designed barrier could significantly affect the bridge's structural integrity during a strong windstorm.

Today, the Golden Gate Bridge remains a nearly foolproof method for suicide. It is combination of beauty, lethality, romance and efficiency for people, who have the Golden Gate Bridge as a suicide site in their mind. The particular place or method of suicide is individual, but it is a function of what's available. The majority of bridge suicides are impulsive, but for a personality in crisis the accessibility of the Golden Gate Bridge is the tipping point between life and death.

Feel the Greatness of These Great Books

People in Cardiff, United Kingdom had a chance to fell the greatness of literature while the Cardiff central Library was being remodeled. Instead of using traditional temporary front, until the new building is completed, they used giant bookshelves, creating an quite dreamlike atmosphere.






Residents in Kansas, USA were asked to nominate influential books that represent kansas city. Sizeable versions of the winning nominations were then used as the exterior of the library car-park.

Use electricity wisely

South Africa’s state owned electricity provider Eskom leads by example in this cool advertising campaign.

Google has Purchased the Shortest Possible Domain Name

Google has purchased the shortest possible domain name to make it easier for Chinese users to find Google: g.cn. Interestingly, "g.com," along with most other single-letter and single-digit domain names are reserved by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority. The IANA is the master arbiter of domain names and addresses on the Internet. There are a few one-letter domain names out there, though: Z.com is owned by Nissan, Q.com by Qwest, and X.com is owned by PayPal. There was a proposal floated a few years ago to auction off the one-letter domain names, but nothing has come of it.

How to Write Articles in Simple English

As you may know Simple English is similar to English, but it only uses basic words. If you want your readers to understand your article, you should use only the 1000 most common and basic words in English. You should also use only simple grammar, for example shorter sentences. Simple English can make it easier for people to adjust to a second language and improve understanding for people whose first language is not English. Other readers of your article may be children or have learning difficulties. Remember that you want to use simple language, but the ideas do not have to be simple.

There is simple method to write articles in Simple English. Write your article; use normal words, as you would speak to another person. Look through words, if a word is a name, idiomatic (the meaning of the words is not clear from the roots), slang, or jargon (special words which experts use), then it should be replaced. For detailed writing about politics, science, or religion, articles sometimes need some complex words, then you should explain all the hard words in the article. Next, change sentences to active voice. For example, change from "The bird was eaten by the cat." to "The cat ate the bird." Check that you use verbs in past, present or future only.

When you are writing article in Simple English try not to use bad grammar and bad spelling. It is not good idea to use bad words; you are trying to write in Simple English, not Bad English. Do not use idioms (words or phrases that mean something other than what they say). Try to keep the structure of an article simple too. And, finally, do not write articles so short, that they offer no useful information as the article you just have read. :)