IDIOMASTER

Acabamos de atingir 800 curtidas. Agradecemos a todos nossos alunos, fãs e seguidores.

Sds,
Equipe Idiomaster

IDIOMASTER IDIOMASTER está localizado no Rio de Janeiro e desde 1996 oferece serviços a empresas e profissionais em geral que desejem aprender um novo idioma.

ELEFANTES Versus HUMANOS

Una aldea india se traslada de lugar para que pasen los paquidermos

Una aldea india al completo se ha trasladado a un nuevo enclave para que los elefantes puedan moverse libremente por la zona, una franja de terreno que sirve de unión entre dos de sus hábitats, poniendo fin a más de 40 años de conflicto entre humanos y paquidermos.

Cada año más de 400 personas y un centenar de proboscidios pierden la vida por el paso de elefantes a través de zonas habitadas en la India, por cuyo territorio se extienden 88 corredores para estos mamíferos, según datos de la ONG Fondo de Fauna de la India (WTI, en inglés).

Los vecinos del antiguo Ram Terang, en el estado oriental de Assam, sufrieron durante generaciones este problema, con paquidermos empeñados en meter las trompas en sus sembrados.

Es, no obstante, una especie de relación amor-odio, ya que estos lugareños tribales son «muy afectuosos» con los elefantes, a los que llaman cariñosamente «baba» o padre, explicó a Efe Rupa Gandhi, directora adjunta de WTI, organización encargada del traslado de la aldea.

Quizás por eso, las 19 familias accedieron «voluntariamente» a hacer las maletas, y dejar atrás para siempre el pasado febrero sus tierras, y sus casas de bambú y techo de paja.

Aunque probablemente también favoreció su decisión la expectativa de alojarse en las nuevas viviendas de ladrillo rojo y tejados verdes equipadas con cocina, sistema de drenaje y retrete que conforman el nuevo Ram Terang, a unos 6 kilómetros de la aldea original.

Según Gandhi, las condiciones son mucho mejores en el poblado actual, donde incluso se han instalado paneles solares a la espera de un sistema eléctrico, frente a las «inadecuadas» viviendas del enclave anterior que poca protección ofrecían contra los paquidermos.

La mudanza, por ende, ha llevado tiempo.

Paso seguro a 1.800 elefantes
Con apoyo de la organización británica Elephant Family, presidida por el príncipe Carlos, WTI compró el terreno para la nueva aldea en 2013, dos años después los vecinos comenzaron a cultivar las tierras y a principios del mes pasado, finalmente, comenzaron a trasladarse.

«Dura entre 5 y 7 años completar este tipo de mudanzas», detalló la directora adjunta, quien se mostró sin embargo optimista de que el periodo sea menor en el caso de su próxima misión en la aldea de Tokolangso.

La localidad se ubica en el mismo corredor que el antiguo Ram Terang, por lo que sus 23 familias ya han estado expuestas al proyecto y han mostrado su «disposición a mudarse».

En conjunto, el traslado de estas dos poblaciones proporcionará un «paso seguro» para cerca de 1.800 paquidermos, apuntó Gandhi.

«Los elefantes se mueven constantemente» ya que necesitan una gran cantidad de comida. Y lo hacen siempre a través del mismo corredor gracias a «su fantástica memoria» para recordar los caminos seguros, un «conocimiento» que, según la directora, pasa de madres a crías.

El jefe del proyecto de WTI, Sandeep Tiwari, calcula que al menos la mitad de los corredores de elefantes del país presentan «algún problema de habitación humana».

En la superpoblada India, decenas de elefantes mueren anualmente atropellados en autopistas, electrificados por cables o envenenados por humanos.

En Assam, donde se ubica Ram Terang, algunas tribus incluso consumen su carne y se han dado casos de paquidermos atropellados por trenes cuyos cuerpos habían desaparecido a la llegada de las autoridades la mañana siguiente, tras ser recogidos por los lugareños «para darse un festín», según resaltó Tiwari a Efe.

Sin embargo, al biólogo no le preocupan estos fenómenos de «baja» incidencia, sino la «pérdida del hábitat y su fragmentación"», es decir, su división en secciones.

«El cambio de la tierra debido al desarrollo, viviendas, agricultura o industria ha conducido a la fragmentación», explicó.

En este sentido, el profesor de Estudios Medioambientales de la Universidad de Delhi C.R. Babu advierte de que el hábitat del elefante «se está hundiendo drásticamente» no sólo en «tamaño sino también en términos de calidad».

«Las praderas están siendo reemplazadas por malas hierbas y éstas no se las come ningún animal, ni siquiera un insecto», alertó en declaraciones a Efe.

La escasez de alimentos es también, a su juicio, la razón de que los animales se están adentrando en áreas dominadas por el ser humano.

Con Ram Terang, WTI ha trasladado cuatro aldeas y, si bien Tiwari asegura que estos proyectos son considerados «un modelo de situación en la que todos ganan», parece que aún queda mucho corredor por andar.

HYPERLOOP

What is a Hyperloop?
The Hyperloop™ Transportation System is an entirely new mode of transportation that eliminates all travel complications and objections due to cost, travel time and weather conditions.

The Speed of Sound
Traveling as fast as the speed of sound, the Hyperloop™ will be faster than today's conventional methods of transportation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7A7GsAPR3J0

A Self Sufficient System
Completely self sufficient, solar panels placed along the track produce excess amounts of the energy that is actually required to run the system.


Protected from the Elements
The climate controlled capsule travels inside of a reinforced 'tube' pathway, rendering the Hyperloop™ Transportation System weather independent and earthquake safe thanks to the use of pylons.

Lower Construction Costs
The construction costs are much lower than any existing, and yet proposed railway projects. It utilizes existing infrastructure thanks to the use of these pylons and has reduced land acquisition costs as well.

More Affordable Travel
These reduced costs translate directly into cheaper ticket prices, therefore changing the way we travel and ultimately the way that we all get to live and enjoy our lives! With such affordable fares, an individual could easily live in one city and work in another. This is not only a solution for affordable housing and corporate commute, but will also boost personal and social lives as well as economical development.


WHY A HYPERLOOP?
Traffic on freeways is getting more and more congested, while gasoline cost continues to skyrocket! Housing Problems are plaguing nearly every major city. Air travel has only a slight advantage over driving, when traveling by car between cities that are within a four to six hour range of each other. Take off, landing and of course the incredibly time consuming process required by all airports prior to boarding, often takes up the majority of your travel time when commuting by plane.

700 mph in a tube: The Hyperloop experience It's Elon Musk's idea, but Hyperloop Transportation Technologies is trying to make this "pipe dream" a reality.

ZIKA VIRUS:

Outbreak 'likely to spread across Americas' says WHO
The Zika virus is likely to spread across nearly all of the Americas, the World Health Organization has warned.
The infection, which causes symptoms including mild fever, conjunctivitis and headache, has already been found in 21 countries in the Caribbean, North and South America.
It has been linked to thousands of babies being born with underdeveloped brains and some countries have advised women not to get pregnant.
No treatment or vaccine is available.
The virus was first detected in 1947 in monkeys in Africa. There have since been small, short-lived outbreaks in people on the continent, parts of Asia and in the Pacific Islands.

But it has spread on a massive scale in the Americas, where transmission was first detected in Brazil in May 2015.
Large numbers of the mosquitoes which carry the virus and a lack of any natural immunity is thought to be helping the infection to spread rapidly.



Mosquito
Zika is transmitted by the bite of Aedes mosquitoes, which are found in all countries in the region except Canada and Chile.
In a statement, The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the regional office of the WHO, said: "PAHO anticipates that Zika virus will continue to spread and will likely reach all countries and territories of the region where Aedes mosquitoes are found."

It also confirmed the virus had been detected in semen and there was "one case of possible person-to-person sexual transmission" but further evidence was still needed.
Around 80% of infections do not result in symptoms.
But the biggest concern is the potential impact on babies developing in the womb. There have been around 3,500 reported cases of microcephaly - babies born with tiny brains - in Brazil alone since October.
PAHO warned pregnant women to be "especially careful" and to see their doctor before and after visiting areas affected by the virus.


Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador and Jamaica last week recommended women delay pregnancies until more was known about the virus.
Although officially PAHO says "any decision to defer pregnancy is an individual one between a woman, her partner and her healthcare provider".
Maria Conceicao Queiroz said there was a sense of fear where she lives near the Olympic Park in Rio de Janeiro: "Every one is at risk, we're all scared of getting Zika.
"We're surrounded with dirty water, polluted water, but what can we do but put repellent on, to try to keep the mosquitoes away."
Global threat
Prof Laura Rodrigues, a fellow of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences and from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said some data suggested that up to one-in-fifty babies had birth defects in one of the worst hit areas - Pernambuco state in Brazil.
She said: "Until November we knew nothing, this has caught us by surprise and we're trying to learn as fast as we can.

"Wherever there is dengue, there is mosquito, then it will spread and not just in Americas I think there is a very real chance it will spread in Asia."
PAHO advice is to ensure all containers that can hold even small amounts of water should be emptied and cleaned to prevent mosquitoes breeding.
And that people should protect themselves by using insect repellent, covering up and keeping windows and doors closed.
The director general of the WHO, Margaret Chan, said the outbreak was "extremely worrisome".

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Source: BBC

EL PRIMER HOTEL SUBMARINO

Así será el primer hotel que es una nave submarina
¿Le gustaría experimentar cómo sería vivir bajo el mar y en una nave? Lo podría hacer si reserva una habitación en un hotel futurista que se construirá sobre el suelo marino.

EL Planet Ocean Underwater Hotel ha recibido la patente de EE.UU. y la aprobación como el primer verdadero hotel submarino del mundo.

Es así que los clientes del hotel que contará con 12 habitaciones, podrán disfrutar de una vista panorámica única de la vida marina a 8,5 m de profundidad.

Se calcula que el proyecto costará uno US$13 millones siendo Egipto, Malasia, Hawái y las Bahamas posibles lugares para llevarlo a cabo.

Submarino

El hotel ha sido técnicamente clasificado como una nave, ya que puede navegar por las aguas del océano usando la tecnología de propulsión electromecánica.

"De esta manera se puede trasladar de sitio cuando haya peligro de huracanes o incluso si se quiere cambiar de escenario o la época de turismo", dijo a BBC Mundo, Tony Webb, el hombre detrás del diseño del hotel.

El diseño del hotel, que es una estructura de acero reforzada con láminas de acrílico, es similar a la Estación Espacial Internacional.

"Me refiero a él como el turismo espacial interior y la nueva industria está lista para lanzarse a la frontera del océano", añadió.

Lujo y filantropía

Todas las habitaciones en forma de cápsula estarán conectadas por un largo pasillo.

El acceso desde el exterior se hará a través de un ascensor que también se utilizará para suministrar oxígeno, electricidad y otros servicios.

Por un precio entre US$3.000 y Us$6.000 por noche, el hotel pretende ofrecer todos los lujos y comodidades a sus huéspedes además de una experiencia única.

"Los huéspedes podrán pasar sus noches rodeados de un mobiliario de lujo con cama tamaño king, baño, nevera, internet y centros de entretenimiento audiovisuales", se afirma en la página web.

"Las vistas desde las cápsulas asombrarán y entretendrán a los huéspedes con espectaculares vistas multidimensionales de vida acuática".

"Las vistas panorámicas del entorno estarán en constante cambio con el movimiento del sol y la luna que arrojarán sombras y reflejos sobre el paisaje submarino"

Pero tras el ambicioso proyecto también hay una meta filantrópica como señaló Webb a BBC Mundo.

"La restauración de los arrecifes de coral en peligro de extinción es quizás la razón principal por la que estamos haciendo el proyecto de hotel bajo el agua".

"La colocación de 15 hoteles bajo el agua proporcionará 15 ubicaciones geográficas para la restauración de corales convirtiéndose posiblemente en la mayor restauración de los arrecifes de coral del mundo", dijo.

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Créditos

Fuente: Diario La Nación.

IS IT SAFE TO BANK ONLINE?

Britain’s leading expert on cyber security refuses to bank online. We ask if you should follow suit

He is one of Britain’s foremost experts on cyber security, a man who has spent 30 years following the development of first telephone, and then online, banking. The professor of security engineering at the University of Cambridge’s computer laboratory has witnessed the mass take up of online banking, and more recently the explosion in fraudulent activity.
So when Ross Anderson says he has never banked online – and has no plans to do so primarily because the customers carry the risks of fraud – the rest of us might want to take notice.

Until recently it would have been unthinkable to suggest consumers should consider ditching online banking, so much a part of the financial world has it become. But online bank fraud is the UK’s fastest growing area of crime – doubling from £60m in 2014 to an expected total beyond £130m this year – and the losses to consumers have in some cases been of the life-changing order of £90,000 each.

Crucially, and contrary to what you will find in the banks’ marketing materials, if you fall victim to an online fraud the chances are you will never see your money again.

According to Anderson and other security experts, one of the banks’ most extraordinary feats of recent years has been their ability to shift liability away from themselves and on to the customer – aided by a Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) that they claim rarely challenges the banks following a fraud.

On top of antiquated banking and phone systems, the introduction of faster payments has greatly aided the fraudsters ability to scam people, most of who would not have lost out if they didn’t bank online.

Last month RBS revealed that between January and September this year almost 5,000 customers fell victim to scams – at a cost of more than £25m. The bank says the average loss was £13,000, and warned that 70% of its customers who are scammed do not get a single penny back.

“I’ve seen far too many scams, and I’ve tracked the evolution of the banks’ bad attitude to customer complaints,” Anderson says. “Since the late 1990s the move to phone banking and then the internet has led to contract terms and conditions along the lines of ‘You agree to be liable for any transactions which, according to our records, were made using your password, whether you actually made them or not’. Basically, the banks used the move online as an opportunity to dump the fraud risk on the customer.”

Anderson says online banking in the UK contains many vulnerabilities, and he does not believe the official figures tell anything like the full story. “The government changed the rules so that fraud is reported to the banks, not to the police. This made the crime figures go down. The banks for their part have changed the rules so that most of the frauds reported to them are seen as customers attempting to defraud the bank.

“They take the view that if your password or pin was used you were either complicit or grossly negligent, so if you complain it is you who is trying to get money you’re not entitled to. So much of the fraud reported by customers doesn’t end up in the official figures.”

Another expert in this area, Richard Emery, who runs security consultancy 4Keys International, is similarly critical of the way the banks operate online.
Emery, who has appeared in these pages before and on BBC’s Watchdog, investigates alleged card fraud for the criminal courts and helps customers in battles with their banks. He would be loath to give up internet banking as he has come to rely on it, but says it needs major reform to make it fit for purpose.

“In their rush to give customers faster payment services the banks have compromised security for the sake of convenience. Faster payments allow people to move significant sums instantly, but also allow fraudsters to do the same. The banks need to bring in a 24-hour cooling-off period that would mean you couldn’t send a large sum, say over £250, to a newly set up payee for a day. How often do you need to pay large sums to someone you have never paid before without a day’s warning?” he asks.

Emery says the other crucial loophole that must be closed is the “account name”. Many people believe that if an account name is their name then a transfer is safe, but it is not. Banks do not match account names with account details, a loophole used by fraudsters to con people into shifting money into another account they believe is theirs. As Guardian Money revealed following a spate of complaints, you can put Mickey Mouse into an online transfer and the money will still be moved into the account.

“A solution would be that when you set up a new payee your bank should automatically contact the payee’s bank which would then send back the account name,” Emery says. “This would not only reduce fraud, but would eliminate the problems that occur when the pay or enters the wrong payee account details.”

These two measures would halt the vast majority of online bank fraud. “Why the banks have not introduced them is beyond me,” Emery says.
Like Anderson, Emery says he has no faith that the FOS will come to a consumer’s aid where there is disputed fraud, as too often it simply accepts the bank’s word that the customer has been grossly negligent – even when there is no evidence to support that claim.

“Often the banks hold information that would resolve the customer’s claim but refuse to release it,” Emery says. “The FOS should compel the banks to disclose such information, and if it refuses the FOS should find against them. In fact the opposite happens and the FOS supports the bank’s decision to not disclose it. It’s a scandal that needs to be addressed,” he says.
An FOS spokesman says: “Where consumers have been tricked into handing over passwords or codes allowing the fraudster to make the transactions themselves the regulations say the obligation is on the bank to prove the consumer has been negligent – and if they’re not able to do so we can potentially help.” It admits that in 60% of cases it does not have the evidence and can’t insist the bank repays the money.

A British Bankers’ Association told Money: “Customers rightly expect high levels of security when they are banking online. Banks are continually developing their systems to ensure consumers are as secure as possible from fraudsters. The more people know about the risks of fraud and how to protect themselves, the less likely they are to become a victim.”
How the scams work

The phone rings and it’s someone pretending to be from your bank, the police or a company with which you have a relationship. You are told your credit card or bank account has been accessed by fraudsters, or that your computer has been hacked and you will lose internet access for several days.

In many cases the scammer tells you to ring off then call the bank again using the number on the back of your card. But they hold the line open, so when you dial you go straight back to them. You are asked to move your cash to a “safe” account, only for it to disappear.

TalkTalk customers were conned when rung by people quoting their own account numbers and other personal details back to them, warning them that their computer was infected by a virus. Their accounts were emptied after their computers were taken over remotely. Some victims say they didn’t give out pass codes sent their phones, and the suspicion is that their mobile accounts were also hacked to allow the fraudsters to gain access to such codes.

Banks are required to refund victims for any payments that are “unauthorized”. Victims question how a payment to themselves can be considered authorized if it goes to someone else. Others say they didn’t even make the payment – that it was done by the fraudster. But the banks’ default position is to assume the victim has acted in a grossly negligent manner, and to refuse a refund.

What constitutes an “authorized payment” is yet to be been tested in court, and the Financial Conduct Authority defers to the Financial Ombudsman.

YAKUSHIMA - JAPAN

AN ISLAND OF NATURAL WONDERS
Revered by the Japanese for its hiking, hot springs and cedar trees, Yakushima also provided the inspiration for Studio Ghibli’s anime hit Princess Mononoke. Now foreign visitors are uncovering this island delight

Nestling in the warm, sub-tropical waters 37 miles south of Kyushu, Japan’s third largest island, the towering mountains and ancient forests of Yakushima make it a secluded and largely unspoilt paradise, which feels a world away from the hustle and bustle of Japan’s megacities. Designated a Unesco world heritage site in 1993, the island has long been revered by the Japanese as one of the country’s natural wonders, but it is only in recent years that foreign visitors have started to discover Yakushima’s secrets.

This small, round island has an incredibly mountainous interior, but at only 17 miles wide, it is possible to see all of the main sights and get a good taste of island life in just a few days. Miyanoura-dake (1,935m) is one of Japan’s famous One Hundred Mountains, and is the country’s most southerly point where snow can be found in winter. But Yakushima is best known for the extensive and hauntingly beautiful forests that cover most of the island, home to Japanese cedar trees (known as Yakusugi), some of which are thousands of years old. Walking through these moody, temperate rainforests, full of fairytale-like trees with twisted moss-covered roots, it is no surprise to learn that the island was the inspiration for acclaimed Studio Ghibli animation Princess Mononoke, directed by Hayao Miyazaki.

The extremely wet climate means crystal-clear rivers tumble down from the high peaks, resulting in spectacular waterfalls, which carve their way through the granite bedrock. Lavish green, dense foliage provides the perfect home for the Yakushima macaque and the Yaku deer, both of which are smaller than their mainland counterparts but less timid, so can easily be spotted foraging near roadsides and along hiking trails.

In the summer months, endangered loggerhead turtles make their nests on Yakushima’s beaches, while tropical fish and corals can be found in the shallow and warm coastal waters. Geothermal hot springs (onsen) are everywhere, as they are in most of Japan, and some of the island’s best are right on the beach.

The two main points of entry are the tiny port towns of Miyanoura and Anbo, where daily ferries from Kagoshima put in. Be sure to bring plenty of cash from the mainland as ATMs are almost non-existent and few places accept cards. A road loops around the entire island, although the western stretch is too narrow and remote for the (limited) bus service, so a rental car is the best way to get around.

source: TheGuardian

WHEN YOU SHOULD QUIT YOUR JOB

You just can’t stand it anymore. Your job is all wrong. Getting up for work each morning is an exercise in misery. Or maybe your work is having a negative effect on your life. Should you quit?
It’s a topic several LinkedIn Influencers weighed in this week. Here’s what two of them had to say about the right time to quit — be it because you hate a job or your life takes an unexpected turn.
Murugan Pandian, project efficiency expert at St Joseph’s Hospital Health Center
“Do you ever ask yourself why you are still going to the job that you hate every day? You probably have reluctantly accepted it as being part of your daily life. You might also be thankful that you at least have a job and it pays the bills,” wrote Pandian in his post Why you need to quit the job that you hate.
But, wrote Pandian, don’t give into those thoughts. “If you are uninspired by your job, then my advice to you is to quit,” he wrote.
Why not stick it out? Because, he wrote, if you spend so many hours at something you loathe, "it is going to impede your ability to do your best work.”
As much as you try to hide it, others likely know you are disengaged. That hurts your relationships with colleagues. “If you do not have a mentor or people to advocate for you at your current job, then it is going to be very hard to grow professionally,” Pandian wrote.
Of course, it’s best to have another job or opportunity lined up before you tender your resignation, right? Not always.
“People will always say don't quit your job before you get the next one lined up. It is true that being employed when looking for the next gig does help tremendously,” he wrote. “However, if you are that miserable then sometimes it helps to quit, reassess your priorities in life and then come up with a more creative job hunting strategy.”
But, don’t worry if you’ve been at a position only a short time when you leave, he wrote. “Do not worry about what others might think, because you are doing what is best for your career. At the end of the day, no one is going to care about how long you were at a particular job,” Pandian wrote.
Nicola Roark marketing consultant at Exhilaration Marketing
“The best decision I ever made was when I was 32. I decided to abandon a job I enjoyed at a point when I was finally getting noticed, get on a plane when seven and a half months pregnant and have my baby in England,” wrote Roark in her post When to Turn Your Back on Your Career. “I did this so that I could be with my parents while my mum was dying.”
Roark had wrestled with the decision for months as she pursued her career in Colorado in the United States. Then her mother’s health took a turn for the worst.
“I didn’t feel panic about the decision because I knew that was where I needed and, more importantly, wanted to be,” she wrote.
Of course, quitting one’s job and living at home temporarily with a parent — financial su***de to some — isn’t something that can usually be done on a whim. But, wrote Roark when it matters, it’s the right choice. “If you find yourself consumed by your career identity… I will tell you that it means nothing,” she wrote.
“It would have been easier financially and professionally to stay with my job and go only when I received the inevitable call that we were in the final stretch,” she wrote. “Was it the best decision for my career? I’ll never know and honestly, I don’t care… (It) continues to be the best decision I ever made.”

Source: BBC