1.
Sydney
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Sydney /ˈsɪdni/ is the state capital of New South Wales and the most populous city in Australia and Oceania. Located on Australias east coast, the metropolis surrounds the worlds largest natural harbour, residents of Sydney are known as Sydneysiders. The Sydney area has been inhabited by indigenous Australians for at least 30,000 years, the first British settlers, led by Captain Arthur Phillip, arrived in 1788 to found Sydney as a penal colony, the first European settlement in Australia. Since convict transportation ended in the century, the city has transformed from a colonial outpost into a major global cultural. As at June 2016 Sydneys estimated population was 5,005,358, in the 2011 census,34 percent of the population reported having been born overseas, representing many different nationalities and making Sydney one of the most multicultural cities in the world. There are more than 250 different languages spoken in Sydney and about one-third of residents speak a language other than English at home and it is classified as an Alpha+ World City by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network, indicating its influence in the region and throughout the world. Ranked eleventh in the world for economic opportunity, Sydney has a market economy with strengths in finance, manufacturing. Its gross regional product was $337 billion in 2013, the largest in Australia, there is a significant concentration of foreign banks and multinational corporations in Sydney and the city is promoted as one of Asia Pacifics leading financial hubs. Its natural features include Sydney Harbour, the Royal National Park, man-made attractions such as the Sydney Opera House, Sydney Tower and the Sydney Harbour Bridge are also well known to international visitors. The first people to inhabit the now known as Sydney were indigenous Australians having migrated from northern Australia. Radiocarbon dating suggests human activity first started to occur in the Sydney area from around 30,735 years ago, the earliest British settlers called them Eora people. Eora is the term the indigenous used to explain their origins upon first contact with the British. Its literal meaning is from this place, prior to the arrival of the British there were 4,000 to 8,000 native people in Sydney from as many as 29 different clans. Sydney Cove from Port Jackson to Petersham was inhabited by the Cadigal clan, the principal language groups were Darug, Guringai, and Dharawal. The earliest Europeans to visit the area noted that the people were conducting activities such as camping and fishing, using trees for bark and food, collecting shells. Development has destroyed much of the citys history including that of the first inhabitants, there continues to be examples of rock art and engravings located in the protected Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park. The first meeting between the people and the British occurred on 29 April 1770 when Lieutenant James Cook landed at Botany Bay on the Kurnell Peninsula. He noted in his journal that they were confused and somewhat hostile towards the foreign visitors, Cook was on a mission of exploration and was not commissioned to start a settlement
2.
Australia
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Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands. It is the worlds sixth-largest country by total area, the neighbouring countries are Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and East Timor to the north, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu to the north-east, and New Zealand to the south-east. Australias capital is Canberra, and its largest urban area is Sydney, for about 50,000 years before the first British settlement in the late 18th century, Australia was inhabited by indigenous Australians, who spoke languages classifiable into roughly 250 groups. The population grew steadily in subsequent decades, and by the 1850s most of the continent had been explored, on 1 January 1901, the six colonies federated, forming the Commonwealth of Australia. Australia has since maintained a liberal democratic political system that functions as a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy comprising six states. The population of 24 million is highly urbanised and heavily concentrated on the eastern seaboard, Australia has the worlds 13th-largest economy and ninth-highest per capita income. With the second-highest human development index globally, the country highly in quality of life, health, education, economic freedom. The name Australia is derived from the Latin Terra Australis a name used for putative lands in the southern hemisphere since ancient times, the Dutch adjectival form Australische was used in a Dutch book in Batavia in 1638, to refer to the newly discovered lands to the south. On 12 December 1817, Macquarie recommended to the Colonial Office that it be formally adopted, in 1824, the Admiralty agreed that the continent should be known officially as Australia. The first official published use of the term Australia came with the 1830 publication of The Australia Directory and these first inhabitants may have been ancestors of modern Indigenous Australians. The Torres Strait Islanders, ethnically Melanesian, were originally horticulturists, the northern coasts and waters of Australia were visited sporadically by fishermen from Maritime Southeast Asia. The first recorded European sighting of the Australian mainland, and the first recorded European landfall on the Australian continent, are attributed to the Dutch. The first ship and crew to chart the Australian coast and meet with Aboriginal people was the Duyfken captained by Dutch navigator, Willem Janszoon. He sighted the coast of Cape York Peninsula in early 1606, the Dutch charted the whole of the western and northern coastlines and named the island continent New Holland during the 17th century, but made no attempt at settlement. William Dampier, an English explorer and privateer, landed on the north-west coast of New Holland in 1688, in 1770, James Cook sailed along and mapped the east coast, which he named New South Wales and claimed for Great Britain. The first settlement led to the foundation of Sydney, and the exploration, a British settlement was established in Van Diemens Land, now known as Tasmania, in 1803, and it became a separate colony in 1825. The United Kingdom formally claimed the part of Western Australia in 1828. Separate colonies were carved from parts of New South Wales, South Australia in 1836, Victoria in 1851, the Northern Territory was founded in 1911 when it was excised from South Australia
3.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
4.
Australian dollar
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Within Australia, it is almost always abbreviated with the dollar sign, with A$ or AU$ sometimes used to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies. It is subdivided into 100 cents, in 2011, the Australian dollar was the fifth most traded currency in the world, accounting for 7. 6% of the worlds daily share. It trades in the foreign exchange markets behind the US dollar, the euro, the yen. The currency is referred to by foreign-exchange traders as the Aussie dollar. With pounds, shillings and pence to be replaced by decimal currency on 14 February 1966, in 1963, the Prime Minister, Sir Robert Menzies, a monarchist, wished to name the currency the royal. Other proposed names included more exotic suggestions such as the austral, the oz, the boomer, the roo, the kanga, the emu, the digger, the quid, the dinkum and the ming. Menzies influence resulted in the selection of the royal, and trial designs were prepared and printed by the Reserve Bank of Australia, the Treasurer, Harold Holt, announced the decision in Parliament on 5 June 1963. The royal would be subdivided into 100 cents, but the existing names shilling, florin, the name royal for the currency proved very unpopular, with Holt and his wife even receiving death threats. On 24 July Holt told the Cabinet the decision had been a terrible mistake, on 18 September Holt advised Parliament that the name was to be the dollar, of 100 cents. The Australian pound, introduced in 1910 and officially distinct in value from the pound sterling since devaluation in 1931, was replaced by the dollar on 14 February 1966. The rate of conversion for the new currency was two dollars per Australian pound, or ten Australian shillings per dollar. The exchange rate was pegged to the pound sterling at a rate of $1 =8 shillings, in 1967, Australia effectively left the sterling area, when the pound sterling was devalued against the US dollar and the Australian dollar did not follow. It maintained its peg to the US dollar at the rate of A$1 = US$1.12, on 27 September 2012, the Reserve Bank of Australia stated that they had ordered work on a project to upgrade the current banknotes. The upgraded banknotes will incorporate a number of new features so that they remain secure into the future, the first new banknotes were issued from the 1st of September 2016, with the remaining denominations to be issued in the coming years. In 1966, coins were introduced in denominations of 1,2,5,10,20 and 50 cents. The initial 50-cent coins contained high silver content and were withdrawn after a year after the value of the silver content was found to exceed the face value of the coins. One-dollar coins were introduced in 1984, followed by two-dollar coins in 1988, the one- and two-cent coins were discontinued in 1991 and withdrawn from circulation. In commemoration of the 40th anniversary of decimal currency, the 2006 mint proof and uncirculated sets included one-, in early 2013, Australias first triangular coin was introduced, to mark the 25th anniversary of the opening of Parliament House
5.
Merlin Entertainments
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Merlin Entertainments is a British-based company headquartered in Poole, Dorset, which operates 127 attractions,19 hotels and 7 holiday villages in 24 countries. Apax sold the company to another investor, Hermes Private Equity. When the Legoland theme parks came up for sale, Varney wanted to buy it but Hermes did not want to invest more capital, Blackstone negotiated to buy control of Legoland for about £250 million, then merged it with Merlin. As part of the deal, KIRKBI AS, the investment arm of LEGO owners, under The Blackstone Group in 2006, Merlin went on to buy Gardaland, an Italian theme park. Early in 2007 Merlin also purchased The Tussauds Group, owner of the Madame Tussauds celebrity wax attractions, after the Tussauds acquisition, Dubai International Capital held 20% of Merlin Entertainment. Although the attraction sites are owned by Leslau, the attractions themselves are to be operated by Merlin, chessington World of Adventures was not included in the deal due to being the most profitable. On 15 January 2010, Merlin Entertainments bought a defunct Winter Haven, Florida-based theme park, Cypress Gardens, and reopened it as Legoland Florida theme park. The sale would include Sydney Aquarium, Sydney Wildlife World, Oceanworld Manly, Sydney Tower, on 3 March 2011, the deal was finalised. Merlin had planned to go public in early 2010, but market turbulence postponed those plans, instead, Blackstone sold 20% of the company to the private equity firm CVC Capital Partners, reducing Blackstones holding to 34%. CVC acquired another 8% from the Dubai investment fund which is no longer involved with the company, KIRKBI, a Danish family trust that owns LEGO, also increased its stake, emerging as the largest shareholder, with 36%. CVC paid a price that valued Merlin at £2.25 billion – more than six times what Merlin, Blackstones investment was by that point worth more than three and a half times what it had paid. On 8 November 2013 Merlin floated 30% of the company on the London Stock Exchange valuing the private equity-backed company at almost £3. 4bn, in October 2013 mental health campaigners accused Merlins Thorpe Park attraction of putting profit before the welfare of those with mental illness. Its Halloween attractions included mazes which draw on classic horror film content including one called The Asylum, the attraction was contrasted unfavourably in some media, Twitter and by mental health campaigners who believed The Asylum perpetrated stigmatising and damaging images of mental illness. Thorpe Park issued a statement indicating the subject would be reviewed, on 2 June 2015 two carriages on The Smiler ride at The Alton Towers Resort collided. One of the cars was empty, and the car contained 16 people. Merlin issued a statement that the incident was under investigation, on 19 March 2016, The Smiler reopened to the public after 9 months. The investigation found that the crash was, according to Merlin Entertainments, in February 2016, Merlin purchased a 15% shareholding in Big Bus Tours
6.
Sydney Tower
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Sydney Tower is Sydneys tallest structure and the second tallest observation tower in the Southern Hemisphere. Aucklands Sky Tower is taller but Sydney Towers main observation deck is almost 50 m higher than the deck on Aucklands Sky Tower. The name Sydney Tower has become common in usage, however the tower has been known as the Sydney Tower Eye, AMP Tower, Westfield Centrepoint Tower. The Sydney Tower is a member of the World Federation of Great Towers, the tower stands 309 m above the Sydney central business district, located on Market Street, between Pitt and Castlereagh Streets. It is accessible from the Pitt Street Mall, Market Street or Castlereagh Street, the tower is open to the public, and is one of the most prominent tourist attractions in the city, being visible from a number of vantage points throughout town and from adjoining suburbs. Designed by Australian architect Donald Crone the first plans for Sydney Tower were unveiled in March 1968, construction of the office building commenced in 1970, and tower construction began in 1975. Prior to construction of the tower, the limit in Sydney had been set at 279 m. Public access to the tower began in August 1981, the total cost of construction was A$36 million. In 1998, the addition of a rod to the top of spire extended the towers overall height to 309 m. While AMP managed the Centrepoint shopping centre, the tower was referred to as AMP Tower. After the Westfield Group took over ownership of Centrepoint in December 2001, in 2009, the base building was closed and stripped for a major refurbishment. This involved the connection of the centre to other arcades. The shopping centre was reopened from 2010 and was renamed Westfield Sydney. On 25–26 June 2011 the AMP banner was removed from the tower and this was achieved by helicopter after two previous attempts on 22 May and 12 June were aborted due to bad weather. In 2011, Merlin Entertainments acquired the rights to operate the observation deck tower, four sections of the tower are open to public, three being occupied by Sydney Tower Dining. 360 Bar and Dining, which offers revolving views of the Sydney skyline, is located on one of the Sydney Tower. Sydney Tower Buffet, a contemporary self-select restaurant, is located on the second level. STUDIO, located on three, is the highest event space in the Southern Hemisphere, and can cater for cocktail functions for 200 people and 156 sit-down guests
7.
Southern Hemisphere
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The Southern Hemisphere is the half sphere of Earth which is south of the equator. It contains all or parts of five continents, four oceans and its surface is 80. 9% water, compared with 60. 7% water in the case of the Northern Hemisphere, and it contains 32. 7% of Earths land. Due to the tilt of Earths rotation relative to the Sun, September 22 or 23 is the vernal equinox and March 20 or 21 is the autumnal equinox. The South Pole is in the middle of the southern hemispherical region, Southern Hemisphere climates tend to be slightly milder than those at similar latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere, except in the Antarctic which is colder than the Arctic. This is because the Southern Hemisphere has significantly more ocean and much land, water heats up. In the Southern Hemisphere the sun passes from east to west through the north, sun-cast shadows turn anticlockwise throughout the day and sundials have the hours increasing in the anticlockwise direction. Cyclones and tropical storms spin clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere due to the Coriolis effect, the southern temperate zone, a subsection of the Southern Hemisphere, is nearly all oceanic. Forests in the Southern Hemisphere have special features which set apart from those in the Northern Hemisphere. Both Chile and Australia share, for example, unique species or Nothofagus. The eucalyptus is native to Australia but is now planted in Southern Africa and Latin America for pulp production and, increasingly. Approximately 800,000,000 humans live in the Southern Hemisphere and this is due to the fact that there is significantly less land in the Southern Hemisphere than in the Northern Hemisphere. Africa Antarctica Asia Australia South America Zealandia Media related to Southern Hemisphere at Wikimedia Commons
8.
Sydney central business district
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The Sydney central business district is the main commercial centre of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It extends southwards for about 3 km from Sydney Cove, the point of first European settlement in which the Sydney region was initially established, due to its pivotal role in Australias early history, it is one of the oldest established areas in the country. Geographically, its north–south axis runs from Circular Quay in the north to Central railway station in the south, at the 2011 Australian Census, the CBD recorded a population of 14,308. Sydney CBD is very used to refer not only to the CBD proper. The Sydney CBD is Australias main financial and economic centre, as well as a hub of economic activity for the Asia-Pacific region. The city centre employs approximately 13% of the Sydney regions workforce and it produced $64.1 billion worth of goods and services in 2011–12. Culturally, the city centre is Sydneys focal point for nightlife and it is also home to some of the citys most significant buildings and structures. The Sydney CBD is an area of very densely concentrated skyscrapers and other buildings, interspersed by parks such as Hyde Park, The Domain, Royal Botanic Gardens. George Street is the Sydney CBDs main north–south thoroughfare, the CBD runs along two ridge lines below Macquarie Street and York Streets. Between these ridges is Pitt Street, running close to the course of the original Tank Stream, bridge Street, took its name from the bridge running east–west that once crossed this stream. Pitt Street is the heart of the city which includes the Pitt Street Mall. Macquarie Street is a historic precinct that houses such buildings as the State Parliament House, administratively, the Sydney CBD falls under the authority of the local government area of the City of Sydney. The New South Wales state government also has authority over some aspects of the CBD, the Sydney CBD is home to some of the largest Australian companies, as well as serving as an Asia-Pacific headquarters for many large international companies. Sydneys CBD is serviced by rail, light rail, buses. There is a largely-underground CBD rail loop, accessed in both directions via Central, which services five additional CBD stations, plus a spur line to Bondi Junction which services two. The only light rail line currently operating links the southern part of the CBD, buses, both government-run and privately owned, service the CBD along several dozen routes to both inner and more remote suburbs. NightRide is an bus service that operates between midnight and 5, 00am, with most services running from George Street outside the Sydney Town Hall. Sydney Ferries operate largely from Circular Quay, on the edge of the CBD
9.
Pitt Street Mall
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Pitt Street Mall is the pedestrianised section of Pitt Street in the Sydney central business district, in the Australian state of New South Wales. Running for approximately 200 metres between Market Street and King Street, it is one long and one of Australias busiest and most cosmopolitan shopping precincts. Floorspace rents are the highest in Australia, in due to other cities shopping precincts being longer. In 2015, its rents were the fifth-highest in the world in terms of city streets, despite its small size, Pitt Street Mall hosts many flagship chain stores and more than 400 specialty stores. Formerly a vehicular street, the mall was closed off to traffic in the 1990s and this was commonplace in various Australian cities at the time, in an effort to encourage walk-in business. Many prominent Australian businesses had flagship stores along Pitt Street, namely Sportsgirl, along with extensive upgrades to retail areas, the Pitt Street Malls pedestrian area saw a A$10 million refurbishment during 2010-11. This included the provision of new seating as well as new pavers, visited by 43.8 million people annually, Westfield Sydney is home to 353 retailers. The Strand Arcade - Opened in 1891, The Strand Arcade is the last remaining Victorian era arcade in the Sydney CBD, visited by approximately 5.4 million people annually, The Strand Arcade is home to 76 retailers including designer boutiques. MidCity Centre - Opened in 2010, MidCity Centre is a four storey shopping centre with 23 retailers, Sydney Arcade - A small arcade located at the northern end of Pitt Street Mall. Stockland Glasshouse - Located on the end of Pitt Street Mall, list of leading shopping streets and districts by city
10.
Auckland
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Auckland is a city in the North Island of New Zealand. It is the most populous area in the country. Auckland has a population of 1,495,000, which constitutes 32 percent of New Zealands population, a diverse and multicultural city, Auckland is home to the largest Polynesian population in the world. It has also been called Ākarana, the Māori pronunciation of Auckland, the Auckland urban area ranges to Waiwera in the north, Kumeu in the northwest, and Runciman in the south. It is not contiguous, the section from Waiwera to Whangaparāoa Peninsula is separate from its nearest neighbouring suburb of Long Bay, the surrounding hills are covered in rainforest and the landscape is dotted with dozens of dormant volcanic cones. The central part of the area occupies a narrow isthmus between the Manukau Harbour on the Tasman Sea and the Waitemata Harbour on the Pacific Ocean. It is one of the few cities in the world to have harbours on two major bodies of water. The isthmus on which Auckland resides was first settled around 1350 and was valued for its rich, Māori population in the area is estimated to have peaked at 20,000 before the arrival of Europeans. After a British colony was established in 1840, the new Governor of New Zealand, William Hobson and he named the area Auckland for George Eden, Earl of Auckland, British First Lord of the Admiralty. It was replaced as the capital in 1865, but immigration to the new city stayed strong, today, Aucklands Central Business District is the major financial centre of New Zealand. Auckland is classified as a Beta World City because of its importance in finance, commerce, media, entertainment, arts, education and tourism. Aucklands landmarks such as the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, the Harbour Bridge, the Sky Tower, the isthmus was settled by Māori around 1350, and was valued for its rich and fertile land. Many pā were created, mainly on the volcanic peaks, Māori population in the area is estimated to have been about 20,000 people before the arrival of Europeans. As a result, the region had relatively low numbers of Māori when European settlement of New Zealand began, there is, however, nothing to suggest that this was the result of a deliberate European policy. Auckland was officially declared New Zealands capital in 1841 and the transfer of the administration from Russell in the Bay of Islands was completed in 1842. However, even in 1840 Port Nicholson was seen as a choice for an administrative capital because of its proximity to the South Island. After losing its status as capital, Auckland remained the city of the Auckland Province until the provincial system was abolished in 1876. Each of the four settlements had about 800 settlers, the men being fully armed in case of emergency but spent nearly all their time breaking in the land and establishing roads
11.
Sky Tower (Auckland)
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The Sky Tower is an observation and telecommunications tower located at the corner of Victoria and Federal Streets in the Auckland CBD, Auckland, New Zealand. It is 328 metres tall, as measured from ground level to the top of the mast, making it the tallest freestanding structure in the Southern Hemisphere and it has become an iconic landmark in Aucklands skyline due to its height and unique design. The tower is part of the SkyCity Auckland casino complex, originally built in 1994–1997 for Harrahs Entertainment, several upper levels are accessible to the public, attracting an average of 1,150 visitors per day. There is also a brasserie-style buffet located one floor above the main observatory level and it has three observation decks at different heights, each providing 360-degree views of the city. The main observation level at 186 m has 38 mm thick sections of flooring giving a view straight to the ground. The top observation deck labeled Skydeck sits just below the antenna at 220 m. The tower also features the SkyJump, a 192-metre jump from the observation deck, the jump is guide-cable-controlled to prevent jumpers from colliding with the tower in case of wind gusts. Climbs into the antenna mast portion are also possible for tour groups, the tower is also used for telecommunications and broadcasting with the Auckland Peering Exchange being located on Level 48. The aerial at the top of the hosts the largest FM combiner in the world which combines with 58 wireless microwave links located above the top restaurant to provide a number of services. These include television, wireless internet, RT, and weather measurement services, a total of twenty-three FM radio stations and six digital terrestrial television multiplexes broadcast from the tower. Two VHF analogue television channels broadcasting from the tower were switched off in the hours of Sunday 1 December 2013 as part of New Zealands digital television transition. It was designed by Gordon Moller of Craig Craig Moller architects and has received a New Zealand Institute of Architects National Award as well as regional awards, the Project Architect was Les Dykstra. Taking two years and nine months to construct, the tower was opened on 3 August 1997, the tower is constructed of high-performance reinforced concrete. Its 12-metre diameter shaft is supported on eight legs based on 16 foundation piles drilled over 12 m deep into the local sandstone, the main shaft was built using climbing formwork. The upper levels were constructed from composite materials, structural steel, precast concrete and reinforced concrete, a structural steel framework supports the upper mast structure. During construction 15,000 cubic metres of concrete,2,000 tonnes of reinforcing steel, the mast weighs over 170 tonnes. It had to be lifted into place using an attached to the structure. The tower is designed to wind in excess of 200 km/h
12.
Market Street, Sydney
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Market Street is a street in the central business district of Sydney in New South Wales, Australia. It runs from Sussex Street near Darling Harbour in the west, Market Street is located in the heart of the Sydney central business district shopping precinct. The two flagship David Jones department stores in Sydney are located in Market Street, diagonally across the Castlereagh Street intersection, Market Street provides the southern border of Pitt Street Mall and features such shopping centres as Centrepoint, the Queen Victoria Building and Sydney Central Plaza. The State Theatre is located between Pitt and George Street intersections, a footbridge at the end of Market street provides a direct link to Pyrmont Bridge and Darling Harbour. All traffic travels one way along Market Street, from east to west, a flyover is located at the end Market Street which links traffic to the Western Distributor and then Ultimo, Pyrmont, the Anzac Bridge and beyond. Market Street is where prominent cricketer Victor Trumper owned a sporting goods store and it was at this store in a series of meetings between Trumper, J J Giltinan and others, that the creation of the New South Wales Rugby Football League was conceived
13.
Lightning rod
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Lightning rods are also called finials, air terminals or strike termination devices. In a lightning protection system, a rod is a single component of the system. The lightning rod requires a connection to earth to perform its protective function, copper and its alloys are the most common materials used in lightning protection. As buildings become taller, lightning becomes more of a threat, a lightning conductor may have been intentionally used in the Leaning Tower of Nevyansk. The spire of the tower is crowned with a rod in the shape of a gilded sphere with spikes. This lightning rod is grounded through the rebar carcass, which pierces the entire building, the Nevyansk Tower was built between 1721 and 1745, on the orders of industrialist Akinfiy Demidov. The Nevyansk Tower was built 28 years before Benjamin Franklins experiment, however, the true intent behind the metal rooftop and rebars remains unknown. The church tower of many European cities, which was usually the highest structure in the city, was likely to be hit by lightning, Early on, Christian churches tried to prevent the occurrence of the damaging effects of lightning by prayers. Peter Ahlwardts advised individuals seeking cover from lightning to go anywhere except in or around a church, divišs apparatus was, according to his private theories, aimed towards preventing thunderstorms altogether by constantly depriving the air of its superfluous electricity. The apparatus was, however, mounted on a pole and probably better grounded than Franklins lightning rods at that time. After local protests, Diviš had to cease his weather experiments around 1760, although not the first to suggest a correlation between electricity and lightning, Franklin was the first to propose a workable system for testing his hypothesis. Franklin speculated that, with an iron rod sharpened to a point, The electrical fire would, I think, be out of a cloud silently. Franklin speculated about lightning rods for several years before his reported kite experiment and this experiment, it is said, took place because he was tired of waiting for Christ Church in Philadelphia to be completed so he could place a lightning rod on top of it. In the 19th century, the lightning rod became a decorative motif, Lightning rods were embellished with ornamental glass balls. The ornamental appeal of these balls has been used in weather vanes. The main purpose of these balls, however, is to provide evidence of a strike by shattering or falling off. If after a storm a ball is discovered missing or broken, the property owner should then check the building, rod, balls of solid glass occasionally were used in a method purported to prevent lightning strikes to ships and other objects. The idea was that objects, being non-conductors, are seldom struck by lightning
14.
AMP Limited
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AMP formed in 1849 as the Australian Mutual Provident Society, a non-profit life insurance company and mutual society. In 1998, it was demutualised and listed on the Australian, AMP has one of Australia’s largest shareholder registers, with most shareholders living in Australia and New Zealand. This is because when the society demutualised, all policy holders received shares in the new company and its UK operation was the subject of a demerger in 2003, separating out the Henderson Group. The company provides planning and advice, banking, life insurance, managed funds, superannuation, property, listed assets. AMP is Australias largest retail and corporate superannuation provider, and is the largest life risk business in Australia. One of AMPs subsidiaries, AMP Capital, is the aligned wealth manager, with more than A$128 billion in assets under management, AMP has four main business areas, Advice and banking provides financial planning and advice, superannuation services for businesses, and selected banking products. These products and services are distributed through a network of self-employed financial planners. AMP has been granted a authority, enabling it to continue to receive default superannuation contribution from 1 January 2014, insurance and superannuation provides superannuation, personal risk insurance products and self-managed super fund administration, support and design. AMP Capital is one of Asia Pacifics largest investment managers, through a team of investment professionals across the world, it invests in equities, fixed interest, infrastructure, property, diversified funds and multi-manager funds. It is the top 10 global investment manager in infrastructure and top 25 in real estate, david Jones was a foundation director in 1848. George King was chairman for fifteen years from the 1850s, richard Teece was general manager and actuary from 1890 and a director from 1917 to 1927. Many of the older AMP buildings are now heritage-listed and feature the Amicus statue group, the central figure in the statue group is the goddess of Peace and Plenty, holding a palm branch and a cornucopia. The male figure of Labour sits to her left and also holds the cornucopia, while the figures of the wife, under the statue is AMP Societys Latin motto Amicus certus in re incerta. AMP Shares rose to almost $22.00 per share in June 2001, see 5 May 2003 article On 15 November 2010, AMP announced a bid to merge its business with AXA Asia Pacific Holdings. The transaction was a joint proposal with AXA SA under which AXA SA would acquire AMPs Asian business and AMP would acquire AXAs Australian, the Australasian holdings included the former National Mutual business which was demutualised in 1996. AXA had gained majority ownership of National Mutual in 1999 and renamed the company as AXA Asia Pacific
15.
Westfield Group
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Westfield Group undertook ownership, development, design, construction, funds/asset management, property management, leasing, and marketing activities. The Westfield Group had origins in the suburbs of Sydney. The first development was named Westfield Place, and opened in July 1959 in Blacktown, the name Westfield is derived from west related to the West Sydney location, and field due to having located on subdivided farmland. The centre was opened by John Saunders and Frank Lowy, the company was floated on the Australian Stock Exchange in 1960 and built another five centres in New South Wales before expanding into Victoria and Queensland in 1966-67. For the first half of 1971, Westfield reported earnings of $886,382, in 1994 Westfield joined together with General Growth and Whitehall Real Estate to purchase 19 centres for US$1 billion. Westfield seems to form clusters of centres on particular cities or within a number of states. They built considerable holdings on the east coast and in California before expanding in the Mid-West, by 2005, the company owned centres in 15 US states. In the 1990s, Westfield began an expansion to New Zealand. Only in 2007, with Westfield Albany, has the company opened a new centre in the country. The funds would be used to repay debt and invest in businesses offering higher return, the sales were expected to be completed by mid–2012. Despite the Westfield Groups asset dimensions, the Westfield Group was strongly controlled by the Lowy Family Group, including chairman, Frank Lowy. Lowys two younger sons, Steven and Peter, were joint managing directors, having been established in Australia, with their original premises being at Blacktown, the Westfield Group continued to operate a large number of shopping centres in Australia. This feature was removed in 2016 due to concerns that the system could be used to track the movements of others by giving the wrong car numberplate on registration of the phone number, Westfield entered the United States market in 1977. In September 2003 the company received $17.3 million as a party in the claim following the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. On 18 February 2006, the Los Angeles Times reported that Westfield had agreed to acquire 15 stores from Federated Department Stores, all, as of 2014, Westfield owned 38 malls in the United States. Westfield entered the New Zealand market in 1997 and acquired an interest in the St. Lukes Group portfolio in 1998, Westfield Malls were by far the most numerous chain in New Zealand, with 6 of its 11 centres in Auckland including their largest development located in Albany. The group reportedly also had three of its smaller malls, Pakuranga, Glenfield, and Chartwell in Hamilton up for sale, as of 2014, before Westfield Corporation was created, Westfield had an interest in two shopping centres in England and Northern Ireland. By far its most significant asset was Westfields 50% partnership in the £1. 6b Westfield London development in Shepherds Bush, the development included the construction of a new railway station for the London Overground and Southern services, and a new entrance for the London Underground station
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Westfield Sydney
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Westfield Sydney is an upscale world class shopping centre operated by Scentre Group and located beneath the Sydney Tower in the Sydney central business district. It is located on Pitt Street Mall and is adjacent to the Mid City Centre, The Strand Arcade, the site of the A$860 million Westfield Sydney redevelopment was once occupied by the Centrepoint Shopping Centre, Sydney Central Plaza and the smaller Skygarden and Imperial Arcade. Centrepoint Shopping Centre opened in 1972 with 52 stores, many of which are still trading today, the centre was refurbished in 1984 and further upgraded in 1996 and 2000. Centrepoint purchased by The Westfield Group in December 2001 and was later renamed Westfield Centrepoint, Sydney Central Plaza featured the Myer Department Store and featured over 50 stores, it was later purchased by the Westfield Group in 2003. Imperial Arcade opened in 1891 and was designed by prominent Sydney architect Thomas Rowe, the Westfield Centrepoint provided sky bridge connections to two of Australias major department stores, Myer and David Jones. There was also a connection to Imperial Arcade which featured the Sydney central business districts Angus & Robertson bookstore, Westfield has invested approximately $930 million in redeveloping Westfield Centrepoint, Sydney Central Plaza, Skygarden and Imperial Arcade. The four shopping centres including Westfield Centrepoint, Sydney Central Plaza, Skygarden and Imperial Arcade merged and was redeveloped, stage 1 of the development opened in October 2010 with approximately 130 specialty stores. Stage 2 opened a further 120 stores between November 2010 and late-2011, the opening of a 25-storey commercial tower at 85 Castlereagh Street marked the completion of the total project in early 2012. Westfield Sydney is home to numerous stores and has over 350 stores. Anchor tenants in the centre include Sydney Tower Myer Zara Gap JB Hi-Fi Microsoft Store Official website
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Wild Life Sydney
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Wild Life Sydney Zoo is a wildlife park in the heart of the city of Sydney, Australia. Officially opened in September 2006, it is located on the city side of the Darling Harbour leisure and retail precinct, next to Sydney Aquarium, in May 2006, Sydney Aquarium Pty Ltd announced plans to expand the existing aquarium site, in order to incorporate a wildlife park. Following this announcement, and after the acquisition of the tourist attractions at Sydney Tower and of Manly Oceanarium, Village Roadshow Limited purchased Sydney Attractions Group in late 2007. UK attractions group Merlin Entertainments bought Sydney Wildlife World as part of its acquisition of Village Roadshow assets in March 2011, the park changed its name to Wild Life Sydney Zoo and re-opened on 13 September 2011. The attraction won the Award for the best family-focused tourism at The Australians 2007 Travel, construction began in November 2004 on the site, and was completed in August 2006. Wild Life Sydney is unusual for a zoo or wildlife park in that the areas are almost entirely enclosed and air-conditioned. The A$52 million development features a 1 kilometre walkway which snakes through 7,000 square metres of enclosures and this open-air feature has enabled the exhibits to be landscaped naturally with live plants, including full-sized trees. The largest exhibit is the 800-square-metre semi-arid habitat, featuring 250 tonnes of red sand trucked in from central Australia and this habitat houses a mob of adult red kangaroos. The enclosure is bordered by viewing galleries both above and below the waterline, several species of fishes and bird are also kept in the enclosure. As of February 2016, WILD LIFE Sydney Zoo have acquired a new Platypus Display, Merlin Entertainments Sydney Aquarium Taronga Zoo Sydney Tower Manly Sea Life Media related to Sydney Wildlife World at Wikimedia Commons Official website
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Sea Life Sydney Aquarium
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Additionally, the aquarium features 14 themed zones including Jurassic Seas, Discovery Rockpool, Shark Walk, and the world’s largest Great Barrier Reef display. Along the way, visitors encounter animals unique to each habitat, including two of only five dugongs on display in the world, sharks, stingrays, penguins and tropical fish and it is a public aquarium located in the city of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the side of Darling Harbour to the north of the Pyrmont Bridge. It is a institutional member of the Zoo and Aquarium Association. The Great Barrier Reef complex which opened in October 1998 continues this same theme, the Sydney Aquarium was opened in 1988, during Australias bicentenary celebrations, and is one of the largest aquariums in the world. It is regarded as one of Sydneys premier tourist attractions with over 55% of its visitors each year coming from overseas, a crocodile exhibit was added in 2008. In December 1991, the first Seal Sanctuary was opened, since then, Sydney Aquarium has upgraded the facilities and a new oceanarium to house seals opened in September 2003. The Seal Sanctuary features Australian sea lions, Australian fur seals, subantarctic fur seals, in this floating oceanarium, the seals can be seen below the waters surface from underwater viewing tunnels, and from above on an open-air deck. The Seal Sanctuary is incorporated into the Southern Oceans exhibit, which also features little penguins, the Open Ocean Oceanarium, and Sydney Harbour displays. In October 1998, the Great Barrier Reef complex opened comprising a tropical touch pool, the water is kept at a constant temperature of 25 °C. The Oceanarium is 33 metres long and 13 metres wide, with an area of about 370 square metres. The final exhibit is a theatre where activity in a coral canyon can be observed through a window 7 by 4 metres and 26 centimetres in thickness. In 2006, Wild Life Sydney opened next to Sydney Aquarium, on 20 December 2007, the glass-bottomed boat, or Shark Explorer, began operating, giving guests a tour of the Great Barrier Reef tank. In 2008 the seal sanctuary was closed and the seals were sent to Sea World, Gold Coast, the seal sanctuary was then renovated and reopened as Dugong Island in December 2008. Dugong Island is the new permanent home of Pig and Wuru, Dugong Island has above-water viewing areas as well as underwater viewing tunnels. Other animals kept in the include a shark ray, shovelnose rays, zebra sharks, eagle rays. In March 2012, SEA LIFE Sydney Aquariums owners, Merlin Entertainments, as part of the process, the aquarium was rebranded as a Sea Life Centre and was relaunched on 24 September 2012. Exhibits cover the rivers of Australia, exploring the Southern and Northern River habitats, as well as the oceans of Australia, the complex and fragile nature of Australias very different and unique aquatic environments is emphasised
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Multilingualism
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Multilingualism is the use of two or more languages, either by an individual speaker or by a community of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the worlds population, more than half of all Europeans claim to speak at least one other language in addition to their mother tongue. Multilingualism is becoming a social phenomenon governed by the needs of globalization, people who speak several languages are also called polyglots. Multilingual speakers have acquired and maintained at least one language during childhood, the first language is acquired without formal education, by mechanisms heavily disputed. Children acquiring two languages in this way are called simultaneous bilinguals, even in the case of simultaneous bilinguals, one language usually dominates the other. People who know more than one language have been reported to be adept at language learning compared to monolinguals. Multilingualism in computing can be considered part of a continuum between internationalization and localization, the definition of multilingualism is a subject of debate in the very same way as the definition of language fluency. On one end of a sort of continuum, one may define multilingualism as complete competence. The speaker would presumably have complete knowledge and control over the language so as to sound native, on the opposite end of the spectrum would be people who know enough phrases to get around as a tourist using the alternate language. Since 1992, Vivian Cook has argued that most multilingual speakers fall somewhere between minimal and maximal definitions, in addition, there is no consistent definition of what constitutes a distinct language. For instance, scholars disagree whether Scots is a language in its own right or a dialect of English. Many small independent nations schoolchildren are today compelled to learn multiple languages because of international interactions, for example, in, all children are required to learn at least two foreign languages, the other national language and one alien language. Many Finnish schoolchildren also select further languages, such as German or Russian, in some large nations with multiple languages, such as India, school children may routinely learn multiple languages based on where they reside in the country. In major metropolitan areas of Central, South and East India, thus a child of Telugu parents living in Bangalore will end up speaking his or her mother tongue at home and the state language, Hindi and English in school and his or her surroundings. Many myths and much prejudice has grown around the notions of bi- and these are all harmful convictions which have long been debunked, yet still persist among many parents. A multilingual person is someone who can communicate in more than one language, more specifically, the terms bilingual and trilingual are used to describe comparable situations in which two or three languages are involved. A multilingual person is referred to as a polyglot. Multilingual speakers have acquired and maintained at least one language during childhood, the first language is acquired without formal education, by mechanisms heavily disputed
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Touchscreen
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A touchscreen is a input and output device normally layered on the top of an electronic visual display of an information processing system. A user can give input or control the processing system through simple or multi-touch gestures by touching the screen with a special stylus and/or one or more fingers. Some touchscreens use ordinary or specially coated gloves to work while others may only work using a special stylus/pen, the user can use the touchscreen to react to what is displayed and to control how it is displayed, for example, zooming to increase the text size. The touchscreen enables the user to interact directly with what is displayed, rather using a mouse, touchpad. Touchscreens are common in such as game consoles, personal computers, tablet computers, electronic voting machines, point of sale systems. They can also be attached to computers or, as terminals and they also play a prominent role in the design of digital appliances such as personal digital assistants and some e-readers. The popularity of smartphones, tablets, and many types of appliances is driving the demand and acceptance of common touchscreens for portable. The application of technology for air traffic control was described in an article published in 1968. Frank Beck and Bent Stumpe, engineers from CERN, developed a transparent touchscreen in the early 1970s, then manufactured by CERN, it was put to use in 1973. A resistive touchscreen was developed by American inventor George Samuel Hurst, the first version was produced in 1982. This arrangement can sense any fingertip-sized opaque object in close proximity to the screen, a similar touchscreen was used on the HP-150 starting in 1983, this was one of the worlds earliest commercial touchscreen computers. HP mounted their infrared transmitters and receivers around the bezel of a 9 Sony Cathode Ray Tube, in 1984, Fujitsu released a touch pad for the Micro 16, to deal with the complexity of kanji characters, which were stored as tiled graphics. In 1985, Sega released the Terebi Oekaki, also known as the Sega Graphic Board, for the SG-1000 video game console and it consisted of a plastic pen and a plastic board with a transparent window where the pen presses are detected. It was used primarily for a software application. A graphic touch tablet was released for the Sega AI Computer in 1986, touch-sensitive Control-Display Units were evaluated for commercial aircraft flight decks in the early 1980s. In 1985, the University of Toronto group including Bill Buxton developed a tablet that used capacitance rather than bulky camera-based optical sensing systems. In 1986, the first graphical point of sale software was demonstrated on the 16-bit Atari 520ST color computer and it featured a color touchscreen widget-driven interface. In 1987, Casio launched the Casio PB-1000 pocket computer with a touchscreen consisting of a 4x4 matrix, until 1988 touchscreens had the bad reputation of being imprecise
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4D film
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4D film or 4-D film is a marketing term for an entertainment presentation system combining a 3D film with physical effects that occur in the theatre in synchronization with the film. Effects simulated in a 4D film may include rain, wind, strobe lights, seats in 4D venues may vibrate or move a few centimeters during the presentations. Other common chair effects include air jets, water sprays, and leg, hall effects may include smoke, rain, lightning, air bubbles, and smell. Because physical effects can be expensive to install, 4D films are most often presented in theatres at special venues such as theme parks. However, some movie theatres have the ability to present 4D versions of wide-release 3D films, there is no consistent standard for using the term 4D when describing the presentation of a film. 4D films have occasionally been marketed as 5D, 6D, 7D, 8D, 9D, 11D, 15D. This is scientifically different from actual fourth dimensional space, notable formats for providing different aspects of a fourth dimension to films include Human 4D, Sensurround, Smell-O-Vision and 4DX. As of June 2015, about 530 screens worldwide have installed the technology, the following is a list of 4D screening formats developed for film theatres. Are 4D movies the next big thing, high quality stereoscopic HFR 3D, 4D, 5D rides for cinema and attractions
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Movie theater
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A movie theater or movie theatre is a venue, usually a building, that contains an auditorium for viewing films, for entertainment. Most, but not all, movie theaters are commercial operations catering to the general public, Some movie theaters, however, are operated by non-profit organizations or societies which charge members a membership fee to view films. The film is projected with a projector onto a large projection screen at the front of the auditorium while the dialogue, sounds. Since the 1970s, subwoofers have used for low-pitched sounds. In the 2010s, most movie theaters are equipped for digital cinema projection, removing the need to create, a great variety of films are shown at cinemas, ranging from animated films for children, blockbusters for general audiences and documentaries for patrons who are interested in non-fiction topics. The smallest movie theaters have a viewing room with a single screen. In the 2010s, most movie theaters have multiple screens, the largest theater complexes, which are called multiplexes—a design developed in the U. S. in the 1960s—have up to 25 screens. The audience members sit on padded seats which in most theaters are set up on a sloped floor. Movie theaters typically sell soft drinks, popcorn and candy and some theaters also sell hot fast food, in some jurisdictions, movie theaters are licensed to sell alcoholic drinks. A movie theater may also be referred to as a theatre, movie house, film house. In the US, theater has long been the preferred spelling, while in the UK, Canada, the latter terms, as well as their derivative adjectives cinematic and kinematic, ultimately derive from Greek κινῆμα, κινήματος —movement, motion. In the countries where those terms are used, the theatre is usually reserved for live performance venues. Colloquial expressions, mostly applied to motion pictures and motion picture theaters collectively, include the silver screen, specific to North American term is the movies, while specific terms in the UK are the pictures, the flicks and for the facility itself the flea pit. A screening room is a theater, often a private one. Open air place in ancient times for viewing spectacles and plays, the term theater comes from the Old French word theatre, from the 12th century and. The use of the theatre to mean a building where plays are shown dates from the 1570s in the English language. The earliest precursors to movies were magic lantern shows, magic lanterns used a glass lens, a shutter and a powerful lamp to project images from glass slides onto a white wall or screen. The invention of the Argand lamp in the 1790s, limelight in the 1820s, the magic lantern could project rudimentary moving images, which was achieved by the use of various types of mechanical slides
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Double-deck elevator
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A double-deck elevator or double-deck lift is an elevator with two cabs attached together, one on top of the other. This allows passengers on two floors to be able to use the elevator simultaneously, significantly increasing the passenger capacity of an elevator shaft. Such a scheme can improve efficiency in buildings where the volume of traffic would normally have an elevator stopping at every floor. For example, a passenger may board the deck on the concourse level while another passenger may board the upper deck on the ground floor. The cab serving even floors is actually on top of the cab serving odd floors in the elevator shaft. When a passenger disembarks from the even-floor serving cab at level 30, for instance, architecturally, this is important, as double-deck elevators occupy less building core space than traditional single-deck elevators do for the same level of traffic. In skyscrapers, this allows for more efficient use of space. The other main technique is shared-shaft elevators, where multiple elevators use different sections of the shaft to serve different floors. Not all double-deck elevators are used to transport passengers simultaneously in both decks, sometimes one or more elevators in a building has a double-deck car, where the second deck is used for transportation of goods, typically outside of peak traffic periods. This technique has the advantages of preventing damage to interior fixtures due to impact from trolleys, during peak periods, the car is switched back to passenger mode, where it can expedite passenger movement into or out of the building. As of 2011, no triple-deck elevators have been built, although such a design had been considered for the 163-floor Burj Khalifa before the design was scaled back to double-deck. Also, Frank Lloyd Wright had envisioned five-deck elevators in his 1956 proposed Mile High Illinois, louis Bank of America Plaza in Dallas Bentall Centre Complex in Vancouver C. D. Skytrak
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