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The Stuttgart Library

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The Stadtbibliothek Stuttgart (formerly Stadtbücherei Stuttgart) is the public library of the city of Stuttgart, Germany. It is organized as a department of the city’s cultural office and comprises the central library, 17 city district libraries, and two bookmobiles. In 2013, it received the national award as Library of the Year.

The new library of Stuttgart is a monolithic cube which gathers all the ancient libraries in one building. This building is the outcome of an international competition won by Eun Young Yi in 1999. Part of the Masterplan from Stuttgart 21, the building has become a new landmark for the city. The construction of the library started in 2010 and ended the 24th of October 2011. Its cost amounted to about 80 million euros which included 4 million euros for the interior spaces. The library welcomes almost 2 million visitors each year.

Putin Likes to Keep a Safe Distance

Aside Markozen.com Bizarre, Politics

The distance protocols are due to Putin living a “strict health bubble,” and the Kremlin confirmed the extreme distance is to protect Putin.

It’s rather comical. Always trying to come across as appearing tough, Putin may be a germaphobe.

Putin has more to worry about than germs. All of the innocent people he has killed because of his insane invasion of Ukraine!

“Tossin’ & Turning”  

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I couldn’t sleep at all last night
Got to thinkin’ of you
Baby things weren’t right
Well I was tossin’ and turnin’
Turnin’ and tossin’
a-tossin’ and turnin’ all night

I kicked the blankets on the floor
Turned my pillow upside down
I never never did before
’cause I was tossin’ and turnin’
Turnin’ and tossin’
a-tossin’ and turnin’ all night

Jumped out of bed
Turned on the light
I pulled down the shade
Went to the kitchen for a bite
Rolled up the shade
Turned off the light
I jumped back into bed
It was the middle of the night

The clock downstairs was strikin’ four
Couldn’t get you off my mind
I heard the milkman at the door
’cause I was tossin’ and turnin’
Turnin’ and tossin’
a-tossin’ and turnin’ all night

Jumped out of bed
Turned on the light
I pulled down the shade
Went to the kitchen for a bite
Rolled up the shade
Turned off the light
I jumped back into bed
It was the middle of the night

The clock downstairs was strikin’ four
Couldn’t get you off my mind
I heard the milkman at the door
’cause I was tossin’ and turnin’
Turnin’ and tossin’
a-tossin’ and turnin’ all, yay, yay, yay
I was a-tossin’ and turnin’

The Sunny Side of the Street  

Aside Markozen.com Music

The sunny side is always so much better than the shaded side.

sunny

Seen the carnival at Rome
Had the women and I had the booze
All that I can remember now
Is little kids without no shoes

So, I saw that train and I got on it
With a heart full of hate and a lust for vomit
Now I’m walking on the Sunnyside of the street

Stepped over bodies in Bombay
Tried to make it to the USA
Ended up in Nepal
Up on the roof with nothing at all

And I knew that day
I was gonna stay right where I am
On the sunnyside of the street

Been in a palace, I’ve been in a jail
I just don’t want to be reborn a snail
I just want to spend eternity
Right where I am, on the sunnyside of the street

As my mother wept, it was then I swore
To take my life as I would a whore
I know I’m better than before
I will not be reconstructed
Just wanna stay right here
On the sunnyside of the street

The sunnyside of the street
The sunnyside of the street
The sunnyside of the street

Neuschwanstein Castle

Aside Markozen.com Offbeat

Markozen.com's avatarThe MarkoZen Blog

Neuschwanstein Castle is a 19th-century Romanesque Revival palace on a rugged hill above the village of Hohenschwangau near Füssen in southwest Bavaria, Germany. The palace was commissioned by King Ludwig II of Bavaria as a retreat and in honour of Richard Wagner. Ludwig paid for the palace out of his personal fortune and by means of extensive borrowing, rather than Bavarian public funds.

The castle was intended as a home for the King, until he died in 1886. It was open to the public shortly after his death. Since then more than 61 million people have visited Neuschwanstein Castle. More than 1.3 million people visit annually, with as many as 6,000 per day in the summer.

The effect of the Neuschwanstein ensemble is highly stylistic, both externally and internally. The king’s influence is apparent throughout, and he took a keen personal interest in the design and decoration. An example can…

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In photos: Severe cold wave grips north India

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Boatmen use oars to break an partially frozen surface of Dal Lake on a cold morning on January 5, 2023 in Srinagar, India. Temperatures dip further in Kashmir, Srinagar records seasons coldest night at Minus 6.4.(Photo By Waseem Andrabi/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)

A severe cold wave has gripped many parts of northern India, with temperatures plummeting to -6C (21F) in Indian-administered Kashmir. The famous Dal Lake, as seen in the picture above, has partially frozen, making it hard for boatmen to ferry passengers and tourists.

Icicles seen formed due to the leakage in a water pipe on a cold morning on December 22, 2022 in Srinagar, India. Kashmir reels under freezing weather as mercury plunges to minus 5.5°C in Srinagar. (

Water pipelines have frozen in some parts of Kashmir, road transport has been severely affected and supply chains have been disrupted, making it hard for local communities to meet their daily needs.

Homeless people wrapped in layers of quilts to warm up themselves while others sleep in the open under an overpass on a coldest night on January, 04, 2023 in New Delhi, India. Weather station observatory recorded the season's lowest as temperature plunges to 4.4 degrees Celsius. (Photo by Pankaj Nangia/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

India’s capital Delhi has also been reeling under a severe cold wave. Some areas of Delhi have recorded temperatures as low as 2.2C. The cold snap has been particularly hard for Delhi’s homeless people who mostly sleep on pavements.

Train moving at Kot village railway line amid thick fog on January 4, 2023 in Ghaziabad, India. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted prevalence of severe cold weather conditions, along with dense to very dense fog over northwest India during the next four to five days. (Photo by Sakib Ali/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)

Dropping temperatures and dense fog have also disrupted train schedules. India Railways carries some 23 million passengers daily and it’s considered the backbone of the country’s transport system. Several trains have been running late – sometimes by six to 10 hours – in northern India, throwing people’s travel plans into chaos.

People seen wearing warm clothes on a cold morning at sector 59 on January 4, 2023 in Noida, India. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted prevalence of severe cold weather conditions, along with dense to very dense fog over northwest India during the next four to five days.

The cold wave has also been causing serious health issues, especially in Delhi which also sees severe pollution levels during winter months.

An Indian farmer works in the field during cold weather on New Year morning in Ajmer, Rajasthan, India on 01 January 2023. (Photo by Stringer/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

The north-western state of Rajasthan has also been witnessing a severe drop in temperatures. Farmers there say it has affected their work and harvests.

: Commuters are seen during a foggy winter day at Golden Gate, on January 3, 2022 in Amritsar, India. (Photo by Sameer Sehgal/Hindustan Times via Gett

The holy city of Amritsar has also been engulfed in dese fog in the past few days. Transport services, including trains and buses, have been badly hit.

BBC

Nature Creates Magical Art in the North Arizona Desert

Aside Markozen.com Offbeat

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antelop7

Antelope Canyon is a slot canyon (vary narrow canyon) in the American Southwest. It is located on Navajo land east of Page, Arizona. Antelope Canyon includes two separate, photogenic slot canyon sections, referred to individually as Upper Antelope Canyon or The Crack; and Antelope Canyon or The Corkscrew.

The Navajo name for Upper Antelope Canyon is Tsé bighánílíní, which means “the place where water runs through rocks.” Lower Antelope Canyon is Hazdistazí (advertised as “Hasdestwazi” by the Navajo Parks and Recreation Department), or “spiral rock arches.” Both are located within the LeChee Chapter of the Navajo Nation.

antelope

Antelope Canyon was formed by erosion of Navajo Sandstone, primarily due to flash flooding and secondarily due to other sub-aerial processes. Rainwater, especially during monsoon season, runs into the extensive basin above the slot canyon sections, picking up speed and sand as it rushes into the narrow passageways. Over time the…

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Anomaly Six

Aside Markozen.com Espionage

Anomaly Six (A6) is an American media intelligence company. It sells global-location-data products to the United States government and the private sector. The company has embedded its software in over 500 mobile applications, giving it the ability to track hundreds of millions of mobile phones. In one presentation, the company claimed it could track 3 billion phones in real time.

The company was founded in 2018 by two former military intelligence officers. It is based in Alexandria, Virginia.

The company purchases cell phone location data from advertisers who in turn get the information from embedded software development kits (SDK) in commonly used phone applications. The publishers of apps frequently allow third parties to insert SDKs into their apps for a fee. Some of the apps have Anomaly Six’s own SDK embedded in them. This system often relies on disclosures in the complex terms of service that must be agreed to in order to use an application. Most apps’ privacy policies do not disclose whether or not SDKs are embedded in their product.

In September 2020, U.S. Special Operations Command Africa, an operational unit of the United States Special Operations Command, paid Anomaly 6 $589,500 for a “Commercial Telemetry Feed”. This is the first reported contract between the United States government and Anomaly 6.

In April 2022, it was revealed that the company had demonstrated its surveillance ability by tracking the mobile phones of members of the CIA and NSA. The company revealed the tracking during a meeting between A6 and Zignal Labs. The two companies were in talks to discuss a potential partnership, which they decided not to proceed on.

They are watching you. This goes against privacy rights and norms. However, they have to keep tabs on radical suicidal terrorists.