Tuesday, May 9, 2017

Hot Springs around the world: Soul ... Hot Springs in the Middle East, in Saudi Arabia? UNESCO World Heritage Sites in KSA - http://whc.unesco.org/en/statesparties/sa ... Al-Hijr Archaeological Site (Madâin Sâlih) (2008) ... At-Turaif District in ad-Dir'iyah (2010) ... Historic Jeddah, the Gate to Makkah (2014) ... Rock Art in the Hail Region of Saudi Arabia (2015), WUaS in Arabic, my Harbin Hot Springs' virtual project, Al Balad in the old part of Jeddah!, Arabic language WUaS is not yet in Arabic, Will be great when we can visit this in a realistic virtual earth, and even in augmented reality around us - e.g. with 4 hypothetical MIT Media Lab light bulbs projecting this into a room - based on something, conceptually, like Google Streetview / Maps / Earth with TIME SLIDER and also group editable with something like OpenSimulator, but realistically!


My friend, Soul, in Saudi Arabia and I skype video-ed recently about World University and School - http://worlduniversityandschool.org & https://twitter.com/WorldUnivAndSch - in Arabic, my Harbin Hot Springs' virtual project, Hot Springs in the Middle East, in Saudi Arabia? UNESCO World Heritage Sites in KSA?


[5/8/17, 1:42:34 PM] soul: hi scott, u there?
[5/8/17, 1:43:25 PM] Scott MacLeod: Hello Soul, yes - how are you?
[5/8/17, 1:45:25 PM] soul: perfect
[5/8/17, 1:45:34 PM] soul: how about you? :)
[5/8/17, 1:46:21 PM] Scott MacLeod: Parfait! Oui … not bad … hello from San Francisco at the Embarcadero and the Ferry building at the foot of Market Street … where and how further are you?
[5/8/17, 1:49:06 PM] soul: cool place :) i bet u r looking at  a beautiful view  ;)
[5/8/17, 1:50:12 PM] Scott MacLeod: :) I can see the water of the SF Bay and part of Treasure Island, as well as the main Bay Bridge :) … You?
[5/8/17, 1:51:11 PM] soul: i hv just finished sm works nd lying on the bed .. ready to fall asleep :D
[5/8/17, 1:52:30 PM] Scott MacLeod: :) … what is sm works? Are you teaching these days? If so, what age? And are you still “burning the midnight oil”? … don’t let me keep you from salutary / beneficial sleep!
[5/8/17, 1:56:31 PM] soul: hhhhhh sure i m .. i usually work late ... i teach 12 - 15 ages
[5/8/17, 1:57:21 PM] Scott MacLeod: Are they awake for teaching in the evening time?
[5/8/17, 1:58:21 PM] soul: it s ok ... any second i may fall asleep :D  i just log in to chat sm min with u :)
[5/8/17, 1:59:18 PM] Scott MacLeod: (If I don’t get a reply in Skype messaging here, I’ll know you’ve fallen asleep :)
[5/8/17, 1:59:38 PM] soul: no only in the morning but i hv sm works so i do them late at home
[5/8/17, 1:59:51 PM] soul: hhhhhhhhhhhhhh
[5/8/17, 2:00:51 PM] Scott MacLeod: Skype messaging? work? … online teaching-related? … World University and School is growing … and may emerge in English from MIT OpenCourseWare’s 2300 courses into MITx’s 100 related courses … not yet in Arabic!
[5/8/17, 2:01:03 PM] soul: no i ll nt do tht .... cnt keep u waiting my replay ;)
[5/8/17, 2:01:20 PM] Scott MacLeod: Skype messaging work?
[5/8/17, 2:01:47 PM] soul: yes, it works
[5/8/17, 2:02:05 PM] Scott MacLeod: What kind of sm work?
[5/8/17, 2:03:42 PM] soul: like preparions for lessons, worksheets, activities, exams and so on
[5/8/17, 2:05:08 PM] Scott MacLeod: How much online are you focused with sm work and otherwise? … and how much is the enjoyableness of being with friends on social media … most enjoyable … helping you illuminate the midnight hours? :)
[5/8/17, 2:05:34 PM] Scott MacLeod: How much online are you focused with sm work and otherwise - especially academically and art/English+ teaching wise?
[5/8/17, 2:14:01 PM] soul: I use online in my works a lot. it s great to keep in touch with friends on socical media to relax a little from work burden .... but when i work, i dnt use those App ... to focus on wht i m doing :)
[5/8/17, 2:17:55 PM] Scott MacLeod: Was glad to have published my HARBIN HOT SPRINGS’ ETHNOGRAPHIC book last autumn, a big book at 350 pages and on 8.5 x 11 inch paper! http://bit.ly/HarbinBook and https://Twitter.com/HarbinBook … Harbin is a very open place, as a clothing-optional hot springs’ retreat center emerging from the 1970s … and I’m curious in what ways possibly parallel places might exist in Saudi Arabia … saw an interesting animated film about possibly similar places in Iran at Stanford not too long ago!
[5/8/17, 2:20:36 PM] soul: Congrats for publishing ur book :)
[5/8/17, 2:20:44 PM] Scott MacLeod: :)
[5/8/17, 2:21:00 PM] soul: i m checking out the links
[5/8/17, 2:21:57 PM] Scott MacLeod: Here’s the video in my blog with swimmers in a pool in Iran … http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2017/02/lilium-ledebourii-nouredin-zarrinkelks.html … Check out the Middle East label for posts from this same event … :)
[5/8/17, 2:22:16 PM] Scott MacLeod: There are subtitles, since I don’t speak Persian!
[5/8/17, 2:22:46 PM] Scott MacLeod: Do you speak Persian? Are Persian and Arabic somewhat close linguistically?
[5/8/17, 2:26:30 PM] soul: no, i dont. but i think the may share few words cuz of communication btw the 2 nations since old times
[5/8/17, 2:32:09 PM] soul: we do have in the south hot springs
[5/8/17, 2:32:43 PM] soul: but i hv never been there
[5/8/17, 2:32:50 PM] Scott MacLeod: and both are right to left languages, with somewhat similar scripts too!
[5/8/17, 2:32:58 PM] soul: see these pics
[5/8/17, 2:33:36 PM] soul: SV400133.jpg
[5/8/17, 2:34:34 PM] soul: ...jpg
[5/8/17, 2:34:39 PM] Scott MacLeod: in a cave! … beautiful … I find Harbin very beautiful … and the geothermal waters fill pools on the surface … in the Harbin pool area …
[5/8/17, 2:35:15 PM] soul: On 5/8/17, at 2:32 PM, Scott MacLeod wrote:
> and both are right to left languages, with somewhat similar scripts too!
about tht i really dont know ... but they hv different letters
[5/8/17, 2:36:16 PM] Scott MacLeod: thanks, ok …
[5/8/17, 2:36:28 PM] Scott MacLeod: a map of Saudi with some hot springs - https://www.google.com/#q=hot+springs+in+saudi+arabia&rflfq=1&rlha=0&rllag=17901398,42404548,147856&tbm=lcl&tbs=lrf:!2m1!1e2!3sEAE,lf:1,lf_ui:2
[5/8/17, 2:38:09 PM] soul: the last pic, the hot spring is in the mountain but the first is a valley
[5/8/17, 2:38:41 PM] Scott MacLeod: Nice! And here’s a list of HISTORICAL AND CURRENT STATUS OF
SPRINGS IN THE KINGDOM OF SAUDI
ARABIA http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=6172&context=etd ...
[5/8/17, 2:39:45 PM] Scott MacLeod: In a valley, not a cave … ok
[5/8/17, 2:40:20 PM] Scott MacLeod: And a hot springs’ article with photos in KSA https://destinationksa.com/on-the-trail-of-a-natural-hot-water-spring/
[5/8/17, 2:41:22 PM] soul: so you should plan to visit thm one day ;)
[5/8/17, 2:42:17 PM] Scott MacLeod: I’d like to visit you, Soul! And all the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in KSA as well as some of the nicest rustic (rural - in the country) hot springs! :)
[5/8/17, 2:42:18 PM] soul: i hv heard tht hot springs r really good for the body, is tht right?
[5/8/17, 2:43:11 PM] Scott MacLeod: Depends what’s in the water partly, but I like the meditative aspects of Harbin’s waters, and the adventure of getting to new hot springs, as well as getting mostly clean by soaking :)
[5/8/17, 2:45:24 PM] soul: the most important thng is getting sooo clean .... as if u got a new skin hhhhhh
[5/8/17, 2:45:39 PM] Scott MacLeod: :))
[5/8/17, 2:45:54 PM] soul: On 5/8/17, at 2:42 PM, Scott MacLeod wrote:
> I’d like to visit you, Soul! And all the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in KSA as well as some of the nicest rustic (rural - in the country) hot springs! :)
hope you make it :)
[5/8/17, 2:47:09 PM] soul: the end of this week, we gonna hv a graduation party
[5/8/17, 2:48:00 PM] Scott MacLeod: Sweet!
[5/8/17, 2:48:02 PM] soul: (penguinkiss)  i m so happy 4 my students

[5/8/17, 2:48:19 PM] Scott MacLeod: Looks like there are 4 UNESCO WHS in KSA as well - http://whc.unesco.org/en/statesparties/sa

[5/8/17, 2:49:14 PM] Scott MacLeod:

Al-Hijr Archaeological Site (Madâin Sâlih) (2008)
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1293
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mada%27in_Saleh

At-Turaif District in ad-Dir'iyah (2010)
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1329
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diriyah

Historic Jeddah, the Gate to Makkah (2014)
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1361
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Balad,_Jeddah

Rock Art in the Hail Region of Saudi Arabia (2015)
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1472
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_Art_in_the_Ha%27il_Region


Al-Balad, Historic Jeddah, the Gate to Makkah

[5/8/17, 2:49:23 PM] Scott MacLeod: Have you been to any of these, Soul?
[5/8/17, 2:49:45 PM] Scott MacLeod: i m so happy 4 my students … Yay! :)
[5/8/17, 2:51:23 PM] soul: I hv been in Jeddah ... it s a beautiful city
[5/8/17, 2:53:25 PM] Scott MacLeod: I can only imagine … part of my Harbin Hot Springs’ ethnographic project is to create a realistic virtual Harbin for ethnographic comparison … and a realistic virtual earth … and with realistic virtual Jeddah as well :)
[5/8/17, 2:54:36 PM] Scott MacLeod: You can visit the Harbin Hot Springs’ gatehouse here in Google Streetview … even on your smartphone …  https://twitter.com/HarbinBook … (top left)
[5/8/17, 2:54:50 PM] Scott MacLeod: but it’s better on a larger screen ...
[5/8/17, 2:55:33 PM] soul: cool!
[5/8/17, 2:55:42 PM] Scott MacLeod: :)
[5/8/17, 2:58:13 PM] soul: how r gonna make ppl to get interested in tht ethnographic project?
[5/8/17, 2:58:24 PM] Scott MacLeod: Here’s Jeddah in Google for example - https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1HjzWNMh3AqwLZrgzA25FriF8OIE&hl=en_US&ll=21.58713342279829%2C39.23359400000004&z=11 - but from the air … and not as if you are there
[5/8/17, 2:59:26 PM] Scott MacLeod: Part of my Harbin ethnographic project is to write further books about it … but also by developing a new social science method I’m calling ethno-wiki-virtual-world-graphy (see my blog about this)
[5/8/17, 3:02:04 PM] soul: interesting!
[5/8/17, 3:02:54 PM] Scott MacLeod: So I hope to eventual hire researchers for this, and in a new research group I’ve just started … http://www.scottmacleod.com/research-group.html … so, eventually by doing this social science in a kind of online “laboratory” - the realistic virtual earth - but also by going to actual Harbin with researchers … maybe graduate students from Stanford and Berkeley, for example …. is how I hope to grow this project slowly ...
[5/8/17, 3:03:32 PM] soul: sorry messages take time to be delivered :(
[5/8/17, 3:04:05 PM] Scott MacLeod: I also think people will want to visit the online realistic virtual Harbin as it develops - Visit the Harbin Gate here ~ http://tinyurl.com/p62rpcg  !
[5/8/17, 3:04:23 PM] Scott MacLeod: Not sure whether you can access these in KSA!
[5/8/17, 3:05:31 PM] soul: u r doing great, scott! keep it (like)
[5/8/17, 3:07:11 PM] soul: On 5/8/17, at 3:04 PM, Scott MacLeod wrote:
> Not sure whether you can access these in KSA!
ll check it later
[5/8/17, 3:07:30 PM] Scott MacLeod: Ok … Time for you to sleep? :)
[5/8/17, 3:07:37 PM] soul: good 2 chat with u scott :)
[5/8/17, 3:07:45 PM] soul: guess so
[5/8/17, 3:08:11 PM] Scott MacLeod: likewise, Soul!
[5/8/17, 3:08:38 PM] soul: sleep is tickling my eyes :D
[5/8/17, 3:09:27 PM] Scott MacLeod: The midnight oil of illumination will seep from your eyes as they close you in in restful slumber
[5/8/17, 3:10:33 PM] soul: hhhhhhhh |-)
[5/8/17, 3:10:42 PM] Scott MacLeod: (sorry I don’t speak Arabic, Soul!)
[5/8/17, 3:10:54 PM] Scott MacLeod: You’re English is excellent, by the way!
[5/8/17, 3:10:56 PM] Scott MacLeod: Your
[5/8/17, 3:11:19 PM] soul: like a princess :$ :P
[5/8/17, 3:11:34 PM] Scott MacLeod: :)
[5/8/17, 3:12:13 PM] soul: aww thank you .... ok lemme teach u arabic one day ... how does it sound ?
[5/8/17, 3:12:50 PM] Scott MacLeod: Sweet! … but I’m hoping for a Universal Translator in Google Translate, for example, Google Neural Machine Translation at the same time!
[5/8/17, 3:13:02 PM] Scott MacLeod: in any smartphone … and robust!
[5/8/17, 3:14:34 PM] soul: i think Google Translator is good
[5/8/17, 3:15:44 PM] Scott MacLeod: I agree … but I hope there will be parallel options … and even ones which Saudis create for example … and maybe World University and School can eventually help with this … Are there Saudi online translators that you know of?
[5/8/17, 3:16:05 PM] Scott MacLeod: Arabic, that is … but perhaps this is a conversation for another day!
[5/8/17, 3:17:20 PM] Scott MacLeod: … and which might emerge out of Wikipedia / Wikidata (which WUaS will also be in)
[5/8/17, 3:18:06 PM] soul: yeah... better 4 a nother time ... cuz my body battery is so low :D
[5/8/17, 3:18:10 PM] Scott MacLeod: for example … both Wikipedia and Google’s would be good … but better even if Saudis could create a robust universal translator of their own
[5/8/17, 3:18:20 PM] Scott MacLeod: Sleep well, Soul! … signing off here ! :)
[5/8/17, 3:18:38 PM] soul: ok bye
[5/8/17, 3:18:42 PM] soul: :)
[5/8/17, 3:18:43 PM] Scott MacLeod: Good night!
[5/8/17, 3:19:02 PM] soul: G N |-)
[5/8/17, 5:29:30 PM] Scott MacLeod: Hoping you’re sleeping well :) … here are some photos of Al Balad in the old part of Jeddah! - https://www.google.com/maps/uv?hl=en&pb=!1s0x15c3cf1a385e2399:0x332fbe15cd17fb68!2m19!2m2!1i80!2i80!3m1!2i20!16m13!1b1!2m2!1m1!1e1!2m2!1m1!1e3!2m2!1m1!1e5!2m2!1m1!1e4!3m1!7e115!4shttp://www.blueabaya.com/2014/08/ten-things-to-do-in-al-balad-historical-district-jeddah.html!5s+-+Google+Search&imagekey=!1e1!2shttp://www.blueabaya.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/albalad-street(pp_w900_h650).jpg :)


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http://worlduniversityandschool.org &
https://twitter.com/WorldUnivAndSch


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Arabic language World University and School, not yet in Arabic -
http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Arabic_language

Saudi Arabia World University and School is not yet begun -
http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Nation_States

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A writing contest helped motivate Arabic-language editors to create nearly 500 Wikipedia articles. https://blog.wikimedia.org/2017/05/10/digest-somou-prize/

https://twitter.com/Wikimedia/status/862387932220596224

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It will be great when we can visit this in a realistic virtual earth, and even in augmented reality around us - e.g. with 4 hypothetical MIT Media Lab light bulbs projecting this into a room - based on something, conceptually, like Google Streetview / Maps / Earth with TIME SLIDER and also group editable with something like OpenSimulator, but realistically!





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