Question: As young Chinese increasingly forget how to write characters because they don't have to, using keyboards and touch screen technology on mobile phones is changing the trend.

For Yin Liang, a 26-year-old purchasing agent at a company, his embarrassment over forgetting how to write characters has gradually disappeared since he started to use the handwriting input method on his iPhone 4 a month ago.

"When you write on the touch screen, you use your finger, instead of a mouse or keyboard," Yin says.

"Actually, your finger is like a pen, writing the complicated characters that have long been spelled by pinyin, an alphabet-based input system. Whether typing on computers or texting on phones, most users in China type by phonetically spelling out the sounds of the characters and the software then gives a menu of characters that fit the pronunciation, so users only need to recognize the character.

Handwriting technology on a mobile phone touch screen has been around for years and became popular with the iPhone, which recognizes the input and offers a wide selection of characters.

"It's efficient and accurate," Yin says.

Chinese characters are the oldest continuously used system of writing in the world, but as pinyin-based typing has become more widespread, youths have started forgetting how to write out characters. This was one of the main topics for debate at the first Cross-Straits Chinese Character Art Festival, held recently in Beijing, which attracted experts from Taiwan and the mainland.

According to Zhang Zikang, president of the Culture and Art Publishing House, writing with a pen on the touch screen brings handwriting into the digital age. It is even better when you write with your finger, feeling the flow of the cursive script and the grace and art of Chinese characters, he says.

"Smart gadgets don't take life from the square-shaped characters, instead they offer a new and advanced platform to show the charm of Chinese characters, which are always evolving," Zhang says. 1. How old is Yin Liang?
2. what has he started using?
3. Why system is oldest and continuously in use?
4. On which device has he used it?
5. What brings handwriting into the digital age?
6. What is changing the trend on Smartphones? Provide a numbered list of answers.
****
A numbered of answers: 1. 26
2. the handwriting input method
3. Chinese characters
4. his iPhone 4
5. the touch screen
6. using keyboards and touch screen technology

Question: The Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX) is a family of standards specified by the IEEE Computer Society for maintaining compatibility between operating systems. POSIX defines the application programming interface (API), along with command line shells and utility interfaces, for software compatibility with variants of Unix and other operating systems.

Originally, the name "POSIX" referred to IEEE Std 1003.1-1988, released in 1988. The family of POSIX standards is formally designated as IEEE 1003 and the international standard name is ISO/IEC 9945.

The standards emerged from a project that began circa 1985. Richard Stallman suggested the name "POSIX" to the IEEE instead of former "IEEE-IX". The committee found it more easily pronounceable and memorable, and thus adopted it.

Unix was selected as the basis for a standard system interface partly because it was "manufacturer-neutral." However, several major versions of Unix existedso there was a need to develop a common denominator system. The POSIX specifications for Unix-like operating systems originally consisted of a single document for the core programming interface, but eventually grew to 19 separate documents (POSIX.1, POSIX.2, etc.). The standardized user command line and scripting interface were based on the UNIX System V shell. Many user-level programs, services, and utilities (including awk, echo, ed) were also standardized, along with required program-level services (including basic I/O: file, terminal, and network). POSIX also defines a standard threading library API which is supported by most modern operating systems. In 2008, most parts of POSIX were combined into a single standard "(IEEE Std 1003.1-2008", also known as "POSIX.1-2008)." 1. what does POSIX stand for?
2. what does it define?
3. what is POSIX?
4. by who?
5. what is the purpose of the standards?
6. when did the standards emerge?
7. from what?
8. who came up with the name?
9. what had it previously been called?
10. why did they decide to go with a new name?
11. which OS was chosen to be the foundation for the standard interface?
12. why?
13. how many versions existed?
14. in 2008, what were the parts combined to?
15. what was it named?
16. what else was it called?
17. how many documents did the original system contain?
18. what was that increase to?
19. what were the systems named? Provide a numbered list of answers.
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A numbered of answers: 1. Portable Operating System Interface
2. The API, command line shells and utility interfaces, for software compatibility
3. A family of standards
4. The IEEE Computer Society
5. To maintain compatibility between operating systems
6. Circa 1985.
7. A project that began then
8. Richard Stallman
9. IEEE-IX
10. It was pronounceable and memorable
11. Unix
12. It was "manufacturer-neutral."
13. Several major ones
14. A single standard
15. IEEE Std 1003.1-2008
16. POSIX.1-2008
17. One
18. 19
19. POSIX.1, POSIX.2, etc.

Question: Damascus is the capital and likely the largest city of Syria, following the decline in population of Aleppo due to the battle for the city. It is commonly known in Syria as "ash-Sham" and nicknamed as the "City of Jasmine". In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major cultural centre of the Levant and the Arab world. The city has an estimated population of 1,711,000 .

Located in south-western Syria, Damascus is the centre of a large metropolitan area of 2.6 million people (2004). Geographically embedded on the eastern foothills of the Anti-Lebanon mountain range inland from the eastern shore of the Mediterranean on a plateau above sea level, Damascus experiences a semi-arid climate because of the rain shadow effect. The Barada River flows through Damascus.

First settled in the second millennium BC, it was chosen as the capital of the Umayyad Caliphate from 661 to 750. After the victory of the Abbasid dynasty, the seat of Islamic power was moved to Baghdad. Damascus saw a political decline throughout the Abbasid era, only to regain significant importance in the Ayyubid and Mamluk periods. Today, it is the seat of the central government and all of the government ministries. 1. What city is this article talking about?
2. Located where?
3. Why did the population of Aleppo go down?
4. What is the city's nickname?
5. and the population?
6. Is it the oldest city?
7. Its a major cultural center of wht?
8. What river flows through it?
9. and why is there a semi arid climate ther?
10. When was it first settled? Provide a numbered list of answers.
****
A numbered of answers:
1. Damascus
2. Syria
3. no
4. the city of Jasmine
5. 1,711,000 .
6. one of them
7. the Levant
8. The Barada River
9. because of the rain shadow effect.
10. in the second millennium BC