ever feel like the kkk gets a bum rap? i mean... there ’ s two sides to every story, right? maybe a case can be made that the original klansmen were heroes. freedom fighters. manful defenders of their women. soldiers of god. well, don ’ t risk pulling a muscle on that little mind experiment, because the case was made. in the encyclopedia britannica, the finest compendium of general knowledge in the english language. you know i love rummaging through old texts. you step back in time 100 years, you ’ re bound to discover some interesting perspectives on things. dig it : the contents of the classic 1911 edition of the encyclopedia britannica ( now unprotected by copyright ) are online and searchable at www. 1911encyclopedia. org. for shits and grins, i looked up “ ku klux klan. ” the current encyclopedia britannica describes the klan as “ either of two distinct secret terrorist organizations in the united states, one founded immediately after the civil war..., the other beginning in 1915... ” but the word “ terrorist ” wasn ’ t used in the 1911 edition. to say the least. here is how the 1911 entry begins : “ ku klux klan, the name of an american secret association of southern whites united for self - protection and to oppose the reconstruction measures of the united states congress, 1865 - 1876. ” self - protection? okaaay. tell me more. “ the object was to protect the whites during the disorders that followed the civil war, and to oppose the policy of the north towards the south, and the result of the whole movement was a more or less successful revolution against the reconstruction and an overthrow of the governments based on negro suffrage. ” wow. sounds kind of valorous when you put it like that. how did this revolutionary movement begin? “ [ the ku klux klan ] began in 1865 in pulaski, tennessee, as a social club of young men. it had an absurd ritual and a strange uniform. the members accidentally discovered that the fear of it had a great influence over the lawless but superstitious blacks... “ the various causes assigned for the origin and development of this movement were :... the corrupt and tyrannical rule of the alien [ i. e., northern whites ], renegade and negro... ; the disfranchisement of whites ; the spread of ideas of social and political equality among the


.. the corrupt and tyrannical rule of the alien [ i. e., northern whites ], renegade and negro... ; the disfranchisement of whites ; the spread of ideas of social and political equality among the negroes ; fear of negro insurrections ; the arming of negro militia and the disarming of the whites ; outrages upon white women by black men ; ” – – “... the humiliation of confederate soldiers after they had been paroled – in general, the insecurity felt by southern whites during the decade after the collapse of the confederacy. ” perfectly understandable. so what were the klan ’ s stated principles? “ [ t ] he following are characteristic : to protect and succour the weak and unfortunate, especially the widows and orphans of confederate soldiers ; ” – awww... widows and orphans. nobody ever talks about that! – “ to protect members of the white race in life, honour and property from the encroachments of the blacks ;... to defend constitutional liberty, to prevent usurpation, emancipate the whites, maintain peace and order, the laws of god, the principles of 1776 ” – people, let me hereby repeat : this is from the encyclopedia freaking britannica! – “ and the political and social supremacy of the white race – in short, to oppose african influence in government and society, and to prevent any intermingling of the races. ” i see. so how were these noble principles actualized? what were the klan ’ s tactics? “ to control the negro the klan played upon his superstitious fears by having night patrols, parades and drills of silent horsemen covered with white sheets, carrying skulls with coals of fire for eyes, sacks of bones to rattle, and wearing hideous masks. ” ( pictured at left is a genuine 1870 ku klux klan mask from the north carolina museum of history. ) shit! that sure would scare me good. not to mention the bullwhips and guns. oh, right... you didn ’ t mention the bullwhips and guns. anyhoo, please continue, encyclopedia britannica... “ in calling upon dangerous blacks at night they pretended to be the spirits of dead confederates, ‘ just from hell ’.... mysterious signs and warnings were sent to disorderly negro politicians. the whites who were responsible for the conduct of the blacks were warned or driven away by social and business ostracism


spirits of dead confederates, ‘ just from hell ’.... mysterious signs and warnings were sent to disorderly negro politicians. the whites who were responsible for the conduct of the blacks were warned or driven away by social and business ostracism or by violence. nearly all southern whites ( except ‘ scalawags ’ ), whether members of the secret societies or not, in some way took part in the ku klux movement. ” all right now, reality - check time. was there anything negative about the ku kluxers? what about that violence you alluded to? “ in some communities they fell into the control of violent men and became simply bands of outlaws, dangerous even to the former members ; and the anarchical aspects of the movement excited the north to vigorous condemnation. ” so give me the bottom line, 1911 encyclopedia britannica. what did the original kkk accomplish? “ [ t ] he ku klux movement went on until it accomplished its object by giving protection to the whites, reducing the blacks to order,... expelling the worst of the carpet - baggers and scalawags, and nullifying those laws of congress which had resulted in placing the southern whites under the control of a party composed principally of ex - slaves. ” dang. with such a romantic view of the kkk inscribed even in the encyclopedia britannica, is it any wonder that a new klan arose in 1915 and lives on to today? but let ’ s end on an up note. as much as our modern imagination pictures negroes quaking in terror from the night - riders... as much as that old encyclopedia speaks of fearful and superstitious blacks... there is this new york times item, published march 19, 1868 : book review : storm warning by e. a. o ’ neal 15 hours ago


by steve sternberg, usa today aids virus testing should be offered regularly to everyone ages 13 to 64 in every hospital, doctor ' s office and clinic to speed diagnosis and help curb the epidemic, federal health officials recommended thursday. the centers for disease control and prevention ' s recommendations are not legally binding, but they are designed to make hiv testing as routine as tests for high blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetes. about 1 million people in the usa are hiv - positive, but 250, 000 of them have not been diagnosed, according to the cdc. " it will allow us to identify a lot of people who have hiv and don ' t know it, " the cdc ' s timothy mastro says. on deadline : more information from the cdc the guidelines no longer require health workers to provide special counseling before and after the test, and they lift the requirement that patients supply specific written consent, though patients must be given the opportunity to refuse testing. daniel kuritzkes of the university of colorado, chair of the hiv medicine association, says, " i think the guidelines will help destigmatize hiv testing by making it part of routine medical care and not a test with some special mystique about it. " more than a dozen aids advocacy groups released a statement objecting to the decision to drop counseling. " we fear that some health care settings will interpret today ' s announcement as a call for universal screening and test patients without informing them or arming them with the information they need to avoid putting others at risk, " says david munar of the national association of people with aids. peter staley, a founder of the protest group act up, disagrees with his peers : " the bottom line is that we ' re really losing the fight here. we ' re losing lives. i ' m an act up grad, and our motto is ' by any means necessary. ' " i realize that abandoning written informed consent raises issues. people are worried about privacy and stigma. but the bottom line is that this would probably save lives, and that ' s why i ' m very much in favor of it. " even patients diagnosed late in the course of the disease can extend their life expectancy by 14 years with standard treatment, according to a recent study led by rochelle walensky of harvard medical school. patients diagnosed soon after infection can extend their lives by as much as 25 years, she says. mastro says diagnosis is a powerful tool for prevention. " we think that the quarter of a million people who don ' t know


learning technology - general description of immediate needs ( 1 - 6 months ) i. classroom presentation equipment projection device : usage : for multimedia presentation in class lectures. there are 4 categories of projection devices that can be used depending on the size of the audience. - 1. lcd panel ( $ 3, 000 - $ 7, 000 ) - for class size larger than 20 students, this is the best solution to display images. for multimedia presentation, lcd panels with thousands color display ( 16 - bit or more ) and 10 " active matrix will be highly recommended over those 8. 4 " passive matrix with only 256 - color display ( 8 - bit ). most commercial class materials are already ( or are going to be ) using 16 - bit or better colors. if 16 - bit graphics are displayed in 256 - color, undesired and unexpected color alternation will occur. this problem is particularly serious for presenting video, 256 - color passive matrix lcd panel is not adequent for this kind of task, because it will become a concern and an inconvenience for the professors in using color graphics for their multimedia class lectures. - suggested 10. 4 " system for larger classroom, 8. 4 " may be sufficient for small classroom - if possible, supports 640x480 + resolution ( 800x600, 1024x768 ) - 16 + bit color - build in audio - no external speakers are needed for audio - accept video - it can display videos played directly from video - remote control - the professor would not be confined to be around the lcd panel if any adjustments are needed. - 2. svga / mac to tv converter - a scan converter costs $ 300 - $ 1500. it converts the computer ' s video signal ( svga / vga / mac ) to tv ' s ntsc signals. however, an display device, either a large screen tv or tv projector is required. it may be the cheapest solution if the departments already have either a big screen tv or tv projector. - 3. presentation monitor ( $ 5, 000 - $ 8, 000 ) - for a smaller audience, a presentation monitor ( > 29 " ) has advantages over the lcd panel. the images from a monitor are sharper and brighter than lcd panel projection and there is no need to turn off the light during the presentation. it will be discussed in the 6 - 12 month plan. - 4. projection unit ( $ 7, 000 - $ 10, 000 ) - projection unit is another alternative. it can


there is no need to turn off the light during the presentation. it will be discussed in the 6 - 12 month plan. - 4. projection unit ( $ 7, 000 - $ 10, 000 ) - projection unit is another alternative. it can accept computer video output directly and has built - in projection mechanism to produce large images on an screen. ii. multimedia presentation development 1. presentation software : powerpoint 4. 0 : as in the project plan, the machines for the faculty will be bundled with microsoft office ( $ 170 academic price ). the microsoft office suite includes microsoft powerpoint 4. 0. since this presentation package will be available to everyone, and it is one of the most popular presentation packages on the market, it will be very likely the best choice for general presentation uses. 2. scanner : usage : for scanning hardcopy graphics or text into computer readable form so that they can be incorporated in the multimedia presentations, and tutorials, etc. scanner has higher resolution than most digital cameras. however, it is only useful for flat objects - mostly printed materials. suggested system : the price difference between 300 and 600 dpi scanners are insignificant ( less than $ 200 difference ) nowadays. it is recommended to acquire one of the newer models. the cost is around $ 1200 for one from hp or epson. - 600 dots per inch ( dpi ) optical resolution, 24 bit color min. - twain interface for windows - supports both windows and mac ( if possible ) 3. optical character recognization ( ocr ) software : usage : for converting scanned text images into word - processor readable text. often you will have printed material and other text, but no electronic text files, to incorporate into your project. with ocr software and a scanner, it can save you many hours of re - typing. different packages costs from $ 100 to $ 500. omnipage professional is the most popular on the market. 4. image processing software : usage : images obtained from scanning or digital camera often require retouching or re - composition before they are in the desire form. most of the scanners come in packages / bundles that include image processing software. the most popular software is adobe photoshop which costs $ 600 / $ 250 academic. a bundle that includes photoshop should be chosen if available. 5. color printing usage : occasionally, there are needs for color hard copy printout, either on paper or transparency, which can be showed to anyone who may not have a computer available all the time. a low


pre - screen of video segments before video capture. a resolution of more than 400 line and s - video input port are required to take advantage of s - vhs or hi - 8 capability. 3. computer hardware requirement for digitizing video : to make movies from video, special hardware is needed to convert the analog signal to digital data. video quality : there are 2 factors of the apparent video quality, size and frame rate. actual size of a 320x240 and a 160x120 movie quarter size ( 160x120 ) usually is too small to be useful. some students and faculties have commented that quarter size ( 160x120 ) movies are too small. half size ( 320x240 ) is usually recommended. full screen ( 640x480 ) is achievable now even though is expensive. not many computers can play the full screen movies without skipping frames. to achieve full screen movies playback, the computer needs a hardware accelerated video display card installed. one disappointment of first time digital video user is the small size video window they are required to use when limited by equipment. low frame rate video usually looks jerky. equipment that could only achieve no more than 10 frame per seconds ( fps ) is probably not considered as long term solution. low frame rate equipment may result in waste of time, money, and effort for development for the long run. mac solution : the easiest way to start is with a macintosh 8100 / 100av model and an additional low - cost video capture card radius spigotpro av. this can be used to demonstrate what can be done. monthly lease is about $ 200 / month. the estimated purchase price is included in the specification document. for regular production use, an medium quality system would require a videovision studio card ( $ 3700 ) and upgrade of the av tuned hard drive to an disk array. pre - configured system like this are available for lease for about $ 450 / month. one reason for leasing instead of purchasing these av systems is that the second generation mac would change to pci bus from the nubus. purchase of nubus mac is not advisable. however, at this time, the only second generation powermac models available ( 9500 / 120 or 9500 / 132 ) have no build - in av capability. both spigotpro av and videovision pci version are not available for the 9500. 8500av should be available around aug 7. the other future alternative is from radius. it has announced plan to ship very soon,


av capability. both spigotpro av and videovision pci version are not available for the 9500. 8500av should be available around aug 7. the other future alternative is from radius. it has announced plan to ship very soon, pre - configured " powermac - clone " video workstations equipped with videovision studio and videovision disk array. in addition, the new mac uses 64 - bit dimm instead of 32 - bit simm memory modules. therefore, any purchase of ram would not be sound investment. video work requires a large amount of ram, starting with 40m, or 72m is not uncommon. the lease can delay any purchasing decision until the 8500av is available. it can also give time to test whether spigotpro av or videovision studio is required for the kind of work the professor would want to develop. pc solution : usually the original video captures are done on mac and move the processing to pc. although it is not very common to capture video on pc, it is indeed possible to have the entire process done on pc, which probably is the preferred choice for department of completely pc - based such as physics. the same level of hardware for video work that is possible on the mac is not available for pc platform. pc usually are limited to frame size of no larger than 320x240 video using capture card such as intel smartvideo recorder pro ( $ 700 ). although pc platform has this limitation in capturing video, pcs can perform video editing at the same level as macintosh. and with common format like apple ' s quicktime, video clips captured from macintosh can be edited or composed on either platform. video editing software such as adobe premiere is available for both pc and mac and are identical on either one. the digitized movies can be played on either platform despite of which platform the movies are originally captured and edited. 4. video capture hard drive to capture video into digital form, special hard drives that does not require thermal recalibration are required. regular hard drives pause occasionally to perform thermal calibration that would result in skipped frame during the video capture. digital videos take up huge amount of disk space. raw video ( after capture, before compression ) at 160x120 frame size ( 1 / 16 full screen ) takes about 0. 3 - 0. 5 m / sec of video. that means at 320x240 frame size ( 1 / 4 full screen ), a video clip would take 2m / sec. of raw video. a clip for simple


takes about 0. 3 - 0. 5 m / sec of video. that means at 320x240 frame size ( 1 / 4 full screen ), a video clip would take 2m / sec. of raw video. a clip for simple laboratory training is usually 30 seconds to 1 min. this translates to a 20 + mb file for 160x120, 60 + mb 320x240. the clips are then composed in video editing software and compress to a much smaller file size. the main capture drive is mean for storing current processing files only. processed files are moved to secondary storage for " long term " storage. drive of this type are micropolis 3243av, and seagate barracuda series. a 4gb av drive costs about $ 1700. this type of drive is suitable for most work. however, for high video quality, higher frame rate and for 320x240 frame size, a drive array is recommended, especially if the videovision studio class of video capture card is used. drive arrays will be discussed in the long term requirement section. av - tuned drives are also required for any cd - rom writing applications, in which any interrupt would ruin the cd - rom being " burned ". 5. video editing software adobe ' s premiere 4. 0 ( $ 250 academic price, both mac and windows version available ) is one of the most common and powerful video editing software for composing video clips. it lets you edit and assemble video clips captured from camera, tape, other digitized movie segments, animations, scanned images, and from digitized audio or midi files. it also let you add transition visual effcts and superimposed caption to the clips. the quicktime generated clip can be played on either pc, mac, or unix platform despite of which platform the clip is assembled. it is bundled with some video capture cards. 6. laser disk player usage : laser video disc has become less commonly used nowadays. however, there are still excellent courseware available that are in video disk format. this type of player is around $ 1, 000. 7. sound editing software usage : for editing narration recorded from microphone ; usually for tutorial development. macromedia ' s soundedit 16, ~ $ 150 academic price. 8. secondary storage : usage : since, as mentioned above, video clips take up a large amount of disk space ( ~ 0. 3 - 0. 5 mb / sec. uncompressed ), the captured clips needed to be backuped up out of the capture hard


usage : since, as mentioned above, video clips take up a large amount of disk space ( ~ 0. 3 - 0. 5 mb / sec. uncompressed ), the captured clips needed to be backuped up out of the capture hard drive on to other low - cost medium. the working hard drive should always be left with plenty of space for capture and processing video. secondar storage is also for personal files backup or professors who want to keep their own multimedia work on the disk. as mentioned in the video capturing section, digital video capturing are very speed critical. usually the computer capturing video need to disable network during video capturing. storing file to remote mounted network disk is not convenient although it can always re - enable network after video capture. video editing stage is less resources demanding, although manipulating files over network is still not advisable. medium that can hold more than 1gb are recommended. for example, 1. 3gb magnetooptical drive ( $ 1800 for drive, $ 100 / 1gb cartridge ). there are also other low cost alternatives which are less convenient as they cannot hold as much information. although these drives are less expensive than the mo drive, cost per mb of the cartridge storage is higher than the mo cartridge. - bernoulli 230m, $ 500. cartridge costs $ 100 each. - 230m mo, $ 600. cartridge costs $ 50 each. - syquest 270m, $ 600. cartridge costs $ 80 each. - 100m zip drive, $ 200. cartridge costs $ 20 each. 9. backup : usage : the multimedia workstations hard disk size are in gb range, the only viable system backup solution is digital tape drive. in contrast to the secondary storage, tape drive backup can hold more than 2 gb of files and can be used for regular backup for the whole system. tape drive backup is more time - consuming than the secondary storage solution suggested above. tapes are useful for regular system backup but not practical for saving files that are being work on because individual files are not randomly accessible like on hard disk or secondary storage. 4gb digital audio tape ( dat ) drives run about $ 1, 000 - $ 2, 000. usage : to keep systems like the ones mentioned above in " top shape ", several types of utility programs are required. - disk defragmentation - norton utilities, $ 100 academic - anti - virus - symantec antivirus, $ 100 - backup - mactools pro / pc tools for windows, $ 80 academic usage : laser printer


programs are required. - disk defragmentation - norton utilities, $ 100 academic - anti - virus - symantec antivirus, $ 100 - backup - mactools pro / pc tools for windows, $ 80 academic usage : laser printer is needed for printing graphics layout and draft printout of source code ( programming may be required in some multimedia development ). color printing may still be required. suggested system : as the price of 600 dpi laser printer has recently dropped to the level of 300 dpi ones, the price difference between a 300 dpi and a 600 dpi laser printer is about $ 300. for text printout, there is no significant, noticable difference. for graphics intensive work like multimedia, the number of gray levels a 600 dpi printer supports is very distinguishable. the cost of low end 4 - 6 page per minute ( ppm ) postscript 600 dpi hp laserjet 5 mp is about $ 1300, a 12 - 16 ppm model is around $ 2400. - 600 dpi - supports both windows and mac iv. courseware development usage : authoring software let you put all the graphics, animation, audio, video, and text together, and to add interactivity. for creating quality multimedia programs, macromedia ' s director is the most popular and powerful tool of choice. director can let you make your multimedia project as a standalone executable, so your multimedia projects developed can be distributed. it is available for both and mac and pc. both platform use the same file format. ~ $ 300 / per copy academic price if purchase in 10 packs ( ~ $ 3000 ). director is sufficient for most multimedia courseware authoring works. one exception is for the physics cuple project. all the tutorials from the cuple project are created with asymmetric multimedia toolbook. in order to make modifications to them, a copy of multimedia toolbook is required. it costs around $ 300 academic. the cbt ( computer based training ) version costs $ 1, 000. the initial electron dissemination of information probably would be done using the www. hardware and software needed for creating web documents are basically the same as the ones for multimedia presentation development. since microsoft office is going to be bundled with the faculties ' machines, microsoft word 6. 0c is included in the suite. a free word add - on, internet assistant, is available from microsoft for creating html documents within word. v. commercial available software from physics academic software, north carolina state university comprehensive unified physics learning environment (


. 0c is included in the suite. a free word add - on, internet assistant, is available from microsoft for creating html documents within word. v. commercial available software from physics academic software, north carolina state university comprehensive unified physics learning environment ( cuple ) cuple student version, $ 500 / 10 license, 1 cd - rom cuple developer ' s version from falcon sofware - superchemlab mac cd - rom version 1. 0 $ 300, ( by melanie cooper, clemson u. ) - exploring chemistry v cd - rom ( mac and windows ) $ 500, ( by stanley g. smith, u. of illinois and others ) - chemistry review series : general chemistry $ 40, ( by stanley g. smith ) - chemistry review series : organic chemistry $ 40, ( by stanley g. smith ) - introductory chemistry lecture package cd - rom for windows version 1. 0 $ 300, ( by iris stovall and roxy wilson, u. of illinois ) - teaching chemistry with demonstrations level 1 videodisc $ 300, ( by roxy wilson, u. of illinois and others ) - the electronic laboratory simulator ( els ) version 2. 0 for windows, $ 250 | table of contents | goals | cost summary | 1 - 6 mon. | 1 - 6 mon. price | 7 - 12 mon. | ching - wan yip, department of chemistry, wake forest university, winston - salem, nc 27109 - 7486, copyright © 1995 ching - wan yip


by dan falk toronto — in the world of sci - fi movie geekdom, aug. 29, 1997, was a turning point for humanity : on that day, according to the " terminator " films, the network of u. s. defense computers known as skynet became self - aware — and soon launched an all - out genocidal war against homo sapiens. fortunately, that date came and went with no such robo - apocalypse. but the 1990s did bring us the world wide web, which is now far larger and more " connected " than any nation ' s defense network. could the internet " wake up "? and if so, what sorts of thoughts would it think? and would it be friend or foe? neuroscientist christof koch believes we may soon find out — indeed, the complexity of the web may have already surpassed that of the human brain. in his book " consciousness : confessions of a romantic reductionist, " published earlier this year, he makes a rough calculation : take the number of computers on the planet — several billion — and multiply by the number of transistors in each machine — hundreds of millions — and you get about a billion billion, written more elegantly as 10 to the 18th. that ' s a thousand times larger than the number of synapses in the human brain ( about 10 to the 15th ). koch, who taught for more than 25 years at caltech and is now chief scientific officer at the allen institute for brain science in seattle, is known for his work on the " neural correlates " of consciousness — studying the brain to see what ' s going on when we have specific conscious experiences. of course, our brains happen to be soft, wet, and made of living tissue, while the internet is made up of metal chips and wires — but that ' s no obstacle to consciousness, he says, so long as the level of complexity is great enough. ( most researchers working on artificial intelligence would agree that the " substrate " doesn ' t matter. that is, it makes no difference what the system is made of. most philosophers, though not all, would agree. ) in a phone interview, koch noted that the kinds of connections that wire together the internet — its " architecture " — are very different from the synaptic connections in our brains, " but certainly by any measure it ' s a very, very complex system. could it be conscious? in principle, yes it can. " of course, there ' s the tricky question


very different from the synaptic connections in our brains, " but certainly by any measure it ' s a very, very complex system. could it be conscious? in principle, yes it can. " of course, there ' s the tricky question of defining consciousness, but for our purposes it is enough to say that if an entity is conscious, then it " feels like " something to be that entity. humans are conscious, at least while we ' re awake. apes and monkeys, perhaps most animals, likely have some degree of consciousness. ( koch, a dog lover, does not hesitate to include our canine companions. ) how consciousness actually works is far less clear, but koch — going somewhat out on a limb — declares it to be a fundamental property of the universe, akin to energy, mass, and space. that doesn ' t mean that any physical system is automatically conscious — only that it has the potential to be conscious. it has to have sufficient complexity, and it has to be connected in just the right way. does the internet meet those criteria? " even today it might ' feel like something ' to be the internet, " koch says. each computer feels nothing, of course, but the totality of the internet may be more than the sum of its parts. " that ' s true for my brain, too. one of my nerve cells feels nothing — but put it together with 100 billion other nerve cells, and suddenly it can feel pain and pleasure and experience the color blue. " would its first instinct to be to kill off those pesky humans, as skynet was so quick to do? not necessarily. our own evolution is an ongoing struggle that began some 2 billion years ago ( if you start the clock when we were blue and green algae ). by comparison, the internet of today is more like a newborn baby. " it may not have any of the survival instincts that we have, " koch says. " it did not evolve in a world ' red in tooth and claw, ' to use tennyson ' s famous expression. " should the internet achieve consciousness, it will — at least at first — be " utterly naive to the world. " on the other hand, the internet has only existed for a couple of decades. " so who knows where it will be 20 years from now. " of course, the science fiction writers have already explored this territory — not just in shoot - ' em - ups like the " terminator " films, but in more cerebral works like robert j. sawyer ' s


will be 20 years from now. " of course, the science fiction writers have already explored this territory — not just in shoot - ' em - ups like the " terminator " films, but in more cerebral works like robert j. sawyer ' s " www " trilogy ( the novels are titled " wake, " " watch " and " wonder " ). in " wake, " the world wide web wakes up — and, after a bit of a learning curve, becomes the smartest entity on the planet. eerily, as koch speculated on what the internet might " feel, " he described a scenario straight out of sawyer ' s trilogy ( which he had not heard of until i mentioned it ). should there be a large power failure somewhere in the world, koch said, a conscious internet could experience the equivalent of " pain. " in " wake " ( published in 2009 ), the chinese government shuts down an enormous swath of the internet to cover up a particularly nasty incident that it desperately wants to hide from the rest of the world. the still - nascent webmind " feels " all that cutting and severing — and doesn ' t like it : not just small changes. not just flickerings. upheaval. a massive disturbance. new sensations : shock. astonishment. disorientation. and _ the " www " trilogy is a work of fiction, but for sawyer, it ' s a plausible picture of what lies ahead in our increasingly wired world. we can ' t pin down the date when the internet surpasses our brains in complexity, he says, " but clearly it is going to happen at some point. " even koch admits that he doesn ' t lose any sleep over the possibility of the internet waking up. sawyer, however, sees the web ' s continued growth as a very real potential threat. as the web grows more and more complex, at an accelerating pace, there is inevitably a " tipping point, " he says. " there is a point after which you can ' t do anything about it. should we be afraid of it? absolutely. " even if those fears prove to be unfounded, such questions are still worth pondering. if the internet doesn ' t have what it takes to become conscious, it would be useful to understand why it fails. perhaps we can even come a little closer to learning how our three - and - a - half - pound brains manage to pull it off. dan falk is a science journalist based in toronto and was a 2011 - 12 knight


pets ' eating and grooming habits, species inherent sensitivities to certain chemical / foods, and owners ' attitudes are helpful in preventing accidental exposures. similar hand - to - mouth behavior observed in children is the expected with pets. all precautions – properly store all hazardous chemicals, personal human medication, read medication labels, and know the need for, and seek immediate veterinary care - should be taken in preventing access of pet to hazardous substances. household toxins under the kitchen sink disinfectants, deodorizers, water purifiers sodium hypochloride ( main component ) of varying concentrations ( 3 %, 6 % and sometimes 50 % ). sodium peroxide / perporate ( non - chlorine bleach ). low oral toxicity ( vomiting and diarrhea ). non - ionic ( hand washing detergents, shampoos ) anionic ( laundry detergents ) both of low oral toxicity cationic detergents ( quaternary ammonium compounds ) high oral toxicity : muscle fasciculation, cns depression and at times, seizures are manifested. corrosive at high concentrations emesis and / or gastric lavage are contraindicated. contain either naphthalene ( more toxic ) or para - dichlorobenzene. cats are very sensitive. naphthalene : vomiting, met - hemoglobinemia, heinz body anemia, cns stimulation, and rarely hepatic signs. paradichlorobenzene : no met - hemoglobinemia and / or heinz body anemia. could be hepato - toxic ( phenol metabolites ) easily diagnosed – history of ingestion and / or mothball odor in breath and vomitus. mixture of terpene alcohols. ld50 of 1 - 2. 5 ml / kg body weight ( cats - more sensitive ). vomiting, hyper salivation, ataxia, weakness, cns depression, renal failure, shock, and death. emetics are contraindicated ( aspiration pneumonia ). modeling dough and de - icing salt ( na ion ) toxicity prevalence – occurs infrequently but when do so, the dog is mainly affected. lethal dose ( dogs ) approximately 3. 7 g / kg body weight. high mortality ( renal / gastrointestinal congestion and gastrointestinal inflammation ). product ingredients : sodium chloride ( 4g / kg ), potassium chloride, magnesium chloride, calcium carbonate


dogs ) approximately 3. 7 g / kg body weight. high mortality ( renal / gastrointestinal congestion and gastrointestinal inflammation ). product ingredients : sodium chloride ( 4g / kg ), potassium chloride, magnesium chloride, calcium carbonate, and calcium magnesium acetate ( some may contain urea ). vomiting ( 30 % of cases ), hypersalivation, diarrhea, lethargy, tremor, thirst polydipsia / polyuria, and dehydration, muscular rigidity, convulsions, coma, renal failure, shock, hyperchloremia, mixed metabolic and respiratory acidosis. vomiting ( perfuse ) is common therefore emesis is not recommended. anti - emetics recommended instead. gastric lavage may enhance absorption ( dissolution ). surgical removal – animal unable to withstand anesthesia. adsorbents – not useful lower sodium concentration slowly ( rapid reduction may lead to cerebral edema ). small amounts of water at frequent intervals. perenteral fluid if required – 5 % dextrose or 2. 5 % dextrose in 0. 45 % saline – recovery may take several days. monitor sodium and chloride concentrations ; renal function. aspirin ( acetylsalicylic acid ) anti - inflammatory : dogs - ( 25 mg / kg 3x daily ) ; anti - thrombic : - ( 0. 5 mg / kg 2x daily ) analgesic : – ( 10 - 20 mg / kg 2x daily ) ; antipyretic ; causes emesis in dogs @ 50 mg / kg q12h its use in cats – severe caution ( possible toxicity. 10 mg / kg q48h for pain and fever. cats are glucuronosyl - transferase deficient, thus reduced aspirin metabolism and toxicity results. clinical signs ( dogs ) vomiting, restlessness progressing to cns depression, seizure, and coma. respiratory alkalosis > > metabolic acidosis. clinical signs ( cats ) cns depression, anorexia, vomiting, gastric hemorrhage. toxic hepatitis, anemia, bone marrow hypoplasia, hyperpyrexia and heinz body anemia. treatment : emetic activated charcoal, osmotic cathartic ( gi decontamination ). correct acid base balance. slow iv bicarbonate for metabolic acidosis. alkaline urine – increased excretion " ion trapping "


one year after eyjafjallajokull rumbled to life, another iceland volcano began spewing ash and steam. at approximately 17 : 30 universal time ( 5 : 30 p. m. local time ) on may 21, 2011, grimsvotn began to erupt. the volcano sent a plume of ash and steam about 20 kilometers ( 12 miles ) into the atmosphere, the icelandic met office reported. overnight, the plume height dropped to 15 kilometers ( 9 miles ), but occasionally rose to its initial altitude. the moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer ( modis ) on nasa ’ s terra satellite captured this natural - color image at 13 : 00 utc ( 1 : 00 p. m. local time ) on may 22, 2011. ( modis on nasa ’ s aqua satellite captured another image of the volcano about 8 hours earlier. ) above grimsvotn ’ s summit, volcanic ash forms a circular brown plume that towers above the surrounding clouds. in the southeast, ash has colored the snow surface dark brown. ash from the volcano reduced visibility to about 50 meters ( 160 feet ) in some places. iceland review online reported that ash falls prompted the closure of keflavik, iceland ’ s largest airport, and caused some areas turn as dark as night in the middle of the day. the initial plume from grimsvotn was higher than from eyjafjallajokull, which only reached 8 kilometers ( 5 miles ). despite its taller plume, grimsvotn was not expected to hamper trans - atlantic air traffic as much as eyjafjallajokull, at least in the first 24 hours. grimsvotn ’ s ash was forecast to travel toward the northeast, the icelandic met office stated, and it was coarser and less likely to remain airborne long enough to reach european airspace. some volcanic ash models, however, suggested ash could interfere with flights in the united kingdom and ireland beginning on may 24. volcanic plumes can provoke lightning, and the plume from grimsvotn produced an intense lightning storm. at its peak, the lightning storm produced 1, 000 times as many strikes per hour as eyjafjallajokull had a year earlier. - global volcanism program. ( n. d. ) grimsvotn. accessed may 23, 2011. - iceland review online. ( 2011, may 22 ). ash from grimsvotn volcano visible around iceland. accessed may 23, 2011. - icelandic


program. ( n. d. ) grimsvotn. accessed may 23, 2011. - iceland review online. ( 2011, may 22 ). ash from grimsvotn volcano visible around iceland. accessed may 23, 2011. - icelandic met office. ( 2011, may 21 ). eruption has started in grimsvotn. accessed may 23, 2011. - icelandic met office. ( 2011, may 22 ). ash plume and lightning. accessed may 23, 2011. - klemetti, e. ( 2011, may 21 ). subglacial eruption starting at iceland ’ s grimsvotn. eruptions. accessed may 23, 2011. - klemetti, e. ( 2011, may 21 ). more information on the may 21 eruption of grimsvotn in iceland. eruptions. accessed may 23, 2011. - klemetti, e. ( 2011, may 22 ). grimsvotn eruption closes keflavik airport near reykjavik ( and more images of the eruption ). eruptions. accessed may 23, 2011. - klemetti, e. ( 2011, may 22 ). keeping tabs on the grimsvotn eruption as the ash spreads towards europe. eruptions. accessed may 23, 2011. - news blog. ( 2011, may 23 ). in 2011, grimsvotn is the new eyjafjallajokull. nature. accessed may 23, 2011.


as executive director of the georgia municipal association, the state ’ s largest representative of city governments, i have seen firsthand how newspapers impact cities. to put it simply : newspapers are economic development. first, and most basically, most newspaper offices are located in downtowns. they employ people who, hopefully, eat and shop at other downtown businesses. people come to newspaper offices to place ads, share their news and buy their newspapers. so newspapers drive traffic into the downtown area. they also cover events like ribbon cuttings and business expansions that help local businesses. think about where you live. if you live in one of georgia ’ s many smaller towns, it ’ s likely your newspaper is a once or twice - weekly publication. if that newspaper didn ’ t exist, who would cover these events? would the closest large daily newspaper drive to your town to cover the grand opening of a mom and pop store? probably not. your community newspaper, however, does cover those events and that coverage helps mom and pop and the rest of the family stay in business. newspapers also impact the local economy on a much larger scale. the stories they write – how they portray the community and its government leadership – can make or break economic development. before deciding to open a store or factory in a community, business leaders look at how that community is portrayed in the media. is it a government that can ’ t agree on issues, that deadlocks on important votes? or is it a government that seems open to doing business and welcoming to newcomers? if it ’ s a company that will bring a large number of employees to the area, they want to know what the quality of life is going to be for their workers. are there sports for kids, quality schools, community events for the family? all those factors are taken into consideration and decisions are made based upon how the community is portrayed in the local paper. another area where newspapers offer great impact is in recording the history of our cities and the people who live, work and die there. the birth announcement that ran in your paper last week may be the significant event historians examine 80 years from now. the gap - toothed eight - year - old grinning from ear to ear in the little league photo on the sports page could be the next ty cobb. who else but the local newspaper is recording these events? and even if none of the people who make it into the local paper are ever famous anywhere but on those pages, the local paper has immortalized them into georgia ’ s history. there will always be tension between


lightning mapping array ( lma ) the sport program works with three total lightning networks. these include the lightning mapping arrays in north alabama and washington, d. c. as well as the lightning detection and ranging network at the kennedy space center. each card represents one of these networks. a green card marked as " evaluation product, " is being used by at least one national weather service forecast office. blue cards, marked " research, " exist for academic purposes and research. real - time data are available by following the link at the bottom right of the card. the overview section below describes the north alabama network, but the basic concepts are applicable to each total lightning network. real - time 2 - minute data on a 2 x 2 km grid from the north alabama lightning mapping array. figure 1 : the location of the 11 north alabama lightning mapping array sensors ( green dots and blue dot ) and communications relays ( open green circles ) across north alabama. the north alabama lightning mapping array ( nalma ) was first activated in 2001 and officially transitioned to the huntsville, alabama national weather service office in early 2003. since the initial transition, sport has successfully transitioned nalma data to three other partner forecast offices. these include the birmingham, alabama as well as morristown and nashville, tennessee weather forecast offices. in addition, sport has worked collaboratively with the lightning group here at the national space science and technology center ( nsstc ) in huntsville, alabama to provide near real - time total lightning data to partner forecast offices in melbourne, florida and sterling, virginia using networks located in those regions. sterling uses the washington d. c. lightning mapping array ( dclma ) while melbourne receives data from the kennedy space center lightning detection and ranging network ( ldar ). both of these networks are functionally similar to the nalma network and forecast applications developed for one network can be used with another. figure 2. a comparison between what a cloud - to - ground network observes in a lightning flash ( left ) versus what a total lightning network will observe in a lightning flash ( right ). note how the cloud - to - ground network only provides a single point of information. also, the cloud - to - ground network would observe nothing if the flash were solely intra - cloud. the nalma is a three - dimensional very high frequency ( vhf ) detection network of 11 vhf receivers deployed across northern alabama with a base station and receiver located at the nsstc ( figure 1 ). solid green circles indicate a vhf receiver, while open green circles are wireless relay stations. the


high frequency ( vhf ) detection network of 11 vhf receivers deployed across northern alabama with a base station and receiver located at the nsstc ( figure 1 ). solid green circles indicate a vhf receiver, while open green circles are wireless relay stations. the blue dot is the base station and 11th sensor located at the nsstc. as of may 2009, two additional sensors located in atlanta, georgia have been added, in collaboration with researchers at georgia tech university. these are testing the effectiveness of the nalma network using long baselines in the sensor placement. figure 3. a sample of 31 thunderstorms observed by the kennedy space center lightning detection and ranging network showing the number of cloud - to - ground strikes versus total lightning observed in each storm. notice how the intra - cloud component dominates the total lightning observed in each storm. it is also interesting to note that two storms had no cloud - to - ground strikes at all, yet were still very electrically active. the nalma system locates the sources of impulsive vhf radio signals from lightning by accurately measuring the time that the signals arrive at the different receiving stations. each station records the magnitude and time of the peak lightning radiation signal in successive 80 microsecond intervals within a local unused television channel ( channel 5, 76 - 82 mhz ). typically, hundreds of sources per flash can be reconstructed, which in turn produces accurate 3 - dimensional lightning image maps ( nominally < 50 m error within a 150 km range ). the sources can be thought of as the individual stepped leaders within a lightning flash. more detailed information can be found in goodman et al. ( 2005 ). the primary advantage of nalma, and the other total lightning networks, is that the networks detect total lightning, which is the combination of both cloud - to - ground and intra - cloud lightning. figure 2 shows a rough comparison of what is detected between standard cloud - to - ground networks versus nalma or any other lightning mapping array. the importance of detecting the intra - cloud flashes is that the intra - cloud flashes typically dominate the full number of flashes in a thunderstorm ( figure 3 ). with only cloud - to - ground data, forecasters are not receiving the full breadth of knowledge of how the storm is developing. also, total lightning data are updated every 2 minutes, giving forecasters additional information about storm development in between radar volume scans. figure 4. a screen capture from awips ii showing the total lightning flash extent density ( colored contours ) versus the cloud - to - ground strike locations ( negative


, giving forecasters additional information about storm development in between radar volume scans. figure 4. a screen capture from awips ii showing the total lightning flash extent density ( colored contours ) versus the cloud - to - ground strike locations ( negative and plus signs ). notice how the total lightning indicates that lightning flashes are covering a wide area whereas the cloud - to - ground observations only show single locations. operationally, total lightning data provide several advantages to forecasters. first, total lightning data often give a 3 - 5 minute lead time ahead of the first cloud - to - ground lightning strike. this improves lightning safety for the national weather service ' s terminal aerodrome forecasts ( tafs ) and airport weather warnings ( awws ). this safety feature also can be used for incident support of special events. in addition, the total lightning data provides information about the spatial extent of lightning that is not available in the traditional cloud - to - ground data. figure 4 shows the comparison of what is seen between a cloud - to - ground network observation and nalma. furthermore, the trend of total lightning in a thunderstorm can be used to provide advanced lead time on the development of severe weather. forecasters often look for a lightning jump signature, where the total lightning observations rapidly increase in a short period of time. this lightning jump is indicative of a strengthening thunderstorm updraft. this insight into a storm ' s evolutionary development helps forecasters pinpoint which thunderstorms are intensifying or not. this provides a powerful tool in reducing the number of false alarms issued by the weather service as well as providing increased warning lead time. figure 5 illustrates a lightning jump, both in a time series plot and with two screen captures from the national weather service ' s own decision support computer system. additional information can be found at the sport training page. figure 5. a time trend plot ( top ) of a storm that had two separate lightning jumps at 1906 and 1920 utc that led to the issuance of a tornado warning at 1920 utc ahead of the touchdown of an ef - 1 tornado. the bottom two images show the awips display before ( left ) and during ( right ) the lightning jump. sport also utilizes the nalma observations, and observations from other total lightning networks, as a risk reduction project for the goes - r geostationary lightning mapper ( glm ) system set for launch later this decade. the glm will be the first total lightning observation instrument in geostationary orbit and will provide total lightning observations over a massive


reduction project for the goes - r geostationary lightning mapper ( glm ) system set for launch later this decade. the glm will be the first total lightning observation instrument in geostationary orbit and will provide total lightning observations over a massive domain, as opposed to the very small domains of the lightning mapping arrays. sport uses the ground - based networks to help prepare for the glm and its impacts on forecasting. more information can be found on sport ' s goes - r proving ground page. figure 6. the domain covered by the north alabama lightning mapping array. for our end users, sport provides a three dimensional total lightning data set that is updated every 2 minutes. figure 6 shows that the nalma network provides full coverage to the huntsville and nashville weather service county warning areas as well as partial coverage to birmingham and morristown offices. the grid has a horizontal extent of 460 x 460 km, with a 2 x 2 km grid resolution centered on the nsstc. the vertical grid resolution is 1 km from 0 - 17 km. by providing nalma data in awips and awips ii, forecasters are able to interrogate the data on any of the 17 horizontal levels or examine the cumulative lightning density maps. the importance of using awips / awips ii is that it puts the nalma data into the forecasters ' own decision support tool where they can readily compare the nalma data to nexrad radar observations or any other available data sets to enhance situational awareness, particularly during severe weather events. forecasters predominantly use the cumulative lightning density map in real - time operations as opposed to any single vertical level due to forecasting time constraints. however, with the greater flexibility of awips ii, sport is working with our partners to potentially include more of the available three dimensional observations. references : goodman, s. j., and coauthors, 2005 : the north alabama lightning mapping array : recent severe storm observations and future prospects. atmos. res., 76, 423 - 437.


a question of social justice what does “ sustainable agriculture ” mean to you? if your answer is like most, you probably will begin by talking about sustainability in relation to the environment – protecting the natural ecosystem and conserving non - renewable resources. and, you will be right. if our food and farming systems are to be sustainable over time, we must maintain the health and productivity of land and must conserve water, energy, and the other natural resources upon which agricultural productivity ultimately depends. an agriculture that is not ecologically sound, quite simply, is not sustainable. the next thing most likely to come to mind is economic sustainability – if it ’ s not profitable, it ’ s not sustainable. again, you will be right, or at least partly right. in a capitalistic economy, the markets determine who gets to use land and other resources – and how they will be used. sustainable farms need not maximize profits, and farms need not generate a profit every year. but, a farming system that is not economically viable is not sustainable, no matter how ecologically sound it may be. almost everyone agrees ; our food and farming systems must be ecologically sound and economically viable if they are to be sustainable over time. even giant agribusiness corporations, such as monsanto and du pont, have sustainable agriculture programs that address environmental and economic concerns. however, there is far less agreement concerning the third essential aspect of sustainability – the question of social justice. any system of food and farming that fails to meet the needs of a society, will not be sustained by that society, no matter how ecologically benign or profitable it may appear to be. a society has physical and material needs, however, one of the most basic needs of any society is a sense of social equity or justice. any food and farming system that is not socially just does not meet this basic need, and thus, is not sustainable. a sustainable economy must meet the material needs of people by means that are perceived to be equitable and just by the society that supports it. human society is a subsystem of the larger natural ecosystem and the economy, in turn, is a subsystem of society. while some level of individual economic or material well - being is a prerequisite for a sustainable society, a society is more that a collection of individuals ; it includes also the relationships among those individuals. the sustainability of a society perhaps depends even more upon strong relationships among its members than upon strong individual members. adam smith, the father of contemporary economics, in his landmark


is more that a collection of individuals ; it includes also the relationships among those individuals. the sustainability of a society perhaps depends even more upon strong relationships among its members than upon strong individual members. adam smith, the father of contemporary economics, in his landmark book, wealth of nations, wrote : “ no society can surely be flourishing and happy, of which the far greater part of the members are poor and miserable. ” distrust and dissention can arise among the rich as well as the poor – both groups being capable of dysfunctional relationships. however, distrust and dissention are inevitable consequences of substantial and persistent economic disparity among members within a society. economic disparity inevitably creates a sense of social injustice, and an unjust society is neither stable nor sustainable. distrust and dissention ultimately lead to civil unrest, which disrupts the economy and ultimately leads to exploitation and destruction of the natural ecosystem. eastern europe and sub - sahara africa provide two prime examples of the widespread ecological destruction that results from persistent social injustice. a market economy will not ensure social justice. a market economy provides for people only in relation to their willingness and ability to pay, not in relation to their basic needs. the abilities of people to earn money and to pay for food, clothing, and shelter do not necessarily match their needs. all people have a basic right to sufficient food, clothing, and shelter to ensure survival and normal physical and mental growth and development, although we are just beginning to accept this fact in america. our market economy will not ensure those rights. inevitably, equity and justice must be ensured through conscious, purposeful actions by the members of society – by our individual acts of human compassion and by our public acts, through government, to ensure the general welfare. both are necessary and neither absolves our responsibility for the other. a society that does not accept this responsibility for social justice is not sustainable. equity and justice do not require that everyone have access to the same quantity, quality, and variety of food, clothing or shelter, or that food, clothing, and shelter be equally convenient or effortless for all. equity and justice are matters of ensuring equal access to specific things to which all have equal rights – not equal access to all things. a right to safe, nutritious food, for example, does not imply a right to prime rib and artichoke hearts nor to packaged or pre - prepared foods. however, food and farming systems that do not accept responsibility of ensuring that all have adequate food, clothing, and shelter are not sustainable. each of


ecologists are warning all citizens of earth … we are running out of natural resources! according to top ecologists from around the world, from 1970 to 2008 the biological resources of our planet have shrunk by 68 %. and according to ecology experts in south america and the australian state of tasmania, in comparison to 1966, the biggest consumer of natural resources i is the usa. specialists from the world is ending fund studied the development of more than 9000 mammals, fish, birds, reptiles and amphibians. the report put out by the tasmanian ecologist states that if the whole world were to use natural resources to the extent that americans use them, we will run out of natural resources in two weeks. so in order to support the eco - balance on the planet, we would need five earths to provide the natural resources we need. america isn ’ t the only hog of natural resources. there are others gobbling up everything. here they are : 3 ) the united arab emirates 8 ) the netherlands the amount of garbage in the pacific ocean has increased by 150 times in the last 40 years, according to the tasmanians. the most littered part of the ocean is the section between california and hawaii. researchers have noted that the smaller particles present a serious threat to sea life since they can get into their respiratory or digestive systems. around 10 % of fish caught in the areas close to the islands of garbage have small particles of plastic in their stomachs and many of the fish have mcdonald ’ s wrappers inside their intestines. so what do we do? how do we stop the demise of the earth. “ nothing we can do, ” said the lead tasmanian researcher. ” we should just all party like it ’ s 2015! ” here is one researcher who thinks we can make it 40 more years at our current burn rate.


central l ' viv ( latin cathedral and ploshcha rynok ) lviv ( also spelled l ' viv and львів ; polish : lwow, german : lemberg ; also known as lvov, its russianized name used during soviet era ) is in western ukraine and used to be the capital of east galicia. the biggest city of the region and major ukrainian cultural center. the historic city center is on the unesco world heritage list. the city has a multicultural history. it was founded in 1256 by king daniel of galicia and fell under polish control in the 14th century. poles, jews, ukrainians, germans and others lived there together for centuries. the polish king john ii casimir founded the lviv university in the 17th century and lviv ( known as lwow ) was by that time one of the most important cities in the polish - lithuanian commonwealth, along with krakow, warsaw, gdansk and vilnius. in 1772 the city was taken by the habsburgs and in austrian times it was known under the name of lemberg, the capital of galicia. after the dissolution of the austro - hungarian empire in 1918, it was returned to poland. as result of world war ii stalin moved the soviet frontier westward so lviv became part of the ussr, as lvov ( still widely frequent, even locally ). with the ukrainian independence in 1991, the name was officially changed to lviv ( львів ). lviv is located in the most ukrainian region of ukraine ; as a soviet province, most signs were put only in ukrainian, and only a few also in russian. because of its polish and austro - hungarian history, lviv has a central european flair in its architecture that makes it one of the most beautiful cities in eastern europe. its tourist potential is yet undiscovered because infrastructure is rather undeveloped and most people don ' t speak any foreign languages except polish and / or russian. this is changing among young people, some of whom will speak english. nevertheless, visiting lviv is very rewarding for the pioneer traveller, as living is still pretty cheap here with western standarts and the place has a truly authentic feeling, unlike places like krakow or prague, which are swamped with tourists. lviv has an international airport just 7km from the beautiful downtown. lviv is served via direct international routes including flights from vienna ( austrian airlines ), frankfurt ( ukraine international airlines ), warsaw ( lot polish airlines ), krakow ( eurolot ), timisoara, romania ( carpatair ) and munich ( luft


is served via direct international routes including flights from vienna ( austrian airlines ), frankfurt ( ukraine international airlines ), warsaw ( lot polish airlines ), krakow ( eurolot ), timisoara, romania ( carpatair ) and munich ( lufthansa ). low cost airline wizz air flies twice a week to dortmund and venice - treviso. important! lufthansa and wizz air - flights are not served from main terminal - go to the small terminal " 3 " at the right side of the main building! it is relatively inexpensive to fly from kyiv to lviv, with multiple daily flights operated by ukrainian international airlines and aerosvit. these carriers also operate flights to and from other major ukrainian cities, although it is still more common to travel by train domestically as the overnight trains save you the cost of a hotel while providing you transporation. return airfares from kyiv range from as low as $ 50 ( including taxes and fees ), if booked more than a month in advance, to approximately $ 100. tickets for air travel can be purchased online or via travel agents. taxi from the airport to town ( or visa - versa ) should cost around 45uah, depending on the time of day. negotiate prior to departure. there are line 9 operated by trolleybuses from airport to city center ( 1. 25uah, also available 50 % discounts for students ), and line 48 operated by buses ( 2 uah, vithout discounts ) from the airport. both of them are frequent ( every 10 - 15 minutes during the day ). see : lviv airport website. the airport is very basic as there is no currency exchange and toilets are only available after check - in. there is only one atm, and it is located in the main arrival hall. the small restaurants right outside of the main building will be your best bet for food and locating clean toilets. arrival advisory : travel insurance you do not need to buy insurance at the airport. there is a little booth in arrivals with someone who may try to sell you insurance or demand to see yours if you say you have it. you do not need to purchase insurance from this person, nor show them any documentation. ignore them. the easiest way to get to l ' viv from western europe is through krakow ( or wroclaw / katowice ) in poland. from there, you have several options. take a train to przemysl near the polish - ukrainian border. it costs about 40 pln and takes between 4


western europe is through krakow ( or wroclaw / katowice ) in poland. from there, you have several options. take a train to przemysl near the polish - ukrainian border. it costs about 40 pln and takes between 4 and 5 hours. from przemysl you take a bus to the border ( ' granitsa ' in polish ) for 2. 50 pln, walk through the checkpoint and take another bus ( marshrootka ) to l ' viv. when you exit the final border control, walk straight ahead and you will come out on to a street which cars use to cross back in to poland. follow this street up past the shops and money exchanges, and take your first left. about 50 meters down on the left hand side is the new bus terminal where buses run regularly to lviv for approximately 23 uah. get your ticket from the driver. the total cost for this route is approximately €12 and maybe less if you have a student card. it is around half the price of the next cheapest option. whether to take it depends on your stress tolerance, polish language skills and ability to push and shove at the border. pedestrian crossing : queues at the border crossings can be unpredictable and hellish. if you do encounter a queue and are in a hurry, get the guards attention, explain your situation and they will more than likely let you go through immediately. be polite! 30 minutes from medyka to sheheni ( шегині ) on foot is now the norm. there are lots of " ants " - these are people who cross into poland with relatively cheap ukrainian cigarettes and spirits, then buy meats and cheeses at low eu prices and return to ukraine to sell them for a profit. everyone has to pass through a turnstile and the bulky bags and suitcases they carry are too big to fit. there is a huge log jam of people trying to fit their bags through that turnstile and ugly words are common. tourists with backpacks are sometimes let through by the " ants ". there is also a direct train from krakow to l ' viv once a day, plus one with a change. this costs 195 pln as of the 3 / 3 / 2009 booking via polrail service. a sleeper berth is required on the train, as only sleeping cars are carried across the border to ukraine. do not pay a cash ' reservation charge ' to the ukrainian conductor on the second train. ensure you have your reservations for the second train in your possession


sleeper berth is required on the train, as only sleeping cars are carried across the border to ukraine. do not pay a cash ' reservation charge ' to the ukrainian conductor on the second train. ensure you have your reservations for the second train in your possession and fully identifiable. there are trains coming from throughout ukraine, including multiple daily trains ( including 3 - 4 overnight trains ) from kyiv. the timings can be inconvenient - one night train from kyiv gets in at 4 : 20am, the one back to kiev gets there at 7am - and hotels in kyiv really like to book that pair of trains for their clients. for better options, check the timetables at poezda. net or poezda. org. ua and buy the ticket at any train station in ukraine. trains from hungary and slovakia come through lviv, usually on their way to kyiv. train - fare from both countries is approx $ 80 per person for a bed in a sleeping car. on the mav website the round - trip price from budapest is quoted at €64. 40, [ ] but, when contacting the international rail office by phone in budapest, the one - way fare was quoted at 12, 600 ft ( $ 75 / €50 ), however, when purchased at keleti train station the price was reduced to roughly 11, 700 ft ( $ 62 / €44 ) ( 1. 1. 09 ). make sure to bring enough food and water for at least 12 hours ( 15 hours from budapest ). smuggling is a fact of life between eastern poland and western ukraine. the harsh economic situation in these two respective regions forces many into the trade, involving people of all ages. you may witness individuals unscrewing panels and pulling out plastic wrapped cigarette cartons, and may even be asked to politely move to enable access to a hidden cavity. similarly if you decide to use the toilet you may find it blocked with cartons of cigarettes and your seat may feel uncomfortable if someone ' s removed the soft filling and replaced it with cigarettes. the key here is to exercise your common sense. these people are only doing their ' job ' and thus should be treated with respect. there is no need for alarm! in fact it can be fascinating watching just how many cigarettes a single train carriage can hold and later watching as everything is removed on arrival in the eu. border guards may ask you if anyone has been smuggling but the best response is to claim that you were sleeping or pretend not to understand. you are legally allowed to bring through the


can hold and later watching as everything is removed on arrival in the eu. border guards may ask you if anyone has been smuggling but the best response is to claim that you were sleeping or pretend not to understand. you are legally allowed to bring through the eu border 40 cigarettes ( two packs ) or 20 cigarillos or 10 cigars or 50g of smoking tobacco and 1 liter of spirits ( above 22 % alcohol ) or 2 liters of alcohol ( e. g. sparkling wine below 22 % alcohol ) and 4 liters of non - sparkling wine and 16 liters of beer. if you are below 17 years old it ' s half of these amounts. ( source - polish customs service announcement, in polish ) from poland : take the e40, this will end at the city center. keep in mind that all formalities at the border take from one hour upwards. there will be a long line for trucks, which you can pass if you travel by car. don ' t expect the border police to treat you respectfully, or speak any language other than ukrainian, polish or russian. in fact, expect the very opposite regarding both. ukrainian roads are bad, and ukrainian drivers have an aggressive driving style. when you drive into lviv, make sure you have a good map because getting lost in this town is very easy. note : it is forbidden to drive around the city center on sundays and holidays ( including prospekt svobody ). this is signposted, but in cyrillic only, as one driver caught by a police official learned in july 2012. pay close attention to speed limits ( which are often badly marked, with signs far off the road, covered with branches etc. ), but the speeding fines are usually low if nothing else is wrong with your car. in towns, the speed limit is usually 60km / h ( 40mph ). speed limits on " nationals " ( single carriageway countryside roads ) is 90km / h ( 55mph ). the poor average quality of the roads already acts as a speed checker. speed limits on highways ( motorways ) is 110 - 120km / h ( 75mph ). be aware that corruption is widespread among ukrainian police. when you are stopped for speeding or other violations, officers might aggressively try and extract ridiculous sums of money from you ( €100 and up ), offering " reductions " if you pay on the spot ( the proposed alternative being some unpleasant and more expensive way, all made up ). the highest actual legal fine in the


try and extract ridiculous sums of money from you ( €100 and up ), offering " reductions " if you pay on the spot ( the proposed alternative being some unpleasant and more expensive way, all made up ). the highest actual legal fine in the ukraine is the equivalent of about $ 200. but the fine should be paid in the bank, not directly to police officer! so if you ' re asked for fine demand a written ticket for you to pay later instead. don ' t let them intimidate you. it ' s very useful to have an embassy phone number handy for these cases ( you should not under any circumstances travel around ukraine without your embassy / consulate number handy anyway ). if you mention your embassy / consulate, they ' ll let you off the hook quicker than you know it. at any rate, write down the officers ' badge numbers, rank, plate number of the police car, and notify the nearest embassy / consulate in detail, to help fight these corrupt practices. there are daily buses from polish cities : warsaw, przemysl, lublin, wrocław. it is possible also to get there by bus from other european cities. from przemysl there are 2 types of buses that regularly travel to l ' viv. the first is the pks ( polish coach buses ) and the second is private buses. the private buses are found just outside of the train station on the opposite side from the main bus station. they head to the border when they are full, which can take a while at night and travel to the border is about 15 minutes ( about 10km of rough road ). the price is from 2 - 3 pln ( november 2011 ). the mini - bus drops you off at the foot way to the pedestrian crossing medyka - shehyni. on the ukraine side private buses can be taken to lviv ; these take from 2 to 3 hours, and can be found at the bus station around 300 meters up the main road, past all the shops, on the first major road to your left. right outside the border you will probably meet touters who will tell you that they have best prices and invite to their cars and buses, this option may be faster but is definitely more expensive. the price for a bus from the station is 23 uah ( june 2012 ) ; the buses are often packed and can be uncomfortable at times due to road conditions and poor drivers. it is an adventure and it is to be on a bus full of smugglers after they have successfully completed their daily


23 uah ( june 2012 ) ; the buses are often packed and can be uncomfortable at times due to road conditions and poor drivers. it is an adventure and it is to be on a bus full of smugglers after they have successfully completed their daily missions. the bus from shehyni will most likely arrive next to the main train station in lviv. there is a daily night bus service provided by eurobus from krakow bus station to lviv, departing at 21. 50 from krakow and supposed to arrive at 6. 00 in lviv ( depending on delays at the border. the price is around 90 pln ( october 2011 ). there is also a eurolines bus ( but not every day ) from krakow, departing at 11 : 30 to lviv, arriving at 21 : 10. this bus continues onwards to kiev to arrive at around 6 : 00 the next morning. the price to lviv is around 75 pln and discounts ( isic etc ) apply ( october 2011 ). the bus from brest ( belarus ) to lviv departs every day on 08. 45 am from platform 7 and arrives in lviv at 17. 33 pm. the price is around 20 usd. most of international buses arrive at stryisky bus station, on the outskirts of lviv. to get to the centre you take trolleybus 5. ticket - 1, 25 uah ( you need another one for big luggage ) can be bought in a kiosk or from the driver. from the czech republic countless buses connect lviv directly with prague and some other czech cities, passing through poland, but mostly not stopping there to take passengers. these can be best viewed using the czech integrated timetable at http : / / jizdnirady. idnes. cz ( english version available ). advance reservation is recommended and for most buses also possible online at https : / / eshop. amsbus. cz or http : / / www. infobus. eu. buses can get you from the west to lviv far faster than trains. they are targeted primarily at ukrainian emigrant workers earning their living in the czech republic. smoking and drinking on the board is strictly prohibited. buses are now in most cases modern coaches or sometimes used western buses, but still with air condition. there are at least 5 connections per day but often much more. if you don ' t travel around religious bank holidays in ukraine, with arrival to prague on monday morning or departure friday or saturday from prague, buses are generally not full and you ' ll have often 2 seats per person as tickets aren '


much more. if you don ' t travel around religious bank holidays in ukraine, with arrival to prague on monday morning or departure friday or saturday from prague, buses are generally not full and you ' ll have often 2 seats per person as tickets aren ' t cheap and bus lines are very profitable. lviv has a quite extensive tram and mini - bus network. mini - buses ( 2 uah ) are known as marshrutky and follow a set route, but without a fixed timetable. to indicate a desire to board, extend one arm as the marshrutka approaches ; simply ask the driver to stop when you would like to get off. however some drivers can will to stop the bus for you on the nearest stop only because of fear of tickets from police. trams and trolleybuses cost 1. 50 uah ( tickets for students are 0. 75 uah ) ( june 2012 ). you can purchase tickets from any news kiosk or from driver in tram. ask for a " tramvainyi bilet ". keep in mind that if you are carrying a piece of luggage larger than a backpack you will need to purchase a second ticket for it. once inside the tram, be sure to validate your ticket ( s ) by punching them in one of the metal punches mounted on the walls. an inspector may come around to check your ticket - these people do not wear uniforms but flash a little badge. it ' s interesting to note that mostly all of the drivers of the trams and ticket checkers are women. taxis are available throughout the city, and the city center is swarming with them at night. when they aren ' t equipped with a meter you must agree on a price with the driver ahead of time. it ' s usually cheaper when taxi do have meter, but even then they may not to turn it on for you. it is usually cheaper to order a taxi by phone than catch a taxi on the street. latin cathedral ( roman catholic ) in the south western corner of market square. st. george ' s cathedral ( greek catholic ) baroque - rococo cathedral located an the hill armenian cathedral ( armenian apostolic ) built between 1363 and 1370, later remodeled few times. very interesting interior. dormition cathedral ( orthodox ) built between 16th and 17th century i renaissance style. next to it stands 65 meter high korniakt tower. dominican church impressive baroque temple built for dominicans in 18th century. resembles the church of st. charles borromeus in vienna with its concave facade and huge elliptical dome.


. next to it stands 65 meter high korniakt tower. dominican church impressive baroque temple built for dominicans in 18th century. resembles the church of st. charles borromeus in vienna with its concave facade and huge elliptical dome. after ww2 the building served as a warehouse and later museum of religion and atheism, now it is a greek catholic parish church. the bernardine church and monastery jesuit church based on rome ' s il gesu church. chapel of the boim family a mannerist architecture marvel all made of black stone located next to the latin cathedral. russian orthodox cathedral lychakivsky tsvyntar ( lychakiv cemetery ). there are about four hundred thousand people buried here, including ukrainian heroes such as ivan franko ; the park is enormous, and very pleasant to wander around on a network of variously - maintained paths. at the back of the cemetery are a moving series of recently - built war memorials, in the same style as western world war one cemeteries, to the dead of the 1918 - 1921 ukrainian civil wars. union of lublin mound, high castle ( vysokyi zamok ) ; the place where a historic castle used to stand and now stands a mound built in 1869 to commemorate 300th anniversary of lublin union. on the mound there is an observation platform with nice views of the city and another sandy mound, which you can also climb, and which has a cross devoted to the dead of the war in afghanistan. from the mound you can walk around the whole central hill - park of the town. market square ( ploshcha rynok ). you can climb the tower of the town hall : go in via the main entrance, wander about until you see a sign ' вхид на вежу ', then follow those signs up 103 steps to a ticket - office and up 305 more steps to the top of the tower. there ' s a great view of the old town, and this is clearly one of the romantic spots of the city : i saw a marriage - proposal there. shevchenko monument, donated by members of the argentine ukrainian diaspora, and absolutely unmistakable in the centre of town ; a sculpture of the writer, and a wave - shaped monument with ukrainian folk - art motifs rising to his side. sometimes seems to be used by locals as a climbing - wall, but i would advise foreigners against this. lviv opera and ballet national academic theatre 28 svobody ave. lviv municipal theatre, 36 horodotska st


rising to his side. sometimes seems to be used by locals as a climbing - wall, but i would advise foreigners against this. lviv opera and ballet national academic theatre 28 svobody ave. lviv municipal theatre, 36 horodotska str. lviv university ( named after ivan franko ) lviv national polytechnic university lviv rail terminal built in 1904 art nouveau wonder. pharmacy museum " under the black eagle " 2 drukarska str. tel. ( 032 ) 272 - 00 - 41. the oldest pharmacy in lviv, opened in 1735 ( sadly the custodian can be extremely impolite, including banging the door behind you. ) admission 8 uah. museum of the history of religion 1 musejna sq., tel. ( 032 ) 272 - 91 - 00 an interesting museum documenting both jewish and christian history of lviv in one of lviv ' s biggest and most beautiful churches. tickets : 10 uah normal, 5 uah discount. the l ' viv art gallery 3 stefanyka st. divided into several departments the central of which is on display at potoskiy palace showing mainly renaissance and baroque european art ( for ukrainian art see national musem ). nearby is the palace of arts where changing contemporary art exhibitions take place. other interesting branches of the lviv gallery are the museum of ancient books, museum of relics and pinsel museum ( dedicated to the local baroque wood carver ). the lviv historical museum divided into many departments most of which are in the old town displaying archeology, history from medieval times up to the ukrainian struggle for nationalism, as well as jewellery and armoury. museum of ethnography and arts and crafts 15 svobody ave. tickets : 5 uah normal, 2 uah discount. the lviv national museum 20 svobody ave. the main building displays ukrainian art from the middle ages up to the 19th century. note that the lviv art gallery mainly shows foreign art in its art collections so if you are more interested in ukrainian art you should definitely visit this museum. admission : 1 - 10 uah. museum of national folk architecture and rural life « shevchenkivsky hay », 1 chernecha gora str. on the central hill about a half - hour walk from the lychakivskiy cemetery. this is a collection of wooden buildings from all over western ukraine, dismantled and reassembled here ; the multi - tiered churches are the most spectacular buildings, and are all still working churches. tickets : 10 uah


as hero in adventure. crazy tours offer individual tours, tours for small and large groups, corporate entertainment from few hours to the whole day, in the morning, afternoon, evening or at night. tours by crazy tours, 3 rynok sq. ( ask at the reception of art hostel ), + 38 067 6737913 ( email @ example. com ),. from 20 eur. the ukrainian currency is known as the hryvnia ( you may also hear the pronunciation " grivna " ). it was introduced in 1996. the exchange did hover around 5 uah to 1 usd, but due to the global economic downturn has dropped to between 7. 5 and 8 uah to 1 usd. both atms ( known as " bankomats " ) and currency exchanges ( " obmin valyuti " ) are ubiquitous throughout lviv, particularly in the city center. most, but not all, atms will accept visa and mastercard. currency exchanges will often only accept foreign currency in pristine condition. travellers ' checks are not very useful in lviv ; however, there are still a few hotels and banks that will cash them for you. credit cards are now widely accepted in perhaps all city center restaurants, cafes, hotels and some hostels. also at the main bus station and long distance train station. suprisingly lot of small grocery stores now also accept plastic. you should be aware that attempting to pay for something inexpensive with a large denomination ( 50 uah and above ) will often at the very least annoy the shopkeeper ; salespeople may even refuse to sell to you if you do not have any smaller denominations. grocery stores and other high - volume shops are an exception to this rule. life in l ' viv is very very cheap. it ' s not difficult to find a place where you can have a full meal for 2 euros. the challenge is rather trying to order if you don ' t speak ukrainian. perhaps all places now offer menu cards in english. acropolis tavern, just off rynok square. a greek casual diner that has authentic dishes such as gyros and souvlaki for $ 3. the staff speak english and may well start dancing, in traditional style, given any amount of encouragement. idalnia # 1 gurman ( gourmet ), on 7, doroshenka. they are cooking only from ukrainian products. puzata hata, on sichovykh striltsiv. lviv branch of


encouragement. idalnia # 1 gurman ( gourmet ), on 7, doroshenka. they are cooking only from ukrainian products. puzata hata, on sichovykh striltsiv. lviv branch of this restaurant chain offers hearty ukrainian smorgasbord. this cafeteria style eatery has a selection of traditional ukrainian food mixed with some other food found around the area. rodzinka, near saharova street. it ' s a cafe with low prices. backerei videnski bulochky ( бекераи - кав ' ярнявіденськібулочки ), katedralna sqr. 3, ( + 380 ) 32 235 88 22. 08 : 00 - 22 : 00, sat 08 : 00 - 23 : 00. traditional austrian cafe - bakery. freshly baked french croissants, real german pretzel, italian focaccia and ciabatta. full menu featuring a selection of hot sandwich - baguettes, salads and soups. coffee. cafe 1, just off rynok square, in a sort of alley way, adjacent to a large, old cathedral. a very cosy cafe / casual dining restaurant that offers a varied range of modern cuisine. it has a warm atmosphere with non - smoking and smoking areas plus friendly and thoughtful staff. kavkaz ( or kaukaz ) serves up georgian cuisine with a charming atmosphere on zelena street. try harcho soup and fig salad. kupol has a touch of understated habsburgh grandeur. homestyle quality for affordable prices. located at 37 chaikovskogo str. tel. : + 38 - 032 - 2614454. mapa, halyc ' ka str., 4, a quiet cafe with a special atmosphere and tasty italian coffee. there are three large rooms for visitors : a large room on the first floor, and old - style rooms in the basement. museum of ideas ( музеи ідеи ), valova 18a, a kind of cultural centre located in bernardine monastery cellars, with hand - made glass souvenirs gallery, exhibition space, sculptures and movie screenings. there ' s a good small restaurant there and in summer also a nice beer garden. new york street pizza 5, sichovys striltciv str, 51


made glass souvenirs gallery, exhibition space, sculptures and movie screenings. there ' s a good small restaurant there and in summer also a nice beer garden. new york street pizza 5, sichovys striltciv str, 51, volodymyra velykogo str, 37, patona str, 4, stefanyka str, 36, generala chuprynky str, 5, tershakovtciv str, 59, grushevskogo str, 1, valova str, 51, chervonoi kalyny pr, 2, sv. teodora pl. tasty pizza, soups, salads, cakes and beverages. pid kelpsydroyu ( under a water clock ). 5, armenian str. the cafe is easy enough to spot. just in front of the entrance to the dzyga cultural centre, at the end of vir ’ menska st. you ' ll see about 15 large tables with patio umbrellas crowding the street. you ' ll also see the city ' s sophisticated set sipping under clepsydra ' s famous forest tea. under clepsydra actually has three sections. the indoor cafe / restaurant inspired by the parisian brasseries of the left bank has two sections, smoking and non - smoking, that share a soundtrack of classic french jazz and folk music. venture upstairs past the funky wood and brass bathrooms and you ’ ll find the more popular late - night section of the establishment. ever since dzyga ' s alternative club lyalka closed its doors, this bar has provided shelter for the thirsty denizens of cool. but what really sets it apart from other lviv hangouts is the menu. vegetarian restaurants in lviv are, well, non - existent, but under clepsydra ' s vegetarian menu is sure to please. okay … the first item is fish, but you ’ ll also find a collection of fresh, meat - free dishes made with locally - sourced ingredients. being a vegetarian in lviv isn ’ t easy, but at under clepsydra it can be pretty affordable. potato and mushroom crepes are less than 2 euros, and fresh soups and salads are anywhere between 1 - 2 euros. menus are in english. the carnivorous set has plenty of options as well. few dishes run more than 5 euros, and entrees include duck, pork, grilled chicken, smoked salmon. tsukerna, pr.


2 euros. menus are in english. the carnivorous set has plenty of options as well. few dishes run more than 5 euros, and entrees include duck, pork, grilled chicken, smoked salmon. tsukerna, pr. staroevraiski. viennese - style cake and coffee. amadeus has a broad european and ukrainian menu in a 5 star environment with 4 star food and 2. 5 star prices. wiener kaffeehaus, on the shevchenko prospect right side if you are facing the opera house. this place has menus in english and english - speaking staff. a main course is around 3 to 4 euros, a three - course meal 6 or 7. the wiener schnitzel is great, so are all the soups, the breakfasts, the potato pancakes and the apfelstrudel. veronica, on the shevchenko prospect is both a french style cafe ( upstairs ) and stylish restaurant downstairs. the club scene in l ' viv is thriving ; with many options ranging from the cavernous club metro to the intimate and upmarket zanzibar. there are usually entry charges but drink prices more than make up for this. in most clubs you are able to buy bottles of vodka for a reasonable price and simply chill at a table all evening. fashion club bizarre neuvo riche. hasova lyampa ( kerosene lamp ) unlike many of the best restaurants in lviv, the gas lamp is quite easy to find. located a couple blocks up virmenska st. you ’ ll most likely see a man dressed in olde tyme regalia pacing in front of the entrance, beckoning people inside. if he ’ s not there another more static greeter awaits, in the form of a metal statue sitting at a desk with a … you guessed it, lit gas lamp. once inside you ’ ll find a spiral staircase ascending up three flights of dining space. each floor is cozy, candle lit, and decorated with classic gas lamps. gas lamp also has one of lviv ’ s best patios, in the form of their rooftop dining section. with a view of the armenian church steeple is the perfect place to spend a warm summers evening. while the entrees at gas lamp are your standard fare, the snacks that do with beer are real standouts. they are an extra big hit with the sophisticated post - work clientele who undoubtedly come here to mingle and complain about their bosses. try the seasoned crout


gas lamp are your standard fare, the snacks that do with beer are real standouts. they are an extra big hit with the sophisticated post - work clientele who undoubtedly come here to mingle and complain about their bosses. try the seasoned croutons, chips and a variety of dipping sauces they ’ re the perfect accompaniment for their wide selection of cold local brews. house of legends, staroevreyska 48. a bar with small staircase connecting few floors and a roof terrace ( great views! ), where each room is differently designed around a theme of a lvivian ' legend '. kriyivka ( ' bunker ' in ukrainian ) you repeat the words over and over in your head as you wander through the main square. “ slava ukrayini, slava ukraini, slava ukraini, ” you repeat. the phrase means, ‘ glory to ukraine, ’ and it ’ s your ticket to this city ’ s best kept entertainment secret - - an underground unmarked bar called kryivka. kryivka basically means hiding place in ukrainian and they ’ re not kidding. but when you do finally find it, state the password to a man toting a prop vintage machine gun, receive your shot of authentic ukrainian medovukha, and descend the stairs into the cozy wooden dining room you ’ ll be glad you took the time to find it. this ukrainian independence themed bar is decorated with artifacts from ukraine ’ s valiant struggle to stay autonomous - - with guns, maps and posters lining the walls. you ’ ll also notice the names of dishes on the english menu harken back to a military tradition stretching back to the austrian empire. culinary highlights include a half - metre long sausage, pickles soaked in honey and some of the most savory vereniky in lviv. there is also a bit of theatre during a dinner at kryivka. one element of ukrainian nationalism is the constant struggle against russian imperialism. if you ’ re lucky, a “ russian spy ” may have snuck in to the restaurant during dinner, and the brave staff will turn off the lights, grab a flashlight, root out this spy and serve him a healthy portion of justice. once the intruder has been detached, celebratory live music erupts in the basement venue and locals burst into traditional songs of freedom. for the food, and for the fun, kryivka is a can ’ t miss restaurant in lviv. masoch cafe. a place where you get whipped


music erupts in the basement venue and locals burst into traditional songs of freedom. for the food, and for the fun, kryivka is a can ’ t miss restaurant in lviv. masoch cafe. a place where you get whipped by the bar staff. yes, seriously. club metro, zelena st. 14, + 38 ( 032 ) 242 - 07 - 88,. located on the outskirts of the centre of town, metro isn ’ t the easiest place to spot during the day, but at night, just follow the hordes of fabulously dressed young people as they make their way to lviv ’ s trendiest nightclub. but make no mistake, metro isn ’ t just one of the best discos in town - - it ’ s three! this cavernous lviv club reveals a new surprise around every corner. entrance will probably set you back about 3 euro and once inside the first thing you ’ ll see is metro ’ s large disco. here trendy young students bounce happily to mostly top 40 and pop music. a raised platform in the centre of the dance floor features male and female go - go dancers ( and any brave souls who decide to join them on strange ). a long bar opposite the stage provides spirits of all kinds at decent prices. local beers, vodka and champagne are all offered by the friendly ( mostly ) english speaking staff. if it ’ s your first time at metro, we suggest being a vip for a night. the raised vip section gives a great view of the entire dance floor and is available to anyone as long as they promise to ring up a reasonable bill. not a hard thing to do with bottle service and even hookahs available for vip guests. for a change of pace, head downstairs where you ’ ll find two more bars. one serves the techno and house room where friendly local hipsters grind and shake to a pumping beat. the other bar serves the lounge, private rooms and the hip hop dance floor where the freshest tracks from the united states and the uk lend the crowd little swagger. to cool off from all of the dancing, hit the giant upstairs patio with its heat lamps during winter and umbrellas for those rainy lviv nights. when you ’ re all done, grab your jacket from the free coat check, head outside, say goodbye to your new friends and try to figure out how it got light out so quickly. millennium club ( міленіум ), 2 chornovola av., + 38 ( 032 )


head outside, say goodbye to your new friends and try to figure out how it got light out so quickly. millennium club ( міленіум ), 2 chornovola av., + 38 ( 032 ) 240 35 91,. just a few blocks from the centre of the city millennium club is where lviv ’ s elite go to kick up their heels after a busy day of work. this gigantic complex is lviv nightlife at its finest. featuring the restaurant " tequila bum " a casino, a state - of - the - art movie theatre, billiards and video games, it has something for everyone. but these attractions are just the warm - up for the main event. as the largest disco in western ukraine, millennium is where you ’ ll find the city ’ s beautiful people getting sweaty on a massive dance floor until early the next morning. the entrance fee is a little steep compared to other local bars, but it rarely tops 5 euro. once inside, grab a table and sit back as chilled bottles of this country ’ s finest vodka is delivered to your table as part of millennium ’ s legendary bottle service. if you ’ re the kind of person who likes to keep moving, sidle up to any of millennium club ’ s four expansive cocktail bars for a beer, mixed drink or shot. thanks to its older more sophisticated clientele the music at millennium club is some of the best in the country. djs from all over eastern europe come to millennium to spin house, retro, electro and rock tunes. ask in advance who ’ ll be playing so you ’ ll know what to expect. speaking of what to expect, sophisticated patrons also means a dress code. guys should be prepared to wear dress shoes, pressed slacks and a dress shirt. ladies, lviv girls are some of the most stylish in the world, so dress like you mean it. you might get into the club in your street clothes - - but you ’ ll feel out of place. picasso ( пікассо ), 88 zelena st., + 38 ( 032 ) 275 32 72,. if metro and millennium club in lviv cater to the hard partying type, picasso aims to be a relaxed alternative to these venues. picasso is located just up the road from metro on zelena st. in a large corner building. getting in can be a little confusing. the friendly door staff will kindly point you to a door at the side of the building. here you pay your entrance fee, usually between