Holidays in Scotland: My prime aim here is to inspire you to take a holiday in Scotland. I am married to a Scot and therefore I have enjoyed many adventures and holidays in this breathtaking part of the UK. Below are some great adventure travel companies with fantastic holidays in ScotlandScotland is a place where dreams are made, and I am absolutely in love with the Highlands and anyone who has been there will immediately connect with that! It's wild and inspiring and very beautiful.
I have enjoyed incredibly beautiful walks round lochs and through glens, and I have camped on long white beaches with no one else in sight – right in the middle of the summer. I particularly love the wilderness of the Hebredean islands.
Scotland is a country with a great deal of national pride, which means that visitors are very warmly welcomed. The countryside is set up to accommodate the thousands who flock there each year. From castles to campsites, b&bs to 5 star hotels, each village and town will welcome you. There are many different styles of holidays in Scotland and it is an ideal place for all kinds of holidaymakers. However if you're active and into adventure then Scotland this is the place for you.
Here's an example: I was recently in Ardnamurchan, on the west coast of the Highlands, standing on a rocky beach. Even though this was the end of May, spring was still fighting the elements, and quite strong winds and great sheets of rain fell around me in sudden bursts. The sea was quite choppy, so I was very surprised to see a young woman carrying a bright orange float and dressed from head to toe in a wet suit. She stood at the side of the rocks and removed her bright pink crocks, neatly placing them on the side where they would not get washed away by a sudden wave, and in she got. She swam to a ridge in the distance and then turned and swam back – it looked like a hard slog to me, but obviously not to her as she swam out twice. Then she got out put on her crocs and went home.
Now that's what I call an adventure!
Camping in Scotland is easy and there are many different kinds of campsites. As you would expect, there are camping villages with swimming pools, playgrounds, and static homes to hire. But there are other styles of campsites too, that are much wilder and virtually empty even in the middle of summer. That's my tent in the picture, we were on the isle of Islay.
You are free to wild camp in any part of Scotland, and I encourage everyone to try at least a couple of nights wild camping, it's such fun. It's really easy and as long as you camp away from main roads and pitch where you won't easily be seen, then you'll be set for the night.
There are many amazing walking opportunities in Scotland and famous mountains to scale such as Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in the UK. There are incredible islands to explore, the outer Hebrides are truly breathtaking, and some parts feel as though you have actually come to the end of the earth or landed on the moon! I hope you are picking up my enthusiasm.
Going it alone is an option, however if you are looking for company, then I recommend Macs Adventure because they are experts in small group cycling and walking holidays and they know how to make the most out of a trip. They have all inclusive holidays in Scotland with everything planned and laid on, they will look after your every need. They also arrange bespoke trips. They welcome groups and will help you to find the best accommodation, walking or cycling routes, and can supply you with all equipment. Most importantly they are a company that ensures that your trip is sustainable and responsible. They are an award winning company with a great track record. They have walking and cycling holidays all over Europe and in the USA and Canada too.
You'll be welcome to join in wonderful celebrations such as Robert Burns night in January, to Hogmanay parties in the streets of Edinburgh. If you're looking for a great time and you would enjoy the company of like minded 18 to 30 something's then check out Haggis Adventure. They know how to party and will make sure you get an authentic taste of Scotland by introducing you to locals and assigning you to a local fun loving guide! They are great when it comes to responsible travel too.
Intrepid Travel have some great trips in Scotland. Click on the photograph of that amazing Highland Coo for more information.
So where would I recommend going as my one place? It's very hard to say what my very favourite part of Scotland is but as I love the more remote and wild parts I would certainly recommend the west coast, and the Hebredean Islands and a real bonus is that in order to get to them you can travel across the beautiful Isle of Skye!
Thanks for reading – go on visit Scotland!
My favorite song, such beautiful words by Robert Burns.
Here's an article I wrote about Scottish Salmon – great recipes!
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Q: Memory access in pthreads I am writing a unit test that involves running multiple threads and I ran into a memory access issue that I can't seem to understand.
Here is the original (pseudo) code:
void thread_func(void * err) {
    /*foo will return an allocated error_type if error occurs else NULL*/
    err = (void *) foo(...)
    pthread_exit(NULL);
}

void unit_test() {
    int i = 0;
    err_type *err_array[10];
    pthread_t threads[10];
    for (i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
         pthread_create(&(threads[i]), NULL, thread_func, (void *) err_array[i]);
    }
    for(i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
         pthread_join(threads[i], NULL);
         ASSERT_NULL(err_array[i]);
     }
}

What I am confused about is that all the threads will return NULL (checked with a gdb), however err_array[1] and err_array[5] will be NOT NULL. And instead of a valid err_type, they will contain garbage. In the case of err_array[1] will contain a string of the unit_test file path, and err_array[5] will contain a bunch of access out of bounds addresses.
A work-around I've found is to use a global err_array, and pass in the index for each element to the thread. As well as initializing all the elements of the array to NULL.
My question is why does the above 2 methods work, and not the original code?

A: The err variable is local to thread_func. It goes out of scope when thread_func returns. You need to pass the thread a pointer to the thing you want it to modify, not the current value of the thing you want it to modify.
So:
void thread_func(void ** err) {
    /*foo will return an allocated error_type if error occurs else NULL*/
    *err = (void *) foo(...)
    pthread_exit(NULL);
}

And:
     pthread_create(&(threads[i]), NULL, thread_func, (void **) &err_array[i]);

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Saint Bonaventure, Bishop and Doctor (Memorial)
Bonaventure, the son of a medical doctor, was born in 1221 at Bagnoreggio, near Orvieto. He became a Franciscan in 1243. His intellectual gifts were soon recognized and he was sent to Paris to study under Alexander of Hales. In 1248 he received his licence to teach and in 1253 he became Master of the Franciscan School at Paris.
As a theologian he is regarded as being more in the line of St Augustine in contrast to his more Aristotelian contemporary, the Dominican Thomas Aquinas. He emphasised a more feeling approach than a purely rational one in speaking of divine mysteries. His main theological teaching is contained in his commentary on the Sententiae of Peter the Lombard. One point on which he differed with Aquinas was his assertion that the creation of the world in time could be shown by human reason. He also wrote important treatises on mystical theology. His Itinerarium mentis ad Deum (The Journey of the Mind to God) became an enduring classic.
In 1257, at the early age of 36, he was elected Minister-General of the Franciscan Order. He has been called, with some justice, its second founder. The Franciscans were coming under criticism at the time as a result of a huge increase in numbers, poor organisation attributed to Francis of Assisi with the resulting divisions into factions, with each one claiming to be faithful to the Founder.
While strongly defending the ideals of Francis, Bonaventure insisted, against Francis, on the need for study, on having libraries and proper buildings. He approved of the Friars studying and teaching in universities. He saw the Franciscan role as complementing the work of the diocesan clergy through preaching and spiritual direction. The clergy of the day were often poorly educated and lacking in spirituality.
Within the Franciscans he urged a middle way. He opposed the so-called 'Spirituals' who promoted material poverty above all as being the true teaching of Francis. At the same time, his own ideals of a simple life of frugal poverty, hard work and detachment from the rich as well as from riches were a reality in his own life. He wrote a Life of Francis, which was approved by the Chapter of 1266 as the only officially authorised version.
As Minister-General he visited Italy, France, Germany, and England. In 1265 he was nominated Archbishop of York by Pope Clement IV but declined the honour. However, in 1273 he was made Cardinal-Bishop of Albano by Pope Gregory X, with a command not to refuse. When the papal messengers called on him, he was washing dishes in the Mugello friary (near Florence). He asked them to wait until he had finished.
He played a prominent role in the Council of Lyons which was called to bring about a reunion with the Eastern churches. Thomas Aquinas died on his way to the same council. A temporary reunion of the churches was achieved and Bonaventure preached at the Mass of reconciliation. However, he did not live to see Constantinople repudiate the reunion.
He died on 15 July 1274 at the age of fifty-two. His achievements in theology and administration should not allow one to forget dominant traits noted by his contemporaries: a gentle courtesy, compassion, and accessibility. Bonaventure was canonised by Pope Sixtus IV in 1482 and declared a Doctor of the Church in 1588. He is often called the Seraphic Doctor.
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Prof. Mauro Gallegati obtained his Ph.D. in Economics in 1989 at the University of Ancona. He is professor of Economics at the Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona. He has been visiting Professor in several Universities and research institutes, including Cambridge, Stanford, MIT, Columbia, Santa Fe Institute, Brookings Institution and ETH. Prof. Gallegati is on the editorial board of several economic journals, among which the Journal of Economic Interaction and Coordination. His research includes business fluctuations, nonlinear dynamics, models of financial fragility and heterogeneous interacting agents. Mauro Gallegati is well known from his widely cited work with Joseph E. Stiglitz, developing theory of asymmetric information and heterogeneous agents and their applications. He published papers in the top journals on economic, economic history and history of economic analysis, nonlinear mathematics, applied economics, complexity and econophysics. The research group lead by prof. Gallegati studies agent-based models of economic phenomena, with a special focus on the performance of heterogeneous, interacting agents, generating aggregate fluctuations, coordination failures and emerging phenomena in general. The group has extensive knowledge in simulation design and analysis of complex economic phenomena. Prof. Gallegati has been involved in several European projects since 2004. The latest funded EU project is FOC (2010-2013), which is focused on financial crisis forecasting using the tools of complexity theory.