best-mature

Sania Mirza has got engaged to a Hyderabad boy

2009-07-10T22:08:00.000-07:00

Indian tennis star Sania Mirza has got engaged to a Hyderabad boy.

The 22-year-old, who is the most booming woman tennis player of the country, will continue playing the game and her father Imran Mirza said it will take a while before the two families decide on when the wedding would take place.

"This is to confirm that Sania Mirza is engaged to Mr. Muhammad Sohrab Mirza, whose family hails from the city of Hyderabad. Although not related, the two families have had friendly ties for several decades. However, the wedding is not expected to take place for a while," Imran Mirza said.

"I would like to state that the news appearing in certain sections of the media about the two maternal grandmothers having fixed the liaison is baseless. It has also been wrongly projected that Sania is contemplating early retirement from tennis. These reports are absolutely untrue" he said.

Sania's father said, “Kindly respect the privacy that she needs and wants at this moment. I can understand that there are a lot of things that you would like to know, but this is a very private moment. It's a very family oriented thing. Only a few close family members and friends have been invited. It's not a show".

Palakkad Invite's you

2009-07-06T21:54:00.000-07:00

Palghat or 'Palakkad' is the land of Palmyra’s and paddy fields. All along with Kuttanadu, Palakkad is one of the main granaries of Kerala. It is frequently called the Gateway of Kerala. The Sahya Ranges neighboring the region and the 20-mile gap in the mountains exert a vital influence on the climate of the region.Various rivers that flow into the Bharathapuzha start off from these mountains.

In the past, this land was known as Palakkattusseri. Etymologists trace the word Palakkadu from Paalainilam, meaning dry area. Palakkad had a long history dating back to the Paleolithic time. A large number of megalithic remnants have been discovered from here.

The other places to visit when you tour palakkad:

PALAKKAD FORT
LAKKIDI
KOTTAYI
NELLIYAMPATHY
PARAMBIKULAM
THRITHALA
MALAMPUZHA
MYLADUMPARA
ATTAPADY
THENARI
CHITTUR CARUMADAM
DHONI
SILENT VALLEY NATIONAL PARK

Coonoor Invites You

2009-06-16T21:22:00.000-07:00

Coonoor is the second largest in the Niligiri hills after Ooty. Sims Park is, without doubt the star attraction of coonoor. Spreads over 12 hectares, it is small enough for a comfortable walk around large enough to house a thousand varieties of trees plants flowers and a small lake. The town’s infrastructure often finds itself unable to handle the tourist inflow and life turns especially chaotic when the local horticultural society holds its annual fruit show at the peak of the tourist season, housted at Sims Park.

There are several scenic areas around Coonooor. It provides tourist with panoramic view of Eastern and Western Ghats along with its valleys, and waterfalls. There are some points close to Coonoor notably Dolphin’s Nose, Lamb’s Rock, and Lady Canning’s Seat.

Miss Bollywood SA Contest At IPL 2

2009-05-02T05:34:00.000-07:00

The IPL has become one of the most awaited sporting tournaments in India and the world at large, quite akin to the gladiator matches in ancient Rome. Adding to this already heady mixture of sport and entertainment is a unique contest, which the IPL Chairman Lalit Modi along with the franchise owners Shahrukh Khan, preity zinta and Shilpa Shetty announced. The DLF-IPL 2 will have an initiative attached to it and that is lining up a mini-beauty Pageant, named Miss Bollywood SA.

Source: http://entertainment.oneindia.in/

Girls Bride Dresses

2009-04-22T04:59:00.000-07:00

Source: http://www.apageantdress.com/

IPhone Changes Dynamics Of Game Software Industry

2009-04-13T02:44:00.000-07:00

Only a few years ago, bigger guns, badder enemies and louder explosives mattered most in video games.

Now, small is beautiful, and Apple Inc.'s iPhone is largely responsible.

The surprising emergence of the iPhone and its phone-less sibling, the iPod Touch, as hand-held game consoles has started to change the dynamics of the $40-billion game software industry. In addition to making titles for the iPhones, publishers are studying the thousands of games already available, figuring out what works and applying those lessons to more traditional games.

Source: http://www.latimes.com/

2009-04-04T01:06:00.000-07:00

After weeks of intense training and grooming, the 20 finalists of the country's biggest beauty contest will face their moment of reckoning tomorrow. The grand finale of the Pantaloons Femina Miss India (PFMI) 2009 will be held at the Andheri Sports Complex on Sunday. The event will be telecast live on Sony Entertainment Television at 8 pm.

Varun Gandhi To Visit Pilibhit Today, May Court Arrest

2009-03-26T21:01:00.000-07:00

Bharatiya Janata Party's new saffron soldier Varun Gandhi may court arrest at his constituency Pilibhit on Friday.

Sources have told NDTV that Varun is likely to withdraw his anticipatory bail, which also expires on Friday, and the UP police will have no legal bar in arresting him.

Varun Gandhi apparently took the decision to withdraw the bail application after the Allahabad High Court on Wednesday rejected his petition, seeking quashing of the two FIRs registered against him for the speeches in Pilibhit on March 7 and 8.

Varun's lawyers are likely to withdraw their petition from the Delhi High Court.

Though legally he could have challenged the Allahabad and Delhi High Court order but Varun has decided to take the political route on this issue which has raised a debate across the country on 'hate speech'.

It's a political decision which may benefit the new icon of Hindutva during the polls. With this step Varun is looking to derive more political mileage.

The BJP said Varun has not told them of his plans to go to Pilibhit but they say their advice to Varun would be to act within the law.

For MoreInfo:http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20090088893&ch=327200975000AM

Varun's Speeches Contrary To Secular Democracy

2009-03-18T02:09:00.000-07:00

Terming BJP Lok Sabha candidate Varun Gandhi's anti-Muslim speeches as contrary to secular democracy, Congress today said BJP will be seen as a co-conspirator if it does not take action against him.

Union Minister Kapil Sibal said when cognisance has been taken by the Election Commission that a prima facie offence has been committed, whether Varun denies it or not is not relevant.

"The leadership of BJP will take action because if they don't, then it will be seen that they are the co-conspirators in this," he said.

Alleging the speech was aimed at polarising votes, Sibal said, "I am not concerned with the nature and quality of the speech. It is abhorrent, it is contrary to the basic foundations of our secular democracy".

BJP's candidate from Pilibhit is in the eye of a storm over his alleged anti-Muslim speeches at a recent rally.

"I don't think people of the country are going to be taken in by whatever the young Varun Gandhi would have to say because the whole country is aware that it is the BJP which practices hate politics," party spokesman Manish Tewari said.

Tewari said the Election Commission would not have intervened if it was a political conspiracy as is being made out to be by Gandhi.

Threw Shoes At Bush

2009-03-12T21:46:00.000-07:00

Muntazer al-Zaidi looked more hard-pressed journalist than Arab folk hero as he entered Baghdad's central criminal court yesterday morning to face charges of assaulting a foreign head of state, namely one George W Bush.

The last time the man universally known as "the shoe thrower" appeared in court, three weeks ago, he sported a scarf in the colours of the Iraqi flag and put on a bravura performance, telling of his outrage and uncontrollable emotions when Bush spoke at a news conference on his farewell trip to Iraq. Yesterday, he was mostly subdued. It wasn't until the judge handed down the sentence - three years in a prison - that he burst into life, though his shoes stayed firmly on his feet. "Long live Iraq!" he shouted before being led away by a heavy security detail.

Throughout the brief proceedings Zaidi seemed all too aware that he could face up to 15 years in jail. Standing in the wooden pen, sweating, before a panel of three judges he glanced nervously into the packed observers' gallery, apparently seeking out family and friends.

Kicking off proceedings, the presiding judge Abdulemir Hassan al-Rubaie asked Zaidi whether he was innocent or guilty. "I am innocent," came the reply from the 30-year-old reporter. "What I did was a natural response to the occupation." This electrified the court. Relatives began to protest his innocence and urge the judge to show clemency. Twice, Rubaie called for calm, before threatening any miscreants with expulsion.

Hands trembling, and speaking rather breathlessly, Zaidi began to restate his defence. He had not "intended to kill Bush or humiliate him" with his shoes, he said. When he saw "the occupiers' president" smiling, "I saw only Bush and it was like something black in my eyes". He added: "I had the feeling that the blood of innocent people was dropping on my feet during the time that he was smiling and saying bye-bye to Iraq with a dinner [with the Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki]."

Zaidi's trial had begun on 19 February but was adjourned until yesterday as the judges considered a defence argument that the charge was not applicable because Bush was not in Baghdad on an official visit, having arrived unannounced without an invitation. Rubaie read a response from Maliki's office that said the visit had been official. Thus Zaidi would be tried under article 223 of the Iraqi penal code - dating from the Saddam era - which outlaws assaults on foreign leaders.

The chief defence lawyer, Dhia al-Saadi, demanded the charge be dismissed, saying that the case was one of insult not assault. His client's action "was an expression of freedom and does not constitute a crime". "It was an act of throwing a shoe and not a rocket," he said. "It was meant as an insult to the occupation."

Saadi cited the immediate reaction of the target of Zaidi's flying shoes, President Bush, as evidence of the lightness of the offence. After ducking behind a lectern, Bush had joked that he believed Zaidi wore a size 10, and added: "That's what people do in a free society, draw attention to themselves." He had not felt "in the least bit threatened", Bush had said. It was all to no avail.

After a 15-minute adjudication period, the court was cleared of all spectators, and Zaidi was handed a three-year prison sentence. His relatives erupted in anger, shouting that the decision was unjust and unfair. Some collapsed and had to be helped from the court. Others were forcibly removed by security forces as they shouted "down with Bush" and "long live Iraq".

"This judiciary is not just," Zaidi's brother Dargham said. Another brother, Uday, said the verdict was politically motivated. The journalist's sister, Ruqaiya, burst into tears, shouting: "Down with Maliki, the agent of the Americans." Zaidi's lawyers said he would appeal against the sentence.

If the Iraqi authorities were hoping to draw a line under the affair they are probably in for a shock. While some Iraqi officials regarded Zaidi's actions as an insult to the Iraqi state and he was criticised by fellow Iraqi journalists, who said he had allowed his emotions to overcome his professionalism, many ordinary Iraqis said he had already served his punishment and should be released. A poll released yesterday, commissioned by ABC News and the BBC, suggested 62% of Iraqis regard the shoe-thrower as a hero.

FDIC May Cut Emergency Fee On Banks

2009-03-05T21:21:00.000-08:00

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. will cut in half an emergency fee it plans to charge the banking industry to replenish its reserves if Congress agrees to expand the agency's borrowing authority with the Treasury Department, the American Bankers Association said.

Senator Christopher Dodd will introduce legislation as early as today that will increase the FDIC’s borrowing authority from $30 billion to $100 billion, James Chessen, chief economist at the American Bankers Association, said today in a telephone interview.

"My understanding is that if the FDIC has that $100 billion in a line of credit to Treasury, it gives them more flexibility in managing the fund balance and allows them to cut the special assessment in half," Chessen said.

The one-time fee, which banks oppose, will be cut to 10 cents per $100 of insured deposits, according to the ABA. The FDIC approved the assessment Feb. 27 to rebuild a fund that repays customers for deposits of as much as $250,000 when a bank fails.

The fund, drained by 25 bank shutdowns, fell to $18.9 billion in the fourth quarter from $34.6 billion in the preceding three-month period, the FDIC said. Sixteen banks have failed so far this year, further straining the fund.

The fee, which banks are scheduled to pay in the third quarter, and other increased assessments are projected to generate $27 billion.

'Approach Zero'

"Without these assessments, the deposit insurance fund could become insolvent this year," FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair wrote in a March 2 letter to bank executives. "Without substantial amounts of additional assessment revenue in the near future, current projections indicate that the fund balance will approach zero or even become negative."

The House may vote today on legislation to expand the FDIC's borrowing authority from $30 billion to $100 billion and make permanent a $250,000 deposit-insurance limit authorized under the financial bailout legislation Congress approved in October.

Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat and the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, plans to introduce a companion measure that will also raise the borrowing authority to a permanent level of $100 billion and temporarily increase it to $500 billion through Dec. 31, 2010.

11 Rebels Killed In Battle

2009-02-26T04:38:00.000-08:00

Sri Lankan troops have killed at least 11 Tamil Tiger rebels in the battle for the last urban area still in the hands of the guerrillas, the defence ministry said Thursday.

The deaths occurred Wednesday when soldiers pushed toward Puthukkudiriruppu, a town on a narrow strip of land in the northeast controlled by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the ministry said.

"Ground troops have positioned for a final thrust towards the remaining LTTE foothold," the ministry said.

It did not say if security forces suffered any casualties.

The LTTE did not comment on the fighting.

Government forces have pushed the guerrillas into a narrow bit of land and have said they hope to completely crush the guerrillas by April.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed in the fighting since 1972.

Child Died Of Flu

2009-02-18T03:55:00.000-08:00

The weekend death of a Levittown elementary school student was likely caused by the flu and is the first childhood death attributed to influenza on Long Island in the five years since public health agencies have been required to report pediatric flu deaths, officials said yesterday.

Cynthia Brown, spokeswoman for the Nassau County Health Department, said the 10-year-old died over the weekend and that preliminary tests revealed the presence of an A-strain of the flu.

The child, who was not identified, had been a student at Northside Elementary School. The school district's Web site reported the death amid concerns that the child had meningitis. Tests have now ruled out both viral and bacterial forms of the disease.

"We just got the [test] information this morning," Brown said yesterday. Results from the Nassau County lab are awaiting confirmation from the state's Wadsworth Center laboratory in Albany.

Brown said she expected state results by the end of the week. If they support the initial finding, they also will reveal which A-strain was responsible. Two A strains are in circulation (A-H3N2 and A-H1N1) and both can be prevented by this season's vaccine.

Pediatric flu deaths went uncounted until five years ago, following the unexpected deaths of more than 150 children in the 2003-04 flu season. Experts blamed an aggressive A-strain of flu.

"Pediatric [flu] deaths are an uncommon occurrence. The vast majority are children who are unvaccinated," said Beth Goldberg, spokeswoman for the state health department. During last year's flu season, eight children died statewide, 91 nationally.

"It is really important to vaccinate children" said Dr. Steven Lamm of the NYU School of Medicine in Manhattan. "The vaccine is critically important if you want to reduce the amount of illness [in the population] and number of deaths."

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates 36,000 people, most of them elderly, die annually of the flu and more than 200,000 are hospitalized. Lamm noted the flu can pave the way for deadly bacterial lung infections.

Richard Kanowitz, president of Families Fighting Flu, said he has been emphasizing the importance of flu vaccination since the death of his daughter, Amanda at age 4 in 2004.

"Everything I know about the flu vaccine says it's safe," said Kanowitz, a native of Oceanside who lives in Manhattan. " ... I didn't know to have Amanda vaccinated. She died almost five years ago. So the mistake I made was not having her vaccinated."

Schools are closed this week, but officials are opening Northside for grief counseling.

Source: newsday.com/news/local/nassau/ny-liflu186039599feb18,0,1347560.story

Verb Subject Object

2009-02-08T23:41:00.000-08:00

Verb Subject Object (VSO) is a term in linguistic typology. It represents one type of languages when classifying languages according to the sequence of these constituents in neutral expressions: Ate Sam oranges.

Examples of languages with VSO word order include formal (especially Classical) Arabic, the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, that is Gaelic languages (Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Manx) and Brythonic languages (Welsh, Cornish and Breton), Classic Maya, ancient Egyptian, Tagalog, Cebuano, Hawaiian, Pangasinan, Māori, Classical Hebrew, and Tongan.

Digital rangefinders

2009-02-02T22:58:00.000-08:00

A rangefinder is a user-operated optical mechanism to measure subject distance once widely used on film cameras. Most digital cameras measure subject distance automatically using acoustic or electronic techniques, but it is not customary to say that they have a rangefinder. The term rangefinder alone is sometimes used to mean a rangefinder camera, that is, a film camera equipped with a rangefinder, as distinct from an SLR or a simple camera with no way to measure distance.

Abiotic stress

2009-01-26T22:15:00.000-08:00

Abiotic stress is defined as the negative impact of non-living factors on the living organisms in a specific environment. The non-living variable must influence the environment beyond its normal range of variation to adversely affect the population performance or individual physiology of the organism in a significant way. Whereas a biotic stress would include such living disturbances as fungi or harmful insects, abiotic stress factors, or stressors, are naturally occurring, often intangible, factors such as intense sunlight or wind that may cause harm to the plants and animals in the area affected. Abiotic stress is essentially unavoidable. Abiotic stress affects animals, but plants are especially dependent on environmental factors, so it is particularly constraining. Abiotic stress is the most harmful factor concerning the growth and productivity of crops worldwide. Research has also shown that abiotic stressors are at their most harmful when they occur together, in combinations of abiotic stress factors.

Ruminantia

2009-01-24T04:55:00.000-08:00

The biological suborder Ruminantia includes many of the well-known large grazing or browsing mammals: among them cattle, goats, sheep, deer, and antelope. All members of the Ruminantia are ruminants: they digest food in two steps, chewing and swallowing in the normal way to begin with, and then regurgitating the semi-digested cud to re-chew it and thus extract the maximum possible food value.

Note that not all ruminants belong to the Ruminantia. Camels and llamas are among the exceptions, a suborder known as Tylopoda. Also, there are a number of other large grazing mammals that, while not strictly ruminants, have similar adaptations for surviving on large quantities of low-grade food. Kangaroos and horses are examples.

List of seas

2009-01-12T22:51:00.000-08:00

Atlantic Ocean

Arctic Ocean

Indian Ocean

Pacific Ocean

Southern Ocean

Landlocked seas

Textile

2009-01-07T00:53:00.000-08:00

A textile is a flexible material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibres often referred to as thread or yarn. Yarn is produced by spinning raw wool fibres, linen, cotton, or other material on a spinning wheel to produce long strands known as yarn. Textiles are formed by weaving, knitting, crocheting, knotting, or pressing fibres together (felt).

The words fabric and cloth are used in textile assembly trades (such as tailoring and dressmaking) as synonyms for textile. However, there are subtle differences in these terms. Textile refers to any material made of interlacing fibres. Fabric refers to any material made through weaving, knitting, crocheting, or bonding. Cloth refers to a finished piece of fabric that can be used for a purpose such as covering a bed.

Vredefort crater

2009-01-01T23:20:00.000-08:00

Vredefort crater is the largest verified impact crater on Earth. It is located in the Free State Province of South Africa, and named after the town of Vredefort, which is situated near its centre. The site is also referred to as Vredefort dome or Vredefort impact structure. In 2005, the Vredefort Dome was added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites for its geologic interest.

Sign and Signed languages

2008-12-25T23:24:00.001-08:00

A sign language (also signed language) is a language which, instead of acoustically conveyed sound patterns, uses visually transmitted sign patterns (manual communication, body language and lip patterns) to convey meaning—simultaneously combining hand shapes, orientation and movement of the hands, arms or body, and facial expressions to express fluidly a speaker's thoughts. Sign languages commonly develop in deaf communities, which can include interpreters and friends and families of deaf people as well as people who are deaf or hard of hearing themselves.

Neoplasm

2008-12-15T22:15:00.000-08:00

Neoplasia (new growth in Greek) is the abnormal proliferation of cells, resulting in a structure known as a neoplasm. The growth of this clone of cells exceeds, and is uncoordinated with, that of the normal tissues around it. It usually causes a lump or tumor. Neoplasms may be benign, pre-malignant or malignant.

In modern medicine, the term tumor is synonymous with a neoplasm that has formed a lump. In the past, the term tumor was used differently. Some neoplasms do not cause a lump.

Common Agricultural Policy

2008-12-03T01:01:00.000-08:00

The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is a system of European Union agricultural subsidies and programmes. It represents 62% of the EU's budget, €49.8 billion in 2006 (up from 49% or €48.5 billion in 2005).

The CAP combines a direct subsidy payment for crops and land which may be cultivated with price support mechanisms, including guaranteed minimum prices, import tariffs and quotas on certain goods from outside the EU. Reforms of the system are currently underway reducing import controls and transferring subsidy to land stewardship rather than specific crop production (phased from 2004 to 2012). Detailed implementation of the scheme varies in different member countries of the EU.

Until 1992 the agriculture expenditure of the European Union represented nearly 49% of the EU's budget. By 2013, the share of traditional CAP spending will have almost halved (32%), following a decrease in real terms in the current financing period. In contrast, the amounts for the EU's Regional Policy represented 17% of the EU budget in 1988. They will more than double to reach almost 36% in 2013.

The aim of the common agricultural policy (CAP) is to provide farmers with a reasonable standard of living, consumers with quality food at fair prices and to preserve rural heritage. However, there has been considerable criticism of CAP.

Cold water pollution strategy for NSW

2008-11-28T02:39:00.000-08:00

It is easy to think of cold water as harmless, but in the fragile ecosystems of Australian rivers and wetlands the effects of cold water can be deadly for threatened species of native fish.In NSW, large volumes of unseasonably cold water flowing from major dams have suppressed the breeding and growth of native fish, killed juvenile fish, and affected other aquatic life sometimes for hundreds of kilometres downstream. At least 2,000 kilometres of the State's rivers are seriously affected by cold water pollution.

The NSW Government is working with dam owners, community groups and environmental scientists to identify the areas most seriously affected, and to find methods to mitigate or prevent cold water pollution. The Department, in partnership with other key agencies, is implementing a strategy to control cold water pollution from dams identified for priority action in NSW.

Oncotic pressure

2008-11-19T03:44:00.001-08:00

Oncotic pressure in the circulatory system is a form of osmotic pressure exerted by proteins in blood plasma that normally tends to pull water into the circulatory system. Colloid osmotic pressure is another name for oncotic pressure.

Throughout the body, dissolved compounds have an osmotic pressure. Because large plasma proteins cannot easily cross through the capillary walls, their effect on the osmotic pressure of the capillary interiors will, to some extent, balance out the tendency for fluid to leak out of the capillaries. In other words, the oncotic pressure tends to pull fluid into the capillaries. In conditions where plasma proteins are reduced, e.g. from being lost in the urine (proteinuria) or from malnutrition, the result of low oncotic pressure can be edema – excess fluid buildup in the tissues.

Molecular cloud

2008-11-12T04:27:00.000-08:00

A molecular cloud, sometimes called a stellar nursery if star formation is occurring within, is a type of interstellar cloud whose density and size permits the formation of molecules, most commonly molecular hydrogen (H2).

Molecular hydrogen is difficult to detect by infrared and radio observations, so the molecule most often used to determine the presence of H2 is CO (carbon monoxide). The ratio between CO luminosity and H2 mass is thought to be constant, although there are reasons to doubt this assumption in observations of some other galaxies.

OpenGL

2008-11-03T22:22:00.000-08:00

OpenGL (Open Graphics Library) is a standard specification defining a cross-language cross-platform API for writing applications that produce 2D and 3D computer graphics. The interface consists of over 250 different function calls which can be used to draw complex three-dimensional scenes from simple primitives. OpenGL was developed by Silicon Graphics Inc. (SGI) in 1992and is widely used in CAD, virtual reality, scientific visualization, information visualization, and flight simulation. It is also used in video games, where it competes with Direct3D on Microsoft Windows platforms (see Direct3D vs. OpenGL). OpenGL is managed by the non-profit technology consortium, the Khronos Group, Inc.

Biological underpinnings at the cellular level

2008-10-30T02:23:00.000-07:00

Long term memory is dependent upon the construction of new proteins within the cellular body, particularly transmitters, receptors, and new synapse pathways that reinforce the communicative strength between neurons. The production of new proteins devoted to synapse reinforcement is triggered after the release of certain signaling substances (such as calcium within hippocampal neurons) in the cell. In the case of hippocampal cells, this release is dependent upon the expulsion of magnesium (a binding molecule) that is expelled after significant and repetitive synaptic signaling. The temporary expulsion of magnesium frees NMDA receptors to release calcium in the cell, a signal that leads to gene transcription and the construction of reinforcing proteins. Neihoff, Debra (2005) "The Language of Life 'How cells Communicate in Health and Disease'" Speak Memory, 210-223. For more information see long-term potentiation (LTP).

One of the newly synthesized proteins in LTP is also critical for maintaining long-term memory. This protein is an autonomously active form of the enzyme protein kinase C (PKC), known as PKMζ. PKMζ maintains the activity-dependent enhancement of synaptic strength and inhibiting PKM erases established long-term memories, without affecting short-term memory or, once the inhibitor is eliminated, the ability to encode and store new long-term memories is restored.

Parabolic antenna

2008-10-21T02:07:00.000-07:00

A parabolic antenna is a high-gain reflector antenna used for radio, television and data communications, and also for radiolocation (RADAR), on the UHF and SHF parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. The relatively short wavelength of electromagnetic (radio) energy at these frequencies allows reasonably sized reflectors to exhibit the very desirable highly directional response for both receiving and transmitting.

With the advent of TVRO and DBS satellite television, the parabolic antenna became a ubiquitous feature of urban, suburban, and even rural, landscapes. Extensive terrestrial microwave links, such as those between cellphone base stations, and wireless WAN/LAN applications have also proliferated this antenna type. Earlier applications included ground-based and airborne radar and radio astronomy. The largest "dish" antenna in the world is the Arecibo Observatory's radio telescope at Arecibo, Puerto Rico, but, for beam-steering reasons, it is actually a spherical, rather than parabolic, reflector.

Electronic funds transfer

2008-10-12T23:50:00.000-07:00

Electronic funds transfer or EFT refers to the computer-based systems used to perform financial transactions electronically.

The term is used for a number of different concepts:

Cardholder-initiated transactions, where a cardholder makes use of a payment card

Direct deposit payroll payments for a business to its employees, possibly via a payroll services company

Direct debit payments from customer to business, where the transaction is initiated by the business with customer permission

Electronic bill payment in online banking, which may be delivered by EFT or paper check

Transactions involving stored value of electronic money, possibly in a private currency

Wire transfer via an international banking network (generally carries a higher fee)

Electronic Benefit Transfer

Bluetooth 1.0 and 1.0B

2008-09-29T23:14:00.000-07:00

Versions 1.0 and 1.0B had many problems, and manufacturers had difficulty making their products interoperable. Versions 1.0 and 1.0B also included mandatory Bluetooth hardware device address (BD_ADDR) transmission in the Connecting process (rendering anonymity impossible at the protocol level), which was a major setback for certain services planned for use in Bluetooth environments.

LORAN

2008-09-23T02:30:00.000-07:00

LORAN (LOng Range Aid to Navigation) is a terrestrial radio navigation system using low frequency radio transmitters that uses multiple transmitters (multilateration) to determine location and/or speed of the receiver. The current version of LORAN in common use is LORAN-C, which operates in the low frequency portion of the EM spectrum from 90 to 110 kHz. Many nations are users of the system, including the United States, Japan, and several European countries. Russia uses a nearly identical system in the same frequency range, called CHAYKA. LORAN use is in steep decline, with GPS being the primary replacement. However, there are current attempts to enhance and re-popularize LORAN, mainly because it has proven to be a very reliable and simple system.

National Basketball Association

2008-09-16T03:20:00.000-07:00

The National Basketball Association (NBA) is North America's premier professional men's basketball league, composed of thirty teams from Canada and the USA. It is an active member[1] of USA Basketball (USAB), which is recognized by the International Basketball Federation as the National Governing Body (NGB) for basketball in the United States. The NBA is one of the four major North American professional sports leagues, which also includes the National Hockey League (NHL), the National Football League (NFL), and Major League Baseball (MLB).

The league was founded in New York City, on June 6, 1946 as the Basketball Association of America (BAA).[2] The league adopted the name National Basketball Association in 1949 after merging with the rival National Basketball League. The league's several international as well as individual team offices are directed out of its head offices located in the Olympic Tower at 645 Fifth Avenue in New York City. NBA Entertainment and NBA TV studios are directed out of offices located in Secaucus, New Jersey.

Biogeography

2008-09-08T22:39:00.000-07:00

The scientific theory of biogeography grows out of the work of Alfred Russel Wallace and other early evolutionary scientists. Wallace studied the distribution of flora and fauna in the Malay Archipelago in the 19th century. With the exception of Wallace and a few others, prior to the publication of The Theory of Island Biogeography by Robert MacArthur and E.O. Wilson in 1967 the field of biogeography was seen as a primarily historical one and as such the field was seen as a purely descriptive one.

MacArthur and Wilson changed this perception, and showed that the species richness of an area could be predicted in terms of such factors as habitat area, immigration rate and extinction rate. This gave rise to an interest in island biogeography. The application of island biogeography theory to habitat fragments spurred the development of the fields of conservation biology and landscape ecology.

Classic biogeography has been expanded by the development of molecular systematics, creating a new discipline known as phylogeography. This development allowed scientists to test theories about the origin and dispersal of populations, such as island endemics. For example, while classic biogeographers were able to speculate about the origins of species in the Hawaiian Islands, phylogeography allows them to test theories of relatedness between these populations and putative source populations in Asia and North America

Body language

2008-09-02T05:42:00.000-07:00

Body language is a term for communication using body movements or gestures instead of, or in addition to, sounds, verbal language or other communication. It forms part of the category of paralanguage, which describes all forms of human communication that are not verbal language. This includes the most subtle of movements that many people are not aware of, including winking and slight movement of the eyebrows. In addition body language can also incorporate the use of facial expressions.

Boot-strapping

2008-08-25T03:09:00.000-07:00

In most cases, the operating system is not the first code to run on the computer at startup (boot) time. The initial code executing on the computer is usually loaded from firmware, which is stored in read only memory (ROM). This is sometimes called the BIOS or boot ROM.

The firmware loads and executes code located on a removable disk or hard drive, and contained within the first sector of the drive, referred to as the boot sector. The code stored on the boot sector is called the boot loader, and is responsible for loading the operating system's kernel from disk and starting it running.

Some simple boot loaders are designed to locate one specific operating system and load it, although many modern ones have the capacity to allow the user to choose from a number of operating systems.

Ecology

2008-08-19T02:55:00.000-07:00

Ecology is the scientific study of the distribution and abundance of life and the interactions between organisms and their environment. The environment of an organism includes physical properties, which can be described as the sum of local abiotic factors such as insolation (sunlight), climate, and geology, and biotic factors, which are other organisms that share its habitat.

The word "ecology" is often used more loosely in such terms as social ecology and deep ecology and in common parlance as a synonym for the natural environment or environmentalism. Likewise "ecologic" or "ecological" is often taken in the sense of environmentally friendly.

The term ecology or oekologie was coined by the German biologist Ernst Haeckel in 1866, when he defined it as "the comprehensive science of the relationship of the organism to the environment." Haeckel did not elaborate on the concept, and the first significant textbook on the subject (together with the first university course) was written by the Danish botanist, Eugenius Warming. For this early work, Warming is often identified as the founder of ecology.

BMP file format

2008-08-10T22:58:00.000-07:00

The BMP file format, sometimes called bitmap or DIB file format (for device-independent bitmap), is an image file format used to store bitmap digital images, especially on Microsoft Windows and OS/2 operating systems.

Many graphical user interfaces use bitmaps in their built-in graphics subsystems; the Microsoft Windows and OS/2 platforms' GDI subsystem, where the specific format used is the Windows and OS/2 bitmap file format, usually named with the file extension of .BMP or .DIB.

In uncompressed BMP files, and many other bitmap file formats, image pixels are stored with a color depth of 1, 4, 8, 16, 24, or 32 bits per pixel. Images of 8 bits and fewer can be either grayscale or indexed color. An alpha channel (for transparency) may be stored in a separate file, where it is similar to a grayscale image, or in a fourth channel that converts 24-bit images to 32 bits per pixel.

Uncompressed bitmap files (such as BMP) are typically much larger than compressed (with any of various methods) image file formats for the same image. For example, the 1058×1058 Wikipedia logo, which occupies about 287.65 KB in the PNG format, takes about 3358 KB as a 24-bit BMP file. Uncompressed formats are generally unsuitable for transferring images on the Internet or other slow or capacity-limited media.

The bits representing the bitmap pixels are packed within rows. Depending on the color depth, a pixel in the picture will occupy at least n/8 bytes (n is the bit depth, since 1 byte equals 8 bits). The approximate size for a n-bit (2n colors) BMP file in bytes can be calculated, including the effect of starting each word on a 32-bit dword boundary.

Nuclear energy

2008-08-04T04:11:00.000-07:00

Nuclear potential energy, along with electric potential energy, provides the energy released from nuclear fission and nuclear fusion processes. The result of both these processes are nuclei in which strong nuclear forces bind nuclear particles more strongly and closely. Weak nuclear forces (different from strong forces) provide the potential energy for certain kinds of radioactive decay, such as beta decay. The energy released in nuclear processes is so large that the relativistic change in mass (after the energy has been removed) can be as much as several parts per thousand.

Nuclear particles (nucleons) like protons and neutrons are not destroyed (law of conservation of baryon number) in fission and fusion processes. A few lighter particles may be created or destroyed (example: beta minus and beta plus decay, or electron capture decay), but these minor processes are not important to the immediate energy release in fission and fusion. Rather, fission and fusion release energy when collections of baryons become more tightly bound, and it is the energy associated with a fraction of the mass of the nucleons (but not the whole particles) which appears as the heat and electromagnetic radiation generated by nuclear reactions. This heat and radiation retains the "missing" mass, but the mass is missing only because it escapes in the form of heat and light, which retain the mass and conduct it out of the system where it is not measured. The energy from the Sun, also called solar energy, is an example of this form of energy conversion. In the Sun, the process of hydrogen fusion converts about 4 million metric tons of solar matter per second into light, which is radiated into space, but during this process, the number of total protons and neutrons in the sun does not change. In this system, the light itself retains the inertial equivalent of this mass, and indeed the mass itself (as a system), which represents 4 million tons per second of electromagnetic radiation, moving into space. Each of the helium nuclei which are formed in the process are less massive than the four protons from they were formed, but (to a good approximation), no particles or atoms are destroyed in the process of turning the sun's nuclear potential energy into light.

Stages of technological development

2008-07-28T02:29:00.000-07:00

The pretechnological period, in which all other animal species remain today aside from some avian and primate species was a non-rational period of the early Prehistory|prehistoric man.

The emergence of technology, made possible by the development of the rational faculty, paved the way for the first stage: the tool. A tool provides a mechanical advantage in accomplishing a physical task, and must be powered by human or animal effort.

Hunter-gatherers developed tools mainly for procuring food. Tools such as a container, spear, arrow, plow, or hammer that augments physical labor to more efficiently achieve his objective. Later animal-powered tools such as the plow and the horse, increased the productivity of food production about tenfold over the technology of the hunter-gatherers. Tools allow one to do things impossible to accomplish with one's body alone, such as seeing minute visual detail with a microscope, manipulating heavy objects with a pulley and cart, or carrying volumes of water in a bucket.

The second technological stage was the creation of the machine. A machine (a powered machine to be more precise) is a tool that substitutes the element of human physical effort, and requires the operator only to control its function. Machines became widespread with the industrial revolution, though windmills, a type of machine, are much older.

Examples of this include cars, trains, computers, and lights. Machines allow humans to tremendously exceed the limitations of their bodies. Putting a machine on the farm, a tractor, increased food productivity at least tenfold over the technology of the plow and the horse.

The third, and final stage of technological evolution is the automaton. The automaton is a machine that removes the element of human control with an automatic algorithm. Examples of machines that exhibit this characteristic are digital watches, automatic telephone switches, pacemakers, and computer programs.

It's important to understand that the three stages outline the introduction of the fundamental types of technology, and so all three continue to be widely used today. A spear, a plow, a pen, and an optical microscope are all examples of tools.

Logographies

2008-07-21T00:14:00.001-07:00

A logogram is a written character which represents a word or morpheme. The vast number of logograms needed to write language, and the many years required to learn them, are the major disadvantage of the logographic systems over alphabetic systems. However, the efficiency of reading logographic writing once it is learned is a major advantage. No writing system is wholly logographic: all have phonetic components as well as logograms ("logosyllabic" components in the case of Chinese characters, cuneiform, and Mayan, where a glyph may stand for a morpheme, a syllable, or both; "logoconsonantal" in the case of hieroglyphs), and many have an ideographic component (Chinese "radicals", hieroglyphic "determiners"). For example, in Mayan, the glyph for "fin", pronounced "ka'", was also used to represent the syllable "ka" whenever the pronunciation of a logogram needed to be indicated, or when there was no logogram. In Chinese, about 90% of characters are compounds of a semantic (meaning) element called a radical with an existing character to indicate the pronunciation, called a phonetic. However, such phonetic elements complement the logographic elements, rather than vice versa.

The main logographic system in use today is Chinese characters, used with some modification for various languages of China, Japanese, and, to a lesser extent, Korean in South Korea. Another is the classical Yi script.

Agronomy

2008-07-15T00:43:00.001-07:00

Agronomy is the science of utilizing plants for food, fuel, feed, and fiber. To do this effectively and in a sustainable manner, agronomy encompasses work in the areas of plant genetics, plant physiology, meteorology, and soil science. Agronomy is the application of a combination of sciences like biology, chemistry, ecology, earth science, and genetics. Agronomists today are involved with many issues including producing food, creating healthier food, managing environmental impacts, and creating energy from plants. Agronomists often specialize in areas such as crop rotation, irrigation and drainage, plant breeding, soil classification, soil fertility, weed control, insect and pest control and other areas.

Nuclear weapon

2008-07-06T23:15:00.000-07:00

A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from the nuclear reaction of fission or from a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter; a modern thermonuclear weapon weighing little more than a ton can produce an explosion comparable to the detonation of more than a billion kilograms of conventional high explosive. Even small nuclear devices with yields equivalent to only a few thousand tons of TNT can devastate a city. Nuclear weapons are considered weapons of mass destruction.

In the history of warfare, only two nuclear weapons have been detonated offensively, both by the United States of America during the closing days of World War II. The first was detonated on the morning of 6 August 1945, when the United States dropped a (uranium) gun-type device code-named "Little Boy" on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The second was detonated three days later when the United States dropped a plutonium implosion-type device code-named "Fat Man" on the city of Nagasaki. These bombings resulted in the immediate deaths of around 120,000 people from injuries sustained from the explosion and acute radiation sickness, and even more deaths over time from long-term effects of radiation. The use of these weapons was and remains controversial. (See Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki for a full discussion.)

Since the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings, nuclear weapons have been detonated on over two thousand occasions for testing purposes and demonstration purposes. The only countries known to have detonated nuclear weapons - and that acknowledge possessing such weapons - are (chronologically) the United States, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, France, the People's Republic of China, India, Pakistan, and North Korea. Israel is also widely believe to possess nuclear weapons, though it does not acknowledge having them. For more information on these states' nuclear programs, as well as other states that formerly possessed nuclear weapons or are suspected of seeking nuclear weapons, see List of states with nuclear weapons.

Apart from their use as weapons, nuclear explosives have been tested and used for various non-military uses. Synthetic elements, such as einsteinium and fermium, created by neutron bombardment of uranium and plutonium during thermonuclear explosions, were discovered in the aftermath of the first thermonuclear bomb test.

Linckia laevigata

2008-06-29T22:26:00.000-07:00

Linckia laevigata (sometimes called the "blue Linckia" or Blue Sea Star) is a species of starfish in the shallow waters of tropical Indo-Pacific. The most common color morph found is pure, dark or light blue, although one can find the aqua, purple or orange variation throughout the ocean. These sea stars may grow up to 30 cm in diameter, with rounded tips at each of its arms — some individuals may bear light or darker spots along each of its arms. It is firm in texture, and possessing slightly tubular, elongated arms common to most of other Ophidiasteridae, and usually possessing short, yellowish tube feet. An inhabitant of coral reefs and sea grass beds, this species is relatively common and found in sparse density throughout its range. They live subtidally, or sometimes intertidally, on fine (sand) or hard substrata.

The genus Linckia is known to be creatures with remarkable regenerative power, capable of defensive autotomy against predators and may reproduce asexually: another tropical, pink or reddish mottled with white and yellow species known as Linckia multifora may produce 'comets' or separated arms from the mother individual, which would grow four, tiny stubs of arms ready for growth to maturity. L. laevigata is not an exception for this — many individuals observed in nature are missing arms or sometimes, in the comet form. The mottled Linckia (L. multifora) has been observed reproducing asexually in captivity.

Some species of other reef inhabitants, predate on this species of sea star. Pufferfishes, Charonia species (triton shells), harlequin shrimp and even some sea anemones have been observed to eat the whole or a part of the sea star. The Blue Linckia is also prone to parasitization by a species of parasitic gastropod (Thyca crystallina). Commensal associations sometimes play part on this echinoderm's life, animals like Periclimenes shrimp are sometimes found commensally on the oral or aboral surface of the animal, picking up mucus and detritus.

This sea star is known in marine aquarium hobby, and needs a proper, slow acclimatization before entering the tank system; many died because improper acclimatization process or malnutrition. Generally thought as a detritivore, many sources say that this species will indefinitely graze throughout the aquarium for organic films or sedentary, low-growing organisms such as sponges and algae. Depending on how good the food source, shipping, acclimatization and water quality is, this species have been kept with variable success. This species has yet to be bred in captivity for sustainable harvest.

This species has been in the sea-shell trade for a long time, which involves dried sea star tests (skeletons) for curios or decoration. Some regions of their habitat have seen significant population decline due to the continuous harvesting by the industry and tourists.

Movement of proteins

2008-06-22T23:20:00.000-07:00

Each type of protein is usually sent to a particular part of the cell. An important part of cell biology is the investigation of molecular mechanisms by which proteins are moved to different places inside cells or secreted from cells.

Most proteins are synthesized by ribosomes in the cytoplasm. This process is also known as protein biosynthesis or simply protein translation. Some proteins, such as those to be incorporated in membranes (known as membrane proteins), are transported into the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) during synthesis. This process can be followed by transportation and processing in the Golgi apparatus. From the Golgi, membrane proteins can move to the plasma membrane, to other subcellular compartments, or they can be secreted from the cell. The ER and Golgi can be thought of as the "membrane protein synthesis compartment" and the "membrane protein processing compartment", respectively. There is a semi-constant flux of proteins through these compartments. ER and Golgi-resident proteins associate with other proteins but remain in their respective compartments. Other proteins "flow" through the ER and Golgi to the plasma membrane. Motor proteins transport membrane protein-containing vesicles along cytoskeletal tracks to distant parts of cells such as axon terminals.

Some proteins that are made in the cytoplasm contain structural features that target them for transport into mitochondria or the nucleus. Some mitochondrial proteins are made inside mitochondria and are coded for by mitochondrial DNA. In plants, chloroplasts also make some cell proteins.

Extracellular and cell surface proteins destined to be degraded can move back into intracellular compartments upon being incorporated into endocytosed vesicles. Some of these vesicles fuse with lysosomes where the proteins are broken down to their individual amino acids. The degradation of some membrane proteins begins while still at the cell surface when they are cleaved by secretases. Proteins that function in the cytoplasm are often degraded by proteasomes.

Advances in integrated circuits

2008-06-15T23:16:00.000-07:00

Among the most advanced integrated circuits are the microprocessors or "cores", which control everything from computers to cellular phones to digital microwave ovens. Digital memory chips and ASICs are examples of other families of integrated circuits that are important to the modern information society. While cost of designing and developing a complex integrated circuit is quite high, when spread across typically millions of production units the individual IC cost is minimized. The performance of ICs is high because the small size allows short traces which in turn allows low power logic (such as CMOS) to be used at fast switching speeds.

ICs have consistently migrated to smaller feature sizes over the years, allowing more circuitry to be packed on each chip. This increased capacity per unit area can be used to decrease cost and/or increase functionality—see Moore's law which, in its modern interpretation, states that the number of transistors in an integrated circuit doubles every two years. In general, as the feature size shrinks, almost everything improves—the cost per unit and the switching power consumption go down, and the speed goes up. However, ICs with nanometer-scale devices are not without their problems, principal among which is leakage current (see subthreshold leakage for a discussion of this), although these problems are not insurmountable and will likely be solved or at least ameliorated by the introduction of high-k dielectrics. Since these speed and power consumption gains are apparent to the end user, there is fierce competition among the manufacturers to use finer geometries. This process, and the expected progress over the next few years, is well described by the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS).

Trance music

2008-06-08T23:38:00.000-07:00

Trance is a style of electronic dance music that developed in the 1990s. Trance music is generally characterized by a tempo of between 130 and 160 BPM, short melodic synthesizer phrases, and a musical form that builds up and down throughout a track. Trance can be understood as a combination of many forms of electronic music such as ambient, techno, and house. The origin of the term is ambiguous, with some suggesting that the term is derived from the Klaus Schulze album Trancefer (1981) or the early trance act Dance 2 Trance. In any case, the name is undoubtedly linked to the perceived ability of a drum beat to induce altered states of consciousness known as trance. The effect of some trance music has been likened to the trance-inducing music created by ancient shamanists during long periods of drumming.As this music is frequently played in nightclubs, vacation spots and inner cities, trance can be understood as a type of club music.

2008-06-01T23:40:00.000-07:00

Chemical reaction is a concept related to the transformation of a chemical substance through its interaction with another, or as a result of its interaction with some form of energy. A chemical reaction may occur naturally or carried out in a laboratory by chemists in specially designed vessels which are often laboratory glassware. It can result in the formation or dissociation of molecules, that is, molecules breaking apart to form two or more smaller molecules, or rearrangement of atoms within or across molecules. Chemical reactions usually involve the making or breaking of chemical bonds. Oxidation, reduction, dissociation, acid-base neutralization and molecular rearrangement are some of the commonly used kinds of chemical reactions.

A chemical reaction can be symbolically depicted through a chemical equation. While in a non-nuclear chemical reaction the number and kind of atoms on both sides of the equation are equal, for a nuclear reaction this holds true only for the nuclear particles viz. protons and neutrons.

The sequence of steps in which the reorganization of chemical bonds may be taking place in the course of a chemical reaction is called its mechanism. A chemical reaction can be envisioned to take place in a number of steps, each of which may have a different speed. Many reaction intermediates with variable stability can thus be envisaged during the course of a reaction. Reaction mechanisms are proposed to explain the kinetics and the relative product mix of a reaction. Many physical chemists specialize in exploring and proposing the mechanisms of various chemical reactions. Several empirical rules, like the Woodward-Hoffmann rules often come handy while proposing a mechanism for a chemical reaction.

A stricter definition is that "a chemical reaction is a process that results in the interconversion of chemical species".Under this definition, a chemical reaction may be an elementary reaction or a stepwise reaction. An additional caveat is made,in that this definition includes cases where the interconversion of conformers is experimentally observable. Such detectable chemical reactions normally involve sets of molecular entities as indicated by this definition, but it is often conceptually convenient to use the term also for changes involving single molecular entities (i.e. 'microscopic chemical events').

Microcomputers

2008-05-27T23:54:00.000-07:00

The first microcomputers did not have the capacity or need for the elaborate operating systems that had been developed for mainframes and minis; minimalistic operating systems were developed, often loaded from ROM and known as Monitors. One notable early disk-based operating system was CP/M, which was supported on many early microcomputers and was closely imitated in MS-DOS, which became wildly popular as the operating system chosen for the IBM PC (IBM's version of it was called IBM-DOS or PC-DOS), its successors making Microsoft one of the world's most profitable companies. In the 80's Apple Computer Inc. (now Apple Inc.) abandoned its popular Apple II series of microcomputers to introduce the Apple Macintosh computer with the an innovative Graphical User Interface (GUI) to the Mac OS.

Understanding the Context

2008-05-27T07:29:00.001-07:00

Many different methods of communication are possible on the Internet; some use specific software and all involve text and/or graphics.

* Some activities take place in real-time while others allow for a delayed reply.

* Discussion areas may be public or exist for a particular group of people.

* Information can either be broadcast or targeted at a particular user.

As the technology develops, and users and providers become more proficient, the boundaries between the different Internet services are blurred. For example, email is used in chat rooms, web pages include discussion areas and newsgroups can have files attached.

Each Internet service has its own educational value, risks, and recommended ways of dealing with problems, and these are detailed in the following pages. They are not exhaustive and many apply across Internet services. Schools should consider the sum of the advice in these guidelines across all areas.

Electronic music

2008-05-22T22:47:00.000-07:00

Electronic music refers to music that emphasizes the use of electronic musical instruments or electronic music technology as a central aspect of the sound of the music. Historically, electronic music was considered to be any music created with the use of electronic musical instruments or electronic processing, but in modern times, that distinction has been lost because almost all recorded music today, and the majority of live music performances, depend on extensive use of electronics. Today, the term electronic music serves to differentiate music that uses electronics as its focal point or inspiration, from music that uses electronics mainly in service of creating an intended production that may have some electronic elements in the sound but does not focus upon them.

Contemporary electronic music expresses both art music forms including electronic art music, experimental music, musique concrète, and others; and popular music forms including multiple styles of dance music such as techno, house, trance, electro, breakbeat, drum and bass, synth pop, etc.

A distinction can be made between instruments that produce sound through electromechanical means as opposed to instruments that produce sound using electronic components.

Overview of the Click Thinking Pack

2008-05-22T07:55:00.000-07:00

Schools and government initiatives are encouraging the educational use of the Internet right across the curriculum and young people are taking readily to this way of learning and communicating.

At the same time, the media tends to focus on the rare occasions when use of the Internet causes distress. The Scottish Executive believes that young people need to be protected and informed; and that those responsible for them, whether teachers, parents or other careers, should be aware of the issues involved.

Previous Scottish Executive Education Department (SEED) publications in this area have dealt with the need to protect pupils from misuse of computers (Information Ethics) and to understand copyright implications (Copyright and Ethics in a Digital Age).

This booklet focuses on personal safety and wellbeing. It attempts to clarify potential risks and to empower Internet users in schools so that they can keep themselves safe. Those who manage Scottish schools, and all teachers, whether responsible for a primary class or for teaching a subject, will find policy guidelines and background information which will prepare our pupils to take their safe and well-earned place in the Digital Age.

Much of the advice in these guidelines will be relevant to other Local Authority staff responsible for overseeing young people's use of the Internet (e.g. managers and staff in community education centers, residential homes for young people, libraries and other settings). These groups should take account of the messages about personal safety, and put into place the recommendations suitable for their setting.

BACK TO SCHOOL SAFETY ALERT:

2008-05-07T04:47:00.001-07:00

CPSC Urges Bicyclists to Wear Helmets

CPSC Document #5002

Each year about 800 bicyclists are killed and more than half a million are treated in hospital emergency rooms. In recent years, almost two-thirds of the deaths and one-third of the injuries involved head and face injury. About one-half the injuries to children under the age of 10 involved the head or face. Helmets may reduce the risk of head injury to bicyclists by as much as 85 percent. Yet, only about 50 percent of bicyclists wear helmets.

The purpose of a helmet is to absorb the energy of an impact to minimize or prevent a head injury. Crushable, expanded polystyrene foam generally is used for this purpose.

A bicycle helmet should have a snug but comfortable fit on the rider's head. Some helmets are available with several different thicknesses of internal padding to custom fit the helmet to the user. If a parent is buying a helmet for a child, the CPSC recommends that the child accompany the parent so that the helmet can be tested for a good fit.

For a helmet to provide protection during impact, it must have a chin strap and buckle that will stay securely fastened. No combination of twisting or pulling should remove the helmet from the head or loosen the buckle on the strap. Children should be instructed to always wear the helmet level on the forehead, not tilted back. The chin strap should be adjusted correctly and firmly buckled.

Helmets manufactured after March 1999, are required by federal law to meet the CPSC standard. When purchasing a helmet, consumers are urged to examine the helmet and accompanying instructions and safety literature carefully. Consumers should also look for a label stating conformance with the CPSC standard.

Bicyclists should avoid riding at night. If you must ride at night, install and use front and rear lights on the bicycle and wear clothing with reflective tape or markings. These precautions are in addition to the reflectors that the CPSC requires to be on the front, rear, pedals, and wheels of bicycles.

Many bicycle-car crashes can be avoided by applying the rules of the road and by increasing attentiveness of cyclists and motorists. Bicyclists have a legal right to share the road, but they are often not noticed in traffic. Drivers should always keep an eye out for bicyclists, especially when turning, merging, changing lanes, or entering intersections.

All-Terrain Vehicle Safety

2008-04-28T05:54:00.001-07:00

Too many ATV riders -- young and old -- are dying or experiencing life altering injuries from incidents involving ATVs. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) recommends that all ATV riders follow the seven safety tips below every time they ride.

An estimated 740 people died in 2003* in incidents associated with ATVs. In addition, in 2004* there were an estimated 136,100 emergency room treated injuries associated with ATVs. About a third of all deaths and injuries involved victims under 16 years old. CPSC also reported that ridership has continued to grow, with 6.2 million 4-wheeled ATVs in use in 2003*.

The major ATV manufacturers agreed in Consent Decrees in 1988 and in subsequent voluntary action plans that they would not manufacture three-wheel ATVs; they would place engine size restrictions on ATVs sold for use by children under 16; and they would offer driver-training programs.

Children and young people under the age of 16 should not ride adult ATVs.

All ATV users should take a hands-on safety training course.

Always wear a helmet and safety gear such as boots and gloves while on an ATV.

Never drive an ATV on paved roads.

Never drive while under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Never drive a youth or single-rider adult ATV with a passenger, and never ride these vehicles as a passenger.

There are some ATVs that are designed for two riders. Passengers on tandem ATVs should be at least 12 years old.

J-Hook Shaped Stake style (Anchor Types)

2008-04-21T06:12:00.000-07:00

This style is used when holes are not pre-drilled into the ground shoes (bars) or rear ground shoe (bar) of the goal. Similar to the peg or stake style, this anchor is hammered, at an angle if possible, directly into the earth. The curved (top) portion of this anchor fits over the goal member to secure it to the ground (Figure 3.4). Typically, two to four stakes of this type are recommended (per goal), depending on stake structure, manufacturers specifications, weight of goal, and soil conditions. Stakes with larger diameters or textured surfaces have greater holding capacity.

Anchoring/Securing/Counterweighing Guidelines

2008-04-14T04:57:00.001-07:00

A properly anchored/counterweighted movable soccer goal is much less likely to tip over. Remember to secure the goal to the ground (preferably at the rear of the goal), making sure the anchors are flush with the ground and clearly visible. It is IMPERATIVE that ALL movable soccer goals are always anchored properly (see Figure 2). There are several different ways to secure your soccer goal. The number and type of anchors to be used will depend on a number of factors, such as soil type, soil moisture content, and total goal weight.

Soccer Goal Injuries and Deaths

2008-04-07T06:38:00.001-07:00

According to the 1994 National Soccer Participation Survey (Soccer Industry Council of America), over 16 million persons in the United States play soccer at least once a year. Seventy-four percent (over 12 million) of these persons are under the age of 18. Soccer ranks fourth in participation for those under 18, following basketball, volleyball, and softball and well ahead of baseball, which has an annual participation of 9.7 million.
There are approximately 225,000 to 500,000 soccer goals in the United States. Many of these soccer goals are unsafe because they are unstable and are either unanchored or not properly anchored or counter-balanced. These movable soccer goals pose an unnecessary risk of tip over to children who climb on goals (or nets) or hang from the crossbar.
The CPSC knows of four deaths in 1990 alone and at least 21 deaths during the past 16 years (1979-1994) associated with movable soccer goals. In addition, an estimated 120 injuries involving falling goals were treated each year in U.S. hospital emergency rooms during the period 1989 through 1993. Many of the serious incidents occurred when the soccer goals tipped over onto the victim. Almost all of the goals involved in these tip over appeared to be home-made by high school shop classes, custodial members, or local welders, not professionally manufactured. These home-made goals are often very heavy and unstable.
The majority of movable soccer goals are constructed of metal, typically weighing 150-500 pounds. The serious injuries and deaths are a result of blunt force trauma to the head, neck, chest, and limbs of the victims. In most cases this occurred when the goal tipped or was accidentally tipped onto the victim. In one case an 8-year-old child was fatally injured when the movable soccer goal he was climbing tipped over and struck him on the head. In another case, a 20-year-old male died from a massive head trauma when he pulled a goal down on himself while attempting to do chin-ups. In a third case, while attempting to tighten a net to its goal post, the victim’s father lifted the back base of the goal causing it to tip over striking his 3-year-old child on the head, causing a fatal injury.
High winds can also cause movable soccer goals to fall over. For example, a 9-year-old was fatally injured when a goal was tipped over by a gust of wind. In another incident, a 19-year-old goalie suffered stress fractures to both legs when the soccer goal was blown on top of her.

B.C.-Canada Place officially closes doors

2008-03-30T19:39:00.000-07:00

Monday, March 20, 2006 marks the official close of British Columbia-Canada Place, one of the most successful attractions of the 2006 Torino Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

Over the course of the 2006 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, British Columbia-Canada Place drew more than 100,000 visitors and journalists. These visitors were able to experience first hand the province’s culture, heritage, natural beauty and bustling cities. Also, more than 80 British Columbia businesses were able to connect with an international audience and showcase some of B.C.’s best products and services.

B.C.-Canada Place will be a legacy to the people of Torino. The official transfer took place in a ceremony yesterday, with Torino Mayor Sergio Chiamparino accepting a ceremonial key to the building.

“This generous gift from British Columbia will be a constant reminder of our friends in Canada and the celebrations that took place in our city during the 2006 Winter Games,” says Mayor Chiamparino. “We are honored to have this permanent B.C. presence in our city.”

Kent Kickin' Mini-Scooters

2008-03-24T05:55:00.001-07:00

Kent is recalling about 90,000 scooters. The scooter handles can unexpectedly come out of the steering column if the clamp holding them in is not tight, causing the rider to lose control, fall and possibly suffer injuries.
Kent has received four reports of the handles coming out, resulting in four children suffering injuries, including broken arms, a broken wrist, bruises, abrasions and a cracked tooth.
These are Kickin' Mini-Scooters made of chrome-plated steel. A vertical decal on the steering column reads "KICKIN' MINI SCOOTER." The scooter's black plastic platform measures about 15 inches long, and it has 4-inch translucent in-line style wheels. "KENT" and "MADE IN CHINA" are written on the lower part of the steering column. The scooters were sold with black backpacks embroidered in white with the word "Kickin."
Toys R us stores nationwide sold the Kent scooters from May 2000 through September 2000 for about $60.
Consumers should stop riding these Kent scooters immediately, and call Kent International to receive a free replacement handlebar with pins to secure the handlebars. For more information, call Kent International at (800) 451-KENT (5368) between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday.
Kent has sold other models to Toys R Us such as the Street Craze, the Street Racer and Scoot that are NOT part of this recall. Scooters that Kent sold to Wal Mart, Meijer's, Target and AAFES are also NOT part of this recall.

Trampoline Safety Alert

2008-03-17T06:44:00.000-07:00

The U. S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) wants you and your family to be safe when using trampolines. The CPSC estimates that in 2001 there were 91,870 hospital emergency room-treated injuries associated with trampolines. About 93 percent of the victims were under 15 years of age, and 11 percent were under 5 years of age. Since 1990, CPSC has received reports of 6 deaths of children under age 15 involving trampolines. Injuries and deaths were caused by:

* Colliding with another person on the trampoline.
* Landing improperly while jumping or doing stunts on the trampoline.
* Falling or jumping off the trampoline.
* Falling on the trampoline springs or frame.
Most of the trampolines associated with injuries were at private homes.
Here are the steps you can take to help prevent serious trampoline injuries, especially paralysis, fractures, sprains, and bruises:

* Allow only one person on the trampoline at a time.
* Do not attempt or allow somersaults because landing on the head or neck can cause paralysis.
* Do not use the trampoline without shock-absorbing pads that completely cover its springs, hooks, and frame.
* Place the trampoline away from structures, trees, and other play areas.
* No child under 6 years of age should use a full-size trampoline. Do not use a ladder with the trampoline because it provides unsupervised access by small children.
* Always supervise children who use a trampoline.
* Trampoline enclosures can help prevent injuries from falls off trampolines.

Accumulator

2008-03-10T03:58:00.001-07:00

In a computer CPU, an accumulator is a register in which intermediary arithmetic and logic results are stored. Without a register like an accumulator, it would be necessary to write the result of each calculation (addition, multiplication, shift, etc.) to main memory, possibly only to be read right back again for use in the next operation. Access to main memory is slower than access to a register like the accumulator because the technology used for the huge main memory is slower (but cheaper) than that used for a register.

The canonical example for accumulator use is adding a list of numbers. The accumulator is initially set to zero, then each number in spin is added to the value in the accumulator. Only when all numbers have been added is the result seized in the accumulator written to main memory or to another, non-accumulator, CPU register.

Earth

2008-02-25T04:01:00.000-08:00

Earth (pronounced /'???/) is the third planet from the Sun and is the major of the terrestrial planets in the Solar System, in both diameter and mass. It is also referred to as the Earth, Planet Earth, and the World, and in several contexts, Gaia and Terra.

Home to millions of species including humans, Earth is the only place in the world where life is known to exist. Scientific evidence indicates that the planet formed 4.54 billion years ago, and life appear on its surface within a billion years. Since then, Earth's biosphere has considerably altered the atmosphere and other abiotic conditions on the planet, enable the proliferation of aerobic organisms as well as the formation of the ozone layer which, jointly with Earth's magnetic field, blocks harmful emission, permitting life on land.

Earth's outer surface is divided into several rigid segments, or tectonic plates, that regularly travel across the surface over periods of many millions of years. About 71% of the surface is enclosed with salt-water oceans, the remainder consisting of continents and islands; liquid water, necessary for all known life, is not known to exist on any other planet's surface. Earth's interior remains active, with a thick layer of comparatively solid mantle, a liquid outer core that generates a magnetic field, and a solid iron inside the core.

Strawberry

2008-02-19T04:00:00.000-08:00

The strawberry (Fragaria) (plural strawberries) is a type of plants in the family Rosaceae and the fruit of these plants. There are more than 20 named types and a lot of hybrids and cultivars. The most frequent strawberries grown commercially are cultivars of the Garden strawberry. Strawberries have a taste that varies by cultivar, and range from quite sweet to slightly tartlet.

Climate

2008-02-11T21:25:00.001-08:00

The climate is commonly measured to be the weather averaged over a long period of time, naturally 30 years. Somewhat more precisely, the concept of "climate" also includes the statistics of the weather — such as the degree of day-to-day or year-to-year difference expected. IPCC is called as Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Climate in a narrow sense is usually defined as the “average weather”, or more meticulously, as the statistical description in terms of the mean and variability of relevant quantities over a period of time range from months to thousands or millions of years. The traditional period is 30 years, as defined by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). These quantities are the majority often surface variables such as temperature, precipitation, and wind. Climate in a wider sense is the state, including a numerical description, of the climate system.

Custom duty

2008-02-04T21:21:00.001-08:00

Customs is a power or agency in a country in charge for collecting customs duties and for controlling the flow of people, animals and goods (including personal effects and hazardous items) in and out of the country. Depending on local legislation and regulations, the import or export of some goods may be controlled or prohibited, and the customs agency enforces this system. The customs agency may be different from the colonization authority, which monitors persons who leave or enter the country, checking for suitable documentation, apprehend people wanted by international search warrants, and impede the entry of others deemed hazardous to the country.
A customs duty is a charge tax on the import of goods or export of goods. In England, customs duties were conventionally part of the customary revenue of the king, and therefore did not need parliamentary consent to be levy, unlike excise duties, land tax, or other impositions.

Flexography

2008-01-28T20:51:00.001-08:00

Flexography also called surface printing, often abbreviated to flexo, is a method of printing most usually used for packaging labels, tape, bags, boxes, banners, etc... Flexo was pioneered by Barry Pannowitz and Alf Green, and later by Dean Gleeson and Patrick Crouch who worked together in eradicate Moire, the clashing of screen angles.

A flexo print is achieved by creating a mirrored master of the necessary image as a 3D relief in a rubber or polymer material. A measured amount of ink is deposited upon the exterior of the printing plate (or printing cylinder) using an anilox roll. The print surface then rotates; contact the print material which transfers the ink.

Originally flexo printing was basic in quality. Labels require high quality have usually been printed Offset until recently. In the last few years great advances have been made to the superiority of flexo printing presses.

Laptop

2008-01-21T20:47:00.000-08:00

A laptop computer, or simply laptop (also notebook computer or notebook), is a small mobile computer, which frequently weighs 2.2-18 pounds (1-6 kilograms), depending on size, materials, and other factors.

Laptops usually run on a single main battery or from an outside AC/DC adapter which can indict the battery while also supplying power to the computer itself. Many computers also have a 3volt cell to run the clock and other processes in the occasion of a power failure.

As personal computers, laptops are competent of the similar tasks as a desktop computer, although they are classically less powerful for the same price. They contain components that are similar to their desktop counterparts and perform the same functions, but are miniaturized and optimized for mobile use and resourceful power consumption. Laptops usually have liquid crystal displays and most of them use dissimilar memory modules for their random access memory (RAM), for instance, SO-DIMM in lieu of the larger DIMMs. In addition to a built-in keyboard, they may make use of a touchpad (also known as a track pad) or a pointing stick for input, though an external keyboard or mouse can typically be attached.

Cricket

2008-01-16T20:56:00.000-08:00

Cricket is a bat-and-ball sport competition by two teams, usually of eleven players each. A cricket match is played on a grass field, approximately oval in shape, in the centre of which is a flat strip of ground 22 yards (20.12 m) long, called a cricket pitch. A wicket, regularly made of wood, is placed at each end of the pitch.

The bowler, a player from the field team, bowls a hard, fist-sized cricket ball from the locality of one wicket towards the other. The ball usually bounces once before feat the batsman, a player from the conflicting team. In defence of the wicket, the batsman plays the ball with a made of wood cricket bat. Meanwhile, the other members of the bowler's team stand in a variety of positions around the field as fielders, players who retrieve the ball in an effort to stop the batsman scoring runs, and if possible to get him or her out. The batsman — if he or she does not get out — may run between the wickets, exchange ends with a second batsman (the "non-striker"), who has been waiting near the bowler's wicket. Each finished exchange of ends scores one run. Runs are also scored if the batsman hit the ball to the border line of the playing area. The match is won by the team that score more runs.

Cast iron

2008-01-07T20:44:00.000-08:00

Cast iron usually refers to grey cast iron, but can mean any of a group of iron-based alloys containing more than 2% carbon. It is made by remelting pig iron, often along with substantial quantities of scrap iron and scrap steel, and taking various steps to remove undesirable contaminants such as phosphorus and sulfur. Carbon and silicon content are reduced to the desired levels, which may be anywhere from 2% to 3.5% for carbon and 1% to 3% for silicon depending on the application. Other elements are then added to the melt before the final form is produced by casting.
Iron is most commonly melted in a small blast furnace known as a cupola. After melting is complete, the molten iron is removed or ladled from the forehearth of the blast furnace. This process is thought to have been devised by the late 18th century ironmaster John Wilkinson, whose innovative ideas revolutionized the field of metallurgy. Previously, iron was melted in an air furnace, which is a type of reverberatory furnace.

Crystal

2008-01-03T21:43:00.000-08:00

In chemistry and mineralogy, a crystal is a solid in which the element atoms, molecules, or ions are packed in a frequently ordered, repeating pattern extending in all three spatial dimensions.

The word crystal originates from the Greek word κρύσταλλος (krystallos) meaning clear ice, as it was thoughts to be an especially solid form of water. Citation needed: The word once referred mainly to quartz, or "rock crystal".

Most metals encounter in everyday life is polycrystals. [Citation needed] Crystals are often symmetrically intergrown to form crystal twins.

Philips

2007-12-28T02:27:00.000-08:00

Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. usually known as Philips, is one of the largest electronics companies in the world. In 2004, its sales were € 30.3 billion and it employed 159,709 people in more than 60 countries. Philips is organized in a number of divisions: Philips Consumer Electronics, Philips Semiconductors, Philips Lighting, Philips Medical Systems and Philips Domestic Appliances and Personal Care.
As a chip maker, Philips Semiconductors is among the Worldwide Top 20 Semiconductor Sales Leaders.

The company was founded in 1891 by Gerard Philips in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. Its first products were light bulbs 'and other electro technical equipment'. Its first factory remains as a museum. In the 1920s, the company started to manufacture other products, and in 1939 its first electric razor, the Philishave, was introduced. Philips markets its shavers in the USA using the Norelco name. Philips introduced the compact audio cassette tape, which was wildly successful, though its attempt to set a standard for video cassette recorders, the V2000, was unsuccessful in the face of competition from the Betamax and especially VHS standards.

Financial market

2007-12-17T22:30:00.001-08:00

In economics, a financial market is a mechanism that allows people to simply buy and sell (trade) financial securities (such as stocks and bonds), commodities (such as valuable metals or agricultural goods), and other fungible items of value at low transaction costs and at prices that imitate the proficient market suggestion.

Financial markets have evolved significantly over several hundred years and are undergoing constant modernization to improve liquidity.

Both general markets (where many commodities are traded) and specialized markets (where only one commodity is traded) survive. Markets work by placing many interested sellers in one "place", thus making them easier to locate for potential buyers. An economy which relies primarily on connections between buyers and sellers to allocate resources is known as a market economy in contrast either to a command economy or to a non-market economy that is based, such as a gift economy.

A Brave New Audience

2007-12-02T20:07:00.000-08:00

Over time, technology has become extremely developed. This is unpleasant for mankind because the more superior, the more serious television gets, the not as good as it is for its viewers. It always feeds people in sequence with which they take in without even important its perils. What they think is an admirable source of information, is actually a dangerous medium through which millions of Americans decrease their intelligence.

According to Neil Postman, it is basically just a damage of content because it focuses more on descriptions, rather than content. In Postman's essay, The Huxleyan Warning, he exhorts readers that Huxley's prophecy is launch to be realized. He claims that society will enslave themselves through their love for their own oppression; the technologies that disable their ability to think. This technology comes during the shape of a television screen. These prophecies, which were first introduce to us by Aldous Huxley, are observable in the movie The Truman Show. Truman is a normal human being, inadvertently being watched by billions of viewers ever since his birth. Viewers are caught to their television sets watching his every move.

Genetics

2007-11-13T04:27:00.000-08:00

It is the science of genes, heredity, and the variation of organisms. The word "genetics" was first suggested to describe the study of inheritance and the science of variation by the prominent British scientist William Bateson in a personal letter to Adam Sedgwick, dated April 18, 1905. Bateson first used the term "genetics" publicly at the Third International Conference on Genetics (London, England) in 1906.

Heredity and variations form the basis of genetics. Humans applied knowledge of genetics in prehistory with the domestication and breeding of plants and animals. In modern research, genetics provides important tools for the investigation of the function of a particular gene, e.g., analysis of genetic interactions. Within organisms, genetic information generally is carried in chromosomes, where it is represented in the chemical structure of particular DNA molecules.

Genes encode the information necessary for synthesizing the amino-acid sequences in proteins, which in turn play a large role in determining the final phenotype, or physical appearance, of the organism. In diploid organisms, a dominant allele on one chromosome will mask the expression of a recessive gene on the other.

Sled bc

2007-11-05T20:34:00.000-08:00

A sled, sledge or sleigh is a vehicle with runners for descending in its place of wheels for rolling. It is used for transport on surfaces with low confrontation, usually snow or ice but any verdant surface is good when it is not too dry. In a number of cases round river-washed stones create a good surface for sledges. Devices to be pulled diagonally bare ground, such as a travois, are not normally called "sleds", although skids often are.
Sleds are of course smaller and simpler than sleighs which are frequently understood to be a larger vehicle planned for riding in a sitting position that is drawn by a draft animal such as a horse or oxen, though this is not always the case. The sitting proposal is clear as the English Bobsleigh is a steerable sled fantasy to sit upon or within. North Americans Tran morphed this into Bobsled, as obviously the vehicle is not tired by a draft animal. Both (or all four) are lightweight vehicles whereas a sledge is more frequently a low, sturdy, and rough work vehicle designed for haulage of heavy loads such as cordwood, stone or ice blocks or the manifold heavy transport needs on a farm.

Waka

2007-10-29T21:22:00.000-07:00

In the Maori language, waka are Maori watercraft, usually canoes. Similar craft are encounter in Polynesia, with connected names such as vaka. Waka range is from small, lightweight canoes, such as waka tiwai used for fishing individuals, during very large waka taua, manned by up to eighty paddlers and up to fourty mtrs in length, large double-hulled canoes for oceanic voyaging.

Many waka are single-hulled vessels locate from hollowed tree trunks. Small waka consist of an only piece as large waka typically consist of some pieces jointed and lashed together. Some waka, mainly in the Chatham Islands, were not usual canoes but were constructed from raupo stalks. Ocean waka, Paddled could be in any size, but were usually propelled by sail. Waka taua are paddled to put across their mana.

Small efficient waka are commonly plain and simple. Superior canoes waka taua in testing are extremely carved. Waka taua are no longer used in fighting but frequently for official purposes.

Mobile phone culture or customs

2007-10-24T22:00:00.001-07:00

In fewer than twenty years, mobile phones have gone from being rare and expensive pieces of equipment used by businesses to a pervasive low-cost personal item. In many countries, mobile phones now outnumber land-line telephones, with most adults and many children now owning mobile phones. In the United States, 50% of children own mobile phones. It is not uncommon for young adults to simply own a mobile phone instead of a land-line for their residence. In some developing countries, where there is little existing fixed-line infrastructure, the mobile phone has become widespread. According to the CIA World Fact book the UK now has more mobile phones than people.

With high levels of mobile telephone penetration, a mobile culture has evolved, where the phone becomes a key social tool, and people rely on their mobile phone address book to keep in touch with their friends. Many people keep in touch using SMS, and a whole culture of "texting" has developed from this. The commercial market in SMS's is growing. Many phones even offer Instant Messenger services to increase the simplicity and ease of texting on phones. Cellular phones in Japan, offering Internet capabilities such as NTT DoCoMo's i-mode, offer text messaging via standard e-mail.

A beautiful Morning

2007-10-15T21:56:00.001-07:00

You are session on top of the world, you look something like and all you can see are blue skies and sunshine. Those days do not come around all the time but when they do you take a step back and understand how enormous life is. I myself have a silence a few days similar to that and let me tell you I wished they never ended. And though the 24 hour time duration we refer to as a day maybe over it is a mere drop in the ocean of time we have in our lives and enjoying every minute is the only manner to live. There will always be good days and bad days, but the extraordinary days are those who live in disgrace through the stories of the old and have been.
About a year ago I was living in Orlando, Florida at the age of 17 years old, and it was summer. I had wake up to a good-looking cloud free Floridian day. I was bored and had not anything to do, no job, no responsibilities, nothing. It started to be a chill day till around noontime; so my friend Chris Lane, or C-Lane and I determined to go swimming.

Advertising

2007-10-07T21:20:00.001-07:00

Advertising is a traditional Society. This paper shows the difficulties of promoting products in conventional societies such as traditional Muslim countries. Advertising is a major marketing implement for organizations to sell their products and services. The paper argues that in conservative societies however, it is virtually impossible to convey message in a smart way. This paper discusses the Saudi society and the approaches to advertising as compared to the United States. It discusses advertising mediums such as television commercial and the internet and shows how messages put across to the consumer differ between the two countries, based on cultural demands.
Extensive hard work is made to keep the society segregated so that no mingling or socializing for the two is possible. As a result, educational institutes are segregated and the place of work does not employ women much. There are harsh laws regarding women covering themselves, traveling with a male relation and driving. In addition, media, along with the Internet, is heavily concealed for any trace of irreligious content.

Computer

2007-09-27T23:02:00.000-07:00

A computer is a device for manipulate data according to a list of instructions. Computers take many physical forms. Early electronic computers were the size of a large room, consuming a lot power as more than a few hundred modern personal computers. Today, computers can be made little enough to fit into a wrist watch and be motorized from a watch battery. Society has come to be familiar with personal computers and their portable corresponding, the laptop computer, as icons of the information age; they are what most people think of as "a computer".
However, the most common form of computer in use today is by far the fixed computer. Embedded computers are small, simple devices that are frequently used to control other devices—for example; they may be found in machines range from fighter aircraft to industrial robots, digital cameras, and even children's toys.

A Business Plan

2007-09-10T02:32:00.000-07:00

The following production plan has been formulated to obtain $200,000 in capital to launch a coffeehouse on the college grounds of Doane College named The Orange Cup. This arrangement will also serve as a formal sketch for the first five year's of operation. The financial forecasts show that this asset has significant pledge for the future.
The Orange Cup will provide for the Doane College Community a comfortable atmosphere while serve quality coffee at a reasonably priced with extraordinary service. An ample variety of coffee products including, gourmet coffees, latte, cappuccino, espresso, and iced coffee, will be offered at The Orange Cup. In addition, The Orange Cup will recommend juice, pop, and bottled water, hot cocoa, hot cider, and tea.

The marking plan for The Orange Cup is to attract students and staff to the coffeehouse to continue in a relaxed atmosphere, or for those customers with excited schedules, the expediency of our products.

Microscope slide

2007-09-03T22:28:00.000-07:00

A microscope slide was initially a 'slider' made of ivory or bone, containing specimens held between disks of apparent mica. These were popular in Victorian England until the Royal Microscopically Society introduced the uniform microscope slide in the form of a thin sheet of glass used to hold objects for examination under a microscope. A standard microscope slide is 75 x 25 mm and about 1.0 mm thick. A range of other sizes is obtainable for various special purposes.

Wallpaper

2007-08-27T19:03:00.000-07:00

Wallpaper is material which is used to coat and decorate the interior walls of home, offices, and other buildings; it is one part of interior decoration. Wallpapers are usually sold in rolls and are place onto a wall using wallpaper glue.

Wallpapers can appear either plain so it can be decorated or with patterned graphics. Wallpaper printing techniques contain surface printing, gravure printing, silk screen-printing, and rotary printing. Mathematically speaking, there are seventeen basic patterns, described as wallpaper groups, which can be used to tile an countless plane. All artificial wallpaper patterns are based on these groups. A single model can be issued in several different color ways.

Water clocks

2007-08-20T22:26:00.000-07:00

Water clocks, all along with the sundials, are possibly the oldest time-measuring instruments, with the only exceptions being the gnomon and day-counting tally stick. Given their great antique, where and when they first existed is not known and perhaps unknowable. The simplest forms of water clocks, the bowl-shaped outflow type, are known to have existed in Babylon and in Egypt around the 16th century B.C. Other regions of the world, including India and China, also have early proof of water clocks but the earliest dates are less certain. Some authors, however, write about water clocks appearing as early as 4000 BC.

Blazer

2007-08-13T21:29:00.000-07:00

A blazer or boating jacket is a kind of jacket, generally double-breasted even though single-breasted blazers have become more general in recent times. A blazer looks like a suit jacket except for that it generally has patch pockets with no flaps, and metal shank buttons. A blazer's cloth is usually of a resilient nature as it is used in schools and was used for sport. They frequently form part of the uniform dress of bodies, such as airlines, schools, yacht or rowing clubs, and private security organizations. As sporting dress has become more modified to the activity, the blazer has become limited to clubs' social meetings. Generally, blazers are navy blue, but nearly every colour and mixture of colours has been used, particularly by schools and sporting organizations.

Toe ring

2007-08-07T22:47:00.000-07:00

A toe ring is a ring finished out of various metals and non-metals worn on any of the toes. It is almost exclusively worn by women but is becoming more popular with men. The second toe of either foot is where they are worn normally. In most western countries they are a relatively new fashion accessory. There is no a symbolic meaning for wearing toe rings. They are only regarded to be new fashion jewelry; they often accompany barefoot sandals.

Biotechnology

2007-07-31T23:11:00.000-07:00

Biological technology is technology based on biology, particularly when used in agriculture, food science, and medicine. Biotechnology means any technological application that uses biological systems, living organisms, or derivatives thereof, to construct or change products or processes for specific use.
Biotechnology combines disciplines like genetics, molecular biology, biochemistry, embryology and cell biology, which is in turn allied to practical disciplines like chemical engineering, information technology, and robotics. Biotechnology can also be defined as the exploitation of organisms to do practical things and to provide useful products.

Allan variance

2007-07-22T21:04:00.000-07:00

The Allan variance, named after David W. Allan, is a quantity of stability in clocks and oscillators. It is also identified as the two-sample variance. It is defined as one half of the time average of the squares of the differences between succeed readings of the frequency deviation sampled over the sampling period. The Allan variance depends on the time period used between samples: therefore it is a function of the sample period, as well as the distribution being measured, and is displayed as a graph rather than a single number. A low Allan variance is a characteristic of a clock with good stability over the measured period.

Butter chicken

2007-07-13T22:09:00.000-07:00

Butter chicken or murgh makhani is an Indian dish accepted in countries all over the world that have a tradition of Indian restaurants. While the dish's general recipe is well known, the actual flavour can differ from restaurant to restaurant even within Delhi. Butter chicken is usually served with naan, roti, parathas or steamed rice.

It is a dish prepared by marinating a chicken overnight in a yoghurt and spice mixture usually together with garam masala, ginger, lemon or lime, pepper, coriander, cumin, turmeric, chilli, methi and garlic. It is in various ways like to chicken tikka masala. The chicken is then roasted or dry as a bone.

2007-07-08T22:51:00.000-07:00

Extranet

An extranet is a personal network that uses Internet protocols, network connectivity, and possibly the public telecommunication system to securely share part of an organization's information or operations with suppliers, vendors, partners, customers or other businesses. An extranet can be viewed as part of a company's Intranet that is extended to users outside the company. It has also been described as a "state of mind" in which the Internet is professed as a way to do business with other companies as well as to sell products to customers.

Lopping

2007-07-01T22:16:00.001-07:00

Lopping, also known as tree lopping and topping, is the practice of cutting trunks and branches of a tree in an effort to contain the tree's size or shape. Lopping is differentiated from other styles of pruning by where the cuts are made. When a tree is lopped, the cuts are made internodally, or not at branch unions and collars at the correct angles, leaving a piece of protruding timber that is called a stub.
Lopping in many cases is careful an inappropriate pruning method for amenity trees. The lopped stubs may regrow adventitious epicormic shoots which are bonded only to the bark. These epicormic shoots can grow dynamically and, unless regularly pruned off, may outgrow the original height and spread of the tree. Further, the ends of the lopped stubs are exposed to pathogens which may enter and infect the tree.
In orchards, fruit trees are often lopped to encourage regrowth and to keep a smaller tree for ease of picking fruit. The pruning regime in orchards is more intended and the productivity of each tree is an important factor. In an orchard, though, the natural longevity of a tree is often compromised in favor of its output in fruiting. Orchard trees are also carefully monitored and treated with fungicides and insecticides to minimise losses.

Superscalar

2007-06-26T21:52:00.000-07:00

A superscalar CPU architecture implements a form of parallelism called Instruction-level parallelism within a solitary processor. It thereby allows faster CPU throughput than would otherwise be possible at the same clock rate. A superscalar architecture executes more than one instruction during a single pipeline stage by pre-fetching several instructions and at the same time dispatching them to redundant functional units on the processor.

History

Seymour Cray's CDC 6600 from 1965 is often mentioned as the first superscalar plan. The Intel i960CA and the AMD 29000-series 29050 microprocessors were the first commercial single-chip superscalar microprocessors. RISC CPUs like these brought the superscalar idea to micro computers because the RISC design results in a simple core, allowing straightforward instruction send off and the inclusion of multiple functional units on a single CPU in the inhibited design rules of the time. This was the reason that RISC designs were faster than CISC designs through the 1980s and into the 1990s.

Tide

2007-06-23T01:48:00.001-07:00

Tides are the cyclic rising and falling of Earth's ocean surface caused by the tidal forces of the Moon and the sun acting on the oceans. Tides cause changes in the depth of the marine and estuarine water bodies and produce oscillating currents known as tidal streams, making prediction of tides important for coastal navigation. The strip of seashore that is submerged at high tide and exposed at low tide, the intertidal zone, is an important ecological product of ocean tides
The changing tide produced at a given location is the result of the changing positions of the Moon and Sun relative to the Earth coupled with the effects of Earth rotation and the local bathymetry.Sea level measured by coastal tide gauges may also be strongly affected by wind. More generally, tidal phenomena can occur in other systems besides the ocean, whenever a gravitational field that varies in time and space is present

Industrial metal

2007-06-17T21:41:00.000-07:00

Industrial metal is a musical genre which draws elements from industrial music and heavy metal music. Industrial metal music is typically centered around metal guitar riffs and industrial synthesizer/sequencer lines, heavily distorted, very low pitched guitars, as well as harsh vocals, but in some instances can have clean vocals. This term is used quite loosely, telling everything from industrial bands sampling metal riffs to heavy metal groups augmented with sequencers. Industrial metal encompasses industrial subgenres such as aggro-industrial and coldwave and often overlaps some elements of nu-metal and post-punk.
It is difficult to distinguish many industrial metal artists and industrial rock because both genres leave much room for ingenuity and creativity. By convention, all industrial metal artists may be more vaguely described as industrial rock as well, but not all industrial rock artists are properly described as industrial metal. The general rule of thumb is the speed and "crunchiness" of the guitars. If the guitars are fast and heavily distorted, it is likely industrial metal.

History of street light

2007-06-11T19:18:00.000-07:00

Today, street lighting is most usually achieved using high-intensity discharge lamps, often sodium vapor lamps. Such lamps supply the greatest amount of illumination for the least burning up of electricity.
Before the advent of high-intensity discharge lamps, street light circuits used radiant light bulbs. These were often operated as high-voltage series circuits. To avoid the problem of the entire street going dark if a single lamp burned out, each individual street-lamp was equipped with a film cutout; a small disk of insulating film that separated two contacts connected to the two wires leading to the lamp. If the lamp failed, the entire voltage of the street lighting circuit was imposed across the insulating film in the cutout, causing it to rupture. In this way, the failed lamp was bypassed and enlightenment restored to the rest of the street. The circuit usually contained an automatic device to regulate the electrical current flowing in the circuit, preventing the current from rising as additional lamps burned out and thus preserving the life of the remaining lamps. When the failed lamp was finally changed, a new piece of film was also installed, once again separating the electrical contacts in the cutout. This style of street lighting was identifiable by the large porcelain insulator that separated the lamp and reflector from the light's mounting arm; the insulator was necessary because the two contacts in the lamp's base may have routinely operated at a potential of several thousands of volts above ground/earth.
And before shining lamps, gas lighting was employed. The earliest lamps required that a lamplighter tour the town at dusk, lighting each of the lamps, but later designs employed ignition devices that would routinely strike the flame when the gas supply was activated.

Tips for filling MBA Application form

2007-06-06T21:18:00.000-07:00

Application form of your needs be clear, complete and neat. Spend enough time do fill it properly. This is the first obstacle - most people fall here. Photocopy the blank form numerous times and fill out many drafts before you fill out the actual copy to submit. Get someone to look at your drafts.
If you are applying to a MBA School in any other country - remember that you might not get an interview - so the application documents are chiefly important. If the application form refers to Interviews - and you are in any another country - offer to be interviewed by phone and/or by a local alumnus of the School.

Uses for chain

2007-05-27T21:55:00.000-07:00

Exact uses for chain include: Bicycle chain, chain that transfers power from the wheel to the
drive-wheel of a bicycle thus propelling it Chain drive, the main feature which differentiated the safety bicycle Chain gun, type of machine gun that utilizes a chain, driven by an external power source, to actuate the mechanism rather than using recoil Chain pumps, type of water pump where an endless chain has positioned on it circular discs Chain-linked Lewis, lifting device made from two curved steel legs Chainsaw, portable mechanical, motorized saw Curb chain, used on curb bits when riding a horse Keychain, a small chain that connects a small item to a key ring Lead shank, used on difficult horses that are misbehaving O-ring chain,

a specialized type of roller chain Roller chain, the type of chain most commonly used for transmission of mechanical power on bicycles, motorcycles, and in industrial and agricultural .machinery Snow chains, used to improve traction in snow Timing chain, used to regulate the valve and ignition timing on an internal combustion engine Ball and chain, phrase that can refer to either the actual restraint device that was used to slow down prisoners, or a derogatory description of a person's significant other Bicycle lock, lockable chain.

Content Management System

2007-05-18T23:38:00.000-07:00

A Content Management System is a software system intended for content management. This includes computer files, image media, audio files, electronic documents and web content. The idea behind a Content Management System is to make these files available inter-office, as well as over the web. A Content Management System would most often be used as archival as well. Many companies use a Content Management System to store files in a non-proprietary form. Companies using a Content Management System file share with ease, as most systems use server based software, even further broadening file availability. As shown below, many Content Management Systems include a feature for Web Content, and some have a feature for a "workflow process."

"Workflow" is the idea of moving an electronic document along for either approval, or for adding content. Some Content Management Systems will simply facilitate this process with email notification, and automated routing. This is ideally a mutual creation of documents. A Content Management System facilitates the organization, control, and publication of a large body of documents and other content, such as images and multimedia resources.

Biography

2007-05-13T22:03:00.000-07:00

Biography is a type of literature and further forms of media such as film, based on the written accounts of individual lives. While a biography may focus on a subject of fiction or non-fiction, the term is frequently in reference to non-fiction. Pat Shipman however, says "I think a good biographer has to write fiction some of the time to make apparent a significant event in someone's life." This is sometimes debated. As opposed to a profile or curriculum vitae, a biography develops a complex analysis of personality, highlighting different aspects of it and including intimate details of experiences. A biography is more than a list of distant facts like birth, education, work, relationships and death. It also delves into the emotions of experiencing such events.

Ancient Greeks developed the biographical tradition which we have inherited, although until the 5th century AD, when the word 'biographia' first appears, in Damascus' Life of Isodorus, biographical pieces were called simply "lives" . It is quite likely that the Greeks were drawing on a pre-existing eastern tradition; certainly Herodotus' Histories contains more exhaustive biographical information on Persian kings and subjects than on anyone else, implying he had a Persian source for it.

History of bridges

2007-05-07T23:43:00.000-07:00

The initial bridges were spans made of made of wood logs or planks and eventually stones, using a easy support and crossbeam arrangement. Most of these early bridges were very poorly built and could not often support heavy weights. It was this insufficiency which led to the development of better bridges. The arch was first used by the Roman Empire for bridges and aqueducts, some of which still situate today. These arch based bridges could stand in circumstances that would previously have swept any bridge away. An example is the Alcantara Bridge, built over the river Tagus.
Earlier bridges would have been swept away by the strong current. The Romans also used cement, which reduced the difference of strength found in natural stone. One type of cement, called pozzolana, consisted of water, lime, sand, and volcanic rock. Brick and mortar bridges were built after the Roman era, as the skill for cement was lost then later rediscovered. Rope bridges, a simple type of suspension bridge, were used by the Inca civilization in the Andes Mountains of South America, just prior to European colonization in the 1500s.During the 18th century there were many innovations in the design of timber bridges by Hans Ulrich, Johannes Grubenmann, and others. The first engineering book on building bridges was written by Hubert Gautier in 1716.

With the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century, truss systems of shaped iron were developed for larger bridges, but iron did not have the tensile strength to support large loads. With the advent of steel, which has a high tensile strength, much larger bridges were built, many using the ideas of Gustave Eiffel.