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Independence Day Celebrations

2009-08-06T22:29:00.000-07:00

This year, India celebrates the 62nd Anniversary of our freedom from colonial rule. Independence Day is a day when we pay homage to our great national leaders and heroic freedom fighters - who made many sacrifices, including giving up their lives to liberate India from foreign control.

We remember that our freedom struggle was fought and won, not by force or bloodshed but through the noble principles of truth and non-violence. It was a unique movement in the history of freedom struggles that won us the admiration of the whole world.

In the week around Independence Day, the media enthusiastically promotes a spirit of patriotism with special contests and programmes being telecast by radio stations and television channels. Movies about the heroic deeds of martyrs are screened on television while publications bring out stories and reports with a nationalistic theme.

The President delivers the 'Address to the Nation' on the eve of Independence Day. This is followed by the unfurling of the tricolour from the Red Fort in Delhi on the next day. At the State level, we witness special Independence Day functions that include flag hoisting ceremonies, march pasts and cultural programmes. These events are held in State Capitals and are usually presided over by the Chief Minister of that particular State. Celebrations on a smaller scale are held by educational institutions, residential associations, cultural centres and political constituencies.

Another symbol of Independence Day is the sport of kite flying. The azure skies are dotted with countless kites being flown from rooftops and fields to symbolize the free spirit of India. Kites of various styles, sizes and shades, including the tricolour are available in the marketplaces. Kite flying enthusiasts simply revel in this opportunity to display their kite fighting skills.

The Gateway of India

2009-07-21T23:28:00.000-07:00

The Gateway of India is synonymous with Mumbai. It is the most famous monument of Mumbai and is the starting point for most tourists who want to explore the city. Gateway of India is a great historical monument built during the British rule in the country. It was built as a triumphal arch to commemorate the visit of King George V and Queen Mary to Mumbai (then, Bombay). Gateway of India was built at Apollo Bunder, a popular meeting place. It was designed by the British architect, George Wittet.

The foundation stone of the Gateway of India was laid down by the then Governor of Bombay (Mumbai) on March 31st 1913. The archway is 26 meters high and joined with four turrets and intricate latticework carved on stones. The arch alone was built at the cost of 21 lakhs. It is built in Indo-Sarcenic style, though some influence of Gujarati style is also evident in its architecture. The structure itself is quite majestic and a hybrid of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.

In the past Gateway of India used to be the arrival point for visitors from the west. Ironically, when the Raj ended in 1947, this colonial symbol also became a sort of epitaph: the last of the British ships that set sail for England left from the Gateway. Today this symbol of colonialism has got Indianised, drawing droves of local tourists and citizens. This landmark of Mumbai is a must visit of the city.

The Gateway faces the vast Arabian Sea, flanked by Mumbai's another attraction, Marine Drive, a road running parallel to the sea. The majestic monument is a must-visit at night, in its pristine glory against the backdrop of the sea. It is visited by millions of people across the world every year and is a very significant figure in the lives of the people of Mumbai, as the Gateway defines the grandeur of the city that is a culmination of both, historic and modern cultural environment.

How to save energy and use it

2009-07-10T21:20:00.000-07:00

All of us use energy every day—for transportation, cooking, heating and cooling rooms, manufacturing, lighting, and entertainment. The choices we make about how we use energy—turning machines off when we’re not using them or choosing to buy energy efficient appliances—impact our environment and our lives.

There are many things we can do to use less energy and use it more wisely. Two main ways to save energy are energy conservation and energy efficiency. Many people think these terms mean the same thing, but they are different.

Energy conservation is any behavior that results in the use of less energy. Turning the lights off when you leave the room and recycling aluminum cans are both ways of conserving energy. Energy efficiency is the use of technology that requires less energy to perform the same function. A compact fluorescent light bulb that uses less energy than an incandescent bulb to produce the same amount of light is an example of energy efficiency. The decision to replace an incandescent light bulb with a compact fluorescent is an example of energy conservation.

Recycling means to use something again. Newspapers can be used to make new newspapers. Aluminum can be used to make new aluminum cans. Glass jars can be used to make new glass jars. Recycling often saves energy and natural resources through conservation.

It almost always takes less energy to make a product from recycled materials than it does to make it from new materials. Using recycled aluminum scrap to make new aluminum cans, for example, uses 95 percent less energy than making aluminum cans from bauxite ore, the raw material used to make aluminum.

Natural resources are riches provided courtesy of Mother Nature. Natural resources include land, plants, minerals, and water. By using materials more than once, we conserve natural resources. In the case of paper, recycling saves trees and water. Making a ton of paper from recycled stock saves up to 17 trees and uses 50 percent less water.

Handicrafts

2009-06-28T23:17:00.001-07:00

Handicrafts are the artistic products made by the talent of the hand without the help of modern machinery and equipments. Today, hand-made goods are considered to be a style statement and an item of luxury.

India's rich cultural tradition and centuries of evolutionary tradition is manifested by the huge variety of handicrafts made all over the country. Handicrafts are a mirror of the cultural identity of the ethnic people who make it. Through the ages, handicrafts made in India like the Kashmiri woolen carpets, Sari embroidered fabrics, terracotta and pottery products, silk fabrics etc. have maintained their exclusiveness. In the ancient times, these handicrafts were exported to far off countries of Europe, Africa, West Asia and Far East via the 'sea route'. The entire riches of timeless Indian handicrafts have survived throughout the ages. These crafts carry the attractive appeal of the Indian culture that promises exclusivity, beauty, dignity and style.

Indian handicrafts could be broadly divided into three categories: folk crafts, religious crafts and commercial crafts. Popular folk crafts that are modified according to the demands of the market become commercial crafts. Myriads of handicrafts are made for the diverse rites and rituals associated with the religious faiths of the varied ethnic groups of India. Some of the handicrafts basically meant for the religious purposes are also liked by the people for their aesthetic value.

Funny Water Compilation

2009-05-02T05:58:00.000-07:00

Apple Hits 1 Billion App Store Downloads

2009-04-24T04:52:00.000-07:00

Apple's App Store for iPhone and iPod Touch has served its one-billionth application, only nine months after the store opened. Last night Apple celebrated the milestone on its Web site, thanking customers for their support. The lucky App Store patron who downloaded the one billionth app will win a barrel of Apple loot from company. Apple also took the opportunity to brag about its success in the mobile ad marketplace and for driving massive amount of mobile Net traffic.

Source: http://www.pcworld.com/

Spring Summer Collection

2009-04-13T03:26:00.000-07:00

Blackberrys unravels its Spring/Summer collection "The Glitterati" providing smart wardrobe solutions for the evolving fashion needs of Corporate India. Epitomizing the quintessential affluent Indian, this collection is inspired by the festive fervor and adds a spark to one's wardrobe.

Glitterati collection offers eveningwear and club wear for both Men & Women. Diversifying the portfolio for their loyal patrons, Blackberrys abides by their inspired convictions with youthful styles, exclusive designs and impeccable finish. The Glitterati ensembles make sure to make a statement for the festive mood and upbeat tones. To deliver classy, sharp looks while being uber stylized an aspiration, which makes it la crème de la crème.

Slim fit short and medium length Jackets & Coats of techno blend fabrics in silk lusture & linen wool silk is the look of the season. Dress shirts with French cuff in Jacquard and dobby designs. It includes shirts in satin stripes, slim fit & sleek cuts. The collection consists of the slim leg low waists trousers, trousers in Fine Cottons with sheen, cross-color weaves, easy care blends in radiant surfaces The French styles complementing sheen fabrics, transforms the men's' wear to chic grandeur. Graphics, electrifying shines, sheers and shimmer highlight the refined textures while the color palate oscillates from grays, black and browns.

Meanwhile, the women's wear range comprises of stylized jackets, trousers and shirts for the contemporary woman accentuated with flattering cuts and slim fits.

The collection has varied features and includes men's trousers, shirts, dress line trousers, suits and jackets. Targeting the young and classy, the Blackberry design team has added subtle gloss and shimmer to compliment the zingy lifestyle in their collection. Stain resistant, fade free treatments, crease longevity and liquid ammonia
wrinkle free, all ensure enhanced performance and textures of the garments.

Meanwhile, the women's wear range comprises of stylized jackets, trousers and shirts for the contemporary woman accentuated with flattering cuts and slim fits.

Source: http://living.oneindia.in/

Skype On iPhone Could Create Breach Of Contract

2009-04-04T01:28:00.000-07:00

Users of the iPhone and iPod Touch may be thrilled at the prospect of free VoIP communication after the recent unveiling of a mobile version of Skype specifically for Apple’s popular handsets, but the news is not sitting well with certain mobile phone carriers keen to protect their profit margins.

Source: http://www.thetechherald.com/

Israel Suspected In Sudan Air Strikes

2009-03-26T21:21:00.001-07:00

Reporting from Khartoum, Sudan, and Jerusalem -- A Sudanese official said Thursday that hundreds of people were killed early this year when foreign warplanes bombed three convoys smuggling African migrants through Sudan along with weapons that were apparently destined for the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert hinted at his air force's possible involvement in the attacks. They came after Israel ended a 22-day assault on Gaza without fully achieving one of its aims: to choke off Hamas' weapons supplies.

Israeli officials have warned that the militant Islamic group is seeking more powerful weapons than the crude Kassam rockets and Grad missiles it fires at Israeli towns.

An Israeli role in the bombings, if confirmed, would underscore the Jewish state's determination to strike far beyond its borders to protect its security. It would also be seen as a warning to Hamas' most powerful patron, Iran, which Israel alleges is developing a nuclear weapon.

The bombings brought a new layer of tragedy to Sudan, a country in the grip of an armed insurgency. The victims were migrants from Sudan, Ethiopia and other African countries seeking a better life in Israel and Europe, and young men and boys working as porters and drivers for the smugglers.

Fatih Mahmoud Awad, a spokesman for Sudan's transport ministry, said as many as 800 people died in the attacks in January and early February. He said each convoy had more than a dozen vehicles.

The Associated Press quoted a Sudanese foreign ministry official, Ali Youssef, as saying there were conflicting reports of the number of casualties.

Sudan's transport minister, Mubarak Mabrook Saleem, discussed the attacks at a news conference in Khartoum this week.

The news was not reported in the country's newspapers, suggesting the government might be embarrassed to acknowledge that its sovereignty and air space could be violated so easily.

Saleem told the Associated Press that he believed the planes were American, but other officials said they were not identifiable.

The U.S. military Thursday denied having made any recent airstrikes on Sudan.

CBS News reported Wednesday that Israel carried out the bombing in January. The network said Israel had learned of plans to move weapons north through Sudan to Egypt, then across the Sinai and through tunnels into Gaza.

Thirty-nine people riding in the 17-truck convoy were killed, CBS said. Awad, the transport ministry spokesman, put the death toll at 14. Reuters said two warplanes hit the convoy in a desert region northwest of Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast.

Awad said 17 people were killed three weeks later in a second strike. The third attack caused many of the smuggled weapons to explode and was by far the deadliest, he said.

The weapons were "modern and expensive-looking," he added, and "were headed for Gaza probably."

Israel's military refused to confirm or deny a role in any of the bombings.

But Olmert, speaking at an academic conference, said: "We operate everywhere, we can hit terror infrastructure -- in close places and in places farther away. Wherever we can hit terror infrastructure, we hit them and we hit them in a way that increases deterrence."

Olmert is scheduled to step down as prime minister next week and made the remark during a speech summing up his accomplishments. He said Israel had acted beyond its borders in "a series of incidents," a reference widely understood to include the bombing of an alleged Syrian nuclear facility in 2007 and the assassination of a top Hezbollah warlord in the Syrian capital last year.

Military experts said Israeli warplanes had the range to fly the 1,680-mile round trip to Sudan.

Before ending the Gaza assault Jan. 18, Israel secured pledges from the United States and other Western nations to share intelligence on arms smuggling into Gaza and cooperate in blocking it.

Amnon Lipkin-Shahak, a former Israeli army chief of staff, said Israel would have needed such help to pinpoint the location of smuggling convoys in Sudan.

Israeli officials say some Gaza-bound weapons move by sea from Iran to Yemen and others are purchased in Sudan's flourishing arms market.

Both routes converge over land through Sudan into Egypt and are used for smuggling migrants as well as weapons.

Reva Bhalla, a Washington-based analyst with the private intelligence company Stratfor, said Iran pays for the weapons and often sends agents of Hezbollah, the Lebanese militia, to buy them in Sudan and to hire the smugglers.

Sudanese official Awad blamed government neglect of eastern Sudan for driving youths into the smuggling trade. Those killed "were boys, many 12 or 13 years old, looking to earn some money. Smuggling is the quickest way."

After the attacks, family and tribesmen of the victims began searching for loved ones, he said. "We missed our people and started investigating. We eventually found the wreckage."

ForMoreInfo: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-israel-sudan-bombing27-2009mar27,0,4732426.story

Attack On Koreans in Yemen

2009-03-18T02:22:00.000-07:00

A suicide bomber has attacked a South Korean delegation visiting Yemen after a deadly attack on tourists on Sunday.

Officials said no one apart from the bomber was harmed in this attack.

Reports say he walked between two cars in the Korean convoy as it was driving back to the airport in Sanaa and detonated an explosives belt.

Four Korean tourists and their local guide were killed in Sunday's attack in the city of Shibam in Hadramut - a Unesco world heritage site.

A foreign ministry official in Seoul said the vehicles were carrying government officials and bereaved family members from their hotel to the airport.

He said no one in the convoy was hurt although some of the car windows were shattered.

The Yemeni authorities have blamed local militant groups for Sunday's suicide bombing, the latest in string of attacks against foreign targets.

7 People Arrested In Amsterdam

2009-03-12T22:05:00.000-07:00

Seven people have been arrested in the Netherlands on suspicion of planning to blow up shops in Amsterdam.

Police said they had acted on a tip a day earlier from an anonymous caller in Belgium who had warned of attacks intended to cause many casualties.

The suspects, six men and a woman, have joint Dutch and Moroccan citizenship.

Earlier on Thursday, the authorities closed a major shopping street in Amsterdam. A concert by the American band The Killers was also cancelled.

Amsterdam Mayor Job Cohen said the anonymous call to police on Wednesday night had warned of "an action with the aim of claiming casualties in busy places".

The authorities "couldn't take any risks", he said, and so had ordered the closure of dozens of shops, including an outlet of Ikea.

A police statement earlier in the day had said the threat "should be taken seriously".

The seven people arrested have not yet been named.

District Attorney Herman Bolhaar told a news conference "As far as we can tell, none involved has a history of terrorist involvement."

One of those arrested was related to a suspect in the 2004 Madrid train bombings, he added.

A number of properties were raided by police in Amsterdam and Belgium.

Police said most of those stores closed on Thursday were likely to remain shut on Friday.

Alex Rodriguez play Season With Injury

2009-03-05T21:54:00.000-08:00

Alex Rodriguez will try to play this season with an injured right hip, hoping to avoid surgery and a four-month rehabilitation period.

A cyst in the hip was drained Wednesday, and the New York Yankees third baseman will skip playing for the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic. Still, he has a torn labrum that might need an operation.

"There's two courses of action concerning what he has," Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman said Thursday. "There is treat it conservatively, which would imply rest, exercise and treatment. Or you can treat it aggressively, which is by surgery. At this point at in time, we are going to go the conservative route."

The diagnosis by Dr. Marc Philippon was yet another jolt to Rodriguez during a tumult-filled one-month span in which the three-time American League MVP admitted using banned drugs in 2001-03 while with Texas.

"He's been through a lot, and you probably can go through the last year that he's been through a lot," Yankees Manager Joe Girardi said. "He's been pretty good in staying focused in what he has to do. The thing about Alex, we all know how hard he works. He's able to do a lot of things because of his work ethic, and you hope that carries him though this year as well."

Honour Of AR Rahman

2009-02-26T05:00:00.000-08:00

Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) will confer a doctorate degree on music maestro A.R. Rahman, who created history by becoming the first Indian to bag two Oscars, varsity officials said Wednesday.

"We have decided to celebrate Rahman's Oscar victory by presenting him the doctorate degree at the upcoming annual convocation to be organised on the campus Mar 25," AMU spokesperson Rahat Abrar told IANS on telephone.

The decision to award D. Lit (Honoris Causa) has been taken by the varsity's executive council.

Rahman won two Oscars - one for best original score and another for best original song with lyricist Gulzar - for Slumdog Millionaire at the 81st annual Academy Awards in Los Angeles.

According to AMU officials, the varsity has also decided to confer the honorary degree on Ratan Tata, chairman of the Tata group, Professor M.S. Swaminathan, father of green revolution and noted Urdu writer Professor Gopichand Narang at the convocation.

Researchers for HIV work

2009-02-19T04:52:00.000-08:00

Even as Connecticut considers reducing funding for AIDS programs, state public health researchers are winning accolades for their work with those living with HIV.

A program developed at the University of Connecticut's Center for Health, Intervention and Prevention is among a group of eight intervention programs commended recently by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Under the program, known as "Options," clinicians are trained to counsel HIV-positive patients during routine medical appointments to avoid risky behavior, such as unprotected sex and drug use, developing a list of behavioral prescriptions for patients to follow as they live with the virus.

"Most interventions focus on people not infected with HIV and not likely to become infected," said Jeffrey D. Fisher, a social psychology professor at UConn and director of the intervention center. "But we also need to help people who have HIV to practice safer sex and drug use."

Such precautions are necessary not just to protect the health of those living with HIV or AIDS, which make patients substantially more susceptible to infection and disease, but also to ensure that continued risky behavior doesn't spread HIV to those with whom diagnosed people share needles or have sex.

Fisher developed the program in the late 1990s with his brother, Bill Fisher, a professor at the University of Western Ontario, and three other researchers from CHIP and Yale University.

The Options program was developed from current behavioral theory and a process of collaboration with those struggling with HIV diagnosis and problems with substance abuse or risky sex, Fisher said. The intervention plan asks clinical workers to work with patients to develop strategies for reducing risk, and to evaluate each patient's willingness to change.

The program was included this year in "The 2008 Compendium of Evidence-based HIV Prevention Interventions," which is compiled annually by the CDC, and recognizes programs that have proven successful at reducing HIV infection and behavior that can increase the chance of contracting sexually transmitted diseases.

The CDC estimates that 46,000 people were infected with HIV in the U.S. in 2006, the most recent year for which data was available.

Source: theday.com/re.aspx?re=76b88ed9-71a3-4510-a675-6361d367da02

Properties of language

2009-02-09T01:06:00.000-08:00

A set of commonly accepted signs (indices, icons or symbols) is only one feature of language; all languages must define (i) the structural relationships between these signs in a system of grammar, (ii) the context wherin the signs are used (pragmatics) and (iii) dependent on their context the content specifity, i.e. its meaning (semantics). Rules of grammar are one of the characteristics sometimes said to distinguish language from other forms of communication. They allow a finite set of signs to be manipulated to create a potentially infinite number of grammatical utterances.

Another property of language is that its symbols are arbitrary. Any concept or grammatical rule can be mapped onto a symbol. In other words, most languages make use of sound, but the combinations of sounds used do not have any necessary and inherent meaning – they are merely an agreed-upon convention to represent a certain thing by users of that language. For instance, there is nothing about the Spanish word nada itself that forces Spanish speakers to convey the idea of "nothing". Another set of sounds (for example, the English word nothing) could equally be used to represent the same concept, but all Spanish speakers have acquired or learned to correlate this meaning for this particular sound pattern. For Slovenian, Croatian, Serbian or Bosnian speakers on the other hand, nada means something else; it means "hope".

This arbitrariness even applies to words with an onomatopoetic dimension (i.e. words that to some extent simulate the sound of the token referred to). For example, several animal names (e.g. cuckoo, whip-poor-will, katydid) are derived from sounds the respective animal makes, but these forms did not have to be chosen for these meanings. Non-onomatopoetic words can stand just as easily for the same meaning. For instance, the katydid is called a "bush cricket" in British English, a term that bears no relation to the sound the animal makes. In time, onomatopoetic words can also change in form, losing their mimetic status. Onomatopoetic words may have an inherent relation to their referent, but this meaning is not inherent, thus they do not violate arbitrariness.

CD Data structure

2009-02-02T23:09:00.000-08:00

The smallest entity in a CD is called a frame, which consists of 33 bytes and contains six complete 16-bit stereo samples (two bytes × two channels × six samples: equals 24 bytes). The other nine bytes consist of eight CIRC error-correction bytes and one subcode byte, used for control and display. Each byte is translated into a 14-bit word using eight-to-fourteen modulation, which alternates with three-bit merging words. In total there are 33 × (14 + 3) = 561 bits. A 27-bit unique synchronization word is added, so that the number of bits in a frame totals 588 (of which only 192 bits are music).

These 588-bit frames are in turn grouped into sectors. Each sector contains 98 frames, totaling 98 × 24 = 2352 bytes of music. The CD is played at a speed of 75 sectors per second, which results in 176,400 bytes per second. Divided by two channels and two bytes per sample, this results in a sample rate of 44,100 samples per second.

For CD-ROM data discs, the physical frame and sector sizes are the same. Since error concealment cannot be applied to non-audio data in case the CIRC error correction fails to recover the user data, a third layer of error correction is defined, reducing the payload to 2048 bytes per sector for the Mode-1 CD-ROM format. To increase the data-rate for Video CD, Mode-2 CD-ROM, the third layer has been omitted, increasing the payload to 2336 user-available bytes per sector, only 16 bytes (for synchronization and header data) less than available in Red-Book audio.

Biodiversity

2009-01-26T22:25:00.000-08:00

Biodiversity is the variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome, or for the entire Earth. Biodiversity is often used as a measure of the health of biological systems. The biodiversity found on Earth today consists of many millions of distinct biological species, which is the product of nearly 3.5 billion years of evolution.

Guanaco

2009-01-19T22:34:00.000-08:00

The guanaco (Lama guanicoe) is a camelid animal native to South America that stands between 107 and 122 centimeters (3.5 and 4 feet) at the shoulder and weighs about 90 kg (200 lb). The colour varies very little, ranging from a light brown to dark cinnamon and shading to white underneath. Guanacos have grey faces and small straight ears. They are extremely striking with their large, alert brown eyes, streamlined form, and energetic pace. They are particularly ideal for keeping in large groups in open parklands.

Southern Ocean

2009-01-12T23:02:00.001-08:00

Amundsen Sea
Bass Strait
Bellingshausen Sea
Davis Sea
Great Australian Bight
Gulf Saint Vincent
Ross Sea
Scotia Sea
Spencer Gulf
Weddell Sea

Fur clothing

2009-01-07T01:04:00.000-08:00

Fur clothing is clothing made entirely of, or partially of, the fur of animals. Fur is one of the oldest forms of clothing, thought widely used as hominids first expanded outside of Africa. Some view fur as luxurious; others reject it due to animal welfare and ethical concerns. The term 'a fur' is often used to refer to a coat, wrap, or shawl made from the fur of animals.

Acraman crater

2009-01-01T23:31:00.001-08:00

Acraman crater is a deeply eroded impact crater in the Gawler Ranges of South Australia. Its location is marked by Lake Acraman, a circular ephemeral playa lake about 20 km in diameter.

The discovery of the crater and independent discovery of its ejecta were first reported in the journal Science in 1986. The evidence for impact includes the presence of shatter cones and shocked quartz in shattered bedrock on islands within Lake Acraman.

The crater is deeply eroded and its original size must be inferred by indirect means. Some authors estimate an original diameter of up to 85–90 km,while other suggest a smaller size, perhaps only 35–40 km, closer to that of the depression in which Lake Acraman is centred.The larger size estimate would imply an energy release of 5.2 × 106 megatons of TNT.

The impact event is estimated to have occurred about 580 million years ago during the Ediacaran Period; this age is not derived from the crater itself but from the position of ejecta within nearby sedimentary basins.

Controlled languages

2008-12-25T23:34:00.001-08:00

Controlled natural languages are subsets of natural languages whose grammars and dictionaries have been restricted in order to reduce or eliminate both ambiguity and complexity. The purpose behind the development and implementation of a controlled natural language typically is to aid non-native speakers of a natural language in understanding it, or to ease computer processing of a natural language. An example of a widely used controlled natural language is Simplified English, which was originally developed for aerospace industry maintenance manuals.

Messenger RNA

2008-12-15T22:22:00.000-08:00

Messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) is a molecule of RNA encoding a chemical "blueprint" for a protein product. mRNA is transcribed from a DNA template, and carries coding information to the sites of protein synthesis: the ribosomes. Here, the nucleic acid polymer is translated into a polymer of amino acids: a protein. In mRNA as in DNA, genetic information is encoded in the sequence of nucleotides arranged into codons consisting of three bases each. Each codon encodes for a specific amino acid, except the stop codons that terminate protein synthesis. This process requires two other types of RNA: transfer RNA (tRNA) mediates recognition of the codon and provides the corresponding amino acid, while ribosomal RNA (rRNA) is the central component of the ribosome's protein manufacturing machinery.

Soy milk

2008-12-03T01:13:00.000-08:00

Soy milk (also called soya milk, soybean milk, or soy juice) and sometimes referred to as soy drink/beverage is a beverage made from soy beans. A stable emulsion of oil, water and protein, it is produced by soaking dry soybeans, and grinding them with water. Soy milk contains about the same proportion of protein as cow's milk~ around 3.5%; also 2% fat, 2.9% carbohydrate and 0.5% ash. Soy milk can be made at home with traditional kitchen tools or with a soy milk machine.

Stormwater and Water Pollution Control

2008-11-28T03:07:00.000-08:00

Caltrans has a comprehensive program for preventing water pollution during construction activities on the state highway system. Caltrans has developed a number of resources to assist Caltrans staff and construction contractors achieve this goal.

Caltrans water pollution control manuals provide direction on how to prepare a Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) and Water Pollution Control Program (WPCP). Electronic templatesof these documents have been prepared to assist construction contractors in their preparation of these documents. Caltrans has also developed and obtained the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) approval of numerous Best Management Practices (BMP) for preventing water pollution.

Copies of Caltrans training documents, other training resources, and a listing of training facilities are available to assist Caltrans staff and construction contractor's implementation of Caltrans water pollution prevention program.

Biological underpinnings at the cellular level

2008-11-19T03:54:00.000-08:00

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.

Vredefort crater

2008-11-12T04:36:00.000-08:00

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.

Visual system

2008-11-03T22:51:00.000-08:00

The visual system is the part of the nervous system which allows organisms to see. It interprets the information from visible light to build a representation of the world surrounding the body. The visual system has the complex task of (re)constructing a three dimensional world from a two dimensional projection of that world. The psychological manifestation of visual information is known as visual perception.

Etymology and definitions

2008-10-30T02:33:00.000-07:00

The English word 'emotion' is derived from the French émotion and émouvoir. This is based on the Latin emovere, where e- (variant of ex-) means 'out' and movere means 'move'. The related term "motivation" is also derived from movere. Emotions can be divided between 'cognitive' theories of emotions and 'non-cognitive' theories of emotions; or instinctual emotions (from the amgdala), and cognitive emotions (from the prefrontal cortex). Some psychologists divide emotions into basic and complex categories, where base emotions lead to more complex ones. Emotions can be categorized by its duration. Some emotions occur over a period of seconds (e.g. surprise) where others can last years (e.g. love). No definitive taxonomy exists.

A related distinction is between the emotion and the results of the emotion, principally behaviours and emotional expressions. People often behave in certain ways as a direct result of their emotional state, such as crying, fighting or fleeing. Yet again, if one can have the emotion without the corresponding behaviour then we may consider the behaviour not to be essential to the emotion. However some theorists such as the Dutch psychologist Nico Frijda hold a functionalist approach to emotions. Frijda argues that emotions have evolved for a particular function, such as to keep the subject safe. If the behaviours associated with an emotion are the determining factor for the very existence of that emotion then goal-directed behaviour should be regarded as essential to the emotion. Yet since we recognise that the behaviour need not necessarily occur, we can stipulate that emotions involve what are called 'action tendencies'. So for instance, fear involves the tendency to flee, which means that the probability that the subject will flee from a given situation is increased when he is undergoing fear.

Ballistic vest

2008-10-21T02:17:00.000-07:00

A ballistic vest is an item of protective clothing that absorbs the impact from gun-fired projectiles, and shrapnel fragments from explosion. This protection is for the torso. Soft vests are made from many layers of woven or laminated fibers and protect wearers from projectiles fired from handguns, shotguns, and small fragments from explosives such as hand grenades. When metal or ceramic plates are used with a soft vest, it can also protect wearers from shots fired from rifles. In combination with metallic components or tightly-woven fiber layers, soft armor can offer some protection to the wearer from stab and slash from a knife. Soft vests are commonly worn by police forces, private citizens and private security guards, and hard-plate reinforced vests are mainly worn by combat soldiers in the armies of various nations as well as police armed response units.

Differences and benefits of EMV

2008-10-13T00:03:00.001-07:00

The purpose and goal of the EMV standard is to specify interoperability between EMV compliant IC cards and EMV compliant credit card payment terminals throughout the world. There are two major benefits to moving to smart card based credit card payment systems: improved security (with associated fraud reduction), and the possibility for finer control of "offline" credit card transaction approvals. The goals and benefits of EMV: High level standard on terminal↔card API. It reduces the cost and time interval of software development (POS, ATM, HSM,...). The non EMV payment smart card has its own crypto protections (RSA, DES) and is based on local private standards.

EMV financial transactions are more secure against fraud than traditional credit card payments which use the data encoded in a magnetic stripe on the back of the card. This is due to the use of encryption algorithms such as DES, Triple-DES, RSA and SHA to provide authentication of the card to the processing terminal and the transaction processing center. However, processing is generally slower than an equivalent magnetic stripe transaction. This is due to cryptography overhead and time involved in messages transmissions between the card and the terminal. The increased protection from fraud has allowed banks and credit card issuers to push through a 'liability shift' such that merchants are now liable (as from 1 January 2005 in the EU region) for any fraud that results from transactions on systems that are not EMV capable.

Although not the only possible method, the majority of implementations of EMV cards and terminals confirm the identity of the cardholder by requiring the entry of a PIN (Personal Identification Number) rather than signing a paper receipt. Whether or not PIN authentication takes place depends upon the capabilities of the terminal and programming of the card. For more details of this (specifically, the system being implemented in the UK) see Chip and PIN. In the future, systems may be upgraded to use other authentication systems, such as biometrics, which are generally not considered economical as of 2007.

Future of Bluetooth

2008-09-29T23:24:00.000-07:00

Broadcast Channel: enables Bluetooth information points. This will drive the adoption of Bluetooth into mobile phones, and enable advertising models based around users pulling information from the information points, and not based around the object push model that is used in a limited way today.

Topology Management: enables the automatic configuration of the piconet topologies especially in scatternet situations that are becoming more common today. This should all be invisible to the users of the technology, while also making the technology just work.

Alternate MAC PHY: enables the use of alternative MAC and PHY's for transporting Bluetooth profile data. The Bluetooth Radio will still be used for device discovery, initial connection and profile configuration, however when lots of data needs to be sent, the high speed alternate MAC PHY's will be used to transport the data. This means that the proven low power connection models of Bluetooth are used when the system is idle, and the low power per bit radios are used when lots of data needs to be sent.

Network Time Protocol

2008-09-23T02:37:00.000-07:00

The Network Time Protocol (NTP) is a protocol for distributing the Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) by means of synchronizing the clocks of computer systems over packet-switched, variable-latency data networks. NTP uses UDP port 123 as its transport layer. It is designed particularly to resist the effects of variable latency by using a jitter buffer.

NTP is one of the oldest Internet protocols still in use (since before 1985). NTP was originally designed by Dave Mills of the University of Delaware, who still maintains it, along with a team of volunteers.

Smell

2008-09-16T03:28:00.000-07:00

Smell or olfaction is the other "chemical" sense. Unlike taste, there are hundreds of olfactory receptors, each binding to a particular molecular feature. Odor molecules possess a variety of features and thus excite specific receptors more or less strongly. This combination of excitatory signals from different receptors makes up what we perceive as the molecule's smell. In the brain, olfaction is processed by the olfactory system. Olfactory receptor neurons in the nose differ from most other neurons in that they die and regenerate on a regular basis. The inability to smell is called anosmia.

Mesolithic

2008-09-08T22:47:00.000-07:00

The "Mesolithic," or "Middle Stone Age" (from the Greek "mesos," "middle," and "lithos," "stone") was a period in the development of human technology between the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods of the Stone Age.

The Mesolithic period began at the end of the Pleistocene epoch, some 10,000 BP, and ended with the introduction of agriculture, the date of which varied by geographic region. In some areas, such as the Near East, agriculture was already underway by the end of the Pleistocene, and there the Mesolithic is short and poorly defined. In areas with limited glacial impact, the term "Epipaleolithic" is sometimes preferred.

Regions that experienced greater environmental effects as the last ice age ended have a much more evident Mesolithic era, lasting millennia. In Northern Europe, societies were able to live well on rich food supplies from the marshlands fostered by the warmer climate. Such conditions produced distinctive human behaviours which are preserved in the material record, such as the Maglemosian and Azilian cultures. These conditions also delayed the coming of the Neolithic until as late as 4000 BCE (6,000 BP) in northern Europe.

Remains from this period are few and far between, often limited to middens. In forested areas, the first signs of deforestation have been found, although this would only begin in earnest during the Neolithic, when more space was needed for agriculture.

The Mesolithic is characterized in most areas by small composite flint tools — microliths and microburins. Fishing tackle, stone adzes and wooden objects, e.g. canoes and bows, have been found at some sites. These technologies first occur in Africa, associated with the Azilian cultures, before spreading to Europe through the Ibero-Maurusian culture of Spain and Portugal, and the Kebaran culture of Palestine. Independent discovery is not always ruled out.

How prevalent is Non verbal Behaviour?

2008-09-02T05:49:00.001-07:00

Some researchers put the level of nonverbal communication as high as 80 percent of all communication. More reasonably it could be at around 50-65 percent. That’s exactly what Mehrabian discovered in his communication study. He found that only 7 percent of communication comes from spoken words, 38 percent is from the tone of the voice, and 55 percent comes from body language. However, Mehrabian was only referring to cases of expressing feelings or attitudes, such as when a person says "I do not have a problem with you!" when people commonly focus on the tone of voice, and body language of the person, rather than the actual words said. It is a common misconception that these percentages apply to all communication.

Virtual memory

2008-08-25T03:20:00.001-07:00

The use of virtual memory addressing (such as paging or segmentation) means that the kernel can choose which memory each program may use at any given time, allowing the operating system to use the same memory locations for multiple tasks.

If a program tries to access memory that isn't in its current range of accessible memory, but nonetheless has been allocated to it, the kernel will be interrupted in the same way as it would if the program were to exceed its allocated memory. (See section on memory management.) Under UNIX this kind of interrupt is referred to as a page fault.

When the kernel detects a page fault it will generally adjust the virtual memory range of the program which triggered it, granting it access to the memory requested. This gives the kernel discretionary power over where a particular application's memory is stored, or even whether or not it has actually been allocated yet.

In modern operating systems, application memory which is accessed less frequently can be temporarily stored on disk or other media to make that space available for use by other programs. This is called swapping, as an area of memory can be use by multiple programs, and what that memory area contains can be swapped or exchanged on demand.

Community ecology

2008-08-19T03:03:00.001-07:00

Community ecology is a subdiscipline of ecology which studies the distribution, abundance, demography, and interactions between coexisting populations. Interactions between populations, determined by specific genotypic and phenotypic characteristics, is the primary focus of community ecology.

Community ecology has its origin in European plant sociology. Modern community ecology examines patterns such as variation in species richness, equitability, productivity and food web structure; it also examines processes such as predator-prey population dynamics, succession, and community assembly. Patterns and processes in turn can be considered in terms of space and time, at different scales.

De Demography is the statistical study of all populations. It can be a very general science that can be applied to any kind of dynamic population, that is, one that changes over time or space (see population dynamics). It encompasses the study of the size, structure and distribution of populations, and spatial and/or temporal changes in them in response to birth, death, migration and aging.

Human demography is the most well known discipline of demography, and typically what people refer to when using the term demography. Demographic analysis can be applied to whole societies or to groups defined by criteria such as education, nationality, religion and ethnicity. In academia, demography is often regarded as a branch of either anthropology, economics, or sociology. Formal demography limits its object of study to the measurement of populations processes, while the more broad field of social demography population studies also analyze the relationships between economic, social, cultural and biological processes influencing a population.

The term demographics is often used erroneously for demography, but refers rather to selected population characteristics as used in government, marketing or opinion research, or the demographic profiles used in such research.mography

Controlling Web caches

2008-08-11T22:12:00.000-07:00

Freshness allows a response to be used without re-checking it on the origin server, and can be controlled by both the server and the client. For example, the Expires response header gives a date when the document becomes stale, and the Cache-Control: max-age directive tells the cache how many seconds the response is fresh for.

Validation can be used to check whether a cached response is still good after it becomes stale. For example, if the response has a Last-Modified header, a cache can make a conditional request using the If-Modified-Since header to see if it has changed.

Invalidation is usually a side effect of another request that passes through the cache. For example, if URL associated with a cached response subsequently gets a POST, PUT or DELETE request, the cached response will be invalidated.

Meiosis

2008-08-04T04:21:00.000-07:00

In biology or life science, meiosis (pronounced my-oh-sis or mee-oh-sis) is a process of reduction division in which the number of chromosomes per cell is cut in half. In animals, meiosis always results in the formation of gametes. The word "meiosis" comes from the Greek verb meioun, meaning "to make small," since it results in a reduction in chromosome number in the gamete cell.

Meiosis is essential for sexual reproduction and therefore occurs in all eukaryotes (including single-celled organisms) that reproduce sexually. A few eukaryotes, notably the Bdelloid rotifers, have lost the ability to carry out meiosis and have acquired the ability to reproduce by parthenogenesis. Meiosis does not occur in archaea or bacteria, which reproduce via asexual processes such as mitosis or binary fission. Each cell has half the number of chromosomes as the parent cell.

During meiosis, the genome of a diploid germ cell, which is composed of long segments of DNA packaged into chromosomes, undergoes DNA replication followed by two rounds of division, resulting in four haploid cells. Each of these cells contain one complete set of chromosomes, or half of the genetic content of the original cell. If meiosis produces gametes, these cells must fuse during fertilization to create a new diploid cell, or zygote before any new growth can occur. Thus, the division mechanism of meiosis is a reciprocal process to the joining of two genomes that occurs at fertilization. Because the chromosomes of each parent undergo genetic recombination during meiosis, each gamete, and thus each zygote, will have a unique genetic blueprint encoded in its DNA. Together, meiosis and fertilization constitute sexuality in the eukaryotes, and generate genetically distinct individuals in populations.

In all plants, and in many protists, meiosis results in the formation of haploid cells that can divide vegetatively without undergoing fertilization. In these groups, gametes are produced by mitosis.

Meiosis uses many of the same biochemical mechanisms employed during mitosis to accomplish the redistribution of chromosomes. There are several features unique to meiosis, most importantly the pairing and genetic recombination between homologous chromosomes.

Theory of modernization

2008-07-28T03:37:00.000-07:00

Theories of modernization have been developed and popularized in 1950s and 1960s and are closely related to the dependency theory and development theory. It combines the previous theories of sociocultural evolution with practical experiences and empirical research, especially those from the era of decolonization. The theory states that:

Western countries are the most developed, and rest of the world (mostly former colonies) are on the earlier stages of development, and will eventually reach the same level as the Western world.

Development stages go from the traditional societies to developed ones.

Third World countries have fallen behind with their social progress and need to be directed on their way to becoming more advanced.

Developing from classical social evolutionism theories, theory of modernization stresses the modernization factor: many societies are simply trying (or need to) emulate the most successful societies and cultures. It also states that it is possible to do so, thus supporting the concepts of social engineering and that the developed countries can and should help those less developed, directly or indirectly.

Among the scientists who contributed much to this theory are Walt Rostow, who in his The Stages of Economic Growth: A Non-Communist Manifesto (1960) concentrates on the economic system side of the modernization, trying to show factors needed for a country to reach the path to modernization in his Rostovian take-off model. David Apter concentrated on the political system and history of democracy, researching the connection between democracy, good governance and efficiency and modernization. David McClelland (The Achieving Society, 1967) approached this subject from the psychological perspective, with his motivations theory, arguing that modernization cannot happen until given society values innovation, success and free enterprise. Alex Inkeles (Becoming Modern, 1974) similarly creates a model of modern personality, which needs to be independent, active, interested in public policies and cultural matters, open for new experiences, rational and being able to create long-term plans for the future. Some works of Jürgen Habermas are also connected with this subfield.

Theory of modernization has been subject to some criticism similar to that levied on classical social evolutionism, especially for being too ethnocentric, one-sided and focused on the Western world and culture.

Phoenician alphabet

2008-07-21T00:24:00.000-07:00

The Phoenician alphabet is a continuation of the Proto-Canaanite alphabet, by convention taken to originate around 1050 BC. It was used for the writing of Phoenician, a Northern Semitic language, used by the civilization of Phoenicia. The Phoenician alphabet is classified as an abjad in that it records only consonant sounds (with the addition of matres lectionis). However, the Greek alphabet, a descendant of Phoenician, modified the script to represent vowel phonemes as well.

Phoenician became one of the most widely used writing systems, spread by Phoenician merchants across the Mediterranean world, where it was assimilated by many other cultures and evolved.Many modern writing systems thought to have descended from Phoenician cover much of the world. The Aramaic alphabet, a modified form of Phoenician, was the ancestor of the modern Arabic and Hebrew scripts, as well as the Brāhmī script, the parent writing system of most modern abugidas in India, Southeast Asia, Tibet, and Mongolia. The Greek alphabet (and by extension its descendants such as the Latin, the Cyrillic and the Coptic), was a direct successor of Phoenician, though certain letter values were changed to represent vowels.

Fitness (biology)

2008-07-15T00:54:00.000-07:00

Fitness (often denoted w in population genetics models) is a central concept in evolutionary theory. It describes the capability of an individual of certain genotype to reproduce, and usually is equal to the proportion of the individual's genes in all the genes of the next generation. If differences in individual genotypes affect fitness, then the frequencies of the genotypes will change over generations; the genotypes with higher fitness become more common. This process is called natural selection.

An individual's fitness is manifested through its phenotype. As phenotype is affected by both genes and environment, the fitnesses of different individuals with the same genotype are not necessarily equal, but depend on the environment in which the individuals live. However, since the fitness of the genotype is an averaged quantity, it will reflect the reproductive outcomes of all individuals with that genotype.

As fitness measures the quantity of the copies of the genes of an individual in the next generation, it doesn't really matter how the genes arrive in the next generation. That is, for an individual it is equally "beneficial" to reproduce itself, or to help relatives with similar genes to reproduce, as long as similar amount of copies of individual's genes get passed on to the next generation. Selection which promotes this kind of helper behaviour is called kin selection.

The concept is particularly difficult to understand and frequently misunderstood; J.B.S. Haldane when discussing it with John Maynard Smith is reported to have described it as "a bugger".

Tassel

2008-07-06T23:24:00.001-07:00

The tassel or sword knot is a lanyard -- usually of leather but sometimes of woven gold or silver bullion or more often metallic lace -- looped around the hand to prevent the sword being lost if it is dropped. Although they have a practical function, sword knots often had a decorative design. For example, the British Army generally adopted a white leather strap with a large acorn knot made out of gold wire for infantry officers at the end of the 19th century; such acorn forms of tassels were said to be 'boxed', which was the way of securing the fringe of the tassel along its bottom line such that the strands could not separate and become entangled or lost. Many sword knots were also made of silk with a fine, ornamental alloy gold or silver metal wire woven into it in a specified pattern.

The art and history of tassels are known by its French name, passementerie, or Posamenten as it was called in German. The military output of the artisans called passementiers (ornamental braid, lace, cord, or trimmings makers) is evident in catalogs of various military uniform and regalia makers of centuries past. The broader art form of passementerie, with its divisions of Decor, Clergy and Nobility, Upholstery, Coaches and Livery, and Military, is covered in a few books on that subject, none of which are in English

Adaptive origins of skin color variation

2008-06-29T22:35:00.000-07:00

Brown skin is the likely ancestral (or original) skin color among modern humans (Harding et al 2000). This is due to modern humanity's common origin in equatorial Africa ~200,000 years ago (Tishkoff, 1996). Dark skin was crucial in this UV rich context given that a thick coat of UV protective body hair had long been selected against by this time (Rogers et al 2004) most likely in order to facilitate the evaporation of perspiration (ie the cooling of the body). This trait (dark skin) continues to be under strong selection in equatorial regions such as Africa, India, and New Guinea (Harding 2000 p 1355). Geneticists estimate that a relatively small group of humans left Africa ~60,000 years ago, and that the descendants of this group went on to populate the entire non-sub-Saharan African world. Those migrants that settled in non-African equatorial regions (such as the mentioned India, New Guinea, and/or Australia) retained most of the ancestral sequence at the MC1R locus (Harding 2000 p 1355), a gene strongly associated with determining skin color. Specifically, Harding et al (2000 p 1355) found that the haplotype sequences for Indians and New Guineans are virtually identical to those of continental sub-Saharan Africans (except for a small number of variants at silent sites).

The retention of the ancestral trait at the equator is due to natural selection for melanin pigment production which serves to protect the body from harmful UV rays (Jablonski 2006). Notably, given that hair is a part of the skin, the retention is also analogous to that which occurred for Natural afro-hair prior to pre-Holocene admixture events among people who settled in India and Australia. However, certain evidence suggests that, unlike skin color, Afro hair ceased to be under strong selection once dark skin arose ~1 million years ago (Harding 2000) (rather, it remained as a vestigial trait among Africans, Andamanese, and Melanesians and changed to straight in the north for adaptive reasons--see hair texture). In fact, dark skin is so selectively advantageous at the equator that initially light skinned native Americans who migrated to Mexico and/or South America experienced renewed selective pressure towards the evolution of dark skin. Thus, the question becomes, how and why did the lighter ('white') skin of people who migrated from Africa to northern Eurasia (within ~60,000 years ago) come about?

According to (Norton et al., 2006), light skin observed in Europeans, non-Indian Southeast Asians , East Asians and North Africa (Maghreb) is due to independent genetic mutations in at least three loci. They concluded that light pigmentation is at least partially due to sexual selection, however Jablonski postulates that the predominant reason revolved around the facilitation of vitamin D production in northern Eurasia (see hair texture).

Reproduction in plants

2008-06-22T23:30:00.000-07:00

In flowering plants,the anther produces male gametophytes, the sperm is produced in pollen grains, which attach to the stigma on top of a carpel, in which the female gametophytes (inside ovules) are located. After the pollen tube grows through the carpel's style, the sex cell nuclei from the pollen grain migrate into the ovule to fertilize the egg cell and endosperm nuclei within the female gametophyte in a process termed double fertilization. The resulting zygote develops into an embryo, while the triploid endosperm (one sperm cell plus two female cells) and female tissues of the ovule give rise to the surrounding tissues in the developing seed. The ovary, which produced the female gametophyte(s), then grows into a fruit, which surrounds the seed(s). Plants may either self-pollinate or cross-pollinate. Nonflowering plants like ferns, moss and liverworts use other means of sexual reproduction.

Ferns typically produce large diploid sporophytes with rhizomes, roots and leaves; and on fertile leaves called sporangium, spores are produced. The spores are released and germinate to produce short, thin gametophytes that are typically heart shaped, small and green in color. The gametophytes or thallus, produce both motile sperm in the antheridia and egg cells in separate archegonia. After rains or when dew deposits a film of water, the motile sperm are splashed away from the antheridia, which are normally produce on the top side of the thallus, and swim in the film of water to the antheridia where they fertilize the egg. To promote out crossing or cross fertilization the sperm are released before the eggs are receptive of the sperm, making it more likely that the sperm will fertilize the eggs of diffrent thallus. A zygote is formed after fertilization, which grows into a new sporophytic plant. The condition of having separate sporephyte and gametophyte plants is call alternation of generations. Other plants with similar reproductive means include the Psilotum, Lycopodium, Selaginella and Equisetum.

ULSI, WSI, SOC, 3D-IC

2008-06-15T23:26:00.000-07:00

To reflect further growth of the complexity, the term ULSI that stands for "Ultra-Large Scale Integration" was proposed for chips of complexity of more than 1 million transistors.

Wafer-scale integration (WSI) is a system of building very-large integrated circuits that uses an entire silicon wafer to produce a single "super-chip". Through a combination of large size and reduced packaging, WSI could lead to dramatically reduced costs for some systems, notably massively parallel supercomputers. The name is taken from the term Very-Large-Scale Integration, the current state of the art when WSI was being developed.

System-on-a-Chip (SoC or SOC) is an integrated circuit in which all the components needed for a computer or other system are included on a single chip. The design of such a device can be complex and costly, and building disparate components on a single piece of silicon may compromise the efficiency of some elements. However, these drawbacks are offset by lower manufacturing and assembly costs and by a greatly reduced power budget: because signals among the components are kept on-die, much less power is required (see Packaging, above).

Three Dimensional Integrated Circuit (3D-IC) has two or more layers of active electronic components that are integrated both vertically and horizontally into a single circuit. Communication between layers uses on-die signaling, so power consumption is much lower than in equivalent separate circuits. Judicious use of short vertical wires can substantially reduce overall wire length for faster operation.

Trance genres

2008-06-08T23:50:00.000-07:00

Trance music is broken into a large number of genres. Chronologically, the major genres are Classic trance, Acid trance, Progressive trance, and Uplifting Trance.Uplifting Trance is also known as "Anthem trance", "Epic trance", "Stadium trance" or "Euphoric trance".Closely related to Uplifting Trance is Euro-trance, which has become a general term for a wide variety of highly commercialized European dance music. Several subgenres are crossovers with other major genres of electronic music. For instance, tech trance is a mixture of trance and techno, and Ambient trance is a mixture of ambient and trance. Balearic beat, which is associated with the laid back vacation lifestyle of Ibiza, Spain, is often called "Ibiza trance". Similarly, Dream trance is sometimes called "Dream House", and is a subgenre of relaxing trance pioneered by Robert Miles in the mid 90s.

Another important distinction is between European trance and Goa trance which originated in Goa, India around the same time trance was evolving in Europe. Goa trance was influential in the formation of Psychedelic Trance, which features spazzy, spontaneous samples and other psychedelic elements. Trance is also very popular in Israel, with psychedelic trance producers such as Infected Mushroom and Yahel Sherman achieving world wide fame. The Israeli subgenre called Nitzhonot is a mixture of psychedelic and uplifting trance.

Ecology

2008-06-02T00:15:00.000-07:00

Modern sponges are predominantly marine, with some 150 species adapted to freshwater environments. Their habitats range from the inter-tidal zone to depths of 6,000 metres (19,680 feet). Certain types of sponges are limited in the range of depths at which they are found. Sponges are worldwide in their distribution, and range from waters of the polar regions to the tropical regions. Sponges are most abundant in both numbers of individuals and species in warmer waters.

Adult sponges are largely sessile, and live in an attached position. However, it has been noted that certain sponges can move slowly by directing their water current in a certain direction with myocytes. The greatest numbers of sponges are usually to be found where a firm means of fastening is provided, such as on a rocky ocean bottom. Some kinds of sponges are able to attach themselves to soft sediment by means of a root-like base. Sponges also live in quiet clear waters, because if the sediment is agitated by wave action or by currents, it tends to block the pores of the animal, lessening its ability to feed and survive.

Recent evidence suggests that a new disease called Aplysina red band syndrome (ARBS) is threatening sponges in the Caribbean. Aplysina red band syndrome causes Aplysina to develop one or more rust-coloured leading edges to their structure, sometimes with a surrounding area of necrotic tissue so that the lesion causes a contiguous band around some or all of the sponge's branch

Embedded systems

2008-05-28T00:37:00.001-07:00

Embedded systems use a variety of dedicated operating systems. In some cases, the operating system software is directly linked to the application to produce a monolithic special-purpose program. In the simplest embedded systems, there is no distinction between the OS and the application.

Embedded systems that have fixed deadlines use a real-time operating system such as VxWorks, eCos, QNX, and RTLinux.

Some embedded systems use operating systems such as Palm OS, Windows CE, BSD, and Linux, although such operating systems do not support real-time computing.

Windows CE shares similar APIs to desktop Windows but shares none of desktop Windows codebase.

However Linux has recently pulled ahead as a leader in embedded operating systems, due to its lack of royalties, vast capabilities, high performance, and potentially tiny memory footprint.

Understanding the Context

2008-05-27T07:31:00.001-07:00

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.

Overview of the Click Thinking Pack

2008-05-22T07:59:00.001-07:00

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:

2008-05-07T04:49:00.001-07:00

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

2008-04-28T05:56:00.001-07:00

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)

2008-04-21T06:20:00.000-07:00

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. 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

2008-04-14T04:59:00.001-07:00

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

2008-04-07T06:40:00.000-07:00

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

2008-03-30T19:42:00.000-07:00

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

2008-03-24T05:58:00.001-07:00

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

2008-03-17T06:49:00.000-07:00

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

2008-03-10T04:13:00.001-07:00

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.

Computer Printer

2008-02-19T22:00:00.000-08:00

A computer printer, or more usually a printer, produces a tough copy (permanent human-readable text and/or graphics) of documents stored in electronic form, generally on physical print media such as paper or transparencies. Many printers are mostly used as local computer peripherals, and are attached by a printer cable to a computer which serves as a text source. Some printers, commonly known as network printers, have built-in network interfaces (typically wireless or Ethernet), and can offer as a hardcopy device for any customer on the network. Individual printers are often planned to support both local and network linked users at the same time.

In addition, many modern printers can straight interface to electronic media such as memory sticks or memory cards, or to image capture devices such as digital cameras, scanners; some printers are combined with a scanners and/or fax machines in a single unit. Printers that contain non-printing features are sometimes called Multi-Function Printers (MFP) or Multi-Function Devices (MFD).

Solidus coin

2008-01-23T05:29:00.001-08:00

A solidus (the Latin word for solid) was originally a gold coin issued by the Romans.
Julian solidus, ca. 361.It was introduced by Constantine I in the AD 309–10, and was used from beginning to end the Byzantine Empire until the 10th century AD. The coin replaced the aureus as the main gold coin of the Roman Empire.
The name solidus had in advance been used by Diocletian (284-305) for the gold coin that he introduced, which is different from the solidus introduced by Constantine. The coin was strike at a theoretical worth of 1/72 of a Roman pound (about 4.5 grams). Solidi were wider and thinner than the aureus, with the keeping out of some dumpy issues from the Byzantine Empire. The weight and fineness of the solidus remained moderately constant throughout its long production, with few exceptions. Fractions of the solidus recognized as semisses (half-solidi) and tremissis (one-third solidi) were also produced.
Avitus tremissis, ca. 456.The word soldier is eventually derived from solidus, referring to the solidi with which soldiers were paid.

Olympic History

2008-01-07T09:20:00.000-08:00

In 776 B.C. the early Olympic Games began in ancient Greece. The Games were so important to the Greek people, that they used periods in between the Games as a method of dating important historical events. The prize the winners received included free food and lodging for life. Winners were mentioned in poems, their figures set in sculpture, and their achievements known throughout Greece. To put it simply, winning the Olympic games made you a hero.

Uses of Ginger

2007-12-14T06:01:00.000-08:00

There are array of uses suggested for ginger. A tea brewed from the is a folk medicine for colds. Ginger ale and ginger beer have been suggested as "stomach settlers" for generation in countries where the beverages are made and ginger water was commonly used to avoid heat cramps in the US. Ginger has also been historically used to take care of inflammation which some scientific studies support, though one arthritis trial showed ginger to be no better than a placebo or ibuprofen. Research on rats suggests that ginger may be valuable for treating diabetes.

Cricket in India

2007-12-06T05:38:00.000-08:00

without doubt the first sport that comes to mind when one thinks of Indian sports today is cricket. Brought to India by her British colonisers, cricket so captured the nation’s thoughts that observers are more or less agreed that today it is the one religion that unites India.
In cities like Calcutta, with everybody glued to their TV sets, life grinds to a stop the progress of the days the Indian team is playing. One-day gear and test matches stimulate equal eagerness; for together, if the match is being played on Indian earth, which by the way supports spin slightly than pace, you’ll get aptitude crowds and a emotional atmosphere seldom matched anywhere outside the subcontinent.

Allegations of murky match fixing and a fixed string of matches where the team managed to “grab defeat from the jaws of victory” notwithstanding, the attractiveness of the game continues to rise. Such is the strength of participation with the game that it even affects India’s international relationships. In the result of the 1999 Kargil war, India unilaterally overhanging cricketing relations with Pakistan. The discuss on whether politics and sports should mix enlivens many a discussion, and is yet unresolved.

Adam Smith

2007-11-28T05:57:00.000-08:00

He was born in 1723 in Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland, fatherless. The accurate date of his birth is unidentified. He was baptized June 5, 1723. At the age of fifteen, he begins his school at Glasgow and Oxford. In 1751, after he finished school, he was obtained a job at Glasgow University where he became the new Professor of judgment. There he lectured on beliefs, expression, jurisprudence and the political economy.

Just eight years after his training career began; he published his work. The Theory of ethical Sentiments. This show that he could write and he recognized himself in the world. In 1776, a query into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations was published. Immediately the book was a success. It had a remarkable effect on how people attention. Although it took him ten years to write, he became a very rich man from it.

Adam Sandler: the Funniest man Alive!

2007-11-20T04:19:00.000-08:00

With a hazardous brand of humor that has brought him legions of dedicated fans, Sandler's hit as an actor, stand-up comic, writer and producer is matched by his performance and songwriting skills. It is an shocking gift for lyric and melody that is front and center on Adam Sandler's very funny new Warner Bros. Records release What is Your surname featuring 14 new Sandler originals include such classics as The Goat Song, the Lonesome Kicker, Bad Boyfriend and Corduroy Blues.
What is Your Name continues the musical tradition Sandler began with at a standard Pace, Ode to My Carnd the extremely popular The Chanukah Song. With two platinum-selling, Grammy-nominated albums - They're All Gonna Laugh at you and What the Hell Happened to Me - Already to his credit, Sandler goes for a comedy-three peat with what’s Your Name. The move to an all-music format is a normal one, following his 21 city tour last summer, when he perform both creative material and his favorite childhood tunes, backed by a finest rock and roll band.

The Banyan Tree

2007-11-13T07:16:00.000-08:00

In India the Banyan Tree is consider as National tree. This huge tree overlooks over its neighbors and has the widest reaching roots of all known trees, easily covering several acres. It sends off new shoots from its roots, so that one tree is really a interweave of branches, roots, and trunks. The banyan tree restart and lives for an incredible length of time--thus it is thought of as the everlasting tree.

Its size and leafy shelter are valued in India as a place of relax and mirror image, not to mention defense from the hot sun! It is still the focus and gathering place for local councils and meetings. India has a long history of worship this tree; it figures importantly in many of the oldest stories of the nation.

A Team Player

2007-10-24T08:12:00.001-07:00

The superiority of being a team player is one that everyone should enjoy. A team player is someone with good qualities who makes contributions and has the force to motivate each one around him or her. This individuality can be used in many areas such as games, family life, and in the company. You are more expected to be hired in the production if you have and demonstrate the qualities of a team player. As the business climate gets tougher before it gets improved, it is time to hike the talk if you want to develop.

Managers will require all the cooperation they can get. To land a high paying job with a major business you need to be a team player. Having good qualities is one of the most significant characters you can have. Being a team performer thinks of the team as a whole and is not selfish in their views and decisions.

A Snapshot of Macro-Economics

2007-10-16T03:52:00.000-07:00

Economics is the learning of making choices. High school and college students all over required to take economic courses in order to achieve a diploma. Why is economics so important because it provides a guide for students for real-world situations Economics is divided into two types microeconomics and macroeconomics. Microeconomics is the study of economics at a slim level. For example absorbed on how a detailed business functions is microeconomics.
Studying the world economy is classified as Macroeconomics; its center on a much broader level. All students must understand the concept of insufficiency. Scarcity is a condition that occurs because society has unlimited wants and needs however the amount of property is limited. Unlimited wants and needs are what encourage us to create goods and services. We are never satisfied therefore we always have a want or need. On the other hand our income is limited.

A simple Girl

2007-10-09T03:08:00.001-07:00

Around and around it soared in brutal circles, tearing from side to side her animated temples. At a standstill, they did not do anything. Still, they simply laid there with faces of chalk, invalid of all human emotions. She could not look at them in hopes of relieve, for long. The cherry rivers that flowed across her eyes, streamed down her steaming cheeks, made vision impossible.
Life was simply the stack of decayed flesh that enclosed her. From his immortal lips hung the bodies of all those who died struggle for him and all those who had tampered with self luxury. For that, she dammed him for all eternity; in every form he understood she dammed him. He had been her guiding angle and now it became evident to her. No prayer would pass her conditions lips, for this had been his movement she had fought and they had lost other than just a clash.

A Civil Role Model

2007-09-25T05:01:00.001-07:00

The word civil carries a lot of power. The usage needs to be carefully considered when it's entered into a sentence or an expression. Civil means a wide difference of things. It can be defined as a way to be attentive of the forms required for good reproduction. It can also be a means to the needs and affairs of the common public. However, the latter of the two definitions can also be extended to include a definition of the private rights and the remedy sought by action or costume. The point is that the word civil has a greater significance that has been embraced by our American legal traditions. It is the premise that law is there to provide the people and the lawyers are nothing more than mere guardians of law.
These are thoughts that were measured during the class viewing of A Civil Action. In the events of the case, there were many concerns that were brought up about our permissible culture.

A Business Plan

2007-09-18T03:35:00.000-07:00

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.

A cold winter morning

2007-09-14T03:27:00.001-07:00

I am lying on a white, sandy beach with the glowing sun beating down directly on my tanned summer body. I notice the beautiful, Puerto Rican Cabana boy heading over to replenish my newly empty Margarita glass. I look around my private beach and at the crystal clear, sparkling ocean water tempting me warmly in to its open arms. I get up from my bed on the sand, walking gradually to the water. The sand is flaming my bare feet with such passion that I speed my walk up almost into a jog. As I reach the waterfront I stop, as a falling wave is heading toward my glazing body; I step closer to be in its direct path. I move smoothly in with such grace; I prepare myself for the cool, refreshing bath. I hear an alarm bell screaming, I look around in a panic as it is hurting my ears and giving me a powerful headache. My beach is wandering away, and then it is gone. The ‘warmness my body feels is gone.
I open my eyes; I am gloomy, lifeless room. My alarm clock is going off and the sound can only be compared with exhausted your fingernails across a chalkboard.

Coconut cream

2007-08-28T03:28:00.000-07:00

Coconut cream is an mixture of tattered coconut and water. Coconut cream may also be complete with milk instead of water to obtain a richer product. Coconut cream is very comparable to coconut milk but contain less water. The difference is mainly reliability. It has a thicker, more paste-like uniformity, while coconut milk is normally a liquid.

Creamed coconut is disproportionate as coconut cream. Creamed coconut is a very determined coconut takes out without the water. Like coconut oil, it is tough at a low room temperature. It is basically coconut cream ponder, and can be made into coconut cream by mixing it with water, or into coconut milk by adding it with a larger amount of water. It is naturally sold as a 200ml block in a plastic bag inside a small box. In the UK it is easily available (from £0.30 to £1.00 per 200ml block) in Asian convenience stores and in the Asian sections of large supermarkets.
Coconut cream is soaring in healthy medium chain fatty acids and is very wealthy in flavor. Coconut cream is used in Bangladeshi, and its nonalcoholic variant Virgin Piña Coladas, and Piña Coladas cooks often add coconut cream to rice to give it some flavor.

Java Coffee

2007-08-14T07:34:00.000-07:00

Java coffee is a coffee bent on the island of Java. In the USA, the term "Java" independently is slang for coffee generally. The Indonesian phrase Kopi Jawa refers not only to the origin of the coffee, but is used to distinguish the black, very sweet coffee, strong with powdered grains in the drink, from other forms of the drink.The Dutch began farming of coffee trees on Java (part of the Dutch East Indies) in the 17th century and it has been export internationally since. The coffee farming systems found on Java have changed significantly over time.
A rust disease in the late 1880s killed off much of the plantation stocks in Sukabumi, before distribution to Central Java and parts of East Java. The Dutch respond by replacing the Arabica firstly with Liberica (a tough, but somewhat unpleasant coffee) and later with Robusta. Today Java's old royally era plantations provide just a portion of the coffee grown on the island. Logo of Java programming language is a coffee cup.

Pollutants in water

2007-08-07T05:45:00.000-07:00

Pollutants in water consist of a large spectrum of chemicals, pathogens, and physical chemistry or sensory changes. A lot of the chemical substances are toxic. Pathogens can apparently produce waterborne diseases in either human or animal hosts. Alteration of water’s physical chemistry includes acidity, conductivity, temperature, and eutrophication. Eutrophication is the fertilization of surface water by nutrients that were previously scarce. Even many of the municipal water supplies in developed countries can present health risks.

Java

2007-07-31T07:47:00.000-07:00

Java (Javanese, Indonesian, and Sundanese: Jawa) is an land mass of Indonesia and the place of its capital city, Jakarta. Once the centre of controlling Hindu kingdoms and the heart of the colonial Dutch East Indies, Java now plays a governing role in the money-making and supporting life of Indonesia. With a population of 124 million, it is the most heavily populated island in the world; it is also one of the most thickly populated regions on Earth.

Java shaped mostly as the result of volcanic events, Java is the 13th leading island in the world and the fifth major island of Indonesia. A sequence of volcanic mountains forms an east-west spine along the island. It has three main languages, and most populace are bilingual, with Indonesian as their second language. While the popular of Javanese are Muslim (or at least supposedly Muslim), Java has a different mixture of religious beliefs and cultures.

Turmeric

2007-07-24T07:38:00.000-07:00

Turmeric (Curcuma longa) is a rhizomatous herbaceous continuing plant of the ginger family, Zingiberaceae which is citizen to tropical South Asia. It wants temperatures between 20 and 30 deg. C. and a significant amount of annual rainfall to succeed. Plants are gathered yearly for their rhizomes, and re-seeded from some of those rhizomes in the following season.It is also often pronounced as tumeric. It’s name vary according to region, in some Asian countries as kunyit.

Its rhizomes are boil for several hours and then dried in hot ovens, after which they are position into a deep orange-yellow powder generally used as a flavor in curries and for dyeing, other South Asian cuisine, and to impart color to mustard condiments. Its active component is curcumin and it has an bitter, earthy, peppery flavor.Sangli, a town in the southern part of the Indian state of Maharashtra, is the largest and most important trade centre for turmeric in Asia or maybe in the entire world.

Platonic love

2007-07-17T04:39:00.000-07:00

Platonic love in its recent well-liked sense is a non-sexual loving relationship, particularly in cases where one might simply assume otherwise. A simple exemplar of platonic relationships is a full of meaning, non-sexual (i.e. overtly romantic) friendship, not matter to gender pairings and not exclusive of close relatives.

At the equivalent time, this understanding is a misunderstanding of the nature of the Platonic perfect of love, which from its basis was that of a chaste but passionate love, based not on lack of concern but on spiritual change of the sex force, opening up vast expanses of subtler pleasures than sex. In its unique Platonic form, this love was intended to get the lovers closer to wisdom and the Platonic Form of Beauty. It is explained in depth in Plato's Phaedrus and Symposium. In the Phaedrus, it is said to be a type of heavenly madness that is a gift from the gods, and that its correct term is rewarded by the gods in the life after death; in the Symposium, the way by which love takes one to the form of attractiveness and wisdom is detailed.

MS-DOS

2007-07-08T23:21:00.000-07:00

MS-DOS (MicroSoft Disk Operating System) is an operating system commercialized by Microsoft. It was the commonly used member of the DOS family of operating systems and was the dominant operating system for the PC compatible platform during the 1980s. It has gradually been replaced on consumer desktop computers by a variety of generations of the Windows operating system.

MS-DOS was initially released in 1981 and had eight major versions released before Microsoft stopped development in 2000. It was the key product in Microsoft's growth from a programming languages company to varied software development firm, providing the company with essential revenue and marketing resources.

Kolkata

2007-07-03T22:56:00.001-07:00

Calcutta is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. It is located in eastern India on the east bank of the River Hooghly. The city has a population of almost 11 million, with an extended metropolitan population of over 14 million, making it the third-largest urban agglomeration and the third-largest city in India.

The city was very populated and served as the capital of India during the British Raj until 1911. Once the centre of modern education, science, culture and politics in India, Kolkata witnessed economic stagnation in the years following India's independence in 1947. However, since the year 2000, an economic rejuvenation has arrested the morbid decline, leading to a spurt in the city's growth. Like other large cities, Kolkata continues to struggle with urbanisation problems like poverty, pollution and traffic congestion.

A vibrant city with a distinct socio-political culture, Kolkata is noted for its revolutionary history, ranging from the Indian struggle for independence to the leftist and trade union movements.

Business

2007-06-30T00:09:00.001-07:00

In economic business is the social science of managing people to systematize and maintain collective productivity toward accomplishing particular imaginative and productive goals, usually to make profit.The etymology of "business" refers to the state of being busy, in the circumstance of the individual as well as the community or society. In other words, to be busy is to be doing commercially viable and profitable work.

The term "business" has at least three usages, depending on the scope — the general usage (above), the particular usage to refer to a particular company or corporation, and the comprehensive usage to refer to a particular market sector, such as "the record business," "the computer business," or "the business community" -- the community of suppliers of goods and services.

The singular "business" can be a legally-recognized entity within an economically free society, wherein individuals systematize based on expertise and skill bring about social and technological expansion.

However, the exact definition of business is disputable as is business philosophy; for example, most Marxist use "means of production" as a rough synonym for "business." Socialist advocate either government, public, or worker ownership of most sizable businesses.

Deadheading

2007-06-26T02:20:00.001-07:00

Deadheading is the act of removing spent flowers or flowerheads for aesthetics, to prolong bloom for up to several weeks or endorse rebloom, or to put off seeding.
Deadheading is beneficial to most herbaceous ornamental plants. It can get better overall look of a plant, give a fresh new look to an otherwise finished or even distracting item, and can promote vegetative and root increase rather than seed production and help retain the plant's healthy appearance.

People

2007-06-22T21:43:00.001-07:00

People are a group of humans, either with not mentioned traits, or specific characteristics (e.g. the people of Spain or the people of the Plains).
The term people is often used in English as the suppletive plural of person. However, the word persons is sometimes used in place of people, particularly when it would be ambiguous with its collective sense (e.g. missing persons instead of missing people). The term people can together refer to all humans or it can be used to identify the citizens of a nation, or members of a tribe, ethnic, or religious group. People of color is a phrase used to describe people with skin color darker than that of white people.

Genetics

2007-06-18T21:30:00.000-07:00

Genetics is the science of heredity and variation in living organisms.Knowledge that desired characteristics were present at birth has been implicitly used since prehistoric times for improving crop plants and animals through selective breeding. However, the modern science of genetics, which seeks to understand the mechanisms of inheritance, only began with the work of Gregor Mendel in the mid-1800s.

Mendel observed that inheritance is basically a discrete process with specific traits that are inherited in an independant manner. These basic units of inheritance is now known as "genes". In the cells of organisms, genes exist actually in the structure of the molecule DNA and the information genes contain is used to create and control the components of cells. Although genetics plays a large role in determining the appearance and behavior of organisms, it is the interaction of genetics with the environment an organism experiences that determines the ultimate outcome. For example, while genes play a role in determining a person's height, the nutrition and health that person experiences in childhood also have a large effect.

Dry foods

2007-06-15T02:50:00.001-07:00

Flake food is a type of proprietary or artificially manufactured fish food inspired by a wide variety of tropical and saltwater fish and invertebrates. It is ideally suited to top dwellers and mid-water fish though numerous bottom dwelling species consume flake food once it has settled on the bottom. Flake food is baked to remove moisture and create the flaking, thus allowing for a longer shelf life. Generally the more moisture a particular example of fish food contains, the more readily it will deteriorate in quality.
Dry foods is also available as pellets, sticks, tablets, granules, and wafers, manufactured to float or sink, depending on the species they are designed to feed.

Neem cake

2007-06-10T22:17:00.000-07:00

Neem cake natural manure is the by-product obtained in the process of cold pressing of Neem fruits and kernels, and the solvent removal process for neem oil cake. It is a potential source of organic manure under the Bureau of India Standards, Neem has established considerable potential as a fertilizer. For this purpose, neem cake and neem leaves are particularly promising. Puri , in his book on neem has given details about neem seed cake as manure and nitrification inhibitor. The author has described that after processing neem cake can be used for partial replacement of poultry and cattle feed.

Exploration

2007-06-06T22:26:00.001-07:00

Exploration is the act of searching or traveling for the purpose of discovery, e.g. of unknown regions, including space, for oil, gas, coal, ores, caves, water (Mineral exploration or prospecting), or information.
The term can also be used to describe the first incursions of peoples from one culture into the geographical and cultural environment of others. Although exploration has existed as long as human beings, its peak is seen as being during the Age of Discovery when European navigators travelled around the world discovering new worlds and cultures.

In scientific research, exploration is one of three purposes of research.Exploration is the attempt to develop an initial, rough understanding of some phenomenon.

Ice

2007-05-31T21:29:00.001-07:00

Ice is the name given to any one of the 14 known solid phases of water. Though in non-scientific contexts, it usually describes ice Ih, which is the most abundant of these phases. It is a crystalline solid, which can appear transparent or an opaque bluish-white color depending on the presence of impurities such as air. The addition of other materials such as soil may further alter appearance. The most common phase transition to ice Ih occurs when liquid water is cooled below 0 °C (273.15 K, 32 °F) at standard atmospheric pressure. However, it can also deposit from a vapor with no intervening liquid phase such as in the formation of frost. Ice appears in varied forms such as hail, ice cubes, and glaciers. It plays an important role with many meteorological phenomena. The ice caps of the polar regions are of significance for the global climate and particularly the water cycle.

Prawn

2007-05-27T21:12:00.001-07:00

Prawns are shrimp-like crustaceans, belonging to the sub-order Dendrobranchiata .
Prawns are illustrious from the superficially similar shrimp by the gill structure which is branching in prawns, but is lamellar in shrimp. The sister taxon to Dendrobranchiata is Pleocyemata, which contains all the true shrimp, crabs, lobsters, etc.

In various forms of English, the name "prawn" is often applied to shrimp as well, generally the larger species, such as Leander serratus. In the United States, according to the 1911 Encyclopedia, the word "prawn" usually indicates a freshwater shrimp or prawn. In Middle English, the word "prawn" is recorded as prayne or prane; no cognate form can be found in any other language. It has often been connected to the Latin perna, a ham-shaped shellfish, but this is due to an old scholarly error that linked perna and parnocchie with prawne-fishes or shrimps. In fact, the Old Italian perna and pernocchia meant a shellfish that yielded nacre, or mother-of-pearl.

Polo

2007-05-21T22:37:00.001-07:00

Polo is a team sport played outdoor on horseback in which the objective is to score goals next to an opposing team. Riders score by driving a white wooden or plastic ball (size 3-3,5 inches, weight 4,25-4,75 ounces) into the differing team's goal using a long-handled mallet. Goals are only valid if the scoring rider is mounted. The traditional sport of polo is played outdoors, and each polo team consists of four riders and their mounts. Play occurs in seven-minute periods, called chukkas. Six chukkas is the normal length of play; however, depending on league rules, matches can also have four or eight chukkas.

The modern indoor variant is called arena polo, and another current variant is snow polo, which is played either outdoor or indoor on snow on a frozen ground or ice. Each team usually consists of 3 players and also the equipment differ from the sport of polo. Other variants are e.g. elephant polo and bike polo, and all these sports are considered as divide sports because of the differences in the composition of teams, equipment, rules, game facilities etc.

Motorcycle

2007-05-16T21:40:00.000-07:00

A motorcycle is a two-wheeled , single-track motor vehicle powered by an engine. Styles of motorcycles changes according to the task for which they are designed. Motorcycles are the most widespread the least expensive forms of motorised transport in many parts of the world. Street and off-road motorcycle are the two major type of motorcycle. Within these, there are many different types of motorcycles for many different purposes.Choppers,Cruisers,electric motorcycles,Mini bikes,Mopeds,Scooters etc are street motorcycle.Motocross,Supermotos,Dual-sports,Enduros are the off-road motorcycle.
A motorcycle is broadly defined by law in some countries for the purposes of registration, taxation or licensing riders as a two-wheel motor vehicle "fit to drive." Other countries distinguished between mopeds and other small bikes and the larger, more powerful vehicles.

Columbia River

2007-05-13T21:26:00.001-07:00

The Columbia River is a river located in British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest of the United States. It is the biggest river in volume flowing into the Pacific Ocean from North America, and the second largest in the United States. It is the largest hydroelectric power producing river in North America. From its headwaters to the Pacific Ocean it flows 1,270 miles, and drains 258,000 square miles.

Greenhouse

2007-05-08T22:31:00.000-07:00

A greenhouse (also called a glasshouse or hothouse) is a building anywhere plants are cultivated.A greenhouse is a structure with a glass or plastic roof and regularly glass or plastic walls; it heats up because inward solar radiation from the sun warms plants, soil, and other things inside the building. Air warmed by the heat from hot interior surfaces is retained in the building by the roof and wall. These structures range in size from small sheds to very large buildings. The glass used for a greenhouse works as a selective transmission medium for different spectral frequencies, and its effect is to trap energy within the greenhouse, which heats both the plants and the ground inside it. This warms the air near the ground, and this air is prevented from rising and flowing away, in addition to the fact that infrared radiation cannot pass through the greenhouse glass. This can be established by opening a small window near the roof of a greenhouse: the temperature drops significantly. This principle is the basis of the autovent automatic cooling system. Greenhouses thus work by trapping electromagnetic
radiation and preventing convection. Miniature greenhouses are known as a cold frame Check out he OSU Greenhouses

Willamette River

2007-05-04T04:44:00.000-07:00

The Willamette River is a tributary of the Columbia River, approximately 240 mi long, in northwestern Oregon in the United States. Flowing northward between the Coastal Range and Cascade Range, the river and its tributaries form a basin called the Willamette Valley containing the largest inhabitants centers of Oregon, including Portland, which sits along both sides of the river near its mouth on the Columbia. Its lush valley is fed by prolific precipitation on the western side of the Cascades, forming one of the most productive agricultural regions of North America that was the destination for many if not most of the emigrants along the Oregon Trail. The river was an important transportation route throughout much of the early history of the state, furnishing a means of conveying the vast timber and agricultural resources of the state to the outside world.

Description

The Willamette rises in three separate forks in the mountains south and southeast of Eugene, at the southern end of the Willamette Valley. The Middle Fork and North Fork raise on the western side of the Cascades between Three Sisters south to Diamond Peak, with the Middle Fork in receipt of the North Fork northwest of Oakridge and flowing northwest from side to side the mountains to the southern end of the Willamette Valley. The Coast Fork rises in the lower mountains south of Cottage Grove, flowing north to join the Middle Fork 2 mi southeast of Eugene.

From Eugene, the joint river flows NNW across the plain of the southern Willamette Valley to Corvallis, and then follows a zigzag course past Albany and around the isolated hills in the central valley, passing west of downtown Salem. From Salem it flows north in a roundabout course across the northwest plain of the valley, reaching the hills at Newberg, where it turns sharply ENE along the hills, passing through an opening in the hills at Oregon City, the position of the Falls of the Willamette and the head of navigation. From Oregon City it flows northwest, past Lake Oswego and Milwaukie on the south edge of Portland, then passing between east and west Portland, where it is spanned by a series of urban bridges. Downstream of downtown Portland it flows northwest through the industrial port area of Portland Harbor, then splitting into two channels around Sauvie Island, both of which hook around to enter the Columbia from the west, with the main channel entering on the north edge of Portland and the smaller Multnomah Channel entering just about 15 mi NNW at St.Helens.

Postage Stamp

2007-04-30T21:25:00.001-07:00

A postage stamp is proof of pre-paying a fee for postal services. Usually a small paper rectangle which is attached to an envelope, signifying that the person sending the letter or package has paid for delivery; it is the most popular option to using a prepaid-postage envelope.

History

In it he argued that it would be well again for the sender to pay the cost of delivery, rather than the addressee who could refuse the letter if they could not or did not want to pay, as occasionally happened at the time. He also argued for a identical rate of one penny per letter, no matter where its end. Accounting costs for the government would thus be cut; postage would no longer be charged according to how far a letter had traveled, which necessary each letter to have an individual entry in the Royal Mail's accounts. Chalmers' ideas were finally adopted by Parliament in August, 1839 and the General Post Office launched the Penny Post service the next year in 1840 with two prepaid-postage symbolic envelopes or wrappers: one valued at a penny and one valued at two pence.

Black capped Chickadee

2007-04-24T22:24:00.001-07:00

The Black-capped Chickadee, Parus atricapillus or Poecile atricapilla, is a small songbird, a passerine bird in the tit family Paridae.Adults have a black cap and bib by means of white sides to the face. Their underparts are white with rusty brown on the flanks; their back is grey. They have a short dark bill, short wings and a long tail.Their breeding habitat is mixed or deciduous woods in Canada, Alaska and the northern United States. They nest in a hole in a tree; the pair excavates the nest, using a natural cavity or sometimes an old woodpecker nest. They may interbreed with Carolina Chickadees or Mountain Chickadees where their ranges overlap.They are permanent residents, but sometimes move south inside their range in winter. On cold winter nights, these birds reduce their body temperature to conserve energy.
The call is the familiar chick-a-dee-dee-dee which gave this bird its name. Recent study of the call shows that the number of dees indicates the level of threat from nearby predators. This is the provincial bird of New Brunswick and the state bird of Maine and Massachusetts.Taxonomic note: Most authorities retain Poecile as a subgenus within a broader view of the genus Parus, but the American Ornithologists' Union treats Poecile as a distinct genus.

Traffic light

2007-04-18T22:59:00.001-07:00

A traffic light or traffic signal is a signaling machine positioned at a road meeting point or walker crossing to indicate when it is secure to drive, ride or walk, using a worldwide color code.

History

In the 1920s, after continued obliteration of a normal traffic light in its Tipperary Hill Irish neighborhood, the City of Syracuse in the United States gave up and installed a traffic light with green on the top. The Irish had objected to the fact that "British" red was placed above "Irish" green.On 10 December 1868, the first traffic lights were installed outside the Houses of Parliament in London. They resembled railway signals of the time, with semaphore arms and red and green gas lamps for night use.

The modern electric traffic light is an American formation. As early as 1912, Salt Lake City policeman Lester Wire set up the first red-green electric traffic lights. On 5 August 1914, the American Traffic Signal Company installed a traffic signal system on the corner of 105th Street and Euclid Avenue in Cleveland, Ohio. Based on the design of James Hoge, it had two colors, red and green, and a signal to give a warning for color changes. The first three-color traffic lights were introduced in New York and Detroit in 1920.

The first interrelated traffic signal system could be seen in Salt Lake City, Utah in 1917, with six linked intersections restricted at the same time from a manual switch. Automatic control of interrelated traffic lights was introduced March 1922 in Houston, Texas

The first automatic tentative traffic lights in England were deployed in Wolverhampton in 1927.

Garrett Morgan is sometimes incorrectly credited as the inventor of the traffic light. See

Ampelmännchen traffic lights have come to be seen as a nostalgic sign for the former German Democratic Republic.