Sunday, June 22, 2008

Sporophyte

All land plants, and some algae, have life cycles in which a haploid gametophyte generation alternates with a diploid sporophyte, the generation of a plant or alga that has a double set of chromosomes. A multicellular sporophyte generation or phase is present in the life cycle of all land plants and in some green algae. For common flowering plants (Angiosperms), the sporophyte generation comprises almost their whole life cycle (i.e. whole green plant, roots etc), except phases of small reproductive structures (pollen and ovule).

The sporophyte produces spores (hence the name), by meiosis. These meiospores develop into a gametophyte. Both the spores and the resulting gametophyte are haploid, meaning they only have one set of homologous chromosomes. The mature gametophyte produces male or female gametes (or both) by mitosis. The fusion of male and female gametes produces a diploid zygote which develops into a new sporophyte. This cycle is known as alternation of generations or alternation of phases.

n the normal course of events, the zygote and sporophyte will have a full double set of chromosomes again. An exception is when a diploid and haploid gamete fuse, resulting in a triploid sporophyte, which will usually be sterile, as dividing three sets of chromosomes into two halves causes complications.

Bryophytes (mosses, liverworts and hornworts) have a dominant gametophyte stage on which the adult sporophyte is dependent on the gametophyte for nutrition. The embryo of the sporophyte develops from the zygote within the female sex organ or archegonium, and in its early development is therefore nurtured by the gametophyte. Because this embryo-nurturing feature of the life cycle is common to all land plants they are known collectively as the Embryophytes.

Most algae have dominant gametophyte generations, but in some species the gametophytes and sporophytes are morphologically similar (isomorphic). An independent sporophyte is the dominant form in all clubmosses, horsetails, ferns, gymnosperms, and angiosperms (flowering plants) that have survived to the present day. Early land plants had sporophytes that produced identical spores (isosporous or homosporous) but the ancestors of the gymnosperms evolved complex heterosporous life cycles in which the spores producing male and female gametophytes were of different sizes, the female megaspores tending to be larger, and fewer in number, than the male microspores.

During the Devonian period several plant groups independently evolved heterospory and subsequently the habit of endospory, in which single megaspores were retained within the sporangia of the parent sporophyte, instead of being freely liberated into the environment as in ancestral exosporous plants. These endosporic megaspores contained within them a miniature multicellular female gametophyte complete with female sex organs or archegonia containing oocytes which were fertilised by free-swimming sperm produced by windborne miniatuarised male gametophytes in the form of pre-pollen. The resulting zygote developed into the next sporophyte generation while still retained within the pre-ovule, the single large female meiospore or megaspore contained in the modified sporangium or nucellus of the parent sporophyte. The evolution of heterospory and endospory were among the earliest steps in the evolution of seeds of the kind produced by gymnosperms and angiosperms today.

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Field-programmable gate array

A field-programmable gate array is a semiconductor device containing programmable logic components called "logic blocks", and programmable interconnects. Logic blocks can be programmed to perform the function of basic logic gates such as AND, and XOR, or more complex combinational functions such as decoders or mathematical functions. In most FPGAs, the logic blocks also include memory elements, which may be simple flip-flops or more complete blocks of memory.

A hierarchy of programmable interconnects allows logic blocks to be interconnected as needed by the system designer, somewhat like a one-chip programmable breadboard. Logic blocks and interconnects can be programmed by the customer or designer, after the FPGA is manufactured, to implement any logical function—hence the name "field-programmable".

FPGAs are usually slower than their application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) counterparts, cannot handle as complex a design, and draw more power (for any given semiconductor process). But their advantages include a shorter time to market, ability to re-program in the field to fix bugs, and lower non-recurring engineering costs. Vendors can sell cheaper, less flexible versions of their FPGAs which cannot be modified after the design is committed. The designs are developed on regular FPGAs and then migrated into a fixed version that more resembles an ASIC.

"Complex Programmable Logic Device" (CPLDs) are an alternative for simpler designs. They also retain their programming over powerdowns.

To configure ("program") an FPGA or CPLD you specify how you want the chip to work with a logic circuit diagram or a source code using a hardware description language (HDL). The HDL form might be easier to work with when handling large structures because it's possible to just specify them numerically rather than having to draw every piece by hand. On the other hand, schematic entry might allow for a more tight specification of what you want.

Going from schematic/HDL source files to actual configuration: The source files are fed to a software suite from the FPGA/CPLD vendor that through different steps will produce a file. This file is then transferred to the FPGA/CPLD via a serial interface (JTAG) interface or to external memory device like an EEPROM.

Sunday, June 08, 2008

Ultra Music Festival

Ultra Music Festival is an outdoor electronic music event held annually in Miami, Florida during the Winter Music Conference which occurs annually during the month of March. It is a 2-day event (although it was a 1-day event until 2007) that takes place across 12 different stages featuring over 200 artists, DJs, producers and promoters.

From 2001 to 2005, UMF was held outdoors in Bayfront Park, Miami. The first two UMFs (1999, & 2000) were actually held on South Beach in Miami Beach, however UMF attendance exceeded the possible beach permits and was subsequently moved to the venue of Bayfront Park. The top DJs and artists of the evening perform in the amphitheater designed to hold thousands of attendees. There is a second main stage (called the 'Sound stage') and 10 other specialized music areas scattered throughout the park featuring Drum and Bass, House, Techno, Electro, Breakbeats, Trance, and other various styles of electronic music.
In 2005 the concert was so popular that it sold out. With the festival growing so big, in 2006 the Miami event had been moved to an even bigger venue, Bicentennial Park, next door to its past home. In 2007, with Winter Music Conference in full swing, Ultra Music Festival had its first 2-Day Event held at Bicentennial Park with a record breaking 50,000+ electronic music fans. Ultra Music Festival celebrated its 10th anniversary on Friday, March 28th and Saturday March 29th, 2008, where an announcement was made that the festival had set a new City of Miami record for the number of tickets sold at a single event.

Ultra Music Festival, in association with Ultra Records, produces an event in New York City's Central Park called ULTRA:NY, which also sold out in 2005. The success has brought Ultra:NY back for a second year.

Monday, June 02, 2008

Human circulatory system

The main components of the human circulatory system are the heart, the blood, and the blood vessels. The circulatory system includes: the pulmonary circulation, a "loop" through the lungs where blood is oxygenated; and the systemic circulation, a "loop" through the rest of the body to provide oxygenated blood. An average adult contains five to six quarts (roughly 4.7 to 5.7 liters) of blood, which consists of plasma that contains red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets.

Two types of fluids move through the circulatory system: blood and lymph. The blood, heart, and blood vessels form the cardiovascular system. The lymph, lymph nodes, and lymph vessels form the lymphatic system. The cardiovascular system and the lymphatic system collectively make up the circulatory system.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

The library as an intermediary

Generally, operating systems provide a library that sits between normal programs and the rest of the operating system, usually the C library (libc), such as glibc. This library handles the low-level details of passing information to the kernel and switching to supervisor mode, as well as any data processing and preparation which does not need to be done in privileged mode. Ideally, this reduces the coupling between the operating system and the application, and increases portability.

On exokernel based systems, the library is especially important as an intermediary. On exokernels, OSes shield user applications from the very low level kernel API, and provide abstractions and resource management

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Understanding the Context

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.

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Overview of the Click Thinking Pack

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.

Wednesday, May 07, 2008

BACK TO SCHOOL SAFETY ALERT:

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.

Monday, April 28, 2008

All-Terrain Vehicle Safety

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.

Monday, April 21, 2008

J-Hook Shaped Stake style (Anchor Types)

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.

Monday, April 14, 2008

Anchoring/Securing/Counterweighing Guidelines

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.

Monday, April 07, 2008

Soccer Goal Injuries and Deaths

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.

Sunday, March 30, 2008

B.C.-Canada Place officially closes doors

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.”

Monday, March 24, 2008

Kent Kickin' Mini-Scooters

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.

Monday, March 17, 2008

Trampoline Safety Alert

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.

Monday, March 10, 2008

Accumulator

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.

Monday, February 25, 2008

Roll-to-roll processing,

Roll-to-roll processing, also known as 'web' processing, is the process of creating electronic devices on a roll of flexible plastic or metal foil. Large circuits made with thin-film transistors and other devices can be easily patterned onto these large substrates, which can be up to a few metres wide and 50 km long. Some of the devices can be patterned directly, much like an inkjet printer deposits ink. For most semiconductors, however, the devices must be patterened using photolithography techniques.

Sunday, February 17, 2008

Tissue engineering

One of the goals of tissue engineering is to create artificial organs for patients that need organ transplants. Biomedical engineers are currently researching methods of creating such organs. In one case bladders have been grown in lab and transplanted successfully into patients. Bioartificial organs, which utilize both synthetic and biological components, are also a focus area in research, such as with hepatic assist devices that utilize liver cells within an artificial bioreactor construct.

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

A general view on Computer

A computer is a machine capable of processing data according to a program — a list of instructions. The data to be processed may possibly represent many types of information counting numbers, text, pictures, or sound. The short definition for COMPUTER is “common oriented machine particularly used for technical and educational research”.

Computers can be very versatile. In actual fact, they are universal information processing machines. As said by the Church-Turing thesis, a computer with a certain minimum threshold capability is in principle competent of performing the tasks of any other computer, from those of a personal digital supporter to a supercomputer. So, the same computer designs have been modified for tasks from processing company payrolls to controlling industrial robots. Modern electronic computers also have great speed and capability for information processing compared to earlier designs, and they have become exponentially very powerful over the years (it is a phenomenon known as Moore's Law).

Computers are obtainable in many physical forms. The original computers were the size of a large room, and such great computing facilities still exist for specialized scientific computation - supercomputers - and for the business deal processing requirements of large companies, in general called mainframes. Smaller computers for personage use, called personal computers, and their handy equivalent, the notebook computer, are ubiquitous information-processing and communication tools and are perhaps what most non-experts imagine of as "a computer". However, the most ordinary form of computer in use today is the embedded computer, small computers used to manage another device. The Embedded computers control machines from the fighter planes to digital cameras.

Sunday, November 04, 2007

Box

This article is about the container or vessel called a box. For other uses, see Box (disambiguation).

An elaborate wooden box Boxes are extremely variable receptacles. When no shape is described, a typical rectangular box may be expected. Nevertheless, a box may have a horizontal cross section that is square, elongated, round or oval; sloped or domed top surfaces, or non-vertical sides. A box normally may be opened by raising, sliding or removing the lid, which may be hinged and/or secure by a catch, clasp, or lock. Whatever its shape or purpose or the material of which it is formed, it is the direct descendant of the chest, one of the most ancient articles of marital furniture. Its uses are innumerable, and the name, preceded by a qualifying adjective, has been given to many objects of imaginative or antiquarian interest. Objects are often placed inside boxes, for a multiplicity of reasons - see storage.

Sunday, October 28, 2007

The real facts about Neptune

Neptune is the eighth planet from the Sun and the fourth largest (by diameter) of the planet. Neptune is smaller in diameter but bigger in mass than Uranus. Neptune's composition is almost certainly alike to Uranus': various "ices" and rock with about 15% hydrogen and a little helium. Like Uranus, but unlike Jupiter and Saturn, it can not have a distinct internal layering but rather to be more or less uniform in composition. But there is most expected a small core (about the mass of the Earth) of rock-strewn material. Its atmosphere is generally hydrogen and helium with a minute amount of methane.

Neptune's blue color is mainly the result of absorption of red light by methane in the atmosphere but there is a number of additional as-yet-unidentified chromophore which gives the clouds their rich blue tint. Like Jupiter and Saturn, Neptune has an inner heat source -- it radiates more than, twice as much energy as it receives from the Sun.

Neptune also has rings. Earth-based observations showed just faint arcs rather than complete rings, but Voyager 2's images showed them to be entire rings with bright clumps. One of the rings looks to have a curious twisted structure (right). Like Uranus and Jupiter, Neptune's rings are extremely dark but their composition is unknown.

Neptune's rings have been noted names: the outermost is Adams (which contains three important arcs now named Liberty, Equality and Fraternity), next is an unnamed ring co-orbital with Galatea, then Leverrier (whose outer extensions are called Lassell and Arago), and lastly the faint but broad Galle. Neptune's magnetic field is, like Uranus', oddly oriented and most likely generated by motions of conductive material (probably water) in its middle layers.

Friday, October 26, 2007

The real facts about Pluto

Pluto orbits away from the orbit of Neptune (usually). It is greatly smaller than any of the official planets and currently classified as a "dwarf planet". Pluto is lesser than seven of the solar system's moons (the Moon, Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto, Titan and Triton). Pluto has been given number 134340 in the minor planet catalog. Pluto's orbit is extremely eccentric. At times it is nearer to the Sun than Neptune (as it was from January 1979 thru February 11 1999). Pluto rotates in the conflicting direction from most of the other planets.

Pluto is safe in a 3:2 resonance with Neptune; i.e. Pluto's orbital period is just 1.5 times longer than Neptune's. Its orbital inclination is as well much higher than the other planets'. Thus though it looks that Pluto's orbit crosses Neptune's, it actually doesn't and they will never collide. Pluto's composition is unidentified, but its density (about 2 gm/cm3) indicates that it is almost certainly a mixture of 70% rock and 30% water ice much like Triton. The bright areas of the surface appear to be covered with ices of nitrogen with lesser amounts of (solid) methane, ethane and carbon monoxide. The composition of the darker areas of Pluto's surface is unidentified but may be due to primordial organic material or photochemical reactions driven by cosmic rays.

Little is recognized about Pluto's atmosphere, but it perhaps consists primarily of nitrogen with some carbon monoxide and methane. It is very tenuous, the surface pressure being only some microbars. Pluto's atmosphere can exist as a gas only when Pluto is near its perihelion; for the greater part of Pluto's long year, the atmospheric gases are frozen into ice. Close to perihelion, it is likely that some of the atmosphere escapes to space possibly even interacting with Charon. NASA mission planners want to appear at Pluto while the atmosphere is still unfrozen.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Butter chicken

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

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

Monday, October 08, 2007

Fresh skin-care tips

Select fresh, organically grown fruit and vegetables for the highest benefits. Avoid making more than you require for a single application.Clean and sanitize all countertops and mixing utensils ahead of making any of the recipes. Clean all fruit and vegetables before using as ingredients. Leave all ingredients out of the fridge for up to an hour before integration. Don't let fruit acquire any warmer than room temperature.

Fresh fruit and vegetables are especially high in acids. If you apply anything to your skin and encounter a burning sensation, take out immediately and apply cool water.If you are in the care of a dermatologist and on acne medications, please consult with your physician first.

Sunday, September 23, 2007

Traffic Claming

Traffic calming is a set of strategies used by urban planners and traffic engineers which aims to slow down traffic and get better safety for pedestrians and bicyclists, although some of these features can also be hazardous to cyclists. It is now comparatively common in Europe, especially Northern Europe; less so in North America.Traffic calming has conventionally been justified on the grounds of pedestrian safety and reduction of noise and local air pollution which are side effects of the traffic. However, it has become more and more apparent that streets have many social and recreational functions which are severely impaired by fast car traffic. For much of the twentieth century, streets were designed by engineers who were charged only with ensuring traffic flow and not with development other functions of streets. The rationale for traffic reassuring is now broadening to include designing for these functions.

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Asian Paradise Flycatcher

The Asian Paradise Flycatcher, also known as the Common Paradise Flycatcher, is a medium-sized passerine bird. It was in the past classified with the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae, but the paradise flycatchers, monarch flycatchers and Australasian fantails are now usually grouped with the drongos in the family Dicruridae, which has the majority of its members in Australasia and tropical southern Asia.

The Asian glory Flycatcher breeds from Turkestan to Manchuria. It is wandering, wintering in tropical Asia. There are resident populations further south, for example in southern India and Sri Lanka, so both visiting migrants and the in the vicinity reproduction subspecies take place in these areas in winter.

This species is typically originated in thick forests and other well-wooded habitats. Three or four eggs are laid in a cup shell in a tree.

The adult male Asian Paradise Flycatcher is about 20 cm long, but the long tail streamers double this. It has a black crested head, stale joke upperparts and pale grey underparts.

By their second year, the males of the wandering Indian race T. p. paradisi begin to obtain white feathers. By the third year, the male plumage is totally white, other than the black head. Males of the sedentary Sri Lankan race T. p. ceylonensis are forever stale joke.

The female of all races resembles the stale joke male, but has a grey throat, minor peak and lacks the tail streamers.

Wednesday, September 05, 2007

Salad

Salad is a light meal — or, as part of a larger meal, much more of an taster — consisting of mixed vegetables (usually including at least one leaf vegetable) or fruit, frequently with a dressing or sauce, occasionally nuts and sometimes with the addition of meat, fish or cheese. It is generally seen as a healthy dish, although not always low in calories, salt, sugar, or fat because of the dressing that is often added.The word "salad" comes from the French salade of the same meaning, which in twist is from the Latin salata, "salty", from sal, "salt".

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Mainframes

Mainframes (often colloquially referred to as big iron) are huge and expensive computers used mainly by government institutions and large companies for mission critical applications, usually bulk data processing such as censuses, industry/consumer statistics, ERP, and financial transaction processing.
The term originated during the early 1970s with the introduction of smaller, fewer complex computers such as the DEC PDP-8 and PDP-11 series, which became known as minicomputers or just minis. The industry/users then coined the term "mainframe" to describe bigger, earlier types (previously known simply as "computers").

Monday, August 13, 2007

Lighthouse of Alexandria

The Pharos of Alexandria was a big tower built in the 3rd century BC (between 285 and 247 BC) on the island of Pharos in Alexandria, Egypt to give out as that port's landmark, and later, its lighthouse.

With a height variously estimated at between 115 and 150 meters (383 - 450 ft) it was among the tallest man-made structures on Earth for many centuries, and was recognized as one of the Seven Wonders of the World by Antipater of Sidon. It was the third tallest building after the two Great Pyramids (of Khufu and Khafra) for its whole life. Some scientists approximate a much taller height exceeding 180 metres that would make the tower the tallest building up to the 14th century.

Monday, July 30, 2007

Traffic light

A traffic light or traffic signal is a signalling device positioned at a road junction or pedestrian crossing to indicate when it is safe to drive, ride or walk, using a universal color code.Traffic lights for usual vehicles or pedestrians always have two main lights, a red one that means stop and a green one that means go. Generally, the red light contains some orange in its hue, and the green light contains some blue, to provide some support for people with red-green color blindness. In most countries there is also a yellow (or amber) light, which when on and not flashing means stop if able to do so securely. In some systems, a flashing amber means that a motorist may go in advance with care if the road is clear, giving way to pedestrians and to other road vehicles that may have precedence. A flashing red effectively means the same as a regular stop sign. There may be additional lights (usually a green arrow or "filter") to allow turns (called a lead light in the U.S., because it is usually leading the main green light).

Sunday, July 22, 2007

Vegetable

Vegetable is a culinary term which usually refers to an edible part of a plant. The definition is traditional rather than scientific and is somewhat capricious and subjective. All parts of herbaceous plants eaten as food by humans, entire or in part, are normally considered vegetables. Mushrooms, though belonging to the biological realm fungi, are also commonly considered vegetables. In general, vegetables are thought of as being savory, and not sweet, even though there are many exceptions. Nuts, grains, herbs, spices and culinary fruits (see below) are usually not considered vegetables.

Sunday, July 15, 2007

Asia

Asia is the world's biggest and most populous continent. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area (or 29.4% of its land area) and, with almost 4 billion people, it contains more than 60% of the world's present human population.

Chiefly in the eastern and northern hemispheres, Asia is conventionally defined as part of the landmass of Africa-Eurasia – with the western portion of the latter occupied by Europe – lying east of the Suez Canal, east of the Ural Mountains, and south of the Caucasus Mountains and the Caspian and Black Seas. It is surrounded to the east by the Pacific Ocean, to the south by the Indian Ocean, and to the north by the Arctic Ocean.

Given its size and diversity, Asia – a toponym dating back to classical antiquity – is more a cultural concept incorporating a number of regions and peoples than a homogeneous, physical entity.

Monday, July 09, 2007

Management information system

Management Information Systems (MIS) is a general name for the educational discipline casing the application of people, technologies, and procedures —together called information systems — to solve business problems. MIS are distinctive from normal information systems in that they are used to evaluate other information systems applied in operational activities in the organization. Rationally, the term is commonly used to refer to the group of information management methods attached to the automation or support of human decision making, e.g. Decision Support Systems, Expert systems, and Executive information system

Thursday, July 05, 2007

Accumulator

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.

Sunday, July 01, 2007

Shark

Sharks are fish with a full cartilaginous skeleton and a streamlined body. They respire with the use of five to seven gill slits. Sharks have a covering of dermal denticles to protect their skin from injure and parasites and to improve fluid dynamics; they also have replaceable teeth.Sharks include species ranging from the hand-sized pygmy shark, Euprotomicrus bispinatus, a deep sea class of only 22 centimetres (9 in) in length, to the whale shark, Rhincodon typus, the largest fish, which grows to a length of about 12 metres (39 ft) and which, like the great whales, feeds only on plankton through filter feeding. The bull shark, Carcharhinus leucas, is the best known of several species to swim in both salt and fresh water and in deltas.

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Superscalar

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

History

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

Sunday, June 24, 2007

Neem oil

Neem oil is a vegetable oil pressed from the fruits and seeds of Neem, an evergreen tree which is endemic to the Indian sub-continent and has been introduced to many other areas in the tropics. It is perhaps the most significant of the commercially available products of neem.
Neem oil is typically light to dark brown, bitter and has a rather strong odour that is said to join the odours of peanut and garlic. It comprises mainly triglycerides and large amounts of triterpenoid compounds, which are in charge for the bitter taste. It is hydrophobic in nature and in order to emulisify it in water for application purposes, it must be formulated with suitable surfactants.
Neem oil also contains steroids and a plethora of triterpenoids of which Azadirachtin is the most well known and studied. The Azadirachtin content of Neem Oil varies from 300ppm to over 2000ppm depending on the quality of the neem seeds compressed.

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Swan

Swans are large water birds of the family Anatidae, which also includes geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the intimately related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini. Sometimes, they are considered a distinct subfamily, Cygninae.

Swans typically mate for life, though "divorce" does sometimes occur, mainly following nesting failure. The number of eggs in each clutch is between 3–8.
The word is derived from Old English swan, akin to German Schwan, in turn derived from Indo-European root *swen (to sound, to sing), whence Latin derives sonus (sound). Young swans are known as cygnets, from the Latin word for swan, cygnus. An adult male is a cob, from Middle English cobbe; an adult female is a pen .

Friday, June 15, 2007

Tide

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

Monday, June 11, 2007

Shrimp fishery

A shrimp fishery is a fishery directed toward harvesting either shrimp or prawns. Fisheries do not usually differentiate between the two taxa, and the terms are used interchangeably. This article therefore refers to the catching of either shrimp or prawns.

A number of the larger species, including the Atlantic white shrimp (Penaeus setiferus), are caught commercially and used for food. Recipes utilizing shrimp form part of the cuisine of many cultures: examples include jambalaya, okonomiyaki, poon choi, bagoong, Kerala and scampi.
Preparing shrimp for consumption usually involves removing the shell, tail, and "sand vein". As with other seafood, shrimp is high in calcium, protein and low in food energy.
Shrimp and prawns are versatile ingredients, and are often used as an accompaniment to fried rice. Common methods of preparation comprise baking, boiling and frying. As stated in the movie Forrest Gump

Thursday, June 07, 2007

Rose

A rose is a flowering shrub of the genus Rosa, and the flower of this shrub. There are more than a hundred classes of wild roses, all from the northern hemisphere and typically from temperate regions. The species form a group of normally prickly shrubs or climbers, and sometimes trailing plants, reaching 2–5 m tall, hardly ever reaching as high as 20 m by climbing over other plants.
Rose hips are sometimes eaten, mostly for their vitamin C content. They are typically pressed and filtered to make rose-hip syrup, as the fine hairs surrounding the seeds are unpleasant to eat. They can also be used to create herbal tea, jam, jelly and marmalade.

Friday, June 01, 2007

Industrial metal

Industrial metal is a musical genre which draws elements from industrial music and heavy metal music. Industrial metal music is typically centered around metal guitar riffs and industrial synthesizer/sequencer lines, heavily distorted, very low pitched guitars, as well as harsh vocals, but in some instances can have clean vocals. This term is used quite loosely, telling everything from industrial bands sampling metal riffs to heavy metal groups augmented with sequencers. Industrial metal encompasses industrial subgenres such as aggro-industrial and coldwave and often overlaps some elements of nu-metal and post-punk.

It is difficult to distinguish many industrial metal artists and industrial rock because both genres leave much room for ingenuity and creativity. By convention, all industrial metal artists may be more vaguely described as industrial rock as well, but not all industrial rock artists are properly described as industrial metal. The general rule of thumb is the speed and "crunchiness" of the guitars. If the guitars are fast and heavily distorted, it is likely industrial metal.

Monday, May 28, 2007

Genetics

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.

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Mental health

Mental health is a idea that refers to a human individual's emotional and psychological well-being. Merriam-Webster defines mental health as "A state of emotional and psychological well-being in which an individual is able to use his or her cognitive and emotional capabilities, function in society, and meet the ordinary demands of everyday life."

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there is no one "official" definition of mental health. Cultural differences, subjective assessments, and competing professional theories all affect how "mental health" is defined. In general, most experts agree that "mental health" and "mental illness" are not opposites. In other words, the absence of a recognized mental disorder is not of necessity an indicator of mental health.
One way to think about mental health is by looking at how efficiently and successfully a person functions. Feeling capable and competent; being able to handle normal levels of stress, preserve satisfying relationships, and lead an independent life; and being able to "bounce back," or recover from difficult situations, are all signs of mental health.
Encompassing your emotional, social, and—most importantly—your mental well-being; All these aspects—emotional, physical, and social—must function jointly to achieve overall health.

Sunday, May 20, 2007

Refrigerator

A typical refrigerator with its door open refrigerator is a cooling machine comprising a thermally insulated compartment and a mechanism to transfer heat from it to the outside environment, cooling the contents to a temperature below ambient. Refrigerators are widely used to store foods which deteriorate at ambient temperatures; spoilage due to bacterial growth and other processes is much slower at low temperatures. Devices described as "refrigerators" maintain a temperature a few degrees above the freezing point of water; similar devices which maintain temperatures below the freezing point of water are called "freezers". The refrigerator is a relatively modern creation amongst kitchen appliances. It replaced the common icebox which had been a household item for almost a century and a half prior, and is sometimes still called by the original name "icebox".

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Color Television

100 Most television researchers respected the value of color image transmission, with an early patent application in Russia in 1889 for a mechanically-scanned color system showing how early the import of color was realized. John Logie Baird established the world's first color transmission on July 3, 1928, using scanning discs at the transmitting and receiving ends with three spirals of apertures, each spiral with filters of a different primary color; and three light sources at the receiving end, with a commentator to exchange their illumination.

Color television in the United States had a prolonged history due to incompatible technical systems vying for approval by the Federal Communications Commission for commercial use. Mechanically scanned color television was established by Bell Laboratories in June 1929 using three complete systems of photoelectric cells, amplifiers, glow-tubes, and color filters, with a series of mirrors to place over the red, green, and blue images into one full color image.

In the electronically scanned era, the first color television exhibition was on February 5, 1940, when RCA privately showed to members of the FCC at the RCA plant in Camden, New Jersey, a television receiver producing images in color by electronic and optical means without moving device. CBS began non-broadcast color experiments using film as early as August 28, 1940, and live cameras by November 12. The CBS "field sequential" color system was partly mechanical, with a disc made of red, blue, and green filters revolving inside the television camera at 1,200 rpm, and a similar disc spinning in synchronization in front of the cathode ray tube inside the receiver set. The RCA "dot sequential" color system had no moving parts, using a series of diachronic mirrors to separate and direct red, green, and blue light from the subject through three separate lenses into three scanning tubes, and electronic switching that allowed the tubes to send their signals in rotation, dot by dot. These signals were sorted by a second switching device in the receiver set and sent to red, green, and blue picture tubes, and combined by a second set of diachronic mirrors into a full color image.

Friday, May 11, 2007

Key

A key is a device which is used to open a lock. It typically consists of a specially-shaped piece of flat metal, with cut notches (forming teeth), and/or milled grooves which fit the shape of the lock and can open the properly combinated lock by (usually) being turned in the lock housing. This portion of the key is referred to as the blade. The wider grip, referred to as the bow, is establish at the top of the key to facilitate turning. regularly, there are only a small number of keys which can work a certain lock. In some residential locks, all of the keys for a lock are given to the purchaser of the lock. Duplicates of the key can usually be made by anyone with the correct key blank and key machine. Some manufacturers assign an identification number to each lock and key combination. Knowing the identification number of such a lock allows a duplicate key to be made at certain places. Many residential keys are recognized by the key cuts stamped on the key bow.
Most people in modern society use keys on a daily basis, to secure their home, their vehicle, or to access their workplace, among other uses. Those that use a number of keys will typically place them on a ring or key chain, often with other items such as key fobs.

Monday, May 07, 2007

Ancient Tamil gods and goddesses

The religion of the ancient Tamils directly followed Hinduism.although persisting with its roots of nature worship. The most popular deity was Murugan, who has from a very early date been recognized with Karthikeya, the son of Siva. Muruga might have been a different deity at first stemming from a local deity. According to the noted expert on Tamil culture Kamil V. Zvelebil, "Subrahmanya-Murugan is one of the most complicated and baffling deities for analysis". The worship of Amman or Mariamman, consideration to have been derived from Kotravai, an ancient mother goddess, also was very common. Kannagi, the heroine of the Cilappatikaram, was worshipped as Pathini by many Tamils, particularly in Sri Lanka. There were also many temples and devotees of Thirumaal, Siva, Ganapathi, and the other common Hindu deities.

Wednesday, May 02, 2007

Traffic calming

Traffic reassuring is a set of strategies used by urban planners and traffic engineers which aims to slow down traffic and improve safety for pedestrians and bicyclists, although some of these features can also be dangerous to cyclists. It is now relatively common in Europe, especially Northern Europe; less so in North America.
Traffic calming has traditionally been justified on the grounds of pedestrian security and reduction of noise and local air pollution which are side effects of the traffic. However, it has become increasingly apparent that streets have many social and recreational functions which are severely impaired by fast car traffic. For example, residents of streets with light traffic had, on average, three more friends and twice as many acquaintances as the people on streets with heavy traffic which were otherwise similar in dimensions, income, etc. For much of the twentieth century, streets were designed by engineers who were charged only with ensuring traffic flow and not with fostering the other functions of streets. The rationale for traffic calming is now broadening to include designing for these functions.
Displaced traffic is not fully pushed onto other routes, as some travelers may begin to walk or use other modes such as public transit and bicycles to get where they are going. Still, in most cases the affected motorists have few alternatives aside from either navigating the newly erected obstacles or finding a more palatable route. This happens because high traffic tends to be generated by motorists passing through the area and not by the local residents.

It should be noted the some of these measures have a tendency to irritate and annoy drivers rather than calm them and others can actually increase traffic throughput. Some drivers who slow down at calming points, however, accelerate and speed after passing them in order to "catch up for lost time". For this reason, more advanced methods integrated into the design of the street, which make slower speeds seem more natural to drivers and less of an artificial imposition, are now preferred - the goal is to slow down the driver through psychological, at least partly subconscious means instead of simply forcing him to do so.

One major side effect of traffic reassuring is the impedance to emergency services. A police car can easily navigate most traffic reassuring measures. The same cannot be said for fire trucks and ambulances, however. They often have to slow down to safely cross speed bumps or chicanes. In some locales, the law prohibits traffic calming measures along the routes used by the urgent situation services.
There are 3 "E"'s that traffic engineers refer to when discussing traffic reassuring: engineering, education, and enforcement. Because neighborhood traffic management studies have shown that often it is the residents themselves that are largely contributing to the perceived speeding problem within the neighborhood, it is strained that the most effective traffic calming plans will entail all three components, and that engineering measures alone will not produce satisfactory results.

Sunday, April 29, 2007

Lightning

Lightning is an influential natural electrostatic release produced during a thunderstorm. Lightning's abrupt electric release is accompanied by the emission of visible light and other forms of electromagnetic radiation. The electric current passing through the release channels quickly heats and expands the air into plasma, producing acoustic shock waves in the atmosphere.

Early lightning investigate
During early investigations into electricity via Leyden jars and other instruments, a number of people planned that small scale sparks shared some similarity with lightning.

Benjamin Franklin, who also imaginary the lightning rod, endeavored to test this theory by using a spire which was being erected in Philadelphia. Whilst he was waiting for the spire completion some others conducted at Marly in France, what became to be known as the Philadelphia experiments that Franklin had optional in his book?

Franklin typically gets the credit for being the first to perform this research. The Franklin myth goes like this:

Whilst coming up for completion of the spire, he got the idea of using a flying object, such as a kite in its place. During the next shower, in June 1752, he raised a kite, accompanied by his son as an assistant. On his end of the string he emotionally involved a key and tied it to a post with a silk thread. As time passed Franklin noticed the loose fibers on the string stretching out; he then brought his hand close enough to the key and a flash jumped the gap. The rain which had fallen during the storm had covered with water the line and made it conductive.

However, in his memoirs, Franklin obviously states that he only performed this research after those made in France.

As news of the research and its specifics spread, it was met with attempts at duplication. Experiments involving lightning are always risky and commonly fatal. The most well known death during the rash of Franklin-imitators was Professor George Richman, of Saint Petersburg, Russia. He had shaped a setup similar to Franklin's, and was attending a meeting of the Academy of Sciences, when he heard thunder. He ran home with his engraver to capture the event for posterity. While the research was underway, a large ball lightning showed up, collided with Richman's head, and killed him, leaving a red spot. His shoes were blown open, parts of his clothes singed, the engraver knocked out, the doorframe of the room was split, and the door itself ragged off its hinges.

Monday, April 23, 2007

Northern Mockingbird

The Northern Mockingbird, Mimus polyglottos, is the mockingbird commonly originate in North America.Adults are grey on the head and upperparts with pale yellow eyes and a slim black bill with a slight downward curve; the underparts are light. They have a long dark tail by means of white edges and long dark legs. They have white wing bars and show white wing patches in flight.Their breeding habitat is areas with a mix of open areas and dense shrubs from southern Canada to Mexico, but is most common in the southern United States. They build a twig nest in a dense shrub or tree. This bird forcefully defends its nest against other birds and animals, including humans. When a predator is persistent mockingbirds from adjacent territories, summoned by a distinct call, may join the attack. Other birds may gather to watch as the mockingbirds harass the intruder.
They are usually permanent residents; northern birds may move south during harsh weather. However, this species has occurred in Europe as an extreme rarity.These birds forage on the ground or in vegetation; they also fly down from a perch to capture food. They mainly eat insects and berries. While foraging they will regularly spread their wings in a peculiar two-step motion to display the white patches underneath. The purpose of this behavior is disputed. Some ornithologists claim this is merely a territorial display, while others say that flashing the white patches startles hiding insects and forces them into the open. Both theories seem to have some merit.
This bird imitates the calls of other birds, animal sounds and yet machine noises. It is often found in urban areas. They often call through the night and may continue year-round apart from for the summer moulting season. Mockingbirds usually sing the loudest in the twilight of the early morning when the sun is on the horizon. While singing on a high perch they will often bolt more than a few feet into the air in a looping motion, with wings outstretched to display their white underside, then land back on the perch without breaking a note. That serves as a territorial display.Mockingbirds have a strong preference for certain trees, such as maple, sweet gum (green 5-pointed leaves and prickly porous balls), and sycamore. They normally avoid pine trees. In urban areas, mockingbirds rarely come down to the ground, unlike most birds. Also, they have a particular preference for high places, such as the topmost branches of trees and the tops of telephone poles.

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Motorcycle racing

There are a range of sports involving racing motorcycles. FIM is the international sanctioning body for many such events.As motorcycles vary very much in design, there are several different types of motorcycle racing contest, including:Road racing in its purest form is racing on public roads, such as the Isle of Man TT course, the Macau Grand Prix and some courses in Ireland. Due to the inherent dangers that these street venues often carry such as narrow lanes, curbs, and adjacent walls, most road racing is now carried out on purpose-built tracks.Circuit racing where specially designed racing bikes or modified "production" bikes race each other on particularly designed road circuits. MotoGP and Superbike are the top level racing and production classes.Classic Racing is where participants race heavily customized bikes from an earlier era - usually pre mid '70s bikes.
Motocross and its cousin supercross are held on dirt courses, characteristically featuring large jumps in which motorcycles are launched over considerable distances. Supermoto is a crossover motorcycle racing between road racing and motocross. The motorcycles are primarily motocross types with road racing tires. The racetrack is also mixed between road and dirt courses, mostly handcrafted.
Motorcycle speedway and ice speedway are held on oval circuits where riders slide their machines around turns.

Monday, April 09, 2007

Radio

Radio is the wireless transmission of signals, by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of light.
Radio waves.Radio waves are a form of electromagnetic radiation, formed whenever a charged object accelerates by a frequency that lies in the radio frequency (RF) portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. This is the variety from a few tens of hertz to a few hundred gigahertz.Electromagnetic radio spectrum
Other types of electromagnetic radiation, with frequencies above the RF range are infrared, visible light, ultraviolet, X-rays and gamma rays. Since the energy of an individual photon of radio frequency is too low to remove an electron from an atom, radio waves are classified as non-ionizing radiation.Radio transmission diagram and electromagnetic waves.Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space equally well, and does not need a medium of transport induces an alternating current and voltage in the conductor. This can be transformed into audio or other signals that carry information. Although the word 'radio' is used to explain this phenomenon, the transmissions which we know as television, radio, radar, and cell phone are all classed as radio frequency emissions.

Thursday, April 05, 2007

Transistor

The transistor is a solid state semiconductor device which can be used for amplification, switching, voltage stabilization, signal modulation and many other functions. It acts as a changeable valve which, based on its input current (BJT) or input voltage (FET), allows a precise amount of current to flow through it from the circuit's voltage supply.In essence, a transistor has three terminals. A current or voltage applied through/across two terminals controls a larger current through the other terminal and the common terminal. In analog circuits, transistors are used in amplifiers. Analog circuits include audio amplifiers, stabilised power supplies and radio frequency amplifiers. In digital circuits, transistors function basically as electrical switches. Digital circuits include logic gates, RAM (random access memory) and microprocessors.Transistor was also the common name in the sixties for a transistor radio, a portable radio that used transistors (rather than vacuum tubes) as its active electronic components. This is still one of the dictionary definitions of transistor.

Sunday, April 01, 2007

Sugarcane

Sugarcane or Sugar cane (Saccharum) is a type of between 6–37 species of tall grasses (family Poaceae, tribe Andropogoneae), native to warm temperate to tropical regions of the Old World. They have stout, jointed fibrous stalks 2–6 m tall and sap rich in sugar. All the species interbreed, and the major commercial cultivars are complex hybrids.
Saccharum officinarum grown in Hawaii. There are 13 million hectares (32 million acres) of sugar cane plantations worldwide, with over 100 countries growing the crop. The top twenty producing countries harvested 1200 million metric tons of sugar cane in 2002 (more than 6 times the amount of sugar beet produced). The largest producers are Brazil, India, and China.
Raw sugar has a yellow to brown color. If a white product is preferred, sulfur dioxide may be bubbled through the cane juice prior to evaporation. This bleaches many color-forming impurities into colorless ones. Sugar bleached white by this sulfitation process is called mill white, plantation white or crystal sugar. This form of sugar is the most usually consumed form of sugar in sugarcane-producing countries.

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Lens

A lens is a device for either concentrating or diverging light, normally formed from a piece of shaped glass. Analogous devices used with other types of electromagnetic radiation are also called lenses: for instance, a microwave lens can be made from paraffin wax.
The earliest records of lenses date to Ancient Greece, with Aristophanes' play The Clouds (424 BC) mentioning a burning-glass (a convex lens used to focus the sun's rays to produce fire). The writings of Pliny the Elder also show that burning-glasses were recognized to the Roman Empire, and mentions what is possibly the first use of a corrective lens: Nero was known to watch the gladiatorial games throughout a concave-shaped emerald (presumably to correct for myopia). Seneca the Younger (3 BC--65) described the magnifying effect of a glass globe filled with water.Widespread use of lenses did not happen until the invention of spectacles, probably in Italy in the 1280s.

Thursday, March 22, 2007

Ship

A ship is a large, sea-going watercraft, sometimes with multiple decks. A ship generally has enough size to carry its own boats, such as lifeboats, dinghies, or runabouts. A rule of thumb saying goes: "a boat can fit on a ship, but a ship can't fit on a boat". Often local law and regulation will define the exact size which a boat requires to become a ship. During the age of sail, ship signified a ship-rigged vessel, that is, one with three or more masts, generally three, all square-rigged. Such a vessel would usually have one fore and aft sail on her aftermost mast which was usually the mizzen. Almost invariably she would also have a bowsprit but this was not part of the definition. The same economic pressures which increased sizes to the point of carrying four or five masts, also introduced the fore and aft rig to larger vessels, so few ship-rigged vessels were built with more than three masts. The five-masted Preussen was the outstanding example but the big German ships and barques were built partly for prestige reasons.
Nautical means connected to sailors, particularly customs and practices at sea. Naval is the adjective pertaining to ships though in common usage, it has come to be more mainly associated with the noun 'navy'.

Friday, March 16, 2007

White flight

White flight is a colloquial term for the demographic tendency of upper and middle class white people moving away from (predominantly non-white) inner cities, finding new homes in nearby suburbs or even moving to new locales completely, e.g. from the Rust Belt to the Sun Belt. In some of the United States' largest cities, the trend reversed itself in the 1990s
White flight in the United States
White flight has been taking place in many American cities and regions, particularly in the Northeastern, Midwestern, and Western sections of the United States since the 1950s.
The effects of white flight have been important for the cities that have been hit by this phenomenon, in particular Detroit, Michigan and St. Louis, Missouri, which lost more than half of their peak populations mainly due to white flight. In New York City many whites have moved from parts of the Bronx and Brooklyn to Staten Island, suburban Long Island, and suburban New Jersey. Other U.S. cities that have been obviously affected by white flight include Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Cleveland, Ohio, the West and South Sides of Chicago, Illinois, the Greater Los Angeles Area, Baltimore, Maryland, Newark, New Jersey, and numerous smaller cities.

Monday, March 12, 2007

Quinzhee

A quinzhee, or quinzee, is a kind of snow shelter made by making a pile of snow, waiting for it to settle together, then hollowing out the inside. In difference, an igloo is made by carefully stacking cut blocks of snow.
It is not easy to make a quinzhee, although it will be warmer and stronger if certain techniques are carefully followed. For strength, the quinzhee needs to be a dome and the lower walls must not support too much weight. The walls should be very thick at the base and get slightly thinner towards to the top of the dome.
For warmth, the entrance of the quinzhee should be a tunnel with an upward sloping floor such that the floor is somewhat higher than the top of the entrance.
Caution: Care must be taken when camping conditions are marginal, such as at temperatures near freezing, or when it is raining. Under these conditions the ceiling of the quinzhee may collapse gradually because the snow is soft. Moreover, the entrance tunnel may become too narrow to permit escape. Hence, under these conditions it is unsafe to spend too much time inside the structure because you may become trapped.

Wednesday, March 07, 2007

Graphic design

Graphic design is a type of communicating visually using text and/or images to present information, or promote a message. The art of graphic design embraces a range of cognitive skills and crafts with typography, image development and page layout. Graphic design is applied in communication design and fine art. Like other forms of communication, graphic design often refers to both the process (designing) by which the communication is created, and the products (designs) such as creative solutions, imagery and multimedia compositions. Graphic design is usually applied to static media, such as books, magazines and brochures. Additionally, since the arrival of computers, graphic design is utilized in electronic media - often referred to as interactive design, or multimedia design.
There are varying degrees of graphic design. Graphic designer participation may range from verbally communicated ideas, to visual rough drafts, to final production. In commercial art, client edits, technical preparation and mass production are generally required, but regularly not considered to be within the scope of graphic design unless the client is also a graphic designer.

Friday, March 02, 2007

Tourism in New York City

40 million foreign and American tourists visit New York City each year.Major destinations comprise of the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, Broadway productions, scores of museums from the El Museo del Barrio to the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum (closed until 2008 for repairs), Washington Square Park, the Bronx Zoo and New York Botanical Garden, luxury shopping along Fifth and Madison Avenues, and events such as the Halloween Parade in Greenwich Village, the Tribeca Film Festival, and free performances in Central Park at Summer stage. Many of the city's ethnic enclaves, such as Jackson Heights, Flushing, and Brighton Beach are major shopping destinations for first and second generation Americans up and down the East Coast.
New York City has 28,000 acres (113 km²) of parkland and 14 miles (22 km) of public beaches. Manhattan's Central Park, intended by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, is the most visited city park in the United States.Prospect Park in Brooklyn, also planned by Olmsted and Vaux, has a 90 acre (36 Hectare) meadow. Flushing Meadows Park in Queens, the city's third largest, was the setting for the 1939 World's Fair and 1964 World's Fair.
New York's food culture, influenced by the city's immigrants and large number of dining patrons, is diverse. Jewish and Italian immigrants made the city famous for bagels and New York style pizza. Some 4,000 mobile food vendors approved by the city, many immigrant-owned, have made Middle Eastern foods such as falafels and kebabs standbys of contemporary New York street food.The city is also home to many of the finest haute cuisine restaurants in the United States.

Monday, February 26, 2007

Space term-In geography

Geographical space is called land, and has a related to ownership. While some cultures assert the rights of the individual in terms of ownership, other cultures will identify with a communal approach to land ownership, while still other cultures, rather than asserting ownership rights to land, invert the relationship and consider that they are in fact owned by the land. Spatial planning is a way of regulating the use of space at land-level, with decisions made at regional, national and international levels. Space can also impact on human and cultural behaviour, being an important factor in architecture, where it will impact on the design of buildings and structures, and on farming.
Ownership of space is not limited to land. Ownership of airspace and of waters is determined internationally. Other forms of ownership have been newly asserted to other spaces — for example to the radio bands of the electromagnetic spectrum or to cyberspace.
Public space is a word used to define areas of land is collectively owned by the community, and managed in their name by delegated establishment. Such spaces are open to all, while private property is the land owned by an individual or company, for their own use and happiness.
Abstract space is a word used in geography to refer to a hypothetical space characterized by complete homogeneity. When modeling movement or behavior, it is a conceptual tool used to limit extraneous variables such as terrain.

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Glass artifacts

Since glass is strong and non-reactive, it is a very useful object. Many household objects are made of glass. Drinking glasses, bowls, and bottles are frequently made of glass, as are light bulbs, mirrors, cathode ray tubes, and windows. In laboratories doing research in chemistry, biology, physics and lots of other fields, flasks, test tubes, lenses and other laboratory equipment are often made of glass. For these applications, borosilicate glass (such as Pyrex) is regularly used for its strength and low coefficient of thermal expansion, which gives greater resistance to thermal shock and allows for greater accuracy in laboratory measurements when heating and cooling experiments. For the most difficult applications, quartz glass is used, although it is very difficult to work. Most such glass is mass-produced using a variety of industrial processes, but most large laboratories need so much custom glassware that they keep a glassblower on staff. Volcanic glasses, such as obsidian, have long been used to make stone tools, and flint knapping techniques can simply be adapted to mass-produced glass.

Thursday, February 15, 2007

Music

Music is composed and performed for several purposes, ranging from aesthetic satisfaction, religious or ceremonial purposes, or as an entertainment creation for the marketplace. Amateur musicians compose and make music for their own pleasure, and they do not attempt to take their income from music. Professional musicians are engaged by a range of institutions and organizations, with equipped forces, churches and synagogues, symphony orchestras, broadcasting or film making companies, and music schools. As well, professional musicians work as freelancers, seeking contracts and arrangements in a variety of settings.
Although amateur musicians vary from professional musicians in that amateur musicians have a non-musical source of income, there are often many links between amateur and professional musicians. Beginning amateur musical group take lessons with professional musicians. In community settings, highly developed amateur musicians perform with professional musicians in a variety of ensembles and orchestras. In some rare cases, amateur musicians reach a professional level of competence, and they are able to perform in professional performance settings.
A difference is often made between music performed for the advantage of a live audience and music that is performed for the use of being recorded and distributed through the music retail system or the broadcasting system. However, there are also many cases where a live performance in front of an audience is recorded and spread (or broadcast).

Thursday, February 08, 2007

Software

Software basically is the distinct image or representation of physical or material position that constitute configuration to or functional identity of a machine, usually a computer. As a substance of memory, software in principle can be changed without the alteration to the static paradigm of the hardware thus without the remanufacturing thereof. generally software is of an algorithmic form which translates into being to a progression of machine instructions. Some software, however, is of a relational form which translate into being the map of a recognition network.
Software is a program that enables a computer to achieve a specific task, as contrasting to the physical components of the system (hardware). This include application software such as a word processor, which enables a user to achieve a task, and system software such as an operating system, which enables other software to run suitably, by interfacing with hardware and with other software.
The term "software" was first used in this intellect by John W. Tukey in 1957. In computer science and software engineering, computer software is all computer program. The perception of reading different sequences of instructions into the memory of a apparatus to control computations was invented by Charles Babbage as part of his difference engine. The theory that is the source for most modern software was first projected by Alan Turing in his 1935 essay Computable numbers with an application to the Entscheidungs problem.
TypesPractical computer systems partition software into three major classes: system software, programming software and application software, although the division is subjective, and often blurred.
* System software is one of the major class helps run the computer hardware and computer system. It includes working systems, device drivers, analytical tools, servers, windowing systems, utilities and more. The intention of systems software is to protect the applications programmer as much as possible from the details of theexacting computer complex being use, especially memory and other hardware features, and such accessory procedure as communications, printers, readers, displays, keyboards, etc.
* Programming software usually provide tools to support a programmer in writing computer programs and software with different programming languages in a more suitable way.The tools comprise text editors, compilers, interpreters, linkers, debuggers, and so on, An incorporated development environment (IDE) merge those tools into a software bundle, and a programmer may not need to type various command for compiling, interpreter, debugging, tracing, and etc., because the IDE typically has an sophisticated graphical user interface, or GUI.
* Application software allows humans to complete one or more explicit (non-computer related) tasks. typical applications include manufacturingautomation, business software, educational software, medical software, databases and computer games. Businesses are possibly the biggest users of application software, but approximately every field of human action now uses some form of application software. It is used tocomputerizeall sorts of functions.

Sunday, February 04, 2007

The Real Miracle

As far as Miracles is concern, turning salty seawater in to sweet water is quite amazing. Regardless of the scientific clarification being doled out—surplus freshwater flowing from the Mahim River into the sea—the thousand mass to Mahim Creek near the beachfront in Mumbai will pretty see the ‘transubstantiation’ as the deed of the late Haji Maqdoom Baba, whose shrine is in the area. Mass hysteria, of course, is only a term to clarify the hordes of believers filling plastic bottles and drinking the water. But the real miracle would be if those glugging the ‘miraculous’ water manages to flee succumbing to serious gastric illness.
The water of Mahim Creek, sweetened or otherwise, is dirty and would scandalize not only the likes of Sunita Narain of the Centre for Science and Environment. Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and officials of the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai have already request to people not to drink the water. Industrial waste is not the finest ingredient for a miracle. But telling this to goggle-eyed people facing even more goggle-eyed TV cameras is as worthwhile as persuasive people that a Ganesh idol sipping milk is caused by suction and not godly lactose tolerance.
Fortunately, rumors of the sweetened water turning back to its original brackish form might stop a future surge. Now we only wait for the real miracle of no one complaining of sickness.

Friday, January 26, 2007

Journalism Basics

Journalism is a concrete, professionally oriented major that involves gathering, interpreting, distilling, and other reporting information to the general audiences through a variety of media means. Journalism majors learn about every possible kind of Journalism (including magazine, newspaper, online journalism, photojournalism, broadcast journalism, and public relations).
That's not all, though. In addition to dedicated training in writing, editing, and reporting, Journalism wants a working knowledge of history, culture, and current events. You'll more than likely be required to take up a broad range of courses that runs the range from statistics to the hard sciences to economics to history. There would also be a lot of haughty talk about professional ethics and civic responsibility too - and you'll be tested on it. To top it all off, you'll perhaps work on the university newspaper or radio station, or possibly complete an internship with a magazine or a mass media conglomerate.

Friday, December 15, 2006

Computer science:-

Computer science, or computing science, is the study of the theoretical basics of information and calculation and their execution and application in computer systems. Computer science has lot of sub-fields; a few highlight the calculation of exact consequences (such as computer graphics), whereas others (such as computational complexity theory) relate to properties of computational difficulties. Still others focus on the challenges in applying calculations. For instance, programming language theory studies move toward to describe calculations, whereas computer programming applies precise programming languages to answer precise computational difficulties.

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

History and Pre history

Traditionally, the study of history was limited to the written and spoken word. However, the rise of academic professionalism and the creation of new scientific fields in the 19th and 20th centuries brought a flood of new information that challenged this notion. Archaeology, anthropology and other social sciences were providing new information and even theories about human history. Some traditional historians questioned whether these new studies were really history, since they were not limited to the written word. A new term, prehistory, was coined, to encompass the results of these new fields where they yielded information about times before the existence of written records.

In the 20th century, the division between history and prehistory became problematic. Criticism arose because of history's implicit exclusion of certain civilizations, such as those of Sub-Saharan Africa and pre-Columbian America. Additionally, prehistorians such as Vere Gordon Childe and historical archaeologists like James Deetz began using archaeology to explain important events in areas that were traditionally in the field of history. Historians began looking beyond traditional political history narratives with new approaches such as economic, social and cultural history, all of which relied on various sources of evidence. In recent decades, strict barriers between history and prehistory may be decreasing.

Thursday, November 30, 2006

ISO 9000

ISO 9000 is a family of ISO standards for superiority management systems. ISO 9000 was urbanized from the British Standards Institution's BS 5750. The ISO 9000 standards are maintained by ISO and administered by official approval and certification bodies. The principles originated in developed; they are now employed across a wide range of other types of organizations. In fact, according to ISO in 2004, "service sectors now financial credit by far for the highest number of ISO 9001:2000 certificates - about 31% of the total" - ISO 9000 is quite alike to ISO 14000.
Both are relevant to how a product is produced, rather than how it is designed. For example, ISO 216 very exactly specifies sizes of paper. ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 are more general, referring to processes, rather than any single product. ISO 9000 is proposed to make sure that the product any product has been produced in the most well-organized and effective manner possible. ISO 9000 does not assurance the compliance of end products and services; rather, it certifies that reliable business processes are being applied

Monday, November 27, 2006

Animal

Animals are a main cluster of organisms, classified as the kingdom. In common they are multi­cellular, capable of locomotion, responsive to their surroundings, and feed by overriding other organisms. Their body plan becomes fixed as they expand, usually in the early hours on in their growth as embryos, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on. More particularly, animals can be defined as heterotrophic eukaryotes without cell walls, which shift through a blastula stage in early development.

The word "animal" comes from the Latin sound animal, of which is the plural, and is derivative from anima, meaning "vital breath" or "soul". An ordinary usage of the term may be limited to so-called inferior animals and refer to humans only in a disapproving or humorous context.

Thursday, November 23, 2006

Earth

Earth is the third planet in the planetary system in terms of distance from the Sun, and the fifth largest. It is also the major of its planetary system's terrestrial planets, making it the biggest solid body in the solar system, and it is the only place in the world known to humans to support life. It is also the densest planet in the solar system. The extensively accepted scientific theory states that the Earth was formed around 4.57 billion years ago and its natural satellite, the Moon, was orbiting it shortly subsequently, around 4.53 billion years ago.

Since it shaped, the Earth has altered through geological and biological processes that have secreted traces of the original conditions. The outer surface is divided into several tectonic plates that steadily migrate across the surface over geologic time spans. The interior of the earth remains active, with a thick layer of convecting up till now solid Earth covering and an iron core that generates a fascinating field. Its atmospheric conditions have been significantly altered by the presence of life forms, which create an ecological balance that modifies the surface circumstances. About 71% of the surface is covered in salt-water oceans, and the remainder consists of continents and islands.

Monday, November 20, 2006

Leather types
In general, leather is sold in three forms:
Full-Grain leather, made from the finest raw material, are clean natural hides which have not been sanded to remove imperfections. Only the hair has been removed. The grain remains in its normal state which will allow the best fiber power, resulting in greater strength. The natural grain also has natural breath ability, ensuing in greater comfort. The normal Full-Grain surface will wear recovered than other fur. Rather than wearing out, it will develop a natural "Patina" and grow more beautiful over time. The finest furniture, and footwear, are prepared from Full Grain leather.
Corrected-Grain leather, also known as Top-Grain leather, is wooly on one side and smooth on the other. The smooth side is the side where the hair and normal grain used to be. The hides, which are made from mediocre quality raw materials, have all of the natural grain sanded off, and a simulated grain applied. Top grain leather generally must be heavily painted to cover up the sanding and stamping process.

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Great Pyramid of Giza
The Great Pyramid of Giza is the only outstanding structure of the Seven Wonders of the World. Most Egyptologists agree the pyramid was constructed over a 20 year period closing around 2560 BC.It is generally understood that the Great Pyramid was built as the tomb of Fourth dynasty Egyptian pharaoh Khufu, after whom it is sometimes called Khufu's Pyramid or the Pyramid of Khufu.Khufu's vizier, Hemon, is qualified as the architect of the Great Pyramid.
The Great Pyramid is the oldest and biggest of the three pyramids in the Giza Necropolis nearby what is now Cairo, Egypt in Africa. It is the main part of a compound setting of buildings that included two mortuary temples in honor of Khufu, three smaller pyramids for Khufu's wives, an even smaller "satellite" pyramid, a raised land bridge connecting the two temples, and small mastaba tombs surrounding the pyramid for aristocracy. One of the small pyramids contains the tomb of queen Hetepheres, sister and wife of Sneferu and the mother of Khufu.

Thursday, November 09, 2006

Agriculture
Agriculture is the process of producing food, feed, fiber and other goods by the methodical raising of plants and animals.Agri is from Latin ager, and culture is from Latin cultura, meaning "cultivation" in the strict sense of tillage of the soil. A literal understanding of the English word yields: tillage of the soil of a field. In modern usage, the word Agriculture covers all activities essential to food/feed/fiber production, counting all techniques for raising and processing livestock.
Agriculture is also short for the study of the practice of agriculture more formally known as agricultural science. The history of agriculture is closely associated to human history, and agricultural developments have been crucual factors in social change, including the specialty of human activity. The world's laborers are working in agriculture, making it by far the most common occupation. However, agricultural production accounts for less than 5% of the Gross World Product.

Monday, November 06, 2006

Events
Constitution Dock In order to foster tourism, the state government encourages or supports several different annual events in and around the island. The best known of these would be the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, starting on Boxing Day in Sydney and usually arriving at Constitution Dock in Hobart around three to four days later, during the Hobart Summer Festival.Agfest is a three-day agricultural show held at Carrick in early May, and despite its agricultural focus it attracts city and country residents –people. Major shows include the Royal Hobart Show and Royal Launceston Show, held in October of each year.
A recent addition to the state has been the 10 Days on the Island arts festival. The Basin Concert was a music concert held at the Cataract Gorge in Launceston. Current festivals include Gone South, Falls Festival a Victoria event now held in both Victoria and Tasmania on New Year's Eve. The Antarctic Midwinter Festival celebrates Hobart's special connection with the Antarctic, on the winter solstice in June each year. Taste of Tasmania is an annual food and wine festival centered around the Hobart foreshore on and around New Year.

Thursday, November 02, 2006

Gold
Gold is a extremely sought-after valuable metal that for many centuries has been used as money, a store of value and in ornaments. The metal occurs as nugget or grains in rocks and in alluvial deposits and is one of the coinage metals. It is a soft, glossy, yellow, dense, malleable, and ductile (trivalent and univalent) change metal. Modern manufacturing uses include dentistry and electronics. Gold forms the basis for a financial typical used by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Bank for International resolution (BIS). Its ISO currency code is XAU.
Gold is a tinny element with a trait yellow color, but can also be black or ruby when finely alienated, while colloidal solutions are intensely tinted and often purple. These colors are the effect of gold's plasmon frequency lying in the visible range, which causes red and yellow glow to be reflected, and blue light to be engrossed. Only silver colloids show the same interactions with light, albeit at a shorter occurrence, making silver colloids yellow in color.
Gold is a good conductor of temperature and electricity, and is not precious by air and most reagents. Heat, damp, oxygen, and most corrosive agents have very little chemical effect on gold, making it well-suited for use in coins and jewelry; equally, halogens will chemically alter gold, and aqua regia dissolve it.
Pure gold is too soft for ordinary use and is hard-boiled by alloying with silver, copper, and other metals. Gold and its lots of alloys are most often used in jewelry, coinage and as a typical for monetary exchange in various countries. When promotion it in the form of jewelry, gold is calculated in karats (k), with pure gold being 24k. However, it is more commonly sold in lower capacity of 22k, 18k, and 14k. A lower "k" indicates a higher percent of copper or silver assorted into the alloy, with copper being the more typically used metal between the two. Fourteen karat gold-copper alloy will be almost identical in color to definite bronze alloys, and both may be used to produce polish and added badges. Eighteen karat gold with a high copper content is establish in some traditional jewelry and will have a distinct, though not dominant copper cast, giving an attractively warm color. A comparable karat weight when alloyed with silvery metals will appear less humid in color, and some low karat white metal alloys may be sold as "white gold", silvery in exterior with a slightly yellow cast but far more resistant to decay than silver or sterling silver. Karat weights of twenty and higher is more general in modern jewelry. Because of its high electrical conductivity and confrontation to decay and other desirable combinations of physical and chemical properties, gold also emerged in the late 20th century as an vital industrial metal, particularly as thin plating on electrical card associates and connectors.
Women in ancient India

In ancient India, women were occupying a very important position with, in a superior top position to, man. By the Literary evidence suggests that kings and towns were destroyed because a single woman was wronged by the state. Sillapathigaram by Elango Adigal tells us Madurai, the capital of the Pandya Kings was burnt by kannaki because the king Pandyan Nedunchezhiyan mistakenly killed her husband on theft charges. And also The Ramayana by Valmiki' teaches us that Ravana and his entire family were wiped out because he abducted Sita. Mahabharatha by Vyasa teaches us that all the Kauravas were killed because they humiliated Draupadi in public.

To implant such high ideals in humankind, Indian ancestors created a plethora of godesses who enjoyed equal status with their husbands.

Now the Government also sponsored and passed a law that required all political parties to maintain a count of at least one-third of the total candidates in elections to be women. Anyway, it is horrifying to see that they happen. In the other hand, some wives are burnt because they did not bring enough "dowry. The women are victimized by powerful local political figures and their family; some women are abducted by rich youths with Impunity; and there are credible stories of female infanticide in rural India.