GM posts $9.6-billion quarterly loss

The troubled Detroit automaker also says it lost $30.9 billion for all of 2008 -- its second-worst year on record.

General Motors is officially on life support.

The automaker said Thursday that it lost $9.6 billion in the fourth quarter and nearly $31 billion for all of 2008, its second-worst year on record.

But even more troubling is the revelation that the century-old automaker essentially has become dependent on the U.S. government, unable to continue operations -- even for a few months -- without recurring cash infusions from taxpayers.

"They basically have been saying, 'Give us money or we're going bankrupt,' " said Aaron Bragman, auto industry analyst at IHS Global Insight. "And these latest financial results prove that."

In the fourth quarter, GM burned through $6.2 billion of its cash stockpile, $68 million a day, a furious clip that left it with only $14 billion at the end of last year, less than half the reserves it had a year earlier.

Subtract the $4 billion that came from the U.S. Treasury in late December, and GM falls below the $11-billion- to $14-billion level GM has said it needs to finance ongoing operations.

Meanwhile, GM said Thursday that it soon expected to receive a "going concern" notice from its auditors, indicating that on an operating level, it is no longer solvent.

GM's fourth-quarter loss, at $15.71 a share, was more than double analysts' average expectation of $7.40 a share. GM shares fell 17 cents, or 6.7%, to $2.38.

The underlying message, industry experts say, is that GM's predicament is everyone's, or at least every U.S. taxpayer's. If the administration fails to support the automaker, it could quickly collapse, and with it millions of direct and indirect jobs. But if the government elects to keep dispensing cash, there may be no end to the funding needs.

"The only question is whether the hole GM is in is so deep that it can't climb out of it even with government aid," said Shelly Lombard, credit analyst at research firm Gimme Credit, calling a bankruptcy filing "very likely" without government intervention.

As such, GM finds itself becoming something of a vassal to the federal government, dependent on it for funding and increasingly forced to play by the government's rules.

GM's chairman and president were in Washington on Thursday, meeting for several hours with members of the administration's auto task force to explain its financial position and to beg for $2 billion more cash to fund March operations, along with $2.6 billion for April.

All told, the automaker has requested an additional $16.6 billion beyond the $13.4 billion it has already received.

"We found a genuine willingness among the task force to understand our business, industry challenges and GM's restructuring plan," the company said in a statement after the meeting.

Chrysler, which is also seeking aid, has received $4 billion already and is requesting $5 billion more. Its leaders met with the auto task force Wednesday.

Along with Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner, President Obama has installed a buyout specialist from Wall Street, Steven Rattner, and a labor negotiator known for completely reshaping the steel industry, Ron Bloom.

Although it seems likely that the administration will find a way to prop up the automakers in the short run, it also is holding a number of strict restructuring requirements over their heads. If they fail to jump those hurdles by a March 31 deadline, the government could recall the loans it has already made.

Beneath the auto panel's gaze, GM has been furiously negotiating with United Auto Workers to cut labor costs and cash obligations to a retiree health trust. It also has been meeting with bondholders in an attempt to get them to swap two-thirds of their debt for equity in the company.

Meanwhile, it has announced plans to make deep cuts, including laying off 47,000 workers worldwide this year, cutting its lineup of U.S. brands in half and slashing production.

The company has made small internal changes, including reducing office supplies and eliminating perks for dealers, in an effort to make ends meet. And it's spreading the pain to suppliers and other vendors.

Source www.latimes.com/business/investing/la-fi-gm27-2009feb27,0,3123926.story

Park Promenade

The Park Promenade is a passageway running from the Disneyland Resort Public Transport Interchange and the Disneyland Resort Station in the north to the Disneyland Resort Pier in the south. The highlight of this passageway is the prominent "Bauhinia Fountain" facing the entrance of the theme park. The fountain jets are designed with fully programmable system of water effects, lighting and audio systems employed to create various effects. Feature fountains of descending scale can be found at the central plaza and southern plaza.

Opening hours : 6 am to 2 am

Teaching With Documents

Documents and Photographs Related to Japanese Relocation During World War II

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt declared that the day of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941, would live in infamy. The attack launched the United States fully into the two theaters of the world war. Prior to Pearl Harbor, the United States had been involved in the European war only by supplying England and other antifascist countries of Europe with the munitions of war.

The attack on Pearl Harbor also launched a rash of fear about national security, especially on the West Coast. In February 1942, just two months after Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt as commander-in-chief, issued Executive Order 9066, which had the effect of relocating all persons of Japanese ancestry, both citizens and aliens, inland, outside of the Pacific military zone. The objectives of the order were to prevent espionage and to protect persons of Japanese descent from harm at the hands of Americans who had strong anti-Japanese attitudes.

In Washington and Oregon, the eastern boundary of the military zone was an imaginary line along the rim of the Cascade Mountains; this line continued down the spine of California from north to south. From that line to the Pacific coast, the military restricted zones in those three states were defined.

Roosevelt's order affected 117,000 people of Japanese descent, two-thirds of whom were native-born citizens of the United States. The Issei were the first generation of Japanese in this country; the Nisei were the second generation, numbering 70,000 American citizens at the time of internment. Within weeks, all persons of Japanese ancestry--whether citizens or enemy aliens, young or old, rich or poor--were ordered to assembly centers near their homes. Soon they were sent to permanent relocation centers outside the restricted military zones.

For example, persons of Japanese ancestry in western Washington State were removed to the assembly center at the Puyallup Fairgrounds near Tacoma. From Puyallup to Pomona, internees found that a cowshed at a fairgrounds or a horse stall at a racetrack was home for several months before they were transported to a permanent wartime residence. Relocation centers were situated many miles inland, often in remote and desolate locales. Sites included Tule Lake, California; Minidoka, Idaho; Manzanar, California; Topaz, Utah; Jerome, Arkansas; Heart Mountain, Wyoming; Poston, Arizona; Granada, Colorado; and Rohwer, Arkansas.

As four or five families with their sparse collections of clothing and possessions squeezed into and shared tar-papered barracks, life took on some familiar routines of socializing and school. However, eating in common facilities and having limited opportunities for work interrupted other social and cultural patterns. Persons who became troublesome were sent to a special camp at Tule Lake, California, where dissidents were housed.

In 1943 and 1944 the government assembled a combat unit of Japanese Americans for the European theater. It became the 442d Regimental Combat Team and gained fame as the most highly decorated of World War II. Their military record bespoke their patriotism.

As the war drew to a close, the relocation centers were slowly evacuated. While some persons of Japanese ancestry returned to their home towns, others sought new surroundings. For example, the Japanese American community of Tacoma, Washington, had been sent to three different centers; only 30 percent returned to Tacoma after the war. Japanese Americans from Fresno had gone to Manzanar; 80 percent returned to their hometown.

The internment of persons of Japanese ancestry during World War II sparked constitutional and political debate. In the 1940s, two men and one woman--Hirabayashi, Korematsu, and Endo--challenged the constitutionality of the relocation and curfew orders. While the men received negative judgments from the court, in the 1944 case ExParte Mitsuye Endo, the Supreme Court ruled that, "Mitsuye Endo is entitled to an unconditional release by the War Relocation Authority." Some people refer to the relocation centers as concentration camps; others view internment as an unfortunate episode, but a military necessity. During the Reagan-Bush years Congress moved toward the passage of Public Law 100-383 in 1988 which acknowledged the injustice of the internment, apologized for it, and provided a $20,000 cash payment to each person who was interned.

One of the most stunning ironies in this episode of American civil liberties was articulated by an internee who, when told that the Japanese were put in those camps for their own protection, countered "If we were put there for our protection, why were the guns at the guard towers pointed inward, instead of outward?"

Young Scots join the National Conversation

More than 100 young people from across Scotland were brought together in Edinburgh today to consider the shape of Scotland's future.

The National Discussion Day in the Edinburgh Jam House forms part of Scotland's National Conversation, towards which Young Scot have been running a consultation.

More than 5,000 young people have completed an online questionnaire, and 1,000 have attended local events, while local investigation teams of young people have been set up to lead discussion with their peers.

Today those young people gathered to feed back their findings to the First Minister and a panel including Louise Macdonald, Chief Executive of Young Scot, Professor Susan Deacon, Lara Friedman of Scottish Business in the Community, Neil Stevenson of the Law Society Scotland and Andrew Macqueen MSYP.

First Minister Alex Samond said:

"Today young people prove their value, ambition and enthusiasm for Scotland. The energy with which the Young Scot consultation has been met sends a clear signal that our citizens of the future want to play a part in the decisions that affect them, their families and their communities.

"Already the on-line questionnaire has given us clear evidence that Scotland's young people are engaged with the issues affecting the nation, with a range of opinions and full of ideas. Reason and debate have long been recognised among Scotland's strengths and that's why it's great to see the next generation confirming our international reputation.

"This is in stark contrast to the disappointing and negative response from the UK government to the possibility of change for Scotland. The willingness of our young people to debate and consider the choices they face and the responsibilities they involve is a great sign of hope for the future in every aspect.

"I'm looking forward to hearing the findings of the local investigations teams, and to continuing discussions today and beyond. We want to encourage the greatest possible participation in Scotland's National Conversation, so the opportunity to contribute doesn't end here.

"I hope that every young Scot who has today expressed their desire to participate in deciding how Scotland should be governed will be encouraged by today's exciting agenda and will continue to inspire their peers to join in the ongoing conversation."

As part of the National Conversation the Scottish Government asked Young Scot to consult with young people to see what they think about Scotland and its future. The consultation was launched on March 1 at the Scottish Youth Parliament's first sitting this year.

Young Scot is the National Youth Information Agency for Scotland. Its aim is to provide young people with information and other services to help them make informed life choices and play an active part in their own communities.

The Young Scot consultation includes:

1. Local investigation teams of young people to lead consultation with their peers. These have been established in Aberdeenshire, Dumfries & Galloway, East Ayrshire, Inverclyde, Midlothian, North Ayrshire, and North Lanarkshire


2. Over 50 local events for young people, using mobile cyber cafes and roadshows


3. Specially designed focus group sessions


4. Cutting-edge online consultation, including facilitated web discussions and an online questionnaire which has received over 5,000 responses

Charge to the working group on Biomedical Computing

The biomedical community is increasingly taking advantage of the power of computing, both to manage and analyze data, and to model biological processes. The working group should investigate the needs of NIH-supported investigators for computing resources, including hardware, software, networking, algorithms, and training. It should take into account efforts to create a national information infrastructure, and look at working with other agencies (particularly NSF and DOE) to ensure that the research needs of the NIH-funded community are met.

It should also investigate the impediments biologists face in utilizing high-end computing, such as a paucity of researchers with cross-disciplinary skills. The panel should consider both today's unmet needs and the growing requirements over the next five years (a reasonable horizon for extrapolating the advances in the rapidly changing fields of computing and computational biology).

The result of deliberations should be a report to the NIH Director, which will be presented to the Advisory Committee to the Director. The report should include recommendations for NIH actions to support the growing needs of NIH-funded investigators for biomedical computing.

Blueprint to join up journeys

SPT today released its blueprint to make it easier to join up journeys in west central Scotland. The document is SPT's response to the Scottish Executive's transport consultation and outlines how a regional transport body like SPT can deliver the public's and the Executive's ambitions for better transport.

The response makes it clear that transport has to be planned on a travel-to-work area and that given the right powers and finance that SPT can deliver the joined up transport that we all want to see.

SPT has risen to the challenge presented by the Scottish Executive to look at how transport could be delivered better. We agree that structural change is needed but stress that it is vital that it adds value to the delivery of transport and not more bureaucracy or fragmentation of decision making.

We accept the need for closer policy co-ordination between public transport and roads functions and have called for some responsibilities for bus infrastructure and bus priority management to be given to the passenger transport authority.

There is consensus in west central Scotland that there could be better organisation and delivery of transport. We want to ensure that public transport is at the heart of any change.

Best practice shows that it is important that there is an organisation dedicated to the planning and delivery of public transport. To that end we are suggesting the continuance of a passenger transport executive, but a more strategic overall approach with the merging of the membership of the Passenger Transport Authority and the Westrans grouping.

It is important the Scottish Executive builds on the strengths of the organisations that are already in place. The consultation pointed to the expertise and professionalism of SPT staff and it is vital that major organisational upheaval doesn't put that in jeopardy and risk further delay of important transport projects like Crossrail or the airport rail links.

Commenting on the SPT response Councillor Alistair Watson, Chair of SPT, said:

"The Scottish Executive set out a challenge for us to demonstrate how better transport could be delivered. We have made a constructive response to that challenge showing how the west of Scotland has been served well by SPT over the last 30 years. SPT has a good story to tell but there are areas that could be improved.

"SPT has delivered many innovative and effect public transport projects including the multi-modal ZoneCard ticket, taxi-buses, the most extensive dial-a-bus network, school transport, daytripper and playscheme tickets, one of the largest park and ride estates in Britain, extension of CCTV and the provision of local and mobile travel centres and information. Although similar examples exist individually elsewhere in Scotland, nowhere else has the collective scale and success of these projects.

"Our response to the Executive's consultation answers their challenge to look at how delivery can be improved, how journeys can be better integrated and at the best structures for doing that.

"We have worked hard at creating a consensus in west central Scotland and I am confident that all the parties can work together to improve transport delivery."

"The most important thing that the Scottish Executive needs to deliver is better and secured funding and a long term national transport strategy. If that is done then the rest of the pieces will fall into place.

Malcolm Reed, Director General of SPT, said:

"Strathclyde is a unique area in terms of transport and the fact that it is Scotland's only true conurbation accounting for more than half of all the public transport journeys in the country. West central Scotland requires a transport body that will deliver for the area's unique needs and circumstances. These include a including the high proportion of commuting across council boundaries, relatively low car ownership and a higher dependence on public transport than other parts of Scotland.

"SPT does not agree with the consultation document's suggestion that the PTE delivery model is now less relevant because it does not provide a single functional approach to public and private transport.

"If central government is prepared to provide a planning and funding framework which is fit for purpose, effective transport integration can be achieved and delivered at the regional level within existing structures. This is clearly demonstrated by the way the English PTEs have been able to take the integrated transport agenda forward in their regions - several of them gaining government "centre of excellence" designation in the process - and by general practice in similar conurbations elsewhere in western Europe.

"SPT remains of the opinion that a professional public body which is geared specifically to public transport delivery is the appropriate solution for west central Scotland, as in comparable regions elsewhere in Britain and Europe. The size and complexity of the delivery requirement justify the specialised response that such a functionally-based organisation is able to provide.

"Independent analysis commissioned by SPTE has shown the difference that regional specification can make to passenger growth. The work showed that half of the patronage growth on the SPT rail network over the past decade is directly attributable to initiatives taken by the PTE."

EASTERN REDBUD - Cercis canadensis, Linn

EASTERN REDBUD LENDS a quaint charm to the Missouri hillsides in early spring when the pink hues of the flowers are in sharp contrast with the brown leaves covering the forest floor.It is believed by some that George Washington and Thomas Jefferson had a hand in naming this tree. Legend has it that it was this tree upon which Judas Iscariot hanged himself. Each year in remorse it weeps tears of blood-like blossoms at Easter time. Blossom time coincides with that of serviceberry and wild plum. In most years it blooms slightly before dogwood.

This is a legume and the fruit is a pod. The flat pod is two to three inches long and hangs onto the twigs throughout the winter. Bright reddish, pea-like blossoms are clustered along the twigs before the leaf buds unfold.Heart-shaped leaves identify this tree. They are dark green in summer, turning yellow in autumn.Bark is red-brown, separating into thin scales. Trees growing rapidly will produce heavy flaking of bark, giving the trunk a diseased appearance. Diameters seldom exceed six inches while heights rarely exceed 15 feet.

Eastern redbud is distributed over the entire state and often can be found growing in abandoned fields, in open woods, and along fence rows. While it is a valuable and widely used ornamental, it has little value as a commercial timber tree because of its small size. However, its wood is a soft brown color, very durable, hard, and takes a fine polish.Beavers use the bark as a source of food while birds make the small, hard, bony seed a part of their wintertime diet.

SunButter: "Spreading" Across America

A tasty sunflower-seed butter—perfect for spreading on breads or crackers, for example—is now sold in an array of flavors and textures. Marketed as SunButter, the spread comes in creamy, natural, natural crunch, honey crunch—and even a low-carb version.

ARS scientists based in New Orleans, La., at the Southern Regional Research Center, and colleagues at Red River Commodities, a Fargo, N.D.-based sunflower seed processor, developed the spread several years ago.

The product is a satisfying option for the roughly three million Americans who suffer from peanut allergies. Twelve states now include SunButter in their school lunch programs. And, some airlines provide snacks made with SunButter, as an alternative to peanuts.

Mineral Exploration and Mining in British Columbia

British Columbia’s $6 billion mineral exploration and mining industry is an integral part of the provincial economy. Competitive taxes, an ample supply of low-cost power, and government's commitment to the industry make this province an ideal place to invest.

The Mining and Minerals Division of the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources manages British Columbia's substantial mineral resources. The Division implements policies and programs that encourage the responsible development of these resources and ensures that all mining activities respect the safety of workers, the public and the environment.

Wuling National Forest Recreation Area

Wuling National Forest Recreation Area occupies the northeast corner of Heping Township in Taichung County, central Taiwan. It stretches from the rear part of the Wuling River terrace through Wuling Farm to dense growths of pine, encompassing a unique landscape of forests, rivers, waterfalls and high peaks. The crystal waters of the Cijiawan River are home to the rare Formosan landlocked salmon.

The climate here maintains at a pleasingly cool 22 degrees centigrade in summer, making it a popular destination in the hot season. In autumn, the foliage dons beautiful golden hues and in winter the snowcapped peaks lend a northern air to the landscape. Each season offers a different experience at Wuling.

Hedge fund

"Hedge fund" is a general, non-legal term used to describe private, unregistered investment pools that traditionally have been limited to sophisticated, wealthy investors. Hedge funds are not mutual funds and, as such, are not subject to the numerous regulations that apply to mutual funds for the protection of investors — including regulations requiring a certain degree of liquidity, regulations requiring that mutual fund shares be redeemable at any time, regulations protecting against conflicts of interest, regulations to assure fairness in the pricing of fund shares, disclosure regulations, regulations limiting the use of leverage.

UK attract FDI

The UK's inward investment promotional effort combines both national and regional agencies in a co-ordinated network. This consists of staff based overseas in the principal markets from which FDI is sourced; UK Trade & Investment's HQ in London; and the English regional development agencies (RDAs) and the devolved administrations (DAs) in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. UK Trade & Investment has a key role in managing this network and co-ordinating the efforts of both the public and private sector partners around the UK to make the best case for "UK plc". This ensures that potential investors have access to all the available help and advice they need to make the best commercial decisions. UK Trade & Investment's principal objectives in the area of FDI are to attract, retain and add value to UK investment.

Italian painting of the 15th century

All over Europe, the late middle ages favored a decorative and courtly manner known as the International Style. By the early 15th century, however, people in Florence and other towns of central Italy genuinely believed they were living in a new era—the Renaissance. Not only did the Renaissance bring new, more naturalistic styles, but also increased patronage from private individuals, and new, secular subjects.

In the fifteenth century, artists learned to depict the visual world in a naturalistic manner. They extended their understanding of light and shadow, of space and anatomy. The idealized statuary of classical antiquity served as models, while in architecture the classical orders were applied to Renaissance buildings.The prosperous mercantile economy of Florence helped to nurture the arts. Commissions came from the church, the state, and wealthy families. Classical as well as biblical heroes and heroines were portrayed as examples of virtue and moral fortitude.

However, to view the art of the Renaissance as a mere conquest of naturalistic representation would overlook the complexity of the period. Carlo Crivelli painted sumptuous altarpieces in a boldly ornamental manner, and Cosimo Tura frequently departed from logical, naturalistic norms in favor of an energetic idiom with an eccentric elegance. Portraiture flourished during the Renaissance, and the Venetians, foremost among them Giorgione and Bellini, excelled in their depictions of pastoral landscape.

Flood deaths in Brazil rise to 65

Rescue efforts are being stepped up in the southern Brazilian state of Santa Catarina, where floods have left 65 people dead and some 43,000 homeless.

The federal government and other states are sending aid, including helicopters to reach stranded residents.The heavy rainfall of recent days also caused landslides that have destroyed homes and blocked roads in the region.

Eight towns have been cut off by the flood waters while more than 160,000 people are without electricity.

Heavy rains have affected large parts of southern Brazil but Santa Catarina has borne the brunt of the bad weather.

The Aqua Spacecraft

The Aqua spacecraft will circle the Earth in an orbit that ascends across the equator each day at 1:30 p.m. local time and passes very close to the poles, complementing the 10:30 a.m. measurements being made by Terra, the first of the EOS spacecraft, launched in December 1999. The instrument complement on Aqua is designed to provide information on a great many processes and components of the Earth system, including cloud formation, precipitation, water vapor, air temperature, cloud radiative properties, sea surface temperature, surface wind speeds, sea ice concentration and temperature, snow cover, soil moisture, and land and ocean vegetation.

The individual swaths of measurements will be compiled into global images, with global coverage of many variables being obtained as frequently as every two days or, with the help of numerical models, combined every 6 or 12 hours into comprehensive representations of the Earth's atmospheric circulation and surface properties. In combination with measurements from other polar orbiting satellites, Aqua measurements will also provide accurate monthly-mean climate assessments that can be compared with and assimilated into computer model simulations of the Earth's climate.

The Earth Observing System has three major components: the EOS spacecraft, an advanced ground-based computer network for processing, storing, and distributing the collected data (the EOS Data and Information System); and teams of scientists and applications specialists who will study the data and help users in universities, industry, and the public apply it to issues ranging from weather forecasting and climate prediction to agriculture and urban planning.

Rosacea

Also called Acne rosacea
Rosacea is a long-term disease that affects your skin and sometimes your eyes. It causes redness and pimples. Rosacea is most common in women and people with fair skin. It usually starts between age 30 and 60.

In most cases, rosacea only affects the face. Symptoms can include
* Frequent redness of the face, or flushing

* Small, red lines under the skin

* Acne

* A swollen nose

* Thick skin, usually on the forehead, chin and cheeks

* Red, dry, itchy eyes and sometimes vision problems

No one knows what causes rosacea. You may be more likely to have it if you blush a lot or if rosacea runs in your family. Rosacea is not dangerous. It can be treated with medications and sometimes surgery.

Simple fruit

Simple fruits can be either dry or fleshy, and result from the ripening of a simple or compound ovary with only one pistil. Dry fruits may be either dehiscent (opening to discharge seeds), or indehiscent (not opening to discharge seeds).Types of dry, simple fruits, with examples of each, are:

* achene - (buttercup, strawberry seeds)

* capsule - (Brazil nut)

* caryopsis - (wheat)

* fibrous drupe - (coconut, walnut)

* follicle - (milkweed)

* legume - (pea, bean, peanut)

* loment

* nut - (hazelnut, beech, oak acorn)

* samara - (elm, ash, maple key)

* schizocarp - (carrot)

* silique - (radish)

* silicle - (shepherd's purse)

* utricle - (beet)

Fruits in which part or all of the pericarp (fruit wall) is fleshy at maturity are simple fleshy fruits. Types of fleshy, simple fruits (with examples) are:

* berry - (redcurrant, gooseberry, tomato, avocado)

* stone fruit or drupe (plum, cherry, peach, apricot, olive)

* pome - accessory fruits (apple, pear, rosehip)

Obama Builds Up White House Team

Barack Obama has started forming his administration by asking Rahm Emanuel, a former adviser to President Clinton, to be his chief-of-staff.

US President-elect Obama is expected to appoint a new treasury secretary soon.

He has until his inauguration on 20 January to select his senior officials. President Bush has pledged his complete co-operation during the transition.

Mr Obama was elected the first black US president on Tuesday with a resounding win over Republican rival John McCain.

There has been speculation Mr Obama will ask Defence Secretary Robert Gates to remain in his post.

Mr Gates is broadly respected by both parties and would reflect a more bipartisan administration, says the BBC's Jane O'Brien in Washington.

Mr Obama's victory was widely welcomed around the world.

UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown called Tuesday's poll historic and said he and Mr Obama "share many values".

Chinese President Hu Jintao said he looked forward to strengthening dialogue. France's Nicolas Sarkozy said the poll had raised "enormous hope".

Migraine

Migraine is a neurological syndrome characterized by altered bodily experiences, painful headaches, and nausea. It is a common condition which affects women more frequently than men.

The typical migraine headache is one-sided and pulsating, lasting 4 to 72 hours. Accompanying complaints are nausea and vomiting, and a heightened sensitivity to bright lights (photophobia) and noise (hyperacusis).Approximately one third of people who experience migraines get a preceding aura, in which a patient may sense a strange light or unpleasant smell.

Although the exact cause of migraine remains unknown, the most widespread theory is that it is a disorder of the serotonergic control system. Recently, PET scans have demonstrated the aura to coincide with spreading cortical depression after an episode of greatly increased blood flow (up to 300% higher than baseline). There also appear to be migraine variants that originate in the brainstem and involve dysfunction in calcium and potassium ion transport between cell membranes. Genetic factors may also contribute. Studies on twins show that genes have a 60 to 65% influence on the development of migraine.Fluctuating hormone levels show a relation to migraine in several ways: three quarters of adult migraine patients are female while migraine affects approximately equal numbers of boys and girls before puberty,[citation needed] and migraine is known to disappear during pregnancy in a substantial number of sufferers.

The treatment of migraine begins with simple painkillers for headache and anti-emetics for nausea, and avoidance of triggers if present. Specific anti-migraine drugs can be used to treat migraine. If the condition is severe and frequent enough, preventative drugs might be considered.

The word migraine is French in origin and comes from the Greek hemicrania, as does the Old English term megrim. Literally, hemicrania means "half (the) head".

Indian Science and Technology

India has a long and distinguished tradition in science and technology from the ancient times to great achievements during this century; the latter half prior to independence has been related largely to pure research. At the time of independence, our scientific and technological infrastructure was neither strong nor organised as compared to the developed world. This had resulted in our being technologically dependent on the skills and expertise available in other countries. In the past four decades, an infrastructure and capability largely commensurate with meeting national needs has been created minimising our dependence on other countries. A range of industries from small to the most sophisticated has been established covering a wide range of utilities, services and goods. There is now a reservoir of expertise well acquainted with the most modern advances in basic and applied areas that is equipped to make choices between available technologies, to absorb readily new technologies and provide a framework for future national development.

An Airline Pilot Was Arrested In A Jet’s Cockpit On Suspicion Of Being DRUNK

Hundreds of stunned passengers watched police march the 44-year-old American first officer off the Boeing 777.The United Airlines flight to San Francisco was delayed at Heathrow for almost three hours while a replacement co-pilot was found.Cops swooped after a tip-off from ground staff, who suspected the airman was boozing before the 5,300-mile flight.One stunned passenger said: “We couldn’t believe what we were seeing. The pilot was frog-marched off the aircraft.“A couple of police officers stormed on to the plane as we were all sitting down and went straight for the cockpit.

“We didn’t have a clue what was happening and we were kept waiting on the plane for hours.“It is horrifying to think we were apparently so close to being flown thousands of miles by somebody who could have been drinking.“It was a horrible start to our trip but if it wasn’t for the person who called the cops, our dream holiday could have become a nightmare.”The pilot was arrested at 9am on board flight 955 after failing a breathalyser.He was bailed and ordered to return to Heathrow airport police station in January.

United Airlines has suspended the officer, who earns around £40,000 a year, until the police investigation is over.A Scotland Yard spokesman said: “The crew member was arrested on suspicion of being aviation staff performing an aviation function whilst exceeding the prescribed alcohol limit.”The flight was due to leave Heathrow's Terminal One at 10.05am but was delayed until 12.53pm.

McCain And Obama In Tense Final Debate

Barack Obama and John McCain have clashed over their economic plans and other issues in a fractious final TV debate before the US presidential poll.

In a series of testy exchanges, Mr McCain accused Mr Obama of lying and of having ties to a domestic "terrorist".Mr McCain also accused his Democratic rival of wanting to raise taxes.Mr Obama sought to link Mr McCain with President Bush and said he was running a negative campaign. Immediate voter polls found Mr Obama came out on top.A CNN poll of debate-watchers said Mr Obama won by 58% to 31%, while a CBS survey found the Democrat the winner by 53% to 22%.

A poll of undecided independent voters by US network Fox also suggested Mr Obama was the victor.McCain's reference to Mr Obama's association with Bill Ayers, once a member of a US group that waged a violent campaign against the Vietnam War, continued the main Republican line of attack from the past 10 days.

Mr Obama rejected Mr McCain's criticism over Mr Ayers - now a university professor with whom he has served on a charity board - pointing out that he had been a child at the time of Mr Ayers' radical activities."Mr Ayers is not involved in my campaign," he said.Mr McCain, senator for Arizona, also accused Mr Obama of big spending on attack ads.The Illinois senator responded that 100% of Mr McCain's political adverts had been negative and that voters were more interested at this point in how the candidates planned to fix the economy.

Software Outsourcing India

Grounded firmly on the foundations of trust, teamwork and technology, ITOI has been providing offshore software development services for companies across the globe from the software outsourcing center in India; since 1999. We have clients from the US, UK, Denmark, Germany and India.

"A lot of people focus on India for lower costs. What is remarkable in India is the caliber of the computer engineers. The cost savings were an additional benefit on top of that" said Larry Ellison, Founder and CEO, Oracle in an interview. Microsoft and Oracle have their largest offshore software development centers in India.

New Protests Break Out in Kashmir, Across India

For a second day, police in Indian-controlled Kashmir have opened fire during protests in the main town of Srinagar.

Thousands of Muslims took to the streets Wednesday to mourn fellow protesters killed in skirmishes with police. Demonstrators chanted slogans calling for revenge and independence from India, while destroying police bunkers.

Others scrambled to stock up on supplies as Indian forces briefly eased a total curfew.

Officials say at least 21 people have been killed since Monday, when Muslim separatists began demonstrating against an economic blockade and India's rule over the region. Many others have been wounded in clashes.

Muslim separatist leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq today called for three days of mourning and urged people to protest peacefully.

United Nations spokesman in New York, Farhan Haq, today said the High Commissioner for Human Rights is monitoring developments and Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is aware of the situation.

Muslim protesters oppose the Hindu blockade of a major highway leading to the Muslim-dominated Kashmir Valley. The blockade has disrupted the flow of supplies to the region.

Meanwhile, the demonstrations spread throughout India - as Hindu nationalists in New Delhi, Mumbai and the tourist city of Agra blocked traffic and railway lines for several hours, bringing the cities to a temporary standstill.

Hindu protesters are demanding that the government re-instate a land transfer to a Hindu shrine.

Kashmir is divided between Pakistan and India, and claimed by both. Islamic separatists have been fighting for Kashmir's independence from India, or for the region's merger with Pakistan.

Dendrimers

A dendrimer is a highly branched macromolecule with a spherical shape. The surface of the particle may be functionalized in many ways and many of the properties of the resulting construct are determined by its surface.

In particular it is possible to construct a cationic dendrimer, i.e. one with a positive surface charge. When in the presence of genetic material such as DNA or RNA, charge complimentarity leads to a temporary association of the nucleic acid with the cationic dendrimer. On reaching its destination the dendrimer-nucleic acid complex is then taken into the cell via endocytosis.
In recent years the benchmark for transfection agents has been cationic lipids. Limitations of these competing reagents have been reported to include: the lack of ability to transfect a number of cell types, the lack of robust active targeting capabilities, incompatibility with animal models, and toxicity. Dendrimers offer robust covalent construction and extreme control over molecule structure, and therefore size. Together these give compelling advantages compared to existing approaches.

Aerobic biodegradation of pollutants

The burgeoning amount of bacterial genomic data provides unparalleled opportunities for understanding the genetic and molecular bases of the degradation of organic pollutants. Aromatic compounds are among the most recalcitrant of these pollutants and lessons can be learned from the recent genomic studies of Burkholderia xenovorans LB400 and Rhodococcus sp. strain RHA1, two of the largest bacterial genomes completely sequenced to date. These studies have helped expand our understanding of bacterial catabolism, non-catabolic physiological adaptation to organic compounds, and the evolution of large bacterial genomes. First, the metabolic pathways from phylogenetically diverse isolates are very similar with respect to overall organization. Thus, as originally noted in pseudomonads, a large number of "peripheral aromatic" pathways funnel a range of natural and xenobiotic compounds into a restricted number of "central aromatic" pathways. Nevertheless, these pathways are genetically organized in genus-specific fashions, as exemplified by the b-ketoadipate and Paa pathways. Comparative genomic studies further reveal that some pathways are more widespread than initially thought. Thus, the Box and Paa pathways illustrate the prevalence of non-oxygenolytic ring-cleavage strategies in aerobic aromatic degradation processes.

Enzyme

Enzymes are biomolecules that catalyze (i.e. increase the rates of) chemical reactions. Almost all enzymes are proteins. In enzymatic reactions, the molecules at the beginning of the process are called substrates, and the enzyme converts them into different molecules, the products. Almost all processes in a biological cell need enzymes in order to occur at significant rates. Since enzymes are extremely selective for their substrates and speed up only a few reactions from among many possibilities, the set of enzymes made in a cell determines which metabolic pathways occur in that cell.

Like all catalysts, enzymes work by lowering the activation energy (Ea or ΔG‡) for a reaction, thus dramatically increasing the rate of the reaction. Most enzyme reaction rates are millions of times faster than those of comparable un-catalyzed reactions. As with all catalysts, enzymes are not consumed by the reactions they catalyze, nor do they alter the equilibrium of these reactions. However, enzymes do differ from most other catalysts by being much more specific. Enzymes are known to catalyze about 4,000 biochemical reactions. A few RNA molecules called ribozymes catalyze reactions, with an important example being some parts of the ribosome. Synthetic molecules called artificial enzymes also display enzyme-like catalysis.

Locative media

Locative Media are media of communication bound to a location. They are digital media applied to real places and thus triggering real social interactions. While mobile technologies such as the Global Positioning System (GPS), laptop computers and mobile phones enable locative media, they are not the goal for the development of projects in this field. Rather:

"Locative media is many things: A new site for old discussions about the relationship of consciousness to place and other people. A framework within which to actively engage with, critique, and shape a rapid set of technological developments. A context within which to explore new and old models of communication, community and exchange. A name for the ambiguous shape of a rapidly deploying surveillance and control infrastructure." (Russell, 2004)

Custom software

Custom software (also known as Bespoke software) is a type of software that is developed either for a specific organization or function that differs from or is opposite of other already available software (also called off-the-shelf or COTSsoftware). It is generally not targeted to the mass market, but usually created for companies, business entities, and organizations. Custom software is also when companies or governments pay for customized software for budget or project managing.

Examples of bespoke software include ATMs and Supermarket checkout scanners. Other examples include many web sites and web-based applications.

However, according to the US government, million and multi-million dollar projects for custom software are available to bid on. (Refer to www.ccr.gov for more information.) Multiple companies with security clearances are able to bid for these massive projects. Other companies will successfully bid on these projects and then sell the project to another company for profit.

Active Object

This article is about a multi-threading technique. For the lockstep protocol variant, see Active objects.

The Active Object design pattern decouples method execution from method invocation that reside in their own thread of control.s The goal is to introduce concurrency, by using asynchronous method invocation and a scheduler for handling requests.

The pattern consists of six elements:

* a proxy, which provides an interface towards clients with publicly accessible methods
* an interface which defines the method request on an active object
* a list of pending requests from clients
* a scheduler, which decides which request to execute next
* the implementation of the active object method.
* a callback or variable for the client to receive the result.

Planet (software)

In computing, Planet is a feed aggregator application designed to collect posts from the weblogs of members of an Internet community and display them on a single page. Planet runs on a web server. It creates pages with entries from the original feeds in chronological order, most recent entries first.

Planet is written in Python and maintained by Jeff Waugh and Scott James Remnant. Released under the Python License, Planet is free software.

Optimization

Optimization or optimality is a term that may refer to:

* Optimization (mathematics), trying to find maxima and minima of a function
* Optimization (computer science), improving a system to reduce runtime, bandwidth, memory requirements, or other property of a system; in particular
o Compiler optimization, improving the performance or efficiency of compiled code
* Search engine optimization, in internet marketing, methodologies aimed at improving the ranking of a website in search engine listings
* Process optimization, in business and engineering, methodologies for improving the efficiency of a production process
* Product optimization, in business and marketing, methodologies for improving the quality and desirability of the current product or a product concept
* Optimality theory in linguistics.
* Optimal classification, a process which arranges classification element attributes in an order which minimizes the number of queries necessary to identify any particular element.

Network model

The network model is a database model conceived as a flexible way of representing objects and their relationships. Its original inventor was Charles Bachman, and it was developed into a standard specification published in 1969 by the CODASYL Consortium. Where the hierarchical model structures data as a tree of records, with each record having one parent record and many children, the network model allows each record to have multiple parent and child records, forming a lattice structure.

Media ecology

In 1977, Marshall McLuhan said that media ecology "means arranging various media to help each other so they won't cancel each other out, to buttress one medium with another. You might say, for example, that radio is a bigger help to literacy than television, but television might be a very wonderful aid to teaching languages. And so you can do some things on some media that you cannot do on others. And, therefore, if you watch the whole field, you can prevent this waste that comes by one canceling the other out."

Inspired by McLuhan, Neil Postman founded the Program in Media Ecology at New York University in 1971. He described it as

Media ecology looks into the matter of how media of communication affect human perception, understanding, feeling, and value; and how our interaction with media facilitates or impedes our chances of survival. The word ecology implies the study of environments: their structure, content, and impact on people.

Social networking spam

Social networking spam is spam directed at users of internet social networking services such as MySpace. Users of social networking services can send notes, that may include embedded links to other social network locations or even outside sites, to one another.

This is where the social network spammer comes in. Utilizing the social network's search tools, he/she can target a certain demographic segment of the users, and send notes to them from an account disguised as that of a real person. Such notes typically include embedded links to pornographic or other product sites designed to sell something. As of 2006, spamming software such as FriendBot is available to automate this process.

Unfortunately for victims, until recently no filters were available for MySpace notes. The best a MySpace user could do was block notes from the sender's address. MySpace now includes an option for users to “report spam/abuse” addresses. Spammers, however, frequently change their address from one throw-away account to another.

E-mail spoofing

E-mail spoofing is a term used to describe fraudulent email activity in which the sender address and other parts of the email header are altered to appear as though the email originated from a different source. E-mail spoofing is a technique commonly used for spam e-mail and phishing to hide the origin of an e-mail message. By changing certain properties of the e-mail, such as the From, Return-Path and Reply-To fields (which can be found in the message header), ill-intentioned users can make the e-mail appear to be from someone other than the actual sender. It is often associated with website spoofing which mimics an actual, well-known website but are run by another party either with fraudulent intentions or as a means of criticism of the organization's activities. The result is that, although the e-mail appears to come from the email indicated in the "From" field (found in the email headers) it actually comes from another e-mail address, probably the same one indicated in the "Reply To" field; if the initial e-mail is replied to, the delivery will be sent to the "Reply To" e-mail, that is, to the spammer's email.

Difficulties with e-mail forwarding

There are some additional details when an e-mail forwarder is involved. Forwarders perform a useful service in allowing you to have one simple permanent address, even if you change jobs or ISPs. List servers perform a similar function, forwarding e-mail to many receivers on behalf of one sender. Forwarders pose no problem for an end-to-end authentication method like DKIM and DomainKeys, as long as the signed message is not modified (some lists do this).

CSV limits its focus to one-hop authentications. SPF and SenderID have in essence the same limitation, they don't work directly behind the "border" ( MX ) of the receiver. For SPF forwarders to third parties could rewrite the Return-Path (MAIL FROM) in a similar way like mailing lists. This approach emulates the SMTP behaviour before RFC 1123 deprecated source routes; for a technical explanation see SRS.

For SenderID, forwarders to third parties and mailing lists are asked to add a Sender: or Resent-Sender: header. For many mailing lists, the former is already the case, but other forwarders avoid any modifications of the mail in addition to the mandatory Received-timestamp line.


Use of a forwarder prevents the receiver from directly seeing the sender's IP address. The incoming IP packets have only the forwarder's IP address. Two solutions are possible if one can trust all forwarders. Either one trusts the forwarder to authenticate the sender, or one trusts the forwarder to at least accurately record the incoming IP address and pass it on, so one can do their own authentication.

The situation gets complicated when there is more than one forwarder. A sender can explicitly authorize a forwarder to send on its behalf, in effect extending its boundary to the public Internet. A receiver can trust a forwarder that it pays to handle e-mail, in effect designating a new receiver. There may be additional "MTA relays" in the middle, however. These are sometimes used for administrative control, traffic aggregation, and routing control. All it takes is one broken link in the chain-of-trust from sender to receiver, and it is no longer possible to authenticate the sender.

Forwarders have one other responsibility, and that is to route Bounce messages (a.k.a. DSNs) in case the forwarding fails (or if it is requested anyway). E-mail forwarding is different from remailing when it comes to which address should receive DSNs. Spam bounces should not be sent to any address that may be forged. These bounces may go back by the same path they came, if that path has been authenticated.

Concurrent Versions System

In the field of software development, the Concurrent Versions System (CVS), also known as the Concurrent Versioning System, provides a version control system based on open-source code. Version control system software keeps track of all work and all changes in a set of files, and allows several developers (potentially widely separated in space and/or time) to collaborate. Dick Grune developed CVS in the 1980s. CVS has become popular in the open source software world and is released under the GNU General Public License.

Robot software

Robot software is the coded commands that tell a mechanical device (known as a robot) what tasks to perform and control its actions. Robot software is used to perform tasks and automate tasks to be performed. Programming robots is a non-trivial task. Many software systems and frameworks have been proposed to make programming robots easier.

Some robot software aims at developing intelligent mechanical devices. Though common in science fiction stories, such programs are yet to become common-place in reality and much development is yet required in the field of artificial intelligence before they even begin to approach the science fiction possibilities. Pre-programmed hardware may include feedback loops such that it can interact with its environment, but does not display actual intelligence.

Currently, malicious programming of robots is of some concern, particularly in large industrial robots. The power and size of industrial robots mean they are capable of inflicting severe injury if programmed incorrectly or used in an unsafe manner. One such incident occurred on 21 July 1984 when a man was crushed to death by an industrial robot. That incident was an accident, but shows the potential risks of working with robots. In science fiction, the Three Laws of Robotics were developed for robots to obey and avoid malicious actions.

Ecological Systems Theory

Ecological Systems Theory, also called "Development in Context" or "Human Ecology" theory, specifies four types of nested environmental systems, with bi-directional influences within and between the systems. The theory was developed by Urie Bronfenbrenner, generally regarded as one of the world's leading scholars in the field of developmental psychology. Later a fifth system was added:

* Microsystem: Immediate environments (family, school, peer group, neighborhood, and childcare environments)
* Mesosystem: A system comprised of connections between immediate environments (i.e., a child’s home and school)
* Exosystem: External environmental settings which only indirectly affect development (such as parent's workplace)
* Macrosystem: The larger cultural context (Eastern vs. Western culture, national economy, political culture, subculture)
* Chronosystem: The patterning of environmental events and transitions over the course of life.

The person's own biology may be considered part of the microsystem; thus the theory has recently sometimes been called "Bio-Ecological Systems Theory." Each system contains roles, norms, and rules that can powerfully shape development.

Evolutionary robotics

Evolutionary Robotics (ER) is a methodology that uses evolutionary computation to develop controllers for autonomous robots. Algorithms in ER frequently operate on populations of candidate controllers, initially selected from some distribution. This population is then repeatedly modified according to a fitness function. In the case of genetic algorithms (or "GAs"), a common method in evolutionary computation, the population of candidate controllers is repeatedly grown according to crossover, mutation and other GA operators and then culled according to the fitness function. The candidate controllers used in ER applications may be drawn from some subset of the set of artificial neural networks, although some applications (including SAMUEL, developed at the Naval Center for Applied Research in Artificial Intelligence) use collections of "IF THEN ELSE" rules as the constituent parts of an individual controller. It is theoretically possible to use any set of symbolic formulations of a control laws (sometimes called a policies in the machine learning community) as the space of possible candidate controllers. It is worth noting that artificial neural networks can also be used for robot learning outside of the context of evolutionary robotics. In particular, other forms of reinforcement learning can be used for learning robot controllers.

Software Innovation

Software Innovation can be understood in (at least) two ways:

1. Software Product Innovation - the creation of novel and useful software programs.

2. Software Process Innovation - the introduction of novel and useful ways of developing software.

Innovation should be distinguished from invention, and from creativity . Both are relevant to software innovation, but whereas creativity is the state of mind which leads to innovative thinking, and invention could describe a new algorithm or program (or software development technique), innovation implies that the creative act and invention are carried into wider use, leading to substantial kinds of change; thus the successful exploitation of new ideas. Software innovation therefore = invention + exploitation + diffusion , where invention refers to the creative act or process, exploitation refers to its enactment in practice, and diffusion of innovations refers to its adoption by a wider audience. Software innovation may refer to both radical (disruptive, discontinuous) and incremental changes to software products and processes. Typical the result of software innovation is experienced as change – in the way people work, business is carried out, in people’s choice of entertainment, in the way they choose to communicate, or in how they govern their communities and interact with each other.

Cost overrun

Cost overrun is defined as excess of actual cost over budget. Cost overrun is also sometimes called "cost escalation," "cost increase," or "budget overrun." However, cost escalation and increases do not necessarily result in cost overruns if cost escalation is included in the budget.

Cost overrun is common in infrastructure, building, and technology projects. One of the most comprehensive studies of cost overrun that exists found that 9 out of 10 projects had overrun, overruns of 50 to 100 percent were common, overrun was found in each of 20 nations and five continents covered by the study, and overrun had been constant for the 70 years for which data were available. For IT projects, an industry study by the Standish Group (2004) found that average cost overrun was 43 percent, 71 percent of projects were over budget, over time, and under scope, and total waste was estimated at US$55 billion per year in the US alone.

Piri Reis map

The Piri Reis map ("Piri" pronounced /piɹi/) is a famous pre-modern world map created by 16th century Ottoman-Turkish admiral and cartographer Piri Reis. The map shows part of the western coasts of Europe and North Africa with reasonable accuracy, and the coast of Brazil is also easily recognizable. Various Atlantic islands including the Azores and Canary Islands are depicted, as is the mythical island of Antillia. The map is noteworthy for its depiction of a southern landmass that some controversially claim is evidence for early awareness of the existence of Antarctica.

Marine Cargo Types

There is a wide range of marine cargoes at seaport terminals operated. The primary types are these:

* Containers are the largest and fastest growing cargo category at most ports worldwide. Containerized cargo includes everything from auto parts and machinery components to shoes, toys, and frozen meat and seafood.

* Automobiles are handled at many ports.

* Project cargo and heavy lift cargo may include items such as manufacturing equipment, factory components, power equipment such as generators and wind turbines, military equipment or almost any other oversized or overweight cargo too big or too heavy to fit into a container.

* Break bulk cargo is typically material stacked on wooden pallets and lifted into and out of the hold of a vessel by cranes on the dock or aboard the ship itself. The volume of break bulk cargo has declined dramatically worldwide as containerization has grown.

* Bulk Cargoes, such as salt, oil, tallow, and Scrap metal, are usually defined as commodities that are neither on pallets nor in containers, and which are not handled as individual pieces, the way heavy-lift and project cargoes are. Alumina, grain, gypsum, logs and wood chips, for instance, are bulk cargoes.

Logical schema

A Logical Schema is a data model of a specific problem domain that is in terms of a particular data management technology. Without being specific to a particular database management product, it is in terms of either (for example, in 2007) relational tables and columns, object-oriented classes, or XML tags. This is as opposed to a conceptual data model, which describes the semantics of an organization without reference to technology, or a physical data model, which describes the particular physical mechanisms used to capture data in a storage medium.

Apache Derby

Apache Derby relational database management system that can be embedded in Java programs and used for online transaction processing. It has a 2 MB disk-space footprint. Apache Derby is developed as an open source project under the Apache 2.0 licence. Derby was previously distributed as IBM Cloudscape and Sun Java DB.

Relational model

The relational model for database management is a database model based on predicate logic and set theory. It was first formulated and proposed in 1969 by Edgar Codd with aims that included avoiding, without loss of completeness, the need to write computer programs to express database queries and enforce database integrity constraints. "Relation" is a mathematical term for "table", and thus "relational" roughly means "based on tables". It did not originally refer to the links or "keys" between tables, contrary to popular interpretation of the name.

CrushFTP

CrushFTP is a FTP server that supports the following protocols: FTP, FTPS, SFTP, HTTP, HTTPS, WebDAV and WebDAV SSL. Additionally, although not a protocol, it has a web interface for end users to manage their files from a web browser. CrushFTP uses a GUI for administration, but also installs as a daemon on Mac OS X, Linux, Unix, and as a service in Windows. It supports multihoming, hot configuration changes, and has a GUI based user and group manager. The plugin architecture in CrushFTP allows for plugins to read users from SQL, LDAP, Active Directory, folders, and NetInfo. All settings are stored in XML files that can be edited directly, or with the CrushFTP GUI. If edited directly, CrushFTP will notice the modification date change and load the settings immediately without needing a server restart.

Software development process

A software development process is a structure imposed on the development of a software product. Synonyms include software life cycle and software process. There are several models for such processes, each describing approaches to a variety of tasks or activities that take place during the process.

A growing body of software development organizations implement process methodologies. Many of them are in the defense industry, which in the U.S. requires a rating based on 'process models' to obtain contracts. The international standard for describing the method of selecting, implementing and monitoring the life cycle for software is ISO 12207.

Building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV)

Building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) are photovoltaic materials that are used to replace conventional building materials in parts of the building envelope such as the roof, skylights, or facades. They are increasingly being incorporated into the construction of new buildings as a principal or ancillary source of electrical power, although existing buildings may be retrofitted with BIPV modules as well. The advantage of integrated photovoltaics over more common non-integrated systems is that the initial cost can be offset by reducing the amount spent on building materials and labor that would normally be used to construct the part of the building that the BIPV modules replace.

Toxicity of Metabolites

Many substances regarded as poisons are toxic only indirectly. An example is "wood alcohol," or methanol, which is chemically converted to formaldehyde and formic acid in the liver. It is the formaldehyde and formic acid that cause the toxic effects of methanol exposure. Many drug molecules are made toxic in the liver, a good example being acetaminophen (paracetamol), especially in the presence of alcohol. The genetic variability of certain liver enzymes makes the toxicity of many compounds differ between one individual and the next. Because demands placed on one liver enzyme can induce activity in another, many molecules become toxic only in combination with others.

Transreflective liquid crystal display

A transreflective liquid crystal display is a liquid crystal display (LCD) that reflects most of the sunlight it is exposed to, and automatically increases or decreases the light emanating from the screen depending on how much light shines on it. Therefore, it reduces the need for manual light adjustment of the screen.

Transreflective liquid crystal displays use a retroreflector to transmit light when external sources of light are available, such as the sun or a lamp, and illuminate the screen well. When these sources are available but do not illuminate well, the display transmits its own light from a backlight at the rear of the display.

Materials intelligence and Air Sampling

Nuclear tests, including underground tests that vent into the atmosphere, produce fallout that not only indicates that a nuclear event has taken place, but, through radiochemical analysis of radionuclides in the fallout, characterize the technology and source of the device. For example, a pure fission device will have different fallout products from a boosted fission device, which, in turn, differ from various types of thermonuclear devices.

One real-world example is a review of how xenon by-product levels could be used to distinguish if air sampling from a North Korean test, either atmospheric testing or leakage from an underground test, could be used to determine if the bomb was nuclear, and, if so, whether the Primary was plutonium or highly-enriched uranium (HEU)

Integral action

The integral term magnifies the effect of long-term steady-state errors, applying ever-increasing effort until they reduce to zero. In the example of the furnace above working at various temperatures, if the heat being applied does not bring the furnace up to setpoint, for whatever reason, integral action increasingly moves the proportional band relative to the setpoint until the time-integral of the MV error is reduced to zero and the setpoint is achieved.

Systems engineering

Systems Engineering is an interdisciplinary approach and means for enabling the realization and deployment of successful systems. It can be viewed as the application of engineering techniques to the engineering of systems, as well as the application of a systems approach to engineering efforts. Systems Engineering integrates other disciplines and specialty groups into a team effort, forming a structured development process that proceeds from concept to production to operation and disposal. Systems Engineering considers both the business and the technical needs of all customers, with the goal of providing a quality product that meets the user needs.

Marxism-Leninism

Marxism-Leninism, strictly speaking, refers to the version of Marxism developed by Vladimir Lenin known as Leninism[citation needed]. However, in various contexts, different (and sometimes opposing) political groups have used the term "Marxism-Leninism" to describe the ideologies that they claimed to be upholding. The core ideological features of Marxism-Leninism are those of Marxism and Leninism, that is to say, belief in the necessity of a violent overthrow of capitalism through communist revolution, to be followed by a dictatorship of the proletariat as the first stage of moving towards communism, and the need for a vanguard party to lead the proletariat in this effort.

It involves subscribing to the teachings and legacy of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels (Marxism), and that of Lenin, as carried forward by Joseph Stalin. Those who view themselves as Marxist-Leninists, however, vary with regards to the leaders and thinkers that they choose to uphold as progressive (and to what extent). Maoists tend to downplay the importance of all other thinkers in favour of Mao Zedong, whereas Hoxhaites repudiate Mao.

Legal psychology

Legal psychology involves the application of empirical psychological research to legal institutions and people who come into contact with the law. Legal psychology is a field that takes basic social and cognitive theories and principles and applies them to issues in the legal system such as eyewitness memory, jury decision-making, investigations and interviewing. The term "legal psychology" has only recently come into usage, primarily as a way to differentiate the non-clinical focus of legal psychology from the clinically-oriented forensic psychology. Unlike forensic psychology, legal psychology's primary focus is in the application of topics of experimental research in social psychology as well as in developmental psychology, perception and memory, and areas related to these topics.

Social psychology

Social psychology is the study of the nature and causes of human social behavior, with an emphasis on how people think towards each other and how they relate to each other. Social Psychology aims to understand how we make sense of social situations. For example, this could involve the influence of others on an individual's behavior (e.g., conformity or persuasion), the perception and understanding of social cues, or the formation of attitudes or stereotypes about other people. Social cognition is a common approach and involves a mostly cognitive and scientific approach to understanding social behavior.

Comte's positivism

According to Auguste Comte, society undergoes three different phases in its quest for the truth according to the aptly named Law of three stages. These three phases are the theological, the metaphysical and the positive phases.

The theological phase of man is based on whole-hearted belief in all things with reference to God. God, he says, had reigned supreme over human existence pre-Enlightenment. Humanity's place in society was governed by his association with the divine presences and with the church. The theological phase deals with humankind accepting the doctrines of the church (or place of worship) and not questioning the world. It dealt with the restrictions put in place by the religious organization at the time and the total acceptance of any “fact” placed forth for society to believe.

Boeing X-50A

Boeing X-50 Dragonfly, formerly known as the Canard Rotor/Wing Demonstrator, is a gyrodyne unmanned aerial vehicle that was being developed by Boeing and DARPA to demonstrate the principle that a helicopter's rotor can be stopped in flight and act as a fixed wing. The X-50A builds upon the work of the Sikorsky X-Wing program of the 1980s by designing the vehicle as a multi-mode aircraft from the ground up. The X-50A is one of two projects funded by DARPA in its "Heliplane" program.

Wide area network

A wide area network is a network where a wide variety of resources are deployed across a large domestic area or internationally. An example of this is a multinational business that uses a WAN to interconnect their offices in different countries. The largest and best example of a WAN is the Internet, which is a network comprised of many smaller networks. The Internet is considered the largest network in the world. The PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) also is an extremely large network that is converging to use Internet technologies, although not necessarily through the public Internet.

A Wide Area Network involves communication through the use of a wide range of different technologies. These technologies include Point-to-Point WANs such as Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) and High-Level Data Link Control (HDLC), Frame Relay, ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) and Sonet (Synchronous Optical Network). The difference between the WAN technologies is based on the switching capabilities they perform and the speed at which sending and receiving bits of information (data) occur.

For more information on WANs, see Frame Relay, ATM and Sonet.

Molecular nanotechnology

Molecular nanotechnology, sometimes called molecular manufacturing, is a term given to the concept of engineered nanosystems (nanoscale machines) operating on the molecular scale. It is especially associated with the concept of a molecular assembler, a machine that can produce a desired structure or device atom-by-atom using the principles of mechanosynthesis. Manufacturing in the context of productive nanosystems is not related to, and should be clearly distinguished from, the conventional technologies used to manufacture nanomaterials such as carbon nanotubes and nanoparticles.

When the term "nanotechnology" was independently coined and popularized by Eric Drexler (who at the time was unaware of an earlier usage by Norio Taniguchi) it referred to a future manufacturing technology based on molecular machine systems. The premise was that molecular-scale biological analogies of traditional machine components demonstrated molecular machines were possible: by the countless examples found in biology, it is known that sophisticated, stochastically optimised biological machines can produce.

Cellular telephony

The most common example of a cellular network is a mobile phone (cell phone) network. A mobile phone is a portable telephone which receives or makes calls through a cell site (base station), or transmitting tower. Radio waves are used to transfer signals to and from the cell phone. Large geographic areas (representing the coverage range of a service provider) are split up into smaller cells to deal with line-of-sight signal loss and the large number of active phones in an area. In cities, each cell site has a range of up to approximately ½ mile, while in rural areas, the range is approximately 5 miles. Many times in clear open areas, a user may receive signal from a cell 25 miles away. Each cell overlaps other cell sites. All of the cell sites are connected to cellular telephone exchanges "switches", which in turn connect to the public telephone network or another switch of the cellular company.

As the phone user moves from one cell area to another, the switch automatically commands the handset and a cell site with a stronger signal (reported by the handset) to go to a new radio channel (frequency). When the handset responds through the new cell site, the exchange switches the connection to the new cell site.

What do you mean by Java platform?

The Java platform was urbanized at Sun in the early 1990s with the objective of permitting programs to function apart from of the device they were used on, sparking the slogan "Write once, run anywhere" (WORA). While this intention has not been completely achieved (prompting the riposte "Write once, debug everywhere"), Java is regarded as being mainly hardware- and operating system-independent.

Java was primarily promoted as a platform for client-side applets running within web browsers. This positioning was never very booming. While browser-based applications have had substantial success in displacing standalone applications on the desktop, in 2006 they were not time and again implemented as Java applets. The platform has been more doing well on the server side of the Internet.

The platform contains three major parts, the Java programming language, the Java Virtual Machine (JVM), and numerous Java Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). The design of the Java platform is managed by the vendor and user community throughout the Java Community Process (JCP).

Constructors in C++

A constructor in c++ programming language is a function that initializes the members of an object. A constructor only knows how to construct an object of its own class.
Constructors are not automatically inherited between base and the derived classes. If you don't give one in the derived class, a default will be supplied but this may not do what you want.

If we don’t use constructor then a default one is created by the compiler not including any parameters. There must always be a constructor, though it is the default and empty. If you provide a constructor with parameters then a default will not be created.

Some points about constructors to remember

1. Constructors are just functions with the same name as the class.
2. Constructors are intended to initialize the members of the class when an instance or the object of that class is created.
3. Constructors are not called directly (except for through initializer lists)
4. Constructors will not be virtual.
5. Multiple constructors for the similar class can be defined. They must have different parameters to differentiate them.

What are the Differences between the touring cars and sports cars?

For the careless viewer, there can be a great deal of confusion when it comes to classifying closed-wheel racing cars as the 'touring cars' or the 'sports cars' (as well known as GT cars). In fact, there is often extraordinarily little technical difference between the two classifications, and nomenclature is often a matter of tradition.

Generally, on the other hand, touring cars are based upon 4-door 'family' sedans or, more rarely, 2-door coupe cars, while GT racing cars are based upon more striking vehicles, like Ferrari's or Lamborghini's. Underneath the bodywork, a Touring Car is sometimes more directly associated to its road-going origins, using numerous original components and mountings, while a top-flight GT car is often a purpose-built tube-frame racing chassis underneath a decorative body shell. Numerous Touring Car series, like the BTCC and the now-defunct JTCC differentiate themselves from sports-car racing by featuring front-wheel drive cars with less important engines.

On the other hand, while generally Touring Cars have a lower technical level than sports cars; there are famous exceptions to the rule. The Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM) is believed to be one of the most technologically highly developed racing series in the world, with cars that, underneath their four-door shells, are more purebred racing machines than the majority FIA-GT vehicles.

What is Road running race game?

The Road running or road racing is the sport of running on a measured course larger than an established road (as opposite to track and the cross country running). Such a race or competition is called a road race. The Road racing provides competitors a variety of challenges to triumph over such as hills, sharp bends, varied roadway, inclement weather, and a large group to try to win against- or with. The Aerobic fitness, or the ability of the body to make use of oxygen, is essential to have to complete the long distances. The Anaerobic fitness, that is, the body's capacity at responding when there isn't sufficient oxygen for the muscle, is essential to charge up hills and past competitors on the finish line. The Road running is unique along with athletic events for the reasons that in many cases first time amateurs are welcome to take part in the same happening as members of running clubs and even in the existing world-class champions.

Mounting of traffic lights

A typical exemplar of how traffic lights are mounted in California. Wealthy cities like Cerritos frequently have elaborate traffic light gantries. There are important differences from place to place in how traffic lights are mounted or placed so that they are visible to drivers. Depending upon the place, traffic lights may be mounted on poles positioned on street corners, hung from wires strung over the roadway, or even hung from horizontal poles or installed within large horizontal gantries that make bigger out from the corner and over the right-of-way. In the previous case, such poles or gantries frequently have a lit sign with the name of the cross-street.

In some places mount lights with their multiple faces set horizontally and others vertically. California is particularly fastidious in ensuring that drivers can see the current state of a traffic light. One entrance to a typical large intersection, with three through lanes, two dedicated left-turn lanes, and a crosswalk, may have as many as three traffic lights for the left-turn lanes, three for the through lanes, and a pedestrian signal for the crosswalk. And those numbers must be multipled by four to cover all four ways to enter a typical intersection. Additionally to being positioned and mounted for preferred visibility for their personal traffic, some traffic lights are also meant, louvered, or shaded to reduce mis-interpretation from other lanes. For instance, a Fresnel lens on a neighboring through-lane signal may be intended to prevent left-turning traffic from anticipating its individual green arrow.

The Traffic signals in Germany are placed at the stop line on same side of the intersection as the forthcoming traffic and are often mounted overhead with on the right and left sides of the road. The stop line position is done to stop crosswalk blocking and permit for better pedestrian traffic flow.

The History of glass

Naturally occurring glass, like obsidian, has been used ever since the Stone Age. The first accepted instructions for glass making are in Egypt about 1500 BC, when glass was used as a glaze for pottery and additional items. In the first century BC the method of blowing glass was developed and what had once been a tremendously rare and expensive item became much more common. During the Roman Empire numerous forms of glass were created, generally for use in vases and bottles.

The Glass was made from sand, plant ash and lime. The most primitive use of glass was as a colored, opaque, or clear glaze applied to ceramics before they were fired. Small pieces of colored glass were considered costly and often rivaled valuable gems as jewelry items. As time passed, it was revealed (most likely by a potter) that if glass is heated in anticipation of it becomes semi-liquid, it can be shaped and left to cool in a new , solid, separately standing shape. In the first century BC, someplace at the eastern end of the Mediterranean, a new discovery caused a true revolution in the glass industry. This was the invention of glassblowing, both free-blowing and mold-blowing. The color of "natural glass" is green to bluish green glass. This color is caused by the changeable amounts of naturally occurring iron impurities in the sand. Common glass at present usually has a slight green or blue tint, arising from these same impurities.

The Glassmakers learned to make colored glass by adding metallic compounds and mineral oxides to make brilliant hues of red, green, and blue - the colors of gemstones. When gem cutters learned to cut glass, they create that clear glass was an outstanding refractor of light, the attractiveness of cut clear glass soared, that of colored glass diminished.

The Glass objects from the 7th and 8th centuries have been found on the island of Torcello close to Venice. These form an essential link between Roman times and the later on importance of that city in the production of the material. About 1000 CE, an essential technological breakthrough was made in Northern Europe when soda glass was replaced by glass made from a much more readily obtainable material: potash obtained from wood ashes. From this point on, northern glass differed considerably from that made in the Mediterranean area, where soda remained in general use.

The real facts about Mars

Mars (Greek: Ares) is the God of War. The planet perhaps got this name due to its red color; Mars is at times referred to as the Red Planet. The name of the month March obtains from Mars.

Mars has been recognized since prehistoric times. Certainly, it has been broadly studied with ground-based observatories. But even very large telescopes find Mars a hard target, it's just too small. It is still a favorite of science fiction writers as the best place in the Solar System (other than Earth!) for human habitation. But the illustrious "canals" "seen" by Lowell and others were, regrettably, just as fantasy as Barsoomian princesses.

Mars' orbit is considerably elliptical. One result of this is a temperature variation of concerning 30 C at the sub solar point between aphelion and perihelion. This has a most important influence on Mars' climate. While the average temperature on Mars is about 218 K (-55 C, -67 F), and in summer, Martian surface temperatures range broadly from as little as 140 K (-133 C, -207 F) at the winter pole to roughly 300 K (27 C, 80 F) on the day side.

There is dreadfully clear evidence of erosion in many places on Mars together with large floods and small river systems. At some time in the past there was evidently some sort of fluid on the surface. Liquid water is the clear fluid but other possibilities exist. There possibly will have been large lakes or even oceans; the proof for which was strengthened by some extremely nice images of layered terrain taken by Mars Global Surveyor and the mineral logy results from MER Opportunity. Most of these points to wet episodes that occurred only for a short time and very long ago; the age of the erosion channels are estimated at about almost 4 billion years. However, images from Mars Express released in early on 2005 show what appears to be an ice-covered sea that was liquid very recently (maybe 5 million years ago). Confirmation of this interpretation would be an extremely big deal indeed!

Mars has a very thin atmosphere composed more often than not of the tiny amount of remaining carbon dioxide (95.3%) plus nitrogen (2.7%), argon (1.6%) and traces of oxygen (0.15%) and water (0.03%). The average pressure on the surface of Mars is simply about 7 millibars (below 1% of Earth's), but it varies to a great extent with altitude from almost 9 millibars in the deepest basins to about 1 millibar at the top of Olympus Mons. But it is thick enough to support very strong winds and measureless dust storms that on occasion engulf the entire planet for months. Mars' thin atmosphere produces a greenhouse consequence but it is only enough to lift up the surface temperature by 5 degrees (K); much less than what we observe on Venus and Earth.

Australian Identity

I believe this view was based on a normal Australian male living in those times (1958). In my view this image represents a person living in those tough times and who was fashioned by his/her environment making him/her the person that he was. This explanation also vaguely matches ‘Michael’ in Crocodile Dundee. A statement that well describes Dundee and drinks deeply on occasion. Although he is the world’s best self-confidence man. I believe there possibly was a lot of truth in this explanation at the time. Russell Ward goes into describing details like even words and I don’t think he could make this entire up in his head because it wouldn’t be published if it was totally not true.

During 1958 Australia was still a very youthful country with a small population based on people from many nations. The towns were small and jobs would have concerned manual labour rather than being ‘thinking’ jobs, eg: lawyer, doctor, orthodontist, etc. I think the conditions that exist in Australia back then could have shaped the person that Ward describes here to some extent. From my position this statement still holds quite a lot of truth, even today. They are frequently in the ‘public eye’ because they are popular and people know them from films or music and the media reporting of every scam and modify that goes on in their personal life.

Abraham Lincoln

The brave man of the familiar People. It had been an extended time coming. Terribly separated by the issue of slavery, thirty-one million American citizens were in 1860
Called upon to vote for 16th President of the United States. The Democratic Party meets at its National Party Convention in Charleston, South Carolina, in order to choose their candidate in favor of the presidency. Split over slavery, each section, Northern Democrats on the one hand and Southern Democrats on the other, presented its own conflicting proposal for the party platform.

In February 1860, Senator Jefferson Davis of Mississippi claimed that neither the Congress of the United States nor the territorial parliaments had the control to handle slavery.

Donkey jacket

A Donkey jacket is a minute buttoned coat, normally made of unlined black or dark blue woolen stuff; originally worn as a work jacket in the United Kingdom. When used as a work jacket, it infrequently bears the name of the company which supplies the jacket, or the name of the company for which the wearer works. The jacket usually has two large hip pockets, and at times an inside poacher's pocket. The donkey jacket is regarded as characteristic of the British manual worker.

Computer networking

Computer networking is the engineering discipline anxious with communication between computer systems. Such communicate systems comprise a computer network and these networks generally involve at least two devices able of being networked with at least one usually being a computer. The devices can be separated by a small number of meters or nearly unlimited distances. Computer networking is sometimes considered a sub-discipline of telecommunications, and sometimes of computer science, information technology and computer engineering. Computer networks rely a lot upon the abstract and practical application of these scientific and engineering disciplines.

A computer network is any set of computers connected to each other. Examples of networks are the Internet, a wide area network that is the largest to always exist, or a little home local area network (LAN) with two computers connected with standard networking cables connecting to a network interface card in each computer.

Hourglass

An hourglass, also known as a sandglass or sand timer or sand clock, is a machine for the measurement of time. It consists of two glass bulbs located one above the other which are joined by a narrow tube. One of the bulbs is usually filled with fine sand which flows through the narrow tube into the bottom bulb at a given rate. Once all the sand has run to the bottom bulb, the device is inverted in order to measure another time period.

Denim

Denim, in American usage since the late eighteenth century, shows a rough cotton twill textile, in which the weft passes under two (twi- "double") or more warp fibers, producing the memorable diagonal ribbing specialized on the reverse of the fabric, which distinguishes denim from cotton duck. Denim was conventionally colored blue with indigo dye to make blue "jeans," though "jean" then denoted a different, lighter cotton textile; the up to date use of jean comes from the French word for Genoa, Italy (Gênes), from which the initial denim trousers were made.

Soul Bags

A Soul Bag is a bag used by Warlocks to hold more Soul Shards than they would normally be able to carry in conventional containers. The soul bag consumes a regular container slot, however, so it reduces the number of available slots for non-Soul Shard items. The value of the trade-off is up to the individual Warlock.

Soul Shards harvested by the Warlock are automatically stored in an equipped Soul Bag when acquired, making tedious Soul Shard housekeeping a thing of the past. Helpfully, soul bags also display the number of soul shards stored within them on the bag icon on the container tool bar.

Flower

A flower is the reproductive structure of those plants classified as angiosperms. The flower structure incorporates the reproductive organs, and its occupation is to create seeds through sexual reproduction. For the higher plants, seeds are the next generation, and serve as the primary means by which persons of a species are dispersed across the landscape. After fertilization, portions of the flower develop into a fruit containing the germ.

Marketing

Marketing is one of the most significant functions in business. It is the regulation required to understand customers' needs and the benefits they seek. Academia does not have one commonly agreed upon description. Even after a better part of a century the dispute continues. In a nutshell it consists of the social and managerial processes by which goods or services and value are exchanged in order to fulfill the needs and wants of individuals or groups. Although many people appear to think that "marketing" and "advertising" are synonymous, they are not. Advertising is simply one of the lots of processes that together constitute marketing.