Flash drive with retractable USB connector several companies claim to be the first to have made-up the USB Flash Drive in 1998 through 2000. Trek was the first company to sell a USB Flash Drive in early 2000. However, their copyright does not describe the USB Flash Drive; instead, it describes a very broad family of storage devices, of which the USB Flash Drive is one.
M-Systems were working on developing the USB Flash Drive since 1998. The domain diskonkey.com was registered by them in October 1999 and indicates that the USB Flash Drive was already in growth. In 2000 Dan Harkabi connected the M-System team and led the development of DiskOnKey. The industrial design was done by Ziba and the product won the IDEA award in 2001. M-System's patent rigorously describes the USB Flash Drive and its execution.
An IBM invention revelation RPS8-1999-0201 by Shimon Shmueli et al is the earliest known document to precisely and completely describe the USB-FD, and only the USB-FD. M-Systems manufactured the DiskOnKey for IBM, who in late 2000 was the first to sell the product in North America. Shmueli later founded KeyNetica, the first company that patented and developed the concept that mobile and smart storage devices are all one needs for mobile computing. Current implementers of the concept are U3 and Ceedo.
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Integrated circuit
Integrated circuit
Integrated circuit showing memory blocks, logic and input/output pads around the periphery
Microchips with a clear window, showing the integrated circuit inside. Note the fine silver-colored wires that connect the included circuit to the pins of the package. A monolithic integrated circuit is a miniaturized electronic circuit that has been manufactured in the surface of a thin substrate of semiconductor material. A hybrid integrated circuit is a miniaturized electronic circuit constructed of human being semiconductor devices, as well as passive components, bonded to a substrate or circuit board. This article is about monumental integrated circuits.
Introduction
Integrated circuits were made possible by investigational discoveries which showed that semiconductor devices could carry out the functions of vacuum tubes, and by mid-20th-century technology advancements in semiconductor device manufacture. The integration of large numbers of tiny transistors into a small chip was an enormous development over the manual assembly of circuits using discrete electronic components. The integrated circuit's mass production capability, reliability, and building-block approach to circuit design ensured the rapid adoption of standardized ICs in place of designs using discrete transistors. There are two main advantages of Integrated Circuits over discrete circuits: cost and performance. Cost is low because the chips, with all their mechanism, are printed as a unit by photolithography and not constructed a transistor at a time. Performance is high since the components switch quickly and consume little power, because the components are small and close together.
Integrated circuit showing memory blocks, logic and input/output pads around the periphery
Microchips with a clear window, showing the integrated circuit inside. Note the fine silver-colored wires that connect the included circuit to the pins of the package. A monolithic integrated circuit is a miniaturized electronic circuit that has been manufactured in the surface of a thin substrate of semiconductor material. A hybrid integrated circuit is a miniaturized electronic circuit constructed of human being semiconductor devices, as well as passive components, bonded to a substrate or circuit board. This article is about monumental integrated circuits.
Introduction
Integrated circuits were made possible by investigational discoveries which showed that semiconductor devices could carry out the functions of vacuum tubes, and by mid-20th-century technology advancements in semiconductor device manufacture. The integration of large numbers of tiny transistors into a small chip was an enormous development over the manual assembly of circuits using discrete electronic components. The integrated circuit's mass production capability, reliability, and building-block approach to circuit design ensured the rapid adoption of standardized ICs in place of designs using discrete transistors. There are two main advantages of Integrated Circuits over discrete circuits: cost and performance. Cost is low because the chips, with all their mechanism, are printed as a unit by photolithography and not constructed a transistor at a time. Performance is high since the components switch quickly and consume little power, because the components are small and close together.
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
History of recording studio
Near the beginning recording studios often lacked isolation booths, baffles, and sometimes even speakers. Designed for exist recording of a whole band or performance, they attempted rather to group musicians and singers than to split them.
With the opening of multi-track recording, it became possible to record instruments and singers independently and at different times on different tracks on tape. Therefore, the emphasis shifted to isolation and sound-proofing. In the 1960s, recordings were analog recordings made using ¼-inch or ½-inch eight-track magnetic tape. By the early 1970s, recordings progressed to using 1-inch or 2-inch 16- or 32-track equipment. Most modern recording studios now use digital recording equipment and the number of tracks is partial only by the capacity of the mixing console or computer.
General function computers are presumptuous a larger role in the recording process, being able to replace the mixing consoles, recorders, synthesizers, samplers and sound effects devices. A computer thusly outfitted is called a Digital Audio Workstation. Admired software packages for recording studios include Dig design Pro Tools, Cubage and Nuendo by Steinberg, Motu Digital Performer, Able ton Live and Apple Logic Pro. Apple Macintosh hardware tends to be favored in the recording organization, though much software is also available for Microsoft Windows and Linux. There are also devoted computers which integrate a recorder, preamps, effects, and a mixing console; these devices are also called DAWs.
A small, private recording studio is occasionally called a project studio. Such studios often provide to specific needs of an individual artist, or are used as a non-commercial hobby. The first modern project studios came into being during the late 1980s, with the start of reasonable multitask recorders, synthesizers and microphones. The phenomenon has flourished with falling prices, MIDI equipment, and inexpensive digital hard-disk recording solutions.
With the opening of multi-track recording, it became possible to record instruments and singers independently and at different times on different tracks on tape. Therefore, the emphasis shifted to isolation and sound-proofing. In the 1960s, recordings were analog recordings made using ¼-inch or ½-inch eight-track magnetic tape. By the early 1970s, recordings progressed to using 1-inch or 2-inch 16- or 32-track equipment. Most modern recording studios now use digital recording equipment and the number of tracks is partial only by the capacity of the mixing console or computer.
General function computers are presumptuous a larger role in the recording process, being able to replace the mixing consoles, recorders, synthesizers, samplers and sound effects devices. A computer thusly outfitted is called a Digital Audio Workstation. Admired software packages for recording studios include Dig design Pro Tools, Cubage and Nuendo by Steinberg, Motu Digital Performer, Able ton Live and Apple Logic Pro. Apple Macintosh hardware tends to be favored in the recording organization, though much software is also available for Microsoft Windows and Linux. There are also devoted computers which integrate a recorder, preamps, effects, and a mixing console; these devices are also called DAWs.
A small, private recording studio is occasionally called a project studio. Such studios often provide to specific needs of an individual artist, or are used as a non-commercial hobby. The first modern project studios came into being during the late 1980s, with the start of reasonable multitask recorders, synthesizers and microphones. The phenomenon has flourished with falling prices, MIDI equipment, and inexpensive digital hard-disk recording solutions.
Friday, April 27, 2007
Business
In economic business is the social science of managing people to systematize and maintain collective productivity toward accomplishing particular imaginative and productive goals, usually to make profit. The etymology of "business" refers to the state of being busy, in the circumstance of the individual as well as the community or society. In other words, to be busy is to be doing commercially viable and profitable work.
The term "business" has at least three usages, depending on the scope — the general usage (above), the particular usage to refer to a particular company or corporation, and the comprehensive usage to refer to a particular market sector, such as "the record business," "the computer business," or "the business community" -- the community of suppliers of goods and services.
The singular "business" can be a legally-recognized entity within an economically free society, wherein individuals systematize based on expertise and skill bring about social and technological expansion.
However, the exact definition of business is disputable as is business philosophy; for example, most Marxist use "means of production" as a rough synonym for "business." Socialist advocates government, public, or worker ownership of most sizable businesses.
The term "business" has at least three usages, depending on the scope — the general usage (above), the particular usage to refer to a particular company or corporation, and the comprehensive usage to refer to a particular market sector, such as "the record business," "the computer business," or "the business community" -- the community of suppliers of goods and services.
The singular "business" can be a legally-recognized entity within an economically free society, wherein individuals systematize based on expertise and skill bring about social and technological expansion.
However, the exact definition of business is disputable as is business philosophy; for example, most Marxist use "means of production" as a rough synonym for "business." Socialist advocates government, public, or worker ownership of most sizable businesses.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Player Pianos
100 Later developments of the reproducing piano contain the use of magnetic tape rather than piano rolls to record and play back the music, and, in the case of one device made by Bösendorfer, computer assisted playback. Almost all modern player pianos use MIDI to interface with computer equipment. Live presentation or computer generated music can be recorded in MIDI file format for accurate reproduction later on such instruments.
At present, in 2005, several player piano conversion kits are available, allowing the owners of normal pianos to convert them into computer controlled instruments. The conversion process usually involves cutting open the bottom of the piano to install mechanical parts under the keyboard. Most modern player pianos come with an electronic device that can record and playback MIDI files on floppy disks and/or CD ROMs, and a MIDI interface that enables computers to drive the piano directly for more advanced operations.
Another company, QRS Inc. of the USA, make the most complicated type of reproducing piano system, called Pianomation, which does not have the restrictions of the other manufacturers products. It can play 80 notes at a time, plus fully orchestrated backing with vocals from original artists from the internal hi-fi system built in. QRS also have the largest software catalogue of 7000 titles.
At present, in 2005, several player piano conversion kits are available, allowing the owners of normal pianos to convert them into computer controlled instruments. The conversion process usually involves cutting open the bottom of the piano to install mechanical parts under the keyboard. Most modern player pianos come with an electronic device that can record and playback MIDI files on floppy disks and/or CD ROMs, and a MIDI interface that enables computers to drive the piano directly for more advanced operations.
Another company, QRS Inc. of the USA, make the most complicated type of reproducing piano system, called Pianomation, which does not have the restrictions of the other manufacturers products. It can play 80 notes at a time, plus fully orchestrated backing with vocals from original artists from the internal hi-fi system built in. QRS also have the largest software catalogue of 7000 titles.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Magnetic recording
Magnetic recording was established in principle as early as 1898 by Valdemar Poulsen in his telegraphone. Magnetic wire recording, and its successor, magnetic tape recording, involve the use of a magnetizable medium which moves with a constant speed past a recording head. An electrical signal, which is analogous to the sound that is to be recorded, is fed to the recording head, inducing a pattern of magnetization like to the signal. A playback head can then pick up the changes in magnetic field from the tape and convert it into an electrical signal.
Monday, April 09, 2007
Speed limit
A speed limit is the highest speed allowed by law for vehicles on a road.
Design speed
Speed limits are only peripherally interrelated to the design speed of the road.
In the United States, the design speed is "a selected speed used to establish the various geometric design features of the roadway" according to the 2001 AASHTO Green Book, the highway design manual. It has been changed from previous versions which considered it the "highest safe speed that can be maintained over a specific section of highway when conditions are so positive that the design facial appearance of the highway governs."
The design speed has largely been discredited as a sole basis for establishing a speed limit. Current U.S. standards for design speed derive from outdated, less-capable automotive technology. Also, the design speed of a given roadway is the theoretical maximum safe speed of the roadway's worst feature .The design speed usually underestimates the highest safe speed for a roadway and is therefore considered only a very conservative "first guess" at a limit.
85th percentile rule
An automobile dashboard viewing the speedometer with primary markings in miles per hour.Since the 1950s, United States traffic engineers have been taught the 85th Percentile Rule. The idea is that the speed limit should be set to the speed below which 85% of vehicles are traveling. The 85th percentile closely corresponds to one normal deviation above the mean of a normal distribution.
Every state in the United States statutorily or administratively picks a particular speed for a speed limit cap, meaning that no speed limit in that state may be set higher than the cap. A practical effect of this cap is that nearly every rural roadway in the U.S. has a speed limit that is well below the 85th percentile speed.
Design speed
Speed limits are only peripherally interrelated to the design speed of the road.
In the United States, the design speed is "a selected speed used to establish the various geometric design features of the roadway" according to the 2001 AASHTO Green Book, the highway design manual. It has been changed from previous versions which considered it the "highest safe speed that can be maintained over a specific section of highway when conditions are so positive that the design facial appearance of the highway governs."
The design speed has largely been discredited as a sole basis for establishing a speed limit. Current U.S. standards for design speed derive from outdated, less-capable automotive technology. Also, the design speed of a given roadway is the theoretical maximum safe speed of the roadway's worst feature .The design speed usually underestimates the highest safe speed for a roadway and is therefore considered only a very conservative "first guess" at a limit.
85th percentile rule
An automobile dashboard viewing the speedometer with primary markings in miles per hour.Since the 1950s, United States traffic engineers have been taught the 85th Percentile Rule. The idea is that the speed limit should be set to the speed below which 85% of vehicles are traveling. The 85th percentile closely corresponds to one normal deviation above the mean of a normal distribution.
Every state in the United States statutorily or administratively picks a particular speed for a speed limit cap, meaning that no speed limit in that state may be set higher than the cap. A practical effect of this cap is that nearly every rural roadway in the U.S. has a speed limit that is well below the 85th percentile speed.
Monday, April 02, 2007
Sarus Crane
The Sarus Crane is a occupant propagation bird in northern India, Nepal, Southeast Asia and Queensland, Australia. It used to be found on accasion in pakistan, but has not been found silence the late 1980's. It is the world's tallest flying bird.
This is a very huge crane, 156cm in length, which is found in freshwater marshes and plains. It nests on the ground laying two to three eggs in a bulky nest. Unlike many cranes that make long migrations the sarus crane does not, meaning it cans expent the energy to raise both chicks. Both the male and female take turns sitting on the nest, and the male is the main guardian.
Adults are grey with a nude red head and white crown and a long dark pointed bill. In flight, the long neck is reserved straight, unlike herons, and the black wing tips can be seen; their long red or pink legs trail at the back them.
Sexes are similar, but young flora and fauna are duller and browner. The Indian, Southeast Asian and Australian species differ mainly in plumage shade. There are some slight size differences, but on average the male is larger then the female, and the birds are six feet tall with an eight foot wingspan.
These extroverted birds forage while walking in thin water or in fields, sometimes probing with their long bills. They are omnivorous, eating insects, marine plants and animals, crustaceans, seeds and berries, small vertebrates, and invertebrates.
This is a very huge crane, 156cm in length, which is found in freshwater marshes and plains. It nests on the ground laying two to three eggs in a bulky nest. Unlike many cranes that make long migrations the sarus crane does not, meaning it cans expent the energy to raise both chicks. Both the male and female take turns sitting on the nest, and the male is the main guardian.
Adults are grey with a nude red head and white crown and a long dark pointed bill. In flight, the long neck is reserved straight, unlike herons, and the black wing tips can be seen; their long red or pink legs trail at the back them.
Sexes are similar, but young flora and fauna are duller and browner. The Indian, Southeast Asian and Australian species differ mainly in plumage shade. There are some slight size differences, but on average the male is larger then the female, and the birds are six feet tall with an eight foot wingspan.
These extroverted birds forage while walking in thin water or in fields, sometimes probing with their long bills. They are omnivorous, eating insects, marine plants and animals, crustaceans, seeds and berries, small vertebrates, and invertebrates.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Ice Age
An ice age is a stage of long-term slump in the temperature of Earth's climate, resulting in an extension of the continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and mountain glaciers. Glaciological, ice age is often used to mean a period of ice sheets in the northern and southern hemispheres; by this description we are still in an ice. More colloquially, when speaking of the last few million years, ice age is used to pass on to colder periods with wide ice sheets over the North American and European continents: in this sense, the last ice age ended about 10,000 years ago. This article will use the term ice age in the previous, glaciological, sense; and use the term 'glacial periods' for colder periods during ice ages and 'interglacial' for the heater periods.
During the last few million years, there have been many hostile periods, going on initially at 40,000-year frequency but more freshly at 100,000-year frequencies. These are the best deliberate. There have been four main ice ages in the advance history.
Origin of ice age theory
The idea that, in the past, glaciers had been far wider was folk knowledge in some alpine regions of Europe. No single person made-up the idea. Between 1825 and 1833, Jean de Charpentier assembled verification in support of this idea. In 1836 Charpentier influenced Louis Agassiz of the theory, and Agassiz published it in his book Étude sur les glaciers of 1840.
At this near the beginning stage of knowledge, what were being deliberate were the glacial periods within the past few hundred thousand years, during the present ice age. The far previous ice ages' very survival was unsuspected.
During the last few million years, there have been many hostile periods, going on initially at 40,000-year frequency but more freshly at 100,000-year frequencies. These are the best deliberate. There have been four main ice ages in the advance history.
Origin of ice age theory
The idea that, in the past, glaciers had been far wider was folk knowledge in some alpine regions of Europe. No single person made-up the idea. Between 1825 and 1833, Jean de Charpentier assembled verification in support of this idea. In 1836 Charpentier influenced Louis Agassiz of the theory, and Agassiz published it in his book Étude sur les glaciers of 1840.
At this near the beginning stage of knowledge, what were being deliberate were the glacial periods within the past few hundred thousand years, during the present ice age. The far previous ice ages' very survival was unsuspected.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Telephone
The telephone or phone (Greek: tele = far away and phone = voice) is a telecommunications device to transmits and receives sound (most commonly voice and speech) through great distances. Most telephones function by means of electric signals over a complex public switched telephone network of equipment which allows almost any phone user to speak to almost any other.
Until relatively recently the word telephone could generally be assumed to refer to a landline phone. Now, cordless telephones and cell phones have become sufficiently common that no such presumption can be made. There are four principal means by which telephone signals are transmitted: throughout a traditional landline which uses physical dedicated wire connections; wireless or Radiotelephony, which transmits messages using either analog or digital radio signals; satellite telephones which bounce signals off of telecommunications satelites; and voice over internet protocol (VOIP) telephones, which use broadband internet cables.
The electric telephone is recognized to various inventors. The actual history is a subject of complex dispute. Among others Antonio Meucci, Philip Reis, and Alexander Graham Bell are all credited with inventing.
Until relatively recently the word telephone could generally be assumed to refer to a landline phone. Now, cordless telephones and cell phones have become sufficiently common that no such presumption can be made. There are four principal means by which telephone signals are transmitted: throughout a traditional landline which uses physical dedicated wire connections; wireless or Radiotelephony, which transmits messages using either analog or digital radio signals; satellite telephones which bounce signals off of telecommunications satelites; and voice over internet protocol (VOIP) telephones, which use broadband internet cables.
The electric telephone is recognized to various inventors. The actual history is a subject of complex dispute. Among others Antonio Meucci, Philip Reis, and Alexander Graham Bell are all credited with inventing.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Film
Film is a term that encompasses motion pictures as individual projects, as well as the field in general. The source of the name comes from the fact that photographic film (also called filmstock) has historically been the main medium for recording and displaying motion pictures. Many other terms exist — motion pictures, the silver screen, photoplays, picture shows, flicks — and most commonly movies. Academics and the English-speaking international society prefer to use film or "cinema", due to the colloquial nature of these other terms.
Films are created by recording actual people and objects with cameras, or by creating them using animation techniques and/or special effects. They include a series of individual frames, but when these images are shown quickly in succession, the illusion of motion is given to the viewer. Flickering between frames is not seen due to an effect known as persistence of vision — whereby the eye retains a visual image for a fraction of a second after the source has been removed. Perhaps of more relevance is what causes the perception of motion — a psychological effect known as beta movement.
Films are created by recording actual people and objects with cameras, or by creating them using animation techniques and/or special effects. They include a series of individual frames, but when these images are shown quickly in succession, the illusion of motion is given to the viewer. Flickering between frames is not seen due to an effect known as persistence of vision — whereby the eye retains a visual image for a fraction of a second after the source has been removed. Perhaps of more relevance is what causes the perception of motion — a psychological effect known as beta movement.
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Beauty
Beauty in nature is a general theme in modern life and in art, and books emphasizing beauty in nature fill large sections of libraries and bookstores. That nature has been depicted and famous by so much art, photography, poetry and other literature shows the strength with which many people associate nature and beauty. Why this association exists, and what the association consists of, is studied by the branch of philosophy called aesthetics. Beyond certain basic characteristics that many philosophers agree about to explain what is seen as beautiful, the opinions are almost endless.Many scientists, who study nature in more specific and organized ways, also share the conviction that nature is beautiful; the French mathematician, Jules Henri Poincaré (1854-1912) said:
The scientist does not study nature because it is useful; he studies it because he delights in it, and he delights in it because it is beautiful.
If nature were not beautiful, it would not be worth knowing, and if nature were not worth meaningful, life would not be worth living. Of course I do not here speak of that beauty which strikes the senses, the beauty of character and of appearance; not that I undervalue such beauty, far from it, but it has not anything to do with science; I mean that profounder beauty which comes from the harmonious order of the parts and which a pure intelligence can grasp.
A general classical idea of beautiful art involves the word mimesis, the imitation of nature. Also in the realm of ideas about beauty in nature is that the perfect is indirect through symmetry, equal division, and other perfect mathematical forms and notions.
The scientist does not study nature because it is useful; he studies it because he delights in it, and he delights in it because it is beautiful.
If nature were not beautiful, it would not be worth knowing, and if nature were not worth meaningful, life would not be worth living. Of course I do not here speak of that beauty which strikes the senses, the beauty of character and of appearance; not that I undervalue such beauty, far from it, but it has not anything to do with science; I mean that profounder beauty which comes from the harmonious order of the parts and which a pure intelligence can grasp.
A general classical idea of beautiful art involves the word mimesis, the imitation of nature. Also in the realm of ideas about beauty in nature is that the perfect is indirect through symmetry, equal division, and other perfect mathematical forms and notions.
Friday, March 09, 2007
Coma
In medicine, a coma (from the Greek koma, meaning deep sleep) is a profound state of unconsciousness. A comatose patient cannot be awakened, fails to respond in general to pain or light, does not contain sleep-wake cycles, and does not take voluntary actions. Coma may result from a variety of conditions, including intoxication, metabolic abnormalities, central nervous system diseases, acute neurologic injuries such as stroke, and hypoxia. It may also be intentionally induced by pharmaceutical agents in order to preserve higher brain function following another form of brain trauma.
Distinctive phases of coma
Within coma itself, there are some categories that describe the severity of impairment. Contrary to popular belief, a patient in a comatose state does not always lay still and quiet. They may talk, walk, and perform other functions that may occasionally appear to be conscious acts, yet are not.
Two scales of measurement regularly used in TBI diagnosis to determine the phase of coma are the Glasgow Coma Scale and the Ranchos Los Amigos Scale. The GCS is a simple 15-point scale used by medical professionals to assess severity of neurologic trauma, and establish a prognosis. The RLAS is a more complex scale that describes up to eight separate levels of coma, and is often used in the first few weeks or months of coma while the patient is under nearer observation, and when shifts between levels are more frequent.
Distinctive phases of coma
Within coma itself, there are some categories that describe the severity of impairment. Contrary to popular belief, a patient in a comatose state does not always lay still and quiet. They may talk, walk, and perform other functions that may occasionally appear to be conscious acts, yet are not.
Two scales of measurement regularly used in TBI diagnosis to determine the phase of coma are the Glasgow Coma Scale and the Ranchos Los Amigos Scale. The GCS is a simple 15-point scale used by medical professionals to assess severity of neurologic trauma, and establish a prognosis. The RLAS is a more complex scale that describes up to eight separate levels of coma, and is often used in the first few weeks or months of coma while the patient is under nearer observation, and when shifts between levels are more frequent.
Monday, March 05, 2007
Language school
A language school is a place of education where one can study a foreign language. In most cases, classes at a language school are geared towards, but not limited to, talkative competence in a foreign language. Language learning in such schools usually supplements formal education or experience in a foreign language.
Students vary generally by, among other factors, age, educational background and work experience, as well as language ability. Teachers are likely to possess native fluency or acquired comptence in their target languages; formal qualifications to become a language teacher, however, vary by school, region or country.
Students vary generally by, among other factors, age, educational background and work experience, as well as language ability. Teachers are likely to possess native fluency or acquired comptence in their target languages; formal qualifications to become a language teacher, however, vary by school, region or country.
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Gemstone
A gemstone is prized particularly for great beauty or perfection so appearance is almost always the most significant attribute of gemstones. Characteristics that make a stone beautiful or attractive are colour, unusual optical phenomena within the stone, an exciting inclusion such as a fossil, rarity, and sometimes the form of the natural crystal. Diamond is prized very much as a gemstone since it is the hardest naturally occurring substance known and is able to reflect light with fire and sparkle when faceted. However, diamonds are far from rare with millions of carats mined each year.
Traditionally, general gemstones were classified into precious stones (cardinal gems) and semi-precious stones. The former class was largely determined by a history of ecclesiastical, devotional or ceremonial use and rarity. Only five types of gemstones were considered precious: diamond, ruby, sapphire, emerald, and amethyst. In current usage by gemologists, all gems are considered precious, although four of the five original "cardinal gems" (excluding the now-common amethyst) are typically—but not always—the most valuable.
Rare or unusual gemstones, usually meant to include those gemstones which occur so infrequently in gem quality that they are only just known except to connoisseurs, include andalusite, axinite, cassiterite, clinohumite and iolite.
Traditionally, general gemstones were classified into precious stones (cardinal gems) and semi-precious stones. The former class was largely determined by a history of ecclesiastical, devotional or ceremonial use and rarity. Only five types of gemstones were considered precious: diamond, ruby, sapphire, emerald, and amethyst. In current usage by gemologists, all gems are considered precious, although four of the five original "cardinal gems" (excluding the now-common amethyst) are typically—but not always—the most valuable.
Rare or unusual gemstones, usually meant to include those gemstones which occur so infrequently in gem quality that they are only just known except to connoisseurs, include andalusite, axinite, cassiterite, clinohumite and iolite.
Friday, February 23, 2007
The Mouflon
he Mouflon is a variety of wild sheep and as such is one of the Caprinae or "goat antelopes". It is consideration to be one of the two ancestors for all modern domestic sheep breeds. It is red-brown with a dark back-stripe, light colored saddle patch and underparts. The males are horned and the females are horned or polled.
They originated in Southwest Asia, where the types known as Asiatic mouflon lives. They were introduced to the islands of Corsica, Sardinia, and Cyprus through the neolithic period, perhaps as feral domesticated animals, where they naturalized to the mountainous interiors of these islands over the past few thousand years, giving rise to the species known as European mouflon . They are now unusual on the islands, but have been successfully introduced into central Europe, including Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania, even in some northern European countries, such as Finland.
The scientific classification of the Mouflon is disputed but the European Mouflon may be considered as either Ovis musimon or Ovis ammon musimon.
They originated in Southwest Asia, where the types known as Asiatic mouflon lives. They were introduced to the islands of Corsica, Sardinia, and Cyprus through the neolithic period, perhaps as feral domesticated animals, where they naturalized to the mountainous interiors of these islands over the past few thousand years, giving rise to the species known as European mouflon . They are now unusual on the islands, but have been successfully introduced into central Europe, including Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania, even in some northern European countries, such as Finland.
The scientific classification of the Mouflon is disputed but the European Mouflon may be considered as either Ovis musimon or Ovis ammon musimon.
Monday, February 19, 2007
World maps and projections
Maps of the world or big areas are often either 'political' or 'physical'. The most important purpose of the political map is to explain territorial borders; the purpose of the physical is to show features of geography such as mountains, soil type or land use. Geological maps demonstrate not only the physical surface, but characteristics of the underlying rock, fault lines, and subsurface structures.
Maps that depict the surface of the Earth also use a projection, a way of translating the three-dimensional actual surface of the geoid to a two-dimensional picture. Perhaps the best-known world-map projection is the Mercator Projection, initially designed as a form of nautical chart.
Airplane pilots use aeronautical charts based on a Lambert conformal conic projection, in which a cone is laid over the division of the earth to be mapped. The cone intersects the sphere (the earth) at one or two parallels which are selected as standard lines. This allows the pilots to plan a great-circle route approximation on a flat, two-dimensional chart.
Maps that depict the surface of the Earth also use a projection, a way of translating the three-dimensional actual surface of the geoid to a two-dimensional picture. Perhaps the best-known world-map projection is the Mercator Projection, initially designed as a form of nautical chart.
Airplane pilots use aeronautical charts based on a Lambert conformal conic projection, in which a cone is laid over the division of the earth to be mapped. The cone intersects the sphere (the earth) at one or two parallels which are selected as standard lines. This allows the pilots to plan a great-circle route approximation on a flat, two-dimensional chart.
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Red rain in Kerala
The coloured rain of Kerala first fell on 25 July 2001, in the districts of Kottayam and Idukki in the southern part of the state. Some reports recommended that other colours of rain were also seen.Many more occurrences of the red rain were reported over the following 10 days, and then with thinning frequency until late September.According to locals, the first coloured rain was preceded by a loud thunderclap and flash of light, and followed by groves of trees shedding shriveled grey "burnt" leaves. Shriveled leaves and the disappearance and sudden formation of wells were also reported around the same time in the area.The colouration of the rain was due to red particles in suspension in the rain water, and when it fell, the red rain was at times as strongly coloured as blood. It typically fell over small areas, no more than a few square kilometres in size, and was sometimes so generalized that normal rain could be falling just a few metres away from red rain. Red rainfalls typically lasted less than 20 minutes.
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Gold
Gold is a extremely sought-after valuable metal that for many centuries has been used as money, a store of value and in ornaments. The metal occurs as nugget or grains in rocks and in alluvial deposits and is one of the coinage metals. It is a soft, glossy, yellow, dense, malleable, and ductile (trivalent and univalent) change metal. Modern manufacturing uses include dentistry and electronics. Gold forms the basis for a financial typical used by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Bank for International resolution (BIS). Its ISO currency code is XAU.
Gold is a tinny element with a trait yellow color, but can also be black or ruby when finely alienated, while colloidal solutions are intensely tinted and often purple. These colors are the effect of gold's plasmon frequency lying in the visible range, which causes red and yellow glow to be reflected, and blue light to be engrossed. Only silver colloids show the same interactions with light, albeit at a shorter occurrence, making silver colloids yellow in color.
Gold is a good conductor of temperature and electricity, and is not precious by air and most reagents. Heat, damp, oxygen, and most corrosive agents have very little chemical effect on gold, making it well-suited for use in coins and jewelry; equally, halogens will chemically alter gold, and aqua regia dissolve it.
Pure gold is too soft for ordinary use and is hard-boiled by alloying with silver, copper, and other metals. Gold and its lots of alloys are most often used in jewelry, coinage and as a typical for monetary exchange in various countries. When promotion it in the form of jewelry, gold is calculated in karats (k), with pure gold being 24k. However, it is more commonly sold in lower capacity of 22k, 18k, and 14k. A lower "k" indicates a higher percent of copper or silver assorted into the alloy, with copper being the more typically used metal between the two. Fourteen karat gold-copper alloy will be almost identical in color to definite bronze alloys, and both may be used to produce polish and added badges. Eighteen karat gold with a high copper content is establish in some traditional jewelry and will have a distinct, though not dominant copper cast, giving an attractively warm color. A comparable karat weight when alloyed with silvery metals will appear less humid in color, and some low karat white metal alloys may be sold as "white gold", silvery in exterior with a slightly yellow cast but far more resistant to decay than silver or sterling silver. Karat weights of twenty and higher is more general in modern jewelry. Because of its high electrical conductivity and confrontation to decay and other desirable combinations of physical and chemical properties, gold also emerged in the late 20th century as an vital industrial metal, particularly as thin plating on electrical card associates and connectors.
Gold is a tinny element with a trait yellow color, but can also be black or ruby when finely alienated, while colloidal solutions are intensely tinted and often purple. These colors are the effect of gold's plasmon frequency lying in the visible range, which causes red and yellow glow to be reflected, and blue light to be engrossed. Only silver colloids show the same interactions with light, albeit at a shorter occurrence, making silver colloids yellow in color.
Gold is a good conductor of temperature and electricity, and is not precious by air and most reagents. Heat, damp, oxygen, and most corrosive agents have very little chemical effect on gold, making it well-suited for use in coins and jewelry; equally, halogens will chemically alter gold, and aqua regia dissolve it.
Pure gold is too soft for ordinary use and is hard-boiled by alloying with silver, copper, and other metals. Gold and its lots of alloys are most often used in jewelry, coinage and as a typical for monetary exchange in various countries. When promotion it in the form of jewelry, gold is calculated in karats (k), with pure gold being 24k. However, it is more commonly sold in lower capacity of 22k, 18k, and 14k. A lower "k" indicates a higher percent of copper or silver assorted into the alloy, with copper being the more typically used metal between the two. Fourteen karat gold-copper alloy will be almost identical in color to definite bronze alloys, and both may be used to produce polish and added badges. Eighteen karat gold with a high copper content is establish in some traditional jewelry and will have a distinct, though not dominant copper cast, giving an attractively warm color. A comparable karat weight when alloyed with silvery metals will appear less humid in color, and some low karat white metal alloys may be sold as "white gold", silvery in exterior with a slightly yellow cast but far more resistant to decay than silver or sterling silver. Karat weights of twenty and higher is more general in modern jewelry. Because of its high electrical conductivity and confrontation to decay and other desirable combinations of physical and chemical properties, gold also emerged in the late 20th century as an vital industrial metal, particularly as thin plating on electrical card associates and connectors.
Friday, January 26, 2007
Journalism Basics
Journalism is a concrete, professionally oriented major that involves gathering, interpreting, distilling, and other reporting information to the general audiences through a variety of media means. Journalism majors learn about every possible kind of Journalism (including magazine, newspaper, online journalism, photojournalism, broadcast journalism, and public relations).
That's not all, though. In addition to dedicated training in writing, editing, and reporting, Journalism wants a working knowledge of history, culture, and current events. You'll more than likely be required to take up a broad range of courses that runs the range from statistics to the hard sciences to economics to history. There would also be a lot of haughty talk about professional ethics and civic responsibility too - and you'll be tested on it. To top it all off, you'll perhaps work on the university newspaper or radio station, or possibly complete an internship with a magazine or a mass media conglomerate.
That's not all, though. In addition to dedicated training in writing, editing, and reporting, Journalism wants a working knowledge of history, culture, and current events. You'll more than likely be required to take up a broad range of courses that runs the range from statistics to the hard sciences to economics to history. There would also be a lot of haughty talk about professional ethics and civic responsibility too - and you'll be tested on it. To top it all off, you'll perhaps work on the university newspaper or radio station, or possibly complete an internship with a magazine or a mass media conglomerate.
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