heaven42

Adeno-associated viruses

2008-09-10T22:02:00.001-07:00

Adeno-associated viruses, from the parvovirus family, are small viruses with a genome of single stranded DNA. The wild type AAV can insert genetic material at a specific site on chromosome 19 with near 100% certainty. But the recombinant AAV, which does not contain any viral genes and only the therapeutic gene, does not integrate into the genome. Instead the recombinant viral genome fuses at its ends via the ITR (inverted terminal repeats) recombination to form circular, episomal forms which are predicted to be the primary cause of the long term gene expression. There are a few disadvantages to using AAV, including the small amount of DNA it can carry (low capacity) and the difficulty in producing it. This type of virus is being used, however, because it is non-pathogenic (most people carry this harmless virus). In contrast to adenoviruses, most people treated with AAV will not build an immune response to remove the virus and the cells that have been successfully treated with it. Several trials with AAV are on-going or in preparation, mainly trying to treat muscle and eye diseases; the two tissues where the virus seems particularly useful. However, clinical trials have also been initiated where AAV vectors are used to deliver genes to the brain. This is possible because AAV viruses can infect non-dividing (quiescent) cells, such as neurons in which their genomes are expressed for a long time.

Human Genome Project

2008-08-26T23:14:00.000-07:00

The Human Genome Project (HGP) was an international scientific research project with a primary goal to determine the sequence of chemical base pairs which make up DNA and to identify the approximately 25,000 genes of the human genome from both a physical and functional standpoint.

The project began in 1990 initially headed by James D. Watson at the U.S. National Institutes of Health. A working draft of the genome was released in 2000 and a complete one in 2003, with further analysis still being published. A parallel project was conducted by the private company Celera Genomics. Most of the sequencing was performed in universities and research centers from the United States, Canada and Britain. The mapping of human genes is an important step in the development of medicines and other aspects of health care.

While the objective of the Human Genome Project is to understand the genetic makeup of the human species, the project also has focused on several other nonhuman organisms such as E. coli, the fruit fly, and the laboratory mouse. It remains one of the largest single investigational projects in modern science.

Planet (software)

2008-08-22T22:49:00.000-07:00

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.

Inertial navigation systems in detail

2008-08-12T22:19:00.001-07:00

INSs have angular and linear accelerometers (for changes in position); some include a gyroscopic element (for maintaining an absolute angular reference).

Angular accelerometers measure how the vehicle is rotating in space. Generally, there's at least one sensor for each of the three axes: pitch (nose up and down), yaw (nose left and right) and roll (clockwise or counter-clockwise from the cockpit).

Linear accelerometers measure how the vehicle is moving in space. Since it can move in three axes (up & down, left & right, forward & back), there is a linear accelerometer for each axis.

A computer continually calculates the vehicle's current position. First, for each of the six degrees of freedom (x,y,z and θ x, θ y and θ z), it integrates the sensed amount of acceleration over time to figure the current velocity. Then it integrates the velocity to figure the current position.

Inertial guidance is difficult without computers. The desire to use inertial guidance in the Minuteman missile and Project Apollo drove early attempts to miniaturize computers.

Inertial guidance systems are now usually combined with satellite navigation systems through a digital filtering system. The inertial system provides short term data, while the satellite system corrects accumulated errors of the inertial system.

An inertial guidance system that will operate near the surface of the earth must incorporate Schuler tuning so that its platform will continue pointing towards the center of the earth as a vehicle moves from place to place.

Aircraft

2008-08-06T21:40:00.000-07:00

An aircraft is a vehicle which is able to fly through the Earth's atmosphere or through any other atmosphere. Most rocket vehicles are not aircraft because they are not supported by the surrounding air. All the human activity which surrounds aircraft is called aviation.

Manned aircraft are flown by a pilot. Until the 1960s, unmanned aircraft were called drones. During the 1960s, the U.S. military brought the term remotely piloted vehicle (RPV) into use. More recently the term unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) has become common.

Custom software

2008-07-30T23:09:00.000-07:00

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.

Data quality

2008-07-23T22:21:00.000-07:00

1. Data Quality refers to the degree of excellence exhibited by the data in relation to the portrayal of the actual phenomena. GIS Glossary

2. The state of completeness, validity, consistency, timeliness and accuracy that makes data appropriate for a specific use. Government of British Columbia

3. The totality of features and characteristics of data that bears on their ability to satisfy a given purpose; the sum of the degrees of excellence for factors related to data

Customer Data Integration

2008-07-16T05:35:00.000-07:00

Customer Data Integration (CDI) is the combination of the technology, processes and services needed to create and maintain an accurate, timely, complete and comprehensive representation of a customer across multiple channels, business lines, and enterprises typically where there are multiple sources of associated data in multiple application systems and databases.

What does that really mean? When you ask the average Joe or Jane on the street “What is customer data?” they usually answer "Name and address...maybe social security number?"

However, customer data is much more complex; for example, the number of fields that represent just a name can be anywhere from six to twelve or more (e.g., first name, last name, middle name, initials, nickname, maiden name, married name, professional title, academic title and suffix.) The address entries are almost as complex (e.g., primary address number, pre-directional (N, S, E, W,) street name, street suffix, post-directional, secondary identifier (building, suite, apt,) secondary number, city, state, ZIP, and ZIP+4(R))

Nested transaction

2008-07-10T00:22:00.000-07:00

With reference to a database transaction, a nested transaction occurs when a new transaction is started by an instruction that is already inside an existing transaction. The new transaction is said to be nested within the existing transaction, hence the term.

Changes made by the nested transaction are not seen by the 'host' transaction until the nested transaction is committed. This follows from the isolation property of transactions.

The capability to handle nested transactions properly is a prerequisite for true component based application architectures. In a component-based encapsulated architecture, nested transactions can occur without the programmer knowing it. A component function may or may not contain a database transaction (this is the encapsulated secret of the component. See Information hiding). If a call to such a component function is made inside a BEGIN - COMMIT bracket, nested transactions occur. Since popular databases like MySQL do not allow nesting BEGIN - COMMIT brackets, a framework or a transaction monitor is needed to handle this. When we speak about nested transactions, it should be made clear that this feature is DBMS dependent and is not available for all databases.

Gathering of addresses

2008-07-02T23:21:00.001-07:00

In order to send spam, spammers need to obtain the e-mail addresses of the intended recipients. To this end, both spammers themselves and list merchants gather huge lists of potential e-mail addresses. Since spam is, by definition, unsolicited, this address harvesting is done without the consent (and sometimes against the expressed will) of the address owners. As a consequence, spammers' address lists are inaccurate. A single spam run may target tens of millions of possible addresses — many of which are invalid, malformed, or undeliverable.

Sometimes, if the sent spam is "bounced" or sent back to the sender by various programs that eliminate spam, or if the recipient clicks on an unsubscribe link, that may cause that email address to be marked as "valid", which is interpreted by the spammer as "send me more".

Transport Layer Security

2008-06-24T22:58:00.000-07:00

The TLS protocol allows applications to communicate across a network in a way designed to prevent eavesdropping, tampering, and message forgery. TLS provides endpoint authentication and communications privacy over the Internet using cryptography. Typically, only the server is authenticated (i.e., its identity is ensured) while the client remains unauthenticated; this means that the end user (whether an individual or an application, such as a Web browser) can be sure with whom it is communicating. The next level of security — in which both ends of the "conversation" are sure with whom they are communicating — is known as mutual authentication. Mutual authentication requires public key infrastructure (PKI) deployment to clients unless TLS-PSK or the Secure Remote Password (SRP) protocol are used, which provide strong mutual authentication without needing to deploy a PKI.

Spyware

2008-06-18T22:08:00.000-07:00

Spyware is computer software that is installed surreptitiously on a personal computer to intercept or take partial control over the user's interaction with the computer, without the user's informed consent.

While the term spyware suggests software that secretly monitors the user's behavior, the functions of spyware extend well beyond simple monitoring. Spyware programs can collect various types of personal information, such as Internet surfing habit, sites that have been visited, but can also interfere with user control of the computer in other ways, such as installing additional software, redirecting Web browser activity, accessing websites blindly that will cause more harmful viruses, or diverting advertising revenue to a third party. Spyware can even change computer settings, resulting in slow connection speeds, different home pages, and loss of Internet or other programs. In an attempt to increase the understanding of spyware, a more formal classification of its included software types is captured under the term privacy-invasive software.

Systems intelligence

2008-06-11T23:25:00.000-07:00

Systems intelligence is human action that connects sensitivity about a systemic environment with systems thinking, thus spurring a persons problem solving capabilities and invoking performance and productivity in everyday situations. Systems intelligence, abbreviated SI, is intelligent behavior in complex systems, that are often human in nature. Key concepts a person uses when acting systems intelligently are perception of systemic occurrencies, feedback from the system's structure and interaction with the system's agents and subsystems.

Human ecosystem

2008-06-03T23:36:00.000-07:00

Human ecosystems are complex cybernetic systems that are increasingly being used by ecological anthropologists and other scholars to examine the ecological aspects of human communities in a way that integrates multiple factors as economics, socio-political organization, psychological factors, and physical factors related to the environment.

Microsoft Reciprocal License (Ms-RL)

2008-05-28T22:29:00.000-07:00

This Microsoft license allows for distribution of derived code so long as the modified source files are included and retain the Ms-RL. The Ms-RL allows those files in the distribution that do not contain code originally licensed under Ms-RL to be licensed according to the copyright holder's choosing. This is equivalent to the CDDL or LGPL (GPL with a typical "linking exception"). Initially known as the Microsoft Community License, it was renamed during the OSI approval process.

On December 9, 2005, the Ms-RL license was submitted to the Open Source Initiative for approval by John Cowan. OSI then contacted Microsoft and asked if they wanted OSI to proceed. Microsoft replied that they did not wish to be reactive and that they needed time to review such a decision.

At the O'Reilly Open Source Convention in July 2007, Bill Hilf, director of Microsoft's work with open source projects, announced that Microsoft had formally submitted Ms-PL and Ms-RL to OSI for approval. It was approved on October 12, 2007 along with the Ms-PL. According to the Free Software Foundation, it is a free software license. However, unlike the Microsoft Public License, it is not compatible with the GNU GPL.

Systems intelligence

2008-05-20T21:19:00.000-07:00

Psycho-Cybernetics

2008-05-13T22:02:00.000-07:00

Psycho-Cybernetics is a classic self-help book, written by Maxwell Maltz in 1960 and published by the non-profit Psycho-Cybernetics Foundation. Motivational and self-help experts in personal development, including Zig Ziglar, Tony Robbins, Brian Tracy have based their techniques on Maxwell Maltz. Many of the psychological methods of training elite athletes are based on the concepts in Psycho-Cybernetics as well. The book combines the cognitive behavioral technique of teaching an individual how to regulate self-concept developed by Prescott Lecky with the cybernetics of Norbert Wiener and John von Neumann. The book defines the mind-body connection as the core in succeeding in attaining personal goals.

Maltz found that his plastic surgery patients often had expectations that were not satisfied by the surgery, so he pursued a means of helping them set the goal of a positive outcome through visualization of that positive outcome. Maltz became interested in why setting goals works. He learned that the power of of self-affirmation and mental visualisation techniques used the connection between the mind and the body. He specified techniques to develop a positive inner goal as a means of developing a positive outer goal. This concentration on inner attitudes is essential to his approach, as a person's outer success can never rise above the one visualized internally.

Cargo

2008-05-07T22:37:00.000-07:00

Cargo is a term used to denote goods or produce being transported generally for commercial gain, usually on a ship, plane, train, van or truck. Nowadays containers are used in most intermodal long-haul cargo transport.

Cargo represents a concern to U.S. national security. It was reported out of Washington, DC that in 2003 over 6 million cargo containers are entering the United States each year. After the terrorist attacks of September 11th, the security of this magnitude of cargo has become highlighted. The latest US Government response to this threat is the CSI: Container Security Initiative. CSI is a program intended to help increase security for containerized cargo shipped to the United States from around the world.

Norse colonization of the Americas

2008-04-29T21:44:00.000-07:00

Norse sailors, often referred to as Vikings, explored and settled areas of the North Atlantic, including the northeast fringes of North America, beginning in the 10th century. While this settlement process did not have the lasting effects that later settlements and conquests would have, it can be seen as a prelude to wide-scale European settlement in the Americas.

The Viking activities are often erroneously described as the Viking colonization of North America, but there are few findings to support the idea that the Vikings colonized North America, except for Greenland which they occupied for almost 500 years (see below). Outside Greenland, though, the Viking settlements only grew to a small size and never fully developed into permanent colonies, partly because of hostile relations with Native Americans, whom the Norse referred to as Skrælings. In turn, the Viking exploited the natural resources such as furs and lumber. Lumber, in particular, was in short supply in Norse Greenland, due to deforestation.

Green transport

2008-04-22T21:50:00.000-07:00

Green transport is a category of sustainable transport which uses human power, animal power and renewable energy. In common usage public transport is considered a green transport option in comparison with private vehicles, as is car pooling. But some people prefer a definition that does not include public transport or vehicle movements which relies on non-renewable energy.

Green transport includes:

* walking
* cycling and some other types of human-powered transport
* Green vehicles
o solar powered vehicles
o wind powered vehicles

H2 (DBMS)

2008-04-15T21:44:00.000-07:00

A subset of the SQL (Structured Query Language) standard is supported. The main programming APIs are SQL and JDBC, however the database also supports using the PostgreSQL ODBC driver by acting like a PostgreSQL server.

It is possible to create both in-memory tables, as well as disk-based tables. Tables can be persistent or temporary. Index types are hash table and tree for in-memory tables, and b-tree for disk-based tables. All data manipulation operations are transactional. Table level locking and multiversion concurrency control are implemented. The 2-phase commit protocol is supported as well, but no standard API for distributed transactions is implemented.

Rapid application development

2008-04-08T21:20:00.000-07:00

Rapid application development (RAD), is a software development process developed initially by James Martin in 1991. The methodology involves iterative development, and the construction of prototypes. Traditionally the rapid application development approach involves compromises in usability, features, and/or execution speed. It is described as a process through which the development cycle of an application is expedited. Rapid Application Development thus enables quality products to be developed faster, saving valuable resources

Database normalization

2008-04-04T23:08:00.000-07:00

Database normalization, sometimes referred to as canonical synthesis, is a technique for designing relational database tables to minimize duplication of information and, in so doing, to safeguard the database against certain types of logical or structural problems, namely data anomalies. For example, when multiple instances of a given piece of information occur in a table, the possibility exists that these instances will not be kept consistent when the data within the table is updated, leading to a loss of data integrity. A table that is sufficiently normalized is less vulnerable to problems of this kind, because its structure reflects the basic assumptions for when multiple instances of the same information should be represented by a single instance only.

Network model

2008-03-25T22:22:00.000-07:00

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.

Cerberus FTP Server

2008-03-18T21:38:00.000-07:00

Cerberus FTP Server supports SSL and TLS encryption and a graphical user interface that can be hidden or accessed from the system tray. The server is able to listen for connections on multiple interfaces (Multi-homed PCs), integrate with the Windows NT user database or Active Directory, run as an NT service, resume failed transfers, and offers a graphical manager for controlling user access to files and file operations.

Cerberus FTP Server is "free for personal use and not-for-profit charitable organizations". Its main features are:

* Secure SSL/TLS Encryption
* Active Directory Integration
* Individual Virtual Directories
* Small installation size
* Low CPU and memory utilization
* IP Manager to control connection attempts
* Adherence to RFC959 and RFC1123
* RFC1579-Firewall - Friendly FTP
* Hidden server mode (Hides server window)
* Resumes failed file transfers
* HIPAA Compliant
* NT Service Support
* Logging support based on log4cxx
* Taskbar icon control and status indicator
* Connections limit and timeout controls
* Transfer and connection statistics
* IPv6 compatibility

Semi-empirical quantum chemistry methods

2008-03-10T22:31:00.000-07:00

Semi-empirical quantum chemistry methods are based on the Hartree-Fock formalism, but make many approximations and obtain some parameters from empirical data. They are very important in computational chemistry for treating large molecules where the full Hartree-Fock method without the approximations is too expensive. The use of empirical parameters appears to allow some inclusion of electron correlation effects into the methods.

Within the framework of Hartree-Fock calculations, some pieces of information (such as two-elecron integrals) are sometimes approximated or completely omitted. In order to correct for this loss, semi-empirical methods are parametrized, that is their results are fitted by a set of parameters, normally in such a way as to produce results that best agree with experimental data, but sometimes to agree with ab initio results.

Terminal Radar Approach Control

2008-03-05T02:22:00.000-08:00

A Terminal Radar Approach Control or FAA TRACON in the United States) is an Air Traffic Control facility usually located within the vicinity of a large airport. Typically, the TRACON controls aircraft within a 30-50 nautical mile (56 to 93 km) radius of the airport between the surface and 18,000 feet.

A TRACON is sometimes called Approach Control or Departure Control in radio transmissions. In The US Air Force it is known as RAPCON (Radar Approach Control), and in the US Navy as a "RATCF" (Radar Air Traffic Control Facility) In Canada, Approach Control may be called Arrival or Terminal.

Bionic architecture

2008-02-26T21:25:00.000-08:00

Bionic architecture is a movement for the design and construction of expressive buildings whose layout and lines borrow from natural (i.e.: biological) forms. The movement began to mature in the early 21st century, and thus in early designs research was stressed over practicality. Bionic architecture sets itself in opposition to traditional rectangular layouts and design schemes by using curved forms and surfaces reminiscent of structures in biology and fractal mathematics. One of the tasks set themselves by the movement's early pioneers was the development of aesthetic and economic justifications for their approach to architecture.

Electro-optical and radar sensors in verification

2008-02-21T23:12:00.001-08:00

Telemetry intelligence on a missile test is frequently combined with electro-optical intelligence and radar tracking from cameras on aircraft (e.g., US RC-135 COBRA BALL), ground stations (e.g., US COBRA DANE) and ships (e.g., US COBRA JUDY). Observed trajectories, speeds, etc., can be used to verify the TELINT information is accurate. Even though some of these techniques do take pictures, these, as a whole, are considered MASINT

Methods continue to evolve. COBRA JUDY is intended to gather information on long-range missiles, in a strategic role. One developmental system, COBRA GEMINI, is intended to complement COBRA JUDY. It can be used for observing long-range missiles, but is also appropriate for theater-level weapons, which may be addressed in regional arms limitation agreements, such as the Missile Technology Control Regime (MCTR).

Biomedical engineering

2008-02-17T21:30:00.000-08:00

Biomedical engineering (BME) is the application of engineering principles and techniques to the medical field. It combines the design and problem solving skills of engineering with the medical and biological science to help improve patient health care and the quality of life of healthy individuals.

As a relatively new discipline, much of the work in biomedical engineering consists of research and development, covering an array of fields: bioinformatics, medical imaging, image processing, physiological signal processing, biomechanics, biomaterials and bioengineering, systems analysis, 3-D modeling, etc. Examples of concrete applications of biomedical engineering are the development and manufacture of biocompatible prostheses, medical devices, diagnostic devices and imaging equipment such as MRIs and EEGs, and pharmaceutical drugs.

Local area network (LAN)

2008-02-09T00:54:00.000-08:00

A local area network (LAN) is a computer network covering a small geographic area, like a home, office, or group of buildings e.g. a school. The defining characteristics of LANs, in contrast to Wide Area Networks (WANs), include their much higher data transfer rates, smaller geographic range, and lack of a need for leased telecommunication lines.
Ethernet over unshielded twisted pair cabling, and Wi-Fi are the two most common technologies currently, but ARCNET, Token Ring and many others have been used in the past.

Cultural Marxism

2008-01-27T23:23:00.001-08:00

Cultural Marxism is a form of Marxism that adds an analysis of the role of the media, art, theatre, film and other cultural institutions in a society. As a form of political analysis, cultural marxism gained strength in the 1920s, and was the model used by a group of intellectuals in Germany known as the Frankfurt School; and later by another group of intellectuals at the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies in Birmingham, England. The fields of Cultural Studies and Critical theory are rooted in (and remain influenced by) Cultural Marxism.

Molecular microbiology

2008-01-17T19:24:00.000-08:00

Molecular microbiology is the branch of microbiology devoted to the study of the molecular principles of the physiological processes involved in the life cycle of prokaryotic and eukaryotic microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, unicellular algae, fungi, and protozoa. This includes gene expression and regulation, genetic transfer, the synthesis of macromolecules, sub-cellular organization, cell to cell communication, and molecular aspects of pathogenicity and virulence.

Molecular microbiology is primarily involved in the interactions between the various cell systems of microorganisms including the interrelationship of DNA, RNA and protein biosynthesis and the manner in which these interactions are regulated.

Cell nucleus

2008-01-10T18:10:00.000-08:00

In cell biology, the nucleus (pl. nuclei; from Latin nucleus or nuculeus, kernel) is a membrane-enclosed organelle found in most eukaryotic cells. It contains most of the cell's genetic material, organized as multiple long linear DNA molecules in complex with a large variety of proteins, such as histones, to form chromosomes. The genes within these chromosomes make up the cell's nuclear genome. The function of the nucleus is to maintain the integrity of these genes and to control the activities of the cell by regulating gene expression.

The main structural elements of the nucleus are the nuclear envelope, a double membrane that encloses the entire organelle and keeps its contents separated from the cellular cytoplasm, and the nuclear lamina, a meshwork within the nucleus that adds mechanical support much like the cytoskeleton supports the cell as a whole. Because the nuclear membrane is impermeable to most molecules, nuclear pores are required to allow movement of molecules across the envelope.

Phenomenalism

2008-01-04T22:38:00.000-08:00

Phenomenalism is a radical form of empiricism and, hence, its roots as an ontological view of the nature of existence can be traced back to George Berkeley and his subjective idealism, which David Hume further elaborated.[1] John Stuart Mill had a theory of perception which is commonly referred to as classical phenomenalism. This differs from Berkeley's idealism in its account of how objects continue to exist when no one is perceiving them. Berkeley claimed that an omniscient God perceived all objects and this is what kept them in existence, whereas Mill claimed that permanent possibilities of experience were sufficient for an object's existence. These permanent possibilites could be analysed into subjunctive conditionals, such as, if I were to have y-type sensations, then I would also have x-type sensations.

MQ-1 Predator

2007-12-28T21:29:00.000-08:00

The MQ-1 Predator is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) which the U.S. Air Force describes as a MALE (medium-altitude, long-endurance) UAV system. It can serve in a reconnaissance role, and it can also carry and use two AGM-114 Hellfire missiles. The aircraft has been in use since 1995, and been in combat over Afghanistan, Bosnia, Serbia, Iraq, and Yemen.

The MQ-1 Predator is a system, not just an aircraft. The fully operational system consists of four air vehicles (with sensors), a ground control station (GCS), a Predator primary satellite link communication suite and 55 people. In the over-all U.S. Air Force integrated UAV system, the Predator is considered a "Tier II" vehicle.

Ring network

2007-12-19T21:44:00.000-08:00

A ring network is a network topology in which each node connects to exactly two other nodes, forming a circular pathway for signals: a ring. Data travels from node to node, with each node handling every packet.

Because a ring topology provides only one pathway between any two nodes, ring networks may be disrupted by the failure of a single link. A node failure or cable break might isolate every node attached to the ring. FDDI networks overcome this vulnerability by sending data on a clockwise and a counterclockwise ring: in the event of a break data is wrapped back onto the complementary ring before it reaches the end of the cable, maintaining a path to every node along the resulting "C-Ring". 802.5 networks -- also known as IBM Token Ring networks -- avoid the weakness of a ring topology altogether: they actually use a star topology at the physical layer and a Multistation Access Unit to imitate a ring at the datalink layer.

What is Java Development Kit?

2007-11-28T23:23:00.001-08:00

The Java Development Kit (JDK) is a Sun Microsystems product intended at Java developers. Because the introduction of Java, it has been by far the majority extensively used Java SDK. On 17 November 2006, Sun announced that it would be released under the GNU General Public License (GPL), therefore making it free software. This happened in great part on 8 May 2007 and the source code was added to the OpenJDK.

What is C++ programming language?

2007-11-21T23:23:00.000-08:00

C++ is a common purpose programming language created in the early 1980s by Bjarne Stroustrup at Bell Labs. It is alike to C, invented in the early 1970s by Dennis Ritchie, but is a safer language than C and has current programming techniques like object oriented programming.

You can read more regarding object oriented programming. In actual fact C++ was originally called C with Classes and is so compatible with C that it will perhaps compile more than 99% of C programs without changing a line of source code. This was a deliberate design feature by the designer. The main intention of C++ is to correctly define a series of operations that a computer can perform to carry out a task.

Most of these operations occupy manipulating numbers and text, but whatever thing that the computer can physically perform can be programmed in C++. Computers have no intelligence- they have to be told accurately what to do and this is defined by the programming language you use. Once programmed, we can repeat the steps as numerous times as you wish at very high speed. The Modern PCs are so fast they can count to a billion in a second or two.

A short note on Space exploration

2007-11-14T23:04:00.001-08:00

The Space exploration is the physical exploration of outer-Earth objects and in general anything that involves the technologies, science, and politics about the space endeavors.

It was given a boost up by the start of Sputnik 1, the first man-made object to orbit the Earth, which set off the space race involving the United States and the Soviet Union. The Two other well-known achievements in the early days were putting the first man in space, the Yuri Gagarin aboard Vostok 1, and the first people on the Moon, the Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin aboard Apollo 11. After 30 years of rivalry focus has started shifting from competition to help and from the one-off flights to renewable hardware and most lately to the building of extra-terrestrial start on platforms, like from a space station and perhaps from the Moon.

What is Diode mixer?

2007-11-01T04:44:00.000-07:00

A diode mixer has two or more signals available into a diode. Whenever any sign or any signal pushes the voltage above the entry of the diode, current will run to the other side, but not back. If the inputs are the correct voltages, the effect is that the peaks of the new signal take place whenever either signals peaks, and the diode supplies the troughs by refusing to carry out backwards. The classical or the typical crystal set radio is a diode mixer, with an effortless or the simple electronic filter involving the antenna and mixer to remove unwanted radio stations. The Cheap AM radios still use this diode mixer.

Dual-purpose design for Interstate Highway

2007-10-27T05:26:00.000-07:00

To support automobile and heavy truck traffic, interstate highways are also designed for use in military and civil guard operations within the United States, mainly troop movements.

One potential civil guard use of the Interstate highway system is for the urgent situation evacuation of cities in the event of a potential nuclear war. Although this use has not at all happened, the Interstate Highway System has been used to make easy evacuations in the face of hurricanes and other natural disasters. An alternative for maximizing throughput is to reverse the flow of traffic on one side so that all lanes become outbound lanes. Several Interstates in the South U.S., together with I-16 in Georgia, I-40 in North Carolina, I-65 in Alabama, and I-10 in Louisiana, are equipped and signed for reverse flow, with crossovers inland after most important interchanges to deal out much of the traffic. This is on the other hand not limited to Interstates; State Road 528 has the same setup in central Florida.

A widespread but false urban legend states that one out of all five miles of the Interstate highway system have to be built straight and flat, so as to be usable by aircraft during times of war. On the other hand, the Germans in World War II used the Autobahns for just such a purpose or target.

The different fashions of Lens

2007-10-18T00:45:00.000-07:00

The color of the lens can differ with fashion, but for common use, green, grey, or brown is suggested to keep away from or minimize color distortion, that could be unsafe when, for case, driving a car. The Grey lenses are considered neutral for the reason that they do not improve contrast or distort colors. The Brown and green lenses cause some minimal color distortion, but have the contrast-enhancing properties. Red lenses are excellent for medium and lower light circumstances for the reason that they are good at enhancing contrast. Orange and yellow lenses have the top contrast improvement and depth perception. That is why yellow lenses are generally used by golfers and shooters. The Blue and purple lenses give no real benefits. The Clear lenses are used primarily to care for the eyes from impact, debris, or chemicals.

Aside from the lens color, there are some sunglasses have a mirrored coating on the outer surface. This mirrored coating reflects a few of the light when it hits the lens before it is transmitted through the lens making it valuable in bright conditions. These mirrored coatings can be made any color by the maker for styling and fashion purposes. The color of the mirrored surface is inappropriate to the color of the lens. For instance, a gray lens can have a blue mirror coating, and a brown lens can contain a silver coating. These types of sunglasses are at times called mirror shades.

Other models have polarized lenses to lessen glare caused by light reflected from polarizing surfaces like water with the polarized diffuse sky radiation (skylight).Some models make use of a degradation where the top of the glass is darker and the bottom is transparent. Depending on the company, any of the above features can be combined into a set of lenses for a pair of sunglasses. Before the beginning of sunglasses, one-eyed people could wear an eye patch to not disturb other people. Few people who are severely visually impaired but still sighted wear sunglasses to protect their vision against glare.

The real facts about Pluto

2007-10-11T00:45:00.000-07:00

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

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

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

Human nutrition

2007-09-27T23:25:00.000-07:00

Nearly all the food we eat comes directly and indirectly from plants like this Americans long grain rice almost all food eaten comes from plants either directly from staple foods and other fruits and vegetables, or indirectly through livestock or other animals, which rely on plants for their nutrition. In other words, plants are at the base of nearly all food chains or what ecologist calls the primary tropic level. Understanding how plants produce the food safety for future generation for ex. Through plant breeding. Not all plants are beneficial to humans some we needs are a considerable problem in agriculture and botany provides some of the basic science in order to understand how to minimize their impact. However, other weeds are pioneer plants which start an harmed environment back on the road to rehabilitation, underlining that the term weed is a very relative concept, and that broadly defined a weed is simply a plant which is too successful. Ethno botany is the study of this and or other relationships between plants and people.

A Civil Role Model

2007-09-10T03:18:00.000-07:00

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

These are thoughts that were measured during the class viewing of A Civil Action. In the events of the case, there were many concerns that were brought up about our permissible culture.

Flak jacket

2007-09-03T23:20:00.001-07:00

A flak jacket or flak vest is a type of caring clothing. Today it frequently refers to bulletproof vests, particularly Type III and on top of which have added steel, titanium, ceramic or polyethylene saucers which can resist high-powered rounds such as from rifles.

Currency

2007-08-27T19:37:00.001-07:00

A currency is a component of exchange, facilitating the transfer of supplies and services. It is a form of money, where money is a capable medium of exchange, and it is also considered by a number of people as a store of value, created through a claim to its central bank assets. A currency zone is a country in which a specific currency is the main medium of exchange. To facilitate trade between currency zones, there are exchange price at which currencies can be exchanged beside each other. Currencies can be classified as also floating currencies or fixed currencies based on their exchange rate regime.

In general usage, currency at times refers to only paper money, as in "coins and currency", but this is confusing. Coins and paper money are both forms of currency. In most cases, each country has control over the supply and manufacture of its own currency.

Auditory clocks

2007-08-21T00:08:00.000-07:00

For expediency, distance, telephony or blindness, auditory clocks here the time as sounds. The sound is either spoken normal language, or as auditory codes (e.g. numbers of sequential bell rings on the hour represent the number of the hour like the clock Big Ben). Most telecommunication companies also supply a Speaking clock service as well.

Harrington jacket

2007-08-13T22:02:00.001-07:00

A Harrington jacket is a type of tiny, lightweight jacket, made of cotton, polyester, wool or suede — generally with a tartan or check-patterned lining.

The initial Harrington-style jackets were made by British clothing company, Baracuta, in the 1930s; the company is still making the same model, the G9. This style of jacket got the nickname Harrington because it was worn by the personality Rodney Harrington (played by Ryan O'Neal) in the 1960s television program Peyton Place; John Simmons, who opened 'The Ivy Shop', Richmond, London, claims to have coined this explanation.

Toothbrush

2007-08-07T23:23:00.000-07:00

The toothbrush is a device used to clean teeth, consisting of a tiny brush on a handle. Toothpaste, often containing fluoride, is commonly added to a toothbrush to assist in cleaning. Toothbrushes are offered with changeable textures of bristles, and come in many different sizes and forms. Most dentists recommend using a toothbrush labeled "Soft", since firmer bristled toothbrushes can harm tooth enamel and irritate gums as indicated by the American Dental Association. Toothbrushes are often ready from synthetic fibers, although natural toothbrushes are also known in many parts of the world.

Pocket timepieces

2007-07-31T23:47:00.000-07:00

The earliest need for portability in timekeeping was navigation and mapping in the 15th century. The autonomy could be measured by looking at the stars, but the only way a ship could measure its longitude was by comparing the midday time of the local longitude to that of a European meridian—a time kept on a shipboard clock. However, the process was dishonestly unreliable until the introduction of John Harrison's marine chronometer. For that reason, most maps from the 15th century through the 19th century have precise latitudes but indistinct longitudes.

Water abstraction

2007-07-22T21:55:00.000-07:00

Water abstraction, or water extraction, is the process of taking water from any source, either temporarily or permanently. Most water is used for irrigation or treatment to produce drinking water.Depending on the environmental legislation in the relevant country, controls may be located on abstraction to limit the amount of water that can be removed. Over abstraction can lead to rivers drying up or the level of groundwater aquifers reducing unacceptably.The science of hydrogeology is used to assess safe abstraction levels.

Deadheading

2007-07-13T23:16:00.001-07:00

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

2007-07-08T23:23:00.000-07:00

Extranet

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

Whale

2007-07-03T23:02:00.001-07:00

The term whale is ambiguous: it can refer to all cetaceans, to just the larger ones, or only to members of particular families within the order Cetacea. The last definition is the one followed here. Whales are those cetaceans which are neither dolphins nor porpoises. This can lead to some confusion because Orcas ("Killer Whales") and Pilot whales have "whale" in their name, but they are dolphins for the purpose of classification.

Solar System

2007-06-26T22:24:00.000-07:00

Solar System consists of the Sun and the other space objects gravitationally bound to it: the eight planets, their 162 known moonsthree currently recognized dwarf planets (including Pluto) and their four known moons, and billions of small bodies. This last group includes asteroids, Kuiper belt objects, comets, meteoroids and interplanetary dust.

In wide terms, the charted regions of the Solar System consist of the Sun, four terrestrial inner planets, an asteroid belt composed of small rocky bodies, four gas giant outer planets, and a second belt, called the Kuiper belt, collected of icy objects. Beyond the Kuiper belt lies the scattered disc, the heliopause, and eventually the hypothetical Oort cloud.

In sort of their distances from the Sun, the planets are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Six of the eight planets are in turn orbited by natural satellites, usually termed "moons" after Earth's Moon, and each of the outer planets is encircled by planetary rings of dust and other particles. All the planets apart from Earth are named after gods and goddesses from Greco-Roman mythology. The three dwarf planets are Pluto, the largest known Kuiper belt object; Ceres, the largest object in the asteroid belt; and Eris, which lies in the scattered disc.

Butterfly Koi

2007-06-23T02:11:00.001-07:00

Butterfly Koi, Longfin Koi, or Dragon Carp are a type of ornamental fish notable for their elongated finnage. The fish are a breed of the common carp, Cyprinus carpio, (which includes numerous wild carp races as well as domesticated koi ("Nishikigoi").

Butterfly Koi originated in the mid 20th century as a result of an effort to increase the hardiness of traditional koi. Japanese breeders interbred wild Indonesian Longfin river carp with traditional koi. The resulting fish had longer fins, long barbells, pompom nostrils, and were hardier than koi. These were known in Japan as “onagaoi” or "hire naga koi", or translated in English “long tail koi”. Randy LeFever, the son of Wyatt LeFever, a noted breeder of koi, is credited with suggesting they looked like butterflies, a trait for which the breed is named. They are also sometimes referred to as Dragon Koi.

Fire

2007-06-17T22:35:00.001-07:00

Fire is a rapid oxidation procedure that creates light, heat, smoke, and releases energy in varying intensities. It is commonly used to explain either a fuel in a state of combustion or a violent, destructive and uncontrolled burning (e.g., in buildings or a wildfire). The discovery of how to make fire is considered one of humankind's most important advances, allowing higher hominids to ward off wild animals, cook food, and control their own source of light and warmth.

Kinetic power

2007-06-11T21:55:00.000-07:00

Some watches are powered by the movement of the wearer of the watch. Kinetic powered quartz watches make use of the movement of the wearer's arm turning a rotating weight, which in turn, turns a creator to supply power. The concept is similar to that of self-winding spring movements, except that electrical power are generated instead of mechanical motion alone.

Cache Memory

2007-06-06T22:41:00.001-07:00

A CPU cache is a cache used by the central processing unit of a computer to decrease the average time to access memory. The cache is a smaller, faster memory which stores copies of the data from the most often used main memory locations. As long as most memory accesses are to cached memory locations, the average latency of memory accesses will be closer to the cache latency than to the latency of main memory.

When the processor needs to read or write a location in main memory, it first checks whether that memory location is in the cache. This is accomplished by comparing the address of the memory location to all tags in the cache that may contain that address. If the processor finds that the memory location is in the cache, we say that a cache hit has occurred; otherwise we talk of a cache miss. In the case of a cache hit, the processor immediately reads or writes the information in the cache line. The proportion of accesses that result in a cache hit is known as the hit rate, and is a measure of the effectiveness of the cache.

In the case of a cache miss, most caches assign a new entry, which comprises the tag just missed and a copy of the data from memory. The reference can then be applied to the new entry just as in the case of a hit. Misses are relatively slow because they require the data to be transferred from main memory. This transfer incurs a delay since main memory is much slower than cache memory, and also incurs the overhead for recording the new data in the cache before it is delivered to the processor.

Motorola

2007-05-27T22:42:00.001-07:00

Most of Motorola's products have been radio-related, starting with a battery eliminator for radios, through the first walkie-talkie in the world, defense electronics, cellular infrastructure apparatus, and mobile phone manufacturing. The company was also strong in semiconductor technology, including integrated circuits used in computers. Motorola has been the main supplier for the microprocessors used in Commodore Amiga, Apple Macintosh and Power Macintosh personal computers. The chip used in the latter computers, the PowerPC family, was developed with IBM and in a partnership with Apple. Motorola also has a diverse line of communication products, including satellite systems, digital cable boxes and modems.

Moore machine

2007-05-19T00:09:00.000-07:00

Moore model control of a winch door in the theory of computation, a Moore machine is a finite state automaton where the outputs are determined by the current state alone. The state diagram for a Moore machine will include an output signal for each state. Compare with a Mealy machine, which maps transitions in the machine to outputs.

The name Moore machine comes from that of its supporter, Edward F. Moore, a state-machine pioneer who wrote "Gedanken-experiments on Sequential Machines".

Most digital electronic systems are designed as clocked sequential systems. Clocked sequential systems are a limited form of Moore machine where the state changes only when the global clock signal changes. Typically the current state is stored in flip-flops, and a global clock signal is connected to the "clock" input of the flip-flops. Clocked chronological systems are one way to solve met stability problems.

A typical electronic Moore machine includes a combinatorial logic chain to decode the current state into the outputs. The instant the current state changes, those changes ripple through that chain, and almost instantaneously the outputs change. There are design techniques to ensure that no glitches occur on the outputs during that brief period while those changes are rippling through the chain, but most systems are designed so that glitches during that brief transition time are ignored or are irrelevant. The outputs then stay the same indefinitely, until the Moore machine changes state again.

Sunglass

2007-05-14T00:27:00.001-07:00

Sunglasses are a kind of visual correction aid, variously termed spectacles or glasses, which feature lenses that are colored or darkened to screen out strong light from the eyes.
Many people find direct sunlight too bright to be comfortable, particularly when reading from paper on which the sun directly shines. In outdoor activities like skiing and flying, the eye can receive more light than usual. It has been recommended to wear these kinds of glasses on sunny days to protect the eyes from ultraviolet radiation, which can lead to the development of a cataract. Sunglasses have also been linked with celebrities and film actors mainly due to the desire to mask identity, but in part due to the lighting involved in production being typically stronger than natural light and uncomfortable to the naked eye.

Mod chip

2007-05-09T00:55:00.000-07:00

Xenium Mod Chip attached to an Xbox. The 2x6 header interfaces the chip with the LPC bus, while the red soldered wire overrides the original BIOS's D0 line. A Mod chip, a portmanteau of 'Modification microchip', is a device used to get around the digital rights management of many popular game consoles, including those made by Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo for the purposes of playing backup, imported, pirated, or homebrew games and/or applications. They are used mostly on systems that are CD/DVD-based due to the availability and low cost of blank media such as CD-R s and DVD+/-R s.

Almost all modern console gaming systems have hardware-based schemes which ensure that only officially authorized games may be used with the system and implement regional lockout similar to the scheme used in DVD movies. The specific technical nature of these DRM systems varies by system, and may include cryptographic signing, intentionally unreadable sectors, custom optical media, or some combination thereof. Mod chips are available also for some DVD players, to defeat region code enforcement and user.

Description of Willamette Valley

2007-05-01T23:54:00.000-07:00

The valley may be freely defined as the watershed of the Willamette, bounded on the west by the Coast Ranges, on the east by the Cascade Range. It is enclosed on the south by the Calapooya Mountains, which divide the headwaters of the Willamette from the Umpqua River valley. Because of the differing cultural and political interests, the Portland metropolitan areas, as well as the Tualatin River valley, are often disinclined in the local use of the term. Cities always considered part of the Willamette Valley are Eugene, Corvallis, Albany, and Salem.

The agricultural wealth of the valley is considered to be in no small measure a result of the Missoula Floods, which swamped the valley approximately forty times between 15,000 and 13,000 years ago at the end of the last ice age. The floods were caused by the episodic rupturing of the ice dam of Glacial Lake Missoula, the waters of which swept down the Columbia and flooded the Willamette Valley as far south as Eugene. The floodwaters carried rich volcanic and glacial soil from Eastern Washington, which was deposited across the valley floor when the waters subsided.

Music

2007-04-27T22:55:00.001-07:00

Music is an art form that involves organized sounds and quiet. It is articulated in terms of pitch (which includes melody and harmony), rhythm (which includes tempo and meter), and the quality of sound (which includes timbre, articulation, dynamics, and texture).
Music may also absorb generative forms in time through the construction of patterns and combinations of natural stimuli principally sound. Music may be used for artistic or aesthetic, communicative, entertainment, traditional or religious purposes. The definition of what constitutes music varies according to culture and social context, with assorted interpretations of the term being established under sub-genres of the art. Within "the arts", music can be classified as a performing art, a fine art, or an auditory art form

The history of music predates the written word and is tied to the enlargement of each unique human culture. The development of music among humans occurred against the backdrop of natural sounds such as birdsong and the sounds other animals use to communicate. primeval music, once more commonly called primitive music, is the name given to all music created in preliterate cultures (prehistory), beginning somewhere in very late geological history.

Groundwater

2007-04-24T23:20:00.000-07:00

100 Groundwater is water flowing within aquifers below the water table. Within aquifers, the water flows through the pore spaces in unconsolidated sediments and the fractures of rocks. Groundwater is recharged from, and ultimately flows to, the surface naturally; natural discharge often occurs at springs and seeps and can form oases or swamps. Groundwater is also often withdrawn for agricultural, municipal and industrial use through man-made wells. The study of the giving out and movement of groundwater is hydrogeology.

Relative groundwater travel times, click to view full size Groundwater can be a long-term 'reservoir' of the natural water cycle, as opposed to short-term water reservoirs like the atmosphere and fresh surface water. The figure shows how deep groundwater can take a very long time to complete its natural cycle. Groundwater is naturally replenished by surface water from precipitation, streams, and rivers when this recharge reaches the water table. It is estimated that the volume of groundwater is fifty times that of surface freshwater; the icecaps and glaciers are the only larger reservoir of fresh water on earth.

Usable groundwater is contained in aquifers, which are subterranean areas of permeable material that channel the groundwater's flow. Aquifers can be confined or unconfined. If a confined aquifer follows a downward grade from a recharge zone, groundwater can become pressurized as it flows. This can create artesian wells that flow freely without the need of a pump. The top of the upper unconfined aquifer is called the water table or paretic surface, where water pressure is equal to atmospheric pressure.

Videophone

2007-04-18T23:55:00.001-07:00

A videophone is a telephone which is able of both audio and video duplex transmission.AT&T conducted experiments and demonstrations of a "Picturephone" product and service in the early 1960s. Among the first manufacturers of commercially viable videophones was Toshiba.Videotelephony is mostly used in large corporate setups, and are supported by systems such as Cisco CallManager. Other companies such as Tandberg, Radvision, and Polycom also offer similar solutions. Videoconferencing has usually been limited to the h.323 protocol (notably Cisco's SCCP implementation is an exception), however recently a shift towards SIP implementations is seen. In accordance with the adoption of SIP telephony for home users, videotelephony is also slowly becoming available to home users.Another protocol using videophones is H.324; this allows videophones to work in regular phone lines, since the bandwidth is limited by the phone line. The quality is about fifteen Frames per second. This type of videophone is generally used because of the affordable price.

Traffic calming

2007-04-09T00:44:00.001-07:00

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

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

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

Peafowl

2007-04-02T23:55:00.000-07:00

The peafowl are the three variety of bird in the genera Pavo and Afropavo of the pheasant family, Phasianidae. They are most distinguished for the male's profligate tail, a result of sexual selection, which it displays as part of courtship. The male is called a peacock, the female a peahen. In common English custom, however, "peacock" is used to mean any peafowl.

Overview
The characteristic Asiatic peafowl belonging to the genus Pavo comprise the familiar Indian Peafowl, Pavo cristatus and the poorly known Dragon birds or Green Peafowl Pavo muticus. Some biologists believe that there are at least five characteristic and critically endangered species of Green Peafowl while others classify them into a single species with three species.

The Arakan Dragonbird Pavo spicifer was once inhabitant to Northern Western Myanmar, Southern Tibet and Assam. The Indo-Chinese or Siamese Dragon bird Pavo imperator was once native to South East Myanmar and Thailand. The Annametic Dragonbird Pavo annamensis occupied the broadleaf evergreen forests of Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and Southern Yunnan China.

The Javanese Green Peafowl, Pavo javanensis is occupant only to the island of Java. The died out Malay or Pahang Peafowl Pavo muticus muticus was fantasy by early naturalists to least the Pliocene rules out an foreword by humans. Northern Yunnan is the home of one of the most fascinating forms of Green Peafowl. The Yunnan Dragonbird, Pavo yunnanensis is most characteristic.

When it is not in show, the long tail rests on the ground and hampers the actions of the peacock

The White Peacock is frequently incorrect for an albino, but is a color change

Major ice ages

2007-03-29T22:51:00.001-07:00

There have been at least four main ice ages in the Earth's past.

The earliest hypothesized ice age is believed to have occurred around 2.7 to 2.3 billion years ago through the early Proterozoic Age.

Main article: Snowball Earth.

The most primitive well-documented ice age, and probably the most harsh of the last 1 billion years, occurred from 800 to 600 million years ago and it has been suggested that it formed a Snowball Earth in which permanent sea ice extensive to or very near the equator. It has been not compulsory that the end of this ice age was responsible for the subsequent Cambrian Explosion, though this theory is current and contentious.

The timing of ice ages all through geologic history is in part prohibited by the position of the continental plates on the surface of the Earth. When landmasses are determined near the Polar Regions, there is an increased chance for snow and ice to build up. Small changes in solar energy can tip the balance between summers in which the winter snow mass completely melts and summers in which the winter snow persists until the following winter. Due to the positions of Greenland, Antarctica, and the northern portions of Europe, Asia, and North America in Polar Regions, the Earth today is considered prone to ice age glaciations.

Proof for ice ages comes in a variety of forms, including rock scouring and scratching, glacial moraines, drumlins, valley cutting, and the deposition of till or tillites and glacial erratic. Successive glaciations be inclined to distort and erase the geological proof, making it difficult to interpret. It took some time for the current theory to be worked out. Analyses of ice cores and ocean sediment cores unmistakably show the record of glacial and interglacial over the past few million years.

Banksia

2007-03-25T22:04:00.001-07:00

Banksia is a genus of around 80 species in the plant family Proteaceae. They are native to Australia, occurring in all but the most arid areas. Easily recognized by their characteristic flower spikes and fruiting "cones", Banksia are a well-known Australian wildflower and a popular garden plant. They grow in forms varying from prostrate woody shrubs to trees up to 25 metres tall. They are normally known as Banksias or Australian Honeysuckle Trees.
Banksias grow as trees or woody shrubs. The largest trees, the Coast Banksia, B. integrifolia, and the River Banksia, B. seminuda, often grow over 15 metres tall, and may be up to 25 metres tall. Banksia species that grow as shrubs are typically erect, but there are some species that are prostrate, with branches that grow on or below the soil.
The leaves of Banksia vary greatly among species. Sizes vary from the narrow, 1–1½ centimetre long leaves of the Heath-leaved Banksia, B. ericifolia, to the very large leaves of the Bull Banksia, B. grandis, which may be up to 45 centimetres long. The leaves of most species have serrated edges, but a few, such as B. integrifolia, do not. Leaves are usually arranged along the branches in irregular spirals, but in some species they are crowded together in whorls.
Banksias are most without difficulty recognised by their characteristic flower spike, and the woody fruiting structures that appear after flowering. The flower spike consists of a central woody axis with a furry coating; it is usually held erect, but hangs down in a few species. This axis is enclosed in tightly-packed pairs of flowers, which are attached to the axis at right angles. A single flower spike may have over a thousand flowers.

View camera

2007-03-20T23:42:00.000-07:00

The view camera is a type of camera with a very long history, but they are still used today by professional and amateur photographers who want full control of their images. The view camera is essentially a light-tight assembly comprised of a flexible mid-section, or bellows, attached to a device that holds a film sheet, photo plate or digital imager at one end (the rear standard) and a similar one that holds the lens at the other end (the front standard). The front and rear standards are not fixed relative to each other (unlike most cameras). Movement of the front and rear standards allows the photographer to move the lens and film plane separately for precise control of the image's focus, depth of field and perspective.

Haze

2007-03-14T22:00:00.001-07:00

Haze is an atmospheric occurrence where dust, smoke and other pollutant particles obscure the usual clarity of the sky. It occurs when dust and smoke particles build up in relatively dry air. When weather conditions block the dispersal of smoke and other pollutants they concentrate and form a generally low-hanging shroud that impairs visibility and may become a respiratory health threat. Dense haze caused by industrial pollution is also known as smog.
Sources for haze particles include farming (ploughing in dry weather), traffic, industry, forest fires and peat field fire.
Seen from afar (e.g. approaching airplane), haze is brownish, while mist is more blueish-grey. While haze is formed in somewhat dryish air, in more humid air mist is formed, and the haze particles can even act as condensation nuclei for the mist droplets.

Mirror

2007-03-09T23:08:00.000-08:00

A mirror is an object whose surface has good specular reflection; that is, it is smooth sufficient to form an image. The most common type of mirror is the plane mirror, which has a flat surface. Curved mirrors are also used, to produce magnified or demagnified images or focus light.
The most common use of mirrors is for personal hygiene. However, mirrors are also used in scientific apparatus such as telescopes and lasers, as well as industrial machinery. Most mirrors are designed for visible light, however, mirrors intended for other wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation are also used, particularly in optical instruments.

Sit flying

2007-03-05T21:57:00.000-08:00

Sit flying is a form of locomotion obtainable to skydivers and vertical wind tunnel flyers. It describes the ability to 'fly' ones body in any direction while in a 'sit' position. It's called a 'sit' because it looks like the flyer is sitting in a chair.
The correct position for flying a sit is to orient yourself feet first in the direction of the relative wind and maintain 90-degree angle bends at the knees, hips, and shoulders. Wind from the tunnel or from free-fall should be hitting the flyer on the feet, hamstrings, bottom, and the underside of the arms. To move about relative to the tunnel or other jumpers, the flyer simply redirects the airflow the opposite direction the jumper wants to go. Newtonian mechanics then push the flyer in the preferred direction. Fall rate changes (descending faster or slower) can also be made. This is done by presenting more surface area (wide legs and arms, higher drag, slower fall rate) or less surface area (arms up or even stand up, less drag, faster fall rate) from the flyers body to the wind.

Mobile

2007-03-01T02:00:00.001-08:00

A mobile or cellular telephone is a long-range, transferable electronic device for personal telecommunications over long distances. In addition to the standard voice function of a telephone, current mobile phones can support many additional services such as SMS for text messaging, email, packet switching for access to the Internet, and MMS for sending and receiving photos and video. Most current mobile phones attach to a cellular network of base stations (cell sites), which is in turn interconnected to the public switched telephone network (PSTN) (the exception are satellite phones).
Mobile phones are not distinct from cordless telephones, which usually operate only within a limited range of a specific base station. In principle, the term mobile phone includes such devices as satellite phones and pre-cellular mobile phones such as those operating via MTS which do not have a cellular network, whereas the linked term cell(ular) phone does not. In practice, the two terms are used almost interchangeably.

Erosion

2007-02-23T21:11:00.000-08:00

Erosion is the displacement of solids by the agents of wind, water or ice, by downward or down-slope movement in response to gravity or by living organisms . Erosion is well-known from weathering, which is the decomposition of rock and particles through processes where no movement is caught up, although the two processes may be concurrent.
Erosion is an intrinsic normal process but in many places it is increased by human land use. Poor land use practices include deforestation, overgrazing, unmanaged construction movement and road or trail building. wever, improved land use practices can limit erosion, using techniques like terrace-building and tree planting.A certain amount of erosion is natural and, in fact, healthy for the ecosystem. For example,
gravels repeatedly move downstream in watercourses. Excessive erosion, however, can cause problems, such as in receipt of water sedimentation, ecosystem damage and outright loss of soil.

Magnetic field in Mercury planet

2007-02-19T21:00:00.001-08:00

Despite its slow revolving, Mercury has a relatively strong magnetic field, with a magnetic field strength 1% as strong as the Earth’s. It is potential that this magnetic field is generated in a manner similar to Earth’s, by a dynamo of circulating liquid core material. However, scientists are uncertain whether Mercury’s core could still be liquid,although it could perhaps be set aside liquid by tidal effects during periods of high orbital eccentricity. It is also probable that Mercury’s magnetic field is a remnant of an earlier dynamo effect that has now ceased, with the magnetic field becoming “frozen” in solidified magnetic materials.
Mercury’s magnetic field is physically powerful sufficient to deflect the solar wind around the planet, that creates a magnetosphere within which the solar wind does not go through. This is in difference to the situation on the Moon, which has a magnetic field too weak to stop the solar wind impacting on its surface and so lacks a magnetosphere.

Eye movement

2007-02-14T03:38:00.000-08:00

Animals with compound eyes have a wide field of vision, allowing them to look in many directions. To see more, they have to move about their entire head or even body.The visual system in the brain is too slow to process that information if the images are slipping across the retina at more than a few degrees per second. Thus, for humans to be able to see while moving, the brain must compensate for the motion of the head by turning the eyes. Another complication for vision in frontal-eyed animals is the development of a small area of the retina with a very high visual sharpness. This area is called the fovea, and covers about 2 degrees of visual angle in people. To get a clear view of the world, the brain must turn the eyes so that
the image of the object of regard falls on the fovea. Eye movements are thus very essential for visual perception, and any failure to make them correctly can lead to serious visual disabilities.Having two eyes is an added complication, because the brain must point both of
them accurately enough that the object of regard falls on corresponding points of the two retinas; otherwise, double vision would occur. The movements of different body parts are controlled by striated muscles acting around joints. The movements of the eye are no exception, but they have special advantages not shared by skeletal muscles and joints, and so are considerably different.

Gold

2007-02-06T21:54:00.001-08:00

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.

Journalism Basics

2007-01-26T20:56:00.000-08:00

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.

Historical background of real estate

2007-01-13T00:01:00.000-08:00

History of the wordThe word 'real' in the context of 'real estate' is not the opposite of 'unreal' but is in fact derived from the same source as the word 'royal'. An illustration of this is found today in the name of soccer team Real Madrid, meaning Royal Madrid.
Interpretations varyWhen the word 'real' was originally used in conjunction with the word 'property', it had the literal meaning under common law of royal property. Translated for application in the United Kingdom today, this term refers to Crown property (since the real property rights of the British Royal Family were amended under the Act of Settlement.) However, since Scotland is not a common law jurisdiction, its strict interpretation today differs from that of its application to England and Wales and other localities where common law does apply.
Within international jurisdictions, such as those states of the United States where common law is applicable (and not all states are common law states), the term refers to both the land owned by the federal government; land owned by the state; land owned by Indian tribes (where applicable), and the land owned by individuals and companies within that state. This is in contrast to all other property in such states which is then deemed to be 'personal' property.
Even when common law is the governing law, interpretations of real property under common law vary according to the jurisdiction.

DefinitionsAn important area of real immovable property are the definitions of estates in land. These are various interests that may limit the ownership rights one has over the land. The most common and perhaps most absolute type of estate is the fee simple which signifies that the owner has the right to dispose of the property as she/he sees fit. Other estates include the life estate where the owner's rights to the property cease at their death and fee tail estates where the property at the time of death passes to the heirs of the body (i.e. children, grandchildren, descendants) of the owner of the estate before he died.

A Day at the Park

2006-12-11T23:01:00.000-08:00

A couple of months ago I went to the playground with my nephew. I keep in mind the day like be yesterday. The climate was cool and clouds were transparency. I sat by myself and watching the play and watch everything take place something like exciting things just watching people, but surprised at what I did discover. Children were all over the place and were tiresome coats that had their preferred characters on them. A girl had plum mittens with a teletubby on them.

Before I know it, it was time to depart as my nephew and I walked back to my car the thought of being a kid again would be vast. One of the boys complicated in the game fell down and began to shed tears. There were only two mothers at the playground and seven children not including a baby by the side of one of the mothers. They would lash out, wet sand all over their backs as they ran. Although that was going on, the other children discovered that when they went down the slide it shocked them.

Current Account

2006-12-05T21:52:00.000-08:00

The current account of the balance of payments is the sum of the balance of trade (exports less imports of goods and services), net factor income (such as interest and dividends) and net transfer payments (such as foreign aid). A current account surplus increases a country's net foreign assets by the corresponding amount, and a current account deficit does the reverse. Both government and private payments are included in the calculation.

The balance of trade is typically the most important part of the current account. This means that changes in the patterns of trade are key drivers of the current account. However, for the few countries with substantial overseas assets or liabilities, net factor payments may be significant.

The current account, capital account, financial account and change in official reserves together sum to zero as a result of accounting definitions.(dubious; discuss) This sum is known as the balance of payments. Typically, the change in official reserves is very small.

Action to reduce a substantial current account deficit usually involves increasing exports or decreasing imports. This may be accomplished directly through import restrictions, quotas, or duties (though these may indirectly limit exports as well), or subsidizing exports. Influencing the exchange rate to make exports cheaper for foreign buyers will indirectly affect the balance of payments. This can be accomplished by reducing domestic inflation (e.g. by cutting interest rates), loosening monetary policy (making more money available), or adjusting government spending to favor domestic suppliers.

Kerala

2006-11-29T22:59:00.000-08:00

Kerala is a state on the Malabar shore of southwestern India. To its east and northeast, Kerala boundaries Tamil Nadu and Karnataka; to its west and south lie the Indian Ocean islands of Lakshadweep and the Maldives, correspondingly. Kerala envelops a coastal exclave of Pondicherry. Kerala is one of four states that create the linguistic-cultural region known as South India.

First settled in the 10th century BCE by speakers of Proto-South Dravidian, Kerala was prejudiced by the Mauryan Empire. Later, the Cheran kingdom and feudal Namboothiri Brahminical city-states became major powers in the region. Early contact with abroad lands culminated in struggles between regal and native powers. Finally, the States Reorganization Act of November 1, 1956 elevated Kerala to statehood. Social reforms enacted in the late 19th century by Cochin and Travancore were prolonged upon by post-Independence governments, making Kerala along with the Third World's longest-lived, healthiest, most gender-equitable, and most educated regions. However, Kerala’s rates of suicide, joblessness, and violent crime rank among India are highest.

Tree

2006-11-26T22:35:00.000-08:00

A tree is a large, perennial, woody plant. Though there is no spot definition regarding minimum size, the term normally applies to plants at least 6 m high at development and, more important, having secondary undergrowth supported on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical power. Compared with most other plant forms, trees are long-lived. A few kinds of trees grow to 100 m tall and some can live for several thousand years.

Trees are important components of the usual landscape due to their prevention of wearing away and significant elements in landscaping and agriculture, both for their aesthetic appeal and their orchard crops. Wood from trees is a common building material. Trees also play a close role in many of the world's mythologies.

Plastic

2006-11-22T22:34:00.000-08:00

Plastic covers a variety of artificial or semi synthetic polymerization products. They are composed of organic concentration or addition polymers and may contain other substances to improve performance or economics. There are few natural polymers generally measured to be "plastics". Plastics can be formed into objects or films or fibers. Their name is resulting from the fact that many are malleable, having the belongings of plasticity. Plastic can be classified in many ways but most commonly by their polymer backbone. Other classifications include thermoplastic vs. thermo set, elastomer, manufacturing plastic, addition or condensation, and Glass conversion temperature.

Plastics are polymers: elongated chains of atoms bonded to one another. These handcuffs are made up of many repeating molecular units, or "monomers". The vast bulk of plastics are composed of polymers of carbon alone or with oxygen, nitrogen, chlorine or sulfur in the backbone. The backbone is that part of the chain on the main "path" connecting the multitude of monomer units jointly.

Hanging Gardens of Babylon

2006-11-19T21:41:00.000-08:00

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon and the walls of Babylon were considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World. They were both evidently built by Nebuchadnezzar II around 600 BC. The green Hanging Gardens are extensively documented by Greek historians such as Strabo and Diodorus Siculus, but otherwise there is little evidence for their existence. In fact, there are no Babylonian records of any such gardens having existed. Some incidental evidence gathered at the excavation of the palace at Babylon has accrued, but does not completely substantiate what look like fantastic descriptions. Through the ages, the location may have been confused with gardens that existed at Nineveh, since tablets from there clearly show gardens. Writings on these tablets describe the possible use of something similar to an Archimedes' screw as a process of raising the water to the required height.
The Hanging Gardens probably did not really "hang" in the sense of being balanced from cables or ropes. The name comes from an inexact conversion of the Greekord kremastos or the Latin word pensilis, which means not just "hanging” but "overhanging," as in the case of a terrace or balcony.

Architecture

2006-11-10T22:02:00.000-08:00

Architecture is the art and science of designing buildings and structures. A wider description would include within its scope also the design of the total built environment, from the macro level of town scheduling, urban design, and landscape architecture to the micro level of creating furniture. Architectural design usually must address both possibility and cost for the builder, as well as function and aesthetics for the user.
Designed architecture often manipulates space, volume, surface, light, shadow, or theoretical elements in order to achieve pleasing aesthetics. This distinguishes it from applied science or engineering, which usually concentrate more on the practical and feasibility aspects of the design of constructions or structures.
In the field of construction architecture, the skills demanded of an architect range from the more complex, such as for a hospital or a stadium, to the apparently simpler, such as planning residential houses. Many architectural works may be seen also as educational and political symbols, and/or works of art. The role of the architect, though changing, has been central to the successful design and completion of pleasingly built environments in which people live.

Flower

2006-11-07T22:04:00.000-08:00

A flower, also famous as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive organization found in flowering plants. The flower structure contains the plant's reproductive organs, and its function is to make seeds through imitation. For the higher plants, seeds are the next generation, and serve as the primary means by which individuals of a species are dispersed across the landscape. After fertilization, portions of the flower develop into a fruit containing the seeds.
Although the floral construction described above is considered the "typical" structural plan, plant species show a wide variety of modifications from this plan. These modifications have significance in the evolution of blossoming plants and are used expansively by botanists to establish relationships among plant species. For example, the two subclasses of flowering plants may be well-known by the number of floral organs in each whorl: dicotyledons typically having 4 or 5 organs in each whorl and monocotyledons having three or some multiple of three. The numeral of carpals in a compound pistil may be only two, or otherwise not related to the above generalization for monocots and divots.

New Economic Policy

2006-11-04T04:25:00.000-08:00

The New Economic Policy was an ambitious and controversial socio-economic restructuring affirmative action program launched in 1971 under then Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak. The NEP ended in 1990, and was succeeded by the National Development Policy in 1991.
The NEP targeted a 30% share of the economy for the Bumiputra, but according to official government statistics, the NEP did not succeed in reaching this target. Although the policy ended officially in 1990, Malaysians often refer to the NEP in the present tense because many of the tangible economic benefits it offered the Bumiputra are ongoing. In 2005, called for the restoration of the NEP as part of the New National Agenda.
During British colonial rule, Malays were given certain privileges over their non-Malay counterparts, such as quotas for public scholarships and employment in the civil service. When the Federation of Malaya declared independence in 1957, its Constitution contained a provision called Article 153 that provided special rights for the Malays.

Journalism Basics

2006-11-01T01:53:00.000-08:00

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.

Early Stages of a pregnant woman and her health

2006-11-01T01:52:00.000-08:00

Pregnancy is not an easy job for a woman. Starting from conception to birth, a woman's body carries out the most miraculous process of fertilization, implantation and the maturity and growth of her baby (or babies). Her body is her baby's dwelling place for the next nine months (or around 40 weeks) and the occurrences of pregnancy turn into a journey of many new physical feelings. Whether it is first, second, third (or more) pregnancy, her body will respond in a different way to each individual pregnancy. So health of a pregnant woman is very important to be taken care of. Throughout the first 12 weeks of pregnancy called the '1st trimester’, a woman's body adjust to present a fostering and protective environment for her baby to grow and develop. Seldom, the early signs of pregnancy can make a woman feel puzzled. This may be for the reason that many of the physical signs of in the early hours of pregnancy such as enlarged tender breasts, sensitivity of tiredness, overstuffed and perhaps experiencing spasms and/or pelvic uneasiness can be considered as normal pre-menstrual signs. In all these stages the health of the woman declines because she is not only feeding herself, also her little developing fetus.

They may also sense disgusted or sick, due to morning sickness. It is not unusual to feel unsure about what is 'normal' during the early stages of pregnancy development, and unfamiliar signs or sensations may trigger concerns about the health, of her and baby. It’s been proved by the Gynecologists that every woman's body will react in a different way to being pregnant. Many women find their early pregnancy symptoms very difficult to cope with, both at work and generally.

Due to continuous vomiting and nourishing the fetus the pregnant woman may be exhausted very easily. She has to constantly keep her energetic by maintaining a healthy diet schedule as prescribed by the physicians. She can have more fresh green vegetables and fruit juices to make her feel fresh and energetic. It’s always significant to make sure that she avoids drinking and smoking because whatever she has will be directly absorbed by the baby. Once the fetus starts developing she has to get primed for all the obstacles she has to experience throughout pregnancy. Many psychologists predict that a healthy pregnancy is not only from taking care of the nutrition for the pregnant women, more than that she has to be taken care from all the hassles in her family. It’s the duty of a loving husband to caress her comfortably and keep her happy always throughout the gestation period. This will not only make the woman feel happy and hopeful it will directly lead to the good development of the fetus.

Essentials of Healthy life – Cleanliness a brief review

2006-11-01T01:50:00.000-08:00

Health is wealth so preserve it. Life is short so use it in the right way. Cleanliness merely fits with the apt meaning of being free from dirt, dust, germs and bad smells. A recent shift has now taken place to recognise that ‘germs’ may play a major role in our immune systems. So experts say washing hands frequently, specially when in an environment of many people with infections and diseases. Washing is one of the best way to achieve cleanliness.Have a brief overlook on the following issue to be aware of how to keep one self clean.

A step way process regarding cleanliness of hands is given below:
· Use warm water
· But avoid scorching your hands.
· Use anti-bacterial soap or hand wash.
· Wash between fingers and use paper towels to wipe off.
Washing of hands has to be followed:
· Before eating
· After eating
· After using the toilet
· After playing outdoor games
· After attending to a sick person
· After blowing nose, coughing, or sneezing; and after handling pets.

The proverb "Cleanliness is next to Godliness," a common phrase that describes humanity's high opinion of being clean. Purposes of cleanliness include health, beauty and to avoid the spreading of germs .If your hands have any kind of skin cut or infection, wash hands with an anti bacterial soap. Thoroughly wash with hot, soapy water all surfaces that come in contact with raw meat, poultry, fish, and eggs before moving on to the next step in food preparation. Consider using paper towels to clean kitchen surfaces.

Keep pets, household cleaners, and other chemicals away from food and surfaces used for food. Along with removing any old food or dirty water, it’s a very good practice to clean the bowls or containers that the food and water are in, ever Hygienic practices—such as frequent hand washing or the use of boiled (and thus sterilized) water have a profound impact on reducing the spread of disease. This is because they kill or remove disease-causing microbes (germs) in the immediate surroundings. For instance, washing one's hands after using the toilet and before handling food reduces the chance of spreading E. coli bacteria and Hepatitis A, both of which are spread from fecal contamination of food.

Personal cleanliness:
· Daily washing of the body and hair.
· More frequent washing of hands and face.
· Oral hygiene—Daily brushing teeth.
· Cleaning of the clothes and living area.
· Use of bandaging and dressing of wounds.
· Not touching animals before eating.
· avoidance of unhygienic people.
· Holding a tissue in your hand when coughing or sneezeing.
· Suppression of habits such as spitting or nose-picking.
· Washing hands before eating.
· Not licking fingers before picking up sheets of paper.
· Cut finger nails and toe nails.

Bluetooth

2006-11-01T01:49:00.000-08:00

Bluetooth is an industrial specification for wireless personal area networks (PANs), also known as IEEE 802.15.1. Bluetooth provides a way to connect and exchange information between devices like personal digital assistants (PDAs), mobile phones, laptops, PCs, printers and digital cameras via a secure, globally unlicensed short range radio frequency.The name Bluetooth was born from the 10th century king of Denmark, King Harald Bluetooth (whose surname is sometimes written as Bluetooh).

Bluetooth is a radio standard and communications protocol primarily designed for low power consumption, with a short range (power class dependent: 1 meter, 10 meters, 100 meters) based around low-cost transceiver microchips in each device. Bluetooth lets these devices communicate with each other when they are in range.

Bluetooth is in a variety of new products such as phones, printers, modems, and headsets to name a few. Bluetooth is acceptable for situations when two or more devices are in close proximity with each other and don’t require high bandwidth. Bluetooth is most commonly used with cell phones, either using a Bluetooth headset or transferring files from phones to computers. Instead of that, Wi-Fi uses the same radio frequencies as Bluetooth, but with higher power consumption resulting in a stronger connection. As mentioned earlier, Wi-Fi is sometimes called a wireless Ethernet. Wi-Fi is popular among the computing world, virtually all new laptop computers come with Wi-Fi built in, and all desktop computers are able to be adapted to have a Wi-Fi connection. However cell phones do not have this ability.

The Applications of Bluetooth are:

Wireless control between a cell phone and a hands free headset.
Wireless networking between PCs with a little bandwidth.
Wireless communications with PC input & output devices such as mice, keyboards and printers.
Replacement of traditional wired serial communications.
Sending commands and software to the upcoming LEGO Mind storms NXT instead of infra red.
Transfer of files between devices via OBEX.

Super Computer

2006-11-01T01:47:00.000-08:00

A supercomputer is a computer that leads the world in terms of processing capacity and speed of calculation. New York World newspaper in 1929 refers to a large custom-built tabulators IBM made for Columbia University first used the term “Super Computing”. Super Computers introduced in the year 1960s and were designed by Seymour Cray at Control Data Corporation (CDC), and led the market into the 1970s. The term supercomputer itself is rather fluid, and today's supercomputer tends to become tomorrow's also-ran.

Technologies developed for Supercomputers include:
Vector processing
Liquid cooling
Non-Uniform Memory Access (NUMA)
Striped disks
Parallel file systems

Supercomputers traditionally gained their speed over conventional computers through the use of innovative designs that allow them to perform many tasks in parallel, as well as complex detail engineering. They tend to be specialized for certain types of computation, usually numerical calculations, and perform poorly at more general computing tasks.
Their memory hierarchy is very carefully designed to ensure the processor; much of the performance difference between slower computers and supercomputers is due to the memory hierarchy.

Their I/O systems tend to be designed to support high bandwidth, with latency less of an issue, because supercomputers are not used for transaction processing. Supercomputers are used for highly calculation-intensive tasks such as weather forecasting, climate research (including research into global warming), molecular modeling (computing the structures and properties of chemical compounds, biological macromolecules, polymers, and crystals), physical simulations (such as simulation of airplanes in wind tunnels, simulation of the detonation of nuclear weapons, and research into nuclear fusion), cryptanalysis, and the like. Major universities, military agencies and scientific research laboratories are heavy users.

Geography and economics

2006-11-01T01:41:00.000-08:00

The Ghana is an African country located on the western side of Africa. The neighbor countries are Burkina Faso, Togo, the Atlantic Ocean, and Cote d’Ivoire. It has a population of nearly 18,100, 703 and a population density may be of 197 people per square mile. The Ghana’s area is 92,098 square miles and the official language is English. The capital city is Accra has around 1, 673,000 residents. There are the physical statistics, which is to be considered.

The great strengths of the country are its natural resources. And also, they are very rich. The big export is Cocoa, which totally accounts for 15% of the world's supply. And also the gold production, now a days, it's exported as more as one million fine ounces. Ghana is also supplying bauxite, diamonds, coffee, rice, cassava, timber and rubber. After 1983, the economy has steadily grown. By the economic recovery policies intact, the economy has raised 5% a year since 1983. Tourism development also grows within Ghana. The Tourist rates are also increasing. With these cash crops, costly goods, and economic restructuring, one would wonder why they need assistance at all.