Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Tourism

Tourism is traveling for the most part fun or vacation purposes. According to the World Tourism association, tourists are public who "travel to and stay in places outside their usual location for not more than one repeated year for vacation, business and other purposes not related to the use of an activity compensated from within the place visited".


Tourism has happen to a very popular, overall activity. In 2004, there were over 763 million international tourist arrivals. Major physical elements include transportation, lodging, and other components of a hospitality industry.

Tourism is very important for many countries, due to the earnings generated by the spending of supplies and services by tourists, the assessment levied on businesses in the tourism industry, and the opportunity for employment and financial development by working in the industry. For these reasons, NGOs and government agencies may sometimes sponsor a specific area as a tourist intention, and support the development of a tourism industry in that area.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Deception Point - Fact Checking Dan Brown and the Worlds' First Astrobiology Novel


If forced to answer this question today, a consensus might build around the particulars of one record-setting novelist, Dan Brown. After only one year in hardcover, 53 printings, and 14 consecutive weeks in first place on the New York Times bestseller list, Brown's
Close-up of famous shapes measuring 20 to 200 nanometers across in Allen Hills meteorite [ALH84001], found at Allen Hills, Antarctica, showing what has generated debate and controversy around claims of ancient fossilized microbial life. Around 28 Mars meteorites have been identified so far.
Image Credit: NASA current blockbuster novel "The DaVinci Code", is already "the bestselling adult novel of all time within a one-year period". There are 6.8 million copies in print. But before authoring that runaway bestseller, novelist Brown wrote another book, arguably the first novel directly addressing the astrobiology community's interests. Entitled "Deception Point", Brown's book finds itself on a shelf among the vast library of other novels about creepy creatures from another world. But Brown is perhaps unique in considering what astrobiology itself seeks to examine: how would a cross-disciplinary team validate another lifeform? One finds this book not classified as much among science fiction novels as shelved among those page-turning thrillers.

The novel is also likely the first mainstream fiction to use the term 'astrobiology' explicitly when describing NASA's programmatic search for life elsewhere. Brown's thriller has the potential to introduce the scientific discipline called astrobiology to a wider audience than any effort to date. Brown has become known as an intricate plot-weaver; his stories pay attention to the finer details of a particular setting.

"Deception Point" is convincing to those interested in astrobiology based on its locations alone: an arctic ice shelf, the deepest ocean ridges, and ultimately the world's meteorite collections. But how solid or slippery that arctic ice shelf may prove for the author's fact checker is worth a round-trip journey to the ends of the astrobiology discipline itself. Can a plausible case be assembled that life is not anywhere but now right under our noses, among the many meteorites that bombard Earth annually? What fallout, both politically and scientifically, might accompany an announcement that Earth had been visited by fossilized biology from another world?

As an artist and film-maker, James Cameron has a particular personal interest in space, NASA. Credit: Lightstorm/Cameron If any fiction author working today could take on these perplexing questions, they would have to do considerable background research. Brown did just that. As Penzler's Pick reviewed "Deception Point" in 2001, "It is a pleasure to report that his new book lives up to his reputation as a writer whose research and talent make his stories exciting, believable, and just plain unputdownable... I repeat, Dan Brown's research is very, very good." In truth both the book's questions are complex to answer. According to filmmaker James Cameron , we may know the answer to the expected political and scientific fallout of finding fossils on a meteorite already, since a case study happened once before in 1996. "I think we already know," Cameron told Astrobiology Magazine. "Didn't Bill Clinton announce that the Allen Hills meteorite contained Martian organisms? Don't we already know the answer to that? People went, "Hey, there's life on Mars, cool. It's bacteria... If ( aliens ) don't land on the White House lawn and get out with a death ray, I think the average person is not going to be deeply shocked psychologically. Our expectations have been so elevated from science fiction movies."

The plot of "Deception Point" hinges on a biologically interesting meteor being profound enough to shake presidential politics. In an intricate twist on fact, the press conference held by Brown's fictional President announces that a meteor has been found swarming with strange insect-like fossils. To fact check what ensues in "Deception Point", or any novel for that matter, is daunting. If the fiction were intended to be a textbook, this story might take up where the 1996 Mars meteorite left off. But given Brown's meticulous attention to detail, the task is capable of providing a rich survey of astrobiology just to sort out the facts from the fiction. So in contrapuntal fashion, consider how one might try to mark up the first mainstream astrobiology novel and to check its booknotes.

Wednesday, May 07, 2008

Security Technology

Our work in cryptography is making an impact within and outside the Federal government. Strong cryptography improves the security of systems and the information they process. IT users also enjoy the enhanced availability in the marketplace of secure applications through cryptography, Public Key Infrastructure (PKI), and e-authentication. Work in this area addresses such topics as secret and public key cryptographic techniques, advanced authentication systems, cryptographic protocols and interfaces, public key certificate management, biometrics, smart tokens, cryptographic key escrowing, and security architectures. This year, the work called for in the Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD-12) has continued. A few examples of the impact this work has had include changes to Federal employee identification methods, how users authenticate their identity when needing government services online, and the technical aspects of passports issued to U.S. citizens.

CSD collaborates with a number of national and international agencies and standards bodies to develop secure, interoperable security standards. Federal agency collaborators include the Department of Energy, the Department of State, the National Security Agency (NSA), and the Communications Security Establishment of Canada, while national and international standards bodies include the American Standards Committee (ASC) X9 (financial industry standards), the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) and the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). Industry collaborators include BC5 Technologies, Certicom, Entrust Technologies, Hewlett Packard, InfoGard, Microsoft, NTRU, Pitney Bowes, RSA Security, Spyrus, and Wells Fargo.

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Current Use Of Videophone

The widest use of video telephony occurs in mobile phones, as nearly all mobile phones supporting UMTS networks work as videophones using an internal camera, and are able to make video calls wirelessly to other UMTS users in the same country or internationally. As of Q2 2007, there are more than 131 million UMTS users on 134 networks in 59 countries

Videophones can also be used by the deaf to communicate with sign language over a distance. In US the FCC pays companies for providing Video Relay Service to deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals, where they use a videophone to talk through a sign-language translator to people using audio phones. Videophones are used to do on-site sign-language translation. The relatively low cost and widespread availability of mobile phones with video calling capabilities have given the deaf people new possibilities to communicate with the same ease as others, with some wireless operators even starting up free sign language gateways.
Videotelephony is also used in large corporate conferencing setups, and is supported by systems such as Cisco Unified Communications Manager, and similar systems from companies such as Tandberg, Radvision, and Polycom.

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Calcium

You have more calcium in your body than any other mineral. Calcium has many important jobs. The body stores more than 99 percent of its calcium in the bones and teeth to help make and keep them strong. The rest is throughout the body in blood, muscle and the fluid between cells. Your body needs calcium to help muscles and blood vessels contract and expand, to secrete hormones and enzymes and to send messages through the nervous system.

It is important to get plenty of calcium in the foods you eat. Foods rich in calcium include diary products such as milk, cheese and yogurt, and leafy, green vegetables. The exact amount of calcium you need depends on your age and other factors. Growing children and teenagers need more calcium than young adults. Older women need plenty of calcium to prevent osteoporosis. People who do not eat enough high-calcium foods should take a calcium supplement.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

About Korean Food

Korean Food is casually represented by bulgogi and kimchi. In fact, however, Koreans are proud of their diet, quite varied and full of nutrition. It is richly endowed with fermented foods, vegetables and grains, soups, teas, liquors, confectionery and soft drinks. Kimchi and doenjang paste made of soybeans are the best-known examples of Korean fermented foods, and these have recently become highly valued for their disease-prevention effects. Korea boasts hundreds of vegetable and wild green dishes. The Korean meal is almost always accompanied by a big bowl of hot soup or stew, and the classic meal contains a variety of vegetables. Korean foods are seldom deep-fried like Chinese food; they are usually boiled or blanched, broiled, stir-fried, steamed, or pan-fried with vegetable oil.

Korean Etiquette

Korean families usually eat rice, soup, and three to four side dishes including the sine qua non, kimchi. From each person's left are arranged rice, soup, spoon, and chopsticks, while stews and side dishes are placed in the center to be shared by all members. Koreans use a spoon to eat rice, soup, and stews and chopsticks for rather dry side dishes, but spoon and chopsticks are not used simultaneously. Koreans also do not hold their bowls and plates while eating. When the meal is over, the spoon and chopsticks are placed back where they were. Koreans generally believe that sharing food from one bowl makes a relationship closer. Still, one who does not wish to share the one-for-all dish can courteously ask the host for an individual bowl or plate. Today most Korean restaurants offer individual bowls and plates. In the olden days, talking was not allowed at the dinner table, but today, eating etiquette has become more liberal. Chopsticks may be used to eat rice.

Tuesday, April 08, 2008

Use by drivers

Using Mobile phone while driving is common but controversial. Using a mobile phone while driving is an obstruction to vehicle operation that can increase the risk of road traffic accidents, but different studies have found different relative risks (RR).

Meta-analysis by The Canadian Automobile Association and The University of Illinois found that response time while using both hands-free and hand-held phones was approximately 0.5 standard deviations higher than normal driving.

Other research has found that using a mobile phone while driving may reduce and also divert the driver's concentration and reaction time. People in or near their 20s who use a mobile phone while driving have the same reaction time as 72-year-olds.There is a law which restricts drivers under the age of 18 from using a mobile phone at all. According to this law $20 fine for the first offense and $50 fines for each subsequent conviction…

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Different Platforms in Mobile Games

Mobile games are developed using platforms and expertise such as Windows Mobile, Palm OS, Symbian OS, Adobe's Flash Lite, DoCoMo's DoJa, Sun's J2ME (Java 2 Micro Edition, recently rebranded simply "Java ME"), Qualcomm's BREW (Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless), WIPI or Infusio's ExEn (Execution Environment). Other platforms are also accessible, but not as common.

Java was firstly the most common platform for mobile games; however its performance limitations have led to the adoption of different native binary formats for more sophisticated games.

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Fan Motor

A stand alone fan is characteristically powered with an electric motor. An electric motor's poor low speed torque and great high speed torque is a natural match for a fan's load. Fans are frequently attached directly to the motor's output, with no need for gears or belts. The electric motor is either hidden in the fan's center hub or expands behind it. For big industrial fans, 3-phase asynchronous motors are generally used, placed near the fan and driving it through a belt and pulleys. Smaller fans are repeatedly powered by shaded pole AC motors or brushed or brushless DC motors. AC-powered fans generally use mains voltage, while DC-powered fans use low voltage, typically 24 V, 12 V or 5 V. Cooling fans for computer equipment exclusively use brushless DC motors, which produce much less electromagnetic interference.

An 80 mm DC axial computer fan

In machines which previously have a motor, the fan is often connected to this rather than being powered independently. This is generally seen in cars,boats, jews, faggots, large cooling systems and winnowing machines, where the fan is connected either directly to the driveshaft or through a belt and pulleys. Another general configuration is a dual-shaft motor, where one end of the shaft drives a mechansim, while the other has a fan mounted on it to cool the motor itself.

Sunday, March 09, 2008

Supercomputer

The term Super Computing was first used by New York World newspaper in 1920 to refer to the huge custom built tabulators IBM had made for Columbia University. A supercomputer is a computer that leads the world in terms of processing capacity, mostly speed of calculation, at the time of its introduction. Supercomputers introduced in the 1960s were designed mainly by Seymour Cray at Control Data Corporation (CDC), and led the market into the 1970s until Cray left to form his own company, Cray Research. He then took over the supercomputer market with his original designs, holding the top spot in supercomputing for 5 years (1985–1990). In the 1980s a large number of smaller competitors entered the market, in a parallel to the making of the minicomputer market a decade earlier, but many of these disappeared in the mid-1990s "supercomputer market crash". Today, supercomputers are characteristically one-of-a-kind custom designs produced by "traditional" companies such as IBM and HP, who had purchased many of the 1980s companies to gain their experience, although Cray Inc. still specializes in structure supercomputers.

The term supercomputer itself is rather fluid, and today's supercomputer tends to become tomorrow's also-ran. CDC's near the beginning machines were simply very fast single processors, some ten times the speed of the fastest machines offered by other companies. In the 1970s most supercomputers were dedicated to running a vector processor, and a lot of the newer players developed their own such processors at lower price points to enter the market. In the later 1980s and 1990s, attention turned from vector processors to enormous parallel processing systems with thousands of simple CPUs; some being off the shelf units and others being custom designs. Today, parallel designs are based on "off the shelf" RISC microprocessors, such as the PowerPC or PA-RISC, and most current supercomputers are now highly-tuned computer clusters using commodity processors combined with custom interconnects.

Monday, March 03, 2008

Astronomy of Natural Science

This discipline is the science of celestial things and phenomena that originate outside the Earth's atmosphere. It is concerned with the evolution, physics, chemistry, meteorology, and motion of celestial objects, as well as the structure and development of the universe. Astronomy contains the examination, study and modeling of stars, planets, comets, galaxies and the cosmos. Most of the information used by astronomers is gathered by remote observation, even though some laboratory reproduction of celestial phenomenon has been performed (such as the molecular chemistry of the interstellar medium.)

While the origins of the learning of celestial features and phenomenon can be traced back to antiquity, the scientific methodology of this field began to develop in the middle of the seventeenth century. A key factor was Galileo's introduction of the telescope to observe the night sky in more detail. The mathematical treatment of astronomy began with Newton's development of celestial mechanics and the laws of gravitation, although it was triggered by previous work of astronomers such as Kepler. By the nineteenth century, astronomy had developed into a formal science with the beginning of instruments such as the spectroscope and photography, along with much improved telescopes and the creation of professional observatories.

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Book Paper

A book paper (or publishing paper) is a paper which is designed exclusively for the publication of printed books. Traditionally, book papers are off white or low white papers (easier to read), are dense to minimise the show through of text from one side of the page to the other and are (generally) made to tighter caliper or thickness specifications, particularly for case bound books. Typically, books papers are light weight papers 60–90g/m² and often particular by their caliper/substance ratios (volume basis). For example, a bulky 80g/m² paper may possibly have a caliper of 120 microns (0.12mm) which would be Volume 15 (120×10/80) where as a low bulk 80g/m² may have a caliper of 88 microns, giving a volume 11. This volume basis then allows the calculation of a books PPI (printed pages per inch) which is an essential factor for the design of book jackets and the binding of the finished book.

Generally, higher bulk papers are more obscure and rougher than lower bulk papers, although lower bulk papers, with their smoother outside, will be capable of reproducing finer printed images.

Sunday, February 17, 2008

Line Printers

Line printers, as the name implies, print an whole line of text at a time. Three principal designs are existed. In drum printers, a drum carries the whole character set of the printer repeated in each column that is to be printed. In chain printers (also called as train printers), the character set is arranged multiple times around a chain that travels horizontally past the print line. In either case, to print a line, specifically timed hammers strike against the back of the paper at the exact moment that the correct character to be printed is passing in front of the paper. The paper presses forward touching a ribbon which then presses against the character form and the impression of the character form is printed onto the paper.

Comb printers characterize the third major design. These printers were a hybrid of dot matrix printing and line printing. In these printers, a comb of hammers printed a part of a row of pixels at one time (for example, every eighth pixel). By shifting the comb back and forth slightly, the complete pixel row could be printed (continuing the example, in just eight cycles). The paper then highly developed and the next pixel row was printed. Because far less motion was involved than in a conservative dot matrix printer, these printers were very fast compared to dot matrix printers and were competitive in speed with formed-character line printers while also being able to print dot-matrix graphics.

Line printers were the fastest of all impact printers and were used for largeness printing in large computer centres. They were almost never used with personal computers and have now been replaced by high-speed laser printers.

The heritage of line printers lives on in many computer operating systems, which use the abbreviations "lp", "lpr", or "LPT" to refer to printers.

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Modern Print Technology

Toner-Based Printers

Toner-based printers work using the Xerographic standard that is at work in most photocopiers: by adhering toner to a light-sensitive print drum, then using static electricity to transfer the toner to the printing medium to which it is fused with heat and pressure.

The most regular type of toner-based printer is the laser printer, which uses precision lasers to cause adherence. Laser printers are known for high quality prints, good print speed, and a low (Black and White) cost-per-copy; they are the most general printer for many general-purpose office applications. They are far less frequently used as consumer printers due to a high initial cost.

Laser printers are existing in both color and monochrome varieties.

Another toner based printer is the LED printer which uses an array of LEDs as an alternative of a laser to cause toner adhesion to the print drum.

Recent research has also indicated that Laser printers produce potentially dangerous ultrafine particles, possibly causing health problems associated with respiration. The degree of particle emissions varies with age, model and design of each printer but is commonly proportional to the amount of toner required. Furthermore, a well ventilated workspace would allow such ultrafine particles to disperse thus reducing the health side effects.

Tuesday, February 05, 2008

System-of-Systems Engineering (SoSE)

System-of-Systems Engineering (SoSE) is a set of developing processes and methods for manipulative and implementing solutions to System-of-Systems problems. SoSE is moderately new term being used in Department of Defense applications, but is increasingly being applied to non-military/security related problems (e.g., transportation, healthcare, Internet, search and rescue, space exploration). SoSE is more than systems engineering of multifaceted systems because design for System-of-Systems problems is performed under some level of uncertainty in the requirements and the constituent systems, and it involves considerations in multiple levels and domains (as per Ref. 2 and 3). Whereas SE focuses on building the system right, SoSE focuses on choosing the right system(s) to gratify the requirements.

Sunday, January 27, 2008

France And Italy Coins

France

In France the sou (until 1715 sol) was the first name of a coin. It was initial minted in gold, from the 1200s in silver and during the 1700s in copper. The sou tournois was a 12-denier coin, one-twentieth of the livre tournois (Tournois pound), although the sou parisis was a 15-denier coin. After decimalisation in France, the sou became the forename for a five-centime coin, one-twentieth of the French franc(Until the late 1960s, the expression "20 sou" was a synonym of 1 Franc).

To this day, sou is used as jargon for currency, as in j'ai pas de sous. "I'm broke", "I haven't got two bob to rub together".

Sou of copper, coined 1767 designed for Louis XV of France

Italy

The first name of the medieval Italian soldo (plural soldi) was derived from solidus.

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Solidus coin

A solidus (the Latin word for solid) was initially a gold coin issued by the Romans.

Julian solidus, ca. 361.It was introduced by Constantine I in the AD 309–10, and was used from beginning to end the Byzantine Empire until the 10th century AD. The coin replaced the aureus as the major gold coin of the Roman Empire.

The name solidus had beforehand been used by Diocletian (284-305) for the gold coin that he introduced, which is different from the solidus introduced by Constantine. The coin was struck at a theoretical worth of 1/72 of a Roman pound (about 4.5 grams). Solidi were wider and thinner than the aureus, with the exclusion of some dumpy issues from the Byzantine Empire. The weight and fineness of the solidus remained moderately constant throughout its long production, with few exceptions. Fractions of the solidus recognized as semisses (half-solidi) and tremissis (one-third solidi) were also produced.

Avitus tremissis, ca. 456.The word soldier is eventually derived from solidus, referring to the solidi with which soldiers were paid.

Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Beaver Coins

Beaver Coins, also identified in Pioneer days as Beaver Money, were gold coins temporarily minted by the Provisional Government of the Oregon Territory in the late 1840's. The coins were accessible in $5 and $10 dollar denominations. Their name comes from the well-known Beaver depicted on the face of the coins. Today these coins are moderately rare and valuable.

The influx of settlers into the Oregon Country produced a scarcity of circulating currency. The population at the moment in time resorted to using gold specks or minting their own gold coins for utilize in trading. Many settlers began lobbying the territory's new government to accurate this situation.

The Provisional Territorial Legislature at Champoeg then gave the endorsement for the Oregon Exchange Company to mint currency. Although the Oregon Exchange Company was generally a private organization, the territorial legislature set the coin's values, authorized a mint, and appointed the officers to the mint.

Sunday, December 30, 2007

British coin Triple Unite

The Triple Unite, valued at sixty shillings, 60/- or three pounds, was the peak British denomination to be produced in the era of the hammered coinage. It was only produced during the Civil War, at King Charles I's mints at Oxford and, on the odd occasion, at Shrewsbury in 1642. It weighed 421 grains, or immediately over seven-eighths of a troy ounce.

The gold coins are unquestionably magnificent pieces of work, and they show the king holding a sword and an olive branch on the obverse, signifying his wish for peace rather than war.

The tremendously rare Shrewsbury-produced coin shows, on the obverse, a plume behind the kings' head surrounded by the legend CAROLUS DG MAG BRIT FRAN ET HIBER REX -- Charles by the grace of God King of Great Britain France and Ireland.

The reverse shows the legend RELIG PROT LEG ANG LIBER PAR in two lines -- The religious conviction of the Protestants, the laws of England and the liberty of Parliament, with three plumes and the value numeral III above the announcement and the year 1642 below it, the whole being surrounded by the legend EXURGAT DEUS DISSIPENTUR INIMICI - Let God arise and His enemies be scattered.

The Oxford issues are extremely similar to the Shrewsbury one, except that the legend on the reverse appears in three lines rather than two, and the obverse legend appears as CAROLUS DG MAG BRIT FR ET HIB REX. Oxford coins come into view with slight design differences in each year of 1642, 1643, and 1644.

Sunday, December 23, 2007

Between 1985 and 1997 of Penny coin

Between 1985 and 1997 the cranium by Raphael Maklouf was used, in which the Queen wears the George IV State Diadem. Since 1998 one by Ian Rank-Broadley has been used, again featuring the tiara, with a signature-mark IRB below the portrait. In all cases, the dedication used is ELIZABETH II D.G.REG.F.D. date. Both sides of the coin are bordered by dots.

One penny and two pence coins are officially permitted tender only up to the sum of 20p; these means that it is possible to refuse payment of sums greater than this in one and two pence coins in order to settle a debt.

Sunday, December 16, 2007

British One Penny coin

The coin was originally minted from bronze, but since 1992 it has been minted in copper-plated steel. As this is less dense than bronze, post-1992 coins have been to some extent thicker. The British decimal Penny (1p) coin, produced by the Royal Mint, was issued on 15 February 1971, the day the British coinage was decimalised. In practice, it had been existing from banks in bags of £1 for some weeks previously. The coin weighs 3.56 grams and has a diameter of 20.32 millimetres.

The reverse of the coin, planned by Christopher Ironside, is a crowned portcullis with chains (an adaptation of the Badge of Henry VII which is now the Badge of the Palace of Westminster), with the numeral "1" written below the portcullis, and either NEW PENNY (1971–1981) or ONE PENNY (1982–present) above the portcullis.

During the times gone by of the coin, three dissimilar obverses have been used so far. Between 1971 and 1984 the leader of Queen Elizabeth II by Arnold Machin was used, in which the Queen wears the 'Girls of Great Britain and Ireland' Tiara.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

The Irish pound coin sketch

The Irish pound coin was introduced on June 20, 1990 using the sketch of a red deer, by the Irish artist Tom Ryan. The 2000 Millennium was used to issue a memorial coin, the design was based on the "Broighter Boat" in the National Museum of Ireland; the coins blueprint was by Alan Ardiff and Garrett Stokes and were issued on November 29, 1999. The coin featured a milled edge - unique in Irish coinage.

The Irish pound coin, which was introduced in 1990, vestiges the largest Irish coin introduced since decimalisation at 3.11 centimetres diameter and was 10 grams weight. The coin was almost impossible to tell apart in dimensions to the old penny coin that circulated before 1971, and was quite similar in diameter to, but thinner, than the half-crown coin.

During the in the early hours circulation of the coin, many payphone and vending machines which had been changed to accept the pound coin also accepted the old penny because of the similar size, the latter coin which was no longer legal tender and had little value to collectors. As a result losses accrued to vending machine operators due to the substitution of the penny coin and additional costs were associated with updating the machines so they would no longer accept the penny.

Sunday, November 25, 2007

Irish pound coin

The Irish pound coin was introduced on June 20, 1990 using the plan of a red deer, by the Irish artist Tom Ryan. The 2000 Millennium was used to issue a memorial coin, the design was based on the "Broighter Boat" in the National Museum of Ireland; the coins design was by Alan Ardiff and Garrett Stokes and were issued on November 29, 1999. The coin featured a milled edge - unique in Irish coinage.

The "Broighter Boat" issue for 2000.The Irish pound coin, which was introduced in 1990, residue the largest Irish coin introduced since decimalisation at 3.11 centimetres diameter and was 10 grams weight. The coin was nearly identical in dimensions to the old penny coin that circulated before 1971, and was quite similar in diameter to, but thinner, than the half-crown coin.

During the early movement of the coin, many payphone and vending machines which had been changed to accept the pound coin also accepted the old penny because of the similar size, the latter coin which was no longer legal gentle and had little value to collectors. As a result losses accrued to vending machine operators due to the substitution of the penny coin and further costs were associated with updating the machines so they would no longer accept the penny.

Sunday, November 18, 2007

British coinage

Obverse and reverse of general coins in current circulation, £2, £1, 50p, 20p, 10p, 5p, 2p and 1pThe British currency was decimalised on February 15, 1971. The basic unit of currency – the Pound was unaffected. Before decimalisation there were 240 (old) pennies in a pound, currently there are 100 new pence. The new coins were noticeable with the wording "New Penny" (singular) or "New Pence" (plural) to distinguish them from the old. The word New was dropped following ten years. The symbol p was also adopted to distinguish the new pennies from the old, which used the symbol d.

The earliest pound coin was introduced in 1983 to replace the Bank of England £1 banknote which was discontinued in 1984 (although the Scottish banks continued producing them for some time afterwards. The last of them, the Royal Bank of Scotland £1 note, remained in production until 2003). A circulating bimetallic £2 coin was also introduced in 1998 (first minted in, and dated, 1997) – there had before been commemorative £2 coins which did not normally circulate. The whole amount of coinage in circulation is roughly three and a quarter billion pounds, of which the £1 and £2 coins account for almost two billion pounds.

Sunday, November 11, 2007

How computers work

A general purpose computer has four main areas: the arithmetic and logic unit (ALU), the control unit, the memory, and the lost one input and output devices (collectively termed I/O). These parts are interconnected by busses,over and over again made of groups of wires.

The control unit, ALU, registers, and basic I/O (and often other hardware closely linked with these) are as a group known as a central processing unit (CPU). Early CPUs were composed a lot of separate components but since the mid-1970s CPUs have typically been constructed on a single integrated circuit called a microprocessor.

Sunday, November 04, 2007

Programs in computer

In practical terms, a computer program might include anywhere from a dozen instructions to a lot of millions of instructions for something like a word processor or a web browser. A typical modern computer can carry out billions of instructions every second and nearly never make a mistake over years of operation.

Large computer programs may take groups of computer programmers years to write and the probability of the entire program having been written completely in the manner intended is unlikely. Errors in a computer programs are called bugs. Sometimes bugs are benign and it not affect the usefulness of the program, in some other cases they might cause the program to completely fail (crash), in yet other cases there may be subtle problems. Bugs are generally not the fault of the computer. Since computers merely execute the lot of instructions they are given, bugs are nearly always the result of programmer error or an oversight made in the program's design.

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Stored program architecture

The defining feature of latest computers which distinguishes them from all other machines is that they can be programmed. That is to say that a set of instructions (the program) can be given to the computer and it will store them and carry them out at some time in the future.

In most cases, computer instructions are simple: add one number to another, move some data from one place to another, send a message to some external device, etc. These instructions are read from the computer's memory and are useually carried out (executed) in the order they were given. However, there are geneally specialized instructions to tell the computer to jump ahead or backwards to some other place in the program and to carry on executing from there. These are called as "jump" instructions (or branches).

Sunday, October 21, 2007

First Programmable machine computer

In 1837, Charles Babbage was the initialyt to conceptualize and design a fully programmable mechanical computer that he called "The Analytical Engine". Due to small finance, and an inability to resist tinkering with the design, Babbage never actually built his Analytical Engine.

Large-scale automated data processing of punched cards was performed for the U.S. Census in 1890 by tabulate machines designed by Herman Hollerith and created by the Computing Tabulating Recording Corporation, which later became IBM. By the end of the 19th century a number of technologies that would later prove useful in the realization of user computers had begun to appear: the punched card, Boolean algebra, the vacuum tube (thermionic valve) and the teleprinter.

During the first half of the 20th century, many scientific computing needs were met by increasingly sophisticated analog computers, which used a direct mechanical or electrical representation of the problem as a basis for computation. However, these were not programmable and usually lacked the versatility and accuracy of modern digital computers.

Monday, October 15, 2007

History of computing

It is difficult to identify any one device as the earliest computer, partly because the term "computer" has been subject to changeable interpretations over time.

Originally, the term "computer" referred to a person who performed numerical calculations (a human computer), often with the aid of a mechanical calculating device. Examples of early perfunctory computing devices included the abacus, the slide rule and arguably the astrolabe and the Antikythera mechanism (which dates from about 150-100 BC). The end of the center Ages saw a re-invigoration of European mathematics and engineering, and Wilhelm Schickard's 1623 device was the first of a number of mechanical calculators constructed by European engineers.

Monday, October 08, 2007

Computer

A computer is a machine which manipulates data according to a list of instructions which makes it an best example of a data processing system.

Computers take many part of physical forms. Early electronic computers were the size of a large room, consuming as much power as several hundred present personal computers. Modern computers are based on comparatively tiny integrated circuits and are millions to billions of times more capable while occupying a little of the space. Today, simple computers may be made small sufficient to fit into a wrist watch and be powered from a watch battery. Personal computers in different forms are icons of the information age and are computer in use today is by remote the embedded computer. Embedded computers are small, simple devices that are often used to manage other devices — for example, they may be found in machines ranging from fighter aircraft to industrial robots, digital cameras, and even children's toys.

Tuesday, October 02, 2007

Stamp hinge

Stamp hinges are tiny, folded, rectangular pieces of paper covered with a mild gum, used to hold postage stamps onto the pages of a stamp album. The short end is moistened and affixed to the stamp; the long end is similarly affixed to the page. The hinge keeps the stamp on the page while still allows it to be lifted to look at the back.

The best stamp hinges are also designed to be "peel able", meaning that the stamp may be detached from the page, and the hinge from the stamp, without any damage to either. Not all makes of hinge have this property, and the backs of many stamps have "hinge remnants", where the hinge has torn gone rather than hire go of the stamp. This is especially common for mint stamps, where the stamps own gum adheres tightly to the hinge. Some old stamps may essentially have multiple hinge remnants layered on top of each other. Conversely, careless removal of a hinge may get away a layer of the stamp's paper, ensuing in a type of stamp thin known as a "hinge thin".

Even with the use of peel able hinges and care taken to minimize the moisture used, the hinge will leave a visible commotion in the gum of an unused stamp. While this was previously a matter of indifference, since about the middle of the 20th century many collectors have come to prefer "unhinged stamps" showing no trace of hinging.

Sunday, September 23, 2007

Fashionable watches

At the end of the 20th century, Swiss watch makers were seeing their sales go down as analog clocks were considered unfashionable. They joined forces with designers from many countries to reinvent the Swiss watch. The result was that they could considerably decrease the pieces and production time of an analog watch. In fact it was so cheap that if a watch broke it would be cheaper to fling it away and buy a new one than to repair it. One of these Swiss watch manufacturers in progress a new brand, Swatch, and called graphic designers to revamp a new annual collection.

Sunday, September 16, 2007

Ring

A finger ring is a band worn as kind of ornamental jeweler around a finger; it is the most ordinary current meaning of the word ring. Additional types of metal bands worn as ornaments are also called rings, such as arm rings and neck rings.

Rings are worn by both men and women and can be of any superiority. Rings can be made of metal, plastic, wood, bone, glass, gemstone and other equipment. They may be set with a "stone" of some sort, which is often a valuable or semi-precious gemstone such as ruby, sapphire or emerald, but can also be of almost any material.

There are a variety of methods for determining proper ring size. Quantities of the largest rings in the world are made for the winning team of the Super Bowl. The unofficial record for the largest championship ring ever obtainable to a professional sports team belongs to the 2003 World Series champions Florida Marlins, with a weight of over 110 grams and with over 240 stones.

Rings can be worn on any finger, still on toe fingers. In Western society, the traditional "ring finger" for the wearing of an engagement or wedding ring is the fourth finger of the left hand with the thumb counting as finger number one. The signet ring, a ring designate nobility, is normally worn on the little (fifth) finger of the right or left hand, depending on nationality.

Sunday, September 09, 2007

Economic and social history


Dutch economic strategy for the colony throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries can be clear along three overlapping periods: the Cultivation System, the Liberal Period, and the Ethical Period. Throughout these periods, and until Indonesian independence, the utilization of Indonesia's wealth contributes to the industrialization of the Netherlands. Large expanses of Java, for example, became plantations cultivated by Javanese peasants, together by Chinese intermediaries, and sold on overseas markets by European merchants. Before World War II, the majority of the world's supply of quinine and pepper, over a third of its rubber, a quarter of its coconut products and a fifth of is tea, sugar, coffee, and oil. Indonesia complete the Netherlands was one of the world's most important colonial powers.

Despite increasing returns from the Dutch system of land tax, Dutch finances had been severely exaggerated by the cost of the Java and Padre Wars. The Dutch loss of Belgium in 1830 brought the Netherlands to the brink of bankruptcy, and a concerted Dutch utilization of Indonesian resources commenced. In 1830, a new governor general, Johannes van den Bosch, was selected to make the Dutch East Indies to pay their way. An agricultural plan of government-controlled forced cultivation was introduced to Java. Known as the Cultivation System (Dutch: cultuurstelsel); much of Java became a Dutch plantation, making it a profitable, self-sufficient colony and saving the Netherlands from bankruptcy. The Cultivation System, however, brought much economic hardship to Javanese peasants, who suffer famine and epidemics in the 1840s.

Monday, September 03, 2007

Health care

Health care, or healthcare, is the prevention, treatment, and management of illness and the defense of mental and physical well being through the services available by the medical, nursing, and allied health professions. According to the World Health Organization, health care embrace all the goods and services measured to promote health, as well as preventive, curative and palliative interventions, whether going to be individuals or to populations. The organized provision of such services may make up a health care system. This can include an exact governmental organization such as, in the UK, the National Health Service or cooperation across the National Health Service and Social Services as in Shared Care. Before the term "health care" become popular, English-speakers referred to medicine or to the health sector and spoke of the behavior and prevention of illness and disease.

Sunday, August 26, 2007

Carrot

The carrot (Daucus carota subsp. sativus) is a root vegetable, usually orange or white, or pink in color, with a crunchy texture when fresh. The suitable for eating part of a carrot is a taproot. It is a cultivated form of the wild carrot Daucus carota, national to Europe and southwestern Asia. It has been bred for its very much inflamed and more palatable, less woody-textured edible taproot, but is still the similar species.

It is a biennial plant which grows a rosette of leaves in the spring and summer, while building up the fat taproot, which stores big amounts of sugars for the plant to flower in the second year. The peak stem grows to about 1 m tall, with an umbel of white flowers.

Carrots can be eaten raw, whole, chopped, grate, or added to salads for color or texture. They are also often chopped and boiled, fried or steamed, and cooked in soups and stews, as well as fine baby foods and choose pet foods. A well recognized dish is carrots julienne. Grated carrots are used in carrot cakes, as healthy as carrot puddings, an old English dish thought to have originated in the early 1800s.

Sunday, August 19, 2007

Harrington jacket

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.

Sunday, August 12, 2007

Diesel

Diesel engine cars have long been admired in Europe with the first models being introduced in the 1930s by Mercedes Benz and Citroen. The major benefit of Diesels is a 50% fuel burn competence compared with 27% in the best gasoline engines. A down side of the diesel is the presence in the wear out gases of fine soot particulates and manufacturers are now preliminary to fit filters to remove these. Many diesel motorized cars can also run with little or no modifications on 100% biodiesel.

Monday, August 06, 2007

Early Stages of a pregnant woman and her health

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.

Sunday, July 29, 2007

DVD

DVD ("Digital Versatile Disc" or "Digital Video Disc") is an admired optical disc storage space media format that can be used for data storage, like movies with high video and sound quality. DVDs be similar to Compact Discs in that they have the precise appearance (i.e. diameter: 120 mm or 4.72 in, occasionally 80 mm or 3.15 in.) and both are optical storage media so similar that a DVD reader or writer can usually read CDs, but DVDs are encoded in a dissimilar format of much greater density, allowing a data storage capability 8 times greater (single-layer, single-sided).

All read-only DVD discs, regardless of type, are DVD-ROM discs. This includes replicated (factory pressed), recorded (burned), video, audio, and data DVDs. A DVD with properly formatted and structured video content is a DVD-Video disc. Everything else, (including other types of DVD discs with video content) is known as a DVD-Data disc. Consumers use the term "DVD-ROM" to refer to pressed data discs only, but that is wrong usage; moreover, the term DVD is also applied basically in describing newer video disc formats, Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD.

Sunday, July 22, 2007

Red blood cell


Red cell is redirecting here, For the US military word, see Red Cell.
Red blood cells are the most ordinary type of blood cell and the vertebrate body's principal means of deliver oxygen from the lungs or gills to body tissues via the blood.

Human red blood cells Red blood cells are also known as RBCs or erythrocytes from Greek erythros for "red" and kytos for "hollow", with cyte nowadays translated as "cell". A schistocyte is a red blood cell undergoes fragmentation, or a fragmented fraction of a red blood cell.

Sunday, July 15, 2007

Multiple fruit


A multiple fruit is one fashioned from a cluster of flowers called an inflorescence. Each flower produces a fruit, but these grown-up into a single mass Examples are the pineapple, edible fig, mulberry, osage-orange, and breadfruit.

In the photograph on the right, stages of flowering and fruit development in the noni or Indian mulberry (Morinda citrifolia) can be experiential on a single branch. First an inflorescence of white flowers called a cranium is produced. After fertilization, each flower develops into a drupe, and as the drupes make bigger, they become connate (merge) into a multiple fleshy fruit called a syncarpet.

There are also many dry multiple fruits, e.g.

Tuliptree, multiple of samaras.
Sweet gum, multiple of capsules.
Sycamore and teasel, multiple of achenes.
Magnolia, multiple of follicles.

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

water taxi

A water taxi or river taxi or aquatically disposed taxi is a boat used for public transportation in cities with plentiful water channels. Many cities, including New York City, Boston, Baltimore, Fort Lauderdale, Winnipeg, Vancouver, London, and Tokyo have planned water taxis that operate in a similar manner to ferries or buses. Others, like Venice, have for-hire boats like to traditional taxis. Venice also has a vaporetto or waterbus system that operates in the same way to American "water taxis" (image).

Water taxis also activate in cottage areas where some cottages are available only by water. Visitors can drive to a local marina and take a water taxi to the final purpose.
On March 6, 2004, a "Seaport Taxi," a water taxi service operated by the Living Classrooms Foundation, capsized through a storm near Baltimore's Inner Harbor; 5 passengers died in the accident.

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Sailboat

The term sailboat has a wide meaning generally including yachts, (large sailboats) and smaller vessels of many configurations, which use wind as the chief means of propulsion. Some of the variations other than size are: hull configuration (monohull, catamaran, trimaran), keel type (full, fin, wing, centerboard etc.), purpose (sport, racing, cruising), number and arrangement of masts, and the sail chart. Some of the terms underneath have had various meanings through history, but now have a specific meaning in the parlance of modern yachting. See also the articles on sailing ships and yachts; each of these terms generally describes a larger vessel than a sailboat; however, the distinctions are fuzzy and the definitions differ by region and culture. At the smaller end, the distinction in the midst of, sailboards, windsurfing, and dinghies can be vague.

Sunday, June 10, 2007

Motorboat

A motorboat usually speaking is a vessel other than a sailboat or personal watercraft, propelled by an interior combustion engine driving a jet or a propeller. However, the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea defines that any boat propelled by machinery. A speedboat is a small motorboat intended to move quickly, used in races, for pulling water skiers, as patrol boats, and as fast-moving armed attack vessels by the military. Even inflatable boats with a motor attached which may be serving as a high speed patrol boat or as a plodding walker dingy providing transport to and from a mooring buoy are strictly classified as motorboats.
There are three well-liked variations of power plants: inboard, inboard/outboard, and outboard. If the engine is installed within the boat, it's called a power plant; if it's a detachable module attached to the boat, it's normally known as an outboard motor.

An outboard motor is installed on the rear of a boat and contains the inner combustion engine, the gear decrease (Transmission), and the propeller.An inboard/outboard contains a hybrid of a power plant and an outboard, where the interior combustion engine is contained inboard and the gear reduction and propeller are outside.

A purely inboard boat contains everything apart from a shaft and a propeller inside the vessel. We have two configurations of an inboard, v-drive and straight drive. A direct drive has the power plant mounted close to the middle of the boat with the propeller shaft straight out the back, where a v-drive has the power plant mounted in the back of the boat facing backwards having the shaft go towards the front of the boat than making a 'V' towards the rear.

Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Yacht

The term luxuriousness yacht refers to a very expensive privately owned yacht which is professionally crewed. Also known as a super-yacht or a mega-yacht, a luxury yacht may be moreover a sailing or motor yacht.
This term began to appear at the beginning of the 20th century when wealthy individuals construct large private yachts for personal pleasure. Examples of early lavishness motor yachts include M/Y (motor yacht) Christina O and M/Y Savarona. Early luxury sailing yachts comprise Americas Cup classic J class racers like S/Y (sailing yacht) Endeavour and Sir Thomas Lipton’s S/Y Shamrock. The New York Yacht Club hosted many early luxury sailing yacht events at Newport, Rhode Island, throughout the Gilded Age.
More recently, over the last decade or two, there has been an increase in the number and fame of large private luxury yachts. Luxury yachts are mainly bountiful in the Mediterranean and Caribbean Seas, although increasingly luxury yachts are cruising in more remote areas of the world. With the increase in demand for luxury yachts there has been an increase custom boat building companies and yacht contract brokers.

Monday, May 28, 2007

Kayak

A kayak is a little human-powered boat. It classically has a covered deck, and a cockpit covered by a spray deck. It is propelled by a double-bladed paddle by sitting paddlers. The kayak was used by the inhabitant Ainu, Aleut and Eskimo hunters in sub-arctic regions of northeastern Asia, North America and Greenland. Modern kayaks come in a wide diversity of designs and materials for particular purposes. Kayaks are frequently referred to as canoes in Great Britain and Ireland.
Traditional kayaks typically accommodate one, two or infrequently three paddlers who sit facing ahead in one or more cockpits below the deck of the boat. If used the spray deck or comparable waterproof garment attach securely to the edges of the cockpit, prevent the entry of water from waves or spray, and making it possible in some styles of boat, to roll the kayak upright again without it filling with water or eject the paddler.
Kayaks differ definitely in design and history from canoes, which are more flat-bottomed boats propel by single-bladed paddles by a kneeling paddler, even though some modern canoes may be difficult for a non-expert to distinguish from a kayak. One benefit to a kayak is that with a canoe's high bow, it is harder to paddle against the wind. As Kayaks do not have such high sides, it is easier to paddle on a breezy day.

Sunday, May 20, 2007

Hovercraft

A hovercraft, or air-cushion vehicle (ACV), is a vehicle or craft that can be hold up by a cushion of air dispossessed downwards against a surface close below it, and can in principle travel over any relatively smooth surface, such as gently sloping land, water, or marshland, while having no substantial contact with it.
Hovercraft has one or more parts of engines (some craft, such as the SR-N6, have one engine with a drive split through a gearbox). One engine drives the fan (the impeller) which is in charge for exciting the vehicle by forcing air under the craft. The air therefore must exit throughout the "skirt", lifting the craft above the area which the craft resides. One or more additional engines are used to offer thrust in order to propel the craft in the favorite direction. Some hovercraft utilized ducting to allow one engine to perform both tasks by directing some of the air to the skirt, the rest of the air passing out of the back to push the craft forward.

Sunday, May 13, 2007

Folding boat

A Folding boat is frequently a smaller boat, typically ranging between 8 to 12 feet. This style of boat must also allow for easy lifting which require a glow weight. Folding boats are made from light weight resources such as marine plywood, aluminum or more exotic man-made materials lighter and tougher than aluminum. Folding boats fill a need for people who do not have storage gap for a full-size boat or cannot transport a full-size boat.
There are more than a few folding boat makers and folding kayak makers in the world from the USA, England and Australia with several variations and models. The handyman can also produce their own unit at home with plans or buy designing their own version.
Although there is much to be thought by the advantages of a folding boat, they are not common place in boating and aluminum and inflatable alternatives are far more common despite some folding boats having been sold for several decades.

Monday, April 02, 2007

Bicycle

A hybrid vehicle (HV) is a vehicle that uses two different power sources such as:
* An on-board rechargeable energy storage system (RESS) and a fueled power source for means of transportation force
* Human powered bicycle with sequence assist
* A sail boat with electric control
The term the commonly refers to petroleum electric hybrid vehicle, also called Hybrid-electric vehicle (HEV) which use internal burning engines and electric batteries to power electric motors.
The term hybrid when used in relative with cars also has other uses. Prior to its modern meaning of hybrid force, the word hybrid was used in the United States to mean a vehicle of mixed countrywide origin; generally, a European car fitted with American mechanical components. This significance has fallen out of use. In the import scene, hybrid was often used to describe an engine swap. Some have also referred to flexible-fuel vehicles as hybrids because they can use a combination of different fuels — naturally gasoline and ethanol alcohol fuel.

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

A Civil Role Model
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.

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Carts

Carts have been mention in journalism as far back as the second millennium B.C. The Indian sacred book Rig-Veda states that men and women are as corresponding as two wheels of a cart. Hand-carts pushed by humans have been used approximately the world. In the 19th century, for example, some Mormons traveling across the plains of the United States between 1856 and 1860 used handcarts.
Carts were often used for judicial punishments, both to transport the destined – a public humiliation in itself (in Ancient Rome defeated leaders were often carried in the victorious general's triumph) – and even, in England until its replacement by the whipping post under Queen Elizabeth I, to tie the condemned to the cart-tail and administer him or her a public whipping.

Sunday, January 21, 2007

Lotion

A lotion is a low- to medium-viscosity medicated or non-medicated topical preparation intended for application to unbroken skin. Most lotions are oil-in-water emulsions but water-in-oil lotions are also formulated. Lotions are usually applied to external skin with a clean cloth, cotton wool or gauze. The key components of a lotion emulsion are the aqueous and oily phases, an emulgent to prevent separation of these two phases, and, if used, the drug substance or substances. A wide variety of other ingredients such as fragrances, glycerol, dyes, preservatives, vitamins, proteins and stabilizing agents are commonly added to lotions.

It is not uncommon for the same drug ingredient to be formulated into a lotion, cream and ointment. Creams are the most convenient of the three but are inappropriate for application to regions of hairy skin such as the scalp, while a lotion is less viscous and may be readily applied to these areas. Lotions also have an advantage in that they may be spread thinly compared to a cream or ointment and may economically cover a large area of skin. Non-comedogenic lotions are recommended for use on acne prone skin.

Monday, January 08, 2007

Unusual Twinnings

There are some patterns of twinning that are exceedingly rare: while they have been reported to happen, they are so unusual that most obstetricians or midwives may go their entire careers without encountering a single case. Among fraternal twins, in rare cases, the eggs are fertilized at different times with two or more acts of sexual intercourse, either within one menstrual cycle or, even more rarely, later on in the pregnancy. This can lead to the possibility of a woman carrying fraternal twins with different fathers. This phenomenon is known as heteropaternal super fecundation. One 1992 study estimates that the frequency of heteropaternal super fecundation among dizygotic twins whose parents were involved in paternity suits was approximately 2.4%; see the references section, below, for more details.

Among monozygotic twins, in extremely rare cases, twins have been born with opposite sexes. The probability of this is so vanishingly small that multiples having different genders are universally accepted as a sound basis for a clinical determination that in utero multiples are not monozygotic. When monozygotic twins are born with different genders it is because of chromosomal birth defects. In this case, although the twins did come from the same egg, it is incorrect to refer to them as genetically identical, since they have different karyotypes.

Monday, January 01, 2007

Biodiversity

Biodiversity or biological diversity is the diversity of life. There are a number of definitions and a measure of biodiversity. Biodiversity has no single standard definition. The most basic definition is "variation of life at all level of biological organization". Another definition holds that biodiversity is a measure of the relative diversity among organisms present in diverse ecosystems. "Diversity" in this definition includes diversity within a species and among species, and comparative diversity among ecosystems.

A third definition that is often used by ecologists is the "totality of genes, species, and ecosystems of a region". An advantage of this description is that it seems to describe most circumstances and present a unified view of the traditional three levels at which biodiversity has been identified.

Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Design of experiments

The experiments conducted in accord with the scientific method have several features in common. The design of experiments attempts to balance the requirements and limitations of the field of science in which one works so that the experiment can provide the best conclusion about the hypothesis being tested.

In some sciences, such as physics and chemistry, it is relatively easy to meet the requirements that all measurements be made objectively, and that all conditions can be kept controlled across experimental trials. On the other hand, in other cases such as biology, and medicine, it is often hard to ensure that the conditions of an experiment are performed consistently; and in the social sciences, it may even be difficult to determine a method for measuring the outcomes of an experiment in an objective manner.

For this reason, sciences such as physics and several other fields of natural science are sometimes informally referred to as "hard sciences", while social sciences are sometimes informally referred to as "soft sciences"; in an attempt to capture the idea that objective measurements are often far easier in the former, and far more difficult in the latter.

Monday, December 18, 2006

Sinkhole

Sinkholes, also known as sinks, shakeholes or dolina, and cenotes, are formed by the collapse of cave roofs and are a feature of landscapes that are based on limestone bedrock. The result is a depression in the surface topography. This may range anywhere from a small, gentle earth-lined depression, to a large, cliff-lined chasm. Most often there is a small area of rock exposure near or at the bottom of a sinkhole, and a patent opening into the cave below may or may not be visible. In the case of exceptionally large sinkholes, such as Cedar Sink at Mammoth Cave National Park, there may actually be a stream or river flowing into the bottom of the sink from one side and out the other side.

Sinkholes often form in low areas where they form drainage outlets for a closed local surface drainage basin. They may also form in currently high and dry locations. Florida has been known for having frequent sinkholes, especially in the central part of the state.

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Temple at Uppsala

The Temple at Uppsala was a semi-legendary cultic site in Gamla Uppsala, near modern Uppsala, Sweden, that was formed to worship the Norse gods of prehistoric times. The temple is sparsely recognized, but it is referenced in the Norse sagas and Saxo Grammaticus' Gesta Danorum. It is also described by Adam of Bremen. These images might, however, be influenced and biased by the Biblical stories and recollections of the Ancient Roman temples.

The chief controversies regarding the temple focus specifically on determining where in Old Uppsala the temple was located and whether or not it was a building. Some believe that the temple was puzzled with the hall of the Swedish kings. Churches were usually built and consecrated on top of older pagan temples and other sites that witnessed ritual behavior. During an excavation of the present church, the remains of one, and possibly several, large wooden buildings were found beneath the church's foundation.Snorri Sturluson wrote that the temple had been built by the god Freyr, who allegedly used to reside at Uppsala. Snorri and Saxo Grammaticus both claimed that it was Freyr who began the tradition of human sacrifices at the temple site. The Norse sagas, Saxo Grammaticus and Adam of Bremen describe the sacrifices at Uppsala as popular festivals that attracted people from all over Sweden. Many of these sources provide accounts of human sacrifice for the Norse gods.

Monday, December 04, 2006

Peripheral layout

The very old city inside the walls covers about four percent of the current municipality's 582 square miles. The old city is the negligible of Rome's twelve administrative zones. The walled city center is made up of 22 rioni, nearby it are 35 quartieri urbani, and within the city restrictions are six large suburban. The comune of Rome positioned outside the municipal boundaries about doubles the area of the real city.

The belt highway known as Grande Raccordo Anulare describes an enormous circle around the wealth, about six miles out from the city centre; unlike most Italian highways, the G.R.A. is toll-free. The sphere ties together the antique roads to lead to Rome: the Via Flaminia, the Via Aurelia and Via Appia. Large amounts of modern dwelling buildings are located in the districts outside the centre, where current architecture has not gone unnoticed. Many road frontages and show windows often change to keep up with the times and the Romans have succeeded in harmonising the old and the fresh.

Monday, November 27, 2006

Forms of leather

There are a number of processes whereby the skin of a dead animal can be formed into a flexible, strong material generally called leather.
Vegetable-tanned leather is tanned using tannin and further ingredients found in vegetable stuff, tree bark, and other such sources. It is flexible and brown in color, with the exact shade depending on the mix of chemicals and the color of the flesh. Vegetable-tanned fur is not stable in water; it tends to discolor, and if left to soak and then dry it will shrink and become less supple and harder. In hot water, it will shrivel drastically and plasticize, becoming rigid and ultimately becoming brittle.
Alum-tanned leather is tanned with aluminium salts assorted with a variety of binders and protein sources, such as flour, egg yolk, etc. Purists argue that alum-tanned leather is technically "tawed" and not tanned, as the resulting stuff will rot in water. Very light shades of leather are potential using this process, but the resultant material is not as supple as vegetable-tanned leather.

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

The bluestones
Roger Mercer has observed that the bluestones are incongruously finely worked and has suggested that they were transferred to Salisbury Plain from an as yet unlocated earlier monument in Pembrokeshire. J. F. S. Stone felt that a Bluestone monument had earlier stood near the nearby Stonehenge cursus and been moved to their current site from there. If Mercer's theory is correct then the bluestones may have been transplanted to cement an alliance or display superiority over a conquered enemy although this can only be speculation. Oval shaped settings of bluestones similar to those at Stonehenge 3iv are also known at the sites of Bedd Arthur in the Preseli Hills and at Skomer Island off the southwest coast of Pembrokeshire. Some archaeologists have suggested that the igneous bluestones and sedimentary sarsens had some symbolism, of a union between two cultures from different landscapes and therefore from different backgrounds.Recent analysis of contemporary burials found nearby known as the Boscombe Bowmen, has indicated that at least some of the individuals associated with Stonehenge 3 came either from Wales or from some other European area of ancient rocks. Petrological analysis of the stones themselves has verified that they could only have come from the Preseli Hills and it is tempting to connect the two.The main source of the bluestones is now identified with the dolerite outcrops around Carn Menyn although work led by Olwen Williams-Thorpe of the Open University has shown that other bluestones came from outcrops up to 10 km away.Aubrey Burl and a number of geologists and geomorphologists contend that the bluestones were not transported by human agency at all and were instead brought by glaciers at least part of the way from Wales during the Pleistocene. There is good geological and glaciological evidence that glacier ice did move across Preseli and did reach the Somerset coast. However, it is uncertain that it reached Salisbury Plain, and no further specimens of the unusual dolerite stone have so far been found in the vicinity. One current view is that glacier ice transported the stones as far as Somerset, and that they were collected from there by the builders of Stonehenge.

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

War is a disagreement involving the organized use of weapons and physical force by states or other large-scale groups. Warring parties usually hold
country, which they can win or lose; and each has a leading person or association which can surrender, or collapse, thus ending the war. Until the end of
World War II, members usually issued formal declarations of war. Other conditions for war, often used euphemistically to circumvent confines on war,
include equipped conflict, hostilities, and police action. A time when no formal war is taking place, although there may be international and interior
tensions, is sometimes called peacetime or peace. However, some think the definition of peace to be more complicated. Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677) said,
“Peace is not an absence of war, it is a virtue, a state of mind, a disposition for benevolence, confidence, justice.” Wars usually take the form of a series of
martial campaigns between two opposing sides involving a dispute over, amongst others matters, sovereignty, territory, resources, belief, or ideology. A war
to liberate an engaged country is called a "war of liberation"; a war flanked by internal factions within a state is a civil war.