jinglelady

Invasive Species

2009-08-17T00:19:00.000-07:00

The spread of invasive species is recognized as one of the major factors contributing to ecosystem change and instability throughout the world. An invasive species is “a non-native species whose introduction does, or is likely to cause, economic or environmental harm or harm to human, animal, or plant health”. Invasive species include all taxa of organisms, ranging from microscopic insects to 100 lb sheep, and can invade any ecosystem, from river beds to lava fields. These species have the ability to displace or eradicate native species, alter fire regimes, damage infrastructure, and threaten human livelihoods. Invasive species are changing the iconic landscapes of our National Parks.

Quick facts on invasive species in National Parks

• Over 6,500 non-native invasive species have been documented on park lands
• 70% of documented invasive species on park lands are invasive plant species
• Around 5% of park lands are dominated by invasive plants

Role of the Antarctic cryosphere in the global climate system and sea level change

2009-08-12T22:22:00.000-07:00

During winter the sea ice extent around Antarctica's coastline is approximately 19 million square kilometres - an area nearly three times the size of Australia. Sea ice has a significant influence on the mean state and variability of regional and global climates. The extent to which a cover of sea ice modifies ocean-atmosphere interaction is determined primarily by the thickness and concentration of the ice and by the thickness and density of its snow cover.

Salt rejection during the autumn ice formation, followed by ice advection and subsequent summer melt further north, results in a net freshwater flux and change in ocean buoyancy. The ice thickness, ice drift and snow cover on the ice are themselves determined by ocean-atmosphere interactions.

Deep and bottom water formation south of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current occurs mostly through dense water formation, by cooling and brine release, on the Antarctic continental shelves. Sea ice formation counteracts freshwater gain by precipitation, minus evaporation and melting of ice shelves and icebergs.

The great giants had agreed an unofficial agreement not to poach each other's employees.

2009-08-09T23:16:00.000-07:00

The great giants, Apple and Google had agreed an unofficial agreement not to poach each other's employees.

No formal, written agreement is present, and that employees of one company be welcome to submit an application for jobs at the other, but that the two companies said they would not keenly pursue hiring each other's workers.

Now that Eric Schmidt has stepped down from Apple's board of directors, it is unclear whether any such agreement would still be in effect.

The Amazing Eel

2009-08-05T22:04:00.001-07:00

Found in some of the most unexpected places, the Spotted Eel is capable of moving over moist ground to get to other bodies of water. It also manages to climb up what would seem like impossibly high barriers such as weirs and waterfalls. This eel can be found in just about any watercourse in the Wet Tropics, including high altitude rainforest streams. The Spotted Eel (Anguilla reinhardtii), also sometimes called the Long-finned Eel, is pale or light brown with greenish spots over its upper body. Usually seen at about one meter (three feet) in length, they can reach more than two meters (seven feet) and weigh over 16kg (35 pounds) and are more thickset than exotic eels. This eel is curious and will come to the water's surface to have a look at you!

The life cycle of the eel is very different to most fish. Wet Tropics eels spawn in the Coral Sea and migrate as planktonic leptocephali to near-shore waters where they metamorphose as unpigmented glass-eels. They move into estuaries and then migrate upstream in response to floodwaters, to grow and develop through to small, fully pigmented elvers. Generally, the elvers which penetrate further upstream ultimately become females and grow to a larger size than males. Those which develop into males remain in estuaries and the lower reaches of streams. Sexually mature 'silver-eels' undergo marked changes in appearance and physiology and undertake a once-only downstream migration to the spawning grounds, where it is believed they spawn and die.

215th American spacewalk

2009-07-20T22:29:00.000-07:00

Spacewalkers Dave Wolf and Tom Marshburn wrapped up a six hour, 53 minute spacewalk at 6:20 p.m. EDT.

Wolf and Marshburn completed most of their planned tasks, deferring a video camera setup to a future spacewalk. Wolf removed three hardware spares – a Ku-Band Space-to-Ground Antenna, a Pump Module and a Linear Drive Unit, from the Integrated Cargo Carrier – Vertical Light Deployable (ICC-VLD). With each spare in hand, Wolf rode the space station robotic arm from the ICC to the Port 3 external stowage platform (ESP-3), where he and Marshburn attached them for long-term storage. Julie Payette and Doug Hurley operated the robotic arm. Marshburn mounted a grapple bar onto an ammonia tank assembly so that the STS-128 space shuttle mission in August can move the tank by robotic arm. Marshburn also attached two insulation sleeves for the Station to Shuttle Power Transfer System.

This was the second of five STS-127 spacewalks, the 127th in support of International Space Station assembly and maintenance, totaling 792 hours, 31 minutes. It was the 215th American spacewalk in history. It was Wolf’s sixth spacewalk, totaling 38 hours, 44 minutes and placing him 19th on the all-time list. It was Marshburn’s first excursion.

NASA Television airs a Mission Status briefing at 8:30 p.m. with STS-127 Lead Flight Director Holly Ridings and STS-127 Lead Extravehicular Activity Officer Kieth Johnson.

Do you know why we celebrate DEEPAWALI OR DEWALI?

2009-07-04T04:38:00.000-07:00

The most beautiful of all Indian festivals, Diwali is a celebration of lights.

In the South, Diwali festival often commemorates the conquering of the Asura Naraka, a powerful king of Assam, who imprisoned thousands of inhabitants. It was Krishna who was finally able to subdue Naraka and free the prisoners. Diwali Festival in the south is celebrated in the Tamil month of Aipasi (thula month) 'naraka chaturdasi' thithi, preceding amavasai. To commemorate this event, people in Peninsular India wake before sunrise and make imitation blood by mixing kumkum or vermillion with oil. After crushing underfoot a bitter fruit as a symbol of the demon, they apply the 'blood' triumphantly on their foreheads. They then have ritual oil baths, anointing themselves with sandalwood paste. Visits to temples for prayers are followed by large family breakfasts of fruits and a variety of sweets.

Another story of king Bali is attached to the Diwali festival in South India. According to the Hindu mythology, King Bali was a benevolent demon king. He was so powerful that he became a threat to the power of celestial deities and their kingdoms. And Lord Vishnu came as the dwarf mendicant Vamana, to dilute Bali's power. Vamana shrewdly asked the king for land that would cover three steps as he walked. The king happily granted this gift. Having tricked Bali, Vishnu revealed himself in the full glory of his godhood. He covered the heaven in his first step and the earth in his second. Realising that he was pitted against the mighty Vishnu, Bali surrendered and offered his own head, inviting Vishnu to step on it. Vishnu pushed him into the nether world with his foot. In return Vishnu gave him the lamp of knowledge to light up the dark underworld. He also gave him a blessing that he would return to his people once a year to light millions of lamps from this one lamp so that on the dark new moon light of Diwali, the blinding darkness of ignorance, greed, jealousy, lust, anger, ego, and laziness would be dispelled and the radiance of knowledge, wisdom and friendship would prevail. Each year on Diwali day, even today, one lamp lights another and like a flame burning steadily on a windless night, brings a message of peace and harmony to the world.

Jurassic Park is a false cinema

2009-06-23T04:47:00.000-07:00

Dinosaurs were big, green animals that lived a really long time ago. A common misconception, fueled by anti-dinosaur Zionist propaganda such as Jurassic Park, is that there were many varieties of dinosaur in all shapes and sizes. This is not true at all. Every single dinosaur was a huge, hulking; that spent all day eating plants, sleeping, and sleep-eating. The Tyrannosaurus Rex has been portrayed as a terrible monster by many, but the truth is he would not hurt a fly.

They are 5 kinds of Dinosaurs

The Diplodocus was a big, green animal that would feast on trees all day. It has a long neck.

The Stegosaurus was a big, green animal that would feast on plants all day. Stegosaurus did not have a long neck like his friend Dippy, so he would eat the plants on the ground

The Brontosaurus was similar to diplodocus, only bigger and fatter. He also liked to eat leaves, but in moderation because he was always aware of his size. He could often be found eating leaves.

The Triceratops had three horns on his head. The triceratops liked to eat plants and sleep.

Tyrannosaurus Rex protected the other dinosaurs from attackers, such as snow and tumbleweed and Mostly spent time by eating plants.

Do you know who invented the motorcycle?

2009-06-16T22:49:00.000-07:00

American, Sylvester Howard Roper (1823-1896) invented a two-cylinder; steam-engine motorcycle the fuel for it is coal and was invented in the year 1867. This is believed and considered as the first motorcycle, if you allow your description of a motorcycle to incorporate a steam engine. Howard Roper also invented a steam engine car.

German, Gottlieb Daimler introduced the first gas-engine motorcycle in 1885, which had an engine attached to the bike. The bike was made up of wood. This invention was marked in history when the dual development of a feasible gas-powered engine and the modern bicycle collided. Gottlieb Daimler used a new engine invented by engineer, Nicolaus August Otto. Otto invented the first "Four-Stroke Internal-Combustion Engine" in 1876. He called it the "Otto Cycle Engine" As soon as he finished his engine, Daimler (a former Otto employee) built it into a motorcycle.

Chandrayaan and India’s space odyssey

2009-03-19T01:57:00.001-07:00

Chandrayaan, India and India’s space odyssey. Today, India is one of the very few countries that have significant achievements to their credit in the arena of space. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has designed, developed and built a variety of satellites. And, it has successfully launched many of them into their intended orbits. More importantly, the country has used its satellites for the rapid expansion of its national infrastructure including telecommunications, TV broadcasting, weather monitoring, education, public health, agriculture and rural development. More recently, India has provided many space-based services including launch services to foreign customers on a competitive basis. With ample experience and many successes in Earth orbit, ISRO took up Chandrayaan-1, its first bold step beyond Earth orbit into deep space.

Chandrayaan-1: The Goals

The primary objectives of Chandrayaan-1 are:
1. To expand scientific knowledge about the moon
2. To upgrade India's technological capability
3. To provide challenging opportunities for planetary
research to the younger generation of Indian scientists
Chandrayaan-1 aims to achieve these well defined objectives through high resolution remote sensing of the moon in the visible, near infrared, microwave and X-ray regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. With this, preparation of a 3-dimensional atlas of the lunar surface and chemical mapping of entire lunar surface is envisaged.

Chandrayaan-1: The Payloads

Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft carried 11 payloads (scientific instruments) to achieve its objectives. The instruments were carefully chosen on the basis of many scientific and technical considerations as well as their complementary/supplementary nature.

Of them, five instruments were entirely designed and developed in India, three instruments from European Space Agency (one of which was developed jointly with India and the other with Indian contribution), one from Bulgaria and two from the United States. Thus, Chandrayaan-1 is a classic example of international cooperation that has characterised the global space exploration programmes of the post cold war era.

The Indian payloads are:
1. Terrain Mapping Camera (TMC): The aim of this instrument is to completely map the topography of the moon. The camera works in the visible region of the electromagnetic spectrum and captures black and white stereo images. It images a strip of lunar surface which is 20 km wide and resolution of this CCD camera is 5 m. Such high resolution imaging helps in better understanding of the lunar evolution process as well as in the detailed study of the regions of scientific interest. When used in conjunction with data from Lunar Laser Ranging Instrument (LLRI), it can help in better understanding of the lunar gravitational field as well. TMC was built by ISRO's Space Applications Centre (SAC) of Ahmedabad.

For more information log onto :http://www.khabrein.info/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=20991&Itemid=88

Trai sets quality guidelines for cable operators

2009-02-25T00:36:00.000-08:00

Viewers harassed by their cable operators can take heart. Broadcast regulator TRAI on Tuesday issued guidelines on ensuring quality service in areas where the conditional access system (CAS) has not been implemented but can be done in the future.

The regulations will benefit over 80 million subscribers as it will ensure that they receive quality service in non-CAS areas and will be implemented from April 2009.

The new regulations make it compulsory for cable operators to issue bills and receipts to cable TV subscribers, maintain help-desk from 8 am to 8 pm everyday, maintain compulsory technical standards including a good quality, measurable signal strength at subscriber's end and ensure six-hour power backup among others. Viewers can also demand disconnection of the old cable television and reconnection to the CAS system within seven days.

The regulation also entrusts district consumer forums and state government officials to handle grievances and enforce quality of service.

"The regulations were finalised after inviting comments from stakeholders, an open house discussion held in February in Kolkata with representatives of stakeholders to further deliberate on various issues raised in the paper," a statement issued by TRAI said.

Cable operators representatives, however, feel that they should be given some leverage to act against erring consumers. "We should be given some power to act against those consumers who steal cables
, take illegal connections or damage our equipment. TRAI should also address these issues," Roop Sharma, president of the Cable Operators Federation of India said.

source:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Trai-sets-quality-guidelines-for-cable-operators/articleshow/4184937.cms

Isro set to use indigenously developed cryogenic engine for GSLV launch

2009-02-17T21:34:00.000-08:00

The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) is expected to launch a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) in July this year, using an indigenously developed cryogenic engine. The flight that is likely to launch the GSAT-4 into orbit will mark the end of India's dependence on Russia, which had been supplying the cryogenic engines since 1991. India has so far launched five GSLV rockets.

The launch vehicle is capable of placing a 2-tonne satellite into a geostationary transfer orbit, uses all the three kinds of propellants — solid, liquid and cryogenic. The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) uses only solid and liquid propellants and is capable of carrying payloads less than 2 tonnes.

"All the previous GSLV flights had cryogenic engines procured from Russia. For the first time, indigenously developed cryogenic engines will be used. This is a development started almost parallelly to procurement from Russia. We have completed all the tests, including qualification and flight acceptance. Now the engine is fully qualified and will be used in the next flight of GSLV," a highly-placed source in Isro told Business Standard.

Work on developing India's own cryogenic engine was started by Isro shortly after the project to develop the GSLV was initiated in 1986. However, failing in the initial attempt to develop the highly complex cryogenic engine on its own, Isro inked a $120 million contract with Soviet space enterprise Glavkosmos in 1991 for supply of two KVD-1 cryogenic engines. India has so far procured seven Russian-built cryogenic engines, of which five have been used during the previous GSLV launches of Isro.

With an initial project cost of about Rs 235 crore, the work for the development of India's own cryogenic engine was jointly carried out by the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre in Trivandrum, Material Development and Research Centre at Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) and the Liquid Propulsion Test Facility (LPSC) at Mahendragiri in Tamil Nadu. Isro conducted the flight acceptance test of the indigenous cryogenic engine on December 18 last year at the LPSC, which was found to be quite satisfactory.

"The flight acceptance hot test of the cryogenic engine was carried out at the liquid propulsion systems centre at Mahendragiri in Tamil Nadu. This engine will be used in the next GSLV launch in April 2009 for carrying the 2.3-tonne geo-stationary experimental satellite (GSAT)," the space research agency had stated at that time.

GSAT-4, the communication satellite that Isro intends to launch using the indigenous cryogenic engine powered GSLV, will provide internet connectivity in remote villages. "We are going to launch GSAT-4 which will have digital connectivity on board. It's meant for data transfers from computers at remote villages," says Isro Chairman G Madhavan Nair.

Isro is planning to use the GSLV for the Chandrayaan-II mission scheduled for 2012 as opposed to PSLV that was used to launch Chandrayaan-I.

source:http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/isro-set-to-use-indigenously-developed-cryogenic-engine-for-gslv-launch/00/06/349349/

IIT students keen to be a part of ISRO

2009-02-05T23:01:00.000-08:00

Students at IIT Delhi graduating this year are all starry-eyed about a new career option - being a scientist at Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

One of them is Anshul Sirohi, who is soon going to graduate from IIT. He wants the job at ISRO badly. In a few days he will be interviewing with the ISRO for the position of a scientist.

"A lot of my friends were looking for IT jobs abroad. A couple of them are also joining the corporate world, but I am keen to be a part of ISRO. I feel there is an endless opportunity for us in ISRO and everyday is a new day. There is lot of excitement and challenge," said Anshul Sirohi, M Tech (Thermal Engineering), IIT-Delhi.

It was the historic launch of Chandrayaan-1 that has young IIT students wanting to reach out to the moon.

The number of students wanting to join ISRO has gone up by 30% this year. With the space organization introducing more projects like Chandrayaan -II, Aditya and Manned Moon Mission, more and more young technocrats are excited to be a part of this research institute.

What's also helping is higher starting salaries at ISRO than ever before.

"After the sixth Pay Commission, even the pay packages are the same like the corporate world. So why don't I rather work for ISRO and do something worth," said Pawan Kumar Panth, M Tech (Thermal Engineering), IIT-Delhi.

That's what inspired Anupam Roy to work with ISRO for 18 months after he got his bachelor's degree from IIT. Now he's back in school for his master's and his memories are not all happy.

"They don't give the space to work and they don't show the confidence in you at all," said Anupam Roy, M Tech (Mechanical), IIT-Delhi.

However, that is changing, promises the government.

"We are restructuring our organizations. We are also introducing all kinds of measures, which will create more space for these young professionals in research organizations," said Kapil Sibal, Minister of Science and Technology.

So move over corporate, there's a new dream in town for the IIT-Delhi campus.

sources:http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20090082661

Mars Rover's Bizarre Behavior Puzzles NASA

2009-01-29T22:30:00.000-08:00

NASA engineers are scratching their heads over some unexpected behavior from the long-lived Spirit rover, which began its sixth year exploring Mars this month.

Spirit failed to report in to engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., last weekend, prompting a series of diagnostic tests this week to hunt the glitch's source.

The aging Mars rover did not beam home a record of its weekend activities and, more puzzlingly, apparently failed to even record any of its actions on Sunday, mission managers said.

"We don't have a good explanation yet for the way Spirit has been acting for the past few days," said NASA's Sharon Laubach, who leads the JPL team that that writes and checks commands for the rover and its robotic twin Opportunity. "Our next steps will be diagnostic activities."

Sunday marked Spirit's 1,800th Martian day, or sol, exploring a region known as "Home Plate" in the planet's expansive Gusev Crater.

Spirit and its twin Opportunity were initially expected to spend just 90 days exploring the Martian surface when they landed in succession more than five years ago this month. Opportunity is currently headed for the monster crater Endeavour on the other side of Mars.

On Sunday, Spirit apparently received commands to drive to its next waypoint, but failed to move an inch, mission managers said.

While that glitch can have any number of causes, such as Spirit not properly perceiving it was ready to drive, the rover's failure to record its daily work in its non-volatile computer memory is perplexing, they added.

By Monday, Spirit's mission controllers decided to tell the rover to find the sun with its camera on Tuesday to determine its location on Mars.

Early Tuesday, the rover beamed back that it had tried to follow the instructions of its human handlers, but couldn't find the sun.

NASA engineers believe Spirit's woes may be due to a transitory cause, such as a high-energy cosmic ray hitting the rover's electronics. On Tuesday, the rover's non-volatile memory appeared to be working fine, mission managers said.

The rovers Spirit and Opportunity have lasted more than 20 times their initial three-month mission plan, with each suffering from aches and pains associated with their longevity.

Spirit initially bounced back from a worrying computer glitch early in its mission and has since survived frigid winters on Mars and scaled a nearby hill. Both rovers have expanded scientists' knowledge of the history of liquid water on Mars during their respective missions.

While puzzling, Spirit's new glitches don't appear to be a serious concern at present, according to NASA's rover mission chief John Callas.

"Right now, Spirit is under normal sequence control, reporting good health and responsive to commands from the ground," he added.

source:http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,485345,00.html

Jobs And Lottery Frauds. Beware!

2009-01-24T01:35:00.000-08:00

Job Recruitment Scams

We have been aware for some time that various companies are purporting to be acting as agents on behalf of the British Embassy in recruiting Visa nationals to work in various industry sectors in the UK. The latest ploy is to make the e-mail look as if it is coming from the e-mail address of the Embassy itself and in the Ambassador’s name.

Please note that these companies are in no way connected to the British Embassy, nor are they acting on our behalf. Please note that these advertisements are not genuine. Most companies do not recruit people in this way and people should not pay any money to these companies.

Job recruitment scams

* Genuine UK companies are registered and can be checked on Companies House website.

* Anyone approached about a 'UK' job should phone the 'company' in the UK - they usually have fake numbers or check their address here.

* The British Government does not send unsolicited emails with job offers, either directly or through agents. Any such approach is likely to be from fraudsters. Government vacancies are advertised on our official websites, in the UK or in Bahrain on this website.

* There are many attempted frauds at present, often by email, targeting anyone, faking a UK connection.

* Most offers sent unsolicited by email are fraudulent.

* People who send share offers by email are often fraudsters.

* Anyone who asks for bank account details online or by phone are usually fraudsters.

* Any offer of cash - released in exchange for cash or bank account details - is likely to be fraudulent.

LOTTERY SCAMS

* All genuine UK lotteries are registered and have websites.

* If you did not buy a ticket, you cannot win a lottery.

* UK lotteries do not email winners or mention amounts won.

* You may get in touch with the Gambling Commission, who might be able to help you. They work with the Office of Fair Trading and other agencies to give advice on lottery-related frauds.

Mortgage foreclosures up 81 percent: RealtyTrac

2009-01-14T23:42:00.000-08:00

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. foreclosure activity jumped 81 percent in 2008, with one in every 54 households getting at least one filing notice, suggesting various state laws and private programs to slow the process have been ineffective, RealtyTrac reported on Thursday.

Nearly 3.2 million foreclosure filings on 2.3 million properties were made last year, the Irvine, California-based research firm said. Filings include notice of default, auction sale or bank repossession.

"Clearly the foreclosure prevention programs implemented to date have not had any real success in slowing down this foreclosure tsunami," James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac, said in the report.

Foreclosure activity did slow in the fourth quarter overall, declining 4 percent from the third quarter, but jumped nearly 40 percent from the fourth quarter of 2007.

And foreclosure activity last year was up 225 percent from 2006, the year home prices began a deep slump that prevented many homeowners from selling or refinancing.

Home prices have plunged more than 20 percent from the summer of 2006, according to Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller measures.

Filings leaped by 17 percent in December from November.

"State legislation that slowed down the onset of new foreclosure activity clearly had an effect on fourth-quarter numbers overall, but that effect appears to have worn off by December," Saccacio said. "The recent California law, much like its predecessors in Massachusetts and Maryland, appears to have done little more than delay the inevitable foreclosure proceedings for thousands of homeowners."

for more information log on to:http://uk.reuters.com/article/globalClimate/idUKTRE50E1KV20090115

Advisers: Obama preparing order to close Gitmo

2009-01-12T23:43:00.000-08:00

WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Barack Obama is preparing to issue an executive order his first week in office — and perhaps his first day — to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, according to two presidential transition team advisers.

It's unlikely the detention facility at the Navy base in Cuba will be closed anytime soon. In an interview last weekend, Obama said it would be "a challenge" to close it even within the first 100 days of his administration.

But the order, which one adviser said could be issued as early as Jan. 20, would start the process of deciding what to do with the estimated 250 al-Qaida and Taliban suspects and potential witnesses who are being held there. Most have not been charged with a crime.

The Guantanamo directive would be one of a series of executive orders Obama is planning to issue shortly after he takes office next Tuesday, according to the two advisers. Also expected is an executive order about certain interrogation methods, but details were not immediately available Monday.

The advisers spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the orders that have not yet been finalized.

Obama transition team spokeswoman Brooke Anderson declined comment Monday.

The American Civil Liberties Union called the order an important first step, but demanded details on how Guantanamo will be shuttered.

"What we need are specifics about the timeline for the shuttering of the military commissions and the release or charging of detainees who have been indefinitely held for years," ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero said in a statement. "An executive order lacking such detail, especially after the transition team has had months to develop a comprehensive plan on an issue this important, would be insufficient."

The two advisers said the executive order will direct the new administration to look at each of the cases of the Guantanamo detainees to see whether they can be released or if they should still be held — and if so, where.

Many of the Guantanamo detainees are cleared for release, and others could be sent back to their native countries and held there. But many nations have resisted Bush administration efforts to repatriate the prisoners back home. Both Obama advisers said it's hoped that nations that had initially resisted taking detainees will be more willing to do so after dealing with the new administration.

What remains the thorniest issue for Obama, the advisers said, is what to do with the rest of the prisoners — including at least 15 so-called "high value detainees" considered among the most dangerous there.

Detainees held on U.S. soil would have certain legal rights that they were not entitled to while imprisoned in Cuba. It's also not clear if they would face trial through the current military tribunal system, or in federal civilian courts, or though a to-be-developed legal system that would mark a hybrid of the two.

Where to imprison the detainees also is a problem.

Obama promised during the presidential campaign to shut Guantanamo, endearing him to constitutional law experts, civil libertarians and other critics who called the Bush administration detentions a violation of international law.

But he acknowledged in an interview Sunday that the process of closing the prison would be harder and longer than initially thought.

"That's a challenge," Obama said on ABC's "This Week." "I think it's going to take some time and our legal teams are working in consultation with our national security apparatus as we speak to help design exactly what we need to do.

"But I don't want to be ambiguous about this," he said. "We are going to close Guantanamo and we are going to make sure that the procedures we set up are ones that abide by our constitution."

President George W. Bush established military tribunals to prosecute detainees at Guantanamo. He also supports closing the prison, but strongly opposes bringing prisoners to the United States.

sources:http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gLy-7Qsm2KeE15rL6Is9p56BcWhwD95M3RKO0

Ryan Oneal Pleads Guilty to Drug Charge

2009-01-09T23:01:00.000-08:00

Ryan O’Neal, below, pleaded guilty on Friday to a felony drug possession charge and was sentenced to an 18-month rehabilitation program, Agence-France Presse reported. Mr. O’Neal and his son Redmond were arrested in September when authorities went to Ryan O’Neal’s home in Malibu, Calif., to check on Redmond O’Neal, who was serving three years’ probation for a previous drug charge. Ryan O’Neal pleaded guilty to one felony count of possessing methamphetamine and must return to the court for a progress report on July 10. Redmond O’Neal’s arraignment is scheduled for Feb. 20.

sources:http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/10/arts/10arts-RYANONEALPLE_BRF.html?ref=arts

VixML Lets iPhones Flirt With Each Other

2009-01-07T02:53:00.000-08:00

Apple's App Store has been a wild success, and it has brought mobile applications to the forefront. But creating an app can be an expensive and complicated process.

To combat this, Viximo has launched a platform that enables developers to use HTML and XML to create rich iPhone content. VixML is an optimized OpenGL-based content renderer that gives developers access to the smartphone's accelerometer, motion detector, and graphics without having to master the iPhone's software development kit.

"We wanted to create a simple yet powerful tool that would open the door to all designers, not just Web developers, and allow them to elevate the interactive experiences that people can have with the iPhone," said Rob Frasca, CEO of Viximo.

With a drag and drop interface, developers can use VixML to create dynamic content for iPhone applications. The development platform is currently in beta, and it allows designers to make new content for Viximo's TrueFlirt iPhone application.

The TrueFlirt app lets users send media-rich "flirts" to other iPhone users. These flirts can be interactive and use multi-touch, sound, video, a rudimentary physics engine, and other iPhone features. Developers can use VixML to create new flirts that are sold in the App Store, and content creators will get a cut of the revenue.

Frasca said the majority of the 10,000 programs in the App Store aren't very good because many creators are concerned about return on investment. For example, if you're only going to charge 99 cents for an app that cost $20,000 to create, a developer might take a few shortcuts. But Frasca said VixML can cut out a lot of development time, as well as lower the cost and experience needed to create strong iPhone content.

"If you know how to design a Web page, you'll know how to use this," Frasca said.

VixML currently only works with the TrueFlirt app, but it eventually will work for multiple apps across multiple operating systems, Frasca said.

source: http://www.informationweek.com/news/personal_tech/iphone/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=212700943

Muharram

2008-12-21T22:55:00.000-08:00

Muharram, the forbidden month, is the opening month of the Hejira year. The 10th day of the month is celebrated by the Sunnies as well as the Shias all over the world. It was on this day that God is believed to have created Adam and Eve and that the Pharoah of Egypt and his countrymen were drowned in the Red Sea by the will of the Almighty. Again it was on this day that the most lamentable carnage at Kerbala took place in 680 AD when Imman Hussain, the grandson of the Prophet and his men met with their end in an agonising manner. On this day the Jews observe fast. The Prophet enjoined on the Muslims to observe fast on the ninth and tenth of Muharram. It was to commemorate the victory of the Jews over Pharoah that fasting was enjoined upon Muslims on these days. For the Shia Muslims, Muharram is an important occasion for religious ceremony. The Sunni Muslims do not celebrate Muharram, but the devout Muslims among them observe fast.

'Pulikali' or `Tiger-dance' is part of this celebration in Kerala. Some Muslims assume the guise of tiger by painting their whole body to bring out the appearance of tiger, wear masks and parade through streets, playing, dancing and mimicking a tiger. This is done to idealize the valour of Hussain.

Benefits of Venture capital

2008-12-15T22:37:00.000-08:00

You get 30% income tax relief subject to an annual investment limit of £200,000 and a minimum holding period for shares issued in the tax year 2006-7 and onwards. Potentially you don't pay income tax on dividends received up to the maximum permitted investment of £200,000. Potentially you don't pay capital gains tax if the shares are sold up to the maximum permitted investment of £200,000. You can claim the tax relief upfront, without having to wait until you fill in your tax return.

Mandir Jain Tirth Shri Nakoda Ji

2008-12-08T02:50:00.000-08:00

Cause of Establishment:The temple has been built as a result of religious devotion and strong faith. The temple has about 246 inscriptions which amply show that over the centuries, the temple was extended, renovated, rebuilt and additions were made to it.

Brief of the Diety: The main idol is that of Shri Nakoda Parshwanath. This statue was brought here from the village Nakoda which is near Sinduri., hence the place is called Nakoda Parshwanath temple. But this alone is not the attraction of the temple. The Nokaoda Bhaironji was installed by Acharya Shri Vijay Himachal Suri who also established idols of other Teerthankars in this temple.

Important Architectural Characteristics: The temple has a very high elaborate shikher which is a rare example of Architectural and sculptural elegance. There are unparalleled statuettes and other floral patterns. The temple in fact is treated as a pilgrimage and it is visited by all Janis, Hindus of the entire country.

Amazonite

2008-12-02T21:50:00.000-08:00

Amazonite is an opaque sodium feldspar. It is also called Amazone stone and the name was derived from the Amazon. The color distribution is irregular but generally green or bluish green. The luster is vitreous. Deposits can be found in Colorado, Brazil, India, Kenya, Madagascar, Namibia, and Russia. Amazonite has been confused with chrysoprase, serpentine, and turquoise. It has a Moh's hardness of 6-6 ½ and streaks white. The fracture is uneven to splintery and it is brittle. This gem has double refraction, with a refractive index of 1.522-1.530. There is no pleochroism and a weak fluorescence.

Reproductive and Child Health Programme

2008-11-24T22:40:00.000-08:00

The Reproductive and Child Health Programme was launched in October 1997 incorporating new approach to population and development issues, as exposed in the International Conference in Population and Development held at Cairo in 1994.The programme integrated and strengthened in services/interventions under the Child Survival and Safe Motherhood Programme and Family Planning Services and added to the basket of services, new areas on Reproductive Tract/Sexually Transmitted infections (RTI/STI).

Soil Impacts

2008-11-17T03:51:00.000-08:00

With all the lushness and productivity that exist in tropical forests, it can be surprising to learn that tropical soils are actually very thin and poor in nutrients. The underlying “parent” rock weathers rapidly in the tropics’ high temperatures and heavy rains, and over time, most of the minerals have washed from the soil. Nearly all the nutrient content of a tropical forest is in the living plants and the decomposing litter on the forest floor.When an area is completely deforested for farming, the farmer typically burns the trees and vegetation to create a fertilizing layer of ash. After this slash-and-burn deforestation, the nutrient reservoir is lost, flooding and erosion rates are high, and soils often become unable to support crops in just a few years. If the area is then turned into cattle pasture, the ground may become compacted as well, slowing down or preventing forest recovery.

Fort Cochin

2008-11-10T02:14:00.000-08:00

Lies 10 kms away ,from Ernakulam . The architectural style of the buildings and lay-out of the town mark out Fort Cochin from other cities and towns of Kerala. The buildings show the influence of European architecture. The Chief attraction of Fort Cochin is the St. Francis Church built by the Portuguese It is believed to be the first church built by Europeans in India. The body of Vasco Da Gama was buried here. Close to St. Francis Church is Santa Cruz Church. some beautiful paintings can be seen in the Roman Catholic Church.

Basilica of Bom Jesus (Goa)

2008-11-03T21:35:00.000-08:00

10 km east of Panaji, along the Mandovi river, is the town of Old Goa, where lie some of India’s greatest churches and among them, the most popular and the most revered by Christians worldwide is the Basilica of Bom Jesus. The Basilica, dedicated to Infant Jesus, has been declared a World Heritage Monument now. 'Bom Jesus' means 'Infant Jesus' or 'Good Jesus'. Renowned throughout the Catholic world, the 16th century cathedral is India’s first Minor Basilica, and is considered as one of the best examples of baroque architecture in India. The layout follows simple Renaissance norms while the detailing and decoration is unabashed Baroque. It’s an opulent structure which incorporates white marble and has beautifully gilded altars decorated with frescoes and inlay work.

The Basilica houses the sacred relics of St. Francis Xavier, patron saint of Goa who died in 1552. The mortal remains of the saint were gifted to the church by Cosimo de Medici III, Grand Duke of Tuscany. Today, the embalmed body lies in an airtight glass coffin positioned in a silver casket crafted by a 17th century Florentine sculptor, Giovanni Batista Foggini. In accordance with his wishes, his remains were transferred to Goa the following year after his death. It is said that, while transferring, the saint's body was found to be as fresh as the day it was buried. This miraculous phenomenon continues to attract the devout from all lands, and an ‘Exposition’ or public viewing of his body happens, once every decade, to allow pilgrims to view it. The saint is believed to have miraculous powers of healing, and pilgrims come from all over the world to offer prayers. The silver casket is lowered for public viewing only during the public exposition. Last exposition was in 2004.

Intricately carved basalt embellishments make it one of the richest facades in Goa. The layout follows simple Renaissance norms while the detailing and decoration is unabashed Baroque. The mausoleum of St. Xavier is a marvel of Italian art (the marble base) and Hindu craftsmanship (the silver casket). The elaborately gilded altars are beautiful examples of sculptures and carvings in wood, stone, gold and granite. Columns are covered with marble and inlaid with precious stones. The church also houses paintings depicting the life of St. Francis Xavier. Visitors are overcome by the deep spirituality and tranquility of the place. Every year thousands of people visit the cathedral especially in December. A trip to Goa is incomplete without a visit to the revered Basilica.

History of the modern olympics

2008-10-29T05:29:00.000-07:00

The Olympics or Olympic Games is a multi-sport event which takes place every four years. The games are a revival of the Olympic Games held in ancient Greece. They were revived by a French nobleman, Baron de Coubertin, in 1894, with the objective of promoting international peace and understanding through sporting competition. The Summer Olympics is formally called the Games of the Olympiad. The first Olympiad was held in Athens, Greece.

The Winter Olympics, established in 1924, features winter sports held in ice or snow and is also held every four years. Until 1994, the Winter and Summer Olympics were held in the same year, but in 1986 the International Olympic Committee, which organises the Olympics, decided to separate them, so as to spread costs for all involved parties.

Foods vary in their amounts of calories and nutrients

2008-10-20T02:44:00.000-07:00

Some foods such as grain products, vegetables, and fruits have many nutrients and other healthful substances but are relatively low in calories. Fat and alcohol are high in calories. Foods high in both sugars and fat contain many calories but often are low in vitamins, minerals, or fiber.

People who do not need many calories or who must restrict their food intake need to choose nutrient-rich foods from the five major food groups with special care. They should obtain most of their calories from foods that contain a high proportion of essential nutrients and fiber.

Nonfluid Oils

2008-10-12T22:01:00.000-07:00

oils are relatively non-toxic, do not penetrate porous substrates, and are usually black or dark brown in color. When heated, Oil may melt and coat surfaces making cleanup very difficult. Residual oils, heavy crude oils, some high paraffin oils, and some weathered oils fall into this class.

Definition of AIDS-related cancers

2008-09-29T22:00:00.000-07:00

Certain cancer types that are more likely to occur in people who are infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The most common types are Kaposi sarcoma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Other AIDS-related cancers include Hodgkin disease and cancers of the lung, mouth, cervix, and digestive system.

Barbs

2008-09-24T21:41:00.001-07:00

Scientifically knows as Tetrazone, the tiger barb has clear cut markings, golden sheened body, slightly arched, all suggest clear waters, warm temperatures, nimble movements rather than long swims, bright light, and some definite plant shading.

Coconut

2008-09-15T04:58:00.000-07:00

The coconut is found along tropical seashores around the world, and in some areas it is cultivated far inland. It provides man with food, drink, fuel oil, and many other products.

There are about 8.5 million acres of coconuts, of which 2.45 million are in the Philippines, 1.59 in India, 1.5 in Indonesia, 1.07 in Ceylon, 0.6 in Malaya, 0.6 in other south sea islands, and 0.7 million acres elsewhere (Minon and Pandalai 1958, Woodruff 1970). Apacible (1968) indicated that there were 4.5 million acres in 1967 as against 2.4 million in 1958. Apacible (1968) also stated that coconut production has increased at the rate of 5 percent a year for the last 50 years. In the United States, coconuts are found in Florida, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico. The largest coconut plantation in the United States consists of about 30,000 trees in Key Biscayne, Fla. (Woodruff 1970).

Tornado!

2008-09-09T23:47:00.000-07:00

Tornado is a most violent Storms. Greg Stumpf Although tornadoes occur in many parts of the world, these destructive forces of nature are found most frequently in the United States east of the Rocky Mountains during the spring and summer months. In an average year, 800 tornadoes are reported nationwide, resulting in 80 deaths and over 1,500 injuries. A tornado is defined as a violently rotating column of air extending from a thunderstorm to the ground. The most violent tornadoes are capable of tremendous destruction with wind speeds of 250 mph or more. Damage paths can be in excess of one mile wide and 50 miles long. Once a tornado in Broken Bow, Oklahoma, carried a motel sign 30 miles and dropped it in Arkansas!

Satellite Power System (SPS)

2008-09-01T22:41:00.000-07:00

Concept for providing large amounts of electricity for use on the Earth from one or more satellites in geosynchronous Earth orbit. A very large array of solar cells on each satellite would provide electricity, which would be converted to microwave energy and beamed to a receiving antenna on the ground. There, it would be reconverted into electricity and distributed the same as any other centrally generated power, through a grid.

Mineral based industry

2008-08-25T00:07:00.000-07:00

The State being a rich reserve of mineral resources, it has an immense potential for the growth of mining and mineral based industries. The important minerals available in the State are coal, iron ore, limestone, copper ore, bauxite, pyrite, china clay, kyanite, fine clay, dolomite, graphite, bentonite, soap stone, quartz sand and silica sand. Given this, there are numerable opportunities for the investors, in the following areas:

Iron ore (export potential); Steel production; Sponge iron plant; Cement plant; Graphite electrodes and graphite powder; Granite (export Potential); Chemicals and fertilizers; Bleaching powder, calcium carbide and lime related chemicals; Ground mica, mica bricks and electrical appliances; etc.

The State Government has been making all efforts to attract investment into this industry. These include, simplification of the procedures with respect to grant of mining leases; provision of certain relief to make mining activities easier; suitable steps for adoption of state of art technology in mining; etc.

Teaching

2008-08-18T22:13:00.000-07:00

Teachers need the capacity to understand a subject well enough to convey its spirit to a new generation of students. The goal is to set up a sound knowledge base on which students will be talented to build as they are bare to different life experiences. The passing of knowledge from generation to generation allows students to grow into useful members of society. Good teachers can interpret information, experience, good decision, and wisdom into relevant knowledge that a student can understand, retain and pass to others. Studies from the US suggest that the quality of teachers is the single most significant factor affecting student performance, and that countries which score extremely on international tests have multiple policies in place to make sure that the teachers they employ are as successful as possible.

Topsoil

2008-08-11T22:06:00.000-07:00

Top Soil is the upper, outermost layer of soil, generally the top 2 to 8 inches. It has the most concentration of organic matter and microorganisms, and is where most of the Earth's biological soil activity occurs. Plants regularly concentrate their roots in, and obtain most of their nutrients from this layer. The actual depth of the topsoil layer can be purposeful as the depth from the surface to the first densely packed soil layer known as subsoil.

As one of the layers of soil on the Earth's surface, topsoil nowadays referred to as the A horizon. This layer is shaped from the deposition of eroded material as well as decaying organic matter. A variety of soil mixtures are sold commercially as topsoil, usually for use in civilizing gardens and lawns, or for ideal growing conditions in container gardens, by using potting soil, for example.

A most environmental concern known as topsoil corrosion occurs when the topsoil layer is blown or washed away. Without topsoil, little plant life is feasible. It takes approximately 100 years for one inch of topsoil to be deposited, if there is the correct ratio of organic material, inorganic material and moisture. This can be improved by using the terra preta system. However, there is 25 billion tons of topsoil absent each year.

Air parcel

2008-08-05T22:46:00.001-07:00

An air parcel is fantasy volumes of air used by meteorologists to conceptualize the thermodynamic fluid motions of the atmosphere for make use of in weather forecasting. For mathematical simplicity, an air parcel is usually measured a rigid cube which has limited connecting with surrounding environmental air. The dimensions of this parcel are resolute by the atmospheric scale under study.

The significance of the concept of air parcels in meteorology fabrication in its ability to assist meteorologists in conceptualizing how areas of an atmosphere will feature rising and sinking motions, the magnitude of those motions, and the opportunity of ensuing clouds and precipitation. Many older numerical weather forecast models used the conceptual models of air parcels.

Major Wildlife Attractions - Sundarbans

2008-07-29T04:08:00.000-07:00

The Sundarbans forest is dwelling to more than 400 tigers. The Bengal Tigers have modified themselves very well to the saline and aqua environs and are extremely good swimmers. As you enter the daring wild land of the Sundarbans you'll be thrilled to see the Chital Dear and Rhesus Monkey.

The aqua fauna of Sundarbans include diversity of fishes, red Fiddler Crabs and Hermit Crabs. There are crocodiles, which can be often seen along the mud banks. Sundarbans national park is also noted for its conservation of the Ridley Sea Turtle. There's is an incredible variety of reptiles also found in Sundarbans, which includes King Cobra, Rock Python and Water Monitor. The endangered river Terrapin, Batagur Baska is found on the Mechua Beach, while the Barkind Deer is found only in Holiday Island in Sunderbans.

Television advertisement

2008-07-21T22:49:00.000-07:00

A television advertisement or television commercial (often just commercial or advert) is a length of television programming produced and paid for by an organization that conveys a significance. Advertisement revenue provides a significant portion of the funding for most privately own television networks. The vast majority of television advertisements today consist of brief promotion spots, ranging in length from a few seconds to several minutes (as well as program-length infomercials). Advertisements of this sort have been used to sell every product conceivable over the years, from household products to goods and services, to political campaigns. The effect of television advertisements upon the viewing public has been so successful and so all-encompassing that it is considered impossible for a politician to wage a successful election campaign, in the United States, without use of television advertising. In certain countries, France for instance, political advertisement is forbidden on television

Classical Civilization

2008-07-14T03:26:00.000-07:00

Classical Civilization, also known as standard ancient times, is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, which begins roughly with the earliest-recorded Greek poetry of Homer (7th century BC), and continues through the rise of Alexander the Great and the Fall of the Roman Empire (5th century AD), ending in the termination of classical culture with the close of Late Antiquity.

Lacrosse

2008-07-07T03:46:00.001-07:00

It was first started to play in finland and it full of team spirit. this game is played using a small solid rubber ball and long handled racket called a crosse or lacross stick.The head of the crosse has a loose net strung into it that allows the player to hold the lacrosse ball. Particularly the object of the game is to use the stick to catch, carry, and pass the ball in an effort to score by ultimately hurling the ball into an opponent's goal. Defensively the object is to keep the opposing team from scoring and to dispossess them of the ball through the use of stick checking and body contact. There are three distinct versions of the sport; men's lacrosse, women's lacrosse and box lacrosse.

Electronic commerce

2008-07-01T03:54:00.000-07:00

Electronic commerce, commonly known as e-commerce or eCommerce, consists of the buying and selling of goods or services over electronic systems such as the Internet and other computer networks. The amount of trade conducted electronically has grown extremely since the spread of the Internet. A wide diversity of commerce is conducted in this way, spurring and drawing on innovations in electronic funds transfer, supply chain management, Internet marketing, online transaction processing, electronic data interchange (EDI), inventory management systems, and automated data collection systems. Modern electronic commerce typically uses the World Wide Web at slightest at some point in the transaction's lifecycle, although it can encompass a wider range of technologies such as e-mail as well.

A large percentage of electronic commerce is conducted completely electronically for virtual items such as right of entry to premium content on a website, but most electronic commerce involves the transportation of physical items in some way. Online retailers are from time to time known as e-tailers and online retail is sometimes known as e-tail. Almost all large retailers have electronic commerce attendance on the World Wide Web.

Electronic commerce is normally considered to be the sales aspect of e-business. It also consists of the exchange of data to make easy the financing and payment aspects of the business transactions.

Policies for Schools

2008-06-19T05:26:00.000-07:00

The recommendations

*
Schools should have Acceptable Internet Use Policies, for pupils and for staff.
*
Policies should take into account supervised and unsupervised use, both during school time and also out with school hours.
*
These policy documents should include a clear section about the school's responsibilities regarding publishing pupils' information on a school website.
*
Policies should include reference to Child Protection procedures.
*
Guidelines for Internet use should be displayed in obvious places, perhaps on the sides of the computers themselves.
*
Any guidelines that are developed within the school should be shared with others to increase networking and make efficient use of resources.

Body painting

2008-06-11T00:47:00.000-07:00

Body painting, or sometimes body painting, is a form of body art, considered by some as the earliest form of art. Unlike tattoo and other forms of body art, body painting is temporary, painted onto the human skin, and lasts for only several hours, or at most in the case of Mehndi or "henna tattoo" a couple of weeks. Body painting that is partial to the face is known as face painting.

Chevrolet

2008-06-02T22:28:00.000-07:00

Chevrolet (IPA: /ˌʃɛvroʊˈleɪ/ - French origin) (colloquially Chevy) is a brand of automobile, shaped by General Motors (GM). It is the top selling GM marque and the best known brand of GM worldwide [citation needed], with Chevrolet or Chevy being at times synonymous with GM.

Chevrolet offers over 20 vehicles and a lot of various enhanced versions in its home market. The brand's vehicles range from subcompact cars to medium duty commercial trucks. Its number one sellers in the United States take in the Silverado pickup, which is currently the 2nd best-selling vehicle in the United States behind the Ford F-Series and the Impala, which is the number one selling car with a domestic nameplate in the United States.

Great Pyramid of Giza

2008-05-26T05:38:00.000-07:00

The Great Pyramid of Giza, also called Khufu's Pyramid or the Pyramid of Khufu, and Pyramid of Cheops, is the oldest and most significant of the three pyramids in the Giza Necropolis bordering what is now Cairo, Egypt in Africa, and is the only remaining member of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. It is held the pyramid was built as a tomb for Fourth dynasty Egyptian pharaoh Khufu (Cheops in Greek) and builds over a 20 year period ultimate around 2560 BC. The Great Pyramid was the tallest man-made structure in the world for over 3,800 years. Obviously all that remains is the underlying step-pyramid core structure seen today. Many of the casing stones that once enclosed the structure can still be seen around the base of the Great Pyramid. There have been varying scientific and alternative theories regarding the Great Pyramid's construction techniques. Most accepted construction theories are based on the idea that it was built by moving huge stones from a quarry and dragging and lifting them into place.

There are three recognized chambers inside the Great Pyramid. The lowest chamber is cut into the bedrock upon which the pyramid was built and was incomplete. A passage from the Grand Gallery leads to the Queen's Chamber, while an entrance leads from the Grand Gallery to the King's Chamber. The sarcophagus of the King's Chamber was hollow out of a single piece of Red Aswan granite and has been found to be too large to fit through the passageway leading to the chamber. Both the King's Chamber and the Queen's Chamber contain small shafts that climb out of the pyramid. Egyptologists now conclude they were instead used for ceremonial purposes. The Great Pyramid is the only pyramid known to contain both ascending and descending passages. The Great Pyramid of Giza is the main part of a complex setting of buildings that included two mortuary temples in honor of Khufu (one close to the pyramid and one near the Nile), three smaller pyramids for Khufu's wives, an even smaller "satellite" pyramid, a raised causeway linking the two temples, and small mastaba tombs surrounding the pyramid for nobles.

Mountain

2008-05-18T22:25:00.000-07:00

A mountain is a landform that extends over the nearby terrain in a limited area. A mountain is normally steeper than a hill, but there is no commonly accepted standard definition for the height of a mountain or a hill though a mountain typically has an exacting summit.

Mountains are on the whole given as heights over mean sea level. The Himalayas generally 5 km above sea level, at the same time as the Andes average 4 km. Most other mountain has 2 – 2.5 km. The peak mountain on Earth is Everest, 8,848 m (29,028 feet), locate in the world's most vital mountain range, the Himalayas.

Sufficiently big mountains have particularly different climatic conditions at the top than at the base, and will thus have different life zones at different altitudes on their slopes. The plants and animals of a sector are to some extent lonely when the zones above and below are harsh, and numerous unique species take place on mountainsides as an end result. Great cases are identified as sky islands. Cloud forests are forests on mountain sides which are a focus for moisture from the air, and thus creating a single ecosystem. Very tall mountains may possibly be enclosed in ice or snow.

Management of working capital

2008-05-11T22:11:00.000-07:00

Management will use a federation of policies and techniques for the management of working capital. These policies aim at managing the current assets usually cash and cash equivalents, inventories and debtors and the short term financing, such that cash flows and returns are acceptable.
Inventory management: Identify the level of inventory which allows for continuous production but reduces the investment in raw materials - and minimizes reordering costs - and hence increases cash flow; see Supply chain management; Just in Time (JIT); Economic order quantity (EOQ); Economic production quantity (EPQ).
Debtors management: Identify the appropriate credit policy, i.e. credit terms which will pull towards you customers, such that any impact on cash flows and the cash change cycle will be offset by increased revenue and hence Return on Capital (or vice versa); see Discounts and allowances.
Short term financing: Identify the appropriate source of financing, given the cash conversion cycle: the inventory is preferably financed by credit granted by the supplier; however, it may be necessary to make use of a bank loan (or overdraft), or to "convert debtors to cash" through "factoring".
Cash management: Identify the cash balance which allows for the business to meet day to day expenses, but reduces cash holding costs.

Swaption

2008-05-04T22:09:00.000-07:00

A swaption is an option granting its owner the right but not the obligation to enter into a fundamental swap. Although options can be traded on a diversity of swaps, the term "swaption" typically refers to options on interest rate swaps.

There are two types of swaption contracts:

A payer swaption gives the owner of the swaption the right to come into a swap where they pay the fixed leg and obtain the floating leg.
A receiver swaption gives the owner of the swaption the right to enter into a swap where they will receive the fixed leg, and pay the floating leg.
The buyer and seller of the swaption agree on:

The premium (price) of the swaption
the strike rate (equal to the fixed rate of the underlying swap)
Length of the option period (which frequently ends two business days prior to the start date of the underlying swap),
the term of the underlying swap,
Notional amount,
Amortization, if any
Frequency of settlement payments on the underlying swap.

Animals

2008-04-28T03:13:00.000-07:00

Animals are a major set of organisms, classified as the empire Metazoa. In common they are multicultural, receptive to their surroundings, and afford for by overriding other organisms or parts of them. Their body plan becomes fixed when they enlarge, commonly early on in their growth as embryos, in spite of the fact that some feel a process of metamorphosis later on.

The word "animal" draws closer from the Latin word animal, of which Metazoa is the plural, and is resulting from anima, sense very significant breath or soul. In every day colloquial usage, the word often refers to non-human animals. The biological meaning of the word refers to every members of the empire Animalia. As a result, as the word "animal" is used in a biological condition, humans are included.

Global financial system

2008-04-20T22:04:00.000-07:00

The global financial system (GFS) is a financial system consisting of institutions and rules that act on the international level, as distinct to those that act on a national or regional level. The main players are the global institutions, such as International Monetary Fund and Bank for International Settlements, national agencies and government departments, e.g., central banks and finance ministries, and private institutions acting on the global scale, e.g., banks and hedge funds.

Lagrange's theorem group theory and History

2008-04-06T22:37:00.000-07:00

Lagrange's theorem, in the mathematics of grouping theory, states that for any finite group G, the arrange (number of elements) of all subgroup H of G divides the order of G. Lagrange's theorem is named after Joseph Lagrange.

Lagrange did not prove Lagrange's theorem in its general form. What he in fact proved was that if a polynomial in n variables has its variables permuted in all n! Ways, the number of various polynomials that are obtained is constantly a factor of n! The number of that kind of polynomials is the index in the symmetric group Sn of the subgroup H of permutations which preserve the polynomial. So the size of H divides n! With the later improvement of abstract groups, this end result of Lagrange on polynomials was known to extend to the general theorem about finite groups which currently bears his name.

Computer printer

2008-03-30T21:06:00.000-07:00

A computer printer, or more normally a printer, produces a hard copy (permanent human-readable text and/or graphics) of documents stored in electronic form, frequently on physical print media such as paper or transparencies. Many printers are mostly used as local computer peripherals, and are attached by a printer cable to a computer which serves as a document source. Some printers, commonly known as network printers, have built-in network interface (typically wireless or Ethernet), and can serve as a hardcopy device for any user on the network. Individual printers are frequently intended to support both local and network connected users at the same time.

In addition, many modern printers can directly interface to electronic media such as memory sticks or memory cards, or to image capture devices such as digital cameras, scanners; a number of printers are combined with a scanners and/or fax machines in a single unit. Printers that contain non-printing features are sometimes called Multifunction Printers (MFP) or Multi-Function Devices (MFD).

Pulses

2008-03-23T22:19:00.000-07:00

Pulses are defined by the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) as yearly leguminous crops yielding from one to twelve grains or seeds of variable size, shape and color surrounded by a pod. Pulses being used for food and animal feed.

The term pulses, as used by the FAO, are kept for crops harvested solely for the dry grain. This therefore excludes green beans and green peas, which are measured vegetable crops. Also barred crops which are mainly grown for oil extraction oilseeds like soybeans and peanuts, and crops which are used exclusively for sowing (clovers, alfalfa).

Pulses are main food crops due to their high protein and necessary amino acid content. Like many leguminous crops, pulses play a key role in crop turning round due to their capability to fix nitrogen.

Salwar kameez

2008-03-16T22:59:00.000-07:00

Salwar kameez is also spelled shalwar kameez and shalwar qamiz is a customary dress worn by both women and men in Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan. It is now and then known as Punjabi suit owing to its popularity in the Punjab region and the Pathani suit, due to the fact that the Pathans of Kabul set up the dress to the rest of South Asia.

It is loose pajama like trousers the legs are wide at the top and thin at the bottom,
The kameez is a long shirt or tunic. The part seams known as the chaak are left open under the waist-line, which gives the wearer greater freedom of movement. In Afghanistan and Pakistan, it is the special garment of both sexes. In Bangladesh and India, it is usually a woman's garment though the majority of Indian women wear traditional clothing, the men in India can be found in more comfortable in western clothing. Shalwar kameez is the traditional dress worn by a many peoples of south-central Asia. In India and Pakistan it is a largely popular style of dress, Shalwar or Salwar is a short loose or parallel trouser.

Fixed income

2008-03-09T23:03:00.001-07:00

Fixed income refers to any kind of investment that yields a normal or fixed return.
For example, if you create use of money and have to pay interest once a month, you have issue a fixed-income security. When a company does this, it is frequently called a bond or corporate bank debt even though 'preferred stock' is also sometimes measured to be fixed income. Sometimes people misspeak when they talk about fixed income; bonds really have higher risk, while notes and bills have less risk because these are issued by Government agencies.

The term fixed income is also useful to a person's income that does not differ with each period. This can include income derivative from fixed-income investments such as bonds and preferred stocks or pensions that guarantee a fixed income.

Planet

2008-03-03T21:35:00.001-08:00

A planet, as defined by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), is a celestial body orbiting a star or stellar remnant that is enormous enough to be rounded by its own gravity, not massive enough to cause thermonuclear fusion, and has cleared its neighboring region of planetesimals.

The term planet is an antique one having ties to history, science, myth, and religion. The planets were originally seen as a divine attendance; as emissaries of the gods. Even today, many people continue to believe the movement of the planets affects their lives, although such causation is rejected by the scientific community. As scientific knowledge advanced, the human awareness of the planets changed over time, incorporating a number of disparate objects. Even now there is no recognized definition of what a planet is. In 2006, the IAU formally adopted a resolution defining planets within the Solar System. This definition has been both praised and criticize, and remains disputed by some scientists.

Under IAU definitions, there are eight planets in the Solar System (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune) and 270 further solar ones. The Solar System also contains at slightest three dwarf planets (Ceres, Pluto, and Eris). Many of these planets are orbited by one or more moons, which can be superior than small planets. Planets are usually divided into two main types: large, low-density gas giants and smaller, rocky terrestrials.

Solar tracker

2008-02-27T20:44:00.000-08:00

A solar tracker is a device for orienting a solar photovoltaic panel or concentrating solar reflector or lens toward the sun. Concentrators, especially in solar cell applications, require a high degree of accuracy to ensure that the concentrated sunlight is directed precisely to the powered device, which is at (or near) the focal point of the reflector or lens. Non-concentrating applications require less accuracy, and a tracker is not necessary, but can substantially improve the amount of power produced by a system by enhancing morning and afternoon performance.

Plesiosaur

2008-02-22T21:08:00.000-08:00

Plesiosaurs(Greek: plesios meaning 'near' or 'close to' and sauros meaning 'lizard') were carnivorous aquatic (mostly marine) reptiles. After their discovery, they were somewhat fancifully said to have resembled "a snake threaded through the shell of a turtle", although they had no shell. The common name 'plesiosaur' is applied both to the 'true' plesiosaurs (Suborder Plesiosauroidea) and to the larger taxonomic rank of Plesiosauria, which includes both long-necked (elasmosaurs) and short-necked (polycotylid) forms. Short-necked, large-headed plesiosaurs are more properly called pliosaurs. There were many species of plesiosaurs and not all of them were as large as Liopleurodon, Kronosaurus or Elasmosaurus.

Proportional control

2008-02-17T21:14:00.000-08:00

When controlling the temperature of an industrial furnace, it is usually better to control the opening of the fuel valve in proportion to the current needs of the furnace. This helps avoid thermal shocks and applies heat more effectively.

Proportional negative-feedback systems are based on the difference between the required set point (SP) and measured value (MV) of the controlled variable. This difference is called the error. Power is applied in direct proportion to the current measured error, in the correct sense so as to tend to reduce the error (and so avoid positive feedback). The amount of corrective action that is applied for a given error is set by the gain or sensitivity of the control system.

Living systems theory

2008-02-08T22:51:00.000-08:00

Living systems theory is an offshoot of Bertalanffy's general systems theory, created by James Grier Miller, which was intended to formalize the concept of "life". According to Miller's original conception as spelled out in his magnum opus Living Systems, a "living system" must contain each of 20 "critical subsystems", which are defined by their functions and visible in numerous systems, from simple cells to organisms, countries, and societies. In Living Systems Miller provides a detailed look at a number of systems in order of increasing size, and identifies his subsystems in each.

James Grier Miller (1978) wrote a 1,102-page volume to present his living systems theory. He constructed a general theory of living systems by focusing on concrete systems—nonrandom accumulations of matter-energy in physical space-time organized into interacting, interrelated subsystems or components. Slightly revising the original model a dozen years later, he distinguished eight “nested” hierarchical levels in such complex structures. Each level is “nested” in the sense that each higher level contains the next lower level in a nested fashion.

Classical Marxism

2008-01-27T23:14:00.000-08:00

Classical Marxism refers to the body of theory directly expounded by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. The term "Classical Marxism" is often used to distinguish between "Marxism" as it is broadly understood and "what Marx believed", which is not necessarily the same thing. For example, shortly before he died in 1883, Marx wrote a letter to the French workers' leader Jules Guesde and to his own son-in-law Paul Lafargue, both of whom claimed to represent Marxist principles, in which he accused them of "revolutionary phrase-mongering" and of denying the value of reformist struggles. Paraphrasing Marx: "If that is Marxism, then I am not a Marxist". As the American Marx scholar Hal Draper remarked, "there are few thinkers in modern history whose thought has been so badly misrepresented, by Marxists and anti-Marxists alike."

Nuclear transport

2008-01-17T19:13:00.000-08:00

The entry and exit of large molecules from the nucleus is tightly controlled by the nuclear pore complexes. Although small molecules can enter the nucleus without regulation, macromolecules such as RNA and proteins require association karyopherins called importins to enter the nucleus and exportins to exit. "Cargo" proteins that must be translocated from the cytoplasm to the nucleus contain short amino acid sequences known as nuclear localization signals which are bound by importins, while those transported from the nucleus to the cytoplasm carry nuclear export signals bound by exportins. The ability of importins and exportins to transport their cargo is regulated by GTPases, enzymes that hydrolyze the molecule guanosine triphosphate to release energy. The key GTPase in nuclear transport is Ran, which can bind either GTP or GDP (guanosine diphosphate) depending on whether it is located in the nucleus or the cytoplasm.

Comparative psychology

2008-01-10T17:44:00.000-08:00

Comparative psychology refers to the study of the behavior and mental life of animals other than human beings. It is related to disciplines outside of psychology that study animal behavior, such as ethology. Although the field of psychology is primarily concerned with humans, the behavior and mental processes of animals is also an important part of psychological research, either as a subject in its own right (e.g., animal cognition and ethology), or with strong emphasis about evolutionary links, and somewhat more controversially, as a way of gaining an insight into human psychology by means of comparison or via animal models of emotional and behavior systems as seen in neuroscience of psychology .

Cosmology

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

Cosmology is the branch of metaphysics that deals with the world as the totality of all phenomena in space and time. Historically, it has had quite a broad scope, and in many cases was founded in religion. The ancient Greeks did not draw a distinction between this use and their model for the cosmos. However, in modern use it addresses questions about the Universe which are beyond the scope of physical science. It is distinguished from religious cosmology in that it approaches these questions using philosophical methods (e.g. dialectics). Cosmogony deals specifically with the origin of the universe.

Robotics

2007-12-28T21:03:00.000-08:00

Robotics is the science and technology of robots, their design, manufacture, and application. Robotics requires a working knowledge of electronics, mechanics, and software. A person working in the field is a roboticist. The word robotics was first used in print by Isaac Asimov, in his science fiction short story "Runaround" (1941).

A robot is an electro-mechanical or bio-mechanical device that can perform autonomous or preprogrammed tasks. Robots may be used to perform tasks that are too dangerous or difficult for humans, such as radioactive waste clean-up, or may be used to automate mindless repetitive tasks that should be performed with more precision by a robot than by a human, such as automobile production.

Networking and the Internet

2007-12-19T21:24:00.000-08:00

Computers have been used to coordinate information in multiple locations since the 1950s, with the U.S. military's SAGE system the first large-scale example of such a system, which led to a number of special-purpose commercial systems like Sabre.

In the 1970s, computer engineers at research institutions throughout the United States began to link their computers together using telecommunications technology. This effort was funded by ARPA (now DARPA), and the computer network that it produced was called the ARPANET. The technologies that made the Arpanet possible spread and evolved. In time, the network spread beyond academic and military institutions and became known as the Internet. The emergence of networking involved a redefinition of the nature and boundaries of the computer. Computer operating systems and applications were modified to include the ability to define and access the resources of other computers on the network, such as peripheral devices, stored information, and the like, as extensions of the resources of an individual computer.

Nanotechnology

2007-12-12T18:45:00.000-08:00

Nanotechnology refers broadly to a field of applied science and technology whose unifying theme is the control of matter on the atomic and molecular scale, normally 1 to 100 nanometers, and the fabrication of devices within that size range. It is a highly multidisciplinary field, drawing from fields such as applied physics, materials science, interface and colloid science, device physics, supramolecular chemistry, chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, and electrical engineering. Much speculation exists as to what may result from these lines of research. Nanotechnology can be seen as an extension of existing sciences into the nanoscale, or as a recasting of existing sciences using a newer, more modern term.

Two main approaches are used in nanotechnology. In the "bottom-up" approach, materials and devices are built from molecular components which assemble themselves chemically by principles of molecular recognition. In the "top-down" approach, nano-objects are constructed from larger entities without atomic-level control. The impetus for nanotechnology comes from a renewed interest in Interface and Colloid Science, coupled with a new generation of analytical tools such as the atomic force microscope (AFM), and the scanning tunneling microscope (STM). Combined with refined processes such as electron beam lithography and molecular beam epitaxy, these instruments allow the deliberate manipulation of nanostructures, and led to the observation of novel phenomena.

Cellular network

2007-12-06T19:28:00.000-08:00

A cellular network is a radio network made up of a number of radio cells (or just cells) each served by a fixed transmitter, known as a cell site or base station. These cells are used to cover different areas in order to provide radio coverage over a wider area than the area of one cell. Cellular networks are inherently asymmetric with a set of fixed main transceivers each serving a cell and a set of distributed (generally, but not always, mobile) transceivers which provide services to the network's users.

Cellular networks offer a number of advantages over alternative solutions:

* increased capacity
* reduced power usage
* better coverage

A good (and simple) example of a cellular system is an old taxi driver's radio system where the taxi company will have several transmitters based around a city each operated by an individual operator.

What is Java Virtual Machine?

2007-11-28T23:03:00.000-08:00

The heart of the Java Platform is the concept of a "virtual machine" that carries out Java bytecode programs. This bytecode is the same despite what hardware or operating system the program is running under. There is a JIT (just-in-time compilation) compiler inside the Java Virtual Machine, or JVM. The JIT compiler converts the Java bytecode into native processor instructions at run-time and caches the native code in memory during the tome of the execution.

The use of bytecode as an intermediary language that allows Java programs to run on any platform that has a virtual machine accessible. The use of a JIT compiler means that the applications in Java, after a small delay throughout loading and once they have "warmed up" by being all or mostly JIT-compiled, tend to run about as speed as native programs. Because JRE version 1.2, Sun's JVM execution has included a just-in-time compiler as an alternative of an interpreter.

Difference between C and C++ programming language

2007-11-21T23:13:00.000-08:00

This C language was the C++ predecessor. Even though not actually being more powerful than C, C++ lets the programmers to more easily deal with and operate with Objects, using an OOP (Object Oriented Programming) concept.

The C++ allows the programmer to create classes, which are a bit alike to C structures. Although it is possible to apply anything which C++ could implement in C, C++ aids to standardize a means in which objects are created and managed, whereas the C programmer who implements the same system has alot of liberty on how to really implement the internals, and the style among programmers will differ alot on the design choices made in a program.

In C, some will choose the handler-type, where a main function initializes a handler, and that handler can be provided to other functions of the library as an object to manage on/through. Others will even want to have that handler link all the associated function pointers within it which then must be called using a convention closer to C++.

A short note on the history of Honda

2007-11-14T22:48:00.000-08:00

The Honda VTR1000F is a motorcycle invented by Honda. In 1997 Honda started producing a street-oriented GT motorcycle using a traditionally important name: Superhawk. The earlier (60's) Superhawk was a parallel twin motorcycle that Robert M. Pirsig rode in "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance". The original Superhawk was a profitable success, that's why the name is being recycled. The latest Superhawk was introduced after the Ducati 916 made V-twin sport bikes well-liked again. The new Superhawk uses an all new 90 degree V-twin. The bike introduced numerous new design concepts for example the "pivotless frame", side radiators, single casting engine case, involving rods with cap screws rather than nuts, and the biggest carburetors Honda ever put on a motorcycle. "Pivotless frame" intended that engine was a stressed member with the swing arm bolted straightforwardly to the engine. The bike was come into public in 1997 as an early release 1998 model year. One motorcycle magazine recommended (circa 2000) that this bike was the fastest 0-60 mph production bike at that time. A racing version of the bike was anticipated from Honda. The Honda produced in 2000 the RVT1000R (RC51) recognized outside the United States as the VTR1000SP, though the bike had only four engine parts in general with the modern Superhawk. The RC51 was completely new V-twin racing platform that won the World Superbike championship its first year racing with the Colin Edwards and Castrol team.

Long jump athletic game

2007-11-01T04:15:00.000-07:00

The long jump (previously called as broad jump) is an athletic (track and field) event or game in which athletes attempt to land as far from their take-off points as possible.

The Competitors sprint down a runway (at elite level, generally coated with the same rubberized surface as running tracks), jump to the extent that they can off a somewhat raised wooden board into a pit filled with fine gravel or sand. The minimum distance from the board to the indentation made by the participant in the gravel is measured. If the participant starts his leap with any part of his foot facing the board the jump is affirmed illegal and no distance is recorded.

The correct format of the competition differs, but normally each competitor will get a number of attempts to make his or her longest jump, and simply the longest legal jump counts towards the results. The participant with the longest legal jump at the end of competition is confirmed or declared as the winner. The Speed in the run-up and a high leap off the board are the fundamentals of achievement at the discipline, and it is unsurprising that many sprinters, especially including Carl Lewis, as well compete successfully in the long jump.

An overview on Traffic calming

2007-10-27T05:13:00.000-07:00

The Traffic calming is a set of strategies used by inner-city planners and traffic engineers which intends to slow down traffic and get better safety for pedestrians and bicyclists, even though some of these features can also be unsafe to cyclists. It is currently comparatively common in Europe, particularly Northern Europe; less so in North America.

The Traffic calming has customarily been justified on the grounds of pedestrian security and lessening of noise and local air pollution which are side effects of the traffic. On the other hand, it has become ever more apparent that streets have many social and recreational functions which are strictly impaired by fast car traffic. For instance, residents of streets with light traffic had, on normal, three more friends and twice as numerous acquaintances as the people on streets with heavy traffic which was or else similar in dimensions, income, etc. For much of the twentieth century, streets were intended by engineers who were charged simply with ensuring traffic flow and not with fostering the other functions of streets. The underlying principle for traffic calming is currently broadening to contain designing for these functions.

One most important side effect of traffic calming is the impedance to urgent situation services. A police car can effortlessly navigate most traffic calming measures. The same cannot be believed for fire trucks and ambulances, yet. They time and again have to slow down to securely cross speed bumps or chicanes. In several locales, the law prohibits traffic calming measures by the side of the routes used by the emergency services.

Definition of Glass

2007-10-18T00:26:00.000-07:00

The materials meaning of a glass is a uniform amorphous solid material, generally produced when a rightfully viscous molten material cools very quickly to below its glass transition temperature, thus not giving enough time for a regular crystal lattice to form. A simple instance is when table sugar is melted and cooled quickly by dumping the liquid sugar onto a cold surface. The resulting solid is amorphous, not crystalline similar to the sugar was originally, which can be seen in its concordat fracture.

The word of glass comes from Latin glacies (ice) and corresponds to German Glass, M.E. glas, A.S. gales. Germanic tribes used the word gales to say amber, recorded by Roman historians as glaesum. Anglo-Saxons used the word glaer for amber.
The residue of this article will be concerned with a definite type of glass—the silica-based glasses in common make use of as a building, container or pretty material.

In its pure form, glass is a clear, relatively strong, hard-wearing, basically inert and biologically inactive material which can be shaped with very smooth and impervious surfaces. These pleasing properties lead to a great many uses of glass. Glass is, on the other hand, brittle and will break into sharp shards. These properties can be modified, or even changed completely, with the addition of other compounds or heat treatment.
Common glass is generally amorphous silicon dioxide (SiO2), which is the same chemical compound establish in quartz, or in its polycrystalline shape, sand.

The facts about Mercury

2007-10-11T00:33:00.000-07:00

Mercury is the nearby planet to the Sun and the eighth biggest. Mercury is somewhat smaller in diameter than the moons Ganymede and Titan but more than twice as enormous.

Mercury's orbit is extremely eccentric; at perihelion it is just 46 million km from the Sun but at aphelion it is 70 million. The position of the perihelion processes about the Sun at a very slow rate. 19th century astronomers made extremely careful observations of Mercury's orbital parameters but could not sufficiently explain those using Newtonian mechanics. The tiny differences between the observed and predicted values were a slight but nagging problem for many decades. It was thought that one more planet (sometimes called Vulcan) slightly nearer to the Sun than Mercury might account for the discrepancy. But in spite of much effort, no such planet was found. The real reply turned out to be much more dramatic: Einstein's General Theory of Relativity! Its right prediction of the motions of Mercury was a main factor in the early acceptance of the theory.

Mercury is greatly denser than the Moon (5.43 gm/cm3 vs. 3.34). Mercury is the second densest most important body in the solar system, after Earth. Actually Earth's density is due in part to gravitational density; if not for this, Mercury would be denser than Earth. This signifies that Mercury's dense iron core is comparatively larger than Earth, probably comprises the greater part of the planet. Mercury therefore has only a comparatively thin silicate mantle and crust.

Mercury's inner is dominated by a big iron core whose radius is 1800 to 1900 km. The silicate outer shell (analogous to Earth's mantle and crust) is just 500 to 600 km thick. At least some of the core is perhaps molten. Mercury truly has an extremely thin atmosphere consisting of atoms blasted off its surface by the solar wind. Because Mercury is so hot, these atoms quickly flee into space. Thus on the contrary, to the Earth and Venus whose atmospheres are stable, Mercury's atmosphere is always being replenished.

A Snapshot of Macro-Economics

2007-09-10T02:54:00.000-07:00

Economics is the learning of making choices. High school and college students all over required to take economic courses in order to achieve a diploma. Why is economics so important because it provides a guide for students for real-world situations Economics is divided into two types microeconomics and macroeconomics. Microeconomics is the study of economics at a slim level. For example absorbed on how a detailed business functions is microeconomics.

Studying the world economy is classified as Macroeconomics; its center on a much broader level. All students must understand the concept of insufficiency. Scarcity is a condition that occurs because society has unlimited wants and needs however the amount of property is limited. Unlimited wants and needs are what encourage us to create goods and services. We are never satisfied therefore we always have a want or need. On the other hand our income is limited.

Jakarta Slide

2007-09-03T22:39:00.000-07:00

Slide is an open-source content management system from the Jakarta project. It is written in Java and implements the WebDAV protocol. Slide is a set of APIs to implement the Web DAV client. Due to this Slide can also be seen as a Content Management Framework. The use of Web DAV, which is a superset of HTTP, makes Slide an ideal candidate for web-based content management. Among the applications of Slide are their uses as a file server, in intra net applications, and as an excellent repository for XML both as properties and versioned files for persistence of JavaBeans. It also has an extensible storage device that can be used for incorporation and adaptation.

Entertainment

2007-08-27T19:11:00.001-07:00

Entertainment is an occasion, piece, or movement designed to give enjoyment or leisure to an audience. The audience may join in the entertainment passively as in actively as in computer games. The playing of sports and reading of journalism are usually included in entertainment, but these are regularly called activity more specifically, because they involve some energetic participation past mere leisure.

While people have laughing themselves since the beginning of time, the entertainment industry first became a leading force in culture in the 20th century with the development of latest electronic technologies of recording and spreading. Western peoples, tired of serious purposes and gathering massacre, turned to popular culture following the two world wars. The financial basis of this new culture was advertising of free or inexpensive entertainment program. In their peak, television networks were great selling machines which, besides entertaining people, prohibited both commercial and political markets by providing direct access to the group of customers. This "territory" is now in danger by the explosion and segmentation of media and especially by the growing importance of communication by computer which allows the consumer to look for out the informational message as an alternative of having it broadcast to him or her. A new system of world history sees Americans in changeover between a fourth, entertainment-based "society" and a future fifth evolution based on computer communication.

Carriage clock

2007-08-20T23:06:00.000-07:00

Carriage clock is a minute, spring-driven clock, designed for traveling, developed in the early 19th century in France. The case, usually plain or gilt-brass, is rectangular with a carrying handle and often set with glass or more rarely enamel or porcelain panels. A feature of carriage clocks is the platform escapement, sometimes visible through a glazed aperture on the top of the case.

Flak jacket

2007-08-13T21:36:00.001-07:00

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

Planetary ring

2007-08-07T22:52:00.000-07:00

A planetary ring is a ring of dirt and other small particles orbiting around a planet in a flat disc-shaped region. The most spectacular and famous planetary rings are those around Saturn, but the other three gas giants of the solar system possess ring systems of their own.

subwoofer

2007-07-31T23:19:00.000-07:00

A subwoofer refers to either a driver, or a complete amplifier dedicated to the reproduction of bass audio frequencies, typically from 150 Hz down to 20 Hz. In the case of a rotary woofer, it is possible to reproduce frequencies down to 1 Hz. Bass frequencies below about 80Hz become increasingly difficult for typical floor standing or bookshelf loudspeakers to reproduce at high playback levels because they do not have large enough drivers to generate the required amount of air displacement. Therefore, subwoofers are useful for augmenting main loudspeakers by providing playback of low bass frequencies at high levels.

Extranet

2007-07-22T21:19:00.000-07:00

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.

Neem cake

2007-07-13T22:24:00.000-07:00

Neem cake natural manure is the by-product obtained in the process of cold pressing of Neem fruits and kernels, and the solvent removal process for neem oil cake. It is a potential source of organic manure under the Bureau of India Standards, Neem has established considerable potential as a fertilizer. For this purpose, neem cake and neem leaves are particularly promising. Puri , in his book on neem has given details about neem seed cake as manure and nitrification inhibitor. The author has described that after processing neem cake can be used for partial replacement of poultry and cattle feed.

Web portal

2007-07-08T23:01:00.000-07:00

A Web portal is a site that functions as a point of admittance to information on the World Wide Web. Portals present information from diverse sources in a united way. Popular portals are MSN, Yahoo, and AOL. Aside from the search engine standard, web portals offer other services such as news, stock prices, infotainment and various other features. Portals provide a way for enterprises to provide a steady look and feel with access control and procedures for multiple applications, which otherwise would have been different entities altogether.

Malai

2007-07-01T22:38:00.000-07:00

Malai is a South Asian term for clotted cream or Devonshire cream. It is made by heating non-homogenized whole milk to about 80ºC (180ºF) for about one hour and then allowing to cool. A thick yellowish layer of fat and coagulated proteins forms on the surface, which is skimmed off. The process is typically repeated to remove most of the fat. Malai has about 55% butterfat. Buffalo milk is thought to produce better malai because of its high fat content.Malai is used in such recipes as Malai Kofta dumplings and the sweet Malai Kulfi.

History of Motorola

2007-06-26T22:01:00.000-07:00

Motorola started as Galvin developed Corporation in 1928. The name Motorola was adopted in 1947, but the word had been used as a trademark since the 1930s. Founders Paul Galvin and Joe Galvin came up with the name Motorola when his company started manufacturing car radios. A number of early companies making phonographs, radios, and other audio tackle in the early 20th century used the suffix "-ola," the most famous being Victrola; RCA made a "radiola"; there was also a company that made jukeboxes called Rock-Ola, and a film editing device called a Moviola. The Motorola prefix "motor-" was chosen because the company's first focus was in automotive electronics.

Most of Motorola's crop has been radio-related, starting with a battery eliminator for radios, through the first walkie-talkie in the world, defense electronics, cellular infrastructure equipment, and mobile phone manufacturing. The company was also strong in semiconductor technology, including integrated circuits used in computers. Motorola has been the key 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.

Fish food

2007-06-23T01:52:00.001-07:00

Fish food is plant or animal material intended for consumption by pet fish kept in aquariums or ponds. Fish foods usually contain macro nutrients, trace elements and vitamins necessary to keep captive fish in good health. Approximately 80% of fishkeeping hobbyists feed their fish exclusively prepared foods that most commonly are produced in flake, pellet or tablet form.Pelleted forms, some of which sink rapidly, are often used for larger fish or bottom feeding species such as loaches or catfish. Some fish foods also contain additives, such as beta carotene or sex hormones, to artifically enhance the color of ornamental fish.

Camera

2007-06-17T21:56:00.000-07:00

A camera is a device used to capture images, as still photographs or as sequences of moving images movies or videos. The term as well as the modern-day camera evolved from the camera obscura, Latin for "dark chamber", an early mechanism for projecting images, in which an entire room functioned as a real-time imaging system. The camera obscura was first invented by the Muslim scientiest Alhazen Cameras may work with the light of the visible spectrum or with other portions of the electromagnetic spectrum. A camera normally consists of some kind of enclosed hollow, with an opening or aperture at one end for light to enter, and a recording or viewing surface for capturing the light at the other end. Most cameras have a lens positioned in front of the camera's opening to gather the incoming light and to focus the image, or part of the image, on the recording surface. The diameter of the aperture is often controlled by a diaphragm mechanism, but some cameras have a fixed-size aperture.

compiler

2007-06-11T19:29:00.000-07:00

A compiler is a computer program or set of programs that converts text written in a computer language (the source language) into another computer language (the target language). The original sequence is frequently called the source code and the output called object code. Commonly the output has a form appropriate for processing by other programs (e.g., a linker), but it may be a human-readable text file.

The most common reason for wanting to translate source code is to make an executable program. The name "compiler" is primarily used for programs that convert source code from a high level language to a lower level language (e.g., assembly language or machine language). A program that translates from a low level language to a higher level one is a decompiler. A program that translates between high-level languages is generally called a language translator, source to source translator, or language converter. A language rewriter is generally a program that translates the form of expressions without a modify language.

VESA Local Bus

2007-06-06T21:57:00.001-07:00

The VESA Local Bus was mostly used in personal computers. VESA Local Bus worked alongside the ISA bus; it acted as a high-speed conduit for memory-mapped I/O and DMA, while the ISA bus handled interrupts and port-mapped I/O.

A VLB slot itself was an extension of an existing ISA slot. Indeed, both VLB and ISA cards could be plugged into a VLB slot .The extended portion was usually colored a distinctive brown. This made VLB cards quite long, reminiscent of the expansion cards from the old XT days. The addition resembled a PCI slot.

The VESA Local Bus was designed as a stopgap solution to the problem of the ISA bus's limited bandwidth.

Introduction of Integrated circuit

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

Integrated circuits were made possible by investigational discoveries which showed that semiconductor devices could carry out the functions of vacuum tubes, and by mid-20th-century technology advancements in semiconductor device manufacture. The integration of large numbers of tiny transistors into a small chip was an enormous development over the manual assembly of circuits using discrete electronic components. The integrated circuit's mass production capability, reliability, and building-block approach to circuit design ensured the rapid adoption of standardized ICs in place of designs using discrete transistors. There are two main advantages of Integrated Circuits over discrete circuits: cost and performance. Cost is low because the chips, with all their mechanism, are printed as a unit by photolithography and not constructed a transistor at a time. Performance is high since the components switch quickly and consume little power, because the components are small and close together.

Digital circuits

2007-05-18T23:46:00.001-07:00

Most integrated circuits of sufficient complexity utilize a clock signal in order to synchronize different parts of the circuit and to account for propagation delays. As ICs become more complex, the problem of supplying accurate and synchronized clocks to all the circuits becomes increasingly difficult. The preeminent example of such complex chips is the microprocessor, the central component of modern computers, which relies on a clock from a crystal oscillator.

A clock signal might also be gated, that is, joint with a controlling signal that enables or disables the clock signals for a certain part of a circuit. This technique is often used to save power by efficiently shutting down portions of a digital circuit when they are not in use.

In some near the beginning microprocessors such as the National Semiconductor IMP-16 family, a multi-phase clock was used. In the case of the IMP-16, the clock had four phases, each 90 degrees apart, in order to synchronize the operations of the processor core and its peripherals. Most modern microprocessors and microcontrollers use a single-phase clock, however.

Many modern microcomputers utilize a "clock multiplier" which multiplies a lower frequency external clock to the suitable clock rate of the microprocessor. This allows the CPU to operate at a much higher frequency than the rest of the computer, which affords performance gains in situations where the CPU does not need to wait on an external factor.

Web Design

2007-05-13T22:18:00.001-07:00

Web design is the deceitful and graphical production of content shown on the Internet in the form of Web sites and other Web applications using many dissimilar forms of media. A Web site is a group of information regarding a particular topic or subject. Designing a website is defined as the arrangement and construction of Web pages that in turn make up a website.

There are several aspects in this process, and due to the rapid development of the Internet, new aspects may come out. For distinctive commercial Web sites, the basic aspects are:

* The site design is defined by the subject and content.
* The site should be user-friendly, with the interface and navigation simple and reliable. If the site is large enough and contains enough information, a site browser may be needed so that information can be found quickly, without using the navigation tools.
* The appearance should consist of a single style that flows throughout, to show consistency. The style should be professional, look good and most of all is appropriate to the users and site content.
* The visibility of the site's text and information should be dominant as that is what the users are visiting for.
* The site must also be easy to find on the internet and if possible should be scheduled on most, if not all, major search engines.

A Web site typically consists of text and images. The first page of a website is Home page or Index. Some websites use what is commonly called a Splash Page. Splash pages might include a welcome message, language/region selection, or disclaimer. Each web page contained by a Web site is an HTML file which has its own URL. After each Web page is created, they are typically associated together using a navigation menu composed of hyperlinks. Faster browsing speeds have led to shorter awareness spans and more demanding online visitors and this has resulted in less use of Splash Pages, particularly where commercial websites are concerned.

Once a Web site is completed, it must be published or uploaded in order to be viewable to the public over the internet. This is done using an FTP client. Once published, the Web master may use a variety of techniques to increase the traffic, or hits, that the website receives. This may include submitting the Web site to a search engine such as Google or Yahoo, exchanging links with other Web sites, creating affiliations with similar Web sites, etc.

Basket

2007-05-09T00:36:00.000-07:00

A basket is a container which is usually constructed from stiff fibers, often made of willow. The top is either left open or the basket may be fitted with a lid.
Contents
1 chronological usage
2 contemporary usages
3 metaphorical and legendary usages
4 verandas of baskets
5 observe also
Historical usage
Wood, bamboo, wheat, other grasses, osiers or wicker are often used to make baskets, but they are also made today from plastic. The first baskets were natural fiber by gatherers to collect fruits, grains, nuts and other edible plant materials, as well as for holding fish by early fishing peoples. A creel is a basket made particularly to hold fish. The plant life available in a region affects the choice of material, which in turn influences the weaving technique. Rattan and other members of the Arecaceae or palm tree family, the thin grasses of temperate regions and broad-leaved tropical bromeliads each require a different method of twisting and braiding to be made into an effective basket. Although baskets were usually created to serve men in bed rather than an artistic purpose, the practice of basket making has evolved into an art.

History of glass

2007-05-01T23:17:00.000-07:00

Naturally occurring glass, such as obsidian, has been used since the stone age. The first recognized instructions for glass making are in Egypt around 1500 BC, when glass was used as a varnish for ceramic and other items. In the first century BC the method of blowing glass was urbanized and what had once been an enormously rare and valuable item became much more common. During the Roman Empire many forms of glass were created, mostly for use in vases and bottles. Glass was made from sand, plant ash and lime. The initial use of glass was as a colored, opaque, or transparent glaze applied to ceramics before they were fired. Small pieces of colored glass were considered valuable and often rivaled valuable gems as jewelry items. As time passed, it was discovered that if glass is heated until it becomes semi-liquid, it can be shaped and left to cool in a new, solid, independently standing shape. In the first century BC, somewhere at the eastern end of the Mediterranean, a new invention caused a true revolution in the glass industry. This was the detection of glassblowing, both free-blowing and mold-blowing. The color of "natural glass" is green to bluish green. This color is caused by the unstable amounts of naturally occurring iron impurities in the sand. Common glass today usually has a slight green or blue tint, arising from these same impurities. Glassmakers educated to make colored glass by adding metallic compounds and mineral oxides to produce brilliant hues of red, green, and blue - the colors of gemstones. When gem cutters educated to cut glass, they found that clear glass was an excellent refractor of light, the fame of cut clear glass soared, that of colored glass diminished.

Planet

2007-04-27T22:29:00.000-07:00

A planet, is a extraterrestrial body orbiting a star or stellar remnant that is massive adequate to be rounded by its own gravity, not massive enough to cause thermonuclear fusion in its core, and has cleared its neighbouring region of planetesimals

After stars and stellar remnants, planets are a few of the most massive objects known to man. They play an important part in the structure of planetary systems, and are also considered, along with large moons, the most feasible environment for life. Thus planetary science is crucial not only to comprehend the structure of the universe, but also to better understand the development of life, and to aid the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. Additionally, the planets visible from Earth have played a vital role in the shaping of human culture, religion and philosophy in abundant civilisations. Even today, many people continue to believe true the movement of the planets affects their lives, all though such a causation is discarded by the scientific community.

Atomic clock

2007-04-24T22:58:00.001-07:00

100 An atomic clock is a type of clock that uses an atomic resonance frequency standard as its counter. Early atomic clocks were masers with attached equipment. Today's best atomic frequency standards (or clocks) are based on more advanced physics involving cold atoms and atomic fountains. National standards agencies maintain an accuracy of 10-9 seconds per day, and a precision equal to the frequency of the radio transmitter pumping the maser. The clocks maintain a continuous and stable time scale, International Atomic Time (TAI). For civil time, another time scale is disseminated,Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). UTC is derived from TAI, but synchronized with the passing of day and night based on astronomical observations.

The first atomic clock was built in 1949 at the U.S. National Bureau of Standards. The first accurate atomic clock, based on the transition of the caesium-133 atom, was built by Louis Essen in 1955 at the National Physical Laboratory in the UK. This led to the internationally agreed definition of the second being based on atomic time.

In August 2004, NIST scientists demonstrated a chip-scaled atomic clock. According to the researchers, the clock was believed to be one hundredth the size of any other. It was also claimed that it requires just 75 mW, making it suitable for battery-driven applications.

Modern radio clocks are referenced to atomic clocks, and provide a way of getting high-quality atomic-derived time over a wide area using inexpensive equipment; however, radio clocks are not appropriate for high-precision, scientific work.