Archive for March, 2008

River Bluff Picnic Site State Park

Monday, March 31st, 2008

River Bluff Picnic Site State Park is a Florida State Park located west of Tallahassee off State Road 20 on Jack Vause Landing Road. Activities include canoeing, boating, fishing, hiking, picnicking, and wildlife viewing. Among the wildlife of the park are turkey, deer, osprey and bald eagles. Amenities include an access to the Lake Talquin, a fishing dock, a boardwalk and picnic tables. The park is open from 8:00 am till sundown year round.


References

  • River Bluff Picnic Site at Absolutely Florida
  • River Bluff Picnic Site at Wildernet

Information

Multipotency

Sunday, March 30th, 2008

Multipotent progenitor cells can give rise to several other cell types, but those types are limited in number. An example of a multipotent stem cell is a hematopoietic cell — a blood stem cell that can develop into several types of blood cells, but cannot develop into brain cells or other types of cells. At the end of the long series of cell divisions that form the embryo are cells that are terminally differentiated, or that are considered to be permanently committed to a specific function.

Scientists have long held the opinion that differentiated cells cannot be altered or caused to behave in any way other than the way in which they have been naturally committed. New research, however, has even called that assumption into question. In recent stem cell experiments, scientists have been able to persuade blood stem cells to behave like neurons, or brain cells. Scientists now believe that stem cell research could reveal far more vital information about our bodies than was previously known. There is also continuing research to see if it is possible to make multipotent cells into pluripotent cells.


See also

  • Progenitor cell
  • Stem cell

Position line

Saturday, March 29th, 2008

A position line is a line that can be identified both on a nautical chart or aeronautical chart and by observation out on the surface of the earth. The intersection of two position lines is a fix that used in position fixing to identify the navigator’s location.

There are several types of position line:

  • Compass bearing - the angle between north and the line passing through the compass and the point of interest
  • Transit - a line passing through the observer and two other reference points
  • Leading line - the line passing through two marks indicating a safe channel
  • Leading lights - the line passing through two beacons indicating a safe channel
  • Sector lights – the lines created by masked coloured lights that indicate a safe channel


See also

  • Navigation

Information

Acacia Technologies

Saturday, March 29th, 2008
Acacia Technologies was also the name of division within Computer Associates that effectively closed down in 2002 when its assets were sold to SSA Global Technologies.

Acacia Technologies is used loosely to refer to Acacia Research Corporation and its subsidiary Acacia Media Technologies. The company specializes in acquiring and enforcing patents.

Information

Montpellier, Gloucestershire

Saturday, March 29th, 2008

Montpellier is an area of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England, at the end of the Promenade south of the town centre. Originally developed in the 1830s in conjunction with the spas, it is now known for its bars, cafés, restaurants and range of specialist shops.

Montpellier bars include The Montpellier Wine Bar [1], The Rotunda Tavern, The Salisbury, O’Neill’s and Ha-Ha Bar, with The Circus Bar at the lower end of Montpellier Street.

Eating establishments include The Joy (Indian), Le Quinze (French), The Mandarin Kite (Cantonese), and Strada. Monpellier is home to several clothing boutiques, a traditional sweet shop, a couple of jewellers and two well stocked cook shops. The Post Office and the butchers closed in 2005.

Montpellier Walk, designed by W.H. Knight in 1840, is noted for the caryatids supporting the shop fronts. It leads to the Montpellier Spa, built for Henry Thompson by George Allen Underwood in 1817 with its distinctive Rotunda added by John Buonarotti Papworth as a pump room in 1825. It is now a branch of Lloyds TSB bank. Opposite are Montpellier Gardens, also laid out by Papworth.


References

  • David Verey, Gloucestershire: the Vale and the Forest of Dean, The Buildings of England edited by Nicholas Pevsner, 2nd ed (1976) ISBN 0-14-071041-8


External links

  • Montpellier Shops

Information

Sonic Eraser

Saturday, March 29th, 2008

Sonic Eraser was a video game that was available to owners of the Sega Meganet, a modem for the Sega Mega Drive in Japan. While it is technically a title in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, other than his sprite, there is little that relates the game with the rest of the franchise.

Since the Meganet modem never achieved worldwide availability, Sonic Eraser became a “lost” Sonic game, until February 2004, when the Sonic CulT website, got a hold of the ROM through Sega’s Japan-only download service.

The game is a fairly simple puzzle game. In the versus mode, when a player gets a combination of three consecutive lineups of pieces, that player’s Sonic attacks the other player’s Sonic. The other player momentairly loses control of his pieces.

The game is on Sega’s B-Club download service.


Gameplay modes

The game offers 4 unique modes of gameplay.

  • Round Mode: This is sort of a puzzle mode consisting of 10 stages (0–9). Each stage has a bunch of whirlybob ring shapes interspersed with other normal shapes. Just like the other shapes, the whirlybobs disappear when paired. The object is to clear them all from the playfield by eliminating the shapes between them. The time limit is 3 minutes for each round, and keep in mind that pausing the game doesn’t stop the clock, so you’d better remember to go before you start. If you’ve blown the round (i.e. if you’re stuck with only 1 whirlybob left), press A and C simultaneously to end the round.
  • Normal Mode: This is just the standard low-pressure game. Play for points as long as you like. The better you perform, the higher your level will rise. As you climb the ladder, the speed at which clusters fall increases.
  • Doubt Mode: The rules are normal except that white squares will never fall. Instead, a single shape from almost every cluster will turn into a white square when it hits the ground.
  • Block Mode: This mode defies all Newtonian physics by having clusters stand on-end. Stack ‘em up as high as you dare for massive chain reactions. It only takes a single pair to send the whole tower tumbling.


External links

  • http://sega-bb.jp/titles/0000167/
  • http://sega-gamehompo.jp/game/MD_SONIE/
  • http://www.sonic-cult.org/dispgame.php?catid=1&gameid=9

Green Party of Alberta candidates, 2004 provincial election

Saturday, March 29th, 2008

The Green Party of Alberta ran 49 candidates in the 2004 provincial election. Some of these candidates have separate biography pages; relevant information about other candidates may be found here.

The candidates are listed by city/region and riding name.


Calgary


Grant Neufeld (Calgary Buffalo)

Current president of the Green Party of Alberta.

Received 656 votes in 2004, finishing third in a field of seven candidates.


Kim Warnke (Calgary Currie)

Received 810 votes in 2004, finishing third in a field of five candidates.


George Read (Calgary Egmont)

Current leader of the Green Party of Alberta.

Received 914 votes in 2004, finishing fourth in a field of five candidates.


Allison Roth (Calgary Elbow)

Current Communications Director of the Green Party of Alberta.

Received 666 votes in 2004, finishing third in a field of seven candidates.


Mark MacGillivray (Calgary Mountain View)

Current Membership Director of the Green Party of Alberta.

Received 912 votes in 2004, finishing third in a field of five candidates.


Susan Stratton (Calgary North Hill)

Current Deputy Leader of the Green Party of Alberta.

Received 1264 votes in 2004, finishing third in a field of five candidates.

Information

Duncan Phyfe

Friday, March 28th, 2008

Duncan Phyfe (1768-1854) was one of 19th century America’s leading furniture makers.

Born Duncan Fife near Loch Fannich in Ross and Cromarty, Scotland, he immigrated to Albany, New York at age 16 and served as a cabinetmaker’s apprentice. In 1792, he changed the spelling of his name, moved to New York City, and opened his own business, which eventually employed over a hundred workers. He became known as one of America’s leading cabinetmakers by selling furniture for relatively low prices. He is most famous for his simple style, a reaction to the imported French designs popular at the time. Duncan Phyfe’s furniture can be seen in the White House Green Room.


See also

  • Luke Vincent Lockwood
  • Lyre arm


External links

  • Furniture Styles
  • Furniture Maker - Duncan Phyfe

Information

MEPs for Portugal 2004-2009

Thursday, March 27th, 2008

This is a list of Members of the European Parliament for Portugal in the 2004 to 2009 session, ordered by name. See European Parliament election, 2004 (Portugal) for election results.


A

  • Francisco Assis, Socialist Party (Party of European Socialists)


C

  • Luis Manuel Capoulas Santos, Socialist Party (Party of European Socialists)
  • Paulo Casaca, Socialist Party (Party of European Socialists)
  • Carlos Coelho (European People’s Party–European Democrats)
  • Fausto Correia, Socialist Party (Party of European Socialists)


D

  • Manuel António dos Santos, Socialist Party (Party of European Socialists)


E

  • Maria da Assunção Esteves (European People’s Party–European Democrats)
  • Edite Estrela, Socialist Party (Party of European Socialists)


F

  • Emanuel Jardim Fernandes, Socialist Party (Party of European Socialists)
  • Elisa Ferreira, Socialist Party (Party of European Socialists)
  • Ilda Figueiredo, Portuguese Communist Party (European United Left - Nordic Green Left)
  • Duarte Freitas (European People’s Party–European Democrats)


G

  • Ana Maria Gomes, Socialist Party (Party of European Socialists)
  • Vasco Graça Moura (European People’s Party–European Democrats)
  • Pedro Guerreiro, Portuguese Communist Party (European United Left - Nordic Green Left)¹


M

  • Jamila Madeira, Socialist Party (Party of European Socialists)
  • Sérgio Marques (European People’s Party–European Democrats)


P

  • João de Deus Pinheiro (European People’s Party–European Democrats)
  • Miguel Portas, Bloco de Esquerda (European United Left - Nordic Green Left)


Q

  • Luís Queiró (European People’s Party–European Democrats)


R

  • José Ribeiro e Castro (European People’s Party–European Democrats)


S

  • José Albino Silva Peneda (European People’s Party–European Democrats)
  • Sérgio Sousa Pinto, Socialist Party (Party of European Socialists)


Notes

  1. Pedro Guerreiro replaced Sérgio Ribeiro (Portuguese Communist Party, European United Left - Nordic Green Left) on 13 January 2005.
  2. António Costa (Socialist Party, Party of European Socialists) resigned on 11 March 2005.

Information

Urdă

Thursday, March 27th, 2008

Urdă () is a Romanian cheese-like dairy product made by reprocessing the whey drained from cheeses such as caş or telemea. The process of making it is somewhat similar to the one for Italian fresh ricotta cheese. In some areas, its texture and taste are similar to ricotta, but in Transylvania its texture and taste are very different.

Information

Vernis Martin

Thursday, March 27th, 2008

In interior design, vernis Martin is a type of lacquer named for the French brothers Guillaume and Etienne-Simon Martin. It is an imitation Chinese lacquer and was applied to a wide variety of items, from furniture to coaches. It is said to have been made by heating oil and copal and then adding Venetian turpentine.


References


External links

Vernis Martin Lacquers

Information

Pinakothek der Moderne

Wednesday, March 26th, 2008

The Pinakothek der Moderne is a modern art museum, situated in the city centre of Munich, Germany. Together with the Alte Pinakothek and the Neue Pinakothek it is part of Munich’s “Kunstareal” (the “art district”).


The building

Designed by the German Architect Stephan Braunfels, the Pinakothek der Moderne was inaugurated in September 2002 after seven years of construction. The rectilinear facade, dominated by white and grey concrete, is interrupted by large windows and highrising columns, the latter supporting the extensive canopied roof. Each of the four corners of the building, connected by a central rotunda, is dedicated to a special collection. The Museum is thus divided into Art (Kunst), Architecture (Architektur), Design (Design) and Works on Paper (Graphik).


Collections

The Pinakothek der Moderne unifies the “Sammlung Moderne Kunst” (National Collection of Modern and Contemporary Arts, which is under supervision of the Bavarian State Painting Collections), the “Staatliche Graphische Sammlung” (National Collection of Works on Paper), the “Neue Sammlung” (’New Collection’: National Museum for Design and Applied Arts) with the “Architekturmuseum der Technischen Universität” (Munich Technical University’s Museum of Architecture), in one building and is deemed one of the most important and popular museums of modern art in Europe.


Collection of Modern Art

In contrast to other cities Munich was not much affected by the Nazi regime’s banning of modern art as “degenerate art,” since only a few modern paintings were already collected by the “Tschudi Contribution” in 1905/1914, like the “Still Life with Geranium” of Henri Matisse, the collection’s first acquisition. Since 1945, however, the collection, previously exhibited in the Haus der Kunst, has grown quickly by purchase, as well as donations by individuals and several foundations. Various art movements of the 20th century are represented in the collection, including Expressionism, Fauvism, Cubism, New Objectivity, Bauhaus, Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism, Pop Art and Minimal Art.

The first floor of the west wing displays works of Georges Braque, Fernand Léger, Juan Gris, Umberto Boccioni, Robert Delaunay, Joan Miró and René Magritte as well as Lyonel Feininger, Oskar Kokoschka, László Moholy-Nagy, Otto Dix, Max Ernst, Giorgio de Chirico, Salvador Dalí and Francis Bacon. Very are comprehensive are the collected works of Pablo Picasso and Max Beckmann.

The museum also displays masterpieces of German Expressionism: representing painters of two early 20th century German artist groups, Die Brücke (The bridge) and Der Blaue Reiter (The blue rider), whose members included, among others, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Erich Heckel, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, Emil Nolde and Franz Marc, August Macke, Paul Klee, Alexej von Jawlensky and Wassily Kandinsky.

  • Contemporary Art since the 1960s
The museum also gives very profound insights into international contemporary art. In the first floor of the east wing the gallery displays works of Lucio Fontana, Alberto Burri, Jannis Kounellis, Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, Robert Motherwell, Franz Kline, Antoni Tàpies, Cy Twombly, Willem de Kooning, George Segal, Richard Serra, Dan Flavin, Donald Judd, Fred Sandback, Joseph Beuys, Blinky Palermo, Henry Moore, Marino Marini, Per Kirkeby, Georg Baselitz, Gerhard Richter, Sigmar Polke, Bruce Nauman, Marlene Dumas, Günther Förg, Jörg Immendorff, Mike Kelley, Martin Kippenberger, David Salle, Rosemarie Trockel, David Hockney, Hermann Nitsch and many others.
  • Video, Photos and New Media
The Pinakothek houses works of artists like John Baldessari (”Man running/Men carrying box” 1988-1990), Bruce Nauman (”World Peace (projected)” 1996), Pipilotti Rist (”Himalaya Goldsteins Stube” 1998/1999), Hiroshi Sugimoto (”World Trade Center, Minoru Yamazaki” 1997), Bill Viola (”Tiny Death” 1993), Sam Taylor-Wood (”Soliloquy III” 1998) and Jeff Wall with his back-lit boxes (”Eviction Struggle” 1988; “A villager from Aricaköyu arriving in Mahmutbey, Istanbul September 1997″)


Collection of works on paper

The Bavarian State collection of work on paper has its origin in the Wittelsbach collections, especially in the print room collection of Charles Theodore, Elector of Bavaria.
The ground floor shows alternating exhibitions of one of the most important collection of works on paper in Germany, with old German, Dutch and Italian drawings ( including masterpieces of Albrecht Dürer, Rembrandt, Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci ) and German and international drawings of the 19th - 21st century, e.g. from Paul Cezanne, Henri Matisse, Paul Klee and David Hockney.


Museum for architecture

The museum of the Technical University of Munich started with a donation of King Ludwig II of Bavaria for the newly-founded university in 1868 and is today the largest one in Germany. The museum shows altering exhibitions in the ground floor. The collection shows especially drawings, blueprints, photographs, models and computer animations about the work of notable architects like François de Cuvilliés, Balthasar Neumann, Gottfried Semper, Le Corbusier, and Günther Behnisch.


Collection of design

The Collection of applied modernist art was founded in 1925. With around 70.000 objects of industrial design, graphic design and the arts and crafts the “Neue Sammlung” is today one of the world’s leading museums of 20th century applied art, and indeed the largest of industrial design. Parts of the expanded collection are exhibited in the basement of the Pinakothek der Moderne. Among others objects about motor vehicle design, computer culture, design of artistic jewelry and furnitures (e.g. the collection of chairs of Michael Thonet) are exhibited.


External links

  • Pinakothek der Moderne - Homepage
  • Panorama Pinakothek der Moderne
  • Architekturmuseum - Homepage
  • Design Collection - Homepage


Gallery

Information

Double figure eight bend

Tuesday, March 25th, 2008

The double figure eight bend is a strong bend, used for joining two ropes of similar sizes. To make it, first tie a loose figure eight in the end of one of the ropes, then retrace it, starting from the working end, using the second rope. This bend lays flat and does not slip easily.

Information

J. Brendan Ryan

Tuesday, March 25th, 2008

J. Brendan Ryan is the Chairman of Foote, Cone & Belding Worldwide (FCB), responsible for all worldwide operations of the advertising agency. Founded in 1873, FCB is the world’s second oldest advertising agency, with operations in 110 countries, and is the largest agency in the United States. FCB clients include Boeing, Hewlett-Packard, Kraft Foods, Merck, Samsung, S.C. Johnson and Yum! Brands.

Ryan joined FCB in 1991 as President and CEO of FCB New York. Under his leadership, FCB New York’s billings doubled to surpass $1 billion. In 1996, he was promoted to Chairman and CEO of FCB Worldwide. In 2004, Steve Blamer assumed the responsibilities of CEO and Ryan continues in his role as FCB’s Chairman.

Prior to FCB, Ryan built a stellar 14-year career at Ogilvy & Mather. He served in a variety of senior posts including head of the New York office and executive vice president, executive director of client services worldwide. He came to international prominence for his work as Ogilvy & Mather’s executive director for all global activities on the American Express and Kraft Foods accounts.

Earlier, Ryan spent nearly a decade in product management at General Foods. He also served as vice president of marketing at Citibank.

Ryan graduated from Regis High School in Manhattan and holds a B.A. in history from Fordham University and an M.B.A. from Wharton.

Information

Superimposition

Tuesday, March 25th, 2008

In graphics, superimposition is the placement of an image or video on top of an already-existing image or video, usually to add to the overall image effect, but also sometimes to conceal something (such as when a different face is superimposed over the original face in a photograph). This technique is used to produce photomaps by superimposing aerial photographs over grid lines, contours and other normal mapping features.

Superimposition of 2D images containing correlated periodic grid structures may produce moiré patterns. Superimposition of two correlated layers comprising parallel lines or curves may give rise line moiré patterns. The movement of one of the layers results in a faster movement of the line moiré superimposition image. Such optical acceleration is known as moiré speedup (check for the formulas of optical speedup for curved patterns). When superimposing two identical layers comprising randomly spaced parallel lines, at a small angle or with a small scaling difference random line moiré patterns, namely line Glass patterns (after Leon Glass, 1969) appear. Similarly, when superimposing two identical layers of randomly scattered dots at a small angle or with a small scaling difference random dot Glass patterns, namely random dot moiré, appears. When one of the layers embeds complex shapes, such as sequences of symbols forming a text, and another layer contains parallel lines or curves, the superimposition image may gives rise to magnified shapes, called shape moiré patterns.


In orgone energy physics

Albeit still considered pseudoscience by most of academia, superimposition of two orgone energy waves (”Kreiselwelle”) is purported to result in the manifestation of matter,Reich, Wilhelm (1949), Ether, God and Devil, p.126. Orgone Institute Press, New York, NY and furthermore how superimposition of two orgone energy streams - demonstrable in the human genital embrace and in the formation of spiral galaxies - is the common functioning principle in all of nature.


References

Information

Wood pylon

Monday, March 24th, 2008

A wood pylon is an electricity pylon made of wood. For support pylons a straight trunk impregnated with tar is usually used, which carries one or more cross beams with the conductor cables on the top. For anchor pylons constructions looking like a V or an A are used, because these can stand higher forces.

Because of the limited height of available trees the maximum height of wood pylons is limited (approx. 30 metres). In Germany wood pylons are used as a rule only for lines with voltages up to approximately 30 kV, while in the U.S. wood pylons are used for lines with voltages up to 345 kV.

Information

Masciaghi

Monday, March 24th, 2008

F.lli Masciaghi Bicycles is a large, state of the art manufacturer, located outside Milan, Italy, selling more than $45 million (US) worth of bicycles in 1997. The company began in 1967 as the proverbial garage business, teaming up with Giovanni Pellizzoli in 1990 to manufacture and sell the Fausto Coppi line of frames. They utilize Columbus steel and aluminum tubing for their frames.

Information

Karl Blind

Monday, March 24th, 2008

Karl Blind (born 1826) was a German revolutionist and journalist, born at Mannheim.

Blind took part in the risings of 1848. He was sentenced to prison in consequence of a pamphlet he wrote entitled “German Hunger and German Princes,” but he was rescued by the mob.

He found refuge in England, where he interested himself in democratic movements, and cultivated his literary as well as his political proclivities by contributing to magazines, and otherwise.

Information

Process-based management

Monday, March 24th, 2008

Process-based management is a management approach that governs the mindset and actions in an organization. It is a philosophy of how an organization manages its operations, aligned with and supported by the vision, mission and values of the organization. The process is the basis on which decisions are made and actions are taken. It is oriented toward achieving a vision rather than targeting specific activities and tasks of individual functions.

The general process is that the vision determines the necessary strategy, structure and human resource requirements for the organisation. It can also be used on the project management level in that a clear vision of a project defines the strategy, structure and resources required to achieve success. The project process continues with the implementation of the tasks and activities required to achieve the vision.

Information

Table service

Sunday, March 23rd, 2008

Table service is a form of service in restaurants, pubs, and bars where food or drinks are served to the customer’s table. This is compared with counter service where service is provided at the counter.

Table service is the norm in most restaurants, while for some fast food restaurants counter service is the common form. For pubs and bars, table service is the norm in the United States whereas counter service is the norm in the United Kingdom.

With table service, the customer generally pays just before leaving rather on the delivery of the food or drink.

Various grades of table service can be provided, the highest standard being silver service.


See also

  • Waiter or Waitress, a person who provides table service

Information

Code amber alert (London Underground)

Saturday, March 22nd, 2008

On the London Underground system, a code amber alert involves all trains stopping at the next station and letting the passengers off. Code amber alerts occurred in response to both the 7 July and 21 July 2005 London bombings.

A code red alert is the next step in severity, where all trains stop wherever they are in the system.

Information

Baltia shawi

Saturday, March 22nd, 2008

Shaw’s Dwarf , Baltia shawi is a small butterfly of the Family Pieridae, that is, the Yellows and Whites, which is found at high altitudes in Central Asia.


Description

See glossary for terms used

Male on upperside is pale white; base of wings irrorated with black scales. Forewing: costal margin very narrowly yellowish, costal and subcostal veins irrorated with black scales, a discocellular elongate oblique black spot; a narrowly sub-triangular short oblique pre-apical black bar, its apex downwards, and a series of inwardly triangular black spots on the termen, these narrow posteriorly and reach from the apex of wing to vein 1. Hind wing: uniform, the irroration of black scales more extended than on the fore wing.

Underside: forewing white; costa and apex irrorated with black scales, the costa and termen margined with a line of pinkish yellow; the black diseocellular spot, the black preapical bar and terminal series of black spots much as on the upperside, but the last is ill-defined, somewhat diffuse at apex and does not descend below vein 3. Hind wing: white with a dull pinkish tinge all over; the whole surface irroratod with black scales that form a broad elongate patch on posterior half of the wing and an obscure curved macular discal band beyond the cell; disco-cellulars defined with black.

Female differs from the male as follows:—
Upperside: somewhat thickly irrorated all over with black scales. Fore wing with the discocellular black spot and terminal series of inwardly-pointed triangular black spots as in the male, but the latter more complete, extends from apex to tornus, the spots are larger and there is no pre-apical bar, out a complete, outwardly dentate, curved discal black band that crosses the wing from costa to dorsum. Hind wing: the irroration of black scales very dense in a broad patch posteriorly, and so arranged as to form a curved macular discal band. Underside similar to that of the male, but on the fore wing there is a complete terminal series of inwardly triangular black spots and a complete, outwardly dentate, curved discal black band; while on the hind wing the irroration of black scales is more dense. In both sexes the antennae are white annulated with black, the club black; head whitish; thorax and abdomen fuscous black; beneath: head and thorax fuscous black, abdomen prominently white.Bingham, C. T. 1907. Fauna of British India. Butterflies. Volume 2.

Wing expanse 34-50 mm.

Recorded from the Karakoram Mountains at an elevation o£ 18,000 feet; found also in the Pamirs and Tibet.


See

also

  • List of butterflies of India (Pieridae)


References

Information

Cabin cruiser

Saturday, March 22nd, 2008

A cabin cruiser is a type of power boat that provides accommodation for its crew and passengers inside the structure of the craft. Online nautical sailing dictionary

A cabin cruiser usually ranges in size from 25 to 45 feet in length. [1]’Vessels Online’ These craft are generally equipped with a head (toilet), a galley, and at least one berth. Most cabin cruisers usually have a small dining area and an aft cabin (bed in the rear of the cabin). Some cabin cruisers are equipped with heating, air conditioning, and power generators. Most also have water heaters and shore power electric systems.

Most newer cabin cruisers are faster than older models because of improved aerodynamic and hydrodynamic designs. Cabin cruisers are generally able to handle the water well because of their size and give a stable ride. They are generally spacious in the cockpit (open seating area towards the aft).

In the UK purpose built cabin cruisers were popular on the canal network in the 1960s and 1970s. Leading manufacturers were Norman, Viking and Dawncraft.


References


See Also

  • Boat
  • Narrowboat

Information

Pressed wood

Saturday, March 22nd, 2008

Pressed wood is any engineered wood building and furniture construction material made from wood veneers, particles, or wood fibers bonded together with an adhesive under heat and pressure.


See also

  • Engineered wood
  • Fiberboard
  • Glued laminated timber
  • Hardboard
  • Masonite
  • Medium-density fiberboard
  • Oriented strand board
  • Particle board
  • Plywood

Information

Jake the Snake

Saturday, March 22nd, 2008

The nickname Jake the Snake may refer to:

  • Jake Butcher - A criminal
  • Jake Plummer - American football quarterback
  • Jake Roberts - American professional wrestler
  • “The Tale of Jake the Snake”, an episode of Are You Afraid of the Dark?

Jelcz

Friday, March 21st, 2008

Jelcz SA is the Polish producer of buses and trucks, located in Jelcz-Laskowice.


Products

  • City buses
  • Local buses
  • Intercity buses
  • School buses
  • Touring buses


External links

  • Company website


See also

  • Autosan
  • Solaris Bus & Coach

Information

Front pointing

Friday, March 21st, 2008

Front pointing is a fundamental technique in mountaineering and ice climbing. It is accomplished through the use of crampons with two front-slanting points or spikes, which allow traction to be concentrated at the toe of the climber’s boots.

Due to the added stress and tiring effect on the legs, climbers who regularly use this technique will wear rigid crampons, or stiff mountaineering boots, versus the hinged variety used for more general mountaineering on steep snow slopes or glaciers.

Information

Ditech

Friday, March 21st, 2008

Ditech is a lender, offering mortgages and lines of credit as a member of the General Motors family of companies, specifically General Motors Acceptance Corporation (GMAC). The company’s name is a portmanteau derived from the phrase Direct Technology.http://www.ditech.com/about/index/history.html Ditech is a business unit of GMAC Mortgage. Their past commercials starring actor Ron Michaelson have been well known for their comedic elements and catch phrase “Lost another loan to Ditech!“, which has entered the U.S. lexicon and blogosphere. Current commercials feature an alternate approach, usually including a sole representative offering an individual pitch to prospective borrowers.

Ditech was founded in 1995 by J. Paul Reddam and is headquartered in Costa Mesa, CA. GMAC purchased the company in 1999.

Their most notable commercial involved a couple getting a mortgage from a bank; the banker brings out an enormously large stack of paperwork - upon remarking that the bank had “reduced” the amount of paperwork, the banker removes one page and says “There you go”. Ken Roberts Productions produced more than 160 commercials for Ditech from 1995-2007. Writer, Director, Ken Roberts created the Banker character and wrote the famous tag line “Lost Another One to Ditech” in 2000.

In May 2007, Ditech introduced a new marketing campaign, adding the tagline Home financing by GMAC to their logo in order build goodwill using a familiar name in the wake of the subprime meltdown, along with a new logo and advertising slogan, “People are smart”.


Popular Media

Ditech’s catch phrase was parodied in the March 4, 2006 episode of the comedic variety show Saturday Night Live. [1]


External links

  • Ditech Homepage


Notes

Information

What-not

Wednesday, March 19th, 2008

A What-not is a piece of furniture derived from the French tagre, which was exceedingly popular in England in the first three-quarters of the 19th century. It usually consists of slender uprights or pillars, supporting a series of shelves for holding china, ornaments or trifles of any kind, hence the allusive name. In its English form, although a convenient drawing-room receptacle, it was rarely beautiful. The early mahogany examples are, however, sometimes graceful in their simplicity.


References

Information

Garden of Ridván, Baghdad

Wednesday, March 19th, 2008
This article refers to the garden in Baghdad. See disambiguation for other uses.

The Garden of Ridván (lit. garden of paradise) is located just outside Baghdad, over the Tigris river.

This is the location where Bahá’u'lláh, founder of the Bahá’í Faith stayed for twelve days from April 21st to May 2nd of 1863 after the Ottoman Empire exiled him from Baghdad and before commencing his journey to Constantinople. During his stay, Bahá’u'lláh announced to his followers that he was the messianic figure of He whom God shall make manifest whose coming had been foretold by the Báb.

The garden was previously known as the Najibiyyíh Garden, and only subsequent to Bahá’u'lláh’s declaration, was it designated by his followers as the Garden of Ridván. The twelve days that Bahá’u'lláh spent there are celebrated by

Middle term

Tuesday, March 18th, 2008

The middle term is the term that occurs in both premises (but not in the conclusion) of a categorical syllogism. The other two terms, called the end terms are the major term and minor term, which do appear in the conclusion.

Example:

Major premise: All men are mortal.
Minor premise: Socrates is a man.
Conclusion: Socrates is mortal.

The middle term is bolded above.

Scurrilous

Tuesday, March 18th, 2008
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Huang’s Algorithm

Tuesday, March 18th, 2008

Huang’s Algorithm is an algorithm for detecting termination in a distributed system. The algorithm was proposed by Shing-Tsaan Huang in 1989 in the Journal of Computers.


Termination Detection

The basis of termination detection is in the concept of a distributed system process’ state. At any time, a process in a distributed system is either in an active state or in an idle state. An active process may become idle at any time but an idle process may only become active again upon receiving a computational message.

Termination occurs when all processes in the distributed system becomes idle and there are no computational messages in transit.


Algorithm

Huang’s Algorithm can be described by the following:

  • Initially all processes are idle.
  • A distributed task is started by a process sending a computational message to another process. This initial process to send the message is the “controlling agent”.
    • The initial weight of the controlling agent is <math>w</math> (usually 1).
  • The following rules are applied throughout the computation:
    • A process sending a message splits its current weight between itself and the message.
    • A process receiving a message adds the weight of the message to itself.
    • Upon becoming idle, a process sends a message containing its entire weight back to the controlling agent.
    • Termination occurs when the controlling agent has a weight of <math>w</math> and is in the idle state.

Some weaknesses to Huang’s Algorithm are that it is unable to detect termination if a message is lost in transit or if a process fails while in an active state.


See also

Dijkstra-Scholten Algorithm

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