Wednesday, November 14, 2007

The real facts about Earth

Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the fifth largest of the planet. Earth is the only planet whose English name does not originate from Greek/Roman mythology. The name derives from Old English and Germanic.

Earth, for sure, can be studied without the aid of spacecraft. However it was not until the twentieth century that we had maps of the complete planet. Pictures of the planet taken from space are of significant importance; for instance, they are a huge help in weather prediction and especially in tracking and predicting hurricanes. And they are amazingly beautiful. The Earth's magnetic field and its relations with the solar wind also generate the Van Allen emission belts, a pair of doughnut shaped rings of ionized gas (or plasma) trapped in orbit just about the Earth. The outer belt stretches from 19,000 km in altitude to 41,000 km; the inner belt lies involving 13,000 km and 7,600 km in altitude.

The Earth's surface is extremely young. In the relatively short (by astronomical standards) time of 500,000,000 years or so erosion and tectonic processes destroy and remake most of the Earth's surface and thus eliminate almost all traces of earlier geologic surface history (such as impact craters). Thus the very early on history of the Earth has mostly been erased. The Earth is 4.5 to 4.6 billion years old, but the oldest recognized rocks are about 4 billion years old and rocks older than 3 billion years are rare. The oldest fossils of existing organisms are less than 3.9 billion years old. There is no evidence of the critical period when life was first getting in progress.

The Earth's atmosphere is 77% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, with draws of argon, carbon dioxide and water. There was perhaps a very much larger amount of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere when the Earth was first created, but it has since been nearly all incorporated into carbonate rocks and to a smaller extent dissolved into the oceans and consumed by living plants. Plate tectonics and biological processes now keep a repeated flow of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to these various "sinks" and back over again. The small amount of carbon dioxide occupant in the atmosphere at any time is very important to the maintenance of the Earth's surface temperature through the greenhouse effect. The greenhouse effect raises the average surface temperature regarding 35 degrees C above what it would if not be (from a frigid -21 C to a comfortable +14 C); without it the oceans would freeze and life as we know it would be impossible.

Sunday, October 28, 2007

People

People are a group of humans, either with not mentioned traits, or specific characteristics (e.g. the people of Spain or the people of the Plains).
The term people is often used in English as the suppletive plural of person. However, the word persons is sometimes used in place of people, particularly when it would be ambiguous with its collective sense (e.g. missing persons instead of missing people). The term people can together refer to all humans or it can be used to identify the citizens of a nation, or members of a tribe, ethnic, or religious group. People of color is a phrase used to describe people with skin color darker than that of white people.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Theism and Deism of God:

Theism holds that God exists practically, objectively, and separately of human thought; that God created and sustains the whole lot; that God is all-powerful and eternal, and is personal, interested and answers wish or prayer. It holds that God is both inspiring and immanent; thus, God is all together endless and in some way present in the affairs of the world. Catholic theology holds that God is noticeably simple and is not against your will subject to time. Most theists hold that God is supreme, omniscient, and benevolent, although this belief raises questions about God's responsibility for evil and suffering in the world. Some theists ascribe to God a self-conscious or determined limiting of all-powerfulness, omniscience, or benevolence. Open Theism, by compare, asserts that, due to the nature of time, God's omniscience does not signify the deity can predict the future. "Theism" is sometimes used to refer generally to any belief in a god or gods, i.e., monotheism or polytheism.

Deism holds that God is completely transcendent: God exists, but does not intercede in the world beyond what was essential to create it. In this view, God is not anthropomorphic, and does not factually answer prayers or cause miracles to happen. Common in Deism is a faith that God has no interest in humanity and may not even be conscious of humanity.

Tuesday, October 09, 2007

Butter chicken

Butter chicken or murgh makhani is an Indian dish accepted in countries all over the world that have a tradition of Indian restaurants. While the dish's general recipe is well known, the actual flavour can differ from restaurant to restaurant even within Delhi. Butter chicken is usually served with naan, roti, parathas or steamed rice.

It is a dish prepared by marinating a chicken overnight in a yoghurt and spice mixture usually together with garam masala, ginger, lemon or lime, pepper, coriander, cumin, turmeric, chilli, methi and garlic. It is in various ways like to chicken tikka masala. The chicken is then roasted or dry as a bone.

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Bay of Bengal

The Bay of Bengal is a bay that forms the northeastern ingredient of the Indian Ocean. It resembles a triangle in form, and is bordered on the east by Malay Peninsula, and on the west by India. On the northern pour of the "bay" lies the Bengal region, comprising the Indian state of West Bengal and the country of Bangladesh, thus the name. The southern extremes arrive at the island country of Sri Lanka, and the Indian Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Dot matrix printer

Not like a typewriter or daisy wheel printer, letters are drawn out of a dot matrix, and thus, varied fonts and arbitrary graphics can be produced. Because the printing involves mechanical pressure, these printers can create carbon copies and carbonless copies. A dot matrix printer or impact matrix printer refers to a type of computer printer with a print head that runs back and forth on the page and prints by impact, striking an ink-soaked cloth ribbon against the paper, much like a typewriter.

Each dot is produced by a tiny metal rod, also called a "wire" or "pin", which uses the power of a tiny electromagnet or solenoid to drive it forward, either directly or through small levers. Facing the ribbon and the paper is a small guide plate pierced with holes to serve as guides for the pins. The moving portion of the printer is called the print head, and prints one line of text at a time. Most dot matrix printers have a single vertical line of dot-making equipment on their print heads; others have a few interleaved rows in order to improve dot density.
These machines can be highly hard-wearing, but eventually wear out. Ink invades the guide plate of the print head, causing grit to adhere to it; this grit slowly causes the channels in the guide plate to wear from circles into ovals or slots, given that less and less accurate guidance to the printing wires. After about a million characters, even with tungsten blocks and titanium pawls, the printing becomes too indistinct to read.

Thursday, September 06, 2007

Sandstones

Sandstone is an arenaceous sedimentary rock composed mostly of feldspar and quartz and varies in colour (in a similar way to sand), through grey, yellow, red, and white. Since sandstones often form extremely visible cliffs and other rock formations, certain colors of sandstone may be strongly identified with certain regions. For instance, much of the North American West is familiar for its red sandstones.

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Salad

Salad is a light meal — or, as part of a larger meal, much more of an taster — consisting of mixed vegetables (usually including at least one leaf vegetable) or fruit, frequently with a dressing or sauce, occasionally nuts and sometimes with the addition of meat, fish or cheese. It is generally seen as a healthy dish, although not always low in calories, salt, sugar, or fat because of the dressing that is often added.The word "salad" comes from the French salade of the same meaning, which in twist is from the Latin salata, "salty", from sal, "salt".

Monday, August 13, 2007

Mainframes

Mainframes (often colloquially referred to as big iron) are huge and expensive computers used mainly by government institutions and large companies for mission critical applications, usually bulk data processing such as censuses, industry/consumer statistics, ERP, and financial transaction processing.
The term originated during the early 1970s with the introduction of smaller, fewer complex computers such as the DEC PDP-8 and PDP-11 series, which became known as minicomputers or just minis. The industry/users then coined the term "mainframe" to describe bigger, earlier types (previously known simply as "computers").

Monday, July 30, 2007

Microcomputer

A microcomputer is mainly often taken to mean a computer with a microprocessor (µP) as its CPU. Another general characteristic of these computers is that they take up physically small amounts of space.Desktop computers, video game consoles, laptop computers, tablet PCs, and a lot of handheld devices may all be considered examples of microcomputers.Most microcomputers serve only a single user at a time, but some, in the form of PCs and workstations running e.g. a UNIX(-like) operating system, may cater to a number of users concurrently. The µP does the majority of the job of calculating on and manipulating data that all computers do.

Monday, July 23, 2007

Lighthouse of Alexandria

The Pharos of Alexandria was a big tower built in the 3rd century BC (between 285 and 247 BC) on the island of Pharos in Alexandria, Egypt to give out as that port's landmark, and later, its lighthouse.With a height variously estimated at between 115 and 150 meters (383 - 450 ft) it was among the tallest man-made structures on Earth for many centuries, and was recognized as one of the Seven Wonders of the World by Antipater of Sidon. It was the third tallest building after the two Great Pyramids (of Khufu and Khafra) for its whole life. Some scientists approximate a much taller height exceeding 180 metres that would make the tower the tallest building up to the 14th century.

Monday, July 16, 2007

Butter chicken

Butter chicken or murgh makhani is an Indian dish accepted in countries all over the world that have a tradition of Indian restaurants. While the dish's general recipe is well known, the actual flavour can differ from restaurant to restaurant even within Delhi. Butter chicken is usually served with naan, roti, parathas or steamed rice.

It is a dish prepared by marinating a chicken overnight in a yoghurt and spice mixture usually together with garam masala, ginger, lemon or lime, pepper, coriander, cumin, turmeric, chilli, methi and garlic. It is in various ways like to chicken tikka masala. The chicken is then roasted or dry as a bone.

Monday, July 09, 2007

A Personal portal

A Personal portal is a site on the World Wide Web that characteristically provides personalized capabilities to its visitors, given that a pathway to other content. It is intended to use distributed applications, different numbers and types of middleware and hardware to provide services from a number of different sources. In addition, business portals are intended to share collaboration in workplaces. A further business-driven requirement of portals is that the content be able to work on multiple platforms such as personal computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and cell phones.

Thursday, July 05, 2007

Web proxy

Proxies that hub on WWW traffic are called web proxies. Many web proxies try to block offensive web content. Other web proxies reformat web pages for an exact purpose or audience (e.g., cell phones and PDAs or persons with disabilities). Network operators can also set up proxies to intercept computer viruses and other hostile content served from remote web pages.

Many organizations — including schools, corporations, and countries — use proxy servers to implement acceptable network use policies or to provide security, anti-malware and/or caching services. A traditional web proxy is not translucent to the client application, which must be configured to use the proxy (manually or with a configuration script). In some cases, where substitute means of connection to the Internet are available ,the user may be able to avoid policy control by simply resetting the client configuration and bypassing the proxy. Furthermore administration of browser configuration can be a load for network administrators.

Sunday, July 01, 2007

Goldfish

The goldfish, Carassius auratus, was one of the earliest fish to be domesticated, and is still one of the most usually kept aquarium fish and water gardens. A comparatively small member of the carp family ,which also includes the koi carp and the crucian carp, the goldfish is a domesticated version of a dark-gray/brown carp native to East Asia that was introduced to Europe in the late 17th century. The mutation that gave rise to the goldfish is also known from other cyprinid species, such as common carp and tench. Goldfish may grow to a maximum length of 23 inches (59 cm) and a maximum weight of 9.9 pounds (4.5 kg), although this is rare; few goldfish reach even half this size. In optimal conditions, goldfish may live more than 20 years (the world record is 49 years), but most household goldfish generally live only six to eight years, due to being kept in bowls.A group of goldfish is known as a troubling.

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

ARM

The ARM architecture (Advanced RISC Machine or Acorn RISC Machine) is a 32-bit RISC processor architecture developed by ARM Limited that is widely used in a number of embedded designs. Due to their power saving features, ARM CPUs are dominant in the mobile electronics market, where low power consumption is a critical design goal.

Today, the ARM family accounts for over 75% of all 32-bit embedded CPUs, making it one of the most prolific 32-bit architectures in the world. ARM CPUs are found in all corners of consumer electronics, from portable devices to computer peripherals. Important branches in this family include Marvell's XScale and the Texas Instruments OMAP series.

Sunday, June 24, 2007

Freshwater prawn farm

A freshwater prawn farm is an aquaculture business designed to raise and produce freshwater prawn or shrimp1 for human consumption. Freshwater prawn farming shares many characteristics with, and many of the same problems as, marine shrimp farming. Unique problems are introduced by the developmental life cycle of the main species
The global annual production of freshwater prawns (excluding crayfish and crabs) in 2003 was about 280,000 tons, of which China produced some 180,000 tons, followed by India and Thailand with some 35,000 tons each. Additionally, China produced about 370,000 tons of Chinese river crab

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Shrimp fishery

A shrimp fishery is a fishery directed toward harvesting either shrimp or prawns. Fisheries do not usually differentiate between the two taxa, and the terms are used interchangeably. This article therefore refers to the catching of either shrimp or prawns.

A number of the larger species, including the Atlantic white shrimp (Penaeus setiferus), are caught commercially and used for food. Recipes utilizing shrimp form part of the cuisine of many cultures: examples include jambalaya, okonomiyaki, poon choi, bagoong, Kerala and scampi.
Preparing shrimp for consumption usually involves removing the shell, tail, and "sand vein". As with other seafood, shrimp is high in calcium, protein and low in food energy.
Shrimp and prawns are versatile ingredients, and are often used as an accompaniment to fried rice. Common methods of preparation comprise baking, boiling and frying. As stated in the movie Forrest Gump

Friday, June 15, 2007

Dry foods

Flake food is a type of proprietary or artificially manufactured fish food inspired by a wide variety of tropical and saltwater fish and invertebrates. It is ideally suited to top dwellers and mid-water fish though numerous bottom dwelling species consume flake food once it has settled on the bottom. Flake food is baked to remove moisture and create the flaking, thus allowing for a longer shelf life. Generally the more moisture a particular example of fish food contains, the more readily it will deteriorate in quality.Dry foods is also available as pellets, sticks, tablets, granules, and wafers, manufactured to float or sink, depending on the species they are designed to feed.

Monday, June 11, 2007

Butterfly Koi

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

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

Thursday, June 07, 2007

Blue rose

Since roses lack a gene to create delphinidin, the primary plant pigment that produces true blue flowers, blue roses were usually created by dyeing white roses. So-called "blue roses" have been breed by conventional hybridization methods, but the results, such as "Blue Moon" are more precisely described as lilac in color. However, after 13 years of joint research by an Australian company Florigene, and Japanese company Suntory, a blue rose was formed in 2004 by genetic engineering. The delphinidin gene was cloned from the petunia and inserted into a mauve-blend rose, the Old Garden Rose 'Cardinal de Richelieu.' (a Rosa gallica) However, since the pigment cyanidin was still present, the rose was more dark burgundy than true blue. Further work on the rose using RNAi technology to depress the production of cyanidin produced a very dark mauve plant, with only trace amounts of cyanidin.

Blue roses conventionally signify mystery or attaining the impossible. They are supposed to be able to grant the owner youth or grant wishes. This symbolism derives from the rose's meaning in the language of plants common in Victorian times.

Friday, June 01, 2007

Prevention

In medicine, prevention is any action which reduces the burden of mortality or morbidity from disease. This takes place at primary, secondary and tertiary prevention levels.

Primary prevention avoids the development of a disease. Most population-based health support activities are primary preventive measures.
Secondary prevention activities are aimed at early disease detection, thereby increasing opportunities for interventions to prevent progression of the disease and emergence of symptoms.
Tertiary prevention reduces the negative impact of an already recognized disease by restoring function and reducing disease-related complications.

Monday, May 28, 2007

People

People are a group of humans, either with not mentioned traits, or specific characteristics (e.g. the people of Spain or the people of the Plains).
The term people is often used in English as the suppletive plural of person. However, the word persons is sometimes used in place of people, particularly when it would be ambiguous with its collective sense (e.g. missing persons instead of missing people). The term people can together refer to all humans or it can be used to identify the citizens of a nation, or members of a tribe, ethnic, or religious group. People of color is a phrase used to describe people with skin color darker than that of white people.

People

People are a group of humans, either with not mentioned traits, or specific characteristics (e.g. the people of Spain or the people of the Plains).
The term people is often used in English as the suppletive plural of person. However, the word persons is sometimes used in place of people, particularly when it would be ambiguous with its collective sense (e.g. missing persons instead of missing people). The term people can together refer to all humans or it can be used to identify the citizens of a nation, or members of a tribe, ethnic, or religious group. People of color is a phrase used to describe people with skin color darker than that of white people.

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Nutrients in food

Between the extremes of optimal health and death from starvation or malnutrition, there is an array of disease states that can be caused or alleviated by changes in diet. Deficiencies, excesses and imbalances in diet can produce negative impacts on health, which may lead to diseases such as scurvy, obesity or osteoporosis, as well as psychological and behavioral problems. The science of nutrition attempts to understand how and why specific dietary aspects influence health.

Nutrients in food are grouped into several categories. Macronutrients means fat, protein, and carbohydrates. Micronutrients are the minerals and vitamins. Additionally food contains water and dietary fiber.

Sunday, May 20, 2007

Historical and Stylistic Clock face

Before progress the late 15th century, a fixed hand indicated the hour by pointing to revolving numbers. Minute hands only came into use in the late 17th century after the creation of the pendulum allowable for amplified precision in time telling. Until the last quarter of the 17th century hour markings were imprinted into metal faces and the recesses filled with black wax. Subsequently, higher contrast and enhanced readability was achieved with white enamel plaques painted with black numbers. Initially, the numbers were printed on small, individual plaques mounted on a brass substructure. This was not a stylistic decision; rather enamel production technology had not yet achieved the ability to create large pieces of enamel. The "13 piece face" was an early attempt to create an entirely white enamel face. As the name suggests, it was composed of 13 enamel plaques: 12 numbered wedges fitted around a circle. The first single portion enamel faces, not unlike those in production today, began to appear c. 1735.

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

ARM

The ARM architecture (Advanced RISC Machine or Acorn RISC Machine) is a 32-bit RISC processor architecture developed by ARM Limited that is widely used in a number of embedded designs. Due to their power saving features, ARM CPUs are dominant in the mobile electronics market, where low power consumption is a critical design goal.

Today, the ARM family accounts for over 75% of all 32-bit embedded CPUs, making it one of the most prolific 32-bit architectures in the world. ARM CPUs are found in all corners of consumer electronics, from portable devices to computer peripherals. Important branches in this family include Marvell's XScale and the Texas Instruments OMAP series.

ARM

The ARM architecture (Advanced RISC Machine or Acorn RISC Machine) is a 32-bit RISC processor architecture developed by ARM Limited that is widely used in a number of embedded designs. Due to their power saving features, ARM CPUs are dominant in the mobile electronics market, where low power consumption is a critical design goal.

Today, the ARM family accounts for over 75% of all 32-bit embedded CPUs, making it one of the most prolific 32-bit architectures in the world. ARM CPUs are found in all corners of consumer electronics, from portable devices to computer peripherals. Important branches in this family include Marvell's XScale and the Texas Instruments OMAP series.

Friday, May 11, 2007

Puppy

A puppy is a juvenile dog, usually less than one year of age. The term is sometimes abbreviated to pup, a term which is also used for the offspring of wolves.
Puppies are very playful and active. A lethargic or listless puppy is unusual, and often times a precursor to illness.

Types
Some breeds traditionally have their tails docked or ears cropped, or both. Many countries now ban cropping and docking for cosmetic purposes, but other countries have no such prohibitions. Some breeders favor to remove a dog's dewclaws to prevent future injuries. These procedures are usually performed within the first few days after birth, by a veterinarian, or by an experienced breeder.
Size varies among breeds, some puppies are 1-3lbs, while others are 15-20lbs. Coats can change color as the puppy grows older, this is commonly seen in breeds such as the Yorkshire Terrier.

Monday, May 07, 2007

Rhizome

In botany, a rhizome is a classically underground, horizontal stem of a plant that often sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Though a number species of plants have above ground rhizomes or rhizomes that sit at the soil surface with some Iris species. Rhizomes may also be referred to as creeping rootstalks, or rootstocks. A stolon is like to a rhizome, sprouting from an existing stem with long internodes and generating new shoots at the end. Rhizomes have short internodes noramly with papery leaves at the nodes, they root at the underside and form green shoots at the apex.
Many plants have rhizomes that serve to spread the plant by vegetative reproduction. Examples of plants that do this are asparagus, ginger, irises, Lily of the Valley, Cannas and sympodial orchids. The spreading stems of ferns are also called rhizomes.
A tuber is a thickened part of a stolon or root that has been enlarged for use as a storage organ.They are classically high in starch. An example of a tuber is the common potatoa modified stolon. Thought the term tuber is frequently used impresicly and some times applied to plants with rhizomes.

Wednesday, May 02, 2007

Door

A door is a makeup in a wall that allows easy transformation between an opening and a closed wall. It is establish in many houses and other buildings: internal ones, doors giving access to the street/external world, and doors to private outdoor areas such as a garden or balcony. In an apartment building, an midway kind is the outer door of an apartment, inside the building.
History
The first records are those represented in the paintings of the Egyptian tombs, in which they are shown as single or double doors, each in a single piece of wood. In Egypt, where the climate is intensely dry, there would be no fear of their warping, but in other countries it would be necessary to frame them, which according to Vitruvius was done with stiles and rails: the spaces enclosed being filled with panels let into grooves made in the stiles and rails. The stiles were the vertical boards, one of which, tenoned or hinged, is known as the hanging stile, the other as the middle or meeting stile. The horizontal cross pieces are the top rail, bottom rail, and middle or intermediate rails. The most ancient doors were in timber, those made for King Solomon's temple being in olive wood, which were fixed and overlaid with gold. The doors dwelt upon in Homer would appear to have been cased in silver or brass. Besides Olive wood, elm, cedar, oak and cypress were used.

All ancient doors were hung by pivots at the top and bottom of the hanging stile which worked in sockets in the lintel and cill, the final being always in some hard stone such as basalt or granite. Those found at Nippur by Dr. Hilprecht, dating from 2000 B.C. were in dolorite. The tenons of the gates at Balawat were covered with bronze. These doors or gates were hung in two leaves, each about 8 ft.4 in. wide and 27 ft. high; they were enclosed with bronze bands or strips, 10 in. high, covered with repouss embellishment of figures, etc. The wood doors would seem to have been about 3 in. thick, but the hanging stile was over 14 inches diameter. Other sheathings of various sizes in bust have been found, which proves this to have been the universal method adopted to protect the wood pivots. In the Hauran in Syria, where timber is scarce the doors were made in stone, and one measuring 5 ft. 4 in. by 2 ft. 7 in. is in the British Museum; the band on the meeting stile shows that it was one of the leaves of a double door. At Kuffeir near Bostra in Syria, Burckhardt found stone doors, 9 to 10 ft. high, being the entrance doors of the town. In Etruria many stone doors are referred to by Dennis.

Sunday, April 29, 2007

Asian Paradise Flycatcher

The Asian Paradise Flycatcher, also known as the Common Paradise Flycatcher, is a medium-sized passerine bird. It was before classified with the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae, but the paradise flycatchers, monarch flycatchers and Australasian fantails are now usually grouped with the drongos in the family Dicruridae, which has most of its members in Australasia and steamy southern Asia.

The Asian Paradise Flycatcher breeds from Turkistan to Manchuria. It is migratory, wintering in steamy Asia. There are occupant populations further south, for example in southern India and Sri Lanka, so both visiting migrants and the locally breeding subspecies occur in these areas in winter.
This species is usually found in thick forests and other well-wooded habitats. Three or four eggs are laid in a cup nest in a tree.
The adult male Asian Paradise Flycatcher is about 20 cm long, but the long tail bunting double this. It has a black crested head, chestnut upperparts and pale grey underpants.
By their second year, the males of the migratory Indian race T. p. paradise begin to obtain white feathers. By the third year, the male plumage is completely white, other than the black head. Males of the sedentary Sri Lankan race T. p. Ceylonese’s are always chestnut.
The female of all races resembles the old joke male, but has a grey throat, smaller crest and lacks the tail streamers.

Monday, April 23, 2007

Brown Thrasher

The Brown Thrasher is a common type of thrasher, part of a family of New World birds that includes New World catbirds and mockingbirds.The Brown Thrasher is, as the name suggests, mostly brown or reddish-brown on top of, with a white breast and throat streaked with brown, and two white bars on each wing. It has a long tail, and its beak is also relatively large and somewhat curved. Adults average about 29 cm (11.5 in) in length.
It is difficult to see all this however, as the bird is a retiring type that prefers thickets and heavy brush, often searching for food in dry leaves on the ground. In fact, it is more probable to be heard than seen, not only because of the rattling of leaves, but also because of its call, a sharp lip-smacking type sound. This bird is omnivorous, eating insects, berries, nuts and seeds, as well as earthworms, snails and sometimes lizards.Its breeding variety includes the United States and Canada east of the Rocky Mountains. It is a partial migrant, with northern birds wintering in the southern USA, where it occurs all through the year. There is a single British record of this unlikely transatlantic vagrant.The female lays 3 to 5 eggs in a twiggy nest lined with grass. The nest is built in a dense shrub or low in a tree. Both parents incubate and feed the young. These
birds raise two, rarely three, broods in a year. The male sings a series of short recurring melodious phrases from an open perch to defend his territory and is also very aggressive in defending the nest.Although this bird is widespread and still common, it has declined in numbers in some areas due to loss of suitable habitat.The Brown Thrasher is the official state bird of Georgia, and the inspiration for the name of Atlanta's National Hockey League team, the Atlanta Thrashers.

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Street racing

Street racing is a form of auto racing that takes place on public roads, either through normal traffic or during empty hours of traffic, often inside the industrial areas of cities. It is illegal, as such driving is prohibited by many traffic regulations. Law enforcement officers attempt to stop these races, but because of the frequency of them, most of the time, the racers also are not caught or they get away. Speeds in an illegal street race can reach over 180 miles per hour and crashes can and do occur.

Monday, April 09, 2007

Transistor

The transistor is a solid state semiconductor device which can be used for amplification, switching, voltage stabilization, signal modulation and many other functions. It acts as a variable valve which, based on its input current (BJT) or input voltage (FET), allows a precise amount of current to flow through it from the circuit's voltage supply.
In essence, a transistor have three terminals. A current or voltage applied through/across two terminals controls a larger current through the other terminal and the common terminal. In analog circuits, transistors are used in amplifiers. Analog circuits comprise audio amplifiers, stabilised power supplies and radio frequency amplifiers. In digital circuits, transistors function basically as electrical switches. Digital circuits include logic gates, RAM (random access memory) and microprocessors.
Transistor was also the common name in the sixties for a transistor radio, a portable radio that used transistors (rather than vacuum tubes) as its active electronic components. This is still one of the dictionary definitions of transistor.

Thursday, April 05, 2007

Artistamp

Artistamp refers to a postage stamp-like artform. It is like to a Cinderella stamp, in that it is not valid for postage, but it differs from a forgery or a bogus stamp in that (typically) no intention is made to fool any post office or collector of stamps. The artistamp is intended to be a miniature artform which can depict or commemorate any subject its creator chooses.
Techniques for the creation of artistamps may or may not comprise perforating the boundaries of the piece to more resemble a (water-activated) stamp, as well as applying gum to the reverse side of the paper. (Self-adhesive artistamps have also been made, however, and indeed artistamps have been issued in practically every format in which postage stamps have been—including souvenir sheets, and perhaps more.) Whole sheets of such stamps are often made at one time. The artwork can be hand-drawn or painted, lithographed or offset-printed, photographed, xeroxed, rubber stamped, or even output by computer-driven printer.

Sunday, April 01, 2007

Rail transport

A railroad or railway is a guided means of land transport, intended to be used by trains, for transporting both passengers and freight. It consists of two parallel rails, usually made of steel, and wooden or concrete sleepers or ties that hold the rails precisely at the proper distance from each other. See Rail tracks
Rail transport is one of the most energy well-organized means of mechanised land transport known. The rails give very smooth and hard surfaces on which the wheels of the train may roll with a minimum of friction. This is more comfortable and saves energy. Trains also have a small frontal area in relation to the load they are carrying, which cuts down on air resistance and thus energy usage. In all, under the right circumstances, a train needs 50-70% less energy to transport a given tonnage of freight, than by road. Furthermore, together with the sleepers the rails share out the weight of the train evenly, allowing significantly greater loads per axle/wheel than in road transport.
Rail transport is also one of the safest modes of transport, and also makes a very efficient use of space: a double tracked rail line can carry more passengers or freight in a given amount of time, than a four-laned road.

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Croydon Airport

Croydon Airport is in south London on the borders of the London Boroughs of Croydon and Sutton. It was once the main airport for London, before it was replaced by Northolt Aerodrome, London Heathrow Airport and London Gatwick Airport.
It originated as two adjacent World War I airfields. Beddington Aerodrome, one of a number of small airfields around London which had been formed for protection against the Zeppelin raids in about May 1915, and Waddon Aerodrome of 1918, a test-flight aerodrome adjoining National Aircraft Factory No1.
At the end of that war, the two airfields were joint into London's official airport as the gateway for all international flights to and from the capital. Croydon Aerodrome opened on 29 March 1920.
It stimulated a increase in regular scheduled flights carrying passengers, mail and freight, the first destinations being Paris, Amsterdam and Rotterdam. In 1923 Berlin flights were added. It was the operating base for Imperial Airways - remembered in the road name Imperial Way on the site today.
In the mid 1920s, the airfield was extended, some adjacent roads being permanently closed to allow heavier airliners to land and depart safely. A new complex of buildings was constructed adjoining Purley Way, including the first purpose-designed air terminal in the world, the Aerodrome Hotel and extensive hangars, all opening on 2 May 1928.
The terminal building, the booking hall inside it with its gallery balustraded in the geometrical design typical of the period, and the Aerodrome hotel were all built in the Art Deco style of the 1920s and 1930s. A further item that caught the eye of visitor and traveller alike was the time zone tower in the booking hall with its dials depicting the times in different parts of the world.
The aerodrome was known the world over, its fame being spread by the many aviators and pioneers who touched down at Croydon.

Thursday, March 22, 2007

Longships

Longships, langskip or drakkar were boats used by the Scandinavians and Saxons for their raids on costal and inland settelments. They were the epitome of Scandinavian military power and ranked extremely as precious material possessions.
The longship was a long, narrow, light boat with shallow draft, with oars along approximately the entire length of the boat. Later versions sported a rectangular sail on a single mast to augment the rowers particularly during longer journeys. In combat the variabilily of wind power made rowers the chief means of propulsion. virtually all longships were clinker built and waterproofed by moss drenched in tar. The ship's low mass and shallow keel permitted navigation in waters just 1 meter deep, rapid beaching when landing on beaches, and portage over land.
Construction
Our best evidence for longship building comes from ship-burials. It was common in Viking society for kings to be buried under a long burial mound in a ship with rich possessions. The Oseberg ship burial in Norway and the Anglo Saxon longship of Sutton Hoo in England are both good examples.
Longships were extraordinarily narrow for their length compared to modern standards The main discovered longship (at Roskilde harbor) is 35m in length, and the longship from Hedeby harbour has the largest length/width proportion: 11.4 to 1. However, later longships, optimized for sailing, had lower ratios, often 1 to 7 or even 1 to 5.
In contrast, Scandinavian trade ships or knarrs were built deeper and broader to accommodate bulkier cargo, and were more reliant on sails. A similar relationship may be seen in Mediterranean galleys, which are now and then called longships as well, and their merchant vessels, which were roundships.
Rectangular sails made of wool strengthened by leather were introduced later. Under sail, longships were very fast, achieving speeds of 14 knots. They were also extremely seaworthy, but, being essentially open boats, not very habitable. However, this did not stop early Scandinavian explorers from discovering and settling in Iceland, Greenland, and Canada, all well before Christopher Columbus landed in the Bahamas in 1492.

Friday, March 16, 2007

Bell Telephone Company

Bell and others formed the Bell Telephone Company in July 1877. In 1879, it merged with the New England Telephone Company forming the National Telephone Company, which was renamed the American Bell Telephone Company in 1880. Along with Thomas Edison, Bell formed the Oriental Telephone Company on January 25, 1881. On March 3, 1885, American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) was formed to supervise the expanding long-distance business of the American Bell Telephone Company. AT&T became the overall investment company for all the Bell ventures, and remains active today.

Monday, March 12, 2007

Lake effect snow

Lake effect snow, which can be a kind of snowsquall, is produced in the winter when cold, arctic dry winds move across long expanses of warmer lake water, picking up water vapor which freezes and is deposited on the lee shores. This effect is improved when the moving air mass is uplifted by the orographic effect of higher elevations on the downwind shores. This uplifting can produce narrow, but very intense bands of precipitation, which deposit at a rate of many inches of snow each hour and often bringing copious snowfall totals. The areas affected by lake effect snow are called snowbelts. This effect occurs in many locations throughout the world, mostly in the Northern Hemisphere, but is best known in the populated areas of the Great Lakes of North America. The lake effect from the Great Salt Lake in Utah helps to create "The Greatest Snow on Earth". Since the Great Salt Lake never freezes, the lake effect can affect the weather along the Wasatch front year around.

If the air temperature is not low enough to keep the precipitation frozen, it falls as lake effect rain. In order for lake effect rain or snow to form, the moving air must be cooler and also less humid than the surface air. specially, the air temperature should be 15 to 25°C cooler than the water, and the dew point at the altitude where the air pressure is 850 mb should be 13°C lower than the dew point of the air at the surface. Lake effect of very cold air over still warm water in early winter can produce thundersnow, snow showers accompanied by lightning and thunder.

Wednesday, March 07, 2007

Chamundi Hills

The Chamundi Hills are situated in India, close to the palace city of Mysore. Its average elevation is 1,000 meters.
Legend has it that that the demon Mahishasura, the king of the area that is currently Mysore, was killed by the Goddess Chamundeswari (also Chamundi) after a fierce battle. The hills therefore got their name and a temple of the Goddess was built on the top. The temple has a very beautiful Idol of the Goddess tiring a garland of skulls. The temple has always been patronised by the rulers of Mysore. In earlier days, the Maharajas of Mysore would ride the ceremonial Dasara elephant during the annual Dasara festival, but after India gained independence, the Idol of Goddess Chamundi is taken on an elephant.
A panoramic view of the city is seen from the top of the hills. Among other landmarks, you can see the Race Course, the Lalitha Mahal palace, the Mysore Palace, the Karanji and Kukkarahalli lakes. At dusk, the view of the city is particularly beautiful, and on Sunday evenings and during the Dasara festival, the illuminated Mysore Palace glitters like gold.
There are steps important to the top of the hill. There are around 1,000 steps in all, and climbing the first 400 or so steps takes some effort. Enroute to the top, the steps pass the large monolithic statue of Nandi the Bull. Nandi is the vahana (Vehicle) of Lord Shiva. Climbing gets easier soon afterwards.
There are regular buses plying to the Chamundi hills from the central bus stand.
The top of the hill has a few attractions - the Mahishasura Statue, the Chamundeswari Temple, and a few other temples nearby. The Rajendra Vilas palace used to be a popular hotel earlier, but is now closed to the public. The palace is now being redone and provides a panaromic view of the Hill, Chamundi Temple and Mysore City.
Mysore got its name from the demon Mahishasura. It was earlier known as 'Mahisuru,' meaning Mahisha's city. slowly it came to be called Mysooru and later anglicised to Mysore. There is a demand and proposal of late that the name of city be changed from Mysore to Mysooru the original Indian form.

Friday, March 02, 2007

Classification of Integrated circuits

Integrated circuits can be classified into analog, digital and mixed signal (both analog and digital on the same chip).
Digital integrated circuits can have anything from a few thousand to millions of logic gates, flip-flops, multiplexers, and other circuits in a few square millimeters. The small size of these circuits allows high speed, low power dissipation, and reduced manufacturing cost compared with board-level integration. These digital ICs, classically microprocessors, DSPs, and micro controllers work using binary mathematics to process "one" and "zero" signals.
Analog ICs, such as sensors, power management circuits, and operational amplifiers, work by giving out continuous signals. They carry out functions like amplification, active filtering, demodulation, mixing, etc. Analog ICs ease the burden on circuit designers by having expertly designed analog circuits available instead of designing a hard analog circuit from scratch.
ICs can also combine analog and digital circuits on a single chip to generate functions such as A/D converters and D/A converters. Such circuits offer smaller size and lower cost, but must carefully account for signal interference

Monday, February 26, 2007

lollipop

A lollipop, or lolly, is a type of confectionery consisting mostly of hardened, flavoured sucrose with corn syrup mounted on a stick and intended for sucking or licking. In many regions of the United States, the term "sucker" is used interchangeably with or instead of "lollipop". In these areas, the term "lollipop" is frequently applied to candy that is disc-shaped, while "sucker" is applied to candy that is spherical. Lollipops come in a variety of flavors from cherry, grape and orange to watermelon and green apple. In Europe, particularly the Nordic countries, Germany and the Netherlands, salmiakki-flavoured lollipops are also available, but these are largely unknown to the USA. With numerous companies producing lollipops, the candy now comes in dozens of flavors.
They were first commercially manufactured on a large scale in the 1920s. Some lollipops contain fillings, such as bubble gum or Tootsie Rolls. Notable brand names include Chupa Chups and DumDums.
The origin of the lollipop has yet to be determined. Both Racine, Wisconsin and San Francisco, California, claim that they made the first automatic lollipop maker

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Bone

Bones are rigid organs that figure out the part of the endoskeleton of vertebrates. Bones job to move, support, and protect the body, produce red and white blood cells and store minerals. Bones come in a variety of shapes and have a complex internal and external structure, allowing them to be lightweight yet strong and hard, while fulfilling their many other functions. One of the types of tissues that makes up bones is the mineralized osseous tissue, also called bone tissue, that gives bones their rigidity and honeycomb-like three-dimensional inside structure. Other tissue types found in bones include marrow, the periosteum, nerves, blood vessels and cartilage.
There are five main functions of bones.
* Protection — Bones can serve to protect internal organs, such as the skull protecting the brain or the ribs protecting the abdomen.
* Shape — Bones provide a frame to keep the body supported.
* Blood production — The marrow, located within the medullary cavity of long bones and the interstices of cancellous bone, produces blood cells in a process called haematopoiesis.
* Mineral storage — Bones act as reserves of minerals important for the body, most notably calcium and phosphorus.
* Movement — Bones, skeletal muscles, tendons, ligaments and joints function together to generate and transfer forces so that individual body parts or the whole body can be manipulated in three-dimensional space. The interaction between bone and muscle is studied in biomechanics.

Thursday, February 15, 2007

Udhagamandalam-Tourism

Udhagamandalam Located in the mountainous range called the Blue Mountains or Nilgiris, Ooty draws a very large number of tourists every year. The weather is quite pleasurable at a mean of 15 to 20 °C (59 to 68 °F) year round, reducing to lows of 0 °C (32 °F) during winter. The hill town suffers from rampant commercialization and erosion of natural resources. The tourism industry has located an enormous strain on the natural resources resulting in pollution, a water shortage, and bad roads. The number of visitors was 1,681,000 in 2001, 1,834,000 in 2003, and h 1,725,000 in 2005.
The landscape is relatively unlike the rest of India, marked by continuing hills and plateaus covered with dense vegetation, tea gardens, and eucalyptus trees. Many portions of the hills are conserved as natural reserve forests, and special permits are needed to camp outside of campgrounds. Ooty is not the destination in itself, as much as it is the main point of attraction. Auto touring the neighboring countryside is a favourite activity.
The hilly region also houses smaller town like Coonoor and Kotagiri. These towns are less than an hour's drive away from Ooty and have the same climate, but have fewer tourists and cheaper prices.

Friday, February 09, 2007

Jewellery

Jewellery is factually any piece of fine material used to decorate oneself. Although in earlier times jewellery was created for more convenient uses, such as wealth storage and pinning clothes together, in recent times it has been used almost completely for beautification. The first pieces of jewellery were made from likely materials, such as bone and animal teeth, shell, wood and engraved stone. Jewellery was often made for people of high importance to show their status and, in many cases, they were covered with it.Jewellery is made out of almost every material recognized and has been made to garnish nearly every body part, from hairpins to toe rings and many more types of jewellery. While high-quality and artistic pieces are made with gemstones and valuable metals, less pricey costume jewellery is made from less-valuable materials and is mass-produced.Form and function Kenyan man exhausting tribal beads.Over time, jewellery has been used for a number of reasons: Currency, wealth display and storage, purposeful Symbolism Protection and Artistic display Most cultures have at some point had a practice of observance large amounts of wealth stored in the form of jewellery. Numerous cultures move wedding dowries in the form of jewelry, or create jewelry as a means to store or display coins. on the other hand, jewellery has been used as a currency or trade good; a mostly poignant example being the use of slave beads.
In creating jewellery, a variety of gemstones, coins, or other valuable items can be used, often set into precious metals. Common expensive metals used for modern jewellery include gold, platinum or silver, although alloys of nearly every metal known can be encountered in jewellery -- bronze, for example, was common in Roman times. Most gold jewellery is made of an alloy of gold, the purity of which is affirmed in karats, indicated by a number followed by the letter K. For example, ordinary gold jewellery ranges from 10K (41.7% pure gold) to 22K (91.6% pure gold), while 24K (99.9% pure gold) is considered too soft for jewellery use. Platinum alloys variety from 900 (90% pure) to 950 (95.0% pure). The silver used in jewellery is usually sterling silver, or 92.5% fine silver.Other generally used materials include glass, such as merged glass or enamel; wood, often carved or turned; shells and other natural animal substances such as bone and ivory; natural clay, polymer clay, and even plastics.
Jewellery and society
One universal issue is control over who could wear what jewellery, a point which indicate the powerful symbolism the wearing of jewellery evoked. In ancient Rome, for instance, only convinced ranks could wear rings; later, sumptuary laws dictated who could wear what type of jewellery; again based on rank. Cultural dictate have also played a important role; for example, the wearing of earrings by Western men was considered "effeminate" in the 19th and early 20th centuries. on the other hand, the jewellery industry in the early 20th century launched a crusade to popularize wedding rings for men — which caught on — as well as appointment rings for men , going so far as to make a false history and claim that the practice had Medieval roots. By the mid 1940s, 85% of weddings in the U.S. feature a double-ring ceremony, up from 15% in the 1920s.Religion has also played a role: Islam, for instance, consider the wearing of gold by men as a social taboo,and many religions have edicts against extreme display.