Sunday, June 26, 2011
Surtr
In Norse mythology, Surtr or Surt (Old Norse "black" or "the swarthy one") is a jötunn. Surtr is attested in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the Prose Edda, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson. In both sources, Surtr is foretold as being a major figure during the events of Ragnarök; carrying his bright sword, he will go to battle against the Æsir, he will do battle with the major god Freyr, and afterward the flames that he brings forth will engulf the Earth.
In a poem from the Poetic Edda, Surtr is described as having a female companion, Sinmara. In a book from the Prose Edda additional information is given about Surtr, including that he is stationed guarding the frontier of the fiery realm Múspell, that he will lead "Múspell's sons" to Ragnarök, and that he will defeat Freyr. Surtr has been the subject of place names and artistic depictions, and scholarly theories have been proposed about elements of Surtr's descriptions and his potential origins.
In a poem from the Poetic Edda, Surtr is described as having a female companion, Sinmara. In a book from the Prose Edda additional information is given about Surtr, including that he is stationed guarding the frontier of the fiery realm Múspell, that he will lead "Múspell's sons" to Ragnarök, and that he will defeat Freyr. Surtr has been the subject of place names and artistic depictions, and scholarly theories have been proposed about elements of Surtr's descriptions and his potential origins.
Baikonur Cosmodrome
The Baikonur Cosmodrome (Russian: Космодром Байконур, Kosmodrom Baykonur; Kazakh: Байқоңыр ғарыш айлағы, Bayqoñır ğarış aylağı), also called Tyuratam, is the world's first and largest operational space launch facility. It is located in the desert steppes of Kazakhstan, about 200 kilometres (124 mi) east of the Aral Sea, north of the Syr Darya river, near Tyuratam railway station, at 90 metres above sea level. It is leased by the Kazakh government to Russia (currently until 2050) and is managed jointly by the Russian Federal Space Agency and the Russian Space Forces. The shape of the area leased is an ellipse, measuring 90 kilometres east-west by 85 kilometres north-south, with the cosmodrome at the centre. It was originally built by the Soviet Union in the late 1950s as the base of operations for its space program. Under the current Russian space program, Baikonur remains a busy space port, with numerous commercial, military and scientific missions being launched annually.
Vostok 1, the first manned spacecraft in human history, was launched from one of Baikonur's launch pads, which is presently known as Gagarin's Start.
Vostok 1, the first manned spacecraft in human history, was launched from one of Baikonur's launch pads, which is presently known as Gagarin's Start.
Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is the original title of a novella written by the Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson that was first published in 1886. The work is commonly known today as The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde or simply Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. It is about a London lawyer named Gabriel John Utterson who investigates strange occurrences between his old friend, Dr Henry Jekyll, and the misanthropic Edward Hyde.
The work is commonly associated with the rare mental condition often spuriously called "split personality", wherein within the same person there are at least two distinct personalities. In this case, the two personalities in Dr Jekyll are apparently good and evil, with completely opposite levels of morality. The novella's impact is such that it has become a part of the language, with the phrase "Jekyll and Hyde" coming to mean a person who is vastly different in moral character from one situation to the next.
Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde was an immediate success and is one of Stevenson's best-selling works. Stage adaptations began in Boston and London within a year of its publication and it has gone on to inspire scores of major film and stage performances.
The work is commonly associated with the rare mental condition often spuriously called "split personality", wherein within the same person there are at least two distinct personalities. In this case, the two personalities in Dr Jekyll are apparently good and evil, with completely opposite levels of morality. The novella's impact is such that it has become a part of the language, with the phrase "Jekyll and Hyde" coming to mean a person who is vastly different in moral character from one situation to the next.
Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde was an immediate success and is one of Stevenson's best-selling works. Stage adaptations began in Boston and London within a year of its publication and it has gone on to inspire scores of major film and stage performances.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Truth drug
A truth drug or truth serum is a psychoactive medication used to obtain information from subjects who are unable or unwilling to provide it otherwise. The unethical use of truth drugs is classified as a form of torture according to international law. However, they are properly and productively utilised in the evaluation of psychotic patients in the practice of psychiatry. That application was first documented by Dr. William Bleckwenn in 1930, and it still has selected uses today. In the latter context, the controlled administration of intravenous hypnotic medications is called "narcosynthesis" or "narcoanalysis." It may be used to procure diagnostically—or therapeutically—vital information, and to provide patients with a functional respite from catatonia or mania.
Monday, June 20, 2011
NAS
Network-attached storage (NAS) is file-level computer data storage connected to a computer network providing data access to heterogeneous clients. NAS not only operates as a file server, but is specialized for this task either by its hardware, software, or configuration of those elements. NAS is often made as a computer appliance – a specialized computer built from the ground up for storing and serving files – rather than simply a general purpose computer being used for the role.
As of 2010 NAS devices are gaining popularity, as a convenient method of sharing files among multiple computers. Potential benefits of network-attached storage, compared to file servers, include faster data access, easier administration, and simple configuration.
NAS systems are networked appliances which contain one or more hard drives, often arranged into logical, redundant storage containers or RAID arrays. Network-attached storage removes the responsibility of file serving from other servers on the network. They typically provide access to files using network file sharing protocols such as NFS, SMB/CIFS, or AFP.
As of 2010 NAS devices are gaining popularity, as a convenient method of sharing files among multiple computers. Potential benefits of network-attached storage, compared to file servers, include faster data access, easier administration, and simple configuration.
NAS systems are networked appliances which contain one or more hard drives, often arranged into logical, redundant storage containers or RAID arrays. Network-attached storage removes the responsibility of file serving from other servers on the network. They typically provide access to files using network file sharing protocols such as NFS, SMB/CIFS, or AFP.
RAID array
RAID, acronym for Redundant Array of Independent Disks (originally Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks), is a technology that provides increased storage functions and reliability through redundancy. This is achieved by combining multiple disk drive components into a logical unit, where data is distributed across the drives in one of several ways called "RAID levels"; this concept is an example of storage virtualization and was first defined by David A. Patterson, Garth A. Gibson, and Randy Katz at the University of California, Berkeley in 1987 as Redundant Arrays of Inexpensive Disks. Marketers representing industry RAID manufacturers later attempted to reinvent the term to describe a redundant array of independent disks as a means of dissociating a low-cost expectation from RAID technology.
RAID is now used as an umbrella term for computer data storage schemes that can divide and replicate data among multiple physical disk drives. The physical disks are said to be in a RAID array,[3] which is accessed by the operating system as one single disk. The different schemes or architectures are named by the word RAID followed by a number (e.g., RAID 0, RAID 1). Each scheme provides a different balance between two key goals: increase data reliability and increase input/output performance.
RAID is now used as an umbrella term for computer data storage schemes that can divide and replicate data among multiple physical disk drives. The physical disks are said to be in a RAID array,[3] which is accessed by the operating system as one single disk. The different schemes or architectures are named by the word RAID followed by a number (e.g., RAID 0, RAID 1). Each scheme provides a different balance between two key goals: increase data reliability and increase input/output performance.
Enigma machine
An Enigma machine is any of a family of related electro-mechanical rotor machines used for the encryption and decryption of secret messages. The first Enigma was invented by German engineer Arthur Scherbius at the end of World War I. This model and its variants were used commercially from the early 1920s, and adopted by military and government services of several countries — most notably by Nazi Germany before and during World War II. Several different Enigma models were produced, but the German military models are the ones most commonly discussed.
Friday, June 3, 2011
Logica deductiva
Vecinul 1: – Salut vecine, e o zi frumoasă pentru mutat mobilela.
Noul vecin: – Da, şi oamenii pe aici par simpatici
Vecinul 1: -Da! Şi cu ce vă ocupaţi?
Noul vecin: -Sunt profesor universitar. Predau cursuri de logică deductivă.
Vecinul 1: Aha?… Şi ce e logica deductivă?
Noul vecin: – Să vă dau un exemplu. Văd că aveţi o cuşcă pentru câine acolo în grădină.
Vecinul 1: -Da.
Noul vecin: – Eu deduc că aveţi un câine!
Vecinul 1: -Păi …da.
Noul vecin: – Dacă aveţi un câine, aveţi probabil copii.
Vecinul 1: -Exact.
Noul vecin: – Dacă aveţi copii, eu deduc că aveţi sau aţi avut o femeie.
Vecinul 1: -Păi da , sunt căsătorit.
Noul vecin:- Dacă aveţi o nevastă, deduc că sunteţi heterosexual.
Vecinul 1: -Ah …da. Sunt însurat.
Noul vecin: -Eh bine, asta este logica deductivă.
Vecinul 1: – Extraordinar.
Un pic mai târziu spre seară vecinul 1 întâlneşte vecinul 2.
Vecinul 1: -M-am întâlnit cu noul vecin, tare simpatic!
Vecinul 2 – Ah da! Şi cu ce se ocupă?
Vecinul 1 Face o chestie extraordinară: ţine cursuri de logică deductivă.
Vecinul 2 ce e asta?
Vecinul 1: – Stai aşa să-ţi dau un exemplu… Ai o cuscă pentru câine în grădina ta?
Vecinul 2: – … nu!
Vecinul 1: – Eh …atunci… eşti homosexual!!!!..
Noul vecin: – Da, şi oamenii pe aici par simpatici
Vecinul 1: -Da! Şi cu ce vă ocupaţi?
Noul vecin: -Sunt profesor universitar. Predau cursuri de logică deductivă.
Vecinul 1: Aha?… Şi ce e logica deductivă?
Noul vecin: – Să vă dau un exemplu. Văd că aveţi o cuşcă pentru câine acolo în grădină.
Vecinul 1: -Da.
Noul vecin: – Eu deduc că aveţi un câine!
Vecinul 1: -Păi …da.
Noul vecin: – Dacă aveţi un câine, aveţi probabil copii.
Vecinul 1: -Exact.
Noul vecin: – Dacă aveţi copii, eu deduc că aveţi sau aţi avut o femeie.
Vecinul 1: -Păi da , sunt căsătorit.
Noul vecin:- Dacă aveţi o nevastă, deduc că sunteţi heterosexual.
Vecinul 1: -Ah …da. Sunt însurat.
Noul vecin: -Eh bine, asta este logica deductivă.
Vecinul 1: – Extraordinar.
Un pic mai târziu spre seară vecinul 1 întâlneşte vecinul 2.
Vecinul 1: -M-am întâlnit cu noul vecin, tare simpatic!
Vecinul 2 – Ah da! Şi cu ce se ocupă?
Vecinul 1 Face o chestie extraordinară: ţine cursuri de logică deductivă.
Vecinul 2 ce e asta?
Vecinul 1: – Stai aşa să-ţi dau un exemplu… Ai o cuscă pentru câine în grădina ta?
Vecinul 2: – … nu!
Vecinul 1: – Eh …atunci… eşti homosexual!!!!..
Icarus
In Greek mythology, Icarus (the Latin spelling, conventionally adopted in English; Greek: Ἴκαρος, Íkaros, Etruscan: Vikare) is the son of the master craftsman Daedalus. The main story told about Icarus is his attempt to escape from Crete by means of wings that his father constructed from feathers and wax. He ignored instructions not to fly too close to the sun, and the melting wax caused him to fall to his death. The myth shares thematic similarities with that of Phaëton — both are usually taken as examples of hubris or failed ambition — and is often depicted in art.
The Treachery of Images (La trahison des images, 1928–29, sometimes translated as The Treason of Images) is a painting by the Belgian René Magritte, painted when Magritte was 30 years old. The picture shows a pipe. Below it, Magritte painted, "Ceci n'est pas une pipe" (About this sound pronunciation (help·info)), French for "This is not a pipe." The painting is not a pipe, but rather an image of a pipe, which was Magritte's point:
The famous pipe. How people reproached me for it! And yet, could you stuff my pipe? No, it's just a representation, is it not? So if I had written on my picture "This is a pipe," I'd have been lying!
The theme of pipes with the text "Ceci n'est pas une pipe" is extended in his 1966 painting, Les Deux Mystères.
The famous pipe. How people reproached me for it! And yet, could you stuff my pipe? No, it's just a representation, is it not? So if I had written on my picture "This is a pipe," I'd have been lying!
The theme of pipes with the text "Ceci n'est pas une pipe" is extended in his 1966 painting, Les Deux Mystères.
Scrambler
In telecommunications, a scrambler is a device that transposes or inverts signals or otherwise encodes a message at the transmitter to make the message unintelligible at a receiver not equipped with an appropriately set descrambling device. Whereas encryption usually refers to operations carried out in the digital domain, scrambling usually refers to operations carried out in the analog domain. Scrambling is accomplished by the addition of components to the original signal or the changing of some important component of the original signal in order to make extraction of the original signal difficult. Examples of the latter might include removing or changing vertical or horizontal sync pulses in television signals; televisions will not be able to display a picture from such a signal. Some modern scramblers are actually encryption devices, the name remaining due to the similarities in use, as opposed to internal operation.
Deep freeze
Deep Freeze, by Faronics, is an application available for the Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and SUSE Linux operating systems which allows system administrators to protect the core operating system and configuration files on a workstation or server by restoring a computer back to its original configuration each time the computer restarts.
Koenigsegg
Koenigsegg Automotive AB (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈkøːnɪɡsɛɡ] ( listen), English: /ˈkʌnɪɡsɛɡ/) is a Swedish manufacturer of high-performance sports cars based in Ängelholm.
Styx
The Styx (Greek: Στύξ, Stux, also meaning "hate" and "detestation") (adjectival form: Stygian, play /ˈstɪdʒi.ən/) was a river in Greek mythology that formed the boundary between Earth and the Underworld (often called Hades which is also the name of this domain's ruler). It circles the Underworld nine times. The rivers Styx, Phlegethon, Acheron, and Cocytus all converge at the center of the underworld on a great marsh, which is also sometimes called the Styx. The other important rivers of the underworld are Lethe and Eridanos, and Alpheus.
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as The Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically expressed through terrorism. Since the mid-20th century, the KKK has also been anti-communist. The current manifestation is splintered into several chapters and is classified as a hate group.
The first Klan flourished in the South in the 1860s, then died out by the early 1870s. Members adopted white costumes: robes, masks, and conical hats, designed to be outlandish and terrifying, and to hide their identities. The second KKK flourished nationwide in the early and mid 1920s, and adopted the same costumes and code words as the first Klan, while introducing cross burnings. The third KKK emerged after World War II and was associated with opposing the civil rights movement and progress among minorities. The second and third incarnations of the Ku Klux Klan made frequent reference to America's "Anglo-Saxon" and "Celtic" blood, harking back to 19th-century nativism and claiming descent from the original 18th-century British colonial revolutionaries. All incarnations of the Klan have well-established records of engaging in terrorism, though historians debate how widely the tactic was supported by the membership of the second KKK.
The first Klan flourished in the South in the 1860s, then died out by the early 1870s. Members adopted white costumes: robes, masks, and conical hats, designed to be outlandish and terrifying, and to hide their identities. The second KKK flourished nationwide in the early and mid 1920s, and adopted the same costumes and code words as the first Klan, while introducing cross burnings. The third KKK emerged after World War II and was associated with opposing the civil rights movement and progress among minorities. The second and third incarnations of the Ku Klux Klan made frequent reference to America's "Anglo-Saxon" and "Celtic" blood, harking back to 19th-century nativism and claiming descent from the original 18th-century British colonial revolutionaries. All incarnations of the Klan have well-established records of engaging in terrorism, though historians debate how widely the tactic was supported by the membership of the second KKK.
Can you hear this?
We got a lot of positive feedback on our "Can You Hear Like a Teenager? " article, and it inspired us to take it just a little bit further.
Here is a list of tones that go from 8Hz all the way up to 22,000Hz. It’s fairly common for people who are over 25 years of age to not be able to hear above 15kHz, so this will help you find out where your high frequency hearing cuts off.
Musicians have a much higher risk of hearing loss that most people do, and many of us don’t really wear proper hearing protection. Even just listening to an iPod for an extended period of time can permanently damage your hearing. We also gradually lose our high-frequency hearing as we age.
Take our unscientific hearing test: listen to each of these tones and let us know where your hearing cuts out:
http://www.noiseaddicts.com/2009/03/can-you-hear-this-hearing-test/
Here is a list of tones that go from 8Hz all the way up to 22,000Hz. It’s fairly common for people who are over 25 years of age to not be able to hear above 15kHz, so this will help you find out where your high frequency hearing cuts off.
Musicians have a much higher risk of hearing loss that most people do, and many of us don’t really wear proper hearing protection. Even just listening to an iPod for an extended period of time can permanently damage your hearing. We also gradually lose our high-frequency hearing as we age.
Take our unscientific hearing test: listen to each of these tones and let us know where your hearing cuts out:
http://www.noiseaddicts.com/2009/03/can-you-hear-this-hearing-test/
Hypersonic effect
The hypersonic effect is a term coined to describe a phenomenon reported in a controversial scientific study by Tsutomu Oohashi et al., which supports the idea that although humans cannot consciously hear sounds at frequencies above approximately 20 kHz, the presence or absence of those frequencies has a measurable effect on their psychological reaction. Attempts to independently reproduce these results have so far been unsuccessful.
Numerous other scientific studies have contradicted these results, finding that people who have "good ears" listening to Super Audio CDs and high resolution DVD-Audio recordings on high fidelity systems capable of reproducing sounds up to 30 kHz can't tell the difference between high resolution audio and the normal CD sampling rate of 44.1 kHz.
Numerous other scientific studies have contradicted these results, finding that people who have "good ears" listening to Super Audio CDs and high resolution DVD-Audio recordings on high fidelity systems capable of reproducing sounds up to 30 kHz can't tell the difference between high resolution audio and the normal CD sampling rate of 44.1 kHz.
Warp drive vs Hyperspace
In our quest to one day explore the universe, technology will surely move from the realm of science fiction into reality. After all, cell phones share similarities with communicators from Star Trek, but what about the propulsion systems of future spacecraft? Will spaceships use technology like Star Trek’s warp drive, or will we discover hyperspace like in Star Wars? What is the best mode of transportation: warp drive or hyperspace?
First, we need to define what warp drive and hyperspace are. Now, I’m not a physicist, just a fan. No matter how much research I do, I’ll never completely understand the science behind the technology, but I’m going to do my best to define these two terms for you.
WARP DRIVE
Warp drive is one method of faster-than-light propulsion. The ship sits in a bubble of normal space as the rest of space “folds” (hence the name “warp”) to allow the ship to travel between two places at a faster rate of speed. Think of it as a piece of paper with a dot at the top of the page and a dot at the bottom of the page: when the page is flat, there is a certain distance between the two dots; if you accordion-fold the page, the distance is significantly decreased. In this way, a ship is able to move at a speed faster than the speed of light.
Also, instead of the ship moving extremely fast, the ship remains stationary in its bubble of space as the rest of space moves at a hyper-accelerated speed.
HYPERSPACE
Hyperspace is another method in which a spacecraft can fly at a speed faster than light. However, hyperspace works in a way very different than warp drive. Hyperspace is an alternate region of space that co-exists with our own universe that can be used to travel faster than the speed of light. In the Star Wars universe, hyperspace allows ships to travel extremely fast; however, travel is still constrained by the position of objects in the galaxy. Pilots have to abide by standard hyperspace routes, otherwise they could fly straight through the middle of a star.
From our good friend Wikipedia:
Unlike warp drive, which is basically limited to Star Trek, hyperspace tends to pop up in many more places than just Star Wars, including Stargate and Babylon 5. In fact, Star Trek uses an alternate region of space called “subspace” as a way to communicate at faster-than-light speeds, however, subspace is not used for travel.
COMPARISON
It seems that hyperspace is faster than warp drive. In the Star Wars universe, the trip that the Millennium Falcon took from Tatooine to Alderaan (from the outer rim of the galaxy to the inner core) probably only took a few hours. Compare that to the 70+ year journey that the USS Voyager was facing for a slightly longer cross-galaxy journey. In this way, hyperspace is superior to warp drive.
However, as Han Solo famously said, “hyperspace ain’t like dusting crops”. It takes complex calculations and planning to pilot a ship through hyperspace without incident. Warp drive is less risky, allowing ships like the USS Voyager to navigate unknown space in a nearly straight line.
Also, a theoretical warp drive has already been proposed. The Alcubierre drive, introduced in 1994, is a way to create the “warp bubble” that allows the ship to travel through space without breaking the theory of relativity. However, there is no known way to create a warp bubble or to dissipate it, so it only remains a hypothetical concept for now. While we have yet to discover alternate layers of space, we have a working theory of how warp drive could possibly work. However, this doesn’t mean that hyperspace couldn’t exist, and the idea of alternate dimensions could very well hold some truth.
First, we need to define what warp drive and hyperspace are. Now, I’m not a physicist, just a fan. No matter how much research I do, I’ll never completely understand the science behind the technology, but I’m going to do my best to define these two terms for you.
WARP DRIVE
Warp drive is one method of faster-than-light propulsion. The ship sits in a bubble of normal space as the rest of space “folds” (hence the name “warp”) to allow the ship to travel between two places at a faster rate of speed. Think of it as a piece of paper with a dot at the top of the page and a dot at the bottom of the page: when the page is flat, there is a certain distance between the two dots; if you accordion-fold the page, the distance is significantly decreased. In this way, a ship is able to move at a speed faster than the speed of light.Also, instead of the ship moving extremely fast, the ship remains stationary in its bubble of space as the rest of space moves at a hyper-accelerated speed.
HYPERSPACE
Hyperspace is another method in which a spacecraft can fly at a speed faster than light. However, hyperspace works in a way very different than warp drive. Hyperspace is an alternate region of space that co-exists with our own universe that can be used to travel faster than the speed of light. In the Star Wars universe, hyperspace allows ships to travel extremely fast; however, travel is still constrained by the position of objects in the galaxy. Pilots have to abide by standard hyperspace routes, otherwise they could fly straight through the middle of a star.
From our good friend Wikipedia:
Generally speaking, the idea of hyperspace relies on the existence of a separate and adjacent dimension. When activated, the hyper drive shunts the starship into this other dimension, where it can cover vast distances in an amount of time greatly reduced from the time it would take in “normal” space. Once it reaches the point in hyperspace that corresponds to its destination in real space, it re-emerges.
Map of the Star Wars galaxy
COMPARISON
It seems that hyperspace is faster than warp drive. In the Star Wars universe, the trip that the Millennium Falcon took from Tatooine to Alderaan (from the outer rim of the galaxy to the inner core) probably only took a few hours. Compare that to the 70+ year journey that the USS Voyager was facing for a slightly longer cross-galaxy journey. In this way, hyperspace is superior to warp drive.
Map of the Star Trek galaxy
Also, a theoretical warp drive has already been proposed. The Alcubierre drive, introduced in 1994, is a way to create the “warp bubble” that allows the ship to travel through space without breaking the theory of relativity. However, there is no known way to create a warp bubble or to dissipate it, so it only remains a hypothetical concept for now. While we have yet to discover alternate layers of space, we have a working theory of how warp drive could possibly work. However, this doesn’t mean that hyperspace couldn’t exist, and the idea of alternate dimensions could very well hold some truth.
Maximum break - snooker
The maximum break in snooker under normal circumstances is 147. This is often known as a maximum, a 147, or orally a one-four-seven. The 147 is amassed by potting all 15 reds with 15 blacks for 120 points, then all six colours for a further 27 points. The maximum break has been achieved 77 times in professional competition. Ronnie O'Sullivan and Stephen Hendry have both compiled 10 official maximum breaks, the most ever by any professional player. Scores above 147 are possible in the case of free ball due to fouling by the opponent.
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