exTerry

Hurricane Gloria - 20080813

2008-08-13T02:29:31Z

Hurricane Gloria was a powerful Cape Verde-type hurricane that formed during the 1985 Atlantic hurricane season and prowled the Atlantic Ocean from September 16 to September 28. Gloria reached Category 4 on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale near the Bahamas, but weakened significantly by the time it made landfall on North Carolina's Outer Banks. From there, Gloria closely followed the Mid-Atlantic coastline and made a second landfall on Long Island, New York, and, after crossing the Long Island Sound, it made a third landfall in Connecticut. Overall, the storm caused extensive damage along the East Coast of the United States, amounting to $900 million ($1.6 billion in 2005 USD), and was responsible for eight fatalities. The storm was the first significant system to impact the northeastern United States since Hurricane Agnes in 1972 and the first major storm to affect New York and Long Island directly since Hurricane Donna in 1960. It was the last storm to hit the northeast until Hurricane Bob in 1991.

Parapsychology - 20080810

2008-08-10T13:28:23Z

Parapsychology is the scientific study of ostensibly paranormal phenomena such as psychic abilities and life after death. Laboratory research and fieldwork of this sort is conducted at privately funded laboratories and some universities around the world,although there are fewer universities actively sponsoring parapsychological research today than in years past. Such research is usually published in parapsychological publications, and some articles have appeared in more mainstream journals. Experiments have included the use of random number generators to test for evidence of psychokinesis, sensory-deprivation Ganzfeld experiments to test for extrasensory perception, and research trials conducted under contract to the United States government to investigate whether remote viewing would provide useful intelligence information.

The scientific community has not accepted evidence of the existence of the paranormal.Some science educators and scientists have called the subject pseudoscience.Scientists such as Ray Hyman, Stanley Krippner, and James Alcock have criticized both the methods used and the results obtained in parapsychology, suggesting that methodological flaws explain any apparent experimental successes.

Matthew Brettingham - 20080809

2008-08-09T02:27:05Z

Matthew Brettingham (1699 - 19 August 1769), sometimes called Matthew Brettingham the Elder, was an 18th-century Englishman who rose from humble origins to supervise the construction of Holkham Hall, and eventually became one of the country's better-known architects of his generation. Much of his principal work has since been demolished, particularly his work in London, where he revolutionised the design of the grand townhouse. As a result he is often overlooked today, remembered principally for his Palladian remodelling of numerous country houses, many of them situated in the East Anglia area of Britain. As Brettingham neared the pinnacle of his career, Palladianism began to fall out of fashion and neoclassicism was introduced, championed by the young Robert Adam.

The Wiggles - 20080731

2008-07-31T02:12:29Z

The Wiggles are a children's musical group formed in Sydney, Australia in 1991. Their original members were Anthony Field, Murray Cook, Greg Page, and Jeff Fatt. In 2006, Page was forced to retire from the group due to illness and was replaced by understudy Sam Moran. As a result of their background, the group combines music and theories of child development in their videos, television programs, and live shows. The group has franchised their concepts to other countries, developed Wiggles sections in amusement parks in Australia and the US, and won several recording industry awards. The Wiggles have been called "the world's biggest preschool band" and "your child's first rock band". The group has achieved worldwide success with their children's albums, videos, television series, and concert appearances. The Wiggles were named Business Review Weekly's top-earning Australian entertainers for three years in a row and earned $A50 million in 2006. They have earned seventeen gold, twelve platinum, three double-platinum, and ten multi-platinum awards for sales of over 17 million DVDs and four million CDs. By 2002, The Wiggles had become the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's (ABC's) most successful pre-school television program.

Nuthatch - 20080730

2008-07-30T02:35:04Z

Nuthatch is a genus, Sitta, of small passerine birds belonging to the family Sittidae. Characterised by large heads, short tails, and powerful bills and feet, nuthatches advertise their territory using loud, simple songs. Most species exhibit grey or bluish upperparts and a black eye stripe. Most nuthatches breed in the temperate or montane woodlands of the Northern Hemisphere, although two species have adapted to rocky habitats in the warmer and drier regions of Eurasia. The greatest diversity is in southern Asia and similarities between the species have made it difficult to identify distinct species. All members of this genus nest in holes or crevices. Most species are non-migratory and live in their habitat year-round, but the North American Red-breasted Nuthatch migrates to warmer regions during the winter. A few nuthatch species have restricted ranges and face threats from deforestation. Nuthatches are omnivorous, eating mostly insects, nuts and seeds. They forage for insects hidden in or under bark by climbing along tree trunks and branches, sometimes upside down. They forage within their territories when breeding, but may join mixed feeding flocks at other times. Their habit of wedging a large food item in a crevice and then hacking at it with their strong bills gives this group its English name.

The Glorious First of June - 20080728

2008-07-28T12:33:51Z

The Glorious First of June (also known as the Third Battle of Ushant, and in France as the Bataille du 13 prairial an 2 or Combat de Prairial)[2] was the first and largest fleet action of the naval conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the First French Republic during the French Revolutionary Wars. The British Channel Fleet under Lord Howe attempted to interdict the passage of a vitally important French grain convoy from the United States, which was protected by the French Atlantic Fleet, commanded by Louis Thomas Villaret de Joyeuse. The two forces clashed in the Atlantic Ocean, some 400 nautical miles (741 km) west of the French island of Ushant.

The action was the culmination of a campaign that had criss-crossed the Bay of Biscay over the previous month. Both sides had captured numerous merchant ships and minor warships and had engaged in two partial, but inconclusive, fleet actions. The aftermath of 1 June 1794 left both fleets shattered and in no condition for further combat. Despite losing seven ships of the line, Villaret bought enough time for the French grain convoy to reach safety. However, he was also forced to withdraw his battle-fleet to port, leaving the British free to conduct a campaign of blockade for the remainder of the war. Both sides claimed victory. The result of the battle was seized upon by the press of both nations as a shining example of the prowess and bravery of their respective navies.

The Glorious First of June demonstrated some of the major problems inherent in the French and British navies at the start of the Revolutionary Wars--both admirals, faced with disobedience from their captains and ill-discipline and poor training among their crews, failed to control their fleets effectively. Both fleets suffered further from a shortage of crewmen and reliable officers.

The history of Solidarity - 20080726

2008-07-26T03:22:35Z

The history of Solidarity, a Polish non-governmental trade union, began in August 1980 at the Gdańsk Shipyards where Lech Wałęsa and others formed Solidarity. In the early 1980s, it became the first independent labor union in a Soviet-bloc country. Solidarity gave rise to a broad anti-communist nonviolent social movement that, at its height, united some 10 million members and vastly contributed to the fall of communism. Poland's communist government attempted to destroy the union by instituting martial law in 1981, followed by several years of political repression, but in the end was forced to begin negotiating with the union. The Roundtable Talks between the weakened government and the Solidarity-led opposition resulted in semi-free elections in 1989. By the end of August 1989, a Solidarity-led coalition government had been formed, and, in December 1990, Wałęsa was elected president. This was soon followed by the dismantling of the communist governmental system and by Poland's transformation into a modern democratic state. Solidarity's example led to the spread of anti-communist ideas and movements throughout the countries of the Eastern Bloc, weakening their communist governments; a process that eventually culminated in the Revolutions of 1989 (the "Autumn of Nations").

William Ford Gibson - 20080725

2008-07-25T01:20:48Z

William Ford Gibson (born March 17, 1948) is an American-Canadian writer who has been called the "noir prophet" of the cyberpunk subgenre of science fiction.In 1982, Gibson coined the term "cyberspace" and popularized the concept in his debut novel, Neuromancer (1984). By visualising cyberspace as a worldwide communications network, Gibson foresaw the World Wide Web and created an iconography for the information age long before the spread of the Internet in the 1990s. He is also credited with predicting the rise of reality television and with establishing the conceptual foundations for the rapid growth of virtual environments such as videogames and the Web.

Having moved around frequently with his family as a child, Gibson grew to be a shy, ungainly teenager who took refuge in reading science fiction. After spending his adolescence at a private boarding school in Arizona, Gibson dodged the draft during the Vietnam War by emigrating to Canada in 1967, where he became immersed in counterculture and after settling in Vancouver eventually became a full-time writer. He retains dual citizenship.Gibson's early works are bleak, noir near-future stories about the effect of cybernetics and computer networks on humans - "lowlife meets high tech".The short stories were published in leading science fiction magazines and eventually revived science fiction, which at the time was widely considered insignificant. The themes, settings and characters developed in these stories culminated in his first novel, Neuromancer, which garnered critical and commercial success, virtually launching the cyberpunk literary movement.

Although much of Gibson's reputation has remained rooted in Neuromancer, his work has continued to evolve in style and concept. After expanding on Neuromancer with two more novels to complete the dystopic Sprawl trilogy, Gibson became a central figure to an entirely different science fiction sub-genre--steampunk--with the 1990 alternate history novel The Difference Engine, written with Bruce Sterling. In the 1990s he composed the Bridge trilogy of novels, which made sociological observations of near-future urban environments and late capitalism. His most recent novels--Pattern Recognition (2003) and Spook Country (2007)--are set in a contemporary world and have put Gibson's work onto mainstream bestseller lists for the first time.

Gibson is one of the most highly acclaimed North American science fiction writers,fêted by The Guardian in 1999 as "probably the most important novelist of the past two decades". Gibson has written more than twenty short stories, nine critically acclaimed novels (one in collaboration), and a nonfiction artist's book, and has contributed articles to several major publications and collaborated extensively with performance artists, filmmakers and musicians. His thought has been cited as an influence on science fiction authors, design, academia, cyberculture, and technology.

Yang to Yahoos: One Team, One Voice

2008-07-24T02:49:03Z

We're not sure what the long-term implications of the Yahoo-Yang-Icahn settlement will be. In the short term, though, the agreement that ended the impending proxy fight appears to have inspired Jerry Yang to use capital letters in his memos to employees.

Here's the full text of Jerry Yang's take on the Icahn affair.

Today, Yahoo! moves past a distracting proxy contest. This morning we announced a settlement with Carl Icahn which will enable Yahoo! to put an end to this challenging chapter in our history, and allow us to get back to the business at hand - building our business and maximizing value for all stockholders.

Over the past few weeks we've made progress communicating with investors, helping them to better understand our roadmap for long-term growth, our valuable combination of assets, and our solid position in the converging search and display marketplaces. These discussions have been productive for everyone.

Under the terms of the settlement with Mr. Icahn, he has withdrawn his nominees for consideration at the annual meeting, and has agreed to vote his Yahoo! shares in support of the Board's nominees. At our annual stockholder meeting on Aug. 1, we'll ask stockholders to re-elect eight of our current directors. (In connection with the settlement of the proxy contest, Bobby Kotick has notified the Company that he will not stand for re-election to the Board.) After the annual meeting, Mr. Icahn will be appointed to our Board. We've also agreed to expand our Board to make room for two additional members to be chosen by the Board upon the recommendation of the Board's Nominating and Governance Committee from a list that includes the rest of Mr. Icahn's slate and Jon Miller, former Chairman and CEO of AOL.

We're pleased that both parties were able to work together productively to accomplish this settlement, and we look forward to working with the new Board members and benefiting from their fresh perspective.

Yahoo! is now moving forward with one team and one voice, and we're excited about what the future holds.

Jerry Yang
CEO and Chief Yahoo

Exmoor - 20080724

2008-07-24T02:46:43Z

Exmoor is a National Park situated on the Bristol Channel coast of South West England. The park straddles two counties, with 71% in Somerset and 29% located in Devon. The total area of the park, which includes the Brendon Hills and the Vale of Porlock, covers 267 square miles (692 km²) of hilly open moorland, and includes 34 miles (55 km) of coast. It is primarily an upland area with a dispersed population living mainly in small villages and hamlets. The three largest settlements are Porlock and Dulverton, and the combined villages of Lynton and Lynmouth, connected by the Lynton and Lynmouth Cliff Railway, which together contain almost 40% of the National Park population. Prior to being a park, Exmoor was a Royal Forest and hunting ground, which was sold off in 1818. Exmoor was one of the first British National Parks, designated in 1954, under the 1949 National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act, and is named after its main river, the River Exe. Several areas of the moor have been declared a Site of Special Scientific interest due to the flora and fauna, which have some legal protection from development, damage, and neglect. In 1993 Exmoor was designated as an Environmentally Sensitive Area.

The S.S. Christopher Columbus - 20080723

2008-07-23T11:40:31Z

The S.S. Christopher Columbus was an American excursion liner on the Great Lakes, in service between 1893 and 1933. She was the only whaleback ship ever built for passenger service. The ship was designed by Alexander McDougall, the developer and promoter of the whaleback design.

Columbus was built between 1892 and 1893 at Superior, Wisconsin, by the American Steel Barge Company. Initially, she ferried passengers to and from the World's Columbian Exposition. Later, she provided general transportation and excursion services to various ports around the lakes.

At 362 feet (110 m), the ship was the longest whaleback ever built, and reportedly also the largest vessel on the Great Lakes when she was launched. Columbus is said to have carried more passengers during her career than any other vessel on the Great Lakes. After a career lasting four decades, she was retired during the Great Depression and scrapped in 1936 by the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company at Manitowoc, Wisconsin.

Jay Chou - 20080720

2008-07-22T15:13:12Z

Jay Chou (traditional Chinese: 周杰倫; simplified Chinese: 周杰伦;) (born January 18, 1979) is a Taiwanese musician, singer, producer, actor and director who has won a World Music Award. In 1998 he was discovered in a talent contest where he displayed his piano and song-writing skills. Over the next two years, he was hired to compose for popular Chinese singers. Although he was trained in classical music, Chou combines Chinese and Western music styles to produce songs that fuse R&B, rock and pop genres, covering issues such as domestic violence, war, and urbanization.

In 2000 Chou released his first album, titled Jay, under the record company Alfa Music. Since then he has released one album per year, selling several million copies each. His music has gained recognition throughout Asia, most notably in regions such as Mainland China, Japan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, Taiwan, and in overseas Chinese communities, winning more than 20 awards each year. He has sold over 25 million albums worldwide. In 2007, he was named one of the 50 most influential people in China by the British think tank Chatham House. He starred in Initial D (2005), for which he won Best Newcomer Actor in Golden Horse Awards, and was nominated for Best Supporting Actor by Hong Kong Film Awards for his role in Curse of the Golden Flower (2006). His career now extends into directing and running his own record company JVR Music.

The Power of Nightmares - 20080722

2008-07-22T14:59:19Z

The Power of Nightmares is a BBC documentary film series, written and produced by Adam Curtis. The series consists of three one-hour films, consisting mostly of a montage of archive footage with Curtis's narration, which were first broadcast in the United Kingdom in late 2004 and have been subsequently aired in multiple countries and shown in several film festivals, including the 2005 Cannes Film Festival. The films compare the rise of the American Neo-Conservative movement and the radical Islamist movement, making comparisons on their origins and noting strong similarities between the two. More controversially, it argues that the threat of radical Islamism as a massive, sinister organised force of destruction, specifically in the form of al-Qaeda, is in fact a myth perpetrated by politicians in many countries--and particularly American Neo-Conservatives--in an attempt to unite and inspire their people following the failure of earlier, more utopian ideologies. The Power of Nightmares has been praised by film critics in both Britain and the United States. Its message and content have also been the subject of various critiques and criticisms from conservatives and progressives.

The participation of Puerto Ricans - 20080717

2008-07-17T15:40:47Z

The participation of Puerto Ricans in World War II as members of the United States armed forces included guarding U.S. military installations in the Caribbean and active combat participation in both the European and Pacific theatres of the war. Puerto Ricans had obtained U.S. citizenship as a result of the 1917 Jones-Shafroth Act and were expected to serve in the military. During World War II, more than 53,000 Puerto Ricans served in the U.S. military. Soldiers from the island served in either the 65th Infantry Regiment or the Puerto Rican National Guard. Those who resided in the mainland of the United States were assigned to regular units of the military. They were often subject to the racial discrimination that was widespread in the United States at the time. Puerto Rican women who served had their options restricted to nursing or administrative positions. In World War II some of the island's men played active roles as commanders in the military. The military did not keep statistics in regard to the total number of Hispanics who served in the regular units of the Armed Forces, only of those who served in Puerto Rican units; therefore, it is impossible to determine the exact number of Puerto Ricans who served in World War II.

Guitar Hero - 20080716

2008-07-16T01:50:03Z

Guitar Hero is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems and published by RedOctane for the PlayStation 2 video game console. It is the first entry in the Guitar Hero series. The game's development was a result of collaboration between RedOctane and Harmonix to bring a GuitarFreaks-like game to North America. The game features a guitar-shaped controller (resembling a miniature Gibson SG) that the player uses to simulate the playing of rock music. The gameplay is similar to GuitarFreaks, in that the player presses buttons on the guitar controller in-time with musical notes that scroll on the game screen. The game features covers of 30 popular rock songs spanning five decades of rock, from the 1960s up through 2005, in addition to bonus tracks from independent artists. Guitar Hero became a surprise hit, earning critical acclaim and winning many awards from major video game publications. The game's success launched the Guitar Hero franchise that has earned more than one billion dollars in sales, spawning several sequels, expansions, and other game-related products.