The military aeroplanes the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), the F-22 Raptor, the F-15 Eagle, the F-16 Falcon, the C-17 Globemaster III, the EA-6B Prowler, and the F-111 are powered by engines from which manufacturer?

Defense Strategies: Japan’s Next Fighters, From F-X Competition to F-35 Buys Japan’s Next Fighters, From F-X Competition to F-35 Buys F-35A In December 2011, Japan picked Lockheed Martin’s new F-35A stealth fighter as its next fighter aircraft, to replace its aging F-4 “Kai” Phantom fleet. The F-35 was actually their 2nd choice. Back in February 2006, Inside The Air Force (ITAF) reported that momentum was building within the USAF to sell the ultra-advanced F-22A Raptor abroad to trusted US allies, as a way of increasing numbers and production. Japan clearly wanted them, and the Raptor was a topic of diplomatic discussions in several venues, including a 2007 summit meeting. In the end, however, US politics denied export permission for downgraded export variants of the F-22, and its production line was terminated. That left Japan looking at other foreign “F-X” fighter options in the short term, while they considered a domestic stealth fighter design as their long-term project. In the ensuing F-X competition, the F-35 Lightning II beat BAE’s Eurofighter Typhoon, as well as an upgraded F/A-18E Super Hornet from Boeing. Now Lockheed Martin has to deliver, and so will its Japanese partners. Will the F-35A’s price and program delays create problems in Japan? This article looks at the JASDF’s current force, its future options, and ongoing F-X developments. Advertisement The JASDF: Structure & Choices F-4EJ “Kai(zen)” The Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) currently has 3 fighter jet models in its fleet: F-15J/F-15DJ Eagles, its F-4EJ “Kai” and RF-4EJ reconnaissance Phantom IIs, and the Mitsubishi F-2 – a larger, longer-range variant on the F-16C. The Mitsubishi F-1 entered service in 1978 and is still listed on the JASDF web site, but it has now been replaced by F-2s.  The JASDF introduced the F-4EJ in 1973, and it currently serves mostly in anti-shipping and other “permitted strike roles, though it can be used for air defense and policing. The RF-4EJ reconnaissance version is slated for replacement by F-15Js with special pods. Japan has indicated it will begin retiring the rest of the F-4 fleet early in the 2010s, which gives the Japanese a number of choices to make. The 2010 tsunami sharpened that urgency, by destroying 18 of Japan’s F-2 fighters. Then China added its own impetus by unveiling its J-20 stealth fighter prototype. J-20 Prototype The original plan was for Japan to choose a future F-X fighter by the end of 2011, buy about 50, and begin receiving them in 2016. That decision was made,with a 42-plane contract in December 2011.  Meanwhile, Japanese industry is trying to figure out how to keep itself busy now that license production of F-15 components and F-2s is ending. The Society of Japanese Aerospace Companies’ proposal involves producing F-X fighters and their F-XX follow-on buy until 2028, and having some of the 100-120 planes replace existing F-15Js as well. That would be followed by a Japanese fighter design, to begin development by 2017 based in part on lessons learned from their ongoing ATD-X stealth technology demonstrator. Japan hopes to fly ATD-X in 2014-2016, and the SJAC’s idea was that its successor could enter production around 2028, as the foreign-designed F-X fighter line closed down. Japan has already produced F-15Js under license, and designed and produced the Mitsubishi F-2 in conjunction with Lockheed Martin. The F-2 is larger than an F-16 and has more range, but its performance does not compare to an F-15, and it costs nearly as much. The F-2s will not be built in expected numbers, which means they cannot replace the F-4EJs and RF-4EJs.  Given this impasse, the Japanese had several options. The Winner: F-35 Lightning II F-35A test flight If stealth is desired, Lockheed Martin’s plane is considered a “second best” option to the F-22. While other contenders have sharply reduced their radar signature when compared to planes like the F-16, the F-35 is significantly ahead because it’s designed for stealth from the outset, including internal weapon bays. As Chi


The New Spitalfields Market in Leyton, East London, deals in what?

LONDON, NEW SPITALFIELDS Real People in Real Markets TM TERMINALMARKETS.COM United Kingdom New Spitalfields Market is located in a 31 acre    (125,000 m�) site in Leyton, East London which opened in 1991. It is    Europe's leading horticultural market specializing in exotic fruit and    vegetables. The market hall houses 115 trading units for wholesalers    dealing in fruit, vegetables and flowers. Modern facilities in the market    hall include cold storage rooms, ripening rooms and racking for palletized    produce. The site has extensive parking facilities for customers, delivery    vehicles and market personnel. There are four separate buildings providing modern self contained units    for catering supply companies. Over 900 square meters of office space is    also provided, and there are five ancillary accommodation units with    cafes, toilets and maintenance facilities. The services of a    diesel/propane supplier, specialist pallet services and fork lift truck    maintenance companies are also available. The market had previously been more centrally located at Spitalfields    Market just east of the City of London. Tel 020 8518 7670


With what profession was Vidal Sassoon most associated?

Fashion Influential #22: Vidal Sassoon - 100 Most Influential People in Fashion - Zimbio 100 MOST INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE IN FASHION Legendary hairstylist Vidal Sassoon attends a party in West Hollywood in 2006. VIDAL SASSOON January 17, 1928 in London, England Died: May 9, 2011 in Los Angeles, California Famous Cut: Mia Farrow's $5,000 cut for Rosemary's Baby Fans: Frank Gehry, Zaha Hadid, Norman Foster Beginnings. In 1948, Vidal Sassoon went to Israel to fight in the Israeli War of Independence. He wanted to stay in Israel and study to become an architect, but he returned to London to help out his struggling family. His mother insisted he find a profession - and helped him land an apprenticeship with a distinguished hairdresser, Adolf Cohen. Career Highs. During his apprenticeship, Sassoon began to develop an appreciation for geometry. When he opened his own salon in 1954, his love of angles began to show up in his work, with the invention of strikingly modern cuts like the asymmetrical five-point. Sassoon's dreams of becoming an architect may have been deferred, but his architectural approach to hair made eventually made him the most sought-after hairdresser of the 1960s. Hair is nature's biggest compliment and the treatment of this compliment is in our hands. As in couture, the cut is the most important element...haircutting simply means design and this feeling for design must come from within.                                                                                - Vidal Sassoon Sassoon designed Mary Quant's signature bob. Career Lows. Sassoon retired for hairdressing in the 1970s, turning his attention instead to licensing deals. In 2003, he sued cosmetics giant Procter & Gamble for destroying his brand by marketing other lines like Pantene over his own. By 2004, it was reported that he was no longer associated with any of the products in his own name. Legacy. Sassoon made hairstyling more accessible to people from different socioeconomic backgrounds. As he once said in an interview, "What I did, threatened many hairdressers, some hated it. Hairdressing was no longer elitist, just for those who could afford to come each week for a shampoo and set. It became instead a monthly haircut for anyone—nurses, shop and office workers. It was affordable." Actress Selma Blair has been spotted with a Vidal-inspired cut. Get the Look. Sassoon may no longer be affiliated with the salons in his name (he sold them to Regis Corporation in 2002), but it's still easy to find a look he inspired. Many geometrical short cuts that we see on today's top stars, from Victoria Beckham to Katie Holmes , are variations on simple, low-maintenance looks Sassoon developed. Ask your hairstylist for a simple, wash-and-wear short cut, but beware: most of the best cuts are designed for stick-straight locks.


What was the name given to the series of trials presided over by Judge Jeffreys after the Monmouth Rebellion in 1685 when hundreds were put to death or transported to the colonies?

Judge Jeffreys and the Bloody Assizes in Dorchester Judge Jeffreys lodgings in an old postcard Judge Jeffreys Judge Jeffreys ranks alongside Thomas Hardy and William Barnes as one of the most important  figures in Dorchester's past. But in contrast to those other two former Dorchester residents, you will find no  statues of Jeffreys anywhere in the town. His impact on the town was of an altogether darker tone, and his name  is inextricably linked to one of the most notorious and controversial episodes in the history of Dorchester, known  as the Bloody Assizes. Early Life George Jeffreys was born in 1645 in Acton Hall near Wrexham, into one of the leading aristocratic families in Wales. In 1668 he began a career in the law, and quickly caught the attention of the movers and shakers of the day, including the Duke of York (later to become King James II). He became the Duke's Solicitor General in 1676 and was knighted the following year. With a knack for making powerful friends, Jeffries secured a series of promotions and honours over the following years, becoming Lord Chancellor in 1685 and taking the title Baron Jeffreys of Wem. That same year, an uprising started in the West Country aiming to overthrow James II and replace him with the Duke of Monmouth, an illegitimate son of the previous monarch Charles II. The uprising, known as the Monmouth Rebellion, was defeated and put down by the King's troops, and Monmouth was executed for treason The Bloody Assizes The episode that would seal Jeffreys' reputation came when the newly promoted Lord Chancellor was sent South to deal with the King's rebellious subjects in the West Country and ensure order was restored to the region. He took up residence in Dorchester at 6 High West Street and presided over hearings for hundreds of supporters of Monmouth The trials, known as the Bloody Assizes, were held in the Oak Room of the Antelope Hotel. Jeffreys was in no mood for clemency, handing down death sentences for 251 rebels, to the shock and outrage of many observers at the time. While only 74 of these sentences were actually carried out, the brutality of the executions ensured they would live long in the memory of Dorchester. As was traditional for those convicted of treason, the condemned men were hung, drawn and quartered, and their heads were taken and displayed on spikes in Dorchester and other towns around Dorset. The remaining rebels were transported to the West Indies (which was more or less a death sentence in itself, given the vulnerability of Europeans to malaria and other tropical diseases at the time). Historians have suggested the reason for Jeffreys' severity during the trials was that he was a Protestant serving a Catholic king, and the Monmouth Rebellion was led by Protestants who trying to overthrow the Catholic monarchy. It is possible he felt he had to go the extra mile with his sentences to prove to the King that he had no sympathy with the plotters. Others have pointed to his suffering from kidney stones, which that meant he was in constant pain for much of his later life, and only added to his brittle temper. Whatever the reason, he made himself a hate figure amongst the local population, and earned himself the enduring nickname "The Hanging Judge". Downfall As a man with so much blood on his hands, it was always unlikely that Jeffreys would get to see out his life peacefully. His comeuppance came in 1688, when James II was finally ousted, and Jeffreys was forced to go on the run disguised as a sailor. In an ironic twist of fate, his disguise was rumbled after he was recognised by a victim of his Assizes who had been spared execution. Such was the hatred of the population towards Jeffreys that the new regime felt compelled to put him in the Tower of London for his own safety. It was here that he died on 1689, finally succumbing to the kidney disease that had plagued him for much of his life. Jeffreys' Legacy In Dorchester If you come to Dorchester to follow the story of Judge Jeffreys and the Bloody Assizes, the obvious place to st


Goose bumps (also called goose flesh or goose pimples), which may involuntarily develop when a person experiences cold or strong emotions is known as what?

Goose bumps | AnatomyBox Goose bumps 09 2011 Goose bumps , also called goose flesh, goose pimples, or the medical term cutis anserina, are the bumps on a person’s skin at the base of body hairs which may involuntarily develop when a person is cold or experiences strong emotions such as fear, nostalgia, pleasure, awe, admiration or sexual arousal.   The reflex of producing goose bumps is known as horripilation, piloerection, or the pilomotor reflex. It occurs in many mammals besides humans; a prominent example is porcupines, which raise their quills when threatened, or sea otters when they encounter sharks or other predators.  (Adapted from Wikipedia) photo from roguedemonhunter flickr


To travel in a direct line from Portland, Oregon to Portland, Maine in the USA how many major mountain ranges would need to be crossed?

The National Map: Small Scale Figure 1: Hydrographic Geodatabase of the United States One Million-Scale Figure 2: Elevation of the Conterminous United States at 100 Meter Resolution The National Map Small-Scale Collection The National Map is now offering a collection of small-scale datasets that can be downloaded for free. Although the 1997-2014 Edition of the National Atlas of the United States was retired in September 2014, The National Map recognizes the importance of continuing to make a collection of the small-scale datasets, originally developed for the National Atlas, available to users. Small-scale maps have an advantage over large-scale maps when there is a need to show a large area in a single view. This makes small-scale maps an ideal solution for scientists, decision-makers, and planners needing to provide a geographical context for the research projects. Generally, certain geographical and feature details found in large-scale maps are limited or omitted in small-scale maps. The choice of small-scale maps always comes down to the intended use of the final map. The National Map collection of 197 small-scale datasets can be downloaded at small-scale data download page . The National Map small-scale web map and feature services can be accessed at WMS/WFS TNM Small-Scale . Even though the 1997-2014 Edition of the National Atlas has retired, nationalmap.gov will continue to offer the Set of Dynamic Topographic Maps Illustrating Physical Features . Additionally hundreds of printable maps, which were developed for the National Atlas 1997-2014 Edition, can be found at the Printable Maps link . All of these maps display the National Atlas logo and are considered a legacy product. The National Map Small-Scale website also link to Global Map, an international effort by national mapping organizations to produce consistent and accurate mapping data of the world at a scale of 1:1,000,000. The National Map publishes two data collections at one million-scale: one for Global Map users and one for National Map users. In terms of vector geometry, the lines, points, and areas in these data collections are identical. The difference is in the attributes assigned to these features. Jennifer's Notes Below, Up Temporarily, Will be Removed placeholder home page for small scale content. Printable Maps


What is the official state religion in Nepal?

Nepal - RELIGION RELIGION Nepal Table of Contents Religion and Society Religion occupies an integral position in Nepalese life and society.     In the early 1990s, Nepal was the only constitutionally declared Hindu     state in the world; there was, however, a great deal of intermingling of     Hindu and Buddhist beliefs. Many of the people regarded as Hindus in the     1981 census could, with as much justification, be called Buddhists. The     fact that Hindus worshipped at Buddhist temples and Buddhists worshipped     at Hindu temples has been one of the principal reasons adherents of the     two dominant groups in Nepal have never engaged in any overt religious     conflicts. Because of such dual faith practices (or mutual respect), the     differences between Hindus and Buddhists have been in general very     subtle and academic in nature. However, in 1991, approximately 89.5     percent of the Nepalese people identified themselves as Hindus.     Buddhists and Muslims comprised only 5.3 and 2.7 percent, respectively.     The remainder followed other religions, including Christianity. The geographical distribution of religious groups revealed a     preponderance of Hindus, accounting for at least 87 percent of the     population in every region. The largest concentrations of Buddhists were     found in the eastern hills, the Kathmandu Valley, and the central Tarai;     in each area about 10 percent of the people were Buddhist. Buddhism was     relatively more common among the Newar and Tibeto-Nepalese groups. Among     the Tibeto-Nepalese, those most influenced by Hinduism were the Magar,     Sunwar, and Rai peoples. Hindu influence was less prominent among the     Gurung, Limbu, Bhote, and Thakali groups, who continued to employ     Buddhist monks for their religious ceremonies. Hinduism Hinduism generally is regarded as the oldest formal religion in the     world. The origins of Hinduism go back to the pastoral Aryan tribes,     spilling over the Hindu Kush from Inner Asia, and mixing with the urban     civilization of the Indus Valley and with the tribal cultures of hunting     and gathering peoples in the area. Unlike other world religions,     Hinduism had no single founder and has never been missionary in     orientation. It is believed that about 1200 B.C., or even earlier by     some accounts, the Vedas, a body of hymns originating in northern India     were produced; these texts form the theological and philosophical     precepts of Hinduism. Hindus believe that the absolute (the totality of existence,     including God, man, and universe) is too vast to be contained within a     single set of beliefs. A highly diverse and complex religion, Hinduism     embraces six philosophical doctrines (darshanas). From these     doctrines, individuals select one that is congenial, or conduct their     worship simply on a convenient level of morality and observance.     Religious practices differ from group to group. The average Hindu does     not need any systematic formal creed in order to practice his or her     religion Hindus only to comply with the customs of their family and     social groups. One basic concept in Hinduism is that of dharma, natural law and the     social and religious obligations it imposes. It holds that individuals     should play their proper role in society as determined or prescribed by     their dharma. The caste system, although not essential to philosophical     Hinduism, has become an integral part of its social or dharmic     expression. Under this system, each person is born into a particular     caste, whose traditional occupation-- although members do not     necessarily practice it--is graded according to the degree of purity and     impurity inherent in it. Other fundamental ideas common to all Hindus concern the nature and     destiny of the soul, and the basic forces of the universe. The


What lies directly beneath the liver in the human body?

Location and Pictures of Different Organs In The Abdomen Location and Pictures of Different Organs In The Abdomen March 30, 2013 | 0 Comments In this Article: This Article is the detailed account of all the major organs that are categorized under the nine regions in the abdominal cavity 1) Stomach Colon (Ascending, Transverse and Descending) Rectum 7) Kidneys Areas of the Abdominal Region The region of the trunk that lies between the diaphragm above the pelvic inlet below is referred to as Abdomen that is divided into nine regions by two vertical and two horizontal lines. Each vertical line passes through mid-point between anterior superior iliac spine and symphysis pubis. The upper horizontal line (sub-costal plane) meets the 10th costal cartilage on each side whereas the lower horizontal line (inter-tubercular plane) joins the tubercles on the iliac crests. The Transpyloric Plane that lies at the level of Lumbar plexus L1 passes through the tips of 9th costal cartilages on the two sides (The point where the lateral margin of Rectus Abdominis andLinea Semilunaris crosses the costal margin). The Inter-cristal plane passes across the highest points on iliac crests. Boundaries of the Abdomen It is bounded above the thoracic cage and below the abdominal muscles and fascia. Posteriorly It is bounded by Lumbar vertebrae, crura of diaphragm, psoas and quadratus lumborum muscles and posterior part of iliac bones. Laterally It is yet again bounded above the thoracic cage and below by abdominal muscles and fascia. Superiorly It is bounded by diaphragm. Inferiorly Picture : Abdomen is broadly classified into 4 areas (right and left) upper and lower quadrants image source : http://health.usf.edu Picture :  Abdominal Nine areas or regions Image source : http://health.usf.edu Right Hypochondrium / Epigastrium / Left Hypochondrium In Middle Abdomen Right Lumbar region / Umbilicus / Left Lumbar region In Lower Abdomen Right Iliac region / Hypogastrium / Left Iliac region.   Stomach Location Stomach is a muscular bag forming the most distensible part of the Human Digestive System. The regions occupied by stomach are epigastric, umbilical and hypochondriac regions. It lies between the esophagus and the duodenum on the upper-left portion of the abdominal cavity. Stomach is divisible into cardiac portion which in turn is divided into fundus and body whereas the pyloric division of the stomach is further sub-divided into pyloric antrum and pyloric canal. A small part of the posterior surface of the stomach is in direct contact with the left crus of the diaphragm, cranial to the gastrophrenic ligament. Picture : Stomach location and its relations with various other organs Image source :  open.jorum.ac.uk Picture: Stomach Anatomy and its parts Image source : gistsupport.org The Human Intestine consists of two segments. 1) Small Intestine It is about 6 meters (20 feet) long and extends from the pylorus of the stomach to the ileocecal junction. Divisions of Small Intestine The small intestine is divided into 1. Upper fixed portion called Duodenum (25cm/10 inches long) 2. Lower mobile portion in which Upper 2/5 of the mobile intestine is called Jejunum, and Lower 3/5 of the mobile intestine is called Ileum. Duodenum It’s a C-shaped tube and is about 25 centimeters (10 inches) long. It extends from the pylorus to the Duodeno-jejunal flexure. Duodenum lies above the level of umbilicus, opposite vertebrae L1, L2 and L3. it occupies the epigastric and umbilical regions. Duodenum is divided into four parts. First Part of Duodenum It begins at the pylorus and is approximately 2 inches long. It lies on the transpyloric plane. It is also known as duodenal cap because of absence of plica circularis being replaced by smooth outline. Second Part of the Duodenum The second part of the duodenum begin at the superior duodenal flexure and is 3 inches long. The main pancreatic duct and bile duct pierces the postero-medial part at the mid-point. It is retro-peritoneal and fixed. Third part of the Duodenum It is 3 inches long and is fixed and retro-peritoneal. It


"Who assassinated Abraham Lincoln at a stage performance of ""Our American Cousin"" at Ford's Theatre on Good Friday, 14 April 1865?"

Ticket for Ford's Theatre, April 14, 1865 | Shapell Manuscript Foundation 2 pages SMC 214 On the evening of April 14, 1865, President Lincoln attended a performance of the drawing room comedy, "Our American Cousin," at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C. Half way into the 3rd act, as the audience laughed at the title character trumpeting this line, “Don't know the manners of good society, eh? Well, I guess I know enough to turn you inside out, old gal — you sockdologizing old man-trap..." John Wilkes Booth slipped unnoticed into the Presidential box and, standing four feet away from the President, discharged a single bullet from a derringer into the back of Lincoln’s head. The short-barreled pocket pistol shot a round lead ball at a very low muzzle velocity - about that, say, of today’s air guns. It was enough, however, to render Lincoln unconscious and paralyzed. As Booth escaped from the theater, a young Army surgeon, Charles Leale, made his way through the audience to Lincoln’s side. He determined that the wound was mortal, and ordered the stricken President carried across the street to a neighboring boarding house. There, because he was too tall to fit lengthwise, Lincoln was laid diagonally across a small bed - which, on previous occasions, had been slept in by his assassin, Booth.  When Lincoln died the next morning, he became the first president to be assassinated.  He would not, unhappily, be the last. Three more presidents would be assassinated - and yet another eleven the objects of assassination attempts. Printed Theatre Ticket, unused, for a Reserved Chair in the Orchestra section at Friday’s performance of “Our American Cousin” Ford’s Theatre, Washington, April 14, 1865, with large circular ink stamp, “Ford’s Theatre/ This Night Only / April 14, 1865.” 4 1/8 inches by 1 3/4 inches, on thick card stock with a bright yellow surface, and bearing the printed signature of manager James R. Ford. On the verso, an Autograph Note Signed in the hand of famed coin dealer James W. Haseltine, dated July 14, 1865, certifying that this original ticket, for the night Lincoln was assassinated, was presented to him by James R. Ford. Exceptionally rare.


From 1618 the Thirty Years War between Catholic and Protestant countries in the Holy Roman Empire, in 1632 became a fight between the Hapsburgs and Spain on one side against who on the other?

Thirty Years’ War - Facts & Summary - HISTORY.com Thirty Years’ War A+E Networks Introduction The Thirty Years’ War (1618-48) began when Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II of Bohemia attempted to curtail the religious activities of his subjects, sparking rebellion among Protestants. The war came to involve the major powers of Europe, with Sweden, France, Spain and Austria all waging campaigns primarily on German soil. Known in part for the atrocities committed by mercenary soldiers, the war ended with a series of treaties that made up the Peace of Westphalia. The fallout reshaped the religious and political map of central Europe, setting the stage for the old centralized Roman Catholic empire to give way to a community of sovereign states. Google This conflict, which redrew the religious and political map of central Europe, began in the Holy Roman Empire, a vast complex of some one thousand separate, semiautonomous political units under the loose suzerainty of the Austrian Hapsburgs. Over the previous two centuries, a balance of power had emerged among the leading states, but during the sixteenth century, the Reformation and the Counter Reformation had divided Germany into hostile Protestant and Catholic camps, each prepared to seek foreign support to guarantee its integrity if need arose. Thus in 1618, when Ferdinand II, heir apparent to the throne of Bohemia, began to curtail certain religious privileges enjoyed by his subjects there, they immediately appealed for aid to the Protestants in the rest of the empire and to the leading foreign Protestant states: Great Britain, the Dutch Republic, and Denmark. Ferdinand, in turn, called upon the German Catholics (led by Bavaria), Spain, and the papacy. In the ensuing struggle, Ferdinand (elected Holy Roman Emperor in 1619) and his allies won a major victory at White Mountain (1620) outside Prague that allowed the extirpation of Protestantism in most of the Hapsburg lands. Encouraged by this success, Ferdinand turned in 1621 against Bohemia’s Protestant supporters in Germany. Despite aid from Britain, Denmark, and the Dutch Republic, they too lost, and by 1629 imperial armies commanded by Albrecht von Wallenstein overran most of Protestant Germany and much of Denmark. Ferdinand then issued the Edict of Restitution, reclaiming lands in the empire belonging to the Catholic Church that had been acquired and secularized by Protestant rulers. Only Swedish military aid saved the Protestant cause. In 1630 an army led by King Gustavus Adolphus landed in Germany and, with a subsidy from the French government and assistance from many German Protestant states, routed the Imperialists at Breitenfeld (1631) and drove them from much of Germany. The Protestant revival continued until in 1634 a Spanish army intervened and at Nordlingen defeated the main Swedish field army and forced the Protestants out of southern Germany. This new Hapsburg success, however, provoked France-which feared encirclement-to declare war first on Spain (1635) and then on the emperor (1636). The war, which in the 1620s had been fought principally by German states with foreign assistance, now became a struggle among the great powers (Sweden, France, Spain, and Austria) fought largely on German soil, and for twelve more years armies maneuvered while garrisons-over five hundred in all-carried out a “dirty war” designed both to support themselves and to destroy anything of possible use to the enemy. Atrocities (such as those recorded in the novel Simplicissimus by Hans von Grimmelshausen) abounded as troops struggled to locate and appropriate resources. Eventually, France’s victory over the Spaniards at Rocroi (1643) and Sweden’s defeat of the Imperialists at Jankau (1645) forced the Hapsburgs to make concessions that led, in 1648, to the Peace of Westphalia, which settled most of the outstanding issues. The cost, however, had proved enormous. Perhaps 20 percent of Germany’s total population perished during the war, with losses of up to 50 percent along a corridor running from Pomerania in the Baltic to the Black Forest. V


What are the only arteries in the adult human body to carry deoxygenated blood?

Principal Veins About Watch and Favorite Watch Watching this resources will notify you when proposed changes or new versions are created so you can keep track of improvements that have been made. Favorite Favoriting this resource allows you to save it in the “My Resources” tab of your account. There, you can easily access this resource later when you’re ready to customize it or assign it to your students. Principal Veins Veins are blood vessels that carry blood towards the heart, have thin, inelastic walls, and contain numerous valves. Learning Objective Distinguish among the principal veins of the circulatory system Key Points Veins , blood vessels which return blood to the heart , are different in structure and function from the arteries , which carry blood to the circulation. Most veins carry deoxygenated blood from the tissues back to the heart. The exceptions are the pulmonary and umbilical veins, both of which carry oxygenated blood to the heart, but the umbilical vein deteriorates shortly after birth. The venae cavae are two large veins which drain into the right atrium of the heart, returning the majority of blood from the systemic circulation . Term Register for FREE to remove ads and unlock more features! Learn more Full Text In the circulatory system, veins are blood vessels that carry blood towards the heart. Veins have thin, inelastic walls, and contain numerous valves in order to prevent backflow of blood. Most veins carry deoxygenated blood from the tissues back to the heart with the exceptions of the pulmonary and umbilical veins, both of which carry oxygenated blood to the heart. This diagram of the principal veins indicates the sigmoid signus, interior and exterior jugular veins, inferior thyroid vein, pulmonary arteries, heart, inferior vena cava, hepatic veins, renal veins, abdominal vena cava, testicularis vein, common iliac vein, perforating branches, external and internal iliac vein, external pudendal vein, deep femoral vein, great saphenous vein, femoral vein, accessory saphenous veins, superior genicular veins, popliteal vein, inferior genicular veins, small saphenous veins, anterior and posterior tibial veins, deep plantar veins, dorsal venous arch, dorsal digital vein, palmar digital veins, superficial palmar arch, deep palmar arch, ulnar vein, median antebranchial vein, cephalic vein, thoracoepigastric vein, median cubital vein, basilic vein, intercostal vein, brachial veins, axillary vein, internal thoracic vein, and subclavian vein. Veins can be broadly classified based on their depth within the body. Superficial veins are located close to the surface of the body and have no corresponding arteries, such as the great saphenous vein which runs the length of the leg. The deep veins lie deeper in the body and often run adjacent to corresponding arteries, such as the femoral vein which sits adjacent to the femoral artery in the thigh. Deep veins are often of larger caliber than superficial veins and carry the majority of the blood within the circulatory system. Communicating veins, or perforator veins if they pass through a large muscle mass, directly connect superficial and direct veins. The above veins form part of the systemic circulatory system. The pulmonary veins and venules that run from the lungs to the heart form part of the pulmonary circulatory system and are distinct from other veins in that they carry oxygenated blood. Venae Cavae The venae cavae are the veins with the largest diameter. Both enter the right atrium of the heart with the superior vena cava carrying blood from the arms, head, and thoracic cavity and the inferior vena cava carrying blood from the legs and abdomen. The inferior vena cava runs parallel to the abdominal aorta .  The superior vena cava is formed from the brachiocephalic veins which are in turn formed from the subclavian and internal jugular veins that serve the arm and head respectively. The inferior vena cava is formed from the common iliac veins that serve the legs and abdomen. The renal and hepatic veins from the kidneys and liver respectively also feed


What type of ball is football (soccer) played with?

Football (Soccer)/The Basics - Wikibooks, open books for an open world Football (Soccer)/The Basics Jump to: navigation , search Football (or soccer as Americans call it) is one of the most popular sports in the world. One of the reasons is that the only equipment the sport needs is a ball,cleats,shinguard's, and any markers for the goals. Bring in two teams and the game is on. Informal games can therefore be very easily set up. The game consists of two teams of 11 players. One of the players is considered a goalkeeper (goalie) and that player's objective is not to allow the ball to go into the goal. The goalkeeper is the only player who may handle the ball but only in the penalty area that (s)he is defending. The other ten field players' objective is to score by putting the ball into their opponent's goal, while trying to avoid conceding goals. They do this by dribbling, passing, and eventually shooting the ball. The field players can use any part of their body except their hands or arms. The duration of the game is 90 minutes, with a change of ends and an interval of not more than 15 minutes after 45 minutes. The referee may make allowance for time lost in each half. Once the game is over, the team that scores the most goals (the number of times the ball goes in the goal) is declared the winner. In the case of a draw, and depending on the rules of the competition, a result may be reached by extra time (of 30 minutes duration) or a penalty shoot-out. Contents The Field[ edit ] A typical football field The field must be rectangular and either natural or artificial. The field size is directly proportional in league and international matches. Generally, the football field should be 105 x 68 meters (115 yd × 74 yd), but often each field has different dimensions. The longer sides of the field are called touch lines, while the shorter sides are called goal lines. Fields are divided into two halves with each team defending their own goal. Adjacent to the goal lines are the 18-yard and 6-yard boxes, which signify where the goal and goalkeeper are. The 18-yard box is also known as the penalty area, from where penalty shots can be taken after a foul is committed by the defending team. The Ball[ edit ] The ball used in football is spherical, 27-28 inches (68-70 cm) in circumference and 14-16 oz (410-450g) mass. The balls used in a league or international match have to be approved by FIFA. Each professional league around the world uses its own specific ball. There is some overlap, for example both the Spanish La Liga and the English Premier League use the Nike Odrem (2015). Furthermore, each World Cup offers a new and unique ball reflecting to the host country's culture. The Players[ edit ] The players are 11 on both sides of teams in a match, however substitutes are also available. There are four classes in which the 11 players are divided:- Goalkeepers: He/She has to try and stop the other team from scoring (kicking the ball into his goal). The goalkeeper is the only player who can touch the ball with his/her hands. Defenders: They try and stop the other team from scoring by protecting their goal. Midfielders: They are the players in between the defenders and strikers. They pass the ball to the strikers so they can score. Midfielders also help defenders (by defending their goal) and strikers (by trying to score themselves). Strikers (also known as forwards or attackers): They try to score goals by kicking the ball into the other team's goal. The Formations[ edit ] Although there are 11 players on a team there are several commonly used ways to arrange them. The three most commonly used formations today are probably the 4-5-1, 4-3-3, and the 4-4-2 (note: first # is the # of defenders, the second midfielders, and third forwards) although there are some different variations of each. Two variations of a 4-4-2 are the "flat back four" and a "diamond back" or "sweeper, stopper" where the back four defenders form a diamond with the stopper ahead of the sweeper. Other less commonly used formations are the 3-6-1, 4-2-4, and the 3-5-2. Chan


"""The course of true love never did run smooth"" is a line from which play?"

SparkNotes: A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Important Quotations Explained Important Quotations Explained Ay me, for aught that I could ever read, Could ever hear by tale or history, The course of true love never did run smooth. . . . Lysander speaks these lines to soothe Hermia when she despairs about the difficulties facing their love, specifically, that Egeus, her father, has forbidden them to marry and that Theseus has threatened her with death if she disobeys her father (I.i.132–134). Lysander tells Hermia that as long as there has been true love, there have been seemingly insurmountable difficulties to challenge it. He goes on to list a number of these difficulties, many of which later appear in the play: differences in birth or age (“misgrafted in respect of years”) and difficulties caused by friends or “war, death, or sickness,” which make love seem “swift as a shadow, short as any dream” (I.i.137, I.i.142–144). But, as Hermia comments, lovers must persevere, treating their difficulties as a price that must be paid for romantic bliss. As such, the above lines inaugurate the play’s exploration of the theme of love’s difficulties and presage what lies ahead for Lysander and Hermia: they will face great difficulties but will persevere and ultimately arrive at a happy ending. 2. Through Athens I am thought as fair as she. But what of that? Demetrius thinks not so. He will not know what all but he do know. And as he errs, doting on Hermia’s eyes, So I, admiring of his qualities. Things base and vile, holding no quantity, Love can transpose to form and dignity. Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind, And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind. Helena utters these lines as she comments on the irrational nature of love. They are extremely important to the play’s overall presentation of love as erratic, inexplicable, and exceptionally powerful (I.i.227–235). Distressed by the fact that her beloved Demetrius loves Hermia and not her, Helena says that though she is as beautiful as Hermia, Demetrius cannot see her beauty. Helena adds that she dotes on Demetrius (though not all of his qualities are admirable) in the same way that he dotes on Hermia. She believes that love has the power to transform “base and vile” qualities into “form and dignity”—that is, even ugliness and bad behavior can seem attractive to someone in love. This is the case, she argues, because “love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind”—love depends not on an objective assessment of appearance but rather on an individual perception of the beloved. These lines prefigure aspects of the play’s examination of love, such as Titania’s passion for the ass-headed Bottom, which epitomizes the transformation of the “base and vile” into “form and dignity.” 3. Lord, what fools these mortals be! Puck makes this declaration in his amazement at the ludicrous behavior of the young Athenians (III.ii.115). This line is one of the most famous in A Midsummer Night’s Dream for its pithy humor, but it is also thematically important: first, because it captures the exaggerated silliness of the lovers’ behavior; second, because it marks the contrast between the human lovers, completely absorbed in their emotions, and the magical fairies, impish and never too serious. 4. I have had a most rare vision. I have had a dream past the wit of man to say what dream it was. Man is but an ass if he go about t’expound this dream. Methought I was—there is no man can tell what. Methought I was, and methought I had—but man is but a patched fool if he will offer to say what methought I had. The eye of man hath not heard, the ear of man hath not seen, man’s hand is not able to taste, his tongue to conceive, nor his heart to report what my dream was. I will get Peter Quince to write a ballad of this dream. It shall be called ‘Bottom’s Dream’, because it hath no bottom. Bottom makes this bombastic speech after he wakes up from his adventure with Titania; his human head restored, he believes that his experience as an ass-headed monster beloved by the beautiful fairy queen was merely a biza


The English sovereigns Henry VII and Mary I were members of which Royal House?

Tudor Sovereign | The Royal Mint Museum 1603-04 The crown gold sovereigns issued at the start of James I’s reign were the last coins to bear the name for more than two centuries. Gold coins of 20 and 30 shillings were issued in the years that followed – but they were now known as unites and rose ryals. Specifications and design For the sake of clarity, issues of the Tudor sovereign can be usefully divided into three groups: sovereigns struck in fine (995) gold; sovereign issues of the Great Debasement; and sovereigns struck in crown (916) gold after the Debasement. The tables below provide images of every major design type of the Tudor sovereign. Sovereigns struck in fine gold Issued 995 gold Fine gold: Henry VII type 1 The designs for all sovereigns struck in fine gold consist of an enthroned portrait and a shield of the Royal Arms set against a Tudor rose. But the first issue of 1489, of which only a couple of specimens are known to survive, is highly distinctive – both for the simple background on the obverse and the large crown above the shield on the reverse. More so than any of the later types, the first sovereign bears a striking resemblance to the real d’or – a gold coin issued in 1487 in the Netherlands. It may be that the Dutch coin served as the prototype for the sovereign, or it may be that the real d’or and the sovereign were both inspired by current Spanish gold coins. Fine gold: Henry VII type 2 In the past it has been broadly accepted that the sovereign of the second type, with its field liberally scattered with fleurs de lys, was struck in connection with the French expedition of 1492. But this seems less likely in the light of recent work. Fine gold: Henry VII type 3 Perhaps the most distinctive features of the third type are the greyhound and dragon standing on the pillars of the throne. The dragon was Henry’s badge at the battle of Bosworth Field and is said to have been the ensign of Cadwaladr, ‘the last king of the Britons’, from whom Henry claimed descent. Fine gold: Henry VII type 4 Coins of the fourth type, all struck from a single pair of dies, are the least rare of Henry VII sovereigns. Fine gold: Henry VII type 5 The portcullis of the House of Beaufort, a symbol of the Tudor dynasty, was inserted below the enthroned portrait on the fifth type. Henceforth, the basic lay-out of the design would change very little on the fine sovereigns of Henry VII’s successors. Fine gold: Henry VIII A unique sovereign of Henry VIII with a mintmark showing the sun breaking through clouds survives in the British Museum. Numismatists have long suspected that this highly distinctive mintmark, located at the start of the inscription on both sides of the coin, may be in some way connected with the birth of Henry’s long-awaited son on 12 October 1537. Fine gold: Edward VI An extreme rarity held in the Royal Mint Museum is a double sovereign of the special Southwark issue of 1551. In essence, the coin is a piedfort – of double weight but standard diameter. The assumption is that these double sovereigns were intended as especially prestigious presentation pieces. The only other Tudor sovereign of which piedforts are known is the final type of Henry VII. Fine gold: Mary I A number of the sovereigns issued by Mary I bear the date 1553 or 1554 in roman numerals at the end of the obverse inscription. They are the only Tudor sovereigns to be dated. Fine gold: Elizabeth I On many of the later sovereigns of Elizabeth I, the tressure surrounding the portrait continues up to the queen’s head rather than stopping at the sides of the throne. Although this change may seem inconsequential, it attracted full-throated criticism from one numismatist in the 1930s who described the result as being ‘both inartistic and incorrect… [as] the tressure is made to pass between the Queen’s head and the back of her throne!’ Sovereign issues of the Great Debasement Issued 22 carat (916) Debasement: Henry VIII type 1 For the debasement sovereigns, the traditional shield-on-rose reverse design was abandoned in favour of a shield of the royal arms wi


The Appenines is a mountain range that runs for 870 miles in what country?

Apennine Range | mountains, Italy | Britannica.com Apennine Range Alternative Titles: Appennines, Appennini, Appennino Related Topics Ariano Irpino Apennine Range, also called the Apennines, Italian Appennino, series of mountain ranges bordered by narrow coastlands that form the physical backbone of peninsular Italy . From Cadibona Pass in the northwest, close to the Maritime Alps , they form a great arc, which extends as far as the Egadi Islands to the west of Sicily . Their total length is approximately 870 miles (1,400 kilometres), and their width ranges from 25 to 125 miles. Mount Corno , 9,554 feet (2,912 metres), is the highest point of the Apennines proper on the peninsula. The range follows a northwest–southeast orientation as far as Calabria , at the southern tip of Italy; the regional trend then changes direction, first toward the south and finally westward. The Apennines mountain range. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. The Apennines are among the younger ranges of the Alpine system and, geologically speaking, are related to the coastal range of the Atlas Mountains of North Africa . Similarities have also been observed with the Dinaric Alps , which extend through the Balkan region, including Greece. Nearby Sardinia and Corsica , on the other hand, are dissimilar to the Apennines, their granitic rock masses being linked to outcroppings along the Spanish and French coast, from which they parted some 20 million years ago. Physical features Geology The majority of geologic units of the Apennines are made up of marine sedimentary rocks that were deposited over the southern margin of the Tethys Sea , the large ocean that spread out between the Paleo-European and the Paleo-African plates during their separation in the Mesozoic Era (about 250 to 65 million years ago). These rocks are mostly shales, sandstones, and limestones, while igneous rocks (such as the ophiolites of the northern Apennines, the remains of an older oceanic crust) are scarce. The oldest rocks—metamorphic units of the late Paleozoic Era (about 300 to 250 million years ago), with their continental sedimentary cover containing plant remains—represent the relicts of the ancient continental crust of Gondwanaland and are found in small outcroppings. The granitic intrusions and metamorphic units of the Calabrian and Sicilian ranges are also Paleozoic (Hercynian orogeny), but they are believed to be Alpine in origin and only became part of the Apennine chain through subsequent major tectonic movements. Similar Topics Jura Mountains The Apennine orogeny developed through several tectonic phases, mostly during the Cenozoic Era (i.e., since about 65 million years ago), and came to a climax in the Miocene and Pliocene epochs (about 23 to 2.6 million years ago). The Apennines consist of a thrust-belt structure with three basic trending motions: toward the Adriatic Sea (the northern and central ranges), the Ionian Sea (Calabrian Apennines), and Africa (Sicilian Range). During Plio-Pleistocene times (i.e., about 5,300,000 to 11,700 years ago), ingression and regression of the sea caused the formation of large marine and continental sedimentary belts (sands, clays, and conglomerates) along the slopes of the new chain. In the past million years numerous large faults have developed along the western side of the Apennines, which may be connected to the crustal thinning that began about 10 million years ago and resulted in the formation of a new sea, the Tyrrhenian. Most of these faults have also facilitated strong volcanic activity, and a volcanic chain has formed along them from Mount Amiata in Tuscany to Mount Etna in Sicily; most of these volcanoes—including Mount Amiata, Mount Cimino, the Alban Hills near Rome , and the Ponza Islands—are extinct, but, to the south, Mount Vesuvius, the Eolie Islands , and Mount Etna are all still active. Seismic activity is common along the entire length of the chain (including Sicily), with more than 40,000 recorded events since ad 1000. Mostly earthquakes are shallow (three to 19 miles deep), and their occurrence is probably connec


The qualifying age to compete in World Figure Skating Championships has been '15 years old by 1 July of the previous year', since when?

Competitive Figure Skating FAQ: Rules and Regulations Competitive Figure Skating FAQ: Rules and Regulations This article is part of the FAQ list for (amateur) competitive figure skating. This section covers rules governing the sport of figure skating. This FAQ list is posted monthly to rec.sport.skating.ice.figure. Send corrections and suggestions to sandra@shore.net. This file is available in both plain-text and HTML/Web versions. You can get to the HTML version from SkateWeb Figure Skating Page at URL: Table of Contents [1] How is figure skating scored? [2] Sometimes a judge gives marks that seem way too low. Why is this permitted to happen? [3] So exactly what are those rules for determining the     placements from the ordinals? [4] [Skater A] was ahead of [skater B] until [skater C] skated, but then their placements flipped! How did that happen?     Aren't the rules unfair? [5] What about rules for professional competitions? [6] Are professional skaters allowed to compete in the Olympics? Are amateurs allowed to be paid for skating? [7] Why can't skaters do back flips in competition? [8] What is the "Katarina Rule"? [9] What is the "Zayak Rule"? [10] How do they decide which skaters get to go to  the Olympics or world championships? [11] Why was [well-known skater] not disqualified  when she had trouble with her skate laces? [12] How was [some skater] able to compete in both the World Junior championships and senior-level competitions in the same season? [13] Why do the TV commentators keep patronizingly     referring to women skaters as "ladies" instead of "women"? [14] Isn't it unfair for the judges to watch the     practice sessions? Aren't they supposed to judge only what happens     in the actual competition? [15] Why is vocal music permitted for the     original dance (jive)? I     thought vocal music wasn't permitted in eligible competition. [16] Why are there four skaters on the podium at US Nationals instead of only three? [17] Why do they bother having the World Championships     immediately after the Olympics? [1] How is figure skating scored? The singles and pair events each have two parts, the short program  and the free skate. In the short program (formerly called the  original or technical program), the skaters must  execute eight required elements (jumps, spins, and footwork sequences);  there are mandatory deductions for failures, and skaters are not  permitted to retry missed elements or insert extra elements. In the  free skate, there are no required elements, and falling or omitting  elements counts against the skater only as far as it reduces the  overall difficulty of the program, or if it disrupts the flow of the  program. Skaters are given two marks. The technical mark (for required elements  or technical merit) is supposed to reflect the difficulty of the program  and the clean execution of the elements. This includes spins, footwork, and  connecting elements, as well as jumps. The presentation mark  is supposed to reflect the choreography, flow, and balance of the program,  the ability of the skaters to interpret their chosen music,  and other factors such as making good use of the ice surface,  skating with speed, sureness, and effortless carriage, and unison  for pair skaters. Note that the presentation mark is specifically not a measure of "artistry" or how much the judges "like"  a skater or program. The two marks from each judge are added together and used to assign  skaters comparative rankings, called ordinals . (In the  case of ties, the technical mark has more weight in the short program,  and the presentation mark in the free skate.) If you think of the judges'  marks for a particular skater as forming a row of the scoring sheet,  the ordinals are computed by looking at the columns; each judge's  ordinals are assigned independently of the other judges. Then the ordinals from each judge are combined to determine the overall  placements; the skater with the majority of first-place votes places


When was the Fifth, and current, Republic established in France?

The French Fifth Republic: Against All Odds The French Fifth Republic: Against All Odds By Håkon Tranvåg Since the French Revolution in 1789, France has had five different republican systems. All of them have been the results of violent crises. The fifth and current one was an outcome of the Algerian crisis in the 1950’s. It withstood several assassinations attempts and rebellions, proving to be one the longest lasting and most stable political systems France has seen so far. In this article I seek to give a brief overview of how this happened.    The First Republic began with the fall of King Louis XVI in 1792 and ended with Napoleon Bonaparte declaring himself emperor of the First French Empire in 1804. After Napoleon’s empire had ended, a period of monarchies followed, until the 1848 Revolution saw the birth of the Second Republic, paradoxically enough with the election of Napoleon’s own nephew, Napoleon III, as its first president. An apple never falls to far from the tree, and within just four years he had made himself emperor of the French Second Empire. The Second Empire collapsed in 1870 with the catastrophic war against the Prussians, which the French soundly lost. That same year, the Third Republic was created. This would prove to be the hitherto longest lasting of the French republics. But although the Third Republic had a long life, it was on the other hand quite unstable: In the period from 1929 to 1939, there were 18 different governments. The Third Republic ended in 1940 with the German occupation of France. The Fourth Republic was established after the war and officially put in place in 1946. It was in many respects a revival of the Third Republic, and thus suffered from a lot of of the same problems. But more acutely, it was confronted with the collapse of the French Colonial Empire, and in particular the Algerian War, which began in 1954. The Fourth Republic had successfully lead France to an economic recovery after WWII, but proved itself incapable of resolving the conflict in Algeria. As the French generals and army section stationed in there feared that the government in Paris would abandon them and strike a deal with the Algerian independence movement, the FLN, they took control over the French administration and forces in Algeria, and issued a poorly hidden threat of a coming coup d’état: If the French government failed to give them the support they needed, they “could not predict the army’s reaction.” They then followed this up by taking control of Corsica to force the president to the negotiation table. The generals wanted the former leader of the Free French Forces, Charles de Gaulle, as new head of government to ensure support for the war. It was now a straightforward threat: If de Gaulle wasn’t given the position they would land paratroopers in Paris and seize the city. The president’s hands were tied, and de Gaulle was named head of government. In June 1958 the Parliament dissolved itself and the constitution. De Gaulle now led the forging a new constitution, and by the end of the summer the result was presented to the French people for a referendum. On September 28th a vast majority approved of the constitution, thus commencing the Fifth Republic. In December that year de Gaulle became it’s first elected president. The main problem with the two preceding republics had been that the executive branch was too weak. Governments struggled to achieve a majority; they relied on coalitions and alliances, and were often forced to resign. Further, the political parties were poorly organised, thus making the political game even more complicated. De Gaulle De Gaulle was well aware of all this, and keen to change it. The Fifth Republic was to have a strong executive power. The Prime minister and his cabinet would be less dependent on the Parliament, but more importantly, the President was given considerable authorities: He would be elected by an electoral college and not by the people directly, he appointed the Prime minister, could rule by decree in times of crisis and he could dissolve Parliament and c


Six New Zealanders went away from the 2010 Academy Awards with Oscar statuettes, all for their work on one film; what was the film?

History of New Zealand screen industry - Tourism New Zealand Media History of New Zealand screen industry History of New Zealand screen industry New Zealand’s film-making industry experienced a resurgence in the late 1970s, with Roger Donaldson’s 'Sleeping Dogs' (1977) one of a series of features that helped revitalise the industry. This content can be shared and edited for the purpose of promoting New Zealand as a visitor destination. Not for use in paid advertising. Please credit Tourism New Zealand. Copy page URL to clipboard Copied Please manually copy this URL Images (1) Some rights reserved There are over 44 Hobbit holes at Hobbiton Movie Set Tours, which were reconstructed in 2011 for The Hobbit trilogy. For a glimpse into life as a Hobbit, Movie Set Tours can be taken daily. Credit: Tourism New Zealand Download image from visuals.newzealand.com   ID:1750 After the success of his second movie Smash Palace (1982), Roger Donaldson was the first New Zealand director to begin making features in Hollywood. He made one more New Zealand feature, The World’s Fastest Indian, featuring Anthony Hopkins in the lead role, which was released in 2005. Geoff Murphy made three early New Zealand features which earned substantial popularity with local audiences and critics: Goodbye Pork Pie (1980), Utu (1983), and The Quiet Earth (1984). Vincent Ward became the first New Zealand director to win selection for competition at the Cannes Film Festival with Vigil (1984) and then The Navigator (1988). His most recent features River Queen (2005) and Rain of the Children (2008) are both unique depictions of New Zealand’s past. After her first New Zealand feature An Angel at My Table (1990), Jane Campion went on to direct The Piano which shared the 1993 Palme d’Or at Cannes and won three Academy Awards - the first New Zealand film to be so honoured. The accolades for Campion keep on coming. She received international-acclaim for her mini-series Top of the Lake, filmed in Queenstown and Glenorchy in the South Island of New Zealand, and was awarded the prestigious Carrosse d’Or award, given for innovation and boldness in the field of directing and production at the 2013 Cannes Festival. Lee Tamahori’s Once Were Warriors (1994) became a local record-breaker and a world-wide success, introducing the world to the grittier life of urban New Zealand and launching his career as an international director which included the James Bond Die Another Day (2002). New Zealand film stars Warriors also launched international careers for three stars - Rena Owen, Temuera Morrison and Cliff Curtis. The first New Zealand actor to achieve international acclaim was Sam Neill, whose career was launched with Sleeping Dogs. For her performance in The Piano, Anna Paquin was the first New Zealand actor to win an Oscar; later Keisha Castle-Hughes was nominated for Whale Rider. More recently Melanie Lynskey (whose first feature was Heavenly Creatures), Martin Henderson, Daniel Gillies, Karl Urban, Lucy Lawless and Marton Csokas are among New Zealand actors working internationally. New Zealand directors New Zealand continues to produce directors who earn international reputations including Christine Jeffs with Rain (2001), followed with Sylvia (2003), and Sunshine Cleaning (2008); and Niki Caro whose debut feature was the box office hit Whale Rider (2002) followed by North Country (2005) The Vintner’s Luck (2009) and White Lies (2013). The biggest reputation of all is that of Sir Peter Jackson, whose first features were Bad Taste (1988), Meet the Feebles (1990) and Brain Dead (1992) and whose international recognition started to climb with his fourth feature Heavenly Creatures (1994). The highpoint for New Zealand production came with Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (2001 - 2003) which he produced and directed. Those three films, with state-of-the-art digital effects technology realised at his facilities in Wellington, are proof of New Zealand film’s technical and production capacity at every level. In 2011 Peter Jackson used his skills to co-produce The Adventures


What is the southern-most Australian state capital?

Capital Cities of Australia - Overview • Adelaide, South Australia The capital of South Australia, Adelaide, is on Gulf St Vincent which leads through Investigator Strait to the Southern Ocean . As with most major Australian cities, a river runs through the city, and in Adelaide this is the Torrens. The larger, longer Murray River empties into Lake Alexandrina and into the ocean southeast of Adelaide on the eastern side of the Fleurieu Peninsula . Adelaide city centre has streets laid out in a grid surrounded by parklands. Adelaide is named after Queen Adelaide, German-born consort of England's King William IV. More » continue reading below our video Tipping Etiquette Around the World Brisbane skyline © Tourism Queensland. Brisbane skyline © Tourism Queensland • Brisbane, Queensland Brisbane, capital of Queensland, is located on the southeastern side of the state, just north of the Gold Coast . The city has grown alongside the meandering Brisbane River with the city's eastern suburbs fronting Moreton Bay on the western side of the Pacific Ocean . In population, Brisbane ranks first in Queensland and third among Australia's cities after Sydney and Melbourne. Brisbane is named after the river which snakes through the city. The river itself is named after Sir Thomas Brisbane, Governor of New South Wales from 1821 to 1825. More » Australian Parliament House © Australian Capital Tourism. Australian Parliament House © Australian Capital Tourism • Canberra, Australian Capital Territory Canberra in the Australian Capital Territory is Australia's national capital. Geographically, the Australian Capital Territory is within, but not a part of, the state of New South Wales, in much the same way that the District of Columbia, where the US capital of Washington is located, is part of neither the states of Maryland nor Virginia. As the seat of national government, the Australian Parliament and the nation's central federal offices are located in Canberra, as are the nation's national galleries, museums and library. Canberra's Lake Burley Griffin was created when the Molonglo River was dammed in the early 1960s. More » Aerial view of Darwin © Tourism NT. Aerial view of Darwin © Tourism NT • Darwin, Northern Territory It's Australia's northernmost capital city in the region commonly referred to as the Top End. It's a city that's suffered the brunt of war and natural catastrophes but has seemed to rise stronger than ever before. As the Australian capital city closest to Southeast Asia, it is a melting pot of peoples and cultures, from Aboriginal and Islander Australians to the descendants of European settlers and Asian wayfarers and migrants. The city is named after evolutionist Charles Darwin who sailed on the HMS Beagle in the early 1800s, although Darwin was not on the Beagle when the ship sailed into Darwin Harbour in 1839. More » Port Arthur © Tourism Tasmania & Sarah Quine. Port Arthur © Tourism Tasmania & Sarah Quine • Hobart, Tasmania Hobart, Australia's southernmost state capital, is located on the southeastern side of island-state Tasmania. It has grown on the banks of the Derwent River and is the end point of the annual sea classic, the Sydney Hobart Yacht Race , which starts on Sydney Harbour on Boxing Day . The ruins of the Port Arthur convict penitentiary and the historic village of Richmond are but two popular Hobart daytrip destinations. The main island of Tasmania is no more than 62.5 square kilometres and most Tasmanian attractions can be reached in a day from Hobart or the northern city of Launceston. More » Melbourne skyline © Tourism Victoria. Melbourne skyline © Tourism Victoria • Melbourne, Victoria Ah, Melbourne. It's one of my favorite cities, and always a pleasure to visit. Getting around Melbourne to view and experience its many city attractions is easy and pleasant with its free City Circle tram and the City Tourist Shuttle . Catch either of these two visitor-friendly vehicles and get off at places that interest you and then get back on and head to your next destination. And feel the throb of this city. It's ali


"What was the subject of the British TV programme ""The South Bank Show""?"

Suave to the end, Melvyn Bragg takes a final bow - (but not without a few well chosen barbs) | Media | The Guardian Suave to the end, Melvyn Bragg takes a final bow - (but not without a few well chosen barbs) • Veteran broadcaster ends run with show on RSC • Highbrow swansong for programme's 31-year stint Melvyn Bragg talks to romantic novelist Dame Barbara Cartland on The South Bank Show in 1995. Photograph: ITV / Rex Features Sunday 27 December 2009 15.00 EST First published on Sunday 27 December 2009 15.00 EST Close This article is 6 years old Melvyn Bragg's final voice-over on the last regular edition of the South Bank Show after 31 years is cleverly double-edged. "The brave work is continuing," he notes, "keeping this now well-established British institution full of new life as it moves into the future." Bragg is speaking about the Royal Shakespeare Company, subject of the final programme three decades after it featured in the second instalment of his arts show, but the note of optimistic defiance could also be taken to refer to another well-established British artistic institution moving on : himself. Earlier this year, ITV released a carefully-phrased press release announcing that the South Bank Show was ending because of Bragg's retirement. In fact, it seemed clear at the time – and has become more so since – that the relationship between the events was reversed: Bragg was leaving ITV because his arts series had been cancelled. He had been offered such a steep reduction in budgets that he felt unable to accept it, an outcome which ITV might have anticipated and perhaps did. There will be 10 lap-of-honour documentaries next year – revisiting previous interviewees – but tomorrow's profile of a theatre company is the last original documentary. Filmed in Stratford and Ukraine, it follows RSC director Michael Boyd as he researches and rehearses a play about the Ukrainian famine in 1931-32, which killed millions but which was excised from Russian history by Stalin and his successors. This may seem a solemn and off-beat subject on which to close a series which opened with Paul McCartney but the choice is careful and pointed. At one point, Bragg and Boyd discuss the way in which Russian theatre companies used metaphors in order to get past the state censor and this final South Bank Show can be viewed as a similar exercise in parallels. Indeed, this particular edition sometimes feels closer to Bragg's other main broadcasting project: Radio 4's In Our Time, in which history is re-examined from a contemporary perspective. No direct comparison is necessarily intended between Stalin's regime and that of Peter Fincham, the director of television responsible for ending the presenter's involvement with ITV, but you suspect that Bragg would not mind very much if viewers drew broad analogies with purges, starvation of central investment and a reluctance to set down a full historical record of what happened. The overlaps between broadcaster and final subject are also intriguing. The RSC was officially created in 1961, the year Bragg began his career as a BBC trainee. In a quiet self-reference, this final film contains a clip from one of his earliest television interviews: with the RSC's founder director Peter Hall for a BBC programme in the 60s. Bragg was filming with Coldplay on the day the closure of the South Bank Show was announced and that range – from pop music to Shakespearean theatre – is typical of his mission as an arts broadcaster to give equal attention to both ends of the mainstream cultural spectrum. For his final bow, though, he has chosen the highbrow part of his head. This SBS on the RSC is a television arts programme very much in the tradition established by Bragg's first BBC mentor, the late Huw Wheldon: serious, committed to the subject, assuming knowledge and interest in the audience. Viewers are expected to get – or to Google – references to the plots of King Lear and As You Like It, Stalin's NKVD and to the significance of a "thrust stage". Boyd refers to "the importance – in a counter-cultural way – of ensem


How to Identify Oaks by the Acorns: 13 Steps (with Pictures) Characteristics of an Acorn 1 Examine the acorn cup scales. The nut of the acorn grows from a woody cup, which may remind you of a hat. The small scales that make up the cup may be thin and flat, or thick and forming wart-like growths (tubercles). This variation is a great start for narrowing down the possible species. [2] All oaks native to North America and Europe have a spiral of overlapping scales on the cup. Some (but not all) East Asian oaks have scales that form concentric rings instead. These are called ring-cupped oaks, and belong to the Cyclobalanopsis subgenus. [3] 2 Look at the shape of the acorn. Acorns come in many shapes, but you can divide them into two rough groups. [4] Some are round ("globose"), or nearly round with a blunt tip. Others are elongated ("ovoid" or "oblong") and usually taper to a point ("fusiform"). The acorns of some species have parallel ridges (striations) running between the two points. This can vary within one species, so a smooth acorn isn't always diagnostic. 3 Check the color. Mature acorns can be light brown, dark brown, black, or chestnut red. If the acorn is still green or greenish-grey, it probably fell off the tree early. 4 Measure the nut. Acorns range in size from nubs less than ½ inch (1.25 cm) long, to behemoths the size of your palm. Most acorns within a single species and region are similar in length within about ½ inch (1.25 cm). One important exception is the cork oak of the Mediterranean, which drops large acorns in autumn and a smaller batch in winter. [5] The size and shape of the cup is also useful, and you can easily eyeball it by comparing it to the nut. For example, the Northern red oak has a cup that sits flat at the top of the nut, while the overcup oak and bur oak wrap almost the entire nut in a cup. [6] The length of the stalk the acorn grows on can also help identification. 5 Look for hairs. The cup of some acorns have hairs on the inner and/or outer surface. You can also look for hairs on the inner surface of the shell, after cracking it open. Botanists describe this hairy material with these terms: [7] Woolly: long, matted hairs. Some species only have hair near the tip of the acorn, so check there. Pubescent: short, fine hairs. Identifying Common USA Oak Species 1 Find a local field guide if possible. There are about 400 species of oak worldwide, and over 200 in North America. [10] This guide only covers a few of the most common species in the United States. A tree identification guide for your region or state will help for the species that are less common or limited to smaller areas. 2 Choose your region. This guide is divided by the region where the oaks grow. Note that many species only grow in a smaller area within this region. Central and Eastern United States : East of Minnesota in the north and Texas in the South. Florida is included, but many species do not grow there. Western United States : This covers the entire Midwest and Pacific coast. Central and Eastern United States 1 Narrow down brown, oblong acorns. These acorns have the classic oblong or ovoid acorn shape. Their nuts are light brown or dark brown in color, with few to no red tones. Here are the most common species that fit this description in this region, and their identifying characteristics: [11] [12] [13] White oak (Quercus alba): short, light grey cup with warty scales; cup covers about ¼ of nut [14] Chinkapin oak (Quercus muehlenbergii): thin cup with fine grey hairs and moderately warty scales; cup covers ¼ to ½ of nut [15] Scarlet oak (Quercus coccinea): glossy, dark reddish-brown cup; nut has a blunt tip Willow oak (Quercus phellos): shallow, flattened cup with hairs inside and out; nut is less than ½" (13 mm) long Northern red oak (Quercus rubra): cup scales are reddish-brown, hairy, often with dark margins; inside of cup is smooth or has ring of hair around the scar; nut may have grey stripes [16] Shumard oak (Quercus shumardii): Similar to Northern red oak, but scales often have pale margins; some have a deeper,


Mark Zuckerberg, Eduardo Saverin, Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes developed what online computer application?

Who Invented Facebook Who Invented Facebook? Who Invented Facebook? The history behind the number one social media network Facebook. Who Invented Facebook? - Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg (L) looks on as Facebook employee Ben Gertzfield strikes a cermonial gong to announce the launch of Facebook Places, a new application that allows Facebook users to document places they have visited.  Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images By Mary Bellis Updated October 23, 2016. Mark  Zuckerberg  was a Harvard computer science student when he, along with classmates Eduardo Saverin, Dustin Moskovitz, and Chris Hughes invented Facebook. However, the idea for the web site, the world's most popular social networking page, oddly enough was inspired by a botched effort to get internet users to rate each other's photos.  Hot or Not? In 2003, Zuckerberg, a second year student at Harvard at the time, wrote the software for a web site called Facemash. He put his computer science skills to good use by hacking into Harvard's security network, where he copied the student ID images used by the dormitories and used them to populate his new website. Interestingly enough, he had initially created the site as a type of " hot or not " game for fellow students. Website visitors could use the site to compare two student photos side-by-side and decide who was "hot" and who was "not."  Facemash opened on October 28, 2003 and closed a few days later after it was shut down by Harvard execs. continue reading below our video Should I Roll Over my 401K to an IRA? In the aftermath, Zuckerberg faced serious charges of breach of security, violating copyrights and violating individual privacy for stealing the student photos he used to populate the site. He also faced expulsion from Harvard University for his actions. However, all charges were eventually dropped. TheFacebook On February 4, 2004, Zuckerberg launched with a new website called "Thefacebook." He named the site after the directories that were handed out to university students to aid them in getting to know one another better. Six days later, he again got into trouble when Harvard seniors Cameron Winklevoss, Tyler Winklevoss and Divya Narendra accused him of stealing their ideas for an intended social network website called HarvardConnection and of using their ideas for TheFacebook. The claimants later filed a lawsuit against Zuckerberg, but the matter was eventually settled out of court. Membership to the website was at first restricted to Harvard College students. Over time, Zuckerberg enlisted a few of his fellow students to help grow the website. Eduardo Saverin, for example, worked on the business end while Dustin Moskovitz was brought on as a programmer. Andrew McCollum served as the site's graphic artist and Chris Hughes became the de facto spokesperson. Together the team expanded the site to additional universities and colleges. Facebook In 2004, Napster founder and  angel investor  Sean Parker became the company's president. The company changed the site's name from TheFacebook to just Facebook after purchasing the domain name facebook.com in 2005 for $200,000. The following year, venture capital firm Accel Partners invested $12.7 million in the company, which enabled the creation of a version of the network for high school students. Facebook would later expand to other networks such as employees of companies. In September of 2006, Facebook announced that anyone who was at least 13 years old and had a valid email address could join. By 2009, it had become the world's most used social networking service, according to a report by the analytics site Compete.com.  While Zuckerberg's antics and the site's profits eventually led to him becoming the world's youngest multi-billionaire, he's done his part to spread the wealth around. He's donated $100 million dollars to the Newark, New Jersey public school system, which has long been underfunded. In 2010, he signed a pledged, along with other wealthy businessmen, to donate at least half of his wealth to charity. Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan have dona


Where did King Charles II hide himself after the Battle of Worcester in 1651?

King Charles II's oak tree 'saviour' to be honoured for first time  | History Extra King Charles II's oak tree 'saviour' to be honoured for first time Tuesday 10th September 2013 BBC History Magazine - 5 issues for £5 A memorial to Colonel William Carlos, the man credited with saving King Charles II by hiding him in an oak tree following his defeat at the battle of Worcester, will today be unveiled in Chelsea. Carlos, a royalist officer of the Civil War, hid the fugitive king in the Boscobel Oak for more than 24 hours following his defeat at the battle in September 1651. Convinced Colonel Carlos was the main reason for his own - and thus the royal family's - survival, Charles ordered the Colonel’s surname be changed to Carlos, Spanish for Charles. Today at the Royal Hospital Chelsea, 362 years after the Boscobel Oak affair, Prince Michael of Kent will unveil a plaque in the Colonel’s memory. Surrounded by 90 of the Colonel’s descendants, Prince Michael will reveal the plaque at the foot of the King Charles II statue, which stands in Figure Court in the heart of the hospital. King Charles II is recognised as the founder of the Royal Hospital Chelsea. It is believed Carlos, also known as Carelesse, Carless, Carles and Carlis, took part in the battle of Worcester in 1651, and did not leave the battlefield until the royalists were defeated. At this point he fled to the woods surrounding Boscobel House and hid in an oak tree. While escaping from the Commonwealth soldiers, King Charles II was urged by Colonel Carlos to hide with him.  The pair stayed in the tree for more than 24 hours, during which time Colonel Carlos sourced food and prevented Charles from falling from the tree while he slept. Carlos died in 1689. The oak tree still stands in Boscobel Wood, and is referred to as the Royal Oak. A spokesperson for the Royal Hospital Chelsea said: "Colonel William Carlos hid founder King Charles II in the Boscobel Oak after the battle of Worcester in 1651, thereby saving the King's life. "Without Carlos, it is quite possible that the Royal Hospital Chelsea, which has been providing a gold standard of care to army veterans on the banks of the Thames for 300 years, may never have come into being. "At the Royal Hospital Chelsea we remember Colonel Carlos' heroic deed at our Founder's Day celebration each June by placing an Oak wreath onto the statue of Charles II. "Today we are delighted to be able to make this commemoration permanent in the form of a plaque. The Royal Hospital Chelsea and the plaque will continue to stand as a symbol of the nation's covenant with the armed forces for at least the next 300 years."


"What was the stage name of Jiles Perry Richardson, Jr., a singer and songwriter from 1957 until his accidental death in 1959, who is best known for his recording of ""Chantilly Lace""?"

Formally Known As The Bollocks : Death Of The Day J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson 28 February 3, 1959 Near Clear Lake, Iowa, USA Plane crash Home Wednesday, 13 January 2016 Death Of The Day J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson 28 February 3, 1959 Near Clear Lake, Iowa, USA Plane crash The Big Bopper From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The Big Bopper Mercury Records Jiles Perry "J. P." Richardson, Jr. (October 24, 1930 – February 3, 1959), commonly known as The Big Bopper, was an American musician, songwriter, and disc jockey, whose big  rockabilly  look, style, voice, and exuberant personality made him an early  rock and roll  star. He is best known for his 1958 recording of " Chantilly Lace ". [1] Early years[ edit ] J. P. Richardson was born in  Sabine Pass, Texas , the oldest son of oil-field worker Jiles Perry Richardson, Sr. and his wife Elise (Stalsby) Richardson. Richardson had two younger brothers, Cecil and James. The family soon moved to  Beaumont, Texas . Richardson graduated from Beaumont High School in 1947 and played on the "Royal Purple"  football  team as a defensive lineman, wearing number 85. [4]  Richardson later studied prelaw at  Lamar College , and was a member of the band and chorus. Radio[ edit ] Richardson worked part-time at  Beaumont, Texas , radio station KTRM (now KZZB). He was hired by the station full-time in 1949 and quit college. Richardson married Adrianne Joy Fryou on April 18, 1952, and their daughter Debra Joy was born in December 1953, soon after Richardson was promoted to supervisor of announcers at KTRM. In March 1955, he was  drafted  into the  United States Army  and did his basic training at  Fort Ord ,  California . He spent the rest of his two-year service as a radar instructor at  Fort Bliss  in  El Paso, Texas . Following his discharge as a  corporal  in March 1957, Richardson returned to KTRM radio, where he held down the "Dishwashers' Serenade" shift from 11 am to 12:30 pm, Monday through Friday. One of the station's sponsors wanted Richardson for a new time slot, and suggested an idea for a show. Richardson had seen the college students doing a dance called The Bop, and he decided to call himself "The Big Bopper". His new radio show ran from 3:00 to 6:00 pm. Richardson soon became the station's program director. In May 1957, he broke the record for continuous on-air broadcasting by 8 minutes. From a remote setup in the lobby of the  Jefferson Theatre  in downtown Beaumont, Richardson performed for a total of five days, two hours, and eight minutes, playing 1,821 records [5]  and taking showers during 5-minute newscasts. Richardson is credited for creating the first  music video  in 1958, and recorded an early example himself. [5] Singer and songwriter[ edit ] Richardson, who played  guitar , began his musical career as a songwriter.  George Jones  later recorded Richardson's " White Lightning ", which became Jones' first #1 country hit in 1959 (#73 on the pop charts). Richardson also wrote " Running Bear " for  Johnny Preston , his friend from  Port Arthur, Texas . The inspiration for the song came from Richardson's childhood memory of the  Sabine River , where he heard stories about  Indian  tribes. Richardson sang background on "Running Bear", but the recording was not released until August 1959, seven months after his death. The song become a #1 hit for three weeks in January 1960. The man who launched Richardson as a recording artist was  Harold "Pappy" Daily  from  Houston . Daily was promotion director for  Mercury  and  Starday Records  and signed Richardson to Mercury. Richardson's first single, "Beggar To A King", had a country flavor, but failed to gain any chart action. He soon cut " Chantilly Lace " as "The Big Bopper" [1] for Pappy Daily's  D label . Mercury bought the recording and released it in the summer of 1958. It reached #6 on the pop charts and spent 22 weeks in the national Top 40. It also inspired an  answer record  by  Jayne Mansfield  titled "That Makes It". In "Chantilly Lace", Richardson pretends to have a flirting phone conversation with his gir


Sledge, tack, claw, framing, upholstery, ball-peen, twist, dog-head and bush are all types of what?

Hammer - Razor Robotics Used with Construction A hammer is a tool or device that delivers a blow (a sudden impact) to an object. Most hammers are hand tools used to drive nails, fit parts, forge metal, and break apart objects. Hammers vary in shape, size, and structure, depending on their purposes. Hammers are basic tools in many trades. The usual features are a head (most often made of steel) and a handle (also called a helve or haft). Most hammers are hand tools, however, powered versions exist, known as powered hammers. Types of power hammer include steam hammers and trip hammers, often for heavier uses, such as forging. Some hammers have other names, such as sledgehammer, mallet and gavel. The term "hammer" also applies to big von devices that deliver blows, such as the hammer of a firearm or the hammer of a piano or the hammer ice scraper. History The use of simple hammers dates to about 2,600,000 BCE when various shaped stones were used to strike wood, bone, or other stones to break them apart and shape them. Stones attached to sticks with strips of leather or animal sinew were being used as hammers with handles by about 30,000 BCE during the middle of the Paleolithic Stone Age. The hammer's archeological record shows that it may be the oldest tool for which definite evidence exists of its early existence. A stone hammer found in Dover Township, Minnesota dated to 8000–3000 BCE, the North American Archaic period Stone tapping hammer Perforated hammer head of stone Ancient Greek bronze sacrificial hammer, 7th century BCE, from Dodona 16th-century claw hammer; detail from Dürer's Melencolia I (c. 1514) Construction and materials A traditional hand-held hammer consists of a separate head and a handle, fastened together by means of a special wedge made for the purpose, or by glue, or both. This two-piece design is often used, to combine a dense metallic striking head with a non-metallic mechanical-shock-absorbing handle (to reduce user fatigue from repeated strikes). If wood is used for the handle, it is often hickory or ash, which are tough and long-lasting materials that can dissipate shock waves from the hammer head. Rigid fiberglass resin may be used for the handle; this material does not absorb water or decay, but does not dissipate shock as well as wood. A loose hammer head is hazardous because it can literally "fly off the handle" when in use, becoming a dangerous uncontrolled missile. Wooden handles can often be replaced when worn or damaged; specialized kits are available covering a range of handle sizes and designs, plus special wedges for attachment. Some hammers are one-piece designs made primarily of a single material. A one-piece metallic hammer may optionally have its handle coated or wrapped in a resilient material such as rubber, for improved grip and reduced user fatigue. The hammer head may be surfaced with a variety of materials, including brass, bronze, wood, plastic, rubber, or leather. Some hammers have interchangeable striking surfaces, which can be selected as needed or replaced when worn out. Designs and variations The parts of a hammer are the face, head (includes the bell and neck, which are not labelled), eye (where the handle fits into), peen (also spelled pein and pane). The side of a hammer is the cheek and some hammers have straps that extend down the handle for strength. Shown here are: A. Ball-peen hammer B. Straight-peen hammer C. Cross-peen hammer The claw of a carpenter's hammer is frequently used to remove nails. A large hammer-like tool is a maul (sometimes called a "beetle"), a wood- or rubber-headed hammer is a mallet, and a hammer-like tool with a cutting blade is usually called a hatchet. The essential part of a hammer is the head, a compact solid mass that is able to deliver a blow to the intended target without itself deforming. The impacting surface of the tool is usually flat or slightly rounded; the opposite end of the impacting mass may have a ball shape, as in the ball-peen hammer. Some upholstery hammers have a magnetized face, to pick up tacks. In the hatchet, the f


What is a word game played using a grid of lettered dice, in which players attempt to find words in sequences of adjacent letters?

Online Boggle/Wordracer Solver Online Boggle/Wordracer Solver Boggle is a word game designed by Allan Turoff and trademarked by Parker Brothers, a division of Hasbro. The game is played using a plastic grid of lettered dice, in which players attempt to find words in sequences of adjacent letters. Just enter your desired boggle board in the box below, press 'solve', and all possible boggle responses will be displayed! Click here for a list of recent uses of this solver Use 'Q' (capital Q) for the 'Qu' combination Use 'q' (lowercase q) for plain 'q' Minimum Word Length:


"""The quality of mercy is not strained, It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven"" is spoken by which Shakespearean character?"

Shakespeare and the Bechdel Test – Hoyden About Town Orlando, thanks so much for this – I googled this exact question last week after seeing the latest Bell production of MacBeth (which wouldn’t pass, I don’t think) so this was very satisfying! Eden 2012-06-19 • 2:28 PM Nice post. Just out of curiosity, what’s your favourite Shakespeare monologue by a female character (that isn’t in Taming of the Shrew)? I’m looking for a decent monologue and it seems like the dudes get all the best lines 😦 I can’t imagine being a female actor in current theatre/ Hollywood. That would suck. Massively. In addition, one of the scenarios he returns to most often is of women supporting each other, even in the ranks of death, which belongs to that quirky category of things that happen all the time in life, but hardly ever in the movies. This! My favourite thing to see represented in any play or movie is female friendship. Sisterhood is awesome. orlando 2012-06-19 • 3:17 PM Eden, if you enjoy hearing about female friendship you should love this speech from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, where Titania explains to Oberon that she won’t give him the little human boy he wants, because of her friendship with his mother. It brings tears to my eyes, especially since I was pregnant and understood how much it does feel like being a galleon in full sail: Set your heart at rest; The fairy land buys not the child of me. His mother was a vot’ress of my order; And, in the spiced Indian air, by night, Full often hath she gossip’d by my side; And sat with me on Neptune’s yellow sands, Marking th’ embarked traders on the flood; When we have laugh’d to see the sails conceive, And grow big-bellied with the wanton wind; Which she, with pretty and with swimming gait Following- her womb then rich with my young squire- Would imitate, and sail upon the land, To fetch me trifles, and return again, As from a voyage, rich with merchandise. But she, being mortal, of that boy did die; And for her sake do I rear up her boy; And for her sake I will not part with him. Thacky, I think Macbeth passes because the witches talk to one another about what they’ve been up to since they last met. kvd 2012-06-19 • 4:46 PM Thacky my daughter’s review of Macbeth by Bell was “only one witch, and no forrest”. Still, she did enjoy it recently in Canberra – having studied it for her HSC years ago. But I want to put a hand up for poor old Shksp, given the times he was writing in, and the “good” he did in illustrating topics which continue in discussion to this day. He may have failed fem 101, but I’m thinking that the ‘steel’ (and the joy) in his plays is many times provided through the voice or actions of his female characters, and that, overall, he provided – what is that phrase I’m searching for? – “a mixed bag of uppity women” for us to continue to argue about. Hedgepig “does better than most, but not as well as we would like” Joss Whedon indeed! 2012-06-20 • 10:12 AM Eden, “The quality of mercy” speech (spoken by Portia in the Merchant of Venice) would be one of the most powerful and most-quoted monologues in English literature. It isn’t about men; it’s a philosophical treatise and there are many people in the media today who should be forced to write an essay on it! I learned it off at school, and it still reverberates in my brain. The quality of mercy is not strained. It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest: It blesseth him that gives and him that takes. Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes The throned monarch better than his crown. His scepter shows the force of temporal power, The attribute to awe and majesty, Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings. But mercy is above this sceptered sway; It is enthroned in the hearts of kings; It is an attribute of God himself; And earthly power doth then show like God’s When mercy seasons justice. 2012-06-20 • 9:08 PM There’s this collection of monologues spoken by women in Shakespeare’s plays… I’m not especially familiar with many of the plays, but I like Emilia’s speech from Othello, which r