AcharyaChanakya/simple-wikipedia huggingface dataset:
José Behar, president of EMI Latin, went to the 1989 Tejano Music Awards. He was looking for new musicians. After Selena sang, Behar called his boss and told him about Selena. Behar thought he found the next Gloria Estefan. His boss told him that he was "crazy". He said this because Behar was only in Texas for a week. Selena later signed with EMI Latin later that year. She was the first artist to sign with them. Recording started in late 1988 and went on until early 1989. Selena recorded most of the songs in San Antonio, Texas at AMEN Studios. "Sukiyaki" and "My Love" were recorded in Houston, Texas at Sunrise Studios. Selena wrote "My Love" by herself. She wanted the song to be in the album. Her brother A.B. Quintanilla III was the music producer and main songwriter. Their father and manager Abraham Quintanilla, Jr. gave the job to A.B. He believed A.B. was good at producing music.
The only songs A.B. did not write were "Sukiyaki", "Contigo Quiero Estar", and "No Te Vayas". The original "Sukiyaki" was in Japanese. Selena's lyrics were a Spanish version of an English version of the song by Janice Marie Johnson. "Sukiyaki" had been one of Abraham's favorite songs when he was growing up. "Contigo Quiero Estar" was written by Mexican songwriter Alejandro Montealegre. "No Te Vayas" was written by Reinaldo Ornelas. A.B. wanted "No Te Vayas" on the album because of its reggae sounds. He thought it would make the album "exotic" (different) from other Spanish-language albums. He believed this because of the different music genres they had produced.
"Selena" was released on October 17, 1989 by EMI Latin. In its first week on the US Regional Mexican Albums chart (December 2, 1989), it was at number 17. It got to its highest place on the chart, number 7, on March 24, 1990. It was on the chart for another three weeks. On May 5, 1990, it was on the chart again, at number 14. That was after the release of "Ven Conmigo" (1990). However, it left the charts. It was on the chart again two times in August 1990. "Contigo Quiero Estar", "Mentiras", and "Sukiyaki" were released as singles. The lead single, "Contigo Quiero Estar" got to number eight on the Hot Latin Tracks chart.
At the 1990 Tejano Music Awards, Selena won "Female Vocalist of the Year" and "Female Entertainer of the Year". Her album "Selena" did better than albums from other female singers. As of 1996, 24,000 copies of "Selena" have been sold in the United States. 30,000 copies of "Selena" were shipped. On August 27, 2002, "Selena" was released again. It was part of the "20 Years of Music" series. It had one bonus track ("La Bamba"). It also had commentaries for each track. Selena's family and friends talked about what happened during recordings and choosing songs for the album.
Credits were taken from the album's booklet.
Ven Conmigo
Ven Conmigo (English: "Come With Me"), was the third album released by rising Latina superstar Selena, on November 12, 1990, for the CAPITOL/EMI Latin label. This album, was the first to market Selena as a solo artist, no longer identifying her albums with "Selena Y Los Dinos," though they were still very much a part of the mix. The album itself, sold 50,000 units in America, and was certified Gold by the RIAA. Another 242,802 copies were sold on Amazon.com, verifed from their sellers rank.
The group re-recorded "La Tracalera", a cover version of a song by the original Dinos, as well as "Aunque No Salga El Sol," which they had originally recorded, in 1984. The song "Baila Esta Cumbia," was an instant hit in the U.S., and later crossed over to Mexico. Ven Conmigo, was the group's first Gold album.
A remastered version was released in 2002, with bonus tracks and spoken liner notes by the family and friends, who witnessed the entire production.
The album "Ven Conmigo" was recorded and mixed at "ZAZ Studios" in San Antiono, Texas. The engineer was "Gilbert Velasquez" who also mixed the album. The album's main photo was taken by "Robert Lopez". The album was produced, arranged, and performaned by A.B. Quintanilla III. The co-arranged was "Ricky Vela" and "Jose C. Ojeda". The midi and computer sequencing was made by "Ricky Vela".
A.B. Quintanilla, III, wrote and produced almost every song on Ven Conmigo. David Lee Garza, the accordion player for the title track, "Ven Conmigo, participated in the writing and production, as well.
Nadap
The village of Nadap lies on the eastern slopes of Velencei Hills, it is a well oriented, self-contained settlement, with charming rural atmosphere. It is only two kilometers both from the recreation facilities of Lake Velencei and from the M7 motorway, therefore it is easily accessible from Budapest and from Székesfehérvár, too. Each house in the settlement has a great panorama.
The settlements around Lake Velencei are overwhelmed with the spirit of Mihály Vörösmarty. Nadap is not different either, the poet was baptised in the village on 3 December 1800. The baptistery is still in the church today. The inhabitants of the village expressed their admiration for the memory of the poet with a sculpture erected in the Millenium Park.
Nadap also hosts a key cartographical and architectural specialty; it is the home of the etalon for measuring heights in Hungary, called Nadapi szintezési ősjegy (Levelling mark of Nadap).
Pázmánd
Pázmánd is in the easternmost part of Velencei Hills, at the foot of Zsidó Hill (202m).
Archaeological artefacts prove that the village was already been populated the in Iron Age. The name of the village comes from the period when the State was founded; the area was probably awarded as a gift to Knight Pázmány to function as a summer residence.
Little is known about the history of the settlement in the Middle Ages. One thing is sure: when the Turks were expelled from Hungary the fleeing troops slaughtered the families living here, destroyed the Romanesque church and set the village on fire.
At the beginning of the 18th century Tót people (Slovakians) were settled in the area, the village was even called Tót-Pázmánd for some time. The inhabitants of the village declared themselves Hungarians already in the 19th century but their Slovakian roots are still noticeable in their conventions (Sibálás - Easter lashing).
Socratis Kokkalis
Mikhail Botvinnik
Mikhail Botvinnik (17 August 1911 – 5 May 1995) was a Soviet Russian grandmaster and three-time World Chess Champion.
He was an electrical engineer, one of the few chess masters who achieved distinction in another career while playing top-class competitive chess.
Botvinnik was the first world-class player to develop within the Soviet Union. This put him under some political pressure, but also gave him considerable influence within Soviet chess. He played a major role in the design of the World Chess Championship system after World War II. After his retirement as a player he coached a few select pupils. They included three future World Champions Anatoly Karpov, Garry Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik.
Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik was born near St. Petersburg into a Jewish family. His father was a dental technician, and a cantor ("hazzan") in the local synagogue. His mother was a dentist, which allowed the family to live outside the Pale of Settlement to which most Jews in Russia were restricted at the time. As a result, Mikhail Botvinnik grew up in Saint Petersburg's Nevsky Prospekt.
His father forbade the speaking of Yiddish at home, and Mikhail and his older brother Issy attended Soviet schools. Mikhail Botvinnik later said, "I am a Jew by blood, Russian by culture, Soviet by upbringing".
To test the strength of Soviet chess masters, Nikolai Krylenko organized the Moscow 1925 chess tournament. On a rest day during the event, world champion José Raúl Capablanca gave a simultaneous exhibition in Leningrad. Botvinnik was selected as one of his opponents, and won their game.
Botvinnik was admitted in 1928 to Leningrad University's Mathematics Department. In January 1929, he played for Leningrad in the student team chess championship against Moscow. Leningrad won and the team manager got Botvinnik a transfer to the Polytechnic's Electromechanical Department.
His early progress was fairly rapid. He won the Leningrad Masters' tournament in 1930 with 6½/8, following this up the next year by winning the Championship of Leningrad by 2½ points over former Soviet champion Peter Romanovsky.
In 1931, at the age of 20, Botvinnik won his first Soviet Championship in Moscow, scoring 13½ out of 17. In late summer 1931, he graduated with a degree in Electrical Engineering. In 1933, he repeated his Soviet Championship win, in his home city of Leningrad, with 14/19.
Soon afterwards Ilyin-Genevsky, one of the older masters and a member of the Soviet embassy in Prague, arranged a match between Salo Flohr and Botvinnik. Botvinnik fell two games behind by the end of the first six, played in Moscow. However, aided by his old friend Viacheslav Ragozin and coach Abram Model, he levelled the score in Leningrad and the match was drawn. When describing the post-match party, Botvinnik wrote that at the time he danced the foxtrot and charleston to a professional standard.
In his first tournament outside the USSR, the Hastings International Chess Congress 1934–35, Botvinnik achieved only a tie for 5th-6th places, with 5/9. He wrote that, in London after the tournament, Emanuel Lasker said his arrival only two hours before the first round began was a serious mistake and that he should have allowed ten days for acclimatization. Botvinnik wrote that he did not make this mistake again.
Botvinnik came first equal with Flohr, ½ point ahead of Lasker and one point ahead of José Raúl Capablanca, in Moscow's second International Tournament, held in 1935. After consulting Capablanca and Lasker, Krylenko proposed to award Botvinnik the title grandmaster, but Botvinnik objected that "titles were not the point". However, he accepted a free car and a 67% increase in his postgraduate study grant, both provided by the People's Commissariat of Heavy Industry.
An even stronger double-round tournament was played in Moscow in June 1936, and Botvinnik finished second, one point behind Capablanca and 2½ ahead of Flohr.
In early winter, 1936, Botvinnik was invited to play in a tournament at Nottingham, England. Krylenko authorized his participation and, although his Soviet rivals forecast disaster for him, he scored an undefeated shared first place (+6 =8) with Capablanca, ½ point ahead of the then World Champion Max Euwe and rising American stars Reuben Fine and Samuel Reshevsky, and 1 point ahead of ex-champion Alexander Alekhine. This was the first tournament victory by a Soviet master outside his own country. When the result reached Russia, Krylenko drafted a letter to be sent in Botvinnik's name to Stalin. On returning to Russia Botvinnik discovered he had been awarded the "Mark of Honour". Later, in 1937, Botvinnik drew a match of thirteen games against Grigory Levenfish.
Botvinnik won further Soviet Championship titles in 1939, 1944, 1945, and 1952, bringing his total to six – a record he shares with Mikhail Tal. In 1945 he dominated the tournament, scoring 15/17; in 1952 he tied with Mark Taimanov and won the play-off match. In post-Soviet Russia the championship is somewhat less strong, as entrants from the non-Russian countries are lacking. All the same, it is still the strongest national championship in the world, and Peter Svidler has won it six times.
Botvinnik influenced the design of the system which would be used for World Championship competition from 1948 to 1963. Viktor Baturinsky wrote "Now came Botvinnik's turn to defend his title in accordance with the new qualifying system which he himself had outlined in 1946".
On the basis of his strong results during and just after World War II, Botvinnik was one of five players to contest the World Chess Championship 1948, which was held at The Hague and Moscow. He won the tournament convincingly, with a score of 14/20, three points clear, becoming the sixth World Champion. Botvinnik then held the title, with two brief interruptions, for the next fifteen years, during which he played seven world championship matches.
Botvinnik played no formal competitive games after winning the 1948 match tournament until he defended his title. In 1951, he drew with David Bronstein over 24 games in Moscow, +5 =14 -5, keeping the world title. He struggled to draw this match with Bronstein, and had (by his standards) weak tournament results. Botvinnik did not play in the Soviet team that won the 1952 Chess Olympiad in Helsinki: the players voted for the line-up and placed Botvinnik on second board, with Keres on top board; Botvinnik protested and refused to play. Keres' playing record from 1950 to early 1952 had been outstanding.
In 1954, he drew with Vasily Smyslov over 24 games at Moscow, +7 =10 -7, again retaining the title. In 1957, he lost to Smyslov by 9½–12½ in Moscow, but the rules then in force allowed him a rematch without having to go through the Candidates' Tournament, and in 1958 he won the rematch in Moscow; Smyslov said his health was poor during the return match. In 1960, Botvinnik was convincingly beaten 8½-12½ at Moscow by Tal, now 23 years old, but again exercised his right to a rematch in 1961, and won by 13–8 in Moscow. Botvinnik's play was better than in the 1960 match, mainly due to thorough preparation. Botvinnik changed his style in the rematch, avoiding the tactical complications in which Tal excelled and aiming for closed positions and endgames, where Tal's technique was not so outstanding. Also, Tal's health was variable. Finally, in 1963, he lost the title to Tigran Petrosian, by 9½-12½ in Moscow. FIDE had by then changed the rules, and he was not allowed a rematch. The rematch rule had been nicknamed the "Botvinnik rule", because he twice benefited from it.
In 1970, Botvinnik retired from competitive chess, and he worked on chess-playing software. There was no significant result from this, but his work as a coach to top young players bore fruit. He died of pancreatic cancer in Moscow.
Hate speech is communicating in a way that is meant to offend and hurt somebody. It is usually based on a factor such as somebody's race, gender, ethnic group, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or religion. Some places have laws that make it illegal to use hate speech. Countries such as Canada, France and Germany have stricter laws against hate speech than the United States, where hate speech is usually legal because its Constitution says that people have freedom of speech.
But hate speech is an inciting of discrimination and sometimes a cause of bullying or hate crime and Article 7 of Universal Declaration of Human Rights affirms that all are protected from such an inciting.
Beatification
Beatification (from Latin "beatus", blessed, Greek μακάριος, "makarios" and Latin "facere", make) is a recognition given by the Catholic Church of a dead person's entrance into Heaven and power to help people who pray in his or her name. Beatification is the third of the four steps in the canonization process. A person who is beatified is given the title "Blessed".
Reading railway station
Reading railway station (formerly Reading General) is a major rail junction and station in the English town of Reading. It is on the northern edge of the town centre, close to the main retail and commercial areas, and also the River Thames. Next to the railway station is a bus interchange, served by most of Reading's urban and rural bus services.
Reading was opened on 30 March 1840 by the Great Western Railway. It is a major junction point on the National Rail system, and as a consequence the railway station is a major transfer point as well as serving heavy local traffic. The station is sponsored by the bank ING Direct and the University of Reading. There are many local buses, regional buses and a coach to Heathrow Airport. South West Trains, First Great Western and CrossCountry serve the station.
Dreamworks Records
The Good Left Undone
"The Good Left Undone" is the third single from the American punk rock band Rise Against's fourth album, "The Sufferer & the Witness". In June 2007, they said that they would be holding a contest to see who could make the best video for the song. They released a bulletin board over their MySpace account giving information about the contest.
The song got to number six on the "Billboard" alternative rock chart, making it the band's second top 10 single (the first being the last single ""Prayer of the Refugee"") and highest charting single from the album. The song has spent 30 weeks on the chart before its peak, making it the band's slowest climb to the chart's Top 10.
Revolutions per Minute
Revolutions per Minute is the second album by the American punk rock band Rise Against. It has the singles "Heaven Knows" and "Like the Angel" as well as a cover of Journey's single, "Any Way You Want It."
The album had a limited release on vinyl (217 of which were on red vinyl) which is now out of print. It was the band's last release under Fat Wreck Chords before to their move to Geffen Records. This is where they released "Siren Song of the Counter Culture" in 2004. It is interesting to note that inside the album cover, there is a copyright to Transistor Revolt, the band's name before they changed it to Rise Against.
Wicked is a Broadway musical. It is loosely based on characters and concepts created by L. Frank Baum in his children's series of Wizard of Oz books, the 1939 MGM movie, "The Wizard of Oz", and the 1995 novel, "Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West" by Gregory Maguire.
Winnie Holzman wrote the musical's book. Stephen Schwartz wrote the music and lyrics. "Wicked" premiered on Broadway at the Gershwin Theatre in October 2003. It won several awards, including three Tonys. A film of the same name will be released in 2022.
Fat Wreck Chords
Fat Wreck Chords is a San Francisco, California based independent record label, made for punk rock. It was started by Fat Mike (lead singer and bassist of the punk rock band NOFX) and his wife, Erin, in 1990.
They have made material for bands such as Descendents, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, Propagandhi, Rise Against, Lagwagon, Strung Out, No Use for a Name, Less Than Jake, Against Me!, Anti-Flag, Facing The Giants, Return To The Wars, Hallowed Ground, and his own band NOFX.
PGL (company)
Minato, Tokyo
The municipality calls itself "Minato City" in English.
On 15 March 1947, the ward of Minato was formed by combining the wards of Akasaka, Azabu, and Shiba.
Minato is on Toyko Bay. It borders Shinagawa on the south. Meguro is southwest of the ward. Shibuya is on the ward's western border. Shinjuku, Chiyoda and Chūō are on the norther border.
Afghan Hound
The Afghan Hound is a dog from Afghanistan. Other names for them are "Kuchi Hound", "Tāzī", "Balkh Hound", "Baluchi Hound", "Barutzy Hound", "Shalgar Hound", "Kabul Hound", "Galanday Hound", or sometimes, incorrectly, "African Hound". This is a very old dog breed, believed to have existed for thousands of years. It is a type of sighthound , a hunting dog which uses its eyes to spot and chase small animals, like rabbits. They are closely related to other sighthounds, like the Greyhound. Afghan Hounds can run very quickly, and can run short distances at up to 75 kilometers per hour. Nowadays, they are kept as pets, compete as show dogs, and participate in a dog sport called lure coursing, which is similar to rabbit hunting.
Their face is long and skinny, with ears that drop down on the sides of their head. The Afghan Hound is tall and thin, with a long tail that curls and is held high up in the air.
The Afghan Hound is one of the most difficult types of dogs to train. Unlike many kinds of dogs, they do not like to listen to commands, and would rather make their own choices. In "The Intelligence of Dogs", the Afghan Hound came in last place for "working intelligence." This does not mean that the Afghan Hound is stupid; it means that it is easier to encourage other dogs to follow instructions than the Afghan Hound.
They like to run, and because they can run very fast, they need to be kept on a leash or in a fenced area. Fences need to be very high to keep the Afghan Hound from escaping, because they can easily jump several meters in the air. Afghan Hounds cannot live in the same house as a cat or any other small animal, as they will try to chase or hunt it.
This is a quiet dog for indoors, but needs to have regular exercise and play time. They need to have the chance to run in a safe, fenced area at least once a week. If an Afghan gets bored, it can tear things up. This is a friendly dog that is not shy with people or other dogs. Many people who own Afghan Hounds say that they are "clownish" and silly, because they are very playful. Afghan Hounds are known to be very sensitive to injuries and complain a lot when they have them.
Afghan Hounds are mostly very healthy dogs, but do get some diseases more often than others. Because their tails are very long and thin, they can hurt them quite easily. These dogs are very sensitive to anesthetic, so if they are getting an operation, the vet must be very careful with the amount of anesthetic given. Their eyes can develop cataracts, which will make the dog blind if they are not removed.
Africanis
The Africanis is a group of rare South African dogs. They are not recognized as a breed. The Swahili name for the breed is "". This means "common" or "mixed-breed" or "traditional dog".
The Africanis is a medium-sized dog. It is well-muscled and is a bit longer than it is tall. It has a short coat of fur that can be of any color. This dog can run very fast and also is trainable.
Earthquake engineering is the study of the behavior of building structures subject to earthquake impacts. It is a subset of civil engineering.
The main goals of earthquake engineering are:
A properly engineered structure does not necessarily have to be extremely strong or expensive.
The most powerful and affordable tools of earthquake engineering are vibration control technologies and, in particular, base isolation.
To test seismic performance of a building structure with experiments, it is may be put on a shake-table that behaves like the earth shaking. The earliest shake-table experiments were performed more than a century ago
Tsunami or a chain of fast moving waves in the ocean caused, mostly, by powerful earthquakes is a very serious challenge for people's safety and for tsunami protection of buildings and civil infrastructure. Those waves can flood coastal areas, destroy houses and even swipe away whole towns.
Though tsunami can not be prevented, there are warning systems developed recently which warn the population before the big waves reach the land to let them enough time to rush to safety.
Ahmadi Maleki, M., Emami, M. Application of SVM for investigation of factors affecting compressive strength and consistency of geopolymer concretes. "Journal of civil Engineering and Materials Application", 2019; 3(2): 95-101. doi: 10.22034/jcema.2019.92507
Numerical weather prediction is the way weather forecasts are made. This is done using computer models of the atmosphere. Such models describe the current weather conditions, and how they change over time using equations. Using the current weather conditions, the equations can be solved, or approximated to tell what the weather will be like in the near future. The relevant physical parameters, such as pressure, temperature, the direction and the speed of the wind are taken to be functions of time. These are modelled with a system of partial differential equations. This is a dynamic system that is solved numerically. Most of these equations are implemented using FORTRAN. The equations are approximated. Since the number of calculations is huge, supercomputers usually do them, to finish before it's too late.
The atmosphere is modelled as a fluid. The basic idea of numerical weather prediction is to sample the state of the fluid at a given time. The equations of fluid dynamics and thermodynamics can then be used to estimate the state of the fluid at some time in the future.
The results are usually too inaccurate to be used for predicting the weather at any place. For this reason, meteorologists check the values, and compare them to historical data. In other words, they use the data to help produce the weather forecast.
Model Output Statistics is a statistical model that was developed in the 1960s and 1970s. It uses regression analysis for a fully automated forecast. With it, historical data is analysed automatically. One of its applications is called Direct Model Output. MOS uses both historical data and statistical modeling. Predictions beyond about six hours are unreliable.
Another well-known model is called Global Forecast System (GFS), which is run by the US weather service, NOAA. It gives a forecast four times a day. Since the information is free, the GFS is often used, especially by smaller weather stations.
The atmosphere is a chaotic system. A small change of the input values does not necessarily lead to a small change of the output. This is due to the equations of fluid dynamics that are involved. These equations involved are solved or approximated once with the parameters that were observed. This is done several times more, with parameters that are based on the observed values, but which have been changed slightly. Because the computing power is limited, the "resolution" of such a model is more coarse. Once all the calculations are finished, they are compared to one another. Calculated results that are "similar" indicate that the prognosis is relatively good. In some cases, this means that it is possible to accurately predict the weather for a time of about ten days; in other cases a prediction over even a few days may be difficult.
Paul Bunyan is a fictional giant lumberjack. James MacGillivray wrote about Bunyan in 1910, which is the earliest writing about Bunyan that we know about. A few years later, in 1916, William Laughead was writing an advertisement, and decided to use Bunyan in what he was writing, and decided to make him a giant.
James Stevens wrote a book called "Paul Bunyan" in 1925. This book said that French Canadians people made up the Paul Bunyan stories during the Papineau Rebellion of 1837, when they were fighting against England. This would explain why Paul Bunyan's last name is "Bunyan", because "Bunyan" sounds like the French-Canadian slang word "Bonyenne", which is something that they might say when they are surprised, like how people who speak English might say "Good Grief" or "My Goodness". People told other people stories about Bunyan, and the stories would change a little bit as they spread from person to person. Often, Paul Bunyan is shown in pictures with a giant blue ox named Babe. Historians think that Babe was not created until the 20th century for advertising. Other theories is that the Paul Bunyan was based on the legendry "Big Joe Mufferaw" [aka French-Canadian lumberjack Joseph Montferrand [1802-1864]. or on a French-Canadain lumberjack in Michigan named Fabian "Joe" Fournier [1845-1875]
According to legend, when Bunyan was born, it took three storks to carry him. (In some stories storks carry babies and drop them off at their parents' houses.). When he became older, he broke every window in the house when he clapped or laughed. When he was seven months old, he sawed the legs off his parent's bed in the middle of the night. Paul and his friend, Babe the Blue Ox, dug the Grand Canyon when Paul was carrying his axe and dragging it behind him. Babe, Bunyan's friend, was a large and very strong animal.
Many different towns say that they are the "home" of Bunyan. Some of these towns are in Minnesota, Michigan, and Wisconsin, although there are towns in other states, too.
In the town of Kelliher, Minnesota, there is a park called Paul Bunyan Memorial Park, where there is a grave site that says that Paul Bunyan is buried there.
Japanese era name
The , also known as , is a traditional calendar system which began during the reign of Emperor Kōtoku in the 7th century. This calendar has been in use in Japan since the beginning of the 8th century.
The historical Japanese calendar system defines and parses time in terms of ordinal numbers.
Each new was usually started soon after the beginning of the reign of a new emperor. Era names were also changed due to other events. Starting in the reign of Emperor Yōzei, the tradition of naming eras because of good omens changed. Instead, the name of an era might be chosen to ward off something bad.
The first day of the started whenever the emperor decided. This first year continued until the next lunar new year, which is understood to be the start of the "nengō's" second year.
To change a Japanese year to a Western or Gregorian calendar year, find the first year of the "nengō" (see list below). When found, subtract 1, and add the number of the Japanese year. For example, the 23rd year of the Shōwa period ("Shōwa 23") was 1948:
Appomattox Court House
Base isolation
Base isolation is a collection of a building’s units resting on its foundation to provide separation of the building from shaking ground thus improving seismic performance.
Base isolation system consists of "isolation units" with or without "isolation components", where:
1. "Isolation units" are the basic elements of "base isolation system" which provide the mentioned separation effect to a building structure.
2. "Isolation components" are the connections between "isolation units" and other parts of the building having no separation effect of their own.
From the very beginning, the theory of base isolation rested on two pillars: "heavy damping" and "frequency separation". Unfortunately, nobody paid any attention that the heavy damping was a sort of a strong connection between a "substructure" and "superstructure", and that the idea of decoupling them with the help of such connections was of no good. Anyway, to virtually test-drive any design concept of base isolation, some online help is available now.
Shōō (Kamakura period)
, also spelled as "Shō-ō", was a after "Kōan" and before "Einin". The period started in April 1288 and ended in August 1293. During this time, the emperor was .
Vibration control
In earthquake engineering, vibration control is a set of technical means for decreasing seismic loads and improving seismic performance of building structures.
All vibration control devices may be classified as "passive", "active" or "hybrid". The first kind is the simplest one and, therefore, widespread. Passive control devices represent different types of "base isolators" and "seismic dampers".
"Base isolators" restrict penetration of potentially damaging seismic waves into a building structure while "dampers" decrease destructive effect of those waves.
Telephone card
Vera Menchik
Vera Menchik (Moscow, 16 February 1906 – London, 27 June 1944) was a British-Czech chess player. Menchik was the first women's world chess champion. She also competed in chess tournaments with some of the world's leading male chess masters, defeating some of them, including future World Champion Max Euwe.<ref name="H/W">Hooper, David and Whyld, Kenneth 1992. "The Oxford Companion to Chess" 2nd ed, Oxford University Press, </ref>
The daughter of a Czech father and British mother, Vera Menchik was born in Moscow. In the aftermath of World War I and the Russian Revolution, her family moved to England in 1921. Her father taught her chess when she was nine and, in the year of her arrival in England at the age of fifteen, she won the British girls' championship. The following year, she became a pupil of Géza Maróczy, the leading Hungarian grandmaster at the time.
She won the first Women's World Championship in 1927 and successfully defended her title six times in every other championship in her lifetime, and only lost one game, while winning 78 and drawing four games. These were all-play-all tournaments, mostly run alongside Chess Olympiads.
London 1927 (+10 –0 =1).
Hamburg 1930 (+6 –1 =1).
Prague 1931 (+8 –0 =0).
Folkestone 1933 (+14 –0 =0).
Warsaw 1935 (+9 –0 =0).
Stockholm 1937 (+14 –0 =0).
Buenos Aires 1939 (+17 –0 =2).
In addition, Menchik won two matches against her rival Sonja Graf for the Women’s World Champion title; (+3 –1 =0) at Rotterdam 1934, and (+9 –2 =5) at Semmering 1937.
Starting in 1929, she participated in a number of Hastings international tournaments. When, the same year, she entered the tournament in Carlsbad, Viennese master Albert Becker ridiculed her entry by suggesting that any player whom Menchik defeated in tournament play should be granted membership into the "Vera Menchik Club". In the tournament, Becker himself became the first member of the "club". In addition to Becker, the "Vera Menchik Club" eventually included grandmasters such as Max Euwe, Mir Sultan Khan, Samuel Reshevsky, Friedrich Sämisch, Lajos Steiner, and virtually every leading British player of the day.
Menchik's greatest success at international tournaments was at Ramsgate 1929, when she finished tied for second with Akiba Rubinstein, just half a point behind former World Champion José Raúl Capablanca, and ahead of her teacher Géza Maróczy. In 1934 she finished third at Maribor, ahead of Rudolph Spielmann and Milan Vidmar. In 1942 she won a match against international master Jacques Mieses (four wins, five draws, one loss).
Vera was a professional player. From the late 1920s, she was the manager and house professional of the Empire Chess Club, which was situated on the top floor of Whiteleys store in Queensway, West London. In 1939 she was appointed to the new National Chess Centre.
In 1937, at the age of 31, Vera Menchik married R.H.S Stevenson (1878–1943), 28 years her senior, who was a leading chess organiser and patron. Vera Menchik's younger sister Olga was also a tournament chess player. In 1944, in World War II, with 38-year-old Vera still women's world champion, the two sisters and their mother were killed by a V-1 flying bomb, which destroyed their home.
The trophy for the winning team in the Women's Chess Olympiad is known as the "Vera Menchik Cup".
Alexandra Kosteniuk
Alexandra Kosteniuk (born Perm, Volga, 23 April 1984) is a Russian chess Grandmaster and former Women's World Chess Champion. She lost her title in 2010.
Alexandra is married, and lives with her husband and daughter in Key Biscayne, Miami, Florida.
Kosteniuk is now ranked only 31st in the current FIDE rating list for women. She is no longer playing regularly. The highest rated woman, Judit Polgar (Hungary), never plays in female events. The second highest rated woman is Humpy Koneru (India); she has never won the women's world championship.
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Akbash Dog
Clapping
Clapping is when you hit your hands together which makes a sound. The harder you hit, the louder the sound, the softer you hit, less the sound.
If hitting by means of hand to hand contact it will make a different sound than if you were to clap against another object, say, your leg.
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Circa Survive
Circa Survive is a rock band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They formed in 2004. The band has vocalist Anthony Green. He was a singer of Saosin and members of the now-defunct "This Day Forward".
Their first album, "Juturna", was released on April 19, 2005 by Equal Vision Records, which got mixed reviews. However their second album, "On Letting Go", released on May 29, 2007, garnered big reviewer acclaim. Their upcoming album, "Blue Sky Noise", will be released on April 20, 2010 on Atlantic Records as the band has finished their term with Equal Vision Records.
The Blind Side (movie)
The Blind Side is a 2009 American drama sports movie directed by John Lee Hancock. It is based on the novel "", which was written by Michael Lewis. It stars Sandra Bullock, Tim McGraw, Quinton Aaron, and Kathy Bates.
The movie is based on a true story. The story follows football player Michael Oher's life, from growing up in a very poor neighborhood, to being adopted by a rich family, and then going to play for Ole Miss and eventually the Baltimore Ravens.
Bullock won an Academy Award for Best Actress, Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Drama and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role.
Lahaul and Spiti district
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List of presidents of the United States
This list includes all people who have been sworn as President of the United States.
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History of chess
The history of chess goes back almost 1500 years. The game originated in northern India in the 6th century and spread to Persia. When the Arabs conquered Persia, chess was taken up by the Muslim world and subsequently, through the Moorish conquest of Spain, spread to Southern Europe. But in early Russia, the game came directly from the Khanates (muslim territories) to the south.
In Europe, the moves of the pieces changed in the 15th century. The modern game starts with these changes. In the second half of the 19th century, modern tournament play began. Chess clocks were first used in 1883, and the first world chess championship was held in 1886. The 20th century saw advances in chess theory, and the establishment of the World Chess Federation (FIDE). Chess engines (programs that play chess), and chess data bases became important.
The precursors of chess originated in northern India during the Gupta empire, where its early form in the 6th century was known as Chaturanga. This translates as 'the four divisions', meaning infantry, cavalry, elephantry, and chariotry, represented by the pieces that would evolve into the modern pawn, knight, bishop, and rook, respectively.<ref name="H/W">Hooper, David and Whyld, Kenneth 1992. "The Oxford Companion to Chess" 2nd ed, Oxford University Press. </ref>
In Sassanid Persia around 600 the name became "Chatrang" and the rules were developed further, and players started calling "Shāh!" (Persian for 'King') when threatening the opponent's king, and "Shāh māt!" (Persian for 'the king is finished') when the king could not escape from attack. These exclamations persisted in chess as it traveled to other lands.
The game was taken up by the Muslim world after the Islamic conquest of Persia, with the pieces largely retaining their Persian names; in Arabic "māt" or "māta" مَاتَ means "died", "is dead". In Arabic, the game became Shatranj. In all other languages, the name of the game is derived either from "shatranj" or from "shah".
The following table provides a glimpse of the changes in the names and character of chess pieces, as they passed from one culture to another, from India through Persia to Europe:
Changes in the Arabic names of pieces happened over several centuries after the game arrived in Europe. Most changed were the pieces which had no equivalent in Europe, such as the elephant, the visier (an advisor: the firzan or wazir), and the chariot (rukhkh). The greatest variety of names was for the elephant, which was not seen in Europe, and so not used in war. In Spain names derived from Arabic lasted for centuries (alfil, aufin, orfil...). Eventually, all but France used a word for "bishop". In a similar manner, vizir eventually became "queen", and the chariot became a word for "castle". Except, that is, in English, where "rook" is obviously a version of "rukh". Please note: the following table does not capture all these complicated changes.
The game reached Western Europe and Russia by at least three routes, the earliest being in the 9th century. By the year 1000 it had spread throughout Europe. Introduced into the Iberian Peninsula by the Moors in the 10th century, it was described in a famous 13th century manuscript covering shatranj, backgammon and dice named the "Libro de los juegos".
Buddhist pilgrims, Silk Road traders and others carried it to the Far East, where it was transformed into a game often played on the intersection of the lines of the board rather than within the squares. Chinese chess and Shogi are the most important of the oriental chess variants. However, it was the changes made in medieval Europe which led to our modern game.
The game of chess is really two games. There is the original Indo-Arabic game, and there is the modern game, usually called 'international chess'. The transition between the two happened during the change from the medieval world to the modern world, in the Europe of the later 15th century. In fact, the new game of chess was one of the early topics chosen for the new technology of printing.
In early chess the moves of the pieces were:
The game could be won by 1. Mating the king; 2. By giving stalemate; 3. By capturing all the opponent's pieces. This kept down the number of draws.
In Europe some of the pieces got new names:
About 500 years after chess first reached Europe, after some smaller experiments, there were big changes in the way the pieces moved. The effect was to make the start of the game run faster, and get the opposing pieces in contact sooner. The changes were:
These changes made most of the older chess culture obsolete. The slow development in the openings was replaced by gambits and rapid attacks. The relative values of the pieces are changed. The game can now only be won by mate or resignation by one of the players. Originally, this was not seen as a problem, but as technique improved, so did the number of draws. This became a matter for discussion in the early 20th century. The limited number of ways to win changed what players needed to win in the endgame; many endgames which could be won with the old rules now were drawn.
The first printed work on chess to survive to the present day is Luis de Lucena's "Arte de axedres", printed in Salamanca, Spain. It can be dated to 1496 or 1497. It presents a number of chess problems, some of which are in the old rules ("del viejo"), some in the new rules ("dela dama"). This suggests that the transition is not quite complete, and some readers might not know about the new rules. By 1512, when Damiano published his "Questo libro e da imparare giocare a scachi" in Rome, it only included problems with the new rules, and does not mention the medieval game. The same applies to the Gottingen manuscript, probably written in Spain or Portugal. Though it has been claimed to be earlier, its content suggests it was not written before 1500. England and Germany received the reformed game by 1530. After that, the old game was effectively dead—in Europe, at any rate. A version of the old game survived in India until recently.
Modern chess theory was slow in developing. After the new moves of the pieces, players spent their time playing gambits, and trying to mate each other. The games of Gioacchino Greco (1600– ~1634) clearly show this. The first ideas as to how to win indirectly, 'positionally', started with Philidor. Modern chess has a lot of indirect manoeuvering of a kind the old Arabic players would have understood. They could not attack directly, because their Alfil and Firzān (our bishop and queen) had such limited moves.
One interesting fact is that the Arabs divided their game into the same three stages which we do today: opening, middlegame and endgame.
At the start of a game, the Arabic masters took a number of moves before the pieces were in contact with the other side.
The table, based roughly on square control, suggests the modern game deploys about 20% more force on the board than the older game. However, this understates the case, since the table does not allow for castling, nor the initial optional double move of the pawn. Also, the pawn promotion to the new queen is hugely significant when it takes place. No exact value can be placed on these elements, but perhaps the modern game makes use of up to a third more force than in the original game. Also, the fast development of the pieces makes the opening far more important in the modern game.
Single pieces found in archaeology are seldom taken as chessmen; they are much more likely to be general art objects. "Groups" of small objects are more likely chessmen if there are of more than two types. Many board games have used two kinds of pieces, but only chess uses six different kinds. A dig might not turn up all six forms, but more than two is indicative of chess. If the forms have characteristic chess figures (foot soldiers, kings, man on horse) this is even more convincing.
The evidence from archaeology comes mostly from the discovery of early chess sets, and also from rock art: carvings (petroglyphs) and paintings on rock.
The earliest chessmen found are the Afrasiab collection. In 1977 the Uzbekistan Academy of Archaeology conducted a dig at Afrasiab, near Samarkand. Samarkand is one of the oldest inhabited cities in the world, and at times it has been one of the greatest cities of Central Asia. Samarkand is on the trade route between China and the Mediterranean (the Silk Road), and so it is a logical place for a trader to store some of his precious goods.
The Afrasiab finds include seven chess pieces. They are heavily worn, but they include: two foot soldiers with shields and short swords (= our pawns); a war elephant with chain armour and a rider in full battle-dress (= our bishop); a visier (= our queen) with two horses with armed rider; two mounted riders with sword and shield (= knights); and the Shah, on a three-horse chariot, holding a mace-like symbol of power (= our king). That is five out of the six types of piece, and completely convincing as a chess set. The rukh (rook) is also known: it features a three-horse chariot with two men, one driving, and the other armed with sword and shield.
This group is dated to the 7th–8th centuries, and probably come from the end of the Sassanid Empire just before the Arabic conquest. They are "representational", meaning they are small carvings (though somewhat crude) of war men and equipment. Later Arabic sets became abstract shapes, in accordance with their religious teaching.
Shani
Shani is one of the Navagraha which are the nine main celestial beings in Hindu astrology, or Jyotiṣa. Shani is embodied in the planet Saturn. Shani is the Lord of Saturday; the word Shani also denotes the seventh day or Saturday in most Indian languages.
Wolfgang Wagner
Wolfgang Wagner (born 30 August 1919 - 21 March 2010) was a German opera director. He was the grandson of the opera composer Richard Wagner and great-grandson of the composer Franz Liszt. For 42 years he was director of the Bayreuth Festival, which was created by Richard Wagner for the performances of his operas. At first he was director together with his brother Wieland. After Wieland died he continued to be director until he retired in 2008. He tried to get rid of the festival’s Nazi past, and put on productions which were very symbolic: using lighting effects instead of complicated scenery and heavy costumes.
Wagner was born in Bayreuth. His mother, Winifred Wagner (born Williams-Klindworth), was English. She married Richard Wagner’s son Siegfried, who was much older than she was. Although Siegfried was gay they had two sons (Wieland and Wolfgang) and two daughters.
When Siegfried died in 1930 Winifred took over the running of the festival. She was friends with Adolf Hitler who often came to the performances. Hitler became a family friend. The children called him “Uncle Adolf” or “Uncle Wolf” (his nickname). When World War II started, Wieland did not have to fight in the army because Hitler said he was too important for German culture. However, Wolfgang had to fight, and he was wounded in Poland, but got better. He started to produce operas in Berlin. Hitler liked him, but he never joined the Nazi party.
During the war a lot of Bayreuth buildings were damaged, but not the theatre. The Americans used it for religious services. After the war Winifred was not allowed to run the opera house because of her Nazi past, but Wieland became director and Wolfgang looked after the money. The two brothers started the festival again in 1951. They formed the orchestra again, and invited Hans Knappertsbusch and Herbert von Karajan to conduct. They deliberately avoided using lots of scenery and made use of symbolic ideas, especially lighting.