Bir resmin çerçeve oranı eni ve boyu arasındaki oransal ilişkiyi tarif eder.

Çoğunlukla aralarında iki nokta bulunan iki numara şeklinde ifade edilir; örneğin, 16:9. Bir a:b çerçeve oranı için, görüntünün ne kadar büyük veya küçük olduğunun önemi yoktur

no matter how big or small the image is, if the width is divided into x units of equal length and the height is measured using this same length unit, the height will be measured to be y units. For example, consider a group of images, all with an aspect ratio of 16:9. One image is 16 inches wide and 9 inches high. Another image is 16 centimeters wide and 9 centimeters high. A third is 8 yards wide and 4.5 yards high.

Sinema salonlarındaki filmlerin sunuşunda, günümüzde kullanılan en yaygın çerçeve oranı 1.85:1 ve 2.39:1dir.  Yaygın iki videografik çerçeve oranı; 20. yüzyılın evrensel video formatı olan 4:3 (1.3:1) ile yüksek çözünürlüklü televizyon ve Avrupa dijital televizyonu için evrensel olan 16:9dur. (1.7:1). Seyrek olarak kullanılan diğer çerçeve oranları da mevcuttur.

In still camera photography, the most common aspect ratios are 4:3, 3:2, and more recently being found in consumer cameras 16:9. Other aspect ratios, such as 5:3, 5:4, and 1:1 (square format), are used in photography as well, particularly in medium format and large format.

With television, DVD and Blu-ray Disc, converting formats of unequal ratios is achieved by enlarging the original image to fill the receiving format's display area and cutting off any excess picture information (zooming and cropping), by adding horizontal mattes (letterboxing) or vertical mattes (pillarboxing) to retain the original format's aspect ratio, by stretching (hence distorting) the image to fill the receiving format's ratio, or by scaling by different factors in both directions, possibly scaling by a different factor in the center and at the edges (as in Wide Zoom mode).

Uygulamayla ilgili sınırlamalar
Sinema formatlarında, dişli performasyonların arasındaki film alanının fiziksel boyutu resmin boyutunu belirler. Evrensel standart, (1892'de William Dickson ve Thomas Edison tarafından kurulan) dört perforasyon yüksek olan bir çerçevedir. Filmin kendisi 35 mm genişliğindedir (1,38 inç), fakat perforasyonlar arasındaki alan 4:3 veya 1.33:1 "de facto" oranını bırakarak 24,89 mm×18,67 mm'dir (0,980 inç×0,735 inç). 4:3 oranı 4:3,075 olan (hemen hemen aynı) 155°h x 120°v insan gözü için görüş açısını taklit eder.

With a space designated for the standard optical soundtrack, and the frame size reduced to maintain an image that is wider than tall, this resulted in the Academy aperture of 22 mm × 16 mm (0.866 in × 0.630 in) or 1.37:1 aspect ratio.

Sinema terminolojisi
The motion picture industry convention assigns a value of 1.0 to the image's height; thus, an anamorphic frame (actually 2.39:1) is described (rounded) as 2.40:1 or 2.40 ("two-four-oh"). In American cinemas, the common projection ratios are 1.85:1 and 2.40:1. Some European countries have 1.6:1 as the wide screen standard. The "Academy ratio" of 1.37:1 was used for all cinema films until 1953 (with the release of George Stevens's Shane in 1.6:1).  During that time, television, which had a similar aspect ratio of 1.3:1, became a threat to movie audiences, Hollywood gave birth to a large number of wide-screen formats:  CinemaScope (up to 2.6:1), Todd-AO (2.20:1), and VistaVision (initially 1.50:1, now 1.6:1 to 2.00:1) to name just a few.  The "flat" 1.85:1 aspect ratio was introduced in May, 1953, and became one of the most common cinema projection standards in the U.S. and elsewhere.

Film kamerası sistemleri
Development of various film camera systems must ultimately cater to the placement of the frame in relation to the lateral constraints of the perforations and the optical soundtrack area. One clever wide screen alternative, VistaVision, used standard 35 mm film running sideways through the camera gate, so that the sprocket holes were above and below frame, allowing a larger horizontal negative size per frame as only the vertical size was now restricted by the perforations. However, the 1.50:1 ratio of the initial VistaVision image was optically converted to a vertical print (on standard 4-perforation 35 mm film) to show in the projectors available at theaters, and was then masked in the projector to the US standard of 1.85:1. The format was briefly revived by Lucasfilm in the 1970s for special effects work that required larger negative size (due to image degradation from the optical printing steps necessary to make multi-layer composites).  It went into obsolescence largely due to better cameras, lenses, and film stocks available to standard 4-perforation formats, in addition to increased lab costs of making prints in comparison to more standard vertical processes. (The horizontal process was later adapted to 70 mm film by IMAX.)

Süper 16 mm film is frequently used for televizyon production due to its lower cost, lack of need for soundtrack space on the film itself (as it is not projected but rather transferred to video), and aspect ratio similar to 16:9 (the native ratio of Super 16 mm is 15:9). It also can be blown up to 35 mm for theatrical release and therefore is sometimes used for feature films.

Güncel video standartları

4:3 standardı
Standart televizyon için 4:3 (1.3:1) (genellikle "dörde üç" olarak anılır)  has been in use since the invention of moving picture cameras and many computer monitors used to employ the same aspect ratio. 4:3 was the aspect ratio used for 35 mm films in the silent era. It is also very close to the 1.375:1 aspect ratio defined by the Sinema Sanatları ve Bilimleri Akademisi as a standard after the advent of optical sound-on-film. By having TV match this aspect ratio, movies originally photographed on 35 mm film could be satisfactorily viewed on TV in the early days of the medium (i.e. the 1940s and the 1950s). When sinema attendance dropped, film endüstrisini televizyondan farklılaştırmak amacıyla Hollywood geniş ekran çerçeve oranlarını (daha önce bahsedilen 1.85:1 oranı gibi) oluşturdu. Fakat However since the start of the 21st century broadcasters worldwide are phasing out the 4:3 standard entirely, as technology started to favour the 16:9/16:10 aspect ratio of all modern HD TV sets, computer monitors as well as broadcast cameras.

16:9 standardı

16:9 (1.7:1) (genellikle on altıya dokuz olarak adlandırılır) HDTV, standart dijital televizyon ve PALplus analog geniş ekran televizyonun uluslararası standart formatıdır. Japonya'nın Hi-Vision'ı aslında 5:3 oranla başladı, fakat uluslararası standartlar grubu daha geniş bir 5⅓'e 3 oranını (=16:9) tanıtınca dönüştürüldü. Çok sayıda dijital video kamerası 16:9'da kayıt edebilme yeteneğine sahip ve 16:9 yalnızca geniş ekran çerçeve oranı doğallıkla is the only widescreen aspect ratio natively supported by DVD standardı tarafından doğallıkla  desteklenen . DVD producers can also choose to show even wider ratios such as 1.85:1 and 2.39:1 within the 16:9 DVD frame by hard matting or adding black bars within the image itself. Some films which were made in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio, such as the U.S.-Italian co-production Man of La Mancha, fit quite comfortably onto a 1.7:1 HDTV screen and have been issued anamorphically enhanced on DVD without the black bars.

Ekran yüksekliği, genişliği ve alanının hesaplanması
Çoğu zaman, ekran özellikleri diyagonal uzunluklarına göre verilir. Yükseklik (h), genişlik (uzunluk için l) ve alanı (A) bulmak için aşağıdaki formüller kullanılabilir; burada r oran ve d köşegen uzunluk anlamına gelir.

Ayrımlar

Daha fazla bilgi: Piksel en boy oranı
Bu makale öncelikle, daha resmi olarak görüntü en boy oranı (DAR) olarak adlandırılan, görüntülenen görüntülerin en boy oranını ele almaktadır. Dijital görüntülerde, piksel boyutlarının oranı olan depolama en boy oranı (SAR) ile bir ayrım vardır. Bir görüntü kare piksellerle görüntüleniyorsa, bu oranlar aynı olur; değilse, o zaman kare olmayan "dikdörtgen" pikseller kullanılır ve bu oranlar uyuşmaz. Piksellerin en boy oranı, piksel en boy oranı (PAR) olarak bilinir - kare pikseller için bu 1:1'dir - ve bunlar özdeşlikle ilişkilidir:

SAR × PAR = DAR.
Rearranging (solving for PAR) yields:
PAR = DAR/SAR.
For example, a 640 × 480 VGA image has a SAR of 640/480 = 4:3, and if displayed on a 4:3 display (DAR = 4:3), has square pixels, hence a PAR of 1:1. By contrast, a 720 × 576 D-1 PAL image has a SAR of 720/576 = 5:4, but is displayed on a 4:3 display (DAR = 4:3), so by this formula it would have a PAR of (4:3)/(5:4) = 16:15.

However, because standard definition digital video was originally based on digitally sampling analog television, the 720 horizontal pixels actually capture a slightly wider image to avoid loss of the original analog picture. In actual images, these extra pixels are often partly or entirely black, as only the center 704 horizontal pixels carry actual 4:3 or 16:9 image. Hence, the actual pixel aspect ratio for PAL video is a little different from that given by the formula, specifically 12:11 for PAL and 10:11 for NTSC. For consistency, the same effective pixel aspect ratios are used even for standard definition digital video originated in digital form rather than converted from analog. For more details refer to the main article.

In analog images such as film there is no notion of pixel, nor notion of SAR or PAR, and "aspect ratio" refers unambiguously to DAR. Actual displays do not generally have non-square pixels, though digital sensors might; they are rather a mathematical abstraction used in resampling images to convert between resolutions.

Non-square pixels arise often in early digital TV standards, related to digitalization of analog TV signals – whose horizontal and vertical resolutions differ and are thus best described by non-square pixels – and also in some digital videocameras and computer display modes, such as Color Graphics Adapter (CGA). Today they arise particularly in transcoding between resolutions with different SARs.

DAR is also known as image aspect ratio and picture aspect ratio, though the latter can be confused with pixel aspect ratio.

Karşılaştırma
Comparing two different aspect ratios poses some subtleties – when comparing two aspect ratios, one may compare images with equal height, equal width, equal diagonal, or equal area. More amorphous questions include whether particular subject matter has a natural aspect ratio (panoramas being wide, full-length images of people being tall), or whether a particular ratio is more or less aesthetically pleasing – the golden ratio (~1.618) is seen as especially pleasing.  Of common display formats, 16:10 (8/5) is the closest to the golden ratio, and 15:9 is the closest film format.

Given the same diagonal, the 4:3 screen offers more (over 12%) area, because it is closer to square (which maximizes area given a diagonal). For CRT-based technology, an aspect ratio that is closer to square is cheaper to manufacture. The same is true for projectors, and other optical devices such as cameras, camcorders, etc. For LCD and Plasma displays, however, the cost is more related to the area, so producing wider and shorter screens yields the same advertised diagonal but lower area, and hence is more profitable.

The following compares crops of a given image at 4:3 and 16:9, with different parameters equal; note that in terms of subject, the squarer aspect ratio emphasizes the public square, while the wider aspect ratio emphasizes the wide building.
 Two aspect ratios compared with images using the same diagonal size:

 Two aspect ratios compared with images using the same area (number of pixels):

 Two aspect ratios compared with images using the same height (vertical size):

 Two aspect ratios compared with images using the same width (horizontal size):

Geçmişteki ve şimdi kullanılan en boy oranları
See list of common resolutions for a listing of computer resolutions and aspect ratios.
See list of film formats for a full listing of film formats, including their aspect ratios.

 1.19:1: Sometimes referred to as the Movietone ratio, this ratio was used briefly during the transitional period when the film industry was converting to sound, from 1926 to 1932 approx.  It is produced by superimposing an optical soundtrack over a full-gate 1.3 aperture in printing, resulting in an almost square image.  Films shot in this ratio are often projected or transferred to video incorrectly using a 1.37 mask.  Examples of films shot in the Movietone ratio include Sunrise, M and Hallelujah!.
 1.3:1 (4:3, 12:9): 35 mm original silent film ratio, today commonly known in TV and video as 4:3. Also standard ratio for MPEG-2 video compression. This format is still used in many personal video cameras today and has influenced the selection or design of other aspect ratios. It is the standard 16 mm and Super 35mm ratio.
 1.37:1: 35 mm full-screen sound film image, nearly universal in movies between 1932 and 1953. Officially adopted as the Academy ratio in 1932 by AMPAS.  Rarely used in theatrical context nowadays, but occasionally used for other context.
 1.44:1: IMAX format.  Imax productions use 70 mm wide film (the same as used for 70 mm feature films), but the film runs through the camera and projector horizontally.  This allows for a physically larger area for each image.
 1.50:1 (3:2, 15:10): The aspect ratio of 35 mm film used for still photography when 8 perforations are exposed. Also the native aspect ratio of VistaVision, for which the film runs horizontally.
 1.5:1 (14:9): Widescreen aspect ratio sometimes used in shooting commercials etc. as a compromise format between 4:3 (12:9) and 16:9. When converted to a 16:9 frame, there is slight pillarboxing, while conversion to 4:3 creates slight letterboxing. All widescreen content on ABC Family's SD feed is presented in this ratio.
 1.60:1 (8:5, 16:10): Widescreen computer monitor ratio (for instance 1920×1200 resolution).
 1.6:1 (5:3, 15:9): 35 mm Originally a flat ratio invented by Paramount Pictures, now a standard among several European countries; native Super 16 mm frame ratio. Sometimes this ratio is rounded up to 1.67:1. From the late 1980s to the early 2000s, Walt Disney Feature Animation's CAPS program animated their features in the 1.66:1 ratio (a compromise between the 1.85:1 theatrical ratio and the 1.33:1 ratio used for home video), this format is also used on the Nintendo 3DS's top screen as well.
 1.75:1 (7:4): Early 35 mm widescreen ratio, primarily used by MGM and Warner Bros. between 1953 and 1955, and since abandoned, though Disney has cropped some of its post-50's Full Screen films to this ratio for DVD, including The Jungle Book.
 1.7:1 (16:9 = 42:32): Geniş ekran video standardı, yüksek çözünürlüklü televizyonlarda kullanılır, one of three ratios specified for MPEG-2 video compression. Kişisel video kameralarındaki kullanımı da giderek artmaktadır. Sometimes this ratio is rounded up to 1.78:1.
 1.85:1: 35 mm US and UK widescreen standard for theatrical film. Introduced by Universal Pictures in May, 1953.  Projects approximately 3 perforations ("perfs") of image space per 4 perf frame; films can be shot in 3-perf to save cost of film stock.
 2.00:1: Original SuperScope ratio, also used in Univisium.  Used as a flat ratio for some American studios in the 1950s, abandoned in the 1960s, but recently popularized by the Red One camera system. In 2001 Studio Ghibli used this framing for its animated film Spirited Away.
 2.10:1 (21:10): Planned futuristic aspect ratio for television and theatrical films.
 2.20:1 (11:5, 22:10): 70 mm standard. Originally developed for Todd-AO in the 1950s. Specified in MPEG-2 as 2.21:1, but hardly used.
 2.35:1: 35 mm anamorphic prior to 1970, used by CinemaScope ("'Scope") and early Panavision. The anamorphic standard has subtly changed so that modern anamorphic productions are actually 2.39, but often referred to as 2.35 anyway, due to old convention. (Note that anamorphic refers to the compression of the image on film to maximize an area slightly taller than standard 4-perf Academy aperture, but presents the widest of aspect ratios.) All Indian Bollywood films released after 1972 are shot in this standard for theatrical exhibition.
 2.37:1 (64:27 = 43:33): As of 2010, TVs have been introduced with this aspect ratio and are marketed as "21:9 cinema displays", the first of which was the Philips Cinema 21:9 TV. This aspect ratio is not recognized by storage and transmission standards.
 2.39:1 (~12:5): 35 mm anamorphic from 1970 onwards. Aspect ratio of current anamorphic (wide-screen) theatrical viewings. Often commercially branded as Panavision format or 'Scope.  Specified as 2.40:1 for Blu-ray Disc film releases (1920×800 resolution).
 2.55:1 (~23:9): Original aspect ratio of CinemaScope before optical sound was added to the film in 1954. This was also the aspect ratio of CinemaScope 55.
 2.59:1 (~13:5): Cinerama at full height (three specially captured 35 mm images projected side-by-side into one composite widescreen image).
 2.6:1 (8:3, 24:9): Full frame output from Super 16 mm negative when an anamorphic lens system has been used. Effectively, an image that is of the ratio 24:9 is squashed onto the native 15:9 aspect ratio of a Super 16 mm negative.
 2.76:1 (~11:4): Ultra Panavision 70 (65 mm with 1.25× anamorphic squeeze). Used only on a handful of films between 1962 and 1966, such as the Battle of the Bulge (1965).
 2.93:1: MGM Camera 65, an early version of Ultra Panavision used up until 1962 which used a 1.33× anamorphic squeeze instead to produce a wider aspect ratio. Used only on a few early Ultra Panavision films, most notably Ben-Hur (1959) and also for some sequences of How The West was Won with a slight crop to 2.89:1 when converted to three strip Cinerama.
 4.00:1: Rare use of Polyvision, three 35 mm 1.3:1 images projected side by side. First used in 1927 on Abel Gance's Napoléon.
 12.00:1: Circle-Vision 360° developed by the Walt Disney Company in 1955 for use in Disneyland. Uses nine 4:3 35mm projectors to show an image that completely surrounds the viewer. Used in subsequent Disney theme parks and other past applications.

Aspect ratio releases

Original aspect ratio (OAR)

Original Aspect Ratio (OAR) is a home cinema term for the aspect ratio or dimensions in which a film or visual production was produced – as envisioned by the people involved in the creation of the work. As an example, the film Gladiator was released to theaters in the 2.39:1 aspect ratio. It was filmed in Super 35 and, in addition to being presented in cinemas and television in the Original Aspect Ratio of 2.39:1, it was also broadcast without the matte altering the aspect ratio to the television standard of 1.3:1. Because of the varied ways in which films are shot, IAR (Intended Aspect Ratio) is a more appropriate term, but is rarely used.

Modified aspect ratio (MAR)

Modified Aspect Ratio is a home cinema term for the aspect ratio or dimensions in which a film was modified to fit a specific type of screen, as opposed to original aspect ratio.  Modified aspect ratios are usually either 1.3:1 (historically), or (with the advent of widescreen television sets) 1.7:1 aspect ratio.  1.3:1 is the modified aspect ratio used historically in VHS format. A modified aspect ratio transfer is achieved by means of pan and scan or open matte, the latter meaning removing the cinematic matte from a 1.85:1 film to open up the full 1.3:1 frame.  Another name for it is "prescaled" aspect ratio".

Problems in film and television

Multiple aspect ratios create additional burdens on filmmakers and consumers, and confusion among TV broadcasters. It is common for a widescreen film to be presented in an altered format (cropped, letterboxed or expanded beyond the original aspect ratio). It is also not uncommon for windowboxing to occur (when letterbox and pillarbox happen simultaneously). For instance, a 16:9 broadcast could embed a 4:3 commercial within the 16:9 image area. A viewer watching on a standard 4:3 (non-widescreen) television would see a 4:3 image of the commercial with 2 sets of black stripes, vertical and horizontal (windowboxing or the postage stamp effect). A similar scenario may also occur for a widescreen set owner when viewing 16:9 material embedded in a 4:3 frame, and then watching that in 16:9. Active Format Description is a mechanism used in digital broadcasting to avoid this problem. It is also common that a 4:3 image is stretched horizontally to fit a 16:9 screen to avoid pillar boxing but distorts the image so subjects appear short and fat.

Both PAL and NTSC have provision for some data pulses contained within the video signal used to signal the aspect ratio (See ITU-R BT.1119-1 – Widescreen signaling for broadcasting).  These pulses are detected by television sets that have widescreen displays and cause the television to automatically switch to 16:9 display mode.  When 4:3 material is included (such as the aforementioned commercial), the television switches to a 4:3 display mode to correctly display the material.  Where a video signal is transmitted via a European SCART connection, one of the status lines is used to signal 16:9 material as well.

Still photography
Common aspect ratios in still photography include:

 1:1
 4:3 (1.3:1)
 3:2 (1.5:1)
 5:3 (1.6:1)
 16:9 (1.7:1)
 3:1

Many digital still cameras offer user options for selecting multiple image aspect ratios.  Some achieve this through the use of multi-aspect sensors (notably Panasonic), while others simply crop their native image format to have the output match the desired image aspect ratio.

1:1
is the classic square image, and is available as a choice in some digital still cameras, and harkens back to the days of film cameras when the square image was somewhat popular with photographers using medium format cameras shooting 120 film rolled onto spools. The 6 × 6 cm image size was the classic 1:1 format in the recent past.  120 film can still be found and used today.

4:3
is used by most digital point-and-shoot cameras, Four Thirds system, Micro Four Thirds system cameras and medium format 645 cameras.  The 4:3 digital format popularity was developed to match the then prevailing digital displays of the time, 4:3 computer monitors.

The next several formats have their roots in classic film photography image sizes, both the classic 35 mm film camera, and the multiple format Advanced Photo System (APS) film camera.  The APS camera was capable of selecting any of three image formats, APS-H ("High Definition" mode), APS-C ("Classic" mode) and APS-P ("Panoramic" mode).

3:2
is used by classic 35 mm film cameras using a 24 mm × 36 mm image size, and their digital derivatives represented by DSLRs.  Typical DSLRs come in two flavors, the so-called professional "full frame" (24 mm × 36 mm) sensors and variations of smaller, so called "APS-C" sensors.  The term "APS" is derived from another film format known as
the APS and the "-C" refers to "Classic" mode, which exposed images over a smaller area (25.1 mm × 16.7 mm) but retaining the same "classic" 3:2 proportions as full frame 35 mm film cameras.

When discussing DSLR's and their non-SLR derivatives, the term APS-C has become an almost generic term.  The two major camera manufacturers Canon and Nikon each developed and established sensor standards for their own versions of APS-C sized and proportioned sensors.  Canon actually developed two standards, APS-C and a slightly larger area APS-H (not to be confused with the APS-H film format), while Nikon developed its own APS-C standard, which it calls DX.  Regardless of the different flavors of sensors, and their varying sizes, they are close enough to the original APS-C image size, and maintain the classic 3:2 image proportions that these sensors are generally known as an "APS-C" sized sensor.

The reason for DSLR image sensors being the flatter 3:2 versus the taller point-and-shoot 4:3 is that DSLRs were designed to match the legacy 35 mm SLR film, whereas the majority of digital cameras were designed to match the predominant computer displays of the time, with VGA, SVGA, XGA and UXGA all being 4:3. Widescreen computer monitors did not become popular until the advent of HDTV which uses a 16:9 image aspect ratio.

16:9
16:9 is another format that has its roots in the APS film camera.  Known as APS-H (30.2 mm × 16.7 mm), with the "-H" denoting "High Definition", the 16:9 format is also the standard image aspect ratio for HDTV.  16:9 is gaining popularity as a format in all classes of consumer still cameras which also shoot High Definition (HD) video.  When still cameras  have an HD video capability, some can also record stills in the 16:9 format, ideal for display on HD televisions and widescreen computer displays.

3:1
3:1 is another format that can find its roots in the APS film camera.  Known as APS-P (30.2 × 9.5 mm), with the -P" denoting "Panorama", the 3:1 format was used for panorama photography.  The APS-P panorama standard is the least adhered to of any APS standard, and panoramic implementation varies with by manufacturer on different cameras, with the only commonality being that the image is much longer than it is tall, in the classic "panorama" style.

Common print sizes in the ABD (in inches) include 4×6 (1.5), 5×7 (1.4), 4×5 and 8×10 (1.25), and 11×14 (1.27); large format cameras typically use one of these aspect ratios.  Medium-format cameras typically have format designated by nominal sizes in centimeters (6×6, 6×7, 6×9, 6×4.5), but these numbers should not be interpreted as exact in computing aspect ratios.  Print sizes are usually defined by their portrait dimensions (tall) while equipment aspect ratios are defined by their landscape dimensions (wide, flipped sideways).  A good example of this a 4×6 print (6 inch wide by 4 inch tall landscape) perfectly matches the 3:2 aspect ratio of a DSLR/35 mm, since 6/2=3 and 4/2=2.

For analog projection of photographic slides, projector and screen use a 1:1 aspect ratio, supporting horizontal and vertical orientation equally well. In contrast, digital projection technology typically supports vertically oriented images only at a fraction of the resolution of landscape-oriented images. For example, projecting a digital still image having a 3:2 aspect ratio on a 16:9 projector employs %84,3 of available resolution in horizontal orientation, but only %37,5 in vertical orientation.

Ayrıca bakınız
 Active Format Description (AFD)
 Pan and scan

Kaynakça

Özel

Genel

Dış bağlantılar

 The Letterbox and Widescreen Advocacy Page
 American Widescreen Museum
 Widescreen Apertures and Aspect Ratios
 Aspect – combined aspect ratio, frame size and bitrate calculator
 Calculator to Determine Size of 4:3 Image on 16:9 Screen(middle of the page)
 Aspect Ratios Explained: Part 1 Part 2
 Explanation of TV Aspect Ratio format description codes
 Display aspect ratio and pixel aspect ratio used in TV and video applications.
 Number of DVDs for each aspect ratio
 TECHNICAL BULLETIN Understanding Aspect Ratios (708 KB)
 SCADplus: 16:9 Action plan for the television in the 16:9 screen format – European Union
 Online Aspect Ratio Calculator

Rasyolar
Film ve video teknolojisi

Çerçeve oranı


The Social Democratic Party of Germany (German Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands or SPD) is the oldest political party in Germany that still exists. It was created on 23 May 1863. Many people think that the SPD is one of the two most important political parties in modern-day Germany, with the Christian Democratic Union (CDU).

History
It was founded as the General German Workers Association (Allgemeiner Deutscher Arbeiterverein) (ADAV) on May 23rd in 1863 in Leipzig. Founder was Ferdinand Lassalle.
In 1875 the ADAV joined with the Social Democratic Workers' Party (Sozialdemokratische Arbeiterpartei) (SDAP), which was founded in 1869 in Eisenach by August Bebel and Wilhelm Liebknecht.

The new name was the Socialist Workers' Party of Germany (Sozialistische Arbeiterpartei Deutschlands) (SAP).

In the autumn of 1890 it took its present name.

In the years between 1875 and 1890 it was made illegal by Otto von Bismarck.
The Social democrats wanted to support the rights of workers.

In 1914 the SPD was split into two. Most members of the party supported the Kaiser and his plans for war. The other members formed the Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany (Unabhängige Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschland) (USPD). They were against the war.

After the monarchy fell, the SPD led some governments of the Weimar Republic.

Later the SPD was the only party in the Reichstag who voted against the Enabling Act,(Ermächtigungsgesetz) which allowed Hitler to become dictator.

Afterwards, the Nazis banned the SPD and arrested the leading Social Democrats. Many were sent to Nazi concentration camps. Others moved away to towns where they were not known. Friedrich Kellner, an organizer for the SPD in Mainz from 1920 to 1932, moved to Laubach. He wrote entries in a secret diary about the crimes of the Nazis.

After World War II, the SPD was reformed.
In the GDR (East Germany) the Soviet Union forced the SPD to join with the communist party to make the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (Sozialistische Einheitspartei). In Western Germany the SPD continued as the largest center-left party.

First chief of the SPD after WWII was Kurt Schumacher.

The SPD led some state governments in West Germany, but was always the leading opposition party in the Bundestag (federal parliament).
Under its parliamentary party leader Herbert Wehner the SPD joined the federal government led by chancellor Kurt Georg Kiesinger (CDU) with the CDU and the CSU in 1966. Party chief Willy Brandt became foreign secretary and vice chancellor.

In 1969 Willy Brandt became federal chancellor. The SPD lead a coalition government with the FDP as its partner. In 1974 Helmut Schmidt became chancellor.

In 1982 the SPD lost the power of government.

Between 1998 and 2005 the SPD led the government under chancellor Gerhard Schröder. Its partner this time was The Greens.

In November 2005 the SPD became the junior partner in a coalition with the CDU and CSU under Angela Merkel.

Programs
The SPD is traditionally the party of the workers in Germany.
In 1959 the SPD adopted the Godesberger Programm, named after the town of Bad Godesburg in North Rhine-Westphalia. The SPD formally abandoned Marxism, and accepted the market economy (which means people and companies can make money and keep it themselves), but wanted to have a social balance (which means people would get help from the government if they had no job, were sick or too old to work, instead of relying on savings or charity). Companies might get subsidies to help keep people in work.

Many people thought that the government of Chancellor Schröder (1998 - 2005) changed the idea of social balance, making people rely more on savings or charity. The SPD lost a lot of members. Now there is a discussion in the SPD about new social balance policies.

Related pages
 Bundestag (Federal Assembly of Germany)
 Weimar Republic

Further reading
 Carl E. Schorske, German Social Democracy, 1905-1917: The Development of the Great Schism (Harvard University Press, 1955).
 Vernon L. Lidtke, The Outlawed Party: Social Democracy in Germany, 1878-1890 (Princeton University Press, 1966).
 Abraham J. Berlau, The German Social Democratic Party, 1914-1921 (Columbia University Press, 1949).
 Erich Matthias The Downfall of the Old Social Democratic Party in 1933 pages 51–105 from Republic to Reich The Making of the Nazi Revolution Ten Essays edited by Hajo Holborn, (New York: Pantheon Books, 1972).

Other websites

 Party official website
 Party official website in English
 official website of the party's youth organisation
 Is the Left Still on the Left?  — Dirk Maxeiner and Michael Miersch on the German left

1863 establishments in Europe
1860s establishments in Germany

Socialist International

Social Democratic Party of Germany


2011 (twenty eleven) (MMXI) was .

According to the North Korean Minguo calendar, this was Juche year 100. This year was also the 100th of the Republic of China (Taiwan) Era year (民國100年).

The United Nations designated 2011 the International Year of Forests and International Year of Chemistry.

The 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, which struck Japan in March, triggered numerous tsunami warnings, killed over 15,000 people and caused massive damage in Japan. The earthquake also resulted in the Fukushima nuclear disaster; it was the deadliest nuclear disaster since the Chernobyl nuclear accident in 1986.

Events

January

 January 1 – Estonia starts using the euro currency.
 January 1 – Start of Hungary's Presidency of the European Union
 January 1 – Dilma Rousseff becomes Brazil's first female President.
 January 4 – A solar eclipse is seen over most of Europe, North Africa and western Asia.
 January 4 – Tunisian fruit seller Mohamed Bouazizi dies after setting himself on fire in an act of protest.
 January 7 – The 2011 AFC Asian Cup is held in Qatar, until January 29, won by Japan.
 January 8 – Twenty people are shot in Tucson, Arizona, six of whom are killed.  One of the victims was congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.
 January 9 – South Sudan holds a referendum on independence.
 January 9 – Iran Air Flight 227 crashes, killing 77 people.
 January 10 – Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia and the Lockyer Valley flood with more than 16 people killed.
 January 11 – More than 480 people are killed in flooding and mudslides in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro.
 January 14 – In the wake of anti-government demonstrations, Tunisia's President Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali dissolves the government and resigns from office. Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi takes over as caretaker-President, before being replaced by Fouad Mebazaa.
 January 24 – A terrorist bombing at Moscow's Domodedovo Airport kills at least 35 people.
 January 25 – 2011 Egyptian protests: Pro-democracy demonstrations begin in Egypt against the rule of President Hosni Mubarak.
 January 28 – 2011 Egyptian protests: Hosni Mubarak cuts internet access.

February

 February 1 – 2011 Egyptian protests: Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak announces his intention to resign after elections in September. The following day, pro-Mubarak and anti-Mubarak protesters clash violently in central Cairo.
 February 3 – Tropical Cyclone Yasi hits Queensland, Australia.
 February 6 – A centennial celebration is held all over the United States to celebrate the 100th birthday of Ronald Reagan.
 February 11 – 2011 Egyptian protests: President Hosni Mubarak resigns, as the Egyptian government falls. Egypt is left in control of the military until elections can be held.
 February 14 – It is announced that the economy of the People's Republic of China overtook the Japanese economy as the world's second largest.
 Pro-democracy protests begin in Bahrain and Libya, with violent crackdowns being reported.
 February 19 – April 2 – The Cricket World Cup is held in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, and is won by India.
 February 22 – Christchurch, New Zealand is struck by an earthquake measuring 6.3, causing a lot of damage, and killing at least 181 people.

March

 March 9 – Enda Kenny becomes Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland.
Space Shuttle Discovery returns from its last space mission before its retirement.
 March 10 – Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, announces his intention to stand down from his official powers, and to transfer them to an elected official.
 March 11 – An earthquake of magnitude 9.1 strikes near Sendai on the east coast of the island of Honshu, Japan, causing a lot of damage and triggering tsunamis, with warnings issued around the Pacific Ocean. Thousands of people have been killed, and thousands more are missing. A heavy nuclear accident was also result of the earthquake, prompting fears over radiation levels.
 March 17 – 2011 Libyan protests: The United Nations resolution for a no-fly zone over Libya is passed.
 March 18 – NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft arrives in orbit around Mercury.
NASA's Pluto probe New Horizons crosses the orbit of Uranus, after a five-year journey. This is faster than Voyager 2, which took eight years.
 March 19 – The Moon makes its closest approach to Earth, by nearly 3,000 miles, in 18 years.
 March 19 – 2011 Libyan protests: United Nations-authorised military intervention in Libya begins.
 March 23 – Portugal's Prime Minister Jose Socrates announces his resignation, as a result of the financial crisis.
 March 24 – 2011 Burma earthquake: An earthquake of magnitude 6.8 centred in Burma kills 75 people.
 March 27 – Bulgaria and Romania fully implement the Schengen Agreement.
 March 31 – After months of crisis following a disputed Presidential election, intense fighting breaks out around Ivory Coast's largest city, Abidjan, between forces loyal to Alassane Ouattara and those loyal to Laurent Gbagbo.

April

 April 7 – A school shooting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, leaves 13 dead, including the gunman.
 April 9 – A gunman opens fire at a shopping centre in Alphen an den Rijn, Netherlands, leaving 7 dead.
 April 11 – Ivory Coast crisis: Laurent Gbagbo is arrested in his bunker in Abidjan by troops from France, the United Nations, and troops supporting Alassane Ouattara.
 April 12 – Four Space Shuttles (including the Endeavor, the Discovery, Enterprise, and Atlantis) are sent to Florida, New York, California, and Washington D.C..
 April 22 – Hundreds of people are killed as police move in on anti-government demonstrations in Syria.
 April 27 – Hundreds of people are killed in a tornado outbreak across the southern and central United States.
 April 29 – Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge marry at Westminster Abbey in London.

May
 May 1 – U. S. Forces capture and kill al-Qaeda terrorist leader Osama bin Laden in northern Pakistan.
 May 6 – The Scottish National Party wins an overall majority in the Scottish Parliament.
 May 11 – Two earthquakes kill at least nine people in southeastern Spain.
 May 12 – John Demjanjuk is convicted in Germany of supervising the killings of thousands of Jews in Concentration Camps.
 May 14 – Ell & Nikki of Azerbaijan win the Eurovision Song Contest.
 May 15 – Head of the International Monetary Fund Dominique Strauss-Kahn is arrested in New York on charges of sexual assault. He resigns his post a few days later. He is released in August.
 May 17 – Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom makes a state visit to the Republic of Ireland.
 May 21 – The Grimsvotn volcano in Iceland erupts, causing some flight disruption in Northern Europe.
 May 22 – A tornado kills at least 125 people in Joplin, Missouri.
 May 26 – Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladic is arrested in Serbia on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
 late May – At least 20 people die in an E. coli outbreak centred in Germany. It was originally attributed to Spanish cucumbers, but is suspected to come from bean sprouts.

June

 June 1 – Sepp Blatter is controversially chosen to serve a third term as President of FIFA, amidst a major corruption scandal.
 June 4 – The eruption of the Puyehue Cordon Caulle volcanic structure in southern Chile causes an ash cloud, disrupting flights in southern South America, and as far away as Oceania.
 June 5 – Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh leaves for Saudi Arabia to be treated for injuries sustained in an attack on the Presidential Palace. Demonstrators celebrate while powers are temporarily transferred to Vice President Abd al-Rab al-Mansur al-Hadi.
 June 12 – Thousands of Syrians flee into Turkey as Syrian troops lay siege to the town of Jisr-ash Shugur.
 June 15 – 2011 Vancouver Stanley Cup riot
 June 22 – American fugitive criminal Whitey Bulger is arrested in Los Angeles.
 June 26 - July 17 – 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup in Germany, won by Japan

July

 July 1 – Start of Poland's Presidency of the European Union
 July 2 – Albert II, Prince of Monaco marries Charlene Wittstock.
 July 3 – The United Nations appeals for aid for parts of East Africa that are affected by a severe drought.
 July 7 – The world's first synthetic organ transplant is carried out, using an artificial windpipe coated in stem cells.
 July 8 – The  is launched on the last-ever Space Shuttle launch.
 July 9 – South Sudan declares independence from Sudan.
 July 10 – British tabloid newspaper, the News of the World, ends publication, after a major phone-hacking scandal.
 July 12 – Neptune completes its first full orbit around the Sun since its official discovery.
 July 13 – Three serial coordinated bomb explosions occur in different locations of Mumbai, the financial capital of India, killing 24 and leaving more than 130 people injured.
 July 14 – The United Nations admits South Sudan as the 193rd member nation.
 July 20 – Goran Hadzic is detained in Serbia, being arrested on war crimes charges.
 The United Nations declares that Somalia is in a state of famine.
 July 21 – The  returns to Earth in the last mission of the Space Shuttle programme.
 July 22 – Two attacks in Norway kill 77 people; 8 people at an explosion in the government quarter of Oslo, and 69 are shot dead at a Summer Youth Camp on the island of Utoya.
 July 23 – Singer Amy Winehouse is found dead at her home in London.
 July 28 – Ollanta Humala becomes President of Peru.
 July 31 – Because of uncertainties over a clampdown on press freedom, there is believed to be at least 121 people killed in a Syrian army tank raid on the town of Hama, and over 150 people are reportedly killed in a crackdown in the whole country.

August

 August 1 – The United States narrowly avoids defaulting on its debt.
 August 5 – Yingluck Shinawatra becomes Prime Minister of Thailand.
 NASA announces that its Mars Reconnaissance orbiter has captured photographic evidence of liquid water on the planet Mars during warm seasons.
 August 5 – Juno, the first solar powered spacecraft to be sent to the planet Jupiter, is launched, from Cape Canaveral.
 August 12 -Francesco Paolo Marra born.
 August 13 – Germany commemorates 50 years since the building of the Berlin Wall.
 August 20 – Hurricane Irene forms. It causes a lot of destruction and flooding in many Caribbean countries and the Eastern United States over the following days.
 August 22 – The 2011 Libyan civil war intensifies as rebel forces enter Tripoli.
 August 26 – Naoto Kan announces his resignation as Prime Minister of Japan.
 August 29 – Hurricane Irene dissolves over Eastern Canada.
Yoshihiko Noda is chosen as the next Prime Minister of Japan, taking office in September.
 August 31 – The end of analog television broadcasting in Canada translation to Digital Televisions.

September
 September 2 – A Chilean Air Force plane crashes in the Pacific Ocean, killing all 21 people on board.
 September 7 – India and Bangladesh sign an agreement ending their border dispute.
 A plane carrying the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl ice hockey team crashes just after take-off near Yaroslavl, Russia, killing 43 of the 45 people on board.
 September 9 - October 23 – The 2011 Rugby World Cup is held in New Zealand, won by New Zealand.
 September 10 – More than 190 people die when a ferry capsizes off the coast of Tanzania.
 September 11 – Commemorations marking the 10th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks take place.
 September 12 – Around 100 people die after an oil pipeline explosion in Nairobi, Kenya.
 September 18 – An earthquake centred near the Sikkim-Nepal border kills an estimated 111 people.
 September 19 – The United Nations launches an appeal for aid after the 2011 Sindh floods.
 September 20 – Former President of Afghanistan Burhanuddin Rabbani is killed in a bomb attack.
 September 23 – President of Yemen Ali Abdullah Saleh returns home after being treated in Saudi Arabia for injuries sustained in an attack on his compound in June.
 September 29 – China launches the Tiangong 1 space laboratory, its first space station module, from the launch pad in Gansu province.

October

 October 3 – The winners of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine are announced as Bruce Beutler, Jules Hoffmann and Ralph Steinman. Steinman had died three days earlier, unknown to the Nobel committee. It was later announced that he could remain as a Nobel laureate.
 October 3 – Helle Thorning-Schmidt becomes Prime Minister of Denmark.
 October 4 – 139 people are killed in a car bombing in Mogadishu.
 October 4 – Major floods affect parts of Thailand and Cambodia.
 October 7 – The Nobel Peace Prize is shared between Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Liberian activist Leymah Gbowee and Yemeni activist Tawakel Karman.
 October 15 – Occupy campaign: In cities around the world, many people protest against economic mismanagement, also in support of the Occupy Wall Street campaign.
 October 18 – Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit is released after five years of captivity. In return, Israel releases 1,027 Palestinian prisoners.
 October 20 – 2011 Libyan civil war: Forces loyal to the National Transitional Council take control of Sirte, the last pro-Gaddafi stronghold. Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi, who ruled Libya since 1969, is captured and killed.
 October 23 – A magnitude 7.2 earthquake strikes eastern Turkey, near the City of Van, killing at least 575 people, and damaging many buildings.
 October 27 – Michael D. Higgins is elected to succeed Mary McAleese as President of Ireland.
 October 27 – EU leaders hold an emergency meeting in Brussels on the European Sovereign Debt Crisis, where they decide to write off 50% of Greek bonds, recapitalisation of European banks, and an increase of the bailout fund of the European Financial Stability Facility, totalling a trillion Euros.
 October 31 – According to the United Nations, the world population reaches 7 billion.

November
 November 7 – Dr. Conrad Murray is found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in relation to the death of Michael Jackson.
 November 10 – Lucas Papademos is chosen to lead a caretaker government in Greece.
 November 11 – Michael D. Higgins becomes President of Ireland.
 November 12 – As the result of an economic crisis, Silvio Berlusconi resigns as Prime Minister of Italy.
 November 13 – Mario Monti is chosen to become Prime Minister of Italy.
 November 18 - the release of minecraft
 November 19 – Muammar al-Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam al-Gaddafi is captured in southern Libya, near the border with Niger.
 November 19 – 2011 Egyptian protests: Protestors demonstrate in central Cairo against the military rulers, and several are killed when police open fire.
 November 20 – Mariano Rajoy's Partido Popular score a landslide victory in Spain's parliamentary election. Rajoy is therefore elected to become the next Prime Minister of Spain.
 November 22 – The American Samoa national football team scores its first-ever official win, defeating the Tonga national football team 2-1 in the Oceanian FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
 November 26 – John Key is elected to a second term as Prime Minister of New Zealand.
 November 26 – The Mars Science Laboratory is launched on board an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida, and is set to arrive on Mars in August 2012.

December

 December 4 – Zoran Jankovic's party wins the most seats in the Slovenian Parliament.
 December 4 – 45,000 people in Koblenz, Germany, are evacuated in order for a World War II bomb to be defused.
 December 5 – NASA announces the discovery of the earth-like planet Kepler 22-b orbiting around another star.
 December 6 – Elio Di Rupo becomes Prime Minister of Belgium. Prior to this, Belgium did not have an official government for 589 days.
 December 9 – Croatia signs an agreement that will allow it to become a member of the EU on July 1, 2013.
 December 12 – Moncef Marzouki becomes President of Tunisia.
 December 13 – At least 5 people are killed and 124 wounded at a grenade and gun attack in Liege, Belgium. The gunman, Nordine Amrani, commits suicide shortly after.
 December 15 – The United States ends its military involvement in Iraq.
 December 17 – Tropical typhoon Washi hits Mindanao in the southern Philippines, killing over 1,000 people, with many more reported missing.
 December 19 – North Korean state television announces the death of Kim Jong-il, who had led the country since 1994. His son, Kim Jong-un, is designated as his successor.
 December 19 – Liechtenstein implements the Schengen Agreement.
 December 22 – Several suicide bombings occur in Baghdad.
 December 23 – Around 40 people are killed in a bomb attack in Damascus.
 December 25 – Four churches across Nigeria are hit by bombs, killing at least 40 people. The Islamist group Boko Haram claims responsibility.
 December 29 – Kim Jong-un is installed as North Korea's leader at the end of a two-day state funeral for Kim Jong-il.
 December 29 – The International Date Line is shifted to the west of Samoa and Tokelau, both of which do not observe December 30, 2011 as a result. The change is made to improve trade with the main partners of Australia and New Zealand.

Deaths

 January 2 - Pete Postlethwaite, English actor (b. 1946)
 January 4 - Gerry Rafferty, Scottish singer-songwriter (b. 1947)
 February 28 - Jane Russell, American actress (b. 1921)
 March 23 - Elizabeth Taylor, English-American actress (b. 1932)
 April 9 - Sidney Lumet American movie director (b. 1924)
 May 3 - Jackie Cooper, American actor and director (b. 1922)
 May 27 - Gil Scott-Heron, American poet and musician (b. 1949)
 June 23 - Peter Falk, American actor (b. 1927)
 July 8 - Betty Ford, First Lady of the United States (b. 1918)
 August 29 - David Honeyboy Edwards, American blues guitarist and singer (b. 1915)
 September 25 - Wangari Maathai, Kenyan environmentalist and political activist (b. 1940)
 October 5 - Steve Jobs, American businessman, investor and philanthropist (b. 1955)
 November 8 - Valentin Kozmich Ivanov, Russian footballer (b. 1934)
 December 18 - Johannes Heesters, Dutch-born actor, singer and entertainer (b. 1903)

Nobel Prizes
 Physiology or Medicine: Bruce Beutler, Jules Hoffmann, Ralph Steinman
 Physics: Saul Perlmutter, Adam G. Riess, Brian P. Schmidt
 Chemistry: Dan Shechtman
 Literature: Tomas Transtromer
 Peace: Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Leymah Gbowee, Tawakel Karman
 Economics: Christopher A. Sims, Thomas J. Sargent

Major religious holidays
 January 6 – Epiphany, Three Kings Day (Christianity)
 January 7 – Christmas (Eastern Christianity) (on January 6 in Armenia)
 January 14 – Makar Sankranti, Hinduism
 February 1 – Imbolc, a Cross-quarter day
 February 3 – Chinese New Year
 March 8 – Shrove Tuesday/Mardi Gras, end of Carnival season (Christianity)
 March 9 – Ash Wednesday and beginning of Lent (Christianity)
 March 17 – Saint Patrick's Day
 March 21 – (Northern hemisphere) Vernal Equinox, also known as Ostara
 April 17 – Palm Sunday (Christianity)
 April 18 – Beginning of Passover (Judaism)
 April 22 – Good Friday (Christianity)
 April 24 – Easter (Christianity)
 May 1 – Beltane, a Cross-quarter day
 June 7 – Shavuot begins (Judaism)
 June 24 – Saint John's Day, northern Midsummer celebrations
 August 1 – Lammas, a cross-quarter day
 August 1 – Beginning of Ramadan (Islam)
 August 31 – Eid ul-Fitr (Islam)
 September 23 – Northern Autumnal Equinox, also known as Mabon
 September 28 – Rosh Hashanah begins at sundown (Judaism)
 October 7 – Yom Kippur begins at sundown (Judaism)
 October 26 – Diwali (Hinduism)
 November 1 – All Saints Day
 November 6 – Eid al-Adha (Islam)
 November 26 – Islamic New Year
 November 27 – First Sunday of Advent (Western Christianity)
 December 20 – Hanukkah (Judaism)
 December 25 – Christmas (Western Christianity)

In fiction

Movies
 The Taiwanese movie Millennium Mambo (2001) where a woman narrates from 2011 about her life 10 years earlier.
 The movie Revengers Tragedy (2003) is set in a dystopian Liverpool in the year 2011, following the aftermath of a natural disaster which has destroyed the southern half of Great Britain.

Television
 The Heroes television series visits 2011 in several different potential futures.
 In the Aeon Flux television series and movie, 99% of the world's population is wiped out by a mysterious virus in the year 2011.

Computer and video games
 Call of Duty: Black Ops (2011)
 S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky (2008)
 Persona 4 (2008)
 Fallout 3 (2008)
 Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising  (2009)
 Max Payne 3 (2010)
 Heavy Rain (2010)
 Fallout: New Vegas (2010)
 Homefront (2011)

Literature
 In K. A. Applegate's Remnants book series, 2011 is the year life on Earth becomes extinct after a 73-mile-wide asteroid nicknamed "The Rock" impacts Portugal. Eighty other humans are placed in a shuttle named the Mayflower mere hours before impact and put into artificial hibernation, while a handful of humans in shelters survive the impact on Earth.

References

2011


Vulcan is the god of fire in Roman mythology. His Greek equivalent is the god Hephaestus. He is the son of Jupiter and Juno, and the husband of Venus. In Roman mythology, he was one of the top 12 gods in the heavens - the 12 gods that made up the Dei Consentes, the council of Gods.

Mythology of Vulcan
Vulcan was born extremely ugly. His mother, Juno, tried to throw him off a cliff, but failed to kill her son. Instead, she put him in a volcano and told him to stay there for most of his young life. Little did she know that her young boy would grow to be a very talented blacksmith for all the gods and goddesses of Olympus.

Vulcan made thrones for the other gods to sit on in Mount Etna. Through his identification with the Hephaestus of Greek mythology, he came to be considered as the manufacturer of art, arms, iron, jewelry and armor for various gods and heroes, including the thunderbolts of Jupiter. He was the son of Jupiter and Juno, and husband of Maia and Venus. His smithy was believed to be underneath Mount Etna in Sicily.

Vulcan had a happy childhood with dolphins as his playmates and pearls as his toys. Late in his childhood, he found the remains of a fisherman's fire on the beach and became fascinated with an unextinguished coal, still red-hot and glowing.

Vulcan carefully shut this precious coal in a clam shell and took it back to his underwater grotto and made a fire with it. On the first day after, Vulcan stared at this fire for hours on end. On the second day, he discovered that when he made the fire hotter with bellows, certain stones sweated iron, silver or gold. On the third day he beat the cooled metal into shapes: bracelets, chains, swords and shields. Vulcan made pearl-handled knives and spoons for his foster mother, he made a silver chariot for himself, and bridles so that seahorses could transport him quickly. He even made slave-girls of gold to wait on him and do his bidding. From then on, Vulcan and Thetis lived like royalty.

Later, Thetis left her underwater grotto to attend a dinner party on Mount Olympus wearing a beautiful necklace of silver and sapphires, which Vulcan had made for her. Juno admired the necklace and asked as to where she could get one. Thetis became flustered causing Juno to become suspicious and, at last, the queen god discovered the truth: the baby she had once rejected had grown into a talented blacksmith.

Juno was furious and demanded that Vulcan return home, a demand that he refused. However he did send Juno a beautifully constructed chair made of silver and gold, inlaid with mother-of-pearl. Juno was delighted with this gift but, as soon as she sat in it her weight triggered hidden springs and metal bands sprung forth to hold her fast. The more she shrieked and struggled the more firmly the mechanical throne gripped her; the chair was a cleverly designed trap.

For three days Juno sat fuming, still trapped in Vulcan's chair, she could not sleep, she could not stretch, she could not eat. It was Jupiter who finally saved the day, he promised that if Vulcan released Juno he would give him a wife, Venus the goddess of love and beauty. Vulcan agreed and married Venus. He later built a smithy under Mount Etna on the island of Sicily. It was said that whenever Venus is unfaithful, Vulcan grows angry and beats the red-hot metal with such a force that sparks and smoke rise up from the top of the mountain, to create a volcanic eruption.

According to Virgil, Vulcan was the father of Caeculus.

To punish mankind for stealing the secrets of fire, Jupiter ordered the other gods to make a poisoned gift for man. Vulcan's contribution to the beautiful and foolish Pandora was to mould her from clay and to give her form. He also made the thrones for the other gods on Mount Olympus.

Worship
Vulcan's oldest shrine in Rome, called the "Volcanal", was in the Roman Forum.  It was said to have been built during the Roman Kingdom by Titus Tatius, the Sabine co-king, in the eighth century BC.  The Etruscan haruspices thought a temple of Vulcan should be outside the city, and the Volcanal may originally have been on or outside the city limits before they expanded to include the Capitoline Hill.  Vulcan also had a temple on the Campus Marius.

The Romans identified Vulcan with the Greek smith-god Hephaestus and he became associated like his Greek counterpart with the use of fire in metalworking. A fragment of a Greek pot showing Hephaestus found at the Volcanal has been dated to the 6th century BC, suggesting they were already associated.  However, Vulcan had a stronger association than Hephaestus with fire's destructiveness, and his worshippers wanted to encourage the god to avert harmful fires.

His festival, the Vulcanalia, was celebrated on August 23, when the summer heat made a fire hazard.  The people made bonfires, and threw live fish or small animals into the fires as animal sacrifice.  Vulcan was among the gods placated after the Great Fire of Rome in AD 64.  Also because of that fire, Domitian (emperor 81–96) established a new altar to Vulcan on the Quirinal Hill.  A red bull-calf and red boar were added to the sacrifices made on the Vulcanalia, at least in that part of town.

Statues
 There is a statue of Vulcan in Birmingham, Alabama, USA. It is the largest cast iron statue in the world.

Related pages
 Hephaestus - Greek mythology version of Vulcan

References

Roman gods and goddesses

Vulcan (mythology)


A dictionary is a type of book which explains the meanings of words or, more precisely, lexemes. The words are arranged in alphabetical order so that they can be found quickly. The word "dictionary" comes from the Latin "dictio" ("saying").

There are several types of dictionaries: dictionaries which explain words and how they are used, dictionaries which translate words from one language to another, dictionaries of biography which tell about famous people, technical dictionaries which explain the meanings of technical words or words connected to a particular subject (sometimes called a thesaurus). Some of these come close to being an encyclopedia, but an encyclopedia gives a lot of extra information about things (knowledge) and does not explain the use of the language. An encyclopedic dictionary gives less information about the topic than a real encyclopedia does, but more than a simple dictionary.

Dictionaries which explain the meaning of words

Online dictionaries
 TheFreeDictionary
 Longman English Dictionary Online
Dictionaries which explain what words mean will give a clear "definition" of the word (e.g. hippopotamus : a hoofed mammal with thick skin, large mouth and short legs that lives in rivers and lakes of Africa.)

A big dictionary will also give more information about the word. It will explain how it is pronounced. Usually the International Phonetic Alphabet is used for this. It will explain how the word is used. This is not a problem for a word like "hippopotamus", but a word like "put" has so many different meanings that a large dictionary may have a whole page or more to explain how it can be used. It will also explain the origin of the word (e.g. Greek "hippos" horse and "potamus" river).

A dictionary may also give the form of the word in different tenses, plural form etc.

Dictionaries which translate into foreign languages
There are also dictionaries which translate words into foreign languages. Often one volume (one book) will translate both ways; for example, half the book might be translating from English to Dutch and the other half from Dutch to English.

When using a dictionary to find out how to say something in another language one has to be careful to choose the right word. A word like "right" has two basic meanings in English: 1) "correct", and 2) the opposite of "left". Other languages  have different words for these different meanings, but they have homonyms of their own. A word like "put" has many meanings. A good dictionary will have a large list of these meanings to help people find the word they want. In many languages, for example, the word "put" will be different according to whether something is being put onto something (e.g. a table) or into something (e.g. a cupboard).

Updating dictionaries

Dictionaries need to be updated frequently because of the way language changes. New words are often brought into a language (e.g. lots of computer terms) or words change their meanings (e.g. "gay" or "cool"). In this sense, the most famous English Dictionary is the Oxford English Dictionary (or OED). Words are always being added to the OED. They are never taken out even if they are obsolete (not used any more). The OED can be accessed online (with a subscription).

Related pages
Wiktionary

Relevant literature
 Henning Bergenholtz/Sven Tarp (eds.): Manual of Specialised Lexicography. Benjamins 1995.
 Sandro Nielsen: The Bilingual LSP Dictionary. Gunter Narr 1994.

Other websites
 Centre for Lexicography
 Dictionary -Citizendium

 Oxford English Dictionary
 Oxford Learner's Dictionary
 Cambridge Learner's Dictionary (British English)
 Macmillan Dictionary
 Collins Cobuild English Dictionary
 American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language
 Merriam-Webster American English dictionary
 Merriam-Webster Learner's Dictionary
 Learn These Words First: Multi-Layer Dictionary
 SimpleVocab Multi-word Dictionary
 English to English Dictionary
 Terms Dictionary - English to Multi-Lang Dictionary

Reference works

Dictionary


An invertebrate is an animal that does not have a spinal column or backbone. This contrasts with vertebrate: if an animal is not a vertebrate (fish, reptile, amphibian, bird, or mammal), it is an invertebrate.

The main phyla (groups) of invertebrate animals are:
 Annelida: segmented worms
 Arthropods: (arachnids, crustaceans, insects, and others); the largest groups of invertebrates.
 Brachiopods: the lamp-shells.
 Bryozoa: sea mats or moss animals (sometimes they look like corals)
 Cnidarians: jellyfish, sea anemones, hydroids.
 Echinoderms: starfish, sea urchins, sea cucumbers
 Molluscs: (gastropods, cephalopods, bivalves and others); a large group of invertebrates.
 Nematoda: roundworms
 Porifera: sponges
 Platyhelminthes: flatworms
 Rotifers: tiny "wheel animals", which live in habitats such as pond water.

Insects and other arthropods have no bones, but they have a skeleton on the outside of their bodies, called an exoskeleton.

There are 18 more groups of invertebrates, mostly minor: see List of animal phyla.

Invertebrate


A stunt performer, also called a stuntman or stuntwoman, is a person who performs dangerous acts usually within the television or movie production industry. In this line of work the stuntman (or woman) is paid to do those actions that are deemed too dangerous for the regular actor to perform, these include jumping from a height, falling down, being in a car crash, or pretending to fight with weapons such as swords or knives. These stunts are usually presented as a small feature within a larger production. The stunts are done with safety equipment, but also without them.

Action movies, adventure movies, war movies, martial arts movies, thriller movies and crime movies and television series use many stunt performers to do the dangerous actions depicted in the movies or series. Some actors such as Jackie Chan are also stunt performers who perform this kind of work.

There are, however, other stunt performers that present dangerous stunts to a live audience in shows rather than as part of a larger story in movies or television series. Sometimes these are as standalone effects and sometimes as a feature within a larger stunt show. Escape artists, sword swallowers and other circus and sideshow acts are an example of this. These types of stunt performers can be found scattered throughout history with one of the most famous from the last Century being escape artist Harry Houdini.

Working as a stuntman

Stunt work is dangerous regardless of whether you work in movie, television or within a live stunt show. Stuntmen are often hurt during the stunts they perform and in some cases stuntmen have even been killed.

Stunt work is not steady work. Stuntmen who work in movie are only employed on a movie-by-movie basis, sometimes they are needed for a number of months if they are lucky to double for the lead actor but could quite easily only be needed for a single stunt that is filmed over the space of a day or two.

Within the live stunt industry work is very seasonal. A stuntman can be working long hours during the summer months, often seven days a week, but not at all during the winter period.

Stuntmen who perform for movie and television often benefit from having a large safety crew present, which is in stark contrast to those who perform within live shows who often work alone and are responsible for all aspects of the stunt they perform.

Stuntmen also have to travel to many different regions or countries to get work. For people who like to travel, this may be an advantage. However, it can also make it hard to see friends and relatives, if you are away from home.

Becoming a stuntman
To become a stuntman, some people go to a stuntman school. There are stuntman schools in California and Florida, where professional stuntmen teach people how to do stunts. Most people do not go to school to become stuntmen, though. People learn the skills from other more experienced stuntmen.

When a stuntman first begins working as a stuntman, they do not make much money. Once a stuntman has experience, they can ask for more money. In many countries, stuntmen have to join a union to work on movie or television show productions, and pay dues (payments) to the union. There are more men working as stuntmen than women.

Usually, a stuntman within movie and television does not work as a stuntman after they become 40 years old. However those who work live stunt shows continue to do so until very late in life. Kondini continues to work as a sword swallower and escape artist despite being in his 70s. Some experienced stuntmen become stunt coordinators or consultants, who plan and devise the stunts performed in TV shows and movies.

Related concepts
Another job for men or women in the television or movie production industry where people replace the actors is the job of body double. When a movie has a scene with a love scene or a nudity scene that the actor does not want to do, the movie or television director may hire a man or a woman to be a body double. The man or woman pretends to be the actor for a short period, so that the love scene or nudity scene can be filmed.

Other websites
 The Stuntmen's Association of Motion Pictures
 United Stuntmen's Association

Entertainment occupations

Stunt performer


A nation is a group of people who share the same culture, history, language or ethnicity.  The word can also be used for the population of a country.

The word nation comes from a Latin language word meaning "birth" or "place of birth." The adjective is  national.

Some nations are people with a particular belief, such as the Vatican City, or ethnic group, such as Armenia. Others share an idea, such as Democracy in the United States or Communism in China.

Some nations are controlled by a small minority who have all the power, such as Saudi Arabia, who hold the nation together with the use of this power.

Some of these may also be combined. The highest lawful authority of most nations is a constitution, which is a document which states clearly what kinds of power the rulers have and how new laws must be made.  Many others are ruled by a single person who holds an "office" (position), such as a King or Pope, or from a long legal tradition without an official Constitution, such as the United Kingdom.

Related pages
 State
 Nation state
 Country
 Nationalism
 Political economy
 Constitutional economics

Basic English 850 words

Ethnicity
Nationalism

Nation


Literacy means the ability to read and write. Being able to read and write is an important skill in modern societies. Usually, people learn how to read and write at school. People who can read and write are called literate; those who cannot are called illiterate.

According to UNESCO, illiteracy is not being able to write or read a simple sentence in any language. They estimated that, in 1998, about 16% of the world's population were illiterate.

Illiteracy is highest amongst the states of the Arabian Peninsula, and in Africa, around the Sahara. In those countries about 30% of men, and 40-50% of women are illiterate, by the UN definition. One of the causes of illiteracy is that someone who can manage to live without being able to read and write often does not have any reason to want to learn to read and write. Cultural factors also play a part, such as having a culture in which the oral tradition (communicating by speaking) is more important than writing. A tribe that mostly herds livestock, for example, may have no need to read or write.

There are two different kinds of illiteracy:

 People with primary illiteracy have never learned how to read or write.
 People who have learned some reading and writing, but not well enough for their work are called functionally illiterate. Perhaps they cannot write well enough to fill out a form, or to understand instructions in a manual. In most industrial countries, the main problem is functional illiteracy.

In English the word literacy has traditionally meant to be well educated. It also meant to be familiar with literature (to know about books). In the late 19th century the word came to include the ability to read and write. It still kept its larger meaning. In modern usage, literacy also means being able to read print, visual, and sound texts. To continue learning students must be literate in more than just reading and writing text.

Related pages
 Writing
 Reading
 Literacy test
 Aliteracy
 Functional illiteracy
 Right to education

References

Education

Literacy


In finance, Investment or investing means that an asset is bought, or that money is put into a bank to get a future interest from it. Investment is total amount of money spent by a shareholder in buying shares of a company. In economic management sciences, investments means longer-term savings.

It is a term used in business management, finance and economics, related to saving or deferring consumption. Literally, the word means the "action of putting something in to somewhere else" (perhaps originally related to a person's garment or 'vestment').

Types of investment
There are two major uses of the term investment between the economics field and the finance field. Economists refer to a real investment (such as a machine or a house), while financial economists refer to a financial asset, such as money that is put into a bank or the market which may then be used to buy a real asset. Advisors, who tell people how to manage their investments, might say that even when an investment is losing money because of bad times, not to give up and withdraw it.  Instead, wait for the situation to improve. This is a risk for each person to decide.

Business management
The investment decision (also known as capital budgeting) is one of the fundamental decisions of business management.

Related pages
Gold coin
Fixed assets investment
Social Investment
Speculation

Other websites

Financial Times
Wall Street Journal
NASDAQ
Good books on investing and value investing

Business
Finance

Investment


Meteorology is the science that focuses on the Earth's atmosphere. People who study meteorology are called meteorologists. Meteorologists record air pressure, wind speed and direction, temperature, humidity, weather patterns, and other information. Meteorologists use this data to understand weather and to predict it. Meteorology is a major branch of earth science. Meteorologists study the causes of particular weather conditions using information obtained from the land, sea and upper atmosphere.

They use computerized and mathematical models to make short and long-range forecasts concerning weather and climate patterns. A variety of organizations use meteorological forecasts including:
transport services, particularly air and sea travel
shipping and sea fishing industries and sailing organisations
government services, e.g. firefighters or for advice on climate change policy
armed forces
farmers;
public services
mass media
industry and retail businesses
insurance companies
health services

In addition to forecasting, meteorologists study the impact of weather on the environment and conduct research into weather patterns, climate change and models of weather prediction.

Related pages
World Meteorological Organization

References

Meteorology


Singin  is the act o producin muisical soonds wi the voice, an augments regular speakin bi the uise o baith tonality an rhythm. A bodie that sings is cried a sangster or vocalist. Sangsters perform muisic (arias, recitatives, sangs, etc.) that can be sung aither wi or athoot accompaniment bi muisical graiths. Singin is aften duin in a group o ither muisickers, like in a choir o sangsters wi different voice ranges, or in an ensemble wi instrumentalists, like a rock group or baroque ensemble.

In many respects, human sang is a form o sustained speakin; naur onybody that can tae speak can sing an aw. Singin can be formal or informal, arrangit or improvisit. It mey be duin for pleasur, comfort, ritual, education, or profit. Excellence in singin mey require time, dedication, instruction, an regular practice. If practice is duin on a regular basis, then the soonds is said tae be clearer an stranger. Profeesional sangsters uisually bigg their careers aroond ane specific muisical genre, like clessical or rock. They teepically tak voice trainin providit bi voice teachers or vocal coaches throu their careers.

References

Freemit airtins

Thrift in muisic

Singin


The Peloponnese is a large peninsula in Greece. It is the part of Greece which is south of the Isthmus of Corinth.

The Peloponnese has many mountains and a long jagged coastline. The highest part is Mount Taygetus in the south.

There are four south-pointing peninsulas within the Peloponnese. They are called Messenia, the Mani Peninsula, Epidaurus, and the Argolid.

There are also two groups of islands near the Peloponnese. In the east there are the Argo-Saronic Islands and in the west there are the Ionian Islands. There is also the island of Kythira, which is near to the Epidaurus peninsula. Kythira is often thought of as part of the Ionian Islands.

The Peloponnese has had people living on it since prehistoric times. Its name means Island of Pelops. Pelops was a person from Greek mythology, who took over the island. During the Middle Ages and the Ottoman Empire, the peninsula was known as the Morea.

Peninsulas of Europe
Peripheries of Greece

Peloponnese


Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone  (published in the US under the title  Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone) is the first book in the Harry Potter series, written by J.K. Rowling. It was published in 1997 and a movie version was shown in theaters in 2001.

Plot Summarization

This is the first book in a series of seven about the wizard Harry Potter, and therefore the author begins by setting the scene and introducing the reader to some of the characters.

At the start, Rowling describes how in an ordinary suburb, somewhere in an English town, people are suddenly surprised to see witches and wizards in odd clothing riding on public buses and appearing at places where people would not expect to suddenly meet a wizard. It is clear that something unusual has happened in the world of witches and wizards, and those people, who are normally quite secret, are out and about, enjoying themselves.

In this way, Rowling introduces the two worlds of her story, the world of ordinary people, called "Muggles", and the secret world of the magic folk who usually keep to themselves. Rowling then introduces the main character, Harry Potter, a little baby boy who is left on the doorstep of his aunt and uncle by an old wizard with a long white beard.

When the reader next meets Harry, he has grown to be a boy of eleven, living unhappily with his spiteful aunt, cruel uncle and bullying cousin Dudley. He is rescued from his misery by a huge bearded man upon his eleventh birthday. Harry Potter is a wizard without knowing it, and the giant man, Rubeus Hagrid, has come to help him buy his books and get ready to go to school. The school sounds most exciting. It is "Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry".

On the long train journey north, Harry Potter meets the two people who are to become his best friends, Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger. Ron and Hermione have very different characters. Hermione, who comes from "Muggle" (nonwizard) parents, is very intelligent and talented. She is such a teacher's pet and is so bossy that the boys do not like her at first. Ron, on the other hand, comes from an old family of wizards. He is number six in a family of seven children. He wears hand-me-down clothes and even his pet rat used to belong to his brother, Percy. Ron knows all about Harry Potter.

The reason that Ron, and all the other people in the wizarding world, know all about Harry Potter is that Harry is famous, without even knowing it himself. The reason why he was left on the doorstep of his aunt and uncle was that both his parents were dead. They were murdered by an evil wizard who calls himself "Lord Voldemort". He was so evil that people are even afraid to say his name. Harry is famous because he survived the magical attack of the "He Who Must Not Be Named", and since that day, Voldemort has gone into hiding.

J. K. Rowling then gives the reader a picture of the school that is to be Harry's home through seven books of the series, each one of which deals with a year in his life. The book describes the teachers, the lessons, the customs and the school sport so that it seems to be part of a real world. Even though the students learn magic and use magic, the book also describes Harry's growing up in a new and strange situation, just as any student must learn to fit in when they go to a new school among different people.

Harry soon discovers that while some magicians, such as the school principal, headmaster, and professor Albus Dumbledore, and Deputy Headmistress Minerva McGonagal can be kind and encouraging, others, like the sinister Professor Snape with his greasy black hair and nasty comments, are very hard to trust. One of the subjects that Harry really needs to learn is "Defense Against the Dark Arts" but unfortunately, the teacher, Professor Quirrell, is such a bumbling and nervous man that he does not seem to be able to teach Harry very much at all.

As the year goes by, Harry discovers that Hogwarts has, hidden away for safety, a very precious treasure. If it were to fall into the hands of Lord Voldemort, it would be very dangerous indeed. Harry also discovers that in solving problems and overcoming difficulties, having friends with very different talents can be extremely useful.

In the book
 The Harry Potter books are fictional {they are not related to real topics of life}. Joanne Rowling has created a fantasy world which exists as an unknown part of the world in which ordinary people live. The people who form the magical community are very ordinary in most ways. They are ordinary, except that they have an extra talent. They can do magic, and they go to a special school to learn how to do it properly, in the same way as a person who is talented at music might study at a special school. Students of magic have to learn to do their spells in a careful, safe and lawful way, because magic can be dangerous if it is not under control. In fact, a student needs a license to do some things.
 Magic people and Muggles are really very similar. Even though the Muggles do not know about the Magic people, and the Magic people do not really understand how Muggles manage to live without magic, the way they live their lives is very similar. They do exactly the same sorts of things. They go to school, study, play sport, make friends, fall in love, get married, go to work every day, have children, shop, cook, read, go to the pub, have pets, get old and die. And like all the people in the Muggle world, they love and hate, they feel fear, jealousy, loneliness, prejudice and distrust. Even though Harry Potter is a talented magician, he has all these ordinary feelings to deal with. Harry's feelings, and how they change, is an important part of all the stories.
 Two of the most important ideas in this book are "Love" and "Self-sacrifice". It is important to the story that Harry grows up without any love in his life. His Aunt, Uncle and Cousin do not want him at their house, but would not send him away because they care about what their neighbors might think. Harry has never had any friends at school, because of Cousin Dudley. He does not know what it is like to have a friend, until he goes to Hogwarts and meets Ron and Hermione. Even though he is not used to trusting people, he very quickly learns to trust his friends.
 There are also three loving adults in his life, Professor Dumbledore who is wise and caring, who is not afraid of Voldemort, and who gives Harry good advice. Harry should completely trust the Professor, but his usual way of dealing with adults is to tell them lies or hide things from them. This is a very silly way to treat Professor Dumbledore, but it is what Harry does. The second loving person is Professor McGonagall. She is a crisp, stern teacher, but she is always fair and can be trusted. She is quick to see peoples' special talents, and she gives good encouragement. The third loving person is Hagrid, who is the giant gamekeeper and lives in his own little cottage near the castle. Hagrid has a special love for Harry because he had rescued him when he was a baby. This gives him a strong fatherly feeling. He helps Harry to settlein, and is always there to listen to him and encourage Harry and his friends. Gradually Harry gets to understand the right way to treat people who are your friends.
 "Self-sacrifice" is about being able to give something up, perhaps even one's own life, to help another person. Sacrifice has to do with loving. At the very beginning of the book, Harry's Mother, Lily Potter, has made a big sacrifice to save Harry. She has been killed, and Harry is still alive. The idea of "Self-sacrifice" goes right through the book, which shows that a person does not always have to seem very brave or be very strong in order to make a sacrifice for the sake of other people. If the reader keeps this in mind, then they will see that all the most important things that happen in the book, happen because someone is brave enough to face death to save other people.

Movie: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
The movie was made by Warner Brothers. It was based closely on the book. In the United States, it was called Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Harry Potter was played by Daniel Radcliffe. Rupert Grint played Ron Weasley, and Emma Watson played Hermione Granger.

1997 books
Harry Potter books


Jerez de la Frontera is a city in the province of Cádiz, in the region of Andalusia in Spain. It is famous as the home of the wine called sherry, whose name comes from the city's old Arabic name, pronounced Sherish.

Jerez de la Frontera, once called Xeres, has a rich history from the days of the Moorish Arab occupation of the Iberian Peninsula. Part of its name, de la Frontera, means "of the frontier" because it was on the border between Islamic and Christian populations.

The city is well known for breeding and training the world-famous Andalusian horses. Flamenco dance is a popular cultural feature of the city.

Other websites
Tourist information

Jerez de la Frontera


Blood type or blood group is a classification of blood based on the presence or absence of inherited antigenic substances on the surface of red blood cells (RBCs).

Blood types predict whether a serious reaction will occur in a blood transfusion. This reaction is called a "haemolytic reaction". It may destroy red blood cells, and cause renal failure. Shock is likely to occur, and death is a possibility.

When a blood transfusion or an organ transplant takes place, it is vital to know the blood types of the donor (who gives blood) and the receiver (who needs blood).

There are a number of human blood group systems. Of these systems, the ABO blood group system and the Rhesus blood group system are the most important. In this system the presence or absence of the A-antigen, the B-antigen and the RhD-antigen are determined.

ABO system

The principle
The principle of the ABO system is that antigens – in this instance, sugars exposed on the surface of red blood cells – differ between individuals. This was first discovered by Karl Landsteiner. People have immunological tolerance only for what occurs in their own bodies. As a result, humans may produce antibodies against natural components in the bodies of other people, but not themselves. So, people may produce antibodies against A and/or B antigens if they are not in their blood.

These antibodies clump red blood cells together if they carry the foreign antigens. This response can cause death when large amounts of such cells are encountered after a blood transfusion. Because A and B antigens are chemically modified from a precursor form that is also present in type O individuals, people with type A and B antigens can accept blood from type O individuals.

Anti-A and anti-B antibodies are not present in the newborn. They appear in the first years of life. Anti-A and anti-B antibodies are usually too big to pass through the placenta to the foetal blood circulation.

The test

In a laboratory, blood is tested for antigens. When a certain antigen is found, antibodies are also always found. Antibodies attack (attach to) antigens that they do not recognise.

Group A (with the A-antigen)		has anti-B antibodies
Group B (with the B-antigen)		has anti-A antibodies
Group AB (with both A and B-antigens)	has no antibodies
Group O (with no antigens)		has anti-A and anti-B antibodies

The blood is thus tagged as being A positive, O negative for instance, where the letter refers to the ABO blood group and "positive" or "negative" refers to whether or not the RhD-antigen of the Rhesus blood group system was found.  It can also be written A+  and O-, respectively.

Compatibility

Group O have no antigens, but have anti-A and anti-B antibodies. This means that they can only receive blood from other people in group O, but they can give to any ABO group.
Group A have anti-B antibodies, so they can only receive blood from people within group A or O. These two groups do not have the B-antigen. They can donate blood to people from group A or AB.
Group B have anti-A antibodies, so they can only receive blood from people within group B or O. They can donate to groups B or AB.
Blood group AB have no antibodies, so they can receive blood from any blood group. However, they can only donate blood to other people with blood group AB.

People with type O negative blood are often called universal donors because they can give blood to any other blood group. People with type AB positive blood are called universal recipients because they can receive blood from any other blood group.

Rhesus factor
The Rh factor (Rh meaning Rhesus) is a feature of the second most common blood-group system in human-blood transfusion. it is named after the Rhesus monkey where they were first discovered. Rh is an inherited trait, which refers to a protein on the surface of an individual's red blood cells.

The Rh factor is separate from, and in addition to, ABO groups. The Rh factor is either present on individual's red blood cells or it is not. Rh positive means the factor is present. Rh negative means it is not present. In blood transfusions it is important that the blood donor and recipient have the same Rh factor and same blood group.

Before a transfusion takes place blood is thoroughly tested for anything that might cause problems for the receiver.

References

Blood

Blood type


A civil servant or public servant is an employee who works in the civilian career public sector for a government department or agency. Many consider the study of civil service to be a part of the field of public administration. Who is a civil servant and who is not is different in different countries.

Workers in non-departmental public bodies, (called Quangos in some countries) may also be called civil servants in context with statistics. All people that may be called civil servants together form a nation's Civil Service or Public Service.

References
 Bodde, D.  Chinese Ideas in the West
 Brownlow, Louis, Charles E. Merriam, and Luther Gulick, Report of the President's Committee on Administrative Management. (1937) U.S. Government Printing Office.
 P. N. Mathur. The Civil Service of India, 1731-1894: a study of the history, evolution and demand for reform (1977)
 Kevin Theakston. The Civil Service Since 1945 (Institute of Contemporary British History, 1995)
 Ari Hoogenboom. Outlawing the Spoils: A History of the Civil Service Reform Movement, 1865-1883. (1961)
 Schiesl, Martin. The Politics of Efficiency: Municipal Administration and Reform in America, 1880-1920. (1977)
 Van Riper, Paul. History of the United States Civil Service (1958).
 White, Leonard D., Introduction to the Study of Public Administration. (1955)
 Leonard D. White, Charles H. Bland, Walter R. Sharp, and Fritz Morstein Marx; Civil Service Abroad, Great Britain, Canada, France, Germany (1935) online

Employment
Government-related organizations

Civil service


Civil engineering is the term for the work of designing and building infrastructure. It usually means large structures, like bridges, dams, buildings, roads and tunnels.  It also covers complicated networks such as water, irrigation and sewerage networks, and the construction of houses and homes.  Civil engineers can be involved in all stages in the life of infrastructure, from planning and construction to maintenance and demolition.  Civil engineering often overlaps with architecture.

Civil engineering has many different areas or disciplines.  Some important areas are geotechnical, structures, environmental, construction management, hydrology, transportation, and materials. It is important for civil engineers to have an understanding of all these disciplines as projects often involve many of them at the same time.

Civil engineers are responsible for lots of the things that are required for a society to function properly. Safe water supplies, sewage treatment, roads, railways and buildings are all part of civil engineering.

To work in civil engineering requires training. Construction workers will train at a center and 'on the job' (training while doing the job), sometimes with apprenticeship.

To be a professional in civil engineering requires studying at a university or college. Civil engineers often study subjects like structures, materials, physics and calculus.

The profession of civil engineering is represented by professional bodies in various countries. In the UK the Institution of Civil Engineers promotes civil engineering as a discipline and supports engineers throughout their careers. The American Society of Civil Engineers performs a similar task in the USA.

Professional engineers often choose to become Chartered Engineers. Chartership shows employers and clients that they are both qualified and experienced in their jobs. Civil engineers usually have to write a big essay and take an interview with a panel of experienced engineers to gain chartership.

Related pages
 Geotechnical engineering
 Military engineering
 National Academy of Engineering
 Structural engineering

Other websites
 List of Civil Engineering Words

References

construction
Civil engineering

Civil engineering


Giacomo Puccini (23 December 1858 - 29 November 1924) was the most famous Italian opera composer after Verdi. He wrote 16 operas. Most of them are performed very often today. Many of his operatic songs are known by many people, especially the aria Nessun dorma from Turandot which was sung by Luciano Pavarotti for the BBC's television coverage of the Football World Cup which was held in Italy in 1990.

Early life
Puccini was born in Lucca, Tuscany into a musical family. He was expected to follow the family tradition and become a church organist. He started playing the organ in churches near Lucca. He liked to improvise on the organ, playing popular tunes from Verdi's operas. He soon realized that he wanted to be an opera composer. Eventually he persuaded his family to let him study at the Milan Conservatory. His earliest compositions showed that he had a great talent for writing beautiful melodies and that he was good at writing for the orchestra. His first opera to be published, Edgar, had a story similar to that of Bizet's Carmen, but it was not a suitable story for Puccini.

Works
Manon Lescaut was the first opera for which Puccini chose the story himself. It is the same story as Massenet's opera Manon. This made Puccini internationally famous. His next opera, La bohème, produced in 1896, is often thought to be his best opera. He worked with two poets on this opera and, although they quarrelled a lot, the result was a work in which the music flowed beautifully like a conversation.

His next opera was Tosca. When it was first performed in Rome in 1900 there were rumours that a bomb would be thrown, but nothing happened. Tosca was a great success. However, Madama Butterfly was hissed and booed at its first performance in Milan's famous opera house La Scala in 1904.

It was at this time that Puccini married. He already had a son by Elvira, his wife, who had been married to someone else. When her husband died, she was able to marry Puccini. The marriage was not without difficulties. Elvira accused Puccini of having an affair with their servant girl. This servant girl committed suicide and there was a court case which resulted (after an autopsy) in Elvira being found innocent. Puccini was very upset by all this and did not compose much for several years.

When he finally started writing again his new opera La fanciulla del West was set in the American West at the time of the Goldrush. The music has very Impressionistic harmonies like that of Debussy. The way he writes for the orchestra shows the influence of Richard Strauss. The opera was first performed in New York. The world-famous tenor Enrico Caruso sang the main hero part and Arturo Toscanini was the conductor. With such a star cast it had to be a great success.

Puccini followed this by writing an operetta and two one-act operas. The best of these is Gianni Schicchi His last opera is Turandot, which has a fairy-tale like story. While he was working very hard at it he developed throat cancer. He died of complication of the disease in autumn 1924 in Brussels. The whole of Italy went into mourning and Mussolini spoke at the funeral. Puccini had not quite managed to finish Turandot. A man called Franco Alfano finished it using the sketches that Puccini had left.

1858 births
1924 deaths
20th-century Italian composers
Cancer deaths in Belgium
Deaths from throat cancer
People from Lucca
Romantic composers

Giacomo Puccini


Science (frae the Laitin scio, meanin "tae ken") is a wey tae find oot things. Whiles the wird "science" is uised for tae refer tae the knawledge that is fund uisin the methods o science.

Fowk that daes science is cried scientists. Scientists study things bi leukin at them awfu tentily, bi meisurin them, an bi daein experiments an tests. Scientists tries tae expleen why things acts the wey thay dae, an is the wey thay are.

Scientific method
The "scientific method" is the name gien tae the methods uised in science for tae lairn things. The scientific method can be awfu uisefu.

The main featurs o the scientific method is:
 The scientific method is a "trial an error" prattick.
 The scientific method lippens on data.
 The product o the scientific process is something cried a "theory".

Maist fowk accepts the scientific method as the maist reliable wey for tae ken aboot naitur, the universe, an the human bouk.

Ither featurs o science
Aw theories is anerly acceptit sae lang as thay are the best explanation for the data that exeests. Whan theories disnae expleen the data ony mair, thay are discardit an replaced.

Scientists compete wi ilk ither. Scientists checka ilk ither's wark. Scientists tries tae mak better explanations for the data.

Scientists publishes thair wark in peer-reviewed jurnals.

Science is a wey for tae learn aboot things bi discardin whit isna true.

Scientists maun be gey canny tae mak explanations that fits weel wi whit thay observe an meisur. Thay compete tae fend better explanations. An explanation micht be interestin or pleasin, but if it daesn gree wi whit ither scientists really sees an meisurs, thay will try tae find a better explanation.

Ither scientists checks thair ideas for tae see if the real observations, meisurments, an tests shaws if thay are richt or wrang. Peer review an repeatin experiments is the ae wey tae be shuir the knawledge is richt.

Science maks models o naitur, models o oor universe, an medicine. Thare's mony sindry sciences wi thair ain names. Houaniver it isna richt tae say "science says" ony ae thing. Science is a process, no juist the facts an rules believed at ae time.

Some types o science

Biological sciences
 Biology
 Pheesiology
 Ecology
 Botany

Pheesical sciences
 Astronomy
 Chemistry
 Naitural philosophy
 Yird science
 Oceanography
 Wather
 Geology

Social sciences
 Psychology
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Majority means the greater number of something.  The opposite is minority.

If more than half the people are right-handed we can say that the majority of people are right-handed.
A minority of people are left-handed.
In fact, nearly everyone is right-handed, so we can say that the "vast majority" are right-handed, and only a "small minority" are left-handed.

If a political party or candidate gets a majority of votes, it means that they get more than all the other parties together. In Plurality voting, they only get more than any one of the others. Thus if there are three parties, the winning party may have a plurality of 40% while the other two each have 30%. A "true majority" or "absolute majority" means more votes than all the other parties together, i.e. more than half the total votes.

Related pages
Majority rule
Minority group
Ethnic group

Numbers
Demography

Majority