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Mumia Abu-Jamal | Marriages and family | Cook adopted the surname Abu-Jamal ("father of Jamal" in Arabic) after the birth of his first child, son Jamal, on July 18, 1971. He married Jamal's mother Biba in 1973, but they did not stay together long. Their daughter, Lateefa, was born shortly after the wedding. The couple divorced. In 1977 Abu-Jamal married again, to his second wife, Marilyn (known as "Peachie"). Their son, Mazi, was born in early 1978. By 1981, Abu-Jamal had divorced Peachie and had married his third (and current) wife, Wadiya. | wiki:25700101 |
Mumia Abu-Jamal | Radio journalism career | By 1975 Abu-Jamal was working in radio newscasting, first at Temple University's WRTI and then at commercial enterprises. In 1975, he was employed at radio station WHAT, and he became host of a weekly feature program at WCAU-FM in 1978. He also worked for brief periods at radio station WPEN. He became active in the local chapter of the Marijuana Users Association of America. From 1979 to 1981 he worked at National Public Radio (NPR) affiliate WHYY. The management asked him to resign, saying that he did not maintain a sufficiently objective approach in his presentation of news. As a radio journalist, Abu-Jamal was renowned for identifying with and covering the MOVE anarcho-primitivist commune in West Philadelphia's Powelton Village neighborhood. | wiki:25700102 |
Mumia Abu-Jamal | Radio journalism career | He reported on the 1979–80 trial of certain members (the "MOVE Nine"), who were convicted of the murder of police officer James Ramp. Abu-Jamal had several high-profile interviews, including with Julius Erving, Bob Marley and Alex Haley. He was elected president of the Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists. Before joining MOVE, Abu-Jamal reported on the organization. When he joined MOVE, he said it was because of his love of the people in the organization. Thinking back on it later, he said he "was probably enraged as well". | wiki:25700103 |
Mumia Abu-Jamal | Traffic stop and death of officer Faulkner | At 3:55 am on December 9, 1981, in Philadelphia, close to the intersection at 13th and Locust streets, Philadelphia Police Department officer Daniel Faulkner conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle belonging to and driven by William Cook, Abu-Jamal's younger brother. Faulkner and Cook became engaged in a physical confrontation. Driving his cab in the vicinity, Abu-Jamal observed the altercation, parked, and ran across the street toward Cook's car. Faulkner was shot in the back and face. He shot Abu-Jamal in the stomach. Faulkner died at the scene from the gunshot to his head. | wiki:25700104 |
Mumia Abu-Jamal | Arrest and trial | Police arrived and arrested Abu-Jamal, who was found to be wearing a shoulder holster. His revolver, which had five spent cartridges, was beside him. He was taken directly from the scene of the shooting to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, where he received treatment for his wound. He was next taken to Police Headquarters, where he was charged and held for trial in the first-degree murder of Officer Faulkner. | wiki:25700105 |
Mumia Abu-Jamal | Prosecution case at trial | The prosecution presented four witnesses to the court about the shootings. Robert Chobert, a cab driver who testified he was parked behind Faulkner, identified Abu-Jamal as the shooter. Cynthia White testified that Abu-Jamal emerged from a nearby parking lot and shot Faulkner. Michael Scanlan, a motorist, testified that from two car lengths away he saw a man matching Abu-Jamal's description run across the street from a parking lot and shoot Faulkner. Albert Magilton testified to seeing Faulkner pull over Cook's car. As Abu-Jamal started to cross the street toward them, Magilton turned away and did not see what happened next. | wiki:25700106 |
Mumia Abu-Jamal | Prosecution case at trial | The prosecution presented two witnesses from the hospital where Abu-Jamal was treated. Hospital security guard Priscilla Durham and police officer Garry Bell testified that Abu-Jamal said in the hospital, "I shot the motherfucker, and I hope the motherfucker dies." A .38 caliber Charter Arms revolver, belonging to Abu-Jamal, with five spent cartridges, was retrieved beside him at the scene. He was wearing a shoulder holster. Anthony Paul, the Supervisor of the Philadelphia Police Department's firearms identification unit, testified at trial that the cartridge cases and rifling characteristics of the weapon were consistent with bullet fragments taken from Faulkner's body. Tests to confirm that Abu-Jamal had handled and fired the weapon were not performed. | wiki:25700107 |
Mumia Abu-Jamal | Prosecution case at trial | Contact with arresting police and other surfaces at the scene could have compromised the forensic value of such tests. | wiki:25700108 |
Mumia Abu-Jamal | Defense case at trial | The defense maintained that Abu-Jamal was innocent, and that the prosecution witnesses were unreliable. The defense presented nine character witnesses, including poet Sonia Sanchez, who testified that Abu-Jamal was "viewed by the black community as a creative, articulate, peaceful, genial man". Another defense witness, Dessie Hightower, testified that he saw a man running along the street shortly after the shooting, although he did not see the shooting itself. His testimony contributed to the development of a "running man theory", based on the possibility that a "running man" may have been the shooter. Veronica Jones also testified for the defense, but she did not testify to having seen another man. | wiki:25700109 |
Mumia Abu-Jamal | Defense case at trial | Other potential defense witnesses refused to appear in court. Abu-Jamal did not testify in his own defense, nor did his brother, William Cook. Cook had repeatedly told investigators at the crime scene: "I ain't got nothing to do with this!". | wiki:25700110 |
Mumia Abu-Jamal | Verdict and sentence | After three hours of deliberations, the jury presented a unanimous guilty verdict. In the sentencing phase of the trial, Abu-Jamal read to the jury from a prepared statement. He was cross-examined about issues relevant to the assessment of his character by Joseph McGill, the prosecuting attorney. In his statement, Abu-Jamal criticized his attorney as a "legal trained lawyer", who was imposed on him against his will and who "knew he was inadequate to the task and chose to follow the directions of this black-robed conspirator [referring to the judge], Albert Sabo, even if it meant ignoring my directions." He claimed that his rights had been "deceitfully stolen" from him by [Judge] Sabo, particularly focusing on the denial of his request to receive defense assistance from John Africa, who was not an attorney, and being prevented from proceeding "pro se". | wiki:25700111 |
Mumia Abu-Jamal | Verdict and sentence | He quoted remarks of John Africa, and said: Abu-Jamal was sentenced to death by the unanimous decision of the jury. Amnesty International has objected to the introduction by the prosecution at the time of his sentencing of statements from when he was an activist as a youth. It also protested the politicization of the trial, noting that there was documented recent history in Philadelphia of police abuse and corruption, including fabricated evidence and use of excessive force. Amnesty International concluded "that the proceedings used to convict and sentence Mumia Abu-Jamal to death were in violation of minimum international standards that govern fair trial procedures and the use of the death penalty". | wiki:25700112 |
Mumia Abu-Jamal | State appeals | The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania on March 6, 1989, heard and rejected a direct appeal of his conviction. It subsequently denied rehearing. The Supreme Court of the United States denied his petition for writ of "certiorari" on October 1, 1990, and denied his petition for rehearing twice up to June 10, 1991. On June 1, 1995, Abu-Jamal's death warrant was signed by Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge. Its execution was suspended while Abu-Jamal pursued state post-conviction review. At the post-conviction review hearings, new witnesses were called. William "Dales" Singletary testified that he saw the shooting, and that the gunman was the passenger in Cook's car. | wiki:25700113 |
Mumia Abu-Jamal | State appeals | Singletary's account contained discrepancies which rendered it "not credible" in the opinion of the court. The six judges of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania ruled unanimously that all issues raised by Abu-Jamal, including the claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, were without merit. The Supreme Court of the United States denied a petition for "certiorari" against that decision on October 4, 1999, enabling Ridge to sign a second death warrant on October 13, 1999. Its execution was stayed as Abu-Jamal began to seek federal "habeas corpus" review. | wiki:25700114 |
Mumia Abu-Jamal | Federal District Court 2001 ruling | The Free Mumia Coalition published statements by William Cook and his brother Abu-Jamal in the spring of 2001. Cook, who had been stopped by the police officer, had not made any statement before April 29, 2001, and did not testify at his brother's trial. In 2001 he said that he had not seen who had shot Faulkner. Abu-Jamal did not make any public statements about Faulkner's murder until May 4, 2001. In his version of events, he claimed that he was sitting in his cab across the street when he heard shouting, saw a police vehicle, and heard the sound of gunshots. | wiki:25700115 |
Mumia Abu-Jamal | Federal District Court 2001 ruling | Upon seeing his brother appearing disoriented across the street, Abu-Jamal ran to him from the parking lot and was shot by a police officer. In 2001 Judge William H. Yohn, Jr. of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania upheld the conviction, saying that Abu-Jamal did not have the right to a new trial. But he vacated the sentence of death on December 18, 2001, citing irregularities in the penalty phase of the trial and the original process of sentencing. Particularly, he said that Eliot Grossman and Marlene Kamish, attorneys for Abu-Jamal, criticized the ruling on the grounds that it denied the possibility of a "trial de novo," at which they could introduce evidence that their client had been framed. | wiki:25700116 |
Mumia Abu-Jamal | Federal District Court 2001 ruling | Prosecutors also criticized the ruling. Officer Faulkner's widow Maureen said the judgment would allow Abu-Jamal, whom she described as a "remorseless, hate-filled killer", to "be permitted to enjoy the pleasures that come from simply being alive". Both parties appealed. | wiki:25700117 |
Mumia Abu-Jamal | Federal appeal and review | On December 6, 2005, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals admitted four issues for appeal of the ruling of the District Court: The Third Circuit Court heard oral arguments in the appeals on May 17, 2007, at the United States Courthouse in Philadelphia. The appeal panel consisted of Chief Judge Anthony Joseph Scirica, Judge Thomas Ambro, and Judge Robert Cowen. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania sought to reinstate the sentence of death, on the basis that Yohn's ruling was flawed, as he should have deferred to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court which had already ruled on the issue of sentencing. The prosecution said that the "Batson" claim was invalid because Abu-Jamal made no complaints during the original jury selection. | wiki:25700118 |
Mumia Abu-Jamal | Federal appeal and review | The resulting jury was racially mixed, with 2 blacks and 10 whites at the time of the unanimous conviction, but defense counsel told the Third Circuit Court that Abu-Jamal did not get a fair trial because the jury was racially biased, misinformed, and the judge was a racist. He noted that the prosecution used eleven out of fourteen peremptory challenges to eliminate prospective black jurors. Terri Maurer-Carter, a former Philadelphia court stenographer, stated in a 2001 affidavit that she overheard Judge Sabo say "Yeah, and I'm going to help them fry the nigger" in the course of a conversation with three people present regarding Abu-Jamal's case. | wiki:25700119 |
Mumia Abu-Jamal | Federal appeal and review | Sabo denied having made any such comment. | wiki:25700120 |
Mumia Abu-Jamal | Death penalty dropped | On December 7, 2011, District Attorney of Philadelphia R. Seth Williams announced that prosecutors, with the support of the victim's family, would no longer seek the death penalty for Abu-Jamal and would accept a sentence of life imprisonment without parole. This sentence was reaffirmed by the Superior Court of Pennsylvania on July 9, 2013. After the press conference on the sentence, widow Maureen Faulkner said that she did not want to relive the trauma of another trial. She understood that it would be extremely difficult to present the case against Abu-Jamal again, after the passage of 30 years and the deaths of several key witnesses. | wiki:25700121 |
Mumia Abu-Jamal | Death penalty dropped | She also reiterated her belief that Abu-Jamal will be punished further after death. | wiki:25700122 |
Mumia Abu-Jamal | Life as a prisoner | In 1991 Abu-Jamal published an essay in the "Yale Law Journal", on the death penalty and his death row experience. In May 1994, Abu-Jamal was engaged by National Public Radio's "All Things Considered" program to deliver a series of monthly three-minute commentaries on crime and punishment. The broadcast plans and commercial arrangement were canceled following condemnations from, among others, the Fraternal Order of Police and U.S. Senator Bob Dole (Kansas Republican Party). Abu-Jamal sued NPR for not airing his work, but a federal judge dismissed the suit. His commentaries later were published in May 1995 as part of his first book, "Live from Death Row." In 1996, he completed a B.A. | wiki:25700123 |
Mumia Abu-Jamal | Life as a prisoner | degree via correspondence classes at Goddard College, which he had attended for a time as a young man. He has been invited as commencement speaker by a number of colleges, and has participated via recordings. In 1999, Abu-Jamal was invited to record a keynote address for the graduating class at Evergreen State College in Washington State. The event was protested by some. In 2000, he recorded a commencement address for Antioch College. The now defunct New College of California School of Law presented him with an honorary degree "for his struggle to resist the death penalty." On October 5, 2014, he gave the commencement speech at Goddard College, via playback of a recording. | wiki:25700124 |
Mumia Abu-Jamal | Life as a prisoner | As before, the choice of Abu-Jamal was controversial. Ten days later the Pennsylvania legislature had passed an addition to the Crime Victims Act called "Revictimization Relief." The new provision is intended to prevent actions that cause "a temporary or permanent state of mental anguish" to those who have previously been victimized by crime. It was signed by Republican governor Tom Corbett five days later. Commentators suggest that the bill was directed to control Abu-Jamal's journalism, book publication, and public speaking, and that it would be challenged on the grounds of free speech. | wiki:25700125 |
Mumia Abu-Jamal | Popular support and opposition | Labor unions, politicians, advocates, educators, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and human rights advocacy organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have expressed concern about the impartiality of the trial of Abu-Jamal. Amnesty International neither takes a position on the guilt or innocence of Abu-Jamal nor classifies him as a political prisoner. The family of Daniel Faulkner, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the City of Philadelphia, politicians, and the Fraternal Order of Police have continued to support the original trial and sentencing of the journalist. In August 1999, the Fraternal Order of Police called for an economic boycott against all individuals and organizations that support Abu-Jamal. | wiki:25700126 |
Mumia Abu-Jamal | Popular support and opposition | Partly based on his own writing, Abu-Jamal and his cause have become widely known internationally, and other groups have classified him as a political prisoner. About 25 cities, including Montreal, Palermo, and Paris, have made him an honorary citizen. | wiki:25700127 |
Mumia Abu-Jamal | External links | Video Supporter websites Opponent websites | wiki:25700128 |
Multiplicative function | Introduction | In number theory, a multiplicative function is an arithmetic function "f"("n") of a positive integer "n" with the property that "f"(1) = 1 and whenever "a" and "b" are coprime, then An arithmetic function "f"("n") is said to be completely multiplicative (or totally multiplicative) if "f"(1) = 1 and "f"("ab") = "f"("a")"f"("b") holds "for all" positive integers "a" and "b", even when they are not coprime. | wiki:25700129 |
Multiplicative function | Examples | Some multiplicative functions are defined to make formulas easier to write: Other examples of multiplicative functions include many functions of importance in number theory, such as: An example of a non-multiplicative function is the arithmetic function "r"("n") - the number of representations of "n" as a sum of squares of two integers, positive, negative, or zero, where in counting the number of ways, reversal of order is allowed. For example: | wiki:25700130 |
Multiplicative function | Properties | A multiplicative function is completely determined by its values at the powers of prime numbers, a consequence of the fundamental theorem of arithmetic. Thus, if "n" is a product of powers of distinct primes, say "n" = "p" "q" ..., then "f"("n") = "f"("p") "f"("q") ... This property of multiplicative functions significantly reduces the need for computation, as in the following examples for "n" = 144 = 2 · 3: Similarly, we have: | wiki:25700131 |
Multiplicative function | Convolution | If "f" and "g" are two multiplicative functions, one defines a new multiplicative function "f" * "g", the "Dirichlet convolution" of "f" and "g", by where the sum extends over all positive divisors "d" of "n". With this operation, the set of all multiplicative functions turns into an abelian group; the identity element is "ε". Convolution is commutative, associative, and distributive over addition. Relations among the multiplicative functions discussed above include: The Dirichlet convolution can be defined for general arithmetic functions, and yields a ring structure, the Dirichlet ring. | wiki:25700132 |
Multiplicative function | Multiplicative function over | Let "A" = , the polynomial ring over the finite field with "q" elements. "A" is a principal ideal domain and therefore "A" is a unique factorization domain. A complex-valued function formula_17 on "A" is called multiplicative if formula_18 whenever "f" and "g" are relatively prime. | wiki:25700133 |
Multiplicative function | Zeta function and Dirichlet series in | Let "h" be a polynomial arithmetic function (i.e. a function on set of monic polynomials over "A"). Its corresponding Dirichlet series is defined to be where for formula_20 set formula_21 if formula_22 and formula_23 otherwise. The polynomial zeta function is then | wiki:25700134 |
MPEG-2 | Introduction | MPEG-2 (a.k.a. H.222/H.262 as defined by the ITU) is a standard for "the generic coding of moving pictures and associated audio information". It describes a combination of lossy video compression and lossy audio data compression methods, which permit storage and transmission of movies using currently available storage media and transmission bandwidth. While MPEG-2 is not as efficient as newer standards such as H.264/AVC and H.265/HEVC, backwards compatibility with existing hardware and software means it is still widely used, for example in over-the-air digital television broadcasting and in the DVD-Video standard. | wiki:25700135 |
MPEG-2 | Main characteristics | MPEG-2 is widely used as the format of digital television signals that are broadcast by terrestrial (over-the-air), cable, and direct broadcast satellite TV systems. It also specifies the format of movies and other programs that are distributed on DVD and similar discs. TV stations, TV receivers, DVD players, and other equipment are often designed to this standard. MPEG-2 was the second of several standards developed by the Moving Pictures Expert Group (MPEG) and is an international standard (ISO/IEC 13818). Parts 1 and 2 of MPEG-2 were developed in a collaboration with ITU-T, and they have a respective catalog number in the ITU-T Recommendation Series. | wiki:25700136 |
MPEG-2 | Main characteristics | While MPEG-2 is the core of most digital television and DVD formats, it does not completely specify them. Regional institutions can adapt it to their needs by restricting and augmenting aspects of the standard. See Video profiles and levels. | wiki:25700137 |
MPEG-2 | Systems | MPEG-2 includes a Systems section, part 1, that defines two distinct, but related, container formats. One is the "transport stream", a data packet format designed to transmit one data packet in four ATM data packets for streaming digital video and audio over fixed or mobile transmission mediums, where the beginning and the end of the stream may not be identified, such as radio frequency, cable and linear recording mediums, examples of which include ATSC/DVB/ISDB/SBTVD broadcasting, and HDV recording on tape. The other is the "program stream", an extended version of the container format with less overhead than "transport stream". "Program stream" is designed for random access storage mediums such as hard disk drives, optical discs and flash memory. | wiki:25700138 |
MPEG-2 | Systems | "Transport stream" file formats include M2TS, which is used on Blu-ray discs, AVCHD on re-writable DVDs and HDV on compact flash cards. "Program stream" files include VOB on DVDs and Enhanced VOB on the short lived HD DVD. The standard MPEG-2 "transport stream" contains packets of 188 bytes. M2TS prepends each packet with 4 bytes containing a 2-bit copy permission indicator and 30-bit timestamp. MPEG-2 Systems is formally known as ISO/IEC 13818-1 and as ITU-T Rec. H.222.0. ISO authorized the "SMPTE Registration Authority, LLC" as the registration authority for MPEG-2 format identifiers. The registration descriptor of MPEG-2 transport is provided by ISO/IEC 13818-1 in order to enable users of the standard to unambiguously carry data when its format is not necessarily a recognized international standard. | wiki:25700139 |
MPEG-2 | Systems | This provision will permit the MPEG-2 transport standard to carry all types of data while providing for a method of unambiguous identification of the characteristics of the underlying private data. | wiki:25700140 |
MPEG-2 | Video | The Video section, part 2 of MPEG-2, is similar to the previous MPEG-1 standard, but also provides support for interlaced video, the format used by analog broadcast TV systems. MPEG-2 video is not optimized for low bit-rates, especially less than 1 Mbit/s at standard definition resolutions. All standards-compliant MPEG-2 Video decoders are fully capable of playing back MPEG-1 Video streams conforming to the Constrained Parameters Bitstream syntax. MPEG-2/Video is formally known as ISO/IEC 13818-2 and as ITU-T Rec. H.262. With some enhancements, MPEG-2 Video and Systems are also used in some HDTV transmission systems, and is the standard format for over-the-air ATSC digital television. | wiki:25700141 |
MPEG-2 | Audio | MPEG-2 introduces new audio encoding methods compared to MPEG-1: | wiki:25700142 |
MPEG-2 | MPEG-2 Part 3 | The MPEG-2 Audio section, defined in Part 3 (ISO/IEC 13818-3) of the standard, enhances MPEG-1's audio by allowing the coding of audio programs with more than two channels, up to 5.1 multichannel. This method is backwards-compatible (also known as MPEG-2 BC), allowing MPEG-1 audio decoders to decode the two main stereo components of the presentation. MPEG-2 part 3 also defined additional bit rates and sample rates for MPEG-1 Audio Layer I, II and III. MPEG-2 BC (backward compatible with MPEG-1 audio formats) | wiki:25700143 |
MPEG-2 | MPEG-2 Part 7 | Part 7 (ISO/IEC 13818-7) of the MPEG-2 standard specifies a rather different, non-backwards-compatible audio format (also known as MPEG-2 NBC). Part 7 is referred to as MPEG-2 AAC. AAC is more efficient than the previous MPEG audio standards, and is in some ways less complicated than its predecessor, MPEG-1 Audio, Layer 3, in that it does not have the hybrid filter bank. It supports from 1 to 48 channels at sampling rates of 8 to 96 kHz, with multichannel, multilingual, and multiprogram capabilities. Advanced Audio is also defined in Part 3 of the MPEG-4 standard. MPEG-2 NBC (Non-Backward Compatible) | wiki:25700144 |
MPEG-2 | ISO/IEC 13818 | MPEG-2 standards are published as parts of ISO/IEC 13818. Each part covers a certain aspect of the whole specification. | wiki:25700145 |
MPEG-2 | History | MPEG-2 evolved out of the shortcomings of MPEG-1. MPEG-1's known weaknesses: Sakae Okubo of NTT was the ITU-T coordinator for developing the H.262/MPEG-2 Part 2 video coding standard and the requirements chairman in MPEG for the MPEG-2 set of standards. The majority of patents underlying MPEG-2 technology are owned by three companies: Sony (311 patents), Thomson (198 patents) and Mitsubishi Electric (119 patents). Hyundai Electronics (now SK Hynix) developed the first MPEG-2 SAVI (System/Audio/Video) decoder in 1995. | wiki:25700146 |
MPEG-2 | Filename extensions | .mpg, .mpeg, .m2v, .mp2, .mp3 are some of a number of filename extensions used for MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 audio and video file formats. | wiki:25700147 |
MPEG-2 | DVD-Video | The DVD-Video standard uses MPEG-2 video, but imposes some restrictions: | wiki:25700148 |
MPEG-2 | HDV | HDV is a format for recording and playback of high-definition MPEG-2 video on a DV cassette tape. | wiki:25700149 |
MPEG-2 | MOD and TOD | MOD and TOD are recording formats for use in consumer digital file-based camcorders. | wiki:25700150 |
MPEG-2 | XDCAM | XDCAM is a professional file-based video recording format. | wiki:25700151 |
MPEG-2 | DVB | Application-specific restrictions on MPEG-2 video in the DVB standard: Allowed resolutions for SDTV: For HDTV: | wiki:25700152 |
MPEG-2 | ATSC | The ATSC A/53 standard used in the United States, uses MPEG-2 video at the Main Profile @ High Level (MP@HL), with additional restrictions such as the maximum bitrate of 19.39 Mbit/s for broadcast television and 38.8 Mbit/s for cable television, 4:2:0 chroma subsampling format, and mandatory colorimetry information. ATSC allows the following video resolutions, aspect ratios, and frame/field rates: ATSC standard A/63 defines additional resolutions and aspect rates for 50 Hz (PAL) signal. | wiki:25700153 |
MPEG-2 | ISDB-T | Technical features of MPEG-2 in ATSC are also valid for ISDB-T, except that in the main TS has aggregated a second program for mobile devices compressed in MPEG-4 H.264 AVC for video and AAC-LC for audio, mainly known as 1seg. | wiki:25700154 |
MPEG-2 | Blu-ray | MPEG-2 is one of the three supported video coding formats supported by Blu-ray Disc. Early Blu-ray releases typically used MPEG-2 video, but recent releases are almost always in H.264 or occasionally VC-1. Only MPEG-2 video (MPEG-2 part 2) is supported, Blu-ray does not support MPEG-2 audio (parts 3 and 7). Additionally, the container format used on Blu-ray discs is an MPEG-2 transport stream, regardless of which audio and video codecs are used. | wiki:25700155 |
MPEG-2 | Patent pool | As of February 14 2020, only Malaysia still have active patents covering MPEG-2. Patents in the rest of the world have expired, with the last US patent expiring February 23, 2018. MPEG LA, a private patent licensing organization, has acquired rights from over 20 corporations and one university to license a patent pool of approximately 640 worldwide patents, which it claims are the "essential" to use of MPEG-2 technology. The patent holders include Sony, Mitsubishi Electric, Fujitsu, Panasonic, Scientific Atlanta, Columbia University, Philips, General Instrument, Canon, Hitachi, JVC Kenwood, LG Electronics, NTT, Samsung, Sanyo, Sharp and Toshiba. Where Software patentability is upheld and patents have not expired, the use of MPEG-2 requires the payment of licensing fees to the patent holders. | wiki:25700156 |
MPEG-2 | Patent pool | Other patents are licensed by Audio MPEG, Inc. The development of the standard itself took less time than the patent negotiations. Patent pooling between essential and peripheral patent holders in the MPEG-2 pool was the subject of a study by the University of Wisconsin. According to the MPEG-2 licensing agreement any use of MPEG-2 technology in countries with active patents is subject to royalties. MPEG-2 encoders and decoders are subject to $0.35 per unit. Also, any packaged medium (DVDs/Data Streams) is subject to licence fees according to length of recording/broadcast. The royalties were previously priced higher but were lowered at several points, most recently on January 1 2018. | wiki:25700157 |
MPEG-2 | Patent pool | An earlier criticism of the MPEG-2 patent pool was that even though the number of patents will decreased from 1,048 to 416 by June 2013 the license fee had not decreased with the expiration rate of MPEG-2 patents.. | wiki:25700158 |
MPEG-2 | Patent holders | The following organizations have held patents for MPEG-2, as listed at MPEG LA. | wiki:25700159 |
MPEG-3 | Introduction | MPEG-3 is the designation for a group of audio and video coding standards agreed upon by the Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) designed to handle HDTV signals at 1080p in the range of 20 to 40 megabits per second. MPEG-3 was launched as an effort to address the need of an HDTV standard while work on MPEG-2 was underway, but it was soon discovered that MPEG-2, at high data rates, would accommodate HDTV. Thus, in 1992 HDTV was included as a separate profile in the MPEG-2 standard and MPEG-3 was rolled into MPEG-2. | wiki:25700160 |
Meditation | Introduction | Meditation is a practice where an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm and stable state. Scholars have found meditation elusive to define, as practices vary both between traditions and within them. Meditation has been practiced since 1500 BCE antiquity in numerous religious traditions, often as part of the path towards enlightenment and self realization. The earliest records of meditation (Dhyana) derive from the Hindu traditions of Vedantism, and meditation exerts a salient role in the contemplative repertoire of Hinduism and Buddhism. | wiki:25700161 |
Meditation | Introduction | Although meditation is popularly associated with Dharmic religions, other types of meditation have also influenced the spiritual dimensions of Abrahamic religions. Since the 19th century, Asian meditative techniques have spread to other cultures where they have also found application in non-spiritual contexts, such as business and health. Meditation may significantly reduce stress, anxiety, depression, and pain, and enhance peace, perception, self-concept, and well-being. Meditation is under research to substantiate its health (psychological, neurological, and cardiovascular) benefits and other effects. | wiki:25700162 |
Meditation | Etymology | The English "meditation" is derived from Old French "meditacioun", in turn from Latin "meditatio" from a verb "meditari", meaning "to think, contemplate, devise, ponder". The use of the term "meditatio" as part of a formal, stepwise process of meditation goes back to the 12th century monk Guigo II. Apart from its historical usage, the term "meditation" was introduced as a translation for Eastern spiritual practices, referred to as "dhyāna" in Hinduism and Buddhism and which comes from the Sanskrit root "dhyai", meaning to contemplate or meditate. The term "meditation" in English may also refer to practices from Islamic Sufism, or other traditions such as Jewish Kabbalah and Christian Hesychasm. | wiki:25700163 |
Meditation | Definitions | Meditation has proven difficult to define as it covers a wide range of dissimilar practices in different traditions. In popular usage, the word "meditation" and the phrase "meditative practice" are often used imprecisely to designate practices found across many cultures. These can include almost anything that is claimed to train the attention of mind or to teach calm or compassion. There remains no definition of necessary and sufficient criteria for meditation that has achieved universal or widespread acceptance within the modern scientific community. In 1971, Claudio Naranjo noted that "The word 'meditation' has been used to designate a variety of practices that differ enough from one another so that we may find trouble in defining what "meditation" is." A 2009 study noted a "persistent lack of consensus in the literature" and a "seeming intractability of defining meditation". | wiki:25700164 |
Meditation | Dictionary definitions | Dictionaries give both the original Latin meaning of "think[ing] deeply about (something)"; as well as the popular usage of " focusing one's mind for a period of time", "the act of giving your attention to only one thing, either as a religious activity or as a way of becoming calm and relaxed", and "to engage in mental exercise (such as concentrating on one's breathing or repetition of a mantra) for the purpose of reaching a heightened level of spiritual awareness." | wiki:25700165 |
Meditation | Scholarly definitions | In modern psychological research, meditation has been defined and characterized in a variety of ways. Many of these emphasize the role of attention and characterize the practice of meditation as attempts to get beyond the reflexive, "discursive thinking" or "logic" mind to achieve a deeper, more devout, or more relaxed state. Bond et al. (2009) identified criteria for defining a practice as meditation "for use in a comprehensive systematic review of the therapeutic use of meditation", using "a 5-round Delphi study with a panel of 7 experts in meditation research" who were also trained in diverse but empirically highly studied (Eastern-derived or clinical) forms of meditation: Several other definitions of meditation have been used by influential modern reviews of research on meditation across multiple traditions: | wiki:25700166 |
Meditation | Separation of technique from tradition | Some of the difficulty in precisely defining meditation has been in recognizing the particularities of the many various traditions; and theories and practice can differ within a tradition. Taylor noted that even within a faith such as "Hindu" or "Buddhist", schools and individual teachers may teach distinct types of meditation. Ornstein noted that "Most techniques of meditation do not exist as solitary practices but are only artificially separable from an entire system of practice and belief." For instance, while monks meditate as part of their everyday lives, they also engage the codified rules and live together in monasteries in specific cultural settings that go along with their meditative practices. | wiki:25700167 |
Meditation | Classifications | In the West, meditation techniques have sometimes been thought of in two broad categories: focused (or concentrative) meditation and open monitoring (or mindfulness) meditation. "Direction of mental attention... A practitioner can focus intensively on one particular object (so-called "concentrative meditation"), on all mental events that enter the field of awareness (so-called "mindfulness meditation"), or both specific focal points and the field of awareness." Focused methods include paying attention to the breath, to an idea or feeling (such as mettā (loving-kindness)), to a kōan, or to a mantra (such as in transcendental meditation), and single point meditation. Open monitoring methods include mindfulness, shikantaza and other awareness states. | wiki:25700168 |
Meditation | Frequency | The Transcendental Meditation technique recommends practice of 20 minutes twice per day. Some techniques suggest less time, especially when starting meditation, and Richard Davidson has quoted research saying benefits can be achieved with a practice of only 8 minutes per day. Some meditators practice for much longer, particularly when on a course or retreat. Some meditators find practice best in the hours before dawn. | wiki:25700169 |
Meditation | Posture | Asanas and positions such as the full-lotus, half-lotus, Burmese, Seiza, and kneeling positions are popular in Buddhism, Jainism and Hinduism, although other postures such as sitting, supine (lying), and standing are also used. Meditation is also sometimes done while walking, known as kinhin, while doing a simple task mindfully, known as samu or while lying down known as savasana. | wiki:25700170 |
Meditation | Use of prayer beads | Some religions have traditions of using prayer beads as tools in devotional meditation. Most prayer beads and Christian rosaries consist of pearls or beads linked together by a thread. The Roman Catholic rosary is a string of beads containing five sets with ten small beads. The Hindu japa mala has 108 beads (the figure 108 in itself having spiritual significance), as well as those used in Gaudiya Vaishnavism, the Hare Krishna tradition, Jainism and Buddhist prayer beads. Each bead is counted once as a person recites a mantra until the person has gone all the way around the mala. The Muslim misbaha has 99 beads. | wiki:25700171 |
Meditation | Use of prayer beads | There is also quite a variance when it comes to materials used for beads. Beads made from seeds of rudraksha trees are considered sacred by devotees of Siva, while followers of Vishnu revere the wood that comes from the tulsi plant. | wiki:25700172 |
Meditation | Striking the meditator | The Buddhist literature has many stories of Enlightenment being attained through disciples being struck by their masters. According to T. Griffith Foulk, the encouragement stick was an integral part of the Zen practice: | wiki:25700173 |
Meditation | Using a narrative | Richard Davidson has expressed the view that having a narrative can help maintenance of daily practice. For instance he himself prostrates to the teachings, and meditates "not primarily for my benefit, but for the benefit of others". | wiki:25700174 |
Meditation | Hinduism | There are many schools and styles of meditation within Hinduism. In pre-modern and traditional Hinduism, "Yoga" and "Dhyana" are practised to realize union of one's eternal self or soul, one's ātman. In Advaita Vedanta this is equated with the omnipresent and non-dual Brahman. In the dualistic Yoga school and Samkhya, the Self is called Purusha, a pure consciousness separate from matter. Depending on the tradition, the liberative event is named moksha, vimukti or kaivalya. The earliest clear references to meditation in Hindu literature are in the middle Upanishads and the Mahabharata (including the Bhagavad Gita). According to Gavin Flood, the earlier Brihadaranyaka Upanishad is describing meditation when it states that "having become calm and concentrated, one perceives the self ("ātman") within oneself". | wiki:25700175 |
Meditation | Hinduism | One of the most influential texts of classical Hindu Yoga is Patañjali's Yoga sutras (c. 400 CE), a text associated with Yoga and Samkhya, which outlines eight limbs leading to kaivalya ("aloneness"). These are ethical discipline (yamas), rules (niyamas), physical postures (āsanas), breath control (prāṇāyama), withdrawal from the senses (pratyāhāra), one-pointedness of mind (dhāraṇā), meditation (dhyāna), and finally samādhi. | wiki:25700176 |
Meditation | Jainism | Jain meditation and spiritual practices system were referred to as salvation-path. It has three parts called the "Ratnatraya" "Three Jewels": right perception and faith, right knowledge and right conduct. Meditation in Jainism aims at realizing the self, attaining salvation, and taking the soul to complete freedom. It aims to reach and to remain in the pure state of soul which is believed to be pure consciousness, beyond any attachment or aversion. The practitioner strives to be just a knower-seer (Gyata-Drashta). Jain meditation can be broadly categorized to "Dharmya Dhyana" and "Shukla Dhyana". Jainism uses meditation techniques such as "pindāstha-dhyāna, padāstha-dhyāna, rūpāstha-dhyāna, rūpātita-dhyāna, and savīrya-dhyāna". | wiki:25700177 |
Meditation | Jainism | In "padāstha dhyāna" one focuses on a mantra. A mantra could be either a combination of core letters or words on deity or themes. There is a rich tradition of Mantra in Jainism. All Jain followers irrespective of their sect, whether Digambara or Svetambara, practice mantra. Mantra chanting is an important part of daily lives of Jain monks and followers. Mantra chanting can be done either loudly or silently in mind. Contemplation is a very old and important meditation technique. The practitioner meditates deeply on subtle facts. In "agnya vichāya", one contemplates on seven facts – life and non-life, the inflow, bondage, stoppage and removal of "karmas", and the final accomplishment of liberation. | wiki:25700178 |
Meditation | Jainism | In "apaya vichāya", one contemplates on the incorrect insights one indulges, which eventually develops right insight. In "vipaka vichāya", one reflects on the eight causes or basic types of "karma". In "sansathan vichāya", one thinks about the vastness of the universe and the loneliness of the soul. | wiki:25700179 |
Meditation | Buddhism | Buddhist meditation refers to the meditative practices associated with the religion and philosophy of Buddhism. Core meditation techniques have been preserved in ancient Buddhist texts and have proliferated and diversified through teacher-student transmissions. Buddhists pursue meditation as part of the path toward awakening and nirvana. The closest words for meditation in the classical languages of Buddhism are "bhāvanā", "jhāna"/"dhyāna", and "vipassana". Buddhist meditation techniques have become popular in the wider world, with many non-Buddhists taking them up. There is considerable homogeneity across meditative practices – such as breath meditation and various recollections ("anussati") – across Buddhist schools, as well as significant diversity. | wiki:25700180 |
Meditation | Buddhism | In the Theravāda tradition, there are over fifty methods for developing mindfulness and forty for developing concentration, while in the Tibetan tradition there are thousands of visualization meditations. Most classical and contemporary Buddhist meditation guides are school-specific. According to the Theravada and Sarvastivada commentatorial traditions, and the Tibetan tradition, the Buddha identified two paramount mental qualities that arise from wholesome meditative practice: | wiki:25700181 |
Meditation | Sikhism | In Sikhism, simran (meditation) and good deeds are both necessary to achieve the devotee's Spiritual goals; without good deeds meditation is futile. When Sikhs meditate, they aim to feel God's presence and emerge in the divine light. It is only God's divine will or order that allows a devotee to desire to begin to meditate.Nām Japnā involves focusing one's attention on the names or great attributes of God. | wiki:25700182 |
Meditation | Taoism | Taoist meditation has developed techniques including concentration, visualization, "qi" cultivation, contemplation, and mindfulness meditations in its long history. Traditional Daoist meditative practices were influenced by Chinese Buddhism from around the 5th century, and influenced Traditional Chinese medicine and the Chinese martial arts. Livia Kohn distinguishes three basic types of Taoist meditation: "concentrative", "insight", and "visualization". "Ding" 定 (literally means "decide; settle; stabilize") refers to "deep concentration", "intent contemplation", or "perfect absorption". "Guan" 觀 (lit. "watch; observe; view") meditation seeks to merge and attain unity with the Dao. It was developed by Tang Dynasty (618–907) Taoist masters based upon the "Tiantai" Buddhist practice of "Vipassanā" "insight" or "wisdom" meditation. | wiki:25700183 |
Meditation | Taoism | "Cun" 存 (lit. "exist; be present; survive") has a sense of "to cause to exist; to make present" in the meditation techniques popularized by the Taoist Shangqing and Lingbao Schools. A meditator visualizes or actualizes solar and lunar essences, lights, and deities within their body, which supposedly results in health and longevity, even "xian" 仙/仚/僊, "immortality". The (late 4th century BCE) "Guanzi" essay "Neiye" "Inward training" is the oldest received writing on the subject of "qi" cultivation and breath-control meditation techniques. For instance, "When you enlarge your mind and let go of it, when you relax your vital breath and expand it, when your body is calm and unmoving: And you can maintain the One and discard the myriad disturbances. | wiki:25700184 |
Meditation | Taoism | ... This is called "revolving the vital breath": Your thoughts and deeds seem heavenly." | wiki:25700185 |
Meditation | Judaism | Judaism has made use of meditative practices for thousands of years. For instance, in the Torah, the patriarch Isaac is described as going ""לשוח"" ("lasuach") in the field – a term understood by all commentators as some type of meditative practice (Genesis 24:63). Similarly, there are indications throughout the Tanakh (the Hebrew Bible) that the prophets meditated. In the Old Testament, there are two Hebrew words for meditation: "hāgâ" (), "to sigh" or "murmur", but also "to meditate", and "sîḥâ" (), "to muse", or "rehearse in one's mind". Classical Jewish texts espouse a wide range of meditative practices, often associated with the cultivation of "kavanah" or intention. | wiki:25700186 |
Meditation | Judaism | The first layer of rabbinic law, the Mishnah, describes ancient sages "waiting" for an hour before their prayers, "in order to direct their hearts to the Omnipresent One (Mishnah Berakhot 5:1). Other early rabbinic texts include instructions for visualizing the Divine Presence (B. Talmud Sanhedrin 22a) and breathing with conscious gratitude for every breath (Genesis Rabba 14:9). One of the best known types of meditation in early Jewish mysticism was the work of the Merkabah, from the root /R-K-B/ meaning "chariot" (of God). Some meditative traditions have been encouraged in Kabbalah, and some Jews have described Kabbalah as an inherently meditative field of study. | wiki:25700187 |
Meditation | Judaism | Kabbalistic meditation often involves the mental visualization of the supernal realms. Aryeh Kaplan has argued that the ultimate purpose of Kabbalistic meditation is to understand and cleave to the Divine. | wiki:25700188 |
Meditation | Christianity | Christian meditation is a term for a form of prayer in which a structured attempt is made to get in touch with and deliberately reflect upon the revelations of God. The word meditation comes from the Latin word "meditari", which means to concentrate. Christian meditation is the process of deliberately focusing on specific thoughts (e.g. a biblical scene involving Jesus and the Virgin Mary) and reflecting on their meaning in the context of the love of God. Christian meditation is sometimes taken to mean the middle level in a broad three stage characterization of prayer: it then involves more reflection than first level vocal prayer, but is more structured than the multiple layers of contemplation in Christianity. | wiki:25700189 |
Meditation | Christianity | The Rosary is a devotion for the meditation of the mysteries of Jesus and Mary. “The gentle repetition of its prayers makes it an excellent means to moving into deeper meditation. It gives us an opportunity to open ourselves to God’s word, to refine our interior gaze by turning our minds to the life of Christ. The first principle is that meditation is learned through practice. Many people who practice rosary meditation begin very simply and gradually develop a more sophisticated meditation. The meditator learns to hear an interior voice, the voice of God”. According to Edmund P. Clowney, Christian meditation contrasts with Eastern forms of meditation as radically as the portrayal of God the Father in the Bible contrasts with depictions of Krishna or Brahman in Indian teachings. | wiki:25700190 |
Meditation | Christianity | Unlike some Eastern styles, most styles of Christian meditation do not rely on the repeated use of mantras, and yet are also intended to stimulate thought and deepen meaning. Christian meditation aims to heighten the personal relationship based on the love of God that marks Christian communion. In "Aspects of Christian meditation", the Catholic Church warned of potential incompatibilities in mixing Christian and Eastern styles of meditation. In 2003, in "A Christian reflection on the New Age" the Vatican announced that the "Church avoids any concept that is close to those of the New Age". | wiki:25700191 |
Meditation | Islam | Salah is a mandatory act of devotion performed by Muslims five times per day. The body goes through sets of different postures, as the mind attains a level of concentration called "khushu". A second optional type of meditation, called dhikr, meaning remembering and mentioning God, is interpreted in different meditative techniques in Sufism or Islamic mysticism. This became one of the essential elements of Sufism as it was systematized traditionally. It is juxtaposed with "fikr" (thinking) which leads to knowledge. By the 12th century, the practice of Sufism included specific meditative techniques, and its followers practiced breathing controls and the repetition of holy words. | wiki:25700192 |
Meditation | Islam | Sufism uses a meditative procedure like Buddhist concentration, involving high-intensity and sharply focused introspection. In the Oveyssi-Shahmaghsoudi Sufi order, for example, muraqaba takes the form of tamarkoz, "concentration" in Persian. | wiki:25700193 |
Meditation | Baháʼí Faith | In the teachings of the Baháʼí Faith, meditation is a primary tool for spiritual development, involving reflection on the words of God. While prayer and meditation are linked, where meditation happens generally in a prayerful attitude, prayer is seen specifically as turning toward God, and meditation is seen as a communion with one's self where one focuses on the divine. In Baháʼí teachings the purpose of meditation is to strengthen one's understanding of the words of God, and to make one's soul more susceptible to their potentially transformative power, more receptive to the need for both prayer and meditation to bring about and maintain a spiritual communion with God. | wiki:25700194 |
Meditation | Baháʼí Faith | Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the religion, never specified any particular form of meditation, and thus each person is free to choose their own form. However, he did state that Baháʼís should read a passage of the Baháʼí writings twice a day, once in the morning, and once in the evening, and meditate on it. He also encouraged people to reflect on one's actions and worth at the end of each day. During the Nineteen Day Fast, a period of the year during which Baháʼís adhere to a sunrise-to-sunset fast, they meditate and pray to reinvigorate their spiritual forces. | wiki:25700195 |
Meditation | Neo-pagan and occult | Movements which use magic, such as Wicca, Thelema, Neopaganism, and occultism, often require their adherents to meditate as a preliminary to the magical work. This is because magic is often thought to require a particular state of mind in order to make contact with spirits, or because one has to visualize one's goal or otherwise keep intent focused for a long period during the ritual in order to see the desired outcome. Meditation practice in these religions usually revolves around visualization, absorbing energy from the universe or higher self, directing one's internal energy, and inducing various trance states. Meditation and magic practice often overlap in these religions as meditation is often seen as merely a stepping stone to supernatural power, and the meditation sessions may be peppered with various chants and spells. | wiki:25700196 |
Meditation | Modern spirituality | Mantra meditation, with the use of a japa mala and especially with focus on the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, is a central practice of the Gaudiya Vaishnava faith tradition and the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), also known as the Hare Krishna movement. Other popular New Religious Movements include the Ramakrishna Mission, Vedanta Society, Divine Light Mission, Chinmaya Mission, Osho, Sahaja Yoga, Transcendental Meditation, Oneness University, Brahma Kumaris and Vihangam Yoga. | wiki:25700197 |
Meditation | New Age | New Age meditations are often influenced by Eastern philosophy, mysticism, yoga, Hinduism and Buddhism, yet may contain some degree of Western influence. In the West, meditation found its mainstream roots through the social revolution of the 1960s and 1970s, when many of the youth of the day rebelled against traditional religion as a reaction against what some perceived as the failure of Christianity to provide spiritual and ethical guidance. New Age meditation as practised by the early hippies is regarded for its techniques of blanking out the mind and releasing oneself from conscious thinking. This is often aided by repetitive chanting of a mantra, or focusing on an object. | wiki:25700198 |
Meditation | New Age | New Age meditation evolved into a range of purposes and practices, from serenity and balance to access to other realms of consciousness to the concentration of energy in group meditation to the supreme goal of samadhi, as in the ancient yogic practice of meditation. | wiki:25700199 |
Meditation | Clinical applications | The US National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health states that ""Meditation is a mind and body practice that has a long history of use for increasing calmness and physical relaxation, improving psychological balance, coping with illness, and enhancing overall health and well-being."" A 2014 review found that practice of mindfulness meditation for two to six months by people undergoing long-term psychiatric or medical therapy could produce small improvements in anxiety, pain, or depression. In 2017, the American Heart Association issued a scientific statement that meditation may be a reasonable adjunct practice to help reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases, with the qualification that meditation needs to be better defined in higher-quality clinical research of these disorders. | wiki:25700200 |