However, at least two adaptations of Braille have completely reassigned the Latin sound values of the blocks. These are:
In Japanese Braille, alphabetic signs for a consonant and vowel are combined into a single syllable block; in Korean Braille, the consonants have different leading and following syllable forms. These changes made Braille much more compatible with Japanese kana and Korean hangul, but meant that the Latin sound values could not be kept.
Trained readers of Braille can read about 100 words per minute; trained readers who do not have sight problems can get to around 250 to 300 words per minute.
Switch
A switch is something that changes the flow of an electrical circuit. The most common kind of switch is something (for example a railroad switch) which can be taken off of one course and put onto another. The term "switch" usually means electrical power. In applications where more than one switch is needed, (i.e. a telephone service) mechanical switches have been replaced by electronic switches which can be controlled automatically.
The switch is called a "gate" when used in a mathematical form. In logic, arguments are represented as logic gates. The use of electronic "gates" to work as a system of logical gates is the basic idea behind the computer —i.e. a computer is a lot of electronic switches that work as logic gates.
There are many types of switches. Some of these are:
The word 'switch' can also mean to change between two things. For example, on a railway line, sometimes the track can split into two different tracks. If the train is travelling on one line and changes over to the other, it has just done a switch.
Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St. Alban KC, (22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626), was an English philosopher, statesman, and author. He has been described as one of the greatest thinkers ever whose ideas have changed the way people think.
He was born in London, the son of Sir Nicholas Bacon, and the nephew of Queen Elizabeth's advisor, William Cecil. He was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge. His first job was as a lawyer. He later became a Member of Parliament and in 1586 he took a leading part in having Mary Queen of Scots executed. He became a friend of Robert Deveraux, the Earl of Essex, in 1591, and received many valuable gifts from him. After Essex led a rebellion against the Queen, Bacon was one of the people who led the investigation which led to Essex's execution in 1601.
Bacon was often in trouble for spending too much, and in 1601 he was arrested for debt. When King James became king in 1603, Bacon's position improved. He was knighted in 1603. He was one of the people who argued for the joining of England and Scotland together as one country, which happened after his lifetime, in the 1700s. Bacon married Alice Barnham in 1606, and the next year he was made the Solicitor General. He continued to be given better paying positions including Attorney General, Lord Keeper, and Lord Chancellor.
He was made Baron Verulam in 1618, and Viscount St Albans in 1621. Because he did not have children both titles ended when he died.
He used his positions to make more money for himself, and in 1621 the Parliament found that he was corrupt. He was fined £40,000 and removed from all his jobs. King James overturned the fine, but he was kept as a prisoner in the Tower of London for a while.
He became best known as a leading thinker in new ways of looking at the world. His writings started and made famous a way of thinking about science. This way of thinking is now called the "Baconian method". It is based on looking at the world by making experiments. After watching the results the scientist comes up with an idea to explain what has happened. This idea or hypothesis is then further tested by more experiments. This way of thinking about science is called inductive methodology. In Bacon's time these methods were linked with magic including hermeticism and alchemy. Alchemy was the study of fire, earth, water and air. Alchemists tried to make gold from lead.
Sled dog
Sled dogs, known also as sleigh dogs, sledge dogs or sleddogs are types of dogs that are used to pull a wheel-less vehicle on runners (a sled or sleigh) over snow or ice, by means of harnesses and lines.
Overland Expedition
The Overland Expedition, also called the Overland Relief Expedition or Point Barrow-Overland Relief Expedition, was a long trip in 1897–8, by three officers of the United States Coast Guard (then named the "U.S. Revenue Cutter Service"), with the help of two civilians, using sled dogs and reindeer to rescue more than 250 whalers trapped in the Arctic Ocean by ice around their ships.
The rescue was ordered by then-U.S. President William McKinley. McKinley later talked about the rescue in a letter dated January 17, 1899 to the United States Congress, in which he asked Congress to award the officers Congressional Gold Medals, and to pay the civilians for their help:
It will be remembered that in the month of October, 1897, reports were
received here of the probable loss of the whaling fleet in the Arctic
regions, and of the likelihood that nearly 300 men, composing the
officers and crews of the fleet, would perish from hunger unless succor [an old word for help] could reach them early in the spring. ...<br>
The overland expedition was formed, and consisted of First Lieut. David
H. Jarvis, Revenue-Cutter Service, commanding; Second Lieut. Ellsworth
P. Bertholf, Revenue-Cutter Service, and Dr. Samuel J. Call, surgeon of
the "Bear", all volunteers. ...<br>
They were materially aided by Mr. W.T. Lopp, agent of the American Missionary Society at Cape Prince of Wales, and Artisarlook, a native of that region, both of whom, at great personal sacrifice, left their families and accompanied the reindeer herd to Point Barrow.
The overland expedition, after a difficult and hazardous journey of
nearly 2,000 miles through the storms and bitter cold of an Arctic
winter, reached Point Barrow with the herd on the 29th of March, 1898,
three months and twelve days from their landing from the "Bear" at
Cape Vancouver, Alaskan coast of Bering Sea. They arrived none too soon. ... [due to] bad sanitary conditions and want of proper food, the men from the whale ships quartered there were found upon the verge of great suffering, while sickness had broken out among them. ...<br>
I have therefore the honor to submit the following recommendations and
to ask your favorable action: ...<br>
That gold medals of honor of appropriate design, to be approved by
the Secretary of the Treasury, be awarded to Lieutenants Jarvis and
Bertholf and Dr. Call, commemorative of their heroic struggles in aid of
suffering fellow-men. ...<br>
That the sum of $2,500 be appropriated to be disbursed by the
Secretary of the Treasury in bestowing rewards upon W.T. Lopp,
Artisarlook, and native herders, who rendered material aid to the relief
expedition.
Number theory
Number theory is a part of mathematics. It explains what some types of numbers are, what properties they have, and ways that they can be useful.
Topics in number theory are:
Important theorems in number theory are:
A well-known application of number theory is encrypted messaging (encryption). Data compression also makes use of the field.
Tear gas
Tear gas is the name for a number of chemical compounds. They are not actually gases. They are fine powders or mists of liquid. The chemicals are acidic and cause pain in the eyes. Tear gas may cause temporary blindness for up to 45 minutes. Tear gas is commonly used by police to control crowds. Phenacyl chloride (CN) liquid and CS powder are two of the chemicals that are often found in tear gas. Pepper spray is another chemical compound that acts very similarly and is sometimes used to control crowds.