When Bill Gates was showing Windows 98 to the public, a BSOD happened. The computer crashed when his assistant, Chris Capossela, connected a scanner to show that Windows 98 could support Plug and Play. Bill Gates responded: "That must be... er... that must be why we're not shipping Windows 98 yet!"
Beginning with Windows 2000, the BSOD remained an all-blue color, but changed to show more detailed technical information, and also listed a few steps that the user could do to fix the problem causing the BSOD to appear. The same screen was used in Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7.
Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 uses a lighter blue color for the BSOD, and made the message easier to read. It even added an emoticon of a frowing face. The technical details was replaced with a simple line of text showing the name of the crash error so that the user could look it up on the Internet.
Portland Bill
Portland Bill is a peninsula off the south coast of England. It has strong tidal currents. The nearby town of Weymouth is a sailing venue for London 2012.
CERN
CERN is a research institute near Geneva, Switzerland. The full name is Organisation Européene pour la Recherche Nucléaire (European Organization for Nuclear Research). The letters "CERN" are left over from the older "Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire" (European Council for Nuclear Research). CERN was founded in 1954. Today 22 nations are members of the organisation. It is the world's biggest laboratory for particle physics. About 2600 people work there full-time, and over 7800 scientists from about 500 universities and research institutes work there in total.
The Large Hadron Collider, the largest particle accelerator in the world, is at CERN.
Onager
The Onager ("Equus hemionus") is a large mammal belonging to the Equidae family. It is native to the deserts of Syria, Iran, Pakistan, Kashmir, Israel and Palestine, and western China. It is sometimes known as the Asian Wild Ass.
Pantropical spotted dolphin
The pantropical spotted dolphin ("Stenella attenuata") is an oceanic dolphin. It is found in all the world's temperate and tropical oceans. The species was beginning to come under threat due to the killing of millions of individuals in tuna purse seines (fishing). The 1980s saw the rise of "dolphin-friendly" tuna capture methods in order to save millions of the species in the eastern Pacific Ocean.
Pilot whale
Pilot whales are two species of oceanic dolphins, whose scientific name is Globicephala. The two types of pilot whales are the long-finned pilot whale and the short-finned pilot whale. Their behaviour resembles that of the larger whales more than that of dolphins.
The two look similar at sea and are usually just known simply as pilot whales or "calderón" in Spanish. They and other large dolphins are also known as blackfish.
Pilot whales can be found nearly worldwide. The long-finned variety prefers colder waters, for example near Antarctica. The short-finned ones can also be found in tropical waters. Pilot whales are highly social animals, they live in groups of 20-30 animals, called "pods". Larger groups of over 100 pilot whales have been observed. Studies suggest that the young remain in the same pod as their parents, which is unusual for mammals. Female short-finned pilot whales go through menopause. Females that no longer reproduce contribute to the survival of the young.
For reasons which are unknown, pilot whales seem to end up stranded on a beach fairly often.
Pygmy killer whale
The Pygmy Killer Whale ("Feresa attenuata") is a mammal of the oceanic dolphin family. It is small, and rarely seen. Its name is because it shares some features with the Killer Whale. They are not closely related.
The pygmy killer is an average-sized dolphin. It may easily be confused at sea with other species, in particular the melon-headed whale. The body is large and dark-colored. The head is rounded without a beak. The sides are lighter and the belly is often white. Several individuals have been seen with a white lining around the mouth and chin. The dorsal fin is tall.
The pygmy avoids human contact. These dolphins always move in groups. The groups are usually of 10 to 30, but sometimes much larger.
They have been seen attacking, killing and eating other cetacean species such as the Common Dolphin.
Persian Jird
The Persian jird ("Meriones persicus") is a species of rodent in the Muridae family. It is found in Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Turkey, and Turkmenistan.
The Persian jird is about 6 inches long. It has a brush-tipped tail that is slightly longer than the body. They are wild brown with white bellies.
They live in dry rocky hillsides with little plant life and semi-desert areas. The eat dry plant material and grains, and sometimes small insects.
Persian jirds usually have two litters a year. Each litter has around seven pups.
Some people keep them as a pet. They can live to be six or seven years old. They need large cages that let them climb and leap.
Didgeridoo
The "didgeridoo" (sometimes didjeridu) is an Australian Aboriginal wind musical instrument. They were used by the Yolgnu people of Arnhem Land. They can be quite long, anywhere from long. Most are around long. The longer the instrument, the lower the pitch or key of the instrument. They are a hollow wooden tube, which can be either cylindrical or conical in shape. It is best described as being a wooden trumpet or drone. Musicologists say it is a brass aerophone.
It is difficult to know when didgeridoos were first used. Studies of rock art in Arnhem Land show that it has been in use for more than 1,500 years. A rock painting in Ginga Wardelirrhmeng, on the northern edge of the Arnhem Land plateau, dates from the freshwater period. It shows a didgeridoo player and two singers playing in a ceremony.
"Didgeridoo" is said to be a word invented in the West, not an Aboriginal word. It may come from the Irish words "dúdaire" or "dúidire". This means 'trumpeter; constant smoker, puffer; long-necked person, eavesdropper; hummer, crooner' and "dubh", meaning "black" (or "duth", meaning "native"). However, this theory is not widely accepted.
The earliest examples of the word in print was in a 1919 issue of Smith's Weekly where it was called an ""infernal didjerry"" which ""produced but one sound - (which sounded like) didjerry, didjerry, didjerry and so on"". It was also used the 1919 "Australian National Dictionary", "The Bulletin" in 1924 and the writings of Herbert Basedow in 1926. There are more than 45 names for this instrument among the Aboriginal people of northern Australia including "Yirdaki". "Yirdaki", also sometimes spelt "yidaki", is for the instrument made and used by the Yolngu people of north-east Arnhem Land.
Aboriginal didgeridoos are made in the traditional communities in Northern Australia or by makers who travel to Central and Northern Australia to get the materials. They are usually made from hardwoods, usually eucalyptus species that are native to the area. Sometimes a native bamboo, such as "Bambusa arnhemica", or pandanus is used. The main trunk of the tree is used, though a big branch may be used instead. Aboriginal makers spend a lot of time looking for a tree that has been hollowed out by termites. If the hollow is too big or too small, it will make a poor quality instrument.
When a tree is found and cut down, the part of trunk or branch that will be made into a didgeridoo is cut out. The bark is taken off, the ends are trimmed, and there is some shaping of the outside. It may be painted or left natural. A rim of beeswax may be put on to the mouthpiece end. Traditional instruments made by Aboriginals in Arnhem Land are sometimes fitted with a 'sugarbag' mouthpiece. This is black beeswax from wild bees and has a its own special smell.