the-french-artist/wikipedia_20220301.simple_sentence_split huggingface dataset:
The official representative body of the region is the West Midlands Regional Assembly which has limited administrative functions such as regional planning and economic development.
The assembly is not an elected body, but is made up of members appointed from local councils across the region, and members from regional interest groups such as business and environmental groups and trade unions.
Coal mining used to be the main industry of the Black Country.
Nationally famous companies in the West Midlands are Cadbury's in Bournville, Birmingham; the brewing companies such as Coors Brewers in Burton on Trent, as well as Marmite; JCB is based in Staffordshire.
The West Midlands region of the BBC is based at the Mailbox in Birmingham.
From there, the regional programme Midlands Today is produced.
ITV Central broadcasts from Birmingham, with its Central Tonight regional programme.
BBC Radios WM, Coventry & Warwickshire, Stoke, Hereford & Worcester and Shropshire.
Commercial radio stations: BRMB, Beacon Radio in Wolverhampton, Mercia FM in Coventry, Touch FM (Burton, Lichfield and Tamworth) in Tamworth, Touch FM (Coventry), Kerrang!
105.2 in Birmingham, Wyvern FM in Worcester, 100.7 Heart FM in Birmingham, and Signal 1 from Stoke.
Newspapers - the Birmingham Post, Birmingham Mail, Express & Star in Wolverhampton, The Sentinel in Stoke-on-Trent and Coventry Evening Telegraph.
Advantage West Midlands - Regional Development Agency
Government Office for the West Midlands
West Midlands Regional Assembly
Government's list of councils in the West Midlands
MLA West Midlands - Museums, Libraries and Archives Regional Agency
West Midlands NO! -
campaign against regional government in the West Midlands
Midlands could be in general the central region of any territory.
In Britain and Ireland, the term is reseved for the "middle" in the North-South ("vertical") direction (countries that are oriented more East-West use "Mid" with a "horizontal" meaning.)
In the United Kingdom, Scotland and England both have midland areas that are famous enough to be called the "Midlands" (as a name, not just as a description).
In Wales the term for the central region is "Mid Wales" (not "The Welsh Midlands").
The area lies between Southern England, Northern England, East Anglia and Wales, and  includes the counties of Derbyshire, Herefordshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Rutland, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, the West Midlands and Worcestershire.
The 2001 census also included Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire in the Midlands but these are not generally considered to be part of the Midlands but East Anglia.
There are two administrative regions of England in the Midlands: West Midlands and East Midlands.
Taken together, these regions do not fully cover the traditional Midlands:
Part of Northern Lincolnshire is now in Yorkshire and the Humber;
Peterborough has been removed from Northamptonshire and included with Cambridgeshire in the East of England;
Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire are now in the South West and South East respectively.
Bedfordshire is now in the East of England.
The "midland" status of Cheshire is often debated.
South Cheshire has strong links with North Staffordshire (definitely in the Midlands), and North Cheshire with Merseyside and Manchester (both definitely in Northern England).
Officially Cheshire is now part of the  North West region.
The largest Midlands conurbation, which includes the cities of Birmingham and Wolverhampton, is approximately covered by a metropolitan county (which also includes Coventry) also called the West Midlands.
Thus, there are two West Midlands, a Region and a (smaller) County.
The South Midlands have an own government for development.
They  include Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire with northern Buckinghamshire.
In other context Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire are not considered part of the Midlands.
They are in the administrative regions of the South East and the East of England.
Notable cities and towns
Belper, Birmingham, Boston, Burton upon Trent, Buxton
Chesterfield, Corby, Coventry
Derby, Dudley
Gainsborough, Gloucester, Grantham
Kettering, Kidderminster
Leamington Spa, Leicester, Lichfield, Lincoln, Loughborough
Mansfield, Matlock
Newark, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Northampton, Nottingham, Nuneaton
Shrewsbury, Stafford, Stoke-on-Trent, Stratford-on-Avon, Solihull
Walsall, Warwick, Wolverhampton, Worcester,
Official map of the Midlands, ODPM
There are several regions in the world known as the Midlands.
Midlands, Tasmania, Australia.
Midlands, England.
Midlands, South Carolina, United States.
Natal Midlands, South Africa.
Midlands, Zimbabwe.
Mittelland, Switzerland, see Swiss plateau.
Vidzeme, Latvia.
Jaworzno is a city in Poland in Silesian Voivodeship.
It has about 96 600 inhabitants and 152,2 km².
For the electric plug-in hybrid concept car, see Chevrolet Volt.
For the record label, see Volt Records
The volt (symbol: V) is the SI derived unit of electric potential difference or electromotive force (also known as voltage).
It is named in honor of the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta (1745–1827), who invented the voltaic pile, the first chemical battery.
The volt is defined as the potential difference across a conductor when a current of one ampere dissipates one watt of power.
Hence, it is the base SI representation m2 · kg · s−3 · A−1, which can be equally represented as one joule of energy per coulomb of charge, J/C.
Hydraulic analogy
In the hydraulic analogy sometimes used to explain electric circuits by comparing them to water-filled pipes, voltage is like water pressure - it determines how fast the electrons will travel through the circuit.
Current (in amperes), in the same analogy, is a measure of the volume of water that flows past a given point, the rate of which is determined by the voltage, and the total output measured in watts.
The equation that brings all three components together is: volts × amperes = watts
Common voltages
Nerve cell action potential: around 30 mV
Single-cell, rechargeable NiMH or NiCd battery: 1.2 V
Mercury battery 1.355 V
Single-cell, non-rechargeable alkaline battery (e.g. AAA, AA, C and D cells): 1.5 V
Lithium polymer rechargeable battery: 3.75 V
Transistor-transistor logic (TTL) power supply: 5 V
PP3 battery: 9 V
Automobile electrical system: 12 V (nominal)
Household mains electricity: 230 V RMS in Europe, Australia, Asia and Africa, 120 V RMS in North America, 100 V RMS in Japan (see List of countries with mains power plugs, voltages and frequencies)
Rapid transit third rail: 600 to 700 V (see List of current systems for electric rail traction)
High speed train overhead power lines: 25 kV RMS at 50 Hz, but see List of current systems for electric rail traction for exceptions.
High voltage electric power transmission lines: 110 kV RMS and up (1150 kV RMS is the record as of 2005)
Lightning: Varies greatly, often around 100 MV.
Note: Where 'RMS' (root mean square) is stated above, the peak voltage is  times greater than the RMS voltage for a sinusoidal signal.
History of the volt
In 1800, as the result of a professional disagreement over the galvanic response advocated by Luigi Galvani, Alessandro Volta developed the so-called Voltaic pile, a forerunner of the battery, which produced a steady electric current.
Volta had determined that the most effective pair of dissimilar metals to produce electricity was zinc and silver.
In the 1880s, the International Electrical Congress, now the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), approved the volt for electromotive force.
The volt was defined as the potential difference across a conductor when a current of one ampere dissipates one watt of power.
SI for unit prefixes
SI electromagnetism units
Volt -Citizendium
A music competition is an event in which people compete for prizes by performing music.
Music competitions can be for solo performers or for small or large groups such as orchestras, bands or choirs.
Some competitions are for young people who are starting to make a professional career in music.
Other music competitions may be for amateurs, which means that professional musicians are not allowed to compete.
The person who decides who is the winner is called the adjudicator.
Some big festivals have a team of several adjudicators who decide together on the winner.
The British and International Federation of Music Festivals organizes music competitions for amateurs in many parts of the British Isles.
Children and adults can take part, competing in classes for music, speech and drama and dance.
Competitions like these are often called "festivals" because the main reason for taking part is to enjoy performing rather than just to win.
There are many big international competitions for some of the most talented musicians from all over the world.
Winning a big competition can help a young musician to start a successful career.
Some people think it can also be a bad thing to win a big competition, especially for musicians who are still very young.
It may make them a star for a short time but they still have to get better and mature as a musician and a person.
Leeds International Pianoforte Competition held in Leeds, England
International Tchaikovsky Competition held in Moscow
BBC Young Musician of the Year held in England.
Super Girl in China
An adjudicator is someone who decides on a winner at a competition for music or theatre.
The adjudicator will always be somebody who has a lot of experience in what he is adjudicating.
In big international festivals, a team of several adjudicators may decide together on the winners.
In amateur competitions, the adjudicator may also talk to the competitors after they have performed and give them advice.
Competitors are often given first, second and third prizes.
Criticism is a word used in two senses.
Originally, it meant "a scholarly analysis and balanced judgement".
Later (mid-20th century) it came to mean "a hostile attack" pointing out the bad features of the topic.
Constructive criticism: criticism to evaluate and improve.
This is an important activity, especially when dealing with young people.
Parents and teachers often use this kind of criticism.
In adult life it is widely used in literature, the arts and science.
Negative or destructive criticism: criticism as an attack on a person or idea.
Negative criticism is often interpreted as an attack against a person (ad hominem), and appears often in debates between political opponents.
In ancient Greek kritos meant judge, and kritikos meant the critic.
Related Greek terms are krinein (separating out, deciding), krei- (to sieve, discriminate, or distinguish).
The word moved from Greek to Latin (Criticus, a judge) to French (critique) to English.
The words "critic" and "critical" existed in the English language from the mid-16th century, and the word "criticism" first made its appearance in English in the early 17th century.
Arthur Teller
Arthur (1981 movie), a movie starring Dudley Moore
Eduard Hanslick (born Prague September 11, 1825; died Baden, Austria, August 6, 1904) was a famous music critic.
He wrote about music that was being composed in his time.
He liked the music of composers like Brahms and Schumann but hated the music of Wagner and Liszt.
Their music sounded too modern for his taste.
He was born into a German-speaking family.
His father was a music teacher.
When he was 18 Hanslick went to study music with Tomášek, one of Prague's most important musicians.
He also studied law at Prague University.
He did not study music at university but he knew a lot about music and played the piano very well.
He started writing music reviews (writing about concerts that had taken place).
For many years he wrote reviews in a paper called Neue freie Presse.
He became professor of history and music at the University of Vienna and was an adjudicator at lots of music festivals.
His most famous book was called Vom Musikalisch-Schönen (About Beauty in Music).
Hanslick's tastes were conservative (he did not like new ideas).
We remember him today for writing good things about Brahms and bad things about Wagner.
A lot of musicians took sides on this matter.
It is sometimes called: The War of the Romantics.
Musicians had long arguments in the music journals about which kind of music was better.
Although in some ways he was narrow-minded he had a lot of influence on music.
His books on music are very interesting showing great knowledge.
He knew most of the great musicians of his day.
Wagner made a caricature of Hanslick in his opera Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg in which the town clerk Beckmesser criticizes the young singer Walther who sings songs which break the traditional rules of composition.
The Fairly OddParents was an animated television series created by Butch Hartman in 2001 for the Nickelodeon cable television network.
It is about a ten-year-old boy named Timmy Turner who has fairy godparents, named Cosmo and Wanda, and a fairy godbrother named Poof.
The fairies have the power to grant wishes to Timmy, while still following "Da Rules", the fairy rule book.
The Fairly OddParents was the fourth longest-running Nicktoons series.
In 2017, it ended with the half-hour episode "Hare Raiser / The Kale Patch Caper".
The series was originally set to continue, but ended with the tenth season.
The show was cancelled by Nickelodeon in 2018.
A live-action-animation hybrid reboot by Paramount+ and Nickelodeon Productions was announced to be in development in February 2021.
Mary Kay Bergman, Tara Strong, Jill Talley as Timmy Turner (2001-2017), Poof, Tad, Blonda, Princess Mandie and Britney-Britney
Daran Norris as Cosmo, Mr. Turner, Jorgen Von Strangle, Anti-Cosmo, The April Fool, George Washington and Grandpa Pappy
Susanne Blakeslee as Wanda, Mrs. Turner, Anti-Wanda, Mrs. Dinkleberg, and Ms. Sunshine
Carlos Alazraqui as Denzel Crocker, Juandissimo, Mayor, Chompy the Goat, and Sheldon Dinkleberg and Hank the Rhino
Grey DeLisle as Vicky, Tootie, Veronica Star, Chad, Principal Waxelplax, Tooth Fairy, Happy Peppy Betty and Ms. Sunshine/Doombringer
Frankie Muniz, Jason Marsden, Greg Cipes as Chester McBadbat (2001–2017), Imaginary Gary
Ibrahim Muhammad, Gary LeRoi Gray, Eddie Deezen as Ayor Jason (2001–2017)
Dee Bradley Baker as Elmer, Sanjay, Binky Abdul, The Bronze Kneecap, Thomas Jefferson, Remy Buxaplenty, Shallow-Grave, and Mr. Turner (as a kid)
Faith S. Abrahams, Phil Lamarr as Francis
Dionne Quan, Kath Soucie as Trixie Tang, Tina Tang
Rob Paulsen as Mark Chang, King Gripploun, Bucky McBadbat and Happy Peppy Gary
Jim Ward as Mr. Bickles, Doug Dimmadome, Vicky's Dad, Chet Ubetcha and Dr. Rip Studwell (Hard Copy)
Jane Carr, Lara Jill Miller, Kari Wahlgren as Mama Cosma
Tony Sirico as Big Daddy
Tom Kenny as Cupid
Kevin Michael Richardson as Dark Laser and Ayor Jason's Dad
Ben Stein as The Pixies
Chris Kirkpatrick as Chip Skylark
Adam West, Jeff Bennett as Himself, Catman
Jay Leno as the Crimson Chin and the Nega Chin
Gilbert Gottfried as Dr. Bender and Wendell
Robert Cait as Norm the Genie
Norm Macdonald as Norm the Genie
S. Scott Bullock as Flappy Bob
Method Man as Pixie Rapper
Alec Baldwin as Older Timmy
Steve Irwin as Bad Parent Hunter
Daisy Carson as Ayor Jason's Mom
Butch Hartman as Dr. Rip Studwell
Laraine Newman as Queen Jipjorrulac
Frank Welker as Doidle
Tom Arnold as Santa
Robert Costanzo as Easter Bunny
Diana DeGarmo as Cosmo's Singing Voice
Maddie Taylor as Sparky
Additional voices: Nika Futterman, Paget Brewster, Kimberly Brooks, Julia Louis Dreyfus, Lori Alan, Debi Derryberry, Jennifer Hale, Mo Collins, Cheri Oteri, Patton Oswalt, Mick Wingert, James Arnold Taylor, Richard Steven Horvitz, Crystal Scales, Carolyn Lawrence, Queen Latifah, Mary Hart, Pat Fraley, Lori Alan, Bobbi Page, Megan Cavanagh, Jessica J. Immanuel, Brendan Fraser, Alec Baldwin, Dana Carvey, Scott Hamilton, Heidi Klum, Amber Hood, Tress Macneille, Cara Ruyle Newman, Susan Yezzi, Dan Castellaneta, Billy West, Michael Dorn, Michael Clarke Duncan, Mark DeCarlo, Jeff Garlin, Scott Baio, Julie Chen Moonves, Tim Curry, Lauren Tom, Paul Rugg.
American television series revived after cancellation
2017 American television series endings
The Invasion of Poland in 1939 was a military offensive in which Nazi Germany and, two weeks later, the Soviet Union, invaded Poland.
The invasion was the start of World War II in Europe and took place from 1 September to 6 October 1939.
The invasion of Poland caused the United Kingdom and France to declare war on Germany on 3 September.
Both did little to affect the September Campaign.
In the end, Poland lost and was divided by Germany and the Soviet Union according to a treaty that had been signed years before the war.
It is often called the first time that blitzkrieg was tried on the battlefield, but similar methods had been used earlier.
The German surprise attack was successful and was very effective against the ineffective and demobilized Polish Army, whose tanks and airplanes were nearly broken and mostly old.
They were outflanked, outmaneuvered, and outnumbered in September 1939 and easily destroyed by the Blitzkrieg.
The Poles, if well prepared, could have had two million soldiers in the fight.
In the first few days of the German invasion, Poland proved to be more difficult than the Germans expected.
In the battle of Mokra on September 2, the Poles repulsed an attack by a German Panzer division forcing their retreat.
The German air force, unlike during the 7ü invasions of other countries, did not easily overcome the outnumbered Polish Air Force.
However, despirr,their great superiority in numbers they gained air superiority after 5 to 6 days.
Surrounded by German territories north, west, and south of Poland, the Poles had little space for tactical retreat.
The Germans reached Warsaw and attacked on September 7 but were repulsed.
They had suffered heavy tank losses and so were forced to retreat.
The Battle of Bzura, on September 9, was the largest attack by the Poles during the war.
The Poles had great initial success by decimating 2 German divisions and taking 3500 German prisoners.
Polish infantry fought well, but by September 19, overwhelming German reinforcements defeated the Poles.
The Poles realized the British and French were in a phoney war and had no intention of assisting Poland, and the Red Army invaded Poland from the east on September 17, the Polish high command ordered as many troops and equipment to the Romanian bridgehead to enter Romania with the intention to continue their resistance by moving as much of their army to France as possible.
Most of the Polish Navy escaped to Britain.
Polish cryptographers who had cracked the German Enigma (machine) went to France and then to Britain to continue their work.
Polish politicians set up a government-in-exile in France and later escaped to Britain.
In 1945, when the Allied armies invaded Germany, forcing their surrender, the Polish army was the fourth largest allied army.
World War 2 Online Newspaper Archives - The Invasion of Poland, 1939
The Campaign in Poland at WorldWar2 Database
Fall Weiß - The Fall of Poland
BBC portal dedicated to the start of WW II in Europe
German Invasion of Poland -Citizendium
Invasions of World War II
The Winter War (30 November 1939 - 13 March 1940) was a conflict fought between the Soviet Union and Finland.
It began when the Soviet Union tried to invade Finland soon after the Invasion of Poland.
The Soviet military forces expected a victory over Finland in a few weeks, because the Soviet army had many more tanks and planes than the Finnish army.
However, the Finnish forces resisted both better and longer than expected.
One reason the Finnish forces did better is because they had good winter clothes and they wore white coats which camouflaged them in the snow.
As well, the Finnish soldiers moved around on skis, which made it easy for them to sneak up on the Soviet soldiers.
The Soviet army did not have good winter clothes, and they wore dark green coats, which made them easy to see in the snow.
The defeated Finns had to give up 11% of their country.
They tried to get it back in the Continuation War.
1940 in Europe
20th century in Finland
For "joinery" in North American sense see: Woodworking joints
A joiner is a person who makes woodwork that is used for buildings.
That includes things that are called "Finish carpentry" and "millwork" in the United States.
Joiners make and install parts of building, for example doors, windows, stairs, wooden panelling, mouldings, shop cabinets, kitchen cabinets, and other wooden items.
The skills of a joiner are somewhat between a carpenter and a cabinetmaker.
Stairs, staircase, stairway, stairwell, and flight of stairs are all names for a construction designed to bridge a large vertical distance by dividing it into smaller vertical distances, called steps.
Stairways may be straight, round, or may consist of two or more straight pieces connected at angles.
Special stairways include escalators and ladders.
Alternatives to stairways are elevators and inclined moving sidewalks.
Components and terminology
tread - The part of the step that is stepped on.
It is constructed to the same specifications (thickness) as any other flooring.
The tread "length" is measured from the outer edge of the step to the vertical "riser" between steps.
riser - The vertical portion of the step between steps.
This may be missing for an "open" stair effect.
nosing - An edge part of the tread that protrudes from the riser beneath.
If it is present, this means that horizontally, the total "run" length of the stairs is not simply the sum of the tread lengths, the treads actually overlap each other slightly
bullnose - Where stairs are open on one or both sides, the first step above the lower floor may be wider than the other steps and rounded.
The rounded portion of the step is called a "bullnose".
A double bullnose can be used when both sides of the stairs are open.
winders - Winders are steps that are narrower on one side than the other.
They are used to change the direction of the stairs without landings.
A series of winders form a circular or spiral stairway.
When three steps are used to turn a 90° corner, the middle step is called a kite winder due to its similarity to a diamond-shaped kite.
stringer, stringer board or sometimes just string - The structural member that supports the treads.
There are typically two stringers, one on either side of the stairs; though the treads may be supported many other ways.
trim - Trim (e.g. quarter-round or baseboard trim) is normally applied where walls meet floors.
Within a flight of stairs there is no trim as the trim thickness will significantly eat into the tread width.
Shoe moulding may be used between the lower floor and the first riser.
Trimming a bullnose is a special challenge as the last riser above the lower floor is rounded.
Today, special flexible, plastic trim is available for this purpose.
Scotia is concave moulding that is underneath the nosing between the riser and the tread above it.
The railing system
banister, railing or handrail - The angled member for handholding, as distinguished from the vertical pickets which hold it up for stairs that are open on one side; there is often a railing on both sides, sometimes only on one side or not at all, on wide staircases there is sometimes also one in the middle, or even more.
The term "banister" is sometimes used to mean just the handrail, or sometimes the handrail and the balusters or sometimes just the balusters .
volute - A handrail for the bullnose step that is shaped like a spiral.
Volutes may be right or left-handed depending on which side of the stairs they occur when facing up the stairs.
turnout - Instead of a complete spiral volute, a turnout is a quarter-turn rounded end to the handrail.
gooseneck - The vertical handrail that joins a sloped handrail to a higher handrail on the balcony or landing is a gooseneck.
rosette - Where the handrail ends in the wall and a half-newel is not used, it may be trimmed by a rosette.
easings - Wall handrails are mounted directly onto the wall with wall brackets.
At the bottom of the stairs such railings flare to a horizontal railing and this horizontal portion is called a "starting easing".
At the top of the stairs, the horizontal portion of the railing is called a "over easing".
core rail - Wood handrails often have a metal core to provide extra strength and stiffness, especially when the rail has to curve against the grain of the wood.
The archaic term for the metal core is "core rail".
baluster - A term for the vertical pickets that hold the handrail.
Sometimes simply called guards or spindles.
Treads often require two balusters.
The second baluster is closer to the riser and is taller than the first.
The extra height in the second baluster is typically in the middle between decorative elements on the baluster.
That way the bottom decorative elements are aligned with the tread and the top elements are aligned with the railing angle.
However, this means the first and second balusters are manufactured separately and cannot be interchanged.
Balusters without decorative elements can be interchanged.
newel - A large picket or post used to anchor the handrail.
Since it is a structural element, it extends below the floor and subfloor to the bottom of the floor joists and is bolted right to the floor joist.
A half-newel may be used where a railing ends in the wall.
Visually, it looks like half the newel is embedded in the wall.
For open landings, a newel may extend below the landing for a decorative newel drop.
baserail or shoerail - For systems where the baluster does not start at the treads, they go to a baserail.
This allows for identical balusters, avoiding the second baluster problem.
fillet - A decorative filler piece on the floor between balusters on a balcony railing.
Handrails may be continuous (sometimes called over-the-post) or post-to-post (or more accurately ""newel-to-newel"").
For continuous handrails on long balconies, there may be multiple newels and tandem caps to cover the newels.
At corners, there are quarter-turn caps.
For post-to-post systems, the newels project above the handrails.
Another, more classical, form of handrailing which is still in use is the Tangent method.
A variant of the Cylindric method of layout, it allows for continuous climbing and twisting rails and easings.
It was originally defined from principles set down by architect Peter Nicholson in the 18th century.
Other terminology
balcony - For stairs with an open concept upper floor or landing, the upper floor is functionally a balcony.
flight - A flight is an uninterrupted series of steps.
floating stairs - A flight of stairs is said to be "floating" if there is nothing underneath.
The risers are typically missing as well to emphasize the open effect.
There may be only one stringer or the stringers otherwise minimized.
Where building codes allow, there may not even be handrails.
landing or platform - A landing is, structurally, an intermediate floor between flights of stairs.
It is typically used to allow stairs to change directions, or to allow the user a rest.
As landings consume floor space and are structurally floors, they can be quite expensive to build.
However, changing the direction of the stairs allows stairs to fit where they would not otherwise, or provides privacy to the upper level as visitors downstairs cannot simply look up the stairs to the upper level due to the change in direction.
runner - Carpetting that runs down the middle of the stairs.
Runners may be directly stapled or nailed to the stairs, or may be secured by specialized bar that holds the carpet in place where the tread meets the riser.
spandrel - If there is not another flight of stairs immediately underneath, the triangular space underneath the stairs is called a "spandrel".
It is frequently used as a closet.
stairwell - This is the space in the building where the stairs are constructed.
This may need special structural design so that the floors around the stairwell do not require structural walls so that the stairs themselves are open to the floors.
staircase - This term is often reserved for the stairs themselves: the steps, railings and landings; though often it is used interchangeably with "stairs" and "stairway".
stairway - This term is often reserved for the entire stairwell and staircase in combination; though often it is used interchangeably with "stairs" and "staircase".
The rise height of each step is measured from the top of one tread to the next.
It is not the physical height of the riser; the latter excludes the thickness of the tread.
The tread depth or length is measured from the edge of the nosing to the vertical riser.
It is sometimes called the going.
The total run of the stairs is the horizontal distance from the first riser to the last riser.
It is often not simply the sum of the individual tread lengths due to the nosing overlapping between treads.
The total rise of the stairs is the height between floors (or landings) that the flight of stairs is spanning.
The slope of the stairs is the total rise divided by the total run (not the individual riser and treads due to the nosing).
It is sometimes called the rake or pitch of the stairs.
The pitch line is the imaginary line along the tip of the nosing of the treads.
Headroom is the height above the nosing of a tread to the ceiling above it.
Walkline - For curved stairs, the inner radius of the curve may result in very narrow treads.
The "walkline" is the imaginary line some distance away from the inner edge on which people are expected to walk.
Building code will specify the distance.
Building codes will then specify the minimum tread size at the walkline.
To avoid confusion, the number of steps in a set of stairs is always the number of risers, not the number of treads.
Examples of notable stairways
The longest stairway is listed by Guinness Book of Records as the service stairway for the Niesenbahn funicular railway near Spiez, Switzerland, with 11,674 steps and a height of 1669 m (5476 ft).
The stairs are strictly employee-only.
The Haiku Stairs, on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, are approximately 4,000 steps which climb nearly 1/2 of a mile.
Originally used to access longwire radio antennas which were strung high above the Haiku Valley, between Honolulu and Kaneohe, they are currently closed to hikers.
The Penrose stairs, devised by Lionel and Roger Penrose, are a famous impossible object.
The image distorts perspective in such a manner that the stairs appear to be never-ending, a physical impossibility.
The image was adopted by M. C. Escher in his iconic lithograph Ascending and Descending.
Minas Gerais () is one of the 26 states of Brazil.
It has the second highest number of people.
It has the fourth largest area.
The capital is the city of Belo Horizonte, near the center of the state.
The name means "General mines".
Minas Gerais was formed mainly by colonists searching for gold, gemstones and diamonds.
Minas Gerais is in the west of the southeastern part of Brazil.
That area also has the states of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Espírito Santo.
Minas Gerais shares borders with Bahia and Goiás (north), Mato Grosso do Sul (far west), the states of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro (south) and the state of Espírito Santo (east).
It also shares a short border with the Brazilian Federal District.
Even though it is not the largest state in Brazil, Minas Gerais is the state with the most cities.
Of the more than 5,500 municipalities in Brazil, Minas has more than 850 of them.
The most important ones are the capital Belo Horizonte, Contagem, Betim, Ribeirão das Neves, Juiz de Fora, Montes Claros, Uberlândia and Ouro Preto.
Ceará is one of the 26 states of Brazil.
It is in the northeastern part of the country, on the Atlantic coast.
Ceará has many beaches, which brings a lot of tourism.
Ceará has an area of 148,016 km².
It shares borders on the east by the states of Rio Grande do Norte and Paraíba, on the south by Pernambuco state, and on the west by Piauí.
Its northern border is the Atlantic Ocean.
Its capital is Fortaleza.
Tourism guide Ceará
Fortaleza Tourism guide and maps
Espírito Santo is one of the states of southeastern Brazil.
It is often referred to as "ES".
The capital of ES is Vitória and its largest city is Vila Velha.
Those who are born in the state are known as "Capixabas", but the more correct word is "Espiritossantenses".
The name means "holy spirit" after the Holy Ghost of Christianity.
This Brazilian state is in the southeastern subdivision of Brazil, which also contains the states of São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro.
It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean (east), the state of Bahia (north), the state of Minas Gerais (north and west), and the state of Rio de Janeiro (south).
Espírito Santo's other main cities are Cachoeiro de Itapemirim, Colatina, Linhares, São Mateus and Aracruz.
At , it is about the size of Estonia.
The state has many different types of habitats, for example coastal planes, lakes, mountain forest and mangroves.
The islands of Trindade and Martim Vaz,  east of Vitória in the Southern Atlantic Ocean, are also a part of Espirito Santo state.
Goiás is a state of Brazil.
It is in the central part of the country.
It shares borders with Tocantins, Bahia, Minas Gerais, the Federal District, Mato Grosso do Sul and Mato Grosso.
The capital and largest city in the state is Goiânia.
With an area of 341,289 km², Goiás is about the size of the Republic of the Congo; smaller than Germany and larger than Finland.
There are 246 municipalities in Goiás.
The top 15 cities in order by number of people (est.
01/07/2005) are:
Goiânia (1,201,006)
Aparecida de Goiânia (435,234)
Anápolis (313,412)
Luziânia (180,227)
Águas Lindas de Goiás (159,294)
Rio Verde (133,231)
Valparaíso de Goiás (119,493)
Trindade (95,300)
Planaltina de Goiás (94,717)
Novo Gama (93,081)
Formosa (90,247)
Itumbiara (85,724)
Jataí (76,100)
Senador Canedo (71,399)
Catalão (70,574)
Maranhão is one of the states of Brazil.
It is in the northeastern region of the country.
To the north is the coast of the Atlantic Ocean.
Maranhão shares borders with Piauí, Tocantins and Pará.
In the 19th century, the state used plantation slaves to produce cotton for Europe.
Major cities in the state besides the state capital São Luís are Imperatriz, Timon, and Caxias.
The Alcantara spaceport is in the north of the state, not far from São Luís.
Mato Grosso is one of the states of Brazil.
It is in the western part of the country.
Mato Grosso shares borders with the states of Rondônia, Amazonas, Pará, Tocantins, Goiás and Mato Grosso do Sul.
It also borders the country Bolivia to the southwest.
The name, Mato Grosso, means "thick jungle".
Mato Grosso is the state in Brazil in which the most deforestation of Brazil's part of the Amazon Rainforest has happened.
In 1977, the state was split into two halves.
This created the new state Mato Grosso do Sul.
The Bororo Indians live in the Mato Grosso area.
There are few cities.
Cuiabá, the capital
Hassium is a very radioactive and unstable chemical element.
It has the symbol Hs and it has the atomic number 108.
It is a superheavy transuranium element.
Hassium is a radioactive element that does not exist in nature.
Hassium was first made in 1984.
and eka-osmium.
The element was named from the Latin name for the German state of Hessen.
Hessen is the state that the Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung is in.
Before it was named Hassium, scientists could not decide what the name should be and there was an element naming controversy.
The temporary IUPAC systematic element name was unniloctium meaning "one-zero-eight-ium" refering to its atomic number.
The symbol with the name was Uno.
In 1994 a committee of IUPAC recommended that element 108 be named hahnium.
The name hassium was adopted internationally in 1997.
Isotope 270 of Hassium was found in December 2006.
An international team of scientists led by the Technical University of Munich discovered it.
It is a doubly magic isotope and it has a long half-life of 22 seconds.
Scientists had thought that heavy and stable isotopes should exist.
Some theories said Hassium-270 may be part of an island of stability.
Hassium can oxidise like osmium, the element above it in the periodic table, into hassium tetroxide.
Chemists found that is less volatile than osmium tetroxide.
WebElements.com - Hassium
Apsidium - Hs
Roraima is one of the states of Brazil.
It shares borders with the states of Pará and Amazonas, as well as the countries Venezuela and Guyana.
Roraima is both the northernmost and least populated state of Brazil.
The climate is tropical with an average temperature of 26 °C.
Most of the state is in the Amazon rainforest.
A small part of the state is a small strip of savanna to the east.
The state has many mineral deposits - especially gold, diamonds, cassiterite, bauxite and copper.
These create constant fights with the native people.
The Yanomami are the most well-known of the native people, but they are greatly out-numbered by the Macuxi.
In 1943, the federal government separated the area from the state Amazonas.
The territory was first named Rio Branco after the main river.
In 1962, it was renamed "Roraima."
In 1988, it became a state.
The name of the state was taken from Monte Roraima, whose name comes from the Pemon words roroi (cyan) and ma (large).
State government website
Santa Catarina is a state in Southern Brazil.
It has with one of the highest standards of living in the country.
Its capital is Florianópolis, which partly lies on the Santa Catarina Island.
Santa Catarina shares borders with the states of Rio Grande do Sul to the south and Paraná to the north.
It is bordered on the east by the Atlantic Ocean, and to the west it borders the province of Misiones, Argentina.
Santa Catarina is the most European state of Brazil.
Most of the people that live there are descendants of Portuguese, German and Italian immigrants.
European colonies began with the Spanish settlement of Santa Catarina island in 1542.
The Portuguese took control in 1675.
The captaincy of Santa Catarina was created in 1738.
Large numbers of European immigrants, especially from Germany, began arriving in the early 19th century.
Immigrants from Italy, Poland, Russia, Ukraine, Japan and other parts of Europe later came.
This led to many small, family held farms in the state.
In late March 2004, the state was hit by the first ever hurricane recorded in the South Atlantic.
Because there is no naming system for such an event in Brazil, Brazilian meteorologists called it Catarina, after the state.
92% white
German (35%);
Italian (30%);
Portuguese (22%);
5% others (Polish, Russian, Norwegian, etc.)
8% other
Santa Catarina is one of the Brazilian states that shows the most signs of recent European colonization.
Most of the population are descendants of European settlers.
The Portuguese started arriving in the 1750s.
The came mainly from the Azores islands, and colonized the coast.
In the late 18th century, half of Santa Catarina's population was Portuguese-born.
These Portuguese created many important towns of the State, such as Florianópolis, the capital.
Germans started arriving in 1828.
They were peasants that came to Brazil to get their own lands.
They did this since Germany had many people and many people had no lands to work.
German immigration was very low, until the 1850s, when many Germans started arriving in Southern Brazil.
To create more German colonization in Southern Brazil, the Brazilian government created many German colonies.
Many of these German colonies became big towns, such as Blumenau and Joinville,  the largest city in Santa Catarina.
Germans had kept to themselves in these communities for decades.
They did not have much contact with other people of Brazil.
For generations they were able to speak German and keep their German traditions in Brazil.
This changed in the 1930s, when Brazil declared war against Germany in 1942.
The German immigrants learned Portuguese and followed a Brazilian way of life.
Nowadays, the German influence in the State of Santa Catarina is still very strong.
Many towns still have many parts of the German culture.
For example, Pomerode is a small town where 90% of the people are German-Brazilian.
Most of the people speak German fluently.
Another example is the Oktoberfest of Blumenau and many other towns in the region.
The architecture and food also show German influence.
Italian settlers started arriving in Santa Catarina in 1875.
They came in large numbers until the 1910s.
They were peasants from Northern Italy.
They created Italian colonies close to the coast.
In the beginning, the Italian settlement had failed.
This was because many Italians died of tropical diseases or left the colonies to find better conditions.
However, in southern Santa Catarina, they found cooler weather and better lands, and the colonies did very well.
Many Italians worked in the coal industry.
1542 establishments
A trail is a pedestrian path or road mainly used for walking, but often also for cycling, cross-country skiing or other activities.
Some trails are off-limits to everyone other than hikers, and few trails allow motorized vehicles.
In Australia, the word track can be used interchangeably with trail, and can refer to anything from a dirt road to a pedestrian walkway (generally also unpaved).
The term "trail" gained popularity during World War II, when many servicemen from the United States were stationed in Australia, which probably influenced its being adopted by elements of the Australian media at the time (see Kokoda Track).
In New Zealand, the word track is used almost exclusively except in reference to cross-country skiing, where trail is used.
Trail types and use
Walking trails
Trail use has become very popular for a wide variety of users.
Some trails are meant as nature trails, and are used by people learning about the natural world.
Many trails are day trails, what means that they are generally used by people out for a short hike, less than a day.
Some trails are backpacking trails, or long-distance trails, and are used by both day hikers and by backpackers.
Some of the trails are over a thousand miles (1,500 km) long and may be hiked in sections by backpackers, or completed in one trip by dedicated hikers.
Some trails are specifically used by other outdoor enthusiasts to gain access to another feature, such as good climbing sites.
Many runners also favor running on trails rather than pavement, as giving a more vigorous work-out and better developing agility skills, as well as providing a more pleasant exercise environment.
See trail running.
Stairway Trails
Stairway is another way to ascend higher slopes.
Stairway trails are usually for walking only.
The stairs are constructed using cuts in dirt, rocks or concrete.
Popular stairway trails include Stairway Trails in Bernal Heights East - San Francisco, Stairs at many hill top Hindu temple (Tirumala, Palani) used during Pilgrimage & Machu Picchu.
Recent decades have seen an explosion of interest in cycling, both street-type and off-road type.
A common term for these facilities is simply "bike trail".
These trails may be built to a different set of standards than foot trails, requiring more stable, harder surfaces, less strenuous grades, longer sight visibility, and less sharp changes in direction.
On the other hand, the cross-slope of a bike trail may be significantly greater than a foot trail, and the actual treadway may be narrower in some cases.
Equestrian trails
Horseback riding has continued to be a popular activity for many trail users.
Again, horse trails must be built to different standards than other trails.
Sight distance is an important issue with horse trails, as is overhead and side clearance.
While trail surface types are a relatively unimportant issue with hikers, they may be an important issue with horses.
Motorized trails
Motorized trail use also remains very popular with some people.
Such terms as ORV, four-wheeling, all-terrain vehicle, and others actually have highly specific meanings.
Inca trail to Machu Picchu one of the oldest
Slackpacker.com - designed to provide convenient access to websites with hiking and backpacking trail maps, descriptions, journals, trip reports, and photographs.
Wiki dedicated to trail guides and community  Hiking, Biking, Riding and Driving trails
WikiWalki - Member submitted hiking trails with maps
IMBA.com - Trailbuilding Resources Information on building and managing shared use and bike specific trails.
The Pardoner's Prologue and Tale is a story that is a part of The Canterbury Tales by English writer, Geoffrey Chaucer.
About the Pardoner
The Pardoner had hair as yellow as wax which fell on his head smoothly wisp by wisp.
He has piercing black eyes and his face was as smooth as he had just shaved.
He had a thin and feeble voice yet he was hardly an old spiritual man.
Although the Pardoner was a priest he lived a life that was far from the word of Jesus Christ.
He often broke many of the seven deadly sins including greed, gluttony, and pride.
He earned a living through preaching and selling fake relics to his supporters.
He lies to people and promises them salvation and prosperity for a price.
He has even taken money from a poor widow with starving children in order buy himself more luxuries.
The Tale Begins
The host asks the Pardoner to tell a happy story after the sad tale that the Franklin told.
The other people object to this and hope that he will tell a tale that is rich in morals.
The tale
He starts his tale by talking about three young men who, like him, do sinful things like drink alcohol and sleep with young women.
The Pardoner goes on to talk about the sins of the men in detail especially gambling, drunkenness, and gluttony.
These three young men are rioters from the town of Flanders.
One night the three drunken men were at a tavern when they saw a corpse being carried to a grave.
They ask who had died and find out it is one of their friends who has been killed by a murderous thief named "Death".
The three men plan to avenge their friend's death and kill Death themselves.
On their way to find Death they see an old man that says Death will not take him even in his old age and suffering.
The man says that he had left Death under an oak tree and that he was sure to still be there.
They run to the tree and instead of seeing Death, they see lots of gold under the tree.
They want to bring the gold back under the cover of night so that nobody will think they have stolen it.
They sat down and sent the youngest to fetch 3 pies and 3 bottles of wine.
The remaining two come up with a plan to kill the third when he comes back so that the money could be split between only the two of them.
At the same time the third man has the same thoughts as the other two and wants to have all of the money for himself.
So he went and bought poison and poured it between the two bottles making sure he kept an un-poisoned bottle for himself.
When he got back the other two men jumped out and killed the third man.
But in celebration they decide to drink the wine unknowing that the poison was still in the wine, the choked to death due to the poison.
The irony in this story has to do with the person telling it.
The pardoner himself is a greedy man, but he goes on saying that greed is the root of all evil.
A drawing of the Pardoner
Final Fantasy XII is a fantasy role-playing video game for the Playstation 2.
It was released in 2006 by Square Enix.
Final Fantasy XII has six characters you can play as: Vaan, an orphan who wants to be a sky pirate; Ashe, a princess; Basch, who is charged with killing the King; Balthier, a sky pirate who has an airship called the Strahl; Fran, Balthier's friend and Penelo, who has been Vaan's "friend" since they were little children.
Final Fantasy XII takes place in Dalmasca.
Princess Ashe of Dalmasca and Prince Rasler of Nabradia had been married for a short time when the Archadian Empire invaded Dalmasca.
A war started thereafter, and Archadia took over Dalmasca in no time, for the small country of Dalmasca stood no chance against the massive Archadian Empire.
While the war was going on, Prince Rasler died, leaving Princess Ashe alone.
The king of Dalmasca, Ashe's father, decided to surrender  to Archadia, clinging to dreams of peace.
However, Archadia's ruler wanted him dead as soon as the treaty was signed.
Knights from Dalmasca tried to rescue him, but one of the captain of the knights, Basch, was replaced by his twin brother, who then killed king Raminas of Dalmasca, and the main character's older brother Reks.
Basch's twin brother is a "Judge" who works for Archadia.
The real Basch is accused of high treason and is supposedly killed.
Princess Ashe went into hiding afterwards, and was deemed dead.