Spirograph Spirograph Spirograph set (early 1980s UK version) Inventor Official website Spirograph is a geometric drawing toy that produces mathematical roulette curves of the variety technically known as hypotrochoids and epitrochoids . It was developed by British engineer Denys Fisher and first sold in 1965. The name has been a registered trademark of Hasbro Inc. since 1998 following purchase of the company that had acquired the Denys Fisher company. The Spirograph brand was relaunched with original product configurations in the USA in 2013 by Kahootz Toys and in Europe by Goldfish and Bison. Contents 6 External links History The mathematician Bruno Abakanowicz invented the Spirograph between 1881 and 1900. It was used for calculating an area delimited by curves. [1] Drawing toys based on gears have been around since at least 1908, when The Marvelous Wondergraph was advertised in the Sears catalog . [2] [3] An article describing how to make a Wondergraph drawing machine appeared in the Boys Mechanic publication in 1913.

[4] The Spirograph itself was developed by the British engineer Denys Fisher , who exhibited at the 1965 Nuremberg International Toy Fair . It was subsequently produced by his company. US distribution rights were acquired by Kenner , Inc., which introduced it to the United States market in 1966 and promoted it as a creative children’s toy. In 2013 the Spirograph brand was re-launched in the USA by Kahootz Toys and in Europe by Goldfish and Bison with products that returned to the use of the original gears and wheels. The modern products use removable putty in place of pins or are held down by hand to keep the stationary pieces in place on the paper. The Spirograph was a 2014 Toy of the Year finalist in 2 categories, almost 50 years after the toy was named Toy of the Year in 1967. Operation Animation of a Spirograph Several Spirograph designs drawn with a Spirograph set using multiple different colored pens The original US-released Spirograph consisted of two different-sized plastic rings, with gear teeth on both the inside and outside of their circumferences.

They were pinned to a cardboard backing with pins, and any of several provided gearwheels, which had holes provided for a ballpoint pen to extend through them to an underlying paper writing surface. It could be spun around to make geometric shapes on the underlying paper medium. Later, the Super-Spirograph consisted of a set of plastic gears and other interlocking shape-segments such as rings, triangles, or straight bars. It has several sizes of gears and shapes, and all edges have teeth to engage any other piece. For instance, smaller gears fit inside the larger rings, but also can engage the outside of the rings in such a fashion that they rotate around the inside or along the outside edge of the rings. Kenner also introduced Spirotot, Magnetic Spirograph, Spiroman and various refill sets. [5] To use it, a sheet of paper is placed on a heavy cardboard backing, and one of the plastic pieces—known as a stator —is secured via pins or reusable adhesive to the paper and cardboard. Another plastic piece—called the rotor—is placed so that its teeth engage with those of the pinned piece. For example, a ring may be pinned to the paper and a small gear placed inside the ring.

The number of arrangements possible by combining different gears is very large. The point of a pen is placed in one of the holes of the rotor. As the rotor is moved, the pen traces out a curve. The pen is used both to draw and to provide locomotive force; some practice is required before the Spirograph can be operated without inadvertently disengaging the stator and rotor, particularly when using the holes situated near the edge of the larger rotors. More intricate and unusual-shaped patterns may be made through the use of both hands, one to draw and one to guide the pieces. It is possible to move several pieces in relation to each other (say, the triangle around the ring, with a circle “climbing” from the ring onto the triangle), but this requires concentration or even assistance from other people. Pens of various colors were frequently included with the sets, or one could obtain them elsewhere, to add texture and color to the design by switching colors in a set pattern or a random fashion, as seen in the image above.

Mathematical basis Consider a fixed outer circle C mathematics | Clear Circle Clear Circle Magic circle Magic circles were invented by the Song Dynasty (960–1279) Chinese mathematician Yang Hui (c. 1238–1298). It is the arrangement of natural numbers on circles where the sum of the numbers on each circle and the sum of numbers on diameter are identical. One of his magic circles was constructed from 33 natural numbers from 1 to 33 arranged on four circles , with 9 at the center.

Yang Hui’s magic circle has the following properties The sum of the numbers on four diameters = 147， 28 + 5 + 11 + 25 + 9 + 7 + 19 + 31 + 12 = 147 The sum of 8 numbers plus 9 at the center =147; 28 + 27 + 20 + 33 + 12 + 4 + 6 + 8 + 9 = 147 The sum of eight radius without 9 =magic number 69: such as 27 + 15 + 3 + 24 = 69 The sum of all numbers on each circle (not including 9) = 2 × 69 There exist 8 semicircles, where the sum of numbers = magic number 69; there are 16 line segments(semi circles and radii) with magic number 69, more than a 6 order magic square with only 12 magic numbers.

Yang Hui’s magic square was published in his Xugu Zhaiqi Suanfa《續古摘奇算法》 (Sequel to Excerpts of Mathematical Wonders) of 1275. Ding Yidong was a mathematician contemporary with Yang Hui, in his 6th order magic circle with 6 rings, the 5 out rings have connection with a 3rd order magic square: the unit number of the 8 numbers on any ring form a 3rd order magic square. Spirograph Spirograph is a geometric drawing toy that produces mathematical curves of the variety technically known as hypotrochoids and epitrochoids. The term has also been used to describe a variety of software applications that display similar curves, and applied to the class of curves that can be produced with the drawing equipment (so in this sense it may be regarded as a synonym of hypotrochoid). The name is a registered trademark of Hasbro, Inc. The Spirograph was invented by British engineer Denys Fisher who exhibited it in 1965 at the Nuremberg International Toy Fair. It was subsequently produced by his company.

Distribution rights were acquired by Kenner, Inc., which introduced it to the United States’ market in 1966. A Spirograph consists of a set of plastic gears and other shapes such as rings, triangles, or straight bars. There are several sizes of gears and shapes, and all edges have teeth to engage any other piece. For instance, smaller gears fit inside the larger rings, but also can engage the outside of the rings in such a fashion that they rotate around the inside or along the outside edge of the rings. To use it, a sheet of paper is placed on a heavy cardboard backing, and one of the plastic pieces is pinned to the paper and cardboard. Another plastic piece is placed so that its teeth engage with those of the pinned piece. For example, a ring may be pinned to the paper and a small gear placed inside the ring – the actual number of arrangements possible by combining different gears is very large. The point of a pen is placed in one of the holes in the moving piece. As the moving part is moved the pen traces out a curve. The pen is used both to draw and provide locomotive force; some practice is required before Spirograph can be operated without disengaging the fixed and moving pieces.

More intricate and unusual-shaped patterns may be made through the use of both hands, one to draw and one to guide the pieces. It is possible to move several pieces in relation to each other (say, the triangle around the ring, with a circle “climbing” from the ring onto the triangle), but this requires concentration or even additional assistance from other artists. Epicycloid In geometry, an epicycloid is a plane curve produced by tracing the path of a chosen point of a circle — called an epicycle — which rolls without slipping around a fixed circle. It is a particular kind of roulette. If the smaller circle has radius r, and the larger circle has radius R = kr, then the parametric equations for the curve can be given by either: or: If k is an integer, then the curve is closed, and has k cusps (i.e., sharp corners, where the curve is not differentiable). If k is a rational number, say k=p/q expressed in simplest terms, then the curve has p cusps. If k is an irrational number, then the curve never closes, and fills the space between the larger circle and a circle of radius R + 2r.

Vitruvian Man The Vitruvian Man is a world-renowned drawing created by Leonardo da Vinci around the year 1487 It is accompanied by notes based on the work of Vitruvius. The drawing, which is in pen and ink on paper, depicts a nude male figure in two superimposed positions with his arms and legs apart and simultaneously inscribed in a circle and square. The drawing and text are sometimes called theCanon of Proportions or, less often, Proportions of Man. It is stored in the Gallerie dell’Accademia in Venice, Italy, and, like most works on paper, is displayed only occasionally.[2][3] The drawing is based on the correlations of ideal human proportions with geometry described by the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius in Book III of his treatise De Architectura. Vitruvius described the human figure as being the principal source of proportion among the Classical orders of architecture. Other artists had attempted to depict the concept, with less success. The drawing is traditionally named in honour of the architect. This image exemplifies the blend of art and science during the Renaissance and provides the perfect example of Leonardo’s keen interest in proportion.

In addition, this picture represents a cornerstone of Leonardo’s attempts to relate man to nature. Encyclopaedia Britannica online states, “Leonardo envisaged the great picture chart of the human body he had produced through his anatomical drawings and Vitruvian Man as a cosmografia del minor mondo (cosmography of the microcosm). He believed the workings of the human body to be an analogy for the workings of the universe.” It is also believed by some[who?] that Leonardo symbolized the material existence by the square and spiritual existence by the circle.

Thus he attempted to depict the correlation between these two aspects of human existence.[4] According to Leonardo’s notes in the accompanying text, written in mirror writing, it was made as a study of the proportions of the (male) human body as described in Vitruvius, who wrote that in the human body: a palm is the width of four fingers a foot is the width of four palms (i.e., 12 inches) a cubit is the width of six palms a pace is four cubits a man’s height is four cubits (and thus 24 palms) the length of a man’s outspread arms is equal to his height the distance from the hairline to the bottom of the chin is one-tenth of a man’s height the distance from the top of the head to the bottom of the chin is one-eighth of a man’s height the distance from the bottom of the neck to the hairline is one-sixth of a man’s height the maximum width of the shoulders is a quarter of a man’s height the distance from the middle of the chest to the top of the head is a quarter of a man’s height the distance from the elbow to the tip of the hand is one-fourth of a man’s height the

 distance from the elbow to the armpit is one-eighth of a man’s height the length of the hand is one-tenth of a man’s height the distance from the bottom of the chin to the nose is one-third of the length of the head the distance from the hairline to the eyebrows is one-third of the length of the face the length of the ear is one-third of the length of the face the length of a man’s foot is one-sixth of his height Tree of life The concept of a many-branched tree illustrating the idea that all life on earth is related has been used in science, religion, philosophy, mythology and other areas.

A tree of life is variously, a) a mystical concept alluding to the interconnectedness of all life on our planet, b) a metaphor for common descent in the evolutionary sense, and c) a motif in various world theologies, mythologies and philosophies.Various trees of life are recounted in folklore, culture and fiction, often relating to immortality or fertility. They had their origin in religious symbolism. picture: A Tree of Life, in the form of ten interconnected nodes, is an important part of the Kabbalah . As such, it resembles the ten Sephirot . Small circle A small circle of a sphere is the circle constructed by a plane crossing the sphere not in its center. Small circles always have smaller diameters than the sphere itself (compare great circle). Small circles cannot be parallel, because parallelism doesn’t exist in spherical geometry. They may look parallel but they are no more parallel than concentric circles on a plane. The small circle does not have the smallest curvature and hence, a segment on its circumference does not represent the shortest path between two points on a spherical surface.

Except for 90 Degrees North or South and the Equator, all parallels of latitude upon the Earth are small circles (or at least close approximations, as the Earth varies from a true sphere to a relatively minor extent). An observer standing on such a circle and viewing its path toward an unobstructed horizon, would perceive it to bend away from his line of sight, an effect of the inequality between the amount of curvature to his left and right. By contrast, all meridians of longitude are great circles. Great circles A great circle of a sphere is a circle that runs along the surface of that sphere so as to cut it into two equal halves. The great circle therefore has both the same circumference and the same center as the sphere. It is the largest circle that can be drawn on a given sphere. Great circles serve as the analogue of “straight lines” in spherical geometry. See also spherical trigonometry and geodesic. The great circle, also known as the Riemannian circle, is the path with the smallest curvature, and hence, an arc (or an orthodrome) of a great circle is the shortest path between two points on the surface.

The distance between any two points on a sphere is therefore known as the great-circle distance. The great-circle route is the shortest path between two points on a sphere; however, if one were to travel along such a route, it would be difficult to steer manually as the heading would constantly be changing (except in the case of due north, south, or along the equator). Thus, Great Circle routes are often broken into a series of shorter Rhumb lines which allow the use of constant headings between waypoints along the Great Circle. When long distance aviation or nautical routes are drawn on a flat map (for instance, the Mercator projection), they often look curved. This is because they lie on great circles. A route that would look like a straight line on the map would actually be longer. An exception is the gnomonic projection, in which all straight lines represent great circles. On the Earth, the meridians are on great circles, and the equator is a great circle. Other lines of latitude are not great circles, because they are smaller than the equator; their centers are not at the center of the Earth — they are small circles instead.

Great circles on Earth are roughly 40,000 km in length, though the Earth is not a perfect sphere; for instance, the equator is 40,075 km. Some examples of great circles on the celestial sphere include the horizon (in the astronomical sense), the celestial equator, and the ecliptic. Great circle routes are used by ships and aircraft where currents and winds are not a significant factor. For aircraft traveling west between continents in the northern hemisphere these paths will extend northward near or into the Arctic region, while easterly flights will often fly a more southerly track to take advantage of the jet stream. Spirograph | Circle | Toys Spirograph Read on Scribd mobile: iPhone , iPad and Android . Copyright: © All Rights Reserved This action might not be possible to undo. Are you sure you want to continue? CANCEL We've moved you to where you read on your other device. Get the full title to continue Get the full title to continue reading from where you left off, or restart the preview. Restart preview The McCarty Metro - A Blast From The Past Lt. Arthur Malcolm: Ward Wood Lt. George Kramer: Larry Linville Lt. Adam Tobias: Robert Reed Lt.

Daniel Ives: Jack Ging Toby Fair: Mark Stewart Lou Wickersham: Joseph Campanella Mannix was a weekly telvision series which began its appearance on September 7, 1967 and remained at CBS until August 24, 1975 with 154 episodes being filmed. During the first season Joe Mannix, played by Mike Connors, worked as a detective for Intertect, a computerized private detective agency. Stories follow the format of Mannix being a loner who constantly goes against the rules and regulations of the detective organization. Lou Wickersham, his boss who believes in the computerized and scientific methods of solving cases, is against Joe's approach to solving cases. The second season Mannix has his own detective agency in the same building he lived. He hired secretary Peggy Fair, the wife of a cop friend of his who was killed in the line of duty. Lt. Adam Tobias of the Los Angeles police department became Mannix's friend and contact on the police force. The series dealt with many high-speed car chase scenes and fisticuffs as Mannix solves case after case each week.

METRO ARCHIVES - MARCH 2001 BLAST FROM THE PAST Let's see how many of these things you remember from when the McCarty Metro was in its' first few years and how they differ from the past few years. Do you remember publishing the paper under the basement steps with carbon paper. Speaking of basements, the dark game and the flashlight game, and foot hockey were fun ways to get hurt. The smell the first time the oil burning furnace went on in the fall. Burning leaves... heck... burning trash too. Going to the drugstore to test vacuum tubes for the TV. Kool-Aid being the only drink for kids, other than milk and pop. Speaking of pop... one word TICO. The only question about buying tennis shoes was High top and Low top? Wearing leather shoes to school. Girls wearing dresses. The TV taking five minutes to warm up. Getting your haircut at the kitchen table. Mom always being there when you get home. Every dog anyone owned was a mutt... Speaking of mutts... REX. A 16 cent allowance would buy a sandwich bag full of candy.

Getting a quarter under your pillow when you lost a tooth had you envisioning being rich if you pulled all your teeth out (Larry even did it). A 2 cent bottle deposit had you picking up the filthiest trash in the alleys. Going to the gas station and getting your windshield cleaned, oil checked, and gas pumped, without asking, free, every time. And you got trading stamps to boot! The cost of joining the Detroit parks softball league... 10 cents. When laundry detergent had free glasses, dishes or towels hidden inside the box. When any parent could discipline any kid, or feed him, or use him to carry groceries, and nobody, not even the kid, thought a thing of it. When it was considered a great privilege to be taken out to dinner at a real restaurant with your parents. When they threatened to keep kids back a grade if they failed--and did! When being sent to the principal's office was nothing compared to the fate that awaited a misbehaving student at home. Ain't today just great???? KATHLENE'S BOOK CORNER As a mother, I've read books and books about Child Discipline. I've heard recommendations from Dr. Laura to Dr.

Spock and believe me that none of them have been as successful as Mom McCarty's new book. The book is titled "Timeout my Ass, just sit on your chair!" The book has changed the way I'm raising my kids. Some of the chapters are: When to call the Bad Boys Home How to Hit your kid without hurting your hand Using the Streetlights as a curfew Imposing the Quarter Fine for Smiling How to Say the Rosary between Hockey Periods So Order Mom McCarty's book now, Just send $8.95. DATELINE LENT: by Kristen These were the top 10 dinner choices by McCartys on the first Friday in Lent. Please note that most of the names are left out to protect the sinners. 10. Fish & Chips (how boring) 9. Cheese Sticks (yawnï¿½) 8. Cheese burger (okay, now we're talking - apparently, Brad has special dispensation) 7. Grilled Chicken (don't mess with the Post Office) 6. Oriental Chicken Salad (Actually, the Clinton Township McCarty's all had special dispensation) 5.

Chicken Wrap (yeah, but I'm not a Catholic) 4. Another Fish & Chips (The angelic son) 3. Cheese Sticks & French Fries - with an appetizer of cheese sticks (hope the plumbing can handle that one) 2. Kids burger & fries (According to Steve, Megan is too young to participate) 1. Beef Brisket w/a side of bacon (Mum forgot it was lent, and we weren't saying anything) DATELINE HOLLYWOOD Jerry, Kathlene, and an alien dressed all in gold, showed up at the Academy Awards. The Metro just wants to know one thing... Jer... Who did you wear? DATELINE MUSIC WORLD Several unsubstantiated Cockroach sightings have occurred after the rumor mill hit that there may be a movie in Hollywood depicting the lives of the washed-up band. First from L.A... Someone saw what they thought was a drunken Brad Savage and Eric Swan in a hot tub singing Cockroach Party. A couple weeks later, patrons of Per Snickitez restaurant in Clinton Township say they saw Brad Savage singing some tunes with "Original Dave" in the popular night spot.

In other spottings over the week, Bob Dantzer and Carl Rollin were seen at Kokomo's in Mt. Clemens, Lake Speed was seen at a demolishion derby in Tennessee, and Eddie Stein was seen buying 6 ham sandwiches at the Grand Rapids K-Mart deli. . THE SPIROGRAPH Spirograph was a geometric drawing toy that produced mathematical roulette curves of the variety technically known as hypotrochoids and epitrochoids. It was developed by British engineer Denys Fisher and first sold in 1965. The term has also been used to describe a variety of software applications that display similar curves, and applied to the class of curves that can be produced with the drawing equipment (so in this sense it may be regarded as a synonym of hypotrochoid). The name has been a registered trademark of Hasbro, Inc., since it bought the Denys Fisher company. An instrument called a spirograph was invented by the mathematician Bruno Abakanowicz between 1881 and 1900 for calculating an area delimited by curves.

Drawing toys based on gears have been around since at least 1908, when The Marvelous Wondergraph was advertised in the Sears catalog. The Boys Mechanic publication of 1913 had an article describing how to make a Wondergraph drawing machine.[4] The Spirograph itself was developed by the British engineer Denys Fisher, who exhibited at the 1965 Nuremberg International Toy Fair. It was subsequently produced by his company. US distribution rights were acquired by Kenner, Inc., which introduced it to the United States market in 1966, promoting it as a creative children's toy. In 1968, Kenner introduced Spirotot, a less complex version of Spirograph, for preschool-age children, too young for Spirograph. Several Spirograph designs drawn with a Spirograph setA Spirograph consists of a set of plastic gears and other shapes such as rings, triangles, or straight bars. There are several sizes of gears and shapes, and all edges have teeth to engage any other piece.

For instance, smaller gears fit inside the larger rings, but also can engage the outside of the rings in such a fashion that they rotate around the inside or along the outside edge of the rings. To use it, a sheet of paper is placed on a heavy cardboard backing, and one of the plastic piecesï¿½known as a statorï¿½is pinned to the paper and cardboard. Another plastic pieceï¿½called the rotorï¿½is placed so that its teeth engage with those of the pinned piece. For example, a ring may be pinned to the paper and a small gear placed inside the ring: the actual number of arrangements possible by combining different gears is very large. The point of a pen is placed in one of the holes of the rotor. As the rotor is moved, the pen traces out a curve. The pen is used both to draw and to provide locomotive force; some practice is required before the Spirograph can be operated without disengaging the stator and rotor. More intricate and unusual-shaped patterns may be made through the use of both hands, one to draw and one to guide the pieces.

It is possible to move several pieces in relation to each other (say, the triangle around the ring, with a circle "climbing" from the ring onto the triangle), but this requires concentration or even additional assistance from other artists. THE BIG GUYS - 1957 Toy | The Daily Omnivore | Page 2 The Daily Omnivore Dreameye The Dreameye is a digital camera released for the Dreamcast in 2000 in Japan only. It was designed to be used as a webcam and a digital still camera, and there were plans for games to involve the Dreameye. The Dreameye was only released in Japan, and Dreameye functionality was absent in non-Japanese versions of the games it could be used with. It came with the Divers 2000 Dreamcast (a rare all-in-one console unit developed by Fuji, intended as a video communications and gaming device for the consumer and hospitality markets) but was also sold separately. The DreamEye can be seen as the first use of a digital camera on a video games console.

The Dreameye came with a microphone headset, a stand, batteries, software, a cable to connect it to the Dreamcast, and a Dreameye microphone plug card. The Dreameye takes pictures at approximately 0.3 megapixels (640×480 pixels), but in order to send them via e-mail the pictures in question had to be first saved to a Dreamcast memory card. Upon transferring the pictures off of the card they resized to a resolution of 320px by 240px. Game Boy Camera The Game Boy Camera is an official Nintendo accessory for the handheld Game Boy and Super Game Boy gaming consoles and was released in 1998. It is also compatible with all of the Game Boy platforms (with the exception of Game Boy Micro). The camera can take 256×224 (down scaled to half resolution on the unit with anti-aliasing), black & white digital images using the 4-color palette of the Game Boy system. It interfaced with the Game Boy Printer, which utilized thermal paper to print any saved images, making a hardcopy. Both the camera and the printer were marketed by Nintendo as light-hearted entertainment devices aimed mainly at children.

The Game Boy Camera was used to take the photographs for the album cover of Neil Young’s album ‘Silver & Gold.’ SuperBall A SuperBall or bouncy ball is a toy, invented in 1964 by chemist Norman Stingley by compressing a synthetic rubber material under high pressure. It is an extremely elastic ball made of Zectron, which contains the synthetic rubber polymer polybutadiene, as well as hydrated silica, zinc oxide, stearic acid, and other ingredients, vulcanized with sulfur at a temperature of 165 degrees Celsius and at a pressure of 3,500psi. The Super Ball has an amazingly high coefficient of restitution. Dropped from shoulder level, balls snap nearly all the way back; thrown down by an average adult, it can leap over a three-story building. Toys similar to SuperBalls are more generally known as bouncy balls, a term which covers other more or less similar balls by different manufacturers with different formulations. read more » Neo Geo The Neo Geo is an arcade system board and home video game console released in 1990 by Japanese game company SNK.

The MVS (Multi Video System), as the Neo Geo was known to the coin-operated arcade game industry, offered arcade operators the ability to put up to six different arcade titles into a single cabinet, a key economic consideration for operators with limited floorspace. With its games stored on self-contained cartridges, a game-cabinet could be exchanged for a different game-title by swapping the game’s ROM-cartridge and cabinet artwork. Several popular franchise-series, including ‘Fatal Fury,’ ‘The King of Fighters,’ ‘Metal Slug,’ and ‘Samurai Shodown,’ were released for the platform. The Neo Geo system was also marketed as a very costly home console, commonly referred to today as the AES (Advanced Entertainment System). Initially, the (AES) home system was only available for rent to commercial establishments, such as hotels, bars, and restaurants. When customer response indicated that some gamers were willing to buy a high end console, SNK expanded sales and marketing into the home console market. Compared to other contemporary home consoles, Neo Geo’s graphics and sound were largely superior. The MVS was one of the most powerful arcade units at the time.

Furthermore, since the AES was identical to its arcade counterpart, the MVS, arcade titles released for the home market were perfect translations. Also, the arcade machines have a memory card system by which a player could save a game to return to at a later time and could also be used to continue play on the home console. The console first sold in the US in 1991 for $650; for the AES, two arcade sticks, and one game (‘Baseball Stars’ or ‘NAM-1975,’ a war themed action shooter). Other games were priced at about $200 (and up). Although its high price tag kept it out of the mainstream gaming market, a strong game lineup likely contributed to the cult status of the Neo Geo, enabling it to outlast the more popular Sega Mega Drive/Genesis. read more » Stress Ball A stress ball is a malleable toy, usually not more than 7 cm in diameter. It is squeezed in the hand and manipulated by the fingers, ostensibly to either help relieve stress and muscle tension or to exercise the muscles of the hand. There are many types of stress balls. Many are a closed-cell polyurethane foam rubber.

This type of stress ball is made by injecting the liquid components of the foam into a mold. The resulting chemical reaction creates carbon dioxide bubbles as a byproduct, which in turn creates the foam. Stress balls, especially those used in physical therapy, can also contain gel of different densities inside a rubber or cloth skin. Another type uses a thin rubber membrane surrounding a fine powder. The latter type can be made at home by filling a balloon with baking soda. Some balls similar to a footbag are marketed and used as stress balls. Power Glove The Power Glove is a controller accessory for the Nintendo Entertainment System, and the first peripheral interface controller to recreate human hand movements on a television or computer screen in real time. The Power Glove was not popular and was criticized for its imprecise and difficult-to-use controls. The Power Glove was originally released in 1989. Though it was an officially licensed product, Nintendo was not involved in the design or release of this accessory. Rather, it was designed by Grant Goddard and Samuel Cooper Davis for Abrams Gentile Entertainment (AGE), made by Mattel in the United States and PAX in Japan. Additional development was accomplished through the efforts of Thomas G.

Zimmerman and Jaron Lanier, a virtual reality pioneer responsible for co-developing and commercializing the DataGlove who had made a failed attempt at a similar design for Nintendo earlier. The Power Glove and DataGlove were based on Zimmerman’s instrumented glove. Zimmerman built the first prototype that demonstrated finger flex measurement and hand position tracking using a pair of ultrasonic transmitters. His original prototype used optical flex sensors to measure finger bending which were replaced with less expensive carbon-based flex sensors by the AGE team. read more » Virtual Boy The Virtual Boy was a video game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was the first video game console that was supposed to be capable of displaying ‘true 3D graphics’ out of the box. Whereas most video games use monocular cues to achieve the illusion of three dimensions on a two-dimensional screen, The Virtual Boy creates an illusion of depth through the effect known as parallax. In a manner similar to using a head-mounted display, the user looks into an eyepiece made of neoprene on the front of the machine, and then an eyeglass-style projector allows viewing of the monochromatic (in this case, red) image.

It was released in 1995 in Japan and North America at a price of around US$180. It met with a lukewarm reception that was unaffected by continued price drops. Nintendo discontinued it the following year. read more » Superegg In geometry, a superegg is a solid of revolution obtained by rotating an elongated super-ellipse with exponent greater than 2 around its longest axis. It is a special case of super-ellipsoid. Unlike an elongated ellipsoid, an elongated superegg can stand upright on a flat surface, or on top of another superegg. This is due to its curvature being zero at the tips. The shape was popularized by Danish poet and scientist Piet Hein (1905–1996). Supereggs of various materials were sold as novelties or ‘executive toys’ in the 1960s. A 1-ton superegg made of steel and aluminum was placed outside Kelvin Hall in Glasgow in 1971, on occasion of a lecture by Piet Hein. Spirograph Spirograph is a geometric drawing toy that produces mathematical curves of the variety technically known as hypotrochoids and epitrochoids.

The term has also been used to describe a variety of software applications that display similar curves, and applied to the class of curves that can be produced with the drawing equipment (so in this sense it may be regarded as a synonym of hypotrochoid). The name is a registered trademark of Hasbro, Inc. Drawing toys based on gears have been around since at least 1908, when The Marvelous Wondergraph was advertised in the Sears catalog. The ‘Boys Mechanic’ publication of 1913 had an article describing how to make a Wondergraph drawing machine. An instrument called a spirograph was invented by the mathematician Bruno Abakanowicz between 1881 and 1900 for calculating an area delimited by curves. The Spirograph toy was developed by the British engineer Denys Fisher, who exhibited it in 1965 at the Nuremberg International Toy Fair. In 1968, Kenner introduced Spirotot, a less complex version of Spirograph, for preschool-age children, too young for Spirograph.

AIBO AIBO was one of several types of robotic pets designed and manufactured by Sony from 1999 to 2006. AIBO is able to walk, ‘see’ its environment via camera and recognize spoken commands in Spanish and English. AIBO are autonomous robots since they are able to learn and mature based on external stimuli from their owner, their environment, and from other AIBOs. Artist Hajime Sorayama created the initial designs for the AIBO. AIBO’s sounds were programmed by Japanese DJ/avant-garde composer Nobukazu Takemura. The International AIBO Convention takes place every year at Sony Robotics Tower in the Shinjuku prefecture. AIBO runs AIBOware on a pink Memory Stick, which allows the robot to be raised from pup to fully grown adult while going through various stages of development as its owner interacts with it. AIBOware allows the owner to interact with a fully mature robot able to understand (though not necessarily willing to obey) 100 voice commands. Without the AIBOware, the AIBO will run in what is called ‘clinic mode’ and can only perform basic actions.

Many AIBO owners enjoy teaching their pets new behaviors by reprogramming them in Sony’s special ‘R-CODE’ language. AIBO’s complete vision system uses the SIFT algorithm, to recognize its charging station. The newest versions are equipped with a Wi-Fi connection, allowing them to send the pictures they take via email which led to the Roblog. Myachi Myachi [mee-ah-chee] is the brand name of a type of hand sack. It is a small rectangular bag approximately 1.5 by 3.5 inches (40 by 90 mm) that players use to perform a variety of tricks using every part of the body except the palm of the hand. Myachi can be played alone or in groups. There are a number of different games played with the Myachi including big air, best trick and MYACH, but it is most commonly used for freestyle. Myachi is based on a popular college game in which lighters, keys or coins are tossed from person to person using only the back of the hand. Myachi founder Steven Ochs was introduced to this game while studying at Vanderbilt University and saw marketing potential in this simple hobby.

Headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, the company began in 1998 when Ochs quit his job as a Wall Street Broker. Starting in the back of an RV, he hand-stitched the first ten thousand Myachis and traveled the country selling his concept at concerts, festivals and street fairs. Today Myachi is a top selling toy. Spirograph - Wikipedia, Photos and Videos Spirograph NEXT GO TO RESULTS [51 .. 100] WIKIPEDIA ARTICLE This article needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2011) Spirograph set (early 1980s UK version) Inventor Official website Spirograph is a geometric drawing toy that produces mathematical roulette curves of the variety technically known as hypotrochoids and epitrochoids . It was developed by British engineer Denys Fisher and first sold in 1965. The name has been a registered trademark of Hasbro Inc. since 1998 following purchase of the company that had acquired the Denys Fisher company.

The Spirograph brand was relaunched with original product configurations in the USA in 2013 by Kahootz Toys and in Europe by Goldfish and Bison. Contents History[ edit ] The mathematician Bruno Abakanowicz invented the Spirograph between 1881 and 1900. It was used for calculating an area delimited by curves. [1] Drawing toys based on gears have been around since at least 1908, when The Marvelous Wondergraph was advertised in the Sears catalog . [2] [3] An article describing how to make a Wondergraph drawing machine appeared in the Boys Mechanic publication in 1913. [4] The Spirograph itself was developed by the British engineer Denys Fisher , who exhibited at the 1965 Nuremberg International Toy Fair . It was subsequently produced by his company. US distribution rights were acquired by Kenner , Inc., which introduced it to the United States market in 1966 and promoted it as a creative children's toy.

In 2013 the Spirograph brand was re-launched in the USA by Kahootz Toys and in Europe by Goldfish and Bison with products that returned to the use of the original gears and wheels. The modern products use removable putty in place of pins or are held down by hand to keep the stationary pieces in place on the paper. The Spirograph was a 2014 Toy of the Year finalist in 2 categories, almost 50 years after the toy was named Toy of the Year in 1967. Animation of a Spirograph Several Spirograph designs drawn with a Spirograph set using multiple different colored pens The original US-released Spirograph consisted of two different-sized plastic rings, with gear teeth on both the inside and outside of their circumferences. They were pinned to a cardboard backing with pins, and any of several provided gearwheels, which had holes provided for a ballpoint pen to extend through them to an underlying paper writing surface. It could be spun around to make geometric shapes on the underlying paper medium. Later, the Super-Spirograph consisted of a set of plastic gears and other interlocking shape-segments such as rings, triangles, or straight bars.

It has several sizes of gears and shapes, and all edges have teeth to engage any other piece. For instance, smaller gears fit inside the larger rings, but also can engage the outside of the rings in such a fashion that they rotate around the inside or along the outside edge of the rings. Kenner also introduced Spirotot, Magnetic Spirograph, Spiroman and various refill sets. [5] To use it, a sheet of paper is placed on a heavy cardboard backing, and one of the plastic pieces—known as a stator —is secured via pins or reusable adhesive to the paper and cardboard. Another plastic piece—called the rotor —is placed so that its teeth engage with those of the pinned piece. For example, a ring may be pinned to the paper and a small gear placed inside the ring. The number of arrangements possible by combining different gears is very large. The point of a pen is placed in one of the holes of the rotor. As the rotor is moved, the pen traces out a curve.

The pen is used both to draw and to provide locomotive force; some practice is required before the Spirograph can be operated without inadvertently disengaging the stator and rotor, particularly when using the holes situated near the edge of the larger rotors. More intricate and unusual-shaped patterns may be made through the use of both hands, one to draw and one to guide the pieces. It is possible to move several pieces in relation to each other (say, the triangle around the ring, with a circle "climbing" from the ring onto the triangle), but this requires concentration or even assistance from other people. Pens of various colors were frequently included with the sets, or one could obtain them elsewhere, to add texture and color to the design by switching colors in a set pattern or a random fashion, as seen in the image above. Consider a fixed outer circle C science | Clear Circle Clear Circle Notitia Dignitatum The Notitia Dignitatum is a unique document of the Roman imperial chanceries. One of the very few surviving documents of Roman government, it details the administrative organisation of the eastern and westernempires, listing several thousand offices from the imperial court down to the provincial level.

It is usually considered to be up to date for the Western empire in the 420s, and for the Eastern empire in 400s. However, no absolute date can be given, and there are omissions and problems. There are several extant fifteenth and sixteenth-century copies (plus a colour-illuminated 1542 version). All the known and extant copies of this late Roman document are derived, either directly or indirectly, from a codexthat is known to have existed in the library of the cathedral chapter at Speyer in 1542 but which was lost before 1672 and cannot now be located. That book contained a collection of documents, of which the ‘Notitia’ was the last and largest document, occupying 164 pages. that brought together several previous documents of which one was of the 9th century. The heraldry in illuminated manuscripts of Notitiae is thought to copy or imitate no other examples than those from the lost Codex Spirensis. The most important copy of the Codex is that made for Pietro Donato (1436), illuminated by Peronet Lamy.

The Notitia presents four main problems, as regards the study of the Empire’s military establishment: The Notitia depicts the Roman army at the end of the 4th century. Therefore its development over the 4th century from the Principate structure is largely conjectural, due to the lack of other evidence. It was compiled at two different times. The Eastern section apparently dates from c395 AD; the Western from considerably later, c420. Furthermore, each section is probably not a contemporaneous “snapshot”, but relies on data stretching back as far as twenty years. The Eastern section may contain data from as early as 379, the start of the rule of Theodosius I. The Western section contains data from as early as c400: for example, it shows units deployed in Britain, which must date from before 410, when Roman troops were evacuated from the island. In consequence, there is substantial duplication, with the same unit often listed under different commands. It is impossible to ascertain whether these were detachments of the same unit in different places at the same time, or the same whole unit at different times. Also, it is likely that some units only existed on paper or contained just a skeleton personnel.

The Notitia has many sections missing and lacunae (gaps) within sections. This is doubtless due to accumulated text losses and copying errors as it was repeatedly copied over the centuries: the earliest manuscript we possess today dates from the 15th century. The Notitia cannot therefore provide a comprehensive listing of all units in existence. The Notitia does not contain any personnel figures. Therefore, the size of individual units, and of the various commands, cannot be ascertained, as we have little other evidence of unit sizes at this time. In turn, this makes it impossible to assess accurately the overall size of the army. Depending on the strength of units, the late 4th century army may, at one extreme, have equalled the size of the 2nd century force (i.e. over 400,000 men); at the other extreme, it may have been far smaller. For example, the forces deployed in Britain c400 may have been just 18,000 against c55,000 in the 2nd century.

Taijitu Taijitu (a Chinese word that translates roughly as ‘diagram of ultimate power’) is a term which refers to any of the Chinese symbols for the concept of yin yang, and is sometimes extended to similar geometric patterns used historically by various cultures. The most recognized form is composed of two semi-circular teardrop-shaped curves of different colors, or a circle separated by an S-shaped line, where each half is marked with a dot in the opposite (or different) color. Symbols of this type are found as Celtic art forms and coat of arms for several Western Roman army units in Late Antiquity.[1][2][3] Taoist philosophy adopted equivalent symbols several hundred years later, as representations of yin and yang, from which the most common modern usage of the symbol and the name ‘taijitu’ arise. There is no academically established relationship between the Taoist and the earlier ancient Roman symbols.

Symbols with a partial resemblance to the later Taoist diagram appeared in Celtic art from the 3rd century BC onwards, showing groups of leaves separated by an S-shaped line.[1] The pattern lacked the element of mutual penetration, though, and the two halfs were not always portraited in different colours.[1] A mosaic in a Roman villa in Sousse, Tunisia, features different colors for the two halves of the circle, but here, too, the little circles of opposite color are absent.[1] The earliest depiction of the diagram which today is known as Taijitu or Taiji appears in the Roman Notitia Dignitatum, an ancient collection of shield patterns of the Roman army dated to ca.

AD 430.[1][2][3] The emblem of an infantry unit called the armigeri defensores seniores (“shield-bearers”) is graphically identical in all but colour to the dynamic, clockwise version of the Far Eastern tradition.[1] Another Western Romandetachment, the Pseudocomitatenses Mauri Osismiaci, featured an insignia with the same contours, but with the dot in each part kept in the same shade of colour.[1] A third infantry regiment, the Legion palatinaeThebaei, had a shield pattern comparable to the static version of the East Asian symbol: three concentric circles vertically divided into two halfs of opposite and alternating colors, so that on each side the two colors follow one another in the inverse order of the opposite half.[1] The Roman yin-yang-like symbols predate the Taoist version by several hundred years: As for the appearance of the iconography of the “yin-yang” in the course of time, it was recorded that in China the first representations of the yin-yang, at least the ones that have reached us, go back to the eleventh century AD, even though these two principles were spoken of in the fourth

 or fifth century BC.

With the Notitia Dignitatum we are instead in the fourth or fifth century AD, therefore from the iconographic point of view, almost seven hundred years earlier than the date of its appearance in China. It should be mentioned that there is no academically established relationship between the ancient Roman and the later Taoist symbols. The Taijitu or Taiji diagram is a well known symbol representing the principle of yin and yang, introduced in China by Ming period author Lai Zhide. The term taijitu (literally “diagram of the supreme ultimate”) is commonly used to mean the simple ‘divided circle’ form, but may refer to any of several schematic diagrams representing these principles, such as the one at right. In the taijitu, the circle itself represents a whole (see wuji), while the black and white areas within it represent interacting parts or manifestations of the whole. The white area represents yang elements, and is generally depicted as rising on the left, while the dark (yin) area is shown descending on the right (though other arrangements exist, most notably the version used on the flag of South Korea). The image is designed to give the appearance of movement.

Each area also contains a small circle of the opposite color at its fullest point (near the zenith and nadir of the figure) to indicate how each will transform into the other. Spirograph Spirograph is a geometric drawing toy that produces mathematical curves of the variety technically known as hypotrochoids and epitrochoids. The term has also been used to describe a variety of software applications that display similar curves, and applied to the class of curves that can be produced with the drawing equipment (so in this sense it may be regarded as a synonym of hypotrochoid). The name is a registered trademark of Hasbro, Inc. The Spirograph was invented by British engineer Denys Fisher who exhibited it in 1965 at the Nuremberg International Toy Fair. It was subsequently produced by his company. Distribution rights were acquired by Kenner, Inc., which introduced it to the United States’ market in 1966. A Spirograph consists of a set of plastic gears and other shapes such as rings, triangles, or straight bars. There are several sizes of gears and shapes, and all edges have teeth to engage any other piece.

For instance, smaller gears fit inside the larger rings, but also can engage the outside of the rings in such a fashion that they rotate around the inside or along the outside edge of the rings. To use it, a sheet of paper is placed on a heavy cardboard backing, and one of the plastic pieces is pinned to the paper and cardboard. Another plastic piece is placed so that its teeth engage with those of the pinned piece. For example, a ring may be pinned to the paper and a small gear placed inside the ring – the actual number of arrangements possible by combining different gears is very large. The point of a pen is placed in one of the holes in the moving piece. As the moving part is moved the pen traces out a curve. The pen is used both to draw and provide locomotive force; some practice is required before Spirograph can be operated without disengaging the fixed and moving pieces. More intricate and unusual-shaped patterns may be made through the use of both hands, one to draw and one to guide the pieces.

It is possible to move several pieces in relation to each other (say, the triangle around the ring, with a circle “climbing” from the ring onto the triangle), but this requires concentration or even additional assistance from other artists. Epicycloid In geometry, an epicycloid is a plane curve produced by tracing the path of a chosen point of a circle — called an epicycle — which rolls without slipping around a fixed circle. It is a particular kind of roulette. If the smaller circle has radius r, and the larger circle has radius R = kr, then the parametric equations for the curve can be given by either: or: If k is an integer, then the curve is closed, and has k cusps (i.e., sharp corners, where the curve is not differentiable). If k is a rational number, say k=p/q expressed in simplest terms, then the curve has p cusps. If k is an irrational number, then the curve never closes, and fills the space between the larger circle and a circle of radius R + 2r.

Vitruvian Man The Vitruvian Man is a world-renowned drawing created by Leonardo da Vinci around the year 1487 It is accompanied by notes based on the work of Vitruvius. The drawing, which is in pen and ink on paper, depicts a nude male figure in two superimposed positions with his arms and legs apart and simultaneously inscribed in a circle and square. The drawing and text are sometimes called theCanon of Proportions or, less often, Proportions of Man. It is stored in the Gallerie dell’Accademia in Venice, Italy, and, like most works on paper, is displayed only occasionally.[2][3] The drawing is based on the correlations of ideal human proportions with geometry described by the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius in Book III of his treatise De Architectura. Vitruvius described the human figure as being the principal source of proportion among the Classical orders of architecture. Other artists had attempted to depict the concept, with less success. The drawing is traditionally named in honour of the architect. This image exemplifies the blend of art and science during the Renaissance and provides the perfect example of Leonardo’s keen interest in proportion.

In addition, this picture represents a cornerstone of Leonardo’s attempts to relate man to nature. Encyclopaedia Britannica online states, “Leonardo envisaged the great picture chart of the human body he had produced through his anatomical drawings and Vitruvian Man as a cosmografia del minor mondo (cosmography of the microcosm). He believed the workings of the human body to be an analogy for the workings of the universe.” It is also believed by some[who?] that Leonardo symbolized the material existence by the square and spiritual existence by the circle.

Thus he attempted to depict the correlation between these two aspects of human existence.[4] According to Leonardo’s notes in the accompanying text, written in mirror writing, it was made as a study of the proportions of the (male) human body as described in Vitruvius, who wrote that in the human body: a palm is the width of four fingers a foot is the width of four palms (i.e., 12 inches) a cubit is the width of six palms a pace is four cubits a man’s height is four cubits (and thus 24 palms) the length of a man’s outspread arms is equal to his height the distance from the hairline to the bottom of the chin is one-tenth of a man’s height the distance from the top of the head to the bottom of the chin is one-eighth of a man’s height the distance from the bottom of the neck to the hairline is one-sixth of a man’s height the maximum width of the shoulders is a quarter of a man’s height the distance from the middle of the chest to the top of the head is a quarter of a man’s height the distance from the elbow to the tip of the hand is one-fourth of a man’s height the

 distance from the elbow to the armpit is one-eighth of a man’s height the length of the hand is one-tenth of a man’s height the distance from the bottom of the chin to the nose is one-third of the length of the head the distance from the hairline to the eyebrows is one-third of the length of the face the length of the ear is one-third of the length of the face the length of a man’s foot is one-sixth of his height ISO 216 specifies international standard (ISO) paper sizes used in most countries in the world today.

It is the standard which defines the commonly available A4 paper size. The underlying principle is that when rectangles with width/length ratio are cut or folded in half the rectangles thus formed retain the original width/length ratio. The international ISO standard is based on the German DIN standard 476 (DIN 476) from 1922. Some of the formats contained therein were independently invented in France during its revolution, but were later forgotten. The aspect ratio used by this standard was mentioned in a letter by the German Georg Christoph Lichtenberg, written on 25 October 1786. ISO 216:1975, defines two series of paper sizes: A and B ISO 269:1985, defines a C series for envelopes ISO 217:1995, defines two untrimmed series of raw paper sizes: RA and SRA Paper in the A series format has a aspect ratio, although this is rounded to the nearest millimetre. A0 is defined so that it has an area of 1 m², prior to the above mentioned rounding.

Successive paper sizes in the series (A1, A2, A3, etc.) are defined by halving the preceding paper size, cutting parallel to its shorter side (so that the long side of A(n+1) is the same length as the short side of An, again prior to rounding). The most frequently used of this series is the size A4 (210 × 297 mm). A4 paper is 6 mm narrower and 18 mm longer than the “Letter” paper size, 8½ × 11 inches (216 × 279 mm), commonly used in North America. The geometric rationale behind the square root of 2 is to maintain the aspect ratio of each subsequent rectangle after cutting the sheet in half, perpendicular to the larger side. Given a rectangle with a longer side, x, and a shorter side, y, the following equation shows how the aspect ratio of a rectangle compares to that of a half rectangle: which reduces to or an aspect ratio of The formula that gives the larger border of the paper size An in metres and without rounding off is the geometric sequence: an = 21 / 4 − n / 2.

The paper size An thus has the dimension an × an + 1. The exact millimetre measurement of the long side of An is given by . Spirograph | The Daily Omnivore The Daily Omnivore « Goldbricking | John Whitney » Spirograph Spirograph is a geometric drawing toy that produces mathematical curves of the variety technically known as hypotrochoids and epitrochoids. The term has also been used to describe a variety of software applications that display similar curves, and applied to the class of curves that can be produced with the drawing equipment (so in this sense it may be regarded as a synonym of hypotrochoid). The name is a registered trademark of Hasbro, Inc. Drawing toys based on gears have been around since at least 1908, when The Marvelous Wondergraph was advertised in the Sears catalog. The ‘Boys Mechanic’ publication of 1913 had an article describing how to make a Wondergraph drawing machine. An instrument called a spirograph was invented by the mathematician Bruno Abakanowicz between 1881 and 1900 for calculating an area delimited by curves.

The Spirograph toy was developed by the British engineer Denys Fisher, who exhibited it in 1965 at the Nuremberg International Toy Fair. In 1968, Kenner introduced Spirotot, a less complex version of Spirograph, for preschool-age children, too young for Spirograph. Related

Question: What plastic drawing toy, produced by Hasbro, Inc, puts pen to paper to produce complex curves known mathematically as hypotrochoids and epitrochoids?
Answer: Spirograph