title: Plain English Campaign

paragraphs: Plain English Campaign Limited (PEC) is a commercial editing and training firm based in the United Kingdom. It was started in 1979 by Chrissie Maher. The company advocates for the use of simple ("plain") English. It tries to persuade organisations in the UK and abroad to communicate with the public simply. In 1990, Plain English Campaign created the Crystal Mark, its "seal of approval." This is a symbol printed on documents which the Plain English campaign thinks are very easy to understand. According to the Plain English Campaign, the symbol appears on over 20,000 documents worldwide.

paragraphs: The Plain English Campaign also gives out an annual "Foot in Mouth Award" for "a baffling comment by a public figure." The name of this award comes from a humorous English idiom. If a person has their "foot in their mouth," that means they are speaking badly and not paying attention to what they are saying. The plain English Campaign also gives out a "Golden Bull Award" for "the worst examples of written tripe". The name of this award also comes from a common English idiom. "Bull" is short for "bullshit," which literally means the excrement of a bull, but is often used to mean stupid, dishonest or unbelievable speech or writing. The word "tripe," similar to "bullshit," has both a literal and a figurative meaning. Literally, it means a food made from an animal's stomach lining. As it is used here, "tripe" means something very close to "bullshit."

paragraphs: In other words, the Plain English Campaign's "Foot in Mouth Award" is given to someone famous who speaks stupidly. The "Golden Bull Award" is given to someone famous who writes stupidly. Both awards are sarcastic. They are different from normal awards because they criticise, rather than honor, the people they are given to. Famous winners of the Foot in Mouth Award include George W. Bush and Donald Rumsfeld.

paragraphs: Plain English Campaign has worked for many organisations. Many UK forms and bills carry the Crystal Mark, including the British passport application form. Plain English Campaign is often described in the media as a "pressure group."

paragraphs: It regularly makes public comments about language-related news stories and about jargon. For example, in 2006 its supporters voted Bill Shankly the author of the greatest football quotation of all time. Plain English Campaign did a survey in 2004 and announced that ‘At the end of the day’ was considered the most irritating cliché. Chrissie Maher, who created Plain English Campaign, was awarded the Order of the British Empire in 1994 for her services to plain communication. Famous supporters of PEC include Margaret Thatcher and broadcaster John Humphrys.


title: Kilakarai

paragraphs: Kilakarai (aka Keelakarai, Tamil - கீழக்கரை) is a panchayat town in Ramanathapuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.


title: Bart Simpson

paragraphs: Bart Simpson (born April 1, 1980) is a fictional character in "The Simpsons". At the age of 10, he is the oldest child of Marge and Homer Simpson. He is the brother of Lisa and Maggie. Bart is someone who does not like school. At the time when the Simpsons was launched T-shirts were released that had a picture of Bart saying "Underachiever. And proud of it". Nancy Cartwright is the voice of Bart. Bart had a 10 year old love interest named Niki/Nikki. He's a skateboarder.

paragraphs: He likes to ride on a skateboard and makes Prank phone calls to Moe's Tavern to annoy the owner, Moe Szyslak.

paragraphs: Bart goes to Springfield School along with his 8-year-old sister Lisa. Bart often gets grade Fs in school, whereas Lisa gets A grades. At Springfield Elementary, Bart's best friend is Milhouse Van Houten. Bart has received detention multiple times, and during the start of the show he is seen writing things repeatedly on a blackboard as a form of punishment. He is a good pranker.

paragraphs: The character of Bart is an anagram of brat. Matt Groening was going to name the character Matt, but he realized that would be a giveaway, so he decided to name him Bart.


title: Vajrayana

paragraphs: Vajrayana is a school of Buddhism first practiced in India. From India it spread to Tibet, Mongolia and Bhutan. Since the annexation of Tibet by the People's Republic of China in 1959, the Tibetan form of Vajrayana has spread to many Western countries and has gained great popularity.

paragraphs: Vajrayana is a third and separate major school of Buddhism, the other two being Theravada and Mahayana. Vajrayana Buddhism comes from Mahayana Buddhism. Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhism has its own texts in the Tibetan and Sanskrit languages. It also contains the older Mahayana texts in Sanskrit and Theravada texts in the Pali language.

paragraphs: Vajrayana is sometimes known as Tantric Buddhism in the west. Tantric practice is one kind of Vajrayana Buddhism, but there are also other forms.

paragraphs: Vajrayana Buddhism is also known as "The Diamond Vehicle".

paragraphs: Followers are introduced to these practices through initiation which is also called empowerment.

paragraphs: There are four main schools of Tibetan Buddhism: Nyingma, Sakya, Kagyu, and Geluk. All four schools identify themselves as belonging to the Mahayana or "Great Vehicle" tradition, which is the most popular form of Buddhism in China, Korea and Japan.

paragraphs: In the "ancient" or Nyingma school, the teachings are divided into six levels:

paragraphs: The "new" schools (Sakya, Kagyu, and Geluk) divide the teachings into only four levels. The first three are the same as in the Nyingma school. The last level is simply called Anuttarayogatantra ("Highest Yoga Tantra"). These Highest Yoga Tantras are divided into "mother", "father" and "non-dual" tantras. The new schools use a practice called Mahamudra in place of Dzogchen.


title: Alpha

paragraphs: Alpha (uppercase/lowercase Α α), is the first letter of the Greek alphabet, used to stand for the "a" sound in Ancient and Modern Greek. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 1. Letters that came from it are the Roman A and Cyrillic А.

paragraphs: Alpha is often used in physics and chemistry as a symbol or in the names of things, for example alpha particles (which are two protons and two neutrons bound together into a particle the same as a helium nucleus). The symbol is also used a lot in mathematics in algebra, for example in naming angles, and in statistics, to represent statistical significance level.


title: Beta

paragraphs: Beta (uppercase/lowercase Β β), is a letter of the Greek alphabet, used to represent the "b" sound in Ancient Greek and "v" in Modern Greek. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 2. Letters that came from it include the Roman B and Cyrillic Б.

paragraphs: The sounds [b] and [v] resemble each other a lot. In Ancient Greek the "b" sound became "v" around 200 BC. Therefore, the letter B means the "v" sound in the Cyrillic alphabet, and a new letter, Б, was made for [b].

paragraphs: The letter beta is also used in finance, science and mathematics. For example. the beta function is named after the capital letter Β, and the probability of type II error in statistics is written with the lowercase β.


title: Gamma

paragraphs: Gamma (uppercase/lowercase Γ γ), is the third letter of the Greek alphabet, used to represent the "g" sound in Ancient and Modern Greek. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 3. Letters that came from it include the Roman C and Cyrillic Г.

paragraphs: In mathematics, the lowercase γ is used to represent Euler–Mascheroni constant, and the uppercase Γ is used to represent gamma function and gamma distribution. In the physics of wave motions, the lowercase Gamma ("γ") is used to represent the ratio of specific heat.


title: Epsilon

paragraphs: Epsilon (uppercase/lowercase Ε ε), is the letter of the Greek alphabet, used to represent the "e" sound in Ancient and Modern Greek. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 5. Letters that came from it include the Roman E and Cyrillic Е. It is also used in calculus to represent a very small number (particularly in proofs involving limit). In set theory, a typographical variant of epsilon can be used to represent the statement "a is a member of set A" (symbolically formula_1).


title: Digamma

paragraphs: Digamma or Wau (uppercase/lowercase Ϝ ϝ ς) was an old letter of the Greek alphabet. It was used before the alphabet converted its classical standard form. It looked like a Latin "F", but it was pronounced like "w". In the 5th century BC, people stopped using it because they could no longer pronounce the sound "w" in Greek. However, they kept it as a sign for the number "6" in the system of Greek numerals. It was originally called "Wau" because of its sound. Later, when the sound was lost, it was called "Digamma", which means "double Gamma", because it looks like a Gamma (Γ) with two hooks. The Latin letter F was also taken over from Wau.

paragraphs: In mathematics, the name "digamma" is used in digamma function, which is the derivative of the logarithm of gamma function (that is, formula_1).


title: Stigma (letter)

paragraphs: Stigma (uppercase/lowercase Ϛ ϛ), is a sign that was used in the Greek alphabet for the combination of the two letters Sigma (σ) and Tau (τ). It is also used as a symbol for the number 6 in the system of Greek numerals.


title: Zeta

paragraphs: Zeta (uppercase/lowercase Ζ ζ), is the letter of the Greek alphabet, used to represent the "z" sound in Ancient and Modern Greek. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 7. Letters that came from it include the Roman Z and Cyrillic З.


title: Eta

paragraphs: Eta (uppercase/lowercase Η η) is a letter of the Greek alphabet. In very early Greek writing it stood for the consonant sound "h", but in Classical Greek it stood for a long vowel "e". In Modern Greek, it is pronounced as "i". In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 8. Letters that came from it include the Roman H and Cyrillic И.

paragraphs: In mathematics, the lowercase η is used to represent Dirichlet eta function. The same letter is also used to represent conformal time in cosmology, efficiency in telecommunications and elasticity in economics.


title: Heta

paragraphs: Heta (uppercase/lowercase ) is another name for the letter Eta (Η), a letter of the Greek alphabet, and also for some other variant forms of it. This name is used to show that this letter at first was pronounced as "h", just like in Latin. Later, in the Ionian dialect of Greek, people stopped pronouncing the sound "h", and therefore they gave the letter a new meaning and used it for a long "e" sound instead. Some other dialects then took over this new letter "Eta", and so they had to find a new form for the letter for "h". In some dialects they invented a new letter "" to stand for "h". Today, the name "Heta" is also used for this letter.


title: Theta

paragraphs: Theta (uppercase Θ / lowercase θ), is a letter in the Greek alphabet. It represents the "th" sound (as in "think") in Ancient and Modern Greek. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 9. The Cyrillic letter Ѳ came from theta.

paragraphs: In mathematics, the lowercase θ is used as a variable to represent an angle, and the uppercase Θ is used in big-theta notation (a variant of big-O notation). The lowercase θ is also used to represent the potential temperature in meteorology.


title: Iota

paragraphs: Iota (uppercase/lowercase Ι ι), is the letter of the Greek alphabet, used to represent the "i" sound in Ancient and Modern Greek. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 10. Letters that came from it include the Roman I and Cyrillic І.

paragraphs: In mathematics, the lowercase formula_1 is used to represent the inclusion function in set theory. The term "iota" is also used to refer to an infinitesimal amount or an insignificant quantity.


title: Lambda

paragraphs: Lambda (uppercase/lowercase Λ λ) is a letter of the Greek alphabet. It is used to represent the "l" sound in Ancient and Modern Greek. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 30. Letters that came from it include the Roman L and Cyrillic Л.

paragraphs: In mathematics, the lowercase λ is used as a variable for eigenvalues in linear algebra, and as the parameter of both exponential distribution and Poisson distribution. In physics, the same symbol is used as a variable representing wavelength.


title: Mu (letter)

paragraphs: Mu (uppercase/lowercase Μ μ) is a letter of the Greek alphabet used to represent the "m" sound in Ancient and Modern Greek. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 40. Letters that came from it include the Roman M and Cyrillic М.

paragraphs: In mathematics and statistics, the lowercase μ is used to represent population mean and the Möbius function. It is also used to represent coefficient of friction, micrometre and muon in physics.


title: Coat of Arms of Haiti

paragraphs: The first coat of arms of Haiti was created in 1807, and has appeared in its current form since 1986.

paragraphs: It has a palm, with several flags at its sides, and two cannons on a green lawn. On the lawn there are several objects, such as musical instruments (a snare drum and bugles), guns, and ship anchors. Above the palm tree, there is a Phrygian cap placed as a symbol of freedom.

paragraphs: The ribbon on the bottom displays the national motto: "L'Union Fait La Force" (French for "Union Makes Strength").


title: Nu (letter)

paragraphs: Nu (uppercase/lowercase Ν ν) is a letter of the Greek alphabet used to represent the "n" sound in Ancient and Modern Greek. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 50. Letters that came from it include the Roman N and Cyrillic Н.

paragraphs: In statistics, the lowercase formula_1 can be used to represent degrees of freedom. In physics, the same letter can also used to represent kinematic viscosity and the frequency of a wave.


title: Flag of Haiti

paragraphs: The flag of Haiti was adopted on February 25, 1986. The flag has two horizontal bands of equal height; the top stripe is blue and the bottom is red. In the center there is a white rectangle with the Coat of Arms of Haiti which consists of a palm tree with several flags at its sides. There are two cannons on either side of the palm tree. The civil flag and the ensign (the one used by commercial ships) do not have a coat of arms.

paragraphs: The Haitian flag was created by the revolutionary Jean-Jacques Dessalines in 1803 from the French flag (the "Tricolore"); he eliminated the white stripe and left only the blue and red stripes in the new flag.

paragraphs: From May 25 1964 to February 25 1986, during the dictatorship of Francois and Jean-Claude Duvalier, the country had a different flag, in red and black, and divided vertically, not horizontally.


title: Xi

paragraphs: Xi (uppercase/lowercase Ξ ξ) is the 14th letter of the Greek alphabet. It is used to represent the "x" sound in Ancient and Modern Greek. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 60. The Roman letter X and Cyrillic letter Ѯ came from Xi.

paragraphs: In mathematics, both uppercase Ξ and lowercase ξ are used to refer to variants of Riemann Xi function (itself a variant of Riemann zeta function). In physics, the uppercase Ξ is used to represent the cascade particle and xi baryon.


title: Omicron

paragraphs: Omicron (uppercase/lowercase Ο ο) is a letter of the Greek alphabet. It is used to represent the "o" sound in Ancient and Modern Greek. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 70. Letters that came from it include the Roman O and Cyrillic О.

paragraphs: In mathematics and computer science, the uppercase Ο is used in big-O notation, while the lowercase ο is used in little-o notation (a variant of big-O notation).


title: Pi (letter)

paragraphs: Pi (uppercase/lowercase Π π), is the letter of the Greek alphabet, used to represent the "p" sound in Ancient and Modern Greek. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 80. Letters that came from it include the Roman P and Cyrillic П.

paragraphs: In mathematics, the uppercase pi is used for the Pi product operator (for example. formula_1), similar to the way summation is used. The lowercase pi is used as the mathematical constant pi, also known as Archimedes's constant.


title: San (letter)

paragraphs: San (uppercase/lowercase Ϻ ϻ) was an old letter in the Greek alphabet that was used in some Greek cities before the alphabet got its classical standard form. It looked like the letter Mu (M), but was spoken like S. In the 6th century BC, people stopped using it and wrote Sigma (Σ) instead.


title: Sho (letter)

paragraphs: Sho (uppercase/lowercase Ϸ ϸ), was a letter added to the Greek alphabet in order to write the Bactrian language. It was used for the "sh" sound in Bactrian.


title: Koppa (letter)

paragraphs: Koppa or Qoppa (uppercase/lowercase ) was a letter of the Greek alphabet that was used in some Greek cities before the alphabet got its classic standard form. It is no longer used in normal writing today. It was pronounced as "k", just like Kappa (Κ). In the 5th century BC people stopped using it and only wrote Kappa. In the order of the letters in the alphabet, it came between Pi and Rho, just like in the Latin alphabet the letter Q comes between P and R. However, they kept Koppa as a sign for the number "90" in the system of Greek numerals. People still sometimes use it in this way, even though they do not use it as a letter to write words.

paragraphs: The letter Koppa at first looked like a circle with a small bar under it. Later it was written more like a pointed S.

paragraphs: The letter Q in the Latin alphabet and the letter Ҁ in the Cyrillic alphabet come from Koppa.


title: Rho

paragraphs: Rho (uppercase/lowercase Ρ ρ) is the 17th letter of the Greek alphabet. It is used to represent the "r" sound in Ancient and Modern Greek. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 100. Letters that came from it include the Roman R and Cyrillic Р.

paragraphs: In statistics, the lowercase Rho ("ρ") is used to represent population correlation. In physics, the same letter is used to represent density.


title: Sigma

paragraphs: Sigma (uppercase/lowercase Σ σ ς) is the 18th letter of the Greek alphabet. It is used to represent the "s" sound in Ancient and Modern Greek. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 200. Letters that came from it include the Roman S and Cyrillic С.

paragraphs: The uppercase Σ is the shorthand symbol for summation (the symbol is also known as the summation operator). It is often used to condense Taylor series and to write out trigonometric functions such as sine, cosine, and tangent as series.

paragraphs: The lowercase σ is used to represent population standard deviation in statistics, and permutation function in abstract algebra.


title: Tau

paragraphs: Tau (uppercase/lowercase Τ τ), is the letter of the Greek alphabet, used to represent the "t" sound in Ancient and Modern Greek. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 300. Letters that came from it include the Roman T and Cyrillic Т.

paragraphs: Some people want to use Tau in place of Pi, the special number that comes from circles. Tau would be equal to two times pi, or about 6.283.

paragraphs: These people want to use Tau because they think it would be easier for everyone to understand. There are many reasons in math why Tau could be useful or helpful. One of the simplest is that it would make learning about radians easier.

paragraphs: A radian is a way of measuring the angle of a circle. It says that the number of radians in an angle is equal to the length of the outside of the circle, or the 'arc length', that is covered by an angle, divided by the radius, or distance from the point in the center of a circle to anywhere on the outside (see the picture on the bottom right of the page).

paragraphs: If the distance covered around the outside of a circle is equal to the radius, than one radian is being covered. Around the whole outside of a circle, there are about 6.283 radians - or, Tau radians (Tau is just a number, like 0, or 7, or 100).

paragraphs: The advantage of this is that one quarter of a circle would simply become Tau / 4 radians, and one half of a circle Tau / 2 radians, which is more in line with our intuition on circles (see also the drawing below).

paragraphs: Not many people use Tau yet, but more and more are.


title: Upsilon

paragraphs: Upsilon (uppercase/lowercase Υ υ) is the 20th letter of the Greek alphabet. It is used to represent the "u" sound in Ancient Greek and "i" in Modern Greek. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 400. Letters that came from it include the Roman U, V and Y, and the Cyrillic У.

paragraphs: In mathematics, the uppercase formula_1 is used to represent the upsilon function (a variant of Riemann zeta function), while the lowercase formula_2 is used as a general variable. In physics, the uppercase formula_1 is used to represent an upsilon meson. In astrology, the same letter is used for the sign of Aries.


title: Phi

paragraphs: Phi (uppercase/lowercase Φ φ), is the 21st letter of the Greek alphabet, used to represent the "ph" sound in Ancient Greek. This sound changed to "f" some time in the 1st century AD, and in Modern Greek the letter denotes the "f" sound. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 500. The Cyrillic letter Ф came from Phi. In English, φ is pronounced like "f" but transliterated (re-written) as "ph" in words which originate in Ancient Greek. In those words which originate in Modern Greek, such as feta cheese, φ is transliterated as "f". The letter Phi is used to represent the golden ratio (which is about 1.618).


title: Chi (letter)

paragraphs: Chi (uppercase/lowercase Χ χ) is the 22nd letter of the Greek alphabet. It is used to represent the "ch" sound (as in Scottish "loch" or German "Bauch") in Ancient and Modern Greek. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 600. Letters that came from it include the Roman X and Cyrillic Х.

paragraphs: In mathematics, the lowercase formula_1 is used to represent characteristic function, chi-square distribution in statistics and Euler characteristic in geometry.


title: Psi (letter)

paragraphs: Psi (uppercase/lowercase Ψ ψ) is the 23rd letter of the Greek alphabet. It is used to represent the "ps" sound in Ancient and Modern Greek. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 700. Letters that came from it include Cyrillic Ѱ.

paragraphs: In mathematics, the uppercase formula_1 is used as a variable for sets of sentences (in logic), and the lowercase formula_2 is used to represent the sum of reciprocals of Fibonacci numbers. Other applications include the polygamma function, the gamma function and the super golden ratio.


title: Omega

paragraphs: Omega (uppercase/lowercase Ω ω) is the 24th and the last letter of the Greek alphabet. It stood for a long "o" sound in Ancient Greek. It still stands for "o" in Modern Greek, but there is no longer a difference between long and short vowels, so it sounds the same as Omicron. In the system of Greek numerals, it stands for the number 800.

paragraphs: There was also once a letter "Omega" Ѡ in the Cyrillic alphabet. It was there so people could spell Greek names both in Cyrillic and in Greek in the same way. However, this letter is no longer used today.

paragraphs: In mathematics, the uppercase omega Ω is used in big-Omega notation (a variant of big-O notation). It is also used to represent the Omega constant. In electromagnetism and engineering, the uppercase Ω is used as the symbol for ohms, which are the units of electrical resistance. In physics and other sciences, the lowercase ω is often used to represent angular frequency.

paragraphs: In modern English, the phrase "From alpha to omega" expresses the idea of "everything".


title: Sampi

paragraphs: Sampi or Disigma is a mysterious Greek symbol. Its meaning is still debated today. Some believe it to be a replacement of 'san'. Before that, it was a letter that was used in the Greek alphabet in a few Greek cities in the 5th century BC. At that time, it looked like or . It was probably pronounced like "ts" or "tch" in the dialect of those cities. Over time, it was changed from to or and at last to . Eventually, the letter came out of use, while it was still used to denote "900" in the system of Greek numerals.


title: Aliteracy

paragraphs: The problem of aliteracy is the state of being able to read but being uninterested in doing so. Teachers and school librarians are trying to deal with this problem.

paragraphs: Stratford P. Sherman wrote, in a November 18, 1991 article in Fortune magazine, about the need for America to read more. He began by saying that most Americans could not understand the article. He referred to a study by John P. Robinson, a sociology professor at the University of Maryland, showing that the average American at that time spent only 24 minutes per day in reading. He mentioned the continuing decline in newspaper sales, and referred to a guess by Leonard Riggio, CEO of Barnes & Noble, that 50% of books sold by his company were never read. He quoted Samuel Robert Lichter, director of the Center for Media and Public Affairs, on his preference for the ease of turning on the TV instead of reading a book. Sherman went on, in his article, to mention the growing need for skillful commmunication in American business but also the decreasing quality of the same activity. He quoted Monsanto CEO Richard Mahoney on the importance of reading in helping a business manager to see connections between events. He described print media as being first among different media with respect to (1) the amount of information conveyed by so few widely understood symbols, (2) portability, (3) suitability for the user's own speed of use, and (4) economical distribution of broad and deep information which can be used immediately.

paragraphs: Sherman said that Motorola was making preparations to pay $5,000,000 to teach workers reading and other basic skills, and that, since 1982, Ford Motor Company had already sent 32,000 workers on a similar program. He said that Simon & Schuster predicted a market of $500,000,000 per year in the sales of remedial programs to corporations. He quoted a spokesman for the National Association of Broadcasters as saying that "the biggest predictor of scholastic success is the time parents spend reading to their children." However, Sherman said that the amount of time thus spent meant that the outlook was "not bright".


title: L'Anse aux Meadows

paragraphs: L'Anse aux Meadows is a historical settlement on the island of Newfoundland in eastern Canada. It was settled by Vikings from Greenland, Iceland, and Norway around the year 1000, almost 500 years before Christopher Columbus came to the Americas. It is the only known Viking place in North America outside of Greenland. The remains of the settlement were discovered in 1960, and were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978.


title: The Wealth of Nations

paragraphs: An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations is better known simply as The Wealth of Nations. It was written by Adam Smith in 1776, who was a Scottish man. It looks at division of work, following self-interest, and freedom of trade.

paragraphs: The book was not the beginning of classical economics, and market economics. Smith said that if everyone did what was best for themselves, the result would be best for society. Before that, economics was about the king's personal interests, and the wealth of a nation was measured by the king's treasury or by the gold and silver in the country.

paragraphs: Smith said what's important is what's best for the whole nation, and that wealth should be measured by the yearly income of the nation. He wanted to discover how wealth can grow, and how people could do things to support that growth. Smith's book said land, labour, and capital were the three "factors of production" and the main contributors to a nation's wealth.

paragraphs: Prices naturally adjust to having more or less of something: supply and demand. If there is too much of something (more supply), prices go down so that people have more reason to buy it. If a lot of people want something (high demand), there may not be enough of it (scarcity); there will be a competition among the people who want to buy it, and some people will agree to pay more to get what they want, and prices go up.

paragraphs: Smith said markets should be free. At the time, some big companies (like the East India Company) were controlled by the government. Sometimes the rulers made laws that were good for themselves but not for workers or customers. For example, in the American colonies, colonists could grow cotton but were not allowed to make clothing from it. They had to ship it to England to be made into clothing, then buy it back after it was finished. Smith said this was bad for individuals and for society. He thought it was better for money to flow freely and naturally between buyers and sellers without outside interference. Money would naturally go to the sellers who made the best product at the best price. This way if people did what was best for them, it would end up being best for society as a whole, almost like an "invisible hand" was guiding everything.


title: La Dessalinienne

paragraphs: La Dessalinienne (The Dessalines Song) is the national anthem of Haiti, honoring Jean-Jacques Dessalines. The lyrics (words of the song) were written by Justin Lhérisson and its music composed by Nicolas Geffrard; it was adopted in 1904.


title: Aisin Gioro Yuhuan

paragraphs: Aixinjueluo Yuhuan (; ) (October 1929 – 23 June 2003) was a recent Chinese traditional artist in both traditional Chinese paintings and traditional Chinese music. He is also one of the few descendants of the royal family of the Qing Dynasty. He is the great-great grandson of the Daoguang Emperor. He was born in the Prince Gong Mansion in Beijing, China.

paragraphs: In 1957, he joined the China Artists' Association, and in 1981 he was added into The Chinese Great Artists' Dictionary. He has won many art prizes in China dealing with Chinese traditional art, his pieces are mostly landscapes, people, and close-up flowers and bamboo.

paragraphs: YuHuan was an only son of Aixinjueluo Pu Shu Ming who has lived in the Prince Gong Mansion for some time after the Qing Dynasty was overruled. Good links to his uncle Pu Xin-Yu, who was a famous traditional artist of China, provided him with art lessons which set his appetite for painting Chinesetraditional art. In Junior High School, he has already started publishing his own comics on the newspapers, he became more and more interested in the arts, he eventually applied and was accepted by the Arts Department of the Beijing Normal University. The art he was taught at the Beijing Normal University was Western art although he was used to Chinese paintings.

paragraphs: Artist YuHuan was also a sanxian musician, his lessons with traditional Chinese instruments started when he was a child, and still living in the Prince Gong Mansion. At his death, he had already mastered many difficult pieces and he played until his late 60s.

paragraphs: At the age of eight, he started to learn the sanxian, a 500-year-old Chinese three-string, plucked instrument. The song he learned was a song from the Qing Dynasty(the dynasty of his great-great grandfather), it consisted of 13 pieces, with each piece about 20–45 minutes long. He did not learn all of the pieces of the song because his tutor only knew 13 of them (there were more that his tutor did not know); even so, it took him 2 years to master it, with courses of one 2-hour lesson per week. He had already passed on the song to a lecturer in the Central Conservatoire of Music in Beijing, his student also took two years to master it.

paragraphs: The leaders of many countries and foreign ministers have met with Yuhuan and either bought or received his paintings as donations or presents, the countries include: Hungary, Germany, the USA, Canada, Japan, and many more. He has also lectured in many universities Japan, Singapore and Indonesia. Galleries and exhibitions of his work were also presented to and hosted at many of the above countries.

paragraphs: Mr. Aixinjueluo has three successful sons, whose names are Aixinjueluo Hengyue(writer), Aixinjuelo Hengkai(artist), and Aixinjueluo Hengjun(IT specialist).


title: New Castle, Indiana

paragraphs: New Castle is a city in Henry County, Indiana, 44 miles (71 km) east of Indianapolis, on the Big Blue River. In 1900, 3,406 people lived in the town; in 1910, 9,446; in 1920, 14,458; and in 1940, 16,620. The population was 17,780 in 2000. The city is the county seat of Henry County. New Castle is home to New Castle Fieldhouse, the largest high school in the world.


title: Pop art

paragraphs: Pop art is a modern art movement that developed in the 1950s and 60s. It was created by the Scottish sculptor and artist Eduardo Paolozzi in London, 1952. Andy Warhol, Robert Indiana and Roy Lichtenstein are examples of pop artists.

paragraphs: Pop art has themes and techniques drawn from popular mass culture, such as advertising and comic books. Pop art employs images of popular as opposed to elitist culture in art.

paragraphs: The Independent Group (IG), founded in London in 1951, is regarded as the starting point of the pop art movement. They were a gathering of young painters, sculptors, architects, writers and critics who were challenging modernist approaches to culture as well as traditional views of "fine art". The group discussions centered on popular culture implications from such elements as mass advertising, movies, product design, comic strips, science fiction and technology.

paragraphs: At the first Independent Group meeting in 1952, co-founding member, artist and sculptor Eduardo Paolozzi presented a lecture using a series of collages titled "Bunk!" that he had assembled during his time in Paris between 1947–1949. This material consisted of 'found objects' such as, advertising, comic book characters, magazine covers and various mass-produced graphics that mostly represented American popular culture. One of the images in that presentation was Paolozzi's 1947 collage, "I was a Rich Man's Plaything", which includes the first use of the word "pop″, appearing in a cloud of smoke emerging from a revolver. After Paolozzi's seminal presentation in 1952, the IG focused on the imagery of American popular culture, particularly mass advertising.

paragraphs: The artists use mechanical means of reproduction or rendering techniques which downplay the expressive hand of the artist.

paragraphs: Pop artists went for absolute clarity. Most forms were bordered with black lines as in comic books. The objects are often plain like a poster, and without perspective. The colours are clear, achromatic and primitive colours.

paragraphs: Objects of the everyday life get isolated and modified or processed in collages. Pop art is a connection between reality and art, handled with abstract means. Some of their catchwords are: popular, consumable, cheap, funny and outstanding.

paragraphs: Much of pop art is rather academic, as the unconventional organizational practices used often make it difficult for some to understand. Pop art and minimalism are considered to be the last modern art movements and so the precursors to postmodern art, or some of the earliest examples of postmodern art themselves.


title: Museum of Modern Art

paragraphs: The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is a modern art museum in New York, New York, United States, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been called the most important museum of modern art in the world. Some of the artists featured at the museum include Jackson Pollock, Vincent van Gogh, Andy Warhol and Robert Indiana


title: Rankine scale

paragraphs: The Rankine scale is a thermodynamic (absolute) temperature scale. It is based around absolute zero. Rankine is similar to the Kelvin scale in that it starts at absolute zero and 0 °Ra is the same as 0 K but is different as a change of 1 °Ra is the same as a change of 1 °F (Fahrenheit) and not 1 °C (Celsius). Note that the abbreviation °R is ambiguous, as it can also refer to the Réaumur scale.

paragraphs: The Kelvin and Rankine temperature scales are defined so that absolute zero is 0 kelvins (K) or 0 degrees Rankine (°R). The Celsius and Fahrenheit scales are defined so that absolute zero is −273.15 °C or −459.67 °F.

paragraphs: The Rankine scale was originally used in the United States.


title: High fidelity

paragraphs: High fidelity or hi-fi is a way of describing a very good home music system. "High fidelity" means that the sound is as close to the original as possible with no changes or added noise. People who like hi-fi are sometimes called audiophiles. Hi-fi is often now called "high-end audio".

paragraphs: In the 1930s and 1940s, vacuum tubes were used to make radios and electronic amplifiers. Radio was becoming popular, and microphones, amplifiers and loudspeakers began to be sold. Manufacturers began to compete to produce the best product. A lot of research was done at Bell Laboratories and products were made by Western Electric.

paragraphs: Then a new kind of vinyl record with less noise and better sound was invented. Manufacturers began to call their equipment and records "high fidelity" to help sell them. In the 1950s, "hi-fi" became the popular term, replacing "phonograph" and "record player". Rather than playing a record "on the phonograph," people would play it "on the hi-fi".

paragraphs: In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Westrex invented the stereo record that used two speakers. This led to more improvements in home audio. The word "stereo" replaced the word "hi-fi." Records were now played on "a stereo".

paragraphs: Some people bought individual parts (separate speakers and amplifiers), and even built their own equipment. The term "high fidelity" is still used for very good music systems.


title: Derby

paragraphs: Derby is a city in the East Midlands region of England. It is on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire. In the 2001 census, 233,700 people lived there. At that time, Derby was the 18th largest place in England.

paragraphs: The city has Roman, Saxon and Viking origins.

paragraphs: The Roman camp of 'Derventio' was probably near to Derby. The site of the old Roman fort is at Chester Green. Later the town was one of the 'Five Boroughs' of the Danelaw.

paragraphs: The town name is seen as 'Darby' or 'Darbye' on early modern maps, such as that of Speed (1610).

paragraphs: Modern research into the history and archaeology of Derby has shown that the Vikings and Anglo-Saxons probably co-existed, occupying two areas of land surrounded by water. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (c. 900) says that "Derby is divided by water". These areas of land were known as Norþworþig and Deoraby, and were at the "Irongate" (north) side of Derby.

paragraphs: In World War I, Derby was targeted by German Zeppelin air bombers. They killed five people in a 1916 raid on the town.

paragraphs: All Saints Church was designated as a cathedral in 1927. That showed that the town was ready for city status.

paragraphs: In the 1920s and 1930s, slums were cleared out and people were moved to new council estates in the suburbs. There were also houses for sale there. Rehousing, council house building and private housing developments continued on a large scale for some 30 years after the end of World War II in 1945.

paragraphs: Derby became a high profile town internationally in sport following the appointment of Brian Clough as manager of Derby County F.C. in 1967. Promotion to the Football League First Division was achieved in 1969, and County won of the English league three years later. Following the Clough's resignation in 1973, his successor guided County to another league title in 1975, but this is the club's last major trophy to date; relegation followed in 1980 and top flight status was not regained until 1987, since when Derby have spent a total of 10 seasons (across two spells) in the top flight. The club moved from its century-old Baseball Ground in 1997 to the new Pride Park Stadium.

paragraphs: Derby was awarded city status on 7 June 1977 by Queen Elizabeth II. Until then, Derby had been one of the few towns in England with a cathedral but not city status.

paragraphs: Despite its strategic industries (rail and aero-engine), Derby suffered comparatively little damage in both world wars (contrast Bristol and Filton). This may in part have been due to the jamming of the German radio-beam navigations systems (X-Verfahren and Knickebein), camouflage and decoy techniques ('Starfish sites') were built, mainly south of the town, e.g. out in fields near Foremark.

paragraphs: Derby's main football club is Derby County who've won the FA Cup and the Football League. There are also three senior non-league football clubs based in the city. Derby also had a short lived baseball team, which played at Derby's former ground.

paragraphs: Arthur Keily the marathon runner and Olympian was born in Derbyshire in 1921 and has lived his whole life in Derby. In Rome in 1960 he broke the English Olympic record, recording a time of 2hours 27mins.

paragraphs: Derby has the first public park in the country to have an arboretum, which is south of the city centre. The arboretum was set up by the philanthropic landowner and industrialist Joseph Strutt in 1840. The arboretum's website states that the arboretum's design was the inspiration for the vision of great urban parks in the USA, notably Central Park in New York City.

paragraphs: There are four museums: Derby Museum and Art Gallery; Pickford's House Museum; The Silk Mill and The Royal Crown Derby Museum.


title: Stereo

paragraphs: Stereophonic sound, also simply called stereo, is the reproduction of sound using two or more audio loudspeakers. This creates a pleasant and natural sound heard from various directions, as in natural hearing.

paragraphs: The word "stereophonic" comes from Greek "stereos" = "solid" and "phōnē" = "sound". It was coined by Western Electric.

paragraphs: In popular usage, stereo usually means two-channel sound recording and sound reproduction using data from two speakers. The electronic device for playing back stereo sound is often called "a stereo".


title: Ely, Cambridgeshire

paragraphs: Ely (; , rhyming with "freely") is a cathedral city in the East Cambridgeshire district of Cambridgeshire in the east of England and north north-east of Cambridge.

paragraphs: Ely has been called a city for a long time because it has a cathedral. However, the Royal Charter making it a city was only issued in 1974. Ely's population was 15,102 in 2001. This means Ely is the third smallest city in England. Only after Wells in Somerset and the City of London) are smaller.

paragraphs: The University of Cambridge rowing team has a boathouse on the bank of the river and train there for the annual Boat Race against the University of Oxford.

paragraphs: The 1944 Boat Race was raced on the River Great Ouse near Ely, the only time it has not been held on the River Thames. The race was won by Oxford despite Cambridge being ahead early in the contest.

paragraphs: Ely is built on an clay which is one of the highest points in the Fens. This is very different to the West of Cambridgeshire which is made up of limestone. The river Great Ouse runs through the city, and is one of the longest rivers in the UK with many others flowing into it. The drainage area of the rivers that form the Great Ouse is around 6000 square miles (16,000 square kilometres). This is five times larger than the Fens itself The landscape was a large marsh until the 18th century, when much of the Fens was drained, making Ely no longer an island. Because of this, the ground around the city is very fertile and most of the region is used for farming. The marshes also had many different animals in them such as the Eel, which the city is named after.

paragraphs: Cambridgeshire is one of the driest counties in Britain. It is protected from coastal wind from the east. It gets an average of 24 inches (600mm) of rain per year. Because of this, Cambridgeshire is warm in summer and cold and frosty in winter.


title: Tube sound

paragraphs: Tube sound (or valve sound) is the sound produced by a vacuum tube-based audio amplifier. All amplifiers distort to some degree; some audiophiles prefer the sound produced by tube amplifiers. The reasons for the difference in sound between tube and solid state electronic devices is a continuing debate among audiophiles.


title: Mu

paragraphs:
μ is used as a symbol for:
Mu may also refer to:


Nu


title: Sound recording and reproduction

paragraphs: Sound recording and reproduction is the storage of sound and playing it back so that a person can hear the same sound more than once. It is a process wherein sound waves are captured by a machine. The machine converts the waves into electrical signals or digital data, that are then stored on recording media (such as gramophone records, cassette tapes, compact discs or computer hard drives). The sound can then be played back by reversing the process.

paragraphs: Most recordings are of music, people speaking or singing, and sound effects. They are usually used for entertainment (fun), or for scientific and historical reasons.

paragraphs: Sound is recorded onto a medium by different methods. The ways that recordings are made have changed a lot since sound was first recorded.

paragraphs: The first machines for recording sound were mechanical, not electrical. The phonograph was invented by Thomas Alva Edison in 1877. Phonographs have a spinning cylinder covered in a soft material such as tin foil, lead, wax, or amberol. Sound waves shake a small needle so that its motion carries the waves. As the cylinder turns, the needle draws the motion of the sound waves in the soft coating. This made the cylinder a recording of the sound that was in the needle.

paragraphs: This recording is played back by tracing another needle through the groove in the cylinder. This recreates the small vibrations in the playback needle. These vibrations could be amplified (made louder) to create louder, more audible sound.

paragraphs: The phonograph was useful for making single recordings, but a big disadvantage was the difficulty of making copies of the cylinders.

paragraphs: The problem of copying recordings got better with the invention of the gramophone (also called the "phonograph" in American English) around 1888. The gramophone works in much the same way as the phonograph, but instead of a cylinder, the needle's grooves are etched into a disk record which turns on a spinning table. Because the record media was flat, copying recordings was much simpler. Pressing the original recording onto a plate of shellac created a negative master, where the grooves were bumps on the surface instead of being scratched into the surface. The master could be used to produce many copies through the opposite process.

paragraphs: The first records were made mostly of rubber or shellac, but later records were made of vinyl.

paragraphs: Originally, records spun at a rate of 78 rotations per minute, or 78 rpm. As technology got better, records could spin more slowly, but still reproduce sound better and play for longer amounts of time. 45 rpm became common in the middle 20th century, and by the late 1900s most records were 33 rpm.

paragraphs: In the late 1930s the tape recorder appeared. Tape recorders use a magnetic tape as a medium, with a "recording head" to store the sound on the tape. Sound waves are converted into an electrical signal inside the recorder. This signal goes into the head, where it changes the polarity of very small magnets. Tape moves past the head at a constant speed, and its magnetic particles are rearranged by these magnets to a pattern that represents the sound wave. These magnetic patterns are much like the small grooves of a cylinder or disc record in the way that they represent the vibration energy of sound waves.

paragraphs: When a tape is played back, it runs past a "playback head" which reads the magnetic patterns off the tape and converts them back into an electrical signal. The electrical signal can then be converted into sound waves or copied to some other kind of sound-processing machine.

paragraphs: A magnetic tape is divided into several "tracks". Each track uses up part of the width of the tape, and can store a completely different recording that can be played back at the same time as the other tracks. A two-track tape has one track on half of the tape and another track on the other half. A four-track tape has four tracks all lying next to one another, like a highway with four lanes. Most tape recordings today are stereophonic (or "stereo"), meaning that they have two tracks which are meant to be played together. Usually one is played on the listener's left side and the other is on the listener's right side, to match the listener's two ears.

paragraphs: Early tapes were wound flat on a storage reel and transferred to a "take-up reel" as they were recorded or played. After recording or playback, they were "rewound" so that they were stored only on the storage reel. This kind of system is usually called "reel to reel" today. It is still used today for some professional recording and playback, but for home use reels were mostly replaced with other kinds of tape in the 1970s. Cassettes are small cartridges containing two reels inside. Cassettes move a four-track tape in either of two directions, corresponding to their "side A" and "side B" labels. The reel on the left contains the unplayed or unrecorded tape, and the reel on the right contains the tape that has already passed the recording or playback head. When you turn the cassette over, the tape still moves from left to right, but this is really the opposite direction. The "side A" recording plays two tracks as stereo, and the "side B" recording plays the other two.

paragraphs: Eight-track tapes were popular for a while in the 1970s and 1980s. Eight-tracks work much like cassettes, but the tape is a loop: it repeats after being played all the way through. Because it has eight tracks, there are four "programs" to select from, each in stereo. Eight-tracks are not very popular anymore, but can still be found in hobbyist collections.

paragraphs: Professional tape-recording systems may have even more tracks, or might use them differently. Usually a system like this is designed to allow someone to mix the tracks in different ways than they were originally recorded. However, there is a kind of recording called quadraphonic that uses four-track tape to play four different tracks at the same time. A good quadraphonic recording can sound much more "real" than stereo or monophonic recordings.

paragraphs: Tape recording technology was used from the early days of computing to store digital information. As computer technology improved, so did magnetic tape technology. In the 1980s Digital Audio Tape (DAT) technology emerged. DAT is designed to work much like cassette, except DAT's magnetic patterns represent digital data instead of sound vibrations. This digital data is a digital audio recording which can be copied and reproduced with many different computer systems. Moving to digital takes the medium one step farther from the original sound. Instead of being a sound medium, the DAT is a data medium, and the data is a sound medium. This is more technically complex, but also more flexible. DAT has been used for many kinds of data recording, in addition to sound.

paragraphs: The compact disc (CD) medium was developed in the 1980s as a new way to bring digital recordings of music to the market. Except for the introduction of the CD-ROM and several kinds of recordable CD, the CD has not changed much since then. Like DAT, it is a data medium rather than a way of recording vibrations directly. It was introduced to provide music in a way that is cheap for manufacturers but relatively high-quality, but it has since been adapted to meet many data-storage needs. Like DAT, the CD requires computer technology to record and to play.

paragraphs: By the 1990s, CDs had replaced cassettes and records as the main kind of commercial music media. Today, although CDs are still very popular, "online" digital recordings like MP3s are gaining fast.

paragraphs: The earliest methods of recording sound involved the live recording of the performance directly to the recording medium. This was an entirely mechanical process, often called "acoustical recording". The sound of the performers was captured by a diaphragm with the cutting needle connect to it. The needle made the grooves in the recording medium.

paragraphs: To make this process as efficient as possible the diaphragm was located at the apex of a cone and the performer(s) would crowd around the other end. If a performer was too loud then they would need to move back from the mouth of the cone to avoid drowning out the other performers. As a result of this, in early Jazz recordings a block of wood was used in place of the bass drum.

paragraphs: The introduction of electrical recording made it possible to use microphones to capture the sound of the performance. The leading record labels switched to the electric microphone process in 1925, and most other record companies followed their lead by the end of the decade. Electrical recording increased the flexibity and sound quality. However once the performance was still cut to the recording medium, so if a mistake was made the recording was useless.

paragraphs: Electrical recording made it possible to record one part to disc and then play that back while playing another part, recording both parts to a second disc. This is called "over-dubbing". The first commercially issued records using over-dubbing were released by the Victor Talking Machine Company in the late 1920s. However overdubbing was of limited use until the introduction of analog audio tape. Use of tape overdubbing was pioneered by Les Paul and is called 'sound on sound' recording. In this way performances could be built up over time.

paragraphs: The analog tape recorder made it possible to erase or record over a previous recording so that mistakes could be fixed. Another advantage of recording on tape is the ability to cut the tape and join it back together. This allows the recording to be edited. Pieces of the recording can be removed, or rearranged. See Audio editing

paragraphs: The introduction of electronic instruments (especially keyboards and synthesisers), effects and other instruments has led to the importance of MIDI in recording. For example, using MIDI timecode, it is possible to have different equipment 'trigger' without direct human intervention at the time of recording.

paragraphs: In more recent times, computers (digital audio workstation) have found an increasing role in the recording studio, as their use eases the tasks of cutting and looping, as well as allowing for instantaneous changes, such as duplication of parts, the addition of affects and the rearranging of parts of the recording.

paragraphs: The French bookseller and printer Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville was the earliest known inventor of sound recording. It is believed he invented the first ever sound recording device known as the Phonautograph.


title: San

paragraphs:
San or SAN (acronym) may refer to:
In organizations and groups:


Sho


Stigma


title: Storage area network

paragraphs: A Storage area network (SAN) is a computing solution for accessing and storing data. To the user, Storage Area Networks appear to be local to the operating system, but they are actually remote.

paragraphs: To understand the difference between a SAN and Network Attached Storage (NAS), the difference between the file system and storage must be made clear.

paragraphs: The file system is the interface that allows the user to access their data that is stored in physical storage (such as hard disks). From the point of view of the user, their data is saved as files. The file system takes care of storing the file data, which might actually be broken up into pieces and stored in different locations in storage.

paragraphs: On a personal computer, the file system and storage are on the same machine (Direct Attached Storage). In Network Attached Storage, the file system and storage are on a remote server. In a Storage Area Network, the file system is on the local machine, and the storage is on a remote machine.


title: Rings of Saturn

paragraphs: The rings of Saturn are the planetary rings around the planet Saturn, which can be seen with a small telescope. They consist of many small particles, ranging in size from microscopic to the size of a bus (or bigger) that form clumps that move around Saturn. The particles in the rings are made almost entirely of water ice, with just a small amount of dust and other chemicals. There are some gaps in the rings. The moon Pan causes the gap called the "Encke gap" in Saturn's A ring. The "Cassini Division", discovered by Giovanni Domenico Cassini, is a gap between the A ring and the B ring. It is a product of orbital resonance.


title: Network-attached storage

paragraphs: Network attached storage (or NAS) is a computing solution. It means that storage (like a number of hard disks) is put on a computer network, so different users can access it. Today, boxes that already can do this are available rather cheaply. Also, such boxes can be built easily using a small or old computer. NAS is similar to, but easier to set up than a Storage area network.


title: Republic of Lakotah

paragraphs: A group of Native Americans decided to call the place where they live the Republic of Lakotah. This group is called the "Lakotah Freedom Delegation". They believe the Republic of Lakotah should be treated as a separate country, but at the moment, no other country in the world agrees that it is.

paragraphs: When white people first came to North America from Europe, the Lakotah people, who are a native tribe, had already been living there for thousands of years. The Lakotah legally had nothing to do with the USA until they made treaties (agreements) with each other in the 1800s.

paragraphs: Since then, the Lakotah people have lived inside the borders of the USA. On December 17, 2007, the Lakotah Freedom Delegation said that Lakotah should become a separate country again, as it was before they made treaties with the USA.

paragraphs: They drew up borders, which includes bits of North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming and Montana. At the moment, most people consider these regions still to belong to the USA.

paragraphs: In December 2007, the group traveled to Washington, D.C. and spoke to the government. They announced that the Lakotah were withdrawing from the treaties they had with the USA. They said the USA had not been following the treaties and this had been causing problems on Lakotah land.

paragraphs: For example, the USA and the Lakotah made an agreement called the Treaty of Fort Laramie, which meant the Lakotah could keep the Black Hills. The Black Hills is a very sacred and special place for the Lakotah. But the USA broke the agreement and invaded the Black Hills when they found out that gold was buried there. Now the Black Hills is home to the famous mountain carvings of Mount Rushmore.

paragraphs: The group says that the Republic of Lakotah is not a new country, but a country that has just been revived. But some members of the Lakotah tribe complain that they were not told about the plans. Many of the leaders of the Lakotah tribe were not asked beforehand. Traditionally, a vote needs to be held if a treaty is going to be changed, and 75% of Lakotah males need to vote in favor of the change. But a vote was not held when the plans for the Republic of Lakotah were being made.

paragraphs: The group argues that Lakotah is allowed to be its own country, by law. They use the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, Article Six of the United States Constitution and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples to back up their plans.

paragraphs: The Lakotah Freedom Delegation say they might follow the example of the Philippines or the Marshall Islands, countries which used to belong to the United States but then achieved independence.

paragraphs: Anyone is allowed to be a citizen of the Republic of Lakotah as long as they give up their citizenship of the United States. The group plans to make its own passports and driving licenses.

paragraphs: The government will be run in the traditional Lakotah way. The elderly people, who receive a lot of respect in Lakotah tradition, will choose leaders to run the country.

paragraphs: At the moment, supporters of the Lakotah Freedom Delegation are arguing over the name of the country. Some people like the name "Republic of Lakotah", but others prefer "Lakotah Oyate". "Oyate" is the Lakotah word meaning "nation".

paragraphs: The government plans to use solar energy and wind power to make electricity, because these methods do not hurt the environment.

paragraphs: A place does not exist as a country until other countries in the world recognise its borders or its government, and treat it as a separate country. The Lakotah Freedom Delegation has contacted the embassies of Venezuela, Bolivia, Chile and South Africa, asking to be recognised as an independent country. The group has also mentioned Russia, Finland and Iceland, and said that Ireland and East Timor are interested in the plans. But at the moment, no other country in the world is treating Lakotah as a separate country.

paragraphs: The US government is unlikely to support the Republic of Lakotah because it means the USA will lose some land. They've said that the group's plans do not mean anything.


title: Chanson

paragraphs: Chanson is the French word for "song". The word is often used in music to mean any song with French words, but it is more often used when talking about songs in which lyrics have been set to music by French classical composers.

paragraphs: Very often "chansons" refers to the French songs that were sung in the late Middle Ages and Renaissance. People who sang these chansons were called "chansonniers". They had various forms, including ballade, rondeau and virelai. Some composers at the time liked to set popular poetry to music. The earliest chansons were for two, three or four voices, many of them being for three voices. By the 16th century most were for four voices. Sometimes, the singers were accompanied by instruments.

paragraphs: The first important composer of chansons was the medieval composer Guillaume de Machaut. In the Renaissance Guillaume Dufay and Gilles Binchois wrote many simple chansons. Later Johannes Ockeghem and Josquin des Prez composed chansons which had lots of imitation between the voices. Clément Janequin wrote more simple, homophonic chansons. He worked in the area around Paris. Later composers such as Orlando de Lassus were influenced by the Italian madrigal. The style of music started to be used in music for instruments.

paragraphs: The first book of sheet music printed from movable type was "Harmonice Musices Odhecaton", a collection of 96 chansons by many composers, published in Venice in 1501.

paragraphs: During the 16th century French songs started to be composed with lute or keyboard accompaniment. In the 19th century many composers wrote songs with piano accompaniment. These chansons were often called mélodies.

paragraphs: In France today "chanson" often refers to the work of more popular singers such as Georges Brassens, Jacques Brel, Édith Piaf, Camille, Olivia Ruiz.

paragraphs: French chansons of Jacques Brel have been translated and are interpreted in English by Arnold Johnston, Professor at West Michigan University. More than 100 chansons of Brel, Brassens, Barbara, Bécaud, Ferrat, Aznavour, Trenet et Ferré have been translated and are interpreted in German language by the Duo Stéphane & Didier (see www.deutsche-chanson-texte.de).


title: A-type asteroid

paragraphs: A-type asteroids are fairly uncommon closer asteroids that have a strong, broad 1 µm olivine feature and a very reddish spectrum shortwards of 0.7 µm. They are thought to come from the completely differentiated mantle of an asteroid.

paragraphs: A-type asteroids are so rare that as of 2005 only 17 had been found.


title: C-type asteroid

paragraphs: C-type asteroids are asteroids made of carbonates. They are the most common variety taking up around 75% of known asteroids, and an even higher percentage in the farther part of the belt beyond 2.7 AU, which is dominated by this asteroid type. The amount of C-types may actually be higher than this, because C-types are much darker than most other asteroid types except D-types and others common only at the extreme farther edge of the Main Belt.

paragraphs: This type of asteroid has very similar spectra to carbonaceous chondrite meteorites (types CI and CM), whose chemical make-up is about the same as the Sun and the primitive solar nebula, except that they do not contain hydrogen, helium and other volatiles. Hydrated (water-containing) minerals are present.

paragraphs: C-type asteroids are very dark with albedos usually in the 0.03 to 0.10 range. Consequently, whereas a number of S-types can normally be viewed with binoculars at opposition, even the biggest C-types require a small telescope. The potentially brightest C-type asteroid is 324 Bamberga, but that object's very high eccentricity means it rarely reaches its maximum magnitude.

paragraphs: Their spectra contain moderately strong ultraviolet absorption at wavelengths below about 0.4 μm to 0.5 μm, while at longer wavelengths they are very featureless but slightly reddish. The so-called "water" absorption feature around 3 μm, which can be a sign of water content in minerals is also present.

paragraphs: The biggest unequivocally C-type asteroid is 10 Hygiea, although the SMASS classification places the biggest asteroid 1 Ceres, here as well, because that scheme lacks a G-type.


title: Marcus Aemilius Lepidus

paragraphs: Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (born 88/89 BC, died 12/13 BC) was a Roman politician. He was one of the closest men to Julius Caesar. He was Caesar's deputy in Rome when Caesar was away from Rome defeating Pompey in the battle of Pharsalus in Greece. He served as "Pontifex Maximus" (High Priest) after Caesar's death.

paragraphs: Together with Octavian and Mark Antony he formed the Second Triumvirate to oppose the conspirators. The Triumvirate was set up to sideline the Consuls and Senate, which means it was the effective end of the Roman Republic.

paragraphs: Lepidus was older than the other two triumvirs. After the Battle of Philippi, he governed Spain and part of North Africa. He was blamed for a revolt in Sicily. This gave Octavian the excuse to strip him of his offices, except for Pontifex Maximus. He died peacefully in Circeii in Italy about end 12 to early 13 BC.


title: Lacrosse

paragraphs: Lacrosse, invented by the Native Americans, is a popular team sport in North America and a national summer sport for Canada. It involves the use of nets, or "heads" as they are called, which consist of a wooden or metal shaft with a net on the end. Hockey is a game based on this sport.

paragraphs: There are about three different forms of lacrosse based on the different Native American tribes or places of how they played it. One of the ways still played today is called double stick; you play by using a two and a half foot stick in each hand and tossing a deer skin ball in between the two sticks.

paragraphs: The name “lacrosse” was named by the French settlers; with “Crosse” meaning curved stick it is called the curved stick. Lacrosse played a more serious role in Native American culture than anywhere else. It was often used to settle tribal disagreements. Lacrosse was not a very well-known sport until the late nineteenth century. Now more than half a million people are playing.

paragraphs: Lacrosse has two teams, each with ten players. There is one goalie(using a head much larger than a normal players), three defensemen(using a stick with a longer shaft), three midfielders and three attack men. The goalies defend the goals, and if the ball goes into the goal, the team who scored the goal gains a point. Whoever scores the most goals by the end of the game wins, with an overtime period being played if the game is tied. The game has four quarters and starts with a "face off" at the beginning of each quarter. A face off is when the ball is on the ground to start the game, and one person from each team fights for possession of the ball ball.


title: Steve Reich

paragraphs: Stephen Michael "Steve" Reich (Born October 3, 1936) is an American composer of music in the style of minimalism. He is known for his music made with tape recordings, and instrumental music with a steady beat (such as Music for 18 Musicians).

paragraphs: He also wrote pieces that used what is called a phasing technique. With phasing technique, two parts might be playing the same part but at slightly different speeds. It is almost like a canon, or round. He wrote pieces like these for piano, violin, and, again, for tape recordings.

paragraphs: He also composed such pieces like In C and Different Trains, some of his most popular works. Others include, Drumming, City Life and The Cave.

paragraphs: The critic Kyle Gann has said Reich "may...be considered...America's greatest living composer."

paragraphs: On January 25, 2007, Reich was named the 2007 recipient of the Polar Music Prize, together with jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins. On April 20, 2009, Reich was awarded the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Music for his "Double Sextet".


title: Girl group

paragraphs: A girl group is a music group with a group of female singers who normally harmonise together.

paragraphs: The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in English-speaking countries. It suggests the American female pop singing groups of the late 1950s and early 1960s. They were hugely successful for a time, between the decline of early rock and roll and the British Invasion. Many of them were influenced by doo-wop style.

paragraphs: In the 1950s and 60s, the groups were mostly self-organised, girls who knew each other and often grew up together. The Chantels, for example, were four girl choristers from a Catholic high school in the Bronx, 1957. The Ronettes were two sisters and a cousin. The Supremes were girls from a public housing estate in Detroit, Michigan. They were, and still are, America's most successful vocal group of all time. These groups had managers, of course, because they needed someone to deal with the music industry. But the managers did not set up the groups; they came after the groups were formed.

paragraphs: Later, almost all groups were created by public relations professionals to meet a market need. The Spice Girls were a good example of this. They were put together in the mid-1990s by a family management team. Their managers' idea was to create a girl group to compete with popular boy bands that dominated the pop music scene in the mid- to late-1990s. The Spice Girls sold most albums, and had the best-selling album of all time.

paragraphs: One obvious difference between the earlier groups and the later ones was in their social backgrounds. Earlier American groups, having grown up together, were all of the same social origin and colour. What is more, they had usually sung together, and socialised together, before they formed up as a group. This is also true of most of the earlier British boy groups. The later groups, on the other hand, were deliberately chosen for variety. This was done so that all sections of the audience would have at least one member they could identify with. They had not sung together, or maybe met each other, until their PR manager introduced them.

paragraphs: With the changing times, the marketing of popular music changed greatly, so that direct comparison of sales is not simple. but in many parts of the world digital sales are now the most important.


title: Heath Ledger

paragraphs: Heath Andrew Ledger (April 4, 1979 – January 22, 2008) was an Academy Award-winning Australian actor. After appearing on television during the 1990s, Ledger began working in Hollywood movies. He starred in many movies, including "The Patriot", "Monster's Ball", and "Brokeback Mountain". He played The Joker in "The Dark Knight". Ledger died in New York City on January 22, 2008. However, the final movie he was in, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, came out in 2009.

paragraphs: Heath Ledger was born in Perth, Western Australia. Ledger's mother is descended from the Clan Campbell of Scotland. Heath (Heathcliff) and his sister Katherine were named after the two main characters in Emily Brontë's "Wuthering Heights". Ledger attended Guildford Grammar School, where he had his first acting experiences. He starred in a school production as Peter Pan at age 10.

paragraphs: At sixteen, Ledger graduated school early to become an actor with girlfriend Jenna Sorrell. With his best friend, Trevor DiCarlo, Ledger drove across Australia to Sydney. He returned to Perth for the television series "Sweat" (1996). In this series, he played a gay cyclist.

paragraphs: In 1996, Ledger was involved in the short lived Fox Broadcasting Company fantasy-drama "Roar". In 1999, Ledger starred in the teen comedy "10 Things I Hate About You". He also had the lead role in the Australian movie "Two Hands", directed by Gregor Jordan.

paragraphs: From 2000 to 2005 he starred in "The Patriot", "Monster's Ball", "A Knight's Tale", "The Four Feathers", "Ned Kelly", "The Order", and "The Brothers Grimm". In 2001, he won a ShoWest Award for the "Male Star of Tomorrow" for on his work in "The Patriot" and "A Knight's Tale". In 2003, he was named one of Australian GQ's "Men of the Year" for acting.

paragraphs: Ledger received "Best Actor of 2005" awards from both the New York Film Critics Circle and the San Francisco Film Critics Circle for his acting in "Brokeback Mountain". In this movie he plays Wyoming ranchhand Ennis Del Mar, who is in love with rodeorider Jack Twist, played by Jake Gyllenhaal. He also received a nomination for Golden Globe "Best Actor in a Drama" and a nomination for Academy Award for Best Actor for this acting.

paragraphs: Also in 2005, Ledger played a version of Giacomo Casanova in "Casanova". The movie was a romantic comedy. It co-starred Sienna Miller.

paragraphs: In 2006, Ledger was asked to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In 2007, he was one of six actors to play different sides of singer Bob Dylan in the movie "I'm Not There".

paragraphs: Ledger played comic book villain The Joker in "The Dark Knight". This is the sequel to the 2005 movie "Batman Begins". The movie was released on July 18, 2008.

paragraphs: Ledger started a record company with singer Ben Harper. In 2006, Ledger directed three music videos: "Cause an Effect" and "Seduction Is Evil (She's Hot)" for Australian hip-hop artist N'fa, as well as "Morning Yearning" for Ben Harper.

paragraphs: Ledger had problems with paparazzi photographers. It is said that he spat at and assaulted a photographer in Sydney in 2004. A relative of his also is said to have spat on a photographer in 2005. Ledger said this was not true.

paragraphs: Ledger caused problems after he was quoted in January 2006 in Australia's "Herald Sun" as saying that West Virginia had banned "Brokeback Mountain" (which it had not). He also said the state had lynchings as recently as the 1980s. These statements have been said to not be true by historians, who said that the last non-legal public hanging in West Virginia happened in 1931.

paragraphs: From August 2002 to April 2004, Ledger had a relationship with actress Naomi Watts. They met during the filming of "Ned Kelly". Before that, he had dated actresses and Heather Graham.

paragraphs: Ledger was engaged to actress Michelle Williams, whom he met while filming "Brokeback Mountain". Their daughter, Matilda Rose, was born on October 28, 2005 in New York City.

paragraphs: In August 2007, "Us Weekly" said that Ledger and Williams ended their relationship. Neither Ledger nor Williams said the rumor was true at that time. In September 2007, Williams' father, Larry, told the "Sydney Daily Telegraph" that Ledger and Williams had separated.

paragraphs: Ledger was found dead in his apartment in the SoHo neighborhood of New York City on January 22, 2008. Ledger's body was found by a housekeeper and a massage therapist, who entered the bedroom to find him face down on the floor with sleeping pills on a nearby table. Police said that there were "no obvious signs" of suicide. They also did not think his death was caused by someone else.

paragraphs: On January 23, 2008, Ledger's parents and sister appeared outside Ledger's mother's house in Applecross, a Perth suburb, and read a short statement to the media:

paragraphs: Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd released a statement saying, "It was with great sadness that I have learned of the passing of Heath Ledger... It is tragic that we have lost one of our nation's finest actors in the prime of his life."


title: Exposure

paragraphs: Exposure comes from the Latin word "expōnere" which means to put out. It can mean:


title: Exposure (photography)

paragraphs: In photography, exposure is used to mean two things. Photograhic films or sensors have a certain senitivity. That means that a certain amount of light needs to be able to reach the film or sensor, before the image is correctly exposed. An exposure can also refer to a photo exposed that way.


title: Metropolitan Borough of Bury

paragraphs: The Metropolitan Borough of Bury is one of the ten Metropolitan boroughs in the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester, England.

paragraphs: It was set up in 1974 from the county borough of Bury and the boroughs of Prestwich and Radcliffe, along with the urban districts of Tottington and Whitefield, and part of the urban district of Ramsbottom.

paragraphs: The metropolitan borough, has an area of .


title: Metic

paragraphs: In Ancient Greece, a metic () was a foreigner living in a Greek city-state ("polis"). The metic did not have the same citizen rights as a citizen who was born in the state he was living in.

paragraphs: The term 'metic' was especially used in ancient Athens in the 4th and 5th centuries BC. A notable metic was Aristotle, who was born in Stageira but lived in Athens for a long time.

paragraphs: Regardless of how many generations of the family had lived in the city, metics did not become citizens unless the city chose to bestow citizenship on them as a gift. This was rarely done. Citizenship at Athens brought eligibility for numerous state payments such as jury and assembly pay, which could be significant to working people. During emergencies the city could distribute rations to citizens. None of these rights were available to metics. They were not permitted to own real estate in Attica, whether farm or house, unless granted a special exemption.

paragraphs: Metics shared the burdens of citizenship without any of its privileges. Like citizens, they had to perform military service and, if rich enough, were subject to special tax contributions. Citizenship was very rarely granted to metics. More common was the special status of "equal rights" ("isoteleia") under which they were freed from the usual liabilities.

paragraphs: The system came to an end in Hellenistic Athens, when the purchase of citizenship became very frequent. The census of 317 BC gave 21,000 citizens, 10,000 metics and 400,000 slaves in Attica.

paragraphs: In the Greco-Roman world, free people (non-citizens) living on the territory of a polis were called "paroikoi" (see etymology of parish), in Asia Minor "katoikoi".


title: Democracy in Athens

paragraphs: Democracy in Ancient Athens was very different from modern democracy.

paragraphs: To be classed as a citizen in fifth-century Athens you had to be male, born from two Athenian parents and over eighteen years old, and complete your military service. Women, slaves, metics and children were not allowed to become citizens.

paragraphs: Citizens could be involved in the running of Athens and could be chosen for important positions

paragraphs: Athens had a direct democracy. This meant that each citizen had an equal say and opportunity in the governing of Athens. The citizens of Athens would meet on a hillside (the Pnyx) 30 to 40 times a year to discuss how to run the city better. Usually a few thousand actually came to the meeting.

paragraphs: All citizens could attend the meetings. People would stand on a raised platform called the bema to speak. Speakers wore a garland whilst speaking. Any citizen could speak.

paragraphs: All major decisions concerning the running of Athens were decided here – taxes, war, policy, etc. Any decisions were made by a show of hands.

paragraphs: A black pig would be sacrificed to the gods at the start of the meeting to make sure the meeting went well.

paragraphs: All democratic countries now have an indirect democracy. This means members of parliament are elected to make decisions concerning government. There are now too many people in different countries for them to meet on a hillside, and many people are too busy to be able to go many times per year.

paragraphs: Cleisthenes, a democratic reformer, divided Attica into ten tribes in 510 BC. The Boule was made up of 50 male Athenian citizens chosen at random from each of the ten tribes (all over 30 years old). This meant that 500 men were elected, but only 50 served at any one time.


title: Gucci

paragraphs: Gucci, is an Italian fashion house (fashion design company).

paragraphs: It was started by Guccio Gucci (1881 – 1953) in Florence in 1909. Gucci is seen as one of the most famous, successful, and easily recognizable fashion brands in the world. Gucci is now owned by the French conglomerate company, Pinault-Printemps-Redoute (PPR).

paragraphs: BusinessWeek magazine says that Gucci made more than US$7 billion in 2006, and was 46th in the magazine's yearly "Top 100 Brands". For this reason Gucci is the second biggest selling fashion brand after LVMH. Most importantly Gucci is the biggest selling Italian brand in the world. Gucci has about 425 shops in the world and it sells its products to other shops by franchisees and department stores.

paragraphs: Gucci was started in 1906 by Guccio Gucci. In 1938, Gucci grew bigger, and a small shop opened in Rome. Guccio Gucci designed many of the company's famous clothes. In 1947, Gucci made the bamboo-handle handbag, which is still used. In the 1950s, Gucci also made the striped webbing (a type of material), and the suede and metal moccasin shoes.

paragraphs: Guccio Gucci's wife, Aida Calvelli had a large family, with six children, but only their sons (Vasco, Aldo, Ugo, and Rodolfo), not their daughters help lead the company. After Guccio's death in 1953 , Aldo helped lead the company to being a major fashion shop in more than one country, opening the company’s first small shops in London, Paris, and New York. Even in Gucci’s younger years, the family was well known for its arguments. Arguments about inheritances, stock holdings, and day-to-day operations of the shops often divided the family, and caused alliances to be made. Gucci grew in other countries. Gucci decided to grow a lot in East Asia in the late 1960s, opening shops in Hong Kong (China), Tokyo (Japan), and Korea. At that time, the company also made its famous GG logo (Guccio Gucci's initials), and the Flora silk scarf (worn most by Hollywood actress Grace Kelly), and the "Jackie O shoulder" bag, which was made famous by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, the widow of U.S. President John F. Kennedy.

paragraphs: Gucci stayed as one of the biggest luxury clothes companies in the world, until the late 1970s, when some bad business decisions and family arguments almost made the company bankrupt. At the time, the brothers 'Aldo' and 'Rodolfo' controlled equal 50% shares of the company, but contributed less to the company than Guccio Gucci and all his sons did. In 1979, 'Aldo' made the 'Gucci Accessories Collection', or 'GAC', which was meant to increase sales for the Gucci Parfums sector, which his sons controlled. GAC sold small accessories, such as cosmetic bags, lighters, and pens, which were cheaper than the other items in the company’s accessories catalogue. Aldo relegated control of Parfums to his son Roberto in an effort to weaken Rodolfo’s control of the overall operations of the company.

paragraphs: Aldo Gucci grew into new markets, such as an agreement with American Motors Corporation (AMC), so that in 1972 AMC Hornet small "Sportabout" car became one of the first American cars to give a special luxury made by a famous fashion designer. The Gucci cars had striped green, red, and buff material inside, as well as the Gucci's logos and outside color selections.

paragraphs: The "Gucci Accessories Collection" was popular, but it brought the Gucci strength down. After a few years, the "Parfums section" started to sell better than the "Accessories section". The newly-made wholesaling business brought the once-exclusive brand to over a thousand stores in the United States alone with the GAC line, deteriorating the brand’s standing with fashionable customers. "In the 1960s and 1970s," writes Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter, "Gucci had been at the pinnacle of chic, thanks to icons such as Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly, and Jacqueline Onassis. But by the 1980s, Gucci had lost its appeal, becoming a tacky airport brand."


title: Ghoul

paragraphs: A ghoul is a monster from ancient Arabian folklore. Ghouls live in burial grounds and other uninhabited places. The English word comes from the Arabic name for the creature: الغول "ghūl", which literally means "demon". The "ghul" is a devilish type of jinn believed to be sired by Iblis.

paragraphs: The female form is given as "ghouleh" in Muhawi and Kanaana (see ref below). The plural is "ghilan".

paragraphs: "Ghoul" is also a shapeshifting demon that lives in the desert. The demon can take the form of an animal, especially a hyena. It lures unwary travellers into the desert. It will then kill and eat them. The creature also preys on young children, robs graves, and eats the dead. Because of this habit, the word "ghoul" is sometimes used to refer to an ordinary human such as a grave robber, or to anyone who likes the macabre.

paragraphs: The star Algol takes its name from this creature.

paragraphs: In Iranian mythologies, Ghouls are creatures very similar to humans, but larger. Usually they are less intelligent and not necessarily evil.

paragraphs: Most Persian speakers use Ghoul to describe large people (figuratively "giants"). This may or may not be considered an insult, depending on the situation.

paragraphs: Ghouls and ghoul-like creatures have been portrayed in different ways in fiction, including a series of dark fantasy, short stories by Brian McNaughton, a Michael Slade novel, "Ghoul", Larry Niven's "Ringworld" series, J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, "The Chronicles of Narnia", the works of Caitlín R. Kiernan, Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake series, and Jim Butcher's The Dresden Files.

paragraphs: Morlocks are a fictional species of cannibalistic ghouls, created by H. G. Wells for his 1895 novel, "The Time Machine". The Morlocks, as well as another supposed offshoot of humans, the , exist in the future world in the year 802,701 A.D. in "The Time Machine".

paragraphs: Bram Stoker's 1897 novel "Dracula" has a character that acts much like a ghoul. The character is named Renfield. Under the vampire's influence, Renfield becomes his willing slave. He develops a craving to eat living creatures in the hope of obtaining their life-force for himself. After being confined to an asylum, he considers eating a human hospital orderly, but finds he can only capture and consume flies, spiders, and the occasional bird.

paragraphs: In the fiction of H. P. Lovecraft, a ghoul is a member of a nocturnal race that lives underground. Some ghouls were once human, but a diet of human corpses, and perhaps the tutelage of proper ghouls, changed them into horrific bestial humanoids. In the short story "Pickman's Model" (1927), the first of Lovecraft's ghoul stories, they are unutterably terrible monsters; however, in his earlier novella "The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath" (1926), the ghouls are somewhat less disturbing, even comical at times, and both helpful and loyal to the protagonist. Richard Upton Pickman, a noteworthy Boston painter who disappeared mysteriously in "Pickman's Model", appears as a ghoul himself in "Dream-Quest". Similar themes appear in "The Lurking Fear" (1922) and "The Rats in the Walls" (1924). Both of stories claim there are subterranean clans of degenerate, cannibals or carrion-eating humans.

paragraphs: In modern and contemporary fiction, ghouls are often confused with other types of undead, usually the mindless varieties of zombies. Although modern fiction (post-1954), particularly 1954's "I Am Legend", suggests that the latter beings share cannibalistic habits with ghouls, it is nonetheless generally believed that vampires and zombies prefer live prey.

paragraphs: In 's Dune series, a "Ghola" is a deceased person who has been brought back to life, via a secret, almost illegal Tleilaxu technology. Traditionally, the "Ghola" is stripped of memories from his or her past life and taught new skills. "Ghola" are often sold to nobles by the Tleilaxu as servants and retainers. Given their highly superstitious nature, Fremen are distrustful of ghola, despite the potential usefulness of the living dead. The ambiguity as to whether or not latent memories of the "old self" are still present in the ghola's mind is a long-drawn debate throughout the story. It has been suggested that the term "ghola" originates in Arabic, as do other terms in the Dune series.

paragraphs: Although many screenplays have featured ghouls, the first major motion picture of this theme was the 1933 British movie entitled "The Ghoul". The actor Boris Karloff plays a dying Egyptologist who possesses an occult gem, known as The Eternal Light, which he believes will grant immortality if he is buried with it, and thereby able to present it to Anubis in the afterlife. Of course, his bickering covetous heirs and associates would rather keep the jewel for themselves. Karloff vows to rise from his grave and avenge himself against anyone who meddles with his plan, and he keeps this promise when one of his colleagues steals The Eternal Light after his death.

paragraphs: In 1968, George A. Romero's movie "Night of the Living Dead" combined reanimated corpses (zombies) with cannibalistic monsters (ghouls). With this, it created new movie monsters more terrifying than either of the two alone. The term "ghoul" was the one actually used in the movie. The term zombies came later, after the movie was released. Romero had never thought of them that way; he said he thought of the Caribbean creatures, when he heard the term "zombies".

paragraphs: The 1976 Turkish movie 'Milk Brothers' (original story by H. Rahmi Gurpinar's 'Ghoul') is a Turkish comedy. Here, a ghoul is a monster with extra power. Ghoul is a monster that was used to frighten little children in the old times, so here the ghoul is used to frighten not only little children, but as well big people.

paragraphs: The 1975 British movie "The Ghoul" (unrelated to the Karloff movie) stars Peter Cushing as a defrocked missionary whose son has developed a taste for human flesh while traveling in India. As the son's mind and body degenerate, Cushing has several young people dispatched and prepared as food for his offspring, whom he keeps locked up in the attic.

paragraphs: The 1975 anthology movie "The Monster Club" featured a scene where a village of ghouls stumbled upon by an unwary traveller (Stuart Whitman), who temporarily escapes the creatures with the help of one half-human girl, but he is recaptured when it turns out that the ghouls have representatives inhabiting our normal human world.

paragraphs: In the anime and manga series "Hellsing", ghouls are zombie-like creatures that are created when a "chipped" (technological) vampire drains a victim to death, or, in the Manga, where a vampire drains the blood of someone who is not a virgin. If fatally wounded, they instantly crumble to dust. They are under the control of the vampire who bites them, eat human flesh, and are intelligent enough to use firearms. It is not rare to see a vampire make a small army of Ghouls for attack or defense.

paragraphs: "The Ghoul" is the stage name of Cleveland-area horror television host Ron Sweed.

paragraphs: The Batman comics-based franchise, including the 2005 movie, "Batman Begins", has an antagonist named, Rā's al-Ghūl, whose name derives from the original Arabic name for the star Algol in the constellation Perseus meaning "the monster's (i.e. Medusa's) head".


title: Most Haunted

paragraphs: Most Haunted is a British paranormal television program based on investigating possible paranormal activity. It is shown on the satellite and cable channels Living, Living2 and Virgin 1 (Formerly Ftn), mainly for the UK market. It is also shown in the United States on the Travel Channel and on the W Channel in Australia. It is made by Antix Productions, and is led by Yvette Fielding and her husband Karl Beattie.

paragraphs: The show will start their 10th series on February 19, 2008.

paragraphs: The team travel around the UK, and also Ireland, the Netherlands and the United States, investigating possible paranormal 'hotspots' for 24 hours.

paragraphs: Most Haunted has a main presenter, a psychic medium and a parapsychologist. The parapsychologist's role is to be the skeptic, and to give possible scientifical suggestions for the paranormal activity that happens during the night. These are supported by some of the production crew, who appear in the show and generally have some involvement with many parts of the investigation as they are performing their normal crew role. Most of these on-screen crew members also take part in séances.

paragraphs: The show has also featured guest mediums. So far these have been Ian Lawman, Ian Shillito, Gordon Smith, Uri Geller and Kevin Wade. Some episodes have also included at least one celebrity. So far celebrities have included Vic Reeves, Nancy Sorrell, Gaby Roslin, Scott Mills, Mark Chapman, Simon Gregson, Sue Cleaver, Carol Thatcher, Paul O'Grady and Lee Ryan.

paragraphs: The following is a list of former team and crew members who have given a lot of their time to the show.

paragraphs: Many times, former "psychic medium" Derek Acorah was possessed by a spirit, sometimes evil or sometimes "lost and confused". One such case that exposed Acorah was at Bodmin Gaol, Cornwall. Before the filming, Acorah had been fed misinformation about a non-existent ghost of Kreed Kafer by the show parapsychologist Dr. Ciaran O' Keeffe. During the investigation, which was later broadcast, he presented the information as fact and even behaved as though being possessed by the fictional ghost. O'Keeffe later revealed Kreed Kafer is an anagram of 'Derek Faker' in a national newspaper. Even though O' Keeffe exposed Acorah, the paper also claimed that O' Keeffe had exposed the rest of the "Most Haunted" team. O'Keeffe later reported that he had been grossly misquoted and misrepresented in the article, and produced a response outlining his version of the show based on his observations and findings, saying he had exposed Derek Acorah and NOT "Most Haunted". The show's presenter and executive producer, Yvette Fielding said in an interview that she believes it was a fake possession.

paragraphs: Although not mentioned by O'Keeffe, the "Mirror" article also brought into question unedited footage which appeared to show Fielding and Karl Beattie faking 'paranormal' occurrences such as ghostly bumps and knocks. Fielding denied the claims. Thus far none of this footage has come to light, leading to the belief that the "Mirror"'s claims were false. Videos purporting to show the team faking paranormal activity have often popped up on the web but are conclusively show nothing damning.

paragraphs: Further controversy centred on Derek Acorah again in the West Country, this time in Devon. On the first night filming "Terror in Torbay", Acorah mentioned a woman incarcerated by her jealous sister in the cellar of Lupton House, even coming up with the names Margaret and Eleanor. In this case, the facts were right, but the location was wrong. This is the well-known legend of Berry Pomeroy Castle which was to be the last night's location. On the final night, at Berry Pomeroy, Fielding reminded Acorah that he had mentioned the incarcerated sister two nights prior. Acorah glossed over his mistake and changed the subject.


title: Yvette Fielding

paragraphs: Yvette Fielding (born 23 September 1968) is an English television presenter. She is the presenter of the shows "Most Haunted", "Most Haunted Live!" and "Ghosthunting with...". She is also the executive producer of the shows.

paragraphs: Yvette was educated at Pownall Green Primary School and Bramhall High School in Bramhall, Stockport, in Greater Manchester and Poynton. She also attended Hillcrest Grammar School, Davenport.

paragraphs: Fielding presented the children's television show, "Blue Peter" from 1987 to 1992, and was the youngest ever person to do so; she was only 18 years old when she started. Previously, she had acted in the children's television comedy series "Seaview".

paragraphs: Since leaving "Blue Peter", Fielding has worked on television shows such as "What's Up Doc?", "Heaven and Earth", "The General" and "City Hospital", and also had acting roles in "Last of the Summer Wine" (making an appearance in the series while making a "Blue Peter" report on the show) and "Juliet Bravo". She also appeared as a regular alongside Fred Dineage and Toyah Willcox on a property-pricing based game-show called "Under Offer" made for Meridian Television.

paragraphs: She appeared in a guest-role in the popular BBC drama "Holby City" in 2007 and appeared in the ITV2 reality television programme "Deadline", finishing second.

paragraphs: Since 2002, Yvette Fielding and her husband Karl Beattie have both made "Most Haunted" for the British TV channel Living through their production company, "Antix." Viewers can see Fielding at many possible haunted locations around Britain, in the hopes for paranormal activity that could be caught on film.

paragraphs: Fielding and her husband have a daughter, Mary.

paragraphs: Eccentric British pop duo, Astrojade, started their musical career with a song titled "Yvette Fielding" as a homage to her and "Most Haunted".

paragraphs: She likes cars and has 3 Aston Martins, a Land Rover and a Range Rover.


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