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Parure

A parure is a set of various items of matching jewellery, which rose to popularity in the 17th century.

Beyond various items of matching sets jewelry, a parure was considered an entire wardrobe of jewelry for both men and women alike. Reserved for royalty and the wealthier classes, no woman was considered socially acceptable without a complete wardrobe of jewelry that defined her status, strength and political power. And the parure was not static, but could be remade into more fashionable jewelry in order to stay ‘Au courant’ in the court and fashion forward for the times. Members of court and higher social ranking vied for the best jewelers to create the most imaginative and elaborate collections that would astound one another. Some necklaces could be disassembled into bracelets, pendants, hair ornaments, brooches with clever interchangeable components and locking systems. From Old French, parure means adornment, from the verb parer, to adorn.

Cfds

CFDS or cfds may mean

  • Contracts for difference
  • Campaign for Dark Skies (CfDS)
  • Centralized Fault Display System (CFDS) in avionics electronics

Tablespace

A tablespace is a storage location where the actual data underlying database objects can be kept. It is the physical portion of the database used to allocate storage for all DBMS managed segments. A database segment is a database object which occupies physical space such as table data and indexes. Once created, a tablespace can be referred to by name when creating database segments.

Tablespaces specify only the database storage locations, not the logical database structure, or database schema. For instance, different objects in the same schema may have different underlying tablespaces. Similarly, a tablespace may service segments for more than one schema.

By using tablespaces, an administrator can control the disk layout of an installation. A common use of tablespaces is to optimize performance. For example, a heavily used index can be placed on a fast SCSI disk. On the other hand, a database table which contains archived data that is rarely accessed could be stored on a less expensive but slower IDE disk.

While it is common for tablespaces to store their data in a filesystem file, some DBMS allow tablespaces to be configured directly over operating system device entries, called raw devices, providing better performance by avoiding the OS filesystem overheads.


Oracle example

In the Oracle RDBMS, tablespaces are created by the CREATE TABLESPACE command; for example:

CREATE TABLESPACE index1 DATAFILE ‘/mnt/sda1/index1.dbf’ SIZE 100M ;

In Oracle, there are three types of tablespaces:

  • Permanent tablespaces are the primary tablespace used to store the user’s database objects.
  • Undo tablespaces are used by the DBMS to store data that can be used to undo uncommitted transactions, after a transaction is rolled back (either due to failure or explicitly requested rollback).
  • Temporary tablespaces are used to store data with a short lifespan. They are used by the DBMS to manage space for database sort operations, and can also be utilized by users for storing global tables temporarily.

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Shiplake Lock

Shiplake Lock is a lock and weir situated on the River Thames in the village of Shiplake in the county of Oxfordshire, England. It is owned and managed by the Environment Agency. It is just above the point where the River Loddon joins the Thames.


Reach above the lock

The river skirts Shiplake on the Oxfordshire bank and eventually passes into Sonning. On the way are four islands Phillimore Island, The Lynch, Hallmead Ait and Buck Ait. The Thames Path stays on the Oxfordshire bank to Sonning, where it crosses the bridge to the other side below Sonning Lock.


See also

  • Locks on the River Thames

The Daily Howler

The Daily Howler is an American political blog written by Bob Somerby. It was perhaps the first major political blog, started in 1998. The style is at once earnest and sarcastic. Somerby criticizes what he considers the media’s frequently biased or lazy coverage. In his view, the media frequently latch on to a generally agreed “script” with little regard for facts that contradict the script. For instance, in the runup to the US 2000 election it was frequently said or assumed that Gore was untruthful, but much of what supposedly underlay that script was in fact untrue, misrepresented or greatly exaggerated. He also argues that the media frequently ignore substantive issues and concentrate on trivial ones instead (in the 2000 presidential election, for example, professing bewilderment in response to the candidates’ budget proposals while writing repeatedly and at length about irrelevant issues such as Gore’s choice of clothes, or in 2006 writing articles about Barack Obama’s middle name).

The Daily Howler is probably the best known ‘media monitoring’ blog that has an extensive track record of criticizing bias on both sides of the political divide.

Bob Somerby is also a professional stand up comic. He has appeared on Larry King Live, with Bill Maher, Bill O’ Reilly and with Brian Lamb on C-Span. In college at Harvard, he was roommates with the actor Tommy Lee Jones and former Vice President Al Gore.


Commentary

  • From a Columbia Journalism Review article[1]: Bob Somerby needs no introduction, of course, unless your days are spent solely in the brick-and-mortar world…
  • Paul Krugman opened one of his op-eds[2] for the New York Times as follows:


External links

  • The Daily Howler

Rowde

Rowde is a village and civil parish in the English county of Wiltshire.


History

The village now mainly consists of modern brick built houses, but a number of 17th century buildings still remain in the centre of the village including the George and Dragon public house. The George and Dragon was predated in the village by another pub, a timber framed thatched building that was destroyed by fire in 1938, a replacement The Cross Keys now stands in its place.

On the outskirts of Rowde is the site of the Caen Hill flight of locks of the Kennet and Avon Canal. The canal rises 237 feet by means of 29 locks, 16 of them in a straight line at Caen Hill. The Kennet and Avon Canal was constructed between 1794 and 1810 and served to link Devizes with Bristol and London. The canal fell into disuse after the coming of the railway, but has been restored, and is now used for leisure purposes.


Local government

Rowde is a civil parish with an elected parish council. It falls within the areas of Kennet District Council and Wiltshire County Council. All three councils are responsible for different aspects of local government.

In the 2001 census, the district ward of Bromham & Rowde had a population of 2880.


Location

Position:

Nearby towns and cities: Devizes, Calne, Melksham, Chippenham, Swindon

Nearby villages: Bromham, Seend


See also

  • List of places in Wiltshire
  • List of civil parishes in England

Southcote Lock

Southcote Lock is a lock on the River Kennet at Southcote within the town of Reading in Berkshire, England.

Southcote Lock was built between 1718 and 1723 under the supervision of the engineer John Hore of Newbury, and this stretch of the river is now administered by British Waterways and known as the Kennet Navigation. It has a rise/fall of 5 ft 3 in (1.65 m).<ref> </ref>

The Victorian brick building that overseas Southcote Lock is the redundant Southcote Pumping Station which, when it opened in 1850, was the key to Reading’s demanding water needs.<ref></ref>


References

<references />


See also

  • Locks on the Kennet and Avon Canal

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Settlement risk

Settlement risk is the risk that a counterparty does not deliver a security or its value in cash as per agreement when the security was traded after the other counterparty or counterparties have already delivered security or cash value as per the trade agreement.

One form of settlement risk is so-called Herstatt risk, which is the settlement risk resulting from different legs of a transaction settling in different time zones (or more generally, in different settlement systems where netting is not possible). Herstatt risk exists primarily (but not exclusively) in foreign exchange transactions and cross-currency swap transaction.

The term Herstatt risk follows from a famous incident on June 26, 1974, in which the German Herstatt bank was closed due to insolvency during German banking hours, but before the start of US banking hours. As a result, the bank failed to make payment on the US dollar legs of foreign exchange transactions even where it had already received the deutschmark payments on such transactions.


For More Information

  • Settlement Risk is a slightly longer summary.
  • Overview of Settlement Risks across Europe (26 countries)
  • Overview: Settlement Risk is a more in-depth article.
  • Die Herstatt Pleite describes the Herstatt bankruptcy in detail (in German).

Higher diploma

A higher diploma is an academic award in Hong Kong and Ireland. In Hong Kong the award is below the standard of the bachelor’s degree, in Ireland it is above the standard of the bachelor’s degree.


Hong Kong

A higher diploma is an academic award by a university or other tertiary institutions such as HKIVE in Hong Kong. The award is at the same standard as an associate degree, below the standard of a bachelor’s degree and above the certificate or diploma.


Ireland, Republic of

The Higher Diploma (Ard-Dioplóma in Irish) is an award from the Higher Education and Training Awards Council that replaces the graduate diploma in the Republic of Ireland. The higher diploma is currently available in Irish colleges and has been awarded since June 2005; the standard of the award is broadly similar to the graduate diploma, and replaces reorientation-type courses. Professional-type graduate diplomas will be replaced by postgraduate diplomas.

The National University of Ireland also offers a broad selection of higher diplomas in its constituent universities and recognised colleges. A higher diploma in education is offered by the University of Dublin.


Common higher diplomas

English title Irish title
Higher Diploma in Arts Ard-Dioplóma Ealaíon
Higher Diploma in Business Ard-Dioplóma Gnó
Higher Diploma in Engineering Ard-Dioplóma Innealtóireachta
Higher Diploma in Science Ard-Dioplóma Eolaíochta


See also

  • Higher National Diploma
  • Professional certification

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Internet Data Exchange

An Internet Data Exchange (IDX) is a real estate property search site which allows the public to conduct searches of approved Multiple Listing Service properties in a certain area.

Site users generally gain the benefit of anonymous property searching and review. IDX sites usually provide less detailed information than the full Realtor Multiple Listing Service, limiting the data to that which is deemed publicly accessible. The benefit to realtors is that users of their IDX web site can search freely, establish some confidence, and qualify themselves before contacting the realtor.

Certain rules apply to the real estate companies’ ability to display each detail about a property. These “display rules” are set by the Multiple Listing Service organization, which generally forms its policy around the recommendations of the National Association of Realtors.

IDX policy is nearing its replacement by a new Internet Listing Display policy being formed by the National Association of Realtors.

A common and standard data exchange protocol for IDX information is the Real Estate Transaction Specification or RETS.


See also

  • Multiple Listing Service (MLS)
  • Real Estate Transaction Specification (RETS)
  • Virtual Office Website (VOW)
  • Internet Listing Display (ILD)


External links

  • IDX (Internet Data Exchange) Information and Resources, National Association of Realtors

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Eighty Eight, Kentucky

Eighty Eight is a town located in Barren County, Kentucky.


Name Origin

Reportedly, the town got its name because it is 8.8 miles from Glasgow in a straight line. The road distance between Glasgow and Eighty Eight is 9.07 miles according to Mapquest (see link below). Toward Glasgow is the 44 Market which is 4.4 miles from Glasgow.


References

Mapquest page showing distance between Glasgow and Eighty Eight

Reasonable Server Faces

Reasonable Server Faces (RSF) is an open source web programming framework written in Java, developed at the Centre for Applied Research in Educational Technologies (CARET) at the University of Cambridge. RSF is built on the Spring framework, and allows views to be templated in pure XHTML, as well as other XML dialects. RSF takes responsibility for the entire request processing cycle through HTTP request decoding, maintaining a bean model, invoking actions, directing errors, intepreting results and rendering views. A principal aim of RSF is to facilitate designs where zero server state is held in between requests.

RSF is notable for its extremely lightweight component model, a request-scope Inversion of Control layer (RSAC) modelled on the Spring framework, and a pure HTML templating engine, IKAT.


External links

  • Project home page

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Lisa Rands

Lisa Rands is an American rock climber famous for her bouldering achievements. The first American to rank 1st in an international bouldering World Cup, she has also climbed far in outdoor bouldering – having finished Midnight Lightning and Plain High Drifter (both considered as hard boulder problems).

Lisa has also had great successes in hard traditional climbing, being the first woman to achieve the grade of E8, with ascents of The End of the Affair at Curbar Edge, and Gaia at Black Rocks, both in England’s Peak District: routes notorious as being both extremely hard and extremely dangerous, with a fall carrying the most disastrous consequences for the climber.


External links

  • www.lisarands.com

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Division by two

Division by two is simple in even-numbered bases.

NOTE: The following methods return only the integer part of the result. No fractions, decimals, or remainders will be returned.

In binary, just shift one place to the right. (Example: 1101001 changes to 110100)

The following algorithm is for decimal. However, it can be used as a model to construct an algorithm for taking half of any number N in any even base.

  • Write out N, putting a zero to its left.
  • Go through the digits of N in overlapping pairs, writing down digits of the result from the following table.
If first digit is Even Even Even Even Even Odd Odd Odd Odd Odd
And second digit is 0 or 1 2 or 3 4 or 5 6 or 7 8 or 9 0 or 1 2 or 3 4 or 5 6 or 7 8 or 9
Write 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Example: 1738/2=?

Write 01738. We will now work on finding the result.

  • 01: even digit followed by 1, write 0.
  • 17: odd digit followed by 7, write 8.
  • 73: odd digit followed by 3, write 6.
  • 38: odd digit followed by 8, write 9.

Result: 0869.

From the example we can see that 0 is even.

If the last digit of N is odd digit add .5 to the result.

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Umov effect

The Umov effect, also known as Umov’s law, is a relationship between the albedo of an astronomical object, and the degree of polarization of light reflecting off it. It was discovered by the Russian physicist Nikolay Umov in 1905, and can be observed for celestial objects such as the surface of the Moon and the asteroids.

The degree of linear polarization of light P is defined by

<math> P = \frac{I_\perp - I_\|}{I_\perp + I_\|}\ ,</math>

where <math>I_\perp</math> and <math>I_\|</math> are the intensities of light in the directions perpendicular and parallel to the plane of a polarizer aligned in the plane of reflection. Values of P are zero for unpolarized light, and ±1 for linearly polarized light.

Umov’s law states

<math>P \propto \frac{1}{\alpha}\ ,</math>

where α is the albedo of the object. Thus, highly reflective objects tend to reflect mostly unpolarized light, and dimly reflective objects tend to reflect polarized light. The law is only valid for large phase angles (angles between the incident light and the reflected light).

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Cylinder lock

A cylinder lock is a lock in constructed with a cylinder that a locksmith can easily unscrew to facilitate rekeying<ref>
</ref>. The cylinder may contain any of a variety of locking mechanisms, including the pin tumbler lock, the wafer tumbler lock and the disc tumbler lock.

The first main advantage to a cylinder lock is that the cylinder may be changed without altering the boltwork. Removing the cylinder requires only loosening a set screw, then unscrewing the cylinder from the boltwork. The second is that it is usually possible to obtain, from a lock manufacturer, cylinders in different formats that can all be used with the same type of key. This allows the user to have keyed-alike, and master-keyed systems that incorporate a wide variety of different types of lock, such as nightlatches, deadbolts and roller door locks. Typically, padlocks can also be included, although these rarely have removable cylinders.

Standardised types of cylinder include key-in-knobset cylinders, rim (also known as nightlatch) cylinders, Ingersoll format cylinders, American, and Scandinavian round mortise cylinders, and Scandinavian oval cylinders. There are also standardised cross-sectional profiles for lock cylinders that may vary in length; for example to suit different door thicknesses. These profiles include the europrofile (or DIN standard), the British oval profile and the Swiss profile.

Cruciform pin-tumbler locks may also use interchangeable cylinders, as do a few sophisticated lever locks.

Individually Keyed System (KD)
With an individually keyed system, each cylinder can be opened by its individual key.

Keyed Alike (KA)
This system allows for a number of cylinders to be operated by the same key. It is ideally suited to residential applications such as front and back doors.

Master Keyed (MK)
A master-keyed system involves each lock having its own individual key which will not operate any other lock in the system, but where all locks can be operated by a single master-key.

Grand Master Keyed (GMK)
This is an extension of the master-keyed system where each lock has its own individual key and the locks are divided into 2 or more groups. Each lock group is operated by a master-key and the entire system is operated by one grand master-key.

Common Entrance Suite (CES)
This system is widely used in apartments, office blocks and hotels. Each apartment (for example) has its own individual key which will not open the doors to any other apartments, but will open common entrance doors and communal service areas.


References

<references/>

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Write-Read conflict

In computer science, in the field of databases, Write-Read Conflict, also known as reading uncommitted data, is a computational anomaly associated with interleaved execution of transactions.

Given a schedule D

<math>D = \begin{bmatrix}

T1 & T2 \\
R(A) & \\
W(A) & \\ 

& R(A) \\
& W(A)\\
& R(B) \\
& W(B) \\
& Com. \\

R(B) & \\
W(B) & \\
Com. & \end{bmatrix}</math>

T2 could read a database object A, modified by T1 which hasn’t committed. This is a dirty read.

T1 may write some value into A which makes the database inconsistent. It is possible that interleaved execution can expose this inconsistency and lead to inconsistent final database state, violating ACID rules.

Strict 2PL overcomes this inconsistency by locking T2 out from performing a Read/Write on A. Note however that Strict 2PL can have a number of drawbacks, such as the possibility of deadlocks.


See also

  • Concurrency control
  • Read-Write conflict
  • Write-Write conflict

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Seawaymax

The term Seawaymax refers to vessels which are the maximum size that can fit through the canal locks of the St. Lawrence Seaway. Seawaymax vessels are 740 feet in length, 78 feet wide, (maximum 226 m length, 24 m beam) and have a draft of 26 feet (7.92 m). A number of Lake freighters larger than this size cruise the Great Lakes and cannot pass through to the Atlantic Ocean. The size of the locks limits the size of the ships which can pass and so limits the size of the cargoes they can carry. The record tonnage for one vessel on the Seaway is 28,502 tons of iron ore while the record through the larger locks of the Great Lakes Waterway is 72,351 tons. Most new lake vessels, however, are constructed to the Seawaymax limit to enhance versatility by allowing the possibility of off-Lakes use. SS Edmund Fitzgerald, famous for her wreck in 1975, was constructed close to Seawaymax size.

As of 2006 there were at least 28 vessels in service which were too large to leave the Lakes.[1]


See also

  • Panamax
  • Suezmax
  • Malaccamax
  • Capesize

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Mortise lock

Created by Eli Whitney’s ( creator of the cotton gin ) nephews, Eli Whitney and Philos Blake, a mortise lock (also mortice lock in British English) is one that requires a pocket - the mortise - to be cut into the door or piece of furniture into which the lock is to be fitted. In most parts of the world, mortise locks are generally found on older buildings constructed before the advent of bored cylindrical locks, but they have recently become more common in commercial and upmarket residential construction in the United States.

The parts included in the typical mortise lock installation are the lock body (the part installed inside the mortise cut-out in the door); the lock trim (which may be selected from any number of designs of doorknobs, levers, handle sets and pulls); a strike plate, or a box keep, which lines the hole in the frame into which the bolt fits; and the keyed mortise cylinder which operates the locking/unlocking function of the lock body. However, in the United Kingdom, and certain other countries, most mortise locks on dwellings do not use cylinders, but have lever tumbler mechanisms.

The installation of a mortise lock cannot generally be undertaken by the average homeowner since it is labor intensive and requires a working knowledge of basic woodworking tools and methods. Many installation specialists use a mortising jig which makes precise cutting of the pocket a simple operation, but the subsequent installation of the external trim can still prove problematic if the installer is inexperienced.

Although the installation of a mortise lock actually weakens the structure of the typical timber door, a mortise lock does offer more versatility than a bored cylindrical lock, both in external trim, and functionality. Whereas the latter mechanism lacks the architecture required for ornate and solid-cast knobs and levers, the mortise lock can accommodate a heavier return spring and a more solid internal mechanism, making their use possible. Furthermore, a mortise lock will typically accept a wide range of other manufacturers’ cylinders and accessories, allowing architectural conformity with lock hardware already on site.

Some of the most common manufacturers of mortise locks in the United States are Baldwin, Best, Corbin Russwin, Emtek, Falcon, Schlage, and Sargent. Also, many European manufacturers whose products had been restricted to “designer” installations have recently gained wider acceptance and use.

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Sanding block

A sanding block is a block used to hold sandpaper. In its simplest form, it is a block of wood or cork with one smooth flat side. The user wraps the sandpaper around the block, and holds it in place. Fancier versions use clips, teeth or clamps to hold the paper in place. Commercial versions can be constructed of various materials. They are usually sized to hold a quarter or half sheet of sandpaper. Some versions use the sandpaper belts intended for a power belt sander. Sanding blocks are helpful because they prevent the “waves” created by plain sandpaper.

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SCSI Write Commands

There are four different SCSI Write commands defined.

The Write(6) command is only 6 bytes long and is a legacy from early SCSI days. Its use is restricted to 21-bit LBAs. The CDB structure is:

bit→
↓byte 		7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
0 Operation code = 0Ah
1 LUN LBA
2 LBA
3 LBA
4 Transfer length
5 Control

The Write(10) command was introduced to cope with 32-bit LBAss. It also included four other enhancements. Disable Page Out (DPO) allows the initiator to warn the target that the data being written is unlikely to be read back soon and so is not worth keeping in the target’s data cache. Force Unit Access (FUA) tells the target to immediately send the data to the media surface and to not buffer it through a cache. The EBP bit tells the target that it may skip the erase process when writing data. The RelAdr bit is used to indicate that the LBA value is relative (only used with linked commands). The CDB structure is:

bit→
↓byte 		7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
0 Operation code = 2Ah
1 LUN DPO FUA EBP Reserved RelAdr
2–5 LBA
6 Reserved
7–8 Transfer length
9 Control

The Write(12) command is similar to the Write(10) command except that it has a larger Transfer Length field. The CDB structure is:

bit→
↓byte 		7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
0 Operation code = AAh
1 LUN DPO FUA EBP Reserved RelAdr
2–5 LBA
6–9 Transfer length
10 Reserved
11 Control

The Write Long command allows for Error Correcting Code (ECC). The data sent from the initiator will include ECC fields as well as real data. The Byte Transfer Length field tells the target how much data will need to be returned when the data is subsequently retrieved with a Read Long command. The CDB structure is:

bit→
↓byte 		7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
0 Operation code = 3Fh
1 LUN Reserved RelAdr
2–5 LBA
6 Reserved
7–8 Byte transfer length
9 Control

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Bingley Three Rise Locks

Bingley Three Rise Locks is a staircase of three locks on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal at Bingley. It opened in 1774 and was a major feat of engineering at the time along with the larger Five Rise (more details on construction and history here) opened at the same time just a few hundred meters further up. The lock comprises a ’staircase’ flight - the lower gate of one lock forms the upper gate of the next lock.


External links

  • Pennine Waterways