Rough Diamond Importation Procedures under the Kimberley Process

The Clean Diamond Trade Act (the “Act”; Public Law 108-19) was signed into law on July 29, 2003. The Act prohibits the “importation into, or exportation from, the United States on or after July 30, 2003, of any rough diamond, from whatever source, unless the rough diamond has been controlled through the Kimberly Process Certification Scheme (KPCS)”.

The Census Bureau is responsible for collecting, compiling and publishing import and export statistics for the U.S. under the provisions of Title 13 and Title 15 U.S.C. The Act requires the Census Bureau to maintain statistics on imports and exports of rough diamonds under subheadings 7102.10, 7102.21, and 7102.31 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States.All importers of rough diamonds must fax a copy of their KPC certificates to the Census Bureau upon making entry with U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Chihnan National Forest Recreation Area

Chihnan National Forest Recreation Area spreads out from both sides of Liyutan (Carp Lake) in Hualien County. It has been generously endowed by nature, with plenty of mountains, rivers and lakes to enjoy. The area is also of historical note as a former center of Taiwan's logging industry. Rail tracks and other remnants continue to recall those early days when steam engines shuttled timber from Muguashan Forest. An 1,400-meter section remains from a timber hauling cableway that once went all the way to Muguashan.In addition to the rich forest ecology, a mixture of natural and planted broadleaf species, the recreation area is surrounded by mountains that reflect picturesquely on the surface of Liyutan. There are several forest trails to choose from here. One leads up to the 601-meter-high Liyutan where visitors can take in the scenic sights of the East Rift Valley and Coastal Range.

Safe Deposit Boxes

The contents of a safe deposit box are not insured by the FDIC. (Make sure you read the contract you signed with the bank when you rented the safe deposit box in the event that some type of insurance is provided; some banks may make a very limited payment if the box or contents are damaged or destroyed, depending on the circumstances.) If you are concerned about the safety, or replacement, of items you have put in a safe deposit box, you may wish to consider purchasing fire and theft insurance. Separate insurance for these perils may be available; consult your insurance agent. Usually such insurance is part of a homeowner's or tenant's insurance policy for a residence and its contents. Again, consult your insurance agent for more information.

In the event of a bank failure, in most cases an acquiring institution would take over the failed bank's offices, including locations with safe deposit boxes. If no acquirer can be found the FDIC would send boxholders instructions for removing the contents of their boxes.

The Truth About Foreign Direct Investment in Emerging Markets

In their zeal to attract foreign investment, governments in emerging markets offer tax breaks and subsidies that can cost those millions. Simultaneously, they enforce rules to protect inefficient domestic companies and to ensure that local economies benefit from the new business. The article finds that these incentives and restrictions are unnecessary, ineffective, and, in some cases, counterproductive. Foreign investment benefits the local economy in almost all cases. Moreover, foreign investors say that government funds would be better used to improve the local infrastructure than to provide investment incentives.

AQUARIUM

With over 800 km of coastline and a vast expanse of sea extending from Fraserburgh in the East, right out to Duncansby Head, by John o’ Groats, in the North, the Moray Firth has an amazing wealth of marine habitats – from sheltered estuaries and exposed rocky shores out to kelp reefs and the muddy sea floor.

The Moray Firth is a haven for wildlife and at Macduff Marine Aquarium you will come face to face with all kinds of sea creatures that live beneath the steely blue Moray Firth waters.The aquarium’s exhibits lead you from the coast, where you can explore the estuaries and the rocky shores, and then to the underwater world of the kelp reef. At the sea lab and touch pools you can get a feel for seashore life, before heading out to the deep reef and the seafloor.

Global crisis can be overcome in 18 months: APEC

Pacific Rim nations assured the world that the global financial crisis can be quelled in 18 months, but provided few details of how they expect that to happen - or how their governments can help.The 21 economies, which represent more than half of the world's productive power, also pledged during a two-day summit not to erect new protectionist barriers for the next year, and to jump-start stalled World Trade Organization talks.The main accomplishment of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum was a widening of support for the Washington Declaration made last weekend by major economies that pledged to maintain free trade despite pressures to protect domestic industries.

The leaders voiced confidence that the crisis could be resolved by mid-2010, though they did not go much beyond the steps outlined in the Group of 20 summit in Washington.

"We are convinced that we can overcome this crisis in a period of 18 months," the leaders said in a statement. "We have already taken urgent and extraordinary steps to stabilize our financial sectors and strengthen economic growth."The reassuring words were added early Sunday to a declaration the leaders had signed off on the previous day. Delegates from several countries said the changes were made overnight at the request of the summit's host, Peruvian President Alan Garcia."We have agreed that this meeting produce a clear and firm statement that breaks the vicious cycle of anguish and uncertainty," Garcia said Sunday. "We - united as the world's peoples, governments and businesses - are going to beat the crisis."

The 18-month timeline fits with a calculation by the International Monetary Fund, which forecast developed economies would grow barely 0.1 per cent in 2009, and that the world would emerge from the crisis the following year.

But some delegates and analysts were skeptical that the timetable was much more than wishful thinking, and some leaders distanced themselves from the language. Mexican President Felipe Calderon described the date as more of an estimate than a prediction.Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper went a step further."I think it would be speculative to commit to that kind of timeline," he said.And Dan Price, an aide to George W. Bush, said the US president thinks the global economy can be fixed even faster.

"That particular sentence was added by the president of Peru as the chair," Price said aboard Air Force One. "Certainly, some in the region may think that recovery may take 18 months. President Bush...

Ramsey Cascades

Ramsey Cascades is the tallest waterfall in the park and one of the most spectacular. Water drops 100 feet over rock outcroppings and collects in a small pool where numerous well-camouflaged salamanders can be found.

The trail to the waterfall gains over 2,000' in elevation over its 4 mile course and the 8-mile roundtrip hike is considered strenuous in difficulty. It follows rushing rivers and streams for much of its length. The last 2 miles pass through old-growth cove hardwood forest with large tuliptrees, basswoods, silverbells, and yellow birches.Do not attempt to climb to the top of the falls. Several people have been killed trying to do so.

Access Trail: Ramsey Cascades Trail (Tennessee)Trailhead: Drive six miles east of Gatlinburg on Highway 321 and turn at the Greenbrier entrance to the park. Follow the signs 4.7 miles to the trailhead.

Ulcerative Colitis

Also called: Colitis, Distal colitis, Pancolitis, Ulcerative proctitis
Ulcerative colitis is a disease that causes ulcers in the lining of the rectum and colon. It is one of a group of diseases called inflammatory bowel disease. Ulcers form where inflammation has killed the cells that usually line the colon.

Ulcerative colitis can happen at any age, but it usually starts between the ages of 15 and 30. It tends to run in families. The most common symptoms are pain in the abdomen and bloody diarrhea. Other symptoms may include anemia, severe tiredness, weight loss, loss of appetite, bleeding from the rectum, sores on the skin and joint pain. Children with the disease may have growth problems.

About half of people with ulcerative colitis have mild symptoms. Several types of drugs can help control ulcerative colitis. Some people have long periods of remission, when they are free of symptoms. In severe cases, doctors must remove the colon.

Ficus

Ficus is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes, and hemi epiphytes in the family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few species extending into the semi-warm temperate zone. The so-called Common Fig (F. carica) is a temperate species from the Middle East and eastern Europe (mostly Ukraine), which has been widely cultivated from ancient times for its fruit, also referred to as figs.Figs occupy a wide variety of ecological niches. Take, for example, the Common Fig, a small temperate deciduous tree whose fingered fig leaf is well-known in art and iconography; or the Weeping Fig (F. benjamina) a hemi-epiphyte with thin tough leaves on pendulous stalks adapted to its rain forest habitat; or the rough-leaved sandpaper figs from Australia; or the Creeping Fig (F. pumila), a vine whose small, hard leaves form a dense carpet of foliage over rocks or garden walls. Moreover, figs with different plant habits have undergone adaptive radiation in different biogeographic regions, often leading to very high levels of alpha diversity. In the tropics, it is quite common to find that Ficus is the most species-rich plant genus in a particular forest. In Asia as many as 70 or more species can co-exist.

A fig "fruit" is derived from a specially adapted type of inflorescence (an arrangement of multiple flowers). In this case, it is an involuted, nearly closed receptacle with many small flowers arranged on the inner surface. Thus the actual flowers of the fig are unseen unless the fig is cut open.In Bengali, where the Common Fig is called dumur, it is referenced in a proverb: tumi jeno dumurer phool hoe gele ("You have become [invisible like] the dumur flower").

The syconium often has a bulbous shape with a small opening (the ostiole) at the outward end that allows access to pollinators. The flowers are pollinated by very small wasps that crawl through the opening in search of a suitable place to lay eggs. Without this pollinator service fig trees cannot reproduce by seed. In turn, the flowers provide a safe haven and nourishment for the next generation of wasps. This accounts for the frequent presence of wasp larvae in the fruit. Technically, a fig fruit proper would be one of the many tiny mature, seed-bearing flowers found inside one fig - if you cut open a fresh fig, the flowers will appear as fleshy "threads", each bearing a single seed inside.

The fig plants can be monoecious (hermaphrodite) or dioecious (hermaphrodite and female).

'Hamilton has just got to use his brain'

The Formula One world championship is poised for a thrilling climax with three drivers in with a chance of winning with two races to go.

Lewis Hamilton of McLaren heads into Sunday's race in China with a five-point championship lead over Ferrari's Felipe Massa, with BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica a further seven adrift.

On paper, Hamilton should be a strong favourite, and Kubica - whose car is off the pace of the Ferrari and McLaren - should have no chance.

But the Englishman's position is not as strong as it might at first appear.

And after a season of topsy-turvy results and high-profile errors, it is clear anything could happen - especially when Hamilton appears to have more enemies out on the track than he does in the title battle.

We assess the positions of each of the three contenders.

Houston

Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States of America and the largest city within the state of Texas. As of the 2006 U.S. Census estimate, the city has a population of 2.2 million within an area of 600 square miles (1,600 km²). Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area—the sixth-largest metropolitan area in the U.S. with a population of around 5.6 million.

Houston was founded on August 30, 1836 by brothers Augustus Chapman Allen and John Kirby Allen on land near the banks of Buffalo Bayou. The city was incorporated on June 5, 1837 and named after then-President of the Republic of Texas—former General Sam Houston—who had commanded at the Battle of San Jacinto, which took place 25 miles (40 km) east of where the city was established. The burgeoning port and railroad industry, combined with oil discovery in 1901, has induced continual surges in the city's population. In the mid-twentieth century, Houston became the home of the Texas Medical Center—the world's largest concentration of healthcare and research institutions—and NASA's Johnson Space Center, where the Mission Control Center is located.

Houston's economy has a broad industrial base in the energy, manufacturing, aeronautics, transportation, and health care sectors; only New York City is home to more Fortune 500 headquarters in the city limits. Commercially, Houston is ranked as a gamma world city, and the area is a leading center for building oilfield equipment. The Port of Houston ranks first in the United States in international waterborne tonnage handled and second in total cargo tonnage handled. The city has a multicultural population with a large and growing international community. It is home to many cultural institutions and exhibits—attracting more than 7 million visitors a year to the Houston Museum District. Houston has an active visual and performing arts scene in the Theater District and is one of few U.S. cities that offer year-round resident companies in all major performing arts

Indian National Bird

The Indian peacock, Pavo cristatus, the national bird of India, is a colourful, swan-sized bird, with a fan-shaped crest of feathers, a white patch under the eye and a long, slender neck. The male of the species is more colourful than the female, with a glistening blue breast and neck and a spectacular bronze-green train of around 200 elongated feathers. The female is brownish, slightly smaller than the male and lacks the train. The elaborate courtship dance of the male, fanning out the tail and preening its feathers is a gorgeous sight.

Our Oceans Are In Trouble:

What is the state of the ocean today?

It's actually very bad. It's probably worse in many ways than the state of conservation on land, but we don't think about it because we don't live in it.

Basically it comes down to what we put into the atmosphere and ocean and what we take out of the ocean. What we put into the atmosphere is carbon dioxide, which makes the ocean hotter. And when it dissolves in the oceans themselves, it makes them more acidic. From the land, you're getting all this runoff into the oceans—vast amounts of nutrients associated with excess fertilizer, pesticides, industrial waste, waste from cars and city streets. There's a lot of stuff that fertilizes the ocean and causes bacteria and other slimy stuff to proliferate, plus things that actually poison the ocean.

We also have the massive scale of fisheries. We're pulling out the tops of the food chain. Most of the big fish in the ocean are already gone. We've also strip-mined the bottom of the sea floor with trawls.We've basically created a massive disturbance to the ocean, which is resulting in collapsing ecosystems, failing fisheries, toxic blooms.

When did scientists realize the damage we're causing the ocean?

In the last 50 years, things have really deteriorated. People have had some impact for a long time, but the ocean can suffer a certain amount of assault from human activity and not have a major problem with it. Now everything is increasing. Carbon dioxide is increasing dramatically. Industrial fisheries, since about the 1950s, have increased dramatically.

BBC plans to double its output made in Wales

THE BBC last night announced ambitious plans to double the proportion of network productions made in Wales, with Crimewatch coming to Cardiff in 2011 and Casualty likely to follow a year later.Coming just a week after ITV’s decision to slash programme making in Wales, the news is a welcome boost for the broadcasting industry.

In a speech to the Royal Television Society last night, BBC executive Jana Bennett also announced that, for the very first time, a network commissioning executive will be based in Cardiff to help build on the success of the independent production sector.The shifting of resources to Wales ties in with the BBC’s commitment to better reflect the diversity of creative talent around the UK.

In 2006 and 2007 the proportion of spend outside London increased by 15%. Last year the BBC, affectionately known as Auntie, spent £300m outside London.Ms Bennett’s announcement was said to represent the corporation’s determination to build a large-scale, sustainable production centre in Wales, focused on drama, factual and music content.It would enable BBC Wales and its partners in the independent sector to build on the success of existing network programmes such as Doctor Who and Torchwood.

NASA Space Probe to Fly Over Mercury, Closest Planet to Sun:


A U.S. spacecraft will fly over Mercury next week to photograph the planet closest to the sun, in the second of three passes, NASA said.

The Messenger probe will take more than 1,200 pictures and collect data from the smallest planet in the solar system when it swings 125 miles (200 kilometers) above Mercury's cratered surface on Oct. 6, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration said a statement on its Web site yesterday.

The 2,442-pound (1,107 kilogram) probe is due to pass the planet three times before settling into orbit in March 2011, NASA said. Messenger was launched in August 2004 at a cost of $286 million. It first flew past in January and will make its final pass in September 2009.

``The results from Messenger's first flyby of Mercury resolved debates that are more than 30 years old,'' Sean Solomon, the mission's principle investigator from the Carnegie Institution of Washington, said in the statement. ``The second encounter will uncover even more information about the planet.''

The spacecraft is more than halfway through a 4.9 billion- mile journey that includes more than 15 trips around the sun before entering orbit around Mercury, NASA said. The probe is designed to improve scientists' understanding of how Earth, Venus and Mars were formed, and their interactions with the sun.

The January flyby showed that volcanic eruptions produced many of Mercury's plains and that its magnetic field appears to be generated in a molten iron core, according to the space agency.

The second flyby may bring more information about the particles located around the planet's magnetic field, according to NASA, which said the probe will also chart Mercury's topography.

has a diameter of about 3,000 miles, less than half the diameter of Earth and is 36 million miles from the sun.

Before Messenger, the only other craft to visit Mercury was Mariner 10, which passed the planet three times in 1974 and 1975.

Cash drive launched so delicate mummy can finally see the light

A public appeal is to be launched in March so that Hull's Egyptian mummy, which recently starred in a TV programme, can come out from the dark. The 2,700 year old mummy belonging to Hull Museums is so fragile that it cannot be put on display and has been kept in storage for 60 years.

But because of the huge interest shown in Channel 5's programme entitled 'The True Curse of the Mummy', museum officials want Hull people to have a chance to come face to face with the preserved remains, now thought to be the inspiration behind a whole genre of horror stories.

But they need people to dig into their pockets. Money is needed to pay for cleaning and conserving the mummy and another one in Hull's collection, so they can be exhibited without causing their condition to deteriorate further.

Anaerobic biodegradation of pollutants

Anaerobic microbial mineralization of recalcitrant organic pollutants is of great environmental significance and involves intriguing novel biochemical reactions. In particular, hydrocarbons and halogenated compounds have long been doubted to be degradable in the absence of oxygen, but the isolation of hitherto unknown anaerobic hydrocarbon-degrading and reductively dehalogenating bacteria during the last decades provided ultimate proof for these processes in nature. Many novel biochemical reactions were discovered enabling the respective metabolic pathways, but progress in the molecular understanding of these bacteria was rather slow, since genetic systems are not readily applicable for most of them. However, with the increasing application of genomics in the field of environmental microbiology, a new and promising perspective is now at hand to obtain molecular insights into these new metabolic properties. Several complete genome sequences were determined during the last few years from bacteria capable of anaerobic organic pollutant degradation. The ~4.7 Mb genome of the facultative denitrifying Aromatoleum aromaticum strain EbN1 was the first to be determined for an anaerobic hydrocarbon degrader (using toluene or ethylbenzene as substrates). The genome sequence revealed about two dozen gene clusters (including several paralogs) coding for a complex catabolic network for anaerobic and aerobic degradation of aromatic compounds.

Nootropic
Nootropics, popularly referred to as "smart drugs", "smart nutrients", "cognitive enhancers" and "brain enhancers", are a class of drugs that improve impaired human cognitive abilities (the functions and capacities of the brain). The term covers a broad range of substances including drugs, nutrients and herbs that have purported cognitive enhancing effects.

The word nootropic was coined in 1964 by the Romanian Dr. Corneliu E. Giurgea, derived from the Greek words noos, or "mind," and tropein meaning "to bend/turn". Typically, nootropics are alleged to work by altering the availability of the brain's supply of neurochemicals (neurotransmitters, enzymes, and hormones), by improving the brain's oxygen supply, or by stimulating nerve growth. However the efficacy of alleged nootropic substances in most cases has not been conclusively determined. This is complicated by the difficulty of defining and quantifying cognition and intelligence.

Biotechnology

Biotechnology is technology based on biology, especially when used in agriculture, food science, and medicine. The United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity defines biotechnology as:
Any technological application that uses biological systems, living organisms, or derivatives thereof, to make or modify products or processes for specific use.

Biotechnology is often used to refer to genetic engineering technology of the 21st century, however the term encompasses a wider range and history of procedures for modifying biological organisms according to the needs of humanity, going back to the initial modifications of native plants into improved food crops through artificial selection and hybridization. Bioengineering is the science upon which all biotechnological applications are based. With the development of new approaches and modern techniques, traditional biotechnology industries are also acquiring new horizons enabling them to improve the quality of their products and increase the productivity of their systems.

Strapdown systems

Lightweight digital computers permit the system to eliminate the gimbals, creating "strapdown" systems, so called because their sensors are simply strapped to the vehicle. This reduces the cost, eliminates gimbal lock, removes the need for some calibrations, and increases the reliability by eliminating some of the moving parts. Angular rate sensors called "rate gyros" measure how the angular velocity of the vehicle changes.

A strapdown system has a dynamic measurement range several hundred times that required by a gimbaled system. That is, it must integrate the vehicle's attitude changes in pitch, roll and yaw, as well as gross movements. Gimballed systems could usually do well with update rates of 50 to 60 updates per second. However, strapdown systems normally update about 2000 times per second. The higher rate is needed to keep the maximum angular measurement within a practical range for real rate gyros: about 4 milliradians. Most rate gyros are now laser interferometers.

The data updating algorithms ("direction cosines" or "quaternions") involved are too complex to be accurately performed except by digital electronics. However, digital computers are now so inexpensive and fast that rate gyro systems can now be practically used and mass-produced. The Apollo lunar module used a strapdown system in its backup Abort Guidance System (AGS).

Strapdown systems are nowadays commonly used in commercial and tactical applications (arcraft, missiles, etc). However they are still not widespread in applications where superb accuracy is required (like submarine navigation or strategic ICBM guidance).

Implicit Web

The Implicit Web is a concept coined in 2007 to denote web sites which specialize in the synthesis of personal information gleaned from the Internet into a single, coherent picture of user behavior. Implicit data may include clickstream information, media consumption habits, location tracking or any data generated without "explicit" input from a user. Presumed advantages of implicit data include accuracy, ease of input and comprehensiveness.

The term Implicit Web was popularized by the technology investors Josh Kopelman, Fred Wilson, and Brad Feld.

Google Earth Plus

Google Earth can be upgraded to a Plus edition for a $20 annual subscription fee. Google Earth Plus is an individual-oriented paid subscription upgrade to Google Earth and adds the following features:

* GPS integration: read tracks and waypoints from a GPS device. A variety of third party applications have been created which provide this functionality using the basic version of Google Earth by generating KML or KMZ files based on user-specified or user-recorded waypoints. However, Google Earth Plus provides direct support for the Magellan and Garmin product lines, which together hold a large share of the GPS market. The Linux version of the Google Earth Plus application does not include any GPS functionality.
* Higher resolution printing.
* Customer support via email.
* Data importer: read address points from CSV files; limited to 100 points/addresses. A feature allowing path and polygon annotations, which can be exported to KML, was formerly only available to Plus users, but was made free in version 4.0.2416.
* Higher data download speeds

Network telescope

A network telescope (also known as a darknet, internet motion sensor or black hole) is an internet system that allows one to observe different large-scale events taking place on the Internet. The basic idea is to observe traffic targeting the dark (unused) address-space of the network. Since all traffic to these addresses is suspicious, one can gain information about possible network attacks (random scanning worms, and DDoS backscatter) as well as other misconfigurations by observing it.

The resolution of the Internet telescope is dependent on the number of dark addresses it monitors. For example, a large Internet telescope that monitors traffic to 16,777,216 addresses (a /8 Internet telescope in IPv4), has a higher probability of observing a relatively small event than a smaller telescope that monitors 65,536 addresses (a /16 Internet telescope).

A variant of a network telescope is a sparse darknet, or greynet, consisting of a region of IP address space that is sparsely populated with 'darknet' addresses interspersed with active (or 'lit') IP addresses.

Object-relational database

An object-relational database (ORD) or object-relational database management system (ORDBMS) is a database management system (DBMS) similar to a relational database, but with an object-oriented database model: objects, classes and inheritance are directly supported in database schemas and in the query language. In addition, it supports extension of the data model with custom data-types and methods.

One aim for this type of system is to bridge the gap between conceptual data modeling techniques such as Entity-relationship diagram (ERD) and object-relational mapping (ORM), which often use classes and inheritance, and relational databases, which do not directly support them.

Another, related, aim is to bridge the gap between relational databases and the object-oriented modeling techniques used in programming languages such as Java (programming language), C++ or C#. However, a more popular alternative for achieving such a bridge is to use a standard relational database systems with some form of ORM software.

Software transactional memory
In computer science, software transactional memory (STM) is a concurrency control mechanism analogous to database transactions for controlling access to shared memory in concurrent computing. It functions as an alternative to lock-based synchronization, and is typically implemented in a lock-free way. A transaction in this context is a piece of code that executes a series of reads and writes to shared memory. These reads and writes logically occur at a single instant in time; intermediate states are not visible to other (successful) transactions. The idea of providing hardware support for transactions originated in a 1986 paper and patent by Tom Knight. The idea was popularized by Maurice Herlihy and J. Eliot B. Moss. In 1995 Nir Shavit and Dan Touitou extended this idea to software-only transactional memory (STM). STM has recently been the focus of intense research and support for practical implementations is growing.

Optimization

Optimization or optimality is a term that may refer to:

* Optimization (mathematics), trying to find maxima and minima of a function
* Optimization (computer science), improving a system to reduce runtime, bandwidth, memory requirements, or other property of a system; in particular
o Compiler optimization, improving the performance or efficiency of compiled code
* Search engine optimization, in internet marketing, methodologies aimed at improving the ranking of a website in search engine listings
* Process optimization, in business and engineering, methodologies for improving the efficiency of a production process
* Product optimization, in business and marketing, methodologies for improving the quality and desirability of the current product or a product concept
* Optimality theory in linguistics.
* Optimal classification, a process which arranges classification element attributes in an order which minimizes the number of queries necessary to identify any particular element.

Blacklisting

Attempts to stop spam by blacklisting sender's IP addresses still allows a small percentage through. Most IP addresses are dynamic, i.e. they are frequently changing. An ISP, or any organization directly connected to the Internet, gets a block of real Internet addresses when they register in the DNS. Within that block, they assign individual addresses to customers as needed. A dial-up customer may get a new IP address each time they connect. By the time that address appears on blacklists all over the world, the spammer will have new addresses for the next run. There are 4 billion possible IPv4 addresses on the Internet. The game of keeping up with these rapidly changing IP addresses has been facetiously called "whack-a-mole".

So called policy lists are black lists that contain IP addresses on a preventive basis. An IP address can be listed therein even if no spam has ever been sent from it, because it has been variously classified as a dial-up address, end-user address, or residential address, with no formal definition of such classification schemes. Not requiring evidence of spam for each enlisted address, these lists can collect a greater number of addresses and thus block more spam. However, the policies devised are not authoritative, since they have not been issued by the legitimate user of an IP address, and the resulting lists are therefore not universally accepted.

Spyware

Spyware is computer software that is installed surreptitiously on a personal computer to intercept or take partial control over the user's interaction with the computer, without the user's informed consent.

While the term spyware suggests software that secretly monitors the user's behavior, the functions of spyware extend well beyond simple monitoring. Spyware programs can collect various types of personal information, such as Internet surfing habit, sites that have been visited, but can also interfere with user control of the computer in other ways, such as installing additional software, redirecting Web browser activity, accessing websites blindly that will cause more harmful viruses, or diverting advertising revenue to a third party. Spyware can even change computer settings, resulting in slow connection speeds, different home pages, and loss of Internet or other programs. In an attempt to increase the understanding of spyware, a more formal classification of its included software types is captured under the term privacy-invasive software.

Types of spam

Spam has several definitions, varying by the source.

* Unsolicited bulk e-mail (UBE)—unsolicited e-mail, sent in large quantities.
* Unsolicited commercial e-mail (UCE)—this more restrictive definition is used by regulators whose mandate is to regulate commerce, such as the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.
* Any email message that is fraudulent.
* Any email message where the sender’s identity is forged, or messages sent though unprotected SMTP servers, unauthorized proxies, or botnets (see Theft of service below).

Cybernetics

Cybernetics is the interdisciplinary study of the structure of complex systems, especially communication processes, control mechanisms and feedback principles. Cybernetics is closely related to control theory and systems theory.

Example of cybernetic thinking. On the one hand a company is approached as a system in an environment. On the other hand cybernetic factory can be modeled as a control system.

Example of cybernetic thinking. On the one hand a company is approached as a system in an environment. On the other hand cybernetic factory can be modeled as a control system.

Contemporary cybernetics began as an interdisciplinary study connecting the fields of control systems, electrical network theory, mechanical engineering, logic modeling, evolutionary biology and neuroscience in the 1940s.

Other fields of study which have influenced or been influenced by cybernetics include game theory, system theory (a mathematical counterpart to cybernetics), psychology (especially neuropsychology, behavioral psychology, cognitive psychology), philosophy, and architecture.

Cellular automaton

A cellular automaton (plural: cellular automata) is a discrete model studied in computability theory, mathematics, theoretical biology and microstructure modeling. It consists of a regular grid of cells, each in one of a finite number of states. The grid can be in any finite number of dimensions. Time is also discrete, and the state of a cell at time t is a function of the states of a finite number of cells (called its neighborhood) at time t − 1. These neighbors are a selection of cells relative to the specified cell, and do not change (though the cell itself may be in its neighborhood, it is not usually considered a neighbor). Every cell has the same rule for updating, based on the values in this neighbourhood. Each time the rules are applied to the whole grid a new generation is created.

Conceptual system
A conceptual system is simply a model. There is no limitations on this kind of model whatsoever except those of human imagination. If there is an experimentally verified correspondence between a conceptual system and a physical system then that conceptual system models the physical system. "values, ideas, and beliefs that make up every persons view of the world": that is a model of the world; a conceptual system that is a model of a physical system (the world). The person who has that model is a physical system.

In psychology and social work, when they talk about a conceptual system, they are referring to some person's model of the world, but if they try to understand that model, they end up making a model of that model, which is just a model of the person's behavior. In any case, this is exactly the purpose of the general term "conceptual systems".

Systems engineering

Systems engineering is an interdisciplinary field of engineering, that focuses on the development and organization of complex artificial systems. Systems engineering is defined by INCOSE as "a branch of engineering whose responsibility is creating and executing an interdisciplinary process to ensure that customer and stakeholder's needs are satisfied in a high quality, trustworthy, cost efficient and schedule compliant manner throughout a system's entire life cycle, from development to operation to disposal. This process is usually comprised of the following seven tasks: State the problem, Investigate alternatives, Model the system, Integrate, Launch the system, Assess performance, and Re-evaluate. The systems engineering process is not sequential: the tasks are performed in a parallel and iterative manner."

Concurrent Versions System

In the field of software development, the Concurrent Versions System (CVS), also known as the Concurrent Versioning System, provides a version control system based on open-source code. Version control system software keeps track of all work and all changes in a set of files, and allows several developers (potentially widely separated in space and/or time) to collaborate. Dick Grune developed CVS in the 1980s. CVS has become popular in the open source software world and is released under the GNU General Public License.

Solutrean hypothesis

The Solutrean hypothesis proposes that stone tool technology of the Solutrean culture in prehistoric Europe may have later influenced the development of the Clovis tool-making culture in the Americas, and that peoples from Europe may have been among the earliest settlers in the Americas. First proposed in 1998, its key proponents include Dennis Stanford of the Smithsonian Institution and Bruce Bradley of the University of Exeter.

In this hypothesis, peoples associated with the Solutrean culture migrated from Ice Age Europe to North America, bringing their methods of making stone tools with them and providing the basis for later Clovis technology found throughout North America. The hypothesis rests upon particular similarities in Solutrean and Clovis technology that have no known counterparts in Eastern Asia, Siberia or Beringia, areas from which or through which early Americans are known to have migrated.

Green travel

Green travel is a method for people to travel while reducing their impact on the environment.

Some forms of green travel include:

* Use of walking, cycling, and public transport instead of car use, when possible.

* Use of biodiesel fuels.

* Taking advantage of ridesharing and carpools

* Booking travel through a green website like Green Travel by RezHub.com . They not only offers bookings with green travel suppliers (hotels, hybrid car rentals, carbon offstting), they also donate a portion of all revenue to a green organization.

* Stay at a green hotel or lodge.

Transformation of culture

Transformation of culture, or cultural change, refers to the dynamic process whereby the living cultures of the world are changing and adapting to external or internal forces. This process is occurring within Western culture as well as non-Western and indigenous culture of the world. Forces which contribute to the cultural change described in this article include: colonization, globalization, advances in communication, transportation and infrastructure improvements, and military expansion.

Transformation of culture

Transformation of culture, or cultural change, refers to the dynamic process whereby the living cultures of the world are changing and adapting to external or internal forces. This process is occurring within Western culture as well as non-Western and indigenous culture of the world. Forces which contribute to the cultural change described in this article include: colonization, globalization, advances in communication, transportation and infrastructure improvements, and military expansion.

Evolutionary prototyping

Evolutionary Prototyping (also known as breadboard prototyping) is quite different from Throwaway Prototyping. The main goal when using Evolutionary Prototyping is to build a very robust prototype in a structured manner and constantly refine it. "The reason for this is that the Evolutionary prototype, when built, forms the heart of the new system, and the improvements and further requirements will be built

When developing a system using Evolutionary Prototyping, the system is continually refined and rebuilt.

"…evolutionary prototyping acknowledges that we do not understand all the requirements and builds only those that are well understood."

Life cycle of a relational database

The life cycle of a relational database is the cycle of development and changes that a database goes through during the course of its life. The cycle typically consists of several stages. There is possibility that the database designer/developer can go back to any of the previous stages. This represents an admission that a full understanding of a problem and its solution is likely to evolve as the various stages of design and implementation proceed. The typical eleven stages involved in the life cycle of a relational database are as follows:

BE AWARE THIS IS ONLY ONE VERSION, MULTIPLE DIFFERING VERSIONS EXIST

1. The designer must try to obtain as complete as possible an understanding of the real world problem that is going to be helped by the introduction of a database. This understanding of the nature of the problem and the constraints and outline feasible solutions is often performed using some systems analysis methodology.
2. The entity relationship diagram is drawn, and this diagram in its modified form serves as an essential part of the logical schema. Attributes of the entity types so produced are then added. Primary and foreign keys are specified.
3. Normalization is used to check the entity-relationship model. Some splitting and even recombination of entity types may result from normalization and the entity relationship model will have to be updated accordingly. The entity relationship model and the table definitions resulting from normalization should be consistent.
4. Set of Table(s) definition for the required schema is finalized.
5. The database tables are created. Primary, Foreign keys, database constraints and database integrity rules are specified at this stage.
6. At this stage, the file organization is performed. File organization is the way the database relations are to be stored on the storage medium. The file organization is decided on the basis of maximum speed of access, the type of access required and storage space considerations. There are two factors to consider; firstly how the records are to be physically mapped onto the storage medium, and secondly which indexes are to be used and if so, which fields (attributes, columns) are to be indexed. Indexes are designed to increase the speed of access to required records. Views can also be defined at this stage. Views are used to limit access to parts of database only, when used in conjunction with access privileges. Views also make programming simpler.
7. The designer will be able to design the required queries at this stage. The designer should have a good idea of the main types of query and reports the database will have to accommodate.
8. At this stage, application screens are designed. The application screens are used to capture the input information that will be kept in the database. Screen design is partially determined by the data items that must be input and output by particular applications and partially in human-computer interface terms. When designing screens, special consideration is given to the suggestions given by the application end users. There are published standards which can be exactly followed for screens design or organization can develop their own screen design standards as per their requirements.
9. Report design is another area where input from users is paramount. They will specify what they want to see on the reports and the format of the reports and in the case of regular reports, when they should be produced. Now-a-days most of the application design tools provide easy to use friendly tools for quick reports development. e.g. report builder in Oracle, Crystal Reports, R&R Report Writer etc.
10. Testing is performed at this stage. Application screens, various functions offered by the application screens, data validations through screens and reports are tested and it serves as the ultimate test of the correctness of the database schema and the viability of the system as a whole. It is recommended to create a test database separate of the production database. The test database will be useful for testing any schema changes and new and modified application before applying the changes to the production (live) database. Careful testing of the system before handover will minimize the expense of later modifications to the schema and major applications.
11. The final stage is Handover. This is the stage where the users receive the finished database and applications and begin data entry. In practice, it is likely that the core of the system will be handed over to users and later extensions to the system will be implemented.

4th Dimension (Software)


4th Dimension (or 4D, or Silver Surfer, as it was known during early development) is a relational database management system and IDE developed by Laurent Ribardière in 1984. In 1993, 4D Server, the client/server version of 4th Dimension was introduced and since 1995, 4D has supported both the Microsoft Windows and Apple Macintosh operating systems.

The 4D product line has since expanded to an SQL front-end, integrated compiler and several productivity plug-ins and interfaces. Some of the more useful plug-ins include 4D Write (a word processor), 4D Draw (to draw shapes), 4D View (somewhat like a spreadsheet, but with extra functionality) and 4D Internet Commands (which let you add all sorts of Internet related functionality to a database). There are also over 100 third-party plugins, free and commercial.

Application-level gateway

In the context of computer networking, an application-level gateway [1] (also known as ALG or application layer gateway) consists of a security component that augments a firewall or NAT employed in a computer network. It allows customized NAT traversal filters to be plugged into the gateway to support address and port translation for certain application layer "control/data" protocols such as FTP, BitTorrent, SIP, RTSP, file transfer in IM applications etc. In order for these protocols to work through NAT or a firewall, either the application has to know about an address/port number combination that allows incoming packets, or the NAT has to monitor the control traffic and open up port mappings (firewall pinhole) dynamically as required. Legitimate application data can thus be passed through the security checks of the firewall or NAT that would have otherwise restricted the traffic for not meeting its limited filter criteria.

Waterfall model
The waterfall model is a sequential software development model (a process for the creation of software) in which development is seen as flowing steadily downwards (like a waterfall) through the phases of requirements analysis, design, implementation, testing (validation), integration, and maintenance. The origin of the term "waterfall" is often cited to be an article published in 1970 by Winston W. Royce (1929–1995),[1] although Royce did not use the term "waterfall" in this article. Ironically, Royce was actually presenting this model as an example of a flawed, non-working model (Royce 1970).

Field emission display (FED)

A field emission display (FED) is a type of flat panel display using field emitting cathodes to bombard phosphor coatings as the light emissive medium.

Field emission displays are very similar to cathode ray tubes, however they are only a few millimeters thick. Instead of a single electron gun, a field emission display (FED) uses a large array of fine metal tips or carbon nanotubes (which are the most efficient electron emitters known), with many positioned behind each phosphor dot, to emit electrons through a process known as field emission. Because of emitter redundancy, FEDs do not display dead pixels like LCDs even if 20% of the emitters fail. Sony is researching FED because it is the flat-panel technology that comes closest to matching the picture of a CRT.

Methods for solids

Computational chemical methods can be applied to solid state physics problems. The electronic structure of a crystal is in general described by a band structure, which defines the energies of electron orbitals for each point in the Brillouin zone. Ab initio and semi-empirical calculations yield orbital energies, therefore they can be applied to band structure calculations. Since it is time-consuming to calculate the energy for a molecule, it is even more time-consuming to calculate them for the entire list of points in the Brillouin zone.

Satur

Saturn (pronounced /'sæt?n/) is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest planet in the Solar System, after Jupiter. Along with the planets Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune it is classify as a gas giant (also known as a Jovian planet, after the planet Jupiter). It was named after the Roman god Saturnus, equate to the Greek Kronos (the Titan father of Zeus) and the Babylonian Ninurta. Saturn's sign represents the god's sickle (Unicode: ?), The day in the week Saturday gets its name from the planet.

The planet Saturn is calm of hydrogen, with small proportions of helium and trace elements. The interior consists of a small core of rock and ice, bounded by a thick layer of metallic hydrogen and a gaseous outer layer. The outer atmosphere is normally bland in appearance, although long-lived features can appear. Wind speeds on Saturn can reach 1,800 km/h, considerably faster than those on Jupiter. Saturn has a planetary magnetic field intermediate in strength among that of Earth and the more powerful field around Jupiter.

Pineapple

The pineapple (Ananas comosus) is a tropical plant and fruit (multiple), inhabitant to Uruguay, Brazil, Puerto Rico, or Paraguay. It is a medium tall (1–1.5 m) herbaceous perennial plant with 30 or more trough-shaped and pointed leaves 30–100 cm long, nearby a thick stem. The pineapple is an illustration of a multiple fruit: multiple, spirally-arranged flowers along the axis each make a fleshy fruit that becomes pressed against the fruits of adjacent flowers, forming what appears to be a single fleshy fruit. The leaves of the cultivar 'Smooth Cayenne' mostly lack spines apart from at the leaf tip, but the cultivars 'Spanish' and 'Queen' have large spines along the leaf margins. Pineapples are the only bromeliad fruit in extensive cultivation. It is one of the most commercially important plants which take out Crassulacean acid metabolism, or CAM photosynthesis.

Fixed asset

Fixed asset also familiar as property, plant, and equipment (PP&E), is a term used in accountancy for assets and goods which cannot easily be converted into cash. This can be differing with current assets such as cash or bank accounts, which are describe as liquid assets. In most cases, only tangible assets are also called as fixed.

It usually includes items such as land and buildings, motor vehicles, furniture, office tools, computers, fixtures and fittings, and plant and machinery. These frequently receive favorable tax treatment (deprecation allowance) over short-term assets because they depreciate in excess of time.

Soil

Soil, comprising the pedosphere, is located at the border of the lithosphere with the biosphere, atmosphere, and hydrosphere. It consists of mineral, organic matter, as well as living organisms. Soil formation, or pedogenesis, is the combined effect of physical, chemical, biological, and anthropogenic process on soil parent material ensuing in the configuration of soil horizons.
Soil is our most important natural resources because of its position in the landscape and its dynamic, physical, chemical, and biologic functions. While the general concept of soil is well recognized, the definition of soil varies, according to the viewpoint of the discipline or occupation by means of soil as a resource.

Inkjet printer


Inkjet printers activate by propelling various size (mostly tiny) droplets of liquid or molten material (ink) onto almost any media. They are the most common type of computer printer for the wide-ranging consumer [citation needed] due to their low cost, high quality of output, capability of printing in vivid color, and ease of use.

Forest

A forest is a region with a high thickness of trees (or, historically, a wooded area set aside for hunting). There are many definitions of a forest, based on a variety of criteria. These plant communities cover large areas of the globe and function as animal habitats, hydrologic flow modulators, and soil conservers, comprise one of the most important aspects of the Earth's biosphere. Although often thought of as carbon dioxide sinks, mature forests are approximately carbon neutral with only disturbed and young forests acting as carbon sinks. Nonetheless mature forests do play a significant role in the global carbon cycle as stable carbon pools, and clearance of forests leads to an increase of atmospheric carbon dioxide levels.
Forests can be found in all regions talented of sustaining tree growth, at altitudes up to the tree-line, except where natural fire frequency is too high, or where the environment has been impaired by natural processes or by human activities.

Batsman

A batsman in the sport of cricket is, depending on context: Any players will perform for batting. A player whose expert in the game is batting. During the play of a cricket match, two members of the batting team are on the field, although their team-mates wait off the field. Those two players are the existing batsmen. Each batsman stands near one of the two wickets also end of the cricket pitch near the centre of the ground.

The two batsmen have different roles:

The striker stands in front of the wicket nearest him and attempts to protect it from balls bowled by the opposing bowler from the other wicket. The non-striker stands stopped near the bowler's wicket. While protecting his wicket, the striker may also hit the ball into the field and attempt to run to the opposite wicket, exchanging places with the non-striker. This score a run, the two batsmen may continue to exchange places, scoring additional runs, until members of the fielding team gather and return the ball to either wicket.

Membrane Filtration

A well-arranged process conduction which infact work without the addition of chemicals. Membrane technology is a generic term for separation processes. With membrane filters, filtration mainly occurs on the filter surface. Particles, which are larger than the normal pore size, remain on the filter, smaller particles pass through it unless other interactions get retained in them.

They are used to separate colloids, Suspended particles and molecules from liquids. Thus feed flow is divided into two streams a filtrate stream, and a highly concentrate stream.
Membrane systems with its filtration can be managed in either dead-end flow or cross-flow. The purpose of the optimization of the membrane techniques is the achievement, which is of the highest possible production for a long period of time, with acceptable pollution levels.

Polymer

Polymer is a substance collected of molecules with large molecular mass collected of repeating structural units, or monomers, connected by covalent chemical bonds. The word is resulting from the Greek, πολυ, polu, "many"; and μέρος, meros, "part". Well known examples of polymers contain plastics, DNA and proteins.

While the term polymer in popular usage suggests "plastic", polymers consist of a large class of natural and synthetic materials with a variety of properties and purposes. Natural polymer materials such as shellac and amber have been in utilize for centuries. Biopolymers such as proteins (for example hair, skin and division of the bone structure) and nucleic acids take part in crucial roles in biological processes. A variety of other natural polymers survive, such as cellulose, which is the major constituent of wood and paper.