Sandstone
Sandstone is an arenaceous sedimentary rock composed mostly of feldspar and quartz and varies in colour, through grey, yellow, red, and white. Since sandstones often form highly visible cliffs and other rock formations, certain colors of sandstone may be strongly identified with certain regions. For instance, much of the North American West is well-known for its red sandstones.
Sandstones are often comparatively soft and easy to work which therefore make them a common building and paving material.
Rock formations that are mainly sandstone usually allow percolation of water, and are porous enough to store large quantities, making them valuable aquifers. Fine grained aquifers, such as sandstones, are more apt to filter out pollutants from the surface than are rocks with cracks and crevices such as limestones or other rocks fractured from seismic activity.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Monday, March 26, 2007
Tandem Computers
Tandem Computers was an early manufacturer of fault tolerant computer systems, marketed to the growing number of transaction processing customers who used them for ATMs, banks, stock exchanges and other similar needs. Tandem systems used a number of superfluous processors and storage devices to provide high-speed "failover" in the case of a hardware failure, an architecture that they called NonStop. Over the two decades from the 1970s into the mid-90s, Tandem systems evolved from custom hardware to commodity CPU designs. The company was ultimately purchased by Compaq in 1997 in order to provide that company with more robust server offerings. Today their software is still known as NonStop, as a separate product line offered by Hewlett-Packard.
Tandem Computers was an early manufacturer of fault tolerant computer systems, marketed to the growing number of transaction processing customers who used them for ATMs, banks, stock exchanges and other similar needs. Tandem systems used a number of superfluous processors and storage devices to provide high-speed "failover" in the case of a hardware failure, an architecture that they called NonStop. Over the two decades from the 1970s into the mid-90s, Tandem systems evolved from custom hardware to commodity CPU designs. The company was ultimately purchased by Compaq in 1997 in order to provide that company with more robust server offerings. Today their software is still known as NonStop, as a separate product line offered by Hewlett-Packard.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Bottle
A bottle is a small container with a neck that is narrower than the body and a "mouth." Bottles are often made of glass, plastic or aluminum, and characteristically used to store liquids. e.g. water, milk, soft drinks, beer, wine, oil for cooking and as fuel, medicine, liquid soap, shampoo, ink, etc.
For some bottles a deposit is paid, which is returned after returning the bottle to the retailer. For other glass bottles there is often separate garbage collection for recycling.
A device used to close the mouth of a bottle is called a bottle cap.
A make-shift mail method after stranding on a deserted island is a message in a bottle: current may bring it to a shore where the message is read so that a rescue operation can be started. Glass is inert, rigid, and almost completely impermeable, so if the bottle is properly closed a letter inside can stay intact and readable for a long time.
A bottle is a small container with a neck that is narrower than the body and a "mouth." Bottles are often made of glass, plastic or aluminum, and characteristically used to store liquids. e.g. water, milk, soft drinks, beer, wine, oil for cooking and as fuel, medicine, liquid soap, shampoo, ink, etc.
For some bottles a deposit is paid, which is returned after returning the bottle to the retailer. For other glass bottles there is often separate garbage collection for recycling.
A device used to close the mouth of a bottle is called a bottle cap.
A make-shift mail method after stranding on a deserted island is a message in a bottle: current may bring it to a shore where the message is read so that a rescue operation can be started. Glass is inert, rigid, and almost completely impermeable, so if the bottle is properly closed a letter inside can stay intact and readable for a long time.
Friday, March 16, 2007
History of Thailand
The Kingdom of Thailand is a country in Southeast Asia, contiguous Laos and Cambodia to the east, the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia to the south, and the Andaman Sea and Myanmar to the west. Thailand is also well-known as Siam, which was the country's official name until May 11, 1949. The word Thai means "free" in the Thai language. It is also the name of the Thai people - foremost some inhabitants, mainly the sizeable Chinese minority, to continue to use the name Siam.
Thailand's origin is usually tied to the short-lived kingdom of Sukhothai founded in 1238, after which the larger kingdom of Ayutthaya was established in the mid-14th century. Thai culture was very much influenced by both China and India. Contact with various European powers began in the 16th century but, despite sustained pressure, Thailand is the only Southeast Asian country never to have been taken over by a European power, though Western influence, with the threat of force, led to many reforms in the 19th century and major concessions to British mercantile interests (as such many historians include Thailand in the "informal British Empire").
A mostly bloodless revolution in 1932 led to a constitutional monarchy. Known before as Siam, the country first changed its name to Thailand in 1939, and definitively in 1949 after reverting to the old name post-World War II. During that conflict Thailand was in a loose alliance with Japan; following its conclusion Thailand became an ally of the United States. Thailand then saw a series of military coups d'état, but progressed towards democracy from the 1980s onward.
The official calendar in Thailand is based on the Buddhist Era, which is 543 years ahead of the western calendar. For example, the year 2000 AD is equal to the year 2543 BE.
On 26 December 2004 the west coast of Thailand was devastated by a 10 metre high tsunami following the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, claiming more than 5,000 casualties in Thailand, half of them tourists.
The Kingdom of Thailand is a country in Southeast Asia, contiguous Laos and Cambodia to the east, the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia to the south, and the Andaman Sea and Myanmar to the west. Thailand is also well-known as Siam, which was the country's official name until May 11, 1949. The word Thai means "free" in the Thai language. It is also the name of the Thai people - foremost some inhabitants, mainly the sizeable Chinese minority, to continue to use the name Siam.
Thailand's origin is usually tied to the short-lived kingdom of Sukhothai founded in 1238, after which the larger kingdom of Ayutthaya was established in the mid-14th century. Thai culture was very much influenced by both China and India. Contact with various European powers began in the 16th century but, despite sustained pressure, Thailand is the only Southeast Asian country never to have been taken over by a European power, though Western influence, with the threat of force, led to many reforms in the 19th century and major concessions to British mercantile interests (as such many historians include Thailand in the "informal British Empire").
A mostly bloodless revolution in 1932 led to a constitutional monarchy. Known before as Siam, the country first changed its name to Thailand in 1939, and definitively in 1949 after reverting to the old name post-World War II. During that conflict Thailand was in a loose alliance with Japan; following its conclusion Thailand became an ally of the United States. Thailand then saw a series of military coups d'état, but progressed towards democracy from the 1980s onward.
The official calendar in Thailand is based on the Buddhist Era, which is 543 years ahead of the western calendar. For example, the year 2000 AD is equal to the year 2543 BE.
On 26 December 2004 the west coast of Thailand was devastated by a 10 metre high tsunami following the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, claiming more than 5,000 casualties in Thailand, half of them tourists.
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Cold wave and Heat wave
A cold wave is a weather phenomenon that is illustrious by marked cooling of the air, or the invasion of very cold air, over a large area. It can also be a prolonged period of excessively cold weather, which may be accompanied by high winds that cause excessive wind chills, most important to weather that seems even colder than it is. Cold waves can be preceded or accompanied by significant winter weather events, such as blizzards or ice storms.
A heat wave is a prolonged period of extremely hot weather, which may be accompanied by high humidity. There is no general definition of a heat wave; the term is relative to the usual weather in the area. Temperatures that people from a hotter climate consider usual can be termed a heat wave in a cooler area if they are outside the normal climate pattern for that area. The term is useful both to routine weather variations and to extraordinary spells of heat which may occur only once a century. Severe heat waves have caused catastrophic crop failures, thousands of deaths from hyperthermia, and widespread power outages due to increased use of air conditioning.
A cold wave is a weather phenomenon that is illustrious by marked cooling of the air, or the invasion of very cold air, over a large area. It can also be a prolonged period of excessively cold weather, which may be accompanied by high winds that cause excessive wind chills, most important to weather that seems even colder than it is. Cold waves can be preceded or accompanied by significant winter weather events, such as blizzards or ice storms.
A heat wave is a prolonged period of extremely hot weather, which may be accompanied by high humidity. There is no general definition of a heat wave; the term is relative to the usual weather in the area. Temperatures that people from a hotter climate consider usual can be termed a heat wave in a cooler area if they are outside the normal climate pattern for that area. The term is useful both to routine weather variations and to extraordinary spells of heat which may occur only once a century. Severe heat waves have caused catastrophic crop failures, thousands of deaths from hyperthermia, and widespread power outages due to increased use of air conditioning.
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Sundogs
Sundogs characteristically come into view as a bright and colorful patch in the sky at a position 22 degrees or more to the left and/or right of the sun. They are a halo. Other common associated phenomena, together called "ice halos," are the circumzenithal arc, upper tangent arc, parhelic circle, and lower tangent arc. There are many other named ice halo phenomena that can be seen given optimal conditions.
The ice crystals responsible are hexagonal plate shapes 0.05 - >1mm in size. These ice crystals refract the sunlight in many directions but with a minimum deviation angle of about 158°, resulting in the look of sundogs about 22° from the sun. The refraction depends on wavelength so sundogs have a red inner edge and more muted colours further from the sun as colours more and more overlap. Solar altitude is important and sundogs draw away from the sun at rising solar altitudes.
Sundogs are seen in short arcs always at the same altitude as the sun because the plate crystals are preferentially aligned by aerodynamic drag effects with their large basal faces approximately horizontal.
Although often less vivid and more diffuse than the ones depicted in the photographs, sundogs are in fact rather common; they are often overlooked because one must look in the general direction of the bright sun in order to spot them.
In remote stretches of Western Texas, sundog refers colloquially to a section of a common rainbow.
Sundogs characteristically come into view as a bright and colorful patch in the sky at a position 22 degrees or more to the left and/or right of the sun. They are a halo. Other common associated phenomena, together called "ice halos," are the circumzenithal arc, upper tangent arc, parhelic circle, and lower tangent arc. There are many other named ice halo phenomena that can be seen given optimal conditions.
The ice crystals responsible are hexagonal plate shapes 0.05 - >1mm in size. These ice crystals refract the sunlight in many directions but with a minimum deviation angle of about 158°, resulting in the look of sundogs about 22° from the sun. The refraction depends on wavelength so sundogs have a red inner edge and more muted colours further from the sun as colours more and more overlap. Solar altitude is important and sundogs draw away from the sun at rising solar altitudes.
Sundogs are seen in short arcs always at the same altitude as the sun because the plate crystals are preferentially aligned by aerodynamic drag effects with their large basal faces approximately horizontal.
Although often less vivid and more diffuse than the ones depicted in the photographs, sundogs are in fact rather common; they are often overlooked because one must look in the general direction of the bright sun in order to spot them.
In remote stretches of Western Texas, sundog refers colloquially to a section of a common rainbow.
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the northeast, Belarus to the north, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary to the west, Romania and Moldova to the southwest and the Black Sea to the south. The famous city of Kiev is the republic's capital.
From at least the ninth century the territory of present-day Ukraine was a centre of medieval East Slavic civilization that created the state that became known as Kievan Rus and for the following several centuries the territory was divided between a number of regional powers. After a brief period of independence (1917-1921) following the Russian Revolution of 1917, Ukraine became one of the origin Soviet Republics in 1922. The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic's territory was enlarged westward after the Second World War, and again in 1954 with the Crimea transfer. Ukraine became independent once more after the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991.
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the northeast, Belarus to the north, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary to the west, Romania and Moldova to the southwest and the Black Sea to the south. The famous city of Kiev is the republic's capital.
From at least the ninth century the territory of present-day Ukraine was a centre of medieval East Slavic civilization that created the state that became known as Kievan Rus and for the following several centuries the territory was divided between a number of regional powers. After a brief period of independence (1917-1921) following the Russian Revolution of 1917, Ukraine became one of the origin Soviet Republics in 1922. The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic's territory was enlarged westward after the Second World War, and again in 1954 with the Crimea transfer. Ukraine became independent once more after the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991.
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