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Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Alcoholic beverage

An alcoholic beverage is a drink containing ethanol, commonly known as alcohol. Alcoholic beverages are divided into three general classes: beers, wines, and spirits.
The most common thing among these beverages is that each one of these has “Alcohol” in it with different concentration and the basic difference is the Raw Material used for making these beverages. When you consume any alcoholic beverage, the kick or high is achieved due to “Alcohol” content only while these differ significantly in taste.

Alcoholic drinks and origin of their name

Champagne , Tequila , Cognac are named after the city where they are produced exclusively

Champagne - refer to wine produced exclusively within the Champagne region of France
Tequila - produced primarily in the area surrounding the city of Tequila, in Mexico
Cognac - named after the town of Cognac in France

Oenology

Oenology, is the science and study of all aspects of wine and winemaking except vine-growing and grape-harvesting, which is a subfield called viticulture. “Viticulture & oenology” is a common designation for training programmes and research centres that include both the “outdoors” and “indoors” aspects of wine production. An expert in the field of oenology is known as an oenologist. The word oenology is derived from the Greek oinos, “wine,” and the suffix -logia, "study of."

Belgium - World Capital of Chocolate

The capital of Belgium may be known as the Capital of Europe, but it is also, at least as far as most chocolate aficionados are concerned, the World Capital of Chocolate. Ever since the Brussels chocolatier Jean Neuhaus invented the praline 100 years ago, the city has been at the forefront of the chocolate business. There are a million residents and some 500 chocolatiers, about one chocolatier for every 2,000 people. The average Belgian consumes over 15 pounds of chocolate each year, one of the highest rates in the world.

Monday, December 26, 2011

World Economic League Table @ end of 2011

Boxing Day

Boxing Day is December 26, the day after Christmas, and is celebrated in Great Britain and in most areas settled by the English (the U.S. is the major exception), including Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
Despite its name, Boxing Day, which is celebrated on December 26 in Great Britain, has nothing to do with pugilistic competition. Nor is it a day for people to return unwanted Christmas presents. While the exact origins of the holiday are obscure, it is likely that Boxing Day began in England during the Middle Ages.
Some historians say the holiday developed because servants were required to work on Christmas Day, but took the following day off. As servants prepared to leave to visit their families, their employers would present them with gift boxes.

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Pyrrhic victory

A victory or success that comes at the expense of great losses or costs.A victory that is offset by staggering losses.

This expression alludes to Kind Pyrrhus of Epirus, who defeated the Romans at Asculum in 279 BC, but lost his best officers and many of his troops. Pyrrhus then said: "Another such victory and we are lost." In English the term was first recorded (used figuratively) in 1879.

PIIGS Nations

An acronym used to refer to the five Eurozone nations, which were considered weaker economically following the financial crisis: Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain. Since the nations use the euro as their currency, they were unable to employ independent monetary policy in order to help battle the economic downturn.

Dilbert - Strip on Good Job , Bonus & Motivation

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX)

It's the name of a piece of U.S. compliance legislation, with global implications, which was signed off in 2002. A key section, Section 404, went live on Nov. 15. It's designed to prevent financial malpractice and accounting scandals such as the Enron debacle. It's becoming known as SOX or SarbOx .

It's also known as the Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act. The shorter moniker comes from the names of Sen. Paul Sarbanes, a Democrat from Maryland, and Rep. Michael Oxley, R-Ohio, who are credited as the main architects of the Act.

The Act covers a whole range of governance issues, many covering the types of trade that are allowed within a company, with an emphasis upon keeping everything above board.
For example, the Act forbids personal loans to officers and directors. Former WorldCom boss Bernie Ebbers had taken considerable loans from his company shortly before it became the center of a corporate scandal. Other measures regulate the responsibilities of audit committees sent in to check the health of companies' compliance. The Act also offers protection to whistleblowers.

While much of this is common sense and achievable, the actual challenge of SOX is ensuring it is observed and that compliance can be demonstrated and accurately monitored and reported. The most common area of focus is the archiving of all communications and the creation of transparent and auditable systems for recording transactions, dealings and any kind of business correspondence. This should mean traders can't contact one another or analysts on the quiet, and deals can't be lost in the muddy waters of business. Applications such as instant messaging are also being singled out as areas that need to be secured and made clearly accountable.

Force Majeure

A French term literally translated as "greater force", this clause is included in contracts to remove liability for natural and unavoidable catastrophes that interrupt the expected course of events and restrict participants from fulfilling obligations.

This clause is meant to benefit both parties in a contract. Force majeure would come into play, for example, when you buy a house. If the house is destroyed in a fire caused by a lightning strike, neither party remains obligated.

PCI DSS - Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard

The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is a widely accepted set of policies and procedures intended to optimize the security of credit, debit and cash card transactions and protect cardholders against misuse of their personal information. The PCI DSS was created jointly in 2004 by four major credit-card companies: Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express.

The PCI DSS specifies and elaborates on six major objectives.

First, a secure network must be maintained in which transactions can be conducted.

Second, cardholder information must be protected wherever it is stored.

Third, systems should be protected against the activities of malicious hackers by using frequently updated anti-virus software, anti-spyware programs, and other anti-malware solutions.

Fourth, access to system information and operations should be restricted and controlled.

Fifth, networks must be constantly monitored and regularly tested to ensure that all security measures and processes are in place, are functioning properly, and are kept up-do-date.

Sixth, a formal information security policy must be defined, maintained, and followed at all times and by all participating entities. Enforcement measures such as audits and penalties for non-compliance may be necessary.

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Direct & Representative Democracy

Direct democracy (or pure democracy) is a form of government in which people vote on policy initiatives directly, as opposed to a representative democracy in which people vote for representatives who then vote on policy initiatives

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Greenfield Project

A greenfield project is one which is not constrained by prior work. It is constructing on unused land where there is no need to remodel or demolish an existing structure. Such projects are often coveted by engineers.
Some examples of greenfield projects are new factories, power plants or airports which are built from scratch. Those facilities which are modified/ upgraded are called brownfield projects.

Kleptocracy

Kleptocracy, alternatively cleptocracy or kleptarchy, (from Ancient Greek: κλέπτης (thief) and κράτος (rule), "rule by thieves") is a form of political and government corruption where the government exists to increase the personal wealth and political power of its officials and the ruling class at the expense of the wider population, often without pretense of honest service. This type of government corruption is often achieved by the embezzlement of state funds.

Monday, December 19, 2011

Social Loafing

In the social psychology of groups, social loafing is the phenomenon of people exerting less effort to achieve a goal when they work in a group than when they work alone. This is seen as one of the main reasons groups are sometimes less productive than the combined performance of their members working as individuals, but should be distinguished from the coordination problems that groups sometime experience.

Social loafing is also associated with two concepts that are typically used to explain why it occurs: The "free-rider" theory and the resulting "sucker effect", which is an individual’s reduction in effort in order to avoid pulling the weight of a fellow group member.

Research on social loafing began with rope pulling experiments by Ringelmann, who found that members of a group tended to exert less effort into pulling a rope than did individuals alone. In more recent research, studies involving modern technology, such as online and distributed groups, has also shown clear evidence of social loafing. Many of the causes of social loafing stem from an individual feeling that his or her effort will not matter to the group. Therefore, effective ways to reduce social loafing involve increasing the motivation of individual group members or improving their coordination.

Sunday, December 18, 2011

NUF Test : For Idea assessment

A solution to a problem can be assessed and scored with the simple three-part 'Nuf test'. Just score it from 0 to 10 on each of 'New', 'Useful' and 'Feasible'.

New: not been tried before

A solution is not creative unless it is new. When we say 'new' here we are not looking to get into philosophical arguments about original thought, but we do mean something substantially different from those things which have been tried before.

Useful: solves the problem

It is good to have a creative new solution--and it is even better if it solves the problem! The question here is 'How completely does it solve the problem?' A totally useful solution solves the problem completely--and does not create any new ones.

Feasible: can be implemented in practice

If you have a really novel solution that fully solves the problem, the final question is 'Can it be put into practice?' If it is really expensive to implement and difficult to use, then it will not be a very feasible solution. Another good question here is 'Who will I have to persuade?'

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Why do people say, “God bless you,” after someone sneezes?

There are varying accounts as to the origin of this response.  One belief is that it originated in Rome when the bubonic plague was raging through Europe.  One of the symptoms of the plague was coughing and sneezing, and it is believed that Pope Gregory VII suggested saying “God bless you” after a person sneezed in hopes that this prayer would protect them from an otherwise certain death.

The expression may have also originated from superstition.  Some people believe that the custom of asking for God’s blessing began when ancient man thought that the soul was in the form of air and resided in the body’s head.  A sneeze, therefore, might accidentally expel the spirit from the body unless God blessed you and prevented this from occurring.  Some ancient cultures also thought that sneezing forced evil spirits out of the body endangering others because these spirits might now enter their bodies.  The blessing was bestowed to protect both the person sneezed and others around him.

Focus Group

A focus group is a form of qualitative research in which a group of people are asked about their perceptions, opinions, beliefs and attitudes towards a product, service, concept, advertisement, idea, or packaging. Questions are asked in an interactive group setting where participants are free to talk with other group members.

Friday, December 16, 2011

Elevator Pitch

An elevator pitch (or elevator speech or statement) is a short summary used to quickly and simply define a product, service, or organization and its value proposition. The name "elevator pitch" reflects the idea that it should be possible to deliver the summary in the time span of an elevator ride, or approximately thirty seconds to two minutes

CRR - Cash Reserve Ratio

The present banking system is called a "fractional reserve banking system", as the banks are required to keep only a fraction of their deposit liabilities in the form of liquid cash with the central bank for ensuring safety and liquidity of deposits.
The Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) refers to this liquid cash that banks have to maintain with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) as a certain percentage of their demand and time liabilities .
For example if the CRR is 10% then a bank with net demand and time deposits of Rs 1,00,000 will have to deposit Rs 10,000 with the RBI as liquid cash.CRR was introduced in 1950 primarily as a measure to ensure safety and liquidity of bank deposits, however over the years it has become an important and effective tool for directly regulating the lending capacity of banks and controlling the money supply in the economy.
When the RBI feels that the money supply is increasing and causing an upward pressure on inflation, the RBI has the option of increasing the CRR thereby reducing the deposits available with banks to make loans and hence reducing the money supply and inflation.The RBI has the authority to impose penal interest rates on the banks in respect of their shortfalls in the prescribed CRR.
According to Master Circular on maintenance of statutory reserves updated up to June 2008, in case of default in maintenance of CRR requirement on daily basis, which is presently 70 per cent of the total CRR requirement, penal interest will be recovered at the rate of three 3% per annum above the bank rate on the amount by which the amount actually maintained falls short of the prescribed minimum on that day.
If shortfall continues on the next succeeding days, penal interest will be recovered at a rate of 5% per annum above the bank rate. In fact if the default continues on a regular then RBI can even cancel the bank's licence or force it to merge with a larger bank.The CRR is applicable to all scheduled banks including the scheduled cooperative banks and the Regional Rural Banks (RRBs). The present level of CRR is 6.5%.
Previously, there was a floor of 3% and ceiling of 20% on the CRR that could be imposed by the RBI; however since 2006 there is no minimum or maximum level of CRR that needs to be fixed by the central bank of India. At present, the RBI does not pay any interest to the banks on the CRR deposits.
Prior to 1962, a separate CRR was fixed in respect of demand and time liabilities, however after 1962 the separate CRRs were merged and one CRR came into effect for both demand and time deposits of banks with RBI.

US Navy SEAL

The United States Navy's Sea, Air, and Land Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the U.S. Navy's principal special operations force and a part of the Naval Special Warfare Command (NSWC) as well as the maritime component of the United States Special Operations Command.
The acronym is derived from their capacity to operate at sea, in the air, and on land.

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Lingua Franca

Language used for communication between two or more groups that have different native languages. It may be a standard language — for example, English and French are often used for international diplomacy, and Swahili is used by speakers of the many different local languages of eastern Africa.

Difference between KPI & SLA

A KPI is a great tool to measure and control the performance of any given process. In management jargon, there is a famous saying which says “That which cannot be measured cannot be managed”.

The whole process of control, therefore relies on real time measurement and transfer of information from the site where the task is actually being performed to the control room i.e. the management.

Definition of KPI: The KPI can therefore be thought of as a measurement that tells that management the precise state of operations at any given point of time.
There are 4 components to any KPI.
What is being measured ?
Who is measuring it ?
At What Interval is it Being Measured ?
How frequently is the Information being transmitted to the Control Room ?

It is important that these 4 parameters are carefully defined keeping in mind the operational and technical capabilities. Measuring the wrong KPI or measuring the right KPI in the wrong manner can cause more harm than good to the organization that is measuring it.

The Relationship between KPI and SLA
While a KPI is a measure of performance, the Service Level Agreement or SLA is the ideal state of those measurements.
For instance our body temperature is a KPI for our health, while 98.3 degrees Fahrenheit is the SLA i.e. the ideal state of affairs.Hence, if we were to control our health, we would create a mechanism in which our temperature is being automatically measured. When the KPI deviates from the desired SLA i.e. temperature deviates from 98.3 degrees Fahrenheit, it must send some sort of a message to the management that management interference is required.
The beauty of KPI’s and SLA’s is that it provides required solutions in required time. Hence management can take preventive action instead of having to cure the problems.

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Salience Model : Stakeholder Management

A problem facing project managers, especially in large projects, is how to communicate effectively with all the different stakeholders, who all have competing communication needs that they expect you, as the project manager, to fulfil. The Salience Model attempts to solve this problem by categorizing stakeholders according to their prominence. It works by ranking the stakeholders according to their power, legitimacy, and urgency.

  • Power: to influence the project deliverables or the organization
  • Legitimacy: of their interaction with the project and it’s appropriateness
  • Urgency: of their communication requirements
These categories overlap, and we acknowledge this by placing our stakeholders into the following Venn diagram:



we have 7 categories of stakeholders in total (excluding non-stakeholders). We can write these groups in order of there prominence and the amount of attention you need to give each type of stakeholder as follows:


The classes of stakeholder which need special attention are those that overlap in the Venn diagram – 4, 5, 6 and 7.
Class 4 (Dominant) stakeholders not only have the power but also have a legitimate claim for communication and thus their needs should be taken into account.
Class 5 (Dangerous) stakeholders have the power, the need for time critical updates, but not the legitimacy. You need to pay special attention to these stakeholders and their needs as they could be dangerous to your project otherwise, possibly using their power and influence to build a concensus perception that your project is a failure.
Class 6 (Dependent) stakeholders have the urgency and legitimacy but not the power – perhaps these stakeholders are part of your project team. These need to be kept informed. Their urgency and legitimacy can be a great asset to the project.

Class 7 (Definitive) stakeholders are the most important of all. They have the power, the right to demand urgency from you or the organization, and the legitimacy to demand the communication.

Monday, December 12, 2011

Glocalisation

Glocalisation is a combinations of word globalization and localization. By definition, the term “glocal” refers to the individual, group, division, unit, organisation, and community which is willing and able to “think globally and act locally.”

Scandanavian & Nordic Regions

 A peninsula (Latin: paenīnsula, "paene-": almost + "īnsula": island; also called a byland or biland) is a piece of land that is bordered by water on three sides but connected to mainland.



Scandinavia is a region of northern Europe that geographically consists of Norway and Sweden (two countries that form the Scandinavian Peninsula) and the country of Denmark.
In modern times, Finland, Iceland and the Faroe Islands (Faeroe) are also considered a part of this geographical area, especially in terms of cultural and historic relationships.















map of the scandinavian peninsula, scandinavian peninsula maps

The Nordic countries make up a region in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic which consists of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden and their associated territories, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland. In English, Scandinavia is sometimes used as a synonym for most of the Nordic countries (but excluding Greenland), but that word refers only to Denmark, Norway and Sweden.



Sunday, December 11, 2011

Achilles' heel

An Achilles’ heel is a deadly weakness in spite of overall strength, that can actually or potentially lead to downfall.

Mythological Origin
==============

In Greek mythology, when Achilles was a baby, it was foretold that he would die in battle from an arrow in the foot. To prevent his death, his mother Thetis took Achilles to the River Styx which was supposed to offer powers of invincibility and dipped his body into the water. But as Thetis held Achilles by the heel, his heel was not washed over by the water of the magical river. Achilles grew up to be a man of war who survived many great battles. But one day, a poisonous arrow shot at him was lodged in his heel, killing him shortly after. Still, Achilles is remembered as one of the greatest fighters who ever lived.

AdWords - Google's Advertising Product

Google AdWords is Google's main advertising product and main source of revenue. Google's total advertising revenues were USD$28 billion in 2010.

Advertisers select the words that should trigger their ads and the maximum amount they will pay per click. When a user searches on Google, ads (also known as "creatives" within Google) for relevant words appear as "sponsored links" on the right side of the screen, and sometimes above the main search results.

The original idea was invented by Bill Gross of Idealab who, in turn, borrowed the idea from the model of the Yellow Pages.
Google wanted to buy the idea but a deal could not be reached.
Not wanting to give up on this form of advertisement, the company launched its own solution, AdWords in 2000.
AdWords followed a model that was significantly similar to Bill Gross' creation which led to legal action between the two parties. Eventually the dispute was settled out of court.

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Segway Personal Transporter ( Segway PT )

The Segway PT is a two-wheeled, self-balancing transportation machine invented by Dean Kamen. It is produced by Segway Inc. of New Hampshire, USA.
The name "Segway" is a homophone of "segue" [In music, segue is a direction to the performer. It means continue (the next section) without a pause. It comes from the Italian "it follows".] while "PT" denotes personal transporter.

Segwaygreen.jpg

Computers and motors in the base of the device keep the Segway PT upright when powered on with balancing enabled. A user commands the Segway to go forward by shifting their weight forward on the platform, and backward by shifting their weight backward. The Segway notices, as it balances, the change in its center of mass, and first establishes and then maintains a corresponding speed, forward or backward. Gyroscopic sensors and fluid-based leveling sensors are used to detect the shift of weight. To turn, the user manipulates the handlebar left or right.
Segway PTs are driven by electric motors and can go up to 12.5 miles per hour (20.1 km/h).

Largest Global Retailers

US : Wal-Mart
France : Carrefour
UK : Tesco
Germany : Metro AG

World’s Only Airport Runway Intersecting a Road : Gibraltar

Gibraltar Airport or North Front Airport is a civilian airport that serves the British overseas territory of Gibraltar, a tiny peninsula with an area of only 6.8 square kilometres. The lack of flat space on Gibraltar means the peninsula's only runway is bisected by its busiest road, the Winston Churchill Avenue that heads towards the land border with Spain. A pair of flimsy-looking barriers closes vehicular traffic every time a plane lands or departs. Fortunately, it’s not a busy airport. It handles only about 30 flights a week, all flying to and from the United Kingdom.

gibraltar-airport-12

Oradour-sur-Glane: The Village Massacred in WW2 and Preserved Since Then

On 10 June 1944, at around 2 PM, four days after the Allied invasion of Normandy, approximately 150 Waffen-SS soldiers entered the tranquil village of Oradour-sur-Glane in the Limosin region of south central France. For no apparent reason, Hitler's elite troops destroyed every building in this peaceful village and brutally murdered a total of 642 innocent men, women and children, a tragedy which has gone down in history as one of the worst war crimes committed by the German army in World War II.
A new village of Oradour-sur-Glane was built after the war, at the northwest of the site of the massacre, where ruined remnants of the former village still stand as a memorial to the dead and a representative of similar sites and events. Its museum includes items recovered from the burned-out buildings: watches stopped at the time their owners were burned alive, glasses melted from the intense heat, and various personal items and money.

oradour-sur-glane

Demonym

A demonym , also referred to as a gentilic, is a name for a resident of a locality.
A demonym is usually – though not always – derived from the name of the locality; thus, the demonym for the people of England is English, and the demonym for the people of Italy is Italian, yet the one used for the people of the Netherlands is Dutch.

The word demonym comes from the Greek word for "populace" (δῆμος demos) with the suffix for "name" (-onym).

The term demonym is not widely employed or known outside geographical circles and does not yet appear in mainstream dictionaries. It is used by some geographers, both online and within their studies and teaching.

Friday, December 9, 2011

Expenditure - CAPEX / OPEX

CAPEX ( Capital Expenditure ) ;
Capital exp is when you buy something that is an asset - like a PC or a building (or sometimes stock-in-hand) - that you then use. Assets tend to be 'capitalised' over a number of years ( for tax purposes ) as they reduce in value.

OPEX ( Operational Expenditure )
Op exp is what you spend to run the day to day business - salaries, heat/light, rent, etc..

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Five Bases of Power - French & Raven

One of the most notable studies on power was conducted by social psychologists John French and Bertram Raven in 1959.

They identified five bases of power:

1.Legitimate – This comes from the belief that a person has the right to make demands, and expect compliance and obedience from others.

2.Reward – This results from one person's ability to compensate another for compliance.

3.Coercive – This comes from the belief that a person can punish others for noncompliance.

4.Expert – This is based on a person's superior skill and knowledge.

5.Referent – This is the result of a person's perceived attractiveness, worthiness, and right to respect from others.

The Expert & Referent powers are categorised as 'Personal Power Sources'
The Legitimate , reward & Coercive powers are categorised as 'Positional Power Sources'

The most effective leaders use mainly referent and expert power.

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

BRIC - Brazil Russia India China

In economics, BRIC is a grouping acronym that refers to the countries of Brazil, Russia, India and China, which are all deemed to be at a similar stage of newly advanced economic development. It is typically rendered as "the BRICs" or "the BRIC countries" or the BRIC economies" or alternatively as the "Big Four".

The acronym was coined by Jim O'Neill in a 2001 paper entitled "Building Better Global Economic BRICs".The acronym has come into widespread use as a symbol of the shift in global economic power away from the developed G7 economies towards the developing world. It is estimated that BRIC economies will overtake G7 economies by 2027.

IKEA - home products giant

Ikea logo.svg

IKEA is a privately held, international home products company that designs and sells ready-to-assemble furniture such as beds and desks, appliances and home accessories. The company is the world's largest furniture retailer.

Founded in 1943 by 17-year-old Ingvar Kamprad in Sweden, the company is named as an acronym comprising the initials of the founder's name (Ingvar Kamprad), the farm where he grew up (Elmtaryd), and his home parish (Agunnaryd, in Småland, South Sweden).

The firm is known for the attention it gives to cost control, operational details and continuous product development, allowing it to lower its prices by an of average 2 to 3% over the decade to 2010, while continuing its global expansion

IQ - Intelligence Quotient

IQ is a number meant to measure people cognitive abilities (intelligence) in relation to their age group. An I.Q between 90 and 110 is considered average; over 120, superior.
Roughly 68% of the population has an IQ between 85 and 115. The average range between 70 and 130, and represents about 95% of the population. A score below 70 may indicate problems in understanding the iQ questions or soem type or retardation, and a score above 130 may indicate intellectual giftedness.
1% of the population has an IQ of 136 or higher. However, an individual scoring 100 within one population can score above or below that value within another population, for example, the Japanese are supposed to have the highest average IQ in the world (115), but this 115 can only be an average of 100 within their own population. 

 
Intelligence Interval      Cognitive Designation
40 - 54Severely challenged (Less than 1% of test takers)
55 - 69 Challenged (2.3% of test takers)
70 - 84Below average
85 - 114Average (68% of test takers)
115 - 129Above average
130 - 144Gifted (2.3% of test takers)
145 - 159Genius (Less than 1% of test takers)
160 - 175Extraordinary genius

 Japanese are supposed to have the highest average IQ in the world (115).

It all started with the Binet scale with one single goal in mind, to serve as a guide to identify children in the school who need special education to minimize their inferior level. Binet also reported that it’s not designed to measure ‘intelligence’. Later after many modifications on the original method of Binet such as Simon-Binet, or Stanford-Binet, Intelligence tests were getting more popular among the population as well as in government departments. In 1989 the American Academy for the Advancement of Science listed the IQ test among the twenty most significant scientific discoveries of the twentieth century along with nuclear fission, DNA, and flight.

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

The paradox of our time

"The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider freeways , but narrower viewpoints.  We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less.  We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time.  We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values.  We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.  We've learned how to make a living, but not a life.  We've added years to life not life to years. We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor.

We conquered outer space but not inner space.  We've done larger things, but not better things.  We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice.  We write more, but learn less.  We plan more, but accomplish less.

We've learned to rush, but not to wait.  We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.  These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships.

These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes.  These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throw away morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill.

It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom."

Marathon - brief history

Legend holds that the world's first marathon was run — unintentionally — in 490 B.C. by a Greek soldier, Pheidippides, who ran the 25 miles to Athens from the town of Marathon to announce a battleground victory over the Persians. "Greetings, we win!" he shouted — and then fell to the ground, dead.

It would be more than 2,000 years before the marathon would make its return, at the revival of the modern Olympic Games in Greece in 1896. In that event, 17 runners ran 40 km, or 24.8 miles, with Greek runner Spyridon Louis taking the gold medal with a time of 2 hr. 58 min. 50 sec. Inspired by the event's success, Boston inaugurated its race the next year; it is now the oldest annual marathon in the world. In 1908, the marathon course at the London Olympics ran from Windsor Castle to the royal box at the Olympic stadium in White City (some sources say the Princess of Wales wanted her children to watch the start of the race from their home).

The length of the race continued varying for years, but in 1924 that specific distance — 42,195 m, or 26 miles, 385 yd. — was made the worldwide standard.

Monday, December 5, 2011

Basis Point (Finance)

A unit that is equal to 1/100th of 1%, and is used to denote the change in a financial instrument. The basis point is commonly used for calculating changes in interest rates, equity indexes and the yield of a fixed-income security.

The relationship between percentage changes and basis points can be summarized as follows: 1% change = 100 basis points, and  0.01% = 1 basis point.
So, a bond whose yield increases from 5% to 5.5% is said to increase by 50 basis points; or interest rates that have risen 1% are said to have increased by 100 basis points.

COP - origin of the word

The term Cop comes from Constable on Patrol, which is a term used in England.

Statues on Horseback and their interpretation

If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle;
The King on horseback

 if the horse has one front leg in the air, the person died as a result of wounds received in battle;


if the horse has all 4 legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes.

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Tides : Low & High Tides formation

Tides are periodic rises and falls of large bodies of water. Tides are caused by the gravitational interaction between the Earth and the Moon. The gravitational attraction of the moon causes the oceans to bulge out in the direction of the moon. Another bulge occurs on the opposite side, since the Earth is also being pulled toward the moon (and away from the water on the far side). Since the earth is rotating while this is happening, two tides occur each day.



Saturday, December 3, 2011

Christmas tree

The evergreen fir tree has traditionally been used to celebrate winter festivals (pagan and Christian) for thousands of years. Pagans used branches of it to decorate their homes during the winter solstice, as it made them think of the spring to come. The Romans used Fir Trees to decorate their temples at the festival of Saturnalia. Christians use it as a sign of everlasting life with God.
Christmas tree has always been looked upon as a marvelous thing by kids and adults alike. It reminds us of the evergreen trees covered with snow that sparkle like silver in moon light, when the sky is clear. Christmas tree, perhaps, has its origin in the Vikings from North Europe, who took evergreen trees as an inspiration to struggle on with life, during winters and as a reminder that spring season will soon come again. Many Pagan festivals used Christmas trees and later, they were imbibed into Christian festivals too.
The custom of decorating Christmas trees during the festival of Christmas came from England and France during the ancient times, when Druids used to decorate oak trees with candles and fruits at the time of their harvest festivals. Ancient Romans too are known to decorate trees during Saturnalia - their harvest festival - with trinkets. German Christians were the first to incorporate Christmas trees in their homes. At places, where trees were not so readily available, they used wooden pyramids as artificial Christmas trees.
The first known Christmas tree that came into limelight was the one decorated by Prince Albert of English Royalty, who decorated his tree with candies and gingerbread along with candles and fruits. German immigrants brought the custom from Europe to America and by 1800s, it had become a household craze. Ancient Christmas tree ornaments included cookies, popcorn, apples and nuts. Today, Christmas tree holds a special significance of Christmas and is an inevitable part of the festival

Champagne

Champagne is a sparkling wine produced in France’s Champagne region, which originally produced a still wine that had a certain vivacity. It was in the 17th century that a Benedictine monk, Dom Pierre Perignon, perfected the means of sealing the sparkle in the bottle. Today, a cork is used as a stopper to achieve this. The gas in the champagne is the result of secondary fermentation.

Champagne is a wine-producing region in the far north of France, near Paris, where the signature sparkling white wine is produced. Though the term champagne is sometimes used as a generic description of sparkling white wines in the style of the wines of Champagne, this is an incorrect usage, and the term sparkling white should be used instead. To produce the bubbles in Champagne, a technique referred to as the methode traditionnelle or traditional method is used. In this method, the base wine which will become Champagne is bottled with a small amount of yeast and sugar to trigger a second stage of fermentation in the wine. This fermentation gives off some gas within the bottle, which acts as carbonation.