1.
2-XL
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2-XL, is an educational toy robot that was marketed from 1978-1981 by the Mego Toy Corporation. The toy was then re-introduced by Tiger Electronics in the 1990s, 2XL was the first smart-toy in that it exhibited rudimentary intelligence, memory, game play, and responsiveness. It was infused with a personality that kept kids concentrating and challenged as they played and interacted with the robot and this made learning fun through use of jokes, funny sayings, and verbal reinforcements. During its time in the marketplace, and even to this day, 2XL is heralded as an important step in the development of toys and in particular. Two-decades after 2-XL was discontinued for manufacture, it is remembered by millions of fans. 2-XL was considered one of the top 10 toys ever developed by Playthings Magazine because it could educate, 2-XL was considered the first smart-toy and exhibited rudimentary intelligence, memory, game play, and responsiveness. Dubbed the Toy with a Personality, 2-XL could respond verbally to the user depending upon which input or answer buttons were chosen. 2XL during its run was one of the most popular toys in terms of revenue and was dubbed the Talking Robot with a mind of its own. The toys voice was done by inventor Michael Freeman and it was a great way to make learning cool and fun. 2-XL was first introduced in 1978 by the Mego Toy company and it was brought back in 1992 by Tiger Electronics a division of the Mattel Corporation. Mego Corporation, a publicly traded US based toy company based in New York City was introduced the 2-XL toy to the public in 1978, the toy was sold in different countries and and the tapes were translated in seven foreign languages. Games were also developed for the toy, in 1981, the toys popularity waned, and it was later discontinued. Mego Corporation, that was known for its production of dolls and classic action figures in the 70s was seen as an innovator combining toys. The toys name literally meant To Excel, the toy was voice capable, was able to tell stories and sing using its special 8-track tapes. The toys tapes asked multiple choice questions based type of tape chosen according to its subject and this was operated by pushing a YES/NO button that changed the tracking of the tape. It was crude, but reportedly innovative use of the technology that was present in that era, in 1992, 2-XL was re-introduced by Tiger Electronics, a toy company based in Vernon Hills, Illinois. The toy was changed into a modern design, and new programmed toy cartridges were also introduced. The voice for this version was done by Freeman as well, the robot was a popular educational toy whose success anticipated the dominant influence of technology in education today
2.
9 Story Media Group
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The company has employed over 250 creative and production staff in its Toronto facility and has produced over 900 half hours of award-winning children’s content. 9 Story recently acquired the animation studio Brown Bag Films, which employs over 170 staff members across Dublin, Manchester, Brown Bag has been producing animated children’s series such as The Octonauts, Doc McStuffins, Bing Bunny, and Henry Hugglemonster. On October 6,2015,9 Story announced a new partnership with Hit Entertainment to relaunch iconic pre-school brands ‘Barney & Friends’. 3 Amigonauts Almost Naked Animals Arthur Best Ed Barbie Video Game Hero Cache Craze Camp Lakebottom Daniel Tigers Neighborhood Fugget About It Futz
3.
12th Airborne Command and Control Squadron
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The 12th Airborne Command and Control Squadron is a United States Air Force flying unit, assigned to the 461st Air Control Wing, stationed at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia. The squadron flies the E-8C Joint STARS, providing airborne battle management, command and control, surveillance, and target acquisition. Combatant Commanders 10 Combat Mission Ready Crews Vision, Airmen who demonstrate the ability, acumen, and the audacity to secure our nations interests Truths, JSTARS, its Airmen, and U. S. The first predecessor of the squadron was activated at Langley Field, Virginia in October 1942 as the 523d Bombardment Squadron, one month later, it was redesignated the 2d Antisubmarine Squadron. The squadron was equipped with a number of different types of bombers. With the 378th, the squadron engaged in patrols off the east coast of the United States. In January 1943, it moved to RAF St Eval, England, from St Eval it began flying antisubmarine patrols around England. Although the squadron remained assigned to the 25th Wing, at St Eval and its mission was to patrol an area of the Atlantic north and west of Morocco. Its antisubmarine activity reached a peak in July, when German U-boats concentrated off the coast of Portugal to intercept Allied convoys bound for the Mediterranean and its actions protected supply lines for forces involved in Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily. The unit most frequently attacked enemy subs 700 miles off the coast of Spain, in what was termed and this was an area in which the subs surfaced to recharge their batteries. It was also possible to them in this location before they joined up into wolfpacks. The 2d Squadron earned a Distinguished Unit Citation for its contributions in the Battle of the Atlantic against German submarines. The squadron returned to the United States at end of 1943 and was disbanded at Clovis Army Air Field in January 1944, most of the units aircrews became cadres for Boeing B-29 Superfortress unit at Clovis. The 327th Ferrying Squadron, which was activated at Capodichino Air Base, the 327th flew cargo, passengers, and mail to destinations in Italy, Sardinia, Corsica, North Africa, and southern France. It moved to the United States in late September 1945 and was inactivated in October, in the fall of 1966 Operation Ranch Hand expanded its size with the delivery of eleven additional Fairchild UC-123B Provider aircraft that had been authorized earlier in the year. Sixteen days later, the squadron suffered its first loss when an aircraft was shot down in the Iron Triangle, due to crowding at Tan Son Nhut, also Saigons commercial airport, the squadron moved to Bien Hoa Air Base in December. In October 1966, the squadron began flying insecticide missions. These missions focused on killing malaria spreading mosquitos, a single aircraft was dedicated to this mission, since the application rate of insecticide was much lower than that for herbicides and one mission could cover a large area
4.
40th Airlift Squadron
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The 40th Airlift Squadron is a United States Air Force unit based at Dyess Air Force Base, Abilene, Texas. The unit currently flies the new Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules aircraft, nicknamed the Screaming Eagles, it is one of the most decorated airlift units in the U. S. Air Force. On 18 February 1942, the squadron was activated as the 40th Transport Squadron at Duncan Field, San Antonio, beginning with only a second lieutenant squadron commander and eight enlisted men, the squadron slowly took shape, and in about four months was full-sized. At this time it transferred to Bowman Field, Kentucky where it began flying the Douglas C-47 Skytrain, a few days later, the Squadron left North Carolina for the Mobile Air Depot, Alabama where it received thirteen new C-47s. After they checked out the airplanes, the squadron flew to California, on 5 January 1943, the Squadron left California for the Southwest Pacific Theater of operations. Two days later it landed at Brisbane, Australia where it came under the command of the Fifth Air Force, after a short time in Brisbane, the Squadron moved to Barbutt Field, Townsville, Australia, the Squadrons first permanent oversees home. In the Buna campaign, the 40th ferried food, ammunition, equipment, as the battle of Buna neared its end, the fight for Wau was just beginning. At Wau, the Squadron supported Australian commandos known as the Kanga Force who were harassing the Japanese, Squadron pilots soon became accustomed to landing on the 3, 000-foot dirt strip at Wau with its 12 per cent grade heading directly at Kainde Mountain. The crews flew in reinforcements, ammunition, artillery pieces, food, Wau saw the 40ths first combat casualties when a crew crashed while attempting to land on 18 January. On 29 January, the Japanese began an assault on the airstrip. They managed to reach one end of the runway, which they placed under constant mortar fire, at times, planes circled as the Australians fought the Japanese far enough back into the jungle to allow the aircraft to land. Many of the reinforcements flown into the strip jumped from the planes straight into the battle with their guns firing, by the end of 30 January, most of the Japanese attacks had been repulsed, and the airstrip remained in Allied hands for the remainder of the war. The 40th Troop Carrier Squadron received its first Distinguished Unit Citation for its efforts at Wau, after these two battles, the 40th established and operated air routs across Australia, New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands. The pace of operations did not slacken and the squadron engaged in a variety of tactical airlift actions. Primarily, these included airlifting troops, reinforcements, supplies, and equipment into combat and it frequently dropped paratroopers during airborne assault operations, and delivered equipment and supplies by airdrop. The 40ths next major battle occurred on 5 September, when Allied Forces assaulted the island of Lae, the Squadron joined the rest of the 317th Troop Carrier Group in an air assault on the Nadzab plain. General Kenney, Fifth Air Force commander, later said, I truly don’t believe that air force in the world today could have put this over as perfectly as the Fifth Air Force did. As Allied troops pressed westward across New Guinea, the Squadron moved to Ward Airdrome at Port Moresby and this move, accomplished on 6 October 1943, placed the Squadron closer to combat, and eliminated many of the long flights back to Australia
5.
82d Training Wing
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The 82d Training Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Education and Training Command, Second Air Force. It is stationed at Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas where it also is the host unit, the Wing produces more than 62,000 graduates annually in more than 1,000 Technical Training courses. It also hosts the 80th Flying Training Wing, the only internationally manned and managed flying training program. The units history goes back to the 82d Fighter Group, which was a Twelfth and Fifteenth Air Force combat unit that fought in North Africa, during the early years of the Cold War, the 82d Fighter Wing was a Strategic Air Command fighter escort and tactical fighter unit. The commander of the 82d Training Wing is Brig, the Command Chief Master Sergeant is Chief Master Sergeant Eric Johnson. The 82 TRW is the largest of four technical training wings in Air Education, the 82d, 782d, and 982d Training Groups conduct training at Sheppard and at geographically separated locations around the country. The 982d Training Group conducts training at locations worldwide, additionally, the 82d Comptroller Squadron reports directly to the 82 TRW. The wings history started with the 82d Fighter Group, which fought in Europe during World War II, the 82d was established as a Strategic Air Command fighter wing on 28 July 1947 at Grenier Field, New Hampshire. The 82d Fighter Wing was established in accordance with the Hobson Plan which established a wing at each Air Force Base that commanding all groups. However, the Air Force did not organize to the wing until 15 August 1947, the wing was attached to the 307th Bomb Wing from 15 August 1947 to 15 December 1948. On 16 December 1948 the wing was reassigned to Fifteenth Air Force, the operational flying component of the wing was the 82d Fighter Group, composed of the 95th, 96th and 97th Fighter Squadrons and were equipped with Lockheed P-38 Lighting aircraft. Most officers that arrived were rated pilots that had returned to military life. Many had World War II combat experience, many officers and enlisted men arrived at Grenier from 62nd Fighter Squadron, a unit that had just returned from a winter test in Alaska. The wing was relieved of its responsibilities to the Fifteenth Air Force on 22 August 1949 and was inactivated on 20 October 1949, assigned to the wing were the 96th and 97th Flying Training Squadrons. On 19 September 1976, the first women entered undergraduate pilot training, ten female students were in Class 77-08. First Lieutenant Christine E. Schott became the first woman to solo in the T-38, on 2 September 1977, Class 77-08 graduated. The ten women received their wings along with 36 male classmates, in March 1978, the 82d’s first female instructor pilot, Capt Connie Engel, was assigned to the 97th Fighter Training Squadron to instruct T-38 students. Air Training Command activated the 98th and the 99th Flying Training Squadrons on 1 June 1988 to test a four-squadron organization, the test showed the wing needed a fifth squadron to provide operational support
6.
133rd Engineer Battalion
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The 133rd Engineer Battalion is a component of the Maine Army National Guard and the United States Army. The organization is the oldest in the Maine Guard and is one of the largest organizations in the state, the battalion has responded to natural disasters at home as well as military actions overseas. The current battalion has the capacity to execute a variety of Army Engineer missions, from construction, vertical construction, combat engineer missions. The battalion has two companies, one vertical company, one combat engineer company, a forward support company, a survey and design detachment. The 133rd Engineer Battalion is the oldest unit in the Maine Army National Guard, known as “Maine’s Regiment” the 133rd traces its beginnings back to the formation of the Portland Light Infantry in 1804. The Portland Light Infantry manned the defenses around Portland, such as Forts Preble and Scammell, other militia units flooded Portland that year, responding to a British invasion from the north that had already seized Bangor and Castine. Veterans of the Napoleonic Wars, the British were tough and determined fighters. The British government had decided to control of Maine and turn it into a colony called “New Ireland. ”Several thousand British soldiers assembled in Castine with seven ships of the line. Maine men would be called on again in 1861 when war divided the nation into North and South, the Portland Light Infantry was designated A Company of the 1st Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment and marched off to Virginia. The 1st Maine Volunteer Infantry reenlisted as the 10th Maine Infantry Regiment in 1862, fighting in the battles of 2nd Bull Run and Antietam that year. The regiment’s enlistments ran up in 1863, but about half the unit had signed papers to serve for the three years, so they were amalgamated into the 20th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment, also in 1862, the 20th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment was raised from the Brewer area. The 20th would become one of the most famous units in the Civil War, the 20th sustained heavy casualties and was pinned down for over twenty-four hours under enemy fire in the cold December weather. They were positioned on the far left of the Union line at the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863 and sustained multiple enemy attacks and they had been ordered to hold to the last man. The regimental commander, Colonel Joshua L. Chamberlain then gave the order, “Bayonet, the bayonet charge by the Mainers took the Confederates by surprise and ended their attacks entirely. For his actions, Colonel Chamberlain was awarded the Medal of Honor, the 20th would serve until the end of the war, fighting with distinction in the savage battles through Virginia, such as the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, and Petersburg. The 133rd Engineer Battalion carries on the lineage and traditions of the 20th Maine, at the end of the war, the Soldiers came home and returned to their civilian lives. Many kept up their experience by membership in the 1st Maine Volunteer Militia. The 1st M. V. M. had companies in Portland, Augusta, Skowhegan, Auburn, Norway, Bangor, Belfast, Hampden, in 1893, the unit was assigned to the National Guard, and designated the 1st Maine Infantry
7.
311th Signal Command (United States)
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Headquartered at Fort Shafter, Hawaii, the 311th SC and its subordinate units are stationed across 16 time zones, ranging from Alaska to Korea, and from Hawaii to California. The mission of the 311th is to maintain and defend the Pacific LandWarNet, serving as the operational Signal command for U. S. The 311th Signal Command also supports the Army Network Enterprise vision through its alignment with 9th Signal Command /NETCOM’s Global Network Enterprise objectives, the 311th Signal Command originated in 1944 as the 3112th Signal Service Battalion at Fort Monmouth, NJ, supporting Allied efforts during World War II. The 3112th participated in campaigns in Normandy, northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, the 3112th Signal was reorganized multiple times until it became the 311th Signal Group in 1952 as part of the Organized Reserve Corps. Ten years later, in September 2006, the 311th SC was reorganized to become the 311th Signal Command and relocated to Fort Shafter, Hawaii, to become a theater enabling command of U. S. Army Pacific. 1st Signal Brigade, South Korea 516th Signal Brigade, Hawaii The Pacific LandWarNet is the architecture for the U. S. Army Pacific AOR. It serves as the command and control information network throughout the Pacific theater, Pacific LandWarNet supports missions associated with the integration of strategic, operational and tactical communications, and data exchange requirements within the AOR. Pacific LandWarNet supports the operations of Joint, combined, and Army forces, the network can be extended to enable forward stationed and CONUS-based military formations. Activated 1 February 1944 at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, reorganized and redesignated 7 June 1945 as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3112th Signal Service Battalion. Inactivated 5 December 1946 in Germany, redesignated 27 March 1952 as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 311th Signal group, and allotted to the organized Reserve Corps. Activated 10 April 1952 at Baltimore, Maryland, reorganized and redesignated 26 April 1954 as Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 311th Signal Group. Inactivated 20 February 1963 at Baltimore, Maryland, redesignated 16 June 1996 as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 311th Signal Command, and activated at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland. Location of Headquarters changed 16 September 2006 to Fort Shafter, Hawaii, symbolism, The Phoenix arising from the flame represents rebirth and is indicative of a new command. The orange demi-globe symbolizes the worldwide capabilities of the organization, the blue background alludes to the sky and the transmission of voice, picture and data via satellite. The shoulder sleeve insignia was approved on 22 March 1996, symbolism, Orange and white are the colors used for Signal organizations The arrowhead represents combat readiness and points to the sky, symbolizing the transmission of data via satellite. The globe symbolizes the worldwide capability of the organization, the motto highlights the unit’s mission as the theater’s communication link. The distinctive unit insignia was approved on 22 March 1996
8.
500 Miles to Memphis
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500 Miles to Memphis is an American cowpunk band from Cincinnati, OH. Their music is a blend of country, Americana. Ryan Malott formed the band in 2003, since then they have released four studio albums, which have received international praise, won multiple awards, and have licensed their music to numerous tv shows and video games. They actively toured the United States from the years of 2005 to 2013, at their height, they were performing 250 shows per year. Currently, the band resides in parts of Ohio, Kentucky, malotts poignant and, at times, painful, lyrics are some of the most honest and introspective words to come out of the Cincinnati music scene. Of course, a man and his guitar are more than enough for a local dive, luckily, Malott is backed up several local legends, drummer Kevin Hogle and lap steel player David Rhodes Brown chief among them. Youve probably seen Hogle around the city without knowing and he is one of the citys most prolific drummers, and for good reason — his precision and skill are unmatched. David Rhodes Brown rarely tours with 500, but his contribution to the band is vital, a Cincinnati staple himself, DRBs lap steel playing is a big part of 500s country roots. Rounding out the lineup is Noah Sugarman, who moved to bass. Sugarman heads his own band in his time, so chances are high that youll hear some originals from him in addition to 500s set. Although both albums were recorded with Erwin Musper, producer of the Scorpions and many others, there are a lot of differences between this album and the last, the songs on Weve Built Up to Nothing are much more intricate and deep than the last. We experimented with different time signatures and rhythms, there are a lot more vocal harmonies, which is always fun. Aside from that we used a lot of different instruments and we basically went back to our highschool concert band roots and brought out a whole orchestra. Our keyboard player, Elaina, is a director at a school here in Cincinnati. Kevin, the drummer, has a bachelors in music education from Morehead State University where performed with the nationally recognized marching percussion ensemble and he toured the world over at a very young age. I played first chair trombone all throughout highschool and it was a lot of fun composing all of the auxiliary instruments. The songwriting on this album is also different, I went at it in a different frame of mind. I pretty much wrote what I wanted to say and hear, basically I wrote with reckless abandon without worrying whether or not these songs would be on a top forty list
9.
2013 Shahbag protests
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On that day, the International Crimes Tribunal had sentenced Mollah to life in prison after he was convicted on five of six counts of war crimes. Later demands included banning the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami party from politics including election, protesters considered Mollahs sentence too lenient, given his crimes. Bloggers and online activists called for protests at Shahbag. Tens of thousands of people joined the demonstration, which rise to protests across the country. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party initially expressed its support for Jamaat-e-Islami, a political ally, but, the BNP cautiously welcomed the Shahbag protest, while warning the government not to make political mileage from a movement demanding capital punishment for war criminals. During the protests, Ahmed Rajib Haider was killed outside his house, on 1 March, five students of North South University were arrested who confessed involvement in Rajibs killing. On 27 February 2013, the tribunal convicted Delwar Hossain Sayeedi of war crimes, Jamaat followers protested and there were violent clashes with police. About 60 people were killed in the confrontations, most were Jamaat-Shibir activists, in 1971 Bangladesh was the portion of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan known as East Pakistan. In the 1971 Liberation War of Bangladesh, East Pakistan fought West Pakistan for nine months, during this period the Indian Army which provided guerrilla training to Mukti Bahini, joined the war on 3 December 1971 in support of the liberation of East Pakistan. Armed conflict ended on 16 December 1971 through surrender of the Pakistani Armed Forces to India, resulting in the formation of the Peoples Republic of Bangladesh as a secular and independent state. Time reported a high-ranking US official as saying, It is the most incredible, estimates are that one to three million people were killed, nearly a quarter of a million women were raped and more than ten million people fled to India to escape persecution. A paramilitary force known as the Razakars was created by the May 1971 Razakar Ordinance promulgated by Tikka Khan, the ordinance stipulated the creation of a volunteer force, trained and equipped by the provincial government. However, it became a term in the Bengali language due to the widespread killings of civilians. The majority of East Pakistanis supported the call to create a free, since 2000, there has been growing demands in Bangladesh for justice related to war crimes committed during the 1971 struggle, the issue was central to the 2008 general election. The Awami League-led, 14-party Grand Alliance included this issue in its election manifesto and its rival, four-party alliance had several leaders alleged to have committed war crimes. The Grand Alliance won the election with a majority, based in part on its promise to prosecute alleged war criminals. On 29 January 2009 the new Parliament unanimously passed a resolution to prosecute war criminals, the government intended to use the 1973 law, the International Crimes Act. The government worked to amend the law, updating it and incorporating in it other nations experience, the amendments provided the legal basis for the trial of individuals and political parties that had committed war crimes during Bangladesh liberation war
10.
Syed Yasir Abbas
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Lieutenant Syed Yaser Abbas S. Bt, was an aeronautical engineer in the Pakistan Navy, and was the Officer on Duty at PNS Mehran on the day of Mehran Attack. He was the first martyr of the PNS Mehran attack on May 22,2011 and he was first to lead the Rapid Response Squad consisting of Marines, in the fight against militants. During the gun-battle with the terrorists, Lt Yaser Abbas S. Bt received three bullets to his chest prior to death and his other fellows including Lt. Athar, Aqeel and Daniyaal, leading other Squads at PNS Mehran, Karachi. Lt. Syed Yaser Abbas S. Bt was born in 1986, after doing his intermediate from Garrison Degree College, Lahore Cantt. Yaser appeared for Pakistan Air Force but he was rejected citing an eye problem and he was offered education abroad by his father but he refused and appeared for entry in Pakistan Navy. He was selected in Pakistan Navy in the 2004 Bravo course and he graduated from CAE as an Avionics Engineer with high grades on 18 November 2009. After graduating from Pakistan Air Force Academy, Lt. Yaser S. Bt was posted at PNS Mehran of Pakistan Navy in February 2010 and he was deployed on Zulu-9 helicopter of Pakistan Navy as an EO. Every man dies, not every man lives The Day the Martyr was born
11.
Shakuntala (play)
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Abhijñānashākuntala or Abhijñānaśākuntalam, is a well-known Sanskrit play by Kālidāsa, dramatizing the story of Shakuntala told in the epic Mahabharata. It is considered to be the best of Kālidāsas works and its date is uncertain, but Kālidāsa is often placed in the period between the 1st century BCE and 4th century CE. The Sanskrit title means pertaining to the recognition of Śākuntalā, so a literal translation could be Of Śākuntalā who is recognized, the title is sometimes translated as The token-for-recognition of Śākuntalā or The Sign of Śākuntalā. Abhijñānaśākuntalam is writen by Kalidas Although Kalidas makes some changes to the plot. The protagonist is Shakuntala, daughter of the sage Vishwamitra and the apsara Menaka, abandoned at birth by her parents, Shakuntala is reared in the secluded, sylvan hermitage of the sage Kanva, and grows up a comely but innocent maiden. While Kanva and the elders of the hermitage are away on a pilgrimage, Dushyanta, king of Hastinapura, comes hunting in the forest. He is captivated by Shakuntala, courts her in royal style and he then has to leave to take care of affairs in the capital. She is given a ring by the king, to be presented to him when she appears in his court and she can then claim her place as queen. The anger-prone sage Durvasa arrives when Shakuntala is lost in her fantasies, so that when she fails to attend to him, the only cure is for Shakuntala to show him the signet ring that he gave her. She later travels to meet him, and has to cross a river, the ring is lost when it slips off her hand when she dips her hand in the water playfully. On arrival the king refuses to acknowledge her, Shakuntala is abandoned by her companions, who return to the hermitage. Fortunately, the ring is discovered by a fisherman in the belly of a fish, the newly wise Dushyanta defeats an army of Asuras, and is rewarded by Indra with a journey through heaven. Returned to Earth years later, Dushyanta finds Shakuntala and their son by chance, in other versions, especially the original one found in the Mahabharata, Shakuntala is not reunited until her son Bharata is born, and found by the king playing with lion cubs. Dushyanta enquires about his parents to young Bharata and finds out that Bharata is indeed his son, Bharata is an ancestor of the lineages of the Kauravas and Pandavas, who fought the bloody war of the Mahabharata. It is after this Bharata that India was given the name Bharatadesam, however, Kalidasas version is now taken to be the standard one. The play was the first Indian drama to be translated into a Western language, in the next 100 years, there were at least 46 translations in twelve European languages. Ryder Tamil translations include, Abigna Sakuntalam by Mahavidwan R. Raghava Iyengar, bengali translations include, Shakuntala by Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar Shakuntala by Abanindranath Tagore Chinese translation includes, 沙恭达罗 by Ji Xianlin Manuscripts differ on what its exact title is. Usual variants are Abhijñānaśakuntalā, Abhijñānaśākuntala, Abhijñānaśakuntalam and the grammatically indefensible Abhijñānaśākuntalam, thanks to translations, by the 18th century, Western intelligentsia were beginning to get acquainted with the most important works of Indian literature and philosophy
12.
Sanjeev Abhyankar
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Pandit Sanjeev Abhyankar is a Hindustani classical music vocalist of the Mewati Gharana. Sanjeev Abhyankar was born on October 5,1969 in Pune and he started learning Hindustani Classical Music, at the age of eight, groomed by his mother, and her guru Pandit Pimpalkhare and later from Pandit Jasraj. Though his aim had been to pursue a career in music since childhood, Sanjeev Abhyankar rendered his first stage performance in Mumbai, at the age of 11 in 1981. Since then, he has traveled all over the country. He has several albums with HMV, Music Today, Sony Music, Times Music, sona Rupa U. K. BMG Cressendo, Ninaad Music, Fountain Music & Alurkar Music. He has also given playback for films such as Maachis, Nidaan, Sanshodhan, Dil Pe Mat Le Yaar and he has a distinction of performing in over 200 different cities all over the Globe. He is a classical composer and has set tune to a large number of bandishes. He has received many awards include the Presidents award from All India Radio in 1990
13.
Academia Europaea
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Academia Europaea founded in 1988, is a European non-governmental scientific association acting as an Academy. Members are scientists and scholars who collectively aim to promote learning, education and it publishes European Review through Cambridge Journals. The concept of a European Academy of Sciences was raised at a meeting in Paris of the European Ministers of Science in 1985. This body was seen to be a complement to the European Science Foundation in its role as a co-ordinator of the European interests of research funding agencies. The objectives were kept deliberately broad covering the humanities, social and natural sciences, so as to ensure interdisciplinary discourse, the new body was named the Academia Europaea and its Foundation Meeting was held in Cambridge in September 1988 under the first President, Arnold Burgen. Hubert Curien, who was at time the French Minister of Science arrived by helicopter and gave the inaugural address. The first Plenary Meeting was held in London in June 1989, since 1989, there has been a period of remarkable changes to the scientific, political and economic landscape of the continent of Europe. The Academy, Promotes a wider appreciation of the value of European scholarship, makes recommendations to national governments and international agencies concerning matters affecting science, scholarship and academic life in Europe. Encourages interdisciplinary and international research in all areas of learning, particularly in relation to European issues, identifies topics of trans-European importance to science and scholarship, and propose appropriate action to ensure that these issues are adequately studied. The Academy will endeavour to, Encourage the highest possible standards in scholarship, research, Arnold Burgen Hubert Curien Stig Strömholm Jürgen Mittelstraß Lars Walløe Sierd Cloetingh The scholarly interests of the Academia are managed through a section structure. On election, all members are assigned to a section, the Board may elect individuals to Honorary Membership of the Academia Europaea. Turing Award, e. g. Joseph Sifakis, Adi Shamir, fields Medal, e. g. Elon Lindenstrauss, Cédric Villani, Wendelin Werner. Lasker Award, e. g. Roy Calne, David Weatherall, John Gurdon, David Baulcombe, Alec Jeffreys, Pierre Chambon, Robert Edwards, Sydney Brenner, Aaron Ciechanover, Alexander Varshavsky. Abel Prize, e. g. Endre Szemerédi, Mikhail Leonidovich Gromov, Jacques Tits, Lennart Carleson, gödel Prize, e. g. Christos H. Papadimitriou, Johan Hastad, Alexander Razborov, Noga Alon, László Lovász, Moshe Vardi, Pierre Wolper. Erasmus Medal Lecture is a highlight of the year of the Academia Europaea and it is awarded to honour individual European scholarship and achievements over a sustained period. The Academia Europaea Burgen Scholarships provide recognition to younger European scholars, at the post-doctoral level, the Russian Prizes Prizes for young scientists and scholars in Russia. The Academia Europaea has published the European Review since 1993 on behalf of members, the ER is a quarterly, peer reviewed and international journal. Editorial control is in the hands of an independent board, the European Review publishes articles and reviews that will be of broad interest to an intellectual readership, world-wide
14.
Accordion
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Accordions are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type, colloquially referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist, the concertina and bandoneón are related, the harmonium and American reed organ are in the same family. The instrument is played by compressing or expanding the bellows while pressing buttons or keys, causing pallets to open and these vibrate to produce sound inside the body. Valves on opposing reeds of each note are used to make the instruments reeds sound louder without air leaking from each reed block. The performer normally plays the melody on buttons or keys on the manual. The accordion is widely spread across the world, nevertheless, in Europe and North America, some popular music acts also make use of the instrument. Additionally, the accordion is used in cajun, zydeco, jazz music. The piano accordion is the official city instrument of San Francisco, the oldest name for this group of instruments is harmonika, from the Greek harmonikos, meaning harmonic, musical. Today, native versions of the accordion are more common. These names refer to the type of accordion patented by Cyrill Demian, accordions have many configurations and types. Similar to a bow, the production of sound in an accordion is in direct proportion to the motion of the player. The bellows is located between the right- and left-hand manuals, and is made from pleated layers of cloth and cardboard, with added leather and metal. It is used to pressure and vacuum, driving air across the internal reeds and producing sound by their vibration. These boxes house reed chambers for the right- and left-hand manuals, each side has grilles in order to facilitate the transmission of air in and out of the instrument, and to allow the sound to better project. The grille for the manual is usually larger and is often shaped for decorative purposes. The right-hand manual is used for playing the melody and the left-hand manual for playing the accompaniment. The manual mechanism of the instrument either enables the air flow, or disables it, the different types have varying components. All instruments have reed ranks of some format, the most typical accordion is the piano accordion, which is used for many musical genres
15.
Active cable
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Active cables are copper cables for data transmission that use a silicon chip to boost the performance of the cable. Without a chip, a cable is considered a passive cable, passive cables are liable to degrade the data they carry, due to such channel impairments as attenuation, crosstalk and group velocity distortion. In active cables, one or several semiconductor chips are embedded in the cable to compensate for some or all of these impairments and this active boosting allows cables to be more compact, thinner, longer and transmit data faster than their passive equivalents. Today, active cables are used to connect consumer devices such as cameras, gaming consoles and HDTVs, the active component in active cables is a semiconductor device which acts to boost the quality of the data signal. The most common technology used is equalization and de-skew, both forms of filtering and amplification which is applied to the signal before it leaves the connector at the end of the cable, consumer electronics trends are leaning towards miniaturization and connectivity. Because active cables are more compact and portable than passive cables, they are ideal for use with such as smartphones, HDTVs, gaming consoles. DisplayPort is the latest consumer electronics standard that has enabled support for active cables by allocating power supply pins inside the connector, active DisplayPort cables enable ultra-thin and long-reach interconnects which are particularly valuable for the use with the miniature Mini DisplayPort form-factor. Because active cables can facilitate thin cable gauges, a bend radius results. Active cable adoption in data centers has been growing steadily, for example, as of 2010, half of SFP+ interconnect volume is in active cables. The advent of QSFP interconnects for 40 Gigabit Ethernet and InfiniBand is driving the adoption of active cables in this form-factor as well. Digital alternatives to using analog equalizers and impedance matching circuits to improve cable performance also exist, active cables typically cost 5 to 10 times more than their passive counterparts. Some active cables are only produced by a manufacturer. Low cable cost and high availability is desirable because cables are often inadvertently lost or damaged and this extra IC must be powered separately, when in a passive cable design, the signal processing can be integrated onto a single chip
16.
Daniel Adams (director)
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Daniel R. Adams is an American feature film director. Adams worked for political campaigns before going into movies. He then co-wrote and directed his first feature film in 1989, A Fool And His Money and his third feature, which he also wrote and directed, was a comedy entitled, The Mouse, starring Rip Torn and John Savage, and released through Strand Releasing. The Mouse also received positive reviews throughout the United States and abroad and his film, The Golden Boys, was released through Roadside Attractions and Lions Gate Films in 2009. Also in 2009, he directed the film, The Lightkeepers. Lightkeepers, starring Richard Dreyfuss and Blythe Danner, was released through New Films Cinema in the spring of 2010, Adams is the recipient of numerous awards and honors. He has also received praise from the actors he has directed, and Academy Award winning actor Richard Dreyfuss has been quoted, Daniel is a smart man, who truly understands the old values of filmmaking. He is an excellent writer and perhaps enough people will see The Lightkeepers to appreciate that, as a novelist, he conceived, edited and contributed to the serial novel, Out Of The Fog, working with a dozen of the nations best-selling authors. On April 19,2012 he pleaded guilty and he has subsequently resumed his career directing movies. His next projects include the drama, Curtain of Fire. He has also signed on to direct the drama, Land of the Free, Adams recently launched a film fund with Nashville record producer Mike Flanders to produce theatrical feature films that Adams will direct. Their first project will be An L. A. Minute which Adams co-wrote with National Lampoon alum Larry Ratso Sloman, the Lightkeepers The Golden Boys The Mouse Primary Motive A Fool and His Money Daniel Adams at the Internet Movie Database New York Times filmography
17.
Adas Israel Congregation (Washington, D.C.)
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Adas Israel, located in the Cleveland Park neighborhood, is the largest Conservative synagogue in Washington, D. C. President Ulysses S. Grant attended the dedication of its first building in 1876—the first time a sitting United States President had attended a synagogue service. The original structure is the oldest surviving building in Washington, D. C. These men and women sought a service more akin to the one they remembered from Europe. For several years, they met in rented rooms and struggled to raise funds to build their own synagogue, for the Jewish community, Adas Israel was a center of traditional worship. Its constitution affirmed the Orthodox religious practices to which members were committed, prayers were read in Hebrew, with the exception of the prayer for the government, which could be recited in English after being read in Hebrew. As time went on, however, services began to change from the original forms, for example, English was introduced into the services, at first to translate prayers. In the late 1920s, Adas Israel affiliated with the Conservative movement, initially, Adas Israel followed Orthodox tradition with separate seating for men and women, but discontinued the practice in 1951. Today, Adas Israel “aspires to perpetuate Judaism, to enrich the lives of our members to celebrate Conservative Judaism at its creative best, the congregation also provides many different means of being involved with Judaism. On Shabbat, as many as seven different services are held and these include traditional services, havurah, an egalitarian minyan, potlucks for young professionals, and the Ruach Minyan. Adas Israel has played an important role in the capital from its founding. President Ulysses S. Grant and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, Thomas White Ferry and this was the first time a sitting U. S. president had attended a synagogue service. Local newspapers frequently reported on synagogue services and other communal events, bar mitzvahs, weddings, the High Holidays, Purim plays, and Passover celebrations all occasioned public notice. When President William McKinley was shot and killed by an assassin in Buffalo in 1901, in 1963 Adas Israel was the first synagogue to be addressed by civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. President Lyndon Johnson attended a Thanksgiving Day service following the assassination of his predecessor, John F. Kennedy and this interfaith service included a sermon by Rabbi Stanley Rabinowitz. That night, Johnson paraphrased Rabinowitz’s words in a nationally-televised address, following Yitzhak Rabin’s assassination in 1995, Vice President Al Gore and members of the Cabinet and Supreme Court attended a memorial service at Adas Israel. The synagogue stood at the corner of 6th and G Streets, NW, in the heart of the residential and commercial center. An influx of immigrants from Eastern Europe and Russia swelled the congregation’s numbers, the congregation continued in the original synagogue until 1908, when a new building at Sixth and I Streets, NW, was dedicated
