Laurence van Cott Niven is an American science fiction writer. His best-known works are Ringworld, which received Hugo, Locus and Nebula awards, with Jerry Pournelle, The Mote in God's Eye and Lucifer's Hammer; the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America named him the 2015 recipient of the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award. His work is hard science fiction, using big science concepts and theoretical physics, it often includes elements of detective fiction and adventure stories. His fantasy includes the series The Magic Goes Away, rational fantasy dealing with magic as a non-renewable resource. Niven was born in Los Angeles, he is a great-grandson of Edward L. Doheny, an oil tycoon who had drilled the first successful well in the Los Angeles City Oil Field in 1892, was subsequently implicated in the Teapot Dome scandal, he attended the California Institute of Technology and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in mathematics from Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas in 1962. He completed a year of graduate work in mathematics at the University of California, Los Angeles.

On September 6, 1969, he married Marilyn Joyce "Fuzzy Pink" Wisowaty, a science fiction and Regency literature fan. He is an agnostic. Niven is the author of numerous science fiction short stories and novels, beginning with his 1964 story "The Coldest Place". In this story, the coldest place concerned is the dark side of Mercury, which at the time the story was written was thought to be tidally locked with the Sun. Algis Budrys said in 1968 that Niven becoming a top writer despite the New Wave was evidence that "trends are for second-raters". In addition to the Nebula award in 1970 and the Hugo and Locus awards in 1971 for Ringworld, Niven won the Hugo Award for Best Short Story for "Neutron Star" in 1967, he won the same award in 1972, for "Inconstant Moon", in 1975 for "The Hole Man". In 1976, he won the Hugo Award for Best Novelette for "The Borderland of Sol". Niven has written scripts for three science fiction television series: the original Land of the Lost series. Niven has written for the DC Comics character Green Lantern, including in his stories hard science fiction concepts such as universal entropy and the redshift effect.

He has included limited psi gifts in some characters in his stories. Several of his stories predicted the black market in transplant organs. Many of Niven's stories—sometimes called the Tales of Known Space—take place in his Known Space universe, in which humanity shares the several habitable star systems nearest to the Sun with over a dozen alien species, including the aggressive feline Kzinti and the intelligent but cowardly Pierson's Puppeteers, which are central characters; the Ringworld series is part of the Tales of Known Space, Niven has shared the setting with other writers since a 1988 anthology, The Man-Kzin Wars. There have been several volumes of short novellas. Niven has written a logical fantasy series The Magic Goes Away, which utilizes an exhaustible resource called mana to power a rule-based "technological" magic; the Draco Tavern series of short stories take place in a more light-hearted science fiction universe, are told from the point of view of the proprietor of an omni-species bar.

The whimsical Svetz series consists of a collection of short stories, The Flight of the Horse, a novel, Rainbow Mars, which involve a nominal time machine sent back to retrieve long-extinct animals, but which travels, in fact, into alternative realities and brings back mythical creatures such as a Roc and a Unicorn. Much of his writing since the 1970s has been in collaboration with Jerry Pournelle and Steven Barnes, but Brenda Cooper and Edward M. Lerner. One of Niven's best known humorous works is "Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex", in which he uses real-world physics to underline the difficulties of Superman and a human woman mating. Niven appeared in the 1980 science documentary film Target... Earth? Niven's most famous contribution to the SF genre comes from his novel Ringworld, in which he envisions a Ringworld: a band of material a million miles wide, of the same diameter as Earth's orbit, rotating around a star; the idea originated in Niven's attempts to imagine a more efficient version of a Dyson sphere, which could produce the effect of surface gravity through rotation.

Given that spinning a Dyson sphere would result in the atmosphere pooling around the equator, the Ringworld removes all the extraneous parts of the structure, leaving a spinning band landscaped on the sun-facing side, with the atmosphere and inhabitants kept in place through centrifugal force and 1,000 mi high perimeter walls. After publication of Ringworld, Dan Alderson and Ctein, two fannish friends of Niven, analyzed the structure and told Niven that the Ringworld was dynamically unstable such that if the center of rotation drifts away from the central sun, gravitational forces will not "re-center" it, thus allowing the ring to contact the sun and be dest

Christian Core is an Italian professional sport climber and rock climber. He is known for being the first person in the world to climb an 8C+ boulder, in 2008, he won the Bouldering World Cup twice, in 1999 and 2002 and a Bouldering World Championship in 2003. In 1999 Core stopped competing in the Lead Climbing World Cup and started participating in the Bouldering World Cup, organized by UIAA in that year for the first time in history, he won the Cup. In 2002, he did it again. In 2003, he earned the title of World Champion in Bouldering, he ascended several hard boulders in Italy near Bobbio Pellice and Triora. In 2008, he climbed Gioia, an 8C+ boulder, considered, for 8 years, the most difficult boulder climbed in history. Adam Ondra confirmed the grade three years later. In 2009 he married the climber Stella Marchisio. Climbing World Cup Climbing World Championships Climbing European Championships Bouldering Core redpointed 8c and onsighted 8a routes. Core flashed 8A boulder problems. 8C+/V16: Gioia – Varazze – 2008 – First ascent.

Adam Ondra confirmed the 8C + grade. Third ascent by Nalle Hukkataival8C/V15: Kimera – Rifugio Barbara – 2006 – First ascent8B+/V14: Toky – Val Ellero – 2009 – First ascent New Base Line – Magic Wood – 2006 Beautiful mind – Albarracin – 2006 – First ascent Ajna – Varazze – 2004 – First ascent Toguro – Varazze – 2003 – First ascent Dreamtime – Cresciano – 2003 – Fifth ascent Taklimakam plus – Varazze – 2002 – First ascent Shadowfax – Chironico – 2002 – Third ascent i Core, my climbing family – 2012 – Regia di Angelo Poli – 45' Notable first free ascentsBest IFSC results Andrea Gennari Daneri, Christian Core. Pareti e Montagne edizioni. Train!. "Profile on PlanetMountain"

The 1997–98 NBA season was the Timberwolves' 9th season in the National Basketball Association. During the offseason, the Timberwolves acquired Stanley Roberts from the Los Angeles Clippers, signed free agent Tom Hammonds. Kevin Garnett and second-year star Stephon Marbury both continued to establish themselves as two of the brightest stars in the NBA, as Garnett averaged 18.5 points, 9.6 rebounds per game and was selected for the 1998 NBA All-Star Game. Marbury averaged 8.6 assists per game. At midseason, the Timberwolves traded Doug West to the Vancouver Grizzlies for Anthony Peeler. Despite losing Tom Gugliotta for the remainder of the season with an ankle injury after 41 games, the Timberwolves won seven of their final eight games posting their first winning record at 45–37. Third in the Midwest Division making their second consecutive playoff appearance. In the first round of the playoffs, the Timberwolves took a 2–1 series lead over the 2nd-seeded Seattle SuperSonics, but went on to lose the series in five games.

Following the season, Terry Porter signed as a free agent with the Miami Heat, Roberts signed with the Houston Rockets, Cherokee Parks signed with the Vancouver Grizzlies, Michael Williams was released. Rookie center Paul Grant missed the entire season due to a foot injury. Z - clinched division title y - clinched division title x - clinched playoff spot Seattle SuperSonics vs. Minnesota Timberwolves Last Playoff Meeting: This is the first meeting between the SuperSonics and Timberwolves. 1997-98 NBA season

Francesco Ingoli was an Italian priest and professor of civil and canon law. Born in Ravenna Italy, Ingoli learned a number of languages, including Arabic, graduated from the University of Padua in civil and canon law in 1601, he entered the order of Theatines and studied astronomy, writing an essay on stars in 1604 and another on comets in 1607. In 1606 he entered the service of Cardinal Bonifazio Caetani, the papal legate in Romagna, following him to Rome when the Cardinal was appointed to the Congregation of the Index. In Rome he attended. On Caetani's death in 1617, he was taken into the service of Cardinal Orazio Lancelloti, his name is linked to the controversy over the Copernican system. He used a combination of theological and scientific arguments to support the astronomical theory of Tycho Brahe over that of Copernicus. Galileo Galilei was one of those. Ingoli sent Galileo a letter in January 1616 that listed eighteen scientific and four theological objections to Copernicanism, but suggested Galileo answer the scientific ones.

According to Maurice Finocchiaro, Ingoli had been commissioned by the Inquisition to write an expert opinion on the controversy, this letter provided the "chief direct basis" for the Inquisition's actions against the Copernican system in February and March 1616. It is that Ingoli wrote his letter in January 1616. A full English translation of Ingoli's essay to Galileo was published in 2015; the eighteen scientific objections that Ingoli listed were: An argument about the parallax of the sun and moon An argument from Sacrobosco's Sphere about the appearances of the stars not changing like they would if Earth moved An argument from Ptolemy about the Earth being at the center of the universe because an observer always sees half of the celestial sphere An argument from Tycho Brahe that eccentricities of Venus and Mars were different from what Copernicus assumed An argument about the relative densities of the Earth and the Sun An argument based on the behavior of swirling lumps of material like in a sieve, where the heavier ones accumulate at the center An argument from Tycho Brahe on the behavior of falling bodies An argument from Tycho Brahe on the flight of cannonballs fired east or west An argument from Tycho Brahe on the positions of stars being changed if Earth moved An argument from Tycho Brahe on the positions of the celestial pole being changed if Earth moved An argument from Tycho Brahe on the day length being changed if Earth moved An argument from Tycho Brahe on the motions of comets when opposite the Sun in the sky not comporting with Earth moving An argument from Tycho Brahe that the supposed “third motion” of Earth in the Copernican system —that by which the Earth's axis maintains the same orientation in space, parallel to itself at all times, so that it is always pointed at the North Star—is not needed if Earth moved An argument from Tycho Brahe that the supposed “third motion” of Earth in the Copernican system is not possible.

An argument from Tycho Brahe that the “third motion” of Earth, in combination with the other motions, is too complex. An argument from Tycho Brahe and others that heavy bodies are less apt to motion, since Earth is the heaviest of all known bodies, it should not move An argument that bodies have single natural motions An argument that Copernicus attributes motion to all bright objects except the Sun, but that he makes the bright Sun motionless and makes the dark Earth movingThe four theological objections Ingoli listed were: An argument based on the language of the first chapter of Genesis, describing the sky as a tent and the Sun and Moon both being lights in it An argument from Bellarmine on the location of hell being at the center or lowest point of Earth and the universe An argument based on the tenth chapter of Joshua, where the Sun is cited as temporarily standing still An argument from Bellarmine based on a certain prayer that references a stationary EarthGalileo did not reply to Ingoli's letter.

However Johannes Kepler read Ingoli's letter and published a reply to it in 1618. The Congregation charged Ingoli with the task of correcting Copernicus’ work, so as to remove those parts which the Church now regarded as unacceptable. On 2 April 1618 he presented his revisions. Cardinal Lancellotti died in 1620, Ingoli became secretary to the family of Cardinal Alessandro Ludovisi and took part in the meetings of the Accademia dei Virtuosi; when Ludovisi was elected Pope Gregory XV, Ingoli's career advanced rapidly. He was named gentleman of the bedchamber and was placed in attendance with the Pope's nephew, made Archbishop of Bologna. At this time Ingoli wrote a treatise on De parochis et eorum officio Libri quatuor, he was called back to Rome and charged by the Pope with the reform of the conclave, which led to the introduction of the secret ballot and the requirement for a two thirds majority for the election of a Pope. He codified the ceremonial procedures for the election of a Pope (Ca

Picsel was a company and technology founded in Glasgow and its trademark and innovations were used to develop products for handheld devices such as mobile phones and tablets. The founders and original team of Picsel produced award-winning and world leading software and technology which led to the Smartoffice Ltd company branding and selling the SmartOffice application, other Office suite software for viewing and editing documents on mobile devices. Smartoffice went into administration in 2013, its residual assets were purchased by Artifex Software Inc, a player in the printer market, in February 2014 and these residual assets were subject to all previous licenses including those sold by the administrators; the original technology was built with key strengths in cross-platform compatibility, graphic performance and office document compatibility. Over 600+ million Picsel IP products have been sold to date by the founders of Picsel, Imran Khand and Majid Anwar and their successive management teams.

They have been popular with the Korean OEMs Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, many Japanese OEMs including Sharp, Fujitsu, Sony Ericsson, Casio Hitachi and others. The SmartOffice app, being continued to be sold by Artifex is available through app stores for Apple, Symbian and other platforms, has been well received because of its historical pedigree and market penetration over the last 15 years, prior to Artifex becoming involved. In March 2011, an updated version 1.5 with cross platform support was made available. However, many sales are to OEMs; the Samsung SGH-D600 mobile phone was one of the best known devices on which Picsel products were bundled. An updated version of Smart Office version 2.1 is available on Blackberry Playbook and Amazon.com. Current Artifex Product line includes Ghostscript, MuPDF. FAQ support is available on www.picselsmartoffice.com/support In February 2009, a patent lawsuit was filed against Apple Inc by Picsel Ltd, but did not reach court. In July 2009, Picsel Technologies Ltd entered administration.

The company continued trading through this despite staff cut-backs, after three months was bought back by the original senior management team in a complicated deal which saw only some families of Picsel's patents sold to Samsung. The new trading company, Picsel UK Ltd, continued to develop and sell similar products, employing many of the same staff, after the management buy-out led by the original founders, who took the responsibility of the staff and other debtors into the new company setup. Picsel UK Ltd entered liquidation in June 2012. A new UK trading company, Smartoffice Technologies Ltd emerged, after advice from the companies advisers. Smartoffice Technologies Ltd continued to develop and market Picsel Smart Office until September 2013 when it entered administration after the floating charge holder appointed French Duncan as administrators. In February 2014, Artifex Software Inc purchased the residual rights to the IP, including both the source code, the Picsel and SmartOffice brands, subject to the previous existing licenses as confirmed by the legal team of the administrators in several publicised letters and communications.

Artifex has been continuing in previous business model.

Godgory was a Swedish melodic death metal/death doom metal band, formed August 1992 by drummer Erik Andersson and vocalist Matte Andersson. Forming in 1992, Godgory started their career covering bands such as Napalm Death, Cemetary and Grave, it wasn't until April 1994 that they entered Unisound studio and recorded their debut demo entitled Demo-94, consisting of original material. The band received a positive response. One label wanted to sign Godgory for a full-length CD, so the band returned to Unisound in November 1994 and, in one weekend, recorded their debut album Sea of Dreams. After recording was complete, the deal with the label fell through; the band sent the completed tape to labels in search of a new record deal. The German label Invasion Records was found to release Sea of Dreams. Sea of Dreams saw release in January 1996, over a year after the recording session; the debut album received good reviews in magazines around the world and sold around 5,000 copies. Emboldened by this success, Godgory returned to Unisound in October 1996 to record the follow-up album Shadow's Dance.

The band had added Thomas Heder on keyboards, and, in contrast to the "live" recording style used on Sea of Dreams, spent three weeks recording each instrument separately. Upon release, Shadow's Dance received good reviews and ended up on the 7th place on the Rockhards Dynamite list. In the end, Shadow's Dance sold around 10,000 copies. After Godgory had recorded Shadow's Dance and Matte decided to let go of three members: Mikael Dahlqvist, Fredric Danielsson, Thomas Heder; the three members were involved with the progressive metal band World of Silence and had given priority to that band, while Erik and Matte wanted members who could devote all of their energy to Godgory. Around this time, rhythm guitarist Stefan Grundel left Godgory to concentrate on his education. With just two remaining members, the band was in search of another record deal. Godgory had heard that Nuclear Blast were interested in them, so they inquired with the label. In May 1998 Godgory recorded one new song, "Conspiracy of Silence", for the Nuclear Blast sampler Beauty in Darkness Vol. 3.

This song was the first Godgory material recorded outside Unisound. In October 1998, the band returned to Studio Fasaden to record their third full-length, Resurrection. Since Godgory was not a complete band at this point, they recruited former members Mikael Dahlqvist and Thomas Heder to temporarily rejoin the band as session members. Godgory invited Fredrik Olsson to participate as an additional vocalist, as he has written many lyrics for the band. Recording took place over a period of five weeks. Resurrection was released in May 1999 to positive reception, the album placed at number 8 on the Rockhard Dynamite list. Two years after the release of Resurrection, Godgory entered Studio Fredman to record their fourth album, Way Beyond, with renowned producer Fredrik Nordström. Mikael Dahlqvist, Thomas Heder, Fredrik Olsson again joined the band on a session basis, along with World of Silence member Henrik Lindström on guitars and bass. For this album, Erik switched from drums to keyboards, the album was recorded with programmed drums.

Way Beyond was released in October 2001. The band split up in 2004. 1994 - Demo'94