Ping is a computer network administration software utility used to test the reachability of a host on an Internet Protocol network. It is available for all operating systems that have networking capability, including most embedded network administration software. Ping measures the round-trip time for messages sent from the originating host to a destination computer that are echoed back to the source; the name comes from active sonar terminology that sends a pulse of sound and listens for the echo to detect objects under water. Ping operates by sending Internet Control Message Protocol echo request packets to the target host and waiting for an ICMP echo reply; the program reports errors, packet loss, a statistical summary of the results including the minimum, the mean round-trip times, standard deviation of the mean. The command-line options of the ping utility and its output vary between the numerous implementations. Options may include the size of the payload, count of tests, limits for the number of network hops that probes traverse, interval between the requests and time to wait for a response.

Many systems provide a companion utility ping6, for testing on Internet Protocol version 6 networks, which implement ICMPv6. The ping utility was written by Mike Muuss in December 1983 during his employment at the Ballistic Research Laboratory, now the US Army Research Laboratory. Created as a tool to troubleshoot problems in an IP network, Mike Muuss was inspired by a remark by David Mills on using ICMP echo packets for IP network diagnosis and measurements; the author named it after the sound that sonar makes, since its methodology is analogous to sonar's echo location. The acronym Packet InterNet Groper for PING has been used for well over 30 years and although Mike Muuss says that from his point of view PING was not intended as an acronym, he has acknowledged David Mills’ expansion of the name; the first released version was public domain software while all subsequent versions were licensed under the BSD license. Ping was first included in 4.3BSD. The FreeDOS version was developed by Erick Engelke and is licensed under the GPL.

Tim Crawford developed the ReactOS version. It is licensed under the MIT License. RFC 1122 prescribes; the following is the output of running ping on Linux for sending five probes to the target host www.example.com: $ ping -c 5 www.example.com PING www.example.com: 56 data bytes 64 bytes from 93.184.216.34: icmp_seq=0 ttl=56 time=11.632 ms 64 bytes from 93.184.216.34: icmp_seq=1 ttl=56 time=11.726 ms 64 bytes from 93.184.216.34: icmp_seq=2 ttl=56 time=10.683 ms 64 bytes from 93.184.216.34: icmp_seq=3 ttl=56 time=9.674 ms 64 bytes from 93.184.216.34: icmp_seq=4 ttl=56 time=11.127 ms --- www.example.com ping statistics --- 5 packets transmitted, 5 packets received, 0.0% packet loss round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 9.674/10.968/11.726/0.748 ms The output lists each probe message and the results obtained. It lists the statistics of the entire test. In this example, the shortest round trip time was 9.674 ms, the average was 10.968 ms, the maximum value was 11.726 ms. The measurement had a standard deviation of 0.748 ms.

In cases of no response from the target host, most implementations display either nothing or periodically print notifications about timing out. Possible ping results indicating a problem include the following: H,! N or! P – host, network or protocol unreachable S – source route failed F – fragmentation needed U or! W – destination network/host unknown I – source host is isolated A – communication with destination network administratively prohibited Z – communication with destination host administratively prohibited Q – for this ToS the destination network is unreachable T – for this ToS the destination host is unreachable X – communication administratively prohibited V – host precedence violation C – precedence cutoff in effectIn case of error, the target host or an intermediate router sends back an ICMP error message, for example "host unreachable" or "TTL exceeded in transit". In addition, these messages include the first eight bytes of the original message, so the ping utility can match responses to originating queries.

Generic composition of an ICMP packet: IPv4 Header: protocol set to 1 and Type of Service set to 0. IPv6 Header: Next Header set to 58 ICMP Header: Type of ICMP message Code Checksum, calculated with the ICMP part of the packet, it is the 16-bit one's complement of the one's complement sum of the ICMP message starting with the Type field Header Data field, which in this case, will be composed of identifier and sequence number. ICMP Payload: payload for the different kind of answers. However, the packet including IP and ICMP headers must be less than the maximum transmission unit of the network or risk being fragmented; the echo request is an ICMP/ICMP6 message. The Identifier and Sequence Number can be used by the client to match the reply with the request that caused the reply. In practice, most Linux systems use a unique identifier for every ping process, sequence number is an increasing number within that process. Windows uses a fixed identifier, which varies between Windows versions, a sequence number, only reset at boot time.

The echo reply is an ICMP message generated in response to an echo request. The identifier and sequence number can be used by th

The Eight Diagram Pole Fighter is a 1984 Hong Kong film by Shaw Brothers, directed by Lau Kar-leung and starring Gordon Liu and Alexander Fu in his final film appearance. It was released as The Invincible Pole Fighters outside of Hong Kong and Invincible Pole Fighter in North America. Alexander Fu died in a car accident before the filming of The Eight Diagram Pole Fighter was finished; the script was re-written after his death and Fu's character does not appear in the final showdown as written in the script. The film is based on the Generals of the Yang Family legends. With help from the treacherous Song dynasty general Pun Mei, the Khitan-ruled Liao dynasty army succeeded in trapping the loyal Song general Yeung Yip and his seven sons at Golden Beach. Yeung Yip and his sons were all killed or captured in the ambush, except for the 5th son and the 6th son who managed to escape; the 6th son returned home, but was traumatised by the events. Meanwhile, the 5th son sought refuge in a monastery in Mount Wutai, but the monastery leaders did not consider him calm enough to be a Buddhist monk.

As blades were not allowed inside a monastery, he used his training in spears to practice with a pole developing the unique eight diagram pole fighting technique. When he appeared to have put his anger and past behind him, news broke that the Khitans had captured his younger sister, Yeung Baat-mui, looking for him. Now he must break Buddhist vows to save exact his revenge. Note: The characters' names are in Cantonese romanisation. 1985 – 4th Hong Kong Film Awards Nominated – Lau Kar-leung, Best Action Choreography Eight-Diagram Pole Fighter at Hong Kong Cinemagic Eight-Diagram Pole Fighter on IMDb Eight-Diagram Pole Fighter at AllMovie

The Military Action Against Iraq Bill was a private member's bill introduced into the United Kingdom House of Commons by Tam Dalyell MP under the Ten Minute Rule. It received its formal first reading on 26 January 1999; the bill sought to transfer the power to authorise military strikes against Iraq from the monarch to Parliament. The long title of the bill was "A Bill to require the prior approval, by a simple majority of the House of Commons, of military action by United Kingdom forces against Iraq", it was presented by Tam Dalyell and supported by Tony Benn, Harry Cohen, Jeremy Corbyn, George Galloway, Neil Gerrard, Dr Ian Gibson, John McAllion, Alice Mahon, Robert Marshall-Andrews, Dennis Skinner and Audrey Wise. The bill became Bill 35 in the 1998/1999 Parliamentary session, was scheduled for second reading on 16 April 1999; as a bill modifying the monarch's prerogative powers, Queen's Consent was required before it could be debated in Parliament. The Queen, acting upon the advice of her government, refused to grant her consent for the Bill to be debated.

The second reading was postponed from 16 April until 23 July 1999. Due to the Crown's continuing refusal to signify its consent to the Bill being debated, it could not receive its second reading on 23 July 1999. In the absence of a request for a further postponement, the Bill was automatically dropped before it obtained its second reading; when military action against Iraq was organised in 2003, the government sought Parliamentary approval on 18 March 2003, one day before the invasion began, although no powers under the royal prerogative were thereby transferred to Parliament. Erskine May: Parliamentary Practice, page 605, ISBN 0-406-97094-7

An election for the National Assembly took place in Taiwan on Saturday 14 May 2005, from 07:30 to 16:00 local time. It elected an ad hoc National Assembly whose only function was to serve as a constitutional convention in order to approve or reject amendments to the Constitution of the Republic of China proposed by the Legislative Yuan; the results indicated that the amendments would be approved, as the parties supporting them won an overwhelming majority, indeed the amendments were passed on June 7, 2005. The election was carried out using purely the party-list proportional representation system; the official campaign period was 07:00 to 22:00 each day from 4 May 2005 to 13 May 2005. Official election broadcasts by the ad hoc coalitions and parties were provided by the Public Television Service Taiwan on 7 May 2005. Notably, this election saw the temporary breakdown of the traditional two-coalition system in Taiwanese politics: instead of dividing into the Pan-Green Coalition and Pan-Blue Coalition over the political status of Taiwan, the parties divided themselves into larger and smaller parties, with the larger Democratic Progressive Party and Kuomintang in support of the amendments and the smaller People First Party and Taiwan Solidarity Union against them.

The official results showed that the turnout was only 23.36%, a record low despite the Central Election Commission holding an official raffle for those who turned out to vote. The parties supporting the amendments won 249 out of a total of 300 seats, compared to the opposition's 51 seats, enough to ensure that the constitutional amendments were passed by the elected National Assembly. Though this election was not campaigned along the coalition tendencies, some analysts are inclined to see it as a forerunner for the upcoming elections such as the county-level gubernatorial and council elections that may take place in the year. Tallying along those lines, Pan-Green Coalition has won 49.6% of the vote and 149 seats out of the 300, with strength in southern Taiwan. The 300 seats in the National Assembly were up for election; the follow parties fielded candidates on their party lists: Taiwan Solidarity Union: 50 candidates on its party list Taiwan Independence Party 22 Non-Partisan Solidarity Union 30 People First Party 83 New Party 26 Democratic Progressive Party 150 Kuomintang 147.

Democratic Action Alliance led by Chang Ya-chung: 150 20 persons union led by Wang Ting Sing: 20 Peasant Party and Civil Party: 3 each Chinese People Party: 4Each party or coalition, by law, had to register and announce whether it supported or disapproved of the proposed amendment. Since this assertion was binding on the members elected, the election was de facto a referendum on the proposed amendments. Only the Kuomintang, the governing DPP, the three minor party registered their support for the amendments. Notably, the political tendencies dubbed pan-green and pan-blue coalitions were each split down the middle in their opinions on the proposed amendments, with the dominant partner in each coalition supporting the amendments because the proposed electoral system would benefit large parties; each individual in the electorate voted for one from 2 coalitions. The seats were distributed amongst the parties and coalitions based on the total number of votes garnered by each. There was to be at least 1 female member guaranteed for every 4 elected in each party/coalition.

The elections themselves generated little interest in Taiwan, which accounted for the record-low turnout. Polls indicated that most Taiwanese did not plan to vote and had little interest in or knowledge of what the election is about. In addition, most parties did not spend much in campaign funds. Terrible weather in the north of Taiwan on election day affected the turnout; the only authority of the National Assembly was to accept or reject amendments which were proposed unanimously by the Legislative Yuan in August 2004, one of, to abolish the National Assembly. The proposed amendments may be summarized as follows: Reducing the number of members in the Legislative Yuan from 225 to 113. Using referendums to ratify constitutional amendments has been portrayed by some as a step toward Taiwan independence. However, the requirement that such a referendum must first be approved by a three-fourths vote of the Legislative Yuan, that at least 50% of the whole electorate had to vote for the change for the referendum to succeed reduced the chance that these amendments would trigger a conflict with China.

One question, unresolved until after the elections was the threshold for passage of the amendments. The DPP and KMT had advo

United Nations Security Council resolution 539, adopted on 28 October 1983, after hearing a report from the Secretary-General and reaffirming resolutions 301, 385, 431, 432, 435, 439 and 532, the Council condemned South Africa's continued occupation of Namibia known as South West Africa, the tension and instability prevailing in southern Africa as a result. The resolution condemned South Africa for its obstruction of the implementation of previous resolutions on Namibia, rejected its attempts to link irrelevant issues to the declination of independence of Namibia; the Council reaffirmed the only basis for a peaceful settlement of the issue is to allow Namibian independence. The Council urged South Africa to cooperate with the Secretary-General on plans for implementing the United Nations provisions outlined in Resolution 435, requesting him to report back to the Council by 31 December 1983. Resolution 539 was adopted with 14 votes to none. List of United Nations Security Council Resolutions 501 to 600 Namibian War of Independence South African Border Wars South Africa under apartheid Text of the Resolution at undocs.org Works related to United Nations Security Council Resolution 539 at Wikisource

Oliver Bryant is an English rugby union player who plays at fly half for CR El Salvador in Spain's top level of rugby union the División de Honor de Rugby. He has played for Leicester Tigers, Doncaster Knights and Jersey Reds in England. On 1 November 2014 Bryant made his Leicester debut away to London Irish in the Anglo-Welsh Cup; that season Bryant was called in the England U-20s squad. On 19 February 2016 Bryant made his Premiership debut against Harlequins scoring 9 points and impressing in a 25-19 loss. On 17 May 2017 it was announced that Bryant was to leave Welford Road and sign for Jersey in the RFU Championship from the 2017-18 season. On 26 July 2018 it was announced that Bryant was to leave Jersey and sign for CR El Salvador in the Spanish División de Honor de Rugby from the 2018-19 season