A tape measure or measuring tape is a flexible ruler used to measure distance. It consists of a ribbon of cloth, fibre glass, or metal strip with linear-measurement markings, it is a common measuring tool. Its design allows for a measure of great length to be carried in pocket or toolkit and permits one to measure around curves or corners. Today it is ubiquitous appearing in miniature form as a keychain fob, or novelty item. Surveyors use tape measures in lengths of over 100 m. There are two basic types of tape measures with cases, spring return pocket tape measures and long tape measures. Spring return pocket tape measures will fit in a pocket, they are small, the case is up to about three inches across. The tape is returned to the case by a spring mechanism. Pocket tape measures have 1⁄4 to 3⁄4 inch across; when most people think of a tape measure, they are thinking of the pocket tape measure. A second tape measure design is; these are cased tape measures with tapes of 25, 50, 75, 100, 200, 300, 500 feet in length, designed for engineers and builders.

Because surveying was done in rods, surveyors use long tapes of 33 feet, 66 feet. Surveyors used ​49 1⁄2 feet of a 50-foot tape for 3 rods and 99 feet of a 100-foot tape measure for 6 rods. Long tapes instead of being returned by a spring, were returned by hand crank. Tape measures are designed for specific uses or trades. Tapes may have different scales, be made of different materials, be of different lengths depending on the use it is intended for. Tape measures that were intended for use in tailoring or dressmaking were made from flexible cloth or plastic, they are named “sewing tape”. These types of tape measures were used for the measuring of the subject’s waist line. Today, measuring tapes made for sewing are made of fiberglass, which does not tear or stretch as easily. Measuring tapes designed for carpentry or construction use a stiff, curved metallic ribbon that can remain stiff and straight when extended, but retracts into a coil for convenient storage; this type of tape measure will have a floating hook on the end to aid measuring.

The tang is connected to the tape with loose rivets through oval holes, can move a distance equal to its thickness, to provide both inside and outside measurements that are accurate. A tape measure of 25 or 100 feet can wind into a small container; the self-marking tape measure allows the user an accurate one hand measure. The first record of people using a measuring device was by the Romans using marked strips of leather, but this was more like a regular ruler than a tape measure. On December 6, 1864 patent #45,372 was issued to William H. Bangs of West Meriden, Connecticut. Bang's rule was the first attempt in the United States to make a spring return pocket tape measure; the tape could be held by the mechanism. The tape could be returned to the case by sliding a button on the side of the case which allowed the spring to pull the tape back into the case. On 3 January 1922, Hiram A. Farrand received patent #1,402,589 for his concave-convex tape, a major improvement for spring pocket tape measures.

Between 1922 and December 1926, Farrand experimented with the help of The Hipolito Company in Cainta Autoplex. It is there Farrand and William Wentworth Brown began mass-producing the tape measure, their product was sold to Stanley Works. It was Farrand's concave-convex tape that went on to become the standard for the majority of pocket tape measure tapes today The first patented for a long tape measure in the United States was patent #29,096 issued July 10, 1860 to William H. Paine of Sheboygan and produced by George M. Eddy and Company of Brooklyn, New York; this tape had no increments on it. It measured only a distance equal to the total length of the tape from beginning to end marker, a brass piece attached to the tape at a measured distance; the measured length was marked on crank. By the early 1870s, Justus Roe of Patchogue, New York added rivets attaching small brass washers to the tape to mark inches and feet, they were attached every inch in the first and last foot and every foot from one to the end of the last foot.

A small brass tag, marked with a number indicating the number of feet to that point, was attached every five feet. This feature was never patented, but Justus Roe and Sons produced tape measures, "Roe Electric Reel Tape Measures", with this feature during the 1890's and early 1900's when they started etching or stamping increments and numbers on the tapes; the basic design on which all modern spring tape measures are built can trace its origins back to an 1864 patent by a West Meriden, Connecticut resident named William H. Bangs Jr. According to the text of his patent, Bang's tape measure was an improvement on other versions designed; the spring tape measure has existed in the U. S. since Bang's patent in 1864, but its usage did not become popular due to the difficulty in communication from one town to another and the expense of the tape measure. In the late 1920s, carpenters began adopting H. A. Farrand's design as the one more used. Farrand's new design was a concave/convex tape made of metal which would stand straight out a distance of four to six feet.

This design is the basis for most modern pocket tape measures used today. With the mass production of the integrated circuit the tape measure has entered into the digital age with the digital tape measure; some incorporate a digital screen to give measurement readouts in

The Ishvara Temple in Arasikere town of the Hassan district in Karnataka state, dates to c. 1220 CE rule of Hoysala Empire. Arasikere is located 140 km north of 41 km east of Hassan city; the temple, dedicated to the Hindu God Shiva, though modest in size and figure sculpture, is considered the most complex one in architecture among surviving Hoysala monuments because of its ground plan: a 16-point star-shaped mantapa, in addition to an asymmetrical star-shaped shrine, whose star points are of three different types. The temple faces east as in all Hoysala constructions, uses soapstone as its basic building material, is a ekakuta shrine with two mantapas, one open and one closed. All three units are connected to form a unity; the sanctum enshrines the universal symbol of the Hindu god Shiva. The mantapa is; the closed mantapa does not have any windows. The ceiling in the closed mantapa is divided into nine compartments or "bays" by the four lathe turned pillars that support the ceiling; the unusual stellate design of the open mantapa is a deviation from the "staggered square"–a standard in Hoysala constructions, offers no opening for devotees to enter the temple.

The entrance is through a "bay" between the two mantapas. The shrine has a tower, intact, though the finial is a recent replacement; the vestibule has its own tower called Sukanasi. The term "nose" is sometimes used to describe this tower because it is a low protrusion of the main tower. On this "nose" is an image of a bull, which may be a more recent addition because this is the place where Hoysala temples exhibit the Hoysala royal emblem, the legendary warrior "Sala" fighting a lion; the outer wall of the vestibule shares the same decoration as the outer wall of the shrine, but is inconspicuous because it forms a short continuation between the wall of the shrine and that of closed mantapa. The outer wall of the shrine is stellate, but the star points are not identical, rather they form three different kinds of star points, making the design complicated and unusual; the lower half of the outer wall of the shrine and the outer wall of the closed mantapa share the same architectural articulation.

The open hall, with its 16-pointed star plan is most unusual design built by Hoysala architects. The central ceiling in the closed mantapa and the vestibule are decorated elaborately. Both the interior and exterior of the temple shows interesting workmanship; the elegantly decorated ceilings, the domical ceiling of the open mantapa, the sculptures of Dwarapalakas in the closed mantapa, the wall panel images numbering a hundred and twenty carved on the outer walls are noteworthy. Foekema, Gerard. Complete Guide to Hoysala Temples. New Delhi: Abhinav. ISBN 81-7017-345-0. Gowda, Aswathanarayana. Blazing trail of Golden Era-Tourism guide of Hassan district. Hassan: District Tourism Council, Government of Karnataka. Settar S. "Hoysala heritage". History and craftsmanship of Belur and Halebid temples. Frontline. Archived from the original on 1 July 2006. Retrieved 13 November 2006. Hardy, Adam. Indian Temple Architecture: Form and Transformation-The Karnata Dravida Tradition 7th to 13th Centuries. Abhinav Publications.

ISBN 81-7017-312-4. Kamath, Suryanath U.. A concise history of Karnataka: from pre-historic times to the present. Bangalore: Jupiter books. LCCN 80905179. OCLC 7796041

Nightmare was a Japanese visual kei rock band from Sendai. Formed on January 1, 2000, it has consisted of Yomi, Hitsugi, Ni~ya and Ruka for the majority of their career, they enjoyed mainstream success with the inclusion of their songs "The World" and "Alumina" in the Death Note anime and are considered a major act in the visual kei scene. Nightmare started on January 1, 2000 by Sakito and Hitsugi while most of the members were still in high school; the band name was suggested by Hitsugi, saying he wanted a band name that would scare people to match their visual styles. Soon, Ni~ya was invited by Sakito, Yomi by Hitsugi, Zannin joined after he heard his classmates were forming a band, they were all influenced by either X Japan or Luna Sea, therefore they started out as a cover band, before they began to write their own material. Just as the band began getting more recognition at live houses and small concerts in the Sendai region, Zannin left the band for unknown reasons. Ruka joined the band as a support member at first, but became the permanent drummer after a short time.

Since Ruka joined Nightmare their line-up hasn't changed. Shortly after, the band began short tours around the region with other supporting bands. In 2003, Nightmare signed with Nippon Crown and released their first single "Believe". Three months after their debut, they released a triple A-side single, "Akane/Hate/Over", a first time for any band to release any single with three A-side tracks. Nightmare's song "Over" was used as the ending theme for the anime television series Croket!. That year, they released their first studio album, Ultimate Circus and went on their first tour. In 2004 Nightmare released three singles. Nightmare once more toured around Japan under the name Tour CPU 2004. From 2005 to 2006, Nightmare continued working, releasing more singles and their third full-length album in 2006, for which the support tour, lism sold out. In 2006 they recorded a live record at NHK Hall titled Gianism Tsu. With three albums and several tours under their belt, Nightmare released a series of "greatest hits" albums.

In October 2006, Nightmare released "The World/Alumina", the first single to be released under their new label, VAP. These two songs were used as the first opening and ending themes of the first nineteen episodes of the Death Note anime adaptation. On 27 February 2007, they released their fourth album, "The World Ruler" and toured for three months around Japan, they released their next single, "Raison d'Etre" a month after finishing their tour. In June 2007, they had a three-day concert event titled"The World Ruler Encore. On September 23, 2007, they performed at Nippon Budokan for the first time; the concert was called Kyokuto Symphony ~The Five Stars Night~ and tickets were all sold out within two weeks. They released two more singles, "Konoha" on October 3, 2007 and "Dirty", released on November 7, they ended 2007 with the Dirty Influence Tour in selected cities in Japan in December. 2008 began with the release of two more albums. The first, Nightmare 2003-2005 Single Collection, was released under their old label, Nippon Crown and was the latest installment of their greatest hits.

The second, Kyokuto Symphony ~The Five Stars Night~ @Budokan, was their first live album, recorded during their tour the previous year. In March, they toured with their 2008 Zepp Tour Six Point Killer Show and released a single titled "White Room". White Room was available only as a limited internet download. On May 21, 2008, they released their fifth original studio album titled "Killer Show", their third album release that year. Following the release, they toured Japan. Another single, "Lost in Blue" was released on September 17, it was used as the opening theme song to the anime adaptation of Mōryō no Hako and another of their songs, "Naked Love", was used as the end theme. This was released as a single on December 3. Nightmare started 2009 with a short 2-day tour titled "the 9th new departure" and announced the release of their album Majestical Parade. One of the songs from the album, "Melody", was available for a limited internet download on April 29, 2009 through Dwango. Majestical Parade was released in Japan on May 13, 2009 and the band performed the Nightmare Live House Tour 2009 Parade of Nine, a nine-stop tour ending with a show in Toyama on May 31, 2009.

During this time, Nightmare collaborated with the internet video company Nico Nico in streaming a live concert on May 17 via Nico Nico Live. The concert lasted for 34 seconds, their next tour, titled Nightmare Tour 2009 Parade ~ Start of pest Eve~ began in June. The summer tour was topped off by the band's second appearance at Nippon Budokan on August 29, 2009, in the "Parade Tour Finale "Majestic"", they released their 20th single, "Rem", on September 22, with the B-side track "Love Addict". To finish up 2009, they did. 2010 marked the band's 10th anniversary. To celebrate, Nightmare held a New Year's Eve Countdown show at Zepp Sendai and released Gianizm the next day; this was followed by their first performance at Saitama Super Arena on January 9. The show was called Nightmare 10th Anniversary Special Act. Vol.1 and the set list contained 27 songs, including all of the songs on the new album. The promotional tour Request of Gianizm the Tour began in April and on June 23, they released their 21st single, A:Fantasia.

As part of th