The Thames Tunnel is an underwater tunnel, built beneath the River Thames in London, connecting Rotherhithe and Wapping. It measures 35 feet wide by 20 feet high and is 1,300 feet long, running at a depth of 75 feet below the river surface measured at high tide, it was the first tunnel known to have been constructed underneath a navigable river and was built between 1825 and 1843 using Marc Isambard Brunel's and Thomas Cochrane's newly invented tunnelling shield technology, by Brunel and his son Isambard Kingdom Brunel. The tunnel was designed for horse-drawn carriages but instead was used by pedestrians and became a tourist attraction. In 1869 it was converted into a railway tunnel as part of the East London line which, since 2010, is part of the London Overground railway network under the ownership of Transport for London. At the start of the 19th century, there was a pressing need for a new land connection between the north and south banks of the Thames to link the expanding docks on each side of the river.

The engineer Ralph Dodd tried, but failed, to build a tunnel between Gravesend and Tilbury in 1799. In 1805–09 a group of Cornish miners, including Richard Trevithick, tried to dig a tunnel farther upriver between Rotherhithe and Wapping/Limehouse but failed because of the difficult conditions of the ground; the Cornish miners were used to hard rock and did not modify their methods for soft clay and quicksand. This Thames Archway project was abandoned after the initial pilot tunnel flooded twice when 1,000 feet of a total of 1,200 feet had been dug, it only measured 2–3 feet by 5 feet, was intended as the drain for a larger tunnel for passenger use. The failure of the Thames Archway project led engineers to conclude that "an underground tunnel is impracticable". However, the Anglo-French engineer Marc Brunel refused to accept this conclusion. In 1814 he proposed to Emperor Alexander I of Russia a plan to build a tunnel under the river Neva in St Petersburg; this scheme was turned down but Brunel continued to develop ideas for new methods of tunnelling.

Brunel patented the tunnelling shield, a revolutionary advance in tunnelling technology, in January 1818. In 1823 Brunel produced a plan for a tunnel between Rotherhithe and Wapping, which would be dug using his new shield. Financing was soon found from private investors, including the Duke of Wellington, a Thames Tunnel Company was formed in 1824, the project beginning in February 1825; the first step was the construction of a large shaft on the south bank at Rotherhithe, 150 feet back from the river bank. It was dug by assembling an iron ring 50 feet in diameter above ground. A brick wall 40 feet high and 3 feet thick was built on top of this, with a powerful steam engine surmounting it to drive the excavation's pumps; the whole apparatus was estimated to weigh 1,000 tons. The soil below the ring's sharp lower edge was removed manually by Brunel's workers; the whole shaft thus sank under its own weight, slicing through the soft ground rather like an enormous pastry cutter. The shaft became stuck at one point during its sinking as the pressure of the earth around it held it in position.

Extra weight was required to make it continue its descent. It was realised; this non-cylindrical tapering design ensured. By November 1825 the Rotherhithe shaft was in place and tunnelling work could begin; the tunnelling shield, built at Henry Maudslay's Lambeth works and assembled in the Rotherhithe shaft, was the key to Brunel's construction of the Thames Tunnel. The Illustrated London News described how it worked: The mode in which this great excavation was accomplished was by means of a powerful apparatus termed a shield, consisting of twelve great frames, lying close to each other like as many volumes on the shelf of a book-case, divided into three stages or stories, thus presenting 36 chambers of cells, each for one workman, open to the rear, but closed in the front with moveable boards; the front was placed against the earth to be removed, the workman, having removed one board, excavated the earth behind it to the depth directed, placed the board against the new surface exposed. The board was in advance of the cell, was kept in its place by props.

The other set of divisions advanced. As the miners worked at one end of the cell, so the bricklayers formed at the other the top and bottom; each of the twelve frames of the shield weighed over seven tons. The key innovation of the tunnelling shield was its support for the unlined ground in front and around it to reduce the risk of collapses. However, many workers, including Brunel himself, soon fell ill from the poor conditions caused by filthy sewage-laden water seeping through from the river above; this sewage gave off methane gas, ignited by the miner's oil lamps. When the resident engineer, John Armstrong, fell ill in April 1826 Marc's son Isambard Kingdom Brunel took over at the age of 20. Work was slow. To earn some income from the tunnel, the company directors allowed sightseers to view the shield in operation, they charged a shilling for the adventure and an estimated 600–800 visitors took advantage of the opportunity every day. The excavation was hazardous; the tunn

Extended Adaptive Multi-Rate – Wideband is an audio codec that extends AMR-WB. It adds support for higher sampling rates. Another main improvement is the use of transform coding additionally to ACELP; this improves the generic audio coding. Automatic switching between transform coding and ACELP provides both good speech and audio quality with moderate bit rates; as AMR-WB operates at internal sampling rate 12.8 kHz, AMR-WB+ supports various internal sampling frequencies ranges from 12.8 kHz to 38.4 kHz. AMR-WB uses 16 kHz sampling frequency with a resolution of 14 bits left justified in a 16-bit word. AMR-WB+ uses 16/24/32/48 kHz sampling frequencies with a resolution of 16 bits in a 16-bit word.3GPP developed the AMR-WB+ audio codec for streaming and messaging services in Global System for Mobile communications and Third Generation cellular systems. Its primary target applications are Packet-Switched Streaming service, Multimedia Messaging Service and Multimedia Broadcast and Multicast Service.

File storage of AMR-WB+ encoded audio is specified within the 3GP container format, 3GPP-defined ISO-based multimedia file format defined in 3GPP TS 26.244. The AMR-WB+ codec has a wide bit-rate range, from 5.2–48 kbit/s. Mono rates are scalable from 5.2–36 kbit/s, stereo rates are scalable from 6.2–48 kbit/s, reproducing bandwidth up to 20 kHz. Moreover, it provides backward compatibility with AMR wideband. In September 2005, VoiceAge Corporation announced availability of AMR-WB+ decoder in Helix DNA Client. AMR-WB+ compression incorporate several patents of Nokia Corporation, Telefonaktiebolaget L. M. Ericsson and VoiceAge Corporation. VoiceAge Corporation is the License Administrator for the AMR-WB + patent pools. VoiceAge accepts submission of patents for determination of their possible essentiality to these standards; the initial fee for applications using "real-time channels" with AMR-WB+ is $6,500. Minimum annual royalty shall be $10,000, excluding the initial fee in year 1 of the license agreement.

AMR-WB+ monoural decoder in a category of personal computer products is licensed for free. Stereo AMR-WB+ decoder for personal computer products is licensed for $0.30. Adaptive Multi-Rate Adaptive Multi-Rate Wideband 3GP Comparison of audio coding formats RTP audio video profile 3GPP codecs specifications.

Lieutenant-General Sir John Elley KMT KSG was a British soldier who joined the cavalry as a private, rose to general officer rank. He fought with distinction during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, served as the last Governor of Galway and as Colonel of the 17th Lancers. Information about Elley is scarce partly because of his humble origins, he was born in Leeds in 1764. His father ran an eating-house at Furnival's Inn. Apprenticed to Mr. John Gelderd, a tannery owner of the village of Meanwood near Leeds, West Yorkshire, he became engaged to his masters daughter Anne. After her untimely death, he enlisted, in 1789, as a trooper in the Royal Regiment of Horse Guards, saw service in the Flanders Campaign. Elley made his first step out of the ranks by becoming a Cornet in his regiment on 14 June 1794. On 30 January 1796 he was promoted to Lieutenant, 11 January 1800 was made a Captain-Lieutenant. Elley acquired promotion to Captain by Purchase on 17 March 1801 to Major on 15 December 1804, to Lieutenant-Colonel on 11 March 1806.

One famous act of heroism occurred at the Battle of Talavera, as he led the charge riding a white horse across unknown terrain. A chasm appeared before him and he was forced to jump it at full gallop; as he wrote in a letter to his sister Mrs Ellis, dated 30 July 1809: "More fire I was never in, nor more perils did I escape. I led on one Squadron to the Charge as a forlorn hope and out of 80 men I had not a dozen left – a severe List of Killed and Wounded you will see by the Gazette – It will be great Satisfaction to my good old Father to Know that I had during the action a conspicuous share, in which I had the good Fortune to Succeed to the intense Satisfaction of the General Officers..." As a Colonel in the 1st Regiment of Life Guards Sir John was appointed Deputy Adjutant-General of Cavalry at the start the Waterloo Campaign. He led the charge of the Life Guards during the holding action at Genappe on the 17th during the Anglo-allied retreat from Quatre Bras to Waterloo, he was wounded during the subsequent battle.

Sir Walter Scott, in Paul's Letters to his Kinsfolk, described his feats at the attack on the escarpment of Mont-Saint-Jean, a ridge to the south of the village of Waterloo: "Sir John Elley, who led the charge of the heavy brigade, was himself distinguished for personal prowess. He was at one time surrounded by several of the cuirassiers. Indeed, had not the ghastly evidence remained on the field, many of the blows dealt upon this occasion would have seemed borrowed from the annals of knight-errantry, for several of the corpses exhibited heads cloven to the chine, or severed from the shoulders."On 2 August 1815 Elley was made a Commander of the Order of Maria Theresa by the Emperor of Austria. Harry Smith remembered Sir John as his mentor in this extract from his autobiography from 1818: "The celebrated Cavalry officer, Sir John Elley, a tall and manly figure of a man, with grim-visaged war depicted in his countenance, with whiskers, etc. like a French Pioneer, came over to Dover during the time of our occupation of France.

He was walking with his celebrated sword belted under his surtout. As the hooking up of the sword gave the coat-flap the appearance of having something large concealed under it, a lower order of Custom officer ran after him, rudely calling, "I say, you officer, you! stop, stop, I say! What's that under your coat?" Sir John turned round, drawing his weapon of defence in many a bloody fight, to the astonishment of the John Bulls, roared out through his moustache in a voice of thunder, "That which I will run through your d—d guts, if you are impertinent to me!"Sent to Ireland following the war, he was promoted to Major-General in August 1819, was presented with the Order of the Bath by King George IV at Dublin Castle in August 1822. He was appointed the Commander of Connaught, Governor of Galway from 1826 – this position was not filled after his death. On 23 November 1829 he was appointed Colonel of the 17th Lancers. At the state funeral of George IV on 15 July 1830 Elley was one of the group of senior Army and Naval officers who supported the canopy of purple velvet over the body of the King as it was taken to St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, for the funeral service.

He was elected Member of Parliament for Windsor in Robert Peel's Tory government. In 1836 the Eton & Windsor Gazette complained of the undue influence of the Castle on elections for that seat: "It is well known in this Borough there are a number of Electors who hold situations in the Royal Establishment, but who reside in the town. At the election of Members of Parliament those men – footmen and other – have been rendered subservient to Tory purposes, they are men who are permitted to have no opinion of their own, but are commanded by some one or other of their superiors in the Establishment of Their Majesties, to vote in a certain way. This it was that occasioned the return of Sir John Elley at the last election, a guest at the Castle, who of course obtains the influence of the many Tory hangers-on of the Court."Elley was promoted to Lieutenant-General on 10 January 1837. Sir John Elley died on 23 January 1839 at Cholderton Lodge at East Cholderton, part of Amport in Hampshire and was buried at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, not far from another of his properties at Burghfield Hill.

His tomb includes a bust in white marble. His portrait

Maybe It's Live is a live album by Robert Palmer, released in 1982. It combines six live tracks of old songs with four new songs recorded in the studio, including "Some Guys Have All the Luck", a hit for Palmer in the UK, peaking at No. 16 on the UK Singles Chart. The album peaked at No. 23 in No. 92 in the Netherlands. All songs by Robert Palmer except where noted. "Sneakin' Sally Through the Alley" – 4:07 "What's It Take?" – 2:54 "Best of Both Worlds" – 3:06 "Every Kinda People" – 4:17 "Bad Case of Loving You" – 4:04 "Some Guys Have All the Luck" – 3:09 "Style Kills" – 4:16 "Si Chatouilleux" – 4:34 "Maybe It's You" – 3:43 "What Do You Care" – 2:20Tracks #1, 2, 3, 4, 5 & 10 recorded live. Robert Palmer – vocals. Mastered by Ted Jensen at Sterling Sound. Photography and Design – Graham Hughes Sculpture – Paul Wunderlich

The Gingras Trading Post State Historic Site is a North Dakota State Historic Site near Walhalla, North Dakota. It features the trading home of the Metis legislator Antoine Blanc Gingras. Gingras built a two-story exposed-log trading post and a clapboard house on his plot of land in the 1840s. In 1861, the net worth of Gingras was $60,000.00. He soon owned trading posts across parts of Southern Manitoba. In 1851, Gingras was chosen to represent the area in the Minnesota Territorial House of Representatives, he served in the legislature from 1852–1853. When Louis Riel started the 1869 Red River Rebellion, Gingras participated in the events; when the City of Winnipeg was chartered, Gingras was present. The Gingras Trading Post is listed on the National Register of Historic Places; the North Dakota State Historical Society operates the site. It features the original buildings and exhibits about Antoine Blanc Gingras, Metis culture, the Red River Valley fur trade, it contains a reproduction of the Gingras Store.

Metis Gingras Trading Post State Historic Site website

This page is a list of the countries of the world by gross domestic product per capita, i.e. the purchasing power parity value of all final goods and services produced within a country in a given year, divided by the average population for the same year. As of 2017, the average GDP per capita of all of the countries of the world is US$17,300. For rankings regarding wealth, see list of countries by wealth per adult; the gross domestic product per capita figures on this page are derived from PPP calculations. Such calculations are prepared by various organizations, including the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank; as estimates and assumptions have to be made, the results produced by different organizations for the same country are not hard facts and tend to differ, sometimes so they should be used with caution. Comparisons of national wealth are made on the basis of nominal GDP and savings, which do not reflect differences in the cost of living in different countries; this is why GDP per capita is considered one of the indicators of a country's standard of living, although this can be problematic because GDP per capita is not a measure of personal income.

Note that the Irish GDP data below is subject to material distortion by the tax planning activities of foreign multinationals in Ireland. 2015 Irish GDP was over 150% of 2015 Irish gross national income. To address this, in 2017 the Central Bank of Ireland created "modified GNI" as a more appropriate statistic, the OECD and IMF have adopted it for Ireland. 2015 Irish GDP is 143% of 2015 Irish GNI*. All figures are in current international dollars, rounded up or down to the nearest whole number. Several economies that are not considered to be sovereign states are included because they appear in the sources; these non-sovereign entities, former countries and other special groupings are in italics. They are not given a numerical rank. There are many natural economic reasons for GDP-per-capita to vary between jurisdictions. However, it is being recognized that tax havens, or corporate tax havens, have distorted economic data which produces artificially high, or inflated, GDP-per-capita figures, it is estimated.

An IMF investigation estimates that circa 40% of global FDI flows, which influence the GDP of various jurisdictions, are described as "phantom" transactions. A stunning $12 trillion—almost 40 percent of all foreign direct investment positions globally—is artificial: it consists of financial investment passing through empty corporate shells with no real activity; these investments in empty corporate shells always pass through well-known tax havens. The eight major pass-through economies—the Netherlands, Hong Kong SAR, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands and Singapore—host more than 85 percent of the world’s investment in special purpose entities, which are set up for tax reasons. In 2017, Ireland's economic data became so distorted by U. S. multinational tax avoidance strategies known as BEPS actions, that Ireland abandoned GDP statistics as credible measures of its economy, created a replacement statistic called modified gross national income. Ireland is one of the world's largest corporate tax havens.

Ireland has, stopped using GDP to measure its own economy. And on current trends, the eurozone taken as a whole may need to consider something similar; the statistical distortions created by the impact on the Irish National Accounts of the global assets and activities of a handful of large multinational corporations have now become so large as to make a mockery of conventional uses of Irish GDP. A list of the top 15 GDP-per-capita countries from 2016–2017, contains most of the major global tax havens: List of countries by past and projected GDP per capita List of countries by GDP per capita List of countries by GDP per capita growth rate List of IMF ranked countries by GDP Quality of life Big Mac Index Government spending Corporate tax havens Nations and intelligence