In many cases, the ability to produce data and information is outstripping employees’ ability to process it. One British psychologist claims to have mentioned a new mental disorder caused by too much information; he has termed it information fatigue syndrome. Information technology is a primary culprit in contributing to this new “disease.”

However, managers have the ability to encounter the problem and improve information quality. Firstly the suppliers of information technology and CIOs need to ensure to collaborate with employees to identify the kinds of questions they must answer and the kinds of data and information they really need. Specialists are often attracted with the volume of data a system can produce and overlook the need to provide small amounts of quality information in a timely and useful manner for decision making. Top executives should be actively engage in setting limit by focusing the organization on key strategies and on the critical questions that must be answered to pursue those strategies.

Reference: New Era of Management

Studies of steroids began in the early 1800s with the discovery of cholesterol in human gallstones. The structure of cholesterol and other steroid molecules was determined in the 1910s and 1920s by Adolf Windaus [German: 1876-1959] and Heinrich Wieland [German: 1877-1957]. By 1932, it was clear that steroids share a common structure consisting of four rings of carbon atoms, with various side groups.

The synthesis of steroids, beginning in the 1930s, let to widespread medical use of the compounds, particularly cortisone, a steroid hormone discovered in 1935. Anabolic steroids, derived from testosterone beginning in 1958, are used by some athletes to gain weight and build muscles but have harmful side effects, particularly in young people. The International Olympics Committee banned their use in 1974.

When the Altair was introduced in January 1975 as a do-it-yourself kit for hobbyists, Roberts hoped to sell 800 machines a year. Within three months, he had a backlog of 4,000 orders.

In addition to being the first mass-produced personal computer, the Altair was the first computer with an open architecture. This allowed inventors to design add-on devices such as memory cards and printers.

Roberts sold MITS in 1977 and went on to become a physician. Altair’s success inspired people to design competitive machines. It launched the personal computer industry, which has transformed almost every aspect of modern life.

Inside plumbing was a feature of several early civilizations, most notably the cities of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro on the Indus River in what is now Pakistan, about 2300 B.C.E., where indoor toilets were common. A few hundred years later, indoor plumbing was available in a large palace on Crete. A Chinese palace with a toilet using running water dates from about 100 B.C.E. But during Roman times and the Middle Ages in Europe, interior common waste disposal relied on a ceramic or metal bowl called a chamber pot, which was later emptied outside.

Toilets that used water to flush away wastes were built near the end of the 16th century by John Harington [English: 1561-1612], who installed one for Queen Elizabeth I. People of the time ridiculed the idea. In the 18th century, however, the English once again began to build flush toilets. A wooden and metal device patented by Joseph Bramah [English: 1748-1814] popularized the idea both on land and at sea. In 1885 the ceramic toilet began to be manufactured. A popular myth is that the toilet was invented by Thomas Crapper [English: 1836-1910], but he only made minor improvements in design.

In 1650, Otto von Guericke developed an air pump that produced a vacuum. Guericke, and others using similar pumps, demonstrated that sound does not travel and fire goes out in a vacuum, but light, electric charge, and magnetic force easily pass through one. In the 19th century, experiments with electric charges passed through a vacuum led to the discovery of X rays and subatomic particles.

Understanding subatomic particles, however, changed the way the vacuum is viewed. Paul A.M. Dirac [English: 1902-1984] in 1928 established that each particle has an antiparticle. When the two meet, they vanish into energy. The 1927 uncertainty principle of Werner Heisenberg [German: 1901-1976] permits a particle-antiparticle pair to appear briefly in a vacuum and then disappear with no energy involved, and since then the gravitational effect of such virtual particles has been detected. Thus, the vacuum seethes with rapidly appearing and disappearing particles.

Resources: Barrow, John D. The Book of Nothing: Vacuums, Voids, and the latest ideas about the origin of the universe.

Inquiry into Plants, consisting of nine books, described and classified plants. Theophrastus noted the great diversification among roots, leaves, flowers, and other plant parts. For instance, he saw that some kinds of plant have numerous roots while others have single taproots, and that some kinds have small insignificant flowers while others have large colorful flowers.

The second work, Growth of Plants, consisted of six books and focused on plant physiology. Theophrastus said that plants come into  being in various ways-from seeds, runners, or broken branches, for example-with some plants using several methods. He discussed the effects of wind, soil, and other environmental influences on plant growth. For instance, he noted that plants grown too close together often do poorly because they must compete for insufficient nutrients.

Note: Classification of organisms began with Aristotle and was continued by Theophrastus, who organized and described over 500 kinds of plants that grew along the Mediterranean and Atlantic shores.

Scientific interest in the sap began with Charles de La Condamine [French: 1701-1774] and Francois Fresneau [French: 1703-1770], who traveled up South American rivers looking for trees that natives called caa-ochue (“weeping wood”). The material didn’t get the name “rubber” until 1770, when Joseph Priestley noticed that it rubbed pencil marks off paper.

At first, use was limited by two problems: natural rubber becomes sticky in the heat and cracks in the cold. Many expermenters addressed these problems but it wasn’t until Charles Goodyear developed a method called vulcanization in 1839 that reliable rubber products could be made and the rubber industry became important.

Chemical studies began with Michael Faraday, who in 1826 discovered that rubber is a hydrocarbon. Later, chemists determined that this hydrocarbon is a polymer, its molecules composed of long chains of smaller molecules, or monomers. Knowledge about rubber chemistry encouraged efforts to make synthetic rubber, but early products were of limited usefulness. The first successful synthetic rubber was neoprene, created around 1930 by Wallace Hume Carothers. The demands of World War II stimulated the synthetic rubber industry and by the 1960s, more synthetic than natural rubber was being produced.

Experimenting in 1875, Bell noticed that variations in the amount of current moved thin pieces of metal in his apparatus. He redesigned the device to use the sound to vary current; at the other end, the changing current reproduced the sounds. This simple device was patented by Bell in 1876 as the telephone.

Bell and his assistant Thomas Watson [American: 1854-1934] soon improved the telephone by using a diaphragm to move permanent magnets that altered levels of current. The sample apparatus was used to send and to receive sounds. In 1882, a version with a sending mechanism held near the mouth and a receiver placed on the ear was introduced. Bell’s telephone system connected a small group of phones to a central operator who signaled individual phones to indicate incoming calls. Each phone had its own pattern of rings, but picking up any receiver allowed anyone in the group to participate in the call, a system known as the “party line.”

Improvements included the first way to send several calls at once over the same wire (1887), a mechanical switching system to replace central operators (1892), the rotary dial telephone (1896), and automatic switching system (1912). In 1983, the first cellular telephone networks in the United States allowed subscribers to use wireless battery-powered telephones.

How it works!

Ordinary telephones connect to a local exchange with copper wires carrying electric current. Exchanges are usually linked by fiber optics, transmitting messages as light. Distant exchanges may use microwaves to communicate via artificial satellites. Cell phones connect with microwaves to local towers joined by fiber optics to the network.

Matthew Boulton [English: 1728-1809] became the first to patent a steam engine for a special purpose in 1786, a device for stamping out coins. In 1814, the steam-driven printing press was introduced in London. The first of several steam tools designed by James Nasmyth [English: 1808-1890] was the 1839 steam hammer, used also as a pile driver for bridge construction.

All early steam engines were large and heavy, and thus not easily moved into remote locations, such as mines or tunnels. In 1849, the steam engine began to be used to compress air, and thereafter smaller, more portable and lightweight compressed air tools became common in mining and construction work. Large tools that continued to use steam power directly well into the 20th century included the steam shovel and a heavy device used to smooth roadbeds, the steamroller.

In 1900, Reed, who had distinguished himself during 25 years as a military physician, was asked to head a commission to study yellow fever. This disease killed more Americans during the Spanish-American War of 1898 than were killed by the enemy. Yet no one knew what caused “yellow jack” or how it spread.

Reed first tested and disproved the theory that yellow fever is caused by a bacillus bacterium. He then designed experiments to test two other theories. One theory proposed that yellow fever spreads from person to person through contaminated clothing or the air. The second theory, proposed by Cuban physician Carlos Finlay, said the disease is transmitted by the mosquito Aedes aegypti. Reed’s experiments proved that this mosquito carries, but does not cause, yellow fever. In 1901, Reed and his long-time associate James Carroll [American: 1854-1907] proved that the cause is something so small that it cannot be seen through a light microscope-making yellow fever the first human disease known to be caused by a virus.

Note: The first vaccine against yellow fever was introduced in 1937 by Max Theiler [South African-American: 1899-1972].

Many submersibles have become famous. In 1960, the Trieste, called a bathyscaphe instead of a submersible, built by Auguste Piccard, set the world’s record for an ocean dive, 35,800 feet (10,912 m).

The Alvin is a three-person submersible built in 1964 that is  still working today, although in 1973 it received a titanium hull to allow it to dive to 13,000 feet (4,000 m). It was built by the U.S. Navy’s Office of Naval Research and its first missions were military, but it is now operated by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and used for science, including research on plate tectonics. Alvin is best known for investigating deep undersea vents where extremely hot water flows into the ocean, and where there are life forms found nowhere else on Earth.

Understanding improved after devices that measure temperature, air pressure, wind speed, and humidity were invented in the 17th century. But the key observation came in 1821, from William Redfield  [American: 1789-1857], who observed that a storm called a hurricane-now defined as a tropical storm with steady winds over 74 mph (119 kph)-formed a giant counterclockwise spiral. Redfield collected data from many storms after that and, in 1831, published his conclusion that all major storms on the coast of North America are similar whirlwinds. Such storms are characterized by very low pressure at their center, which causes air to move inward. The Earth’s rotation turns that inward movement into a spiral.

The nature of storms was explained further in 1920 by Vihelm Bjerknes [Norwegian: 1862-1961] who discovered that storms begin where warm and cool air masses meet at a line he called a “front”. During World War II, high-flying American pilots noticed a stream of air, now called the jet stream, that flows from west to east. This is also the front between warm and cool air, so movement of the jet stream determines much weather and the location of storms.

Not all storms, however, are caused this way. Thunderstorms usually begin as great updrafts caused by warm, moist air rising from heated soil. As air rises, it cools, and rain or hail begins to fall downward, producing downdrafts to conflict with the updrafts. If the winds become very strong, they twist themselves into the tight spiral called a tornado.

The idea of a utilitarian closable pin was lost after the fall of the Roman Empire, although jeweled brooches sometimes used closable pins. In 1842 a patent was filed for a U-shaped pin with a protective hood for use with shawls and diapers, but it was never manufactured.

Walter Hunt [American: 1796-1859] invented the modern safety pin in 1849. According to most accounts, Hunt had patented many inventions and owed money to the artist who drew the plans. Hunt promised the artist an invention to pay off his debt. After playing with some wire for a while, he created a springy, hooded safety pin and assigned the artist its patent.

The first artificially produced vaccine was developed by Louis Pasteur in 1881. He made the vaccine from weakened anthrax bacteria taken from the blood of diseased animals and injected it into 24 healthy animals. Another group of healthy animals did not receive injection. After two weeks, Pasteur injected all 48 animals with living anthrax bacteria. Those that had been vaccinated were unharmed but within two days all the other animals were dead or dying of anthrax.

A vaccine stimulates a body to produce proteins called antibodies. The antibodies create immunity to the disease. For instance, a measles vaccine creates immunity to measles.

Today, several methods are used to make vaccines. Some vaccines, like Jenner’s use an organism similar to that causing the disease. Others, like Pasteur’s, are produced from weakened or inactivated microorganisms. Certain vaccines against viruses use only the viral compounds that prompt production of antibodies.

In the early 1990s, scientists demonstrated that vaccines can be created from the DNA of microorganisms. The first human tests of a DNA vaccine began in 1995, for the virus that causes AIDS. The tests had disappointing results but were followed by test of other potential DNA vaccines.

In the 1980s, there was no easy way to share data on the Internet. Berners-Lee developed software that included three procedures that control how data is transmitted between computers via the Internet: HTML, HTTP, and URL. HTML (hypertext markup language) codes documents to create Web pages. HTTP (hypertext transfer protocol) is a system for transferring documents. URL (universal resource locator) addresses documents with the familiar www.address. This software opened up the Internet; it enabled anyone with the computer capability to navigate the Internet and easily find and retrieve information.

Berners-Lee had the first Web server (a computer that holds Web pages) in operation on his computer by 1990. He made the software available on the Internet, available to anyone who wanted it. Use grew by leaps and bounds, particularly after the introduction in 1993 of browsers, which are programs that allow computer users to click-and-jump from one Web site to another. Other innnovations have been added since, and more are in the works, including voice-enabled software that lets people use their voices to surf the Web.

In 1740, Abraham Trembley [Swiss: 1710-1784] discovered a tiny green animal with a cylindrical body and flexible tentacles around a mouth at the top. When Trembley cut the animal in half horizontally both halves survived; the top half grew a new bottom and the bottom half grew a new top. Trembley continued to experiment, making all sorts of cuts. For example, with a series of vertical cuts in the head region he created a creature with seven heads. He compared his creation to Hydra, the many-headed monster slain by Hercules.

Carolus Linnaeus thought Trembley’s comparison was appropriate and in his classification scheme gave the name Hydra to the little green animals.

In 1768, Lazzaro Spallanzani described regeneration in earthworms, snails, salamanders, and frogs. Another organism whose regenerative powers have been investigated in great detail, beginning in the early 1800s, is the planarian, a small flatworm.

Among mammals, regeneration is limited. No mammals can regenerate lost limbs or tails, but some regeneration of internal tissues is possible. For example, if part of a human liver is lost to desease or surgery, the rest of the liver grows larger to handle the functions of the lost part. Much research is currently being conducted on regeneration of human tissue, with the hope that in the future it will be possible to return damaged eyes, spinal cords, and other organs to their proper function.

In 1898, Marie Curie, one of many physicits who studied Becquerel’s new radiation, discovered that another element, thorium, also produces such energy. She named the energy “radioactivity”. Ernest Rutherford recognized that there are two different kinds of radioactivity, which he called alpha and beta after the first two letters of the Greek alphabet. A third form, found in 1900, is gamma radiation, after the next Greek letter. Several physicists, including Becquerel and Curie, soon demonstrated that beta radiation is a stream of electrons.

Rutherford, working with Frederick Soddy [English: 1877-1956], determined the cause of radioactivity early in the 20th century. Heavy atoms such as uranium and thorium are unstable, like blocks piled too high. After a while, a piece of the atom is tossed out, like a block falling off the pile. Ejecting an alpha particle (helium nucleus) or a beta particle (electron) changes the radioactive element into a different element. Often several particles must be lost before the atom enters a stable state. Gamma radiation-short wave-length electromagnetic waves-is energy lost during the change.

Source: The Blackbirch Encyclopedia of Science & Invention

The national telegraph network fortified the ties between East and West and contributed to the rapid expansion of the railroads by providing an efficient means to monitor schedules and routes . Furthermore , the extension of the telegraph , combined with the invention of the steam-driven rotary printing press by Richard M. Hoe in 1846 , revolutionized the world of journalism . Where the business of news gathering had been dependent upon the mail and on hand-operated presses , the telegraph expanded the amount of information a newspaper could supply and allowed for more timely reporting . The establishment of the Associated Press as a central wire service in 1846 marked the advent of a new era in journalism .

In 1800, Humphry Davy noticed that inhaling nitrous oxide relieves pain-and provokes laughter. He called it “laughing gas” and suggested that it might be useful during surgery. In 1815, Davy’s pupil Michael Faraday discovered that ether has a similar effect on pain.

The first use of a gas as an anesthetic during surgery occured in 1842; Crawford Long [American: 1815 - 1878] painlessly removed a tumor from a patient’s neck after the patient sniffed a towel dampened with ether. The first public demonstration of ether anesthesia, by William Thomas Green Morton [American: 1819 - 1868], took place before a group of surgeons in 1844.

Nitrous oxide and ether continue to be used, but scientists have discovered many additional anesthetics including the widely used sodium thiopenthal, halothane, and trichlorethylene. Some anesthetics are administered by masks, as the patient breathes; others are given intravenously or applied to the skin to block sensation in a localized part of the body.

Near the end of the 18^th century, children sometimes played on a two-wheeled hobbyhorse propelled by pushing their feet on the ground. In 1790, a French count built an adult version that he called the celerifere (“quick strike”), which was briefly popular with the nobility. After the French Revolution and reign of Napoleon I, Joseph Nicephore Niepce [French: 1765-1833], better known as the creator of the first photographs, redesigned the celerifere, which then (1816) became generally popular in Paris. Enthusiasm increased when an 1818 version was manufactured that could be steered by turning the front wheel.

Between pushes, a person balanced a celerifere without his or her feet touching the ground. In 1839, a Scottish blacksmith designed a version using treadles and levers, similar to the levers turning the wheels of a steam locomotive, that carried power to the back wheel as the rider balanced. French inventors had a better idea, which was to develop a speed advantage by using the foot to turn a crank handle that was attached to the front wheel. With each foot pushing a crank half way around, the pedal was born in 1861. Pedals turning in a relatively small circle rotated the much larger wheel, and the vehicles were called velocipedes (“swift-footed”). Since the ratio of pedal radius to front wheel radius determined speed, versions with very larger front wheels are developed. But the giant front wheels made the velocipede unstable and accidents were common.

Also, only riders with long legs could reach the pedals.

In 1869, manufacturers began to use chains to allow a rider placed between the wheels to pedal the velocipede. In 1885, the safety bicycle, manufactured by the Rover Company in England, became the standard, with two equal-sized wheels and pedal power transmitted by a covered chain to the back wheel. Air-filled rubber tires were invented in 1888 and gears became available as early as 1890.

Bicycles prepared the way for automobiles, especially by necessitating better roads. People trained as bicycle mechanics became the inventors of the automobile, and bicycle manufacturers switched to making cars.

In the latter part of the 20^th century, the sport of bicycle racing led to many improvements in bicycles. The environmental movement promoted the use of bicycles as clean, energy-efficient transportation. Specialized bicycles were developed for riding on trails and up mountains.

Source: The Blackbirch Encyclopedia of Science & Invention

The first person to understand how a body orbits Earth was Issac Newton. In 1687, Newton described how a ball fired from a powerful cannon could, in the absence of an atmosphere, be put into Earth’s orbit. Newton’s idea was correct, but the technology needed for an artificial Earth satellite was not available. In the 1880s, Konstantin Tsiolkovskii [Russian: 1857-1935] studied the problem. He proposed that rockets propelled with liquid fuels could loft a satellite into Earth’s orbit. In the 1930s, scientists in the United States and Germany developed such rockets.

After World War II, when German rockets were used as weapons, scientists felt ready to attempt an artificial satellite. American and Russian groups announced launches as part of an international project. The Russians succeeded first, launching the Sputnik 1 on October 4, 1957.

Few recognized at first how useful satellites could be. In 1960, however, the earliest satellites for observing weather, aiding navigation, facilitating communication, and spying were placed in orbit. Today we rely almost completely on satellites for weather forecasting; for guiding airplanes, ships, and some cars; and for carrying television and telephone signals. Since 1962, space-based telescopes have become essential tools of astronomy. Other satellites, starting in 1972, inventory Earth’s resources.

The first satellites traveled in orbits a few hundred miles above Earth, passing around the planet in about 90 minutes. Many of the most useful satellites of today are geosynchronous-they travel about 22,000 miles (35,000 km) above the equator, orbiting once in 24 hours so that they remain above the same location on Earth.

Although most artificial satellites orbit Earth, scientists have also put satellites in orbits around other planets, the Moons, and asteroids.

Source: The Blackbirch Encyclopedia of Science & Invention

Firstly, show your palm, centre finger bend and put together back to back. Secondly, the rest 4 fingers tips to tips. Games begin, follow the below arrangement, 5 finger but only 1 pair can split.

Try to open your thumb, the thumb represent parents, it can be open because all human does go through sick and dead.  Which are our parents will leave us one day.

Please close up your thumb, then open your second finger, the finger represent brothers and  sisters, they do have their own family which is too they will leave us too.

Now close up your second finger, open up your little finer, this represent your children.  Sooner or later they too will leave us for they got they own living to live.

Nevertheless, close up your little finer, try to open your fourth finger which we put our wedding ring; you will be surprise to find that it cannot be open at all.  Because it represent husband and wife, this whole life you will be attach to each other.

Real love will stick together ever and forever

Thumb represents parents
Second finger represent brothers & sisters
Centre finger represent own self
Fourth finger represent your partner
Last finger represent your children

Many Chinese legends and beliefs are associated wth nature . Thus , they have the Sun God , the Moon Goddess , the Fire God , the Earth God , the deities of Heaven and Water , and certain legendary animals with supernatural powers , such as the dragon .

The Sun and the Moon

One delightful legend states that a goddess gave birth to ten suns which she bathed every day to make them shine brightly . On each day only one of the suns worked while nine rested . But on one disastrous day all the suns went to work and appeared in the sky . The earth was in deadly danger until an archer shot down nine of the suns .

Another popular legend relates that a beautiful goddess , Chang-E dwells on the moon . It appeared that in about 2500 B.C. a great man name Hou Yi was given the peach of immortality , but before he could eat it , his wife Chang-E stole it and flew to the moon . Some believed that Chang-E was turned into a toad soon after she reached the moon . Since the astronauts did not find a goddess there , the latter story must be a more reliable one !

The Dragon

Other nature myths include those about dragons , phoenixes and unicorns .

Dragon myths exist in the West as well as the East , but whereas the Western dragon is usually associated with danger and evil , the Chinese dragon is revered . In both cases , the dragon represents supernatural strength and power , and was probably created by primitive people to explain natural forces and agents of destruction .

In China the dragon was associated with the Emperor . Legend states that the dragon was encased in a shell of stone and rock and took two thousand years to hatch . There were many species of dragons – for example , the Long , the Li , and the Jiao .

According to the Book of Changes , the legendary founder of China , Fu-Si , was transformed into a dragon and he lived in the sea for a thousand years . Perhaps this is why the dragon is said to rule the oceans . Many tales are related of how Na Zha , a legendary deity , battled with the Dragon King of the China Sea . Yet another story widely believed through the centuries is about the encounter between the Eight Immortals and the Dragon God of the sea . Also , the Monkey God is said to have obtained his magical weapon from the Dragon King .

Chinese geomancers believe that the dragon has its hidden home underground and houses built on dragon sites are consiered geomantically superior .

The Phoenix

The phoenix is said to have the head of a pheasant , the beak of a swallow , the neck of a tortoise and a plumage of five beautiful colours . It was believed that phoenix apeared only when rulers were just and the people were good .

In ancient China , the phoenix symbolised the beauty and virtue of the Empress , just as the dragon symbolised the power of the Emperor . The phoenix is a yin or femal symbol , whereas the dragon is a yang or male symbol .

It is recorded that the phoenix was first seen in 2693 B.C. and again in 1035 B.C. On this occasion the Emperor was so pleased that he named officials and different state departments after birds .

The Unicorn

The unicorn is also considered an auspicious animal and a symbol of longevity . It is said to have a scaly body between that of a horse and a lion , hairy legs and cloven hoofs . Male and female unicorns are called qi and lin respectively . The male has a horn protruding from its head , but the female is hornless .

The unicorn appears to mankind only when a sage is about to be born . Thus it symbolises benevolence and wisdom . It is associated with longevity because it was believed that the animal could live to a ripe old sage of one thousand years .

Legend has it that the unicorn first appeared before Emperor Fu-Si on the banks of the Yellow River .It was also said to have appeared at the times of the birth and death of Confucius . One soure even claims that Confucius was conceived after his mother stepped into the footprint of a unicorn

The Tiger

The tiger symbolises magisterial dignity and uprightness , strength and virtue . It is the only non-legendary animal popularly endowed with mythical powers .

In ancient China the tiger was often painted or sculptured on walls to symbolise military prowess or spiritual conquest over evil spirits . The title of ” White Tiger ” was given to Yin , a general of the Emperor of the Zhou dynasty , for his skill and courage.

Charles Joseph ‘Buddy’ Bolden was an innovative but unrecorded cornettist in New Orleans , who has been described as ‘the first man of Jazz’ ( c. 1901 ). ‘Jelly Roll’ Morton and Louis Armstrong are associated with New Orleans jazz . Morton was arguably the originator of the blues ( a type of slow , sad music ) . His jazz orchestrations , which were published in around 1905 , were the earliest in book form . Louis Armstrong was a trumpeter and singer who pioneered a new style of jazz that centered on improvisational solos . As a young man he played the cornet on Mississippi riverboats . In 1922 , he joined the Chicago-based band of Joseph ‘King’ Oliver and soon he was leading his own bands .

In the 1920s , Jazz spread to larger US cities , such as New York and Chicago . The bands were enlarged with saxophones and additional trumpets and cornets . Swing , a type of popular dance music that uses a large band , developed from jazz in the 1930s . Important bandleaders during this era were Paul Whiteman , Benny Goodman , Glenn Miller and Count Basie .

Bop , with its smaller bands and rhythmic innovations , developed in the 1940s . Key figures were Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie ‘Bird’ Parker . During the late 1940s and 1950s a new form of jazz emerged – cool jazz , as played by Stan Getz and Miles Davis .

People did not have personal computer, compact disks or mobiles. They did not know about the quasars or the cloning of mammals.

Last 100 years ago,

People did not have television, air-con, antibiotic, or spiral-bound notebooks. They did not know about DNA or the Pluto which is the outermost planet in our solar system.

Last 500 years ago,

People did not have photographs, electric power, bicycles or thermomethers. They did not know about bacteria, blood circulation, or moons around other planets.

Last 1,000 years ago,

People did not have printed books, clocks, eyeglasses, or guns. They did not know about capillary action, the origin of fossils or the causes of solar and lunar eclipses.

Bows have more uses than launching arrows. Wrapping the cord around a shaft and pushing the bow back and forth rotates the shaft at high speeds. This idea was used, probably starting about 8000 B.C.E., for drilling holes and starting fires with friction.

About 400 B.C.E. two adaptations of the bow were introduced. In Italy, Greek inventors developed a large bow pulled by teams of soldiers that could launch heavy stones or spears-the catapult. Catapults sent missiles over walls or even though them. In China, a smaller, handheld device employed a heavy arrow, called a bolt. The user cocks the bow (perhaps using a pulley for added power) and can unleash at will. By the 1^st century C.E., the crossbow was known in Greece and Rome. In the middle ages, improved crossbows were so deadly that the Church tried to outlaw them.

After guns were introduced, however, bows and crossbows gradually ceased being used as weapons of war. Today they are mainly used in target shooting or for hunting deer and other large game.

The idea of nanotechnology was introduced in 1959 by Richard Feynman [American: 1918-1988]. He envisioned making devices by joining as few as 7 atoms-about 2 nanometers. Feynman was inspired by the miniaturization introduced in the U.S. space program in 1958, and by microprocessors (computer chips), also invented in 1958. Soon, tiny motors and other devices-still hundreds or thousands of nanometers in size-were built. Some became commercially useful, embedded in such devices as automobile airbags or switching networks for telephones.

The word nanotechnology was coined in 1974, but the first real advances near atomic levels came in the 1980s. The scanning tunneling microscope (STM), invented in 1981, provided the break-through. The STM can image individual atoms. A modification called the atomic force microscope (AFM) can also move them-demostrated in 1989 when researchers spelled “IBM” with 35 xenon atoms. In 1985, physicists also began to use paired lasers as pincers to handle individual atoms. Using technology developed for etching transistors into silicon chips, scientists at the University of California at Berkeley created the first electric micromotor in 1988, not from single atoms, but at a nanometer scale.

In the 1990s, chemists began to fabricate complex molecules that self-assemble from simpler molecules. Also in 1990, several groups of chemists announced successful creation of molecules that replicate themselves. In 1994, Leonard Adleman [American: 1945- ] created a computer equipped with a memory and stored program consisting of single molecules, albeit giant molecules, of DNA. Another giant molecule, the carbon molecule called a nanotube-especially an elongated buckyball-showed that it had many properties that could be exploited in nanotechnology.

Nanotechnology grew rapidly at the start of the 21st century. A modified AFM became an inkjet printer that sprays individual molecules into nanoscale designs. Workers used silicon-chip technology to fabricate “nanowires” a few hundred atoms in diameter that they then combined to make transistors only 20 nanometers across. Biochemists crafted a form of DNA with a metal conductor running along the middle of the molecule, creating a nanoscale combination that could be called “intelligent electronics.” In 2000, the University of Michigan started a center to apply nanotechnology to medicine, aimed at cell manipulation with tools smaller than the cells themselves.

Source: The Blackbirch Encyclopedia of Science & Invention

Many attempts have been made to overcome this problem and they have all failed . The fear of foreign influence and domination rules out the universal acceptance of any one of the existing major languages . Aware of this difficulty , many linguists have constructed artificial languages which could have no possible political overtones . They have argued that a language of this sort would perform much the same service as Latin did in the Middle Ages .

Although linguists succeeded in making their artificial languages extremely simple so that they would be easy to learn , their attempts seemed dommed from the start . The reason for this is that there is no real incentive to learn an artificial language . There is nothing to guarantee that everybody is willing to make the effort ; there is no assurance that the learner will have any adequate return for his toil . When people today undertake to learn a foreign language they are not interested in only speaking it . Mastery of a language makes available to the learner a great deal of worthwhile literature and many current publications . This is the biggest stumbling-block of all for the artificial – constructed tongue . Having no literature of its own , all it can offer is a limited number of translations which are valueless in themselves . Nor can it acquire any literature ; for it would have to be used for a great many generations before this could become possible . Moreover , constant use over a long period would bring into being many national dialects and the language would thus defeat its own purpose .

Another serious objection is the fact that a language is shaped by use and not by design . It is a living thing which is forever growing and changing . It takes hundreds of years before it can acquire richness and depth . In an artificial language , however , the meanings of words are rigidly defined . Inflexibility makes for an absence of subtlety , so that no really fine meaning can be conveyed .

Though this quality might be admirable for scientific publications , it greatly impedes the development of any significant literature . Latin was ideal in this respect , for it was a ‘dead’ language with a literature ; an artificial one is “dead” from the start . This makes it likely that existing language barriers will remain with us for a very long time .

In the movie, Adrian Helmsley (Chiwetel Ejiofor), the American Geogolist say the White House Chief of Staff Carl Anheuser (Oliver Platt):  “People have RIGHT to know that.” And yes, I am strongly agree on that. We have right to know what is happening around us. The Earth is our home, it is where we are born and a place we will rest in peace. So, we should at least know what is happening to our home.

Exactly the same as in the Christian Legend, goverment has built the very big ship which can carry selected people, animals and some treasures so that we can continue our human race during the dark period and bring all the stories of the past to the youngsters. But I oppose with that idea. It works very well because it is movie. As in reality, they are more like dreaming. When the world really comes to its end, it takes million of years to transform itself to become a place which is suitable for living things to live. So, our youngsters are not going to survive till this period and even if they can, who knows how they are going to start the world again ? It is a mystery.

To answer the question , we must go back about two-hundred years , to the beginning of the United States . The states approved a Constitution for the country in 1788 . But they could not decide where to build the permanent capital . Northern states did not want the capital in the south because of slavery . The southern states did not want it in the north . Several places were proposed , but Congress could not agree no one .

Then Thomas Jefferson of Virginia invited Alexander Hamilton of New York to dinner to discuess the dispute . Two congressmen from Virginia were also there . The four men talked politics .

Southern votes had defeated a bill in Congress that Mr.Hamilton wanted very much to be approved . It would have required the federal government to pay the money owed by the states for fighting the war to gain independence from Britain .

The two Virginia congressmen agreed to change their votes against the bill . And Mr.Hamilton agreed to find northern votes to support a proposal to build the capital along the Potomac River between the states of Virginia and Maryland . That is how Congress agreed to build the capital in a federal area on land provided by the two states .

A year later , officials announced that the city would be called Washington , in honor of the country’s first President , George Washington . The later federal area would be named the District of Columbia . Columbia had become another name for the United States , one that was used by poets and other writers . The name came from Christopher Columbus , the explorer who sailed from Europe across the Atlantic Ocean to the Western Hemisphere .

Today , Washington, D.C. is known to those who live in the area as the District .

Google is a cute name , but does it mean anything ? The thing that stands out most on the Google home page is the company’s colorful signature . Which raise the question : Why does this search service sound like it’s named after a Muppet ?

In fact , ” Google ” is an adaption of the word googol , which is the number 1 followed by one hundred zeroes , and brings to mind the stupendously large number of Web pages that it searches.

Incidentally , the word googol was coined around 1938 by the 9-years-old Milton Sirotta , the nephew of mathematician Edward Kasner . 

Case Sensitivity

Does Google care if I capitalize my search words?

No . Some search engines , including these on many intranet ( private Web sites ) , are case-sensitivity , meaning they search for your therms based on how you capitalize the words . In a case-sensitive word , the query ” ALFERD HITCHCOCK ” wouldn’t find Web pages containing the term ” Alferd Hitchcock ” , ” alferd hitchcock ” , or ” aLfeRD HitChcOcK”.

Google , on the other hand , doesn’t care about capitalization . If you search for Pugs , pugs , PUGS , or even PuGs , you get the same results . So give your pinkies a rest and type your queries in all lowercase letters.

America’s first private commercial bank , then Bank of North America , was chartered by Congress on December 31 , 1781 . The Bank of New York and the Bank of Massachusetts followed in 1784 , but all these banks were local and limited . In December 1791 , national banking originated with the first national bank , which opened its main office in Philadelphia . In 1816 , the second national bank was chartered for twenty years . Meanwhile state banks began to proliferate throughout the country .

The late 1800s saw an emergence of investment banking houses that promoted mergers in railroads , utilities , and factories and provided the capital for expansion . Commercial banking also flourished , but after a high rate of bank failures , the Federal Reserve System was established in 1913 to correct deficiencies in existing banking legislation on the national and state levels . The Federal Reserve Act set the foundation for modern banking .

Other trends and inventions had also helped make it possible for Americans to vary their daily diets . Growing Urban populations created demand that encouraged fruit and vegetable farmers to raise more produce . Railroad refrigerator cars enabled growers and meat packers to ship perishables great distances and to preserve them for longer periods . Thus , by the 1890′s , northern city dwellers could enjoy southern and western strawberries , grapes , and tomatoes , previously avaliable for a month at most , for up to six months of the year . In addition , increased use of iceboxes enabled families to store perishables . An easy means of producing ice commercially had been invented in the 1870′s and by 1900 the nation had more than two thousand commercial ice plants , most of which made home deliveries . The icebox became a fixture in most homes and remained so until the mechanized refrigerator replaced it in the 1920′s and 1930′s .

Almost everyone now had a more diversified diet . Some people continued to eat mainly foods that were heavy in starches or carbohydrates , take advantage of previously unavailable fruits , vegetables and diary products to achieve more varied fare .

The Queen liked nothing more than being surrounded by clever and eligible noblemen at court . There were men such as Burghley , Raleigh , Leicester and Essex , who were given important appointments . Elizabeth also chose people from the middle class , like Walsingham and Cecil , as advisers . Perhaps William Cecil was her greatest minister . It was to him alone that she confided her innermost secrets . One of her main problems was to keep the peace between Protestants and Catholics . She favoured Protestants but was mainly concerned in keeping peace between the two religions .

Many in England , especially Protestants , wished that she would marry so there could be an heir to the throne . Elizabeth was too crafty to make a decision . She liked to consider offers from princes abroad , but kept them waiting . King Philip of Spain , a staunch Catholic , would have given anything to become King of England . ” Even Cecil , her favourite Englishman , thought he had a chance . But the Queen knew that war was expensive , and that by keeping foreign suitors in suspense , war could be avoided .

Meanwhile , Elizabeth’s cousin Mary , a Catholic , had become Queen of France and Scotland . She was a threat to Elizabeth , for with enough support from the Spanish and French , she hoped to be Queen of England . At length , Elizabeth signed her cousin’s death warrant and she was killed .

King Philip then decided to invade England . His ships , heavily laden with soldiers , poured out of Spain and sailed up the English Channel . Known as the Spanish Armada , it was defeated by the smaller and faster English ships , then blown by a gale onto rocks . The Queen struck a medal on which was engraved , ” God blew with His Wind , and they were scattered ” .

At the age of 70 , Elizabeth died without marrying . Mary’s son , James Stuart , King of Scotland , then also became King of England .

One reason is because they were named by Spanish explorers . However , there are other reasons also .

San Diego was the first Spanish settlement in California . Spanish soldiers built a fort there in 1769 . The settlement was named for San Diego de Alcala , a Spanish saint , or holy man . Americans have called San Diego the birthplace of California .

As the Spanish soldiers moved up the coast , they found other places that would made good settlements . One of these is ” Nuestra Senora la Reina de Los Angeles de Porciuncula .” In English it means ” Our Lady the Queen of the Angels of Porciuncula . “

Porciuncula was a Roman Catholic church in Italy linked with Saint Francis of Assisi . He was the founder of the Franciscan Order of religious workers and priests . Franciscan Priest Juan Crespi gave the area that name . Today it has a much shorter name : Los Angeles or just ” L.A.”

Another city with a Spanish name is San Francisco . The first explorer to give the area that name was , in fact , not Spanish but Portuguese . In 1595 , Sebastian Rodriguez Cermeno named part of the California coast ” Puerto de San Francisco . ” Or , Port of Saint Francis . Later , the Spanish discovered the great harbor where the city of San Francisco was later built . A small settlement near the present city was called Pueblo de San Francisco .

After the war between Mexico and the United States in 1846 , Americans called the growing city San Francisco . A small island in the harbor was given the old Spanish name , Yerba Buena .

Other metals also hardened copper. Tin-poor Egyptian smelters made bronze with copper and arsenic ore. Today corrosion-resistant bronze is made with copper and aluminium. Soon after the end of the Bronze Age – about 1000 B.C.E. in Greece and the Middle East – another alloy of copper was discovered. A small amount of copper smelted with zinc ore produces a large amount of a bright gold metal that is easily worked into many shapes-brass. Brass became the first choice for coins as well as for many ornamental purposes. It remains popular for the latter.

“Your parrot has too much hook in it’s beak, what you have to do is file it’s beak back and it will be able to talk just fine. You’ve got to be careful not to file it too far though, because if you take too much off the bird will drown the first time it has a drink.”

The parrot owner asks how much the pet shop guy charges to do this beak modification and he says $100. So the parrot fancier decides he’ll do it himself.

A week or so later they bump into one another in the street. The pet shop guy enquires how the parrot is and whether it is talking yet? The parrot owner says “the parrots dead”. Pet shop guy says “I told you not to file the beak back too far, did he drown when he had a drink?”.

Ex-parrot owner says “Shit no, he was dead before I got him out of the vice!!”

“My son Kent,” says one, “has made quite a name for himself in the home-building industry. He began as a carpenter, but now owns his own design and construction firm. He’s so successful in fact, in the last year he was able to give a good friend a brand new home as a gift.”

The second man, no to be out done, tells how his son began his career as a car salesman, but now owns a multi-line dealership. “Norm’s so successful, in fact, in the last six months he gave his friend two brand new cars as a gift.”

The third man’s son, Greg, has worked his way up through a stock brokerage, and in the last few weeks has given a good friend a large stock portfolio as a gift.

As the fourth man arrives at the tee, another tells him that they have been discussing their progeny and asks what line his son is in.

“To tell the truth, I’m not very pleased with how my son turned out,” he replies. “For 15 years, Chico’s been a hairdresser, and I’ve just recently discovered he’s gay. However, on the bright side, he must be good at what he does because his last three boyfriends have given him a brand new house, two cars, and a big pile of stock certificates.”

” Hi, is Tony home?”
” No, he went to the store.”

“Well, you mind if I wait?”

” No, come in.”

They sit down and the friend says “You know Nora, you have the greatest breasts I have ever seen. I’d give you a hundred bucks if I could just see one.”

Nora thinks about this for a second and figures what the hell – a hundred bucks. She opens her robe and shows one. He promptly thanks her and throws a hundred bucks on the table.

They sit there a while longer and Chris says “They are so beautiful I’ve got to see the both of them. I’ll give you another hundred bucks if I could just see the both of them together.”

Nora thinks about this and thinks what the hell, opens her robe, and gives Chris a nice long look. Chris thanks her, throws another hundred bucks on the table, and then says he can’t wait any longer and leaves.

A while later Tony arrives home and his wife says “You know, your weird friend Chris came over. “

Tony thinks about this for a second and says “Well did he drop off the 200 bucks he owes me?”