The Finkler Question is a 2010 novel written by British author Howard Jacobson. The novel won the Booker Prize.

Plot synopsis
Julian Treslove, a professionally unspectacular former BBC radio producer, and Sam Finkler, a popular Jewish philosopher, writer and television personality, are old school friends. Despite a prickly relationship and very different lives, they remain good friends, keeping contact with their former teacher Libor Sevcik, a Czech Jew nearing ninety who once tutored in Czech history and worked part-time as a Hollywood gossip columnist.

Now, both Libor and Finkler are recently widowed, and Treslove's chequered and unsuccessful record with women qualify him as an honorary third widower.  They dine together at Libor's grand apartment in central London: it is a sweetly painful evening of reminiscences.  At 11:30 pm that night, Treslove is attacked while walking home.  It seems he is mugged by a woman who hisses the phrase "You Ju" at him.  After much cogitation, Treslove believes what the assailant meant was "You, Jew", sparking a long-running obsession with all things and people Jewish – which he refers to as "Finkler".  Treslove gets into a relationship with Hephzibah, the great-grandniece of Libor, and is haunted by his adulterous affair with Tyler, Finkler's deceased wife.  In the meantime, Finkler joins an "ASHamed" organization which favours the Palestinians over the Israelis over their land disputes.  The novel coalesces into an ending that brings together the disparate narrative strands amongst the three central male characters.

Critical response
Chairman of the judges and former Poet Laureate Andrew Motion said, "The Finkler Question should not be seen as something that was 'relentlessly middle-brow, or easy-peasy' because it was comic. It is much cleverer and more complicated and about much more difficult things than it immediately lets you know. Several people have used the word wise, and that's a good word."

Awards and honours
The novel won the Booker Prize in 2010 and was the first comic novel to win the prize since Kingsley Amis's The Old Devils in 1986. Jacobson was the oldest winner since William Golding who won the prize in 1980, aged 69, for Rites of Passage. In his acceptance speech, Jacobson claimed he was going to spend his £50,000 prize money on a handbag for his wife, asking, "Have you seen the price of handbags?"

It was shortlisted for the JQ Wingate Prize (2011).

References

External links

British comedy novels
Booker Prize-winning works
2010 British novels
Novels set in London
Bloomsbury Publishing books
Novels about antisemitism

The Finkler Question


Martin Deutsch (29 January 1917 – 16 August 2002) was an Austrian-American professor of physics at MIT.  He is best known for being the discoverer of positronium.

Early life
Deutsch was born in Vienna during the First World War to a Jewish family.  Both of his parents were physicians; his mother Helene Deutsch was a professor of psychiatry at the University of Vienna and a student and colleague of Sigmund Freud.

In 1934, after the Fascist seizure of power in Austria, Deutsch moved to Zürich, Switzerland.  He completed secondary school there and attended the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology for one semester.

The following year, young Martin Deutsch accompanied his mother on a trip to the United States.  During their outbound journey, the Italians invaded Ethiopia; the family decided that it would be best to resettle in America.  They moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, where both parents became influential psychiatrists.

Deutsch enrolled at MIT, where he excelled at mathematics and physics.  He received his BS degree in 1937, after two years of study.  In 1939, he married Suzanne Zeitlin, a native Bostonian who had just graduated from Simmons College with a master's degree in social work.  They had two children, L. Peter Deutsch and Nicholas Deutsch.  Martin earned his Ph.D. in physics in 1941, under Robley D. Evans leading to a thesis entitled: A Study of Nuclear Radiations by Means of a Magnetic Lens Beta Ray Spectrometer.

Work on the Manhattan Project
Since Deutsch was still a German subject in 1941 (Germany annexed Austria in 1938; under the Nuremberg Laws, Jews were stripped of their citizenship and considered "subjects" of the Reich), he was classified by the U.S. Government as an enemy alien.  Deutsch was a committed anti-fascist, and wanted to help in the war effort, and so he had to wait for two years to receive a security clearance. During that time, he taught and did research at MIT.

Deutsch arrived at Los Alamos in 1943, and began working closely with Emilio Segrè on problems concerning fission physics. He also worked with his future colleague at MIT, Victor Weisskopf. As it turned out, they had attended the same high school in Vienna, but not at the same time: Weisskopf graduated the year that Deutsch entered the school.

Career at MIT
Deutsch returned to MIT in 1946, joining his Los Alamos colleagues Victor Weisskopf and Bruno Rossi.  One of his students was Henry Kendall, who won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1990.  He also recruited Samuel C. C. Ting to the faculty; Ting was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1976.

In 1951, Deutsch measured and confirmed the existence of positronium, a bound state of electrons and positrons whirling about each other. The properties of positronium were predicted by Carl D. Anderson of Caltech in 1932.

The Martin Deutsch Student Award was created in 1987 to recognize outstanding experimental work by an MIT physics graduate student.

Deutsch died in 2002 at his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

See also
 MIT Physics Department

References

External links
 Obituary of Martin Deutsch from the MIT News Office
 MIT Physics Department website

1917 births
2002 deaths
Austrian Jews
American people of Austrian-Jewish descent
Jewish American scientists
Scientists from Vienna
20th-century Austrian physicists
20th-century American physicists
Manhattan Project people
Fellows of the American Physical Society
20th-century American Jews
21st-century American Jews
Austrian emigrants to the United States

Martin Deutsch


The Beggar's Opera is a 1953 British historical musical film, a Technicolor adaptation of John Gay's 1728 ballad opera of the same name. The film, directed by Peter Brook in his feature film debut, stars Laurence Olivier (in his sole musical), Hugh Griffith, Dorothy Tutin, Stanley Holloway, Daphne Anderson and Athene Seyler. Olivier and Holloway provide their own singing, but Tutin and others were dubbed.

With additional dialogue and lyrics by Christopher Fry, the film expands on some elements in the opera, such as giving Mrs Trapes a larger role and adding dramatic action sequences to Macheath's escape. The framing device is also changed: the Beggar is himself a prisoner in Newgate with the real Macheath, who escapes at the end under cover of the confusion created when the Beggar decides that his fictional Macheath should be reprieved.

Plot
In the 1700s, a beggar is tossed into London's Newgate jail, along with a pile of papers upon which his unfinished opera is scribbled. The beggar boasts to the other prisoners that his opera, unlike others of the day, is about a real person, the dashing highwayman Captain Macheath, who, dressed in a red coat, holds off the world with a pistol in each hand, seduces women with five notes of a tune, and generally leaps from misfortune. To the beggar's disappointment, the other prisoners point out that his hero Macheath is among them, in irons and behind bars, and Macheath, who is scheduled to be executed the next morning, admits that there is "no arguing with reality." Taking the first page of the opera, Macheath begins singing, and the beggar, encouraged by Macheath's good voice, urges him to continue, until the following story, the beggar's opera, is sung for the prison inmates:

While riding to London, feeling merry and free, Macheath robs a carriage, and steals a kiss and a locket from a maiden. Later, in London, Macheath's wife, Polly Peachum, pines for him. Polly's parents, shopkeepers Mr. Peachum and his wife, are scandalized to learn from their employee Filch that Polly has secretly married the highwayman. To make the best of the situation, as they are always eager to make money, they urge her to lure Macheath into a trap and collect the reward for his capture.

Meanwhile, outside of town, Macheath encounters a carriage ridden by Newgate's jailor Mr. Lockit, Lockit's daughter Lucy and Mrs. Trapes, whom Lockit is wooing. Lucy, who met Macheath when he was once imprisoned, scolds him for taking her virtue without making good on his promise to wed. When Macheath rides off, Mrs. Trapes suggests that Lucy betray him for the reward and give the money to her father.

Later, during a tryst in a hayloft, Polly warns Macheath that her parents are mounting an ambush. Macheath escapes with Polly's help after a swashbuckling fight, then hides in a back room of a tavern, where he is unable to resist socializing with the prostitutes, whom he considers friends. However, prostitute Jenny Diver has been bribed by Peachum and Lockit to betray him, and with the help of her colleagues, Macheath is soon captured.

From his jail cell, Macheath urges Lucy to steal the jail keys and set him free, promising to marry her in return, but then Polly shows up and he is forced to introduce the women to each other. During the night, Lucy steals the keys and releases him, but later Polly sneaks back and, finding Macheath gone from the cell, screams in anguish without thinking, thus drawing attention to his escape. Meanwhile, Macheath disguises himself in the stolen cape and gloves of a lord and slips into a gaming house to avoid making good his promise to unite with Lucy. However, the proprietor recognizes the cape and alerts Lockit and Peachum about the impostor wearing it. Back at the jail, Polly is accused of freeing Macheath and is locked in Lucy's room, where Lucy, after losing track of Macheath, attempts to drug her. When they hear the recaptured Macheath being returned to prison, Lucy and Polly proceed to Macheath's cell and demand that he choose between them. He refuses, as he will soon be hanged and sees no reason to disappoint either of them.

The next morning, riding atop his coffin as it is carted through the streets to the gallows, Macheath waves farewell to the friendly crowd that has gathered to see him off. At the gallows, after kissing both Lucy and Polly goodbye, Macheath is blindfolded and awaits his fate, and the opera comes to its incomplete end.

The real Macheath, who is still in the jail, protests that he should not have to hang twice. After pondering the complaint, the beggar agrees and yells for Macheath's reprieve. The rest of the prisoners join in the chant and mob the turnkey, who comes to investigate the ruckus, allowing Macheath to escape. The highwayman steals a horse from the cart containing his coffin and when safely out of London, sings that his freedom has been returned because of a beggar's opera.

Cast

Production
Olivier received a fee of £50,000, £30,000 of which he deferred because he was interested in working with Peter Brook. While the film was being shot, producer Herbert Wilcox was directing another film, Laughing Anne. Wilcox later wrote that during the film "Larry and I were in complete harmony but we could not get to first base with Peter." He claims Olivier and he constantly offered Brook practical suggestions which were ignored. Olivier was injured during filming performing a stunt. This caused insurance dramas and Wilcox had to pay £31,000 out of his own pocket. Wilcox's fee was £50,000, £30,000 of which was deferred. Alexander Korda provided finance for foreign rights. The film was sold to Jack Warner for $700,000 - who bought it without seeing it - so Korda made a profit but Olivier and Wilcox did not receive their deferred payment.

It was shot at Shepperton Studios outside London. The film's sets were designed by the art director William C. Andrews while Georges Wakhévitch was the costume designer on the production.

References

External links

1953 films
1950s historical musical films
British historical musical films
Films based on operas
Films directed by Peter Brook
Films set in the 1720s
Films about capital punishment
Films set in London
Laurence Olivier
1953 directorial debut films
1950s English-language films
1950s British films
Films shot at Shepperton Studios
British Lion Films films
Warner Bros. films

The Beggar's Opera (film)


HDNet Fights was a US based television outlet for various MMA and combat sports promotions. Its broadcast lineup included DREAM, Sengoku, K-1, Strikeforce, Adrenaline MMA, M-1 Global, Ring of Honor, Maximum Fighting Championship, Affliction Entertainment, Urban Conflict Championship, BAMMA, XFC, Superior Challenge, CFA, Titan Fighting Championships and the now defunct IFL among others. As of February 19, 2010, it has promoted two events of its own and broadcast 60 events by other promotions. After July 2, 2012, when HDNet re-branded itself as AXS TV, HDNet Fights was re-branded as AXS TV Fights.

History
HDNet Fights was founded in 2007 by HDNet owner and founder, billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban, as a staple of programming upon which to base the new network. Cuban has since expressed a desire to present MMA in a manner more in line with other professional sports, saying that he would eliminate ancillary details such as ring card girls. Despite speculation of how personally Cuban himself would be involved in the business and promoting of MMA, he has proven to be a vocal defender of MMA in his blogs and interviews since starting the promotion.

HDNet Fights briefly promoted its own fights.  The first was hosted on October 13, 2007, with the main event being a light-heavyweight contest between Erik Paulson and Jeff Ford.  Its second event, Reckless Abandon, was held two months later.

Inside MMA
In company with the announcement of the new promotion, HDNet also began broadcasting its MMA-focused sports program called Inside MMA. Its first broadcast aired on September 14, 2007, and guests were former UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell and well known MMA fan and actor Kevin James. The show is hosted by Kenny Rice and Bas Rutten. Broadcasts and segments from the show can also be found on HDNet's YouTube subscription, Sherdog.com, and the HDNet Fights website.

Partnership with Dream and World Victory Road
HDNet acquired the rights to air Japanese Fighting and Entertainment Group's MMA promotion Dream and aired it for the first time in the United States with a repeat of Dream 1 on May 2, 2008. A repeat of Dream 2 was aired the following day, while Dream 3 was aired live on May 11. HDNet is scheduled to air all future Dream events.

On February 6, 2009, HDNet also announced they had reached and agreement with another Japanese MMA promotion and competitor to Dream, World Victory Road, to broadcast its "Sengoku"-events in the United States starting with WVR's first event of 2009 on March 20.

References

External links
Official HDNet Fights Site
Inside MMA webcasts

2007 American television series debuts
2012 American television series endings
Mixed martial arts organizations
HDNet original programming

HDNet Fights


Sigfred Ann "Siggie" Nordstrom (June 14, 1893 – December 24, 1980) was an American model, actress, entertainer, socialite and lead singer of The Nordstrom Sisters.

Born in Chicago in 1893 and nicknamed "Siggie", she was the elder daughter of Anna and Alexander Nordstrom. She started out as a hat model in Chicago. First coming to New York City to take a part in Very Good Eddie on Broadway, she retired from show business during her marriage.

The AP picked up on a photograph of her on the ice of Lake Michigan, naming her 'Queen of the Polar Bears'. Her future husband saw the photograph and she always said, "That photograph 'got' my husband!" She  married the head of the Sweets Company of America, (which made the Tootsie Roll), Samuel Ferebee Williams. When he died in 1931, she began performing with her younger sister Dagmar.

They sublet a flat in London for a year in 1939 when they were the resident performers at The Ritz. Shortly after their return to the United States, her sister's song "Remembering You" was published both as sheet music and the full orchestration.

With the exception of their October in Bad Gastein for the baths, they regularly performed either in clubs in New York City or on board transatlantic ocean liners. During the Second World War, they took provisions in their car to Norway and Sweden. During the 1940s, they were often on the radio and through the 1960s, when they were not otherwise engaged as a team, Dagmar would at times take an assignment alone playing in a club.

Siggie was the story teller and kept the 'oral history' alive. She loved to tell of their return from Havana, both with dark tans and wearing all-white, spaghetti-strap long gowns, when as they were being shown to their table at Casino in the Park as the Tavern on the Green was then known, Eddie Duchin looked up from the keyboard, stopped playing, and applauded. Another frequently told story took place toward the end of World War II, when Dagmar had driven them, at some risk, through the Norwegian mountains after delivering supplies when Perle Mesta greeted them, saying, "My hat's off to you girls!"

They maintained an active social life and were the toast of many private parties in New York City until Dagmar's death in 1976. Fracturing a hip in 1977 led to six months rehab in Annapolis, Maryland. She returned to the city and held several large parties, but her mobility limited her increasingly and in 1980 she moved in with "adopted" nephew, David McJonathan-Swarm and his family, in Jefferson, Maryland.

Death
She died on Christmas Eve 1980, was cremated and interred with a memorial to both sisters at Resthaven Memorial Gardens, Frederick County, Maryland.

References

External links

1893 births
1980 deaths
American women pop singers
American socialites
Nightlife in New York City
Singers from Chicago
People from the Upper East Side
People from Frederick County, Maryland
American people of Swedish descent
20th-century American women singers
20th-century American singers

Siggie Nordstrom


The Indianapolis 500 is an automobile race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, which is near Indianapolis, Indiana. It is one of the biggest racing events in the world. Every year more than 200,000 people come there to watch the race. It occurs once a year on the day before Memorial Day. This event gives its name to the IndyCar class, a type of open-wheel race car that races in it. Fans of this race sometimes call the race the Indy 500.

History

The early years

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway complex was built in 1909 as a gravel-and-tar track and hosted an assortment of small events, including ones for motorcycles.

Formula One
IndyCar Series

Indianapolis 500


The flag of Cape Verde was used since September 22, 1992.

Design
The five horizontal (facing left and right) stripes are blue, white, red, white, and blue. The top stripe is half as tall as the flag. The three stripes in the middle are each one-twelfth as tall as the flag. The bottom stripe is one-fourth as tall as the flag.

The middle of the circle of 10 yellow five-pointed stars is on the red stripe. It is three-eighths away from the left side of the flag.

Cape Verde
National symbols of Cape Verde

Flag of Cape Verde


Events
 Åhus, Sweden gains city privileges
 City of Airdrie, Scotland founded
 King Sverker I of Sweden deposed and succeeded by Eric IX of Sweden
 Albrecht the Bear inhabits Brandenburg
 Peter the Lombard publishes Sentences
 University of Paris, now known as the Sorbonne, founded
 During Crusades, city of Ashkelon fortified with 53 towers by Fatimid rulers
 Earl of Bedford created
 Cubbie Roo's Castle built on Wyre, Orkney
 Mersey Ferry begins running between Liverpool and Birkenhead
 Neuruppin city founded in Brandenburg, Germany
 Rinteln city founded in Lower Saxony, Germany
 Middle Dutch begins to be spoken in what is now Benelux
 Joscelin II of Edessa taken prisoner during Second Crusade
 Tuam promoted to a Metropolitan Archdiocese, Ireland
 Earliest textual reference made to Gypsies working as musicians (in Constantinople)
 Castle Rising built in Norfolk, England by William d'Aubigny, 1st Earl of Arundel
 Garcia IV Ramirez ends reign as King of Navarre
 Bishopric of Aberdeen established
 Christian Malone writes Irish Chronology Chronicum Scotorum
 Christchurch Priory founded

Births
 Leo II of Armenia (d. 1229).
 William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber (approximate date; d. 1211).
 Rosamund Clifford, mistress of Henry II of England (approximate date; d. 1176).
 Alix of France, daughter of Louis VII of France (d. 1198).
 Saxo Grammaticus, Danish historian (d. 1220).
 Baldwin V, Count of Hainaut (d. 1195).
 Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury (approximate date; d. 1228).
 Beatrice, Countess of Dia.

Deaths
 Emperor Xizong of Jin, the third ruler of the Jurchen Jin Dynasty
 Suryavarman II, Khmer king, builder of Angkor Wat
 Barisan of Ibelin, figure in the crusader kingdom of Jerusalem
 Pribislav of Brandenburg, last king of the Hevelli (b. c. 1075)

1150


A base on balls (BB) is given to a batter and against a pitcher in baseball statistics when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls balls. It is also known as a walk.

Intentional base on balls
Another version of base on balls is called intentional base on balls (IBB) or intentional walk. This is when the pitcher deliberately pitches the ball away from the batter in order to issue a base on balls. As with any other walk, an intentional walk entitles the batter to first base without being able to be put out, and entitles any runners to advance if forced. Intentional walks are a strategic defensive maneuver, usually done to bypass one hitter for one the defensive team believes is less likely to initiate a run-scoring play (e.g., a home run, sacrifice fly, or RBI base hit), or to set up a double play or force out situation for the next batter. They do carry an inherent risk, however, as they give the offensive team another runner on base, without any effort on their part, who could potentially score a run.

Baseball rules

Base on balls


A plainstane or pavement is a paith, for ordinar makkit oot o concrete (parteecular in the Unitit States), asphalt, brick (parteecular in Europe) or stane, designed for pad traffec an aft rinnin langside a gate. In the 19t centurie an aerlie 20t centurie, thay wis makkit o wid. Widden paiths is yet fund at historic strand locations an in conservation areas for tae protect the laund aneath an aboot, cried boardwalks.

The name plainstanes comes frae stane slabs that are whiles uised for a pavement whaur a bonnie leuk is required, as in historic toun centres. In ither stances, pre-cast concrete slabs (cried pavin slabs or, less correctly, pavin stanes) is uised. Thir micht be littit or textured for tae resemmle stane.

Pavements is mair likely in modren urban areas, whaur thay micht abut the gate, nor suburban areas, whaur thay are whiles sindry frae the gate bi a tree or green.

Pedestrian infrastructur
Street furniture
Fitpaths
Gairden featurs
Pavements
Types o thoroughfares

Plainstane


Events
 June 23 – Henry Hudson's crew maroons him, his son and 7 others in a boat
 November 1 – At Whitehall Palace in London, William Shakespeare's romantic comedy The Tempest is presented for the first time.
 Gustavus Adolphus becomes king of Sweden
 Denmark attacks Sweden
 King James Version of the Bible first published in England
 George Abbot becomes archbishop of Canterbury
 Johannes and David Fabricius discover sunspots
 End of the reign of Emperor Go-Yozei of Japan
 Emperor Go-Mizunoo ascends to the throne of Japan
Gov. Sir Thomas Dale arrives at Jamestown from England announcing new rules called "Laws Divine, Morall and Martial."
 Thomas Dale founds the city of Henricus on the James River a few miles south of present-day Richmond, Virginia

1611


Technetium is a radioactive chemical element that has the chemical symbol Tc and has the atomic number 43. It is the lightest synthetic element.

Chemistry of Technetium
The color of technetium is silvery-grey and is a crystaline metal. In chemistry it is placed in a group of metal elements named the transition metals. The chemistry of technetium is similar to rhenium and manganese.

The isotope 99mTc is used in nuclear medicine. It is used for many diagnostic tests. It has a short half-life. 99Tc is used as a source of beta particles without emitting gamma rays. The ion that has oxygen and technetium bonded together (TcO4-) is named the pertechnetate ion. The pertechnetate ion could be used as to prevent anodic corrosion in steel.

History
Before the element was found, many of the properties of element 43 were predicted by Dmitri Mendeleev. Mendeleev noticed a gap in his periodic table and named the element in the gap eka-manganese. In 1937 the technetium isotope 97Tc was the first element to be artificially produced. This was the reason why he named it Technetium as in Greek, τεχνητος means "artificial". Most technetium made on Earth is a by-product of fission of uranium-235 in nuclear reactors. It is extracted from nuclear fuel rods. On earth, technetium occurs naturally only in uranium ores as a product of spontaneous fission. The amount of technetium in the ore is very small but has been measured. The longest half-life of Technetium is 4.2 million years (98Tc). This means that its detection in red giants in 1952 helped support the theory that stars can produce heavier elements.

Transition metals
Synthetic elements

Technetium


Smart drinks, also known as nootropic drinks, are beverages made from a mix of fruit juices,  vitamins, herbal supplements, and a variety of amino acid supplements.

History
The consumption of smart drinks and "smart drugs" began in the early 1980s when baby boomers started using because they believed these products would improve job performance and give them a competitive edge in the workplace. The popularity of smart drinks peaked during the early 1990s, as all-night techno and house music parties took place, events of the underground dance culture at the time, known as "raves". Rave enthusiasts preferred drugs such as ecstasy, methamphetamine, ketamine, or "poppers" to alcohol. Instead of drinking alcoholic beverages at raves, the dancers would drink smart drinks. Smart drinks not only held a novelty factor for the vibrant social subculture, but they also helped rave promoters by eliminating the need to secure alcohol sales permits and therefore allowed raves to be held outside of the traditional nightclub, bar or pub scene.

Smart drink ingredients often include substances such as DL-phenylalanine or L-phenylalanine, L-tyrosine, choline (trimethylaminoethanol), pyroglutamic acid, B vitamins, glucuronolactone, and DMAE (dimethylaminoethanol). These amino acids were claimed to have positive or enhanced effects on alertness, stress resistance and energy levels. Some of the acids, then considered "foods" and nutritional supplements by government agencies like the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), changed in status and have since been removed from store shelves. Others are still available  when  prescribed by a doctor.

External links

Nootropics
Drinks

Smart drink


G-Book is a telematics subscription service provided by Toyota Motor Corporation in Japan for its Toyota- and Lexus-branded vehicles.  G-Book allows users to link with cellphones (such as the Toshiba T003 cellphone). personal digital assistants (PDA)'s, personal computers (PC) and G-Book equipped cars across Japan.  It is based on the former GAZOO infrastructure (renamed Toyota Media Service Corporation) of Toyota's membership-based information service and membership system, and it provides interactive information services via vehicle installed touch-screen wireless communication terminals. It also incorporates information from Toyota Mapmaster Inc. which updates digital mapping information and is used by various international companies.

The subscription service replaces the need to periodically update in-car navigation systems that use CD, or DVD installed maps that must be updated with the latest information. The maps are sent by internet connections established through the drivers cellphone with a data download plan associated with the cellphone.

A G-Book application can be installed on select mobile devices, thereby providing the technology without having to purchase a vehicle installed with the technology.

A proprietary service with additional functions for the Lexus division, G-Link, debuted on Japan-market Lexus models starting in model year 2006. Toyota made available G-Book devices as optional equipment in all Japanese domestic market Toyota, Daihatsu and Lexus vehicles starting with model year 2007. An article posted by "Response.jp" stated in an article on July 15, 2009 that Toyota was introducing G-Book in a specially identified Toyota Camry to be sold in Beijing, China. As of November 2009 the G-Book-equipped Camry is available in Shanghai as well. G-Book was also introduced on Lexus models in China in 2009.

In Japan (T-Connect Japan ), and recently in Middle East countries (Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar and UAE) T-Connect is being offered as a download from Apple's AppStore and Google Play as a subscription telematics service, which uses the G-Book architecture.

Technology
There are three versions of G-Book being offered; G-Book mX (and G-Book mX Pro), G-Book Alpha (and G-Book Alpha Pro) and G-Book.

Some of the services G-Book offers are a Safety and Security service, which aids in requesting a tow truck and vehicle location service, Live Navigation where an operator gives turn-by-turn directions, Information Service which provides news, weather forecasts and stock market information, Communication Service that offers the ability to send and receive web based e-mail, and post and read on message boards, E-commerce Service, that allows merchandise to be purchased from the GAZOO Shopping Mall, and a live operator is available through OSS (Operator Support Service) for various issues.

One of the features offered exclusively on G-Book mX is Probe Communication Traffic Information. According to the press release from Toyota dated April 10, 2007, "This unique Toyota traffic information service gathers driving data – such as speed and position – from vehicles equipped with G-Book mX to provide drivers with alternate routes for avoiding traffic congestion.  Because it makes use of the on-board DCM (data communications module), the information gathering capability of this service is superior to similar systems, which rely solely on cell phones, and efficiently stores information about traffic congestion in real time at the G-Book Center.  In this way the Probe Communication Traffic Information service supplements Vehicle Information and Communication System (VICS) information with updates on traffic congestion, providing drivers with highly accurate predictions about the current traffic situation and suggestions for the best alternate routes to take." This feature is being marketed as an ability to drive eco-friendly, by helping to avoid pollution created by cars idling in traffic and allowing the driver to reach their destination sooner, and affording the opportunity to turn the car off, limiting emissions being added to the atmosphere.

The wireless communications for Japan-market cars are handled by the DCM and transmits and receives information on the wireless network owned by Japanese telecommunications provider KDDI Corporation headquartered in Okinawa. The cellular platform used is the CDMA2000 1x (CDMA 1X) method, and it is possible to receive up to 144kbit/s data. The same DCM is used for China-market models, thus the network provider for China-market G-Book services is China Telecom. Map updates and music downloads are not available for China-market G-Book-enabled cars, and traffic information is only available in Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen.

G-Book Alpha Pro, mX Pro DCM-only, and CDMA2000 1xEV-DO (CDMA 1X WIN) can send up to 2.4Mbit/s of data, and the DCM supports hands-free calls. The DCM model is also equipped with its own GPS receiver and features, to track a stolen vehicle, and it also has an emergency notification ability to transmit the location of airbag deployment.

Secure Digital (SD) card-compatible terminal
According to a press release from Toyota dated August 28, 2002 "Navigational maps and the on-board terminal's basic software are stored in a Secure Digital (SD) card. The card can be inserted into "E-TOWER" terminals at convenience stores and other locations to download local or new maps or to upgrade the on-board terminal's basic software. Music and games can also be downloaded, and the SD card is compatible with commercially available audio players, digital cameras and PDAs that use SD cards, making it possible to share content such as music files, images and games." E-Tower locations can be found at numerous locations, including Circle K of Japan.

G-Link

Offered at Lexus' Japanese domestic market launch in 2005, G-Link is the proprietary Lexus telematics system for the Japanese market. G-Link has a different software configuration versus G-Book, particularly in its link to the 24-hour Lexus Owner's Desk hotline, and is offered standard for the first three years of ownership. Other aspects of the system at its 2005 launch were based on G-Book Alpha capabilities. The G-Link software runs off of the vehicle's hard disc drive navigation system and song library, and includes traffic updates, HelpNet compatibility, and the G-Security service. The G-Security service includes cellphone notification of vehicle lock and position status.  A G-Sound music distribution service offers samples and downloading to the vehicle's hard disc drive of MP3s from different genres. A U.S. equivalent of the G-Link system with similar but not identical functionality, called Lexus Enform with Safety Connect, was launched in 2009.

In 2006, Japanese media reported that a Lexus-branded cellphone was also being produced with compatibility for the G-Link system.  This cellphone service would be produced in conjunction with the KDDI telecommunications service provider, and is called "au", using Apple and Sony products.

Related versions
Toyota is working with other Japanese car manufacturers, such as Mitsubishi, Subaru and Daihatsu to provide the service in the Japanese language. Mazda has also agreed to offer the service in Japan, with an intent to install the service starting with the 2005 model. Competing services are called "Nissan Car Wings", and Internavi "Internavi Premium Club (Japanese)" by Honda. In the U.S., the Safety Connect system was produced based on the G-Book system architecture, with similar functionality, along with an expanded Lexus Enform service.

The G-Book feature is similar to "W44T" offered in Japan by Toshiba, and "Pipit" in an agreement with Toyota and Willcom in Japan.

See also
()
()
Bluetooth
BMW Assist
CarWings
Fiat Blue&Me
Ford Sync
GM MyLink
Hyundai Blue Link
Internavi
Kia UVO
Mercedes COMAND APS
Microsoft Auto
MSN Direct
MyFord Touch
OnStar
Toyota Entune (USA)
Vehicle-to-vehicle

References

External links

 Mazda G-Book  official website
 Subaru G-Book  official website
 G-Book listing  - list of all Toyota vehicles that have G-Book offered as an option
 Lexus G-Link - official website for the Lexus telematics service
 G-Link listing - list of Lexus vehicles and Bluetooth compatibility with G-Link
 Overview of Toyota's G-Book telematics service

Vehicle technology
Vehicle telematics
Automotive technology tradenames
Wireless
Lexus
Toyota
Information systems
Warning systems
Road transport in Japan
Intelligent transportation systems
Telecommunications-related introductions in 2006
Audiovisual introductions in 2006
Japanese inventions
2006 establishments in Japan

G-Book


The Zoological Museum Amsterdam (ZMA) was a natural history museum located close to Oosterpark in Amsterdam, Netherlands. It was part of the Faculty of Science, Mathematics and Computer Science (Science) of the University of Amsterdam.

It was one of the two major natural history museums in the Netherlands. The total collection included approximately 13 million objects and was used mainly for scientific purposes. In addition to the museum function of the management and conservation of collections and exhibition, it was also a major scientific and (university) education function. At the Aquarium Building Artis Department organized exhibitions around the theme of human nature. The museum was divided into three sections - Vertebrates, Invertebrates and Entomology - and two departments, Exhibitions and Biodiversity Informatics.

In 2011, the collection of the Zoological Museum was merged into that of Naturalis and the National Herbarium of the Netherlands in NCB Naturalis (Dutch Centre for Biodiversity), launched on 26 January 2010. To highlight the move, the Naturalis museum has an exhibition on "Naturalia, circus animals to scientific object", in which objects from the collection of the ZMA are displayed, between 14 October 2011 and 19 August 2012.

References

External links
 Zoological Museum Amsterdam

Defunct museums in the Netherlands
Museums in Amsterdam
Natural History Museum, London
Natural history museums in the Netherlands
University of Amsterdam
University museums in the Netherlands

Zoological Museum Amsterdam


The Site   is an hour-long TV program devoted to the Internet revolution. It debuted in July 1996 with MSNBC's launch, and aired Monday through Saturday, reaching 35 million homes. Soledad O'Brien hosted The Site, along with her animated co-host Dev Null, voiced by Leo Laporte.

The Site covered technology in all forms, from technical aspects to news and culture. The show was sometimes billed as "the Net's evening news" . Guests included musical artists, authors and columnists, who spoke about the impact of technology on their work.

History

The NBC News executive in charge of creating The Site was David Bohrman, who was also the network's Executive Producer of Special Events and Breaking News. Bohrman was sent out to San Francisco to create and launch the program. His hiring of O'Brien is described in her book, The Next Big Story: My Journey Through the Land of Possibilities. The idea of Dev Null was also Bohrman's (after experimenting with virtual set technology at NBC the year before). Leo Laporte wore a motion suit, had an IFB earpiece, so he could hear O'Brien, and his animated image was rendered in real-time by an Onyx SGI computer. The artwork for Dev was designed by Protozoa.

The Site won many awards and was named the best broadcast on internet and high
technology. It also was the first television show to have an award-winning
website. One reviewer hailed The Site as the best program on the fledgling MSNBC. The show gained Soledad O'Brien Internet fame and the nickname "Goddess of the Geeks." while Lloyd Grove in The Washington Post dubbed her "television's first cyberbabe."

The Site was preempted for two weeks in favour of news programs during the death of Diana, Princess of Wales during September 1997. It was never brought back, and the show was pulled without a send-off. Many fans of the show petitioned MSNBC to bring it back to no avail. The Site was reincarnated as The Screen Savers less than one year later, hosted by Leo Laporte beginning with the launch in May 1998 of the new cable network ZDTV (Ziff-Davis Television), until its cancellation after the takeover by Comcast.

The Site was a forerunner to an entire technology channel called ZDTV, later renamed TechTV, which merged to become G4. After The Site was cancelled by MSNBC, and the show's staff were rehired by the parent company, Ziff-Davis, to launch ZDTV. The new channel was devoted to digital technology, and it was substantially an extension of the themes presented by The Site. The channel gained in popularity and was rebranded to TechTV in 2001.

Key contributors and on-air regulars
Cliff Stoll, Denise Caruso, Leo Laporte, John C. Dvorak, Matthew Hawn, John Gilles, Ali Hossaini, Shauna Sampson David Bohrman and animated character Dev Null. Broadcast designers Victoria Webb, Susan Roderick and Executive Producer Nancy Juliber were integral to the on-air team, winning several BDA awards for work. Richard Stutting was Art Director for the award-winning website. Victoria Webb enlisted 3RingCircus to provide the network package for ZDTV.

A nightly five-minute segment in which O'Brien engaged in spontaneous tech talk with a virtual reality cartoon character, Dev Null, was animated in real time on Silicon Graphics computers. The character was in fact ZDTV journalist Leo Laporte, who did the voice and actions while wearing a motion capture suit. When O'Brien sat at an espresso bar to read email from viewers, Dev Null flirted with her while answering her computer questions. She recalled, "One of the reasons that segment of the show worked is that I could not see him as I was talking to him, and the segment was unscripted. He was funny, and his jokes were not gags."

Producers on The Site, many of whom got their start in television there, eventually became executives at other innovative channels, including LinkTV, Oxygen Media, G4 and LAB HD.

Regular writers and columnists
Richard Kadrey, Kevin Poulsen; Joel Deane, John Gilles, Ali Hossaini, Matthew Hawn, Kevin Kennis (Kevin the Kid Tester) and Shauna Sampson

Executive producers
Kathy Moore, Suzanne Stefanac

External links

American non-fiction television series
MSNBC original programming
1990s American television news shows
1996 American television series debuts
1997 American television series endings
English-language television shows

The Site


The Vienna Symphony () is an orchestra in Vienna, Austria.

History
The orchestra was formed in 1900 by the conductor Ferdinand Löwe.  It was then called the Wiener Concertverein (Vienna Concert Society).  In 1913 it moved into the Konzerthaus, Vienna.  In 1919 it joined with the Tonkünstler Orchestra.  In 1933 it got the name it has today: Vienna Symphony (Wiener Symphoniker).

During World War II the Nazis forced them to be part of the German Culture Orchestras and they were used for propaganda.  They stopped playing in 1944.

Their first concert after the war was on 16 September 1945, when they performed Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 3. Their conductor Josef Krips quickly helped them to become a great orchestra.  From 1946 they were often conducted by Herbert von Karajan who toured with them throughout Europe and North America. In 1959 the VSO performed for Pope John XXIII at Vatican City.

When Wolfgang Sawallisch became their conductor he toured with them to the United States and Japan.

Today Fabio Luisi is their chief conductor.

Chief conductors

1900-1925 Ferdinand Löwe
1920s-1930s Wilhelm Furtwängler (as director of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde)
1933-1940s Oswald Kabasta
1946-1948 Hans Swarowsky
1948-1960 Herbert von Karajan (as director of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde)
1960-1970 Wolfgang Sawallisch
1970-1973 Josef Krips (artistic advisor)
1973-1976 Carlo Maria Giulini
1980-1982 Gennady Rozhdestvensky
1986-1991 Georges Prêtre (principal guest conductor)
1991-1996 Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos
1997-2005 Vladimir Fedoseyev
2005-present Fabio Luisi

Related pages
 Vienna Philharmonic

Other websites
 History of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra

Orchestras
Vienna

Vienna Symphony


Carlton Joseph Huntley Hayes (May 16, 1882 – September 2, 1964) was an American historian, educator, diplomat, devout Catholic and academic. A student of European history, he was a leading and pioneering specialist on the study of nationalism. He was elected as president of the American Historical Association over the opposition of liberals and the more explicit Anti-Catholic bias that defined the academic community of his era.  He served as United States Ambassador to Spain in World War II. Although he came under attack from the CIO and others on the left that rejected any dealings with Francoist Spain, Hayes succeeded in his mission to keep Spain neutral during the war.

Life and career
Hayes was born to a Baptist family in upstate New York, the son of Permelia Mary (née Huntley) and Philetus Arthur Hayes. He graduated from Columbia College in 1904. In 1903 he became an active member of his fraternity, Alpha Chi Rho, he remained an involved member over his lifetime. He earned his Ph.D degree at Columbia in 1909 with a thesis on the Germanic invasion of the Roman Empire. The thesis, ""An Introduction to the Sources Relating to the Germanic Invasion," which was supervised by James Harvey Robinson, was published by Columbia University Press in 1909. He became lecturer at Columbia in European History in 1907, then was promoted subsequently to assistant professor (1910), associate professor (1915), and full professor (1919).

Historian
In 1904 he converted to Catholicism, and later went on to be the first Roman Catholic co-chairman of the National Conference of Christians and Jews alongside Everett Clinchy and Roger Williams Strauss, serving as co-chairman 1928 to 1946 despite a 1928 papal encyclical which explicitly prohibited such ecumenical interactions. He was chairman of Columbia's History department several times. After World War I, he joined with Peter Guilday in establishing the American Catholic Historical Association and became its first secretary. Its goal was to promote Catholic history and to integrate Catholic scholars into the wider academic world.

Hayes was influenced by Charles A. Beard, a proponent of the "New History", which emphasized the importance of cultural economic developments as opposed to just warfare and diplomacy. Hayes argued the New History demonstrated that Original Sin was integral to human existence. His two-volume Political and Cultural History of Europe, long a major textbook, is filled with examples of such thought, none more so than his discussion of the Industrial Revolution in England. Hayes also developed the historical interpretation of nationalism and was known as the Father of Nationalism, inspiring many students to research in this field. He was an advocate of democratic social reform. His research interests shifted after 1914, and increasingly focused on nationalism, which he denounced as one of history's great evils; he said that along with imperialism and militarism, nationalism had caused World War I. Hayes was an internationalist, unlike Beard, and opposed isolationism in the 1930s while denouncing totalitarianism.

In his 1945 presidential address to the American Historical Association, titled "The American Frontier—Frontier of What?", he urged Americans to see their nation as the western frontier of Europe. The Founders had maintained "lively contacts with, and solid knowledge of, the European civilization on whose boundaries they were". In the 19th century, with massive immigration from Europe, "Americans" took a different path from Europeans, becoming a nation of diverse linguistic, religious and ethnic origins, with each group desperate to be accepted. While nationalism in Europe emerged from an appreciation for the cultural or political achievements of one's compatriots, American nationalism encouraged fresh cultural and political developments. Hayes concluded that this had produced an intense, and often artificial form of nationalism, that served to "inoculate us against Europe and built up an isolationist state of mind".

During World War I, he served at the rank of captain in the United States Military Intelligence Division of the General Staff from 1918 to 1919. Nine years later, under the direction of General Connor, the head of the War Department, he was asked to serve on an advisory committee of historians to organize documents pertaining to the American participation in the fighting in France. This earned him the title of major. In the 1930s, he was a member of the Catholic Association for International Peace. He served a term as president of the American Historical Association in 1945 and was head of the New York State Historical Association in Cooperstown. He was also a member of the American Philosophical Society.

Hayes was awarded the Laetare Medal from Notre Dame in 1946, the Alexander Hamilton medal from Columbia University in 1952, and the Gibbons Medal from The Catholic University of America in 1949. He was a guest lecturer and teacher at various academic institutions throughout his career and into his retirement and was given honorary degrees from the following institutions:
 University of Notre Dame, 1921
 Marquette University, 1929
 Niagara College, 1936
 Williams College, 1939
 Fordham University, 1946
 University of Detroit, 1950
 Georgetown University, 1953
 Michigan State University, 1955
 LeMoyne College, 1960

Ambassador to Spain
From 1942 to 1945, Hayes served as US ambassador to Spain. He was attacked at the time from the left for being overly friendly with Francisco Franco, but it has been generally held that he played a vital role in preventing Spain from siding with the Axis powers during the war. Historian Andrew N. Buchanan posits that Hayes made Spain into "Washington's 'silent ally'." In 1945 President Roosevelt wrote him saying: "You have carried out a mission of great difficulty with outstanding success and in doing so you have made a contribution to the war effort of the highest importance".

Historian Emmet Kennedy rejects allegations that Hayes was an admirer of Franco. Instead he was "a tough critic of the caudillo's 'fascism'". Hayes played a central role in rescuing 40,000 refugees – French, British, Jews and others from Hitler. He helped them cross the Pyrenees into Spain and onward to North Africa. He made Spain "a haven from Hitler". In retirement, Kennedy finds, Hayes advocated patient diplomacy, rather than ostracism or subversion of Francoist Spain. That was the policy adopted by President Eisenhower as Franco led Spain into an alliance with the U.S. in the 1950s.

Historian Holly Cowan Shulman wrote:

Hayes, whom President Franklin Roosevelt appointed in March 1942, was a choice necessitated by Spanish politics. The Franco regime would not have tolerated either a non-Catholic or a liberal. Hayes was an active Catholic who believed that Franco's government should not be ideologically grouped with the Axis countries. Put more bluntly, Hayes believed that Francisco Franco was less repressive and totalitarian than either Adolf Hitler or Benito Mussolini, and that Franco could be converted into an American ally.

Death
He died of a heart ailment, at Sidney Hospital, Sidney, New York on September 2, 1964, aged 82, and laid to rest at Glenwood Cemetery in Afton, New York. He was survived by his wife, Mary Evelyn (née Carroll) and their children, Mary Elizabeth Tucker and Carroll J. Hayes. His great-grandson is actor Jonathan Tucker.

Works
Hayes wrote 27 books and numerous articles and book reviews. His textbooks on European history went through numerous editions and sold upwards of a million copies, making Hayes wealthy.
 Sources Relating to Germanic Invasions (1909)
 British Social Politics (1913)
 ;
 "The History of German Socialism Reconsidered", American Historical Review (1917): 62–101. online
 Brief History of the Great War (1920)
 Essays on Nationalism (1926)
 "Contributions of Herder to the Doctrine of Nationalism", American Historical Review (1927): 719–736. in JSTOR
 Modern History, Macmillan, 1928
 Ancient and Medieval History, MacMillan Company, 1929
 France, A Nation of Patriots (1930)
 The Historical Evolution of Modern Nationalism (1931)
 A Political and Cultural History of Modern Europe, Macmillan, (2 vols. 1932–1936; rev. ed., 1939)
 "The novelty of totalitarianism in the history of Western civilization", Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society (1940): 91–102. in JSTOR
 A Generation of Materialism, 1871–1900, Harper & Brothers, 1941 excerpt
 Wartime Mission in Spain (1945) a.k.a. Wartime Mission in Spain, 1942–1945, by Carlton J.(osef). H(untley). Hayes, late American ambassador to Spain. New York, Macmillan, 1945. VIII - 313 pages. Spanish translation: ed. Epesa, Madrid, 1946.
 "The American Frontier—Frontier of What?" (Presidential address delivered at the annual meeting in Washington, D.C., on December 27, 1945), American Historical Review 50:2 (January 1946): 199–216. online

 The Historical Evolution of Modern Nationalism, Macmillan, 1955
 Nationalism: A Religion, Macmillan, 1960
 Contemporary Europe since 1870, Macmillan, 1965

Co-author

 Modern History (high-school textbook), 1929, with Parker Thomas Moon, Macmillan Company
 History of Western Civilization, 1962, with Marshall Whitehead Baldwin and Charles Woolsey Cole, Macmillan

References

Further reading
 Halstead, Charles R. "Historians in Politics: Carlton J.H. Hayes as American Ambassador to Spain 1942-45", Journal of Contemporary History (1975): 383–405. Profile, JSTOR.org; accessed July 13, 2014.
 Kennedy, Emmet. "Ambassador Carlton J. H. Hayes's Wartime Diplomacy: Making Spain a Haven from Hitler", Diplomatic History (2012) 36#2, pp 237–260. online
 Moses, H. Vincent. "Nationalism and the Kingdom of God According to Hans Kohn and Carlton J. H. Hayes", Journal of Church & State (1975) 17#2, pp 259–274.
 Shanley, John Joseph. "The Story of Carlton Hayes", The University Bookman Volume 47, Number 1 (Winter 2010)
 Willson, John P. "Carlton J. H. Hayes, Spain, and the Refugee Crisis, 1942–1945", American Jewish Historical Quarterly (1972) 62#2, pp 99–110.
 "Dr. Carlton J.H. Hayes, 82, Dies; Historian Was Envoy to Spain; Credited With Keeping Franco Out of the War; Taught at Columbia 1907-50," The New York Times, September 4, 1964, p 29.

External links

1882 births
1964 deaths
American political writers
American male non-fiction writers
20th-century American historians
People from Afton, New York
Presidents of the American Historical Association
Columbia College (New York) alumni
United States Army officers
Scholars of nationalism
United States Army personnel of World War I
Ambassadors of the United States to Spain
Laetare Medal recipients
Converts to Roman Catholicism from Baptist denominations
Catholics from New York (state)
20th-century American male writers
Historians from New York (state)
20th-century American diplomats

Carlton J. H. Hayes


Rangpur is one of the major cities in Bangladesh. Rangpur is the centre of northwestern Bangladesh. Rangpur used to be the headquarter of Greater Rangpur district. Later the Greater Rangpur district was broken down into Rangpur, Kurigram, Nilphamari, Lalmonirhat and Gaibandha districts. A public university "Begum Rokeya University, Rangpur" was recently started in the southern part of the city.

Places of interest
 Tajhat Palace is at Tajhat, the southern end of Rangpur city. In 2004, it was largely fixed and turned into a museum.
 Carmichael College is in the southern part of the city.  It is just a few minutes drive from the city centre.
 Rangpur Zilla School, formed more than a century ago.

Education
Major schools in the city include:

Begum Rokeya College
Carmichael College
Colectorate School and College
Policelines School and College
Rangpur Cadet College
Rangpur Cantonment Public College
Rangpur Government College
Rangpur Medical College
Rangpur Polytechnic Institute
Rangpur University
Rangpur Zilla School

Notable residents
William Beveridge, British economist who wrote the Beveridge Report.
Begum Rokeya Shakhawat Hossain who was most famous for her efforts on behalf of gender equality and other social issues.
Hussain Muhammad Ershad, former President of Bangladesh.
Nasir Hossain, prominent Bangladeshi all-round cricketer.
Anisul Hoque, author, novelist, dramatist, and journalist.

Cities in Bangladesh
Rangpur Division

Rangpur, Bangladesh


The term Extravagantes (from the Latin extra, outside; vagari, to wander) is applied to the canon law of the Roman Catholic Church, to designate some papal decretals not contained in certain canonical collections which possess a special authority. More precisely, they are not found in Gratian's Decretum or the three official collections of the Corpus Juris Canonici (the Decretals of Gregory IX, the Sixth Book of the Decretals, and the Clementines).

History

The term was first applied to those papal documents which Gratian had not inserted in his "Decree" (about 1140), but which, however, were binding upon the whole Church, also to other decretals of a later date, and possessed of the same authority. Bernardus Papiensis designated under the name of "Breviarium Extravagantium", or Digest of the "Extravagantes", the collection of papal documents which he compiled between 1187 and 1191. Even the Decretals of Gregory IX (published 1234) were long known as the "Liber" or "Collectio Extra", i.e. the collection of the canonical laws not contained in the "Decree" of Gratian. This term is now applied to the collections known as the "Extravagantes Joannis XXII" and the "Extravagantes communes", both of which are found in all editions of the "Corpus Juris Canonici".

When Pope John XXII (1316-1334) published the decretals known as the Clementines, there already existed some pontifical documents binding upon the whole Church but not included in the "Corpus Juris". This is why these Decretals were called "Extravagantes". Their number was increased by the inclusion of all the pontifical laws of later date, added to the manuscripts of the "Corpus Juris", or gathered into separate collections. In 1325 Zenselinus de Cassanis added a gloss to twenty constitutions of Pope John XXII, and named this collection "Viginti Extravagantes pap Joannis XXII".

The others were known as "Extravagantes communes", a title given to the collection by Jean Chappuis in the Paris edition of the "Corpus Juris" (1499 1505). He adopted the systematic order of the official collections of canon law, and classified in a similar way the "Extravagantes" commonly met with (hence "Extravagantes communes") in the manuscripts and editions of the Corpus Juris. This collection contains decretals of the following popes the regnal years of whom span two hundred years, from 1281 to 1482: Martin IV, Boniface VIII (notably the celebrated Bull Unam Sanctam), Benedict XI, Clement V, John XXII, Benedict XII, Clement VI, Urban V, Martin V, Eugene IV, Callistus III, Paul II, Sixtus IV. Chappuis also classified the "Extravagantes" of John XXII under fourteen titles, containing in all twenty chapters.

These two collections have no official value. On the other hand, many of the decretals included in them contain legislation binding upon the whole Church, e.g. the Constitution of Paul II, "Ambitios", which forbade the alienation of ecclesiastical goods. This, however, is not true of all of them; some had even been formally abrogated at the time when Chappuis made his collection; three decretals of John XXII, are reproduced in both collections.

Both the collections were printed in the official (1582) edition of the Corpus Juris Canonici. This explains the favour they enjoyed among canonists.

See also
Spondent Pariter - a papal decretal which falls into this category issued by Pope John XXII forbidding alchemy.

References

Canon law codifications
Medieval law
Latin words and phrases

Extravagantes


Princess Daisy (sometimes called Daisy) is a character from the Mario video games series. She is the Princess of Sarasaland.  Princess Daisy is the second major female of the Mario series next to Princess Peach.

Characteristics

Is tomboyish and cheerful.
Has bouncy orange-colored hair.
Has blue eyes.
Likes the colors orange, yellow and green.
Wears dresses, but also likes to wear other types of clothing.
Aggressive in both Mario Kart and Mario Strikers games.
Is best friends with Princess Peach.
 Uses English accents and slang.
 Does air kisses after winning.
 After removing the void underneath her dress in Smash Bros Ultimate, it's revealed that her underwear is yellow.
 Has a rivalry with Blaze the Cat from the Sonic franchise.

Playable appearances
 Mario Tennis (2000)
 Mario Party 3 (2000)
 Mario Party 4 (2002)
 Mario Party-e (2003)
 Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour (2003)
 Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (2003)
 Mario Party 5 (2003)
 Super Mario Fushigi no Korokoro Party (2004) (Japan only)
 Mario Power Tennis (2004)
 Mario Party 6 (2004)
 Yakuman DS (2005) (Japan only)
 Mario Superstar Baseball (2005)
 Super Mario Fushigi no Korokoro Party 2 (2005) (Japan only)
 Mario Party 7 (2005)
 Mario Kart DS (2005)
 Super Mario Strikers (2005)
 Mario Hoops 3-on-3 (2006)
 Wi-Fi Taiō Yakuman DS (2006) (Japan only)
 Mario Strikers Charged (2007)
 Mario Party 8 (2007)
 Itadaki Street DS  (2007) (Japan only)
 Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (2007)
 Mario Party DS (2007)
 Mario Kart Wii (2008)
 Mario Super Sluggers (2008)
 Mario Party Fushigi no Korokoro Catcher (2009) (Japan only)
 Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (2009)
 Mario Sports Mix (2010)
 Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games (2011)
 Mario Kart 7 (2011)
 Fortune Street (2011)
 Mario Party 9 (2012)
 Mario Party Whirling Carnival (2012) (Japan only)
 Mario Tennis Open (2012)
 Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games (2013)
 Mario Party: Island Tour (2013)
 Mario Golf: World Tour (2014)
 Mario Kart 8 (2014)
 Mario Party 10 (2015)
 Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash (2015)

Appearances

In her first appearance, Daisy had pale skin, long, orange hair, a red crown and a white pattern on her dress. Her appearance in the NES Open Tournament Golf. is more or less the same, aside from her hair now being more of an auburn color. In later games, such as Mario Tennis and Mario Party 3, her appearance was changed, giving her a rounder face, a slightly darker skin tone, and a daisy-motif for her accessories, with flower jewels appearing on her crown, earrings and brooch. The daisy-motif has stuck ever since, though it should be noted that the daisy-motif was seen in her concept art for Super Mario Land.

In Mario Party 4, Daisy's character design was altered yet again, giving her shorter hair, a new dress design, and once again a paler skin tone. Nowadays, Daisy no longer has pale skin. Instead it is now more of a pink tone. Princess Daisy and Princess Peach also have different gloves; while Peach's gloves end at around mid-triceps, Daisy's gloves end at the wrists. Daisy looks equal in height to Peach, though she may appear shorter in some games. In her early game appearances, Daisy wore a red crown, and during some of the Nintendo 64 games she wore a pink crown. Nowadays she wears a gold one, the same as Peach.

In most of her game appearances, Daisy has worn a yellow and/or orange color scheme, usually in the form of a collared dress, with white and orange accents, meant to match that of Peach's pink-themed fashion just as Luigi's outfit does to Mario's.

In Mario sports titles, Daisy and Peach are the only two characters to always wear different outfits from their regular ones. She is usually depicted in her orange underwear with a yellow shirt and daisy accessories and her pants down which are called white socks. In Super Mario Strikers, Daisy wears a two-piece outfit. In Mario Hoops 3-on-3, Daisy normally appears in her usual sports outfit but has a second unlockable costume. In Mario Strikers Charged, she pretty much looks the same as in Super Mario Strikers, but she has cover herself up with armor plating along with other characters, leaving a quarter of her leg and her belly exposed.

Movies
Princess Daisy appears as one of the main characters in the Super Mario Bros. film. She is played by Samantha Mathis.

Mario's younger brother Luigi (John Leguizamo) falls in love archaeologist Daisy. She is kidnapped by the Koopa Cousins, Iggy and Spike, and taken to the another dimension called Dinohattan, a land where dinosaurs evolved to become the main species. Dinohattan is ruled by Koopa (Dennis Hopper), who took over Daisy's father by transforming him into a fungus using a de-evolution gun. Daisy had a piece of meteorite that could be used to merge Dinohattan and Manhattan so Koopa could take over the human world.

After the Mario Bros. defeat Koopa, Daisy stays behind in Dinohattan to help her restored father. The movie ends with Daisy showing up at Mario and Luigi's apartment to alert them that there is a problem, apparently setting up a never-made sequel.

Fictional characters introduced in 1989
Mario series characters

Princess Daisy


In linguistics, homonyms are words which are either homographs—words that have the same spelling (regardless of pronunciation)—or homophones—words that have the same pronunciation (regardless of spelling)—or both. Using this definition, the words row (propel with oars), row (a linear arrangement) and row (an argument) are homonyms because they are homographs (though only the first two are homophones): so are the words see (vision) and sea (body of water), because they are homophones (though not homographs).

A more restrictive and technical definition requires that homonyms be simultaneously homographs and homophones – that is to say they have identical spelling and pronunciation, but with different meanings. Examples are the pair stalk (part of a plant) and stalk (follow/harass a person) and the pair left (past tense of leave) and left (opposite of right).

A distinction is sometimes made between true homonyms, which are unrelated in origin, such as skate (glide on ice) and skate (the fish), and polysemous homonyms, or polysemes, which have a shared origin, such as mouth (of a river) and mouth (of an animal).

The relationship between a set of homonyms is called homonymy, and the associated adjective is homonymous, homonymic, or in latin, equivocal.

The adjective "homonymous" can additionally be used wherever two items share the same name, independent of how closely they are or are not related in terms of their meaning or etymology. For example, the name Ōkami is homonymous with the Japanese term for "wolf" (ōkami).

Etymology
The word homonym comes from the Greek ὁμώνυμος (homonymos), meaning "having the same name",  compounded from ὁμός (homos) 'common, same, similar' and ὄνομα (onoma) 'name'.

Related terms

Several similar linguistic concepts are related to homonymy. These include:

 Homographs (literally "same writing") are usually defined as words that share the same spelling, regardless of how they are pronounced. If they are pronounced the same then they are also homophones (and homonyms) – for example, bark (the sound of a dog) and bark (the skin of a tree). If they are pronounced differently then they are also heteronyms – for example, bow (the front of a ship) and bow (a ranged weapon).
 Homophones (literally "same sound") are usually defined as words that share the same pronunciation, regardless of how they are spelled. If they are spelled the same then they are also homographs (and homonyms); if they are spelled differently then they are also heterographs (literally "different writing"). Homographic examples include rose (flower) and rose (past tense of rise). Heterographic examples include  to, too, two, and there, their, they're. Due to their similar yet non-identical pronunciation in American English, ladder and latter do not qualify as homophones, but rather synophones.
 Heteronyms (literally "different name") are the subset of homographs (words that share the same spelling) that have different pronunciations (and meanings). Such words include desert (to abandon) and desert (arid region); tear (to rip) and tear (a drop of moisture formed in one eye); row (to argue or an argument) and row (as in to row a boat or a row of seats – a pair of homophones).  Heteronyms are also sometimes called heterophones (literally "different sound").
Polysemes are words with the same spelling and distinct but related meanings.  The distinction between polysemy and homonymy is often subtle and subjective, and not all sources consider polysemous words to be homonyms.  Words such as mouth, meaning either the orifice on one's face, or the opening of a cave or river, are polysemous and may or may not be considered homonyms.
Capitonyms are words that share the same spelling but have different meanings when capitalized (and may or may not have different pronunciations). Such words include polish (make shiny) and Polish (from Poland); march (walk in step) and March (the third month of the Year) and the pair: reading (using a book) and Reading (towns in, among other places, England).

Further examples

A homonym which is both a homophone and a homograph is fluke, meaning:
A fish, and a flatworm.
The end parts of an anchor.
The fins on a whale's tail.
A stroke of luck.
These meanings represent at least three etymologically separate lexemes, but share the one form, fluke. Fluke is also a capitonym, in that Fluke Corporation (commonly referred to as simply "Fluke") is a manufacturer of industrial testing equipment.

Similarly, a river bank, a savings bank,  a bank of switches, and a bank shot in the game of pool share a common spelling and pronunciation, but differ in meaning.

The words bow and bough are examples where there are two meanings associated with a single pronunciation and spelling (the weapon and the knot); two meanings with two different pronunciations (the knot and the act of bending at the waist), and two distinct meanings sharing the same sound but different spellings (bow, the act of bending at the waist, and bough, the branch of a tree). In addition, it has several related but distinct meanings – a bent line is sometimes called a 'bowed' line, reflecting its similarity to the weapon.  Even according to the most restrictive definitions, various pairs of sounds and meanings of bow, Bow and bough are homonyms, homographs, homophones, heteronyms, heterographs, capitonyms and are polysemous.

bow – a long stick with horse hair that is used to play certain string instruments such as the violin
bow – to bend forward at the waist in respect (e.g. "bow down")
bow – the front of the ship (e.g. "bow and stern")
bow – a kind of tied ribbon (e.g. bow on a present, a bowtie)
bow – to bend outward at the sides (e.g. a "bow-legged" cowboy)
Bow – a district in London
bow – a weapon to shoot projectiles with (e.g. a bow and arrow)

A lime can refer to a fruit or a material. A mold (mould) can refer to a fungus or an industrial cast.

The words there, their, and they're are examples of three words that are of a singular pronunciation, have different spellings and vastly different meanings. These three words are commonly misused (or, alternatively, misspelled).

there – "The bow shot the arrow there," he said as he pointed.
their – "It was their bow and arrow." the Mother said.
they're – They're not going to get to shoot the bow again after puncturing the tire (tyre) on Daddy's car. (Contraction of They and Are.)

The words metal and mettle are polysemes and homophones, but not homographs.

Homonyms in historical linguistics
Homonymy can lead to communicative conflicts and thus trigger lexical (onomasiological) change. This is known as homonymic conflict.  This leads to a species of informal fallacy of thought and argument called by the latin name equivocation.

See also

 False friends, words from different languages that appear similar but differ in meaning
 Synonyms, different words with identical or very similar meanings (conceptual inversion of "homonym")
 Riddle
 Word play

Notes

References

Further reading

Types of words

Homonym


The concept of original sin refers generally to the Christian belief in the universal nature of sin. Original sin is considered to be the result of the story of Adam and Eve in The Bible.  In that story (Genesis 3), God only made one rule for them: They must not eat fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. But the snake told Eve, that eating the fruit would make Eve like God. Eve then persuaded Adam to eat the fruit. After they had broken  God's only rule, they were removed from the Garden of Eden.

Then Genesis tells the story of how their oldest son Cain killed his brother Abel. Based mostly on this and many other stories and passages in the Bible and Saint Paul's statement in Romans 5:12 (Sin entered the world because one man, Adam, sinned, and death came because of sin. Everyone sinned, so death came to all people.--NIV), Christians traditionally believe that no human is without sin.

More specifically the term "original sin" refers to the state of being part of the human race. Every human is born with sin. Salvation can only be obtained through faith.

This was first explained fully by Saint Augustine in his writings against the Pelagians. The Eastern Orthodox Churches do not believe in this specific doctrine of Original Sin.

Christian theology

Original sin


The Age of Intelligent Machines is a non-fiction book about artificial intelligence by inventor and futurist Ray Kurzweil. This was his first book and the Association of American Publishers named it the Most Outstanding Computer Science Book of 1990. It was reviewed in The New York Times and The Christian Science Monitor. The format is a combination of monograph and anthology with contributed essays by artificial intelligence experts such as Daniel Dennett, Douglas Hofstadter, and Marvin Minsky.

Kurzweil surveys the philosophical, mathematical and technological roots of artificial intelligence, starting with the assumption that a sufficiently advanced computer program could exhibit human-level intelligence. Kurzweil argues the creation of humans through evolution suggests that humans should be able to build something more intelligent than themselves. He believes pattern recognition, as demonstrated by vision, and knowledge representation, as seen in language, are two key components of intelligence. Kurzweil details how quickly computers are advancing in each domain.

Driven by the exponential improvements in computer power, Kurzweil believes artificial intelligence will be possible and then commonplace. He explains how it will impact all areas of people's lives, including work, education, medicine, and warfare. As computers acquire human level faculties Kurzweil says people will be challenged to figure out what it really means to be human.

Background

Ray Kurzweil is an inventor and serial entrepreneur. In 1990 when this book was published he had already started three companies: Kurzweil Computer Products, Kurzweil Music Systems, and Kurzweil Applied Intelligence. The companies developed and sold reading machines for the blind, music synthesizers, and speech recognition software respectively. Optical character recognition, which he used in the reading machine, and speech recognition are both featured centrally in the book as examples of pattern recognition problems. After the publication of The Age of Intelligent Machines he expanded on its ideas with two follow-on books: The Age of Spiritual Machines and the best selling The Singularity is Near.

Content

Definition and history

Kurzweil starts by trying to define artificial intelligence. He leans towards Marvin Minsky's "moving frontier" formulation: "the study of computer problems which have not yet been solved". Then he struggles with defining intelligence itself and concludes "there appears to be no simple definition of intelligence that is satisfactory to most observers". That leads to a discussion about whether evolution, the process, could be considered intelligent.

Kurzweil concludes that evolution is intelligent, but with an IQ only "infinitesimally greater than zero". He penalizes evolution for the extremely long time it takes to create its designs. The human brain operates much more quickly, evidenced by the rate of progress in the last few thousand years, so the brain is more intelligent than its creator. Kurzweil concludes from this that there is no theoretical reason why the human brain cannot create something more intelligent than itself, and suggests "a sufficient number of decades or centuries into the future" humans will in fact be surpassed by their creations.

The field of artificial intelligence presupposes that the human brain is a machine, and that an alternative implementation could be built, as a computer program, which would have the same faculties as the real thing. Kurzweil traces the philosophical underpinnings of this tenet, as well as the opposing view that properties such as consciousness and free will are unique to the human mind. Kurzweil starts with Plato and touches quickly on Descartes, Newton, Kant, Wittgenstein and ends with Hubert Dreyfus. Kurzweil also presents the mathematical roots of Artificial Intelligence including contributions by Bertrand Russell, Alan Turing, Alonzo Church, and Kurt Gödel. The Turing test is introduced as a way to gauge whether the field of artificial intelligence has succeeded or not.

Chess and pattern recognition

Kurzweil discusses how computers play chess in detail, building to his prediction that "we will see a [computer] world champion by the year 2000". The Chinese strategy game of go, however, has proven much more difficult for computers to play well. He considers go to be a "level 3" problem, the type of problem where there is no single unifying formula which solves it. Then Kurzweil reveals that pattern recognition, which is crucial to artificial intelligence, is also a level 3 problem.

Kurzweil traces various ways of doing pattern recognition, from the rise and fall of perceptrons to random neural nets and decision trees, finally explaining that intelligence is a hierarchy of heterogeneous processes "communicating and influencing each other". He believes Marvin Minsky's Society of Mind and Jerome Lettvin's society of neurons are useful models. Kurzweil differentiates logical thinking from pattern recognition, and explains that AI has had much more trouble with pattern recognition, exemplified by efforts to create artificial vision.

Kurzweil estimates that the human vision system does the equivalent of 100 trillion multiplications per second where "a typical personal computer" of the day could only do 100,000 multiplications per second. The way out of this dilemma is parallel processing, having millions or billions of simultaneous processes all computing at the same time, something Kurzweil felt would happen in the future. Kurzweil also discusses speech recognition, which like vision requires complex pattern recognition.

Knowledge and art

In addition to pattern recognition, representative knowledge is also an important aspect of intelligence. Kurzweil details several types of expert systems in medicine, insurance and one for garage mechanics. Knowledge is expressed by language and Kurzweil discusses the state of language understanding including projects such as Terry Winograd's SHRDLU. Kurzweil says robotics is where all AI technologies are used: "vision, pattern recognition, knowledge engineering, decision-making, natural-language understanding and others". He explains how robots are increasingly successful in structured environments like factories, and predicts that "effective robotic servants in the home will probably not appear until early next century".

As a high school student Kurzweil built a computer which could compose music and demonstrated it on the national TV show  I've Got a Secret. In The Age of Intelligent Machines he discusses the relationship between artificial intelligence and the production of music and visual art by computers. He includes the freehand drawings of AARON as well as plotter art by Colette Bangert and Charles Bangert. He briefly mentions artificial life, shows a number of computer generated fractals, and writes that "the role of the computer is not to displace human creativity but rather to amplify it."

Impact

Kurzweil explains that the "functionality per unit cost" in the computer industry has been increasing exponentially for decades. He says computer memory costs one one-hundred millionth of what it did in 1950, for example. Kurzweil admits exponential trends do not last forever, but is convinced computer power could increase by millions of times beyond the 1990 level. If these trends continue, Kurzweil argues, we will see a "translating telephone" by 2010, intelligent assistants by the mid-1990s, and a "completely driverless car" by "well into the first half" of the 21st century. He anticipates we will prove our identity by finger and voice prints and that artificial people will be present as holograms or robots.

Kurzweil goes into detail about the Turing test and explains that "sometime between 2020 and 2070" the test will be passed to such a degree that "no reasonable person familiar with the field" will question the result.
Even as artificial intelligence replaces whole industries, Kurzweil insists there will still be a net gain of jobs. He says fields like "communication, teaching, learning, selling, strategic-decision making and innovation" will continue to be staffed by humans. At work he predicts people will use electronic documents that will be a "web of relationships" like Ted Nelson's hypertext instead of linear like a book.

As far as education Kurzweil feels children will have portable computers on which to run "intelligent and entertaining courseware". Papers, exams, electronic mail and even "love notes" will be sent over wireless networks.  All the advanced capability will alter the domain of warfare as well, leading to laser and particle beam weapons, and planes without human pilots. Medicine will entail computer diagnosticians, coordinated data banks of patient histories, realistic simulations for drug designers, and robotically assisted surgery. This leaves humans open to do research, organize knowledge and administer "comfort and caring".

Handicapped individuals will be greatly assisted by the advancing technology with reading machines, hearing machines, and robotic exoskeletons. Kurzweil believes the prejudice the handicapped now suffer will abate with their new abilities. Kurzweil concludes the book by explaining that all of these advances will challenge us; as computers do ever more tasks that used to be our sole domain, as our intelligence is rivaled and then eclipsed by machines, he feels we will need to figure out what makes us human.

Style
Sprinkled throughout the book are 23 essays, 4 of them by Kurzweil himself and 19 others by invited authors: Margaret Litvin, Daniel Dennett, Mitchell Waldrop, Sherry Turkle, Blaine Mathieu, Seymour Papert, Douglas Hofstadter, Marvin Minsky, Edward Feigenbaum, Jeff Pepper, K. Fuchi, Brian Oakley, Harold Cohen, Charles Ames, Michael Lebowitz, Roger Schank and Christopher Owens, Allen Newell, Margaret Boden, and George Gilder. The book closes with a "chronology" listing events from the age of the dinosaurs to the year 2070, fifty pages of end notes and suggested readings, a glossary and an index.

Reception
Jay Garfield in the New York Times wrote that Kurzweil is "clear, current and informative" when writing about areas he has worked directly in, but "sloppy and vague" when talking about philosophy, logic and psychology. Of the prediction for a "translating telephone" by the first decade of the 21st century, Garfield says Kurzweil overlooks "the mammoth difficulties that confront anyone who tries to accomplish such a task".

The Futurist calls it an "impressive volume" which is "handsomely illustrated" and "a feast for the mind and eye"., while Simson Garfinkel in The Christian Science Monitor says The Age of Intelligent Machines is "a tour de force history of artificial intelligence" yet laments that "although the book is orderly, it is not organized" and complains that "details are missing throughout".

Linda Strauss, writing for Science, Technology, & Human Values, calls the book "a rich assemblage of glittering parts, rather awkwardly joined". She points out that Kurzweil really cannot define artificial intelligence, the subject of the book, because he cannot define intelligence. Instead he relies on the Turing test and on Marvin Minsky's notion of intelligence as a moving horizon of unsolved problems. Strauss feels Kurzweil does not consider the cultural and societal implications of his futuristic visions.

Notes

References

External links

 The Ray Kurzweil Reader Essays

Books by Ray Kurzweil
1990 non-fiction books
Computer books
Futurology books
Technology books
Transhumanist books
Books about cognition
MIT Press books
Non-fiction books about Artificial intelligence

The Age of Intelligent Machines


Shield Groups Security (SGS) was an Iraqi company that provided protection for businesses and organizations. It was established in 2003 and switched its name to National Shield Security (NSS) sometime after April 2006.  According to the NSS's website, it has performed security services for infrastructure projects and performs extensive background checks on all "host country personnel".  NSS offers services relating to security, threat assessment, satellite and radio communications, training, translation, and emergency planning.

Donald Vance, a US Navy veteran working for the company, suspected the company of illegal gun running when he noticed excessive stockpiling of weapons.  He became an FBI informant alleging corruption on the part of the Iraqis running the company until he was arrested with American co-worker Nathan Ertel when American soldiers raided the company.  Both Vance and Ertel were interrogated under suspicion of gun running and both allege that they were tortured.  Ertel was released after one month of imprisonment; however, Vance was held for 97 days. It took the military three weeks to contact the FBI and confirm that Vance was an informant.  The executives of the company have never been charged with any wrongdoing.

References

External links
National Shield Security website

Private military contractors
Companies of Iraq
Iraqi companies established in 2003
Service companies of Iraq

Shield Group Security


Mechanicsville is a neighborhood in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States, located northwest of the city's downtown area. One of the city's oldest neighborhoods, Mechanicsville was established in the late 1860s for skilled laborers working in the many factories that sprang up along Knoxville's periphery. The neighborhood still contains a significant number of late-19th-century Victorian homes, and a notable concentration of early-20th-century shotgun houses. In 1980, several dozen properties in Mechanicsville were added to the National Register of Historic Places as the Mechanicsville Historic District. The neighborhood was also designated as a local historic district in 1991, subject to historic zoning and design standards.

Post-Civil War railroad construction lured heavy industry to the Second Creek valley, starting with the Knoxville Iron Company, which built a massive foundry just southeast of Mechanicsville in 1868. In the 19th century, when the neighborhood acquired its name, the word "mechanic" typically referred to factory workers. Mechanicsville was developed during this period to provide housing for Welsh iron specialists and African-American laborers working at Knoxville Iron and other area factories. By the 1880s, Mechanicsville was surrounded by large factories and mills, and contained most of Knoxville's railroad maintenance shops.

In the early twentieth century, Mechanicsville developed into a primarily African-American neighborhood, and was home to the historically black Knoxville College and Knoxville Medical College, and several early black entrepreneurs and professors.

Location

Mechanicsville is roughly bounded by Interstate 40 on the south, Interstate 275 on the east, Beaumont Avenue on the north, and Western Avenue (part of State Highway 62) on the west. Knoxville's downtown area, namely the Old City and the Southern Railway tracks, lie opposite I-40 to the southeast. The North Knoxville area lies east of I-275, and the Lonsdale area lies to the north. The Fort Sanders neighborhood lies on the other side of I-40 to the south and the University of Tennessee just blocks away.

University Avenue divides Mechanicsville into "Old Mechanicsville," which consists of the neighborhood's older, southeastern section, and "New Mechanicsville," which consists of the more recently developed northern section. The  campus of Knoxville College dominates the western portion of Mechanicsville.

Second Creek, which attracted numerous factories and mills to the area in the late nineteenth century, passes just west of Mechanicsville. Railroad tracks (now used by the Southern Railway), which also attracted industry to the area, pass just south and east of Mechanicsville, running roughly parallel to I-40 and I-275.

History

Civil War

During the Siege of Knoxville, in which Confederate forces under James Longstreet surrounded Knoxville in hopes of starving out Union forces occupying the city, Confederate lines criss-crossed the Mechanicsville area. Confederate pickets stretched between what is now Arthur Street and Clark Street from Western Avenue to Fifth Avenue, as well as along Iredell and Pickett. Several Confederate batteries, which provided part of the artillery barrage during the Battle of Fort Sanders, were situated in the hills where Knoxville College is now located.

In 2006, amateur Civil War historian Gary Goodson announced that he had determined that the Confederate Camp Van Dorn was located in Malcolm Martin Park, just west of Knoxville College, but his hypothesis was received with some skepticism.

Post-Civil War development

The combination of railroad construction and Northern financing led to a post-war economic boom in Knoxville, and it was during this period that dozens of factories were built along Second Creek. In 1867, 104 Welsh immigrant families were brought to the area from Pennsylvania by the Welsh-born Richards brothers, Joseph and David, to work in a local rolling mill. The Richards brothers secured a tract of land in what is now Mechanicsville from railroad tycoon Charles McClung McGhee (1828–1907), which was subsequently laid out in lots, and the new settlers began building houses. This new neighborhood, known as "McGhee's Addition," was the first successful Welsh colony in Tennessee.

In 1868, Civil War general-turned-entrepreneur Hiram S. Chamberlain and the Richards brothers established the Knoxville Iron Company, which erected a massive foundry and nail factory across Second Creek from McGhee's Addition (part of this complex, now known simply as "The Foundry," still stands). Chamberlain provided the business expertise, while the Richards brothers provided the technical expertise. Several houses in Mechanicsville still have fences made from iron cast at the Knoxville Iron foundry in the 1870s and 1880s.

As more factory specialists and laborers moved into the area, Mechanicsville began to grow. The Welsh community expanded to include an area known as the Deaderick–Swann Addition, which included much of modern Deaderick and Arthur streets, and adjacent streets. Residents in this section built many of Mechanicsville's elaborate Victorian homes in the 1880s and 1890s. African-American factory workers settled primarily in the Middleton–Weatherford Addition, which was concentrated around what is now Calloway and Boyd streets. McAnally's Addition, commonly called McAnally Flats, consisted of the area south of Western Avenue, in the vicinity of Leslie Street Park. This latter section developed a reputation as a rough slum in later years, and provided the setting for part of the Cormac McCarthy novel, Suttree.

Mechanicsville residents voted to be annexed by Knoxville in 1882. Knoxville was initially lukewarm to the idea, but agreed to accept Mechanicsville as its Ninth Ward on January 1, 1883. At the time of its annexation, Mechanicsville reported a population of just over 2,000, three churches, two schools, six general stores, and a greenhouse. Along with Knoxville Iron, factories located in and around Mechanicsville during this period included the Knoxville Brewing Company (on McGhee), the Standard Handle Company, the W. H. Evans and Son marble company, the Knoxville Car and Wheel Company, and the Greenleaf Turntable Manufactory.

20th century

As the Welsh immigrant families became more successful, they established other businesses in Knoxville, and in subsequent decades, many Welsh dispersed into other sections of the city. Today, more than 250 families in greater Knoxville can trace their ancestry to these original immigrants. The Welsh tradition in Knoxville is remembered through the Welsh descendants' celebration of Saint David's Day.

In the early 20th century, Mechanicsville evolved into a prosperous neighborhood of African American businesses and working families, and remained so for several decades. One of the first African-American institutions in Mechanicsville was the Fairview School, built on land donated by John Moses in 1875 (Dora Street is believed to have been named for Moses's sister, Dora Pearson Walker). The school was later renamed the Moses School, with the present building completed in 1930. Knoxville College, established in 1875 by the United Presbyterian Church, remained the city's primary black institution throughout the first half of the 20th century. Cansler Street in Mechanicsville is named for Charles W. Cansler (1871–1953), a leading black citizen and advocate for African-American rights in the early 1900s.

Mechanicsville experienced a decline during the second half of the 20th century as Knoxville's middle class moved from urban areas to suburbs on the city's periphery. A number of old homes were demolished to make way for the construction of the expressway that would eventually become I-40, and others deteriorated as they were converted into low-rent apartments. College Homes, a public housing development, was built as an urban renewal project near the commercial center of the neighborhood, northwest of Knoxville College. High crime rates continued to drive residents away, however, leaving many homes vacant.

Mechanicsville today

Major community revitalization efforts in Mechanicsville began in the 1970s with the establishment of the preservation group Mechanicsville Citizens for a Better Community. In 1985, Knoxville created the Mechanicsville Task Force, which made recommendations on the rehabilitation of historic homes and the construction of new homes. During the same period, a study on the blighting conditions in the neighborhood was conducted, culminating in the report, "A Redevelopment Plan for Historic Mechanicsville, Knoxville, Tennessee."

In 1997, the local public housing authority, Knoxville's Community Development Corporation (KCDC), received a $22 million HOPE VI grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development to revitalize the College Homes portion of the neighborhood. The families living in the College Homes barracks-style apartments were relocated and the housing project was demolished. The area was then rebuilt with single family and duplex homes designed to blend architecturally with remaining late 19th century neighborhood. In addition, KCDC purchased over 100 vacant lots throughout the neighborhood for new construction, which was also designed to fit in architecturally with the remaining neighborhood. Efforts were made to enable low income families from the area to rent or purchase these homes.

A number of corporations have recently located offices and businesses in the area, including the Knoxville News-Sentinel, Cherokee Health Systems, Pilot Oil, Fort Sanders Health System, and a Food City grocery store.

Mechanicsville Historic District

Mechanicsville's National Register historic district comprises one of the oldest extant neighborhoods from Knoxville's post-Civil War expansion. Some of its Victorian houses exhibit distinctively Italianate and Gothic influences uncommon in nearby neighborhoods such as Fourth and Gill and Old North Knoxville. The section of Old Mechanicsville along Calloway and Boyd contains Knoxville's largest concentration of early twentieth century shotgun houses.

Notable buildings

Fire Station No. 5 (419 Arthur Street), a two-story Neoclassical-style firehall built in 1909. This building is Knoxville's oldest firehall, and was listed individually on the National Register in 1979.
Moses School (221 Arthur Street), a three-story brick school building constructed in 1930. A school has existed at this site since the establishment of the Fairview school in 1875. The school was known as the Ninth Ward School in the 1880s, but was eventually renamed for John L. Moses, who had donated the property for the school. The current school building now houses Knoxville's only charter School, Emerald Academy. Prior to the charter school the building housed a branch of the Knoxville Police Department Training Academy, and a local chapter of the Boys and Girls Club.
501 Arthur (501 Arthur Street), a two-story brick commercial structure with a two-tier porch, built circa 1910. This building was for many years home to a grocery store known as Bradley Food Market, and was most recently home to a restaurant.

1524 Western Avenue, a two-story wedge-shaped building with brick band, built circa 1900; originally a restaurant.
1545 Western Avenue, a two-story brick Victorian-style commercial structure built circa 1900; formerly home to Western Heights Hardware.
244 Deaderick Avenue, a two-story brick commercial structure built circa 1900; wedge-shaped to fit the intersection of Deaderick and Carrick.
224 Deaderick Avenue, a two-story house with Gothic Revival elements and a bay window with a sunburst motif, built circa 1900.
243 Deaderick Avenue, a two-story Queen Anne-style house with Eastlake-style porch, built circa 1890.
415 Clark Street, a one-story Queen Anne-style cottage built in 1910.
1007 Oak Avenue, a two-story Queen Anne-style house with an Eastlake-style front porch and a decorated iron fence, built circa 1890.
1008 McGhee Avenue, a one-story shotgun house built in 1910.
1012 McGhee Avenue, a one-story shotgun house built circa 1900.
1509 Boyd Street, a one-story shotgun house built circa 1910.

References

External links

Old Mechanicsville — neighborhood website

African-American history in Knoxville, Tennessee
Neighborhoods in Knoxville, Tennessee
Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Tennessee
National Register of Historic Places in Knoxville, Tennessee
Welsh-American history
Populated places established by African Americans

Mechanicsville, Knoxville