VJing (pronounced: VEE-JAY-ing) is a broad designation for realtime visual performance. Characteristics of VJing are the creation or manipulation of imagery in realtime through technological mediation and for an audience, in synchronization to music. VJing often takes place at events such as concerts, nightclubs, music festivals and sometimes in combination with other performative arts. This results in a live multimedia performance that can include music, actors and dancers. The term VJing became popular in its association with MTV's Video Jockey but its origins date back to the New York club scene of the 1970s. In both situations VJing is the manipulation or selection of visuals, the same way DJing is a selection and manipulation of audio.

One of the key elements in the practice of VJing is the realtime mix of content from a "library of media", on storage media such as VHS tapes or DVDs, video and still image files on computer hard drives, live camera input, or from computer generated visuals. In addition to the selection of media, VJing mostly implies realtime processing of the visual material. The term is also used to describe the performative use of generative software, although the word "becomes dubious ... since no video is being mixed".

History

Antecedents

Historically, VJing gets its references from art forms that deal with the synesthetic experience of vision and sound. These historical references are shared with other live audiovisual art forms, such as Live Cinema, to include the camera obscura, the panorama and diorama, the magic lantern, color organ, and liquid light shows.

The color organ is a mechanism to make colors correspond to sound through mechanical and electromechanic means. Bainbridge Bishop, who contributed to the development of the color organ, was "dominated with the idea of painting music". In a book from 1893 that documents his work, Bishop states: "I procured an organ, and experimented by building an attachment to the keys, which would play with different colored lights to correspond with the music of the instrument."

Between 1919 and 1927, Mary Hallock-Greenewalt, a piano soloist, created a new technological art form called Nourathar, which means "essence of light" in Arabic. Her light music consisted of environmental color fields that produced a scale of light intensities and color. "In place of a keyboard, the Sarabet had a console with graduated sliders and other controls, more like a modern mixing board. Lights could be adjusted directly via the sliders, through the use of a pedal, and with toggle switches that worked like individual keys."

In clubs and private events in the 1960s "people used liquid-slides, disco balls and light projections on smoke to give the audience new sensations. Some of these experiments were linked to the music, but most of the time they functioned as decorations."  These came to be known as liquid light shows.
From 1965 to 1966 in San Francisco, the visual shows by artist collectives such as The Joshua Light Show and the Brotherhood of Light accompanied The Grateful Dead concerts, which were inspired by the Beat generation—in particular the Merry Pranksters—and fueled by the "expansion of consciousness" from the Acid Tests.

The Exploding Plastic Inevitable, between 1966 and 1967, organized by Andy Warhol contributed to the fusion of music and visuals in a party context. "The Exploding Party project examined the history of the party as an experimental artistic format, focusing in particular on music visualization - also in live contexts"

1970s

Important events

During the late 1970s video and music performance became more tightly integrated. At concerts, a few bands started to have regular film/video along with their music. Experimental film maker Tony Potts was considered an unofficial member of The Monochrome Set for his work on lighting design and film making for projections for live shows. Test Department initially worked with "Bert" Turnball as their resident visual artist, creating slideshows and film for live performances. The organization, Ministry of Power included collaborations with performance groups, traditional choirs and various political activists.
Industrial bands would perform in art contexts, as well as in concert halls, and often with video projections. Groups like Cabaret Voltaire started to use low cost video editing equipment to create their own time-based collages for their sound works. In their words, "before [the use of video], you had to do collages on paper, but now you present them in rhythm—living time—in video." The film collages made by and for groups such as the Test Dept, Throbbing Gristle and San Francisco's Tuxedomoon became part of their live shows.

An example of mixing film with live performance is that of Public Image Ltd. at the Ritz Riot in 1981. This club, located on the East 9th St in New York, had a state of the art video projection system. It was used to show a combination of prerecorded and live video on the club's screen. PiL played behind this screen with lights rear projecting their shadows on to the screen. Expecting a more traditional rock show, the audience reacted by pelting the projection screen with beer bottles and eventually pulling down the screen.

Technological developments
An artist retreat in Owego New York called Experimental Television Center, founded in 1971, made contributions to the development of many artists by gathering the experimental hardware created by video art pioneers: Nam June Paik, Steve Rutt and Bill Etra, and made the equipment available to artists in an inviting setting for free experimentation. Many of the outcomes debuted at the nightclub Hurrah which quickly became a new alternative for video artists who could not get their avant garde productions aired on regular broadcast outlets. Similarly, music video development was happening in other major cities around the world, providing an alternative to mainstream television.

  A notable image processor is the Sandin Image Processor (1971), primarily as it describes what is now commonly referred to as open source.

The Dan Sandin Image Processor, or "IP," is an analog video processor with video signals sent through processing modules that route to an output color encoder. The IP's most unique attribute is its non-commercial philosophy, emphasizing a public access to processing methods and the machines that assist in generating the images. The IP was Sandin's electronic expression for a culture that would "learn to use High-Tech machines for personal, aesthetic, religious, intuitive, comprehensive, and exploratory growth." This educational goal was supplemented with a "distribution religion" that enabled video artists, and not-for-profit groups, to "roll-your-own" video synthesizer for only the cost of parts and the sweat and labor it took to build it. It was the "Heathkit" of video art tools, with a full building plan spelled out, including electronic schematics and mechanical assembly information. Tips on soldering, procuring electronic parts and Printed Circuit boards, were also included in the documentation, increasing the chances of successfully building a working version of the video synthesizer.

1980s

Important events
In May 1980, multi media artist / filmmaker Merrill Aldighieri was invited to screen a film at the nightclub Hurrah. At this time, music video clips did not exist in large quantity and the video installation was used to present an occasional film. To bring the role of visuals to an equal level with the DJ's music, Merrill made a large body of ambient visuals that could be combined in real time to interpret the music. Working alongside the DJ, this collection of raw visuals was mixed in real time to create a non-stop visual interpretation of the music. Merrill became the world's first full-time VJ. MTV founders came to this club and Merrill introduced them to the term and the role of "VJ",inspiring them to have VJ hosts on their channel the following year. Merrill collaborated with many musicians at the club, notably with electronic musician Richard Bone to make the first ambient music video album titled "Emerging Video". Thanks to a grant from the Experimental Television Center, her blend of video and 16 mm film bore the influential mark of the unique Rutt Etra and Paik synthesizers. This film was offered on VHS through "High Times Magazine" and was featured in the club programming. Her next foray into the home video audience was in collaboration with the newly formed arm of Sony, Sony HOME VIDEO, where she introduced the concept of "breaking music on video" with her series DANSPAK. With a few exceptions like the Jim Carrol Band with Lou Reed and Man Parrish, this series featured unknown bands, many of them unsigned.

The rise of electronic music (especially in house and techno genres) and DJ club culture provided more opportunities for artists to create live visuals at events. The popularity of MTV lead to greater and better production of music videos for both broadcast and VHS, and many clubs began to show music videos as part of entertainment and atmosphere.

Joe Shannahan (owner of Metro in 1989–1990) was paying artists for video content on VHS. Part of the evening they would play MTV music videos and part of the evening they would run mixes from local artists Shanahan had commissioned.

Medusa's (an all-ages bar in Chicago) incorporated visuals as part of their nightly art performances throughout the early to mid 80s (1983–85).  Also in Chicago during the mid-80s was Smart Bar, where Metro held "Video Metro" every Saturday night.

Technological developments

In the 1980s the development of relatively cheap transistor and integrated circuit technology allowed the development of digital video effects hardware at a price within reach of individual VJs and nightclub owners.

One of the first commercially distributed video synthesizers available in 1981 was the CEL Electronics Chromascope sold for use in the developing nightclub scene. The Fairlight Computer Video Instrument (CVI), first produced in 1983, was revolutionary in this area, allowing complex digital effects to be applied in real time to video sources. The CVI became popular amongst television and music video producers and features in a number of music videos from the period. The Commodore Amiga introduced in 1985 made a breakthrough in accessibility for home computers and developed the first computer animation programs for 2D and 3D animation that could produce broadcast results on a desktop computer.

1990s

Important events

A number of recorded works begin to be published in the 1990s to further distribute the work of VJs, such as the Xmix compilations (beginning in 1993), Future Sound of London's "Lifeforms"(VHS, 1994), Emergency Broadcast Network's "Telecommunication Breakdown" (VHS, 1995),  Coldcut and Hexstatic's "Timber" (VHS, 1997 and then later on CDRom including a copy of VJamm VJ software), the "Mego Videos" compilation of works from 1996 to 1998 (VHS/PAL, 1999) and Addictive TV's 1998 television series "Transambient" for the UK's Channel 4 (and DVD release).

In the United States, the emergence of the rave scene is perhaps to be credited for the shift of the VJ scene from nightclubs into underground parties. From around 1991 until 1994, Mark Zero would do film loops at Chicago raves and house parties. One of the earliest large-scale Chicago raves was "Massive New Years Eve Revolution" in 1993, produced by Milwaukee's Drop Bass Network. It was a notable event as it featured the Optique Vid Tek (OVT) VJs on the bill. This event was followed by Psychosis, held on 3 April 1993, and headlined by Psychic TV, with visuals by OVT Visuals. In San Francisco Dimension 7 were a VJ collective working the early West Coast rave scene beginning in 1993. Between 1996 and 1998, Dimension 7 took projectors and lasers to the Burning Man festival, creating immersive video installations on the Black Rock desert.

In the UK groups such as The Light Surgeons  and Eikon were transforming clubs and rave events by combining the old techniques of liquid lightshows with layers of slide, film and video projections. In Bristol, Children of Technology emerged, pioneering interactive immersive environments stemming from co-founder Mike Godfrey's architectural thesis whilst at university during the 1980s. Children of Technology integrated their homegrown CGI animation and video texture library with output from the interactive Virtual Light Machine (VLM), the brainchild of Jeff Minter and Dave Japp, with output onto over 500 sq m of layered screens using high power video and laser projection within a dedicated lightshow. Their "Ambient Theatre Lightshow" first emerged at Glastonbury 93 and they also provided VJ visuals for the Shamen, who had just released their no 1. hit "Ebeneezer Goode" at the festival. Invited musicians jammed in the Ambient Theatre Lightshow, using the VLM, within a prototype immersive environment. Children of Technology took interactive video concepts into a wide range of projects including show production for "Obsession" raves between 1993 and 1995, theatre, clubs, advertising, major stage shows and TV events. This included pioneering projects with 3D video / sound recording and performance, and major architectural projects in the late 1990s, where many media technology ideas were now taking hold. Another collective, "Hex" were working across a wide range of media - from computer games to art exhibitions - the group pioneered many new media hybrids, including live audiovisual jamming, computer-generated audio performances, and interactive collaborative instruments. This was the start of a trend which continues today with many VJs working beyond the club and dance party scene in areas such as installation art.

The Japanese book VJ2000 (Daizaburo Harada, 1999) marked one of the earliest publications dedicated to discussing the practices of VJs.

Technological developments

The combination of the emerging rave scene, along with slightly more affordable video technology for home-entertainment systems, brought consumer products to become more widely used in artistic production. However, costs for these new types of video equipment were still high enough to be prohibitive for many artists.

There are three main factors that lead to the proliferation of the VJ scene in the 2000s:

 affordable and faster laptops;
 drop in prices of video projectors (especially after the dot-com bust where companies were loading off their goods on craigslist)
 the emergence of strong rave scenes and the growth of club culture internationally

As a result of these, the VJ scene saw an explosion of new artists and styles. These conditions also facilitated a sudden emergence of a less visible (but nonetheless strong) movement of artists who were creating algorithmic, generative visuals.

This decade saw video technology shift from being strictly for professional film and television studios to being accessible for the prosumer market (e.g. the wedding industry, church presentations, low-budget films, and community television productions).  These mixers were quickly adopted by VJs as the core component of their performance setups. This is similar to the release of the Technics 1200 turntables, which were marketed towards homeowners desiring a more advanced home entertainment system, but were then appropriated by musicians and music enthusiasts for experimentation. Initially, video mixers were used to mix pre-prepared video material from VHS players and live camera sources, and later to add the new computer software outputs into their mix. The 90s saw the development of a number of digital video mixers such as Panasonic's WJ-MX50, WJ-MX12, and the Videonics MX-1.

Early desktop editing systems such as the NewTek Video Toaster for the Amiga computer were quickly put to use by VJs seeking to create visuals for the emerging rave scene, whilst software developers began to develop systems specifically designed for live visuals such as O'Wonder's "Bitbopper".

The first known software for VJs was Vujak - created in 1992 and written for the Mac by artist Brian Kane for use by the video art group he was part of - Emergency Broadcast Network, though it was not used in live performances.  EBN used the EBN VideoSampler v2.3, developed by Mark Marinello and Greg Deocampo.
In the UK, Bristol's Children of Technology developed a dedicated immersive video lightshow using the Virtual Light Machine (VLM) called AVLS or Audio-Visual-Live-System during 1992 and 1993. The VLM was a custom built PC by video engineer Dave Japp using super-rare transputer chips and modified motherboards, programmed by Jeff Minter (Llamasoft & Virtual Light Co.). The VLM developed after Jeff's earlier Llamasoft Light Synthesiser programme. With VLM, DI's from live musicians or DJ's activated Jeff's algorithmic real-time video patterns, and this was real-time mixed using pansonic video mixers with CGI animation/VHS custom texture library and live camera video feedback. Children of Technology developed their own "Video Light" system, using hi-power and low-power video projection to generate real-time 3D beam effects, simultaneous with enormous surface and mapped projection. The VLM was used by the Shamen, The Orb, Primal Scream, Obsession, Peter Gabriel, Prince and many others between 1993 and 1996. A software version of the VLM was integrated into Atari's Jaguar console, in response to growing VJ interest. In the mid-90s, Audio reactive pure synthesis (as opposed to clip-based) software such as Cthugha and Bomb were influential.  By the late 90s there were several PC based VJing softwares available, including generative visuals programs such as MooNSTER, Aestesis, and Advanced Visualization Studio, as well as video clip players such as FLxER, created by Gianluca Del Gobbo, and VJamm.

Programming environments such as Max/MSP, Macromedia Director and later Quartz Composer started to become used by themselves and also to create VJing programs like VDMX or pixmix. These new software products and the dramatic increases in computer processing power over the decade meant that VJs were now regularly taking computers to gigs.

2000s

Important events

The new century has brought new dynamics to the practice of visual performance. To be a VJ previously had largely meant a process of self-invention in isolation from others: the term was not widely known. Then through the rise of internet adoption, having access to other practitioners very became the norm, and virtual communities quickly formed. The sense of collective then translated from the virtual world onto physical spaces. This becomes apparent through the numerous festivals that emerge all over Europe with strong focus on VJing.

VJ events in Europe

The VideA festival in Barcelona ran from 2000 to 2005. AVIT, clear in its inception as the online community of VJCentral.com self-organising a physical presence, had its first festival in Leeds (2002), followed by Chicago (2003), Brighton (2003), San Francisco (2004), and Birmingham (2005), 320x240 in Croatia (2003), Contact Europe in Berlin (2003). Also, the Cimatics festival in Brussels should be credited as a pioneering event, with a first festival edition in 2002 completely dedicated to VJing. In 2003, the Finnish media arts festival PixelAche was dedicated to the topic of VJing, while in 2003, Berlin's Chaos Computer Club started a collaboration with AVIT organisers that featured VJ Camps and Congress strands. LPM - Live Performers Meeting was born in Rome in 2004, with the aim to offer a real meeting space for often individually working artists, a place to meet the fellow VJ artists, spin-off new projects, and share all VJing related experiences, softwares, questions and insights. LPM since has become one of the leading international meetings dedicated to artists, professionals and enthusiasts of VJing, visual and live video performance, counting its 20th edition in 2019. Also around this time (in 2005 and 2007), UK artists Addictive TV teamed up with the British Film Institute to produce Optronica, a crossover event showcasing audiovisual performances at the London IMAX cinema and BFI Southbank.

Two festivals entirely dedicated to VJing, Mapping Festival in Geneva and Vision'R in Paris, held their first edition in 2005.  As these festivals emerged that prominently featured VJs as headline acts (or the entire focus of the festival), the rave festival scene also began to regularly include VJs in their main stage lineups with varying degrees of prominence.

VJ events beyond Europe

The MUTEK festival (2000–present) in Montréal regularly featured VJs alongside experimental sound art performances, and later the Elektra Festival (2008–present) also emerged in Montréal and featured many VJ performances. In Perth, Australia, the Byte Me! festival (2007) showed the work of many VJs from the Pacific Rim area alongside new media theorists and design practitioners.

With lesser funding, the US scene has been host to more workshops and salons than festivals. Between 2000 and 2006, Grant Davis (VJ Culture) and Jon Schwark of Dimension 7 produced "Video Salon", a regular monthly gathering significant in helping establish and educate a strong VJ community in San Francisco, and attended by VJs across California and the United States. In addition, they produced an annual "Video RIOT!" (2003–2005) as a political statement following the R.A.V.E. Act (Reducing Americans' Vulnerability to Ecstasy Act) of 2003; a display of dissatisfaction by the re-election of George W. Bush in 2004; and in defiance of a San Francisco city ordinance limiting public gatherings in 2005.

Several VJ battles and competitions began to emerge during this time period, such as Video Salon's "SIGGRAPH VJ Battle" in San Diego (2003), Videocake's "AV Deathmatch" series in Toronto (2006) and the "VJ Contests" at the Mapping Festival in Geneva (2009). These worked much like a traditional DJ battle where VJs would be given a set amount of time to show off their best mixes and were judged according to several criteria by a panel of judges.

Publications

Databases of visual content and promotional documentation became available on DVD formats and online through personal websites and through large databases, such as the "Prelinger Archives" on Archive.org. Many VJs began releasing digital video loop sets on various websites under Public Domain or Creative Commons licensing for other VJs to use in their mixes, such as Tom Bassford's "Design of Signage" collection (2006), Analog Recycling's "79 VJ Loops" (2006), VJzoo's "Vintage Fairlight Clips" (2007) and Mo Selle's "57 V.2" (2007).

Promotional and content-based DVDs began to emerge, such as the works from the UK's ITV1 television series Mixmasters (2000–2005) produced by Addictive TV, Lightrhythm Visuals (2003), Visomat Inc. (2002), and Pixdisc, all of which focused on the visual creators, VJ styles and techniques. These were then later followed by NOTV, Atmospherix, and other labels. Mia Makela curated a DVD collection for Mediateca of Caixa Forum called "LIVE CINEMA" in 2007, focusing on the emerging sister practice of "live cinema". Individual VJs and collectives also published DVDs and CD-ROMs of their work, including Eclectic Method's bootleg video mix (2002) and Eclectic Method's "We're Not VJs" (2005), as well as eyewash's "DVD2" (2004) and their "DVD3" (2008).

Books reflecting on the history, technical aspects, and theoretical issues began to appear, such as "The VJ Book: Inspirations and Practical Advice for Live Visuals Performance" (Paul Spinrad, 2005), "VJ: Audio-Visual Art and VJ Culture" (Michael Faulkner and D-Fuse, 2006), "vE-jA: Art + Technology of Live Audio-Video" (Xárene Eskandar [ed], 2006), and "VJ: Live Cinema Unraveled" (Tim Jaeger, 2006). The subject of VJ-DJ collaboration also started to become a subject of interest for those studying in the field of academic human–computer interaction (HCI).

Video Scratching

In 2004, Pioneer released the DVJ-X1 DVD player, which allowed DJ's to scratch and manipulate videos like vinyl. In 2006 Pioneer released a successor unit, DVJ-1000, with similar functionality. Those video players have inspired DJ software makers to add video plugins to their software. The first example of this was Numark Virtual Vinyl, released in 2007, which had this option available. In 2008, Serato Scratch Live received the same option, called Video-SL. This allowed turntable manipulations of videos, and added more options to the Rane TTM-57SL mixer.

Technological developments
The availability and affordability of new consumer-level technology allowed many more people to get involved into VJing. The dramatic increase in computer processing power that became available facilitated more compact, yet often more complex setups, sometimes allowing VJs to bypass using a video mixer, using powerful computers running VJ software to control their mixing instead. However, many VJs continue to use video mixers with multiple sources, which allows flexibility for a wide range of input devices and a level of security against computer crashes or slowdowns in video playback due to overloading the CPU of computers due to the demanding nature of realtime video processing.

Today's VJs have a wide choice of off the shelf hardware products, covering every aspect of visuals performance, including video sample playback (Korg Kaptivator), real-time video effects (Korg Entrancer) and 3D visual generation.

The widespread use of DVDs gave initiative for scratchable DVD players.

Many new models of MIDI controllers became available during the 2000s, which allow VJs to use controllers based on physical knobs, dials, and sliders, rather than interact primarily with the mouse/keyboard computer interface.

There are also many VJs working with experimental approaches to working with live video. Open source graphical programming environments (such as Pure Data) are often used to create custom software interfaces for performances, or to connect experimental devices to their computer for processing live data (for example, the IBVA EEG-reading brainwave unit, the Arduino microprocessor, or circuit bending children's toys).

The second half of this decade also saw a dramatic increase in display configurations being deployed, including widescreen canvases, multiple projections and video mapped onto the architectural form. This shift has been underlined by the transition from broadcast based technology - fixed until this decade firmly in the 4x3 aspect ratio specifications NTSC and PAL - to computer industry technology, where the varied needs of office presentation, immersive gaming and corporate video presentation have led to diversity and abundance in methods of output. Compared to the ~640x480i fixed format of NTSC/PAL, a contemporary laptop using DVI can output a great variety of resolutions up to ~2500px wide, and in conjunction with the Matrox TripleHead2Go can feed three different displays with an image coordinated across them all.

Common technical setups

A significant aspect of VJing is the use of technology, be it the re-appropriation of existing technologies meant for other fields, or the creation of new and specific ones for the purpose of live performance. The advent of video is a defining moment for the formation of the VJ (video jockey).

Often using a video mixer, VJs blend and superimpose various video sources into a live motion composition.  In recent years, electronic musical instrument makers have begun to make specialty equipment for VJing.

VJing developed initially by performers using video hardware such as videocameras, video decks and monitors to transmit improvised performances with live input from cameras and even broadcast TV mixed with pre-recorded elements. This tradition lives on with many VJs using a wide range of hardware and software available commercially or custom made for and by the VJs.

VJ hardware can be split into categories -
Source hardware generates a video picture which can be manipulated by the VJ, e.g. video cameras and Video Synthesizers.
Playback hardware plays back an existing video stream from disk or tape-based storage mediums, e.g. VHS tape players and DVD players.
Mixing hardware allows the combining of multiple streams of video e.g. a video mixer or a computer utilizing VJ software.
Effects hardware allows the adding of special effects to the video stream, e.g. Colour Correction units
Output hardware is for displaying the video signal, e.g. Video projector, LED display, or Plasma Screen.

There are many types of software a VJ may use in their work, traditional NLE production tools such as Adobe Premiere, After Effects, and Apple's Final Cut Pro are used to create content for VJ shows.  Specialist performance software is used by VJs to play back and manipulate video in real-time.

VJ performance software is highly diverse, and include software which allows a computer to replace the role of an analog video mixer and output video across extended canvasses composed of multiple screens or projectors. Small companies producing dedicated VJ software such as Modul8 and Magic give VJs a sophisticated interface for real-time processing of multiple layers of video clips combined with live camera inputs, giving VJs a complete off the shelf solution so they can simply load in the content and perform. Some popular titles which emerged during the 2000s include Resolume, NuVJ.

Some VJs prefer to develop software themselves specifically to suit their own performance style. Graphical programming environments such as Max/MSP/Jitter, Isadora, and Pure Data have developed to facilitate rapid development of such custom software without needing years of coding experience.

Sample workflows

There are many types of configurations of hardware and software that a VJ may use to perform.

Research and reflective thinking
Several research projects have been dedicated to the documentation and study of VJing from the reflective and theoretical point of view. Round tables, talks, presentations and discussions are part of festivals and conferences related to new media art, such as ISEA and Ars Electronica for example, as well as specifically related to VJing, as is the case of the Mapping Festival. Exchange of ideas through dialogue contributed to the shift of the discussion from issues related to the practicalities of production to more complex ideas and to the process and the concept. Subjects related to VJing are, but not exclusively: identity and persona (individual and collective), the moment as art, audience participation, authorship, networks, collaboration and narrative.
Through collaborative projects, visual live performance shift to a field of interdisciplinary practices.

Periodical publications, online and printed, launched special issues on VJing. This is the case of AMinima printed magazine, with a special issue on Live Cinema (which features works by VJs), and Vague Terrain (an online new media journal), with the issue The Rise of the VJ.

See also

Notes

References

 Amerika, Mark (2007). Meta/Data: A Digital Poetics. Cambridge: MIT Press.
 Bargsten, Joey (2011). "Hybrid Forms and Syncretic Horizons". Saarbrücken: Lambert Academic Publishing.

 Eskandar, Xárene (ed) (2006). vE-jA: Art + Technology of Live Audio-Video. San Francisco: h4SF.
 Faulkner, Michael / D-Fuse (ed), 2006. VJ: Audio-Visual Art and VJ Culture. London: Laurence King.

 Lehrer, Jonah (2008). Proust was a neuroscientist. New York:Mariner.
 Lund, Cornelia & Lund, Holger (eds), 2009. Audio.Visual- On Visual Music and Related Media. Estugarda: Arnoldsche Art publishers.
 Manu; Ideacritik &  Velez, Paula, et al. (2009) " Aether9 Communications: Proceedings". TK: Greyscale Editions. Vol3, Issue 1.

 Spinrad, Paul (2005). The VJ Book: Inspirations and practical Advice for Live Visuals Performance. Los Angeles: Feral House.

 VJ Theory (ed) (2008). "VJam Theory: Collective Writings on Realtime Visual Performance". Falmouth:realtime Books.

External links

 Visual Music Archive by Prof. Dr. Heike Sperling
 VJ booking - Free VJ Portfolio Network
 VJ Union Australia – Australia Wide VJ Network
 VJs Mag – Audio Visual Performers Source
 VJs TV by VJs Magazine – Audio Visual Performers Network
 Visualist:Those who See Beyond Documentary Film about VJ Cultures
 A.Visualist A Road movie on VJing around the world

Visual music
Mass media occupations
Video art

VJing


Auto racing (also known as automobile racing, autosport or motorsport) is a sport involving racing cars. Auto racing began in France in 1895 and is now one of the world's most popular spectator sports.

Types of auto racing
Formula One is the top level racing championship worldwide. Formula One cars have no fenders or quarter panels like regular passenger cars. At the front and back of each car there is a spoiler, or wing, which uses air to push the car onto the ground and give it more grip to go faster. Each Formula One race takes place in a different country. These races are called Grands Prix (French for "grand prize").

Indy Cars look very similar to Formula One cars, but race on oval tracks that have only banked left-hand turns, and more complex road courses which have both left and right hand turns.

Endurance races are a type of race involving heavily modified cars called touring cars and purpose-built race cars called sports prototypes. Each race team has more than one driver because endurance races last for several hours, so drivers take turns. The world's most famous endurance race is the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France.

NASCAR is an American organization that runs races on oval tracks with many cars or pickup trucks. The cars, called stock cars, look like passenger cars, but have plenty of racing upgrades.

Related pages

Motor sports

Auto racing


Evochron Renegades is a freeform videogame that forms the 2007 installment in the indie StarWraith 3D Games series of space simulation games. It is the sequel to Evochron: Alliance 2.0.  Evochron Renegades features a vast and seamless universe that lets the player fly anywhere, without loading screens or choppy environment flipping. The game is especially notable for being the successful product of a one-man development studio.

Gameplay
Evochron Renegades features three main gameplay modes: training, freeform single player (which includes an integrated story), and multiplayer. In either single player or multiplayer, the player can choose their own path in the game: becoming a pirate, miner, mercenary, trader, racer, smuggler, explorer, provider of cleaning services, virtually anything, without having to preselect a profession, guild or race.

Multiplayer was not officially announced as a feature of Renegades, but was later announced through a hunt for an unknown easteregg during the beta testing. Testers quickly unravelled textual clues in the games text files, finally resulting in the common understanding the easteregg was in fact a multiplayer mode.

The whole game fits into a 30Mb download - it creates such a large and sophisticated universe through using computer code and mathematical algorithms to instantly build images, meshes and textures in a PC's memory (procedural generation), then the game uses these in the same way a normal game would if it were calling fixed files from the hard-drive.

Universe
The game universe is three-dimensional and is entirely seamless, meaning one can fly from planet to planet and space station to space station, or simply explore other features - given one has the fuel, resources and time. While occasional secrets may be found on such trips, it can take hours or even days of in-game time to fly from planet to planet. To avoid such journeys, every ship can be outfitted with a Fulcrum Drive which allows the player to instantly 'jump' from point to point within range of the capabilities of the equipped Fulcrum Drive. There are five levels of Fulcrum Drive, and a sixth, secret and experimental drive. Also, throughout the universe are Fulcrum Gates which can transport ships through much larger distances in an instant.  These gates have a set destination, and form the main paths throughout the game's universe. The final method of transportation are wormholes, which are typically one-way and can send a player to otherwise unreachable locations. Evochron Renegades is the first StarWraith game to feature a seamless universe.

Learning curve
Evochron Renegades has a steep learning curve, mainly involving the memorisation of numerous keyboard commands.  The lengthy interactive training mode at the start of the game instructs new players on the basics of flying, combat, navigation, inventory management, station docking, planetary descents, and trading.  There is a short manual (to be found in the program directory), and a strategy guide at the developer's website.  There are also fan-made guides such as the interactive The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Evochron Galaxy, and various printable star-system maps.

Availability and updates
The free demo mode contains 90 minutes of single player gameplay, after the tutorial.  At August 2008, both the shareware and full versions of the game are at version 1.88.  The game is only available online. There is also a free construction kit and guide, allowing the game to be modded by fans.

Reception
As a self-distributed shareware game, and one in a tight niche area of gaming, Evochron Renegades has had few mainstream reviews. The game featured on the cover of Game Creators magazine, October 2007.

References

External links
 Official game website
Starwraith 3D Games
Evochron Renegades v1.888 Demo
 Strategy guide
Press release re multiplayer

Star Wraith
Windows games
Windows-only games
2007 video games
Multiplayer online games
Space massively multiplayer online role-playing games
Space trading and combat simulators
Video games developed in the United States

Evochron Renegades


A warning sign is a type of sign which indicates a potential hazard, obstacle, or condition requiring special attention. Some are traffic signs that indicate hazards on roads that may not be readily apparent to a driver.

While warning traffic sign designs vary, they usually take the shape of an equilateral triangle with a white background and thick red border. In the People's Republic of China (except for Macau and Hong Kong), they appear with a black border and a yellow background. In Sweden, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Greece, Finland, Iceland, North Macedonia and Poland, they have a red border with an amber background. The polar bear warning sign in Svalbard recently changed from displaying a black bear on white background to a white bear on black background (both signs are triangular with a red border). Some countries (like France, Norway and Spain) that normally use a white background have adopted an orange or amber background for road work or construction signs.

Warning signs in some countries have a diamond shape in place of the standard triangular shape. In the United States, Canada, Mexico, Thailand, Australia, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, most of South America, and also the Republic of Ireland (diverging from the standards of the rest of Europe) warning signs are black on a yellow background and usually diamond-shaped, while temporary signs (which are typically construction signs) are black on an orange background.  Some other countries also use these standards for some signage.

The warning signs usually contain a symbol. In Europe they are based on the UNECE Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals. In the United States they are based on the MUTCD standard and often contain text only.

History

Some of the first roadside signs—ancient milestones—merely gave distance measures. Hazard warnings were rare though occasional specimens appeared, such as the specific warning about horse-drawn vehicles backing up which was carved in stone in Lisbon's Alfama neighborhood in 1686.  The early signs did not have high-contrast lettering and their messages might have been easily overlooked. Signs were written in the local language (example);  symbolic signs, though long used on certain tradesmen's signs (like the pawnbrokers' tri-ball symbol) were to be used for traffic only much later in history.

Complex signage systems emerged with the appearance of motorcars. In 1908 the automobile association in West London erected some warning signs. In 1909, nine European governments agreed on the use of four pictorial symbols, indicating bump, curve, intersection, and railroad crossing. The intensive work on international road signs that took place between 1926 and 1949 eventually led to the development of the European road sign system.

As the 20th century progressed, and traffic volume and vehicle speeds increased, so did the importance of road sign visibility.  Earlier flat-painted signs gave way to signs with embossed letters, which in turn gave way to button copy signs— round retroreflective "buttons" helped to achieve greater night visibility. Flat metal signs reappeared in the 1980s with the widespread use of surfaces covered with retroflective sheeting materials like Scotchlite.

In Europe, 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals (which became effective in 1978) tried, among other things, to standardize important signs.  After the fall of the Iron Curtain and greater ease of country-to-country driving in the EU, European countries moved toward lessening the regional differences in warning signs.

In modern regulations, U.S. warning signs are classified as Series W signs, such as W1 Series (curves and turns), W10 Series (railroads), et cetera, ending with the W25 Series (concerning extended green traffic lights). Some U.S. warning signs are without category while others like the warning stripes at tunnel portals or plain red End of Roadway signs are classified as Object Markers (OM Series). In the U.S., Stop and speed limit signs fall under the R Series (Regulatory). Modern U.S. signs are widely standardized; unless they are antique holdovers from an earlier era, oddities like a yellow Stop sign or a red Slippery When Wet sign would typically appear only on private property—perhaps at a hospital campus or in a shopping mall parking lot.

Street sign theft by pranksters, souvenir hunters, and scrappers has become problematic: removal of warning signs costs municipalities money to replace lost signs, and can contribute to traffic collisions. Some authorities affix theft-deterrence stickers to the back sides of signs. Some jurisdictions have criminalized unauthorized possession of road signs or have outlawed their resale to scrap metal dealers. In some cases, thieves whose sign-removal lead to road fatalities have been charged with manslaughter. Artistically inclined vandals sometimes paint additional details onto warning signs: a beer bottle, a handgun, or a boom box added to the outstretched hand of the Pedestrian Crossing person, for example.

Modern traffic warning sign shapes and colors

Warning signs can indicate any potential hazard, obstacle or condition requiring special attention. Some of the most common warning signs are the following.

General caution

General warning signs are used in instances in which the particular hazard, obstacle or condition is not covered by a standard sign. In Europe, they usually comprise an exclamation mark on the standard triangular sign (Unicode ) with an auxiliary sign below in the local language identifying the hazard, obstacle or condition. In Sweden, the general warning sign has only a vertical line instead of exclamation mark; this model was used also in many other European countries until the 1990s. In the United States and other countries using diamond-shaped signs, the explanatory language is often written directly on the diamond-shaped sign, although it may contain only a general warning such as "Caution", and pictograms may also be used.

Obstacles
Warning signs can be placed in advance of, next to or on a specific obstacle. Obstacles such as railway level crossings may have several warning signs beforehand, while bridge ramparts typically have reflective signs placed directly on them on either side. These signs can be specific to the shape requirements of the obstacle, for example, bridge rampart signs are often tall and skinny so as not to intrude into the lane.

Curves and corners

These signs indicate that dangerous or unexpected bends in the road are ahead. Signs typically indicate whether the curves are to the right or to the left, the angle of the curve and whether it is one curve or a series of curves.

Chevrons and arrows

Chevron-shaped symbols or arrows on rectangular signs may be placed at the actual location of the bend or curve to further mark the location of the curve and to assist in the negotiation of the curve. They may also be used to indicate "merge" with other traffic, as for an on-ramp of a limited-access highway.

An unusual occurrence of the rectangular arrow sign appears on the eastbound approach to Dead Man's Curve in Cleveland, Ohio, US, a curve so sharp that in places an arrow's stem is printed on one sign and the arrow's point is printed on another larger sign further down the road; from the driver's perspective at a distance, the two signs visually blend together to form one large arrow image.

Steep hills

Truck drivers will need to pay attention to "Steep grade" warnings (or "Down grade, use lower gear"), sometimes posted with the percent grade (e.g., 5%). Steep hills may also feature "Runaway truck escape" or "Emergency stop" areas with corresponding signs. The UK has a sign warning of "Adverse camber" on a curve.

Lane starts and ends

These signs indicate when a multilane highway is being narrowed, when a passing lane is ending, or where the road is widening or a passing lane starting. Another type of sign is used to indicate central "two-way" left turning lane in center of roadway. Warning signs may also warn of "Highway ends", where the road changes class or type.

Merge to stay with through traffic

In the United States and Canada, there is special signage for lanes that are about to exit, so that drivers who wish to remain on the main road have adequate time to merge. Such lanes are sometimes indicated by special striping ("alligator stripes") and the sign, "Through Traffic Merge Left" (or right). On freeways, the green directions sign for the exit ramp may have the additional notation, "Exit Only", and should have black letters on a yellow background for emphasis.

Bridges

These signs are used where traffic may be constricted to a narrow bridge, or where the bridge may have a movable span closed to vehicles while boats pass (e.g., drawbridge). They may also be used for underpass to indicate low overhead clearance.

Tunnels

These signs are used to indicate tunnels, where lights are usually required, and a general change in the light level. May also indicate low ceiling clearance. Truck drivers should also watch for prohibited cargo signs (e.g., propane) upon approach to tunnels.

Road conditions

Warns road users of severe road conditions ("Icy road", "Bump", etc). Also "Loose gravel", "Soft shoulder", "Speed hump", and "Watch for ice".

Falling rocks

These signs may be used to indicate the hazards of fallen or falling rocks on the road ahead. They are usually pictographs, but may also include wording, such as "falling rocks". In Italy the words may be "" or ""; in France ""; in Mexico "s".

Pedestrian crossings

These signs are used to warn drivers of people walking in the street. They may also be used to warn of children playing, playgrounds, bicycle area, deaf child, blind pedestrians, and thickly settled zones where pedestrians may enter the road.

In California, United States near the Mexican border, there were warning signs showing a running family. This was to warn motorists to look out for illegal immigrants who try to escape authorities by running through freeway traffic. The symbol was created by California Department of Transportation employee John Hood in the late 1980s.

Schools

These signs mark school zones (in which lower speed limits may be in place), student crossings, crossing guards or signals ahead. In the U.S. and Canada, pentagon-shaped signs are used in place of the usual diamond-shaped signs. The shape of the U.S. school zone resembles a one-room schoolhouse and is the only U.S. sign shaped this way. Some Canadian provinces use an identical sign.

Bicycles

Bicycle crossing signs warn that bicycles will cross at their location.

Animals crossing the roadway

These signs warn of wild animals (deer, etc.) or farm animals (cows, horses, ducks, sheep) that may stray onto the road. In the United States, a "share the road" plaque is sometimes placed below these warning signs when used in this manner.

Unusual vehicles in roadway

These signs are found where road users could encounter slow, large or non-typical vehicles such as forklifts, handcarts and military vehicles. They are more common around quarries, airports, industrial zones, military installations and rural areas.

Road work or construction

These signs are often temporary in nature and used to indicate road work (construction), poor roads, or temporary conditions ahead on the road including flagmen, uneven pavement, etc. (Note that some "high water" signs are posted to alert drivers of a flood-prone area and do not actually mean that there is a flooded section of road ahead.) In France, Italy, Spain, Norway etc., warning (and speed limit) signs connected with road work have a yellow background in place of the usual white background on signs. In North America and Ireland, signs connected with road work have an orange background.

Traffic signals

These warning signs indicate that traffic lights are ahead, and are often used when it is difficult to see that a traffic light may already be showing red, to warn a driver to prepare to slow down. They may be supplemented with flashing light or lighted sign when light is red or turning red. Some countries also have signs warning of signals for ramp meters, fire stations, and airfields.

Intersections

These signs warn of road crossings at crossroads, T-intersections, roundabouts, or Y-intersections. They may also indicate "hidden driveway" intersecting the road ahead. (Compare with bridges, overpasses, viaducts).

Warning signs for regulatory signs

Like for traffic signals, some "stop" or "yield" signs may require additional warning or reminder, especially in dense areas or where the sign has been added recently.

Oncoming traffic

These signs may be used to warn people of oncoming traffic; shown when a motorway becomes a dual carriageway or a normal road without a central reservation or median.

Level crossing (railway crossing)

These signs are used to warn of level crossings ahead. In most countries, a red triangle warning sign is used, with various pictograms for unguarded crossings, crossings with manual gates, and automatic level crossings. In most of Europe, an old-style gate is used for a crossing with gates, and a steam locomotive for a crossing without gates. Germany uses an electric train. Similar pictograms are also used in Ireland, albeit on an amber diamond sign. In the United States the warning of all types of railway crossings is made using a circular yellow sign. The actual crossing is also marked with crossed "railroad crossing" crossbuck signs (stop, look, listen) and possibly lights, bells, and barriers.

Low flying aircraft

A warning sign with the image of an aircraft in the middle of it indicates an airport or airfield, where drivers should be prepared for low-flying aircraft.

Crosswinds or side winds

Flying socks, as indicated in Poland by a windsock on red triangle or yellow diamond signs, indicate locations where a strong side wind may cause the trajectory of the moving vehicle to change drastically, perhaps even "flying" across lanes, causing an accident.

Roads with one entry point

Roadways that only have one entry/exit point - "dead end", "not a through street" or "no outlet".

End of roadway

Signs indicating the end point of a roadway.

Fire stations

These signs warn of approach to where firefighters may be entering the road with fire engines or other emergency apparatus, where other drivers will have to stop and wait until they pass.

Traffic warning signs with lights
Some warning signs have flashing lights to alert drivers of conditions ahead or remind drivers to slow down. In Britain, they are called warning lights. Flashing lights can be dangerous for people with certain forms of epilepsy and/or sensory processing disorder.

See also

 Hazard symbol
 Comparison of European road signs
 Comparison of traffic signs in English-speaking countries
 Direction, position, or indication sign - Traffic signs that indicate directions, routes.
 Glossary of road transport terms
 Mandatory sign - Traffic signs that inform of required actions.
 One-way traffic
 Prohibitory sign - Traffic signs that inform of prohibited actions.
 Regulatory sign - Traffic signs that inform of traffic regulations.
 Road signs in Canada
 Road signs in the United States
 Variable-message sign

References

External links

Traffic signs
Signage
Safety
Signs

Warning sign


The Gibraltar Ornithological & Natural History Society (GONHS), founded in 1976, is a non-governmental, membership-based organisation committed to research into and conservation of nature in Gibraltar and the region of the Strait of Gibraltar.

It works independently and in collaboration with other organisations and scientific or conservation institutions to achieve these aims.

GONHS is a Partner of BirdLife International, a member of IUCN (The World Conservation Union), of the UK Overseas Territories Conservation Forum, the British Trust for Ornithology, the Iberian Council for the Defence of Nature, the Association of European Rarities Committees, and Countdown 2010.

Its first General Secretary was Dr. John Cortes who served until 2011.

References

External links
GONHS Official Website

Animal welfare organisations based in Gibraltar
Scientific organizations established in 1976
1976 establishments in Gibraltar
Bird conservation organizations
Natural history societies
Environment of Gibraltar


Shrimp toast or prawn toast is a Chinese dim sum dish. It is small triangles of bread, brushed with egg and topped with chopped shrimp and water chestnuts. It is baked or deep fried. It is often served as an appetizer in Chinese restaurants in Australia and the United States. In some countries, such as the United Kingdom and Australia, sesame seeds are sometimes sprinkled on the dish before it is baked or deep fried.

References

Seafood dishes
Chinese food

Shrimp toast


Peter James Green, FRS (born 28 April 1950) is a British Bayesian statistician. He is Emeritus Professor and Professorial Research Fellow at the University of Bristol, and a professor at the University of Technology, Sydney. He is distinguished for his contributions to computational statistics, in particular his contributions to spatial statistics and semi-parametric regression models and also his development of reversible-jump Markov chain Monte Carlo.

Education and career
Green was born in Solihull and attended Solihull School. He studied mathematics at Oxford University before moving to the University of Sheffield for postgraduate study, where he was awarded an MSc in probability and statistics and a PhD in applied probability.

Honors and awards
Green was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2003. He served as president of the Royal Statistical Society from 2001 to 2003, having  previously been awarded its Guy Medal in both Bronze (1987) and Silver (1999). He held a Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award from 2006 to 2011. He was president of the International Society for Bayesian Analysis for the year 2007.

He was editor of the journal Statistical Science for 2014–2016.

References

British statisticians
Bayesian statisticians
Fellows of the Royal Society
Academics of the University of Bristol
Living people
Presidents of the Royal Statistical Society
1950 births
Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award holders
Fellows of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics
Computational statisticians
Alumni of the University of Sheffield
Alumni of the University of Oxford

Peter Green (statistician)


Princess Tenagnework Haile Selassie, GBE baptismal name Fikirte Mariam (12 January 1912 – 6 April 2003), of Ethiopia was the eldest child of Emperor Haile Selassie and Empress Menen Asfaw.

Early life
Born in the city of Harar, Princess Tenagnework received her title upon her father's succession to the imperial throne in November 1930. Princess Tenagnework was first married to Ras Desta Damtew, a member of the prominent aristocratic Addisge clan. Ras Desta and Princess Tenagnework were the parents of two sons, Amha and Iskinder Desta (later Rear Admiral), and four daughters, Princesses Aida Desta, Seble Desta, Sophia Desta and Hirut Desta. Ras Desta Damtew was appointed Governor-General, first of Kaffa and Limu, and then of Sidamo.

In 1935, following the invasion of Ethiopia by Italy, the imperial family was forced to flee into exile at Fairfield House, Bath in England. However, Ras Desta remained behind to command the imperial forces fighting in the south of the country. Ras Desta was captured and summarily executed by the fascist forces. While in exile, Princess Tenagnework gave birth to Emebet Tsige Mariam (Mary) during a brief union with Ato Abebe Retta, who later served in ambassadorial and other roles in the post-war imperial government, and would eventually become president of the Imperial Senate after their separation.

Government career
In 1941, with British assistance, Emperor Haile Selassie was restored to his throne, and Princess Tenagnework and her children returned to Ethiopia. Unfortunately, her elder son, Amha Desta, died shortly before the return.  Princess Tenagnework would eventually marry Betwoded (later Ras) Andargachew Messai, who had formerly served as "Afe-Mesfin" and representative for the underage Prince Makonnen in his Duchy of Harar. They were married at the Miskea Hazunan Medhane Alem Church ("Church of the Savior of the World, Consoler of the Bereaved") in September 1944. Bitwoded Andargachew was then appointed Governor-General of Begemder and Semien Provinces, and the couple were based in Gondar.

The couple then served as the Vice-Roy and Vice-Rein of Eritrea, representing the Emperor there when the former Italian colony was federated to Ethiopia in 1951. Bitwoded Andargachew served in many other governmental posts. He was elevated to the title of Ras, served as Minister of the Interior, and was made an Imperial Senator and a Crown Councilor. Princess Tenagnework and Ras Andargatchew Messai were the parents of a daughter, Mentewab Andargachew, who died in childhood.  After the death of her mother, Empress Menen Asfaw in 1961, Princess Tenagnework became the most visible and foremost woman at the imperial court and played an ever-increasing advisory role to the monarch.

The princess was often described as the child most like her father in temperament and character. A strong personality credited with mostly conservative views, she was widely regarded as a guardian of the institution of the monarchy.  She was perceived as a leader of the traditionalist element within the nobility, which was seen as opposing constitutional and land tenure reform.

Imprisonment
Princess Tenagnework and the rest of the imperial family were arrested on 11 September 1974, the day before Emperor Haile Selassie was formally deposed by the Derg. After a brief time when the family were kept under house arrest at the home of the late Duke of Harar, they were then moved to the Akaki Prison, also known as "Alem Bekagn" which translates to "I have had enough of this world".  Princess Tenagnework and the other royal women were kept in the separate women's section of the prison, and Princess Tenagnework received the distinction of being listed as "Prisoner #1" in all Ethiopia. On 23 November 1974, the Derg executed sixty-one former officials of the imperial government without trial. Among the many relatives, friends and associates of the Princess to die at this time, was her remaining son, Rear Admiral Iskinder (Alexander) Desta.

The Princess was allowed a final visit with her father only a few days before his death in August 1975. That same year her daughter Tsige Mariam Abebe Retta had committed suicide by slitting her throat. Her niece Princess Ijigayehu Asfaw Wossen also died in that year under imprisonment due to untreated illness. Princess Tenagnework's husband, Ras Andargachew Messai (1902-1981), who had been outside Ethiopia when the monarchy fell, died after a long illness in London a few years later (16 August 1981).

After an imprisonment of fifteen years, the women of the imperial family were freed in 1989. A year later, the imprisoned males of the family were also released. After living in Addis Ababa quietly for a little over a year, Princess Tenagnework and a few of the other members of the imperial family were allowed to depart into exile. Princess Tenagnework travelled to London and from there joined her only surviving brother, Crown Prince Asfaw Wossen in the Virginia suburbs of Washington DC.

Later life
Princess Tenagnework settled in her second exile, in the Virginia suburbs of Washington D.C. to be near her only surviving sibling, Amha Selassie (Crown Prince Asfaw Wossen). The imperial family was living mostly in the Washington area and in London at the time. The death of her brother in 1997 deeply affected her, and her health began to decline. She returned permanently to Ethiopia in 1999. On 5 November 2000, Emperor Haile Selassie was reburied at Holy Trinity Cathedral with much pomp conducted by the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. The Princess attended the burial, which was refused state funeral status by the EPRDF government.

Princess Tenagnework died in Addis Ababa on 6 April 2003. On 13 April, a funeral mass for the Princess was led by Abune Paulos, Patriarch of the Ethiopian Church, and was attended by most of the other hierarchs of the Ethiopian Church. Much of the old Ethiopian nobility and many members of the general public attended. She was buried in the crypt of Holy Trinity Cathedral in Addis Ababa near the graves of her family.

Patronages
 President of the Ethiopian Women's Charitable Works Association (1941-1974).
 Patron of the Sebeta School and Center for the Blind.

Honours

National dynastic honours
  House of Solomon: Knight Grand Collar of the Imperial Order of Solomon
  House of Solomon: Knight Grand Cordon of the Imperial Order of the Seal of Solomon
  House of Solomon: Knight Grand Cordon with Collar of the Imperial Order of the Queen of Sheba
  House of Solomon: Recipient of the Refugees Medal
  House of Solomon: Recipient of the Emperor Haile Selassie I Coronation Medal
  House of Solomon: Recipient of the Silver Anniversary Medal of Emperor Haile Selassie I and Empress Menen
  House of Solomon: Recipient of the Emperor Haile Selassie I Ruby Jubilee and 75th Birthday Medal

Foreign honours
 : Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown
 : Dame Grand Cross of the Order of Dannebrog
 : Grand Cross of the Order of the Legion of Honour
  Greek Royal Family: Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Beneficence
 : Paulownia Dame Grand Cordon of the Order of the Precious Crown
 : Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the Gold Lion of the House of Nassau
 : Dame Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Olav
 : Honorary Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire

Ancestry

References

External links

Obituary of Princess Tenagnework at The Times
Biography of Princess Tenagnework, with photographs

1912 births
2003 deaths
People from Harari Region
Ethiopian Royal Family
Ethiopian princesses
Burials at Holy Trinity Cathedral (Addis Ababa)
Grand Crosses of the Order of the Dannebrog
Grand Crosses of the Order of Beneficence (Greece)
Recipients of the Legion of Honour
Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour
Order of the Precious Crown members
Grand Cordons of the Order of the Precious Crown
Honorary Dames Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire
Haile Selassie
Daughters of emperors
Recipients of orders, decorations, and medals of Ethiopia

Princess Tenagnework


An airport is a place where airplanes can land or take off. Most airports in the world have only a long strip of level ground called a runway. Many airports have buildings which are used to hold airplanes and passengers. A building that holds passengers waiting for their planes or luggage is called a terminal. The sections between planes and the terminal are called "gates". Airports also have buildings called hangars to hold planes when they are not used. Some airports have buildings to control the airport, like a control tower which tells planes where to go.

An international airport is a large airport that airplanes can use to fly to and from other countries. A domestic airport is an airport which is usually smaller and only has airplanes coming from different places in the same country. Most international airports have shops and restaurants for airplane passengers to use.

An airport used by the military is often called an air force base or airbase. An aircraft carrier is a floating airbase.

Safety
Airports are made and operated for safety. Today, people must walk through a metal detector, a machine that can tell if metal goes through it. If it makes a noise, the officers will make that person take off all things on them that are metal. They also have X-ray machines that can look into luggage. If officers find items such as weapons, or anything that can be used to kill people, that item (and the person who has it) are taken away and possibly arrested. As well as this, passengers are not allowed to bring bottles or containers with over 100 ml of liquid onto the plane because they could be turned into bombs. Therefore, all water bottles must be emptied before entering the secured area.

Related pages
 List of airports in Japan

Other websites
 AirNav.com - complete list of U.S. airports, with detailed airport information
 flightwise.com  - graphical airport finder via Google Maps
 ATCSCC Real-time Airport Status page - shows airport delay times for major U.S. airports (FAA)
 FlightCentral.net - complete list of U.S. airports with detailed airport information and integrated weather
 Department for Transport (United Kingdom)
 History of Aircraft Landing Aids
 SkyVector.com - Airspace and Airport information on Aeronautical Charts
 Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA) Official Website
 View airports and weather in Google Maps and Google Earth
 Float Incorporated (developers of floating airports and Pneumatic Stabilized Platform (PSP))

Airport


4′33″ is a musical composition written by avant-garde (non-traditional) musician John Cage. It is his most famous work. It consists of no notes, only 4 minutes and thirty-three seconds of silence. The piece challenges the definition of music. The only thing the sheet music says is "tacet", or "it is silent". It was first played by David Tudor in Woodstock, New York.

Other websites
 John Cage's 4'33"
 Classical Notes

Compositions

4′33″


The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) was a non-ministerial government department of the United Kingdom, established by the Fair Trading Act 1973, which enforced both consumer protection and competition law, acting as the United Kingdom's economic regulator. The intention was for the OFT to make markets work well for consumers, ensuring vigorous competition between fair-dealing businesses and prohibiting unfair practices such as rogue trading, scams, and cartels. Its role was modified and its powers changed by the Enterprise Act 2002.

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) announced reforms to the consumer protection and competition regimes. Under the provisions of the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) was established on 1 April 2014, combining many of the functions of the OFT and the Competition Commission and superseding both.

Regulation of the consumer credit sector passed from the OFT to the new Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) from April 2014.

Role

The majority of the OFT's work consisted of analysing markets, enforcing consumer and competition law, merger control, licensing and supervisory work (of consumer credit, estate agency, anti money-laundering supervision), advocacy, delivering information, education programmes and campaigns to business and consumers.

The OFT investigated markets to see whether they were working well for consumers and customers. Where appropriate, studies led to market investigation references to the Competition Commission, to enforce action, consumer awareness campaigns or to recommendations to government, which were published.

Showing how competitive markets that work well are important for consumers, fair dealing businesses and economic performance; explaining its decisions transparently; promoting compliance by explaining to business what the law is and how the OFT will apply it; promoting consumer awareness and confidence; coordinating effectively with enforcement partners locally, nationally and internationally, and advising government on how to achieve the most effective regime for competition and consumers.

Structure
The OFT worked under a structure arranged by markets rather than legislation with a Services, Infrastructure and Public Markets group and a Goods and Consumer group. Officials specialising in the different legal and regulatory regimes worked closely together in each of these two groups. This enabled the OFT to look more easily at whole markets and to use all the tools available to improve them if they were not operating effectively.

The OFT used consumer and competition enforcement, market studies and references, education and communication in appropriate combination. These market sector groups sat alongside other OFT groups, mergers, and cartels and criminal enforcement. The OFT was situated off Fleet Street, near Blackfriars station. It was next to St Bride's Church.

Markets and Policies Initiatives
Based on expanded powers granted under the Enterprise Act 2002, the OFT explored how different market sectors operate, in order to help markets work well. It sometimes researched one particular market in detail or, for example, how codes of practice or professional rules operated across different markets in a range of businesses.

The results of the research, which were published, helped the OFT to assess what action, if any, needed to be taken to protect consumers' interests. They could recommend stronger enforcement, or a change in the regulations, or suggest an awareness raising campaign for consumers (but will not always recommend intervention and when this is the case, will ensure that any non intervention decision is well informed and open to public scrutiny).

In 2006, the OFT restructured in response to Treasury proposals for splitting the department into separate consumer and competition regulators. The OFT argued that to protect consumers effectively, it had to be able to use both consumer law and competition law approaches in a holistic fashion. Moving away from division by legislative area, the OFT created divisions based on market sector.

These officials are supported by a dedicated economics branch also including statisticians and financial analysts (the Office of the Chief Economist), a legal specialist, and a policy advisory branch.

Cases

Credit card charges
In May 2006, the OFT investigated the charges being imposed on customers of credit card companies. In its report, the OFT confirmed these charges were unlawful as they amounted to a penalty, rather than the actual losses suffered by the companies. It said it would be prepared to investigate any charge over £12 (£16 for Egg credit card accounts) indicating that £12 would not be a "fair and acceptable charge" itself.

The OFT said it would be up to a court to determine such an amount based on the established legal precedent that the only recoverable cost would be actual costs incurred, i.e., liquidated damages.

The credit card companies did not produce evidence of their actual costs to the OFT, instead insisting their charges are in line with clear policy and information provided to customers. Charges have been as much as £38 per item, which campaigners argue is well beyond the cost of sending a computerised letter.

Deceptive websites
In 2009, after customers complained to OFT about deceptive practices by two websites operated by a man in the state of California that misrepresented themselves as being British, it coordinated actions with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, which began an enforcement action. Two years later a consent decree required the companies to end those practices and represent their location honestly.

Debt management companies
In September 2010, the OFT sent warnings to 129 firms after its review of debt management companies found widespread problems, with firms putting profits ahead of customer care. Since it issued that warning, 87 firms have surrendered their licenses.

Transfer of cash ISAs
In March 2010, Consumer Focus submitted a super complaint to the OFT raising concerns that transferring cash ISAs were taking too long and there were arbitrary rules preventing transfers into some of the most attractive accounts and that interest rates were not sufficiently transparent.

The OFT responded in June 2011, with a number of recommendations to ensure that transfers of cash ISAs work better and that there is greater transparency of interest rates. This included the following agreements from cash ISA provider to:
 Comply with new industry guidelines to complete end to end transfers within 15 working days
 Provide personalised interest rate information on cash ISA statements delivered in electronic and/or paper form

Reckitt Benckiser
In April 2011, the OFT fined Reckitt Benckiser £10.2 million after it found that it had abused its dominant position in the market for the National Health Service (NHS) supply of alginate and antacid heartburn medicines. The OFT found that Reckitt Benckiser abused its dominant position by withdrawing and de-listing Gaviscon Original Liquid from the NHS prescription channel in 2005.

Groupon
In March 2012, the OFT accepted undertakings from "daily deals" company MyCityDeal, which trades as Groupon, to change some of its trading practices following an OFT investigation. The investigation found widespread examples of Groupon's practices that breached consumer protection regulations.

The OFT had specific concerns over practices involving reference pricing, advertising, refunds, unfair terms, and the diligence of its interactions with merchants. Groupon engaged openly and constructively throughout the investigation and signed undertakings that it will change its practices to comply with the law.

Hotel online booking
In September 2012, the OFT commenced an investigation into the hotel online booking sector. The complainant, a small online travel agent, Skoosh, claimed that the hotels it bought room bookings from were under pressure from other resellers to maintain minimum prices. On 31 July 2012, the OFT issued a Statement of Objections against Booking.com, Expedia, and Intercontinental Hotels.

In the OFT's provisional view the parties had infringed competition law. In January 2014, the OFT accepted commitments proposed by the defendant parties in lieu of any fines. The OFT's Rasmussen acknowledged there was a chance the set up could lead to further monopoly, but he said the OFT would be monitoring movements in the market.

In March 2014, the price comparison site, Skyscanner, challenged the OFT's decision with the United Kingdom's Competition Appeal Tribunal.

Supply of ICT to the public sector
In a "parting shot", one week prior to the transfer of the OFT's responsibilities to the CMA, the Office recommended that an investigation into market conditions in the public sector ICT market should be undertaken.

Reputation
The OFT was criticized for being ineffective and for many of its investigations leading to no action, in contrast to the more vigorous approach of United States (United States Department of Justice Antitrust Division) and European Union (Directorate-General for Competition) regulators. Criticism has been levied, among others, in the cases of:
 Supermarkets
 Oil companies retail sales / petrol – in October 2008, UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown threatened oil companies with an OFT investigation unless lower oil prices were passed to consumers; this was despite several OFT investigations in the past giving the industry a clean bill of health.

The National Audit Office issued a report in March 2009 on the OFT's competition enforcement work which indicated progress in 7 out of 10 objectives, but also concluded:
...So whilst the OFT has improved the value for money it provides, there remains scope for further improvement.

According to the same report, in 2007 to 2008 the OFT estimated that its competition enforcement work led to direct savings to consumers worth £77m per year and that its market studies work had saved consumers £98 million in 2007 to 08; the OFT costs for these areas of work in the same year were approximately £26 million of its £78 million expenditure in 2007 to 208.

Super complaints
The following bodies and companies were designated by the Secretary of State as being able to bring a super-complaint to the OFT:

 The Campaign for Real Ale Limited (CAMRA)
 The Consumer Council for Water
 The Consumers' Association (trading as "Which?")
 The General Consumer Council for Northern Ireland (GCCNI)
 The National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux (NACAB)
 The National Consumer Council (trading as "Consumer Focus")

See also
 Bundeskartellamt
 Competition regulator
 Conseil de la Concurrence
 Consumer Credit Act 1974
 Consumers' Association
 Federal Trade Commission
 Financial Services Authority
 Independent school fee fixing scandal
 Merger control
 UK default charges controversy

References

External links
 Office of Fair Trading website

Competition regulators
Consumer organisations in the United Kingdom
Consumer rights agencies
Defunct departments of the Government of the United Kingdom
Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
Organisations based in the City of London
Organizations established in 1973
1973 establishments in the United Kingdom
Regulators of the United Kingdom
2014 disestablishments in the United Kingdom

Office of Fair Trading


Samuel "Sam" Hoffenstein (8 October 1890 - 6 October 1947) was a screenwriter and a musical composer. Born in Odessa (now Ukraine), he emigrated to the United States and began a career in New York City as a newspaper writer and in the entertainment business. In 1931 he moved to Los Angeles, where he lived for the rest of his life and wrote the scripts for over thirty movies. These movies included Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931), The Miracle Man (1932), Phantom of the Opera (1943), The Wizard of Oz (1939), Tales of Manhattan (1942), Flesh and Fantasy (1943), Laura (1944), and Ernst Lubitsch's Cluny Brown (1946).

In addition, Hoffenstein, along with Cole Porter and Kenneth Webb, helped compose the musical score for Gay Divorce (1933), the stage musical that became the film The Gay Divorcee (1934).

He died in Los Angeles, California. A book of his verse, Pencil in the Air, was published three days after his death to critical acclaim. Another book of his work was published in 1928, titled Poems in Praise of Practically Nothing. The book contained some of his work that had been formerly published in the New York World, the New York Tribune, Vanity Fair, the D. A. C. News, and Snappy Stories.

Works
 Life Sings A Song, (1916)
 Poems In Praise Of Practically Nothing, (1928)
 Year In, You're Out, (1930)
 A Treasure Of Humorous Verse, (1946)
 Pencil In The Air, (1947)
 Complete Poetry, (1954)

Source:

References

External links

1890 births
1947 deaths
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American screenwriters
American humorous poets
American male screenwriters
American people of Russian descent
Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States

Samuel Hoffenstein


A clef is a sign at the beginning of a staff of music which makes it possible for the player to work out what the notes are.  The word "clef" is a French word meaning "key".  The original Latin word is "clavis". It is the "key" to understanding which notes should be played.

The staff (or "stave") consists of five lines across the page.  The notes are placed on these lines and in these spaces.  The staff is only large enough to cover one and a half octaves of music (a bit more with ledger lines).  Therefore, different clefs are used for high music and for low music.

Treble clef

The treble clef is drawn by starting with a circle in the middle, then going up, round and straight down with a hook at the end.  The second line of the staff (counting from the bottom) goes through the middle of the treble clef's circle.  A note on this line is a G.  This is why the treble clef is called a "G clef".
The treble clef is used for high notes.  The notes higher than Middle C can be written in the treble clef.  In piano music the right hand is usually written in the treble clef.  Music for instruments such as the violin, flute, oboe, recorder, trumpet and high singing voice are always written in the treble clef.

Alto clef (Viola clef)

The alto clef is an example of a "C clef".  The middle of a C clef points to Middle C.  In the alto clef Middle C is on the third line of the staff.   Viola music is written in this clef, which is why it is also called the "viola clef".  Alto trombone players also need to be able to read the alto clef.

Tenor clef

The tenor clef is another C clef.  Middle C is on the fourth line up.  Tenor trombone players need to be able to read the tenor clef.  Cellists,  Double bass players and bassoonists also need to read tenor clef when their music goes high.

Bass clef

The bass clef is normally used for the left hand in piano music.  Low instruments like the cello, double bass, and bassoon mostly read from the bass clef.  It is an F clef because the two dots are on either side of the fourth line up which is an F below Middle C.

Choice of clef
The choice of clef used depends on the music.  The music for a pianist's left hand may be written in the bass clef, and the right hand notes may be in the treble clef.

In choral music the sopranos and altos sing from the treble clef, the tenors usually sing from the treble clef but sounding an octave lower than written (shown by a small 8 below the clef), and the basses sing from the bass clef.
for low bass intoments.

How to learn three important clefs

At the center of the image shown is middle C, at a frequency of 261.63 Hz.  Other names for it are C4 or c'.  It is located at the center line of the alto clef.  But on the bass or alto clefs it resides one ledger below or above the staff, respectively.  The two C notes that are above c' are shown to the left and right, on the bass and treble staffs.  The three clefs are staggered so that all three middle Cs are aligned on a single horizontal line.  To facilitate the teaching of these clefs, the lines of the bass and treble clef are marked. A mnemonic for remembering GBDFA on the bass clef is "good bikes don't fall apart".  For the treble clef, one can learn "every good bird does fly" for the lines marked EFBDF.

Related pages
Staff (music)
Ledger line
Octave

Musical notation

Clef


A watchmaker is an artisan who makes and repairs watches. Since a majority of watches are now factory-made, most modern watchmakers only repair watches. However, originally they were master craftsmen who built watches, including all their parts, by hand. Modern watchmakers, when required to repair older watches, for which replacement parts may not be available, must have fabrication skills, and can typically manufacture replacements for many of the parts found in a watch. The term clockmaker refers to an equivalent occupation specializing in clocks.

Most practising professional watchmakers service current or recent production watches.  They seldom fabricate replacement parts. Instead they obtain and fit factory spare parts applicable to the watch brand being serviced. The majority of modern watchmakers, particularly in Switzerland and other countries in Europe, work directly for the watchmaking industry and may have completed a formal watchmaking degree at a technical school. They also receive in-house "brand" training at the factory or service center where they are employed. However, some factory service centers have an approach that allows them to use 'non-watchmakers' (called "opérateurs") who perform only one aspect of the repair process. These highly skilled workers do not have a watchmaking degree or certificate, but are specifically trained 'in-house' as technicians to service a small number of components of the watch in a true 'assembly-line' fashion, (e.g., one type of worker will dismantle the watch movement from the case, another will polish the case and bracelet, another will install the dial and hands, etc.). If genuine watchmakers are employed in such environments, they are usually employed to service the watch movement.

Due to factory/genuine spare parts restrictions, an increasing minority of watchmakers in the US are 'independent,' meaning that they choose not to work directly for industry or at a factory service center.  One major Swiss watch brand – Rolex – now pre-qualifies independent watchmakers before they provide them with spare parts.  This qualification may include, but is not limited to, holding a modern training certificate from one of several reputable schools; having a workshop environment that meets Rolex's standards for cleanliness; using modern equipment; and being a member of the American Watchmakers-Clockmakers Institute. The Omega brand has the same approach. However, the vast majority of modern Swiss brands do not sell parts to independent watchmakers, irrespective of the watchmaker's expertise, training or credentials. This industry policy is thought to enable Swiss manufacturers to maintain tighter quality control of the after-sales service for its watch brands, produce high margins on after sales services (two to four times what an independent watchmaker would ask), and to reduce the availability of second-hand watchmaking parts on the used and fake market.

Training

Historically, in England, watchmakers would have to undergo a seven-year apprenticeship and then join a guild, such as the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers in London, before selling their first watch. In modern times, watchmakers undergo training courses such as the ones offered by the BHI, or one of the many other schools around the world following the WOSTEP style curriculum. Some US watchmaking schools of horology will teach not only the Wostep style, including the ETA range of movements, but also focus on the older watches that a modern watchmaker will encounter on a daily basis. In Denmark the apprenticeship lasts four years, with six terms at the Danish School of Watchmaking in Ringsted. The education covers both clocks and watches, as a watchmaker in Denmark is also a clockmaker. In France, there are three diplomas: the lowest is the Certificat d'aptitude professionnelle (CAP) in horology (in two years), then the "Brevet des Métiers d'Art" horology for another two-year course. And optionally, the Diplôme des métiers d'art / DMA Horlogerie (two years).

Watchmaker as metaphor

William Paley and others used the watchmaker in his famous analogy to imply the existence of God (the teleological argument) .

Richard Dawkins later applied this analogy in his book The Blind Watchmaker, arguing that evolution is blind in that it cannot look forward.

In popular culture
Alan Moore in his graphic novel Watchmen, uses the metaphor of the watchmaker as a central part of the backstory of his heroic character Dr. Manhattan.

In the NBC television series Heroes, the villain Sylar is a watchmaker by trade. His ability to know how watches work corresponds to his ability to gain new superpowers by examining the brains of people he has murdered.

In the scifi novel The Mote in God's Eye by Larry Niven, the Watchmakers are a small technologically intelligent sub-species of the Moties that will repair/improve things left for them (accompanied by food as payment).

In the 2015 major motion picture film Survivor directed by James McTeigue, one of the world's most wanted killers is played by Pierce Brosnan, who demonstrates just how devastating the precision skill sets of a watchmaker can be as he plays the role of 'Nash,' a professional killer who excels at bomb making and long-range shooting.

Historical watchmakers

 Jehan-Jacques Blancpain
 Stefan Anderson
 Ferdinand Berthoud
 Abraham Louis Breguet
 John Arnold
 Jean-Marc Vacheron
 George Daniels
 John Harrison
 Peter Henlein
 Christiaan Huygens
 Antide Janvier
 Jean-Antoine Lépine
 Thomas Mudge
 Nicolas Mathieu Rieussec

 Thomas Tompion
 Gérald Genta

See also

 Chronometer watch
 Clockmaker
 Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry FH
 History of timekeeping devices
 Marine chronometer
 National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors
 Perlée or pearl pattern
 Watch

Further reading

References

External links

 Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry FH
 American Watchmakers-Clockmakers Institute
 British Horological Institute
 Institute of Swiss Watchmaking
 AFAHA - Association française des amateurs d'horlogerie ancienne
 ANCAHA - Association nationale des collectionneurs et amateurs d'horlogerie ancienne et d'art
 Association horlogerie comtoise
 Swiss watch industry denies 'Nokia moment' from new Apple Watch

Crafts
Watchmaking

es:Relojero

Watchmaker


The Cadets were an American doo-wop group, formed in Los Angeles, California, United States. The group began as a gospel group, the Santa Monica Soul Seekers, in the late 1940s. The members were Lloyd McCraw, Willie Davis, Austin "Ted" Taylor, Aaron Collins, Glendon Kingsby, and Will "Dub" Jones. In 1955, the group auditioned for Modern Records, and were accepted. The group decided to switch to the popular R&B style, with the exception of Kingsby, who left to continue in gospel music.

Career
Modern came up with the name The Cadets, and the group released their first single, "Don't Be Angry"/"I Cry". Collins led the A side while Taylor led the flip side. The group followed with several more singles. One of them was slated to be a cover of The Feathers' "Why Don't You Write Me?" Modern worried that this single may compete with "Don't Be Angry", so it was recorded on their subsidiary label, RPM Records, and was credited to "The Jacks". Davis led "Why Don't You Write Me?", and the flip side, "Smack Dab in the Middle", was led by Jones.

Many more singles followed, with the five recording as The Cadets on Modern, and "The Jacks" on RPM. McCraw left at the end of the year, and was replaced by Pete Fox (spelled Foxx). The group signed up to the Buck Ram management agency in March 1956, and continued churning out singles. A few months later, Taylor left to pursue a solo career.

He was replaced for one session by Prentice Moreland. This particular session was instrumental, however. It was the recording of "Stranded in the Jungle", a cover of an already popular tune by The Jay Hawks. The song was spoken by Dub, with a duet refrain by Davis and Collins. The flip side, "I Want You", was led by Jones. It was Moreland who delivered the line, "Great Googa Mooga!  Lemme outta here!" in "Stranded in the Jungle." Following that session, Davis, Collins, Jones, and Foxx continued as a quartet.

They continued recording under both names, but toured only as The Cadets. They would, however, perform Jacks songs onstage. Collins was drafted that summer, with his place taken for a short time by the returning Ted Taylor. After only a matter of weeks, Collins was able to return to the group, and Taylor was back out.

1957 saw albums released under both the Jacks and Cadets names, under Modern and RPM, respectively. Confusing to many was the use of Cadets tracks on the Jacks album, and vice versa. That year the group stopped touring, without any big hits since "Stranded". In May, there was a single release by "Aaron Collins and the Cadets", which was Collins backed by studio singers. In November, the four were back together for one more release.

At the end of the year, the group split. Collins and Davis joined The Flairs. Foxx became a guitar instructor and continues (as of date of post; 30 December 2009) to give lessons out of his studio in Los Angeles, California; Jones joined The Coasters. A few recordings were made with the Cadets name in 1960; however, this was effectively recorded by Davis and Collins with the Flairs.

The group reformed in the late 1990s, with Davis, Foxx, Randy Jones, and Tommy Turner. This lineup appeared on the PBS special, Doo Wop 51. In 2001, while rehearsing for a show with the Doo Wop Society of Southern California, Jones had to be rushed to the hospital, requiring the other three to perform as a trio at the performance. Jones had suffered a stroke, and died thirteen months later. The group brought in new bass Ed Carter.

Willie Davis died on February 20, 2011, from complications of Alzheimer's Disease.

References

External links
Uncamarvy.com

Doo-wop groups
American rhythm and blues musical groups
Modern Records artists
RPM Records (United States) artists

The Cadets (group)


Don Friesen is an American stand-up comedian.  Friesen is a relatively "clean" performer who uses self-deprecating humor to lampoon his life as a suburban husband and father. His act consists of satirical scenes that spoof his daily interactions with his wife, kids, tech support, creditors, and airline pilots, mixed in with impressions, improvisation and audience interaction.

Friesen was born and raised in Fresno, California. He graduated with a business degree from the University of Southern California. In his senior year at USC, Friesen founded a campus-based improv troupe called Commedus Interruptus that still performs weekly shows on campus.  In 1992, Friesen married Jill Scariano. They live in South Pasadena, California, with their two children.

In 1999, Friesen won the prestigious San Francisco International Comedy Competition. In 2005, he returned to the competition with different material and took first place again, becoming the only person to win the competition twice. His first win led to a performance on the Martin Short Show, where, immediately after his set, he was asked to change his shirt and tape a second performance in front of the same audience. The second set aired a month later. Friesen has also appeared on Byron Allen's Comics Unleashed.  His episode was tapped for the syndicated program's compilation "Best of Comics Unleashed" DVD.

Friesen's stand-up performance DVD/CD "Inexplicable," was taped at the Crest Theatre in Sacramento, CA, and released independently in July 2005.

Friesen performed on Comedy Central's "Live at Gotham" (2009) episode #4.2, which originally aired in Oct 2009. He currently tours the country performing live in a variety of venues ranging from comedy clubs, theaters, and casinos, to corporate events, colleges and cruise ships.  He can be heard regularly in Los Angeles on the 95.5 KLOS Five O-Clock Funnies, and nationally on XM and Sirius Satellite Radio.

References

http://www.commedus.com

External links
 Don Friesen's official website
 Don Friesen's corporate booking website
 Don Friesen's channel on YouTube
 Don Friesen on Facebook
 Don Friesen on MySpace

Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
American stand-up comedians
People from Fresno, California
Comedians from California

Don Friesen


The Chimera (, Khimaira, from , khimaros, "she-goat") according to Greek mythology, was a fire-breathing monster that was composed of several different animals. The chimera is only one of several famous mythological hybrids. As with all mythical creatures, there is the question of its origin. In some traditions, the Chimera was one of the offspring of Typhon and Echidna and sister of such monsters as Cerberus and the Lernaean Hydra. However, the chimera does not appear to have an existence in physical reality, save for the individual animals from which it is composed.

Description
The most common description of the chimera comes from Homer's Iliad, in which the creature is said to have the head, arms, and legs of a lion, the body of a goat, and tail of a snake. It is also believed to breathe fire and be female, despite the mane adorning the lions head. The chimera was said to be incredibly vicious and powerful, especially since as one single creature, it possessed the abilities of three separate animals.

The Chimera was eventually killed by the hero Bellerophon.

Greek legendary creatures

Chimera (mythology)


A variable focus lens (also called zoom lens) is a camera lens that can vary its focal length.

In general, such lenses have a lower aperture than comparable fixfocus lenses. Depending on the manufacturer common zoom lenses (in the 30–100mm focal range, for film photography) usually have a varying aperture, from 4 to 5.6, perhaps 3.3 to 5.6. There are also some zoom lenses with a fixed maximal aperture (to take the example from before: of 2.6 or 2.8, maximum). In contrast, fix-focus lenses in that range have maximum apertures of 1.4 to 2.

Digital zoom

Digital cameras sometimes have a function called  digital zoom. This is a mathematical method which simply enlarges a part of the picture. The result is not as sharp as that of the optical zoom. When an optical zoom changes its focal length, this will also change the angle of view. Digital zooms simply make a small part of an image bigger, without changing the angle of view.

Camera lenses

Zoom lens