A One-time pad is a method of encryption. It is a symmetrical cipher, which means the same key is needed for encryption and decryption. A one time pad uses a key that is either as long or longer than the message it encrypts. The key must only be used once, and after it is used, a new key must be generated and shared for the cipher to remain secure.

If this method is used correctly, it is impossible to decrypt or break the encryption without the key. Failure to make and share random keys has led to successful cryptanalysis, as in the Venona project.
Because of these requirements, it is rarely used today.

History
One-time pads were created all the way in 1882 by Frank Miller. After the invention in 1917, Gilbert Vernam invented and patented an electronic version based on teleprinter technologies.

Cryptography

One-time pad


Accessibility is  equal access for people with disabilities to any environment, movement, information or communication. It means that a person with a disability should be able to use a product or service to access society at the same level as a person without a disability.

Examples of accessibility include:

 Buildings that have access ramps for people in wheelchairs or motorised scooters
 Close captioning on television and subtitles on DVDs for people who cannot hear
 Sign language that allows deaf people to communicate other people
 Braille for people with a vision impairment to help them read books
 Modified computer software and hardware that allows people with a disability or disabilities to access the Internet and use a personal computer

The word accessibility is used in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, mostly in article 9.

Having accessible ramps and parking is very important for the people who struggle with disabilities.

Related pages
Digital rights
Disability
Web accessibility
Right to housing
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Disability

Accessibility


In computing, an exception is a special situation where the program cannot do things the way it usually would and is forced to do something else instead. One layer of the system uses an exception to give another layer information about special states the system is currently in. The different layers of software or hardware have contracts, that tell what can be expected; this is generally known as Programming by Contract. In the context of exception handling, a program is said to be exception-safe, if exceptions that occur will not produce side-effects (such as memory leaks), will not change stored data so that it becomes unreadable, or generate output that is invalid. There are different levels of exception safety:
Failure transparency or no throw guarantee: No matter what happens, no exceptions will be thrown. This is the best level of exception safety, but also the most difficult to implement.
Commit or rollback semantics, Strong exception safety, no change guarantee: Operations can fail, and exceptions will be thrown. However, a failed operation is guaranteed to not have side-effects or change the data.
Basic exception safety: A part of the failed operation may have been executed, and can have side-effects. The state of the data may be different before and after the execution, but in both cases, the data will be in a valid state.
Minimal exception safety,No-leak guarantee: As only a part of the operation was executed, the stored data may be invalid, afterwards. The system will keep running, and no resources get leaked, however.
No exception safety: No guarantees can be made. This is the worst level of exception safety.

Usually, a programmer will try to catch the exception early so that problems don't get worse over time.

Example
Suppose a program tries to add something to an array, or group of objects that doesn't exist. This is called a null reference. Look at the following code from the Java programming language:

class SomeProgram {
  int[] SomeArray = null; // This array of numbers doesn't exist
  public static void main(String[] args) {
    System.out.println("The 1st number in the array is " + SomeArray[0] + "."); // This will throw an exception because it refers to an imaginary array
  }
}

This code throws what programmers call a null-pointer exception. This is fixed by adding "try" in front of the code that might throw the exception, like is done with the code shown below:

class AnotherProgram {
  int[] SomeArray = null; // This array of numbers doesn't exist
  public static void main(String[] args) {
    try {
      System.out.println("The 1st number in the array is " + SomeArray[0] + "."); // This will throw an exception because it
                                                                                // refers to an imaginary array
    }
    catch (NullPointerException e) { // This is how you catch a null-pointer exception
      System.err.println("Sorry.  I could not find the first number in the array."); // This creates an error message
      e.printStackTrace(); // This tells you where to look for bugs in your program
    }
  }
}

Related pages
 Computer programming

References

Programming languages

Exception handling


The Australian Film Institute (AFI) was founded in 1958 as a non-profit organisation devoted to developing an active film culture in Australia and fostering engagement between the general public and the Australian film industry. It is responsible for producing Australia's premier annual film and television awards, the AACTA Awards (previously the AFI Awards).

Overview
The work of the institute is supported by government funding, corporate sponsors and approximately 10,000 members nationally. As Australia's foremost motion picture industry association, AFI promotes the Australian film and television industry and plays a central role in the way in which the Australian film industry is known and understood, both locally and internationally.

In the 1970s, the AFI played a prominent part in reviving the Australian film industry and in convincing the government to invest in the creation of the Experimental Film Fund, a film school, and a corporation for advancing feature film production. The year 1976 marked the first time that the AFI Awards, which had been given since 1958, were televised.  Ten years later, television categories were added to the awards.

A recent focus of the organisation has been on helping to develop the careers of Australian film artists, through the AFI Fellowship and AFI Documentary Trailbrazer programs, as well as with the AFI Young Film Actor Award.

The AFI is affiliated with the Los Angeles Australian Film & Television Association. In August 2011, AFI formed a subsidiary professional organisation, the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts.

AFI Research Collection
The AFI Research Collection  is a significant non-lending, specialist film and television industry resource. The collection operates under the auspices of Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology's School of Media and Communication in conjunction with the Australian Film Institute. The Collection has particular strengths in screen history and theory and in Australian cinema, and features a diverse range of books, journals, film scripts, film directories, reports and film festival catalogues.

See also
Cinema of Australia
Culture of Australia

References

External links
AFI website
 AFI Awards 2010 coverage @ Mediasearch
AFI History

1958 establishments in Australia
Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts
Film organisations in Australia
Organisations based in Melbourne
Organizations established in 1958
Television organisations in Australia

Australian Film Institute


Phytoremediation is fixing environmental problems through the use of plants.
A type of this is phytomining, which is a method of extraction. Some plants absorb copper compounds through their roots. They concentrate these compounds as a result of this. The plants can be burned to produce an ash that contains the copper compounds.

Conservation
Sustainable technologies

Phytoremediation


Consumer protection means protecting the rights of consumers. It also helps to protect fair trade competition and truthful information in a market economy. Various laws and organisations are designed to do this.

The laws are designed to stop companies using unfair practices to gain an advantage over their competitors. Examples of such practices are fraud and "false advertising", where a company advertises their product with false information.

Consumer protection laws are a form of regulation.

More reading

Commerce

Business law

Consumer protection


A headshot (or head shot) is a photograph of a person's face. It is a form of portraiture. The purpose of a headshot is to show the subject's personality, or character. Headshots are used in the modelling and acting businesses and is vital to the careers of many business and sales executives who use them on business cards, company web sites and social media sites like LinkedIn. Most actors have a headshot that they will provide to employers.

Headshots are a separate specialty career path branch for several photographers who make or have made careers in this kind of photography.  Examples include Yousuf Karsh (1908-2002), Yucel Yalim (1958), Cindy Quinn (1960) and Peter Hurley.

Related pages
Mugshot

Photographs
Movie industry

Headshot


The IP Multimedia Subsystem or IP Multimedia Core Network Subsystem (IMS) is a standardised architectural framework for delivering IP multimedia services. Historically, mobile phones have provided voice call services over a circuit-switched-style network, rather than strictly over an IP packet-switched network.  Alternative methods of delivering voice (VoIP) or other multimedia services have become available on smartphones, but they have not become standardized across the industry. IMS is an architectural framework that provides such standardization.

IMS was originally designed by the wireless standards body 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), as a part of the vision for evolving mobile networks beyond GSM. Its original formulation (3GPP Rel-5) represented an approach for delivering Internet services over GPRS.  This vision was later updated by 3GPP, 3GPP2 and ETSI TISPAN by requiring support of networks other than GPRS, such as Wireless LAN, CDMA2000 and fixed lines.

IMS uses IETF protocols wherever possible, e.g., the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP). According to the 3GPP, IMS is not intended to standardize applications, but rather to aid the access of multimedia and voice applications from wireless and wireline terminals, i.e., to create a form of fixed-mobile convergence (FMC). This is done by having a horizontal control layer that isolates the access network from the service layer. From a logical architecture perspective, services need not have their own control functions, as the control layer is a common horizontal layer. However, in implementation this does not necessarily map into greater reduced cost and complexity.

Alternative and overlapping technologies for access and provisioning of services across wired and wireless networks include combinations of Generic Access Network, softswitches and "naked" SIP.

Since it is becoming increasingly easier to access content and contacts using mechanisms outside the control of traditional wireless/fixed operators, the interest of IMS is being challenged.

Examples of global standards based on IMS are MMTel which is the basis for Voice over LTE (VoLTE), Wi-Fi Calling (VoWIFI), Video over LTE (ViLTE), SMS/MMS over WiFi and LTE, USSD over LTE, and Rich Communication Services (RCS), which is also known as joyn or Advanced Messaging, and now RCS is operator's implementation. RCS also further added Presence/EAB (enhanced address book) functionality.

History
IMS was defined by an industry forum called 3G.IP, formed in 1999. 3G.IP developed the initial IMS architecture, which was brought to the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), as part of their standardization work for 3G mobile phone systems in UMTS networks. It first appeared in Release 5 (evolution from 2G to 3G networks), when SIP-based multimedia was added. Support for the older GSM and GPRS networks was also provided.
 3GPP2 (a different organization from 3GPP) based their CDMA2000 Multimedia Domain (MMD) on 3GPP IMS, adding support for CDMA2000.
 3GPP release 6 added interworking with WLAN, inter-operability between IMS using different IP-connectivity networks, routing group identities, multiple registration and forking, presence, speech recognition and speech-enabled services (Push to talk).
 3GPP release 7 added support for fixed networks by working together with TISPAN release R1.1, the function of AGCF (access gateway control function) and PES (PSTN emulation service) are introduced to the wire-line network for the sake of inheritance of services which can be provided in PSTN network. AGCF works as a bridge interconnecting the IMS networks and the Megaco/H.248 networks. Megaco/H.248 networks offers the possibility to connect terminals of the old legacy networks to the new generation of networks based on IP networks. AGCF acts a SIP User agent towards the IMS and performs the role of P-CSCF. SIP User Agent functionality is included in the AGCF, and not on the customer device but in the network itself. Also added voice call continuity between circuit switching and packet switching domain (VCC), fixed broadband connection to the IMS, interworking with non-IMS networks, policy and charging control (PCC), emergency sessions. It also added SMS over IP.
 3GPP release 8 added support for LTE / SAE, multimedia session continuity, enhanced emergency sessions, SMS over SGs and IMS centralized services.
 3GPP release 9 added support for IMS emergency calls over GPRS and EPS, enhancements to multimedia telephony, IMS media plane security, enhancements to services centralization and continuity.
 3GPP release 10 added support for inter device transfer, enhancements to the single radio voice call continuity (SRVCC), enhancements to IMS emergency sessions.
 3GPP release 11 added USSD simulation service, network-provided location information for IMS, SMS submit and delivery without MSISDN in IMS, and overload control.

Some operators opposed IMS because it was seen as complex and expensive.
In response, a cut-down version of IMS—enough of IMS to support voice and SMS over the LTE network—was defined and standardized in 2010 as Voice over LTE (VoLTE).

Architecture

Each of the functions in the diagram is explained below.

The IP multimedia core network subsystem is a collection of different functions, linked by standardized interfaces, which grouped form one IMS administrative network. A function is not a node (hardware box): An implementer is free to combine two functions in one node, or to split a single function into two or more nodes. Each node can also be present multiple times in a single network, for dimensioning, load balancing or organizational issues.

Access network
The user can connect to IMS in various ways, most of which use the standard IP. IMS terminals (such as mobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs) and computers) can register directly on IMS, even when they are roaming in another network or country (the visited network). The only requirement is that they can use IP and run SIP user agents. Fixed access (e.g., digital subscriber line (DSL), cable modems, Ethernet, FTTx), mobile access (e.g. 5G NR, LTE, W-CDMA, CDMA2000, GSM, GPRS) and wireless access (e.g., WLAN, WiMAX) are all supported. Other phone systems like plain old telephone service (POTS—the old analogue telephones), H.323 and non IMS-compatible systems, are supported through gateways.

Core network
HSS – Home subscriber server:
The home subscriber server (HSS), or user profile server function (UPSF), is a master user database that supports the IMS network entities that actually handle calls. It contains the subscription-related information (subscriber profiles), performs authentication and authorization of the user, and can provide information about the subscriber's location and IP information. It is similar to the GSM home location register (HLR) and Authentication centre (AuC).

A subscriber location function (SLF) is needed to map user addresses when multiple HSSs are used.

User identities:
Various identities may be associated with IMS: IP multimedia private identity (IMPI), IP multimedia public identity (IMPU), globally routable user agent URI (GRUU), wildcarded public user identity. Both IMPI and IMPU are not phone numbers or other series of digits, but uniform resource identifier (URIs), that can be digits (a Tel URI, such as tel:+1-555-123-4567) or alphanumeric identifiers (a SIP URI, such as sip:email@example.com"  ).

IP Multimedia Private Identity:
The IP Multimedia Private Identity (IMPI) is a unique permanently allocated global identity assigned by the home network operator. It has the form of a Network Access Identifier(NAI) i.e. user.name@domain, and is used, for example, for Registration, Authorization, Administration, and Accounting purposes.  Every IMS user shall have one IMPI.

IP Multimedia Public Identity:
The IP Multimedia Public Identity (IMPU) is used by any user for requesting communications to other users (e.g. this might be included on a business card). Also known as Address of Record (AOR). There can be multiple IMPU per IMPI. The IMPU can also be shared with another phone, so that both can be reached with the same identity (for example, a single phone-number for an entire family).

Globally Routable User Agent URI:Globally Routable User Agent URI (GRUU) is an identity that identifies a unique combination of IMPU and UE instance.
There are two types of GRUU: Public-GRUU (P-GRUU) and Temporary GRUU (T-GRUU).
P-GRUU reveal the IMPU and are very long lived.
T-GRUU do not reveal the IMPU and are valid until the contact is explicitly de-registered or the current registration expires

Wildcarded Public User Identity:
A wildcarded Public User Identity expresses a set of IMPU grouped together.

The HSS subscriber database contains the IMPU, IMPI, IMSI, MSISDN, subscriber service profiles, service triggers, and other information.

Call Session Control Function (CSCF)
Several roles of SIP servers or proxies, collectively called Call Session Control Function (CSCF), are used to process SIP signaling packets in the IMS.

 A Proxy-CSCF (P-CSCF) is a SIP proxy that is the first point of contact for the IMS terminal. It can be located either in the visited network (in full IMS networks) or in the home network (when the visited network is not IMS compliant yet). Some networks may use a Session Border Controller (SBC) for this function. The P-CSCF is at its core a specialized SBC for the User–network interface which not only protects the network, but also the IMS terminal. The use of an additional SBC between the IMS terminal and the P-CSCF is unnecessary and infeasible due to the signaling being encrypted on this leg. The terminal discovers its P-CSCF with either DHCP, or it may be configured (e.g. during initial provisioning or via a 3GPP IMS Management Object (MO)) or in the ISIM or assigned in the PDP Context (in General Packet Radio Service (GPRS)).
 It is assigned to an IMS terminal before registration, and does not change for the duration of the registration.
 It sits on the path of all signaling, and can inspect every signal; the IMS terminal must ignore any other unencrypted signaling.
 It provides subscriber authentication and may establish an IPsec or TLS security association with the IMS terminal. This prevents spoofing attacks and replay attacks and protects the privacy of the subscriber.
 It inspects the signaling and ensures that the IMS terminals do not misbehave (e.g. change normal signaling routes, disobey home network's routing policy).
 It can compress and decompress SIP messages using SigComp, which reduces the round-trip over slow radio links.
 It may include a Policy Decision Function (PDF), which authorizes media plane resources e.g., quality of service (QoS) over the media plane. It is used for policy control, bandwidth management, etc. The PDF can also be a separate function.
 It also generates charging records.
 An Interrogating-CSCF (I-CSCF) is another SIP function located at the edge of an administrative domain. Its IP address is published in the Domain Name System (DNS) of the domain (using NAPTR and SRV type of DNS records), so that remote servers can find it, and use it as a forwarding point (e.g., registering) for SIP packets to this domain.
 it queries the HSS to retrieve the address of the S-CSCF and assign it to a user performing SIP registration
 it also forwards SIP request or response to the S-CSCF
 Up to Release 6 it can also be used to hide the internal network from the outside world (encrypting parts of the SIP message), in which case it's called a Topology Hiding Inter-network Gateway (THIG). From Release 7 onwards this "entry point" function is removed from the I-CSCF and is now part of the Interconnection Border Control Function (IBCF). The IBCF is used as gateway to external networks, and provides NAT and firewall functions (pinholing). The IBCF is a session border controller specialized for the network-to-network interface (NNI).
 A Serving-CSCF (S-CSCF) is the central node of the signaling plane. It is a SIP server, but performs session control too. It is always located in the home network. It uses Diameter Cx and Dx interfaces to the HSS to download user profiles and upload user-to-S-CSCF associations (the user profile is only cached locally for processing reasons and is not changed). All necessary subscriber profile information is loaded from the HSS.
 it handles SIP registrations, which allows it to bind the user location (e.g., the IP address of the terminal) and the SIP address
 it sits on the path of all signaling messages of the locally registered users, and can inspect every message
 it decides to which application server(s) the SIP message will be forwarded, in order to provide their services
 it provides routing services, typically using Electronic Numbering (ENUM) lookups
 it enforces the policy of the network operator
 there can be multiple S-CSCFs in the network for load distribution and high availability reasons. It's the HSS that assigns the S-CSCF to a user, when it's queried by the I-CSCF. There are multiple options for this purpose, including a mandatory/optional capabilities to be matched between subscribers and S-CSCFs.

 Application servers

SIP Application servers (AS) host and execute services, and interface with the S-CSCF using SIP. An example of an application server that is being developed in 3GPP is the Voice call continuity Function (VCC Server). Depending on the actual service, the AS can operate in SIP proxy mode, SIP UA (user agent) mode or SIP B2BUA mode. An AS can be located in the home network or in an external third-party network. If located in the home network, it can query the HSS with the Diameter Sh or Si interfaces (for a SIP-AS).
 SIP AS: Host and execute IMS specific services
 IP Multimedia Service Switching Function (IM-SSF): Interfaces SIP to CAP to communicate with CAMEL Application Servers
 OSA service capability server (OSA SCS): Interfaces SIP to the OSA framework;

 Functional model
The AS-ILCM (Application Server - Incoming Leg Control Model) and AS-OLCM (Application Server - Outgoing Leg Control Model) store transaction state, and may optionally store session state depending on the specific service being executed.
The AS-ILCM interfaces to the S-CSCF (ILCM) for an incoming leg and the AS-OLCM interfaces to the S-CSCF (OLCM) for an outgoing leg.
Application Logic provides the service(s) and interacts between the AS-ILCM and AS-OLCM.

 Public Service Identity
Public Service Identities (PSI) are identities that identify services, which are hosted by application servers. As user identities, PSI takes the form of either a SIP or Tel URI. PSIs are stored in the HSS either as a distinct PSI or as a wildcarded PSI:
 a distinct PSI contains the PSI that is used in routing
 a wildcarded PSI represents a collection of PSIs.

 Media servers
The Media Resource Function (MRF) provides media related functions such as media manipulation (e.g. voice stream mixing) and playing of tones and announcements.

Each MRF is further divided into a media resource function controller (MRFC) and a media resource function processor (MRFP).

 The MRFC  is a signalling plane node that interprets information coming from an AS and S-CSCF to control the MRFP
 The MRFP is a media plane node used to mix, source or process media streams. It can also manage access right to shared resources.

The Media Resource Broker (MRB) is a functional entity that is responsible for both collection of appropriate published MRF information and supplying of appropriate MRF information to consuming entities such as the AS. MRB can be used in two modes:
 Query mode: AS queries the MRB for media and sets up the call using the response of MRB
 In-Line Mode: AS sends a SIP INVITE to the MRB. The MRB sets up the call

 Breakout gateway
A Breakout Gateway Control Function (BGCF) is a SIP proxy which processes requests for routing from an S-CSCF when  the S-CSCF has determined that the session cannot be routed using DNS or ENUM/DNS. It includes routing functionality based on telephone numbers.

 PSTN gateways
A PSTN/CS gateway interfaces with PSTN circuit switched (CS) networks. For signalling, CS networks use ISDN User Part (ISUP) (or BICC) over Message Transfer Part (MTP), while IMS uses SIP over IP. For media, CS networks use Pulse-code modulation (PCM), while IMS uses Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP).
 A signalling gateway (SGW) interfaces with the signalling plane of the CS. It transforms lower layer protocols as Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP, an IP protocol) into Message Transfer Part (MTP, a Signalling System 7 (SS7) protocol), to pass ISDN User Part (ISUP) from the MGCF to the CS network. The SGW does call control protocol conversion between SIP and ISUP/BICC under the control of the MGCF.
 A media gateway controller function (MGCF) is a SIP endpoint that interfaces with the SGW over SCTP. It also controls the resources in a Media Gateway (MGW) across an H.248 interface.
 A media gateway (MGW) interfaces with the media plane of the CS network, by converting between RTP and PCM. It can also transcode when the codecs don't match (e.g., IMS might use AMR, PSTN might use G.711).

 Media resources
Media Resources are those components that operate on the media plane and are under the control of IMS core functions. Specifically, Media Server (MS) and Media gateway (MGW)

 NGN interconnection
There are two types of next-generation networking interconnection:
 Service-oriented interconnection (SoIx): The physical and logical linking of NGN domains that allows carriers and service providers to offer services over NGN (i.e., IMS and PES) platforms with control, signalling (i.e., session based), which provides defined levels of interoperability. For instance, this is the case of "carrier grade" voice and/or multimedia services over IP interconnection. "Defined levels of interoperability" are dependent upon the service or the QoS or the Security, etc.
 Connectivity-oriented interconnection (CoIx): The physical and logical linking of carriers and service providers based on simple IP connectivity irrespective of the levels of interoperability. For example, an IP interconnection of this type is not aware of the specific end to end service and, as a consequence, service specific network performance, QoS and security requirements are not necessarily assured. This definition does not exclude that some services may provide a defined level of interoperability. However, only SoIx fully satisfies NGN interoperability requirements.

An NGN interconnection mode can be direct or indirect. Direct interconnection refers to the interconnection between two network domains without any intermediate network domain. Indirect interconnection at one layer refers to the interconnection between two network domains with one or more  intermediate network domain(s) acting as transit networks. The intermediate network domain(s) provide(s) transit functionality to the two other network domains. Different interconnection modes may be used for carrying service layer signalling and media traffic.

 Charging
Offline charging is applied to users who pay for their services periodically (e.g., at the end of the month). Online charging, also known as credit-based charging, is used for prepaid services, or real-time credit control of postpaid services. Both may be applied to the same session.Charging function addresses are addresses distributed to each IMS entities and provide a common location for each entity to send charging information. charging data function (CDF) addresses are used for offline billing and Online Charging Function (OCF) for online billing.

 Offline Charging : All the SIP network entities (P-CSCF, I-CSCF, S-CSCF, BGCF, MRFC, MGCF, AS) involved in the session use the Diameter Rf interface to send accounting information to a CDF  located in the same domain. The CDF will collect all this information, and build a call detail record (CDR), which is sent to the billing system of the domain.Each session carries an IMS Charging Identifier (ICID) as a unique identifier generated by the first IMS entity involved in a SIP transaction and used for the correlation with CDRs. Inter Operator Identifier (IOI) is a globally unique identifier shared between sending and receiving networks. Each domain has its own charging network. Billing systems in different domains will also exchange information, so that roaming charges can be applied.
 Online charging : The S-CSCF talks to a IMS gateway function (IMS-GWF) which looks like a regular SIP application server. The IMS-GWF can signal the S-CSCF to terminate the session when the user runs out of credits during a session. The AS and MRFC use the Diameter Ro interface towards an OCF.
 When immediate event charging (IEC) is used, a number of credit units is immediately deducted from the user's account by the ECF and the MRFC or AS is then authorized to provide the service. The service is not authorized when not enough credit units are available.
 When event charging with unit reservation'' (ECUR) is used, the ECF (event charging function) first reserves a number of credit units in the user's account and then authorizes the MRFC or the AS. After the service is over, the number of spent credit units is reported and deducted from the account; the reserved credit units are then cleared.

IMS-based PES architecture
IMS-based PES (PSTN Emulation System) provides IP networks services to analog devices. IMS-based PES allows non-IMS devices to appear to IMS as normal SIP users. Analog terminal using standard analog interfaces can connect to IMS-based PES in two ways:
 Via A-MGW (Access Media Gateway) that is linked and controlled by AGCF. AGCF is placed within the Operators network and controls multiple A-MGW. A-MGW and AGCF communicate using H.248.1 (Megaco) over the P1 reference point. POTS phone connect to A-MGW over the z interface. The signalling is converted to H.248 in the A-MGW and passed to AGCF. AGCF interprets the H.248 signal and other inputs from the A-MGW to format H.248 messages into appropriate SIP messages. AGCF presents itself as P-CSCF to the S-CSCF and passes generated SIP messages to S-CSCF or to IP border via IBCF (Interconnection Border Control Function). Service presented to S-CSCF in SIP messages trigger PES AS. AGCF has also certain service independent logic, for example on receipt of off-hook event from A-MGW, the AGCF requests the A-MGW to play dial tone.
 Via VGW (VoIP-Gateway) or SIP Gateway/Adapter on customer premises. POTS phones via VOIP Gateway connect to P-CSCF  directly. Operators mostly use session border controllers between VoIP gateways and P-CSCFs for security and to hide network topology. VoIP gateway link to IMS using SIP over Gm reference point. The conversion from POTS service over the z interface to SIP occurs in the customer premises VoIP gateway. POTS signaling is converted to SIP and passed on to P-CSCF. VGW acts as SIP user agent and appears to P-CSCF as SIP terminal.

Both A-MGW and VGW are unaware of the services. They only relay call control signalling to and from the PSTN terminal. Session control and handling is done by IMS components.

Interfaces description

Session handling
One of the most important features of IMS, that of allowing for a SIP application to be dynamically and differentially (based on the user's profile) triggered, is implemented as a filter-and-redirect signalling mechanism in the S-CSCF.

The S-CSCF might apply filter criteria to determine the need to forward SIP requests to AS. It is important to note that services for the originating party will be applied in the originating network, while the services for the terminating party will be applied in the terminating network, all in the respective S-CSCFs.

Initial filter criteria
An initial filter criteria (iFC) is an XML-based format used for describing control logic. iFCs represent a provisioned subscription of a user to an application. They are stored in the HSS as part of the IMS Subscription Profile and are downloaded to the S-CSCF upon user registration (for registered users) or on processing demand (for services, acting as unregistered users). iFCs are valid throughout the registration lifetime or until the User Profile is changed.

The iFC is composed of:
 Priority - determines the order of checking the trigger.
 Trigger point - logical condition(s) which is verified against initial dialog creating SIP requests or stand-alone SIP requests.
 Application server URI - specifies the application server to be forwarded to when the trigger point matches.

There are two types of iFCs:
 Shared - When provisioning, only a reference number (the shared iFC number) is assigned to the subscriber. During registration, only the number is sent to the CSCF, not the entire XML description. The complete XML will have previously been stored on the CSCF.
 Non-shared - when provisioning, the entire XML description of the iFC is assigned to the subscriber. During registration, the entire XML description is sent to the CSCF.

Security aspects of early IMS and non-3GPP systems
It is envisaged that security defined in TS 33.203 may not be available for a while especially because of the lack of USIM/ISIM interfaces and prevalence of devices that support IPv4. For this situation, to provide some protection against the most significant threats, 3GPP defines some security mechanisms, which are informally known as "early IMS security," in TR33.978. This mechanism relies on the authentication performed during the network attachment procedures, which binds between the user's profile and its IP address. This mechanism is also weak because the signaling is not protected on the user–network interface.

CableLabs in PacketCable 2.0, which adopted also the IMS architecture but has no USIM/ISIM capabilities in their terminals, published deltas to the 3GPP specifications where the Digest-MD5 is a valid authentication option. Later on, TISPAN also did a similar effort given their fixed networks scopes, although the procedures are different. To compensate for the lack of IPsec capabilities, TLS has been added as an option for securing the Gm interface. Later 3GPP Releases have included the Digest-MD5 method, towards a Common-IMS platform, yet in its own and again different approach. Although all 3 variants of Digest-MD5 authentication have the same functionality and are the same from the IMS terminal's perspective, the implementations on the Cx interface between the S-CSCF and the HSS are different.

See also
 4G
 Generic Access Network
 Image share
 OMA Instant Messaging and Presence Service
 IP connectivity access network
 Mobile broadband
 Mobile VoIP
 Peer-to-peer video sharing
 Service capability interaction manager
 System Architecture Evolution
 SIMPLE
 SIP extensions for the IP multimedia subsystem
 Text over IP
 Ultra Mobile Broadband
 Video share
 Voice call continuity

References

Further reading

External links
 A decent IMS tutorial
 IMS Call Flows

Audio network protocols
3GPP standards
LTE (telecommunication)
Multimedia
Network architecture
Telecommunications
Telecommunications infrastructure
Videotelephony
Voice over IP

IP Multimedia Subsystem


Aubrey Brain (born London 12 July 1893; died London 21 September 1955) was a British French horn player.  There were a lot of French horn players in his family.  His father, Alfred Edwin Brain senior, played in Henry Wood's orchestra at the very first prom in 1895.  Later he played for the London Symphony Orchestra.   His brother, also called Alfred Edwin Brain, was principal horn player in Henry Wood's Queen's Hall Orchetra, but then he emigrated to the USA where he eventually played for the Los Angeles Philharmonic.  His son Dennis Brain was to become the most famous French horn player of all.

Life

Early career
Aubrey  Brain was born in London in 1893.  He started to learn the horn from his father.  In 1911 he won a scholarship to the Royal College of Music.  He soon became one of Britain's best horn players.  The other great players of the French horn were his father, his elder brother and Adolf Borsdorf.  He became principal horn player of the Beecham Opera Company.  There he met Marion Beeley, a mezzo-soprano.  They married in the summer of 1914 just before the World War I.  When war broke out he joined the Welsh Guards and played horn in the band. After the war it was difficult for him at first to find a really good job as horn player .  The best horn jobs were already taken by his brother Alfred.  Aubrey and Marion had two sons: Leonard (born 1915) and Dennis (born 1921).  However, in 1922 Alfred emigrated to the United States.  Aubrey soon became first horn of the Royal Philharmonic Society (his father played second horn), and first horn of the Queen's Hall Orchestra.  He was also first horn in the New Symphony and soon he joined the orchestra of Covent Garden as principal horn.  In 1923 he joined the London Symphony Orchestra.

In 1923 Borsdorf retired as professor of horn at the Royal Academy of Music, and Aubrey took his place. One of his first pupils was his younger brother Arthur.  Although very talented Arthur decided not to take up horn playing professionally and joined the police.  Later, Aubrey's son Dennis was one of his students.

Mid career

Aubrey had a very successful career, not only as principal horn player in several orchestras, but also as a soloist.  He played Mozart's Second Horn Concerto in 1923 at The Proms.  His playing can be heard on several of the very early recordings when the LSO recorded for HMV.  Several works were written for him, including the Concerto for French horn, Violin and orchestra by Dame Ethel Smythe.  He played it very well, including the chords in the last movement (it is possible to play chords on the horn by humming one note and playing another note of the harmonic series).  He played it at the Proms.  The conductor Bruno Walter invited him to play it in Berlin.  This made Aubrey the first British horn player to play a solo concerto abroad.

When the BBC Symphony Orchestra was started in 1930 Aubrey was their principal horn player.  He was still principal horn player with the other big London orchestras (this would be impossible nowadays), but gradually his gave up these positions as the BBC Symphony Orchestra got more and more work and needed their players to be full time.

Aubrey played a French-type horn (a "Raoux horn") which had a narrow-bore (the tube was very narrow).  The German-type horn had a wider bode and made a slightly different sound.  Playing on a Raoux horn there was more risk of a note cracking (not speaking properly).  The German-type horn was becoming very popular in England, but Aubrey insisted that all the horn players in the BBC Symphony Orchestra continued to play on  Raoux horns.   Aubrey was a very skilled musician in chamber music and made a recording with the violinist Adolf Busch and the pianist Rudolf Serkin of the Brahms Horn Trio.  It sold many copies and continued to sell for many years until the 78rpm records were replaced by long-playing records.

Later life and retirement

During the war Aubrey started to have health problems.  He had a bad fall on Christmas Day 1940.  Towards the end of the war he started to get blurred vision, his speech became slurred and he had strange feelings in his fingers and toes.  He retired in 1945 after the first rehearsal for the Prom season.  He still performed occasionally, usually together with his son Dennis.  He died on 20 September 1955, three days after a bad fall which gave him a heart attack.

Reputation
Aubrey Brain may be remembered less today because of the exceptional fame of his son Dennis.  However, he was a very great horn player who helped to improve the standard of horn playing in Britain, both by his teaching and by the example of his performances.  The recordings on which he can be heard were all made before the days of the LP.  His older son Leonard became a well-known oboist.

Sources
Oxford Music Online, retrieved 21.11.2010
 Pettitt, Stephen. Dennis Brain: A Biography. London: Robert Hale, 1976.

British classical horn players
1893 births
1955 deaths
Academics of the Royal Academy of Music

Aubrey Brain


Asterix () is a French comic book. It was created by René Goscinny (words) and Albert Uderzo (pictures). Goscinny died in 1977 and Uderzo continued to draw and write the series by himself until his death in 2020. The title character Asterix is a Gaul, a member of a Celtic tribe that lived in France, in the year of 50 B.C.E. Asterix lives in a small village in northwest Gaul (Ancient France) during the time of Julius Caesar in 50 BC. Unlike the rest of Gaul, this village has not been taken over by the Romans, because the people in the village drink a magic potion brewed by their druid Getafix. Asterix has many adventures with his friend, Obelix, a Menhir delivery man. The stories have been adapted into movies and video games; there is even an amusement park. There is also a couple of cartoons made after this popular comic, and both the comic and the cartoon can be made into so that the characters speak French.

Comic books
Gaul

Asterix


Christian Apologetics Research Ministry (CARM) is a religious organization that was created in 1995 by Matt Slick. It is an internet apologetics ministry. It writes things against what he considers cults. On the CARM website there is a chat room and internet forum. This lets people to talk to other people about things related to CARM and its teachings. On the CARM website there is a theology and apologetics school that is online. There is a cost to join the school. Matt Slick also has the website The Calvinist Corner.

Other websites
CARM
Calvinist Corner website
Evangelical Outreach

Christian organizations

Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry


Clan Donald is ane o the lairgest Scots clans. Thare are mony brainches tae the clan. Several hae chiefs recognised bi the Lord Lyon King of Arms. The clans ir: Clan Macdonald o Sleat, Clan Macdonald o Clanranald, Clan MacDonell o Glengarry, Clan MacDonald o Keppoch, an Clan MacAlister. Weel kent brainches withoot chiefs sae-recognised ir: the MacDonalds o Dunnyveg, MacDonalds o Lochalsh, the MacDonalds o Glencoe, an the MacDonalds o Ardnamurchan. The MacDonnells o Antrim Dinnae belang tae the Scots associations an his thir awn a chief offeecially recognised in Ireland.

History

Oreegins
Clan Donald kin find it's ancestry fae Dòmhnall Mac Raghnuill (d. circa 1250), whas faither Reginald or Ranald wis cried "King o the Isles" an "Laird o Argyll an Kintyre". Ranald's faither, Somerled wis cried "Keeng o the Hebrides", an wis kilt fichting foreanent Malcolm IV o Scotland at the Battle o Renfrew in 1164. Clan Donald is relatit throu Somerled tae Clan MacDougall, wha kin find thair ancestry fae his auldest son, Dugall mac Somhairle. Thair clans are thegither aft-times referred tae as the Clann Somhairle. Furthermair thay are descendit maternally fae baith the infamous House o Ivar an the Earls o Orkney, throu Somerled's wife Ragnhildis Ólafsdóttir, dochter o Olaf I Godredsson, Keeng o Mann an the Isles an Ingeborg Haakonsdottir dochter o Haakon Paulsson, Earl o Orkney. It is whiles possible that Somerled wis a male line descendant o Echmarcach mac Ragnaill an Ivar o Waterford.

Gaelic tradeetion gae Somerled a Celtic strind in the male line, as the medieval Seanachies traced his lineage throu a lang line o ancestors back tae Colla Uais an Conn o the Hunder Battles. Sicweys Clan Donald claimed tae be baith Clann Cholla an Siol Chuinn (Childer o Colla an Seed o Conn). Possibly the auldest piece o poetry attributit tae the MacDonalds is a brosnachadh (an incitement tae battle) which wis said tae hae been written in 1411, oan the day o the Battle o Harlaw. The first lines o the poem begin "A Chlanna Cuinn cuimhnichibh / Cruas an àm na h-iorghaile," (Ye children of Conn remember hardihood in the time of battle). A later poem made tae John o Islay (1434–1503), last o the MacDonald Lords o the Isles, proclaims "Ceannas Ghàidheal do Chlainn Cholla, còir fhògradh," (The Heidship o the Gael tae the family o Colla, it is richt tae proclaim it), proclaimin the MacDonald genealogy back tae Colla Uais.

Housomeivver a recent DNA study haes shawn that Somerled mey hae been o Norse strind in his male line. Bi testin the Y-DNA o males bearin the surnames MacDonald, MacDougall, MacAlister an aw thair variants, it wis foond that a muckle proportion o men testit hid the same Y-DNA an a direct paternal ancestor. This distinct Y-chromosome R1a1 haplotype foond in Scotland haes been regardit as aften showin Norse strind in the Breetish Isles. Accordin tae the Clan Donald USA DNA Project  aboot 22% o testit participants hae this DNA, but despite the sensational claims it remains far fae proven that Somerled hissel wis o paternal Norse ancestry. A non-paternity event remains a possible cause.

Scots-Norse War

The MacDonalds haed aaways supportit Norawa. Housomeivver, this alliance brak when the Norsemen wur defeatit at the Battle o Lairgs in 1263 bi Scots forces. Norawa's King Haakon wis defeatit an his fleet wis wrecked bi the skeely manoeuvres o King Alexander III o Scotland an the Clan MacDougall. Three year later, the Norsemen submittit thair last islands tae the Scots croun. Aonghas Mòr, the son o Dòmhnall, then made peace wi King Alexander III o Scotland.

Wars o Scots Unthirldom
The MacDonalds focht wi Robert the Bruce at the Battle o Bannockburn in 1314. It wis Donald's great grandson, Angus Og o Islay who wis the 6t Laird o the Isles who sheltered King Robert the Bruce. Angus led a sma baund o Islesmen at the Battle o Bannockburn. In recognition o Clan Donalds support King Robert the Bruce proclaimed that Clan Donald wad aaways occupy the honored poseetion oan the richt wing o the Scots airmy.

First Laird o the Isles

The clan takes its name 'Donald' fae the name o the 1st Laird o the Isles who wis the grandson o Keeng Somerled who lived till 1269. Donald's son wis the
oreeginal 'Mac' which means 'son o'. It wis Donald's great grandson, Angus Og who wis the 6t Laird o the Isles who sheltered King Robert the Bruce. In recognition o Clan Donalds support King Robert the Bruce proclaimed that Clan Donald wad aaways occupy the honored poseetion oan the richt wing o the Scots airmy.

15t century
Earldom o Ross

The title an territory o the Earl o Ross haed oreeginally been held bi the Chief o Clan Ross. Housomeivver Angas Og's grandson, Dòmhnall o Islay, Laird o the Isles marrit the first female heiress o the Earl o Ross. He later successfully claimed the poseetion o Earl o Ross throu marriage. This wis secured bi the Battle o Harlaw oan 24 Julie 1411 whaur maist o the hieland clans supportit Donald in preventin the Duke o Albany an his airmy o Scots Lawlanders fae claimin the poseetion for hissel. Housomeivver bi 1415 the Earldom o Ross wis lost as Murdoch Stewart, Duke o Albany haed seized Dingwall Castle an Easter Ross. Dòmhnall prepared for war an proclaimed hissel "Lord o Ross". Awtho Albany appointit his awn son John Stewart, 2nt Earl o Buchan as the new Earl o Ross. Housomeivver, later the MacDonald chiefs wad again acome the Earls o Ross, firstly Alexander o Islay, Earl o Ross an then his son John o Islay, Earl o Ross who surrendered the earldom in 1476 tae James Stewart, Duke o Ross.

Battle o Dingwall, 1411, The Clan Mackay wur defeatit bi Clan Donald. Thay later jynt forces an focht at the Battle o Harlaw.
Battle o Split Allegiances, 1429, This conflict wis atween forces led bi Alexander MacDonald o Islay, Earl o Ross, 3rd Laird o the Isles an the Ryalist airmy o King James I, Keeng o Scots.
Battle o Inverlochy (1431), While chief Alexander MacDonald of Islay, Earl of Ross wis imprisoned bi King James I, the Clan MacDonald war led bi Donald Balloch, the nephew of Alexander. The MacDonalds war victorious in defeatin the Earl of Mar's airmy.
Battle of Blàr-na-Pairc, 1477, Fought atween the Clan MacDonald an Clan MacKenzie.
Battle o Bloody Bay 1480. The battle wis focht atween John MacDonald o Islay, Earl o Ross, Laird o the Isles an chief o Clan Donald (Eoin Mac Dòmhnuill) foreanent his son Angus Og Macdonald (Aonghas Òg ). John MacDonald o Islay, chief o Clan Donald wis supportit bi men fae the Clan MacLean, Clan MacLeod, an Clan MacNeil. He wis opposed bi his son, Angus Og Macdonald, who wis supportit Allan Macruari, chief o the Clan MacDonald o Clanranald. an Dòmhnall Mac Aonghais (Donald Mac Angus) chief o the Clan MacDonald o Keppoch
Battle o Skibo an Strathfleet, 1480, John MacDonald o Islay, Earl o Ross invadit Sutherland an focht foreanent men o the Clan Sutherland an Clan Murray.
Battle o Drumchatt, 1497, In 1495 King James assembled an airmy at Glesga. Then oan Mey 18 mony o the Hieland Chiefs made thair submissions tae him, includin the Mackenzie an Munro chiefs. Suin efter, Alexander MacDonald of Lochalsh an his clan rebelt foreanent King James. He invadit the growthie launds of Ross-shire whaur he wis defeatit in battle bi the Clan Munro an Clan Mackenzie at a place cried Drumchatt whaur he wis driven oot of Ross-shire.

16t century

The poseetion o Laird o the Isles held by MacDonald chief heids syne the 13t century wur revoked in 1495.  Regairdless, the MacDonalds wur a pouerful clan an haudit muckle o thair launds till fichtin brak oot in the mids o the 16t century.

Battle o Flodden Field, 1513, Durin the Anglo-Scots Wars the son o Alexander MacDonald o Lochalsh heidit the Clan MacDonald o Lochalsh foreanent the Inglis airmy. Oan his return he attemptit tae tak control o the govrenment-held Urquhart Castle.
Battle o the Shirts, 1544, The Clan Macdonald o Clanranald focht foreanent the Clan Fraser at the oan the shores o Loch Lochy. Legend haes it that anely five Frasers an aicht MacDonalds wur alive efter.
Battle o the Spoiling Dyke, 1578 MacDonalds o Uist an the Clan MacLeod.
Battle o the Wastren Isles, 1586, Fought oan the Isle o Jura, atween the Clan MacDonald o Sleat an the Clan Maclean.
Battle o Traigh Ghruinneart, 1598, Fought atween the Clan Donald an Clan Maclean oan the Isle o Islay.

17t Century an the Ceevil War

Battle o Coire Na Creiche, 1601, Clan MacDonald o Sleat defeatit the Clan MacLeod oan the braes o the Cuillin hills.
Battle o Morar, 1602, Fought atween the Clan MacDonell o Glengarry an the Clan Mackenzie.
In 1642 oan Rathlin Island, durin the Erse Rebellion, Covenanter Campbell sodgers o the Argyll's Fuit wur encouraged bi thair commandin officer Sir Duncan Campbell o Auchinbreck tae kill the local Catholic MacDonalds, near relatives o the Scots Hielands Clan MacDonald, this thay did wi ruthless efficiency throwin scores o MacDonald weemen ower cliffs tae thair daiths oan rocks belaw. The nummer o victims o this massacre haes been put as law as 100 an as heich as 3,000.
The Wars o the Three Kinricks o 1644-47 wis maistly a clan ficht atween the MacDonalds an Clan Campbell. The MacDonalds sidit wi the Ryalists in the Inglis Ceevil War an the Erse Confederate Catholics in the Wars o the Three Kinricks. The Campbells sidit wi the Scots Covenanters. A MacDonald clansman, Alasdair Mac Colla heidit an Erse force in 1644 an landit in Scotland, wi the aim o linkin up wi the Scots Ryalists an takin back the launds that Clan Donald haed lost tae the Campbells. Efter a year o campaignin aroond Scotland, in which Mac Colla's men ravaged the Campbell launds, the twa sides met at the Battle o Inverlochy (1645). This battle wis atween the Scots Argyll govrenment forces o Clan Campbell led bi Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess o Argyll an the Ryalist forces o the Marquess o Montrose mainly made up o Erse O'Kanes, O'Neills, Ulster Erse  Clan MacDonald, Clan MacLean an ither MacDonalds. Throu cunnin tactics the Ryalist force o 1500 MacDonalds, Erse an MacLeans defeatit the Argyll Campbell force o 3000.
In 1645 durin the Ceevil War, Kinlochaline Castle o the Clan MacInnes wis attacked an burned bi MacDonalds servin unner James Graham, 1st Marquess o Montrose.
Battle o Mulroy, 1668, The Clan MacDonald o Keppoch an Clan Cameron defeat the Clan Mackintosh an Clan Mackenzie
Massacre o Glencoe, 1692, 38 unairmed MacDonalds fae the Clan MacDonald o Glencoe wur murthert in the Massacre o Glencoe when an initiative tae suppress Jacobitism wis entangled in the lang runnin feud atween Clan MacDonald an Clan Campbell. The slaughter o the host MacDonalds at the haunds o thair Campbell guests wis a major affront tae Scots Law an Hieland tradeetion.

18t century

Durin the Jacobite risins o 1715 the Breetish Govrenment forces, includin some units drawn fae Clan Campbell focht foreanent the Jacobite rebels, mad up o, amangst ithers, o the men o Clan Donald who wur unner MacDonald of Keppoch an the Clan Macdonald o Clanranald whas chief wis killed. Thair wis some Campbells who teuk the Jacobites' side, led bi the son o Campbell o Glenlyon whas faither haed commandit the govrenment sodgers at the Massacre o Glencoe 22 year earlier. The twa young men buried the hatchet an swore tae be brithers in airms, fechtin side bi side in the Battle o Sheriffmuir. The Breetish forces defeatit the Jacobites.

The Clan Donald focht oan the side o the Jacobites durin the 1745-1746 uprisins wi three regiments fae Clan Macdonald o Clanranald, Clan MacDonnell o Glengarry, Clan MacDonald o Keppoch an the Clan MacDonald f Glencoe fechtin at the Battle o Prestonpans, Battle o Falkirk (1746) an the Battle o Culloden. Muckle MacDonalds wis killed at Culloden awtho mony o them left the field efter seein the slaughter o ither clans who chairged the govrenment lines afore them.
The Clan MacDonald o Sleat branch did no tak pairt in the Jacobite Uprisins therefore the Sleat possessions wurnae affectit.

Clan profile
Clan chief: Godfrey James Macdonald o Macdonald, 8t Lord Macdonald, Chief o the Name an Arms o Macdonald, Heich Chief o Clan Donald an 34t hereditary Chief o Clan Donald.
Chiefly airms: The coat o airms o the current chief is blazoned: Quarterly, 1st, argent, a lion rampant gules, airmed an langued azure; 2nt; Or, a hand in armour fessways holding a cross-crosslet fitchee gules; 3rd, Or, a lymphad sails furled an oars in action sable, Flagged gules; 4t, vert, a salmon naiant in fess proper, ower aw oan an escutcheon en surtout, Or, an eagle displayed gules surmuntit o a lymphad sails furled, oars in action sable (as Chief o the Name an Arms o Macdonald).  Abuin the shield is placed his lairdship's coronet, thereon an helmet befittin his degree wi a mantlin gules doubled ermine, an oan a creest coronet Or is set for creest a haund in airmour fessways couped at the elbow proper hauldin a cross-crosslet fitchee gules, an in an escrol ower the same this motto 'per mare per terras', an oan a compartment o rocks an heather proper issuant fae the waves undy alang wi this motto 'fraoch eilean', are set for supporters twa leopards proper.
Clan member's creest badge: The creest badge fur members o the clan his the chief's heraldic creest an motto. The creest is: oan a creest coronet Or, a haund in airmour fessways couped at the elbow proper hauldin a cross crosslet fitchée gules.
Clan badge: The clan badge or plant badge attributit tae the clan is common heath. This plant is gien tae the ither Macdonald clans an some ither associatit clans sic-like the Clan MacIntyre an the Macqueens o Skye.

References

Freemit airtins
 http://www.clandonald.com Armadale Castle Gardens & Museum o the Isles, Isle o Skye, Scotland
 http://www.clandonald.info Clan Donald - The Highland Connection
 http://www.clandonaldchiefs.org.uk/history/history.htm
 Clan Donald USA
 Clan Donald DNA Project
 Clandonald-heritage
 Clan Donald Canada

Clan Donald
Donald, Clan
Gaelic faimilies o Norse strynd
Clann Somhairle
Immemorial nobility

Clan Donald


The Omni Group is an American software company that develops software for the macOS, iOS, and watchOS platforms. The Omni Group was informally founded as a NEXTSTEP consulting company in 1989 by Wil Shipley, who immediately brought on Ken Case and Tim Wood. The three incorporated together under the name Omni Development, Inc. in 1993, because the name "Omni Group" was taken by another Seattle firm.  Omni initially produced custom database software for the NEXTSTEP platform for clients such as the William Morris Agency and McCaw Cellular Communications (then Cingular Wireless; now AT&T Inc.). During this period they also ported a number of games to NEXTSTEP, then later to Mac OS X (after Apple acquired NeXT in 1997). Around 2000 the company decided to start focusing on their own consumer applications for the Mac, and as of 2004 the vast majority of their revenue came from their consumer products.

In 2003, Ken Case took over as the chief officer of Omni, and in March 2004 Wil Shipley left with another Omni employee, interface designer Mike Matas, to form Delicious Monster. Matas later left for Apple.

The Omni Group also administers several mailing lists related to macOS and software development. They also provide several frameworks for Cocoa software development under an open source license.

OmniGraffle and OmniOutliner have won Macworld Editors' Choice Awards. At the Macintosh Worldwide Developers Conference in 2001, OmniWeb 4.0 won two Apple Design Awards: "Best Mac OS X User Experience" and "Best New Mac OS X Product."

In 2002, OmniGraffle 2.0 won two more Apple Design Awards.

Products

Productivity
 OmniDazzle
 OmniDictionary: a discontinued dictionary app that uses the DICT protocol.
 OmniDiskSweeper
 OmniGraffle
 OmniGraphSketcher
 OmniOutliner
 OmniPlan
 OmniPresence: folder syncing via OmniSync or WebDAV server
 OmniWeb
 OmniFocus

Frameworks
The Omni Group uses many frameworks in their applications, and releases them under an open source license. Most of the frameworks are dependent on the macOS platform, and require Xcode 2.3 and thus Tiger.
 OmniAppKit
 OmniBase
 OmniFoundation
 OmniHTML
 OmniNetworking
 Omni Web Framework

Games
As users of a platform that was not targeted by commercial porting houses, the Omni Group historically did source ports of games for NeXTStep/OpenStep pro bono, especially maintenance updates of id games. They continued to do so during the transition through Rhapsody into macOS, catching the eye of the existing Macintosh games industry in the process, and were then contracted to port a number of games commercially.
 Activision Anthology Remix
 Alchemy Deluxe
 Aliens versus Predator 2
 Big Money! Deluxe
 Doom
 Doom II: Hell on Earth
 Fallout
 Fallout 2
 Freedom Force
 Giants: Citizen Kabuto
 Heavy Metal: F.A.K.K.²
 Incoming
 No One Lives Forever 2: A Spy in H.A.R.M.'s Way
 Oni (Cocoa)
 Quake
 Quake II
 Quake III: Arena
 Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix

References

External links

Macintosh software companies
Companies based in Seattle
Software companies of the United States
Companies established in 1989
Video game companies of the United States
Video game development companies
Apple Design Awards recipients

The Omni Group


John Barnwell (born 24 December 1938) is an English former football player and manager. He was the chief executive of the League Managers Association.

Career

Arsenal
Born in Newcastle, Barnwell first played as an amateur for Whitley Bay and Bishop Auckland before moving to Arsenal in 1955; turning professional in November 1956. A regular in the Arsenal youth side, gaining England youth and an England under 23 caps, he made his debut for the Arsenal first team against Sunderland on 13 April 1957.

Soon after Barnwell was called up for National Service, and did not play again for Arsenal till midway through the 1958–59 season. A semi-regular in the Arsenal side for the next six seasons, Barnwell initially played as an inside forward, behind the main strikers, but during 1961–62 he was switched to a more defensive wing half position. He couldn't maintain his place in the side and was dropped.

However, Barnwell returned in 1962-63, playing 37 games at wing half, only to lose form again the following season, however, and he was dropped from the side. Unable to find his way back into the Arsenal first team again, he transferred in March 1964 for £40,000. In total, he played 151 matches for Arsenal, scoring 24 goals.

Nottingham Forest
Barnwell joined  Nottingham Forest playing there for six seasons, where he properly settled into a defensive midfield role; he did not win any major honours at Forest either, although they came close in 1966–67 – finishing as First Division runners-up and FA Cup semi-finalists. He played 186 matches, scoring 22 goals, for Forest.

Sheffield United
He left for Sheffield United in 1970. After a brief stint (playing nine games and scoring twice), he retired due to a persistent ankle injury.

Coaching and management
After retiring, Barnwell moved into coaching, becoming a coach under Noel Cantwell at Peterborough United, helping the club to promotion to the old Third Division. Barnwell succeeded Cantwell in 1977, and narrowly missed out on reaching the Second Division in his first and only season. He left United in 1978 after a dispute with the club's board, but soon joined Wolves, taking the club to an FA Cup semi-final against his old club Arsenal in 1979, and then victory in the 1980 League Cup final against Forest. Wolves finished 6th in the League in 1979–80. This was despite Barnwell being involved in a horrific car accident, in which he fractured his skull.

However, Wolves could not maintain their form at the turn of the decade, finishing 18th in 1980-81, although they did reach the FA Cup semi-finals for the second time in three seasons. With the club bottom of the First Division in January 1982, Barnwell resigned.

He moved abroad, coaching in Saudi Arabia and later managing Greek side AEK Athens (1983–1984). He then returned to England in the lower divisions to manage Notts County (1987–1988), Walsall (1989–1990) and Northampton Town (1993–1994). After that, he semi-retired from management, before becoming manager of Grantham Town in February 1996.

He then took up his post as LMA chief executive in July 1996. Barnwell is now a life Vice President of the LMA, and is involved in various businesses related to football. He describes his passion as "The game, the people in it, and its future".

References
General

Specific

External links
 Profile on LMA website
 Profile from the Grantham Town F.C. website

1938 births
Living people
Men's association football midfielders
England men's under-23 international footballers
AEK Athens F.C. managers
Arsenal F.C. players
Nottingham Forest F.C. players
Sheffield United F.C. players
English football managers
Peterborough United F.C. managers
Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. managers
Notts County F.C. managers
Walsall F.C. managers
Northampton Town F.C. managers
Grantham Town F.C. managers
Bohemian F.C. players
English men's footballers
Footballers from Newcastle upon Tyne

John Barnwell


Paul Thieme (; 18 March 1905 – 24 April 2001) was a German indologist and scholar of Vedic Sanskrit. In 1988 he was awarded the Kyoto Prize in Arts and Philosophy for "he added immensely to our knowledge of Vedic and other classical Indian literature and provided a solid foundation to the study of the history of Indian thought".

Biography
He received his doctorate in Indology in 1928 from the University of Göttingen, and habilitated there in 1932. From 1932 to 1935 he taught German and French at the University of Allahabad. He taught at Breslau from 1936 to 1940, and received tenure at Halle in 1941, but in the same year he was drafted to the German army, where he worked as an interpreter. In 1945, he was captured by U.S. troops in Württemberg. After his release in 1946, he returned to Halle, where he remained until 1953, when he moved to Frankfurt for a professorship in Indo-European studies, against the will of the GDR authorities. From 1954 to 1960 he was in Yale, and from 1960 to his retirement in 1972 in Tübingen as professor for Religious studies and Indology.

Work
Thieme is considered one of the "last great Indologists", advancing all aspects of the philology of Sanskrit, with expertise reaching from the Vedas to the Epics and the Upanishads, Sanskrit poetry and traditional Hindu science (shastra), and Indian grammarians (Panini and his commentators). Thieme was also a comparative linguist, studying Iranian and Indo-European languages in general. Thieme was fluent in Sanskrit, and therefore respected among traditional Indian scholars, holding the inauguration speech at the first World Sanskrit Conference in Delhi in 1971–1972.

Selected bibliography
1929: Das Plusquamperfektum im Veda (Diss. Göttingen 1928).
1935: Panini and the Veda. Studies in the Early History of Linguistic Science in India. Allahabad
1938: Der Fremdling im Rigveda. Eine Studie über die Bedeutung der Worte ari, arya, aryaman und aarya, Leipzig.

References

External links

Paul Thieme at the Martin-Luther University Halle-Wittenberg

Scientists from Berlin
1905 births
2001 deaths
Academic staff of the University of Breslau
Academic staff of Goethe University Frankfurt
Kyoto laureates in Arts and Philosophy
Yale University faculty
Indo-Europeanists
Linguists of Indo-European languages
Academic staff of the University of Tübingen
Members of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences
German Indologists
Linguists from Germany
German male non-fiction writers
Members of the Société Asiatique
20th-century linguists

Paul Thieme


A shovel is a tool used for moving loose material.  Shovels have a flat bottom head which is angled slightly from the handle to enable scooping and moving of material.

Although a shovel can be used for digging, it is much less efficient than a spade. Spades are straight, and transmit force straight downwards. Shovels move loose material, such as coal, snow, gravel etc. They are usually made of metal at the bottom, and wood is sometimes used for the handle.

References

Gardening tools
Tools

Shovel


Guelders or Gueldres (, ) is the name of a historical county. This became a duchy (lands ruled by a duke or duchess) of the Holy Roman Empire, in the Low Countries.

Geography
The duchy was named after the town of Geldern (Gelder) in what is now called Germany. The present province of Gelderland (English also Guelders) in the Netherlands occupies most of the area. However, the former duchy also included parts of the present Dutch province of Limburg and the territories in the present-day German state of North Rhine-Westphalia that were acquired by Prussia in 1713.

The duchy had four special parts, which had their own centres:
 the quarter of Roermond, also called the Overkwartier (Upper Quarter) or Upper Guelders. This was upstream on both sides of the Maas. It included the town of Geldern as well as Erkelenz, Goch, Nieuwstadt, Venlo and Straelen;
and was separated from the Lower Quarters (Gelderland):
 the quarter of Zutphen, also called the Achterhoek. This was east of the IJssel and north to the Rhine. It included towns like Doesburg, Doetinchem, Groenlo and Lochem;
 the quarter of Arnhem, also called the Veluwe. This is west of the IJssel and north to the Rhine, with Elburg, Harderwijk, Hattem and Wageningen;
 the quarter of Nijmegen, also called the Betuwe. This part is south of the Rhine and north to the Maas (in between the rivers). It included Gendt, Maasbommel, Tiel and Zaltbommel.

History

First mention
The county was first mentioned in about 1096, when Gerard III of Wassenberg was first documented as "Count of Guelders". It was then in the territory of Lower Lorraine, in the area of Geldern and Roermond. Its main stronghold was at Montfort (built 1260). Count Gerard's son Gerard II in 1127 got the County of Zutphen in northern Hamaland by marriage. In the 12th and 13th century, Guelders became larger very quickly downstream along the sides of the Maas, Rhine, and IJssel rivers. It even claimed the lands in the Duchy of Limburg. In 1288, it lost the Battle of Worringen against Berg and Brabant.

Guelders was often at war with its neighbours. Not only with Brabant, but also with the County of Holland and the Bishopric of Utrecht. Its territory did not only grow because of its success in warfare, it also did very well in times of peace. William II, count of both Holland and Zeeland, gave Nijmegen in use to Guelders in return of a loan. However he was not able to repay the debts, so these lands became integral parts of Guelders.

Independent Guelders and the Habsburg Netherlands
In 1339 Count Reginald II of Guelders became a duke as ordered by Holy Roman Emperor Louis IV of Wittelsbach. When Reginald died without an heir in 1371, William I of Jülich inherited Guelders. In 1423 Guelders passed to the House of Egmond. Duke Adolf was fighting with his father Arnold about the inheritance of the land. Arnold came under pressure from the Burgundian duke Charles the Bold, who put him in prison in 1471. When Arnold died in 1473, Duke Charles added Guelders to his Burgundian Netherlands.

The last independent Duke of Guelders was Adolf's son Charles of Egmond (1492-1538). He increased the size of the duchy northward, and included what is now the Province of Overijssel. He left the duchy to Duke William the Rich of Jülich-Cleves-Berg in his will. However, he was not able to hold on to it and Emperor Charles V of Habsburg soon moved in. Guelders finally lost its independence, when it was united with the Seventeen Provinces of the Habsburg Netherlands in 1543.

Spain and the Dutch Revolt of the 1560s
Charles V stood down in 1556. He decided that the territories of the Burgundian Circle should be part of the monarchy of Spain. The northern Netherlands stood up against King Philip II of Spain in the Dutch Revolt. The three northern quarters of Gelderland joined the Union of Utrecht and became part of the United Provinces when the 1581 Act of Abjuration was agreed. Only the Upper Quarter remained a part of the Spanish Netherlands.

The Treaty of Utrecht ended the War of the Spanish Succession in 1713. The Spanish Upper Quarter was again divided between Prussian Guelders (Geldern, Viersen, Horst, Venray), the United Provinces (Venlo, Montfort, Echt), Austria (Roermond, Niederkrüchten, Weert), and the Duchy of Jülich (Erkelenz).

In 1795 Guelders was conquered and incorporated by the French First Republic. It was divided between the départements of Roer and Meuse-Inférieure.

Coat of arms of Guelders
The coat of arms of the region changed during the ages.

Other websites

 Geldern-Heinsberg
House of Egmont
Map of Upper Guelders in 1789 - Northern Part
Map of Upper Guelders in 1789 - Southern Part

States of the Holy Roman Empire
History of Belgium
History of Germany
Gelderland
North Rhine-Westphalia
1096 establishments
1795 disestablishments

Guelders


Southam is a small town in Warwickshire, England. It is often mistaken for a village, but has been a town since medieval times.

There is an ancient stone wall, called "The Holy Well".

The first battle in the English Civil War was in Southam. In August 1642, small groups of soldiers from the opposing sides accidentally met at Southam, and in the fight some were killed. They were on their way to Edge Hill, where the first big battle took place. History books usually say Edge Hill was the first fight. Later, King Charles I rode through the town and fined the people because they did not ring the church bells for him. Later still, Oliver Cromwell, who slept in the Manor House (now a pharmacy).

In the 1600s, Southam was an important resting place for horse-drawn carriages, and even in recent times had an unusually large number of inns and public houses. (Several have close in the past 20 years.) A main road that Welsh sheep farmers ('drovers') used to travel to London passed through Southam. The town was also at an important junction between Birmingham, Coventry, Daventry, Northampton, Banbury, Oxford, Leamington Spa and Warwick.

Southam never had a canal or railway built through it. This meant that it remained a small town, while other places with canals and railways grew rapidly in the 1800s. In recent years, a lot of new houses have been built, increasing the population from 2000 in 1950 to 8000+ in 2010.

There is a fine church, which dates from 1200. It was extensively restored in Victorian times, but still has lots of medieval stone work. The Manor House (now a pharmacy) is in the centre of the town. In 2008, during routine maintenance, fine wood carvings were discovered under the plaster. The carvings are of hearts and arrows, and are at least 300 years old. The company that owns the building paid for the beautify work to be fully restored.

There are small industrial estates around the town, some with important businesses, including the computer games company . There are plans for a large supermarket (Tesco or Sainsburys) to be built in the town. While this would change the character of the town even more, it could benefit people who find the current small shops and supermarkets too expensive, and provide more people with work. Some people do not want a supermarket, saying that other shops would close.

Towns in Warwickshire

Southam


Bert Sakmann (; born 12 June 1942) is a German cell physiologist.  He shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Erwin Neher in 1991 for their work on "the function of single ion channels in cells," and the invention of the patch clamp. Bert Sakmann was Professor at Heidelberg University and is an Emeritus Scientific Member of the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research in Heidelberg, Germany. Since 2008 he leads an emeritus research group at the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology.

Life and career
Sakmann was born in Stuttgart, the son of Annemarie (née Schaefer), a physical therapist, and Bertold Sakmann, a theater director. Sakmann enrolled in Volksschule in Lindau, and completed the Wagenburg gymnasium in Stuttgart in 1961.  He studied medicine from 1967 onwards in Tübingen, Freiburg, Berlin, Paris and Munich.  After completing his medical exams at Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich, he became a medical assistant in 1968 at Munich University, while also working as a scientific assistant (Wissenschaftlicher Assistent) at Munich's Max-Planck-Institut für Psychiatrie, in the Neurophysiology Department under Otto Detlev Creutzfeldt.  In 1971 he moved to University College London, where he worked in the Department of Biophysics under Bernard Katz.  In 1974, he completed his medical dissertation, under the title Elektrophysiologie der neuralen Helladaptation in der Katzenretina (Electrophysiology of Neural Light Adaption in the Cat Retina) in the Medical Faculty of Göttingen University.

Afterwards (still in 1974), Sakmann returned to the lab of Otto Creutzfeldt, who had meanwhile moved to the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen.  Sakmann joined the membrane biology group in 1979.

In 1990 he accepted a position at the Faculty of Natural Science Medicine at Heidelberg University. One year later, he became a full university professor at the Faculty of Biology in Heidelberg.

On 2 June 2009, Peter Gruss, the president of the Max Planck Society, announced that Sakmann would serve as the scientific director of the Max Planck Florida Institute, the organization's biomedical research facility at Florida Atlantic University in Jupiter, Florida.

Sakmann is the founder of the Bert-Sakmann-Stiftung.

Awards and honors
In 1986, he and Erwin Neher were awarded the Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize from Columbia University. In 1987, he received the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, which is the highest honour awarded in German research. In 1991, he received the Ralph W. Gerard Prize in Neuroscience, the Harvey Prize and the Nobel prize for Physiology or Medicine along with Neher, with whom he had worked in Göttingen. In 1993 he became a member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina. He was elected a Foreign Member of the Royal Society (ForMemRS) in 1994.

References

External links

1942 births
Living people
Alumni of University College London
Members of the European Molecular Biology Organization
Foreign Members of the Royal Society
Humboldt University of Berlin alumni
21st-century German biologists
German Nobel laureates
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize winners
Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences
Nobel laureates in Physiology or Medicine
Scientists from Stuttgart
Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class)
Recipients of the Order of Merit of Baden-Württemberg
University of Freiburg alumni
Academic staff of Heidelberg University
Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni
Max Planck Society people
Electrophysiologists
Members of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina
20th-century German biologists
Members of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities
Max Planck Institute directors

Bert Sakmann


An illusion is a distortion  of perception. The brain arranges, sorts, and organises data from the senses. Normally the system works well. Sometimes it does not, and we see illusions. In general, they are shared by most people in the same situation.

Illusions can happen with all five senses (taste, touch, sight, smell, and hearing), and some involve the way information from two senses is put together. Some illusions happen because of disorders, but generally, all normal people can sense the same illusion. An illusion is different from a hallucination; a hallucination is sensing something that is not real, but an illusion is interpreting what we sense wrongly.

Optical illusions
Optical illusions are the best known and understood. Because they are illusions common to most people, it follows that they are a product of the visual system. The visual system, from the retina to the visual cortex, is what is common to most humans.

Auditory illusions
These are illusions which are heard. The person listening hears sounds that aren't really there, or sounds that can't really happen. A Shepard tone is an auditory illusion.

Touch illusion
They are when a person feels something that is not there, or something that should not be there but feels like it is. This happens sometimes when a person loses their arm.  The person still feels like the arm is there.  They might want to scratch the arm, or the arm might hurt them.  This can happen with any limb of the body, and it is called the phantom limb.

Illusion


Lila Downs (September 9, 1968 in Tlaxiaco, Oaxaca, Mexico) is a Mexican/American singer-songwriter. She performs her own compositions as well as Mexican traditional and popular music. She also incorporates indigenous Mexican influences and have recorded songs in indigenous languages such as Mixtec, Zapotec, Maya, Nahuatl and P'urhépecha. Her albums are One Blood, Shake Away, and Sins and Miracles has won various Grammys and World Music Awards.

Early life
Downs is the daughter of Mixtec cabaret singer Anita Sánchez and Allen Downs, a Scottish/English-American professor of art and cinematographer from Minnesota. She learned to sing at the age of four. She began to perform rancheras songs when she was 10 years old. Lila grew up partly in the Mexican state of Oaxaca, partly in the U.S. state of California as a teenager. She was 15 when she went to Performing Arts Institute of Oaxaca, where she studied music. She lived in Minnesota as an adult. She graduated from the University of Minnesota in voice and anthropology.

Career

She later returned to Mexico where she learned to weave. Later, she began singing in the club scenes of Oaxaca and Philadelphia along with Paul Cohen, an American-born saxophonist. They began collaborating on songs that would slowly evolve into Downs' subsequent recordings. Cohen became both Downs' husband and her artistic director.

In recent years, Downs and her band have toured widely in Mexico, South America, the US and Europe. She was also heard in the soundtrack to the movie Frida in a song, "Burn it Blue", that was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Song and that she performed at the 75th Academy Awards. Other songs that she performed on the soundtrack are "Benediction and Dream", "Estrella Oscura", and "La Llorona". Other movies in which her songs are featured include Maria Ripoll's 2001 Tortilla Soup, Patricia Cardoso's 2002 Real Women Have Curves and Carlos Saura's 2007 Fados. She was also invited to the Twelve Girls Band's concert in Shanghai, where she sang in French and English. Downs is currently based in Coyoacán, a borough of Mexico City.

On September 2, 2008, Lila Downs released Shake Away, her latest album of new material as well as featuring a few cover songs, including "I Envy The Wind" by Lucinda Williams and "I Would Never" by The Blue Nile. Downs also collaborated with artists like La Mari from Chambao and Enrique Bunbury from Héroes del Silencio. In 2010 she appeared on The Chieftains' album San Patricio.

Sins and Miracles is the most recent album by Lila Downs. It was released in 2011. It reached the top of the charts in Mexico, Germany, Argentina, Colombia, Spain and the United States. It also reached the top ten in other major markets. Downs did a tour for the album called the "Pecados y Milagros World Tour". The singles on Sins and Miracles are: "Palomo del Comalito", "Zapata se Queda" and "Mezcalito". The album and its singles received one Grammy Award. The main music genres which make up the album are pop, folk and ska. She has a contralto vocal range.

Discography

Studio albums
 1999 – La Sandunga
 2000 – Tree of Life
 2001 – Border
 2004 – One Blood
 2006 – La Cantina
 2008 – Ojo de Culebra
 2011 – Pecados y Milagros
 2015 – Balas y Chocolate
 2017 – Salón Lágrimas Y Deseos

Live albums
 1996 - Azulao: En Vivo con Lila Downs
 2010 – Lila Downs y La Misteriosa en París - Live à Fip

Compilations
 2008 – The Very Best Of Lila Downs [CD]
 2012 – Canciones pa' Todo del Año

Other albums
 1994 - Ofrenda
 1998 - Trazos

EP's
 2007 - Live Session

DVD's
 2006 – Loteria Cantada
 2008 – The Very Best Of/El Alma de Lila Downs [DVD]
 2010 – Lila Downs y La Misteriosa en París Live - à Fip [DVD]
 2011 – Pecados y Milagros (Deluxe Edition)

Notes

Other websites

 Official

1968 births
Living people
Mexican singer-songwriters
People from Oaxaca
Grammy Award winners
Latin Grammy Award winners

Lila Downs


The  or Victory Column is a famous sight in Berlin.

It was designed after 1864 to remember Prussia winning the Danish-Prussian war. By the time it was finished on 2 September 1873 Prussia had also beat Austria in the Austro-Prussian War (1866) and France in the Franco-Prussian War (1870/1871). A bronze sculpture of Victoria was added. Victoria was  high and weighed 35 tonnes. Berliners like to give nicknames to famous buildings. They call the statue Goldelse, meaning something like "Golden Lizzy". She also has the nickname of "Chick on a Stick".

The column was built in the Königsplatz, now the Platz der Republik, in front of the Reichstag building. It had three blocks of sandstone decorated by cannons taken from the enemies in the three wars. In 1938 the column was moved to its present location, and a fourth ring, decorated with golden garlands was added.

Around the base are four bronze reliefs showing the three wars and the winning army marching into Berlin. They were made by four Berlin sculptors:
 Moritz Schulz (1825 – 1904)
 Karl Keil (1838 – 1889)
 Alexander Calandrelli (1834-1903)
 and Albert Wolff (1814 – 1892)

These reliefs were taken away in 1945. The French occupying army did not want to remind Germans about old victories. French president François Mitterrand returned the reliefs in time for Berlin's 750th anniversary of Berlin.

The monument is now on the Großer Stern (Great Star). Many roads meet here, so there are four tunnels under the roads to the monument, and it is possible to climb the steps inside the column and look out over Berlin. If the Nazis had not moved the column it would probably have been destroyed in World War II.

The column is in Wim Wenders' film Wings of Desire. In the film it is the place where angels meet. The golden statue on the column was in the music video to U2's "Stay (Faraway, So Close!)" and inspired Paul van Dyk's 1998 trance music hit, "For an Angel".

"El Ángel" in Mexico City looks a lot like the Berlin victory column.

The Victory Column is open every day: April-October 9:30am-6:30pm November-March 9:30am-5:30pm.

Other websites

Buildings and structures in Berlin
Landmarks in Germany
Monuments and memorials in Germany

Siegessäule


The argument from design is an argument for the existence of God or a creator. According to the argument, the appearance of design in nature is evidence for the existence of God. The argument is teleological, because it assumes a purpose. The word "teleological" comes from the Ancient Greek telos, which means "end" or "purpose".

Teleology assumes there is purpose or direction in the works and processes of nature. Immanuel Kant called this argument the physico–theological proof.

The argument
Most of the classic forms of this argument are linked to monotheism. Simply talking about a "designer", gives the following, simple formulation.
 Complexity implies a designer.
 The universe is highly complex.
 Therefore, the universe has a designer.

A concise and whimsical teleological argument was offered by G. K. Chesterton in 1908: "So one elephant having a trunk was odd; but all elephants having trunks looked like a plot."

History of the argument

Socrates (c. 469-399 B.C.) He argued that the adaptation of human parts to one another, such as the eyelids protecting the eyeballs, could not have been due to chance and was a sign of wise planning in the universe.

Plato (c. 427–c. 347 B.C.) posited a "demiurge" of supreme wisdom and intelligence as the creator of the cosmos in his work Timaeus. For him, the demiurge lacked the supernatural ability to create ex nihilo or out of nothing. The demiurge was able only to organize the "ananke" (αναγκη). The ananke was the only other co-existent element or presence in Plato's cosmogony. Plato's teleological perspective is also built upon the analysis of a priori order and structure in the world that he had already presented in The Republic.

Aristotle (c. 384–322 B.C.) also developed the idea of a creator of the cosmos, often referred to as the "Prime Mover" in his work Metaphysics. Aristotle's views have very strong aspects of a teleological argument, specifically that of a prime mover, who (so to speak) looks ahead in setting the cosmos into motion. Indeed, Aristotle argued that all nature reflects inherent purposiveness and direction.

Cicero (c. 106–c. 43 B.C.) also made one of the earliest known teleological arguments. In de Natura Deorum (On the Nature of the Gods) Cicero stated, "The divine power is to be found in a principle of reason that pervades the whole of nature". He was writing from the cultural background of the Roman religion. In Roman mythology the creator goddess, Gaia was borrowed from Greek mythology. The Romans called her Tellus or Terra.
"When you see a sundial or a water-clock, you see that it tells the time by design and not by chance. How then can you imagine that the universe as a whole is devoid of purpose and intelligence, when it embraces everything, including these artifacts themselves and their artificers?" (Cicero, De Natura Deorum, ii. 34)

Augustine of Hippo (A.D. 354–430) presented a classic teleological perspective in his work City of God. He describes the "city of man" and essentially posits that God's plan is to replace the city of man with the city of God (at some as-yet-unknown point in the future). Whether this is to happen gradually or suddenly is not made clear in Augustine's work. He did not, however, make a formal argument for the existence of God; rather, God's existence is already presumed and Augustine is giving a proposed view of God's teleology. Augustine's perspective follows from and is built upon the neo-Platonic views of his era, which in turn have their original roots in Plato's cosmogony.

Objections and counterarguments

Complexity does not show design
The idea is that one can infer the existence of intelligent design by looking at an object. The teleological argument says that because life is complex, it must have been designed. It is argued that this is non-sequitur logic. Life or objects are described as "orderly" or "ordered", which shows that an intelligent designer has ordered them. However, in real life, there are examples of systems that are non-random or ordered simply because it is following natural physical processes, for example diamonds or snowflakes.

The design claim is often challenged as an argument from ignorance, since it is often unexplained or unsupported, or explained by unscientific conjecture. Supporters of design assume that natural objects and man-made objects have similar properties, therefore both must be designed. However, different objects can have similar properties for different reasons, such as stars and light bulbs. Proponents must therefore demonstrate that only design can cause orderly systems or the argument is invalid.

A designed organism would, on the face of it, be in contradiction to evolutionary theory. Most biologists support the idea of evolution, by means of natural selection. They  therefore reject the first premise, arguing that evolution is not only an alternative explanation for the complexity of life but a better explanation with more supporting evidence. Living organisms obey the same physical laws as inanimate objects. A range of chemical reactions could take place, forming other chemicals with complex properties and ways of interacting. Over very long periods of time self-replicating structures could arise and later form DNA. This has in fact been demonstrated artificially via the Avida program, which can construct complex programs without being given any design (similar programs have had similar results with building machines). Biologists therefore commonly view the design argument as an unimpressive argument for the existence of a god.

Does not prove the existence of God

Another argument states that even if the argument from design proved the existence of a powerful intelligent designer, it would not prove that the designer is God. Voltaire observed in his  Traité de métaphysique:

... from this sole argument I cannot conclude anything further than that it is probable that an intelligent and superior being has skillfully prepared and fashioned the matter.  I cannot conclude from that alone that this being has made matter out of nothing and that he is infinite in every sense.

David Hume pointed out that the argument does not necessarily lead to the existence of one God. In his Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, the character Philo argued (p. 108), amidst other counterarguments to the teleological argument, "why may not several deities combine in contriving and framing the world?"

Contradictory premises lead to an infinite regress

Critics such as Richard Dawkins often argue that the teleological argument would in turn apply to the proposed designer, arguing any designer must be at least as complex and purposeful as the designed object (in Dawkins' words, "The Ultimate 747", a reference to Hoyle's analogy to a windstorm sweeping through a junkyard and constructing a 747). This, they say, would create the absurdity of an infinite series of designers.

Assertion of inconsistencies in the 'Design' of the Universe

Whilst the Universe can at first seem be purposeful and ordered, it has been asserted that upon closer inspection its true function becomes questionable. Some scientists such as Richard Dawkins, a high-profile advocate of atheism, reject the claim that the Universe serves any actual function, claiming that the Universe merely 'mimics' purpose. For example, predators appear perfectly 'designed' to catch their prey, whilst their prey seem equally well 'designed' to evade them. Likewise, apparent inconsistencies in the design of organisms have been brought to attention by critics of the teleological argument. Some use such arguments to point towards natural selection as a 'blind' biological designer, as opposed to God.

Proponents of teleology have argued against this objection on various grounds. For example, William A. Dembski says that such arguments are based upon presumptions about what a designer would or would not do, and so constitute a "theological rather than scientific claim." "Not knowing the designer," he continues, "they are in no position to say whether the designer proposed a faulty compromise among those [design] objectives." (Dembski 2004, pp. 58–9)

Additionally, the claim of an apparent inconsistency between the "design" of predators and prey ignores the balance of the ecosystem. Dembski counters, "In criticizing design, [critics] tend to place premium on functionalities of individual organisms and see design as optimal to the degree that those individual functionalities are maximized. But higher-order designs of entire ecosystems might require lower-order designs of individual organisms." (Dembski, 2004, p. 61)

Noncoherence
George H. Smith, in his book Atheism: The Case Against God, points out what he considers to be a fatal flaw in the argument from design
Consider the idea that nature itself is the product of design. How could this be demonstrated? Nature, as we have seen, provides the basis of comparison by which we distinguish between designed objects and natural objects. We are able to infer the presence of design only to the extent that the characteristics of an object differ from natural characteristics. Therefore, to claim that nature as a whole was designed is to destroy the basis by which we differentiate between artifacts and natural objects. Evidences of design are those characteristics not found in nature, so it is impossible to produce evidence of design within the context of nature itself. Only if we first step beyond nature, and establish the existence of a supernatural designer, can we conclude that nature is the result of conscious planning. (p. 268)

Sources and further reading
 Will Crouch, "Hume and Philo on the Teleological Argument"
 Richard Dawkins (1986) The Blind Watchmaker (takes a view against the teleological argument).
 William A. Dembski (2004) The Design Revolution. England: Intervarsity Press
 Daniel Dennett (1995). Darwin's Dangerous Idea.
 Derek Gjersen (1989). Science and Philosophy: Past and Present. London: Penguin.
 Cornelius G. Hunter (2007). "Science's Blind Spot: The Unseen Religion of Scientific Naturalism". Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos Press
 Hugh Ross. "Evidence For Design In The Universe", from Limits for the Universe.
  Bernard V. Lightman. (2007), Victorian popularizers of science,
 Eric Sotnak, "Analysis of the Teleological Argument"
 JP Moreland (1987). Scaling the Secular City: A Defense of Christianity, Chapter 2

References

Other websites
 Teleological Arguments for God's Existence from the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
 Dictionary of the history of Ideas:  Design argument
 A "Preface" to Aquinas' Teleological Argument
  Online in full.
 .
 Design arguments for the existence of God from the Internet encyclopedia of philosophy.
 William Lane Craig: ''The Teleological Argument and the Anthropic Principle
 The Skeptic's Dictionary on argument from design

Intelligent design
Philosophy

Argument from design


A Trolleybus is an electric bus that draws power frae owerheid wires (generally suspended frae roadside posts) uisin spring-loaded trolley poles. Twa wires an poles are required tae complete the electrical circuit. This differs frae a tram, which normally uses the track as the return path, needing anly ane wire an ane pole or a pantograph. Thay are an aa distinct frae ither kinds o electric buses, which uisually rely on batteries. Power is maist commonly supplied as direct current at 500 or 600 volts

Electric vehicles

Trolleybus


A beach is a landform along the coast of an ocean, sea, lake, or river. It usually consists of loose particles, such as sand, gravel, shingle, or pebbles. The particles of a beach are sometimes biological in origin, such as mollusc shells or bits of coral and sometimes bits of igneous rock, but the most common mineral in beaches is quartz.

Beaches are natural landing and launching places for boats, and landing craft are specially made for beaches.

People often use beaches for recreation. They swim, bask in the sun, or just relax. The most popular beaches have fine white or light-colored sand and warm water to swim in. Beaches are also used for diving or for seeing marine life.

Among the world's most popular and well-known beaches are Aruba (Dutch Caribbean), Long Beach (Canada), Copacabana Beach (Brazil), Hot Water Beach (New Zealand), Megan Bay (St. Thomas), Kailua Beach (Hawaii), Zandvoort Beach (Netherlands), Jeffreys Bay (South Africa), Bondi Beach (Australia) and Lake Como beaches (Italy).

Taking holidays on the beach is something of a British cultural export. Early railways in the 19th century took people to places they had never seen before. This tourism was made possible by the industrial revolution. Whole seaside resort towns grew to support visitors, where before there were just villages. Vacations at the sea became common all over the world.

Beaches are never static. They are always being built up or eroded, more quickly than other landforms. Over time the boundary between the land and the sea changes. New Romney, a small town in Kent, is one of the Cinque Ports, a mile from the sea. In Henry VIII's time it was a port on the south coast of England. The growth of Dungeness has cut it off from the sea. Dungeness is a huge shingle beach.

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Beach