Arc flash

An arc flash (also called a flashover) is the light and heat produced as part of an arc fault, a type of electrical explosion or discharge that results from a connection through air to ground or another voltage phase in an electrical system.
Arc flash is distinctly different from the arc blast, which is the supersonic shockwave produced when the uncontrolled arc vaporizes the metal conductors. Both are part of the same arc fault, and are often referred to as simply an arc flash, but from a safety standpoint they are often treated separately. For example, personal protective equipment (PPE) can be used to effectively shield a worker from the radiation of an arc flash, but that same PPE may likely be ineffective against the flying objects, molten metal, and violent concussion that the arc blast can produce. (For example, category-4 arc-flash protection, similar to a bomb suit, is unlikely to protect a person from the concussion of a very large blast, although it may prevent the worker from being vaporized by the intense light of the flash.) For this reason, other safety precautions are usually taken in addition to wearing PPE, helping to prevent injury. However, the phenomenon of the arc blast is sometimes used to extinguish the electric arc by some types of self-blast–chamber circuit breakers.
Definition.
An arc flash is the light and heat produced from an electric arc supplied with sufficient electrical energy to cause substantial damage, harm, fire, or injury. Electrical arcs experience negative incremental resistance, which causes the electrical resistance to decrease as the arc temperature increases. Therefore, as the arc develops and gets hotter the resistance drops, drawing more and more current (runaway) until some part of the system melts, trips, or evaporates, providing enough distance to break the circuit and extinguish the arc. Electrical arcs, when well controlled and fed by limited energy, produce very bright light, and are used in arc lamps (enclosed, or with open electrodes), for welding, plasma cutting, and other industrial applications. Welding arcs can easily turn steel into a liquid with an average of only 24 DC volts. When an uncontrolled arc forms at high voltages, and especially where large supply-wires or high-current conductors are used, arc flashes can produce deafening noises, supersonic concussive-forces, super-heated shrapnel, temperatures far greater than the Sun's surface, and intense, high-energy radiation capable of vaporizing nearby materials.
Arc flash temperatures can reach or exceed at the arc terminals. The massive energy released in the fault rapidly vaporizes the metal conductors involved, blasting molten metal and expanding plasma outward with extraordinary force. A typical arc flash incident can be inconsequential but could conceivably easily produce a more severe explosion (see calculation below). The result of the violent event can cause destruction of equipment involved, fire, and injury not only to an electrical worker but also to bystanders. During the arc flash, electrical energy vaporizes the metal, which changes from solid state to gas vapor, expanding it with explosive force. For example, when copper vaporizes it suddenly expands by a factor of 67,000 in volume.
In addition to the explosive blast, called the arc blast of such a fault, destruction also arises from the intense radiant heat produced by the arc. The metal plasma arc produces tremendous amounts of light energy from far infrared to ultraviolet. Surfaces of nearby objects, including people, absorb this energy and are instantly heated to vaporizing temperatures. The effects of this can be seen on adjacent walls and equipment - they are often ablated and eroded from the radiant effects.
Examples.
One of the most common examples of an arc flash occurs when an incandescent light bulb burns out. When the filament breaks, an arc is sustained across the filament, enveloping it in plasma with a bright, blue flash. Most household lightbulbs have a built-in fuse, to prevent a sustained arc-flash from forming and blowing fuses in the circuit panel. Most 400 V and above electrical services have sufficient capacity to cause an arc flash hazard. Medium-voltage equipment (above 600 V) is higher potential and therefore a higher risk for an arc flash hazard. Higher voltages can cause a spark to jump, initiating an arc flash without the need for physical contact, and can sustain an arc across longer gaps. Most powerlines use voltages exceeding 1000 volts, and can be an arc-flash hazard to birds, squirrels, people, or equipment such as vehicles or ladders. Arc flashes are often witnessed from lines or transformers just before a power outage, creating bright flashes like lightning that can be seen for long distances.
High-tension powerlines often operate in the range of tens to hundreds of kilovolts. Care must usually be taken to ensure that the lines are insulated with a proper "flashover rating" and sufficiently spaced from each other to prevent an arc flash from spontaneously developing. If the high-tension lines become too close, either to each other or ground, a corona discharge may form between the conductors. This is typically a blue or reddish light caused by ionization of the air, accompanied by a hissing or frying sound. The corona discharge can easily lead to an arc flash, by creating a conductive pathway between the lines. This ionization can be enhanced during electrical storms, causing spontaneous arc-flashes and leading to power outages.
As an example of the energy released in an arc flash incident, in a single phase-to-phase fault on a 480 V system with 20,000 amps of fault current, the resulting power is 9.6 MW. If the fault lasts for 10 cycles at 60 Hz, the resulting energy would be 1.6 megajoules. For comparison, TNT releases 2175 J/g or more when detonated (a conventional value of 4,184 J/g is used for TNT equivalent). Thus, this fault energy is equivalent to 380 grams (approximately 0.8 pounds) of TNT. The character of an arc flash blast is quite different from a chemical explosion (more heat and light, less mechanical shock), but the resulting devastation is comparable. The rapidly expanding superheated vapor produced by the arc can cause serious injury or damage, and the intense UV, visible, and IR light produced by the arc can temporarily and sometimes even permanently blind or cause eye damage to people.
There are four different arc flash type events to be assessed when designing safety programs:
Precautions.
Switching.
One of the most common causes of arc-flash injuries happens when switching on electrical circuits and, especially, tripped circuit-breakers. A tripped circuit-breaker often indicates a fault has occurred somewhere down the line from the panel. The fault must usually be isolated before switching the power on, or an arc flash can easily be generated. Small arcs usually form in switches when the contacts first touch, and can provide a place for an arc flash to develop. If the voltage is high enough, and the wires leading to the fault are large enough to allow a substantial amount of current, an arc flash can form within the panel when the breaker is turned on. Generally, either an electric motor with shorted windings or a shorted power-transformer are the culprits, being capable of drawing the energy needed to sustain a dangerous arc-flash. Motors over two horsepower usually have magnetic starters, to both isolate the operator from the high-energy contacts and to allow disengagement of the contactor if the breaker trips.
Circuit breakers are often the primary defense against current runaway, especially if there are no secondary fuses, so if an arc flash develops in a breaker there may be nothing to stop a flash from going out of control. Once an arc flash begins in a breaker, it can quickly migrate from a single circuit to the busbars of the panel itself, allowing very high energies to flow. Precautions must usually be used when switching circuit breakers, such as standing off to the side while switching to keep the body out of the way, wearing protective clothing, or turning off equipment, circuits and panels downline prior to switching. Very large switchgear is often able to handle very high energies and, thus, many places require the use of full protective equipment before switching one on.
In addition to the heat, light and concussive forces, an arc flash also produces a cloud of plasma and ionized particles. When inhaled, this ionized gas can cause severe burns to the airways and lungs. The charged plasma may also be attracted to metallic objects worn by people in the vicinity, such as earrings, belt buckles, keys, body jewelry, or the frames of glasses, causing severe localized burns. When switching circuits, a technician should take care to remove any metals from their body, hold their breath, and close their eyes. An arc flash is more likely to form in a switch that is closed slowly, by allowing time for an arc to form between the contacts, so it is usually more desirable to "throw" switches with a fast motion, quickly and firmly making good contact. High-current switches often have a system of springs and levers to assist with this.
Live testing.
When testing in energized high-power circuits, technicians will observe precautions for care and maintenance of testing equipment and to keep the area clean and free of debris. A technician would use protective equipment such as rubber gloves and other personal protective equipment, to avoid initiating an arc and to protect personnel from any arc that may start while testing.
Protecting personnel.
There are many methods of protecting personnel from arc flash hazards. This can include personnel wearing arc flash personal protective equipment (PPE) or modifying the design and configuration of electrical equipment. The best way to remove the hazards of an arc flash is to de-energize electrical equipment when interacting with it, however de-energizing electrical equipment is in and of itself an arc flash hazard. In this case, one of the newest solutions is to allow the operator to stand far back from the electrical equipment by operating equipment remotely, this is called remote racking.
Arc flash protection equipment.
With recent increased awareness of the dangers of arc flash, there have been many companies that offer arc flash personal protective equipment (PPE), such as suits, overalls, helmets, boots, and gloves.
The effectiveness of protective equipment is measured by its arc rating. The arc rating is the maximum incident energy resistance demonstrated by a material prior to breakopen (a hole in the material) or necessary to pass through and cause a 50% probability of second degree burns. Arc rating is normally expressed in cal/cm2 (or small calories of heat energy per square centimeter). The tests for determining arc rating are defined in ASTM F1506 "Standard Performance Specification for Flame Resistant Textile Materials for Wearing Apparel for Use by Electrical Workers Exposed to Momentary Electric Arc and Related Thermal Hazards".
The selection of appropriate PPE, given a certain task to be performed, is normally handled in one of two possible ways. The first method is to consult a hazard category classification table, like that found in NFPA 70E. Table 130.7(C)(15)(a) lists a number of typical electrical tasks by various voltage levels and recommends the category of PPE that should be worn. For example, when working on 600 V switchgear and performing a removal of bolted covers to expose bare, energized parts, the table recommends a Category 3 Protective Clothing System. This Category 3 system corresponds to an ensemble of PPE that together offers protection up to 25 cal/cm2 (105 J/cm2 or 1.05 MJ/m2). The minimum rating of PPE necessary for any category is the maximum available energy for that category. For example, a Category 3 arc-flash hazard requires PPE rated for no less than 25 cal/cm2 (1.05 MJ/m2).
The second method of selecting PPE is to perform an arc flash hazard calculation to determine the available incident arc energy. IEEE 1584 provides a guide to perform these calculations given that the maximum fault current, duration of faults, and other general equipment information is known. Once the incident energy is calculated the appropriate ensemble of PPE that offers protection greater than the energy available can be selected.
PPE provides protection after an arc flash incident has occurred and should be viewed as the last line of protection. Reducing the frequency and severity of incidents should be the first option and this can be achieved through a complete arc flash hazard assessment and through the application of technology such as high-resistance grounding which has been proven to reduce the frequency and severity of incidents.
Reducing hazard by design.
Three key factors determine the intensity of an arc flash on personnel. These factors are the quantity of fault current available in a system, the time until an arc flash fault is cleared, and the distance an individual is from a fault arc. Various design and equipment configuration choices can be made to affect these factors and in turn reduce the arc flash hazard.
Fault current.
Fault current can be limited by using current limiting devices such as current limiting breakers, grounding resistors or fuses. If the fault current is limited to 5 amperes or less, then many ground faults self-extinguish and do not propagate into phase-to-phase faults.
Arcing time.
Arcing time can be reduced by temporarily setting upstream protective devices to lower setpoints during maintenance periods, or by employing zone-selective interlocking protection (ZSIP). With zone-selective interlocking, a downstream breaker that detects a fault communicates with an upstream breaker to delay its instantaneous tripping function. In this way "selectivity" will be preserved, in other words faults in the circuit are cleared by the breaker nearest to the fault, minimizing the effect on the entire system. A fault on a branch circuit will be detected by all breakers upstream of the fault (closer to the source of power). The circuit breaker closest to the downstream fault will send a restraining signal to prevent upstream breakers from tripping instantaneously. The presence of the fault will nevertheless activate the preset trip delay timer(s) of the upstream circuit breaker(s); this will allow an upstream circuit breaker to interrupt the fault, if still necessary after the preset time has elapsed. The ZSIP system allows faster instantaneous trip settings to be used, without loss of selectivity. The faster trip times reduce the total energy in an arc fault discharge.
Arcing time can significantly be reduced by protection based on detection of arc-flash light. Optical detection is often combined with overcurrent information. Light and current based protection can be set up with dedicated arc-flash protective relays, or by using normal protective relays equipped with an add-on arc-flash option.
One of the most efficient means to reduce arcing time is to use an arc eliminator that will extinguish the arc within a few milliseconds. The arc eliminator operates in 1-4 ms and creates a 3-phase short-circuit on another part of the system, typically upstream at higher voltages. This device contains a fast contact pin that upon activation by an external relay, makes physical contact with the energized bus which then creates the short circuit. The arc eliminator will protect a human if they are standing in front of the arc flash event and the relays detect the arc flash by diverting the arc flash to another location, although the diversion may cause a system failure at the location the short-circuit was diverted to. These devices must be replaced after an operation.
Another way to mitigate arc flash is to use a triggered current limiter or commutating current limiter which inserts a low rated continuous current current limiting fuse that melts and interrupts the arc flash within 4 ms. The advantage of this device is that it eliminates the arc flash at the source and does not divert it to another section of the system. A triggered current limiter will always be "Current Limiting" which means it will interrupt the circuit before the first peak current occurs. These devices are electronically controlled and sensed and provide feedback to the user about their operational status. They can also be turned ON and OFF as desired. These devices must be replaced after an operation.
Distance.
The radiant energy released by an electric arc is capable of permanently injuring or killing a human being at distances of up to . The distance from an arc flash source within which an unprotected person has a 50% chance of receiving a second degree burn is referred to as the "flash protection boundary". The incident energy of 1.2 cal/cm^2 on a bare skin was selected in solving the equation for the arc flash boundary in IEEE 1584. The IEEE 1584 arc flash boundary equations can also be used to calculate the arc flash boundaries with boundary energy other than 1.2 cal/cm^2 such as onset to 2nd degree burn energy. Those conducting flash hazard analyses must consider this boundary, and then must determine what PPE should be worn within the flash protection boundary. Remote operators or robots can be used to perform activities that have a high risk for arc flash incidents, such as inserting draw-out circuit breakers on a live electrical bus. Remote racking systems are available which keep the operator outside the arc flash hazard zone.
Research.
Both the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) have joined forces in an initiative to fund and support research and testing to increase the understanding of arc flash. The results of this collaborative project will provide information that will be used to improve electrical safety standards, predict the hazards associated with arcing faults and accompanying arc blasts, and provide practical safeguards for employees in the workplace.
Standards.
Arc flash hazard software exists that allows businesses to comply with the myriad government regulations while providing their workforce with an optimally safe environment. Many software companies now offer arc flash hazard solutions. Few power services companies calculate safe flash boundaries.
Notable incidents.
In a notable industrial accident at an Astoria, Queens Con Edison substation on December 27, 2018 a 138,000 volt coupling capacitor potential device failed which resulted in an arc flash which in turn burned aluminum, lighting up the sky with blue-green spectacle visible for miles around. The event was extensively covered in social media and LaGuardia Airport temporarily lost power, but there were neither deaths nor injuries.


Organ tablature

Organ tablature is a form of musical notation used by the north German Baroque organ school, although there are also forms of organ tablature from other countries such as Italy, Spain, Poland, and England. Portions of Johann Sebastian Bach's Orgelbüchlein are written in tablature, as are a great deal of the surviving manuscripts of the organ works of Dieterich Buxtehude and other north German organ composers of the Baroque era.
The first extant example of keyboard tablature, which was almost certainly for organ, was in the "Robertsbridge Codex", from about 1360. Although it is English, it is closely related to the later German tablatures. An early and perhaps seminal example of these organ tablatures is found in the "Buxheimer Orgelbuch" (Buxheim Organ Book), compiled in Münich in the 1460s. It reflects the work of Conrad Paumann, a blind organist, lutenist, and composer. The biggest organ tablature, as well as one of the oldest in the world, is Organ Tablature by Jan of Lublin (1537–48), one of ca. 20 Polish organ tablatures created from 1520 to 1700. An emblematic organ tablature of the early baroque era is the Linzer Orgeltabulatur, compiled between 1611 and 1613 and containing 108 pieces of mostly non-liturgical character.
The feature of organ tablature that distinguishes it from modern musical notation is the absence of staves, noteheads, and key signatures. Pitches are denoted by letter names written in script, durations by flags (much like modern notation), although in early notations durations were shown using mensural indications, and octave displacement by octave lines drawn above a letter. There was some variation in the notation of accidentals, but sometimes sharps were specified by the addition of a loop to the end of the letter. B natural and B flat were represented by "h" and "b" respectively. Naturals are not indicated, as accidentals do not carry through the entire measure as in modern notation. Key signatures are not specified; they are implied by the indicated sharps. In Renaissance works the uppermost melodic line is given in normal mensural notation on a staff, and the tablature given below each note.
Since the end of the Baroque era, organ tablature has not been used to an appreciable extent. Repertoire originally written in tablature has been translated into modern notation. However, this translation carries a risk of error. In German script an A and an E can become confused, as can an F and a G. Likewise, an octave line over a series of notes can begin or end ambiguously. Different solutions are given by different editors, and this is one manifestation of the improvisatory tradition of organ performance of the period.


List of United States Air Force test squadrons

This is a list of United States Air Force test squadrons. It covers units considered to be part of the Air Force and serves as a break out of the comprehensive List of United States Air Force squadrons. Most units in this list are assigned to Air Force Materiel Command, however, a few reside in other Major Commands of the United States Air Force.


CZ 527

The CZ 527 is a bolt-action smallbore rifle designed by Česká zbrojovka Uherský Brod. The rifle is available in numerous different designs and stylings. The available calibers (though not every rifle is designed for each of the calibers) are the following: .17 Remington, .17 Hornet, .22 Hornet, .204 Ruger, .221 Fireball, .222 Remington, .223 Remington, 6.5mm Grendel, .300 AAC Blackout and 7.62×39mm.
The CZ 527 Lux, CZ 527 FS and CZ 527 Carbine are traditional European style models featuring open sights and a Turkish walnut stock in the Bavarian pattern while CZ 527 American, CZ 527 Varmint and CZ 527 Prestige are models made specifically for the US market with the American customer in mind featuring American pattern stock with 18 LPI checkering.
The CZ 527 Varmint is an American-style bolt-action smallbore rifle designed by Česká zbrojovka Uherský Brod based on the CZ 527. It has a Mauser-style action, and is available in three different stylings: Standard, Laminated, and Aramid composite.
The standard Varmint model is available in three calibers: .17 Remington, .204 Ruger, and .223 Remington. It comes with different types of wood stocks depending on the caliber such as American walnut and curly maple. This model is . The Laminated Varmint features a Grey Laminated stock and is only available in .223 Remington, it weighs .
The last styling of the Varmint model is known as the Kevlar model. The primary difference is the stock is made of a Kevlar composite manufactured by H-S Precision. The rifle has an aluminum bedding block to which the action is screwed while the barrel is free floated. The rifle does not have sights and does not ship with scope rings. Supported calibers are the .204 Ruger, and .223 Remington. This model weighs in at . It also has the fastest rifling twist ratio for the .223 Remington of the three models(1:9 instead of 1:12). Early production rifles (pre 2002) had a 1:12 twist rate and post-2002 rifles have the 1:9 twist rate.
The CZ 527 Varmint in .223 has muzzle velocities for standard-load ammunition of around . The 1:9 barrel twist in the Varmint Kevlar reduces muzzle velocities by about 1.5%. Heavier bullets () shoot above .
The CZ 527 Varmint was originally designed for American markets, though it has received worldwide recognition in light rifle and small bore competitions alike.


Myomyrus

Myomyrus is a genus of elephantfish in the family Mormyridae. Its members reach about in length and are restricted to the Congo River Basin in Africa.
Species.
There are currently 3 recognized species in this genus:


Aeolodion

The aeolodion or aeolodicon (also called in Germany "Windharmonika") is an obsolete keyed wind instrument resembling the harmonium, its tone being produced from steel springs. It had a range of six octaves, and its tone was similar to that of the harmonium. After its invention around 1800, several modifications were made, including the aeolsklavier, aeolomelodicon or choraleon, and aeolopantalon, but all versions had largely disappeared by mid-century.
History.
There is some controversy as to its original inventor; most authorities attribute it to Jean Tobié Eschenbach of Hamburg, who is said to have first made it in 1800. Various improvements were subsequently made by other musicians, among whom may be named Schmidt of Pressburg, of Schweinfurt, Sebastian Müller (1826), and of Suhl (1833). This instrument was entirely superseded by the harmonium.
Related instruments.
Aeolsklavier.
A modification of the aeolodion was the aeolsklavier, invented about 1825 by Karl Friedrich Emanuel Schortmann of Buttelstädt, in which the reeds or springs that produced the sound were made of very thin wood instead of metal. For this reason, the quality of tone was made softer and sweeter. It was equipped with a keyboard and with a pedal which triggered a set of bellows (one for each note) and produced a soft and ethereal sound. The instrument was unsuccessful and appears to have been soon forgotten.
Aeolomelodicon (Choraleon).
A further modification was the aeolomelodicon or choraleon, constructed by Fidelis Brunner at Warsaw, about the year 1825, from the design of Professor J. F. Hoffmann in that city. It differed from the æolodion in the fact that brass tubes were affixed to the reeds, much as in the reed-stops of an organ. The instrument was of great power, and was probably intended as a substitute for the organ in small churches, especially in the accompaniment of chorals, whence its second name choraleon. It has taken no permanent place in musical history.
Aeolopantalon.
In the aeolopantalon, invented about the year 1830, by Jozé Dlugosz of Warsaw, the æolomelodicon was combined with a piano, so arranged that the player could make use of either instrument separately or both together. A somewhat similar plan has been occasionally tried with the piano and harmonium, but without great success. It is chiefly remembered because Frédéric Chopin played this instrument at various recitals.


Ignis Fatuus

Ignis Fatuus, or Ghost Ship, is a horror attraction on the Mariner's Landing Pier at Morey's Piers amusement park. It is the most recent and only attraction that uses real actors within it, has spectators walk around the attraction. It covers of the pier, and lasts 15 minutes; making one of the biggest and longest running attractions in the park. The ride is intended for kids 10 and up due to its intensity ; such as grotesque medical experiments, blood, radiation scars, facial deformities, and the involvement of a claustrophobia room. While a strict no running policy is enforced, the attraction does have a series of "sissy exits" placed throughout the attraction if the ride becomes too intense.
Story.
The story goes that the Ignis Fatuus was a second participant in the Philadelphia project, a military experiment located at a Philadelphia Naval Ship Yard at Philadelphia Pennsylvania. While in the experiment, the Ignis Fatuus left Philadelphia without another word. Then the ship sailed down the Delaware River in order to get to the Atlantic Ocean. In 1942, during her voyage, a storm was formed in the middle of the Atlantic, causing the ship to sink. It has been said that the ship sunk with a "cargo of questionable goods hidden in the hold".
A little less than seventy years later, this great ship washed up on the beach right outside of Morey's Pier. In the first few months of operation the park had a "live press conference" announcing the refurbishment of the ship. This so-called refurbishment is called into doubt immediately as the ship has huge gashes ripped into the metal. Throughout the performance it was established that the restoration of this ship was questionable due in part to the strange Captain. The presence of NAPS (the North Atlantic Paranormal Society) cast further doubt upon the legitimacy of this ship's renovations. Through a few more dialog bits, the presence of toxic and nuclear wastes is revealed, and according to NAPS, top secret atomic experiments were taken aboard. The Captain then invites guests to tour his vessel before the re-launching celebration. While in line, tension builds as the ship is heard groaning and creaking.
Once in the ride it is clear that the undead Capitan has double crossed his guests and now they must find their way out of the ship. As the story unfolds, it seems that the wastes have had a bigger part to play in the original mystery. The combined effects of the wastes have caused the original crew to mutate into either fully dead or half-dead monstrosities, effectively trapping their souls on this barge forever. Visitors will be forced to walk through many rooms such as the crew quarters and the communications room, while being victims of a spectral onslaught.
In the 2011 re-interpretation, the Capitan's part in this story has been reduced to an on-board scare instead of a villain. There is more emphasis on NAPS and escaping the ship. The human characters have been removed in favor of a fully half dead and mutated crew. The German that was spoken by the crew to add a sense of mystery was completely removed.


Brush (percussion)


Amadou Cheiffou

Amadou Cheiffou (born 1 December 1942) is a Nigerien politician who was Prime Minister of Niger from 26 October 1991 to 17 April 1993, heading a transitional government. He has led the Social Democratic Rally (RSD-Gaskiya), a political party, since founding it in January 2004. Cheiffou was President of the Economic, Social and Cultural Council of Niger (CESOC) from January 2006 to February 2010, and he held the official post of Ombudsman from August 2011 to December 2015.
Political career.
Graduate from the ENAC, Cheiffou is an ethnic Fula and was born at Kornaka, in Maradi Department, in 1942. Prior to becoming Prime Minister, Cheiffou worked in Dakar as a representative of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) for Central and West Africa. He was a delegate for the Association of Nigeriens Abroad at the 1991 National Conference; at the Conference, he was the compromise choice for the position of Prime Minister, although he was opposed by the delegates representing the government, and was elected on 26 October 1991. His selection as Prime Minister was aided by his political inexperience and lack of association with the old regime of Seyni Kountché and Ali Saibou. Cheiffou headed the transitional government that served from 1991 to 1993, during the transitional period leading to multiparty elections. He also served as Minister of National Defense during that period. Along with President Saibou and André Salifou, the President of the High Council of the Republic, he was prohibited by the National Conference from standing as a candidate in the February 1993 presidential election.
As of 2002, Cheiffou was the ICAO's Regional Director for its Western and Central African Office.
Cheiffou was Vice-President of the Democratic and Social Convention (CDS-Rahama) before splitting with that party and its President, Mahamane Ousmane, and creating his own party, the Social Democratic Rally (RSD-Gaskiya), in January 2004. In the presidential election held on 16 November 2004, Cheiffou placed fourth out of six candidates, winning 6.35% of the vote. He was elected to the National Assembly in the December 2004 parliamentary election as an RSD candidate in Maradi constituency.
When the 85-member Economic, Social and Cultural Council (CESOC) was installed by President Mamadou Tandja on 3 January 2006, Cheiffou became President of CESOC.
The RSD supported President Tandja during the 2009 political crisis, and it participated in the October 2009 parliamentary election. The opposition, angered by President Tandja's efforts to change the constitution so that he could remain in power, boycotted the election. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which had wanted the election delayed in hopes of resolving the political crisis, suspended Niger from its ranks immediately after the election was held. Cheiffou was included in the 22-member Nigerien delegation that traveled to Abuja for talks with ECOWAS beginning on 9 November 2009.
Still serving as President of CESOC, Cheiffou stood as a candidate in the December 2009 local elections and was elected as a municipal councillor in Kornaka. Cheiffou's decision to run for local office was considered striking, as it was rare for major political leaders in Niger to do so.
Tandja was ousted in a February 2010 military coup. In the January 2011 presidential election, held under a transitional junta, Cheiffou stood again as a candidate, but received only a small share of the vote. On 10 February 2011, he announced his support for Mahamadou Issoufou, who had placed first, in the March 2011 second round. He backed Issoufou along with many other unsuccessful candidates, buttressing Issoufou's position against his second round opponent, Seyni Oumarou. After Issoufou won the election, Cheiffou was appointed as Ombudsman on 24 August 2011.
On 13 December 2015, Cheiffou was designated as the RSD candidate for the February 2016 presidential election. In light of his candidacy, he submitted his resignation as Ombudsman to President Issoufou on 21 December 2015, although he stressed that he was not legally required to resign. He was elected to the National Assembly in the February 2016 parliamentary election. As the oldest deputy present, he presided over the National Assembly when it began meeting on 24 March 2016, until the election of Ousseini Tinni as President of the National Assembly on 25 March.


Game Gadget

The Game Gadget is an open source gaming handheld that supports music and video playback, open game development, and some e-reader features. It was available in one colour (white). It was released on April 5th, 2012.
Function.
Official firmware.
Firmware v1.01


String (music)

A string is the vibrating element that produces sound in string instruments such as the guitar, harp, piano (piano wire), and members of the violin family. Strings are lengths of a flexible material that a musical instrument holds under tension so that they can vibrate freely, but controllably. Strings may be "plain", consisting only of a single material, like steel, nylon, or gut, or wound, having a "core" of one material and an overwinding of another. This is to make the string vibrate at the desired pitch, while maintaining a low profile and sufficient flexibility for playability.
The invention of wound strings, such as nylon covered in wound metal, was a crucial step in string instrument technology, because a metal-wound string can produce a lower pitch than a catgut string of similar thickness. This enabled stringed instruments to be made with less thick bass strings. On string instruments that the player plucks or bows directly (e.g., double bass), this enabled instrument makers to use thinner strings for the lowest-pitched strings, which made the lower-pitch strings easier to play. On stringed instruments in which the player presses a keyboard, causing a mechanism to strike the strings, such as a piano, this enabled piano builders to use shorter, thicker strings to produce the lowest-pitched bass notes, enabling the building of smaller upright pianos designed for small rooms and practice rooms.
String construction.
The end of the string that mounts to the instrument's tuning mechanism (the part of the instrument that turns to tighten or loosen string tension) is usually plain. Depending on the instrument, the string's other, fixed end may have either a plain, loop, or ball end (a short brass cylinder) that attaches the string at the end opposite the tuning mechanism. When a ball or loop is used with a guitar, this ensures that the string stays fixed in the bridge of the guitar. When a ball or loop is used with a violin-family instrument, this keeps the string end fixed in the tailpiece. Fender Bullet strings have a larger cylinder for more stable tuning on guitars equipped with synchronized tremolo systems. Strings for some instruments may be wrapped with silk at the ends to protect the string. The color and pattern of the silk often identify attributes of the string, such as manufacturer, size, intended pitch, etc.
Winding types.
There are several varieties of wound strings available.
Roundwound.
The simplest wound strings are roundwound—with round wire wrapped in a tight spiral around either a round or hexagonal core. Such strings are usually simple to manufacture and the least expensive. They have several drawbacks, however:
Flatwound.
Flatwound strings also have either a round or hex core. However, the winding wire has a rounded square cross-section that has a shallower profile (in cross-section) when tightly wound. This makes for more comfortable playing, and decreased wear for frets and fretboards (this makes them a popular choice for fretless instruments). Squeaking sounds due to fingers sliding along the strings are also decreased significantly. Flatwound strings also have a longer playable life because of smaller grooves for dirt and oil to build up in.
On the other hand, flatwound strings sound less bright than roundwounds and tend to be harder to bend. Flatwounds also usually cost more than roundwounds because of less demand, less production, and higher overhead costs. Manufacturing is also more difficult, as precise alignment of the flat sides of the winding must be maintained (some rotation of the winding on roundwound strings is acceptable).
Modern bowed strings are plain (typically the higher-pitched, thinner strings) or flatwound, to allow smooth playing and reduce bow hair breakage. There is a niche market for roundwound fiddle strings.
Halfwound, ground wound, pressure wound.
Halfwound strings, ground wound strings, or pressure wound strings are a cross between roundwound and flatwound. Such strings are usually made by winding round wire around a round or hex core first, then polishing, grinding (thus the name, "ground wound") or pressing the exterior part of the winding until it is practically flat. This results in the flat, comfortable playing feel of flatwounds, along with less squeaking, with a brightness generally between roundwounds and flatwounds. The polishing process removes almost half of the winding wire's mass; thus, to compensate for it, manufacturers use winding wire of a heavier gauge. Because of the extra manufacturing process involved, they are normally more expensive than roundwounds, but less than flatwounds.
Core Types.
There are two types, or shapes, of core wire typically used in wound strings.
Hexcore.
Hexcore strings are composed of hexagonal core wire and a tight (usually round) winding. Hexcore string design prevents the winding from slipping around the core – which can occur with round core strings. This may improve tuning stability, flexibility, and reduce string breakage, compared to round core strings.
Round core.
Round core strings are composed of regular round core and a tight (usually round) winding. Round core is the traditional "vintage" way of manufacturing and results in a greater contact between the winding and the core of the string.
Gauge.
Bowed instrument strings, such as for the violin or cello, are usually described by tension rather than gauge. Fretted instruments (guitar, banjo, etc.) strings are usually described by "gauge"—the diameter of the string. The tone of a string depends partly on weight, and, therefore, on its diameter—its gauge. Usually, string manufacturers that don't describe strings by tension list string diameter in thousandths of an inch (0.001 in = 0.0254 mm). The larger the diameter, the heavier the string. Heavier strings require more tension for the same pitch and are, as a consequence, harder to press down to the fingerboard. A fretted instrument that is restrung with different string gauges may require adjustment to the string height above the frets (the "action") to maintain playing ease or keep the strings from buzzing against the frets. The action height of fretless instruments is also adjusted to suit the string gauge or material, as well as the intended playing style.
Guitar.
Steel strings for six-string guitar usually come in sets of matched strings. Sets are usually referenced either by the gauge of the first string (e.g., 9), or by pair of first and last (e.g., 9–42); measurements in thousands of an inch are the "de facto" standard, regardless of whether Imperial units are used in a country. Some manufacturers may have slightly different gauge sequences; the sample data below comes from D'Addario string charts for regular, round-wound, nickel-plated strings.
Electric guitar.
The following table displays the gauges in inches:
Acoustic guitar.
String gauge is subject to the personal preferences of the musician, but acoustic guitars are typically strung with a heavier gauge than electric guitars. The need for projection due to lack of amplification is one of the main reasons for this.
Bass guitar.
Bass guitar strings are sometimes made for a particular scale length and come in short, medium, long and extra long (sometimes called super long) scale. Almost all bass guitar strings are made wound. Typical bass guitar strings come in the following gauges:
Bowed strings.
Since the 20th century, with the advent of steel and synthetic core strings, most bowed instrument string makers market their strings by tension rather than by diameter. They typically make string sets in three tension levels: "heavy", "medium", and "light" (German "stark", "mittel", and "weich"). These tension levels are not standardized between manufacturers, and do not correlate to specific diameters. One brand's medium strings may have quite a different tension from another brand's medium. Based on available historical records, gut strings were sold before 1900 in a similar way.
On the other hand, modern gut core strings with metal winding, typically have been sold either ungauged for less expensive brands, or by specific gauge. The Gustav Pirazzi company in Germany introduced the Pirazzi meter (PM) measurement early in the 20th century. One PM equals .05 mm. For example, a 14 1/2 PM gauge string has is .725 mm in diameter. Pirazzi (now known as Pirastro) continues to sell its Oliv, Eudoxa, and Passione brand premium gut core strings by PM gauge. Each string is available in 5 or more discrete gauges. Manufacturers of traditional plain gut strings, often used in historically informed performance, sell their products by light/medium/heavy, by PM, by mm or some combination.
Core materials.
Steel forms the core of most metal strings. Certain keyboard instruments (e.g., harpsichord) and the Gaelic harp use brass. Other natural materials, such as silk or gut—or synthetics such as nylon and kevlar are also used for string cores. (Steel used for strings, called music wire, is hardened and tempered.) Some violin E strings are gold-plated to improve tone quality.
Steel.
Steel or metal strings have become the foundation of strings for the electric guitar and bass. They have a pleasingly bright tone when compared to nylon string guitars. Their metal composition varies greatly, sometimes using many different alloys as plating. Much of the history of metal strings evolved through innovations with the piano. In fact, the first wound metal strings ever used were used in a piano. However, when it came to getting super small diameter strings with good elastic properties, the electric guitar took the metal string to the next level adapting it for the use of pickups.
Because of the higher tension of steel strings, steel-strung guitars are more robustly made than 'classical' guitars, which use synthetic strings. Most jazz and folk string players prefer steel-core strings for their faster response, low cost, and tuning stability.
Nylon.
Nylon string, traditionally used for classical music, has a more mellow tone and the responsiveness of it can be enjoyed typically for folk but other styles of music use it as well (Willie Nelson performs on a nylon string guitar). Note that nylon strings don't work with magnetic pickups, which require ferrous strings that can interact with the magnetic field of the pickups to produce a signal. Nylon strings are made of a softer, less dense material and are under less tension than steel strings (about 50% less). This means they can be used on older guitars that can't support the tension of modern steel strings.
Currently, stranded nylon is one of the most popular materials for the cores of violin, viola, cello, and double bass strings. It is often sold under the trade name of "Perlon". Nylon guitar strings were first developed by Albert Augustine Strings in 1947.
Gut.
The intestine, or gut, of sheep, cattle, and other animals (sometimes called "catgut", though cats were never used as a source for this material) is one of the first materials used to make musical strings. In fact, the Ancient Greek word for string, "khordḗ," has "gut" as its original meaning.
Animal intestines are composed largely of elastomers, making them very flexible. But they are also extremely hygroscopic, which makes them susceptible to pitch fluctuation as a result of changing humidity. Exposure to moisture from the sweat of a musician's hands can cause plain (unwound) gut strings to fray and eventually break. This is not as much of a problem with wound gut strings, in which the gut core, being protected from contact with perspiration by the metal winding (and underlayer, if there is one), lasts a much longer time. Nonetheless, as such a gut string ages and continually responds to cyclic changes in temperature and humidity, the core becomes weak and brittle, and eventually breaks. Furthermore, all gut strings are vulnerable to going out of tune due to changes in "atmospheric" humidity.
However, even after the introduction of metal and synthetic core materials, many musicians still prefer to use gut strings, believing that they provide a superior tone. Players associated with the period performance movement use wound and unwound gut strings as part of an effort to recreate the sound of music of the Classical, Baroque, and Renaissance periods, as listeners would have heard it at the time of composition.
For players of plucked instruments, Nylgut strings are a recently developed alternative to gut strings. They are made from a specialty nylon and purport to offer the same acoustic properties as gut strings without the tuning problems.
Fluoropolymers (aka "Carbon").
Fluoropolymer strings are available for classical guitar, harp, and ukulele. These strings are usually traded under descriptions like "fluorocarbon", "carbon fiber", or "carbon", which is scientifically incorrect.
The so-called "Carbon" material has a higher density than nylon, so that a nylon string can be replaced by a carbon string of smaller diameter. This improves the precision of higher fretted notes, and the resulting vibrational behaviour leads to a more brilliant sound with improved harmonics. In particular, classical guitarists who feel that a nylon G string sounds too dull can use strings that include a carbon G string.
Other polymers.
Other polymers, including polyetheretherketone and polybutylene terephthalate, have also been used.
Silk.
Silk was extensively used in China for traditional Chinese musical instruments until replaced by metal-nylon strings in the 1950s. Only purely silk strings used for the guqin are still produced, while some silver-wound silk strings are still available for classical guitars and ukuleles. The quality in ancient times was high enough that one brand was praised as 'ice strings' for their smoothness and translucent appearance.
Winding materials.
Aluminum, silver, and chrome steel are common windings for bowed instruments like violin and viola, whereas acoustic guitar strings are usually wound with bronze and piano strings are usually wound with copper. To resist corrosion from sweat, aluminium may be used as a resistant alloy such as hydronalium. Classical guitar strings are typically nylon, with the basses being wound with either silver or bronze. Electric guitar strings are usually wound with nickel-plated steel; pure nickel and stainless steel are also used. Bass guitar strings are most commonly wound with stainless steel or nickel. Copper, gold, silver, and tungsten are used for some instruments. Silver and gold are more expensive and are used for their resistance to corrosion and hypoallergenicity.
Some "historically-informed" strings use an open metal winding with a "barber pole" appearance. This practice improves the acoustic performance of heavier gauge gut strings by adding mass and making the string thinner for its tension. Specimens of such open wound strings are known from the early 18th century, in a collection of artifacts from Antonio Stradivari. "Silk and steel" guitar strings are overwound steel strings with silk filaments under the winding.
Phosphor bronze.
Phosphor bronze was introduced by D'Addario in the early 1970s. Phosphor bronze is said to keep its "new" sound longer than other strings. Small amounts of phosphorus and zinc are added to the bronze mixture. This makes the phosphor bronze slightly more corrosion resistant than 80/20 bronze.
80/20 Bronze.
80/20 bronze strings are 80 percent copper and 20 percent zinc. The zinc also gives it a brighter tone, additional hardness and slows down the aging process. With additional string coating, they are preserved even more. Although, If some of the coating is applied poorly, the strings can lose their tone in just a matter of hours, and if left in high humidity can turn a hint of green because of the copper and corrode with time. The name "80/20 Bronze" is a misnomer since bronze is by definition an alloy of copper and tin. "80/20 bronze" strings would be more correctly referred to as brass.
Nickel-plated steel.
Some acoustic players use strings, wound with nickel-plated-steel, meant for electric guitar. The properties of the nickel-plated strings make it a good choice for flattop guitars with sound hole-mounted magnetic pickups.
String corrosion and prevention.
All metal strings are susceptible to oxidation and corrosion. Wound strings commonly use metals such as brass or bronze in their winding. These two metals are very vulnerable to corrosion. The sebaceous gland in the player's skin produces oils that can be acidic. The oils, salts, and moisture from the player's fingers are the largest source of corrosion. The composition of the oil and the oxygen in the air also helps to oxidize and corrode the strings. In steel strings the oxygen reacts with the iron in the steel and it creates rust. As a result, the string loses its brilliance over time. Water, another by-product of oxidation, increases the potential for acid corrosion in oils. Wound strings, such as bronze acoustic strings, are very difficult to keep fresh sounding due to the lack of corrosion resistance. To help solve the corrosion problem strings are either metal plated or polymer coated. The polymer coating is claimed to reduce finger squeak and fret wear, and has better tuning capability. Some companies sell lubricating oils that slow down the oxidation process, increasing the string's life-span. These special lubricating oils are applied to the strings as a barrier to the air, to help slow the oxidation process.
Coating and plating.
Some common types of metal plating on strings include tin, nickel, gold, and silver. Some metals such as gold and silver give the strings a different sound.
Among strings coated with a polymer, (polytetrafluoroethylene) Teflon is the most commonly used. Teflon is resistant to many corrosive agents such as: chlorine, acetic acid, sulfuric acid, and hydrochloric acid. On the microscopic level Teflon has very tightly packed polymeric chains, and these tightly packed chains create a slippery surface that not only helps keep the oil from the player's hands off the strings but makes them smooth to play as well. Ethylene tetrafluorothylene (ETFE) is another polymer that is sometimes used to coat strings. It is abrasion and cut resistant and has many characteristics similar to Teflon.
Boiling strings (guitar and bass).
Some musicians boil guitar or bass strings to rejuvenate them. The high temperature of the boiling water helps free the strings of oil, salt, and grime from the player's hands. When a string is played, very small metal shavings from fret wear may break off and lodge between the windings of the strings. Heating the strings can expand these particles and separate them from the windings. Some players use deionized water to boil strings, believing that mineral deposits in tap water may aid corrosion of the string core. After boiling, strings may have less elasticity and be more brittle, depending on the quality of the alloys involved. Putting the strings through a cycle in the dishwasher has also been known to work.
String vibration.
A string vibrates in a complex harmonic pattern. Every time the player sets a string in motion, a specific set of frequencies resonate based on the harmonic series. The fundamental frequency is the lowest, and it is determined by the density, length and tension of the string. This is the frequency we identify as the pitch of the string. Above that frequency, overtones (or harmonics) are heard, each one getting quieter the higher it is. For example, if the fundamental pitch is 440 Hz (A above middle C), the overtones for an ideal string tuned to that pitch are 880 Hz, 1320 Hz, 1760 Hz, 2200 Hz, etc. The note names for those pitches would be A, A, E, A, C, etc. Due to the physical nature of the strings, however, the higher up the overtones go, the more out of tune (or "false") they are to the fundamental. This is an important consideration for piano tuners, who try to stretch the tuning across the piano to keep overtones more in tune as they go up the keyboard.
In a phenomenon called sympathetic vibration, a string seems to vibrate by itself. This happens when sound waves strike the string at a frequency close to the string's fundamental pitch or one of its overtones. The string is connected to this similar sound wave through the air, which picks up the vibrations of the sound waves at the same frequency, and in turn causes the string to vibrate on its own. When an outside source applies forced vibration that matches a string's natural frequency, the string vibrates.
Resonance can cause audio feedback. For example, in a setup with an acoustic guitar and a PA system, the speaker vibrates at the same natural frequency of a string on the guitar and can force it into vibrational motion. Audio feedback is often seen as an undesirable phenomenon with an acoustic guitar that is plugged into the PA system, because it causes a loud howling sound. However, with electric guitar, some guitarists in heavy metal music and psychedelic rock purposely create feedback by holding an electric guitar close to a powerful, loud guitar amplifier speaker cabinet, with the distortion turned up loud, creating unique high-pitched, sustained sounds. Jimi Hendrix and Brian May were notable users of electric guitar feedback.
For a typical high-E nylon string, the maximum transverse force is roughly 40 times greater than the maximum longitudinal force amplitude. However, the longitudinal force increases with the square of the pulse amplitude, so the differences diminish with increasing amplitude. The elastic (Young's) modulus for steel is about 40 times greater than for nylon, and string tensions are about 50% greater, so the longitude and transverse force amplitudes are nearly equal.
Tensile properties.
Tuning a stringed instrument such as a guitar to pitch puts the strings under a large amount of strain, which indicates the amount of stress inside the string. Stress is relative to the stretch or elongation of the strings. As the string is tuned to a higher pitch, it gets longer and thinner. The instrument can go out of tune because if it has been stretched past its elastic limit, it will not recover its original tension. On a stress vs. strain curve, there is a linear region where stress and strain are related called Young's modulus. A newer set of strings will often be in a region on the stress vs. strain curve past the Young's modulus called the plastic region. In the plastic region, plastic deformation occurs—deformation the material cannot recover from. Thus, in the plastic region, the relationship is not linear (Young's modulus is no longer a constant). The elastic region is where elastic deformation is occurring, or deformation from where the string can recover. The linear (i.e. elastic) region is where musicians want to play their instrument.


C. W. Parker Carousel

The C. W. Parker Carousel is a carousel built in 1912 currently operating in the Burnaby Village Museum at Deer Lake Park in Burnaby, British Columbia. The carousel was built by the C. W. Parker Company and is also known as the Parker #119 and the Burnaby Centennial Parker Carousel. The carousel was the 119th such machine built by the C. W. Parker Company, earning it its "Parker #119" nickname. The carousel contains 41 horses and operates at a pavilion known as the Don Wrigley Pavilion located at one of the museum's two entrances, earning the entrance the name "Carousel Entrance".
History.
The carousel was built in 1912 at Leavenworth, Kansas by Charles Wallace Parker who owned the C. W. Parker Company, and was the 119th one made by them. It was sold in 1913 for $5,886.00. The carousel toured Texas for two years with the Lone Star Circus. In 1915 the machine was shipped back to the factory.
It is believed that the machine was rebuilt by the factory. Some fancier horses and heavier rounding boards may have been added. Some of the horses were built in 1917 and some in 1920–1922. The history of the carousel from 1915 to 1936 is unknown. The carousel was purchased by Happyland, an amusement park in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1936.
The carousel remained at Happyland until the amusement park was demolished in 1957. It was moved to the new small pavilion in Playland, (another amusement park in Vancouver) until that too was demolished in 1972.
From 1972 to 1989, Parker #119 was operated outdoors, and was put away each winter.
In 1989 it was announced that the carousel would be sold off horse by horse at an auction in New York. Local residents came together to save the carousel and formed the "Friends of the Vancouver Carousel Society". It was at this time that the carousel was nicknamed the Parker #119.
In May 1989, the Burnaby Village Museum agreed to provide a home for the carousel and the "Friends", led by President Don Wrigley, set about raising the $350,000 to purchase the machine. Keith Jamieson, a carousel expert, was brought in to coordinate the rebuilding project. In 1990, the carousel was purchased. Funds were also raised to pay for the restoration. People who donated money could sponsor a horse and later name it. The museum agreed to build a new pavilion to house the carousel. The pavilion, named the Don Wrigley Pavilion was completed in 1993. The carousel was then named the Burnaby Centennial Parker Carousel.
Carousel horses.
The carousel's horses are listed here:
Notes:
Carousel horse notes.
This section notes horses that are not actually on the carousel and horses that are not really horses.
Some of the carousel's horses are not actually horses, but are listed as such for the purpose of creating a list on the carousel's horses. Examples of this are Horse #38, "Gold Heart Chariot" and Horse #40, "Wurlitzer Band Organ".
Horse #37, known as "Old Paint", was sponsored by the Burnaby Village Museum and was not restored, as a reminder to visitors of the sorry state the carousel was in when the museum first acquired it. The horse was named for the "old paint" that was originally on the carousel before it was restored. The horse is currently in a display case next to the carousel.
Horse #39 is really four small ponies and a wheelchair. This was placed to make the carousel accessible to toddlers and disabled people.
Horse #41 is really two small ponies. While originally on the carousel with Horse #39, they were removed to make room for Horse #39's wheelchair and placed, one each, at the museum's two entrances.
There were originally two chariots on the carousel. One has since gone missing while the carousel was under the ownership of a theme park. The ponies which now form Horses #39 and #41 were added to the area where the other chariot was originally placed. Horse #38 was also cut in half, removing the backdrop and adding more seats to the carousel (a plan to generate more income from the carousel by allowing more people to ride it, done by one of the carousel's theme park owners). When the carousel was bought by the museum, Horse #38 underwent restoration, adding a backdrop to it, making it a chariot once again.
Carousel horse rows.
Row 1:
Outside: #1 Captain Julius,
Middle: #13 Nipoti,
Inside: #25 Pisces
Row 2:
Outside: #2 Royal Burnaby Belle,
Middle: #14 Mr. Ed,
Inside: #26 Meg
Row 3:
Outside: #3 Champion,
Middle: #15 Allegro,
Inside: #27 Wheeler
Row 4:
Outside: #4 Firefly,
Middle: #16 John Ernest,
Inside: #28 Guppy
Row 5:
Outside: #5 Phar Lap,
Middle: #17 Betty B.,
Inside: #29 Rebel
Row 6:
Outside: #6 Scampering Dawn,
Middle: #18 Bingo,
Inside: #30 Royal Warrior
Row 7:
Outside: #7 Vanessa,
Middle: #19 Dyck,
Inside: #31 Venus
Row 8:
Outside: #8 Treasure,
Middle: #20 Twister,
Inside: #32 The Colonel
Row 9:
Outside: #9 Mignonette,
Middle: #21 Centennial,
Inside: #33 Happy Marie
Row 10:
Outside: #10 Valiant,
Middle: #22 Tommy D.,
Inside: #34 Shannon
Row 11:
Outside: #11 Vivian,
Middle: #23 Rose B.
Inside: #35 Annie
Row 12:
Outside: #12 Nareena,
Middle: #24 James,
Inside: #36 Royal George
See also.
C. W. Parker carousels are in use in


Brillouin and Langevin functions

The Brillouin and Langevin functions are a pair of special functions that appear when studying an idealized paramagnetic material in statistical mechanics.
Brillouin function.
The Brillouin function is a special function defined by the following equation:
The function is usually applied (see below) in the context where formula_2" is a real variable and formula_3 is a positive integer or half-integer. In this case, the function varies from -1 to 1, approaching +1 as formula_4 and -1 as formula_5.
The function is best known for arising in the calculation of the magnetization of an ideal paramagnet. In particular, it describes the dependency of the magnetization formula_6 on the applied magnetic field formula_7 and the total angular momentum quantum number J of the microscopic magnetic moments of the material. The magnetization is given by:
where
Note that in the SI system of units formula_7 given in Tesla stands for the magnetic field, formula_18, where formula_19 is the auxiliary magnetic field given in A/m and formula_20 is the permeability of vacuum.
Takacs proposed the following approximation to the inverse of the Brillouin function:
where the constants formula_22 and formula_23 are defined to be
Langevin function.
In the classical limit, the moments can be continuously aligned in the field and formula_3 can assume all values (formula_27). The Brillouin function is then simplified into the Langevin function, named after Paul Langevin:
For small values of , the Langevin function can be approximated by a truncation of its Taylor series:
An alternative, better behaved approximation can be derived from the
Lambert's continued fraction expansion of :
For small enough , both approximations are numerically better than a direct evaluation of the actual analytical expression, since the latter suffers from loss of significance.
The inverse Langevin function is defined on the open interval (−1, 1). For small values of , it can be approximated by a truncation of its Taylor series
and by the Padé approximant
Since this function has no closed form, it is useful to have approximations valid for arbitrary values of . One popular approximation, valid on the whole range (−1, 1), has been published by A. Cohen:
This has a maximum relative error of 4.9% at the vicinity of . Greater accuracy can be achieved by using the formula given by R. Jedynak:
valid for . The maximal relative error for this approximation is 1.5% at the vicinity of x = 0.85. Even greater accuracy can be achieved by using the formula given by M. Kröger:
The maximal relative error for this approximation is less than 0.28%. More accurate approximation was reported by R. Petrosyan:
valid for . The maximal relative error for the above formula is less than 0.18%.
New approximation given by R. Jedynak, is the best reported approximant at complexity 11:
formula_37
valid for . Its maximum relative error is less than 0.076%.
Current state-of-the-art diagram of the approximants to the inverse Langevin function
presents the figure below. It is valid for the rational/Padé approximants,
A recently published paper by R. Jedynak, provides a series of the optimal approximants to the inverse Langevin function. The table below reports the results with correct asymptotic behaviors.
Comparison of relative errors for the different optimal rational approximations, which were computed with constraints (Appendix 8 Table 1)
Also recently, an efficient near-machine precision approximant, based on spline interpolations, has been proposed by Benítez and Montáns, where Matlab code is also given to generate the spline-based approximant and to compare many of the previously proposed approximants in all the function domain.
High-temperature limit.
When formula_38 i.e. when formula_39 is small, the expression of the magnetization can be approximated by the Curie's law:
where formula_41 is a constant. One can note that formula_42 is the effective number of Bohr magnetons.
High-field limit.
When formula_43, the Brillouin function goes to 1. The magnetization saturates with the magnetic moments completely aligned with the applied field:


Organ (music)

In music, the organ is a keyboard instrument of one or more pipe divisions or other means for producing tones, each played with its own keyboard, played either with the hands on a keyboard or with the feet using pedals.
History.
Origins.
The organ is a relatively old musical instrument, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria (285–222 BC), who invented the water organ. It was played throughout the Ancient Greek and Ancient Roman world, particularly during races and games. During the early medieval period it spread from the Byzantine Empire, where it continued to be used in secular (non-religious) and imperial court music, to Western Europe, where it gradually assumed a prominent place in the liturgy of the Catholic Church. Subsequently, it re-emerged as a secular and recital instrument in the Classical music tradition.
Overview.
Pipe organs use air moving through pipes to produce sounds. Since the 16th century, pipe organs have used various materials for pipes, which can vary widely in timbre and volume. Increasingly hybrid organs are appearing in which pipes are augmented with electric additions. Great economies of space and cost are possible especially when the lowest (and largest) of the pipes can be replaced.
Non-piped organs include:
Mechanical organs include the barrel organ, water organ, and Orchestrion. These are controlled by mechanical means such as pinned barrels or book music. Little barrel organs dispense with the hands of an organist and bigger organs are powered in most cases by an organ grinder or today by other means such as an electric motor.
Pipe organs.
The pipe organ is the largest musical instrument. These instruments vary greatly in size, ranging from a cubic meter to a height reaching five floors, and are built in churches, synagogues, concert halls, and homes. Small organs are called "positive" (easily placed in different locations) or "portative" (small enough to carry while playing).
The pipes are divided into ranks and controlled by the use of hand stops and combination pistons. Although the keyboard is not expressive as on a piano and does not affect dynamics (it is binary; pressing a key only turns the sound on or off), some divisions may be enclosed in a swell box, allowing the dynamics to be controlled by shutters. Some organs are totally enclosed, meaning that all the divisions can be controlled by one set of shutters. Some special registers with free reed pipes are expressive.
It has existed in its current form since the 14th century, though similar designs were common in the Eastern Mediterranean from the early Byzantine period (from the 4th century AD) and precursors, such as the hydraulic organ, have been found dating to the late Hellenistic period (1st century BC). Along with the clock, it was considered one of the most complex human-made mechanical creations before the Industrial Revolution. Pipe organs range in size from a single short keyboard to huge instruments with over 10,000 pipes. A large modern organ typically has three or four keyboards (manuals) with five octaves (61 notes) each, and a two-and-a-half octave (32-note) pedal board.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart called the organ the "King of instruments". Some of the biggest instruments have 64-foot pipes (a foot here means "sonic-foot", a measure quite close to the English measurement unit) and it sounds to an 8 Hz frequency fundamental tone. Perhaps the most distinctive feature is the ability to range from the slightest sound to the most powerful, plein-jeu impressive sonic discharge, which can be sustained in time indefinitely by the organist. For instance, the Wanamaker organ, located in Philadelphia, USA, has sonic resources comparable with three simultaneous symphony orchestras. Another interesting feature lies in its intrinsic "polyphony" approach: each set of pipes can be played simultaneously with others, and the sounds mixed and interspersed in the environment, not in the instrument itself.
Church.
Most organs in Europe, the Americas, and Australasia can be found in Christian churches.
The introduction of church organs is traditionally attributed to Pope Vitalian in the 7th century. Due to its simultaneous ability to provide a musical foundation below the vocal register, support in the vocal register, and increased brightness above the vocal register, the organ is ideally suited to accompany human voices, whether a , a choir, or a cantor or soloist.
Most services also include solo organ repertoire for independent performance rather than by way of accompaniment, often as a prelude at the beginning the service and a postlude at the conclusion of the service.
Today this organ may be a pipe organ (see above), a digital or electronic organ that generates the sound with digital signal processing (DSP) chips, or a combination of pipes and electronics. It may be called a church organ or classical organ to differentiate it from the theatre organ, which is a different style of instrument. However, as classical organ repertoire was developed for the pipe organ and in turn influenced its development, the line between a church and a concert organ became harder to draw.
Concert hall.
In the late 19th century and early 20th century, symphonic organs flourished in secular venues in the United States and the United Kingdom, designed to replace symphony orchestras by playing transcriptions of orchestral pieces. Symphonic and orchestral organs largely fell out of favor as the "orgelbewegung" (organ reform movement) took hold in the middle of the 20th century, and organ builders began to look to historical models for inspiration in constructing new instruments. Today, modern builders construct organs in a variety of styles for both secular and sacred applications.
Theatre and cinema.
The theatre organ or cinema organ was designed to accompany silent movies. Like a symphonic organ, it is made to replace an orchestra. However, it includes many more gadgets, such as mechanical percussion accessories and other imitative sounds useful in creating movie sound accompaniments such as auto horns, doorbells, and bird whistles. It typically features the Tibia pipe family as its foundation stops and the regular use of a tremulant possessing a depth greater than that on a classical organ.
Theatre organs tend not to take nearly as much space as standard organs, relying on extension (sometimes called unification) and higher wind pressures to produce a greater variety of tone and larger volume of sound from fewer pipes. Unification gives a smaller instrument the capability of a much larger one, and works well for monophonic styles of playing (chordal, or chords with solo voice). The sound is, however, thicker and more homogeneous than a classically designed organ.
In the USA the American Theater Organ Society (ATOS) has been instrumental in programs to preserve examples of such instruments.
Chamber organ.
A chamber organ is a small pipe organ, often with only one manual, and sometimes without separate pedal pipes that is placed in a small room, that this diminutive organ can fill with sound. It is often confined to chamber organ repertoire, as often the organs have too few voice capabilities to rival the grand pipe organs in the performance of the classics. The sound and touch are unique to the instrument, sounding nothing like a large organ with few stops drawn out, but rather much more intimate. They are usually tracker instruments, although the modern builders are often building electropneumatic chamber organs.
Pre-Beethoven keyboard music may usually be as easily played on a chamber organ as on a piano or harpsichord, and a chamber organ is sometimes preferable to a harpsichord for continuo playing as it is more suitable for producing a sustained tone.
Non-piped organs.
Reed or pump organ.
The pump organ, reed organ or harmonium, was the other main type of organ before the development of the electronic organ. It generated its sounds using reeds similar to those of an accordion. Smaller, cheaper and more portable than the corresponding pipe instrument, these were widely used in smaller churches and in private homes, but their volume and tonal range was extremely limited. They were generally limited to one or two manuals; they seldom had a pedalboard.
The chord organ was invented by Laurens Hammond in 1950. It provided chord buttons for the left hand, similar to an accordion. Other reed organ manufacturers have also produced chord organs, most notably Magnus from 1958 to the late 1970s.
Electronic organs.
Since the 1930s, pipeless electric instruments have been available to produce similar sounds and perform similar roles to pipe organs. Many of these have been bought both by houses of worship and other potential pipe organ customers, and also by many musicians both professional and amateur for whom a pipe organ would not be a possibility. Far smaller and cheaper to buy than a corresponding pipe instrument, and in many cases portable, they have taken organ music into private homes and into dance bands and other new environments, and have almost completely replaced the reed organ.
The Hammond organ was the first successful electric organ, released in the 1930s. It used mechanical, rotating tonewheels to produce the sound waveforms. Its system of drawbars allowed for setting volumes for specific sounds, and it provided vibrato-like effects. The drawbars allow the player to choose volume levels. By emphasizing certain harmonics from the overtone series, desired sounds (such as 'brass' or 'string') can be imitated. Generally, the older Hammond drawbar organs had only preamplifiers and were connected to an external, amplified speaker. The Leslie speaker, which rotates to create a distinctive tremolo, became the most popular.
Though originally produced to replace organs in the church, the Hammond organ, especially the model B-3, became popular in jazz, particularly soul jazz, and in gospel music. Since these were the roots of rock and roll, the Hammond organ became a part of the rock and roll sound. It was widely used in rock and popular music during the 1960s and 1970s by bands like Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Procol Harum, Santana and Deep Purple. Its popularity resurged in pop music around 2000, in part due to the availability of clonewheel organs that were light enough for one person to carry.
In contrast to Hammond's electro-mechanical design, Allen Organ Company introduced the first totally electronic organ in 1938, based on the stable oscillator designed and patented by the Company's founder, Jerome Markowitz. Allen continued to advance analog tone generation through the 1960s with additional patents. In 1971, in collaboration with North American Rockwell, Allen introduced the world's first commercially available digital musical instrument. The first Allen Digital Organ is now in the Smithsonian Institution.
Frequency divider organs used oscillators instead of mechanical parts to make sound. These were even cheaper and more portable than the Hammond. They featured an ability to bend pitches.
In the 1940s until the 1970s, small organs were sold that simplified traditional organ stops. These instruments can be considered the predecessor to modern portable keyboards, as they included one-touch chords, rhythm and accompaniment devices, and other electronically assisted gadgets. Lowrey was the leading manufacturer of this type of organs in the smaller (spinet) instruments.
In the 1960s and 1970s, a type of simple, portable electronic organ called the combo organ was popular, especially with pop, Ska (in the late 1970s and early 1980s) and rock bands, and was a signature sound in the pop music of the period, such as The Doors and Iron Butterfly. The most popular combo organs were manufactured by Farfisa and Vox.
Conn-Selmer and Rodgers, dominant in the market for larger instruments, also made electronic organs that used separate oscillators for each note rather than frequency dividers, giving them a richer sound, closer to a pipe organ, due to the slight imperfections in tuning.
Hybrids, starting in the early 20th century, incorporate a few ranks of pipes to produce some sounds, and use electronic circuits or digital samples for other sounds and to resolve borrowing collisions. Major manufacturers include Allen, Walker, Compton, Wicks, Marshall & Ogletree, Phoenix, Makin Organs, Wyvern Organs and Rodgers.
The development of the integrated circuit enabled another revolution in electronic keyboard instruments.
Digital organs sold since the 1970s utilize additive synthesis, then sampling technology (1980s) and physical modelling synthesis (1990s) are also utilized to produce the sound.
Virtual pipe organs use MIDI to access samples of real pipe organs stored on a computer, as opposed to digital organs that use DSP and processor hardware inside a console to produce the sounds or deliver the sound samples. Touch screen monitors allows the user to control the virtual organ console; a traditional console and its physical stop and coupler controls is not required. In such a basic form, a virtual organ can be obtained at a much lower cost than other digital classical organs.
Other organ types.
Steam.
The wind can also be created by using pressurized steam instead of air. The steam organ, or calliope, was invented in the United States in the 19th century. Calliopes usually have very loud and clean sound. Calliopes are used as outdoors instruments, and many have been built on wheeled platforms.
Organ music.
Classical music.
The organ has had an important place in classical music, particularly since the 16th century. Spain's Antonio de Cabezón, the Netherlands' Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck, and Italy's Girolamo Frescobaldi were three of the most important organist-composers before 1650. Influenced in part by Sweelinck and Frescobaldi, the North German school rose from the mid-17th century onwards to great prominence, with leading members of this school having included Buxtehude, Franz Tunder, Georg Böhm, Georg Philipp Telemann, and above all Johann Sebastian Bach, whose contributions to organ music continue to reign supreme.
During this time, the French Classical school also flourished. François Couperin, Nicolas Lebègue, André Raison, and Nicolas de Grigny were French organist-composers of the period. Bach knew Grigny's organ output well, and admired it. In England, Handel was famous for his organ-playing no less than for his composing; several of his organ concertos, intended for his own use, are still frequently performed.
After Bach's death in 1750, the organ's prominence gradually shrank, as the instrument itself increasingly lost ground to the piano. Nevertheless, Felix Mendelssohn, César Franck, and the less famous A.P.F. Boëly (all of whom were themselves expert organists) led, independently of one another, a resurgence of valuable organ writing during the 19th century. This resurgence, much of it informed by Bach's example, achieved particularly impressive things in France (even though Franck himself was of Belgian birth). Major names in French Romantic organ composition are Charles-Marie Widor, Louis Vierne, Alexandre Guilmant, Charles Tournemire, and Eugène Gigout. Of these, Vierne and Tournemire were Franck pupils.
In Germany, Max Reger (late 19th century) owes much to the harmonic daring of Liszt (himself an organ composer) and of Wagner. Paul Hindemith produced three organ sonatas and several works combining organ with chamber groups. Sigfrid Karg-Elert specialized in smaller organ pieces, mostly chorale-preludes.
Among French organist-composers, Marcel Dupré, Maurice Duruflé, Olivier Messiaen and Jean Langlais made significant contributions to the 20th-century organ repertoire. Organ was also used a lot for improvisation, with organists such as Charles Tournemire, Marcel Dupré, Pierre Cochereau, Pierre Pincemaille and Thierry Escaich.
Some composers incorporated the instrument in symphonic works for its dramatic effect, notably Mahler, Holst, Elgar, Scriabin, Respighi, and Richard Strauss. Saint-Saëns's "Organ Symphony" employs the organ more as an equitable orchestral instrument than for purely dramatic effect. Poulenc wrote the sole organ concerto since Handel's to have achieved mainstream popularity.
Because the organ has both manuals and pedals, organ music has come to be notated on three staves. The music played on the manuals is laid out like music for other keyboard instruments on the top two staves, and the music for the pedals is notated on the third stave or sometimes, to save space, added to the bottom of the second stave as was the early practice. To aid the eye in reading three staves at once, the bar lines are broken between the lowest two staves; the brace surrounds only the upper two staves. Because music racks are often built quite low to preserve sightlines over the console, organ music is usually published in oblong or landscape format.
Jazz.
Electronic organs and electromechanical organs such as the Hammond organ have an established role in a number of popular-music genres, such as blues, jazz, gospel, and 1960s and 1970s rock music. Electronic and electromechanical organs were originally designed as lower-cost substitutes for pipe organs. Despite this intended role as a sacred music instrument, electronic and electromechanical organs' distinctive tone-often modified with electronic effects such as vibrato, rotating Leslie speakers, and overdrive-became an important part of the sound of popular music.
The electric organ, especially the Hammond B-3, has occupied a significant role in jazz ever since Jimmy Smith made it popular in the 1950s. It can function as a replacement for both piano and bass in the standard jazz combo. The Hammond organ is the centrepiece of the organ trio, a small ensemble which typically includes an organist (playing melodies, chords and basslines), a drummer and a third instrumentalist (either jazz guitar or saxophone). In the 2000s, many performers use electronic or digital organs, called clonewheel organs, as they are much lighter and easier to transport than the heavy, bulky B-3.
Popular music.
Performers of 20th century popular organ music include William Rowland who composed "Piano Rags"; George Wright (1920–1998) and Virgil Fox (1912–1980), who bridged both the classical and religious areas of music.
Rock music.
Church-style pipe organs are sometimes used in rock music. Examples include Tangerine Dream, Rick Wakeman (with Yes and solo), Keith Emerson (with The Nice and Emerson, Lake and Palmer), George Duke (with Frank Zappa), Dennis DeYoung (with Styx), Arcade Fire, Muse, Roger Hodgson (formerly of Supertramp), Natalie Merchant (with 10,000 Maniacs), Billy Preston and Iron Butterfly.
Artists using the Hammond organ include Bob Dylan, Counting Crows, Pink Floyd, Hootie & the Blowfish, Sheryl Crow, Vulfpeck, Sly Stone and Deep Purple.
Soap operas.
From their creation on radio in the 1930s to the times of television in the early 1970s soap operas incorporated organ music in the background of scenes and in their opening and closing theme music. In the early 1970s the organ was phased out in favour of more dramatic, full-blown orchestras, which in turn were replaced with more modern pop-style compositions.
In sport.
In the United States and Canada, organ music is commonly associated with several sports, most notably baseball, basketball, and ice hockey.
The baseball organ has been referred to as "an accessory to the overall auditory experience of the ballpark." The first team to introduce an organ was the Chicago Cubs, who put an organ in Wrigley Field as an experiment in 1941 for two games. Ebbets Field, home of the Brooklyn Dodgers, hired baseball's first full-time organist, Gladys Goodding. Over the years, many ballparks caught on to the trend, and many organists became well-known and associated with their parks or signature tunes.


VW Electronics Research Laboratory

The Volkswagen Electronics Research Laboratory (VWERL) is a division of the Volkswagen Group of America, Inc., with its headquarters in Silicon Valley (Belmont, California).
The VWERL's slogan "Technology to the People!" indicates its mission: to leverage Silicon Valley resources for the advancement of the Volkswagen Groups' products through technical knowledge and electronics expertise.
The VWERL has recently received media attention surrounding its joint victory with Stanford University in the DARPA Grand Challenge, a prize competition for driverless cars.
History.
The Volkswagen Electronics Research Laboratory was founded in August 1998, and VWERL began operations in October 1998, with three employees. As of December 2002, the lab had outgrown its Sunnyvale, California office and moved to Palo Alto. In 2011 it moved again to Belmont. This current location provides a spacious office, workshop and prototyping areas for about 60 workers. It supports VWERL employees at Volkswagen Group of America's offices in Auburn Hills, Michigan, and the new headquarters at Herndon, Virginia.
Affiliation.
The VWERL supports all brands within the Volkswagen Group. This includes Volkswagen Passenger Cars, Škoda, Bentley, and Bugatti as well as Audi, SEAT, and Lamborghini. In addition to working with research and development teams in Germany, the VWERL also supports the development of U.S.-specific features for the Volkswagen Group of America.
Research "teams" at VWERL.
The VWERL comprises four teams:
Headquarters.
The VWERL's headquarters are located at 500 Clipper Drive, Belmont CA.


ArmaLite AR-50

The ArmaLite AR-50 is a .50 BMG, single-shot, bolt-action anti-materiel precision rifle manufactured by ArmaLite.
Design.
The AR-50 rifle utilizes its weight and a large, fluted muzzle brake to reduce recoil. The AR-50 weighs approximately 34 pounds and is a single-shot bolt-action rifle. The barrel is thick and rigid, to prevent it from flexing. All AR-50 barrels use 1:15 right hand rifling.
The receiver features Armalite's octagonal design, which strengthens the receiver against flexing. The receiver is bedded to the V-shaped stock, whilst the barrel is free-floated above the forend. The three piece AR-50 stock is constructed from aluminum and features an extruded forend, as well as a skeleton butt stock with a removable and vertically adjustable butt plate.
This rifle was updated to the AR50-A1B model, which featured a smoother action, a new bolt stop that can be depressed by hand to release the bolt, and a more heavily reinforced muzzle brake. The AR50-A1B was designed for long-range shooting, primarily firing the .50 BMG round.
The rifle is manufactured in several configurations:
Advertising.
Armalite was criticized in 2014 by the Italian Minister of Culture for running an advertisement depicting Michelangelo's David holding an AR-50A1. He urged the company to withdraw it and sent a legal notice. The government holds a copyright and Italian law "says that the aesthetic value of the work cannot be distorted," according to the director of the Accademia Gallery. The corporate parent of Armalite, Strategic Armory Corps, issued a statement apologizing for the advertisement, which it said was in "poor taste" and had been dropped.


Derek Hitchins

Derek K. Hitchins (born 1935) is a British systems engineer and was professor in engineering management, in command & control and in systems science at Cranfield University at Cranfield, Bedfordshire, England.
Biography.
Hitchins joined the Royal Air Force in 1952 as an apprentice and retired as a wing commander in 1973 to join industry. From 1975 to 1976 he worked as the system design manager of the Tornado ADV aviation company and technical coordinator for UKAIR CCIS. From 1975 to 1979 he was head of Integrated sciences in a grammar school, teaching physics, integrated science, mathematics, electronics, biology and astronomy to advanced level, with music, gymnastics and athletics as additional subjects.
In 1980 he returned to industry and held posts at two leading systems engineering companies as Marketing Director, Business Development Director and Technical Director. He also worked as UK Technical Director for the NATO Air Command and Control System (ACCS) project in Brussels before becoming an academic in 1988.
In 1988 he became professor in Engineering Management at City University, London. From 1990 to 1994 he held the British Aerospace Chairs in Systems Science and in Command and Control, Cranfield University at RMCS Shrivenham. After his retirement in 1994 he continued as a part-time consultant, teacher, visiting professor and international lecturer.
He was the inaugural president of the UK chapter of INCOSE, and also the inaugural chairman of the Institution of Electrical Engineers’ (IEE’s) Professional Group on Systems Engineering. For many years he was an independent member of the UK Defence Scientific Advisory Board.
Work.
His current research is into system thinking, system requirements, social psychology & anthropology, Egyptology, command & control, system design and world-class systems engineering.
Publications.
Hitchins wrote several books and article. A selection:
Articles, a selection:


Charles R. Hook Sr.

Charles Ruffin Hook Sr. (July 12, 1880 - November 15, 1963) was an American industrialist, second president of Armco Steel Corp., and recipient of the Henry Laurence Gantt Medal in 1950.
Life and work.
Hook was born and raised in Cincinnati, Hamilton County as son of Henry Hamilton Hook and Katherine (Klusman) Hook. He attended Walnut Hills High School, where he graduated in 1898.
In 1902 Hook started his lifelong career at Armco as night superintendent at the sheet mill. Hook served as president of Armco Steel from 1930 to 1948, and later served as chairman of its board from 1948 to 1959. In the 1930s he also served as President of the National Association of Manufacturers.
Hook was awarded a series of honorary degrees, such as the D.Eng from Michigan College of Mining and Technology in 1935, and from the Stevens Institute of Technology in 1944; the LL.D. from Ohio State University in 1939, from Harding College in 1941, from Miami University in 1951, from Cedarville University in 1951, from Marietta College in 1952, and from Centre College in 1955; the DCS from Oglethorpe University in 1938; the Dr. Humanities from Muskingum University in 1950; and the Dr. Public Service from the University of Cincinnati in 1956.
In 1950 Hook was awarded by the American Management Association and ASME the Henry Laurence Gantt Medal for his accomplishments and for being a "proponent of incentives and industrial peace at Armco Steel Corporation." in 1950.
Hook died in Maryland November 15, 1963 at the age of 83.


Colt Anaconda

The Colt Anaconda is a large frame double-action revolver featuring a full length under-barrel ejection-rod lug and six round cylinder, designed and produced by the Colt's Manufacturing Company in 1990. Chambered for the powerful .44 Magnum and .45 Colt centerfire ammunition cartridges, the Anaconda marked the Hartford, Connecticut firm’s first foray into the popular large-bore Magnum pistol market.
Development.
Built on a new and heavier ‘MM’ frame, the Anaconda was brought out to compete with .44 Magnum contemporaries such as the Smith & Wesson Model 29, the Sturm, Ruger & Co. Redhawk and Blackhawk, and the Dan Wesson Firearms Model 44. Considering that many of these models had been marketed and sold for fully 35 years upon its introduction, the Anaconda was a very late entry into the large-bore handgun market. Unlike most other pistols introduced in the 1980s and 1990s, the Anaconda was never offered with a carbon steel blued finish, but was available only in stainless steel. When originally introduced, Anacondas were plagued with poor accuracy, but changes to the barrels quickly corrected the problems to the point that Colt billed its new pistol as among the most accurate .44 Magnum revolvers in production. Anaconda revolvers were primarily marketed for sport enthusiast shooters and hunters, as they are too large for law enforcement general duty use or concealed-carry, although made-to-order limited production versions of the gun continued to be available from the Colt custom gun shop until approximately 2003. In 2021, Colt resumed production of the Anaconda, using a new design with a stronger frame and an oversized Python action.
Features.
Originally chambered for the .44 Magnum cartridge, in 1993 the Anaconda began to be offered in .45 Colt as well. Its fit and finish resembled an upsized King Cobra married to a ventilated-rib barrel reminiscent of the Python's. Initially marketed with a satin brushed stainless finish, a highly polished mirror-like option known as "Ultimate Stainless" was catalogued for a time through the Colt Custom Shop. Anacondas came equipped with four, six, or eight inch barrels, neoprene synthetic rubber finger-grooved combat-style grips with nickel colored 'Rampant Colt' medallions, large target type hammers and triggers, as well as open iron sights with a red insert front and fully adjustable white outline rear. Some models were factory drilled and tapped for telescopic sight mounting, while others shipped with recoil reducing Magna-Ported barrels. The trigger actions on these guns are rated as very high-quality, and the heavy-duty solid construction and weight tends to absorb recoil, making the Anaconda relatively easy to shoot with heavy loads.
Kodiak.
Introduced in 1993, the Kodiak was similar to the Anaconda in that it was constructed entirely of stainless steel, but offered the additional features of a recoil-reducing factory magna-ported barrel and unfluted cylinder.
There were 2000 Kodiaks made as a special run of Anacondas, breaking away from their long history of naming revolvers after snakes. A special run of 1000 King Cobras was made about the same time, having the same Magna-Ported barrel and unfluted cylinder and were called the Grizzly. There was an uncatalogued 5" barrel version of the Anaconda, with reportedly less than 150 made. These 5" versions command very high prices when they are encountered. Additionally, Colt made an extremely low number of 4" barrel Anacondas chambered in .45 Colt. This ultra-rare variation commands a premium price when encountered as well.


Winchester Model 670

The Winchester Model 670 is a bolt-action sporting rifle. Designed as a more affordable version of the Winchester Model 70. Built in three versions; Sporting Rifle, Magnum Rifle, and Carbine. It was produced from 1966 to 1979 except for 1974 when it was not listed by Winchester.
Serial numbers start at 100,000 and are located on the front-right side of the receiver.
Sporting Rifle.
Built from 1966 to 1979. The barrel length was 22" and had a weight of 7lbs. The Sporting Rifle was originally offered in .225 Winchester, .243 Winchester, .270 Winchester, .308 Winchester, and the .30-06 Springfield.
In 1969 the 308 Win. was dropped from production, and by 1970 only the 243 Win, 270 Win, and 30-06 Sprg were offered.
Again in 1971 chamberings were reduced to only the 243 Win and 30-06 Sprg.
In 1972 the rifle was redesigned to incorporate the same design stock and a 2 position safety similar to that of the Model 70. The safety only had 2 positions, instead of the 3 of the Model 70.
In 1979 the rifle was discontinued.
Magnum Rifle.
Built from 1966 to 1970. The barrel length was 24" and the weight was 7.25lbs. The Magnum Rifle was originally offered in .264 Winchester Magnum, and .300 Winchester Magnum.
In 1967 the 7 mm Remington Magnum was added to the available chamberings.
In 1969 the 7mm Remington Magnum was dropped from production.
In 1970 the Magnum Rifle was dropped from the Model 670 lineup entirely.
Carbine Rifle.
Built from 1966 to 1970. The barrel length was 19" and the weight was 6.75lbs. The Carbine Rifle was originally offered in .243 Winchester, .270 Winchester, and .30-06 Springfield.
References.
http://cartridgecollectors.org/content/catalogs/WINCHESTER-WESTERN/xW-W-1967%20-%20Retail%20Catalog-Orig.pdf