Sunday, December 30, 2007

Croydon Airport

Croydon Airport is in south London on the restrictions of the London Boroughs of Croydon and Sutton. It was once the main airport for London, previous to it was replaced by Northolt Aerodrome, London Heathrow Airport and London Gatwick Airport.. Beddingt on Aerodrome, one of a numeral of small airfields around London which had been created for protection against the Zeppelin raids in about May 1915, and Waddon Aerodrome of 1918, a test-flight aerodrome adjoining National Aircraft Factory No1. At the end of that war, the two airfields were shared into London's official airport as the gateway for all international flights to and from the capital. Croydon Aerodrome opened on 29 March 1920, in the mid 1920s, the landing field was extended, some adjacent roads being permanently closed to allow heavier airliners to land and depart safely. A new complex of buildings was constructed adjoining Purley Way, together with the first purpose-designed air terminal in the world, the Aerodrome Hotel and extensive hangars, all opening on 2 May 1928. The terminal building, the booking hall within it with its colonnade balustraded in the geometrical design typical of the period, and the Aerodrome hotel were all built in the Art Deco style of the 1920s and 1930s.

Sunday, December 23, 2007

Qantas Empire Airways

In Australia in 1934 Imperial and Qantas (Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services Ltd) created Qantas Empire Airways Limited to extended services in Southeast Asia. But it was not until 1937 with the Short Empire flying boats that majestic could offer an 'all air' service from Southampton to the Empire. The journey to the Cape consisted of flights to Marseille, Rome, Brindisi, Athens, Alexandria, Khartoum, Port Bell, Kisumu and beyond by land-based craft to Nairobi, Mbeya and eventually Cape Town. Survey flights were also completed across the Atlantic and to New Zealand. By mid-1937 Imperial had completed its thousandth service to the Empire. Speed Wings Over the World, statue on a portal above the Empire Terminal's main entrance; by Eric Broadbent The Empire Air Mail Program began in July 1937, delivering anyplace for 1½ d./oz. By mid-1938 a hundred tons of mail had been delivered to India and a related amount to Africa. In the same year, construction was started on the Empire Terminal, intended by A. Lakeman and with a statue by Eric Broadbent, Speed Wings Over the World gracing the entrance above the main entrance. The terminal provided train associations to flying boats at Southampton and to the since closed Croydon Airport. The terminal operated as recently as 1980. Imperial Airways Speedbird logoCompared to extra operators it was lagging behind in Europe and it was suggested that all European operations be handed over to British Airways Ltd (founded in 1935) which had more contemporary aircraft and better organization. However in November 1939 both Imperial and British Airways Ltd were compound into a new state-owned national carrier: British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC). The new carrier adopted the Imperial Speedbird logo, which has evolved into the current British Airways Speedmarque, and the term continues to be used as BA's call sign.

Sunday, December 16, 2007

Commercial Flight

The first commercial flight was in April 1924, when a on a daily basis London-Paris service was opened. Additional services to other European destinations were started all the way through the summer. The first fresh airliner was commissioned by Imperial Airways in November 1924. In the first year of process the company carried 11,395 passengers and 212,380 letters. The extension of service to the British Empire was not begun until 1927 when, with the adding of six new aircraft, a service was instituted from Cairo to Basra. But the first service from London for Karachi did not start until 1929 using recently purchased Short S.8 Calcutta flying boats, even then the passengers were transported by train from Paris to the Mediterranean where the Short flying boats were. In February 1931 a weekly service stuck between London and Tanganyika was started as part of the proposed route to Cape Town and in April an experimental London-Australia air mail flight took place; the mail was transferred at the Netherlands East Indies, and took 26 days in total to reach Sydney. The buy of the 8 Handley Page 42 four-engined airliners boosted the range of services, in 1932 the service to Africa was extended to Cape Town.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Imperial Airways

Imperial Airways Imperial Airways was an near the beginning British commercial air transport company, operating from 1924 to 1939. Created following the advice of the government Hambling commission in 1923- that the main existing aircraft companies should be merged to create a company which would be strong enough to develop Britain's external air services and presented a £1m subsidy over ten years if they merged. Imperial Airways Limited was created in March 1924 from the British Marine Air Navigation Company Ltd (three aircraft), the Daimler Airway (five aircraft), Handley-Page Transport Ltd (three aircraft) and the Instone Air Line Ltd (two aircraft). The land operations were fully based at Croydon Airport.

Sunday, November 25, 2007

Privatisation - British Airways

Sir John King, later Lord King, was selected as Chairman in 1981 with the mission of preparing the airline for privatisation.When King knew Colin Marshall as CEO in 1983. King was credited with turning just about the loss-making giant into one of the most profitable air carriers in the world, boldly claiming to be "The World's Favourite Airline", while many other large airlines struggled. The airline's flotilla and route map were overhauled in the early years of King's tenure, with brand and advertising experts being recruited to overhaul the airline's image. Over 23,000 jobs were shed in the early 1980s, though King managed the extensive trick of boosting staff morale and modernise operations at the same time. Lord King also recognised the importance of Concorde to the company's business plan, and used the supersonic airliner to win business customers by guaranteeing a certain number of Concorde upgrades in return for corporate accounts with BA.

The flag carrier was privatised and floated on the London Stock Exchange in February 1987 by the traditional government, with the initial share offering being 11 times oversubscribed. In April 1988 British Airways effected the contentious takeover of Britain's second-force airline British Caledonian, and in 1992 absorbed Gatwick-based carrier Dan-Air.

Sunday, November 18, 2007

British Airways

British Airways is the major airline of the United Kingdom. It is also one of the biggest airlines in the world, with more flights from Europe across the Atlantic than any other operator. Its main hubs are London Heathrow and London Gatwick, with wide-reaching European and conjugal shorthaul networks, including smaller hubs at other UK airports including Manchester, from which some longer-haul flights are also operated.

The airline's origins go back to the birth of civil aviation and the original days after the First World War. On 25 August 1919 its predecessor company, Aircraft Transport and Travel, launched the world's first daily international scheduled air service, between London and Paris. On 31 March 1924, Britain's four hatchling airlines - Instone, Handley Page, Daimler Airways and British Air Marine Navigation - merged to form Imperial Airways, which developed its Empire routes to Australia and Africa.

Sunday, November 11, 2007

Luxury box

Luxury box or luxury group is the North American term for a special seating section in arenas, stadiums and additional sports venues. In the United Kingdom the provisions second-hand are corporate box, executive box and private box. They are characteristically in the mid-section of the stadium, affording the best views of the sporting event. Some have glass panels that can be retracted, in order for the spectators to feel closer to the action of the sporting event. The inside of a luxury box characteristically includes a bar, several televisions sets, a row of seats and a private bathroom. The boxes are usually catered, with shrimp and sushi being common foods. The rent to a box also comes with a personal parking space, and a private entrance.

C. Richard Vaugh Towers, luxury boxes at Carter-Finley StadiumMost luxury boxes are rented by contract on a yearly basis, though some are bought in a manner similar to that for a condominium. These methods usually grant access to the box by the leaseholder or owner for every event held at the venue. Only some stadiums rent them on a per-event basis. Prices vary from US$5,000 up to the millions of dollars.

Sunday, November 4, 2007

Knife box

The knife-box is one of the most pleasant of the minor pieces of furniture which we owe to the artistic taste and mechanical ingenuity of the English cabinet-makers of the final quarter of the 18th century. Some of the most graceful were the works of Adam, Hepplewhite and Sheraton. Occasionally flat-topped boxes, they were most regularly either rod-shaped, or tall and narrow with a sloping tip necessitated by a series of raised veins for exhibiting the handles of knives and the bowls of spoons. Mahogany and satinwood were the woods most regularly employed, and they were occasionally inlaid with marqueterie or edged with boxwood. These attractive receptacles still exist in large numbers; they are often converted into stationery cabinets.

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Shoebox

A shoebox is, exactly as its name implies, a cardboard box which holds a double of shoes. It is usually acquired when one purchases a pair of shoes. Shoeboxes have long been cherished for their versatility and are usually used for many tasks around the house, such as holding trading cards, photos, and just about anything else.

It can also be used as an adjective to describe being unfairly treated. An example would be "Don't you shoebox me!" It is also used to describe someone with a closed minded to way of thinking who prefers to generalize others unfavorably.

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Types of Boxes

Permanent Boxes

Numerous types of boxes are used in eternal installations. Some types are designed to be for the time being inhabited by workers.
Permanent boxes include the following:
Equipment boxes - Fuse box
Compartments - Luxury box , Mailbox
Shelters or booths - Police box , Signal box , Telephone box

Monday, October 15, 2007

Permanent boxes

Numerous types of boxes are used in stable installations. Some types are designed to be provisionally inhabited by workers.

Permanent boxes include the following:

Equipment boxes

· Fuse box

A distribution board (known in the United States as a (circuit) breaker panel, panelboard, or load center or for old ones, fuse box) is a growing enclosure for several electrical circuit breakers. These are usually placed in two columns. Small single-phase boxes, with the waves in just one row, are known as consumer units in Britain. Distribution boards are characteristically found in central locations inside buildings and often serve as the point at which electricity is distributed within a building. Circuit breakers can be used to physically de-energize electrical circuits when the downstream wiring is being serviced.

Circuit breaker panels are constantly dead front, that is, the operator of the circuit breakers cannot contact live electrical parts. During servicing of the sharing board itself, though, when the cover has been detached and the cables are visible, North American breaker panels commonly have some live parts exposed. British distribution boards usually have the live parts enclosed to IP20, even when the cover has been removed for servicing.

Monday, October 8, 2007

Box

This article is about the container or vessel called a box. For other uses, see Box (disambiguation).

An elaborate wooden box Boxes are extremely variable receptacles. When no shape is described, a typical rectangular box may be expected. Nevertheless, a box may have a horizontal cross section that is square, elongated, round or oval; sloped or domed top surfaces, or non-vertical sides. A box normally may be opened by raising, sliding or removing the lid, which may be hinged and/or secure by a catch, clasp, or lock. Whatever its shape or purpose or the material of which it is formed, it is the direct descendant of the chest, one of the most ancient articles of marital furniture. Its uses are innumerable, and the name, preceded by a qualifying adjective, has been given to many objects of imaginative or antiquarian interest. Objects are often placed inside boxes, for a multiplicity of reasons - see storage.

Monday, September 24, 2007

Krill fishery

Krill fishery is the profitable fishery of krill, small shrimp-like marine animals that live in the oceans world-wide. Estimates for how much krill there is vary wildly, depending on the methodology used. They range from 125–725 million tones of biomass globally. The total global harvest of krill from all fisheries amounts to 150 – 200,000 tones annually, mainly Antarctic krill (Euphausia superb) and North Pacific krill (E. Pacifica).

Krill are rich in protein (40% or more of dry weight) and lipids (about 20% in E. superb). Their exoskeleton amounts to some 2% of dry weight of chitin. They also contain traces of a wide array of hydrolytic enzymes such as proteases, carbohydrates, nucleases and phospholipids, which are intense in the digestive gland in the cephalothoraxes of the krill.

Monday, September 17, 2007

Abiotic pollination

It occurs when pollination is mediated without the participation of other organisms. For illustration, anemophily is pollination by wind. This form of pollination is very common in grasses, most conifers, and a lot of deciduous trees. Hydrophily is pollination by water and occurs in aquatic plants which let go their seeds directly into the surrounding water. About 80% of all plant pollination is biotic, of the 20% of abiotically pollinated species, 98% is by wind and 2% by water

Monday, September 10, 2007

Stratosphere

From the Latin word "stratus" meaning a scattering out. The stratosphere extends from the troposphere's 7 to 17 km (23,000 – 60,000 ft) range to about 50 km (160,000 ft). Temperature in crease through height. The stratosphere contains the ozone layer, the division of the Earth's atmosphere which contains comparatively high concentrations of ozone. "Relatively high" means a few parts per million—much higher than the concentrations in the lower atmosphere but still small compare to the main components of the atmosphere. It is frequently located in the lower portion of the stratosphere from approximately 15 to 35 km (50,000 – 115,000 ft) above Earth's surface, although the thickness varies seasonally and geographically.

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

Software tools

Software tools for distributed processing include standard APIs such as MPI and PVM, and open source-based software solutions such as Beowulf and openMosix which make easy the creation of a supercomputer from a collection of ordinary workstations or servers. Technology like ZeroConf (Rendezvous/Bonjour) can be used to make ad hoc computer clusters to for specialized software such as Apple's shake compositing application. An easy programming language for supercomputers leftovers an open research topic in computer science.

Monday, August 27, 2007

Carrot

The carrot (Daucus carota subsp. sativus) is a root vegetable, usually orange or white, or pink in color, with a crunchy texture when fresh. The suitable for eating part of a carrot is a taproot. It is a cultivated form of the wild carrot Daucus carota, national to Europe and southwestern Asia. It has been bred for its very much inflamed and more palatable, less woody-textured edible taproot, but is still the similar species.

It is a biennial plant which grows a rosette of leaves in the spring and summer, while building up the fat taproot, which stores big amounts of sugars for the plant to flower in the second year. The peak stem grows to about 1 m tall, with an umbel of white flowers.


Carrots can be eaten raw, whole, chopped, grate, or added to salads for color or texture. They are also often chopped and boiled, fried or steamed, and cooked in soups and stews, as well as fine baby foods and choose pet foods. A well recognized dish is carrots julienne. Grated carrots are used in carrot cakes, as healthy as carrot puddings, an old English dish thought to have originated in the early 1800s.

Sunday, August 19, 2007

Leather jacket

A leather jacket is a type of clothes, a jacket made of leather. The jacket has naturally a brown, dark grey or black color. Leather jackets can be styled in a range of ways and different versions have been linked with different subcultures in places and times. For example, the leather jacket have often been associated with bikers, military aviators, punks, metal heads, and police, which have worn versions intended for protective purposes and often for their potentially intimidating appearance.

In the 20th century the leather jacket achieve iconic status, in major part through film. Examples include Marlon Brando's Johnny Storable character in The Wild One (1953), Michael Pare in Eddie and the Cruisers, as well as James Dean in Rebel without a Cause. As such, these all serve to popularize leather jackets in American and British childhood from the "greaser" subculture in the 1950s and early 1960s. A later description of this style of jacket and time was "The Fonz" in the television series "Happy Days" which was shaped in the 1970s and 1980s but depicted life in the 1950s and 1960s. The Fonz's leather jacket is at the present housed in the Smithsonian Institution, and the Grease movie duo has also since popularized leather jackets with their T-Birds male clique.

The leather jackets worn by aviators and members of the military were brown in color and regularly called "Bomber jackets" as seen on frequent stars in the 1940s and 1950s such as Jimmy Stewart in the 1957 film, Night Passage.

Sunday, August 12, 2007

Fuel and propulsion technologies

Most automobiles in use nowadays are propelled by gasoline is also known as petrol or diesel internal combustion engines, which are known to reason for air pollution and are also blamed for contributing to climate change and global warm. Increasing costs of oil-based fuels and tapering environmental laws and restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions are propelling work on substitute power systems for automobiles. Efforts to get better or replace these technologies include hybrid vehicles, electric vehicles and hydrogen vehicles.

Monday, August 6, 2007

The computer

A computer is a machine for manipulate data according to a list of commands known as a program. Computers are tremendously adaptable. In fact, they are universal information-processing machines. According to the Church–Turing theory, a computer with a positive minimum entrance capability is in principle capable of performing the responsibilities of any other computer. Therefore, computers with capability ranging from those of a personal digital supporter to a supercomputer may all achieve the same tasks, as long as time and memory capacity are not consideration. Therefore, the same computer design may be modified for tasks ranging from doling out company payrolls to controlling unmanned spaceflights. Due to technical progression, modern electronic computers are exponentially more capable than those of preceding generations. Computers take plentiful physical forms. Early electronic computers were the size of a large room, while whole modern embedded computers may be lesser than a deck of playing cards. Even today, huge computing conveniences still exist for focused scientific computation and for the transaction processing necessities of large organizations. Smaller computers designed for personage use are called personal computers. Along with its convenient equivalent, the laptop computer, the personal computer is the ubiquitous in order processing and communication tool, and is typically what is meant by "a computer".

However, the most general form of computer in use today is the embedded computer. Embedded computers are usually comparatively simple and physically small computers used to control one more device. They may control equipment from fighter aircraft to industrial robots to digital cameras. In the beginning, the term "computer" referred to a person who performed numerical calculations, frequently with the aid of a mechanical calculating device or analog computer. In 1801, Joseph Marie Jacquard made an improvement to the presented loom designs that used a series of punched paper cards as a program to weave involved patterns. The resulting Jacquard loom is not considered a true computer but it was an essential step in the growth of modern digital computers.

Sunday, July 29, 2007

Mobile phone

The introduction of cells for mobile phone base stations, invented in 1947 by Bell Labs engineers at AT&T, was further industrialized by Bell Labs during the 1960s. Due to their low establishment expenses and fast exploitation, mobile phone networks have since spread hastily throughout the world, outstripping the growth of fixed telephony.

The zero generation (0G) of mobile telephones was introduced in 1945. 0G mobile telephones, such as Mobile Telephone Service, were not officially categorized as mobile phones, since they did not sustain the automatic change of channel frequency during calls, which allows the user to shift from one cell (the base station coverage area) to another cell, an attribute called "handover".

The first marketable cellular network was launched in Japan by NTT in 1979. Fully automatic cellular networks were first introduced in the beginning to mid 1980s (the 1G generation) with the Nordic Mobile Telephone (NMT) system in 1981. This was followed by an explosion in mobile telephone habit, particularly in Northern Europe.

The first "modern" network technology on digital 2G (second generation) cellular technology was launched by Radiolinja (now part of Elisa Group) in 1991 in Finland on the GSM standard which also striking the beginning of competition in mobile telecoms when Radiolinja challenged current Telecom Finland (now part of TeliaSonera) who ran a 1G NMT network. A decade after, the first commercial commence of 3G (Third Generation) was again in Japan by NTT DoCoMo on the WCDMA standard. However, Martin Cooper, a Motorola engineer, is accredited with the innovation of the modern mobile phone in the 1990s. Until the early 1990s, most mobile phones were too large to be carried in a jacket pocket, so they were normally installed in vehicles as car phones. With the miniaturization of digital apparatus, mobile phones have become more and handier over the years.

Sunday, July 22, 2007

Fertilisation

Fertilisation or fertilization also known as conception, fecundation and syngamy, is fusion of gametes to form a new organism of the same variety. In animals, the process involves a sperm fuse with an ovum, which finally leads to the development of an embryo. Depending on the animal species, the process can occur within the body of the female in interior fertilisation, or outside in the case of external fertilisation.

The entire process of development of new persons is called procreation, the act of species reproduction.

Sunday, July 15, 2007

Nonfood uses

Because fruits have been such a major part of the human diet, different cultures have urbanized many different uses for various fruits that they do not depend on as being edible. Many dry fruits are used as streamer or in dried flower arrangements, such as unicorn plant, lotus, wheat, annual honesty and milkweed. Ornamental trees and shrubs are frequently refined for their colorful fruits, as well as holly, pyracantha, viburnum, skimmia, beautyberry and cotoneaster.

Fruits of opium poppy are the basis of the drugs opium and morphine. Osage orange fruits are used to keep away cockroaches. Bayberry fruits provide a wax frequently used to make candles. Many fruits give natural dyes, e.g. walnut, sumac, cherry and mulberry. Dried up gourds are used as streamer, water jugs, bird houses, musical instruments, cups and dishes. Pumpkins are imprinted into Jack-o'-lanterns for Halloween. The spiny fruit of burdock or cocklebur were the motivation for the invention of Velcro.

Coir is a fiber from the fruit of coconut that is used for doormats, brushes, mattresses, floortiles, sacking, lagging and as a growing medium for container plants. The shell of the coconut fruit is used to make memento heads, cups, bowls, musical instruments and bird houses.

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Waka

In the Maori language, waka are Maori watercraft, usually canoes. Similar craft are encounter in Polynesia, with connected names such as vaka. Waka range is from small, lightweight canoes, such as waka tiwai used for fishing individuals, during very large waka taua, manned by up to eighty paddlers and up to fourty mtrs in length, large double-hulled canoes for oceanic voyaging.

Many waka are single-hulled vessels locate from hollowed tree trunks. Small waka consist of an only piece as large waka typically consist of some pieces jointed and lashed together. Some waka, mainly in the Chatham Islands, were not usual canoes but were constructed from raupo stalks. Ocean waka, Paddled could be in any size, but were usually propelled by sail. Waka taua are paddled to put across their mana.

Small efficient waka are commonly plain and simple. Superior canoes waka taua in testing are extremely carved. Waka taua are no longer used in fighting but frequently for official purposes.

Sunday, June 17, 2007

Riverboat

A riverboat is a specialized watercraft (vessel) intended for operating on inland waterways. While a ferryboat is often used to cross a river, a riverboat is used to traverse it, while carrying passengers as well as goods for returns.

Rivers present particular hazards to vessels. They usually have varying water flows that alternately direct to high speed water flows or protruding rock hazards. Changing siltation patterns may cause the rapid manifestation of shoal waters, and often floating or sunken logs and trees (called snags) can endanger the hulls and propulsion of riverboats. Riverboats are usually of thin draft, being wide of beam and rather square in plan, with a short freeboard and high topsides. Riverboats can continue to exist with this type of design as they do not have to survive the high winds or large waves that are seen on large lakes, seas or oceans.
In most nations, riverboats are for tourist attraction. In a few countries, such as China, riverboats offer authentic traveler and consignment transport — something a traveler (as opposed to a tourist) would think about for transport.

Sunday, June 10, 2007

Pleasure craft

A pleasure craft is a boat used for individual leisure or sometimes sporting purpose. Typically such watercrafts are automatic and are used for holidays, for example on a river or canal. Enjoyment craft are normally kept at a marina. They are not essentially intended for speed. They may comprise accommodation for use while moored to the bank. Many narrow boats have been transformed into pleasure craft from their previous use for cargo transport on canals.

Tuesday, June 5, 2007

Dugout

A dugout is a boat which is essentially a hollowed tree trunk; other names for this type of boat are logboat and monoxylon. Monoxylon (Pl: monoxyla) is Greek -- mono (single) + xylon (tree) -- and is frequently used in classic Greek texts.
Dugouts are the oldest boats archaeologists contain found. Within Germany they are called Einbaum (English translation: One tree). Einbaum dug-out boat finds in Germany day back to the limestone Age. The length of bark and hide canoes, these dugout boats were used by American Indians. This is probably because they are made of enormous pieces of wood, which tend to preserve better than, e.g., bark canoes.
Construction of a dugout begins with the collection of a log of appropriate dimensions. Sufficient wood needed to be removed to make the vessel comparatively light in weight and buoyant, yet still strong enough to support the crew and cargo. Particular types of wood were often favorite based on their strength, durability, and weight. The shape of the boat is then fashioned to reduce drag, with sharp ends at the bow and stern.
First the bark is detached from the exterior. Before the exterior of metal tools, dugouts were then hollowed-out using controlled fires. The burnt wood was then detached using an adze. Another method using tools is to chop out parallel notches crossways the interior span of the wood, then split out and remove the wood from between the notches. Once hollowed out, the core was dressed and smoothed out with a knife or adze.
For traveling the rougher waters of the ocean, dugouts can be fitted with outriggers. One or two smaller logs are mounted parallel to the major hull by long poles.

Sunday, May 27, 2007

Ketch

A ketch is a marine craft with two masts: a main mast, and a shorter mizzen mast abaft (rearward of) the main mast. Both masts are rigged mostly fore-and-aft. From one to three jibs may be approved forward of the main mast when going to windward. If a ketch is not rigged for jibs is known as cat ketch, sometimes called per auger. On older, larger ketches the major mast may in addition carry one or more square rigged topsails, alike to a sloop. A ketch may also carry further sails, see below.

The lowest fore-and-aft sail on the major mast is called the mainsail, while that on the mizzen is called the mizzen sail. These may be any kind of fore-and-aft sail, in any grouping. The Scots Zulu, for example, had a dipping lug main with a position lug mizzen.
The ketch is popular among long distance cruisers as the additional sail allows for a better balance, and a smaller more simply handled mainsail for the same overall sail area. It also allows sailing on mizzen and jib only without introducing extreme lee helm, and in an emergency can be quite well steered without use of the rudder.