Improve Your General Knowledge in Leisure Time!: 2010

Friday, December 31, 2010

Live@edu

A free suite of hosted Microsoft services and applications which provides education institutions with a set of hosted collaboration services, communication tools, and mobile, desktop, and web-based applications, as well as data storage capabilities:

Live@edu (website: http://my.liveatedu.com)

Live@edu is a no-cost hosted platform for student communication and collaboration, providing industry-leading services to the global education market. E-mail and calendars with a 10GB inbox, 25GB of additional file storage, document sharing, instant messaging, video chat and mobile e-mail are just part of the feature set. Live@edu provides students with the professional tools to prepare them for college or work from day one. Live@edu is accessible through popular Web browsers for Windows, Mac and Linux operating systems — and easy to set up, administer and manage. More than 10,000 schools in more than 130 countries have enrolled in Live@edu, serving tens of millions of students worldwide. More information is available at http://www.microsoft.com/liveatedu (source: Microsoft News Center: State University of New York Moves to Microsoft’s Cloud).

Fars Province

A province of Iran known as the Cultural Capital of Iran:

Fars Province

The center of the Fars Province is Shiraz; Shiraz is known as the city of poets and flowers (one of the must-see cities in the world).

Fars Province - Iran

Several beautiful counties in the Middle East are located in the Fars Province. One of them, known for its natural views and moderate climate, is the Bavanat County.

Bavanat County - Fars Province - Iran

The ancient Persians were present in the region from about the 9th century BC, and became the rulers of a large empire under the Achaemenid dynasty in the 6th century BC. The ruins of Persepolis and Pasargadae, two of the four capitals of the Achaemenid Empire, are located in Fars (source: Absolute Astronomy).

The ruins of Persepolis - Fars Province - Iran

Pasargadae, in the Fars Province, was the capital of Cyrus the Great (559-530 BC) and also his last resting place, was a city in ancient Persia, and is today an archaeological site and one of Iran's UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Pasargadae, Tomb of Cyrus the Great - Fars Province - Iran

Arabian Desert

A vast desert wilderness stretching from Yemen to the Persian Gulf and Oman to Jordan and Iraq:

Arabian Desert (or Eastern Desert)

Arabian Desert

The Arabian Desert occupies most of the Arabian Peninsula with an area of 2,330,000 square kilometers.

Arabian Desert

The Arabian Desert is one of the most continuous bodies of sand in the world.

Arabian Desert

At least one-third of the desert is covered by sand, including the Rubʿ al-Khali, considered to have one of the most inhospitable climates on Earth. There are no perennial bodies of water, though the Tigris-Euphrates river system lies to the northeast and the Wadi Ḥajr is located to the south, in Yemen. Humans have inhabited the area since Pleistocene times (source: Britannica).

Arabian Desert

The Arabian Desert is third-largest desert in the world.

Taurus Mountains

A mountain complex in southern Turkey, from which the Euphrates and Tigris descend into Iraq:

Taurus Mountains

Taurus Mountains

Ethnoreligious

An ethnic group of people whose members are also unified by a common religious background:

Ethnoreligious Group

OpenLeaks

Former WikiLeaks staff open new whistle-blower leak service called:

OpenLeaks

The former number two at Wikileaks, Daniel Domscheit-Berg, launches the next-generation of leaking software called Openleaks, and he will try to fix some of the problems associated with the Wikileaks model, namely centralization. Openleaks will be a conduit of information rather than a publisher of information.

OpenLeaks (Image: openleaks.org)

Cape Verde

An island country, spanning an archipelago of 10 islands located in the central Atlantic Ocean, 570 kilometres off the coast of Western Africa:

Cape Verde

Cape Verde Flag

Cape Verde

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

wikiHow

A wiki-based community, consisting of the world's largest and highest quality how-to manuals:

wikiHow

http://www.wikihow.com

Dielectric Heating

The process in which radio wave or microwave electromagnetic radiation heats a dielectric material:

Dielectric Heating (also called RF Heating, High-Frequency Heating, or Electronic Heating)

Note: Microwave ovens use dielectric heating to cook food.

Dielectric

An electrical insulator that may be polarized by an applied electric field:

Dielectric

If a dielectric is placed in an electric field then the electric charges do not flow through the material; however, slightly shift from their average equilibrium positions causing dielectric polarization.

Electronegativity

A chemical property that describes the tendency of an atom or a functional group to attract electrons or electrons' density towards itself and thus the tendency to form negative ions:

Electronegativity

Rem: In organic chemistry, a functional group is a specific group of atoms within molecules that are responsible for the characteristic chemical reactions of those molecules.

Paleolithic Architecture

From 39,000 to 8,000 B.C., the architecture formed by the earliest buildings which were natural caves sometimes with animal skins, thatch, or mud:

Paleolithic Architecture

Hippocampus

A major component of the brains of humans and other mammals, located in the medial temporal lobe of the brain, which plays important roles in long-term memory and spatial navigation:

Hippocampus

(Image Source: http://brainmind.com/BrainLecture1.html)

The hippocampus plays a vital role in enhancing memory in those who are actively engaged in learning something new. It coordinates with other brain structures to accomplish different tasks, such as recognizing an object one has seen before or remembering its original location (Read more here).

Improve Your Memory (Level 1 of 3)

Improve Your Memory (Level 1 of 3) [Kindle Edition]

Kelp Forest

Underwater area with a high density of large seaweeds or algae, recognized as one of the most productive and dynamic ecosystems on Earth:

Kelp Forest

Note: Smaller areas of anchored kelp are called kelp beds.

Kelp Forest

The kelp forests off southern California are considered to be some of the most diverse and productive ecosystems on the planet, yet a new study indicates that today's kelp beds are less extensive and lush than those in the recent past.

The kelp forest tripled in size from the peak of glaciation 20,000 years ago to about 7,500 years ago, then shrank by up to 70 percent to present day levels, according to the study by Rick Grosberg, professor in the Department of Evolution and Ecology and the Center for Population Biology at UC Davis, with Michael Graham of the Moss Landing Marine Laboratory and Brian Kinlan at UC Santa Barbara [Read more here].

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Cerebral Achromatopsia

A type of color-blindness, caused by damage to the cerebral cortex of the brain (and not the abnormalities in the cells of the eye's retina), that most of its patients describe seeing the world in shades of gray:

Cerebral Achromatopsia

Mauritania

An Islamic Republic in North Africa bordered by the Atlantic Ocean in the west, by Western Sahara in the north, by Algeria in the northeast, by Mali in the east and southeast, and by Senegal in the southwest:

Mauritania

Background (Source: CIA, The World Factbook, Mauritania):
Independent from France in 1960, Mauritania annexed the southern third of the former Spanish Sahara (now Western Sahara) in 1976 but relinquished it after three years of raids by the Polisario guerrilla front seeking independence for the territory. Maaouya Ould Sid Ahmed TAYA seized power in a coup in 1984 and ruled Mauritania with a heavy hand for more than two decades. A series of presidential elections that he held were widely seen as flawed. A bloodless coup in August 2005 deposed President TAYA and ushered in a military council that oversaw a transition to democratic rule. Independent candidate Sidi Ould Cheikh ABDALLAHI was inaugurated in April 2007 as Mauritania's first freely and fairly elected president. His term ended prematurely in August 2008 when a military junta led by General Mohamed Ould Abdel AZIZ deposed him and ushered in a military council government. AZIZ was subsequently elected president in July 2009. The country continues to experience ethnic tensions among its black population (Afro-Mauritanians) and white and black Moor (Arab-Berber) communities, and is having to confront a growing terrorism threat by al-Qa'ida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).

Sunspot

The temporary phenomena on the photosphere of the Sun that appear visibly as small dark points:

Sunspot

Sunspot

Photosphere

The imaginary surface from which the solar light being seen appears to be emitted:

Photosphere

The photosphere is the visible surface of the Sun that we are most familiar with. Since the Sun is a ball of gas, this is not a solid surface but is actually a layer about 100 km thick (very, very, thin compared to the 700,000 km radius of the Sun). When we look at the center of the disk of the Sun we look straight in and see somewhat hotter and brighter regions. When we look at the limb, or edge, of the solar disk we see light that has taken a slanting path through this layer and we only see through the upper, cooler and dimmer regions. This explains the "limb darkening" that appears as a darkening of the solar disk near the limb.

Source: NASA, Solar Physics, The Photosphere.

Dermatitis

Inflammation of the skin which usually involves swollen, reddened and itchy skin:

Dermatitis

Dominic O'Brien

British mnemonist who is the eight time world memory champion:

Dominic O'Brien

Dominic O'Brien (1957- ) is a British mnemonist and an author of memory related books. He is the eight time world memory champion and works as a trainer for Peak Performance Training.

He began developing his mnemonic techniques when he saw Creighton Carvello memorize a pack of 52 playing cards in less than three minutes. He has written books about memorization techniques such as ‘How to Develop a Perfect Memory’, ‘Quantum Memory Power’, ‘Learn to Remember’, ‘How to Pass Exams’, ‘The Winning Hand’, and ‘The Amazing Memory Box’.

He gives lectures, and has been seen on television programmes such as The Human Body.

Dominic O'Brien had an entry in the Guinness Book of Records for his May 1, 2002 feat of committing to memory a random sequence of 2808 playing cards (54 packs) after looking at each card only once. He was able to correctly recite their order, making only eight errors, four of which he immediately corrected when told he was wrong.

Source: Wikipedia.org: Dominic O'Brien

Mnemonist

Someone with the ability to remember and recall unusually huge amount of information and/or data:

Mnemonist

Francisco Franco

A Spanish military general and head of state of Spain from 1936, and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in 1975:

Franco (Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco)

Nazanin Afshin-Jam

Miss World Canada in 2003 and Miss World 1st runner up, an Iranian-Canadian Human Rights Activist, President and Co-Founder of Stop Child Executions:

Nazanin Afshin-Jam

Read more on wikipedia.
Nazanin's Website: http://www.nazaninafshinjam.com/
Nazanin's Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Nazanin-Afshin-Jam-Official-page/42663934158

Deimos

The smaller and outer of the two moons of Mars:

Deimos

Phobos

The larger and closer of the two moons of Mars:

Phobos

Phobos' orbital radius is decreasing, so it will eventually impact the surface of Mars or break up into a planetary ring.

Einsteinium

On the periodic table, the element represented by the symbol Es and atomic number 99:

Einsteinium

Einsteinium is discovered in the debris of the first hydrogen bomb explosion in 1952, and named after Albert Einstein.

Kodiak Island

The second largest island in the United States:

Kodiak Island

Rem: The largest US island is the Island of Hawaiʻi, also called the Big Island or Hawaiʻi Island.

Bombardier

A beetle which ejects a noxious chemical spray in a rapid burst of pulses from special glands in its abdomen with a popping sound:

Bombardier Beetle

Prodrome

An early symptom that might indicate the start of a disease before specific symptoms occur:

Prodrome

For example fever frequently occur in the prodrome of many infective disorders.

Pathophysiology

The branch of medicine which deals with any disturbances of body functions, caused by disease or prodromal symptoms:

Pathophysiology

Pint

An English unit of volume or capacity in both the imperial system and in United States customary units; in the imperial system, it is about 568 ml, and in the U.S. version is about 473 ml:

Pint

Learn by Word Scramble Puzzles

Review the recent 30 posts and then try to solve the following Word Scramble Puzzles; in this way, you can memorize them easier and "Improve Your General Knowledge in Leisure Time!"

1) A unit of energy equal to about 1055 joules which is approximately the amount of energy needed to heat 1 pound of water for 1° Fahrenheit:

TBU

2) The Scots word for the last day of the year which is synonymous with the celebration of the New Year (Gregorian calendar) in the Scottish manner:

gomhayna

3) Karoshi is a Japanese word which means:

athbwdeoyokevrr

4) Energetic particles, originating from outer space, which impinge on Earth's atmosphere:

iccosaymr

5) The indigenous Polynesian people of New Zealand:

iaomr

6) The use and effects of drugs on large groups of people:

oiiepdeomolgyharmapc

7) An important trade route between Central Asia and South Asia; a strategic military location, that is a mountain pass which links Pakistan and Afghanistan:

shybskaepr

8) A part of the mind which gives rise to a collection of mental phenomena that manifest in a person's mind but which the person is not aware of at the time of their occurrence:

usnmcdoniuscion

9) A psychological attempt by an individual to repel its own desires and impulses towards pleasurable instincts:

logioicalnsspprrseehoyc

10) A social movement and provocative women’s movement in Ukraine, founded in 2008 which became internationally known for going topless to protest against sex tourists, sexism and other social ills:

MEENF

11) The process of converting a word or a phrase of any other language into a more comprehensible English form for English speakers:

ngltiizonaica

12) A criminal activity involving robbery by groups of armed bandits:

itcoyda

13) A scientific research strategy, often used in anthropology and in some branches of sociology, for gathering empirical data on human societies and cultures by participant observation, interviews, questionnaires, etc.:

ngroyapethh

14) A method of inquiry about exploring issues, understanding phenomena, and answering questions; appropriated in many different academic disciplines, such as social sciences, market research, marketing research, etc., which seeks out "why" and not "how" of its topics through the analysis of unstructured information collected by interviews, questionnaires, surveys, observation, etc.:

alrequitchasetivare

15) A systematic qualitative research methodology in the social sciences emphasizing generation of theory from data in the process of conducting research:

dedeogroutryhn

Answers:

1) BTU
2) Hogmanay
3) Death by Overwork
4) Cosmic Ray
5) Maori
6) Pharmacoepidemiology
7) Khyber Pass
8) Unconscious Mind
9) Psychological Repression
10) FEMEN
11) Anglicization
12) Dacoity
13) Ethnography
14) Qualitative Research
15) Grounded Theory

Grounded Theory

A systematic qualitative research methodology in the social sciences emphasizing generation of theory from data in the process of conducting research:

Grounded Theory

Qualitative Research

A method of inquiry about exploring issues, understanding phenomena, and answering questions; appropriated in many different academic disciplines, such as social sciences, market research, marketing research, etc., which seeks out "why" and not "how" of its topics through the analysis of unstructured information collected by interviews, questionnaires, surveys, observation, etc.:

Qualitative Research

Organizational Storytelling

The discipline in the fields of management, strategy and organization studies which attempts to recount events in the form of a story within the context of an organization:

Organizational Storytelling (also known as Narrative Knowledge)

Ethnography

A scientific research strategy, often used in anthropology and in some branches of sociology, for gathering empirical data on human societies and cultures by participant observation, interviews, questionnaires, etc.:

Ethnography

File Shadowing

Providing an exact copy or mirror of a file or a set of data:

File Shadowing

Hologram

For a complex object, a laser beam is first split into two separate beams of light using a silver mirror (half-silvered glass) or a birefringent material, then one beam illuminates the object and the second beam illuminates the recording medium; this process is done to record a:

Hologram

CNN Hologram TV

Creating a Star Wars-esque hologram scene

Now on Amazon Kindle:
Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?

Hungary

The country which is called Magyarország by its native speakers:

Hungary

Dacoity

A criminal activity involving robbery by groups of armed bandits:

Dacoity

The word Dacoity is the anglicized version of the Indian word ḍakaitī (Hindi डकैती, Urdu ڈکیتی or Bangla ডাকাতি) which comes from ḍākū (Hindi: डाकू, Urdu: ڈاکو, meaning "armed robber") or Bangla ḍakat (ডাকাত). [Read more here.]

Anglicization

The process of converting a word or a phrase of any other language into a more comprehensible English form for English speakers:

Anglicization

A Cappella

Solo music or group vocal or singing without instrumental sound, or a piece intended to be performed in this way:

A Cappella (also Acapella or A Capella)

Peter Christian Lutkin, Dean of the Northwestern University School of Music, helped popularize a cappella music in the United States by founding the Northwestern A Cappella Choir in 1906. The A Cappella Choir was "the first permanent organization of its kind in America" [1][2].

References:
[1] Northwestern University, Guide to the Peter Christian Lutkin Papers, Biography.
[2] Leonard Van Camp, The Formation of A Cappella Choirs at Northwestern University, St. Olaf College, and Westminster College, Journal of Research in Music Education, Vol. 13, No. 4 (Winter, 1965), pp. 227-238.

FEMEN

A social movement and provocative women’s movement in Ukraine, founded in 2008 which became internationally known for going topless to protest against sex tourists, sexism and other social ills:

Recent News:
[ 1 ] Anniversary FEMEN Spain. Congratulations!
[ 2 ] FEMEN disrupt Muslim conference in France, get kicked

FEMEN

In the News

Stop the stoning: Outside the Iranian embassy in Kiev, FEMEN activists shout, cry and boogaloo in protest of the death-by-stoning sentence given to Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, mother of two children and convicted adulterer in Iran. FEMEN is the Ukrainian women's movement [source: San Francisco Chronicle].

Ukrainian female activists attack Iran's embassy in Kiev [source: tert.am]

source: RadioFarda

Psychoanalysis

The ideas developed by Austrian physician Sigmund Freud (and continued by others) devoted to the study of human psychological functioning and behavior:

Psychoanalysis

Sigmund Freud

Freud's Chaise Lounge (also known as Freud Sofa)

Psychological Repression

A psychological attempt by an individual to repel its own desires and impulses towards pleasurable instincts:

Psychological Repression (also Psychic Repression or simply Repression)

Unconscious Mind

A part of the mind which gives rise to a collection of mental phenomena that manifest in a person's mind but which the person is not aware of at the time of their occurrence:

Unconscious Mind

Khyber Pass

An important trade route between Central Asia and South Asia; a strategic military location, that is a mountain pass which links Pakistan and Afghanistan:

Khyber Pass

In Farsi: گذرگاه خیبر
In Pashto: د خیبر دره
In Urdu: دره خیبر

Rem:

Farsi or Persian is widely spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and to some extent in Armenia, Iraq, Bahrain, and Oman.

Pashto also known as Afghani, is a member of the Iranian languages group which is spoken primarily by the Pashtun people in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Urdu is the national language and one of the two official languages of Pakistan (the other is English), and an official language of five Indian states.

Hub-and-Spoke

A system of connections arranged like a chariot wheel, in which all airlines traffic moves along connected to a major airport or center:

Hub-and-Spoke (also called as spoke-hub distribution paradigm, or hub-and-spoke distribution paradigm)

Maser

A device that produces coherent electromagnetic waves through amplification by stimulated emission:

Maser (Microwave Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation)

Rem:

Laser: Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation
Maser: Microwave Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation

Pharmacoepidemiology

The use and effects of drugs on large groups of people:

Pharmacoepidemiology

Poi

A performance art, one of the traditional performing arts of the Māori people of New Zealand, in which a ball or balls suspended from a length of flexible material, usually a plaited cord, are held in the hand and swung in circular patterns:

Poi

Māori

The indigenous Polynesian people of New Zealand:

Māori (or Maori)

Polynesia

A subregion of Oceania, comprising a large grouping of over 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean:

Polynesia

Cosmic Ray

Energetic particles, originating from outer space, which impinge on Earth's atmosphere:

Cosmic Ray
What are cosmic rays? (Read more ...)

Dark Chocolate

A well-known brain food and brain booster which is also good for heart by lowering blood pressure and cholesterol:

Dark Chocolate

Death by Overwork

Karoshi is a Japanese word which means:

Death by Overwork

Halloween

According to superstition, you will see your future spouse or a skull if you die before you get married if you stare into a mirror at midnight on:

Halloween

mp4 video format:

flv video format:

Ahriman

A Persian word used in English which is the name of Zoroastrianism's conception of destructive spirit or evil:

Ahriman

Kalmar Union

A series of personal unions which united the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden under a single monarch, though intermittently and with a population less than 3,000,000, from 1397 to 1523:

Kalmar Union (Kalmarunionen in Norwegian, Danish and Swedish)

BTU

A unit of energy equal to about 1055 joules which is approximately the amount of energy needed to heat 1 pound of water for 1° Fahrenheit:

BTU (British Thermal Unit)

Hogmanay

The Scots word for the last day of the year which is synonymous with the celebration of the New Year (Gregorian calendar) in the Scottish manner:

Hogmanay

Pope Gregory XIII

The Gregorian calendar (also known as the Western calendar and the Christian calendar) was introduced by:

Pope Gregory XIII

Hijab

The head covering worn by Muslim women:

Hijab (In Persian and Arabic: حجاب)

Sentiment Analysis

An area of natural language processing, computational linguistics and text mining which aims to determine the attitude of a speaker or a writer with respect to some topic:

Sentiment Analysis

Adrian Smith

An American architect, one of the most recognized architects in the world, who has designed notable super tall skyscrapers such as the Burj Khalifa and Jin Mao Tower:

Adrian Smith (1944- )

Burj Khalifa

The world's tallest building since 2010:

Burj Khalifa

Burj Khalifa

It is a skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The official height of the tower, unveiled as Burj Khalifa, was announced as 828 metres.

Thermoplastic

A polymer that turns to a liquid when heated and freezes to a very glassy state when cooled:

Thermoplastic

Anna Chapman

A Volgograd native Russian spy who while living in New York was arrested along with nine others on June 27, 2010, on suspicion of working for the Illegals Program spy ring:

Anna Chapman

Russian spy Anna Chapman strips off for Maxim shoot

Russian spy Anna Chapman was revealed by others in June as a sleeper agent in the US. Now she has decided to reveal more of herself, as our picture shows.

She has stripped down to black lingerie for a photo spread in the Russian edition of Maxim, appearing on the cover of the November issue under the caption ‘For Your Eyes Only', a reference to the 1981 movie featuring British spy James Bond.

The magazine hit the shelves yesterday (read more here).

Anna Chapman, Russian Spy, Bets On New iPhone Poker App

Anna Chapman knows when to hold ‘em, fold ‘em, walk away and when to run with a new business venture.

ABCNews.com is reporting that the alleged Russian spy is coming out with an iPhone app so that you can play poker against her.

The application, Poker With Anna Chapman, at $1.99, allows players to take on the Russian sex symbol in either Texas Hold’em or Five Card Draw. There are prizes offered if the player is able to vanquish the virtual Chapman in the hand, says Poker News Daily (read more here).

Illegals Program

A network of Russian sleeper agents under non-official cover whose investigation by FBI culminated in a prisoner swap between Russia and the United States in 2010:

Illegals Program

Wolverine

The largest land-dwelling species of the weasel family in the genus Gulo:

Wolverine (also known as Skunk Bear, Quickhatch, Carcajou, Glutton, and Gulon)

Agrologist

In Canada, an agronomist is called:

Agrologist
An agronomist is a scientist who specializes in utilizing plants for food, fuel, feed, and fiber.

Turbofan

A type of aircraft jet engine which provides thrust using a combination of a ducted fan and a jet exhaust nozzle:

Turbofan

Constellation

An arbitrary formation of stars perceived as a figure or design:

Constellation

Note: In modern astronomy, an internationally defined area of the celestial sphere is a constellation.
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Puyi

The last Emperor of China:

Puyi (also written as P'U-I)
Puyi (1906-1967) was the twelfth and final member of the Qing Dynasty to rule over China proper (read more here).
Share

Friday, October 22, 2010

Madagascar

Malagasy Republic is the older name of:

Madagascar

Madagascar is an island country in the Indian Ocean close to the southeastern coast of Africa.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Terrible Lizard

The term dinosaur, coined in 1842, means:

Terrible Lizard

Pyrolysis

Thermochemical decomposition of organic material at elevated temperatures in the absence of oxygen:

Pyrolysis

Cellophane

A thin transparent sheet made of regenerated cellulose with low permeability to air, oils and bacteria:

Cellophane

Guangzhou

The capital and the largest city of Guangdong, a province of China, is:

Guangzhou (also known as Canton or Kwangchow)

Guangzhou (广州) is the third largest city in China.

Coulomb

An SI unit of electric charge which is approximately equal to the charge of 66*10^18 electrons:

Coulomb

Coulomb is named after French physicist, Charles-Augustin de Coulomb (1736-1806).

Sudan

The largest country in Africa:

Sudan

Rem: Sudan is also the largest country in the Arab world.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Digg

A social news website, started in 2004, for people to discover and share content from anywhere on the web which surfaces the best contents as voted on by its users:

Digg

Magic Square

An arrangement of n^2 numbers, usually distinct integers, in a square, such that the n numbers in all rows, all columns, and both diagonals sum to the same constant:

Magic Square

Reza Shah (Rezā Shāh) 1878 – 1944

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Flamboyant

A florid style of late Gothic architecture in vogue in France, Spain and Portugal during the 15th century:

Flamboyant

Flamboyant Style (Church of Saint-Maclou, Rouen, France)

Friday, December 31, 2010

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Monday, December 13, 2010

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Friday, November 19, 2010

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Monday, November 8, 2010

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Friday, November 5, 2010

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Monday, October 25, 2010

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Friday, October 22, 2010

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Friday, October 15, 2010

Wednesday, October 13, 2010