Question: Why are there 64 teams in the NCAA tournament?

The NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament features 64 teams, including 32 conference champions with automatic bids and 36 teams that receive at-large selections by the NCAA selection committee. The at-large teams are announced during Selection Sunday, preceding the First Four play-in games held in Dayton, Ohio. The 68 teams are divided into four regions and placed in a single-elimination bracket, with each team seeded from 1 to 16 within their region. Following the First Four, which involves eight low-seeded teams competing for a spot in the first round, the tournament progresses through three weekends at predetermined neutral sites across the United States. The first round features 64 teams playing 32 games over a week, leading to the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight rounds the following week and weekend. The tournament culminates with the Final Four, where the top team from each region (East, South, Midwest, and West) competes for the national championship during the first weekend of April.

The 2018 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game was the final game of the single-elimination tournament to determine the men's National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college basketball national champion for the 2017–18 season. The game was played on April 2, 2018, at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, between the Michigan Wolverines and the Villanova Wildcats. Michigan last won the NCAA championship in 1989, while Villanova won the championship in 2016.

In recent years, the men's basketball team has gained prominence, advancing to the NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen in 2002 and 2004, the Elite Eight in 2006 and 2008, and the Final Four in 2003.

The distance from the basket to the three-point line varies by competition level: in the National Basketball Association (NBA) the arc is 23 feet 9 inches (7.24 m) from the basket; in FIBA and the WNBA (the latter uses FIBA's three-point line standard) the arc is 6.75 metres or 22 feet 1 3⁄4 inches from the basket; and in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) the arc is 20 feet 9 inches (6.32 m) from the basket. In the NBA and FIBA/WNBA, the three-point line becomes parallel to each sideline at the points where the arc is 3 feet (0.91 m) from each sideline; as a result the distance from the basket gradually decreases to a minimum of 22 feet (6.71 m). In the NCAA the arc is continuous for 180° around the basket. There are more variations (see main article).

On November 18, 2015, the NHL announced significant changes to the All-Star Game format, starting with the 2016 game: instead of one game pitted against two teams, there would be four All-Star teams based on the league's four divisions, competing in a single-elimination tournament. The format of all three games in the tournament will be three-on-three, with 10-minute halves each. If a tie remains after 20 minutes, then it will directly go to a three-round shootout plus extra rounds as needed to determine the winner; there is no standard overtime. In 2016, the Atlantic Division All-Stars faced the Metropolitan Division All-Stars in one semifinal, while the Central Division All-Stars played against the Pacific Division All-Stars in the second semifinal. The winners of these two games then meet in an All-Star Game Final.[1] Since 2017, the format was slightly changed: the division that wins the NHL All-Star Skills Competition during the previous night then gets to pick which team they will play first in the semifinals.[2]

By the mid-1960s, the desire for a network television contract in the U.S., and concerns that the Western Hockey League was planning to declare itself a major league and challenge for the Stanley Cup, spurred the league to undertake its first expansion since the 1920s. The league doubled in size for the 1967–68 season, adding the Los Angeles Kings, Minnesota North Stars, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, California Seals and St. Louis Blues.[36] Canadian fans were outraged that all six teams were placed in the United States,[37] and the league responded by adding the Vancouver Canucks in 1970 along with the Buffalo Sabres, who are located on the Canada–US border.[38] Two years later, the emergence of the newly founded World Hockey Association (WHA) led the league to add the New York Islanders and Atlanta Flames to keep the rival league out of those markets.[39] In 1974, the Washington Capitals and Kansas City Scouts were added, bringing the league up to 18 teams.[40]

These seedings are used to create a bracket that determines the match-ups throughout the series. Once the playoffs start, the bracket is fixed; teams are never "reseeded", unlike in the National Football League (NFL) and Major League Soccer (MLS) where the strongest remaining teams face the weakest teams in subsequent rounds. The first round of the NBA playoffs, or conference quarterfinals, consists of four match-ups in each conference based on the seedings (1–8, 2–7, 3–6, and 4–5). The four winners advance to the second round, or conference semifinals, with a match-up between the 1–8 and 4–5 winners and a match-up between the 2–7 and 3–6 winners. The two winners advance to the third round, or conference finals. The winner from each conference will advance to the final round, or the NBA Finals.

The champions of both the NCAA and NIT tournaments played each other for a few years during World War II. From 1943 to 1945, the American Red Cross sponsored a postseason charity game between each year's tournament champions to raise money for the war effort.[22] The series was described by Ray Meyer as not just benefit games, but as "really the games for the national championship".[23] The NCAA champion prevailed in all three games.[24]

In 1994 Charlotte became the 24th city, and the Charlotte Coliseum the 29th venue, to host the Final Four. It is the last of four arenas - including Market Square Arena in 1980, Reunion Arena in 1986, and McNichols Sports Arena in 1990 - whose primary tenant was a NBA franchise. (The Charlotte 49ers had also used the building from its opening to the previous season, but had moved back to reopened Independence Arena, which is seven miles closer to campus than the new Coliseum.) The tournament was the only one between 1985 and 2018 to not include an NFL stadium; the only domed stadium used for the tournament, the Thunderdome, was at the time an NHL arena and is now an MLB stadium.

After easy wins in both conference regular season and conference tournament, UConn entered the NCAA tournament unbeaten, #1 overall and once again a heavy favorite to win it all; the season came to an unexpected end when Mississippi State's Morgan William hit a buzzer-beater to give its team a 66-64 overtime victory in the NCAA Final Four.[61] The loss ended the streak at 111 consecutive wins, an all-time record not only for college basketball games, but also for any team sport played at college level.[62]

This is a list of NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament Final Four appearances by school. Several teams have vacated Final Four appearances and are marked with an * with explanations listed below. The listed Final Four totals for those teams do not include the vacated appearances. Schools in italics no longer compete in NCAA Division I.


Question: Striking the funny bone actually results in the compression of what?

The ulnar nerve, which runs adjacent to the ulna bone in the arm, is the nerve that is compressed when someone strikes their "funny bone." This nerve is the largest in the body not protected by muscle or bone, making it susceptible to injury. It directly innervates the little finger and the adjacent half of the ring finger, controlling sensation on the palmar side of these fingers, including their tips and possibly extending to the nail beds.

Modern texts are in agreement about which areas of the skin are served by which nerves, but there are minor variations in some of the details. The borders designated by the diagrams in the 1918 edition of Gray's Anatomy, provided below, are similar but not identical to those generally accepted today.

It is in the anterior compartment of the forearm. It is sometimes considered to be the deepest part of the superficial layer of this compartment,[1][2] and sometimes considered to be a distinct, "intermediate layer" of this compartment.[3] It is relatively common for the Flexor digitorum superficialis to be missing from the little finger, bilaterally and unilaterally, which can cause problems when diagnosing a little finger injury.[4]

The human skeleton is the internal framework of the body. It is composed of about 300 bones at birth â€“ this total decreases to around 206 bones by adulthood after some bones get fused together.[1] The bone mass in the skeleton reaches maximum density around age 21. The human skeleton can be divided into the axial skeleton and the appendicular skeleton. The axial skeleton is formed by the vertebral column, the rib cage, the skull and other associated bones. The appendicular skeleton, which is attached to the axial skeleton, is formed by the shoulder girdle, the pelvic girdle and the bones of the upper and lower limbs.

During CPR, it is important to not put pressure on the xiphoid process. This piece of bone is unsupported and can easily be broken off, causing damage to internal organs. Proper placement of the hands during CPR is at the base of the sternum, just above the xiphoid process.

Symptoms of limb infarction include coldness,[1][2] decreased or no pulse beyond the site of blockage,[1][2] pain,[1][2] muscle spasm,[2] numbness and tingling,[1][2] pallor[1][2] and muscle weakness,[1][2] possibly to the grade of paralysis[1] in the affected limb.

The neuron doctrine is the now fundamental idea that neurons are the basic structural and functional units of the nervous system. The theory was put forward by Santiago RamÃ³n y Cajal in the late 19th century. It held that neurons are discrete cells (not connected in a meshwork), acting as metabolically distinct units.

It is possible to suffer from an ice-cream headache in both hot and cold weather, because the effect relies upon the temperature of the food being consumed rather than that of the environment. Other causes that may mimic the sensation of ice-cream headache include that produced when high speed drilling is performed through the inner table of the skull in people undergoing such a procedure in an awake or sedated state.

Though receptors and stimuli are varied, most extrinsic stimuli first generate localized graded potentials in the neurons associated with the specific sensory organ or tissue.[6] In the nervous system, internal and external stimuli can elicit two different categories of responses: an excitatory response, normally in the form of an action potential, and an inhibitory response.[11] When a neuron is stimulated by an excitatory impulse, neuronal dendrites are bound by neurotransmitters which cause the cell to become permeable to a specific type of ion; the type of neurotransmitter determines to which ion the neurotransmitter will become permeable. In excitatory postsynaptic potentials, an excitatory response is generated. This is caused by an excitatory neurotransmitter, normally glutamate binding to a neuron's dendrites, causing an influx of sodium ions through channels located near the binding site.

The supratrochlear nerve then exits the orbit between the pulley of the superior oblique and the supraorbital foramen, curves up on to the forehead close to the bone, and ascends beneath the Corrugator supercilii and Frontalis muscles. It then divides into branches which pierce these muscles and supplies the following areas:

The indirect route of this nerve is the result of evolution of mammals from fish, which had no neck and had a relatively short nerve that innervated one gill slit and passed near the gill arch. Since then, the gill it innervated has become the larynx and the gill arch has become the dorsal aorta in mammals.[107][108]


Question: Striking the funny bone is actually a compression of what?

Striking the "funny bone" actually refers to the compression of the ulnar nerve. When the medial epicondyle of the humerus is hit from behind or when the elbow is bent and struck from below, the ulnar nerve, which is trapped between the bone and the skin, can produce an electric shock-like sensation. This phenomenon is humorously named due to the pun between the bone's name, the "humerus," and the word "humorous," or simply referring to the peculiar feeling experienced when hit.

Severe cerebral hypoxia and anoxia is usually caused by traumatic events such as choking, drowning, strangulation, smoke inhalation, drug overdoses, crushing of the trachea, status asthmaticus, and shock.[9] It is also recreationally self-induced in the fainting game and in erotic asphyxiation.

The human foot is a strong and complex mechanical structure containing 26 bones, 33 joints (20 of which are actively articulated), and more than a hundred muscles, tendons, and ligaments.[2] The joints of the foot are the ankle and subtalar joint and the interphalangeal articulations of the foot. An anthropometric study of 1197 North American adult Caucasian males (mean age 35.5 years) found that a man's foot length was 26.3 cm with a standard deviation of 1.2 cm.[3]

Positional asphyxia may also occur as a result of accident or illness.[13] Olympic track athlete Florence Griffith-Joyner[14] and ex-Major League Baseball player John Marzano[15] both died due to positional asphyxia, the former following an epileptic seizure and the latter following a fall down a flight of stairs.

The Psycho-Social, Chemical, Biological & Electro-Magnetic Manipulation of Human Consciousness (often abbreviated as The Psycho-Social CD) is the debut album of underground hip hop group Jedi Mind Tricks. The group consists of Vinnie Paz, and producer Stoupe the Enemy of Mankind. The original version of the album was released in 1997 limited to 1000 copies on vinyl by Superegular Records, and was re-released on CD in 2003 on Babygrande Records with six bonus tracks, featuring songs recorded by the group before their debut release. Many[who?] believed the vinyl version was re-issued in 2001, possibly because the back of the vinyl release says "2001 superegular", this is however a nod to the forward-thinking aspects of the album. The album lightly touches on religious corruption and violence, but not nearly to the level of their more well-received, and better produced sophomore effort (most of the braggadocio being in regard to lyrical skill, and not physical threats.) Primarily the album focuses on references to astronomy, history and physics.

Typically, in other forms of shock, the sympathetic nervous system triggers various compensatory mechanisms by releasing epinephrine and norepinephrine, its major chemical mediators. These neurotransmitters trigger an increased heart rate, faster breathing, and sweating. They also trigger vasoconstriction, to shunt blood away from the extremities and to the vital organs.

The twelve pairs of cranial nerves provide the majority of nervous control to the head. The sensation to the face is provided by the branches of the trigeminal nerve, a cranial nerve. The sensation to other portions of the head is provided by the cervical nerves.

Little is known about what exactly causes one to be knocked unconscious, but many agree it is related to trauma to the brain stem. This usually happens when the head rotates sharply, often as a result of a strike. There are three general manifestations of such trauma:

Compression damping refers to systems that slow the rate of compression in a front fork shock or rear shock. Compression damping is usually accomplished by forcing a hydraulic fluid (such as oil) through a valve when the shock becomes loaded. The amount of damping is determined by the resistance through the valve, a higher amount of damping resulting from greater resistance in the valve. Many shocks have compression damping adjustments which vary the resistance in the valve. Often, lockouts function by allowing no or very little compression.

The phenomenon is common enough to have been the subject of research published in the British Medical Journal and Scientific American.[10][11] A study conducted by Maya Kaczorowski demonstrated a higher incidence of sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgia in subjects consuming the ice cream sample in less than 30 seconds vs. those who consumed slowly, with no time limit (27.3% and 12.5% respectively). However, Kaczorowski was ultimately not able to draw a clear connection between the speed of consumption and incidence of sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgia.[14]

Homeostatic imbalances are the main driving force for changes of the body. These stimuli are monitored closely by receptors and sensors in different parts of the body. These sensors are mechanoreceptors, chemoreceptors and thermoreceptors that, respectively, respond to pressure or stretching, chemical changes, or temperature changes. Examples of mechanoreceptors include baroreceptors which detect changes in blood pressure, Merkel's discs which detect sustained touch and pressure, and hair cells which detect sound stimuli. Homeostatic imbalances that can serve as internal stimuli include nutrient and ion levels in the blood, oxygen levels, and water levels. Deviations from the homeostatic ideal may generate a homeostatic emotion, such as pain, thirst or fatigue, that motivates behavior that will restore the body to stasis (such as withdrawal, drinking or resting).[1]


Question: What are the primary doctrines regarding the nature of God in Judaism?

In Jewish theology, God is perceived as the singular, unbreakable, and unparalleled entity who is the fundamental source of all reality. The Jewish faith asserts that YHWH, the deity of the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the patron deity of the Israelites, liberated the Israelites from Egyptian bondage and bestowed upon them the Law of Moses at Mount Sinai, as recounted in the Torah. Conventional Jewish beliefs often depict God as having a personal nature, whereas contemporary interpretations may portray God as a transcendent force or guiding principle.

The official teachings of the Seventh-day Adventist denomination are expressed in its 28 Fundamental Beliefs. This statement of beliefs was originally adopted by the General Conference in 1980, with an additional belief (number 11) being added in 2005. Acceptance of either of the church's two baptismal vows is a prerequisite for membership. The following statement of beliefs is not meant to be read or received as a "creed" that is set in theological concrete. Adventists claim but one creed: "The Bible, and the Bible alone."

Judaism at this time was divided into antagonistic factions. The main camps were the Pharisees, Saducees, and Zealots, but also included other less influential sects. This led to further unrest, and the 1st century BC and 1st century AD saw a number of charismatic religious leaders, contributing to what would become the Mishnah of Rabbinic Judaism, including Yochanan ben Zakai and Hanina Ben Dosa.

The essence of the commandment [forbidding] the worship of false gods is not to serve any of the creations, not an angel, a sphere, or a star, none of the four fundamental elements, nor any entity created from them.

The Īśvara Upaniṣad says that the universe is pervaded by Īśvara (God), who is both within and without it. He is the moving and the unmoving, He is far and near, He is within all these and without all these.

The major repositories of the Oral Torah are the Mishnah, compiled between 200–220 CE by Rabbi Yehudah haNasi, and the Gemara, a series of running commentaries and debates concerning the Mishnah, which together are the Talmud, the preeminent text of Rabbinic Judaism. In fact, two "versions" of the Talmud exist: one produced in Jerusalem c. 300–350 CE (the Jerusalem Talmud), and second, more extensive Talmud compiled in Babylonia and published c. 450–500 CE (the Babylonian Talmud).

Trinity Sunday is the first Sunday after Pentecost in the Western Christian liturgical calendar, and the Sunday of Pentecost in Eastern Christianity.[1] Trinity Sunday celebrates the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, the three Persons of God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.[2]

Human dignity, or kevod ha-beriyot, is also a central consideration of Judaism.[34] Talmud cautions against giving charity publicly rather than in private to avoid offending the dignity of the recipient.[35] Medieval Jewish philosopher Maimonides in his codification of Halakha cautioned judges to preserve the self-respect of people who came before them: "Let not human dignity be light in his eyes; for the respect due to man supersedes a negative rabbinical command".[35]

Second Temple Judaism was divided into theological factions, notably the Pharisees and the Sadducees, besides numerous smaller sects such as the Essenes, messianic movements such as Early Christianity, and closely related traditions such as Samaritanism (which gives us the Samaritan Pentateuch, an important witness of the text of the Torah independent of the Masoretic Text).

The Islamic resistance to the representation of living beings ultimately stems from the belief that the creation of living forms is unique to God, and it is for this reason that the role of images and image makers has been controversial. The strongest statements on the subject of figural depiction are made in the Hadith (Traditions of the Prophet), where painters are challenged to "breathe life" into their creations and threatened with punishment on the Day of Judgment. The Qur'an is less specific but condemns idolatry and uses the Arabic term musawwir ("maker of forms," or artist) as an epithet for God. Partially as a result of this religious sentiment, figures in painting were often stylized and, in some cases, the destruction of figurative artworks occurred. Iconoclasm was previously known in the Byzantine period and aniconicism was a feature of the Judaic world, thus placing the Islamic objection to figurative representations within a larger context. As ornament, however, figures were largely devoid of any larger significance and perhaps therefore posed less challenge.[6] As with other forms of Islamic ornamentation, artists freely adapted and stylized basic human and animal forms, giving rise to a great variety of figural-based designs.

I am Yahweh your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourselves an idol, nor any image of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: you shall not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them, for I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and on the fourth generation of those who hate me, and showing loving kindness to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.


Question: What's the name of the primary artery that carries blood from the heart to the body?

The aorta is the main artery responsible for transporting blood from the heart to the body. Originating from the left ventricle through the aortic valve, it branches into smaller arteries and arterioles, ultimately supplying capillaries. Key initial branches include the coronary arteries, which serve the heart muscle, followed by the brachiocephalic, left common carotid, and left subclavian arteries originating from the aortic arch.

The left anterior descending artery (also  LAD, anterior interventricular branch of left coronary artery, or anterior descending branch) is a branch of the left coronary artery. Occlusion of this artery is often called the widow-maker infarction due to a high death risk.[1]

The left main bronchus is smaller in caliber but longer than the right, being 5 cm long. It enters the root of the left lung opposite the sixth thoracic vertebra. It passes beneath the aortic arch, crosses in front of the esophagus, the thoracic duct, and the descending aorta, and has the left pulmonary artery lying at first above, and then in front of it. The left bronchus has no eparterial branch, and therefore it has been supposed by some that there is no upper lobe to the left lung, but that the so-called upper lobe corresponds to the middle lobe of the right lung. The left main bronchus divides into two secondary bronchi or lobar bronchi, to deliver air to the two lobes of the left lung—the superior and the inferior lobe.

This term is used because the left main coronary and/or the left anterior descending supply blood to large areas of the heart. This means that if these arteries are abruptly and completely occluded it will cause a massive heart attack that will likely lead to sudden death. The blockage that kills is made up of platelets streaming to the site of a ruptured cholesterol plaque. Even a small amount of plaque in this area can (for a variety of poorly understood reasons) rupture and cause death; bypassing chronic blockages or trying to open them up with angioplasty does not prevent heart attack but it can restore blood flow in case of a sudden blockage or heart attack and if performed within a rapid time period can minimize the damage done. An example of the devastating results of a complete occlusion of the LAD artery was the sudden death of former NBC News Washington Bureau Chief Tim Russert.[7]

The atrium is the upper chamber in which blood enters the heart. There are two atria in the human heart, which receive blood â€“ the left atrium from the lungs, and the right atrium from the venous circulation. The atria receive blood, and when the heart muscle contracts, pump blood to the ventricles. All animals with a closed circulatory system include at least one atrium / auricle (humans have two atria).

All cardiologists study the disorders of the heart, but the study of adult and child heart disorders are through different training pathways. Therefore, an adult cardiologist (often simply called "cardiologist") is inadequately trained to take care of children, and pediatric cardiologists are not trained to take care of adult heart disease. The surgical aspects are not included in cardiology and are in the domain of cardiothoracic surgery. For example, coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG), cardiopulmonary bypass and valve replacement are surgical procedures performed by surgeons, not cardiologists. However the insertion of stents, pacemakers are performed by cardiologists

During each heartbeat, blood pressure varies between a maximum (systolic) and a minimum (diastolic) pressure.[38] The blood pressure in the circulation is principally due to the pumping action of the heart.[39] Differences in mean blood pressure are responsible for blood flow from one location to another in the circulation. The rate of mean blood flow depends on both blood pressure and the resistance to flow presented by the blood vessels. Mean blood pressure decreases as the circulating blood moves away from the heart through arteries and capillaries due to viscous losses of energy. Mean blood pressure drops over the whole circulation, although most of the fall occurs along the small arteries and arterioles.[40] Gravity affects blood pressure via hydrostatic forces (e.g., during standing), and valves in veins, breathing, and pumping from contraction of skeletal muscles also influence blood pressure in veins.[39]

Galen had assumed that arteries carried the purest blood to higher organs such as the brain and lungs from the left ventricle of the heart, while veins carried blood to the lesser organs such as the stomach from the right ventricle. In order for this theory to be correct, some kind of opening was needed to interconnect the ventricles, and Galen claimed to have found them. So paramount was Galen's authority that for 1400 years a succession of anatomists had claimed to find these holes, until Vesalius admitted he could not find them. Nonetheless, he did not venture to dispute Galen on the distribution of blood, being unable to offer any other solution, and so supposed that it diffused through the unbroken partition between the ventricles.[4]

The middle layer of the heart wall is the myocardium, which is the cardiac muscle â€“ a layer of involuntary striated muscle tissue surrounded by a framework of collagen. The cardiac muscle pattern is elegant and complex, as the muscle cells swirl and spiral around the chambers of the heart, with the outer muscles forming a figure 8 pattern around the atria and around the bases of the great vessels and the inner muscles forming a figure 8 around the two ventricles and proceeding toward the apex. This complex swirling pattern allows the heart to pump blood more effectively.[7]

As the left and right coronary arteries run on the surface of the heart, they can be called epicardial coronary arteries. These arteries, when healthy, are capable of autoregulation to maintain coronary blood flow at levels appropriate to the needs of the heart muscle.  These relatively narrow vessels are commonly affected by atherosclerosis and can become blocked, causing angina or a heart attack. (See also: circulatory system.) The coronary arteries that run deep within the myocardium are referred to as subendocardial.

Cardiac arrest is a sudden stop in effective blood flow due to the failure of the heart to contract effectively.[72] Symptoms include loss of consciousness and abnormal or absent breathing.[73][74] Some people may have chest pain, shortness of breath, or nausea before this occurs.[74] If not treated within minutes, death usually occurs.[72]


Question: What percentage of the U.S. population resides below the poverty line?

In the United States, the percentage of the population living below the poverty line was 13.5% (43.1 million people) in 2015. This figure has historically been higher than in other wealthy countries since the 1930s. States with the lowest poverty rates include New Hampshire, Vermont, Minnesota, and Nebraska, where the percentage of people living in poverty ranges from 8.7% to 9.1%.

The other extreme is the "perfect tyranny" form. It starts on the left at the Tyrant's maximum wealth of 100%. It then immediately drops to zero at p=2, and continues at zero horizontally across the rest of the people. That is, the tyrant and his friends (the top percentile) own all the nation's wealth. All other citizens are serfs or slaves. An obvious intermediate form is a straight line connecting the left/top point to the right/bottom point. In such a "Diagonal" society a household in the richest percentile would have just twice the wealth of a family in the median (50th) percentile. Such a society is compelling to many (especially the poor). In fact it is a comparison to a diagonal society that is the basis for the Gini values used as a measure of the disequity in a particular economy. These Gini values (40.8 in 2007) show the United States to be the third most dis-equitable economy of all the developed nations (behind Denmark and Switzerland).

As of the 2000 census, the city's median household income was $31,572, and the median income for a family was $40,890. Males had a median income of $30,401 versus $21,431 for females. The city's per capita income was $17,830. About 12.1% of families and 17.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 24.5% of those under age 18 and 14.9% of those age 65 or over.

In comparison to the different states of the United States, Puerto Rico is poorer than Mississippi (the poorest state of the U.S.) with 41% of its population below the poverty line.[v] When compared to Latin America, Puerto Rico has the highest GDP per capita in the region. Its main trading partners are the United States itself, Ireland, and Japan, with most products coming from East Asia, mainly from China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. At a global scale, Puerto Rico's dependency on oil for transportation and electricity generation, as well as its dependency on food imports and raw materials, makes Puerto Rico volatile and highly reactive to changes in the world economy and climate. Puerto Rico's agricultural sector represents less than 1% of GNP.[293]

TANF requirements have led to massive drops in the number of people receiving cash benefits since 1996,[38] but there has been little change in the national poverty rate during this time. [39] The table below shows these figures along with the annual unemployment rate.[40][41][42]

Jehovah's Witnesses' official statistics only count as members those who submit reports for preaching activity, usually resulting in lower membership numbers than those found by external surveys. For example, Jehovah's Witnesses report approximately 1.2 million active publishers in the United States (including some children), whereas the Pew Research Center reported that Jehovah's Witnesses make up 0.8% of the US population (approximately 2.5 million).[5] Their official statistics indicate membership according to various territories—which they refer to as "lands"—many of which are not independent countries.

Agriculture is a major industry in the United States, with California accounting for over 12% of the U.S. agriculture cash receipts.[43] Over half of agricultural workers in California, contributing to the state's agriculture economy and providing the nation with over half of all fruits and vegetables, are undocumented.[44] Despite undocumented laborers contributing to the agriculture industry, farm work and labor is among one of the lowest paid occupations in the U.S.[45] Many undocumented communities suffer from food insecurity due to low wages, forcing families to purchase economically viable unhealthy food.[46] Though existing food pantry and food stamp programs aid in reducing the amount of food insecure individuals, undocumented immigrants are ineligible for social service programs and studies have found that limited English acts as a barrier to food stamp program participation.[47] Due to a lack of education, encounters with government agents, language barriers, undocumented individuals pose higher rates of food insecurity and hunger when compared to legal citizens. The Trump administration is attempting to draft new stricter immigration policies;[48] undocumented individuals who fear being deported under the new policies, limit their interactions with government agencies, social service programs (e.g., food stamps), increasing their susceptibility to food insecurity.[47]

The term "absolute poverty" is also sometimes used as a synonym for extreme poverty. Absolute poverty is the absence of enough resources to secure basic life necessities.

Poverty is also linked with ethnicity and caste, though equality between ethnic groups and castes is increasing. However, ethnic minorities and some lower castes continue to experience higher rates of poverty.[6]

Crime in the United States has been recorded since colonization. Crime rates have varied over time, with a sharp rise after 1963, reaching a broad peak between the 1970s and early 1990s. Since then, crime has declined significantly in the United States,[1] and current crime rates are approximately the same as those of the 1960s.[2]

The median income for a household in the borough was $48,789, and the median income for a family was $52,847. The per capita income for the borough was $21,225. About 2.1% of families and 2.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.0% of those age 65 or over.


Question: Animals that are active during the dawn and dusk periods?

Crepuscular animals, characterized by their activity during twilight hours, primarily at dawn and dusk. Unlike diurnal or nocturnal animals, which are active during daylight or darkness, respectively, crepuscular creatures have adapted to the unique light conditions of twilight. This behavior can sometimes extend into moonlit nights or overcast days, with matutinal animals specifically active before sunrise and vespertine animals after sunset.

During the Jurassic (210 to 145 mya), there was a dramatic increase in the diversity of beetle families,[17] including the development and growth of carnivorous and herbivorous species. The Chrysomeloidea diversified around the same time, feeding on a wide array of plant hosts from cycads and conifers to angiosperms.[25] Close to the Upper Jurassic, the Cupedidae decreased, but the diversity of the early plant-eating species increased. Most recent plant-eating beetles feed on flowering plants or angiosperms, whose success contributed to a doubling of plant-eating species during the Middle Jurassic. However, the increase of the number of beetle families during the Cretaceous does not correlate with the increase of the number of angiosperm species.[26] Around the same time, numerous primitive weevils (e.g. Curculionoidea) and click beetles (e.g. Elateroidea) appeared. The first jewel beetles (e.g. Buprestidae) are present, but they remained rare until the Cretaceous.[27][28][29] The first scarab beetles were not coprophagous but presumably fed on rotting wood with the help of fungus; they are an early example of a mutualistic relationship.

In addition to water breathing animals, e.g., fish, mollusks etc., the term "aquatic animal" can be applied to air-breathing aquatic or sea mammals such as those in the orders Cetacea (whales) and Sirenia (sea cows), which cannot survive on land, as well as the Pinnipeds (true seals, eared seals, and the walrus). The term "aquatic mammal" is also applied to four-footed mammals like the river otter (Lontra canadensis) and beavers (family Castoridae), although these are technically amphibious or Semiaquatic.

Crocodile size, morphology, behaviour and ecology differ somewhat among species. However, they have many similarities in these areas as well. All crocodiles are semiaquatic and tend to congregate in freshwater habitats such as rivers, lakes, wetlands and sometimes in brackish water and saltwater. They are carnivorous animals, feeding mostly on vertebrates such as fish, reptiles, birds and mammals, and sometimes on invertebrates such as molluscs and crustaceans, depending on species and age. All crocodiles are tropical species that, unlike alligators, are very sensitive to cold. They separated from other crocodilians during the Eocene epoch, about 55 million years ago.[3] Many species are at the risk of extinction, some being classified as critically endangered.

Another example is the black drongos and the cattle egrets found in India. These birds feed on insects on the back of cattle, which helps to keep them disease-free. Destroying the nesting habitats of these birds would cause a decrease in the cattle population because of the spread of insect-borne diseases.

Many species of corvid are territorial, protecting territories throughout the year or simply during the breeding season. In some cases territories may only be guarded during the day, with the pair joining off-territory roosts at night. Some corvids are well-known communal roosters. Some groups of roosting corvids can be very large, with a roost of 65,000 rooks counted in Scotland.[21] Some, including the rook and the jackdaw, are also communal nesters.

This powerful bird relies primarily on lemmings and other small rodents for food during the breeding season, but at times of low prey density, or during the ptarmigan nesting period, they may switch to favoring juvenile ptarmigan. They are opportunistic hunters and prey species may vary considerably, especially in winter. They feed on a wide variety of small mammals such as meadow voles and deer mice, but will take advantage of larger prey, frequently following traplines to find food. Some of the larger mammal prey includes hares, muskrats, marmots, squirrels, rabbits, raccoons, prairie dogs, rats, moles and entrapped furbearers. Birds preyed upon include ptarmigan, ducks, geese, shorebirds, pheasants, grouse, coots, grebes, gulls, songbirds, and even other raptors, including other owl species. Most of the owls' hunting is done in the "sit and wait" style; prey may be captured on the ground or in the air, or fish may be snatched off the surface of bodies of water using their sharp talons. Each bird must capture roughly 7 to 12 mice per day to meet its food requirement and can eat more than 1,600 lemmings per year. Unlike most owls that hunt at night, snowy owls are also diurnal and hunt during the day and night.[17]

Among the wild animals, the Sindh ibex (sareh), blackbuck, wild sheep (Urial or gadh) and wild bear are found in the western rocky range. The leopard is now rare and the Asiatic cheetah extinct. The Pirrang (large tiger cat or fishing cat) of the eastern desert region is also disappearing. Deer occur in the lower rocky plains and in the eastern region, as do the striped hyena (charakh), jackal, fox, porcupine, common gray mongoose and hedgehog. The Sindhi phekari, red lynx or Caracal cat, is found in some areas. Phartho (hog deer) and wild bear occur, particularly in the central inundation belt. There are bats, lizards and reptiles, including the cobra, lundi (viper) and the mysterious Sindh krait of the Thar region, which is supposed to suck the victim's breath in his sleep.
Some unusual sightings of Asian cheetah occurred in 2003 near the Balochistan border in Kirthar Mountains. The rare houbara bustard find Sindh's warm climate suitable to rest and mate. Unfortunately, it is hunted by locals and foreigners.

The female is mildly aggressive to her suitors during estrus, and will often lunge at males, usually after a long period of being approached and followed. Vocalizations during mating include a whistling sound, most commonly by the female, usually during June and August, coinciding with female estrus. Other vocalizations recorded during estrus include chittering and growling. The testosterone levels of the males are seasonal, with peaks coinciding with female estrogen peaks.[45]

Not all cave dwelling species are considered to be troglobite. An animal found out in underground environment may be a troglophile (a species living both in subterranean and in epigean habitats, e.g. bats and cave swallows) or a trogloxene (a species only occurring sporadically in a hypogean habitat and unable to establish a subterranean population).[1]

White storks consume a wide variety of animal prey. They prefer to forage in meadows that are within roughly 5 km (3 mi) of their nest and sites where the vegetation is shorter so that their prey is more accessible.[43] Their diet varies according to season, locality and prey availability. Common food items include insects (primarily beetles, grasshoppers, locusts and crickets), earthworms, reptiles, amphibians, particularly frog species such as the edible frog (Pelophylax kl. esculentus) and common frog (Rana temporaria) and small mammals such as voles, moles and shrews. Less commonly, they also eat bird eggs and young birds, fish, molluscs, crustaceans and scorpions. They hunt mainly during the day, swallowing small prey whole, but killing and breaking apart larger prey before swallowing.[67] Rubber bands are mistaken for earthworms and consumed, occasionally resulting in fatal blockage of the digestive tract.[91]


Question: What are the animals that become active during dawn and dusk?

Many commonly known mammal species exhibit crepuscular behavior, being active primarily at dawn and dusk. This includes various types of bats, domestic cats, stray dogs, rabbits, ferrets, guinea pigs, and rats. Other crepuscular mammals encompass jaguars, ocelots, bobcats, strepsirrhines, red pandas, bears, deer, moose, sitatunga, capybaras, chinchillas, common mice, skunks, Australian wombats, wallabies, quolls, possums, marsupial gliders, tenrecidae, spotted hyenas, and African wild dogs.

"The Evening and the Morning and the Night" presents an atmosphere governed by social exclusion due to the affliction of DGD. A DGD patient's requirement to wear an emblem marks them as a liability to standard social constructs. Since DGD is an illness that facilitates self-mutilation and maniacal episodes of violence, people tend to stay away from those affected by the disease. This distance created by others not affected by this disease naturally causes prejudice and marginalization. Ultimately, the emblem DGD carriers wear signifies a population oppressed not only by their own genetic mutation, but also by the rest of society.[3] Society thinks people with DGD can be problematic. Normal and sick humans are put in different groups, each with their own people. Each of the groups feel better interacting with their members. By law people with DGD are removed from their city and placed in a facility where disease sufferers are entrapped into their own world and labeled as if they were delinquents.[4]

The yellow eel is essentially a nocturnal benthic omnivore. Prey includes fishes, molluscs, bivalves, crustaceans, insect larvae, surface-dwelling insects, worms, frogs and plants. The eel prefers small prey animals which can easily be attacked.[10] Food type varies with body size.[10] Stomachs of eels less than 40Â cm and captured in streams contained mainly aquatic insect larvae, whereas larger eels fed predominantly on fishes and crayfishes. Insect abundance decreased in larger eels. The eel diet adapts to seasonal changes and the immediate environment. Feeding activity decreases or stops during the winter, and food intake ceases as eels physiologically prepare for the spawning migration.[30]

Molecular data regarding the mechanisms underlying development accumulated rapidly during the 1980s and 1990s. It became clear that the diversity of animal morphology was not the result of different sets of proteins regulating the development of different animals, but from changes in the deployment of a small set of proteins that were common to all animals.[158] These proteins became known as the "developmental-genetic toolkit."[159] Such perspectives influenced the disciplines of phylogenetics, paleontology and comparative developmental biology, and spawned the new discipline of evolutionary developmental biology also known as evo-devo.[160]

Biking and horseback riding are other recreational activities that are allowed on the road.[7] The drive is popular in the fall months for leaf peeping to view fall foliage. Skyline Drive is closed from dusk to dawn from November to early January to ensure rangers can control illegal hunting. The drive can also close for a short time following snow or ice storms.[8] Skyline Drive is designated a National Scenic Byway.[9]

Because fish are a taxonomically and morphologically diverse group, species vary in their trophic ecologies. In general, fish can be divided into four broad feeding categories: filter feeders, planktivores, piscivores and benthic feeders.

The world of A Song of Ice and Fire is primarily populated by humans, although giants, the so-called "Others" and the Children of the Forest appear as other sentient species in the extreme North of Westeros, beyond the Wall. In addition to ordinary animals such as dogs, cats, and horses, some species of animals inhabiting Martin's world are similar to real-world Pleistocene megafauna such as aurochs, direwolves, and mammoths. Of these megafauna, only aurochs are commonly encountered throughout Westeros, as a domesticated herd animal. Direwolves and mammoths are only found in the Lands Beyond the Wall in the extreme north. The direwolves adopted by the Stark children exhibit signs of being far more intelligent than common dogs or wolves. Each wolf pup grows to reflect the temperament of the child they bond with. Dragons, mermaids and kraken appear as legendary animals.

The shortfin molly (Poecilia mexicana) is a small fish that lives in the Sulfur Caves of Mexico. Years of study on the species have found that two distinct populations of mollies—the dark interior fish and the bright surface water fish—are becoming more genetically divergent.[287] The populations have no obvious barrier separating the two; however, it was found that the mollies are hunted by a large water bug (Belostoma spp). Tobler collected the bug and both types of mollies, placed them in large plastic bottles, and put them back in the cave. After a day, it was found that, in the light, the cave-adapted fish endured the most damage, with four out of every five stab-wounds from the water bugs sharp mouthparts. In the dark, the situation was the opposite. The mollies' senses can detect a predator's threat in their own habitats, but not in the other ones. Moving from one habitat to the other significantly increases the risk of dying. Tobler plans on further experiments, but believes that it is a good example of the rise of a new species.[288]

Green tree frogs are very docile and unafraid of humans.[10] They are nocturnal[6] and come out in early evenings to call (in spring and summer) and hunt for food. During the day, they find cool, dark, and moist areas, such as tree holes or rock crevices, in which to sleep. They are not a rainforest species, but make use of the rain that falls almost daily and collects on leaves and in crevices, to keep themselves moist. Their skin exudes a waxy coating that helps prevent evaporation. In dry periods, they avoid desiccation by concealing themselves in a cool spot, perhaps by burrowing, and enveloping themselves in a cocoon made of shed skin and mucus.[10]

One sub-set of laterality in animals is limb dominance. Preferential limb use for specific tasks has been shown in species including chimpanzees, mice, bats, wallabies, parrots, chickens and toads.[6]

Vertebrates /ˈvɜːrtɪbrɪts/ comprise all species of animals within the subphylum Vertebrata /-eɪ/ (chordates with backbones). Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the phylum Chordata, with currently about 66,000 species described.[4] Vertebrates include the jawless fish and the jawed vertebrates, which include the cartilaginous fish (sharks, rays, and ratfish) and the bony fish.


Question: The instruction that directs the computer on which task to perform is?

A computer program, authored by a programmer in a programming language, serves as the instruction set guiding the computer's execution of tasks. The human-readable source code can be translated into machine code via a compiler, enabling direct execution by the computer, or it can be run through an interpreter for immediate execution.

Pathfinding or pathing is the plotting, by a computer application, of the shortest route between two points. It is a more practical variant on solving mazes. This field of research is based heavily on Dijkstra's algorithm for finding a shortest path on a weighted graph.

In computer science, algorithmic efficiency is a property of an algorithm which relates to the number of computational resources used by the algorithm. An algorithm must be analysed to determine its resource usage. Algorithmic efficiency can be thought of as analogous to engineering productivity for a repeating or continuous process.

On some Unix variants, such as SINTRANÂ III, the process performed by a linker (assembling object files into a program) was called loading (as in loading executable code onto a file).[2] Additionally, in some operating systems, the same program handles both the jobs of linking and loading a program (dynamic linking).

In PowerShell, administrative tasks are generally performed by cmdlets (pronounced command-lets), which are specialized .NET classes implementing a particular operation. These work by accessing data in different data stores, like the file system or registry, which are made available to PowerShell via providers. Third-party developers can develop their own cmdlets and add them to PowerShell.[6][7] Sets of cmdlets may be combined into scripts.

In computer science, inter-process communication or interprocess communication (IPC) refers specifically to the mechanisms an operating system provides to allow the processes to manage shared data. Typically, applications can use IPC, categorized as clients and servers, where the client requests data and the server responds to client requests.[1] Many applications are both clients and servers, as commonly seen in distributed computing. Methods for doing IPC are divided into categories which vary based on software requirements, such as performance and modularity requirements, and system circumstances, such as network bandwidth and latency.[1]

Time management is the organization of tasks or events by first estimating how much time a task requires and when it must be completed, and adjusting events that would interfere with its completion so it is done in the appropriate amount of time. Calendars and day planners are common examples of time management tools.

Machine H is responsible for converting any number N into an equivalent S.D symbol string for sub-machine D to test. (In programming parlance: H passes an arbitrary "S.D” to D, and D returns “satisfactory” or “unsatisfactory”.) Machine H is also responsible for keeping a tally R (“Record”?) of successful numbers (we suppose that the number of "successful S.D's i.e. R is much less than the number of S.D's tested, i.e. N). Finally, H prints on a section of its tape a diagonal number “beta-primed” B’. H creates this B’ by “simulating” (in the computer-sense) the “motions” of each “satisfactory” machine/number; eventually this machine/number under test will arrive at its Rth “figure” (1 or 0), and H will print it. H then is responsible for “cleaning up the mess” left by the simulation, incrementing N and proceeding onward with its tests, ad infinitum.

As an example usage of DMA in a multiprocessor-system-on-chip, IBM/Sony/Toshiba's Cell processor incorporates a DMA engine for each of its 9 processing elements including one Power processor element (PPE) and eight synergistic processor elements (SPEs). Since the SPE's load/store instructions can read/write only its own local memory, an SPE entirely depends on DMAs to transfer data to and from the main memory and local memories of other SPEs. Thus the DMA acts as a primary means of data transfer among cores inside this CPU (in contrast to cache-coherent CMP architectures such as Intel's cancelled general-purpose GPU, Larrabee).

A memory pointer (or just pointer) is a primitive, the value of which is intended to be used as a memory address; it is said that a pointer points to a memory address. It is also said that a pointer points to a datum [in memory] when the pointer's value is the datum's memory address.

Instinctive drift or instinctual drift is the tendency of an animal to revert to instinctive behaviors that interfere with a conditioned response. The concept originated with B.F. Skinner's former students Keller Breland and Marian Breland when they tried to teach a raccoon to put tokens into a piggy bank. Instead, the raccoon drifted to its instinctive behavior of putting the tokens on the ground or turning them over in its paws, as they often do with food.[1][2]


Question: Who performed the voiceover in Michael Jackson's "Thriller"?

"Thriller," a song by Michael Jackson, has been featured on various compilation albums such as HIStory (1995), Number Ones (2003), The Essential Michael Jackson (2005), and Michael Jackson's This Is It (2009). Additionally, the track was remixed for the Immortal album in 2011. Notably, the song includes a voice-over performed by actor Vincent Price.

Various melodies and songs based on pre-1950s music are heard throughout the series.[29] Elijah Wood, the voice actor for Wirt, has said that "if this show were a record, it would be played on a phonograph".[30] Songs from the series include "Into the Unknown", its title song, composed by Patrick McHale and sung by Jack Jones; "A Courting Song", composed by the Petrojvic Blasting Company and performed by Frank Fairfield; and "Come Wayward Souls", sung by Samuel Ramey as the Beast.[30]

Thompson does voice-overs through voice casting agent Kalmenson & Kalmenson.[34][35]

These images seem to be inspired by the art of Joel-Peter Witkin, as well as Francis Bacon and George Tooker. The video is also very heavily inspired by the Brothers Quay's animated short film Street of Crocodiles. For the television version, certain removed scenes were replaced with a title card that read "Scene Missing," and the instances of the word fuck being edited out were accompanied by a stop in the video motion, making it appear as if the stop was a result of defective film (this was supposedly done to make sure the flow of the song was not affected). According to director Mark Romanek, the video was filmed using "a slightly out of date film stock but it was still a contemporary film stock."

He was the singing voice for TV's Mister Ed, for which he also wrote and recorded "The Pretty Little Filly with the Ponytail" and "The Empty Feedbag Blues". Mr. Allman wrote longer versions of these songs, but never recorded the longer versions. He was the lyricist for the theme song to George of the Jungle ("George, George, George of the Jungle, friend to you and me! Watch out for that tree!!"). Additionally, Allman worked with Stan Worth, co-writer of the "George of the Jungle" theme, to create music for a number of game shows by Stefan Hatos-Monty Hall Productions, including the 1970s versions of Let's Make a Deal, Masquerade Party and It Pays to be Ignorant.

Actor Vincent Price worked with Burton on three projects, hosting the television film Hansel and Gretel (1982), narrating the short film Vincent (1982) and appearing in the feature film Edward Scissorhands (1990).[3]

"(I Like) The Way You Love Me" is a song by American recording artist Michael Jackson included on his posthumous album Michael, which was released in South Korea as a digital single on January 18, 2011,[1] and released in Italian radio stations on July 8, 2011.[2] The song previously appeared on The Ultimate Collection (2004) with the title "The Way You Love Me" as an unreleased track, with that version also appearing on the French edition of the compilation King of Pop. For Michael, the song has been re-arranged and more vocals have been added.[3] A clip of the song was remixed and released on the 2 disc deluxe edition of the Immortal album on November 21, 2011.

Some of Carrara-Rudolph's voice-over credits include the voice of Peg Puppy for Nickelodeon's cartoon series T.U.F.F. Puppy, and background voices for The Simpsons and for The Electric Company, for which she voices Wolfman, Bat, and Mummy. She joined the cast of the podcast series The Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd in the season three premiere and has guest starred several times since.

Thumbelina: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack to the 1994 Don Bluth animated feature Thumbelina and was released on February 28, 1994. The soundtrack was composed entirely by Barry Manilow. Manilow, along with lyricists Bruce Sussman and Jack Feldman, who wrote the songs.[1] Manilow and William Ross wrote the original score and Ross conducted the Dublin scoring sessions with the Irish Film Orchestra.[citation needed] The song "Marry The Mole", sung by Carol Channing, was the recipient of a Razzie award.[2] The CD was a limited release and has been out of print since. It is also available on cassette.[3]

"Frankenstein" has been covered by the rock group Phish 87 times as of February 2016, with the first time in 1989; keyboardist Page McConnell often utilizes a keytar for the synthesizer solo. The bass player Marcus Miller. In 1991 it was covered by the thrash metal band Overkill on their album Horrorscope. The Southern California band Bazooka covered "Frankenstein" on their 1993 debut album Perfectly Square. In 1996, British psychedelic glam group Doctor and the Medics wrote lyrics to go along with "Frankenstein" and included it on their album Instant Heaven. Derek Sherinian's 2001 solo album Inertia includes his cover of the song. It was covered in 2003 by surfer-rock guitarist Gary Hoey. Tomoyasu Hotei covered it on his 2009 covers album Modern Times Rock'N'Roll. Claude François, the French singer and writer of "My Way", used the song, played with a brass section, as an introductory theme to his live concerts. Primus covered the song at midnight during their 2012/2013 New Year's Eve show. A few bars of an edited version of the song feature at the very beginning of the 1993 film, Wayne's World 2, as the Paramount Pictures 'Stars' logo appears. Those Darn Accordions recorded an accordion-based version of the song for their 2004 album Lawnball. There is a cover version of the song on Guitar Hero, one of the tougher songs on the game. Warren Hill features a version for saxophone on his 2015 release Under the Influence.[citation needed]

In interviews, Zevon described a lifelong phobia of doctors and said he seldom consulted one. He had started working out, and looked physically fit. Shortly before playing at the Edmonton Folk Music Festival in 2002, he started feeling dizzy and developed a chronic cough. After a period of suffering with pain and shortness of breath, Zevon was encouraged by his dentist to see a physician; he was diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma, a cancer (usually caused by exposure to asbestos) that affects the pleura, a thin membrane around the lungs and chest lining. Although Zevon never revealed where he may have been exposed to asbestos, his son, Jordan, suggests that it came from Zevon's childhood, playing in the attic of his father's carpet store in Arizona. Refusing treatments he believed might incapacitate him, Zevon instead began recording his final album, The Wind, which includes performances by close friends including Bruce Springsteen, Don Henley, Jackson Browne, Timothy B. Schmit, Joe Walsh, David Lindley, Billy Bob Thornton, Emmylou Harris, Tom Petty, Dwight Yoakam, and others. At the request of the music television channel VH1, the documentarian Nick Read was given access to the sessions; his cameras recorded a man who retained his mordant sense of humor, even as his health was deteriorating.


Question: Who performed the voiceover in Michael Jackson's "Thriller"?

The voiceover in Michael Jackson's "Thriller" was contributed by Vincent Price. Songwriter Rod Temperton had envisioned a spoken section for the end of the track and, on the suggestion of producer Quincy Jones' wife Peggy Lipton, Price was brought in to provide his distinctive voice, well-known in the horror genre.

He played the character of Dr. Alec Holland in the 1982 film Swamp Thing, directed by Wes Craven and based upon the comic book series of the same name. Dr. Holland is the man who becomes the titular character after his lab is destroyed and he is left for dead. The actual Swamp Thing character was played by Dick Durock. In 1985, Wise was cast as Sol Gann, father to Natty Gann in the Disney film The Journey of Natty Gann, directed by Jeremy Paul Kagan, and then appeared as henchman Leon C. Nash in RoboCop (1987). He also had roles in Season of Fear (1989), The Rift (1990), Bob Roberts (1992), Grey Knight (1993) and Rising Sun (1993). He then played the roles of entrepreneur/millionaire Dalton Voss in The Chase (1994), Dr. Stripler in Powder (1995), Sheriff Blaidek in Evasive Action (1998), and Bart's father Harrison in The Battle of Shaker Heights (2003). The same year he played Jack Taggart in the horror film Jeepers Creepers 2, and portrayed father and husband Frank Harrington in the horror film Dead End. In 2005, he appeared as newscaster and commentator Don Hollenbeck in Good Night, and Good Luck, directed by George Clooney. In 2007 he appeared in The Flock as Robert Still. In 2008 he had a role in the horror remake One Missed Call. In the year 2011, Wise played the role of United States Secretary of State in X-Men: First Class. He appeared in Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie as Dr. Doone Struts, the leader of the Shrim Healing Center. He appeared in Revelation Road: The Beginning of the End as Franks. He played Major Braxton Tanner in the movie Big Ass Spider! (2013). He was in Brother's Keeper (2013) and was in Suburban Gothic (2014). In 2014 Wise appeared in the documentary horror film Digging Up the Marrow under the direction of Adam Green.[8] In 2016, Wise starred as attorney Peter Kane in the film God's Not Dead 2, who represents the ACLU in its fight to have the protagonist, Grace Wesley (Melissa Joan Hart), convicted of proselytizing in a public school.[9]

Miguel José Ferrer (February 7, 1955 – January 19, 2017) was an American actor and voice actor. His breakthrough role was the OCP Vice President Bob Morton in the 1987 film RoboCop. Other film roles include Commander Harbinger in Hot Shots! Part Deux (1993), Shan Yu in Mulan (1998), Eduardo Ruiz in Traffic (2000) and Vice President Rodriguez in Iron Man 3 (2013).

Because of the sheer number of models used in episodes 2 to 6, a single day of filming just the model sequences was set aside at the BBC's Television Centre on 28 October 1980. This has been described as "a luxury few other shows could afford." To provide proper timing of spoken lines on-set, Douglas Adams himself spoke the lines of Eddie the Computer and Deep Thought, until they were redubbed by David Tate and Valentine Dyall respectively. Douglas Adams has several cameo appearances in the TV series:

The band also used instruments that did not appear on previous albums, such as horns and violins. The members became more open to experimentation, but attempted to not over-produce the album; Stump stated that he "had to resist the temptation to use a lot of strings."[17] "Golden" consists exclusively of vocals and piano, and Stump dubbed the song "much softer than anything weâ€™ve ever done".[2] The group utilizes a full horn section on "I've Got All This Ringing in My Ears and None on My Fingers", a track which has been likened to Queen.[23] Violins are used on both "Thnks fr th Mmrs", in addition to an acoustic guitar strummed flamenco-style, and "The (After) Life of the Party", which also features electronic-influenced sounds.[23][24] Commenting on the instruments used on "Thnks fr th Mmrs", Stump stated "I never thought I'd get a euphonium onto a Fall Out Boy record".[21] "You're Crashing, But You're No Wave" features a gospel choir, while "Thriller" contains a spoken-word intro from Jay-Z.[25] Barry Nicolson of NME referred to the song as a "towering, Foo Fighters-esque slice of thunderous rhythm and radio-friendly melody."[26]

Rhames appeared in Striptease (1996) as the wisecracking bodyguard Shad, Bringing Out the Dead (1999), then reprised his Luther Stickell role for Mission: Impossible 2 (2000). He played Johnnie Cochran in American Tragedy (2000), the ex-con boyfriend of Jodie's mother in the John Singleton film Baby Boy, portrayed a gay drag queen in the television movie Holiday Heart, contributed his voice for the character of Cobra Bubbles in Lilo & Stitch (2002) and the subsequent TV series, and played a stoic cop fighting zombie hordes in Dawn of the Dead (2004) and Day of the Dead (2008) remakes. Rhames has also appeared in a series of television commercials for RadioShack, usually performing with Vanessa L. Williams.

His film work during this period included: Triumphs of a Man Called Horse (1983), Martin's Day (1985), Strike Commando 2 (1988), King of the Wind (1990) and Mack the Knife (1990) (a film version of The Threepenny Opera in which he played J.J. Peachum ) plus the TV film version of Maigret, opposite Barbara Shelley. This indicated declining popularity which Harris told his biographer, Michael Feeney Callan, he was "utterly reconciled to".

Various melodies and songs based on pre-1950s music are heard throughout the series.[29] Elijah Wood, the voice actor for Wirt, has said that "if this show were a record, it would be played on a phonograph".[30] Songs from the series include "Into the Unknown", its title song, composed by Patrick McHale and sung by Jack Jones; "A Courting Song", composed by the Petrojvic Blasting Company and performed by Frank Fairfield; and "Come Wayward Souls", sung by Samuel Ramey as the Beast.[30]

"You Rock My World" received generally mixed reviews from music critics. Praise was mainly directed at the song's composition, while dissatisfaction towards the song was expressed by critics because they felt that the track was not Jackson's best material. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic listed "You Rock My World" as being a highlight for the Invincible album.[7] Reviewer Andrew Hamilton, also of AllMusic, stated that, "If anybody other than Michael Jackson had released 'You Rock My World' with the tons of publicity and promotion it was accorded, it would have slam dunked the charts and been a multiple award winner. It sold well and got play everywhere, but too many critics panned the song and the album it came from as not being good enough for an artist on Jackson's level."[8] Hamilton commented that people should "give Michael credit" because he was able to maintain a respectable career as a recording artist over the years of his later career.[8]

"Patriot Games" was written by Mike Henry,[2] and directed by Peter Shin, Pete Michels and Cyndi Tang.[3] The episode aired on January 29, 2006, a week before Super Bowl XL. Actress Carol Channing made a guest appearance as herself in a scene in which Brian loses a $50 bet on a boxing match between her and professional boxer Mike Tyson, though Tyson did not voice himself. Sportscaster Bob Costas also voiced himself in a short scene in which he interviews Peter and Tom Brady. Much of the episode was scripted with Patriots coach Bill Belichick in mind, but Brady was chosen to replace him. After numerous requests for Brady to voice himself in the episode, he eventually agreed. Comedian Jay Leno voiced himself in two short scenes that show him, respectively, threatening and attempting to kill Brady.[4]

These images seem to be inspired by the art of Joel-Peter Witkin, as well as Francis Bacon and George Tooker. The video is also very heavily inspired by the Brothers Quay's animated short film Street of Crocodiles. For the television version, certain removed scenes were replaced with a title card that read "Scene Missing," and the instances of the word fuck being edited out were accompanied by a stop in the video motion, making it appear as if the stop was a result of defective film (this was supposedly done to make sure the flow of the song was not affected). According to director Mark Romanek, the video was filmed using "a slightly out of date film stock but it was still a contemporary film stock."


Question: Who performed the voiceover in Michael Jackson's "Thriller"?

Vincent Price provided the iconic voice-over for Michael Jackson's "Thriller," recording his part in just two takes, according to producer Quincy Jones and engineer Bruce Swedien. Jones noted that voice-overs for songs can be challenging, but Price's performance was exceptional. Swedien also shared details about Jackson's recording process, including techniques used to enhance his vocals and create a distinctive sound.

Since 1996, Myles has appeared in a number of films and television productions. In 2001, she got a small role as Victoria Abberline in the thriller film From Hell. She had a supporting role in the 2003 film Underworld, and reprised the character in a brief flashback scene in its sequel, Underworld: Evolution (2006). In 2003, she starred in the thriller Out of Bounds and played Lady Penelope in Thunderbirds. In 2006, she co-starred as Isolde in the romantic drama Tristan and Isolde.

The video begins with an introduction of Dr. Dre's music career, such as when he and fellow N.W.A member DJ Yella were in the 1980s funk group World Class Wreckin' Cru. There are also scenes of Dr. Dre and his family, such as him hugging his daughter and son and getting married. There are also snippets from past music videos. It includes many rappers such as Eazy-E, 2Pac, The D.O.C, Snoop Dogg, Warren G, Eminem, Xzibit and all the rest of the members from N.W.A. The video then features Dr. Dre driving down Pacific Coast Highway in a Ferrari 360, with flashbacks of his life, crashing his car and the last thing heard was his daughter say "Good night Daddy." Then he is transported to a medical facility. The date at the beginning of the video is February 18, 2001 (his 36th birthday). They fast-forward to present day ten years later, where he has been hospitalized and is on life support. The Marin County Civic Center stands in for the medical facility.[6] Eminem raps next to him as he is floating in an isolation tank, during which the figure of the Pythia (played by Canadian actress Estella Warren) is singing as a hologram behind and over Dre, mouthing the words to Skylar Grey's vocal part in the song. Skylar Grey herself appears as one of the doctors in the video, but never actually appears singing her part. Dre eventually wakes up and goes through rehab, and the video ends with him standing next to the grave of Eazy-E, a rapper who had launched Dre's music career by founding N.W.A and was also a member along with Ice Cube, MC Ren and DJ Yella. A ticking clock is heard midway through the video.[7][8] The music video received complaints of being an "act of advertising" for a variety of product placements, such as Ferrari, G-Shock, HP, Gatorade, and Dr. Dre's signature headphones, Beats by Dr. Dre.[9][10][11][12]

Outside of his ventures with Kenan Thompson, Mitchell provided the voice of a mild-mannered and playful dog named T-Bone in the children's cartoon series Clifford the Big Red Dog, alongside John Ritter, from 2000 to 2003. Additionally, he made an appearance in the 2004 Kanye West music video All Falls Down as a luggage collecting valet. Mitchell co-hosted Dance 360 with Fredro Starr; the show lasted for only one season. From 2005 until 2006, Mitchell portrayed Manny Sellers in the sitcom One on One, and in 2007 Mitchell starred in BET's new series Take the Cake. Some of his other credits include Honeydripper and Mystery Men.

The 8:30 minute-long black-and-white music video, produced by Paul Flattery and directed by Jim Yukich, contains 2:30 minutes of acting prior to the start of the music. The setting is a theatre in the 1930s. Actor Jeffrey Tambor plays a hyper-critical, unhappy theatre director. He is rehearsing some dancers (who are dancing to the guitar/bass guitar riff from the song "Sunshine of Your Love" by the band Cream, in which Eric Clapton played guitar.) The director complains that the girls can neither dance nor sing, and then discovers that his star has appendicitis.

It was announced that The War of the Worlds was to make its theatrical debut in a "re-imagined" production at the Dominion Theatre in London's West End, produced by Wayne and Bill Kenwright.[30] It ran from 8 February to 30 April 2016[30] and featured direction by Bob Thompson, an onstage orchestra conducted by Jeff Wayne and Liam Neeson as the Journalist in 3D holography. Jimmy Nail played Parson Nathaniel, Daniel Bedingfield was The Artilleryman and Heidi Range appeared on the stage as Beth. Alongside them was Michael Praed as George Herbert, Madalena Alberto playing Carrie and David Essex as The Voice Of Humanity.[31] Due to the indisposition of Daniel Bedingfield during the run, the Artilleryman was played by understudy and experienced West End performer Simon Shorten for a number of shows, later Shorten took over as the Artilleryman for a remaining month of the run. There were several musical changes to the piece including a key change for the song "Thunderchild" and a new song written for the stage production titled "With Joy and Hope and Wonder", as well as a Forever Autumn duet at the beginning of Act II.

Michael Buffer (born November 2, 1944) is an American ring announcer for boxing and professional wrestling matches. He is known for his trademarked catchphrase, "Let's get ready to rumble!" and for pioneering a distinct announcing style in which he rolls certain letters and adds other inflections to a fighter's name. His half-brother is UFC announcer Bruce Buffer.

James Hunter of Rolling Stone praised the song's vocal rhythms as being "finely sculpted" and "exquisite".[3] He noted that the song shows similarities to Jackson's previous material with Quincy Jones.[3] Mark Beaumont, a writer for NME, described the song as being a "disco classic" and commented that he felt that the song's brief intro was "funnier than Chris Evans on fire".[9] Catherine Halaby of Yale Daily News stated that the song "showcases the best of 'classic Michael'", and described the song as being "funky, catchy, upbeat, not too creepy".[10] "You Rock My World" was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance - Male at the 44th Grammy Awards, but it lost the award to James Taylor's "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight".[11] It was Jackson's first Grammy nomination since 1997, for his single "Earth Song", and his first nomination in that category since 1995.

Wallace Michael Shawn (born November 12, 1943) is an American actor, voice actor, playwright, essayist and comedian. His film roles have included those of Wally Shawn in the Louis Malle directed comedy-drama My Dinner with Andre (1981), Vizzini in The Princess Bride (1987), Mr. Wendell Hall in Clueless (1995) and providing the voice of Rex in the Toy Story franchise. He has also appeared in a variety of television series, including recurring roles as Cyrus Rose in Gossip Girl (2008–2012) and as Grand Nagus Zek in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993–1999).

Parnell voiced Fly in the animated film Hotel Transylvania and is a series regular on the FX animated series Archer. He is also known for his guest appearances as Dr. Leo Spaceman on 30 Rock and provides the voice of the narrator on the PBS children's series WordGirl. From 2011 to 2014, Parnell co-starred on the ABC comedy series Suburgatory where he played the husband of the character played by his former SNL castmate Ana Gasteyer. His role started out as recurring in the first season but he was bumped up to a series regular in the second season. The series aired for three seasons on ABC.

The David S. Pumpkins Animated Halloween Special is a Halloween television special that aired on October 28, 2017, on NBC. With the Saturday Night Live character David S. Pumpkins, it stars Tom Hanks as the title character, as well as Mikey Day, Bobby Moynihan, and Streeter Seidell, with Peter Dinklage as the narrator. It was produced by SNL creator Lorne Michaels and animated by Bento Box Entertainment with a score by Mark Mothersbaugh, and it was written by Day, Moynihan, and Seidell.


Question: Who is the founder of the Ubuntu project?

Mark Shuttleworth, a South African entrepreneur, is the founder and CEO of Canonical Ltd., the company responsible for the development of the popular Linux-based Ubuntu operating system. In addition to his contributions to the tech world, Shuttleworth made history in 2002 as the first independent African citizen to travel to space as a space tourist. Currently residing on the Isle of Man, he holds dual citizenship from South Africa and the United Kingdom.

The Jungle Book came to be used as a motivational book by the Cub Scouts, a junior element of the Scouting movement. This use of the book's universe was approved by Kipling at the request of Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the Scouting movement, who had originally asked for the author's permission for the use of the Memory Game from Kim in his scheme to develop the morale and fitness of working-class youths in cities. Akela, the head wolf in The Jungle Book, has become a senior figure in the movement; the name is traditionally adopted by the leader of each Cub Scout pack.[2]

Greenpeace is a non-governmental[3] environmental organization with offices in over 40 countries and with an international coordinating body in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.[4] Greenpeace was founded by Irving Stowe and Dorothy Stowe, Canadian and US ex-pat environmental activists in 1971, Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth to nurture life in all its diversity"[5] and focuses its campaigning on worldwide issues such as climate change, deforestation, overfishing, commercial whaling, genetic engineering, and anti-nuclear issues. It uses direct action, lobbying, research, and ecotage[6] to achieve its goals. The global organization does not accept funding from governments, corporations, or political parties, relying on 2.9 million individual supporters and foundation grants.[7][8] Greenpeace has a general consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council[9] and is a founding member[10] of the INGO Accountability Charter; an international non-governmental organization that intends to foster accountability and transparency of non-governmental organizations.

Honda's Impossible Dream is a panoramic 2-minute-long television commercial that was launched on 2 December 2005 in the United Kingdom.  It anchored the "Power of Dreams" campaign which also included a website with extensive information about the series of vintage Honda vehicles that were chosen to illustrate the dreams of the founder of  Honda.  It features an actor (Simon Paisley Day) singing, riding and driving across the scenic shorelines and roads of New Zealand, Twin Ring Motegi in Japan, and the Iguazu Falls in South America.

Project HERMES is the first project to have brought this kind of machine into operation. The HERMES-A/MINOTAUR Space Flight Control Center[1] became operative on June 6, 2009 and was operated by representatives of 34 countries on the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) Symposium of Small Satellites for Sustainable Development[2] in Graz, Austria on September 10, 2009. Project HERMES is an initiative of the Ecuadorian Civilian Space Agency and has a maximum coverage of 22,000Â km, HERMES-A is supposed to be the first gateway of a network of five covering all South America. HERMES-A/MINOTAUR can transmit voice as well as data.

Inspired by the actions of Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement in the Cuban Revolution, in 1961 Mandela, Sisulu, and Slovo co-founded Umkhonto we Sizwe ("Spear of the Nation", abbreviated MK). Becoming chairman of the militant group, Mandela gained ideas from literature on guerilla warfare by Marxist militants Mao and Che Guevara as well as from the military theorist Carl von Clausewitz.[115] Although initially declared officially separate from the ANC so as not to taint the latter's reputation, MK was later widely recognised as the party's armed wing.[116] Most early MK members were white communists who were able to conceal Mandela in their homes; after hiding in communist Wolfie Kodesh's flat in Berea, Mandela moved to the communist-owned Liliesleaf Farm in Rivonia, there joined by Raymond Mhlaba, Slovo, and Bernstein, who put together the MK constitution.[117] Although in later life Mandela denied, for political reasons, ever being a member of the Communist Party, historical research published in 2011 strongly suggested that he had joined in the late 1950s or early 1960s.[118] This was confirmed by both the SACP and the ANC after Mandela's death. According to the SACP, he was not only a member of the party, but also served on its Central Committee.[119][120]

In the early days of computing, programmers and developers shared software in order to learn from each other and evolve the field of computing. Eventually the open source notion moved to the way side of commercialization of software in the years 1970-1980. In 1997, Eric Raymond published The Cathedral and the Bazaar, a reflective analysis of the hacker community and free software principles. The paper received significant attention in early 1998, and was one factor in motivating Netscape Communications Corporation to release their popular Netscape Communicator Internet suite as free software. This source code subsequently became the basis behind SeaMonkey, Mozilla Firefox, Thunderbird and KompoZer.

MeeGo is an operating system developed by Intel and Nokia to support Netbooks, Smartphones and tablet PCs. In 2010, Nokia and Intel combined the Maemo and Moblin projects to form MeeGo. The first[clarification needed] MeeGo powered tablet PC is the Neofonie WeTab. The WeTab uses an extended version of the MeeGo operating system called WeTab OS. WeTab OS adds runtimes for Android and Adobe AIR and provides a proprietary user interface optimized for the WeTab device.[citation needed]

Thomas Crapper (baptised 28 September 1836; died 27 January 1910) was a plumber who founded Thomas Crapper & Co in London. He was noted for the quality of his products and received several royal warrants.

In December 1995, YlÃ¶nen founded SSH Communications Security to market and develop SSH. The original version of the SSH software used various pieces of free software, such as GNU libgmp, but later versions released by SSH Communications Security evolved into increasingly proprietary software.

In 2002, Linux kernel development switched to BitKeeper, an SCM system which satisfied Torvalds' technical requirements. BitKeeper was made available to Linus and several others free of charge, but was not free software, which was a source of controversy. The system did provide some interoperability with free SCM systems such as CVS and Subversion.


Question: Who is the founder of the Ubuntu project?

In 2005, Mark Shuttleworth established the Ubuntu Foundation and provided an initial investment of 10 million dollars. Within the Ubuntu project, Shuttleworth is humorously referred to as the "Self-Appointed Benevolent Dictator for Life" (SABDFL). To compile a list of potential hires for the project, he spent six months reviewing Debian mailing list archives while traveling to Antarctica on the icebreaker Kapitan Khlebnikov in early 2004. Additionally, in September 2005, Shuttleworth acquired a 65% share of Impi Linux.

FIRE was founded by Alan Charles Kors, a libertarian professor at the University of Pennsylvania, and Harvey A. Silverglate, a civil-liberties lawyer in Cambridge, Massachusetts.[3] Silverglate remains on FIRE's board,[4] while Kors is Chairman Emeritus. Since March 23, 2006, FIRE's President has been Greg Lukianoff, who previously served as interim president.[5]

These factors and the lack of a widely adopted, free kernel provided the impetus for Torvalds' starting his project. He has stated that if either the GNU Hurd or 386BSD kernels had been available at the time, he likely would not have written his own.[10][11]

However, several independent partial reimplementations of the Java platform had been created, many of them by the open-source community, such as the GNU Compiler for Java (GCJ). Sun never filed lawsuits against any of the open source clone projects. GCJ notably caused a bad user experience for Java on free software supporting distributions such as Fedora and Ubuntu which shipped GCJ at the time as their Java implementation. How to replace GCJ with the Sun JDK was a frequently asked question by users, because GCJ was an incomplete implementation, incompatible and buggy.

After his stint in the armed forces, Armani found a job as a window dresser at La Rinascente, a department store in Milan in 1957. He went on to become a seller for the menswear department, in which capacity he gained valuable experience in the marketing aspect of the fashion industry.[6] In the mid-1960s, Armani moved to the Nino Cerruti company, where he designed menswear. His skills were in demand, and for the next decade, while continuing to work for Cerutti, Armani also freelanced,[7] contributing designs to as many as ten manufacturers at a time. In the late 1960s, Armani met Sergio Galeotti, an architectural draftsman, which marked the beginning of a personal and professional relationship that lasted for many years. In 1973, Galeotti persuaded him to open a design office in Milan, at 37 Corso Venezia. This led to a period of extensive collaboration, during which Armani worked as a freelance designer for a number of fashion houses, including Allegri, Bagutta, Hilton, Sicons, Gibò, Montedoro, and Tendresse. The international press was quick to acknowledge Armani's importance following the runway shows at the Sala Bianca in the Pitti Palace in Florence. The experience provided Armani with an opportunity to develop his own style in new ways. He was now ready to devote his energy to his own label, and on July 24, 1975 he founded Giorgio Armani S.p.A. in Milan, with his friend Galeotti. In October of that same year, he presented his first collection of men's ready-to-wear for Spring and Summer 1976 under his own name. He also produced a women's line for the same season.[8]

In 1977, a graduate student in the computer science department named Bill Joy (MS 1982) assembled[281] the original Berkeley Software Distribution, commonly known as BSD Unix. Joy, who went on to co-found Sun Microsystems, also developed the original version of the terminal console editor vi, while Ken Arnold (BA 1985) created Curses, a terminal control library for Unix-like systems that enables the construction of text user interface (TUI) applications. Working alongside Joy at Berkeley were undergraduates William Jolitz (BS 1997) and his future wife Lynne Jolitz (BA 1989), who together created 386BSD, a version of BSD Unix that runs on Intel CPUs and evolved into the BSD family of free operating systems and the Darwin operating system underlying Apple Mac OS X.[282] Eric Allman (BS 1977, MS 1980) created SendMail, a Unix mail transfer agent that delivers about 12% of the email in the world.[283]

GPI is the product of the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) and developed in consultation with an international panel of peace experts from peace institutes and think tanks with data collected and collated by the Economist Intelligence Unit. The list was launched in May 2007 and updates have been made on an annual basis since then. It is claimed to be the first study to rank countries around the world according to their peacefulness. In 2014 it ranked 162 countries, up from 121 in 2007. The study is the brainchild of Australian technology entrepreneur Steve Killelea, founder of Integrated Research, and is endorsed by individuals such as Kofi Annan, the Dalai Lama, archbishop Desmond Tutu, Finland's President Sauli Niinistö, Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, economist Jeffrey Sachs, former president of Ireland Mary Robinson, former Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations Jan Eliasson and former United States president Jimmy Carter.

In 1989, the first version of the GNU General Public License was published.[26] A slightly updated version 2 was published in 1991. In 1989, some GNU developers formed the company Cygnus Solutions.[27] The GNU project's kernel, later called "GNU Hurd", was continually delayed, but most other components were completed by 1991. Some of these, especially the GNU Compiler Collection, had become market leaders[clarification needed] in their own right. The GNU Debugger and GNU Emacs were also notable successes.

Nokia entered the tablet space with the Nokia 770 running Maemo, a Debian-based Linux distribution custom-made for their Nokia Internet Tablet line. The product line continued with the N900 which is the first to add phone capabilities. Intel, following the launch of the UMPC, started the Mobile Internet Device initiative, which took the same hardware and combined it with a Linux operating system custom-built for portable tablets. Intel co-developed the lightweight Moblin operating system following the successful launch of the Atom CPU series on netbooks.

In 1970 Tim Black and Philip Harvey founded Population Planning Associates (now known as Adam & Eve). Population Planning Associates was a mail-order business that marketed condoms to American college students, despite U.S. laws against sending contraceptives through the mail. Black and Harvey used the profits from their company to start a non-profit organization Population Services International. By 1975, PSI was marketing condoms in Kenya and Bangladesh,[2]:286–7,337–9 and today operates programs in over sixty countries.[19] Harvey left his position as PSI's director in the late 1970s,[20] but in the late 1980s again founded a nonprofit company, DKT International.[2]:286–7,337–9 Named after D.K. Tyagi (a leader of family planning programs in India),[21] DKT International annually sells millions of condoms at discounted rates in developing countries around the world. By selling the condoms instead of giving them away, DKT intends to make its customers invested in using the devices. One of DKT's more notable programs is its work in Ethiopia, where soldiers are required to carry a condom every time they leave base. The rate of HIV infection in the Ethiopian military, about 5%, is believed to be the lowest among African militaries.[2]:286–7,337–9

Universal Disk Format (UDF) version 1.50 and above has facilities to support rewritable discs like sparing tables and virtual allocation tables, spreading usage over the entire surface of a disc and maximising life, but many older operating systems do not support this format. Packet-writing utilities such as DirectCD and InCD are available but produce discs that are not universally readable (although based on the UDF standard). The Mount Rainier standard addresses this shortcoming in CD-RW media by running the older file systems on top of it and performing defect management for those standards, but it requires support from both the CD/DVD burner and the operating system. Many drives made today do not support Mount Rainier, and many older operating systems such as Windows XP and below, and Linux kernels older than 2.6.2, do not support it (later versions do). Essentially CDs/DVDs are a good way to record a great deal of information cheaply and have the advantage of being readable by most standalone players, but they are poor at making ongoing small changes to a large collection of information. Flash drives' ability to do this is their major advantage over optical media.