Question: Who was originally cast to play Phoebe on Charmed?

In the original casting for the series Charmed, Lori Rom was chosen to portray the youngest sister, Phoebe Halliwell, in the unaired pilot. However, she later left the show, leading to the recasting of Alyssa Milano, known from her role in Who's the Boss, as Phoebe for the series' official debut. This change occurred alongside the casting of Shannen Doherty and Holly Marie Combs as the elder sisters Prue and Piper Halliwell, respectively.

Bret Easton Ellis stated that Robert Pattinson had been James's first choice for the role of Christian Grey,[34] but James felt that casting Pattinson and his Twilight co-star Kristen Stewart in the film would be "weird".[35] Ian Somerhalder and Chace Crawford both expressed interest in the role of Christian.[36][37] Somerhalder later admitted if he had been considered, the filming process would ultimately have conflicted with his shooting schedule for The CW's series The Vampire Diaries.[38] On September 2, 2013, James revealed that Charlie Hunnam and Dakota Johnson had been cast as Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele, respectively.[39] The short list of other actresses considered for the role of Anastasia included Alicia Vikander, Imogen Poots, Elizabeth Olsen, Shailene Woodley, and Felicity Jones.[40] Keeley Hazell auditioned for an unspecified role.[41] Lucy Hale also auditioned for the film.[42] Emilia Clarke was also offered the role of Anastasia but turned down the part because of the nudity required.[43] Taylor-Johnson would give every actress who auditioned for the role of Anastasia four pages to read of a monologue from Ingmar Bergman's Persona.[33]

The casting for Carousel began when Oklahoma!'s production team, including Rodgers and Hammerstein, was seeking a replacement for the part of Curly (the male lead in Oklahoma!).  Lawrence Langner had heard, through a relative, of a California singer named John Raitt, who might be suitable for the part.  Langner went to hear Raitt, then urged the others to bring Raitt to New York for an audition.  Raitt asked to sing "Largo al factotum", Figaro's aria from The Barber of Seville, to warm up.  The warmup was sufficient to convince the producers that not only had they found a Curly, they had found a Liliom (or Billy Bigelow, as the part was renamed).[35]  Theresa Helburn made another California discovery, Jan Clayton, a singer/actress who had made a few minor films for MGM.  She was brought east and successfully auditioned for the part of Julie.[27]

In casting the first series of Holby City, Young—who had previously worked on the soap operas Brookside and Family Affairs—selected actors who were already established names in the acting industry, particularly from a soap opera background.[64] French had starred in the BBC's EastEnders, while Stephenson and Faulkner had starred in Brookside.[6] Griffin had also appeared in ITV's Coronation Street.[64] Young explained: "Some of the best performances on screen have come out of soaps in the past few years. There is a fantastic amount of talent on those shows."[6] This propensity for hiring established actors continued as the soap progressed, with former Brookside actress Patricia Potter cast as registrar Diane Lloyd, Star Wars actor Denis Lawson cast as consultant Tom Campbell-Gore, and Family Affairs star Rocky Marshall cast as SHO Ed Keating.[11] Later roles were awarded to comedian Adrian Edmondson, former film actress Patsy Kensit, and Jesus of Nazareth star Powell.[65] When Jane Asher was cast in the recurring role of Lady Byrne in 2007, Inside Soap magazine asked Kyle whether the production team intentionally sought out "well-known-names". She responded: "It's lovely when we have a new member of the cast come in and bring an audience with them. But we want the best actors, and the star names we cast are always the best – which is why we go for them."[47]

Ursula is voiced by American actress and comedian Pat Carroll.[17] Carroll was not the filmmakers' first choice for the role; Clements, Musker and Ashman had long debated who should voice the villainness,[18] the casting of whom was long and tedious, spanning an entire year.[19][20] In his book Makin' Toons: Inside the Most Popular Animated TV Shows and Movies, author Allan Neuwirth documented that the filmmakers searched "for just the right performer who could put across the deep-voiced, world-weary, deadpan villainness they had in mindâ€“but never quite snaring their catch".[21] While Ashman was interested in actress Joan Collins because he was a fan of her performance as Alexis Colby in the soap opera Dynasty,[20] Clements and Musker favored actress Bea Arthur, for whom they had actually written the role,[1] describing Ursula as "having a Bea Arthur-type basso voice" in early drafts of their screenplay.[18] Clements and Musker expected Arthur to accept the role because she had already been working for Disney's Touchstone Television on the sitcom The Golden Girls.[20] However, Arthur's agent resented the directors-writers for insinuating that her client voice a witch,[20] refusing to even present the script to the actress.[18]

Polanski envisioned Rosemary as a robust, full-figured, girl-next-door type, and he wanted Tuesday Weld or his own then-fiancée Sharon Tate for the role. Since the book had not reached bestseller status yet, Evans was unsure the title alone would guarantee an audience for the film, and he felt a bigger name was needed for the lead. Mia Farrow – with only a supporting role in Guns at Batasi (1964) and the then-unreleased A Dandy in Aspic (1968) as her only feature film credits – had an unproven box office track record, but her role as Allison MacKenzie in the popular television series Peyton Place and her unexpected marriage to Frank Sinatra had made her a household name.

During the week of April 7, 2014, rumors circulated that Gaston had been replaced by actor Robert Scott Wilson, with neither actor nor the show commented on the speculation.[8] On April 14, 2014, Soap Opera Digest confirmed the rumor and reported that Gaston was indeed replaced by Wilson, known for being the first male model on The Price Is Right and his portrayal of Peter Cortlandt in the short-lived online reboot of the ABC soap, All My Children.[9] Wilson commented on the news that he would soon depart from the game show, and thanked fans.[10] The following day, Wilson confirmed his final appearance on The Price is Right as April 15, and assured fans that he was not leaving on bad terms but did not comment on his new gig at Days of Our Lives.[11] Wilson made his debut on May 22, 2014, in scenes opposite Kate Mansi as Abigail and Days veteran Kristian Alfonso as Hope Brady.[12] At the time, Wilson was testing for another project on Fox. When the project fell through, Wilson returned to Boston to visit his family for Christmas which is when he learned he got the job. "It came at a time when I didn't expect," Wilson told Soap Opera Digest.[13] Ironically, Wilson had just purchased a brand new Mercedes Benz the week before booking the gig. "Fortune favors the bold" he said of his luck.[14] He started filming on January 8, 2014, and had filmed twelve episodes by the end of February. Wilson accredited his landing the role to his time on All My Children and one of his former costars, Jill Larson who played his mother, Opal. Wilson also found common ground with former AMC alum, Chrishell Stause who played Ben's sister, Jordan Ridgeway and said Stause and [Kate] Mansi helped him make the transition. After landing the gig, Wilson learned he would also be working opposite [Kristian] Alfonso, another Boston native.[13]

Gray had been interested in working with Wahlberg since seeing his performance in Boogie Nights (1997). After reading the script for The Italian Job, Gray contacted Wahlberg, who "fell in love with it" after reading it himself.[7] Green was also attracted to the project because of the script.[10] Theron was Gray's first choice for the character of Stella Bridger, and Wahlberg also recommended her for the role. She spent time with a safecracker in preparing for the role.[7][11] Gray's casting director Sheila Jaffe suggested Statham for the role of getaway driver Handsome Rob, and Gray agreed with her choice.[7] Norton took the role of Steve Frazelli, due to a contractual obligation he had to fulfill.[12] Wahlberg, Theron, and Statham attended special driver's training sessions at Willow Springs International Motorsports Park[13] for nearly a month during pre-production.[14]

Mandy Patinkin and Wallace Shawn were early choices for the cast; Shawn in particular was chosen as Vizzini due to his diminutive size to contrast that of the giant Fezzik.[9] For Fezzik, the production crew told Jenkins they wanted someone the likes of Andre the Giant in size. She contacted the World Wrestling Federation to ask about hiring Andre, but were told that the filming conflicted with a wrestling match in Tokyo that would pay him $5 million dollars. Jenkins auditioned other tall men, including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Lou Ferrigno, and Carel Struycken, but these didn't pan out. Near the end of filming, the World Wrestling Federation told Jenkins that Andre's match in Tokyo had been cancelled, clearing him to play the part in their film.[9]

Marley Eve Shelton (born April 12, 1974) is an American actress. She made her film debut in Grand Canyon (1991), and followed with a line of roles in films aimed at teenage audiences, including The Sandlot (1993), Pleasantville (1998), Never Been Kissed (1999), Sugar & Spice (2001) and Valentine (2001). Shelton has found larger recognition for her appearances in Sin City (2005), Grindhouse (2007) and Scream 4 (2011), and has also starred in numerous independent films throughout her career, including Just a Kiss (2002), Grand Theft Parsons (2003), Women in Trouble (2009), (Untitled) (2009), Elektra Luxx (2010), The Mighty Macs (2011), and Decoding Annie Parker (2014). She recently starred in the short-lived Lifetime show The Lottery (2014).

In November, Chaplin began working with Cherrill again in some of the Flower Girl's less dramatic scenes. While waiting for her scenes for several months, Cherrill had become bored and openly complained to Chaplin. During the filming of one scene, Cherrill asked Chaplin if she could leave early so that she could go to a hair appointment.[25] Chaplin fired Virginia Cherrill and replaced her with Georgia Hale, Chaplin's co-star in The Gold Rush.[18] However, Hale's screen tests proved that she was unsuitable for the role.[26] Chaplin also briefly considered sixteen-year-old actress Violet Krauth, but he was talked out of this idea by his collaborators.[27] Chaplin finally re-hired Cherrill to finish City Lights.[26] She demanded and got a raise to $75 per week.[27] Approximately seven minutes of test footage of Hale survives and is included on the DVD release; excerpts were first seen in the documentary Unknown Chaplin along with an unused opening sequence.[18]


Question: Who is third in line for the presidency in the United States?

The third in line for the presidency of the United States, according to the presidential line of succession, is the Speaker of the House of Representatives, following the vice president. This order is then followed by the President pro tempore of the Senate and the heads of the federal executive departments, starting with the Secretary of State. It's important to note that individuals who are ineligible to act as president, such as those not born as natural U.S. citizens, cannot succeed to the presidency through this line of succession.

Nonetheless, Tyler adhered to his position, even returning, unopened, mail addressed to the "Acting President of the United States" sent by his detractors.[12] Tyler's view ultimately prevailed when the Senate voted to accept the title "President,"[11] and this precedent was followed thereafter. The question was finally resolved by Section 1 of the 25th Amendment, which specifies that "In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President." The amendment does not specify whether officers other than the vice president can become president rather than acting president in the same set of circumstances. The Presidential Succession Act refers only to other officers acting as president rather than becoming president.

The assassination of John F. Kennedy showed the need for a clear way for determining presidential disability in the context of the Cold War.[18] The new President, Lyndon B. Johnson, had once suffered a heart attack[19] and – with the office of Vice President to remain vacant until the next term began on January 20, 1965 – the next two people in the line of succession were the 71-year-old Speaker of the House John McCormack[18][20] and the 86-year-old Senate President pro tempore Carl Hayden.[18][20] Senator Birch Bayh succeeded Kefauver as Chairman of the Subcommittee on Constitutional Amendments and set about advocating for a detailed amendment dealing with presidential disability.[18]

Presidential elections occur quadrennially with registered voters casting their ballots on Election Day, which since 1845 has been the first Tuesday after November 1.[2][3][4] This date coincides with the general elections of various other federal, state, and local races; since local governments are responsible for managing elections, these races typically all appear on one ballot. The Electoral College electors then formally cast their electoral votes on the first Monday after December 12 at their respective state capitals. Congress then certify the results in early January, and the presidential term begins on Inauguration Day, which since the passage of the Twentieth Amendment has been set at January 20.

During debates, senators may only speak if called upon by the presiding officer. The presiding officer is, however, required to recognize the first senator who rises to speak. Thus, the presiding officer has little control over the course of debate. Customarily, the Majority Leader and Minority Leader are accorded priority during debates, even if another senator rises first. All speeches must be addressed to the presiding officer, using the words "Mr. President" or "Madam President." Only the presiding officer may be directly addressed in speeches; other Members must be referred to in the third person. In most cases, senators do not refer to each other by name, but by state, using forms such as "the senior senator from Virginia" or "the junior senator from California."

Both the Speaker and the Vice President sit at the Speaker's desk, behind the President for the duration of the speech. If either is unavailable, the next highest-ranking member of the respective house substitutes. Once the chamber settles down from the President's arrival, the Speaker officially presents the President to the joint session of Congress. The President then delivers the speech from the podium at the front of the House Chamber.

The Twelfth Amendment requires each elector to cast one vote for president and another vote for vice president.[5] In each state and the District of Columbia, electors are chosen every four years on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November, and then meet to cast ballots on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December.[6] The candidates who receive a majority of electoral votes among the states are elected president and vice president of the United States when the Electoral College vote is certified by Congress in early January. Pursuant to the Twentieth Amendment, the terms for president and vice president end at noon on January 20 following an election for those offices; the new terms for those offices then begin.

While nine vice presidents have succeeded to the office upon the death or resignation of the president, and two vice presidents have temporarily served as acting president, no other officer has ever been called upon to act as president. On March 4, 1849, President Zachary Taylor's term began, but he declined to be sworn in on a Sunday, citing religious beliefs, and the vice president was not sworn either. As the last President pro tempore of the Senate, David Rice Atchison was thought by some to be next in line after the vice president, and his tombstone claims that he was US President for the day. However, Atchison took no oath of office to the presidency either, and his term as Senate President pro tempore had by then expired.[16][17]

A candidate must receive an absolute majority of electoral votes (currently 270) to win the presidency or the vice presidency. If no candidate receives a majority in the election for president or vice president, the election is determined via a contingency procedure established by the Twelfth Amendment. In such a situation, the House chooses one of the top three presidential electoral vote-winners as the president, while the Senate chooses one of the top two vice presidential electoral vote-winners as vice president.

President Richard Nixon resigned on August 9, 1974, resulting in Vice President Gerald Ford succeeding to the office of President.[30] Gerald Ford is the only person ever to be Vice President, and later President, without being elected to either office.[31]

During debates, a member may speak only if called upon by the presiding officer. The presiding officer decides which members to recognize, and can therefore control the course of debate.[46] All speeches must be addressed to the presiding officer, using the words "Mr. Speaker" or "Madam Speaker". Only the presiding officer may be directly addressed in speeches; other members must be referred to in the third person. In most cases, members do not refer to each other only by name, but also by state, using forms such as "the gentleman from Virginia", "the distinguished gentlewoman from California", or "my distinguished friend from Alabama".


Question: When did the U.S. dollar depart from the gold standard?

The US dollar was officially taken off the gold standard in 1934 when the Gold Reserve Act was passed by Congress on January 30th. This act resulted in the nationalization of all gold, with Federal Reserve banks required to surrender their gold holdings to the US Treasury. In exchange, the banks received gold certificates to serve as reserves against deposits and Federal Reserve notes. The act also granted the president the authority to devalue the gold dollar, which was exercised on January 31st, 1934, by changing the value of the dollar from $20.67 to $35 per troy ounce, representing a devaluation of over 40%.

For example, Germany had gone off the gold standard in 1914, and could not effectively return to it because War reparations had cost it much of its gold reserves. During the Occupation of the Ruhr the German central bank (Reichsbank) issued enormous sums of non-convertible marks to support workers who were on strike against the French occupation and to buy foreign currency for reparations; this led to the German hyperinflation of the early 1920s and the decimation of the German middle class.

While all agreed that an expanded money supply would inevitably raise prices, at issue was whether or not this inflationary tendency would be beneficial. The issue peaked from 1893 to 1896, when the economy was wracked by a severe depression—remembered as the Panic of 1893—characterized by falling prices (deflation), high unemployment in industrial areas, and severe distress for farmers.[1]

This long term business cycle ended with a number of events in the early 1970s:

The Production Code was officially scrapped in 1968, to be replaced by the first version of the modern rating system.[98] That year, two horror films came out that heralded directions American cinema would take in the next decade, with major consequences for the B movie. One was a high-budget Paramount production, directed by the celebrated Roman Polanski. Produced by B horror veteran William Castle, Rosemary's Baby was the first upscale Hollywood picture in the genre in three decades.[99] It was a critical success and the year's seventh-biggest hit.[100] The other was George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead, produced on weekends in and around Pittsburgh for $114,000. Building on the achievement of B genre predecessors like Invasion of the Body Snatchers in its subtextual exploration of social and political issues, it doubled as a highly effective thriller and an incisive allegory for both the Vietnam War and domestic racial conflicts. Its greatest influence, though, derived from its clever subversion of genre clichÃ©s and the connection made between its exploitation-style imagery, low-cost, truly independent means of production, and high profitability.[101] With the Code gone and the X rating established, major studio A films like Midnight Cowboy could now show "adult" imagery, while the market for increasingly hardcore pornography exploded. In this transformed commercial context, work like Russ Meyer's gained a new legitimacy. In 1969, for the first time a Meyer film, Finders Keepers, Lovers Weepers!, was reviewed in The New York Times.[102] Soon, Corman would be putting out nudity-filled sexploitation pictures such as Private Duty Nurses (1971) and Women in Cages (1971).[103]

Coolidge restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity.[1] As a Coolidge biographer wrote, "He embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength."[2] Coolidge's retirement was relatively short, as he died at the age of 60 in January 1933, less than two months before his immediate successor, Herbert Hoover, left office.

The gold specie standard arose from the widespread acceptance of gold as currency.[5] Various commodities have been used as money; typically, the one that loses the least value over time becomes the accepted form.[6] Chemically, gold is of all major metals the one most resistant to corrosion.[citation needed]

The repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act in 1893 led to the decline of the silver mining industry in the region.[93]

The Upper Peninsula is rich in mineral deposits including iron, copper, nickel and silver. Small amounts of gold have also been discovered and mined. In the 19th century, mining dominated the economy, and the U.P. became home to many isolated company towns. For many years, mines in the Keweenaw Peninsula were the world's largest producers of copper (see Copper mining in Michigan). The mines began declining as early as 1913, with most closing temporarily during the Great Depression. Mines reopened during World War II, but almost all quickly closed after the war ended. The last copper mine in the Copper Country was the White Pine mine, which closed in 1995.

Congress used four main methods to cover the cost of the war, which cost about 66 million dollars in specie (gold and silver).[89] Congress made two issues of paper money—in 1775–1780 and in 1780–81. The first issue amounted to 242 million dollars. This paper money would supposedly be redeemed for state taxes, but the holders were eventually paid off in 1791 at the rate of one cent on the dollar. By 1780, the paper money was "not worth a Continental", as people said.[90]

Nixon was far more interested in foreign affairs than domestic policies, but believed that voters tend to focus on their own financial condition, and that economic conditions were a threat to his reelection. As part of his "New Federalism" views, he proposed grants to the states, but these proposals were for the most part lost in the congressional budget process. However, Nixon gained political credit for advocating them.[173] In 1970, Congress had granted the President the power to impose wage and price freezes, though the Democratic majorities, knowing Nixon had opposed such controls through his career, did not expect Nixon to actually use the authority.[174] With inflation unresolved by August 1971, and an election year looming, Nixon convened a summit of his economic advisers at Camp David. He then announced temporary wage and price controls, allowed the dollar to float against other currencies, and ended the convertibility of the dollar into gold.[175] Bowles points out,


Question: When did the US dollar cease to be pegged to the gold standard?

The U.S. dollar's departure from the gold standard occurred in 1971. This was due to a combination of factors including France's decision to exchange its dollar reserves for gold at the official exchange rate, which began in the late 1950s and continued until 1970, the financial burden of the Vietnam War, and ongoing balance of payments deficits. These circumstances compelled U.S. President Richard Nixon to terminate the international convertibility of the U.S. dollar to gold on August 15, 1971, marking the end of the gold standard for the U.S. currency.

The Brunei dollar (Malay: ringgit Brunei, currency code: BND), has been the currency of the Sultanate of Brunei since 1967. It is normally abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or alternatively B$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies. It is divided into 100 sen (Malay) or cents (English). The Brunei dollar is issued by the Autoriti Monetari Brunei Darussalam (Monetary Authority of Brunei Darussalam). The name is the same in Malaysian ringgit, but the MYR has its own name.

Eisenhower was honored on a US one dollar coin, minted from 1971 to 1978. His centenary was honored on a commemorative dollar coin issued in 1990.

The Kennedy half dollar, first minted in 1964, is a fifty-cent coin currently issued by the United States Mint. Intended as a memorial to the assassinated President John F. Kennedy, it was authorized by Congress just over a month after his death. Use of existing works by Mint sculptors Gilroy Roberts and Frank Gasparro allowed dies to be prepared quickly, and striking of the new coins began in January 1964.

The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression that took place mostly during the 1930s, originating in the United States. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations; in most countries it started in 1929 and lasted until 1941.[1] It was the longest, deepest, and most widespread depression of the 20th century.[2] In the 21st century, the Great Depression is commonly used as an example of how far the world's economy can decline.[3]

The Panama Canal Zone was an unorganized US territory located within the Republic of Panama. It was established under the Hay–Bunau-Varilla Treaty in 1903 and disestablished in 1979 under the Torrijos–Carter Treaties. Panama gained full control over the Panama Canal in 1999.

In the 1790s, the United Kingdom suffered a silver shortage. It ceased to mint larger silver coins and instead issued "token" silver coins and overstruck foreign coins. With the end of the Napoleonic Wars, the Bank of England began the massive recoinage programme that created standard gold sovereigns, circulating crowns, half-crowns and eventually copper farthings in 1821. The recoinage of silver after a long drought produced a burst of coins. The United Kingdom struck nearly 40 million shillings between 1816 and 1820, 17 million half crowns and 1.3 million silver crowns.

The world financial crisis began to overwhelm Britain in 1931; investors across the world started withdrawing their gold from London at the rate of £2½ millions a day.[75] Credits of £25 millions each from the Bank of France and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and an issue of £15 millions fiduciary note slowed, but did not reverse the British crisis. The financial crisis now caused a major political crisis in Britain in August 1931. With deficits mounting, the bankers demanded a balanced budget; the divided cabinet of Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald's Labour government agreed; it proposed to raise taxes, cut spending and most controversially, to cut unemployment benefits 20%. The attack on welfare was totally unacceptable to the Labour movement. MacDonald wanted to resign, but King George V insisted he remain and form an all-party coalition "National Government". The Conservative and Liberals parties signed on, along with a small cadre of Labour, but the vast majority of Labour leaders denounced MacDonald as a traitor for leading the new government. Britain went off the gold standard, and suffered relatively less than other major countries in the Grade Depression. In the 1931 British election, the Labour Party was virtually destroyed, leaving MacDonald as Prime Minister for a largely Conservative coalition.[141][77]

Transatlantic cables are cables that have been laid along the ocean floor to connect North America and Europe. Before the advent of radio, the only means of communication across the Atlantic Ocean was to physically connect the continents with a transatlantic telegraph cable, the first of which was installed from Valentia, Ireland to Heart's Content, Newfoundland in 1858. The first transatlantic telephone cable, TAT-1, was installed in 1955. The first transatlantic fiber optic cable, TAT-8, was installed in 1988. The exchange rate between the United States dollar and British pound is still colloquially known as "cable" by financial marketeers, from the early use of the transatlantic cable for this purpose.

Since economic mainstream turned to the new neoclassical synthesis, expectations are a central element of macroeconomic models. According to Peter Temin, Barry Wigmore, Gauti B. Eggertsson and Christina Romer, the key to recovery and to ending the Great Depression was brought about by a successful management of public expectations. The thesis is based on the observation that after years of deflation and a very severe recession important economic indicators turned positive in March 1933 when Franklin D. Roosevelt took office. Consumer prices turned from deflation to a mild inflation, industrial production bottomed out in March 1933, and investment doubled in 1933 with a turnaround in March 1933. There were no monetary forces to explain that turn around. Money supply was still falling and short term interest rates remained close to zero. Before March 1933 people expected further deflation and a recession so that even interest rates at zero did not stimulate investment. But when Roosevelt announced major regime changes people began to expect inflation and an economic expansion. With these positive expectations, interest rates at zero began to stimulate investment just as they were expected to do. Roosevelt's fiscal and monetary policy regime change helped to make his policy objectives credible. The expectation of higher future income and higher future inflation stimulated demand and investments. The analysis suggests that the elimination of the policy dogmas of the gold standard, a balanced budget in times of crises and small government led endogenously to a large shift in expectation that accounts for about 70â€“80 percent of the recovery of output and prices from 1933 to 1937. If the regime change had not happened and the Hoover policy had continued, the economy would have continued its free fall in 1933, and output would have been 30% lower in 1937 than in 1933.[41][42][43]

The gold specie standard arose from the widespread acceptance of gold as currency.[5] Various commodities have been used as money; typically, the one that loses the least value over time becomes the accepted form.[6] Chemically, gold is of all major metals the one most resistant to corrosion.[citation needed]


Question: When did the US dollar depart from the gold standard?

The US dollar's departure from the gold standard was a gradual process that began in 1971. Initially, as a temporary measure, the dollar's gold price and official exchange rates remained unchanged, but revaluing currencies was the primary objective. The dollar then began to float, and in December 1971, the Smithsonian Agreement was reached, which devalued the dollar from $35 to $38 per troy ounce of gold, with other currencies appreciating. Gold convertibility, however, did not resume. In October 1973, the price was further raised to $42.22, but this devaluation proved insufficient. Within two weeks, the dollar was left to float. Although the $42.22 par value was officially established in September 1973, it had already been abandoned in practice. In October 1976, the government officially redefined the dollar, removing any reference to gold, marking the transition to a pure fiat money international monetary system.

In the 16th century having suffering from the effects of the Black Death, mainland Europe was in the middle of a economic expansion, England however was suffering with financial difficulty brought on by excessive government spending. By the 1540s wars with France and Scotland led Henry VIII to enact The Great Debasement which saw the amount of precious metal in coin significantly reduced.[10] In order to further gather control of the country's currency, monasteries were dissolved which effectively ended major coin production outside of London.

The economist Allan H. Meltzer of Carnegie Mellon University presented arguments against Ron Paul's advocacy of the gold standard since the 1970s. He sometimes summarizes his opposition by stating simply, "[W]e don’t have the gold standard. It’s not because we don’t know about the gold standard, it’s because we do."[110]

Starting with 32nd President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932 during the Great Depression, the party dominated the Fifth Party System, with its liberal/progressive policies and programs with the New Deal coalition to combat the emergency bank closings and the continuing financial depression since the famous Wall Street Crash of 1929 and later going into the crises leading up to the Second World War of 1939/1941 to 1945. The Democrats and the Democratic Party finally lost the White House and control of the executive branch of government only after Roosevelt's death in April 1945 near the end of the war and after the continuing post-war administration of Roosevelt's third Vice President Harry S Truman, former Senator from Missouri (for 1945 to 1953, elections of 1944 and the "stunner" of 1948). A new Republican Party President was only elected later in the following decade of the early 1950s with the losses by two-time nominee, the Governor of Illinois Adlai Stevenson (grandson of the former Vice President with the same name of the 1890s) to the very popular war hero and commanding general in World War II, General Dwight D. Eisenhower (in 1952 and 1956).

In 1933, relief for the studio came after Franklin D. Roosevelt became president and began the New Deal.[78] This economic rebound allowed Warner Bros. to again become profitable.[78] The same year, Zanuck quit. Harry Warner's relationship with Zanuck had become strained after Harry strongly opposed allowing Zanuck's film Baby Face to step outside Hays Code boundaries.[79] The studio reduced his salary as a result of losses from the Great Depression,[80] and Harry refused to restore it as the company recovered.[81] Zanuck[82] established his own company. Harry thereafter raised salaries for studio employees.[81]

The hostages were released on January 20, 1981, the day President Carter's term ended. While Carter had an "obsession" with finishing the matter before stepping down, the hostage-takers are thought to have wanted the release delayed as punishment for his perceived support for the Shah.[14] Iranians insisted on payment in gold rather than U.S. dollars so the U.S. government transferred 50 tonnes of gold to Iran while simultaneously taking ownership of an equivalent quantity of Iranian gold that had been frozen at the New York Federal Reserve Bank.[15] At 6:35 a.m., Deputy Secretary of State Warren Christopher informed Carter that, "All escrows were signed at 6:18. The Bank of England has certified that they hold $7.98 billion, the correct amount". At 8:04 a.m., Algeria confirmed that the bank certification was complete, and the Algerians were notifying Iran. At 9:45 a.m., Christopher told Carter take-off would be by noon, but, as a security measure, the Iranian officials did not want the word released until the hostages were out of Iranian airspace. President Carter said the United States would comply.[16]

The 1935 series was the only series to have included $25 and $500 denominations. Both denominations were short lived. The $25 note was withdrawn on May 18, 1937. Stacks of unissued 1935 $500 notes were destroyed in February 1938, and issued $500 notes were recalled and withdrawn from circulation five months later.

Following Germany's decision after the 1870–1871 Franco-Prussian War to extract reparations to facilitate a move to the gold standard, Japan gained the needed reserves after the Sino-Japanese War of 1894–1895. For Japan, moving to gold was considered vital for gaining access to Western capital markets.[13]

The forced contraction of the money supply resulted in deflation. Even as nominal interest rates dropped, inflation-adjusted real interest rates remained high, rewarding those who held onto money instead of spending it, further slowing the economy.[39] Recovery in the United States was slower than in Britain, in part due to Congressional reluctance to abandon the gold standard and float the U.S. currency as Britain had done.[40]

The Fairness Doctrine was a policy of the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC), introduced in 1949, that required the holders of broadcast licenses both to present controversial issues of public importance and to do so in a manner that was—in the Commission's view—honest, equitable, and balanced. The FCC eliminated the policy in 1987 and removed the rule that implemented the policy from the Federal Register in August 2011.[1]

By consideration financial crisis one key difference is the monetary regime. In the 19th century it occurred under the fixed exchange rates of the gold standard. But in the 20th century it took place in a regime of managed flexibility. Furthermore, in the 19th century countries had developed effective lenders of last resort, but the same was not true at the periphery and countries there suffered the consequences. A century later there was a domestic safety net in most emerging countries so that banking panics were changed into situations where the debts of an insolvent banking system were taken over by the government. The recovery from banking crisis is another key difference. It has tended to begin earlier in the recent period than in the typical crisis episode a hundred years ago. In the 19th century there were no international rescue packages available to emerging economies. But in the recent period such rescues were a typical component of the financial landscape all over the world.


Question: Where did the band Smashing Pumpkins get their name from?

The Smashing Pumpkins derived their name from an idea that singer and guitarist Billy Corgan conceived while working at a record store in Chicago after his previous band, the Marked, disbanded. He met guitarist James Iha there, and together they began composing songs, heavily influenced by bands like The Cure and New Order. They made their debut live performance on July 9, 1988, at Chicago 21, featuring Corgan on bass and Iha on guitar, accompanied by a drum machine. Soon after, Corgan encountered D'arcy Wretzky, who played bass, and she was brought into the band. Following their first show as a trio at the Avalon Nightclub, they were required by Cabaret Metro owner Joe Shanahan to replace the drum machine with a live drummer to secure future bookings.

"Paranoid Android" is a song by the English alternative rock band Radiohead, released as the lead single from their third studio album OK Computer (1997) on 26 May 1997. The darkly humorous lyrics were written primarily by singer Thom Yorke following an unpleasant experience in a Los Angeles bar. The song is more than six minutes long and contains four distinct sections. "Paranoid Android" takes its name from Marvin the Paranoid Android of Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series.

Bell began his career with local groups around the Belfast area, including the last incarnation of Them to feature Van Morrison, between September and October 1966.[2] He also played with a number of other bands including Shades of Blue, The Earth Dwellers and The Bluebeats, before joining an Irish showband named The Dreams.[2][3] He left in 1969 having tired of the showband format, and at the end of that year he formed a band with local musicians Phil Lynott, Eric Wrixon and Brian Downey. Bell named the group Thin Lizzy, after Tin Lizzie, a robot character in The Dandy comic.[4]

After opening for him with his band Bluesology, pianist Reginald Dwight was inspired to be a "rock and roll piano player", later changing his name to Elton John.[203] Farrokh Bulsara performed covers of Little Richard's songs as a teen, before finding fame as Freddie Mercury, frontman for Queen.[204] Little Richard was referred to as Lou Reed's rock and roll hero, deriving inspiration from "the soulful, primal force" of the sound made by Little Richard and his saxophonist on "Long Tall Sally." Reed later stated, "I don't know why and I don't care, but I wanted to go to wherever that sound was and make a life."[205] Patti Smith said, "To me, Little Richard was a person that was able to focus a certain physical, anarchistic, and spiritual energy into a form which we call rock 'n' roll ... I understood it as something that had to do with my future. When I was a little girl, Santa Claus didn't turn me on. Easter Bunny didn't turn me on. God turned me on. Little Richard turned me on."[206] The music of Deep Purple and Motörhead was also influenced by Little Richard, as well as that of AC/DC.[207][208] The latter's Bon Scott idolized Little Richard and aspired to sing like him, and Angus Young was first inspired to play guitar after listening to Little Richard's music.[209][210][211][207][208] Later performers such as Mystikal, André "André 3000" Benjamin of Outkast and Bruno Mars were cited by critics as having emulated Little Richard's style in their own works. Mystikal's rap vocal delivery was compared to Little Richard's.[212] André 3000's vocals in Outkast's hit, "Hey Ya!", were compared to an "indie rock Little Richard".[213] Bruno Mars admitted Little Richard was one of his earliest influences.[214] Mars' song, "Runaway Baby" from his album, Doo-Wops & Hooligans was cited by The New York Times as "channeling Little Richard".[215] Prior to his passing in 2017, Audioslave's and Soundgarden's frontman Chris Cornell traced his musical influences back to Little Richard via The Beatles.[216]

In this chapter, the midget wakes up peculiar to seeing three guns and tries to get out of the situation. Sylvester then begs Bridget and James to put their guns down, to which they adamantly refuse. Bridget then tells Sylvester she will drop the gun if James does not hurt the midget, whose name is revealed as "Big Man", a stripper at a club called Dixie's. When Sylvester asks why he was named that, the midget points down to his pants and tell him he is "blessed". After seeing Sylvester and Big Man communicating, James shuts them up calling them "Chuck and Rufus", which confuses Sylvester, who demands to know how James knew of them, though James acts bewildered to Sylvester's question. Just as James looks as if he was going to answer, Bridget starts getting sick. It is then revealed that Bridget is three months pregnant, presumably with James' baby. After James' constant prompts to Sylvester, Twan and Big Man with his gun to leave, Bridget stops him and admits paying Big Man and even admitted that she knew that James had been cheating on her with Gwendolyn, saying that she had followed him around. When James demands to know what Bridget is really telling him, Bridget says that Big Man is her baby's father, which negates her previous excuse from chapter 9 as being "that time of the month". Big Man again faints at the news.

The history of the group began with the instrumental outfit, The Nite-Liters, which was originally formed in 1963 in Louisville, Kentucky by Tony Churchill and Harvey Fuqua. In its heyday, besides Churchill on tenor sax and vibes, the band featured Charlie Hearndon on guitar, James Baker on keyboards, Robin Russell on drums, Robert "Lurch" Jackson on trumpet, Austin Lander on baritone sax, Leroy Taylor on bass, and, later, Carl McDaniel on guitar. Earlier members included Johnny Graham, later of Earth, Wind & Fire and Jerry Bell was also a member at one time. Some sources identify The Nite-Liters as the band that played as "The Crawlers" with Chicago artist Alvin Cash on his R&B #1 1964 hit, "Twine Time."

Following the commercially unsuccessful Baron von Tollbooth & the Chrome Nun (1973; credited to Kantner, Slick and Freiberg) and Manhole (1974; credited to Slick), Jefferson Airplane evolved into Jefferson Starship in January 1974.[25] The initial lineup consisted of the remaining members of Jefferson Airplane (Kantner, Slick, Freiberg, Barbata, Creach); bassist Peter Kaukonen (soon replaced by British multi-instrumentalist Pete Sears, a veteran of Creach's solo oeuvre and Manhole); and lead guitarist Craig Chaquico, a member of Grunt Records band Jack Traylor and Steelwind who contributed to the Kantner/Slick solo albums beginning with Sunfighter. They appropriated the name from Kantner's Blows Against the Empire, with Bill Thompson convincing the group that maintaining the connection was prudent from a business standpoint.[26] Reflecting the transition, their first album (Dragon Fly, released in September 1974) was credited to Slick, Kantner and Jefferson Starship.

The Green Man was a track by early English acid house outfit Shut Up and Dance who entered the UK charts in 1992. A song "Greenman" by English band XTC featured on their album Apple Venus Volume 1 (lyrics included "See the Greenman blow his kiss from high church wall"). A song called "Green Man" is on American heavy metal band Type O Negative's album October Rust. The green man is the subject of Roy Harper's "The Green Man", the lead song on his album of the same name. The track "Diadem" on Waterson–Carthy's 2006 album Holy Heathens and the Old Green Man has phrases which suggest that the figure being adored is some kind of Green Man.

To distinguish themselves from the professional baseball team of the same name, the football team was incorporated as the "New York National League Football Company, Inc." in 1929 and changed to "New York Football Giants, Inc." in 1937. While the baseball team moved to San Francisco after the 1957 season, the football team continues to use "New York Football Giants, Inc." as its legal corporate name,[6] and is often referred to by fans and sportscasters as the "New York Football Giants". The team has also acquired several nicknames, including "Big Blue", the "G-Men", and the "Jints", an intentionally mangled contraction seen frequently in the New York Post and New York Daily News, originating from the baseball team when they were based in New York. Additionally, the team as a whole is occasionally referred to as the "Big Blue Wrecking Crew", even though this moniker primarily and originally refers to the Giants defensive unit during the 80s and early 90s (and before that to the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball teams of the late 1970s and early 1980s).[7]

Aqualung, Aqua-Lung, and Aqua Lung are registered trademarks for scuba diving breathing equipment. That trade name was originally owned in the United States by a company known as U.S. Divers (now Aqua Lung America). The term was in use before the trademark was registered by René Bussoz, who owned a sporting goods store called René Sports in Los Angeles. He obtained a contract with the French firm Air Liquide, the parent company of Aqua Lung/La Spirotechnique, to import the new scuba equipment into the United States for sale on the Pacific coast (SPACO had the contract for the Atlantic coast). Bussoz changed the name of his company to U.S. Divers and registered the name Aqua-Lung. This turned out to be a wise move, because when the French company decided not to renew his five year contract, no one had even heard of their product, but everyone was familiar with the names he had registered. Bussoz sold the company and the trade names for a handsome profit, returning to France. The name US Divers sounded very official and very American, but it was owned by a Frenchman and sold to a French company.

In 2006, the band supported The Academy Is... on the band's worldwide tour "Ambitious Ones and Smoking Guns" from January to May.[18] Beginning in June, the group headlined its first unnamed national tour, that would last until August.[19] During the group's performance at the 2006 Reading Festival in August, the band was greeted by excessive bottling, one of which hit Urie in the face that knocked him unconscious. Despite this, the band continued with its set after Urie recovered.[20] The band's second headlining tour, dubbed the Nothing Rhymes with Circus Tour, began in November. In roughly one year, Panic! at the Disco went from being the opening act on a five-band bill to the headliners on a massive arena tour.[21]


Question: Who portrayed Bailey in "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants"?

Jenna Boyd, an actress from Bedford, Texas, is known for her role as Bailey Graffman in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (2005). Prior to this, she appeared in The Missing and Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star. Boyd's performance in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants was praised, despite the film's mixed reception. She has also starred in the Lifetime miniseries The Gathering and the Ghost Whisperer episode "Children of Ghosts," and played Paige Hardaway in the Netflix Original Series Atypical (2017).

In 2006, Kikuchi was chosen by Japanese film producer Yoko Narahashi for the Alejandro González Iñárritu film Babel,[3] where she played Chieko Wataya, a deaf-mute teenage girl, for which she received international attention[2] including a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.[4] She won several awards, such as the National Board of Review Award for Best Breakthrough Female Performance (tying with Jennifer Hudson) and the Gotham Award for Breakthrough Actor.

Mara's first television role was in the NBC legal drama Law & Order in 1997. She went on to guest star on numerous television series, including Madigan Men, Ed and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Mara landed two recurring roles in 2003, as Kate on Everwood, an 18-year-old who is impregnated by her piano teacher and then gets an abortion, and as Vanessa on Nip/Tuck, a bisexual cheerleader involved in a love triangle with her boyfriend Matt McNamara (John Hensley) and another cheerleader (Sophia Bush).[14] Mara also appeared on Cold Case, Boston Public, CSI: Miami and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation that same year.

Abigail Leigh Spencer (born August 4, 1981) is an American actress known for her recurring roles on Mad Men and Suits, and for starring in the series Rectify and Timeless.

Character actor Arthur Kennedy was cast as Emerson Cole. Kennedy was confined to shooting riding scenes until his knee healed, after spraining it while filming the fight scene with Jay C. Flippen, who plays Jeremy Baile, the leader of the Baile family. Julie Adams was cast as Laura while Lori Nelson was cast as her sister Marjie. Adams is best known for her role as Kay Lawrence in the 1954 horror film Creature from the Black Lagoon and Nelson played the female lead role in the 1955 sequel Revenge of the Creature, which were both directed by Jack Arnold. Rock Hudson played Trey Wilson, a professional gambler.

Anderson was added to the cast of the television series Beauty & the Beast in March 2012,[9] playing the recurring role of Heather Chandler, Catherine's (Kristin Kreuk) younger sister.[10] In May 2013, it was announced that Anderson had joined Ravenswood, a Pretty Little Liars spin-off, as Miranda Collins, a foster kid, who relies on her wits to cover her emotional scars.[11] Prior to appearing in Ravenswood, Anderson appeared in the Pretty Little Liars episode "Grave New World", introducing her character, Miranda Collins.[12] After the cancellation of Ravenswood, Anderson returned for the third season of Beauty & the Beast as a regular cast member.[13]

VanCamp starred in Hallmark Hall of Fame film Beyond the Blackboard, based on the true story of teacher Stacey Bess, whom VanCamp portrays.[14] The film aired on CBS on April 24, 2011. She was then cast as Amanda Clarke/Emily Thorne in the ABC drama Revenge, which was given a series order in May 2011.[15][16] As the first TV show VanCamp has truly headlined, Revenge has garnered her a significant amount of recognition, including multiple Teen Choice Awards nominations.

Oksana Sergeevna Akinshina (Russian: Оксана Сергеевна Акиньшина; born 19 April 1987) is a Russian actress. She is best known for her roles in films Sisters (2001), Lilya 4-ever (2002), The Bourne Supremacy (2004), and Hipsters (2008).

Where the Heart Is is a 2000 American romantic drama film directed by Matt Williams in his film directing debut. The film stars Natalie Portman, Stockard Channing, Ashley Judd, and Joan Cusack with supporting roles performed by James Frain, Dylan Bruno, Keith David, and Sally Field. The screenplay, written by Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel, is based on the best-selling novel by Billie Letts. The film follows five years in the life of Novalee Nation, a pregnant 17-year-old, who is abandoned by her boyfriend at a Walmart in a small Oklahoma town. She secretly moves into the store, where she eventually gives birth to her baby, which attracts media attention. With the help of friends, she makes a new life for herself in the town.

One night, Hayley is outside studying the night sky for her science class, while Alexia relaxes in the outdoor hot tub with her boyfriend, Kyle (Don Jeffcoat). When Hayley sees a shooting star, she wishes aloud to become her sister Alexia, then turns to see Alexia also watching the sky. The two of them awaken the next morning to find themselves trapped in each other's body. Hayley assumes responsibility for the swap, mentioning her wish.

As Perry sits in her car outside of the office where Jason (Lucas Kerr), her boyfriend is working at, she sees him interacting flirtatiously with a woman (Ashley Tisdale of High School Musical fame). Perry confronts him in his office, slams down her heart pendant on the desk and ends their relationship before Jason, can get a chance to talk to her as we see Perry, storming out the door. The title track begins as we see Perry driving to a gas station, where she buys a can of tea. After paying for her items, she sees a moto-sticker on a notice board which reads, "All women are created equal, then some become Marines". The increasingly emotional Perry gathers her possessions, from her car trunk, enters a nearby restroom, and begins her change of identity. She cuts her hair short (at this point bursting into tears), removes her bracelets, flattens her breasts, and changes into a hoodie and jeans.


Question: How to determine who plays white in chess?

In chess tournaments and matches, the determination of who plays as white and who plays as black is a significant factor. For matches, the initial choice of colors is decided by a random draw, with the colors alternating for each subsequent game. In round-robin tournaments with an uneven number of participants, players receive an equal number of games as white and black. However, in tournaments with an even number of players, one player may receive an additional game as white or black. In the event of a player withdrawing from the tournament, the tournament director may adjust the color assignments to ensure no player has a significant advantage. The double-round robin format is often considered the fairest, as each player has the same number of games as white and black, and faces both colors against each opponent.

Lajos Portisch–Mikhail Tal, Candidates Match 1965: 1. Nf3 c5 2. c4 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. g3 g6 5. Bg2 Bg7 6. 0-0 0-0 7. d3 a6 8. a3 Rb8 9. Rb1 b5 10. cxb5 axb5 11. b4 cxb4 12. axb4 d6 13. Bd2 Bd7 (see diagram). Once again, White is on move in a symmetrical position, but it is not obvious what he can do with his first-move initiative.[162] Soltis writes, "It's ridiculous to think Black's position is better. But Mikhail Tal said it is easier to play. By moving second he gets to see White's move and then decide whether to match it."[140] 14. Qc1 Here, Soltis writes that Black could maintain equality by keeping the symmetry: 14...Qc8 15.Bh6 Bh3. Instead, he plays to prove that White's queen is misplaced. 14... Rc8! 15. Bh6 Nd4! Threatening 16...Nxe2+. 16. Nxd4 Bxh6 17. Qxh6 Rxc3 18. Qd2 Qc7 19. Rfc1 Rc8 (diagram). Although the pawn structure is still symmetrical, Black's control of the c-file gives him the advantage.[140] Black ultimately reached an endgame two pawns up, but White managed to hold a draw in 83 moves.[163]

A manuscript explaining the rules of the game called "Matikan-i-chatrang" (the book of chess) in Middle Persian or Pahlavi still exists.[citation needed]

Writings about the theory of how to play chess began to appear in the 15th century. The oldest surviving printed chess book, Repetición de Amores y Arte de Ajedrez (Repetition of Love and the Art of Playing Chess) by Spanish churchman Luis Ramirez de Lucena was published in Salamanca in 1497.[52] Lucena and later masters like Portuguese Pedro Damiano, Italians Giovanni Leonardo Di Bona, Giulio Cesare Polerio and Gioachino Greco or Spanish bishop Ruy López de Segura developed elements of openings and started to analyze simple endgames. In the 18th century the center of European chess life moved from the Southern European countries to France. The two most important French masters were François-André Danican Philidor, a musician by profession, who discovered the importance of pawns for chess strategy, and later Louis-Charles Mahé de La Bourdonnais who won a famous series of matches with the Irish master Alexander McDonnell in 1834.[55] Centers of chess life in this period were coffee houses in big European cities like Café de la Régence in Paris[56] and Simpson's Divan in London.[57]

Modern writers often think of Black's role in more dynamic terms than merely trying to equalize. Rowson writes that "the idea of Black trying to 'equalize' is questionable. I think it has limited application to a few openings, rather than being an opening prescription for Black in general."[91] Evans wrote that after one of his games against Fischer, "Fischer confided his 'secret' to me: unlike other masters, he sought to win with the Black pieces from the start. The revelation that Black has dynamic chances and need not be satisfied with mere equality was the turning point in his career, he said."[94] Likewise, Watson surmised that Kasparov, when playing Black, bypasses the question of whether White has an opening advantage "by thinking in terms of the concrete nature of the dynamic imbalance on the board, and seeking to seize the initiative whenever possible".[6] Watson observes that "energetic opening play by Black may ... lead to a position so complex and unclear that to speak of equality is meaningless. Sometimes we say 'dynamically balanced' instead of 'equal' to express the view that either player is as likely as the other to emerge from complications with an advantage. This style of opening play has become prevalent in modern chess, with World Champions Fischer and Kasparov as its most visible practitioners."[95]

In professional and serious (tournament) amateur games, a player who makes an illegal move loses immediately. The loss stands even if play continued and the move was discovered later in game. However, if neither the opponent nor a third party points out the illegal move and the opponent later resigned, the resignation stands as the result.

Repetition draws are rare in professional shogi occurring in about 1â€“2% of games and even rarer in amateur games. In professional shogi, repetition draws usually occur in the opening as certain positions are reached that are theoretically disadvantaged for both sides (zugzwang). In amateur shogi, repetition draws tend to occur in the middle or endgame as a result of player errors.

Each player takes a stroke in turn, each trying to hit a ball through the same hoop. The sequence of play is blue, red, black, yellow. Blue and black balls play against red and yellow. When a hoop is won, the sequence of play continues as before. The winner of the game is the player/team who wins the most hoops.

In the position in the first diagram, White can get out of check by three methods:

Although it is very much a minority view, three prominent twentieth-century masters claimed that White's advantage should or may be decisive with best play.


Question: How did the term "bayonet" originate in the English language?

The term "bayonet" originated in the late 16th century, although its early definition was ambiguous. Cotgrave's 1611 dictionary describes it as a small, flat pocket knife, or a large knife worn at the waist. Pierre Borel, in 1655, mentioned a long knife known as a bayonette produced in Bayonne, but provided no additional details. This etymological journey reflects the evolving understanding of the term in the English language.

Compared to other source languages, very few of the words borrowed into English come from Russian.[1]  Direct borrowing first began with contact between England and Russia in the 16th century and picked up heavily in the 20th century with the establishment of the Soviet Union as a major world power.[2]  Most of them are used to denote things and notions specific to Russia, Russian culture, politics, history, especially well known outside Russia. Some others are in mainstream usage, independent of any Russian context.

Some words which are spelt the same in both languages may even carry entirely different meanings in the other language, potentially leading to humorous or embarrassing situations: while baja means "steel" in Indonesian, in Malaysian it means "fertiliser". Also, whereas the Indonesian word butuh means "require" or "need", in Malaysian, it is a vulgar slang term equivalent to "cunt/cock". Conversely, where the word "banci" seems innocuous enough in Malaysia ("census"), in Indonesia it is a derogatory term for "transvestite".

21st-century anthropologist and archeologist Silvia Tomaskova argues that by the mid-1600s, many Europeans applied the Arabic term shaitan, meaning "devil," to the non-Christian practices and beliefs of indigenous peoples beyond the Ural Mountains.[21] She suggests that shaman may have entered the various Tungus dialects as a corruption of this term, and then been told to the white, male and Christian missionaries, explorers, soldiers and colonial administrators with whom the people had increasing contact for centuries. Ethnolinguists did not develop as a discipline nor achieve contact with these communities until the late 19th century, and may have mistakenly "read backward" in time for the origin of this word.

The change with the queen is likely due to the Arabic word firzān or Persian word farzīn (= "vizier") being confused with Turkic or Mongolian native words (merzé = "mastiff", bar or bars = "tiger", arslan = "lion").[19]

Bluefin tuna were often referred to as the common tunny, especially in the UK, Australia, and New Zealand. The name "tuna", a derivative of the Spanish atún, was widely adopted in California in the early 1900s and has since become accepted for all tunas, including the bluefin, throughout the English-speaking world. In some languages, the red color of the bluefin's meat is included in its name, as in atún rojo (Spanish) and tonno rosso (Italian), amongst others.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, "Chew the fat" first appeared in 1885 in a book by J Brunlees Patterson called Life in the Ranks of the British Army in India. He implied it was a kind of general grumbling and bending of the ears of junior officers to stave off boredom, a typical part of army life.[8] Patterson also uses "chew the rag" in the same sentence he used "chew the fat", but it is not the oldest occurrence.[8] Prior to the adoption of metallic cartridges, most ammunition was composed of powder and a ball wrapped in paper or cloth soaked in animal fat, which was bitten open during musket drill. Soldiers were known to chew on these ends to pass the time and reduce nerves, and in some cases to stave off cravings for chewing tobacco. Though long-since replaced by 1885, the idea of biting or chewing on fat-soaked rag ends may well have entered military parlance in this fashion prior to Patterson's recording.[citation needed]

In the 19th century, British writers who considered this word either an imposition on the English language, or difficult for common soldiers and sailors, argued for it to be replaced by the calque "steadholder". However, their efforts failed, and the French word is still used, along with its many variations (e.g. lieutenant colonel, lieutenant general, lieutenant commander, flight lieutenant, second lieutenant and many non-English language examples), in both the Old and the New World.[citation needed]

The socket bayonet had by then been adopted by most European armies. The British socket bayonet had a triangular blade with a flat side towards the muzzle and two fluted sides outermost to a length of 15 inches (38Â cm). However it had no lock to keep it fast to the muzzle and was well-documented for falling off in the heat of battle.[5]

The use of the word abacus dates before 1387 AD, when a Middle English work borrowed the word from Latin to describe a sandboard abacus. The Latin word came from Greek ἄβαξ abax which means something without base, and improperly, any piece of rectangular board or plank.[2][3][4] Alternatively, without reference to ancient texts on etymology, it has been suggested that it means "a square tablet strewn with dust",[5] or "drawing-board covered with dust (for the use of mathematics)"[6] (the exact shape of the Latin perhaps reflects the genitive form of the Greek word, ἄβακoς abakos). Whereas the table strewn with dust definition is popular, there are those that do not place credence in this at all and in fact state that it is not proven.[7][nb 1] Greek ἄβαξ itself is probably a borrowing of a Northwest Semitic, perhaps Phoenician, word akin to Hebrew ʾābāq (אבק), "dust" (or in post-Biblical sense meaning "sand used as a writing surface").[8]

The English word alphabet came into Middle English from the Late Latin word alphabetum, which in turn originated in the Greek ἀλφάβητος (alphabētos). The Greek word was made from the first two letters, alpha and beta.[7] The names for the Greek letters came from the first two letters of the Phoenician alphabet; aleph, which also meant ox, and bet, which also meant house.


Question: How many national parks are currently located in India?

As of July 2017, India has established 103 national parks, covering a total area of 40,500 km2 (15,600 sq mi), which represents 1.23% of the country's total land area. This expansion in protected areas was partly due to additional federal legislation passed in the 1980s to enhance wildlife conservation efforts.

At the turn of the 20th century common concepts of what should be protected in national parks invariably included formidable geologic features like mountains, geysers, or canyons. As Florida's population began to grow significantly and urban areas near the Everglades were developed, proponents of the park's establishment faced difficulty in persuading the federal government and the people of Florida that the subtle and constantly shifting ecosystems in the Everglades were just as worthy of protection.[22] When the park was established in 1947, it became the first area within the U.S. to protect flora and fauna native to a region as opposed to geologic scenery.[10] The National Park Service recognizes nine distinct interdependent ecosystems within the park that constantly shift in size owing to the amount of water present and other environmental factors.

The Central University of Bihar (CUB) is one of the sixteen central universities newly established by the Government of India under the Central Universities Act, 2009 (Section 25 of 2009). The university is temporarily located on the premises of the Birla Institute of Technology, Patna. The university is likely to be relocated to Panchanpur, approximately 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) from Gaya, on 300 acres (120 ha) of land to be transferred soon from the military. On 28 February 2014, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar laid the foundation stone.

Angel Island Immigration Station was an immigration station located in San Francisco Bay which operated from January 21, 1910 to November 5, 1940,[3] where immigrants entering the United States were detained and interrogated. Angel Island (California) is an island in San Francisco Bay. It is currently a State Park administered by California State Parks and a California Historical Landmark. The island was originally a fishing and hunting site for Coastal Miwok Indians, then it was a haven for Spanish explorer Juan Manuel de Ayala. Later, it was developed as a cattle ranch, then, starting with the Civil War, the island served as a U.S. Army post. During the island's Immigration Station period, the island held hundreds of thousands of immigrants, the majority from China, Japan, India, Mexico and the Philippines. The detention facility was considered ideal because of its isolated location, making it very easy to control immigrants, contain outbreaks of disease, and enforce the new immigration laws.[4] The station is listed on the National Register of Historic Places under the title Angel Island, U.S. Immigration Station, and is a National Historic Landmark.

In 1985, Indian government created the Ministry of Environment and Forests. This ministry is the central administrative organisation in India for regulating and ensuring environmental protection.

A report, released at the IUCN World Parks Congress in Sydney on 13 November 2014 showed that the 209,000 conservation reserves around the world now cover 15.4 per cent of the total land area. The new figures are a step in the right direction of protecting 17 percent of land and 10 percent of ocean environments on Earth by 2020 since an agreement between the world's nations at the Convention on Biological Diversity, held in Japan in 2010.[38]

Kipling lived in India as a child, and most of the stories[a] are evidently set there, though it is not entirely clear where. The Kipling Society notes that "Seonee" (Seoni, in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh) is mentioned several times, and that the first Mowgli story, "In the Rukh", is set in a forest reserve somewhere in northern India. "Mowgli's Brothers" was positioned in the Aravalli hills of Rajasthan (northwestern India) in an early manuscript, later changed to Seonee, and Bagheera treks from "Oodeypore" (Udaipur), a journey of reasonable length to Aravalli but a long way from Seoni.[8] Seoni has a tropical savanna climate, with a dry and a rainy season. This is drier than a monsoon climate and does not support tropical rainforest.[9] Forested parks and reserves that claim to be associated with the stories include Kanha Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh,[10] and Pench National Park, near Seoni.[11] However, Kipling never visited the area.[8]

Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan are also building technology parks as part of their drive to modernize infrastructure. In 2011, construction began of a technopark in the village of Bikrova near Ashgabat, the Turkmen capital. It will combine research, education, industrial facilities, business incubators and exhibition centres. The technopark will house research on alternative energy sources (sun, wind) and the assimilation of nanotechnologies. Between 2010 and 2012, technological parks were set up in the east, south and north Kazakhstan oblasts (administrative units) and in the capital, Astana. A Centre for Metallurgy was also established in the east Kazakhstan oblast, as well as a Centre for Oil and Gas Technologies which will be part of the planned Caspian Energy Hub. In addition, the Centre for Technology Commercialization has been set up in Kazakhstan as part of the Parasat National Scientific and Technological Holding, a joint stock company established in 2008 that is 100% state-owned. The centre supports research projects in technology marketing, intellectual property protection, technology licensing contracts and start-ups. The centre plans to conduct a technology audit in Kazakhstan and to review the legal framework regulating the commercialization of research results and technology.[28]

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is the regional intergovernmental organization and geopolitical union of nations in South Asia. Its member states include Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, the Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. SAARC comprises 3% of the world's area, 21% of the world's population and 3.8% (US$2.9 trillion)[3] of the global economy, as of 2015.

In 1800, some 800,000 hectares was irrigated in India.[8] The British Raj by 1940 built significant number of canals and irrigation systems in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar,[12] Punjab, Assam and Orissa.[13][14][15] The Ganges Canal reached 350 miles from Haridwar to Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh. In Assam, a jungle in 1840, by 1900 had 4,000,000 acres under cultivation, especially in tea plantations. In all, the amount of irrigated land multiplied by a factor of eight. Historian David Gilmour states British colonial government had built irrigation network with Ganges canal and that, "by the end of the century the new network of canals in the Punjab" were in place.[16]

In some Federal systems, many parks are managed by the sub-national levels of government. In Brazil, the United States, and some states in Mexico, as well as in the Australian state of Victoria, these are known as state parks, whereas in Argentina, Canada and South Korea, they are known as provincial or territorial parks. In the United States, it is also common for individual counties to run parks, these are known as county parks.


Question: What were some notable achievements of the Han Dynasty?

During the Han Dynasty, numerous achievements in science and technology significantly enhanced the quality of life. Innovations included the development of papermaking, which replaced hempen-bound bamboo scrolls with a more affordable and accessible writing medium by the 2nd century AD. The invention of the wheelbarrow facilitated the transportation of heavy loads, while the maritime junk ship and stern-mounted steering rudder allowed for oceanic navigation. The creation of the grid reference for maps and raised-relief maps improved geographical understanding. In medicine, the Han Chinese utilized herbal remedies, calisthenics, and regulated diets for health maintenance. The seismometer, activated by a vibration-sensitive pendulum, provided early warning of earthquakes. The Han calendar, developed through astronomical and mathematical studies, marked the seasons and occasions. Mathematical advancements included the discovery of square roots, cube roots, the Pythagorean theorem, Gaussian elimination, the Horner scheme, and negative numbers. Infrastructure improvements, such as roads, canals, and various bridge types, supported transport, commerce, and military operations. Remnants of brick and rammed earth city walls from the Han era still exist today.

The first Manchu translations of Chinese works were the Liu-t'ao 六韜, Su-shu 素書, and San-lueh 三略 – all Chinese military texts dedicated to the arts of war due to the Manchu interests in the topic, like Sun-Tzu's work The Art of War.[33][34] The military related texts which were translated into Manchu from Chinese were translated by Dahai.[35] Manchu translations of Chinese texts included the Ming penal code and military texts were performed by Dahai.[36] These translations were requested of Dahai by Nurhaci.[37] The military text Wu-tzu was translated into Manchu along with Sun-Tzu's work The Art of War.[38] Chinese history, Chinese law, and Chinese military theory classical texts were translated into Manchu during the rule of Hong Taiji in Mukden with Manchus placing significance upon military and governance related Chinese texts.[39] A Manchu translation was made of the military themed Chinese novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms.[40][41] Chinese literature, military theory and legal texts were translated into Manchu by Dahai and Erdeni.[42] The translations were ordered in 1629.[43][44] The translation of the military texts San-lüeh, Su-shu, and the Ta Ming hui-tien (the Ming law) done by Dahai was ordered by Nurhaci.[45] While it was mainly administrative and ethical guidance which made up most of San-lüeh and Su Shu, military science was indeed found in the Liu-t'ao and Chinese military manuals were eagerly translated by the Manchus and the Manchus were also attracted to the military content in Romance of the Three Kingdoms which is why it was translated.[46]

Wu Bozong 吳伯宗 (b. 1334- d. 1384) was sent as ambassador to Annam and wrote down in the Rongjinji 榮進集 that the Tran dynasty monarch said to him in a reply his Wu's inquiry on Annam's affairs where the Tran ruler said that Annam proudly adhered to Tang dynasty and Han dynasty customs.

Although professional map-making and use of the grid had existed in China before, the Chinese cartographer and geographer Pei Xiu of the Three Kingdoms period was the first to mention a plotted geometrical grid reference and graduated scale displayed on the surface of maps to gain greater accuracy in the estimated distance between different locations.[1][2][3] Historian Howard Nelson asserts that there is ample written evidence that Pei Xiu derived the idea of the grid reference from the map of Zhang Heng (78â€“139 CE), a polymath inventor and statesman of the Eastern Han dynasty.[4] The American writer Robert K. G. Temple asserts that Zhang Heng should also be credited as the first to establish the mathematical grid in cartography, as evidenced by his work in maps, the titles of his lost books, and the hint given in the Book of Later Han (i.e. Zhang Heng "cast a network of coordinates about heaven and earth, and reckoned on the basis of it").[5]

Han Chinese astronomers made star catalogues and detailed records of comets that appeared in the night sky, including recording the 12 BC appearance of the comet now known as Halley's comet.[294]

Literature, painting, poetry, music, and Chinese opera of various types flourished during the Ming dynasty, especially in the economically prosperous lower Yangzi valley. Although short fiction had been popular as far back as the Tang dynasty (618–907),[136] and the works of contemporaneous authors such as Xu Guangqi, Xu Xiake, and Song Yingxing were often technical and encyclopedic, the most striking literary development was the vernacular novel. While the gentry elite were educated enough to fully comprehend the language of Classical Chinese, those with rudimentary education – such as women in educated families, merchants, and shop clerks – became a large potential audience for literature and performing arts that employed Vernacular Chinese.[137] Literati scholars edited or developed major Chinese novels into mature form in this period, such as Water Margin and Journey to the West. Jin Ping Mei, published in 1610, although incorporating earlier material, marks the trend toward independent composition and concern with psychology.[138] In the later years of the dynasty, Feng Menglong and Ling Mengchu innovated with vernacular short fiction. Theater scripts were equally imaginative. The most famous, The Peony Pavilion, was written by Tang Xianzu (1550–1616), with its first performance at the Pavilion of Prince Teng in 1598.

The Minister Coachman (Taipu 太僕), also known as the Grand Coachman, was responsible for the maintenance of imperial stables, horses, carriages and coachhouses for the emperor and his palace attendants, and for the supply of horses for the armed forces.[86] His latter duty entailed the supervising of large breeding grounds of frontier pastures, tended by tens of thousands of government slaves.[87] By the reign of Emperor Wu of Han (r. 141–87 BC) these contained 300,000 warhorses intended for use in campaigns against the nomadic Xiongnu Confederation.[88] Some of the Minister Coachman's subordinates managed stables outside the capital city. These stables housed Ferghana horses that were imported or gathered as tribute from Central Asian countries.[89]

In 121 BC, Han forces expelled the Xiongnu from a vast territory spanning the Hexi Corridor to Lop Nur. They repelled a joint Xiongnu-Qiang invasion of this northwestern territory in 111 BC. In that year, the Han court established four new frontier commanderies in this region: Jiuquan, Zhangyi, Dunhuang, and Wuwei.[29] The majority of people on the frontier were soldiers.[30] On occasion, the court forcibly moved peasant farmers to new frontier settlements, along with government-owned slaves and convicts who performed hard labor.[31] The court also encouraged commoners, such as farmers, merchants, landowners, and hired laborers, to voluntarily migrate to the frontier.[32]

In Chinese literature, the oldest reference to a map comes from the year 227 BCE, when the assassin Jing Ke was to present a map to Ying Zheng 嬴政, King of Qin (ruling later as Qin Shi Huang, r. 221–210 BCE) on behalf of Crown Prince Dan of Yan. Instead of presenting the map, he pulled out a dagger from his scroll, yet was unable to kill Ying Zheng.[190] The Rites of Zhou (Zhouli), compiled during the Han and commented by Liu Xin in the 1st century CE, mentioned the use of maps for governmental provinces and districts, principalities, frontier boundaries, and locations of ores and minerals for mining facilities.[190] The first Chinese gazetteer was written in 52 CE and included information on territorial divisions, the founding of cities, and local products and customs.[191] Pei Xiu (224–271 CE) was the first to describe in detail the use of a graduated scale and geometrically plotted reference grid.[192] However, historians Howard Nelson, Robert Temple, and Rafe de Crespigny argue that there is enough literary evidence that Zhang Heng's now lost work of 116 CE established the geometric reference grid in Chinese cartography (including a line from the Book of Later Han: "[Zhang Heng] cast a network of coordinates about heaven and earth, and reckoned on the basis of it").[193] Although there is speculation fueled by the report in Sima's Records of the Grand Historian that a gigantic raised-relief map representing the Qin Empire is located within the tomb of Qin Shi Huang, it is known that small raised-relief maps were created during the Han dynasty, such as one made out of rice by the military officer Ma Yuan (14 BCE – 49 CE).[194]

While maps drawn in ink on flat silk cloths have been found in the tomb of the Marquess of Dai (interred in 168 BCE at Mawangdui, Hunan province), the earliest known paper map found in China, dated 179–41 BCE and located at Fangmatan (near Tianshui, Gansu province), is incidentally the oldest known piece of paper.[7] Yet Chinese hempen paper of the Western Han and early Eastern Han eras was of a coarse quality and used primarily as wrapping paper.[8] The papermaking process was not formally introduced until the Eastern Han court eunuch Cai Lun (50–121 CE) created a process in 105 CE where mulberry tree bark, hemp, old linens, and fish nets were boiled together to make a pulp that was pounded, stirred in water, and then dunked with a wooden sieve containing a reed mat that was shaken, dried, and bleached into sheets of paper.[9] The oldest known piece of paper with writing on it comes from the ruins of a Chinese watchtower at Tsakhortei, Alxa League, Inner Mongolia, dated precisely 110 CE when the Han garrison abandoned the area following a nomadic Xiongnu attack.[10] By the 3rd century, paper became one of China's chief writing mediums.[11]

The southward expansion of the Han dynasty led to new trade routes and diplomatic contact with foreign kingdoms. In 111 BCE, Emperor Wu conquered the Kingdom of Nanyue in what is now modern northern Vietnam and Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan; thereafter he opened up maritime trade to both Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean, as foreign merchants brought lapis lazuli, pearls, jade, and glasswares to the Han Empire from this southern sea route.[196] When a group of travelers from the Roman Empire (allegedly diplomats of Marcus Aurelius but most likely Roman merchants) came to the Han court in 166 CE, they allegedly came from this southern trade route.[197] By at least the 1st century CE — as proven by Eastern Han ceramic miniature models of ships found in various tombs — the Chinese would have been able to brave distant waters with the new steering invention of the stern-mounted rudder. This came to replace the less efficient steering oar.[198] While ancient China was home to various ship designs, including the layered and fortified tower ship meant for calm waters of lakes and river, the junk design (jun 船) created by the 1st century CE was China's first seaworthy sailing ship.[199] The typical junk has a square-ended bow and stern, a flat-bottomed hull or carvel-shaped hull with no keel or sternpost, and solid transverse bulkheads in the place of structural ribs found in Western seacrafts.[200] Since the Chinese junk lacked a sternpost, the rudder was attached to the back of the ship by use of either socket-and-jaw or block and tackle (which differed from the later European pintle and gudgeon design of the 12th century).[201] As written by a 3rd-century author, junks had for-and-aft rigs and lug sails.[202]


Question: What kind of data is typically found in a knowledge base?

A knowledge base serves as a repository for a wide range of data, both structured and unstructured, that is utilized by computer systems. Originally, the term was associated with expert systems, which were among the earliest knowledge-based systems designed to store and utilize complex information.

In computer science, a sorting algorithm is an algorithm that puts elements of a list in a certain order. The most-used orders are numerical order and lexicographical order. Efficient sorting is important for optimizing the use of other algorithms (such as search and merge algorithms) which require input data to be in sorted lists; it is also often useful for canonicalizing data and for producing human-readable output. More formally, the output must satisfy two conditions:

Information appliances are computers specially designed to perform a specific "user-friendly" functionâ€”such as playing music, photography, or editing text. The term is most commonly applied to mobile devices, though there are also portable and desktop devices of this class.

Project Based Activities is a method of teaching where the students gain knowledge and skills by involving themselves for the more period of time to research and respond to the engaging and complex questions, problems, or challenges. the students will work in groups to solve the problems which are challenging.The students will work in groups to solve the problems which are challenging, real, curriculum based and frequently relating to more than one branch of knowledge. Therefore, a well designed project based learning activity is one which addresses different student learning styles and which does not assume that all students can demonstrate their knowledge in a single standard way.[35]

A pointer is a simple, more concrete implementation of the more abstract reference data type. Several languages support some type of pointer, although some have more restrictions on their use than others. While "pointer" has been used to refer to references in general, it more properly applies to data structures whose interface explicitly allows the pointer to be manipulated (arithmetically via pointer arithmetic) as a memory address, as opposed to a magic cookie or capability where this is not possible.[citation needed] Because pointers allow both protected and unprotected access to memory addresses, there are risks associated with using them particularly in the latter case. Primitive pointers are often stored in a format similar to an integer; however, attempting to dereference or "look up" a pointer whose value was never a valid memory address would cause a program to crash. To alleviate this potential problem, as a matter of type safety, pointers are considered a separate type parameterized by the type of data they point to, even if the underlying representation is an integer. Other measures may also be taken (such as validation & bounds checking), to verify the contents of the pointer variable contain a value that is both a valid memory address and within the numerical range that the processor is capable of addressing.

Traditionally, the formal modeling of systems has been via a mathematical model, which attempts to find analytical solutions enabling the prediction of the behaviour of the system from a set of parameters and initial conditions. Computer simulation is often used as an adjunct to, or substitution for, modeling systems for which simple closed form analytic solutions are not possible. There are many different types of computer simulation, the common feature they all share is the attempt to generate a sample of representative scenarios for a model in which a complete enumeration of all possible states would be prohibitive or impossible.

Another key elements to Durkheim's theory of knowledge is his concept of représentations collectives (collective representations), which is outlined in The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life. Représentations collectives are the symbols and images that come to represent the ideas, beliefs, and values elaborated by a collectivity and are not reducible to individual constituents. They can include words, slogans, ideas, or any number of material items that can serve as a symbol, such as a cross, a rock, a temple, a feather etc. As Durkheim elaborates, représentations collectives are created through intense social interaction and are products of collective activity. As such these representations have the particular, and somewhat contradictory, aspect that they exist externally to the individual (since they are created and controlled not by the individual but by society as a whole), and yet simultaneously within each individual of the society (by virtue of that individual's participation within society).[83]

In essence, individuals characterize what kind of person John Smith is by giving values to these parameters. When they describe John as "honest," they commit to (one value of) the trait parameter; when "flamboyant" to the style parameter; when "obsessed with making money" to the values parameter; when "very good with numbers" to the ability parameter (of course, all of these parameters will have multiple valuesâ€”honesty will not be John's only trait). And they are saying in essence: "This is the kind of behavior, style, motivational priority, ability, etc. that you can expect (not certainly but probabilistically) to observe in John."

Information power is a form of personal or collective power that is based on controlling information needed by others in order to reach an important goal. Our society is now reliant on information power as knowledge for influence, decision making, credibility, and control. Timely and relevant information delivered on demand can be the most influential way to acquire power. Information may be readily available through public records, research, and but information is sometimes assumed privileged or confidential. The target of influence accepts,comprehends and internalizes the change independently, without have to go back to the influencing agent.[9]

French and Raven's original five powers brought about change after many years, by which Raven added a sixth base of power. Informational is the ability of an agent of influence to bring about change through the resource of information.[2] Raven arguably believed that power as a potential influence logically meant that information was a form of influence and the social power base of Information Power was derived.[2] Informational influence results in cognition and acceptance by the target of influence. The ability for altered behavior initiated through information rather than a specific change agent is called socially independent change.[2] In order to establish Information Power, an agent of influence would likely provide a baseline of information to a target of influence to lay the groundwork in order to be effective with future persuasion.[2] A link between informational power, control, cooperation, and satisfaction have been hypothesized and tested in a lab study. The findings indicate that a channel member's control over another's strategy increases with its informational power source.[7] According to Raven, there will be more use of Information power if the motive is a need for achievement and can also be affected by an agent's self-esteem.[2] Feldman summarizes informational power as the most transitory type of power. If one gives information away, then the power is given away, which differs from other forms of power because it's grounded in what you know about the content of a specific situation. Other forms of power are independent of the content.[21]

While most configurators utilize top-down hierarchical rules syntax to find appropriate modular BOMs, maintenance of very similar BOMs (i.e., only one component is different for various voltages) becomes highly excessive. A newer approach, (Bottom-Up/Rules-Based Structuring) utilizing a proprietary search engine scheme transversing through selectable componentry at high speeds eliminates the Planning Modular BOM duplications[citation needed]. The search engine is also used for all combinatorial feature constraints and GUI representations to support specification selections.