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Biochemistry/Lipids And The Plasma Membrane

Membranes And Lipids
All cells, from simple prokaryotic bacteria to complex multicellular organisms are surrounded by a membrane. The membrane acts as a selective barrier, letting some substances into the cell and preventing other substances from entering,and it also actively transports substances between the inside and outside of the cell, using cellular energy to do so. This is important in regulating the concentration of many substances which must be maintained within strict limits. The cell also contains membrane bound compartments, where the membrane acts as a barrier for the separation of different environments, like lysosomes which have a high pH that would be toxic to the rest of the cell. Furthermore, lipids are polar molecules that are generally soluble in organic solvents due to large number of nonpolar bonds in lipids. Their ability to form membranes are as a result of their hydrophobic properties, which is contributed by their fatty acids. Membranes are amphipatic.

The Lipid Bilayer
The first person to link lipids with the cell membrane may have been Charles Ernest Overton, who was studying heredity in plants. Part of his studies involved studying which substances absorbed into plant cells most quickly. After characterizing a large number of substances, he came up with the idea that cell membranes were composed of something similar to the lipids found in vegetable oils, and that substances are absorbed into the cells by dissolving through the membrane.

The next big step came when Gorter and Grendel extracted the lipids from red blood cells and compared the surface area of the lipids spread out on water compared to the surface area of the red blood cells. They found the lipid surface area was twice that of the red blood cells, and concluded that the lipids must be arranged in a layer two lipid molecules thick. Lipid bilayer is a double layer membrane formed from phospholipids. Phospholipids are composed of a polar head group and non-polar fatty acid tails. The arrangement of the phospholipids makes the cell membrane permeable.

Fatty Acids
A fatty acid is a linear of carboxylic acid with a long hydrocarbon chain. In fatty acids, the non-polar hydrocarbon chain gives the molecule a non- polar character Fatty acids usually have between 14 and 24 carbon atoms and their carbon chain may have one or more double bonds. In naturally occurring fatty acids, these double bonds are mostly in cis configuration. Fatty acids have both common names and systematic names. The systematic name is based on the alkane or alkene with the same number of carbon atoms, with the final e of the hydrocarbon replaced with oic acid, if the carbon chain of the fatty acid is saturated (without double bond in its carbon chain), and "enoic acid" if there is double in its carbon chain. For example Laurate (Figure x) is a fatty acid with 12 carbon atoms and no double bonds, so the systematic name is dodecanoic acid, and the ionized form is dodecanoate. (saturated fatty acid table) If there are double bonds, the location is marked with the symbol Δ with a superscript number indicating the location of the double bond and preceded by cis or trans to indicate configuration (but almost invariably cis). Carbon atoms are counted from the carboxyl end, as in Figure x, so a dodecenoate acid with a cis double bond between carbon atoms 9 and 10 would be: cis-Δ9-dodecenoate.

The number 2, 3 and last carbon atom are called the α, β and ω atoms, respectively.

Biological fatty acids usually contain an even number of carbon atoms, with numbers of 16 and 18 being most common. The length of the fatty acid chain and the degree of saturation contributes largely to their distinct properties. The shorter the chain length and the more unsaturation in the fatty acid enhances their fluidity, thus lowering their melting point.

Phosphoglycerides
Phosphoglycerides are esters of two fatty acids, phosphoric acid and a trifunctional alcohol- glycerol. The fatty acids are attached to the glycerol at the 1 and 2 positions on glycerol through ester bonds. Phosphoglycerides are composed of a glycerol back bone with substituents in the following arrangements: The simplest phosphoglyceride is phosphatidate (picture). Other phosphoglycerides can be made when a group with a hydroxyl is esterified to the phosphate group of phosphatidate. There are four common substituents for phosphatidate. Serine, ethanolamine and choline are structurally similar, while inositol is different:
 * Hydroxyl #1 of glycerol is usually esterified to a saturated fatty acid
 * Hydroxyl #2 of glycerol is usually esterified to an unsaturated fatty acid
 * Hydroxyl #3 of glycerol is esterified to a phosphate group

Sphingolipids
Sphingolipids are a second type of lipid found in cell membranes, particularly nerve cells and brain tissues. They do not contain glycerol, but retain the two alcohols with the middle position occupied by an amine and have the same overall shape as phosphoglycerides but have different chemistry, using sphingosine in place of glycerol. Sphingosine has a long hydrocarbon tail similar to fatty acids attached to a structure that is similar to the amino acid serine. A fatty acid can attach to the amine group, and a "head" group can attach to a hydroxyl (see Figure x). Sphingolipids are named according to this head group:
 * If there is no head group it is called a ceramide
 * If the head group is phosphate and choline, it is called sphingomyelin
 * If the head group is a sugar, it is called a glycosphingolipid (or a glycolipid)

The majority of sphingolipids are of the third type, glycosphingolipids. It is thought they have functions in cell recognition and protection in addition to their structural role in the membrane.

Formation Of The Bilayer
If we compare the structures of phosphoglycerides and sphingolipids, we see that they are very similar compounds. Each lipid has two long hydrophobic hydrocarbon "tails" and a single polar "head". Since the molecule has both polar and nonpolar moieties, it is said to be amphipathic. It is the amphipathic nature of these molecules that causes them to form bilayers, mediated by four forces:
 * The hydrophobic effect- this causes the hydrophobic tails to come together. This is the strongest force driving the formation of the bilayer. It is a consequence of the increased entropy in water molecules when non polar substances are aggregated in water.
 * Van der Walls forces between the hydrophobic tails.
 * Electrostatic forces of the head groups.
 * Hydrogen bonds between the head groups.

One possible structure that satisfies the above forces is called a micelle (pictures). This is common with free fatty acids, but not with most phosphoglycerides and sphingolipids because these groups have twice as many acyl chains per head than the fatty acid (picture), and it is difficult to pack them all into the center of the micelle. Phospholipids and sphingolipids more often form a bilayer in a sheet or a sphere (picture). This is the so called lipid bilayer. Lipid bilayer is permeable to water molecules and other small, uncharged molecules like oxygen, carbon dioxide. A bimolecular sheet formed by amphipathic molecules in which the hydrophobic moieties are on the inside of the sheet and the hydrophilic ones are on the aqueous outside.

Studying Motion
NMR, ESR, X-Ray, Differential scanning calorimetry

Intramolecular Motion
There are three basic kinds of motion within the lipid molecules: stretching between bonds, rotating between bonds, and wagging between bonds (?). [picture] 99% of motion within liquid crystal is due to rotation about carbon-carbon bonds. Unsaturated fatty acids of membrane lipids rotate more often. This is because of the packed arrangement of the lipid bilayer. When there is rotation about one bond, an adjacent bond rotates to compensate for steric clashes [pictures]. Since double bonds in fatty acids are nearly always cis, they introduce kinks in the fatty acid. When a bond adjacent to a double bond rotates, the other bond adjacent to the double bond also rotates, and the whole thing moves like an old fashioned bit and brace [pictures]. It takes more energy to rotate the double bonds closer to the head groups due to [angle thing picture]. Double bonds react with O2 readily and create poisons [more] bacteria have [cyclopropane picture]. Furthermore, NMR rotating frame relaxation studies of the intramolecular motion in methionine-enkephalin.

Diffusion
One of the most notable properties of the lipid membrane is the ability of a single lipid to diffuse. This property was discovered using the "fluorescence recovery after photobleaching," also known as FRAP. In this experiment, the cell surface is first labeled with a fluorescent chromophore. Afterwards, a specific region is then bleached with intense light, leaving a prominent mark. In the bleached area, the experimenters noticed that as time progressed, bleached molecules moved out from the bleached area and unbleached molecules moved towards the bleached area. This shows that the lipid bilayer allows for molecule movement within the membrane.

There are two kinds of diffusion: lateral and transverse (flip-flop). The lateral diffusion is exactly as it sounds like. In a lipid bilayer, one lipid molecule can move pass the adjacent one. The transverse molecule works a bit differently. It still displaces one over its adjacent counterpart, and crosses over to the other side of the lipid bilayer. It is important to note that the lateral diffusion is substantially faster than the transverse. Studies show that the transverse diffusion only happens once every few hours. Diffusion is the movement of a particle from area of high concentration to low concentration, and it is not to be confused with osmosis, which is the movement of water through a semi-permeable membrane. Diffusion depends on CO2 and O2 concentrate inside and outside of alveolar sack.

Transportation Methods
The membrane regulates molecule transport through a variety of means. There are two general categories that each transportation regulation falls into: passive transport and active transport. Passive transport is the movement of molecules down its concentration gradient: in other words, higher concentration to lower concentration. The diffusion of water, a special case, is called "osmosis." Not all molecules can diffuse through the phospholipid bilayer. The ones that can are usually hydrophobic molecules (i.e. oxygen), nonpolar molecules (i.e. benzene), or small uncharged polar molecules (i.e. water). The hydrophobic and nonpolar molecules can dissolve through the bilayer because of the similar polarites of the bilayer and the molecule itself. The small uncharged polar molecules usually require a membrane channel to diffuse i.e. aquaporins for water. The molecules that do not pass through the layer with ease are large & uncharged, polar, or ions. Examples of each are glucose, sucrose, and hydrogen ion, respectively. To sum up the defining characteristics of what passes or does not pass through the membrane, they are size, charge, and polarity.

Normally, hydrophilic molecules would not be able to cross the phospholipid bilayer due to the difference in polarities. However, it is observed that hydrophilic molecules do cross the membrane protein through a different mechanism than the hydrophobic molecules. While hydrophobic molecules diffuse through the membrane due to their similar polarities, hydrophilic molecules require a molecule called a membrane protein (integral or peripheral), which transfers the molecule in both active and passive transport. A few examples of passive transport are simple diffusion and facilitated diffusion. Simple diffusion is when a solute moves from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration to establish equilibrium via a channel protein. Facilitated diffusion still moves from an area of higher concentration to lower concentration but instead of a channel protein, it is a carrier protein. This carrier protein, also called permeases, accelerates the rate of transport greatly. Active transport moves the molecules from an area of low concentration to an area of high concentration (the opposite of passive transport). This transport moving molecules up its concentration gradient requires energy, usually from ATP (adenosine triphosphate). A common example used to explain this concept is the sodium-potassium pump. In the human cell, there is usually a high concentration of sodium on the outside the cell and a low concentration of sodium inside the cell. The opposite applies to the concentrations of potassium: high on the inside and low on the outside. The mechanism begins by sodium ion binding to the sodium-potassium pump protein with its gap close off from the cell's external environment. The binding of sodium ion signals to the cell to use convert ATP to ADP (adenosine triphosphate). This reaction will release energy and add a phosphate group to the protein, enabling the protein to change its conformation and release the bound sodium ions to the external cell environment. After the release of sodium ions, potassium ions from the same area will bind to the protein. The potassium ion binding will signal to the protein to convert the bound phosphate group to unbound inorganic phosphate and change the conformation of the protein to release the potassium ions into the cell. Afterwards, the sodium ions bind again and the cycle repeats.

A few other energy-driven processes are endocytosis and exocytosis. Endocytosis are when large molecules are transported into the cell. Exocytosis are when molecules are expelled from the cell. An example of receptor-mediated endocytosis occurs in eukaryotes. It is important for the different membranes in the cell to either join or separate in order to perform certain functions such as engulf, transport, or even release molecules essential for the body. This process is facilitated by LDL, a low-density lipoprotein. External cellular LDL float first binds to its corresponding receptor, called the LDL receptor. The cell membrane then engulfs the LDL and the LDL receptor into the cell, forming a vesicle to keep it unharmed from the cell hydrophilic environment. The complex then separates to protein and receptor counterparts. The LDL fuses with a lysosome, breaking down the LDL with the release of cholesterol as a by-product. A short example of exocytosis would be either the insulin secretion in the blood, or the transport of neurotransmitters at the gap junction during an action potential. A more specific example lies in Golgi's vesicular transport. In eukaryotes, the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) sends transport vesicles to the Golgi apparatus created from proteins. Some of the vesicles fuse with the lysosomes resulting in digestion. Some of the other transport vesicles with essential proteins for the plasma membrane will diffuse in to the membrane due to their similar polarities, releasing the protein content out into the cell's environment.

Different concentrations with regards to internal and external cell environment have different effects on animal cells and plant cells. In a hypertonic solution (concentration of solute is greater on the outside than on the inside), the cell would attempt to create an equilibrium by releasing its water content to the external cell environment. By doing so, the concentrations may be equal if there is enough water in the cell. Also, the cell would end up being shriveled. In the plant cell, the same things occurs. However, because plant cells have cell walls, instead of being shriveled, it is plasmolyzed. On the other extreme, hypotonic solution, when the concentration is solute is lower on the outside than the inside, the cell will become lysed. The attempt to establish equilibrium lies in the water's entrance into the cell to lower the concentration in the cell. In the plant cell, this is called turgid instead of lysed. On a sidenote, this is the normal preference of the plant cell. In an isotonic solution (concentrations are equal on both sides of the cell), the net content of water in and out of the cell remains the cell. This is the eukaryote's preferred state. In the plant cell, it is termed flaccid. Membrance proteins called transporters facilitate the passage of molecules across membrance, there is involved at least three step: dinding, conformational change fo the protein, and release. There are two types of transporter: passive transporters which use no energy, and active transporters that employ ATP to drive transport.

Cell Communication
cell-to- cell communication is essential for multicellular organisms such as human or an oak creatures in which they must communicate in order for them to develop from fertilized egg and then survive and reproduce in turn. Communication between cells is very important for many unicellular organisms that must find matters and food in order for them to develop and to sexually reproduce. An early example of cell communication is Saccharomyces cerevisiae in which the cells of that yeast use chemical signaling to identify cells of opposite mating and to start the mating process. The study of cell communication could help to answer some of the most important questions and medicine in areas ranging between embryological development to hormone action to the development of cancer and other related diseases.

On a side note, not only is cell-to-cell communication imperative, but also with other molecules. Different kinds of molecules communicate differently with the internal programming of the cell. For example, synaptic transmitters, such as acetylcholine, bind to a certain G-protein and activates intracellular 2nd messengers. Another way for synaptic transmitters to bind is via a protein complex (integral/membrane protein) including an ion channel. The net result of both pathways change the state of ion channel conformation in the membrane. Another example, steroid hormones, diffuse through the cell membrane and eventually changes the protein programming in certain cells. As for the peptide hormone, it binds to a G-protein, activates intracellular 2nd messengers, and changes the transcription paradigm. Due to the peptide hormone's hydrophobic character and the cell membrane nonpolarity, it requires secondary messenger interaction whereas the steroid hormone (also nonpolar) can directly communicate and diffuse into the cell. Cell-cell communication is essential for multicellular organisms. Cells usually communicate by releasing chemical messenger targeted for cell. Some messengers travel short distances such as molecules are allied local regulators. Animal growth factors which are compounds that stimulate nearby target cells to grow and multiply. Numerous cells can simulaneously receive and respond to the molecules of growth factors produced by single cell in their vicinity.

Cell Adhesion
Cell adhesion is any glandular cells in ctenophores, turbellarian used for adhesion to a substrate and for capture. Cell adhesion occurs when one cell binds to another surface such as another cell or some other inanimate surface. Cell adhesion molecules serve as intermediates that hold the cell to another surface.


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Robotics/Components/Actuation Devices/Linear Electromagnetic

Linear Electromagnetic actuators consist of a hollow coil (solenoid) and a ferrometal rod. The rod is mounted loose in the coil and can move up and down. When current flows through the coil, the rod is pulled to the center of the coil. If the direction of the current is then reversed the solenoid will pull in the ferrometal rod. Due to Lenz's Law which states "For a current induced in a conductor, the current is in such a direction that its own magnetic field opposes the change that produced it." This means that an EMF will flow through the solenoid of the actuator to oppose the change in magnetic flux thus an electromagnetic actuator can never fully extend the full length of the rod.

''Note to further modifiers: Feel free to tidy my Lenz's Law explanation up - i'm sure it could be written in a more elegant manner! --SamEEE 03:18, 3 February 2007 (UTC)''

Applications
This type of actuator is useful for momentary linear motion. e.g. closing a gripper.

Design Considerations
Solenoids use a large amount of power this requires more battery power which in turn requires more battery power to move the robot. A general rule of thumb is to use a electromagnetic actuators for small operations and for larger operations prehaps consider the use of Pneumatics the output power/weight ratio is usually more favorable. For more information on Pnuematics please consult the corresponding section of this book.

Calculating Force
Calculating how strong the actuator is, isn't very easy. However it is possible by using a Newtonmeter to the line of action and measuring how many Newtons are exerted by the solenoid on the measuring device. There are also a way of measuring force though use of a formula however the forementioned method is usually the most practical.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/


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Movie Making Manual/MMMPromotionTracking

Do promote the MMM but no more than once per month per forum please guys! We therefore only need to keep the list of forums we have promoted theMMM to for the last 2 months.

=January= 31/01/05 - Shootingpeople - Filmmakers Bulletin

31/01/05 - Filmmaking.net - "news, promos, announcements" message board

31/01/05 - Talent Circle - noticeboard

=February=

1/02/05 - Filmmakers.com - noticeboard

2/02/05 - The Association of Independent Video and Filmmakers (AIVF) - members network

11/02/05 - Shootingpeople - Screenwriter's Bulletin

11/02/05 - Cinematography.com - Cinematography education forum

15/02/05 - Shootingpeople - Filmmakers Bulletin (announcement that we are no.3 in wikibooks)

16/02/05 - Usenet rec.video.production - we're no.3 announcement

16/02/05 - Usenet rec.arts.movies.production - we're no.3 announcement

16/02/05 - Usenet misc.writing.screenplays - we're no.3 announcement

16/02/05 - Usenet rec.arts.movies.production.sound - General announcement and pointers to the sound recording and sound post production page

16/02/05 - Usenet rec.audio.pro - General announcement and pointers to the sound post production page


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Movie Making Manual/Budget/Tax Breaks

Ah, the glamour of films! It is such that many countries wish to encourage film production; both in local production, and in the use of their country as a filming location. So many nations exist that wish to encourage filming that an entire industry exists in making use of the various film tax breaks on offer. Many European feature films are financed using pieces of tax breaks from various territories, along with a dollop of equity funding.

Tax breaks tend to change with new administrations and finance ministers. Your best bet in getting up-to-date information regarding tax breaks is to directly contact the finance department (or visit the website) of the country in question and investigate how the tax break works. Then - and only then - should you consult a tax-specialist for the country in question, as that way you will know what is actually available.

The New Horizons of UK Film Finance, a Life Jacket for the UK Film Industry? - A discussion of what 2006's budget means for UK filmmakers

/Funding and budgetting /Contracts and law

title: Movie Making Manual/Budget/Tax Breaks


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FHSST Physics/Introduction

<< Main Page -- First Chapter (Units) >>

Introduction
Physics is the study of the laws which govern space, structure and time. In a sense we are more qualified to do physics than any other science. From the day we are born we study the things around us in an effort to understand how they work and relate to each other. For example, learning how to catch or throw a ball is a physics undertaking.

In the field of study we refer to as physics we just try to make the things everyone has been studying more clear. We attempt to describe them through simple rules and mathematics. Mathematics is merely the language we use. The best approach to physics is to relate everything you learn to things you have already noticed in your everyday life. Sometimes when you look at things closely, you discover things you had initially overlooked.

It is the continued scrutiny of everything we know about the world around us that leads people to the lifelong study of physics. You can start with asking a simple question like "Why is the sky blue?", which could lead you to electromagnetic waves, which in turn could lead you to wave particle duality and energy levels of atoms. Before long you are studying quantum mechanics or the structure of the universe.

In the sections that follow notice that we will try to describe how we will communicate the things we are dealing with. This is our language. Once this is done we can begin the adventure of looking more closely at the world we live in.

title: FHSST Physics/Introduction


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Nintendo Wars/Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising

Welcome to the Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising wikibook. While this guide can also be used for Advance Wars and Advance Wars: Dual Strike, please note that there may be differences between the games.

=Authors= Rob Kohr, LiteYear

=Links=

 * Official Site
 * Black Hole Headquarters - Strategies, statistics and general discussion about all the games in the Advance Wars series.
 * Advance Wars Net - The largest Advance Wars site on the web.
 * AdvanceWorld (French Website) - The largest French Advance Wars site on the web.
 * Advance Wars Bunker Forums - The largest Advance Wars community on the web.
 * Advance Wars Revolution
 * Advance Wars X - Clean, tidy Advance Wars site, easy to find info
 * Online AW2 damage calculator
 * http://www.awcentre.netfirms.com/AW2CalculatorV4.zip - Copy and paste URL in your web browser; this is a downloadable (15k) damage calculator by ddsdds/Cyber/CyberSach (Author's note: Has many inconsistencies, but will work for the most part)
 * GameFAQs AW2 Guides - Provided values for luck based CO's (Nell and Flak) thanks to Xenesis Xenon's CO stats FAQ, and has some good files on strategy.
 * Wars World News - Advance Wars community providing the most accurate Advance Wars info. Also has the largest and best Custom CO database on the web.
 * Check this site out - Some really nice in-depth FAQs, guides, and walkthroughs.

Web Based Game

 * Advance Wars By Web - Play Advance Wars online

=Charts=

Terrain Movement Chart
'*'Property in this listing stands for city, base, airport, and HQ.

=Unit Info=

Direct
These units have to be adjacent to the target to attack.

 * Infantry - foot soldiers. Can capture properties but are only really useful in battle when finishing off enemies with their machine guns or as fodder.
 * Counter -- Any

 * Mech - foot soldiers with strong Movement Type but THE lowest Movement Point. Otherwise similar to Infantry, but also use a Bazooka that deal damage similar to that of a Small Tank's on vehicles. Defense is also slightly higher than that of an Infantry.
 * Counter -- AA, air units, and Tanks

 * Recons - vehicles that have high Vision. Uses poor machine guns. Armor mostly protects vs. machine guns.
 * Counter -- any tank, air units

 * Tank - war vehicles that can inflict damage to most ground vehicles, but isn't armored enough to withstand a lot of cannon fire.
 * Counter -- heavier Tanks and Indirect fire, air units and mechs when attacking first

 * Anti-Air - war vehicle that primarily targets air units, although it is able to deal a little damage to Small Tanks and can quickly tear apart foot soldiers. No machine guns.
 * Counter -- any tank and Indirect fire, Bombers

 * Medium Tank - war vehicles that have strong attack and defense.
 * Counter -- Indirect fire, Neotanks, air units, particularly Bombers

 * Neotank - war vehicles that have very strong attack and defense.
 * Counter -- Indirect fire and bombers

Indirect
These units cannot be counterattacked, but they can't counterattack themselves, and have to attack from the right ranges. (No machine guns, period.)

 * Artillery - Cannon launchers. Attacks land and sea units from medium range, has a 2-3 range for normal COs

 * AA Missiles - Missile launchers. Attacks air units from long range, has a 3-5 range for normal COs.

 * Rockets - Launches Rockets. Attacks land and sea units from long range, has a 3-5 range for normal COs.

Other
These units strictly perform tasks outside of battling and cannot use weapons.

 * APC - vehicles that can't attack at all, but can transport foot soldiers or supply other units. Move an APC next to units running short on ammo or fuel and select "supply" to fully resupply all units around the APC. Additionally, any unit standing next to an APC will be resupplied when the turn begins.The AI will usually prefer APC's to other units and will send these units to choke points (like bridges)to stop your units from flooding them and as in choke points, only 1 unit can attack the APC unless there are indirect units to come to the rescue, but the APC can get even more annoying, if it is on a city.

Sea
Sea units cannot travel on land, except for Landers traveling on Shoals. They also use up 1 Fuel per turn and sink (die automatically) if they run out. It has the same rule with air units: if the fuel runs out after you move it, it will live until the beginning of your next turn. Sea units can be resupplied by standing for one turn on an allied port, or with an APC.

 * Lander - ships that can transport two land units each, but aren't armed with any weapons.

 * Cruiser - ships that are good for killing subs and attacking air units, but cannot attack anything else. Can carry up to two copters at a time.

 * Submarine - submarines that can fire torpedoes to damage other sea units. Can submerge to hide and also avoid targeting by anything but Cruisers and Subs, at a cost of 5 fuel units per turn. Large vision range of 5

 * Battleship - ships that can blast away land and sea units from very long range.

Air
Air units are unaffected by terrain defenses. However, copters use up 1 fuel per turn and planes use 5, and they crash (die automatically) should they run out. Note that an air unit with no fuel (i.e. just moved, so it has no fuel left) will not die until the beginning of your next turn). An air unit can be resupplied by standing on an allied airport for one turn, or with an APC.

 * Transport Copter - copter with the ability to transport foot soldiers, but has no weapons or supply ability.

 * Battle Copter - copters that are good against land units besides anti-air units and heavy tanks, and are moderately powerful versus naval units. Battle Copters can also attack other copters.

 * Fighter - planes that can fire missiles to severely damage other air units. Cannot attack anything else.

 * Bombers - planes that drop bombs to devastate land and sea units. Cannot attack air units.

=Commanding Officers=

Basics
A commanding officer (or CO) is a character that directly affects the units you use. Some CO's do not give any bonuses, some CO's have a slight bonus to all their units, and some CO's gain a bonus to a type of unit, while having a disadvantage on another type of unit. Still other CO's give their units non-combat bonuses. Each CO also has two powers, a CO power, and a Super CO (or SCO) power. A CO power usually gives a bonus to the type of unit that CO specializes, or it will damage enemy units. An SCO power costs more, but gives a greater effect. All bonuses are additive (i.e. if you had 20% attack bonus innately and you gained 30% from your CO power, you'd have a 50% attack bonus for that turn), and all CO power bonuses last until your turn comes up again.

 * Note: A 50% damage bonus means that the damage you inflict will be increase by half, and not 50 points. I.E. an Infantry attacking another Infantry does 55% damage.  If the attacker had a 50% attack bonus, then the damage perentage would be 82% (and NOT 105%).

Each CO power has a star cost. Each star represents 9,000G of damage. Whatever damage your units' take is directly added to your power meter, so if you lose a full health tank, your power meter will gain 7,000 points. Any damage you inflict is given at half cost towards your meter. So, the person who destroyed your tank in the previous example will gain 3,500 points in their meter. Modified costs do count twards the meter, though, so if a Kanbei tank is destroyed when it had full HP, the attacker gains 4,200 points towards his meter, and the player who lost the tank gains 8,400 points towards his meter.

A couple of other notes about CO powers. Unless that unit gets a defense bonus mentioned the CO/SCO power, it will gain a 10% defensive bonus. Also, when you use a power, the cost to use another power increases. Every power you use (whether CO or SCO) will increase the star cost by 1,800 (i.e. 20%), but if you had any power left over (i.e. you used your CO power when your SCO was nearly full), then those points will carry over. Example: if you had 40,000 points in your meter, and used a CO Power which cost 3 stars (27,000 points), then you'll have 13,000 left in your meter, but the next CO power will cost 32,400 total points to use (so you'll need 19,600 more points).

The COs of Advance Wars are designed so that each have their strength and weaknesses - as such, there is usually no "strongest" CO to choose from. However, there are three CO's that have only strengths and not weaknesses (Hachi, Sturm, and Nell) that require special conditions to unlock. These CO's are generally considered stronger than the 16 other CO's.

Andy
Andy is the first CO introduced to you in the campaign, and is regarded as an easy CO to use. His forces are very balanced, as none of his units gain a combat bonus or penalty. His main advantage is through his CO powers, which allow him to heal up his units.

 * CO Power: Hyper Repair (Cost: 3 stars)
 * When used, Hyper Repair heals all of his units by 2 HP.
 * SCO Power: Hyper Upgrade (Cost: 6 stars)
 * When used, Hyper Upgrade heals all of his units for 5 HP. This power also increases all of his units' movement by 1, and also gives them a 20% attack bonus.

Max
Max is for the player who likes direct combat. All of his direct combat units (except Infantry/Mechs) gain a 20% attack bonus. However, his indirect combat units are weaker than average. They have a 10% attack penalty, and the also have 1 less maximum range (i.e. a Rocket hits 3-5 spaces normally. Under Max, that range is 3-4 spaces)

 * CO Power: Max Force (Cost: 3 stars)
 * When used, all of Max's direct units (minus infantry/mechs) gain a 20% attack bonus, and also gain +1 movement.
 * SCO power: Max Blast (Cost: 6 stars)
 * When used, all of Max's direct units (minus infantry/mechs) gain a 40% attack bonus, and also gain +2 movement.

Sami
Sami is an infantry specialist in this game. She excels in capturing properties easily, and her infantry are among the best in the game. All of her infantry/mechs get a 30% attack bonus, and they also capture properties at 1.5x normal (i.e. Sami's 10 HP infantry will take 15 capture points off a property. Half values are rounded down). APCs, Landers, and T. Copters get a +1 movement bonus as well. However, all of her other direct units take a 10% attack penalty.

 * CO Power: Double Time (Cost: 3 stars)
 * When used, all of Sami's infantry/mechs gain a 20% attack bonus, and also +1 movement.
 * SCO Power: Victory March (Cost: 8 stars)
 * When used, all of Sami's infantry/mechs gain a 50% attack bonus, and also +2 movement. Finally, any Infantry/Mech can capture any type of property (including a HQ) instantly, regardless of the unit's HP.

Nell
Nell is generally considered a Super CO. She has a chance of dealing up to 10% more damage (on top of the standard luck of +10%) than normal. However, her powers are awesome, and can allow even poor match-ups (like her B. Copter attacking an AA) to end in her favor.

 * CO Power: Lucky Star (Cost: 3 stars)
 * When used, her units can do up to 6 more damage on an attack.
 * SCO Power: Lady Luck (Cost: 6 stars)
 * When used, her units can do up to 10 more damage on an attack.

Hachi
Hachi is generally considered to be a Super CO. All of his units cost 10% less than normal, while retaining normal stats (i.e. a standard Tank costs 7000, so Hachi's will cost 6300).

 * CO Power: Barter (Cost: 3 stars)
 * When used, all of Hachi's units cost 50% of the normal price (i.e. Hachi can buy a Tank under Barter for 3500).
 * SCO Power: Merchant Union (Cost: 5 stars)
 * When used, all of Hachi's units cost 50% of the normal price. Also, Hachi can deploy troops from any city that he owns.

Olaf
Olaf is a fairly average CO. None of his units gain any combat bonuses or penalties. He does take weather differently than other CO's, though. In Snow, Olaf's units are unaffected, so he can move like it was Clear, giving him a movement advantage. However, in Rain, Olaf's units are affected like it was snowing, so the enemy will have the movement advantage.

 * CO Power: Blizzard (Cost: 3 stars)
 * When used, it changes the weather to Snow. This Snow lasts until it's your turn again.
 * SCO Power: Winter Fury (Cost: 7 stars)
 * When used, all enemy units take 2 damage, and the weather is changed to Snow. Again, the Snow lasts until it's your turn again.

Grit
Grit is an indirect combat specialist. All of his indirect units gain 20% attack and +1 maximum range (i.e. a Rocket shoots 3-5 squares normally, so Grit's Rockets hit 3-6 squares). However, all of his direct units (except infantry/mechs) take a 20% attack penalty.

 * CO Power: Snipe Attack (Cost: 3 stars)
 * When used, all of Grit's indirect units gain a 30% attack bonus, and also +1 maximum range.
 * SCO Power: Super Snipe (Cost: 6 stars)
 * When used, all of Grit's indirect units gain a 30% attack bonus, and also +2 maximum range.

Colin
Colin's specialty is being able to afford a large army quickly. All of his units are 20% below actual cost (i.e. a standard Tank costs 7000, so his costs 5600). However, all of his units have a 10% attack penalty.

 * CO Power: Gold Rush (Cost: 2 stars)
 * When used, Colin's current funds are multiplied by 1.5.
 * SCO Power: Power of Money (Cost: 6 stars)
 * When used, units gain an attack bonus dependant on the funds you have. You gain 3.33% attack for every 1000 funds you have (so if you had 15000 funds when you used this power, you'll gain a 50% attack bonus).

Eagle
Eagle is for a player who prefers Air units. All of his Air units get a 15% attack bonus and a 10% defense bonus. Also, his Air units consume 2 less fuel per day. However, his Sea units get a massive 30% attack penalty.

 * CO Power: Lightning Drive (Cost: 3 stars)
 * When used, all of Eagle's Air units gain an additional 15% attack boost and 20% defense bonus.
 * SCO Power: Lightning Strike (Cost: 9 stars)
 * When used, all of Eagle units that have acted this turn can act again (excluding Infantry/Mechs). Additionally, Eagle's Air units gain a 15% attack and 20% defense bonus, but Eagle's units for the next turn have a penalty.

Drake
Drake's forte are Sea units. All of his Sea units gain a 10% defense bonus, and have +1 movement. When present, Drake also increases the chance of Rain, and his units also take no movement penalties in Rain. However, his Air units take a massive 30% attack penalty.

 * CO Power: Tsunami (Cost: 4 stars)
 * When used, all enemy units take 1 damage, and they also lose half their fuel.
 * SCO Power: Typhoon (Cost: 7 stars)
 * When used, all enemy units take 2 damage, and they also lose half their fuel. The weather also changes to Rain until Drake's next turn.

Jess
Jess has strong land vehicles. All of her land units (except Infantry/Mechs) have a 10% attack bonus. However, all of her Air, Sea, and Infantry/Mechs have a 10% attack penalty.

 * CO Power: Turbo Charge (Cost: 3 stars)
 * When used, all of Jess's land vehicles gain a 20% attack bonus and +1 movement. Also, all of her units' fuel and ammo are refilled.
 * SCO Power: Overdrive (Cost: 6 stars)
 * When used, all of Jess's land vehicles gain a 40% attack boost and +2 movement. Also, all of her units' fuel and ammo are refilled.

Kanbei
Kanbei is for the player who likes a few superior units. All of Kanbei's units gain a 30% attack bonus and a 30% defense bonus. However, all of his units cost 20% more (i.e. a standard Tank costs 7000, so Kanbei's Tank costs 8400).

 * CO Power: Morale Boost (Cost: 4 stars)
 * When used, all of Kanbei's units gain a 20% attack boost, and a 10% defense boost.
 * SCO Power: Samurai Spirit (Cost: 7 stars)
 * When used, all of Kanbei's units gain a 20% attack boost, and a 30% defense boost. Also, your units gain an extra 50% attack boost on counterattacks (for a total of 200%).

Sonja
Sonja's specialty is gaining and keeping intel. All of her units have +1 vision, and gain a 50% attack bonus when counterattacking. Also, all enemies see a question mark where her HP number is, so they can't tell how much HP that unit has. Please note that AI players are not affected by this. However, she may do up to 10% lesser damage than normal.

 * CO Power: Enhanced Vision (Cost: 3 stars)
 * When used, all of Sonja's units gain +1 vision, and can see into Forests and Reefs without needing a unit adjacent to them.
 * SCO Power: Counter Break (Cost: 5 stars)
 * When used, all of Sonja's units gain +1 vision, and can see into Forests and Reefs without needing a unit adjacent to them. Also, if she is attacked while this power is on, her units will attack first.

Sensei
Sensei specializes in only 3 units, but they are supremely powerful. All of his Infantry and Mechs gain a 40% attack bonus, and his B. Copters have a 50% attack bonus. APC's, Landers, and T. Copters get +1 movement as well. However, all of his other Land and Sea units suffer a 10% attack penalty.
 * CO Power: Copter Command (Cost: 2 stars)
 * When used, all of the cities Sensei owns will gain a 9 HP Infantry that can move right away. If a city has a unit on it (either yours, allied or enemy), it will not gain an Infantry. Also, B. Copters gain a 25% attack bonus.
 * SCO Power: Airborne Assault (Cost: 6 stars)
 * When used, all of the cities Sensei owns will gain a 9 HP Mech that can move right away. If a city has a unit on it (either yours, allied or enemy), it will not gain a Mech. Also, B. Copters gain a 25% attack bonus.

Flak
Flak is unreliable, but if he gets lucky, he can do brutal amounts of damage. None of his units gain an attack or defence boost, but all of his units have a chance to either do up to +25% damage or -10% damage.

 * CO Power: Brute Force (Cost: 3 stars)
 * When used, all of Flak's units have a chance to increase their damage by up to 4 HP, or they could decrease their damage by up to 2 HP.
 * SCO Power: Barbaric Blow (Cost: 6 stars)
 * When used, all of Flak's units have a chance to increase their damage by up to 7 HP, or they could decrease their damage by up to 3 HP.

Lash
Lash's units gain attack bonuses from terrain in addition to the normal defensive bonus. They gain an attack bonus equal to the defensive bonus of the terrain.

 * CO Power: Terrain Tactics (Cost: 4 stars)
 * When used, all of Lash's units have a 1 movement cost over any terrain they can normally pass over.

 * SCO Power: Prime Tactics (Cost: 7 stars)
 * When used, all of Lash's units have a 1 movement cost over any terrain they can normally pass over. Also, all of the bonuses Lash normally gains from terrain are doubled.  (Additionally, Lash's units also get the normal +10% defense when a power is used)

Adder
Adder is probably the most average CO in the game. His units gain no attack or defense bonuses. His CO bar is short, so he can use his powers at a rapid pace.

 * CO Power: Sideslip (Cost: 2 stars)
 * When used, all of Adder's units gain a +1 movement bonus.
 * SCO Power: Sidewinder (Cost: 5 stars)
 * When used, all of Adder's units gain a +2 movement bonus.

Hawke
Hawke has slightly stronger units across the board. All of his units have a 10% attack bonus. However, his CO powers are weak for their cost. (Although the game says that "his CO Power builds up more slowly than those of other CO's", this is only reffering to the length of his CO bar. He gains power points at the same rate as other CO's, it's just that his power cost is high.)

 * CO Power: Black Wave (Cost: 5 stars)
 * When used, all enemy units take 1 damage, and all of Hawke's units heal 1 HP.
 * SCO Power: Black Storm (Cost: 9 stars)
 * When used, all enemy units take 2 damage, and all of Hawke's units heal 2 HP.

Sturm
Sturm is classified as a Super CO. All of his units gain a 20% attack bonus and a 20% defense bonus, at NO extra cost. Also, all of his units have a 1 movement cost over any terrain they can normally pass over. However, if the weather is Snow, Sturm loses that movement advantage (i.e. he is affected by Snow like other CO's are). Also, Sturm only has one CO power.

 * SCO Power: Meteor Strike (Cost: 10 stars)
 * When used, a meteor drops on enemy troops. Any unit hit by the meteor loses 8 HP, even allied or your own (but will be reduced to 1 HP if it had 8 or less).  You cannot control where the meteor lands; instead, it will hit the area that you can see that will do the most damage (in funds) to enemy troops.  The meteor has the same range as a standard Silo.  If you can't see any enemy troops, or if the meteor would do more damage to you/allies than the enemy, the meteor will not fall.  Sturm's units will also gain an extra 20% attack and 30% defense bonus.

=Strategy= Ok. Though Advance Wars has many characters with different skills there is one thing that will always stay the same. Follow your characters strengths. CO powers can turn the tide in any battle, but if they are used ineffectively they are only a waste. You can look at the basic strategies for each character in the game.

Andy

His CO powers allow him to keep his units in the field for a much longer period of time, and are great counters to the damage dealing CO powers of Hawke, Drake, and Olaf. Because of his balanced forces and his healing CO powers, Andy prefers a large, balanced map with numerous bases, airports, and naval ports.

Olaf

His powers should be used very strategically, at a crucial point to either halt the opponents' retreat or advance, allowing Olaf to take the initiative. Olaf's strategies greatly resemble those of the Soviet Army in World War 2, relying on 'General Winter' (a very cold winter with many blizzards) to halt the Nazi Army's advance on Stalingrad and Moscow.

Grit

In close-quarters, Grit's CO powers can allow your indirect units to massacre a very large portion of the map (or possibly the entire map if you're playing in a small, enclosed map like Little Island). After using his power, artillery units fire as far (or farther than) other COs' rocket units! Rockets for the price of artillery! You'll find the sound of artillery fire will shortly become your halleluiah chorus. You'll want a good proportion of your army to consist of indirect attacking units such as artillery, rockets and battleships. However, don't let that 20% direct attack penalty scare you; you're still gonna need a couple of tanks to clean up what your rockets don't quite finish, or a couple anti-air to cover your rear whenever airports are involved in the match.

Colin

Colin is best used on maps with lots of properties and with the fund rating set to about 6000-9500 as his SCO power uses his cash to increase his units atk power all the way to horrific amounts with up to a massive 999% atk which would absolutely devastate your foes.

Colin's CO power is useful for earning up cash to deploy his cheap units to flood the enemy, and when the time is right, activate his SCO power to crush your horrified enemies.


text:
Movie Making Manual/Why Make a Music Video

There are several reasons why it is a good idea to make a music video.

For the Band:
 * To give your band exposure- a music video is one of the best ways to publicize a band, as it would no doubt be passed on by many people. The music video is not limited geographically, through the internet many people from around the world can view it. The music video does not cost in time, as once it is made the band does not have to perform again for every single audience.
 * To convey your visual style, giving people an incentive to see you perform live.
 * Experience- Performing in a music video gives the band/singer experience in performing elaborate and complex moves in exact sequence. While performing on a music video the band/singer doesn't have to perform live, and they/he can get feedback from the fans on how well they perform. The singer/band can then later repeat the moves they did on the music video on stage live, knowing exactly what moves the audience would love.

For the Crew:
 * To get experience in moviemaking, that may be useful before you try making a feature film. Music videos are a way of exploring visuals and styles in an abstract or surreal way without being confined by narrative restrictions. True expression can be found in these visuals, instead of trying to get a message across through actors and dialogue in a scripted environment.

 * As a Director, a music video can be the perfect outlet to freely express a creative style with some guided direction from the genre of the music. However it's important to note that freedom of expression for the Director can only be achieved if the performing artist approves of the content or Director buys the rights to the song.

It is short
 * By being a short video it can also be highly inexpensive in comparison to a feature or any other short based on what you do.

/Music videos


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User:Mattrix/Scripts/Quadratic01.png

Converted using User:Mattrix/Graph-O-Matic

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 * 1) !/usr/bin/gnuplot -persist
 * 2)       G N U P L O T
 * 3)       Version 4.0 patchlevel 0
 * 4)       last modified Thu Apr 15 14:44:22 CEST 2004
 * 5)       System: Linux 2.6.10-1-686-smp
 * 6)       Copyright (C) 1986 - 1993, 1998, 2004
 * 7)       Thomas Williams, Colin Kelley and many others
 * 8)       This is gnuplot version 4.0.  Please refer to the documentation
 * 9)       for command syntax changes.  The old syntax will be accepted
 * 10)       throughout the 4.0 series, but all save files use the new syntax.
 * 11)       Type `help` to access the on-line reference manual.
 * 12)       The gnuplot FAQ is available from
 * 13)               http://www.gnuplot.info/faq/
 * 14)       Send comments and requests for help to
 * 15)
 * 16)       Send bugs, suggestions and mods to
 * 17)
 * 18) set terminal x11
 * 19) set output
 * 1)       Send comments and requests for help to
 * 2)
 * 3)       Send bugs, suggestions and mods to
 * 4)
 * 5) set terminal x11
 * 6) set output
 * 1) set output
 * 1)    EOF

title: User:Mattrix/Scripts/Quadratic01.png


text:
User:Mattrix/Scripts

Here are the GNUPlot scripts for the graphs I have uploaded. I doubt I have any copyrights over them but if I do then I hereby waive them. They are therefore either automatically or explicitly in the public domain.

User:Mattrix/Scripts/Quadratic01.png

For more information about GNUPlot see GNUPlot. I converted them to PNG format using User:Mattrix/Graph-O-Matic rather than GNUPlot's built in PNG output.

title: User:Mattrix/Scripts


text:
Compiler Construction/Case Study 1

Case Study 1 - a Simple Interpreter
The purpose of this is to provide a gentle introduction to some compilation techniques, and to introduce a few more computer science concepts.

Interpreters are used rather than compilers since they don't have such a steep learning curve. Later chapters and case studies will delve more into compilers.

The language being interpreted is a very small subset of Basic, even smaller than Tiny Basic.

The purpose of this case study is to use simple interpreters to provide a gentle introduction to some compilation. There are three chunks of code in this chapter:
 * Simple line-mode IDE, which can be used with either interpreter.
 * Interpreter for Very Very Tiny Basic.
 * Interpreter for Very Tiny Basic.

The VVTB interpreter only allows integer variables, and only recognizes five different statements (just enough to write simple programs with, but not a serious programming tool). The VTB interpreter allows both integer and string variables, and recognizes ten different statements. The two interpreters use different methods for dealing with expressions, to provide you with some variety.

Note that the code presented here is intended to be as clear and simple as possible; high performance is not a target. Those readers unfamiliar with C++ may like to consult Appendix A which provides a brief summary on those C++ constructions which are used in the book.

Very Tiny Basic - Specification
A line-mode IDE is very simple: if the line you type starts with a number then that line is a statement to add to your program source code, otherwise it is a command to the system (e.g. RUN or LIST). The line-mode 'editor' is also very simple:
 * Just typing a line number without any code causes any existing line with that number to be deleted.
 * If the line number you use is the same as that of some previously typed line then the earlier line is discarded.
 * Program lines are sorted by line number order, so you can easily insert missing lines if needed, provided you originally used line numbers with gaps (every 10 was common).

For Lexical Analysis

Digit       ::= '0' | '1' | '2' | '3' | '4' | '5' | '6' | '7' | '8' | '9' ; LineNumber  ::= Digit [ Digit ]* ; WholeNumber ::= Digit [ Digit ]* ; Letter      ::= 'A' | 'B' | 'C' | 'D' | 'E' | 'F' | 'G' | 'H' | 'I' | 'J' | 'K' | 'L' | 'M' | 'N' | 'O' | 'P' | 'Q' | 'R' | 'S' | 'T' | 'U' | 'V' | 'W' | 'X' | 'Y' | 'Z' ; LiteralString::= '"' [any character except double-quote]+ '"' ; Comparison  ::= '=' | '<>' | '<' | '<=' | '>' | '>=' ; Separator   ::= ',' | ';' ; AddSub      ::= '+' | '-' ; MulDiv      ::= '*' | '/' ;

For IDE processing

Line        ::= CommandLine | ProgramLine ; CommandLine ::= 'RUN' | 'LIST' | 'NEW' | 'QUIT' ; ProgramLine ::= LineNumber | Statement ;

For VVTB Syntax Analysis

Statement   ::= 'LET' Variable '=' Expression | 'IF' Test 'THEN' LineNumber | 'PRINT' [ [ PrintItem ] Separator ]* | 'REM' [any character]+ | 'GOTO' LineNumber ; Variable    ::= Letter ; PrintItem   ::= Expression | LiteralString ; Test        ::= Expression Comparison Expression ; Expression  ::= [AddSub] Secondary [ AddSub Secondary ]* ; Secondary   ::= Primary [ MulDiv Primary ]* ; Primary     ::= '(' Expression ')' | Variable | WholeNumber ;

For VTB Syntax Analysis

Statement   ::= 'LET' Variable '=' Expression | 'IF' Test 'THEN' LineNumber | 'PRINT' [ [ PrintItem ] Separator ]* | 'REM' [any character]+ | 'GOTO' LineNumber | 'GOSUB' LineNumber 'RETURN' | 'STOP' | 'FOR' Variable '=' Expression 'TO' Expression ['STEP' Expression] | 'NEXT' Variable ; Variable    ::= Letter | Letter '$' ; PrintItem   ::= Expression ; Test        ::= Expression Comparison Expression ; Expression  ::= [AddSub] Secondary [ AddSub Secondary ]* ; Secondary   ::= Primary [ MulDiv Primary ]* ; Primary     ::= '(' Expression ')' | Variable | WholeNumber | LiteralString ;

IDE commands

Line number
 * Line numbers must be non-zero.

NEW
 * Start a new program, delete any existing source code.

QUIT
 * Terminate the IDE.

LIST
 * List the current source code.

RUN
 * Obey the current source code.

Sample Programs
Programs in Very Very Tiny Basic are very simple. Programs in Very Tiny Basic are still simple, but they can do more complex things. Neither language allows any user input.

Sample VVTB program

REM This is a sample VVTB program. 10 LET a = 10 20 PRINT "The value of a is ", a 30 LET b = 20 40 IF b < 40 THEN 10 Sample VTB program

REM This is a sample VTB program. 10 FOR a$ = 1 TO 50 STEP 5 20 FOR b = 1 TO a$ 30 GOSUB 200 50 NEXT b 60 NEXT a$ 70 FOR b = 1 TO 100 80 GOSUB 200 90 IF b > 25 THEN 500 100 NEXT b REM A sub-routine will return to where it is called from. 200 PRINT "The value of a$ is ", a 210 PRINT "The value of b is ", b 220 RETURN 500 PRINT "Exiting the program." 510 GOTO 1000 1000 STOP

Line Mode IDE - Implementation
The code which follows may seem quite short, but it is indeed a complete line-mode IDE. The reason it is so short is the use of the C++ , which is exactly what is needed for storing source code, sorting lines into line number order, etc.

//-- standard C++ headers -- using namespace std; //-- functions: IDE // Main loop of line-mode IDE. void LineModeIDE(void); // Obey command. void ObeyCommand(const string Command,     // Command to obey.                  map & Source,  // Program source code.                  bool & Continue);          // Set false to terminate. // Obtain next non-blank line. string NextNonBlankLine(void); // Split line into number and text. void SplitLine(const string & Line, // Line to be split.                int & Number,         // 0 or number at start of line.                string & Text);       /* Remainder of line, if any, converted to upper case. */ //-- functions: interpreter // Interpret program. void Interpret(map & Source); // Program source code.
 * 1) include
 * 2) include
 * 3) include
 * 4) include
 * 5) include

//-- main program -- int main(int argc, char* argv[]) {    LineModeIDE; return 0; }

//-- function definitions -- // Main loop of line-mode IDE. void LineModeIDE(void) {    map Source;   // Program source code. int CurNumb;             // 0 or current line number. string CurText;          // Rest of text on line. bool Continuing = true;  // true=keep going. while ( Continuing ) { SplitLine(NextNonBlankLine,CurNumb,CurText); if ( CurNumb == 0 ) { ObeyCommand(CurText,Source,Continuing); } else if ( CurText == "" ) { Source.erase(CurNumb); } else { Source[CurNumb] = CurText; }    } }  // Obey command. void ObeyCommand(const string & Command,   // Command to obey.                  map & Source,  // Program source code.                  bool & Continue)           // Set false to terminate. {     if ( Command == "QUIT" ) { Continue = false; } else if ( Command == "NEW" ) { Source.clear; } else if ( Command == "RUN" ) { Interpret(Source); } else if ( Command == "LIST" ) { map:: iterator Ndx; for ( Ndx = Source.begin;               Ndx != Source.end;                ++Ndx               ) { cout << Ndx->first << ' ' << Ndx->second << endl; }     } else { cout << "*** unrecognised command: " << Command << endl; } }  // Obtain next non-blank line. string NextNonBlankLine(void) {    string Line; int First,Last; do { cout << ':'; getline(cin,Line); First = 0; Last = Line.length - 1; while ( First<=Last && Line[First]==' ' ) { ++First; }        if ( First > Last ) { Line = ""; }    } while ( Line == "" ); return Line; } // Split line into number and text. void SplitLine(const string & Line, // Non-blank line to be split.               int & Number,        // 0 or number at start of line.                string & Text)       /* Remainder of line, if any, converted to upper case. */ {    int Ndx = 0; int Value = 0; int Last = Line.length - 1; string Result; while ( Line[Ndx] == ' ' ) {   // Skip leading spaces. ++Ndx; }    while ( isdigit(Line[Ndx]) ) {  // Extract any number. Value = Value*10 + (int(Line[Ndx]) - int('0')); ++Ndx; }    Number = Value; while ( Line[Ndx] == ' ' ) {   // Skip more spaces. ++Ndx; }    while ( Line[Last] == ' ' ) {   // Ignore trailing spaces. --Last; }    while( Ndx <= Last ) {          // Copy non-blank portion, Result += toupper(Line[Ndx]); // as upper case. ++Ndx; }    Text = Result; } // Interpret program. void Interpret(map & Source) // Program source code. {    cout << "Sorry, interpreter not yet available." << endl; }

title: Compiler Construction/Case Study 1


text:
Cookbook:Clay Pot Cooking

Clay pot cooking is a technique of cooking food in an unglazed clay pot (or Dolbier which is a French Clay Pot) which has been soaked in water so as to release steam during the cooking process. This technique has a long history, stretching back at least to ancient Roman times.

Typically, an unglazed clay pot is submerged for 15 to 30 minutes to absorb water before cooking, then filled with the food and placed into an oven. The walls of the pot help to diffuse the heat, and as the pot warms it releases the water as steam.

The food inside the clay pot loses none of its moisture because it is surrounded by steam, creating a tender, flavorful dish. The evaporation of the water prevents burning so long as the pot is not allowed to heat until it is completely dry. Because no oil needs to be added with this cooking technique, food cooked in a clay pot may be lower in fat compared with food prepared by other methods such as sautéing or frying. And unlike boiling, nutrients are not leached out into the water.

Because of the heat lost to the evaporation of water, clay pot cooking requires higher oven temperature and longer cooking times than traditional roasting with dry heat. Clay pots may be cleaned by scrubbing them with salt; soaps or detergents should not be used, because the clay may absorb them.

title: Cookbook:Clay Pot Cooking


text:
Wikibooks:Book of the month/March 2005 voting

The voting for the Book of the month for March 2005 is open from 1 - 28 February, 2005, and will close on February 28, 2005, 00:00 UTC. The book of the month will be featured on the main page of Wikibooks.

'''Closed. Any votes added will be reverted.'''

Physics Study Guide (4)
Votes:
 * 1) This book is probably the best book on the site so far.--Naryathegreat 01:36, 17 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * 2) --Andreas 22:22, 25 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * 3) TUF-KAT 17:47, 26 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * 4) SamE 03:05, 28 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Comments:
 * This is one of the few completed books on this site. - SamE 03:31, 26 Jan 2005 (UTC) from January
 * And as a "guide", being as far along as it is makes it pretty useful - marsh from January
 * I think this books has broken the back of the problem regarding raising sufficient content but its pretty sparse on explanations (not definitions) and could quickly be polished a lot with some publicity - Mark from January
 * Excellent book - Charlie123 from January
 * this guide is good for students preparing for exams. for full impact it really needs a complimentary textbook... perhaps could provide that!  from January
 * One more vote, and this book is automatically nominated for next month's voting. (don't forget, you can vote for more than one book!) --Andreas 22:22, 25 Feb 2005 (UTC)

US History (3)
Votes:
 * 1) EuropracBHIT 01:05, 1 Feb 2005 (UTC).
 * 2) --Andreas 14:27, 14 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * 3) SamE 03:05, 28 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Comments:
 * It's always a good idea to have a Humanities book of rigorous content on the list, particularly in view of Black History Month. -EuropracBHIT 06:45, 17 Jan 2005 (UTC) from January

Teaching Assistant in France Survival Guide (0)
Votes:

Comments:
 * Despite misgivings I have about the French, this book is pretty cool. And somewhat unique idea for a wikitext and a fun read - marsh from January
 * A unique and informative guide, I can only hope more guides are made for teaching in other countries (China for instance, ya) -Tiberus from January

High school extensions (5)
Votes:
 * 1) r3m0t (cont) (talk) 00:23, 1 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * 2) EuropracBHIT 01:05, 1 Feb 2005 (UTC).
 * 3) Destrogal 00:05, 6 Feb 2005 (EST).
 * 4) Lemontea 11:26, 6 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * 5) Bawolff 04:40, 28 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Comments:
 * Yum. --r3m0t (cont) (talk) 00:23, 1 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * As much of the content is avaliable but not utilised for Australian schools, the principal author has a good awareness of their market. Having this as a Featured Wikibook would help the rest of the world, as well as all who are interested in an accessible introduction to the intricacies of higher mathematics and the sciences (including mature-aged students). I recommend High School Extensions warmly and highly, and would strongly encourage people to contribute to Discrete Probability and Further Modular Arithmetic, as well as thinking of HARD problems in otherwise complete sections. -EuropracBHIT 01:05, 1 Feb 2005 (UTC).
 * Nothing against r3m0t, but I really think we should restrain from nominating the two books he's worked on for the first two months of Book of the Month, despite their content. - SamE 05:30, 6 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * As reply to the above comment, I've two points to say:firstly, it doesn't quite matter who is the author, as long as we fairly choose the best book out of here, somehow we're not voting "author of the month", hum? Second, the book, in the end, isn't written entirely by him. There are three major author, and a lots of contributer, I think this is an ideal way of writting a wikibook, too.As for my comment on this book, I could just say well done. They chose the fun and actually useful tools/topics in mathematics, and in a balanced level(not too hard, not too easy), they presented these topics in a good and attractive way. --Lemontea 11:26, 6 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * I have actually not contributed much to that book. Typos corrected and a new part about number bases which is very simple and compared to the rest of the book insignificant. --r3m0t (cont) (talk) 11:43, 6 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * SamE, it is after all an open voting. If you don't like the selection of the books presented here, you are free to nominate high quality books by yourself and vote for them. --Andreas 09:56, 7 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * An important thing to note is that some of the stuff in there is actually taught in high schools ("secondary schools") in the UK at the non-compulsory education stage (ages 16-18) if you choose Physics and/or Maths at A-Level. I'm not sure what exactly, because I am in my last year before my A-Levels, but I'm sure imaginary numbers are taught and I think it's likely number bases are too. (Further Maths is also available which almost certainly covers it. --r3m0t (cont) (talk) 11:43, 6 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * I'm not going to vote against this since it doesn't necessarily deserve an opposing vote - there is good content here, but some of it is really quite messy. Dysprosia 13:13, 14 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * Then which part(s) of it is/are messy? I would like to hear the feedback in order to clean up the book. Also as a side notes, the discreet probability chapter has been recently created, although just a stub, it is somehow the first step that every chapter in the book has to go through. Unluckily, I'm no good on that subject, so I hope that someone good with it could contribute. --Lemontea 12:41, 26 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * Sure. Here's a little list, even though this isn't really the place, so I'll just bring up the points; we can discuss them elsewhere later. From the three chapters listed as 100%: HSE Primes - the square root notation is very much a strong abuse of notation. I've brought that up on the talk page but nothing has come of it, unfortunately. This will confuse the target audience. Listing Arnold Ross is a bit strange for a textbook. HSE Logic - the motivational section on Boolean algebra isn't quite intuitive enough. The way additive and multiplicative notation is introduced needs more background and explanation for why we use this notation. The proofs section looks okay. The way TeX notation is used though may probably need to be carefully examined, for readability and typography purposes. Dysprosia 04:05, 1 Mar 2005 (UTC)
 * It is not possible at all to vote against something (see rules), but you can nominate and vote for as many of the other books as you like. (I wonder why nobody dares to vote for the other books...) --Andreas 14:27, 14 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Cell Biology (0)
Votes:

Comments:

Learning the vi Editor (2)
Votes:
 * 1) --Andreas 11:55, 8 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * 2) --Mattwj2002 06:45, 25 Feb 2005 (UTC)  <-- This vote was made by a person who was not logged in when voting. Please confirm the vote by signing it again while logged in.
 * 3) Bawolff 04:40, 28 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Comments:
 * A book with very narrow appeal, whatever its quality. r3m0t (cont) (talk) 18:39, 7 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * At university we use exclusively Linux, and knowing vi gives me advantage over my fellows in very quickly editing small scripts and files. The book starts from the beginning, but having used vi already for several years, I still found very useful tricks and tweaks in this nice Wikibook. --Andreas 11:55, 8 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * Provides a lot of great information without overwhelming the student in the beginning. I recommended this book to one of my college professors for an intro class. --Mattwj2002 06:45, 25 Feb 2005 (UTC)

English
Votes:

Comments:

Mandarin Chinese (4)
Votes: Comments:
 * 1) --Tiberus 20:54, 14 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * 2) --Jacoplane 02:16, 21 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * 3) --Andreas 22:38, 25 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * 4) --Christiaan 12:42, 26 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * 5) --Xiaodai 00:37, 1 Mar 2005 (UTC)  <== unfortunately after deadline.

 * Why not have a language book be book of the month this time? At the speed the internet grows in China, Chinese will be web language #1 in a few years --Andreas 22:38, 25 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * Very cool, and agree with Andreas' comment. Christiaan 12:42, 26 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * Well written almost perfect for beginners. Although the side by side nature of Simp and Trad Chinese can be confusing. Xiaodai 00:37, 1 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Algorithms (0)
Votes:

Comments:

Buddhist Philosophy (0)
Votes:

Comments:


text:
Use the Source/BSD

 * Discuss the starting of the BSD Unix variant.
 * Discuss the startings of NetBSD and FreeBSD.
 * Mention the starting of BSDi, but let the details be in the following chapter.
 * Discuss where NetBSD and FreeBSD have gone since their founding
 * Discuss the forking of NetBSD into OpenBSD and touch upon the conflict that caused it.
 * Discuss the direction OpenBSD went in and why. Theo's Sun work and his license stance.
 * Discuss 4.3BSD-Quasijarus, which is lead by Michael Sokolov. A strong supporter of VAX and the original BSD.
 * Discuss the conflict that caused the forking of FreeBSD into DragonFlyBSD. The reasons for Matt Dillion's departure from FreeBSD and his history in Amiga and Linux work.
 * Discuss the various dead BSD varients; why they started and why they died.
 * Talk a little about Wasabi and Windriver.

Michael Sokolov is a hardcore backer of the VAX computer system as well as of the original ideals and code of the Berkeley Software Distribution, so in on December 27th, 1998 he began Quasijarus. Taking the code from the 4.3-Tahoe release of BSD UNIX Michael began to maintain and improve the 1988 code base for personal usage. As Michael believes in the ideal of a One True Unix, he completely avoids any and all GNU or GNU-like solutions within Quasijarus. Though the codebase is based on the Tahoe release of BSD, no work is done on the Tahoe specific code, VAX is the only architecture supported.

title: Use the Source/BSD


text:
Use the Source/Sources

The sources of information that can be documented will be documented here. Some information however is within the head of the writer and the source is lost to time.

Websites:

 * Éric Lévénez's History of Unix page. - Used to track down websites and dates.
 * NetBSD's History page
 * Sun's History page
 * The GNU website
 * FreeBSD's BSD Family Tree
 * Bell Lab's Oral History of Unix
 * Lucent Technologies History of Unix
 * The Open Group's Unix History
 * Tom Van Vleck's Unix and Multics article
 * USL versus BSDi information page
 * an Archived e-mail - Caldera's release of old UNIX code.
 * The Open Source Initiative
 * Quasijarus' website - an excellent resource on the stance of the project and its goals.
 * the FreeBSD website
 * the DragonFlyBSD website
 * the NetBSD website
 * the OpenBSD website
 * The Register - home of a few choice quotes
 * How To Become A Hacker - by Eric Steven Raymond

Books:

 * Open Sources: Voices from the Open Source Revolution - Published by O'Reilly & Associates, Inc.

Contributors:
 * DouglasGreen - Proof reading and editing.

Special Thanks:

 * Michael Sokolov, the Developer of 4.3BSD-Quasijarus, who spoke with Nate via e-mail.
 * google.com, which was an excellent tool to help track some quotes and information sources.

License:

This wikibook in all that was contributed by Nate Montague, the base writer, is released as public domain for anyone to do as they wish with. Nate does not support the ideals nor the means of the GNU movement, he believes in true freedom, not forced cooperation and needless restrictions.

title: Use the Source/Sources


text:
Computers for Beginners/Authors

EuropracBHIT
The last time EuropracBHIT could say she had 'never used a computer' was in 1990, when an IBM-compatible computer running MS-DOS version 3.1 came into her home. She studied Information Technology from 1996 to 2000, which is the sum of her theoretical knowledge, as well as a course in Desktop Publishing in 2003, where she crystallised high skills in PageMaker and Photoshop, versions of which she had been exploring for the previous ten years first on Macintosh and subsequently on Wintel platforms. Practically, she reads all the manuals before she opens a piece of software, and help files and PDF files. And she plays and has fun, ferreting out what a piece of hardware and its comicontant software can do and testing out its limits. Her principal contributions will be in Internet and Multimedia, as she believes these are the most fun and challenging ways of using a computer in the consumer and education arenas for which this book is targeted. She recommends tutorials because they are a form of 'doing as I do': imitating an experienced computer user as opposed to 'doing what I say' which is following the instructions and feeling very foolish. She thinks that people feeling foolish is the greatest reason why they do not learn to use their computers more efficiently and get out their maximum potential with this and other related technology. In the fifteen years she has been using computers, she has had to tutor and help many people of all ages and skill levels. She thinks the best way to meet the computer's 'mind' is to be logical. However, computers, in her view, do stir passions and emotions, and it is important to deal with these positively, critically and constructively.

Deviance99
Deviance99 has had a home PC running Microsoft Windows since he was 9 years old. He has been consulting friends, family, and neighbors since age 15. He started dabbling in Q-Basic computer programming at age 12, and started building his own computers at 14, and discovered Linux at age 17 (23 now). He's been designing webpages since his sophomore year in high school, and has had several jobs making websites. He studied Information Technology from 2001-2005 with a speciality in Multimedia Design, and is current the System Administrator of the Physics Department at the local university.

Most of his knowledge of computers is self-taught and complimented with theory from the University. He is an expert using Windows, while an advanced user of Linux with experience setting up and maintaining webservers, mail servers, files servers, clusters, active directory, and a network environment. He just bought his first Apple computer and is virgerously learning it.

title: Computers for Beginners/Authors


text:
Internet Technologies/Routing email

Email routing is performed based entirely on the destination address of the email message. An email address has the following format:

username @ domain

(For example: user@wikipedia.org)

While it would be theoretically possible for mail clients to deliver their own messages directly to recipients, this is not desirable. So, an end user's mail client will deliver outbound messages to their local mail server using SMTP or a similar protocol.

The local mail server then performs a DNS lookup to find the 'MX' (mail exchanger) records for the recipient's domain name. These MX devices are the designated mail servers for all email addresses within that domain.

The local server then attempts an SMTP connection to each of the MX servers in order of priority, until a connection is successful. It forwards the message to the remote server and ends the connection.

The remote mail server then either repeats this process, forwarding the message closer to the intended recipient, or may deliver the message directly to the recipient.

History

Prior to the advent of the SMTP protocol, email was delivered using the UUCP (Unix-to-Unix Copy Protocol).

In the early days of SMTP, before Spam became a massive problem on the Internet, it was possible to manually define the route that an email message was to take. This was done by appending multiple "@domain" entries to a recipient address. For example:

user@domain1.com@domain2.com@domain3.com

A message with this recipient address would be routed first to the mail server for domain3.com, then to the mail server for domain2.com, then finally to the mail server for domain1.com where it would be delivered to the local user.

Due to anti-relaying restrictions now in place on Internet-accessible mail servers, this is generally no longer possible.

title: Internet Technologies/Routing email


text:
Cookbook talk:Gingerbread

Mixed spice
Mixed spice???? Like, say, Chinese 5-spice blend? Maybe OK to use Italian seasoning?

 * I've changed this to "allspice," as I think that's what was meant. Have added explanatory note after recipe as well. Jessicapierce 03:24, 6 May 2007 (UTC)

 * Close, but not quite: "mixed spice" generally has allspice in it, but also cinnamon, nutmeg, and often some other spices like coriander, cloves and ginger. Will fix. Webaware talk 08:32, 6 May 2007 (UTC)

title: Cookbook talk:Gingerbread


text:
Computers for Beginners/Internet

Where is the Internet?
In the 21st century the Internet is a pervasive presence in our lives, shaping them both for good and evil. It should not be surprising that the Internet may have motivated you to buy and use a computer to its maximum potential.

So, people "connect" to the Internet. Where is the Internet? The short answer is nowhere and everywhere. The nature of the Internet is not centralized, there is no specific place where the Internet exists. What we call "the Internet" is the ever-changing collection of computers that are all connected together and configured so that they can "talk" to each other. Your computer becomes part of the Internet every time you connect to it, and you usually connect to it through your internet service provider (ISP), and they are permanently connected.

The Internet is what you and others make it by creating a web page and uploading it onto a server. Your web page has now become a part of the Internet.

To define the term, the internet is a collection of many, many computers, including servers and desktop PCs, linked together to send and receive information.

The Internet and the World Wide Web
Another point that may need clarification is the difference between the Internet and the World Wide Web. People tend to use those terms interchangeably, but there is a difference. The Internet can provide a wide range of services, like web-pages, email, file transfers, instant messages — the list never ends. The World Wide Web (or just "Web"), refers to the collection of inter-linked web-pages, and web-browsing refers to the exploration of those web-pages.

Web Browsing
Web browsing is probably the most accessible beginners' Internet activity. It is the act of viewing textual or image-based content using the World-Wide Web over the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). You are doing this as you read this text.

All recent versions of Windows come with a version of Internet Explorer, and most of them are inextricably integrated with the operating system. The current version, bundled with Windows Vista, is Internet Explorer 8. Windows 98 ships with version 4, and Me or 2000 are integrated with 5.0 or 5.5 (the difference being that 5.5 has support for more advanced security measures).

Internet Explorer is not the only browser, and not necessarily the best. Although it's still by far the most common, many people point out that it's difficult to use and may expose your computer to security risks. If you plan to use the World Wide Web, it's highly recommended that you at least try out one of the alternatives:
 * Mozilla Firefox is simple and reliable, and one of the most popular alternative browsers.
 * Google Chrome
 * Mozilla Suite (includes e-mail support)
 * Opera
 * Netscape

Linux users sometimes want to use command-line, or textual, browsers such as Lynx or Links2 where a graphical user interface is unavailable, for instance when installing, but most browsers are graphical.

When learning to use a browser (graphical or textual) most efficiently, it can be useful to learn keyboard commands, as well as the discrete uses of the Left and Right mouse button. If your mouse has a wheel in the middle, it can be useful to scroll, or for browsers with tabbed browsing support, opening a new tab. Check your settings so you can get the best use of this tool.

The vast majority of Web browsing is done among sites you might already know. The first one that you may have seen is your home page. When the browser is out of the box, it may direct to the company (Microsoft for Internet Explorer, Netscape for Netscape and allied products), or it will direct to your Internet Service Provider (the people who manage your connection). You can also have a home page of your choosing. If you are surfing at school or work, your school or work will have a page, as will the library or the Internet cafe.

Choosing a password
Many web services, such as email, internet shopping or online banking require the user to "log in" by entering a username and password.

It is important to choose a good password, that is, a password that cannot be easily cracked by a third party who could potentially gain access to your email account or finances.

Bad passwords
The following types of passwords should never be used. They can easily be cracked by modern password breaking tools and offer little or no protection in case of an attack.

webmail, merci, London, clare, beermonster, install, Sony, honey888, password3, fluffy, bahnhof, MichaelJackson, mount_everest, jesuschrist, linux7, venividivici, ... fG4ir5, bmw, cat, foo, cng56, girl9, ...  12021967, 12_2_1967, 12Feb67, y67d12m2, abbeyRoad, ...  qwerty, 9876789, g3g3g3g3, aeiou...  wiki, 9876543... ...
 * Dictionary words, common phrases and names in any language, even if combined with numbers. For example:
 * Passwords shorter than 7 characters. For example:
 * Passwords containing a modified version of the user name. (e.g. if the user name is "martin88", a password such as "martmart" or "nitram")
 * Passwords containing personal information about the user or the user's family such as dates of birth, social security numbers, number plates, pet names and addresses. For example:
 * Patterns or repetitive sequences
 * Contains only digits or letters. For example:

Good passwords
Good passwords should:

FQr7erfn5, QWd3fTr6U, rgi82eJiFF0, GI$87d90%nj, kEirt4Pw, ...
 * be at least 8 characters long
 * contain upper and lowercase characters, as well as numbers in a random sequence.
 * be easy to remember

A convenient way of creating a password is thinking of a "pass phrase" and then abbreviating it into a password. This procedure usually results in a password that is both safe and easy to remember. For example:

 * "Roses are red, violets are blue, I'm a bad poet, so are you" becomes "RarVabIabp5ay", where the first word of each line is represented by a capital and "S" becomes a "5" because both characters look similar.
 * "I use this website to buy cheap flights from Stanstead airport" becomes "IutwtbcffSa"

Using special characters such as *&^%$ also improves a password's safety. However, some applications and websites don't allow passwords to contain special characters. If in doubt, leave them out and make the password longer.

Another convenient way to creating a good password is to change the letters to numbers or symbols in a short phrase. For example, if I wanted to use the phrase "Pepsi Man", I could simply change a few letters to numbers or symbols and get "P3p$1_m4n" an good and easy to use password that is accepted by most websites.

Searching: getting here from there
A very useful idea for a home page can be a search engine. In a search engine, you can type in words or phrases in regard to a site or topic you may know something or nothing about. There have been many search engines developed over time. Since 1998, the most popular search engine is Google.

The principles to use all search engines are the same. Search engines differ in how much, how widely and how deeply they cover the Internet. The Internet is not just the World Wide Web, it can be Telnet, Usenet, Tymnet, Gopher and File Transfer Protocol. So keep that in mind!

So when looking for a website that we already know, we type in  http://www  into the box at the top below the menus. Or we would go to Open Location and press Control+L (all demonstrations from this point are conducted in Firefox 1.0.1).

When we want to go to Google, we type in http://www.google.com

Once you are in Google type in the box "Windows XP For Beginners". Then press Enter/Return or click on Google Search. The button next to it, I'm Feeling Lucky, will take you to the first site that google finds such as "BBC" will take you to "http://www.bbc.co.uk". When we 'felt lucky', we clicked on this site: http://northville.lib.mi.us/tech/tutor/welcome.htm, which will reinforce many of the concepts we have gone through and learnt.

Many sites have come up. We want to evaluate the ones which give us the most information about what we want to know.

Google gives us the name of the website (written out in full, so you can recall it later; if you can't put your mouse over the link's name), the first few words of the website we want to go to (usually 2 lines long), how big the file is (measured in kilobytes and useful for downloading, especially if you have limited time and resources), and two links called 'Cached' (which shows past versions of the website in the event the present version may not work) and 'Similar Pages' which will give similar pages. In the case of our 'Never Used a Computer Before' search, we found 30 sites similar to the 'I Feel Lucky' site, which incidentally is the first one. Many people, when they search and research, click on the first 10 files they see and gain information that way. This is not always the best thing to do, because most search engines have some form of ranking. Some of this ranking is sorted out by the user patterns of human beings, and others by the vagaries of servers. Some of this is sorted out by advertising. Google is a popular search engine for the reason it is not influenced by advertising.

How do we narrow down the search? On the right, there is a small link called Advanced Search. Advanced Search, as implied, is very powerful. It is something like a similar feature in your word processor or database programme and even in your operating system.

Advanced Search is here (if you are not located in the United States replace '.com' with '.com.au', '.co.uk', '.de', '.fr' or some other domain suffix.)

http://www.google.com/advanced_search?hl=en

and then you can play around.

The first four text boxes are to do with restricting the terms of the search with words or phrases - adding, delimiting or deleting. You may well be familiar with this from your word processor's Find and Replace function.

Web pages are in many different languages, file formats, dates and domains. To protect yourself and other people, you may want to use SafeSearch. Most things searched on the Web are 'sex' and 'porn(ography)' in all their forms, so for work and study, SafeSearch would be recommended. Otherwise, no filtering will do the trick. Google is able to limit all these things.

If you need more help then you can look at Advanced Search Tips: http://www.google.com/help/refinesearch.html

You might also like to find similar or linked pages to your page.

There are also technology-related searches for Macintosh, Microsoft and Linux (for example).

Email
E-mail (commonly referred to as email - either spelling is acceptable) is a method of sending messages with a computer. Sending email costs nothing extra over your Internet connection.

You send email either with an email client such as Microsoft Outlook , Mozilla Thunderbird or with a web-based email system. The basic principle is the same for both:

 * The email is written and sent to a server with an email address attached.
 * The server looks at the domain name of the email (the section following the @) and sends the email on its way through the internet.
 * The receiving server receives the email. It looks at the username of the email (the section preceding the @) and stores the email in an appropriate folder on its hard disc.
 * The recipient connects to the Internet and logs into their mail client or webmail site.
 * The receiving server then allows the message to be downloaded by the recipient.

All this often happens in a second or less. The speed depends on the speed of the two previously mentioned servers and all the ISP servers in between, the amount of internet traffic, and the distance between the two servers.

Web-based email
Web-based email is very convenient compared to email accessed via a client, but almost never has the featureset of clients.

Here is how to sign up for a Yahoo! Mail account. Yahoo! was one of the very first web-based email companies.

 * 1) Having got to the Yahoo site! (the American one), find 'Sign up'.
 * 2) The splash screen shows us three choices: Yahoo Mail, Yahoo Mail Plus and Personal Yahoo. The one that will be easiest for our purposes will be Yahoo Mail.
 * 3) It is always a good idea to read the Privacy Policy, and Terms of Service . Look at everything marked with an asterisk and read the Terms of Service very very carefully. (Even print them out if you can't read them: there is a printable version).
 * 4) The most important thing is to have a user name and password:
 * 5) * For this demonstration we'll type in neverusedacomputer@yahoo.com where the pattern is username@provider.com.
 * 6) * You can make up your own password
 * 7) * Follow the tips and hints.
 * 8) Hopefully you won't forget your password, but 'If You Forget Your Password' is next.
 * 9) Now that you have remembered your password, you will have to look at Captcha to verify your registration or account. It will be different every time. If you can see it, type it.
 * 10) Now you have your Yahoo account and you can sign in.

Many of these principles and practices apply to any Internet Service Provider or free service. It is interesting to compare similarities and differences. The basis of getting 'free' e-mail can and will change over time, especially if you intend to keep your address for longer than a month and will use it for many different things. Most people do keep their e-mail addresses for life or as long as is practicable, and will try to maintain continuity over the services they most frequently use. However, there is a danger of forgetfulness or apathy in regard to less frequently used or one-time only services. Ideally, a portal such as Yahoo or Hotmail will provide a very functional and neat e-mail address and many safe explorations on the information superhighway, like message boards, chat and directory links.

E-mail through a specialist program
There are many programs designed for reading e-mail. A good one is Mozilla Thunderbird and it is meant to work alongside Mozilla Firefox. There are also Outlook and Outlook Express, Eudora and others. Those programs do not need a browser, they are capable of downloading and reading email on their own — they are stand-alone.

1. In your browser, go to Tools -> Read Mail.

2. If you want to write a new message, then go to Tools -> New Message or press Control+M.

E-mail hygiene: viruses
One of the main ways that computer viruses propagate is via e-mail. This is usually done by attachments — files that are attached to the e-mail message sent to you. If you don't know the person sending you the email, it's advisable to be careful and not open the attachment that accompanies the e-mail (if any). The types of files that can be infected by viruses are files whose filenames end with .exe (executable programs), .bat, .vbs, .doc (Microsoft Word documents), .xls (Microsoft Excel files), .ppt (Microsoft PowerPoint presentations) and others. Even if you do know the person sending you the e-mail message, they might not know that their computer is infected with a virus and they may unknowingly be sending you infected files, so it's always a good idea to have virus-scanning software. Finally, watch out for files that have names like file.jpg.bat. The .jpg part of the filename is there to fool you into believing this is a picture file, but it is almost certainly something nasty (due to the .bat ending).

One final point you should be careful about: many graphical e-mail programs have a "preview mode" as the default mode for reading email messages. In this mode, the contents of the email are presented to you immediately when you click on the message title in the list of messages. In the past years, we have seen viruses that infect your system immediately when you just view the email message that carries them. It's advisable to disable the preview mode so that you have more control on which messages you want to view: that would give you the chance of deleting the emails you think look suspicious before even viewing their contents (yes, you can often judge from their titles).

Online Scams
Common sense in the real world applies online. If an offer sounds too good to be true, it probably is. A good idea is to research an offer before you accept it.

A typical scam letter expresses an urgent need for a person to do them a favor. This usually involves some type of inheritance. These scammers are very good, and their letters sound sincere and legitimate. They are not. They also will target anyone who they think has money. There are even reports of religious figures being scammed. One occurred with a Pastor who was scammed into thinking that a Nigerian man had an inheritance of a few million dollars. However, a stipulation was placed on the inheritance that he had to give half of it away to charity but he didn't have the initial money to get to the location of the money in order for it to be released. The Pastor trusted him and in exchange for fronting the $10,000 or so USD, the scammer was to give him a few million for his church for the trouble. Unfortunately, the Pastor was scammed, he never received the money and was out $10,000.

Phishing is another way that crackers will try to obtain your personal information. They send emails claiming to be from reputable companies like Amazon.com or PayPal. The emails claim that they need information from you, like your credit card information or password, for some reason or another. Common excuses are technical glitches and software upgrades. These emails look legitimate at first glance—complete with company logos and professional formatting. They may ask you give you information via phone, through a reply, or through a website, which is also masked as the website of the company that they are trying to imitate. If you ever get an email like this, always treat it like it is evil as most companies would never ask for personal information through email. If anything, call the company and verify that they sent you the email. Also, both Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer will detect many phishing sites and warn users that they are malicious.

title: Computers for Beginners/Internet