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Marksmanship

Marksmanship refers to the art or skill of using a firearm, such as a rifle or a pistol.

Fundamentals overview
The basic fundamentals of marksmanship can be described in a number of ways.

Possibly the most succinct version of the principles of marksmanship is that used by the British and Australian Army:

 * 1) The position and hold must be firm enough to support the weapon.
 * 2) The weapon  must point naturally at the target without undue physical effort.
 * 3) Sight alignment and sight picture must be correct.
 * 4) The shot must be released and followed through without any undue physical disturbance to the position.

The US Army similarly breaks marksmanship principles into four fundamentals, however states them more verbosely:

 * Steady position - Regardless of stance or position, the weapon must be held the same way for each shot and in a manner that will facilitate the least wobble (natural movement of the body as indicated by the sights.) The basic method of firing taught to novice-level shooters and soldiers is the prone supported position; that is, on your stomach with the position supported by another object, usually a sandbag.
 * Aiming - Sight Alignment (the relationship of the front and rear sight or clear, centered reticle in an optical sight) is most important to accuracy as it helps eliminate angular error. The aligned sights placed on target is Sight Picture.  The front sight or reticle should always be positioned in the same spot. These two factors ensures that shots fired, if the other fundamentals are correctly applied, will hit in the same general area. Normally a center hold (center mass of the target) is preferred but other hold points may be used.
 * Breathing Control - [Not everyone agrees that this is] The least important factor. Normally, the firer should press the trigger during the natural pause after exhalation. The breathing sequence should be as follows: inhale, exhale, hold, squeeze.
 * Trigger Control - The trigger is the interface between shooter and "machine", and therefore requires careful attention. The shooter must smoothly squeeze the trigger straight back with increasing pressure without attempting to anticipate when the round will fire.  Once the grip/hold is achieved, only the index finger of the shooting hand moves during the trigger squeeze.  During initial training a marksman should strive for a "surprise break."  There is no "wrong" way to place the index finger on the trigger provided that the shooter is able to consistently move the trigger straight rearward.  Begin with the pad of the trigger finger and adjust positioning as needed.
 * The rifle must never be pointed at a c/o or fellow soldier. It must always point down range or at the enemy.

Stance or position overview
The weapon should point toward the target, without effort or strain. The ideal position is attained by "natural point of aim" in which no undue muscular tension is required to keep the sights on target.

In order to ascertain the natural point of aim (POA) and to adjust the natural POA to the desired POA the shooter undertakes a procedure called "test and adjust".

The test portion consists of the shooter closing their eyes and relaxing the grip on their weapon while still holding it in the firing position. The shooter then re-firms his grip and opens his eyes. Where the sights are now pointing is the natural POA.

To adjust the natural point of aim when shooting from the standing or squatting position, the shooter alters his/her position by moving his/her feet. With other positions, the shooter moves their body. For example, in the sitting position the shooter would move their backside. In the kneeling position the rear leg/foot is moved. Moving back foot (standing) or body (prone) forward generally lowers the point of aim. Moving it rearward raises the point of aim. Similarly, moving the rear foot or body to the right moves the point of aim left and vice versa. The shooter continues to test and adjust until the natural POA coincides with the target.

Fundamentals of Rifle Marksmanship

 * Breathing Control : Oxygen deficit leads to an unsteady hold as the muscles require more oxygenated blood. Therefore, the trigger should be pressed at a point in the respiration cycle (inhale, hold, exhale) when the shooter is steadiest.  Various techniques work for different individuals: usually after exhaling half a breath or exhaling the entire breath.  Since it is almost impossible to measure half a breath with consistency, the latter technique is most popular.

The rifle should never directly be rested on a hard surface such as a vehicle roof, window frame, rock or sandbag wall. Instead the support hand should rest on the hard surface and the rifle should rest on the support hand. The reason for this is that laying the rifle directly on a support will introduce changes to the vibration pattern of the rifle when firing. Placing the hand between the rifle and the support surface, reduces (but does not eliminate) the changes to the vibration patterns of the weapon.
 * Support : The rifle is held at two points: with the firing hand and with the support hand. The firing hand not only grasps the portion of the stock around the trigger group, but exerts steady rearward pressure into the “pocket” of the shoulder.  The support elbow is held directly under the rifle, without a hard grip by the hand which may introduce lateral “wobble”.

 * Cheek Weld : Consistency in sighting begins with proper “cheek weld”, positioning the cheek at the same place along the stock. Besides before and after placement of the “weld”, it also determines the height of the eyes in relation to the sights or scope.

 * Natural Point of Aim : Every marksman has a natural point of aim (NPOA), the optimum position of the body in any shooting stance. For instance, in prone, the shooter aligns himself with the target in such a manner that his sights rest comfortably on the bull’s eye without excessive muscular tension to maintain a desired sight picture.  The position may be “fine tuned” by subtle movement of the arms, elbows, or feet.  NPOA can easily be checked by finding a comfortable position with sights properly aligned, then closing both eyes.  Inhale and exhale.  When the eyes are opened, the sight picture should remain unchanged.  If not, adjust as necessary.

 * Sight Alignment
 * With metallic sights, proper alignment with "U" notch sights places the front sight post squarely within the “notch” of the rear (square) sight. The top of the front sight should remain even with the top of the rear sight, with equal “daylight” on either side of the front site within the notch. If the rear sight is a peep sight ( circular aperture) or “ghost ring”, the tip of the front sight should be centered in relation to the circle. When shooting at longer distances, the rear sight will be elevated to compensate for the bullet’s ballistic “drop”, but the sight picture should always remain the same.  Make everything consistent.
 * With optical sights, such as telescopes, proper alignment is obtained when there is no dark portion or “shadow” at any point in the circumference of the field of view. This will ensure that you are always sighting through the center of the scope. Scope parallax adjustment must put the sight cross hairs and target image in the same focal plane to avoid a shift in relative position with small movements of the eye.

 * Sight Picture : Sight picture is the placement of the sights (properly aligned) in relation to the target. In most formal competition, the desired sight picture is the front post tangent to the bottom of the bull’s eye, yielding a “six o’clock hold”.  The six o’clock is almost universally preferred to placing the front sight at the intended point of impact in the center of the target because the resultant picture is inevitably inconsistent. At the time the shooter fires the shot, the tip of the foresight should be in clear focus. This will render the rest of the sight picture blurry. This ensures correct sight alignment.
 * Trigger Control : Trigger control is commonly considered the easiest aspect of marksmanship to explain and the most difficult to accomplish. A perfect release or “break” results from steadily 'squeezing' the trigger straight back (usually with the pad of the trigger finger, not at the first joint, although the firing of a revolver in double action may typically be described as using the first joint) with no lateral pressure.  It should occur at an instant when the shooter does not expect the rifle to discharge, resulting in a “surprise break” that is immune to anticipation or “flinch” that disturbs the sight picture. More in depth, the ability to control trigger "creep", as in the dead space before the trigger works the action; overtravel, the distance the trigger travels rearward after it causes the action to fire the gun; reset, the minimal forward movement of the trigger to be made ready to fire again.

 * Follow Through : Follow through is important in developing consistency. While the bullet leaves the rifle’s barrel within milli-seconds of ignition, the shooter benefits from “staying on the target ” in order to determine where the round likely struck.  With experience, shooters can tell with extreme precision whether the projectile has struck the target or elsewhere.

Pistol Marksmanship

Line of Sight: Some shooters consider aiming with a pistol more challenging than with a rifle due to the smaller sight radius - the distance between the rear and fore sights. The key is, as with shooting rifles, is to line up the front notch at the front of the pistol's slide within the two rear notches at the back of the pistol's slide. Do this, and almost every time your shot will hit its mark.

Control: Many shooters have problems with controlling the recoil of a pistol. This problem is not as often shared by rifle shooters due to the energy of the recoil of their rifles dissipating against their shoulders. However, when shooting a pistol it is far more difficult to control the weapon when it is just held by your hands as it often recoils up and back at the same time.

Posture/Stance: When firing a sidearm it is important, as with firing any weapon, to maintain a proper firing stance at all times. There are several wrong shooting stances that many shooters use obliviously. One common one is that of a shooter holding the pistol and slightly leaning away from the pistol as if afraid it will spring back and hit them in the face. This will not happen unless you let the pistol fly out of your grasp, or place your self directly behind it. A correct shooting stance includes a firm two handed grip, strong hand extending out towards target with the "weak" or support hand slightly pulling rearward as to "lock" in a stable platform for the pistol, knees bent and feet approximately shoulder width apart, upper body slightly leaning forward into firearm. By leaning forward, with the firearm held in such a manner the arms are stable and take up recoil better than not having a fully extended arm, the upper body also dissipates recoil much better, in conjunction with slightly bent knees and proper foot placement creating a very suitable firing platform for the pistol. Resulting in an improvement in accuracy, and with better recoil management, the ability to put faster follow up shots on target

Rifle shooting positions
There are four basic positions for shooting rifles or carbines.

 * Standing or offhand: Erect on both feet with the rifle supported by the strong hand and the support hand. This is the fastest position to assume but is the least steady.

 * Kneeling: Generally with one knee on the ground and the support elbow resting atop (improperly) or (preferably) slightly forward of the elevated knee. Steadier than offhand and faster than sitting or prone.

 * Sitting: Two variants include "open legged" or "cross legged" (ankles apart or overlapping) with both elbows supported on the knees or thighs. The best all-round supported position, as it permits a fast, steady platform suitable to rough terrain.

 * Prone: Lying on one's stomach with the support hand beneath the rifle. Feet may be splayed or closer together but most shooters find it helpful to bring the strong-side knee forward. The steadiest position, but requires more time to assume than any other and may be unsuitable for some terrain or where ground cover obscures the target.

Other nonstandard positions include the squat ("rice paddy prone"), "speed kneeling" with both knees on the ground, and "supine", where the firer lies on his/her side, with the rifle lying on the bent lower leg; the sight is usually mounted on the end of the stock and as such the rifle is designed to be shot in this position only.

Grip or hold
The grip or hold depends on the shooting discipline (i.e. what is allowed under the rules of competition) and what is practical. For instance, in the IPSC pistol discipline, the most used grip is two handed, although some stages will be designed such that the shot must be taken with either the weak or the strong hand only.

When gripping a handgun, "shake hands" with the grip. Take a firm and high grip, wrapping the three lower fingers around the grip with the trigger finger resting along the slide away from the trigger and trigger guard.

When using iron sights, the firer must focus on the tip of the foresight at the moment they release the shot. The rear sight and the target itself will not be in focus. This assists in assuring correct sight alignment.

Accuracy & Precision
Two methods of looking at the success of a shot group involve accuracy and precision, where accuracy is defined as 'the ability of a measurement to match the actual value of the quantity being measured,' and precision is defined as 'the ability of a measurement to be consistently reproduced' (www.dictionary.com).

Precision
Precision also referred to as "intrinsic accuracy", is measured by the group, where hitting close to bulls eye does not affect precision rather than the fact that all bullets in the group landed very close to one another. Hence, the smaller or "tighter" the group, the better the Precision.

Major factors that affect precision are:
 * shooting position
 * the rifle
 * the shooter
 * the weather (within the span of the group)
 * ammunition (especially in competitions, and surgical sniping. However, ALL firearms have particular likes and dislikes, causing malfunctions for even the highest quality ammunition. It's up to the firearm owner to test for what his or her firearm can reliably feed and function with while using)
 * elevation
 * humidity
 * Coriolis effect
 * breathing pattern
 * parallax (scoped rifle)
 * execution of proper marksmanship fundamentals

The intrinsic accuracy (precision) of each of these components can be measured separately. The typical unit of measurement for rifles and scopes is MOA (Minute of Angle). There are 360 degrees in a full circle and 60 minutes per degree.

"Mechanical Accuracy" refers to the accuracy of the rifle and the ammunition. The accuracy of a given weapon will actually be equal to the square root of the sum of the squares of the dispersion caused by each individual factor, such as weapon, ammunition, shooter skill, weather, etc. For example, if a rifle is capable of performing at 0.5 MOA, but the ammunition you are using is only capable of 1.1 MOA, the accuracy of the weapon and ammunition combination will be the square root of 0.5^2 + 1.1^2, or approximately 1.2 MOA. However, if the shooter is only capable of 4 MOA, then using this ammunition and rifle, the average MOA will be [0.5^2 + 1.1^2 +4^2]^0.5 = @4.2 MOA, in perfect weather.

We have the least control over the weather and other environmental factors. We have the most control over the accuracy of the individual shooter. Do not be overly concerned about upgrading your rifle or ammunition (to a lower MOA) until your own MOA approaches a similar degree of accuracy.

The intrinsic accuracy of all these components is measured by the tightness of the group as discussed below.

Accuracy
The ability to hit the target (as opposed to shooting a small group) is probably the more commonly perceived measure of accuracy amongst new or non shooters. This technique can be referred to as practical accuracy, because, generally speaking in field shooting, hitting the target is the point of the practice of shooting. This accuracy is a measure of the shooter's ability to cause the group to hit the target, by adjusting the point of aim. The operation or exercise of causing the group to fall on the target, by adjusting the point of aim, is called "application of fire". As with any weapon when firing and aiming for your target you must know that the bullet gradually moves downward when fired so when aiming at a target it is best to aim a little above it to get an accurate shot at your target.

Precision Leads to Accuracy
Without precision, or repeatability of the above-mentioned components of precision, a high degree of accuracy is nearly impossible. In order to accurately strike a target, the shooter must adjust the aim to account for several variables, and to the extent the repeatability of the firearm or conditions is poor, this adjustment becomes correspondingly uncertain --- in other words, with poor precision the shooter simply will have to guess. For example, suppose a given cartridge produces a wide and unpredictable variation in muzzle velocity, and that all other elements of the firearm are highly precise. In this case, the shooter has very little idea of where the shot will go, as the amount of drop for which to compensate is highly uncertain, and the shooter will simply have to hope for the best.

Maximum effective range vs. accuracy
Firearms are considered ineffective beyond the distance a carefully fired shot is guaranteed to strike the target. At longer ranges, a miss could occur that might endanger the marksman's mission. In those instances, other weapons may be preferred over marksmen/snipers equipped with special sniper rifles, even though the situation may be an otherwise ideal job for a sniper.

For example, in counter-sniper roles a sniper might spot a target that is out of range for a sniper rifle, and so the sniper may need to call upon a machine gunner to attack it. A machine gun using the same ammunition as the sniper rifle can be effective at a much greater range due to lower accuracy requirements for effective use.

Here is a simplified example to illustrate why, counter-intuitively, a less accurate weapon of the same calibre may actually have a greater effective range than a sniper rifle: For human targets in military sniping, snipers aim at a "target circle". The equations that describe the approximate relationships between range, accuracy, and the target circle, as used in this section, are as follows:
 * (Target circle (inches) / Accuracy (MOA - Minute Of Angle) * 100 = Range meters
 * (Range meters * Accuracy (MOA) / 100) = Target circle inches

Also note that "target circle" is used exclusively even when "cone of fire" or "group size" may technically be more accurate. These terms have subtle differences that are not important for the purpose of this section, and they are left out to avoid introducing unnecessary complexity in illustrations and examples that have been intentionally simplified.

The target circle is typically about 8 inches in diameter, corresponding to an imaginary circle on the vital area of a person's chest. For a common sniper rifle capable of 1 MOA accuracy, the maximum effective range (the range at which the bullet impact point is guaranteed to be within an 8-inch circle on the first shot) is about 800 meters.

In contrast, a machine gun using the same ammunition with a low accuracy of only 6 MOA will typically have a greater maximum effective range of about 1,100 meters. At that range and accuracy, a machine gun has a larger target circle of about 66 inches. The machine gun's target circle is much larger due to its rapid fire capability, which allows a machine gun to strike with one or more hits and numerous misses at random locations within the target circle.

While a machine gun's large target circle means that its effective range can be longer than a sniper rifle's, note that the design of a weapon is more likely to determine its effective range than the maximum range of its ammunition. The maximum range of common 7.62 × 51 mm NATO ammunition is a comparatively large 3,725 meters, and both machine guns and sniper rifles are not able to use even half of the maximum range of the ammunition effectively, largely due to unpredictable atmospheric disturbance of the bullet's flight path. The maximum range is much larger than the maximum effective range. The corresponding disadvantage is that the machine gun may need to fire dozens, and perhaps hundreds of rounds before scoring a hit.

What is a Group?
A group is defined as a series of shots fired at the same POA, or point of aim, from the same position and hold. Generally speaking three shots is the minimum considered necessary to form a group and groups of three, five, ten or more are commonly used for measuring accuracy for testing and comparative purposes. Generally speaking the more shots fired in a group, the more useful the data is for comparative purposes.

Certain shooting disciplines, styles, shooter accuracy, or experience may define the number of shots required for a group in their competitions or practice (as in teaching trigger control). It may also benefit newer shooters to use a higher round count group, to increase their probability at placing multiple rounds together(encuraging confidence), and highlighting the ones that have "pulled", to reinforce what has been learned earlier in the fundamentals.

How is a group measured
The group is a measure of the angular dispersion of a series of rounds. There are two methods commonly used to describe a group:

 * The first and perhaps easier to understand for the lay person is the absolute size of the group and the range. E.g. "4 inch group at 100 yards".

 * The second and more succinct method is to simply state the angular dispersion of the rounds in the group as an angle. The usual units for this are "minutes of angle" (MOA). A minute of angle is 1/60th of a degree of angle.

It is important to remember that both methods describe the same thing, i.e. the angular dispersion of the shots. Generally speaking MOA is the preferred way to describe a group as it is a single range neutral number.

For most purposes shooters approximate 1 MOA to be a group of 1 inch at 100 yards which is accurate enough for all but the most precise measurements.

Note however that the size of a group may vary at different ranges, e.g. a rifle may fire 4 MOA at 100 m but fire 2 MOA at 600 m. Reasons for this might include different stability at different ranges in the trajectory. However despite this when comparing accuracy it is usual to discuss the size of the group at a given range, often 100 m. Also despite the fact that, in reality, the accuracy of a rifle may vary at different ranges, it is common to interpolate the accuracy of a rifle at one range from the known accuracy at another range. I.e. it is commonly assumed that a rifle that shoots 1 MOA when measured at 100 yards, i.e. a 1 inch group at 100 yards, will still shoot 1 MOA at 200 yards, i.e. a 2 inch group at 200 yards.

How is a group useful?
As indicated above, the group is the measure of the intrinsic accuracy of a rifle, ammunition, shooter or some other component in the shooting combination in a given set of conditions. By this we mean the accuracy potential of the combination when ignoring, removing or otherwise canceling, as far as possible (perhaps by conducting all testing in the same environment at the same time), external factors, such as weather.

What exactly does the group measure?
The size of the group is in fact a measure of the consistency of rifle, ammunition and shooter. The smaller the group, the more potentially accurate the variable or variables being measured. This is because the smaller the group is the greater the chance of a round striking the same place as previous shots fired in the group. Here's the way to measure a group accurately: You need a caliper (digital-readout calipers are much easier to use than dial-readout models) and the ability to subtract. First, measure the outside spread of the two widest shots in the group. Then, subtract from that figure the diameter of the bullet you're shooting. Let's say you take your .270 and shoot a group that measures 1.313 inches. Subtract from it .277, which is the actual diameter of the bullet, and you get 1.036 inches, which is your group size.

What does a group NOT measure?
A group does not measure the ability of a rifle/marksman/ammunition or any other single component or combination of components to actually hit a target.

Theory of Small Arms Fire
The accuracy of small arms fire is affected by several factors. These include:
 * The inherent mechanical accuracy of the rifle,
 * The inherent mechanical accuracy of the ammunition
 * The firer's ability
 * Weather conditions

Mechanical Accuracy of Weapon
The mechanical accuracy of the rifle is affected by several factors including:
 * The quality of manufacture, eg the closeness and consistency of the construction.
 * The design of the rifle, including the stiffness of the barrel, the action, the amount of play if any between components, the barrel mounting, eg free floating, dampened, locking mechanism
 * The materials that the rifle is constructed of, especially their environmental stability (i.e. their stability in the face of changing environmental parameters, such as temperature, humidity and the like).

Mechanical Accuracy of Ammunition
The mechanical accuracy of the ammunition is dependent on several factors including:
 * The quality of the propellant and accuracy of quantity of propellant
 * The quality of the projectile (diameter, mass, and concentricity)
 * The quality of the case

The firer's ability

 * The firer's knowledge - affects the firer's ability to apply the principles of marksmanship to the practice of marksmanship.
 * The firer's strength - affects the firer's ability to hold the rifle correctly and with minimal effort, which reduces shake/tremor.
 * The firer's fitness - the fitness of the firer affects the firer's ability to breathe, and control the breath and shaking/tremor due to breathing and oxygen levels in the blood and muscles.

Weather
There are several environmental (weather) factors that affect accuracy. These include:
 * Temperature. Affects:
 * the burn speed of the propellant
 * the air density (and therefore the trajectory)
 * the expansion or contraction of the components of the rifle
 * mirages
 * Humidity. Affects
 * the air density
 * the burn rate of the powder
 * the expansion or contraction of the components of the rifle, especially natural materials like wood and leather
 * Air density. This is a function of temperature and humidity. Affects:
 * the projectile in flight
 * velocity of the projectile in the barrel
 * burn speed of the powder
 * Precipitation. Affects:
 * visibility
 * wet or moist ammunition/chamber or barrel can also affect the chamber pressure
 * the expansion or contraction of rifle components
 * Wind. Affects:
 * the lateral trajectory of the projectile (drift)
 * the velocity of the projectile, which affects both the lateral and vertical trajectory of the bullet
 * the temperature of the physical components of the weapon
 * visibility, e.g., blowing up dust or water

Factors Affecting The Mechanical Accuracy of the Rifle
When a rifle is fired the state of the rifle changes. Most of these changes are not perceptible to human senses, yet each of them has a real and definite effect on the accuracy potential of the rifle. For example when the rifle is fired the barrel flexes along its axis. This flexing is called whip. In order to obtain maximum accuracy this whip should be as consistent as possible each time the shot is fired. One way of achieving this is to minimize the whip. This can be done by stiffening the barrel, a condition usually achieved by adding more material to the barrel, i.e. making it heavier. In some cases the rifle is fitted with longitudinal flutes (ie grooves cut into the barrel along its length). These flutes increase the stiffness of the barrel, while reducing the weight - or at least reducing the weight compared to a solid barrel of similar stiffness. At the same time the barrel flexes along its length, the muzzle of the rifle moves, probably in a circle or oval, but possibly in some other pattern, across a plane at right angles to the bore. Maximum accuracy demands that the round leaves the muzzle at the same position on this plane every shot. Many factors affect the pattern described by the muzzle on this plane, the most controllable of which is the pressure exerted on the barrel by the receiver and the stock.

Application of Fire
Application of fire is the act of applying a group to a target.

I.e. is the ability of the combination of rifle, shooter and ammunition to place the group where desired.

Zeroing
Zeroing is the act of mechanically aligning the point of impact with the point of aim at a given range.

Holdover
Holdover is the practice of aiming at a point other than the desired point of impact (POI) to allow for factors such as range, weather, zero (in particular the range at which the weapons is zeroed, but also perhaps to allow for the fact that a weapon may have been zeroed for a person other than the current firer).

Advantages of Holdover

 * The holdover technique is fast to apply and does not require the shooter to break his shooting position.
 * Holdover is especially useful when the shooter needs to engage several targets at different ranges or a target whose range is changing, as the shooter is not required to break his position to adjust his sights for each range change.

Disadvantages of Holdover

 * The holdover may be difficult to apply at longer ranges, where the sights may need to be held several target heights above the point of aim. With a telescopic sight this can result in the target not being visible in the field of view.

 * The holdover, especially at longer ranges, requires a higher level of skill than sight adjustment.

Sight Adjustment
Sight may be adjusted to allow for lateral movement. Wind may affect the round and range, resulting in a vertical drop of the round in flight. By adjusting the sights at the time of firing, the need to apply holdover can be reduced or entirely eliminated.

Advantages of Sight Adjustment

 * Does not require as much experience of practice to master.
 * Allows the shooter to aim directly at the desired point of impact.

Disadvantages of Sight Adjustment

 * The shooter needs to memorize or have available (perhaps on a card or similar device) the characteristics of the sight adjustments and the trajectory for the ammunition rifle combination.
 * The shooter needs to keep track of how much adjustment is applied so that the sights can be re-adjusted back to zero when the current firing session is complete. For this reason, many firers choose not to adjust their sights unless the target is at such a long range that holdover is impractical, or if a first round hit is crucial, e.g., with a police or military sniper.
 * Requires the shooter to break their shooting position to re-apply their adjustments for each range over which a target is to be engaged.

Glossary

 * Application of fire - the act of superimposing a group on to a target
 * Beaten zone - the intersection of the cone of fire with the ground
 * Cone of fire - volume of space described by the outermost projectiles in a burst of fire.
 * Dangerous space - the area between first catch and first graze.
 * Enfilade - the application of the length of the beaten zone to the longitudinal axis of the target.
 * First catch - the first point where the trajectory of a projectile intersects with a target
 * First graze - the first point where a the trajectory of the projectile first intersects with the ground.
 * Grazing fire - fire where the trajectory is largely or approximately parallel to the ground
 * Group a measure of angular accuracy, defined as a series of three or more shots fired at the same POA, from the same position/hold.
 * Mean Point of Impact (MPI) - the center of a group, ignoring any obviously "pulled" or "jerked" shots.
 * Mechanical accuracy - the accuracy of a rifle or ammunition discounting as much as possible inaccuracies introduced by other components. E.g. when trying to gauge the mechanical accuracy for a rifle you might fire the rifle from a mechanical rest, using the same load of ammunition for each firing, and ideally under the same environmental conditions.
 * Plunging Fire - fire where the firer is higher than the target and therefore looks and fires down upon the target. Plunging fire results in a - small beaten zone not significantly larger than the cone of fire.
 * Point of Aim (POA) - the point at which the firer aims with sights
 * Point of Impact (POI) - the point on the target where the round impacts
 * Whip - the axial flexing of the barrel at firing.
 * Zero - the act of superimposing the point of aim with the point of impact at a given range.

The initial author of this page was formally trained in marksmanship in the Australian Army. Therefore the terminology and definitions on this page are strongly influenced by Australian and Commonwealth terminology. In addition the page has a military orientation. Some of the information may not be useful in a purely civilian context, however the basic terminology and techniques discussed should be helpful to any shooter.

title: Marksmanship


text:
Puzzles/Statistical puzzles/The Pentagon

Puzzles | Statistical puzzles | The Pentagon

You are standing near The Pentagon. Given you are standing far enough away that you are not only seeing one side, what is the probability of you seeing only two sides?

Solution

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


text:
Puzzles/Statistical puzzles/The Pentagon/Solution

Puzzles | Statistical puzzles | The Pentagon Solution

There is a 0.5 (50%) probability of seeing exactly two sides of the Pentagon.

The blue area in the diagram represents the Pentagon. The red areas are ones from which only one of the walls is visible, namely the wall forming one of the triangle's sides. The yellow areas are ones from where exactly two walls are visible, and the green areas are where three walls are visible.

Each of the green and yellow areas form a 36° sector of the plane, because the angles at the outside vertices of the red triangles equal 36°. Since there are five yellow sectors, they form a 180° sector of the plane, which is exactly 1/2. When the distance from the Pentagon becomes large, the initial difference between the yellow and green sectors becomes negligible, and so the probability of being in a yellow sector (and seeing exactly two walls) is 50%.

Another solution: If you see two sides of building, your friend at opposite side sees three of them. For each spot where you can see two sides, there is one spot where you can see three sides, and for each spot where you can see three sides, there is one spot where you can see two sides. This gives us exactly 50%.


text:
Puzzles/Non-scientific puzzles/Boy and Girl

Puzzles | Non-Scientific Puzzles | Boy and Girl

A boy and a girl are talking.

 * "I am a boy" - said the child with black hair.

 * "I am a girl" - said the child with white hair.

At least one of them lied. Who is the boy and who is the girl?

If only one of them had lied, we'd have to conclude that both are boy or both are girl. This is impossible, so both of them must have lied. Therefore, the child with the black hair is the girl, and the child with the white hair is the boy.


text:
Puzzles/Non-scientific puzzles/Boy and Girl/Solution

Puzzles | Non-Scientific Puzzles | Boy and Girl | Boy and Girl Solution

If only one of them had lied, we'd have to conclude that both are boy or both are girl. This is impossible, so both of them must have lied. Therefore, the child with the black hair is the girl, and the child with the white hair is the boy.


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Cookbook:Dill Cucumber Salad

| Salads

Ingredients

 * ½ cup reduced-fat sour cream
 * 2 Tbsp cider vinegar
 * 1 tsp sugar
 * ¾ tsp garlic powder
 * ¾ tsp dill weed
 * ½ tsp salt
 * 3 medium cucumber, sliced
 * ½ cup sliced onion

Procedure

 * 1) Combine sour cream, vinegar, sugar, garlic powder, dill, and salt.
 * 2) Add cucumbers and onion, and toss to coat.
 * 3) Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
 * 4) Serve with slotted spoon.

title: Cookbook:Dill Cucumber Salad


text:
Puzzles/Non-scientific puzzles/Less than Two Million/Solution

Puzzles | Non-scientific puzzles | Less than Two Million | Solution

"n is an integer that is less than 2000000."

"n is an integer that is either negative, 0, has fewer than 7 digits, or has 7 digits and its first digit is 1."

"n/2 < 1 000 000 |n being an integer (and similars equations)."


text:
Puzzles/Non-scientific puzzles/Less than Two Million

Puzzles | Non-scientific puzzles | Less than Two Million

What sentence about an integer $$\,n$$ is true if, and only if the values $$\,n$$ takes are less than two million?

Solution


text:
Puzzles/Non-scientific puzzles/Boy, Girl, and a Dog

Puzzles | Non-scientific puzzles | Boy, Girl, and a Dog

A boy, a girl, and a dog simultaneously begin movement from one point. Boy and girl are heading in one direction, boy - with speed 5 km/h, girl - 4 km/h. The dog runs from boy to girl and back with speed 10 km/h. Given that it takes no time for the dog to change direction, how much will the dog travel in 1 hour?

Solution


text:
Puzzles/Non-scientific puzzles

Puzzles | Non-scientific puzzles

 * Boy and Girl
 * Less than Two Million
 * Boy, Girl, and a Dog
 * Mathematical Character

title: Puzzles/Non-scientific puzzles


text:
History of Technology

Table of contents

 * /Preface/
 * /Introduction/
 * /Technological Determinism/
 * Great Men of History Accounts
 * Cultural Determinism and Social Construction of Technology
 * Economic Determinism
 * Class Determinism
 * Historical Materialism
 * Hegelian Idealism
 * /Authors/
 * /Glossary/

External resources

 * Winston, Brian: Adventures in Cybersound: How are Media Born? (Cultural Determinist)
 * Avery, John: Space-Age Science and Stone-Age Politics (Technological Determinist)

title: History of Technology


text:
Puzzles/Logic puzzles/Two Boys and a River

Puzzles | Logic puzzles | Two Boys and a River

Two boys approach the shore of a river. There is a boat, but only one boy can fit in. The only way to get to the other side is by boat, and the boat is unable to move itself. Given this puzzle has a solution, how can both boys get to the other side?

Solution


text:
Puzzles/Logic puzzles/Two Boys and a River/Solution

Puzzles | Logic puzzles | Two Boys and a River | Solution

The two boys approach different sides of the river.


text:
Puzzles/Non-scientific puzzles/Mathematical Character

Puzzles | Non-Scientific Puzzles | Mathematical Character

Put a mathematical character between the digits "2" and "3" so as to get a number that is more than two and less than three.

Notes: You can't change their order, so $$\,3/2 $$ is not a correct answer. (Which would not do anyway, as it is not more than two.)

Solution


text:
Puzzles/Non-scientific puzzles/Mathematical Character/Solution

Puzzles | Non-scientific puzzles | Mathematical character | Solution

2.3

2ln3


text:
Talk:Linux From Scratch

Anyone who can add to this feel free. use this page for discussions. A lot of knowledge needs to be written here, and I am not a LINUX expert (that is why I am making this book)

As with most wiki changes, before making a major change or addition, please discuss it here first.

For additions..... Be VERY detailed. if you add, describe why the command or procedure is being used. The goal of this book is to be extremely detailed, documenting all possible paths or variables.

--Espo111 19:31, 19 Jun 2005 (UTC)

What needs to be done
---

-anything that would make this independent of LFS.org (procedure, package list, etc...) -verify all procedures -add to the existing procedures -explanations of why a certain command or procedure is being done -more instruction always -ways to verify what you did was accomplished in linux (via a command) -updating package versions, kernel -putting descriptions for all packages used

merger with linux guide
my vote is no because i intended this book to teach one all the steps neccesary to create a linux OS from source code. the linux guide referenced merely tells one what linux is, and then points them to a bunch of premade distros. Even though Gentoo is from sopurce code, they modify and release their own patches. this book differs in that it uses the code from the original developer

changing title
The "Linux From Scratch" book already exists. See http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/lfs/view/stable/ for more information. I think that two books with the same title may be controversial.

title: Talk:Linux From Scratch


text:
File:Indo-european to irish flow-chart.png

An image of the chart describing the links from Indo-European to Modern Irish, as featured in a preformatted text format on the Irish wikibook.


text:
User:Wighson

Welcome! --Wighson 22:22, 19 Jun 2005 (UTC)

title: User:Wighson


text:
User:Jotomicron/Sign

Jotomicron (talk), 29 July 2024 (UTC)

title: User:Jotomicron/Sign


text:
User:Jotomicron

Hello. I'm a new user of Wikibooks (as of June, 2005). I was writing the Modern Greek Wikibook in the Portuguese version of this Wiki, but as the book got no attention at all, I thought writing it here was the best option.

For now, I only want to get to know this place a little better.

Other wikis
I am a member on the next wikis (always under the usernameJotomicron):
 * Wikipedia
 * Portuguese Wikibooks

title: User:Jotomicron


text:
Template:Modern Greek/Clr

background: #bbccff;

title: Template:Modern Greek/Clr


text:
Linux From Scratch/Packages

This is a detailed listing of packages used for creating a Linux from scratch system.

 * Autoconf (2.59) - 903 kilobytes (KB)
 * Automake (1.9.1) - 681 KB
 * Bash (3.0) - 1,910 KB
 * Binutils (2.15.91.0.2) - 10,666 KB
 * Bison (1.875a) - 796 KB
 * Bzip2 (1.0.2) - 650 KB
 * (5.2.1) - 3,860 KB
 * DejaGNU (1.4.4) - 1,055 KB
 * Diffutils (2.8.1) - 762 KB
 * E2fsprogs (1.35) - 3,003 KB
 * Expect (5.42.1) - 510 KB
 * File (4.10) - 356 KB
 * Findutils (4.1.20) - 760 KB
 * Flex (2.5.31) - 372 KB
 * Gawk (3.1.4) - 1,692 KB
 * GCC (3.4.1) - 27,000 KB
 * Gettext (0.14.1) - 6,397 KB
 * Glibc (2.3.5) - 13,101 KB
 * Grep (2.5.1) - 545 KB
 * Groff (1.19.1) - 2,360 KB
 * Grub (0.95) - 902 KB
 * Gzip (1.3.5) - 324 KB
 * Iana-Etc (1.01) - 161 KB
 * Inetutils (1.4.2) - 1,019 KB
 * IPRoute2 (2.6.8-040823) - 264 KB
 * Kbd (1.12) - 617 KB
 * Less (382) - 259 KB
 * (2.2.2) - 16 KB
 * Libtool (1.5.8) - 2,602 KB
 * Linux (2.6.8.1) - 34,793 KB
 * Linux-Libc-Headers (2.6.8.1) - 2,602 KB
 * M4 (1.4.2) - 337 KB
 * Make (3.80) - 899 KB
 * Man (1.5o) - 223 KB
 * Man-pages (1.67) - 1,586 KB
 * Mktemp (1.5) - 69 KB
 * Module-Init-Tools (3.0) - 118 KB
 * Ncurses (5.4) - 2,019 KB
 * Patch (2.5.4) - 182 KB
 * Perl (5.8.5) - 9,373 KB
 * Procps (3.2.3) - 265 KB
 * Psmisc (21.5) - 375 KB
 * Readline (5.0) - 940 KB
 * (4.1.2) - 749 KB
 * Shadow (4.0.4.1) - 795 KB
 * Sysklogd (1.4.1) - 80 KB
 * Sysvinit (2.85) - 91 KB
 * Tar (1.14) - 1,025 KB
 * Tcl (8.4.7) - 3,363 KB
 * Texinfo (4.7) - 1,385 KB
 * Udev (030) - 374 KB
 * Udev Permissions Configuration - 2 KB
 * Udev Rules Configuration - 1 KB
 * Util-linux (2.12b) - 1,921 KB
 * Vim (6.3) - 3,612 KB
 * Vim (6.3) language files (optional) - 1,033 KB
 * Zlib (1.2.1) - 277 KB

Total size of these packages: 135 MB

Needed patches
This list is from [http://lfs-mirror.tpegg.org/lfs/view/6.0/chapter03/patches.html LFS Chapter 3.3. Needed Patches]

 * Bash Display Wrap Patch - 1 KB
 * Coreutils Suppress Uptime, Kill, Su Patch - 16 KB
 * Coreutils Uname Patch - 1 KB
 * Expect Spawn Patch - 6 KB
 * Flex Brokenness Patch - 8 KB
 * GCC Linkonce Patch - 12 KB
 * GCC No-Fixincludes Patch - 1 KB
 * GCC Specs Patch - 11 KB
 * Inetutils Kernel Headers Patch - 1 KB
 * Inetutils No-Server-Man-Pages Patch - 4 KB
 * IPRoute2 Disable DB Patch - 1 KB
 * Man 80-Columns Patch - 1 KB
 * Mktemp Tempfile Patch - 3 KB
 * Perl Libc Patch - 1 KB
 * Readline Display Wrap Patch - 1 KB
 * Sysklogd Kernel Headers Patch - 3 KB
 * Sysklogd Signal Handling Patch - 1 KB
 * Sysvinit /proc Title Length Patch - 1 KB
 * Texinfo Segfault Patch - 1 KB
 * Sfdisk Patch - 1 KB
 * Zlib Security Patch - 1KB

title: Linux From Scratch/Packages


text:
User:Bigmick~enwikibooks

Hi, I'm Mick. Sydney Australia. Born 1974.

Blog; www.adwentures.com

title: User:Bigmick~enwikibooks


text:
WebObjects/EOF/Modeling/Entities

An entity in an object graph usually represents a table in a relational database. For example, suppose one is working with a school. One may have a database with one table of students and a list of classrooms. In standard SQL-ish notation, the table of students might be called STUDENT and the table of classrooms may be called ROOM. One would have a "Student" entity and a "Room" entity.

It was a deliberate choice to call our ROOM table by that name. It could have been called CLASSROOM. One may see, though, that a classroom is really any room in which one puts students and in which one hopes they can be taught. Thus, the rooms are just rooms. There may be other more abstractions one can use. One may decide that students are just instances from a list of PERSON, and this would not be wrong. How abstract one chooses one's entities to be is a matter of choice and experience.

EOF uses the class com.webobjects.eoaccess.EOEntity to manage an entity.

An entity may be something other than a table. An entity can represent any group of things, when it is useful to look just at that group, as a group.

For example, one may decide to use a PERSON table. One may have a column in the table for 'isStudent'. There are other ways to do this, but this is one method. In this case, an entity "Student" can be defined as the objects in the PERSON table which satisfy the qualifier defined as "(isStudent == YES)". Indeed, this is how one sets up an entity using single-table entity inheritance.

One may also have some external data source through which one gets information. For example, an external tool could be retrieve price information from the New York Stock Exchange. The list of "prices received from NYSE today" could be modelled as an entity, though an entity with volatile contents. One could have a telescope reporting to a data service with "objects in field of view that are moving". This would be an extremely volatile entity. It might be likely that no object will appear twice in this entity, which is not at all how a relational database would be expected to behave, but it can be viewed as an entity nonetheless.

title: WebObjects/EOF/Modeling/Entities


text:
Japanese/Kana/Lessons/Hiragana/Lesson 11

In this lesson you are going to learn how to read and write "ゐ" and "ゑ". These characters are not used in modern Japanese but are found in old Japanese texts. They are included here mostly for completeness. The student can choose whether to memorise these. Most study aids will not practise these.


text:
Japanese/Kana/Lessons/Katakana/Lesson 11

In this lesson you are going to learn how to read and write ヰ and ヱ. These characters are not in modern Japanese but because they were legitimate characters before, one sees them in old Japanese text.


text:
Talk:Introduction to Sociology/Culture

you use the same example about art in this chapter as you did in the previous chapter. Can you come up with a different example?

-Maybe later.

To do
(1) Extend the theory section on culture to include:
 * Structural-Functionalism
 * Culture is a complex strategy for meeting human needs.
 * Ignores cultural diversity
 * Social-Conflict Analysis
 * Culture and inequality; any cultural trait benefits some members of society at the expense of others
 * Understates the ways in which cultural patterns integrate members of society
 * Sociobiology and Symbolic Interactionism
 * Explores how human biology affects how culture is created; cultural universals reflect the necessities of continued life
 * Non-eugenicist; lack of evidence?

(2) Include cultural universals:
 * The Family
 * Funeral Rites
 * Smiling and Humor
 * Deviance

(3) Add section on norms, values, and sanctions.

(4) Add section on language and gestures.

Thomasfbrown (talk) 22:03, 3 November 2008 (UTC)

title: Talk:Introduction to Sociology/Culture


text:
FHSST Physics/Forces/Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation

=Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation=

Why does the Earth stay in orbit around the Sun? Shouldn't it fly off tangentially into outer space?

These questions intrigued Newton and inspired his study of gravitation.

Newton realized that a force must be constantly pulling on the Earth, redirecting its motion and preventing it from being flung off. Newton reasoned that this force, which he termed 'gravity', acted between all bodies with mass and varied inversely to the square of the distance between the two bodies.

 * $$\vec F=G\!\cdot\!\frac{m_1m_2}{r^2}$$

where $$G$$ is a universal gravitational constant, $$m_1,m_2$$ are the 2 masses, and $$r$$ is the distance between the centers of mass.

Newton also realized that this same force which redirects the path of the Earth around the Sun, was also responsible for an apple falling to the ground. In this case, the two masses, the Earth, and the apple, are attracted each other and this exerts a force which pulls the apple towards the center of the Earth. While we can use the Universal Law of Gravitation formula to solve this problem it is often more convenient to realize two facts:

 * The Earths mass, $$M_E$$ is constant
 * The distance between the apple (or other object) can usually be approximated with just $$R_E$$, the radius of the Earth, because this is the dominating term.

Thus we can rewrite the equations such that
 * $$\vec F=m\vec g$$

where
 * $$g=G\!\cdot\!\frac{M_E}{R_E^2}$$

g is the acceleration on Earth and is
 * $$g=-9.8\frac{m}{s^2}$$

authors: יהודה שמחה ולדמן


text:
Talk:Organic Chemistry/Introduction to reactions/THF

WHy is THF such a good solvent? Why not use a detergent?


text:
Puzzles/Geometric Puzzles/Rectangle and Circle

Problem

Suppose we have a circle inscribed within a square. Now suppose a rectangle extends from one corner of the square to a point on the circle (see diagram).

If this rectangle is 6 inches by 12 inches, what is the radius of the circle in inches?

Hint | Solution


text:
Puzzles/Geometric Puzzles/Rectangle and Circle/Hint

A right triangle used here would make Pythagoras proud.


text:
Puzzles/Geometric Puzzles/Rectangle and Circle/Solution

Answer
30 inches

Tools Used to Solve
Pythagorean Theorem

Quadratic Formula

Solution

Given:

 * $$x = 12 in$$

 * $$y = 6 in$$

Find:
 * $$r = ?$$

We realize that every point on a circle is equidistant from the origin. This implies that the rectangle's corner touching the circle must be r inches away from the origin, where r is the radius. We can then draw a right triangle with sides $$r - y$$ and $$r - x.$$ Now apply the Pythagorean Theorem to this triangle and solve for r.

 * $$(r-x)^2 + (r-y)^2 = r^2$$

 * $$r^2 - 2r(x+y) + x^2 + y^2 = 0$$

The above equation is quadratic and can be solved by applying the Quadratic Formula.

r=\frac{2(x+y) \pm \sqrt {(4(x+y)^2-4(x^2+y^2)\ }}{2} $$

Which simplifies to,

r=(x+y) \pm \sqrt {2xy} $$

Now we can plug in our numbers and solve,

r=(6+12) \pm \sqrt {2(6)(12)} $$

r=18 \pm 12 $$
 * $$r=30$$ or $$r=6$$

Thus the radius of our circle is 30 inches. Notice that 6 inches is not a valid answer. Why?

Comment: Simply making a statement that "we can then draw..." is confusing. Need more explanation on why r-x and r-y are valid descriptors for the triangle sides. This is easier to see with the r-x side than with the r-y.


text:
Puzzles/Analytical Puzzles/Clock Talk

Problem

Imagine we have a standard analog wall clock. How many times in a 24 hour period will the minute hand cross the hour hand?

What time is it when the minute hand has passed over the hour hand exactly 4 times? ''This second part is meaningless - it all depends when you start from. I imagine that the puzzle setter was assuming a start from 12:00, but that is ambiguous, it would be better to select one of 11:59 or 12:01 to start from!''

Show Hint

Show Solution

title: Puzzles/Analytical Puzzles/Clock Talk


text:
Puzzles/Analytical Puzzles/Clock Talk/Hint

Think about the first time the minute hand crosses the hour hand. Suppose the clock started just after midnight, would the first cross be at exactly 1:05?


text:
User:Technogiddo~enwikibooks

redirect

title: User:Technogiddo~enwikibooks


text:
Puzzles/Analytical Puzzles/Clock Talk/Solution

Answers: 1: The hands pass 22 times in a 24-hour period.

Imagine we start at 00:01 and end at 24:01, the minute hand will cross the hour hand exacly 22 times. The first time a little after 01:05, second time - a little after 02:10, then after 03:15, 04:20, 05:25, 06:30, 07:35, 08:40, 09:45, the tenth time after 10:50 - almost at 10:55 and the 11th time after 11:55 in fact at 12:00. The whole sequence repeats for the next 12 hours.

2: Starting from 00:01, after 4 passes it will be a little after 04:20. More precisely 04:21:49.

After "H" hours and "M" minutes (where H<12 and M<60):

1. The hour hand has moved just a fraction of the first turn (in one 24-hour period it will make two 12-hour turns), it will be at ( H + M/60 )/12

2. The minute hand has made "H" complete turns and will be in its way to complete the next turn, it will be at ( M/60 )

3. To cross, the two hands ought to be at the same place: ( H + M/60 )/12 = ( M/60 )  =>   M = 11H/60

4. Therefore, before noon (remember, H<12) the two hands cross at:

H=01, M=05.45 => 01:05:27 AM (because 0.45 minutes = 60(0.45) sec = 27 sec aprox.) H=02, M=10.91 => 02:10:54 AM  H=03, M=16.36 => 03:16:21 AM   H=04, M=21.82 => 04:21:49 AM   H=05, M=27.27 => 05:27:16 AM   H=06, M=32.73 => 06:32:43 AM   H=07, M=38.18 => 07:38:10 AM   H=08, M=43.64 => 08:43:38 AM   H=09, M=49.09 => 09:49:05 AM   H=10, M=54.55 => 10:54:32 AM   H=11, M=60.00 => 12:00:00 PM (this is like 60 minutes after 11, which is actually noon)

5. After noon you can use the formula M = 11(H-12)/60 (H in a 24 hour format can be greater that 12) or assume that the cycle repeats itself (just interchange AM/PM).

Conclusion: they cross 22 times a day.

About the 4th pass, this is a little ambiguous. It depends whether you consider the first pass at 00:00:00 AM (H=0, M=0) or the last one at 12:00:00 AM (H=23, M=60).


text:
Puzzles/Action sequences/Barrel of Ale

Puzzles | Action sequences | Barrel of Ale

You have a barrel full of ale, a 5 pint mug, and a 3 pint mug. Your task is to measure out precisely 1 pint of ale.

(please note that this puzzle has at least two different solutions)

Solution

title: Puzzles/Action sequences/Barrel of Ale


text:
Puzzles/Action sequences/Barrel of Ale/Solution

Puzzles | Action sequences | Barrel of Ale | Solution

There are 6 operations that can be done in any order to arrive at one pint. These are: Filling the 5 pint mug, filling the 3 pint mug, pouring the contents of the 5 pint mug into the 3 pint mug, pouring the contents of the 3 pint mug into the 5 pint mug, emptying the 3 pint mug (presumably by drinking it), and emptying the 5 pint mug. Using these operations, there are two ways to arrive at 1 pint.

Or, much more quickly:


text:
User talk:70.177.192.207

70.177.192.207, it's nice you are adding a puzzles, but we already, like, have a whole book for Puzzles, which is collaboration of month, strange thing you didn't noticed it. And the ones you are posting have nothing to do with games. --Divinity 07:12, 20 Jun 2005 (UTC)

title: User talk:70.177.192.207


text:
Talk:Japanese/Kana/Lessons/Katakana/Lesson 10

Untitled
I have just noticed that the known vandal 83.117.6.16 has cleared significant portions of this page. Would someone with the appropriate expertise please restore the parts that have been deleted. (Donovan|Geocachernemesis|Interact) 07:16, 20 Jun 2005 (UTC)


text:
User:Lynx7725

Introduction
Hi all. Started from Wikipedia, had the idea to come over to Wikibook to start a guide about a MMORPG that I was playing. Short of went overboard since then. :P

Contributions of Interest
Listing only the major contributions.

 * Lineage 2 Wikibook

Other Links

 * Vandalism Records

title: User:Lynx7725


text:
User talk:Lynx7725

Eyeball Conventions

 * Newcomer Test for non-malicious, non-vandalizing edits.
 * Newcomer Experiment for non-malicious, vandalizing edits.
 * Vandal for malicious, vandalizing edits.

Modified by: Lynx7725 4 July 2005 11:48 (UTC)

Keeping Score
On 04 July 2005, I've done 48 contributions. Most are edits/ reverts to various articles suffering from linkspams, vandalism, newcomer tests and experiments as Geocachernemesis is AFK'ed. Gotta be a record somewhere. :) - Lynx7725 4 July 2005 11:48 (UTC)

05 July 2005, 45 noted contributions. I realised that this can be used to help me track where I left off each day, so it's not for ego that I do this.. well, maybe a bit. :P - Lynx7725 5 July 2005 11:16 (UTC)

06 July 2005, 44 noted contributions. Very heavy edit traffic today; religion, blender, languages and the ever-present GTA Newcomers are hot pages. There must have been over 1000 edits in the last 24 hrs. - Lynx7725 6 July 2005 11:18 (UTC)

07 July 2005, 33 noted contributions. Strange drop in traffic, but more vandalism, inclusive of a repeat linkspammer. - Lynx7725 7 July 2005 11:33 (UTC)

Re: GTA Pages
Hi Aya, been doing some patrols of the edits. Can you check the GTA pages for consistency/ correctness? Some newbies had been tinkering around with some pages (and not all are nice cuddly newbies either). There's way too many edits over the weekend for me to look through while at work. :P

Please let the other GTA contributors know as well.

Lynx7725 4 July 2005 02:29 (UTC)

 * See: response on discussion page.

 * Aya 4 July 2005 14:34 (UTC)

Another thing
Apologies if it seems a bit arrogant, but I've changed all your '=' headings to '==' to make them consisent with Wikimedia convention, and so that the '+' button works as desired. - Aya 4 July 2005 14:34 (UTC)

 * Sure, that's not a problem. I'm just not aware of the convention, is all. - Lynx7725 5 July 2005 01:31 (UTC)

Vote count summaries
I advise you to not put in vote summaries in WB:VFD. As discovered on Wikipedia, it introduced an element of bias into the way users cast their votes, especially in hotly constested debates. Furthermore, admins ultimately have the final say on what stays and what goes, as per deletion policy (yes, admins can go against consensus, but by convention they do not since that's considered abuse of power). Here in wikibooks, convention dictates that pages with no consensus remain on VFD for further debate until a consensus is reached. I have removed all of these summaries. KelvSYC 6 July 2005 05:48 (UTC)

 * Okay, thanks for the heads up, I will stop adding it then. - Lynx7725 6 July 2005 05:55 (UTC)

Thanks and adminship
Thanks for helping to fight vandalism while I was away. Keep up the good work, because every bit helps.

Do you think that you are ready for nomination as an administrator? I don't see why you shouldn't succeed, because you have over 500 decent edits, and a willingness to do some of the less glamorous tasks involved. I'll nominate you if you like. (Donovan|Geocachernemesis|Interact) 01:48, 10 July 2005 (UTC)

 * No problem. I couldn't do anything on Friday because work picked up, so unfortunately we have a large backlog over Friday and the weekend.

 * No need for the adminship -- I think we got a good system here, we patrollers would flag things up for the admin, then admins like Kelv "MonsterKill!" SYC would zap them. I think it's a good system without introducing too many admins into the broth. - Lynx7725 01:38, 11 July 2005 (UTC)

I thought that I should offer, but as you are happy as you are, I won't nominate you.

Maybe we should introduce a system whereby we create a new page where people on RC patrol can list blocks of time that they have screened, that would make it easier for us to spread the workload (there have not been so many attacks recently, so It's not obvious what has already been screened). So, when you started scanning, you could add a message like Scanning anonymous edits backward from 03:00, 11 July 2005 (UTC) Lynx7725. When you finish, you could change it to Completed scanning anonymous edits 00:00-03:00, 11 July 2005(UTC) Lynx7725. And, when a whole day is finished, you could add Completed scanning anonymous edits 11 July 2005 (UTC). That's pretty rough, but it's a starting point. (Donovan|Geocachernemesis|Interact) 05:39, 11 July 2005 (UTC)

 * I'm doing something akin to that on my Talk page so that it'll bookmark the Recent Changes. It helps me to know where I left off.. putting a new page for this isn't a bad idea though, especially if we extend one of the Special Pages so that it's easier to remember where to go.

 * As for the coverage issue, typically on weekdays you, Aya and myself would be lurking and poking around. Aya and the Master Thief does a good job patrolling the GTA pages (which draws a good portion of the Newcomer Experiments), so that's already a huge load off from the rest of us.

 * The problem on weekdays is I think the two of us overlap in our timings, so there is a period of maybe 6~8 hours where the two of us aren't patrolling.. but in the main problem edits stick to about 10% of volume, so it's not unsurmountable.

 * However, I think we may have a coverage issue on weekends only, as I personally do not really want to spend weekends doing this. :P Unfortunately, I can't expect anyone else to do so give that this is a "hobby" and not a job, so Mondays tend to be hectic. The situation's managable now (with only about a few thousand edits over a weekend?), but if Wikibook picks up the weekend backlog would be overwhelming. - Lynx7725 05:49, 11 July 2005 (UTC)

Hopefully, in the future, there will be enough of us patrolling so that we all naturally overlap (like with Wikipedia now). For now, it doesn't really matter if we don't get around to scanning the edits for a day or two. Except for the sustained attacks, and fixing those while they are in progress can simply encourage them. It doesn't matter a whole lost if we miss some edits, because they should be picked up by the people interested in the corresponding book (in theory ;). And most of us regular patrollers watch the often vandalised Wikibooks pages, like Wikibooks portal, Vandalism in Progress, etc. (Donovan|Geocachernemesis|Interact) 08:17, 11 July 2005 (UTC)

SimCity
Okay, I've expanded SimCity dramatically, wondering if you want to contribute more to it? - AmishThrasher 15:43, 23 September 2005 (UTC)

title: User talk:Lynx7725


text: Category:Wikibooks FAQ

title: Category:Wikibooks FAQ


text:
Puzzles/Statistical puzzles/Buffon's needle

Puzzles | Statistical puzzles | Buffon's needle

This is a classic puzzle attributed to Buffon. Here it is:

Assume you stand on a floor with a pattern of parallel lines on it which are spaced at unit distance. Now you throw a needle of length D with D < 1. What is the probability that the needle intersects one of the lines?

This puzzle assumes ideal lines and needle of extend zero.

The solution is given in Wikipedia.


text:
Puzzles/Puzzles in science

Puzzles | Puzzles in science

Science is about puzzles and often riddle like situations have given rise to entirely new fields in science, e.g. probability theory (c.f. Statistical puzzles). This page is to highlight the tight relationship of puzzles and science.

One first observation is that a lot of puzzles are listed in Wikipedia and are closely related to scientists and scientific problems (Spoiler warning: the solution is usually given on the page being referred, so look up the riddle on on of the Puzzle book pages first). We here define "puzzle" rather broadly including also paradoxes and puzzling thoughts.

Probability theory

 * Buffon's needle, Buffon's needle (Puzzle book page)

Paradoxes
Paradoxes have been essential in making of the foundations of mathematics. All of these have striking semblence to the situation where a person says: "I'm lying". Does the person lie? This puzzle has its roots in the Liar Paradox but reappears in set theory (Russel's paradox), logic (Gödel's theorem) and informatics (Turing's halting problem).

 * Liar paradox
 * Russel's paradox
 * Turing's Halting problem

Informatics

 * Turing's Halting problem

Physics
The Eleatics had some philosophical ideas about motion that they even put into puzzles. All these puzzles are meant to show the impossibility of motion and they can be considered to be an exercise of scientific model building. Many people in the world do believe that motion in fact exists, on the other hand modern quantum theory postulates a discrete space that would in fact bolster the ideas of the Eleatics. In fact their puzzles boil down to philosophical debates. Explore:

 * Eleatic School (Puzzle book page)

Geometry
Using only pencil, straight-edge and compass alone, is the quadrature of the circle a possibility? Can any angle be trisected? These questions led to Galois theory which finally gave the answer to the problems.

title: Puzzles/Puzzles in science


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User talk:Stewartadcock

Please leave any messages here instead.

title: User talk:Stewartadcock


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User:Stewartadcock

My wikipedia user page

title: User:Stewartadcock


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AQA Information and Communication Technology

This book is a textbook intended to aid the study of an A-Level student sitting the AQA Information and Communication Technology course. It is written based on the 2005 specification, although certain aspects may change in later specifications.

Although AQA specific, most areas will also be capable of being used in other ICT courses set by other boards.

AS level

 * Module /ICT1/ (Information: Nature, Role and Context)[[File:00%.svg]]
 * Module /ICT2/ (Information: Management and Manipulation)[[File:00%.svg]]
 * Module /ICT3/ (Coursework: The Use of Generic Application Software for Task Solution)[[Image:50%.svg]]

A2 level

 * Module /ICT4/ (Information Systems Within Organisations)[[Image:75%.svg]]
 * Module /ICT5/ (Information: Policy, Strategy and Systems)[[File:00%.svg]]
 * Module /ICT6/ (Coursework: Use of Information Systems for Problem Solving)[[File:00%.svg]]

External resources
AQA have an extensive website. The GCE AS/A Information & Communication Technology section contains the ICT specification, as well as the back catalogue of past papers, which are invaluable revision aids.

Authors of this Wikibook

 * [mailto:chris@animebots.co.uk Chris 'laser' Northwood]


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AQA Information and Communication Technology/ICT4/Organisational Structure

An organisation is a group of resources that join together to fulfil a purpose. For example, it may produce goods (as in a business), or provide a service to help people (such as a charity).

Levels of management
Most organisations typically have a hierarchical structure, and different aspects of an ICT system are required to fulfil the different aspects of the hierarchy. A simple hierarchy may consist of:

 * Senior management (strategical)
 * Middle management (tactical)
 * Workers/staff (operational)

Senior management
Senior management are interested in strategies and objectives – setting goals to meet and timeframes to meet them - this is over a long time period - years. This means that the information they require must be broad, but doesn't have to be detailed.

Middle management
Middle management prepares the tactics – the means in which to achieve these strategies - this is over a medium time period - months. This means they require information that is less broad than senior management, but is more detailed.

Workers/staff
The workers perform the tasks assigned to them by middle management to fulfil the objectives of the organisation, and they communicate between themselves the operational data required to perform their task- this is over a short time period - days. The workers only require information that is very specific about their area of work, so lacks breadth, but is very detailed


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AQA Information and Communication Technology/ICT4

ICT4 is assessed by a 2 hour written paper consisting of a series of short, structured questions and a longer essay question, making up 15% of the total A-Level marks. The UMS for this paper is 90 marks.

ICT4 aims to cover the subject of "Information Systems Within Organisations" and has 9 topics.

13.1 /Organisational Structure/ 13.2 /IS Within Organisations/ 13.3 /Corporate IS Strategy/ 13.4 /Information and Data/ 13.5 /The Management of Change/ 13.6 /Legal Aspects/ 13.7 /User Support/ 13.8 /Project Management/ 13.9 /Information and the Professional/


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Talk:Introduction to Sociology/Introduction

Need to add a section after What is Sociology titled: Why Sociology that includes the following:
 * Enhanced understanding of society (micro/macro)
 * Question stereotypes; explore generalizations
 * More appreciation for diversity; ethnocentrism
 * Understand social phenomena
 * Assess the truth of “common sense”
 * Recognize broader constraints in our lives
 * Empower individuals to actively participate in society

 * define macro and microsociology
 * define positivism


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AQA Information and Communication Technology/ICT4/IS Within Organisations

Information Systems
Data processing systems are systems which capture data and store it in a more useful form for later use, such as an EPOS system storing a list of items sold in a transaction file.

Information systems (IS) take data (generally taken from the data capture system) and turn them into information which can be used to make decisions. For example, a supermarket information system may take the transaction files of the EPOS and turn them into a “best selling” list for decision making.

Information systems are important in decision making as they help managers collate the large amount of data that is at their disposal into the more usable form of information. Good quality and efficient processing of information results in better decision making.

Management Information Systems
Management Information Systems (or MIS) exist to take information from internal (such as EPOS data) and external (such as market research) sources and turn them into useful information. Appropriate information is then relayed to managers at different levels, for the task they are responsible for.

An effective MIS becomes an integral part of the organisation to work together to meet the business objectives.

Taking the systems approach to the MIS, we have the Inputs (external and internal data), Processing, and Outputs (reports, query results and expert systems)

The development and lifecycle of an IS
The systems lifecycle is a convenient lifecycle most systems follow (not just IS). The stage of the system in the lifecycle depends on which type of development is currently taking place on the system.

The systems life cycle has 6 stages.

Feasibility Study
Why have a new system? The feasibility study aims to identify the reasons for having one (or not having one, if the existing system works well).

 * The current system may not meet the requirements of the organisation This could occur if the needs of the business change, or the previous system was not implemented correctly.
 * The current system may be outdated Technological advances may mean that the current system is inefficient, and potentially incompatible and becomes hard to maintain. For example, an old EPOS system may not be able to take advantage of the new "Chip & Pin" systems being deployed.
 * The system may be become difficult to maintain Old systems running on dated hardware may become difficult to locate replacements for, and developers who can develop in COBOL (for example) may be difficult to find.

The feasibility study primarily checks 5 areas of feasibility, called TELOS.

 * Technical feasibility - Does the technology exist to be able to create the system?
 * Economic feasibility - Is the capital available to develop the system? Are there cheaper ways of developing the same system?
 * Legal feasibility - Has the law been taken into account? (For example, the Data Protection Act)
 * Operational feasibility - Can current work practices support the new system?
 * Schedule feasibility - Can the system be developed in the required timeframe?

Analysis
An analysis of the current system and user requirements must be performed at an early stage when developing the system.

Staff at all levels of the organisation must be involved in the analysis stage for an accurate analysis to be performed. This can be done with

 * Interviews
 * Document inspection
 * Questionnaires
 * Observation (such as a Time and Motion study)

The finished analysis report will:

 * show what (not how) the new system will work
 * document the data flows of the organisation (including the inputs and outputs)
 * analyse the costs and benefits of the system
 * explain how the system will be implemented
 * explain how the system will fit in with the organisational structure, and any changes to working practices required
 * consider alternatives (hardware configuration, software design, etc.)

Design
This is where it is explained how the system will work. An explanation of hardware and software requirements should be included in the design document.

It should contain how the inputs and outputs of the system will be captured/output - including any validation checks for the input data, and an explanation of the processes of the system should be included.

The user interface should be described (usually with the aid of diagrams) here also. Most modern systems are developed modually, so a breakdown of the modules and tasks of each will also be part of your design document.

Your design should also include your test plan. Your test plan should cover extreme, erroneous and normal data for each input, and the expected output of such.

The final section of the design document is the changeover plan. Here, we should be considering how we'll be implementing the finished system and changing over from the new one.

Implementation and Testing
This stage is where the creation of the system from the design plan is performed. Ideally, the system should be tested continually with the test plan to identify problems as soon as possible for correction. There should also be milestone targets, where the system should be tested again.

Installation
Once the system has been created, it should be implemented into the organisation (as per the changeover plan).

Maintenance
Sometimes referred to as evaluation.

Once the system has been successfully installed, it needs to be reviewed to ensure that it is meeting the needs of the organisation as laid out in the analysis. If it is not, then there are types of maintenance that can be performed:

 * Perfective - Improvements to the system not originally identified in the analysis
 * Adaptive - Alterations to the system, say if the needs of the organisation change
 * Corrective - Solving problems in the system that were not identified during testing

Success or failure of an MIS
Developers might only have one indicator of the success of a MIS. Whether or not it works. However, just because it works doesn't mean the MIS is successful. No-one may use the completed MIS, for example.

There are better indicators of MIS success.

 * Does the system get used?
 * Are the end-users happy with the system?
 * Does the system meet the original objectives laid out in the analysis?

Factors leading to success

 * User involvement
 * Involving users in the analysis and testing phases tends to lead to a better system that will increase end-user satisfaction
 * System complexity
 * Highly complex systems tend to fail if they're undertaken by inexperienced teams
 * Development management
 * A poorly managed project is more likely to suffer from
 * Cost over-runs
 * Delays
 * Performance problems
 * Support from the management
 * New systems must be backed by the management of the organisation the system is being developed for
 * Correct funding must be made available
 * Manpower must be made available
 * Changes to the existing system must be supported

Factors leading to failure
MIS can fail at any point in the lifecycle, but failures often become more apparent later on the lifecycle, when it becomes very expensive and difficult to correct them.

The most likely point of failure is at the analysis stage.

 * A poor analyst was appointed with poor analysis skills
 * The wrong type of research was done, especially with regard to the current system
 * Poor staffing levels for the analysis to take place
 * Users were not sufficiently involved

Failure at the design stage can be because of

 * Inability of the system to meet future needs
 * Major changes to working practices are required
 * Users were not sufficiently involved

At the implementation stage, the failure could be due to

 * An underestimate of coding time
 * Lack of necessary software development skills
 * A poor design
 * Poor internal communication
 * Low level of allocated resources
 * No proper test plan is designed, and therefore no proper testing occurs
 * The end-users are not involved in testing, and there are no acceptance tests

At the installation stage,

 * No conversion plan was developed
 * Insufficient funds allocated to conversion
 * Poor documentation of the new system
 * There are no performance evaluations


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Talk:Introduction to Sociology/Society

It is worth emphasizing that the divisions of labor and social hierarchies developed, not through divine edict or command, but as a result of food surpluses.
 * How widespread and conventional is the definition of "society" that has been presented here? I'm not sure that everyone agrees that a society must share a common culture. Lucidish 20:36, 20 July 2005 (UTC)

Intro Overview
Excellent reference material allows fast, in-depth review of important points in an effective, succinct style.

don hall / bearcreekresearch 2011

title: Talk:Introduction to Sociology/Society


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AQA Information and Communication Technology/ICT4/Corporate IS Strategy

The IS strategy is part of the business strategy. The business strategy is a long-term plan showing where the business is going. It provides the long-term objectives for the business. Planning is very important for business survival.

A business strategy should consist of:

 * The business objectives in the mission statement
 * A SWOT analysis of the business (this shows the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of a business)
 * Substrategies for separate parts of the business (marketing, sales, operations, IS, etc.)

Obviously, we'll be focussing on the IS strategy. The IS strategy should be allocated resources and should be needs-led, not technology-led. (This means the IS strategy should be fulfilling the needs of the business, not just supplying the latest technology).

The IS strategy should consider:

 * Resources
 * People
 * Technology
 * Organisation
 * Threats to the business (as identified in the SWOT analysis)

Information flow
We can deduce 3 types of information flow in an organisation:

 * Strategic
 * Tactical
 * Operational

Many organisations rely on a constant flow of information, both up and down the layers of hierarchy. Information can flow either:

 * Formally (through meetings, etc.) – where the information flow is standardised and consistent
 * Informally (phone calls, discussions over the water cooler, etc.) – this is where the information flow does not follow a set of rules and can be inconsistently distributed, and therefore unreliable.

How information is dealt with is dependent on where the end-user is in the hierarchy.

Unless information has a free flow, there can be constraints on the way the information flows and it could be limited.

Personnel
As we discussed earlier on, most hierarchies can be broken down into 3 types.

As such, we have the following levels of the hierarchy making different decisions:

 * Senior management make the strategic decisions
 * Middle management make the tactical (or implementation) decisions
 * The workers make the operational decisions.

Or, what we're going to do, how we're going to do it, and the specifics of production.


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AQA Information and Communication Technology/ICT4/Information and Data

We originally covered this in the very first topic of the specification. We'll be building on what we already know in this topic.

Data
Transcription is what occurs when data is formatted and entered onto the system. This can affect the accuracy of the data though, as errors occur during transcription.

Electronic Data Interchange (or EDI) is the most error free method of transcription. It is the movement of data from one system to another electronically.

You should select the most appropriate data capture techniques for the quantity and quality of data. Remember GIGO! Garbage In = Garbage Out. We've already covered data capture and verification and validation, so reviewing those areas are important.

Information
We originally looked at the importance of data in ICT1. In ICT4, we're going to be covering the characteristics of information.

For information to be of use, it must be:

 * Accurate
 * Up-to-date
 * Complete
 * Relevant to the needs of the organisation
 * Easily interpretable (turning it into knowledge)

Information has 8 characteristics

Nature
Information is either:

 * Qualitative (judgements and comments)
 * Quantitative (numerical)

and can be collected

 * Formally (collected through official channels, and tends to be more precise)
 * Informally (through channels such as newspapers, where information may be more vague)

Level
We already know that information can be:

 * Operational (as a result of events and transactions)
 * Tactical (such as how fast lines are selling so they can make decisions)
 * Strategic (showing the "bigger picture" and helping to make long-term decisions)

Time
Here, we can classify information into:

 * Historical (records from the past)
 * Current
 * Future (for predicting trends)

Frequency
Information is provided to us

 * In real-time, where the information is up-to-date as of that moment
 * Periodically, where information is only updated after a certain length of time (minutely, hourly, daily, etc.)

Use
What is the information going to be used for?

 * Planning (strategical)
 * Control (operational)
 * Decisions (tactical)

Form
How are we receiving the information?

 * Written (reports)
 * Visual (charts, etc.)

Type
Information can be:

 * Sampled (snap shots of the organisation)
 * Aggregated (built up over time)
 * Disaggregated (separating the various functions of the organisation)

Quality of information
Information is required to make informed decisions, but it's only good if it's useful. For information to be useful, there are certain characteristics we should be considering.

Brief

 * Information overload is a major problem
 * Only sufficient information is required, so it must be factual, concise, summarised and selective

Accuracy

 * This is fairly obvious. Information is only useful if it's accurate.
 * If information is inaccurate, user confidence will be lost, so a ''confidence rating (how accurate it is) must be given to the information.
 * Assumptions and probabilities should be clearly stated.''

Up-to-date

 * How up-to-date the data must be vary according to need. Sales figures could be a week old, for example, but booking information must be accurate to a few seconds.

Timely

 * If information arrives too late, it is not useful
 * For example, if "best selling lines" figures arrive after a replinishment order has been made this is of little use.

Detail level

 * If the information is made too brief, information is lost.
 * If information is too detailed, the meaning may be lost.

Appropriate format

 * Trends may be better shown in a chart
 * Tables may be better for some numerical data.

Effective presentation
The way in which information is presented will affect the value that the audience place on it. Information presented in an unprofessional or unplanned way may reduce the impact of the information.

Popular methods of presentation include:

 * Computer Printouts
 * Presentations
 * DTP
 * Videoconferencing
 * Intranet

The form of presentation depends on what you're trying to present.

 * Graphs and charts
 * Pie charts are good for showing shares, but too many segments make the chart too cluttered and is off-putting
 * Line charts are good ways of showing trends over time
 * Printed presentations
 * Bullet points are good for this
 * Use of charts are effective for displaying numerical information

We already know that information is a commodity, and like many other commodities, correct marketing will make it easier for an organisation to present its data.


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User talk:Polizano

Please provide a link to your course page. --JWSurf 17:02, 20 Jun 2005 (UTC)

offering my support
I've just done the exam for Massey's course on The Great War, so I've certainly got an interest in the subject! I shan't have the time to take part in your class because of my real-world classes, but I can still help out in other ways.

I've got a crapload of notes and handout summaries and recommended readings and that sort of thing, so if you need any help or ideas with additional material and virtual "handouts" I can pass them on to you, rewritten by me to be GFDL-compliant of course.

As for the recommended readings, my professor listed some excellent books on the subject and I'm sure they would be useful to your virtual students too. Many of them are available for searching at Google Print, which could help for faster researching (assuming your students going to write essays).

I'm still not sure how the heck Wikiversity actually works, but regardless I'll be able to help you with the information side of this class, at least until the second semester begins at which point my for-money classes will have to take priority :)

Anyway, if I can be of assistance with getting this Wikiversity test-bed off the ground that's great! Master Thief Garrett 02:08, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)

re: WWI
Sorry for the late reply. I have been on vacation. I'm still not sure how I am going to be running the course, so if you'd like to, you are more than welcome to help out, or even be assitant/co - professor. I know a bit about the Great War but I am not an expert, so having two people might make a big improvement on the course. Since the course is somewhat provisional in nature, I don't know that I am going to have people write essays. I think it might be more appropriate to do it seminar style and have guided discussions where people learn not just from the professor but from other students. Let me know what you think. --Polizano 14:23, 2 Jul 2005 (UTC)

 * As I said I'm going to be busy with my own university courses. I'm not sure how you're going to do the "classes". If they're just an editable Wiki page I can certainly be in the class each day or week or whatnot and both teach and learn to varying extents, but if it has to be something live like an IRC channel then there's no way I can devote a fixed time to it. Not to mention the timezone issues.
 * Seminar style sounds fun, we had those for the Massey paper. They called them "tutorials" but I think "stump the professor" might have been a better name! People kept asking or pointing out the most difficult things... then again that's what you get with a 300-level paper... :) ...but in fact that could be a fun side activity for the class (much like Wikipedia's Reference Desk), with students trying to find the answers to each others' questions. Or something like that.
 * Actually I can't seem to find most of the info I had, must be in my drawers or something... but for now I've got some notes on my temporary Great War page--behold my crappy notetaking skills! This is the entirety of the first lecture (war enthusiasm), so you'll probably find some good ideas in there... if you can make sense of all my abbreviations that is. I'll update this page with more goodies as I find them.
 * Anyway, that's all I can think of for now... Master Thief Garrett 4 July 2005 03:03 (UTC)

Class notification links
This will make notifying everyone easier! Simply click "notify" and then click save to add this message:

 * Alex beta (notify)
 * Abc123 (notify)
 * BarnacleKB (notify)
 * Muhgcee (notify)
 * Master Thief Garrett (notify)
 * Sarken (notify)

And that's it. Simple. Enjoy! GarrettTalk 05:33, 16 July 2005 (UTC)

so... no more course?
I was really looking forward to being part of your WWI history course. Has it now been cancelled? I see the difficulty in doing a project like this until wikiversity gets more attention, but the potential is incredible and i can really see that in what your course can be like.

title: User talk:Polizano


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Movie Making Manual/Slate

The clapper board (AKA Clap slate) is a well-recognized icon of filming and the filming industry, but serves many purposes beyond its appearance. A clapper board is made up of two parts: the slate and the clapper.

The slate's most obvious purpose is the documentation it provides on what scene is being filmed, when it was filmed, what take it was, which film reel it was, etc. The "clapper" provides an easily identified audio marker, which is useful when filming with multiple cameras and you must synchronize them during post-production, and is more commonly used to synchronize the sound and picture since they are usually recorded on separate devices. The black-and-white stripes on the clapper are designed to show exactly when the clapper is closed. This point is then synchronised with the sound of the 'clap' it makes.

Increasingly in the modern digital age, the clapper becomes less useful as footage can be digitally marked by the camera and audio synchronization is no longer a problem due to the digital nature of the footage. However, for the sake of your editor, you may wish to continue using a clapper to make any possible problem easier to fix.

How To Use a Clapper Board
While a clapper board seems simple, its use is more complex than it looks. When motion picture film is developed, the lab technician who is developing the film, printing the film, and syncing the audio to the film, must have all the necessary information to sync the audio to the picture. If you want to see your dailies the first thing in the morning and you want everything to work properly, you must never confuse the lab technician.

Verbal Slate
While the clapper board provides information for the picture, there must also be a verbal slate for the audio. This verbal slate must provide the scene and take number for the lab technician. It also usually includes the name of the production and or episode if its for TV. The verbal slate must also make it clear if multiple cameras are used. The verbal slate must also make it clear if multiple tracks of audio are used. "Stereo Split" means one track of a stereo track has the audio from one microphone and the other track has audio from the other microphone.

In film production a letter is generally added to the end of a scene number to designate a change in the camera. This change can be, a lens, a camera move or an angle change. It is also common practice to use the phonetic alphabet when verbalizing the information on the slate. Sometimes the number of angles requires more than the alphabet can provide and in this case, double letters are used.

A and B Cameras
If there are two or more cameras, sometimes a common slate is used. Both the slate and the verbal slate must make this clear.

Using a common slate is not good because it can be confusing. With a common slate, there is no camera number ("Camera A" vs. "Camera B') and no film reel number. Therefore, each camera should have its own slate.  The slate information for one camera must never be seen by the other camera.  The same rule applies for showing the clapper closing.  Therefore, when one camera is slated, someone puts their hand over the lens of the other camera to block the view of the other camera's slate.

Tail Slates
Sometimes, when it is impossible to use a clapper board at the beginning of a shot, someone will yell "Tail Slate" at the beginning of the shot and at the end of the shot, the slate will be clapped upside down so that the film laboratory will know that this is the slate at the end of a shot rather than the slate for the beginning of the next shot. The verbal slate is always done at the same time as the clapper board.

Any Pulse Will Do
On shots where a clapper board is not practical, the actors will use their arms as a huge clapper. The film lab can easily see when the actor's hands come together. This noise is loud enough and concentrated enough to be accurate for syncing the audio to the picture.

Wildtrack
If there is no clapper for a shot, then the sound is wild. The lab technician might try to do a rough sync. Or the technician will create a separate section of the dailies for the audio from wildtracks. When you hear a wild track on the dailies, you see only a card saying Wildtrack as you hear the audio.

Re-syncing Sound
For motion picture film, the closing of the clapper (as seen on the film) must be aligned with the audio pulse (which shows up on the audio tape as a blip). Since audio travels at about 40 feet/13.8 meters per frame of motion picture film (1/24th of a second), the audio pulse should be less than one frame after the closing of the slate unless the microphone is far from the camera (and the audience.) Yet, when you watch dailies made using digital slates in Hollywood, you will find that most film labs sync the audio so it is late by one or two frames because the electronics in the slate are slow. Therefore, before you begin editing your movie, you must resync each take based on the actual clapper closing and the pulse on the audio track.

DV Camcorders
DV Camcorders often are supplemented with a separate audio recording device in order to record better sound quality. In this case it is necessary to use a clapper in the beginning (or at the end if you are tailslating) in order to sync the sound up with the video.

Executing the Slate
There are three important parts to execution of the slate. The first and second portions don't have to occur at the same time but the second and third MUST.
 * 1) The information on the slate needs to be readable. This means the handwriting is a factor and letters should be bold, large, clear and in the best focus as possible. With dry erase type slates, a black marker is the best color to use because of the high contrast.
 * 2) The clapper must close while in frame. The operator should take notice to hold the slate steady. The upper portion of the clapper should be the only thing moving. This helps during the sound syncing process so that it makes it very clear when the slate is closed, as there will generally be motion blur while the upper portion of the clapper is moving. The board needs to be held so that the information is not obstructed by the person holding it.
 * 3) The audio of the take number and the sound of the slate closing must be clearly recorded. Background noise should be kept at a minimum.

It is common to hold the information portion of the slate in frame then back up to get the clapper closing in frame. Optionally, A pocket-sized version of the slate can be used if there isn't room for the entire slate to fit in frame. The pocket-sized version is usually only the slate portion of the unit. Also, the clapper portion of the slate, although rarely removable, can be used separately as well. Three-foot-long versions of a clapper are available for extreme wide shots that need to sync sound and the operator must be a good distance from the camera.

When using the slate near actorS, it is common courtesy to add to the call, "soft sticks" and close the slate more softly so that the actors' hearing is not effected. The clapper closing can be quite loud and creates a very large spike on the audio, which is why it's used.

On set there are calls that occur to let everyone know filming is about to begin. When the 1st AD calls picture up, it's best for the slate operator (2nd Assistant Camera) to already know where he will be executing the slate. This should be with the slate portion in frame with the clapper up and ready to go. The camera should be aiming at the slate when they start the film so that the slate can be the first image seen on the take (even more helpful to editors in the digital process). The camera(s) will give a call of "rolling" and sound will give a call of "speeding" at which time the operator will be told to "mark it". The operator then says the name of the film, the scene number with letter designation, the take number, and "marker" then closes the slate. If it wasn't clear, the sound or camera operator might ask for "second sticks", in which case the slate operator would open the clapper and start again. This will be repeated until everyone is satisfied with what's on camera and sound.

In low-light situations it may be required to shine a light on the slate so that it's visible on camera.

MOS (with out sound)
Although the origin of MOS is debated, recording picture without sound happens often. It is common practice to leave the clapper portion closed and put two fingers over the clapper portion of the slate to indicate that no sound is being recorded.

Watch Dailies
If you want to see how the clapper board is used, simply look at film dailies from motion pictures and television dramas. You can buy motion picture and television drama dailies on tape at almost any second-hand video store in Hollywood (Southern California residents only).

title: Movie Making Manual/Slate