text:
General Astronomy/Life of the Black Hole

In this subchapter, we examine the life of the black hole, from its birth in the fires of a dead star, to its gradual dissipation in the backwaters of space.

Birth - Part I
It would only make sense to begin chronologically, at the moment when the black hole is formed, shortly following the death of a sufficiently massive star. Before this, however, we must first understand what causes the death of this star. In short, such a star will collapse when its temperature is no longer high enough to stop it from collapsing under its own gravity. There are two possible reasons for this failing of equlibrium. The more common cause occurs when a star has burned up all of its nuclear and elemental "fuel", and can therefore no longer maintain the necessary temperature, resulting in what is termed "gravitational collapse". The second possible cause of this imbalance between temperature, pressure, and volume involves the star taking on a significant amount of added mass in some way, without causing the necessary increase in core temperature to support the additional mass.

Either way, the star now no longer has the needed temperature to stop a collapse. The star's core is compressed so tightly, that it forms what is known as degenerate matter, which is, essentially, matter that is so highly compressed that the forces of repulsion that creates the supporting pressure originate from quantum mechanical effects not from the usual forces of repulsion of like charges of normal matter. Its comprising particles are extremely dense. The collapse usually triggers subsequent events, such as supernovae, or gaseous fragmentation into planetary nebulae (shells of gas and plasma), that shed the outer layers of the star. The remnant that is left after the collapse and subsequent events forms one of a number of "compact stars". These include white dwarfs, neutron stars, and, of course, black holes. For the latter to be a result, the remnant has to be sufficiently massive; just how massive is defined by the "Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff limit", calculated by Julius Robert Oppenheimer and George Michael Volkoff, in 1939. Beyond this limit the gravitational attraction is greater than the opposing pressure, and, when the remnant's outer radius drops below its Schwarzschild radius, the black hole is fully formed.

The black hole emerges thus from the ashes of a broken star, and the birth is complete.

On a final note, before we continue, there is a second way that black holes can be formed, though it is much rarer for this to happen: the collision of two neutron stars—another form of "compact star"—can sometimes result in the formation of black holes. However, such collisions are not common, and this second possible cause of black hole birth is not always mentioned in short summaries of black hole formation.

Life - Part II
The life of black holes is impossible to calculate, and how long they remain has only been predicted, not proven. Therefore, generalization is inevitable.

As black holes drift through space, they exist as vacuum machines of sorts, sucking in all the matter they come across, and steadily growing. As they devour, stellar black holes—forged from the ashes of star corpses—grow, becoming larger through a process called accretion. This refers to the growth of massive bodies due to the attraction of matter by gravity. Those black holes that devour many stars, planets, interstellar matter, or even other black holes often become substantially larger than average stellar black holes. How long a black hole feeds at a particular location depends on what it is consuming. Large stars often take eons for black holes to consume, while smaller objects—such as asteroids, small planets, or moons—take a comparably small amount of time.

Death - Part III
This next section inevitably launches into the realms of theory. Because all but the micro black holes are predicted to live for longer than the current age of the universe, the death of a black hole possibly has not even occurred yet.

One theory, Hawking Radiation, denotes that every black hole, after a very long time, will eventually evaporate into nothing. Thus far, it is one of the few proposed theories regarding black hole evaporation, and remains a hotly debated topic. It is this theory that we will discuss here.

Even in the total vacuum of space, there is energy. Quantum mechanics says that even a true vacuum is not empty, in the sense that it is in fact a sea of zero-point energy. This body of energy fluctuates much like waves in a sea. These fluctuations continue to produce pairs of particles—one normal matter particle, and one antiparticle—that meet and are re-converted back into pure energy, restoring the balance in the sea.

Now, Hawking Radiation states that, if such a pair of particles were formed outside the event horizon of a black hole, and one of the two moves over the event horizon, while the other escapes, then the black hole will lose a small portion of its mass, because, in order to preserve "total energy" (the sum of an object's rest, potential, and kinetic energy), the particle which falls in must necessarily have negative energy.

However, only the smallest black holes could possibly evaporate in this way, because a black hole any more massive than Earth's moon would have a larger constant intake of cosmic microwave background radiation—the electromagnetic radiation that fills the whole universe—than it would emit through Hawking radiation. Indeed, there are currently no known, nor predicted, black holes even close to being the same mass as our moon, and therefore, as of now, Hawking Radiation is not, technically, a viable cause of evaporation in the present universe.

However, the cosmic microwave background radiation that fills space is slowly becoming weaker. Eventually, it will become so weak, that even the largest black holes will emit more by Hawking Radiation that they take in. In this way, after approximately a googol (10100) years, even the very largest black holes would evaporate.

And so, the life of the black hole concludes, when it returns to nothingness, in the depths of space.


text:
A-level Physics (Advancing Physics)/Polymers

A simple polymer consists of a long chain of monomers (components of molecules) joined by covalent bonds. A polymer usually consists of many of these bonds, tangled up. This is known as a bulk polymer.

Types
A bulk polymer may contain two types of regions. In crystalline regions, the chains run parallel to each other, whereas in amorphous regions, they do not. Intermolecular bonds are stronger in crystalline regions. A polycrystalline polymer consists of multiple regions, in which the chains point in a different direction in each region.

Transparency
Polymers which are crystalline are usually opaque or translucent. As a polymer becomes less polycrystalline, it becomes more transparent, whilst an amorphous polymer is usually transparent.

Elasticity
In some polymers, such as polyethene, the chains are folded up. When they are stretched, the chains unravel, stretching without breaking. When the stress ceases, they will return to their original shape. If, however, the bonds between the molecules are broken, the material reaches its elastic limit and will not return to its original shape.

Stiffness
Polymer chains may be linked together, causing the polymer to become stiffer. An example is rubber, which, when heated with sulfur, undergoes a process known as vulcanization. The chains in the rubber become joined by sulfur atoms, making the rubber suitable for use in car tyres. A stiffer polymer, however, will usually be more brittle.

Plasticity
When a polymer is stretched, the chains become parallel, and amorphous areas may become crystalline. This causes an apparent change in colour, and a process known as 'necking'. This is when the chains recede out of an area of the substance, making it thinner, with fatter areas on either side.

Conductivity
Polymers consist of covalent bonds, so the electrons are not free to move according to potential difference. This means that polymers are poor conductors.

Boiling Point
Polymers do not have boiling points. This is because, before they reach a theoretical boiling point, polymers decompose. Some polymers do not have melting points for the same reason.

Questions
1. Different crystalline structures have different refractive indexes. Why does this mean that a polycrystalline polymer is translucent?

2. What sort of polymer is a pane of perspex?

3. What sort of polymer does the pane of perspex become when shattered (but still in one piece)?

4. What sort of polymer is a rubber on the end of a pencil?

5. What happens to the translucency of an amorphous polymer when it is put under stress?

/Worked Solutions/

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


text:
A-level Physics (Advancing Physics)/Polymers/Worked Solutions

'''1. Different crystalline structures have different refractive indexes. Why does this mean that a polycrystalline polymer is translucent?'''

The refractive index of each area is different, so the angle of refraction is different for each area. As a result, the image is blurred.

2. What sort of polymer is a pane of perspex?

Crystalline

3. What sort of polymer does the pane of perspex become when shattered (but still in one piece)?

Polycrystalline

4. What sort of polymer is a rubber on the end of a pencil?

Amorphous

5. What happens to the translucency of an amorphous polymer when it is put under stress?

The polymer becomes more translucent, as it becomes more polycrystalline as the chains are stretched and straightened.


text:
User:Fmindlin~enwikibooks

I'm a retired public school teacher based in Watsonville, CA, USA, with a passion for digital storytelling.

title: User:Fmindlin~enwikibooks


text:
Template:X86 Disassembly/Page

 x86 Disassembly

title: Template:X86 Disassembly/Page


text:
X86 Disassembly/Introduction

What Is This Book About?
This book is about the disassembly of x86 machine code into human-readable assembly, and the decompilation of x86 assembly code into human-readable C or C++ source code. Some topics covered will be common to all computer architectures, not just x86-compatible machines.

What Will This Book Cover?
This book is going to look in-depth at the disassembly and decompilation of x86 machine code and assembly code. We are going to look at the way programs are made using assemblers and compilers, and examine the way that assembly code is made from C or C++ source code. Using this knowledge, we will try to reverse the process. By examining common structures, such as data and control structures, we can find patterns that enable us to disassemble and decompile programs quickly.

Who Is This Book For?
This book is for readers at the undergraduate level with experience programming in x86 Assembly and C or C++. This book is not designed to teach assembly language programming, C or C++ programming, or compiler/assembler theory.

What Are The Prerequisites?
The reader should have a thorough understanding of x86 Assembly, C Programming, and possibly C++ Programming. This book is intended to increase the reader's understanding of the relationship between x86 machine code, x86 Assembly Language, and the C Programming Language. If you are not too familar with these topics, you may want to reread some of the above-mentioned books before continuing.

What is Disassembly?
Computer programs are written originally in a human readable code form, such as assembly language or a high-level language. These programs are then compiled into a binary format called machine code. This binary format is not directly readable or understandable by humans. Many programs -- such as malware, proprietary commercial programs, or very old legacy programs -- may not have the source code available to you.

Programs frequently perform tasks that need to be duplicated, or need to be made to interact with other programs. Without the source code and without adequate documentation, these tasks can be difficult to accomplish. This book outlines tools and techniques for attempting to convert the raw machine code of an executable file into equivalent code in assembly language and the high-level languages C and C++. With the high-level code to perform a particular task, several things become possible:

 * 1) Programs can be ported to new computer platforms, by compiling the source code in a different environment.
 * 2) The algorithm used by a program can be determined. This allows other programs to make use of the same algorithm, or for updated versions of a program to be rewritten without needing to track down old copies of the source code.
 * 3) Security holes and vulnerabilities can be identified and patched by users without needing access to the original source code.
 * 4) New interfaces can be implemented for old programs. New components can be built on top of old components to speed development time and reduce the need to rewrite large volumes of code.
 * 5) We can figure out what a piece of malware does. We hope this leads us to figuring out how to block its harmful effects. Unfortunately, some malware writers use self-modifying code techniques (polymorphic camouflage, XOR encryption, scrambling), apparently to make it difficult to even detect that malware, much less disassemble it.

Disassembling code has a large number of practical uses. One of the positive side effects of it is that the reader will gain a better understanding of the relation between machine code, assembly language, and high-level languages. Having a good knowledge of these topics will help programmers to produce code that is more efficient and more secure.

title: X86 Disassembly/Introduction


text:
X86 Disassembly/Resources

Wikibooks

 * X86 Assembly
 * Subject:Assembly languages
 * Compiler Construction
 * Floating Point
 * C Programming
 * C++ Programming

Books

 * Reverse Engineering for Beginners
 * Eilam, Eldad. "Reversing: Secrets of Reverse Engineering." 2005. Wiley Publishing Inc. ISBN 0764574817
 * Hyde, Randall. "The Art of Assembly Language," No Starch, 2003 ISBN 1886411972
 * Aho, Alfred V. et al. "Compilers: Principles, Techniques and Tools," Addison Wesley, 1986. ISBN: 0321428900
 * Steven Muchnick, "Advanced Compiler Design & Implementation," Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, 1997. ISBN 1-55860-320-4
 * Kernighan and Ritchie, "The C Programming Language", 2nd Edition, 1988, Prentice Hall.
 * Petzold, Charles. "Programming Windows, Fifth Edition," Microsoft Press, 1999
 * Hart, Johnson M. "Win32 System Programming, Second Edition," Addison Wesley, 2001
 * Gordon, Alan. "COM and COM+ Programming Primer," Prentice Hall, 2000
 * Nebbett, Gary. "Windows NT/2000 Native API Reference," Macmillan, 2000
 * Levine, John R. "Linkers and Loaders," Morgan Kaufmann, 2000
 * Knuth, Donald E. "The Art of Computer Programming," Vol 1, 1997, Addison Wesley.
 * MALWARE: Fighting Malicious Code, by Ed Skoudis; Prentice Hall, 2004
 * Maximum Linux Security, Second Edition, by Anonymous; Sams, 2001

title: X86 Disassembly/Resources


text:
X86 Disassembly/Licensing

Licensing
This book is released under the following license:

title: X86 Disassembly/Licensing


text:
User talk:Bueno~enwikibooks

Welcome message
Hello, and welcome to Wikibooks!

Here are some tips to help you get started:
 * To learn the wiki-markup-language syntax, see Help:Editing.
 * Make sure to sign your posts and comments with four tildes, like this: ~~~~
 * There is a box at the top of the edit window (if javascript is enabled on your browser) that will insert it too (looks like part of a signature). This will let others know who left it, and make it easy to reply back to you.
 * Remember to conduct any editing experiments in the sandbox.
 * You can tell the community something about yourself in your userpage.
 * You can get to this page by clicking the tab at the top of the page labeled with your registered username.
 * Wikibooks is a collection of open-source textbooks. (What is Wikibooks).
 * If you are a Wikipedian, see Wikibooks for Wikipedians for a primer on how things work here (it's a little different).
 * If you want to base your work here on materials from Wikipedia, please use WB:RFI (requests for importation) to bring the material over in compliance with the GFDL.
 * If you're an instructor and plan on using Wikibooks for a class project, see Guidelines for class projects
 * Please say hello at the Reading Room with any questions or ideas.
 * Eventually, you might want to read the Manual of Style and Policies and Guidelines.
 * Help us by participating in policy and guideline creation.
 * Please take a look at Naming policy before starting a new book.
 * Remember to maintain a Neutral point of view.
 * Explore, be bold in editing pages, and have fun!

You will find more resources in Community Portal. If you want to ask a question, visit the Study help desk, the Reading Room, IRC channel or ask me personally on my talk page. For site news, see the Bulletin board. It might be a good idea to add that page to your "watchlist" so that you can see when any new information is posted there. You can do that by clicking the tab labeled "watch" at the top of the page.

Good luck! --Panic (talk) 17:01, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

Your account will be renamed
Hello,

The developer team at Wikimedia is making some changes to how accounts work, as part of our on-going efforts to provide new and better tools for our users like cross-wiki notifications. These changes will mean you have the same account name everywhere. This will let us give you new features that will help you edit and discuss better, and allow more flexible user permissions for tools. One of the side-effects of this is that user accounts will now have to be unique across all 900 Wikimedia wikis. See the announcement for more information.

Unfortunately, your account clashes with another account also called Bueno. To make sure that both of you can use all Wikimedia projects in future, we have reserved the name Bueno~enwikibooks that only you will have. If you like it, you don't have to do anything. If you do not like it, you can pick out a different name.

Your account will still work as before, and you will be credited for all your edits made so far, but you will have to use the new account name when you log in.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

Yours, Keegan Peterzell Community Liaison, Wikimedia Foundation 23:04, 17 March 2015 (UTC)

Renamed
 This account has been renamed as part of single-user login finalisation. If you own this account you can |log in using your previous username and password for more information. If you do not like this account's new name, you can choose your own using this form after logging in: . -- Keegan (WMF) (talk) 04:44, 19 April 2015 (UTC)

title: User talk:Bueno~enwikibooks


text:
User talk:Sinnefa

Welcome message
Hello, and welcome to Wikibooks!

Here are some tips to help you get started:
 * To learn the wiki-markup-language syntax, see Help:Editing.
 * Make sure to sign your posts and comments with four tildes, like this: ~~~~
 * There is a box at the top of the edit window (if javascript is enabled on your browser) that will insert it too (looks like part of a signature). This will let others know who left it, and make it easy to reply back to you.
 * Remember to conduct any editing experiments in the sandbox.
 * You can tell the community something about yourself in your userpage.
 * You can get to this page by clicking the tab at the top of the page labeled with your registered username.
 * Wikibooks is a collection of open-source textbooks. (What is Wikibooks).
 * If you are a Wikipedian, see Wikibooks for Wikipedians for a primer on how things work here (it's a little different).
 * If you want to base your work here on materials from Wikipedia, please use WB:RFI (requests for importation) to bring the material over in compliance with the GFDL.
 * If you're an instructor and plan on using Wikibooks for a class project, see Guidelines for class projects
 * Please say hello at the Reading Room with any questions or ideas.
 * Eventually, you might want to read the Manual of Style and Policies and Guidelines.
 * Help us by participating in policy and guideline creation.
 * Please take a look at Naming policy before starting a new book.
 * Remember to maintain a Neutral point of view.
 * Explore, be bold in editing pages, and have fun!

You will find more resources in Community Portal. If you want to ask a question, visit the Study help desk, the Reading Room, IRC channel or ask me personally on my talk page. For site news, see the Bulletin board. It might be a good idea to add that page to your "watchlist" so that you can see when any new information is posted there. You can do that by clicking the tab labeled "watch" at the top of the page.

Good luck! --Panic (talk) 17:02, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

title: User talk:Sinnefa


text:
User talk:Nschultz01

Welcome message
Hello, and welcome to Wikibooks!

Here are some tips to help you get started:
 * To learn the wiki-markup-language syntax, see Help:Editing.
 * Make sure to sign your posts and comments with four tildes, like this: ~~~~
 * There is a box at the top of the edit window (if javascript is enabled on your browser) that will insert it too (looks like part of a signature). This will let others know who left it, and make it easy to reply back to you.
 * Remember to conduct any editing experiments in the sandbox.
 * You can tell the community something about yourself in your userpage.
 * You can get to this page by clicking the tab at the top of the page labeled with your registered username.
 * Wikibooks is a collection of open-source textbooks. (What is Wikibooks).
 * If you are a Wikipedian, see Wikibooks for Wikipedians for a primer on how things work here (it's a little different).
 * If you want to base your work here on materials from Wikipedia, please use WB:RFI (requests for importation) to bring the material over in compliance with the GFDL.
 * If you're an instructor and plan on using Wikibooks for a class project, see Guidelines for class projects
 * Please say hello at the Reading Room with any questions or ideas.
 * Eventually, you might want to read the Manual of Style and Policies and Guidelines.
 * Help us by participating in policy and guideline creation.
 * Please take a look at Naming policy before starting a new book.
 * Remember to maintain a Neutral point of view.
 * Explore, be bold in editing pages, and have fun!

You will find more resources in Community Portal. If you want to ask a question, visit the Study help desk, the Reading Room, IRC channel or ask me personally on my talk page. For site news, see the Bulletin board. It might be a good idea to add that page to your "watchlist" so that you can see when any new information is posted there. You can do that by clicking the tab labeled "watch" at the top of the page.

Good luck! --Panic (talk) 17:02, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

title: User talk:Nschultz01


text:
User talk:Loxnard~enwikibooks

Welcome message
Hello, and welcome to Wikibooks!

Here are some tips to help you get started:
 * To learn the wiki-markup-language syntax, see Help:Editing.
 * Make sure to sign your posts and comments with four tildes, like this: ~~~~
 * There is a box at the top of the edit window (if javascript is enabled on your browser) that will insert it too (looks like part of a signature). This will let others know who left it, and make it easy to reply back to you.
 * Remember to conduct any editing experiments in the sandbox.
 * You can tell the community something about yourself in your userpage.
 * You can get to this page by clicking the tab at the top of the page labeled with your registered username.
 * Wikibooks is a collection of open-source textbooks. (What is Wikibooks).
 * If you are a Wikipedian, see Wikibooks for Wikipedians for a primer on how things work here (it's a little different).
 * If you want to base your work here on materials from Wikipedia, please use WB:RFI (requests for importation) to bring the material over in compliance with the GFDL.
 * If you're an instructor and plan on using Wikibooks for a class project, see Guidelines for class projects
 * Please say hello at the Reading Room with any questions or ideas.
 * Eventually, you might want to read the Manual of Style and Policies and Guidelines.
 * Help us by participating in policy and guideline creation.
 * Please take a look at Naming policy before starting a new book.
 * Remember to maintain a Neutral point of view.
 * Explore, be bold in editing pages, and have fun!

You will find more resources in Community Portal. If you want to ask a question, visit the Study help desk, the Reading Room, IRC channel or ask me personally on my talk page. For site news, see the Bulletin board. It might be a good idea to add that page to your "watchlist" so that you can see when any new information is posted there. You can do that by clicking the tab labeled "watch" at the top of the page.

Good luck! --Panic (talk) 17:02, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

Your account will be renamed
Hello,

The developer team at Wikimedia is making some changes to how accounts work, as part of our on-going efforts to provide new and better tools for our users like cross-wiki notifications. These changes will mean you have the same account name everywhere. This will let us give you new features that will help you edit and discuss better, and allow more flexible user permissions for tools. One of the side-effects of this is that user accounts will now have to be unique across all 900 Wikimedia wikis. See the announcement for more information.

Unfortunately, your account clashes with another account also called Loxnard. To make sure that both of you can use all Wikimedia projects in future, we have reserved the name Loxnard~enwikibooks that only you will have. If you like it, you don't have to do anything. If you do not like it, you can pick out a different name.

Your account will still work as before, and you will be credited for all your edits made so far, but you will have to use the new account name when you log in.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

Yours, Keegan Peterzell Community Liaison, Wikimedia Foundation 23:26, 17 March 2015 (UTC)

Renamed
 This account has been renamed as part of single-user login finalisation. If you own this account you can |log in using your previous username and password for more information. If you do not like this account's new name, you can choose your own using this form after logging in: . -- Keegan (WMF) (talk) 05:12, 19 April 2015 (UTC)

title: User talk:Loxnard~enwikibooks


text:
User talk:NetCobra

Welcome message
Hello, and welcome to Wikibooks!

Here are some tips to help you get started:
 * To learn the wiki-markup-language syntax, see Help:Editing.
 * Make sure to sign your posts and comments with four tildes, like this: ~~~~
 * There is a box at the top of the edit window (if javascript is enabled on your browser) that will insert it too (looks like part of a signature). This will let others know who left it, and make it easy to reply back to you.
 * Remember to conduct any editing experiments in the sandbox.
 * You can tell the community something about yourself in your userpage.
 * You can get to this page by clicking the tab at the top of the page labeled with your registered username.
 * Wikibooks is a collection of open-source textbooks. (What is Wikibooks).
 * If you are a Wikipedian, see Wikibooks for Wikipedians for a primer on how things work here (it's a little different).
 * If you want to base your work here on materials from Wikipedia, please use WB:RFI (requests for importation) to bring the material over in compliance with the GFDL.
 * If you're an instructor and plan on using Wikibooks for a class project, see Guidelines for class projects
 * Please say hello at the Reading Room with any questions or ideas.
 * Eventually, you might want to read the Manual of Style and Policies and Guidelines.
 * Help us by participating in policy and guideline creation.
 * Please take a look at Naming policy before starting a new book.
 * Remember to maintain a Neutral point of view.
 * Explore, be bold in editing pages, and have fun!

You will find more resources in Community Portal. If you want to ask a question, visit the Study help desk, the Reading Room, IRC channel or ask me personally on my talk page. For site news, see the Bulletin board. It might be a good idea to add that page to your "watchlist" so that you can see when any new information is posted there. You can do that by clicking the tab labeled "watch" at the top of the page.

Good luck! --Panic (talk) 17:02, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

title: User talk:NetCobra


text:
User talk:Sachi 90

Welcome message
Hello, and welcome to Wikibooks!

Here are some tips to help you get started:
 * To learn the wiki-markup-language syntax, see Help:Editing.
 * Make sure to sign your posts and comments with four tildes, like this: ~~~~
 * There is a box at the top of the edit window (if javascript is enabled on your browser) that will insert it too (looks like part of a signature). This will let others know who left it, and make it easy to reply back to you.
 * Remember to conduct any editing experiments in the sandbox.
 * You can tell the community something about yourself in your userpage.
 * You can get to this page by clicking the tab at the top of the page labeled with your registered username.
 * Wikibooks is a collection of open-source textbooks. (What is Wikibooks).
 * If you are a Wikipedian, see Wikibooks for Wikipedians for a primer on how things work here (it's a little different).
 * If you want to base your work here on materials from Wikipedia, please use WB:RFI (requests for importation) to bring the material over in compliance with the GFDL.
 * If you're an instructor and plan on using Wikibooks for a class project, see Guidelines for class projects
 * Please say hello at the Reading Room with any questions or ideas.
 * Eventually, you might want to read the Manual of Style and Policies and Guidelines.
 * Help us by participating in policy and guideline creation.
 * Please take a look at Naming policy before starting a new book.
 * Remember to maintain a Neutral point of view.
 * Explore, be bold in editing pages, and have fun!

You will find more resources in Community Portal. If you want to ask a question, visit the Study help desk, the Reading Room, IRC channel or ask me personally on my talk page. For site news, see the Bulletin board. It might be a good idea to add that page to your "watchlist" so that you can see when any new information is posted there. You can do that by clicking the tab labeled "watch" at the top of the page.

Good luck! --Panic (talk) 17:02, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

title: User talk:Sachi 90


text:
User talk:DuckMan21

Welcome message
Hello, and welcome to Wikibooks!

Here are some tips to help you get started:
 * To learn the wiki-markup-language syntax, see Help:Editing.
 * Make sure to sign your posts and comments with four tildes, like this: ~~~~
 * There is a box at the top of the edit window (if javascript is enabled on your browser) that will insert it too (looks like part of a signature). This will let others know who left it, and make it easy to reply back to you.
 * Remember to conduct any editing experiments in the sandbox.
 * You can tell the community something about yourself in your userpage.
 * You can get to this page by clicking the tab at the top of the page labeled with your registered username.
 * Wikibooks is a collection of open-source textbooks. (What is Wikibooks).
 * If you are a Wikipedian, see Wikibooks for Wikipedians for a primer on how things work here (it's a little different).
 * If you want to base your work here on materials from Wikipedia, please use WB:RFI (requests for importation) to bring the material over in compliance with the GFDL.
 * If you're an instructor and plan on using Wikibooks for a class project, see Guidelines for class projects
 * Please say hello at the Reading Room with any questions or ideas.
 * Eventually, you might want to read the Manual of Style and Policies and Guidelines.
 * Help us by participating in policy and guideline creation.
 * Please take a look at Naming policy before starting a new book.
 * Remember to maintain a Neutral point of view.
 * Explore, be bold in editing pages, and have fun!

You will find more resources in Community Portal. If you want to ask a question, visit the Study help desk, the Reading Room, IRC channel or ask me personally on my talk page. For site news, see the Bulletin board. It might be a good idea to add that page to your "watchlist" so that you can see when any new information is posted there. You can do that by clicking the tab labeled "watch" at the top of the page.

Good luck! --Panic (talk) 17:02, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

title: User talk:DuckMan21


text:
Reverse Engineering

Contents

 * /Basic Security/
 * /Common Solutions/
 * /Cracking Windows XP Passwords/
 * /File Formats/
 * /Legal Aspects/
 * /Mac OS X/
 * /Other Compilers/
 * /Stack Overflows/
 * /Terminology/

title: Reverse Engineering


text:
X86 Disassembly/Print Version

= GNU Free Documentation License =

title: X86 Disassembly/Print Version


text:
X86 Disassembly/Cover

The Wikibook of x86 Disassembly

Using C and Assembly Language

From Wikibooks: The Free Library

title: X86 Disassembly/Cover


text: Template:X86 Disassembly/Syntax

title: Template:X86 Disassembly/Syntax


text: VHDL for FPGA Design/4-Bit Johnson Counter


text:
XQuery/Multiple page scraping and Voting behaviour

Often the necessary data is spread over multiple web pages.

Here is an example where data is taken from multiple pages to gather together the voting behaviour of a member in the US House of Representatives.

An index of the issues in any session of the House are provided by pages such as. For here, one can see that the pages reporting on any of sequentially numbered votes are generated by queries such as

The results are returned as an XML page rendered in a browser using XSLT. The XQuery doc function retrieves the underlying XML.

The following query aggregates the voting behavior for a specific member over 6 specific votes:

Execute

More generally, the following function will return an XML node containing the extracted data. In general the vote pages encode the roll number with leading zeros, with minimum length of 3 digits:

Execute

Note. It would be preferable to use the asp endpoint since this does not involve the complication arising here from leading zeros, but that produces mal-formed XML (??)


text:
Talk:Chess/Optional homework/4

=Problem 1= 1. Rxe7! Kd8 [1...Nxe7 2. Qxd7+ Kd7 3. Bf5+ Ke8 [3...Kc6 4. Bd7#] 4. Bd7+ Kf8/Kd8 5. Bxe7#] 2. Rxd7 Kc8 3. Rd8+ [3...Rxd8 4. gxf3 +-] Kxd8 5. Bf5+ Qxd1 6. Qxd1+ Nd4 7. g3 +- ChessCreator (talk) 19:35, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

=Problem 2= 1. Nxg7+ Kd8 2. Qf6+ Nxf6 3. Be7# ChessCreator (talk) 19:34, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

Chass
King 41.122.136.240 (discuss) 18:47, 30 April 2024 (UTC)

title: Talk:Chess/Optional homework/4


text:
The Rowers of Vanity Fair/Smith AL

“3rd Commissioner” (Spy), November 3, 1888
''He is the son of the late Francis Smith, Esq., J.P., of Salt Hill, Chichester, whose wife was a Miss Levin of the same place; and he perpetuates the names of both his parents. Born in 1836, educated at Eton and Trinity, Cambridge, he was called to the Bar eight-and-twenty years ago, when he commenced the successful career which has lately culminated in his appointment as Third Commissioner to inquire into journalistic Charges and Allegations the truth of which is now being so tediously investigated in Probate Court I of the Royal Courts of Justice. His education failed to make either a prig or a great scholar of him; but his legal experience and sound common sense have since combined to make him a Judge who has no superior amongst his puisne brethren. His rise has been as rapid as it was deserved; for he showed enough practical sense in his conduct of such cases as fell into his hands early in his career to impress Lord Justice Bowen, then Attorney-General’s “devil,” with his quality, and, as a consequence, he became himself an imp of less degree, being appointed the devil’s devil. That was all that was necessary to make the man, and when his master soared up to the Bench, Mr. Smith became a full-blown devil, in which capacity he counselled the Treasury so wisely that five years ago he was rewarded by being promoted to the position which he now occupies over the heads of all the Queen’s Counsel of the day.''

''He is not a very brilliant man, but his mental grasp is most comprehensive. He drinks in a new Act of Parliament while other men skim its first section, and intricate accounts in a big commercial case are a delightful exercise to his well-trained mind. He is very lucid, very popular, very good-natured, and very free from serious fault. He never acts, never wastes time, and never sermonises even to criminals when they are found guilty before him. He does not respect persons, he does not advertise, nor does he shirk the most unpleasant work. All which is high praise, but merited both by what he does and what he does not. Not having the gift of tongue in any marked degree, his charges to juries are choppy, and occasionally monotonous; but, being brief, clear, and always to the point, they are none the worse for that. There is only one more youthful Judge on the Bench; but there is also, take him for all in all, only one better. Being wealthy, he works rather for the good of others than himself; and having never been corrupted by Parliament, or by any other form of politics, he is extremely well adapted for the temporary office which he now occupies. He is always courteous even to the more foolish, and consequently more irritating, among juniors. He has much high spirit and much muscular strength; and his shoulders are types of the tremendous, with which he did stout service in the Cambridge Eight. He still loves exercise and the fresh air of Sussex. He is a jolly good fellow, who looks more like a sturdy English Squire than like the good Judge that he is. He is well favoured in all senses; and he wears a pair of pince-nez at the end of his nose.''

Archibald Levin Smith (1836-1901) rowed for Cambridge from 1857 through 1859 and won all the Henley events he entered in the only year he rowed there (1858): the Grand with the C.U.B.C. and the Visitors’ and Wyfolds with First Trinity. In later years he regularly bet a new hat on the Boat Race with W.B. Woodgate, “on principle and from patriotism to his flag, even when public favour and market odds might seem to be dead against the hopes of his own club.”

Smith featured in Vanity Fair three times in four years. First as shown here, when he joined Sir James Hannen and Mr. Justice Day to inquire into the “journalistic Charges and Allegations” by the Times affecting C.S. Parnell and other Irish nationalists. (In one occasion in that tribunal, Hannen denied thinking or saying something; Smith said “Nor I” and Day “made an inarticulate sound of concurrence”; but those reportedly were the only remarks of the two junior judges in the entire proceeding.) This 1888 print is rare, since it and the other nine “red robed judges” of Vanity Fair have long been among the most collected “legals.”  Smith’s second  appearance was in the 1890 winter double number entitled “In Vanity Fair” (November 29, 1890), an unsigned composite reproducing the 1888 image. The third was in the following winter number, “Bench and Bar” (December 5, 1891) by “Stuff,” for which Vanity Fair wrote:  “Of Puisne Judges here, best of all Common Law dispensers is Mr. Justice Smith, his common sense as English as his name; who when he notes joy and surprise on the face of the old offended whom he has sentenced to six months’ imprisonment, says bluffly, in vain attempt to hide his mercy, ‘Jones, remember it’s “hard!”’”

Smith joined the Court of Appeal in 1892. He became Master of the Rolls in 1900 following the death of W.B. Brett (Viscount Esher) in 1899 and the interregnum of Lord Alverstone, and died a year later.

The 1859 Boat Race: Cambridge Sinks, Smith Too
The morning of Friday, April 15, 1859 “was ushered in with heavy hail-charged clouds and half a gale of wind from the northward and westward,” Bell's Life reported. “Notwithstanding these drawbacks no less than fourteen steamboats assembled to witness the race, all crowded with spectators, and the number along the shore, both pedestrian and equestrian, was very great. Small boats there were few or none, as no one seemed to be so hardy as the crews. . . . [A]lthough the betting was 3 to 1 on Cambridge, good judges felt sure that the Cambridge boat would never live through the surf which was rolling.” Good judges were right:

''[The start] took place at exactly one o’clock. A complete sea was on at the time, although it had just previously lulled, leading the spectators to hope the crews would yet start in smooth water, but as they got to their stations a furious squall of snow and wind speedily dispelled the hope. Oxford were on the Middlesex side, and Cambridge one buttress removed from them. The start was level, and it was a splendid neck and neck race for 100 yards. Here Oxford drew about a yard in advance and the water began to rush in torrents into the extremely frail bark which carried the Cantabs. This, as may be supposed, did not help them in their pace, and they were stern by about half their boat opposite Searle’s [boatyard]. Oxford continued to gain slightly, and were one clear length ahead at Rose Cottage. Here there was such a sea on that Mr. Hall [the Cambridge stroke] had his oar completely washed from his hand, but recovering it again in a moment, the race was continued with as much courage as before, the Cantabs pulling after their opponents in the most plucky manner, but losing ground at almost every stroke, till they reached Hammersmith Bridge, where there were nearly three lengths astern. Citizen J had several times come very near Cambridge, although repeatedly cautioned, and the screw Jackal again and again gave the Cantabs their wash. The Oxonians reached the bridge in ten minutes, and directly after Cambridge had gone through, Citizen J (chartered by Searle), in a most reprehensible manner, went right ahead of them, and much discomposed them. At the Waterworks there was nearly five lengths between the boats, both crews taking about thirty-eight strokes per minute, but although Cambridge was by this time almost full of water, they rapidly decreased the gap towards the end of Corney Reach, where the rowing of the whole crew was most beautiful and finished, while Oxford was keeping on in the same steady, workmanlike stroke. At Barnes they were only two lengths in advance, and the time from starting was 20 minutes 50 seconds. At this point the steamers that misbehaved themselves were the Jackal, Citizen L, a private boat, Citizen J, the Jupiter, chartered by Mr. Searle, and Citizen K, by Salter and Kelly, all of which were several times ahead of the Cantabs, who were still rowing very well, but it was all over. The bow-oar had been frequently covered with water, and opposite the White Hart at Barnes three waves washed completely over the boat: at the first warning the gallant crew, knowing what was coming, took their feet out of the stretcher straps and prepared for swimming, all except Mr. Smith, who had not learnt the art. At the fourth wave the boat sank completely under them, and it was almost a miracle they were not drowned, for the umpire’s boat, the Lady of the Lake, was close on their stern at the time; but the captain, in a very clever manner, immediately stopped his vessel, and life buoys and ropes were immediately thrown out. Mr. Darroch [No. 4] swam on shore, and all the others were fortunately picked up by various boats. The Oxonians were about three lengths ahead at the time, and probably accomplished the distance in 24 minutes 30 seconds, although they were so far ahead at the finish that the time could not be accurately taken.''

The minute book of Smith’s college club, First Trinity, recorded: “In going up to the Starting Post the Cambridge Boat had nearly filled with water, and at the start it was known by her crew that she could not live through the race, and so perhaps the finest crew that ever left the University was beaten by a comparatively very inferior one owing to rowing in too low a boat on a rough day.”

title: The Rowers of Vanity Fair/Smith AL


text:
The Rowers of Vanity Fair/Channell AM

“An Amiable Judge” (Spy), February 17, 1898
''The Honourable Sir Arthur Moseley Channell, now one of the puisne Judges in the Queen’s Bench Division, began life precisely sixty years ago as son of the late Sir William Fry Channell, Baron of the Exchequer: so that he is of quite legal parentage. From the nursery he went to Harrow; then to Trinity, Cambridge (where he first became known as a Wrangler); and thence to the Bar, by way of the Inner Temple. He practised as a Junior for two-and-twenty years, and as a Leader for twelve. He has been Recorder for Rochester, and Vice-Chairman of the General Council of the Bar. He has also been twice married, and now he is a Knight.''

''As a Junior, his practice was very general; as a “silk,” he chiefly conducted cases without juries, and very frequently argued points of Local Government Law before the Court in banc. He has, indeed, made himself an authority on such small matters as pertain to vestries, boards, sewers, waterworks, and new streets. He was never a great lawyer, nor an eloquent advocate; but he is well known as a good “workman,” with considerable knowledge of the Law and its Practice; and though never expected to be brilliant, he could always be trusted to make no mistakes. It may be said of him that during all his four-and-thirty years of practice he never made an enemy among his brethren, his clients, or his opponents; and it is certain that he never received anything but friendly attention from the Bench. He is a quiet, kindly, considerate gentleman, wholly free from conceit; in whose keeping the wholesome traditions of the English Bench for good sense in civil matters and for humanity in criminal will be quite safe.''

He will not make a great Judge; but he is a very worthy sitter in the high place which he has honourably attained by long service to the Law.

Arthur Moseley Channell (1838-1928) won the Colquhoun Sculls at Cambridge in 1860 and the University Pairs in 1861. With First Trinity he won the Grand and Ladies’ at Henley in 1861 with J.C. Carter at cox. He also rowed in the Wyfolds and Pairs, losing to Woodgate’s Brasenose crews.

Vanity Fair featured Channell at his trial court commencement. He served sixteen years, retiring in 1914 in time to take up an appellate career in prize cases arising from the 1914-18 war. In this latter position he was assisted by forty years’ experience as an amateur yachtsman.

How to Choose an Oarsman
John Arkell, who succeeded Edmond Warre as O.U.B.C. President, introduced Trial Eights at Oxford in the fall of 1858. The C.U.B.C. followed suit three years later. The new approach to selecting the university crews increased the talent pool and intramural competition, but still left considerable discretion to the U.B.C president on whom to select for trialing, how to run the trials, and how to pick the final crew. Although this approach has survived the years largely intact, one “E.B.M.” put a case in Vanity Fair (April 22, 1897) for a challenge system based on a form of seat racing:

''Dear Vanity, -- In a former letter I ventured to submit that the choice of a winning oarsman de visu was not very much more satisfactory than an awarding of the Derby Stakes to that three-year-old which the experts most admired. None of your readers having thus far disputed this assertion, I am tempted to go on a step further and suggest a mode whereby the places in the University boat might be filled with less risk of public dissatisfaction than at present. What is the chief qualification for a seat in the boat? Not strength in its crude form; still less weight, but that sort of strength which enables a man to exert the greatest pressure in forcing the blade of his oar through the water; in other words, to row the hardest. How are you to discover which of any two men row the hardest? Here the mystery is supposed to come in. I do not admit that there is any mystery about it. I say that it is as easy to tell which of two men rows the hardest as it is to tell which horse in a pair does the most work. Given any number of competitors for the places in any boat, and I believe that it is possible, by pairing them against one another, to ascertain without any real risk of mistake which are the strongest oars. Why not apply such a test? It may be said that to a large extent the test is now applied. But if it is -- and possibly of late more has been done in this way -- still, it is not used as a conclusive and positive criterion of merit. And it is not used extensively enough. Why not allow any man -- Freshman or otherwise, with or without the sanction of the captain of his College boat club -- to challenge any other man, Old Blue or not, to a trial of strength -- i.e., of the kind of strength above specified? Ought not the mere fact that such a pretender had beaten the man challenged give the former an a priori right to oust the latter from the crew? He might, no doubt, prove inferior in other respects. He might not be able to go the four-mile course. He might break down in training. But these are hypotheses. So might the other man. At any rate, in preferring Paul of Emmanuel to Peter of Trinity, a President, if asked the question why he did so, would be able to say, not “because I thought him a better man,” but “because he proved himself the better man.”''

''How could he prove that? Probably in several ways; but certainly in one. Let us not discuss the most obvious method -- that of putting one man in one boat and one in another, starting them, and seeing which comes in first. That would involve a resort to the art of sculling, which is supposed to involve other qualifications than those necessary for an oarsman pure and simple. That there is any such difference -- except in the matter of steering, which can be obviated by adding coxswains of equal weight -- I am not prepared to admit. If you took the winners of eight sculling races and put them in one boat, I should like to lay long odds on them against the eight losers rowing in another boat. But let us not offend rooted prejudices. Take another test, against which it is difficult to urge a common-sense objection. Take out any two men for two rows of a quarter of a mile, out and home. On the first trip let A row stroke and B row bow, and on the second trip reverse the positions. Now, barring tricks -- which an expert will easily detect -- the man who on the two journeys has the rudder most against him will be the stronger oar. This is not a matter of opinion; it is a mechanical truth. A President who selected a man in preference to another because he had “rowed him around,” as the saying is, would be safe against all criticism. To Therasites, who challenged his decision, he would be able to say, “If you don’t agree with me, get into the pair-oar, and try for yourself which is the stronger man.” The President, maybe, does not care a jot what Therasites thinks. But Therasites is a prevalent being in these days, and occasionally even a troublesome. And if you can have conclusive argument ready for use, why resort to one that is inconclusive, either against him or any other critic?''

''Is, therefore, every Johnny who covets a seat in the University boat to be allowed to challenge any other who has already a good chance of rowing therein? Non sequitur. The aspirant might be compelled to show that he was the strongest oar in his own College -- barring Old Blues -- before having the right to “send in his name” to the P.U.B.C. And he would show this, of course, by practical victories in the same sort of trials as those above referred to. Captains and Committees of College Boat Clubs would not object to the trouble therein involved. For it is their interest, as well as the University’s, that an unknown rowing genius should not blush unseen within the College walls. Rowing “trials,” not of the inconclusive Trial Eight type, might become fashionable as well as useful. If not, the institution, having been proved a failure, would die out. Hitherto it cannot be said to have had a fair chance of success. The Harrow or Winchester boy, however strong, and however likely to prove a first-rate oarsman, feels naturally shy about challenging competition with the Freshman who has come up from Eton with all the honours of the Ladies’ Cup at Henley thick upon him. The odds are, doubtless, that the latter is really the better man for the University boat. But in that minority of cases where the reverse occurs the newcomer from the non-rowing school has no fair start. He has practically no chance -- or very little -- of showing that if given a place in the boat he will do better than the other. That chance he ought to have; and he might have it if, without undue presumption, he were allowed to “send in” his own name.''

title: The Rowers of Vanity Fair/Channell AM


text:
User:GuoXia/The Fall of the Han Dynasty

= The Fall of the Han Dynasty =

The Han Dynasty was, during its reign, one of the most sucessful in Chinese imperial history. It was preceded only by the Qin dynasty, the first to unite China as an empire, and the rulers of the Han perfected the socio-political balance necessary for the typical ancient autocracy. It was interrupted only briefly by rebellion, but had the durability to maintain order even in such turbulent times. Many have hypothesized that this strength came from the religious pervasiveness of the Emperor, whose influence was felt in all aspects Chinese ritual and even daily existence. And it is quite feasible that this central theme of authority, once established, and a lack of natural disasters, attributed to the Dynasty's success.

Yet as a firm central government and lack of natural calamity may attribute to the success of the Han, the corruption of its administration and a series of natural disasters may be said to have been the cause of its downfall. Like most history, there is no single catalyst for the passing of the Han, rather an accumulation of misfortune. According to the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" by Luo Guanzhong, written in the 1400's, the Emperor Ling Di relied heavily on the advice of corrupt, imperial eunuchs, who used the fact that they had helped his predecessor Huan Di into power to persuade the Emperor. Slowly, and against all advice, the Emperor gave in to most of their whims. They used the court for personal gain, led by their most influential member, Zhang Rang.

title: User:GuoXia/The Fall of the Han Dynasty


text:
William Shakespeare's Works/Comedies/The Tempest/Act 1

1. SCENE I. On a ship at sea; a tempestuous noise of thunder and lightning heard

[Enter a SHIPMASTER and a BOATSWAIN severally]

MASTER. Boatswain!

BOATSWAIN. Here, master: what cheer?

MASTER. Good! Speak to the mariners: fall to't yarely, or we run ourselves aground: bestir, bestir.

[Exit]

[Enter MARINERS]

BOATSWAIN. Heigh, my hearts! cheerly, cheerly, my hearts! yare, yare! Take in the topsail. Tend to th' master's whistle.--Blow till thou burst thy wind, if room enough.

[Enter ALONSO, SEBASTIAN, ANTONIO, FERDINAND, GONZALO, and OTHERS]

ALONSO. Good boatswain, have care. Where's the master? Play the men.

BOATSWAIN. I pray now, keep below.

ANTONIO. Where is the master, boson?

BOATSWAIN. Do you not hear him? You mar our labour: keep your cabins: you do assist the storm.

GONZALO. Nay, good, be patient.

BOATSWAIN. When the sea is. Hence! What cares these roarers for the name of king? To cabin! silence! Trouble us not.

GONZALO. Good, yet remember whom thou hast aboard.

BOATSWAIN. None that I more love than myself. You are counsellor: if you can command these elements to silence, and work the peace of the present, we will not hand a rope more. Use your authority: if you cannot, give thanks you have lived so long, and make yourself ready in your cabin for the mischance of the hour, if it so hap.--Cheerly, good hearts!--Out of our way, I say.

[Exit]

GONZALO. I have great comfort from this fellow. Methinks he hath no drowning mark upon him: his complexion is perfect gallows. Stand fast, good Fate, to his hanging! make the rope of his destiny our cable, for our own doth little advantage! If he be not born to be hang'd, our case is miserable.

[Exeunt]

2. SCENE II. The Island. Before the cell of PROSPERO

[Enter PROSPERO and MIRANDA]

MIRANDA. If by your art, my dearest father, you have Put the wild waters in this roar, allay them. The sky, it seems, would pour down stinking pitch, But that the sea, mounting to th' welkin's cheek, Dashes the fire out. O! I have suffered With those that I saw suffer: a brave vessel, Who had, no doubt, some noble creatures in her, Dash'd all to pieces. O! the cry did knock Against my very heart. Poor souls, they perish'd. Had I been any god of power, I would Have sunk the sea within the earth, or e'er It should the good ship so have swallow'd and The fraughting souls within her.

PROSPERO. Be collected: No more amazement: tell your piteous heart There's no harm done.

MIRANDA. O! woe the day!

PROSPERO. No harm. I have done nothing but in care of thee, Of thee, my dear one, thee, my daughter, who Art ignorant of what thou art, nought knowing Of whence I am: nor that I am more better Than Prospero, master of a full poor cell, And thy no greater father.

MIRANDA. More to know Did never meddle with my thoughts.

PROSPERO. 'Tis time I should inform thee farther. Lend thy hand, And pluck my magic garment from me.--So:

[Lays down his mantle]

Lie there my art.--Wipe thou thine eyes; have comfort. The direful spectacle of the wrack, which touch'd The very virtue of compassion in thee, I have with such provision in mine art So safely ordered that there is no soul-- No, not so much perdition as an hair Betid to any creature in the vessel Which thou heard'st cry, which thou saw'st sink. Sit down; For thou must now know farther.

MIRANDA. You have often Begun to tell me what I am: but stopp'd, And left me to a bootless inquisition, Concluding 'Stay; not yet.'

PROSPERO. The hour's now come, The very minute bids thee ope thine ear; Obey, and be attentive. Canst thou remember A time before we came unto this cell? I do not think thou canst: for then thou wast not Out three years old.


text:
The Rowers of Vanity Fair/Carter JC

“Steered Three Winning Crews” (WH), July 3, 1912
''Were you at Henley fifty years ago? Did you notice the cox of First Trinity, Cambridge? Of course you did.''

He was Johnny Carter, who steered three winning crews in the biggest races of that year.

This record has never been broken, I believe.

When he left the ‘Varsity he was called to the Bar by the Inner Temple, and “went” the Midland Circuit, still keeping up his habit of winning.

''Briefs came to the young lawyer, but he could have handled more. He did not pine, however, for other duties came his way.''

When the Midland Railway wanted a new member on its board about fifteen years ago, he gave up practice entirely and devoted himself to “directing” what many think is our most perfect railway.

His service in this capacity has been as significant as his earlier successes.

''To him must be attributed the present wholesome policy of enabling the employees of the company to purchase small allotments of stock. The result is that up to the limit of his holding each man feels he owns the railway -- which means that he will not lightly strike against his own interests.''

This is a notable work, and the entire country owes Mr. Carter a debt for this initiative.

Mr. Carter has been for many years Recorder of Stamford and Chairman of the Quarter Sessions for Radnorshire.

''He has edited three editions of the well-known law-book, “Rogers on Elections”; also a piscatorial classic, “Ronald’s Fly-Fisher’s Entomology,” which was written by his uncle seventy-six years ago. This book is still used by the best fly-tiers.''

A good sportsman and a useful citizen, his friends say he desires only to do well what comes to hand.

He has no taste for politics, but favours liberal principles in government as he understands them.

''Mr. Carter loves his books, his rod, and his gun. On the wall of his library hangs the old Trinity rudder, which has been for half a century so pleasant a reminder of happy days on the River.''

What he likes most of all is “non-competitive golf.” You see he cannot bear to lose a game.

John Corrie Carter (1840-1927), the only coxswain ever featured in Vanity Fair, steered not three but four winning crews at Henley (Grand, Ladies’, Stewards’, and Visitors’), and it was not 50 years before his appearance in the magazine, but 51 (Henley1861). The rest of the account is accurate, though also a sad example of T.R. Allinson’s editorship in Vanity Fair ’s waning two years. The Stewards’ was made a coxless event in 1873 and the Visitors’ in 1874.

On Carter’s role in the Grand (at 8 st. 10 lb.), Bell’s Life in 1861 reported: “The Cambridge steering was very good in this race, and indeed much credit is due to the coxswains generally at this regatta, for the way in which they managed the starts in a strong wind, and also for keeping clear in those heats where three boats started abreast.”

“My garments expansion require”
“What more pathetic sight is there than a coxswain who starts his career with not ill-founded hopes of winning distinction, and then begins to increase in bulk, his prospects sinking as his weight rises,” wrote R.H. Forster,” till the vision of a ‘blue’ fades first to the less artistic white of a Trial Cap, and then sets altogether?” As told in his 1894 verse:

I once was a light little cox,
 * The smartest that ever was seen;

For I stood but five three in my socks,
 * And weighed barely seven thirteen:

The figures I give you are true,
 * And I coxed in a club Trial Eight;

And they said I was sure of my blue,
 * And I was -- till I went up in weight.

The change was begun in the Vac.,
 * For I spared not the well-fatted calf;

And I found myself, when I came back,
 * Increased by a stone and a half.

Still they set me to cox a Lent crew,
 * But docked my allowance of grog,

Threw doubts on my chance of a blue,
 * And said I was fat as a hog.

Yet still there comes increase of weight,
 * My garments expansion require,

I project o’er each side of the eight,
 * And my buttons are fastened with wire.

They make me take runs in the Backs,
 * (Now my running is marvellous poor):

And their pointed allusions to “stacks”
 * Are very ill-natured, I’m sure.

O ‘Varsity President, you
 * Are in need of an oarsman of weight:

Then give me, O give me my blue!
 * Next year, ‘twill I fear, be too late.

For if in this way I enlarge,
 * Next year, I would have you to note,

Nought less than the bulkiest barge
 * Will be able to hold me and float!

title: The Rowers of Vanity Fair/Carter JC


text:
XForms/Setting Initial Cursor

Motivation
When a form loads you want to set the initial cursor position so the user's first keystrokes are entered into the first field. This prevents the user from having to select the first field on a form with the mouse. Although some people consider this "polish" it is the hallmark of a conscientious developer.

Method
To perform this task you must do two things. First you need to give the control you want to receive the first keystroke event an id attribute. For example:

The next step is to use the xforms-ready event to set the focus to this field using the setfocus element.

These initial actions are usually placed at the end of the model in the html header but before the body.

Link to XForms Application
Load XForms Application

Source Code

    Initial Cursor Positioning  Element One:

title: XForms/Setting Initial Cursor


text:
Talk:Blender 3D: Noob to Pro/Making Landscapes with heightmaps

Could those noob comments be removed or placed in a separate box? Especially the other one is confusing since it is so long. Preferably someone in the know of Blender could give a more detailed explanation for why the mentioned effect occurs, instead of us having a experimental "you can make it work with this hack"

.xcf textures
When I try and load my texture. It says Image can't be displayed in the image tab. Its an .xcf file, is that the problem? Thanks. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 206.172.238.58 (talk • contribs).
 * Yes, that's a problem. XCF is the GIMP native format, so you will need to save it as a PNG in GIMP for it to work. --Chelseafan528 (talk) 17:00, 20 August 2009 (UTC)

The image has no effect
Ok, I'm just about as NOOB as you can be, only started with the first tutorial here yesterday, so there is hope that I'm just missing something, branching off in the wrong direction somewhere: the height map image has no effect on the landscape, it's just random noise, as I would get without an image. I've done the same tutorial a few times now, always with the same result. One thing that is suspicious is that we start in edit mode, and later it says to switch into edit mode; when did we switch into object mode? [a little later:] In the next tutorial, the nor button is used, and I suspect that that is exaclty what is missing here, since the way it reads now we're turning color off in Map To, and nothing else on.

I'm a total noob as well but have been making great progress through these tutorials. However, this page is BADLY written! When we save an image in Photoshop, what format should we use? And the paragraph about bringing in your image is indecipherable. I don't see anywhere that it says "now you have your image", or "browse through your files to find your image." I can't get my image into Blender. I click on Add New in textures under Links & Pipelines and nothing happens. This whole page is vague, poorly written and frustrating. It keeps asking questions that as a beginner I don't know the answers to. Please if you know how to get my image, or what format, let me know!

For the ones above
I (random noob) figured this step out after a couple hours. I've updated the article in an attempt to make it easier to understand. To address your problems:
 * 1) Image: I don't know which formats blender supports, but it supports JPEG (lossy) and PNG (lossless) so it's a good idea to save the images you intend to use in one of those formats.
 * 2) Heighmap produce random noise: Most likely it's not random, you'll see a pattern (make a 128x128 grid and you'll see it for sure) because the heightmap will be tiled, not stretched when you apply it after scaling the grid. Scale the grid after you've done the noise thing (zoom in instead for the time being) and it should work great.

I hope this helps. I removed the "noob notes" (I wrote the first one anyways) as they could be confusing, but here they are:

Noob note: I recommend not scaling the grid yet. When I scaled the grid (Blender 2.44) before doing the "noise" thing i got the same result as described here

((Another Noob's response: I found out what causes that, sort of. When you load the height map image, the 'Map Image' box has a panel of buttons that affects this whole process - Extend, Clip, ClipCube, Repeat, and Checker. The default is Repeat, which just tiles the image over the scaled grid. From what I can tell, changing the MaxX and MaxY values from 1.000 to something far smaller, say 0.100, seems to partially fix the problem - with that setup I get an almost good result, except that it doesn't line up the image properly - it's more like four tiles meeting up at about center and going off of the grid in every direction. Oh, and also - larger images don't actually produce larger tiles, so making a 1200x1200 pixel image won't be any better at solving this than a 200x200 pixel image - you'll just get more detail in those tiles.

Request moving this section
"This entire Tutorial presumes that you are already familiar with other Editing Software, such as GIMP... and already know how to create "textures" with that software. In other words, this is not a "Noob Tutorial" for individuals who are very new to Blender, as it does not, unfortunately explain in any way, how to create Textures within Blender to complete this Height Mapping stuff it is trying to teach"

For this reason, I do not think this tutorial belongs in the "Learn to Model" section. This would be better fit in the "Advanced" or "Miscellaneous" tutorial sections. --Zilch (talk) 07:23, 8 February 2009 (UTC)

16-bit capability
Can Blender load and fully utilize 16-bit png or 16- or 32-bit tiff heightfields?


text:
The Rowers of Vanity Fair/Lawes CB

“Athlete and Sculptor” (Verheyden), May 12, 1883
''The heir to a good old name, to an honourable new baronetcy, and to a very large fortune, Mr. Lawes was early moved by the ambition, not at all to enjoy the gifts of fortune, but to become and to deserve something in his own proper person. At Eton and at Cambridge he distinguished himself by winning, in athletic contests, every prize that could be won as an oarsman and as a pedestrian; but on leaving the University he became smitten with a love of art, and especially of the art of sculpture, to which he has since devoted himself with the thoroughness and tenacity which characterise all his undertakings. Looking neither to the right nor to the left, and foregoing not only all society, but all other things that might interfere with what he regards as his mission, he passes the whole of his days in his studio; and, if natural predilection and earnest application count for anything, should someday produce some fine work. That in sculpture as in athletics he will one day achieve fame he is persuaded; and meanwhile he holds the sculptor’s art to be one which none but those with a mission should essay, and which it is his privilege as well as his duty to protect against all assaults on the part of those who may not have such a mission.''

Charles Bennett Lawes (1843-1911) did indeed collect pots for rowing and running, before taking a 3rd in the 1865 natural sciences tripos. At Eton he won the tub sculling (1858), school pulling (1859), sculling (1860), and rowed in the Eight three years (1860-62), each time beating Westminster, and on the track won the 100 yards, hurdles, quarter-mile, and mile, as well as the steeplechase. On leaving school, he gave a Challenge Cup for the mile race, stipulating that anyone who won it and the other four, as he had done, could keep it. When one E. Lee did so in 1891, Lawes donated a second cup under the same conditions, but added that the sculling, pulling, and tub sculling must also be won, as he had done, to retire the cup. No one has claimed it yet.

For Third Trinity, Cambridge, Lawes won the Colquhoun Sculls in 1862 and went Head of the River in 1863 and 1865, and at Henley he rowed in the Grand, Ladies’, and Diamonds, winning the Diamonds in 1863 and the Ladies’ in 1865. In 1865 he won the Wingfield Sculls and stroked the losing Boat Race crew. He won the half-mile, the mile (1864), and the two miles (1865) at the university sports; the mile (1864 and 1865) at the inter-university athletics, and the one mile amateur championship at the Amateur Athletic Club in 1865. In 1898, at age fifty-five, he took up speed cycling and the next year gained the amateur record for twenty-five miles, covering it in 51:15.8.

After Cambridge, Lawes devoted himself to sculpting. He studied in London under J.H. Foley, R.A. and in 1869 under Professor Hagen in Berlin. From 1872 to 1908 he exhibited twelve works at the Royal Academy. “His figures and portraits showed real ability, though his success was not quite equal to his ambition.”  In 1900, Lawes succeeded to the baronetcy, came into the family fortune, and inherited the Rothamsted Experimental Station that his father, a famous horticulturist, had established. Lawes took the additional surname “Wittwronge” in 1902 after an eighteenth century kinsman from whom the family had derived the Rothamsted estate, and died in 1911 after an operation for appendicitis.

Belt v. Lawes
Why did Vanity Fair feature Lawes in 1883, an ex-athlete with modest artistic success? Because he had lost a major libel case, which had been brought based on statements made two years earlier in Vanity Fair concerning one Richard Claude Belt. Bowles himself laid the groundwork for Belt v. Lawes with the following carefully-hedged broadside August 20, 1881:

''Mr. Belt is undoubtedly the fashionable sculptor of the day. Private busts, public monuments, and indeed all the pick of the work of sculpture, have lately been entrusted to him. He is in favour at Court, he is known in the gilded saloons -- in short, he is the sculptor of renown. And to judge of his talents by the works that bear his name, his reputation is well deserved. Those works have met in these columns the praise we hold to be their due. The bust of the late Mr. Eliot Yorke is admirably good, that of Lord Beaconsfield is excellent, so are the busts of Charles Kingsley and of Canon Conway, and though the Byron Statue is far from being equal to these, there can be no doubt of the general excellence of the work that bears Mr. Belt’s name, or of the claim of its author to a very considerable reputation.''

But is Mr. Belt really the author of the works that bear his name?

''Three weeks ago we drew attention to the fact that two of these works -- the busts, namely, of Baron Lionel de Rothschild and of the Prince Imperial -- claimed by Mr. Belt as his, and attributed to him in the catalogues of the Royal Academy and the Grosvenor Gallery, had been alleged in a paragraph in the Morning Post to be the work not of Mr. Belt, but of a Mr. Verhyden. Thereupon our contemporary Truth published a statement that in fact all the productions ascribed to Mr. Belt were in fact the work of a Mr. Vanhyden, and ought to be ascribed to him.''

''The matter is one of no small importance not merely for Mr. Belt, but also for the world at large. If Mr. Belt has really designed and executed the works that pass under his name, a cruel wrong has been done him. If, on the contrary, not he but some other person or persons did indeed design and execute them, then Mr. Belt is the wearer of borrowed plumes which he ought not to be allowed to retain.''

Feeling that this was a matter of much public interest, we caused inquiries of an extensive and detailed character to be made in the quarters where information was most likely to be obtained; and we now lay the result of those inquiries before our readers.

''First, then, we find that among artists -- by which we mean especially but not exclusively sculptors -- there is an agreement of opinion, very openly and very plainly expressed, that Mr. Belt has not any claim to be considered as a sculptor, and that he is, in fact, only an ingenious and successful sculpture-broker, who presents to the public, as his own, work that has invariably been designed and executed by other hands than his. This opinion appeared to warrant further investigation which, being pursued resulted in the following being communicated to us as Mr. Belt’s history in the arts.''

''Mr. Belt, in 1870, when about the age of nineteen, obtained employment in the studio of Mr. Foley, the sculptor. Here he remained, as a monumental mason, for ten months, when Mr. Foley intimated to him that he had no further need of his services. Mr. Belt accordingly left Mr. Foley with whom this was his only connection.''

''In the spring of 1871 however he applied to Mr. Lawes (a former pupil of Mr. Foley’s) for a situation in his studio. This he obtained, and he remained with Mr. Lawes in the capacity of general attendant for four years. Mr. Lawes states that during that period Mr. Belt neither executed, nor was able to execute, any artistic work whatever.''

''After leaving Mr. Lawes’s studio in 1875, Mr. Belt began to do business on his own account. He published as his own work a statuette of Dean Stanley, of which a good deal has been lately heard. This statuette however was worked up for him by Mr. Brock, as Mr. Brock himself declares. In like manner, the memorial busts of Charles Kingsley and of Canon Conway which also pass as the work of Mr. Belt, were in fact invested by Mr. Brock -- as Mr. Brock himself declares -- with whatever artistic merit they possess. Mr. Brock, equally with Mr. Lawes, declared that Mr. Belt was himself incapable of doing anything in the shape of artistic work.''

''In 1876 Mr. Belt took into partnership Mr. Verhyden. Mr. Verhyden states that the drawings which procured for Mr. Belt the Conway monument (the bust of which was, as already stated, worked up by Mr. Brock) were his, and not Mr. Belt’s at all. Mr. Verhyden further declared that he (Mr. Verhyden) and not Mr. Belt entirely modelled the sketch which enabled Mr. Belt to gain the victory over all the artists of the day in the Byron competition; and that he (Mr. Verhyden) also entirely modelled the Byron statue itself.''

In short, we are assured that all Mr. Belt’s works from the year 1876, when he began business on his own account, up to the year 1881, were executed by Mr. Brock and Mr. Verhyden.

Mr. Verhyden states, equally with Mr. Lawes and Mr. Brock, that Mr. Belt was quite incapable of doing any artistic work whatever.

''The names we have cited are those of only some among a number of men of the highest position in the artistic world, among whom our inquiries have been made. And we feel bound to say that in the face of the detailed statements made to us, the bare outlines of which we have here set down, we find it difficult to believe that Mr. Belt has any good claim to the authorship of the works given to the public as his, or to any other title than that of a purveyor of other men’s work, an editor of other men’s designs, a broker of other men’s sculpture. If he declared himself to be this there would be no harm in it. But the point is that, if our information is correct, he has systematically and falsely claimed to be the author of the works for which he was only the broker, that he presents himself as a sculptor and an artist when in reality he is but a statue-jobber and a tradesman.''

If, then, the statements made to us are true -- and we frankly avow that at present we fully believe them to be perfectly true -- Mr. Belt has been guilty of a very scandalous imposture, and those who have admired and patronised him as a heaven-born genius are the victims of a monstrous deception.

''Why this deception -- if it be one -- should have been allowed so long to exist is a matter which does not concern us -- though we must say that it does very greatly concern those artists and others who were aware of it. But we, having got hint of it, and having upon this hint made very full investigation, should not be doing our duty were we to withhold from the public the result of that investigation. Accordingly, we have set down the information we have obtained, and with it the conviction which that information has produced upon us, that Mr. Belt is not the author of the works that have made him to be believed to be a sculptor of genius. Every paper in London announced on Thursday morning the fact that Mr. Belt had received from the Queen a commission to execute another statue of Lord Beaconsfield. We shall be glad to know that Her Majesty’s choice of an artist is really warranted.''

Over the next month, these allegations in Vanity Fair of professional incompetence and palming-off spiralled, as Belt kept quiet. Lawes weighed in September 24:

''Sir, -- I am sure that I am expressing the feeling of the whole profession of sculptors when I say that we are extremely obliged to you for finding out and publishing the true history of Mr. Belt’s career. We have always known him to be nothing but an “artistic” impostor, and, by giving us an opportunity of expressing ourselves publicly on the matter, we have been enabled, I think, to remove the imputation of “professional jealousy” upon which he so successfully traded.''

There is one thing more that we should like to do, and that is to meet Mr. Belt and his “influential friends” in a court of justice, and satisfy the latter of the truth of the assertions we have lately made in your paper.

We are very sorry to see people in the highest social position pledged to a discreditable affair of this sort; but the reasons that have led them into their position are briefly these --

''Firstly. That anybody can do a bad bust.''

''Secondly. That they have seen Mr. Belt at work.''

''Thirdly. That they have never been introduced to a “ghost” -- that is to say, a person employed by incompetent artists secretly to do up their work and make it artistic.''

These “ghosts” are naturally rarely seen and difficult to catch, but, once in a court of law, it is wonderful what funny stories could be got out of them.

This is not the first attempt that has been made to bring Mr. Belt’s doings into the light of day; for at the time that he signed the drawings for the “Conway Monument,” and passed them off as his own, an attempt was made to do what we are doing now; but it was “bungled,” I believe; the “ghost” was scared and got away, and the affair had to be dropped.

In conclusion I must say that the way in which the work turned out by Belt, Verheyden, and Co. has been extolled in the newspaper is most ridiculous and contemptible, were it not injurious; and Mr. Verheyden himself would, I am sure, be the first to laugh at it; for he is, I believe, a genuine artist, though not a professed sculptor.

''Now that the partnership is dissolved, there is, I hear, a great falling off in the quality of work (and it has been described to me as “wretched stuff” by people that understand it). Either Mr. Belt’s present “ghost” is a bad “ghost,” or -- who knows? -- he might be doing the work himself, for, as I said before, “anybody can do a bad bust,” as the quantities exhibited every year bear ample testimony. Finally, if the representatives of newspapers, instead of taking up and puffing the first artist they come across, were to make it their duty to visit the studios of the various sculptors, both high and humble, and make themselves acquainted with the position and workings of the profession, “Belts” would no longer be possible, and statues like the Byron would cease to be produced. --''

Yours truly,  CHARLES LAWES.

Three weeks later, Belt sued both Lawes and Vanity Fair, but proceeded only against Lawes due perhaps to his deeper pockets and more aggressive, less legally-artful accusations. The case went to trial in mid-June 1882 and immediately became a society and media event (although Vanity Fair remained understandably silent). For one, the judge and key lawyers all appeared in Vanity Fair either before or as a result of the case: Baron J.W. Huddleston (Feb. 28, 1874), the judge; Sir Hardinge Giffard (June 28, 1878) and Montagu Williams (Nov. 1, 1879) (both for Belt); and Charles Russell (May 5, 1883, Mar. 29, 1890, and Dec. 5, 1891) and Richard Webster (May 26, 1883, Nov. 25, 1897, and Jan. 15, 1913) (for Lawes). For another, Belt’s witnesses necessarily included an array of society figures who had sat for Belt or seen him working, while Lawes’ witnesses came largely from the sculptoral elite of the Royal Academy. Belt v. Lawes thus pit the art establishment against some of its society patrons. The trial ran forty-three sittings in the old Westminster law courts.

Just after Christmas 1882, the jury found for Belt and awarded him an unprecedented £5000. Bowles promptly spent a page and a half in Vanity Fair reprinting other papers’ criticisms of Baron Huddleston’s handling of the case. From the Spectator : “[The] charge can be compared only to another and much shorter one, which is said to have been delivered in these words, ‘Gentlemen of the jury, the prisoner at the bar stole the boots. You will find a verdict in accordance with your opinion of the evidence.’” To such remarks Bowles added his own voice, starting with the judge’s favoritism towards Belt’s society witnesses ( Vanity Fair, January 6, 1883):

''In the first place, he ordered a considerable number of witnesses for the Plaintiff to be examined -- not in the customary manner in the witness-box -- but from seats on the Bench beside himself; and, what was a still greater error, allowed many of these witnesses -- including Mr. Alex Yorke (the principal witness for the Plaintiff) and others of the Plaintiff’s warmest and most undisguised partisans -- to remain seated on the bench day after day subsequent to their having given their evidence, while his own wife, Lady Diana Huddleston, was seated by his and by their side, and engaged with them in conversation and in the exchange of papers. This was an error very apt to lead the jury to form an erroneous estimate of the value of their evidence of these witnesses as compared with those on the other side.''

Five months later, in May 1883, Vanity Fair featured Lawes and his lawyers Russell and Webster, offering them praise and encouragement as they moved for a new trial and began to appeal. (Verheyden did all three portraits, the Napoleonic rendering of Lawes imbuing him with a calm but righteous firmness.) Eventually, under prodding from the appellate court that included two Cambridge Blues (Denman and Brett), Belt agreed to a reduction in damages to £500, but Lawes chose to go for broke. Unfortunately for him, that’s exactly what he was forced to do, for in March 1884 the court affirmed the original award (which had by then swelled to £10,000 in damages and costs) and to stave off the ignominy of having to pay Belt anything, Lawes promptly filed for bankruptcy. The fact that one of Belt's leading witnesses, a certain Mr. Schotz, came forward in January 1885 and confessed his testimony was perjured, did not alter the situation. Lawes spent the next sixteen years poor, before inheriting from his father.

title: The Rowers of Vanity Fair/Lawes CB


text:
User talk:Nate879

Welcome!
Come introduce yourself at the new users page. If you have any questions, you can ask there or contact me personally.--Whiteknight (Page) (Talk) 22:49, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

WB:RENAME
I've replied to your request there; I just need to confirm you own the account at English Wikibooks. — Mike.lifeguard | talk 00:51, 14 October 2008 (UTC)

title: User talk:Nate879


text:
Talk:Electronics/Boolean Algebra

The section on De Morgan's law is confusing. "De Morgan's Law is a consequence of the fact that the not or negation operator is not distributive." yet the examples shown are the opposite and there is nothing to say the examples are what cannot be done. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 198.104.64.238 (talk • contribs).

title: Talk:Electronics/Boolean Algebra


text:
User talk:ElroyFlynn

Welcome!
Come introduce yourself at the new users page. If you have any questions, you can ask there or contact me personally. -- Jacques (talk) (email) 01:29, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

BTW thanks for the precision on the JIT compilation. - Jacques

title: User talk:ElroyFlynn


text:
User:GuoXia/Introduction to Chinese History

= CHINA = What differentiates Chinese history from the history of any culture of the world is its sheer magnitude. China is the oldest civilization in the world, with the famous Peking Man having been found to have lived near 400,000 years ago. The Chinese Neolithic Period is made unique to archaeologists by the sheer number of tools found littered within the cultural borders of its peoples. So one must always keep in mind that when discussing the history of China, you are discussing, without question, the most established civilization that has ever existed.

But the most remarkable aspect of Chinese history to any student (for the sheer massiveness of it all can prove an intimidating wilderness for any beginner) must be its unrivaled documentation. Chinese culture places an immense value on knowledge of their own history, and so current events have been documented meticulously throughout the country’s lifespan, beginning with the famous, “Records of the Grand Historian,” written in the Han Dynasty under the reign of Emperor Wudi by Sima Qian (who we will discuss later in the chapter on the Han Dynasty). In fact, when in the 1400’s, when in Italy Dante Alighieri and the Western World was concerned with the metaphysical questions enumerated in the “Divine Comedy,” Luo Guangzhong was writing the first novel in China, “The Romance of the Three Kingdoms,” which was itself based on historically accurate events that occurred in China between 190 and 280 AD! Literary works such as these, as well as dry, written annals, serve as guidebooks for the initiate, to lead you through the maze of foreign names and Dynastic cycles. But before we test ourselves against the veritable jungle of Chinese chronology, there are a few key principles to Chinese history that must be understood.

The Basics
Being so well established, Chinese history has certain patterns and principles, outlined and discussed by historians who themselves lived in antiquity, at least from our perspective. The historian/philosopher Chu Hsi, who lived in the Song Dynasty (960-1279 AD) outlined all of the legitimate dynasties up until his own, saying that only the Zhou, Qin, Han, Jin, Sui and Tang dynasties are “proper”, even though the common thought was that there were several more dynasties before that, and several vied for power in the dynastic shifts. He also elaborated that the rulers of Zhou (who was overthrown in civil war) were to be known as merely “kings” not “emperors”. This merely illustrates how central to politics and culture records and histories were to the Chinese people.

But above all of these petty definitional questions rises the one basic principle from which all of Chinese history is derived. It is enumerated in “The Romance of the Three Kingdoms” as both the opening and closing lines. As it reads there, it is: '“The Empire long divided must unite, long united must divide. Thus has it ever been.”'

The Chinese view of history is a cyclical one, a constant process of dynastic unity, and inevitable civil disarray. The Zhou Dynasty, then the Warring States Period. The Han Dynasty, then the Three Kingdoms Period, and so on and so forth. It could be compared to Hegel's dialectic version of history, save that the Chinese interpretation of the inevitable cycle is a much different one. Chinese history must be viewed by the learner, as we enter this jungle, through the lenses with which the culture looks upon its own history: from the perspective of the cyclical pattern, the cultural pride, and the ubiquitous and imperative striving for a Unified China.

A note on pronunciation
A common theme in any introduction to Chinese history is a discussion of the different English translations you will find of the same words, or names. The historian Sima Qian referred to above may be called by that name, or, under another system, he may be known as Ss'uma Ch'ien.

The two primary systems of English translation of Chinese texts are
 * The Wade-Giles system, developed in 1867 by Thomas Francis Wade. It was later expanded and improved upon Herbert Alan Giles. This system is used mainly in the early translations of many Chinese texts, which were popular in the mid to late 1800's and early 1900's. This system is often associated with the flowery language of those early translations, and is given a negative connotation for being out of date, and too dry and scholarly for common use outside of academic circles.
 * The Pinyin system. This is the official transliteration system for Chinese to English, and as such, it will be employed in these articles almost exclusively. Any translations done in the Wade-Giles system exist only because no Pinyin counterpart could be found. But in the cases that a reader may have preexisting knowledge and be confused by these translations, or run across other translations in their own research (which we encourage you to do), the table at left should be sufficient to explain the significant differences in the systems.