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India Post

India Post is an Indian government-operated postal system in India, and is the trade name of the Department of Post under the Ministry of Communications. Generally known as the Post Office, it is the most widely distributed postal system in the world, and India is the country that has the largest number of post offices in the world. Warren Hastings had taken initiative under East India Company to start the Postal Service in the country in 1766. It was initially established under the name "Company Mail". It was later modified into a service under the Crown in 1854 by Lord Dalhousie. Dalhousie introduced uniform postage rates (universal service) and helped to pass the India Post Office Act 1854 which significantly improved upon 1837 Post Office act which had introduced regular post offices in India. It created the position Director General of Post for the whole country.

It is involved in delivering mail (post), remitting money by money orders, accepting deposits under Small Savings Schemes, providing life insurance coverage under Postal Life Insurance (PLI) and Rural Postal Life Insurance (RPLI) and providing retail services like bill collection, sale of forms, etc. The DoP also acts as an agent for the Indian government in discharging other services for citizens such as old age pension payments and Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) wage disbursement. With 154,965 post offices (as of March 2017), India Post is the widest postal network in the world.

The country has been divided into 23 postal circles, each circle headed by a Chief Postmaster General. Each circle is divided into regions, headed by a Postmaster General and comprising field units known as Divisions. These divisions are further divided into subdivisions. In addition to the 23 circles, there is a base circle to provide postal services to the Armed Forces of India headed by a Director General. One of the highest post offices in the world is in Hikkim, At 4,400m above sea level in northern India's remote Spiti Valley, the Hikkim post office is a vital connection to the outside world.

Posts and the British Raj (1858–1947)
The British Raj was instituted in 1858, when the rule of the East India Company was transferred to the Crown.

A number of acts were enacted during the British Raj to expand and regulate posts and telegraphs service:
 * The Government Savings Bank Act, 1873 (5 of 1873), passed by the legislature 28 January 1873, was enacted in 1881. On 1 April 1882, Post Office Savings Banks opened throughout India (except in the Bombay Presidency). In Madras Presidency, it was limited; in the Bengal Presidency, no POSBs were established in Calcutta or Howrah.
 * Postal life insurance began on 1 February 1884 as a welfare measure for the employees of the Posts & Telegraphs Department as Government of India dispatch No. 299 dated 18 October 1882 to the Secretary of State.
 * The Indian Telegraph Act, 1885
 * The Indian Post Office Act, 1898, passed by the legislature on 22 March 1898, became effective on 1 July 1898 regulating postal service. It was preceded by Act III of 1882 and Act XVI of 1896.
 * The Indian Wireless Telegraphy Act, 1933

The world's first official airmail flight took place in India on 18 February 1911, a journey of 18 km lasting 27 minutes. Henri Pequet, a French pilot, carried about 15 kg of mail (approximately 6,000 letters and cards) across the Ganges from Allahabad to Naini; included in the airmail was a letter to King George V of the United Kingdom. India Post inaugurated a floating post office in August 2011 at Dal Lake in Srinagar, Kashmir. Telegraphy and telephony made their appearance as part of the postal service before becoming separate departments. One unique telegraph office was established and operated in the capital of Lhasa until the People's Republic of China's annexation of Tibet. The Posts and Telegraphs departments merged in 1914, later separated again on 1 January 1985.

After independence in 1947
Since India became independent in 1947, the postal service continues to function on a nationwide basis, providing a variety of services. The structure of the organization has the directorate at its apex; below it are circle offices, regional offices, the superintendent's offices, head post offices, sub-post offices and branch offices. In April 1959, the Indian Postal Department adopted the motto "Service before help"; it revised its logo in September 2008.

The number of post offices was 23,344 when India became independent in 1947 and these were primarily in urban areas. The number increased to 155,015 2016 and 90% of these were in rural areas.

First adhesive stamps in Asia
The first adhesive postage stamps in Asia were issued in the Indian district of Scinde in July 1852 by Bartle Frere, chief commissioner of the region. Frere was an admirer of Rowland Hill, the English postal reformer who had introduced the Penny Post. The Scinde stamps became known as "Scinde Dawks"; "Dawk" is the Anglicised spelling of the Hindustani word Dak or ("post"). These stamps, with a value of 1⁄2-anna, were in use until June 1866. The first all-India stamps were issued on 1 October 1854.

Stamps issued by the East India Company
The volume of mail moved by the postal system increased significantly, doubling between 1854 and 1866 and doubling again by 1871. The Indian Post Office Act, 1866 (XIV) introduced reforms by 1 May 1866 to correct some of the more obvious postal-system deficiencies and abuses. Postal-service efficiencies were also introduced. In 1863, lower rates were set for "steamer" mail to Europe at (six annas, eight pies for a 1⁄2-ounce letter). Lower rates were also introduced for inland mail.

New regulations removed special postal privileges enjoyed by officials of the East India Company. Stamps for official use were prepared and carefully accounted for, to combat abuses by officials. In 1854 Spain had printed special stamps for official communications, but in 1866 India was the first country to adopt the expedient of overprinting "Service" on postage stamps and "Service Postage" on revenue stamps. This innovation was later widely adopted by other countries.

Shortages developed, so stamps also had to be improvised. Some "Service Postage" overprinted rarities resulted from abrupt changes in postal regulations. New designs for the four-anna and six-anna-eight-pie stamps were issued in 1866. Nevertheless, there was a shortage of stamps to meet the new rates. Provisional six-anna stamps were improvised by cutting the top and bottom from a current foreign-bill revenue stamp and overprinting "Postage". India was the first country in the Commonwealth to issue airmail stamps.

Post-independence stamps

India attained independence on 15 August 1947. Thereafter, the Indian Posts and Telegraph Department embarked on a broad-based policy for the issuance of stamps. On 21 November 1947 the first new stamp was issued by independent India. It depicts the Indian flag with the patriots' slogan, Jai Hind ("long live India"), at the top right-hand corner. The stamp was valued at three and one-half annas. A memorial to Mahatma Gandhi was issued 15 August 1948 on the first anniversary of independence. One year later a definitive series appeared, depicting India's broad cultural heritage (primarily Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim, Sikh and Jain temples, sculptures, monuments and fortresses). A subsequent issue commemorated the beginning of the Republic of India on 26 January 1950. Definitives included a technology-and-development theme in 1955, a series depicting a map of India in 1957 (denominated in naya paisa—decimal currency) and a 1965 series with a wide variety of images. The old inscription "India Postage" was replaced in 1962 with "भारत INDIA", although three stamps (issued from December 1962 to January 1963) carried the earlier inscription.

India has printed stamps and postal stationery for other countries, mostly neighbours. Countries which have had stamps printed in India include Burma (before independence), Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Portugal and Ethiopia. The country has issued definitive and commemorative stamps. Six definitive series on India's heritage and progress in a number of fields have been issued. The seventh series, with a theme of science and technology, began in 1986. Between independence and 1983, 770 stamps were issued.

Losses
The postal department has always been the biggest loss-making entity in India, surpassing others like the Air India and BSNL, with an annual loss to the exchequer to the tune of ₹15,000 crore in the fiscal year 2019,  and amounting to ₹15,541 crore in the calendar year 2020. The following table shows losses incurred by the postal department over the years.

PIN
The Postal Index Number (PIN, or sometimes redundantly PIN code) is a six-digit postal code. The PIN system was made by Shriram Bhikaji Velankar when he was at service in Kolkata. It was introduced on 15 August 1972 by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. There are nine postal zones in the country; the first eight are geographical regions, and the ninth is reserved for the Army Postal Service (APS905898).

The PIN system is organised in the following way:

 * The first digit indicates the zone.
 * The first two digits indicate the sub-zone (or postal circle).
 * The first three digits indicate a sorting district.
 * The first four digits indicate a service route.
 * The last two digits indicate the delivery post office.

The PIN for an address may be found on the Postal Service website. There are total of 19,101 PINs covering 154,725 post offices in India, with the exception of the Army Postal Service, 2014.

Digital Address Code
Indian post proposed a 12 digit unique identification number to each and every address in India based on geo coordinates. Digital Address Code (DAC) will be assigned to all types of addresses in the country ranging from independent houses, individual building, every flat in the given apartment, every shop in a commercial building and every individual unit in an office complex. Draft approach paper on Digital Address Code was issued by Indian Post for public comments.

Project Arrow
Project Arrow was launched in April 2008. The project plans to upgrade post offices in urban and rural areas, improving service and appearance into a vibrant and responsive organization and to make a visible and positive difference. The project aims to create an effective, friendly environment for staff and customers, providing secure IT services and improving mail delivery, remittances (electronic and manual) and postal-savings plans. Core areas for improvement are branding, information technology, human resources and infrastructure. The project to improve service has been implemented in more than 23,500 post offices, and 'look and feel' improvements have been made in 2,940 post offices. The Department of Posts received the Prime Minister’s Awards for Excellence in Public Administration during 2008–09 for "Project Arrow – Transforming India Post" on 21 April 2010.

Multipurpose counter machines with computers were introduced in post offices in 1991 to improve customer service and increase staff productivity. 25,000 departmental post offices out of 25,464 were computerized between as of 2011–2012. In 2012, a plan costing inr 18772000000 was formulated to computerize rural post offices.

Philately
The first philatelic Society in India was founded in Calcutta on 6 March 1897 to service postage-stamp collections. Function include design, printing and distribution of special or commemorative postage stamps, definitive postage stamps and items of postal stationery, promotion of philately, conduct of philatelic examinations at the national level, participation in international exhibitions and monitoring exhibitions at the state, regional and district levels and maintenance of the National Philatelic Museum. Philatelic bureaus were established in head post offices located at circle headquarters and at district-capital head post offices (as necessary). There are 68 philately bureaus and 1111 philatelic counters, including all head post offices (Mukhya Dak Ghars) in the country as of 31 March 2011. A domestic philatelic deposit-account system was introduced on 1 August 1965 at all philatelic bureaus. Customers are given priority in purchasing commemorative or special-issue stamps, first-day covers and information sheets soon after their issue by opening a deposit account at any philatelic bureau. The number of philately deposit-accountholders grew from 23,905 in 1999–2000 to 168,282 in 2006–2007 and 183,202 in 2008–2009. Four philatelic bureaux—the Bombay, Madras, Calcutta and Parliament Street, New Delhi GPOs are authorized to sell United Nations stamps. A quarterly philatelic magazine, Philapost, was launched in 2008.

The Department of Post has also developed software for philatelic inventory management, known as "Philsim". It is used for all activities relating to philately, including forecasting, indenting, invoicing, monitoring supply and demand and recording sales and revenue for commemorative stamps and other philatelic products at philately bureaus and counters (and definitive stamps and stationery at circle stamp depots and head post offices).

The National Philatelic Museum was inaugurated on 6 July 1968 in New Delhi. It had its beginnings at a meeting of the Philatelic Advisory Committee on 18 September 1962. Besides a large collection of India Postage stamps designed, printed and issued, it has a large collection of Indian states (confederate and feudatory), early essays, proofs and colour trials, a collection of Indian stamps used abroad, early Indian postcards, postal stationery and thematic collections. The museum was renovated in 2009 with more exhibits, a philatelic bureau and postal objects (such as Victorian post boxes). The Department of Posts inaugurated the National Philatelic Museum on 11 July 2011. It exhibits rare postage stamps from around the world and provides a venue for philatelists to exhibit their collections.

Army Postal Service
The Army Postal Service (APS) functions as a government-operated military mail system in India. A primary feature of Army Postal Service systems is that normally they are subsidized to ensure that military mail posted between duty stations abroad and the home country (or vice versa) does not cost the sender any more than normal domestic mail traffic. In some cases, Indian military personnel in a combat zone may post letters and/or packages to the home country for free, while in others, senders located in a specific overseas area may send military mail to another military recipient, also located in the same overseas area, without charge.

Electronic Indian Postal Order
The Electronic Indian Postal Order (e-IPO) was introduced on 22 March 2013, initially only for citizens living abroad. The postal orders can be used for online payment of fees for access to information under the Right to Information Act, 2005. The service was expanded to include all Indian citizens on 14 February 2014.

Postal Life insurance
Postal Life Insurance (PLI) was introduced on 1 February 1884 with the express approval of the Secretary of State (for India) to Her Majesty, the Queen Empress of India. It was essentially a welfare scheme for the benefit of Postal employees in 1884 and later extended to the employees of Telegraph Department in 1888. In 1894, PLI extended insurance cover to female employees of P & T Department at a time when no other insurance company covered female lives. It is the oldest life insurer in this country. There was over 6.4 million policies active as on 31 March 2015 with a sum assured of inr 1307450000000. Premium income of PLI for the year 2014-15 was inr 60532000000. It was extended to all rural residents on 24 March 1995.

Policies for government employees include Santhosh (endowment assurance), Suraksha (whole-life assurance), Suvidha (convertible whole-life assurance), Sumangal (anticipated endowment policy) and Yugal Suraksha (joint life endowment assurance). India Post started Rural Postal Life Insurance (RPLI) for the rural public in 1995. RPLI plans include Gram Santosh (endowment assurance), Gram Suraksha (whole-life assurance), Gram Suvidha (convertible whole-life assurance), Gram Sumangal (anticipated endowment assurance) and Gram Priya.

Postal savings
The post office offers a number of savings plans, including recurring deposit accounts, Sukanya Samriddhi Account (SSA) is also known as Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY), National Savings Certificates (NSC), Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP), the Public Provident Fund, savings-bank accounts, monthly-income plans, senior-citizens' savings plans and time-deposit accounts.

Banking
In 2013, it was revealed that the Indian postal service had formulated plans to enter the banking industry after RBI guidelines for the issuance of new banking licenses were released. Eventually they are planning to open a Post Bank of India, an independent banking service.

As of 29 February 2016, 18,231 post offices are utilizing Core Banking Solutions (CBS). ATMs are installed at 576 Post Office locations and debit cards issued to Post Office Savings Bank customers. Core Insurance Solution (CIS) for Postal Life Insurance (PLI) is rolled out in 808 head post offices and corresponding 24,000+ sub post offices. In September 2017, it was announced that by 2018 all of the 1.55 lakh post offices, every postman and grameen dak sevak (postmaster) will accept all payment options that the India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) plans to provide.

On 1 September 2018, the India Post Payments Bank was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Data collection
A collaboration between the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) and the Department of Posts has enabled the computation of consumer-price indices for rural areas. These statistics were previously unobtainable, due to problems of remoteness and scale. The agreement authorises the postal service to collect data on prices paid for selected consumer goods. In February 2011, MoSPI published its first Consumer Price Index (CPI) and All-India Consumer Price Index. The information has since been published monthly, based on data available from 1,181 villages across the country.

E-commerce delivery
The boom in e-commerce and the surging number of cash-on-delivery consignments has led India Post to partner with major e-commerce portals for delivering pre-paid as well as cash on delivery (COD) parcels. According to the Minister for Communications and Information Technology, Ravi Shankar Prasad, revenue of India Post from such deliveries would go up to inr 15000000000 in the year 2015–16.

Other services
Other services include:
 * Post boxes and post bags for mail receipt
 * Speed Post
 * Identity cards for proof of residence
 * India Post ATM
 * RMS (Railway Mail Service)
 * Post office Passport Seva Kendras (POPSK)
 * Aadhaar Enrollment and Updation.
 * Western Union.
 * Postal Life Insurance and Rural Postal Life Insurance.
 * Savings Bank (SB/RD/TD/MIS/SCSS/PPF/SSA)
 * Savings Cash Certificates.
 * India Post Payments Bank (IPPB).
 * Stamp Sales.

title: India Post


text:
Minibus

A minibus, microbus, or minicoach is a passenger-carrying motor vehicle that is designed to carry more people than a multi-purpose vehicle or minivan, but fewer people than a full-size bus. In the United Kingdom, the word "minibus" is used to describe any full-sized passenger-carrying van or panel truck. Minibuses have a seating capacity of between 12 and 30. Larger minibuses may be called midibuses. Minibuses are typically front engine step-in vehicles, although low floor minibuses are particularly common in Japan.

History
It is unknown when the first minibus vehicle was developed. For example, Ford Model T vehicles were modified for passenger transport by early bus companies and entrepreneurs. Ford produced a version during the 1920s to carry up to 12 people. In the Soviet Union, the production of minibuses began in the mid-1950s, among the first mass-produced minibuses were the RAF-10, UAZ-451B, and Start. Since September 1961, the RAF-977D "Latvia" minibus began to be mass-produced.

Regional variants
There are many different form of public transportation services around the world that are provided by using vehicles that can be considered as minibus:
 * Chiva bus in Colombia and Ecuador
 * Colectivo in southern South America
 * Community bus (Japanese コミュニティバス komiunitibasu) in Japan (Include minibus and midibus)
 * Dala dala in Tanzania
 * Dollar van a.k.a. jitneys, in the United States.
 * Dolmuş in Turkey
 * Modern Jeepney in the Philippines
 * Maeul-bus (Korean 마을버스) in South Korea
 * Marshrutka in eastern Europe.
 * Matatu around Kenya
 * Minibus taxi in South Africa, Ethiopia, see also Taxi wars in South Africa
 * Pesero, minibuses operating as regular buses in Mexico, especially in Mexico City.
 * Public light buses, in Hong Kong.
 * Sherut in Israel
 * Songthaew around Thailand and Lao
 * Tap tap in Haiti
 * Tro tro around Ghana
 * Weyala in Ethiopia

Driving licence
Some countries may require an additional class of driving licence over a normal private car licence, and some may require a full commercial driving licence. The need for such a licence may depend on:
 * Vehicle weight or size
 * Seating capacity
 * Driver age
 * Intended usage
 * Additional training (such as the Minibus Driver Awareness Scheme in the UK)

In the UK the following information regarding Minibus driving licences is important: "The holder of an ordinary car driving licence which was obtained prior to January 1997, once aged 21 years minimum, may drive a Minibus with a capacity of 16 passengers. Where the "ordinary car driving licence" is obtained after December 1996, they will have to take a separate test to drive a vehicle with a capacity of more than 8 passengers. However, there is an exemption for certain volunteer drivers, where the vehicle does not exceed 3500 kg GVW (or 4250 kg GVW if the vehicle is designed to be wheelchair accessible). Driving licence source

A driving licence issued in Ontario, Canada, for an equivalent of a UK class B or class B-auto driving licence (in the case of Ontario, a class G licence), allows its holder to drive vehicles with:
 * 11 tonnes maximum authorized mass, including trailers with 4.6 tonnes MAM 6 tonnes MAM in certain cases)
 * passenger seating capacity of 9 or less

Anyone wanting to drive a vehicle in Ontario, with the same MAM limits as for class G vehicles, with fewer than 25, but at least 10, passenger seats, must obtain a bus licence. This licence will allow, for example, its holder to drive 12- and 15-passenger vans] that Transport Canada defines as large passenger vans.

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

title: Minibus


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Sam Bass (outlaw)

Born Samuel Bass (July 21, 1851 ‒ July 21, 1878) was a 19th-century American train robber, outlaw, and outlaw gang leader. Notably, he was a member of a gang of six that robbed a Union Pacific train in Nebraska of $60,000 in newly minted gold from San Francisco, California. To date, this is the biggest train robbery to have been committed in the USA. He died as a result of wounds sustained in a gun battle with law enforcement officers.

Early life
Sam Bass was born in Mitchell, Indiana, on July 21, 1851; the son of Daniel and Elizabeth Jane (Sheeks) Bass. He was orphaned before his thirteenth birthday, and afterwards was raised by an uncle. Bass left home at the age of 19.
 * url=https://www.freeafricanamericans.com/bailey-berry.htm

Bass worked for about a year at a sawmill in Rosedale, Mississippi, but eventually drifted west to north Texas; where he worked for a time for Sheriff Egan of Denton. He tried his hand at wrangling cattle, but was unfulfilled by the hard work and low pay. Bass eventually bought a horse and raced it, living on the proceeds for some years. After the horse became too old to race, Bass and a partner, Joel Collins, formed a cattle drive for several ranchers in the San Antonio, Texas area, including Luther Bounds, who later financed operations for the infamous Fannie Porter. In 1876, they drove the cattle to Nebraska, but squandered their (and the ranchers') proceeds by gambling it away in the gold rush town of Deadwood in the Black Hills area.

Life of crime
Now broke, Bass and Collins attempted to work as freighters, but were unable to make a living. The duo then formed an outlaw gang, preying primarily on stage coaches. They notable robbed the Union Pacific Railroad gold train from San Francisco on September 18, 1877, intercepting the train at Big Springs, Nebraska and robbing over $60,000 (equivalent to about $ million in 2022). The gang split up following this heist.

Bass returned to Texas and formed a new gang responsible for a string of stagecoach robberies. In 1878, the gang held up two stagecoaches and four trains within 25 miles (40 km) of Dallas. Although the robberies netted them little money, they became the object of a manhunt by Pinkerton National Detective Agency agents and a special company of the Texas Rangers headed by Captain Junius Peak.

A trap is set
Bass was able to elude the Texas Rangers until a member of his gang, Jim Murphy, turned informant. Mr. Murphy's father, who was very ill at the time, had been taken into custody and held for questioning. He was not allowed to be seen by a doctor and was prevented from receiving medical treatment, which caused his condition to rapidly worsen. Lawmen sent a message to Murphy informing him that they had his father in custody, and that if Murphy did not agree to meet with them, they would continue to withhold medical treatment from the father. Knowing how sick his father was, Murphy agreed to the meeting. There, he reluctantly agreed to turn informant. John B. Jones was subsequently notified of Bass's movements and set up an ambush at Round Rock, Texas, where Bass and the gang planned to rob the Williamson County Bank.

Final shootout
On July 19, 1878, Bass and his gang were scouting the area before the robbery. When they bought some tobacco at a store, they were noticed by Williamson County Deputy Sheriff A. W. Grimes. When Grimes approached the men to request that they surrender their sidearms, he was shot and killed. A gunfight ensued. As Bass attempted to flee, he was shot by Texas Rangers agents George Herold and Sergeant Richard Ware. Soapy Smith and his cousin, Edwin, witnessed Ware's shot. Soapy exclaimed, "I think you got him!" No one residing in Round Rock, and none of the visiting Texas Rangers (except Jim Murphy), knew what any of the Bass gang looked like. In fact, after Seaborne Barnes was killed and lay on the street, Ware had to have Murphy identify the body, as no one else knew who the man was. Ware himself stated that he had seen the same three men earlier in town crossing the street to enter the dry goods store, but in fact did not recognize them as the Bass gang.

Death

Bass was later found lying in a pasture west of Round Rock by Williamson County Deputy James Milton Tucker. More specifically, Bass had to call out to the posse as they were about to ride by him, shouting, "Hey I'm over here. I'm Sam Bass, the one you are looking for." He was taken into custody and died the next day on July 21, 1878, his 27th birthday. No photograph was taken of Bass either while he was dying in town under a doctor's care or after he died, even though the Texas Rangers were under tremendous pressure from Austin politicians to capture or kill him. To this day no known photo has ever been confirmed to be of Bass, and when his sister visited Round Rock a year after his death to place a better headstone, she indicated that the photo on the wanted poster shown to her by the Williamson County Sheriff was not of her brother. Bass was buried in Round Rock in what is now known as Round Rock Cemetery. His grave is now marked with a replacement headstone—as the original suffered at the hands of souvenir collectors over the years. What remains of the original stone is on display at the Round Rock Public Library.

Legacy
There are roads named after Bass in Round Rock, Texas, Denton, Texas and west of Sanger, Texas. During Round Rock's annual Frontier Days celebration, performers re-enact the shootout in the old downtown.

Rosston, Texas celebrates Sam Bass Day annually on the third Saturday in July.

There is also the Sam Bass Fire Department of Brushy Creek in Round Rock, TX Williamson County.

Dramatic representations
Bass has since been portrayed in several books, radio programs, television shows, and movies.
 * In a 1936 episode on the syndicated radio drama Death Valley Days, Bass's last days are portrayed.
 * Calamity Jane and Sam Bass is a 1949 American Western film directed by George Sherman and starring Yvonne De Carlo, Howard Duff and Dorothy Hart.
 * In a 1951 Western movie The Texas Rangers, Sam Bass is played by William Bishop.
 * In 1953, Sam Bass was the antagonist in a newspaper daily strip story about Laredo Crockett by Bob Schoenke.
 * 1957 Tales of Wells Fargo Season 1 Episode 10; Main Character Jim Hardie is ordered to infiltrate Sam Bass' gang so that he can learn where they hole up between raids. Sam Bass is played by Chuck Connors. Michael Landon plays a young man in this episode.
 * A Lone Ranger episode about Sam Bass was broadcast on April 24, 1944, taking great liberties with the facts.
 * In 1959, Alan Hale Jr. played Bass in the episode "The Saga of Sam Bass", on the ABC/Warner Bros. western television series Colt .45.
 * The 2015 Western movie Kill or Be Killed was loosely inspired by outlaw Sam Bass and his gang.

title: Sam Bass (outlaw)


text:
Talk:Roky Erickson

anthology
i added the new anthology "ive always been here before" dont know why it wasnt on the list.....Curefreak 00:52, 19 July 2006 (UTC)

pictures
How about some pictures on this article? -- Joebeone (Talk) 00:08, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

burnout?
I'm wondering whether definition of burnout leads reader to believe that Roky Erickson is musician in the past-tense. His concert in London was word and note perfect... suggesting to me at least that his talent is still very much alive... There are enough articles dwelling on the so-called damaged Roky. User:BAH

I took it out because it's completely untrue (or in the least, outdated). He has a manager, a tour manager, and plays multiple shows every year. I also noted his recovery from his "mental illness". He's not crazy, people... An article will becoming out very soon in honor of his 60th birthday and then there will hopefully be a lot of updates to this page (with references).--MoShaw 14:09, 3 July 2007 (UTC)

Outsider?
Why is this article in Category:Outsider music? According to the (fairly vague) article it seems to be "music by social outsiders". Was Roky one, during his productive periods? (And if so, weren't most rock musicians at one point or another: no place to live, drug addiction, messed up and so on? Aren't Jagger, Bowie, Lou Reed, Lemmy, Nick Cave and thousands others "outsider musicians", too?) JöG (talk) 21:14, 10 December 2009 (UTC)
 * Well said, and good point. I think only a total recluse continuing to make music, eschewing a social life would really qualify for Cat:Outsider music. --Leahtwosaints (talk) 02:48, 25 April 2010 (UTC)
 * Category removed. Feel free to revert if in error with reason for doing so.THX1136 (talk) 15:37, 21 August 2014 (UTC)

REM dude it stands for "roky erikson music". The history of it, Roky was raw Janis-Dead pigpen burst, but Christian. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 162.251.16.13 (talk) 15:41, 21 February 2016 (UTC)

Children
Tucked into the musician infobox was a ref to his children. It is an unknown parameter for the infobox so it never displayed so I removed it and dropping it here. I see a mention of Jegar Erickson in the article but nothing else.

children = Jegar Erickson, Cydne Shull

Creative decline and renewed interest
Hello, I'm a copy editor by trade and have just made my first contributions. I found some gaps in the article and addressed them by adding information on a documentary to this section, and then listed it in the Filmography section. I also added information on a forthcoming Roky Erickson tribute album (July 17) to the "List of 2021 albums" page. I would appreciate any feedback from more experienced editors. Peterh6658 (talk) 03:52, 15 May 2021 (UTC)

Henry Rollins
Henry Rollins paid $7000 for Roky's dental work. He had to have all his teeth pulled as they were rotten and causing pain. Is that interesting? I think so. Plus, Rollins is a good man. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 51.9.18.39 (talk) 19:16, 18 June 2022 (UTC)

See Also: Outsider Music
I question why the topic 'Outsider Music' should be recommended to someone reading this article considering Roky Erickson doesn't seem to fit that category. I'm not sure if he does fit the category or not, as I feel I lack the expertise, but I'd venture that the work of Erickson does not fit 'Outsider Music', and more importantly that if it doesn't, that category should not be recommended here. Katzekorva (talk) 20:05, 19 September 2022 (UTC)

 * With all due respect: If you feel you lack expertise in this subject, why are you making the call to remove the category?
 * Roky is generally considered to be an outsider artist because of the music he made in the 1970s and 1980s, when his mental illness was not being treated and his songs expressed his turmoil and unusual obsessions. This Pitchfork obituary is just one article which discusses the topic: https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/remembering-roky-erickson-a-forefather-of-outsider-rock/: "On his own, Erickson cut an even stranger figure than he did with the 13th Elevators. He sang of monsters and mayhem on record after record, his B-movie obsessions providing an effective method of processing his own internal demons—troubles created by a blend of mental illness and self-medication with hallucinogenic drugs."
 * Mehendri Solon (talk) 06:01, 21 September 2022 (UTC)
 * I wasn't clear. What I meant was that, since it had been previously decided back in 2014 that the article should not cite the work of Roky Erickson as belonging to the genre 'Outsider Music', it should perhaps not reference that category at all. It was the inconsistency I thought improper, and reckoned it had been overlooked since the previous discussion and removal of the outsider music genre listing.
 * There seems to have been some confusion though, if it isn't just me, since the discussion reads as if it were about the category rather than the genre listing, but it was the genre someone removed back then. But anyway, should perhaps the genre be added as well?
 * Sorry for my own confusion and unclear statement. I added the question here since I wasn't entirely sure but perhaps my decision to perform the edit in boldness wasn't quite appropriate. I'm a noob round these parts, if that's an excuse. Katzekorva (talk) 22:18, 21 September 2022 (UTC)
 * I see what you're saying. I must admit that I didn't notice the earlier discussion. Now that I have, however, I still stick to my position. Roky was most definitely a social outsider for the entirety of his post-Elevators career, in a way that went beyond merely living a bohemian lifestyle.
 * Mehendri Solon (talk) 03:24, 22 September 2022 (UTC)
 * Alright! I have no strong feelings either way. My thinking, then, is that the genre Outsider Music should perhaps be added to the 'Background Information' section as well, unless there is some different general criteria for deciding that? It seems discrepant to me, but I'm not sure it should do. Katzekorva (talk) 18:29, 22 September 2022 (UTC)

Isn't the Janis Joplin comment pointless trivia?
It doesn't really add anything to the article. Aradicus77 (talk) 22:08, 27 April 2023 (UTC)

title: Talk:Roky Erickson


text:
USS Upshur (DD-144)

USS Upshur (DD–144) was a Wickes-class destroyer in the United States Navy before and during World War II. She was the first ship named for Rear Admiral John Henry Upshur.

Upshur was laid down on 19 February 1918 at Philadelphia by William Cramp & Sons' shipyards. The ship is launched on 4 July 1918, sponsored by Mrs. Alexander Gustavus Brown, the granddaughter of Rear Admiral Upshur. The destroyer commissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 23 December 1918.

1919–1922
Following shakedown and fitting out, Upshur departed Newport, Rhode Island, on 20 May 1919, bound via the Azores for north European waters. She arrived at Devonport, England, on 16 June and shifted to Harwich two days later before subsequently calling at Heligoland, Germany; Copenhagen, Denmark; and the free city of Danzig. She eventually returned, via Harwich and Ponta Delgada, to the United States, arriving at New York City on 22 July.

Assigned to the Pacific Fleet soon thereafter, Upshur transited the Panama Canal, bound for San Diego, her base of operations until the spring of the following year. During her time at San Diego, the ship conducted gunnery and torpedo training and local coastal operations. In April 1920, Upshur got underway and proceeded via Honolulu, Pearl Harbor, Midway, and Guam to the Far East, arriving at Cavite, in the Philippines, on 20 May. She soon sailed for duty on the lower Yangtze River as part of the Yangtze River Patrol.

At Yueyang on 16 June, troops of warlord Zhang Jingyao executed American missionary, William A. Reimert. At Hankou when the incident occurred, Upshur, acting under urgent orders, got underway for the trouble spot on 22 June—departing with such great haste that four of her complement (one officer and three enlisted men) were left behind. Arriving at Yueyang on 23 June, Upshur sent ashore a landing party of one officer and 40 men at 1805 on 25 June to protect the American mission. Two days later—when local tensions had eased—they were reembarked.

The Standard Oil Company's steamer Mei Foo arrived at Yueyang on 28 June and delivered 100 bags of rice for refugees in the vicinity. Over the ensuing days, Upshur delivered that food staple to the American mission. In the meantime, the Commander in Chief, Asiatic Fleet, Admiral Albert Cleaves, arrived at Yueyang in USS Elliot (DD-146) to observe the local situation. Eventually, the offending Chinese official in charge, Zhang Jingyao, was removed, and the Chinese foreign office, while investigating the incident, expressed its profound regrets.

Upshur remained on the Yangtze until 9 July, when she resumed routine operations—target practices and torpedo drills. For her tour on the river, the destroyer received commendation in the Secretary of the Navy's annual report, noted as being "especially serviceable in establishing radio communication along the river."

Upshur conducted exercises in the Philippine Islands in the winter and in Chinese waters, off Yantai, in the summer, with more training and "showing the flag" cruises in between. During her tour in the Asiatic Fleet, Upshur was reclassified DD-144 on 17 July 1920. After completing her assignment in the Far East early in 1922, the destroyer arrived back on the west coast in the spring and was decommissioned at San Diego on 15 May 1922 and placed in reserve.

1923–1941
Recommissioned on 2 June 1930, Upshur operated with the Battle Fleet and Scouting Force, first on the west coast and later on the east, until decommissioned on 22 December 1936 at Philadelphia. She was berthed in the Philadelphia Navy Yard until the autumn of 1939.

Soon after the outbreak of World War II in Poland in September 1939, President Roosevelt declared the neutrality of the United States and ordered the establishment of a Neutrality Patrol off the eastern seaboard and gulf coast on 5 September. To augment the ships first assigned to this duty, the Navy began reactivation of 77 light minelayers and destroyers. Accordingly, Upshur went back into commission at Philadelphia on 4 October, a little over a month after Germany invaded Poland. Attached to the Atlantic Squadron of the United States Fleet, Upshur interspersed her routine training evolutions—battle practices, torpedo exercises, and tactical maneuvers—with patrols safeguarding America's neutral shores along the Atlantic and gulf coasts.

Upshur's routine was broken briefly in December 1939. On 13 December, the North German Norddeutscher Lloyd steamship Columbus slipped out of Veracruz, Mexico, in an attempt to reach Germany and slip through the British blockade. She had not reckoned with the Neutrality Patrol, however, that persistently shadowed the liner from the moment she stood out of the Mexican port. Upshur participated in the tracking and reporting of the steamer, the 13th largest merchant steamship in the world. Columbus ultimately met her doom on 19 December; she was scuttled when confronted by British destroyer HMS Hyperion (H97). The cruiser USS Tuscaloosa (CA-37), standing nearby, rescued the Columbus crew.

The rapid fall of France in early 1940 caused alarm in the western hemisphere that French possessions in the West Indies might fall into German hands. American planners drew up contingency plans to take these isles by force if necessary. In the event of such an invasion, Upshur and her sisters in Destroyer Squadron 30 were slated to screen the counter-battery and gunfire support group built around USS Texas (BB-35), USS Vincennes (CA-44), and USS Chester (CA-27). The crisis abated by late 1940.

In between the routine neutrality patrol assignments and training, Upshur was called upon to perform a special escort mission. On 23 December 1940, the heavy cruiser Tuscaloosa departed Norfolk with William D. Leahy, Ambassador to Vichy France, and his wife, embarked, bound for Lisbon, Portugal. Upshur and USS Madison (DD-425) escorted the heavy cruiser, until they were detached on Christmas Day to return to Norfolk while the cruiser proceeded on, unescorted, on her diplomatic mission.

In March 1941, the Support Force was established for the United States Fleet, under the command of Rear Admiral Arthur L. Bristol. Based at Narragansett Bay, this group prepared for assignment to "distant seas" and was formed around USS Denebola (AD-12), USS Albemarle (AV-5), USS Belknap (AVD-8), and USS George E. Badger (AVD-3). Four patrol plane squadrons and three destroyer squadrons—the last including Upshur—rounded out the Support Force.

Over the ensuing months, Upshur operated alternately out of Naval Station Argentia, Newfoundland; Newport, Rhode Island; Philadelphia; Narragansett Bay; Boston; and Reykjavík, Iceland, after its occupation by the United States that summer. On 11 September, the destroyer departed Argentia, bound for a rendezvous with an outward-bound convoy headed for the British Isles.

Five days later HX 150, a convoy of 50 merchantmen of British and Allied nationalities put to sea from Halifax, Nova Scotia, escorted locally by Canadian units. On 17 September, about 150 mi out of Argentia, the American escort group under Captain Morton L. Deyo, which included Upshur, met up with the British convoy. The ensuing days witnessed the five American destroyers shepherding the convoy towards the "Mid-Ocean Meeting Point" (MOMP). Upshur steamed on the port side of the convoy, 500 to 2,000 yd out, searching with her sound equipment on a 30-degree sector during the day, and patrolling 500 to 1,000 yd out at night. The Americans brought the convoy safely to the MOMP, where British ships— two destroyers and four corvettes—picked up the England-bound ships. The five American destroyers then convoyed the Iceland-bound section of the convoy to Reykjavík. This convoy was the first one assisted by the United States Navy in the Battle of the Atlantic.

This mission proved to be only the beginning of American escort operations prior to the formal entry of the United States into World War II, as ships of the Support Force escorted 14 convoys between 16 September and 30 October. As the months wore on, clashes of American warships with German submarines grew in frequency and intensity. USS Kearny (DD-432) was damaged by a German torpedo on 17 October, and USS Salinas (AO-19) suffered a similar fate on the 30th. The next day, USS Reuben James (DD-245) was sunk by the GS U-552. Over the ensuing period from 1 November to 7 December 1941, Support Force destroyers conducted seven round-trip convoy missions in shepherding 14 convoys consisting of some 550 ships across the North Atlantic.

World War II
In the period following full-scale American entry into the war with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 and until the middle of February 1942, Support Force destroyers escorted a dozen convoys in each direction across the Atlantic—750 ships—in comparative safety.

On the night of 4 February 1942, Upshur departed Londonderry Port, Northern Ireland, in company with USS Gleaves (DD-423), USS Dallas (DD-199), USS Roper (DD-147), and the United States Coast Guard Treasury-class cutter cutter USCGC Ingham (WHEC-35). Throughout the day on 5 February, the ships hunted a U-boat whose intentions seemed to be to follow the Americans to their outbound convoy assignment. Seven times the destroyers and the Coast Guard cutter attacked the submarine, dropping 30 depth charges, but could not "kill" the elusive submersible.

After rendezvousing with Convoy ON 63 on the morning of 7 February, the escorts shaped a course southwest with the 30 merchant vessels, shepherding them along in the wintry seas. Upshur's lookouts spotted a U-boat running on the surface two miles (3 km) away and gave chase, but the German lookouts were alert, and the submarine submerged before Upshur could attack.

For two hours, Upshur and Ingham scoured the area, dropping 15 depth charges before they returned to their stations. Upshur had no sooner returned to station when she again spotted the U-boat 8,000 yd away. Accelerating to flank speed, the flush-decker headed towards the enemy, only to have the U-boat submerge out of sight once more. Upshur fired two rounds from her forward 3 in gun—both shells splashing around the enemy's disappearing conning tower. Gleaves soon arrived on the scene and assisted Upshur in searching for the U-boat. Neither ship was able to make contact with the enemy that day nor the next, but they succeeded in preventing the German submersible from making contact with the convoy and managed to bring all of their charges safely into port.

Over the ensuing two years, Upshur operated on convoy escort missions with the Atlantic Fleet. Her duties took her from the eastern seaboard of the United States to the mouth of the Mediterranean Sea, from the inhospitable climes of the North Atlantic to the tropical Caribbean.

Auxiliary service
As the Allies slowly gained the upper hand in the Battle of the Atlantic, newer and more modern destroyers replaced the aging flush-deckers as front line convoy escorts. Throughout 1944, Upshur operated between Norfolk, Virginia, and Quonset Point, Rhode Island, serving as plane guard and target vessel during qualification trials for aircraft carriers. During this period, she worked successively with USS Kasaan Bay (CVE-69), USS Ranger (CV-4), USS Mission Bay (CVE-59), USS Tulagi (CVE-72), USS Tripoli (CVE-64), USS Wake Island (CVE-65), USS Prince William (CVE-31), and USS Solomons (CVE-67). Reclassified as a miscellaneous auxiliary, AG-103 on 3 June 1945, Upshur was plane-guarding for USS Lake Champlain (CV-39) when Japan capitulated on 15 August, ending the war in the Pacific. Decommissioned at Norfolk, Virginia, on 2 November 1945, Upshur was struck from the Navy list on 11 November; was sold to the Northern Metals Company of Philadelphia on 26 September 1947; and was scrapped by April 1948.

title: USS Upshur (DD-144)


text:
User:Wolfgangbeyer

Dr. Wolfgang Beyer, physicist. Living in Munich, Germany. Job-related active in laser medicine (see laser.klinikum.uni-muenchen.de). Mainly active in the German Wikipedia (see my userpage there) since December 2003. Admin there since March 2004. Interested in astronomy and physics. German homepage: www.wolfgangbeyer.de.

I'm not a native speaker. So please feel free to improve the verbalization of my contributions.

Articles to which I have contributed

 * Minkowski diagram: Understanding relativity without mathematics. Complete new version.
 * Mandelbrot set: Image gallery of a zoom sequence with comments.

title: User:Wolfgangbeyer


text:
Fad Gadget

Francis John Tovey (8 September 1956 – 3 April 2002), known also by his stage name Fad Gadget, was a British avant-garde electronic musician and vocalist. He was a proponent of both new wave and early industrial music, fusing pop-structured songs with mechanised experimentation.

As Fad Gadget, his music was characterised by the use of synthesizers in conjunction with sounds of found objects, including drills and electric razors. His bleak, sarcastic and darkly humorous lyrics were filled with biting social commentary toward subjects such as machinery, industrialisation, consumerism, human sexuality, mass media, religion, domestic violence and dehumanization, often sung in a deadpan voice.

Early years
As a child, Frank Tovey lived in Bow. His father, Frank Tovey, Sr. was a porter in Billingsgate Fish Market. At school, Francis tried to learn many different musical instruments. He realised he did not have the co-ordination to be able to play any of them really well. Tovey drifted away from the idea of playing music, and began getting involved in other art forms instead. He later studied visual arts and mime at Leeds Polytechnic. He felt the need to give his mime act some sort of musical accompaniment so he went back to the idea of recording music. The initial musical pieces were formed of sound manipulation using tape recorders.

Tovey began experimenting using an old Grundig tape recorder. He disconnected the erase head from the playback head and installed a simple switch between the two. This gave him control over what sounds could be erased or kept. He spent a lot of time building up sound collages using this method. After finishing full-time education Tovey began working at various jobs and around the mid seventies managed to set up his own home studio. At the time he was living in London, in a small house. The only space where he could set up his studio was in a cupboard. The initial equipment he used consisted mainly of his Grundig tape recorder. At this time he was using no musical instrument at all. The first keyboard instrument he owned was a Crumar Compac electric piano. He also bought a Korg Minipops drum machine from a home organ shop. He eventually decided to purchase a Korg synthesiser. He thought that due to his lack of musical ability he would be able to create some impressive sounds. After the purchase of this equipment he began writing music seriously; it was at this time he sent a demo tape of "Back to Nature" to Daniel Miller, who had just released his first single as The Normal.

Signing to Mute Records
Frank Tovey signed as Fad Gadget to Daniel Miller's Mute Records. He was the first artist to sign to Mute. "Back to Nature" was recorded as the second Mute Records release at RMS Studio in London. At the time RMS was an eight track studio. Gadget had no real experience of recording within a studio environment, so he left most of the decision making to Daniel Miller. Most of the recorded instruments on "Back to Nature" belonged to Tovey, although he used equipment belonging to Miller as well; this included an ARP 2600 synthesiser.

"Back to Nature" was a great success for Mute Records so a follow-up record was produced; the follow-up was titled "Ricky's Hand". The recording included Gadget's wife, Barbara, singing a vocal part near the end of the recording; the vocal part is then mixed with a synthesiser part into the outro of the song. Fad Gadget then went on to record an album for Mute Records. Fireside Favourites was recorded at Blackwing Studios in London. He decided to record the album without Daniel Miller's assistance.

Gadget felt it was important that he made all the decisions about recording the album himself. Gadget also felt the ideas and concepts behind his live performances were just as important. His live appearances progressed to dressing in theatrical costumes, reflecting back to his days studying visual arts, and he quickly became known for his confrontational stage antics. Some of these included covering himself in tar and feathers, swinging his microphone like a whip, leaping backwards into the audience, dancing across bar tables while kicking over people's drinks, climbing up speakers, hanging from ceiling fixtures, pulling out his body hair and playing instruments with his head, often ending up in personal injury. Gadget was particularly infamous for spreading shaving cream on his naked body onstage, an image of which is depicted on the cover of The Best of Fad Gadget. Sounds magazine described him as "...the bumbling but talented Dr Who of electro-pop". In 1981 Gadget released another one-off single on Mute Records, "Make Room", featuring the b-side "Lady Shave", which went on to become "one of his most iconic tracks".

Recording
Fad Gadget recorded two more albums for Mute Records at Blackwing Studios which was using more complex recording equipment. Incontinent and Under the Flag showed a progressive change in Gadget's music; due both to the technological advances and his own growing knowledge of recording techniques. It was during the recording of Under the Flag that he began using the Roland MC-4 Microcomposer. This made it easy for Tovey to create a more controlled style of music. This style was carried on with the recording of the album Gag.

The recording of Gag was a turning point in Gadget's recording career. It would be the first time he used a band of musicians to record an album; before he had recorded most of the musical parts himself. It would also see a major change in the recording location from London to Hansa Tonstudio in Berlin. He had wanted a break from the way he had been recording in London. The acoustic spaces in the German studio had excited Gadget. He was also excited about the recording equipment that was installed at Hansa at that time, including the computer controlled mixing desk. He found the new recording practices refreshing, having other people collaborating in the writing and recording process. Some of these collaborators included the viola player, Joni Sackett, and keyboard player, David Simmonds. The recordings included many acoustic instruments, which veered away from the electronic instruments which had been used on previous recording sessions. Fad Gadget had used synthesisers when they were not fashionable to use – he had now moved away from electronic instrumentation when it was the current trend with other recording artists.

During the recording of Gag the German industrial band, Einstürzende Neubauten, were recording for Some Bizzare Records at Hansa and had been the support act for Fad Gadget at a gig at "The Loft" venue in Berlin. Frank liked their use of industrial equipment and found objects, something he had encouraged Nick Cash (his drummer and percussionist since his first album) to do. Fad Gadget heard a large printing press nearby which had a distinctive rhythm and got Gareth Jones, the co-producer/engineer, to record it. The recording was looped and became the basis for "Collapsing New People." (Einstürzende Neubauten translated means, "collapsing new buildings.") The sample was used firstly on two tracks on Fad Gadget's "Collapsing New People" 12" released November 1983. All these recordings were engineered by Gareth Jones and the sample used was stored on his Akai sampler with Cash drumming along and keeping the swing of the machine. Gadget then thought it would be good to ask Neubauten if they would add some of their percussion noise to the mix; however, Frank thought there was enough going on in the track and their contribution was used on the b-side "Spoil The Child" and on the 12" mix of the song. Neubauten's percussion was overdubbed over the already recorded backing tracks. The percussion tracks proved difficult to mix at the final stage, but Gadget was pleased with the final result. The track "Collapsing New People" was released as a single by Mute Records.

After recording the album Gag, Gadget began recording under his real name – Frank Tovey. He carried on moving toward acoustic instruments and in 1984 had decided he might want to record on his own again. He recorded several LPs of more experimental work under the name Frank Tovey, beginning with Easy Listening for the Hard of Hearing, a collaboration with Boyd Rice recorded in 1981.

In 1989, he changed musical tactics in his criticism of industrialisation, recording a mostly acoustic album of protest and labour songs Tyranny and the Hired Hand including such standards as "Sixteen Tons". He then tried his hand at writing similar material, recorded two more albums with a backing band named The Pyros. After touring in 1993, Gadget withdrew from the music business.

Final years
In his later years, Gadget began to perform at festivals and also supported his former colleagues and Mute label-mates, Depeche Mode, on their European tour. He was working on a new album at the time of his death. Fad Gadget suffered from heart problems since childhood, and died of a heart attack on 3 April 2002 at the age of 45. In 2006, with the Pyros and family, he has two movies dedicated to him, Fad Gadget by Frank Tovey and Grand Union: A Documentary.

Legacy and influence
Despite a lack of commercial success, Fad Gadget is regarded as a pioneer in synth-pop, electro and industrial music. He influenced bands and artists such as Depeche Mode, Vince Clarke (of Erasure), Boy George (of Culture Club), Information Society, cEvin Key (of Skinny Puppy), Liars, The Twilight Sad, DJ Premier, and Suicide Commando.

John Frusciante (of the Red Hot Chili Peppers) listed Fad Gadget's Under the Flag in his top 40 favorite albums of all time.

Industrial metal band Ministry recorded a cover of the song "Ricky's Hand" on their 2024 album Hopiumforthemasses.

His album Gag was ranked #76 in Treblezine's list of "The Top 100 Best Post-Punk Albums".

Discography
Studio albums
 * Fireside Favourites (1980)
 * Incontinent (1981)
 * Under the Flag (1982)
 * Gag (1984)

As Frank Tovey

 * Easy Listening for the Hard of Hearing (with Boyd Rice) (1984)
 * Snakes & Ladders (1986)
 * Civilian (1988)
 * Tyranny and the Hired Hand (1989)
 * Grand Union (1991)
 * Worried Men in Second-Hand Suits (1992)

title: Fad Gadget


text:
The Diary of Samuel Marchbanks

The Diary of Samuel Marchbanks, published by Clarke, Irwin in 1947, is the first of the Samuel Marchbanks books by Canadian novelist and journalist Robertson Davies. The other two books in this series are The Table Talk of Samuel Marchbanks (1949) and Samuel Marchbanks' Almanack (1967).

Davies created the Samuel Marchbanks character while editor of the Peterborough Examiner newspaper in the small city of Peterborough, Ontario, northeast of Toronto. He wrote the first column under the Marchbanks pseudonym in 1944.

The Diary of Samuel Marchbanks presents a year's worth of Marchbanks' columns in a diary format. For this book Davies chose the best columns from 1945 and 1946 and added a few new pieces.

Davies' writings as Samuel Marchbanks were also collected in a one-volume edition, The Papers of Samuel Marchbanks in 1985.

title: The Diary of Samuel Marchbanks


text:
I Ching divination

I Ching divination is a form of cleromancy applied to the I Ching. The text of the I Ching consists of sixty-four hexagrams: six-line figures of yin (broken) or yang (solid) lines, and commentaries on them. There are two main methods of building up the lines of the hexagram, using either 50 yarrow stalks or three coins. Some of the lines may be designated "old" lines, in which case the lines are subsequently changed to create a second hexagram. The text relating to the hexagram(s) and old lines (if any) is studied, and the meanings derived from such study can be interpreted as an oracle.

Methods
Each hexagram is six lines, written sequentially one above the other; each of the lines represents a state that is either yin (陰 : dark, feminine, etc., represented by a broken line) or yang (陽 : light, masculine, etc., a solid line), and either old (moving or changing, represented by an "X" written on the middle of a yin line, or a circle written on the middle of a yang line) or young (static, unchanging). The usual methods for consulting the I Ching as an oracle produce a "sacred" or "ritual" number for each type of line: 6 (for an old yin line), 7 (young yang), 8 (young yin), or 9 (old yang). The six lines are produced in order using the chosen method (see below for examples), beginning at the first (lowest) one and proceeding upward to the sixth (uppermost) line, each with its corresponding number. Then, the commentaries applying to the generated hexagram are studied; if the hexagram contains no old lines at all, that concludes the consultation, but if there are one or more old lines, the separate commentary for each such line is also studied. Then, the lines are appropriately changed (any old yin lines into young yang lines, and any old yang lines into young yin lines), which—with the young lines in the original hexagram remaining the same—results in a second, different, hexagram, the commentarial material on which is then also studied.

The method used by the diviner to generate the hexagram(s) depends on their circumstances and beliefs; the yarrow-stalk method is usually employed by traditionalists who find significance in its complexity, and in the resulting time needed to manipulate the stalks to produce a hexagram. Coin methods, and others, are used either by those short of time, or by fortune-tellers who need a quick reading. There are also methods to generate a hexagram by interpreting the time, direction, person, etc., instead of throwing coins or dividing and counting yarrow stalks. Several of the methods described below force exactly one, or no, moving lines; the traditional yarrow-stalk method allows from zero to six moving lines. The yarrow-stalk method favours static lines over moving lines in the ratio 3:1.

Precursor to I Ching: Cracks in turtle shell
Plastromancy or the turtle-shell oracle is probably the earliest recorded form of fortune telling. The diviner would apply heat to a piece of a turtle shell (sometimes with a hot poker), and interpret the resulting cracks. The cracks were sometimes annotated with inscriptions, the oldest Chinese writings that have been discovered. This oracle predated the earliest versions of the Zhou Yi (dated from about 1100 BC) by hundreds of years.

A variant on this method was to use ox shoulder bones, a practice called scapulimancy. When thick material was to be cracked, the underside was thinned by carving with a knife.

Yarrow stalks

Hexagrams may be generated by the manipulation of yarrow stalks. These are usually genuine Achillea millefolium stalks that have been cut and prepared for such purposes, or any form of wooden rod or sticks (the quality ranging from cheap hardwood to very expensive red sandalwood, etc.) which are plain, lacquered, or varnished. When genuine Achillea is used, varieties local to the diviner are considered the best, as they would contain qi closer to, and more in tune with, the diviner, or they may come from a particularly spiritual or relevant place, such as on the grounds of a Confucian temple. When not in use, they are kept in a cloth or silk bag/pouch or a wooden case/box.

Fifty yarrow stalks are used, though one stalk is set aside at the beginning and takes no further part in the process of consultation. The remaining forty-nine stalks are roughly sorted into two piles, and then for the right hand pile one stalk is initially "remaindered"; then the pile is "cast off" in lots of four (i.e., groups of four stalks are removed). The remainders from each half are combined (traditionally placed between the fingers of one hand during the counting process) and set aside, with the process then repeated twice (i.e., for a total of three times). The total number of stalks in the remainder pile will necessarily (if the procedure has been followed correctly) be 9 or 5, in the first count, and 8 or 4, in the second. 9 or 8 is assigned a value of 2; 5 or 4, a value of 3. The total of the three passes will be one of just four values: 6 (2+2+2), 7 (2+2+3), 8 (2+3+3), or 9 (3+3+3)—that value is the number of the first line. The forty-nine stalks are then gathered and the entire procedure repeated to generate each of the remaining five lines of the hexagram.

The yarrow-stalk method produces unequal probabilities for obtaining each of the four totals, as shown in the table. Compared to the three-coin method discussed next, the probabilities of the lines produced by the yarrow-stalk method are significantly different.

Note that the Yarrow algorithm is a particular algorithm for generating random numbers; while it is named after the yarrow-stalk method of consulting the I Ching, its details are unrelated to it.

Three-coin method

The three-coin method came into use over a thousand years after the yarrow-stalk method. The quickest, easiest, and most popular method by far, it has largely supplanted yarrow stalks, but produces outcomes with different likelihoods. Three coins are tossed at once; each coin is given a value of 2 or 3, depending upon whether it is heads or tails, respectively. Six such tosses make the hexagram. Some fortune-tellers use an empty tortoise shell to shake the coins in before throwing them on a dish or plate.

Modified Three-coin method
The three-coin method can be modified to have the same probabilities as the yarrow-stalk method by having one of the coins be of a second coin type, or in some way be marked as special (i.e., be distinguishable from the other coins). All three coins are tossed at once. The results are counted just as in the original three-coin method, with two exceptions: one to make yin less likely to move, and one to make yang more likely to move. (The probability for 6/8/9/7 in the coin method is 2/6/2/6, but in the yarrow-stalk method is 1/7/3/5; hence, 6 has to occur less often, and 9 has to occur more often.)

In the case where the special coin is tails and the other two are both tails—which would normally produce a 6—re-flip the marked coin: if it remains tails, then it remains a 6 (moving yin); otherwise, treat it as an 8 (static yin). As a 6 can become a 6 or an 8, it reduces the probability of the moving 6. In other words, it makes the old yin less likely to change (or move).

In the case where the special coin is heads and the other two are both tails—which would normally produce a 7—re-flip the marked coin: if it remains heads, then it remains as a 7 (static yang); otherwise, it becomes a 9 (moving yang). As a 7 can become a 7 or an 9, it reduces the probability of the static 7. In other words, it makes the young yang less likely and hence more yangs change as a result.

This method retains the 50% chance of yin:yang, but changes the ratio of moving yin to static yin from 1:3 to 1:7; likewise, it changes the ratio of moving yang to static yang from 1:3 to 3:5, which is the same probabilities as the yarrow-stalk method.

Two-coin method
Some purists contend that there is a problem with the three-coin method because its probabilities differ from the more ancient, yarrow-stalk, method. In fact, over the centuries there have even been other methods used for consulting the oracle.

The two-coin method involves tossing one pair of coins twice: on the first toss, two heads give a value of 2, and anything else is 3; on the second toss, each coin is valued separately, to give a sum from 6 to 9, as above. This results in the same distribution of probabilities as for the yarrow-stalk method.

Simplified two-coin method
A modified version of the two-coin method improves on the original on several aspects. First, while maintaining the probabilities of the traditional yarrow-stalk method, it simplifies outcomes such that they become intuitive at first sight, without need of further calculations. Second, it reduces the average number of coin throws per hexagram by 25%, from 12 to 9. It does so by requiring to throw the coins a second time only if both coins land on the same face (either both heads, or both tails), thus only in 50% of instances. Third, it is easy to memorize, as it clearly identifies heads with yang, and tails with yin, and a greater share of heads/tails with old (aka mature, moving, changing) yang/yin.

The modified two-coin method involves tossing one pair of coins of different size or shape. The larger, or heavier coin is assigned primacy (and is reported here as first, dominant, outcome) while the outcome of the smaller one comes second. Let H be heads and T tails.

If the coins land H, T, yang dominates and the outcome is young yang, unchanging. There is no need to throw the coins again for the same line.

If the coins land T, H, then yin dominates and the outcome is young yin, unchanging. Again, there is no need to throw the coins again for the same line.

If the coins land both on heads (H, H) then the outcome is for sure yang, but one must throw again to verify if the yang is changing (aka old) or unchanging (young). In case the second throw yields at least one H (either H, H, or H, T, or T, H), then the yang is changing. If both coins land on T (T, T) at second throw then the yang is unchanging.

If the coins land both on tails (T, T) then the outcome is for sure yin, but one must throw again to verify if the yin is changing or unchanging. In case the second throw yields both tails (T, T), then the yin is changing. If any of the two coins lands on H (either H, T, or T, H, or H, H) at second throw then the yin is unchanging.

The modified two-coin method yields old yang (changing) 3/16 of the times. Unchanging yang 5/16 times, and unchanging yin 7/16. The remaining 1/16 outcomes is old yin (changing).

It is considered simplified as it reduces the number of throws and calculations needed to correctly identify the outcome of each hexagram line, compared to any other method. While this has its advantages, some purists consider the time required to build the hexagram as a fundamental aspect of I Ching divination, for its ceremonial as well as introspective purposes. This said, any other coin based method can be considered similarly lacking on this regard, when compared to the yarrow-stalk method.

As is the case for the conventional two-coin method and the four coin method, the simplified two-coin method can be boiled down to binary numbers, simply interpreting any H as 1 and any T as 0. Then, old yin takes value of 0000 (0 in decimal numbers), unchanging yin values between 0001 and 0111 (1 to 7), unchanging yang those between 1000 and 1100 (8 to 12), and old yang from 1101 to 1111 (13 to 15). This also clearly showcases the relative probabilities of each outcome.

Four coins
With tails assigned the value 0 (zero) and heads the value 1, four coins tossed at once can be used to generate a four-bit binary number, the right-most coin indicating the first bit, the next coin (to the first's left) indicating the next bit, etc. The number 0000 is called old yin; the next three numbers—0001, 0010, and 0011 (the binary numbers whose decimal equivalents are 1, 2, and 3, respectively)—are called old yang, with a similar principle applied to the remaining twelve outcomes. This gives identical results to the yarrow-stalk method.

The two-coin method described above can be performed with four coins, simply by having one pair of coins be alike—of the same size or denomination—while the other two are of a different size or denomination; the larger coins can then be counted as the first toss, while the two smaller coins constitute the second toss (or vice versa).

Six coins
Six coins—five identical coins and one different—can be thrown at once. The coin that lands closest to a line drawn on the table will make the first line of the hexagram, and so on: heads for yang, tails for yin. The distinct coin is a moving line. This method has the dual failings that (1) it forces every hexagram to be a changing hexagram, and (2) it only ever allows exactly one line to be changing.

Eight coins on Ba Qian
Eight coins, one marked, are tossed at once. They are picked up in order and placed onto a Bagua diagram; the marked coin rests on the lower trigram. The eight process is repeated for the upper trigram. After a third toss, the first six coins are placed on the hexagram to mark a moving line. This has the deficiency or allowing at most one moving line, whereas all six lines could be moving in traditional methods.

Dice
Any dice with an even number of faces can also be used in the same fashion as the coin tosses, with even die rolls for heads and odd for tails. An eight-sided die (d8) can be used to simulate the chances of a line being an old moving line equivalent to the yarrow-stalk method. For example, because the chances of any yin line or any yang line are equal in the yarrow-stalk method, there is a one-in-eight chance of getting any basic trigram, the same chance held under the ba qian method, so the ba qian method can be used to determine the basic hexagram. The d8 can then be used by rolling it once for each line to determine moving lines. A result of 1 on a yin line, or 3 or less on a yang line, will make that line a moving line, preserving the yarrow-stalk method's outcomes.

Another dice method that produces the 1:7:3:5 ratio of the yarrow-stalk method is to add 1d4 + 1d8. All odd results are considered yin, with the result of 11 denoting an old yin. Any even results would be considered yang, with both 4 and 10 treated as old yang.

Two dice methods that not only produce the yarrow-stalk probabilities but also maintain the traditional even–odd associations of yin and yang are the 3d4 and 2d8 methods. In the 3d4 method, one rolls three four-sided dice and adds their outcomes, treating all odd totals as yang and all even totals as yin, with totals of 4, 7, and 12 indicating a moving line. The 2d8 method works analogously for two eight-sided dice, but here, any total over 10 (with the exception of 12) is considered moving.

Calendric cycles and astrology
There is a tradition of Taoist thought which explores numerology, esoteric cosmology, astrology and feng shui in connection with the I Ching.

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The eleventh-century Neo-Confucian philosopher Shao Yung contributed advanced methods of divination including the Plum Blossom Yi Numerology, a horary astrology that takes into account the number of calligraphic brush strokes of one's query. Following the associations Carl Jung drew between astrology and I Ching with the introduction of his theory of synchronicity, the authors of modern Yi studies are much informed by the astrological paradigm. Chu and Sherrill provide five astrological systems in An Anthology of I Ching and in The Astrology of I Ching develop a form of symbolic astrology that uses the eight trigrams in connection with the time of one's birth to generate an oracle from which further hexagrams and a daily line judgement are derived. Another modern development incorporates the planetary positions of one's natal horoscope against the backdrop of Shao Yung's circular Fu Xi arrangement and the Western zodiac to provide multiple hexagrams corresponding to each of the planets.

Wen Wang Gua method
This method goes back to Jing Fang (78–37 BC). While a hexagram is derived with one of the common methods like coin or yarrow stalks, here the divination is not interpreted on the basis of the classic I Ching text. Instead, this system connects each of the six hexagram lines to one of the Twelve Earthly Branches, and then the picture can be analyzed with the use of 5 Elements (Wu Xing).

By bringing in the Chinese calendar, this method not only tries to determine what will happen, but also when it will happen. As such, Wen Wang Gua makes a bridge between I Ching and the Four Pillars of Destiny.

Software methods
The preceding ("concrete"/physical) methods can be simulated in ("abstract"/conceptual) software. This has the theoretical advantage of improving randomness aspects of consulting the I Ching ("not-doing" in the personal sense, enhancing the "universal" principle). For all methods, one must pre-focus/prepare the mind.

Here is a typical example for the "modified three-coin" method:

With a modified three-coin method as default, this may avoid the Sung dynasty issue, i.e., when you have an easily available and simple method, you use it—but with a wrong probability! (Also, the first number starts from the bottom like a hexagram.)

A JavaScript version of the Yarrow Stalk method, which generates slightly different probabilities, is available in open source form at GitHub.

Probability analysis of I Ching divination
Most analyses of the probabilities of either the coin method or yarrow-stalk method agree on the probabilities for each method. The coin method varies significantly from the yarrow-stalk method, in that the former gives the same probability to both of the moving lines and to both of the static lines, which is not the case in the yarrow-stalk method.

However, the calculation of the frequencies for the yarrow-stalk method—generally believed to be the same as those described in this article in the simplified method using sixteen objects—contains a further error, in the opinion of Andrew Kennedy, which is that of including the selection of zero as a quantity for either hand. The yarrow-stalk procedure expressly requires that the four numbers be produced without using zero; Kennedy shows that by not allowing the user to select zero for either hand, or a single stalk for the right hand (this stalk is moved to the left hand before counting by fours, and so also leaves a zero in the right hand), the hexagram frequencies change significantly for a daily user of the oracle. Kennedy has modified the simplified method of using sixteen coloured objects described in this article as follows: "take 38 objects, of which
 * 8 are of one colour = moving yang
 * 2 are of a different colour = moving yin
 * 11 are of a different colour = static yang
 * 17 are of a different colour = static yin"

This arrangement produces Kennedy's calculated frequencies within 0.1%.

In popular culture

 * In Profiler Season 1, Episode 3: "Holy Alliance" (1996), a serial killer uses I Ching, and the hexagram determines what and how someone is chosen and killed.
 * In the Mad Men season 6 episode, "Crash", Frank Gleason's flower child daughter, Wendy, uses the three-coin method to tell fortunes at the offices of the newly merged firm.
 * In The Man In the High Castle by Philip K. Dick, several characters consult the I Ching at various points and consider the answers given. Dick apparently used the I Ching while writing his novel, to help him decide on the direction of the plot.
 * In the TV adaptation of the novel, the I Ching is habitually used by character Nabosuke Tagomi, who later teaches this to Juliana Crain and Trudy Walker.
 * In the song "God", John Lennon states that he "doesn't believe in I Ching", among many other religious and cultural phenomena that he claims to not believe in or follow.
 * The song "Walking On The Chinese Wall" by Philip Bailey references the I Ching and the coin method.
 * In Philip Pullman's The Amber Spyglass, Mary Malone uses the I Ching as a way to communicate with Dust.
 * In episode 700 of the Dark Shadows original TV series, Barnabas Collins and Professor Elliott Stokes discover a set of I Ching wands in a drawer in an abandoned section of the Collinwood mansion in 1969. Barnabas casts himself into a trance using the wands, allowing his astral body to travel back to the year 1897.
 * In the video game Cyberpunk 2077, players can undertake a mission to collect several self-driving cars driven by artificial intelligence. If the player chooses to grant the cars independence, they will receive messages from one vehicle stating that it has discovered the meaning of life through the 61st hexagram.
 * The song "Chapter 24" by Pink Floyd takes its lyrics from the commentary on the 24th hexagram.
 * In Sheila Heti's 2018 autobiographical novel Motherhood, Heti includes conversations where she asks yes or no questions about art, love and motherhood, and attempts to answer them using coin flips. This was inspired by the I Ching .

title: I Ching divination


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User:Myamashita/Defensive Disclosure

Defensive Disclosure is a technique in Intellectual Property

prior_art

title: User:Myamashita/Defensive Disclosure


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South Stack

South Stack (Ynys Lawd) is an island situated just off Holy Island on the northwest coast of Anglesey, Wales.

Geology
South Stack is an island known as a sea stack. It was formed by the wave erosion of sedimentary rocks that once connected the island to the mainland.

The area is known geologically as the South Stack Formation. Its strata includes sandstones and interbedded shales which have been contorted by large folds and crumples. The folds can be seen in the seacliffs (best viewed from the steps leading down to the lighthouse). Thick beds of pure Holyhead Quartzite, which forms the bulk of Holyhead Mountain, lie above these folded sedimentary rocks. Recent studies suggests the rocks appearance was caused by large scale earth movements which is not a part of the normal sedimentary process; however, this theory remains controversial. Similar evidence of upthrusts can be seen in the cliffs to the south of South Stack.

The geology of South Stack has been chosen as one of the top 100 geosites in the United Kingdom by Geological Society of London, for its display of small-scale folding.

Lighthouse
South Stack Lighthouse, which was completed in 1809, is sited 41 m above the sea on South Stack. Its lamp tower is 28 m-tall and the lighthouse complex covers 7 acre. There are over 390 stone steps and 10 metal steps down to the footbridge.

Originally the only way to cross to the island was in a basket suspended from a hemp cable. In 1828, an iron suspension bridge was built; it was replaced in 1964 with a steel cable truss bridge. However, in 1983 it had to be closed to the public due to safety concerns. After a new aluminium bridge was built, the lighthouse was reopened to the public in 1997. It has become a popular destination, attracting thousands of visitors every year.

Nature reserve
The island's cliffs are part of the South Stack Cliffs RSPB reserve which are home to an estimated 8,000 nesting birds during the breeding season. An RSPB visitor centre (with bird hide) is located at Elin's Tower on the mainland. Birds and marine life seen from the centre include choughs, peregrine falcons, and kestrels as well as harbour porpoises, grey seals, Risso's dolphins and bottlenose dolphins.

Tidal energy project
In 2019, proposals to develop a 35 km2 'West Anglesey Demonstration Zone' tidal energy project at South Stack were submitted under the Transport and Works Act 1992 to the Welsh Government for planning consent. Consent for the project, called Morlais was awarded in December 2021 and construction of the onshore grid connection works took place in 2023.

As the development will come within 500 metres of the South Stack SSSI, concerns have been expressed about the visual impact on the Anglesey Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and the Holyhead Mountain Heritage Coast, along with the resultant impact on the tourism, recreation and fishing sectors. The developers have identified that seabird and mammal populations would be affected within the Holy Island Coast Special Area of Conservation and Special Protection Area along with the North Anglesey Marine Special Area of Conservation. Most notably bottlenose dolphin and harbour porpoise would likely be affected, whilst razorbill and common guillemot will be severely impacted. The RSPB is concerned that the razorbill colony on South Stack could be wiped out.

Walking trails
Part of the Anglesey Coastal Path, which is a 200 km long-distance footpath around the island of Anglesey, passes South Stack. The Cybi Circular Walk around Holyhead Mountain has long and short variants; the short walk is 4 mi long and takes around two hours to complete. Travelling from the Breakwater Country Park, other sites along the way are the North Stack Fog Signal station, Caer y Tŵr, and Tŷ Mawr Hut Circles.

Media
South Stack's natural beauty has been used in photography and literature. The cover photo for Roxy Music's Siren album was taken directly below the central span of the bridge on a slope on the south side, by Graham Hughes in August 1975. In 2010, a French comic entitled Les Gardiens des Enfers (The Guardians of Hell) was published. Its story is mainly set in South Stack lighthouse in 1859. The cover and the first pages can be seen on the publisher's website.

title: South Stack


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Shellshock (song)

"Shellshock" is the eleventh single released by British group New Order on 17 March 1986. The song originally appeared on the soundtrack to the movie Pretty in Pink one month prior to its single release. Production is credited to New Order and John Robie, and is loosely inspired by the 1983 Robie-produced R&B club hit, "One More Shot"—a studio project where Robie performed under the band name, C-Bank, and featuring vocals by Jenny Burton.

The single had differing B-sides; in the UK (catalogue number: FAC 143) the 7-inch came with the recycled "Thieves Like Us" instrumental, which also turned up in the movie Pretty in Pink (although not on the soundtrack), while the 12-inch had a dub mix titled "Shellcock". The US release had the also previously released instrumental version of "Thieves Like Us", which had appeared on the "Murder" 12-inch single on Factory Benelux.

"Shellshock" was an international hit, making the mainstream chart in the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.

The 12-inch boasts an extended remix of the song running nearly ten minutes, New Order's longest single not based on a track from one of their studio albums (discounting remixes of legacy songs) behind the 22.5-minute uncut release of "Video 5 8 6". For the release of the popular singles compilation Substance, the original Pretty in Pink soundtrack version was not used, as is widely believed, but an edited version of the 12-inch remix cut down to six-and-a-half minutes, omitting an entire verse of vocals. It is this version that appears most often on CD. The 9:41 single remix does not appear on any subsequent New Order compilations, however it surfaced on CD and digital download in 2011 on Volume 6 of the Blank & Jones Soeighties compilation series, titled "Extended Version".

In 2022 the full original 12" version, with a track length of 9:46, was finally released widely in digital format to streaming platforms as a single with the title "''Shellshock (2022 Digital Master')'".

Artwork
The cover artwork on the 12-inch single is by English photographer Geoff Power, taken in Florence, Italy.

title: Shellshock (song)


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Burn rate

Burn rate is the rate at which a company consumes its cash. It is typically expressed in monthly terms and used for startups. E.g., "the company's burn rate is currently $65,000 per month." In this sense, the word "burn" is a synonymous term for negative cash flow. It is also a measure of how fast a company will use up its shareholder capital. If the shareholder capital is exhausted, the company will either have to start making a profit, find additional funding, or close down.

Burn rate can also refer to how quickly individuals spend their money, particularly their discretionary income. For example, Mackenzie Investments commissioned a test to gauge the spending and saving behavior of Canadians to determine if they are “Overspenders.”

Burn rate is also used in project management to determine the rate at which hours (allocated to a project) are being used, to identify when work is going out of scope, or when efficiencies are being lost. The term is also used in biology, to refer to a person's basic metabolic rate; in rocketry, it refers to the rate at which a rocket is burning fuel; and in chemistry.

History
The term came into common use during the dot-com era when many start-up companies went through several stages of funding before emerging into profitability and positive cash flows and thus becoming self-sustainable (or, as for the majority, failing to find additional funding and sustainable business models and thus going bankrupt). In between funding events, burn rate becomes an important management measure, since together with the available funds, it provides a time measure to when the next funding event needs to take place.

Some entrepreneurs and investors say that part of the reasons behind the dot-com bust was the unsound management and financial investor practices to keep the burn rate up, taking it as a proxy for how fast the start-up company was acquiring a customer base.

In project management
Aside from financing, the term burn rate is also used in project management to determine the rate at which hours (allocated to a project) are being used, to identify when work is going out of scope, or when efficiencies are being lost. Simply put, the burn rate of any project is the rate at which the project budget is being burned (spent).

title: Burn rate


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Talk:Camille Chamoun

Historical Accuracy
Several references to soviet/communist involvement in 1958 have been removed as these are not accurate.

Overall, this article needs a re-write. It doesn't cover Chamoun's involvement in corruption and his role in the events causing the Lebanese Civil War, nor his role in precipitating the crisis of 1958 by rigging elections.

John Ball 23 Oct 2004 12:24.

Chamoun didnt cause the Lebanese Civil war LOL what esculated the civil was arab nationalists wanting to make Lebanon the only country to fight their wars from and the stupidity of the The Cairo Agreements which Gamal Abdul Nasser imposed in 1969  ♥Yasmina♥ (talk) 17:47, 4 February 2010 (UTC) the rigging of Election claim came from Arab nationalists who were bitter about the fact he didnt want to appease the Nasser in joing the Arab republio or war games. Also Chamoun had pro-western and neutral policies policies that angered Muslims.♥Yasmina♥ (talk) 17:47, 4 February 2010 (UTC)

Reverting - Cold War People
Pearle, I hope you don't mind my reverting your last edit. You've removed a lot of names form the category of cold war people, and rightly so, but Chamoun was a key figure, if not the key figure, in the Lebanon Crisis of 1958, which Eisenhower of the USA blamed (rightly or wrongly) on Communist interference. The Cold War did have something to do with it, as least as regards America's decision to back Chamoun by sending marines. David Cannon 00:06, 15 September 2005 (UTC)

title: Talk:Camille Chamoun


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The Table Talk of Samuel Marchbanks

The Table Talk of Samuel Marchbanks, published by Clarke Irwin in 1949, is the second of the Samuel Marchbanks books by Canadian novelist and journalist Robertson Davies. The other two books in this series are The Diary of Samuel Marchbanks (1947) and Samuel Marchbanks' Almanack (1967).

History
Davies created the Samuel Marchbanks character while he was the editor of the Peterborough Examiner newspaper in the small city of Peterborough, Ontario, northeast of Toronto. He wrote the first column under the Marchbanks pseudonym in 1944.

The Table Talk of Samuel Marchbanks presents a number of Marchbanks' columns from 1947 and 1948, presenting them as observations purportedly made by Marchbanks during a seven-course formal dinner.

Davies' writings as Samuel Marchbanks were also collected in a one-volume edition, The Papers of Samuel Marchbanks in 1985.

title: The Table Talk of Samuel Marchbanks