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Hotel (album)

Hotel is the seventh studio album by American electronica musician, singer, songwriter, and producer Moby. It was released on March 14, 2005, internationally by Mute Records and on March 22, 2005, in the United States by V2 Records. The album marked a stylistic shift from electronic and dance-oriented music towards alternative rock and Moby's decision not to use vocal sampling for the first time since his 1993 album Ambient.

Hotel was met with a mixed critical reception upon release but was a commercial success, reaching No. 28 in the US and No. 8 in the UK. Elsewhere, it reached No. 1 in Belgium and Switzerland. Initial quantities of the album included a second CD of ambient music entitled Hotel: Ambient. By 2013, the album had sold over 2 million copies worldwide. In 2014, Hotel: Ambient was released with additional tracks.

Background and writing
After touring for his previous album, 18 (2002), ended in 2003, Moby took a detour in musical styles and released Baby Monkey, the third album under his Voodoo Child pseudonym, in January 2004. It marked a return to his techno and rave roots, which had brought him success in the early 1990s. At the time of the album's release, Moby revealed that he had around 250 songs of varied styles, including electronic, ambient, and experimental pieces, for his next full studio album, but he was unsure as to what direction it should take. His early desire was to make a disco and dance-oriented album. He abandoned this idea for an album of ballads, and wrote between 30 and 40 songs before he decided that the time was not right for such a direction.

Moby drew a large amount of inspiration for Hotel from his experiences in living in New York City. The music he heard DJs play in local bars, and the bands he saw perform live at various gigs, made him feel "like I was being given license to bask or wallow in my early influences". In a departure from his previous albums Play and 18, the album marks Moby's first since Ambient (1993) which does not include any vocal samples. Though the many songs that he had written did contain them, they did not interest him as much. Moby reasoned this down to the difficulty in learning the sampling function of the audio recording software on his computer, but nonetheless enjoyed writing the songs without relying on them. Moby said the songs on Hotel are more personal and direct than on his previous albums. After selecting tracks to record for the album, Moby began to search for vocalists to sing on them, but he was unsuccessful in finding people with voices he liked. The candidates that showed the most potential lacked an emotional quality in their voice.

In a journal entry on his website, Moby explained the title Hotel, writing that he was fascinated by the nature of hotels, where humans spend often significant portions of their lives, but have all traces of their tenancy removed for the next guests.

Moby's opinion in retrospect
In recent years, Moby has stated that Hotel is his least favorite of all of the albums he has made. In an interview with Q, Moby said that although the production was "very slick and very professional", he was dissatisfied with the final product once it was done. He explained: "I like some of the songs, but I produced it in such a generic way that I was really kinda disappointed with myself as a producer and as a musician."

In a 2011 interview, Moby recalled that he felt that while making the album, he was more focused on the fame aspect after the unexpected success with Play and wanted to produce an album that had the potential to be commercially successful.

"It's the only time in my life I've ever done that. I recorded it in a big studio with a really successful engineer and ended up with a very slick, polished anodyne record that I just don't like very much. Some of the songs are nice but I'm disappointed I made such a conventional generic record."In his 2019 memoir Then It Fell Apart, Moby recounts his disappointment with the album in chapter 42, writing how at the time he was more concerned with his level of fame and had alienated many of his friends due to his escalating alcoholism and substance abuse: Back in my suite at the Landmark I put on my headphones and went for a walk up and down the carpeted hallways of the hotel, listening to my new album. In terms of recording, mixing, and engineering, Hotel was impeccable. But during the third song, "Beautiful," I knew that a lot of the bad reviews were right: it was missing something. I'd traded my battered little bedroom studio for expensive rooms filled with the best equipment on the planet, and the result was a compromised album. It had a few moments of beauty, but I didn't love it.

I kept listening, and my panic skyrocketed. I realized I'd made a mistake in releasing Hotel. A mistake that had now been shipped around the world for millions of people to experience firsthand. I wanted to buy all of the millions of CDs that had been shipped, bury them in Nevada, and rerecord all the songs on the cheap equipment in my little studio on Mott Street.

Recording
Hotel was recorded in sections in the space of a year and a half. Moby recorded it using ProTools software. Around three-quarters of the album, including the vocals and electronic instrumentation, was recorded at his home studio on Mott Street in Manhattan, New York City. The live drums were put down at Electric Lady Studios, and other tracks, including most of the guitars, were recorded at Loho Studios, both in Manhattan. Moby decided to record in outside studios due to the quality of the recording rooms and the microphones available. The latter housed a large Neve console, assembled from the parts of four to five other Neve models. Mixing was completed at Electric Lady Studios, onto half-inch analogue tape, using a Solid State Logic J-Series desk.

Moby is responsible for playing the instruments on all the album's tracks, except for drums. Laura Dawn provides additional vocals. The guitars used on the album include an acoustic, a Carlo Robelli model that Moby estimated cost $180, and a Les Paul Goldtop.

Songs
Moby wrote "Lift Me Up" as a tribute to the English rock band The Sisters of Mercy. He made an attempt to have their lead vocalist Andrew Eldritch sing it but he was unsuccessful in his search to contact Eldritch. "Spiders" is an homage to David Bowie. He expanded on the song's meaning: "It's inspired by the anthropological seeds of fascism, and how easy it is for intellectuals to turn off the intellect and get lost in the crowd." He clarified that its uplifting chorus is more "quizzical" in how easy it is for one to get "lost in the moment". "Lift Me Up" and "Raining Again" contain additional background vocals by Shayna Steele. The latter is about a relationship that is falling apart, while the world is crumbling around them too. "When You End" is a sad song about a relationship that ends despite his still being in love with the person. "Dream About Me" is another song about being in a flawed, yet loving relationship. "Beautiful" is a love song. "Temptation" is a cover of the song by New Order. Moby declared "Slipping Away" as the most personal song he had written up to this point in his career. "It's not really about anything in particular. It's not about a specific event ... It's just like emotionally descriptive." "Very" is a song that Moby described as his homage to Giorgio Moroder and Donna Summer.

Release
Hotel was released internationally on March 14, 2005; its US release followed on March 22. The lead single was "Lift Me Up", released on February 28, 2005. The second UK single, "Spiders", was released on May 23, 2005, to coincide with Moby's UK tour.

As with Moby's previous albums Play and 18, an accompanying DVD for Hotel was later released, featuring the videos for the album's singles, live footage, and a sequel to Moby's home movie and tour diary series, Give an Idiot a Camcorder.

The bonus disc of Hotel, titled Hotel: Ambient, which consisted of ambient music, was later re-released as a separate release on December 16, 2014. The release contains remastered versions of all songs on the original, together with three extra tracks: "May 4 Two", "Spaired Long", and "Live Forever (Long)".

Critical reception
Hotel received generally mixed reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 47, based on 24 reviews, which indicates "mixed or average reviews". Critics gave a lukewarm reaction to the album's first disc, which they felt was mostly "predictable" and "generic", while most of the praise went towards the second disc comprising ambient techno: AllMusic calling it the record's "saving grace" and Entertainment Weekly complimenting its "ethereal" instrumentals. Andy Kellman from AllMusic observed that Hotel shows little inspiration from Moby's previously advertised new wave and post-punk era, while criticizing his decision to hold off from sampling, which he felt led to an album with "all valley and no peaks", but nevertheless praised the "lovely" opening and closing tracks. Not all critics opposed Moby's decision to abstain from sampling; Christian Hoard from Rolling Stone considered the "nostalgic" songs to "transmit singer-songwriter warmth and clarity through textures that effuse autumnal beauty", despite their feeling relatively sparse, and the slower tracks "[vaguing] out". On the other hand, Robert Hilburn of the Los Angeles Times was unimpressed with Moby's "detached, deadpan" vocals, which leave most of the tracks as "surface decorations". He felt that although it sounds more "natural", its essence was instead "less organic and more calculated", thus showing the album's "insistence on being liked". Writing for The Guardian, David Peschek also commented on the record's vocals, feeling that the "cumulative vocal pallor" and "bizarrely cliched ideas" make for a "wan listen".

Eric Henderson from Slant Magazine further compared the record to a chain of hotels, writing: "[Hotel] is one identical room/song after another. Same furnishings, same instrumentation, same emotionless façade." Nick Cowen of Drowned in Sound felt similarly about the album's "bland and instantly forgettable" tone, while disapproving of the "unbelievably bad" cover of "Temptation", which he wrote was too "stripped down" and slow. Pitchfork's Rob Mitchum was most critical of Hotel, pointing out that the record "strikes the same mood of one-way-street sloganeering" consisting of "simple, familiar, and recycled" imagery, which dropped Moby to a "blank manufacturer of rock-by-numbers", devoid of his previously distinguishing characteristics.

However, Entertainment Weekly's Doug Brog was more positive towards the album, commending Moby's "appealing cheekiness" among the songs, especially with the "big-chorus soft rock" of "Slipping Away". Andy Battaglia from The A.V. Club agreed that Hotel still "holds out a few touching glimmers", with songs like "Slipping Away", which is carried by a "robust melodic hook", coupled with the "sexy, mysterious production and breathy vocals" on "I Like It".

Track listing
Note

Personnel
Credits for Hotel adapted from album liner notes.

 * Moby – engineering, mixing, production, writing, instruments, vocals
 * Jason Candler – vocals
 * Laura Dawn – vocals
 * Scott Frassetto – drums
 * Orion Simprini – vocals
 * Brian Sperber – mixing, vocals
 * Shayna Steele – vocals
 * Kurt Uenala – vocals

title: Hotel (album)


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USS Briscoe

Two ships of the United States Navy have borne the name Briscoe.

 * USS Briscoe (APA-65), was a Gilliam-class attack transport laid down in 1944, served during World War II, and decommissioned in 1946. This ship was named in honor of Briscoe County, Texas.
 * USS Briscoe (DD-977), was a Spruance-class destroyer laid down in 1975 and decommissioned in 2003. This ship was named in honor of Admiral Robert P. Briscoe.

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

title: USS Briscoe


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Five Trees

The Five Trees in Paradise is an esoteric or allegorical image from the Coptic Gospel of Thomas, a collection of logia (sayings) of Jesus.

"(19) Jesus said, "Blessed is he who came into being before he came into being. If you become My disciples and listen to My words, these stones will minister to you. For there are five trees for you in Paradise which remain undisturbed summer and winter and whose leaves do not fall. Whoever becomes acquainted with them will not experience death.""

"Blessed is he who was before he came into being" is similar to other enigmatic statements commonly found in mysticism, and may refer to the benefits of self-awareness (knowledge of one's true nature) before developing one's ego-identity. "If you [listen], these stones will minister to you," may refer to "listening" to the true self within – accurately tracing the internal by observing the external — or it may mean that only through self-awareness are we able to understand Jesus' symbolic language and master external reality.

In the Acts of Thomas ch. 27, during an anointing ceremony, the apostle implores, "Come, elder of the five members, mind, thought, reflection, consideration, reason; communicate with these young men." According to Theodore bar Konai, the five words for 'mind' are the equivalents of hauna (sanity), mad'a (reason), re'yana (mindfulness), mahshebhatha (imagination), tar'itha (intention) – considered the Five Manifestations of the Father of Greatness which may provide the clue to the meaning of the five trees. These five would therefore be the causal factors in the experience of the Real.

Marvin Meyer writes: "The "five trees" in paradise are mentioned frequently in gnostic texts, ordinarily without explanation or elaboration. In Manichaean Psalm Book 161,17-29, it is said that various features of life and faith are put together in groups of five. This section opens with the statement, 'For [five] are the trees that are in paradise ... in summer and winter.' On the trees in paradise according to Genesis, see Genesis 2:9."

Senses
According to the Naassenes, "Paradise" in this allegory represents the human head. It has been suggested that the "five trees" represent the five human senses which produce one's internal worldview, knowledge of which is a requirement for purification and enlightenment. However, the body's five senses – representative of lower-level egoism and learned misperception — would more likely be considered an impediment to reunion with the divine.

title: Five Trees


text: Template:PeerYearTable

title: Template:PeerYearTable


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Bruno Lüdke

Bruno Lüdke (3 April 1908 – 8 April 1944) was a German alleged serial killer. Police officials connected him to at least 51 murder victims, mainly women, killed in a 15-year period, which began in 1928 and ended with his arrest in 1943. He was never given a trial, and is considered as innocent.

Arrest
Born in Köpenick, Lüdke had a mild intellectual disability (he could not, for example, tell interrogators how many minutes there were in an hour) and worked as a coachman. He was well known by the local police as a petty thief and peeping tom. On 31 January 1943, a woman was found murdered in the woods near Köpenick, strangled with her own shawl. The victim showed signs of post-mortem sexual abuse, and her purse was missing. Police brought in Lüdke for questioning on 18 March 1943, where he quickly confessed to murdering not only the woman but also several other victims, and was taken into custody. Witnesses report Lüdke showed signs of physical abuse and he stated that "they would kill me if I didn't confess". Lüdke was never put on trial for any of the killings. Declared insane, he was sent to the SS-run Institute of Criminological Medicine in Vienna, where medical experiments were carried out on him until his death, when an experiment went wrong in 1944.

Controversy
The 50-odd crime scenes showed no similarities in modus operandi, signature, or motive. No fingerprints were ever found and no evidence against Lüdke has ever been presented.

A Dutch former Chief of police named Jan Blaauw investigated original police reports, finding them inconclusive, incoherent, and vague. He also expressed his disbelief that a semi-illiterate, who once got caught stealing a chicken, could evade authorities for nearly 20 years, let alone get away with murder.

Many believe Lüdke to be the victim of a frame-up, carried out by an ambitious Kriminalkommissar (Detective Captain) Franz, the heavily censored Reichskriminalpolizeiamt, and the Nazi government, that had little patience with people with intellectual disabilities.

A 1957 movie, Nachts, wenn der Teufel kam, doubted Lüdke as one of Germany's worst serial killers. Attempts at reopening the case by members of the Kriminalrat (Detective Major) Faulhaber yielded no results. The true nature of the 51 murders remains unsolved.

title: Bruno Lüdke


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Turiya

In Hindu philosophy, turiya (Sanskrit: तुरीय, meaning "the fourth"), also referred to as chaturiya or chaturtha, is the true self (atman) beyond the three common states of consciousness (waking, dreaming, and dreamless deep sleep). It is postulated in several Upanishads and explicated in Gaudapada's Mandukya Karika.

Upanishads
Turiya as 'the fourth' is referred to in a number of principal Upanishads. One of the earliest mentions of the phrase turiya, "fourth," is in verse 5.14.3 of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (7th-6th century BCE), referring to a 'fourth foot' of the Gayatri Mantra, the first, second and third foot being the 24 syllables of this mantra: "Then there is that fourth (turiya) vivid foot of the Gayatri, which is none other than the sun blazing beyond the sky. The term turiya means the same thing as 'fourth'(caturtha). 'Vivid foot'- for the sunblazes beyond the entire expanse of the sky. A man who knows this foot of the Gayatri in this way will likewise blaze with splendour and fame."

According to Raju, chapter 8.7 through 8.12 of the Chandogya Upanishad (7th-6th century BCE), though not mentioning turiya, 'anticipate' the Mandukya Upanishad and it's treatment of turiya. These verses of the Chandogya Upanishad set out a dialogue between Indra and Virocana, in search of atman, the immortal perceiver, and Prajapati, their teacher. After rejecting the physical body, the dream self, and the dreamless sleep (in which there is no perception of Ï am") as atman, Prajapati declares in verse 12 to Indra that the mortal body is the abode of the "immortal and non-bodily self," which is the perceiver, the one who perceives due to the faculties of the senses.

The phrase "turiya" also appears in Maitri Upanishad (late 1st millennium BCE) in sections 6.19 (in the context of yoga) and 7.11: "6.19. Now, it has elsewhere been said: 'Verily, when a knower has restrained his mind from the external, and the breathing spirit (prāṇa) has put to rest objects of sense, there-upon let him continue void of conceptions. Since the living individual (jīva) who is named 'breathing spirit' has arisen here from what is not breathing spirit, therefore, verily, let the breathing spirit restrain his breathing spirit in what is called the fourth condition (tiwya)' For thus has it been said:- That which is non-thought, [yet] which stands in the midst of  thought, The  unthinkable, supreme mystery! — Thereon let one concentrate his thought And the subtle body (linga), too, without support.

7.11: He who sees  with  the  eye,  and  he  who  moves  in  dreams, He who is deep asleep, and he who is beyond the deep sleeper — These are a person's four distinct conditions. Of these the fourth (turya) is greater [than the rest]."

Verse 7 of the Mandukya Upanishad (1st-2nd century CE) refers to "the fourth" (caturtha), or "the fourth quarter," the first, second and third quarter being situated in the waking, dreaming and dreamless state: "They consider the fourth quarter as perceiving neither what is inside nor what is outside, nor even both together; not as a mass of perception, neither as perceiving nor as not perceiving; as unseen; as beyond the reach of ordinary transaction; as ungraspable; as without distinguishing marks; as unthinkable; as indescribable; as one whose essence is the perception of itself alone; as the cessation of the visible world; as tranquil; as auspicious; as without a second. That is the self (atman), and is that which should be perceived."

Michael Comans disagrees with Nakamura's suggestion that "the concept of the fourth realm (caturtha) was perhaps influenced by the Sunyata of Mahayana Buddhism," stating that "[T]here can be no suggestion that the teaching about the underlying Self as contained in the Mandukya contains shows any trace of Buddhist thought, as this teaching can be traced to the pre-Buddhist Brhadaranyaka Upanishad."

According to Ellen Goldberg, this fourth quarter describes a state of meditation; the insight during meditation of Turiya is known as amātra, the 'immeasurable' or 'measureless' in the Mandukya Upanishad, being synonymous with samādhi in Yoga terminology.

Gaudapada
Gaudapada (ca. 7th century), an early guru in Advaita Vedanta, was the author or compiler of the Mandukya Karika, a commentary on the Māṇḍukya Upanishad, also known as the and as the. Gaudapada was influenced by Buddhism, though he was a Vedantin and not a Buddhist. In the, Gaudapada deals with perception, idealism, causality, truth, and reality. Gaudapada's commentary on verse 7 of the Mandukya Upanishad: "10 Turiya, the changeless Ruler, is capable of destroying all miseries. All other entities being unreal, the non—dual Turiya alone is known as effulgent and all—pervading. 11 Visva and Taijasa are conditioned by cause and effect. Prajna is conditioned by cause alone. Neither cause nor effect exists in Turiya. 12 Prajna does not know anything of self or non—self, of truth or untruth. But Turiya is ever existent and all—seeing. 13 Non—cognition of duality is common to both Prajna and Turiya. But Prajna is associated with sleep in the form of cause and this sleep does not exist in Turiya. 14 The first two, Visva and Taijasa, are associated with dreaming and sleep respectively; Prajna, with Sleep bereft of dreams. Knowers of Brahman see neither sleep nor dreams in Turiya. 15 Dreaming is the wrong cognition and sleep the non—cognition, of Reality. When the erroneous knowledge in these two is destroyed, Turiya is realized. 16 When the jiva, asleep under the influence of beginningless maya, is awakened, it then realizes birthless, sleepless and dreamless Non—duality. 17 If the phenomenal universe were real, then certainly it would disappear. The universe of duality which is cognized is mere illusion (maya); Non—duality alone is the Supreme Reality. 18 If anyone imagines illusory ideas such as the teacher, the taught and the scriptures, then they will disappear. These ideas are for the purpose of instruction. Duality ceases to exist when Reality is known."

The fourth state, (turīya avasthā), corresponds to silence, as the other three correspond to AUM. It is the substratum of the other three states. It is, states Nakamura, atyanta-shunyata (absolute emptiness). For Gaudapada, turiya is the "true 'state' of experience," in which the infinite (ananta) and non-different (advaita/abheda) are apprehended.

Isaeva notes that the Mandukya Upanishad asserts that "the world of individual souls and external objects is just a projection of one indivisible consciousness (citta)," which is "identical with the eternal and immutable atman of the Upanisads [..] in contrast to momentary vijnana taught by the Buddhist schools."

Adi Shankara
Adi Shankara described, on the basis of the ideas propounded in the Mandukya Upanishad, the three states of consciousness, namely waking (jågrata), dreaming (svapna), and deep sleep (susupti):
 * The first state is that of waking consciousness, in which we are aware of our daily world. "It is described as outward-knowing (bahish-prajnya), gross (sthula) and universal (vaishvanara)". This is the gross body.
 * The second state is that of the dreaming mind. "It is described as inward-knowing (antah-prajnya), subtle (pravivikta), and burning (taijasa)". This is the subtle body.
 * The third state is the state of deep sleep. In this state, the underlying ground of consciousness is undistracted. "[T]he Lord of all (sarv’-eshvara), the knower of all (sarva-jnya), the inner controller (antar-yami), the source of all (yonih sarvasya), the origin and dissolution of created things (prabhav-apyayau hi bhutanam)". This is the causal body.

Turiya is liberation, the autonomous realization of the non-causal Brahman beyond and underlying these three states.

Kashmir Shaivism
Kashmir Shaivism holds the state called turya – the fourth state. It is neither wakefulness, dreaming, nor deep sleep. In reality, it exists in the junction between any of these three states, i.e. between waking and dreaming, between dreaming and deep sleep, and between deep sleep and waking. In Kashmir Shaivism there exists a fifth state of consciousness called Turiyatita -  the state beyond Turiya. Turiyatita, also called the void or shunya is the state where one attains liberation otherwise known as jivanmukti or moksha.

Based on the Tantraloka an extended model of seven consecutive stages of turiya is presented by Swami Lakshman Joo. These stages are called: While turiya stages 1 - 6 are attributed to the "internal subjective samādhi" (nimīlanā samādhi), once samādhi becomes permanently established in the seventh turiya stage it is described to span not only the internal subjective world anymore but beyond that also the whole external objective world (unimīlanā samādhi).
 * 1) Nijānanda
 * 2) Nirānanda
 * 3) Parānanda
 * 4) Brahmānanda
 * 5) Mahānanda
 * 6) Chidānanda
 * 7) Jagadānanda

title: Turiya


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Flogger

Flogger may refer to:

 * Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23 "Flogger", a Russian fighter aircraft
 * Mikoyan MiG-27 "Flogger-D/J", a Russian ground-attack aircraft
 * Flogger (fashion), a teenage fashion originated in Argentina
 * Someone who administers a flogging, or the device used for that purpose
 * In the context of BDSM, a multi-tailed scourge typically made of soft leather

title: Flogger


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Maria del Mar Bonet

Maria del Mar Bonet i Verdaguer ( Balearic Catalan: ; born 1947 in Palma de Mallorca) is a Spanish singer from the island of Majorca.

Early life and career
Bonet studied ceramics in the school of arts, but eventually decided to dedicate herself to music. She arrived in Barcelona in 1967, where she began to sing with the group Els Setze Jutges. She has published many folk music albums in Catalan, in spite of the ban on the Catalan language and its music during Francisco Franco's dictatorship. She has performed throughout China as well as in Japan, the former USSR, Tunisia, Netherlands, Poland, Belgium, France, United Kingdom, Brazil, Sweden, Switzerland, Venezuela, Mexico, and the United States.

Recording career
In 1981, Bonet recorded Jardí Tancat in Paris, along with accompaniment by Jacques Denjean and noted Breton harpist Alan Stivell. She has worked with the Ensemble of Music Traditionelle di Tunis and Brazilian musician Milton Nascimento. She earned the French Charles Cross Academy Prize and the Catalan Creu de Sant Jordi and the National Prize awarded by the Catalan government. In 1984, the French Government gave her the Charles Cross Academy Award for the best foreign record released in France. That same year Bonet was awarded the Cross of Saint George, the highest distinction of the Generalitat de Catalunya (the Catalan Government). In 1985, as a result of her interest and research into North African music, she recorded Anells d’aigua (Rings of Water) with the Ensemble de Musique Traditionelle of Tunisia, and then toured with the group throughout France and Spain. In 1998 she toured abroad and collaborated with other well-known Spanish artists such as Amancio Prada, Loquillo, Jordi Sabatés and Rosa Vergés. In 2001, Bonet recorded a Jackson Browne tribute album, Sing My Songs. The album was recorded live in July 2001 in the Gothic district of Barcelona. The album won the 2002 Spanish World Music Awards.

Discography

 * Maria del Mar Bonet (Maria del Mar Bonet) 1970
 * Maria del Mar Bonet (Maria del Mar Bonet) 1971
 * Maria del Mar Bonet (Maria del Mar Bonet) 1974
 * A l'Olympia (Maria del Mar Bonet) 1975
 * Cançons de festa (Maria del Mar Bonet) 1976
 * Alenar (Maria del Mar Bonet) 1977
 * Saba de terrer (Maria del Mar Bonet) 1979
 * Quico-Maria del Mar (Maria del Mar Bonet + Francesc Pi de la Serra) 1979
 * Sempre (Maria del Mar Bonet) 1981
 * L'àguila negra (Maria del Mar Bonet) 1981
 * Jardí tancat (Maria del Mar Bonet) 1981
 * Breviari d'amor (Maria del Mar Bonet) 1982
 * Cançons de la nostra mediterrània (Maria del Mar Bonet + Al Tall) 1982
 * Anells d'aigua (Maria del Mar Bonet) 1985
 * Gavines i dragons (Maria del Mar Bonet) 1987
 * Ben a prop (Maria del Mar Bonet + Manel Camp) 1989
 * Bon viatge faci la cadernera (Maria del Mar Bonet) 1990
 * Coreografies (Maria del Mar Bonet) 1990
 * El·las (Maria del Mar Bonet) 1993
 * Salmaia (Maria del Mar Bonet) 1995
 * Primeres cançons (Maria del Mar Bonet) 1997
 * El cor del temps (Maria del Mar Bonet) 1997
 * Cavall de foc (Maria del Mar Bonet) 1999
 * Raixa (Maria del Mar Bonet) 2001
 * Cants d'Abelone (Maria del Mar Bonet + Rafael Subirachs) 2001
 * Collita pròpia (Maria del Mar Bonet) 2003
 * Amic, amat (Maria del Mar Bonet) 2004
 * Terra Secreta (Maria del Mar Bonet) 2007
 * Bellver (Maria del Mar Bonet) 2010
 * Blaus de l'ànima, més de 20 anys ben a prop (Maria del Mar Bonet + Manel Camp) 2011

Awards and accomplishments

 * 1984: Creu de Sant Jordi de la Generalitat de Catalunya.
 * 1984: Premi de l'acadèmia al millor disc estranger editat a França.
 * 1990: Premi Gabriel Alomar i Villalonga dels Premis 31 de Desembre de l'Obra Cultural Balear.
 * 1992: Premi Nacional de Música de la Generalitat de Catalunya.
 * 2000: Ramon Llull Award from the government of the Balearic Islands
 * 2000: Premi a la Millor Cançó en Català de la IV Edición de los Premios de la Música.
 * 2001: Premi al Millor Àlbum de Música Tradicional-Folk per "Raixa" de la VI Edición de los Premios de la Música.
 * 2002: Millor Àlbum en Català per "Raixa" de la VI Edición de los Premios de la Música.
 * 2002: Premi Altaveu 2002.
 * 2002: Premi Enderrock de la crítica al millor álbum Folk-Noves Músiques.
 * 2003: Premi Luigi Tenco 2003, de Italia.
 * 2003: Premi de Música Ciutat de Barcelona per "Amic, Amat"
 * 2003: Medalla d'Or de la ciutat de Mallorca.
 * 2008: Premio Maria Carta of Sardinia.

title: Maria del Mar Bonet


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Anthony Downs

Anthony Downs (November 21, 1930 –October 2, 2021) was an American economist specializing in public policy and public administration. His research focuses included political choice theory, rent control, affordable housing, and transportation economics. He wrote a number of books including, An Economic Theory of Democracy (1957) and Inside Bureaucracy (1967), which have been major influences on the public choice school of political economy. In Downs's Law of Peak-Hour Traffic Congestion (1962), he predicted that expanding expressways could not reduce traffic congestion, since demand would increase as well, and that reducing speeds increases capacity.

He served as a senior senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., member of faculty at the University of Chicago and a visiting fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California in San Francisco. Downs was also an elected fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration.

Early life
James Anthony Downs was born on November 21, 1930, in Evanston, Illinois. His father was the founder of a consulting firm, Real Estate Research Corporation, and a frequent speaker on real estate related topics. He grew up in Park Ridge, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago.

He received a B.A. in international relations and political theory from Carleton College in 1952. During this time he was the elected president of the college student body. He would later credit this experience for some of his interests in studying democracy. He went to the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University on a scholarship to pursue his M.A. and Ph.D. in economics, obtaining his doctorate in 1956.

He enlisted in the Navy and served as an intelligence officer when he was drafted. During this time he also served on an aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean Sea. He quit the service after three years to join his father's consulting firm and also briefly served as a member of the faculty at the University of Chicago.

Career
Downs served as a consultant to many of the nation's largest corporations and public institutions, including the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the White House. President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed him to the National Commission on Urban Problems in 1967, and HUD Secretary Jack Kemp appointed him to the Advisory Commission on Regulatory Barriers to Affordable Housing in 1989. He was an officer or trustee of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.

Democracy and the left–right continuum
In his seminal work, An Economic Theory of Democracy (1957), Downs introduced a left–right axis to economic theory. On the "left" he placed communist parties that want entirely state-planned economies, and on the "right" he placed conservative parties that demand an entirely deregulated economy.

He claimed that most voters have incomplete information when voting for political candidates in a democracy, and therefore will resort to economic issues of "how much government intervention in the economy there should be" and how parties will control this. Downs borrowed the curve from Harold Hotelling, who developed it to explain how grocery stores targeted customers. Downs's book has since become one of the most cited books in political science. His left–right axis model has been integrated into the median voter theory first articulated by Duncan Black.

In An Economic Theory of Democracy (1957), an early work in rational choice theory, Downs posited the paradox of voting, which claimed that significant elements of political life could not be explained in terms of voter self-interest. Downs showed that in democracies the aggregate distribution of political opinion forms a bell-shaped curve, with most voters possessing moderate opinions; he argued that this fact forces political parties in democracies to adopt centrist positions.

Housing and traffic policy
Later, Downs concerned himself with housing policy, writing about rent control and affordable housing. The Revolution in Real Estate Finance (1985) predicted a long-term housing slowdown and decrease in housing prices. Downs had involved himself with transportation economics.

In 1962, Downs published his Downs's Law of Peak-Hour Traffic Congestion. This law states that on urban commuter expressways, peak-hour traffic congestion rises to meet maximum capacity. Therefore, expanding the expressway network does not help against traffic jams. A complex set of forces lie behind this law, which were analyzed by presentation of a model of commuter decision-making and its underlying set of assumptions. Sometimes this effect is referred to as Induced demand. By the same token, e.g. the 1965 Highway Capacity Manual stated that the capacity of a highway or motorway increases with decreasing traffic speed, until its maximum capacity is reached at about 50 km/h (30 mph). (Cf. Braess's paradox.)

His book, Stuck in Traffic (1992), which detailed the economic disadvantages of traffic congestion and proposed road pricing as the only effective means of alleviating it, was denounced by traffic engineers for its insistence on the futility of congestion relief measures. However, enough of his gloomy predictions about congestion were proven correct that he successfully published a second edition, Still Stuck in Traffic (2004).

Downs's recommendations are starting to see implementation, largely in the form of high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes in the medians of crowded American freeways, and through congestion pricing, already implemented in several cities around the world: Singapore (see Area Licensing Scheme and Electronic Road Pricing); London (see London congestion charge); Stockholm (see Stockholm congestion tax); Valletta, Malta; and Milan, Italy.

He joined the Brookings Institution, an American thinktank, in 1977. He continued his work on housing policies and traffic issues management at the institute.

He was the author or co-author of 24 books and more than 500 articles. His most influential books are An Economic Theory of Democracy (1957) and Inside Bureaucracy (1967); widely translated, both are credited as major influences on the public choice school of political economy.

He was a visiting fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California in San Francisco, between 2004 and 2005.

Personal life
Downs met his first wife, Mary Katherine Watson, at a high-school prom. During this time, he challenged her to a game of chess, which she won. The couple were married in 1956. They had five children. Kay died in 1998 from ovarian cancer. Downs later married his second wife Darian Dreyfuss Olsen.

Anthony Downs died of natural causes in Bethesda, Maryland, on October 2, 2021.

title: Anthony Downs


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Talk:Street-legal vehicle

Am I wrong in thinking Street Legal is more recognized as the name of Bob Dylan's 1978 album? I'm canadian and I've never even heard of this television series. I will change this page to a disambiguation page as soon as i get a chance. SECProto 02:18, Dec 10, 2004 (UTC)
 * This has since been moved from street legal. ENeville (talk) 22:13, 30 January 2008 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just added archive links to 1 one external link on Street-legal vehicle. Please take a moment to review my edit. If necessary, add after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/20090922073140/http://www.dft.gov.uk:80/pgr/roads/vehicles/vssafety/importsapproval/thesinglevehicleapprovalscheme?page=1 to http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/roads/vehicles/vssafety/importsapproval/thesinglevehicleapprovalscheme?page=1#a1000

When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true or failed to let others know (documentation at ).

Cheers.—cyberbot II  Talk to my owner :Online 17:53, 28 February 2016 (UTC)

title: Talk:Street-legal vehicle


text:
State observer

In control theory, a state observer or state estimator is a system that provides an estimate of the internal state of a given real system, from measurements of the input and output of the real system. It is typically computer-implemented, and provides the basis of many practical applications.

Knowing the system state is necessary to solve many control theory problems; for example, stabilizing a system using state feedback. In most practical cases, the physical state of the system cannot be determined by direct observation. Instead, indirect effects of the internal state are observed by way of the system outputs. A simple example is that of vehicles in a tunnel: the rates and velocities at which vehicles enter and leave the tunnel can be observed directly, but the exact state inside the tunnel can only be estimated. If a system is observable, it is possible to fully reconstruct the system state from its output measurements using the state observer.

Typical observer model
Linear, delayed, sliding mode, high gain, Tau, homogeneity-based, extended and cubic observers are among several observer structures used for state estimation of linear and nonlinear systems. A linear observer structure is described in the following sections.

Discrete-time case
The state of a linear, time-invariant discrete-time system is assumed to satisfy

 * $$x(k+1) = A x(k) + B u(k)$$

 * $$y(k) = C x(k) + D u(k)$$

where, at time $$k$$, $$x(k)$$ is the plant's state; $$u(k)$$ is its inputs; and $$y(k)$$ is its outputs. These equations simply say that the plant's current outputs and its future state are both determined solely by its current states and the current inputs. (Although these equations are expressed in terms of discrete time steps, very similar equations hold for continuous systems). If this system is observable then the output of the plant, $$y(k)$$, can be used to steer the state of the state observer.

The observer model of the physical system is then typically derived from the above equations. Additional terms may be included in order to ensure that, on receiving successive measured values of the plant's inputs and outputs, the model's state converges to that of the plant. In particular, the output of the observer may be subtracted from the output of the plant and then multiplied by a matrix $$L$$; this is then added to the equations for the state of the observer to produce a so-called Luenberger observer, defined by the equations below. Note that the variables of a state observer are commonly denoted by a "hat": $$\hat{x}(k)$$ and $$\hat{y}(k)$$ to distinguish them from the variables of the equations satisfied by the physical system.

 * $$\hat{x}(k+1) = A \hat{x}(k) + L \left[y(k) - \hat{y}(k)\right] + B u(k)$$

 * $$\hat{y}(k) = C \hat{x}(k) + D u(k)$$

The observer is called asymptotically stable if the observer error $$e(k) = \hat{x}(k) - x(k)$$ converges to zero when $$ k \to \infty $$. For a Luenberger observer, the observer error satisfies $$ e(k+1) = (A - LC) e(k)$$. The Luenberger observer for this discrete-time system is therefore asymptotically stable when the matrix $$ A - LC $$ has all the eigenvalues inside the unit circle.

For control purposes the output of the observer system is fed back to the input of both the observer and the plant through the gains matrix $$K$$.

 * $$u(k)= -K \hat{x}(k)$$

The observer equations then become:

 * $$\hat{x}(k+1) = A \hat{x}(k) + L \left(y(k) - \hat{y}(k)\right) - B K \hat{x}(k)$$

 * $$\hat{y}(k) = C \hat{x}(k) - D K \hat{x}(k)$$

or, more simply,

 * $$\hat{x}(k+1) = \left(A - B K \right) \hat{x}(k) + L \left(y(k) - \hat{y}(k)\right)$$

 * $$\hat{y}(k) = \left(C - D K\right) \hat{x}(k)$$

Due to the separation principle we know that we can choose $$K$$ and $$L$$ independently without harm to the overall stability of the systems. As a rule of thumb, the poles of the observer $$A-LC$$ are usually chosen to converge 10 times faster than the poles of the system $$A-BK$$.

Continuous-time case
The previous example was for an observer implemented in a discrete-time LTI system. However, the process is similar for the continuous-time case; the observer gains $$L$$ are chosen to make the continuous-time error dynamics converge to zero asymptotically (i.e., when $$A-LC$$ is a Hurwitz matrix).

For a continuous-time linear system

 * $$\dot{x} = A x + B u, $$

 * $$y = C x + D u, $$

where $$x \in \mathbb{R}^n, u \in \mathbb{R}^m ,y \in \mathbb{R}^r$$, the observer looks similar to discrete-time case described above:

 * $$\dot{\hat{x}} = A \hat{x}+ B u + L \left(y - \hat{y}\right) $$.

 * $$\hat{y} = C \hat{x} + D u, $$

The observer error $$e=x-\hat{x}$$ satisfies the equation

 * $$ \dot{e} = (A - LC) e$$.

The eigenvalues of the matrix $$A-LC$$ can be chosen arbitrarily by appropriate choice of the observer gain $$L$$ when the pair $$[A,C]$$ is observable, i.e. observability condition holds. In particular, it can be made Hurwitz, so the observer error $$e(t) \to 0$$ when $$t \to \infty$$.

Peaking and other observer methods
When the observer gain $$L$$ is high, the linear Luenberger observer converges to the system states very quickly. However, high observer gain leads to a peaking phenomenon in which initial estimator error can be prohibitively large (i.e., impractical or unsafe to use). As a consequence, nonlinear high-gain observer methods are available that converge quickly without the peaking phenomenon. For example, sliding mode control can be used to design an observer that brings one estimated state's error to zero in finite time even in the presence of measurement error; the other states have error that behaves similarly to the error in a Luenberger observer after peaking has subsided. Sliding mode observers also have attractive noise resilience properties that are similar to a Kalman filter. Another approach is to apply multi observer, that significantly improves transients and reduces observer overshoot. Multi-observer can be adapted to every system where high-gain observer is applicable.

State observers for nonlinear systems
High gain, sliding mode and extended observers are the most common observers for nonlinear systems. To illustrate the application of sliding mode observers for nonlinear systems, first consider the no-input non-linear system:

 * $$\dot{x} = f(x)$$

where $$x \in \mathbb{R}^n$$. Also assume that there is a measurable output $$y \in \mathbb{R}$$ given by

 * $$y = h(x).$$

There are several non-approximate approaches for designing an observer. The two observers given below also apply to the case when the system has an input. That is,

 * $$\dot{x} = f(x) + B(x) u $$
 * $$y = h(x).$$

Linearizable error dynamics
One suggestion by Krener and Isidori and Krener and Respondek can be applied in a situation when there exists a linearizing transformation (i.e., a diffeomorphism, like the one used in feedback linearization) $$z=\Phi(x)$$ such that in new variables the system equations read

 * $$\dot{z} = A z+ \phi(y), $$
 * $$y = Cz. $$

The Luenberger observer is then designed as

 * $$\dot{\hat{z}} = A \hat{z}+ \phi(y) - L \left(C \hat{z}-y \right) $$.

The observer error for the transformed variable $$e=\hat{z}-z$$ satisfies the same equation as in classical linear case.

 * $$ \dot{e} = (A - LC) e$$.

As shown by Gauthier, Hammouri, and Othman and Hammouri and Kinnaert, if there exists transformation $$z=\Phi(x)$$ such that the system can be transformed into the form

 * $$\dot{z} = A(u(t)) z+ \phi(y,u(t) ), $$
 * $$y = Cz, $$

then the observer is designed as

 * $$\dot{\hat{z}} = A(u(t)) \hat{z}+ \phi(y,u(t) ) - L(t) \left(C \hat{z}-y \right) $$,

where $$L(t)$$ is a time-varying observer gain.

Ciccarella, Dalla Mora, and Germani obtained more advanced and general results, removing the need for a nonlinear transform and proving global asymptotic convergence of the estimated state to the true state using only simple assumptions on regularity.

Switched observers
As discussed for the linear case above, the peaking phenomenon present in Luenberger observers justifies the use of switched observers. A switched observer encompasses a relay or binary switch that acts upon detecting minute changes in the measured output. Some common types of switched observers include the sliding mode observer, nonlinear extended state observer, fixed time observer, switched high gain observer and uniting observer. The sliding mode observer uses non-linear high-gain feedback to drive estimated states to a hypersurface where there is no difference between the estimated output and the measured output. The non-linear gain used in the observer is typically implemented with a scaled switching function, like the signum (i.e., sgn) of the estimated – measured output error. Hence, due to this high-gain feedback, the vector field of the observer has a crease in it so that observer trajectories slide along a curve where the estimated output matches the measured output exactly. So, if the system is observable from its output, the observer states will all be driven to the actual system states. Additionally, by using the sign of the error to drive the sliding mode observer, the observer trajectories become insensitive to many forms of noise. Hence, some sliding mode observers have attractive properties similar to the Kalman filter but with simpler implementation.

As suggested by Drakunov, a sliding mode observer can also be designed for a class of non-linear systems. Such an observer can be written in terms of original variable estimate $$\hat{x}$$ and has the form

 * $$ \dot{\hat{x}} =

\left [ \frac{\partial H(\hat{x})}{\partial x}\right]^{-1} M(\hat{x}) \sgn( V(t) - H(\hat{x}) )$$

where:

\sgn(z_1)\\ \sgn(z_2)\\ \vdots\\ \sgn(z_i)\\ \vdots\\ \sgn(z_n) \end{bmatrix}$$ \begin{bmatrix} h_1(x)\\ h_2(x)\\ h_3(x)\\ \vdots\\ h_n(x) \end{bmatrix} \triangleq \begin{bmatrix} h(x)\\ L_{f}h(x)\\ L_{f}^2 h(x)\\ \vdots\\ L_{f}^{n-1}h(x) \end{bmatrix}$$ \operatorname{diag}( m_1(\hat{x}), m_2(\hat{x}), \ldots, m_n(\hat{x}) ) = \begin{bmatrix} m_1(\hat{x}) & & & & & \\ & m_2(\hat{x}) & & & & \\ & & \ddots & & & \\ & & & m_i(\hat{x}) & &\\ & & & & \ddots &\\ & & & & & m_n(\hat{x}) \end{bmatrix}$$ \triangleq \begin{bmatrix}v_{1}(t)\\ v_2(t)\\ v_3(t)\\ \vdots\\ v_i(t)\\ \vdots\\ v_{n}(t) \end{bmatrix} \triangleq \begin{bmatrix} y(t)\\ \{ m_1(\hat{x}) \sgn( v_1(t) - h_1(\hat{x}(t)) ) \}_{\text{eq}}\\ \{ m_2(\hat{x}) \sgn( v_2(t) - h_2(\hat{x}(t)) ) \}_{\text{eq}}\\ \vdots\\ \{ m_{i-1}(\hat{x}) \sgn( v_{i-1}(t) - h_{i-1}(\hat{x}(t)) ) \}_{\text{eq}}\\ \vdots\\ \{ m_{n-1}(\hat{x}) \sgn( v_{n-1}(t) - h_{n-1}(\hat{x}(t)) ) \}_{\text{eq}} \end{bmatrix} $$
 * The $$\sgn(\mathord{\cdot})$$ vector extends the scalar signum function to $$n$$ dimensions. That is,
 * $$\sgn(z) = \begin{bmatrix}
 * for the vector $$z \in \mathbb{R}^n$$.
 * The vector $$H(x)$$ has components that are the output function $$h(x)$$ and its repeated Lie derivatives. In particular,
 * $$H(x) \triangleq
 * where $$L^i_f h$$ is the ith Lie derivative of output function $$h$$ along the vector field $$f$$ (i.e., along $$x$$ trajectories of the non-linear system). In the special case where the system has no input or has a relative degree of n, $$H(x(t))$$ is a collection of the output $$y(t)=h(x(t))$$ and its $$n-1$$ derivatives. Because the inverse of the Jacobian linearization of $$H(x)$$ must exist for this observer to be well defined, the transformation $$H(x)$$ is guaranteed to be a local diffeomorphism.
 * The diagonal matrix $$M(\hat{x})$$ of gains is such that
 * $$M(\hat{x}) \triangleq
 * where, for each $$i \in \{1,2,\dots,n\}$$, element $$m_i(\hat{x}) > 0$$ and suitably large to ensure reachability of the sliding mode.
 * The observer vector $$V(t)$$ is such that
 * $$V(t)
 * where $$\sgn(\mathord{\cdot})$$ here is the normal signum function defined for scalars, and $$\{ \ldots \}_{\text{eq}}$$ denotes an "equivalent value operator" of a discontinuous function in sliding mode.

The idea can be briefly explained as follows. According to the theory of sliding modes, in order to describe the system behavior, once sliding mode starts, the function $$\sgn( v_{i}(t)\!-\! h_{i}(\hat{x}(t)) )$$ should be replaced by equivalent values (see equivalent control in the theory of sliding modes). In practice, it switches (chatters) with high frequency with slow component being equal to the equivalent value. Applying appropriate lowpass filter to get rid of the high frequency component on can obtain the value of the equivalent control, which contains more information about the state of the estimated system. The observer described above uses this method several times to obtain the state of the nonlinear system ideally in finite time.

The modified observation error can be written in the transformed states $$e=H(x)-H(\hat{x})$$. In particular,

 * $$\begin{align}

\dot{e} &= \frac{\mathrm{d}}{\mathrm{d}t} H(x) - \frac{\mathrm{d}}{\mathrm{d}t} H(\hat{x})\\ &= \frac{\mathrm{d}}{\mathrm{d}t} H(x) - M(\hat{x}) \, \sgn( V(t) - H(\hat{x}(t)) ), \end{align}$$ and so

\begin{align} \begin{bmatrix} \dot{e}_1\\ \dot{e}_2\\ \vdots\\ \dot{e}_i\\ \vdots\\ \dot{e}_{n-1}\\ \dot{e}_n \end{bmatrix} &= \mathord{\overbrace{ \begin{bmatrix} \dot{h}_1(x)\\ \dot{h}_2(x)\\ \vdots\\ \dot{h}_i(x)\\ \vdots\\ \dot{h}_{n-1}(x)\\ \dot{h}_n(x) \end{bmatrix} }^{\tfrac{\mathrm{d}}{\mathrm{d}t} H(x)}} - \mathord{\overbrace{ M(\hat{x}) \, \sgn( V(t) - H(\hat{x}(t)) ) }^{\tfrac{\mathrm{d}}{\mathrm{d}t} H(\hat{x})}} = \begin{bmatrix} h_2(x)\\ h_3(x)\\ \vdots\\ h_{i+1}(x)\\ \vdots\\ h_n(x)\\ L_f^n h(x) \end{bmatrix} - \begin{bmatrix} m_1 \sgn( v_1(t) - h_1(\hat{x}(t)) )\\ m_2 \sgn( v_2(t) - h_2(\hat{x}(t)) )\\ \vdots\\ m_i \sgn( v_i(t) - h_i(\hat{x}(t)) )\\ \vdots\\ m_{n-1} \sgn( v_{n-1}(t) - h_{n-1}(\hat{x}(t)) )\\ m_n \sgn( v_n(t) - h_n(\hat{x}(t)) ) \end{bmatrix}\\ &= \begin{bmatrix} h_2(x) - m_1(\hat{x}) \sgn( \mathord{\overbrace{ \mathord{\overbrace{v_1(t)}^{v_1(t) = y(t) = h_1(x)}} - h_1(\hat{x}(t)) }^{e_1}} )\\ h_3(x) - m_2(\hat{x}) \sgn( v_2(t) - h_2(\hat{x}(t)) )\\ \vdots\\ h_{i+1}(x) - m_i(\hat{x}) \sgn( v_i(t) - h_i(\hat{x}(t)) )\\ \vdots\\ h_n(x) - m_{n-1}(\hat{x}) \sgn( v_{n-1}(t) - h_{n-1}(\hat{x}(t)) )\\ L_f^n h(x) - m_n(\hat{x}) \sgn( v_n(t) - h_n(\hat{x}(t)) ) \end{bmatrix}. \end{align} $$ So:

 * 1) As long as $$m_1(\hat{x}) \geq |h_2(x(t))|$$, the first row of the error dynamics, $$\dot{e}_1 = h_2(\hat{x}) - m_1(\hat{x}) \sgn( e_1 )$$, will meet sufficient conditions to enter the $$e_1 = 0$$ sliding mode in finite time.
 * 2) Along the $$e_1 = 0$$ surface, the corresponding $$v_2(t) = \{m_1(\hat{x}) \sgn( e_1 )\}_{\text{eq}}$$ equivalent control will be equal to $$h_2(x)$$, and so $$v_2(t) - h_2(\hat{x}) = h_2(x) - h_2(\hat{x}) = e_2$$. Hence, so long as $$m_2(\hat{x}) \geq |h_3(x(t))|$$, the second row of the error dynamics, $$\dot{e}_2 = h_3(\hat{x}) - m_2(\hat{x}) \sgn( e_2 )$$, will enter the $$e_2 = 0$$ sliding mode in finite time.
 * 3) Along the $$e_i = 0$$ surface, the corresponding $$v_{i+1}(t) = \{\ldots\}_{\text{eq}}$$ equivalent control will be equal to $$h_{i+1}(x)$$. Hence, so long as $$m_{i+1}(\hat{x}) \geq |h_{i+2}(x(t))|$$, the $$(i+1)$$th row of the error dynamics, $$\dot{e}_{i+1} = h_{i+2}(\hat{x}) - m_{i+1}(\hat{x}) \sgn( e_{i+1} )$$, will enter the $$e_{i+1} = 0$$ sliding mode in finite time.

So, for sufficiently large $$m_i$$ gains, all observer estimated states reach the actual states in finite time. In fact, increasing $$m_i$$ allows for convergence in any desired finite time so long as each $$|h_i(x(0))|$$ function can be bounded with certainty. Hence, the requirement that the map $$H:\mathbb{R}^n \to \mathbb{R}^n $$ is a diffeomorphism (i.e., that its Jacobian linearization is invertible) asserts that convergence of the estimated output implies convergence of the estimated state. That is, the requirement is an observability condition.

In the case of the sliding mode observer for the system with the input, additional conditions are needed for the observation error to be independent of the input. For example, that

 * $$ \frac{\partial H(x)}{\partial x} B(x)$$

does not depend on time. The observer is then

\dot{\hat{x}} = \left[ \frac{\partial H(\hat{x})}{\partial x} \right]^{-1} M(\hat{x}) \sgn(V(t) - H(\hat{x}))+B(\hat{x})u. $$

Multi-observer
Multi-observer extends the high-gain observer structure from single to multi observer, with many models working simultaneously. This has two layers: the first consists of multiple high-gain observers with different estimation states, and the second determines the importance weights of the first layer observers. The algorithm is simple to implement and does not contain any risky operations like differentiation. The idea of multiple models was previously applied to obtain information in adaptive control.

Assuming that the number of high-gain observers equals $$n+1$$,

 * $$\dot{\hat{x}}_k(t) = A \hat{x_k}(t)+ B \phi_0(\hat{x}(t), u(t)) - L (\hat{y_k}(t)-y(t)) $$
 * $$ \hat{y_k}(t) = C \hat{x_k}(t) $$

where $$ k = 1, \dots, n + 1 $$ is the observer index. The first layer observers consists of the same gain $$ L $$ but they differ with the initial state $$ x_k(0) $$. In the second layer all $$ x_k(t) $$ from $$ k = 1...n + 1 $$ observers are combined into one to obtain single state vector estimation

 * $$ \hat{y_k}(t) = \sum\limits_{k=1}^{n+1} \alpha_k(t) \hat{x_k}(t) $$

where $$ \alpha_k \in \mathbb{R} $$ are weight factors. These factors are changed to provide the estimation in the second layer and to improve the observation process.

Let assume that

 * $$ \sum\limits_{k=1}^{n+1} \alpha_k(t) \xi_k(t) = 0 $$

and

 * $$ \sum\limits_{k=1}^{n+1} \alpha_k(t) = 1 $$

where $$ \xi_k \in \mathbb{R}^{n \times 1} $$ is some vector that depends on $$ kth $$ observer error $$ e_k(t) $$.

Some transformation yields to linear regression problem

 * $$ [- \xi_{n + 1} (t)] = [\xi_{1}(t) - \xi_{n + 1}(t)\dots \xi_{k}(t) - \xi_{n + 1}(t)\dots \xi_{n}(t) - \xi_{n + 1}(t)]^T \begin{bmatrix} \alpha_1(t)\\ \vdots \\ \alpha_k(t)\\ \vdots\\ \alpha_n(t) \end{bmatrix}$$

This formula gives possibility to estimate $$ \alpha_k (t) $$. To construct manifold we need mapping $$ m: \mathbb{R}^{n} \to \mathbb{R}^{n} $$ between $$ \xi_k (t) = m(e_k(t))$$ and ensurance that $$ \xi_k (t) $$ is calculable relying on measurable signals. First thing is to eliminate parking phenomenon for $$ \alpha_k(t) $$ from observer error

 * $$ e_{\sigma}(t) = \sum\limits_{k=1}^{n+1} \alpha_k(t) e_k(t) $$.

Calculate $$ n $$ times derivative on $$\eta_k(t)=\hat y_k (t) - y(t)$$ to find mapping m lead to $$ \xi_k(t) $$ defined as

 * $$ \xi_k (t) = \begin{bmatrix}

1 & 0 & 0 & \cdots & 0 \\ CL & 1 & 0 & \cdots & 0 \\ CAL & CL & 1 & \cdots & 0 \\ CA^{2}L & CAL & CL & \cdots & 0 \\ \vdots & \vdots & \vdots & \ddots \\ CA^{n-2}L & CA^{n-3}L & CA^{n-4}L & \cdots & 1 \end{bmatrix} \begin{bmatrix} \int\limits^t_{t-t_d} {{n-1} \atop \cdots} \int\limits^t_{t-t_d} \eta_k(\tau) d\tau\\ \vdots \\ \eta(t) - \eta(t-(n-1)t_d) \end{bmatrix} $$

where $$t_d > 0$$ is some time constant. Note that $$\xi_k(t)$$ relays on both $$\eta_k(t)$$ and its integrals hence it is easily available in the control system. Further $$ \alpha_k(t) $$ is specified by estimation law; and thus it proves that manifold is measurable. In the second layer $$\hat\alpha_k(t)$$ for $$k = 1 \dots n + 1$$ is introduced as estimates of $$\alpha_k(t)$$ coefficients. The mapping error is specified as

 * $$e_\xi(t) = \sum\limits_{k=1}^{n+1} \hat\alpha_k(t) \xi_k(t) $$

where $$e_\xi(t) \in \mathbb{R}^{n \times 1}, \hat\alpha_k(t) \in \mathbb{R} $$. If coefficients $$\hat\alpha(t) $$ are equal to $$\alpha_k(t)$$, then mapping error $$ e_\xi(t) = 0$$ Now it is possible to calculate $$ \hat x$$ from above equation and hence the peaking phenomenon is reduced thanks to properties of manifold. The created mapping gives a lot of flexibility in the estimation process. Even it is possible to estimate the value of $$x(t)$$ in the second layer and to calculate the state $$ x$$.

Bounding observers
Bounding or interval observers constitute a class of observers that provide two estimations of the state simultaneously: one of the estimations provides an upper bound on the real value of the state, whereas the second one provides a lower bound. The real value of the state is then known to be always within these two estimations.

These bounds are very important in practical applications, as they make possible to know at each time the precision of the estimation.

Mathematically, two Luenberger observers can be used, if $$ L $$ is properly selected, using, for example, positive systems properties: one for the upper bound $$ \hat{x}_U(k) $$ (that ensures that $$ e(k) = \hat{x}_U(k) - x(k) $$ converges to zero from above when $$ k \to \infty $$, in the absence of noise and uncertainty), and a lower bound $$ \hat{x}_L(k) $$ (that ensures that $$ e(k) = \hat{x}_L(k) - x(k) $$ converges to zero from below). That is, always $$ \hat{x}_U(k) \ge x(k) \ge \hat{x}_L(k) $$

title: State observer


text:
USS Brownson

Two ships of the United States Navy have borne the name Brownson, in honor of Rear Admiral Willard H. Brownson:

 * USS Brownson (DD-518), was a Fletcher-class destroyer, launched in 1942 and sunk in action 1943.
 * USS Brownson (DD-868), was a Gearing-class destroyer, launched in 1945 and struck in 1976.

title: USS Brownson


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USS Charles R. Ware

USS Charles R. Ware has been the name of more than one United States Navy ship, and may refer to:

 * USS Charles R. Ware (DE-547), a destroyer escort cancelled in 1944
 * USS Charles R. Ware (DD-865), a destroyer in commission from 1945 to 1974

title: USS Charles R. Ware


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USS Chatham

USS Chatham is a name used more than once by the U.S. Navy:

 * USS Chatham (1836), an iron side wheel steamer was built in 1836.
 * USS Chatham (ID-2510) was launched in 1916 by Maryland Steel Company, Sparrows Point, Maryland.
 * USS Chatham (CVE-32), was transferred to the United Kingdom 11 August 1943 under lend-lease and renamed HMS Slinger.
 * USS Chatham (AK-169) was launched 13 May 1944 by Froemming Brothers, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

title: USS Chatham


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Parashakti

Parashakti (IAST: Paraśakti, Sanskrit: पराशक्ति) or Parā is one of the three chief goddesses in Trika system of Kashmir Shaivism along with Aparā and Parparā. In Siddhantic perspective, Parashakti is the counterpart of Paramshiva. Paramshiva is used to describe the ultimate form of Shiva. Parashakti is the power of this primordial Shiva, who is emanated by Paramshiva. Adi Parashakti is used to describe the ultimate form of Parvati. Parashakti is an all-pervasive, pure consciousness, power, and primal substance of all that exists and it has Mahamaya-form, unlike Parashiva which is formless. A Parashakti as the supreme being of puranic Shaktism and of Sri Vidya obtained the name Adi Parashakti and Maheshvari-Devi.

Parā in Trika
Trika is a Non-Saiddhantic Mantra Margic Saivite sect praising Parā, Aparā and Parāparā as three supreme goddesses. These three represent the three prongs of Shiva's Trishula and they can be meditated in Trishulabja Mandala. The three aspects are emerging from Kulesvari Matrrusadbhava. Para means the highest form and beyond the range of human understanding while it loses its supremacy and manifests Parapara, the mediocre level. While it further loses its strength it becomes Apara. These three aspects symbolizes Shiva, Shakti and Atman in philosophical perspective of Trika.

Para in Siddhanta
According to Saiva Siddhanta, the lower part (pedestal) of Shiva lingam represents parashakti while upper part (oval stone) represents parashiva.

title: Parashakti


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Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank

Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank (Crédit Agricole CIB, formerly Crédit Agricole Indosuez then Calyon) is Crédit Agricole's corporate and investment banking entity. With a staff of 8,940 employees (excluding private banking) in 32 countries, Crédit Agricole CIB is active in a broad range of capital markets, investment banking and financing activities. Clients are primarily corporates, governments, and banks, with a small footprint in the investor segment.

History

Crédit Agricole Indosuez (CAI) was created in 1996 with the purchase of Banque Indosuez by Crédit Agricole. Calyon was created in May 2004 by the transfer to CAI of assets from Crédit Lyonnais' Corporate and Investment Banking division. The division was rebranded Crédit Agricole Corporate & Investment Bank (CACIB) in February 2010.

In September 2022, Xavier Musca has been appointed CEO of CACIB, in replacement of Jacques Ripoll

Business Lines
Its activities are arranged into eight major divisions: Client Coverage & International Network, Debt Optimization & Distribution, Global Investment Bank, Global Markets Division, Structured Finance, International Trade & Transaction Banking, Sustainable Banking and niche activities (Islamic Banking and RMB offer).

Client Coverage & International Network
Coverage dedicated to large French corporate and international clients.

Debt Optimization & Distribution
Debt Optimisation and Distribution business line, covering corporates and financial institutions, is dedicated to the origination, structuring and arrangement of syndicated and bilateral medium-term and long-term loans. It is also in charge of underwriting and of primary and secondary distribution of syndicated loans to banks and non-bank institutional investors.

Global Investment Bank
In France and throughout the world, Global Investment Banking helps the Bank's clients by advising them on issues related to "top-half of the balance sheet" (i.e. equity) transactions and structuring and executing specialised financing (Telecom Finance and Structured Financial Solutions).

Global Markets Division
Global Markets handles all sales and trading activities on the primary and secondary markets (rates, credit, foreign exchange, fixed-income, securitisation and treasury) for products designed for corporates, financial institutions and large issuers. These trading and sales entities are supported by research departments.

Structured Finance
The Structured Finance business consists in originating, structuring, and financing operations involving large-scale investments in France and abroad, often backed by collateral security (e.g. aircraft, ships, corporate real estate, or commodities), as well as complex and structured loans.

Sustainable Banking
Crédit Agricole CIB advises its clients on operations integrating social and environmental considerations.

Niche Activities: Islamic banking and RMB offer
Crédit Agricole CIB developed sharia compliant products and services and a full range of Renminbi services.

Historical Lines
In 2011, Crédit Agricole CIB announced the closing of equity derivatives and commodities.


text: Category:Chinese astronomy

title: Category:Chinese astronomy


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Holtzman Inkblot Technique

The Holtzman Inkblot Technique (HIT), also known as the Holtzman Inkblot Test, is an ink blot test aimed at detecting personality and was conceived by Wayne H. Holtzman and colleagues. It was first introduced in 1961 as a projective personality test similar to the Rorschach test. The HIT is a standardized measurement. The Holtzman Inkblot Test was developed as an attempt to address some controversial issues surrounding the Rorschach test.

Purpose

The Holtzman Inkblot Test (HIT) was invented as an attempt to address some issues surrounding the Rorschach Inkblot Test. The HIT was used to assess the personal structure of the subject.

Scoring
The scoring includes 22 variables covering the aspects of the patient's response to the inkblot. Many different variables apply when scoring.

Test standardization
Holtzman and Swartz (1983) undertook a review of 25 years of research on the standardization of the HIT. They reported that:

title: Holtzman Inkblot Technique


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The College Dropout

The College Dropout is the debut studio album by the American rapper Kanye West. It was released on February 10, 2004, by Roc-A-Fella Records and Def Jam Recordings. In the years leading up to release, West had received praise for his production work for rappers such as Jay-Z and Talib Kweli, but faced difficulty being accepted as an artist in his own right by figures in the music industry. Intent on pursuing a solo career, he signed a record deal with Roc-A-Fella and recorded the album over a period of four years, beginning in 1999.

The production of The College Dropout was primarily handled by West and showcased his "chipmunk soul" musical style, which made use of sped-up, pitch shifted vocal samples from soul and R&B records, in addition to West's own drum programming, string accompaniments, and gospel choirs; the album also features contributions from Jay-Z, Mos Def, Jamie Foxx, Syleena Johnson, and Ludacris, among others. Diverging from the then-dominant gangster persona in hip hop, West's lyrics concern themes of family, self-consciousness, materialism, religion, racism, and higher education.

The College Dropout debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200, selling 441,000 copies in its first week of sales. It was a large-scale commercial success, with domestic sales of over 3.4 million copies by 2014 and was certified 4x platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in 2020. The album was promoted with singles such as "Through the Wire", "Jesus Walks", "All Falls Down", and "Slow Jamz", the latter two of which peaked within the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100, with "Slow Jamz" becoming West's first number-one single as a lead artist.

A widespread critical success, The College Dropout was praised for West's production, humorous and emotional raps, and the music's balance of self-examination and mainstream sensibilities. The album earned the rapper several accolades, including nominations for Album of the Year and Best Rap Album at the 2005 Grammy Awards, winning for the latter. It has since been named by numerous publications as one of the greatest albums of all time, including Rolling Stone and NME, who ranked it at 74 and 273 respectively on their "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" lists, and is credited for popularizing the chipmunk soul and conscious rap subgenres in the 2000s.

Background
Kanye West began his early production career in the mid-1990s, making beats primarily for burgeoning local artists, eventually developing a style that involved speeding up vocal samples from classic soul records. For a time, he acted as a ghost producer for Deric "D-Dot" Angelettie. Due to his association with D-Dot, West wasn't able to release a solo album, so he formed and became a member and producer of the Go-Getters, a late-1990s Chicago rap group composed of him, GLC, Timmy G, Really Doe, and Arrowstar. The group released their first and only studio album World Record Holders in 1999. West came to achieve recognition with his contributions to Jay-Z's influential 2001 album The Blueprint. The Blueprint has been named by Rolling Stone as the 252nd greatest album of all time and the critical and financial success of the album generated substantial interest in West as a producer. Serving as an in-house producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, West produced records for other artists from the label, including Beanie Sigel, Freeway, and Cam'ron. He also crafted hit songs for Ludacris, Alicia Keys, and Janet Jackson.

Although he had attained success as a producer, Kanye West aspired to be a rapper, but had struggled to attain a record deal. Record companies ignored him because he did not portray the gangsta image prominent in mainstream hip hop at the time. After a series of meetings with Capitol Records, West was ultimately denied an artist deal. According to Capitol Record's A&R, Joe Weinberger, he was approached by West and almost signed a deal with him, but another person in the company convinced Capitol's president not to. Desperate to keep West from defecting to another label, then-label head Damon Dash reluctantly signed West to Roc-A-Fella Records. Jay-Z, West's colleague and one of his mentors, later admitted that Roc-A-Fella was initially reluctant to support West as a rapper, claiming that many saw him as a producer first and foremost, and that his background contrasted with that of his labelmates.

West's breakthrough came a year later on October 23, 2002, when, while driving home from a California recording studio after working late, he fell asleep at the wheel and was involved in a near-fatal car crash. The crash left him with a shattered jaw, which had to be wired shut in reconstructive surgery. The accident inspired West; two weeks after being admitted to a hospital, he recorded a song at the Record Plant with his jaw still wired shut. The composition, "Through the Wire", expressed West's experience after the accident, and helped lay the foundation for his debut album, as according to West "all the better artists have expressed what they were going through". West added that "the album was my medicine", as working on the record distracted him from the pain. "Through the Wire" was first available on West's Get Well Soon... mixtape, released December 2002. At the same time, West announced that he was working on an album called The College Dropout, whose overall theme was to "make your own decisions. Don't let society tell you, 'This is what you have to do.'"

Recording
West began recording The College Dropout in 1999, taking four years to complete. Recording sessions took place at Record Plant in Los Angeles, California, but the production featured on the record took place elsewhere over the course of several years. According to John Monopoly, West's friend, manager and business partner, the album "...[didn't have] a particular start date. He's been gathering beats for years. He was always producing with the intention of being a rapper. There's beats on the album he's been literally saving for himself for years". At one point, West hovered between making a portion of the production in the studio and the majority within his own apartment in Hoboken, New Jersey. Because it was a two-bedroom apartment, West was able to set up a home studio in one of the rooms and his bedroom in the other.

West brought a Louis Vuitton backpack filled with old disks and demos to the studio, producing tracks in less than fifteen minutes at a time. He recorded the remainder of the album in Los Angeles while recovering from the car accident. Once he had completed the album, it was leaked months before its release date. However, West decided to use the opportunity to review the album, and The College Dropout was significantly remixed, remastered, and revised before being released. As a result, certain tracks originally destined for the album were subsequently retracted, among them "Keep the Receipt" with Ol' Dirty Bastard and "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" with Consequence. West meticulously refined the production, adding string arrangements, gospel choirs, improved drum programming and new verses. On his personal blog in 2009, West stated he was most inspired by The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill and listened to the album every day while working on The College Dropout.

The song "School Spirit" was censored for the album because Aretha Franklin would not allow the rapper to sample her music without censorship being promised. It was revealed by Plain Pat that there were around three other versions of the song, but West disliked them. Pat said in reference to the Franklin sample: "That song would have been so weak if we didn't get that sample cleared". In 2011, an uncensored version of the track was distributed online.

West finished recording around December 2003, according to his older cousin and singer Tony Williams, who was recruited by the rapper two weeks before the album's deadline to contribute vocals. Williams had impressed West by singing improvisations to "Spaceship" during one of their drives together. The singer later recounted recording with West for The College Dropout at the Record Plant: "I get in, go in the booth, start vibing out on 'Spaceship' and finished it up. At that point he was like, 'Ok, Well let me see what you do on this song.' I think that's when we did 'Last Call.' One song lead to another, and by the end of the weekend, I was on like five songs. Then we did the 'I'll Fly Away' joint". In a January 2020 interview with GQ, West revealed that around 30 to 40 percent of the album was recorded on a Roland VS-1680.

Music and lyrics
The College Dropout diverged from the then-dominant gangster persona in hip hop in favor of more diverse, topical subjects for the lyrics. Throughout the album, West touches on a number of different issues drawn from his own experiences and observations, including organized religion, family, sexuality, excessive materialism, self-consciousness, minimum wage labor, institutional prejudice, and personal struggles. Music journalist Kelefa Sanneh wrote, "Throughout the album, Mr. West taunts everyone who didn't believe in him: teachers, record executives, police officers, even his former boss at the Gap". West explained, "My persona is that I'm the regular person. Just think about whatever you've been through in the past week, and I have a song about that on my album". The album was musically notable for West's unique development of his "chipmunk soul" production style, in which R&B and soul music samples were sped up and pitch shifted.

The album begins with a skit featuring a college professor asking West to deliver a graduation speech. The skit is followed by "We Don't Care" featuring West comically celebrating drug life with lines like "We wasn't supposed to make it past 25, joke's on you, we still alive" and then criticizing its influence amongst children. The next track, "Graduation Day", features Miri Ben-Ari on violin and vocals by John Legend.

On "All Falls Down", West wages an attack on consumerism. The song features singer Syleena Johnson and contains an interpolation of Lauryn Hill's "Mystery of Iniquity". West called upon Johnson to re-sing a vocal portion of "Mystery of Iniquity", which ended up in the final mix. Gospel hymn with doo-wop elements "I'll Fly Away" precedes "Spaceship", a track with a relaxed beat containing a soulful Marvin Gaye sample. The lyrics are mostly critical of the working world, where West muses about flying away in a spaceship to leave his boring job, and guest rappers GLC and Consequence add comparisons to modern day retail environment with slavery.

On "Jesus Walks", West professes his belief in Jesus, while also discussing how religion is used by various people and how the media seems to avoid songs that address matters of faith while embracing compositions on violence, sex, and drugs. "Jesus Walks" is built around a sample of "Walk With Me" as performed by the ARC Choir. Garry Mulholland of The Observer described it as a "towering inferno of martial beats, fathoms-deep chain gang backing chants, a defiant children's choir, gospel wails, and sizzling orchestral breaks". The first verse of the song is told through the eyes of a drug dealer seeking help from God, and it reportedly took over six months for West to draw inspiration for the second verse.

"Never Let Me Down" is influenced by West's near-death car crash. The song features Jay-Z, who rhymes about maintaining status and power given his chart success, while West comments on racism and poverty. The song features verses by spoken word performer J. Ivy who offers comments of upliftment. "Never Let Me Down" reuses a Jay-Z verse first heard in the remix of his song "Hovi Baby". "Get Em High" is a collaboration by West with two socially conscious rappers, Talib Kweli and Common. "The New Workout Plan" is a call to fitness to improve one's love life. "Slow Jamz" features Twista and Jamie Foxx and serves as a tribute to classic smooth soul artists and slow jam songs. The song also appeared on Twista's album Kamikaze. On the song "School Spirit", West relates the experience of dropping out of school and contains references to well-known fraternities, sororities, singer Norah Jones, and record label Roc-A-Fella Records. "Two Words" features commentary on social issues and features Mos Def, Freeway, and the Harlem Boys Choir.

"Through the Wire" features a high-pitched vocal sample of Chaka Khan and relates West's real life experience with being in a car accident. The song provides a mostly comedic account of his difficult recovery, and features West rapping with his jaw still wired shut from the accident. The chorus and instrumentals sample a pitched up version of Chaka Khan's 1985 single "Through the Fire". "Family Business" is a soulful tribute to the godbrother of Tarrey Torae, one of the many collaborators in the album. The song "Last Call" is about West's transition from being a producer to a rapper, and the album ends with a nearly nine-minute autobiographical monologue that follows the song "Last Call". However, this is not a separate track.

Title and packaging
The album's title is in part a reference to West's decision to drop out of college to pursue his dream of becoming a musician. This action greatly displeased his mother, who was a professor at the university from which he withdrew. She later said, "It was drummed into my head that college is the ticket to a good life... but some career goals don't require college. For Kanye to make an album called [The] College Dropout it was more about having the guts to embrace who you are, rather than following the path society has carved out for you".

The artwork for the album was developed by Eric Duvauchelle, who was then part of Roc-A-Fella's in-house brand design team. West had already taken pictures dressed as the Dropout Bear – which would reappear in his later work – and Duvauchelle picked the image of him sitting on a set of bleachers, as he was attracted to the loneliness of what was supposed to be "the most popular representation of a school". The image is framed inside gold ornaments, which Duvauchelle found in a book of illustrations from the 16th-century and West wanted to use to "bring a sense of elegance and style to what was typically a gangster-led image of rap artists". The inside cover follows a college yearbook, with photos of the featured artists from their youth.

While the original release of the album features a brown background on the cover artwork, later remasters of the album feature a white background.

Marketing and sales
The College Dropout was originally scheduled for release in August 2003, but West's perfectionist habits producing the album led to it being postponed three times. It was first delayed to October 2003, then to January 2004, before finally being released to stores on February 10, 2004.

In its first week of release, the album sold 441,000 copies and debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 chart, being held off the top spot by Norah Jones' second studio album Feels Like Home. The College Dropout remained at the second spot behind Feels Like Home for two consecutive weeks, with 196,000 units sold in the second week and 132,000 in the third week, respectively. In 2004, The College Dropout ranked as the twelfth most popular of the year on the Billboard 200. The album had sold 2.3 million units in the United States by November 2004. By June 2014, the album had become West's best-selling album in the US at the time, with domestic sales of 3,358,000 copies. On November 23, 2020, The College Dropout was certified four-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). On the UK Albums Chart, the album peaked at number 12, and the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) had certified it double platinum by November 25, 2004; this indicated shipments of 600,000 copies. As of 2018, The College Dropout is the fourteenth highest selling rap album in the UK in the 21st-century. The album has sold over 4 million copies worldwide.

Four of the singles released in promotion of the album became top-20 chart hits: "Through the Wire", "Slow Jamz", "All Falls Down" and "Jesus Walks". "The New Workout Plan" was the fifth and last single. "Spaceship" was planned to be the sixth single, but Def Jam decided to move on from The College Dropout's promotional campaign to begin marketing West's next album, Late Registration (2005). At one point, "Two Words" was also intended to be released as a single, and a video for the song was filmed, and later uploaded by West online in 2009.

Critical reception
The College Dropout was met with widespread critical acclaim. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an average score of 87, based on 25 reviews.

The record was hailed by Kelefa Sanneh from The New York Times as "2004's first great hip-hop album". Reviewing it for The A.V. Club, Nathan Rabin observed in the music "substance, social commentary, righteous anger, ornery humanism, dark humor, and even Christianity", calling it "one of those wonderful crossover albums that appeal to a huge audience without sacrificing a shred of integrity". The staff of Mojo said its exceptional hip hop production was miraculous during a time when hip hop's practice of sampling was becoming "increasingly litigious", and those of Urb deemed it "both visceral and emotive, sprinkling the dancefloors with tears and sweat". Dave Heaton from PopMatters found it "musically engaging" and "a genuine extension of Kanye's personality and experiences", while Hua Hsu of The Village Voice felt that his sped-up samples "carry a humble, human air", allowing listeners to "hear tiny traces of actual people inside". Fellow Village Voice critic Robert Christgau wrote that "not only does [West] create a unique role model, that role model is dangerous—his arguments against education are as market-targeted as other rappers' arguments for thug life". In the opinion of Stylus Magazine's Josh Love, West "subverts cliches from both sides of the hip-hop divide" while "trying to reflect the entire spectrum of hip-hop and black experience, looking for solace and salvation in the traditional safehouses of church and family". Entertainment Weekly's Michael Endelman elaborated on West's avoidance of the then-dominant "gangsta" persona of hip hop:

West delivers the goods with a disarming mix of confessional honesty and sarcastic humor, earnest idealism and big-pimping materialism. In a scene still dominated by authenticity battles and gangsta posturing, he's a middle-class, politically conscious, post-thug, bourgeois rapper – and that's nothing to be ashamed of.

Some reviewers were more qualified in their praise. Rolling Stones Jon Caramanica felt that "West isn't quite MC enough to hold down the entire disc", though claimed that West's "ace in the hole is his signature cozy sound", while Slant Magazines Sal Cinquemani observed "too many guest artists, too many interludes, and just too many songs period" on what he considered a "chest-beatingly self-congratulatory" yet humorous, deeply sincere, and affecting record. It was regarded by Pitchfork critic Rob Mitchum as a "flawed, overlong, hypocritical, egotistical, and altogether terrific album". The staff of Rolling Stone were more receptive in a retrospective review than Caramanica was previously for the publication, calling the album "a demonstration that hip-hop—real, banging, commercial hip-hop—could be a vehicle for nuanced self-examination and musical subtlety".

Rankings
The College Dropout was voted as the best album of the year by The Village Voice's Pazz & Jop, an annual poll of American critics. The album elsewhere topped year-end lists by Rolling Stone, Spin, Vibe, and PopMatters. Dutch magazine OOR named it the seventh best album of 2004. Billboard named The College Dropout the second best album of 2004. Rhapsody named it the seventh best album of the decade and the fourth best hip hop album of the decade.

In 2005, Pitchfork named it No. 50 in their best albums of 2000–2004. In 2006, the album was named by Time as one of the 100 best albums of all time. In its retrospective 2007 issue, XXL named it one of the magazine's "XXL"-rated releases; this perfect rating had previously been given by the magazine to only sixteen other albums. In 2012, Complex named the album one of the classic albums of the last decade, and the 20th best hip hop debut album ever. Dagsavisen listed the album eleventh in its list of the top forty albums of the 2000s decade. The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. NME placed the album at 273 on its 2013 list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time", while Rolling Stone ranked it at 74 on their list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" in 2020.

Influence
The College Dropout sparked a resurgence of socially conscious rap in the mid 2000s, arriving at a time when pop rap was saturated with songs featuring product placement and intensely violent lyrics, epitomized by rappers like 50 Cent, Nelly, Ja Rule, Ludacris, and P. Diddy. West instead created a space in the mainstream for rappers to express themselves and black identity without resorting to hip hop's prevalent theme of gang culture. Raul Verma of The Independent said "West is charged with proving mainstream hip hop has a conscience with his nourishing messages of substance flying in the face of the amoral majority perpetuating clichés of guns, girls and bling", while Vibe senior editor Noah Callahan-Bever argued that West's infusion of "pop sensibility" into his otherwise progressive hip hop had "bridged the gap" and encouraged rappers to gravitate more towards the center between mainstream and alternative forms. Today commented that "The College Dropout, stood out in the rap landscape because of its atypical prose. It avoided the usual plotlines about sex, money and violence and touched on everything from his faith to his fears of failure and other crises from his life."

According to DJBooth journalist Brad Callas, the album also "helped solidify chipmunk soul as not only the defining sound of the Roc-A-Fella era but also the most popular sub-genre in hip-hop". "It feels like that album birthed an entire sub-genre", Max Weinstein wrote in retrospect for Vibe, going on to say, "The palette of emotions was so broad, the depth of topics so searingly relevant, that it was bound to make an impression on any artist that heard it. RZA might have birthed chipmunk soul, and Black Star perfected smart lyricism for the JanSport bunch, but 'Ye brought all that to the masses in one single, digestible product, breaking down the divisions between mainstream rap and Rawkus-grade consciousness." Weinstein also credited The College Dropout with directly influencing 10 albums: Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor (2006) by Lupe Fiasco, School Was My Hustle (2006) by Kidz in the Hall, Don't Quit Your Day Job! (2007) by Consequence, A Kid Named Cudi (2008) by Kid Cudi, Asleep in the Bread Aisle (2009) by Asher Roth, Kendrick Lamar's self-titled first EP (2009), Camp (2011) by Childish Gambino, Cole World: The Sideline Story (2011) by J. Cole, When Fish Ride Bicycles (2011) by The Cool Kids, and Acid Rap (2013) by Chance the Rapper.

With the album, West began to develop a following of listeners who could not relate to lyrics glorifying gangster lifestyle but still enjoyed rap music and connected more with his musings on family and love. In 2005, comedian Chris Rock attested to listening to The College Dropout while writing his stand-up material. Music journalists such as Meaghan Garvey, Andrew Barber, and Erika Ramirez also connected to the album during their formative years, with Barber saying in a roundtable discussion for Noisey, "I could identify with this project the most because I was in college at the time, and I felt like an underdog in my own life. I was uncertain of my future. [West's] words on 'Last Call' inspired me to follow my dreams, and motivated me to graduate despite the album title." In the same discussion, music journalist Eric Sundermann cited The College Dropout as the first in West's pop rap album trilogy that would be followed by Late Registration in 2005 and Graduation in 2007, while Craig Jenkins called it "a watershed moment in 2000s rap history where the nerds stormed the school to seize control from the jocks, a shift memorialized two albums later when Graduation trounced 50 Cent's Curtis album in their 2007 sales showdown."

Track listing
All tracks are produced by Kanye West, except "Last Call" (co-produced with Evidence; additional production by Porse) and "Breathe In Breathe Out" (co-produced with Brian Miller).

Sample credits

 * "We Don't Care" contains samples of "I Just Wanna Stop", written by Ross Vannelli and performed by The Jimmy Castor Bunch.
 * "All Falls Down" contains interpolations of "Mystery of Iniquity", written and performed by Lauryn Hill.
 * "Spaceship" contains samples of "Distant Lover", written by Marvin Gaye, Gwen Gordy Fuqua and Sandra Greene, and performed by Marvin Gaye.
 * "Jesus Walks" contains samples of "Walk with Me", performed by The ARC Choir and "(Don't Worry) If There's a Hell Below, We're All Going to Go", written and performed by Curtis Mayfield.
 * "Never Let Me Down" contains samples of "Maybe It's the Power of Love", written by Michael Bolton and Bruce Kulick, and performed by Blackjack.
 * "Slow Jamz" contains samples of "A House Is Not a Home", written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, and performed by Luther Vandross.
 * "School Spirit" contains samples of "Spirit in the Dark", written and performed by Aretha Franklin.
 * "Two Words" contains samples of "Peace & Love (Amani Na Mapenzi) – Movement IV (Encounter)", written by Lou Wilson, Ric Wilson and Carlos Wilson, and performed by Mandrill.
 * "Through the Wire" contains samples of "Through the Fire", written by David Foster, Tom Keane and Cynthia Weil, and performed by Chaka Khan.
 * "Family Business" contains samples of "Fonky Thang", written by Terry Callier and Charles Stepney, and performed by The Dells.
 * "Last Call" contains samples of "Mr. Rockefeller", written by Jerry Blatt and Bette Midler, and performed by Bette Midler.

Personnel
Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.

Musicians

 * John Legend – vocals (track 3), additional vocals (tracks 2, 6, 7, 11, 21), background vocals (track 8), piano (track 3)
 * DeRay – additional vocals (tracks 1, 5, 14, 16, 17)
 * Tony Williams – additional vocals (track 5, 6, 15, 17, 21)
 * Sumeke Rainey – additional vocals (tracks 9, 11)
 * Tracie Spencer – additional vocals (track 12), background vocals (track 8)
 * Riccarda Watkins – additional vocals (track 2)
 * Candis Brown – additional vocals (track 10)
 * Brandi Kuykenvall – additional vocals (track 10)
 * Tiera Singleton – additional vocals (track 10)
 * Aisha Tyler – additional vocals (track 12)
 * Thomasina Atkins – additional vocals (track 20)
 * Linda Petty – additional vocals (track 20)
 * Beverly McCargo – additional vocals (track 20)
 * Lavel Mena – additional vocals (track 20)
 * Thai Jones – additional vocals (track 20)
 * Kevin Shannon – additional vocals (track 20)
 * Tarey Torae – additional vocals (track 20)
 * Rude Jude – additional vocals (track 22)
 * Terrence Hardy – "kids" vocals (track 2)
 * Diamond Alabi-Isama – "kids" vocals (track 2)
 * James "JT" Knight – "kids" vocals (track 2)
 * Keyshia Cole – background vocals (track 2)
 * Ervin "EP" Pope – keyboards (tracks 8, 12), piano (tracks 5, 11, 17, 21)
 * Glenn Jefferey – guitars (tracks 8, 12, 21)
 * Keenan "Kee-note" Holloway – bass (tracks 8, 12), additional bass (track 21)
 * Frank Walker – percussion (tracks 3, 8, 12)
 * Ken Lewis – acoustic guitar (track 4), sample recreation and performance (track 8), additional instrumentation (track 20), guitar, bass, keyboard, percussion, vocal (track 21)
 * Eric "E-Bass" Johnson – guitars (tracks 4, 11)
 * Bosko – talkbox (track 11)
 * Keith Slattery – keyboards (track 18)
 * Scott Ward – bass guitar (track 19)
 * Josh Zandman – piano (track 20)
 * Miri Ben-Ari – violins production, writing, arrangement and performance (tracks 2, 3, 7, 11, 13, 18, 22)

Production

 * Rabeka Tunei – recording (tracks 1, 4–6, 8, 10, 14–17, 20, 21)
 * Eugene A. Toale – recording (tracks 2, 3, 7, 11, 13, 22)
 * Andrew Dawson – recording (tracks 6, 7, 11, 15)
 * Anthony Kilhoffer – recording (tracks 3, 8, 9)
 * Tatsuya Sato – recording (tracks 4, 6, 7)
 * Rich Balmer – recording (tracks 2, 22)
 * Brent Kolatalo – recording (tracks 8, 21), assistant engineering (track 22)
 * Keith Slattery – recording (tracks 11, 18)
 * Jacob Andrew – recording (tracks 13, 20)
 * Gimel "Guru" Keaton – recording (track 8)
 * Jacelyn Parry – recording (track 8)
 * Michael Eleopoulos – recording (track 9)
 * Dave Dar – recording (track 9)
 * Jason Rauhoff – recording (track 13)
 * Marc Fuller – recording (track 18)
 * Carlisle Young – recording (track 18)
 * Francis Graham – recording (track 19)
 * Manny Marroquin – mixing (tracks 1–10, 12–17, 19–21)
 * Jared Lopez – mixing (track 11)
 * Mike Dean – mixing (track 18)
 * Ken Lewis – mixing (track 22)
 * Eddy Schreyer – mastering

Design

 * Danny Clinch – photography
 * Eric Duvauchelle – art direction and design
 * Mike Godshall – art direction and design
 * Jim Morris – art direction and design
 * Stephanie Reynolds – art direction and design
 * Lauri Rowe – art direction and design
 * Bobby Naugle – Dropout Bear logo design
 * Sam Hansen – Dropout Bear logo design

title: The College Dropout


text:
Parashiva

Parashiva (or Paramashiva, Paramshiva, or Parmshiva, among other spellings; Sanskrit: परशिव, IAST: Paraśiva) is the highest aspect of Shiva in Shaiva Siddhanta and in Kashmir Shaivism. Below him are the primordial Shiva with the Parashakti and Sadashiva with seven Shaktis.

Shaiva Siddhanta
According to the Shaiva Siddhanta tradition, which is a major school of Shaivism, Parashiva is absolute reality which is beyond human comprehension and is beyond all attributes. According to Mahamahopadhaya Gopinath Kaviraj, in this aspect Shiva is both formless and with forms. He is beyond both dvaita and advaita. In Shaivite theology, Parashiva is both the source and the destination of everything in the existence.

According to the Shaiva Siddhanta tradition, the other two aspects of Shiva are Parashakti and Parameshwara.

The upper part (oval stone) of Shiva Lingam represents Parashiva while lower part (pedestal) represents Parashakti. Parashiva is beyond all of the 36 tattvas mentioned in Shaivism philosophy.

Kashmir Shaivism

Kashmiri Shaivism describes how all of reality, with all of its diversity and fluctuation, is the play of the single principle, Paramashiva. The two aspects of this single reality are inseparably united: Shiva and Shakti. Paramashiva appears as the world through his creative power, Shakti. The ontological nature of Paramashiva is beyond human knowledge and articulation, yet it can be experienced directly through mystical intuition.

The Kashmir Shaivism tradition, also called Trika Shaivism, is a non-dualist branch of Shaiva-Shakta Tantra Hinduism that originated in Kashmir after 850 CE. In its place of origin in Kashmir, this tradition is commonly referred to as "Kashmiri Shaivism." It later spread beyond Kashmir, with its great scholar Abhinavagupta calling it "Trika" (meaning "the Trinity"). It particularly flourished in the states of Odisha and Maharashtra. Defining features of the Trika tradition are its idealistic and monistic Pratyabhijna ("Recognition") philosophical system, propounded by Utpaladeva (c. 925–975 CE) and Abhinavagupta (c. 975–1025 CE), and the centrality of the three goddesses Parā, Parāparā, and Aparā.

title: Parashiva


text:
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title: User talk:Wishbone332