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Al Feldstein

Albert Bernard Feldstein (October 24, 1925 – April 29, 2014) was an American writer, editor, and artist, best known for his work at EC Comics and, from 1956 to 1985, as the editor of the satirical magazine Mad. After retiring from Mad, Feldstein concentrated on American paintings of Western wildlife.

Early life and education
Al Feldstein was born October 24, 1925, in Brooklyn, New York, to a Jewish household. He was the son of Max, who made dental molds, and Beatrice Feldstein. After winning an award in the 1939 New York World's Fair poster contest, he decided on a career in the art field and studied at the High School of Music and Art in Manhattan. During World War II, he served stateside in the Army Air Forces.

Career
While in high school, he was hired by Jerry Iger to work in the S. M. Iger Studio, a packager of comic-book stories supplying outsourced content to publishers entering the new medium. He recalled, "...running errands, erasing pages and doing general gofer work after school for three dollars a week (later raised to five...then twelve over the Summer, full time!). ... It was there (at the Iger Studio) that I began to learn to do comic-book art — first, by inking backgrounds, then penciling and inking backgrounds, then inking figures penciled by others, then penciling and inking figures, and finally doing whole pages from beginning to end."

His earliest background art was for Sheena, Queen of the Jungle.

After graduating from high school he attended the Art Students League. Feldstein freelanced art for comic books, including Fox Comics. Feldstein recalled that Bob Farrell, whom he considered a "wheeler-dealer" driving a convertible Cadillac, introduced him to Victor Fox in return for a commission from all payments Fox made to him. Feldstein rewrote Farrell's scripts for Fox and produced the art for the stories. He described Fox as the "typical exploiting comic book publisher of his day, grinding out shameless imitations of successful titles and trends" and mistreating his writers and artists.

Feldstein wrote, drew and packaged the complete Junior and Sunny books for Fox, and produced a comic book adaptation of Meet Corliss Archer. Warned by his letterer Jim Wroten to be cautious about payments from Victor Fox, who'd "gotten himself into financial trouble", Feldstein approached Bill Gaines, who'd just taken over as EC Comics publisher following his father's death in a speedboat crash. Feldstein's initial EC assignment was drawing a teenage book, the beginning of a long working relationship with Gaines.

EC Comics
Arriving at EC in 1948, Feldstein began as an artist, but he soon combined art with writing, eventually editing most of the EC titles. Although he originally wrote and illustrated approximately one story per comic, in addition to doing many covers, Feldstein finally focused on editing and writing, reserving his artwork primarily for covers. From late 1950 through 1953, he edited and wrote stories for seven EC titles.

As EC's editor, Feldstein created a literate line, balancing his genre tales with potent graphic stories probing the underbelly of American life. In creating stories around such topics as racial prejudice, rape, domestic violence, police brutality, drug addiction and child abuse, he succeeded in addressing problems and issues which the 1950s radio, motion picture and television industries were too timid to dramatize.

While developing a stable of contributing writers that included Robert Bernstein, Otto Binder, Daniel Keyes, Jack Oleck and Carl Wessler, he published the first work of Harlan Ellison. EC employed the comics industry's finest artists and published promotional copy to make readers aware of their staff. Feldstein encouraged the EC illustrators to maintain their personal art styles, and this emphasis on individuality gave the EC line a unique appearance. Distinctive front cover designs framing those recognizable art styles made Feldstein's titles easy to spot on crowded newsstands.

Those comic books, known as EC's New Trend group, included Weird Science, Weird Fantasy, Tales from the Crypt, The Haunt of Fear, The Vault of Horror, Shock SuspenStories, Crime SuspenStories, Panic and Piracy. After the New Trend titles folded in 1955, Feldstein edited EC's short-lived New Direction line, followed by EC's Picto-Fiction magazines.

Mad
After industry and government pressures forced Gaines to shut down most of his EC titles, Feldstein was briefly separated from the company. But when Harvey Kurtzman left Mad in 1956, Gaines turned to his former editor. Feldstein spent the next 29 years at the helm of what became one of the nation's leading and most influential magazines. It is unclear what the circulation of the magazine was when Feldstein took over but it is estimated to be between 325,000 and 750,000. By the 1960s, it had increased to over a million, and by the 1970s, it had doubled to two million. Circulation multiplied more than eight times during Feldstein's tenure, peaking at 2,850,000 for an issue in 1974 (and an average of 2.1 million for that year), although it declined to a third of that figure by the end of his time as editor.

Feldstein has been credited with giving the magazine the personality of a "smart-alecky, sniggering and indisputably clever spitball-shooter."

Many new cartoonists and writers surfaced during the early years of Feldstein's editorship. This process leveled off in the 1960s as the magazine came to rely on a steady group of contributors. Feldstein's first issue as editor (#29) was also the first issue to display the twisted work of cartoonist Don Martin. The following issue, #30, marked the debuts of longtime cover artist Norman Mingo and artist Bob Clarke. Kelly Freas first appeared in issue #31. Issue #32 brought artists Mort Drucker, George Woodbridge and Joe Orlando, while issue #33 introduced readers to writers Frank Jacobs and Tom Koch. Al Jaffee, who had appeared in four of editor Kurtzman's last issues before leaving with him, returned just a year and a half later. Larry Siegel and Arnie Kogen began writing for the magazine in 1958–59. By the end of 1962, with the additions of Antonio Prohías, Paul Coker Jr., Jack Rickard, Don Edwing, Dick DeBartolo, Stan Hart, Dave Berg and Lou Silverstone, he had fully established both the format and the talent pool that kept the magazine a commercial success for decades.

Retirement
After he retired from Mad in 1985, Feldstein began painting again after his son, Mark Feldstein, gave him his first oil paint set since pre-Mad. He left Connecticut and relocated in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where he spent three years painting the Teton Range and its wildlife. Two of his paintings from that period placed in the Top 100 of Arts for the Parks, a competition created in 1986 by the National Park Academy of the Arts.

Feldstein moved in 1992 to Paradise Valley, Montana, near Livingston, finding new approaches to depict the Western way of life in his acrylic paintings. In 1999, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Arts degree by Rocky Mountain College in Billings, Montana, and that year again ranked in the Top 100 of the Arts for the Parks' Competition. He is represented by numerous Northwest galleries, and he continued to create his Western, wildlife and landscape paintings at his 270 acre (1.1 km2) ranch south of Livingston and north of Yellowstone National Park.

In 2000, he was invited to give the Commencement Address to the new century's first graduating class at Rocky Mountain College.

He was inducted into the Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame in 2003.

In 2011, he received the Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Horror Writers Association.

Feldstein died on April 29, 2014, at his home in Paradise Valley, Montana, near Livingston. No cause of death was released.

title: Al Feldstein


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User:Deinonychus

An English 19-year old at university. Edited a few articles (can't remember them all) before I created an account, and now seem to have edited a lot more!

Articles I started:
 * Leedsichthys
 * Chaos Island: The Lost World Jurassic Park
 * Ivan Ivanovich
 * RMS Britannic (1930)
 * RMS Celtic (1901)
 * RMS Cedric
 * RMS Adriatic (1907)
 * Harry Greene

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

title: User:Deinonychus


text:
Past Doctor Adventures

The Past Doctor Adventures (sometimes known by the abbreviation PDA or PDAs) were a series of spin-off novels based on the long running BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who and published under the BBC Books imprint. For most of their existence, they were published side-by-side with the Eighth Doctor Adventures. The novels regularly featured the First through Seventh Doctors. The Infinity Doctors had an ambiguous place in continuity and featured an unidentified incarnation of the Doctor. The Eighth Doctor co-starred with the Fourth Doctor in one novel (Wolfsbane) and, after the Eighth Doctor Adventures had ceased publication, a novel (Fear Itself) featuring the Eighth Doctor and set between two earlier Eighth Doctor Adventures (EarthWorld and Vanishing Point) was published within the Past Doctor series.

Publication history
Between 1991 and 1997, Virgin Publishing produced successful spin-off novels under the New Adventures and Missing Adventures ranges. However, following the Doctor Who television movie in 1996, the BBC did not renew Virgin Publishing's license to continue publishing Doctor Who material. Instead, they opted to publish their own range beginning in 1997 with The Devil Goblins from Neptune by Martin Day and Keith Topping. The range continued to be published through to 2005.

Virgin had distinguished the New and Missing Adventures with different cover designs. BBC Books, however, did not differentiate their novels featuring the current and past Doctors in this way, although they were listed separately within the books. Fans, however, continued to distinguish the ongoing story of the Eighth Doctor from the more stand-alone adventures of past Doctors.

Despite moving to the BBC, the writers (many of whom wrote for the Virgin series) have broadly attempted to maintain continuity with the New and Missing Adventures and many elements from these series have appeared in the Past Doctor Adventures (which replaced the Missing Adventures). Indeed, one of the novels — Millennium Shock by Justin Richards — was a direct sequel to System Shock, a Missing Adventure published by Virgin. Another notable release was Scream of the Shalka, a novelisation of the webcast of the same title and the only release in the Past Doctor range that did not feature an "official" incarnation of the Doctor. The Infinity Doctors, written by Lance Parkin, featured an unidentified Doctor.

In addition to the Past Doctor Adventures and the Eighth Doctor Adventures, the BBC also published three short story collections under the title of Short Trips, which feature all eight (at the time of publication) Doctors. These were also inherited from Virgin, a version of their Decalog short story collections, and when the BBC ceased publishing them, a licence to continue was sought by Big Finish Productions, who continued to publish their own range of Short Trips collections until 2009.

The range has ceased publication. In the spring of 2005, BBC Books began publishing a series of hardcover books, the New Series Adventures. The BBC Past Doctor paperback series continued for the remainder of 2005, but no titles were announced after Andrew Cartmel's Atom Bomb Blues, which was released in November 2005. In a talk in July 2006, commissioning editor Justin Richards said that BBC Books have plans for the future of the Past Doctor Adventures, but that decisions had not yet been taken.

Beginning in 2012, hardback books featuring past Doctors are being published, though at a much reduced rate compared with the pre-2005 output. The books are longer, in a larger format, and written by (or in once case, adapted from earlier work by) prominent science fiction authors. As of the mid-2014, the titles published are Shada by Gareth Roberts (a novelisation of the unbroadcast television story by Douglas Adams), The Wheel of Ice by Stephen Baxter and Harvest of Time by Alastair Reynolds.

List of Past Doctor Adventures
Including books featuring two of the Doctors, the numbers of books each appears in are as follows:

 * First Doctor, 8 books
 * Second Doctor, 12 books
 * Third Doctor, 12 books
 * Fourth Doctor, 13 books
 * Fifth Doctor, 10 books
 * Sixth Doctor, 11 books
 * Seventh Doctor, 13 books
 * Eighth Doctor, 2 books

title: Past Doctor Adventures


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User talk:Deinonychus

Welcome!

'''Hi,, Welcome  to Wikipedia! '''Welcome to Wikipedia, the collaborative encyclopaedia that anyone can edit! I hope you like the place and decide to stay. We'll certainly be looking forward for your contributions. Here are a few good links for newcomers:'''

 * How to edit a page
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I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian! By the way, you can sign your name on Talk and vote pages using three tildes, like this: ~~~. Four tildes (~~~~) produces your name and the current date. If you have any questions, see the help pages, add a question to the village pump or ask me on my Talk page. And, the most important thing: Have fun! Sarg (Talk)

Prehistoric Park

 * Please discuss in Talk:Prehistoric Park before such a drastic deletion of information. Anthony Appleyard 06:24, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

ArbCom elections are now open!
MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 13:05, 23 November 2015 (UTC)

title: User talk:Deinonychus


text: User talk:82.143.150.188

title: User talk:82.143.150.188


text:
Ai-Kon

Ai-Kon is an annual three-day anime convention held on a weekend during the month of July in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Ai-Kon was first held at the University of Manitoba in 2001 and is currently held at the RBC Convention Centre. The convention's name is a blend of the words ai (Japanese for love) and convention and is derived from its slogan "For the love of anime". The word ai was also chosen to play on the fact that the club had a magazine they called Anime Injection.

Programming
Ai-Kon provides a wide variety of on mandate programming put on by committee staff, members of the community, guests and industry partners. Streaming/showing rooms run 24-hours during the conventions featuring titles in both Japanese and English languages. Alongside anime, the convention also hosts many video game and Japanese culture related activities.

Additional convention events include:
 * Marketplace: Dealer's Room and an Artists Alley
 * Cosplay events: Cosplay Contest, Cosplay Skills Faire, workshops
 * Gamer's Lounge: no entry tournaments, various video games stations, tabletop gaming area, charity event for Extra Life
 * Music: Saturday Dance, Dance Showcase
 * Panels and workshops: Guests, staff, cultural workshops, fan based/ members of the community, industry, game shows, fashion shows
 * Other attractions: Cultural room, Maid Cafe, Gundam Builders World Cup National qualifiers, Tamiya mini 4awd stock car tournament, pop-up partnered experiences, art auction

History
Ai-Kon was first held in July 2001 at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and was run by the University of Manitoba Anime Club (UMAnime). The founding members were the club's executive staff, Kristjanna Thorarinson, Riki Lecotey, Kwan Fu Sit, Tong Lin, Cathleen Ma, Tim Groner, Geoff Wright, and Jeff Agapito. At the time the club held one-day events but they had so many things planned that summer, the club decided on making it a two-day event but added a dance on Friday evenings, making it a 3-day convention. In 2002 the event went on hiatus for one year, due to changes within the club, and in July 2003 a second Ai-Kon was held at the university.

Today, Ai-Kon is a non-profit organization that is run by a volunteer committee. It continues to be held annually in Winnipeg each summer.

In 2011, as a celebration of the 10 year anniversary, Ai-Kon held a one-day event in January called "The Ai-Kon Winter Festival". This one-day event is now held annually in February under the name "Winterfest".

Mascot
Aiko is a fictional cheerful, stylish, energetic anime girl with pink hair and blue eyes. Her various incarnations coordinate with the convention's yearly theme. The mascot is selected annually from an open contest. Aiko's many manifestations are used on convention promotional materials, clothing, badges, and other wearables. Doug is Aiko's fictional younger brother and likewise the Winterfest mascot. He is portrayed as younger, mischievous and playful with white hair and blue eyes.

title: Ai-Kon


text:
Talk:2005 Indonesian embassy bioterrorism hoax

earlier comments
Any thoughts on VFding this seeing as it didn't turn out to be a biological attack? I don't think it's particularly notable now, as just some random hoax. Ambi 09:27, 4 Jun 2005 (UTC)

 * the coverage generated by the incident is real and is notable, but the article could certainly be renamed, i think. perhaps 2005 Indonesian embassy bioterrorism hoax.  clarkk 11:43, 4 Jun 2005 (UTC)

 * Agree with clarkk. I created the article, in early days. The renaming suits better now. -- Longhair | Talk 12:54, 4 Jun 2005 (UTC)

 * It's obviously real, but I don't know that it's notable. If there hadn't been the initial inkling that it might've been real, then there's no way this article would've been written. I don't think the event is likely to be remembered in a month's time, let alone a year. Ambi 16:50, 4 Jun 2005 (UTC)

 * it was widely covered all over the world see the Google News coverage. if it hadn't come after the Corby verdict, then I agree it wouldn't have been that notable, but for better or worse it was.  i don't think it's any less notable than the various anthrax hoaxes in the US.  anyway the definition of a hoax is that people initially do think it is real, and the fact that it appears to be the first attempt at a hoax designed to look like a biological agent in Australia means that it would have been written about either way.  however since it was followed up by another hoax attack on Downer's office, perhaps the article could be renamed to List of Australian bioterrorism hoaxes.  clarkk 09:56, 5 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Prior Aussie anthrax hoaxes

 * Many have speculated the hoax attack is related to the recent sentencing of Schapelle Corby to 20 years imprisonment in Indonesia for drug trafficking. The incident is the first of its type on Australian soil. The embassy remained closed for several days following the incident.

This isn't the first hoax in Australia. See, for example Ten-year jail terms for anthrax hoaxes (16 October 2001):

 * IAN MCMINN, REPORTER: So far there have been more than 60 anthrax alerts across Australia.

It could be the first one against an embassy though. Andjam 03:29, 3 October 2005 (UTC)

Dead link
During several automated bot runs the following external link was found to be unavailable. Please check if the link is in fact down and fix or remove it in that case!

 * http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,15481770%255E2702,00.html
 * In 2005 Indonesian embassy bioterrorism hoax on 2011-05-25 08:00:54, 404 Not Found
 * In 2005 Indonesian embassy bioterrorism hoax on 2011-06-12 01:53:38, 404 Not Found

--JeffGBot (talk) 01:53, 12 June 2011 (UTC)

Dead link 2
During several automated bot runs the following external link was found to be unavailable. Please check if the link is in fact down and fix or remove it in that case!

 * http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,15482171-2,00.html
 * In 2005 Indonesian embassy bioterrorism hoax on 2011-05-25 08:00:53, 404 Not Found
 * In 2005 Indonesian embassy bioterrorism hoax on 2011-06-12 01:53:50, 404 Not Found

--JeffGBot (talk) 01:54, 12 June 2011 (UTC)

Dead link 3
During several automated bot runs the following external link was found to be unavailable. Please check if the link is in fact down and fix or remove it in that case!

 * http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,15485268-2,00.html
 * In 2005 Indonesian embassy bioterrorism hoax on 2011-05-25 08:00:53, 404 Not Found
 * In 2005 Indonesian embassy bioterrorism hoax on 2011-06-12 01:54:00, 404 Not Found

--JeffGBot (talk) 01:54, 12 June 2011 (UTC)

Dead link 4
During several automated bot runs the following external link was found to be unavailable. Please check if the link is in fact down and fix or remove it in that case!

 * http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,15492962-31317,00.html
 * In 2005 Indonesian embassy bioterrorism hoax on 2011-05-25 08:00:54, 404 Not Found
 * In 2005 Indonesian embassy bioterrorism hoax on 2011-06-12 01:54:10, 404 Not Found

--JeffGBot (talk) 01:54, 12 June 2011 (UTC)

Dead link 5
During several automated bot runs the following external link was found to be unavailable. Please check if the link is in fact down and fix or remove it in that case!

 * http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,15494507-31317,00.html
 * In 2005 Indonesian embassy bioterrorism hoax on 2011-05-25 08:00:54, 404 Not Found
 * In 2005 Indonesian embassy bioterrorism hoax on 2011-06-12 01:54:20, 404 Not Found

--JeffGBot (talk) 01:54, 12 June 2011 (UTC)

Dead link 6
During several automated bot runs the following external link was found to be unavailable. Please check if the link is in fact down and fix or remove it in that case!

 * http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,15502244%255E2702,00.html
 * In 2005 Indonesian embassy bioterrorism hoax on 2011-05-25 08:00:53, 404 Not Found
 * In 2005 Indonesian embassy bioterrorism hoax on 2011-06-12 01:54:29, 404 Not Found

--JeffGBot (talk) 01:54, 12 June 2011 (UTC)


text:
Savitzky–Golay filter

A Savitzky–Golay filter is a digital filter that can be applied to a set of digital data points for the purpose of smoothing the data, that is, to increase the precision of the data without distorting the signal tendency. This is achieved, in a process known as convolution, by fitting successive sub-sets of adjacent data points with a low-degree polynomial by the method of linear least squares. When the data points are equally spaced, an analytical solution to the least-squares equations can be found, in the form of a single set of "convolution coefficients" that can be applied to all data sub-sets, to give estimates of the smoothed signal, (or derivatives of the smoothed signal) at the central point of each sub-set. The method, based on established mathematical procedures, was popularized by Abraham Savitzky and Marcel J. E. Golay, who published tables of convolution coefficients for various polynomials and sub-set sizes in 1964. Some errors in the tables have been corrected. The method has been extended for the treatment of 2- and 3-dimensional data.

Savitzky and Golay's paper is one of the most widely cited papers in the journal Analytical Chemistry and is classed by that journal as one of its "10 seminal papers" saying "it can be argued that the dawn of the computer-controlled analytical instrument can be traced to this article".

Applications
The data consists of a set of points $$\{x_j$$, $$y_j\}; j = 1, ..., n$$, where $$x_j$$ is an independent variable and $$y_j$$ is an observed value. They are treated with a set of $$m$$ convolution coefficients, $$C_i$$, according to the expression
 * $$Y_j= \sum _{i=\tfrac{1-m}2}^{\tfrac{m-1}2}C_i\, y_{j+i},\qquad \frac{m+1}{2} \le j \le n-\frac{m-1}{2}$$

Selected convolution coefficients are shown in the tables, below. For example, for smoothing by a 5-point quadratic polynomial, $$m = 5, i = -2, -1, 0, 1, 2$$ and the $$j^{th}$$ smoothed data point, $$Y_j$$, is given by

 * $$Y_j = \frac{1}{35} (-3 y_{j - 2} + 12  y_{j - 1} + 17  y_j + 12  y_{j + 1} -3  y_{j + 2})$$,

where, $$C_{-2} = -3/35, C_{-1} = 12/35$$, etc. There are numerous applications of smoothing, such as avoiding the propagation of noise through an algorithm chain, or sometimes simply to make the data appear to be less noisy than it really is.

The following are applications of numerical differentiation of data. Note When calculating the nth derivative, an additional scaling factor of $$\frac{n!}{h^n}$$ may be applied to all calculated data points to obtain absolute values (see expressions for $$\frac{d^nY}{dx^n}$$, below, for details).

 * 1) Location of maxima and minima in experimental data curves. This was the application that first motivated Savitzky. The first derivative of a function is zero at a maximum or minimum. The diagram shows data points belonging to a synthetic Lorentzian curve, with added noise (blue diamonds). Data are plotted on a scale of half width, relative to the peak maximum at zero. The smoothed curve (red line) and 1st derivative (green) were calculated with 7-point cubic Savitzky–Golay filters. Linear interpolation of the first derivative values at positions either side of the zero-crossing gives the position of the peak maximum. 3rd derivatives can also be used for this purpose.
 * 2) Location of an end-point in a titration curve. An end-point is an inflection point where the second derivative of the function is zero. The titration curve for malonic acid illustrates the power of the method. The first end-point at 4 ml is barely visible, but the second derivative allows its value to be easily determined by linear interpolation to find the zero crossing.
 * 3) Baseline flattening. In analytical chemistry it is sometimes necessary to measure the height of an absorption band against a curved baseline. Because the curvature of the baseline is much less than the curvature of the absorption band, the second derivative effectively flattens the baseline. Three measures of the derivative height, which is proportional to the absorption band height, are the "peak-to-valley" distances h1 and h2, and the height from baseline, h3.
 * 4) Resolution enhancement in spectroscopy. Bands in the second derivative of a spectroscopic curve are narrower than the bands in the spectrum: they have reduced half-width. This allows partially overlapping bands to be "resolved" into separate (negative) peaks. The diagram illustrates how this may be used also for chemical analysis, using measurement of "peak-to-valley" distances. In this case the valleys are a property of the 2nd derivative of a Lorentzian. (x-axis position is relative to the position of the peak maximum on a scale of half width at half height).
 * 5) Resolution enhancement with 4th derivative (positive peaks). The minima are a property of the 4th derivative of a Lorentzian.

Moving average
The "moving average filter" is a trivial example of a Savitzky-Golay filter that is commonly used with time series data to smooth out short-term fluctuations and highlight longer-term trends or cycles. Each subset of the data set is fit with a straight horizontal line as opposed to a higher order polynomial. An unweighted moving average filter is the simplest convolution filter.

The moving average is often used for a quick technical analysis of financial data, like stock prices, returns or trading volumes. It is also used in economics to examine gross domestic product, employment or other macroeconomic time series.

It was not included in some tables of Savitzky-Golay convolution coefficients as all the coefficient values are identical, with the value $$\frac{1}{m}$$.

Derivation of convolution coefficients
When the data points are equally spaced, an analytical solution to the least-squares equations can be found. This solution forms the basis of the convolution method of numerical smoothing and differentiation. Suppose that the data consists of a set of n points (xj, yj)  (j = 1, ..., n), where xj is an independent variable and yj is a datum value. A polynomial will be fitted by linear least squares to a set of m (an odd number) adjacent data points, each separated by an interval h. Firstly, a change of variable is made
 * $$z = {{x - \bar x} \over h}$$

where $${\bar x}$$ is the value of the central point. z takes the values $$\tfrac{1-m}{2},\cdots,0,\cdots,\tfrac{m-1}{2}$$ (e.g. m = 5 → z = −2, −1, 0, 1, 2). The polynomial, of degree k is defined as
 * $$Y = a_0 + a_1 z + a_2 z^2  \cdots  + a_k z^k.$$

The coefficients a0, a1 etc. are obtained by solving the normal equations (bold a represents a vector, bold J represents a matrix).

 * $${\mathbf{a}} = \left( {{\mathbf{J}}^{\mathbf{T}} {\mathbf{J}}} \right)^{ - {\mathbf{1}}} {\mathbf{J}}^{\mathbf{T}} {\mathbf{y}},$$

where $$\mathbf J$$ is a Vandermonde matrix, that is $$i$$-th row of $$\mathbf J$$ has values $$1, z_i, z_i^2, \dots$$.

For example, for a cubic polynomial fitted to 5 points, z= −2, −1, 0, 1, 2 the normal equations are solved as follows.

\mathbf{J} = \begin{pmatrix} 1 & -2 & 4 & -8 \\ 1 & - 1 & 1 & -1 \\ 1 & 0 & 0 & 0 \\ 1 & 1 & 1 & 1 \\ 1 &  2 & 4 & 8 \end{pmatrix} $$

\mathbf{J^TJ} = \begin{pmatrix} m & \sum z & \sum z^2 & \sum z^3 \\ \sum z & \sum z^2 & \sum z^3 & \sum z^4 \\ \sum z^2 & \sum z^3 & \sum z^4 & \sum z^5 \\ \sum z^3 & \sum z^4 & \sum z^5 & \sum z^6 \\

\end{pmatrix}= \begin{pmatrix}  m & 0 & \sum z^2 &0 \\ 0 & \sum z^2 & 0 & \sum z^4  \\ \sum z^2 & 0 & \sum z^4 &0 \\ 0 &\sum z^4 & 0 & \sum z^6 \\ \end{pmatrix}= \begin{pmatrix} 5 & 0 & 10 & 0 \\  0 & 10 & 0 & 34 \\  10 & 0 & 34 & 0 \\  0 & 34 & 0 & 130\\ \end{pmatrix} $$

Now, the normal equations can be factored into two separate sets of equations, by rearranging rows and columns, with

\mathbf {J^TJ}_\text{even}=\begin{pmatrix} 5 & 10 \\ 10 & 34 \\ \end{pmatrix} \quad \mathrm{and} \quad \mathbf {J^TJ}_\text{odd}=\begin{pmatrix} 10 & 34 \\ 34 & 130 \\ \end{pmatrix} $$ Expressions for the inverse of each of these matrices can be obtained using Cramer's rule

(\mathbf{J^TJ})^{-1}_\text{even}={1\over70} \begin{pmatrix} 34 & -10\\ -10 & 5 \\ \end{pmatrix} \quad \mathrm{and} \quad (\mathbf{J^TJ})^{-1}_\text{odd}={1\over144} \begin{pmatrix} 130 & -34\\ -34 & 10 \\ \end{pmatrix} $$ The normal equations become

\begin{pmatrix} {a_0 } \\  {a_2 }  \\\end{pmatrix}_j= {1\over70} \begin{pmatrix} 34 & -10\\ -10 & 5 \end{pmatrix} \begin{pmatrix} 1&1&1&1&1\\ 4&1&0&1&4\\ \end{pmatrix} \begin{pmatrix}y_{j-2} \\ y_{j-1}  \\ y_j  \\ y_{j+1}  \\ y_{j+2} \end{pmatrix} $$ and

\begin{pmatrix} a_1 \\ a_3  \\\end{pmatrix}_j= {1\over144} \begin{pmatrix} 130 & -34\\ -34 & 10  \\ \end{pmatrix} \begin{pmatrix} -2&-1&0&1&2\\ -8&-1&0&1&8\\ \end{pmatrix} \begin{pmatrix}y_{j-2} \\ y_{j-1}  \\ y_j  \\ y_{j+1}  \\ y_{j+2}  \\\end{pmatrix} $$ Multiplying out and removing common factors,
 * $$\begin{align}

a_{0,j}&={1\over35}(-3y_{j-2}+12y_{j-1}+17y_j+12y_{j+1}-3y_{j+2})\\ a_{1,j}&={1\over12}(y_{j-2} - 8y_{j-1} +8y_{j+1} -y_{j+2})\\ a_{2,j}&={1\over14}(2y_{j-2} - y_{j-1} -2y_j -y_{j+1} +2y_{j+2})\\ a_{3,j}&={1\over12}(-y_{j-2} +2y_{j-1} -2y_{j+1} +y_{j+2}) \end{align} $$

The coefficients of y in these expressions are known as convolution coefficients. They are elements of the matrix
 * $$ \mathbf{C=(J^TJ)^{-1}J^T}$$

In general,
 * $$(C \otimes y)_j\ = Y_j= \sum _{i=-\tfrac{m-1}2}^{\tfrac{m-1}2}C_i\, y_{j+i},\qquad \frac{m+1}{2} \le j \le n-\frac{m-1}{2}$$

In matrix notation this example is written as

\begin{pmatrix} Y_3\\ Y_4\\ Y_5\\ \vdots \end{pmatrix} ={1 \over 35} \begin{pmatrix} - 3 & 12 & 17 & 12 & - 3 & 0 & 0  & \cdots \\ 0 & - 3 & 12 & 17 & 12 & - 3 & 0 & \cdots \\ 0 & 0 & - 3 & 12 & 17 & 12 & - 3 & \cdots\\ \vdots & \vdots & \vdots & \vdots & \vdots & \vdots & \vdots & \ddots \end{pmatrix} \begin{pmatrix} y_1\\ y_2\\ y_3\\ y_4\\ y_5\\ y_6\\ y_7\\ \vdots \end{pmatrix} $$

Tables of convolution coefficients, calculated in the same way for m up to 25, were published for the Savitzky–Golay smoothing filter in 1964, The value of the central point, z = 0, is obtained from a single set of coefficients, a0 for smoothing, a1 for 1st derivative etc. The numerical derivatives are obtained by differentiating Y. This means that the derivatives are calculated for the smoothed data curve. For a cubic polynomial
 * $$\begin{align}

Y &= a_0 + a_1 z + a_2 z^2 + a_3 z^3= a_0 &\text{ at } z = 0, x=\bar x\\ \frac &= \frac{1}{h}\left( {a_1 + 2a_2 z + 3a_3 z^2 } \right) = \frac{1}{h}a_1 &\text{ at } z = 0, x=\bar x\\ \frac &= \frac{1}\left( {2a_2 + 6a_3 z} \right) = \frac{2}{h^2}a_2 &\text{ at } z =0, x=\bar x\\ \frac &= \frac{6}a_3 \end{align}$$

In general, polynomials of degree (0 and 1), (2 and 3), (4 and 5) etc. give the same coefficients for smoothing and even derivatives. Polynomials of degree (1 and 2), (3 and 4) etc. give the same coefficients for odd derivatives.

Algebraic expressions
It is not necessary always to use the Savitzky–Golay tables. The summations in the matrix JTJ can be evaluated in closed form,
 * $$\begin{align}

\sum_{z=-\frac{m-1}2}^{\frac{m-1}2} z^2 &= {m(m^2-1) \over 12} \\ \sum z^4 &= {m(m^2-1)(3m^2-7) \over 240} \\ \sum z^6 &= {m(m^2-1)(3m^4-18m^2+31) \over 1344} \end{align}$$ so that algebraic formulae can be derived for the convolution coefficients. Functions that are suitable for use with a curve that has an inflection point are:

 * Smoothing, polynomial degree 2,3 : $$C_{0i} = \frac;

\quad \frac{1-m}{2} \le i \le \frac{m-1}{2} $$ (the range of values for i also applies to the expressions below)

 * 1st derivative: polynomial degree 3,4 $$

C_{1i} = \frac{ {5\left( {3m^4 - 18m^2  + 31} \right)i - 28\left( {3m^2  - 7} \right)i^3 }}

$$

 * 2nd derivative: polynomial degree 2,3 $$

C_{2i} = \frac

$$

 * 3rd derivative: polynomial degree 3,4 $$

C_{3i} = \frac $$

Simpler expressions that can be used with curves that don't have an inflection point are:
 * Smoothing, polynomial degree 0,1 (moving average): $$C_{0i} = \frac{1}{m} $$

 * 1st derivative, polynomial degree 1,2: $$C_{1i} = \frac{i}{m(m^2-1)/12}$$

Higher derivatives can be obtained. For example, a fourth derivative can be obtained by performing two passes of a second derivative function.

Use of orthogonal polynomials
An alternative to fitting m data points by a simple polynomial in the subsidiary variable, z, is to use orthogonal polynomials.
 * $$Y = b_0 P^0(z) + b_1 P^1(z)   \cdots  + b_k P^k(z).$$

where P0, ..., Pk is a set of mutually orthogonal polynomials of degree 0, ..., k. Full details on how to obtain expressions for the orthogonal polynomials and the relationship between the coefficients b and a are given by Guest. Expressions for the convolution coefficients are easily obtained because the normal equations matrix, JTJ, is a diagonal matrix as the product of any two orthogonal polynomials is zero by virtue of their mutual orthogonality. Therefore, each non-zero element of its inverse is simply the reciprocal the corresponding element in the normal equation matrix. The calculation is further simplified by using recursion to build orthogonal Gram polynomials. The whole calculation can be coded in a few lines of PASCAL, a computer language well-adapted for calculations involving recursion.

Treatment of first and last points
Savitzky–Golay filters are most commonly used to obtain the smoothed or derivative value at the central point, z = 0, using a single set of convolution coefficients. (m − 1)/2 points at the start and end of the series cannot be calculated using this process. Various strategies can be employed to avoid this inconvenience.
 * The data could be artificially extended by adding, in reverse order, copies of the first (m − 1)/2 points at the beginning and copies of the last (m − 1)/2 points at the end. For instance, with m = 5, two points are added at the start and end of the data y1, ..., yn.
 * y3,y2 ,y1, ... ,yn, yn−1, yn−2.

 * Looking again at the fitting polynomial, it is obvious that data can be calculated for all values of z by using all sets of convolution coefficients for a single polynomial, a0 .. ak.
 * For a cubic polynomial
 * $$\begin{align}

Y&=a_0+a_1z + a_2 z^2 + a_3 z^3\\ \frac{dY}{dx} &= \frac{1}{h}(a_1 + 2a_2 z + 3a_3 z^2) \\ \frac{d^2 Y}{dx^2} &= \frac 1 {h^2 }(2a_2 + 6a_3 z) \\ \frac{d^3 Y}{dx^3} &= \frac{6}{h^3 }a_3 \end{align}$$
 * Convolution coefficients for the missing first and last points can also be easily obtained. This is also equivalent to fitting the first (m + 1)/2 points with the same polynomial, and similarly for the last points.

Weighting the data
It is implicit in the above treatment that the data points are all given equal weight. Technically, the objective function
 * $$U = \sum_i w_i(Y_i-y_i)^2 $$

being minimized in the least-squares process has unit weights, wi = 1. When weights are not all the same the normal equations become

 * $$\mathbf a = \left( \mathbf {J^T W} \mathbf{J} \right)^{-1} \mathbf{J^T W} \mathbf{y}\qquad W_{i,i} \ne 1$$,

If the same set of diagonal weights is used for all data subsets, $$W = \text{diag}(w_1,w_2,...,w_m)$$, an analytical solution to the normal equations can be written down. For example, with a quadratic polynomial,

\mathbf{J^TWJ} = \begin{pmatrix} \sum w_i & \sum w_iz_i & \sum w_iz_i^2 \\ \sum w_iz_i & \sum w_iz_i^2 & \sum w_iz_i^3 \\ \sum w_iz_i^2 & \sum w_iz_i^3 & \sum w_iz_i^4 \end{pmatrix} $$

An explicit expression for the inverse of this matrix can be obtained using Cramer's rule. A set of convolution coefficients may then be derived as

 * $$\mathbf C = \left( \mathbf {J^T W} \mathbf{J} \right)^{-1} \mathbf{J^T W}. $$

Alternatively the coefficients, C, could be calculated in a spreadsheet, employing a built-in matrix inversion routine to obtain the inverse of the normal equations matrix. This set of coefficients, once calculated and stored, can be used with all calculations in which the same weighting scheme applies. A different set of coefficients is needed for each different weighting scheme.

It was shown that Savitzky–Golay filter can be improved by introducing weights that decrease at the ends of the fitting interval.

Two-dimensional convolution coefficients
Two-dimensional smoothing and differentiation can also be applied to tables of data values, such as intensity values in a photographic image which is composed of a rectangular grid of pixels. Such a grid is referred as a kernel, and the data points that constitute the kernel are referred as nodes. The trick is to transform the rectangular kernel into a single row by a simple ordering of the indices of the nodes. Whereas the one-dimensional filter coefficients are found by fitting a polynomial in the subsidiary variable z to a set of m data points, the two-dimensional coefficients are found by fitting a polynomial in subsidiary variables v and w to a set of the values at the m × n kernel nodes. The following example, for a bivariate polynomial of total degree 3, m = 7, and n = 5, illustrates the process, which parallels the process for the one dimensional case, above.
 * $$v = \frac{x - \bar x}{h(x)}; w = \frac{y - \bar y}{h(y)}$$
 * $$Y = a_{00} + a_{10}v + a_{01}w + a_{20}v^2 + a_{11}vw+a_{02}w^2 + a_{30}v^3 + a_{21}v^2w + a_{12}vw^2 + a_{03}w^3$$

The rectangular kernel of 35 data values, $d_{1} − d_{35}$
 * {| border="1" style="border-collapse:collapse;" class="wikitable"

! ||−3||−2||−1||0||1 !2 !3 !−2 !−1 !0 !1 !2 becomes a vector when the rows are placed one after another.
 * d1||d2||d3||d4||d5
 * d6
 * d7
 * d8||d9||d10||d11||d12
 * d13
 * d14
 * d15||d16||d17||d18||d19
 * d20
 * d21
 * d22||d23||d24||d25||d26
 * d27
 * d28
 * d29||d30||d31||d32||d33
 * d34
 * d35
 * }
 * d = (d1 ... d35)T

The Jacobian has 10 columns, one for each of the parameters a00 − a03, and 35 rows, one for each pair of v and w values. Each row has the form
 * $$J_\text{row} = 1\quad v\quad w\quad v^2\quad vw\quad w^2\quad v^3\quad v^2w\quad vw^2\quad w^3$$

The convolution coefficients are calculated as
 * $$\mathbf{C} = \left( \mathbf{J}^T \mathbf{J} \right)^{-1} \mathbf{J}^T$$

The first row of C contains 35 convolution coefficients, which can be multiplied with the 35 data values, respectively, to obtain the polynomial coefficient $$a_{00}$$, which is the smoothed value at the central node of the kernel (i.e. at the 18th node of the above table). Similarly, other rows of C can be multiplied with the 35 values to obtain other polynomial coefficients, which, in turn, can be used to obtain smoothed values and different smoothed partial derivatives at different nodes.

Nikitas and Pappa-Louisi showed that depending on the format of the used polynomial, the quality of smoothing may vary significantly. They recommend using the polynomial of the form

 * $$ Y = \sum_{i = 0}^p \sum_{j = 0}^q a_{i j} v^i w^j $$

because such polynomials can achieve good smoothing both in the central and in the near-boundary regions of a kernel, and therefore they can be confidently used in smoothing both at the internal and at the near-boundary data points of a sampled domain. In order to avoid ill-conditioning when solving the least-squares problem, p < m and q < n. For software that calculates the two-dimensional coefficients and for a database of such C 's, see the section on multi-dimensional convolution coefficients, below.

Multi-dimensional convolution coefficients
The idea of two-dimensional convolution coefficients can be extended to the higher spatial dimensions as well, in a straightforward manner, by arranging multidimensional distribution of the kernel nodes in a single row. Following the aforementioned finding by Nikitas and Pappa-Louisi in two-dimensional cases, usage of the following form of the polynomial is recommended in multidimensional cases:

 * $$ Y = \sum_{i_1 = 0}^{p_1} \sum_{i_2 = 0}^{p_2} \cdots \sum_{i_D = 0}^{p_D} (a_{i_1 i_2 \cdots i_D} \times u_1^{i_1} u_2^{i_2} \cdots u_D^{i_D}) $$

where D is the dimension of the space, $$ a $$'s are the polynomial coefficients, and u 's are the coordinates in the different spatial directions. Algebraic expressions for partial derivatives of any order, be it mixed or otherwise, can be easily derived from the above expression. Note that C depends on the manner in which the kernel nodes are arranged in a row and on the manner in which the different terms of the expanded form of the above polynomial is arranged, when preparing the Jacobian.

Accurate computation of C in multidimensional cases becomes challenging, as precision of standard floating point numbers available in computer programming languages no longer remain sufficient. The insufficient precision causes the floating point truncation errors to become comparable to the magnitudes of some C elements, which, in turn, severely degrades its accuracy and renders it useless. Chandra Shekhar has brought forth two open source softwares, Advanced Convolution Coefficient Calculator (ACCC) and Precise Convolution Coefficient Calculator (PCCC), which handle these accuracy issues adequately. ACCC performs the computation by using floating point numbers, in an iterative manner. The precision of the floating-point numbers is gradually increased in each iteration, by using GNU MPFR. Once the obtained C 's in two consecutive iterations start having same significant digits until a pre-specified distance, the convergence is assumed to have reached. If the distance is sufficiently large, the computation yields a highly accurate C. PCCC employs rational number calculations, by using GNU Multiple Precision Arithmetic Library, and yields a fully accurate C, in the rational number format. In the end, these rational numbers are converted into floating point numbers, until a pre-specified number of significant digits.

A database of C 's that are calculated by using ACCC, for symmetric kernels and both symmetric and asymmetric polynomials, on unity-spaced kernel nodes, in the 1, 2, 3, and 4 dimensional spaces, is made available. Chandra Shekhar has also laid out a mathematical framework that describes usage of C calculated on unity-spaced kernel nodes to perform filtering and partial differentiations (of various orders) on non-uniformly spaced kernel nodes, allowing usage of C provided in the aforementioned database. Although this method yields approximate results only, they are acceptable in most engineering applications, provided that non-uniformity of the kernel nodes is weak.

Some properties of convolution

 * 1) The sum of convolution coefficients for smoothing is equal to one. The sum of coefficients for odd derivatives is zero.
 * 2) The sum of squared convolution coefficients for smoothing is equal to the value of the central coefficient.
 * 3) Smoothing of a function leaves the area under the function unchanged.
 * 4) Convolution of a symmetric function with even-derivative coefficients conserves the centre of symmetry.
 * 5) Properties of derivative filters.

Signal distortion and noise reduction
It is inevitable that the signal will be distorted in the convolution process. From property 3 above, when data which has a peak is smoothed the peak height will be reduced and the half-width will be increased. Both the extent of the distortion and S/N (signal-to-noise ratio) improvement:
 * decrease as the degree of the polynomial increases
 * increase as the width, m of the convolution function increases

For example, If the noise in all data points is uncorrelated and has a constant standard deviation, σ, the standard deviation on the noise will be decreased by convolution with an m-point smoothing function to
 * polynomial degree 0 or 1:$$\sqrt \sigma$$ (moving average)
 * polynomial degree 2 or 3: $$\sqrt{\frac{3(3m^2-7)}{4m(m^2-4)}} \sigma$$.

These functions are shown in the plot at the right. For example, with a 9-point linear function (moving average) two thirds of the noise is removed and with a 9-point quadratic/cubic smoothing function only about half the noise is removed. Most of the noise remaining is low-frequency noise(see Frequency characteristics of convolution filters, below).

Although the moving average function gives better noise reduction it is unsuitable for smoothing data which has curvature over m points. A quadratic filter function is unsuitable for getting a derivative of a data curve with an inflection point because a quadratic polynomial does not have one. The optimal choice of polynomial order and number of convolution coefficients will be a compromise between noise reduction and distortion.

Multipass filters
One way to mitigate distortion and improve noise removal is to use a filter of smaller width and perform more than one convolution with it. For two passes of the same filter this is equivalent to one pass of a filter obtained by convolution of the original filter with itself. For example, 2 passes of the filter with coefficients (1/3, 1/3, 1/3) is equivalent to 1 pass of the filter with coefficients (1/9, 2/9, 3/9, 2/9, 1/9).

The disadvantage of multipassing is that the equivalent filter width for $$n$$ passes of an $$m$$–point function is $$n (m-1) + 1$$ so multipassing is subject to greater end-effects. Nevertheless, multipassing has been used to great advantage. For instance, some 40–80 passes on data with a signal-to-noise ratio of only 5 gave useful results. The noise reduction formulae given above do not apply because correlation between calculated data points increases with each pass.

Frequency characteristics of convolution filters
Convolution maps to multiplication in the Fourier co-domain. The discrete Fourier transform of a convolution filter is a real-valued function which can be represented as

 * $$FT(\theta)= \sum_{j=\tfrac{1-m}2}^{\tfrac{m-1}2} C_j \cos(j\theta)$$

θ runs from 0 to 180 degrees, after which the function merely repeats itself. The plot for a 9-point quadratic/cubic smoothing function is typical. At very low angle, the plot is almost flat, meaning that low-frequency components of the data will be virtually unchanged by the smoothing operation. As the angle increases the value decreases so that higher frequency components are more and more attenuated. This shows that the convolution filter can be described as a low-pass filter: the noise that is removed is primarily high-frequency noise and low-frequency noise passes through the filter. Some high-frequency noise components are attenuated more than others, as shown by undulations in the Fourier transform at large angles. This can give rise to small oscillations in the smoothed data and phase reversal, i.e., high-frequency oscillations in the data get inverted by Savitzky–Golay filtering.

Convolution and correlation
Convolution affects the correlation between errors in the data. The effect of convolution can be expressed as a linear transformation.

 * $$Y_j\ = \sum_{i=-\frac{m-1}2}^{\frac{m-1}2} C_i\, y_{j+i}$$

By the law of error propagation, the variance-covariance matrix of the data, A will be transformed into B according to
 * $$\mathbf B=\mathbf C \mathbf A\mathbf C^T$$

To see how this applies in practice, consider the effect of a 3-point moving average on the first three calculated points, $Y_{2} − Y_{4}$, assuming that the data points have equal variance and that there is no correlation between them. A will be an identity matrix multiplied by a constant, σ2, the variance at each point.

\mathbf B = {\sigma^2\over 9} \begin{pmatrix} 1 & 1 & 1 & 0 & 0\\   0 & 1 & 1 & 1 & 0\\    0 & 0 & 1 & 1 & 1 \end{pmatrix} \begin{pmatrix} 1 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0\\   0 & 1 & 0 & 0 & 0\\    0 & 0 & 1 & 0 & 0\\   0 & 0 & 0 & 1 & 0\\   0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 1 \end{pmatrix} \begin{pmatrix} 1 & 0 & 0 \\   1 & 1 & 0 \\    1 & 1 & 1 \\   0 & 1 & 1 \\   0 & 0 & 1 \end{pmatrix} ={\sigma^2\over 9} \begin{pmatrix} 3 &2 &1 \\   2 &3 &2 \\    1 &2 &3 \end{pmatrix} $$

In this case the correlation coefficients,
 * $$\rho_{ij}=\frac{B_{ij}}{\sqrt{B_{ii} B_{jj}}},\ (i\ne j)$$

between calculated points i and j will be

 * $$\rho_{i,i+1}={2\over 3} = 0.66, \, \rho_{i,i+2}={1\over 3}=0.33$$

In general, the calculated values are correlated even when the observed values are not correlated. The correlation extends over $m − 1$ calculated points at a time.

Multipass filters
To illustrate the effect of multipassing on the noise and correlation of a set of data, consider the effects of a second pass of a 3-point moving average filter. For the second pass

\mathbf {CBC^T} = {\sigma^2\over 81} \begin{pmatrix} 1 & 1 & 1 & 0 & 0 \\   0 & 1 & 1 & 1 & 0 \\    0 & 0 & 1 & 1 & 1 \end{pmatrix} \begin{pmatrix} 3 & 2 & 1 & 0 &0 \\   2 & 3 & 2 & 0 &0 \\    1 & 2 & 3 & 0 &0 \\   0 & 0 & 0 & 0 &0 \\   0 & 0 & 0 & 0 &0 \end{pmatrix} \begin{pmatrix} 1 & 0 & 0 \\   1 & 1 & 0 \\    1 & 1 & 1 \\   0 & 1 & 1 \\   0 & 0 & 1 \end{pmatrix} = {\sigma^2\over 81} \begin{pmatrix} 19	&16	&10	&4	&1 \\ 16	&19	&16	&10	&4 \\ 10	&16	&19	&16	&10 \\ 4	&10	&16	&19	&16 \\ 1	&4	&10	&16	&19 \end{pmatrix} $$ After two passes, the standard deviation of the central point has decreased to $$\sqrt{\tfrac{19}{81}}\sigma = 0.48\sigma$$, compared to 0.58σ for one pass. The noise reduction is a little less than would be obtained with one pass of a 5-point moving average which, under the same conditions, would result in the smoothed points having the smaller standard deviation of 0.45σ.

Correlation now extends over a span of 4 sequential points with correlation coefficients

 * $$\rho_{i,i+1}={16\over 19} = 0.84, \rho_{i,i+2}={10\over 19}=0.53, \rho_{i,i+3}={4\over 19}=0.21, \rho_{i,i+4}={1\over 19}=0.05$$

The advantage obtained by performing two passes with the narrower smoothing function is that it introduces less distortion into the calculated data.

Comparison with other filters and alternatives
Compared with other smoothing filters, e.g. convolution with a Gaussian or multi-pass moving-average filtering, Savitzky–Golay filters have an initially flatter response and sharper cutoff in the frequency domain, especially for high orders of the fit polynomial (see frequency characteristics). For data with limited signal bandwidth, this means that Savitzky–Golay filtering can provide better signal-to-noise ratio than many other filters; e.g., peak heights of spectra are better preserved than for other filters with similar noise suppression. Disadvantages of the Savitzky–Golay filters are comparably poor suppression of some high frequencies (poor stopband suppression) and artifacts when using polynomial fits for the first and last points.

Alternative smoothing methods that share the advantages of Savitzky–Golay filters and mitigate at least some of their disadvantages are Savitzky–Golay filters with properly chosen alternative fitting weights, Whittaker–Henderson smoothing and Hodrick–Prescott_filter (equivalent methods closely related to smoothing splines), and convolution with a windowed sinc function.

Tables of selected convolution coefficients
Consider a set of data points $(x_j, y_j)_{1 \le j \le n}$. The Savitzky–Golay tables refer to the case that the step $x_j - x_{j - 1}$ is constant, h. Examples of the use of the so-called convolution coefficients, with a cubic polynomial and a window size, m, of 5 points are as follows. Selected values of the convolution coefficients for polynomials of degree 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 are given in the following tables The values were calculated using the PASCAL code provided in Gorry.
 * Smoothing: $$Y_j = \frac{1}{35} (-3 \times y_{j - 2} + 12 \times y_{j - 1} + 17 \times y_j + 12 \times y_{j + 1} -3 \times y_{j + 2})$$ ;
 * 1st derivative: $$Y'_j = \frac{1}{12h} (1 \times y_{j - 2} - 8 \times y_{j - 1} + 0 \times y_j + 8 \times y_{j + 1} - 1 \times y_{j + 2})$$ ;
 * 2nd derivative: $$Y''_j = \frac{1}{7h^2} (2 \times y_{j - 2} - 1 \times y_{j - 1} - 2 \times y_j - 1 \times y_{j + 1} + 2 \times y_{j + 2})$$.

title: Savitzky–Golay filter


text:
Ralph Leighton

Ralph Leighton (born 1949) is an American biographer, film producer, and friend of the late physicist Richard Feynman. He recorded Feynman relating stories of his life. Leighton has released some of the recordings as The Feynman Tapes. These interviews (available as The Feynman Tapes on audio) became the basis for the books Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! and What Do You Care What Other People Think?, which were later combined into the hardcover anniversary edition Classic Feynman: All the Adventures of a Curious Character. Leighton is an amateur drummer and founder of the group Friends of Tuva. In 1990 he wrote Tuva or Bust! Richard Feynman's Last Journey.

He is credited as associate producer and originator of the concept for the Academy-Award–nominated documentary film Genghis Blues (2000), which came about through the nexus provided by Friends of Tuva.

Personal life
He is the son of the late Caltech physicist Robert B. Leighton, who coauthored The Feynman Lectures on Physics. He is married to Phoebe Kwan; they have two children.

title: Ralph Leighton


text:
Darjah Utama Temasek

The Darjah Utama Temasek (Order of Temasek) is Singapore's second most prestigious national honour and was instituted in 1962. It is an Order conferred by the President of Singapore only to citizens of Singapore. It may be awarded to non-citizens only under special circumstances.

As of 29 July 2019, the Order has three different grades:

 * the Order of Temasek (With High Distinction),
 * the Order of Temasek (With Distinction), and
 * the Order of Temasek.

The rules of award state that no more than 12 people (other than people admitted in an honorary capacity) may be admitted to the Order of Temasek (With High Distinction) at any one time. As of August 2020, there are currently 8 people in the Order of Temasek (With High Distinction). There is no limit to the number of people admitted to the other two grades.

History
The Order was first instituted in 1962. It was then the most important national honour. The Order would have only twelve members, with Yang di-Pertuan Negara conferring the membership on advice from the Prime Minister. A chancellor would be appointed by the Yang di-Pertuan Negara from among the members of the order, who would hold the seal of the order. Any warrants issued by order would be countersigned by both chancellor and the Yang di-Pertuan Negara.

The Order became the second most important national honour in 1970, when the Bintang Temasek (the Star of Temasek) was created and ranked over all other orders and medals.

The rules governing the order was since revised several times. Gazette notices establishing the Rules that instituted the Order were published in 1975, 1996 and 2019. The 1996 Rules would revoke the 1975 Rules. With the 1996 Rules, there would be three grades of the Order, First Class, Second Class and Third Class. Only Singapore citizens could be admitted to the Order, with non-Singapore citizens being admitted in an honorary capacity. The First Class grade would have a limited capacity of twelve members, whilst the other grades have no such restriction. The Seal of the Order would bear the design of the Badge.

Members would be distinguished by the positions of the Badge and Star of the Order on their attire. Members of First Class grade would have their Badge worn the right hip from a sash passing over the left shoulder and under the right arm, and their Star worn on the left side of their outer garment. Members of Second Class grade would have their Badge worn suspended round the neck from a ribbon, and their Star is to be worn on the left side of their outer garment. Members of Third Class grade would only have the Badge of the Order, and it is to be worn suspended round the neck from a ribbon.

Ordinarily, only Singapore citizens could be admitted to the Order, but in special circumstances non-Singapore citizens may also be admitted in an honorary capacity.

In 2019, the 1996 Rules was amended to update the nomenclature of the grades of the Order. The grades would be known as:

 * the Order of Temasek (With High Distinction),
 * the Order of Temasek (With Distinction), and
 * the Order of Temasek.

The updated nomenclature would also be retrospectively applied on members conferred under the previous nomenclature.

title: Darjah Utama Temasek


text:
Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/James L. Sharon Jr.

 This page is an archive of the discussion about the proposed deletion of the article below. This page is no longer live. Further comments should be made on the article's talk page rather than here so that this page is preserved as an historic record. The result of the debate was DELETE. JeremyA 03:20, 18 Jun 2005 (UTC)

James L. Sharon Jr.
Vanity. Main claim for fame is him being a "film producer" as can be seen in an contribution by the same anonymous editor at December 26, but neither Google nor the IMDb have heard of him. -- Eugene van der Pijll 09:29, 4 Jun 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete. Non-notable, vanity.  Quale 09:42, 4 Jun 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete. it states that he hung out in pools as a child, but doesnt bother to name any of the films he's produced. Nateji77 09:49, 4 Jun 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete. Should at least be on IMDB before being on WP. Zzyzx11 (Talk) 10:08, 4 Jun 2005 (UTC)
 * no, it shouldnt. if you submit to IMDb and wikipedia at the same time, the submission will display here instantly, but will have to wait to be reviewed by an editor at IMDb, which sometimes takes several weeks. but if he was submitted to IMDb, that submission would have to include names of his films, which this article doesnt yet do. Nateji77 10:22, 4 Jun 2005 (UTC)
 * Ok, my original arguement may be flawed. But I still say delete since Google has not heard of him either. Zzyzx11 (Talk) 20:49, 4 Jun 2005 (UTC)
 * Yes, it should. Wikipedia is not a primary source.  Your argument is tantamount to saying that it's all right to accept unverifiable material because that pesky process of getting something known outside of Wikipedia takes so gosh-darned long.  That's false.  It's not all right. Uncle G 05:19, 2005 Jun 5 (UTC)
 * "teamed up with a proven veteran" again unnamed. Sure, we don't need IMDB per se, but it would help greatly with verifying. Delete as being unverifiable. Mgm|(talk) 11:56, Jun 4, 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete nn vanity. If he's been in the film biz for a while (and not just several weeks as per their turn around time ;) ), you'd think he'd be in IMDB. --Etacar11 22:49, 4 Jun 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete vanity. JamesBurns 03:44, 5 Jun 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete vanity. Notability not established. Certainly the illustrious Mr. Sharon can wait for inclusion until he develops some credits on the IMDb. carmeld1 21:55, 5 Jun 2005 (UTC)

 * This page is now preserved as an archive of the debate and, like some other VfD subpages, is no longer 'live'. Subsequent comments on the issue, the deletion, or the decision-making process should be placed on the relevant 'live' pages.  Please do not edit this page .


text:
Talk:Holborn Head Lighthouse

Thinking the article would be better merged with Holborn Head point in a new article called Holborn Head. Laurel Bush 09:30, 4 Jun 2005 (UTC).

title: Talk:Holborn Head Lighthouse


text:
User:Mfer4

Its me
== From Chattanooga Tennessee

title: User:Mfer4


text:
Holborn Head

Holborn Head is a headland on the north-facing Atlantic coast of Caithness, in the Highland area of Scotland. The point of Holborn Head is at 58.62306°N, -3.535°W (grid reference ). It has a lighthouse at its south end and the remains of an old fort at its tip.

Hill fort
The name Holborn appears Norse in origin, meaning hillfort, and the headland may be the Tarvedunum promotorium noted by Ptolemy. At the tip is a bank, all that remains of a promontory fort, which has been listed as a protected monument since 1933. One source says no radiocarbon dating, or excavation for stratified remains has been done at the fort, so its age is unknown. Another says it is Early Bronze Age to Pictish, possibly 2400 BC to 900 AD, and another says Count Moddan, one of the Earls of Orkney, in the early 11th century, had his army on promontario Thorsnesia, which its source takes to be Holburn Head. However, Thurso promontory could have equally described the later Scrabster Castle.

Lighthouse
A walk around the headland can be accessed through a gate next to the Principal Keeper's House. There are stiles and bridges, which allow access to the unfenced off promontory of Holborn Head itself. There are clear views over to Dunnet Head and to the Orkney Islands. Holburn Head Lighthouse, spelt 'Holburn', unlike the headland which is Holborn Head, is about one kilometre (half a mile) south of the point, near Scrabster Harbour on the western shore of Thurso Bay, at 58.615°N, -3.54°W. Designed and built by David and Thomas Stevenson, it was completed in 1862. The tower for the light is integral with the keepers' house which is unusual since most Scottish lighthouses are separate from the house. After entering the upper floor front doorway there is a vestibule with 2 entrances, one to the Lightkeepers House and the other to the Lighthouse Tower. There were 2 Lightkeepers houses and the Tower within the building. Separate to this was the Principal Keeper's House.

The light was discontinued in 2003.

title: Holborn Head


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Change management auditing

Change management auditing is the process by which companies can effectively manage change within their information technology systems. Changes to computer software must be monitored in order to reduce the risk of data loss, corruption, malware, errors, and security breaches.

Change risks
Proper change control auditing can lower the following risks:
 * Security features of the network turn off.
 * Harmful code is distributed to users.
 * Sensitive data is lost or becomes insecure.
 * Financial report errors occur.

Control procedure
The following features are commonly part of a change management auditing procedure:
 * Change management procedures are formally documented and controlled.
 * Changes are requested in a formal process.
 * Requests are recorded and stored for reference.

 * The effect of the requested change is assessed.:Each change is assessed based on its projected effect to the computer system and business operations. The assessment is documented with the request.
 * Priority is based on urgency, potential benefits, and the ease with which changes can be corrected.

 * Controls are imposed on changes.:Changes are limited by automated or manual controls. In particular, unauthorized changes are periodically searched for.
 * An emergency change process is in place.:Policies clearly define emergency changes. Generally, these are errors that significantly impair system function and business operations, increase the system's vulnerability, or both. Emergency changes override some, but not all, controls. For instance, a proposed change might be documented, but not permitted without authorization.
 * Change documentation is periodically updated.
 * Maintenance tasks and changes are recorded.
 * Controls are applied to new software releases.:For security, new software releases often require controls such as back ups, version control, and a secure implementation.
 * Software distribution is assessed for compliance.:Software distribution is assessed for compliance with license agreements. Noncompliance can have disastrous financial and legal results.
 * Changes are submitted for approval.:Proposed changes are submitted for approval after auditors have reviewed the required resources, other changes, the effect, urgency, and the system's stability.
 * Duties are separated:Responsibility for creation, approval, and application are assigned to different personnel to avoid undesired changes.
 * Changes are reviewed.:Changes are monitored to assess the efficacy of change management policies.

title: Change management auditing


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Félix Millán

Félix Bernardo Millán Martínez (born August 21, 1943) is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball second baseman, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Atlanta Braves and New York Mets. He holds one of the best at-bat to strike out ratios in modern baseball history, having struck out once every twenty three at bats.

Baseball career
Millán, nicknamed "the Cat" ("El Gatito" in Spanish), born in Yabucoa, Puerto Rico, made his major league debut on June 2, 1966 with the Atlanta Braves, and played for Atlanta until 1973. He was primarily a second baseman. He played in two All-Star Games, the first in 1969 and the second in 1971; in 1970, he was named an All-Star, but was unable to participate due to injuries. Millán was acquired along with George Stone by the New York Mets from the Braves for Gary Gentry and Danny Frisella on November 1, 1972. The transaction fulfilled the Mets' need for a reliable everyday second baseman. In 1975, he became the first Met to appear in all 162 games during the season. He played for 12 years. His first game was June 2, 1966 for the Atlanta Braves and his final game was August 12, 1977 for the New York Mets. Due to incurring a shoulder injury because of an incident in that August 1977 game, one against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Felix was forced to retire. The incident, an altercation with Pirate catcher Ed Ott, began with the latter sliding hard into second base attempting to break up a double play. Millán consequently shouted at Ott and hit him in the jaw with a baseball in his hand. Ott, a former wrestler, answered this by picking Millan up and slamming him into his extended knee at Three Rivers Stadium, severely injuring his shoulder, and unfortunately ending Felix's MLB career.

On July 21, 1975, Joe Torre set a record for most double-plays grounded into in a single game (4), with Millán on first ahead of Torre. Millán had singled in all four of his at-bats. Torre said, "I'd like to thank Félix Millán for making all of this possible."

Millán was a prototypical "slap" or "contact" hitter and his 1976 Topps baseball card, #245, shows his unusual batting stance, as he choked up almost halfway on the bat.

Millán also played for three seasons in the Japanese Central League after leaving the majors. He joined the Yokohama Taiyo Whales in 1978, after the Whales bought his contract from the Mets, and played alongside Skip James. He won the batting title in his second year in Japan (1979) with a .346 batting average, and was given the Best Nine Award. He won the title with only 126 hits, barely having enough at-bats to qualify for the title. He did not play well the next year, and was released by the Whales after the 1980 season. In his three years in Japan, he had only 52 strikeouts in 1139 at-bats.

title: Félix Millán


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Abraham Savitzky

Abraham Savitzky (May 29, 1919 in New York City – February 5, 1999 in Naples, Florida) was an American analytical chemist.

Biography
Savitzky received his bachelor's degree from the New York State College for Teachers (now University at Albany, SUNY) in 1941. After serving in the U.S. Air Force during World War II, he obtained a master's degree in 1947 and a Ph.D. in 1949 in physical chemistry from Columbia University. While at Columbia, he co-invented the Savitzky-Halford ratio recording spectrophotometer, which was manufactured by Perkin-Elmer as the Model 13. In 1950, after working at Columbia for a year as a research associate in electron microscopy, he began a long career with the Perkin-Elmer Corporation, where he was hired by Vincent J. Coates. Savitzky started with Perkin-Elmer as a staff scientist who was chiefly concerned with the design and development of infrared instruments. He rapidly moved up the ranks in the corporation. By 1956 he was named Perkin-Elmer's new product coordinator for the Instrument Division, and as the years passed, he continued to gain more and more recognition for his work in the company. Most of his work with Perkin-Elmer focused on computer-aided analytical chemistry, data reduction, infrared spectroscopy, time-sharing systems, and computer plotting. He retired from Perkin-Elmer in 1985, where he had worked for 35 years, the last 10 as a principal scientist. After his retirement Savitzky became the president of Silvermine Resources, which was concerned mostly with microprocessor-based computing systems for analytical instrumentation and bibliographic information retrieval, where he remained for several years.

Abraham Savitzky specialized in the computerization of analytical instrumentation, more specifically in the digital processing of infrared spectra and was awarded seven patents in that field. During his long career he presented numerous papers and wrote several manuscripts. Among them and while employed by Perkin-Elmer, Savitzky presented a paper describing the Savitzky–Golay Smoothing Filter for digital filtering. This paper, which is the collaborative effort of Savitzky and Marcel J. E. Golay, is one of the most famous, respected, and heavily cited articles in its field.

In recognition of his many significant accomplishments in the field of analytical chemistry and computer science, he received the Honorary Membership Award of the Society for Applied Spectroscopy in 1996, the Williams–Wright Award from the Coblentz Society in 1986. Savitzky was also a member of the American Chemical Society, the American Physics Society, the Optical Society of America, and many other professional organizations. He died in 1999. The Savitzky Family Science and Technology Book Fund was created at the Wilton (Connecticut) Public Library, honoring Abe and Evelyn.

title: Abraham Savitzky


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Marcel J. E. Golay

Marcel Jules Edouard Golay (May 3, 1902 – April 27, 1989) was a Swiss mathematician, physicist, and information theorist, who applied mathematics to real-world military and industrial problems. He was born in Neuchâtel, Switzerland.

Career
Golay studied electrical engineering at the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) in Zürich. He joined Bell laboratories in New York City in 1924, spending four years there. He received a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Chicago in 1931.

Golay then joined the US Army Signal Corps, eventually rising to the post of Chief Scientist. He was based mostly in Fort Monmouth, New Jersey. He developed an IR "radar" based on its Golay Detector, the SCR-268T specifically designed to the detection of vessels (S/S Normandie was detected at its inaugural crossing). The SCR-268 (using Barkausen vacuum tubes) and the SCR-268T were to work together. However the 268T, only used in the Pacific theater was abandoned before the end of the war.

Between 1955 and 1963, Golay was a consultant for Philco Corporation of Philadelphia, PA, and the Perkin-Elmer Corporation of Norwalk, Connecticut. In 1963, Golay joined the Perkin-Elmer company full-time as senior research scientist. Golay worked on many problems, including gas chromatography and optical spectroscopy. It was during this period when he patented an Analysis of Images, for two-dimensional parallel data processing, and worked to develop the idea, called Golay Logic for Optical Pattern Recognition along with Kendall Preston, Philip Norgren, David Dacava and Joseph Carvalko, Jr. He remained with Perkin-Elmer for the rest of his life.

Achievements

 * Discoverer of the famous binary and ternary Golay codes, which are perfect error-correcting codes that generalize the Hamming code. They were used in the Voyager probes, and led to advances in the theory of finite groups.
 * Co-author with Abraham Savitzky of the Savitzky–Golay filter.
 * Inventor of the Golay cell, a type of infrared detector.
 * He introduced complementary sequences. Those are pairs of binary sequences whose autocorrelation functions add up to zero for all non-zero time shifts. Today they are used in various WiFi and 3G standards.
 * He introduced the theory of dispersion in open tubular columns (capillary columns) and demonstrated their efficacy at the Second International Symposium on Gas Chromatography at Amsterdam in 1958.

title: Marcel J. E. Golay


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Chaohu

Chaohu is a county-level city of Anhui Province, China, it is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Hefei. Situated on the northeast and southeast shores of Lake Chao, from which the city was named, Chaohu is under the administration of Hefei, the provincial capital, and is the latter's easternmost county-level division.

Formerly it was a prefecture-level city, which held administration over Wuwei, Lujiang, He and Hanshan counties until it dissolved on August 22, 2011. The Anhui provincial government announced in a controversial decision that the prefecture-level city Chaohu was to be split into three parts and absorbed into neighboring cities. Juchao District was renamed to Chaohu as a county-level city under Hefei's administration.

Administrative divisions
Chaohu City is divided to 6 Subdistricts, 11 towns and 1 township.
 * Subdistricts
 * Towns
 * Townships
 * Miaogang Township (庙岗乡)

Notable people

 * Zhou Yu (175–210), Three Kingdoms era military general of the Kingdom of Wu
 * Ding Ruchang (1836–1895), Qing Dynasty naval commander and captain of battleship Dingyuan
 * Feng Yuxiang, warlord in the Republican Era
 * Xu Haifeng (b. 1957), first Chinese gold medalist for Men's 50 m Pistol in the 1984 Summer Olympics held in Los Angeles
 * Zhang Zhizhong, general in the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China.

title: Chaohu


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José Pagán

José Pagán (May 5, 1935 – June 7, 2011 ) was a Puerto Rican professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as an infielder and outfielder for fifteen seasons, with three National League (NL) teams from to. Pagán was notable for driving in the winning run for the Pittsburgh Pirates in the seventh game of the 1971 World Series.

Baseball career
Pagán (birth name: José Antonio Pagán Rodríguez  ) was born in the town of Barceloneta, Puerto Rico. He made his major league debut at the age of 24 with the San Francisco Giants on August 8, 1959. Pagán's best full season statistically came with the Giants in 1962, when he hit .259 and drove in a career high 57 runs. He had 73 runs scored that year, which also was a career high, while collecting 150 hits for the only time in his career as the Giants won the National League Pennant. Pagán hit .368 with a home run in the 1962 World Series as the Giants lost to the New York Yankees in seven-games.

On May 22, 1965 the San Francisco Giants traded Pagán to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Dick Schofield. As a member of the Pirates he won three consecutive National League Eastern Division titles between and. Despite playing part-time for the Pirates from 1966–1970, Pagán batted in the .260s twice and the .280s twice out of those five years, only hitting under .264 in 1968 when he only had 163 at bats. During that time instead of playing shortstop, he played mostly third base and left field, but also was used as a key "spare part" for the team, playing games at every position in the infield, even one at catcher in 1967 for one inning.

World Series hero
With the Pirates in 1971, after losing the NLCS in 1970, he won his only World Series and became a hero of the deciding game. In game seven of the 1971 World Series between the Pirates and the Baltimore Orioles, Pagán hit a double in the top of the eighth inning which scored Willie Stargell which proved to be the game's (and series') winning run.

He was released by the Pittsburgh Pirates on October 24, 1972 and, signed as a free agent with the Philadelphia Phillies on November 13, 1972. He played his final major league game on August 15, 1973 at the age of 38 with the Phillies.

Coaching
After his playing career ended, Pagán was a Pittsburgh Pirates coach for five seasons (1974–1978). He managed the Triple-A Ogden A's in the Pacific Coast League for two seasons (1979–1980) and teams in the Puerto Rican Winter League for several seasons, and lived in Puerto Rico before moving his family to Florida in 1999.

Death
Pagán died at age 76 in 2011 at his home in Sebring, Florida, a victim of Alzheimer's disease, and was survived by his wife and two sons. He was held in such esteem by the Pittsburgh organization that a moment of silence was observed before the Pirates game with the Arizona Diamondbacks at PNC Park that night. He was buried at Lakeview Memorial Gardens in Avon Park.

title: José Pagán


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File:Come&go.jpg

Summary
Bookcover for Beckett's Come and Go.

title: File:Come&go.jpg


text: Template:International women's football

title: Template:International women's football


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Talk:Šiauliai

I want to add Siauliai Isfisk 09:49, 4 Jun 2005 (UTC)

need Lithuanian
We should give the Lithuanian pronunciation. kwami (talk) 07:29, 10 May 2009 (UTC)

Municipality
On Municipalities of Lithuania there is 'Šiauliai City Municipality' which links here - there should be something in the text of the article making reference to this (eg 'The city council has ... members'). Jackiespeel (talk) 16:06, 2 October 2017 (UTC)

title: Talk:Šiauliai


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Athabasca County

Athabasca County is a municipal district in north central Alberta, Canada. It is located northeast of Edmonton and is in Census Division No. 13. Prior to an official renaming on December 1, 2009, Athabasca County was officially known as the County of Athabasca No. 12.

Communities and localities
The following urban municipalities are surrounded by Athabasca County.

 * Cities
 * none
 * Towns
 * Athabasca
 * Villages
 * Boyle
 * Summer villages
 * Bondiss
 * Island Lake
 * Island Lake South
 * Mewatha Beach
 * South Baptiste
 * Sunset Beach
 * West Baptiste
 * Whispering Hills

The following hamlets are located within Athabasca County.
 * Hamlets
 * Atmore
 * Breynat
 * Caslan
 * Colinton
 * Donatville
 * Ellscott
 * Grassland
 * Meanook
 * Perryvale
 * Rochester
 * Wandering River

The following localities are located within Athabasca County.
 * Localities

 * Amber Valley
 * Amesbury
 * Athabasca Acres
 * Athabasca Landing Settlement
 * Balay Subdivision
 * Baptiste Lake
 * Big Coulee
 * Blue Jay
 * Century Estates
 * Coolidge
 * Dakin
 * Deep Creek
 * Frains
 * Glenshaw
 * Grosmont
 * Kinikinik
 * Lahaieville

 * Lincoln
 * Lyall Subdivision
 * McNabb's
 * Meadowbrook
 * Meanock
 * O'Morrow
 * Paxson
 * Pine Grove Estates
 * Pleasant View
 * Prosperity
 * Richmond Park
 * Sarrail
 * Sawdy
 * Spruce Valley
 * West Wind Trailer Park
 * White Gull
 * Lakes
 * North Buck Lake

Demographics
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Athabasca County had a population of 6,959 living in 2,832 of its 3,746 total private dwellings, a change of NaN% from its 2016 population of 7,869. With a land area of 6111.3 km2, it had a population density of in 2021.

In the 2016 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Athabasca County had a population of 7,869 living in 3,067 of its 4,093 total private dwellings, a NaN% change from its 2011 population of 7,662. With a land area of 6124.43 km2, it had a population density of in 2016.

title: Athabasca County


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Sengann mac Dela

Sengann (modern spelling: Seangann), son of Dela, of the Fir Bolg, was a legendary High King of Ireland, succeeding his brothers Gann and Genann. His wife was Anust.

When the Fir Bolg invaded Ireland the five sons of Dela divided the island amongst themselves. Sengann landed with Gann at Inber Dubglaise and the pair divided Munster between them, Sengann taking the south and Gann the north of the province.

After death of Gann and Genann of plague, Sengann ruled Ireland for five years, before he was killed by Fiacha Cennfinnán, his brother Rudraige's grandson.

title: Sengann mac Dela


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Faction (Planescape)

The Factions are fictional philosophically based power groups in the Planescape campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.

Background
While the Lady of Pain is considered the ultimate ruler of the planar metropolis called Sigil, "the City of Doors", the Factions perform virtually all the actual administrative and practical functions of the city. They are the ones the people look to for authority; the Lady only gives edicts or appears personally under rare circumstances. Each of the Factions is based around one particular belief system; many of the Factions' beliefs make them enemies where their other goals and actions might have made them allies. All Factions hold many secrets from non-members and even their own members, for the fewer who know a secret, the more secret it is (and these are secrets of power, either wielded or potentially gained by the Faction's adversaries).

There are fifteen Factions in total, per decree of the Lady of Pain; any additional factions emerging would be subject to her wrath (unless they destroy one of the current 15). At one point there were many more Factions, but after a war referred to as the Great Upheaval amongst the factions, the Lady of Pain decreed that they had two weeks to get the number down to 15 or she would kill them all. The Free League membership swelled to over a million, compared to the 20,000 or so members present day.

Factions are led by a Factol. Other high-ranking faction members are called Factors, and mid-level faction members are called Factotums. The lowest-ranking members are called Namers because many of them have only a tenuous faith in their faction's philosophy and are thus members in name only.

Athar
Also known as "the Defiers" or "the Lost", they deny not only the gods' right to pass judgment over mortals, but their very divinity. They claim that the gods (whom they call "powers") are powerful but have limits and do not deserve worship. Instead, Athar priests channel divine power from what they call the "Great Unknown", or what they believe to be the true divine force behind everything. Their headquarters in Sigil is the Shattered Temple, the former temple of the dead god Aoskar. Following the faction war, and banned from Sigil, they moved their headquarters to the base of the infinite spire where divine magic does not function in protection of the many gods they have offended. The Athar are broadly derived from real-world atheists, agnostics, and Deists.

Believers of the Source
Known as "Godsmen" they believe that each life is a test, and that every person has the potential to become a god. Their headquarters is the Great Foundry, symbolizing their belief that the multiverse constantly forges and refines all beings. Shares many parallels with Hindu, Buddhism, and most sects of Mormonism. However, the ultimate goal is not Nirvana but apotheosis.

Bleak Cabal
"Bleakers" or "Madmen" deny that any belief system has any merit; as they see it, the universe has physical rules, but no metaphysical or philosophical ones, therefore any meaning in life must come from within. Their headquarters is the insane asylum of Sigil, called the Gatehouse. They are derived from real-life existentialists and the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche.

Doomguard
The "Sinkers" believe in the sanctity and inevitability of entropy, particularly the inevitable destruction of all things. The core of their belief is that everything ends. Their headquarters is Sigil's Armory, where they forge weapons as tools of destruction.

Dustmen
Also known as "the Dead", they believe that the life people live in now is a false state of existence, that there is a state of "True Death" which can only be accomplished by denying one's emotions, physical wants and needs (a conception similar to eternal oblivion, but also conceivably to Nirvana). Their headquarters is the Mortuary, where Sigil's dead are interred or cremated. Their philosophy is closely related to that of Arthur Schopenhauer, along with some shared similarities with Buddhism, Stoicism and acosmism.

Fated
"Takers" or "The Heartless" believe that those with power and ability have the right to own what they control and to take what they can from those who are unable to keep it, and that it is their right to exploit any situation to their advantage, regardless of how it affects anyone else (a position akin to "might makes right", and achievement through work ). Their headquarters is the Hall of Records, where they serve as the tax collectors of Sigil. They are derived from real-life Social Darwinists and the philosophies of Max Stirner and Ayn Rand.

Fraternity of Order
These "Guvners" believe that knowledge is power; they learn and exploit both the natural laws of the universe and the laws of society. Their headquarters is the City Court, where they serve as judges and legal advocates. They recall the Sophists of Classical Athens.

Free League
As "Indeps", they reject the other factions and their bureaucratic, hierarchical dogmatism and do not consider themselves a faction at all. For this reason, they don't have a factol or an official headquarters, though Sigil's Great Bazaar serves as an unofficial one. They believe in individual freedom as the highest good.

Harmonium
"Hardheads" believe that peace and stability can only be established under one rule — theirs. The planar faction known as the Harmonium is actually just a small part of a much larger political entity which rules over the entirety of the Prime Material world of Ortho. In Sigil, they serve as the city's police force, and their headquarters is the City Barracks. They are related to present day authoritarianism. They take offense to the term "Hardhead".

Mercykillers
"The Red Death" believe in justice and retribution at the expense of all else. Their name does not come from "killing out of mercy," but rather "killing mercy." Their credo that mercy is for the weak, and the merciful should be punished. Their headquarters is Sigil's Prison, where they carry out the sentences of convicted criminals.

Revolutionary League
"Anarchists" who believe that social order and man-made laws are inherently corrupt and must be destroyed—though none of their members can agree on what, if anything, should replace them. Like the Indeps, they have no headquarters and gather in many safe houses and secret meeting places.

Sign of One
"Signers" believe that everyone is the center of their own reality, and that reality can be reshaped by the power of imagination. Their headquarters is the Hall of Speakers, which houses Sigil's legislature. Some of them are solipsists, though most are not so extreme.

Society of Sensation
Sensates believe that accumulating experiential knowledge through the senses is the only way to achieve enlightenment. Their headquarters is the Civic Festhall, which features an endless series of entertainments and a library of magically stored experiences. They are reminiscent of ancient Epicurianism (if not hedonism more generally), as well as the more modern empiricism.

Transcendent Order
The Cipher believe that by tapping into the 'cadence' of the planes and acting through pure instinct they can achieve a higher state of being. Their headquarters is the Great Gymnasium, where members can train to improve their bodies and minds. Their philosophy could be considered similar to Taoism and Zen Buddhism.

Xaositects
"Chaosmen" who believe that the only truth is revealed in chaos. The Xaositects have been quite accurately described as being "totally off their rockers, every one of 'em." Their headquarters is the Hive, the most disorganized part of the Sigil ward of the same name. Compare with real life discordianism.

After the Faction War
In The Faction War, many Factions were destroyed or merged.

 * Athar
 * who have fled to the base of the Spire, the region of the Outlands where all magic (including that of the gods) fails, to escape the wrath of the deities whom they defied. Their membership has declined due to the isolation of their new base.

 * Doomguard
 * who now rarely leave their citadels, making forays outside only when some great act of creation (such as the formation of a new demiplane) demands a retributive act of destruction.

 * Fated
 * who suffered a great loss of face because it was their factol, Duke Darkwood, who started the Faction War in the first place. They've moved their base of operations to Ysgard, but have otherwise changed little in their methods.

 * Fraternity of Order
 * who relocated to the plane of Mechanus, where they already had several strongholds. The Guvners continue to delve into the laws of the planes and plot their eventual return to Sigil, which they still believe to be the fulcrum around which all worlds turn.

 * Harmonium
 * who relocated to the plane of Arcadia. They have become less of a police force and more of a diplomatic body. The Harmonium now believes that the best way to spread order is to peacefully unite the Upper Planes under the banner of law rather than forced conversion to their ideals.

 * Mind's Eye
 * merged from the survivors of the Believers of the Source and the Sign of One.

 * Revolutionary League
 * which retreated to the plane of Carceri, where most of its cells fell into disarray. Most of the remaining Anarchists seek to return to Sigil in force to become its new rulers. Other members of the League are appalled at the thought of ruling anything and have formed a splinter group, the Second Wave; these "Wavers" take the dissolution of the factions as proof that any political structure can fall and have spread to numerous planar metropolises to stir up rebellion.

 * Ring Givers
 * who believe that everything you give (and sometimes even more) will be given back to you one day.

 * Sodkillers
 * who believe in exterminating crime with any force necessary, and one of the two factions that long ago joined to make the Mercykillers and divided in the wake of the Faction War.

 * Sons of Mercy
 * who are concerned with redeeming and rehabilitating criminals, and one of the two factions that long ago joined to make the Mercykillers and divided in the wake of the Faction War.

 * Transcendent Order
 * who have been barely touched by the Faction War and still run the Great Gymnasium, unofficially spreading their ideals through the Cage and the Planes. Former Factol Rhys is now a member of Sigil's city council.

Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse
Fifth edition’s ‘Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse’ partially returned the factions to the status quo from before the Faction War while retaining some of the aftermath and adding new changes besides. The factions themselves retain their official status and role in Sigil’s governance, and most are led by their original factols. This boxed set introduces the idea of ascendant factions, of which there are currently twelve, which are widely recognized and involved in the daily life of Sigil’s residents, and minor factions, of which six are named but many more are purported to exist.

Ten of the original factions are listed among the ascendant and are relatively unchanged from previous incarnations: the Athar, the Bleak Cabal, the Doomguard, the Fated, the Fraternity of Order, the Harmonium, the Heralds of Dust (the Dustmen renamed), the Mercykilllers, the Society of Sensation, and the Transcendent Order. The other two ascendant factions are the Mind’s Eye, a union of the Believers in the Source and Sign of One from the post-Faction War period, and the new Hands of Havoc. The Hands of Havoc are a group composed of anarchists and artists with no single leader or headquarters who believe in tearing down oppressive institutions by force. They mostly fill the role of the Revolutionary League from the original Planescape boxed set, with some influences from the Free League and Xaositects.

What would have been sects in the original Planescape are now called minor factions, a mix of fallen ascendant factions and up-and-coming factions that haven’t yet reached a critical mass. The Free League are listed as a minor faction, but otherwise are little changed from the 2nd edition incarnation. The Revolutionary League is also considered a minor faction, whose fractured membership have now retreated to Undersigil below the city streets. The Xaositects are not mentioned as an ascendant or a minor faction, so their role in the current incarnation of Sigil, if any, is unknown. The Ring Givers, first introduced in the post-Faction War period, reappear as a minor faction, as does the historic faction known as the Incanterium. First mentioned in the Monstrous Compendium Planescape Appendix II, the Incantifers absorb magic from spells and items to gain power and prolong their lifespans. Their headquarters, the shimmering Tower Sorcerous, mysteriously reappeared in the Clerk’s Ward overnight.

Reception
Scott Haring, in his review of the Planescape Campaign Setting for Pyramid, notes that designer Zeb Cook's three-word summary of the Planescape experience is, "Philosophers With Clubs." Haring commented, "And what a batch of philosophers!", noting that "Sigil is rife with philosophical factions, all with their own take on how the universe works and what it's all about. [...] Each faction is continuously struggling to gain converts from other factions and to hang on to what they've got. Because the more people who believe the basic laws of the universe work a certain way, the more the universe tends to work in just that way. Alignment and philosophy are more than roleplaying tools -- they're the main point."

Haring described the Fraternity of Order "that believes that there is a law governing absolutely everything in the universe, and that all you have to do is learn them and you'll rule everything"; the Society of Sensation "that believes that the only way to comprehend the meaning of the universe is to personally experience every facet of it"; the Dustmen "who believe that everybody on all the planes is already dead, and that everybody came here to this depressing afterlife from somewhere else"; and the Doomguard "that believes that entropy is the ultimate destination of the universe and that they should do whatever they can to help it along". Haring notes that "there's more, all colorful and unique".

title: Faction (Planescape)


text:
Scrub oak

Scrub oak is a common name for several species of small, shrubby oaks. It may refer to:

 * the Chaparral plant community in California, or to one of the following species.

In California

 * California scrub oak (Quercus berberidifolia), a widespread species commonly referred to as scrub oak
 * Coastal scrub oak (Quercus dumosa), although currently defined in a narrow sense, has been applied to other scrub oaks now considered separate species

 * Other California species referred to as "scrub oaks"
 * Leather oak (Quercus durata)
 * Tucker oak (Quercus john-tuckeri)
 * Island scrub oak (Quercus pacifica)

In the Southwestern United States

 * Coahuila scrub oak (Quercus intricata), in the US, it is reported at only two sites: One in the Chisos Mountains inside Big Bend National Park, and the other 15 miles SW of Van Horn.
 * Gambel oak (Quercus gambelii)
 * Gray oak (Quercus grisea), in the mountains of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico.
 * Emory oak (Quercus emoryi)
 * Pungent oak (Quercus pungens)
 * Sonoran scrub oak (Quercus turbinella)

In the Northeastern United States

 * Bear oak (Quercus ilicifolia)
 * Britton's Oak (Quercus ×brittonii), a hybrid of Bear oak (Quercus ilicifolia) and Blackjack oak (Quercus marilandica)
 * Dwarf Chinkapin (Quercus prinoides), distribution extends to Midwest and South-Central U.S.

In the Southeastern United States
See also Florida scrub
 * Chapman oak (Quercus chapmanii)
 * Myrtle oak (Quercus myrtifolia)
 * Sandhill oak (Quercus inopina)
 * Sand live oak (Quercus geminata)
 * Turkey oak (Quercus laevis)

Europe

 * Kermes oak (Quercus coccifera)
 * Gall oak (Quercus lusitanica)

Others

 * Santa Cruz Island oak (Quercus parvula)

title: Scrub oak


text:
User:Gray Matter

Gray Matter is a pseudonym for a middle-aged computer geek (software architect working primarily in Smalltalk and the now-rare VP-Info database language), born in Canada but living on the Eastern seaboard of the United States.

Before becoming ensnared by the techno-revolution in the early 80s, he was a journalist and newspaper editor whose recent writing has been confined primarily to mostly unpublished letters to the editors of various publications.

title: User:Gray Matter