Acorn

The acorn, or oak nut, is the nut of the oaks and their close relatives (genera Quercus and Lithocarpus, in the family Fagaceae). It usually contains a single seed (occasionally two seeds), enclosed in a tough, leathery shell, and borne in a cup-shaped cupule. Acorns vary from 1–6 cm long and 0.8–4 cm broad. Acorns take between 6 and 24 months (depending on the species) to mature; see List of Quercus species for details of oak classification, in which acorn morphology and phenology are important factors.

Ecological role

Acorns play an important role in forest ecology when oaks are the dominant species or are plentiful. The volume of the acorn crop may vary wildly, creating great abundance or great stress on the many animals dependent on acorns and the predators of those animals. Acorns, along with other nuts, are termed mast.

Wildlife that consumes acorns as an important part of their diets includes birds, such as jays, pigeons, some ducks, and several species of woodpeckers. Small mammals that feed on acorns include mice, squirrels and several other rodents.

Acorn Archimedes

The Acorn Archimedes is a family of personal computers designed by Acorn Computers Ltd in Cambridge, England and sold in the late-1980s to mid-1990s, their first general purpose home computer based on their own ARM architecture (then the CPU and architecture was known as Acorn RISC Machine, or ARM. The first Archimedes was launched in 1987.

ARM's RISC design – 32-bit CPU (26-bit addressing), running at 8 MHz, was stated as running at 4.5+ MIPS, which provided a significant upgrade from 8-bit home computers, such as Acorn's previous ones. A claim of 'Fastest' micro in the world and 18 MIPS, was also made during tests.

The models in the family either omitted the Acorn or Archimedes part of the name, with the first models named "BBC Archimedes", while the name, Acorn Archimedes, is commonly used to describe any of Acorn's contemporary designs based on the same architecture. While the computers are no longer sold, computers such as the Raspberry Pi, can still run its operating system, RISC OS (at least later versions) as they use ARM chips that are (mostly) compatible.

Acorn Electron

The Acorn Electron is a budget version of the BBC Micro educational/home computer made by Acorn Computers Ltd. It has 32 kilobytes of RAM, and its ROM includes BBC BASIC v2 along with its operating system.

The Electron was able to save and load programs onto audio cassette via a supplied converter cable that connected it to any standard tape recorder that had the correct sockets. It was capable of basic graphics, and could display onto either a television set, a colour (RGB) monitor or a "green screen" monitor.

For a short period, the Electron was reportedly the best selling micro in the United Kingdom, and total lifetime game sales for the Electron exceeded those of the BBC Micro.

History

After Acorn Computer released the BBC Micro, executives believed that the company needed a less-expensive computer for the mass market. In June 1982, cofounder Hermann Hauser was asked about the recently announced £175 Sinclair ZX Spectrum's potential to hurt sales of the BBC Micro. Hauser responded that in the third quarter of that year Acorn would release a new £120-150 computer which "will probably be called the Electron", with graphics superior to the Spectrum's and compatibility with BBC Micro software. Acorn's Chris Curry stated that "the Electron is designed to compete with the Spectrum. The idea is to get the starting price very low, but not preclude expansion in the long term." The company reduced the number of chips in the Electron by 90% from the BBC Micro's about 100, with most functionality on a single Uncommitted Logic Array (ULA). Problems with the ULA delayed the Electron, however, and Acorn repeatedly missed deadlines to ship the computer.

Peppa Pig

Peppa Pig is a British preschool animated television series directed and produced by Astley Baker Davies, which originally aired on 31 May 2004, and is distributed by E1 Kids. To date, four series have been aired. It went on a hiatus for 2 years and 2 months before re-premiering on 14 February 2015. It is shown in 180 countries.

Background

Peppa Pig is a children's television programme broadcasting on Channel 5 and Nick Jr. in the UK, Nickelodeon/Nick Jr. in the USA, ABC 4 Kids and Nick Jr. in Australia and Discovery Kids in Latin America, including Brazil. Each episode is approximately 5 minutes long. The show revolves around Peppa, an anthropomorphic female pig, and her family and friends. Each of her friends is a different species of mammal. Peppa's friends are the same age as she is, and Peppa's younger brother George's friends are the same age as him. Episodes tend to feature everyday activities such as attending playgroup, going swimming, visiting their grandparents, cousins, going to the playground or riding their bikes.

Ben & Holly's Little Kingdom

Ben & Holly's Little Kingdom is a British animated pre-school children's television series originally broadcast on Nickelodeon UK.

It is broadcast across Nickelodeon's 43 international channels throughout Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East and Latin America.

The show is created by Neville Astley and Mark Baker, and produced by Phil Davies at Astley Baker Davies (the company responsible for Peppa Pig). Many of the actors who lend their vocal skills to characters in Peppa Pig also work on Little Kingdom. These include John Sparkes, Sarah Ann Kennedy, David Rintoul and David Graham. The music is produced by Julian Nott, who is noted for his "Wallace and Gromit" scores.

Plot

The show is set in a Little Kingdom, which is ruled by King and Queen Thistle, who live in the Little Castle. The Little Kingdom has a population of Elves who live in The Great Elf Tree, an oak tree set with windows and laid out like an apartment block. The Elves run a factory under the Great Elf Tree where they make toys and wands in the wand factory and also run the Elf Farm and a windmill. The Kingdom also has a population of Fairy Princesses, who live in the fairy village in houses made out of toadstools. Others that live in the Kingdom are the Dwarves, Mrs. Witch and Mr. Gnome.