The design life of a component or product is the period of time during which the item is expected by its designers to work within its specified parameters; in other words, the life expectancy of the item. It is the length of time between placement into service of a single item and that items on-set of wear-out.

The design life of components and products differs from the items mean time between failure (MTBF), in that MTBF is a measure of the rate of occurrence of random failures in time where these failures are not due to a wear-out mechanism. For example, the MTBF of a device may be 100,000 hours and the design-life is 20,000 hours. In this example, across the population of products, one failure will occur, on average, every 100,000 population operating hours (100,000 units operating for 1 hour each = 100,000 population operating hours). None of these units will ever approach reaching 100,000 operating hours as it will fail due to wear-out and be replaced by a new unit. Aluminum electrolytic capacitors, fans, and batteries are classic examples of components that will fail due to wear-out well before they could achieve the operating time indicated by their individual MTBF.

Manic Street Preachers are a Welsh alternative rock band formed in 1986 consisting of James Dean Bradfield (lead vocals, lead guitar), Nicky Wire (bass, lyrics), and Sean Moore (drums, percussion). The band is part of the Cardiff music scene and were at their most prominent during the 1990s. They are colloquially known as "The Manics" or simply "Manics". Manic Street Preachers were originally a quartet but primary lyricist and rhythm guitarist Richey Edwards vanished on 1 February 1995.

In 1992, the Manics released their debut album, Generation Terrorists. Their combination of androgynous glam punk imagery and critical social lyrics about "culture, alienation, boredom, and despair" soon gained them a loyal following and cult status. The band's later albums retained a leftist politicisation and intellectual lyrical style while adopting a broader alternative rock sound.

Following Edwards' disappearance, Bradfield, Moore, and Wire persisted with Manic Street Preachers and went on to gain critical and commercial success, becoming one of Britain's premier rock bands. Altogether, they have garnered eight Top 10 albums, fifteen Top 10 singles, and have reached number one three times with their 1998 This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours album, the 1998 "If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next" single, and the 2000 "The Masses Against the Classes" single.

The Parlotones are a rock band based in Johannesburg, South Africa. They have achieved multiplatinum-selling status in their home country. They experiment with their sound and various structures in their songs, incorporating the typical doo-wop or traditional folk structures.^{[citation needed]} The band is known for the face make-up worn by lead singer Kahn Morbee.^{[citation needed]}

In February 2002, the Parlotones released their debut album, Episoda^{[citation needed]}. The first album to reach mainstream success was their second release, Radiocontrolledrobot, which came out in 2005 and won the "Best Rock Album" award at the 2006 South African Music Awards. The ballad "Beautiful" was used in an Irish Fujifilm television commercial, which led to a European licence deal with Universal Music. The album achieved Gold status in 2007.^{[citation needed]} Their next album, A World Next Door to Yours, was released in September 2007; it is^[when?] South Africa’s biggest-selling rock album of the^[which?] decade.^{[citation needed]}

Julian Miles "Jools" Holland OBE, DL (born 24 January 1958) is an English pianist, bandleader, singer, composer, and television presenter. He was a founder of the band Squeeze (1974-1980 & 1985-1990) and his work has involved him with many artists including Sting, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, David Gilmour, Magazine and Bono.

Holland is a published author and appears on television shows besides his own and contributes to radio shows. In 2004, he collaborated with Tom Jones on an album of traditional R&B music. He currently hosts Later... with Jools Holland, a music-based show aired on BBC2, on which his annual show Hootenanny, is based.

His great grandfather came from Ireland.

Holland played as a session musician before finding fame, and his first studio session was with Wayne County & the Electric Chairs in 1976 on their track "F*ck Off."

Holland was a founding member of the British pop band Squeeze, formed in March 1974, in which he played keyboards until 1981 and helped the band to achieve millions of record sales, before pursuing his solo career.

James Dean Bradfield (born 21 February 1969) is the lead guitarist and lead vocalist for the Welsh rock band Manic Street Preachers.

Born in Pontypool, Monmouthshire, Bradfield attended the local Oakdale Comprehensive School near Blackwood where he suffered years of cruelty and bullying (he claims he was "a Woody Allen-esque little nerd") for his name (Nicknamed Crossfire), lazy eye, musical bent and small size. James formed a rather exclusive relationship with three friends: his cousin Sean Moore, who lived with James and his family throughout their childhood after his own parents' divorce, and future bandmates Nicky Wire (real name Nicholas Jones) and Richey James Edwards.

Bradfield loved to run and was a fine steeple-chaser, and soon grew fond of famous punk rock band The Clash. He gave up his dream of "being like Napoleon" and decided that he wanted to be a rock star. He learnt to play guitar by learning how to play Guns N' Roses's Appetite for Destruction with the curtains drawn in his parents' front room.