Byte

The byte (/ˈbaɪt/) is a unit of digital information that most commonly consists of eight bits. Historically, the byte was the number of bits used to encode a single character of text in a computer and for this reason it is the smallest addressable unit of memory in many computer architectures. The size of the byte has historically been hardware dependent and no definitive standards existed that mandated the size. The de facto standard of eight bits is a convenient power of two permitting the values 0 through 255 for one byte. The international standard IEC 80000-13 codified this common meaning. Many types of applications use information representable in eight or fewer bits and processor designers optimize for this common usage. The popularity of major commercial computing architectures has aided in the ubiquitous acceptance of the 8-bit size.

The unit octet was defined to explicitly denote a sequence of 8 bits because of the ambiguity associated at the time with the byte. The usage of the term octad(e) for 8 bits is no longer common today.

Skyline

A skyline is the horizon created by a city's overall structure, or by human intervention in a non-urban setting or in nature. City skylines serve as a kind of fingerprint as no two skylines are alike. For this reason, news and sports programs, television shows, and movies often display the skyline of a city to set a location. The term The Sky Line of New York City was first introduced in 1896, when it was the title of a color lithograph by Charles Graham for the color supplement of the New York Journal.

Paul D. Spreiregen, FAIA, has called a skyline "a physical representation [of a city's] facts of life ... a potential work of art ... its collective vista."

History

Early examples

The Colosseum in Rome

The Colosseum in Rome

Gizah pyramids

Gizah pyramids

Acropolis

Acropolis

Stonehenge's skyline has been known for millennia.

Stonehenge's skyline has been known for millennia.

Historic buildings in Toledo, Spain have been part of the city skyline for many years.

Skyline (musical group)

Skyline was a newgrass group active in the 1970s and '80s headed by Tony Trischka. The band consisted of Tony, Danny Weiss on guitar and vocals, Dede Wyland on guitar and vocals, Larry Cohen on bass, and Barry Mitterhoff on mandolin. In the last year of their career Dede Wyland left the band and was replaced by Rachel Kalem. They were a major proponent of the "newgrass" sound, known for jazz-infused riffs and extensive use of harmony in their singing. Their first album, Skyline Drive, was released in 1977. The band released several more albums over the next few years, culminating with their final release, Fire of Grace in 1989. In 1999, they released a retrospective album called Ticket Back.

Members of the band are still playing together in various configurations. Danny, Larry and Barry performed as Silk City, a band named after an old nickname for Paterson, New Jersey. The band was active around 2000-2004, before Barry left to join Hot Tuna.

References

Skyline (construction set)

American Skyline was a construction set sold in the late 1950s and early 1960s by Elgo Plastics/Halsam Products Company from Chicago, Illinois. With an American Skyline set, its owner was able to piece together models of high-rise city buildings.

Set contents

The set consisted of a collection of three different types of plastic parts; column segments, vertical panels (which included windows and doors), and floor panels. Doors were simple plastic pieces and did not open. They came in single, double, and 4-door designs. Windows were single, double, triple, and a 7-window design as well as a unique bay style with single and double large open windows (which can also be used as room door ways to divide rooms if one wished).

There were also base blocks, step blocks and rails which were used in the foundations of the structures being constructed. The step blocks were also used in other parts of the structures also. The pieces all tend to be fairly durable except for the columns, which tend to have sides broken off with many years of use, The roofing and floor bases were basic thin plastic sheets with a checker board motif in white and brown to one side and blank white on the other. The column segments interlocked to form stacks. Each such stack would present four tracks running the length of the stack. The vertical panel pieces had edges that could slide into the tracks. Panels slid into adjacent tracks in the same column would be at right-angles to each other. The floor/roof panels had corners cut in such a way that each corner could be held in place between two column segments. Also included were flag poles to attach flags to, flags were found (printed) on the back page of the instruction booklet to the sets. Attachment was cutting them and folding them then simply pasting them to the poles.

Flood (film)

Flood is a British disaster film from 2007, directed by Tony Mitchell. It features Robert Carlyle, Jessalyn Gilsig, David Suchet and Tom Courtenay, and is based on the 2002 novel of the same name by Richard Doyle.

Synopsis

A devastating flood strikes London when the Thames Barrier is overwhelmed by a huge surge of water. A storm surge travels between the United Kingdom and mainland Europe, raising sea levels and coinciding with the spring tide. Several parts of Scotland are devastated, including Wick.

The Met Office's head forecaster, Keith Hopkins, mistakenly believes the storm will head towards Holland and is guilt-ridden after Professor Leonard Morrison proves that the approaching surge of water will break through the Thames Barrier and flood central London in the next 3 hours. Leonard had focused his life around the belief that the barrier was built in the wrong area, and turned his now apologetic son Rob into to a bitter man.

Deputy Prime Minister Campbell, in charge while the prime minister is away, declares a state of emergency. He begins to evacuate over one million civilians from Central London before the water surge hits. He is assisted by Police Commissioner Patricia Nash, Major General Ashcroft and others.

Flood (Jeremy Fisher album)

Flood is the fourth album from Canadian singer-songwriter Jeremy Fisher. It was released October 25, 2010 on Aquarius Records.

Track listing

Personnel

Ohio River flood of 1937

The Ohio River flood of 1937 took place in late January and February 1937. With damage stretching from Pittsburgh to Cairo, Illinois, one million people were left homeless, with 385 dead and property losses reaching $500 million ($8.7 billion in 2015 dollars). Federal and state resources were strained to aid recovery, as the disaster occurred during the depths of the Great Depression and a few years after the Dust Bowl.

Event timeline