LP record

The LP (long play), or 33 ¹⁄₃ rpm microgroove vinyl record, is a format for phonograph (gramophone) records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry. Apart from relatively minor refinements and the important later addition of stereophonic sound capability, it has remained the standard format for vinyl albums.

Format advantages

At the time the LP was introduced, nearly all phonograph records for home use were made of an abrasive (and therefore noisy) shellac compound, employed a much larger groove, and played at approximately 78 revolutions per minute (rpm), limiting the playing time of a 12-inch diameter record to less than five minutes per side. The new product was a 12- or 10-inch (30 or 25 cm) fine-grooved disc made of vinyl and played with a smaller-tipped "microgroove" stylus at a speed of 33 ¹⁄₃ rpm. Each side of a 12-inch LP could play for more than 20 minutes. Only the microgroove standard was truly new, as both vinyl and the 33 ¹⁄₃ rpm speed had been used for special purposes for many years, as well as in one unsuccessful earlier attempt to introduce a long-playing record for home use.

Maxx

Maxx may refer to:

Maxx (band)

Maxx was a German Eurodance act who had major, albeit brief, international success in 1993-1994.

Biography

After having already recorded a German cover version of Snow's "Informer", rapper Boris Köhler teamed up with the producer and songwriter Juergen Wind, Frank Hassas (Quickmix), David Brunner (Hitman) and Jeglitza to produce "Get-A-Way". Jeglitza moved on to other projects. Köhler, under the stage name of Gary B, performed the ragamuffin rap, and a female singer Samira Besic produced the vocals for the chorus. It was a dancefloor hit all over Europe, peaking at No. 11 at their home of Germany, while entering the top-5 in the UK, Austria, Sweden and the Netherlands, the single entered the top-10 in Switzerland and Norway. "Get-A-Way" eventually reached a Gold status in Germany for selling over 250,000, and in the UK, it was certified with a Silver-certification-award for selling over 200,000 units. Samira Besic, who had at the peak of Maxx's career left the act for a solo career, was replaced by Linda Meek now known as Elyse G.Rogers.

Isis (rapper)

Lin Que (born Lin Que Ayoung 7 September 1969) is a female hip-hop artist. She graduated from Cathedral High School in Manhattan in 1987. She was a member of the hip-hop collective known as the Blackwatch Movement (which included X Clan) as Isis. She released her debut album Rebel Soul while affiliated with that group in 1990.

Lin Que left X-Clan to work with MC Lyte. No longer Isis, she rhymed as Lin Que and released a couple of singles for SME Records and Elektra Records. She eventually went into A&R work and graphic design, and she appeared briefly in Spike Lee's He Got Game and Ted Demme's Who's the Man?

She collaborated with various artists such as Will Downing, Mary J. Blige, Queen Latifah, MC Lyte, Smif-N-Wessun, The Beatnuts, Monifah, Ce Ce Peniston, and more.

She had a brief stint as a member of the Wu-Tang Clan-affiliated group Deadly Venoms. After leaving the group for business reasons shortly after its debut album was recorded and never released, she remained writing and creating music with producers Sugar Al Cayne, Azteknique, and Ayatollah. She has written for MC Lyte and has been producing music as well.

Isis (band)

Isis (stylized as ISIS) was a Los Angeles-based post-metal band, founded in Boston, Massachusetts, with a career spanning from 1997 to 2010. They borrowed from and helped to evolve a sound pioneered by the likes of Neurosis and Godflesh, creating heavy music consisting of lengthy songs that focus on repetition and evolution of structure.

The band's last album, Wavering Radiant, was released on 5 May 2009. They disbanded in June 2010, just before the release of a split EP with the Melvins.

History

Formation and early releases (1997–2001)

Softcard

JVL Ventures, LLC d/b/a Softcard formerly Isis Mobile Wallet, was a joint venture between AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon which produced a mobile payments platform known as Softcard, which used near-field communication (NFC) technology to allow users to pay for items at stores and restaurants with credit and debit card credentials stored on their smartphones. The partnership was first announced on November 16, 2010; following a trial period in 2012, the service officially launched nationwide on November 14, 2013. The official Softcard app was available for NFC-compatible smartphones using the Android operating system and later on Windows Phone 8.1.

On February 23, 2015, it was announced that Google Inc. would acquire Softcard's intellectual property and integrate it into its competing Google Wallet service. As a result, the Softcard service was permanently discontinued on March 31, 2015, and Softcard's member carriers have begun backing the newly created Android Pay system instead.

History

Sheepshead (game)

Sheepshead or Sheephead is a trick-taking card game related to the Skat family of games. It is the Americanized version of a card game that originated in Central Europe in the late 18th century under the German name Schafkopf. Sheepshead is most commonly played by five players, but variants exist to allow for two to eight players. There are also many other variants to the game rules, and many slang terms used with the game.

Although Schafkopf literally means "sheepshead," it has nothing to do with sheep; the term probably was derived and translated incorrectly from Middle High German and referred to playing cards on a barrel head (from kopf, meaning head, and Schaff, meaning a barrel).

In the United States, sheepshead is most commonly played in Wisconsin as well as the German counties in Southern Indiana, which has large German-American populations, and on the internet. Numerous tournaments are held throughout Wisconsin during the year, with the largest tournament being the "Nationals", held annually in the Wisconsin Dells during a weekend in September, October or November, and mini-tournaments held hourly throughout Germanfest in Milwaukee during the last weekend of each July.