Renaissance

The Renaissance (UK /rᵻˈneɪsəns/, US /ˈrɛnᵻsɑːns/) is a period in Europe, from the 14th to the 17th century, considered the bridge between the Middle Ages and modern history. It started as a cultural movement in Italy in the Late Medieval period and later spread to the rest of Europe, marking the beginning of the Early Modern Age.

The Renaissance's intellectual basis was its own invented version of humanism, derived from the rediscovery of classical Greek philosophy, such as that of Protagoras, who said, that "Man is the measure of all things." This new thinking became manifest in art, architecture, politics, science and literature. Early examples were the development of perspective in oil painting and the recycled knowledge of how to make concrete. Although the invention of metal movable type sped the dissemination of ideas from the later 15th century, the changes of the Renaissance were not uniformly experienced across Europe.

As a cultural movement, it encompassed innovative flowering of Latin and vernacular literatures, beginning with the 14th century resurgence of learning based on classical sources, which contemporaries credited to Petrarch; the development of linear perspective and other techniques of rendering a more natural reality in painting; and gradual but widespread educational reform. In politics, the Renaissance contributed to the development of the customs and conventions of diplomacy, and in science to an increased reliance on observation and inductive reasoning. Although the Renaissance saw revolutions in many intellectual pursuits, as well as social and political upheaval, it is perhaps best known for its artistic developments and the contributions of such polymaths as Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, who inspired the term "Renaissance man".

Renaissance (Monaco)

Renaissance is a political party in Monaco that represents the interests of SBM employees. They won 10.67% of the popular vote, and 1 out of 24 seats at the last legislative elections held on February 10, 2013. The seat is held by Eric Elena.

References

Renaissance (club)

Renaissance is a British electronic dance music club brand and record label. Renaissance was started by Geoff Oakes at Venue 44 in Mansfield, England in 1992. Renaissance was Geoff Oakes' antidote to the sci-fi imagery and dressed down clubbers of the 'rave' scene.

In 1993 Renaissance moved to a newly renovated former print works in Derby called The Conservatory. The Conservatory was only just finished in time for opening of Renaissance on the Saturday night but was decorated with the (by then) signature gold cherubs and velvet drapes which have become indicative of the oppulent style of Renaissance events. In 1995, Renaissance put on their first international show at Womb in Tokyo. Other international dates soon followed, and in 2007, Renaissance hosted over 150 shows in more than 25 countries around the world. The Renaissance monthly residency at the Cross nightclub in London was one of the longest running continuous club nights in the world, and ended in November 2007 when the venue closed permanently to make way for new development. They are known for their use of classical imagery in their packaging and advertising.

Balance of Power (album)

Balance of Power is the twelfth studio album by the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) released in 1986.

Overview

Balance of Power was the last studio album by the Electric Light Orchestra before their disbanding (the band would later reform in 2000). By this time Kelly Groucutt had departed and the group was pared down to a trio of Jeff Lynne, Richard Tandy, and Bev Bevan. Recording for the album began in 1984, with a planned release in spring 1985. The addition of several synthesizer tracks to the album caused its release to be pushed back to early 1986. ELO played some live concerts in the UK and Europe (their last for fifteen years), and for one UK show George Harrison performed as guest guitarist.

The video for the single "Calling America" was shot in Paris, and contains shots of the band playing in front of Centre Georges Pompidou. A video was also made for the single "So Serious." The track "Endless Lies" was intended as an homage to Roy Orbison, and was originally recorded for the never-released double LP version of Secret Messages; it reappeared on this album in a slightly reworked and more compact form. The album was ELO's first to not feature any strings, the first to feature a saxophone solo, and the first released on CD. The original release has the shortest running time of any ELO album.

Opening (morphology)

In mathematical morphology, opening is the dilation of the erosion of a set A by a structuring element B:

where and denote erosion and dilation, respectively.

Together with closing, the opening serves in computer vision and image processing as a basic workhorse of morphological noise removal. Opening removes small objects from the foreground (usually taken as the dark pixels) of an image, placing them in the background, while closing removes small holes in the foreground, changing small islands of background into foreground. These techniques can also be used to find specific shapes in an image. Opening can be used to find things into which a specific structuring element can fit (edges, corners, ...).

One can think of B sweeping around the inside of the boundary of A, so that it does not extend beyond the boundary, and shaping the A boundary around the boundary of the element.

Properties

Opening is idempotent, that is, .

Opening is increasing, that is, if , then .

Opening is anti-extensive, i.e., .