- published: 29 May 2016
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A top (also called spinning top or spintop) is a toy that can be spun on an axis, balancing on a point. This motion is produced in the most simple forms of top by twirling the stem using the fingers. More sophisticated tops are spun by holding the axis firmly while pulling a string or twisting a stick or pushing an auger as shown in the pictures on this page. In the kinds with an auger, an internal weight rotates, producing an overall circular motion.
The top is one of the oldest recognizable toys found on archaeological sites. Spinning tops originated independently in cultures all over the world. Besides toys, tops have also historically been used for gambling and prophecy. Some role-playing gamers still use tops to augment dice in generating randomized results; it is in this case referred to as a spinner.[citation needed] A thumbtack may also be made to spin on the same principles.
The action of a top relies on the gyroscopic effect for its operation. Typically the top will at first wobble until the shape of the tip and its interaction with the surface force it upright. After spinning upright for an extended period, the angular momentum, and therefore the gyroscopic effect will gradually lessen, leading to ever increasing precession, finally causing the top to topple in a frequently violent last thrash.
The iPhone ( /ˈaɪfoʊn/ EYE-fohn) is a line of smartphones designed and marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007, and released on June 29, 2007. The 5th generation iPhone, the iPhone 4S, was announced on October 4, 2011, and released 10 days later.
An iPhone can function as a video camera (video recording was not a standard feature until the iPhone 3GS was released), a camera phone, a portable media player, and an Internet client with email and web browsing capabilities, can send texts and receive visual voicemail, and has both Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity. The user interface is built around the device's multi-touch screen, including a virtual keyboard rather than a physical one.
Third-party as well as Apple application software is available from the App Store, which launched in mid-2008 and now[when?] has over 500,000 "apps" approved by Apple. These apps have diverse functions, including games, reference, GPS navigation, social networking, security, and advertising for television shows, films, and celebrities.
A gadget is a smalltool such as a machine that has a particular function, but is often thought of as a novelty. Gadgets are invariably[citation needed] considered to be more unusually or cleverly designed than normal tools at the time of their invention. Gadgets are sometimes referred to as gizmos.
The origins of the word "gadget" trace back to the 19th century. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, there is anecdotal evidence for the use of "gadget" as a placeholder name for a technical item whose precise name one can't remember since the 1850s; with Robert Brown's 1886 book Spunyarn and Spindrift, A sailor boy’s log of a voyage out and home in a China tea-clipper containing the earliest known usage in print. The etymology of the word is disputed. A widely circulated story holds that the word gadget was "invented" when Gaget, Gauthier & Cie, the company behind the repoussé construction of the Statue of Liberty (1886), made a small-scale version of the monument and named it after their firm; however this contradicts the evidence that the word was already used before in nautical circles, and the fact that it did not become popular, at least in the USA, until after World War I. Other sources cite a derivation from the French gâchette which has been applied to various pieces of a firing mechanism, or the French gagée, a small tool or accessory.
You and Jesus were close, yeah, at least as far as he knows. And you used to sell tickets, invite all your friends, saying "walk on that water again". Yeah, walk on that water again.
And I'm so good at telling the truth, yeah, unless I don't tell you nothing at all.
Instead of running out scared ain't no kind of excuse. I know it was hard, but you still should have called. I know it was hard, but you still should have called.
It's good and you should. And I know you could if only you would.
And it's good and you know you should. And I know you could if only you would.
You wanted so bad for the rain, yeah, but I wasn't king of those things. So I held up the hose as you stripped off your clothes and danced naked on the tips of your toes. You d-d-danced naked on the tips of your toes.
It's good and you should. And I know you could if only you would.
And it's good and you know you should. And I know you could if only you would.