Compact disc

Compact disc (CD) is a digital optical disc data storage format. The format was originally developed to store and play only sound recordings but was later adapted for storage of data (CD-ROM). Several other formats were further derived from these, including write-once audio and data storage (CD-R), rewritable media (CD-RW), Video Compact Disc (VCD), Super Video Compact Disc (SVCD), Photo CD, PictureCD, CD-i, and Enhanced Music CD. Audio CDs and audio CD players have been commercially available since October 1982.

Standard CDs have a diameter of 120 millimetres (4.7 in) and can hold up to about 80 minutes of uncompressed audio or about 700 MiB of data. The Mini CD has various diameters ranging from 60 to 80 millimetres (2.4 to 3.1 in); they are sometimes used for CD singles, storing up to 24 minutes of audio, or delivering device drivers.

At the time of the technology's introduction in 1982, a CD had greater storage capacity than a personal computer hard drive. By 2010 hard drives commonly had capacities exceeding those of CDs by a factor of several thousand.

The Compact

USA

The Compact is a social and environmental movement whose members promise not to buy anything new for a year. It was started in San Francisco. The movement began as a challenge among 10 friends in 2006.

Goals of the Compact:

Members of the Compact are only allowed to buy underwear, food, and health and safety items such as brake fluid and toilet paper. During their one year vow the Compact members must shop only at second hand stores. They can also barter or simply share with each other for goods they want. One's trash is another's treasure. Compacters use Freecycle.org or freegle http://www.ilovefreegle.org/ where they post what they want and what they are giving away so that they can avoid buying new and still get the goods they want. Craigslist.org is another source of used goods. Many people following the Compact also join a Yahoo! Group for continued conversation and support.

Compact

Compact as used in politics may refer broadly to a pact or treaty; in more specific cases it may refer to:

Mathematics

How It's Made

How It's Made is a documentary television series that premiered on January 6, 2001 on the Discovery Channel (now known as Discovery Science) in Canada, and Science in the United States. The program is produced in the Canadian province of Quebec by Productions MAJ, Inc. and Productions MAJ 2. In the United Kingdom, it is transmitted on Discovery Channel, Quest, and DMAX.

Format

The show is a documentary showing how common, everyday items (including clothing and accessories like alligator handbags, foodstuffs like bubble gum, industrial products such as engines, musical instruments such as guitars, and sporting goods such as snowboards) are manufactured.

How It's Made is filmed without exploratory text to simplify overdubbing in different languages. For example, the show avoids showing a narrator or host onscreen, does not often have employees of featured companies speak on camera, and keeps human interaction with the manufacturing process to a bare minimum.

An off-screen narrator explains each process, often with humorous puns. Each half-hour show usually has three or four main segments, with each product getting a demonstration of approximately five minutes; exceptions are allowed in the allotted time for more complex products. Usually, every show has at least one product with a historic background note preceding it: Showing how and where the product originated, and what people used before it.