I Can (Blue song)

"I Can" is a song by British pop group Blue, taken from their fourth studio album, Roulette. It was the United Kingdom's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 which was held in Düsseldorf, Germany. The song came 11th scoring 100 points. The single was released on 1 May 2011 as a digital download, with the physical release the day after. "I Can" peaked at number 16 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming Blue's lowest-charting single in the UK. The song was written by group members Duncan James and Lee Ryan with Ciaron Bell, Ben Collier, Ian Hope, Liam Keenan, and Norwegian production team StarSign. It was produced by Ronny Svendsen and Hallgeir Rustan, the latter who previously produced several of Blue's hit singles.

Critical reception

Digital Spy gave the song three stars out of five, and wrote: "I've never lost anything quite like this/ No second chances if I don't find it," the band continue over juddering synths that give way to a fist-clenching, Blue for 2011 chorus that sadly just misses the spot - the watered down production suggesting they aren't as cocksure of this plan as they claim. [...] Still - call them crazy, but there's enough here to suggest they might just pull the whole thing off."

I Can (Nas song)

"I Can" is the second single from the Nas album, God's Son. It was released internationally February 11, 2003.

Composition

Boasting production from Salaam Remi, the song samples Ludwig van Beethoven's "Für Elise" and The Honey Drippers' "Impeach the President".

Its lyrics are positive, encouraging the youth to stay drug-free, and pursue their dreams. The lyrics also detail various events in African history.

Music video

The music video, directed by Chris Robinson, was shot in Philadelphia, and contains footage of Nas rapping while children stand around him. The video starts out with the music from the introduction of "Get Down," but it soon transitions into "I Can." As the video starts, a young girl starts off by playing the piano in a vacant lot, and later one can see children jumping on a mattress in the same lot. The video also contains footage of break dancing and famous Egyptian structures.

Reception

The single received mixed to positive reviews. Christian Hoard of Rolling Stone magazine labels "I Can" as "a silly stay-in-school ad attached to a Beethoven sample." This comment may be attributed to the "singsongy" call and response chorus featuring the voices of young children. Other reviewers appreciated "I Can" more: Jon Robinson of IGN.com claims that on his second single, "Nas delivers some of his most inspiring lyrics to date."

Better Than Raw

Better Than Raw is the eighth studio album by German power metal band Helloween, released in 1998. The album spawned the singles "I Can" and "Hey Lord!".

The album was recorded at Chateau du Pape and Crazy Cat Studios in Hamburg and at Mi Sueño Studio in Tenerife. It was produced and mixed by Tommy Hansen at Chateau du Pape and mastered by Ian Cooper at Metropolis, London.

Track listing

Personnel

Helloween

Others

Trivia

S660A

In its United Kingdom Tax Bulletin 64 (April 2003), the Inland Revenue (now HM Revenue and Customs) announced new guidance on the "settlements legislation". This is a body of law which seeks to prevent someone (known as the "settlor") from avoiding tax by reclassifying income as belonging to someone else (known as the beneficiary). The income is then taxed at the beneficiary’s lower rate although the settlor continues to benefit from it. The legislation targets spouses and also parents seeking to divert income via their minor children.

The section of the legislation is 660A of the UK Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988. Using the revised (April 2003) interpretation of s.660A, UK HMRC have been targeting businesses set up by spouses where they are aware that income is split between the spouses, and only one of them directly generates that income. In theory s.660A can apply to partnerships as well as limited companies, this has yet to be tested in the UK courts. In 2007 the interpretation was finally rejected by the Law Lords, resulting in the government proposing new leglisation to tackle the perceived abuse.

S-45A

S-45A was an American satellite, which was lost in a launch failure in 1961. The satellite was intended to operate in a highly elliptical orbit, from which it was to have provided data on the shape of the ionosphere, and on the Earth's magnetic field. It was part of the Explorer programme, and would have been designated Explorer 12 had it reached orbit. It was the second of two identical satellites to be launched; the first, S-45, had also been lost in a launch failure, earlier in the year.

S-45A was launched aboard a Juno II rocket, serial number AM-19G. It was the final flight of the Juno II. The launch took place from Launch Complex 26B at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 19:48:05 UTC on 24 May 1961. The system which was intended to ignite the second stage malfunctioned, and as a result that stage failed to ignite. The rocket failed to achieve orbit.

References

1N400x general-purpose diodes

The 1N4001 series (or 1N4000 series) is a family of popular 1.0 A (ampere) general-purpose silicon rectifier diodes commonly used in AC adapters for common household appliances. Blocking voltage varies from 50 to 1000 volts. This diode is made in an axial-lead DO-41 plastic package.

The 1N5400 series is a similarly popular series for higher current applications, up to 3 A. These diodes are typically available in the larger DO-201AD axial package to dissipate heat better.

Overview

These are fairly low-speed rectifier diodes, being inefficient for square waves of more than 15 kHz. The series was second sourced by many manufacturers. The 1N4000 series were in the Motorola Silicon Rectifier Handbook in 1966, as replacements for 1N2609 through 1N2617. The 1N5400 series were announced in Electrical Design News in 1968, along with the now lesser known 1.5 A 1N5391 series.

These devices are widely used and recommended.

The table below shows the maximum repetitive reverse blocking voltages of each of the members of the 1N4000 and 1N5400 series.