Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Walter Crawford Kelly

Walter Crawford Kelly, Jr. was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. While he was still a child, his family moved to Bridgeport, Connecticut where his father worked in a munitions plant. After graduating from Warren Harding High School in 1930, Kelly worked a few odd jobs until landing a position as a crime reporter on the Bridgeport Post. There he took up cartooning and illustrated a biography of Bridgeport native P. T. Barnum.

Kelly is often associated with two other giants of the medium: Milton Caniff (Terry and the Pirates, Steve Canyon) and Al Capp (Li'l Abner). The three cartoonists were close personal friends and professional associates throughout their adult lives, and occasionally referenced each other in their strips. According to one anecdote, (from Al Capp Remembered, 1994) Capp and his brother Elliot ducked out of a dull party at Capp's home - leaving Walt Kelly alone to fend for himself entertaining a group of Argentine envoys who didn't speak English. Kelly retaliated by giving away Capp's baby grand piano. According to Capp, who loved to relate the story, Kelly's two perfectly logical reasons for doing so were: a. to cement diplomatic relations between Argentina and the United States, and b. "Because you can't play the piano, anyway." Capp said of Kelly, "Walt, when he chooses to be, is one of the funniest men in the world." (Playboy, December 1965)

Milton Caniff related another anecdote (from Phi Beta Pogo, 1989) involving Walt Kelly and Al Capp, "two boys from Bridgeport, Connecticut, nose to nose," onstage at a meeting of the Newspaper Comics Council in the sixties. "Walt would say to Al, 'Of course, Al, this is really how you should draw Daisy Mae, I'm only showing you this for your own good.' Then Walt would do a sketch. Capp, of course, got ticked off by this, as you can imagine! So he retaliated by doing his version of Pogo. Unfortunately, the drawings are long gone; no recording was made. What a shame! Nobody anticipated there'd be this dueling back and forth between the two of them..."

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Cattle

Cattle, colloquially referred to as cows, are disciplined ungulates, a member of the subfamily Bovina of the family Bovidae. They are raised as livestock for meat dairy products (milk), leather and as draught animals. In some countries, such as India, they are honored in religious ceremonies and revered. It is expected that there are 1.4 billion head of cattle in the world today.

Cattle were originally known by Carolus Linnaeus as three separate species. These were Bos taurus, the European cattle, including similar types from Africa and Asia, Bos indicus, the zebu,and the extinct Bos primigenius, the aurochs. The aurochs is ancestral to together zebu and European cattle. More newly these three have increasingly been grouped as one species, sometimes using the names Bos primigenius taurus, Bos primigenius indicus and Bos primigenius. Complicating the matter is the capacity of cattle to interbreed with other closely related species. Hybrid individuals and even breeds exist, not only between European cattle and zebu but also with yaks, banteng, gaur, and bison, a cross-genera fusion. Cattle cannot effectively be bred with water buffalo or African buffalo.

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Nature

The word nature is consequent from the Latin word natura, or the course of things, natural character. Natural was a Latin translation of the Greek word physis, which originally related to the intrinsic characteristics that plants, animals, and other features of the world develop of their own accord. This is shown in the first written use of the word, in connection with a plant. The concept of nature as a whole, the physical universe, is one of several expansions of the original notion; it began with certain core applications of the word by pre-Socratic philosophers, and has steadily gained currency ever since. This usage was confirmed during the advent of modern scientific method in the last several centuries.

Within the various uses of the word today, "nature" may refer to the general realm of various types of living plants and animals, and in some cases to the processes associated with inanimate objects - the way that particular types of things exist and change of their own accord, such as the weather and geology of the Earth, and the matter and energy of which all these things are composed. It is often taken to mean the "natural environment" or wilderness - wild animals, rocks, forest, beaches, and in general those things that have not been substantially altered by human intervention, or which persist despite human intervention. This more traditional concept of natural things which can still be found today implies a distinction between the natural and the artificial, with the latter being understood as that which has been brought into being by a human or human-like consciousness or mind.

Friday, October 17, 2008

Shipping

Shipping is basic method of transporting goods and cargo. Virtually every product ever made, bought, or sold has been exaggerated by shipping. Despite the lots of variables in shipped products and locations, there are only three basic types of shipments, land, air, and sea.

Land or ground shipping can be either by train or by automobile. Trucking is easily the most accepted form of shipping. Even in Air and Sea shipments, ground transportation is still required to take the product from its origin to the airport or seaport and then to its purpose. Ground transportation is typically more affordable than air shipments, but more costly than shipping by sea. Trucks are also much quicker than ships and rail but slower than planes.

Ground shipping can be cheaper and less limiting to size, quantity, weight, and type of freight than by air transport. Air transport is usually held in reserve for products which must be sent within a shorter time frame. Shipping can more generally refer to the transport of freight, self-determining of the mode of transport.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Computer

Computers take numerous physical forms. The first devices that resemble modern computers date to the mid-20th century, although the computer concept and various machines similar to computers existed prior. Early electronic computers were the size of a large room, consuming as much power as several hundred modern personal computers. Modern computers are based on comparatively tiny integrated circuits and are millions to billions of times more capable while occupying a fraction of the space. Today, simple computers may be made small enough to fit into a wrist watch and be powered from a watch battery. Personal computers in various forms are icons of the information age and are what most people think of as "a computer". However, the most common form of computer in use today is by far the embedded computer. Embedded computers are small, simple devices that are often used to control other devices-for example, they may be found in machines ranging from fighter aircraft to industrial robots, digital cameras, and even children's toys.

The ability to store and execute lists of instructions called programs makes computers extremely versatile and distinguishes them from calculators. The Church-Turing thesis is a mathematical statement of this versatility: Any computer with a certain minimum capability is, in principle, capable of performing the same tasks that any other computer can perform. Therefore, computers with capability and complexity ranging from that of a personal digital assistant to a supercomputer are all able to perform the same computational tasks given enough time and storage capacity.

Friday, July 11, 2008

Toy

A Toy is an item used in play. Toys are usually related with children and pets, but it is not unusual for adult humans and some non-domesticated animals to play with toys. Many items are manufactured to serve as toys, but items shaped for other purpose can also be used as toys. A child may pick up a domestic item and 'fly' it around pretending that it is an airplane, or an animal might play with a pinecone by batting at it, chasing it, and throwing it up in the air. Some toys are intended largely as collector's items and are not to be played with. The origin of toys is prehistoric; dolls representing infants, animals, and soldiers, as well as representations of tools used by adults are pleasure found at archaeological sites. The origin of the word toy is unknown, but it is understood that it was first used in the 14th century.

Toys and play in general are an important part of the method of learning about the world and growing up. The young use toys and play to discover their identity help their bodies grow tough, learn cause and effect, explore relationships, and practice skills they will need as adults. Adults use toys and play to form and strengthen social bonds, teach the young, memorize and reinforce lessons from their own youth, exercise their minds and bodies, practice skills they may not use every day, and decorate their living spaces. Toys are more than simple amusement, and they and the way they are used greatly influence most aspects of life.

Friday, May 16, 2008

Nature

The word nature is consequent from the Latin word natura, or the course of things, natural character. Natural was a Latin translation of the Greek word physis, which originally related to the intrinsic characteristics that plants, animals, and other features of the world develop of their own accord. This is shown in the first written use of the word, in connection with a plant. The concept of nature as a whole, the physical universe, is one of several expansions of the original notion; it began with certain core applications of the word by pre-Socratic philosophers, and has steadily gained currency ever since. This usage was confirmed during the advent of modern scientific method in the last several centuries.

Within the various uses of the word today, "nature" may refer to the general realm of various types of living plants and animals, and in some cases to the processes associated with inanimate objects - the way that particular types of things exist and change of their own accord, such as the weather and geology of the Earth, and the matter and energy of which all these things are composed. It is often taken to mean the "natural environment" or wilderness - wild animals, rocks, forest, beaches, and in general those things that have not been substantially altered by human intervention, or which persist despite human intervention. This more traditional concept of natural things which can still be found today implies a distinction between the natural and the artificial, with the latter being understood as that which has been brought into being by a human or human-like consciousness or mind.