Alchemy

Alchemy is a philosophical and protoscientific tradition practiced throughout Egypt and Eurasia which aimed to purify, mature, and perfect certain objects. Common aims were chrysopoeia, the transmutation of "base metals" (e.g., lead) into "noble" ones (particularly gold); the creation of an elixir of immortality; the creation of panaceas able to cure any disease; and the development of an alkahest, a universal solvent. The perfection of the human body and soul was thought to permit or result from the alchemical magnum opus and, in the Hellenistic and western tradition, the achievement of gnosis. In Europe, the creation of a philosopher's stone was variously connected with all of these projects.

In English, the term is often limited to descriptions of European alchemy, but similar practices existed in the Far East, the Indian subcontinent, and the Muslim world. In Europe, following the 12th-century Renaissance produced by the translation of Arabic works on science and the Recovery of Aristotle, alchemists played a significant role in early modern science (particularly chemistry and medicine). Islamic and European alchemists developed a structure of basic laboratory techniques, theory, terminology, and experimental method, some of which are still in use today. However, they continued antiquity's belief in four elements and guarded their work in secrecy including cyphers and cryptic symbolism. Their work was guided by Hermetic principles related to magic, mythology, and religion.

Alchemist (disambiguation)

An alchemist is a person who practices alchemy. Alchemist may also refer to:

Books and stories

Art

Music

Alchemist (video game)

Alchemist is a computer game developed by Ian Weatherburn for the ZX Spectrum and released by Imagine Software in 1983. It is an action-adventure video game in which the player controls an alchemist who may shape-shift into a golden eagle.

History

Alchemist was authored by Ian Weatherburn and Paul Lindale, and was Imagine's first arcade adventure. This release was also the first piece of software to be released on a gold-coloured cassette and box.

Gameplay

The player controls a skilled alchemist, who has been summoned to defeat an evil warlock. The game takes place in the warlock's castle, with the objective of finding four pieces of a magic scroll. This will allow the alchemist to use the "Spell of Destruction" to defeat the warlock.

The alchemist can transform into a golden eagle, requiring the use of spell energy. Transforming between the two is essential to completing the game: The alchemist can hurl lightning bolts and other spells, but the eagle form is required to negotiate steep hills or drops. The alchemist can only carry one item at a time and food needs to be found during the game to keep stamina levels up. Movement, bumping into objects, or transforming depletes stamina. Fighting monsters also reduces stamina although this can be mitigated by carrying an axe or sword.

Mic (media company)

Mic (Formerly PolicyMic) is a media company focused on news for a generation known as the "millennials". The company reaches 19 million unique monthly visitors and has a higher composition of 18- to 34-year-old readers than any other millennial-focused news site, including BuzzFeed and Vice.

Mic received early attention for its on-the-ground coverage during the revolution in Tunisia, and The Hollywood Reporter remarked that Mic features "stories that intelligently cover serious issues important to young people".

History

PolicyMic was founded in 2011 by Chris Altchek and Jake Horowitz, two high school friends from New York. Since then, they have raised $15 million from investors, including Jim Clark, the founder of Netscape, who said that Altchek and Horowitz "remind me of my younger self". Other investors include Lightspeed Venture Partners, Lerer Ventures, Advancit Capital, Red Swan Ventures, and The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. In 2014, PolicyMic announced they would re-brand their organization to target millennials, and renamed themselves as "Mic". The company will not disclose its valuation. According to The New York Observer, Mic currently does not make a profit and "is in the increasingly rare habit of actually paying each one of its writers, editors and contributors".

Microsoft Comic Chat

Microsoft Comic Chat (later Microsoft Chat, but not to be confused with Windows Chat, or WinChat) is a graphical IRC client created by Microsoft, first released with Internet Explorer 3.0 in 1996. Comic Chat was developed by Microsoft Researcher David Kurlander, with Microsoft Research's Virtual Worlds Group and later a group he managed in Microsoft's Internet Division.

Comic Chat's main feature, which set it apart from other IRC clients, is that it enabled comic avatars to represent a user; this character could express a specified emotion, possibly making IRC chatting a more emotive and expressive experience. All of the comic characters and backgrounds were initially created by comic artist Jim Woodring. Later, tools became available that allowed user-created characters and backgrounds.

Comic Chat started out as a research project, and a paper describing the technology was published at SIGGRAPH '96. It was an experiment in automatic illustration construction and layout. The algorithms used in Comic Chat attempted to mimic some basic illustration techniques of comic artists (particularly Jim Woodring). Character placement, the choice of gestures and expressions, and word balloon construction and layout, were all chosen automatically. A widget called the "emotion wheel" allowed users to override the program's choice of expression.

MIC

Mic or MIC may refer to:

Organisations

Business

Government and politics