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.

Alchemy (video game)

Alchemy is a computer puzzle game from PopCap Games. This title can be played for free online at various websites minus some components, or a full version can be downloaded and unlocked for a fee. On mobile devices, the game can only be played if downloaded for a fee.

Release

Alchemy was first introduced on August 29, 2001. The original version released for only available on the Windows platform. But in May 2002, a version was made for the Mac platform. In June 2002, a version was released that was available for shipping. In September 2002, a handheld version was released.

Gameplay

The object of the game is to turn a board of squares from lead to gold by placing randomly generated symbols called runes on every square. The symbols used as runes in the lower levels are astrological glyphs (symbols) Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces, Mercury, Venus, a symbol like that of Uranus, and Neptune (Virgo is missing). As higher levels are reached, additional symbols (e.g., droplet, lightning, cup, and om) appear, as do additional colors. New colors appear every three levels.

CrossBridge

CrossBridge is an open-source toolset developed by Adobe Systems, that cross-compiles C and C++ code to run in Adobe Flash Player or Adobe AIR. Projects compiled with CrossBridge run up to 10 times faster than ActionScript 3 projects. CrossBridge was also known as "Alchemy" and the "Flash Runtime C++ Compiler", or "FlasCC".

CrossBridge uses high-performance memory-access opcodes in the Flash Player (known as "Domain Memory") to work with in-memory data quickly. CrossBridge uses the LLVM and GCC as compiler backends, in order to compile C++ code, optimize it, and transform it to run within AVM2 (the ActionScript Virtual Machine). Programs built with CrossBridge are up to 10 times faster than normal ActionScript code, but up to 2× to 10× slower than native C++ code.

CrossBridge can generate Flash Player movies (.swf files), or Flash Libraries (.swc files), which can then be used by larger projects written in ActionScript 3 and compiled using the free Apache Flex SDK (formerly the Adobe Flex SDK). CrossBridge also uses the GPU-based 3D rendering acceleration present in Flash Player 11 (known as Stage3D).

Untitled (West)

Untitled is an outdoor 1977 stainless steel sculpture by American artist Bruce West, installed in Portland, Oregon, in the United States.

Description

Bruce West's Untitled is installed along Southwest 6th Avenue between Washington and Stark streets in Portland's Transit Mall. It was one of eleven works chosen in 1977 to make the corridor "more people oriented and attractive" as part of the Portland Transit Mall Art Project. The stainless steel sculptures is 7 feet (2.1 m) tall. It was funded by TriMet and the United States Department of Transportation, and is administered by the Regional Arts & Culture Council.

See also

References

External links

Untitled (Kelly, 1975)

Untitled is an outdoor 1975 sculpture by Lee Kelly, installed at Louisa Boren Park in Seattle, Washington, in the United States. The abstract, welded Cor-Ten steel piece measures approximately 19 feet (5.8 m) x 14 feet (4.3 m) x 10 feet (3.0 m). It was surveyed and deemed "treatment needed" by the Smithsonian Institution's "Save Outdoor Sculpture!" program in November 1994. The work is part of the Seattle One Percent for Art Collection and administered by the Seattle Arts Commission.

References

Further reading

Untitled (Rape Scene)

Untitled (Rape Scene) is a color photograph documentation created from a 35mm slide by Cuban American artist Ana Mendieta. She made it during an April 1973 performance while still a student at the University of Iowa. It is one of three photographs she created in reaction to the rape and murder of a woman on campus. The Tate Gallery in London, which owns the work, describes it this way:

Art writer Megan Heuer describes the work as capturing the artist's interest in violence. Influenced by the work of the Viennese Actionists, Untitled (Rape Scene) also expresses Mendieta's desire to evoke a visceral reaction from her audience.

Bibliography