Wire

A wire is a single, usually cylindrical, flexible strand or rod of metal. Wires are used to bear mechanical loads or electricity and telecommunications signals. Wire is commonly formed by drawing the metal through a hole in a die or draw plate. Wire gauges come in various standard sizes, as expressed in terms of a gauge number. The term wire is also used more loosely to refer to a bundle of such strands, as in 'multistranded wire', which is more correctly termed a wire rope in mechanics, or a cable in electricity.

Wire comes in solid core, stranded, or braided forms. Although usually circular in cross-section, wire can be made in square, hexagonal, flattened rectangular, or other cross-sections, either for decorative purposes, or for technical purposes such as high-efficiency voice coils in loudspeakers. Edge-woundcoil springs, such as the Slinky toy, are made of special flattened wire.

History

In antiquity, jewelry often contains, in the form of chains and applied decoration, large amounts of wire that is accurately made and which must have been produced by some efficient, if not technically advanced, means. In some cases, strips cut from metal sheet were made into wire by pulling them through perforations in stone beads. This causes the strips to fold round on themselves to form thin tubes. This strip drawing technique was in use in Egypt by the 2nd Dynasty. From the middle of the 2nd millennium BC most of the gold wires in jewellery are characterised by seam lines that follow a spiral path along the wire. Such twisted strips can be converted into solid round wires by rolling them between flat surfaces or the strip wire drawing method. The strip twist wire manufacturing method was superseded by drawing in the ancient Old World sometime between about the 8th and 10th centuries AD. There is some evidence for the use of drawing further East prior to this period.

Wire (Third Day album)

Wire is the seventh album by Christian rock band Third Day. It breaks from the style of the band's previous albums to return to simple, rock and roll-driven melodies. To quote Allmusic's review of the album, "Third Day has stripped away the shine and gotten back to the grittiness of being a rock & roll band." The album is largely carried by the energetic guitar riffs that pervade its songs, although the forceful lyrics also contribute significantly.

The album's songs deal with numerous themes. "Wire", the title track, is a song about the pressure to succeed in modern society. "I Believe", "I Got a Feeling", "Innocent", and other tracks deal with sin, faith, and renewal from a Christian perspective. "Billy Brown" is a catchy song that explores the readiness of people to follow and even idolize entertainment figures.

In November 2004, a live version of Wire was released, called Live Wire featuring a DVD and CD of songs from their tour of their latest album.

The album won 2005 Grammy Award for Best Rock Gospel Album.

Wire (software)

Wire is a communications platform developed for mobile, tablet, and desktop founded by Skype and Microsoft veteran Jonathan Christensen, Alan Duric and Priidu Zilmer. Wire allows users to communicate for free through text, voice, photos, video and music in one interface and across platforms. The app is available on iOS and Android, OS X and Windows.

Wire is headquartered in Switzerland and the development center is in Berlin, Germany.

Founders / History

Wire was founded in Fall 2012 (launched on December 3, 2014) by Jonathan Christensen (CEO), Alan Duric (CTO) and Priidu Zilmer (head of design). Jonathan Christensen previously co-founded Camino Networks in 2005 with Alan Duric, who also co-founded Telio. Camino networks was later acquired by Skype, a division of Microsoft Corporation. At Skype, Jonathan was responsible for getting Skype into new platforms such as Internet televisions and set-top boxes while Priidu Zilmer, former head of design at Vdio, lead the Skype design team.

Mythimna ferrago

Mythimna ferrago, the clay, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is distributed throughout Europe and is also found in Morocco, Algeria, Turkey, Asia Minor, Armenia, Syria, Turkestan, Israel, Lebanon, Iraq, Iran, Central Asia and the western parts of temperate North Asia. Also Tibet.

The forewings of this species vary from buffish to orangey brown, usually with a darker central line running longways down the wing, interrupted by a pale stigma. There are usually a few small dark spots in the basal area. The hindwings are dark grey with paler margins. The male is easily recognizable by a triangular area of black hair on the underside of the abdomen. The wingspan is 36–44 mm. This moth flies at night in July and August and is attracted to light and sugar.

Technical Description and variation

The wingspan is 36–44 mm. Forewing pale greyish rufous, speckled with dark;lines indistinct, dark grey; the outer regularly lunulate-dentate, the teeth marked by black dashes on veins;reniform stigma obscure, ending in a cloudy pale spot at lower end of cell; hindwing greyish ochreous; ventral tufts black. The species varies in coloration: ferrago F. is the reddest form: - grisea Haw, is grey without any rufous admixture, with the markings generally clearer; fulvescens Tutt is rare, with fulvous in the place of red; — ab. marginata Tutt has silvery grey hindwings with broad dark border.

Clay (musical)

Clay is a 2008 Hip-hop musical loosely based on Shakespeare's Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2. The central character, Sir John, is based on Falstaff. It was written and performed by Matt Sax. The first performance was at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Synopsis

The show opens with Sir John presenting his protégé, Clay, for his first major concert. Clay shows up an hour late, blood covering his face. In an attempt to stall for time, Sir John tells the audience the story of Clay's life.

Clay's real name is Clifford Keys. His father is an emotionally absent businessman, and his mother is a depressed chain-smoker. When he is seven years old, Clifford's parents decide to divorce, and his father manipulates the boy into asking to stay with his father. After missing three of Clifford's birthdays in a row, Clifford's mother commits suicide. His father quickly remarries.

Years pass, and Clifford is sixteen years old. To escape his dysfunctional family, he begins going to open-mic nights at a small bookstore. The MC is Sir John, a talented rapper whose face was deformed in a car accident and has no chance of getting signed to a record label. Clifford begins weekly hip-hop lessons with Sir John, and he begins his transformation from awkward novice to confident storyteller. When Sir John asks Clifford to rap about the girl he loves, Clifford reveals that he is in love with his stepmother, and they have slept together. Sir John begs Clifford to come live with him, but Clifford refuses.

Clay (novel)

Clay is a children's/young adult novel by David Almond, published in 2005. It was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal and longlisted for the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize.

It was adapted for television in 2008 by Andrew Gunn, and aired on BBC One on March 30 2008.

Plot introduction

Davie befriends Stephen Rose, who has come to live with his crazy aunt. He's a quiet boy with a passion for making clay models and an unusual, rather sinister, cast of mind. David and his friend Geordie come to believe that Stephen may be able to help them against the local bully Mouldy and his gang.

Awards

Clay received recognition in 2007 as one of the Best Books for Young Adults.

References

External links