Wax

Waxes are a diverse class of organic compounds that are hydrophobic, malleable solids near ambient temperatures. They include higher alkanes and lipids, typically with melting points above about 40 °C (104 °F), melting to give low viscosity liquids. Waxes are insoluble in water but soluble in organic, nonpolar solvents. Natural waxes of different types are produced by plants and animals and occur in petroleum.

Types

Waxes are organic compounds that characteristically consist of long alkyl chains. Natural waxes may contain esters of carboxylic acids and long chain alcohols or mixtures of unsubstituted and substituted hydrocarbons, such as higher alkanes, long chain fatty acids and primary alcohols. Synthetic waxes are long-chain hydrocarbons lacking functional groups.

Plant and animal waxes

Waxes are synthesized by many plants and animals. Those of animal origin typically consist of wax esters derived from a variety of carboxylic acids and fatty alcohols. In waxes of plant origin characteristic mixtures of unesterified hydrocarbons may predominate over esters. The composition depends not only on species, but also on geographic location of the organism.

Lunar phase

The lunar phase or phase of the moon is the shape of the illuminated (sunlit) portion of the Moon as seen by an observer on Earth. The lunar phases change cyclically as the Moon orbits the Earth, according to the changing positions of the Moon and Sun relative to the Earth. The Moon's rotation is tidally locked by the Earth's gravity, therefore the same lunar surface always faces Earth. This face is variously sunlit depending on the position of the Moon in its orbit. Therefore, the portion of this hemisphere that is visible to an observer on Earth can vary from about 100% (full moon) to 0% (new moon). The lunar terminator is the boundary between the illuminated and darkened hemispheres. Each of the four "intermediate" lunar phases (see below) is roughly seven days (~7.4 days) but this varies slightly due to the elliptical shape of the Moon's orbit. Aside from some craters near the lunar poles such as Shoemaker, all parts of the Moon see around 14.77 days of sunlight, followed by 14.77 days of "night". (The side of the Moon facing away from the Earth is sometimes called the "dark side", which is a misnomer. It receives just as much sunlight as the Earth-facing side − actually slightly more, since the Earth never obscures the Sun from it.)

Wax (singer)

Cho Hye-Ri, (Hangul: 조혜리), born May 31, 1976, who goes by the stage name Wax (Hangul: 왁스), is a South Korean pop singer and actress. She was the lead vocalist of the band Dog in 1998, and then went solo as Wax in 2000. She has released ten albums and digital singles. In addition to her singing, Cho made her acting debut in 2007. She was cast as the main actress in the musical Fixing My Makeup (Hangul: 화장을 고치고), whose plot is based on her song of the same name. Her hit songs include "Fixing My Makeup" and "Please". She has won three Golden Disk Awards, one each year from 2001 to 2003.

Biography

Wax was born on May 31, 1976, with the birth name Cho Hye-Ri. Cho graduated from the Department of Postmodern Music at Kyung Hee University. Although she has been professionally active since 1998, her personal life has been mostly veiled from the public.

Career

Her debut as a singer was as lead vocalist of the band Dog in 1998. The band only released one album, DOG-1st. The title track of the album was "Kyung Ah's Day", and the album also included nine other songs. After Dog disbanded, she made her solo debut with the stage name Wax in 2000. Her debut album as a soloist was Vol. 1: The Diary of Mom, with a debut song called "Oppa", a cover version (without the suggestive lyrics) of Cyndi Lauper's "She Bop". As of 2012, she has released nine full-length albums and nine other albums. In addition, she has released songs for the original soundtracks of several dramas.

Coin

A coin is a piece of hard material used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order to facilitate trade. They are most often issued by a government.

Coins are usually metal or alloy, or sometimes made of synthetic materials. They are usually disc shaped. Coins made of valuable metal are stored in large quantities as bullion coins. Other coins are used as money in everyday transactions, circulating alongside banknotes. Usually the highest value coin in circulation (i.e. excluding bullion coins) is worth less than the lowest-value note. In the last hundred years, the face value of circulation coins has occasionally been lower than the value of the metal they contain, for example due to inflation. If the difference becomes significant, the issuing authority may decide to withdraw these coins from circulation, or the public may decide to melt the coins down or hoard them (see Gresham's law).

Exceptions to the rule of face value being higher than content value also occur for some bullion coins made of silver or gold (and, rarely, other metals, such as platinum or palladium), intended for collectors or investors in precious metals. Examples of modern gold collector/investor coins include the British sovereign minted by the United Kingdom, the American Gold Eagle minted by the United States, the Canadian Gold Maple Leaf minted by Canada, and the Krugerrand, minted by South Africa. While the Eagle, Maple Leaf, and Sovereign coins have nominal (purely symbolic) face values; the Krugerrand does not.

37coins

37coins was a bitcoin wallet provider headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. The company launched on December 31, 2013, and announced its closing August 12, 2015. The company created bitcoin technologies for emerging markets such as the Philippines and Singapore, where access to smartphone and desktop PC apps is limited.

Users of 37coins could send and receive bitcoins to their bitcoin wallets, called SMSwallets. The SMSwallets were controlled by SMS/text commands sent from simple feature phones, such as a Nokia 100. Using the system, bitcoins could be sent and received from any bitcoin wallets.

SMSgateway

The company developed an SMS gateway system, called SMSgateway. It was an android application that ran on Android phones and connect a country's local SMS network to the internet. By relaying messages between the SMSwallets and the 37coins server, gateway operators earned a small commission from each transaction that passed through their gateway. There were gateways in over 18 countries.

Combined Online Information System

The Combined Online Information System (COINS) is a database containing HM Treasury's detailed analysis of departmental spending under thousands of category headings. The database contains around 24 million lines of data. The database has codes for more than 1,700 public bodies in the United Kingdom including central government departments, local authorities, NHS trusts and public corporations. COINS is used by the Office for National Statistics for statistical purposes.

The Treasury describes the database as "a web based multi-dimensional database used by HM Treasury to collect financial information". Data from the COINS database is used to prepare the National Accounts.

Structure and technical details

The Combined Online Information System or COINS database is one of the biggest datasets in government. COINS uses a database called Camelot. The system is supplied by Descisys.

History

COINS replaced three separate systems previously used by the British Government, Public Expenditure System (PES), Government Online Data System (GOLD) and General Expenditure Monitoring System (GEMS).