Connections (TV series)

Connections is a 10-episode documentary television series and 1978 book (Connections, based on the series) created, written, and presented by science historian James Burke. The series was produced and directed by Mick Jackson of the BBC Science and Features Department and first aired in 1978 (UK) and 1979 (USA). It took an interdisciplinary approach to the history of science and invention, and demonstrated how various discoveries, scientific achievements, and historical world events were built from one another successively in an interconnected way to bring about particular aspects of modern technology. The series was noted for Burke's crisp and enthusiastic presentation (and dry humour), historical re-enactments, and intricate working models.

The popular success of the series led to the production of The Day the Universe Changed (1985), a similar program but showing a more linear history of several important scientific developments. Years later, the success in syndication led to two sequels, Connections² (1994) and Connections³ (1997), both for TLC. In 2004, KCSM-TV produced a program called Re-Connections, consisting of an interview of Burke and highlights of the original series, for the 25th anniversary of the first broadcast in the USA on PBS.

Connections (film)

Connections: An Investigation into Organized Crime in Canada was a two-part television documentary program, created and broadcast by CBC Television in June 1977 and March 1979. It covered the growth of organized crime in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. Each part ran for 90 minutes. The series was commissioned by Peter Herrndorf from Bill Macadam of Norfolk Communications, written and directed by Martyn Burke, and research directed and associate produced by James Dubro.

The series was notable for its use of advanced equipment - including high speed film and hidden microphones - and for interviews with criminal leaders.

The show received an honourable mention from the Michener Award in 1977, as well as an Anik Award and ACTRA Award.

References

Connections (album)

Connections is a compilation album by A. R. Rahman. It is his personal handpicked favorites in a Collector's Edition Pack of various films that he worked. A fresh track titled "Jiya Se Jiya" was composed for the album. It was released in 2009 under the label of Universal Music Group.

Development

A. R. Rahman stated that it was developed at various stages of his life. The album has songs of various film such as Rang De Basanti, Dil Se.. and Ada... A Way of Life. It also has Rahman's first English-language release "Pray for Me Brother" and his immensely popular and cult classic "Bombay Theme".

Release

In October 2008, Nokia Edition of this album was released as an exclusive gift along with Xpressmusic 5800 in India.

The retail album was released on Universal Music on 27 June 2009, it is also available in a Collector's Edition pack that features the 'Rockstar Version" video of "Jiya Se Jiya". For the first time ever Rahman appears in a zingy new avatar grooving alongside ace-percussionist Sivamani.

Kraken

The Kraken (/ˈkreɪkən/ or /ˈkrɑːkən/) is a legendary sea monster of giant size that is said to dwell off the coasts of Norway and Greenland. A number of authors over the years have postulated that the legend originated from sightings of giant squids that may grow to 12-15 meters (40-50 feet) in length, despite the fact that the creature in the original tales was not described as having tentacles and more closely resembled a whale or crab. The sheer size and fearsome appearance attributed to the kraken have made it a common ocean-dwelling monster in various fictional works.

Etymology

The English word kraken is taken from Norwegian. In Norwegian and Swedish, Kraken is the definite form of krake, a word designating an unhealthy animal or something twisted (cognate with the English crook and crank). In modern German, Krake (plural and declined singular: Kraken) means octopus, but can also refer to the legendary kraken.

History

In the late-13th-century version of the Old Icelandic saga Örvar-Oddr is an inserted episode of a journey bound for Helluland (Baffin Island) which takes the protagonists through the Greenland Sea, and here they spot two massive sea-monsters called Hafgufa ("sea mist") and Lyngbakr ("heather-back"). The hafgufa is believed to be a reference to the kraken:

Browser speed test

A browser speed test is a computer benchmark that scores the performance of a web browser, by measuring the browser's efficiency in completing a predefined list of tasks. In general the testing software is available online, located on a website, where different algorithms are loaded and performed in the browser client. Typical test tasks are rendering and animation, DOM transformations, string operations, mathematical calculations, sorting algorithms, graphic performance tests and memory instructions. Browser speed tests have been used during browser wars to prove superiority of specific web browsers. The popular Acid3 test is no particular speed test but checks browser conformity to web standards (though it checks whether a general performance goal is met or not).

General tests

Peacekeeper

Online speed test by Futuremark, mainly using rendering, mathematical and memory operations. Takes approx. 5 minutes for execution and tells results of other browsers with different CPUs. Does not respect operating system.

Kraken (supercomputer)

Kraken was a Cray XT5 supercomputer that entered into full production mode on February 2, 2009. Kraken was operated by the University of Tennessee and was the most powerful computer in the world managed by academia at the time. It was housed in the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Kraken was decommissioned on April 30, 2014.

History

Kraken's history began in 1991 with the establishment of the Joint Institute for Computational Sciences (JICS), a joint venture between the University of Tennessee and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The JICS facility, the UT campus building in which JICS is housed, is one of the only state-owned buildings ever built on the campus of a national laboratory. The main goals of JICS are to create new ways to simulate and model data using supercomputers and to train future engineers and scientists on the use of these techniques.

The next major event in the establishment of Kraken occurred in the Spring of 2008 when the National Science Foundation awarded the University of Tennessee a $65 million grant to build and operate a supercomputer in order to aid public research in academia; the grant provided $30 million for the hardware and $35 million for the operation of the system. The supercomputer was housed at Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility and managed by the University of Tennessee's National Institute for Computational Sciences (NICS).