Do it yourself

Do it yourself, also known as DIY, is the method of building, modifying, or repairing something without the direct aid of experts or professionals. Academic research describes DIY as behaviors where "individuals engage raw and semi-raw materials and component parts to produce, transform, or reconstruct material possessions, including those drawn from the natural environment (e.g. landscaping)". DIY behavior can be triggered by various motivations previously categorized as marketplace motivations (economic benefits, lack of product availability, lack of product quality, need for customization), and identity enhancement (craftsmanship, empowerment, community seeking, uniqueness)

The term "do-it-yourself" has been associated with consumers since at least 1912 primarily in the domain of home improvement and maintenance activities. The phrase "do it yourself" had come into common usage (in standard English) by the 1950s, in reference to the emergence of a trend of people undertaking home improvement and various other small craft and construction projects as both a creative-recreational and cost-saving activity.

Pu (Daoism)

Pu is a Chinese word meaning "unworked wood; inherent quality; simple" that was an early Daoist metaphor for the natural state of humanity, and relates with the Daoist keyword ziran (literally "self so") "natural; spontaneous". The scholar Ge Hong (283-343 CE) immortalized pu in his pen name Baopuzi "Master who Embraces Simplicity" and eponymous book Baopuzi.

Terminology

Pu can be written with either of the variant Chinese characters 樸 and 朴, which are linguistically complex.

Characters

Both 樸 and 朴 are classified as radical-phonetic characters, combining the semantically significant "tree" radical 木 (commonly used for writing names of trees and wooden objects) with the phonetic indicators pu 菐 and bu 卜.

The Chinese character pu 樸 was first recorded on Chinese bronze inscriptions from the Spring and Autumn period (771-476 BCE), and the character pu 朴 was first recorded in Chinese classics from the Warring States period (475-221 BCE).

When the People's Republic of China promulgated simplified Chinese characters in 1956, the established variant pu 朴 (with 6 strokes) was chosen to replace the traditional Chinese character pu 樸 (with 16 strokes).

PU

PU, Pu, or pu may refer to:

Schools

Places

People

Phones 4u

Phones 4u was a large independent mobile phone retailer in the United Kingdom. It was part of the 4u Group based in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire. Since opening in 1996, it expanded to over 600 stores. On 14 September 2014, EE, Vodafone, Orange & O2, the company's final remaining suppliers, ended their contracts. The company entered administration (bankruptcy) on 15 September 2014 with PricewaterhouseCoopers appointed as administrators.

History

In 1987, John Caudwell and his brother Brian founded Midlands Mobile Phones, a wholesaler and distributor of mobile phones. The company became the Caudwell Group, whose high street retail arm was named Phones 4u.

On 26 September 2006, The Caudwell Group was sold for a sum of £1.47 billion to private equity firms Providence Equity Partners and Doughty Hanson & Co. In February 2008, the group bought online retailer Dialaphone in a deal worth an estimated £9 million. In July 2010, Phones 4u partnered with electrical chain Dixons to place 49 concessions inside Currys and PC World stores. This number increased to over 100. However, following a merger between Dixons and rival phone shop, Carphone Warehouse, it was announced that this partnership would not be renewed.