Canyon (satellite)

Canyon was a series of seven United States spy satellites launched between 1968 and 1977. Also known by its program number AFP-827, the satellites were developed with the participation of the Air Force. The Canyon project is credited as being the first American satellite system tasked for COMINT.

The satellites each had a mass of 700 kg and were launched from Atlas/Agena D rockets into near-geosynchronous orbits. They carried large parabolic reflecting dishes, estimated at 10m in diameter. The Canyon satellites were eventually replaced with the next generation of COMINT satellites, the Vortex/Chalet series. The program is still classified.

Seven Canyon satellites were launched from 1968 to 1977, all with Atlas Agena D vehicles from LC-13 at Cape Canaveral and there was one failure in 1971. The first four Canyons apparently remained attached to the Agena after achieving orbit, using its engine for maneuvering (the missions would have been concluded after Agena propellant depletion). Later Canyons were reputedly larger in size and did separate from the booster.

Canyon (disambiguation)

A canyon or gorge is a geographical feature.

Canyon may also refer to:

Places

Business

People

Films and television

Music

Others

Free (The Party album)

Free is The Party's second studio album. Teddy Riley wrote three songs for the album, including the new jack swing-tinged title song, "Free," which was also remixed by house-music legends Steve "Silk" Hurley and E-Smoove. Dr. Dre produced the song "Let's Get Right Down to It," and the group itself also got involved in the writing and producing of the album, which would once again land it another concert tour opening spot with Color Me Badd, its last special for the Disney Channel, "All About The Party," and an appearance on Blossom. However, the album was not as successful on the charts as previous ones, which prompted Damon Pampolina to leave the group.

Track listing

Free: The Future of a Radical Price

Free: The Future of a Radical Price is the second book written by Chris Anderson, Editor in chief of Wired magazine. The book was published on July 7, 2009 by Hyperion. He is also the author of The Long Tail, published in 2006.

Overview

Free follows a thread from the previous work. It examines the rise of pricing models which give products and services to customers for free, often as a strategy for attracting users and up-selling some of them to a premium level. That class of model has become widely referred to as "freemium" and has become very popular for a variety of digital products and services.

Release

Free was released in the United States on July 7, 2009, though the night before, on his blog, Chris Anderson posted a browser readable version of the book and the unabridged audiobook version. Anderson generated controversy for plagiarizing content from the online encyclopedia Wikipedia in Free. Anderson responded to the claim on his The Long Tail blog, stating that there were disagreements between him and the publisher over accurate citation of Wikipedia due to the changing nature of its content, leading him to integrate footnotes into the text. Also on his blog, he took full responsibility for the mistakes and noted that the digital editions of Free were corrected. The notes and sources were later provided as a download on his blog.

Gratis

Gratis /ˈɡrɑːtᵻs/ or /ˈɡreɪtᵻs/ is the quality of an action where the action is willingly provided without any requirement by the provider for compensation or monetary remuneration. It is often referred to in English and Dutch as free of charge (FOC), complimentary, or on the house. Companies, producers, and service providers often provide certain things free of charge as part of a larger business model, pricing strategy, or as a donation.

Etymology

The English term gratis has its origins in late Middle English; from Latin. A contraction of gratiis, meaning 'as a kindness' or 'a show of goodwill', which in turn stems from the root gratia meaning 'grace' or 'kindness'. It is widely used in the Afrikaans, Slovakia, Czech, Hungarian, Croatian, Serbian, Polish, French, Dutch, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Indonesian, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, German and some of the other Germanic languages, with the same meaning.

Marketing

In a standard business model where goods and services are exchanged for a monetary compensation, pricing of the goods is a fundamental element of the marketing process. While it would defeat the business model if companies provide all of their goods and services free of charge, it is common for them to provide limited amount of free goods in their promotional mix. Many companies often provide free samples to the press in order to generate media coverage for their products. Depending on the product, companies may provide free samples to prospective buyers.