Environment variable

Environment variables are a set of dynamic named values that can affect the way running processes will behave on a computer.

They are part of the environment in which a process runs. For example, a running process can query the value of the TEMP environment variable to discover a suitable location to store temporary files, or the HOME or USERPROFILE variable to find the directory structure owned by the user running the process.

They were introduced in their modern form in 1979 with Version 7 Unix, so are included in all Unix operating system flavors and variants from that point onward including Linux and OS X. From PC DOS 2.0 in 1982, all succeeding Microsoft operating systems including Microsoft Windows, and OS/2 also have included them as a feature, although with somewhat different syntax, usage and standard variable names.

Details

In all Unix and Unix-like systems, each process has its own separate set of environment variables. By default, when a process is created, it inherits a duplicate environment of its parent process, except for explicit changes made by the parent when it creates the child. At the API level, these changes must be done between running fork and exec. Alternatively, from command shells such as bash, a user can change environment variables for a particular command invocation by indirectly invoking it via env or using the ENVIRONMENT_VARIABLE=VALUE <command> notation. All Unix operating system flavors, DOS, and Windows have environment variables; however, they do not all use the same variable names. A running program can access the values of environment variables for configuration purposes.

Command-line interface

A command-line interface or command language interpreter (CLI), also known as command-line user interface, console user interface, and character user interface (CUI), is a means of interacting with a computer program where the user (or client) issues commands to the program in the form of successive lines of text (command lines).

The CLI was the primary means of interaction with most computer systems until the introduction of the video display terminal in the mid-1960s, and continued to be used throughout the 1970s and 1980s on OpenVMS, Unix systems and personal computer systems including MS-DOS, CP/M and Apple DOS. The interface is usually implemented with a command line shell, which is a program that accepts commands as text input and converts commands to appropriate operating system functions.

Command-line interfaces to computer operating systems are less widely used by casual computer users, who favor graphical user interfaces.

Alternatives to the command line include, but are not limited to text user interface menus (see IBM AIX SMIT for example), keyboard shortcuts, and various other desktop metaphors centered on the pointer (usually controlled with a mouse). Examples of this include the Windows versions 1, 2, 3, 3.1, and 3.11 (an OS shell that runs in DOS), DosShell, and Mouse Systems PowerPanel.

Prompt (theatre)

The prompt (sometimes prompter) in a theatre is traditionally the person who prompts or cues actors when they forget their lines or neglect to move on the stage to where they are supposed to be situated.

Nowadays, many of the earlier duties of the prompter are undertaken by the stage manager, who will have a copy of the script called the prompt book. This is the most definitive version of the script for any one performance, and will contain details of all cues, with their precise timings with respect to the action on stage. This allows the prompt to direct lighting, sound, flying effects and scene changes during a show. The prompt book also often contains blocking notes, so that the prompt is always aware of the intended positions and movements of all the actors on stage at any given time.

In some professional and high-quality community theatre productions, the prompt is never used during a performance to instruct actors if they forget a line or movement, only during a rehearsal. If prompting is absolutely necessary, it is done very quietly by another actor on-stage.

Deep (Silent Running album)

Deep is the third and final studio album from Belfast New Wave/rock band Silent Running, released in 1989.

Background

Despite the commercial failure of the band's 1987 album Walk on Fire and its two singles, the band began to record their second album for Atlantic Records.

Following the release of the Deep album, the band toured extensively after the album's release but split up shortly thereafter, citing a lack of record company support. The band would later reunite for one final performance at Belfast's Empire Music Hall to a capacity crowd in 1998. Reportedly, demos for the unreleased fourth album are widely available although unofficially only.

Like the previous two albums, Deep was a commercial failure.

The album's title is taken from the opening track "Deep in the Heart of Nowhere".

Both "Deep in the Heart of Nowhere" and "Local Hero" were released as promotional singles on CD in America only.

Recording

The first four tracks of the album were produced by the band themselves with Frankie LaRocka and Peter Denenberg, who both engineered the album. The rest of the tracks were produced by John Eden, whilst LaRocka and Deneberg remixed the tracks produced by Eden. The album was LaRocka's first attempt at production work, where he also played drums on part of the album. Originally, LaRocka had signed the band while working in the A&R department at Atlantic Records.

Deep (Niacin album)

Deep is the third studio album from the jazz rock fusion trio Niacin, released in March 2000.

The album is heavily loaded with Billy Sheehan's powerful bass solos and features contributions from guest musicians Glenn Hughes on vocals and Steve Lukather on guitar.

Track listing

Personnel

Musicians

Guest musicians

External links

References

Ten (Pearl Jam album)

Ten is the debut studio album by the American rock band Pearl Jam, released on August 27, 1991 through Epic Records. Following the disbanding of bassist Jeff Ament and guitarist Stone Gossard's previous group Mother Love Bone, the two recruited vocalist Eddie Vedder, guitarist Mike McCready, and drummer Dave Krusen to form Pearl Jam in 1990. Most of the songs began as instrumental jams, to which Vedder added lyrics about topics such as depression, homelessness, and abuse.

Ten was not an immediate success, but by late 1992 it had reached number two on the Billboard 200 chart. The album produced three hit singles: "Alive", "Even Flow", and "Jeremy". While Pearl Jam was accused of jumping on the grunge bandwagon at the time, Ten was instrumental in popularizing alternative rock in the mainstream. In February 2013, the album crossed the 10 million mark in sales and has been certified 13x platinum by the RIAA. It remains Pearl Jam's most commercially successful album.

Background