Xmas

Xmas is a common abbreviation of the word Christmas. It is sometimes pronounced /ˈɛksməs/, but Xmas, and variants such as Xtemass, originated as handwriting abbreviations for the typical pronunciation /ˈkrɪsməs/. The "X" comes from the Greek letter Chi, which is the first letter of the Greek word Χριστός, which in English is "Christ". The "-mas" part is from the Latin-derived Old English word for Mass,

There is a common belief that the word Xmas stems from a secular attempt to remove the religious tradition from Christmas by taking the "Christ" out of "Christmas", but its use dates back to the 16th century.

Style guides and etiquette

"Xmas" is deprecated by some modern style guides, including those at the New York Times,The Times, The Guardian, and the BBC.Millicent Fenwick, in the 1948 Vogue's Book of Etiquette, states that "'Xmas' should never be used" in greeting cards.The Cambridge Guide to Australian English Usage states that the spelling should be considered informal and restricted to contexts where concision is valued, such as headlines and greeting cards.The Christian Writer's Manual of Style, while acknowledging the ancient and respectful use of "Xmas" in the past, states that the spelling should never be used in formal writing.

Más (Ricky Martin song)

"Más" (English: "More") is the second single from Ricky Martin's studio album, Música + Alma + Sexo (2011). It was released as a digital download on April 5, 2011.

Background

In a Billboard interview, Martin describe the track: "It could be the 80s or the 90s or last Spring. Depends what generation you belong to. Martin claimed that what he wanted to do was "dance a little with this track and get away from the things you're supposed to do in life." And [he] introduce some characters there who are all artists, like Tico with his boom box in Manhattan. [He] made them up but they're real."

Critical reception

The New York Post was very positive with the song, saying: "the thrill of this disc is in the bright Latin pop tune: "Más", in which Martin tries to capture the early 1990s streets of Spanish Harlem." Joey Guerra from Houston Chronicle praised the song, saying: "Más is an homage to starving artists (underground DJ, fledgling model) that plays like a sonic update on past hits "The Cup of Life" and "Livin' la Vida Loca". Grace Bastidas from Latina, positively said: ""Más" is a feel-good dance track about taking advantage of everything life has to offer without caring about what others say. It aims to jolt us like the "The Cup of Life" did in 1999."Jon Pareles from The New York Times said that: "Bouncy, disco-revival beats, like those that have powered hits by Lady Gaga and The Black Eyed Peas, drive "Más" ("More"), a song about people with dreams coming to the big city." Leila Cobo from Billboard said: ""Más," is an invitation to dance with lyrics that encourage listeners to celebrate a night out."

Ampere-hour

An ampere-hour or amp-hour (SI symbol A·h or A h; also denoted Ah) is a unit of electric charge, equal to the charge transferred by a steady current of one ampere flowing for one hour, or 3600 coulombs.

The ampere-hour is frequently used in measurements of electrochemical systems such as electroplating and the 'capacity' of electrical batteries (a battery constituent material's specific capacity is commonly expressed in mA·h/g). The commonly seen milliampere-hour (mA·h or mAh) is one-thousandth of an ampere-hour (3.6 coulombs).

A milliampere-second (mA·s) is a unit of measure used in X-ray imaging, diagnostic imaging, and radiation therapy. This quantity is proportional to the total X-ray energy produced by a given X-ray tube operated at a particular voltage. The same total dose can be delivered in different time periods depending on the X-ray tube current.

The Faraday constant is the charge on one mole of electrons, approximately equal to 26.8 ampere-hours. It is used in electrochemical calculations.

MAS (Milan)

MAS was an Italian motorcycle manufacturer from 1920 until 1956.

"MAS" stood, in the context, for "Alberico Seiling Motorcyles" ("Motocicli Alberico Seiling").

Seiling was an important Italian constructor who developed a variety of motorbikes between 1920 and 1922, and in 1922 started commercial production. His 173cc ohv model with an external flywheel proved particularly popular. He also produced a single cylinder 498cc ohv model, and from 1928 a twin cylinder model, also with 498cc of displacement.

In 1937 an ohv model with a special cylinder head appeared, with a vertically mounted camshaft, the cylinder valves set horizontally in a separate chamber above the combustion chamber. The combustion mixture was premixed in this separate chamber. By excluding the valves from the combustion chamber itself it was possible to use a 15:1 compression ratio which was by the standards of the time very high. The motor was not a success, however.

Seiling sold the MAS business to the Guidetti brothers in 1938. After this he continued to produced motor cycles in his own name (Seiling: A. Scoppio S.A.) and then, in 1939, he obtained finance to establish a new motorcycle manufacturing business under the name Altea. Altea produced a single cylinder ohv 198cc machine. However, this business ended in 1941 due to the general war which had by then broken out across most of Europe.

Vertigo (Sebald novel)

Vertigo (German: Schwindel. Gefühle.) is a 1990 novel by the German author W. G. Sebald. The first of its four sections is a short but conventional biography of Stendhal, who is referred to not by his pen name but by his given name of Beyle. The second is a travelogue of two journeys made to the Alpine region by an unnamed narrator whose biography resembles Sebald's; an episode from the life of Casanova is also featured. The third describes a difficult period in the life of Kafka, referred to only as "Dr. K." And the fourth is a nostalgic recounting of the narrator's visit to his German hometown of "W," a rural village which he has seen nothing of for decades. Sebald makes notable use of leitmotif, such as sensations of dizziness as suggested in the title, and deceased persons lying covered on platforms. The novel functions along with Sebald's subsequent works The Emigrants and The Rings of Saturn as a trilogy. All three works were translated to English by Michael Hulse in partnership with Sebald.

List of 2point4 children episodes

2point4 children originally aired from 1991 to 1999 on BBC 1 over 56 episodes, including five Christmas specials. It created by Andrew Marshall who wrote all episodes with the exception of three episodes from Series 7 which were written by Paul Alexander & Simon Braithwaite and Paul Smith. The show was originally directed and produced by Richard Boden, but the later series were directed by Nick Wood, Dewi Humphries and produced by Andrew Marshall.

A VHS release was made of the first three episodes of series one in 1996. Eureka Video began releasing the series on DVD, but insufficient sales meant only the first three series were released; no other plans have been made to release the remainder. 2Entertain have said that an insufficient volume of sales to recoup music clearance costs, the details of which have altered since the making of the series, and an unusually high visual clearance issue for a shot in Series 7 prompted a decision not to release any more at the present time.

Vértigo (La Ley album)

Vértigo is La Ley's fifth album. The album is separated from the band's other albums because of its electronic sound, machined-style rhythm, and particular cover. The album was completed with the same people as in Invisible, but just before the release, Rodrigo Aboitiz left the band due to a drug problem. The quartet then split with Luciano Rojas for good when he left in the middle of the tour.

Background and reception

Due to the success of Invisible, the band hardly found time to record what would be their next album. However, in 1997 they began recording and announced the album's release date for the middle of that summer, but it was later delayed until 1998. During this time, Rodrigo Aboitiz (the band's keyboardist) caused a series of troubles, missing the first weeks of recording. After the album was finished, he left the band.

One month before the release of the album, the first single, "Fotofobia", was released and slashed by critics. After that, the album "Vértigo" was released and brought the least success of all the band's albums. According to the band members, they had high expectations about it, but it was proven to be a failure in comparison to Invisible. The album was notorious for its electric and machine-style sounds that surprised and outraged most of the fans. Still, the album sold fairly well, as it sold 100,000 copies in Mexico.