Generic top-level domain

Generic top-level domains (gTLDs) are one of the categories of top-level domains (TLDs) maintained by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) for use in the Domain Name System of the Internet. A top-level domain is the last label of every fully qualified domain name. They are called generic for historic reasons; initially, they were contrasted with country-specific TLDs in RFC 920.

The core group of generic top-level domains consists of the com, info, net, and org domains. In addition, the domains biz, name, and pro are also considered generic; however, these are designated as restricted, because registrations within them require proof of eligibility within the guidelines set for each.

Historically, the group of generic top-level domains included domains, created in the early development of the domain name system, that are now sponsored by designated agencies or organizations and are restricted to specific types of registrants. Thus, domains edu, gov, int, and mil are now considered sponsored top-level domains, much like the themed top-level domains (e.g., jobs). The entire group of domains that do not have a geographic or country designation (see country-code top-level domain) is still often referred to by the term generic TLDs.

Pilot (House)

"Pilot", also known as "Everybody Lies", is the first episode of the U.S. television series House. The episode premiered on the Fox network on November 16, 2004. It introduces the character of Dr. Gregory House (played by Hugh Laurie)—a maverick antisocial doctor—and his team of diagnosticians at the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in New Jersey. The episode features House's attempts to diagnose a kindergarten teacher after she collapses in class.

House was created by David Shore, who got the idea for the curmudgeonly title character from a doctor's visit. Initially, producer Bryan Singer wanted an American to play House, but British actor Hugh Laurie's audition convinced him that a foreign actor could play the role. Shore wrote House as a character with parallels to Sherlock Holmes—both are drug users, aloof, and largely friendless. The show's producers wanted House handicapped in some way and gave the character a damaged leg arising from an improper diagnosis.

House (1995 film)

House is a Canadian drama film, released in 1995. Written and directed by Laurie Lynd as an adaptation of Daniel MacIvor's one-man play House, the film stars MacIvor as Victor, an antisocial drifter with some hints of paranoid schizophrenia, who arrives in the town of Hope Springs and invites ten strangers into the local church to watch him perform a monologue about his struggles and disappointments in life.

The original play was performed solely by MacIvor. For the film, Lynd added several other actors, giving the audience members some moments of direct interaction and intercutting Victor's monologue with scenes which directly depict the stories he describes. The extended cast includes Anne Anglin, Ben Cardinal, Patricia Collins, Jerry Franken, Caroline Gillis, Kathryn Greenwood, Nicky Guadagni, Joan Heney, Rachel Luttrell, Stephen Ouimette, Simon Richards, Christofer Williamson and Jonathan Wilson.

The film premiered at the 1995 Toronto International Film Festival in the Perspectives Canada series, before going into general release in 1996.

Corvus (genus)

Corvus is a widely distributed genus of birds in the family Corvidae. Ranging in size from the relatively small pigeon-sized jackdaws (Eurasian and Daurian) to the common raven of the Holarctic region and thick-billed raven of the highlands of Ethiopia, the 40 or so members of this genus occur on all temperate continents except South America, and several islands. In Europe, the word "crow" is used to refer to the carrion crow or the hooded crow, while in North America, it is used for the American crow, fish crow, or the northwestern crow.

The crow genus makes up a third of the species in the family Corvidae. The members appear to have evolved in Asia from the corvid stock, which had evolved in Australia. The collective name for a group of crows is a 'flock' or a 'murder'.

Recent research has found some crow species capable of not only tool use, but also tool construction. Crows are now considered to be among the world's most intelligent animals with an encephalization quotient equal to that of many non-human primates.