Information

Information (shortened as info) is that which informs. In other words, it is the answer to a question of some kind. It is also that from which data and knowledge can be derived, as data represents values attributed to parameters, and knowledge signifies understanding of real things or abstract concepts. As it regards data, the information's existence is not necessarily coupled to an observer (it exists beyond an event horizon, for example), while in the case of knowledge, the information requires a cognitive observer.

At its most fundamental, information is any propagation of cause and effect within a system. Information is conveyed either as the content of a message or through direct or indirect observation of some thing. That which is perceived can be construed as a message in its own right, and in that sense, information is always conveyed as the content of a message.

Information can be encoded into various forms for transmission and interpretation (for example, information may be encoded into a sequence of signs, or transmitted via a sequence of signals). It can also be encrypted for safe storage and communication.

Classified (rapper)

Luke Boyd (born December 13, 1977), better known by his stage name Classified, is a Canadian recording artist and producer from Enfield, Nova Scotia.

Life and career

Music career

Classified attended Hants East Rural High School in Milford Station, Nova Scotia. He started his own production label, Half Life Records, and released his first full-length LP called Time's Up, Kid, in 1995. After years of working on music and sorting through label contracts, Classified produced, recorded and released his ninth album, Trial & Error, and signed a nationwide distribution deal with Toronto-based, URBNET Records. Containing collaborations with up-and-coming Canadian artists like Eternia and DL Incognito, as well as Canadian rap veteran, Maestro, the album was one of the highest selling independent rap albums in Canada in 2004.

In addition to the release of Trial & Error, 2003 and 2004 were busy years for Classified. With the continuous support of VideoFACT, he was able to release two additional music videos for the singles "Just the Way It Is" and "Unexpected". Classified also continued to master his production skills and joined forces with some of Canada's most prominent emcees, including Choclair and Maestro Fresh Wes. He also teamed up with Shady Records recording artist, Royce da 5'9" and opened for Ludacris, Snoop Dogg, Busta Rhymes, The Game, Nelly, MC Grizzly, Captain Capota, Nas, The Black Eyed Peas and Black Moon.

Eliot Sumner

Eliot Paulina Sumner (born 30 July 1990 in Pisa, Tuscany, Italy), also known as Coco, is an English musician. Sumner's debut album was released under the band name I Blame Coco, a name which the artist has since abandoned. I Blame Coco's debut album, The Constant, was released in the United Kingdom on 8 November 2010. Sumner is the child of musician Sting and actress/producer Trudie Styler.

Career

Eliot Sumner began playing music at a young age and writing songs at the age of 15. Some of their earlier demos include "I Blame Coco", "Look The Other Way", "Darkstar", "Never Be", "Voice in My Head", "Avion", and "No Smile" (A song which would later appear on their album, The Constant), many of which were imbued with a heavy reggae influence and elements of pop punk. The song "I Blame Coco", which was co-written with Mr Hudson, was released independently as a 7" single in 2007.

At the age of 17, Sumner signed a multi-record deal with Island Records. Sumner spent six months writing and recording their debut album The Constant in Sweden with one of their two producers, Klas Åhlund. According to his manager, Christian Wåhlberg, Åhlund had been keen to work with Sumner because he saw the "punk rocker" in them. The electropop sound of their debut album was influenced by Island president Darcus Beese, with Wåhlberg saying that if Eliot had signed to a different label then the music created with Åhlund would have sounded different. I Blame Coco's debut single for Island, "Caesar", featuring Robyn, was released in February 2010. Sumner released their follow-up single entitled "Self Machine" on 12 July 2010.

List of Forgotten Realms deities

This is a list of Forgotten Realms deities. They are all deities that appear in the fictional Forgotten Realms campaign setting of the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game.

Forgotten Realms vs. core D&D

The deities of other Dungeons & Dragons campaign settings, including those of the default (or "core") setting for the Dungeons & Dragons game, are not generally a part of Forgotten Realms. However, there is some overlap, especially among the deities of nonhuman races. Lolth, the principal deity of the drow in the Forgotten Realms, is specifically described as being the same deity as Lolth in other campaign settings. No mention is made as to whether other deities shared between Forgotten Realms and other campaign settings are intended to represent the same divine entity.

Deities are included in this list only when documented in a Forgotten Realms-specific source or otherwise clearly indicated as existing in the setting. For deities in the core setting, see List of deities of Dungeons & Dragons.

Mask (film)

Mask is a 1985 American drama film directed by Peter Bogdanovich, starring Cher, Sam Elliott, and Eric Stoltz. Dennis Burkley and Laura Dern are featured in supporting roles. Cher received the 1985 Cannes Film Festival award for Best Actress. The film is based on the life and early death of Roy L. "Rocky" Dennis, a boy who suffered from craniodiaphyseal dysplasia, an extremely rare disorder known commonly as lionitis due to the disfiguring cranial enlargements that it causes. Mask won the Academy Award for Best Makeup while Cher and Stoltz received Golden Globe nominations for their performances.

Plot

In 1978 Azusa, California, Rocky Dennis (Eric Stoltz), who suffers from a skull deformity, is accepted without question by his freewheeling biker mother's boyfriends, his "extended motorcycle family," and his maternal grandparents, who share his love of baseball card collecting; but is treated with fear, pity, awkwardness, and teasing by those unaware of his humanity, humor, and intelligence. Rocky's mother, Florence "Rusty" Dennis (Cher), is determined to give Rocky as normal a life as possible, in spite of her own wild ways as a member of the Turks biker gang, as well as her strained relationship with her parents. She fights for Rocky's inclusion in a mainstream junior high school, and confronts a principal who would rather classify Rocky as mentally retarded and relegate him to a special education school, despite the fact that his condition hasn't affected his intelligence.

Mask (computing)

In computer science, a mask is data that is used for bitwise operations, particularly in a bit field.

Using a mask, multiple bits in a byte, nibble, word (etc.) can be set either on, off or inverted from on to off (or vice versa) in a single bitwise operation.

Common bitmask functions

Masking bits to 1

To turn certain bits on, the bitwise OR operation can be used, following the principle that Y OR 1 = 1 and Y OR 0 = Y. Therefore, to make sure a bit is on, OR can be used with a 1. To leave a bit unchanged, OR is used with a 0.

Example: Masking on the higher nibble (bits 4, 5, 6, 7) the lower nibble (bits 0, 1, 2, 3) unchanged.

Masking bits to 0

More often, in practice, bits that are to be ignored are "masked off" (or masked to 0) rather than "masked on" (or masked to 1). There is no way to change a bit from on to off using the OR operation. Instead, bitwise AND is used. When a value is ANDed with a 1, the result is simply the original value, as in: Y AND 1 = Y. However, ANDing a value with 0 is guaranteed to return a 0, so it is possible to turn a bit off by using AND with 0: Y AND 0 = 0. To leave the other bits alone, use AND with 1.