Insider

An insider is a member of any group of people of limited number and generally restricted access. The term is used in the context of secret, privileged, hidden or otherwise esoteric information or knowledge: an insider is a "member of the gang" hence knows things outsiders don't, including insider jargon.

In our complicated and information-rich world, the concept of insider knowledge is popular and pervasive, as a source of direct and useful guidance. In a given situation, an insider is contrasted with an outside expert: the expert can provide an in-depth theoretical analysis that should lead to a practical opinion, while an insider has firsthand, material knowledge. Insider information may be thought of as more accurate and valuable than expert opinion.

Roles

There are many popular cultural roles ascribed to the insider.

In criminal and social justice, whistle-blowing and leaks are seen as (often heroic) efforts of individual insiders to right wrongs by making secret information public, usually in David and Goliath situations (e.g. by revealing transgressions of governments, large corporations or other powerful organizations). When whistle-blowers are cultivated by outside forces, they are known as informants and informers.

Insider (album)

Insider is the second album of the Manchester alternative rock band Amplifier. It was released in 2006 by the German-based label SPV on 29 September in Germany and Austria then in the rest of Europe on 2 October.

Track listing

All songs by Sel Balamir

Credits

External links

Stargate SG-1 (season 10)

Season ten of Stargate SG-1, an American-Canadian television series, began airing on July 14, 2006 on Sci Fi Channel (United States). The final season of the series concluded after 20 episodes on March 13, 2007 on British Sky One, which overtook the Sci-Fi Channel in mid-season. The series was developed by Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner. Brad Wright, Robert C. Cooper, Joseph Mallozzi, and Paul Mullie served as executive producers. Season ten regular cast members include Ben Browder, Amanda Tapping, Christopher Judge, Beau Bridges, Claudia Black, and Michael Shanks.

The season (and the Ori arc of the show) is continued with direct-to-DVD film Stargate: The Ark of Truth.

Reception

Will O'Brien of TV Squad thought "Company of Thieves" was, for the most part, a good one, despite a disappointing performance by Rudolf Martin. Jason Van Horn of IGN, however, was less than impressed, suggesting that the episode just wasn't interesting – that the Lucian Alliance was an enemy no one cares about and that Paul Emerson wasn't enough of a character within the show for his death to have had any meaningful impact.

Sextant

A sextant is a doubly reflecting navigation instrument used to measure the angle between any two visible objects. The principle of the instrument was first implemented around 1730 by John Hadley (1682–1744) and Thomas Godfrey (1704–1749) but it was also found later in the unpublished writings of Isaac Newton (1643–1727). The history of these and related instruments, and their forerunners, may be found in the article on reflecting instruments.

The primary use of a sextant is to determine the angle between an astronomical object and the horizon for the purposes of celestial navigation. The determination of this angle, the altitude, is known as sighting (or shooting) the object, or taking a sight. The angle, and the time when it was measured, can be used to calculate a position line on a nautical or aeronautical chart. Common uses of the sextant include sighting the sun at solar noon or Polaris at night (in the Northern Hemisphere) to determine latitude. Sighting the height of a landmark can give a measure of distance off and, held horizontally, a sextant can measure angles between objects for a position on a chart. A sextant can also be used to measure the lunar distance between the moon and another celestial object (such as a star or planet) in order to determine Greenwich Mean Time and hence longitude.

Sextant (astronomical)

Sextants for astronomical observations were devices depicting a sixth of a circle, used primarily for measuring the positions of stars. They are of significant historical importance, but have been replaced over time by transit telescopes, astrometry techniques, and satellites such as Hipparcos.

There are two types of astronomical sextants, mural instruments and frame-based instruments.

Mural sextants

Mural sextants are a special case of a mural instrument. Many were made that were quadrants rather than sextants. They were a kind of specialty of medieval Muslim astronomers, to whom the credit of building the first mural sextants is attributed.

The first known mural sextant was constructed in Ray, Iran, by Abu-Mahmud al-Khujandi in 994. To measure the obliquity of the ecliptic, al-Khujandī invented a device that he called al-Fakhri sextant (al-suds al Fakhrī), a reference to his patron, Buwayhid ruler, Fakhr al Dawla (976-997). This instrument was a sixty-degree arc on a wall aligned along a meridian arc (north-south line). Al Khujandi’s instrument was larger than previous instruments; it had a radius of about twenty meters. The main improvement incorporated in al-Fakhri sextants over earlier instruments was bringing the precision of reading to seconds while older instruments could only be read in degrees and minutes. This was confirmed by al-Birūni, al-Marrākushī and al-Kāshī. Al-Khujandī used his device to measure the sun's angle above the horizon at the summer and winter solstices; these two measurements allow to compute the latitude of the sextant's location and the obliquity of the ecliptic.

Sextant (album)

Sextant is the eleventh album by Herbie Hancock, and the last album with his Mwandishi Band.

About the Album

Released in March 30, 1973 but recorded in 1972, Sextant was Herbie Hancock's first album on Columbia Records. It was a complex, harmonically and rhythmically challenging musical statement. Hancock was no stranger to electronic music, having used synthesisers extensively during his short time with Warner Bros. Records, but Sextant took his sound to a new level.

While a select few praised his new approach, Hancock alienated the bulk of his audience, who found his sound extremely inaccessible. Made up of just three tracks, the funkier elements of tracks such as "Hornets", also point toward the commercial success he would enjoy in the 80s with Future Shock and Sound-System, among others.

Hancock's first recording on Columbia would be his last recording with his Mwandishi-era group, with Sextant's poor album sales influencing his move into more mainstream music with Head Hunters.