Shape

A shape is the form of an object or its external boundary, outline, or external surface, as opposed to other properties such as color, texture, or material composition.

Psychologists have theorized that humans mentally break down images into simple geometric shapes called geons. Examples of geons include cones and spheres.

Classification of simple shapes

Some simple shapes can be put into broad categories. For instance, polygons are classified according to their number of edges as triangles, quadrilaterals, pentagons, etc. Each of these is divided into smaller categories; triangles can be equilateral, isosceles, obtuse, acute, scalene, etc. while quadrilaterals can be rectangles, rhombi, trapezoids, squares, etc.

Other common shapes are points, lines, planes, and conic sections such as ellipses, circles, and parabolas.

Among the most common 3-dimensional shapes are polyhedra, which are shapes with flat faces; ellipsoids, which are egg-shaped or sphere-shaped objects; cylinders; and cones.

Shape (comics)

Shape is a Marvel comics comic book character created by Mark Gruenwald.

Squadron Supreme

Fictional character biography

The Shape (real name Raleigh Lund) was born in Simak, Lowengard, in the U.S.A. of the alternate Earth of the Squadron Supreme, Earth-712. Although he appears to be an adult male, his emotional and intellectual development is comparable to that of a child (it's likely that he has some kind of mental disability).

Originally, he was a member of the criminal Institute of Evil, the Squadron's arch-foes, although, lacking sincere criminal intent, he was mostly following the lead of team leader Ape-X, who had been his friend "for years and years." After the Institute of Evil lost a battle against the Squadron, all of the Institute's members underwent behavior modification, their criminal records were pardoned, and they all joined the Squadron. Now, as a public crusader and adventurer, Shape helped supervise the manufacturing of force field belts. He also helped his fellow superheroes and babysat for Arcanna Jones' three children, becoming especially close with Drusilla Jones. Eventually the behavior modification was reversed by the Squadron's opponents the Redeemers, but the Shape, having never been a criminal at heart in the first place, still chose to side with the Squadron against Nighthawk and the Redeemers. After the battle, Shape helped get the pregnant Arcanna to the delivery room after she collapsed.

Shape (magazine)

Shape Magazine (or Shape) is a monthly English language fitness magazine started by Weider Publications in 1981, founded by Christine MacIntyre (a pioneer in women's free weight fitness) and became the #1 women's fitness magazine. At that time, Weider Enterprises consisted primarily of the bodybuilding magazine Muscle & Fitness. Joe Weider and Christine MacIntyre had differing views of how to present Shape magazine, Weider endorsing a less journalistic and more commercial approach to articles, MacIntyre endorsing a more academic, doctor-based magazine. Weider also endorsed a sexier approach to editorial while MacIntyre endorsed a healthier look for women, eschewing sexiness in the models and the copy. MacIntyre largely won that battle, editing a magazine that required that every byline have an advanced medical degree, that cover models should look healthy rather than sexy, and that sexist language be avoided. Christine MacIntyre was the editor-in-chief until her death in 1988. Tara Kraft is the current editor-in-chief. Shape found a readership based on that formula.

Quartz

Quartz is the second-most-abundant mineral in Earth's continental crust, after feldspar. Its crystal structure is a continuous framework of SiO₄silicon–oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical formula of SiO₂.

There are many different varieties of quartz, several of which are semi-precious gemstones. Since antiquity, varieties of quartz have been the most commonly used minerals in the making of jewelry and hardstone carvings, especially in Europe and the Middle East.

Etymology

The word "quartz" is derived from the German word "Quarz" and its Middle High German ancestor "twarc", which probably originated in Slavic, cf. Czech tvrdý ("hard"), Polish twardy ("hard"), Serbian and Croatian tvrd ("hard").

The Ancient Greeks referred to quartz as κρύσταλλος (krustallos) derived from the Ancient Greek κρύος (kruos) meaning "icy cold", because some philosophers (including Theophrastus) apparently believed the mineral to be a form of supercooled ice. Today, the term rock crystal is sometimes used as an alternative name for the purest form of quartz.

Crystal oscillator

A crystal oscillator is an electronic oscillator circuit that uses the mechanical resonance of a vibrating crystal of piezoelectric material to create an electrical signal with a precise frequency. This frequency is commonly used to keep track of time, as in quartz wristwatches, to provide a stable clock signal for digital integrated circuits, and to stabilize frequencies for radio transmitters and receivers. The most common type of piezoelectric resonator used is the quartz crystal, so oscillator circuits incorporating them became known as crystal oscillators, but other piezoelectric materials including polycrystalline ceramics are used in similar circuits.

Quartz crystals are manufactured for frequencies from a few tens of kilohertz to hundreds of megahertz. More than two billion crystals are manufactured annually. Most are used for consumer devices such as wristwatches, clocks, radios, computers, and cellphones. Quartz crystals are also found inside test and measurement equipment, such as counters, signal generators, and oscilloscopes.

Quartz (scheduler)

Quartz is a job scheduling library that can be integrated into a wide variety of Java applications.

Quartz is generally used for enterprise class applications to support process workflow, system management (maintenance) actions and to provide timely services within the applications. Quartz also supports clustering.

Quartz is an open-source product from the Terracotta company.

There is also a port to .NET, called Quartz.NET.

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