Silk

Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity (sericulture). The shimmering appearance of silk is due to the triangular prism-like structure of the silk fibre, which allows silk cloth to refract incoming light at different angles, thus producing different colors.

Silk is produced by several insects, but generally only the silk of moth caterpillars has been used for textile manufacturing. There has been some research into other types of silk, which differ at the molecular level. Silk is mainly produced by the larvae of insects undergoing complete metamorphosis, but some adult insects such as webspinners also produce silk, and some insects such as raspy crickets produce silk throughout their lives. Silk production also occurs in Hymenoptera (bees, wasps, and ants), silverfish, mayflies, thrips, leafhoppers, beetles, lacewings, fleas, flies, and midges. Other types of arthropod produce silk, most notably various arachnids such as spiders (see spider silk).

SILK

SILK is an audio compression format and audio codec developed by Skype Limited. It was developed for use in Skype, as a replacement for the SVOPC codec. Since licensing out, it has also been used by others. It has been extended to the Internet standard Opus codec.

Details

Skype Limited announced that SILK can use a sampling frequency of 8, 12, 16 or 24 kHz and a bit rate from 6 to 40 kbit/s. It can also use a low algorithmic delay of 25 ms (20 ms frame size + 5 ms look-ahead). The reference implementation is written in the C programming language. The codec technology is based on linear predictive coding (LPC). The SILK binary SDK is available.

License

The SILK codec is patented and licensed separately from the SILK SDK. The codec is open-source, freeware, available royalty free with restrictions on use and distribution. The SDK was initially available only by application by giving details of name, address, phone, and description of how SILK will be used.As of 2012 (version 1.0.9) the SDK can by downloaded without application, but the licence restricts the use to internal evaluation and testing purposes only, excluding software distribution or use in any commercial product or service.

Silk (album)

Silk is the self-titled second studio album from American R&B group Silk, released November 28, 1995 on Elektra Records.

The album peaked at number forty-six on the Billboard 200 chart.

Release and reception

The album peaked at forty-six on the U.S. Billboard 200.

Stephen Thomas Erlewine at Allmusic called the groups vocals on the album "impressive." Erlewine also gave note to the production, which he referred to as "seamless without being overly slick." The ballad "How Could You Say You Love Me," and third single "Don't Rush" were praised by Upscale magazine.

Track listing

Chart history

Album

Singles

"—" denotes releases that did not chart.

Personnel

Information taken from Allmusic.

Mandrill

The mandrill (Mandrillus sphinx) is a primate of the Old World monkey (Cercopithecidae) family. It is one of two species assigned to the genus Mandrillus, along with the drill. Both the mandrill and the drill were once classified as baboons in the genus Papio, but they now have their own genus, Mandrillus. Although they look superficially like baboons, they are more closely related to Cerocebus mangabeys. Mandrills are found in southern Cameroon, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, and Congo. Mandrills mostly live in tropical rainforests. They live in very large groups. Mandrills have an omnivorous diet consisting mostly of fruits and insects. Their mating season peaks in July to September, with a corresponding birth peak in December to April.

Mandrills are the world's largest monkeys. Charles Darwin wrote in The Descent of Man that "no other member in the whole class of mammals is coloured in so extraordinary a manner as the adult male mandrill's". The mandrill is classified as vulnerable by IUCN.

Mandrill (album)

Mandrill is the debut album by Brooklyn, New York based band Mandrill released in 1971. The album peaked at number twenty-seven on the Billboard R&B albums chart.

Track listing

Personnel

Charts

Singles

References

External links

Mandrill (comics)

Mandrill is a fictional character, a mutant supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.

Publication history

Mandrill first appeared in Shanna the She-Devil #4. He was created by writer Carole Seuling and artist Ross Andru. Steve Gerber dialogued his first appearance and wrote several subsequent appearances, but denied having a hand in the character's creation, saying he was all Seuling's.

Fictional character biography

Jerome Beechman was the son of Frederic Beechman, a physicist at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, and Margaret Beechman. Before conceiving his son, an explosion breached the facility's nuclear reactor, bombarding Frederic and a cleaning woman with radiation. When Jerome was born a year later, he possessed black skin (despite both of his parents being Caucasian) and tufts of body hair. Jerome was despised by his family because of his freakish appearance, and when he was ten his father drove him out into the New Mexico desert and abandoned him.