Skimming (fraud)

A form of white-collar crime, skimming is slang for taking cash "off the top" of the daily receipts of a business (or from any cash transaction involving a third interested party) and officially reporting a lower total. The formal legal term is defalcation.

Examples

Skim

Skim or skimming may refer to:

Sports and games

Money, crime, and business

Computers

Other

See also

Snowmobile skipping

Snowmobile skipping, snowmobile watercross, snowmobile skimming, water skipping or puddle jumping is a sport and/or exhibition where snowmobile racers hydroplane their sleds across lakes or rivers.

Basics

Watercross consists of crossing water while riding a snowmobile, which is possible because snowmobiles have wide tracks for traction and flotation in the snow. If one hits the water at an acceptable speed (5 mph per 150 lb or 12 km/h per 100 kg of weight) and keeps the sled's throttle open, the track keeps the snowmobile on the surface of the water without sinking. If the rider backs out of the throttle or the sled bogs or floods out, the sled will sink. A sunk sled is able to be revived by cleaning water out of the carburetor, exhaust, spark plugs, and replacing the fuel. The front of the sled is pitched upwards like riders commonly do in deep mountain powder snow.

History

The Grantsburg, Wisconsin first annual World Championship Snowmobile Watercross was held in July 1977 and it has been held yearly on the third week of July since. The first race was simply held to see who could make it the 300 feet (91 m) from the island on Memory Lake to the shore. Most didn't, but the winner did go about 500 ft (150 m). In the years following, racers became more skilled and the machines more powerful. Today, racers compete in drags and ovals, with an eight-lap championship run. Over 100 racers compete in the various classes. The Classes range from the beginners' Stock Drags to the top Pro-Open Ovals Class. Competitive watercross is run by two main circuits. The IWA (International Watercross Association) operates mainly in the Midwest, while the EWA (Eastern Watercross Association) operates in the Northeastern States.

Speed reading

Speed reading is any of several techniques used to improve one's ability to read quickly. Speed reading methods include chunking and minimizing subvocalization. The many available speed reading training programs include books, videos, software, and seminars.

History

Psychologists and educational specialists working on visual acuity used a tachistoscope to conclude that, with training, an average person could identify minute images flashed on the screen for only one five-hundredth of a second (2 ms). Though the images used were of airplanes, the results had implications for reading.

It was not until the late 1950s that a portable, reliable and convenient device would be developed as a tool for increasing reading speed. Evelyn Wood, a researcher and schoolteacher, was committed to understanding why some people were naturally faster at reading and tried to force herself to read very quickly. In 1958, while brushing off the pages of a book she had thrown down in despair, she discovered that the sweeping motion of her hand across the page caught the attention of her eyes, and helped them move more smoothly across the page. She then used the hand as a pacer. Wood first taught the method at the University of Utah, before launching it to the public as Evelyn Wood's Reading Dynamics in Washington, D.C. in 1959.