Vostok (sloop-of-war)

Vostok was a 28-gun sloop-of-war of the Imperial Russian Navy, the lead ship of the First Russian Antarctic Expedition in 1819—1821, during which Faddey Bellingshausen (commander of the ship) and Mikhail Lazarev (commanding Mirny, the second ship) circumnavigated the globe, discovered the continent of Antarctica and twice circumnavigated it, and discovered a number of islands and archipelagos in the Southern Ocean and the Pacific.

History

Vostok was launched in 1818 at Okhta shipyards, Saint Petersburg.

On 14 July [O.S. 3 July] 1819 Vostok under the command of Commander Faddey (Fabian Gottlieb von) Bellingshausen, the leader of the expedition, alongside Mirny under the command of Lieutenant Commander Mikhail Lazarev left Kronshtadt and on 28 January [O.S. 16 January] 1820 reached the shore of Antarctica, which was sighted for the first time in history. After repair in Sydney in Australia, the expedition explored the tropical parts of the Pacific, and on 12 November [O.S. 31 October] 1820 again turned to Antarctica. On 22 January [O.S. 10 January] 1821 the sloops reached the southernmost point of their voyage at 69° 53' S and 92° 19' W. On 5 August [O.S. 24 July] 1821 they returned to Kronshtadt.

Uschod (Minsk Metro)

Uschod (/uːsˈhɒd/ us-HOD, Belarusian: Усход, Uschod Russian: Восток, pronounced [vɐˈstok]; lit:"East") is a Minsk Metro station. Opened on December 30, 1986.

The station's name not only implies its geographical location, as it was the easternmost station of Minsk metro for more than 20 years, but also its connotation with the Vostok space programme that ultimately led to the first manned spaceflight. The station's architectural ensemble (Ye.Leonovich, V.Matelsky) is based on the latter, and consists of a single vault shape with suspended canopy that forms a single element. The canopy simultaneously acts as a blind from the lamps, and also contains the lighting elements which are focused on the apex of the white vault. This "petal" layout is reminiscent of the interior of a spaceship with illuminator windows: contrasting with that is the dark red and grey granite on the walls and the floor.

The station is located near the National Library of Belarus and the residential microrayon Uschod-1 and -2. Its two underground vestibules are interlinked with subways that are located on both sides of the Independence avenue. From 1986-2007 the station was the terminus of the line and it received quite a lot of passenger traffic from commuters that travelled from the northeast. However this ended when in 2007 the extension to Barysaŭski Trakt and Uručča was finished.

Vostok watches

Coordinates: 55°21′56.19″N 50°36′18.64″E / 55.3656083°N 50.6051778°E / 55.3656083; 50.6051778

Vostok (Russian: Восток, meaning East*) Watch Makers, Inc. produces mainly rugged military and diver mechanical watches at its factory in Chistopol, Tatarstan, Russia. It also makes clocks and watch movements for other watch brands.

The Vostok Company was founded in 1942 when one of the Moscow watch-making plants of the First Moscow Watch Factory was evacuated to Chistopol, a small town located on the Kama River in Tatarstan. Only defence equipment was produced during the war years, but as soon as the war was over the company started making mechanical wrist watches. However, the Company did not begin using the "Vostok" brand name until the 1960s. *Presumable "Vostok" brand was named after the Vostok space programme, which gave the initial advancement of the USSR in the Space race (as some others soviet watch brands, named to space topics in 1960s - Poljot and Raketa).

The company was appointed an official supplier of watches for the Defence Department of the Soviet Union in 1965. This year also marks the creation of the well known Komandirskie ("Commander's") watch. (See photo, below left.)

Warrior

A warrior is a person specializing in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal or clan-based warrior culture society that recognizes a separate warrior class or caste.

Warrior classes in tribal culture

In tribal societies engaging in endemic warfare, warriors often form a caste or class of their own. In feudalism, the vassals essentially form a military or warrior class, even if in actual warfare, peasants may be called to fight as well. In some societies, warfare may be so central that the entire people (or, more often, large parts of the male population) may be considered warriors, for example in the Iron Age Germanic tribes and Indian clans like the Rajputs.

Women as warriors

While the warrior class in tribal societies is typically all-male, there are some exceptions on record where women (typically unmarried, young women) formed part of the warrior class, particularly in pre-modern Japan.

A purported group of fighting women is the legendary Amazons, recorded in Classical Greek mythology. Similarly, the Valkyrie are depicted in Norse mythology, particularly the Icelandic Etta.

Warrior (arcade game)

Warrior is a 1979 arcade fighting game. It is considered one of the first fighting games, though predated by Sega's Heavyweight Champ, released in 1976.

Developed by Tim Skelly while working at Cinematronics, it was released under the Vectorbeam company name shortly before Cinematronics closed Vectorbeam down; they had purchased the company in 1978. The game featured two dueling knights rendered in monochrome vector graphics and based on crude motion capture techniques. Due to the limitations of the hardware used, the processor could not render the characters and gaming environment at the same time and backgrounds were printed, with the characters projected on the top.

Controls

Originally Skelly planned for a two-player system with each player using two joysticks, one to control the movement of the player and the other controlling the player's weapon. However, financial constraints restricted the cabinet to one stick for each player and a button to switch between character and weapon modes. The sticks were produced in house and installed in cabinets in a way that players found unresponsive and difficult to use.

Warrior (steamboat)

Warrior was a privately owned and constructed steamboat that was pressed into service by the U.S. government during the Black Hawk War to assist with military operations. Warrior was constructed and launched in 1832 at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania by Joseph Throckmorton who also served as the vessel's captain. Once constructed the vessel traveled to St. Louis and into the war zone. Warrior played a key role in the decisive Battle of Bad Axe. Following the war the steamboat continued its service under Throckmorton along the Upper Mississippi River.

Launching

The steamboat Warrior was both privately built and owned. The 111-foot (33.8 m) boat was built by Joseph Throckmorton, who also owned the vessel in a partnership with Galena, Illinois resident William Hempstead. It was launched in Pittsburgh during the summer of 1832 with Captain Throckmorton at the helm. The side wheeled vessel had no cabin or accommodations for passengers but towed behind it a barge meant for passengers. Throckmorton brought the new boat and its barge to St. Louis and then set out for the war zone by mid-summer 1832.

Soft (band)

Soft is an American indie rock band from New York City.

History

Soft formed in Brooklyn in 2003, but the group did not begin performing live until more than a year afterwards; for this reason, they were not well known on the New York music scene despite receiving critical acclaim elsewhere. Prior to forming Soft, lead singer John Reineck had previously played in a band called The Siren Six! at the University of Minnesota, and spent a year in Osaka working for a noise music record label after college. The name "Soft" was given to the group by Mickey Madden from Maroon 5, who suggested it after the group opened for one of their shows. The group also opened for such acts as Kiss, Phantom Planet, Hot Chip, and Voxtrot. After releasing several EPs and an LP in Japan, the group's debut full-length, Gone Faded, was released on October 23, 2007. The band recorded a follow-up album in early 2008 with producer Chris Coady which was released in 2011 as Dogs.

Discography