Wire

A wire is a single, usually cylindrical, flexible strand or rod of metal. Wires are used to bear mechanical loads or electricity and telecommunications signals. Wire is commonly formed by drawing the metal through a hole in a die or draw plate. Wire gauges come in various standard sizes, as expressed in terms of a gauge number. The term wire is also used more loosely to refer to a bundle of such strands, as in 'multistranded wire', which is more correctly termed a wire rope in mechanics, or a cable in electricity.

Wire comes in solid core, stranded, or braided forms. Although usually circular in cross-section, wire can be made in square, hexagonal, flattened rectangular, or other cross-sections, either for decorative purposes, or for technical purposes such as high-efficiency voice coils in loudspeakers. Edge-woundcoil springs, such as the Slinky toy, are made of special flattened wire.

History

In antiquity, jewelry often contains, in the form of chains and applied decoration, large amounts of wire that is accurately made and which must have been produced by some efficient, if not technically advanced, means. In some cases, strips cut from metal sheet were made into wire by pulling them through perforations in stone beads. This causes the strips to fold round on themselves to form thin tubes. This strip drawing technique was in use in Egypt by the 2nd Dynasty. From the middle of the 2nd millennium BC most of the gold wires in jewellery are characterised by seam lines that follow a spiral path along the wire. Such twisted strips can be converted into solid round wires by rolling them between flat surfaces or the strip wire drawing method. The strip twist wire manufacturing method was superseded by drawing in the ancient Old World sometime between about the 8th and 10th centuries AD. There is some evidence for the use of drawing further East prior to this period.

Wire (Third Day album)

Wire is the seventh album by Christian rock band Third Day. It breaks from the style of the band's previous albums to return to simple, rock and roll-driven melodies. To quote Allmusic's review of the album, "Third Day has stripped away the shine and gotten back to the grittiness of being a rock & roll band." The album is largely carried by the energetic guitar riffs that pervade its songs, although the forceful lyrics also contribute significantly.

The album's songs deal with numerous themes. "Wire", the title track, is a song about the pressure to succeed in modern society. "I Believe", "I Got a Feeling", "Innocent", and other tracks deal with sin, faith, and renewal from a Christian perspective. "Billy Brown" is a catchy song that explores the readiness of people to follow and even idolize entertainment figures.

In November 2004, a live version of Wire was released, called Live Wire featuring a DVD and CD of songs from their tour of their latest album.

The album won 2005 Grammy Award for Best Rock Gospel Album.

The Unforgettable Fire

The Unforgettable Fire is the fourth studio album by Irish rock band U2. It was released in October 1984. The band wanted a different musical direction following the harder-hitting rock of their 1983 album War. They employed Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois to produce and assist them experiment with a more ambient and abstract sound. The resulting change in direction was at the time the band's most dramatic.

Recording began in May 1984 at Slane Castle, where the band lived, wrote, and recorded to find new inspiration. The album was completed in August 1984 at Windmill Lane Studios. It features atmospheric sounds and lyrics that lead vocalist Bono describes as "sketches". Two songs feature lyrical tributes to Martin Luther King Jr. The Unforgettable Fire received generally favourable reviews from critics and produced the band's biggest hit at the time, "Pride (In the Name of Love)", as well as the live favourite "Bad", a song about heroin addiction. A 25th Anniversary edition of the album was released in October 2009.

Joe Matt

Joe Matt (born September 3, 1963) is an American cartoonist, best known for his autobiographical work, Peepshow.

Early life

Matt was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He started drawing comics in 1987.

Personal life

In addition to his cartooning career, he is known for his large collection of vintage Gasoline Alley comic strips. Matt lived (illegally) in Canada from 1988 to 2002. He currently lives in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles, California.

Career

In his autobiographical comic Peepshow, Joe Matt examines his inadequate social skills, his addiction to pornography, his cantankerous relationship with his then-girlfriend Trish, and the lingering effects of his Catholic upbringing.

Matt began creating 'Peepshow' in 1987. In 1992, his 'Peepshow' strips were serialized by Kitchen Sink Press under the title 'Peepshow: The Cartoon Diary of Joe Matt'. His work is now published by Canadian publishing house Drawn and Quarterly.

Joe Matt's work on Peepshow is part of the autobiographical comics genre, kick-started by the confessional stories of Harvey Pekar and Robert Crumb. Along with these artists, Joe Matt's work frequently involves soliloquies "to camera". Peepshow is part of a self-referential universe that includes Matt's contemporaries Chester Brown and Seth, all of whom have included each other in their books.

Spent (band)

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Spent was an American Indie Rock band from Jersey City, New Jersey consisting of singer/guitarist John King, guitarist/singer/keyboardist Annie Hayden, bassist/occasional vocalist Joe Weston and drummer Ed Radich.

History

Spent formed in the early 1990s in Jersey City, New Jersey. After releasing several EPs under various independent labels the band released their first full album. Songs of Drinking and Rebellion was released in March 1995 on Merge Records, an indie label formed by Mac McCaughan and Laura Ballance of Superchunk, a band that Spent toured with extensively throughout their career. In September 1996 the band released an EP entitled Umbrella Wars, which included a cover of Joe Walsh's A Life of Illusion. Umbrella Wars served as a teaser for their next album released a month later in October 1996 entitled A Seat Beneath the Chairs. In 1997 John King joined Superchunk lead guitarist Jim Wilbur in a side project called Humidifier releasing the album Nothing Changes on Link Records. On July 21, 1997 the band officially split. In 1999 their last song "(I'll Clean Up) The Mess That You Are" appeared on the 10 year anniversary album of Merge Records called Oh, Merge. They did reform briefly to perform at XX Merge, the 20th anniversary celebration of the label. The band never received much attention outside of the 90's indie rock world.

SPENT (online game)

SPENT is an online game about surviving poverty and homelessness created by ad agency McKinney for pro bono client Urban Ministries of Durham (UMD), whose mission "is to provide food, clothing, shelter and supportive services to neighbors in need".Players must make the difficult decisions necessary to live for one month on $1,000, often having to choose between equally disagreeable options. The dilemmas they face represent those that bring people to places like UMD: Do you make a healthy meal or keep the lights on? Cover the minimum on your credit cards or pay the rent? Hope your sick daughter gets better on her own or risk your job by leaving early to take her to the doctor? Let your son play in the after-school sports league or save the money needed for his uniform?

The game ends when players either run out of money before the end of the month or make it through with money left over.

Since its launch in February 2011, the interactive game SPENT has been played more than 4 million times in over 218 countries.