Sofa

Sofa or SOFA may refer to:

Music

Sofa (warrior)

Sofa is a Mandinka term for slave soldiers who served in the army of the Mali Empire. Sofas would also fight, in varying capacities, in the armies of later Mandé states such as the Bamana and Wassoulou empires.

Etymology

The word sofa translates into English as "father of the horse" ("so" means horse, and "fa" means "father") or "guardian of the horse". This term stems from the original function of the sofa as a caretaker for the horse or horses of Mandinka cavalry commanders called "farari".

Sofa in the Mandinka empire of Mali

Sofas make their first appearance in oral and written records during the formation of the Mali Empire. Sofas were recruited from "jonow" (slaves) captured in battle or bought from afar. They could be depended on in most instances for obedience, since their livelihood depended entirely on their master. The institution of slavery in the Mali Empire heavily rewarded loyalty, and jonow could rise to civil or military positions of prominence. Jonow became part of their master's clan, and were often freed after a certain amount of years.

Couch

A couch or sofa is a piece of furniture for seating two or more people in the form of a bench, with or without armrests, that is partially or entirely upholstered, and often fitted with springs and tailored cushions. Although a couch is used primarily for seating, it may be used for reclining and napping.

In homes, couches are normally found in the family room, living room, den, sitting room or the lounge. They are also found in hotels, lobbies of commercial offices, waiting rooms, and some bars.

The term couch is used in North America and Australia, whilst the term sofa is generally used in the United Kingdom. The word originated in Middle English from the Old French noun couche, which derived from the verb meaning "to lie down". It originally denoted an item of furniture for lying or sleeping on, somewhat like a chaise longue, but now refers to sofas in general.

Other terms which can be synonymous with the above definition are settee, chesterfield, divan, davenport, lounge, and canapé. The word sofa is from Turkish derived from the Arabic word suffa for "wool", originating in the Aramaic word sippa for "mat". The word settee comes from the Old English word, "setl", which was used to describe long benches with high backs and arms, but is now generally used to describe upholstered seating.

.travel

The domain name .travel is a top-level domain in the Domain Name System of the Internet. Its name suggests the intended and restricted use by travel agents, airlines, bed and breakfast operators, tourism bureaus, and others in the travel industry.

It is sponsored by Tralliance Registry Management Company (TRMC). Registrations are processed via accredited registrars.

History

The domain was approved by ICANN on April 8, 2005 as a sponsored TLD in the second group of new TLD applications evaluated in 2004. TheGlobe.com acquired Tralliance Corporation, the operator of .travel, on May 9, 2005.

The official launch began in October 2005, with a screening process to determine eligibility to register domains in each of three monthly groups for October, November and December. Open registrations began in January 2006. Governments were given priority registration for geographic place names from July 2005 to December 21, 2007.

A 2006 proposal that a wildcard DNS record point all unused *.travel domains to Tralliance's search.travel site was rejected by ICANN due to technical considerations.

Travel

Travel is the movement of people between relatively distant geographical locations, and can involve travel by foot, bicycle, automobile, train, boat, airplane, or other means, with or without luggage, and can be one way or round trip. Travel can also include relatively short stays between successive movements.

Etymology

The origin of the word "travel" is most likely lost to history. The term "travel" may originate from the Old French word travail. According to the Merriam Webster dictionary, the first known use of the word travel was in the 14th century. It also states that the word comes from Middle English travailen, travelen (which means to torment, labor, strive, journey) and earlier from Old French travailler (which means to work strenuously, toil). In English we still occasionally use the words travail and travails, which mean struggle. According to Simon Winchester in his book The Best Travelers' Tales (2004), the words travel and travail both share an even more ancient root: a Roman instrument of torture called the tripalium (in Latin it means "three stakes", as in to impale). This link reflects the extreme difficulty of travel in ancient times. Also note the torturous connotation of the word "travailler." Today, travel may or may not be much easier depending upon the destination you choose (i.e., Mt. Everest, the Amazon rainforest), how you plan to get there (tour bus, cruise ship, or oxcart), and whether or not you decide to "rough it (see extreme tourism and adventure travel). "There's a big difference between simply being a tourist and being a true world traveler," notes travel writer Michael Kasum. This is, however, a contested distinction as academic work on the cultures and sociology of travel has noted.

List of Rob & Big episodes

The following is an episode list for the MTV television series Rob & Big. The show follows the lives of professional skateboarder Rob Dyrdek and his best friend and bodyguard Christopher "Big Black" Boykin. The series premiered on November 2, 2006 and featured eight episodes in each of its first and second seasons and sixteen episodes in the concluding third season. Along with the regular episodes, the series feature three recap specials.

Overview

Episodes

Season 1 (2006)

Season 2 (2007)

Season 3 (2008)

Specials

References