Process philosophy

Process philosophy (or ontology of becoming) identifies metaphysical reality with change and development. Since the time of Plato and Aristotle, philosophers have posited true reality as "timeless", based on permanent substances, while processes are denied or subordinated to timeless substances. If Socrates changes, becoming sick, Socrates is still the same (the substance of Socrates being the same), and change (his sickness) only glides over his substance: change is accidental, whereas the substance is essential. Therefore, classic ontology denies any full reality to change, which is conceived as only accidental and not essential. This classical ontology is what made knowledge and a theory of knowledge possible, as it was thought that a science of something in becoming was an impossible feat to achieve.

In opposition to the classical model of change as accidental (as argued by Aristotle) or illusory, process philosophy regards change as the cornerstone of reality — the cornerstone of Being thought of as Becoming. Modern philosophers who appeal to process rather than substance include Nietzsche, Heidegger, Charles Peirce, Alfred North Whitehead, Alan Watts, Robert M. Pirsig, Charles Hartshorne, Arran Gare, Nicholas Rescher, Colin Wilson, and Gilles Deleuze. In physics Ilya Prigogine distinguishes between the "physics of being" and the "physics of becoming". Process philosophy covers not just scientific intuitions and experiences, but can be used as a conceptual bridge to facilitate discussions among religion, philosophy, and science.

StarCraft

StarCraft is a military science fiction media franchise created by Chris Metzen and James Phinney, and owned by Blizzard Entertainment. The series centers on a galactic struggle for dominance between four species—the adaptable and mobile Terrans, the ever-evolving insectoid Zerg, the powerfully enigmatic Protoss, and the "god-like" Xel'Naga creator race—in a distant part of the Milky Way galaxy known as the Koprulu Sector at the beginning of the 26th century. The series debuted with the video game StarCraft in 1998. Since then it has grown to include a number of other games as well as eight novelizations, two Amazing Stories articles, a board game, and other licensed merchandise such as collectible statues and toys.

Blizzard Entertainment began planning StarCraft in 1995, with a development team led by Metzen and Phinney. The game debuted at E3 1996, and uses a modified Warcraft II game engine. StarCraft also marked the creation of Blizzard Entertainment's film department; the game introduced high quality cinematics integral to the storyline of the series. Most of the original development team for StarCraft returned to work on the game's official expansion pack, Brood War; the game's development began shortly after StarCraft was released. In 2001, StarCraft: Ghost began development under Nihilistic Software. Unlike the previous real-time strategy games in the series, Ghost was to be a stealth-action game. After three years of development, work on the game was postponed in 2004. Development of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty began in 2003; the game was later announced on May 19, 2007 and was released on July 27, 2010. The StarCraft II franchise continued with the StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm expansion, which was released on March 12, 2013. The third StarCraft II installment is titled StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void, released on November 10, 2015.

Star Trek Generations

Star Trek Generations is a 1994 American science fiction film released by Paramount Pictures. Generations is the seventh feature film based on Star Trek, and is the first film in the series to star the cast of the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation. Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the USS Enterprise-D teams up with his predecessor Captain James T. Kirk to stop a villain from destroying a planet.

Parts of the film were shot at the Valley of Fire State Park near Overton, Nevada; Paramount Studios; and Lone Pine, California.

While the film received mixed reviews from critics, it performed well at the box office.

Plot

In the year 2293, retired Captain James T. Kirk, Montgomery Scott, and Pavel Chekov attend the maiden voyage of the Federation starship USS Enterprise-B, under the command of the unseasoned Capt. John Harriman. During the voyage, Enterprise is pressed into a rescue mission to save two El-Aurian ships from a strange energy ribbon. Enterprise is able to save some of the refugees before their ships are destroyed, but the starship becomes trapped in the ribbon. Kirk goes to deflector control to alter the deflector dish, allowing Enterprise to escape, but the trailing end of the ribbon rakes across Enterprise's hull, exposing the section Kirk is in to space; he is presumed dead.

Velvet

Velvet is a type of woven tufted fabric in which the cut threads are evenly distributed, with a short dense pile, giving it a distinctive feel. By extension, the word velvety means "smooth like velvet." Velvet can be made from either synthetic or natural fibers.

Construction & composition

Velvet is woven on a special loom that weaves two thicknesses of the material at the same time. The two pieces are then cut apart to create the pile effect, and the two lengths of fabric are wound on separate take-up rolls. This complicated process meant that velvet was expensive to make before industrial power looms became available, and well-made velvet remains a fairly costly fabric. Velvet is difficult to clean because of its pile, but modern dry cleaning methods make cleaning more feasible. Velvet pile is created by warp or vertical yarns and velveteen pile is created by weft or fill yarns.

Velvet can be made from several different kinds of fibers, traditionally, the most expensive of which is silk. Much of the velvet sold today as "silk velvet" is actually a mix of rayon and silk. Velvet made entirely from silk is rare and usually has market prices of several hundred US dollars per yard. Cotton is also used to make velvet, though this often results in a less luxurious fabric. Velvet can also be made from fibers such as linen, mohair, and wool. A cloth made by the Kuba people of the Democratic Republic of Congo from raffia is often referred to as "Kuba velvet". More recently, synthetic velvets have been developed, mostly from polyester, nylon, viscose, acetate, and from either mixtures of different synthetics or from combined synthetics and natural fibers (for example viscose mixed with silk produces a very soft, reflective fabric). A small percentage of spandex is sometimes added to give the final material a certain amount of stretch (hence "stretch velvet").

Velvet (dog)

Velvet is a black lab/shepherd cattle mixed-breed dog, owned by Matty Bryant of Milwaukie, Oregon, who helped save three climbers, including Bryant, when they became stranded on Mount Hood, Oregon on February 18, 2007.

The three climbers and Velvet toppled off a ledge while descending from a climb of Mount Hood. Due to low visibility, they stepped off a ledge at about 8,300 feet (2,500 m) elevation during a storm, separating them from five other members of the party. The five reported the accident and were themselves soon rescued. The three fallen climbers activated Mountain Locator Units to let searchers find their position which was at about 7,400 feet (2,300 m) elevation in White River Canyon. Due to worsening conditions, they were forced to spend the night on the mountain while 70 miles per hour (110 km/h) winds blew with temperatures in the 20s (-1 to -7 C). Velvet spent the night going from person to person to ensure they kept warm as they huddled under two sleeping bags and a tarp. The climbers were rescued the next morning.

Antler

Antlers are extensions of the skull grown by members of the deer family. They are true bone structures that usually grow in symmetrical pairs. In most species, only the male grows antlers and their primary function is to increase his likelihood of sexual selection by attracting females or helping him fight other males. In many temperate zone species, antlers are shed and regrown each year.

Etymology

Antler comes from the Old French antoillier (see present French : "Andouiller", from ant-, meaning before, oeil, meaning eye and -ier, a suffix indicating an action or state of being) possibly from some form of an unattested Latin word *anteocularis, "before the eye" (and applied to the word for "branch" or "horn").

Occurrence and function

Antlers are unique to cervids and found mostly on males: only reindeer (known as Caribou in North America) have antlers on the females, and these are normally smaller than those of the males. Nevertheless, fertile does from other species of deer have the capacity to produce antlers on occasion, usually due to increased testosterone levels. The "horns" of a pronghorn (which is not a cervid but a giraffoid) meet some of the criteria of antlers, but are not considered true antlers because they contain keratin.