Valve

A valve is a device that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically fittings, but are usually discussed as a separate category. In an open valve, fluid flows in a direction from higher pressure to lower pressure. The word is derived from the Latin valva, the moving part of a door, in turn from volvere, to turn, roll.

The simplest, and very ancient, valve is simply a freely hinged flap which drops to obstruct fluid (gas or liquid) flow in one direction, but is pushed open by flow in the opposite direction. This is called a check valve, as it prevents or "checks" the flow in one direction. Modern control valves may regulate pressure or flow downstream and operate on sophisticated automation systems.

Valves have many uses, including controlling water for irrigation, industrial uses for controlling processes, residential uses such as on / off and pressure control to dish and clothes washers and taps in the home. Even aerosols have a tiny valve built in. Valves are also used in the military and transport sectors.

Vacuum tube

In electronics, a vacuum tube, an electron tube, or just a tube (North America), or valve (Britain and some other regions) is a device that controls electric current between electrodes in an evacuated container. Vacuum tubes mostly rely on thermionic emission of electrons from a hot filament or a cathode heated by the filament. This type is called a thermionic tube or thermionic valve. A phototube, however, achieves electron emission through the photoelectric effect. Not all electronic circuit valves/electron tubes are vacuum tubes (evacuated); gas-filled tubes are similar devices containing a gas, typically at low pressure, which exploit phenomena related to electric discharge in gases, usually without a heater.

The simplest vacuum tube, the diode, contains only a heater, a heated electron-emitting cathode (the filament itself acts as the cathode in some diodes), and a plate (anode). Current can only flow in one direction through the device between the two electrodes, as electrons emitted by the cathode travel through the tube and are collected by the anode. Adding one or more control grids within the tube allows the current between the cathode and anode to be controlled by the voltage on the grid or grids. Tubes with grids can be used for many purposes, including amplification, rectification, switching, oscillation, and display.

Valve Corporation

Valve Corporation (also known as Valve Software, commonly referred to as Valve) is an American video game developer and digital distribution company headquartered in Bellevue, Washington, United States. Its Luxembourg-based business office subsidiary for European regions, Valve S.à r.l., was opened in 2012. Founded in 1996 as Valve L.L.C. by former Microsoft employees Gabe Newell and Mike Harrington, the company has developed the critically acclaimed Half-Life, Counter-Strike, Portal, Day of Defeat, Team Fortress, Left 4 Dead video game series, alongside Dota 2. It also developed and maintains Source on which most of its games run, and the software distribution platform Steam, which has led to the Steam Machine, a line of pre-built gaming computers running SteamOS.

History

Founding and incorporation

Valve was founded by former longtime Microsoft employees Gabe Newell and Mike Harrington on August 24, 1996, as Valve L.L.C., based in Kirkland, Washington on the Seattle Eastside. After incorporation in April 2003, it moved from its original location to Bellevue, Washington, the same city in which their original publisher, Sierra On-Line, Inc., was based.

Xmas

Xmas is a common abbreviation of the word Christmas. It is sometimes pronounced /ˈɛksməs/, but Xmas, and variants such as Xtemass, originated as handwriting abbreviations for the typical pronunciation /ˈkrɪsməs/. The "X" comes from the Greek letter Chi, which is the first letter of the Greek word Χριστός, which in English is "Christ". The "-mas" part is from the Latin-derived Old English word for Mass,

There is a common belief that the word Xmas stems from a secular attempt to remove the religious tradition from Christmas by taking the "Christ" out of "Christmas", but its use dates back to the 16th century.

Style guides and etiquette

"Xmas" is deprecated by some modern style guides, including those at the New York Times,The Times, The Guardian, and the BBC.Millicent Fenwick, in the 1948 Vogue's Book of Etiquette, states that "'Xmas' should never be used" in greeting cards.The Cambridge Guide to Australian English Usage states that the spelling should be considered informal and restricted to contexts where concision is valued, such as headlines and greeting cards.The Christian Writer's Manual of Style, while acknowledging the ancient and respectful use of "Xmas" in the past, states that the spelling should never be used in formal writing.

The Night Before (2015 film)

The Night Before is a 2015 American Christmas comedy film directed by Jonathan Levine, written by Levine, Evan Goldberg, Kyle Hunter and Ariel Shaffir. The film stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen and Anthony Mackie as three childhood friends who annually reunite on Christmas Eve.

Principal photography began on August 11, 2014, in New York City. Good Universe and Point Grey Pictures produced the film, which Columbia Pictures released on November 20, 2015.

Plot

In December 2001, Ethan Miller loses both his parents in a car accident. To cheer him up, his best friends, Isaac Greenberg and Chris Roberts, start a tradition to spend every Christmas Eve together bar hopping around New York City. In 2008, the friends meet some girls who came from a party called the Nutcracker Ball, describing it as a wild and crazy party to which guests must acquire special invitations. Over the following years, the trio unsuccessfully search for the party's location, yet it remains elusive. In 2015, the three friends decide to end the tradition. However, Chris, now a famous football player, and Isaac, a soon-to-be father with his wife Betsy, privately worry that Ethan, who is a struggling musician working at a hotel and has also recently broken up with his girlfriend Diana, might not be ready for the tradition to end as it remains an important priority to him.

Xmas 93

Xmas 93 is a Christmas-themed single released by Saint Etienne. Released by Heavenly Records in December 1993, the lead track "I Was Born On Christmas Day" features guest vocals from The Charlatans singer Tim Burgess.

The song's title is a nod to band member Bob Stanley who was born on 25 December 1964. The music video for the hit was filmed in the vicinity of Kensington and Chelsea Register Office in London.

The main b-side, "My Christmas Prayer" is a cover of the Billy Fury original. The two bonus b-sides, "Snowplough" and "Peterloo" are both instrumentals.

Track listing

References