Minute

The minute is a unit of time or of angle. As a unit of time, the minute is equal to ¹⁄₆₀ (the first sexagesimal fraction) of an hour or 60 seconds. In the UTC time standard, a minute on rare occasions has 61 seconds, a consequence of leap seconds (there is a provision to insert a negative leap second which would result in a 59-second minute, but this has never happened in more than four decades under this system). As a unit of angle, the minute of arc is equal to ¹⁄₆₀ of a degree or 60 seconds (of arc). Although not an SI unit for either time or angle, the minute is accepted for use with SI units for both. The SI symbols for minute or minutes are min for time measurement, and the prime symbol after a number, e.g. 5′, for angle measurement. The prime is also sometimes used informally to denote minutes of time.

By contrast to the hour the minute (and the second) has not a clear historical background. What is traceable only is that it started being recorded in the Middle ages due to the ability of construction of "precision" timepieces (mechanical and water clocks). However, no consistent records of the origin for the division as ¹⁄₆₀ part of the hour (and the second ¹⁄₆₀ of the minute) have ever been found, despite many speculations.

Environment variable

Environment variables are a set of dynamic named values that can affect the way running processes will behave on a computer.

They are part of the environment in which a process runs. For example, a running process can query the value of the TEMP environment variable to discover a suitable location to store temporary files, or the HOME or USERPROFILE variable to find the directory structure owned by the user running the process.

They were introduced in their modern form in 1979 with Version 7 Unix, so are included in all Unix operating system flavors and variants from that point onward including Linux and OS X. From PC DOS 2.0 in 1982, all succeeding Microsoft operating systems including Microsoft Windows, and OS/2 also have included them as a feature, although with somewhat different syntax, usage and standard variable names.

Details

In all Unix and Unix-like systems, each process has its own separate set of environment variables. By default, when a process is created, it inherits a duplicate environment of its parent process, except for explicit changes made by the parent when it creates the child. At the API level, these changes must be done between running fork and exec. Alternatively, from command shells such as bash, a user can change environment variables for a particular command invocation by indirectly invoking it via env or using the ENVIRONMENT_VARIABLE=VALUE <command> notation. All Unix operating system flavors, DOS, and Windows have environment variables; however, they do not all use the same variable names. A running program can access the values of environment variables for configuration purposes.

Minute (French newspaper)

Minute (French: [miˈnyt]) is a weekly newspaper, initially right-wing but now far-right, circulated in France since 1962. Its editorial position is satirical and conservative. According to figures provided by the paper's management, it had a circulation of 40,000 copies a week in 2006. Its headquarters is in Paris.

History

First decade

In 1962, Minute was created by Jean-François Devay, former director of L'Aurore. In its early years, Minute included a large number of articles devoted to show-biz and humorous cartoons. The paper's politics rapidly hardened, particularly following the end of the Algerian War. It became less and less devoted to show-biz news, and became a political newspaper regarded as right-wing but supporting no particular party.

During its heyday (250,000 copies sold per week 1962-1981) the editorial staff were invited to participate every Sunday in Club de la presse, a television and radio show about politics. The tone was very critical of Charles de Gaulle, and the paper had many readers among those disaffected with the Algerian War. Pieces by François Brigneau, who joined the paper in 1963, were noted for their biting anti-Gaullist prose. In 1965 the paper contributed to breaking news of the Ben Barka affair.