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what does 'zig' refer to in the all your base clip? you all remember that "all your base are belong to us" internet phenomenon from early 2000. i recently saw it again and read the game transcript. what could the (poor) japanese-english translator possibly have been trying to communicate with the word "zig"?
cats: you have no chance to survive make your time.
cats: ha ha ha ha ....
captain: take off every 'zig' !!
captain: you know what you doing.
captain: move 'zig'.
captain: for great justice. the enigmatic and poorly translated introduction to the american port of zero wing is equal parts confusing and hilarious. what in the world could a "zig" be? well, it would seem that the word "zig," unfortunately, is not yet another perplexing term lost in translation. according to sites actually dedicated to reviewing the game in spite of its connections to the "all your base are belong to us" phenomena, the word "zig" is actually a made up name for the fighter plane you pilot throughout the game. think "x-wing" and you're on the right track. "take off every zig!!" likely meant that every zig fighter needed to take off to battle the mysteriously robotic villian of the game, known only as "cats."

what is the best way to learn chinese? do those pimsleur cds really work? any other recommendation? the best way is to be born in china :d

why is it considered unlucky to open an umbrella indoors? possibly because african royalty used umbrellas as protection from the sun, and opening one in the shade was considered an insult to the sun god. opening it indoors was also taboo.

what is the name of the second us astronaut to land on the moon? edwin eugene (buzz) aldrin jr "on july 20, 1969, aldrin became the second human being to set foot on the moon. he was joined neil armstrong on the surface for two hours of ceremonies and moon rock collecting."

which singer has the largest number of records i think that it is bruce springsteen

what animal laid the largest eggs? eggs are laid by birds and cold-blooded reptiles. the largest eggs by far were laid by dinosaurs.

can water be hotter then 100 celsius degrees? i've found a nice web page that support the first answer

why do we only drink eggnog during christmas? eggnog is a popular wintertime drink. we do not serve eggnog only during christmas. it is also popular on new year's day and some serve it on thanksgiving.

what's a good home based business? i would recommend starting with something you enjoy, find a wholesale supplier or make the goods/services yourself, and setup a store with ebay. this is really quick and easy (aka: cheap) to start. if you don't know exactly what you want to do it is a good way to see how it will work without a huge investment. if you are successful in that marketplace you can take it to the next level and expand into a more traditional business model with less risk! try playing around with writing a business plan and see what your risk and financial tolerance is. the link below is a good tool for planning a new ebay business, i would recommend you check this out first!

what is a tag, and why is it being hailed by some people as the greatest thing since sliced bread? i've been using tags in products such as delicious, my web 2.0, and flickr...but how do i explain the significance of tagging to somebody like my mom? what does it all mean? tags are like post-it notes that readers of the content leave behind for other readers. they give clues to the context and meaning beyond a simple description. they're like finding notes in a text book scribbled by a previous owner. you can usually gain insight into the material based on those notes. now imagine there is a cross-reference of all those post-its and margin notes. more than one person can add their own post-it. you can easily find the most popular "post-its" thanks to an index of all of them. this is where the real power of tagging lies-- in the weight and meaning these agreed-upon notes give. of course, context is everything. next time you're together, show her myweb2.0 and del.icio.us in action. show her how the information is sliced and diced-- most recent, most popular, most frequently used tags. i find my parents only get these new paradigms when i show them to them in context.

what is the maximum number of identical stones so that after a look-alike is added...? ... you will need to scale them at most three times to identify the look-alike one. note that you don't know if the look-alike stone is lighter or heavier than the rest. the answer is 9 stones (or maybe more). after adding a look-alike to 9 stones, there will be 10. name them abcdefghij. "abc<def" means "the stones abc as a group weigh less than the stones def." weighing 1. weigh abc vs. def. if abc<def: --weighing 2. weigh abc vs. ghi. ----if abc<ghi, the look-alike must be light and among abc. ----weighing 3. weigh a vs. b. ------if ab, the look-alike is b. ----if abc=ghi, the look-alike must be heavy and among def. ----weighing 3. weigh d vs. e. ------if de, the look-alike is d. if abc=def, the look-alike must be among ghij. --weighing 2. weigh g vs. h. ----if g=h, the look-alike candidates are i and j. ----otherwise, the look-alike candidates are g and h. ----weighing 3. weigh one of the two candidates against a. ------if they differ in weight, the look-alike is that candidate, otherwise it is the other candidate. if abc>def: --weighing 2. weigh abc vs. ghi. ----if abc>ghi, the look-alike must be heavy and among abc. ----weighing 3. weigh a vs. b. ------if ab, the look-alike is a. ----if abc=ghi, the look-alike must be light and among def. ----weighing 3. weigh d vs. e. ------if de, the look-alike is e.

does anyone know any lutheran church in or nearby phoenix? take your pick: evangelical lutheran church-grand canyon synod 4423 n 24th st # 400, phoenix, az (602) 957-3223 american ev lutheran church 1830 w glenrosa ave, phoenix, az (602) 265-2527 christ the redeemer lutheran church 8801 n 43rd ave, phoenix, az (623) 934-3286 lutheran church of the master 2340 w cactus rd, phoenix, az (602) 997-7439 good shepherd lutheran church 3040 n 7th ave, phoenix, az (602) 265-7130 bethel lutheran church 7310 n 27th ave, phoenix, az (602) 995-0629 prayer garden 9849 n 40th st, phoenix, az (602) 996-4040 ahwatukee health resources 11002 s 48th st, phoenix, az (480) 893-3137 mount of olives lutheran church 3546 e thomas rd, phoenix, az (602) 956-1620 westridge lutheran church 8444 w encanto blvd, phoenix, az (623) 849-4327

what movie did joe pesci describe kids as "yuts"? it was from the movie my cousin vinny when they were in the courtroom.

can you imagine seeing more colors? no, you can't! i mean, what would they look like? it's crazy! i want to be able to see more colors, more than infra-red and ultra-violet; i'm not talking about those invisible colors, i'm talkin real colors! wouldn't it be cool if you woke up tomorrow and you could see more colors? a brand new color... you could call it "murple" so "purple" would be easier to rhyme. what would it look like? i mean... green kinda looks like blue... orange kinda looks like yellow... murple kinda looks like red? who knows? kinda mind-boggling, isn't it? :) try this one, no colors, that would be freaky. everything just black or white, no "in-betweens"!

who is the world's highest paid actress? cameron diaz briefly surpassed julia roberts in 2004, but julia is back on top:

can you recommend a good preschool with childcare around new york? you don't specify-- do you mean around manhattan? the urban baby message boards are a good and very active source of information: http://newyork.urbanbaby.com/community/messageboards_main.html i also like the gocitykids site: http://www.gocitykids.com/?area=197 i'd recommend contacting moms in your area for recommendations, and touring schools that are near your home. (gck can help you find one in your neighborhood.) here's a nationwide roundup of childcare websites: http://www.babycenter.com/refcap/baby/babychildcare/6104.html

what does "xoxo" stand for? hugs and kisses.

does echinacea really help prevent colds? or is a waste of money... well, there appears to be some controvery about this. while some people swear by the stuff, others say that it has no real effect on overcoming a cold. here are some links, one of which is from a national institute of health study. i hope these help you decide whether to head to the health store or not.

what is the largest city in the world? what is the larget city in terms of the population and density? other lists i've seen count that 28 mm figure as tokyo/yokohama, sprawling outside the city proper. this list of top ten most populous *urban areas* (the city proper) puts tokyo at #10: 1. seoul 10.2 million 2. sao paulo 10 million 3. mumbai 9.9 million 4. jakarta 9.37 million 5. karachi 9.3 million 6. moscow 8.29 million 7. istanbul 8.26 million 8. mexico city 8.23 million 9. shanghai 8.2 million 10. tokyo 8.1 million

what are the effects of parental favoritism? from my personal experience, i've seen parental favoritism cause lifetime effects. my mom's brother was the favorite- she was the least favored. 50 years later, she still struggles with feeling inadequate and has a hard time trusting people. because of this, she has a hard time maintaining friendships and family relationships. my grandmother and her sister were treated differently by my great-grandfather. my grandmother was treated as the most special. her sister was expected to do chores, take care of the family etc. she ended up being the dependable, reliable one because she developed her independence. she also never forgave her father or her sister for their unfair treatment. my grandmother grew up needing others to take care of her. this is a pattern i've seen. those that are favored end up developing few of their skills and talents. many times they grow up becoming more concerned about pleasing other people. and many times they don't know how to take care of themselves. those that are disfavored can become strongly independent, but they may also have weaknesses in their ability to trust others and form lasting relationships. what is true is that favoritism has an unhealthy emotional impact on all children, whether favored or not. a good book that deals with this subject is the emotional incest syndrome : what to do when a parent's love rules your life, by dr. patricia love.

what is the biggest number in the world? infinity and for those people.. infinity + 1, infinity x infinity and infinity ^ infinity

how did calvin and hobbes meet? in the very first strip, hobbes is caught by calvin in a tiger trap that is baited with a tuna fish sandwich. from that strip on, they know each other, so that's probably the best description of how they met.

where can i find a women's basketball league to join? one good resource is to find a local pick-up game that accepts women, and then ask the players if there are any local leagues. try http://www.hoopsfinder.com.

what is the best place to get guitar lessons in the south bay area? looking for a great instructor and relatively affordable price. i have no experience but have a desire to learn. it's really according to what you are looking for. certain teachers specialize in acoustic vs. electric (for example). your best bet is to place a request on a service such as click for lessons that will show you several teacher bios and let you decide for yourself.

what is the boot-shaped country found in southern europe? you must be referring to italy. ...hope that's what you're looking for! best, `k.

what is the only state in the us whose governor has no veto power? north carolina.

which soccer team has won the most european club championships? that is, champions league or european cup competitions... real madrid has won 9 titles, followed by 6 for ac milan and 5 for liverpool.

where can i find information about superlatives? i need to find answers to questions such as what is the biggest...? what's the tallest...? what is the fastest...?, etc. if you want to answer a question like "what is the tallest mountain on earth?" ask jeeves (www.ask.com) is a good place to start. you can also perform an advanced search on yahoo! or google, putting the phrase in quotes like this "what ist he tallest mountain on earth?" of course, q&a can help you, too!

why do we get tickled when somebody tickles us and we don't when we tickle ourselves? when we tickle ourselves, our mind knows in advance that is supposed to happen. so we develop some sort of a defence to counter the effect of the tickle. when somebody else tickles us suddenly our body is not prepared for that change of state. even if u hit urself (not too hard) it pains lesser than when some body else hits u suddenly.

why are the san francisco 49er's sucking so bad again? what's up with the team again? offensive line? coaching? 1. poor drafting. between 2000-2006, the 49ers drafted 55 players. only 8 starters on offense from all of those draft classes combined, and only four at the 'skill positions' (barlow, lloyd, battle and smith). 2. injuries: 9 guys on ir, including starting center, starting t, starting fs and ss, starting lb and starting te. 3. four different starting qbs this season. 4. barlow not a difference maker/elite back. his 3.3 yards per carry are actually worse than last year! 5. unimaginative play calling (other than first game of season). 6. 49ers lead the league by a wide margin in number of series that go 3-and-out. this leaves the defense vulnerable.

what is the temperature on the sun and how to calculate the lost of heat per distance from it? so, what will be the distance from the sun that makes it reasonable to look for life? you might not have intended it, but your question is a lot more complex than you might have thought. it turns out that the temperature of the sun is a function of how deep into the sun you are, with the surface temperature being about 6000 kelvins. to make things even more complicated, the corona of the sun (which extends in all directions around the sun beyond the surface) is actually 1,000,000 kelvins. this fact is well established, but further research is required to understand *why* there is such a huge difference in temperature between the two. now for the second part of your question: the light intensity of the sun drops off as the inverse square of your distance from the sun. the "heat" is another thing entirely, because heat is defined as the average kinetic energy of particles, and photons don't count strictly in that definition. there are particles that come from the sun in the form of solar wind, and around the region of the earth, they have a "temperature" around 1000k.

who is going to pick up terrell owens after he comes off suspension? i think atlanta or dallas are strong candidates, especially as they make a push towards the playoffs. it's hard to imagine terrell in the same locker room with keyshawn johnson (dallas) or michael vick (atlanta). the denver broncos are more likely to pick him up.

should t.o. be allowed to play for eagles or any other team this season? he deserves the punishment he's been given. let him sit it out this year (and still get paid a ridculous sum of money) and maybe that will set him straight. great player, i agree, but calling your teammates out on a regular basis isn't cool. the eagles did what was right.

what does it take to be a teacher? the wisdom of solomon, the patience of job, the soul of ghandi, the heart of mother theresa and lots of aspirin, coffee and malox.

what does 4 8 15 16 23 42 _really_ mean? what do you think it means? i know its showing up alot on the tv show lost, so what is it and why do you think it's everywhere on the show? don't know yet, but lots of wild theories and mathematical approaches being tried (some, via http://myweb2.search.yahoo.com/search?p=4%208%2015%2016%2023%2042): http://www.d.kth.se/~dicander/lost.html http://www.4815162342.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=3

looking for a good spa in the sf bay area nob hill spa downstairs from the huntington hotel. they offer couples massages, and have spa cuisine available next to their lovely pool.

who should i start this week in fantasy football? delhomme @buf or brooks @nyj? both teams have good passing d and both match ups are on the road. delhomme has a better #1 receiver in smith although horn is healthy and is pretty good in his own right but brooks has the better #2 receiver in stallworth so that balances it out a little. neither is a great option and it's a tough call so i think you gotta go with the guy who's performed better so far this year which is delhomme. you might want to check the waiver and see if somebody like mcmahon - the new philly qb is available as he's got a nice matchup this week and could be better than your two current options.

what are the options for volleyball leagues in the south bay and sf? prefer indoor men's 6s - a/aa competitive league or a coed, somewhat competitive league (b/bb) i would try ivl (http://www.ivlinc.com/) or city beach (http://www.citybeach.com/sports/sports_volleyball.htm)

why was the passion of christ a controversial movie? jewish people were concerned that the movie would fuel antisemitism. a concerned rabbi eugene korn previewed the film before it came out and made the following statement, "we are deeply concerned that the film, if released in its present form, will fuel the hatred, bigotry and anti-semitism that many responsible churches have worked hard to repudiate." another controversial aspect of the movie was its graphically violent depiction of jesus' crucifixation. some christians were upset that the movie choose to focus on jesus' violent death rather than other biblical themes like the resurrection and his life experiences valuing messages of love, tolerance, and redemption.

how can i recover the security key for my yahoo! account? i had a hard time trying to figure out what my security key was. i don't even remember ever having one. yahoo! help you can get a new password, a yahoo! id reminder, or both. visit the sign-in problems page (http://edit.yahoo.com/config/eval_forgot_pw?new=1&.done=&.src=&partner=&.intl=us) and supply some basic verification information, such as your birthday and the zip or postal code you provided when you registered. make sure to provide the same information you gave during registration or when you last updated your account. without the correct verification information, you will not be able to obtain a new password. you can obtain any other information with customer care.

i'm new to road biking and need a bike under $1000. what frame and parts do you recommend? i'd agree with taran's answer. take the time to really find what you want. take a lot of extended test rides. you might find that aluminum might be too harsh for you, in which case you might find that steel or carbon might be more comfortable. that's just one example. lots of test rides will give you a feel for how the various bikes at a given price point can handle very differently. without getting into too much tech-speak, you might find that one bike handles a bit more twitchy than another. think of the difference as driving a mini cooper versus a basic sedan. some bikes are set up more for racing, where you'll get a quicker handling bike, whereas others will handle a bit more laid back. parts wise, you'll find the same component offerings on many of the manufacturers out there for a given price point, as taran pointed out. you'll most likely be getting a bike with shimano componenets, with perhaps a mix of some of the manufacturer's own branded components (for example, trek outfits their bikes with a lot of bontrager componentry). focus on the overall ride of the bike. for a $1000, you can get a lot of bike. wade at the spokesman in downtown santa cruz is a great guy - very helpful, and yes, very patient. he's very knowledgeable and will set you up right. also in that same category, i'd highly recommend seeing vance sprock over at cupertino bike shop. he's just like wade - he'll set you up right. good luck!

is there a place where i can see graphs of u.s. national budget allocations for the last few years? you can find tables (not graphs) of the us national budget allocations since the 1940's in a single pdf: http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2006/pdf/hist.pdf if you have your heart set on looking graphs, you can find several from the website for the us house of representatives budget committee: http://www.house.gov/budget/chartsgraphs.htm you can also see various budget, deficit and spending statistics, some graphed over time, on the public agenda website: http://www.publicagenda.org/issues/factfiles.cfm?issue_type=federal_budget and if you want to really veg-out with numbers, try the financial management service's website (they're a part of the us treasury department). they provide reports (in pdf and xls files) on the receipts, outlays and balances of the us federal government. i particularly like the reports on this page: http://fms.treas.gov/annualreport/index.html hope this helps!

who said "beauty is in the eye of the beholder"? plato quoted it: "remember how in that communion only, beholding beauty with the eye of the mind, he will be enabled to bring forth, not images of beauty, but realities (for he has hold not of an image but of a reality), and bringing forth and nourishing true virtue to become the friend of god and be immortal, if mortal man may." n.b.: "beauty is in the eye of the beholder."

why doesn't college football have a playoff system? every year sportswriters and fans complain about how unfair the bcs is, so what's preventing the various conferences from a playoff system? - the bowls came first and have to be dislodged - the bowl organizers control larges amounts of money. some of these monies are given to participating universities and their conferences. bowl organizers do not want to risk lossing this money. and universities who frequent bowls want to be assured of still receiving the big bucks before switching. hence bowl organizers are generally against playoffs and univerisities are only luke warm supporters. - universities like to believe their players are really students (some actually are) and not semi-professional atheletes, so they limit the number of games per year. playing a game takes a lot of the players time preparing and practicing. also due the physical nature of the game, players need several days to recovery. this limits games to about one every 5 days or so (about one a week). a playoff system would require the two teams meeting for the championship to play and additional 2-4 games depending on the number of teams allowed to participate in the playoffs.

what kind of guitar is that? what kind of guitar is joaquin phoenix playing in the "germany" scenes in walk the line? you can see the one i mean at about 30 seconds and 50 seconds (the hangar and the music store) in the trailer on yahoo! movies. it doesn't appear to have a standard sound hole, just two curved openings on either side of the strings. it's almost like an archtop, but i can't believe it's an electric; that seems out of character and you never see him with an amp. bonus points, where can i buy one? can't answer your question exactly, but it looks an awful lot like a gibson archtop or a gretsch. you can poke around either of their websites to see guitars that look pretty similar to the one in the picture. there are particular models of gibson & gretsch that have the diagonal bridge piece that appears in the movie -- gretsch calls it a "chromatic tailpiece". i didn't see that gibson had a particular name for their version but they definitely have guitars sporting that same shape. the one thing i'll agree with you about is that unless it's an anachronism (a modern guitar that doesn't belong in the time period depicted in the movie), it's not an electric guitar -- you can clearly see there's no obvious "soapbar" pickup like there would be on an archtop electric guitar (there are sneaky mics/pickups in acoustic guitars today, but i can't believe that was available then).

what is a good entry-level road bike to purchase? i am looking to spend roughly $1,500. for $1500, you're starting to get out of the "entry-level" stage. i have a trek 1000 and absolutely love it. i've used it for century rides, triathlons and duathlons no problem. the trek 1000 was about $900 cdn. the only difference in the bikes up to the $1500 range is the shifters are usually a little better (they don't stretch as easily, which makes shifting cleaner for longer). the weight and wheels are basically the same. if you want to trim 30 sec off your race time, you might consider the more expensive bikes. but, you should be an elite athlete to really notice the difference. i'd go for a $1000 bike and spend the rest on pumps (road and home), spare tires, some nice cycling clothes, tools and a bike computer. maybe even a trainer for home use.

who holds the single season rushing yards in nfl? while it is true that eric dickerson holds the single season *total* rushing yards record, he accomplished this in a 16-game season. on the other hand, o.j. simpson is the only player in nfl history to break the 2,000 yard barrier in a single 14-game season. o.j. simpson gained 143 yards per game in his record-breaking season, while dickerson only gained 131 yards per game in his. so, the answer depends on whether you are interested in total yards or yards per game.

should us computer programmers be worried about outsourcing trend to india and other countries? yes, not any time soon, but expect the trend to increase as companies find ways to reduce costs. get into management and your job will be saved.

if light travels faster than sound, then why do we hear sound first and then see picture when we turn on tv ? in most cases, the television needs to 'warm-up' its cathode ray tube before it can start to display an image on the screen. the audio coils require much less charging time and can start to emit sound sooner than we can see the image on the television.

what is the minimum gpa to get into colleges? i don't know what the minimum gpa is to get into colleges. if my gpa isn't that high will i still get in? i don't want to go to a community college though. yeah u can get in to college . a 3.0 is really good my friend. i understand what you are going through.. then www.gradschool.com is a good source

how do i write a resume? resume writing can be tricky because not only is it important to be detailed when describing skills and work experience, but it is also advantageous to balance this with brevity. be concise and to the point while packing your resume full of key information that presents your strengths as a candidate for employment. keep it simple, and make sure that formatting doesn't take away from a neatly streamlined and cogent resume. below is a link to hotjobs' resume tips, which i found extremely helpful in this process.

how long is the wall of china? the wall stretches over a formidable 6,350 km (3,946 miles), from shanhai pass on the bohai gulf in the east, at the limit between china proper and manchuria, to lop nur in the southeastern portion of xinjiang uygur autonomous region.

where can i find help about an inventor or invention? wikipedia has a list of inventors and invention. also, about.com has a list of famous inventors.

what should i look for when buying a laptop? what is the best brand and what's reliable? weight and dimensions are important if you're planning to travel with the laptop. get something with at least 512 mb of ram, built-in wireless, and cd/dvd burner. dell is a good brand, and has an easy to use site where you can build a custom laptop.

who is the most famous woman athlete of all time? and what sport was she famous for? historically i believe it would be babe didrikson zaharias, who was a golfer and olympic track star. answers.com's bio says: " mildred 'babe' didrikson zaharias was voted the outstanding woman athlete of the century in a 1950 associated press poll. though she gained her greatest professional fame as a golfer, she rivalled jim thorpe in her remarkable ability to excel at nearly any sport. she began as a basketball all-american, then won two track and field golds at the 1932 olympics. next she turned professional and began touring the country, exhibiting her prowess in track, swimming, tennis, baseball, and even billiards. in 1935 zaharias took up golf and excelled at that, too, winning 82 tournaments in a 20-year career. she was only 42 when she died of cancer in 1956."

could a very powerful directional microphone pickup sounds from the past? in much the same way that a a radio telescope 'sees' past events, could a very powerful directional microphone pickup sounds from the past? in a sense, any microphone is picking up sounds from the past, due to the speed of sound. this is similar to what you mentioned with radio telescopes. the main differences are 1) velocity -- light moves at about 1 foot per nanosecond while sound moves around 1 foot per 1/1000 second, and 2) that sound moving though a medium diffuses quite rapidly. something really loud, like thunder, you might hear from 20-30 seconds away. for normal, everyday sounds, the delay won't be more than maybe a few tenths of a second.

what should i offer for xmas to my grand'ma ? she is 92 years old how active is she? if she's confined or in a nursing home, keep it simple. make her a photo album or frame a favorite picture. bring her a favorite treat that she can't get on her own. if she can get around, experiences are better than things. take her to a play or an outdoor concert or to a museum exhibition. if she has a favorite kind of food, treat her to a special meal. the best gift you can give your grandma is time with you! visit as often as you can, and promise to do so on a regular basis.

is there a good art school in the san francisco bay area? i'm interested in paintings i visited the sf art institute a few years ago with my brother, who was considering an art school for his undergrad work, and we were pretty impressed with the student work and facilities. http://www.sanfranciscoart.edu/

what is a motherboard? from the american heritage dictionary: it is "the main board of a computer, usually containing the circuitry for the central processing unit, keyboard, and monitor and often having slots for accepting additional circuitry."

what was the first currency ever used? the earliest form of currency used was large stones that could be used to get food and meat in exchange - this was during the stone age. before this there was a barter of goods (so i am not considering it currency) large stones which were round were considered more valuable since they were more difficult to obtain the first recorded accounts of currency date back to 2000 bce and silver or metal tokens were used to represent a stored value of grain. also these were useful to ensure that a shipment of commodities arrived with the same goods that were shipped paper money was used in the 18th century, but only in the late 18th and through the 19th century was a central monetary authority created in various states that had a virtual monopoly of creating bank-notes that had to be accepted as legal tender everywhere (prior to this, the one accepting payments could refuse the payment if it was not in a currency which had been predetermined before the loan or in general use: note gold and silver were widely used as legal tender)

where can i get ideas for our science project? my daughter gets her science project ideas from infoplease.com. she loves this site.

what are the materials that can be used to produce laser beam? what are the differences between the those beams? materials that form an inverse energy distribution? not quite. there are three basic components for getting a laser to work. first, one needs an excitation source (pumping source) such as a flashlamp, an electrical spark, etc. second, one needs a material (the gain medium) which can exhibit what's known as population inversion - the capacity for a material to raise the electron energy level from the lower to the upper energy states. nearly all materials will exhibit this behavior with some more efficiently than others. finally, one needs to direct the stimulated energy by using a resonator. there are many combinations of pump sources, lasing materials and optical configurations depending on the intended use. there are solid state (ruby, nd:yag), gas (nitrogen, helium-neon) and semiconductor (gallium-arsenide) lasers that come in a variety of wavelengths (colors) to choose from, again, depending on what you want to do with it. just a little bit of background: my degree is in physics, and i've been working in the lasers and electro-optics field for the past 10+ years. you can see what my graduate lab at sdsu looked like at: http://www.equationlab.com/mtp/quantumblog/about.html

what is the difference between software and hardware? hardware is the physical componentry of a computer system. memory chips, mice, monitors, and keyboards are all hardware. software is the information stored on the computer, so programs and data are considered to be software. basically, if you can email it to someone, it's software.

what is the arizona river that flows into the colorado? gila river

is there any proven evidence that mars at some point in the past had microscopic life? what supports this theory? the answer to your question is no. there is no absolutely definitive evidence to date. we do have very strong evidence that significant amounts of water once existed on the martian surface, and some recent results show that martian water may still exist below ground, and under heavy packs of ice. there are many scientists who believe that mars once had a thicker atmosphere, which would have made it a considerably wetter and warmer place. given this, and the ability for solar system bodies to seed each other via ejecta from large impacts, mars could very possibly have been seeded by earth or vice versa many billions of years ago. still, we're not sure if life exists or every existed there. the most recent chapter was the recent discovery of methane there. methane can be created by non-biological processes, but we have not observed the right conditions for this on mars. another possible explanation would be a biological origin for the gas, potentially from colonies of microscopic organisms in the soil. given our current rate of deepening understanding, we will likely solve this mystery sometime in the next 50 years, but as of now we simply don't have enough evidence to constitute "proof"

should i trade baron davis and joe johnson for allen iverson? my league has pt, rb, as, st, bl, 3s, to, fg%, ft% should i give up baron and joe for the answer and a scrub? or for elton brand and a scrub? whenever you can trade 2 good players for 1 superstar player, it is a steal! because now it will open up another slot on your active roster and now you can play your other good player that's always in your bench. but if you don't have depth, i wouldn't pull the trade trigger.

what does "zip code" stand for? zip is an acronym for zone improvement plan, proposed in 1944 by robert moon, a postal employee, and finally implemented in 1963.

what is programming? programming is instructing a computer to do something for you with the help of a programming language. the role of a programming language can be described in two ways: 1. technical: it is a means for instructing a computer to perform tasks 2. conceptual: it is a framework within which we organize our ideas about things and processes. according to the last statement, in programming we deal with two kind of things: * data, representing ``objects'' we want to manipulate * procedures, i.e. ``descriptions'' or ``rules'' that define how to manipulate data. according to abelson and sussman ([abelson, 1985, 4,]) ``.....we should pay particular attention to the means that the language provides for combinign simple ideas to form more complex ideas. every language has three mechanisms for accomplishing this: primitive expressions, which represent the simplest entities with which the language is concerned means of combination, by which compound expressions are built from simple ones, and means of abstraction, by which compound objects can be named and manipulated as units.'' a programming lanugage should both provide means to describe primitive data and procedures and means to combine and abstract those into more complex ones. the distinction between data and procedures is not that clear cut. in many programming languages, procedures can be passed as data (to be applied to ``real'' data) and sometimes processed like ``ordinary'' data. conversely ``ordinary'' data can be turned into procedures by an evaluation mechanism.

what is the oldest magazine that is still in circulation? arguably, the scots magazine, published first in 1739.

do you really need 8 hours of sleep every night? i've also heard that it's bad to sleep more than 10 hours a night. i've heard several times that the amount of sleep each individual requires is based on a number of factors, some of which include age, weight, and even diet. everyone has different schedules, and each one is independent to one another depending on their own individual health. i'm not one to set an example, but i average anywhere from 5-7 hours of sleep on a regular basis. sometimes my body requires more, sometimes less, but it seems to balance out and i never feel as though i'm suffering from lack, or over abundance, of sleep. i've included a yahoo! health article to help shed light on some of your own personal sleep habits.

if god is both all loving and all powerful, how can he/she/it allow suffering to exist? please, none of those "it's beyond our understanding" answers. i want some real answers here! frankly, the answers thus far show a complete lack of understanding of basic theodicy and even the christian bible. assuming that – as a christian – you buy into job’s tale as at least allegorical, then there is acknowledgement that you cannot know the mind of g-d. to attempt to do so is itself blasphemous. to attempt know the mind of g-d is to be g-d, yet we are admonished when g-d responds to job, not with an explanation for job's suffering but rather with a question: where was job when g-d created the world? and it was said: job 40 1 ¶ and jehovah answered job and said: 2 shall a reprover contend with the almighty? he who reproves god, let him answer it. 3 then job answered jehovah and said: 4 behold, i am vile! what shall i answer you? i will put my hand to my mouth. 5 once i have spoken, but i will not answer; yea, twice, but i will go no further. 6 ¶ and jehovah answered job out of the tempest and said: 7 now gird up your loins like a man, and i will question you; and you make me to know. 8 will you also set aside my judgment; will you condemn me so that you may be justified? 9 and have you an arm like god; or can you thunder with a voice like his? 10 adorn yourself with majesty now, and with grandeur, and clothe yourself with glory and honor; 11 pour forth the outbursts of your anger; yea, look on everyone who is proud, and bring him down low; 12 look on everyone who is proud, and humble him, and trample the wicked in their place; 13 hide them in the dust together; bind their faces in darkness. know that to contend to know g-d is to set yourself above him. a previous answer blasphemed: “g-d desires that we do not suffer, but as a result of the choices men made we have suffering.” and also: “but there is a plan to alleviate the suffering. and that is through redemption.” lies. and “john 3:16”?! i think that means “go broncos.” an alternative explanation is the easy one: there is no g-d. you either believe that, or you blaspheme in the attempt to understand him.

where can you donate an old encyclopedia set? any public library should be able to accept your donation. if you are in the bay area, sunnyvale public library is the best library to donate..

what does laser stand for? laser is an acronym for light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation

is there another cure for headaches besides taking pain killers? if you would like to cure headaches naturally, try to take a lime, cut it into half and rub it on your forehead. the throbbing will go away. this worked for me.

would it seriously affect my chances of getting into college if i don't have a high sat score? unfortunately, the answer is "maybe". if you are trying to get into a top tier school with very selective admissions, then a low sat/act score is virutally a "kiss of death". however, if you are looking at most state univerisities, then a low sat/act score is not too bad. you may have to take a few remedial courses. most important!! a low sat/act score will not stop you from going to college. and, in the long run, it really doesn't matter very much where you get your undergraduate degree (as long as the college/university is "regionally accredited"). for example, a degree in education from any regionally ncate accredited school will get you hired as a teacher. an engineering degree from any abet accredited school will get you hired as an engineer. enjoy

what's the market share of gm and ford together in the usa? from this article: http://www.detnews.com/2005/autosinsider/0511/04/a01-369542.htm "their [u.s. automakers] combined share of the u.s. market shrank to a new low of 52.4 percent last month from 57 percent a year ago and 70 percent in 1999 when american consumers were snapping up light trucks and suvs." it fluctuates more than you would think, but right now (a 7-year low) it is a little over 50%

why do we get hiccups? hiccups are sudden, involuntary contractions of the diaphragm muscle. as the muscle contracts repeatedly, the opening between your vocal cords snaps shut to check the inflow of air and makes the hiccup sound. irritation of the nerves that extend from the neck to the chest can cause hiccups. although associated with a variety of ailments (some can be serious such as pneumonia or when harmful substances build up in the blood for example from kidney failure), hiccups are not serious and have no clear reason for occurring.

what are the best ways to incentivise people to answer questions here? appeal to their ego? wallets? sense of belonging? or something else? i think that, though counterintuitive, one of the most effective ways was to limit the number of questions a user can answer per day. a casual user will still answer the 11th question the next day, and more hard-core users will try to answer as many questions as allowed. for this to work, the limit has to be pretty small, at least starting out, so that it is reasonably easy for someone with other commitments to achieve it. setting a small limit also requires users to choose which questions they most want to answer, which increases the likelihood that their answers will be useful. when more answers are useful, it increases the usefulness of the service, which in turn "incentivizes" people to answer questions. and by placing a premium on the number of questions a user can answer per unit time, the likelihood that the user will throw him/herself into it full-throttle but then quickly become bored is also decreased. see my answer to the question, "why am i only allowed to answer 10 questions a day here?": http://answers.yahoo.com/question/?qid=1005120801767 on the issue of the term "incentivize"--it is shameless corporate-speak, but it describes an impersonal, profit-oriented process. to attempt to use softer language to describe something that is inherently cold, calculating, and opportunistic (though not necessarily bad or wrong) would constitute euphemism, and would be both misleading and dangerous.

does anyone have a recommendation for a good cpa who charges reasonable fees in indianapolis? i have used dunbar,cook and shepard and the accountant was very good.as far as the "reasonable"part goes,they may have been a bit more than someone down the street,but if they are thorough and save you money-it's worth it ,isn't it?

can you recommend a good credit union located in st. louis? i joined meridian (recently merged with anheuser busch credit union) and have been very happy. financed two cars, have two credit cards, and a personal loan from them. very easy to do business with and great rates.

what bowl game will penn state be going to? what's the best way to get tickets? go nittany lions! the 'joe paterno' retirement bowl to be held some place in florida.

how many u.s. states are named after kings or queens? things get a little sticky in the counting process here. see, the virginias were one until 1863, so do we count them as one or two? officially there was only one virginia to name at the time, but i think we're looking to count how many states are named after kings or queens today, in the here and now, right? so the number i think you're looking for is 7! georgia - latin or english - after king george ii of england louisiana - french - after king louis xiv of france maryland - english - after queen henrietta maria of england north carolina - latin - after king charles ii of england south carolina - latin - after king charles ii of england virginia - latin or english - the virgin country (or country of the virgin), after queen elizabeth i of england west virginia - latin or english - the western transmontane, counties of virginia. see virginia, above. unless, of course, we want to squeeze new york in there too, because it was named after the duke of york, who later became the king of england... james ii, see. i'll leave that one up to you. best, `k.

should cell phones and pdas be allowed in school? why or why not? i don't think cell phones and pdas should be allowed since students may spend lot of time playing with (and showing off) the cool features of these gadgets. also, some features can be misused (eg. camera phones). for communicating during emergency situations, i am sure school phones can be used.

how do you bring up the salary subject during an interview if the interviewer didn't bring it up? large companies usually have an hr person coordinating the interview for the hiring manager. in such a situation, its better to bring up the question with the hr person. after the first round of interviews, if you are being called back for further interviews, then i think this is a good time to bring it up with the recruiter. if there is no recruiter involved, then in my opinion you should not bring up the compensation question till you get the sense that you are being seriously considered. the exception in my mind is that if you are trying to make some decisions/choices while interviewing for multiple positions then you can candidly bring it up after your first interview is done.

what is indie genre? the basic answer is indie (or independent) music is music that is released on smaller labels that operate independently from the mainstream music business. but more often "indie" refers to a specific genre of contemporary music that is based on combining aesthetics of classic rock, punk, garage and art rock. i first heard the term indie rock starting to get used in the late 80s to early 90s to describe the music that was popular on college radio stations at the time. i don't think the definition has changed much since then, but the types of music that fit in this umbrella have become more diverse, both in style and popularity.

why do human have five fingers and five toes? according to a column that i read written by joël carbonnel, "nature has never been able to count above five." a researcher has discovered that when the limbs have more than five digits they become distorted into a bow-legged shape which seriously interferes with normal walking or running. http://www.positivehealth.com/permit/articles/regular/joel74.htm

what is the difference betwen a close knit family and extended family? a close knit family is simply a family that is close--it could apply to a nuclear family (mom, dad, kids) or extended family (cousins, uncles, grandparents). an extended family describes a family unit that extends beyond mom, dad, and kids to include cousins, uncles/aunts, and grandparents.

who had the shortest celebrity marriage? nikki hilton's and renee zellwegger's super-short marriages this year got me thinking-- which celebrity had the shortest marriage of all time? well, if you overlook one tiny but technical detail (zsa zsa gabor was still married to husband #7) then mrs. gabor's marriage to husband #8 was shorter than britney's. britney's was 48 hours, while mrs. gabor's was just a day.

how can i stop getting junk mail? i'm sick of all the pre-approved credit card solicitations, etc.... here is a useful link: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/alerts/optoutalrt.htm

why do men wear neckties? i believe it originated in croatia sometime in the middle ages where it was primarily worn by men to show allegiance to their king. it seems to have gained popularity in france where the french form for croatia resulted in them being called 'cravat'. details in the article.

where is the nearest us post office in se 5th ave, portland? 204 sw 5th ave portland, or 97204-1897 phone: (800) ask-usps fax: (503) 294-7892 1020 se 7th ave portland, or 97214-9998 phone: (800) ask-usps fax: (503) 231-8715

why do people have the bird, turkey for thanksgiving? why this bird? any significance? it is believed that the pilgrims and indians shared wild turkey and venison on the original thanksgiving. turkey's "americanness" was established by benjamin franklin, who had advocated for the turkey, not the bald eagle, becoming the national bird.

how can i record audio directly from the browser to the web server? for a podcasting application, i'd like my web server to be able to receive audio straight from the browser. something like a "push to talk" button. it seems it's possible to do this with flash. is there any other way? with flash, do i need to buy a macromedia server licence, or are there alternatives to have flash on the browser talk to my server? userplane has an audio/video recorder that will do that - you can check it out at http://www.userplane.com/apps/videorecorder.cfm

why do we celebrate christmas eve? it has become a tradition in some countries.

is there a way in ms excel to have a cell be equal to multiple cells? e.g.= d3 and d5, where d3 & 5 are words? i'm trying to make a cell that has a list of other cells. e.g. i want my cell to say "[d4's value], [d5's value]" can i do that? right now when i try, excel spits out the "#value" error. can you help? use the concatenate function, with one of the arguments being ", " the formula you end up with should look something like this: =concatenate(d3,", ",d5)

can you give me tips on how to get over an ex? surround yourself with friends, family, people who love you. go on a trip to clear your head. it doesn't have to be expensive, just go camping with some pals or take a day trip to a beautiful outdoor spot. take up a new hobby. now is the perfect time to start doing something you didn't have time for before. exercise. read humorous and uplifting books (no romance novels!). go to the movies (no sequels to movies you saw with your ex!). buy fresh fruits and vegetables and make a delicious homecooked meal for your best friends. get out in the world, get some fresh air, stretch your legs. take some time to get to know yourself and figure out what you want in life. whatever you do, don't wallow in self-pity at home. don't get drunk and call your ex! don't write your ex emails begging to take you back. don't hang out in front of your ex's house hoping to bump into him/her. don't jump into another relationship right away.

which tv show got higher ratings? "who shot j.r.?" on dallas or the finale of "m*a*s*h"? the finale of "m*a*s*h": '"dallas," by the way, delivered an amazing 53.3 rating and 76 share with its "who shot jr?" wrap-up in 1980. it ranks as the no. 2 show of all time, behind only the 1983 series finale of "mash" (60.2/77).'

who played will's dad on will and grace? sydney pollack played will's dad.

why are handicapped bathroom stalls always built at the end of the restroom? presumably because they tend to be longer/bigger to accommodate extra space, and the most efficient place to put a larger stall is at the end of the room. (it would be in the way if it were in the middle.)

who said "do, or do not. there is no 'try'"? yoda said that in star wars.