roundaboutthere

Friday, June 29, 2007

Languages

Languages that exist only in the spoken form, such as those of many of the Native American Indian tribes, require the use of audio recording campaign such as a digital audio recorder or a tape recorder, augmented by explanatory text written in other languages, for preservation. Recently, efforts have been made to create symbol sets and grammars for such languages to avoid further losses of historically valuable information. Conversely, there are numerous extinct languages which persist only in their printed form. In some cases, experts can only guess at what their spoken form really sounded like. To prevent further losses of this nature, modern linguists have developed supersets of symbols for the purpose of correctly recording the authentic sounds of known languages.

While the superset symbols, which normally encode phonemes and their allophones, could record continuous discussion with nearly flawless accuracy, it would be tedious and unnecessary to record huge volumes of speech in this manner. That said there is a practical application for it, fine tuning of the programming for text-to-speech synthesizers to give computers a voice that sounds extremely human. Where a synthesizer stumbles on a given word, an entry can be added to an omission dictionary, wherein its definition consists of the word respelled in phonemes and allophones.

Monday, June 25, 2007

Voltage

Voltage is the difference of electrical potential between two points of an electrical or electronic circuit, uttered in volts. It measures the potential energy of an electric field to source an electric current in an electrical conductor. Depending on the difference of electrical potential it is called extra low voltage, low voltage, high voltage or extra high voltage.

Between two points in an electric field, such as exists in an electrical circuit, the distinction in their electrical potentials is known as the electrical potential difference. This difference is proportional to the electrostatic force that tends to drive electrons or other charge-carriers from one point to the other. Potential difference, electrical potential, and electromotive force are measured in volts, leading to the commonly used term voltage. Voltage is usually represented in equations by the symbols V, U, or E.

Electrical potential difference can be thought of as the capacity to move electrical charge through a resistance. At a time in physics when the word force was used loosely, the potential difference was named the electromotive force or EMF—a term which is still used in confident contexts.

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Toy

A Toy is an item used in play. Toys are usually related with children and pets, but it is not unusual for adult humans and some non-domesticated animals to play with toys. Many items are manufactured to serve as toys, but items shaped for other purpose can also be used as toys. A child may pick up a domestic item and 'fly' it around pretending that it is an airplane, or an animal might play with a pinecone by batting at it, chasing it, and throwing it up in the air. Some toys are intended largely as collector's items and are not to be played with.The origin of toys is prehistoric; dolls representing infants, animals, and soldiers, as well as representations of tools used by adults are pleasure found at archaeological sites. The origin of the word toy is unknown, but it is understood that it was first used in the 14th century.
Toys and play in general are an important part of the method of learning about the world and growing up. The young use toys and play to discover their identity, help their bodies grow tough, learn cause and effect, explore relationships, and practice skills they will need as adults. Adults use toys and play to form and strengthen social bonds, teach the young, memorize and reinforce lessons from their own youth, exercise their minds and bodies, practice skills they may not use every day, and decorate their living spaces. Toys are more than simple amusement, and they and the way they are used greatly influence most aspects of life.