Components photos on Flickr

The Air Corps is the air component of the Defence Forces of Ireland. With the establishment of the Defence Forces in 1924, the Air Service became the new Army's Air Corps and remained part of the Army until the 1990s. After the 2nd World War, the Irish Air Corps started to modernize its modest fleet: the Hurricanes were replaced by Supermarine Seafires and a few two-seat Spitfire trainers. Avro Anson light transports were operated as communications aircraft between 1946 and their retirement in 1962. The Percival Provost was introduced in the mid 1950s as the Air Corps initial training aircraft. The de Havilland Dove became the Corps' transport aircraft.

The jet age arrived on 30 June 1956 when the Corps took delivery of de Havilland Vampire T.55 trainers. The jet fleet was augmented in November 1963, when the Air Corps took delivery of twelve BAC Jet Provost trainers. Furthermore, the first helicopters, SA.316B Alouette IIIs, arrived, of which seven remained in service until 2007.

Even though the Jet Provosts were ab initio jet aircraft trainers, it was clear that the aircraft were also intended for light ground attack and COIN duties – the rising tensions in Northern Ireland fueled the desire for an armed air arm. This was reflected by the procured Jet Provost variant: the T.51. This was an armed export version of the RAF's T.3 trainers. It could be outfitted with a pair of 0.303" machine guns in compartments under the air intakes, and underwing hardpoints allowed a wide range of ordnance to be carried, including bombs, drop tanks, machine gun and missile pods as well as unguided missiles. appropriate aiming equipment in the cockpit ensured the proper deployment of the weapons.
The Jet Provosts became the founding equipment of the Irish Air Corps's Light Strike Squadron, even though they were more frequently used for advanced and armed training sorties. However, unlike the Vampire, which were operated purely in an educational role and thus were left in bare metal finish with high visibility markings, the Irish Jet Provosts received a tactical paint scheme.

In 1975 several Fouga Magister CM-170 jet aircraft were purchased secondhand from France. They were used for training, partly replaced and augmented the Jet Provost fleet in the light attack role and were allocated to the Silver Swallows display team. They were withdrawn from service in 1998 and not replaced, leaving the Irish Air Corps without any jet combat aircraft.

In 1977 ten SIAI-Marchetti SF.260WE Warriors were delivered for light training and ground attack roles, and thsi type gradually replaced the Jet Provosts, which were retired together with the Fouga Magister.

General characteristics:

Crew: Two

Length: 34 ft 0 in (10.36 m)

Wingspan: 35 ft 4 in (10.77 m)

Height: 10 ft 2 in (3.10 m)

Wing area: 213.7 sqft (19.80 m²)

Empty weight: 4,888 lb (2,222 kg)

Loaded weight: 6,989 lb (3,170 kg)

Max. takeoff weight: 9,200 lb (4,173 kg)

Powerplant:

1× Armstrong Siddeley Viper (ASV.8) Mk-102 turbojet, rated at 1,750 lbf (7.78 kN

Performance:

Maximum speed: 440 mph (382 knots, 708 km/h) at 25,000 ft (7,620 m)

Range: 603 mi (524 NM, 970 km)

Service ceiling: 36,750 ft (11,200 m)

Rate of climb: 4,000 ft/min (20.3 m/s)

Wing loading: 32.7 lb/ft² (160 kg/m²)

Armament:

2× 0.303 in (7.7 mm) machine guns with 600 RPG

Underwing hardpoints for a total ordnance load of 2.160 lb (980 kg), incl.

6× 60 lb (27 kg) or 12× 25 lb (11 kg) rockets or 28x 68 mm SNEB rockets in four pods,

or 4× 540 lb (245 kg) bombs

The kit and its assembly:

This fictional Jet Provost is, after a long search for a proper aircraft model, finally the result of the attempt to build an Irish what-if aircraft. Inspiration struck when I recently read a book about the Jet Provost’s and Strikemaster’s development and service (which also spawned the BAC Bushmaster single seater) – I thought that an armed Jet Provost would have been a highly probable aircraft for the Irish Air Corps, and from the start I wanted to add a tactical touch to the model, not just a pure trainer.

The armed export variants appeared the most suitable option, and thankfully Airfix recently released a new T.3 kit, which is virtually identical to its armed T.51 brethren. The kit itself is excellent. The molds are crisp, you get recessed panel lines and minute detail where it’s needed – but it is still a very simple kit. Other selling points are two very good pilot figures and seats, two optional canopies (for closed or open display) as well as a superb overall fit of everything. A really pleasant affair!

The kit was built OOB, with just a few minor mods: under the air intakes, machine gun ports were added as well as casing ejector fairings. I also added a pair of underwing pylons (for a pair of 250 lb training bombs) and a pair of R80 SURA missile packs (from a Matchbox Strikemaster). Some antennae were also added, as well as gunsights on the cockpit dashboard.

Painting and markings:

Even though I wanted the Provost to be a trainer, I did not want a flashy livery - instead I adopted a tactical camouflage that would be suited to the greenish environment of Eire. The only "official" Irish camouflage is a uniform dark green, though, and I wanted something more flashy.

Another factor was a tin of "RAF Lichen Green" (Xtracolor) that I found in my collection - a tone whioch I wanted to incorporate. I eventually settled upon a three-tone scheme, somewhat inspired by the SEA scheme that Strikemasters from New Zealand and Singapore carried. I recycled the pattern, but changed the colors so that the green hues became more prominent:

- FS 30219 (Tan) became Lichen Green (Xtracolor X024)

- FS 34102 (Medium Green) was replaced with FS 34079 (Modelmaster 1710)*

- FS 34079 (Forest Green) became RAL 8027 Lederbraun (Revell 84)

- FS 36622 underneath was replaced with Fs 36375 (Humbrol 127), a tone that comes close to RAL 7040 "Fenstergrau", another color that has been in use on Irish Air Corps vehicles

*This was used to simulate the dark green tone "Akzo Nobel 042002" that some real Irish aircraft carried allover; FS 34079 is virtually identical

The cockpit interior was painted in Revell 9 (Anthrazit), the landing gear wells was painted in RAF Light Aircraft Grey (Humbrol 166).

The roundels and some other markings came from a Max Decals sheet (#7220) for Irish aircraft and tanks, the tactical code was created with single white digit decals in various sizes from a Begemot sheet for modern Russian aircraft and the fin flash (without it the tail looked somewhat bleak) was improvised with decal and paint. The stencils were taken from the OOB sheet.

Only light post-shading was done, and the engraved panel lines were emphasized through a thinned black ink wash. As a final step the model received a coat of matt acrylic varnish (Italeri).

After a long search for a project, finally an Irish whif aircraft in the collection! While I was painting the model the three-tone camouflage appeared a little odd, but with the decals everything fell into place, and the result even looks quite natural? It’s certainly an eye-catcher, since the many colored markings, stencils and the ordnance break up the murky military look – even though this Jet Provost still looks purposeful with its training ordnance. And: the Airfix kit turned out to be a highly pleasant build, it’s been a long time that I experienced so few problems during a kit’s assembly.

Impressed Components Necklace by Debbie Crothers

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A nice plain green bead sits nicely between the two components

6 Series 1975-76-Electrical Components by Brook Reams

Components by Volpin Props

I'd like to be able to keep the ability of the gun to break down, but not sure if I'll have time to engineer that into the design

Junto Blueprint Overview by Venessa Miemis

here's our first attempt at an overview of junto philosophy and components. still needs some unpacking. comments/suggestions welcome!

Day 55 - Graphics Card by Iain Watson

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As a result of this graphics card dying I am now playing catch up with uploading my daily photos. Amazingly I fixed this card by oven-baking it for 10 minutes.

Components by BuildCircuit Scoreduino

Electronics Hobby by Frans de Wit

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Electronics Hobby

Building a new components-cabinet.

Hacker (hobbyist)

In home computing, a hacker is someone who modifies software or hardware of their own private computer system. It includes building, rebuilding, modifying, and creating software (software cracking, demoscene), electronic hardware (hardware hacking, overclocking, modding), either to make it better, faster, to give it added features or to make it do something it was not originally intended to do. Hacking in this sense originated around hobbyist circles discussing the MITS Altair at the homebrew computer club.

Hacker artists[edit]

See also: Fractal art, algorithmic art and interactive art

Hacker artists create art by hacking on technology as an artistic medium. This has extended the definition of the term and what it means to be a hacker. Such artists may work with graphics, computer hardware, sculpture, music and other audio, animation, video, software, simulations, mathematics, reactive sensory systems, text, poetry, literature, or any combination thereof.

Dartmouth College musician Larry Polansky states: "Technology and art are inextricably related. Many musicians, video artists, graphic artists, and even poets who work with technology—whether designing it or using it—consider themselves to be part of the 'hacker community.' Computer artists, like non-art hackers, often find themselves on society’s fringes, developing strange, innovative uses of existing technology. There is an empathetic relationship between those, for example, who design experimental music software and hackers who write communications freeware." [3]

Another description is offered by Jenny Marketou: "Hacker artists operate as culture hackers who manipulate existing techno-semiotic structures towards a different end, to get inside cultural systems on the net and make them do things they were never intended to do." [4]

A successful software and hardware hacker artist is Mark Lottor (mkl), who has created the 3-D light art projects entitled the Cubatron, and the Big Round Cubatron. This art is made using custom computer technology, with specially designed circuit boards and programming for microprocessor chips to manipulate the LED lights.

Don Hopkins is a software hacker artist well known for his artistic cellular automata. This art, created by a cellular automata computer program, generates objects which randomly bump into each other and in turn create more objects and designs, similar to a lava lamp, except that the parts change color and form through interaction. Says Hopkins, "Cellular automata are simple rules that are applied to a grid of cells, or the pixel values of an image. The same rule is applied to every cell, to determine its next state, based on the previous state of that cell and its neighboring cells. There are many interesting cellular automata rules, and they all look very different, with amazing animated dynamic effects. 'Life' is a widely known cellular automata rule, but many other lesser known rules are much more interesting."

Some hacker artists create art by writing computer code, and others, by developing hardware. Some create with existing software tools such as Adobe Photoshop or GIMP.

The creative process of hacker artists can be more abstract than artists using non-technological media. For example, mathematicians have produced visually stunning graphic presentations of fractals, which hackers have further enhanced, often producing detailed and intricate graphics and animations from simple mathematical formulas.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacker_(hobbyist)

Seldaan Components by seanmotor

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To build my Seldaan Village you will need:

4 dark tan 8x8 base plates

2 dark tan 6x6 base plates

1 green 6x6 base plate

1 tan 8x6 base plate

1 blue 4x4 plate

1 blue 6x4 plate

4 dark bluish grey 4x2 plates

3 dark bluish grey 2x2 plates

1-3 strength monster

4-2 strength monsters

6-1 strength monsters

Heroes

ability and life potion

gold

2 treasure chests

a book

and all that other good stuff

Electronics Components by Dan H. Perry

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Component Infograph slideshow by Stojan Stojanovic

Canberra Components by Graeme Jones

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Details from exhibits at Canberra's Galleries

Lens Components by Marek Isalski

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The front element of the lens (bottom left) has a huge aperture and has a sweet spot of focus. The two smaller components appear to be three-element "anastigmat" focussing sections.

Porcelain jewelry components by Nancy Adams

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India - Karnataka - Badami Caves - Ceiling - 93 by Manfred Sommer

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Badami formerly known as Vatapi, is a town and headquarters of a taluk by the same name, in the Bagalkot district of Karnataka, India. It was the regal capital of the Badami Chalukyas from 540 to 757 AD. It is famous for its rock cut structural temples. It is located in a ravine at the foot of a rugged, red sandstone outcrop that surrounds Agastya lake. Badami has been selected as one of the heritage cities for HRIDAY - Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana scheme of Government of India.

HISTORY

- Dravidian architecture - Badami Chalukyas

- Hindu temple architecture - Badami Chalukya architecture

- Political history of medieval Karnataka - Badami Chalukyas

- Architecture of Karnataka - Badami Chalukya architecture

- Chalukyas of Badami

PRE-HISTORIC

Badami is surrounded by many pre-historic places including Khyad area of Badami, Hiregudda, Sidlaphadi and Kutkankeri (Junjunpadi, Shigipadi and Anipadi), there we can see the rock shelters megalithic burial sites and paintings.

BADAMI CHALUKYAS AND OTHER DYNASTIES

MYTHOLOGY

The Puranic story says the wicked asura Vatapi was killed by sage Agastya (as per Agastya-Vatapi story), the area in which the incident happened so named as Vatapi. At Aihole there was a merchant guild known as Ayyavole Ainuravaru lived in the area have reformed. As per scholar Dr. D. P. Dikshit, the first Chalukya king was Jayasimha (a feudatory lord in the Kadamba dynasty), who in 500 AD established the Chalukya kingdom. His grandson Pulakeshin Ibuilt a fort at Vatapi.

BADAMI CHALUKYAS

It was founded in 540 AD by Pulakeshin I (535-566 AD), an early ruler of the Chalukyas. His sons Kirtivarma I (567-598 AD) and his brother Mangalesha (598-610 AD) constructed the cave temples.Kirtivarma I strengthened Vatapi and had three sons Pulakeshin II, Vishnuvardhana and Buddhavarasa, who at his death were minors, thus making them ineligible to rule, so Kirtivarma I's brother Mangalesha took the throne and tried to establish rule, only to be killed by Pulakeshin II who ruled between 610 A.D to 642 A.D. Vatapi was the capital of the Early Chalukyas, who ruled much of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Few parts of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh between the 6th and 8th centuries. The greatest among them was Pulakeshin II (610-642 AD) who defeated many kings including the Pallavas of Kanchipuram.

The rock-cut Badami Cave Temples were sculpted mostly between the 6th and 8th centuries. The four cave temples represent the secular nature of the rulers then, with tolerance and a religious following that inclines towards Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. cave 1 is devoted to Shiva, and Caves 2 and 3 are dedicated to Vishnu, whereas cave 4 displays reliefs of Jain Tirthankaras. Deep caverns with carved images of the various incarnations of Hindu gods are strewn across the area, under boulders and in the red sandstone. From an architectural and archaeological perspective, they provide critical evidence of the early styles and stages of the southern Indian architecture.

The Pallavas under the king Narasimhavarma I seized it in 642 AD & destroyed the vatapi. Pulakeshin II's son Vikramaditya I of Chalukyas drove back Pallavas in 654 AD and led a successful attack on Kanchipuram, the capital of Pallavas. Then Rashtrakutas came to power in Karnataka including Badami around 757 AD and the town lost its importance. Later it was ruled by the Hoysalas.

Then it passed on to Vijayanagara empire, The Adil Shahis, Mughal Empire, The Savanur Nawabs (They were vassals of Nizams and Marathas), The Maratha, Hyder Ali. The Britishers made it part of the Bombay Presidency.

INSCRIPTIONS

Badami has eighteen inscriptions, among them some inscriptions are important. The first Sanskrit inscription in old Kannada script, on a hillock dates back to 543 CE, from the period of Pulakeshin I (Vallabheswara), the second is the 578 CE cave inscription of Mangalesha in Kannada language and script and the third is the Kappe Arabhatta records, the earliest available Kannada poetry in tripadi (three line) metre. one inscription near the Bhuthanatha temple also has inscriptions dating back to the 12th century in Jain rock-cut temple dedicated to the Tirtankara Adinatha.

VATAPI GANAPATI

In the Carnatic music and Hamsadhwani raga the Vatapi Ganapatim Bhaje by the composer Muthuswami Dikshitar. The idol of Vatapi Ganapati brought from Badami by Pallavas, is now in the Uthrapathiswaraswamy Temple, near Thanjavur of Tamil Nadu.

In 7th century, Vatapi Ganapati idol was brought from Badami (Vatapi - Chalukya capital) by Pallava who defeated Chalukyas.

TOURISM

Landmarks in Badami include cave temples, gateways, forts, inscriptions and sculptures.

- A Buddhist cave in a natural setting that can be entered only by crawling on knees.

- The Bhuhtanatha temple, a small shrine, facing the lake, constructed in 5th century.

- Badami Fort situated on top of the hill.

- Many Shivalayas including the Malegatti Shivalaya with 7th century origins.

- The Dattatreya temple.

- The Mallikarjuna temple dating back to the 11th century, built on a star shaped plan.

- a Dargah, a dome of an Islamic place of worship on the south fort side.

- Vista points on top of the North Fort for the view of the ancient town below.

- Temple of Banashankari, a Kuladevata (family deity) for many families, is located near Badami.

- Archaeological museum, that has collection of sculptures from Badami, Aihole and Pattadakal.

BADAMI CAVE TEMPLES

The Badami cave temples are a complex of four cave temples located at Badami, a town in the Bagalkot district in the north part of Karnataka, India. They are considered an example of Indian rock-cut architecture, especially Badami Chalukya architecture initiated during the 6th century. Badami was previously known as Vataapi Badami, the capital of the early Chalukya dynasty, who ruled much of Karnataka from middle of the sixth until the middle of the eighth centuries. Badami is situated on the west bank of an artificial lake filled with greenish water dammed by an earthen wall faced with stone steps. Badami is surrounded in the north and south by forts built in later times from the ramparts that crown their summits.

The Badami cave temples represent some of the earliest known experimentation of Hindu temple prototypes for later temples in the Indian peninsula. Along with Aihole, states UNESCO, their pioneering designs transformed the Malaprabha river valley into a cradle of Temple Architecture, whose ideas defined the components of later Hindu Temples elsewhere. Caves 1 to 3 feature Hindu themes of Shiva and Vishnu, while Cave 4 features Jain icons. There is also a Buddhist Cave 5 which has been converted into a Hindu temple of Vishnu. Another cave identified in 2013 has a number of carvings of Vishnu and other Hindu deities, and water is seen gushing out through the cave all the time.

GEOGRAPHY

The Badami cave temples are located in the Badami town in the north central part of Karnataka, India. The temples are about 110 km northeast from Hubli-Dharwad, the second largest metropolitan area of the state. Malaprabha river is 4.8 km away. Badami, also referred to as Vatapi, Vatapipuri and Vatapinagari in historical texts, and the 6th-century capital of Chalukya dynasty, is at the exit point of the ravine between two steep mountain cliffs. Four cave temples have been excavated in the escarpment of the hill to the south-east of the town above the artificial lake called Agastya Lake created by an earthen dam faced with stone steps. To the west end of this cliff, at its lowest point, is the first cave temple dedicated to Shiva, followed by a cave north east to it dedicated to Vishnu but is at a much higher level. The largest is Cave 3, mostly a Vaishnava cave, is further to the east on the northern face of the hill. The first three caves are dedicated to Hindu gods and goddesses including Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. The fourth cave, dedicated to Jainism, is a short distance away.

HISTORY OF CAVE TEMPLES

The cave temples, numbered 1 to 4 in the order of their creation, identified in the town of Badami, the capital city of the Chalukya kingdom (also known as Early Chalukyas) are dated from the late 6th century onwards. The exact dating is known only for cave 3 which is a Brahmanical temple dedicated to Vishnu. An inscription found here records the creation of the shrine by Mangalesha in Saka 500 (lunar calendar, spanning 578 to 579 CE). These inscriptions are in Kannada language, and have been the source for dating these rock cave temples to the 6th-century. The Badami caves complex are part of the UNESCO inscribed World Heritage Site under the title "Evolution of Temple Architecture – Aihole-Badami-Pattadakal" in the Malaprabha river valley which is considered a cradle of Temple Architecture, which formed the template for later Hindu temples in the region. The art work in Cave 1 and Cave 2 exhibit the northern Deccan style of 6th- and 7th-century, while those in Cave 3 show a simultaneous co-exhibition of two different ancient Indian artistic traditions – the northern Nagara and the southern Dravida styles. The Cave 3 also shows icons and reliefs in the Vesara style – a creative fusion of ideas from the two styles, as well as some of the earliest surviving historical examples of yantra-chakra motifs and colored fresco paintings in Karnataka. The first three caves feature sculpture of Hindu icons and legends focusing on Shiva and Vishnu, while Cave 4 features Jain icons and themes.

TEMPLE CAVES

The Badami cave temples are composed of mainly four caves, all carved out of the soft Badami sandstone on a hill cliff, dated to the late 6th to 7th centuries. The planning of four caves (1 to 4) is simple. The entrance is a verandah (mukha mandapa) with stone columns and brackets, a distinctive feature of these caves, leading to a columned mandapa – main hall (also maha mandapa) and then to the small square shrine (sanctum sanctorum, garbhaghrha) cut deep into the cave. The cave temples are linked by stepped path with intermediate terraces looking over the town and lake. Cave temples are labelled 1–4 in their ascending series even though this numbering does not necessarily reflect the sequence of excavation.

The cave temples are dated to 6th to 8th century, with an inscription dated to 579 CE. The inscriptions are in old Kannada script. The architecture includes structures built in Nagara style and Dravidian style which is the first and most persistent architectural idiom to be adopted by the early chalukyas There is also the fifth natural cave temple in Badami – a Buddhist temple, a natural cave, which can be entered kneeling on all fours.

CAVE 1

The cave is just about 18 m above the street level on the northwest part of the hill. Access is through series of steps which depict carvings of dwarfish ganas (with "bovine and equine heads") in different postures. The verandah with 21 m length with a width of 20 m in the interior, has four columns all sculpted with reliefs of the god Shiva in different dancing positions and different incarnations. The guardian dwarapalas at the entrance to the cave stand to a height of 1.879 m.

The cave portrays the Tandava-dancing Shiva, as Nataraja. The image, (1.5 m tall, has 18 arms, in a form that express the dance positions arranged in a geometric pattern, which Alice Boner states, is a time division symbolizing the cosmic wheel. Some of the arms hold objects while most express mudras (symbolic hand postures). The objects include drums, trident and axe. Some arms also have serpents coiled around them. Shiva has his son Ganesha and the bull Nandi by his side. Adjoining to the Nataraja, a wall depicts the goddess Durga, depicted slaying the buffalo-demon Mahishasura. Elsewhere, the two sons of Shiva, Ganesha and Kartikkeya, the god of war and family deity of the Chalukya dynasty are seen in one of the carved sculptures on the walls of the cave with Kartikkeya riding a peacock.

The cave also has carved sculptures of the goddesses Lakshmi and Parvati flanking Harihara, a 2.36 m high sculpture of a fused image that is half Shiva and half Vishnu. To the right, Ardhanarishvara, a composite androgynous form of Shiva and his consort Parvati, is sculpted towards the end of the walls. All the carved sculptures show ornaments worn by them, as well as borders with reliefs of various animals and birds. Lotus design is a common theme. On the ceiling are images of the Vidyadhara couples. Through a cleavage in the back side of the cave is a square sanctuary with more images carved.

Other prominent images in the cave are Nandi, the bull, in the sculptural form of Dharmadeva, the god of justice, Bhringi, a devotee of Shiva, a female decorated goddess holding a flat object in her left hand, which are all part of Ardhanarishvara described earlier. The roof in the cave has five carved panels with the central panel depicting the serpent Shesha. The head and bust are well formed and project boldly from the centre of the coil. In another compartment a bass-relief of 0.76 m diameter has carvings of a male and female; the male is Yaksha carrying a sword and the female is Apsara with a flying veil. The succeeding panel has carvings of two small figures; and the panel at the end is carved with lotuses.

CAVE 2

Cave 2, facing north, to the west of Cave 3, created in late 6th century AD, is almost same as cave 1 in terms of its layout and dimensions but it is dedicated primarily to Vishnu. Cave is reached by climbing 64 steps from the first cave. The cave entrance is the verandah, divided by four square pillars, which has carvings from its middle section to the top where there are yali brackets with sculptures within them. The cave is adorned with reliefs of guardians. Like the Cave 1, the cave art carved is a pantheon of Hindu divinities.

The largest relief in Cave 2 shows Vishnu as Trivikrama – with one foot on Earth and another – directed to the north. Other representations of Vishnu in this cave include Varaha (boar) where he is shown rescuing Bhudevi (symbolism for earth) from the depths of ocean, and Krishna avatars – legends found in Hindu Puranas text such as the Bhagavata Purana. Like other major murti (forms) in this and other Badami caves, the Varaha sculpture is set in a circle, the panel is an upright rectangle, states Alice Boner, whose "height is equal to the octopartite directing circle and sides are aligned to essential geometric ratios, in this case to the second vertical chord of the circle". The doorway is framed by pilasters carrying an entablature with three blocks embellished with gavaksha ornament. The entrance of the cave also has two armed guardians holding flowers rather than weapons. The end walls of the outer verandah is occupied by sculpted panels, to the right, Trivikrama; to the left, Varaha rescuing Bhudevi, with a penitent multi-headed snake (Nag) below. The adjacent side walls and ceiling have traces of colored paintwork, suggesting that the cave used to have fresco paintings. The columns show gods and battle scenes, the churning of cosmic ocean (Samudra Manthan), Gajalakshmi and figures, Brahma, Vishnu asleep on Shesha, illustrations of the birth of Krishna, Krishna's youth, Krishna with gopis and cows.

The ceiling of Cave 2 shows a wheel with sixteen fish spokes in a square frame along with swastikas and flying couples. The end bays have a flying couple and Vishnu on Garuda.[8] The main hall in the cave is 10.16 m in width, 7.188 m deep and 3.45 m high and is supported by eight square pillars in two rows. The roof of this hall has panels which have carvings. At the upper end of the wall a frieze runs all along the wall with engravings of episodes from the Krishna or Vishnu legends.

The sculptures of Cave 2, like Cave 1, are of the northern Deccan style of 6th-and 7th-century similar to that found in Ellora caves.

CAVE 3

The Cave 3 is dedicated to Vishnu, and is the most intricately carved and the biggest. It has well carved giant figures of Trivikrama, Anantasayana, Paravasudeva, Bhuvaraha, Harihara and Narasimha. The theme on which the Cave 3 is carved is primarily Vaishnavite, however the cave also shows Harihara on its southern wall – half Vishnu and half Shiva shown fused as one, making the cave important to Shaivism studies as well. Cave 3, facing north, is 60 steps away from the Cave 2. This cave temple's veranda, 21 m in length with an interior width of 20 m, has been sculpted 15 m deep into the mountain, and an added square shrine at the end extends the cave some 3.7 m further inside. The verandah itself is 2.1 m wide and has four free standing carved pillars separating it from the hall. The cave is 4.6 m high, supported by six pillars each measuring 0.76 m square. Each column and pilaster is carved with wide and deep bases crowned by capitals which are camouflaged by brackets on three sides. Each bracket, except for one bracket, has carvings of standing human figures, under foliage in different postures, of a male and female mythological characters, along with attendant figure of a dwarf. A moulded cornice in the facia, with a dado of blocks below it (generally in 2.1 m lengths), have about thirty compartments carved with series of two fat dwarfs called ganas. The cave shows a Kama scene on one pillar, where a woman and man are in maithuna (erotic) embrace beneath a tree.

Cave 3 also shows fresco paintings on the ceiling, but some of these are faded, broken and unclear. These are among the earliest known and surviving evidence of fresco painting in Indian art.[14] The Hindu god Brahma is seen in one of the murals, while the wedding of Shiva and Parvati, attended by various Hindu deities, is the theme of another. There is a lotus medallion on the floor underneath the mural of four armed Brahma. The sculpture is well preserved, and a large number of Vishnu's reliefs including standing Vishnu with 8 arms, Vishnu seated on a hooded serpent called Sesha or Ananta on the eastern side of the verandha, Vishnu as Narasimha (half human – half lion), Varaha fully armed, a boar incarnation of Vishnu in the back wall of the cave, Harihara (a syncretic sculpture of Vishnu and Shiva), and Trivikrama avatars. The back wall also has carvings of Vidhyadaras holding offerings to Varaha, and adjoining this is an inscription dated 579 AD with the name Mangalis inscribed on it. At one end of the pilaster there is a sculpture of the fourth incarnation of Vishnu as Vamana shown with eight arms called Ashtabhuja decorated with various types of weapons. A crescent moon is crafted above his face, crown of Vishnu decorates his head and is flanked by Varaha and two other figures and below on his right is his attendant Garuda. The images in front of Vamana are three figures of Bali and his wife with Shukra, his councilor. Reliefs stand 4 metres tall. The culture and clothing embedded in the sixth century is visible in the art sculpted in this cave. The roof in the verandha has seven panels created by cross beams, each is painted in circular compartments with images of Shiva, Vishnu, Indra, Brahma, Kama and so forth with smaller images of Dikpalas (cardinal guardians) with geometric mosaics filling the gaps at the corners.

The front aisle's roof has panels with murals in the center of male and female figurines flying in the clouds; the male figure is yaksha holding a sword and a shield. Decoration of lotus blooms are also seen on the panels. The roof in the hall is divided into nine panels slightly above the level of the ceiling. The central panel here depicts a deva mounted on a ram – conjectured as Agni. Images of Brahma and Varuna are also painted in the central panels while the floating figures are seen in the balance panels.

CAVE 4

The Cave 4, to the east of Cave 3, excavated around 650 AD, is located higher than other caves. It is dedicated to revered figures of Jainism and was constructed last among all the caves. It also features detailed carvings and diverse range of motifs. The cave has five bayed entrance with four square columns with brackets and capitals, and to the back of this verandah is a hall with two standalone and two joined pillars. The first aisle is a verandah 9.4 m in length, 2.0 m wide and extends to 4.9 m deep. From the hall, steps lead to the sanctum sanctorum, which is 7.8 m wide extending to a depth of 1.8 m. On the back part of this, Mahavira is represented, sitting on lion throne, flanked by bas-reliefs of attendants with chauri (fans), sardulas and makara's heads. The end walls have Parshvanath (about 2.3 m tall) with his head decorated to represent protection and reverence by a multi-headed cobra, Indrabhuti Gautama covered by four snakes and Bahubali are seen; Bahubali is present to the left of Gautama shown with his lower legs surrounded by snakes along with his daughters Brahmi and Sundari. The sanctum, which is adorned by the image of Mahavira, has pedestal which contains an old Kannada inscription of the 12th century A.D. which registers the death of one Jakkave. Many Jaina Tirthankara images have been engraved in the inner pillars and walls. In addition, there are some idols of Yakshas, Yakshis, Padmavati and other Tirthankaras. Some scholars also assign the cave to the 8th century.

CAVE 5

It is a natural cave of small dimensions, undated, is approached by crawling as it has a narrow opening. Inside, there is a carved statue seated over a sculpted throne with reliefs showing people holding chauris (fans), tree, elephants and lions in an attacking mode. The face of this statue was reasonably intact till about 1995, and is now damaged and missing. There are several theories as to who the statue represents.

The first theory states that it is a Buddha relief, in a sitting posture. Those holding the chauris are Bodhisattvas flanking the Buddha, states this theory, and that the cave has been converted to a Hindu shrine of Vishnu, in later years, as seen from the white religious markings painted on the face of the Buddha as the 9th incarnation of Vishnu. Shetti suggests that the cave was not converted, but from the start represented a tribute to Mayamoha of the Hindu Puranas, or Buddhavatara Vishnu, its style suggesting it was likely carved in or before 8th century CE.

The second theory, found in colonial era texts such as one by John Murray, suggested that the main image carved in the smallest fifth cave is that of Jaina figure.

The third theory, by Henry Cousens as well as A. Sundara, and based by local legends, states that the statue is of an ancient king because the statue's photo, when its face was not damaged, lacked Ushnisha lump that typically goes with Buddha's image. Further, the statue has unusual non-Buddha ornaments such as rings for fingers, necklace and chest-band, it wears a Hindu Yajnopavita thread, and its head is stylistically closer to a Jina head than a Buddha head. These features suggest that the statue may be of a king represented with features of various traditions. The date and identity of the main statue in Cave 5, states Bolon, remains enigmatic.

OTHER CAVES

In 2013, Manjunath Sullolli reported the discovery of another cave with 27 rock carvings, about 500 metres from the four caves, from which water gushes year round. It depicts Vishnu and other Hindu deities, and features inscription in Devanagari script. The dating of these carvings is unknown.

OTHER TEMPLES AT BADAMI

On the north hill, there are three temples, of which Malegitti-Shivalaya is perhaps the oldest temple and also the finest in Badami, and has a Dravidian tower. Out of the two inscriptions found here, one states that Aryaminchi upadhyaya, as the sculptor who got this temple constructed and the other dated 1543 speaks of the erection of a bastion during the Vijayanagara rule. The lower Shivalaya has a Dravidian tower, and only the sanctum remains now.

Jambhulinga temple, situated in the town, is presumably the oldest known trikutachala temple in Karnataka. An inscription dated 699 ascribes construction of this temple to Vinayavathi mother of Emperor Vijayaditya.

The place also has Agasthya Tirtha, temples of Goddess Yellamma, Mallikarjuna, Datttreya and Virupaksha. Bhuthanatha group of temples are most important in Badami.

BADAMI FORT

Badami fort lies east of the Bhuthnatha temple, atop a cliff right opposite the Badami cave temples. The entrance to this temple is right through the Badami museum. It is a steep climb with many view points and dotted with little shrines. The path is laid with neatly cut stone, the same that adores all the architecture around.

ETYMOLOGY

The name Vatapi has origin in the Vatapi legend of Ramayana relating to Sage Agastya.There were two demon siblings Vatapi and Ilvala. They used to kill all mendicants by tricking them in a peculiar way. The elder Ilvala would turn Vatapi into a ram and would offer its meat to the guest. As soon as the person ate the meat, Ilvala would call out the name of Vatapi. As he had a boon that whomsoever Ilvala calls would return from even the netherland, Vatapi would emerge ripping through the body of the person, thus killing him. Their trick worked until Sage Agastya countered them by digesting Vatapi before Ilvala could call for him, thus ending the life of Vatapi at the hands of Ilvala. Two of the hills in Badami represent the demons Vatapi and Ilvala.

It is also believed that name Badami has come from colour of its stone (badam - Almond).

CULTURE

The main language is Kannada. The local population wears traditional Indian cotton wear.

GEOGRAPHY

Badami is located at 15.92°N 75.68°E. It has an average elevation of 586 metres. It is located at the mouth of a ravine between two rocky hills and surrounds Agastya tirtha water reservoir on the three other sides. The total area of the town is 10.3 square kilometers.

It is located 30 kilometers from Bagalkot, 128 kilometers from Bijapur, 132 kilometers from Hubli, 46 kilometers from Aihole, another ancient town, and 589 kilometers from Bangalore, the state capital.

WIKIPEDIA

Tajo Plastic Components & Subassemblies by Tajo Group

Development and manufacture of plastic components and subassemblies for automotive and household appliances

Component InfographLower 3rd by Stojan Stojanovic

electronic components by terrybiky

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talleret 01 by Serkeros Bloodgood

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una vista general del racó, amb tot el que hi tinc

llegeix el post a: serkeros.wordpress.com/2011/11/06/el-talleret/

Recycle your kettle by Explain That Stuff

If you can't dispose of your old kettle by taking the whole thing to a waste center, you can probably recycle much of it yourself. Carefully dismantle it and put the pieces with plastic recycling symbols in your recycling collection box. Save and reuse any useful bits like screws and springs. You'll find you throw relatively little in the trash - and you'll learn a lot about how things work.

This photo is from our article about electric kettles.

Our images are published under a Creative Commons Licence (see opposite) and are free for noncommercial use. We also license our images for commercial use. Please contact us directly via our website for more details.

Bugatti Veyron - Components by Peter Blackert

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For those of you who are interested in the 'bits', here are a selection of the key parts.

Not a complete rundown by covers the main mechanicals and load-bearing structures.

Car is 'drivable' with rear engine/transaxle, front tub and front drive assembly module.

Engine is an eight cylinder in 'W' format. That is two Vee-fours with their crankshafts gearedto a cenntral drive shaft.

Front and rear suspension are both by swing axles and sprung by torsion bars. The front suspension module plus straing into the front of the stressed tub and is completely self contained for load paths. The rear suspension feefs the loadparths into the engine assembly.

Not on the engine module the heat exchangers mounted in front of the rear wheels as well as behing the rear suspension module. The real Veyron has 13 heat exchangers in all. The detailing on the top of the engine asembly replicates the intake system and air-air intercoolers for the charge air.

One of the included images has the entire vehicle assembly arrayed.

Please feel free to ask any questions or request further techincal information regarding the model.

Wrought Iron Components by F H Brundle

COMPONENTS. by Chris Rogerson

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Learning is fun! by Ross Pollack

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Cabuli, Philippines

VHL CURRICULUM

The cornerstone of all of ICM’s strategic programs is our Values, Health and Livelihood Curriculum – VHL. This 16-week, hands-on training course is designed to address the holistic needs of those living in poverty. It teaches attainable life skills, leading to stronger relationships, improved problem-solving and greater family well-being. Key curriculum components include:

VALUES 1. Belief that a better future is possible, self-esteem 2. Planning ahead, goal-setting, perseverance 3. Introduces a Biblical world view for consideration 4. Love, forgiveness, grace, patience 5. Relationships, truthfulness, respect for others

HEALTH 6. Childhood development, family care 7. Hygiene, sanitation, dental care 8. Safe drinking water, clean household environments 9. Injury prevention, infectious diseases 10. Nutrition, childhood malnutrition, health choices

LIVELIHOOD 11. Budgeting, saving, small business skills 12. Container farming, seed banking, plant management 13. Composting, organic soil production, vermiculture (worms) 14. Food product sales -- banana chips, rice cakes 15. Cleaning products sales

For more info: www.caremin.com

Components by Audio Database

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switch components by flee the cities

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These are parts of the switch control system for the little hump yard in Springfield yard. I assume they're relays for all of the switches than can be thrown by the operator in the hump tower.

Components by Windell Oskay

Ingredient for a simple target board: Perfboard, socket, 6-pin DIP header, optional battery box.

Photo taken to accompany short article on working with AVR microcontrollers, and making minimalist target boards for programming them.

Component Input by Onkyo USA

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electronic butterfly by Marcello Miceli

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poppy_components by Poppy project

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Moonfruit - Component library by Bojhan S

A sidebar from which you can add components on the page.

IMG_0528 by Ashley Romanosky

Hard at work

twlfpga: Component side by Micah Elizabeth Scott

Finished soldering the component side of bushing's new twlfpga board to a mostly-virgin DSi. I'm trying a new "hot glue reflow" technique for making the wiring job sturdy yet serviceable :)

Honor Guard Competition by U.S. Customs and Border Protection

CBP components, Office of Field Operations, Office of Border Patrol and Office of Air and Marine compete in an Honor Guard Competition during the annual commemoration of Police Week in Washington D.C. Photos by James Tourtellotte.