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Form and function at its best. It took a little bit to set them up, mostly to get the right spacer thickness and slight toe in. They work fantastically - good modulation, lots of power and no squeal. Worth every penny.
X100S vs. X100 comparison. See www.flickr.com/photos/25805910@N05/sets/72157632958348638/ for the full set.
Click here for my regular X100S sample set: www.flickr.com/photos/25805910@N05/sets/72157632954030903...
JPEG SOOC Provia, NR -2.
Is the X100S Lens Modulation Optimizer (LMO) positively affecting IQ at small apertures?
'Anniyan' was more of a challenge for Vikram as an actor, as he had to play three radically different roles in this Shankar movie.Thiraipattarai also teach a multiple personality acting courses. It means actors act a different role in one movie.Thiraipattarai conducting a number of courses like multiple personality acting,cinemas workshop,classical acting,yoga,monoacting,mime,silambam,thappattam,story telling,dialogue modulation,body language etc… In Dec Christmas offers going grab yours soon…
CONTACT NO:7338907008
Oil on canvas; 162 x 150 cm.
Ernst Wilhelm Nay studied under Karl Hofer at the Berlin Art Academy from 1925 until 1928. His first sources of inspiration resulted from his preoccupation with Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and Henri Matisse as well as Caspar David Friedrich and Nicolas Poussin.
Nay's still lifes, portraits and landscapes were widely acclaimed. In 1931 Ernst Wilhelm Nay received a nine-months' study bursary to the Villa Massimo in Rome, where he began to paint in the abstract Surrealist manner. On the recommendation of the Lübeck museum director, C.G. Heise, Nay was given a work grant financed by Edvard Munch, which enabled Nay to spend time in Norway and on the Lofoten Islands in 1937. The "Fischer- und Lofotenbilder" represented a first pinnacle of achievement.
That same year, however, two of his works were shown in the notorious exhibition of "Degenerate Art" and Ernst Wilhelm Nay was forbidden to exhibit any longer. Conscripted into the German armed forces in 1940, Nay went with the infantry to France, where a French sculptor placed his studio at Nay's disposal. In the "Hekatebildern" (1945-48), featuring motifs from myth, legend and poetry, Nay worked through his war and postwar experiences.
The "Fugale Bilder" (1949-51) proclaim new beginnings in a fiery palette and entwined forms. In 1950 the Kestner Gesellschaft Hannover mounted a first retrospective of Nay's work. The following year the artist moved to Cologne, where, with the "Rhythmischen Bildern" he took the final step towards entirely non-representational painting. In them he began to use color purely as figurative values. From 1955 Nay's painted "Scheibenbilder", in which round color surfaces organize subtle modulations of space and color. These are developed further in 1963-64 in what are known as the "Augenbilder". A first one-man-show in America at the Kleeman Galleries, New York, in 1955, participation in the 1956 Venice Biennale and the Kassel "documenta" (1955, 1959 and 1964) are milestones marking Nay's breakthrough on the international art scene. Nay was awarded important prizes and is represented by work in nearly all major exhibitions of German art in Germany and abroad.
De izda a dcha: La antena de WRVE, primera emisora autorizada en emitir regularmente en FM estéreo. La emisora experimental de Edwin H. Armstrong, en Alpine.
La antena de Radio Juventud de Barcelona en el Carmel. Román Gibert, ingeniero de Faro Española.
El mástil de OM de Radio Juventud de Murcia, de 60 metros de altura y 4 toneladas de peso, tipo cuarto de onda, instalado en las inmediaciones del vivero forestal regional en el Parque del Valle, cuyo coste total llegó a las 600.000 pesetas de la época, desde donde continuaría sus emisiones Radio Juventud de Murcia el viernes 11 de octubre de 1963 por la frecuencia de 1106 kilohertzios con una longitud de onda de 271 metros. El emisor de onda media fue trasladado a Las Torres de Cotillas, probablemente al inicio de los 90, coincidiendo con la aplicación del nuevo Plan Técnico Nacional de Radiodifusión Sonora en Ondas Medias (hectométricas) de 1993 (Real Decreto 765/1993, de 21 de mayo, publicado en el BOE de 11 de junio de 1993), por el que se aprobaba el cambio de frecuencia de 1107 Khz, en la que emitía desde el otoño de 1978, a la nueva frecuencia de 567 Khz y con un notable aumento de potencia a 50 kw.
La Frecuencia Modulada en estereofonía (1):
Bastante ha llovido desde que a Clément Ader se le ocurriese transmitir un concierto de la Ópera de París, para la Exposición Internacional de la Electricidad en 1881, mediante dos líneas telefónicas simples e independientes, conocido entonces como el sistema Théatrophone, con el fin de mejorar la audición a distancia del sonido retransmitido binaural. Con posterioridad se llevaron a cabo múltiples experimentos e inventos para transmitir el sonido estereofónico bien por medio de cables o grabaciones en discos de distinto formato.
Ya en diciembre de 1925 la BBC realizó la transmisión de un concierto dirigido por Hamilton Harty desde Manchester de forma experimental, considerada como su primera emisión de radio en estéreo, emitiendo el canal derecho por la estación 5XX en onda larga desde Daventry y el canal izquierdo por una emisora local de onda media, como era la 2LO en Londres, a la que le siguieron varias transmisiones de ópera desde el Old Vic en Londres con el mismo sistema. Años después, desde 1958 hasta mediados los años 60, los sábados por la mañana quincenalmente se realizaban transmisiones de un canal de sonido por TV, combinado con el segundo canal de sonido por radio, el Tercer Programa Network 3 en OM y FM.
De forma parecida a lo que hacía la BBC en Europa, algunas emisoras norteamericanas transmitían en estéreo, emitiendo un canal en AM y por su emisora asociada en FM el otro canal. Ejemplos de esto son la WGN de Chicago en AM y su asociada en FM la WGNB el 22 de mayo de 1952 y de igual forma la WQXR de Nueva York en octubre de 1952. Todas estas modalidades precisaban de dos aparatos receptores para poder percibir el sonido binaural.
En esta época la estereofonía era para la radio como el color para la televisión, hechos ambos que se iban desarrollando al mismo tiempo prácticamente, para pasar a ser difundidos tambien a todas sus audiencias después en tiempos parecidos, en los años sesenta.
Edwin Howard Armstrong, inventor e impulsor de la frecuencia modulada, en diciembre de 1933 junto a su colaborador John Bose desarrollaron el sistema de multiplexado que permitía a las emisoras de FM utilizar las bandas laterales de sus frecuencias principales para la transmisión en estereofonía o para emitir una programación subsidiaria, facsímil, codificada o de pago, ya desde los inicios de la misma en noviembre de 1934 desde el piso 85 del Empire State, de forma experimental, patentandolo en 1949 y siguieron experimentando desde su emisora en Alpine para presentarlo en público en 1953.
A partir de ahí diversas compañías e investigadores siguieron desarrollando esta técnica. Uno de ellos fue William S. Halstead, un inventor prolífico, con más de 80 patentes desarrolladas para radio y televisión, que además desarrolló tambien tecnología para añadir el sonido estereofónico a las películas de cine. Así, en 1.950 desarrolló un sistema de multiplexado como lo había hecho Armstrong previamente. Su primera prueba experimental se realizó el 13 de septiembre de 1.950, en Nueva York, en 70 Pine Street, a través de la WGYN en 97,9 Mhz, cuyas emisiones regulares habian cesado el 12 de mayo del mismo año por quiebra, efectuandose la recepción de la transmisión en los estudios Reeves Sound, describiendose entonces como transmisión tridimensional de radio por FM, como consta en las audiencias del subcomité del Comité de Relaciones Extranjeras del Senado de los Estados Unidos sobre Programas de Información de Ultramar celebradas el 20 y el 21 de noviembre de 1.952. Esta era una de las primeras ocasiones en que una transmisión en estéreo podía realizarse desde un solo emisor y reproducirse en un solo aparato receptor.
Tras un cierto tiempo de experimentación, en 1960 la Comisión Federal de Comunicaciones analizó 14 sistemas patentados para la emisión en estéreo por FM, incluídos los de Halstead, Crosby, EMI, Zenith y General Electric entre otros, de los que preseleccionó 8, y de los que finalmente el Comité Nacional para la Radio Estereofónica seleccionó 6 (Crosby Teletronics, Calbest Electronics, Multiplex Developement, Electric and Musical Industries, General Electric and Zenith conjunto, GE alternativo y Philco) para ser probados a través de la emisora KDKA-FM (Uniontown, en Pittsburg, Pennsylvania) en julio y agosto de ese mismo año; eventualmente sólo dos sistemas llegarían a una última selección. La aprobación de los estándares de múltiplex estéreo se hicieron públicos el 20 de abril de 1961 por una resolución de dicha Comisión en la que justificaba su decisión de que el estándar ofreciese suficiente calidad sin alterar la audición monofónica ni que los servicios subsidiarios fueran alterados mientras que se emitiese en estereofonía, siendo finalmente elegido el modelo denominado 4-4A presentado de forma conjunta por General Electric Corporation, Syracuse y Zenith Radio Corporation, Chicago (idénticos en la teórica y en la práctica), recalcando su bajo costo y estar libre de distorsiones, precisando que su cobertura sería menor que las emisiones monofónicas, autorizando a emitir regularmente, desde las 00:01 h a.m. del 1 de junio de 1.961 en sus respectivas zonas horarias, a las tres primeras emisoras de FM en estéreo en Estados Unidos: la WGFM de Schenectady (de General Electric), desde mayo de 1.947 en 99,5 Mhz (en la actualidad conocida como WRVE) comenzó transmitiendo las obras de Command, Persuasive and Provocative Percussion, para pasar a emitir regularmente en estéreo 20 horas semanales al mediodía y por las tardes, la WEFM de Chicago (de Zenith EC), también entonces en la misma frecuencia de 99,5 Mhz con una programación regular limitada y la KMLA de Los Angeles en 100,3 Mhz, aunque con tecnología de Calbest Electronics. Una cuarta emisora, WUPY Boston FM anunció que emitiría en estéreo tambien desde la fecha mencionada, pero tuvo que aplazarse hasta que fuera autorizada por la Comisión Federal de Comunicaciones. El sistema de General Electric y Zenith de estéreo tono-piloto es el que se utiliza en la actualidad por todo el mundo.
En el área de Londres, la BBC, desde su emisora en Wrotham donde se realizaron las primeras emisiones experimentales en FM desde mayo de 1950 y regularmente desde el 2 de mayo de 1955, llevó a cabo las primeras pruebas experimentales en FM estéreo del sistema tono-piloto de General Electric y Zenith el 13 y 14 de enero de 1958; en este mismo año se inician las primeras grabaciones en estéreo de distintos programas, como fue el caso del tradicional Festival de las Nueve Lecturas y Villancicos desde la capilla del King's College en Cambridge que se celebra cada año el día de Nochebuena. La continuidad de las emisiones en pruebas en FM estéreo no volvería hasta el 28 de agosto de 1962 por esa misma emisora, el Tercer Programa Network 3, en 91,3 Mhz, con sucesivas emisiones cada vez menos esporádicas; el 17 de abril de 1966, la retransmisión del concierto de tarde del BBC Music Programme se convierte en la primera emisión en directo en estéreo para emitir ya regularmente ciertos programas diarios desde el 30 de agosto de 1966. En 1968 comenzó a extender esta modalidad a otros transmisores (Sutton Coldfield (21/7/1968) y Holme Moss (10/8/1968) para llegar a una cobertura del 60% de la población del Reino Unido en 1970. Cuando la BBC pudo disponer de su propio sistema digital de radioenlaces entre transmisores (Pulse Code Modulation) extendió el estéreo a sus emisoras Radio 2 y 4 desde Wrotham el 4 de noviembre de 1972. Radio 1, la emisora musical contemporánea de la BBC, comenzaría a emitir en FM estéreo el 1 de octubre de 1987 desde Crystal Palace en 104,8 Mhz.
En España, a lo largo de los años 60 se implantaba la FM, y a finales de esta década o principios de los 70 en RNE se realizaban pruebas con la estereofonía, calificada por el jefe de la sección de FM en RNE Gabriel Vivó como «la meta más remota y espectacular en el mundo de la radio». Con el fin de ilustrar tales virtudes —«su respuesta abarca sonidos que el oído humano no puede captar, pero que enriquecen extraordinariamente los audibles. No existen, en teoría, ruidos ajenos a la propia emisión, siendo plena la definición de graves y agudos»- los contenidos fueron principalmente musicales.
En cualquier caso, en España, el proyecto pionero de emitir con sonido estereofónico fue de Radio Juventud de Barcelona; al igual que la BBC y las emisoras americanas, en 1962 en algunos programas, como obras de teatro radiadas, desde la emisora de Barcelona en OM se emitía un canal y por las emisoras de Radio Juventud en OM de San Feliú, Molins de Rey, Martorell, Igualada, Granollers y Sabadell se emitía el segundo canal de sonido. Años despues, Radio Juventud de Barcelona sería tambien la primera emisora española en emitir con regularidad en frecuencia modulada y estereofonía desde el 10 de enero de 1.975, en 90 Mhz, cuyo proyecto vino de la mano de su director, Josep Lluís Surroca, junto a Josep Payá, Josep Deu y Manuel Bolívar, con Román Gibert Paluzie y Julio Grau, ingenieros de los laboratorios técnicos de Faro Española, quienes aportaron el codificador estéreo para el emisor, entonces situado en el Carmel, a cargo de Juan Elías Bautista, una vez autorizado el gasto de 50.000 pesetas para su adquisición y tras un tiempo de pruebas con nocturnidad, a partir de la medianoche, con un magnetófono Telefunken y una cinta grabada en estéreo del Dúo Dinámico.
Radio Juventud de Murcia tenía entonces la emisora de OM e instalada la de FM desde marzo de 1967, pero sin llegar a emitir con regularidad hasta que en diciembre de 1974 solicita de nuevo a la central de la CAR la autorización para emitir en FM, coincidiendo con el XXV aniversario de la fundación de la emisora. Pocas semanas despues que RJ de Barcelona iniciara sus emisiones en estereofonía, RJ de Murcia se convirtió en la segunda emisora española en emitir en FM estéreo de forma diferenciada a la programación convencional, según su director entonces, Adolfo Fernández Aguilar, gracias a los mismos ingenieros técnicos de Faro Española que desarrollaron la emisora en Barcelona, junto al jefe técnico de la emisora, Sergio Villodre y el jefe de Programas, Luis Fernández. El emisor fue inicialmente instalado en la caseta de la emisora sita en las inmediaciones de La Alberca, en el Valle, con 6 dipolos multidireccionales en lo alto del mástil de la antena de OM, cubriendo el área metropolitana de Murcia, las comarcas del valle del Guadalentín, y las vegas media y baja del Segura. La primera emisión se realizó a las dos menos cuarto del sábado 22 de febrero de 1975 para pasar a emitir en pruebas dos horas de emisión diarias, de 7 a 9, en la tarde desde el 23 de febrero de 1.975, quedando despues inauguradas oficialmente las emisiones a las 13 horas del 31 de marzo del mismo año. Con el mismo indicativo que la emisora catalana, “RJ2 estéreo” aparecía por la frecuencia de 92,1 Mhz, con una programación muy reducida por las tardes, cuya duración se amplió a cuatro horas, de seis de la tarde a diez de la noche desde el 18 de abril de 1975. A partir del 5 de diciembre de 1976 se aumenta la potencia del emisor en el Valle, se mejora la baja frecuencia con un estudio específico dotado de equipos mas modernos y se amplía el horario de emisiones con una programación compuesta por distintas selecciones musicales, inicialmente distinta en parte de la emisora de OM, comenzando las emisiones a las 10 de la mañana, se cerraba a las 2 de la tarde y reanudando la emisión a las 4 de la tarde hasta las 10 de la noche en que pasaba a hacerse simultáneamente con la emisora de OM (Madrugada y melodía, Estamos contigo, Alta madrugada) hasta las 2 de la madrugada todos los días de la semana (excepto domingos y festivos en que sólo había emisión de tarde y noche hasta el 15 de octubre de 1978 en el que se iguala el horario matutino de domingos y festivos).
La selección era de música de todos los tipos (Matinal estéreo, Radiomanía) y algunos programas especializados por la tarde y noche: Salón de conciertos, Estrellas en estéreo, El mundo del sonido, La musicracia, Clave de Rock, La diligencia, El Jazz, Campos de algodón, Banda sonora, Oído al cante, Azarbe, Instrumental RJ y Bravo, al filo de la medianoche. El personal era en parte el mismo de la OM, sincronizadores y locutores, junto a una serie de colaboradores, en turnos diferentes realizando los programas por autocontrol, recordando, entre otros, a Carmen Romero, Enrique López, Jose María Vaquero, Mercedes Navarro, Martín Noguerol, Jose María Imbernón, Adolfo Luis Fernández (hijo), Joaquín García Estañ (Dr. Obuguie) y Andrés Garrido, que llegaría a ser su coordinador de emisiones.
A principios de noviembre de 1980 se reformó el equipo emisor aumentando su potencia y desde el 1 de diciembre del mismo año pasó a emitir ininterrumpidamente desde las 8 de la mañana hasta las 12 de la noche, pero ya con la emisión separada por completo de la OM. Más adelante ampliaría el horario hasta la madrugada pero con el recurso en ciertos tramos de la programación de programas grabados, más de una vez repetidos, reconociendo el esfuerzo por ofrecer una radio, prácticamente en su totalidad de carácter local, a lo largo de 40 horas al día (OM y FM), con medios económicos muy ajustados. A modo de ejemplo, recordar algunas emisiones conmemorativas como los 150 años de la muerte de Beethoven el 26 de marzo de 1977 o aquellas 24 horas ininterrumpidas de música de los Beatles tras la trágica muerte de John Lennon el 13 y 14 de diciembre de 1.980.
En el verano de 1.983 el emisor es trasladado a la torre de emisiones de RTVE en la Cresta del Gallo, en la misma sierra de Columbares, con mayor cota cubriendo desde más allá de Alicante hasta Albacete y Almería, desde donde se comienza a transmitir el 10 de agosto de 1983 con dos kilowatios de potencia.
A pesar de esta mejora notable, sin embargo, seguía sin poder oírse en Cartagena, la barrera del puerto de la Cadena era una vez mas un impedimento en la comunicación entre las dos ciudades principales de la región.
En esta época también comienza a emitir, ya como Radiocadena FM, programas emitidos desde la emisora central de Madrid, en directo y alta fidelidad, gracias a la instalación en Murcia capital de líneas telefónicas de altas prestaciones y enlaces con otras capitales de provincia.
Desde el 1 de enero de 1989, tras la absorción de Radiocadena Española por Radio Nacional, pasó a ser Radio 4; en el otoño de 1990 se traslada el emisor a Carrascoy y se aumentó su potencia hasta los 10 kw, desde las cinco y cuarto del sábado 17 de noviembre de 1990 comienza a emitir desde las nuevas instalaciones con un aumento muy notable de su cobertura, incluyendo ya a Cartagena...
(El texto continúa en la imagen de la antena del castillo de San Julián en Cartagena).
1966 Classic! Original Key of Eb with 1/2 Step Modulation to E. Intro Bass Line, Guitar Chord Comp, Proper Chord Progression for Verse & Bridge, 2 Strum Patterns, Chord Melody Example, with details of Left & Right hand Fingerings.
Notation for this lesson available at:
More lessons and webcam instruction details:
Having owned the 2008 Kona Sutra for ten months, and just completed the first chain/cassette replacement, I thought it was about time for a long term review, to give other people an idea of what living with the Sutra has been like. My previous post explains why I chose the Sutra - I came up with what I thought was an impossibly eclectic list of requirements from a bicycle, and the Sutra ticked every single box.
Here's some specs, for the statophiles out there: Frame size C54cm Frame tubing Dedacciai COM 12.5 Butted Cromoly Fork Kona P2 700c TB Disc w/Lowrider Headset TH Crankarms FSA Gossamer MegaExo Chainrings 30/39/50 B/B FSA MegaExo Pedals Shimano PD-M520 SPD - Silver Chain Shimano HG53 --> Shimano HG93 XT Freewheel Shimano Deore (11-32, 9 Spd) --> Shimano XT M760 (11-32, 9spd) F/D Shimano Tiagra Triple R/D Shimano XT Shadow Shifters Shimano Bar-Con Handlebar FSA RD30 0S Stem FSA OS-190LX Grips Velo Wrap with Gel Brakes Avid BB7 Road Disc Brake Levers Shimano BLR-600 Front Hub Shimano M525 Disc Rear Hub Shimano M525 Disc Spokes DT Stainless 14g Tires Continental Contact 700 x 32C --> Schwalbe Marathon Plus 700x38c Rims Mavic A 317 Disc Saddle Selle Italia XO SE --> Brooks B17 Seatpost FSA SL-280 Seat Clamp Kona Clamp Rear Rack Tubus Logo Panniers Bikebins Computer Sigma DTS 1606 L Fenders SKS Chromoplastic
My primary (i.e. 99% of the time) use of the Sutra has been for commuting. I have covered over 2700 miles (4500km) in the time I have owned it. My commuting route through London is pretty tough on bikes - the roads south of the Thames are awful and full of potholes, through the City there is broken glass all over the place, and further north of the river there are speedbumps everywhere. When I first got the Sutra she was wearing Continental Contact tyres, and they were pretty poor for commuting. They punctured easily and transmitted the bumpiness of the road right up into my forearms. Not much fun. After one puncture too many I replaced the tyres with Schwalbe Marathon Pluses, in their largest diameter, and the difference was marked. The increased volume of air provides a lot more cushioning for the arms, and I have not had a single puncture yet, despite having pulled 6mm long pieces of glass out of the tyre surfaces. The tyres are relatively heavy, but then so is the rest of the bike, and extra weight makes you stronger!
The original rear rack was pretty flimsy, and it did not allow the attachment of the Bikebin panniers I bought to try and add some rigidity. I ended up having to angle grind chunks out of the rack to fit the panniers, which can't have improved their structural integrity. After a month of experiencing the odd sensation of the bike wagging its tail whenever I stood up to pedal hard, I bit the bullet and upgraded the rack to a Tubus Logo. It was a tight fit with the rear disc brake, but the difference was immense. Gone was the sensation of a jelly-like bike, to be replaced by a sensation of rigid stability. Whilst the rack was expensive, it made all the difference, and I would highly recommend it.
Speaking of the brakes, they have saved my life on more than one occasion, usually when a Taxi decides to perform an emergency stop to pick up a fare. The brakes stop consistently in all conditions, and so far I have not had to replace the pads, althoguh I think it will be time to do it soon. Not bad considering I have travelled almost five thousand kilometres in all weathers in the stop-start conditions of London. I was concerned that the brakes might be too powerful, but the modulation provided by the levers and the flex in the arm of the brake means that whilst the power is there if necessary, you have a lot of control over it. There is some disc drag, but this is owing more to my laziness than the brakes themselves, and seems to have little impact on cruising speeds.
Using the bike in all conditions has been excellent. The all-over fenders (something I have never fitted to a bike previously) really keep the rain off and eliminate spray from the road. I had to saw a bit of the front fender off to fit it over the larger tyres, and a little bit off the rear for the same reason, but after the modification they have been flawless.
I had heard reports of spokes snapping, and nothing happened to me until recently, when I noticed a detached spoke whilst replacing the rear cassette. I had no idea how long the spoke had been damaged for, and replaced it myself. The rear wheel is slightly askew, but it does not foul on anything, which is good considering the small tolerance between it and the fender. To be fair, I have been jumping off kerbs and sometimes it is impossible to miss a massive hole in the road when you are in busy traffic. An upgrade I am considering is a stronger rear wheel, although it is not pressingly urgent.
The ride of the bike is super smooth, and certainly not anything like the road bikes I am used to. I use my other road bike for triathlons, and whilst it is a lot more nimble, it is much less comfortable. The Sutra is comfortable all day long, owing in no small part to the Brooks B17 saddle, which took about two thousand miles to properly break in! It was worth it though - sitting on the bike is like sitting in an armchair (albeit a very odd armchair, but an armchair nonetheless). I tend to cruise at about 20mph on her, and my 10.5 mile commute to work takes about 37 minutes. I have started seeking out hills in preparation for some touring of Wales, and the sutra certainly loves to climb. The aggressive, mountain-bike-like frame geometry no doubt assists in this, and is confidence inspiring when climbing and descending. The bar-con shifters were a novelty for me, but they make a lot of sense, especially if replacement shifters were needed on a tour. There are even bosses on the downtube to fit truly old-school shifters in an emergency.
The weight of the bike was a shock initially - weighing in at 15kgs without the accessories, she weighs significantly more than my Specialized Hardrock mountain bike, which is saying something! Over time I have become accustomed to the weight, and now it feels normal. The main advantage of this is that when I ride anything else, it feels super light and goes very rapidly. This makes this bike an ideal training steed.
In conclusion, I have found a lot to love about the Kona Sutra - she's tough, strong and surprisingly fast. There were some niggles about fitting add-ons, but they were all easy to overcome, and the result has been a reliable bike that I think will keep delivering for years.
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Hu Zhengyan (c. 1584-1674) was a Chinese traditional painter, calligrapher, seal carver and publisher during the transition of the Ming and Qing dynasties. He produced China’s first printed publication in color, and was famous for his incredible techniques achieving gradation and modulation of shades in woodblock prints.
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This book concludes our tandem edition on Recombination and Meiosis. Subtitled Models, Means and Evolution, it follows its first-born twin with emphasis on Crossing-Over and Disjunction. In the commissioning of chapter topics we have tried to cover numerous aspects of the meiotic system from many different angles. Both these books are embedded as volumes 2 and 3 in a topical Series devoted to Genome Dynamics and Stability, where DNA transmission and maintenance functions are discussed from experimental and theoretical perspectives. The earlier vol. 1 dealt with Facets and Perspectives of Genome Integrity, focusing on DNA damage repair mechanisms, and an upcoming vol.4 is on transposable elements. These books on meiotic processes, together with other volumes in this Series on genome management in mitotic cells, provide a grass-roots level starting platform—initiating a prospective trajectory superimposable upon the exploding field of molecular cell physiology, or systems biology (see below). The preceding volume preferentially dealt with meiotic processes in multicellular organisms, such as plants and animals including man. Also, basic accomplishments from work on yeasts was presented in a comparative perspective—concerning the decisive roles of Spo11-induced breaks for crossing-over, of sister chromatid cohesion in chromosome disjunction, and cell cycle modulation in the global control of the meiotic program. The present book puts additional focus on yeasts as unicellular model organisms, where progress in revealing the mechanisms of meiotic recombination has taken place most rapidly and systematically. Also, a central aspect of genetic recombination in E. coli is included for its outstanding merits as a universal model. Furthermore, three facets of evolutionary relevance are also discussed. As for the models and means of meiotic recombination, two prominent and comprehensive chapters call for particular attention. Inasmuch as theoretical interpretations of empirical data about the exchange of genetical markers in successive generations has long preceded their biochemical elucidation,James E.Haber gives expert guidance on a veritable tour de force, presenting the Evolution of Recombination Models frompurely genetic crosses into the molecular era. He follows the historical record from simplistic breaking/joining schemes to break-induced replication, from suspected single-strand breaks to partner choice by single-strand annealing, and from the generation of double-strand breaks (DSBs) to their repair by the establishment and resolution of single or double Holliday junctions, and finally to DSB repair in the absence of crossing over accomplished through synthesis-dependent strand annealing that does not involve Holliday junctions. This scenic ride is aptly complemented from the enzymatic perspective, as displayed by Kirk T. Ehmsen and Wolf-Dietrich Heyer on the Biochemistry of Meiotic Recombination: Formation, Processing, and Resolution of Recombination Intermediates. These authors highlight the biochemistry of meiotic recombination, as more and more meiosis-specific enzymes have been added to the basic toolbox, which likewise is at work in mitotic cells (cf. GDS vol. 1, this Series). Overlapping with functions in replication and DSB repair these enzymes comprise topoisomerase, nuclease, recombinase, polymerase, and helicase activities, as well as single-strand stabilizing protein, a protective end-tethering complex and a range of modulating co-factors. The single most remarkable feature about the initiation of meiotic recombination is the deliberate and catalyzed introduction of numerous DSBs in the chromosomal DNA. Notably, the enzyme responsible for this pivotal and conserved activity is derived from a former topoisomerase (Spo11; Keeney, this SERIES), which as such had a cell-intrinsic function essential for the untangling of replication intermediates in every cell cycle. The total number of cuts is even larger than the number of effective crossovers later on2. The important question of how the sites to be cut are chosen in a given cell— among myriads of potentially equivalent sites that are ignored—is still one of the most vigorously pursued aspects of ongoing research. Foremost, the susceptible substrate for meiotic DSBs is not naked DNA, but DNA embedded in chromatin, as highlighted by Michael Lichten, in his chapter on Meiotic Chromatin—the Substrate for Recombination Initiation. The two yeasts compared for this traits how pronounced differences in the distribution of hotspot sites for DSB formation. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a fairly promiscuous DSB machinery can be assembled at about every stretch of accessible chromatin that has been opened up for other purposes, especially at activated promoter regions. Michael Lichten coins the term "opportunistic DSBs" for these phenomena, foremost in S. cerevisiae—differentiating meiotic DSBs from both lower
and higher degrees of sequence specificity: on one hand ionizing radiation induced DSBs,which occur with little sequence preference and without regard for chromatin structure, and on the other hand from the site-specific cuts of restriction-type endonucleases—or other nucleic acid transactions, such as transcription promotion, where both chromatinstructure and the recognition of DNA sequence elements contribute to specificity. Such opportunistic usage of promoter-modulated open chromatin can only in part explain the DSB pattern observed in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, where other determinants may play a significant, hotspot-specific role. Also to be determined by meiosis-specific chromatin organization, the assembly of and/or cleavage by the DSB machinery should not be all too promiscuous on a particular issue, in that at most one of two sister chromatids can become susceptible at any given site, whereas the other sister strand needs to be protected around the equivalent site. The molecular basis for this significant restriction still remains to be determined. After the meiosis-specific, Spo11-induced DSBs have been processed to protruding 3 ends, these single strands have to interact with the corresponding sequence on the homologous chromosome, in order to repair and seal the break by homologous recombination. In eukaryotes the crucial strand exchange reaction is catalyzed by RecA-like recombinases of the ubiquitous Rad51 family and/orthemeiosis-specificDmc1protein. As modeled by the most widely studied RecA recombinase of E.coli, Chantal Prévost, in herchapter on Searching for Homology by Filaments of RecA-Like Proteins, discerns their basic functions in the genome-wide search for complementary DNA strands so as to facilitate the initial strand exchange reaction in highly coordinated, helical DNA–protein filaments, which likewise are formed by the eukaryotic RecA homologs. Corresponding studies to the leading work on meiosis in S.cerevisiae have also been pursued in S.pombe,showing striking differences indetail at various levels. The most interesting aspects of this work are pointed out in two chapters specifically devoted to the fission yeast. For one thing, S. pombe belongs to the rather few organisms that have lost the ability to form synaptonemal complexes in meiotic prophase, which usually stands out as the most characteristic structural basis of bivalent synapsis. Instead, another conserved feature of canonical meiosis, the clustering of telomeres in the so-called bouquet arrangement, is vastly exaggerated in a series of nuclear movements, which in S. pombe facilitates a dynamical alignment
of homologous chromosomes from nuclear fusion throughout the entire prophase of meiosis (D.Q. Dingand Y. Hiraoka, this BOOK). Furthermore, the crossover mechanism itself is peculiar as well. Whilst many organisms including S. cerevisiae actually employ two partly overlapping crossover pathways, one of these pathways is entirely missing in S. pombe. Characteristically, the main recombinational intermediate in S.pombe consists of single Holliday junctions (G. Cromie and G.R.Smith, this BOOK), whilst earlier results on S. cerevisiae had suggested double Holliday junctions as the canonical model. The species-oriented chapter by Gareth Cromie and Gerald R. Smith, on Meiotic Recombination in S. pombe: A Paradigm for Genetic and Molecular Analysis,was published Online FirstinJune2007. At thatrelatively early date, most of their extensive data on DSB hotspot distribution in S. pombe were mentioned in brief as unpublished results. These significant data are now more fully discussed, as mentioned above, in Michael Lichten’s comparative chapter—with due reference to their recent publication in the mean time (Cromie et al. 2007). Unfortunate as such asynchrony appears to be, this is a price to pay for the advantages of Online First publication for the individual chapters as they are being completed—with a spread of Online First dates up to a year per book in such a series. Three evolutionary topics relating to meiosis have been selected to conclude this book: the putative origin of the meiotic system, the confinement of meiosis to the germline in animals, and the abandonment of meiosis in relatively few eukaryotic lineages, some of which are remarkably persistent on the evolutionary time scale—capable of lasting for millions of years. At the dawn of genetics, crossing-over and meiosis had been considered very much the same, but the early view of apparent congruence between the two phenomena has long since been abandoned. Instead, genetic recombination as such has proved to have much earlier and more fundamental roles than the complex and highly integrated pattern of mainstream meiosis, of which crossing-over has become the most characteristic ingredient. In short, homologous DNA recombination has directly co-evolved with faithful replication (see R. Egel and D.Penny, thisBOOK), clearing physical damageand/or broken replication forks as they arise (C. Rudolph, K.A. Schürer, and W. Kramer, GDS vol. 1, this Series)—potentially in each cell cycle of prokaryotes and eukaryotes alike. Of more sporadic occurrence, on the other hand, meiosis only happens once per generation,or life cycle—whatever meaning may be attached to these derived terms for unicellular organisms (see below). N.B., bacteria and archaea are proficient in recombinational repair of DSB damage to their DNA, but meiosis is missing altogether. In multicellular organisms, the meanings of generation and lifecycle are evident, and the complex inter-relationship of germline development and maintaining sexuality in animals and plants was already recognized by Charles Darwin and August Weissmann by the end of the 19th century. In his chapter on The Legacy of the Germ Line—Maintaining Sex and Life in Metazoans: Cognitive Roots of the Concept of Hierarchical Selection, Dirk-Henner Lankenau follows the germline concept to its historical roots, and he addresses the multiple levels of selective evolution related to this concept. Also, he fathoms Weismann’s prescient usage of germ plasm in its original meaning that nowadays has been replaced by genes and genomes—and he sketches a tie to modern frontiers, discussing the so-called nuage as a germline-specific germplasm organelle of multiple RNA processing, where a suspended term is thus revived in new guises. A hallmark of meiosis is the production of recombinant offspring, efficiently scrambling the parental genotypes. The overwhelming majority of taxonomic groups throughout eukaryotes show proficiency of meiosis, at least to begin with. Higher plants and animals would probably never have originated without the evolutionary thrust empowered by meiosis. Yet, sexual propagation including meiosis has been lost repeatedly in evolution, although major evolutionary innovations have never sprung from such secondarily asexual lineages. Hence, asexual lineages of relatively ancient origins can serve as virtual mirrors to reflect the evolutionary importance of meiosis in the remaining majority of animals and plants, as thoroughly discussed by Isa Schön, Dunja K.Lamatsch,
and Koen Martens in their chapter on Lessons to Learn from Ancient Asexuals. To single out a particular highlight, the purging of deleterious mutations by a meiotic recombination appears to be remarkably effective—readily compensating for the low mutation rates observed. As for the inferred origin of the meiotic system, this does not only far predate the emergence of multicellular animals, fungi and plants—it even dates back before the last common ancestor of all the eukaryotic phyla known today (LECA). As canonical meiosis, therefore, is a common heritage to all eukaryotes, there are no comparative cues among different lineages living today from which by parsimony to deduce a likely order of step-wise additions to the basic toolbox of meiotic mechanisms. On the other hand, the meiotic system is so complex in its widely conserved pattern, that its instantaneous invention from scratch appears unlikely. Against this rather uninformative backdrop, Richard Egel and David Penny, in their chapter On the Origin of Meiosis in Eukaryotic Evolution, propose a possible series of incremental steps towards meiosis, each of which could have added some selective advantage on its own. This series may well have started before the mitotic division system had been perfected to its present fidelity, e.g. when telomere-directed chromosome movements may have preceded the establishment of centromeres. Hence their hypothesis is subtitled Coevolution of Meiosis and Mitosis from Feeble Beginnings. A likely driving force to establish a proto-meiotic system—alternating with proto-mitotic nuclear division—is seen in maintaining a periodically needed dormancy program, so as to protect it against the accumulation of dormancy-deficient mutations at the higher error load presumed in early evolution. This is in line with the common correlation between meiosis and the formation of dormant spores or cysts in extant microbial eukaryotes. In a certain sense, therefore, a single generation in the life cycle of unicellular eukaryotes would last from one stage of encystment or sporulation to the next. With the commissioning and presentation of the various chapter topics on the genomic aspects of the meiotic system we hope to have served a salient need for integrating basic knowledge gained from studying diverse genetic model organisms. Research on meiotic exchange and segregation mechanisms may appear more esoteric than the vast resources spent on understanding metabolism and growth in mitotic cells. While emphasis on the latter area is motivated by the numerical predominance of mitotic divisions, as well as the direct connection of mitotic cell divisions to the immense problems of cancerous growth in human disease, meiosis in its paucity is more secluded and its medical aspects are limited to less pressing problems, such as impaired fertility or Down-like syndromes (H.Kokotas,M.Grigoriadou,andM.B.Petersen, this Series). Also, a certain twist of hierarchy is undeniable: whilst endless perpetuation of mitotic divisions can be viable as an evolutionarily stable strategy, a contiguous series of several meioses is certainly not. In this sense meiosis will always be the subordinate companion of mitosis. At the conceptual level, however, the complexity of molecular mechanisms applying to meiosis far exceeds that of its mitotic counterpart. And for the continuity of generations in most eukaryotic forms of life, both meiosis and mitosis are complementary features of general and essential interest. Traditionally, the largest share of meiotic research has been focused on DNA exchange and related features, whereas the immense field of protein–protein interactions in the rewiring of the meiotic cell out of and back into the mitotic cell cycle stood in second place. The concluding chapter of the preceding volume specifically deals with these meiotic aspects of molecular cell physiology (L. Pérez-Hidalgo, S. Moreno, and C. Martin-Castellanos, this Series). As pioneered with yeasts, genome-wide expression studies have started with identifying all the genes upregulated in meiotic cells and sorting them into functional categories. This is a long way off fromknowing all their particular functions. To illustrate the scope of the barely charted field: of 4,824 annotated genes in S. pombe, 955 proteins contain coiled-coil motifs4; of these, 180 are upregulated before, during or after meiosis—21 exclusively so, but not expressed during mitosis (Ohtaka et al. 2007). The interactive potential of so many proteins is enormous, and the systemsbiology of meiosis has merely just begun. To form a link between both books on Recombination and Meiosis, the list of chapter titles in the preceding volume is included after the Contents table of this book. In fact, as some of the individual chapters already had been published Online First, before the editorial decision to divide the printed edition into two books, the preliminary cross references had not yet accounted for the split. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, but the listing of all the chapter titles in both books should hopefully direct the reader to the proper destination. We would also like to point out that the missing chapter numbers are no neglect but reflect an obligatory compromise necessitated by publishing all manuscripts OnlineFirst immediately
after they have been peer-reviewed, revised, accepted and copy-edited (see, www.springerlink.com/content/119766/). We most cordially thank all the chapter authors for contributing to this topical edition of two accompanying books focusing on meiotic recombination. Without their expertise and dedicated work this comprehensive treatise would not have been possible. Receiving the incoming drafts as editors, we had the great privilege of being the first to read so many up-to-date reviews on the various aspects of meiotic recombination and model studies elucidating this ever-captivating field. Also, we greatly appreciate the productive input of numerous referees, who have assisted us in thriving for the highest level of expertship, comprehensiveness, and readability. We are again deeply indebted to the editorial staff at Springer. We would especially like to mention the editor Sabine Schwarz at Springer Life Sciences(Heidelberg), the deskeditor Ursula Gramm (Springer,Heidelberg),and the production editor Martin Weissgerber (le-tex publishing services oHG, Leipzig).
April 2008
Copenhagen, Richard Egel
Ladenburg, Dirk-Henner Lankenau
Free download under CC Attribution (CC BY 2.0). Please credit the artist and rawpixel.com
Hu Zhengyan (c. 1584-1674) was a Chinese traditional painter, calligrapher, seal carver and publisher during the transition of the Ming and Qing dynasties. He produced China’s first printed publication in color, and was famous for his incredible techniques achieving gradation and modulation of shades in woodblock prints.
Higher resolutions with no attribution required can be downloaded: rawpixel
Ogundipe Fayomi's monument for Dr. Ronald Erwin McNair (1950–1986) combines a traditional bust with a uniquely shaped pedestal. McNair was the African-American astronaut, physicist, teacher, and musician who died aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger when it exploded on January 28, 1986.
This park, formerly known as Guider Park, was named for Dr. McNair in the same year as the Challenger disaster. The City’s Department of Cultural Affairs sponsored a competition through its Percent-for-Art program to choose an artist to create a central sculpture. They ultimately selected the Nigerian-born sculptor Fayomi, who fashioned a sensitive bronze portrait, set within a nine-foot tall polished red-granite pedestal resembling a modified rocket ship. The pyramidal base features bronze relief with images relating to Dr. McNair’s achievements and interests.
Dr. McNair was born on October 21, 1950, in Lake City, South Carolina. He graduated from Carver High School in Lake City in 1967, and received a B.S. degree in physics from North Carolina A & T State University in 1971. In 1976, Dr. McNair completed his Ph.D. in physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). After graduating from MIT, Dr. McNair was employed as a staff physicist at Hughes Research Laboratories in Malibu, California. His work there involved developing lasers for isotope separation and photochemistry, using non-linear interactions in low-temperature liquids. He also conducted research on electro-optic laser modulation for satellite-to-satellite space communications and explored the scientific foundations of the martial arts. A member of numerous scientific organizations and a visiting lecturer in physics at Texas Southern University, Dr. McNair also taught karate as a fifth-degree black belt and was a performing jazz saxophonist.
In 1978, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) selected Dr. McNair as an astronaut candidate. He completed his training the following year, and became eligible as a mission specialist astronaut on Space Shuttle flight crews. He first flew as a mission specialist on Mission STS-41-B on February 3, 1984, which featured the first untethered spacewalk. Serving as a mission specialist on Mission STS-51-L, his life was tragically cut short when the space shuttle exploded one minute and 13 seconds into the launch. After his death, the Dr. Ronald E. McNair Foundation for Science, Technology & Space Education was established in Atlanta, Georgia.
When this monument was dedicated on June 14, 1994, family, friends, former colleagues, community representatives, city officials and hundreds of school children gathered in memory of Dr. McNair’s legacy. The monument and the park, which was renovated at the time of the sculpture’s installation, evoke a mood in keeping with Dr. McNair’s wish inscribed on the pedestal. It reads, “that we should allow this planet to be the beautiful oasis that she is, and allow ourselves to live more in the peace she generates.”
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A Spanish Airforce McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier II during a hover. First entered service in 1973, and still being used by the Spanish and Italian Air Forces.
Various outputs from a C++/OpenGL custom software i'm working on.
Demo here: vimeo.com/user18035206/sound-sculptures
The Arp Quadra is a rare and beautiful polyphonic (kind of) and analog beast. The machine combined pre-existing products: the Omni, Odyssey, a Solina-esque string unit, a phase shifter and a divide-down organ with ADSR, and a 4075 24 db low pass filter into one box. It has four sections. Bass is on the bottom two octaves, has two unison bass circuits (electric and string), with AR and a single pole low pass filter and a related AD envelope for cutoff. A string section is similar to the ARP Omni. Poly Synth, and a two voice Lead Synth similar to the Odyssey and a five way mixer with four unit outputs, a stereo pair, a line mono and an XLR out.
There are 16 memory locations, but these do not provide storage of slider settings. The 8048 microcomputer and 128k of CMOS SRAM memory recalls 16 stored sets of on/off decisions about which waveforms and modulations are turned on in each of the four sections, and lead intervals. Using LEDs the player is visually directed to the sliders critical to the sound selected but their settings are not updated.
The Quadra was not a truly polyphonic. It used divided-down circuits for the Omni-style string section, including ADSR, LFO, filter and VCAs for the Polyphonic Synth section. Both Polyphonic Synth and string sections share the hollow wave button which changes waveforms for both sections.
It has a simple and useful arpeggiator for the lead section and memorizes intervals between the two lead VCOs. Vibrato, LFO and a fast square wave trill can be added to the arpeggiation. Very unusual is the two independent portamento rates for each VCO, whether locked together or in interval mode. This is useful in either multiple or single trigger mode. Huge sweeping sounds meeting in unison is very fun.
Outstanding is the rich lush phase shifter which creates stereo and includes harmonic resonance. Also uncommon is the ability to deploy sample and hold within the phaser. The sound is similar to the chorus of the Solina, though many users avow that the Quadra due to its sonic texture and modulation controls is the richest string machine ever made.
The top three octaves of the keyboard have a mechanical touch sensor that can either pitch bend or impact brilliance and filter. Unique is the flat pedal feature which allows pedaling to dip individual notes and chords a semitone below so they rise to pitch with the envelope’s attack.
Extensive CV/Gate facilities allow two external sequencers to independently control both the bass and the lead. It is capable of four independent outs, stereo out, mono, and mono XLR but hidden in the quad outs is TRS facility for processing and returning effects on individual parts of the four sections to be recombined with external audio at a built-in mixer, which includes an internal compressor circuit. Like all ARP synthesizers of this series (2800) its true character opens up with selective use of the optional foot pedals.
The Quadra uses the typical ARP orange and black color scheme of the company's later years including the orange leather end pieces and the clean XLR out for DI console recording.
Acrylic on canvas; 50 x 70 in.
Julian Stanczak is an American painter and printmaker. The artist lives and works in Seven Hills, Ohio with his wife, the sculptor, Barbara Stanczak. He was born in eastern Poland in 1928. At the beginning of World War II, Stanczak was forced into a Siberian labor camp, where he permanently lost the use of his right arm. He had been right-handed. In 1942, aged thirteen, Stanczak escaped from Siberia to join the Polish army-in-exile in Persia. After deserting from the army, he spent his teenage years in a hut in a Polish refugee camp in Uganda. In Africa Stanczak learned to write and paint left-handed. He then spend some years in London, before moving to the United States in 1950. He settled in Cleveland, Ohio. Stanczak received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Cleveland Institute of Art, Cleveland Ohio in 1954, and then trained under Josef Albers and Conrad Marca-Relli at the Yale University, School of Art and Architecture, New Haven, where he received his Master of Fine Arts in 1956.
In 2007, Stanczak was interviewed by Brian Sherwin for Myartspace. During the interview Stanczak recalled his experiences with war and the loss of his right arm and how both influenced his art. Stanczak explained, "The transition from using my left hand as my right, main hand, was very difficult. My youthful experiences with the atrocities of the Second World War are with me,- but I wanted to forget them and live a "normal" life and adapt into society more fully. In the search for Art, you have to separate what is emotional and what is logical. I did not want to be bombarded daily by the past,- I looked for anonymity of actions through non-referential, abstract art.
The Op Art movement was named for his first major show, Julian Stanczak: Optical Paintings, held at the Martha Jackson Gallery in New York in 1964. His work was included in the Museum of Modern Art's 1965 exhibition The Responsive Eye. In 1966 he was named a "New Talent" by Art in America magazine. In the early 1960s he began to make the surface plane of the painting vibrate through his use of wavy lines and contrasting colors in works such as Provocative Current (1965). These paintings gave way to more complex compositions constructed with geometric rigidity yet softened with varying degrees of color transparency such as Netted Green (1972). In addition to being an artist, Stanczak was also a teacher, having worked at the Art Academy of Cincinnati from 1957–64 and as Professor of Painting, at the Cleveland Institute of Art, 1964-1995. He was named "Outstanding American Educator" by the Educators of America in 1970.
Stanczak uses repeating forms to create compositions that are manifestations of his visual experiences. Stanczak's work is an art of experience, and is based upon structures of color. In the 1980s and 1990s Stanczak retained his geometric structure and created compositions with bright or muted colors, often creating pieces in a series such as Soft Continuum (1981; Johnson and Johnson Co. CT, see McClelland pl. 50). More recently, Stanczak has been creating large-scale series, consisting of square panels on which he examines variations of hue and chroma in illusionistic color modulations, an example of which is Windows to the Past (2000; 50 panels).
7.365 // Y3 // 05.03.2010
'He had a way of entering I shall never forget: offering a casual greeting and sometimes not even taking off his hat and coat, he would walk straight to the piano, his face strained with concentration, as if this had been the real point on his having come, and then with a strong attack would sound knotted chords and, his eyebrows raised high as he emphasized each modulating note, try out the preparations and resolutions he might have been considering on his way there. But this rush for the piano also had about it something of a yearning to find some hold, some shelter, as if the room and those filling it frightened him and he were seeking refuge there – and in himself as well, really – from the confusing and alien world into which he had strayed.'
-- Thomas Mann (spoken by Serenus Zeitblom, in Doctor Faustus)
High-power components in the smoothing enclosure of the recently de-commissioned Sender 61 at Skelton. A high-level modulated device, the HT to the RF valve anodes was augmented and detracted by the HT at the secondary of the modulation transformer (not shown), in accordance with the level of programme applied to the primary via the modulator valves.
Note the silica-gel desiccant breather on the speech reactor, the 'Metrosil' surge-diverters on the 3-phase secondary terminals of the rectifier transformer, and the conservator tanks - with gauge-glasses - and Buchholz protection relays beneath. A CO2 fire-quenching horn can just be made out at the top of the picture.
Murray Perahia KBE (born April 19, 1947) is an American concert pianist and conductor.
Murray Perahia was born in the Bronx borough of New York City to a family of Sephardi Jewish origin. According to the biography on his Mozart piano sonatas CD, his first language was Judaeo-Spanish, or Ladino. The family came from Thessaloniki, Greece. His father moved to the United States in 1935.
Perahia began studying the piano at age four with a teacher he says was "very limiting" because she made him play a single piece until it was perfect. He says his musical interests blossomed at age 15 for reasons he can't explain, and he began to practice seriously. At 17, Perahia attended Mannes College, where he studied keyboard, conducting, and composition with his teacher and mentor Mieczysław Horszowski. During the summer, he also attended Marlboro, where he studied with musicians Rudolf Serkin, Alexander Schneider, and Pablo Casals, among others. He played duets for piano four hands with Serkin, who later made Perahia his assistant at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia, a position he held for over a year.
In 1965, Perahia won the Young Concert Artists International Auditions. In 1972, he was the first North American to win first prize at the Leeds Piano Competition, helping to cement its reputation for advancing the careers of young pianistic talent. Dame Fanny Waterman recalls anecdotally (in Wendy Thompson's book Piano Competition: The Story of the Leeds) that Mieczysław Horszowski had phoned her prior to the competition, announcing that he would be the winner.
In 1973, he worked with Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears at the Aldeburgh Festival, and with fellow pianist Radu Lupu. He was co-artistic director of the Festival from 1981 to 1989.
In the 1980s, Perahia was invited to work with Vladimir Horowitz, an admirer of his art. Perahia says this had a defining influence on his pianism. He became close to Horowitz whom he visited to play for during the elder pianist's last four years.
From 1973 - 2010, Perahia recorded exclusively for Columbia Masterworks, now Sony Classical. His first major recording project was Mozart's 27 piano concertos, conducted from the keyboard with the English Chamber Orchestra. In the 1980s, he also recorded Beethoven's five piano concertos, with Bernard Haitink and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. In 2016, Perahia signed with Deutsche Grammophon.
Perahia resides in London. He is married and the father of two adult children.
In 1990, Perahia suffered a cut to his right thumb, which became septic. He took antibiotics for this condition, but they affected his health. In 1992, his career was threatened by a bone abnormality in his hand causing inflammation requiring several years away from the keyboard, and a series of operations. During that time, he says, he found solace through studying the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. After recovering, he produced a series of award-winning recordings of Bach's keyboard works in the late 1990s, most notably a cornerstone rendition of the Goldberg Variations.
In early 2005, Perahia's hand problem recurred, prompting him to withdraw from the concert stage on the advice of his doctors. He cancelled several appearances at Barbican Centre, as well as a 10-city national tour of the United States, but returned with recitals in German cities in 2006 and at the Barbican in April 2007.
In autumn of 2007, he completed a triumphant 10-city tour of the United States. Owing to his hand problem, and on the advice of his doctor, Perahia cancelled a February 2008 solo recital at Barbican Centre[7] and a tour in the United States with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields (March and April 2008). He returned to the platform in August 2008, touring with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra under the direction of Bernard Haitink, and had an Asian recital tour in October and November.
Perahia has recorded Chopin's études, and Schubert's late piano sonatas. He is currently editing a new Urtext edition of Beethoven's piano sonatas.
Besides his solo career, he is active in chamber music and appeared regularly with the Guarneri and Budapest String Quartets. He is also Principal Guest Conductor of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, with which he records and performs.[9]
Since his return at the 2008 Proms season, Perahia has been continually active on the concert scene.
On 1 April 2014, Perahia appeared on Sir Neville Marriner's 90th birthday concert, playing Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, K 466 alongside the Academy of St Martin in the Fields conducted by Marriner.
After 43 years (1973-2016) with Sony Classical (and its predecessor, Columbia Masterworks), Perahia has signed with the German label Deutsche Grammophon. His first release for the label, Bach's French Suites, came out in October, 2016.
Perahia's performance of Beethoven's magnum opus the Hammerklavier Sonata elicited this review from the Los Angeles Times:
Perahia threw himself into everything with a ferocious concentration. The opening left-hand leap to the fugue's landing on a triumphant final cadence 40 minutes later felt like a single gesture, a life passing by during a fall and safe landing off a cliff. The epic Adagio was exceptional. Beethoven is in a black mood. The twisted harmonies and endless melodic lines keep shifting, trying to go one way and then the next, never finding resolution or solace. For Perahia this was inescapable pain, but not to be dwelt upon. His ability to find the life in each note proved intensely moving.
In January 2009, Murray Perahia was appointed president of the Jerusalem Music Center established by violinist Isaac Stern. In an interview with Haaretz newspaper he said: "Music represents an ideal world where all dissonances resolve, where all modulations —that are journeys— return home, and where surprise and stability coexist." (Wikipedia).
X100S vs. X100 comparison. See www.flickr.com/photos/25805910@N05/sets/72157632958348638/ for the full set.
Click here for my regular X100S sample set: www.flickr.com/photos/25805910@N05/sets/72157632954030903...
JPEG SOOC Provia, NR -2, Shadow Tone +1.
Is the X100S Lens Modulation Optimizer (LMO) positively affecting IQ at small apertures?
Free download under CC Attribution (CC BY 2.0). Please credit the artist and rawpixel.com
Hu Zhengyan (c. 1584-1674) was a Chinese traditional painter, calligrapher, seal carver and publisher during the transition of the Ming and Qing dynasties. He produced China’s first printed publication in color, and was famous for his incredible techniques achieving gradation and modulation of shades in woodblock prints.
Higher resolutions with no attribution required can be downloaded: rawpixel
This is an MP-28 Dynamotor Power Supply. MP-28s such as this were used to provide power to a Bendix TA-12 airborne radio transmitter, which was used from the late 1930s until well after World War II. The TA-12 was versatile, operating in amplitude modulation (AM) and continuous wave (CW) modes on frequencies from 300 kilocycles to 12 megacycles. The radio was used in commercial cargo and passenger aircraft. It was also used in military aircraft such as the Canadian Avro Lancaster and de Havilland Mosquito bombers for ground-air communications.
The TA-12 transmitter required a 540 volt direct current electrical supply to power its tubes, but aircraft electric systems operated around 24 volts. The MP-28 used a motor and electronic circuits to produce a suitable supply of electricity for the TA-12.
Argus Camera Company, and other companies, made MP-28 Dynamotor Power Supplies for Bendix Radio Corporation. This particular unit was made by EICOR in Chicago, Illinois.
Seen at the Yankee Air Museum in Belleville, Michigan. This item was part of a special exhibit about the the items the Argus Camera Company produced to support the Allies in World War II. Argus Camera Company was originally a subsidiary of the International Radio Corporation and was located in Ann Arbor, Michigan. During the war, the company produced military sighting equipment (e.g., periscopes for tanks) as well as electronic components for Bendix Radio products.
X100S vs. X100 comparison. See www.flickr.com/photos/25805910@N05/sets/72157632958348638/ for the full set.
Click here for my regular X100S sample set: www.flickr.com/photos/25805910@N05/sets/72157632954030903...
JPEG SOOC Provia, NR -2.
Is the X100S Lens Modulation Optimizer (LMO) positively affecting IQ at small apertures?
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My Zorki 1/Industar-22 is a joy to use. It's fun, small and operates like a Swiss watch. Only trouble is, it doesn't always take the best of photos. After some comparative shots of identical scenes between the Industar-22, Industar 26M and Industar-61 L/D, and some peering through the lenses with the Mk 1 eyeball, I've come to the conclusion that the lens is probably not generally useable. Although the I-22 is slightly sharper than the other two lenses, it produces flat, dull images.
The photo above, of Rutland Square in Edinburgh, shows what's wrong. The cast iron detail in the bench seat is accuragely rendered, but the white car above has a halo around it, visible against the dark stonework behind. The problem seems to be due to scratches and hazing on the surface of the lens elements which is scattering light from other parts of the scene onto the image plane --- producing flaring around bright objects and generally giving a noise-like background glow over the whole image. I guess in MTF terms the scratches attenuate the curve right across the frequency range.
The Zorki has also given me a few scratches on the surface of my (old) glasses. When I look at a bright white patch through the scratched area I see the same halo effect seen in this photo.
In part the scratches are cleaning marks on the front and rear, but also I think they are due to the cement in the rear doublet breaking down.
It's still a fun camera, but I think I'll have to start using a different lens.
in painting, but it is very hard to talk about. There is almost nothing you can say that holds up as a generalization, because it depends on too many factors: size, modulation, the rest of the field, a certain consistency that color has with forms, and the statement you're trying to make. [roy lichtenstein quote]
[droid-a-day keeps the doctor away... ]
I became curious whether I could reverse-engineer and recreate the IR signal that my ST-E2 wireless flash transmitter produces. So, I put a photosensor on my roommate's oscilliscope to see what I could find.
His scope isn't quite up to the job. It's an older analog scope, with no memory. So I ended up setting up my camera in front of it to try and record the trace. Here's the result. I tried a bunch of different settings, but there's still more experimenting to be done. Each successful capture takes about 5 tries, to get everything aligned right. The scope here is set to 0.5V/div (not zeroed vertically), and 1ms/div. The photosensor pulls low when it sees light.
Looks to me like pulse modulation, something like 64 bits, 10KHz. Of course, it has to be pulse modulation; the transmitter transmits by firing a little flashbulb. I think I might have enough here to recreate at least the signal for the pilot button. Tomorrow.
Free download under CC Attribution (CC BY 2.0). Please credit the artist and rawpixel.com
Hu Zhengyan (c. 1584-1674) was a Chinese traditional painter, calligrapher, seal carver and publisher during the transition of the Ming and Qing dynasties. He produced China’s first printed publication in color, and was famous for his incredible techniques achieving gradation and modulation of shades in woodblock prints.
Higher resolutions with no attribution required can be downloaded: rawpixel
another victory on ebay. it was museum quality, as mint as I could imagine from this era. it weighs a ton and is so full of metal, it rivals the HP funct generator that I also recently bought.
the only thing wrong with this one was that the top 'a' segment of the leds were intermittant. 2 hours of troubleshooting led me to the cause: the one controller chip inside was in a very cheap IC socket and some pins were not making good contact (after all these decades). I could not get the socket to spring back BUT there was enough clearance inside to let me stack another machine-pin socket on top of the cheap one. this mated well with both the chip and the old socket. problem solved!
the display is a bit of fun; I was playing with the AM modulation and the scop triggering and I could get the display to show some of the amplitude modulated waves, in an interesting super-imposed way.
also, the SIZE of that function generator! its about the same width AND depth as the scope! what a monster ;)
Having owned the 2008 Kona Sutra for ten months, and just completed the first chain/cassette replacement, I thought it was about time for a long term review, to give other people an idea of what living with the Sutra has been like. My previous post explains why I chose the Sutra - I came up with what I thought was an impossibly eclectic list of requirements from a bicycle, and the Sutra ticked every single box.
Here's some specs, for the statophiles out there: Frame size C54cm Frame tubing Dedacciai COM 12.5 Butted Cromoly Fork Kona P2 700c TB Disc w/Lowrider Headset TH Crankarms FSA Gossamer MegaExo Chainrings 30/39/50 B/B FSA MegaExo Pedals Shimano PD-M520 SPD - Silver Chain Shimano HG53 --> Shimano HG93 XT Freewheel Shimano Deore (11-32, 9 Spd) --> Shimano XT M760 (11-32, 9spd) F/D Shimano Tiagra Triple R/D Shimano XT Shadow Shifters Shimano Bar-Con Handlebar FSA RD30 0S Stem FSA OS-190LX Grips Velo Wrap with Gel Brakes Avid BB7 Road Disc Brake Levers Shimano BLR-600 Front Hub Shimano M525 Disc Rear Hub Shimano M525 Disc Spokes DT Stainless 14g Tires Continental Contact 700 x 32C --> Schwalbe Marathon Plus 700x38c Rims Mavic A 317 Disc Saddle Selle Italia XO SE --> Brooks B17 Seatpost FSA SL-280 Seat Clamp Kona Clamp Rear Rack Tubus Logo Panniers Bikebins Computer Sigma DTS 1606 L Fenders SKS Chromoplastic
My primary (i.e. 99% of the time) use of the Sutra has been for commuting. I have covered over 2700 miles (4500km) in the time I have owned it. My commuting route through London is pretty tough on bikes - the roads south of the Thames are awful and full of potholes, through the City there is broken glass all over the place, and further north of the river there are speedbumps everywhere. When I first got the Sutra she was wearing Continental Contact tyres, and they were pretty poor for commuting. They punctured easily and transmitted the bumpiness of the road right up into my forearms. Not much fun. After one puncture too many I replaced the tyres with Schwalbe Marathon Pluses, in their largest diameter, and the difference was marked. The increased volume of air provides a lot more cushioning for the arms, and I have not had a single puncture yet, despite having pulled 6mm long pieces of glass out of the tyre surfaces. The tyres are relatively heavy, but then so is the rest of the bike, and extra weight makes you stronger!
The original rear rack was pretty flimsy, and it did not allow the attachment of the Bikebin panniers I bought to try and add some rigidity. I ended up having to angle grind chunks out of the rack to fit the panniers, which can't have improved their structural integrity. After a month of experiencing the odd sensation of the bike wagging its tail whenever I stood up to pedal hard, I bit the bullet and upgraded the rack to a Tubus Logo. It was a tight fit with the rear disc brake, but the difference was immense. Gone was the sensation of a jelly-like bike, to be replaced by a sensation of rigid stability. Whilst the rack was expensive, it made all the difference, and I would highly recommend it.
Speaking of the brakes, they have saved my life on more than one occasion, usually when a Taxi decides to perform an emergency stop to pick up a fare. The brakes stop consistently in all conditions, and so far I have not had to replace the pads, althoguh I think it will be time to do it soon. Not bad considering I have travelled almost five thousand kilometres in all weathers in the stop-start conditions of London. I was concerned that the brakes might be too powerful, but the modulation provided by the levers and the flex in the arm of the brake means that whilst the power is there if necessary, you have a lot of control over it. There is some disc drag, but this is owing more to my laziness than the brakes themselves, and seems to have little impact on cruising speeds.
Using the bike in all conditions has been excellent. The all-over fenders (something I have never fitted to a bike previously) really keep the rain off and eliminate spray from the road. I had to saw a bit of the front fender off to fit it over the larger tyres, and a little bit off the rear for the same reason, but after the modification they have been flawless.
I had heard reports of spokes snapping, and nothing happened to me until recently, when I noticed a detached spoke whilst replacing the rear cassette. I had no idea how long the spoke had been damaged for, and replaced it myself. The rear wheel is slightly askew, but it does not foul on anything, which is good considering the small tolerance between it and the fender. To be fair, I have been jumping off kerbs and sometimes it is impossible to miss a massive hole in the road when you are in busy traffic. An upgrade I am considering is a stronger rear wheel, although it is not pressingly urgent.
The ride of the bike is super smooth, and certainly not anything like the road bikes I am used to. I use my other road bike for triathlons, and whilst it is a lot more nimble, it is much less comfortable. The Sutra is comfortable all day long, owing in no small part to the Brooks B17 saddle, which took about two thousand miles to properly break in! It was worth it though - sitting on the bike is like sitting in an armchair (albeit a very odd armchair, but an armchair nonetheless). I tend to cruise at about 20mph on her, and my 10.5 mile commute to work takes about 37 minutes. I have started seeking out hills in preparation for some touring of Wales, and the sutra certainly loves to climb. The aggressive, mountain-bike-like frame geometry no doubt assists in this, and is confidence inspiring when climbing and descending. The bar-con shifters were a novelty for me, but they make a lot of sense, especially if replacement shifters were needed on a tour. There are even bosses on the downtube to fit truly old-school shifters in an emergency.
The weight of the bike was a shock initially - weighing in at 15kgs without the accessories, she weighs significantly more than my Specialized Hardrock mountain bike, which is saying something! Over time I have become accustomed to the weight, and now it feels normal. The main advantage of this is that when I ride anything else, it feels super light and goes very rapidly. This makes this bike an ideal training steed.
In conclusion, I have found a lot to love about the Kona Sutra - she's tough, strong and surprisingly fast. There were some niggles about fitting add-ons, but they were all easy to overcome, and the result has been a reliable bike that I think will keep delivering for years.
This is a close-up shot of the circuit layout.
This project uses an Arduino to drive a miniature "segway" balancing robot.
A pair of Lego Mindstorm NXT motors are used to drive the robot wheels. An Arduino is used to control the motors. An ADXL335 3-axis accelerometer is used to determine robot orientation. An L293D H-Bridge is used to allow the Arduino to interface with the Lego NXT motors using pulse-width modulation signals. A proportional-integral-derivative (PID) algorithm was used to determine the logic for wheel movement. Programmed in C++.
Unfortunately, the robot required "human assistance" to stand up on its own for any length of time. I wish I had a bit more time on this project to continue tweaking the PID algorithm to improve this.
Free download under CC Attribution (CC BY 2.0). Please credit the artist and rawpixel.com
Hu Zhengyan (c. 1584-1674) was a Chinese traditional painter, calligrapher, seal carver and publisher during the transition of the Ming and Qing dynasties. He produced China’s first printed publication in color, and was famous for his incredible techniques achieving gradation and modulation of shades in woodblock prints.
Higher resolutions with no attribution required can be downloaded: rawpixel
Pretty sure these two ladies were discussing this 34-meter antenna's frequency modulation and bandwidth capabilities at NASA's Deep Space Network in Goldstone, CA.
© Jason Major
Having owned the 2008 Kona Sutra for ten months, and just completed the first chain/cassette replacement, I thought it was about time for a long term review, to give other people an idea of what living with the Sutra has been like. My previous post explains why I chose the Sutra - I came up with what I thought was an impossibly eclectic list of requirements from a bicycle, and the Sutra ticked every single box.
Here's some specs, for the statophiles out there: Frame size C54cm Frame tubing Dedacciai COM 12.5 Butted Cromoly Fork Kona P2 700c TB Disc w/Lowrider Headset TH Crankarms FSA Gossamer MegaExo Chainrings 30/39/50 B/B FSA MegaExo Pedals Shimano PD-M520 SPD - Silver Chain Shimano HG53 --> Shimano HG93 XT Freewheel Shimano Deore (11-32, 9 Spd) --> Shimano XT M760 (11-32, 9spd) F/D Shimano Tiagra Triple R/D Shimano XT Shadow Shifters Shimano Bar-Con Handlebar FSA RD30 0S Stem FSA OS-190LX Grips Velo Wrap with Gel Brakes Avid BB7 Road Disc Brake Levers Shimano BLR-600 Front Hub Shimano M525 Disc Rear Hub Shimano M525 Disc Spokes DT Stainless 14g Tires Continental Contact 700 x 32C --> Schwalbe Marathon Plus 700x38c Rims Mavic A 317 Disc Saddle Selle Italia XO SE --> Brooks B17 Seatpost FSA SL-280 Seat Clamp Kona Clamp Rear Rack Tubus Logo Panniers Bikebins Computer Sigma DTS 1606 L Fenders SKS Chromoplastic
My primary (i.e. 99% of the time) use of the Sutra has been for commuting. I have covered over 2700 miles (4500km) in the time I have owned it. My commuting route through London is pretty tough on bikes - the roads south of the Thames are awful and full of potholes, through the City there is broken glass all over the place, and further north of the river there are speedbumps everywhere. When I first got the Sutra she was wearing Continental Contact tyres, and they were pretty poor for commuting. They punctured easily and transmitted the bumpiness of the road right up into my forearms. Not much fun. After one puncture too many I replaced the tyres with Schwalbe Marathon Pluses, in their largest diameter, and the difference was marked. The increased volume of air provides a lot more cushioning for the arms, and I have not had a single puncture yet, despite having pulled 6mm long pieces of glass out of the tyre surfaces. The tyres are relatively heavy, but then so is the rest of the bike, and extra weight makes you stronger!
The original rear rack was pretty flimsy, and it did not allow the attachment of the Bikebin panniers I bought to try and add some rigidity. I ended up having to angle grind chunks out of the rack to fit the panniers, which can't have improved their structural integrity. After a month of experiencing the odd sensation of the bike wagging its tail whenever I stood up to pedal hard, I bit the bullet and upgraded the rack to a Tubus Logo. It was a tight fit with the rear disc brake, but the difference was immense. Gone was the sensation of a jelly-like bike, to be replaced by a sensation of rigid stability. Whilst the rack was expensive, it made all the difference, and I would highly recommend it.
Speaking of the brakes, they have saved my life on more than one occasion, usually when a Taxi decides to perform an emergency stop to pick up a fare. The brakes stop consistently in all conditions, and so far I have not had to replace the pads, althoguh I think it will be time to do it soon. Not bad considering I have travelled almost five thousand kilometres in all weathers in the stop-start conditions of London. I was concerned that the brakes might be too powerful, but the modulation provided by the levers and the flex in the arm of the brake means that whilst the power is there if necessary, you have a lot of control over it. There is some disc drag, but this is owing more to my laziness than the brakes themselves, and seems to have little impact on cruising speeds.
Using the bike in all conditions has been excellent. The all-over fenders (something I have never fitted to a bike previously) really keep the rain off and eliminate spray from the road. I had to saw a bit of the front fender off to fit it over the larger tyres, and a little bit off the rear for the same reason, but after the modification they have been flawless.
I had heard reports of spokes snapping, and nothing happened to me until recently, when I noticed a detached spoke whilst replacing the rear cassette. I had no idea how long the spoke had been damaged for, and replaced it myself. The rear wheel is slightly askew, but it does not foul on anything, which is good considering the small tolerance between it and the fender. To be fair, I have been jumping off kerbs and sometimes it is impossible to miss a massive hole in the road when you are in busy traffic. An upgrade I am considering is a stronger rear wheel, although it is not pressingly urgent.
The ride of the bike is super smooth, and certainly not anything like the road bikes I am used to. I use my other road bike for triathlons, and whilst it is a lot more nimble, it is much less comfortable. The Sutra is comfortable all day long, owing in no small part to the Brooks B17 saddle, which took about two thousand miles to properly break in! It was worth it though - sitting on the bike is like sitting in an armchair (albeit a very odd armchair, but an armchair nonetheless). I tend to cruise at about 20mph on her, and my 10.5 mile commute to work takes about 37 minutes. I have started seeking out hills in preparation for some touring of Wales, and the sutra certainly loves to climb. The aggressive, mountain-bike-like frame geometry no doubt assists in this, and is confidence inspiring when climbing and descending. The bar-con shifters were a novelty for me, but they make a lot of sense, especially if replacement shifters were needed on a tour. There are even bosses on the downtube to fit truly old-school shifters in an emergency.
The weight of the bike was a shock initially - weighing in at 15kgs without the accessories, she weighs significantly more than my Specialized Hardrock mountain bike, which is saying something! Over time I have become accustomed to the weight, and now it feels normal. The main advantage of this is that when I ride anything else, it feels super light and goes very rapidly. This makes this bike an ideal training steed.
In conclusion, I have found a lot to love about the Kona Sutra - she's tough, strong and surprisingly fast. There were some niggles about fitting add-ons, but they were all easy to overcome, and the result has been a reliable bike that I think will keep delivering for years.
Free download under CC Attribution (CC BY 2.0). Please credit the artist and rawpixel.com
Hu Zhengyan (c. 1584-1674) was a Chinese traditional painter, calligrapher, seal carver and publisher during the transition of the Ming and Qing dynasties. He produced China’s first printed publication in color, and was famous for his incredible techniques achieving gradation and modulation of shades in woodblock prints.
Higher resolutions with no attribution required can be downloaded: rawpixel
Free download under CC Attribution (CC BY 2.0). Please credit the artist and rawpixel.com
Hu Zhengyan (c. 1584-1674) was a Chinese traditional painter, calligrapher, seal carver and publisher during the transition of the Ming and Qing dynasties. He produced China’s first printed publication in color, and was famous for his incredible techniques achieving gradation and modulation of shades in woodblock prints.
Higher resolutions with no attribution required can be downloaded: rawpixel
Having owned the 2008 Kona Sutra for ten months, and just completed the first chain/cassette replacement, I thought it was about time for a long term review, to give other people an idea of what living with the Sutra has been like. My previous post explains why I chose the Sutra - I came up with what I thought was an impossibly eclectic list of requirements from a bicycle, and the Sutra ticked every single box.
Here's some specs, for the statophiles out there: Frame size C54cm Frame tubing Dedacciai COM 12.5 Butted Cromoly Fork Kona P2 700c TB Disc w/Lowrider Headset TH Crankarms FSA Gossamer MegaExo Chainrings 30/39/50 B/B FSA MegaExo Pedals Shimano PD-M520 SPD - Silver Chain Shimano HG53 --> Shimano HG93 XT Freewheel Shimano Deore (11-32, 9 Spd) --> Shimano XT M760 (11-32, 9spd) F/D Shimano Tiagra Triple R/D Shimano XT Shadow Shifters Shimano Bar-Con Handlebar FSA RD30 0S Stem FSA OS-190LX Grips Velo Wrap with Gel Brakes Avid BB7 Road Disc Brake Levers Shimano BLR-600 Front Hub Shimano M525 Disc Rear Hub Shimano M525 Disc Spokes DT Stainless 14g Tires Continental Contact 700 x 32C --> Schwalbe Marathon Plus 700x38c Rims Mavic A 317 Disc Saddle Selle Italia XO SE --> Brooks B17 Seatpost FSA SL-280 Seat Clamp Kona Clamp Rear Rack Tubus Logo Panniers Bikebins Computer Sigma DTS 1606 L Fenders SKS Chromoplastic
My primary (i.e. 99% of the time) use of the Sutra has been for commuting. I have covered over 2700 miles (4500km) in the time I have owned it. My commuting route through London is pretty tough on bikes - the roads south of the Thames are awful and full of potholes, through the City there is broken glass all over the place, and further north of the river there are speedbumps everywhere. When I first got the Sutra she was wearing Continental Contact tyres, and they were pretty poor for commuting. They punctured easily and transmitted the bumpiness of the road right up into my forearms. Not much fun. After one puncture too many I replaced the tyres with Schwalbe Marathon Pluses, in their largest diameter, and the difference was marked. The increased volume of air provides a lot more cushioning for the arms, and I have not had a single puncture yet, despite having pulled 6mm long pieces of glass out of the tyre surfaces. The tyres are relatively heavy, but then so is the rest of the bike, and extra weight makes you stronger!
The original rear rack was pretty flimsy, and it did not allow the attachment of the Bikebin panniers I bought to try and add some rigidity. I ended up having to angle grind chunks out of the rack to fit the panniers, which can't have improved their structural integrity. After a month of experiencing the odd sensation of the bike wagging its tail whenever I stood up to pedal hard, I bit the bullet and upgraded the rack to a Tubus Logo. It was a tight fit with the rear disc brake, but the difference was immense. Gone was the sensation of a jelly-like bike, to be replaced by a sensation of rigid stability. Whilst the rack was expensive, it made all the difference, and I would highly recommend it.
Speaking of the brakes, they have saved my life on more than one occasion, usually when a Taxi decides to perform an emergency stop to pick up a fare. The brakes stop consistently in all conditions, and so far I have not had to replace the pads, althoguh I think it will be time to do it soon. Not bad considering I have travelled almost five thousand kilometres in all weathers in the stop-start conditions of London. I was concerned that the brakes might be too powerful, but the modulation provided by the levers and the flex in the arm of the brake means that whilst the power is there if necessary, you have a lot of control over it. There is some disc drag, but this is owing more to my laziness than the brakes themselves, and seems to have little impact on cruising speeds.
Using the bike in all conditions has been excellent. The all-over fenders (something I have never fitted to a bike previously) really keep the rain off and eliminate spray from the road. I had to saw a bit of the front fender off to fit it over the larger tyres, and a little bit off the rear for the same reason, but after the modification they have been flawless.
I had heard reports of spokes snapping, and nothing happened to me until recently, when I noticed a detached spoke whilst replacing the rear cassette. I had no idea how long the spoke had been damaged for, and replaced it myself. The rear wheel is slightly askew, but it does not foul on anything, which is good considering the small tolerance between it and the fender. To be fair, I have been jumping off kerbs and sometimes it is impossible to miss a massive hole in the road when you are in busy traffic. An upgrade I am considering is a stronger rear wheel, although it is not pressingly urgent.
The ride of the bike is super smooth, and certainly not anything like the road bikes I am used to. I use my other road bike for triathlons, and whilst it is a lot more nimble, it is much less comfortable. The Sutra is comfortable all day long, owing in no small part to the Brooks B17 saddle, which took about two thousand miles to properly break in! It was worth it though - sitting on the bike is like sitting in an armchair (albeit a very odd armchair, but an armchair nonetheless). I tend to cruise at about 20mph on her, and my 10.5 mile commute to work takes about 37 minutes. I have started seeking out hills in preparation for some touring of Wales, and the sutra certainly loves to climb. The aggressive, mountain-bike-like frame geometry no doubt assists in this, and is confidence inspiring when climbing and descending. The bar-con shifters were a novelty for me, but they make a lot of sense, especially if replacement shifters were needed on a tour. There are even bosses on the downtube to fit truly old-school shifters in an emergency.
The weight of the bike was a shock initially - weighing in at 15kgs without the accessories, she weighs significantly more than my Specialized Hardrock mountain bike, which is saying something! Over time I have become accustomed to the weight, and now it feels normal. The main advantage of this is that when I ride anything else, it feels super light and goes very rapidly. This makes this bike an ideal training steed.
In conclusion, I have found a lot to love about the Kona Sutra - she's tough, strong and surprisingly fast. There were some niggles about fitting add-ons, but they were all easy to overcome, and the result has been a reliable bike that I think will keep delivering for years.
X100S vs. X100 comparison. See www.flickr.com/photos/25805910@N05/sets/72157632958348638/ for the full set.
Click here for my regular X100S sample set: www.flickr.com/photos/25805910@N05/sets/72157632954030903...
JPEG SOOC Provia, NR -2, Shadow Tone +1.
Is the X100S Lens Modulation Optimizer (LMO) positively affecting IQ at small apertures?
Free download under CC Attribution (CC BY 2.0). Please credit the artist and rawpixel.com
Hu Zhengyan (c. 1584-1674) was a Chinese traditional painter, calligrapher, seal carver and publisher during the transition of the Ming and Qing dynasties. He produced China’s first printed publication in color, and was famous for his incredible techniques achieving gradation and modulation of shades in woodblock prints.
Higher resolutions with no attribution required can be downloaded: rawpixel
Parkway 1961
Review by Joe Viglione
Your Twist Party is an interesting and fun album from Chubby Checker, starting off with his classic rendition of Hank Ballard's "The Twist," and continuing with "twist"-style arrangements of popular tunes of the era. Fats Domino's "Blueberry Hill" gets the same treatment as Bill Haley's "Rock Around the Clock" — sung "Twist around the clock" here. Picture the Ramones giving their trademark power-chord treatment to cover songs their fans could identify with, and you get the spirit at play on Your Twist Party. "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" gets a "twist" mutation, while Chubby adds some Big Bopper/Jerry Lee Lewis ad libs to Kal Mann's "Mister Twister." Elvis Presley's "Hound Dog" receives a nice modulation — and an adaption as well — "You ain't nothing but a hound dog/twistin' all the time/little sister you're a twister and you ain't no friend of mine." Mann & Appell create the "Mexican Hat Twist" out of the "Mexican Hat Dance," just as Kal Mann may have inspired the Beach Boys with his "Twistin' U.S.A." (years before the Fat Boys brought a common denominator to both camps by charting on separate occasions with Chubby and the Beach Boys ). Lerner & Loewe's "I Could Have Danced All Night" works remarkably well in this format, and is a highlight of this collection. Though the obsession with the dance craze may be a bit much, this is also the record's charm, and the album features three of Checker's biggest songs with "Let's Twist Again," "The Hucklebuck," and "The Twist," while giving a sly nod to the singer's first hit from 1959, "The Class," where he imitated some of the people he covers here.
Copyright PS
Nakhl castle restored, inland Oman.........
North and inland to dramatic Nakhl and its restored rock-top fortress above oasis palmery at the base of a mountain fissure. The fort/palace thus emerges/perches above a palm grove against the backdrop of the Hajar cliffs. Earth and rock mass construction; sturdy despite the fort's antiquity. It's now a historic place -- no charge to enter. Pre-Islamic origins. It underwent earlier restoration in the 9th and 16th Cs, as well as recently.
Five cylindrical towers adorn the fort which occupies 3,400 sq metres. Its walls follow the shapes of the rising and falling pleats of rock; a series of courtyards at split-levels, with labyrinthine staircases from terrace to terrace. Thick walls result in deep reveals; carved woodwork doors and screens; and modulation of glare and control of heat.
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More than 60 historic forts have been restored in Oman in recent years.
Many of the older castles and monasteries of Oman date back to before Islam moved in and were built by the Persians for protection.
Ex Batinah guide:
"Nakhl is located in the south of the Batinah, at the foot of Jebel al Akhdar in the Western Hajar Mountains. Upon entry to Nakhl, the most prominent feature is the fort, which is built on a 200m high craggy outcrop. The fort has been extended over the centuries and in 1990, was restored by Sultan Qaboos. There are a number of hot springs in Nakhl, one of which is situated close to the fort: Thuara spring is an important source of water to the residents of Nakhl, as it irrigates around 90% of the land."
Images link:
Heritage forts and castles:
www.omanet.om/english/tourism/herit/forts.asp?cat=tour&am...
Nakhl and al Rustaq images:
www.pbase.com/bmcmorrow/nakhl&page=all
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[This is last if in Travels2 set, return to thumbnails or to another album/set. PS
Choose another Set:
PS ]
Messier 3 (also known as M3 or NGC 5272) is a globular cluster of stars in the northern constellation of Canes Venatici. It was discovered by Charles Messier on May 3, 1764,[7] and resolved into stars by William Herschel around 1784. Since then, it has become one of the best-studied globular clusters. Identification of the cluster's unusually large variable star population was begun in 1913 by American astronomer Solon Irving Bailey and new variable members continue to be identified up through 2004.[8]
Many amateur astronomers consider it one of the finest northern globular clusters, following only Messier 13.[1] M3 has an apparent magnitude of 6.2,[4] making it a difficult naked eye target even with dark conditions. With a moderate-sized telescope, the cluster is fully defined. It can be a challenge to locate through the technique of star hopping, but can be found by looking almost exactly halfway along an imaginary line connecting the bright star Arcturus to Cor Caroli. Using a telescope with a 25 cm (9.8 in) aperture, the cluster has a bright core with a diameter of about 6 arcminutes and spans a total of 12 arcminutes.[1]
This cluster is one of the largest and brightest, and is made up of around 500,000 stars. It is estimated to be 8 billion years old. It is located at a distance of about 33,900 light-years away from Earth.
Messier 3 is located 31.6 kly (9.7 kpc) above the Galactic plane and roughly 38.8 kly (11.9 kpc) from the center of the Milky Way. It contains 274 known variable stars; by far the highest number found in any globular cluster. These include 133 RR Lyrae variables, of which about a third display the Blazhko effect of long-period modulation. The overall abundance of elements other than hydrogen and helium, what astronomers term the metallicity, is in the range of –1.34 to –1.50 dex. This value gives the logarithm of the abundance relative to the Sun; the actual proportion is 3.2–4.6% of the solar abundance. Messier 3 is the prototype for the Oosterhoff type I cluster, which is considered "metal-rich". That is, for a globular cluster, Messier 3 has a relatively high abundance of heavier elements.[9]
50 subs at 25 seconds using ISO 3200 using full frame (43 used)
Captured in Images Plus V5.0
Processed in Images Plus V5.0
EDGE-11 @ f/10
HyperTuned by Ed Thomas Deep Space Products CGEM mount
FeatherTouch auto back focuser / Micro Touch SCT focuser Starizona.com
Modified by Hap Griffin Canon T1i
Hutech IDAS P2
AutoGuiding: Orion Solitaire stand alone
Free download under CC Attribution (CC BY 2.0). Please credit the artist and rawpixel.com
Hu Zhengyan (c. 1584-1674) was a Chinese traditional painter, calligrapher, seal carver and publisher during the transition of the Ming and Qing dynasties. He produced China’s first printed publication in color, and was famous for his incredible techniques achieving gradation and modulation of shades in woodblock prints.
Higher resolutions with no attribution required can be downloaded: rawpixel
Some quick low res phone snaps of my 16mm scale narrow gauge setup guesting at Pendle Forest MRS Show 19th & 20th Nov. (Was too busy with the exhibit to get out the Cybershot & tripod.)
This image shows the exhibit's public facing PWM (pulse width modulation) signalling panel. I have replaced the original push button controls with active lever frames. The kids love it when the trains have to obey their signals.
X100S vs. X100 comparison. See www.flickr.com/photos/25805910@N05/sets/72157632958348638/ for the full set.
Click here for my regular X100S sample set: www.flickr.com/photos/25805910@N05/sets/72157632954030903...
JPEG SOOC Provia, NR -2, Shadow Tone +1.
Is the X100S Lens Modulation Optimizer (LMO) positively affecting IQ at small apertures?
Free download under CC Attribution (CC BY 2.0). Please credit the artist and rawpixel.com
Hu Zhengyan (c. 1584-1674) was a Chinese traditional painter, calligrapher, seal carver and publisher during the transition of the Ming and Qing dynasties. He produced China’s first printed publication in color, and was famous for his incredible techniques achieving gradation and modulation of shades in woodblock prints.
Higher resolutions with no attribution required can be downloaded: rawpixel
Prague Castle (Pražský hrad)
For more than a thousand years, has the Prague Castle been an important symbol of the Czech state. Founded in the 9th century, it became the permanent seat of the Czech rulers and, most recently, also of the Presidents. One of the largest castle complexes in the world consists of palaces, offices, churches and fortification buildings, gardens and picturesque corners. The castle covers an area of 45 hectares. The unique view to the Prague Castle is one of the most amazing panorama views in the world.
Prague Castle is the most important folk-cultural and historical monument, and is the symbol of the more than one thousand years of development of the Czech and all-Czech states. It is a monumental symbol of the palace, church, fortification, official and residential buildings which represent very valuable monuments, included in all style epochs. It covers an area of 45 hectares, was the seat of the Bohemian princes, kings and emperors, and since the Republic was founded in 1918, it was also the residence of the presidents. Since 1962, the Prague Castle has been known for its archaeological discoveries.
History
The initial phases of the Prague Castle are connected with the first historically documented Přemyslid Bořivoj (Bořivoj I (Czech pronunciation: [ˈbɔr̝ɪvɔj], Latin: Borzivogius, c. 852 – c. 889) was the first historically documented Duke of Bohemia from about 870 and progenitor of the Přemyslid dynasty.] The Duchy of Bohemia was at those times subordinated to Great Moravia.). This one transferred in the 80s of the 9th century his original seat from Levý Hradec to the place where on the raised spot above the river Vltava/Moldau already existed a Slavic castle and was very well situated.
The first princely palace apparently only consisted of wood. The first stone building and the oldest Christian sanctuary was the Virgin Mary Church. Its remains have been found between the Second Courtyard and the Bastion garden (original name of the garden: Na Baště). This Bořivoj church was soon reconstructed by the prince Spytihněv I, who was buried here in 915. The second church in the castle was the St. George Basilica founded by Prince Vratislaus I. The next Přemyslide, Prince Wenceslas (Saint), the third sanctuary - the St Veit Rotunda - in the twenties of the 10th century nearby had built which in the 11th century by Prince Spytihnev II was transformed into a huge basilica.
In 973, when the bishopric was established in Prague, the castle was not only the seat of the head of state, but also the seat of the Prague bishop, the highest representative of the church. At the same time arose the first monastery in Bohemia at St. George's basilica.
In the 10th century the castle occupied an area of about 6 ha. In the Romanesque epoch the former fortress, especially after the year 1135 thanks to Soběslaus I, as the stony princely palace and the new masonry fortified with some towers were erected, was turned into a fortified medieval castle. Of the towers is the eastern blacktower best preserved.
Very significantly the Gothic period in the appearance of Prague Castle intervened, most of all Charles IV (1346 - 1378), who, with his father, John of Luxemburg (1310 - 1346), obtained from the pope the promotion of the Prague bishopric to the archbishopric and laid the foundations for the construction of St. Vitus Cathedral. Under Charles IV, the castle for the first time was turned into the imperial residence. Charles IV the defense of the Prague Castle had consolidated, the Royal Palace with the Chapel of All Saints he rebuilt generously. The roofs he had covered with gilded plates, which were the foundation for the binding of words "Golden Prague". Since 1382, Bohemian rulers ceased to occupy the Prague Castle for more than 100 years. The royal court was moved to the place of today's Community hall and back to the Prague castle it came only in 1483 under Wladislaus from the Jagiellonian dynasty.
Although the ruler already in 1490 moved to Ofen (Buda), he had the Prague castle renovated in the late Gothic style under the supervision of Benedikt Ried. He was the master builder of the magnificent Vladislav Hall, the largest secular vaulted room of the then Europe, with which the first Renaissance signs came to Prague. He carried out major construction works, including the construction of a new masonry, the defensive towers and the expansion of the Royal Palace. At his time, the Gothic died away and a new architectural style, the Renaissance, gradually prevailed.
The direct influence of the Italian art on the new style was most frequently observed in Prague under the reign of Ferdinand I (von Habsburg) and after his departure from Prague under the influence of the governor Ferdinand of Tyrol. At that time, the medieval castle was converted into a comfortable Renaissance castle with gardens. The typical Italian architecture of the Royal Pleasure palace arose in the northern King's garden.
For a large building activity in 1541 contributed a fire devastating the castle objects as well as the surrounding area quite a lot. Within the framework of the restoration, both the housing estates and the church buildings were rebuilt. Under the reign of the first Habsburgs, nobility palaces were added to the castle grounds (for example, the Pernstein Palace - later Lobkowicz Palace, Rosenberg Palace and others). Horse stable buildings were built in the north-west.
Under the reign of the Emperor Rudolph II (1576 - 1611), the Renaissance and Mannerism transformation of the castle, which for the second time became the center of the empire, and especially the center of European culture and science, reached its peak. On the second courtyard, new rooms were built for the collections of Rudolph - the new (now Spanish) hall and the Rudolph gallery. Also arose the connection tract between the northwestern and the southwestern part of the castle. Just here the famous Kunstkammer (Art chamber) and other rooms for Rudolph's collective activities were located. Additionally further horse stable properties were built for his rare Spanish horses. During the Rudolph times also the foundation stone of the famous Golden Alley was laid. Laboratories of the Rudolph-Alchymists were supposed to have been in the Powder tower above the Hirschgraben (Deer's ditch). The castle suffered again considerable damages when it was occupied by the Saxon army in 1631 and by the Swedes in 1648 not only was occupied but also plundered. After the Thirty Years' War, the Habsburgs did not care too much about the Prague royal seat.
Only Maria Theresia carried out an extensive reconstruction of the Prague Castle from 1755 - 1775 into a representative castle complex. The reason for the massive construction action were war damages, caused by the intense bombing of the castle during war conflicts at the beginning of her reign. The reconstruction was designed by the Viennese architect Nicolo Pacassi, who also planned the first courtyard with the monumental entrance gate. From the time of the Theresian reconstruction stems also the chapel of the Holy Cross on the 2nd castle forecourt and other buildings, especially the noblewomen institute. The south wing he imprinted the uniform monumental late Baroque facade of a representative seat. His plans influenced by Viennese Rococo and French Classicism the builders Anselmo Lurago, Anton Kunz and Anton Haffenecker brought into life.
In the 19th century, the castle fell into ruin, in several objects after the Josephine reforms the army settled. In connection with the stay of Ferdinand I the Good in the castle after his abdication in 1848 and further in connection with the preparation for the coronation of Franz Joseph I in the sixties it came to building modifications of several objects. After 1859, when the community for the completion of St Veit cathedral emerged, began first the repair, and then, under the influence of the architect Joseph Mocker, the work on the actual completion of St Veit's cathedral was started, completed in 1929.
In the years 1920 - 35, carried out extensive regulations of the Prague Castle as the seat of the Czechoslovak President the great Slovenian architect Josip Plečnik, who masterfully combined the valuable historical space with modern civilization claims. His modifications mainly concerned the 1st and 3rd court, the southern gardens of the castle, the fourth forecourt with the Bastion garden as well as numerous interiors. He created e.g. the pillared hall, private rooms of the presidential residence, including the Masaryk workroom. His pupil, Otto Rothmayer, brought to an end the incomplete solutions of some castle interior spaces after the Second World War in comparable quality.
In 1936, Pavel Janák and after him, in 1959, Jaroslav Fragner became castle architect.
After the year of change of 1989, the Prague Castle was opened to the public in many places. During the term of President Havel, at the castle it came to modulations of the interiors and to the expansion of two new entrances into the second courtyard after the project of the creator and designer Bořek Šípek. The puncture through the rampart of the Powder bridge in Hirschgraben was rewarded with a significant prize (Arch. Josef Pleskot). Also interesting is the modern greenhouse of the world-famous architect Eva Jiřičná. The Georgian Square (Jiřské náměstí) was re-paved and modulated. The Mosaic of the Last Judgment was renovated in collaboration with the specialists from the Getti Institute. In 1990, the Prague Castle was solemnly illuminated and this situation lasts from dusk to midnight until today. In the main tourist season, the lighting time even lasts an hour longer until 1 o'clock. The tradition of electric lighting, but on a much smaller scale, began in 1928, when the lamps were installed for the 10th anniversary of the elevation to a Republic. A little bit the present daylight resembles of those from the end of the sixties, but today it is much more detailed and in communist times it was only switched on at solemn occasions. At that time, illuminative days were state holidays or significant day of republic, which, however, did not lack recognition from the communist point of view.
In recent years the reconstruction and renovation work has been developed in many buildings of the castle and a considerable attention has been devoted to the archaeological investigation, which has been going on since 1925 and has brought many insights into the history of the castle. The investigation as well as the renovation of the individual rooms and objects is motivated by the idea of invigorating them as much as possible by making them accessible to the public.
Prager Burg (Pražský hrad)
Die Prager Burg ist seit über tausend Jahren ein bedeutendes Symbol des tschechischen Staates. Gegründet im 9. Jahrhundert wurde sie zum ständigen Sitz der tschechischen Herrscher und zuletzt auch der Präsidenten. Einer der größten Burgkomplexe weltweit setzt sich aus Palästen, Amts-, Kirchen- und Fortifikationsgebäuden, aus Gärten und malerischen Ecken zusammen. Die Burg erstreckt sich auf einer Fläche von 45 Hektar. Der alleinige Blick auf die Prager Burg stellt einen der überwältigendsten Panoramablicke der Welt dar.
Die Prager Burg ist das bedeutendste Volkskultur- und Historiedenkmal, sie ist das Symbol der mehr als eintausendjährigen Entwicklung des böhmischen sowie gesamttschechischen Staats. Es ist ein monumentales Symbol der Palast-, Kirchen-, Fortifikations-, Amts- und Wohngebäude, die sehr wertvolle Denkmäler darstellen, einbezogen auf alle Stilepochen. Sie erstreckt sich auf einer Fläche von 45 ha, war der Sitz der böhmischen Fürsten, Könige und Kaiser und seit der Republikentstehung im Jahre 1918 war sie auch die Residenz der Präsidenten. Seit 1962 steht die Prager Burg mit ihren archäologischen Funden als bekanntester.
Geschichte
Die Anfangszeiten der Prager Burg sind mit dem ersten historisch belegten Přemysliden Bořivoj verbunden. Dieser übertrug in den 80er Jahren des 9. Jahrhunderts seinen ursprünglichen Sitz von Levý Hradec an den Ort, wo auf der erhabenen Stelle über der Moldau eine slawische Burgstätte bereits bestand und sehr gut gelegen war.
Der erste Fürstenpalast bestand offenbar aus Holz. Der erste Steinbau und das älteste christliche Heiligtum war die Jungfrau Maria Kirche. Ihre Reste wurden zwischen dem II. Vorhof und dem Basteigarten (Originalname des Gartens: Na Baště) gefunden. Diese Bořivoj-Kirche wurde durch den hier im Jahre 915 beigesetzten Fürsten Spytihněv I. bald umgebaut. Die zweite Kirche im Burgraum war die vom Fürsten Vratislaus I. gegründete St. Georg Basilika. Der nächste Přemyslide, der Fürst Wenzel (der Heilige), ließ in der Nähe in den 20er Jahren des 10. Jahrhunderts das dritte Heiligtum - die St. Veit Rotunde - bauen, die im 11. Jahrhundert vom Fürsten Spytihněv II. zu einer gewaltigen Basilika umgebaut wurde.
Im Jahre 973, als in Prag das Bistum gegründet wurde, war die Burg nicht nur der Sitz des Staatsoberhaupts, sondern auch der Sitz des Prager Bischofs, des höchsten Repräsentanten der Kirche. Zu demselben Zeitpunkt entstand an der St. Georg Basilika das erste Kloster in Böhmen.
Im 10. Jahrhundert nahm die Burg eine Fläche von ca. 6 ha in Anspruch. In der romanischen Epoche wurde die einstige Burgstätte, insbesondere nach dem Jahr 1135 dank Soběslaus I., als der steinige Fürstenpalast und das neue mit einigen Türmen verstärkte Mauerwerk aufgebaut wurden, zu einer festen mittelalterlichen Burg umgebaut. Von den Türmen ist der östliche Schwarzturm am besten erhalten.
Sehr bedeutend griff ins Aussehen der Prager Burg die Gotikzeit ein, insbesondere Karl IV. (1346 - 1378), der mit seinem Vater Johann von Luxemburg (1310 - 1346) vom Papst die Beförderung des Prager Bistums zum Erzbistum erwirkte und den Grundstein für den Bau der St. Veit Kathedrale legte. Unter Karl IV. wurde die Burg zum ersten Mal zur Kaiserlichen Residenz. Karl IV. ließ die Verschanzung der Prager Burg festigen, den Königspalast mit der Kapelle Aller Heiligen baute er großzügig um. Die Dächer ließ er mit vergoldeten Blechen decken, die das Fundament für die Wörterbindung „Goldenes Prag“ darstellten. Seit 1382 hörten böhmische Herrscher auf, die Prager Burg für mehr als 100 Jahre zu bewohnen. Der Königshof wurde an den Ort des heutigen Gemeindehauses umgezogen und zurück auf die Prager Burg kehrte er erst im Jahre 1483 unter Wladislaus aus der Jagiellonen-Dynastie.
Obwohl der Herrscher bereits 1490 nach Ofen (Buda) umsiedelte, ließ er die Prager Burg im spätgotischen Stil unter der Bauleitung von Benedikt Ried umbauen. Er war der Baumeister des großartigen Wladislaus-Saals, des größten weltlichen gewölbten Raums des damaligen Europas, mit dem die ersten Renaissancezeichen nach Prag kamen. Er führte großartige Bauregelungen einschließlich des Ausbaus eines neuen Mauerwerks, der Wehrtürme und der Erweiterung des Königspalastes durch. Zu seiner Zeit klang die Gotik aus und es setzte sich allmählich ein neuer Baustil durch, die Renaissance.
Der direkte Einfluss der italienischen Kunst des neuen Stils wurde in Prag unter der Regierung von Ferdinand I. (von Habsburg) und nach seinem Weggang von Prag unter der Wirkung des Statthalters Ferdinand von Tirol am meisten beobachtet. Damals wurde die mittelalterliche Burg in ein bequemes Renaissanceschloss mit Gärten umgewandelt. Im nördlichen Königsgarten entstand die typisch italienische Architektur des Königlichen Lustschlosses.
Zu einer großen Bauaktivität trug im Jahre 1541 ein Brand bei, der die Burgobjekte sowie die Umgebung ziemlich viel kaputt machte. Im Rahmen der Wiederherstellung wurden sowohl die Wohnräume als auch die Kirchenobjekte umgebaut. Unter der Regierung der ersten Habsburger kamen ins Burggelände auch Adelspaläste dazu (zum Beispiel der Pernstein-Palast - später Lobkowicz-Palast, Rosenberg-Palast und weitere). Im Nordwesten wurden Pferdestallgebäude erbaut.
Unter der Regierung des Kaisers Rudolph II. (1576 - 1611) erreichte der Renaissance- und Manierismusumbau der Burg, die zum zweiten Mal zum Zentrum des Reiches und insbesondere zum Zentrum der europäischen Kultur und Wissenschaft wurde, seinen Gipfel. Auf dem II. Vorhof wurden neue Räume für die Sammlungen Rudolphs erbaut - der Neue (heute Spanische) Saal und die Rudolph-Galerie. Es entstand auch der Verbindungstrakt zwischen dem Nordwest- und dem Südwestteil der Burg. Eben hier befanden sich die berühmte Kunstkammer und weitere Räume für die Sammeltätigkeit Rudolphs. Es wurden auch weitere Pferdestallobjekte für seine seltenen spanischen Pferde aufgebaut. Während der Rudolph-Zeiten wurde auch der Grundstein der berühmten Goldenen Gasse gelegt. Laboratorien der Rudolph-Alchymisten sollen im Pulverturm über dem Hirschgraben gewesen sein. Die Burg erlitt erneut erhebliche Schäden, als sie 1631 vom sächsischen Heer und 1648 von den Schweden besetzt und ausgeplündert wurde. Nach dem Dreißigjährigen Krieg kümmerten sich die Habsburger um den Prager königlichen Sitz nicht allzu sehr.
Erst Maria Theresia führte in den Jahren 1755 - 1775 einen umfangreichen Umbau der Prager Burg zu einem repräsentativen Schlosskomplex durch. Der Grund für die massive Bauaktion waren Kriegsschäden, verursacht durch die intensive Bombardierung der Burg bei Kriegskonflikten zu Beginn ihrer Regierung. Den Umbau entwarf der Wiener Architekt Nicolo Pacassi, der auch den I. Vorhof mit dem monumentalen Eingangstor projektierte. Aus der Zeit des theresianischen Umbaus stammt auch die Kapelle des Heiligen Kreuzes auf dem II. Burgvorhof und weitere Gebäude, insbesondere die Edeldamenanstalt. Dem Südflügel prägte er die einheitliche monumentale Spätbarockfassade eines Repräsentationssitzes ein. Seine durch das Wiener Rokoko und den französischen Klassizismus beeinflussten Pläne brachten die Baumeister Anselmo Lurago, Anton Kunz und Anton Haffenecker zustande.
Im 19. Jahrhundert verfiel die Burg, in mehreren Objekten ließ sich nach den josephinischen Reformen das Heer nieder. Zu Bauregelungen einiger Objekte kam es im Zusammenhang mit dem Aufenthalt von Ferdinand I. dem Guten auf der Burg nach seiner Abdikation im Jahre 1848 und weiter im Zusammenhang mit der Vorbereitung auf die vorgesehene Krönung von Franz Joseph I. in den 60er Jahren. Nach 1859, als die Gemeinde für die Fertigstellung der St. Veit Kathedrale entstand, begann zuerst die Reparatur und anschließend unter der Wirkung des Architekten Joseph Mocker wurde die Arbeit an der eigentlichen Fertigstellung der St. Veit Kathedrale aufgenommen, abgeschlossen im Jahre 1929.
In den Jahren 1920 - 35 führte ausgedehnte Regelungen der Prager Burg als des Sitzes des tschechoslowakischen Präsidenten der bedeutende slowenische Architekt Josip Plečnik durch, der den wertvollen historischen Raum mit modernen Zivilisationsansprüchen meisterlich zusammenfügte. Seine Regelungen betrafen vor allem den 1. und 3. Vorhof, die Südgärten der Burg, den 4. Vorhof mit dem Basteigarten sowie zahlreiche Innenräume. Er schuf z.B. die Säulenhalle, Privaträume der Präsidentenwohnung einschließlich des Arbeitszimmers Masaryks. Sein Schüler Otto Rothmayer brachte die unvollendeten Lösungen einiger Burginnenräume nach dem 2. Weltkrieg in vergleichbarer Qualität zu Ende.
Im Jahre 1936 ist Pavel Janák und nach ihm seit 1959 Jaroslav Fragner Burgarchitekt geworden.
Nach dem Wendejahr 1989 wurde die Prager Burg an vielen Stellen für die Öffentlichkeit geöffnet. Während der Amtszeit des Präsidenten Havel kam es auf der Burg zu Regelungen der Innenräume und zum Ausbau zweier neuer Eingänge in den 2. Vorhof nach dem Projekt des Bildners und Designers Bořek Šípek. Mit einem bedeutenden Preis wurde der Durchstich durch den Wall der Pulverbrücke im Hirschgraben belohnt (Arch. Josef Pleskot). Interessant ist auch das moderne Gewächshaus der weltberühmten Architektin Eva Jiřičná. Der Georg-Platz (Jiřské náměstí) wurde neu bepflastert und geregelt. In Zusammenarbeit mit den Fachleuten aus dem Getti-Institut wurde die Mosaik „des Letzten Gerichts“ renoviert. Im Jahre 1990 wurde die Prager Burg feierlich beleuchtet und dieser Zustand dauert von der Dämmerung bis zur Mitternacht bis heute. In der touristischen Hauptsaison dauert die Beleuchtungszeit sogar eine Stunde länger, bis 1 Uhr. Die Tradition der elektrischen Beleuchtung, jedoch im viel kleineren Umfang, begann im Jahre 1928, als die Lampen zum 10. Jubiläum der Republikentstehung installiert wurden. Ein wenig ähnelte die heutige feierliche Beleuchtung jener aus dem Ende der 60er Jahren, heute ist sie allerdings viel detaillierter und in den Kommunistenzeiten wurde sie nur bei feierlichen Gelegenheiten angemacht. Beleuchtungswürdige Tage waren damals Staatsfeiertage oder bedeutende Republiktage, denen allerdings aus der kommunistischen Sicht die Anerkennung nicht fehlte.
In den letzten Jahren entwickelte sich die Umbau- bzw. Renovierungstätigkeit in vielen Objekten der Burg und eine erhebliche Aufmerksamkeit wurde der archäologischen Untersuchung gewidmet, die bereits seit 1925 läuft und viele Erkenntnisse über die Burggeschichte brachte. Die Untersuchung sowie die Renovierung der einzelnen Räume und Objekte ist von der Idee motiviert, sie dadurch, dass sie der Öffentlichkeit zugänglich gemacht werden, möglichst viel zu beleben.