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๐ Trial and Execution of Nicolae and Elena Ceauศescu
The trial of Nicolae and Elena Ceauศescu was held on 25 December 1989 by an Exceptional Military Tribunal, a drumhead court-martial created at the request of a newly formed group called the National Salvation Front. Its outcome was pre-determined, and it resulted in guilty verdicts and death sentences for former Romanian President and Romanian Communist Party General Secretary, Nicolae Ceauศescu, and his wife, Elena Ceauศescu.
The main charge was genocideโ namely, murdering "over 60,000 people" during the revolution in Timiศoara. Other sources put the death toll between 689 and 1,200. Nevertheless, the charges did not affect the trial. General Victor Stฤnculescu had brought with him a specially selected team of paratroopers from a crack regiment, handpicked earlier in the morning to act as a firing squad. Before the legal proceedings began, Stฤnculescu had already selected the spot where the execution would take place: along one side of the wall in the barracks' square.
Nicolae Ceauศescu refused to recognize the tribunal, arguing its lack of constitutional basis and claiming that the revolutionary authorities were part of a Soviet plot.
Discussed on
- "Trial and Execution of Nicolae and Elena Ceauศescu" | 2022-12-07 | 19 Upvotes 7 Comments
๐ Butlerian Jihad
Dune is a science fiction media franchise that originated with the 1965 novel Dune by Frank Herbert and has continued to add new publications up to 2017. Dune is frequently cited as the best-selling science fiction novel in history. It won the 1966 Hugo Award and the inaugural Nebula Award for Best Novel, and was later adapted into a 1984 film and a 2000 television miniseries. Herbert wrote five sequels, and the first two were presented as a miniseries in 2003. The Dune universe has also inspired some traditional games and a series of video games. Since 2009, the names of planets from the Dune novels have been adopted for the real-world nomenclature of plains and other features on Saturn's moon Titan.
Frank Herbert died in 1986. Beginning in 1999, his son Brian Herbert and science fiction author Kevin J. Anderson published a number of prequel novels, as well as two which complete the original Dune series (Hunters of Dune in 2006 and Sandworms of Dune in 2007), partially based on Frank Herbert's notes discovered a decade after his death.
The political, scientific, and social fictional setting of Herbert's novels and derivative works is known as the Dune universe, or Duniverse. Set tens of thousands of years in the future, the saga chronicles a civilization which has banned all forms of computers, or "thinking machines", but has also developed advanced technology and mental and physical abilities. Vital to this empire is the harsh desert planet Arrakis, only known source of the spice melange, the most valuable substance in the universe.
Due to the similarities between some of Herbert's terms and ideas and actual words and concepts in the Arabic language, as well as the series' "Islamic undertones" and themes, a Middle Eastern influence on Herbert's works has been noted repeatedly.
Discussed on
- "The Butlerian Jihad (23000)" | 2022-12-06 | 16 Upvotes 5 Comments
- "Butlerian Jihad" | 2019-02-20 | 14 Upvotes 1 Comments
๐ The Nine Worthies
The Nine Worthies are nine historical, scriptural, and legendary personages who personify the ideals of chivalry established in the Middle Ages, whose lives were deemed a valuable study for aspirants to chivalric status. All were commonly referred to as 'Princes', regardless of their historical titles. In French they are called Les Neuf Preux or "Nine Valiants", giving a more specific idea of the moral virtues they exemplified: those of soldierly courage and generalship. In Italy they are i Nove Prodi.
The Nine Worthies include three pagans (Hector, Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar), three Jews (Joshua, David and Judas Maccabeus) and three Christians (King Arthur, Charlemagne and Godfrey of Bouillon).
Discussed on
- "The Nine Worthies" | 2022-12-05 | 20 Upvotes 9 Comments
๐ Vancouver Special
The Vancouver Special is an architectural style of residential houses developed in Metro Vancouver, Canada. The style was popular in the 1960s to 1980s due to ability to maximize floor space with relatively cheap construction costs.
Discussed on
- "Vancouver Special" | 2022-12-05 | 100 Upvotes 55 Comments
๐ Digital Mobile Radio
Digital mobile radio (DMR) is a limited open digital mobile radio standard defined in the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) Standard TS 102 361 parts 1โ4 and used in commercial products around the world. DMR, along with P25 phase II and NXDN are the main competitor technologies in achieving 6.25ย kHz equivalent bandwidth using the proprietary AMBE+2 vocoder. DMR and P25 II both use two-slot TDMA in a 12.5ย kHz channel, while NXDN uses discrete 6.25ย kHz channels using frequency division and TETRA uses a four-slot TDMA in a 25 kHz channel.
DMR was designed with three tiers. DMR tiers I and II (conventional) were first published in 2005, and DMR III (Trunked version) was published in 2012, with manufacturers producing products within a few years of each publication.
The primary goal of the standard is to specify a digital system with low complexity, low cost and interoperability across brands, so radio communications purchasers are not locked into a proprietary solution. In practice, given the current limited scope of the DMR standard, many vendors have introduced proprietary features that make their product offerings non-interoperable with other brands.
Discussed on
- "Digital Mobile Radio" | 2022-12-04 | 36 Upvotes 9 Comments
๐ My Dinner with Andre
My Dinner with Andre is a 1981 American comedy-drama film directed by Louis Malle, and written by and starring Andrรฉ Gregory (Andre) and Wallace Shawn (Wally). The actors play fictionalized versions of themselves sharing a conversation at Cafรฉ des Artistes in Manhattan. The film's dialogue covers topics such as experimental theatre, the nature of theatre, and the nature of life, and contrasts Wally's modest humanism with Andre's spiritual experiences.
Discussed on
- "My Dinner with Andre" | 2022-12-04 | 11 Upvotes 7 Comments
๐ Libro de Los Juegos
The Libro de los Juegos (Spanish: "Book of games"), or Libro de axedrez, dados e tablas ("Book of chess, dice and tables", in Old Spanish), was a Spanish translation of Arabic texts on chess, dice and tables (backgammon forebears) games, commissioned by Alfonso X of Castile, Galicia and Leรณn and completed in his scriptorium in Toledo in 1283. It contains the earliest European treatise on chess as well as being the oldest document on European tables games, and is an exemplary piece of the literary legacy of the Toledo School of Translators.
Discussed on
- "Libro de Los Juegos" | 2022-12-02 | 59 Upvotes 14 Comments
๐ Product Red
Product Red, stylized as (PRODUCT)RED or (PRODUCT)RED, is a licensed brand by the company Red, stylized as (RED), that seeks to engage the private sector in raising awareness and funds to help eliminate HIV/AIDS in eight African countries, namely Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, and Zambia. It is licensed to partner companies including Apple Inc., Nike, American Express (UK), The Coca-Cola Company, Starbucks, Converse, Electronic Arts, Primark, Head, Buckaroo, Penguin Classics (UK & International), Gap, Armani, FIAT, Hallmark (US), SAP, Beats Electronics, and Supercell. The concept was founded in 2006 by U2 frontman and activist Bono, together with Bobby Shriver of the One Campaign and DATA. The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is the recipient of Product Red's money.
As part of a new business model, each partner company creates a product with the Product Red logo. In return for the opportunity to increase revenue through the Product Red license, up to 50% of profits gained by each partner is donated to the Global Fund. As Product Red is owned by Red, a portion of the contributions received from the partner brands is assigned as profit. Such an amalgamation of humanitarian aid and for-profit businesses is one example of "ethical consumerism".
In 2012, One Campaign acquired Red as a division of One. Both organizations were co-founded by Bono and Shriver.
Since 2020, Product Red has been used in the global fund to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
Discussed on
- "Product Red" | 2022-12-01 | 38 Upvotes 49 Comments
๐ Przybylski's Star
Przybylski's Star (pronounced or ), or HD 101065, is a rapidly oscillating Ap star at roughly 355 light-years (109 parsecs) from the Sun in the southern constellation of Centaurus.
Discussed on
- "Przybylski's Star" | 2022-11-28 | 95 Upvotes 16 Comments
- "Przybylski's Star" | 2016-09-10 | 96 Upvotes 27 Comments
๐ Potato Paradox
The potato paradox is a mathematical calculation that has a counter-intuitive result. The Universal Book of Mathematics states the problem as follows:
Fred brings home 100 kg of potatoes, which (being purely mathematical potatoes) consist of 99% water. He then leaves them outside overnight so that they consist of 98% water. What is their new weight? The surprising answer is 50 kg.
In Quine's classification of paradoxes, the potato paradox is a veridical paradox.
Discussed on
- "Potato Paradox" | 2022-11-28 | 35 Upvotes 14 Comments
- "Potato paradox" | 2018-08-12 | 232 Upvotes 77 Comments
- "Potato paradox" | 2015-07-15 | 559 Upvotes 132 Comments