Machine

A machine is a tool containing one or more parts that uses energy to perform an intended action. Machines are usually powered by mechanical, chemical, thermal, or electrical means, and are often motorized. Historically, a power tool also required moving parts to classify as a machine. However, the advent of electronics has led to the development of power tools without moving parts that are considered machines.

A simple machine is a device that simply transforms the direction or magnitude of a force, but a large number of more complex machines exist. Examples include vehicles, electronic systems, molecular machines, computers, television, and radio.

Etymology

The word machine derives from the Latin word machina, which in turn derives from the Greek (Doric μαχανά makhana, Ionic μηχανή mekhane "contrivance, machine, engine", a derivation from μῆχος mekhos "means, expedient, remedy").

A wider meaning of "fabric, structure" is found in classical Latin, but not in Greek usage.

This meaning is found in late medieval French, and is adopted from the French into English in the mid-16th century.

Artension

Artension was a North American neo-classical progressive metal band, founded in 1993 by keyboardist Vitalij Kuprij.

History

It was sometime in '92/'93, when Vitalij Kuprij, who was studying classical music in Switzerland at that time, met Roger Staffelbach, a Swiss guitarist who was also studying at the Jazz School in Lucerne.

They soon founded their band "Atlantis Rising", which played several instrumental gigs in Switzerland. After having recorded some demos, they got in touch with Mike Varney of Shrapnel Records, who showed great interest in the band but suggested to add some vocal lines to their songs.

Vitalij had already known stunning drummer Mike Terrana from one of Yngwie Malmsteen's tours. His friend, bassist Kevin Chown, also joined the band and enriched their sound with solid experience and great musicianship, and Artension was born.

Mike Varney introduced Vitalij and Roger to several musicians, one of them being John West, whose soaring vocals, along with Vitalij's and Roger's lightning-fast solos, became the trademark for Artension's neo-classical and aggressive music.

Machine (Static-X album)

Machine is the second studio album from the American industrial metal band Static-X, released on May 22, 2001 and recorded at Studio 508 (Los Angeles, California). When compared to the band's other albums, Machine features more electronics and industrial effects, and more screamed vocals from Wayne Static.

Album information

The song "Black and White" provided the album's first single and music video, and later a second single would be found in "This Is Not". The song "Cold" also had a video made for it, and tied in with the film Queen of the Damned. It was featured on the aforementioned film's soundtrack album, as was the exclusive "Not Meant for Me", performed by Wayne Static. The song "Anything but This", a bonus track from the Japanese version, is also found on the Resident Evil soundtrack.

Reception

Critical reaction to the album was mixed, the most positive reviews came from Rolling stone NME and Drowned in Sound. Terry Bezer of Drowning Sound in his review stated, "It is impossible to put into words just how much Static X have progressed since their last effort. True enough, it’s not the most original of sounds (think Ministry crossed with Slipknot) but it does have all the enthusiasm of a bull charging for El Matador’s red cloth and twice the power." Fan reaction was mostly positive as well. Despite the mixed reviews, Machine sold around 500,000 copies in the USA, making it the band's second most successful album (after Wisconsin Death Trip). It is often regarded as the band's heaviest studio album.

Southern United States

The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—is a region of the United States of America. The South does not exactly match the geographic south, but is predominantly located in the southeastern corner; Arizona and New Mexico, which are geographically in the southern part of the country, are rarely considered part of the Southern United States, while West Virginia, which separated from Virginia in 1863, commonly is. Some scholars have proposed definitions of the South that do not coincide neatly with state boundaries. While the states of Delaware and Maryland, as well as the District of Columbia permitted slavery prior to the start of the Civil War, they remained with the Union. Since then, they became more culturally, economically, and politically aligned with the industrial Northern states, and are often identified as part of the Mid-Atlantic and/or Northeast by many residents, businesses, public institutions, and private organizations. However, the United States Census Bureau puts them in the South.

South (Martian crater)

South Crater is an impact crater in the Mare Australe quadrangle of Mars, located at 77.1°S latitude and 338.0°W longitude. It is 107.1  km in diameter and was named after Sir James South, and the name was approved in 1973 by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN).

Very close to the crater there is what has been named "Swiss cheese" features. Swiss cheese features (SCFs) are pits so named because they look like the holes in Swiss cheese. They were first seen in 2000 using Mars Orbiter Camera imagery. They are usually a few hundred meters across and 8 metres deep, with a flat base and steep sides. They tend to have similar bean-like shapes with a cusp pointing towards the south pole. The angle of the sun probably contributes to their roundness. Near the Martian summer solstice, the sun can remain continuously just above the horizon; as a result the walls of a round depression will receive more intense sunlight, and sublimate much more rapidly than the floor. The walls sublimate and recede, while the floor remains the same. As the seasonal frost disappears, the pit walls appear to darken considerably relative to the surrounding terrain. The SCFs have been observed to grow in size, year by year, at an average rate of 1 to 3 meters, suggesting that they are formed in a thin layer (8m) of carbon dioxide ice lying on top of water ice.

Wings (magazine)

Wings (ウィングス, Uingusu) is a shōjo manga magazine published by Shinshokan. The magazine is aimed at a female audience in the 16- to 20-year-old age range and tend to be action- or fantasy-oriented stories. Wings previously had a number of special editions such as Shinshokan South, or simply South, Phantom Club, Huckleberry, Un Poco, and Wings: Story. Currently, only Un Poco, and Wings: Story are still being published.

Manga artists and series featured in Wings