hydraulic crane

The power of water can be harnessed to do all sorts of things. Waterwheels were invented thousands of years ago to turn mill wheels to grind wheat into flour and to power pumps to raise water for crop irrigation and to supply cities with fresh water.

When water is contained within a pipe we can use it to create motion in a straight line by using a cylinder and piston. The piston is a tight sliding fit in the cylinder and when the water enters the cylinder it pushes the piston along. This method of applying a FORCE and causing motion is called Hydraulics. Here is a video showing how water in syringes connected by tubes can be made to move a crane. The syringes are the cylinders and pistons.

The hydraulic crane was invented in Newcastle by William Armstrong in about 1845 to help load coal into barges at the Quayside. It was a great success and the cranes were sold all over the world. The hydraulic crane helped the North East of England to grow and prosper, and Newcastle became one of the most important cities in the world as a result. The cranes on the quayside were water powered. Using water in cylinders to create a force to move things is called ‘hydraulics’ and today a special oil called ‘hydraulic fluid’ is used instead of water. All sorts of machines use hydraulics: car brakes; aeroplane wing and tail actuators; JCB diggers etc.

This is an old drawing of one of the quayside hydraulic cranes. The cylinders are hidden away under the deck of the crane. The ends of the pistons are attached to steel cables and pulleys so that they can cause the main cable to wind up and the main tower to rotate.

This is William Armstrong as a young man in his early twenties, the age at which he invented the hydraulic crane.

	There is an amazing model of the hydraulic crane in the Discovery Museum in Newcastle upon Tyne. One of Armstrong’s biggest hydraulic cranes is being restored and an attempt may be made to bring it back to Tyneside from its current home in Venice. The crane was built in 1885 and continued in use until 1950 after having been damaged by bombing in the second world war.

Practical Guide to Ubuntu Linux Tutorial for All

Whether you are an end user, a system administrator, or a little of both, this book explains with step-by-step examples how to get most out of an Ubuntu system. The book is designed for a wide range of readers, appropriate for:

• Students
• Home Users
• Professionals
• System administrators
• Computer Science

A "Practical guide to Ubuntu" gives you a broad understanding of many facets of Linux. No matter what your background, this book provides the knowledge you need to get on with your work. This book explains how to use Linux from graphical interface and from the command line. This book is designed so you can get the most out of it in the least amount of time. You do not have to read this book straight through in page order. Look up a topic of interest in the table of contents or in an index and read about it. The book includes many pointers to Web sites where you can obtain additional information.The Linux operating system, which was developed through the cooperation of many, many people around the world, is a product of the Internet and is a free operating system. In other words, all the source code is free. You are free to study it, redistribute it, and modify it. As a result, the code is available free of cost-no charge for the software, source, documentation, or support.
A rich selection of applications is available for Linux-both free and commercial-as well as a wide variety of tools: graphical, word processing, networking, security, administration, Web server, and many others. Large software companies have recently seen the benefit in supporting Linux and now have on-staff programmers whose job it is to design and code the Linux kernel, GNU, KDE, or other software that runs on Linux.Also important to users is the amount of software that is available-not just source code (which needs to be compiled), but also pre-built binaries that are easy to install and ready to run. These programs include more than free software. Netscape, for example, has been available for Linux from the start and included Java support before it was available from many commercial vendors. Its sibling Mozilla/Thunderbird/Firefox is also a viable browser, mail client, and newsreader, performing many other functions as well.
All this is only one small parted of book. Chapters covered in this Book:

• Installation
• Working with Ubuntu Linux
• System administration
• Security
• Clients and servers
• Programming

Shopping For An Electricity Provider Who Can Lower Your M

Every month, thousands of households switch away from their current electricity (no pun intended) company to another one. And yes, the reason is quite obvious--it's all about the savings. But another reason is something most consumers would probably not expect from their power company--clever marketing.

Deregulation has brought about competition in the area of home electricity supply. This is true for many countries around the world including the United States. In may parts of the world, the electricity companies are still state-owned companies delivering overpriced, poor services.

In the US, because economic and political factors could change as soon as they cross state borders, no one power provider can say they are the cheapest nationwide. And because they are handicapped this way, the providers have to think of a catchy marketing campaign to win over new customers.
Before even looking at the marketing campaign, the consumer should be aware that they can save around 8%-10% per month if they choose another provider that's lower than their current one. In some areas, the other power companies might not be able to give you substantial savings so they go to the marketing war chest.
Some will give you a one-time discount of say $150 if you switch both electricity and gas, or $80 for electricity only. There are those who'll also throw in a loyalty card which you can use when you shop or dine out and receive discounts from the participating merchants.
The end result is that you are able to lower your monthly bill when you take the time to shop around. And isn't the objective of every smart consumer to find some savings in their monthly budget?
When you visit a power provider's website, they'll usually have an online utility where you can calculate how much savings you can receive based on your average usage. It'll be handy if you could have your current month's bill with you as you look around.
The moment you decide to leave your old provider, the thought of all that paperwork just to switch may turn you off (again, no pun intended). But the good news is the new power company will do all that for you. Just fill out the online forms and click "submit." All it takes will be about 5-10 minutes of your time.
Signing up to a new energy company has never been made so easy (just ask your parents or grandparents). All the information you provide will be handled securely when they notify your previous power company for you. Then it takes about another 2-4 weeks for the switch to be completed.
As for the consumer, state laws against fraud protect them from being misled by these marketing campaigns. The electricity companies are smart enough to know all that and they wouldn't risk their reputation to advertise something they can't deliver.
So is it worth it? If you've decided today to stop paying more for power than you have to, then a power switch is what you need to do now. Electricity has now become like a commodity that you can shop around for before buying it off the shelf. And the consumers are all better off because of it.

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Electrical Solutions: (4 Tips) How Electricians Avoid Electrical Shock

As an Electrical Contractor, I am in constant contact with energized electrical circuits. Over 1,000 people die from electrocution every year in the United States. I always teach the trade. I feel compelled to relay a safety program for home owners and maintenance folks alike. Complacency during electrical maintenance could become deadly. I have gotten metal in my eyes by not having safety glasses over my eyes. I received 3rd degree burns on my right index finger by touching a hot drill bit. We witnessed flash events on numerous jobs. I own my business. Money is time. I rush to complete jobs. I observe safety practices being ignored. As a young apprentice, I have been taught to never assume voltage wasn't present. I got a shock by failing to use a voltage meter. We have witnessed arc flash incident due to improper use of tools. This electrician was terminating circuits in a live load center with non-insulated screwdrivers. He had actually removed the manufacturer's insulation. I have listed some simple steps that can help you avoid electrical shock hazards.
Electrical Solutions: (4 Tips) How Electricians Avoid Electrical Shock

1. I always don the proper Personal Protective Equipment.
2. We stop the work, think about the job, ask for insight, and respond accordingly to our assessment.
3. You must verify voltage at the possible point of contact.
4. Our group always uses the proper tool fort the task.

Personal Protective Equipment is required by OSHA. These requirements are in place to protect the worker. I am responsible for my own accordance of these rules. I wear jeans and flame retardant shirts. We require our technicians to use safety glasses. Leather shoes with rubber souls should be worn. I use mechanic's gloves while performing these tasks. They allow dexterity. We stress a on the job brief. This discussion allows for a proper assessment of our assignment. I discuss the plan with my customer. The customer can provide discussion of the components of the property. The response during execution is refined through this process. The company never allows our technicians to proceed without voltage verification. A simple voltage reading might save the life of the technician. Your safety system should include the use of tools with U.L. listings. The modification of any tool will eliminate a tool from use during the job. This may seem like a great deal to recall. A job that cannot be performed safely is a job that should never be performed.

happy b'day FACEBOOK

Facebook is a social networking service launched on 4th February 2004

Facebook launched a high-school version in September 2005, which Zuckerberg called the next logical step.At that time, high-school networks required an invitation to join. Facebook later expanded membership eligibility to employees of several companies, including Apple Inc. and Microsoft. Facebook was then opened on September 26, 2006, to everyone of age 13 and older with a valid email address.

Late in 2007, Facebook had 100,000 business pages, allowing companies to attract potential customers and tell about themselves. These started as group pages, but a new concept called company pages was planned.

On October 24, 2007, Microsoft announced that it had purchased a 1.6% share of Facebook for $240 million, giving Facebook a total implied value of around $15 billion. Microsoft's purchase included rights to place international ads on Facebook. In October 2008, Facebook announced that it would set up its international headquarters in Dublin, Ireland.In September 2009, Facebook said that it had turned cash-flow positive for the first time. In November 2010, based on SecondMarket Inc., an exchange for shares of privately held companies, Facebook's value was $41 billion (slightly surpassing eBay's) and it became the third largest U.S. Web company after Google and Amazon.

Traffic to Facebook increased steadily after 2009. More people visited Facebook than Google for the week ending March 13, 2010.

In March 2011, it was reported that Facebook removes approximately 20,000 profiles from the site every day for various infractions, including spam, inappropriate content and underage use, as part of its efforts to boost cyber security.

In early 2011, Facebook announced plans to move to its new headquarters, the former Sun Microsystems campus in Menlo Park, California.

Release of statistics by DoubleClick showed that Facebook reached one trillion page views in the month of June 2011, making it the most visited website of those tracked by DoubleClick.

According to the Nielsen Media Research study, released in December 2011, Facebook is the second most accessed website in the US (behind Google).

In March 2012, Facebook announced App Center, an online mobile store which sells applications that connect to Facebook. The store will be available to iPhone, Android and mobile web users.

Facebook, Inc. held an initial public offering on May 17, 2012, negotiating a share price of $38 apiece, valuing the company at $104 billion, the largest valuation to date for a newly listed public company.

On July 2012, Facebook added a gay marriage icon to its timeline feature.

On August 23, 2012, Facebook released the much anticipated update to its iOS app, version 5.0. The app, which did not receive positive sentiments from its users, was rebuilt from the ground up; the app no longer uses page views which made it slow in the past but now utilizes code that uses native elements of iOS.

On January 15, 2013, Facebook announced their new product Graph Search, which provides users with a “precise answer” rather than a link to an answer by leveraging the data already present on its site.Facebook emphasized that the feature would be "privacy-aware," returning only results from content already shared with the user

Astronauts Will Watch Super Bowl from Space

Six astronauts living in space may not have gravity, fresh food or a shower, but there is one Earth necessity they won't miss Sunday: The Super Bowl.

NASA's Mission Control at the Johnson Space Center in Houston will beam the Super Bowl XLVII showdown between the San Francisco 49ers and the Baltimore Ravens live to the International Space Station so its astronaut crew can watch the big game along with every other football fan on Earth.

"Yes they are going to watch it this weekend," NASA spokesman Josh Byerly told SPACE.com in an email. Byerly said Mission Control made a special point on Friday (Feb. 1) of asking the station astronauts if they wanted to catch the game.

"And they said they definitely wanted to see it," Byerly said.

The space station is currently home to two American astronauts (commander Kevin Ford and flight engineer Tom Marshburn), Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield and Russian cosmonauts Evgeny Tarelkin, Oleg Novitskiy and Roman Romanenko. Together they make up the station's Expedition 34 team. (Astronaut's Amazing Photos of Earth from Space)

Whether the space station crew will throw a traditional Super Bowl party, hold a zero-gravity football game, or just float around with the game on in the background is unknown. But the International Space Station, is just about the same size (tip to tip) as the football field the 49ers and Ravens will play on in New Orleans during Sunday's game.

Space travel seems to be taking a spotlight in the Super Bowl this year.

Car manufacturer Kia will debut its new "Space Babies" TV commercial for the Kia Sorento, in which a father tells his young son that all babies (even animal tots) actually come from the alien planet Babylandia, and launch on epic space missions in order to reach their parents on Earth.

Just after the Super Bowl, the AXE personal care products company is expected to unveil the first winner of its AXE Apollo Space Academy contest to launch 22 people on private trips to space. The contest was announced in January, with AXE teaming up with XCOR Aerospace —builder of the private suborbital space plane Lynx —and cosmic tourism firm Space Expedition Curacao to offer the trips.

The other 21 winners from the AXE Apollo Space Academy are slated to be selected after a final competition — the AXE Global Space Camp — to be held in Orlando, Fla. The winners will then be launched into space, one at a time, once XCOR's Lynx space plane begins operational flights with Space Expedition Curacao, contest organizers said.

The contest is open to both men and women in more than 60 countries. Entrants must sign up at the AXE Apollo Space Academy website (AXEApollo.com) and write about why they should fly in space. Website visitors will then vote on the entries. The deadline to enter is Feb. 3 (Super Bowl Sunday).