Summary

HandWiki is the world's largest wiki-style encyclopedia dedicated to science, technology and computing. It allows you to create and edit articles as long as you have external citations and login account. In addition, this is a content management environment that can be used for collaborative editing of original scholarly content, such as books, manuals, monographs and tutorials.

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Thomson Reuters Business Classification
The Thomson Reuters Business Classification (TRBC) is an industry classification of global companies, developed in 2004; it is owned and operated by Thomson Reuters and is also the basis for Thomson Reuters Indices.
  • 4.8K
  • 28 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Byzantine Fault Tolerance
Byzantine fault tolerance (BFT) is the dependability of a fault-tolerant computer system, particularly distributed computing systems, where components may fail and there is imperfect information on whether a component has failed. In a "Byzantine failure", a component such as a server can inconsistently appear both failed and functioning to failure-detection systems, presenting different symptoms to different observers. It is difficult for the other components to declare it failed and shut it out of the network, because they need to first reach a consensus regarding which component has failed in the first place. The term is derived from the Byzantine Generals' Problem, where actors must agree on a concerted strategy to avoid catastrophic system failure, but some of the actors are unreliable. Byzantine fault tolerance has been also referred to with the phrases interactive consistency or source congruency, error avalanche, Byzantine agreement problem, Byzantine generals problem, and Byzantine failure.
  • 2.6K
  • 28 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Project Alpha
Project Alpha was an effort by magician James Randi to test the quality of scientific rigor of a well-known test of paranormal phenomena. In the late 1970s, Randi contacted the newly established McDonnell Laboratory for Psychical Research ("MacLab") with suggestions on how to conduct tests for paranormal phenomena. At the same time, two teenage boys (Steve Shaw, later known as Banachek, and Mike Edwards) independently contacted the McDonnell Laboratory and volenteered as subjects for such tests from 1979 to 1982. They quickly proved to exhibit a range of paranormal abilities far and away better than the other subjects of the experiment. The lab began leaking reports of the pair's capabilities, which were in fact simple magic tricks. When rumors of the test subjects' connection to Randi reached Peter Phillips, head of the MacLab, he instituted tighter protocols for the experiments; the two subjects' results declined sharply. In 1983, Randi held a press conference to expose the deception In the wake of Project Alpha, there were a number of controversies about the ethics of interference in scientific research and the validity of paranormal research as it then existed. It remains a watershed event in the field of parapsychology.
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  • 28 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Prince of Wales's Feathers
Template:Infobox Coat of arms The Prince of Wales's feathers is the heraldic badge of the Prince of Wales. It consists of three white ostrich feathers emerging from a gold coronet. A ribbon below the coronet bears the motto Ich dien (German: [ɪç ˈdiːn], "I serve"). As well as being used in royal heraldry, the badge is sometimes used to symbolise Wales, particularly in Welsh rugby union and Welsh regiments of the British Army.
  • 10.8K
  • 27 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Darwin–Wedgwood Family
The Darwin–Wedgwood family is composed of two interrelated English families, descending from prominent 18th-century doctor Erasmus Darwin, and Josiah Wedgwood, founder of the pottery company, Josiah Wedgwood and Sons. Its most notable member was Charles Darwin, a grandson of both. The family included at least ten Fellows of the Royal Society and several artists and poets (including the composer Ralph Vaughan Williams). Presented below are brief biographical descriptions and genealogical information with links to articles on the members. The individuals are listed by year of birth and grouped into generations. The relationship to Francis Galton and his immediate ancestors is also given. Note that the data tree below does not include all descendants or even all prominent descendants.
  • 2.2K
  • 27 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Harrison Family of Virginia
The Harrison family of Virginia, primarily consisting of two branches, is a notable political family in U.S. history. The family’s origin is in England ; members of one branch immigrated to Virginia before 1633, settled on the James River, and are occasionally referred to as the James River Harrisons. This branch includes successive generations who served in the colonial Virginia legislature, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and several Virginia Governors. Also notably descended from the James River family were two presidents of the United States, William Henry Harrison and Benjamin Harrison. The family produced as well two mayors of Chicago, and members of the U. S. House of Representatives. The second branch of the Virginia Harrisons descends from an interim chaplain of the Jamestown Colony, who returned to England. The family later immigrated in 1687, first to New England, and then settled in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia fifty years later. They include the founder of the city of Harrisonburg, and brought forth another of the nation’s presidents, Abraham Lincoln. This branch also includes noted physicians, educators, and local officials.
  • 9.1K
  • 27 Nov 2022
Topic Review
List of Fictional Colors
Fictional colors are the imaginary perceptions of colors that do not exist for humans. They may include colors as perceived by fictional aliens, or colors that are imagined to be perceptible by humans under imaginary circumstances, based on real or imaginary electromagnetic radiation or imaginary alternate forms of radiation.
  • 1.7K
  • 27 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Geology
Geology (from grc γῆ 'earth', and -λoγία 'study of, discourse') is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth sciences, including hydrology and the atmospheric sciences, and so is treated as one major aspect of integrated Earth system science and planetary science. Geology describes the structure of the Earth on and beneath its surface, and the processes that have shaped that structure. It also provides tools to determine the relative and absolute ages of rocks found in a given location, and also to describe the histories of those rocks. By combining these tools, geologists are able to chronicle the geological history of the Earth as a whole, and also to demonstrate the age of the Earth. Geology provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and the Earth's past climates. Geologists use a wide variety of methods to understand the Earth's structure and evolution, including field work, rock description, geophysical techniques, chemical analysis, physical experiments, and numerical modelling. In practical terms, geology is important for mineral and hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation, evaluating water resources, understanding of natural hazards, the remediation of environmental problems, and providing insights into past climate change. Geology is a major academic discipline, and it is central to geological engineering and plays an important role in geotechnical engineering.
  • 3.1K
  • 27 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Family of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex
Members of the Markle and Ragland families have been related by marriage to the British royal family since the wedding of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, on May 19, 2018, when she became the Duchess of Sussex. The Markle (originally spelled Merckel) family is of German descent and originates in Alsace on the modern French–German border, and her ancestors moved to the United States in the 18th century; among her father's other ancestors are American settlers of English, Dutch, and Irish descent. Her mother is of African American descent and her early ancestors hailed from the U.S. state of Georgia.
  • 5.5K
  • 27 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Frogs in Culture
Frogs play a variety of roles in culture, appearing in folklore and fairy tales such as the Brothers Grimm story of The Frog Prince. In ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, frogs symbolized fertility, while in classical antiquity, the Greeks and Romans associated frogs with fertility, harmony, and licentiousness. Frogs are the subjects of fables attributed to Aesop, of proverbs in various cultures, and of art. Frog characters such as Kermit the frog and Pepe the Frog feature in popular culture. They are eaten in some parts of the world including France. In Australia, a fondant dessert is known as frog cake.
  • 8.1K
  • 27 Nov 2022
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