Top 10 Linux Distributions

1. Ubuntu
Ubuntu is based on Debian and includes well-known applications such as Firefox and OpenOffice.org. It has a conventional, six-month free schedule, with infrequent Long Term Support (LTS) versions that are supported with safety updates for three to five years.

2. Fedora
Fedora is the free version of Red Hat, whose RHEL (Red Hat Enterprise Linux) has been a profitable product since 2003. Because of that close connection, Fedora is mainly strong on venture features, and it often offers them before RHEL does.

3. Linux Mint
Linux Mint is an Ubuntu-based distro that was just launched in 2006. The operating system adds to Ubuntu with its own, distinct desktop theme and a different set of applications; also unique to the distro are a variety of graphical tools for improved usability, such as mintDesktop for configuring the desktop environment, mintInstall for easier software installation and mintMenu for easier navigation.

4. OpenSUSE
openSUSE holds the No. 4 spot in popularity on the site and is also the base for Novell's SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server products.

The package's administration utility, YaST, is widely recognized as one of the best, and its boxed edition comes with some of the best printed documentation you'll find for any distro. I'd say openSUSE rates a "medium" on difficulty level.

5. PCLinuxOS
PCLinuxOS uses the KDE desktop environment and is basically a lighter-weight version of Mandriva. With good support for graphics drivers, browser plugins and media codecs, PCLinuxOS can be a good choice for beginners

6. Debian
Debian is currently known as one of the most well-tested and bug-free distros obtainable today. Though it serves as the foundation for Ubuntu, most view Debian as a distro best-suited for those knowledgeable with Linux

7. Mandriva
Mandriva is notable for its cutting-edge software, excellent administration suite and 64-bit edition. It was also the first major distribution to jump on the netbook bandwagon with out-of-the box support.

8. Sabayon/Gentoo
Italian Sabayon is essentially a LiveCD version of Gentoo, which is known for allowing users to individually optimize each component. Both are considered advanced Linux distributions aimed primarily at experienced users.

9. Arch Linux... plus Slackware

Arch is another package aimed primarily at experienced users interested in tweaking and optimizing their systems. Though not in the top 10 currently, Slackware is similarly oriented toward Linux gurus.

10. Puppy Linux... plus DSL
Puppy Linux, a compact distro that's ideal for older hardware and situations where computing resources are minimal.

Springbrook conservation plan

A comprehensive conservation management plan designed to help protect and preserve the Springbrook Region Conservation Reserves into the future was today endorsed by Council’s Sustainable City Future Committee.

Committee Chair Cr Peter Young said the Springbrook Region Conservation Reserves Management Plan had been developed to protect the area’s biodiversity and unique cultural heritage.

“The management plan covers a large range of priorities for the area, such as native plant and animal conservation, bushfire management, ecological restoration and recreational opportunities for residents and visitors,” said Cr Young.

“The area is one of our city’s best natural areas and is truly a unique part of the Gold Coast.”

Divisional Councillor Ted Shepherd said it was very important to have in place a comprehensive strategic management plan that will regulate and protect the region’s significant natural value.

“Under the plan, Council’s key strategic priorities for the Springbrook Region Conservation Reserves also includes informing the community about protecting their environment and its wildlife, as well as community awareness and education campaigns on the importance of bushfire prevention and management,” said Cr Shepherd.

“The conservation plan is also supported by a detailed bushfire strategy for Springbrook developed in partnership by Council, the EPA and the Queensland Fire and Rescue service and this strategy is due to go before Council in the next six weeks.

“Community feedback on the draft plan was extensive, with a number of detailed submissions received.

“I believe we have the balance right between protecting the area’s conservation values and the ever growing demands of visitors.”

Space Shuttle

NASA's Space Shuttle, officially called Space Transportation System (STS), is the United States government's present manned launch vehicle. At launch, it consists of a rust-colored outer tank, two white, slender solid rocket boosters (SRBs), and a winged orbiter. The orbiter carries astronauts and payload such as satellites or space location parts into low earth orbit. Normally, five to seven astronauts ride in the orbiter, with two pilots, eight have been carried, and eleven could be accommodated in an urgent situation landing. When the orbiter's work is complete, it fires its orbital maneuvering thrusters to drop out of orbit and re-enters the Earth's atmosphere. During the descent and landing, the shuttle orbiter acts as a glider and makes a completely unpowered landing. Five spaceworthy orbiters were build, of which three remain.

The Shuttle is the first orbital spacecraft considered for partial reusability. It carries large payloads to various orbits, provides crew rotary motion for the International Space Station (ISS), and performs servicing missions. The orbiter can also recover satellites and other payloads from orbit and return them to Earth, but this capability has not been used often. However, it has been used to return large payloads from the ISS to Earth, as the Russian Soyuz spacecraft has limited capacity for return payloads. Each Shuttle was designed for a expected lifespan of 100 launches or 10 years' operational life.

Pantechnicon & Pantech

Pantechnicon is a old British expression for a furniture removal van. It was originally coined in 1830 as the name of a craft shop or bazaar, in Motcomb Street in Belgravia, London; the first name is Greek for pertaining to all the arts or crafts. The shop soon closed down and the building was twisted into a furniture warehouse, but the name was kept. Vehicles transporting furniture to and from the building, is called as pantechnicon vans, soon came to be known just for as pantechnicons.

A pantech truck or van is a word origin of "pantechnicon" usually currently used in Australia. A pantech is a truck and or van with a cargo hull made of (or converted to) hard panels.

Gear

A gear is a wheel with teeth around its circumference, the purpose of the teeth being to mesh with similar teeth on another mechanical device possibly another gear wheel so that force can be transmitted between the two strategies in a direction tangential to their surfaces. A non-toothed wheel can transmit some tangential force but will slip if the force is large; teeth put off slippage and permit the transmission of large forces.

A gear can mesh with any device having teeth friendly with the gear's teeth. Such devices include racks and other non-rotating policy; however, the most common condition is for a gear to be in mesh with another gear. In this case revolution of one of the gears necessarily causes the other gear to rotate. In this way, rotational motion can be transferred from one position to another. While gears are sometimes used simply for this reason to transmit rotation to another shaft perhaps their most significant feature is that, if the gears are of asymmetrical sizes, a mechanical advantage is also achieved, so that the rotational speed, and torque, of the second gear are dissimilar from that of the first. In this way, gears provide a means of increasing or decreasing a turning speed, or a torque.

Gear

A gear is a wheel with teeth around its circumference, the purpose of the teeth being to mesh with similar teeth on another mechanical device possibly another gear wheel so that force can be transmitted between the two strategies in a direction tangential to their surfaces. A non-toothed wheel can transmit some tangential force but will slip if the force is large; teeth put off slippage and permit the transmission of large forces.

A gear can mesh with any device having teeth friendly with the gear's teeth. Such devices include racks and other non-rotating policy; however, the most common condition is for a gear to be in mesh with another gear. In this case revolution of one of the gears necessarily causes the other gear to rotate. In this way, rotational motion can be transferred from one position to another. While gears are sometimes used simply for this reason to transmit rotation to another shaft perhaps their most significant feature is that, if the gears are of asymmetrical sizes, a mechanical advantage is also achieved, so that the rotational speed, and torque, of the second gear are dissimilar from that of the first. In this way, gears provide a means of increasing or decreasing a turning speed, or a torque.

University

A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants intellectual degrees at all, levels in a selection of subjects. A university provides together tertiary and quaternary education. The word university is resultant from the Latin universities magistrorum ET scholarium, roughly importance community of teachers and scholars. The funding and organization of universities is very different in different countries around the world. In some countries universities are primarily funded by the state, while in others funding may come from donors or from fees which students’ presence the university must pay. In some countries the vast majority of students attends university in their local town, while in other countries universities attract students from all over the world, and may provide university space for their students.

The Carnegie Basic Classification system distinguishes between institutions on the basis of the prevalence of degrees they grant. As the names of their categories designate names indicate, the Carnegie Foundation considers the granting of master's degrees necessary, though not sufficient, for an institution to be classified as a university.