10 Interesting Facts about wikipedia

Fact #1
The name Wikipedia comes from a combination of the words “wiki”, meaning shared website, and “pedia”, which is a shortened form of encyclopedia.

Fact #2
As of January 7, 2009, Wikipedia currently has more than 2.68 million English articles in its database.

Fact #3
Wikipedia currently supports content in 260 different languages.

Fact #4
There are over 75,000 “hot authors” on Wikipedia, responsible for constantly maintaining and adding to the site’s database.

Fact #5
Due to the fact that Wikipedia is solely maintained by volunteers, anyone can sign up and start adding or editing pages right off the bat. There’s no ranking system which lets certain authors edit some pages and not others.

Fact #6
When Wikipedia first started up in 2001, the original URL was to be Wikipedia.com, however, it was changed to Wikipedia.org when the site’s parent company Wikimedia transformed into a not-for-profit organization. In general, domains ending with “org” are non-commercial websites.

Fact #7
The pages of Wikipedia are under constant supervision by over 1,500 administrators. The problem with this is that when a person edits a page’s content with new information that has yet to be released to the public, said information is removed. For example, when searching for an “Episode Guide” for your favorite television show, you’ll often find 10 to 20 future episodes and their descr i ptions; however, the administrators will remove all of the future episodes except for the one that airs the following week.

Fact #8
Wikipedia obtains approximately 684 million viewers every year.

Fact #9
Some members of the community classify January 15 as “Wikipedia Day” due to the fact that the first Wikipedia domain was launched on that day.

Fact #10
Most of the articles on Wikipedia can be edited by users that haven’t even registered an account on the site.

Pablo Picasso

Birth Year : 1881
Death Year : 1973
Country : Spain

Pablo Ruiz Picasso was born in Malaga, Spain. The son of a Basque art teacher, Picasso showed a very early talent for drawing. He was fourteen when the family moved to Barcelona where his father was a professor at the School of Art. Two years later Picasso had his first exhibition of rather somber, quite classical paintings. Between 1900 and 1904 he made three trips to Paris where he studied the works of the Impressionists and of Cezanne. In 1904 he settled in France, where he has remained all his life.

From 1901 onwards, Picasso's work may be divided into periods, each showing different influences and personal interests. From 1901 to 1904, the Blue Period, his paintings were melancholy in mood and subject matter, flat of form and strong contour, nearly monochromatic, and of intense blue. In some of these works, the Mannerist influence of El Greco is easily visible. The Rose Period (1905-06) offers the same flat forms but with a softer contour, a more romantic mood, and a delicate ink tonality that is often used with the blue of the earlier works.

In 1906 Picasso met Matisse, with whom he shared an interest in the works of Gauguin and Cezanne. At the time he also was influenced by African primitive carvings, the result was the masterpiece Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, a huge painting of five nudes and a small still life, angularly distorted, with strong, barbaric forms that seem flat but are actually so shaded as to be three-dimensional. Called Cubism by the critics, its translucent, blocky planes led to the Analytical Cubism practiced by Braque and Picasso from 1909 to 1911 in which familiar objects such as glasses and pitchers were broken down into geometric planes.

From about 1912 to 1915, the collage or paste-up method of Synthetic Cubism was developed in which bits of cloth or paper were used to build up an image.

From 1915 until 1936, Picasso painted in various Cubist manners, experimented with Surrealism, and entered his classical (sometimes called white) period in the early 1920's, producing works that are sculpturesque and yet tender in mood. In the 1930's he was working in a Cubist style that is metamorphic in its visual approach. The tragic masterpiece Guernica (1937) is painted in this style. It is a work of monumental grandeur with a tragic, almost vocal effect upon the viewer. The double portraits that first appeared in 1938 are a further evolution of this metamorphic style.

In 1948 Picasso returned to themes of women, children, animals, and birds, painting in various manners synthesizing all of his previous styles. He has also produced lithographs and etchings on classical and literary subjects, sculpture, murals, jewelry, and ceramic works. Picasso's palette is varied, but he may, at times, limit himself to tones of gray and black, as in Guernica, or to a favorite combination of black, white, and shades of ochre. Picasso exhibits in his work both an attachment to the past and an innovating spirit, a spontaneity and a sense of justice.

His enormous talent, imagination, and vitality add up to an artistic temperament that can be called genius. Picasso's influence upon modern art has been immeasurable.

Pearl

Pearl Grading is the practice of assigning degrees of quality to a pearl or a piece of pearl jewelry based of the quality attributes designated by industry best practices and authority groups such as GIA and EGL.


There Is No Industry-Wide Standard Pearl Grading System - Yet

As with any other item that can appear in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, colors and conditions, a standardized system of grading must be used when purchasing or selling pearls. Only in this way can the pearl be described according to mutually agreed-upon and understood terms, so that both buyer and seller can determine a fair price. Unfortunately, the pearl industry as a whole has not adopted a universally used standard grading system. Instead, the specific grading system often used, depends upon the specific jeweler or pearl distributor. Eventually a standard system will come into the market - most likely developed by the Gemological Institute of America. Until that time, those in the industry must rely on commonly accepted grading systems derived from the quality grading characteristics of pearls.
There Are Two Major Pearl Grading Systems – But Buyer Beware

Two major grading systems are in fairly widespread use: the AAA-A system and the A-D system (also called the Tahitian system). These are the most accepted systems, and considered standard by nearly all reputable pearl dealers, both retail and wholesale. But even these systems can become misleading if a seller uses terms from the grading system, (such as "AAA") but uses them to describe a different quality pearl than that which the system is generally understood to be describing. Or a seller could use a term not in the grading system (such as "AAAA") to make it appear that the pearl is beyond even the highest standard quality -- when in reality, that seller's "AAAA" pearls are actually equivalent to the more-common "AAA" grade, and his "AAA" pearls might only be equivalent to the commonly used "AA." Use of "AAAA" or "AAA " is considered bad taste, or even dishonest, by most reputable pearl dealers. It is seen as a way to simply charge the customer more without providing a superior product.

Ask To See The Pearl Grading Descr i ptions In Writing

For reasons such as these, it's extremely important when purchasing pearls, to be absolutely certain of the meaning of any descr i ptive terms used by the seller. If possible, ask to see a written descr i ption of each grading term, so that you know exactly what the grade implies. Reputable jewelers will be happy to comply with such a request. Only in this way will you be able to determine if the price the seller is asking is reasonable.

The AAA-A System

This system grades pearls on a scale from AAA to A, with AAA being the highest grade. This grading scale is common to freshwater and akoya pearls only, but is accepted by many with South Sea and Tahitian pearls as well:

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AAA:The highest-quality pearl, virtually flawless. The surface will have a very high luster, and at least 95% of the surface will be free from any type of defect.
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AA: The surface will have a very high luster, and at least 75% of the surface will be free from any type of defect.
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A: This is the lowest jewelry-grade pearl, with a lower luster and/or more than 25% of the surface showing defects. In many cases, if the pearl is being mounted into a piece of jewelry, it can be mounted so that the defects are hidden -- thus providing a lovely jewelry piece at a lower price.

Intermediate Grades And Pearl Grading For Stands

Some reputable sellers may also use intermediate grades for the pearls - those pearls that do not fall in a category but are between two - such as A and AA . Obviously, these grading categories are quite broad and leave room for interpretation and individual judgment. Also note that in multi-pearl pieces such as strands, necklaces, bracelets, etc., every one of the individual pearls may not absolutely meet the indicated grade level. For example, a strand referred to as "AAA" must have most of its pearls as AAA pearls. However, a few pearls could have slightly lower luster or a tiny bit more surface defects. This is because matching is also a primary consideration in multi-pearl jewelry, sometimes even overriding a very strict grading of each individual pearl.

The A-D System (or Tahitian System)

It is important to note that the following grading system can be interchanged with the AAA-A system. For more information please refer to: South Sea Pearl Grading

This system grades pearls on a scale from A to D, with A being the highest grade. This is the system used in French Polynesia (based on a government standard there) to grade Tahitian pearls, and South Sea pearls only. It is therefore sometimes referred to as the "Tahitian system." While this system is standard in producing countries, other markets will still utilize AAA-A.

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A: The highest-quality pearl, with very high luster and only minor imperfections over less than 10% of its surface.
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B: High or medium luster. Surface may have some visible imperfections, but over no more than 30% of its area.
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C: Medium luster with surface defects over not more than 60% of the surface area.
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D: May have many slight defects, but no deep ones, spread over 60% of its surface; or deep defects over no more than 60% of its surface; or a combination of minor and deep defects over no more than 60% of its surface. In this grade of pearl, the luster is irrelevant. Even the most lustrous pearls will be graded D if their surface is blemished to this extent. Pearls below D grade are considered not acceptable for use in jewelry.

Nacre Is The Final Factor In Grading Pearls

Both of the grading systems described above focus primarily on the luster and surface quality of the pearl to determine its grade. But keep in mind that other factors also contribute to the quality and final grade of any pearl. One of the most important is the thickness of the nacre, which often determines how durable the pearl will be over time. The thicker the nacre, the stronger and longer-lasting the pearl (provided it is treated well, of course!) For Tahitian pearls, the government of French Polynesia has set a minimum nacre thickness of 0.8 millimeters. Any pearls with nacre of less than that thickness are not allowed to be sold. Keeping in mind that Tahitian pearls tend to be larger than many other pearls (such as akoyas), you can use this rule as a guideline when evaluating your own potential pearl purchases.