A faldstool is a reading-desk used in Anglican and Roman Catholic churches during certain portions of the service. A kneeling shelf is attached to the lower part.
Originally a faldstool was a folding stool, or portable seat, made to fold up in the manner of a camo stool. It was formerly placed in the choir for a bishop, when he officiated in any but his own cathedralchurch. The term is also used to describe a small stool employed in the coronation service for the use of the sovereign when being crowned. Research Faldstool
Jade carving is the process by which the surface of jade stone is embellished through abrasion. The earliest known carved jades were made in China during the New Stone Age, or Neolithic period. Neolithic jades were usually fashioned as blades, although it is unclear whether they served a utilitarian or ceremonial function.
Excavations conducted at sites settled during the Shang dynasty have yielded a number of carved jades in a variety of forms. Certain shapes predominate, such as the round disk (pi), the ax (kuei), and a cylindrical tube (tsung). These objects probably served a ritual function, either as symbols of rank or as grave furnishings. The most beautiful examples of Shang jade carving, however, are small sculptures and plaques. The discovery, in 1975, of an undisturbed tomb from the Anyang era of the Shang dynasty has yielded the richest group of jade carvings to date. The excavation revealed plaques depicting dragons and various birds, along with near-miniature sculptures of human figures, mythical creatures, and recognisable animals, including an elephant.
The achievements of the Shang jade carvers were adopted and ultimately surpassed by artists of the Chou dynasty. Surface decoration became increasingly sophisticated, with open- work featuring birds and dragons, as well as tiny, individually carved curls. The development of the iron drill is probably responsible for the technical advancements seen in the carvings of this period. Elaborate jade carving continued in popularity during the Han dynasty; in addition, a most notable jade artefact was the so-called funerary suit. Various excavations have yielded corpses encased in a jade form made of thousands of rectangular pieces of jade, sewn together with gold thread, and fitted to the body. Other small jades, previously objects for burial, were now fashioned for the uses of the living. Toilet boxes, drinking vessels, and delightful adornments for the scholar's desk have been preserved from the Han period.
The dating of jade carvings from after the Han dynasty through the Ch'ing dynasty has been highly problematic, as the archaeological evidence is often incomplete. Throughout this period, however, small decorative forms of jade, often depicting animals, flowers, or children, continued in popularity. T'ang and Sung carvers favoured small figures. Drinking and desk vessels, and jadejewellery as well, were widely produced in the Yuan and Ming epochs. During the Ch'ing period, particularly in the 18th century, large jade carvings attained great favour with the emperors and royal officials. Forms were often taken from ancient bronze vessels, reflecting the continuing interest in early art. Landscapes, often paralleling those found on carved bamboo or in paintings, were carefully transcribed onto the surface of enormous jade slabs. Much of this intricacy is still found in Chinese jade work today; traditional design motifs and carving styles also have been retained. China's continuous interest in jade carving was never found in other Asian nations.
The Indians practised a degree of jade work, most notably the Islamic Mughals, who favoured ceremonial weapons with highly decorative jade blades. The most important centre of jade carving outside the Orient was pre-Columbian Mexico and Central America under the Olmec, Aztec, and Mayan rulers. Splendid ceremonial objects-axes, knives, masks, and large animal figures-were produced; the objects are sophisticated in style and highly advanced in technique. Research Jade Carving
A timepiece is an instrument used for measuring time. A timepiece differs from a 'clock' in that it doesn't chime, and from a 'watch' in that a timepiece is designed to be stationary, perhaps mounted on a wall or sitting on a desk, though clocks and watches are specific forms of timepiece. The clepsydra as introduced to the Romans from the east around 158 BC by Seipio Nasica, and around 140 BC Ctesibius applied toothed wheels to them. Caesar reportedly discovered timepieces in Britain when he invaded in 55 BC. Alfred The Great of England used wax tapers as timepieces. The pendulum was applied to timepieces by Galileo around 1639, and in England the first pendulum timepiece was erected at St Paul's in Covent Garden by Richard Harris in 1641. Repeating timepieces were invented by Barlow in 1676, and the spiral pendulum spring by Robert Hooke in 1658. In 1905 the first timepiece actuated by radium was constructed. Research Timepiece
Operation yatso was a proposed KGB operation to disrupt relations between Greece and Turkey in 1969. Operation yatso was proposed to be a minor sabotage operation, involving a small explosive device which would be detonated close to a house owned by the Turkishconsulate in Thessaloniki, with the blame directed at a Greek citizen. The purpose of the proposed operation was to exacerbate the poor relationship between the NATO partners of Greece and Turkey thereby weakening American policy in south-east Europe. The text of the KGB special political action proposed by the Athens residency in April 1969 and published in this edited form by Vasili Mitrokhin, follows:
'The operation is codenamed Yatso. The aim and purpose of the operation is to cause moral and political damage to the south-east wing of NATO. Constant disagreements between Greece and Turkey cause great concern to the leadership of the USA and NATO and are a weak link in American policy in the area of south-east Europe. Carrying out a Lily on the Vaza could exacerbate relations between Greece and Turkey.
The operation would be carried out in the name of a Greek who had come from Turkey and was dissatisfied with the situation of the Greek minority there (there can also be another variant for carrying out the sabotage). Vaza is a two-storey house in Thessaloniki. The house and its annexe belong to the Turkish consulate-general...There is no furniture, only a table, iron troughs and a cooking stove. On the upper floor of the house there are displays with Ataturk's clothes and a photographic portrait of him. Apart from a desk there is no furniture. Next to the Vaza, about 15-20 m away, there is the two-storey building of the Turkish consulate-general. This house is also used as living accommodation for consulate officials. The Vaza and the consulate have a common courtyard. (A detailed description of the lay-out of the houses and the courtyard is attached.) The most suitable place for planting a Bouquet is in the bushes growing about one metre from the Vaza. The Vaza is not open to the general public. It can be visited with the permission of the Turkishconsulate; a special official is assigned to watch over the Vaza and to accompany visitors to the Vaza. The Vaza and the consulate are guarded round the clock by two gendarmes. The guard posts are mobile and the approaches to Vaza are restricted. The most convenient time to approach the target is at nightfall. Specifications of the Bouquet. The size and weight of the Bouquet must be related to the results which are desired from the attack on the Vaza. Evidently, there is no point in causing serious damage to the Vaza; it is better to achieve a moral and political effect. When calculating the force of the Bouquet, one must bear in mind that the distance from the Splash to the consulate living quarters is 15 - 20 m. ...In order to increase the impact and achieve the desired results, the Bouquet must be wrapped in a newspaper published in Turkey for Greek citizens. The temperature in Thessaloniki ranges in winter from
w zero to 14 C, while in summer it ranges from 24 C upwards. Occasionally there are thick fogs.
The Gardener must be sent to the country as a foreign tourist at the height of the tourist season. The greatest influx of tourists occurs from June to August. According to his identity documents, the Gardener's identity documents must show him to be a citizen of a country friendly to Greece or a neutral state (the USA, Britain, East Germany, Austria, France, Italy, Canada, Libya), excluding the Scandinavian countries, Denmark, Holland and Belgium. On arriving in Athens the Gardener can hire a motor car, visit historical sites in the south of the country and some of the islands. Simultaneously, the Gardener is acclimatizing himself and becoming fully accustomed to the situation in the country. After collecting the Bouquet from the residency via a DLB, the Gardener travels to Thessaloniki by rail. The estimated time span for carrying out the Lily and for the Gardener's activities is as follows: After arriving in Athens, the Gardener can hire a motor car the next day, spend one or two days in Athens and its suburbs, then travel the following route by
car: Athens-Patrais-Navplion-Epidhauros-Korinthos-Athens. This route will take the Gardener four or five days. On arriving in Athens, the Gardener books into a hotel.
The next day he places a signal indicating he is ready to carry out the DLB operation to receive the Bouquet. The DLB operation takes place next day. After collecting the Bouquet, the Gardener leaves by the next train to Thessaloniki, having previously booked out from the hotel. A train leaves Athens at 11.42, and arrives at Thessaloniki at 19.29; he travels in a first-class compartment. At Thessaloniki he does not stay at a hotel. In order to acquaint himself with the situation around the Vaza he walks past the Vaza after checking for surveillance. As darkness falls, the Gardener goes off on a route of his own choice, but at the final stage goes into the old fort, where he inserts the little flower into the Bouquet. From the northern gates of the fort, the Gardener goes down Isail Street which leads to the Vaza and comes out on St Paul Street. This takes 15-20 minutes. On coming out on to Isail Street, the Gardener goes from the garage towards St Paul Street. While moving along the fence, the Gardener causes the Splash. The Gardener can throw the Bouquet into the bushes which are close to the Vaza fence or he can drop the Bouquet on the ground inside the Vaza fence. (A diagram of the route and of the location of the installations is attached).
After completing the Splash, the Gardener goes out on Ayios Dhimitrios Street and moves in the direction of the stadium (20-25 minutes walk). In the stadium area there is some waste ground where the Gardener can bury the TWA or BOAC airline bag used for keeping and transporting the Bouquet. From Thessaloniki, the Gardener can go to Athens by train or air (buying the air ticket 5-10 minutes before take-off, using any surname). If the situation does not permit the Gardener to put the Bouquet together, then he can get rid of it ... in the area of the stadium where there is some waste ground. If he attracts the attention of the Vaza security guard, he must say
that he is a foreign tourist going from the fort to the delta Hotel, where he intends to spend the night, but that this is his first visit to the town and he is not sure of the way to the hotel.' Research Operation Yatso
Canvas is a precision drawingpackage for the Mac that lets you create presentation materials, desktop publishing images, or architectural renderings. Its large selection of powerful, easy-to-use tools makes it one of the more popular drawing programs. Icons and menu options provide continuous multipoint Bezier curves, instant autotrace conversion of bitmap images to unlimited drawing layers, 1/65,000th of an inch precision, and text and graphics in 16.7 million colours plus PostScript grey scales in 1% increments.
For touching up clipped or scanned art, Canvas provides a number of painting tools which can be used on the same layers as the drawing tools. Canvas supports 24-bit colour on the Macintosh II, hairlines to 1/1000th of an inch, auto-dimensioning of lines and arcs, and a zoom capacity ranging from 3% to 3,200%. The program adds area and perimeter calculations, a peel-away ruler, PixelPaintcompatible colour palettes, smooth multipoint polygons, and special effects such as object rotation in one degree increments, distortion, and one or two point perspective.
Canvas also features object libraries (macros) that function as extensions to the drawing toolbox. Up to 32 objects can be added to any macro library, and macro libraries can be saved as individual files. A desk accessory version of Canvas can be invoked while working with other programs and provides approximately 80%, of the program's capabilities. The program also has a bitmap conversion option for transforming scanned colour or grey scale images into one of 15 predefined halftone or dithered images (for the Macintosh II only). Research Canvas
A desk is a flat or sloping table used for reading, writing or drawing, with or without legs. In the Middle Ages a plank was generally used. Research Desk
Enterprise Blue is a client-server help desk application for personal computers running the Windows operating system. Enterprise Blue was designed for use by call centres and help desks, enabling them to maintain and record contact with their customers, and maintain a knowledge base of customer problems and solutions. Enterprise Blue is intended for larger organisations and operates over a network, including the internet. Research Enterprise Blue More information about Enterprise Blue
LBE Web Helpdesk is a program for the PC designed to minimize the number of calls that a help desk receives by allowing the users to create and monitor their help-desk jobs using a standard Web browser. Help-desk operators can respond from anywhere that has Internet access. It uses industry- standard Web servers that are freely available from Microsoft and can run on Windows 95/98/NT machines. Deployment issues are minimal, as the application isn't installed on users' machines and they can access the help desk using most modern Web browsers Research LBE Web Helpdesk
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Matt and Leela Probert
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