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Rules govern the distance from the crowds that aircraft must fly. These vary according to the rating of the pilot/crew, the type of aircraft and the way the aircraft is being flown. For instance, slower, lighter aircraft are usually allowed closer and lower to the crowd than larger, faster types. Also, a fighter jet flying straight and level will be able to do so closer to the crowd and lower than if it were performing a roll or a loop.
Pilots can get authorizations for differing types of displays (e.g., limbo flying, basic aerobatics to unlimited aerobatics) and to differing minimum base heights above the ground. To gain such authorisations, the pilots will have to demonstrate to an examiner that they can perform to those limits without endangering themselves, ground crew or spectators.
Despite display rules and guidances, accidents have continued to happen. However, air show accidents are rare and where there is proper supervision air shows have impressive safety records. Each year, organizations such as International Council of Air Shows and European Airshow Council meet and discuss various subjects including air show safety where accidents are discussed and lessons learned.
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Anthropic principle
In cosmology, the anthropic principle, also known as the observation selection effect, is the proposition that the range of possible observations that could be made about the universe is limited by the fact that observations are only possible in the type of universe that is capable of developing observers in the first place. Proponents of the anthropic principle argue that it explains why the universe has the age and the fundamental physical constants necessary to accommodate intelligent life. If either had been significantly different, no one would have been around to make observations. Anthropic reasoning has been used to address the question as to why certain measured physical constants take the values that they do, rather than some other arbitrary values, and to explain a perception that the universe appears to be finely tuned for the existence of life.
There are many different formulations of the anthropic principle. Philosopher Nick Bostrom counts thirty, but the underlying principles can be divided into "weak" and "strong" forms, depending on the types of cosmological claims they entail.
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Definition and basis.
The principle was formulated as a response to a series of observations that the laws of nature and parameters of the universe have values that are consistent with conditions for life as it is known rather than values that would not be consistent with life on Earth. The anthropic principle states that this is an" a posteriori" necessity, because if life were impossible, no living entity would be there to observe it, and thus it would not be known. That is, it must be possible to observe "some" universe, and hence, the laws and constants of any such universe must accommodate that possibility.
The term "anthropic" in "anthropic principle" has been argued to be a misnomer. While singling out the currently observable kind of carbon-based life, none of the finely tuned phenomena require human life or some kind of carbon chauvinism. Any form of life or any form of heavy atom, stone, star, or galaxy would do; nothing specifically human or anthropic is involved.
The anthropic principle has given rise to some confusion and controversy, partly because the phrase has been applied to several distinct ideas. All versions of the principle have been accused of discouraging the search for a deeper physical understanding of the universe. Critics of the weak anthropic principle point out that its lack of falsifiability entails that it is non-scientific and therefore inherently not useful. Stronger variants of the anthropic principle which are not tautologies can still make claims considered controversial by some; these would be contingent upon empirical verification.
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Anthropic observations.
In 1961, Robert Dicke noted that the age of the universe, as seen by living observers, cannot be random. Instead, biological factors constrain the universe to be more or less in a "golden age", neither too young nor too old. If the universe was one tenth as old as its present age, there would not have been sufficient time to build up appreciable levels of metallicity (levels of elements besides hydrogen and helium) especially carbon, by nucleosynthesis. Small rocky planets did not yet exist. If the universe were 10 times older than it actually is, most stars would be too old to remain on the main sequence and would have turned into white dwarfs, aside from the dimmest red dwarfs, and stable planetary systems would have already come to an end. Thus, Dicke explained the coincidence between large dimensionless numbers constructed from the constants of physics and the age of the universe, a coincidence that inspired Dirac's varying-"G" theory.
Dicke later reasoned that the density of matter in the universe must be almost exactly the critical density needed to prevent the Big Crunch (the "Dicke coincidences" argument). The most recent measurements may suggest that the observed density of baryonic matter, and some theoretical predictions of the amount of dark matter, account for about 30% of this critical density, with the rest contributed by a cosmological constant. Steven Weinberg gave an anthropic explanation for this fact: he noted that the cosmological constant has a remarkably low value, some 120 orders of magnitude smaller than the value particle physics predicts (this has been described as the "worst prediction in physics"). However, if the cosmological constant were only several orders of magnitude larger than its observed value, the universe would suffer catastrophic inflation, which would preclude the formation of stars, and hence life.
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The observed values of the dimensionless physical constants (such as the fine-structure constant) governing the four fundamental interactions are balanced as if fine-tuned to permit the formation of commonly found matter and subsequently the emergence of life. A slight increase in the strong interaction (up to 50% for some authors) would bind the dineutron and the diproton and convert all hydrogen in the early universe to helium; likewise, an increase in the weak interaction also would convert all hydrogen to helium. Water, as well as sufficiently long-lived stable stars, both essential for the emergence of life as it is known, would not exist. More generally, small changes in the relative strengths of the four fundamental interactions can greatly affect the universe's age, structure, and capacity for life.
Origin.
The phrase "anthropic principle" first appeared in Brandon Carter's contribution to a 1973 Kraków symposium honouring Copernicus's 500th birthday. Carter, a theoretical astrophysicist, articulated the Anthropic Principle in reaction to the Copernican Principle, which states that humans do not occupy a privileged position in the Universe. Carter said: "Although our situation is not necessarily "central", it is inevitably privileged to some extent." Specifically, Carter disagreed with using the Copernican principle to justify the Perfect Cosmological Principle, which states that all large regions "and times" in the universe must be statistically identical. The latter principle underlies the steady-state theory, which had recently been falsified by the 1965 discovery of the cosmic microwave background radiation. This discovery was unequivocal evidence that the universe has changed radically over time (for example, via the Big Bang).
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Carter defined two forms of the anthropic principle, a "weak" one which referred only to anthropic selection of privileged spacetime locations in the universe, and a more controversial "strong" form that addressed the values of the fundamental constants of physics.
Roger Penrose explained the weak form as follows:
One reason this is plausible is that there are many other places and times in which humans could have evolved. But when applying the strong principle, there is only one universe, with one set of fundamental parameters, so what exactly is the point being made? Carter offers two possibilities: First, humans can use their own existence to make "predictions" about the parameters. But second, "as a last resort", humans can convert these predictions into "explanations" by assuming that there "is" more than one universe, in fact a large and possibly infinite collection of universes, something that is now called the multiverse ("world ensemble" was Carter's term), in which the parameters (and perhaps the laws of physics) vary across universes. The strong principle then becomes an example of a selection effect, exactly analogous to the weak principle. Postulating a multiverse is certainly a radical step, but taking it could provide at least a partial answer to a question seemingly out of the reach of normal science: "Why do the fundamental laws of physics take the particular form we observe and not another?"
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Since Carter's 1973 paper, the term "anthropic principle" has been extended to cover a number of ideas that differ in important ways from his. Particular confusion was caused by the 1986 book "The Anthropic Cosmological Principle" by John D. Barrow and Frank Tipler, which distinguished between a "weak" and "strong" anthropic principle in a way very different from Carter's, as discussed in the next section.
Carter was not the first to invoke some form of the anthropic principle. In fact, the evolutionary biologist Alfred Russel Wallace anticipated the anthropic principle as long ago as 1904: "Such a vast and complex universe as that which we know exists around us, may have been absolutely required [...] in order to produce a world that should be precisely adapted in every detail for the orderly development of life culminating in man." In 1957, Robert Dicke wrote: "The age of the Universe 'now' is not random but conditioned by biological factors [...] [changes in the values of the fundamental constants of physics] would preclude the existence of man to consider the problem."
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Ludwig Boltzmann may have been one of the first in modern science to use anthropic reasoning. Prior to knowledge of the Big Bang Boltzmann's thermodynamic concepts painted a picture of a universe that had inexplicably low entropy. Boltzmann suggested several explanations, one of which relied on fluctuations that could produce pockets of low entropy or Boltzmann universes. While most of the universe is featureless in this model, to Boltzmann, it is unremarkable that humanity happens to inhabit a Boltzmann universe, as that is the only place where intelligent life could be.
Variants.
Weak anthropic principle (WAP) (Carter): "... our location in the universe is "necessarily" privileged to the extent of being compatible with our existence as observers." For Carter, "location" refers to our location in time as well as space.
Strong anthropic principle (SAP) (Carter): "[T]he universe (and hence the fundamental parameters on which it depends) must be such as to admit the creation of observers within it at some stage. To paraphrase Descartes, "cogito ergo mundus talis est"."The Latin tag ("I think, therefore the world is such [as it is]") makes it clear that "must" indicates a deduction from the fact of our existence; the statement is thus a truism.
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In their 1986 book, "The anthropic cosmological principle", John Barrow and Frank Tipler depart from Carter and define the WAP and SAP as follows:
Weak anthropic principle (WAP) (Barrow and Tipler): "The observed values of all physical and cosmological quantities are not equally probable but they take on values restricted by the requirement that there exist sites where carbon-based life can evolve and by the requirements that the universe be old enough for it to have already done so."Unlike Carter they restrict the principle to carbon-based life, rather than just "observers". A more important difference is that they apply the WAP to the fundamental physical constants, such as the fine-structure constant, the number of spacetime dimensions, and the cosmological constant—topics that fall under Carter's SAP.
Strong anthropic principle (SAP) (Barrow and Tipler): "The Universe must have those properties which allow life to develop within it at some stage in its history."This looks very similar to Carter's SAP, but unlike the case with Carter's SAP, the "must" is an imperative, as shown by the following three possible elaborations of the SAP, each proposed by Barrow and Tipler:
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The philosophers John Leslie and Nick Bostrom reject the Barrow and Tipler SAP as a fundamental misreading of Carter. For Bostrom, Carter's anthropic principle just warns us to make allowance for "anthropic bias"—that is, the bias created by anthropic selection effects (which Bostrom calls "observation" selection effects)—the necessity for observers to exist in order to get a result. He writes:
Strong self-sampling assumption (SSSA) (Bostrom): "Each observer-moment should reason as if it were randomly selected from the class of all observer-moments in its reference class." Analysing an observer's experience into a sequence of "observer-moments" helps avoid certain paradoxes; but the main ambiguity is the selection of the appropriate "reference class": for Carter's WAP this might correspond to all real or potential observer-moments in our universe; for the SAP, to all in the multiverse. Bostrom's mathematical development shows that choosing either too broad or too narrow a reference class leads to counter-intuitive results, but he is not able to prescribe an ideal choice.
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According to Jürgen Schmidhuber, the anthropic principle essentially just says that the conditional probability of finding yourself in a universe compatible with your existence is always 1. It does not allow for any additional nontrivial predictions such as "gravity won't change tomorrow". To gain more predictive power, additional assumptions on the prior distribution of alternative universes are necessary.
Playwright and novelist Michael Frayn describes a form of the strong anthropic principle in his 2006 book "The Human Touch", which explores what he characterises as "the central oddity of the Universe":
Character of anthropic reasoning.
Carter chose to focus on a tautological aspect of his ideas, which has resulted in much confusion. In fact, anthropic reasoning interests scientists because of something that is only implicit in the above formal definitions, namely that humans should give serious consideration to there being other universes with different values of the "fundamental parameters"—that is, the dimensionless physical constants and initial conditions for the Big Bang. Carter and others have argued that life would not be possible in most such universes. In other words, the universe humans live in is fine tuned to permit life. Collins & Hawking (1973) characterized Carter's then-unpublished big idea as the postulate that "there is not one universe but a whole infinite ensemble of universes with all possible initial conditions". If this is granted, the anthropic principle provides a plausible explanation for the fine tuning of our universe: the "typical" universe is not fine-tuned, but given enough universes, a small fraction will be capable of supporting intelligent life. Ours must be one of these, and so the observed fine tuning should be no cause for wonder.
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Although philosophers have discussed related concepts for centuries, in the early 1970s the only genuine physical theory yielding a multiverse of sorts was the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics. This would allow variation in initial conditions, but not in the truly fundamental constants. Since that time a number of mechanisms for producing a multiverse have been suggested: see the review by Max Tegmark. An important development in the 1980s was the combination of inflation theory with the hypothesis that some parameters are determined by symmetry breaking in the early universe, which allows parameters previously thought of as "fundamental constants" to vary over very large distances, thus eroding the distinction between Carter's weak and strong principles. At the beginning of the 21st century, the string landscape emerged as a mechanism for varying essentially all the constants, including the number of spatial dimensions.
The anthropic idea that fundamental parameters are selected from a multitude of different possibilities (each actual in some universe or other) contrasts with the traditional hope of physicists for a theory of everything having no free parameters. As Albert Einstein said: "What really interests me is whether God had any choice in the creation of the world." In 2002, some proponents of the leading candidate for a "theory of everything", string theory, proclaimed "the end of the anthropic principle" since there would be no free parameters to select. In 2003, however, Leonard Susskind stated: "... it seems plausible that the landscape is unimaginably large and diverse. This is the behavior that gives credence to the anthropic principle."<ref name="arXiv:hep-th/0302219"></ref>
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The modern form of a design argument is put forth by intelligent design. Proponents of intelligent design often cite the fine-tuning observations that (in part) preceded the formulation of the anthropic principle by Carter as a proof of an intelligent designer. Opponents of intelligent design are not limited to those who hypothesize that other universes exist; they may also argue, anti-anthropically, that the universe is less fine-tuned than often claimed, or that accepting fine tuning as a brute fact is less astonishing than the idea of an intelligent creator. Furthermore, even accepting fine tuning, Sober (2005) and Ikeda and Jefferys, argue that the anthropic principle as conventionally stated actually undermines intelligent design.
Paul Davies's book "The Goldilocks Enigma" (2006) reviews the current state of the fine-tuning debate in detail, and concludes by enumerating the following responses to that debate:
Omitted here is Lee Smolin's model of cosmological natural selection, also known as "fecund universes", which proposes that universes have "offspring" that are more plentiful if they resemble our universe. Also see Gardner (2005).
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Clearly each of these hypotheses resolve some aspects of the puzzle, while leaving others unanswered. Followers of Carter would admit only option 3 as an anthropic explanation, whereas 3 through 6 are covered by different versions of Barrow and Tipler's SAP (which would also include 7 if it is considered a variant of 4, as in Tipler 1994).
The anthropic principle, at least as Carter conceived it, can be applied on scales much smaller than the whole universe. For example, Carter (1983) inverted the usual line of reasoning and pointed out that when interpreting the evolutionary record, one must take into account cosmological and astrophysical considerations. With this in mind, Carter concluded that given the best estimates of the age of the universe, the evolutionary chain culminating in "Homo sapiens" probably admits only one or two low probability links.
Observational evidence.
No possible observational evidence bears on Carter's WAP, as it is merely advice to the scientist and asserts nothing debatable. The obvious test of Barrow's SAP, which says that the universe is "required" to support life, is to find evidence of life in universes other than ours. Any other universe is, by most definitions, unobservable (otherwise it would be included in "our" portion of "this" universe). Thus, in principle Barrow's SAP cannot be falsified by observing a universe in which an observer cannot exist.
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Philosopher John Leslie states that the Carter SAP (with multiverse) predicts the following:
Hogan has emphasised that it would be very strange if all fundamental constants were strictly determined, since this would leave us with no ready explanation for apparent fine tuning. In fact, humans might have to resort to something akin to Barrow and Tipler's SAP: there would be no option for such a universe "not" to support life.
Probabilistic predictions of parameter values can be made given:
The probability of observing value "X" is then proportional to . A generic feature of an analysis of this nature is that the expected values of the fundamental physical constants should not be "over-tuned", i.e. if there is some perfectly tuned predicted value (e.g. zero), the observed value need be no closer to that predicted value than what is required to make life possible. The small but finite value of the cosmological constant can be regarded as a successful prediction in this sense.
One thing that would "not" count as evidence for the anthropic principle is evidence that the Earth or the Solar System occupied a privileged position in the universe, in violation of the Copernican principle (for possible counterevidence to this principle, see Copernican principle), unless there was some reason to think that that position was a necessary condition for our existence as observers.
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Applications of the principle.
The nucleosynthesis of carbon-12.
Fred Hoyle may have invoked anthropic reasoning to predict an astrophysical phenomenon. He is said to have reasoned, from the prevalence on Earth of life forms whose chemistry was based on carbon-12 nuclei, that there must be an undiscovered resonance in the carbon-12 nucleus facilitating its synthesis in stellar interiors via the triple-alpha process. He then calculated the energy of this undiscovered resonance to be 7.6 million electronvolts. Willie Fowler's research group soon found this resonance, and its measured energy was close to Hoyle's prediction.
However, in 2010 Helge Kragh argued that Hoyle did not use anthropic reasoning in making his prediction, since he made his prediction in 1953 and anthropic reasoning did not come into prominence until 1980. He called this an "anthropic myth", saying that Hoyle and others made an after-the-fact connection between carbon and life decades after the discovery of the resonance.
Cosmic inflation.
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String theory.
String theory predicts a large number of possible universes, called the "backgrounds" or "vacua". The set of these vacua is often called the "multiverse" or "anthropic landscape" or "string landscape". Leonard Susskind has argued that the existence of a large number of vacua puts anthropic reasoning on firm ground: only universes whose properties are such as to allow observers to exist are observed, while a possibly much larger set of universes lacking such properties go unnoticed.
Steven Weinberg believes the anthropic principle may be appropriated by cosmologists committed to nontheism, and refers to that principle as a "turning point" in modern science because applying it to the string landscape "may explain how the constants of nature that we observe can take values suitable for life without being fine-tuned by a benevolent creator". Others—most notably David Gross but also Luboš Motl, Peter Woit, and Lee Smolin—argue that this is not predictive. Max Tegmark, Mario Livio, and Martin Rees argue that only some aspects of a physical theory need be observable and/or testable for the theory to be accepted, and that many well-accepted theories are far from completely testable at present.
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Jürgen Schmidhuber (2000–2002) points out that Ray Solomonoff's theory of universal inductive inference and its extensions already provide a framework for maximizing our confidence in any theory, given a limited sequence of physical observations, and some prior distribution on the set of possible explanations of the universe.
Zhi-Wei Wang and Samuel L. Braunstein proved that life's existence in the universe depends on various fundamental constants. It suggests that without a complete understanding of these constants, one might incorrectly perceive the universe as being intelligently designed for life. This perspective challenges the view that our universe is unique in its ability to support life.
Dimensions of spacetime.
There are two kinds of dimensions: spatial (bidirectional) and temporal (unidirectional). Let the number of spatial dimensions be "N" and the number of temporal dimensions be "T". That and , setting aside the compactified dimensions invoked by string theory and undetectable to date, can be explained by appealing to the physical consequences of letting "N" differ from 3 and "T" differ from 1. The argument is often of an anthropic character and possibly the first of its kind, albeit before the complete concept came into vogue.
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The implicit notion that the dimensionality of the universe is special is first attributed to Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, who in the Discourse on Metaphysics suggested that the world is "". Immanuel Kant argued that 3-dimensional space was a consequence of the inverse square law of universal gravitation. While Kant's argument is historically important, John D. Barrow said that it "gets the punch-line back to front: it is the three-dimensionality of space that explains why we see inverse-square force laws in Nature, not vice-versa" (Barrow 2002:204).
In 1920, Paul Ehrenfest showed that if there is only a single time dimension and more than three spatial dimensions, the orbit of a planet about its Sun cannot remain stable. The same is true of a star's orbit around the center of its galaxy. Ehrenfest also showed that if there are an even number of spatial dimensions, then the different parts of a wave impulse will travel at different speeds. If there are formula_1 spatial dimensions, where "k" is a positive whole number, then wave impulses become distorted. In 1922, Hermann Weyl claimed that Maxwell's theory of electromagnetism can be expressed in terms of an action only for a four-dimensional manifold. Finally, Tangherlini showed in 1963 that when there are more than three spatial dimensions, electron orbitals around nuclei cannot be stable; electrons would either fall into the nucleus or disperse.
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Max Tegmark expands on the preceding argument in the following anthropic manner. If "T" differs from 1, the behavior of physical systems could not be predicted reliably from knowledge of the relevant partial differential equations. In such a universe, intelligent life capable of manipulating technology could not emerge. Moreover, if , Tegmark maintains that protons and electrons would be unstable and could decay into particles having greater mass than themselves. (This is not a problem if the particles have a sufficiently low temperature.) Lastly, if , gravitation of any kind becomes problematic, and the universe would probably be too simple to contain observers. For example, when , nerves cannot cross without intersecting. Hence anthropic and other arguments rule out all cases except and , which describes the world around us.
On the other hand, in view of creating black holes from an ideal monatomic gas under its self-gravity, Wei-Xiang Feng showed that -dimensional spacetime is the marginal dimensionality. Moreover, it is the unique dimensionality that can afford a "stable" gas sphere with a "positive" cosmological constant. However, a self-gravitating gas cannot be stably bound if the mass sphere is larger than ~1021 solar masses, due to the small positivity of the cosmological constant observed.
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In 2019, James Scargill argued that complex life may be possible with two spatial dimensions. According to Scargill, a purely scalar theory of gravity may enable a local gravitational force, and 2D networks may be sufficient for complex neural networks.
Metaphysical interpretations.
Some of the metaphysical disputes and speculations include, for example, attempts to back Pierre Teilhard de Chardin's earlier interpretation of the universe as being Christ centered (compare Omega Point), expressing a "creatio evolutiva" instead the elder notion of "creatio continua". From a strictly secular, humanist perspective, it allows as well to put human beings back in the center, an anthropogenic shift in cosmology. Karl W. Giberson has laconically stated that
William Sims Bainbridge disagreed with de Chardin's optimism about a future Omega point at the end of history, arguing that logically, humans are trapped at the Omicron point, in the middle of the Greek alphabet rather than advancing to the end, because the universe does not need to have any characteristics that would support our further technical progress, if the anthropic principle merely requires it to be suitable for our evolution to this point.
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"The Anthropic Cosmological Principle".
A thorough extant study of the anthropic principle is the book "The Anthropic Cosmological Principle" by John D. Barrow, a cosmologist, and Frank J. Tipler, a cosmologist and mathematical physicist. This book sets out in detail the many known anthropic coincidences and constraints, including many found by its authors. While the book is primarily a work of theoretical astrophysics, it also touches on quantum physics, chemistry, and earth science. An entire chapter argues that "Homo sapiens" is, with high probability, the only intelligent species in the Milky Way.
The book begins with an extensive review of many topics in the history of ideas the authors deem relevant to the anthropic principle, because the authors believe that principle has important antecedents in the notions of teleology and intelligent design. They discuss the writings of Fichte, Hegel, Bergson, and Alfred North Whitehead, and the Omega Point cosmology of Teilhard de Chardin. Barrow and Tipler carefully distinguish teleological reasoning from eutaxiological reasoning; the former asserts that order must have a consequent purpose; the latter asserts more modestly that order must have a planned cause. They attribute this important but nearly always overlooked distinction to an obscure 1883 book by L. E. Hicks.
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Seeing little sense in a principle requiring intelligent life to emerge while remaining indifferent to the possibility of its eventual extinction, Barrow and Tipler propose the final anthropic principle (FAP): Intelligent information-processing must come into existence in the universe, and, once it comes into existence, it will never die out.
Barrow and Tipler submit that the FAP is both a valid physical statement and "closely connected with moral values". FAP places strong constraints on the structure of the universe, constraints developed further in Tipler's "The Physics of Immortality". One such constraint is that the universe must end in a Big Crunch, which seems unlikely in view of the tentative conclusions drawn since 1998 about dark energy, based on observations of very distant supernovas.
In his review of Barrow and Tipler, Martin Gardner ridiculed the FAP by quoting the last two sentences of their book as defining a completely ridiculous anthropic principle (CRAP):
Reception and controversies.
Carter has frequently expressed regret for his own choice of the word "anthropic", because it conveys the misleading impression that the principle involves "humans in particular", to the exclusion of non-human intelligence more broadly. Others have criticised the word "principle" as being too grandiose to describe straightforward applications of selection effects.
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A common criticism of Carter's SAP is that it is an easy "deus ex machina" that discourages searches for physical explanations. To quote Penrose again: "It tends to be invoked by theorists whenever they do not have a good enough theory to explain the observed facts."
Carter's SAP and Barrow and Tipler's WAP have been dismissed as truisms or trivial tautologies—that is, statements true solely by virtue of their logical form and not because a substantive claim is made and supported by observation of reality. As such, they are criticized as an elaborate way of saying, "If things were different, they would be different", which is a valid statement, but does not make a claim of some factual alternative over another.
Critics of the Barrow and Tipler SAP claim that it is neither testable nor falsifiable, and thus is not a scientific statement but rather a philosophical one. The same criticism has been leveled against the hypothesis of a multiverse, although some argue that it does make falsifiable predictions. A modified version of this criticism is that humanity understands so little about the emergence of life, especially intelligent life, that it is effectively impossible to calculate the number of observers in each universe. Also, the prior distribution of universes as a function of the fundamental constants is easily modified to get any desired result.
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Many criticisms focus on versions of the strong anthropic principle, such as Barrow and Tipler's "anthropic cosmological principle", which are teleological notions that tend to describe the existence of life as a "necessary prerequisite" for the observable constants of physics. Similarly, Stephen Jay Gould, Michael Shermer, and others claim that the stronger versions of the anthropic principle seem to reverse known causes and effects. Gould compared the claim that the universe is fine-tuned for the benefit of our kind of life to saying that sausages were made long and narrow so that they could fit into modern hotdog buns, or saying that ships had been invented to house barnacles. These critics cite the vast physical, fossil, genetic, and other biological evidence consistent with life having been fine-tuned through natural selection to adapt to the physical and geophysical environment in which life exists. Life appears to have adapted to the universe, and not vice versa.
Some applications of the anthropic principle have been criticized as an argument by lack of imagination, for tacitly assuming that carbon compounds and water are the only possible chemistry of life (sometimes called "carbon chauvinism"; see also alternative biochemistry). The range of fundamental physical constants consistent with the evolution of carbon-based life may also be wider than those who advocate a fine-tuned universe have argued. For instance, Harnik et al. propose a Weakless Universe in which the weak nuclear force is eliminated. They show that this has no significant effect on the other fundamental interactions, provided some adjustments are made in how those interactions work. However, if some of the fine-tuned details of our universe were violated, that would rule out complex structures of any kind—stars, planets, galaxies, etc.
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Lee Smolin has offered a theory designed to improve on the lack of imagination that has been ascribed to anthropic principles. He puts forth his fecund universes theory, which assumes universes have "offspring" through the creation of black holes whose offspring universes have values of physical constants that depend on those of the mother universe.
The philosophers of cosmology John Earman, Ernan McMullin, and Jesús Mosterín contend that "in its weak version, the anthropic principle is a mere tautology, which does not allow us to explain anything or to predict anything that we did not already know. In its strong version, it is a gratuitous speculation". A further criticism by Mosterín concerns the flawed "anthropic" inference from the assumption of an infinity of worlds to the existence of one like ours:
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Australian Army
The Australian Army is the principal land warfare force of Australia. It is a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF), along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (CA), who is subordinate to the Chief of the Defence Force (CDF) who commands the ADF. The CA is also directly responsible to the Minister for Defence, with the Department of Defence administering the ADF and the Army.
Formed in 1901, as the Commonwealth Military Forces, through the amalgamation of the colonial forces of Australia following the Federation of Australia. Although Australian soldiers have been involved in a number of minor and major conflicts throughout Australia's history, only during the Second World War has Australian territory come under direct attack.
The Australian Army was initially composed almost completely of part-time soldiers, where the vast majority were in units of the Citizens Military Force (CMF or Militia) (1901–1980) during peacetime, with limits set on the regular Army. Since all reservists were barred from forcibly serving overseas, volunteer expeditionary forces (1st AIF, ANMEF, 2nd AIF) were formed to enable the Army to send large numbers of soldiers to serve overseas during periods of war. This period lasted from federation until post-1947, when a standing peacetime regular army was formed and the Australian Army Reserve (1980–present) began to decline in importance.
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During its history, the Australian Army has fought in a number of major wars, including the Second Boer War, the First and Second World Wars, Korean War, Malayan Emergency, Indonesia-Malaysia Confrontation, Vietnam War, the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) and the Iraq War. Since 1947, the Australian Army has also been involved in many peacekeeping operations, usually under the auspices of the United Nations. Today, it participates in multilateral and unilateral military exercises and provides emergency disaster relief and humanitarian aid in response to domestic and international crises.
History.
Formation.
Formed in March 1901, following federation, the Australian Army initially consisted of the six, disbanded and separate, colonial military forces' land components. Due to the Army being continuation of the colonial armies, it became immediately embroiled in conflict as contingents had been committed to fight for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in the Second Boer War. The Army gained command of these contingents and even supplied federal units to reinforce their commitment at the request of the British government.
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The "Defence Act 1903," established the operation and command structure of the Australian Army. In 1911, the Universal Service Scheme was implemented, introducing conscription for the first time in Australia, with males aged 14–26 assigned into cadet and CMF units; though the scheme did not prescribe or allow overseas service outside the states and territories of Australia. This restriction would be primarily, and continually, bypassed through the process of raising separate volunteer forces until the mid-20th century; this solution was not without its drawbacks, as it caused logistical dilemmas.
World War I.
After the declaration of war on the Central Powers, the Australian Army raised the all volunteer First Australian Imperial Force (AIF) which had an initial recruitment of 52,561 out of a promised 20,000 men. A smaller expeditionary force, the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force (ANMEF), dealt with the issue of the German Pacific holdings. ANMEF recruitment began on 10 August 1914, and operations started 10 days later. On 11 September, the ANMEF landed at Rabaul to secure German New Guinea, with no German outposts in the Pacific left by November 1914. During the AIF's preparations to depart Australia, the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers; thereby receiving declarations of war from the Allies of World War I in early November 1914.
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After initial recruitment and training, the AIF departed for Egypt where they underwent further preparations, and where the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) was formed. Their presence in Egypt was due to the planned Gallipoli campaign, an invasion of the Ottoman Empire via Gallipoli. On 25 April, the AIF landed at ANZAC Cove, which signaled the start of Australia's contribution to the campaign. Following little initial success, fighting quickly devolved into trench warfare, which precipitated a stalemate. On 15 December 1915, after eight months of fighting, the evacuation of Gallipoli commenced; it was completed 5 days later with no casualties recorded. After regrouping in Egypt, the AIF was split into two groups and further expanded with reinforcements. This division would see a majority of the Australian Light Horse fight the Ottomans in Arabia and the Levant, whereas
the rest of the AIF would go to the Western Front.
Western Front.
The AIF arrived in France with the 1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th Divisions; which comprised, in part, I ANZAC Corps and, in full, II ANZAC Corps. The 3rd Division would not arrive until November 1916, as it underwent training in England after its transfer from Australia. In July 1916, the AIF commenced operations with the Battle of the Somme, and more specifically with the Attack at Fromelles. Soon after, the 1st, 2nd and 4th Divisions became tied down in actions at the Battle of Pozières and Mouquet Farm. In around six weeks, the operations caused 28,000 Australian casualties. Due to these losses and pressure from the United Kingdom to maintain the AIF's manpower, Prime Minister Billy Hughes introduced the first conscription plebiscite. It was defeated by a narrow margin and created a bitter divide on the issue of conscription throughout the 20th century.
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Following the German withdrawal to the Hindenburg Line in March 1917, which was better defended and eased manpower restraints, the first Australian assault on the Hindenburg Line occurred on 11 April 1917 with the First Battle of Bullecourt. On 20 September, the Australian contingent joined the Third Battle of Ypres with the Battle of Menin Road, and continued on to fight in the Battle of Polygon Wood, which lasted until 3 October; in total, these tow operations cost roughly 11,000 in Australian casualties. Until 15 November 1917, multiple attacks at the Battle of Broodseinde Ridge and the Battle of Passchendaele occurred, but, failed to take their objectives following the start of the rain and subsequent muddying of the fields.
On 21 March 1918, the Germans attempted a breakout through the Michael Offensive, which was part of the much larger German spring offensive; the AIF suffered 15,000 casualties due to this effort. During this operation, Australian troops conducted a series of local defences and offensives to hold and retake Villers–Brettoneux over the period 4 to 25 April 1918. After the cessation of offensives by the German Army, the Australian Corps began participating in "Peaceful penetration" operations, which were localised raids designed to harass and gain small tracts of territory; these proved so effective that several major operational objectives were captured.
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On 4 July 1918, the Battle of Hamel saw the first successful use of tanks alongside Australians, with the battleplan of John Monash completed three minutes over the planned 90 minute operation. Following this success, the Battle of Amiens was launched on 8 August 1918, in conjunction with the Canadian Corps and the British III Corps, and concluded on 12 August 1918; General Erich Ludendorff described it as "the black day of the German Army". On 29 August 1918, following territorial advances and pursuits, the AIF attacked Pèronne and subsequently initiated the Battle of Mont St Quentin. Another operation around Épehy was planned for 18 September 1918, which aimed to retake the British trenches and, potentially, capture their most ambitious objective of the Hindenburg's outpost line – which they achieved.
Following news of a three-month furlough for certain soldiers, seven AIF battalions were disbanded; consequently, members of these battalions mutinied. Soon after the penetration of the Hindenburg Line, plans for the breakthrough of the main trench, with the Australian Corps as the vanguard, were completed. However, due to manpower issues, only the 3rd and 5th Divisions participated, with the American Expeditionary Forces' 27th and 30th Divisions given as reinforcements. On 29 September, following a three day long bombardment, the Battle of the Hindenburg Line commenced, wherein the corps attacked and captured more of the line. On 5 October 1918, after furious fighting, the Australian Corps was withdrawn from the front, as the entire corps had been operating continuously since 8 August 1918. They would not return to the battlefield, as Germany signed the Armistice of 11 November 1918 that ultimately ended the war on the Western Front.
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Middle East.
The Australian mounted units, composed of the ANZAC Mounted Division and eventually the Australian Mounted Division, participated in the Sinai and Palestine campaign. They were originally stationed there to protect the Suez Canal from the Turks, and following the threat of its capture passing, they started offensive operations and helped in the re-conquest of the Sinai Desert. This was followed by the Battles of Gaza, wherein on the 31 October 1917 the 4th and 12th Light Horse took Beersheba through the last charge of the Light Horse. They continued on to capture Jerusalem on 10 December 1917 and then eventually Damascus on 1 October 1918 whereby, a few days later on 10 October 1918, the Ottoman Empire surrendered.
Interbellum.
Repatriation efforts were implemented between the armistice and the end of 1919, which occurred after the disbandment of the Australian Imperial Force. In 1921, CMF units were renumbered to that of the AIF, to perpetuate the honours and numerical identities of the units involved in WW1. During this period there was a complacency towards matters of defence, due to the devastating effects of the previous war on the Australian psyche. Following the election of Prime Minister James Scullin in 1929, two events occurred that substantially affected the armed forces: conscription was abolished and the economic effects of the Great Depression started to be felt in Australia. The economic ramifications of the depression led to decisions that decreased defence expenditure and manpower for the army. Since conscription was repealed, to reflect the new volunteer nature of the Citizens Forces, the CMF was renamed to the Militia.
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World War II.
Following the declaration of war on Nazi Germany and her allies by the United Kingdom, and the subsequent confirmation by Prime Minister Robert Menzies on 3 September 1939, the Australian Army raised the Second Australian Imperial Force, a 20,000-strong volunteer expeditionary force, which initially consisted of the 6th Division; later increased to include the 7th and 9th Divisions, alongside the 8th Division which was sent to Singapore. In October 1939, compulsory military training recommenced for unmarried men aged 21, who had to complete three months of training.
The 2nd AIF commenced its first operations in North Africa with Operation Compass, that began with the Battle of Bardia. This was followed by supplying Australian units to defend against the Axis in the Battle of Greece. After the evacuation of Greece, Australian troops took part in the Battle of Crete which, though more successful, still failed and another withdrawal was ordered. During the Greek Campaign, the Allies were pushed back to Egypt and the Siege of Tobruk began. Tobruk's primary defence personnel were Australians of the 9th Division; the so-called 'Rats of Tobruk'. Additionally, the AIF participated in the Syria–Lebanon campaign. The 9th Division fought in the First and Second Battle of El Alamein before also being shipped home to fight the Japanese.
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Pacific.
In December 1941, following the Bombing of Pearl Harbor, Australia declared war on Japan. Consequently, the AIF was requested to return home, as the subsequent rapid conquest of Southeast Asia extremely concerned Australian policymakers, and the militia was mobilised. After the Fall of Singapore, and the consequent capture of the entire 8th Division as POWs, this concern only grew. These events hastened the relief of the Rats of Tobruk, while the other divisions were immediately recalled to reinforce New Guinea. General conscription was reintroduced, though service was again limited to Australian possessions, which caused tension between the AIF and Militia. This was in addition to the CMF's perceived inferior fighting ability, with these grievances earning the Militia their nicknames of "koalas" and "chocos" or "chocolate soldiers".
The Imperial Japanese Navy's failure in the Battle of the Coral Sea, was the impetus for the Imperial Japanese Army to try to capture Port Moresby via the Owen Stanley Range. On 21 July 1942, the Japanese began the Kokoda Campaign after landing at Gona; attempts to defeat them by Australian battalions were met with eventual success. Resultant offensive operations concluded with the Japanese being driven out of New Guinea entirely. In parallel with these defences, the Battle of Milne Bay was waged, and when the Japanese were repulsed, it was considered their first significant reversal for the war. In November 1942, the campaign ended after the Japanese withdrawal, with Australian advances leading to the Battle of Buna–Gona.
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In early 1943, the Salamaua–Lae campaign began, with operations against the entrenched Japanese aimed towards recapturing the eponymous towns. This culminated in the capture of Lae, held by the 7th Division in early September 1943, from a successful combined amphibious landing at Lae and an airborne landing at Nadzab. The seaborne assault was notable as it was the first large–scale amphibious operation since Gallipoli. Subsequently, Salamaua was taken days later on 11 September 1943, by a separate joint Australia–US attack. The Battle of Lae was additionally part of the wider Huon Peninsula campaign. Following Lae's capture, the Battle of Finschhafen commenced with a relatively swift control of objectives, with subsequent Japanese counterattacks beaten off. On 17 November 1943, a major offensive that began with the Battle of Sattelberg, continued with the Battle of Wareo, and concluded with the Battle of Sio on 15 January 1944, was unleashed. The momentum of this advance was continued by the 8th Brigade, as they pursued the enemy in retreat, which culminated with the Battle of Madang.
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In mid-1944, Australian forces took over the garrisoning of Torokina from the US with this changeover giving Australian command responsibility over the Bougainville campaign. Soon after arriving in November of the same year, the commander of II Corps, Lieutenant-General Stanley Savige, began an offensive to retake the island with the 3rd Division alongside the 11th and 23rd Brigades. The campaign lasted until the Japanese surrender, with controversy surrounding its little apparent significance to the war's conclusion, and the number of casualties incurred; this was one of Australia's most costliest campaigns in the Second World War.
In October 1944, Australian participation in the Aitape–Wewak campaign began with the replacement of US forces at Aitape with the Australian 6th Division. US forces had previously captured the position, and had held it passively, though Australian command found this unsuitable. On 2 November 1944, the 2/6th Cavalry Commando Regiment was tasked with patrolling the area, wherein minor engagements were reported. In early December, the commandos were sent inland to establish access to the Torricelli Range, while the 19th Brigade handled patrolling, consequently, the amount of fierce fighting and territory secured increased. Following this success, thought was given for the capture of Maprik and Wewak, though supply became a major issue in this period. On 10 February 1945, the campaign's major offensive was underway, which resulted in both falling in quick succession on 22 April 1945. Smaller operations to secure the area continued, and all significant actions ceased by July.
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The Borneo campaign was a series of three distinct amphibious operations that were undertaken by the 7th and 9th Divisions. The campaign began with the Battle of Tarakan on 1 May 1945, followed six weeks later by the Battle of Labuan, and concluded with the Battle of Balikpapan. The purpose of capturing Tarakan was to establish airfields, and the island was taken seven weeks following the initial amphibious landing. On 10 June 1945, the operation at Labuan commenced, and was tasked to secure resources and a naval base, and would continue until Japan's surrender. On 1 July 1945, the Balikpapan engagement commenced, with all its major objectives being acquired by war's end; this operation remains the largest amphibious operation undertaken by Australian forces, with 33,000 Australian servicemen participating. On 15 August 1945, Japan surrendered, ending the Second World War.
Cold War.
Korean War.
After the surrender of Japan, Australia provided a contingent to the British Commonwealth Occupation Force (BCOF) which included the 34th Brigade. The units that composed the brigade would eventually become the nucleus of the regular army, with the battalions and brigade being renumbered to reflect this change. Following the start of the Korean War, the Australian Army committed troops to fight against the North Korean forces; the units came from the Australian contribution to BCOF. The 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (3RAR) arrived in Pusan on 28 September 1950. Australian troop numbers would increase and continue to be deployed up until the armistice, with 3RAR being eventually joined by the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (1RAR). For a brief period, between 1951 and 1959, the Menzies Government reinstituted conscription and compulsory military training with the National Service Scheme, which required all males of eighteen years of age to serve for specified period in either the Australian Regular Army (ARA) or CMF.
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Malayan Emergency.
The Australian military entered the Malayan Emergency (1948–1960) in October 1955, committing the 2nd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (2RAR) to fight alongside Commonwealth forces. The 2RAR fought against the Malayan National Liberation Army (MNLA), a communist led guerrilla army whose goal was to turn Malaya into a socialist republic, and whose leaders had previously been trained and funded by Britain to resist the Japanese occupation of Malaya. Australian military operations in Malaya consisted of patrolling actions and guarding infrastructure, though they rarely saw combat as the emergency was nearly over by the time of their deployment. All three original Royal Australian Regiment battalions would complete at least one tour before the end of operations. In August 1963, Australia ended deployments to Malaya, three years after the emergency's official end.
Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation.
In 1962, the Borneo Confrontation began, due to Indonesia's opposition to the formation of Malaysia. It was an undeclared war that entailed a series of border conflicts between Indonesian-backed forces and British–Malaysian allies. Initial Australian support in the conflict began, and continued throughout, with the training and supply of Malaysian troops; Australian soldiers only saw combat during defensive operations. In January 1965, permission was granted for the deployment of 3RAR, with extensive operations conducted in Sarawak from March until their withdrawal in July 1965. The subsequent deployment of 4th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (4RAR), in April 1966, was less intensive, with the battalion withdrawn in August. This is not to mention the efforts of several other corps and units in the conflict.
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Vietnam War.
The Australian Army commenced its involvement in the Vietnam War by sending military advisors in 1962, which was then increased by sending in combat troops, specifically 1RAR, on 27 May 1965. Just before the official start of hostilities, the Australian Army was augmented with the reintroduction of conscription, which was based on a 'birthday ballot' selection process for all registered 20-year-old males. These men were required to register, unless they gave a legitimate reason for their exemption, else they faced penalties. This scheme would prove to be one of the most controversial implementations of conscription in Australia, with large protests against its adoption.
In March 1966, the Australian Army increased its commitment again with the replacement of 1RAR with the 1st Australian Task Force, a force in which all nine battalions of the Royal Australian Regiment would serve. One of the heaviest actions of the war occurred in August 1966, with the Battle of Long Tan, wherein D Company, 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (6RAR) successfully fended off an enemy force, estimated at 2,000 men, for four hours. In 1968, Australian forces defended against the Tet Offensive, a Viet Cong military operation, and repulsed them with few casualties. The contribution of personnel to the war was gradually wound down, starting in late-1970 and ending in 1972; the official declaration of the end of Australia's involvement in the war was made on 11 January 1973.
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Activities in Africa.
Following the Vietnam War, there was a significant hiatus of operational activity by the Australian Army. In late 1979, in the largest deployment of the decade, the Army committed 151 troops to the Commonwealth Monitoring Force, which monitored the transition of Rhodesia to universal suffrage. A decade later in 1989, Australia deployed 300 army engineer personnel as the Australian contribution to the United Nations Transition Assistance Group in Namibia. The mission helped transition the country to independence from South African control.
Recent history (1990–present).
Peacekeeping.
Following the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq in August 1990, a coalition of countries sponsored by the United Nations Security Council, of which Australia was a part, gave a deadline for Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait of the 15 January 1991. Iraq refused to retreat and thus full conflict and the Gulf War began two days later on 17 January 1991. In January 1993, the Australian Army deployed 26 personnel on an ongoing rotational basis to the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO), as part of a non-United Nations peacekeeping organisation that observes and enforces the peace treaty between Israel and Egypt.
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Australia's largest peacekeeping deployment began in 1999 with the International Force for East Timor, while other ongoing operations include peacekeeping in the Sinai (as part of MFO), and the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (as part of Operation Paladin since 1956). Humanitarian relief after the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake in Aceh Province, Indonesia, Operation Sumatra Assist, ended on 24 March 2005.
Afghanistan and Iraq.
Following the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks, Australia promised troops to any military operations that the US commenced in response to the attacks. Subsequently, the Australian Army committed combat troops to Afghanistan in Operation Slipper. This combat role continued until the end of 2013 when it was replaced by a training contingent operating under Operation Highroad until 2021.
After the Gulf War the UN imposed heavy restrictions on Iraq to stop them producing any Weapon of mass destruction. In the early 21st century, the US accused Iraq of possessing these weapons, and requested that the UN invade the country in response, a motion which Australia supported. The UN denied this motion, however, it did not stop a coalition, that Australia joined, invading the country; thus starting the Iraq War on 19 March 2003.
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Between April 2015 and June 2020, the Army deployed a 300-strong element to Iraq, designated as Task Group Taji, as part of Operation Okra. In support of a capacity building mission, Task Group Taji's main role was to provide training to Iraqi forces, during which Australian troops have served alongside counterparts from New Zealand.
In 2020 an investigation of allegations of war crimes committed during Australian military operations in Afghanistan was concluded with the release of the Brereton Report. The report identified 25 ADF personnel that were involved directly or indirectly in the murder of 39 civilians and prisoners, with 19 referred to the Australian Federal Police to be criminally investigated. A 'warrior culture' in the SAS was specifically criticised with investigators 'frustrated by outright deceit by those who knew the truth and, not infrequently, misguided resistance to inquiries and investigations by their superiors'.
Organisation.
1st (Australian) Division.
Beginning 1 July 2023, the division was renamed the 1st Australian Division. The 1st, 3rd and 7th Brigades were placed under the direct control of the division's headquarters. This reform aimed to improve the connections between the divisional headquarters and the brigades it commands during deployments.
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Forces Command.
Forces Command controls for administrative purposes all non-combat assets of the Australian Army. Its focus is on unifying all training establishments to create a base for scaling and mobilisation:
Additionally, Forces Command includes the following training and support establishments:
2nd (Australian) Division.
Administers the reserve forces from its headquarters located in Sydney.
Aviation.
Army Aviation Command is responsible for the Australian Army's helicopters and training, aviation safety and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). Army Aviation Command comprises:
Special Forces.
Special Operations Command is a command formation of equal status to the other commands in the ADF and includes all of Army's special forces units. Special Operations Command comprises:
Colours, standards and guidons.
Infantry, and some other combat units of the Australian Army carry flags called the King's Colour and the Regimental Colour, known as "the Colours". Armoured units carry Standards and Guidons – flags smaller than Colours and traditionally carried by Cavalry, Lancer, Light Horse and Mounted Infantry units. The 1st Armoured Regiment is the only unit in the Australian Army to carry a Standard, in the tradition of heavy armoured units. Artillery units' guns are considered to be their Colours, and on parade are provided with the same respect. Non-combat units (combat service support corps) do not have Colours, as Colours are battle flags and so are only available to combat units. As a substitute, many have Standards or Banners. Units awarded battle honours have them emblazoned on their Colours, Standards and Guidons. They are a link to the unit's past and a memorial to the fallen. Artillery do not have Battle Honours – their single Honour is "Ubique" which means "Everywhere" – although they can receive Honour Titles.
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The Army is the guardian of the National Flag and as such, unlike the Royal Australian Air Force, does not have a flag or Colours. The Army, instead, has a banner, known as the Army Banner. To commemorate the centenary of the Army, the Governor General Sir William Deane, presented the Army with a new Banner at a parade in front of the Australian War Memorial on 10 March 2001. The banner was presented to the Regimental Sergeant Major of the Army (RSM-A), Warrant Officer Peter Rosemond.
The Army Banner bears the Australian Coat of Arms on the obverse, with the dates "1901–2001" in gold in the upper hoist. The reverse bears the Rising Sun badge of the Australian Army, flanked by seven campaign honours on small gold-edged scrolls: South Africa, World War I, World War II, Korea, Malaya-Borneo, South Vietnam, and Peacekeeping. The banner is trimmed with gold fringe, has gold and crimson cords and tassels, and is mounted on a pike with the usual British royal crest finial.
Personnel.
Strength.
As of June 2022 the Army had 28,387 permanent (regular) members and 20,742 reservists (part-time); all of whom are volunteers. As of June 2022, women made up 15.11% of the Army, with a target set for 18% 2025. Gender based restrictions for frontline combat or training roles were lifted in January 2013. Also as of June 2022, Indigenous Australians made up 3.7% of the Army.
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Rank and insignia.
The ranks of the Australian Army are based on the ranks of the British Army, and carry mostly the same actual insignia. For officers the ranks are identical except for the shoulder title "Australia". The Non-Commissioned Officer insignia are the same up until Warrant Officer, where they are stylised for Australia (for example, using the Australian, rather than the British coat of arms).
The ranks of the Australian Army are as follows:
Uniforms and Dress.
The Australian Army uniforms are detailed in the Australian Army Dress Manual and are grouped into nine general categories, each ranging from ceremonial dress, to general duties dress, to battle dress (in addition there are a number of special categories specific to uniforms that are only worn when posted to specific locations, like ADFA or RMC-D), these are further divided into individual 'Dress Orders' denoted by alphabetical suffixes that detail the specific items of clothing, embellishment and accoutrements, i.e. "Dress Order No. 1A - 'Ceremonial Parade Service Dress'," Dress Order No. 2G - 'General Duty Office Dress', Dress Order No 4C 'Combat Dress (AMCU)' . The slouch hat or beret are the regular service and general duties hat, while the field hat, or combat helmet is for use in the field while training, on exercise, or on operations. In December 2013 the Chief of Army reversed a previous ban on berets as general duties headwear for all personnel except Special Forces personnel (SASR, CDO Regiments). Australian Multi-cam Camouflage Uniform is the camouflage pattern for Australian Army camouflage uniforms, and was introduced in 2014, replacing the Disruptive Pattern Camouflage Uniform (DPCU), and Disruptive Pattern Desert Uniform (DPDU) for all Australian Army orders of dress.
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Bases.
The Army's operational headquarters, Forces Command, is located at Victoria Barracks in Sydney. The Australian Army's three regular brigades are based at Robertson Barracks near Darwin, Lavarack Barracks in Townsville, and Gallipoli Barracks in Brisbane. The Deployable Joint Force Headquarters is also located at Gallipoli Barracks.
Other important Army bases include the Army Aviation Centre near Oakey, Queensland, Holsworthy Barracks near Sydney, Lone Pine Barracks in Singleton, New South Wales and Woodside Barracks near Adelaide, South Australia. The SASR is based at Campbell Barracks Swanbourne, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia.
Puckapunyal, north of Melbourne, houses the Australian Army's Combined Arms Training Centre, Land Warfare Development Centre, and three of the five principal Combat Arms schools. Further barracks include Steele Barracks in Sydney, Keswick Barracks in Adelaide, and Irwin Barracks at Karrakatta in Perth. Dozens of Australian Army Reserve depots are located across Australia.
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Australian Army Journal.
Since June 1948, the Australian Army has published its own journal titled the "Australian Army Journal". The journal's first editor was Colonel Eustace Keogh, and initially, it was intended to assume the role that the "Army Training Memoranda" had filled during the Second World War, although its focus, purpose, and format has shifted over time. Covering a broad range of topics including essays, book reviews and editorials, with submissions from serving members as well as professional authors, the journal's stated goal is to provide "...the primary forum for Army's professional discourse... [and]... debate within the Australian Army... [and improve the]... intellectual rigor of that debate by adhering to a strict and demanding standard of quality". In 1976, the journal was placed on hiatus as the "Defence Force Journal" began publication; however, publishing of the "Australian Army Journal" began again in 1999 and since then the journal has been published largely on a quarterly basis, with only minimal interruptions.
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American Registry for Internet Numbers
The American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN) is the regional Internet registry for the United States, Canada, and many Caribbean and North Atlantic islands. ARIN manages the distribution of Internet number resources, including IPv4 and IPv6 address space and AS numbers. ARIN opened for business on December 22, 1997 after incorporating on April 18, 1997. ARIN is a nonprofit corporation with headquarters in Chantilly, Virginia, United States.
ARIN is one of five regional Internet registries in the world. Like the other regional Internet registries, ARIN:
Services.
ARIN provides services related to the technical coordination and management of Internet number resources. The nature of these services is described in ARIN's mission statement:
These services are grouped in three areas: Registration, Organization, and Policy Development.
Registration services.
Registration services pertain to the technical coordination and inventory management of Internet number resources. Services include:
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For information on requesting Internet number resources from ARIN, see https://www.arin.net/resources/index.html. This section includes the request templates, specific distribution policies, and guidelines for requesting and managing Internet number resources.
Organization services.
Organization services pertain to interaction between stakeholders, ARIN members, and ARIN. Services include:
Policy development services.
Policy development services facilitate the development of policy for the technical coordination and management of Internet number resources.
All ARIN policies are set by the community. Everyone is encouraged to participate in the policy development process at public policy meetings and on the Public Policy Mailing List. The ARIN Board of Trustees ratifies policies only after:
Membership is not required to participate in ARIN's policy development process or to apply for Internet number resources.
Services include:
Organizational structure.
ARIN consists of the Internet community within its region, its members, a 7-member Board of Trustees, a 15-member Advisory Council, and a professional staff of about 50. The board of trustees and Advisory Council are elected by ARIN members for three-year terms.
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Board of trustees.
The ARIN membership elects the Board of Trustees (BoT), which has ultimate responsibility for the business affairs and financial health of ARIN, and manages ARIN's operations in a manner consistent with the guidance received from the Advisory Council and the goals set by the registry's members. The BoT is responsible for determining the disposition of all revenues received to ensure all services are provided in an equitable manner. The BoT ratifies proposals generated from the membership and submitted through the Advisory Council. Executive decisions are carried out following approval by the BoT. The BoT consists of 7 members consisting of a President and CEO, a chairman, a Treasurer, and others.
Advisory Council.
In addition to the BoT, ARIN has an advisory council that advises ARIN and the BoT on IP address allocation policy and related matters. Adhering to the procedures in the Internet Resource Policy Evaluation Process, the advisory council forwards consensus-based policy proposals to the BoT for ratification. The advisory council consists of 15 elected members consisting of a chair, Vice Chair, and others.
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History.
The organization was formed in December 1997 to "provide IP registration services as an independent, nonprofit corporation." Until this time, IP address registration (outside of RIPE and APNIC regions) was done in accordance with policies set by the IETF by Network Solutions corporation as part of the InterNIC project. The National Science Foundation approved the plan for the creation of the not-for-profit organization to "give the users of IP numbers (mostly Internet service providers, corporations and other large institutions) a voice in the policies by which they are managed and allocated within the North American region.". As part of the transition, Network Solutions corporation transitioned these tasks as well as initial staff and computer infrastructure to ARIN.
The initial Board of Trustees consisted of Scott Bradner, John Curran, Kim Hubbard, Don Telage, Randy Bush, Raymundo Vega Aguilar, and Jon Postel (IANA) as an ex-officio member.
The first president of ARIN was Kim Hubbard, from 1997 until 2000. Kim was succeeded by Raymond "Ray" Plzak until the end of 2008. Trustee John Curran was acting president until July 1, 2009, when he assumed the CEO role permanently.
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Until late 2002 it served Mexico, Central America, South America and all of the Caribbean. LACNIC now handles parts of the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America, and South America. Also, Sub-Saharan Africa was part of its region until April 2005, when AfriNIC was officially recognized by ICANN as the fifth regional Internet registry.
On 24 September 2015 ARIN has declared exhaustion of the ARIN IPv4 addresses pool.
In 2022, ARIN changed its membership structure to allow end user customers to be considered service members, and in 2024 ARIN updated its membership structure to that ASN-only customers are treated as service members as well, while allowing any of these customers to participate in ARIN governance by requesting General Membership. As a result, all organizations with Internet number resources under an ARIN agreement can participate in ARIN's governance.
Service region.
The countries in the ARIN service region are:
Former service regions.
ARIN formerly covered Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe until AfriNIC was formed.
ARIN formerly covered Argentina, Aruba, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Dutch West Indies, Ecuador, El Salvador, Falkland Islands (UK), French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, and Venezuela until LACNIC was formed.
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Asimov (disambiguation)
Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) was a writer.
Asimov may also refer to:
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Akihabara
is a neighborhood in the Chiyoda ward of Tokyo, Japan, generally considered to be the area surrounding Akihabara Station (nicknamed "Akihabara Electric Town"). This area is part of the and Kanda-Sakumachō districts of Chiyoda. There is an administrative district called Akihabara (part of Taitō ward), located north of Akihabara Electric Town surrounding Akihabara Neribei Park.
The name Akihabara is a shortening of , which comes from , named after a fire-controlling deity of a firefighting shrine built after the area was destroyed by a fire in 1869. Akihabara gained the nickname shortly after World War II for being a major shopping center for household electronic goods and the post-war black market.
Akihabara is considered by many to be the centre of Japanese "otaku" culture, and is a major shopping district for video games, anime, manga, electronics and computer-related goods. Icons from popular anime and manga are displayed prominently on the shops in the area, and numerous maid cafés and some arcades are found throughout the district.
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Geography.
The main area of Akihabara is located on a street just west of Akihabara Station. There is an administrative district called Akihabara north of Akihabara Electric Town surrounding Akihabara Neribei Park. This district is part of Taitō ward.
History.
Akihabara was once near a city gate of Edo and served as a passage between the city and northwestern Japan. This made the region a home to many craftsmen and tradesmen, as well as some low-class samurai. One of Tokyo's frequent fires destroyed the area in 1869, and the people decided to replace the buildings of the area with a shrine called Chinkasha (now known as Akiba Shrine , ), in an attempt to prevent the spread of future fires. The locals nicknamed the shrine Akiba after the deity that could control fire, and the area around it became known as Akibagahara, later Akihabara. After Akihabara Station was built in 1888, the shrine was moved to the Taitō ward, where it resides today.
Since its opening in 1890, Akihabara Station became a major freight transit point, which allowed a vegetable and fruit market to spring up. In the 1920s, the station saw a large volume of passengers after opening for public transport. After World War II, the black market thrived in the absence of a strong government. This disconnection of Akihabara from government authority allowed the district to grow as a market city. In the 1930s, this climate turned Akihabara into a market region specializing in household electronics, such as washing machines, refrigerators, televisions, and stereos, earning Akihabara the nickname "Electric Town".
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As household electronics began to lose their futuristic appeal in the 1980s, the shops of Akihabara shifted their focus to home computers, at a time when they were only used by specialists and hobbyists. This brought in a new type of consumer, computer nerds or "otaku". The market in Akihabara latched onto their new customer base that was focused on anime, manga, and video games. The connection between Akihabara and "otaku" has grown to the point that the region is a center for "otaku" culture.
"Otaku" culture.
The streets of Akihabara are covered with anime and manga icons, and cosplayers line the sidewalks handing out advertisements, especially for maid cafés. Release events, special events, and conventions are common in Akihabara. Architects design the stores of Akihabara to be opaque and closed, to reflect the desire of many "otaku" to live in their anime worlds rather than display their interests.
Akihabara's role as a free market has allowed a large amount of amateur work to find an audience. "Doujinshi" (amateur or fanmade manga) has been growing in Akihabara since the 1970s.
Transport.
Akihabara is accessible by train, bus and car.
Akihabara Station
Iwamotocho Station
Suehirocho Station
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Active Directory
Active Directory (AD) is a directory service developed by Microsoft for Windows domain networks. Windows Server operating systems include it as a set of processes and services. Originally, only centralized domain management used Active Directory. However, it ultimately became an umbrella title for various directory-based identity-related services.
A domain controller is a server running the Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) role. It authenticates and authorizes all users and computers in a Windows domain-type network, assigning and enforcing security policies for all computers and installing or updating software. For example, when a user logs into a computer which is part of a Windows domain, Active Directory checks the submitted username and password and determines whether the user is a system administrator or a non-admin user. Furthermore, it allows the management and storage of information, provides authentication and authorization mechanisms, and establishes a framework to deploy other related services: Certificate Services, Active Directory Federation Services, Lightweight Directory Services, and Rights Management Services.
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Active Directory uses Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) versions 2 and 3, Microsoft's version of Kerberos, and DNS.
Robert R. King defined it in the following way:
History.
Like many information-technology efforts, Active Directory originated out of a democratization of design using Requests for Comments (RFCs). The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) oversees the RFC process and has accepted numerous RFCs initiated by widespread participants. For example, LDAP underpins Active Directory. Also, X.500 directories and the Organizational Unit preceded the Active Directory concept that uses those methods. The LDAP concept began to emerge even before the founding of Microsoft in April 1975, with RFCs as early as 1971. RFCs contributing to LDAP include RFC 1823 (on the LDAP API, August 1995), RFC 2307, RFC 3062, and RFC 4533.
Microsoft previewed Active Directory in 1999, released it first with Windows 2000 Server edition, and revised it to extend functionality and improve administration in Windows Server 2003. Active Directory support was also added to Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows NT 4.0 via patch, with some unsupported features. Additional improvements came with subsequent versions of Windows Server. In Windows Server 2008, Microsoft added further services to Active Directory, such as Active Directory Federation Services. The part of the directory in charge of managing domains, which was a core part of the operating system, was renamed Active Directory Domain Services (ADDS) and became a server role like others. "Active Directory" became the umbrella title of a broader range of directory-based services. According to Byron Hynes, everything related to identity was brought under Active Directory's banner.
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Active Directory Services.
Active Directory Services consist of multiple directory services. The best known is Active Directory Domain Services, commonly abbreviated as AD DS or simply AD.
Domain Services.
Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) is the foundation of every Windows domain network. It stores information about domain members, including devices and users, verifies their credentials, and defines their access rights. The server running this service is called a domain controller. A domain controller is contacted when a user logs into a device, accesses another device across the network, or runs a line-of-business Metro-style app sideloaded into a machine.
Other Active Directory services (excluding LDS, as described below) and most Microsoft server technologies rely on or use Domain Services; examples include Group Policy, Encrypting File System, BitLocker, Domain Name Services, Remote Desktop Services, Exchange Server, and SharePoint Server.
The self-managed Active Directory DS must be distinct from managed Azure AD DS, a cloud product.
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Lightweight Directory Services.
Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services (AD LDS), previously called "Active Directory Application Mode" (ADAM), implements the LDAP protocol for AD DS. It runs as a service on Windows Server and offers the same functionality as AD DS, including an equal API. However, AD LDS does not require the creation of domains or domain controllers. It provides a Data Store for storing directory data and a "Directory Service" with an LDAP Directory Service Interface. Unlike AD DS, multiple AD LDS instances can operate on the same server.
Certificate Services.
Active Directory Certificate Services (AD CS) establishes an on-premises public key infrastructure. It can create, validate, revoke and perform other similar actions, public key certificates for internal uses of an organization. These certificates can be used to encrypt files (when used with Encrypting File System), emails (per S/MIME standard), and network traffic (when used by virtual private networks, Transport Layer Security protocol or IPSec protocol).
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AD CS predates Windows Server 2008, but its name was simply Certificate Services.
AD CS requires an AD DS infrastructure.
Federation Services.
Active Directory Federation Services (AD FS) is a single sign-on service. With an AD FS infrastructure in place, users may use several web-based services (e.g. internet forum, blog, online shopping, webmail) or network resources using only one set of credentials stored at a central location, as opposed to having to be granted a dedicated set of credentials for each service. AD FS uses many popular open standards to pass token credentials such as SAML, OAuth or OpenID Connect. AD FS supports encryption and signing of SAML assertions. AD FS's purpose is an extension of that of AD DS: The latter enables users to authenticate with and use the devices that are part of the same network, using one set of credentials. The former enables them to use the same set of credentials in a different network.
As the name suggests, AD FS works based on the concept of federated identity.
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AD FS requires an AD DS infrastructure, although its federation partner may not.
Rights Management Services.
Active Directory Rights Management Services (AD RMS), previously known as Rights Management Services or RMS before Windows Server 2008, is server software that allows for information rights management, included with Windows Server. It uses encryption and selective denial to restrict access to various documents, such as corporate e-mails, Microsoft Word documents, and web pages. It also limits the operations authorized users can perform on them, such as viewing, editing, copying, saving, or printing. IT administrators can create pre-set templates for end users for convenience, but end users can still define who can access the content and what actions they can take.
Logical structure.
Active Directory is a service comprising a database and executable code. It is responsible for managing requests and maintaining the database. The Directory System Agent is the executable part, a set of Windows services and processes that run on Windows 2000 and later. Accessing the objects in Active Directory databases is possible through various interfaces such as LDAP, ADSI, messaging API, and Security Accounts Manager services.
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Objects used.
Active Directory structures consist of information about objects classified into two categories: resources (such as printers) and security principals (which include user or computer accounts and groups). Each security principal is assigned a unique security identifier (SID). An object represents a single entity, such as a user, computer, printer, or group, along with its attributes. Some objects may even contain other objects within them. Each object has a unique name, and its definition is a set of characteristics and information by a schema, which determines the storage in the Active Directory.
Administrators can extend or modify the schema using the schema object when needed. However, because each schema object is integral to the definition of Active Directory objects, deactivating or changing them can fundamentally alter or disrupt a deployment. Modifying the schema affects the entire system automatically, and new objects cannot be deleted, only deactivated. Changing the schema usually requires planning.
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Forests, trees, and domains.
In an Active Directory network, the framework that holds objects has different levels: the forest, tree, and domain. Domains within a deployment contain objects stored in a single replicable database, and the DNS name structure identifies their domains, the namespace. A domain is a logical group of network objects such as computers, users, and devices that share the same Active Directory database.
On the other hand, a tree is a collection of domains and domain trees in a contiguous namespace linked in a transitive trust hierarchy. The forest is at the top of the structure, a collection of trees with a standard global catalog, directory schema, logical structure, and directory configuration. The forest is a secure boundary that limits access to users, computers, groups, and other objects.
Organizational units.
The objects held within a domain can be grouped into organizational units (OUs). OUs can provide hierarchy to a domain, ease its administration, and can resemble the organization's structure in managerial or geographical terms. OUs can contain other OUs—domains are containers in this sense. Microsoft recommends using OUs rather than domains for structure and simplifying the implementation of policies and administration. The OU is the recommended level at which to apply group policies, which are Active Directory objects formally named group policy objects (GPOs), although policies can also be applied to domains or sites (see below). The OU is the level at which administrative powers are commonly delegated, but delegation can be performed on individual objects or attributes as well.
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Organizational units do not each have a separate namespace. As a consequence, for compatibility with Legacy NetBios implementations, user accounts with an identical SamAccountName are not allowed within the same domain even if the accounts objects are in separate OUs. This is because SamAccountName, a user object attribute, must be unique within the domain. However, two users in different OUs can have the same common name (CN), the name under which they are stored in the directory itself such as "fred.staff-ou.domain" and "fred.student-ou.domain", where "staff-ou" and "student-ou" are the OUs.
In general, the reason for this lack of allowance for duplicate names through hierarchical directory placement is that Microsoft primarily relies on the principles of NetBIOS, which is a flat-namespace method of network object management that, for Microsoft software, goes all the way back to Windows NT 3.1 and MS-DOS LAN Manager. Allowing for duplication of object names in the directory, or completely removing the use of NetBIOS names, would prevent backward compatibility with legacy software and equipment. However, disallowing duplicate object names in this way is a violation of the LDAP RFCs on which Active Directory is supposedly based.
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As the number of users in a domain increases, conventions such as "first initial, middle initial, last name" (Western order) or the reverse (Eastern order) fail for common family names like "Li" (李), "Smith" or "Garcia". Workarounds include adding a digit to the end of the username. Alternatives include creating a separate ID system of unique employee/student ID numbers to use as account names in place of actual users' names and allowing users to nominate their preferred word sequence within an acceptable use policy.
Because duplicate usernames cannot exist within a domain, account name generation poses a significant challenge for large organizations that cannot be easily subdivided into separate domains, such as students in a public school system or university who must be able to use any computer across the network.
Shadow groups.
In Microsoft's Active Directory, OUs do not confer access permissions, and objects placed within OUs are not automatically assigned access privileges based on their containing OU. It represents a design limitation specific to Active Directory, and other competing directories, such as Novell NDS, can set access privileges through object placement within an OU.
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Active Directory requires a separate step for an administrator to assign an object in an OU as a group member also within that OU. Using only the OU location to determine access permissions is unreliable since the entity might not have been assigned to the group object for that OU yet.
A common workaround for an Active Directory administrator is to write a custom PowerShell or Visual Basic script to automatically create and maintain a "user group" for each OU in their Directory. The scripts run periodically to update the group to match the OU's account membership. However, they cannot instantly update the security groups anytime the directory changes, as occurs in competing directories, as security is directly implemented into the Directory. Such groups are known as "shadow groups". Once created, these shadow groups are selectable in place of the OU in the administrative tools. Microsoft's Server 2008 reference documentation mentions shadow groups but does not provide instructions on creating them. Additionally, there are no available server methods or console snap-ins for managing these groups.
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An organization must determine the structure of its information infrastructure by dividing it into one or more domains and top-level OUs. This decision is critical and can base on various models such as business units, geographical locations, IT service, object type, or a combination of these models. The immediate purpose of organizing OUs is to simplify administrative delegation and, secondarily, to apply group policies. While OUs serve as an administrative boundary, the forest itself is the only security boundary. All other domains must trust any administrator in the forest to maintain security.
Partitions.
The Active Directory database is organized in "partitions", each holding specific object types and following a particular replication pattern. Microsoft often refers to these partitions as 'naming contexts. The 'Schema' partition defines object classes and attributes within the forest. The 'Configuration' partition contains information on the physical structure and configuration of the forest (such as the site topology). Both replicate all domains in the forest. The 'Domain' partition holds all objects created in that domain and replicates only within it.
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Physical structure.
"Sites" are physical (rather than logical) groupings defined by one or more IP subnets. AD also defines connections, distinguishing low-speed (e.g., WAN, VPN) from high-speed (e.g., LAN) links. Site definitions are independent of the domain and OU structure and are shared across the forest. Sites play a crucial role in managing network traffic created by replication and directing clients to their nearest domain controllers (DCs). Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 uses the site topology for mail routing. Administrators can also define policies at the site level.
The Active Directory information is physically held on one or more peer domain controllers, replacing the NT PDC/BDC model. Each DC has a copy of the Active Directory. Member servers joined to Active Directory that are not domain controllers are called Member Servers. In the domain partition, a group of objects acts as copies of domain controllers set up as global catalogs. These global catalog servers offer a comprehensive list of all objects in the forest.
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Global Catalog servers replicate all objects from all domains to themselves, providing an international listing of entities in the forest. However, to minimize replication traffic and keep the GC's database small, only selected attributes of each object are replicated, called the "partial attribute set" (PAS). The PAS can be modified by modifying the schema and marking features for replication to the GC. Earlier versions of Windows used NetBIOS to communicate. Active Directory is fully integrated with DNS and requires TCP/IP—DNS. To fully operate, the DNS server must support SRV resource records, also known as service records.
Replication.
Active Directory uses multi-master replication to synchronize changes, meaning replicas pull changes from the server where the change occurred rather than being pushed to them. The Knowledge Consistency Checker (KCC) uses defined sites to manage traffic and create a replication topology of site links. Intra-site replication occurs frequently and automatically due to change notifications, which prompt peers to begin a pull replication cycle. Replication intervals between different sites are usually less consistent and don't usually use change notifications. However, it's possible to set it up to be the same as replication between locations on the same network if needed.
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Each DS3, T1, and ISDN link can have a cost, and the KCC alters the site link topology accordingly. Replication may occur transitively through several site links on same-protocol "site link bridges" if the price is low. However, KCC automatically costs a direct site-to-site link lower than transitive connections. A bridgehead server in each zone can send updates to other DCs in the exact location to replicate changes between sites. To configure replication for Active Directory zones, activate DNS in the domain based on the site.
To replicate Active Directory, Remote Procedure Calls (RPC) over IP (RPC/IP) are used. SMTP is used to replicate between sites but only for modifications in the Schema, Configuration, or Partial Attribute Set (Global Catalog) GCs. It's not suitable for reproducing the default Domain partition.
Implementation.
Generally, a network utilizing Active Directory has more than one licensed Windows server computer. Backup and restore of Active Directory are possible for a network with a single domain controller. However, Microsoft recommends more than one domain controller to provide automatic failover protection of the directory. Domain controllers are ideally single-purpose for directory operations only and should not run any other software or role.
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Since certain Microsoft products, like SQL Server and Exchange, can interfere with the operation of a domain controller, isolation of these products on additional Windows servers is advised. Combining them can complicate the configuration and troubleshooting of the domain controller or the other installed software more complex. If planning to implement Active Directory, a business should purchase multiple Windows server licenses to have at least two separate domain controllers. Administrators should consider additional domain controllers for performance or redundancy and individual servers for tasks like file storage, Exchange, and SQL Server since this will guarantee that all server roles are adequately supported.
One way to lower the physical hardware costs is by using virtualization. However, for proper failover protection, Microsoft recommends not running multiple virtualized domain controllers on the same physical hardware.
Database.
The Active-Directory database, the "directory store", in Windows 2000 Server uses the JET Blue-based Extensible Storage Engine (ESE98). Each domain controller's database is limited to 16 terabytes and 2 billion objects (but only 1 billion security principals). Microsoft has created NTDS databases with more than 2 billion objects. NT4's Security Account Manager could support up to 40,000 objects. It has two main tables: the "data table" and the "link table". Windows Server 2003 added a third main table for security descriptor single instancing.
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Programs may access the features of Active Directory via the COM interfaces provided by "Active Directory Service Interfaces".
Trusting.
To allow users in one domain to access resources in another, Active Directory uses trusts.
Trusts inside a forest are automatically created when domains are created. The forest sets the default boundaries of trust, and implicit, transitive trust is automatic for all domains within a forest.
Management tools.
Microsoft Active Directory management tools include:
These management tools may not provide enough functionality for efficient workflow in large environments. Some third-party tools extend the administration and management capabilities. They provide essential features for a more convenient administration process, such as automation, reports, integration with other services, etc.
Unix integration.
Varying levels of interoperability with Active Directory can be achieved on most Unix-like operating systems (including Unix, Linux, Mac OS X or Java and Unix-based programs) through standards-compliant LDAP clients, but these systems usually do not interpret many attributes associated with Windows components, such as Group Policy and support for one-way trusts.
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Third parties offer Active Directory integration for Unix-like platforms, including:
The schema additions shipped with Windows Server 2003 R2 include attributes that map closely enough to RFC 2307 to be generally usable. The reference implementation of RFC 2307, nss_ldap and pam_ldap provided by PADL.com, support these attributes directly. The default schema for group membership complies with RFC 2307bis (proposed). Windows Server 2003 R2 includes a Microsoft Management Console snap-in that creates and edits the attributes.
An alternative option is to use another directory service as non-Windows clients authenticate to this while Windows Clients authenticate to Active Directory. Non-Windows clients include 389 Directory Server (formerly Fedora Directory Server, FDS), ViewDS v7.2 XML Enabled Directory, and Sun Microsystems Sun Java System Directory Server. The latter two are both able to perform two-way synchronization with Active Directory and thus provide a "deflected" integration.
Another option is to use OpenLDAP with its "translucent" overlay, which can extend entries in any remote LDAP server with additional attributes stored in a local database. Clients pointed at the local database see entries containing both the remote and local attributes, while the remote database remains completely untouched.
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Administration (querying, modifying, and monitoring) of Active Directory can be achieved via many scripting languages, including PowerShell, VBScript, JScript/JavaScript, Perl, Python, and Ruby. Free and non-free Active Directory administration tools can help to simplify and possibly automate Active Directory management tasks.
Since October 2017 Amazon AWS offers integration with Microsoft Active Directory.
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Arian (disambiguation)
Arianism is a nontrinitarian Christological doctrine.
Arian may also refer to:
People.
Surname.
Arian is a surname that originated in Ancient Persia
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Aldona of Lithuania
Aldona (baptized "Ona" or "Anna"; her pagan name, Aldona, is known only from the writings of Maciej Stryjkowski; – 26 May 1339) was Queen consort of Poland (1333–1339), and a princess of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. She was the daughter of Gediminas, Grand Duke of Lithuania.
Biography.
Aldona married Casimir III of Poland, when he was 15 or 16 years old. The bride was probably of about the same age. The marriage took place on 30 April or 16 October 1325 and was a purely political maneuver to strengthen the first Polish–Lithuanian coalition against the Teutonic Knights. Casimir was seeking allies in the dispute over Pomerania with the Order. Gediminas had just undertaken an unsuccessful attempt to Christianize Lithuania. This coalition was a prelude to the Union of Krewo in 1385, and the Union of Lublin in 1569, which resulted in the creation of a new state, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The details of the agreement are not known; however, it is known that Gediminas released all Polish captives, some 25,000 people, who returned to Poland. The importance of the marriage was attested by the fact that Władysław abandoned his earlier plans to marry his son to Jutta of Bohemia. The alliance was put into effect when joint Polish–Lithuanian forces organized an attack against the Margraviate of Brandenburg in 1326. However, the coalition was not strong and collapsed c. 1330. Yet, there is no evidence of fighting between Poland and Lithuania while Aldona was alive. Aldona died suddenly at the end of May 1339, and was buried in Kraków.
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Aldona was remembered for her piety and devotion to music. She was accompanied by court musicians wherever she went. It was even suggested by Jan Długosz that the cymbals which were played in procession before her represented a pagan Lithuanian tradition. Her husband Casimir is known for his romantic affairs: after Aldona's death he married three more times.
Issue.
Aldona had two daughters:
In popular culture.
Film.
Queen Aldona Anna is one of the main characters in the first season of Polish historical TV drama series "Korona Królów" ("The Crown of the Kings"). She is played by Marta Bryła.
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Aron Nimzowitsch
Aron Nimzowitsch (; , "Aron Isayevich Nimtsovich"; 7 November 1886 – 16 March 1935) was a Latvian-born Danish chess player and writer. In the late 1920s, Nimzowitsch was one of the best chess players in the world. He was the foremost figure amongst the hypermoderns and wrote a very influential book on chess theory: "My System" (1925–1927). Nimzowitsch's seminal work "Chess Praxis", originally published in German in 1929, was purchased by a pre-teen and future World Champion Tigran Petrosian and was to have a great influence on his development as a chess player.
Life.
Born in Riga, then part of the Russian Empire, the Jewish Yiddish-speaking Nimzowitsch came from a wealthy family, where he learned chess from his father Shaya Abramovich Nimzowitsch (1860, Pinsk – 1918), who was a timber merchant. By 1897, the family lived in Dvinsk. Mother's name: Esphir Nohumovna Nimzowitsch (born Rabinovich, 1865, Polotsk – 1937), sister – Tsilya-Kreyna Pevzner, brothers Yakov, Osey and Benno. In 1904, he travelled to Berlin to study philosophy, but set aside his studies soon and began a career as a professional chess player that same year. He won his first international tournament at Munich 1906. Then, he tied for first with Alexander Alekhine at Saint Petersburg 1913/14 (the eighth All-Russian Masters' Tournament).
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During the 1917 Russian Revolution, Nimzowitsch was in the Baltic war zone. He escaped being drafted into one of the armies by feigning madness, insisting that a fly was on his head. He then escaped to Berlin, and gave his first name as Arnold, possibly to avoid anti-Semitic persecution.
Nimzowitsch eventually moved to Copenhagen in 1922, where he lived for the rest of his life in one small rented room. In Copenhagen, he won the Nordic Championship twice, in 1924 and in 1934. He obtained Danish citizenship and lived in Denmark until his death in 1935.
Chess career.
The height of Nimzowitsch's career was the late 1920s and early 1930s. Chessmetrics places him as the third best player in the world from 1927 to 1931, behind Alexander Alekhine and José Capablanca. His most notable successes were first-place finishes at Copenhagen 1923, Marienbad 1925, Dresden 1926, Hanover 1926, the Carlsbad 1929 chess tournament, and second place behind Alekhine at the San Remo 1930 chess tournament. Nimzowitsch never developed a knack for match play, though; his best match success was a draw with Alekhine, but the match consisted of only two games and took place in 1914, thirteen years before Alekhine became world champion.
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Nimzowitsch never beat Capablanca (+0−5=6), but fared better against Alekhine (+3−9=9). He even beat Alekhine with the black pieces, in their short 1914 match at St. Petersburg. One of Nimzowitsch's most famous games is his celebrated immortal zugzwang game against Sämisch at Copenhagen 1923. Another game on this theme is his win over Paul Johner at Dresden 1926. When in form, Nimzowitsch was very dangerous with the black pieces, scoring many fine wins over top players.
Legacy.
Nimzowitsch is considered one of the most important players and writers in chess history. His works influenced numerous other players, including Savielly Tartakower, Milan Vidmar, Richard Réti, Akiba Rubinstein, Mikhail Botvinnik, Bent Larsen, Viktor Korchnoi and Tigran Petrosian, and his influence is still felt today.
He wrote three books on chess strategy: "Mein System (My System)", 1925; "Die Praxis meines Systems (The Practice of My System)", 1929, commonly known as "Chess Praxis"; and "Die Blockade" ("The Blockade"), 1925, although much in this book is generally held to be a rehash of material already presented in "Mein System". "Mein System" is considered to be one of the most influential chess books of all time. It sets out Nimzowitsch's most important ideas, while his second most influential work, "Chess Praxis", elaborates upon these ideas, adds a few new ones, and has immense value as a stimulating collection of Nimzowitsch's own games accompanied by his idiosyncratic, hyperbolic commentary which is often as entertaining as instructive.
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Nimzowitsch's chess theories, when first propounded, flew in the face of widely held orthodoxies enunciated by the dominant theorist of the era, Siegbert Tarrasch, and his disciples. Tarrasch's rigid generalizations drew on the earlier work of Wilhelm Steinitz, and were upheld by Tarrasch's sharp tongue when dismissing the opinions of doubters. While the greatest players of the time, among them Alekhine, Emanuel Lasker and Capablanca, clearly did not allow their play to be hobbled by blind adherence to general concepts that the center had to be controlled by pawns, that development had to happen in support of this control, that rooks always belong on open files, that wing openings were unsound—core ideas of Tarrasch's chess philosophy as popularly understood—beginners were taught to think of these generalizations as unalterable principles.
Nimzowitsch supplemented many of the earlier simplistic assumptions about chess strategy by enunciating in his turn a further number of general concepts of defensive play aimed at achieving one's own goals by preventing realization of the opponent's plans. Notable in his "system" were concepts such as overprotection of pieces and pawns under attack, control of the center by pieces instead of pawns, blockading of opposing pieces (notably the passed pawns) and prophylaxis. His aforementioned game versus Paul Johner in 1926 (listed in the notable games below) is a great example of Nimzowitsch's concept of 'first restrain, then blockade and finally destroy'. He manoeuvres the black queen from its starting point to h7 to form a part of king-side blockade along with the knight on f6 and h-pawn to stop any attacking threats from White. He was also a leading exponent of the fianchetto development of bishops. Perhaps most importantly, he formulated the terminology still in use for various complex chess strategies. Others had used these ideas in practice, but he was the first to present them systematically as a lexicon of themes accompanied by extensive taxonomical observations.
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Raymond Keene writes that Nimzowitsch "was one of the world's leading grandmasters for a period extending over a quarter of a century, and for some of that time he was the obvious challenger for the world championship. ... [He was also] a great and profound chess thinker second only to Steinitz, and his works – "Die Blockade", "My System" and "Chess Praxis" – established his reputation as one of the father figures of modern chess." GM Robert Byrne called him "perhaps the most brilliant theoretician and teacher in the history of the game." GM Jan Hein Donner called Nimzowitsch "a man who was too much of an artist to be able to prove he was right and who was regarded as something of a madman in his time. He would be understood only long after his death."
Many chess openings and variations are named after Nimzowitsch, the most famous being the Nimzo-Indian Defence (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4) and the less often played Nimzowitsch Defence (1.e4 Nc6). Nimzowitsch biographer GM Raymond Keene and others have referred to 1.Nf3 followed by 2.b3 as the Nimzowitsch–Larsen Attack. Keene wrote a book about the opening with that title. These openings all exemplify Nimzowitsch's ideas about controlling the center with pieces instead of pawns. He was also vital in the development of two important systems in the French Defence, the (in some places called the Nimzowitsch Variation; its moves are 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4) and the (1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5). He also pioneered two provocative variations of the Sicilian Defence: the , 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nf6, which invites 3.e5 Nd5 (similar to Alekhine's Defence) and 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 d5?! (the latter regarded as dubious today). International Master John L. Watson has dubbed the line 1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e6 3.Nf3 Bb4 the "Nimzo-English", employing this designation in Chapter 11 of his book "Mastering the Chess Openings, Volume 3".
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Personality.
There are many entertaining anecdotes regarding Nimzowitsch—some less savory than others. An article by Hans Kmoch and Fred Reinfeld entitled "Unconventional Surrender" on page 55 of the February 1950 "Chess Review" tells of the "... example of Nimzowitsch, who ... once missed first prize in a tournament in Berlin by losing to Sämisch, and when it became clear he was going to lose the game, Nimzowitsch stood up on the table and shouted, 'Gegen diesen Idioten muss ich verlieren!' ('I must lose to this idiot!')".
Nimzowitsch was annoyed by his opponents' smoking. A popular, but probably apocryphal, story is that once when an opponent laid an unlit cigar on the table, he complained to the tournament arbiters, "He is threatening to smoke, and as an old player you must know that the threat is stronger than the execution."
Nimzowitsch had lengthy and somewhat bitter dogmatic conflicts with Tarrasch over whose ideas constituted 'proper' chess.
Nimzowitsch's vanity and faith in his ideas of overprotection provoked Hans Kmoch to write a parody about him in February 1928 in the "Wiener Schachzeitung". This consisted of a mock game against the fictional player "Systemsson", supposedly played and annotated by Nimzowitsch himself. The annotations gleefully exaggerate the idea of overprotection, as well as asserting the true genius of the wondrous idea. Kmoch was in fact a great admirer of Nimzowitsch, and Nimzowitsch was amused at the effort.
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Kmoch also wrote an article about his nine years with Nimzowitsch: Nimzovich suffered from the delusion that he was unappreciated and that the reason was malice. All it took to make him blossom, as I later learned, was a little praise. His paranoia was most evident when he dined in company. He always thought he was served much smaller portions than everyone else. He didn't care about the actual amount but only about the imagined affront. I once suggested that he and I order what the other actually wanted and, when the food was served, exchange plates. After we had done so, he shook his head in disbelief, still thinking that he had received the smaller portion.
Nimzowitsch's colleague Tartakower observed of him, "He pretends to be crazy in order to drive us all crazy."
Death.
Although he had long suffered from heart trouble, his early death was unexpected; taken ill suddenly at the end of 1934, he lay bedridden for three months before dying of pneumonia. He is buried in Bispebjerg Cemetery in Copenhagen.
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Aragonese language
Aragonese ( ; in Aragonese) is a Romance language spoken in several dialects by about 12,000 people as of 2011, in the Pyrenees valleys of Aragon, Spain, primarily in the comarcas of Somontano de Barbastro, Jacetania, Alto Gállego, Sobrarbe, and Ribagorza/Ribagorça. It is the only modern language which survived from medieval Navarro-Aragonese in a form distinct from Spanish.
Historically, people referred to the language as ('talk' or 'speech'). Native Aragonese people usually refer to it by the names of its local dialects such as (from Valle de Hecho) or (from the Benasque Valley).
History.
Aragonese, which developed in portions of the Ebro basin, can be traced back to the High Middle Ages. It spread throughout the Pyrenees to areas where languages similar to modern Basque might have been previously spoken. The Kingdom of Aragon (formed by the counties of Aragon, Sobrarbe and Ribagorza) expanded southward from the mountains, pushing the Moors farther south in the "Reconquista" and spreading the Aragonese language.
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The union of the Catalan counties and the Kingdom of Aragon which formed the 12th-century Crown of Aragon did not merge the languages of the two territories; Catalan continued to be spoken in the east and Navarro-Aragonese in the west, with the boundaries blurred by dialectal continuity. The Aragonese "Reconquista" in the south ended with the cession of Murcia by James I of Aragon to the Kingdom of Castile as dowry for an Aragonese princess.
The best-known proponent of the Aragonese language was Johan Ferrandez d'Heredia, the Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller in Rhodes at the end of the 14th century. He wrote an extensive catalog of works in Aragonese and translated several works from Greek into Aragonese (the first in medieval Europe).
The spread of Castilian (Spanish), the Castilian origin of the Trastámara dynasty, and the similarity between Castilian (Spanish) and Aragonese facilitated the recession of the latter. A turning point was the 15th-century coronation of the Castilian Ferdinand I of Aragon, also known as Ferdinand of Antequera.
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In the early 18th century, after the defeat of the allies of Aragon in the War of the Spanish Succession, Philip V ordered the prohibition of the Aragonese language in schools and the establishment of Castilian (Spanish) as the only official language in Aragon. This was ordered in the Aragonese Nueva Planta decrees of 1707.
In recent times, Aragonese was mostly regarded as a group of rural dialects of Spanish. Compulsory education undermined its already weak position; for example, pupils were punished for using it. However, the 1978 Spanish transition to democracy heralded literary works and studies of the language.
Modern Aragonese.
Aragonese is the native language of the Aragonese mountain ranges of the Pyrenees, in the "comarcas" of Somontano, Jacetania, Sobrarbe, and Ribagorza. Cities and towns in which Aragonese is spoken are Huesca, Graus, Monzón, Barbastro, Bielsa, Chistén, Fonz, Echo, Estadilla, Benasque, Campo, Sabiñánigo, Jaca, Plan, Ansó, Ayerbe, Broto, and El Grado.
It is spoken as a second language by inhabitants of Zaragoza, Huesca, Ejea de los Caballeros, or Teruel. According to recent polls, there are about 25,500 speakers (2011) including speakers living outside the native area. In 2017, the Dirección General de Política Lingüística de Aragón estimated there were 10,000 to 12,000 active speakers of Aragonese.
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In 2009, the Languages Act of Aragon (Law 10/2009) recognized the "native language, original and historic" of Aragon. The language received several linguistic rights, including its use in public administration. Some of the legislation was repealed by a new law in 2013 (Law 3/2013). [See Languages Acts of Aragon for more information on the subject]
Phonology.
Traits.
Aragonese has many historical traits in common with Catalan. Some are conservative features that are also shared with the Asturleonese languages and Galician–Portuguese, where Spanish innovated in ways that did not spread to nearby languages.
Orthography.
Before 2023, Aragonese had three orthographic standards:
During the 16th century, Aragonese Moriscos wrote "aljamiado" texts (Romance texts in Arabic script), possibly because of their inability to write in Arabic. The language in these texts has a mixture of Aragonese and Castilian traits, and they are among the last known written examples of the Aragonese formerly spoken in central and southern Aragon.
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In 2023, a new orthographic standard has been published by the "Academia Aragonesa de la Lengua". This version is close to the Academia de l'Aragonés orthography, but with the following differences: is always spelled ⟨cu⟩, e. g. "cuan, cuestión" (exception is made for some loanwords: "quad, quadrívium, quark, quásar, quáter, quórum"); is spelled ⟨ny⟩ or ⟨ñ⟩ by personal preference; final ⟨z⟩ is not written as ⟨tz⟩.
The marginal phoneme (only in loanwords, e. g. "jabugo") is spelled j in the Uesca, Academia de l'Aragonés and Academia Aragonesa de la Lengua standards (not mentioned in the SLA standard). Additionally, the Academia de l'Aragonés and Academia Aragonesa de la Lengua orthographies allow the letter j in some loanwords internationally known with it (e. g. "jazz, jacuzzi", which normally have in the Aragonese pronunciation) and also mention the letters k and w, also used only in loanwords (w may represent or ).
Grammar.
Aragonese grammar has a lot in common with Occitan and Catalan, but also Spanish.
Articles.
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The definite article in Aragonese has undergone dialect-related changes, with definite articles in Old Aragonese similar to their present Spanish equivalents. There are two main forms:
These forms are used in the eastern and some central dialects.
These forms are used in the western and some central dialects.
Lexicology.
Neighboring Romance languages have influenced Aragonese. Catalan and Occitan influenced Aragonese for many years. Since the 15th century, Spanish has most influenced Aragonese; it was adopted throughout Aragon as the first language, limiting Aragonese to the northern region surrounding the Pyrenees. French has also influenced Aragonese; Italian loanwords have entered through other languages (such as Catalan), and Portuguese words have entered through Spanish. Germanic words came with the conquest of the region by Germanic peoples during the fifth century, and English has introduced a number of new words into the language.
Gender.
Words that were part of the Latin second declension—as well as words that joined it later on—are usually masculine:
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Words that were part of the Latin first declension are usually feminine:
Some Latin neuter plural nouns joined the first declension as singular feminine nouns:
Words ending in "-or" are feminine:
The names of fruit trees usually end in "-era" (a suffix derived from Latin "-aria") and are usually feminine:
The genders of river names vary:
Pronouns.
Just like most other Occitano-Romance languages, Aragonese has partitive and locative clitic pronouns derived from the Latin and : "/" and "/""/"; unlike Ibero-Romance.
Such pronouns are present in most major Romance languages (Catalan and , Occitan and , French and , and Italian and "/").
"/" is used for:
"/""/" is used for:
Literature.
Aragonese was not written until the 12th and 13th centuries; the history "", , , and date from this period; an Aragonese version of the "Chronicle of the Morea" also exists, differing also in its content and written in the late 14th century called .
Early modern period.
Since 1500, Spanish has been the cultural language of Aragon; many Aragonese wrote in Spanish, and during the 17th century the Argensola brothers went to Castile to teach Spanish.
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Aragonese became a popular village language. During the 17th century, popular literature in the language began to appear. In a 1650 Huesca literary contest, Aragonese poems were submitted by Matías Pradas, Isabel de Rodas and "Fileno, montañés".
Contemporary literature.
The 19th and 20th centuries have seen a renaissance of Aragonese literature in several dialects. In 1844, Braulio Foz's novel was published in the Almudévar (southern) dialect. The 20th century featured Domingo Miral's costumbrist comedies and Veremundo Méndez Coarasa's poetry, both in Hecho (western) Aragonese; Cleto Torrodellas' poetry and Tonón de Baldomera's popular writings in the Graus (eastern) dialect and Arnal Cavero's costumbrist stories and Juana Coscujuela's novel , also in the southern dialect.
Aragonese in modern education.
The 1997 Aragonese law of languages stipulated that Aragonese (and Catalan) speakers had a right to the teaching of and in their own language. Following this, Aragonese lessons started in schools in the 1997–1998 academic year. It was originally taught as an extra-curricular, non-evaluable voluntary subject in four schools. However, whilst legally schools can choose to use Aragonese as the language of instruction, as of the 2013–2014 academic year, there are no recorded instances of this option being taken in primary or secondary education. In fact, the only current scenario in which Aragonese is used as the language of instruction is in the Aragonese philology university course, which is optional, taught over the summer and in which only some of the lectures are in Aragonese.
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Pre-school education.
In pre-school education, students whose parents wish them to be taught Aragonese receive between thirty minutes to one hour of Aragonese lessons a week. In the 2014–2015 academic year there were 262 students recorded in pre-school Aragonese lessons.
Primary school education.
The subject of Aragonese now has a fully developed curriculum in primary education in Aragon. Despite this, in the 2014–2015 academic year there were only seven Aragonese teachers in the region across both pre-primary and primary education and none hold permanent positions, whilst the number of primary education students receiving Aragonese lessons was 320.
As of 2017 there were 1068 reported Aragonese language students and 12 Aragonese language instructors in Aragon.
Secondary school education.
There is no officially approved program or teaching materials for the Aragonese language at the secondary level, and though two non-official textbooks are available ( (Benítez, 2007) and (Campos, 2014)) many instructors create their own learning materials. Further, most schools with Aragonese programs that have the possibility of being offered as an examinative subject have elected not to do so.
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As of 2007 it is possible to use Aragonese as a language of instruction for multiple courses; however, no program is yet to instruct any curricular or examinative courses in Aragonese.
As of the 2014–2015 academic year there were 14 Aragonese language students at the secondary level.
Higher education.
Aragonese is not currently a possible field of study for a bachelor's or postgraduate degree in any official capacity, nor is Aragonese used as a medium of instruction. A bachelor's or master's degree may be obtained in Magisterio (teaching) at the University of Zaragoza; however, no specialization in Aragonese language is currently available. As such those who wish to teach Aragonese at the pre-school, primary, or secondary level must already be competent in the language by being a native speaker or by other means. Further, prospective instructors must pass an ad hoc exam curated by the individual schools at which they wish to teach in order to prove their competence, as there are no recognized standard competency exams for the Aragonese language.
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Since the 1994–1995 academic year, Aragonese has been an elective subject within the bachelor's degree for primary school education at the University of Zaragoza's Huesca campus.
The University of Zaragoza's Huesca campus also offers a "Diploma de Especialización" (These are studies that require a previous university degree and have a duration of between 30 and 59 ECTS credits.) in Aragonese Philology with 37 ECTS credits.
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Advanced Mobile Phone System
Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS) was an analog mobile phone system standard originally developed by Bell Labs and later modified in a cooperative effort between Bell Labs and Motorola. It was officially introduced in the Americas on October 13, 1983, and was deployed in many other countries too, including Israel in 1986, Australia in 1987, Singapore in 1988, and Pakistan in 1990. It was the primary analog mobile phone system in North America (and other locales) through the 1980s and into the 2000s. As of February 18, 2008, carriers in the United States were no longer required to support AMPS and companies such as AT&T and Verizon Communications have discontinued this service permanently. AMPS was discontinued in Australia in September 2000, in India by October 2004, in Israel by January 2010, and Brazil by 2010.
History.
The first cellular network efforts began at Bell Labs and with research conducted at Motorola.
In 1960, John F. Mitchell
became Motorola's chief engineer for its mobile-communication products, and oversaw the development and marketing of the first pager to use transistors.
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Motorola had long produced mobile telephones for automobiles, but these large and heavy models consumed too much power to allow their use without the automobile's engine running. Mitchell's team, which included Dr. Martin Cooper, developed portable cellular telephony. Cooper and Mitchell were among the Motorola employees granted a patent for this work in 1973. The first call on the prototype connected, reportedly, to a wrong number.
While Motorola was developing a cellular phone, from 1968 to 1983 Bell Labs worked out a system called Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS), which became the first cellular network standard in the United States. The Bell system deployed ASTM in Chicago, Illinois, first as an equipment test serving approximately 100 units in 1978, and subsequently as a service test planned for 2,000 billed units. Motorola and others designed and built the cellular phones for this and other cellular systems. Louis M. Weinberg, a marketing director at AT&T, was named the first president of the AMPS corporation. He served in this position during the startup of the AMPS subsidiary of AT&T.
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Martin Cooper, a former general manager for the systems division at Motorola, led a team that produced the first cellular handset in 1973 and made the first phone call from it. In 1983 Motorola introduced the DynaTAC 8000x, the first commercially available cellular phone small enough to be easily carried. He later introduced the so-called Bag Phone.
In 1992, the first smartphone, called IBM Simon, used AMPS. Frank Canova led its design at IBM and it was demonstrated that year at the COMDEX computer-industry trade-show. A refined version of the product was marketed to consumers in 1994 by BellSouth under the name Simon Personal Communicator. The Simon was the first device that can be properly referred to as a "smartphone", even though that term was not yet coined.
Technology.
AMPS is a first-generation cellular technology that uses separate frequencies, or "channels", for each conversation. It therefore required considerable bandwidth for a large number of users. In general terms, AMPS was very similar to the older "0G" Improved Mobile Telephone Service it replaced, but used considerably more computing power to select frequencies, hand off conversations to land lines, and handle billing and call setup.
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