title: Sacramental wine

text: In Eastern Christianity, sacramental wine is usually red, to better symbolize its change from wine into the blood of Jesus Christ, as is believed to happen at the Eucharist. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, for example, sacramental wine used in the Divine Liturgy must usually be fermented pure sweet red grape wine. The Greek Orthodox Church favours the use of Mavrodaphne or Nama, while the Russian Orthodox Church favours Kagor. Wines with additives, such as retsina and high fructose corn syrup, are not allowed. In Western Christianity, white wine is also sometimes used for the practical purpose of avoiding stains on the altar cloths.


title: Sacramental wine

text: In most liturgical rites, such as the Roman, Byzantine, Antiochene, and Alexandrian, a small quantity of water is added to the wine when the chalice is prepared, while in the Armenian Rite the wine is consecrated without the previous mingling of water. In the Byzantine Rite some hot water, referred to as the "zeon" (Greek: "boiling"), is added to the consecrated wine shortly before the Communion. Originally common practice in the ancient Mediterranean, this ritual has been accorded multiple symbolic meanings, such as the mystery of Christ's human and divine natures, his unity with the Church, and the flow of blood and water from Christ's side at his death.


title: Sacramental wine

text: Over the centuries, various criteria were laid down for wine to be appropriate for use in the Eucharist. Editions of the Tridentine Roman Missal had a section "De Defectibus" on defects which could occur in the celebration of Mass, including defects of the wine. Canon 924 of the present Code of Canon Law (1983) states:


title: Sacramental wine

text: §1 The most holy Sacrifice of the Eucharist must be celebrated in bread, and in wine to which a small quantity of water is to be added.


title: Sacramental wine

text: This means that the wine must be naturally fermented with nothing added to it, and the wine itself cannot have soured or become vinegar, nor can it have anything artificial added to it (preservatives, flavours). While the Catholic Church generally adheres to the rule that all wine for sacramental use must be pure grape wine and alcoholic it is accepted that there are some circumstances, where it may be necessary to use a wine that is only minimally fermented, called "mustum".


title: Sacramental wine

text: One exception was historically made regarding wine-derived additives to wine. An 1896 directive of the Congregation of the Inquisition stated:


title: Sacramental wine

text: To conserve weak and feeble wines, and in order to keep them from souring or spoiling during transportation, a small quantity of spirits of wine (grape brandy or alcohol) may be added, provided the following conditions are observed:


title: Sacramental wine

text: Methodist denominations use non-alcoholic wine (i.e. grape juice) in the sacrament. The 1916 rubric in the "Discipline" of the Methodist Episcopal Church, which has influenced descendant Methodist connexions, states: "Let the pure, unfermented juice of the grape be used in administering the Lord's Supper."


title: Sacramental wine

text: In the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church, Communion is administered under the form of wine either by the communicant drinking directly from the chalice or by intinction. In the latter manner, the priest partially dips the consecrated bread into the consecrated wine and then places it in the mouth of the communicant.


title: Sacramental wine

text: Editions of the Roman Missal issued between 1970 and 2000 envisaged also use of a silver tube (Latin: "fistula") with which, as with a "straw", to drink from the chalice, or of a spoon as in the Byzantine Rite.


title: Sacramental wine

text: In the Byzantine Rite of the Eastern Orthodox Church and some Eastern Catholic Churches the normal method is to use a spoon to give the communicant some of the consecrated wine together with a portion of the consecrated bread that has been placed in the chalice.


title: Sacramental wine

text: In the Anglican Church, the wine is normally consumed with each communicant receiving a small sip of it as the chalice is held by another person. This is often referred to as "the common cup".


title: Sacramental wine

text: Throughout the world there are some wineries that exist either solely for the production of sacramental wines, or with sacramental wines as an auxiliary business. The same is true of wine used by other religions, "e.g.", kosher wine. These wineries are small and often run by religious brothers, priests or dedicated laity.


title: Sacramental wine

text: In Australia, for example, Australian Jesuits founded the oldest existing winery in the Clare Valley in 1851 to make sacramental wines. Producing over of wine annually, this winery supplies all of the Australian region's sacramental wine needs. The oldest vineyard founded for sacramental wine, still producing in the United States, is O-Neh-Da Vineyard in the Finger Lakes wine region of New York State, founded in 1872 by Bernard John McQuaid, the bishop of Rochester.


title: Sathyan Anthikad

text: Sathyan Anthikad is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and lyricist who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema. In a career spanning five decades he has directed more than 50 films, been the lyricist for 12 films and been the scriptwriter for 6 films. He is the recipient of several accolades including a National Film Award, five Kerala State Film Awards and three Filmfare Awards. He received the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Humour in 2019 for his book, "Eeswaran Mathram Sakshi."


title: Sathyan Anthikad

text: Films like "Pingami" though a commercial failure at the time release, have over the years gained a cult following.


title: Sathyan Anthikad

text: Sathyan Anthikad was born to M. V. Krishnan and M. K. Kalyani at Anthikad in Thrissur district of Kerala state. He is married to Nimmi Sathyan and has three sons, Arun, Anoop and Akhil.


title: Sathyan Anthikad

text: In 1973, Sathyan debuted as an assistant director to Dr. Balakrishnan in Rekha Cine Arts. He was the Associate Director of director P. Chandrakumar for more than twenty films till 1982. He also assisted director Jeassy in few films. Sathyan kickstarted his film direction with "Kurukkante Kalyanam" in 1982. Due to some unfortunate series of events this movie was never completed. He teamed up with Sreenivasan and made some Malayalam films, with Sreenivasan as the screenwriter. "Thalayanamanthram", "Nadodikkattu" and "Sandesam" are some of the films born from this team. Sathyan made two novels into films: "Appunni" starring Mohanlal (a film adaptation of V. K. N.'s novel) and "Irattakkuttikalude Achan" starring Jayaram and Manju Warrier (an adaptation of C. V. Balakrishnan's novel).


title: Sathyan Anthikad

text: Sathyan Anthikad has authored "Eeswaran Mathram Sakshi", "Shesham Vellithirayil" and "Aathmaavinte Adikkurippukal". "Eeswaran Mathram Sakshi" received the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Humour in 2019.


title: Diamond (gemstone)

text: Diamond is one of the best-known and most sought-after gemstones. They have been used as decorative items since ancient times.


title: Diamond (gemstone)

text: The hardness of diamond and its high dispersion of light — giving the diamond its characteristic "fire" — make it useful for industrial applications and desirable as jewelry. Diamonds are such a highly traded commodity that multiple organizations have been created for grading and certifying them based on the "four Cs", which are color, cut, clarity, and carat. Other characteristics, such as presence or lack of fluorescence, also affect the desirability and thus the value of a diamond used for jewelry.


title: Diamond (gemstone)

text: Diamonds are used in engagement rings. The practice is documented among European aristocracy as early as the 15th century, though ruby and sapphire were more desirable gemstones. The modern popularity of diamonds was largely created by De Beers Consolidated Mines, which established the first large-scale diamond mines in South Africa. Through an advertising campaign beginning in the 1930s and continuing into the mid-20th century, De Beers made diamonds into a key part of the betrothal process and a coveted symbol of status. The diamond's high value has been the driving force behind dictators and revolutionary entities, especially in Africa, using slave and child labor to mine blood diamonds to fund conflicts. Though popularly believed to derive its value from its rarity, gem-quality diamonds are quite common compared to rare gemstones such as alexandrite, and annual global rough diamond production is estimated to be about .


title: Diamond (gemstone)

text: The process of diamonds being used for drilling ornamental beads dates back to 2nd millennium BC. Archaeologists working in Yemen have excavated beads with evidences of diamond drilling from 1200 BC to 1st century AD from the site of Hajar ar Rayhani, while double diamond drilling from 1000 to 600 BC. The double diamond drill technique was present in Western India prior to 600 BC (7th century BC). There is also evidence of technique of double diamond drilling from Southern Thailand dating back to 400 BC. Before diamonds were discovered in Brazil in the 1700s, India was the only place where diamonds were mined. Early references to diamonds in India come from Sanskrit texts. The "Arthashastra" of Kautilya mentions diamond trade in India. Buddhist works dating from the 4th century BC describe the diamond as a well-known and precious stone but do not mention the details of diamond cutting. Another Indian description written in the beginning of the 3rd century describes strength, regularity, brilliance, ability to scratch metals, and good refractive properties as the desirable qualities of a diamond. Kalkutta was an important trading center for diamonds in central India.


title: Diamond (gemstone)

text: Diamonds were traded to the east and west of India and were recognized by various cultures for their gemmological or industrial uses. In his work "Naturalis Historia", the Roman writer Pliny the Elder referred to the "adamas" (invulnerable stone) that occurred alongside gold and was used for ornament and engraving. This was long believed to refer to diamond, but is now thought more likely to mean other hard minerals such as corundum or spinel.


title: Diamond (gemstone)

text: Diamonds eventually spread throughout the world, even though India had remained the only major source of the gemstone until diamonds were discovered in Brazil in 1725. A Chinese work from the 3rd century BC mentions: "Foreigners wear it [diamond] in the belief that it can ward off evil influences". The Chinese, who did not find diamonds in their country, initially did not use diamond as a jewel but used it as a "jade cutting knife". Diamonds reached ancient Rome from India. Diamonds were also discovered in 700 in Borneo, and were used by the traders of southeast Asia.


title: Diamond (gemstone)

text: The modern era of diamond mining began in the 1860s in Kimberley, South Africa with the opening of the first large-scale diamond mine. The first diamond there was found in 1866 on the banks of the Orange River and became known as the Eureka Diamond.


title: Diamond (gemstone)

text: In 1869, an even larger diamond was found on the slopes of Colesberg Kopje on the farm Vooruitzigt belonging to the De Beers brothers. This sparked off the famous "New Rush" and within a month, 800 claims were cut into the hillock which were worked frenetically by two to three thousand men. As the land was lowered so the hillock became a mine—in time, the world-renowned Kimberley Mine. Following agreement by the British government on compensation to the Orange Free State for its competing land claims, Griqualand West was annexed to the Cape Colony in 1877.


title: Diamond (gemstone)

text: From 1871 to 1914, 50,000 miners dug the Big Hole with picks and shovels, yielding of diamonds, and by 1873 Kimberley was the second largest town in South Africa, having an approximate population of 40,000.


title: Diamond (gemstone)

text: The various smaller mining companies were amalgamated by the British businessmen Cecil Rhodes and Charles Rudd into the De Beers Mining Company, and the Barnato Diamond Mining Company by Barney Barnato. In 1888, the two companies merged to form De Beers Consolidated Mines, which proceeded to establish a monopoly over the world's diamond market. That monopoly had ended by 2005, following an antitrust lawsuit in the US (which De Beers settled without admitting wrongdoing, upon payment of a US$295 million settlement), and a voluntary agreement between De Beers and the European Commission. The latter agreement had been overturned upon appeal by the Russian mining company Alrosa, but the European Court of Justice then upheld the decision and the European Commission subsequently concluded its investigation with no more action being taken against De Beers.


title: Diamond (gemstone)

text: Today, annual global rough diamond production is estimated to be about , of which 92% is cut and polished in India, mostly in the city of Surat. Some 85% of the world's rough diamonds, 50% of cut diamonds, and 40% of industrial diamonds are traded in Antwerp, Belgium—the diamond center of the world. The city of Antwerp also hosts the Antwerpsche Diamantkring, created in 1929 to become the first and biggest diamond bourse dedicated to rough diamonds. Antwerp's association with diamonds began in the late 15th century when a new technique to polish and shape the gems evolved in this city. The diamond cutters of Antwerp are world renowned for their skill. More than 12,000 expert cutters and polishers are at work in the Diamond District, at 380 workshops, serving 1,500 firms and 3,500 brokers and merchants.


title: Diamond (gemstone)

text: In the 21st century, the technology to produce perfect diamonds synthetically was developed. Diamonds produced by the latest technologies are visually identical to mined, naturally occurring diamonds. It is too early to assess the effect of future wide availability of gem-quality synthetic diamonds on the diamond market, although the traditional diamond industry has taken steps to try to create a distinction between diamonds dug from the ground and diamonds made in a factory, in part by downplaying the fact that diamonds from both sources are actually visually identical. Synthetics currently represent 2% of gem-quality diamond supply used for jewelry, but 98% of industrial-quality supply used for abrasive applications.


title: Diamond (gemstone)

text: The most familiar usage of diamonds today is as gemstones used for adornment—a usage which dates back into antiquity. The dispersion of white light into spectral colors is the primary gemological characteristic of gem diamonds. In the twentieth century, gemologists have developed methods of grading diamonds and other gemstones based on the characteristics most important to their value as a gem. Four characteristics known informally as the "four Cs" are now commonly used as the basic descriptors of diamonds: carat, cut, color, and clarity. This system was developed by Gemological Institute of America in 1953 as internationally recognized standard to evaluate diamonds characteristics.


title: Diamond (gemstone)

text: Most gem diamonds are traded on the wholesale market based on single values for each of the four Cs; for example knowing that a diamond is rated as , VS2 clarity, F color, excellent cut round brilliant, is enough to reasonably establish an expected price range. More detailed information from within each characteristic is used to determine actual market value for individual stones. Consumers who purchase individual diamonds are often advised to use the four Cs to pick the diamond that is "right" for them.


title: Diamond (gemstone)

text: Other characteristics also influence the value and appearance of a gem diamond. These include physical characteristics such as the presence of fluorescence as well as the diamond's source and which gemological institute evaluated the diamond. "Cleanliness" also dramatically affects a diamond's beauty.


title: Diamond (gemstone)

text: There are two major non-profit gemological associations which grade and provide reports, (informally referred to by the term "certificate" or "cert", which is a misnomer for many grading reports) on diamonds; while carat weight and cut angles are mathematically defined, the clarity and color are judged by the trained human eye and are therefore open to slight variance in interpretation. These associations are listed below.


title: Diamond (gemstone)

text: Within the last two decades, a number of for-profit gemological grading laboratories have also been established, many of them also based in Antwerp or New York. These entities serve to provide similar services as the non-profit associations above, but in a less expensive and more timely fashion. They produce certificates that are similar to those of the GIA.


title: Diamond (gemstone)

text: The "carat weight" measures the mass of a diamond. One carat is defined as 200 milligrams (about 0.007 ounces avoirdupois). The "point" unit—equal to one one-hundredth of a carat (0.01 carat, or 2 mg)—is commonly used for diamonds of less than one carat. All else being equal, the price per carat increases with carat weight, since larger diamonds are both rarer and more desirable for use as gemstones.


title: Diamond (gemstone)

text: The price per carat does not increase linearly with increasing size. Instead, there are sharp jumps around milestone carat weights, as demand is much higher for diamonds weighing just more than a milestone than for those weighing just less. As an example, a 0.99-carat diamond may have a significantly lower price per carat than a comparable 1.01-carat diamond, because of differences in demand.


title: Diamond (gemstone)

text: A weekly diamond price list, the Rapaport Diamond Report is published by Martin Rapaport, CEO of Rapaport Group of New York, for different diamond cuts, clarity and weights. It is currently considered the de facto retail price baseline. Jewelers often trade diamonds at negotiated discounts off the Rapaport price (e.g., "R −3%").


title: Diamond (gemstone)

text: In the wholesale trade of gem diamonds, carat is often used in denominating lots of diamonds for sale. For example, a buyer may place an order for of , D–F, VS2-SI1, excellent cut diamonds, indicating a wish to purchase 200 diamonds ( total mass) of those approximate characteristics. Because of this, diamond prices (particularly among wholesalers and other industry professionals) are often quoted per carat, rather than per stone.


title: Diamond (gemstone)

text: "Total carat weight" (t.c.w.) is a phrase used to describe the total mass of diamonds or other gemstone in a piece of jewelry, when more than one gemstone is used. Diamond solitaire earrings, for example, are usually quoted in t.c.w. when placed for sale, indicating the mass of the diamonds in both earrings and not each individual diamond. T.c.w. is also widely used for diamond necklaces, bracelets and other similar jewelry pieces.


title: Diamond (gemstone)

text: Clarity is a measure of internal defects of a diamond called "inclusions". Inclusions may be crystals of a foreign material or another diamond crystal, or structural imperfections such as tiny cracks that can appear whitish or cloudy. The number, size, color, relative location, orientation, and visibility of inclusions can all affect the relative clarity of a diamond. The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) and other organizations have developed systems to grade clarity, which are based on those inclusions which are visible to a trained professional when a diamond is viewed under 10× magnification.


title: Diamond (gemstone)

text: Diamonds become increasingly rare when considering higher clarity gradings. Only about 20% of all diamonds mined have a clarity rating high enough for the diamond to be considered appropriate for use as a gemstone; the other 80% are relegated to industrial use. Of that top 20%, a significant portion contains one or more visible inclusions. Those that do not have a visible inclusion are known as "eye-clean" and are preferred by most buyers, although visible inclusions can sometimes be hidden under the setting in a piece of jewelry.


title: Diamond (gemstone)

text: Most inclusions present in gem-quality diamonds do not affect the diamonds' performance or structural integrity. When set in jewelry, it may also be possible to hide certain inclusion behind mounting hardware such as prongs in a way that renders the defect invisible. However, large clouds can affect a diamond's ability to transmit and scatter light. Large cracks close to or breaking the surface may increase the likelihood of a fracture.


title: Diamond (gemstone)

text: The finest quality as per color grading is totally colorless, which is graded as D color diamond across the globe, meaning it is absolutely free from any color. The next grade has a very slight trace of color, which can be observed by any expert diamond valuer/grading laboratory. However, when studded in jewellery these very light colored diamonds do not show any color or it is not possible to make out color shades. These are graded as E color or F color diamonds.


title: Diamond (gemstone)

text: Diamonds which show very little traces of color are graded as G or H color diamonds. Slightly colored diamonds are graded as I or J or K color. A diamond can be found in any color in addition to colorless. Some of the colored diamonds, such as pink, are very rare.


title: Diamond (gemstone)

text: A chemically pure and structurally perfect diamond is perfectly transparent with no hue, or "color". However, in reality most gem-sized natural diamonds are imperfect. The color of a diamond may be affected by chemical impurities and/or structural defects in the crystal lattice. Depending on the hue and intensity of a diamond's coloration, a diamond's color can either detract from or enhance its value. For example, most white diamonds are discounted in price as a more yellow hue is detectable, while intense pink or blue diamonds (such as the Hope Diamond) can be dramatically more valuable. The Aurora Diamond Collection displays a spectacular array of naturally colored diamonds, which occur in every color of the rainbow.


title: Diamond (gemstone)

text: Most diamonds used as gemstones are basically transparent with little tint, or "white diamonds". The most common impurity, nitrogen, replaces a small proportion of carbon atoms in a diamond's structure and causes a yellowish to brownish tint. This effect is present in almost all white diamonds; in only the rarest diamonds is the coloration from this effect undetectable. The GIA has developed a rating system for color in white diamonds, from D to Z (with D being "colorless" and Z having a bright yellow coloration), which has been widely adopted in the industry and is universally recognized, superseding several older systems. The GIA system uses a benchmark set of natural diamonds of known color grade, along with standardized and carefully controlled lighting conditions. Diamonds with higher color grades are rarer, in higher demand, and therefore more expensive, than lower color grades. Oddly enough, diamonds graded Z are also rare, and the bright yellow color is also highly valued. Diamonds graded D–F are considered "colorless", G–J are considered "near-colorless", K–M are "slightly colored". N–Y usually appears light yellow or brown.


title: Diamond (gemstone)

text: In contrast to yellow or brown hues, diamonds of other colors are more rare and valuable. While even a pale pink or blue hue may increase the value of a diamond, more intense coloration is usually considered more desirable and commands the highest prices. A variety of impurities and structural imperfections cause different colors in diamonds, including yellow, pink, blue, red, green, brown, and other hues. Black diamond's natural form is known as Carbonado, the toughest form of the diamond which is porous and difficult to cut. Black diamonds are natural, man-made, treated black diamonds. Some black diamonds are expensive than other types of black diamonds because of the quality, durability, production cost, and few other factors. Diamonds with unusual or intense coloration are sometimes labeled "fancy" in the diamond industry. Intense yellow coloration is considered one of the fancy colors, and is separate from the color grades of white diamonds. Gemologists have developed rating systems for fancy colored diamonds, but they are not in common use because of the relative rarity of such diamonds.


title: Diamond (gemstone)

text: Diamond cutting is the art and science of creating a gem-quality diamond out of mined rough. The "cut" of a diamond describes the manner in which a diamond has been shaped and polished from its beginning form as a rough stone to its final gem proportions. The cut of a diamond describes the quality of workmanship and the angles to which a diamond is cut. Often diamond cut is confused with "shape".


title: Diamond (gemstone)

text: There are mathematical guidelines for the angles and length ratios at which the diamond is supposed to be cut in order to reflect the maximum amount of light. Round brilliant diamonds, the most common, are guided by these specific guidelines, though fancy cut stones are not able to be as accurately guided by mathematical specifics.


title: Diamond (gemstone)

text: The techniques for cutting diamonds have been developed over hundreds of years, with perhaps the greatest achievements made in 1919 by mathematician and gem enthusiast Marcel Tolkowsky. He developed the round brilliant cut by calculating the ideal shape to return and scatter light when a diamond is viewed from above. The modern round brilliant has 57 facets (polished faces), counting 33 on the "crown" (the top half), and 24 on the "pavilion" (the lower half). The girdle is the thin middle part. The function of the crown is to refract light into various colors and the pavilion's function to reflect light back through the top of the diamond.


title: Diamond (gemstone)

text: The culet is the tiny point or facet at the bottom of the diamond. This should be a negligible diameter, otherwise light leaks out of the bottom. Tolkowsky's calculations included neither a culet nor a girdle. However, a girdle is required in reality in order to prevent the diamond from easily chipping in the setting. The thick part of the girdle is normally about 1.7% (of the overall diameter) thicker than the thin part of the girdle.


title: Diamond (gemstone)

text: The further the diamond's characteristics are from the Tolkowsky's ideal, the less light will be reflected. However, there is a small range in which the diamond can be considered "ideal". Tolkowsky's calculations can be repeated for a narrow range of pavilion angles. Such calculations show a slightly larger table percentage, and a trade-off between pavilion angle and crown angle.


title: Diamond (gemstone)

text: Today, because of the relative importance of carat weight among buyers, many diamonds are often intentionally cut poorly to increase carat weight. There is a financial premium for a diamond that weighs the desirable , so often the girdle is made thicker or the depth is increased. Neither of these changes makes the diamond "appear" any larger, and both greatly reduce the sparkle of the diamond. (A poorly cut diamond may have the same diameter and appear as large as a diamond.) The "depth percentage" is the overall quickest indication of the quality of the cut of a round brilliant. "Ideal" round brilliant diamonds should not have a depth percentage greater than 62.5%. Another quick indication is the "overall diameter." Typically a round brilliant diamond should have a diameter of about . Mathematically, the diameter in millimeters of a round brilliant should approximately equal to 6.5 times the cube root of carat weight, or 11.1 times the cube root of gram weight, or 1.4 times the cube root of point weight.


title: Diamond (gemstone)

text: Diamonds do not show all of their beauty as rough stones; instead, they must be cut and polished to exhibit the characteristic fire and brilliance that diamond gemstones are known for. Diamonds are cut into a variety of shapes that are generally designed to accentuate these features.


title: Diamond (gemstone)

text: Diamonds which are not cut into a round brilliant shape are known as "fancy cuts." Popular fancy cuts include the "baguette" (French, meaning "rod" or loaf of bread), "marquise", "princess cut" (square outline), "heart", "briolette" (a form of the rose cut), and "pear" cuts. Newer cuts that have been introduced into the jewelry industry are the "cushion" "radiant" (similar to princess cuts, but with rounded edges instead of square edges) and Asscher cuts. Many fancy colored diamonds are now being cut according to these new styles. Generally speaking, these "fancy cuts" are not held to the same strict standards as Tolkowsky-derived round brilliants and there are less specific mathematical guidelines of angles which determine a well-cut stone. Cuts are influenced heavily by fashion: the baguette cut—which accentuates a diamond's luster and downplays its fire—was popular during the Art Deco period, whereas the princess cut — which accentuates a diamond's fire rather than its luster — is currently gaining popularity. The princess cut is also popular amongst diamond cutters: of all the cuts, it wastes the least of the original crystal. The past decades have seen the development of new diamond cuts, often based on a modification of an existing cut. Some of these include extra facets. These newly developed cuts are viewed by many as more of an attempt at brand differentiation by diamond sellers, than actual improvements to the state of the art.


title: Diamond (gemstone)

text: The quality of a diamond's cut is widely considered the most important of the four Cs in determining the beauty of a diamond; indeed, it is commonly acknowledged that a well-cut diamond can appear to be of greater carat weight, and have clarity and color appear to be of better grade than they actually are. The skill with which a diamond is cut determines its ability to reflect and refract light.


title: Diamond (gemstone)

text: In addition to carrying the most importance to a diamond's quality as a gemstone, the cut is also the most difficult to quantitatively judge. A number of factors, including proportion, polish, symmetry, and the relative angles of various facets, are determined by the quality of the cut and can affect the performance of a diamond. A diamond with facets cut only a few degrees out of alignment can result in a poorly performing stone. For a round brilliant cut, there is a balance between "brilliance" and "fire". When a diamond is cut for too much "fire", it looks like a cubic zirconia, which gives off much more "fire" than real diamond. A well-executed round brilliant cut should reflect light upwards and make the diamond appear white when viewed from the top. An inferior cut will produce a stone that appears dark at the center and in extreme cases the setting may be seen through the top of the diamond as shadows.


title: Diamond (gemstone)

text: Several different theories on the "ideal" proportions of a diamond have been and continue to be advocated by various owners of patents on machines to view how well a diamond is cut. These advocate a shift away from grading cut by the use of various angles and proportions toward measuring the performance of a cut stone. A number of specially modified viewers and machines have been developed toward this end. Hearts and Arrows viewers test for the "hearts and arrows" characteristic pattern observable in stones exhibiting high symmetry and particular cut angles. Closely related to Hearts and Arrows viewers is the ASET which tests for light leakage, light return, and proportions. The ASET (and computer simulations of the ASET) are used to test for AGS cut grade. Proponents of these machines argue they help sellers demonstrate the light performance of the diamond in addition to the traditional 4 Cs. Detractors, however, see these machines as marketing tools rather than scientific ones. The GIA has developed a set of criteria for grading the cut of round brilliant stones that is now the standard in the diamond industry and is called Facetware.


title: Diamond (gemstone)

text: The process of shaping a rough diamond into a polished gemstone is both an art and a science. The choice of cut is often decided by the original shape of the rough stone, location of the inclusions and flaws to be eliminated, the preservation of the weight, popularity of certain shapes amongst consumers and many other considerations. The round brilliant cut is preferred when the crystal is an octahedron, as often two stones may be cut from one such crystal. Oddly shaped crystals such as macles are more likely to be cut in a "fancy cut"—that is, a cut other than the round brilliant—which the particular crystal shape lends itself to.


title: Diamond (gemstone)

text: Even with modern techniques, the cutting and polishing of a diamond crystal always results in a dramatic loss of weight; rarely is it less than 50%. Sometimes the cutters compromise and accept lesser proportions and symmetry in order to avoid inclusions or to preserve the carat rating. Since the per carat price of diamond shifts around key milestones (such as ), many one-carat diamonds are the result of compromising cut for carat. Some jewelry experts advise consumers to buy a diamond for its better price or buy a diamond for its better cut, avoiding a diamond which is more likely to be a poorly cut stone.


title: Diamond (gemstone)

text: In the gem trade, the term light performance is used to describe how well a polished diamond will return light to the viewer. There are three light properties which are described in relation to light performance: brilliance, fire, and scintillation. Brilliance refers to the white light reflections from the external and internal facet surfaces. Fire refers to the spectral colors which are produced as a result of the diamond dispersing the white light. Scintillation refers to the small flashes of light that are seen when the diamond, light source or the viewer is moved. A diamond that is cut and polished to produce a high level of these qualities is said to be high in "light performance".


title: Diamond (gemstone)

text: The setting diamonds are placed in also affect the performance of light through a diamond. The three most commonly used settings are: Prong, Bezel, and Channel. Prong settings are the most popular setting for diamond jewelry. The prong setting consists of four or six 'claws' that cradle the diamond, allowing the maximum amount of light to enter from all angles, allowing the diamonds to appear larger and more brilliant. In bezel settings the diamond or gemstone is completely surrounded by a rim of metal, which can be molded into any shape to accommodate the stone. Used to set earrings, necklaces, bracelets, and rings, bezel settings can have open or closed backs, and generally can be molded to allow a lot of light to pass through. Channel settings set the stones right next to each other with no metal separating them. This setting is mostly used in wedding and anniversary bands. The outer ridge is then worked over the edges of the stones to create a smooth exterior surface. This also protects the girdle area of the stone.


title: Diamond (gemstone)

text: About a third of all diamonds will glow under ultraviolet light, usually a blue color, which may be noticeable under a black light or strong sunlight. According to the GIA, who reviewed a random sample of 26,010 natural diamonds, 65% of the diamonds in the sample did not fluoresce. Of the 35% that did fluoresce, 97% had blue fluorescence of which 38% had faint blue fluorescence and 62% had fluorescence that ranged from medium to very strong blue. Other colors diamonds can fluoresce are green, yellow, and red, but are very rare and are sometimes a combination of the colors such as blue-green or orange. In October 2020, a population of diamonds were discovered within an alluvial deposit at the Ellendale diamond field in Australia that exhibit an ultra rare purple fluorescence.


title: Diamond (gemstone)

text: Some diamonds with "very strong" fluorescence can have a "milky" or "oily" look to them, but they are also very rare and are termed "over-blues." Their study concluded that with the exception of "over-blues" and yellow fluorescent diamonds, fluorescence had little effect on transparency and that the strong and very strong blue fluorescent diamonds on average had better color appearance than non-fluorescent stones. Since blue is a complementary color to yellow and so can appear to cancel it out, strong blue fluorescence had especially better color appearance with lower color graded diamonds that have a slight yellowish tint, such as I or J color, but had little effect on the more colorless D, E, and F color grades.


title: Diamond (gemstone)

text: Before the diamond industry standardized to the GIA grading terminology the term "Blue White" (Blauweiss) was widely used to describe the most highly regarded white diamonds. The term described colorless diamonds with a tinge of blue fluorescence. These stones were actively sought by merchants thanks to their appealing ‘ice’ effect and consumers paid higher prices for diamonds with fluorescence. Quality retailers such as C. D. Peacock of Chicago Il. made their name selling genuine Blue-White diamonds, but others in the industry saw the opportunity to use the term to sell lower quality diamonds.


title: Diamond (gemstone)

text: By 1938, the term "Blue White" and the underlying concept that blue (i.e. fluorescence) added value to white (colorless) diamonds had become abused by too many unscrupulous dealers and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission outlawed the use of the term Blue White. The subsequent FTC restrictions undoubtedly encouraged the establishment of today's GIA color grading system. The new GIA grading system had no place for the effect of fluorescence on color and the desirability of fluorescence in a diamond began to wane in the years that followed. Diamonds with fluorescence were marked down in price.


title: Diamond (gemstone)

text: Ironically, in 1997, a seminal study by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) concluded that, "in general, the strength of fluorescence had no widely perceptible effect on the color appearance of diamonds viewed table-down (as is typical in laboratory and trade grading). In the table-up position (as is commonly encountered in jewellery stores), diamonds described as strongly or very strongly fluorescent were, on average, reported as having a better color appearance than less fluorescent stones". The GIA study concluded that "the diamond industry would be better served by considering each individual diamond on its own visual merits."


title: Diamond (gemstone)

text: Today, fluorescent natural diamonds are again becoming very desirable with major diamond miners such as the world's largest diamond producer, Alrosa, reminding the industry of the historic desirability and beauty of naturally fluorescent diamonds.


title: Diamond (gemstone)

text: Cleanliness significantly affects a diamond's beauty. A clean diamond is more brilliant and fiery than the same diamond when it is "dirty". Dirt or grease on the top of a diamond reduces its luster. Water, dirt, or grease on the bottom of a diamond interferes with the diamond's brilliance and fire. Even a thin film absorbs some light that could have been reflected to the viewer. Colored dye or smudges can affect the perceived color of a diamond. Historically, some jewelers' stones were misgraded because of smudges on the girdle, or dye on the culet. Current practice is to clean a diamond thoroughly before grading its color.


title: Diamond (gemstone)

text: Maintaining a clean diamond can sometimes be difficult as jewelry settings can obstruct cleaning, and oils, grease, and other hydrophobic materials adhere well to a diamond. Many jewelers use steam cleaners. Some jewelers provide their customers with ammonia-based cleaning kits; ultrasonic cleaners are also popular.


title: Diamond (gemstone)

text: Because of their extraordinary physical properties, diamonds have been used symbolically since near the time of their first discovery. Perhaps the earliest symbolic use of diamonds was as the eyes of Hindu devotional statues. In Hinduism Indra uses Vajrayudham or the thunderbolt as his primary weapon. "Vajra" is the word for diamond and "ayudham" means weapon in Sanskrit. Another name for it was "Agira" which means "fire" or the "sun". In fact there are 14 names counted to be given to a diamond in traditional Hinduism.


title: Diamond (gemstone)

text: The oldest dated printed book in the world is called the "Diamond Sutra", a Chinese text dating from 868 and was found in the Mogao Caves. Sutras are most used to describe the teachings of Buddha. In this case the title of the Sutra refers not to the diamond itself but to a 'diamond blade that will cut through worldly illusion to illuminate what is real and everlasting'. Jewel imagery forms a central part of Buddhism: the triple-jewel represents 'Buddha', his teachings 'Dharma' and the spiritual community 'Shangha'. The book presently resides in the British Library.


title: Diamond (gemstone)

text: Many cultures use "divine intervention" to explain the origin and creation of gemstones, and diamonds were no exception to this. In Greek mythology for example it was the youth on the island of Crete that disturbed Zeus and who were then (as a form of punishment) transformed into the "adamas".


title: Diamond (gemstone)

text: Philosophers however had a more "naturalistic approach" to explain the origin of gems: Plato for example believed gemstones were a consequence of fermentation in the stars, where a diamond actually formed the kernel of gold-bearing mass. In fact often diamonds were linked to gold, which may have found its origin in the joint occurrence of diamonds with quartzite, quartz veins and an occasional occurrence of gold in them.


title: Diamond (gemstone)

text: In later times, Robert Boyle actually believed that gems (including a diamond) were formed of clear, transparent water, and that their colors and characteristics were derived from their metallic spirit.


title: Diamond (gemstone)

text: The diamond is the birthstone for people born in the month of April, and is also used as the symbol of a sixty-year anniversary, such as a Diamond Jubilee (see "hierarchy of precious substances"). In a system of heraldry by gemstone occasionally used in the past for the arms of nobles, diamond was used to represent the color sable, or black.


title: Diamond (gemstone)

text: The origin of the custom to use diamonds in rings, and more recently, in engagement rings, can be traced back to the Middle Ages and even the Romans. The Romans valued the diamond entirely on account of the supernatural powers they ascribed to it. Pliny wrote that a diamond baffles poison, keeps off insanity, and dispels vain fears. The medieval Italians copied these beliefs and added some to it: they called it the "Pietra della Reconciliazione" (stone of reconciliation) because it maintained concord between husband and wife. On this account it was recommended as the stone to be set in wedding (or espousal) rings—not on account of its beauty therefore, which was described by Isidore of Seville as a small stone devoid of beauty.


title: Diamond (gemstone)

text: In more recent times a Parisian Oracle of mystic subjects, the Baron d'Orchamps, announced the diamond, if worn on the left (hand) warded off evil influences and attracted good fortune and since he had fashionable clients the word spread and the wearing of the diamond on the left hand became in itself a fashion.


title: Diamond (gemstone)

text: One of the first occurrences of the diamond engagement (or wedding) ring can be traced back to the marriage of Maximilian I (then Archduke of Austria) to Mary of Burgundy in 1477. Other early examples of betrothal jewels incorporating diamonds include the "Bridal Crown of Blanche" ( 1370–1380) and the "Heftlein" brooch of Vienna ( 1430–1440), a pictorial piece depicting a wedding couple.


title: Diamond (gemstone)

text: The popularity of the diamond ring as an engagement ring for a much wider audience can be traced directly to the marketing campaigns of De Beers, starting in 1938. Such a campaign had become necessary to sell the large quantity of diamonds suddenly available because of the large diamond finds particularly in South Africa. In the early 20th century, a chairman of De Beers optimistically predicted that the diamond trade would prosper "so long as men are foolish and women are vain."


title: Diamond (gemstone)

text: Today, the round brilliant is still the most popular diamond shape for an engagement ring. More than 60 percent of diamonds on the market are brilliants.


title: Diamond (gemstone)

text: The increase in online sales are disrupting the market for diamonds by bringing greater transparency to an industry that has traditionally relied on opacity. Online diamond retailers and e-commerce platforms include Blue Nile, Brilliant Earth, and Costco.


title: Diamond (gemstone)

text: In some of the politically unstable central African and west African countries, revolutionary groups have taken control of diamond mines, using proceeds from diamond sales to finance their operations. Diamonds sold through this process are known as "conflict diamonds" or "blood diamonds". Major diamond trading corporations continue to fund and fuel these conflicts by doing business with armed groups. In response to public concerns that their diamond purchases were contributing to war and human rights abuses in central Africa and West Africa, the United Nations, the diamond industry and diamond-trading nations introduced the Kimberley Process in 2002, which is aimed at ensuring that conflict diamonds do not become intermixed with the diamonds not controlled by such rebel groups, by providing documentation and certification of diamond exports from producing countries to ensure that the proceeds of sale are not being used to fund criminal or revolutionary activities. Although the Kimberley Process has been moderately successful in limiting the number of conflict diamonds entering the market, conflict diamonds smuggled to market continue to persist to some degree (about 2–3% of diamonds traded in 2000 were possible conflict diamonds). Today, according to the Gemological Institute of America, 99% of the world's diamonds are conflict-free. According to the 2006 book "The Heartless Stone", two major flaws still hinder the effectiveness of the Kimberley Process: the relative ease of smuggling diamonds across African borders and giving phony histories, and the violent nature of diamond mining in nations that are not in a technical state of war and whose diamonds are therefore considered "clean."


title: Diamond (gemstone)

text: The Canadian Government has set up a body known as Canadian Diamond Code of Conduct to help authenticate Canadian diamonds. This is a very stringent tracking system of diamonds and helps protect the 'conflict free' label of Canadian diamonds.


title: Diamond (gemstone)

text: Currently, gem production totals nearly of cut and polished stones annually, and over of mined diamonds are sold for industrial use each year, as are about of synthesized diamond.


title: Special Period

text: The Special Period (), officially the Special Period in the Time of Peace (), was an extended period of economic crisis in Cuba that began in 1991 primarily due to the dissolution of the Soviet Union and, by extension, the Comecon. The economic depression of the Special Period was at its most severe in the early to mid-1990s, before slightly declining in severity towards the end of the decade once Hugo Chávez's Venezuela emerged as Cuba's primary trading partner and diplomatic ally, and especially after the year 2000 once Cuba–Russia relations improved under the presidency of Vladimir Putin.


title: Special Period

text: It was defined primarily by extreme reductions of rationed foods at state-subsidized prices, the severe shortages of hydrocarbon energy resources in the form of gasoline, diesel, and other petroleum derivatives that occurred upon the implosion of economic agreements between the petroleum-rich Soviet Union and Cuba, and the shrinking of an economy overdependent on Soviet imports. The period radically transformed Cuban society and the economy, as it necessitated the introduction of organic agriculture, decreased use of automobiles, and overhauled industry, health, and diet countrywide. People were forced to live without many goods and services that had been available since the beginning of the 20th century.


title: Special Period

text: In 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed, resulting in a large-scale economic collapse throughout the newly independent states which once comprised it. During its existence, the Soviet Union provided Cuba with large amounts of oil, food, and machinery. In the years following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Cuba's gross domestic product shrunk 35%, imports and exports both fell over 80%, and many domestic industries shrank considerably. Food and weapon imports stopped or severely slowed. The largest immediate impact was the loss of nearly all of the petroleum imports from the USSR; Cuba's oil imports dropped to 10% of pre-1990 amounts. Before this, Cuba had been re-exporting any Soviet petroleum it did not consume to other nations for profit, meaning that petroleum had been Cuba's second largest export product before 1990. Once the restored Russian Federation emerged from the former Soviet Union, its administration immediately made clear that it had no intention of delivering petroleum that had been guaranteed the island by the USSR; this resulted in a decrease in Cuban consumption by 20% of its previous level within two years. The effect of this was severe, with many Cuban industries being unable to run without such petroleum. Entirely dependent on fossil fuels to operate, the major underpinnings of Cuban society—its transport, industrial and agricultural systems—were paralyzed. There were extensive losses of productivity in both Cuban agriculture, which was dominated by modern industrial tractors, combines, and harvesters, all of which required petroleum to run, and in Cuban industrial capacity.


title: Special Period

text: The early stages of the Special Period were defined by a general breakdown in transportation and agricultural sectors, fertilizer and pesticide stocks (both of those being manufactured primarily from petroleum derivatives), and widespread food shortages. Australian and other permaculturists arriving in Cuba at the time began to distribute aid and taught their techniques to locals, who soon implemented them in Cuban fields, raised beds, and urban rooftops across the nation. Organic agriculture was soon after mandated by the Cuban government, supplanting the old industrialized form of agriculture Cubans had grown accustomed to. Relocalization, permaculture, and innovative modes of mass transit had to be rapidly developed. For a time, waiting for a bus could take three hours, power outages could last up to sixteen hours, food consumption was cut back to one-fifth of its previous level and the average Cuban lost about nine kilograms (twenty pounds). The average daily dietary energy consumption of Cuban citizens during the periods of 1990–92 and 1995–97 were 2720 and 2440 kcal/person/day respectively. By 2003 average caloric intake had risen to 3280 kcal/person/day. According to the FAO, the average minimum daily energy requirement is about per person.


title: Special Period

text: During the early years of the crisis, United States law allowed humanitarian aid in the form of food and medicine by private groups. Then in March 1996, the Helms–Burton Act imposed further penalties on foreign companies doing business in Cuba, and allowed U.S. citizens to sue foreign investors who use American-owned property seized by the Cuban government.


title: Special Period

text: The Cuban government was also forced to contract out more lucrative economic and tourism deals with various Western European and South American nations in an attempt to earn the foreign currency necessary to replace the lost Soviet petroleum via the international markets. Additionally faced with a near-elimination of imported steel and other ore-based supplies, Cuba closed refineries and factories across the country, eliminating the country's industrial arm and millions of jobs. The government then proceeded to replace these lost jobs with employment in industrial agriculture and other homegrown initiatives, but these jobs often did not pay as well, and Cubans on the whole became economically poorer. Alternative transport, most notably the Cuban "camels", immense 18-wheeler tractor trailers retrofitted as passenger buses meant to carry hundreds of Cubans each, flourished. Food-wise, meat and dairy products, having been extremely fossil fuel dependent in their former factory farming methods, soon diminished in the Cuban diet. In a shift notable for being generally anathema to Latin American food habits, the people of the island by necessity adopted diets higher in fiber, fresh produce, and ultimately more vegan in character. No longer needing sugar as desperately for a cash crop—the oil-for-sugar program the Soviets had contracted with Cuba had, of course, dissipated—Cuba hurriedly diversified its agricultural production, utilizing former cane fields to grow consumables such as oranges and other fruit and vegetables. The Cuban government also focused more intensely on cooperation with Venezuela once the socialist Hugo Chávez was elected president in 1998.


title: Special Period

text: From the start of the crisis to 1995, Cuba saw its gross domestic product shrink 35%, and it took another five years for it to reach pre-crisis levels, comparable to the length seen during the Great Recession in the United States. Agricultural production fell 47%, construction fell by 74%, and manufacturing capacity fell 90%. Much of this decline stemmed from a stoppage in oil exports from the former Eastern Bloc.


title: Special Period

text: In response, the Cuban government implemented a series of austerity policies. The Cuban government eliminated 15 ministries, and cut defense spending by 86%. During this time, the government maintained and increased spending on various forms of welfare, such as healthcare and social services. From 1990 to 1994, the share of gross domestic product spent on healthcare increased 13%, and the share spent on welfare increased 29%. Such policy priorities have led to historian Helen Yaffe dubbing them "humanistic austerity".


title: Special Period

text: During the Special Period, Cuba experienced a period of widespread food insecurity. In academic circles, there is debate over whether such insecurity constitutes a famine. The primary cause of this was the collapse of the Soviet Union, who exported large quantities of cheap food to Cuba. In the absence of such food imports, food prices in Cuba increased, while government-run institutions began offering less food, and food of lower quality.


title: Special Period

text: A plethora of research shows that the Special Period resulted in a decrease in caloric intake among Cuban citizens. One study estimates that caloric intake fell by 27% from 1990 to 1996. A report by the United States Department of Agriculture estimates that daily nutritional intake fell from per day in 1989 to per day in 1993. Other reports indicate even lower figures, per day. Some estimates indicate that the very old and children consumed only per day. FAO statistics show that the average daily dietary energy consumption of Cuban citizens during the periods of 1990–92 and 1995–97 were 2720 and 2440 kcal/person/day respectively. By 2003 average caloric intake had risen to 3280 kcal/person/day. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, the recommended minimum ranges from 2,100 to 2,300 kcal/person/day


title: Special Period

text: Hundreds of Cubans protested in Havana on 5 August 1994, some chanting "" ("Freedom!"). The protest, in which some protesters threw rocks at police, was dispersed by the police after a few hours. A paper published in the "Journal of Democracy" argued that this was the closest that the Cuban opposition could come to asserting itself decisively.


title: Special Period

text: Cuba's history of colonization included deforestation and overuse of its agricultural land. Before the crisis, Cuba used more pesticides than the United States. Lack of fertilizer and agricultural machinery caused a shift towards organic farming and urban farming. Cuba still has food rationing for basic staples. Approximately 69% of these rationed basic staples (wheat, vegetable oils, rice, etc.) are imported. Overall, however, approximately 16% of food is imported from abroad.


title: Special Period

text: Initially, this was a very difficult situation for Cubans to accept; many came home from studying abroad to find that there were no jobs in their fields. It was pure survival that motivated them to continue and contribute to survive through this crisis. The documentary, "The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil", states that today, farmers make more money than most other occupations.


title: Special Period

text: Due to a poor economy, there were many crumbling buildings that could not be repaired. These were torn down and the empty lots lay idle for years until the food shortages forced Cuban citizens to make use of every piece of land. Initially, this was an "ad-hoc" process where ordinary Cubans took the initiative to grow their own food in any available piece of land. The government encouraged this practice and later assisted in promoting it. Urban gardens sprang up throughout the capital of Havana and other urban centers on roof-tops, patios, and unused parking lots in raised beds as well as "squatting" on empty lots. These efforts were furthered by Australian agriculturalists who came to the island in 1993 to teach permaculture, a sustainable agricultural system, and to "train the trainers". The Cuban government then sent teams throughout the country to train others.


title: Special Period

text: Downtown Havana kiosks provided advice and resources for individual residents. Widespread farmers' markets gave easy access to locally grown produce; less travel time required less energy use.


title: Special Period

text: The ideological changes of the Special Period had effects on Cuban society and culture, beyond those on the country. A comprehensive review of these effects concerning ideology, art and popular culture can be found in Ariana Hernandez-Reguant's "Cuba in the Special Period". As a result of increased travel and tourism, popular culture developed in new ways. Lisa Knauer, in that volume, describes the circulation of rumba between New York and Havana, and their mutual influences. Antonio Eligio Tonel has described the contemporary art networks that shaped the Cuban art market, and Esther Whitfield the channels through which Cuban literature accessed the wider Spanish-speaking world during that period. Elsewhere, Deborah Pacini, Marc Perry, Geoffrey Baker and Sujatha Fernandes extensively wrote about Cuban rap music as a result of these transnational exchanges. In recent years, that is, not in the 1990s which is the period identified with the Special Period, reggaeton has replaced timba as the genre of choice among youth, taking on the explicitly sexual dance moves that originated with timba.


title: Special Period

text: Whereas timba music was a Cuban genre that evolved out of traditional song and jazz, emphasizing blackness and sexuality through sensual dancing, with lyrics that reflected the socio-cultural situation of the period with humor [Hernandez-Reguant 2006]. Cuban hip hop evolved as a socially conscious movement influenced heavily by its kin genre American hip-hop. Thus it was not so much a product of the Special Period—as timba was—as one of globalization [Fernandes 2004]. The Revolution and the blockage of all imports from the US had made the dissemination of American music difficult during the sixties and seventies, as it was often "tainted as music of the enemy and began to disappear from the public view." But all of that changed in the 1990s, when American rappers flocked regularly to Cuba, tourists brought CDs, and North American stations, perfectly audible in Cuba, brought its sounds. Nonetheless, hip hop circulated through informal networks, thus creating a small underground scene of rap enthusiasts located mostly in Havana's Eastern neighborhoods that called the attention of foreign scholars and journalists. Eventually, rappers were offered a space within state cultural networks. The lack of resources to purchase the electronic equipment to produce beats and tracks gives Cuban rap a raw feel that paralleled that of "old school" music in the US.


title: Special Period

text: Immediate actions taken by the government included televising an announcement of the expected energy crisis a week before the USSR notified the Cuban government that they would not be delivering the expected quota of crude oil. Citizens were asked to reduce their consumption in all areas and to use public transport and carpooling. As time went on, the administration developed more structured strategies to manage the long-term energy/economic crisis as it stretched into the 21st century.


title: Special Period

text: Food rationing was intensified. Monthly allocations for families were based on basic minimum requirements as recommended by the United Nations.


title: Special Period

text: The cost of producing cement and the scarcity of tools and of building materials increased the pressure on already overcrowded housing. Even before the energy crisis, extended families lived in small apartments (many of which were in very poor condition) to be closer to an urban area. To help alleviate this situation, the government engaged in land-distribution where they supplemented larger government-owned farms with privately owned ones. Small homes were built in rural areas and land was provided to encourage families to move, to assist in food production for themselves, and to sell in local farmers' markets. As the film "" discusses, co-ops developed which were owned and managed by groups, as well as creating opportunities for allowing them to form "service co-ops" where credit was exchanged and group purchasing-power was used to buy seeds and other scarce items.


title: Special Period

text: Cubans were accustomed to cars as a convenient mode of transport. It was a difficult shift during the Special Period to adjust to a new way of managing the transport of thousands of people to school, to work and to other daily activities. With the realization that food was the key to survival, transport became a secondary worry and walking, hitch-hiking, and carpooling became the norm. Privately owned vehicles are not common; ownership is not seen as a right but as a privilege awarded for performance. Public transport is creative and takes on the following forms:


title: New York County District Attorney

text: The New York County District Attorney, also known as the Manhattan District Attorney, is the elected district attorney for New York County (Manhattan), New York. The office is responsible for the prosecution of violations of New York state laws (federal law violations in Manhattan are prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York). The current district attorney is Alvin Bragg. He was elected in 2021 to succeed Cyrus Vance Jr.


title: New York County District Attorney

text: District attorneys are legally permitted to delegate the prosecution of petty crimes or offenses. Prosecutors do not normally handle New York City Criminal Court summons court cases, and the Manhattan district attorney has a memorandum of understanding with the New York City Police Department allowing their legal bureau to selectively prosecute them.


title: New York County District Attorney

text: In the legislative act of February 12, 1796, New York State was divided into seven districts, each with an Assistant Attorney General, except New York County where Attorney General Josiah Ogden Hoffman prosecuted personally until 1801.


title: New York County District Attorney

text: From 1801 to 1813, New York County was part of the First District, which included the counties of New York, Kings, Queens, Richmond, and Suffolk. At that time, Queens included current-day Nassau County and Westchester included the Bronx. In 1813, Westchester County was apportioned to a new district with Rockland and Putnam counties, and in 1815, New York County became the Twelfth District—the only one at the time that was a single county. In 1818, each county in the state became its own district.


title: New York County District Attorney

text: From 1874 to 1895, New York County included the West Bronx, and from 1895 to 1913 it included all of what is now Bronx County, governing the same area as does the present Borough of the Bronx. On January 1, 1914, the Bronx became a separate county with its own district attorney.


title: New York County District Attorney

text: Until 1822, the district attorney was appointed by the Council of Appointment, and held the office "during the Council's pleasure", meaning that there was no defined term of office. Under the provisions of the New York State Constitution of 1821, the district attorney was appointed to a three-year term by the County Court, and under the provisions of the Constitution of 1846, the office became elective by popular ballot. The term was three years, beginning on January 1 and ending on December 31. In case of a vacancy, an acting district attorney was appointed by the Court of General Sessions until the Governor of New York filled the vacancy with an interim appointment until an election was held for the remainder of the term.


title: New York County District Attorney

text: The Consolidation Charter of 1896 extended the term by a year of the incumbent John R. Fellows, who had been elected in 1893 to a three-year term (1894–1896). Since the city election of 1897, the district attorney's term has coincided with the mayor's term and has been four years long. In case of a vacancy, the governor can make an interim appointment until a special election is held for the remainder of the term.


title: Holly Woodlawn

text: Holly Woodlawn (October 26, 1946 – December 6, 2015) was a transgender Puerto Rican actress and Warhol superstar who appeared in the films "Trash" (1970) and "Women in Revolt" (1971). She is also known as the Holly in Lou Reed's hit glam rock song "Walk on the Wild Side".


title: Holly Woodlawn

text: Woodlawn was born in Juana Díaz, Puerto Rico, to a German-American father who was a soldier in the U.S. Army, and Aminta Rodriguez, a native Puerto Rican, and grew up in Miami Beach, where she came out at a young age. She adopted the name Holly from the heroine of "Breakfast at Tiffany's", and in 1969 added the surname from a sign she saw on an episode of "I Love Lucy". After changing her name she began to falsely tell people she was the heiress to Woodlawn Cemetery.


title: Holly Woodlawn

text: In 1962, at the age of fifteen, Woodlawn ran away from home, leaving Florida heading north. She recollected that "I hocked some jewelry and ... made it all the way to Georgia, where the money ran out and ... had to hitchhike the rest of the way" to New York City.


title: Holly Woodlawn

text: At the age of 16, when most kids were cramming for trigonometry exams, I was turning tricks, living off the streets and wondering when my next meal was coming.


title: Holly Woodlawn

text: Woodlawn met Andy Warhol at the Factory, at a screening of "Flesh" (1968). Through him she met Jackie Curtis, who cast Woodlawn in her play "Heaven Grand in Amber Orbit" in the autumn of 1969.


title: Holly Woodlawn

text: In October, she originally was given a bit role in "Trash", but so impressed director and screenwriter Paul Morrissey that he re-wrote it to give her a much larger role. In "Trash", Joe Dallesandro plays a heroin addict on a quest to score who, ambivalent about his sexuality, has a transgender girlfriend played by Woodlawn. The pair contrasted the other with violent episodes of over-dose matched by improvisation and sulky rejection. Woodlawn ad libbed many of the lines herself, preferring creativity to strict adherence to the script. Woodlawn was paid $25 per day during filming, spending the last day's on heroin. In October 1970, she received word from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences that George Cukor, supported by others, was petitioning the Academy to nominate her for Best Actress for her work in "Trash", but nothing came of this. In Morrissey's next film she was joined by others in Warhol's pantheon of stars, to play in "Women in Revolt", a satirical look at the women's rights movement and the PIGS (politically involved girls). In this film, she became one of the first people to say the word "cunt" in cinema.


title: Holly Woodlawn

text: In May 1971, Woodlawn replaced Candy Darling at the La MaMa theatre in a production of "Vain Victory" written and directed by Jackie Curtis. She was arrested and briefly incarcerated in Puerto Rico after being caught shoplifting. Woodlawn created a stir when she was arrested in New York City after impersonating the wife of the French Ambassador to the United Nations. When arrested, she was taken to the New York Women's House of Detention and then transferred to a men's facility when the fact that she was transgender was discovered.


title: Holly Woodlawn

text: In 1972, director Robert Kaplan and cinematographer Paul Glickman concocted the idea of a movie whose premise would be using a transgender woman as the lead in a film without revealing the sex of the actress. Woodlawn played a young, starstruck girl hoping for success as an actress in New York City. The film, "Scarecrow in a Garden of Cucumbers", was a low budget, 16 mm, unsuccessful musical feature. The song "In The Very Last Row", written by Marshall Barer, was performed by Bette Midler.


title: Holly Woodlawn

text: In 1977, Woodlawn moved to San Francisco. She returned to New York later in the year, appearing on Geraldo Rivera's talk show, before being jailed again in 1978 for violating terms of probation. She was released on the appeal of politician Ethan Geto, who helped organize a benefit for her. By 1979, she had surrendered to a faltering career, cut her hair and moved back to her parents' home in Miami, while working as a busser at Benihana. She also appeared in films by Rosa von Praunheim, for example in 1979 in "Tally Brown, New York". Woodlawn was friend with both (the director and Tally Brown).


title: Holly Woodlawn

text: Back in New York in the mid-1980s, she became a featured singer in Gabriel Rotello's Downtown Dukes and Divas revues at clubs such as The Limelight and The Palladium, and a star of various musicals and revues mounted by the songwriting and producing team of Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman. In 1991 she published her autobiography "A Low Life in High Heels" with writer Jeff Copeland.


title: Holly Woodlawn

text: During the 1990s, Woodlawn achieved a modest film and theatrical comeback, making cameo appearances in productions such as "Night Owl" (1993) and "Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss" (1998). After Warhol's death, she was interviewed frequently on his life and influence. At the time of her death she resided in West Hollywood where in the late 90s she participated in riot grrrl shows with Revolution Rising, and recorded spoken words for songs with experimental recordings by the band Lucid Nation. In 1999 she was in a controversial film about conjoined twins who live in a run down motel in a small town. "Twin Falls Idaho" was followed four years later by "Milwaukee, Minnesota". More recently she acted in "Transparent", a U.S. television series about a transgender mother played by Jeffrey Tambor.


title: Holly Woodlawn

text: When Holly Woodlawn appeared in public she would dress as a dazzling alternative image of Jean Harlow, complete with wig and frosted lipstick. She presented as a glamorous actress, saying:


title: Holly Woodlawn

text: I was very happy when I gradually became a Warhol superstar. I felt like Elizabeth Taylor. Little did I realize that not only would there be no money, but that your star would flicker for two seconds and that was it – the drugs, the parties, it was fabulous.


title: Holly Woodlawn

text: In the opinion of Vincent Canby, "Holly Woodlawn, especially, is something to behold, a comic book Mother Courage who fancies herself as Marlene Dietrich but sounds more often like Phil Silvers."


title: Holly Woodlawn

text: Woodlawn's first cabaret engagement was a solo act in 1973 at Reno Sweeney in New York. The following year, she performed with Jackie Curtis in "Cabaret in the Sky" at the New York Cultural Center. In the early 2000s, she resumed performing cabaret in sold-out shows in New York and Los Angeles. She continued to travel with her cabaret show, most recently appearing in Manhattan's Laurie Beechman Theatre in 2013.


title: Holly Woodlawn

text: Woodlawn fell seriously ill in June 2015, and was hospitalized at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California. Tests later revealed that she had lesions on her liver and brain. The lesions were later determined to be cancer. Woodlawn's health improved enough for her to be sent home, where she continued treatment and received in-home healthcare. She was later forced to vacate her West Hollywood, California, apartment due to flooding, and entered an assisted living facility in October.


title: Holly Woodlawn

text: Woodlawn's estate founded the Holly Woodlawn Memorial Fund for Transgender Youth at the Los Angeles LGBT Center.


title: Holly Woodlawn

text: Lou Reed refers to Woodlawn in his song "Walk on the Wild Side", the opening verse of which describes her hitchhiking journey and gender transition:


title: National Assembly (Nigeria)

text: The National Assembly of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is a bicameral legislature established under section 4 of the Nigerian Constitution. It consists of a Senate with 109 members and a 360-member House of Representatives. The body, modeled after the federal Congress of the United States, is supposed to guarantee equal representation with 3 senators to each 36 states irrespective of size in the Senate plus 1 senator representing the Federal Capital Territory and single-member district, plurality voting in the House of Representatives. The National Assembly, like many other organs of the Nigerian federal government, is based in Abuja in the Federal Capital Territory.


title: National Assembly (Nigeria)

text: The Senate is chaired by the president of the Nigerian Senate, the first of whom was Nnamdi Azikiwe, who stepped down from the job to become the country's first head of state. The House is chaired by the speaker of the House of Representatives. At any joint session of the Assembly, the president of the Senate presides and in their absence the speaker of the House presides.


title: National Assembly (Nigeria)

text: The Assembly has broad oversight functions and is empowered to establish committees of its members to scrutinise bills and the conduct of government officials. Since the restoration of democratic rule in 1999, the Assembly has been said to be a "learning process" that has witnessed the election and removal of several presidents of the Senate, allegations of corruption, slow passage of private member's bills and the creation of ineffective committees to satisfy numerous interests.


title: National Assembly (Nigeria)

text: In spite of a more than two-thirds majority control of the Assembly by the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the PDP government led by Goodluck Jonathan and the Assembly have been known more for their disagreements than for their cooperation. Jonathan has been accused of being slow to implement policy. Many bills, some from as long ago as 2007, are still awaiting the president's assent. While the Assembly has made strong and often popular efforts to assert its authority and independence against the executive, it is still viewed generally in a negative light by the media and many of the Nigerian people. The Assembly sits for a period of at most four years, after which time the president is required to dissolve it and call a new Assembly into the session.


title: National Assembly (Nigeria)

text: The Senate has the unique power to impeach judges and other high officials of the executive, including the federal auditor-general and the members of the electoral and revenue commissions. This power is, however, subject to a prior request by the president. The Senate also confirms the president's nomination of senior diplomats, members of the federal cabinet, federal judicial appointments, and independent federal commissions.


title: National Assembly (Nigeria)

text: Before any bill may become law, it must be agreed to by both the House and the Senate, and receive the president's assent. Should the president delay or refuse assent (veto) the bill, the Assembly may pass the law by two-thirds of both chambers and overrule the veto and the president's consent will not be required. The present Assembly has not hidden its preparedness to overrule the executive where they disagree.


title: National Assembly (Nigeria)

text: The National Institute for Legislative Studies (NILS) is an organ of the National Assembly established by an Act of Parliament. Former President Jonathan signed into law the National Institute for Legislative Studies Act 2011 on 2 March 2011 following the passage of the same by the Senate and the House of Representatives. NILS builds on the successes of the Policy Analysis and Research Project, established in 2003 as a capacity building institution of the National Assembly with the financial support of the African Capacity Building Foundation. NILS has as its core objectives to provide quality academic and professional research, policy analysis, training, documentation and advocacy on democratic governance and legislative practice and procedures. The functions of NILS are similar to the services offered to the US Congress by Congressional Research Service, Congressional Budget Office, and Library of Congress, only on a lesser scale as the institute was just established. The institute has been renamed the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies, following the amendment to the act establishing it.


title: National Assembly (Nigeria)

text: Currently, there are a total of 21 women serving in the National Assembly, 8 in the Senate and 13 in the House of Representatives. In total, women make up around 4.47% percent of the National Assembly. The first and only female to serve as the speaker of the Nigerian House of Representatives was Patricia Etteh who served a four-month term from June to October 2007. The only female to have held the position of governor in Nigerian history was Dame Virginia Ngozi Etiaba who held the office of governor of Anambra State for three months after the previous governor was impeached for alleged gross misconduct.


title: National Assembly (Nigeria)

text: In Nigeria, men and women have an equal right to participate in public office, which is guaranteed to them by the constitution. Section 40 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria bestows upon Nigerian citizens the right to belong to any political party, trade union or any other association for the protection of his interests. Many initiatives have been taken by the Nigerian government to promote the participation of women in politics and public service. In the 2000 National Policy on Women, the Nigerian government pledged to ensure that women participate in politics equally to men, implementing an affirmative action quota of 30% increase in participation. In the 2003 elections, some parties waived nomination fees for women in order to lower the barriers to participation.  There are many civil society groups that focus on the interests of women who want to participate in politics. The Forum of Nigerian Women in Politics is an influential group that operates with the goal of empowering women. They have requested that the Nigerian government yield 30% female representation in government appointments.


title: National Assembly (Nigeria)

text: Women in Nigeria face many barriers to political participation. These include cultural practices, threat of intimidation or violence, high cost of election, inadequacy of willing and educated women, and issues regarding indigeneity. Women who are married outside their constituencies of birth but run for election in the constituencies of their marriage are often marked as non-indigene by the community.


title: National Assembly (Nigeria)

text: Women face multiple obstacles that limit them in their political participation, and this is has an effect on the amount of women who are represented in government. These obstacles are related to the high cost of politics, which prevents women for standing for positions, as some women are not able to afford the mandatory expression of interest and nomination forms. These forms are required by political parties to run for positions on their platforms in addition to the campaign costs. Women are disproportionately affected by this because there is inadequate access to education for women compared to their male counterparts and poor access to education translates to poor access to gainful employment, unpaid labor, unequal access to inheritance rights, and discrimination - all obstacles that limit the participation of women in politics.


title: National Assembly (Nigeria)

text: Mercy Ette argues that there has been less participation of women in politics as a result of the influence of the media. She argues that the media has reinforced a patriarchy in politics and has downplayed the participation of women in politics. The failure of political parties to choose women as strong candidates has also contributed greatly to lack of effective participation of women in politics. These women are often given subordinate positions where they are able to change little to nothing or affect decisions in the political society. Despite the challenges faced by women in Nigerian politics, there has been an increasing number of female participation in politics over the years. In 1999 3 women were elected to the senate and 12 to the House of Representatives after two rounds of elections. Later the number of women in senate has gone up to 8 in 2007, but this number later dropped in 2011. The overall national average for women participation is around 6% for elective and appointive positions which is below the West African sub regional average of 15%. Nigeria ranks the 32nd out of the 35 sub Saharan countries when it comes to representation of women in politics. The upcoming 2023 elections is facing similar criticisms, as there are just 6 female aspirants who have joined the presidential race to succeed Muhammadu Buhari.


title: Siouan languages

text: Siouan or Siouan–Catawban is a language family of North America that is located primarily in the Great Plains, Ohio and Mississippi valleys and southeastern North America with a few other languages in the east.


title: Siouan languages

text: Authors who call the entire family "Siouan" distinguish the two branches as "Western Siouan" and "Eastern Siouan" or as "Siouan-proper" and "Catawban". Others restrict the name "Siouan" to the western branch and use the name "Siouan–Catawban" for the entire family. Generally, however, the name "Siouan" is used without distinction.


title: Siouan languages

text: Siouan languages can be grouped into the Western Siouan languages and Catawban languages. The Western Siouan languages can be divided into Missouri River languages (such as Crow and Hidatsa), Mandan, Mississippi River languages (such as Dakotan, Chiwere-Winnebago, and Dhegihan languages), and Ohio Valley Siouan branches. The Catawban languages consist only of Catawban and Woccon.


title: Siouan languages

text: There is a certain amount of comparative work in Siouan–Catawban languages. Wolff (1950–51) is among the first and more complete works on the subject. Wolff reconstructed the system of proto-Siouan, and this was modified by Matthews (1958). The latter's system is shown below:


title: Siouan languages

text: With respect to vowels, five oral vowels are being reconstructed and three nasal vowels . Wolff also reconstructed some consonantal clusters .


title: Siouan languages

text: Collaborative work involving a number of Siouanists started at the 1984 Comparative Siouan Workshop at the University of Colorado with the goal of creating a comparative Siouan dictionary that would include Proto-Siouan reconstructions. This work yielded a different analysis of the phonemic system of Proto-Siouan, which appears below:


title: Siouan languages

text: In Siouanist literature (e.g., Rankin et al. 2015), Americanist phonetic transcriptions are the norm, so IPA * is Americanist *š, IPA *j is Americanist *y, and so on.


title: Siouan languages

text: The major change to the previously-proposed system was accomplished by systematically accounting for the distribution of multiple stop series in modern Siouan languages by tracing them back to multiple stop series in the proto-language. Previous analysis posited only a single stop series.


title: Siouan languages

text: Many of the consonant clusters proposed by Wolff (19501951) can be accounted for due to syncopation of short vowels before stressed syllables. For example, Matthews (1958: 129) gives *wróke as the proto-form for 'male.' With added data from a larger set of Siouan languages since the middle of the twentieth century, Rankin et al. (2015) give *waroː(-ka) as the reconstructed form for 'male.'


title: Siouan languages

text: Unlike Wolff and Matthew's proposals, there are no posited nasal consonants in Proto-Siouan. Nasal consonants only arise in daughter languages when followed by a nasal vowel.


title: Siouan languages

text: In addition, there is a set of sounds that represent obstruentized versions of their corresponding sonorants. These sounds have different reflexes in daughter languages, with *w appearing as [w] or [m] in most daughter languages, while *W has a reflex of [w], [b], [mb], or [p]. The actual phonetic value of these obstruents is an issue of some debate, with some arguing that they arise through geminated *w+*w or *r+*r sequences or a laryngeal plus *w or *r.


title: Siouan languages

text: Previous work on Proto-Siouan only posited single vowel length. However, phonemic vowel length exists in several Siouan languages such as Hidatsa, Ho-Chunk, and Tutelo. Rankin et al. (2015) analyze numerous instances of long vowels as present due to common inheritance rather than common innovation. The five oral vowels and three nasal vowels posited by earlier scholars is expanded to include a distinction between short and long vowels. The proposed Proto-Siouan vowel system appears below:


title: Siouan languages

text: The Yuchi isolate may be the closest relative of Sioux–Catawban, based on both sound changes and morphological comparison.


title: Siouan languages

text: In the 19th century, Robert Latham suggested that the Siouan languages are related to the Caddoan and Iroquoian languages. In 1931, Louis Allen presented the first list of systematic correspondences between a set of 25 lexical items in Siouan and Iroquoian. In the 1960s and 1970s, Wallace Chafe further explored the link between Siouan and Caddoan languages. In the 1990s, Marianne Mithun compared the morphology and syntax of all the three families. At present, this Macro-Siouan hypothesis is not considered proven, and the similarities between the three families may instead be due to their protolanguages having been part of a sprachbund.


title: Cray-1

text: The Cray-1 was a supercomputer designed, manufactured and marketed by Cray Research. Announced in 1975, the first Cray-1 system was installed at Los Alamos National Laboratory in 1976. Eventually, over 100 Cray-1s were sold, making it one of the most successful supercomputers in history. It is perhaps best known for its unique shape, a relatively small C-shaped cabinet with a ring of benches around the outside covering the power supplies and the cooling system.


title: Cray-1

text: The Cray-1 was the first supercomputer to successfully implement the vector processor design. These systems improve the performance of math operations by arranging memory and registers to quickly perform a single operation on a large set of data. Previous systems like the CDC STAR-100 and ASC had implemented these concepts but did so in a way that seriously limited their performance. The Cray-1 addressed these problems and produced a machine that ran several times faster than any similar design.


title: Cray-1

text: The Cray-1's architect was Seymour Cray; the chief engineer was Cray Research co-founder Lester Davis. They would go on to design several new machines using the same basic concepts, and retained the performance crown into the 1990s.


title: Cray-1

text: From 1968 to 1972, Seymour Cray of Control Data Corporation (CDC) worked on the CDC 8600, the successor to his earlier CDC 6600 and CDC 7600 designs. The 8600 was essentially made up of four 7600s in a box with an additional special mode that allowed them to operate lock-step in a SIMD fashion.


title: Cray-1

text: Jim Thornton, formerly Cray's engineering partner on earlier designs, had started a more radical project known as the CDC STAR-100. Unlike the 8600's brute-force approach to performance, the STAR took an entirely different route. The main processor of the STAR had lower performance than the 7600, but added hardware and instructions to speed up particularly common supercomputer tasks.


title: Cray-1

text: By 1972, the 8600 had reached a dead end; the machine was so incredibly complex that it was impossible to get one working properly. Even a single faulty component would render the machine non-operational. Cray went to William Norris, Control Data's CEO, saying that a redesign from scratch was needed. At the time, the company was in serious financial trouble, and with the STAR in the pipeline as well, Norris could not invest the money.


title: Cray-1

text: As a result, Cray left CDC and started Cray Research very close to the CDC lab. In the back yard of the land he purchased in Chippewa Falls, Cray and a group of former CDC employees started looking for ideas. At first, the concept of building another supercomputer seemed impossible, but after Cray Research's Chief Technology Officer travelled to Wall Street and found a lineup of investors willing to back Cray, all that was needed was a design.


title: Cray-1

text: For four years Cray Research designed its first computer. In 1975 the 80 MHz Cray-1 was announced. The excitement was so high that a bidding war for the first machine broke out between Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Los Alamos National Laboratory, the latter eventually winning and receiving serial number 001 in 1976 for a six-month trial. The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) was the first official customer of Cray Research in 1977, paying US$8.86 million ($7.9 million plus $1 million for the disks) for serial number 3. The NCAR machine was decommissioned in 1989. The company expected to sell perhaps a dozen of the machines, and set the selling price accordingly, but ultimately over 80 Cray-1s of all types were sold, priced from $5M to $8M. The machine made Seymour Cray a celebrity and his company a success, lasting until the supercomputer crash in the early 1990s.


title: Cray-1

text: Based on a recommendation by William Perry's study, the NSA purchased a Cray-1 for theoretical research in cryptanalysis. According to Budiansky, "Though standard histories of Cray Research would persist for decades in stating that the company's first customer was Los Alamos National Laboratory, in fact it was NSA..."


title: Cray-1

text: The 160 MFLOPS Cray-1 was succeeded in 1982 by the 800 MFLOPS Cray X-MP, the first Cray multi-processing computer. In 1985, the very advanced Cray-2, capable of 1.9 GFLOPS peak performance, succeeded the first two models but met a somewhat limited commercial success because of certain problems at producing sustained performance in real-world applications. A more conservatively designed evolutionary successor of the Cray-1 and X-MP models was therefore made by the name Cray Y-MP and launched in 1988.


title: Cray-1

text: By comparison, the processor in a typical 2013 smart device, such as a Google Nexus 10 or HTC One, performs at roughly 1 GFLOPS, while the A13 processor in a 2020 iPhone 11 performs at 154.9 GFLOPS, a mark supercomputers succeeding the Cray-1 would not reach until 1994.


title: Cray-1

text: Typical scientific workloads consist of reading in large data sets, transforming them in some way and then writing them back out again. Normally the transformations being applied are identical across all of the data points in the set. For instance, the program might add 5 to every number in a set of a million numbers.


title: Cray-1

text: In traditional computers the program would loop over all million numbers, adding five, thereby executing a million instructions saying codice_1. Internally the computer solves this instruction in several steps. First it reads the instruction from memory and decodes it, then it collects any additional information it needs, in this case the numbers b and c, and then finally runs the operation and stores the results. The end result is that the computer requires tens or hundreds of millions of cycles to carry out these operations.


title: Cray-1

text: In the STAR, new instructions essentially wrote the loops for the user. The user told the machine where in memory the list of numbers was stored, then fed in a single instruction codice_2. At first glance it appears the savings are limited; in this case the machine fetches and decodes only a single instruction instead of 1,000,000, thereby saving 1,000,000 fetches and decodes, perhaps one-fourth of the overall time.


title: Cray-1

text: The real savings are not so obvious. Internally, the CPU of the computer is built up from a number of separate parts dedicated to a single task, for instance, adding a number, or fetching from memory. Normally, as the instruction flows through the machine, only one part is active at any given time. This means that each sequential step of the entire process must complete before a result can be saved. The addition of an instruction pipeline changes this. In such machines the CPU will "look ahead" and begin fetching succeeding instructions while the current instruction is still being processed. In this assembly line fashion any one instruction still requires as long to complete, but as soon as it finishes executing, the next instruction is right behind it, with most of the steps required for its execution already completed.


title: Cray-1

text: Vector processors use this technique with one additional trick. Because the data layout is in a known format — a set of numbers arranged sequentially in memory — the pipelines can be tuned to improve the performance of fetches. On the receipt of a vector instruction, special hardware sets up the memory access for the arrays and stuffs the data into the processor as fast as possible.


title: Cray-1

text: CDC's approach in the STAR used what is today known as a "memory-memory architecture". This referred to the way the machine gathered data. It set up its pipeline to read from and write to memory directly. This allowed the STAR to use vectors of length not limited by the length of registers, making it highly flexible. Unfortunately, the pipeline had to be very long in order to allow it to have enough instructions in flight to make up for the slow memory. That meant the machine incurred a high cost when switching from processing vectors to performing operations on non-vector operands. Additionally, the low scalar performance of the machine meant that after the switch had taken place and the machine was running scalar instructions, the performance was quite poor. The result was rather disappointing real-world performance, something that could, perhaps, have been forecast by Amdahl's law.


title: Cray-1

text: Cray studied the failure of the STAR and learned from it. He decided that in addition to fast vector processing, his design would also require excellent all-around scalar performance. That way when the machine switched modes, it would still provide superior performance. Additionally he noticed that the workloads could be dramatically improved in most cases through the use of registers.


title: Cray-1

text: Just as earlier machines had ignored the fact that most operations were being applied to many data points, the STAR ignored the fact that those same data points would be repeatedly operated on. Whereas the STAR would read and process the same memory five times to apply five vector operations on a set of data, it would be much faster to read the data into the CPU's registers once, and then apply the five operations. However, there were limitations with this approach. Registers were significantly more expensive in terms of circuitry, so only a limited number could be provided. This implied that Cray's design would have less flexibility in terms of vector sizes. Instead of reading any sized vector several times as in the STAR, the Cray-1 would have to read only a portion of the vector at a time, but it could then run several operations on that data prior to writing the results back to memory. Given typical workloads, Cray felt that the small cost incurred by being required to break large sequential memory accesses into segments was a cost well worth paying.


title: Cray-1

text: Since the typical vector operation would involve loading a small set of data into the vector registers and then running several operations on it, the vector system of the new design had its own separate pipeline. For instance, the multiplication and addition units were implemented as separate hardware, so the results of one could be internally pipelined into the next, the instruction decode having already been handled in the machine's main pipeline. Cray referred to this concept as "chaining", as it allowed programmers to "chain together" several instructions and extract higher performance.