THE WHATIS.COM WORD-OF-THE-DAY May 6, 2004 Da Vinci's car _____________ SPONSORED BY: SearchOracle.com
SearchOracle.com features unbiased database industry news, technical tips, informative webcasts, white papers and more - all designed to help IT pros tackle their toughest database issues with ease. Newsletters are available on a range of topics, including Oracle administration and E-Business Suite - click here for a full list: http://searchOracle.com/r/0,,18966,00.htm?track=NL-34&ad=482212 ______________________ TODAY'S WORD: Da Vinci's car See our complete definition with hyperlinks at http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci962630,00.html?track=NL-34&ad=482212 Da Vinci's car is a vehicle developed from the Renaissance artist/engineer/architect's drawings. The car has a boxy shape, resembling a wagon, has three wheels and, in the full-scale model, measures five feet by five feet, six inches. Sometimes called the clockwork car because it's propelled by springs, da Vinci's car was designed as a robot, running according to a pre-set course and traveling a few meters at a time. The plans include an alternative steering column, as well, although there's no driver's seat. Leonardo's drawings illustrate the first known concept for a self-propelled vehicle, as well as the first one with programmable steering. According to Professor Carlo Pedretti, a leading Leonardo expert, the inventor probably intended to use his creation to cause a sensation at events in the royal court. Leonardo (perhaps most famous as the painter of the Mona Lisa) was a prolific inventor and developed plans for a variety of vehicles, including a bicycle, a tank, a robot, a submarine, and several different flying machines, including a helicopter. Leonardo's drawings of the vehicle were discovered in 1905, by Girolamo Calvi, an Italian academic and da Vinci studies pioneer. Calvi called the design "Leonardo's Fiat." Since that time, scholars have theorized about how the car might work. In 1997, Professor Pedretti identified coiled springs, hidden underneath the car in drums, as its means of propulsion. Pedretti teamed with American robotics expert Mark Rosheim and set to work creating models of the car. The Museum of History and Science in Florence, Italy mounted an exhibition of three models of da Vinci's car, along with copies of the original drawings, and an interactive simulation, to run from May 1st through June 5th, 2004. Several viewers commented on the vehicle's resemblance to NASA's "Spirit," a space vehicle used on Mars. ______________________ RELATED TERMS: robot http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci519835,00.html?track=NL-34&ad=482212 robotics http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci520361,00.html?track=NL-34&ad=482212 ______________________ SELECTED LINKS: The BBC Web site offers an article called "Da Vinci 'car' is brought to life." http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3658029.stm Wikipedia has a short, illustrated biography of Leonardo da Vinci. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci _____________________ TODAY'S TECH NEWS: USER DUMPS FIBRE CHANNEL FOR ATA Expedient swaps out an EMC Symmetrix for a Nexsan ATA array and claims it has seen no performance degradation. It has seen a massive drop in its cost. http://searchstorage.techtarget.com/originalContent/0,289142,sid5_gci962908,00.html?track=NL-34&ad=482212 LEARNING ABOUT PRIVACY FROM YOUR CRM VENDOR As privacy regulation continues to weigh on organizations, their CRM software vendors need to develop more privacy controls, says one analyst. Some vendors are appointing chief privacy officers of their own. http://searchcrm.techtarget.com/originalContent/0,289142,sid11_gci962909,00.html?track=NL-34&ad=482212 OASIS RATIFIES COMMON ALERTING PROTOCOL Common Alerting Protocol (CAP), which standardizes the interfaces used to disseminate public alerts and warnings, is ratified by OASIS as a standard. http://searchwebservices.techtarget.com/originalContent/0,289142,sid26_gci962837,00.html?track=NL-34&ad=482212 >> Catch up on all the latest IT news at http://searchtechtarget.techtarget.com?track=NL-34&ad=482212 ______________________ HOROSCOPES FOR GEEKS | May Find out what the universe has in store for you this month! http://searchcio.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid19_gci919205,00.html?track=NL-34&ad=482212 ______________________ GUIDE TO NETWORK ADMINISTRATION SearchNetworking.com polled network administrators about daily tasks and offered their best information about each task in this handy guide to network administration. http://searchnetworking.techtarget.com/originalContent/0,289142,sid7_gci958513,00.html?track=NL-34&ad=482212 ______________________ SECRET WORD-OF-THE-DAY | What is IT? This handy phenomenon keeps us from flying off the surface of the planet, and helps keep planets from careening out of orbit. Do you think you know the Secret Word? Click to see if you're right! http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci962687,00.html?track=NL-34&ad=482212 ______________________________ RECENT ADDITIONS AND UPDATES (1) black hole http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci961932,00.html?track=NL-34&ad=482212 (2) cold fusion http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci961683,00.html?track=NL-34&ad=482212 (3) ColdFusion http://searchwebservices.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid26_gci211812,00.html?track=NL-34&ad=482212 (4) virtual desktop manager http://searchwin2000.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid1_gci959452,00.html?track=NL-34&ad=482212 (5) derived object http://searchdatabase.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid13_gci960249,00.html?track=NL-34&ad=482212 ____________________________________________________________________ ::::::::::::::::::: WHATIS.COM CONTACTS ::::::::::::::::::: MARGARET ROUSE, Site Editor ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) IVY WIGMORE, Consulting Editor ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) LOWELL THING, Consulting Editor and Founder ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) GABRIELLE DERUSSY, Advertising ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) ::::::::::::::::::::: ABOUT THIS NEWSLETTER :::::::::::::::::::::: This e-newsletter is published by WhatIs.com, a targeted Web site from TechTarget, the most targeted IT media and events company. 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