A telephone is a telecommunications device that permits two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most efficiently the human voice, into electronic signals that are transmitted via cables and other communication channels to another telephone which reproduces the sound to the receiving user.
A common short form of the term is phone, which came into use almost immediately after the first patent was issued.
In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell was the first to be granted a United States patent for a device that produced clearly intelligible replication of the human voice at a second device. This instrument was further developed by many others, and became rapidly indispensable in business, government, and in households.
The essential elements of a telephone are a microphone (transmitter) to speak into and an earphone (receiver) which reproduces the voice in a distant location. In addition, most telephones contain a ringer to announce an incoming telephone call, and a dial or keypad to enter a telephone number when initiating a call to another telephone. The receiver and transmitter are usually built into a handset which is held up to the ear and mouth during conversation. The dial may be located either on the handset or on a base unit to which the handset is connected.
The transmitter converts the sound waves to electrical signals which are sent through a telephone network to the receiving telephone, which converts the signals into audible sound in the receiver or sometimes a loudspeaker. Telephones are duplex devices, meaning they permit transmission in both directions simultaneously.
The first telephones were directly connected to each other from one customer’s office or residence to another customer’s location. Being impractical beyond just a few customers, these systems were quickly replaced by manually operated centrally located switchboards. These exchanges were soon connected together, eventually forming an automated, worldwide public switched telephone network.
For greater mobility, various radio systems were developed for transmission between mobile stations on ships and automobiles in the mid-20th century. Hand-held mobile phones were introduced for personal service starting in 1973. In later decades, their analog cellular system evolved into digital networks with greater capability and lower cost.
Convergence has given most modern cell phones capabilities far beyond simple voice conversation. Most are smartphones, integrating all mobile communication and many computing needs.
Thanks to Wikipedia:
STOP WAR!!
Nothing to kill or die for
…
Imagine all the people
Livin’ life in peace
John Lennon -Imagine
KYIV, UKRAINE, YOU ARE NOT ALONE
Robert Jessup says on his blog:
“Street advertising, which has also come to be known as, or called ‘out of home’ (OOH) advertising, is a broad term used to describes any kind of marketing campaign that uses advertising techniques to reach consumers when they are outside, away from their home.
Street advertising can be accomplished virtually in any outdoor place, such as promotional paraphernalia at sporting events and musical concerts, billboards throughout cities, or simple signs outside on the street. Outdoor advertising can be compared to broadcasting methods, because both represent a type of mass-market medium, meaning that the intention of both are to reach a large, undifferentiated segment of the population (consumers) with indistinct and varied backgrounds.
Street advertising is best utilized through broad message advertising mediums, as well as branding and support campaigns”.
Twins
It is a pleasure to participate again in the Week Photo Challenge. The theme of this week is <a href="http://Focus“>Pure.
My contribution to the subject are these precious and sleeping twins. No one would doubt its purity, yet…
It’Sugar
It’Sugar
Founded in 2006 by Jeff Rubin, IT’Sugar is a modern day playground dedicated to immersing its customers in content that they just can’t keep to themselves. IT’SUGAR was created to satisfy a universal sweet tooth and provide a variety of bold merchandise with tongue-and-cheek attitude.
As the place where candy-obsessed come to indulge in the sights, smells and tastes of their favorite sweets and get immersed in the brand’s irreverent voice and fun-loving nature, IT’SUGAR is a different kind of specialty store. Dedicated to bringing out the child in every adult, the brand mixes unique product and merchandise with mega-sized humor and attitude.
This picture was taken at:
A Face in the Crowd
This is my contribution to this Week Photo Challenge: A Face in the Crowd.
This photo was taken some time ago at the Portobello street market in London.
The violinist played his instrument without finding too much attention in the people who went from one place to another looking for something to buy. I was struck by his loneliness among a crowd of people.
In this Week Photo Challenge, Erica says: “These faceless portraits, as they were, captured a sense of being just one in the crowd. Instead of seeing the unique and defining characteristics of a person’s facial expressions, via an emotive gaze or mild smirk, they became anonymized, mysterious figures with stories impossible to guess.”
I think that this photo of the violinist perfectly reflects what Erica asked in her challenge.
Sweet
This is my contribution to this Weekly Photo Challenge, Sweet.
Although I should not like them as much as I like them, I must confess that I love them. Sweets attract many people because of their taste. I do not recommend sugar, but most sweets contain it in various amounts. I try to eat few and always the less sugar, the better.
For me, I admit, they are a temptation. I try not to buy and if I do, eat them in moderation. I do not always get it.
I photographed these beautiful and tasty cookies in a beautiful store in a large and luxurious department store in Berlin.
The ink sketches are handmade by me. I hope you like it.
Old useless phones
Resting after the walk
Walking is simple, free and one of the easiest ways to get more active, lose weight and become healthier.
It’s underrated as a form of exercise but walking is ideal for people of all ages and fitness levels who want to be more active.
Regular walking has been shown to reduce the risk of chronic illnesses, such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, asthma, stroke and some cancers.
Resting after walk is mandatory. Getting enough rest after exercise is essential. Do it, and as our woman in the photo, you can take off your shoes and stretch your feet and toes… you’ll feel better.
Partners. “Castellers”
This is my contribution to this Week Photo Challenge: Partners
These are a group of “castellers”, that is, a group of people who build human “castles”. I think this perfectly reflects the concept of partners.
A castell (castle) is a human tower built traditionally in festivals at many locations within Catalonia. At these festivals, several colles castelleres (group of people who do these towers) often succeed in building and dismantling a tower’s structure. On November 16, 2010, castells were declared by UNESCO to be amongst the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.
Castellers
A castell is considered a success when stages of its assembling and disassembling, can be done in complete succession. The assembly is complete once all castellers have climbed into their designated places, and the enxaneta climbs into place at the top and raises one hand with four fingers erect, in a gesture said to symbolize the stripes of the Catalan flag. The enxaneta then climbs down the other side of the castell, after which the remaining levels of castellers descend in highest-to-lowest order until all have reached safety.
Castellers
Aside from the people who climb to form the upper parts of the tower, others are needed to form the pinya, or bottom base of the castell, to sustain its weight. Members of the pinya (most often men) also act as a ‘safety net’ if the tower structure collapses, cushioning the fall of people from the upper levels. It is not uncommon—when not in competitions—for other colles to assist in the pinya when a small colla is attempting a specially demanding structure in terms of people needed.
More info: Wikipedia
time for love
Harsh and cold
autumn holds to it our naked trees:
If only you would free, at least, the sparrows
from the tips of your fingers
and release a smile, a small smile
from the imprisoned cry I see.
Sing! Can we sing
as if we were light, hand in hand
sheltered in shade, under a strong sun?
Will you remain, this way
stoking the fire, more beautiful than necessary, and quiet?
Darkness intensifies
and the distant light is our only consolation —
that one, which from the beginning
has, little by little, been flickering
and is now about to go out.
Come to me. Closer and closer.
I don’t want to know my hand from yours.
And let’s beware of sleep, lest the snow smother us.
Distant light
by Walid Khazindar
Walid Khazindar was born in 1950 in Gaza City. He is considered one of the best Palestinian poets; his poetry has been said to be “characterized by metaphoric originality and a novel thematic approach unprecedented in Arabic poetry.” He was awarded the first Palestine Prize for Poetry in 1997.
bCL Photography 