Ski

A ski is a narrow strip of semi-rigid material worn underfoot to glide over snow. Substantially longer than wide and characteristically employed in pairs, skis are attached to ski boots with ski bindings, with either a free, lockable, or partially secured heel. For climbing slopes, ski skins (originally made of seal fur, but now made of synthetic materials) can be attached at the base of the ski.

Originally intended as an aid to travel over snow, they are now mainly used recreationally in the sport of skiing.

Etymology and usage

The word ski comes from the Old Norse word "skíð" which means stick of wood or ski.

In Norwegian this word is usually pronounced [ˈʃiː]. In Swedish, another language evolved from Old Norse, the word is "skidor" (pl.).

English and French use the original spelling "ski", and modify the pronunciation. Prior to 1920, English usage of "skee" and "snow-shoe" is often seen. In Italian, it is pronounced as in Norwegian, and the spelling is modified: "sci". Portuguese, German and Spanish adapt the word to their linguistic rules: esqui, Schier (a German plural of Ski) and esquí. In Dutch, the word is "ski” and pronunciation was originally [ˈʃiː] as in Norwegian, but since approximately the 1960s changed to [ˈskiː]. Many languages make a verb form out of the noun, such as "to ski" in English, "skier" in French, "esquiar" in Spanish, "sciare" in Italian, "skiën" in Dutch, "esquiar" in Portuguese or "schilaufen" (as above also Ski laufen or Ski fahren) in German.

List of family name affixes

Family name affixes are a clue for family name etymology and can sometimes determine the ethnic origin of a person. This is a partial list of affixes.

Prefixes

Ski (driving stunt)

Skiing is an automotive driving stunt where the car is driven while balanced only on two wheels, either the pair on the driver side or on the passenger side.

The stunt is generally performed by driving one pair of wheels up on a ramp to lift one side of the car. Alternately, the stunt can be done in a vehicle with a high center of gravity (such as a 4x4 or SUV) by turning sharply or at speed. This technique is more dangerous because there is a strong possibility of the vehicle tipping completely over. Another technique is to let some air out of the tires that will be on the ground, so that the car can tip easier, as well as keep its balance better. Once up on two wheels, the car has to be balanced by steering (much as one would when riding a bicycle) which makes it necessary to drive more or less in a straight line. The vehicle used must also be fitted with a lockable differential (common on 4x4s).

Famous uses

The stunt has been used in many movies and television series, including Knight Rider,The Dukes of Hazzard, and two of the James Bond movies. The British stunt driver Russ Swift performs this maneuver as part of his shows and has achieved it in a wide range of vehicles including trucks. His son Paul also uses it in his displays and once rolled a Ford Fiesta whilst attempting to drive around Cardiff's Millennium Stadium at the Wales Rally GB in 2005.

Hydro

Hydro may refer to:

Energy technologies

Utilities

Australia:

Canada:

Europe:

Other uses

Places:

Personal names:

Hydro (fuel-station chain)

Hydro was a chain of fuel stations throughout Sweden owned by Statoil. The chain had more than 500 stations, as well as some unmanned Uno-X stations. The company also operated in retailing natural gas, electricity and heating oil.

History

The Hydro chain was created in the late 1980s when Norsk Hydro bought the Mobil stations in Norway, Sweden and Denmark to transform itself to a vertically integrated petroleum company. The stations were rebranded Hydro in all three countries. In 1995 the Norwegian and Danish stations were converted to Hydro Texaco when Hydro merged its stations in the two countries with Texaco's stations. In 2007 the ownership of Hydro was transferred to StatoilHydro when Norsk Hydro's oil and gas division merged with Statoil. When StatoilHydro was renamed Statoil in November 2009, the use of the Hydro-brand was discontinued and ownership of the Hydro filling stations was transferred to St1.

References

External links

List of Marvel Comics characters: H

Haazareth Three

The Haazareth Three debuted in Fantastic Four Vol 3 #69 (2003). They operate out of the hellish realm ruled by Mephisto. They are a trio of demons with whom Doctor Doom made a pact (seen in the Unthinkable story arc). They made a deal with Doom; if he sacrifices something of irreplaceable value, they would provide him with the magical powers he would have possessed if he had chosen to devote his life to studying magic over science. Doom does, killing his childhood sweetheart, Valeria. The demons come through with the deal.

Hack

Hack is a mutant whose first appearance was in Excalibur vol. 2 #2. He was one of the few survivors after Cassandra Nova programmed her Wild Sentinels to decimate the island nation of Genosha, killing over 16 million mutants. He found other survivors and allied himself with Unus the Untouchable and his gang. He was a very valuable asset on the island since all forms of electronic communication were eradicated or made useless by the resulting electro-magnetic damage. Inside of the gang, he became close friends with Hub and the two of them began to doubt if Unus' exclusive, clique-like strategy was the best way. Hack was gifted with a finely tuned form of telepathy that allowed him to "hack" into almost any mind.