Coal

Coal (from the Old English term col, which has meant "mineral of fossilized carbon" since the 13th century) is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure. Coal is composed primarily of carbon along with variable quantities of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen.

Throughout history, coal has been used as an energy resource, primarily burned for the production of electricity and/or heat, and is also used for industrial purposes, such as refining metals. A fossil fuel, coal forms when dead plant matter is converted into peat, which in turn is converted into lignite, then sub-bituminous coal, after that bituminous coal, and lastly anthracite. This involves biological and geological processes that take place over a long period. The United States Energy Information Administration estimates coal reserves at 7011948000000000000♠948×10⁹ short tons (860 Gt). One estimate for resources is 18,000 Gt.

The Devastations

Devastations are an indie rock band from Melbourne, Australia. The band was founded in 2002 by the three friends Tom Carlyon, Hugo Cran and Conrad Standish after the end of their former band Luxedo.

The band was signed to Beggars Banquet Records, has released three albums and has toured extensively in Europe, where two of the band members live. Their debut album was named by Rolling Stone Germany as the best debut of 2004.

The band was nominated for an Australian Music Prize for Coal in 2005 and again in 2007 for Yes, U. The album, Yes, U, was also nominated for an Age Newspaper EG Award for Best Album of 2007.

Confirmed to be making an appearance on the upcoming tribute to The Cure on Manimal Vinyl in the Fall 2008. In 2009, the Devastations contributed to the AIDS benefit album Dark Was the Night produced by the Red Hot Organization.

Personnel

Discography

Coal (Kathy Mattea album)

Coal is an album by American country music singer Kathy Mattea, released on April 1, 2008 in the United States on her own label, Captain Potato Records. The album consists of 11 covers of classic coal mining songs by artists such as Merle Travis and Hazel Dickens.

Background

Mattea's decision to make an album about this topic was influenced by the fact that both of her grandfathers were miners, as well as by the Sago Mine disaster in 2006, which, when it occurred, reminded Mattea of the Farmington Mine disaster that had occurred when she was nine years old. She has said that she was expecting a set of stories in the songs she covered on this album, but instead found a connection to her miner ancestors. Her deep interest in this topic was also noted by the album's producer, Marty Stuart, as when they were recording the a cappella song "Black Lung". Stuart said it would be like "trying to repaint the 'Mona Lisa'", in that it requires authentic commitment to the task. Mattea also stated that it was so difficult for her to learn the song that it took her six months to do so. Nevertheless, the first recording of Mattea's version of the song ended up being kept after it made the recording engineer, whose father had died of black lung disease, cry. Stuart reacted by telling Mattea that this was a sign she was performing the song right.

Information

Information (shortened as info) is that which informs. In other words, it is the answer to a question of some kind. It is also that from which data and knowledge can be derived, as data represents values attributed to parameters, and knowledge signifies understanding of real things or abstract concepts. As it regards data, the information's existence is not necessarily coupled to an observer (it exists beyond an event horizon, for example), while in the case of knowledge, the information requires a cognitive observer.

At its most fundamental, information is any propagation of cause and effect within a system. Information is conveyed either as the content of a message or through direct or indirect observation of some thing. That which is perceived can be construed as a message in its own right, and in that sense, information is always conveyed as the content of a message.

Information can be encoded into various forms for transmission and interpretation (for example, information may be encoded into a sequence of signs, or transmitted via a sequence of signals). It can also be encrypted for safe storage and communication.

Classified (rapper)

Luke Boyd (born December 13, 1977), better known by his stage name Classified, is a Canadian recording artist and producer from Enfield, Nova Scotia.

Life and career

Music career

Classified attended Hants East Rural High School in Milford Station, Nova Scotia. He started his own production label, Half Life Records, and released his first full-length LP called Time's Up, Kid, in 1995. After years of working on music and sorting through label contracts, Classified produced, recorded and released his ninth album, Trial & Error, and signed a nationwide distribution deal with Toronto-based, URBNET Records. Containing collaborations with up-and-coming Canadian artists like Eternia and DL Incognito, as well as Canadian rap veteran, Maestro, the album was one of the highest selling independent rap albums in Canada in 2004.

In addition to the release of Trial & Error, 2003 and 2004 were busy years for Classified. With the continuous support of VideoFACT, he was able to release two additional music videos for the singles "Just the Way It Is" and "Unexpected". Classified also continued to master his production skills and joined forces with some of Canada's most prominent emcees, including Choclair and Maestro Fresh Wes. He also teamed up with Shady Records recording artist, Royce da 5'9" and opened for Ludacris, Snoop Dogg, Busta Rhymes, The Game, Nelly, MC Grizzly, Captain Capota, Nas, The Black Eyed Peas and Black Moon.

Eliot Sumner

Eliot Paulina Sumner (born 30 July 1990 in Pisa, Tuscany, Italy), also known as Coco, is an English musician. Sumner's debut album was released under the band name I Blame Coco, a name which the artist has since abandoned. I Blame Coco's debut album, The Constant, was released in the United Kingdom on 8 November 2010. Sumner is the child of musician Sting and actress/producer Trudie Styler.

Career

Eliot Sumner began playing music at a young age and writing songs at the age of 15. Some of their earlier demos include "I Blame Coco", "Look The Other Way", "Darkstar", "Never Be", "Voice in My Head", "Avion", and "No Smile" (A song which would later appear on their album, The Constant), many of which were imbued with a heavy reggae influence and elements of pop punk. The song "I Blame Coco", which was co-written with Mr Hudson, was released independently as a 7" single in 2007.

At the age of 17, Sumner signed a multi-record deal with Island Records. Sumner spent six months writing and recording their debut album The Constant in Sweden with one of their two producers, Klas Åhlund. According to his manager, Christian Wåhlberg, Åhlund had been keen to work with Sumner because he saw the "punk rocker" in them. The electropop sound of their debut album was influenced by Island president Darcus Beese, with Wåhlberg saying that if Eliot had signed to a different label then the music created with Åhlund would have sounded different. I Blame Coco's debut single for Island, "Caesar", featuring Robyn, was released in February 2010. Sumner released their follow-up single entitled "Self Machine" on 12 July 2010.