Category: 2018

The Wikipedia article of the day for February 21, 2018 is North Ronaldsay sheep.
The North Ronaldsay is a breed of domestic sheep from the northernmost island of Orkney, off the north coast of Scotland. It belongs to the Northern European short-tailed sheep group of breeds, and has evolved without much cross-breeding with modern breeds. It is a smaller sheep than most, with the rams (males) horned and ewes (females) mostly hornless. It was formerly kept primarily for wool, but now the two largest flocks are feral, one on North Ronaldsay and another on the Orkney island of Linga Holm. The Rare Breeds Survival Trust lists the breed as “vulnerable”, with fewer than 600 registered breeding females in the United Kingdom. The sheep on North Ronaldsay are confined to the shoreline by a 1.8 m tall (6 ft) dry-stone wall, which completely encircles the island. The wall was built originally to protect the shoreline and keep the sheep inside it, but when seaweed farming on the shore became uneconomical, the sheep were banished outside the wall to protect the fields and crofts inside. Because of their restricted environment, the sheep evolved to subsist almost entirely on seaweed.

Source http://handbookblogger.blogspot.com/2018/02/wikipedia-article-of-day-for-february_20.html

The Wikipedia article of the day for February 20, 2018 is Maxinquaye.
Maxinquaye is the debut album by English rapper and producer Tricky (pictured), released on 20 February 1995. By the time he recorded the album, Tricky had grown frustrated with his limited role in the group Massive Attack and had discovered vocalist Martina Topley-Bird, who he felt would offer another dimension to his lyrics. He signed a solo contract with 4th & B’way Records in 1993 and recorded Maxinquaye the following year primarily at his home studio in London with Topley-Bird as the predominant vocalist. The record’s groove-oriented and low-tempo sound incorporates elements from hip hop, soul, rock, ambient techno, reggae, and experimental music. The songs explore themes of cultural decline, dysfunctional sexual relationships, fear of intimacy, and recreational drug use. In writing them, Tricky drew on his experiences in the British drug culture and the influence of his late mother Maxine Quaye, after whom the album is titled. The album has sold 500,000 copies worldwide and has ranked frequently on greatest-album lists, being viewed as a significant influence on electronica, underground, and British hip hop.

Source http://handbookblogger.blogspot.com/2018/02/wikipedia-article-of-day-for-february_19.html

The Wikipedia article of the day for February 19, 2018 is Dungeon Siege.
Dungeon Siege is an action role-playing game developed by Gas Powered Games and published by Microsoft for Windows (2002) and by Destineer for MacOS (2003). Set in the pseudo-medieval kingdom of Ehb, the high fantasy game follows a young farmer and his companions as they journey to defeat an invading force. Instead of manually controlling characters, the player sets their overall tactics, weapons and magic usage. Chris Taylor and Jacob McMahon aimed for a role-playing game stripped of the typical genre elements they found slow or frustrating, including all loading screens, to keep the player focused on the action. Development took over four years, often with 12- to 14-hour workdays. The game is listed by review aggregator Metacritic as the third-highest rated computer role-playing game of 2002. Critics praised the graphics and seamless world, as well as the fun and accessible gameplay, but were dismissive of the plot. The game sold over 1.7 million copies. An expansion pack, Dungeon Siege: Legends of Aranna, was released in 2003, followed by Dungeon Siege II (2005), Dungeon Siege III (2011), and other titles.

Source http://handbookblogger.blogspot.com/2018/02/wikipedia-article-of-day-for-february_18.html

The Wikipedia article of the day for February 18, 2018 is Lazarus Aaronson.
Lazarus Aaronson (18 February 1895 – 9 December 1966) was a British poet and a lecturer in economics. As a young man, he belonged to a group of Jewish friends who are today known as the Whitechapel Boys, many of whom later achieved fame as writers and artists. His diction and verbal energy have been compared to those of his more renowned and innovative Whitechapel friend, Isaac Rosenberg. Reviewers have traced influences in Aaronson’s poetry from the English poet John Keats and from Hebrew poets such as Shaul Tchernichovsky and Zalman Shneur. Aaronson lived most of his life in London and spent much of his working life as a lecturer in economics at the City of London College. In his twenties, he converted to Christianity; a large part of his poetry focused on his conversion and spiritual identity as a Jew and an Englishman. He published three collections of poetry: Christ in the Synagogue (1930), Poems (1933), and The Homeward Journey and Other Poems (1946). Although he did not achieve widespread recognition, Aaronson gained a cult following of dedicated readers.

Source http://handbookblogger.blogspot.com/2018/02/wikipedia-article-of-day-for-february_17.html

The Wikipedia article of the day for February 17, 2018 is Isabelle Eberhardt.
Isabelle Eberhardt (17 February 1877 – 21 October 1904) was a Swiss explorer and writer. As a teenager, she published short stories under a male pseudonym. She became interested in North Africa, and was considered a proficient writer on the region despite learning about it only through correspondence. Eberhardt moved to Algeria in 1897, where she converted to Islam, dressed as an Arabic man and adopted a male name. Her unorthodox behaviour made her an outcast to European settlers and the French administration. Her acceptance by the Qadiriyya, an Islamic order, convinced the French that she was a spy or an agitator. In 1901 she survived an assassination attempt and was ordered to leave Algeria, but was allowed to return the following year after marrying her long-time partner, an Algerian soldier. In 1904, aged 27, she was killed by a flash flood in Aïn Sefra. Her manuscripts were collected and published posthumously, receiving critical acclaim. Streets were named after her in Béchar and Algiers.

Source http://handbookblogger.blogspot.com/2018/02/wikipedia-article-of-day-for-february_16.html