When you are going to cut a picture mat board one of the things most people overlook is the squareness of the matting. Before you start to cut the mat board opening you need to ensure that your mat board is square and sized correctly. Squaring up a mat board is the first step in picture framing when you are framing a photo or framing a picture under glass.

If you can imagine when we’re framing a picture to go into a window mat board, the hole in the mat board needs to be smaller than the size of the picture itself because if you cut the mat board exactly the same size as the picture, the picture is going to fall through the mat or fall through the window in the mat. What we usually do is overlap the picture by 5mm or a quarter of an inch on each side.

If you’re going to use a tape measure to measure your picture, it is unreliable to use the end of the tape measure. I would generally come into the 100mm mark and then take 100mm off my measurement. Now on some of the rulers there is actually accurate measurements where there is a zero. If you’ve got a ruler, like a Logan mat cutter ruler, it has a clear zero mark and so therefore you can use the zero to start measuring your picture.

Squaring the mat board is simple if you follow these steps.

You will need a good aluminium or steel ruler, a good quality utility knife with snap-off blades, some scrap matting for cutting on and a sharp pencil or use a 0.5mm mechanical pencil.

Draw two diagonal lines on the back surface of your mat board. It doesn’t matter whether or not they intersect the corners so long as there are two straight lines that cross somewhere in the middle of the board.

Measure out along one of the diagonals from the centre of the board, where the lines cross, to a point near the corner of the board. The measurement is not important but you should try to measure as far as possible and pick a whole number that is easy to remember. Do this for each side from the centre along each diagonal. Mark the same distance from the centre each time.

Join up these measurements with a straight line. Do this for the perimeter of the board and you should have a squared up mat ready to measure out to the correct size.

Measure out the external size of the mat that you require using the squared up lines as your starting point.

Trim the board to size along the lines drawn using a utility knife. Make sure that you put your straight edge on the side of the board you wish to keep. This helps to protect the board because if you slip it will be into the waste and not into the board you want to keep.

Remember that the utility knife cuts along its flat surface not the tip so you should have a shallow angle between the knife and the board. That way you are presenting the maximum cutting surface of the knife to the mat board.

Another tip is to make sure you are cutting along the back edge of the ruler and not the measuring side. When you do this you will keep your ruler straight over the years rather than becoming worn by repeated trimming with the utility knife.

It is easiest to cut the board in several passes.

Score the board first and then gradually cut deeper with each successive cut. It is not necessary to cut through the board in one go unlike when you cut the bevel mat window.

When you have trimmed the squared up board you can proceed to draw up your window size on the back of the mat by measuring in from the edge of the board.

One day in the early 19th century, a young soldier in the 8th Dragoons, came on guard duty without his complete ceremonial outfit. The officer in charge sternly reprimanded him, but the tough Irishman responded with insolent words-the enraged officer then struck him with a cane. The soldier, William O’Brien, stepped forward and knocked down the officer with the butt of his carbine.

O’Brien then grabbed a horse and galloped off, never to return.

The 8th Dragoon were then in the service of the East India Company, which by the early 19th century had acquired control over most of India. The only places outside the company’s hold were the Punjab plains and the Western Himalayas, bordering Tibet. The prominent ruler in the Himalayan region was Maharaja Sansar Chand, of the ancient Katoch Rajput clan of Kangra.

Willim O’Brien took up service with the Rajput ruler sometime around 1814-Sansar Chand’s country of Kangra in the modern era had become subject to Ranjit Singh of the Punjab, but the Raja still enjoyed local independence and his forces were employed in wars against neighboring rulers.

The new disciplined infantry introduced by European adventurers, particularly French military officers in 18th century India, had become the dominant force in wars. William O’Brien established a corps of 1400 disciplined infantry for Sansar Chand-for this service the Katoch King made him a colonel. O’Brien was joined later by an Englishman, named Jackson, but who took the alias of James. He was an artilleryman and took charge of the Raja’s armoury, which he enlarged with his own manufactured arms.

Unfortunately he had a falling out with O’Brien in 1820, after which he left the Rajput ruler’s service, and joined that of the Sikh ruler Ranjit Singh.

A third soldier named MacDonald also served under Colonel O’Brien, but he was involved in an undiplomatic incident where a messenger from Ranjit Singh to Sansar Chand was insulted…..consequently he was expelled by Sansar Chand.

William O’Brien also designed uniforms for Sansar Chand’s infantry, which can be seen in this blog post: http://royalsplendour.blogspot.com/2008/01/kangra-modern-era.html. He remained in the service of the quaint hill-state of Kangra even after Sansar Chand’s death in 1823. His own death came a few years later-it was his dying wish to be interred in a tomb overlooking the River Beas. Behind this tomb the new Raja, Aniruddha Chand, placed sculptures of two horses, which were the Irishman’s favorites and had been killed on his death.

From one of the letters written by O’Brien on behalf of Sansar Chand, it turns out that his real name was Matthew Heaney. The Irish colonel’s tomb is visible today in the picturesque state of Himachal Pradesh (India).

Before we start talking about the different types of Scale Rules we should explain what a Scale Rule is and what it does. We have all used a rule, or ruler, at school to draw straight lines and to measure lines on drawings, or measurements as part of our geometry lessons. The basic ruler we used at school has a scale of one to one or 1:1, this means that if something is one unit in length the reading on the ruler will show that length. For example if a line is 25mm long the reading on the ruler will be 25mm.

The is fine for measuring a drawing that is drawn full size (1:1), but what we are drawing something that is too big to fit on the paper, such as the plans of a house or a large bridge? We then need to draw it to a smaller scale so that the object looks to have the correct proportions. For example, if we were drawing the plans for a new house we might use a scale of 1:50, so that for every 1000mm that the house measures, we only require a length of 20mm on the drawing, 1000 divided by 50.

If we were drawing a machine part we might draw it in half scale or 1:2, or a large bridge may be drawn at a much smaller scale of 1:200. This is where the Scale Rule helps us. As well as having a 1:1 scale on one of it’s edges, the scale rule has other scales on the other edges, it may have 1:10 on one edge, 1:50 on another and 1:200 on the forth face.

Typically a conventional flat or oval scale rule will have two scales on each face, for example 1:5 and 1:50 can be on the same face and the user decides which scale he or she needs to read. After a bit of practice it becomes a very easy task to identify and read each scale.

So what are the different types of Scale Rules? As with the origins of the traditional wooden school ruler, the early scale rules were of a similar material and appearance. The difference was that instead of just 1:1 scales the edges of the rule had different scales, sometimes just on the one side but often with other scales or conversion charts on the reverse side.

As we moved into the age of plastics, Scale Rules became more refined and more accurate, the lines forming the graduations could be finer and the indexing improved to show very accurate calibrations. The shapes also became more practical, Oval Scale Rules, as we know them today, were seen as an advancement as the face being used could be raised above the drawing giving less chance of ink smudges and dirty marks, style also plays a big part.

Triangular Scale Rules are a popular option, the section is more of a three pointed star shape which allows for six faces on which to put scales, this design therefore has the capacity to have up to twelve scales, a very practical tool. Because of it’s three dimensional shape the Triangular Scale Rule is easier to pick up and also easier to locate on a desk often covered with drawings!

There are also various types of extruded aluminium Rulers, flat aluminium and Stainless Steel Rules which all have their benefits depending on where they are to be used.

The attributes of the signs (Western) or rashis (Vedic) is the most complex issue for Southern Hemisphere astrology. To determine the attributes of the signs, we must analyze how the Western and Vedic traditions assigned their attributes in the Northern Hemisphere. If we apply the same logic to the Southern Hemisphere, we can determine the qualities of the signs/rashis.

We see that each sign/rashi obtains its attributes from five roots:

• Constellation
• House/Bhava
• Mode
• Planetary Ruler
• Element

When we view the zodiac from the Southern Hemisphere, we immediately see that the constellations and natural houses are reversed. The sign containing the vernal equinox is associated with the 1st house. The next sign is associated with the 2nd house, and so on. Libra (Thula) is the vernal equinox in the Southern Hemisphere, so Libra is the 1st house, while Aries (Mesha) is the 7th. Capricorn (Makara) is the 4th house, Cancer (Karkata) the 10th. So our first conclusion is that the constellation and houses are reversed or opposite. The three other fundamental roots (mode, ruler, element) must align with either the constellation or the house.

We note the fortunate symmetry of mode. Cardinal signs remain cardinal. If a sign is on an equinox or solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, it is on a cardinal point in the Southern Hemisphere. The same symmetry applies to the fixed and mutable signs. The hemisphere makes no difference in mode. Our second conclusion is that there is no change in mode. The assignment of cardinal, fixed, and mutable modes remains the same as in the Northern Hemisphere.

We must give more thought, however, to the planetary rulers of the signs. The ancients assigned planetary rulers according to seasons. The luminaries (Sol/Surya and Luna/Chandra) were assigned the signs/rashis of greatest heat. The other planets were assigned rulerships moving outward in Ptolemaic order (Mercury/Buddha, Venus/Sukra, Mars/Mangala, Jupiter/Guru, Saturn/Sani) until Saturn/Sani (and Uranus) were assigned to the coldest months. If we do this in the Southern Hemisphere, we start by assigning Luna rulership over Capricorn and Sol rulership over Aquarius. Mercury has rulership over Sagittarius and Pisces. We continue until Saturn (Western) has rulership over Cancer, Uranus over Leo, and Sani (Vedic) over Karkata and Simha. Our next conclusion is that planetary rulership is associated with the house, not the constellation.

If we temporarily ignore element, we see that the only difference between Southern and Northern Hemisphere signs is a reversal of the constellation. Thus, the first house, Mars-ruled, cardinal sign (rashi) is Libra, not Aries. We need to integrate the symbolism of the Scales to that of Mars, the 1st house, and cardinal mode to define Libra. The final, and most intriguing root, however, is the element. Would Libra (Thula) be air or fire in the Southern Hemisphere? This is the most controversial aspects of Southern Hemisphere signs/rashis.

Copyright (c) 2012 Franz Josef Stern

Pattern making is a simple thing with all the help that you can get from everywhere. There are many sources which can teach you pattern making and there are improved tools and equipments which help you to make patterns. Let us go into the details:

Take A Detailed Look At The Tools And Equipments That Help You To Create Fantastic Patterns On Clothes:

• The designer’s curve: this is an important tool when it comes to pattern making. The designer’s curve encompasses a ruler, the idea of which has been conceived by some of the leading designer’s of the world. The purpose of the designer’s curve is to make perfect measurements of your dress. Even the impossible looking curves can be cut out perfectly by the designer’s curve. The pattern designs are made with similar perfection.

• The tailor’s curve: this tool too, like the designer’s curve encompasses a ruler. The ruler in this enables you to measure the seams. All the seams of the dress are done with the help of the tailor’s curve. The seams include the upper seam, the seam of the hip region, the seams in the front and also in the back of the dress.

• Simflex expanding ruler: this is another important tool which helps in measurements. It measures the space between the buttons. Even the uniform placements of the hooks are measured by the simflex expanding ruler. The placements of the eyes are also taken care of by this instrument.

Some Other Very Important Tools For Sewing Patterns Are:

• Lutterloh pattern making system: the patterns that will create will be aided by this equipment. The designing of the patterns and the drafting of the patterns are all done with the help of this tool. The lutterloh pattern making system helps you to create any pattern that you wish to create.

• Vellum pattern making paper: before the designs are made on the cloth, they are made on the vellum pattern making paper. There are some lovely patterns already made on these papers. You can take inspiration from them also. If you draw the design on vellum pattern making paper, your designs on the surface of the cloth will be perfect.

The work will look a lot complete than otherwise what it would have been. This is the way to approach your designs methodically and systematically.

While Creating Patterns, Some Other Things That You Must Have At Hand:

• Sewing threads

• Sewing machines

• Rhinestones

• Needlework

• Sequins

Ensure The Following Factors While You Shop For These Things:

• Abrasion resistance

• high tenacity,

• low shrinkage capacity

• High temperature resistant.

Pattern designing is a highly interesting preoccupation that you can engage yourself with. You can learn this art from people who are masters of it. There are DVDs of classes sold in the market. The internet is also a good source from which you can learn pattern designing. Books on pattern designing are also available.

Darius I of Persia (548-486 BC), commonly known as Darius the Great, was one of the greatest kings of Persia (modern day Iran) and one of the great kings that ruled Persia in the Achaemenid Empire, also known as the Persian Empire (c. 550-330 BC).

He ascended the throne in 521 BC, having killed the previous king, Gaumata the Magian, who he regarded as an usurper. Darius’ version of these events may still be read in the monumental Behistun Inscription, near the city of Kermanshah in western Iran.

Darius ruled the Persian Empire at its peak, when it extended from the Indus River (modern day Pakistan) through Central and Southwest Asia to Egypt and part of Europe. He faced down many revolts throughout the Empire such such a revolt by the Babylonians. He further extended the Empire by conquering the Scythians, Thrace and Macedon.

The Ionian Revolt (499-498) – and associated revolts in Aeolis, Caria, Cyrus, and Doris – rose against the Persian Empire.

Darius sent two punitive expeditions against the Athenians to punish them for supporting the Ionian Revolt but these, unusually, were defeated: the first through the wreck of the Persian naval fleet in a storm off Mt Athos (492) and the second ending a military disaster at the Battle of Marathon (490).

The Athenians had also wrought destruction in Persia during the Ionian Revolt – for example, they destroyed Sardis, political capital of the western province of the Persian Empire.

According to the ancient Greek historian, Herodotus, Darius vowed never to forget the destruction of Sardis. In his Histories (Book 5: 105), Herodotus relates the following: “And he [Darius] commanded one of his servants to repeat to him the words, ‘Master, remember the Athenians’, three times whenever he sat down to dinner.”

Darius’ conquests were noted for the humane way in which he treated the peoples he conquered.

Darius reformed the administration and finances of the Persian Empire. He divided his empire into 20 administrative provinces called “satrapies”, each one ruled by a “satrap” (governor). He watched over his Empire’s revenues with an eagle eye: for example, each satrap had a secretary who watched the actions of the satrap and reported back directly to Darius.

He levied a new annual tax and brought in a new standardized currency. He encouraged commerce – for example, by constructing roads and canals, by building a powerful navy, and by sending out expeditions of exploration.

Darius was known as a great lawgiver, who was severe but fair, and he standardized the laws across the whole of the Persian Empire. Even foreigners recognized his great qualities as a lawgiver. In the Bible (Daniel 6:8), is written: “the law of the Medes and Persians which alters not”. Darius created a codification of laws for Egypt.

Darius the Great was a follower of the Zoroastrian god, Ahura Mazda, and under Darius Zoroastrianism became the state religion. But in religious matters Darius was, unusually for his time, noted for his religious tolerance.

Darius the Great was a great architect. He built Susa, a beautiful new capital city (located near Shustar, in modern day Iran). He also built the terrace and the great palaces of the magnificent city of Persepolis (518-516), the Persian Empire’s ceremonial capital whose ruins still amaze modern visitors (in 1979 UNESCO declared the citadel of Persepolis a World Heritage Site)..

Many of us are not are not aware of some intriguing facts about Indian history. Let’s take a look at history of Tughlaq dynasty and Muhammad bin Tughluq to discover some of them.

The Tughluq dynasty ruled the Delhi sultanate from 1320 to 1413 and was founded by Ghazi Malik aka. Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq. Muhammad bin Tughluq was the most successful ruler of this dynasty who conquered a lot of land from 1330 and 1335. Although he was successful in expanding his empire, Tughlaq dynasty history was characterized by his tortures and cruelty leading to rebellions and disintegration after 1335 AD.

Before the Tughlaqs, the Khalji dynasty had control over the Delhi Sultanate. Khilji dynasty’s governor Khusro Khan and Malik Kafur looted non-Muslim kingdoms for Alauddin Khalji. Alauddin Khalji died in 1316 leading to political instability. Ghazi Malik was a governor under the Khiljis for Punjab. He killed Khusro Khan to begin the Tughlaq dynasty.

Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq built Tughlakabad to protect his men from Mongol attacks. He rewarded those who supported him and punished those who had supported Khusro Khan. He lowered taxes on Muslims and raised the same for Hindus.

In 1321, Ghiyasuddin asked his eldest son Muhammad bin Tughlaq to attack Arangal and Tilang. He failed in his first attempt but succeeded 4 months later with the help of a stronger army. Arangal was renamed as Sultanpur; the complete state treasury was looted.

The Muslim leader in Lukhnauti helped Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq to attack Shamsuddin Firoz Shah in 1324-1325 AD and expand into Bengal. Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq handed over Delhi to Muhammad bin Tughlaq and himself led his army to Lukhnauti and won the battle. One of the cruelest chapters of his history has been the fact that he killed his father Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq and brother Mahmud Khan in 1325 AD when they were returning back after the same conquest.

In his reign of 26 years, Muhammad attacked Malwa, Gujarat, Mahratta, Tilang, Kampila, Dhur-samundar etc. He kept looting non-Muslim kingdoms but could not control emerging discontent and revolts.

He also imposed a 10 times higher land tax on non-Muslims living in fertile lands of Ganga and Yamuna. They were also asked to pay crop taxes by handing over half or more of their harvests. Hindu farmers stopped farming and the subcontinent was affected by famines at the same time. Muhammad bin Tughlaq resorted to more violence and mass punishments. He also executed other sections of the muslim communities like Shia, Sufis etc.

He then decided to move his capital from Delhi to Deogiri and renamed it as Daulatabad. People were forced to migrate and those who refused were killed. Daulatabad did not have enough drinking water and the capital was returned back to Delhi.

Revolts against Muhammad bin Tughlaq began in 1327 and the Sultanate started reducing in size after 1335. The Vijayanagara Empire did not allow the Delhi Sultanate to expand in southern India. Many other regions declared independence from Muhammad bin Tughlaq as well.

The state treasury had no precious metal coins after Tughlaq’s expansive war campaigns. Coins of Tughlaq dynasty started getting made using base metals with a face value of silver coins. People started minting fake coins of their own leading to an economic disaster. This was followed by 10 years of famines leading to several deaths.

Muhammad bin Tughlaq also tried to attack Khurasan, Irak and China but in vain. People who could not pay taxes were executed. He died in March 1351 while trying to attack people who rebelled against him in Sindh and Gujarat.

Some historians think that he wanted to forcefully impose orthodox Islamic practices while others thought that he was insane. By this time, the Delhi Sultanate lost its territories and covered only the Vindhya range in central India.

As an Algebra teacher, I assumed that my students had already mastered some things: fractions, multiplication, addition and subtraction, simple equation solving. As I learned, reality hardly follows theory! My ninth grade students struggled with equation solving. At first, I thought this was because equations were relatively new, but as I looked at their work more closely, it wasn’t the equations that were giving them trouble, it was the addition and subtraction. How could this be?

After a year or so of telling myself that this just couldn’t be, I gave into the fact that my students really were struggling. They would tell me that “-22 + 5 = -27” and “8 – 12 = 4”. These mistakes came up in the equations we were doing where terms needed to be added or subtracted from each side, and my students were making all types of simple errors.

By the summer of 2007, the first prototype of the ZeroSum ruler was created. It was rough – two paper number lines hinged at zero with an earring – and was in no way yet ready for the classroom. Over the years, the manipulative went through many incarnations until its final form was reached and tested in the classroom to great results.

A few years later, I was moved to teach Advanced Algebra to 11th graders, who made the same mistakes! My students could solve complex logarithms but would make errors on the last parts of the problems – the parts involving, you guessed it, addition and subtraction of integers! By then, the ZeroSum ruler was in its final form and ready to be used in the classroom. I gave my eleventh graders a pre-test of eight simple addition and subtraction problems. Over the course of the next few weeks, I gave each student a ZeroSum ruler to use while solving each of three sets of nine simple equations. Immediately after the last set, I gave a post-test, and one month later I gave my students their delayed-retention test. Both the post and delayed-retention tests were set up exactly like the pre-test only with different simple integer problems.

To my surprise, there was not much difference in the scores between the post-test and the delayed-retention test. However, there was a huge difference in score between these two tests and the pre-test. 62%! My students had made 62% less errors.

As part of my research, I looked into the curriculum that my students had in elementary and middle school. It seemed they only ever had 16 days to learn integer addition and subtraction. No wonder they needed help!

The ZeroSum ruler helped my students. I hope to bring this manipulative to more students so that they do not struggle like my students did. There’s nothing like making a simple error to knock a kid’s math confidence. It’s my goal to stop this from happening.

Happy Calculating!