Abstract: A portable flood-barrier-system can include a portable block of substantial mass; and a deflatable bladder, a first portion of which is disposed on a substrate; the block being disposed at least partly on the first portion of the bladder so as to releasably compress the first portion between the block and the substrate and so releasably hold the first portion therebetween due to friction.

Abstract: Apparatus for detecting defects in a magnetic disk includes a read head including multiple read elements for reading multiple tracks of the disk. Read signals produced by the read elements are received by certifier circuit portions for determining whether any of the read signals includes an indication of a defect in the disk. A monitoring circuit monitors the read elements to detect a malfunctioning read element. The read head position is controlled so that a malfunctioning read element is not used.

Abstract: Apparatus for detecting defects in a magnetic disk includes a read head including multiple read elements for reading multiple tracks of the disk. Read signals produced by the read elements are received by certifier circuit portions for determining whether any of the read signals includes an indication of a defect in the disk. A monitoring circuit monitors the read elements to detect a malfunctioning read element. The read head position is controlled so that a malfunctioning read element is not used.

Abstract: Although water covers three-fourths of the earth's surface, it is unevenly distributed throughout. In some places, the demand for water exceeds the supply. There are several hundred desalination plants in the world, but it is very costly to produce fresh water. The Modular Clear Roof and Dark Basin Solar Still is a low-cost way to produce fresh water. The multiple modular roofs made of glass and/or clear plastic acts like a greenhouse. The sun shines through the roof creating heat. The salt water evaporates and condenses to make fresh water. This fresh water is collected in the half-pipes. Through a gravity flow, this water is collected in a water tank. This is feasible and effective in areas where the demand for water is high, especially in the equatorial or desert area.

Abstract: A magnetic disk having improved tribological characteristics in the data zone of the disk surface while retaining a low sliding stiction in the landing zone is disclosed. It contains the conventional elements of a substrate, a magnetic recording layer, a protective overcoat, and a lubricant layer on the protective overcoat. However, the lubricant layer is UV irradiated under a photo mask to cause a radially inner zone and a radially outer zone. The photo mask is designed so that the radially outer zone of the lubricant layer has a ratio of bonded/unbonded lubricant molecules greater than that in the radially inner zone. The reduced proportion of mobile lubricant molecules in the data zone prevents the lubricant molecules from being collected by the magnetic head. On the other hand, a large proportion of the lubricant molecules in the landing zone remained mobile. This allowed the sliding stiction in the landing zone to stay at the desiredly low value.

Abstract: A glide head with mounted PZT sensor is used to obtain a glide avalanche curve. The glide head is subsequently gradually decreased until the signal is extremely high. First, at least one resonance frequency of the glide head is determined. The frequency component of the PZT glide signal to each specific irregular peak is analyzed by using the speed of the glide head divided by the bump spacing, multiplied by a factor, m, where m is an integer number. The next step of the present invention is to determine a glide avalanche break point of the recording medium. Then, the glide avalanche point is determined in the region which is between the irregular peaks and the extremely high signal.