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Y2K bug ... Yalong River

Y2K bug a problem in the coding of computerized systems that was projected to create havoc in computers and computer networks around the world at the beginning of the year 2000 (in metric measurements K stands for thousand). After more than a year of international alarm, feverish preparations, and programming corrections, few ... Ya'an city, west-central Sichuan sheng (province), southwestern China. It is situated in the mountainous western fringe of the Sichuan Basin on the Qingyi River, about 80 miles (130 km) southwest of Chengdu, the provincial capital. The city is a communications centre near the crossing of two main routes-one running west to ... Ya'qub ibn Layth al-Saffar founder of the Saffarid Empire, who rose from obscurity to rule much of present Iran as well as portions of Afghanistan and Pakistan; at one point he came close to capturing Baghdad, the seat of the caliph (the religious leader of all Islam). Ya'qubi, al- Arab historian and geographer, author of a history of the world, Ta'rikh ibn Wadih ("Chronicle of Ibn Wadih"), and a general geography, Kitab al-buldan ("Book of the Countries"). yab-yum (Tibetan: "father-mother"), in Buddhist art of India, Nepal, and Tibet, the representation of the male deity in sexual embrace with his female consort. The pose is generally understood to represent the mystical union of the active force, or method (upaya, conceived of as masculine), with wisdom (prajna, conceived of as ... Yablochkov, Pavel Nikolayevich also called Paul Jablochkov Russian electrical engineer and inventor who developed the Yablochkov candle, the first arc lamp that was put to wide practical use and that greatly accelerated the development of electric lighting. Yablonitsky Pass pass in the outer eastern Carpathians of western Ukraine, an important route connecting the country's isolated western reaches with the rest of the republic and with northeastern Romania. The southern portion of the pass is formed by the valley of the Tisza River (also spelled Tisa, or Tysa), and the ... Yablonovy Range mountain range in the Transbaikalia region of Chita oblast (province) and Buryatiya, in far eastern Russia. The range is some 500 miles (800 km) long northeast-southwest and reaches a maximum height of 5,512 feet (1,680 m) in Mount Kusotuy. Formed principally of granites and gneisses, it has been uplifted and ... Yachimovich, Shelly Israeli politician and journalist who became the leader of the Israel Labour Party in 2011. yacht a sail- or power-driven vessel, usually light and comparatively small, used for racing or for recreation. In recreation, the term applies to very large craft, originally powered by sail and later by steam or internal-combustion engines. It is in this sense that the generality of nonyachting (nonsailing) people usually think ... yad in Judaism, a ritual object, usually made of silver but sometimes of wood or other materials, that consists of a shaft affixed to a miniature representation of a hand with its index finger pointing. The yad is used optionally in liturgical services to indicate the place that is being read ... Yadava dynasty rulers of a 12th-14th-century Hindu kingdom of central India in what is now the Indian state of Maharashtra. Originally a feudatory of the Eastern Chalukyas of Kalyani, the dynasty became paramount in the Deccan under Bhillama (c. 1187-91), who founded Devagiri (later Daulatabad) as his capital. Under Bhillama's grandson Singhana ... Yaddo a working community of writers, composers, and visual artists, located on the outskirts of Saratoga Springs, New York, U.S. Yaddo is a nonprofit organization founded in 1900 by New York financier Spencer Trask (1844-1909), his wife, the writer Kate, or Katrina, Nichols Trask (1853-1922), and philanthropist George Foster Peabody (1852-1938) ... Yadin, Yigael Israeli archaeologist and military leader noted for his work on the Dead Sea Scrolls. Yagoda, Genrikh Grigoryevich head of the Soviet secret police under Stalin from 1934 to 1936 and a central figure in the purge trials. Yahoo! Inc. global Internet services company based in Sunnyvale, Calif. The company was founded in 1994 by Jerry Yang and David Filo, graduate students at Stanford University in California. Yahoo! boasts more than 100 million users per month, and it provides users with online utilities, information, and access to other Web sites. yahrzeit in Judaism, the anniversary of the death of a parent or close relative, most commonly observed by burning a candle for an entire day. On the anniversary, a male (or female, in Reform and Conservative congregations) usually recites the Qaddish (doxology) in the synagogue at all three services, and males ... Yahweh the God of the Israelites, his name being revealed to Moses as four Hebrew consonants (YHWH) called the tetragrammaton. After the Exile (6th century BC), and especially from the 3rd century BC on, Jews ceased to use the name Yahweh for two reasons. As Judaism became a universal religion through ... Yahwist source (labeled J after the German transliteration of YHWH), an early source that provides a strand of the Pentateuchal narrative. The basis for identifying a strand of the Pentateuch as the writing of the Yawhist-the Yahwist strands being specifically, Genesis 2-11, 12-16, 18-22, 24-34, 38, and 49; Exodus 1-24, 32, and ... Yahya Zaydi imam of Yemen from 1904 to 1948. Yahya ibn Mahmud al-Wasiti Muslim painter and illustrator who produced work of originality and excellence. He was the outstanding painter of the Baghdad school of illustration, which blended Turkish art and native Christian (probably Jacobite or Syriac Monophysite) painting in a lively Islamic syncretism. Yahya Khan, Agha Mohammad president of Pakistan (1969-71), a professional soldier who became commander in chief of the Pakistani armed forces in 1966. Yahya Sobh-e Azal, Mirza half brother of Baha' Ullah (the founder of the Baha'i faith) and leader of his own Babist movement in the mid-19th century Ottoman Empire. Yaizu city, Shizuoka ken (prefecture), Honshu, Japan, on the west coast of Suruga Bay. Since the Tokugawa era (1603-1867), Yaizu has been one of the important coastal fishing ports for tuna, bonito, skipjack, and mackerel. Canning and freezing plants operate there. Deep-sea fishing developed in the early 20th century. Pop. (2005) ... yajna (Sanskrit: "sacrifice, offering"), in Hinduism, worship based on rites prescribed in the earliest scriptures of ancient India, the Vedas, in contrast to puja (q.v.), which may include image worship and devotional practices non-Vedic in origin. Yajnavalkya sage and teacher who figures prominently in the earliest of the Hindu philosophical and metaphysical texts known as the Upanishads, the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. The teachings attributed to Yajnavalkya include many that are representative of the break with earlier Vedic ritualism and are distinctive to the new worldview of the Upanishads. Yajuj and Majuj in Islamic eschatology, two hostile, corrupt forces that will ravage the earth before the end of the world. They are the counterparts of Gog and Magog in the Hebrew Bible and the Christian New Testament. Yajurveda collection of mantras (sacred formulas) and verses that forms part of the ancient sacred literature of India known as the Vedas. See Veda. yak long-haired, short-legged oxlike mammal that was probably domesticated in Tibet but has been introduced wherever there are people at elevations of 4,000-6,000 metres (14,000-20,000 feet), mainly in China but also in Central Asia, Mongolia, and Nepal. Yaka a people inhabiting the wooded plateau and savanna areas between the Kwango and Wamba rivers in southwestern Congo (Kinshasa) directly bordering Angola on the west. Their origins are not certain, and Yaka is now an ethnic name given to the people of several heritages, including those related to the nearby ... Yakama North American Indian tribe that lived along the Columbia, Yakima, and Wenatchee rivers in what is now the south-central region of the U.S. state of Washington. As with many other Sahaptin-speaking Plateau Indians, the Yakama were primarily salmon fishers before colonization. In the early 21st century they continued to be ... Yakan ethnic group living primarily on Basilan Island but also on Sacol, Malanipa, and Tumalutab islands, all off the southern tip of the Zamboanga Peninsula, in the southern Philippines. Smaller groups of Yakan live elsewhere in the Philippines-particularly on the island of Mindanao-as well as in Sabah, East Malaysia. The Yakan ... Yakima city, seat (1886) of Yakima county, south-central Washington, U.S., on the Yakima River. In 1884 the Northern Pacific Railway selected the site of Yakima City (now Union Gap) as a construction headquarters. This plan was abandoned and a new settlement, known as North Yakima, was established 4 miles (6 km) ... Yakima River river, south-central Washington, U.S., rising in the Cascade Range, near Snoqualmie Pass. It flows southeastward about 200 miles (320 km) past Ellensburg and Yakima to join the Columbia River near Kennewick in Benton county. The Yakima and its tributaries irrigate about 460,000 acres (190,000 hectares) in the river valley. The ... Yako people of the Cross River region of eastern Nigeria; they speak Luko, a language of the Benue-Congo branch of the Niger-Congo family. Yakovlev, Aleksandr Sergeyevich aircraft designer noted for his series of Yak aircraft, most of them fighters used by the Soviet Union in World War II. yaksha in the mythology of India, a class of generally benevolent nature spirits who are the custodians of treasures that are hidden in the earth and in the roots of trees. Principal among the yakshas is Kubera, who rules in the mythical Himalayan kingdom called Alaka. yakshagana dance-drama of South India, associated most strongly with the state of Karnataka. Elaborate and colourful costumes, makeup, and masks constitute some of the most-striking features of the art form. Traditionally, yakshagana was performed in the open air by all-male troupes sponsored by various Hindu temples. Since the mid-20th century, however, ... Yakub Beg Tajik adventurer who entered northwestern China in 1864 and through a series of military and political maneuvers took advantage of the anti-Chinese uprisings of its Muslim inhabitants to establish himself as head of the kingdom of Kashgaria (centred at Kashgar). Expanding northward in the area of present-day Xinjiang, he attracted ... Yakushi-ji temple complex dedicated to Yakushi, the Healing Buddha, in Nara, Japan. It was established about 690 outside Nara, and in 718 it was refounded within the city. The only one of the original buildings to have survived is the three-storied eastern pagoda, which is one of the finest examples of ... Yakutsk city and capital of Sakha republic (Yakutia), in far northeastern Russia, on the Lena River. A fort was founded on the Lena's low right bank in 1632 and transferred 43 miles (70 km) upstream to the present site of Yakutsk in 1642. Long a small provincial centre of wooden houses ... yakuza Japanese gangsters, members of what are formally called boryokudan ("violence groups"), or Mafia-like criminal organizations. In Japan and elsewhere, especially in the West, the term yakuza can be used to refer to individual gangsters or criminals as well as to their organized groups and to Japanese organized crime in general. ... Yala town, extreme southern Thailand. Yala is a modern commercial centre on the Pattani River, which flows north into the Gulf of Thailand. The town is also located on the Bangkok-Singapore railway and the Pattani-George Town (Penang [Malaysia]) highway. The population includes Thai Muslims, Malay Muslims, and Chinese. The region is ... Yale school group of literary critics at Yale University, who became known in the 1970s and '80s for their deconstructionist theories. Yale University private university in New Haven, Conn., one of the Ivy League schools. It was founded in 1701 and is the third oldest university in the United States. Yale was originally chartered by the colonial legislature of Connecticut as the Collegiate School and was held at Killingworth and other locations. In ... Yale, Caroline American educator of the deaf and longtime principal of the Clarke School for the Deaf. Yale, Elihu English merchant, official of the East India Company, and benefactor of Yale University. Although born in Massachusetts, Yale was taken to England by his family at the age of three, and he never returned to America. He was educated at a private school in London. Yale, Frankie Italian-born American gangster and national president, during its heyday (1918-28), of the Unione Siciliane, a Sicilian fraternal organization that by World War I had become a crime cartel operating in several U.S. cities and active in robbery, prostitution, labour-union extortion, and other rackets. Yale, Linus American inventor and designer of the compact cylinder pin-tumbler lock that bears his name. Yalobusha River river that rises in north-central Mississippi, U.S., and flows 80 miles (130 km) southwest to unite with the Tallahatchie River and form the Yazoo River. Grenada Dam (1947) impounds Grenada Lake, a flood-control reservoir, which also receives the Yalobusha's chief tributary, the Skuna River. Hugh White State Park is on ... Yalong River long secondary tributary of the Yangtze River (Chang Jiang) in central and southern China. The Yalong rises in the Bayan Har Mountains in southern Qinghai province at an elevation of nearly 16,500 feet (5,000 metres). The upper stream flows southeastward from the Bayan Har Mountains into northwestern Sichuan province. Below ...