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MP3 ► mudorsuan I 1305
MP3 abbreviation o/MPEG-l, audio layer 3 Standard technology and format for the compression of audio signals into very small computer files. For example, sound data from a compact disc (CD) can be com¬ pressed to one-twelfth the original size without sacrificing sound quality. Because of small file size and ease of production from CD sources, the MP3 format is very popular for transmitting music files over the Internet. Although recording companies have sued many Web sites for facilitating the exchange of such copyrighted material, many now provide sample songs in MP3 format to promote CD sales, and some musicians bypass recording companies and issue their songs over the Internet in MP3 for¬ mat only. See also data compression.
MRI See magnetic resonance imaging
MS See MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS
MS-DOS \ .em-.es-'dosX in full Microsoft Disk Operating System
Operating system for personal computers. MS-DOS was based on DOS, developed in 1980 by Seattle Computer Products. Microsoft Corp. bought the rights to DOS in 1981, and released MS-DOS with IBM’s PC that year. Thereafter, most manufacturers of personal computers licensed MS-DOS as their operating system; by the early 1990s more than 100 million copies had been sold. Windows, a graphical user interface program based on MS-DOS, became a popular alternative with the release of Ver¬ sion 3.0 in 1990; Windows 95 fully integrated the operating system and the graphical interface.
MSG See monosodium glutamate Mshweshwe See Moshoeshoe
MTV in full Music Television U.S. cable television network, estab¬ lished in 1980 to present videos of musicians and singers performing new rock music. MTV won a wide following among rock-music fans world¬ wide and greatly affected the popular-music business. Soon virtually every major pop or rock performer was making videos to be shown on MTV, and the reception of their videos directly affected future sales. The net¬ work later expanded to include original programming such as the ani¬ mated Beavis and Butthead and the reality series Real World, separate international networks (e.g., MTV Europe, MTV Latin America, and MTV Russia), and the MTV Video Music Awards. MTV is controlled by the media conglomerate Viacom Inc.
Mu'awiyah \mu-'a-we-yo\ I (b. c. 602, Mecca, Arabian Peninsula—d. April/May 680, Damascus, Syria) First caliph (661-680) of the Umayyad dynasty. Born into a clan that initially rejected Muhammad’s preaching, he accepted Islam only after Muhammad had conquered Mecca. As gover¬ nor of Damascus he built up the Syrian army until it was strong enough to resist attacks of the Byzantine Empire. He opposed the leadership of c Au, the fourth caliph, and eventually took the field against him. He claimed the caliphate after 'All’s death. To win the loyalty of non-Syrian Arabs, he introduced methods by which the tribes could keep the caliph informed of their interests. He channeled tribal aggressiveness into anti-Byzantine campaigns and in North Africa sent forces that captured Tripolitania and
Ifriqiyyah. To administer his large empire, he adopted Roman and Byz¬ antine procedures, employing Chris¬ tian bureaucrats whose families had served in Byzantine governments. By securing his son as his successor, he established hereditary rule. Though disparaged by later Muslim historians for deviating from Muhammad’s leadership style and by Shl'ites for his role in usurping the authority of 'All and his family, he is often portrayed in the Arabic literary tradition as the ideal ruler.
Mubarak \mu-'ba-rak\, HosnT (b. May 4, 1928, Al-Minufiyyah gov- ernorate, Egypt) President of Egypt (from 1981). He attended a Soviet air academy and, as air force com¬ mander (from 1972), planned Egypt’s opening moves in the 1973 Arab-Israeli war. Named vice presi¬ dent in 1975, he became president on
HosnT Mubarak, 1982.
BARRY IVERSON/GAMMA
Anwar el-Sadat’s assassination in 1981. He maintained relations with Israel while working to restore Egypt to its traditional position as the most influential of the Arab states. In the 1990s Mubarak’s government faced a rise in domestic terrorism, and he survived several assassination attempts. In 2005 he easily won Egypt’s first multicandidate presidential election.
muckraker Any of a group of U.S. writers identified with pre- World War I reform and expose lit- "Cycles Perfecta," poster by Alphonse erature. The term, first used Mucha to advertise an English brand of derisively, originated in an allusion bicycle, 1902.
Theodore Roosevelt made in 1906 to posters please, inc. _
a passage in John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s
Progress about a man with a muckrake who “could look no way but downward.” Later it took on favourable connotations of social concern and exposure of corruption and injustice. The movement emerged from the yellow journalism of the 1890s and from popular magazines, such as a 1903 issue of McClure’s Magazine with articles by Lincoln Steffens, Ray Stannard Baker (1870-1946), and Ida Tarbell on municipal government, labour, and trusts. The best-known muckraking novel is Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle (1906).
Mucha Vmu-kaX, Alphonse orig. 24, 1860, Ivancice, Moravia, Aus¬ trian Empire—d. July 14, 1939, Prague, Czech.) Czech painter and designer. After study in Prague, Munich, and Paris, he became the principal designer of posters adver¬ tising the stage appearances of Sarah Bernhardt; he designed sets and cos¬ tumes for her as well. His many opu¬ lent posters and magazine illustrations made him one of the foremost designers in the Art Nou¬ veau style. In 1922, after Czechoslo¬ vakia had become independent, he settled in Prague and designed the new republic’s stamps and bank¬ notes.
Alfons Maria Mucha (b. July
mudang Vmii-.daqX In Korean religion, a priestess who effects cures, tells fortunes, soothes spirits of the dead, and wards off evil. Her male counterpart is called a paksu. The principal occasion for a performance by a mudang is the kut, a trance ritual in which singing and dancing invite happiness and repel evil. The kut addresses a series of gods or spirits, such as the gods of childbirth, harvest, and households. After an altar is set on the floor and offerings are made, the mudang goes into a trance, during which the god is said to arrive, to be placated, and then to com¬ municate a message intended for the client.
Mudejar \mu-'tha-har\ (from Arabic mudajjan : “permitted to remain”) Any member of a group of Muslims who remained in Spain after the Christian reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula (11th—15th century). In return for payment of a tax, the Mudejars were a protected minority, allowed to keep their religion, language, and customs. They formed sepa¬ rate communities in larger towns, where they were subject to their own Muslim laws. By the 13th century they had begun to use Spanish, which they wrote in Arabic characters. After 1492 they were forced to leave Spain or convert to Christianity, and by the early 17th century more than three million Spanish Muslims had been expelled.
mudflow Flow of water that contains large amounts of suspended par¬ ticles and silt. Mudflows usually occur on steep slopes where vegetation is too sparse to prevent rapid erosion, but they can also occur on gentle slopes under certain conditions. Factors other than slope include heavy precipitation in a short period and easily erodible material.
Mudge, Thomas (b. September 1715, Exeter, Devon, Eng.—d. Nov. 14, 1794, Newington Place, Surrey) British watchmaker. In 1765 he invented the lever escapement, the most dependable and widely used device for regulating the movement of the spring-driven watch. He later worked to improve the marine chronometer.