mauve

The Mauve Decade: American Life at the End of the Nineteenth Century
$11.95
The author's free-flowing narrative style makes this book a strange read, with very few paragraphs and no notes of any kind. His highly opinionated tone almost causes the reader to quit early on, but interest is maintained. His myriad references without full identification has the reader scrambling to use Wikipedia. This is alright, but time-consuming. Mr. Beers should have taken the time to further explain his statements.

Samsung Gravity 2 Phone, Berry Mauve (T-Mobile)
$299.99
Thinner and sleeker than its predecessor, the Samsung Gravity 2 for T-Mobile also includes an improved slide-out QWERTY keyboard, 3G cellular connectivity, GPS location capabilities, and a higher megapixel camera/camcorder. A great choice for heavy texters, the Gravity 2's slide-out keyboard makes it easy to send SMS text messages and email as well as keep up with your chat buddies on popular IM services. Enabled for T-Mobile's expanding high-speed 3G network, the Gravity 2 offers fast data delivery and an enhanced Web-browsing experience that lets you connect quickly to social networking sites.

Featuring high-speed 3G data connectivity, the Gravity 2 can quickly send and receive e-mails, pictures, and videos over T-Mobile¡Çs high-speed data network (see a schematic of all this phone's controls and ports). This GPS-enabled phone comes with a 14-day trial of the TeleNav navigation service, which provides real-time location on maps, turn-by-turn driving directions, and more (monthly subscription required after trial expires). Other features include a 2-megapixel camera for still photos and video capture, Bluetooth for both hands-free devices and stereo music streaming, microSD memory expansion (up to 16 GB), digital audio player, personal organizing tools, and up to 5.5 hours of talk time. Key Features Fast 3G connectivity via T-Mobile's HSDPA/UMTS network (1700/2100 MHz bands, UMTS/HSDPA; see more about T-Mobile's 3G service below) Quad-band GSM phone for good global voice connectivity (850/900/1800/1900 MHz bands) myFaves capable (Learn more) Built-in GPS provides real-time location on maps, driving directions, and more (monthly subscription required). Full QWERTY keyboard that slides out from the left side of the phone, complemented by standard alpha-numeric keypad and navigation keys on the phone's face. (Learn more)

The sleek horizontal slider Samsung Gravity 2 features a full QWERTY keyboard and access to text messaging, email, and IM chatting (see larger image). Brightly colorful LCD screen with auto-rotation (240 x 320 pixels, 262K colors) that flips orientation from portrait to landscape when you slide open the keyboard. 2-megapixel camera/camcorder for high-quality still prints and on-the-go videos that can be sent via MMS messaging. (Learn more) Digital media player compatible with a good variety of audio (MP3, AAC/AAC+) and video (MPEG4, H.263, H.264, 3GPP) formats Bluetooth 2.0 connectivity with stereo music streaming (A2DP) capabilities as well as hands-free headsets and car kits. (Learn more) Memory expansion via microSD card slot with support for optional cards up to 16 GB. The phone has an internal 40 MB memory. Full messaging capabilities including SMS text, MMS picture/video and IM instant messaging (via popular services including AOL, Yahoo!, Windows Live Messenger, and Google Talk) Audio Postcard feature allows you to add a personalized message to a photo before sending it to friends and family using multimedia messaging (MMS) Personal email with support for AOL, Yahoo! and Gmail Organizer tools including calendar, alarm, tasks, memo, calculator, world clock, converter, timer, and stopwatch Download HiFi Ringers, MegaTones and wallpapers to customize your phone with sounds and voices from your favorite artists, instrumental versions of songs as well as cool graphics. Web browser with RSS feeds Phonebook stores up to 1000 entries with room in each entry for 4 numbers, 4 email addresses, 3 IM handles, street address, URL and note Included and downloadable games Speaker phone for easy hands-free communication Voice dialing enables you to call someone with simple voice commands to keep your hands free for activities like driving. Vital Statistics
The Samsung Gravity 2 weighs 4.4 ounces and measures 4.49 x 2.05 x 0.59 inches. Its 1000 mAh lithium-ion battery is rated at up to 5.5 hours of talk time, and up to 300 hours (12.5 days) of standby time. It runs on the 850/900/1800/1900 MHz GSM/GPRS/EDGE frequencies, as well as T-Mobile's 3G network (1700/2100 MHz). T-Mobile Services High-speed data connectivity via T-Mobile's 3G network: In addition to its quad-band GSM connectivity, this phone is also compatible with T-Mobile's UMTS/HSDPA 3G network, which operates on the 1700/2100 MHz AWS spectrum. This phone is designed to automatically connect to the best available network (3G or GSM/GPRS/EDGE) to provide faster data speeds when accessing the Web or downloading content from the T-Mobile Web2go content portal. T-Mobile is currently rolling out its 3G network, and it expects by year's end that its high-speed data network will be available in those cities where a majority of its subscribers currently use data services. In areas where the 3G network is not available, you'll continue to receive service on the via T-Mobile's EDGE network (which stands for "Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution"). This high-speed, mobile data and Internet access technology is fast enough to support a wide range of advanced data services (with average data speeds between 75-135Kbps), including full picture and video messaging, high-speed color Internet access, and email on the go. While this phone is optimized for use with T-Mobile¡Çs high-speed 3G network, many of its functions will also work well on the moderate-speed EDGE network. If you plan to access the Internet extensively on your phone, 3G network coverage may serve you best. Activities that work well on EDGE or 3G networks: Email, instant messaging, and texting Downloading ringtones, CallerTunes, wallpaper, light data files Sending photographs via e-mail or picture messaging Activities that work best on a 3G network: Viewing content-heavy websites (lots of images or videos playing) Viewing YouTube and other video files (they will play on EDGE, but require loading time) Uploading large files (photos, videos, presentations) to sharing websites Downloading large files from an e-mail or a website myFaves Capable: This phone is compatible with T-Mobile's myFaves service, which allows you to call up to five of your most common contacts--on any network, even landlines--without using any of your minutes. Learn more about myFaves from T-Mobile. T-Mobile's web2go intuitive web browsing service makes it easy to view and navigate the web from your phone with features including Yahoo! oneSearch, a customizable home page and a simplified shopping and download experience. You can create a personalized home page for easy, one-click access to your favorite Web sites. With access to the web2go marketplace included at no additional charge, you can also browse and purchase the latest ringtones, games, wallpaper and mobile optimized applications and services to customize their phone. Providing access to the latest news, information and content, Yahoo! oneSearch intuitively returns results grouped around your intended search. For instance, when you search for a sports team, Yahoo! returns the latest scores, schedules, team profiles, roster, news, images and a link to the team's Web site. Learn More Sliding QWERTY Keyboard for Fast Messaging The candybar-style Samsung Gravity 2 holds a secret--turn it on its side and push the face up to reveal a full QWERTY keyboard, perfect for easy typing of longer messages and emails. When the keyboard is opened, the screen orientation automatically rotates to landscape mode. The keyboard includes arrow keys for navigating the screen's UI and a handy www./.com key for quickly entering Web URLs. When closed, you can use the standard alpha-numeric keypad on the face to send quick messages. It's complemented by a five-way navigation pad, send/end and two soft navigation keys, and a dedicated messaging key. 2-Megapixel Camera/Camcorder Great for snapping still photos and capturing short videos while on the go, the Gravity's integrated 2-megapixel camera can snap pictures in one of four resolutions (1600 x 1200, 2180 x 960, 640 x 480, and 320 x 240). It also includes a 2.5x digital zoom, three quality settings, night mode, multiple white balance settings, three metering modes (matrix, center-weighted and spot) and several special shot modes, including Panorama (which stitches together multiple shots taken from left to right) and Smile (which automatically snaps a photo once a smile is detected). You can also capture video clips at up to QCIF format (176 x 144 pixels) and can shoot for as long as you have available memory; videos meant for MMS messaging are capped at between 20 to 30 seconds. Wireless Freedom with Bluetooth This phone provides Bluetooth wireless connectivity (version 2.0), and includes profiles for communication headset, hands-free car kits, and file transfer. With the A2DP Bluetooth profile, you can stream your music to a pair of compatible Bluetooth stereo headphones or speaker dock. Bluetooth profiles include: A2DP (stereo music streaming), AVRC (remote control), HFP (hands-free car kits), HSP (communication headsets), BPP (basic printing profile for text, email), FTP (file transfer), HID (support for mice or joysticks), OPP (object push for business cards, calendar items, and pictures),

Mauve: How One Man Invented a Color That Changed the World
$13.95
"Mauve: How One Man Invented a Colour that Changed the World," by Simon Garfield, Faber and Faber, London, 2000. Mauve is the original coal tar dye, invented by William Perkin in England in 1856. It is the first synthetic dye. Prior to its invention, dyes were natural materials, usually derived from plants. Mauve is also the first synthetic chemical, following in the cascade of inventions after the industrial revolution. Coal, iron and railroads led to the steam engine, gas lighting, and the use of coke in iron processing. Coal tar comes from manufacturing coke and gas for gas lighting. Textiles were one of the major products of manufacturing, especially from wool and American cotton.

Mauve also fit with the development of chemistry. By 1831, Justus von Liebig had perfected combustion analysis to reveal the molecular formula of compounds of carbon, i.e., the many organic chemicals. By Perkin's time, enough was known of chemical structure to attempt synthesis. Mauve resulted from an attempt to synthesize quinine, an effective treatment for malaria.

Liebig's work also resulted in extensive chemical research in the universities of Germany. In Britain, chemistry was taught in the classical manner, primarily lectures on its history. That changed in 1845, when August Wilhelm von Hofmann, trained under Liebig at the University of Giessen, was hired to head the new Royal College of Chemistry, with the encouragement of Prince Albert, consort to Queen Victoria. Perkin was Hofmann's star student.

Commercializing a new material can require considerable effort. Perkin was fortunate in working with dyers who were impressed with mauve's properties and encouraged him to produce it. Over Hofmann's objections (he was destined for bigger things in chemical research), Perkin set up a factory with the assistance of his brother, financed by his father. As no commercial chemical manufacturing equipment was then made, they designed their own and had it made. Raw materials like benzene were difficult to obtain as few bothered to recover them from coal tar. In 1858, sales were slow at first, but then Queen Victoria wore mauve to her daughter's wedding, and Empress Eugenie (wife of Emperor Napoleon III of France), an influence in the world of fashion, decided that mauve was the color of her eyes.

Patent wars were part of the dye business from the beginning. Perkin patented his invention in Britain, but his application was rejected in France, and not allowed in Germany. As purple colors became fashionable, his business prospered, but many copied his technology, and enforcement of patents was difficult.

According to Wikipedia, Paris traces its dominance in fashion to 1858, when English-born Charles Frederic Worth opened the first haute couture house there, but fashion had already become standardized by 1800 in Western Europe. One suspects that Paris' role as a fashion capital is connected to the French silk industry, which dates from the 16th Century in Lyon. Wool it thought to date from domestication of animals in the stone age, but became a major economic activity in Northern Europe by the 13th Century. The hand woven cottage industry transitioned to mechanized mills during the industrial revolution.
Mauve was the rage in Paris fashions until 1861. Two years later, Perkin acknowledged its best days were over. But the success of coal tar dyes encouraged much research resulting in an array of new colors: browns, yellows, reds, blues, and violets. Chemistry received much attention, and many entered the field, once considered useless. The 1862 International Exposition in London brought 29 dye makers, 9 from UK, 12 from France, 7 from Germany/Austria, and 1 from Switzerland. Perkin created an industry.

Another historical reference point is IG Farben, the German dye trust, best known for its support of the Nazi's in Hitler's Germany, for the use of slave labor in its wartime plants, and the manufacture of the poison gas used in the Holocaust. How did dye leadership shift from Britain to Germany? It began when von Hofmann returned to Germany in 1865, four years after the death of Prince Albert. Hofmann blamed loss of financial support for his program. The British patent system was also thought unable to deal effectively with chemical technology.

Another aspect was German investment in research. As fashions changed, the industry invested to keep up. Synthesis of alizarin, the natural dye in madder, produced considerable profits for Perkin's company, but competition from Germany increased. Adolf von Bayer, a student of Robert Bunsen, discovered a synthesis for indigo. (He received a Nobel Prize in 1905.) Money poured in from Hoechst and BASF, who reinvested profits from alizarin.

The decline of the British dye industry became apparent in World War I, when supplies from Germany were unavailable. The resulting dye shortage limited production of military uniforms. Germany had supplied 80% of British artificial colors. Other industries (paper, leather, bones, paint, wood and food dyes) were also affected. The government responded by taking over German owned dye plants in Britain. These operations through a series of mergers ultimately became Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) in 1926.

The dye shortage also caused problems in the US. Dupont undertook manufacture of dyes in 1916, with technology from British firms. Numerous chemical companies began the manufacture of chemicals like phenol needed for the war effort.

Munitions is another aspect not fully explored in the book. Until development of the petrochemicals industry in the 1920s, toluene (for TNT) and benzene (for phenol and picric acid) were coal tar derivatives. The British dye industry succeeded in supplying munitions needed during World War I.

IG Farben came into being in 1916 (officially in 1926 with a total of 50 companies). Its precursor was a smaller organization, known as the Little IG formed in 1904 consisting of Hoechst, Bayer, BASF and AGFA. IG is an abbreviation for Interessengemeinschaft, translated as a community of interests. They operated as a cartel to divide markets and minimize competition with other members. AGFA was the European leader in photography. Bayer made aspirin. BASF invented the synthetic ammonia process. Hoechst supported the research of Paul Ehrlich in his development of Salvarsan (1910), Ehrlich 606, the first drug designed to attack an infectious organism, i.e., syphilis.

Sulfa drugs also grew out of the dye industry. Coal tar dyes made possible staining of microorganisms for identification. The antiseptic properties of dyes were soon recognized. The first developed for medicinal use was Prontosil (1930s), but methylene blue and Mercurochrome also were dyes found to have antibacterial properties. Prontosil was useful in the treatment of puerperal fever, pneumonia, and leprosy.

Almost from the beginning the dye industry was suspected of toxic effects. Some dyes were made with arsenic and some dyes contained residual arsenic. Perkin's process used hexavalent chromium. Benzene now is considered a carcinogen. Some dyes caused skin irritation. Some wallpaper was made with copper arsenite.

In 1873, Perkin sold his company. He then led the quiet life of a gentleman. He was knighted in 1906, bringing him to public attention. He died in 1907. He was buried in the Christ Church graveyard, but a search in 2000 found no remaining evidence of his grave.

The book includes detailed lab instructions to make 2 mg of mauve. It continues with stories of various chemical technologies that followed including the story of Bakelite, the more recent days of the dye industry, polyethylene, and related technologies.

Garfield does a reasonable job of telling the story in a non-technical way. The book contains no chemical formulas. It does give word descriptions of some chemical processes. This book is a useful introduction to the chemical industry. Students of technology, chemistry and history will find it fascinating. For a more technical telling of the story (including illustrations of the manufacturing equipment used by Perkin & Sons), see The Rainbow Makers: The Origins of the Synthetic Dyestuffs Industry in Western Europe"The Rainbow Makers: The Origins of the Synthetic Dyestuffs Industry in Western Europe," by Anthony S. Travis, Lehigh Univ. Press, Bethlehem, PA, 1993. Photographs, bibliography, index. 222-page hardback.

TechnoMarine MoonSun 17-mm Mauve Gel Strap with Single-Buckle #9117
$20.00
MoonSun Collection Ceramic ? In line with its high end watch piece, the strap confirms that the MoonSun Ceramic is beyond doubt a luxurious item. Made out of polished lightweight steel & ceramic the bracelet fastener brings the deployment buckle in stainless-steel 316L; the appeal of the MoonSun Ceramic is unbeatable! Jubilee ? Maintaining its excellence in style and appeal, the strap for the Jubilee can definitively be noticed due to its component consisting of silicone rubber material bringing a strap fastener that is a single buckle, stainless-steel 316L. Magnum ? Made out of stainless-steel 316L, the bracelet of the magnum brings a fastener that is a butterfly buckle in stainless-steel 316L as well, while it still maintains the attitude of dominance in the watch industry. Abyss ? Maintaining its excellence in style and appeal, the strap for the Abyss can definitively be noticed due to its component consisting of mineral rubber material bringing a strap fastener that is a single buckle in stainless-steel 316L. TLC ? Delivering nothing but fineness, along with the dial, the time piece brings a leather strap/One transparent gel strap with a fastener that is a single buckle in stainless-steel 316L. TMC ? Delivering nothing but fineness, along with the dial, the time piece brings a leather strap/One transparent gel strap with a fastener that is a single buckle in stainless-steel 316L.