Halo

Since the observer is generally closer to the light source, crystal orientation matters less in the formation of these pillars. See List of XM Satellite Radio channels. Pillars forming from ground-based light sources may appear much taller than those associated with the sun or moon. See XM's footprints for the US and Canada. Light pillars can also form around the moon, and around street lights or other bright lights. On November 29, 2005, XM Canada officially launched. The crystals tend to orient themselves near-horizontally as they fall or float through the air, and the width and visibility of a sun pillar depends on crystal alignment. XM's Canadian channels appeared on US receivers on November 17, 2005.

Plate crystals generally cause pillars only when the sun is within 6 degrees of the horizon, or below it; column crystals can cause a pillar when the sun is as high as 20 degrees above the horizon. After a lengthy debate, Cabinet rejected the appeals on September 9, 2005. Hexagonal plate- and column-shaped ice crystals cause the phenomenon. The groups objected to the satellite radio applicants' approach to and reduced levels of Canadian Content and French-language programming, along with the exclusion of Canadian non-commercial broadcasting. A sun pillar appears most often as a vertical pillar or column of light rising from the sun near sunset or sunrise, though it can appear below the sun, particularly if the observer is at a high elevation or altitude. The decisions were appealed to the Canadian federal Cabinet by a number of broadcasting, labour, and arts and culture organizations, including the Friends of Canadian Broadcasting, CHUM Limited, and the National Campus and Community Radio Association. When the sun dog phenomenon is seen around the Moon rather than the Sun, it is called a mock moon, moon dog, or by the proper name paraselene. On June 16, 2005, the CRTC approved all three applications.

The crystals are hexagonal cylinders, and they have to be oriented vertically. Along with Sirius Canada and CHUM Subscription Radio Canada, CSR was one of three applications for national subscription radio services submitted to the CRTC. The orientation of the ice crystals involved in this process is important. In November 2004, Canadian Satellite Radio filed an application with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission to bring the XM service to Canada. Sun dogs are uncommon and typically appear only when a low sun shines through loose cirrus clouds, e.g., in a milky-white winter afternoon sky. Unless they unaminously agree otherwise, control of the company remains with the preferred shareholder and noteholders of the company, including Hughes Electronics, GM, Honda, and several private investment groups. Sun dogs, also known as parhelia (single parhelion), appear as near-horizontal colored spots or bars on both sides of the sun, at nearly a 22 degree angle. At that time, GM owned 8.6% of the Class A common stock (a voting percentage of less than 1%) and Honda owned 13% (with a voting percentage of 3.6%).

This sign is supposed to have prompted him to become a Christian. Four additional directors are investors, and two are not affiliated with any significant stockholders. Emperor Constantine I of the Roman Empire is said to have seen such a halo in 313 near Trier. The company's May 2004 proxy statement notes that four directors are subject to director designation agreements with GM, American Honda, the chairman, and the CEO. Halos can also have unusual shapes, for example a cross. XM manufacturing partners such as Denon, Onkyo, Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc., and Yamaha will introduce home audio systems capable of playing XM HD Surround powered by Neural Audio in 2006. Atmospheric phenomena such as halos were used as an empirical means of weather forecasting before meteorology was developed. XM channels XM Pops and Fine Tuning will broadcast in XM HD Surround 24/7, while XM Live will broadcast the format for new live concerts and events.

The crystals behave like jewels, refracting and reflecting sunlight between their faces, sending shafts of light in particular directions. The technology, titled XM HD Surround, is a partnership between XM and Neural Audio Corporation which provides content with six discrete channels of digital full fidelity audio powered by Neural Audio technology. Sometimes in very cold weather optical halos are formed by crystals close to ground level, called diamond dust. Beginning in March 2006, XM will begin broadcasting select channels in 5.1 surround sound audio quality. A more Christian interpretation, less dualistic in its assumptions, is that the halo represents the light of divine grace suffusing the soul, which is perfectly united and in harmony with the physical body. Due to bandwidth restrictions and a large channel load, the maximum bitrate XM broadcast from its satellite per music channel is limited to 64kbs. Some think the halo symbolizes the saint's consciousness as 'radiating' beyond the physical body, and that it serves as a pictorial reminder to the saint's devotees of the saint's transcendence of the physical body. Audio channels on XM are digitally compressed using the aacPlus codec from Coding Technologies for most channels, and the AMBE codec from Digital Voice Systems for some voice channels.

Tibetan Buddhism uses halos extensively in the Thangka paintings of Buddhist saints such as Milarepa and Padmasambhava. American Honda also retains the right to some of the company's bandwidth to transmit coded traffic information directly to navigation systems using TMC technology. In Pure Land Buddhism the halo is used in depicting the image of Amida Buddha. XM has agreed to provide 128 kilobits per second of its bandwidth to OnStar Corporation for use with XM-enabled GM vehicles, regardless of whether their owners are XM subscribers. In Zen Buddhism, ink brush paintings also commonly use the halo in depictions of saints such as Bodhidharma. The XM signal uses 12.5 MHz of the S band: 2332.5 to 2345.0 MHz. Halos are found in Buddhist sculpture and painting from the Gandharan period, influenced by Greek artists brought to India with the army of Alexander the Great. XM-1 was then moved over next to XM-2, where each satellite operates only one transponder to conserve energy.

The halo has been widely used in Buddhist iconography as well since at least the 1st century AD. To compensate for this flaw, XM-3 was launched earlier than anticipated and moved into XM-1's previous location. This form of halo is still used in many popular depictions of angels and of blessed souls in heaven. Unfortunately, XM-1 and XM-2 are suffering from a generic design fault on the Boeing 702 series of satellites, which means that their lifetimes will be shortened to approximately six years (instead of the design goal of 15 years). During the Renaissance, when rigorous perspective came to be considered essential, the halo was changed from an aura surrounding the head to a golden ring that appeared in perspective, mysteriously floating above the heads of the saints. The combination of three satellites and a ground-based repeater network is designed to provide gap-free coverage anywhere within the continental U.S. The term "glory" may also refer to a glowing effusion —used in art to cover up depictions of genitalia. XM-1 ("Roll") and XM-2 ("Rock") are co-located at 115 degrees west longitude and XM-3 ("Rhythm") is located 85 degrees west longitude in addition to a network of ground-based repeaters.

This whole-body image of radiance is sometimes called the 'aureole', a lemon-drop-shaped item that appears to radiate from the entire body of the saints' being. XM provides digital programming directly from three satellites in geostationary orbit above the equator. Of the many stories about saints, some reports claimed that a saint was literally glowing. DirecTV now gives listeners as part of its service the music and talk channels of XM, but not the news or traffic channels. Some faithful believe the halo to be equivalent to the Eastern religion aura, and as with the latter, believe that halos are visible to those with perception. XM also provides data services such as weather information for pilots and weather spotters through it's XM WX Satellite Weather datacasting service, in addition to real-time weather and traffic updates aired every two minutes for major metropolitan areas on some of XM's audio channels. In popular piety, this practice has led to the literal belief that saints' have visible halos around their heads, rather than it be understood as a metaphorical representation. XM is currently the only satellite radio service to offer true mobile services, utilizing the built in antenna in its MyFi to transmit a live satellite signal to Ipod sized battery operated devices.

Especially noteworthy in this respect is Michelangelo Buonarroti's statue of Moses in San Pietro in Vincoli. The Internet-only subscription fee is US$7.99 per month; those with an active satellite subscription do not need to pay an additional charge. This description was taken literally by Medieval and Renaissance artists, who depicted Moses with small horns growing from his forehead. XM Satellite Radio produces the majority of its channels, as well as a few others that are not available via satellite, available on the Internet. Jerome avoided this by translating the phrase into Latin as "cornuta esset facies sua" (his face was horned). Subscribers may opt to purchase one-, two-, three-, four-, or five-year packages, in which the average monthly cost would be under US$10.00 per month. However, this would have implied a halo, which was reserved for Christian-era saints. If opting for the month-to-month plan, service fees are US$12.95 for the first receiver, and US$6.99 each for up to four additional receivers on the same account.

When Moses came down from Mount Sinai carrying the tablets of the law, he is said in the Hebrew text (Exodus 34,29) to have a glowing or radiant face. XM-capable receivers cost US$30 – US$300. The use of halos to designate Christian saints presented a problem in the translation of the Hebrew Bible. . Square halos are used to depict unusually saintly living personages. XM was founded in 1992 as American Mobile Radio Corporation. Triangular halos are used for representations of the Trinity. “XM175”, “XM4”, “XM32”).

A cross within a halo is used to represent Jesus. XM channels are identified by Arbitron with the label “XM” (e.g. people considered as spiritually gifted. Their service includes 67 different music channels, 39 news, sports, talk and entertainment channels, 21 regional traffic and weather channels and 23 play-by-play sports channels. Round halos are typically used to signify saints —ie. XM provides pay-for-service radio, analogous to premium cable television. It first appeared culture in the art of ancient Greece and Rome, and was incorporated into Christian art sometime in the 4th century. XM Satellite Radio NASDAQ: XMSR is a satellite radio (DARS) service in the United States and Canada based in Washington, DC and controlled by News Corporation's DirecTV, General Motors, American Honda, Hughes Electronics, and several private investment groups.

The halo represents an aura or glow of sanctity which was most prominent around the head and was conventionally drawn as a circle. Also, Oprah's team of personalities who appear on her television show will also host programs on the channel. The halo has become an object of religious iconography in both Christian and Buddhist traditions. Oprah will host an original weekly XM program. . A new channel called "Oprah and Friends" will launch beginning in September 2006. Light is reflected and refracted by the ice crystals and may split up into colors because of dispersion, similarly to the rainbow. On February 9, 2006, XM announced that they had signed Oprah Winfrey to a three-year contract.

The particular shape and orientation of the crystals is responsible for the type of halo observed. On January 9, 2006, XM wins top honors at the 2006 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas for their two new portable units that also offer live programming on-the-go. There are many types of optical halos, but they are mostly caused by ice crystals in cold cirrus clouds located high (5-10 km, or 3-6 miles) in the upper troposphere. On January 4, 2006, XM announced that it has passed the 6 million subscriber mark. Halos, also known as icebows, are also optical phenomena that appear near or around the Sun or Moon, and sometimes near other strong light sources such as street lights. On January 2, 2006, XM launched "Fox News Talk", news, analysis and the pulse of the nation from Bill O'Reilly, Tony Snow, John Gibson, Alan Colmes and more. In Christian sacred art (Eastern and Western churches), holy persons (saints) are depicted with a halo, a golden, yellow or white circular glow, around the head. On November 29, 2005, XM launched its service in Canada.

They are often used in religious works to depict holy or sacred figures. "Lex and Terry", a popular nationally syndicated morning radio program, delivers a unique blend of lifestyle advice, humor and on-air community, especially for men, beginning November 28, 2005, on Extreme XM. A halo (also known as a nimbus or Gloriole) is a ring of light that surrounds an object. "Home Ice", part of XM's sports lineup, featuring NHL games. "Franc Parler", the place for Canadian news, talk, and information. "Canada 360", and "Quoi de Neuf", a 24/7 news and information channel with the latest news, weather, sports, business, entertainment and issues making headlines in Canada and around the world.

"Laugh Attack", Canadian comedic talent. "Sur La Route", a blend of modern and classic pop, folk, rock n' roll, "chanson" and soul featuring the stars of yesterday, today and tomorrow. "Air Musique", French punk, hip-hop, metal, electronic and alternative rock music. "unSigned", which now plays new and recently discovered Canadian artists.

On November 17, 2005, XM launched their new Fall lineup of channels. These include music channels, but not news or sports channels. On November 15, 2005, DirecTV began carrying 72 channels of XM programming. On October 18, 2005, XM announced that it will launch "Fox News Talk" Radio in January 2006.

Additionally, XM Radio drops two of its Talk and Entertainment channels: MTV and VH1. This channel is geared toward Women's Programming and features replays of "The Ellen DeGeneres Show", "The Tyra Banks Show", syndicated and original programming, as well as programming from Food Network and HGTV. On October 3, 2005, XM Radio launched channel "Take 5" (XM 155). On October 3, 2005, XM announced that it had added more than 617,000 subscribers in Q3 2005, pushing their total subscriber base to over 5.03 million.

This includes music channels, "Home Plate" (XM 175), and "High Voltage" (XM 202). On September 27, 2005, XM announced that starting on November 15th, 2005, DirecTV will carry 72 channels as part of their audio programming. On September 27, 2005, XM announced that it surpassed the 5 million subscriber mark. On September 13, 2005, XM announced a multi-year deal to carry National Hockey League broadcasts beginning with the 2005-06 season, initially sharing the coverage with Sirius but gaining satellite-radio exclusivity from 2007 onward.

They join Opie and Anthony on High Voltage XM 202 on September 12th, 2005. On August 1, 2005, XM announced the addition of popular radio hosts Ron and Fez. On July 1, 2005, XM announced that it had added more than 640,000 subscribers in Q2 2005, pushing their total subscriber base to over 4.4 million. On June 07, 2005, XM partnered with Audible.com to offer downloadable audio show archives of The Opie and Anthony Show, as well as The Bob Edwards Show.

On May 28, 2005, the Wall Street Journal reported that XM had awarded the contract for the XM 5 spacecraft to Space Systems/Loral (see also [1]). In 5 weeks time, they have added 230,000 subscribers — almost 50% the subscribers added in the previous quarter. This indicates exponential growth for the company. On May 16, 2005, XM announced that subscribership topped the 4 million mark.

On April 11, 2005, XM announced that a deal had been reached to be the official satellite radio network of Air America Radio. On April 1, 2005, XM announced that it had added 540,000 subscribers in Q1 2005, pushing their total subscriber base to 3.77 million. On February 28, 2005, XM's third satellite, Rhythm, was launched successfully. On January 5, 2005, XM announces the introduction of two more XM2go™ models: Pioneer's AirWare™ and the Tao™ from Giant International.

As of the 2005 season, XM had exclusive satellite radio broadcast rights to all Major League Baseball games. On December 30, 2004, XM announced that it had 3.1 million subscribers. On October 26, 2004, XM presents its first XM2go™ portable XM receiver: The Delphi MyFi™. On October 4, 2004, former National Public Radio host Bob Edwards broadcast the first Bob Edwards Show on XM Public Radio, channel 133.

On October 4, 2004, "shock" jocks Opie and Anthony began broadcasting on a premium ($2.99/month extra) XM Satellite Radio. The Acura TL was the first luxury automobile to offer XM radio as "standard" in every vehicle. The company partnered with both luxury automakers: (Acura and Audi) as well as others: (General Motors, Honda, Isuzu, Nissan, Toyota, Volkswagen, and SAAB) to offer in-dash XM receivers on an OEM basis. On August 11, 2004, XM's subscriber base broke the 2.5 million mark.

On March 1, 2004, XM Radio launched Instant Traffic and Weather Channels for major metropolitan markets in the United States. In July 2003 the company had nearly 700,000 subscribers. In December 2002, revenues were lower than expected, and the company obtained $200 million in new funds and a $250 million payment deferral from General Motors. In 2001, XM service was launched, first in San Diego and Dallas/Fort Worth and then nationwide.

In July 2000, American Honda joined several private investors in a $235 million preferred stock investment in the company. Both Clear Channel and DIRECTV agreed to develop services for XM. In June 1999, Clear Channel Communications, DirecTV, General Motors, and a private investment group invested $250 million in XM Radio convertible debt. In October 1997 the company obtained one of only two satellite digital audio radio service licenses offered by the Federal Communications Commission.