What is "geode"

Geode \Ge"ode\ (j[=e]"[=o]d), n. [F. g['e]ode, L. geodes, fr. Gr. ? earthlike; ge`a, gh^, the earth + e'i^dos form.] (Min.)

1. A nodule of stone, containing a cavity, lined with crystals or mineral matter.

2. The cavity in such a nodule.

rounded stone with a hollow center lined with crystals, 1670s, from French géode, from Latin geodes, from Greek geodes "earthy, earth-like," from ge "earth" (Homeric gaia; see Gaia) + -oides, adjective suffix, "characterized by." Perhaps so called in reference to the "earthy" minerals inside.

n. A nodule of stone having a cavity lined with mineral or crystal matter on the inside wall.

n. (mineralogy) a hollow rock or nodule with the cavity usually lined with crystals

Geodes ( Greek γεώδης - ge-ōdēs, "earthlike") are geological secondary structures which occur in certain sedimentary and volcanic rocks. They are themselves of sedimentary origin formed by chemical precipitation. Geodes are essentially hollow, vaguely spheroid to oblate masses of mineral matter that form via either of two processes:

• by the filling of vesicles (gas bubbles) in volcanic to sub-volcanic rocks by minerals deposited from hydrothermal fluids or
• by the dissolution of sedimentary nodules or concretions (that were deposited syngenetically within the rock formations in which they are found) and partial filling by the same or other minerals precipitated from diagenetic water, groundwater or hydrothermal fluids.

Geodes differ from vugs in that the former were formed as early, rounded, structures within the surrounding rock and are often removed intact, whereas vugs are irregularly shaped pockets, voids or cavities within a formation, often along a vein or in breccia. Geodes also differ from "nodules" in that a nodule is a mass of mineral matter that has accreted around the nodule nucleus. Both structures had the minerals contained within, deposited from groundwater or hydrothermal processes. Geodes commonly have a chalcedony (cryptocrystalline quartz) shell lined internally by various minerals, often as crystals, particularly calcite, pyrite, kaolinite, sphalerite, millerite, barite, celestite, dolomite, limonite, smithsonite, opal, chalcedony and macrocrystalline quartz, which is by far the most common and abundant mineral found in geodes. Geodes are found mostly in basaltic lavas and limestones. The Warsaw Formation in the Keokuk region near the area where Missouri, Iowa, and Illinois join contains abundant geodes.

Geode is a series of x86-compatible system-on-a-chip microprocessors and I/O companions produced by AMD, targeted at the embedded computing market.

The series was originally launched by National Semiconductor as the Geode family in 1999. The original Geode processor core itself is derived from the Cyrix MediaGX platform, which was acquired in National's merger with Cyrix in 1997. AMD bought the Geode business from National in August 2003 to augment its existing line of embedded x86 processor products. AMD expanded the Geode series to two classes of processor: the MediaGX-derived Geode GX and LX, and the modern Athlon-derived Geode NX.

Geode processors are optimized for low power consumption and low cost while still remaining compatible with software written for the x86 platform. The MediaGX-derived processors lack modern features such as SSE and a large on-die L1 cache but these are offered on the more recent Athlon-derived Geode NX. Geode processors tightly integrate some of the functions normally provided by a separate chipset, such as the northbridge. Whilst the processor family is best suited for thin client, set top box and embedded computing applications, it can be found in unusual applications such as the Nao robot and the Win Enterprise IP-PBX

The One Laptop per Child project used the GX series Geode processor in OLPC XO-1 prototypes, but moved to the Geode LX for production. The Linutop (rebranded Artec ThinCan DBE61C or rebranded FIC ION603A) is also based on the Geode LX. 3Com Audrey was powered by a 200 MHz Geode GX1.

The SCxxxx range of Geode devices are a single-chip version, comparable to the SiS 552, VIA CoreFusion or Intel's Tolapai, which integrate the CPU, memory controller, graphics and I/O devices into one package. Single processor boards based on these processors are manufactured by Artec Group, PC Engines ( WRAP), Soekris, and Win Enterprises.

Geode may refer to:

• Bone cyst, also called geode
• Geode, geological rock formation
• Geode (trade association), European gas and electricity distributors
• Geode (processor), microprocessor series
• Mozilla Geode, geo-tagging project
• La Géode, an IMAX theater in the Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie, Paris, France
• Geode Capital Management, a large Boston-based asset management company that was spun out of Fidelity Investments in 2003

GEODE is a trade association that represents independent energy distribution and distribution-related companies, as well as other organisations in natural gas and electricity, privately or publicly owned, in Europe. It was founded in 1991 and represents 600 companies, both privately and publicly owned, in 10 countries.

GEODE took part in the Gas Regulatory Forum in Madrid in March 2012, and the Electricity Regulatory Forum in Florence in May 2012, both organized by the European Commission. GEODE defends the interests of local distributors before energy authorities on the national and international levels and allows the exchange of expertise, the share of data, and competence.

Geode was a Firefox add-on that would locate a user's computer, which enabled personalized and localized content. When the extension was fully operational, a user who was looking for restaurants while they were out of town would have been able load up their favorite review site, as well as find suggestions nearby and plot directions there.

Pownce and Fire Eagle both connected the plugin to their services. Pownce used the plugin to attach location information to messages and made other contributions to the service. Fire Eagle used Geode as another way to gather and broker location information for its users and the services they used.

Geode has not been worked on since 2008, and Mozilla Labs has archived the project in an area of its website reserved for projects left to the wayside.