LK
Laura Juliet Kuenssberg (born 8 August 1976) is a British journalist and broadcaster of Scottish descent, best known for her tenure as the BBC's political editor from 2015 to 2022, during which she became the first woman to hold the role.[1] Born in Rome, Italy, to Scottish businessman Nick Kuenssberg and his wife Sally, she grew up in Glasgow and began her career in local journalism before joining the BBC in 2003, rising through roles including chief political correspondent.[2] Her reporting covered pivotal events such as the 2016 Brexit referendum, two general elections, and the leadership of multiple prime ministers, earning her the Journalist of the Year award in 2016 for her election coverage.[3] Kuenssberg succeeded Nick Robinson in the political editor position in July 2015 and stepped down in March 2022 to present Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, the BBC's flagship Sunday morning politics programme, replacing Andrew Marr.[4] Throughout her career, she has faced significant controversies, including accusations of bias from Labour supporters during Jeremy Corbyn's leadership, leading to a petition with over 35,000 signatures calling for her dismissal and personal threats requiring bodyguard protection; critics on the left alleged she favored Conservative narratives, while some deleted tweets from her past fueled claims of partiality.[5][6] These incidents highlight broader debates over impartiality at the BBC, an institution often critiqued for systemic left-leaning tendencies despite individual journalists like Kuenssberg drawing fire from progressive outlets for perceived rightward tilts in specific reporting.[7] In 2021, she was accused of acting as an unofficial spokesperson for Boris Johnson's government in coverage of National Insurance policy changes, underscoring ongoing scrutiny of her influence on public discourse.[8]Businesses and organizations
L.K. Technology Holdings Limited
L.K. Technology Holdings Limited is an investment holding company primarily engaged in the design, manufacture, and sale of die-casting machines, plastic injection molding machines, CNC machining centers, and related accessories, with a focus on material forming equipment.[9][10] The company operates through subsidiaries and serves industries including transportation, consumer electronics, household appliances, and healthcare, providing turnkey solutions that incorporate automation.[11][12] It maintains a global footprint with over 60 sales offices across more than 30 countries and is recognized as a leading manufacturer of die-casting machines worldwide, while ranking among China's top five producers of injection molding machines.[13][12] Founded in 1979 by Liu Siong Song in Hong Kong, the company initially developed hot-chamber die-casting machines, launching its first model in 1980, followed by expansions into cold-chamber machines and plastic injection molding technology in the 1990s.[14] LK Technology Holdings Limited was formally established as the listed entity in 2004 and went public on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2006 under stock code 0558.HK, with headquarters in Kwai Chung, Hong Kong.[13][15] As a subsidiary of Girgio Industries Limited, it has grown to employ approximately 5,409 full-time staff as of March 31, 2024, emphasizing precision engineering for applications in automotive parts, electronic components, and consumer goods.[15][16] The company's product portfolio includes hot- and cold-chamber die-casting machines for metal forming, high-precision injection molding machines for plastics, and vertical machining centers for post-processing, often integrated with robotic automation systems for enhanced efficiency.[11][9] These offerings cater to high-volume production needs, with machines designed for materials like aluminum, magnesium, and zinc alloys, supporting sectors such as electric vehicles and smart devices.[10] Operations are concentrated in the People's Republic of China for manufacturing, with primary markets in Asia but expanding sales to Europe and North America.[17][12] Financially, L.K. Technology reported revenue of 5.82 billion HKD for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2024, reflecting a marginal decline of 0.21% from the prior year, amid stable demand for its equipment in industrial automation.[18] Net income for the same period stood at 350.09 million HKD, with the company maintaining a fiscal year-end on March 31.[15] Recent quarterly figures show revenue at 3.23 billion HKD for the half-year ending March 31, 2025, underscoring resilience in core segments like die-casting amid global manufacturing shifts.[19]LK Metrology Ltd.
LK Metrology Ltd. is a British precision metrology company specializing in the design, manufacture, and support of coordinate measuring machines (CMMs) and related technologies.[20] Established in Derby, England, in 1963 as LK Tool Company Limited by Norman Key, a former Rolls-Royce engineer, and Jim Lowther, Key's father-in-law, the firm initially supplied granite inspection tooling to the engineering sector before pioneering the "bridge type" multi-axis CMM, marking an early innovation in three-dimensional measurement systems.[21] The company is headquartered at 71 Argosy Road, East Midlands Airport, Castle Donington, Derby, DE74 2SA, United Kingdom, where it conducts product development and CMM production.[22] Renowned as the world's oldest CMM manufacturer, LK Metrology has maintained a focus on high-accuracy ceramic-based machines, offering a 10-year accuracy guarantee on its CMMs to ensure long-term reliability in demanding environments.[20] Its product portfolio includes bridge, gantry, horizontal arm, and portable CMMs; portable measuring arms; optical and laser sensors for non-contact scanning; metrology software for data analysis and programming; and accessories such as probing systems.[23] These solutions serve industries including aerospace, automotive, defense, energy, medical, and motorsport, where precision measurement is critical for quality control and reverse engineering.[24] In addition to hardware, the company provides comprehensive services such as contract inspection, CMM calibration and retrofitting, software training, part programming, on-site maintenance, and emergency support to minimize downtime.[25] Following its acquisition and transition to independence under owner and CEO Angelo Muscarella in 2018, LK Metrology reported profitability in its first year despite transition costs and marked its 60th anniversary in 2023, underscoring its enduring role in advancing metrology technology from the origins of CMM development.[26][27] The firm operates globally, with subsidiaries including LK Metrology China Co., Ltd. in Beijing.[28]LK Packaging Inc.
LK Packaging Inc. is a privately held American manufacturer of flexible packaging solutions, primarily serving the food processing, retail, industrial, and healthcare sectors. Founded in 1968 by Lou Kestenbaum in a Los Angeles garage using a single plastic bag machine, the company initially supplied produce and shopping bags to local grocers.[29][30] It rebranded from Elkay Plastics to LK Packaging in February 2020 to better represent its evolution beyond basic plastics into a broader portfolio of films, bags, rigid containers, lids, foam trays, and sustainable options.[29][31] The rebranding highlighted over 50 years of supply chain innovation and a shift toward eco-friendly products, including the launch of a compostable packaging line made from vegetable starches and wood pulp.[29] The company expanded its capabilities through strategic acquisitions, such as Red Rock Packaging in 2018, which strengthened its position in overwrap films for grocery applications.[32] Headquartered in Commerce, California, LK Packaging operates multiple facilities and employs approximately 200-300 people, generating estimated annual revenue exceeding $100 million.[33][34] It focuses on both stock and custom solutions, emphasizing efficient supply chains, ready-to-ship products, and collaborative development for distribution partners.[35] Key product innovations include SimplyFresh™ lidding films designed for extended shelf life and reduced environmental impact, alongside custom flexible packaging for applications like food containment and industrial protection.[29] The firm prioritizes sustainability, with initiatives addressing compostability and resource efficiency amid growing demand for eco-conscious materials in packaging.[29][36]Science and technology
Little Kernel (LK)
Little Kernel (LK) is an open-source embedded kernel tailored for small, resource-constrained systems, featuring symmetric multiprocessing (SMP) support and portability across multiple CPU architectures such as ARM (32- and 64-bit), x86 (32- and 64-bit), RISC-V (32- and 64-bit), MIPS, and others.[37] Initially developed by Travis Geiselbrecht, LK provides a fully reentrant, multi-threaded, preemptive execution environment without user-mode separation, assuming all code runs in a trusted supervisor context, which suits its focus on minimal overhead for bootloaders and simple embedded tasks.[38] Its modular build system allows selective inclusion of components like debuggers, file systems, and networking stacks, enabling customization for specific hardware.[37] LK originated as a lightweight alternative to commercial real-time operating systems (RTOS) like FreeRTOS or ThreadX, with early contributions from Geiselbrecht and later integration by Google engineers including Brian Swetland and Dima Zavin for Android bootloader applications.[39] It gained prominence in mobile device bootloaders, particularly for Qualcomm Snapdragon and MediaTek SoCs, where it handles hardware initialization, kernel and ramdisk loading from storage, and transition to the main OS kernel after the initial preloader stage.[39] The project remains actively maintained under a BSD-3-Clause license, with ongoing ports and enhancements from contributors like Google, NXP, and community developers, as evidenced by its GitHub repository activity.[37][40] A notable evolution stems from LK's codebase serving as the foundation for Zircon, the microkernel of Google's Fuchsia operating system; while retaining low-level constructs like thread management from LK, Zircon introduces 64-bit addressing, user-mode execution, and capability-based security to support larger-scale devices such as phones and PCs.[41] LK itself eschews these for simplicity, prioritizing a small binary footprint—often 15-20 KB in core form on ARM platforms—and broad hardware compatibility over advanced isolation features.[37] Beyond Android and Fuchsia derivatives, LK appears in diverse open- and closed-source projects, including Trusted Firmware-A integrations and custom embedded RTOS cores.[42]Other uses
LK (vehicle registration code)
LK is the distinguishing code used on vehicle registration plates for motor vehicles originally registered in County Limerick, Republic of Ireland.[43] This code differentiates county-registered vehicles from those in Limerick City, which use the single-letter code L.[43] The system traces back to Ireland's early 20th-century vehicle registration practices, formalized in the 1960s when county-specific prefixes were standardized to indicate the licensing authority.[44] Prior to 1 January 2014, Irish registration plates followed a format where the county code appeared between numeric sequences denoting the registration period and serial number, such as "04 LK 1234," with "04" indicating registration in the first half of 2004 and "LK" specifying County Limerick.[43] Plates issued under this system remain valid and in use on legacy vehicles, preserving the LK identifier for identification purposes, including taxation and enforcement by the Revenue Commissioners.[43] Post-2014 registrations adopted a national format without geographic codes (e.g., "131 DL 456"), but LK-plated vehicles continue to reflect their county origin.[43] The LK code derives from "Luimneach," the Irish name for Limerick, aligning with Ireland's practice of using Gaelic-derived abbreviations for administrative areas.[45] It applies to a range of vehicles, including private cars, commercial vans, and motorcycles, as long as they were first licensed in the county outside the city boundaries.[46] Enforcement of these codes falls under the Road Safety Authority (RSA) and local authorities, with non-compliance potentially leading to fines or re-registration requirements.German LK tanks
The Leichter Kampfwagen (LK), meaning "light combat vehicle," designated a series of light tank prototypes developed by the German Empire in 1917–1918 to provide mobile infantry support and fulfill a cavalry reconnaissance role, inspired by Allied successes such as the British Mark A Whippet at Cambrai.[47] Designed by engineer Joseph Vollmer at Daimler, the LK series emphasized affordability, agility, and turret-mounted armament over heavy armor, marking Germany's first use of a traversable turret in an armored vehicle.[48] Neither variant entered production or combat before the Armistice of 11 November 1918, due to the war's end and resource constraints, though prototypes underwent testing as late as March 1918.[47] The LK I served as the initial prototype, constructed on a modified Daimler automobile chassis with added tracks for enhanced cross-country mobility.[48] Only two units were built in mid-1918, each weighing 6.9 tons with dimensions of 5.1 meters in length, 1.9 meters in width, and 2.5 meters in height.[48] Powered by a Daimler-Benz four-cylinder gasoline engine producing 60 horsepower, it achieved a top speed of 16 km/h and a range of 70 km.[48] Armament consisted of a single 7.92 mm MG 08 machine gun in the turret, protected by 8–14 mm armor plating sufficient against small-arms fire but vulnerable to artillery.[48] A crew of three operated the vehicle: commander/gunner, driver, and loader/machine gunner.[48] Testing revealed adequate mobility but highlighted limitations in armor and firepower, informing refinements for the successor model.[47] The LK II represented an improved iteration, featuring thicker armor, wider 25 cm tracks for better traction, and enhanced speed transmission for maneuverability.[47] In July 1918, the Oberste Heeresleitung (OHL) ordered 670 units, later expanding to 4,000, but production halted post-armistice with only prototypes completed—estimates indicate at least two to four built initially.[47][49] Specifications mirrored the LK I in dimensions and crew size but increased weight to 8.75 tons (machine-gun variant) due to upgraded 8–14 mm armor.[49] The same 60 hp Daimler-Benz engine enabled speeds of 14–16 km/h and a 65–70 km range.[49] Armament varied: primary models mounted one 7.92 mm MG 08, while experimental gun versions added a 37 mm Krupp cannon in the turret alongside the machine gun.[49][47]| Variant | Weight (tons) | Armament | Max Speed (km/h) | Production |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LK I | 6.9 | 1 × MG 08 | 16 | 2 prototypes |
| LK II (MG) | 8.75 | 1 × MG 08 | 16 | ~2–4 prototypes; orders canceled |
| LK II (Gun) | ~9.0 | 1 × 37 mm gun + 1 × MG 08 | 14–16 | Prototypes only |