title: Decision theory

paragraphs: Decision theory is a mathematical theory about how to best reach a decision. This is done using probability theory, statistics and logical reasoning. A decision can be made in different ways. Decision theory usually picks the best decision by looking at the consequences each way to decide might have.

paragraphs: In most cases, decision theory is normative and prescriptive. Most of the time, it assumes the decision maker has "perfect knowledge". Decision makers know all the consequences, and case take the best pick.

paragraphs: There are three branches of decision theory:

paragraphs: Decision theory can also be classified as follows:


title: University of Rennes 2 - Upper Brittany

paragraphs: The University of Rennes 2 - Upper Brittany is a national university in France. It is located in the city of Rennes. It was created in 1969.


title: Timeline of World War II

paragraphs: This is Timeline of World War II, which shows the event linked to World War II during 1931-1945.


title: Gypsophila paniculata

paragraphs: Gypsophila paniculata is a species of perennial plant, a plant that lives for more than two years. The common name, a name that is in general use, is baby's breath.

paragraphs: The height of the species 2 to 3 feet long and the width of the species is 2 to 3 feet long. The species blooms anytime from April to August. The color of the flowers are white. The plant needs sunlight from the full sun meaning direct sunlight. The species is a herbaceous plant, has leaves and stems that die down at the end of the growing season to the soil level and have no woody stem above the ground.

paragraphs: The species is native to Central Europe and Siberia.

paragraphs: The species is poisonous. The poisonous parts of the plant are the flowers and the rest of the plant are poisonous when they are dry. The species can cause eye irritation, sinus irritation meaning in the nasal cavity, or asthma after the plant is repeatedly handled. The plant can also cause minor, a lesser effect, skin irritation that only lasts for a few minutes.


title: Xiongnu

paragraphs: The Xiongnu () were nomads who lived north of China from about 3rd century BC to 460s AD. Their lands were very infertile, so they tried to attack China many times. As this was very irritating, the first emperor of China (Qin Shi Huang) built the Great Wall of China around 214 to 206 BC to keep them out. Some Han dynasty emperors tried to stop the wars and make friends with them, but they still tried to attack the Chinese borders.

paragraphs: At first, it was believed that they were related to the Huns, and currently many people still believe this. In old times, nomadic tribes often travelled and lived together, even tribes speaking different languages. Around 60 BC, there was a struggle for power, and the Xiongnu broke up into five smaller tribes.

paragraphs: In 202 AD, the leader of the Southern Xiongnu surrendered to Prime Minister Cao Cao of the Han dynasty.

paragraphs: They are part of the Mongolian people now, or some of them have migrated to China for a better life.


paragraphs: InuYasha the Movie: Affections Touching Across Time is the first anime movie for the manga series "InuYasha". It served as an extra episode related to the main story for the manga and anime series.


title: Litmus paper

paragraphs: Litmus paper is a way to test whether or not a solution is alkaline or an acidic.

paragraphs: Litmus is a solution of different dyes made from lichen. This is then put onto filter paper. The paper can then be used to give a rough indication of the pH value of a solution. Blue litmus paper will turn red, when acid is present; red litmus paper will turn blue when alkalines are present. At room temperature, this usually happens for PH values between 4.5 and 8.3.

paragraphs: Alternatively, a solution can be prepared which works the same way, but does not need the paper.


title: Psychopathic Records

paragraphs: Psychopathic Records is a record label based in Royal Oak, Michigan. It was founded in 1991 by Alex Abbiss and Horrorcore band Insane Clown Posse. The company is currently distributed by Fontana Distribution.

paragraphs: The Psychopathic Records mascot is Hatchetman.


title: Gene Snitsky

paragraphs: Eugene Alan "Gene" Snisky (born January 14, 1970 in Nesquehoning, Pennsylvania) better known by his ring name Snitsky, is an American actor and retired professional wrestler, best known for the four years he spent with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).

paragraphs: Snitsky was released from his WWE contract on December 11, 2008. Snitsky announced his retirement from wrestling on June 22, 2018.


title: Scottsboro Boys

paragraphs: The Scottsboro Boys were 9 young African-American men who were accused of a rape that they did not do and who were punished for it. A jury found them guilty even though the woman who accused them of rape admitted during the trial that it did not happen. This happened in Alabama in the 1930s.


title: Independence Hall

paragraphs: Independence Hall is a historic building in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is called Independence Hall because the Declaration of Independence was passed there. The United States Constitution was also written there. It served as the capital of the United States several times, mostly during the Revolutionary War. It was also the meeting place of the state legislature of Pennsylvania. It is a World Heritage Site. It is on the back of the $100 bill.

paragraphs: The Liberty Bell was originally in the bell tower of the building.

paragraphs: Abraham Lincoln's funeral included coming to Independence Hall, where over 300,000 people viewed the president's body.


title: Cartman Gets an Anal Probe

paragraphs: "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe" is the first episode for the first season of "South Park". It was first shown on Comedy Central in the United States on August 13, 1997. The episode introduces the main characters, Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman and Kenny McCormick. They try to rescue Kyle's brother Ike from a group of aliens.

paragraphs: Stan, Kenny, Cartman, Kyle and his little brother, Ike, are standing at the bus stop. Cartman tells them about the dream about getting abducted by aliens. The boys tell Cartman that it was not a dream and that he was actually abducted by aliens, but Cartman refuses to believe them. Chef drives up and asks the boys if they saw the space ship appearing in the sky. He tells stories about aliens performing anal probes. As the boys get on the bus and drive off they discover the aliens abducting Ike.

paragraphs: The boys are in the cafeteria and after Chef sees a machine emerge from Cartman's rear-end, Chef helps the boys escape the school to save Ike by pulling the fire alarm. They escape outside and Cartman believes that being abducted by aliens was a dream until he is hit by a beam that makes him sing and dance and space ship appears. When Kyle throws a rock at the ship, it fires back and hits Kenny, who ends up getting killed by a herd of cows and a police car.

paragraphs: Stan, Kyle and Wendy Testaburger meet at Stark's Pond and Wendy suggests that they use the device in Cartman's rear-end to contact the aliens, the boys tie Cartman to a tree and a big satellite dish emerges from Cartman's rear-end. The spaceship appears and Ike leaps to safety. The aliens then begin to talk to the cows seeing them as the smartest species on the planet and Cartman is abducted once again, but is returned to the bus stop the next day.


title: Gin and Juice

paragraphs: "Gin and Juice" is a song by Snoop Doggy Dogg and produced by Dr. Dre, The song pay homage to Seagrams and Tanqueray gin and features Daz Dillinger. The video for "Gin and Juice" features Snoop Dogg wearing hockey jerseys from the Pittsburgh Penguins and the defunct Springfield (MA) Indians of the American Hockey League. The music video was also fourth on MTV2 and XXL's list of the 25 Greatest West Coast Videos.


title: Jordan Hendry

paragraphs: Jordan Hendry (born February 23, 1984 in Nokomis, Saskatchewan) is an Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman that currently plays for Straubing Tigers of the DEL.

paragraphs: He played college ice hockey with the University of Alaska Fairbanks Nanooks. Hendry has played in the National Hockey League with the Chicago Blackhawks from four seasons and the Anaheim Ducks for 2 games. He has also played for HC Lugano of the National League A.

paragraphs: Hendry won the Stanley Cup with the Chicago Blackhawks on June 9, 2010 which he took to his hometown of Nokomis.


title: Harriet Beecher Stowe

paragraphs: Harriet Beecher Stowe (June 14, 1811 – July 1, 1896) was an American abolitionist and writer. Her novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin" (1852) showed the lives of African-Americans slaves. It was very popular as a novel and a play, and had a great influence in the United States and Britain, helping people who did not like slavery and making many people disagree with slavery.

paragraphs: Stowe was born Harriet Elisabeth Beecher in Litchfield, Connecticut, on June 14, 1811. Her parents were religious leaders Lyman Beecher (a leader of the Second Great Awakening) and Roxana (Foote) Beecher. Her mother died when Harriet was five years old. She had a sister, Catharine Beecher, who was an educator and author, and three brothers Henry Ward Beecher, Charles Beecher, and Edward Beecher.

paragraphs: Harriet went to the girls' school run by her sister Catharine. She received an education in the classics, including study of languages and mathematics. At 21, she moved to Cincinnati, Ohio to join her father. He had become the president of Lane Theological Seminary. She also joined the literary salon and social club called the Semi-Colon Club.

paragraphs: Harriet married Calvin Ellis Stowe on January 6, 1836. He was a widower and professor at the seminary. They had seven children together, including twin daughters. Calvin Stowe was a critic of slavery. The Stowes supported the Underground Railroad. They briefly sheltered several fugitive slaves in their home.

paragraphs: In 1850, the Stowe family moved to a house near the campus of Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine. Calvin Stowe was teaching in the college. On March 9, 1850, Stowe wrote to the editor of the antislavery journal "National Era". She told him that she was planning to write a story about slavery. In June 1851, the first installment of her book, "Uncle Tom's Cabin", was published in the "National Era". She originally used the subtitle "The Man That Was A Thing". It was changed to "Life Among the Lowly". Installments were published every week from June 5, 1851, to April 1, 1852.

paragraphs: For the newspaper serialization (published in parts) of her novel, Stowe was paid only $400. "Uncle Tom's Cabin" was published in book form on March 20, 1852, by John P. Jewett with an initial print run of 5,000 copies. Each of its two volumes included three illustrations and a title-page designed by Hammatt Billings. In less than a year, the book sold an unprecedented 300,000 copies. By December 1851, sales began dropping off. A cheap edition was published to stimulate more sales.

paragraphs: Americans were captivated by the book. It provoked more debate about abolition and slavery. Southerns hated the book. Within a year of the book's publication, 300 babies were named "Eva" in Boston alone.

paragraphs: After the start of the American Civil War, Stowe went to Washington, D.C. She met President Abraham Lincoln on November 25, 1862. Stowe's daughter Hattie reported, "It was a very droll time that we had at the White House I assure you ... I will only say now that it was all very funny—and we were ready to explode with laughter all the while."

paragraphs: Lincoln greeted Stowe by saying, "So this is the little lady who made this big war."

paragraphs: Harriet's own accounts are vague, including a letter reporting the meeting to her husband: "I had a real funny interview with the President."

paragraphs: Harriet Beecher Stowe died on 1 July 1896 in Hartford, Connecticut. She is buried in the cemetery at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts.


title: Joe McElderry

paragraphs: Joe McElderry (born 16 June 1991) is an English singer. He was born in South Shields, Tyne and Wear. He won the 2009 series of singing competition "The X Factor" UK. He is openly gay.


title: Absolute value

paragraphs: In mathematics, the absolute value or modulus of a real number , written as or formula_1, is the non-negative value of  when the sign is dropped. That is, for a positive , for a negative  (in which case is positive), and .

paragraphs: For example, the absolute value of 3 is 3, and the absolute value of −3 is also 3. The absolute value of a real number may be thought of as its distance from zero. It can be defined as follows:

paragraphs: Similarly, the absolute value (or modulus) of a complex number may be thought of as its distance from the origin. It is defined by the equation

paragraphs: For any real number , the absolute value of  is denoted by (a vertical bar on each side of the quantity), and is defined as

paragraphs: The absolute value of  is always either positive or zero, but never negative.

paragraphs: From an analytic geometry point of view, the absolute value of a real number is that number's distance from zero along the real number line. The absolute value of the difference of two real numbers is the distance between them.

paragraphs: In calculus, the absolute value function is differentiable except at 0. It is everywhere continuous.

paragraphs: In linear algebra, the norm of a vector is defined similarly as the distance from the tip of the vector to the origin. This is similar to the way the absolute value of a complex number is defined.

paragraphs: The square-root notation without sign represents the "positive" square root. So, it follows that

paragraphs: which is sometimes used as a definition of absolute value.

paragraphs: The absolute value has the following four main properties:

paragraphs: Other important properties of the absolute value include:

paragraphs: Two other useful properties related to inequalities are:

paragraphs: These relations may be used to solve inequalities involving absolute values. For example:

paragraphs: For a complex number formula_7, where x is the real part of z and y is the imaginary part of z,


title: Lady Gaga

paragraphs: Lady Gaga (born Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta; March 28, 1986) is an American recording artist, songwriter, activist, record producer, businesswoman, fashion designer, philanthropist, and actress. She has a contralto vocal range. Her albums are "The Fame", "The Fame Monster", "Born This Way", "Artpop", "Cheek to Cheek", "Joanne", and "Chromatica". In the US, she has earned five number-one singles and six number-one albums. She has won 11 Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, two American Music Awards, and various BRIT Awards. She is known for her versatility in music. She got her stage name from the song "Radio Ga Ga" by the band Queen. She won a Golden Globe Award for her acting role in the television series "American Horror Story: Hotel" in 2016. Gaga played the female lead, Ally, in the 2018 movie "A Star Is Born", where she stars alongside Bradley Cooper.

paragraphs: Lady Gaga was born Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta at Lenox Hill Hospital Northwell Health in Upper East Side, New York City, on March 28, 1986. She is the oldest child of Joseph Germanotta, an internet businessman, and Cynthia (née Bissett). She has a younger sister named Natali, who is a fashion student. Lady Gaga is of Italian (her paternal grandfather was from Naso, in the province of Messina and he came up to the United States on 1908) and French Canadian ancestry. She learned to play piano at the age of four. She wrote her first piano song at 13. She started performing live by age 14. At the age of 11, Gaga went to the Convent of the Sacred Heart. This is a private Roman Catholic school on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Her family wasn't rich. She has said that her parents "both came from lower-class families, so we've worked for everything my mother worked eight to eight out of the house, in telecommunications, and so did my father." In high school, Gaga played lead roles in "Guys and Dolls" and in "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum". Gaga said her high school life was "very dedicated, very studious, very disciplined". She also said that it was "insecure". She said in an interview that, "I didn’t fit in, and I felt like a freak."

paragraphs: Gaga was 17 when she went to New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. She lived in a NYU dorm on 11th Street. She studied music. She helped to write essays on art, religion, social issues and politics. Gaga felt that she was more creative than some of her classmates. "Once you learn how to think about art, you can teach yourself," she said. By the second semester of her sophomore year, she left school to focus on her musical career. Her father agreed to pay her rent for a year, if she agreed to go back to Tisch if she failed. "I left my entire family, got the cheapest apartment I could find, and ate shit until somebody would listen," she said. Gaga has said she has had bulimia and anorexia since she was 15.

paragraphs: In 2005, Gaga began a band called the Stefani Germanotta Band. The band played in local dive bars during 2005-2007 where they performed her debut EP, "Red and Blue". Gaga revisited these locations during her Dive Bar Tour during 2016.

paragraphs: Gaga started her creative team, the Haus of Gaga, in 2008. On August 19, 2008, her first album "The Fame" was released. Her debut album spawned the hit singles "Just Dance" (featuring Colby O'Donis), "Poker Face", "LoveGame", and "Paparazzi". The first two singles became number-one hits for Gaga in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, and several other countries. Gaga's follow-up EP, "The Fame Monster", was released on November 18, 2009 and contained the singles "Bad Romance", "Telephone" (featuring R&B singer Beyoncé), and "Alejandro". They became hits worldwide, with all seven of these songs peaking within the top ten of the US "Billboard" Hot 100, and the first six singles managed to reach number one on "Billboard"'s Mainstream Top 40/Pop Songs chart.

paragraphs: Gaga released her second studio album, "Born This Way", on May 23, 2011. Before that, Gaga released the song of the same name on February 11, 2011. The song entered the charts at number 1 in America, becoming her third number-one single there. "Born This Way" became Gaga's first number-one album in the United States, selling over one million copies there in its first week. Following the song "Born This Way", the singles "Judas", "The Edge of Glory", and "Yoü and I" reached the top ten in the US. The album's final single, "Marry the Night", became a top-thirty hit there.

paragraphs: In 2012, Gaga bought 55 items from an auction for Michael Jackson's possessions. She also released her first fragrance, Fame. The liquid of the perfume is black but sprays clear, which is "like the soul of fame."

paragraphs: On November 6, 2013, her third studio album, "Artpop," was released and became Gaga's second American number-one album. The song "Applause" was released as "<nowiki>Artpop'</nowiki>"s lead single and reached number 4 in the US and Canada, while peaking within the top ten around the world. The second single, "Do What U Want", featuring R&B singer R. Kelly, was released as the album's second single, peaking at number 13 in America, number 9 in the UK, and number 3 in Canada. A remixed version of the song featuring American singer Christina Aguilera was released on New Year's Day, 2014. Gaga released the third single, "GUY.", in March 2014. It peaked at number 76 on the "Billboard" Hot 100.

paragraphs: In September 2014, Gaga released a collaborative album with jazz artist Tony Bennett titled "Cheek to Cheek". Two singles have been released, "Anything Goes" and "I Can't Give You Anything but Love".

paragraphs: In 2015, Gaga was supposed to be the artist to perform the first concert in space; however, this never came into fruition. She performed a tribute to British singer-actress Julie Andrews at the 2015 Academy Awards. Gaga became engaged to her boyfriend of nearly four years, actor Taylor Kinney, over the weekend of Valentine's Day, 2015. However, the couple broke up in July 2016.

paragraphs: Throughout that year, Gaga toured with Tony Bennett to promote "Cheek to Cheek". Gaga also starred in the FX series, "American Horror Story: Hotel".

paragraphs: At the end of 2015, Gaga released the single "Til It Happens to You", co-written with songwriter Diane Warren (who has written songs for Céline Dion, Cher, and Aerosmith, among others) for the documentary "The Hunting Ground", which documents sexual abuse on college campuses. The song was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media, along with an Academy Award for Best Original Song. She performed the song at the 2016 Academy Awards with 50 sexual assault survivors.

paragraphs: For her role in "American Horror Story", Gaga won a Golden Globe Award.

paragraphs: Gaga performed the National Anthem of the United States at Super Bowl 50 on February 7, 2016.

paragraphs: Gaga released her fifth studio album, "Joanne", on October 21, 2016. The style of the album is very different compared to her previous music. It entered at number one on the "Billboard" 200, and it became Gaga's fourth number-one album of the 2010's decade (2010-19). She worked with producer RedOne again on "Joanne", along with artists like Mark Ronson, Beck, and country songwriter Hillary Lindsey. The album includes the singles "Perfect Illusion" and "Million Reasons". The first single reached the top twenty around the world. The second reached as high as #52 in the US when it first charted.

paragraphs: Gaga performed in the Super Bowl LI (51) Halftime Show on February 5, 2017, in Houston, Texas. This became the most-watched halftime show in history across all platforms (the second-most watched on television, behind Katy Perry's 2015 halftime show). After Gaga's performance, "Million Reasons" entered the "Billboard" Hot 100 again at number four, tying the record for the highest re-entry on the Hot 100. It became her 14th top-ten hit and her 10th top-five in the US. It was later certified Platinum by the RIAA.

paragraphs: After Beyoncé announced that she could not perform the Coachella Festival due to her expecting twins, it was revealed that Gaga would perform instead. She performed her old hits along with a new song, "The Cure", that was released the next day. It reached number one on the iTunes charts of 62 countries on the day it was released.

paragraphs: From August 2017 to February 2018, Gaga performed on the Joanne World Tour. Some shows in November, along with the final ten shows on the tour, were canceled due to Gaga's fibromyalgia. A Netflix documentary about her life, called "Gaga: Five Foot Two", was released on September 22, 2017. The documentary won the award for Best Music Documentary at the 2018 MTV Movie & TV Awards.

paragraphs: On November 19, 2017, Gaga performed "The Cure" from the Joanne World Tour during the 2017 American Music Awards. She won the award for Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist later that night.

paragraphs: Gaga starred in a remake of the film "A Star Is Born" alongside Bradley Cooper, which was released on October 5, 2018. Two singles from the movie's soundtrack were released: "Shallow" (with Bradley Cooper) and "Always Remember Us This Way". "Shallow" topped charts in Australia and the UK while initially reaching the top five in the US and Canada. It won two Grammy Awards for Best Song Written for Visual Media and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. The soundtrack entered at number one on the "Billboard" 200 album chart, giving Gaga the most number-one albums in the 2010's decade for a woman (with five US number-one albums).

paragraphs: Gaga is currently performing in a residency show in Las Vegas at the MGM Park Theater, called Lady Gaga Enigma. It began on December 28, 2018.

paragraphs: In February 2019, it was reported that Gaga and Christian Carino, her boyfriend of two years, had called off their engagement. Later that month, Gaga won her first Academy Award, known as an Oscar, in the Best Original Song category for "Shallow". She performed the song alone at the 61st Grammy Awards but joined with Cooper at the Oscars. After the Oscars performance, the song became Gaga's fourth number-one hit on the "Billboard" Hot 100 and Cooper's first.

paragraphs: On March 12, 2019, Gaga responded on Twitter to tabloid rumors that she was pregnant, writing, "Rumors I'm pregnant? Yeah, I'm pregnant with #LG6," referring to her sixth studio album.

paragraphs: On May 6, 2019, Gaga was one of the chairpersons of the Met Gala, a yearly dinner held by "Vogue" editor-in-chief Anna Wintour at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. It is known for its celebrity guests and themes. The 2019 theme was "Camp: Notes on Fashion". Gaga wore four layers: a long fuchsia coat with a hair bow, a black gown, a fuchsia dress, and black lingerie.

paragraphs: In July 2019, Gaga revealed her beauty collection, called Haus Laboratories. It was released for pre-order on its website and Amazon, whose Prime Day sale occurred July 15 and 16 of that year.

paragraphs: A song by Gaga, titled "Stupid Love", leaked online in January 2020. Gaga later released the final version of the song on February 28, 2020, as the first single from her upcoming sixth studio album, revealed to be called "Chromatica". The song entered the top ten of charts in several countries. It became Gaga's sixteenth top-ten and twelfth top-five hit on the "Billboard" Hot 100 when it debuted at number five. "Chromatica" was planned for release on April 10, 2020, but was postponed to May 29 because of the global 2019–20 coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

paragraphs: On May 22, a week before the album's new release date, she released "Rain on Me", a duet with Ariana Grande, as the album's second single. It entered at the top of the "Billboard" Hot 100, giving Gaga her fifth number-one song in the US.

paragraphs: "Chromatica" entered at the top of the "Billboard" 200 album chart in the US, giving Gaga her sixth US number-one album. It had the best opening week for a female album in 2020. She also earned six number-one albums faster than any other female in "Billboard" history.

paragraphs: On August 30, 2020, at the MTV Video Music Awards, Gaga won the first Tricon Award, along with Artist and Song of the Year and Best Collaboration and Best Cinematography for "Rain on Me". With these five wins, Gaga's career VMA awards total 18.

paragraphs: Gaga has a striking fashion sense. The "New York Post" said her early look was like "a refugee from "Jersey Shore"" with "big black hair, heavy eye makeup and tight, revealing clothes." Gaga has naturally brown hair. She bleached her hair blonde so she wouldn't look like Amy Winehouse.

paragraphs: Much of Gaga's early success is due to her gay fans. She is often called a "rising gay icon." Early in her career she had trouble being played on the radio, and stated, "The turning point for me was the gay community. I've got so many gay fans and they're so loyal to me and they really lifted me up. They'll always stand by me and I'll always stand by them. It's not an easy thing to create a fanbase."


title: Art Garfunkel

paragraphs: Art Garfunkel (born November 5, 1941) is an American singer of Jewish descent. Along with Paul Simon, he was part of the duo Simon and Garfunkel, a popular group in the 1960s and early 1970s. After that, he made several solo albums. He has also acted in a few movies.


title: Plattsburgh, New York

paragraphs: Plattsburgh is a town in New York in the U.S. It is in upstate New York, near Lake Champlain.


title: Only Time

paragraphs: Only Time, is a song by Celtic new age singer, Enya. It is one of her most famous songs.


title: George Rodrigue

paragraphs: George Rodrigue (March 13, 1944 – December 14, 2013) was a Cajun artist who grew up in New Iberia, Louisiana. He went to an all-boys high school and then later studied at two art colleges, one in Louisiana and one in California. He later trained in New York. He began by painting outdoor scenes at family gatherings, using an oak tree as his main subject in hundreds of paintings. Later he started abstract painting of Louisiana legends and the history of its people.

paragraphs: He is best known for his Blue Dog series of paintings. He modeled the Blue Dog after his own pet named Tiffany. She had died a couple years before the first painting was ever made. That first painting was made for the cover of a scary book. It was a little eerie, the subject being a pale scruffy dog with red eyes. Eventually they became friendlier images of the Blue Dog. He died of prostate cancer on December 14, 2013, aged 69.


title: JSGF

paragraphs: JSGF stands for Java Speech Grammar Format or the JSpeech Grammar Format. It is a special format used to describe a set of text that fits into a certain language.


title: Ocean pollution

paragraphs: Ocean pollution is pollution in the sea. It is a form of water pollution.

paragraphs: Marine pollution occurs when harmful effects result from the entry into the ocean of chemicals, particles, industrial, agricultural and residential waste, noise, or the spread of invasive organisms. Most sources of marine pollution are land based. The pollution often comes from nonpoint sources such as agricultural runoff, wind-blown debris and dust. Nutrient pollution, a form of water pollution, refers to contamination by excessive inputs of nutrients. It is a primary cause of eutrophication of surface waters, in which excess nutrients, usually nitrogen or phosphorus, stimulate algae growth.

paragraphs: Many potentially toxic chemicals adhere to tiny particles which are then taken up by plankton and benthos animals, most of which are either deposit or filter feeders. In this way, the toxins are concentrated upward within ocean food chains.

paragraphs: When pesticides are incorporated into the marine ecosystem, they quickly become absorbed into marine food webs. Once in the food webs, these pesticides can cause mutations, as well as diseases, which can be harmful to humans as well as the entire food web.

paragraphs: Toxic metals can also be introduced into marine food webs. These can cause a change to tissue matter, biochemistry, behaviour, reproduction, and suppress growth in marine life. Also, many animal feeds have a high fish meal or fish hydrolysate content. In this way, marine toxins can be transferred to land animals, and appear later in meat and dairy products.

paragraphs: Every time we wash a car or our lawns we are polluting the ocean. People often think that water pollution comes from big factories, but most of the pollution comes from everyday people doing everyday things. This kind of pollution is called "nonpoint-source pollution" because we cannot point out where it came from directly. All waste water, in time, enters a body of water (usually a stream). Every stream leads to a river, and every river leads to an ocean.

paragraphs: Because so many people use oil, large ships must take billions of barrels of it across the oceans. If it is not handled carefully, these trips can be very bad. In 1989, the United States experienced a large oil spill in Prince William Sound, a waterway on the Alaskan coast. The "Exxon Valdez", a very big ship, hit a reef and spilled more than 260,000 barrels of oil. The results were very bad. A great number of animals were covered in oil and began dying immediately. Animals that ate these oil-filled animals also died. Many Alaskans who lived by fishing these animals lost their businesses. Even though many animals were saved, and the Exxon Oil Company spent 2.5 billion dollars trying to clean up the oil, Alaska's wildlife still suffers.

paragraphs: Oceanic pollution is the process where harmful or potentially harmful substances get into the ocean where they affect the existence of the sea organisms. Most of the harmful materials such as industrial, agricultural wastes as well as air pollution come from land. Pollutants get into the ocean through rivers from urban centers sewage and drainage systems. In the land runoffs, the pollutants include soil from farms, agricultural chemicals such as fertilizers, constructions as well as mining fields that are carried into the ocean by the rain or river water. All these pollutants are consumed by fish and other sea animals and eventually ending up in the fish we eat. The accumulation of these chemicals in the bodies of human beings can cause serious health issues. In order to reduce ocean pollution, tighter regulations should be placed on industries and sewage to ensure that the wastes of the industries are treated before being let into the rivers.

paragraphs: Humans have done much to harm the ocean, but we are starting to try to help them. Countries promise each other to clean up the ocean and save the ocean's resources.


title: Stewie Griffin

paragraphs: Stewie Griffin is a character in the television comedy "Family Guy". At age 1, he is the youngest child of Lois and Peter Griffin. He has two older siblings. They are an American family although Stewie is the only one in his family with an English accent. Seth MacFarlane, is the man responsible for voicing (imitating) and creating the voice for Stewie Griffin.


title: Tikkakoski

paragraphs: Tikkakoski is a town in Jyväskylä, Finland. In 2010, 6,000 people live in Tikkakoski. 2,321 of them live in Tikkakoski's downtown.


title: MSX

paragraphs: MSX was the name of a home computer in the 1980s. It was Microsoft's attempt to create a standard for hardware makers, conceived by Microsoft Japan executive Kazuhiko Nishi. Even with Microsoft's involvement, MSX machines were rare in the United States and Britain, but they were popular in other markets. Eventually 5 million MSX-based units were sold worldwide.


title: Family Computer Disk System

paragraphs: The Family Computer Disk System was a disc add-on for the Nintendo Entertainment System that was only released in Japan despite being announced in America. It used floppy disks which made it very easy for piracy to occur.


title: ColecoVision

paragraphs: The ColecoVision was a second generation home video game console known mostly for its expansion packs including the Expansion Module #1 which gave it the largest library of games for its time by having compatibility with Atari 2600 games. The system competed with other game systems popular at the time such as Atari 2600 and the Intellivision. The ColecoVision offered arcade-quality graphics and gaming style, and the means to expand the system's basic hardware. River West Brands currently owns the ColecoVision brand name. It was released in 1982 and was discontinued in 1985.


title: Fashion in the 15th century

paragraphs: Fashion in the 15th century, in Europe was characterized by a series of extremes and extravagances, from the voluminous gowns called houppelandes with their sweeping floor-length sleeves to the revealing doublets and hose of Renaissance Italy. Hats, hoods, and other headdresses assumed increasing importance, and were swagged, draped, jewelled, and feathered. Full-bodied houppelandes with voluminous sleeves worn with elaborate headdresses are characteristic of the earlier 15th century.

paragraphs: As Europe continued to grow more prosperous, the urban middle classes, skilled workers, began to wear more complex clothes that followed, at a distance, the fashions set by the elites. National variations in clothing seem on the whole to have increased over the century.

paragraphs: Wool was the most popular fabric for all classes by far, followed by linen and hemp. Wool fabrics were available in a wide range of qualities, from rough undyed cloth to fine, dense broadcloth with a velvety nap; high-value broadcloth was a backbone of the English economy and was exported throughout Europe. Wool fabrics were dyed in rich colours, notably reds, greens, golds, and blues, although the actual blue colour achievable with dyeing with woad (and less frequently indigo) could not match the characteristic rich lapis lazuli pigment blues depicted in contemporary illuminated manuscripts such as the Très Riches Heures du duc de Berry.

paragraphs: Silk-weaving was well-established around the Mediterranean by the beginning of the century, and figured silks, often silk velvets with silver-gilt wefts, are increasingly seen in Italian dress and in the dress of the rich throughout Europe. Stately floral designs featuring a pomegranate or artichoke motif had reached Europe from China in the previous century and became a dominant design in the Ottoman silk-producing cities of Istanbul and Bursa, and spread to silk weavers in Florence, Genoa, Venice, Valencia and Seville in this period.

paragraphs: Fur was worn, mostly as a lining layer, by those who could afford it. The grey and white squirrel furs of the Middle Ages, vair and miniver, went out of style except at court, first for men and then for women; the new fashionable furs were dark brown sable and marten. Toward the end of the century, wild animal furs such as lynx became popular. Ermine remained the prerogative and hallmark of royalty.


title: Markov chain

paragraphs: A Markov chain is a model of some random process that happens over time. Markov chains are called that because they follow a rule called the Markov property. The Markov property says that whatever happens next in a process only depends on how it is right now (the state). It doesn't have a "memory" of how it was before. It is helpful to think of a Markov chain as evolving through discrete steps in time, although the "step" doesn't need to have anything to do with time.

paragraphs: Markov chains can be discrete or continuous. Discrete Time Markov Chains are split up into discrete time steps, like t = 1, t = 2, t = 3, and so on. The probability that a chain will go from one state to another state depends only on the state that it's in right now. Continuous Time Markov Chains are chains where the time spent in each state is a real number. The amount of time the chain stays in a certain state is randomly picked from an exponential distribution, which basically means there's an average time a chain will stay in some state, plus or minus some random variation.

paragraphs: An example of a Markov chain are the dietary habits of a creature who only eats grapes, cheese or lettuce, and whose dietary habits conform to the following (artificial) rules:

paragraphs: This creature's eating habits can be modeled with a Markov chain since its choice depends on what it ate yesterday, not additionally on what it ate 2 or 3 (or 4, etc...) days ago. One statistical property one could calculate is the expected percentage of the time the creature will eat cheese over a long period.

paragraphs: Another classical example of a Markov chain is the 1995 model of cocaine use in Los Angeles designed by the . The model is governed by a series of equations, which describe the probability of a person being a non-user, light user (L) or heavy user (H) of cocaine at time "t"+1, given their prior probabilities at time "t":


title: Mary Anning

paragraphs: Mary Anning (21 May 1799 – 9 March 1847) was an early 19th-century British fossil collector, dealer and paleontologist. She earned her living finding and preparing fossils, in the rich Jurassic marine strata at Lyme Regis, Dorset where she lived. She made many important finds. These included the first ichthyosaur skeleton to be correctly identified ("Temnodontosaurus platyodon"); the first two plesiosaur skeletons ever found ("Plesiosaurus dolichodeirus"); the first pterosaur skeleton found outside Germany ("Dimorphodon macronyx"); and some important fish fossils.

paragraphs: Her observations played a key role in the discoveries that belemnite fossils contained fossilized ink sacs, and that coprolites, known as bezoar stones at the time, were fossilized faeces. When the geologist Henry De la Beche painted "Duria Antiquior", he based it largely on fossils Anning had found. He sold prints for her benefit. Her work played a key role in the growth of scientific biology in the early 19th century. It showed without question that previously unknown forms of life had existed in the Jurassic seas, all of which were long extinct.

paragraphs: Anning's sex and social class—her parents were poor religious dissenters (non-Anglican Protestants)—prevented her from fully participating in the scientific community of early 19th century England, dominated as it was by rich Anglican gentlemen. Some of the men she worked with and for did give her full credit for her contributions, but some did not.

paragraphs: Although she became well known in geological circles in Britain, Europe, and America, and she made a great deal of money from her best finds, she struggled financially for much of her life. In 1818 Anning came to the attention of Thomas Birch, a rich fossil collector, when she sold him an ichthyosaur skeleton. A year later, he was disturbed by the poverty of the Anning family, which was at the point of having to sell their furniture to make ends meet. Birch arranged for the sale by auction of his own fossil collection, and the proceeds (some £400) were given to the Annings. Besides providing much needed funds, the public auction raised the profile of the Anning family in the geologic community. Later, she lost £300 (a huge sum) in 1835 on unwise investments, but was saved by a government pension of £25 per year. This was organised by another of her friends, William Buckland. Her early death was caused by breast cancer.

paragraphs: Tourists used to visit Lyme Regis, which had become a popular seaside resort. As their father had before them, Mary and her brother Joseph Anning set up a table of 'curiosities' near the coach stop at a local inn to sell their wares to tourists. After Joseph made an important find of an ichthyosaur skull in 1810 and Mary found the associated skeleton a year later, they became known to the geologists and amateurs interested in fossils. Their passion for fossils grew to be the main source of income for their family.

paragraphs: Her stock in trade were invertebrate fossils such as ammonite and belemnite shells, which were common in the area and sold for a few shillings. Vertebrate fossils were much rarer, and exceptional specimens like an almost complete ichthyosaur skeleton could sell for much more.

paragraphs: The source of these fossils were the coastal cliffs that surround Lyme which are part of a geological formation known as the Blue Lias. This formation consists of alternating layers of limestone and shale, laid down as sediment on a shallow seabed early in the Jurassic period (about 210-195 million years ago). The cliffs are one of the richest fossil locations in Britain.

paragraphs: As Mary Anning continued to make important finds her reputation grew. In 1826, at the age of 27, she managed to save enough money to buy a home with a glass store front window for her shop, called "Anning's Fossil Depot". The move was covered in the local paper, which noted that the shop currently had a fine ichthyosaur skeleton on display. Many geologists and fossil collectors from Europe and America visited Anning at Lyme to purchase specimens. These included the geologist George William Featherstonhaugh who purchased fossils for the newly opened New York Lyceum of Natural History in 1827. King Frederick Augustus II of Saxony visited her shop in 1844 and purchased an ichthyosaur skeleton for his extensive natural history collection.

paragraphs: Lady Harriet Silvester visited Lyme in 1824. She remarked in her diary:

paragraphs: ... the extraordinary thing in this young woman is that she has made herself so thoroughly acquainted with the science that the moment she finds any bones she knows to what tribe they belong. She fixes the bones on a frame with cement and then makes drawings and has them engraved. . . It is certainly a wonderful instance of divine favour – that this poor, ignorant girl should be so blessed, for by reading and application she has arrived to that degree of knowledge as to be in the habit of writing and talking with professors and other clever men on the subject, and they all acknowledge that she understands more of the science than anyone else in this kingdom.

paragraphs: As time passed, her confidence in her knowledge increased, and in 1839 she wrote to the "Magazine of Natural History" to question their claim that a hooked tooth of the prehistoric shark "Hybodus" represented a new discovery. She had discovered years ago the existence of fossil sharks with both straight and hooked teeth. The extract from the letter that the magazine printed was the only thing that Anning ever published.

paragraphs: Mary Anning is the subject of the old tongue-twister, "She sells sea shells on the sea shore." It was composed in 1908, more than a half century after her death, by Terry Sullivan who was inspired by her life story. The lyrics have changed over time, but the original text was:<br>

paragraphs: The shells she sells are seashells, I'm sure<br>

paragraphs: So if she sells seashells on the seashore<br>

paragraphs: Then I'm sure she sells seashore shells.<br>

paragraphs: Anning's life story was seen as inspirational by a number of writers in the 20th century. Most of this material was intended as inspirational literature for children, and tended to focus on her childhood and early career, neglecting her later accomplishments. Much of it was also romanticized and not always historically accurate. She appeared as a character in historical novels, perhaps most notably in "The French Lieutenant's Woman" (1969) by John Fowles, which was made into a feature film in 1981. Fowles observed critically that no British scientist had named a species after Anning in her lifetime.

paragraphs: However, in the 1840s the Swiss-American expert on fossil fish Louis Agassiz did name two fossil fish species, "Acrodus anningiae", and "Belenostomus anningiae", after her, and another after her friend Elizabeth Philpot. Agassiz was grateful for the help the two women had given him in examining and understanding fossil fish specimens, during his 1834 visit to Lyme Regis.


title: Cyberbullying

paragraphs: Cyberbullying is the misuse of electronic information and mass media, such as e-mail, SMS, weblogs, cellphones and defamatory websites, to harass or attack a person or a group. It can cause emotional damage. Cyberbullying can include sending threats and unwanted sexual messages.

paragraphs: Some schools have started programs to teach students about cyberbullying and how to deal with it.

paragraphs: In 2006, a 13 year old girl in Missouri killed herself after receiving mean messages on MySpace from a woman pretending to be a teenage boy. The state of Missouri then made using technology like the Internet or text messages to harass someone illegal.

paragraphs: In New Hampshire, a law was passed in 2010 that said that schools must have rules against cyberbullying.

paragraphs: On October 12, 2012, a Canadian girl named Amanda Todd killed herself. A few years before this happened, she showed her breasts on a video chat, and a man later messaged her saying that if Todd did not show more parts of her body then he would post the pictures he had taken of her from the video chat to the Internet. She faced alot of bullying on the internet afterwards.


title: Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis

paragraphs: Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis (BWV) is a list of all the pieces of music by Johann Sebastian Bach that are known. In English it means Bach Works Catalogue.

paragraphs: The catalogue was made by Wolfgang Schmieder in 1950. He took all the music that is known by Johann Sebastian Bach (some of Bach's music has been lost) and gave each piece a number. Each piece of music by Bach therefore has a BWV number. For example, the "Mass in B minor" is BWV 232. Giving each piece a number helps musicians to know exactly which piece of music we are talking about. For example, there are several Preludes and Fugues in G major, but putting "Prelude and Fugue in G major BWV550" makes it clear which one it is.

paragraphs: The BWV numbers are not listed chronologically (in the order they were written). They are grouped according to what kind of music it is: all the cantatas together, all the concertos together, etc.

paragraphs: Some pieces of music may be written by Bach, but we are not sure. Those doubtful pieces of music are listed separately as "BWV Anhang" (BWV appendix). Some of what Schmieder wrote in 1950 has been updated because some new music by Bach has been discovered. Other pieces of music have now been proved not to be by Bach.

paragraphs: Bach, like many composers from long ago, did not use opus numbers, because very few of his works were published during his lifetime.

paragraphs: Some older books write "S" instead of "BWV" (S for Schmieder), but Schmieder did not want this. He wanted Bach's name to be used, not his own.


title: Han Fei Zi

paragraphs: Han Fei Zi (281 BC – 233 BC) was an early Chinese philosopher. He is part of a group said to have created of doctrine of the "School of Law" or Legalism.


title: Thomas Anders

paragraphs: Thomas Anders (born Bernd Weidung, 1 March 1963, Koblenz, West Germany) is a German singer, composer and record producer. Anders was the lead singer of Modern Talking, a famous German pop duo, between 1984–1987 and 1998–2003.

paragraphs: Despite the title, this DVD misses some videos by Thomas Anders: "Heißkalter Engel", "Es geht mir gut heut' Nacht", "Can't Give You Anything (But My Love)" and "Soldier".


title: Américo

paragraphs: Domingo Jonhy Vega Urzúa (December 24, 1977, Arica, Chile), commonly known as Américo, is a Chilean singer. He became known when he started leading the band "Américo y la Nueva Alegría". He is the son of the boleros singer Melvin "Corazón" Américo, who sings duets with his wife, Marcela Toledo.


title: Holodomor

paragraphs: The Holodomor (, which means "murder by hunger") was a man-made famine that happened in Ukraine in 1932 and in 1933. At that time, Ukraine was a part of the Soviet Union. About seven million people starved to death in the Holodomor.

paragraphs: Joseph Stalin was the leader and dictator of the Soviet Union, which was a communist country. He made farmers in the Soviet Union change the way they farmed, then he tried to make the farmers work harder for the government-owned farms, for less money. Many people in the Ukraine did not want to go along with this. When the Ukraine had a famine, Stalin refused to help the people in the Ukraine. Instead, the government took food away from people. It became illegal (against the law) to pick up food from the ground of fields. The government also tried to stop people from moving around the country to look for food.

paragraphs: Scholars and politicians using the word Holodomor say the man-made aspects of the famine, was a genocide; some consider the huge loss of life comparable to the Holocaust. They argue that the Soviet policies were an attack on the rise of Ukrainian nationalism and therefore is a genocide.

paragraphs: Other scholars say that the Holodomor was an unexpected consequence of the rapid and massive industrialization started by Stalin, that brought radical economic changes to the farmers and the country, and which was not done on purpose.


title: Castling

paragraphs: Castling is a special move in chess that uses both a rook and the king. In castling, the king is moved two squares toward the rook, and the rook moves past the king to the square right next to where the king has moved. Castling takes one move, and is the only way for a player to move two of his own pieces on the same move. Castling can be done on either side of the board. Castling can either be done on the king-side (also known as castling short) or on the queen-side (also known as castling long).

paragraphs: Castling is only possible if each of the following things are true:

paragraphs: Good players castle in most of their games. It is normally a good idea because it often moves the king into a safer place. The middle of the board is normally not a very safe place for the king to be early in the game. It also makes it easier to get the rook into the game. Castling king-side is generally viewed as being safer, while castling queen-side is viewed as being more aggressive.


title: False consensus

paragraphs: False consensus or the effect of the false consensus is the tendency for people to assume that everyone else thinks the same way they do.

paragraphs: It is a cognitive bias in which a person overestimates the "agreement grade" that the other people have with them. In other words, people tend to think that others agree with them. Most of the time, a person thinks that their own attitudes, beliefs, values and habits are the most common ones. In reality, the person's thoughts may not be shared by others.

paragraphs: Another effect which can occur with false consensus is called pluralistic ignorance. In pluralistic ignorance, people support a norm or a belief in public, even though they really think it is wrong.


title: Cherry cake

paragraphs: A cherry cake is a soft, creamy cake with firm bread and ripe cherries inside it. It is served with cherry icing, made of icing sugar, butter, and water. Sometimes, pink food coloring is added to the icing, to make it look like it is made of cherries.

paragraphs: Cherry cakes may also be presented with sprinkled icing, and desiccated coconut.


title: Walnut cake

paragraphs: Walnut cake is a cake made of walnuts. It is a lightly golden, thick, creamy cake made of coffee cream and chocolate hazelnut spread. Unfilled Walnut cakes can be preserved and for one month.

paragraphs: Walnut cakes may also be served with a punnet of strawberries, reserving four berries for decoration. Also, strawberry cream can be spread over the top and sides of the cake.


title: Eudimorphodon

paragraphs: Eudimorphodon is a recently discovered pterosaur, and comes from shale laid down Upper Triassic rocks in Italy.

paragraphs: A nearly complete skeleton was found in 1973. This showed it was a member of the long-tailed sub-order of pterosaurs, the Rhamphorhynchoidea. "Eudimorphodon" was small in size, with 110 teeth packed into a jaw only 6 cms long. Teeth at the front are fangs, further back the teeth are small and multipointed, many with five cusps. This is unique among pterosaurs, whose teeth are usually of a simple conical form.

paragraphs: Stomach contents showed it had eaten a small fish, "Parapholidophorus". The top and bottom teeth of "Eudimorphodon" came into direct contact with each other when the jaws were closed, especially at the back of the jaw. The teeth were multi-cusped, and tooth wear shows that "Eudimorphodon" was able to crush or chew its food to some degree. Wear along the sides of these teeth suggests that "Eudimorphodon" also fed on hard-shelled invertebrates.

paragraphs: Juvenile "Eudimorphodon" had somewhat different and fewer teeth, and may have eaten insects.

paragraphs: An unsolved puzzle is the flexibility of the tail, which lacks the very long stiffening vertebral extensions other long-tailed pterosaurs have. This flexibility is a basal trait; its functional significance in this genus is unknown. However, it is known that the stiffened tail of "Rhamphorhynchus"-like pterosaurs is a device which adds stability to their flight. Without this stability, the animal would be more manoeuvrable, but their flight would need more control by the brain.


title: Myall Creek Massacre

paragraphs: The Myall Creek Massacre was an incident which involved the murders of approximately 30 Wirrayaraay indigenous people by European settlers. It happened on 10 June 1838 at the Myall Creek near Bingara in northern New South Wales.


title: Nuclear chemistry

paragraphs: Nuclear is the part of chemistry dealing with radioactivity and other parts of atoms.


title: Rise Against

paragraphs: Rise Against is an American melodic hardcore band from Chicago, Illinois. Rise Against formed in 1999. Their current members are Tim McIlrath (vocals, guitar), Joe Principe (bass guitar), Brandon Barnes (drums), and Zach Blair (guitar). All of the members are straight edge (except Barnes), and the band supports PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals). They are also vegans. The band is currently signed to Geffen. Geffen is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. As of 2009, Rise Against has had six studio albums, two EPs, and one DVD.

paragraphs: Rise Against spent its first five years signed to the record label "Fat Wreck Chords," on which it released two studio albums. The band got reviewer popularity with its first two releases on Geffen, "Siren Song of the Counter Culture" (2004) and "The Sufferer & the Witness" (2006). These two albums made many high-charting singles, like "Swing Life Away", "Prayer of the Refugee", and "The Good Left Undone". Their newest studio album, "Appeal to Reason" (2008), was released in North America on October 7. It got to number three on the U.S Billboard 200 and made the three singles, "Re-Education (Through Labor)", "Audience of One", and "Savior".

paragraphs: Rise Against was first made with the name "Transistor Revolt" in 1999 by former members of the bands 88 Fingers Louie and Baxter. The first group was Tim McIlrath (vocals), Joe Principe (bass and vocals), Toni Tintari (drums), and Mr. Precision (guitar and vocals). The band never performed live with this group. Instead, it released a self-made demo or EP. It was called "Transistor Revolt". They made it in the year 2000, a year before signing with Fat Wreck Chords. Tintari left shortly after making "Transistor Revolt", and was replaced by Brandon Barnes. Barnes was first from Screeching Weasel and Squirtgun's drummer. The band changed its name to Rise Against in 2001 and made its first album, "The Unraveling" (made by veteran punk maker Mass Giorgini) on Fat Wreck Chords that same year. Mr. Precision then left the band in 2001. He was replaced by Todd Mohney. Mohney joined before the band began writing their second full-length album, "Revolutions per Minute".

paragraphs: After touring in support of "The Unraveling", the band came back to the studio in December 2002 to work on their second full-length album. The album would be called "Revolutions per Minute" (made by Bill Stevenson and Jason Livermore at The Blasting Room). It was released in 2003. The band toured a lot in support of its first two albums. They also performed in helping roles for "Sick of It All," "NOFX," "Agnostic Front," "No Use for a Name," "AFI," and "Strung Out." Rise Against also helped out in the 2003 "Warped Tour."

paragraphs: Rise Against signed onto DreamWorks Records in December 2003 and made their third album, "Siren Song of the Counter Culture" in 2004. DreamWorks was soon absorbed by the Universal Music Group, and Rise Against found itself with Geffen Records instead. Shortly after the band signed with Geffen, Mohney left and was replaced by guitarist Chris Chasse. Rise Against released "Siren Song of the Counter Culture" in August 2004. The album was their first to be the band's album on a famous record label, and was their first to reach the "Billboard" 200 chart. It also was awarded gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The album got mostly good reviews from reviewers. In giving the album three out of five stars, Johnny Loftus from Allmusic said that "Siren Song of the Counter Culture" sometimes ""gets carried away with its own music ."" However, he goes on to say that because of the album being the band's first famous-label release, ""maybe the fuller sound and sometimes forays into acoustic guitars and cello overdubs...are OK.""

paragraphs: Rise Against toured North America, Europe, Australia, and Japan in support of "Siren Song of the Counter Culture". Some of the best performances are those on the first worldwide "Taste of Chaos" tour in 2005 (with Funeral for a Friend, Story of the Year, The Used, and Killswitch Engage), a worldwide tour to the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, and Japan, the Give It a Name tour in the United Kingdom, the Reading Festival and Leeds Festival in the United Kingdom a United States tour with Alkaline Trio, and the Warped Tour in North America.

paragraphs: In January 2006, after touring in support of "Siren Song of the Counter Culture", Rise Against started to work on their fourth studio album at the Blasting Room studio in Fort Collins, Colorado. With makers Bill Stevenson and Jason Livermore. "The Sufferer & the Witness" was released on July 4, 2006. The album got to number 10 on the U.S. "Billboard" 200 chart, selling 48,397 copies in its first week of release. It was then awarded gold by the RIAA in 2008. "The Age" newspaper said that with "The Sufferer & the Witness", the band ""returns to their punk roots."" Plus, the album got mostly good reviews by reviewers. Corey Apar of Allmusic, in giving the album four out of five stars, said of it, ""the band's inner grit is aptly drawn out amid all the pit-ready choruses and fist-in-the-air, stirring lyrics."" She goes on to say, ""Rise Against continue to muscularly confront political and personal grievances to the tune of swirling guitars, assertive rhythms, and Tim McIlrath's sandpapered vocals."" Then Christine Leonard of "Fast Forward Weekly" says of the band, ""Returning to their old school form with the ballistic intensity of "Bricks," they just as quickly lose focus with questionable efforts such as 'Worth Dying For' and the oh-so-weary 'Prayer of the Refugee'.""

paragraphs: A DVD called "Generation Lost" was released on December 5, 2006 to help the band and their new album. It is a movie of the careers of the band members, as well as live performance videos and making-of shorts. Rise Against toured in support of "The Sufferer & the Witness" through the second half of 2006 and all of 2007. The band was a big band in the 2006 Warped Tour. In late 2006, the band said that they would tour with Thursday. The bands Circa Survive and Billy Talent would also come too. In early 2007, the band had My Chemical Romance open for them on the first half of their big tour. On February 23, 2007, Rise Against said guitarist Chris Chasse, would leave. Chasse was then replaced by longtime friend Zach Blair from Only Crime. On June 15, 2007, the band started their first big tour in support of "The Sufferer & the Witness". It was a North American tour that lasted throughout the summer months. During this tour, on July 3, 2007, Rise Against recorded an EP in Canada titled "This Is Noise", which was then released in the United States on January 15, 2008.

paragraphs: Before the album was released, Rise Against supported it by performing at the sixteenth yearly KROQ Weenie Roast on May 17 in Irvine, California. They also performed at the sixth yearly Download Festival on June 13 at Donington Park, England. They played at Switzerland's Greenfield Festival as well as Germany's Hurricane Festival and Southside Festival. Like many past years, the band participated in the Vans Warped Tour, although they only performed on the tour's west coast swing from August 6 to

paragraphs: Rise Against's fifth studio album "Appeal to Reason" was released on October 4 in Australia. It was then released October 6 across Europe. Then October 7 in the United States. The album sold 64,700 copies in its first week. It also got to number three on the U.S. "Billboard" 200. This made it Rise Against's highest scoring album. "Appeal to Reason" also got mostly good reviews. However, reviewers did not rate it as good as "The Sufferer & the Witness". Most people thought this because Rise Against is moving toward slower music and away from faster hardcore punk. Giving the album a C+ review, Marc Weingarten of "Entertainment Weekly" says the album is filled with ""protest anthems that lean closer to the angst of such bands as New Found Glory and Fall Out Boy than the genuine outrage of brainy Green Day"" and songs that are ""peppy but pretty empty, power-chord downers with little bark or bite"." Kyle Anderson from "Rolling Stone" says that the songs on "Appeal to Reason" ""are driven by an ever-sharpening pop "." He finishes by saying, ""Rise Against may be about leaving the underground behind, but with sharp songs like these, they're ready for the rest of the world"."

paragraphs: Rise Against then went on a North American tour with other bands such as Rancid, Billy Talent, Killswitch Engage, and Riverboat Gamblers in June and July 2009. They also did a short tour in the United Kingdom in November. The bands Thursday and Poison the Well helped Rise Against do that tour. The band also played at KROQ's Almost Acoustic Christmas in December 2009, playing right before AFI. The band will release a record with Face to Face, but no date has been said. After finishing a Europen tour from October to November 2009 and an Australian tour in January and February 2010, Rise Against will start working on a new album.

paragraphs: Rise Against's musical style throughout the band's history has been thought by most reviewers as hardcore punk, melodic hardcore, or punk rock. The band has cited many punk and hardcore bands as inspiration to its music. In 2004, drummer Brandon Barnes said: ""I think we have a lot of different influences from hardcore like old Cave In, to a lot of punk like Face to Face, Screeching Weasel, and Down By Law"."

paragraphs: The band's songs focus on melody, catchy hooks, aggressive movements, and fast-paced tempo. Guitarists McIlrath and Blair focus on speed riffing and multi-layered choruses. Bassist Principe uses aggressive picking to lock in with the snare and kick of the drums. Frummer Barnes follows the guitars. He says: "Sometimes I'll do it naturally, or we'll talk about different ways to accent things - fills from the snare or toms, or some big crashes."

paragraphs: In 2006, Tim McIlrath described the band's style: ""We’re Minor Threat and Black Flag. Who knows, maybe if Ian MacKaye was wearing eyeliner then I would be."" Other bands that have inspired Rise Against are Descendents, Dead Kennedys, Refused, and Bad Religion.

paragraphs: During the early part of their career, Rise Against's music had a gritty combination of hardcore punk and melodic hardcore. "The Unraveling" had a raw punk sound, while "Revolutions per Minute" had an overall darker tone.

paragraphs: All of the group's members are vegetarians. All of them are also supporters of PETA, an animal rights organization. Their video for the song "Ready to Fall" has video of factory farming, rodeos, and sport hunting. It also has videos of deforestation, melting ice caps, and forest fires. The group said that that video was the most important video they have ever made. In February 2012, the band released a cover of the Bob Dylan song "Ballad of Hollis Brown". This was part of a benefit for Amnesty International. The Director's Cut of the video was first shown on a PETA website. In 2009, the band was voted Best Animal-Friendly Band by PETA. All the members of Rise Against (except Brandon Barnes) are straight edge; that is, they do not drink alcohol, and they do not use drugs.

paragraphs: the band has voiced their support for Democratic and libertarian causes. During the 2004 United States presidential election, the band was part of Punkvoter, a political activist group. They appeared on the "Rock Against Bush, Vol. 1" compilation. The Rock Against Bush project raised over $1 million for John Kerry. John Kerry was the Democratic presidential candidate at that time. During the 2008 presidential election, the band members supported Barack Obama. In a news bulletin in early 2009, the band said: "Few things are more exciting than watching Bush finally release America as his eight year hostage."

paragraphs: On May 23, 2007 Rise Against said they have an endorsement of a new line of Vans shoes. They said that the shoes would be "completely vegan in consideration to [their] animal rights efforts". Because people criticized them due to rumors that Vans' use sweatshops, Rise Against said on their MySpace profile and website,


title: Siren Song of the Counter Culture

paragraphs: Siren Song of the Counter Culture is the third album by American punk rock band Rise Against, released on August 10, 2004. It is the band's first release on a major label. The album sold very well, mainly because of the success of its single, "Swing Life Away", which reached number 12 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks, making it the band's highest-ranking single at the time. Also faring well were the album's other three singles, "Give It All" (number 37) and "Life Less Frightening" (number 33) and "Paper Wings". Despite its big commercial success, Siren Song of the Counter Culture is not Rise Against's highest charting album on the Billboard 200, peaking at number 136; subsequent albums The Sufferer & The Witness and Appeal to Reason both charted higher, peaking at number 10 and number 3. The album was awarded Gold by the RIAA on March 10, 2009.


title: Redbone Coonhound

paragraphs: A Redbone Hound is a breed of dog. The breed is used for hunting bear, raccoon, and other wild game.


title: Roger Goodell

paragraphs: Roger Goodell (born February 19, 1959) is the current commissioner of the National Football League (NFL). He has held this position since August 8, 2006 when he took over duties for the retiring Paul Tagliabue.

paragraphs: As the commissioner, he has focused on how players behave off of the field, making more rules that can lead to players who get into trouble off of the field or with the law being fined or suspended.


title: Pepperjack cheese

paragraphs: Pepper jack cheese is a type of Monterey Jack cheese that is made with spicy hot peppers for flavour. Pepperjack is a spicy, buttery cheese that is soft and has a tart flavour.


title: Nick Jr.

paragraphs: Nick Jr. is a children's television channel. It was launched on 1988 in the United States.

paragraphs: Launched on January 4, 1988. The US version did not had the similar graphs, promos or design as the UK, Italy or Australia except the logo. The mascots were "Moose A. Moose" and "Zee" from April 7, 2003 until February 29, 2012. Currently it airs some early and late Nick Jr. shows. The new logo is a lot different then the block's logo.

paragraphs: Launched on September 1, 1999 as the first Nick Jr. channel. Until 2005 it aired from 6:00a.m. to 8:00p.m. Then in 2005 a classic children's programming block called Nick Jr. Classics was launched, airing was also increased to 10:00p.m. After Nick Jr. Classics was dropped, it began airing for 24 hours.

paragraphs: There is a similar service titled Nick Jr. Too. It launched in April 2006 as Nick Jr. 2, but the name was changed in November 2014.

paragraphs: Launched on March 2004. The Australian version includes some PBS Kids series like "WordWorld", "Sid the Science Kid", or "Martha Speaks", and original programming like "Ollie".

paragraphs: Similar to the US version. Launched on January 26, 2010. Name stylized as Nickelodeon Junior.


title: Joey Tempest

paragraphs: Joey Tempest (born Rolf Magnus Joakim Larsson; August 19, 1963) is the singer and main songwriter of the Swedish rock band Europe.


title: Commune

paragraphs: A commune is a minor administrative subdivision corresponding to an urban or rural zone, or mixed. It is the equivalent of a municipality, a council, or other instances of local administration.

paragraphs: Many countries have adopted the name of commune (or similar) for their minor and basic administrative unit. Some countries are Germany ("Gemeinde"), Belgium ("commune"/"gemeente"), Chile ("comuna"), Colombia ("Comuna"), Denmark (kommune), France ("commune"), Italy ("comune"), Luxembourg ("commune"), Netherlands ("gemeente"), Poland ("gmina"), Sweden ("kommun") and Switzerland ("Gemeinde"/"commune"/"comune").


title: Computus

paragraphs: Computus (Latin for "computation") is the method for calculating the date of Easter. In the early 4th century there was confusion about when Christian Easter or the Resurrection should be celebrated.

paragraphs: At the Arles Council, in 314, was obliged to all the Christianity to celebrate Easter the same day, and that this date was going to be assigned by the Pope, that was going to send epistles to all the churches in the world with the necessary instructions. However, not all the congregations followed those precepts.

paragraphs: In the First Council of Nicaea, in 325, this subject was solved.

paragraphs: Was established that the Resurrection Easter had to be celebrated fulfilling some norms:

paragraphs: However, there still were discussions between the Roman Church and the Alexandrian Church, while the Nicaea Council said that the Alexandria Church was right, they had to calculate the date (in Alexandria), then communicate it to Rome. The Roman Church had to spread the "computus" to the rest of the Christianity.

paragraphs: Let's define 5 variables, "a", "b", "c", "d", and "e". In addition to two constants, "M" and "N", so the years between 1900 and 2100 take the values 24 and 5, respectively. We'll call "A" the year that we want to calculate the Easter date.

paragraphs: If "d" + "e" < 10, the Easter date will be in March ("d" + "e" + 22). If opposed ("d" + "e" > 9), will be in April ("d" + "e" − 9).

paragraphs: The values for M and N for years before 1900 or after 2100 can be obtained from the following table:


title: Cardenal Caro

paragraphs: Cardenal Caro is a Chilean province. Is the only province in the Region of O'Higgins that has instant access to the sea. It has a population of 41,160 inhabitants. It has a surface of 3.295,07 km². Its capital is Pichilemu, main turistic place of the region during the summer months. In the past, it was part of the Province of Colchagua. The province is named after José Maria Caro, the first Chilean Catholic cardinal.


title: Punta de Lobos

paragraphs: Punta de Lobos () is a Chilean beach 6 km south of Pichilemu and 177 km southwest of Rancagua, in the Province of Cardenal Caro, Region of O'Higgins.

paragraphs: It has a fine and gray sand. The beach is surrounded by In addition to its fine gray sand, its principal characteristic is that its surrounded by cliffs that are 50 metres high. The famous rocks of the beach are frequently visited by sea-lions. The beach is perfect for bathing and shore fishing. It is also a good place for surfing and kiteboarding practice, especially in winter. The sea waves at the beach oscillate between the two and three height meters, and allows the surfers to select their perfect waves.


title: Researcher

paragraphs: A researcher is a person that researches, looks for knowledge in general for any systematic investigation to establish facts. The researchers can work in institutions of academic, industrial, government, or private-kind.


title: The Author's Farce

paragraphs: Henry Fielding wrote the play The Author's Farce and the Pleasures of the Town. It was first acted on 30 March 1730 in the Haymarket Theatre. The play responds to the rejection of Fielding's early plays and was his first success.

paragraphs: Harry Luckless is the main character of the play. He tries to write a play in the first act and completes the play in the second act. It is a puppet play called "The Pleasures of the Town". Many theatres do not accept the play but it is later shown within the third act. The play is about the puppet character Goddess Nonsense who wants a husband. The end of "The Author's Farce" combines the characters of the puppet play and the main play for humour.

paragraphs: Fielding became a popular writer in London after "The Author's Farce". The Haymarket Theatre let him experiment with his plays and Fielding changed the comedy genre. The puppet play within the main play made fun of other London plays. "The Author's Farce" was first a success. Then, it was ignored by critics until the 20th century. Critics focused on the play's effects on Fielding's work.

paragraphs: "The Author's Farce" has three acts. The play begins with Harry Luckless wanting a relationship with his landlady's daughter Harriot. Also, he is a writer and he is writing a play. The start of the play is like Fielding's other plays but the rest of the play is different. Luckless wants to be a good writer but he cannot make money. Other people want to give Luckless money but he does not want it. When Luckless's friend Witmore pays Luckless's rent, Luckless steals the money back. In the second act, Luckless asks for help to finish his puppet play "The Pleasures of the Town". However, people give him bad advice and theatres reject the play. Later, a theatre shows the play. The third act is the puppet play. The puppets are acted by real people and not puppets.

paragraphs: The third act is the puppet play and is a play within a play. It takes place along the River Styx and starts with the Goddess of Nonsense wanting a husband. There are many possible husbands there and they are stupid. They are Dr Orator, Sir Farcical Comic, Mrs Novel, Bookseller, Poet, Monsieur Pantomime, Don Tragedio, and Signior Opera. She selects Signior Opera after he sings for her. He is an opera signior and a castrato. Mrs Novel claims that she and Signior Opera had a child. This makes the Goddess of Nonsense angry but she forgives Signior Opera. The puppet play is stopped by the characters Constable and Murdertext. They want to arrest Luckless for hurting the Goddess of Nonsense. Mrs Novel asks for the play to be completed and they agree. However, a person from the land of Bantam stops the play and says that Luckless is the prince of Bantam. Another messenger comes and says that the King of Bantam died and Luckless is the new king. Luckless is told that his landlady is the Queen of Old Brentford and her daughter Harriot is a princess. The play ends with four poets saying how they would end the play. They are stopped by a cat that looks like a person. The cat person ends the play.

paragraphs: "The Author's Farce" show parts of Fielding's life and experience with the London theatre community. Some of his other plays were rejected from the Theatre Royal. "The Author's Farce" was put on at a small theatre. This allowed Fielding to experiment. He could not experiment at larger theatres. The play was the first to have things found in his later plays. However, he did not come up with them all. He got many of his ideas from the Scriblerus Club. Their members were Alexander Pope, Jonathan Swift, John Gay, and John Arbuthnot. One idea is his character Nonsense. She is similar to Pope's character Dulness in the "Dunciad". Both characters promote bad writing. Fielding gave Nonsense a sexual aspect. It is funny when she chooses as a lover a man who is sexless. Other parts of the play are similar to Gay's "Beggar's Opera".

paragraphs: The play is a farce. Farces use slapstick and physical humour to be funny. They also use absurd plots. A farce also makes serious situations funny. Fielding thought that theatre was becoming bad. He mocked theatre and theatre audiences in his play. His character Luckless states that for someone to become successful they must write nonsense. His only desire is to make money. Other characters feel that money is all that matters. They do not care about good writing. Even Harriot believes that a good lover is one who is rich. Fielding made the same claims about people when he attacked Samuel Richardson's novel, "Pamela".

paragraphs: The ending of the play merges real and fake. Fielding defends an old view of writing. He also attacks new types of writing. He uses puppets to represent various genres. He made fun of people liking Italian opera. The puppet character Signior Opera is a castrato. Castratos are men without testicles. The character Nonsense wants him as a lover. Mrs Novel says that Signior Opera had a baby with her. However, Signior Opera can't have sex or have babies. Fielding is mocking how women like Italian opera singers. Other writers mocked Italian opera singers. William Hogarth says the castratos are related to politics. Many other writers make fun of women who favour castratos.

paragraphs: The play uses characters and ideas from Fielding's life. The characters Marplay and Sparkish manage the theatre. They offer Luckless poor advice on how to write a play. Then also reject Luckless's play. This is what Colley Cibber and Robert Wilks did to Fielding. They rejected his play "The Temple Beau". When Wilks died Fielding changed the play. He removed Sparkish. He added a character like Theophilus Cibber, the son of Colley. The character was like Theopilus during the Actor Rebellion of 1733.

paragraphs: Luckless and Mrs. Moneywood is similar to Fielding with Jan Oson. Oson was his landlord during 1729. When staying with Oson, Fielding owed a lot of money. Fielding fled to London and Oson took his property to pay for the debt. Mrs Moneywood does the same in the play. Characters in the puppet play are based on real people. Mrs Novel is Eliza Haywood. Signior Opera is Senesino. Bookweight is similar to Edmund Curll. Orator is John Henley. Monsieur Pantomime is John Rich. Don Tragedio is Lewis Theobald. Sir Farcical Comick is of Colley Cibber as an actor.

paragraphs: Fielding also used literary sources. His plot is like George Farquhar's "Love and a Bottle" (1698). Both talk about a writing and a landlady. They have many differences. Fielding took from the writing of the Scriblerus Club and other plays. Luckless's life is similar to characters in John Dryden's "The Rehearsal" (1672), Farquhar's "Love and a Bottle" (1698), James Ralph's "The Touch-Stone" (1728), and Richard Savage's "An Author to be Lett" (1729). The play has similar ideas to "Dunciad Variorum". He also borrowed from Gay's "Three Hours after Marriage" (1717) and "The Beggar's Opera" (1728). Fielding's play also influenced other works. They included the revised "Dunciad" and Gay's "The Rehearsal at Goatham".

paragraphs: The play was successful. Fielding became a popular writer. It was shown with "Tom Thumb". That helped it be liked. "The Pleasures of the Town" was the most liked part. The "Daily Post" newspaper said it was approved by all. A newspaper that didn't like Fielding also said that the play was liked. Many well-known people and royalty in Britain saw the show. John Perceval, 1st Earl of Egmont said that the play was "full of humour, with some wit." The play was rarely mentioned later in the 18th century. This was true in the 19th century. The play was printed again a few times. Leslie Stephen and Austin Dobson studied the play. They looked at what the play said about Fielding's life.

paragraphs: 20th-century critics agreed with Dobson. Many of the critics like Charles Woods talked about the play as part of Fielding's writing career. He also said the work was not political. Later critics agreed with Woods. Many modern critics approved of the play. They are Wilbur Cross, Frederick Homes Dudden, Ian Donaldson, Pat Rogers, Robert Hume, Martin and Ruthe Battestin, Harold Pagliaro, and Thomas Lockwood. Some critics liked the play but not all of it. They are J. Paul Hunter, Matthew Kinservik,

paragraphs: Henry Fielding wrote "The Author's Farce" in 1729. It was made after the Theatre Royal rejected his plays. Advertisements were put in the 18 March 1730 "Daily Post" and in the 21 March 1730 "Weekly Medley and Literary Journal". They said that actors were practicing the play. An advertisement in the 23 and 26 "Daily Post" said the play would have a puppet play. The advertisement also said prices will be high. That suggests that the play would be popular. The first show was on 30 March 1730, Easter Monday. It took place at the Little Theatre and was shown 41 times. On 6 April 1730, the play "The Cheats of Scapin" was shown with it.

paragraphs: Fielding changed "The Author's Farce". The new play was shown on 21 April 1730 with Fielding's play "Tom Thumb". They were shown together in May and June 32 times. They were shown again on 3 July 1730. On 1 August 1730, the last act of the play was shown for the Tottenham Court fair. An advertisement in the "Daily Post" on 17 October 1730 said the play had a new prologue. The changed play was shown on 21 October. It was changed again then it was replaced by the play "The Beggar's Wedding" by Charles Coffey. The play came back on 18 November 1730. Only the first and second act were shown between November and January. During this time, it was shown with the play "Damon and Phillida". "Damon and Phillida" was stopped and the play "The Jealous Taylor" was added on 13 January 1731. "The Author's Farce" was shown from January to March 1731. It was shown again with a new prologue on 10 May 1731. The new prologue is now gone.

paragraphs: "The Author's Farce" was shown with "The Tragedy of Tragedies" on 31 March 1731. They were shown 6 times. The last regular show at the Little Theatre was 18 June 1731. It was shown one time on 12 May 1732. The last show of "The Author's Farce" as a regular play was on 28 March 1748. Theophilus Cibber ran the show. The last act "Pleasures of the Town" was shown on its own. It was shown 16 times at Norwich after 1749. Also, it was shown at York in 1751 to 1752. The whole play was acted by puppets many times. Thomas Yeates had puppet shows called "Punch's Oratory, or The Pleasures of the Town" after 1734.

paragraphs: Fielding changed "The Author's Farce" at the end of 1733. He added a new prologue and epilogue. Fielding changed it after the Actor Rebellion of 1733. The 8 January 1734 "Daily Journal" had an advertisement. It said "The Author's Farce" would be shown at the Theatre Royal. It was shown six times. The cast was not as good as the first cast. It was shown 4 times with the play "The Intriguing Chambermade" and 2 times with the play "The Harlot's Progress". The changed "The Author's Farce" was printed with "The Intriguing Chambermade" and a letter written by an unknown author. The changed "The Author's Farce" was printed again in 1750 until 1966. Arthur Murphy printed the play in 1762 in "Works of Henry Fielding". George Saintsbury printed the play in 1893 in "Works of Henry Fielding". G. H. Maynadier printed act one and two in 1903 in "Works of Henry Fielding".


title: WWE Cruiserweight Championship (1991–2007)

paragraphs: The World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Cruiserweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship in World Wrestling Entertainment. It is competed for by cruiserweights at no more than a weight of 220 lbs. and was originally a World Championship Wrestling title. During its time in WWE, it was only competed for on the SmackDown brand.

paragraphs: Following the title's introduction in 1991, a tournament was held to determine the first champion. On October 27, Brian Pillman beat Richard Morton in the tournament final to win the title. However, it was vacated on September 2, 1992, due to Brad Armstrong's knee injury during his reign. Then, on March 20, 1996, Shinjiro Ohtani beat Chris Benoit in another tournament final to win the WCW Cruiserweight Championship.

paragraphs: In March 2001, World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc. purchased World Championship Wrestling. Following this, the "Invasion" storyline happened, in which WCW was "destroyed". During the "Invasion", only four WCW championship titles remained active, including the WCW Cruiserweight title. On July 30, the WCW Cruiserweight Championship and the WWF Light Heavyweight Championship were up for grabs in what was billed as a unification match when the WWF Light Heavyweight Champion, X-Pac, beat the WCW Cruiserweight Champion, Billy Kidman. However, the titles were still defended separately after that. After the end of the "Invasion" at Survivor Series 2001, the WCW Cruiserweight Championship remained active and was renamed the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) Cruiserweight Championship, while the Light Heavyweight Title was retired.

paragraphs: After six months without a champion, on March 3, 2008, WWE removed the championship from the active championship web page, where originally the title was listed as "vacant." Afterward, the title was removed from the active titles list on WWE's title histories web page to the defunct (or retired) championship list. In this way, the title was quietly retired. As a result, Hornswoggle is the last WWE Cruiserweight Champion.


title: Henry Fielding

paragraphs: Henry Fielding (22 April 1707 – 8 October 1754) was an English writer and magistrate. He was born in Sharpham, Somerset. He wrote many plays from 1728 until 1737. Then, he wrote many famous novels such as"Tom Jones", "Joseph Andrews", and "Amelia". He was friends with the writers Samuel Johnson and Christopher Smart and the politician William Pitt the Elder.

paragraphs: Fielding went to school at Eton College. In 1728, he left school to go to London and write plays. The License Act shut down the London theatre in 1737 and Fielding began to write novels. Then, he became a magistrate and created the Bow Street Runners, London's first police force.

paragraphs: In 1754, he became sick and he went to Lisbon, Portugal to be treated. He died in Lisbon and was buried in the English Cemetery.


title: Lady Susan

paragraphs: Lady Susan is an early epistolary novel (novel in letters) by Jane Austen. It tells the story of an |unscrupulous coquette (flirtatious woman) widow who does not care about the feelings of other men. She wrote it when she was writing her first version of "Sense and Sensibility" (which was at that time called "Elinor and Marianne"), and which was also at first, like "Lady Susan", written in letter form. She was at this time 20 years old.

paragraphs: The epistolary novel had been popular in the 18th century, but it was not the best style of writing for Jane Austen's talents (which is why all her major novels were written in the third-person narrative style). She admired Richardson very much (all of his books are written in letters, like "Pamela (novel)" and "Clarissa (novel)"), and she also admired Frances Burney's style, but none of their styles came naturally to her. She pointed out at the end of "Lady Susan": "This correspondence (letter-writing), by a meeting between some of the parties (people) and a separation between the others could not, to the great detriment of the Post Office...be continued longer."

paragraphs: In those days, girls spent some time each day especially to write letters, so a story through letters is much more realistic than it would be today. People like Frances Burney wrote letters that were witty and full of information, so that her diaries and letters were later published. The letters of William Cowper, too, are famous. Jane Austen's letters, however, are private letters about family matters, such as sick babies, partners at balls, beef, and raspberry bushes.


title: A Girl Like Me: The Gwen Araujo Story

paragraphs: A Girl Like Me: The Gwen Araujo Story is a 2006 LGBT biography television movie that was directed by Agnieszka Holland and was shown on the Lifetime Television network. The story is about the real life murder of Gwen Araujo, who was born as Edward Araujo, Jr., a transgender teenager who was murdered after some people that she knew found out that she had male sex organs. Scenes showing the murder trial are shown alternating with the story of Gwen's life.

paragraphs: The movie stars J.D. Pardo as Gwen, Mercedes Ruehl as her mother, and Avan Jogia as her brother, Danny. It first aired on the Lifetime Television network on June 19, 2006.


title: Crime and Punishment

paragraphs: Crime and Punishment is a novel by Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky. It was the first great novel of his mature period.

paragraphs: It was first published in the literary journal "The Russian Messenger" in 12 monthly series in 1866. It was later published in a single volume. It is the second of Dostoevsky's novels, written after he returned from his punishment (exile in Siberia).

paragraphs: "Crime and Punishment" is about the troubles of Raskolnikov, a young man living in St. Petersburg. He used to be a student, but he became so poor he had to stop studying. He plans to kill a selfish old pawnbroker for her money, and he acts on his plan. Raskolnikov argues that with her money he can do good things, and that he was simply killing a person who was not worth anything. He also murdered her to test his idea that some people are naturally better than others and have the right to murder. Several times in the novel, Raskolnikov justifies himself by comparing himself to Napoleon, saying that murder is allowed for a higher purpose.

paragraphs: However, after he kills the pawnbroker, questions which he cannot answer and feelings he had not expected terrify him. He feels separated from mankind, nature, and truth. Because of this, he decides at last to confess to the police and accept suffering.

paragraphs: Dostoevsky began the idea of "Crime and Punishment" in the summer of 1865. This was after he had gambled away much of his money. Because of this, he could not pay his bills or eat properly. He owed large sums of money to creditors, and was also trying to help the family of his brother Mikhail. Mikhail had died in early 1864. He began writing it under the title "The Drunkards". He wanted to write about "the current problem of drunkenness". However, when Dostoevsky began writing about Raskolnikov's crime, the theme of crime and punishment became his main subject instead.

paragraphs: Dostoevsky offered his story to the publisher Mikhail Katkov. At the time, he did not think of "Crime and Punishment" as a novel. Famous writers such as Ivan Turgenev and Leo Tolstoy often used Katkov's monthly journal, "The Russian Messenger", to print their writings. Dostoevsky, though, had argued with Katkov in the early 1860s, and had never printed anything in the journal. Finally, Dostoevsky asked Katkov for help when others would not print his book. In September 1865, Dostoevsky wrote a letter to Katkov. In the letter, he explained to him that "Crime and Punishment" was going to be about a young man who believes in "certain strange, 'unfinished' ideas, yes floating in the air". He also said that he wanted to study the moral and psychological dangers of "radical" ideas. In letters written in November 1865 an important change had happened: the "story" has become a "novel", From then on, Dostoevsky always spoke of "Crime and Punishment" as a novel.

paragraphs: Dostoevsky had to write very quickly to finish both "The Gambler" and "Crime and Punishment". Anna Snitkina, a stenographer whom he later married, helped him very much. The first part of "Crime and Punishment" appeared in January 1866 in "The Russian Messenger". The last part was published in December 1866.

paragraphs: When Dostoevsky's complete writings were published in the Soviet Union, the editors put together the notebooks that Dostoevsky kept while he was working on "Crime and Punishment" and printed it. They printed the notebooks in the same order as the book was written. Through their efforts, there is now a small part of how Dostoevsky first imagined "Crime and Punishment" to be written. There are also two other versions of the story. They are called the Wiesbaden edition, the Petersburg edition, and the final (last) plan. A part of a change in the story was that instead of the story being told by a character inside it, it was written as if many uninvolved people were writing it (this was a form of writing that Dostoevsky made up). The Wiesbaden edition is mostly about the reaction of the writer to his murder. It is quite similar to the story that Dostoevsky described in his letter to Katkov, and was written like a diary or journal. It had the same story as what later became part II.

paragraphs: Raskolnikov is a mentally insecure student who has stopped going to university. He lives in a very small, rented room in Saint Petersburg. He does not let anyone help him, not even his friend Razumihin. He plans to kill and steal money from an old pawnbroker and moneylender, Alyona Ivanovna, but it is not clear why he wants to kill her yet. While he is thinking about this plan, Raskolnikov meets Semyon Zakharovich Marmeladov, a sad drunkard who recently spent all of his poor family's money on drinking. He also gets a letter from his mother. His mother says that she will soon visit St. Petersburg. She writes about his sister's sudden engagement, saying that they will talk about it when they arrive.

paragraphs: After thinking, Raskolnikov goes to Alyona Ivanovna's apartment. There, he murders her with an axe. Her quiet half-sister, Lizaveta, comes inside. Surprised, Raskolnikov quickly kills her, too. Frightened by what he has done, he leaves most of Alyona Ivanovna's wealth behind, only stealing a few things and a small purse. He then runs away without being seen by anybody.

paragraphs: After his murder, Raskolnikov is filled with worry. He hides the things he stole under a rock and tries to clean away the blood from his clothes. After a short visit to his friend Razumihin, he becomes sick with a fever and seems to wish to betray himself. Whenever anyone speaks of the murder of the pawnbroker, he acts strangely.


title: Online Computer Library Center

paragraphs: OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc. is a library service and research organization. It helps people find more information and lessens library costs. It was incorporated on July 6, 1967 as the not-for-profit Ohio College Library Center. 72,000 libraries in 86 countries use OCLC services to find and save library materials. The organization was begun by Fred Kilgour. Its head office is in Dublin, Ohio, U.S.A.