title: Old Norse religion

text: Since Olsen's survey, however, archaeological evidence of temple buildings has come to light in Scandinavia. Although Sune Lindqvist's interpretation of post holes which he found under the church at Gamla Uppsala as the remains of an almost square building with a high roof was wishful thinking, excavations nearby in the 1990s uncovered both a settlement and a long building which may have been either a longhouse used seasonally as a cult house or a dedicated hof. The building site at Hofstaðir, near Mývatn in Iceland, which was a particular focus of Olsen's work, has since been re-excavated and the layout of the building and further discoveries of the remains of ritually slaughtered animals now suggest that it was a cult house until ritually abandoned. Other buildings that have been interpreted as cult houses have been found at Borg in Östergötland, Lunda in Södermanland, and Uppakra in Scania, Remains of one pagan temple have so far been found under a medieval church, at Mære in Nord-Trøndelag, Norway.


title: Old Norse religion

text: In Norway, the word "hof" appears to have replaced older terms referring to outdoor cult sites during the Viking Age; it has been suggested that the use of cult buildings was introduced into Scandinavia starting in the 3rd century based on the Christian churches then proliferating in the Roman Empire, as part of a range of political and religious changes that Nordic society was then experiencing. Some of the cult houses which have been found are located within what archaeologists call "central places": settlements with various religious, political, judicial, and mercantile functions. A number of these central places have place-names with cultic associations, such as Gudme (home of gods), Vä ("vé"), and Helgö (holy island). Some archaeologists have argued that they were designed to mirror Old Norse cosmology, thus connecting ritual practices with wider worldviews.


title: Old Norse religion

text: There is no evidence of a professional priesthood among the Norse, and rather cultic activities were carried out by members of the community who also had other social functions and positions. In Old Norse society, religious authority was harnessed to secular authority; there was no separation between economic, political, and symbolic institutions. Both the Norwegian kings' sagas and Adam of Bremen's account claim that kings and chieftains played a prominent role in cultic sacrifices. In medieval Iceland, the goði was a social role that combined religious, political, and judicial functions, responsible for serving as a chieftain in the district, negotiating legal disputes, and maintaining order among his þingmenn. Most evidence suggests that public cultic activity was largely the preserve of high-status males in Old Norse society. However, there are exceptions. The "Landnámabók" refers to two women holding the position of "gyðja", both of whom were members of local chiefly families. In Ibn Fadlan's account of the Rus, he describes an elder woman known as the "Angel of Death" who oversaw a funerary ritual.


title: Old Norse religion

text: Among scholars, there has been much debate as to whether sacral kingship was practised among Old Norse communities, in which the monarch was endowed with a divine status and thus responsible for ensuring that a community's needs were met through supernatural means. Evidence for this has been cited from the "Ynglingatal" poem in which the Swedes kill their king, Domalde, following a famine. However, interpretations of this event other than sacral kingship are possible; for instance, Domalde may have been killed in a political coup.


title: Old Norse religion

text: The most widespread religious symbol in the Viking Age Old Norse religion was Mjöllnir, the hammer of Thor. This symbol first appears in the ninth century and might be a conscious response to the symbolism of the Christian cross. Although found across the Viking world, Mjöllnir pendants are most commonly found in graves from modern Denmark, south-eastern Sweden, and southern Norway; their wide distribution suggests the particular popularity of Thor. When found in inhumation graves, Mjöllnir pendants are more likely to be found in women's graves than men's. Earlier examples were made from iron, bronze, or amber, although silver pendants became fashionable in the tenth century. This may have been a response to the growing popularity of Christian cross amulets.


title: Old Norse religion

text: The two religious symbols may have co-existed closely; one piece of archaeological evidence suggesting that this is the case is a soapstone mould for casting pendants discovered from Trengården in Denmark. This mould had space for a Mjöllnir and a crucifix pendant side by side, suggesting that the artisan who produced these pendants catered for both religious communities. These have typically been interpreted as a protective symbol, although may also have had associations with fertility, being worn as amulets, good-luck charms, or sources of protection. However, around 10 per cent of those discovered during excavation had been placed on top of cremation urns, suggesting that they had a place in certain funerary rituals.


title: Old Norse religion

text: Gods and goddesses were depicted through figurines, pendants, fibulas, and as images on weapons. Thor is usually recognised in depictions by his carrying of Mjöllnir. Iconographic material suggesting other deities are less common than those connected to Thor. Some pictorial evidence, most notably that of the picture stones, intersects with the mythologies recorded in later texts. These picture stones, produced in mainland Scandinavia during the Viking Age, are the earliest known visual depictions of Norse mythological scenes. It is nevertheless unclear what function these picture-stones had or what they meant to the communities who produced them.


title: Old Norse religion

text: Some figurines have been interpreted as depictions of deities. The Lindby image from Skåne, Sweden is often interpreted as Oðinn because of its missing eye; the bronze figurine from Eyrarland in Iceland as Thor because it holds a hammer. A bronze figurine from Rällinge in Södermanland has been attributed to Freyr because it has a big phallus, and a silver pendant from Aska in Östergötland has been seen as Freya because it wears a necklace that could be Brisingamen.


title: Old Norse religion

text: Another image that recurs in Norse artwork from this period is the valknut (the term is modern, not Old Norse). These symbols may have a specific association with Oðinn, because they often accompany images of warriors on picture stones.


title: Old Norse religion

text: During the romanticist movement of the 19th century, various northern Europeans took an increasing interest in Old Norse religion, seeing in it ancient pre-Christian mythology that provided an alternative to the dominant Classical mythology. As a result, artists featured Norse gods and goddesses in their paintings and sculptures, and their names were applied to streets, squares, journals, and companies throughout parts of northern Europe.


title: Old Norse religion

text: The mythological stories derived from Old Norse and other Germanic sources inspired various artists, including Richard Wagner, who used these narratives as the basis for his "Der Ring des Nibelungen". Also inspired by these Old Norse and Germanic tales was J. R. R. Tolkien, who used them in creating his legendarium, the fictional universe in which he set novels like "The Lord of the Rings". During the 1930s and 1940s, elements of Old Norse and other Germanic religions were adopted by Nazi Germany. Since the fall of the Nazis, various right-wing groups continue to use elements of Old Norse and Germanic religion in their symbols, names, and references; some Neo-Nazi groups, for instance, use Mjöllnir as a symbol.


title: Old Norse religion

text: Theories about a shamanic component of Old Norse religion have been adopted by forms of Nordic neoshamanism; groups practising what they called "seiðr" was established in Europe and the United States by the 1990s.


title: Old Norse religion

text: Research into Old Norse religion has been interdisciplinary, involving historians, archaeologists, philologists, place-name scholars, literary scholars, and historians of religion. Scholars from different disciplines have tended to take different approaches to the material; for instance, many literary scholars have been highly sceptical about how accurately Old Norse text portrays pre-Christian religion, whereas historians of religion have tended to regard these portrayals as highly accurate.


title: Old Norse religion

text: Interest in Norse mythology was revived in the eighteenth century, and scholars turned their attention to it in the early 19th century. Since this research appeared from the background of European romanticism, many of the scholars operating in the 19th and 20th centuries framed their approach through nationalism, and were strongly influenced by their interpretations by romantic notions about nationhood, conquest, and religion. Their understanding of cultural interaction was also coloured by 19th-century European colonialism and imperialism. Many regarded pre-Christian religion as singular and unchanging, directly equated religion with the nation, and projected modern national borders onto the Viking Age past.


title: Old Norse religion

text: Due to the use of Old Norse and Germanic iconography by the Nazis, academic research into Old Norse religion reduced heavily following the Second World War. Scholarly interest in the subject then revived in the late 20th century. By the 21st century, Old Norse religion was regarded as one of the best known non-Christian religions from Europe, alongside that of Greece and Rome.


title: John de Lancie

text: John Sherwood de Lancie, Jr. (born March 20, 1948) is an American actor, director, producer, writer, and comedian, best known for his role as Q in various "Star Trek" series (1987–present); beginning with "" and leading right up to the second season of "" in 2022.


title: John de Lancie

text: His other television series roles include Eugene Bradford in "Days of Our Lives" (1982–1986; 1989–1990), Frank Simmons in "Stargate SG-1" (2001–2002), Donald Margolis in "Breaking Bad" (2009–2010), Agent Allen Shapiro in "" (2011), as well as the voice of Discord in "" (2011–2019).


title: John de Lancie

text: De Lancie has become an outspoken secular activist and was a featured speaker at the 2016 Reason Rally and at CSICon 2019.


title: John de Lancie

text: De Lancie was born John Sherwood de Lancie, Jr. in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on March 20, 1948, one of two children born to John de Lancie, Sr. (1921–2002), principal oboist of the Philadelphia Orchestra from 1954 to 1977, and Andrea de Lancie. He has a sister named Christina.


title: John de Lancie

text: He was diagnosed with dyslexia as a child and, as such, struggled with reading difficulties throughout his school years. He did not learn to read until he was 12. One of his teachers recommended that his parents encourage him to consider a career as an actor. He began to act around the age of 14, performing in a high school production of William Shakespeare's "Henry V". De Lancie went on to study acting at Kent State University (he was in attendance during the Kent State shootings on May 4, 1970) and won a scholarship at Juilliard. He performed in numerous stage productions, participating at such engagements as the American Shakespeare Festival and the Mark Taper Forum, as well as establishing a successful career in film and television.


title: John de Lancie

text: De Lancie portrayed Q in "" (1987–1994), and in episodes of several subsequent series taking place during that era. He is notable for his chaotic, mischievous personality. He is one of the few characters appearing in multiple series of the franchise: Eight episodes of "" ("Encounter at Farpoint", "Hide and Q", "Q Who", "Deja Q", "Qpid", "True Q", "", ""), one episode of "" ("Q-Less"), three episodes of "" ("Death Wish," "The Q and the Grey," "Q2"), and one episode of "" ("Veritas"). De Lancie's son Keegan de Lancie appeared with his father as Q Junior in one episode of "Star Trek: Voyager" ("Q2").


title: John de Lancie

text: Initially, de Lancie was too busy to audition for the part of Q, but Gene Roddenberry (whom he did not know) arranged a second opportunity. De Lancie recognized that even though "Star Trek" was only a small part of his career, it opened doors for him. In a 2012 interview, de Lancie stated that he recalled his original audition for Q, after which Roddenberry approached him, touched him on the shoulder, and said, "You make my writing sound better than it is."


title: John de Lancie

text: In April 2021, it was announced that de Lancie would reprise his role of Q in the second season of "".


title: John de Lancie

text: In addition to his role in "Star Trek", de Lancie appeared in many other television series. In 1982, he started his career as a popular actor on "Days of Our Lives" as Eugene Bradford.


title: John de Lancie

text: He also co-starred in Michael Piller's creation "Legend" and had recurring roles in "Stargate SG-1" as an NID agent. He guest-starred in multiple television series, including "Breaking Bad" as Donald Margolis, "The West Wing", "Charmed", "Andromeda", "The Unit", "MacGyver", "", "", "Touched by an Angel", "Time Trax", the 1980s revival of "", and "Special Unit 2".


title: John de Lancie

text: His film credits include "The Hand that Rocks the Cradle", "Get Smart, Again!", "The Fisher King", "Bad Influence", "The Onion Field", "Taking Care of Business", "Fearless", "Arcade", "Multiplicity", "Woman on Top", "Good Advice", "Pathology", "Evolver", "Reign Over Me", "My Apocalypse", "", and "You Lucky Dog".


title: John de Lancie

text: De Lancie was a celebrity spokesman for Compaq computers. His son Keegan also appeared in commercials for Dell computers.


title: John de Lancie

text: De Lancie voiced Antonio Malochio in "Interstate '76", Trias in "", Dr. Death in "Outlaws", William Miles in "" and "Assassin's Creed III", Fitz Quadwrangle in "Quantum Conundrum", and Q in both the and the mobile game "Star Trek Timelines", and portrayed Q in "". He further voiced the human emperor in "". He also voiced Alarak in "" and reprised the role for "Heroes of the Storm". More recently, he voiced Geist, the leader of the Templars in the "XCOM 2" expansion . He voiced the narrator wizard of Popup Dungeon.


title: John de Lancie

text: De Lancie is a former member of the American Shakespeare Festival, the Seattle Repertory Company, South Coast Repertory, the Mark Taper Forum, and the Old Globe (where he performed Arthur Miller's "Resurrection Blues"). He performed and directed for Los Angeles Theater Works, the producing arm of KCRW-FM and National Public Radio, where the series "The Play's the Thing" originated.


title: John de Lancie

text: De Lancie co-hosted and appeared in "", a touring company, with fellow actor Robert Picardo, who portrayed the Doctor in "". De Lancie and Picardo narrate around the orchestral performance, explaining the history of the music in "Star Trek". He performed Pierre Curie in Alan Alda's play "Radiance: The Passion of Marie Curie" in 2001 at the Geffen Theater in Los Angeles. De Lancie hosted the children's concerts at Walt Disney Concert Hall during the 2003–04 season; in 2005, he hosted the children's series of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.


title: John de Lancie

text: Known for his distinctive speaking style, de Lancie lent his voice to a number of projects. In "", he voiced Discord, a recurring character. Discord was inspired by Q as an omnipotent being who embodies mischief and chaos, but is genuinely good-hearted and is occasionally helpful to the heroes of the show; another connection to Q is that Discord often uses fewer contractions in his vocabulary. Discord is best described as an anti-hero, also similar to Q. Initially, Lauren Faust wanted to cast someone who could impersonate de Lancie, but Hasbro suggested casting de Lancie himself. Ironically, de Lancie has stated in an interview that, in preparation for his role as Discord, he did not draw from his past experience as Q. De Lancie mentioned during a 2013 convention panel that his voice recordings of Discord are slightly sped up and lose their deep bass sound. Nevertheless, fans still praised de Lancie for his performance. According to Jim Miller in "The Art of Equestria", de Lancie's sessions are always done by phone, but his first session as Discord was videotaped.


title: John de Lancie

text: His other animated television roles included "The Angry Beavers", "Extreme Ghostbusters", "Invader Zim", "Duck Dodgers", "Max Steel", "Duckman", "Young Justice", and "DC Super Hero Girls" as Mr. Freeze.


title: John de Lancie

text: De Lancie co-wrote the "Star Trek" novel "I, Q" with Peter David, as well as co-writing the novel "Soldier of Light" (with Tom Cool). He wrote the DC comic book story "The Gift". In 1996, along with Leonard Nimoy and writer-producer Nat Segaloff, de Lancie formed and recorded "Alien Voices", a collection of audio dramas based on classic science fiction and fantasy stories, such as "The Time Machine" and "The Lost World".


title: John de Lancie

text: De Lancie has performed as narrator with a number of major orchestras including the New York Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra, the Montreal Symphony Orchestra and Symphony Nova Scotia. He provided the narration for the world premiere of Lorenzo Palomo's "The Sneetches and Other Stories" (based on the book by Dr. Seuss) with the Oberlin Conservatory Orchestra. He wrote and directed ten symphonic plays, which were produced with the Milwaukee, St. Paul Chamber, Ravinia, Los Angeles, and Pasadena Orchestras.


title: John de Lancie

text: De Lancie was the writer, director and host of "First Nights", an adult concert series at the Walt Disney Concert Hall with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, based loosely on the book of the same name by Thomas Forrest Kelly, which explored the life and music of Stravinsky, Beethoven, Mahler, Schumann, and Prokofiev. In 2006, de Lancie made his opera directorial debut with the Atlanta Opera performing Puccini's "Tosca" from May 18–21.


title: John de Lancie

text: In September 2019, de Lancie narrated as "Forever of the Stars" in the first ever live performances of Ayreon's Sci-Fi concept album "Into the Electric Castle".


title: John de Lancie

text: While on stage at the 2012 Ottawa ComicCon, de Lancie announced that he had made plans to co-produce a documentary about "bronies" (older, usually male teenage and adult fans of ""). De Lancie stated he was taken aback by how disrespectfully national news media portrayed the brony fandom. He started a Kickstarter campaign to help fund the documentary, since titled "". The Kickstarter campaign began on May 13, 2012, and by June 10, had reached a total of $322,022, becoming Kickstarter's second-highest funded film project of all time.


title: John de Lancie

text: De Lancie is married to Marnie Mosiman and the couple have two sons Keegan (born 1984) and Owen (born 1987).


title: John de Lancie

text: De Lancie is an experienced sailor, spending time on the Pacific Ocean, which he had stated "sometimes involves very terrifying experiences."


title: John de Lancie

text: He is long-time friends with fellow "" alum Kate Mulgrew. He is also good friends with "MacGyver" and "Stargate SG-1" star Richard Dean Anderson. They have both appeared together in episodes of both series, as well as in the 1995 television series "Legend".


title: John de Lancie

text: Raised by secular parents, de Lancie is an advocate for atheism and humanism. Of his education in a religious school in Philadelphia, he remembers associating religion with manipulation. Rather than developing a religious outlook, he became fascinated by an ever-changing world: "I'm wondering if one of the things at the core of believing in God, or not, has to do with change. I have grown to embrace change. Personally, I love reading the science section in the paper every morning. I'm in awe of humankind's boundless curiosity."


title: John de Lancie

text: On June 4, 2016, he addressed the participants at the Reason Rally in Washington, D.C. Speaking in reference to his "Star Trek" character Q, he said:


title: John de Lancie

text: On July 14, 2017, de Lancie attended the unveiling of a statue of Clarence Darrow at the Rhea County Courthouse, Dayton, Tennessee, the site of the Scopes Trial in 1925, where Darrow had argued in favor of the teaching of evolution and secular education.


title: John de Lancie

text: In October 2019, de Lancie was a featured speaker at the annual conference of the Center for Inquiry, CSICon. At the conference he announced two new projects. The first, an animated series, titled "God's Goofs", is meant to point out that intelligent design is absurd. The second project is a play based on the historic 2005 intelligent design trial in Dover, Pennsylvania, the first direct challenge brought in the United States federal courts testing a public school district policy that required the teaching of intelligent design.


title: Terry Kath

text: Terry Alan Kath (January 31, 1946 – January 23, 1978) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter, best known as a founding member of the rock band Chicago. He played guitar and sang lead vocals on many of the band's early hit singles. He has been praised by his bandmates and other musicians for his guitar skills and Ray Charles–influenced vocal style, and was said to be one of Jimi Hendrix's favorite guitarists.


title: Terry Kath

text: Growing up in a musical family, Kath took up a variety of instruments in his teens, including the drums and banjo. He played bass in a number of bands in the mid-1960s, before settling on the guitar when forming the group that became Chicago. His guitar playing was an important component of the group's sound from the start of their career. He used a number of different guitars, but eventually became identified with a Fender Telecaster fitted with a single neck-position humbucker pickup combined with a bridge position angled single-coil pickup and decorated with numerous stickers.


title: Terry Kath

text: Kath struggled with health issues and drug abuse towards the end of the 1970s. He died in January 1978 from an unintentional self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. The bereavement tempted Chicago to disband, but they ultimately decided to resume as is signified by their memorial song "Alive Again". To commemorate his musicianship, they issued the 1997 album "The Innovative Guitar of Terry Kath". In 2016, Kath's daughter Michelle Sinclair released the documentary "The Terry Kath Experience", which chronicles his life and Chicago's early years.


title: Terry Kath

text: Kath was born to Raymond Elmer "Ray" (1912–2003) and Evelyn Meline Haugen Kath (1916–1982) on January 31, 1946, in Chicago, Illinois. He had an older brother, Rod Kath. He was raised in the Norwood Park neighborhood of Chicago. He attended Taft High School.


title: Terry Kath

text: His brother played the drums and his mother played the banjo, and Kath attempted to learn these instruments too. He acquired a guitar and amplifier when he was in the ninth grade, and his early influences included The Ventures, Johnny Smith, Dick Dale, and Howard Roberts. He was later influenced by George Benson, Kenny Burrell, Mike Bloomfield, Eric Clapton, and Jimi Hendrix.


title: Terry Kath

text: Unlike several other Chicago members who received formal music training, Kath was mostly self-taught and enjoyed jamming. In a 1971 interview for "Guitar Player", he said he had tried professional lessons but abandoned them, adding "All I wanted to do was play those rock and roll chords." His father wanted him to have a steady career, but he decided he would prefer a career in music.


title: Terry Kath

text: Terry Kath joined his first semi-professional band, The Mystics, in 1963, moving to Jimmy Rice and the Gentlemen in 1965. He then played bass in a road band called Jimmy Ford and the Executives. Considered to be the bandleader, Kath guided the band's musical direction. Ford was the trumpeter, Walter Parazaider played saxophone and other wind instruments, and Danny Seraphine later became the drummer. Kath became close friends with Seraphine as they formed the rhythm section, as well as with Parazaider. The three musicians regularly socialized outside of the band. They were fired from the group, which wanted to merge with another band, Little Artie and the Pharaohs, while leader and guitarist Mike Sistack explained that "it's just business."


title: Terry Kath

text: In 1966, Kath joined a cover band called the Missing Links, taking Parazaider and Seraphine with him, and started playing clubs and ballrooms in Chicago on a regular basis. Parazaider's friend at De Paul University, trumpeter Lee Loughnane, also sat in with the band from time to time. Kath's compatriot James William Guercio (who later became Chicago's producer) was lead guitarist in one of two road bands performing on "The Dick Clark Show" with the Missing Links. Kath received an offer from Guercio to play bass for the Illinois Speed Press and move to Los Angeles, but declined as he considered the guitar his main instrument and wanted to sing lead. He stayed with Parazaider, Seraphine, and Loughnane instead, who quickly recruited trombonist James Pankow from De Paul and vocalist/keyboardist Robert Lamm. Kath sang the lower range of lead vocals in the group in a style reminiscent of Ray Charles. The group practiced at Parazaider's parents' basement and changed its name to The Big Thing. With the addition of singer and bassist Peter Cetera of The Exceptions, they moved to Los Angeles and signed with Columbia Records, renaming the band Chicago Transit Authority. The real Chicago Transit Authority objected to the band's use of the name so in mid-1969 the name was shortened to Chicago.


title: Terry Kath

text: Kath was regarded as Chicago's bandleader and best soloist; his vocal, jazz and hard rock influences are regarded as integral to the band's early sound. He has been praised for his guitar skills and described by rock author Corbin Reiff as "one of the most criminally underrated guitarists to have ever set finger to fretboard". According to Loughnane, Kath could sing a lead vocal and play lead and rhythm guitar simultaneously.


title: Terry Kath

text: The group's first album, "Chicago Transit Authority", released in 1969, includes Kath's composition "Introduction," described as "Terry's masterpiece" by later Chicago guitarist Dawayne Bailey. The song displays many varied musical styles, including jazz, blues, salsa, rock and roll, acid rock, and pop. The same debut album includes an instrumental guitar piece titled "Free Form Guitar", which consisted largely of feedback and heavy use of the Stratocaster's tremolo arm. The album liner notes indicate that the nearly seven-minute piece was recorded live in the studio in one take, using only a Fender Dual Showman amplifier pre-amped with a Bogen Challenger P.A. amp. The guitar's neck was held together with a radiator hose clamp. The song "Beginnings" includes acoustic rhythm guitar by Kath.


title: Terry Kath

text: For the group's second album, Kath contributed an extended guitar solo on "25 or 6 to 4", which became a live favorite. The same album saw Kath collaborate with orchestral arranger Peter Matz on the four-part suite "Memories of Love", singing the lead vocal.


title: Terry Kath

text: Kath wrote at least one song and contributed at least one lead vocal to every Chicago album released during his lifetime. While 1976's "Chicago X" is best known for Cetera's number one hit, "If You Leave Me Now", Kath's "Once or Twice" showed he was still writing and recording rock material. He continued this style on the following year's "Chicago XI", contributing the funky "Mississippi Delta City Blues" and the aggressive "Takin' It on Uptown", which counterbalanced some of the material other members were producing.


title: Terry Kath

text: After his death, to memorialize Kath and to commemorate the resumption of Chicago, the band composed and published the song "Alive Again" on its first album without him, "Hot Streets". Also in Kath's honor, they later published the song "Feel the Spirit".


title: Terry Kath

text: Kath used several guitars in his early career, but many of these early ones were stolen while on the road. His first main instrument that he used when Chicago were still The Big Thing was a Register guitar that cost $80. When the band started becoming successful, he traded up to a Fender Stratocaster. He also used a Gibson SG Standard, as pictured on "Chicago Transit Authority"s inner sleeve, and a Gibson SG Custom, and was one of the few well-known guitarists to make regular use of the 1969 Les Paul "Professional" model, which sported a pair of unconventional low-impedance pickups with a special impedance-matching transformer for use with a standard high impedance-input amplifier. Kath tended to favor light strings, though for the top E string, he used one from a tenor guitar. In an interview with "Guitar Player", he said that he used the tenor guitar string for the top E and moved all the regular strings down (top E was used as B, B used as a G, and so forth). For acoustic parts, he played an Ovation acoustic guitar.


title: Terry Kath

text: In the latter part of his career, he favored a Fender Telecaster, which he heavily modified. The standard blonde Telecaster had its black pickguard and its neck-position pickup removed, and the hole enlarged and fitted with a Gibson humbucker. The guitar control plate was also reversed. He was an early investor in the Pignose company (a manufacturer of guitar amplifiers) and served in the management of the company and decorated his Telecaster with 25 Pignose stickers, a Maico motorcycles decal and a Chicago Blackhawks logo. Most of Kath's guitars had gone missing for many years, including the famous "Pignose" Telecaster. Several were located by Kath's daughter Michelle Kath Sinclair, at the home of her step-grandmother, during her research for the documentary film "Chicago: The Terry Kath Experience". Among the re-discovered equipment was his "Pignose" Telecaster, an Ovation acoustic, a Fender Stratocaster, and a Gibson SG Custom with the pickups removed.


title: Terry Kath

text: Kath experimented with a wide variety of amplification and distortion devices and used a wah-wah pedal frequently. Fascinated by gadgets, Kath was interested in trying to play guitar without using a pick. Lamm recalled him attempting to make an auto-picking device using a modified electrical cocktail mixer.


title: Terry Kath

text: Kath sang lead vocals on several of Chicago's early songs, including "I'm a Man" ("Chicago Transit Authority"), "Colour My World", "Make Me Smile" (both part of "Ballet for a Girl in Buchannon"), "Movin' In", and "In The Country" ("Chicago II"), "Free" ("Chicago III"), "Dialogue (Part I & II)" ("Chicago V"), "Wishing You Were Here" ("Chicago VII"), and "Brand New Love Affair" ("Chicago VIII"). His vocal delivery was later described by Lamm as "The White Ray Charles". Pankow, who wrote "Make Me Smile", tried rehearsing the song with various members singing lead, but ultimately settled on Kath, saying "bingo – 'that' was the voice." Kath was one of the three primary lead singers of Chicago, with a vocal range between those of the other two, Peter Cetera's higher tenor and Robert Lamm's fuller, lower baritone. He often collaborated with Cetera on lead vocals, as they did in "Dialogue (Part I & II)" "In The Country)" and "Brand New Love Affair".


title: Terry Kath

text: Kath also played lead guitar and sang lead vocals on the closing song "Tell Me" in the 1973 drama movie "Electra Glide in Blue". The song was used in the final episode of the television series "Miami Vice".


title: Terry Kath

text: Kath had a self-admitted history of drug abuse, including alcohol. Seraphine knew that Kath had a high tolerance for drugs and later recalled Kath telling him, "I'm going to get things under control ... if I don't, this stuff is going to kill me." Chicago bandmates like drummer Danny Seraphine have noted that he was then also becoming increasingly unhappy. The night before he died, Kath visited bandmate Laudir de Oliveira. De Oliveira offered him tea and the two spent all night talking. Guercio has said that Kath was finishing writing a solo album before he died, and Pankow has adamantly denied that Kath was suicidal.


title: Terry Kath

text: Kath enjoyed target shooting and by 1978 was regularly carrying guns. Around 5:00 p.m. Pacific Standard Time on Monday, January 23, after a party at the home of roadie and band technician Don Johnson, in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, Kath began to play with his guns. He spun his unloaded .38 revolver on his finger, put it to his temple, and pulled the trigger. Johnson warned Kath several times to be careful. Kath picked up a semi-automatic 9-mm pistol and, leaning back in a chair, said to Johnson, "Don't worry about it ... Look, the clip is not even in it." His last words were, "What do you think I'm gonna do? Blow my brains out?" To calm Johnson's concerns, Kath showed him the empty magazine. Kath then replaced the magazine in the gun, put the gun to his temple and pulled the trigger. Apparently, unbeknownst to Kath, the gun had a round in the chamber. He died instantly from the gunshot, at the age of 31, eight days before his 32nd birthday.


title: Terry Kath

text: Kath left behind his wife, Camelia Ortiz, and a 20-month-old daughter, Michelle Kath (now Michelle Kath Sinclair). Kath had been married to Pamela Robinson from May 1970 until they divorced in May 1975 (per California Public Records).


title: Terry Kath

text: Kath is interred near his mother, Evelyn Kath, and father, Raymond Kath, in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California, in the Gardens of Remembrance.


title: Terry Kath

text: The group's members were devastated over losing Kath and strongly considered disbanding, but were persuaded by Doc Severinsen, musical director of the "Tonight Show" band, to continue. Kath's position as guitarist in Chicago was filled first by Donnie Dacus, then by Chris Pinnick, Dawayne Bailey, and Keith Howland. At Chicago concerts, original members Lee Loughnane (trumpet) and Robert Lamm (keyboards) have, on occasion, performed lead vocals originally sung by Terry Kath.


title: Terry Kath

text: Because Chicago considered themselves a team, some band members have subsequently claimed Kath's contributions to be generally overlooked. Chicago band member Walter Parazaider later said, "If [Kath] was totally up front, he would have gotten a "lot" more recognition." According to Parazaider, Jimi Hendrix commented to him after a set at the Whisky a Go Go in Los Angeles that "your guitar player is better than me."


title: Terry Kath

text: In September 1997, Chicago released "Chicago Presents The Innovative Guitar of Terry Kath", a CD remembrance of their late guitarist, on their own short-lived Chicago Records label.


title: Terry Kath

text: Band members have since wondered if Kath would have stayed with Chicago had he lived or started a solo career. In 2010, Parazaider said:


title: Terry Kath

text: "I'm not sure about that. [Terry] was a free spirit ... He was his own person when it came to different things. I would like to think he (would still be with Chicago) but he was very independent and I wonder what he would have thought about the 1980s. I'd have to say it's 50/50. It could have gone either way."


title: Terry Kath

text: In 2012, Kath's daughter Michelle Kath Sinclair announced that enough funds had been donated to complete production on a documentary of his life, titled "Searching for Terry: Discovering a Guitar Legend". In 2014, she confirmed she had interviewed the entire band except for Cetera and the project was planned for release in 2016. The film made its world premiere at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival, renamed as "The Terry Kath Experience", and Peter Cetera was listed among the cast members. It made its United States premiere at the DOC NYC film festival in November 2016 under the same name, and was soon after acquired by FilmRise, which planned a 2017 release. The film made its television premiere on AXS TV, under the name "Chicago: The Terry Kath Experience", on November 7, 2017, and it was released as VOD and DVD on December 12. The film includes interviews with guitarists Jeff Lynne, Steve Lukather, Mike Campbell, Dean DeLeo and Joe Walsh, who all praised Kath's work. Walsh said, "He was a great guy; he was a brilliant musician. He was a songwriter and a great singer. He was such a monster on guitar. ... He was just a total experimenter".


title: Terry Kath

text: On April 8, 2016, Chicago was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. During the ceremony in Brooklyn, New York. Michelle Kath Sinclair accepted the award on her father's behalf.


title: Lil Rel Howery

text: Milton "Lil Rel" Howery Jr. (born December 17, 1979) is an American actor and comedian. Howery is known for playing Robert Carmichael in NBC's television comedy series "The Carmichael Show" (2015–2017) and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officer Rod Williams in the horror film "Get Out" (2017). He also starred in the TV series "Rel" (2018–2019), which he also created and co-produced, lasting only one season.


title: Lil Rel Howery

text: Milton Howery Jr. grew up on the West Side of Chicago, the son of Nancy and Milton. He attended Providence St. Mel School from fifth grade to ninth. He then transferred to Crane High School. At Crane, Howery wrote jokes and created a script in a senior talent show, after which he decided to pursue comedy professionally. Playing high school basketball, he reminded people of his older cousin Darrel, and was nicknamed Lil Rel.


title: Lil Rel Howery

text: Howery began performing stand-up comedy on Chicago's East Side at the Lion's Den. He made his television debut in January 2007 on the reality television competition "Last Comic Standing". The same year, he was on "P. Diddy Presents: The Bad Boys of Comedy" on HBO. In 2009, he was part of America's National Night Out Against Crime in Chicago.


title: Lil Rel Howery

text: In 2012, Howery and five other comedians starred in Fox's revival of the 1990s sketch program "In Living Color". The show was canceled in 2013. Howery went on to work as a writer, producer, and one of the regular cast members of the truTV sketch comedy series "Friends of the People". In 2015, he began co-starring as Bobby Carmichael on the NBC sitcom "The Carmichael Show" alongside the show's creator, Jerrod Carmichael.


title: Lil Rel Howery

text: In early 2016, Netflix added Howery's first exclusive solo stand-up special, "Kevin Hart Presents: Lil Rel: ," for streaming in the United States.


title: Lil Rel Howery

text: Howery won the 2017 "Best Comedic Performance" MTV Movie & TV Award for his performance in Jordan Peele's satirical horror film "Get Out".


title: Lil Rel Howery

text: On May 10, 2018, Fox picked up "Rel", a sitcom starring Howery in the lead role and Jerrod Carmichael and Mike Scully serving as executive producers. Howery said the show is loosely based on his own life, including being a divorced father. The series premiered September 9, 2018.


title: Lil Rel Howery

text: Howery starred alongside Ryan Reynolds in the comedy film "Free Guy". He played Buddy, a security guard.


title: Lil Rel Howery

text: In 2019, HBO released Howery's second stand-up special, "Lil Rel Howery: Live in Crenshaw." His third special, "I said it. Y'all thinking it." was filmed in his hometown of Chicago and released in 2022.


title: Lil Rel Howery

text: Howery married Verina Robinson on November 24, 2008. They have two children. The couple divorced in 2017.


title: Lil Rel Howery

text: In June 2016, Howery was a passenger in a vehicle that struck another car in University Village, Chicago. The driver in the other car argued with Howery and called 9-1-1, claiming that Howery had punched him in the face. The driver of the car in which Howery was riding drove away without him. Police officers arrested Howery on a charge of misdemeanor battery, but he was found not guilty. The driver sued Howery for injuries suffered during the fight.


title: Shades of blue

text: Varieties of the color blue may differ in hue, chroma (also called saturation, intensity, or colorfulness), or lightness (or value, tone, or brightness), or in two or three of these qualities. Variations in value are also called tints and shades, a tint being a blue or other hue mixed with white, a shade being mixed with black. A large selection of these colors is shown below.


title: Shades of blue

text: The color defined as blue in the RGB color model, X11 blue, is shown at right. This color is the brightest possible blue that can be reproduced on a computer screen, and is the color named blue in X11. It is one of the three primary colors used in the RGB color space, along with red and green. The three additive primaries in the RGB color system are the three colors of light chosen such as to provide the maximum gamut of colors that are capable of being represented on a computer or television set.


title: Shades of blue

text: This color is also called color wheel blue. It is at 240 degrees on the HSV color wheel, also known as the . It is a spectral color which lies at, or near, the short-wave (violet) end of the traditional "blue" and possibly was classified as "indigo" by Newton. Its complementary color is yellow.


title: Shades of blue

text: The color defined as "blue" in the CMYK color system used in printing, also known as pigment blue, is the tone of blue that is achieved by mixing process (printer's) cyan and process (printer's) magenta in equal proportions.


title: Shades of blue

text: The purpose of the CMYK color system is to provide the maximum possible gamut of color reproducible in printing by the use of only three primaries.


title: Shades of blue

text: The source of this color is the "Pantone Textile Paper eXtended (TPX)" color list, color # Blue C, EC, HC, M, PC, U, or UP—Blue.


title: Shades of blue

text: The color defined as "blue" in the NCS or Natural Color System is an azure-like color shown at right (NCS 2060-B). The Natural Color System is a color system based on the four unique hues or psychological primary colors red, yellow, green, and blue. The NCS is based on the opponent process theory of vision.


title: Shades of blue

text: "NCS Blue" can only be displayed approximately on a computer screen, as these spectral colors have been adjusted to fit into the sRGB gamut. In the 21st century, this hue is classified as an variation of azure that is on the border of cyan.


title: Shades of blue

text: The color defined as "blue" in the Munsell color system (Munsell 5B) is shown at right. The "Munsell color system" is a color space that specifies colors based on three color dimensions: hue, value (lightness), and chroma (color purity), spaced uniformly (according to the logarithmic scale which governs human perception) in three dimensions in the Munsell color solid, which is shaped like an elongated oval at an angle. In order for all the colors to be spaced uniformly, it was found necessary to use a color wheel with five primary colors: red, yellow, green, blue, and purple.


title: Shades of blue

text: Munsell can only be displayed approximately on a computer screen, as these spectral colors have been adjusted to fit into the sRGB gamut. In the 21st century, this hue is classified as an intermediate between azure and cyan.


title: Shades of blue

text: Crayola can only be displayed approximately on a computer screen. In the 21st century, this hue is classified as an variation of azure that is on the border of blue.


title: Shades of blue

text: In this section, the term 'tint' usually refers to a blueish color mixed with white or light gray. The term shade is used in its technical sense as used in color theory, meaning a blueish color mixed with black or dark gray.


title: Shades of blue

text: The colors arranged in order of their value (brightness) (V in the HSV code), the brighter colors toward the top and the darker colors toward the bottom.


title: Shades of blue

text: Periwinkle (also periwinkle blue or lavender blue) is a mixture of white, blue, and red. It is named after the Periwinkle flower and is also commonly referred to as a tone of light blue.


title: Shades of blue

text: Ultramarine is a blue pigment in use since medieval times. It was originally derived from lapis lazuli, a bright blue mineral.


title: Shades of blue

text: Savoy blue, or savoy azure, is a shade of saturation blue between peacock blue and periwinkle, lighter than peacock blue. It owes its name to its being the color of the House of Savoy, a ruling dynasty in Italy from 1861 to 1946.


title: Shades of blue

text: Having become a national color with the unification of Italy (1861), its use continued even after the birth of the Italian Republic (1946) with the name "Italian blue". An Italian-blue border was inserted on the edge of the Presidential Standard of Italy and the use of the blue scarf for the Italian Armed Forces' officers, for the presidents of the Italian provinces during the official ceremonies and of the blue jersey for Italian national sports teams it was also maintained in the Republican era.


title: Shades of blue

text: Picotee blue represents the color of the picotee flower. It is a deep shade of indigo, almost resembling St. Patrick's Blue.


title: Shades of blue

text: Bluebonnet is a bright shade of blue with a slight violet tinge. It represents the color of bluebonnet flowers, which are part of the lupin family. The bluebonnet is the state flower of Texas.


title: Shades of blue

text: Navy blue is a shade of the standard (h = 240°) blue. "Navy blue" got its name from the dark blue (contrasted with white) worn by sailors in the Royal Navy since 1748 (originally called "marine blue" before 1840) and subsequently adopted by other navies around the world.


title: Shades of blue

text: Midnight blue is an "X11 web color". This color was originally called "midnight". The first recorded use of "midnight" as a color name in English was in 1915.


title: Shades of blue

text: Space cadet is one of the colors on the Resene Color List, a color list popular in Australia and New Zealand. The color "space cadet" was formulated in 2007.


title: Shades of blue

text: International Klein Blue (IKB) is a deep blue hue first mixed by the French artist Yves Klein. IKB's visual impact comes from its heavy reliance on ultramarine, as well as Klein's often thick and textured application of paint to canvas. There is a legend that Klein patented the color, but in reality he simply submitted a Soleau envelope and never progressed to the patent stage.


title: Shades of blue

text: Original Blurple is a brilliant purplish blue hue. It is the older version of Blurple, described below. It was used in the old Discord logo. Before 13 May 2021, it was simply called Blurple.


title: Shades of blue

text: In this section, shades fall outside the tertiary color range for blue, and many can be considered variations of cyan and azure, rather than blue.


title: Shades of blue

text: The web color light blue is part of the X11 color system, with a hue code of 194. Variations of this color are known as sky blue, baby blue, or angel blue.


title: Shades of blue

text: Celtic blue is a shade of blue, also known as "glas celtig" in Welsh, or "gorm ceilteach" in both the Irish language and in Scottish Gaelic. Julius Caesar reported (in Commentarii de Bello Gallico) that the Britanni used to colour their bodies blue with vitrum, a word that means primarily "glass", but also the domestic name for the "woad" ("Isatis tinctoria"), besides the Gaulish loanword "glastum" (from Proto-Celtic *glastos "green"). The connection seems to be that both glass and the woad are "water-like" (lat. vitrum is from Proto-Indo-European *wed-ro- "water-like").


title: Shades of blue

text: Spanish blue is the color that is called "Azul" (the Spanish word for "blue") in the "Guía de coloraciones" ("Guide to colorations") by Rosa Gallego and Juan Carlos Sanz, a color dictionary published in 2005 that is widely popular in the Hispanophone realm.


title: Shades of blue

text: Bleu de France is a vivid blue color that has been associated in heraldry with the Kings of France since the 12th century.


title: Shades of blue

text: This color name first came into use in 2001 when it was formulated as one of the colors on the Xona.com Color List.


title: Shades of blue

text: Sapphire is a deep shade of navy blue, based on the color of an average sapphire gemstone. However, sapphires can also be pink, yellow, or orange.


title: Shades of blue

text: Fluorescent blue is a shade of blue that is radiant based on fluorescence. This is the main color on the Indian 50-rupee note.


title: Baidu

text: Baidu, Inc. ( ; , meaning "hundred times") is a Chinese multinational technology company specializing in Internet-related services and products and artificial intelligence (AI), headquartered in Beijing's Haidian District. It is one of the largest AI and Internet companies in the world. The holding company of the group is incorporated in the Cayman Islands. Baidu was incorporated in January 2000 by Robin Li and Eric Xu. The Baidu search engine is currently the sixth largest website in the Alexa Internet rankings. Baidu has origins in RankDex, an earlier search engine developed by Robin Li in 1996, before he founded Baidu in 2000.


title: Baidu

text: Baidu offers various services, including a Chinese search engine, as well as a mapping service called Baidu Maps. Baidu offers about 57 search and community services, such as Baidu Baike (an online encyclopedia), Baidu Wangpan (a cloud storage service), and Baidu Tieba (a keyword-based discussion forum).


title: Baidu

text: Baidu Global Business Unit (GBU) is responsible for Baidu's international products and services for markets outside of China. Baidu GBU's product portfolio includes keyboard apps Simeji and Facemoji Keyboard, content recommendation platform popIn, augmented reality network OmniAR, Japanese smart projector popIn Aladdin, and ad platform MediaGo, which is focused on Chinese advertisers looking to reach overseas users. In 2017, Baidu GBU entered into a partnership with Snap Inc. to act as the company's official ad reseller for Snapchat in Greater China, South Korea, Japan and Singapore. The partnership was extended in 2019.


title: Baidu

text: In 2018, Baidu divested the "Global DU business" portion of its overseas business, which developed a series of utility apps including ES File Explorer, DU Caller, Mobojoy, Photo Wonder and DU Recorder, etc. This business now operates independently of Baidu under the name DO Global.


title: Baidu

text: Baidu has the second largest search engine in the world, and held a 76.05% market share in China's search engine market. In December 2007, Baidu became the first Chinese company to be included in the NASDAQ-100 index. As of May 2018, Baidu's market cap rose to US$99 billion. In October 2018, Baidu became the first Chinese firm to join the United States-based computer ethics consortium Partnership on AI.


title: Baidu

text: In 1994, Robin Li (Li Yanhong, 李彦宏) joined IDD Information Services, a New Jersey division of Dow Jones and Company, where he helped develop software for the online edition of "The Wall Street Journal". He also worked on developing better algorithms for search engines and remained at IDD Information Services from May 1994 to June 1997.


title: Baidu

text: In 1996, while at IDD, Li developed the RankDex site-scoring algorithm for search engines results page ranking and received a US patent for the technology. Launched in 1996, RankDex was the first search engine that used hyperlinks to measure the quality of websites it was indexing. Li referred to his search mechanism as "link analysis," which involved ranking the popularity of a web site based on how many other sites had linked to it. It predated the similar PageRank algorithm used by Google two years later in 1998; Google founder Larry Page referenced Li's work as a citation in some of his U.S. patents for PageRank. Li later used his RankDex technology for the Baidu search engine.


title: Baidu

text: Baidu was incorporated on January 18, 2000, by Robin Li and Eric Xu. In 2001, Baidu allowed advertisers to bid for ad space and then pay Baidu every time a customer clicked on an ad, predating Google's approach to advertising. In 2003, Baidu launched a news search engine and picture search engine, adopting a special identification technology capable of identifying and grouping the articles.


title: Baidu

text: Baidu went public on Wall Street through a variable interest entity (VIE) based in the Cayman Islands on August 5, 2005.


title: Baidu

text: On November 18, 2012, Baidu announced that it would be partnering with Qualcomm to offer free cloud storage to Android users with Snapdragon processors.


title: Baidu

text: On August 2, 2013, Baidu launched its Personal Assistant app, designed to help CEOs, managers and the white-collar workers manage their business relationships.


title: Baidu

text: On May 16, 2014, Baidu appointed Dr. Andrew Ng as chief scientist. Dr. Ng will lead Baidu Research in Silicon Valley and Beijing.


title: Baidu

text: In April 2017, Baidu announced the launch of its Apollo project (Apolong), a self-driving vehicle platform, in a bid to help drive the development of autonomous cars including vehicle platform, hardware platform, open-source software platform and cloud data services. Baidu plans to launch this project in July 2017, before gradually introducing fully autonomous driving capabilities on highways and open city roads by 2020. In September 2017, Baidu launched a $1.5 billion autonomous driving fund to invest in as many as 100 autonomous driving projects over the ensuing three years. At the same time, Apollo open-source software version 1.5 was also launched.


title: Baidu

text: In June 2017, Baidu partnered with Continental and Bosch, auto industry suppliers, on automated driving and connected cars.


title: Baidu

text: In September 2017, Baidu rolled out a new portable talking translator that can listen and speak in several different languages. Smaller than a typical smartphone, the 140-gram translation device can also be used as a portable Wi-Fi router and is able to operate on networks in 80 countries. It is still under development. Baidu will also be inserting artificial intelligence (AI) technology into smartphones, through its deep learning platform. At the same period, it has also led a joint investment of US$12 billion with Alibaba Group, Tencent, JD.com and Didi Chuxing, acquiring 35% of China Unicom's stakes.


title: Baidu

text: In October 2017, according to "The Wall Street Journal", Baidu would launch self-driving buses in China in 2018. In the same month, Baidu announced that its first annual Baidu World technology conference ("Bring AI to Life") would be held and live-streamed on November 16, 2017, at China World Summit Wing and Kerry Hotel, bringing together Baidu executives, employees, partners, developers, and media to discuss the company's mission and strategy, technology breakthroughs, new product developments, and its open artificial-intelligence (AI) ecosystem.


title: Baidu

text: In August 2021 Baidu revealed a new Robocar concept said to be capable of Level 5 autonomous driving. It also comes with the latest second-generation AI chip that can analyse the internal and external surroundings to provide predictive suggestions to proactively serve the needs of passengers.


title: Baidu

text: On January 12, 2010, Baidu.com's DNS records in the United States were altered such that browsers to baidu.com were redirected to a website purporting to be the Iranian Cyber Army, thought to be behind the attack on Twitter during the 2009 Iranian election protests, making the proper site unusable for four hours. Internet users were met with a page saying "This site has been attacked by Iranian Cyber Army". Chinese hackers later responded by attacking Iranian websites and leaving messages.


title: Baidu

text: Baidu later launched legal action against Register.com for gross negligence after it was revealed that Register.com's technical support staff changed the email address for Baidu.com on the request of an unnamed individual, despite failing security verification procedures. Once the address had been changed, the individual was able to use the forgotten password feature to have Baidu's domain passwords sent directly to them, allowing them to accomplish the domain hijacking. The lawsuit was settled out of court under undisclosed terms after Register.com issued an apology.


title: Baidu

text: On August 6, 2012, the BBC reported that three employees of Baidu were arrested on suspicion that they accepted bribes. The bribes were allegedly paid for deleting posts from the forum service. Four people were fired in connection with these arrests.


title: Baidu

text: On July 16, 2013, Baidu announced its intention to purchase 91 Wireless from NetDragon. 91 Wireless is best known for its app store, but it has been reported that the app store faces privacy and other legal issues. On August 14, 2013, Baidu announced that its wholly owned subsidiary Baidu (Hong Kong) Limited has signed a definitive merger agreement to acquire 91 Wireless Web-soft Limited from NetDragon Web-soft Inc. for $1.85 billion in what was reported to be the biggest deal ever in China's IT sector.


title: Baidu

text: The name "Baidu" () literally means "a hundred times", or alternatively, "countless times". It is a quote from the last line of Xin Qiji's () classical poem "Green Jade Table in The Lantern Festival" () saying: "Having searched hundreds of times in the crowd, suddenly turning back, she is there in the dimmest candlelight." ()


title: Baidu

text: Baidu offers several services to locate information, products and services using Chinese-language search terms, such as, search by Chinese phonetics, advanced search, snapshots, spell checker, stock quotes, news, knows, postbar, images, video and space information, and weather, train and flight schedules and other local information. The user-agent string of Baidu search engine is "Baiduspider".


title: Baidu

text: Baidu's primary advertising product is called Baidu Tuiguang and is similar to Google Ads and AdSense. It is a pay per click advertising platform that allows advertisers to have their ads shown in Baidu search results pages and on other websites that are part of Baidu Union. However, Baidu's search results are also based on payments by advertisers. This has prompted criticism and skepticism among Chinese users, with People's daily commenting in 2018 on issues regarding reliability of Baidu results. Often as many as the first two pages of search results tend to be paid advertisers.


title: Baidu

text: Baidu sells its advertising products via a network of resellers. Baidu's web administrative tools are all in Chinese, which makes it tough for non-Chinese speakers to use. Recently, a third-party company began to develop a tool with an English-language interface for Baidu advertising programs. Paid advertising can only be used by advertisers with a registered business address either in China or in a list of other East Asian countries.


title: Baidu

text: Baidu focuses on generating revenues primarily from online marketing services. Baidu's pay for placement (P4P) platform enables its customers to reach users who search for information related to their products or services. Customers use automated online tools to create text-based descriptions of their web pages and bid on keywords that trigger the display of their webpage information and link. Baidu's P4P platform features an automated online sign-up process that customers use to activate their accounts at any time. The P4P platform is an online marketplace that introduces Internet search users to customers who bid for priority placement in the search results. Baidu also uses third-party distributors to sell some of its online marketing services to end customers and offers discounts to these distributors in consideration of their services.


title: Baidu

text: Baidu offers certain consultative services, such as keyword suggestions, account management and performance reporting. Baidu suggests synonyms and associated phrases to use as keywords or text in search listings. These suggestions can improve clickthrough rates of the customer's listing and increase the likelihood that a user will enter into a transaction with the customer. Baidu also provides online daily reports of the number of clickthroughs, clicked keywords and the total costs incurred, as well as statistical reports organized by geographic region. However, this too has invited criticism amongst Chinese internet users.


title: Baidu

text: Baidu offers ProTheme services to some of its Baidu Union members, which enable these members to display on their properties its customers' promotional links that are relevant to the subject and content of such members' properties. Baidu generates revenues from ProTheme services based on the number of clicks on its customers' links and share the revenues with its Baidu Union members in accordance with pre-agreed terms. Baidu's fixed-ranking services allow customers to display query-sensitive text links at a designated location on its search results pages. Its Targetizement services enable customers to reach their targeted Internet users by displaying their advertisements only when their targeted Internet users browse Baidu's certain Web pages.


title: Baidu

text: Baidu operates its advertising service, Baidu TV, in partnership with Ads it! Media Corporation, an online advertising agency and technology company. Baidu TV provides advertisers access to the websites of its Baidu Union members, allowing advertisers to choose Websites on which they post their video advertisements with the aid of its advertisement targeting and matching system. It also offers a brand advertising service, Brand-Link. In June 2008, Baidu launched My Marketing Center, a customized platform integrating industry information, market trends and business, and industry news and reports to assist existing customers in their sales and marketing efforts. Other forms of its online advertising services allow customers to display query sensitive and non-query sensitive advertisements on its websites, including graphical advertisements.


title: Baidu

text: Baidu Union consists of several third-party websites and software applications. Union members incorporate a Baidu search box or toolbar and match its sponsored links with the content on their properties. Their users can conduct search via the Baidu search box or toolbar and can click the sponsored links located on their properties. Baidu has also launched programs through which it displays the online advertising of its customers on Baidu Union websites, and share the fees generated by these advertisements with the owners of these Baidu Union websites. As of May 2011, there were 230,000 partner websites that displayed Baidu Union ads on their websites.


title: Baidu

text: Baidu competes with Petal, Sogou, Google Search, 360 Search (www.so.com), Yahoo! China, Microsoft's Bing and MSN Messenger, Sina, NetEase's Youdao and PaiPai, Alibaba's Taobao, TOM Online, and EachNet.


title: Baidu

text: Baidu is the most used search engine in China, controlling 76.05 percent of China's market share. The number of Internet users in China had reached 705 million by the end of 2015, according to a report by the internetlivestats.com.


title: Baidu

text: In an August 2010 "Wall Street Journal" article, Baidu played down its benefit from Google's having moved its China search service to Hong Kong, but Baidu's share of revenue in China's search-advertising market grew six percentage points in the second quarter to 70%, according to Beijing-based research firm Analysys International.


title: Baidu

text: It is also evident that Baidu is attempting to enter the Internet social network market. , it is discussing the possibility of working with Facebook, which would lead to a Chinese version of the international social network, managed by Baidu. This plan, if executed, would face off Baidu with competition from the three popular Chinese social networks Qzone, Renren and Kaixin001 as well as induce rivalry with instant-messaging giant, Tencent QQ.


title: Baidu

text: On February 22, 2012, Hudong submitted a complaint to the State Administration for Industry and Commerce asking for a review of the behavior of Baidu, accusing it of being monopolistic.


title: Baidu

text: By August 2014, Baidu's search market share in China has dropped to 56.3%, where Qihoo 360, its closest competitor who has rebranded its search engine as so.com, has increased its market share to 29.0%, according to report from CNZZ.com.


title: Baidu

text: In February 2015, Baidu was alleged to use anticompetitive tactics in Brazil against the Brazilian online security firm PSafe and Qihoo 360 (the largest investor of PSafe).


title: Baidu

text: In an ongoing competition in AI natural language processing called General Language Understanding Evaluation, otherwise known as GLUE, Baidu took a lead over Microsoft and Google in December 2019.


title: Baidu

text: Baidu has started to invest in deep learning research and is integrating new deep learning technology into some of its apps and products, including Phoenix Nest. Phoenix Nest is Baidu's ad-bidding platform.


title: Baidu

text: In April 2012 Baidu JDC long live applied for a patent for its "DNA copyright recognition" technology. This technology automatically scans files that are uploaded by Internet users, and recognizes and filters out content that may violate copyright law. This allows Baidu to offer an infringement-free platform.


title: Baidu

text: Baidu has applied for a utility patent in the UK, for its proprietary site-wise search technology which is currently available in China.


title: Baidu

text: Baidu has more than 7,000 published AI patent applications in China, the highest in the country. The AI open platform Baidu Brain has made available more than 250 core AI capabilities to over 1.9 million developers, while PaddlePaddle, the largest open-source deep learning platform in China, services 84,000 enterprises. Industries throughout China are using the PaddlePaddle platform to create specialized applications for their sectors, from the automotive industry's acceleration of autonomous vehicles to the health-care industry's applications for fighting COVID-19.


title: Baidu

text: In April 2022, Baidu announced they gained permits from China in order to provide the first driverless taxis. The company aim to provide driverless ride-hailing services to the public and have 10 autonomous cars set to begin offering rides to passengers within a 23-square-mile area in suburban begin beginning the 28th of April 2022.


title: Baidu

text: In July 2022, Baidu unveiled the Apollo RT6, a driverless vehicle that is planned to join Baidu's driverless fleet in 2023.


title: Baidu

text: According to the "China Digital Times", Baidu has a long history of being the most active and restrictive online censor in the search arena. Documents leaked in April 2009 from an employee in Baidu's internal monitoring and censorship department show a long list of blocked websites and censored topics on Baidu search.


title: Baidu

text: In May 2011, activists sued Baidu in the United States for violating the U.S. Constitution by the censorship it conducts in accord with the demand of the Chinese government. A U.S. judge has ruled that the Chinese search engine Baidu has the right to block pro-democracy works from its query results under freedom of speech rights, dismissing a lawsuit that sought to punish the company for Internet censorship.


title: Baidu

text: In 2017, Baidu began coordinating with the Chinese Ministry of Public Security as well as 372 Internet police departments to detect information related to "anti-government rumors" and then flooding "Baidu-linked web sites, news sites and devices with alerts dispelling the so-called misinformation." This was done using natural language processing, big data and artificial intelligence.


title: Baidu

text: As part of the COVID-19 pandemic, Chinese regulators instructed Baidu, along with other Internet companies, to "conduct special supervision" on news and information related to the disease.


title: Baidu

text: In November 2022, Sustainalytics downgraded Baidu to "non-compliant" with the United Nations Global Compact principles due to complicity with censorship.


title: Baidu

text: In 2016, Baidu's P4P search results reportedly contributed to the death of a student who tried an experimental cancer therapy he found online. The 21-year-old college student was named Wèi Zéxī (魏则西), who studied in Xidian University. Wei was diagnosed with synovial sarcoma, a rare form of cancer. He found the Second Hospital of the Beijing Armed Police Corps (武警北京市总队第二医院) through the search engine Baidu, on which the hospital had been promoting itself. The treatment proved unsuccessful and Wèi died in April 2016.


title: Baidu

text: After Wei's family spent around 200,000 yuan (around US$31,150) for treatment in the hospital, Wei Zexi died on April 12, 2016. The incident triggered massive online discussions after Wei's death. On May 2, 2016, Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), the top watchdog for China's Internet space, dispatched a team of investigators to Baidu. The case is still ongoing. One report claimed medical advertising makes up for 30% of Baidu's ad revenue, much of which comes from for-profit hospitals that belong to the "Putian Network", a collection of hospitals across the country founded by medical entrepreneurs associated with the Putian region of Fujian province. The investigation led Chinese regulators to impose several restrictions on Baidu, including adding disclaimers to promotional content and establishing channels for complaints about Baidu services. In addition, Baidu's search function now largely directs users to contents published on platforms under Baidu's control, leading Chinese media scholar Fang Kecheng to proclaim that "Search engine Baidu is dead".


title: Baidu

text: Baidu sold the hemophilia online community, one of the communities of Tieba, to unqualified hospitals. In January 2016, Baidu announced that it will stop selling all of its illness-related Tieba. On January 12, Baidu officially announced to the public that all Baidu Tieba for all types of diseases will completely stop commercial cooperation and will only be open to authoritative public welfare organizations. In response to Baidu's decision, Lin Jinlong, president of the Hunan Medical and Health Industry Association, said that private hospitals have entered a period of industry transformation and upgrading, and are neither dependent on posting bar ads nor counting on competitive rankings anymore, so Baidu's decision will not have a negative impact on the industry.


title: Baidu

text: On April 20, 2019, it was reported that several applications for Android devices developed by the subsidiary company, DO Global (formerly DU Group), were surreptitiously running revenue enhancing background programs on user devices since at least 2016. These programs, part of six known applications developed by the company, and downloaded hundreds of millions times, were clicking on internet ads – even when the devices were idle, and unbeknownst to end users, in order to increase revenue generated by "clicks". Just one of the apps, all of which were available on Google Play Store, had been downloaded 50 million times alone and carried a user rating of 4.5 stars by tens of thousands.


title: Baidu

text: Google banned DO Global and more than 100 of its apps from the Google Play Store on April 26, 2019. DO Global was also banned from Google's AdMob Network. Apps from another developer, ES Global, including the ES File Explorer, that were owned by DO Global were banned from the Play Store and the account was suspended.


title: Baidu

text: In August 2020, following the 2020 China–India skirmishes, Baidu was one of several Chinese websites that were banned or blocked in India for national security reasons.


title: Ghost Ship (2002 film)

text: Ghost Ship is a 2002 American supernatural horror film directed by Steve Beck, and starring an ensemble cast featuring Gabriel Byrne, Julianna Margulies, Ron Eldard, Desmond Harrington, Isaiah Washington and Karl Urban. The film follows a marine salvage crew in the Bering Sea who discover a mysterious ocean liner that disappeared in 1962. Despite its title, the film is unrelated to the 1952 film of the same name.


title: Ghost Ship (2002 film)

text: The film was shot in Queensland, Australia, and Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and released theatrically in North America on October 25, 2002. It received largely negative reviews from critics but a commercial success grossing over $68 million worldwide.


title: Ghost Ship (2002 film)

text: In 1962, aboard the Italian ocean liner "MS Antonia Graza", passengers dance to the song "Senza Fine" sung by Francesca. A young girl, Katie, sits alone until the ship's captain offers to dance with her. A hand lifts a lever that tightens a wire cord. The wire whips across the dance floor, bisecting the passengers and crew. Katie is spared as the wire rips above her head through the captain, who is killed.


title: Ghost Ship (2002 film)

text: Forty years later, a salvage crew — Captain Sean Murphy, Maureen Epps, Greer, Dodge, Munder and Santos — are approached by Jack Ferriman, a weather service pilot who spotted a vessel adrift in the Bering Sea. It can be claimed by whoever brings it to port. The crew sets out on their salvage tug, the "Arctic Warrior". The ship is the "Antonia Graza", missing since 1962. Boarding the abandoned liner, the salvagers discover nine boxes, each containing twenty-eight 100-oz gold bars ().


title: Ghost Ship (2002 film)

text: After a series of supernatural events, the group decides to leave with the gold, but an invisible force sabotages the "Arctic Warrior" with a propane gas leak. The tugboat explodes, killing Santos.


title: Ghost Ship (2002 film)

text: With no other option, the group repairs the "Graza". Greer encounters the apparition of Francesca, who seduces him into cheating on his fiancée, then leads him to fall down an elevator shaft. Murphy enters the captain's cabin and encounters the ghost of the captain. The captain explains that they recovered the gold from a sinking cruise ship, the "Lorelei", along with a sole survivor. Murphy is shown a picture of the survivor, whom he recognizes. He rushes to tell the others but hallucinates and sees everyone as the ghost of the burned Santos, who provokes him into a rage. The others think Murphy has gone mad and lock him in the drained fish tank, Epps later finds him drowned; an invisible force has opened a valve filling the tank with water.


title: Ghost Ship (2002 film)

text: Epps meets Katie's ghost, who reveals what happened on the "Graza". The sole survivor of the "Lorelei" convinced many of the "Graza"'s crew to murder their passengers, as well as the captain and officers, for the gold. After murdering the passengers, the crew turned on each other. Francesca killed the officer who survived. The mastermind behind the massacre killed Francesca by releasing a hook that slashed her neck. He then branded her palm with a hook-shaped symbol using only his hands. The man is Jack Ferriman, the demonic spirit of a deceased sinner tasked with provoking people to sin, then killing them and bringing their souls to Hell. Epps deduces that Ferriman lured the salvage team to the "Graza" to repair it and decides to sink it to thwart his plan. Munder is crushed to death under the ship's gears while scuba diving in the flooded engine room. Epps tells Dodge to keep Jack on the ship's bridge while she sets explosives. Ferriman taunts Dodge, mocking him as a coward for never acting on his feelings for Epps, then charges him. Dodge shoots Ferriman with a shotgun and believes Ferriman to be dead.


title: Ghost Ship (2002 film)

text: Epps is setting explosives when she is confronted by Dodge. He tells her he killed Ferriman and that they can salvage the gold to start a life together, but Epps asks why Dodge has not asked where Munder is. Dodge morphs into Ferriman, who killed Dodge. Ferriman plans to use the "Graza" as a trap to continue collecting souls. As long as the "Graza" is kept afloat, the souls of everyone who died aboard the ship will be dragged down when Ferriman returns to Hell. Epps detonates the explosives. Ferriman is blown to pieces in the explosion, while Katie helps Epps escape the sinking ship. Katie and the other trapped souls ascend to Heaven.


title: Ghost Ship (2002 film)

text: Epps is found by a cruise ship and returned to land. As she is loaded into an ambulance, she sees the gold being loaded onto the cruise ship by people who resemble her fellow "Arctic Warrior" crew, overseen by a resurrected Ferriman, who glares at her and carries on. Epps screams loudly as the ambulance doors close.


title: Ghost Ship (2002 film)

text: "Ghost Ship" first emerged in January 1996 as "Chimera", a spec script by Mark Hanlon. This script was a relatively bloodless psychological thriller rather than a vivid supernatural horror film. Most notably, much of the film's gore is absent from the screenplay. The film would have focused on four members of a salvage crew who end up stranded aboard the ghost vessel they are scuttling (the titular "Chimera"). Over the course of one night, each member — due to panic, cabin fever, or supernatural forces — goes insane and plots to kill the other three.


title: Ghost Ship (2002 film)

text: In "Chimera", Murphy is the "main killer" and the ship runs onto some rocks and begins to sink. Murphy and Epps survive until nearly the end but as the ship sinks, Murphy goes off to retrieve gold ingots. The weight of the gold and the time he loses in getting to it leads to Murphy's demise. As in the film, Katie helps Epps escape. Over time, the script underwent rewrites, and the psychological aspects of the script were all jettisoned in favor of making the film a slasher. It has been suggested that "The cast signed on based on this (original) draft ... and were sadly disappointed to find the script had been radically changed by Joel Silver and associates when they arrived to begin shooting." According to Beck in the newly released directors commentary he mentioned that the September 11 attacks in the United States inspired the studio to make the film a more definitive fight between good and evil instead of trying to be nuanced about the corruption of man.


title: Ghost Ship (2002 film)

text: The idea of filming on a real ship was continually brought up, and a few ships were scouted for the possibility of being used as the "Antonia Graza". "The temptation was always to shoot on the real thing," Beck says. "We actually visited a few [ships] , but every time we thought, 'How are we ever going to get a dolly through this alley? Or down this hallway?' When you're shooting you often have to punch through a wall in order to get the shot you need, and on a steel ship that's impossible. We knew the real thing would be far too limiting."


title: Ghost Ship (2002 film)

text: Instead of using an actual ship, Australian visual effects company Photon VFX, who prior had worked on the 2002 film "Scooby-Doo", was hired as the principal contractor for all visual effects. This allowed Warner Bros. to take full advantage of the wide spectrum of services offered including CGI, animation, miniatures, live-action, prosthetics, pyrotechnics and aerial, underwater and motion control cinematography.


title: Ghost Ship (2002 film)

text: The "SS Andrea Doria" served as the inspiration for the film's ship the "Antonia Graza". Photon created a 35-foot 1/20th scale model of the ship, allowing the exterior shots to be a combination of CGI, miniature, and live-action footage. For certain exterior shots a miniature just wouldn't work, so instead a full-scale forecastle and bow were constructed. "It was a full-scale replica, so it wouldn't have fit into a studio," Walker explains. "It also needed to have sky backgrounds surrounding it, so we built it on a hill to achieve the desired effect."


title: Ghost Ship (2002 film)

text: The majority of the film was shot on sets built on a sound stage at Village Roadshow Studios. The only ship used in "Ghost Ship" was the tugboat "Arctic Warrior" used by the main protagonists. While filming the exterior shots on the tugboat, a feeding frenzy occurred in the water bringing 800-1000 sharks within 50 yards of the production and its stars.


title: Ghost Ship (2002 film)

text: In February 2002, the 35-foot-long model of the "Antonia Graza", made by Photon VFX, was taken out to Moreton Bay to film establishing shots of the ship adrift. In early February, construction of the bow and foredeck of the full-scale replica of the "Antonia Graza" was getting underway at Newstead, Queensland. Construction, which lasted roughly six weeks, drew many curious residents and tourists that were hoping to get a look at the nearly 100-foot-tall (30m) massive hull that dominated the surrounding area.


title: Ghost Ship (2002 film)

text: Dale Duguid, the creative director of Photon VFX, wanted to push the boundaries. There was a lot of pride for "Ghost Ship" since it was the largest visual effect contract completely done in Australia to date. Photon VFX filmed a real ocean-liner at sea off the coast of New South Wales, digitally removed the ship, but kept all of its movements, leaving nothing but ocean and sky. Then the tracking data was taken and in-put into a robotic filming system, which then filmed the 35-foot-long (10 m) miniature ship. The digital effects team then added 300 digital extras, in addition to digital water and smoke to make the scene appear as realistic as possible.


title: Ghost Ship (2002 film)

text: The dramatic scene, which features the derelict ballroom reverting to its former grand self, posed a problem for the effects crew. "That was the most difficult shot I've ever worked on," says Duguid. Filming took place on two different sets, the first being the decrepit ballroom which had been adrift for forty years. The second set was the luxurious ballroom, used in the opening scene with happy party guests having a grand time. "We were filming on a derelict set and a new set, and we shot 80 layers of that scene on a circular motion control track, each time with different things going on. Some we shot forwards, some backwards, some fast, some slow."


title: Ghost Ship (2002 film)

text: The soundtrack album for "Ghost Ship" was released on November 5, 2002 on Varèse Sarabande. The songs "Not Falling" by Mudvayne and "Senza Fine" sung by Monica Mancini are not part of the soundtrack despite being featured in the film.


title: Ghost Ship (2002 film)

text: The score is described by Filmtracks.com as "tap [dancing] around some old genre cliches while diving head first into others, producing a score with drama, fright, and a slight hint of elegance at times as well."


title: Ghost Ship (2002 film)

text: "Ghost Ship" was theatrically released on October 25, 2002. The theatrical poster for "Ghost Ship" is similar to that of the 1980 film "Death Ship".


title: Ghost Ship (2002 film)

text: Warner Bros. in association with Hollywood.com sponsored a sweepstakes to promote the film beginning October 18, 2002, with the final drawing on November 1. Applicants could enter for the chance to win the grand prize dubbed the "Ghost Ship Prize Package" of promotional merchandise consisting of one "Ghost Ship" baseball hat, one spinning skull mug, one "Ghost Ship" shower CD player, and the "Ghost Ship" soundtrack. The runners up would receive just the baseball hat and mug.


title: Ghost Ship (2002 film)

text: On March 28, 2003, Warner Home Video (currently known as Warner Bros. Home Entertainment) released the film to VHS and DVD. On October 26, 2018, Official Charts Company revealed "Ghost Ship" was the United Kingdom's 26th best-selling horror DVD/Blu-ray of all time.


title: Ghost Ship (2002 film)

text: A collectors edition of "Ghost Ship" was produced by Shout! Factory and released on Blu-ray September 29, 2020. It featured a new interview with actor Isaiah Washington, and a new Audio commentary by director Steve Beck.


title: Ghost Ship (2002 film)

text: With a reported budget of $20 million, the film opened at no. 3 at the box office with $11,503,423 in ticket sales as "" dominated the cinema releases. The film grossed $30,113,491 in North America and had an international gross of $38,236,393, earning a total of $68,349,884.


title: Ghost Ship (2002 film)

text: According to internet review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, "Ghost Ship" has an approval rating of 15% based on 128 reviews, with an average rating of 3.8/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "With a plot as creaky as the boat, "Ghost Ship" fails to deliver the scares." Metacritic gives the film a weighted average score of 28 out of 100 based on 25 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C+" on an A+ to F scale.


title: Ghost Ship (2002 film)

text: The film received varied critical reception in the United States: "The New York Times"s Stephen Holden criticized its preoccupation with special effects, and while praising its establishment of mood, ultimately deemed it "an incoherent supernatural thriller that would like to think of itself as a Halloween-ready horror fusion of "The Perfect Storm" and "Titanic."" Carla Meyer of the "San Francisco Chronicle" praised the performance of Isaiah Washington, but deemed the film "a stupid, derivative horror film that substitutes extreme gore for suspense. Granted, there are only so many ways to kill people in these pictures, but lingering on a woman on a meat hook doesn't make a movie scary. It makes it gross."


title: Ghost Ship (2002 film)

text: Manohla Dargis of the "Los Angeles Times" was critical of the script's lack of character development, writing: "With its minor shivers and modest Grand Guignol showmanship, "Ghost Ship" is the sort of flimflam that would have filled eight paneled pages in the great horror comic book "Tales From the Crypt" or consumed about 30 minutes on the latter-day HBO spinoff." Roger Ebert said the film is "better than you expect but not as good as you hope," while Joel Siegel of "Good Morning America" awarded the film a B− rating, writing: "After a very brutal and bloody beginning, "Ghost Ship" plays like an old-fashioned ghost story, the kind that kept you awake when you were a kid." In a review published by IGN, the reviewer awarded the film one-and-a-half out of five stars, stating: "as a horror fan, I applaud what Silver and Zemeckis are trying to do with Dark Castle, "Ghost Ship" just isn't a cruise worth taking."


title: Ghost Ship (2002 film)

text: Upon the film's release in the United Kingdom in January 2003, "The Guardian"s Peter Bradshaw praised its set design, but added "it's the same old tired stuff we've seen a hundred times before in various permutations." Jamie Russell of the BBC awarded the film two out of five stars, but praised its opening sequence.


title: Ghost Ship (2002 film)

text: While critical response to "Ghost Ship" was varied upon its theatrical release, many contemporary critics and film fans alike praised its elaborate opening murder sequence. Website Bloody Disgusting listed "Ghost Ship"s opening massacre as #13 in their list of "The Top 13 Kills in Horror Movie History," while "ComingSoon" named the scene one of the greatest opening sequences in horror film history.


title: Philip Markoff

text: Philip Haynes Markoff (February 12, 1986 – August 15, 2010) was an American medical student who was charged with the armed robbery and murder of Julissa Brisman in a Boston hotel on April 14, 2009, and two other armed robberies.


title: Philip Markoff

text: Markoff maintained his innocence of all charges and pleaded not guilty at his arraignment. A grand jury indicted Markoff for first-degree murder, armed robbery, and other charges.


title: Philip Markoff

text: On August 15, 2010, Markoff died by suicide in Boston's Nashua Street Jail, where he was awaiting trial. Markoff was one of several criminals described by media outlets as the "Craigslist Killer", because the killer was alleged to have met his victims through ads placed on the internet site Craigslist. Two of Markoff's alleged victims were offering erotic services on Craigslist.


title: Philip Markoff

text: Philip Markoff was the son of Susan (née Haynes) and Richard Markoff, a dentist in Syracuse, New York. He had an older brother, Jonathan Markoff, and a half-sister (whose father was Susan's second husband, Gary Carroll, a banker). He graduated in 2004 from Vernon-Verona-Sherrill High School, where he was a member of the National Honor Society, the History Club, the Youth Court, and the school bowling and golf teams.


title: Philip Markoff

text: After high school, Markoff attended SUNY Albany where he was a pre-med student. He graduated from SUNY Albany in 2007, and applied for medical schools after taking the MCAT. He was a second-year medical student at Boston University School of Medicine at the time of the crimes. He was suspended from the school after the criminal charges filed against him.


title: Philip Markoff

text: Markoff met Megan McAllister, a native of New Jersey, in 2005, while they were both volunteers at the Albany Medical Center Hospital emergency room. They were engaged to be married, with their wedding planned for August 14, 2009. McAllister was to have begun medical school in the fall of 2009.


title: Philip Markoff

text: Police suspected that the three crimesclose in time and similar in many wayswere committed by the same person. Security camera footage, cell phone activity, and email evidence led police to suspect Markoff in the April 10 and April 14 incidents, and he was arrested April 20 in Walpole, Massachusetts while he and his fiancée were en route to Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut.


title: Philip Markoff

text: On April 21, he was arraigned in Brisman's death; the prosecutor stated that a semi-automatic handgun, wrist restraints, and duct tape had been found in Markoff's apartment. Markoff pleaded not guilty.


title: Philip Markoff

text: On May 4, Rhode Island officials issued a warrant for Markoff's arrest in the April 16 incident, though the state's Attorney General said that their prosecution would not go forward until the Boston charges were resolved.


title: Philip Markoff

text: Markoff's fiancée initially affirmed her belief in his innocence, calling him "beautiful inside and out",


title: Philip Markoff

text: but on April 29 she visited Markoff in jail to call off their wedding. On June 11, she visited Markoff a second time and told him she did not plan to see him again for "a long period of time, if ever".


title: Philip Markoff

text: Markoff made several suicide attempts while at the Nashua Street Jail; one attempt was made three days after his arrest, an additional attempt after his fiancée broke up with him, and another attempt on the day his wedding was to have taken place. At various times he was on suicide watch or in the jail's psychiatric unit.


title: Philip Markoff

text: On August 15, 2010, one year and one day after his wedding was to have taken place, Markoff was found dead in his cell. He had used a knife, made from a pen and a piece of metal, to cut arteries in his ankles, legs, and neck. He had also swallowed toilet paper and tightened a plastic bag over his head with gauze.


title: Philip Markoff

text: Additionally, he had written his former fiancée's name and their pet names for each other in blood on the cell wall, and photographs of the two of them were scattered about.


title: Kang Ha-neul

text: Kang Ha-neul (born Kim Ha-neul on February 21, 1990) is a South Korean actor. He is best known for his roles in television dramas "The Heirs" (2013), " (2014)", "" (2016), "When the Camellia Blooms" (2019), and "Insider" (2022) ; and the films "Mourning Grave" (2014), "Twenty" (2015), "" (2016), "New Trial" (2017), "Midnight Runners" (2017), "Forgotten" (2017), and "" (2022).


title: Kang Ha-neul

text: In 2020, Kang received the Baeksang Arts Award for Best Actor – Television and ranked 23rd in Forbes Korea Power Celebrity annual list.


title: Kang Ha-neul

text: Kang began his career in musical theatre, notably in "Thrill Me" (2010), "Prince Puzzle" (2011), "Black Mary Poppins" (2012), and "Assassins" (2012). He later shifted to the screen, starring in the television dramas "To the Beautiful You" (2012), "The Heirs" (2013) and "" (2014).


title: Kang Ha-neul

text: 2015 was a busy year for Kang as he appeared in three films; musical film "C'est si bon", period film "Empire of Lust", and coming-of-age film "Twenty", for which he managed to clinch several Best New Actor awards and nominations.


title: Kang Ha-neul

text: In 2016, Kang starred in the black and white biographical period film "", where he played the titular role of poet Yun Dong-ju. His role as Yun Dong-ju earned him Best Actor nominations at the 25th Buil Film Awards and 4th Wildflower Film Awards. He also appeared in the romantic comedy film "Like for Likes", playing a young songwriter who suffers a hearing disability. The same year, he co-starred in the historical drama "", playing the role of 8th Prince Wang Wook, which earned him an Excellence Award at the 2016 SBS Drama Awards.


title: Kang Ha-neul

text: In 2017, Kang starred in the film "New Trial", acting as a young man who spent a decade in prison after an abusive investigation for a crime he did not commit. He then starred alongside Park Seo-joon in the action comedy film "Midnight Runners", playing a nerdy student of the Korean National Police University. The film was a success, becoming the 4th highest-grossing South Korean film in 2017. In the same year, he also appeared in mystery thriller film "Forgotten" alongside Kim Mu-yeol.


title: Kang Ha-neul

text: In September 2018, Kang co-starred with fellow actor Ji Chang-wook and K-Pop idol Kim Sung-kyu from Infinite in military musical "Shinheung Military Academy". The musical is regarded as one of the largest productions of the Republic of Korea Army, with cumulative audiences recorded totaling to 110,000 viewers. Kang's performance as Paldo has earned him a nomination for Best Actor at the 7th Yegreen Musical Awards.


title: Kang Ha-neul

text: In 2019, Kang made a comeback in the entertainment industry in the KBS2 TV series "When the Camellia Blooms" alongside Gong Hyo-jin. The drama achieved impressive ratings, and was the highest-rated miniseries in 2019. It also led to numerous accolades and critical acclaim for Kang, including the Baeksang Arts Award for Best Actor – Television.


title: Kang Ha-neul

text: In November 2019, Kang's contract with SEM Company, his agency since 2010 expired and he joined his former manager in the newly established entertainment agency, TH Company. In January 2020, Kang returned to theater in "Fantasy Tale", which marked his comeback performance after "Harold and Maude" in 2015.


title: Kang Ha-neul

text: In 2021, Kang made his comeback to the silver screen with "Waiting for Rain", playing the role of Young Ho, a man who lives his life aimlessly while exchanging letters with his lover. The same year he was confirmed to star in the mystery thriller film "Streaming" in which Kang's character runs a popular YouTube channel based on criminal profiling. The story follows him live streaming as he solves a murder case.


title: Kang Ha-neul

text: In 2022, Kang starred in the period adventure film "", a sequel to the blockbuster hit "The Pirates". Later the same year, he starred in the JTBC series "Insider", playing a judicial trainee who goes undercover in prison to catch a gang leader.


title: Kang Ha-neul

text: Kang began his mandatory military service on September 11, 2017, at Nonsan Korean Army Training Center. The completion ceremony took place on October 24 wherein Kang was recognized for his exemplary performance during basic training. On February 22, 2019, Kang was appointed as honorary ambassador of the Military Manpower Administration (MMA). The ceremony took place at the Air Force Hall in Yeongdeungpo, Seoul. As an honorary ambassador, Kang participated in events organized by the MMA until December 2019. Kang was discharged on May 23, 2019.


title: Erie Canal

text: The Erie Canal is a historic canal in upstate New York that runs east-west between the Hudson River and Lake Erie. Completed in 1825, the canal was the first navigable waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, vastly reducing the costs of transporting people and goods across the Appalachians. In effect, the canal accelerated the settlement of the Great Lakes region, the westward expansion of the United States, and the economic ascendancy of New York State. It has been called "The Nation's First Superhighway."


title: Erie Canal

text: A canal from the Hudson to the Great Lakes was first proposed in the 1780s, but a formal survey was not conducted until 1808. The New York State Legislature authorized construction in 1817. Political opponents of the canal, and of its lead supporter New York Governor DeWitt Clinton, denigrated the project as "Clinton's Folly" and "Clinton's Big Ditch". Nonetheless, the canal saw quick success upon opening on October 26, 1825, with toll revenue covering the state's construction debt within the first year of operation. The westward connection gave New York City a strong advantage over all other U.S. ports and brought major growth to canal cities such as Albany, Utica, Syracuse, Rochester, and Buffalo.