title: West Ukrainian People's Republic

text: The same month, the Western Oblast established a government-in-exile in the city of Kamianets-Podilskyi. Relations between the exiled West Ukrainian government and the Kyiv-based government continued to deteriorate, in part because the Western Ukrainians saw the Poles as the main enemy (with the Russians a potential ally) while Symon Petliura in Kyiv considered the Poles a potential ally against his Russian enemies. In response to the Kyiv government's diplomatic talks with Poland, the Western Ukrainian government sent a delegation to the Soviet 12th Army, but ultimately rejected Soviet conditions for an alliance. In August 1919, Kost Levytsky, head of the Western Ukrainian state secretariat, proposed an alliance with Anton Denikin's White Russians which would involve guaranteed autonomy within a Russian state. Western Ukrainian diplomats in Paris sought contact with Russian counterparts in that city. The Russian Whites had mixed views of this proposed alliance. On the one hand, they were wary of the Galicians' Russophobia and concerned about the effect of such an alliance on their relationship with Poland. On the other hand, the Russians respected the discipline and training of the Galician soldiers and understood that an agreement with the Western Ukrainians would deprive Kyiv's Ukrainian People's Army, at war with the Russian Whites, of its best soldiers. In November 1919 the Ukrainian Galician Army, without authorization from their government, signed a ceasefire with the White Russians and placed their army under White Russian authority.


title: West Ukrainian People's Republic

text: In talks with Kyiv's Directorate government, Western Ukrainian president Petrushevych argued that the Whites would be defeated anyway but that the alliance with them would strengthen relations with the Western powers, who supported the Whites and would help the Ukrainian military forces for their later struggle against the victorious Soviets. Such arguments were condemned by Petliura. As a result, Petrushevych recognized that the West Ukrainian government could no longer work with Petliura's Directorate and on 15 November the West Ukrainian government left for exile in Vienna. The Directorate informed Poland on 2 December that it had no interest in western Ukraine. The West Ukrainian government-in-exile then "rejected the joint institutions" with the Directorate and on 20 December unilaterally repealed the Unification Act. The exiled government resumed the name West Ukrainian People's Republic at the beginning of 1920.


title: West Ukrainian People's Republic

text: In at attempt to stop the Polish-Ukrainian War, a French general proposed a demarcation line, known as the , that was supposed to cease the fighting between the Polish and West Ukrainian army.


title: West Ukrainian People's Republic

text: In 1918, the Entente countries sought to form a common anti-Bolshevik front, which was to include the Polish, White Russian, Romanian and Ukrainian armies. The outbreak of Polish-Ukrainian hostilities in Lviv on 1 November thwarted these plans, so the Entente states began to press both the Poles and Galicians to seek a settlement and adopt the demarcation line proposed by the allied states.


title: West Ukrainian People's Republic

text: On 19 January 1919, by the order of General Franchet d'Esperey, a peacekeeping mission under the command of General Joseph Barthelemy arrived in Cracow. Initially, the mission familiarised itself with the Polish position, which opted for the Bug- line. It then travelled to Lviv, meeting with the Ukrainian delegation. The Ukrainians opted for the San line as a future demarcation line.


title: West Ukrainian People's Republic

text: In this situation, General Barthelemy presented his compromise proposal on 28 January 1919. The armistice line was to run along the Bug River to Kamionka Strumiłłowa, then along the border of the districts to Bóbrka, then along the Bóbrka-Wybranka railway line, westwards to Mikołajów (leaving Mikołajów itself on the Ukrainian side), then along the railway line Lviv-Stryi to the border of the disputed territory in the Eastern Carpathians. The Stryi-Lavochne railway line was to remain in Ukrainian hands. This was to be a temporary line, until the matter was settled by the Paris Peace Conference.


title: West Ukrainian People's Republic

text: The Polish side accepted this solution, but the Ukrainian delegation insisted on the 'San line'. As a result of the Ukrainian disapproval, the Entente delegation made another attempt at mediation. This was carried out by the subcommittee set up on 15 February 1919 and headed by Joseph Noulens. The sub-commission consisted of General Joseph Barthelemy (France) as chairman, Colonel Adrian Carton de Wiart (UK), Dr Robert Howard Lord (United States) and Major Giovanni Stabile (Italy). The subcommittee presented a draft truce convention on 15 February 1919. The truce, along the Barthelemy Line, was to be purely military and not affect the decisions of the Paris Peace Conference in any way. An integral part of the convention was to be a supplementary treaty concerning the . It was to remain on the Polish side of the truce line under the management of an international commission, with 50% of oil production to be transferred to the Ukrainian side. Poland and WUNR were only to be able to record the volume of production and pay for oil supplies. The project secured Entente interests in the oil basin and was the first step towards its neutralisation. At the time of the proposal, the territory of the basin was under the control of the Ukrainian Galician Army. For the West Ukrainian government, the terms of the Armistice Convention were unfavourable; however, they offered a chance to compromise with Poland and obtain international recognition of the Ukrainian state by the Entente.


title: West Ukrainian People's Republic

text: The commission succeeded in getting the armistice treaty signed on 24 February 1919, and presented its proposals to the parties on 28 February, which was rejected by the West Ukrainian side. As a result of the failure to agree on the demarcation line, Polish-Ukrainian hostilities resumed on 2 March.


title: West Ukrainian People's Republic

text: In April 1920, Józef Piłsudski and Symon Petliura agreed in the Treaty of Warsaw to a border on the river Zbruch, officially recognizing Polish control over the disputed territory of Eastern Galicia. In exchange for agreeing to a border along the Zbruch River, recognizing the recent Polish territorial gains in western Ukraine, as well as the western portions of Volhynian Governorate, Kholm Governorate, and other territories (Article II), Poland recognized the Ukrainian People's Republic as an independent state (Article I) with borders as defined by Articles II and III and under otaman Petliura's leadership.


title: West Ukrainian People's Republic

text: Neither the Polish government in Warsaw nor the exiled Western Ukrainian government agreed to this treaty.


title: West Ukrainian People's Republic

text: The Western Ukrainians continued pressing their interests during the negotiations following World War I at the Paris Peace Conference. These efforts ultimately resulted in the League of Nations declaring on 23 February 1921 that Galicia lay outside the territory of Poland, that Poland did not have the mandate to establish administrative control in that country, and that Poland was merely the occupying military power of Eastern Galicia, whose fate would be determined by the Council of Ambassadors at the League of Nations.


title: West Ukrainian People's Republic

text: After a long series of further negotiations, on 14 March 1923 it was decided that eastern Galicia would be incorporated into Poland "taking into consideration that Poland has recognized that in regard to the eastern part of Galicia ethnographic conditions fully deserve its autonomous status." The following day, the government of the West Ukrainian People's Republic disbanded. The Polish government reneged on its promise of autonomy for eastern Galicia.


title: West Ukrainian People's Republic

text: The Paris Peace Conference approved the provisional administration of the Second Polish Republic on the territory of Eastern Galicia on 25 June 1919. The Entente states and the bodies appointed by them (Council of Ambassadors, Council of the League of Nations) recognised Eastern Galicia as disputed territory not belonging to the Polish state until 14 March 1923, over which sovereignty was to be exercised by the Entente states under the peace treaty with Austria. The Entente also never recognised the Western Ukrainian People's Republic. With regard to the territory of eastern Galicia, it attempted to introduce a makeshift solution, a long-lasting (25 years) mandate for Poland to administer Galicia, with the territory being granted the status of autonomy. The expiry of the mandate period was to be followed by a plebiscite. The political intention of the Entente states at the time was to preserve the territory of eastern Galicia for White Russia. Poland opposed these ideas, while at the same time pursuing a policy of establishing its own governance on the disputed territory, integrating it into the Polish state.


title: West Ukrainian People's Republic

text: Following the consolidation of Soviet power in Russia and the restoration of non-Bolshevik Russia becoming unachievable, the Council of Ambassadors recognised the sovereignty of the Second Polish Republic over the territory of Eastern Galicia on 15 March 1923, with the reservation that Poland introduce autonomous status for this territory, a surrogate for which was the Act on Provincial Self-Government of September 1922, stating in its very title the special character of the territory of Eastern Galicia within the Polish state.


title: West Ukrainian People's Republic

text: Following a decision by the Council of Ambassadors, the West Ukrainian government in exile led by Sydir Holubovych in Vienna dissolved on 15 March 1923, and most of its members returned to Poland, being actively involved in the political and social life of the Ukrainian minority in the Second Polish Republic.


title: West Ukrainian People's Republic

text: From 22 to 25 November elections took place in Ukrainian-controlled territory for the 150-member Ukrainian National Council that was to serve as the legislative body. Yevhen Petrushevych, the chairman of the Council and a former member of the Austro-Hungarian parliament, automatically became the Republic's president. Subordinated to him was the State Secretariat, whose members included Kost Levytsky (president of the secretariat and the Republic's minister of finance), Dmytro Vitovsky (head of the armed forces), Lonhyn Tsehelsky (secretary of internal affairs), and Oleksander Barvinsky (secretary of education and religious affairs), among others. The country essentially had a two-party political system, dominated by the Ukrainian National Democrats and by its smaller rival, the Ukrainian Radical Party. The ruling National Democrats gave some of their seats to minor parties in order to ensure that the government represented a broad national coalition. In terms of the Ukrainian National Council's social background, 57.1% of its members came from priestly families, 23.8% from peasant households, 4.8% from urban backgrounds, and 2.4% from the petty nobility. In terms of the identified council members' vocational background, approximately 30% were lawyers, 22% were teachers, 14% were farmers, 13% were priests, and 5% were civil servants. Approximately 28% had Ph.D.'s, mostly in law.


title: West Ukrainian People's Republic

text: The West Ukrainian People's Republic governed an area with a population of approximately 4 million people for much of its nine-month existence. Lviv functioned as the Republic's capital from 1 November until the loss of that city to Polish forces on 21 November, followed by Ternopil until late December 1918 and then by Stanislaviv (present-day Ivano-Frankivsk) until 26 May 1919. Despite the war, the West Ukrainian People's Republic maintained the stability of the pre-war Austrian administration intact, employing Ukrainian and Polish professionals. The boundaries of counties and communities remained the same as they had been during the time of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The county, regional, and local courts continued to function as they had while the country had been a part of Austria, as did schools, the postal service, telegraphs and railroads. Austrian laws remained temporarily in force. Likewise, the government generally retained the Austrian system of tax collection, although war losses had impoverished the population and the amount of taxes collected was minimal. Most of the government's revenue came from the export of oil and salt.


title: West Ukrainian People's Republic

text: Although ethnic Poles represented only a small minority in the rural areas, they dominated the urban areas and comprised almost 40 % of Eastern Galicia, and almost 39% of eastern Galician lands had been in the hands of large Polish landowners prior to World War I. The Western Ukrainian People's Republic passed laws that confiscated vast manorial estates from private landlords and distributed this land to landless peasants. Other than in those limited cases, the right to private property was made fundamental and expropriation of lands was forbidden. This differentiated the policies of the West Ukrainian People's Republic from those of the socialistic Kyiv-based Ukrainian government.


title: West Ukrainian People's Republic

text: The territory of the West Ukrainian People's Republic comprised 12 military districts, whose commanders were responsible for conscripting soldiers. The government was able to mobilize 100,000 soldiers in the spring of 1919, but due to a lack of military supplies, only 40,000 were battle-ready.


title: West Ukrainian People's Republic

text: In general, the government of the West Ukrainian People's Republic was orderly and well-organized. This contrasted with the chaotic state of the Ukrainian governments that arose on the territory of the former Russian Empire.


title: West Ukrainian People's Republic

text: Historian Yaroslav Hrytsak stated that the Ukrainian nationalism that developed before the First World War in Austria was anti-Polish, but neither "very xenophobic" nor antisemitic. In November 1918 a decision was made to include cabinet-level state secretaries of Polish, Jewish and German affairs. According to Hrytsak during the entire time of its existence there were no cases of mass repressions against national minorities in territories held by the West Ukrainian People's Republic, Hrytsak states that this differentiated the Ukrainian government from that of Poland. Katarzyna Hibel writes that while officially West Ukrainian People's Republic like Poland declared guarantees of rights of its national minorities, in reality, both countries were violating them and treated other foreign nationalities like fifth column. On 15 February 1919 a law was passed that made Ukrainian the state language. According to this law, however, members of national minorities had the right to communicate with the government in their own languages.


title: West Ukrainian People's Republic

text: Historian Rafał Galuba writes that Polish population was treated as second class citizens by West Ukrainian authorities After 1 November several members of Polish associations were arrested or interned by Ukrainian authorities; similar fate awaited officials who refused to swear an oath of loyalty to Ukrainian state. On 6 November a ban on Polish press and publications was issued in Lviv by Ukrainian authorities and printing presses demolished (Poles had similarly banned Ukrainian publications in territories they controlled ) Ukrainian authorities tried to intimidate Polish population in Lviv by sending soldiers and armed trucks into the streets and dispersed crowds that could turn to Polish demonstrations. Christoph Mick states that initially, the Ukrainian government refused to take Polish hostages but as both the Polish civilian and military resistance to Ukrainian forces grew, Polish civilians were threatened with summary executions by Ukrainian commander in chief for alleged attacks and shots on Ukrainian soldiers. In response, the Polish side proposed a peaceful solution of the conflict and joint Polish-Ukrainian militia to oversee the public safety in the city.


title: West Ukrainian People's Republic

text: In Zloczow 17 Poles were executed by Ukrainian authorities In Brzuchowice Polish railwaymen who refused to comply with Ukrainian orders to work were executed


title: West Ukrainian People's Republic

text: On 29 May 1919 the archbishop Jozef Bilczewski sent a message to Ignacy Paderewski attending the Peace Conference in Paris, asking for help and alleging the brutal murders of Polish priests and civilians by Ukrainians.


title: West Ukrainian People's Republic

text: Poles didn't support the Ukrainian authorities and set up an underground resistance movement that engaged in acts of sabotage. All fieldwork was stopped, the harvest destroyed and machinery purposely broken; Poles also issued to keep up the morale among the population. In response, Ukrainian authorities engaged in terror, including mass executions, court martial and set up detention centers where some Poles were interned. The conditions in these camps involved unheated wooden barracks, lack of bedding and lack of medical care, resulting in high levels of morbidity from typhoid. Estimated casualties at these camps include nearly 900 at a camp in Kosiv, according to various sources from 300 to 600 (dying from typhoid) in Mikulińce, 100 in Kołomyja, and 16 to 40 in Brzeżany, due to unheated barracks at temperatures of −20 degrees Celsius. Cases of robbing, beating, torturing or shooting of Polish prisoners were reported.


title: West Ukrainian People's Republic

text: According to historian Christopher Mick, the Ukrainian government in general treated the Polish population under its control no worse than the Polish government treated the Ukrainians under its control., writing that Ukrainian authorities didn't treat the Polish population "gently" and that Ukrainian authorities mirrored Polish authorities by making speaking in Polish unwelcome. Mick acknowledges that Ukrainian side during the siege of Lviv stopped caring about supplies reaching the city and attempted to disrupt water supply to city. It's fierce artillery fire killed many civilians, including women and children.


title: West Ukrainian People's Republic

text: In a report that he submitted to the Polish Foreign Ministry in early 1920, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Lviv Józef Bilczewski stated that the anti-Polish violence under Ukrainian governance was widespread and organised by the government, rather than being spontaneous. He headed a rescue committee that provided food to the poorest, and along with the Greek Catholic Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky he tried to negotiate a peace between the Polish and Ukrainian populace.


title: West Ukrainian People's Republic

text: Although relations between Poles and the West Ukrainian People's Republic were antagonistic, those between the Republic and its Jewish citizens was generally neutral or positive. Deep-seated rivalries existed between the Jewish and Polish communities, and anti-Semitism, particularly supported by the Polish National Democratic Party, became a feature of Polish national ideology. As a result, many Jews came to consider Polish independence as the least desirable option following the First World War. In contrast to the antagonistic position taken by Polish authorities towards Jews, the Ukrainian government actively supported Jewish cultural and political autonomy as a way of promoting its own legitimacy.


title: West Ukrainian People's Republic

text: The Western Ukrainian government guaranteed Jewish cultural and national autonomy, provided Jewish communities with self-governing status, and promoted the formation of Jewish national councils which, with the approval of the Western Ukrainian government, established the Central Jewish National Council in December 1918 to represent Jewish interests in relation to the Ukrainian government and to the Western allies. The Council of Ministers of the West Ukrainian National Republic bought Yiddish-language textbooks and visual aids for Jewish schools and provided assistance to Jewish victims of the Polish pogrom in Lviv. The Ukrainian press maintained a friendly attitude towards the West Ukrainian Republic's Jewish citizens. Their Hebrew and Yiddish schools, cultural institutions and publishers were allowed to function without interference.


title: West Ukrainian People's Republic

text: Reflecting the republic's demographics, approximately one-third of the seats in the national parliament were reserved for the national minorities (Poles, Jews, Slovaks and others). The Poles boycotted the elections, while the Jews, despite declaring their neutrality in the Polish-Ukrainian conflict, participated and were represented by approximately 10 percent of the delegates. Localized anti-Jewish assaults and robberies by Ukrainian peasants and soldiers, while far fewer in number and less brutal than similar actions by Poles, occurred between January and April 1919. The government publicly condemned such actions and intervened in defence of the Jewish community, imprisoning and even executing perpetrators of such crimes. The government also respected Jewish declared neutrality during the Polish-Ukrainian conflict. By the orders of Yevhen Petrushevych it was forbidden to mobilize Jews against their will or to otherwise force them to contribute to the Ukrainian military effort. In an effort to aid Western Ukraine's economy, the Western Ukrainian government granted concessions to Jewish merchants.


title: West Ukrainian People's Republic

text: The West Ukrainian government's friendly attitude towards Jews was reciprocated by many members of the Jewish community. Although Jewish political organizations officially declared their neutrality in the Polish-Ukrainian struggle, many individual Jews offered their support or sympathized with the West Ukrainian government in its conflict with Poland. Jewish officers of the defunct Austro-Hungarian army joined the West Ukrainian military, and Jewish judges, lawyers, doctors and railroad employees joined the West Ukrainian civil service. From November 1918, ethnic Poles in the civil service who refused to pledge loyalty to the West Ukrainian government either quit "en masse" or were fired; their positions were filled by large numbers of Jews who were willing to support the Ukrainian state. Jews served as judges and legal consultants in the courts in Ternopil, Stanislaviv, and Kolomyia. Jews were also able to create their own police units, and in some locations the Ukrainian government gave local Jewish militias responsibility for the maintenance of security and order. In the regions of Sambir and Radekhiv approximately a third of the police force was Jewish. Jews fielded their own battalion in the army of the Western Ukrainian National Republic, and Jewish youths worked as scouts for the West Ukrainian military. Most of the Jews cooperating with and serving in the West Ukrainian military were Zionists. In general, Jews made up the largest group of non-ethnic Ukrainians who participated in all branches of the West Ukrainian government.


title: West Ukrainian People's Republic

text: The liberal attitude taken towards Jews by the Western Ukrainian government could be attributed to the Habsburg tradition of inter-ethnic tolerance and cooperation leaving its mark on the intelligentsia and military officers of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The friendly attitude towards Jews that the Galician Ukrainians had was in stark contrast to the Directorate of Ukraine, which enjoyed no sympathy amongst the Jewish population.


title: West Ukrainian People's Republic

text: The republic did not have its own currency, but rather used the Austro-Hungarian crown. After the act of unification with the Ukrainian People's Republic, the banknotes in circulation were overprinted with nominals in Ukrainian hryvnia.


title: West Ukrainian People's Republic

text: Along with these official issues, some cities printed their local contingency banknotes (Notgeld) since 1914.


title: West Ukrainian People's Republic

text: The republic issued about one hundred types of postage stamps during its brief existence, all but two of which were overprints of existing stamps of Austria, Austria-Hungary or Bosnia.


title: Macherla Niyojakavargam

text: Macherla Niyojakavargam () is a 2022 Indian Telugu-language action film written and directed by M. S. Rajashekhar Reddy, and produced by Sreshth Movies. The film stars Nithin, Krithi Shetty and Catherine Tresa. It was released in theatres on 12 August 2022 and received mostly negative reviews from critics.


title: Macherla Niyojakavargam

text: Siddhartha Reddy gets a posting as a district collector for the Guntur district in Andhra Pradesh. There he goes against Rajappa, a local rowdy and politician.


title: Macherla Niyojakavargam

text: On 10 September 2021, Sreshth Movies made an announcement, on the occasion of Vinayak Chaturthi, with a "puja" ceremony of their upcoming movie with Nithiin. It is produced under the banner of Sreshth Movies in association with Aditya Movies & Entertainments. Principal photography commenced in September 2021.


title: Macherla Niyojakavargam

text: The music is composed by Mahathi Swara Sagar, his third collaboration with Nithiin, after "Bheeshma" and "Maestro". The audio is distributed by Aditya Music.


title: Macherla Niyojakavargam

text: The first single titled "Chill Maro" was sung by Nakash Aziz, Sanjana Kalmanje and it was released on 31 May 2022. The second single titled "Ra Ra Reddy I'm Ready" was released on 9 July 2022. A part of the song "Ranu Ranu Antundi Chinnadho" from Nithiin's first film "Jayam" too was recreated within the song.


title: Macherla Niyojakavargam

text: The film was released in theatres on 12 August 2022. The post-theatrical streaming rights of the film were acquired by ZEE5 and released on 9 December 2022.


title: Macherla Niyojakavargam

text: The Hindi dubbed version titled "MCK - Macherla Chunav Kshetra" was directly premiered on Sony Max TV channel on 11 December 2022.


title: Macherla Niyojakavargam

text: "Macherla Niyojakavargam" received negative reviews from critics. Arvind V of "Pinkvilla" rated the film 2 out of 5 stars and wrote "The story of Macherla Niyojakavargam checks all the wrong boxes, boxes that have been reintroduced from a bygone era: Threatening a widow". "123Telugu" wrote that the film is "routine and outdated action drama with a select few mass moments". Neeshitha Nyayapati of "The Times of India" rated the film 1.5 out of 5 stars and wrote ""Macherla Niyojakavargam" is sadly all style and no substance". Murali Krishna CH of "The New Indian Express" stated ""Macherla Niyojakavargam" is painfully predictable and ridiculously repetitive".


title: Warlock

text: The most commonly accepted etymology derives "warlock" from the Old English "wǣrloga", which meant "breaker of oaths" or "deceiver" and was given special application to the devil around 1000. In early modern Scots, the word came to be used as the male equivalent of witch (which can be male or female, but has historically been used predominantly for females). The term may have become associated in Scotland with male witches due to the idea that they had made pacts with Auld Hornie (the devil) and thus had betrayed the Christian faith and broke their baptismal vows or oaths. From this use, the word passed into Romantic literature and ultimately 20th-century popular culture. A derivation from the Old Norse "varð-lokkur", "caller of spirits", has also been suggested, but the "Oxford English Dictionary " considers this implausible due to the extreme rarity of the Norse word and because forms without hard "-k", which are consistent with the Old English etymology ("traitor"), are attested earlier than forms with a "-k".


title: Warlock

text: Although most victims of the witch trials in early modern Scotland were women, some men were executed as warlocks.


title: Warlock

text: In his day, the mathematician John Napier was often perceived as a warlock or magician for his interest in divination and the occult, though his established position likely kept him from being prosecuted.


title: Ruby Modine

text: Ruby Wylder Rivera Modine (born July 31, 1990) is an American actress, dancer and singer. She is best known for playing Sierra Morton in "Shameless", and co-starring in the 2017 slasher film "Happy Death Day" and its sequel as Lori Spengler. She is the lead singer of the band "Ruby Modine and the Disease".


title: Ruby Modine

text: Modine was born on July 31, 1990 in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Caridad Rivera, a makeup and wardrobe stylist, and actor Matthew Modine. Her mother is Puerto Rican, and she has a brother, Boman, who is an assistant director for films.


title: Ruby Modine

text: Modine was cast as Sierra in the seventh season of "Shameless". On November 8, 2016, she was cast to co-star in the slasher film "Happy Death Day" starring Jessica Rothe and Israel Broussard. The film opened in 2017, to positive reviews. Modine reprised her role in the 2019 sequel, "Happy Death Day 2U".


title: Fluorite

text: Fluorite (also called fluorspar) is the mineral form of calcium fluoride, CaF. It belongs to the halide minerals. It crystallizes in isometric cubic habit, although octahedral and more complex isometric forms are not uncommon.


title: Fluorite

text: The Mohs scale of mineral hardness, based on scratch hardness comparison, defines value 4 as fluorite.


title: Fluorite

text: Pure fluorite is colourless and transparent, both in visible and ultraviolet light, but impurities usually make it a colorful mineral and the stone has ornamental and lapidary uses. Industrially, fluorite is used as a flux for smelting, and in the production of certain glasses and enamels. The purest grades of fluorite are a source of fluoride for hydrofluoric acid manufacture, which is the intermediate source of most fluorine-containing fine chemicals. Optically clear transparent fluorite lenses have low dispersion, so lenses made from it exhibit less chromatic aberration, making them valuable in microscopes and telescopes. Fluorite optics are also usable in the far-ultraviolet and mid-infrared ranges, where conventional glasses are too opaque for use.


title: Fluorite

text: The word "fluorite" is derived from the Latin verb "fluere", meaning "to flow". The mineral is used as a flux in iron smelting to decrease the viscosity of slag. The term "flux" comes from the Latin adjective "fluxus", meaning "flowing, loose, slack". The mineral fluorite was originally termed fluorospar and was first discussed in print in a 1530 work "Bermannvs sive de re metallica dialogus" [Bermannus; or a dialogue about the nature of metals], by Georgius Agricola, as a mineral noted for its usefulness as a flux. Agricola, a German scientist with expertise in philology, mining, and metallurgy, named fluorspar as a neo-Latinization of the German "Flussspat" from "Fluss" (stream, river) and "Spat" (meaning a nonmetallic mineral akin to gypsum, spærstān, "spear stone", referring to its crystalline projections).


title: Fluorite

text: In 1852, fluorite gave its name to the phenomenon of fluorescence, which is prominent in fluorites from certain locations, due to certain impurities in the crystal. Fluorite also gave the name to its constitutive element fluorine. Currently, the word "fluorspar" is most commonly used for fluorite as the industrial and chemical commodity, while "fluorite" is used mineralogically and in most other senses.


title: Fluorite

text: In the context of archeology, gemmology, classical studies, and Egyptology, the Latin terms "murrina" and "myrrhina" refer to fluorite. In book 37 of his "Naturalis Historia", Pliny the Elder describes it as a precious stone with purple and white mottling, whose objects carved from it, the Romans prize.


title: Fluorite

text: Fluorite crystallizes in a cubic motif. Crystal twinning is common and adds complexity to the observed crystal habits. Fluorite has four perfect cleavage planes that help produce octahedral fragments. The structural motif adopted by fluorite is so common that the motif is called the fluorite structure. Element substitution for the calcium cation often includes strontium and certain rare-earth elements (REE), such as yttrium and cerium.


title: Fluorite

text: Fluorite forms as a late-crystallizing mineral in felsic igneous rocks typically through hydrothermal activity. It is particularly common in granitic pegmatites. It may occur as a vein deposit formed through hydrothermal activity particularly in limestones. In such vein deposits it can be associated with galena, sphalerite, barite, quartz, and calcite. Fluorite can also be found as a constituent of sedimentary rocks either as grains or as the cementing material in sandstone.


title: Fluorite

text: It is a common mineral mainly distributed in South Africa, China, Mexico, Mongolia, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Tanzania, Rwanda and Argentina.


title: Fluorite

text: The world reserves of fluorite are estimated at 230 million tonnes (Mt) with the largest deposits being in South Africa (about 41 Mt), Mexico (32 Mt) and China (24 Mt). China is leading the world production with about 3 Mt annually (in 2010), followed by Mexico (1.0 Mt), Mongolia (0.45 Mt), Russia (0.22 Mt), South Africa (0.13 Mt), Spain (0.12 Mt) and Namibia (0.11 Mt).


title: Fluorite

text: One of the largest deposits of fluorspar in North America is located on the Burin Peninsula, Newfoundland, Canada. The first official recognition of fluorspar in the area was recorded by geologist J.B. Jukes in 1843. He noted an occurrence of "galena" or lead ore and fluoride of lime on the west side of St. Lawrence harbour. It is recorded that interest in the commercial mining of fluorspar began in 1928 with the first ore being extracted in 1933. Eventually, at Iron Springs Mine, the shafts reached depths of . In the St. Lawrence area, the veins are persistent for great lengths and several of them have wide lenses. The area with veins of known workable size comprises about .


title: Fluorite

text: In 2018, Canada Fluorspar Inc. commenced mine production again in St. Lawrence; in spring 2019, the company was planned to develop a new shipping port on the west side of Burin Peninsula as a more affordable means of moving their product to markets, and they successfully sent the first shipload of ore from the new port on July 31, 2021. This marks the first time in 30 years that ore has been shipped directly out of St. Lawrence.


title: Fluorite

text: Cubic crystals up to 20 cm across have been found at Dalnegorsk, Russia. The largest documented single crystal of fluorite was a cube 2.12 meters in size and weighing approximately 16 tonnes.


title: Fluorite

text: In Asturias (Spain) there are several fluorite deposits known internationally for the quality of the specimens they have yielded. In the area of Berbes, Ribadesella, fluorite appears as cubic crystals, sometimes with dodecahedron modifications, which can reach a size of up to 10 cm of edge, with internal colour zoning, almost always violet in colour. It is associated with quartz and leafy aggregates of baryte. In the "Emilio" mine, in Loroñe, Colunga, the fluorite crystals, cubes with small modifications of other figures, are colourless and transparent. They can reach 10 cm of edge. In the "Moscona" mine, in Villabona, the fluorite crystals, cubic without modifications of other shapes, are yellow, up to 3 cm of edge. They are associated with large crystals of calcite and barite.


title: Fluorite

text: One of the most famous of the older-known localities of fluorite is Castleton in Derbyshire, England, where, under the name of "Derbyshire Blue John", purple-blue fluorite was extracted from several mines or caves. During the 19th century, this attractive fluorite was mined for its ornamental value. The mineral Blue John is now scarce, and only a few hundred kilograms are mined each year for ornamental and lapidary use. Mining still takes place in Blue John Cavern and Treak Cliff Cavern.


title: Fluorite

text: Recently discovered deposits in China have produced fluorite with coloring and banding similar to the classic Blue John stone.


title: Fluorite

text: Many samples of fluorite exhibit fluorescence under ultraviolet light, a property that takes its name from fluorite. Many minerals, as well as other substances, fluoresce. Fluorescence involves the elevation of electron energy levels by quanta of ultraviolet light, followed by the progressive falling back of the electrons into their previous energy state, releasing quanta of visible light in the process. In fluorite, the visible light emitted is most commonly blue, but red, purple, yellow, green, and white also occur. The fluorescence of fluorite may be due to mineral impurities, such as yttrium and ytterbium, or organic matter, such as volatile hydrocarbons in the crystal lattice. In particular, the blue fluorescence seen in fluorites from certain parts of Great Britain responsible for the naming of the phenomenon of fluorescence itself, has been attributed to the presence of inclusions of divalent europium in the crystal. Natural samples containing rare earth impurities such as erbium have also been observed to display upconversion fluorescence, in which infrared light stimulates emission of visible light, a phenomenon usually only reported in synthetic materials.


title: Fluorite

text: One fluorescent variety of fluorite is chlorophane, which is reddish or purple in color and fluoresces brightly in emerald green when heated (thermoluminescence), or when illuminated with ultraviolet light.


title: Fluorite

text: The color of visible light emitted when a sample of fluorite is fluorescing depends on where the original specimen was collected; different impurities having been included in the crystal lattice in different places. Neither does all fluorite fluoresce equally brightly, even from the same locality. Therefore, ultraviolet light is not a reliable tool for the identification of specimens, nor for quantifying the mineral in mixtures. For example, among British fluorites, those from Northumberland, County Durham, and eastern Cumbria are the most consistently fluorescent, whereas fluorite from Yorkshire, Derbyshire, and Cornwall, if they fluoresce at all, are generally only feebly fluorescent.


title: Fluorite

text: Fluorite is allochromatic, meaning that it can be tinted with elemental impurities. Fluorite comes in a wide range of colors and has consequently been dubbed "the most colorful mineral in the world". Every color of the rainbow in various shades is represented by fluorite samples, along with white, black, and clear crystals. The most common colors are purple, blue, green, yellow, or colorless. Less common are pink, red, white, brown, and black. Color zoning or banding is commonly present. The color of the fluorite is determined by factors including impurities, exposure to radiation, and the absence of voids of the color centers.


title: Fluorite

text: Fluorite is a major source of hydrogen fluoride, a commodity chemical used to produce a wide range of materials. Hydrogen fluoride is liberated from the mineral by the action of concentrated sulfuric acid:


title: Fluorite

text: The resulting HF is converted into fluorine, fluorocarbons, and diverse fluoride materials. As of the late 1990s, five billion kilograms were mined annually.


title: Fluorite

text: There are three principal types of industrial use for natural fluorite, commonly referred to as "fluorspar" in these industries, corresponding to different grades of purity. Metallurgical grade fluorite (60–85% CaF), the lowest of the three grades, has traditionally been used as a flux to lower the melting point of raw materials in steel production to aid the removal of impurities, and later in the production of aluminium. Ceramic grade fluorite (85–95% CaF) is used in the manufacture of opalescent glass, enamels, and cooking utensils. The highest grade, "acid grade fluorite" (97% or more CaF), accounts for about 95% of fluorite consumption in the US where it is used to make hydrogen fluoride and hydrofluoric acid by reacting the fluorite with sulfuric acid.


title: Fluorite

text: Internationally, acid-grade fluorite is also used in the production of AlF and cryolite (NaAlF), which are the main fluorine compounds used in aluminium smelting. Alumina is dissolved in a bath that consists primarily of molten NaAlF, AlF, and fluorite (CaF) to allow electrolytic recovery of aluminium. Fluorine losses are replaced entirely by the addition of AlF, the majority of which react with excess sodium from the alumina to form NaAlF.


title: Fluorite

text: Natural fluorite mineral has ornamental and lapidary uses. Fluorite may be drilled into beads and used in jewelry, although due to its relative softness it is not widely used as a semiprecious stone. It is also used for ornamental carvings, with expert carvings taking advantage of the stone's zonation.


title: Fluorite

text: In the laboratory, calcium fluoride is commonly used as a window material for both infrared and ultraviolet wavelengths, since it is transparent in these regions (about 0.15 µm to 9 µm) and exhibits an extremely low change in refractive index with wavelength. Furthermore, the material is attacked by few reagents. At wavelengths as short as 157 nm, a common wavelength used for semiconductor stepper manufacture for integrated circuit lithography, the refractive index of calcium fluoride shows some non-linearity at high power densities, which has inhibited its use for this purpose. In the early years of the 21st century, the stepper market for calcium fluoride collapsed, and many large manufacturing facilities have been closed. Canon and other manufacturers have used synthetically grown crystals of calcium fluoride components in lenses to aid apochromatic design, and to reduce light dispersion. This use has largely been superseded by newer glasses and computer-aided design. As an infrared optical material, calcium fluoride is widely available and was sometimes known by the Eastman Kodak trademarked name "Irtran-3", although this designation is obsolete.


title: Fluorite

text: Fluorite should not be confused with fluoro-crown (or fluorine crown) glass, a type of low-dispersion glass that has special optical properties approaching fluorite. True fluorite is not a glass but a crystalline material. Lenses or optical groups made using this low dispersion glass as one or more elements exhibit less chromatic aberration than those utilizing conventional, less expensive crown glass and flint glass elements to make an achromatic lens. Optical groups employ a combination of different types of glass; each type of glass refracts light in a different way. By using combinations of different types of glass, lens manufacturers are able to cancel out or significantly reduce unwanted characteristics; chromatic aberration being the most important. The best of such lens designs are often called apochromatic (see above). Fluoro-crown glass (such as Schott FK51) usually in combination with an appropriate "flint" glass (such as Schott KzFSN 2) can give very high performance in telescope objective lenses, as well as microscope objectives, and camera telephoto lenses. Fluorite elements are similarly paired with complementary "flint" elements (such as Schott LaK 10). The refractive qualities or fluorite and of certain flint elements provide a lower and more uniform dispersion across the spectrum of visible light, thereby keeping colors focused more closely together. Lenses made with fluorite are superior to fluoro-crown based lenses, at least for doublet telescope objectives; but are more difficult to produce and more costly.


title: Fluorite

text: The use of fluorite for prisms and lenses was studied and promoted by Victor Schumann near the end of the 19th century. Naturally occurring fluorite crystals without optical defects were only large enough to produce microscope objectives.


title: Fluorite

text: With the advent of synthetically grown fluorite crystals in the 1950s - 60s, it could be used instead of glass in some high-performance optical telescope and camera lens elements. In telescopes, fluorite elements allow high-resolution images of astronomical objects at high magnifications. Canon Inc. produces synthetic fluorite crystals that are used in their better telephoto lenses. The use of fluorite for telescope lenses has declined since the 1990s, as newer designs using fluoro-crown glass, including triplets, have offered comparable performance at lower prices. Fluorite and various combinations of fluoride compounds can be made into synthetic crystals which have applications in lasers and special optics for UV and infrared.


title: Fluorite

text: Exposure tools for the semiconductor industry make use of fluorite optical elements for ultraviolet light at wavelengths of about 157 nanometers. Fluorite has a uniquely high transparency at this wavelength. Fluorite objective lenses are manufactured by the larger microscope firms (Nikon, Olympus, Carl Zeiss and Leica). Their transparence to ultraviolet light enables them to be used for fluorescence microscopy. The fluorite also serves to correct optical aberrations in these lenses. Nikon has previously manufactured at least one fluorite and synthetic quartz element camera lens (105 mm f/4.5 UV) for the production of ultraviolet images. Konica produced a fluorite lens for their SLR cameras – the Hexanon 300 mm f/6.3.


title: Fluorite

text: In 2012, the first source of naturally occurring fluorine gas was found in fluorite mines in Bavaria, Germany. It was previously thought that fluorine gas did not occur naturally because it is so reactive, and would rapidly react with other chemicals. Fluorite is normally colorless, but some varied forms found nearby look black, and are known as 'fetid fluorite' or antozonite. The minerals, containing small amounts of uranium and its daughter products, release radiation sufficiently energetic to induce oxidation of fluoride anions within the structure, to fluorine that becomes trapped inside the mineral. The color of fetid fluorite is predominantly due to the calcium atoms remaining. Solid-state fluorine-19 NMR carried out on the gas contained in the antozonite, revealed a peak at 425 ppm, which is consistent with F.


title: 1999 NBA draft

text: The 1999 NBA Draft was held on June 30, 1999, at the MCI Center (now Capital One Arena) in Washington, D.C. It was the first draft in which four players from the same college were picked in the first round, with Elton Brand (1st selection), Trajan Langdon (11th), Corey Maggette (13th) and William Avery (14th) being selected out of Duke University. It is widely viewed as one of the best draft classes, with a total of nine future NBA All-Stars being chosen, as well as three winners of the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award—Manu Ginóbili, Jason Terry, and Lamar Odom. Six of the top nine picks were NBA All-Stars. Pablo Prigioni, who was eligible for selection but went undrafted, eventually debuted in the 2012–2013 season as the oldest rookie in NBA history at age 35.


title: Amir Arison

text: Amir Arison (born March 24, 1978) is an American actor, best known for his work as FBI tech expert Aram Mojtabai on NBC’s "The Blacklist" for nine seasons.


title: Amir Arison

text: Arison was born in Saint Louis, MO to father Ron Arison, a surgeon, and mother Zipora Arison, a psychiatrist. He has one older sibling.


title: Amir Arison

text: Amir grew up in Fort Lauderdale from the age of 5, where he attended Pine Crest School from kindergarten through his senior year in high school.  With an early penchant for theatre, Arison received the school's Drama Club Award in the 6th grade, as well as the Founder’s Council Fine Arts Award in Acting his Senior year. Amir performed with the Fort Lauderdale-based professional improv group ComedySportz throughout  his junior and senior years.


title: Amir Arison

text: In addition to his role as Aram Mojtabai on NBC’s The Blacklist,  Arison’s television credits include recurring & guest starring roles on "American Horror Story", Hulu’s "Ramy", "",Showtime’s "Billions", and "Bull" on CBS"," NCIS, "Homeland", "Girls", "Blue," Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, Warner Brothers' "" , and many more.


title: Amir Arison

text: Arison’s film highlights include: "20 Weeks", "Jane Wants a Boyfriend", "Big Words", Tom McCarthy’s "The Visitor",  Amy Heckerling's "Vamps", Nia Vardalos' "I Hate Valentine's Day", and "Merry Friggin' Christmas".


title: Bachelorette party

text: A bachelorette party (United States and Canada) or hen night (UK, Ireland and Australia) is a party held for a woman (the bride or bride-to-be) who will soon be married. While Beth Montemurro concludes that the bachelorette party is modelled after the centuries-old stag night in the US, which is itself historically a dinner given by the bridegroom to his friends shortly before his wedding, Sheila Young argues that its British counterpart evolved from a number of earlier pre-wedding traditions for women (Ribbon Girl, Pay Off, Bosola, Taking Out, Jumping the Chanty, to name but a few) whose origins are obscure but which have been around for at least a century in factories and offices across the UK. Despite its reputation as "a sodden farewell to maiden days" or "an evening of debauchery", these events can simply be parties given in honor of the bride-to-be, in the style that is common to that social circle.


title: Bachelorette party

text: The term "bachelorette party" or simply "bacholerette" is common in the United States and Canada. In the United Kingdom and Ireland it is known as a hen(s) party, hen(s) night or hen(s) do, while the terms "hens party" or "hens night" are common in Australia and New Zealand. The term stagette is occasionally used in Canada. It may also be referred to as a "girls' night out" or "kitchen tea" (South Africa in particular) or other terms in other English-speaking countries.


title: Bachelorette party

text: Other pre-wedding celebrations, such as bridesmaids luncheons, are often held instead of bachelorette parties due to the latter's association with licentiousness in some countries since the 1980s.


title: Bachelorette party

text: Before its usage as a term for a pre-wedding party, "hen party" was used in the United States as a general term for an all-female gathering, usually held at a hostess's residence. In 1897, "The Deseret News" noted that a hen party was a "time honored idea that tea and chitchats, gossip smart hats, constitute the necessary adjuncts to these particular gatherings". In 1940 Eleanor Roosevelt was described as hosting a Christmas-time hen party for cabinet wives and "ladies of the press".


title: Bachelorette party

text: The bachelorette party is consciously modeled after the centuries-old bachelor's party, which is itself historically a black tie dinner given by the bridegroom, or sometimes his father, shortly before his wedding.


title: Bachelorette party

text: The practise of giving a party to honour the bride-to-be goes back for centuries. However, certain American bachelorette party customs involving licentiousness among some social groups may have begun during the sexual revolution of the 1960s. It was uncommon until at least the mid-1980s, and the first book on planning bachelorette parties was published only in 1998.


title: Bachelorette party

text: Those uncomfortable with these modern customs of debauchery often celebrate the night before their wedding with a combined stag and doe party, a custom that has become increasingly popular.


title: Bachelorette party

text: It has been surveyed that women are more likely to cheat on hen parties in England than stag equivalents - please see https://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/news/plymouth-news/hens-five-times-more-likely-1506719.


title: Bachelorette party

text: The phrase "hen party" mirrors the male "stag party" in referencing social stereotypes of each gender at the party.


title: Bachelorette party

text: Since the 1980s, many parties in honor of the bride-to-be that were labeled as bachelorette parties often involved displays of sexual freedom philosophy, such as trading intimate secrets, getting drunk, and watching male strippers. Parties that honored the bride-to-be without them avoided that label. Now, however, the term is used for a wide variety of parties.


title: Bachelorette party

text: Bachelorette parties became especially popular around the turn of the 21st century and frequently appeared in the news.


title: Bachelorette party

text: In 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a rise in "virtual" hen parties with the bride-to-be's celebrating her 'last night of freedom' with her bridesmaids around the world via videotelephony apps such as Zoom and Houseparty.


title: Bachelorette party

text: Many different kinds of entertainment are selected, depending on what the organizers think will best please their guest of honor. While proposing a toast to the bride-to-be is common at most bachelorette parties, some center on drinking games. While notions of a bachelorette party as a night of drunken debauchery have persisted in some social circles since the 1980s, it is becoming widely seen in America as an opportunity for female bonding. According to etiquette expert Peggy Post, "Whatever entertainment is planned, it should not embarrass, humiliate, or endanger the honoree or any of the guests."


title: Bachelorette party

text: Smaller parties, typically with only close friends and sisters, may involve a night or weekend away, or a private tour such as visiting wineries or art galleries. When held in a private venue, such as the hostess's home, the party may take any form that pleases the hostesses and honors the bride-to-be. Dinners and cocktail parties, which provide comfortable opportunities for participants to talk or to give intimate advice to the bride-to-be, are common. Other hostesses choose a themed party, such as a "pamper party," with guests indulging in spa treatments, or a cooking class.


title: Bachelorette party

text: In the 21st century, many companies sell products aimed at the organizers of bachelorette parties, including packs of themed games, pre-printed invitations, decorations, novelties, and sex toys. A common theme of parties is male nudity or partial nudity. In North America, it is common in some social circles to hire a male stripper or attend a male strip club. Life drawing parties featuring a nude male model might also be held. If things go south, suggesting herbal remedies or a change in environment aid in proceeding to the arrangements leading to the altar.


title: Bachelorette party

text: In the UK, a naked butler has become a common theme and a popular hen party idea. The naked butler is often dressed in just a collar, dickie bow, cuffs and a short apron or trunks. He will wait on the hen and her party including serving drinks and food as well as hosting or taking part in hen party games and entertainment. An extension of this concept that has also become popular in the UK is the hiring of a naked chef to cater for the guests often accompanied by a naked butler to serve the food and drinks.


title: Bachelorette party

text: Participants are typically all women. Bridesmaids, if any, are typically invited, as are the bride's close friends. Sisters of the bride are also often invited, while mothers, aunts, teenagers, etc. are sometimes invited depending on the nature of the event at the discretion of the planner and bride-to-be.


title: Bachelorette party

text: This party is typically hosted by one or more members of the wedding party, although it is possible for any friend to host a party in honor of the bride-to-be. Formally, a party in honor of the bride-to-be is never hosted by the bride-to-be, although she may participate in its planning. While it is normally the duty of a hostess to pay for the entertainment she gives her guests, it is common in most English-speaking countries for participants to share the costs of this event. Whether the bride-to-be pays her share, or whether her share is divided between other participants is determined by the organizers and the bride-to-be during the early stages of the planning process.


title: Bachelorette party

text: Participating in a bachelorette party is always optional, and many brides decline these parties altogether. Neither bridesmaids nor other friends can be required either to attend or to pay for any part of this party.


title: Bachelorette party

text: Since it is derived from a formal dinner, a bachelorette party is often held in the evening, usually about a week (or at least a few days) before the wedding, and usually includes dinner, although alternative approaches are not uncommon.


title: Bachelorette party

text: In the early 21st century, some bachelorette parties rivaled the drunkenness seen in Hollywood portrayals of bachelor parties.


title: Bachelorette party

text: However, sober bachelorette parties are not unusual. Many brides and guests are staying sober in recovery from alcoholism or are not drinking alcoholic beverages due to pregnancy or health issues, for religious reasons, or because they do not want to drink alcohol. Sober parties focus on building relationships and activities beyond hanging out at a place that serves alcohol.


title: Bachelorette party

text: Many bachelorette parties are held at home or at a nearby restaurant. Some people turn a bachelorette party into a weekend trip to another city. Some cities, such as Austin for people in the southwestern US and Nashville for people in the Upper Midwest, are relatively popular with U.S. bridal parties that are seeking a weekend destination and can afford to pay hundreds of dollars per person for the experience. Other people will travel farther to cities such as Las Vegas. In the UK, parties in relatively inexpensive European destinations such as Latvia and the Canary Islands are popular.


title: Bachelorette party

text: One reason that bridal parties travel to a different city is because they want to behave differently than they normally would, but they do not want to deal with the social repercussions that might ensue if friends, family members, or professional acquaintances saw them doing this. When large numbers of bachelor and bachelorette parties choose the same cities, this can produce extra jobs and new businesses to cater to them, but it also draws complaints from local residents who are faced with the disruption and public service costs caused by the seasonal influx of noisy parties and drunken visitors. Stag parties caused so much disruption in Riga, Latvia that the city formed a police group specifically to deal with bachelor and bachelorette parties.


title: Bachelorette party

text: A more traditional alternative is the "bridesmaids luncheon", hosted by friends of the bride's mother or mothers of the bridesmaids, usually given the day before the wedding. Attendees include the bridesmaids, their mothers and close female friends and relatives; the event is often multi-generational including mothers and even grandmothers of the bride and groom. At a bridesmaids luncheon, the bride often presents a small gift to each bridesmaid. The purpose of the luncheon is for the bride to thank her attendants and includes presenting them with bridesmaid gifts. This is also the time when the bridesmaids' gift, if any, is customarily given to the bride. If there is a cake, it may contain symbolic good luck charms.


title: Bachelorette party

text: If a significant aspect of the party is presenting small gifts to the bride-to-be, then the event is properly called a bridal shower. For the convenience of the bride-to-be, bridal showers are usually held earlier than a bachelorette party.


title: Bachelorette party

text: In Canada a stag and doe party, also called a "Jack and Jill", "buck and doe" or "hag" ("hen" + "stag") party, is a fundraising party that includes both men and women. These parties are held by couples wishing to distance themselves from the licentiousness associated with many post-1980s bachelorette parties and are becoming increasingly popular, especially as a means to financially support a wedding.


title: Kraken (company)

text: Kraken is a United States–based cryptocurrency exchange and bank, founded in 2011. It was one of the first bitcoin exchanges to be listed on Bloomberg Terminal and is reportedly valued at $10.8 billion USD, as of mid-summer 2022. As of 2020, Kraken had US$1.1 billion in revenue.


title: Kraken (company)

text: Kraken was co-founded in 2011 by Jesse Powell, an alumnus of California State University, Sacramento with Thanh Luu. Powell was a consultant for Mt. Gox in resolving a security issue, and began working on Kraken as a replacement anticipating its death; Gox would indeed collapse in 2014, failing security audits. In September 2013, Kraken was launched, offering Bitcoin, Litecoin, and euro trades initially before going on to add additional currencies and margin trading. A few months earlier, Kraken had joined other US Bitcoin players to form the "Committee for the Establishment of the Digital Asset Transfer Authority" as the self-regulatory group of the industry.


title: Kraken (company)

text: In March 2014, Kraken received a $5 million Series A investment from Hummingbird Ventures and Bitcoin Opportunity Fund. A month later, Kraken became one of the first bitcoin exchanges to be listed on Bloomberg Terminal. The same year, Kraken was chosen to assist with the investigation of lost bitcoins of Mt. Gox; the bankruptcy trustees relied upon Kraken due to its proven operating history without being breached by hackers. In June 2015, Kraken opened the first dark pool for bitcoins.


title: Kraken (company)

text: In January 2016, Kraken purchased Coinsetter (and by extension, Cavirtex), an exchange based out of New York City. A month later, Kraken announced the completion of its Series B round of investment led by the SBI Group and acquired Dutch exchange CleverCoin, and Glidera, a cryptocurrency wallet service. In March 2017, Kraken acquired Cryptowatch, a charting and trading platform. By December 2017, Kraken claimed to be registering up to 50,000 new users a day.


title: Kraken (company)

text: In April 2018, Kraken announced closure of its services in Japan due to the rising costs of doing business. In February 2019, Kraken acquired Crypto Facilities, a British derivatives trading firm. In June 2019, Kraken received $13.5 million from 2,263 individual investors via a special-purpose vehicle.


title: Kraken (company)

text: In September 2020, Kraken was granted a special purpose depository institution (SPDI) charter in Wyoming, becoming the first cryptocurrency exchange to hold such a charter in the United States. In early 2021, Kraken sought additional funding from investors at a valuation of over $20 billion, with Tribe Capital becoming the company's second largest institutional investor behind Hummingbird Ventures and Arjun Sethi being appointed to the board of directors.


title: Kraken (company)

text: In January 2021, Kraken released a mobile app for international users, which became available in the US in June 2021. In January 2022, Kraken announced its plans to develop an NFT marketplace.


title: Kraken (company)

text: On September 21, 2022, Kraken announced that Powell would be stepping down as CEO to spend “more of my time on the company’s products, user experience and broader industry advocacy.” Powell, who will assume the role of chairman of Kraken’s board of directors, will be replaced as CEO by Dave Ripley, the company’s chief operating officer. In November 2022, Kraken announced it had identified the hacker of rival exchange FTX, and would assist law enforcement in its investigation into the theft of more than $400 million in FTX assets. That same month, the company launched a beta version of its non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace featuring 70 Ethereum- and Solana-based collections.


title: Kraken (company)

text: On November 30, 2022, CEO Powell announced the layoff of 1,100 employees, or approximately 30 percent of the employees, "in order to adapt to current market conditions."


title: Kraken (company)

text: In April 2018, Kraken refused compliance with an investigation by the New York Attorney General's Office regarding the measures taken by cryptocurrency exchanges to protect their customers from market manipulation and money laundering, finding the associated expenditure to be bad for business. The report went on to warn that the Kraken might be breaking the law, suggested that customers stay away from it, and referred the platform to New York State Department of Financial Services for potential violation of local virtual currency regulations.


title: Kraken (company)

text: In March 2019, the exchange came to be investigated by the Office of Foreign Assets Control for potential violation of sanction-regimes by allowing trade with customers based in Iran; as of November 2022, Reuters reports that a settlement was reached between Kraken and OFAC, and Kraken has paid a fine of $362,000 in addition to agreeing to "invest an additional $100,000 in certain sanctions compliance controls." In late September 2021, Kraken was ordered to pay a fine of $1.25 million to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission for offering unregistered margin trading.


title: Kraken (company)

text: In May 2019, Kraken filed a motion in California's Marin County Superior Court to identify ten anonymous reviewers on Glassdoor. Kraken is suing them, for allegedly breaching their severance contract. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, which represents the anonymous reviewers, claims that identifying the reviewers would harm their First Amendment free-speech rights and chill the expression of others. The court has since ordered Glassdoor to disclose the real identity of some reviewers.


title: Kraken (company)

text: In 2019, Powell suggested that parenting was a distraction to being productive and critiqued the economic viability of parental leaves; he went on to question whether choosing to not abide by relevant governmental regulations was a risk worth taking. In June 2022, Powell urged employees in a work-meeting to reject the usage of preferred gender pronouns; he then opened a Slack channel to debate why people shall be allowed to choose their gender but neither race nor ethnicity. The next day, Kraken released a "culture document" which outlined the libertarian values at the core of Kraken that were to be obeyed at work. Among other things, employees were prohibited from labelling others' comments as "toxic, hateful, racist," etc., and particular emphasis was assigned on how "offensiveness" was not forbidden. Powell and his fellow executives encouraged employees who disagreed with the policy to quit, and offered four months' severance for those who opted to do so.


title: Extreme programming

text: Extreme programming (XP) is a software development methodology intended to improve software quality and responsiveness to changing customer requirements. As a type of agile software development, it advocates frequent releases in short development cycles, intended to improve productivity and introduce checkpoints at which new customer requirements can be adopted.


title: Extreme programming

text: Other elements of extreme programming include: programming in pairs or doing extensive code review, unit testing of all code, not programming features until they are actually needed, a flat management structure, code simplicity and clarity, expecting changes in the customer's requirements as time passes and the problem is better understood, and frequent communication with the customer and among programmers. The methodology takes its name from the idea that the beneficial elements of traditional software engineering practices are taken to "extreme" levels. As an example, code reviews are considered a beneficial practice; taken to the extreme, code can be reviewed "continuously" (i.e. the practice of pair programming).


title: Extreme programming

text: Kent Beck developed extreme programming during his work on the Chrysler Comprehensive Compensation System (C3) payroll project. Beck became the C3 project leader in March 1996. He began to refine the development methodology used in the project and wrote a book on the methodology ("Extreme Programming Explained", published in October 1999). Chrysler cancelled the C3 project in February 2000, after seven years, when Daimler-Benz acquired the company. Ward Cunningham was another major influence on XP.


title: Extreme programming

text: Many extreme-programming practices have been around for some time; the methodology takes "best practices" to extreme levels. For example, the "practice of test-first development, planning and writing tests before each micro-increment" was used as early as NASA's Project Mercury, in the early 1960s. To shorten the total development time, some formal test documents (such as for acceptance testing) have been developed in parallel with (or shortly before) the software being ready for testing. A NASA independent test group can write the test procedures, based on formal requirements and logical limits, before programmers write the software and integrate it with the hardware. XP takes this concept to the extreme level, writing automated tests (sometimes inside software modules) which validate the operation of even small sections of software coding, rather than only testing the larger features.


title: Extreme programming

text: Rapidly changing requirements demanded shorter product life-cycles, and often clashed with traditional methods of software development.


title: Extreme programming

text: The Chrysler Comprehensive Compensation System (C3) started in order to determine the best way to use object technologies, using the payroll systems at Chrysler as the object of research, with Smalltalk as the language and GemStone as the data access layer. Chrysler brought in Kent Beck, a prominent Smalltalk practitioner, to do performance tuning on the system, but his role expanded as he noted several problems with the development process. He took this opportunity to propose and implement some changes in development practices - based on his work with his frequent collaborator, Ward Cunningham. Beck describes the early conception of the methods:


title: Extreme programming

text: Beck invited Ron Jeffries to the project to help develop and refine these methods. Jeffries thereafter acted as a coach to instill the practices as habits in the C3 team.


title: Extreme programming

text: Information about the principles and practices behind XP disseminated to the wider world through discussions on the original wiki, Cunningham's WikiWikiWeb. Various contributors discussed and expanded upon the ideas, and some spin-off methodologies resulted (see agile software development). Also, XP concepts have been explained, for several years, using a hypertext system map on the XP website at http://www.extremeprogramming.org circa 1999.


title: Extreme programming

text: Beck edited a series of books on XP, beginning with his own "Extreme Programming Explained" (1999, ), spreading his ideas to a much larger audience. Authors in the series went through various aspects attending XP and its practices. The series included a book critical of the practices.


title: Extreme programming

text: XP generated significant interest among software communities in the late 1990s and early 2000s, seeing adoption in a number of environments radically different from its origins.


title: Extreme programming

text: The high discipline required by the original practices often went by the wayside, causing some of these practices, such as those thought too rigid, to be deprecated or reduced, or even left unfinished, on individual sites. For example, the practice of end-of-day integration tests for a particular project could be changed to an end-of-week schedule, or simply reduced to testing on mutually agreed dates. Such a more relaxed schedule could avoid people feeling rushed to generate artificial stubs just to pass the end-of-day testing. A less-rigid schedule allows, instead, the development of complex features over a period of several days.


title: Extreme programming

text: Meanwhile, other agile-development practices have not stood still, and XP continues to evolve, assimilating more lessons from experiences in the field, to use other practices. In the second edition of "Extreme Programming Explained" (November 2004), five years after the first edition, Beck added more values and practices and differentiated between primary and corollary practices.


title: Extreme programming

text: "Extreme Programming Explained" describes extreme programming as a software-development discipline that organizes people to produce higher-quality software more productively.


title: Extreme programming

text: XP attempts to reduce the cost of changes in requirements by having multiple short development cycles, rather than a long one.


title: Extreme programming

text: In this doctrine, changes are a natural, inescapable and desirable aspect of software-development projects, and should be planned for, instead of attempting to define a stable set of requirements.


title: Extreme programming

text: Extreme programming also introduces a number of basic values, principles and practices on top of the agile methodology.


title: Extreme programming

text: XP describes four basic activities that are performed within the software development process: coding, testing, listening, and designing. Each of those activities is described below.


title: Extreme programming

text: The advocates of XP argue that the only truly important product of the system development process is code – software instructions that a computer can interpret. Without code, there is no working product.


title: Extreme programming

text: Coding can be used to figure out the most suitable solution. Coding can also help to communicate thoughts about programming problems. A programmer dealing with a complex programming problem, or finding it hard to explain the solution to fellow programmers, might code it in a simplified manner and use the code to demonstrate what they mean. Code, say the proponents of this position, is always clear and concise and cannot be interpreted in more than one way. Other programmers can give feedback on this code by also coding their thoughts.


title: Extreme programming

text: Testing is central to extreme programming. Extreme programming's approach is that if a little testing can eliminate a few flaws, a lot of testing can eliminate many more flaws.


title: Extreme programming

text: System-wide integration testing was encouraged, initially, as a daily end-of-day activity, for early detection of incompatible interfaces, to reconnect before the separate sections diverged widely from coherent functionality. However, system-wide integration testing has been reduced, to weekly, or less often, depending on the stability of the overall interfaces in the system.


title: Extreme programming

text: Programmers must listen to what the customers need the system to do, what "business logic" is needed. They must understand these needs well enough to give the customer feedback about the technical aspects of how the problem might be solved, or cannot be solved. Communication between the customer and programmer is further addressed in the "planning game".


title: Extreme programming

text: From the point of view of simplicity, of course one could say that system development doesn't need more than coding, testing and listening. If those activities are performed well, the result should always be a system that works. In practice, this will not work. One can come a long way without designing but at a given time one will get stuck. The system becomes too complex and the dependencies within the system cease to be clear. One can avoid this by creating a design structure that organizes the logic in the system. Good design will avoid many dependencies within a system; this means that changing one part of the system will not affect other parts of the system.


title: Extreme programming

text: Extreme programming initially recognized four values in 1999: communication, simplicity, feedback, and courage. A new value, respect, was added in the second edition of "Extreme Programming Explained". Those five values are described below.


title: Extreme programming

text: Building software systems requires communicating system requirements to the developers of the system. In formal software development methodologies, this task is accomplished through documentation. Extreme programming techniques can be viewed as methods for rapidly building and disseminating institutional knowledge among members of a development team. The goal is to give all developers a shared view of the system which matches the view held by the users of the system. To this end, extreme programming favors simple designs, common metaphors, collaboration of users and programmers, frequent verbal communication, and feedback.


title: Extreme programming

text: Extreme programming encourages starting with the simplest solution. Extra functionality can then be added later. The difference between this approach and more conventional system development methods is the focus on designing and coding for the needs of today instead of those of tomorrow, next week, or next month. This is sometimes summed up as the "You aren't gonna need it" (YAGNI) approach. Proponents of XP acknowledge the disadvantage that this can sometimes entail more effort tomorrow to change the system; their claim is that this is more than compensated for by the advantage of not investing in possible future requirements that might change before they become relevant. Coding and designing for uncertain future requirements implies the risk of spending resources on something that might not be needed, while perhaps delaying crucial features. Related to the "communication" value, simplicity in design and coding should improve the quality of communication. A simple design with very simple code could be easily understood by most programmers in the team.


title: Extreme programming

text: Feedback is closely related to communication and simplicity. Flaws in the system are easily communicated by writing a unit test that proves a certain piece of code will break. The direct feedback from the system tells programmers to recode this part. A customer is able to test the system periodically according to the functional requirements, known as "user stories". To quote Kent Beck, "Optimism is an occupational hazard of programming. Feedback is the treatment."


title: Extreme programming

text: Several practices embody courage. One is the commandment to always design and code for today and not for tomorrow. This is an effort to avoid getting bogged down in design and requiring a lot of effort to implement anything else. Courage enables developers to feel comfortable with refactoring their code when necessary. This means reviewing the existing system and modifying it so that future changes can be implemented more easily. Another example of courage is knowing when to throw code away: courage to remove source code that is obsolete, no matter how much effort was used to create that source code. Also, courage means persistence: a programmer might be stuck on a complex problem for an entire day, then solve the problem quickly the next day, but only if they are persistent.


title: Extreme programming

text: The respect value includes respect for others as well as self-respect. Programmers should never commit changes that break compilation, that make existing unit-tests fail, or that otherwise delay the work of their peers. Members respect their own work by always striving for high quality and seeking for the best design for the solution at hand through refactoring.


title: Extreme programming

text: Adopting the four earlier values leads to respect gained from others in the team. Nobody on the team should feel unappreciated or ignored. This ensures a high level of motivation and encourages loyalty toward the team and toward the goal of the project. This value is dependent upon the other values, and is oriented toward teamwork.


title: Extreme programming

text: The first version of rules for XP was published in 1999 by Don Wells at the XP website. 29 rules are given in the categories of planning, managing, designing, coding, and testing. Planning, managing and designing are called out explicitly to counter claims that XP doesn't support those activities.


title: Extreme programming

text: Another version of XP rules was proposed by Ken Auer in XP/Agile Universe 2003. He felt XP was defined by its rules, not its practices (which are subject to more variation and ambiguity). He defined two categories: "Rules of Engagement" which dictate the environment in which software development can take place effectively, and "Rules of Play" which define the minute-by-minute activities and rules within the framework of the Rules of Engagement.


title: Extreme programming

text: The principles that form the basis of XP are based on the values just described and are intended to foster decisions in a system development project. The principles are intended to be more concrete than the values and more easily translated to guidance in a practical situation.


title: Extreme programming

text: Extreme programming sees feedback as most useful if it is done frequently and promptly. It stresses that minimal delay between an action and its feedback is critical to learning and making changes. Unlike traditional system development methods, contact with the customer occurs in more frequent iterations. The customer has clear insight into the system that is being developed, and can give feedback and steer the development as needed. With frequent feedback from the customer, a mistaken design decision made by the developer will be noticed and corrected quickly, before the developer spends much time implementing it.


title: Extreme programming

text: Unit tests contribute to the rapid feedback principle. When writing code, running the unit test provides direct feedback as to how the system reacts to the changes made. This includes running not only the unit tests that test the developer's code, but running in addition all unit tests against all the software, using an automated process that can be initiated by a single command. That way, if the developer's changes cause a failure in some other portion of the system that the developer knows little or nothing about, the automated all-unit-test suite will reveal the failure immediately, alerting the developer of the incompatibility of their change with other parts of the system, and the necessity of removing or modifying their change. Under traditional development practices, the absence of an automated, comprehensive unit-test suite meant that such a code change, assumed harmless by the developer, would have been left in place, appearing only during integration testing – or worse, only in production; and determining which code change caused the problem, among all the changes made by all the developers during the weeks or even months previous to integration testing, was a formidable task.


title: Extreme programming

text: This is about treating every problem as if its solution were "extremely simple". Traditional system development methods say to plan for the future and to code for reusability. Extreme programming rejects these ideas.


title: Extreme programming

text: The advocates of extreme programming say that making big changes all at once does not work. Extreme programming applies incremental changes: for example, a system might have small releases every three weeks. When many little steps are made, the customer has more control over the development process and the system that is being developed.


title: Extreme programming

text: The principle of embracing change is about not working against changes but embracing them. For instance, if at one of the iterative meetings it appears that the customer's requirements have changed dramatically, programmers are to embrace this and plan the new requirements for the next iteration.


title: Extreme programming

text: The practices in XP have been heavily debated. Proponents of extreme programming claim that by having the on-site customer request changes informally, the process becomes flexible, and saves the cost of formal overhead. Critics of XP claim this can lead to costly rework and project scope creep beyond what was previously agreed or funded.


title: Extreme programming

text: Change-control boards are a sign that there are potential conflicts in project objectives and constraints between multiple users. XP's expedited methods are somewhat dependent on programmers being able to assume a unified client viewpoint so the programmer can concentrate on coding, rather than documentation of compromise objectives and constraints. This also applies when multiple programming organizations are involved, particularly organizations which compete for shares of projects.


title: Extreme programming

text: Critics have noted several potential drawbacks, including problems with unstable requirements, no documented compromises of user conflicts, and a lack of an overall design specification or document.


title: Extreme programming

text: In 2004, industrial extreme programming (IXP) was introduced as an evolution of XP. It is intended to bring the ability to work in large and distributed teams. It now has 23 practices and flexible values.


title: Extreme programming

text: In 2003, Matt Stephens and Doug Rosenberg published "Extreme Programming Refactored: The Case Against XP", which questioned the value of the XP process and suggested ways in which it could be improved. This triggered a lengthy debate in articles, Internet newsgroups, and web-site chat areas. The core argument of the book is that XP's practices are interdependent but that few practical organizations are willing/able to adopt all the practices; therefore the entire process fails. The book also makes other criticisms, and it draws a likeness of XP's "collective ownership" model to socialism in a negative manner.


title: Extreme programming

text: Certain aspects of XP have changed since the publication of "Extreme Programming Refactored"; in particular, XP now accommodates modifications to the practices as long as the required objectives are still met. XP also uses increasingly generic terms for processes. Some argue that these changes invalidate previous criticisms; others claim that this is simply watering the process down.


title: Extreme programming

text: Other authors have tried to reconcile XP with the older methodologies in order to form a unified methodology. Some of these XP sought to replace, such as the waterfall methodology; example: Project Lifecycles: Waterfall, Rapid Application Development (RAD), and All That. JPMorgan Chase & Co. tried combining XP with the computer programming methods of capability maturity model integration (CMMI), and Six Sigma. They found that the three systems reinforced each other well, leading to better development, and did not mutually contradict.


title: Extreme programming

text: Extreme programming's initial buzz and controversial tenets, such as pair programming and continuous design, have attracted particular criticisms, such as the ones coming from McBreen and Boehm and Turner, Matt Stephens and Doug Rosenberg. Many of the criticisms, however, are believed by Agile practitioners to be misunderstandings of agile development.


title: Extreme programming

text: In particular, extreme programming has been reviewed and critiqued by Matt Stephens's and Doug Rosenberg's "Extreme Programming Refactored".


title: The Works (Queen album)

text: The Works is the eleventh studio album by the British rock band Queen. It was released on 27 February 1984 by EMI Records just shortly after recording for the album had been completed in the United Kingdom and it is the band's first studio album to be released by Capitol Records in the United States. After the synth-heavy "Hot Space" (1982), the album saw the re-emergence of Brian May and Roger Taylor's rock sound, while still incorporating the early 80s retro futuristic electronic music (Freddie Mercury) and New York funk scenes (John Deacon). Recorded at the Record Plant Studios in Los Angeles, California, and Musicland Studios in Munich, Germany, from August 1983 to January 1984, the album's title comes from a comment Taylor made as recording began – "Let's give them the works!".


title: The Works (Queen album)

text: During the decade, after a negative reaction to the music video for "I Want to Break Free" in the United States, the band decided not to tour in North America and lost the top spot in US sales, but sales around the world would be much better, especially in Europe. Despite failing to reach number one, it spent 94 weeks on the UK Albums Chart, the longest for a Queen studio album. "The Works" has sold over 6 million copies worldwide.


title: The Works (Queen album)

text: Following the release and subsequent touring of the 1982 album "Hot Space", Queen opted to take a break the following year. While a spring tour of South America had been an early possibility, especially in light of the band's success there two years earlier, equipment and promotional problems brought an end to these plans. During this period, Brian May worked with Eddie Van Halen and others on the "Star Fleet Project", whilst Roger Taylor and Freddie Mercury began work on their solo albums, "Strange Frontier" and "Mr. Bad Guy" respectively. By August 1983, the band reunited and began work on their eleventh studio album. It would be Queen's first album for EMI Records (and its US affiliate Capitol Records) worldwide after the band nullified its recording deal with Elektra for the United States, Canada, Australia and Japan.


title: The Works (Queen album)

text: Recording commenced at Record Plant Studios in Los Angeles—Queen's first time recording in America—and Musicland Studios in Munich. Also during this time, their manager Jim Beach offered them the opportunity to compose the soundtrack for the film "The Hotel New Hampshire". The band agreed, but soon discovered much of their time was being spent on the soundtrack instead of the upcoming album, and the soundtrack project fell through. Only one song written for the film—"Keep Passing the Open Windows"—made it onto "The Works". By November 1983, Roger Taylor's "Radio Ga Ga" was chosen as the first single from the album.


title: The Works (Queen album)

text: "The Works" opens with "Radio Ga Ga", written and composed on keyboards by Roger Taylor after he heard his 3-year-old son Felix say "radio ca ca". He wrote it in Los Angeles and locked himself in the studio with a Roland Jupiter 8 and a drum machine. Afterwards John Deacon came up with a suitable bass line. Freddie Mercury reconstructed the track, both musically and lyrically. It was still credited to Taylor since Mercury was an arranger rather than a co-writer. Fred Mandel, their session keyboardist, put together an additive track with piano, synth and a temporary bass part. Brian May used a glass slide for his guitar solo. Taylor sang all the backing vocals, and used a Vocoder throughout the song. Most of the song is made out of electronics and synthesisers.


title: The Works (Queen album)

text: "Tear It Up" was written by Brian May as an attempt to revive Queen's old sound, notably featuring riffs from the intro to the song "Liar". When performed live during The Magic Tour, May would skip to the intro from "Liar" then go into the beginning of the song. It features stomping percussion similar to "We Will Rock You". The demo features May doing the vocals instead of Mercury.


title: The Works (Queen album)

text: "It's a Hard Life" was written by Mercury. May and Taylor have stated it as one of their favourite songs of Mercury's, although Taylor admitted his vast displeasure with the video. May contributed with some of the lyrics, and the intro was based on Ruggiero Leoncavallo's "Vesti la giubba", an aria from his opera "Pagliacci". Mercury played piano and did most of the vocals, and instructed May about the scales he should use for the solo, described by May in the guitar programme "Star Licks" as very "Bohemian Rhapsody"-esque.


title: The Works (Queen album)

text: "Man on the Prowl" is a three-chord rockabilly Mercury composition. May played the solo using a Fender Telecaster whilst Mandel plays the piano ending. This was planned as the fifth and final single from the album, with a provisional release date of 19 November 1984. Promotional copies were pressed and sent out, but the band opted for the Christmas single "Thank God It's Christmas", on which the song appears as a B-side.


title: The Works (Queen album)

text: "Machines (Or 'Back to Humans')" came about as an idea by Taylor, and May collaborated with him and finished it. Producer Reinhold Mack programmed the synth-"demolition" using a Fairlight CMI II Sampler, and all the vocals are sung by the group's three vocalists, including Mercury and May singing in harmony and Taylor performing the robotic voices (using a Roland VP-330 Vocoder). The instrumental remix of the song samples parts of "Ogre Battle" from Queen's second album "Queen II", "Flash" and Larry Lurex's "Goin' Back". This song, along with "Radio Ga Ga", are some of the heaviest uses of electronics on the album.


title: The Works (Queen album)

text: "I Want to Break Free", written by John Deacon, is best known because of its video, featuring all four Queen members crossdressed as women, in a parody of the British soap opera "Coronation Street". The idea for the clip was Taylor's. Mercury commented that 'Everybody ran into their frocks'. Deacon, the song's author, insisted he didn't want a guitar solo on the track so a synth solo was played by Mandel – live, however, May played the solo on guitar. The version used for the single and the promotional video includes an opening and instrumental bridge (after the synth solo) not part of the original mix.


title: The Works (Queen album)

text: "Keep Passing the Open Windows" was written by Mercury in 1983 for the film "The Hotel New Hampshire", based on the novel by John Irving. The phrase is mentioned on a number of occasions throughout the film and was, according to the opening credits, also co-produced by the band's manager Jim Beach, who changed it in order to suit the album mood better. Mercury played piano and synths and wrote the lyrics after reading the quote in the book.


title: The Works (Queen album)

text: "Hammer to Fall" is May's other rock song on the album. Live versions were considerably faster and he sang it in his solo tours as well. Synths are played by Mandel and most of vocal harmonies were recorded by May himself, particularly in the bridge, except for the lyric "oh no" which is Taylor. The song harks back to Queen's old sound, with a song being built around a hard angular and muscular riff. The song features Mercury on lead vocals, doing a call and response with May, who sings the chorus. The song's music video, directed by David Mallet, contains footage of a performance of the song in Brussels. "Hammer to Fall" was a concert favourite, and was the third song the band performed at Live Aid in 1985. The song also features in both the setlist of the band's Works Tour and Magic Tour in 1986.


title: The Works (Queen album)

text: The album concludes with "Is This the World We Created...?", which was written by Mercury and May in Munich after the two saw a news broadcast about poverty in Africa; the song was performed at Live Aid as an encore. Mercury wrote most of the lyrics and May wrote the chords and made small lyrical contributions. The song was recorded with an Ovation guitar, although when playing live May used Taylor's Gibson Chet Atkins CE nylon-stringed guitar. A piano was tracked at the recording sessions for this song, but ultimately not included in the final mix.


title: The Works (Queen album)

text: The sessions for "The Works" were highly productive, resulting in an overwhelmingly large body of material written and recorded. Only nine of these were used on the album, but many of those remaining have been released in other forms.


title: The Works (Queen album)

text: Believed to originate from the "Works" sessions, this is a fast-paced track dominated by the piano and drums. Two versions of the demo exists, and very little is known about the track. It is about a minute and a half long. At the end of the track, Mercury can be heard to say: "very good, ha, ha. It's gotta go somewhere, but it just, er, wasn't"; the rest of the dialogue is inaudible.


title: The Works (Queen album)

text: When Queen wanted to write a Christmas single in 1984, Taylor wrote the basics of "Thank God It's Christmas" while May wrote "I Dream of Christmas". The group then had to choose between the two, and opted for "Thank God It's Christmas", which May and Taylor then wrote together. It is rumored that "I Dream of Christmas" was recorded by the band, though nothing has ever been confirmed. May later worked on "I Dream of Christmas" with his future wife Anita Dobson, which was released as a single in 1988 and also features John Deacon.


title: The Works (Queen album)

text: Written by May some time in 1981, the song was recorded during the Hot Space album sessions but never made it onto the final cut. It was instead used as the B-side to the single release of "Radio Ga Ga".


title: The Works (Queen album)

text: Written by May, this song went through several rewrites and re-recordings before it was left unfinished and subsequently recorded by Anita Dobson, featuring May, for her 1988 album "Talking of Love". In 2014, the band released a completed version of the song which features elements from a number of Queen demos of the track, with new backing vocals from May and Taylor, and new guitars from May on the album "Queen Forever".


title: The Works (Queen album)

text: "Let Me Live" was originally recorded by the band in 1983 as a duet between Mercury and Rod Stewart. It originally also featured Jeff Beck on guitar. The song was never released, although it was reworked by the band for inclusion in their 1995 studio album "Made in Heaven", released after Mercury's death. The finished version features one verse and the chorus sung by Mercury, while the rest is sung by May and Taylor. It is unknown why the Stewart version was never used.