title: Gears of War 3

text: Reaching the high school, Zeta finds it to be a COG evacuation center which has been overrun by the Locust, including a Berserker, packs of Wretches and several giant Serapedes. However, they overhear a message from Dr. Wisen directing the survivors of the attack on the school to retreat to his nearby orphanage. Zeta fights their way back outside, managing to kill the Berserker by using several exploding cars in the parking lot. Finding their comms blocked by the Seeders and with time running out, Zeta fights their way to city hall where Barrick uses the mobile command center located there to take control of the Hammer of Dawn and kill the Seeders. With communications restored and less than half an hour left until the city is consumed, Zeta contacts Command who reveals that they are the only COG forces left in the city. As Kim refuses to abandon the survivors at the orphanage, Command agrees to redirect the last APC to meet them there for evacuation.


title: Gears of War 3

text: At the orphanage, Zeta discovers several survivors, including Dr. Wisen. As the APC arrives, carrying Jace, General RAAM leads a personal attack on the survivors, killing Alicia Valera and destroying the APC. Jace joins the remaining Gears in fighting off the Locust, though they are quickly cut off from the others. Zeta and Jace fight their way back through the nearby streets and sewers, encountering and killing most of RAAM's elite unit, particularly the elite Theron Guard that had been acting as RAAM's second in command during the battle. Upon their return to the orphanage, the Gears and Jace face off against multiple waves of Locust led by RAAM himself from atop a Reaver and weaponizing the Kryll against them. The group manages to shoot down the Locust General's Reaver, but Barrick is forced to stop the vengeful Kim from making a suicidal attack on the trapped and injured RAAM. Retreating to the roof, the survivors are evacuated by a King Raven helicopter just before the Kryllstorm completely engulfs Ilima. Impressed with Jace, Barrick commends the young man's courage and states that he will make a great Gear in the future.


title: Gears of War 3

text: "Gears of War 3" includes a stereoscopic mode for 3DTV sets. It uses TriOviz for Games Technology, which is integrated with Unreal Engine 3, for stereoscopic 3D support. All "Gears of War 3" gameplay and cinematics have S3D support, and this extends to split-screen play as well.


title: Gears of War 3

text: On December 17, 2010, Epic Games confirmed that the Epic Edition of "Bulletstorm" for the Xbox 360 included early access to the multiplayer beta of "Gears of War 3" and access to exclusive content. It was later announced that pre-ordering "Gears of War 3" in any edition at GameStop in the United States or GAME in the United Kingdom would grant access to the public beta. The "Gears of War 3" exclusive beta began on April 18, 2011, a week before the GameStop pre-order beta which began on April 25, 2011. There was in-game content unlockable exclusively for beta testers that included characters and weapon skins. All players that participated in the beta received a medal to identify themselves as beta testers upon the release of the final game. The beta concluded on May 15, 2011.


title: Gears of War 3

text: In 2017 and later in 2020, footage of "Gears of War 3" running on a PlayStation 3 surfaced. The footage was confirmed to be legitimate and appeared to be from a data breach Epic had suffered in 2011, but "Kotaku" confirmed with Epic Games that the source of the footage was not from an unannounced port of the game to the PlayStation 3, but was from a test of the Unreal Engine. Epic called the software "a byproduct of Epic’s internal Unreal Engine 3 testing process, which utilized both Gears and Unreal Tournament, and was never part of any actual product work for PlayStation 3."


title: Gears of War 3

text: According to Tim Sweeney, "Gears of War 3" cost between $48,000,000 and $60,000,000 to develop. The game was officially unveiled on "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" by Cliff Bleszinski, with a teaser trailer featuring the song "Heron Blue" by Sun Kil Moon. Prior to the official reveal, an advert for the game was accidentally displayed on the Xbox 360 Dashboard.


title: Gears of War 3

text: The game was available for pre-order in three retail versions: Standard, Limited, and Epic. The game also has special character variants based on where the game was pre-ordered. Confirmed variants include Mechanic Baird, Commando Dom, Savage Grenadier Elite, and Savage Kantus. On May 23, 2011, Epic Games confirmed that an exclusive replica Retro Lancer designed by NECA will be available exclusively at GameStop, while a gold version of the replica Retro Lancer is also available exclusively at Play.com.


title: Gears of War 3

text: Clayton Carmine, brother of Anthony and Benjamin, of the previous two games, appears in "Gears of War 3". Carmine is more competent, witty, and muscular in the third game, with tattoos of his brothers and the reasons they died on his arms (Keep your head down! and Practice reloading!). He was shown wielding a Mulcher machine gun in several released pictures from the game. A vote was held between July 29, 2010, and September 6, 2010, to determine whether Carmine would live or die based on sales of Xbox avatar T-shirts available for purchase on Xbox Live; Epic had developed endings reflecting either choice prior to the conclusion of the vote. Additionally, actual T-shirts were available from San Diego Comic-Con with all purchases. The voting campaign raised over $150,000, which was all donated to Child's Play.


title: Gears of War 3

text: Ice-T voices the character of Griffin. It was announced during E3 2011 that Ice-T's band, Body Count, would be reuniting to make a song titled "The Gears of War", which was featured in the Horde 2.0 trailer.


title: Gears of War 3

text: Announced via Twitter from Cliff Bleszinski, "Gears of War 3" will have unlockables just like "Gears of War 2".


title: Gears of War 3

text: At the San Diego Comic-Con International Convention, Paul Jr. Designs aka "PJD", the company of Paul Teutul Jr. from the Discovery series "American Chopper", revealed their commissioned "Gears of War" trike. Discovery episodes chronicled their efforts to build the trike, visits to Epic and them interpreting various merchandising and promotional material into the bike. The team from Epic was impressed and even mentioned the possibility of adding the trike to a future game in the series.


title: Gears of War 3

text: On 29 August 2011, Microsoft and Epic Games announced a "Gears of War 3 Season Pass" that entitles gamers to the first four installments of downloadable content (at a discount) that will roll out over the course of the next year, with the first releasing in November 2011. Previous characters in the series, including Tai and RAAM, will be future downloadable content characters. It has also been confirmed that Story DLC will be available after launch, and that the regular cast of Gears of War will not be in future DLC.


title: Gears of War 3

text: The first downloadable content is the "Horde Command Pack", which was released on November 1, 2011. In addition to new character and weapon skins, it provides three new maps for use in Versus and Horde mode and three new fortifications that the players can build.


title: Gears of War 3

text: The second downloadable content is called "Versus Booster Map Pack". It was released on November 24, 2011, and is available for free. The pack contains five multiplayer maps which includes Blood Drive, Azura, and Rustlung, which were originally made available through the Horde Command Pack; and Bullet Marsh and Clocktower, which will be new to "Gears of War 3".


title: Gears of War 3

text: It includes four new multiplayer characters, a new weapon set named "Chocolate", new achievements, and over 3 hours of singleplayer gameplay. The story takes place before the first "Gears of War", set in Sera post-emergence day. Zeta Squad is enlisted to evacuate Ilima City and protect the citizens against a Locust Kryll storm. The player will be in the role of General RAAM, the main antagonist from the first "Gears of War". Zeta is led by Michael Barrick (from "Gears of War" comics fame) and composed of returning characters such as Lt. Minh Young Kim, from the first "Gears of War" and Tai Kaliso from "Gears of War 2", Jace Stratton from "Gears of War 3" and also includes a new female character, Alicia Valera. The primary setting is the city of Illima from "Gears of War 2".


title: Gears of War 3

text: The fourth downloadable content is entitled: "Fenix Rising", and it was released on January 17, 2012. The DLC includes five new multiplayer maps and also introduced four new character skins and a new system that allows players to rank up through level 100 multiple times.


title: Gears of War 3

text: The fifth and final downloadable content, entitled "Forces of Nature" was released on March 27, 2012. The map pack is based around weather and natural disasters and consists of three new multiplayer maps (Aftermath, Artillery, and Cove), as well as remade versions of Jacinto and Raven Down. On top of the new maps, the DLC also includes four new character models, five weapon skins ready to use immediately, and two unlockable weapon skins. New Easter-egg type weapons, Elemental Cleavers, are introduced.


title: Gears of War 3

text: Upon release, "Gears of War 3" received critical acclaim, garnering an aggregate score of 91.49% on GameRankings and 91/100 on Metacritic. Jeff Gerstmann of Giant Bomb gave "Gears of War 3" a review of 5 out of 5 stars; stating "Gears of War 3 is a fantastic follow-up that answers important questions about the nature of the Gears universe while backing it all up with an even bigger, better multiplayer suite." IGN called it "the spectacular conclusion to one of the most memorable and celebrated sagas in video games." "Game Informer" gave it a 9.5/10, saying that ""Gears 3" is a fantastic idea polished to near perfection by an enormous crew of talented developers and a bottomless budget," with "a constantly shuffling deck of threats that encourage players to experiment with new weapons and tactics," "hilariously over-the-top set piece moments," and a "smart approach to network play."


title: Gears of War 3

text: After "Eurogamer" published an 8/10 review for the game, Epic Games' Cliff Bleszinski reported, saying "When people rated ["Gears of War 2"] higher than ["Gears of War 3"], it kind of upset me because I know ["Gears of 3"] is a better game on every level." His comments were criticized by "Destructoid" and "GamePro". In "GamePro", McKinley Noble argued that "slamming a 'bad' review that's actually pretty favorable does come off as selfish".


title: Gears of War 3

text: "Gears of War 3" received more than one million pre-orders. The game sold more than 3 million copies during its first week—higher than the previous two "Gears of War" entries. It was the second-best selling game only behind "Madden NFL 12".


title: Apache Maven

text: Maven is a build automation tool used primarily for Java projects. Maven can also be used to build and manage projects written in C#, Ruby, Scala, and other languages. The Maven project is hosted by the Apache Software Foundation, where it was formerly part of the Jakarta Project.


title: Apache Maven

text: Maven addresses two aspects of building software: how software is built and its dependencies. Unlike earlier tools like Apache Ant, it uses conventions for the build procedure. Only exceptions need to be specified. An XML file describes the software project being built, its dependencies on other external modules and components, the build order, directories, and required plug-ins. It comes with pre-defined targets for performing certain well-defined tasks such as compilation of code and its packaging. Maven dynamically downloads Java libraries and Maven plug-ins from one or more repositories such as the Maven 2 Central Repository, and stores them in a local cache. This local cache of downloaded artifacts can also be updated with artifacts created by local projects. Public repositories can also be updated.


title: Apache Maven

text: Maven is built using a plugin-based architecture that allows it to make use of any application controllable through standard input. A C/C++ native plugin is maintained for Maven 2.


title: Apache Maven

text: Alternative technologies like Gradle and sbt as build tools do not rely on XML, but keep the key concepts Maven introduced. With Apache Ivy, a dedicated dependency manager was developed as well that also supports Maven repositories.


title: Apache Maven

text: Maven, created by Jason van Zyl, began as a sub-project of Apache Turbine in 2002. In 2003, it was voted on and accepted as a top level Apache Software Foundation project. In July 2004, Maven's release was the critical first milestone, v1.0. Maven 2 was declared v2.0 in October 2005 after about six months in beta cycles. Maven 3.0 was released in October 2010 being mostly backwards compatible with Maven 2.


title: Apache Maven

text: Maven 3.0 information began trickling out in 2008. After eight alpha releases, the first beta version of Maven 3.0 was released in April 2010. Maven 3.0 has reworked the core Project Builder infrastructure resulting in the POM's file-based representation being decoupled from its in-memory object representation. This has expanded the possibility for Maven 3.0 add-ons to leverage non-XML based project definition files. Languages suggested include Ruby (already in private prototype by Jason van Zyl), YAML, and Groovy.


title: Apache Maven

text: Special attention was given to ensuring backward compatibility of Maven 3 to Maven 2. For most projects, upgrading to Maven 3 will not require any adjustments of their project structure. The first beta of Maven 3 saw the introduction of a parallel build feature which leverages a configurable number of cores on a multi-core machine and is especially suited for large multi-module projects.


title: Apache Maven

text: Maven projects are configured using a Project Object Model (POM), which is stored in a codice_1-file. An example file looks like:


title: Apache Maven

text: This POM only defines a unique identifier for the project ("coordinates") and its dependency on the JUnit framework. However, that is already enough for building the project and running the unit tests associated with the project. Maven accomplishes this by embracing the idea of Convention over Configuration, that is, Maven provides default values for the project's configuration.


title: Apache Maven

text: The command codice_2 will compile all the Java files, run any tests, and package the deliverable code and resources into codice_3 (assuming the artifactId is my-app and the version is 1.0.)


title: Apache Maven

text: Using Maven, the user provides only configuration for the project, while the configurable plug-ins do the actual work of compiling the project, cleaning target directories, running unit tests, generating API documentation and so on. In general, users should not have to write plugins themselves. Contrast this with Ant and make, in which one writes imperative procedures for doing the aforementioned tasks.


title: Apache Maven

text: A Project Object Model (POM) provides all the configuration for a single project. General configuration covers the project's name, its owner and its dependencies on other projects. One can also configure individual phases of the build process, which are implemented as plugins. For example, one can configure the compiler-plugin to use Java version 1.5 for compilation, or specify packaging the project even if some unit tests fail.


title: Apache Maven

text: Larger projects should be divided into several modules, or sub-projects, each with its own POM. One can then write a root POM through which one can compile all the modules with a single command. POMs can also inherit configuration from other POMs. All POMs inherit from the Super POM by default. The Super POM provides default configuration, such as default source directories, default plugins, and so on.


title: Apache Maven

text: Most of Maven's functionality is in plug-ins. A plugin provides a set of goals that can be executed using the command codice_4. For example, a Java project can be compiled with the compiler-plugin's compile-goal by running codice_5.


title: Apache Maven

text: There are Maven plugins for building, testing, source control management, running a web server, generating Eclipse project files, and much more. Plugins are introduced and configured in a <plugins>-section of a codice_1 file. Some basic plugins are included in every project by default, and they have sensible default settings.


title: Apache Maven

text: However, it would be cumbersome if the archetypal build sequence of building, testing and packaging a software project required running each respective goal manually:


title: Apache Maven

text: Plugins are the primary way to extend Maven. Developing a Maven plugin can be done by extending the org.apache.maven.plugin.AbstractMojo class. Example code and explanation for a Maven plugin to create a cloud-based virtual machine running an application server is given in the article "Automate development and management of cloud virtual machines".


title: Apache Maven

text: The build lifecycle is a list of named "phases" that can be used to give order to goal execution. One of Maven's standard lifecycles is the "default lifecycle", which includes the following phases, in this order:


title: Apache Maven

text: Goals provided by plugins can be associated with different phases of the lifecycle. For example, by default, the goal "compiler:compile" is associated with the "compile" phase, while the goal "surefire:test" is associated with the "test" phase. When the codice_10 command is executed, Maven runs all goals associated with each of the phases up to and including the "test" phase. In such a case, Maven runs the "resources:resources" goal associated with the "process-resources" phase, then "compiler:compile", and so on until it finally runs the "surefire:test" goal.


title: Apache Maven

text: Maven also has standard phases for cleaning the project and for generating a project site. If cleaning were part of the default lifecycle, the project would be cleaned every time it was built. This is clearly undesirable, so cleaning has been given its own lifecycle.


title: Apache Maven

text: Standard lifecycles enable users new to a project the ability to accurately build, test and install every Maven project by issuing the single command codice_11. By default, Maven packages the POM file in generated JAR and WAR files. Tools like diet4j can use this information to recursively resolve and run Maven modules at run-time without requiring an "uber"-jar that contains all project code.


title: Apache Maven

text: A central feature in Maven is dependency management. Maven's dependency-handling mechanism is organized around a coordinate system identifying individual artifacts such as software libraries or modules. The POM example above references the JUnit coordinates as a direct dependency of the project. A project that needs, say, the Hibernate library simply has to declare Hibernate's project coordinates in its POM. Maven will automatically download the dependency and the dependencies that Hibernate itself needs (called transitive dependencies) and store them in the user's local repository. Maven 2 Central Repository is used by default to search for libraries, but one can configure the repositories to be used (e.g., company-private repositories) within the POM.


title: Apache Maven

text: The fundamental difference between Maven and Ant is that Maven's design regards all projects as having a certain structure and a set of supported task work-flows (e.g., getting resources from source control, compiling the project, unit testing, etc.). While most software projects in effect support these operations and actually do have a well-defined structure, Maven requires that this structure and the operation implementation details be defined in the POM file. Thus, Maven relies on a convention on how to define projects and on the list of work-flows that are generally supported in all projects.


title: Apache Maven

text: There are search engines such as The Central Repository Search Engine, which can be used to find out coordinates for different open-source libraries and frameworks.


title: Apache Maven

text: Projects developed on a single machine can depend on each other through the local repository. The local repository is a simple folder structure that acts both as a cache for downloaded dependencies and as a centralized storage place for locally built artifacts. The Maven command codice_11 builds a project and places its binaries in the local repository. Then, other projects can utilize this project by specifying its coordinates in their POMs.


title: Apache Maven

text: Add-ons to several popular integrated development environments (IDE) targeting the Java programming language exist to provide integration of Maven with the IDE's build mechanism and source editing tools, allowing Maven to compile projects from within the IDE, and also to set the classpath for code completion, highlighting compiler errors, etc.


title: Apache Maven

text: These add-ons also provide the ability to edit the POM or use the POM to determine a project's complete set of dependencies directly within the IDE.


title: Apache Maven

text: Some built-in features of IDEs are forfeited when the IDE no longer performs compilation. For example, Eclipse's JDT has the ability to recompile a single Java source file after it has been edited. Many IDEs work with a flat set of projects instead of the hierarchy of folders preferred by Maven. This complicates the use of SCM systems in IDEs when using Maven.


title: Consider Phlebas

text: Consider Phlebas, first published in 1987, is a space opera novel by Scottish writer Iain M. Banks. It is the first in a series of novels about an interstellar post-scarcity society called the Culture.


title: Consider Phlebas

text: The novel revolves around the Idiran–Culture War, and Banks plays on that theme by presenting various microcosms of that conflict. Its protagonist Bora Horza Gobuchul is an enemy of the Culture.


title: Consider Phlebas

text: "Consider Phlebas" is Banks's first published science fiction novel, and takes its title from a line in T. S. Eliot's poem "The Waste Land". A subsequent Culture novel, "Look to Windward" (2000), whose title comes from the previous line of the same poem, can be considered a loose follow-up.


title: Consider Phlebas

text: The Culture and the Idiran Empire are at war in a galaxy-spanning conflict. A Culture Mind, fleeing the destruction of its ship in an Idiran ambush, takes refuge on Schar's World. The Dra'Azon, godlike incorporeal beings, maintain Schar's World as a monument to the world's extinct civilisation and the dangers of nuclear proliferation, forbidding access to both the Culture and the Idirans. Horza, a shape-changing mercenary, is rescued from execution by the Idirans who believe the Dra'Azon guardian may let him onto the planet as in the past he was part of a small group of Changers who acted as stewards. They instruct him to retrieve the Mind.


title: Consider Phlebas

text: During Horza's extraction, the Idirans also capture a Special Circumstances agent, Perosteck Balveda. However, the Idiran starship on which he is travelling is soon attacked by a Culture vessel, and Horza is ejected. He is picked up by a pirate ship, the "Clear Air Turbulence" ("CAT"). He is forced to fight and kill one of the crew to earn a place. The captain, Kraiklyn, leads them on two disastrous pirate raids in which several of the crew perish. After the second raid Horza is taken prisoner by a cult living on an island on the orbital Vavatch. He escapes after poisoning the cult leader and makes his way to Evanauth, the main city of Vavatch, where he finds Kraiklyn, who is playing "Damage"—a high-stakes card game.


title: Consider Phlebas

text: Having now changed his appearance to mimic that of the "CAT" captain, Horza follows him back to the "CAT", kills him and returns to the "CAT" meeting the few remaining original crew. He is introduced to a newly recruited member, whom he recognises as a disguised Perosteck Balveda. Culture agents outside try to capture the ship. Horza manages to lift off and as the fugitives warp away from Vavatch, they see the Orbital destroyed by the Culture warships to prevent it from falling into enemy hands. Balveda reveals Horza's identity and he convinces the crew to carry out his mission. A sentient Vavatch drone, Unaha-Closp, has been trapped on the ship and reluctantly joins the team.


title: Consider Phlebas

text: They land on Schar's World and search for the Mind in the Command System, a complex of subterranean train stations formerly part of a nuclear missile complex. These were built by the inhabitants of Schar before their extinction. They soon discover that the Mind is being hunted by a pair of Idiran soldiers who have killed all the Changers stationed on the planet, and who regard Horza and his crew as enemies, having no knowledge of the Changers' alliance with the Idirans. Horza has kept Balveda alive, and she is taken into the complex. The "CAT"s crew encounter the Idirans in one of the Command System stations, and after a firefight apparently kill one and capture the other. After tracking the Mind to another station, the drone Unaha-Closp discovers it hiding in the reactor car of a Command System train. The second Idiran, who had been mortally wounded but not killed, sets one of the trains for a collision course to the station. The captured Idiran, Xoxarle, frees himself and in the ensuing impact and firefight the remaining members of the "Clear Air Turbulence" are killed. Horza pursues Xoxarle and is fatally injured, but the Idiran is killed by Balveda.


title: Consider Phlebas

text: Horza dies soon after Balveda gets him to the surface and the Mind is returned to the Culture. In an epilogue, the Mind becomes a starship, and names itself the "Bora Horza Gobuchul".


title: Consider Phlebas

text: "Consider Phlebas", like most of Banks's early SF output, was a rewritten version of an earlier book, as he explained in a 1994 interview:


title: Consider Phlebas

text: The book was generally very well received as a fast-paced space opera with a morally ambiguous hero and much grand scenery and devices. "Kirkus Reviews" described it as "Overextended and jarring", but "imaginative and gripping in places."


title: Consider Phlebas

text: Dave Langford reviewed "Consider Phlebas" for "White Dwarf" #90, and stated that "Banks pumps in enough high spirits to keep this rattling along to his slam-bang finale in the bowels of an ancient deep-shelter system whose nuclear-powered high-speed trains are used for... well, not commuting."


title: Consider Phlebas

text: Amazon announced in February 2018 that it acquired the global television rights to "Consider Phlebas", to be adapted by Dennis Kelly into a television series and produced by Plan B Entertainment. The project was cancelled in August 2020.


title: Shrubland

text: Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or be the result of human activity. It may be the mature vegetation type in a particular region and remain stable over time, or a transitional community that occurs temporarily as the result of a disturbance, such as fire. A stable state may be maintained by regular natural disturbance such as fire or browsing. Shrubland may be unsuitable for human habitation because of the danger of fire. The term was coined in 1903.


title: Shrubland

text: Shrubland species generally show a wide range of adaptations to fire, such as heavy seed production, lignotubers, and fire-induced germination.


title: Shrubland

text: In botany and ecology a shrub is defined as a much-branched woody plant less than 8 m high and usually with many stems. Tall shrubs are mostly 2–8 m high, small shrubs 1–2 m high and subshrubs less than 1 m high.


title: Shrubland

text: There is a descriptive system widely adopted in Australia to describe different types of vegetation is based on structural characteristics based on plant life-form, plus the height and foliage cover of the tallest stratum or dominant species.


title: Shrubland

text: Similarly, shrubland is a category used to describe a type of biome plant group. In this context, shrublands are dense thickets of evergreen sclerophyll shrubs and small trees, called:


title: Shrubland

text: In some places shrubland is the mature vegetation type, and in other places the result of degradation of former forest or woodland by logging or overgrazing, or disturbance by major fires.


title: Shrubland

text: "Xeric" or "desert scrublands" occur in the world's deserts and xeric shrublands ecoregions, or in areas of fast-draining sandy soils in more humid regions. These scrublands are characterized by plants with adaptations to the dry climate, which include small leaves to limit water loss, thorns to protect them from grazing animals, succulent leaves or stems, storage organs to store water, and long taproots to reach groundwater.


title: Shrubland

text: "Mediterranean scrublands" occur naturally in the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biomes, located in the five Mediterranean climate regions of the world. Scrublands are most common near the seacoast, and have often adapted to the wind and salt air of the ocean. Low, soft-leaved scrublands around the Mediterranean Basin are known as "garrigue" in France, "phrygana" in Greece, "tomillares" in Spain, and "batha" in Israel. Northern coastal scrub and coastal sage scrub occur along the California coast, strandveld in the Western Cape of South Africa, coastal matorral in central Chile, and sand-heath and kwongan in Southwest Australia.


title: Shrubland

text: "Interior scrublands" occur naturally in semi-arid areas where soils are nutrient-poor, such as on the matas of Portugal which are underlain by Cambrian and Silurian schists. Florida scrub is another example of interior scrublands.


title: Shrubland

text: Some vegetation types are formed of "dwarf-shrubs": low-growing or creeping shrubs. These include the maquis and garrigues of Mediterranean climates, and the acid-loving dwarf shrubs of heathland and moorland.


title: SlideShare

text: SlideShare is an American hosting service, now owned by Scribd, for professional content including presentations, infographics, documents, and videos. Users can upload files privately or publicly in PowerPoint, Word, PDF, or OpenDocument format. Content can then be viewed on the site itself, on mobile devices or embedded on other sites. SlideShare also provides users the ability to rate, comment on, and share the uploaded content. Launched on October 4, 2006, the service positioned itself to be similar to YouTube, but for presentations. The company was acquired by LinkedIn in 2012, and then by Scribd in 2020.


title: SlideShare

text: In 2018, it was estimated that the website gets an estimated 80 million unique visitors a month. SlideShare's biggest competitors include Zoho.com, Issuu and edocr.


title: SlideShare

text: SlideShare was officially launched on October 4, 2006. Rashmi Sinha, the CEO and co-founder of SlideShare was named amongst the world's Top 10 Women Influencers in Web 2.0 by FastCompany. Jonathan Boutelle was the CTO of SlideShare and came up with the initial idea behind the website. He wrote the first version of the site.


title: SlideShare

text: The website was originally meant to be used for businesses to share slides, but it expanded to become a host of many slides that are uploaded merely to entertain.


title: SlideShare

text: On May 3, 2012, SlideShare announced that it was to be acquired by LinkedIn. It is reported that the deal was $118.75 million.


title: SlideShare

text: On August 11, 2020, it was reported that Scribd, Inc. acquired Slideshare from LinkedIn for an undisclosed amount. Scribd took over the operations on September 24, 2020.


title: SlideShare

text: Slidecasts allowed users with uploaded PowerPoint, Keynote or PDF presentations to synchronize them to mp3 audio. The audio synchronization process could be started using the editor's "Edit slidecast" link.


title: SlideShare

text: On February 7, 2014, less than a year after its acquisition by LinkedIn Corporation, Slideshare announced that Slidecast will be shut down on April 30, 2014.


title: SlideShare

text: In February 2011 SlideShare added a feature called Zipcasts. A Zipcast was a social web conferencing system that allows presenters to broadcast an audio/video feed while driving the presentation through the Internet. Zipcasts also allowed users to communicate during the presentation via an inbuilt chat function.


title: Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back—Evolution

text: Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back—Evolution is a 2019 Japanese computer-animated film directed by Kunihiko Yuyama and Motonori Sakakibara. The film is the 22nd installment in the "Pokémon" film series and a CGI remake of the . The film was animated by OLM, OLM Digital, and Sprite Animation Studios. At the same time, the events of the CGI remake film take place during the first season of "".


title: Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back—Evolution

text: It was released on July 12, 2019 in Japan and then it was released on Netflix worldwide on February 27, 2020.


title: Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back—Evolution

text: Scientist Dr. Fuji is hired by Giovanni, leader of Team Rocket, to utilize his expertise in cloning in order to create a living weapon based on an eyelash from legendary Pokémon Mew. Soon after the weapon is created, it gains sentience and is named Mewtwo.


title: Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back—Evolution

text: Several years later, Mewtwo has fully awakened from a long slumber in a laboratory on New Island, and learns of his origin as Mew's clone from Dr. Fuji. Infuriated that Fuji and his colleagues see him as nothing more than an experiment, he unleashes his psychic powers and destroys the laboratory, killing Fuji and the rest of the scientists. Giovanni, witnessing the carnage afar, approaches and convinces Mewtwo to work with him to hone his powers. However, after Mewtwo learns of his purpose to be a weapon for Giovanni's benefit, he escapes back to New Island where he plots his revenge against humanity.


title: Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back—Evolution

text: After Mewtwo rebuilds the laboratory and establishes a base there, he invites several trainers with hologram messages to battle the world's greatest Pokémon trainer at New Island. Ash, Misty, and Brock receive a message and accept the invitation, but when they arrive at the port city, Old Shore Wharf, Mewtwo creates a storm, causing the boats on the wharf to be closed off for safety. As a result, Ash's group are picked up by Team Rocket disguised as captains on a Lapras-shaped sailboat. After the storm sinks their vessel in the middle of the ocean, Ash and his friends use their Pokémon instead to reach New Island.


title: Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back—Evolution

text: Escorted into the island's palace by the woman who appeared on the hologram, Ash and the other trainers who were able to reach the island encounter Mewtwo. The woman is revealed to be a brainwashed Nurse Joy after she is released from Mewtwo's mind control. Mewtwo challenges the trainers using cloned Pokémon. Meanwhile, Team Rocket also reaches New Island and explores its inner sanctum with a Mew innocuously following them. After Mewtwo's clones effortlessly defeat the challengers' Pokémon, he confiscates them and expands his clone army. Ash chases after his captured Pikachu down the cloning lab, where Team Rocket's Meowth is also cloned. Ash destroys the cloning machine, frees the captured Pokémon, and leads them to confront Mewtwo and his clones. Mew then reveals itself and Mewtwo challenges it in order to prove his superiority.


title: Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back—Evolution

text: All of the Pokémon originals battle their clones save for a defiant Pikachu and Meowth, who makes peace with his own clone after realizing the senselessness of their fighting. Horrified at the pain and anguish felt on both sides of the battle, Ash puts himself in between a psychic blast caused by Mewtwo and Mew's fighting, leading to Ash to become stone. Pikachu tries to revive Ash with its electricity but fails. However, the tears of the Pokémon are able to heal and revive Ash. Moved by Ash's sacrifice, Mewtwo realizes that he should not have to be judged by his origins but rather his choices in life. Departing with Mew and the clones, Mewtwo turns back time to just before the trainers leave Old Shore Wharf, and erases everyone's memories of the event.


title: Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back—Evolution

text: Back in Old Shore Wharf, the now-restored Nurse Joy has returned to reopen the Pokémon Center to shelter the trainers. The storm outside clears up, Ash spots Mew flying through the clouds and tells his friends of how he saw another legendary Pokémon the day he left Pallet Town. Meanwhile, Team Rocket find themselves stranded on New Island but enjoy their time there.


title: Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back—Evolution

text: Since the film is a near shot-for-shot remake of , with minimal changes in the script, The Pokémon Company had to obtain the rights to that script from the estate of Takeshi Shudo, who had written the screenplay for the original film. According to film director Kunihiko Yuyama, the production staff chose to animate the film using 3D graphics to portray a "different dimension of the Pokémon world" that would normally be difficult to carry out through other methods of animation. Though the film was primarily based on the "Kanzenban" or "Complete" version of the original film, a scene featuring a young Mewtwo growing up with clone companions that eventually passed away was not adapted for the remake but acknowledged during the film's marketing cycle.


title: Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back—Evolution

text: The film was publicly announced on December 14, 2018. Despite Unshō Ishizuka's death on August 13, 2018, the staff confirmed that his narration work was featured in the film.


title: Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back—Evolution

text: For the film's end credits, the English song, "Keep Evolving", is performed by Haven Paschall (who voiced Serena in the "Pokémon XY" and "XYZ" series as well as Risa in "") and the Sad Truth and composed and produced by Ed Goldfarb, who composed the score for the international version of the anime series; for the opening, a remake of the Billy Crawford version of the English theme song from the first film, itself a remix of the original theme song from the "" season originally composed by John Loeffler and John Siegler, titled "Pokémon Theme (Mewtwo Mix)", is performed by Ben Dixon and the Sad Truth and arranged by Ed Goldfarb.


title: Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back—Evolution

text: In the Japanese version, the opening and ending themes are the same as those from the first film, and respectively, with the former being a 2019 remaster of the original and the latter being a new arrangement.


title: Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back—Evolution

text: The film was released on July 12, 2019, by Toho in Japan. A special Mewtwo (for use only in ) was distributed in Japan from April 12 to September 30 for purchasers of premium advance tickets. The film had its world premiere at Anime Expo 2019 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.


title: Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back—Evolution

text: The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray in Japan on December 18, 2019, and in North America on November 17, 2020.


title: Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back—Evolution

text: On January 21, 2020, The Pokémon Company International announced that the film would be released worldwide (except for South Korea) as a Netflix Original Movie on Pokémon Day – February 27, 2020. This is the first "Pokémon" film to premiere on a streaming platform rather than premiere in theatres or on television.


title: Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back—Evolution

text: The film holds an approval rating of on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes based on reviews, with an average rating of .


title: Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back—Evolution

text: Writing for the "Los Angeles Times", Charles Solomon criticized the film's animation, saying: "Ash and his friends Brock and Misty have the disturbing, plastic look of badly rendered skin", and added: "the cartoony characters look out of place amid the hyper-real water, lightning, explosions and other special effects." He concluded that the film "feels like poké-business as usual."


title: Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back—Evolution

text: Paul Asay of "Plugged In" wrote: "For some, "Mewtwo Strikes Back: Evolution" will feel extraordinarily nostalgic. Others (read: non-fan parents) will likely be thinking... Meh." Brian Costello of Common Sense Media gave the film a score of 3 out of 5 stars, saying: "Whether or not viewers, and Pokémon fans in particular, enjoy this movie is inevitably dependent on how much they like the change to 3D computer animation."


title: Charles Coburn

text: Charles Douville Coburn (June 19, 1877 – August 30, 1961) was an American actor and theatrical producer. He was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award three times – in "The Devil and Miss Jones" (1941), "The More the Merrier" (1943), and "The Green Years" (1946) – winning for his performance in "The More the Merrier". He was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960 for his contribution to the film industry.


title: Charles Coburn

text: Coburn was born in Macon, Georgia, the son of Scotch-Irish Americans Emma Louise Sprigman (May 11, 1838 Springfield, Ohio – November 12, 1896 Savannah, Georgia) and Moses Douville Coburn (April 27, 1834 Savannah – December 27, 1902 Savannah). Growing up in Savannah, he started out at age 14 doing odd jobs at the local Savannah Theater, handing out programs, ushering, or being the doorman. By age 17 or 18, he was the theater manager. He later became an actor, making his debut on Broadway in 1901. Coburn formed an acting company with actress Ivah Wills in 1905. They married in 1906. In addition to managing the company, the couple performed frequently on Broadway.


title: Charles Coburn

text: After his wife's death in 1937, Coburn relocated to Los Angeles, California and began film work. He won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as a retired millionaire playing Cupid in "The More the Merrier" in 1943. He was also nominated for "The Devil and Miss Jones" in 1941 and "The Green Years" in 1946. Other notable film credits include "Of Human Hearts" (1938), "The Lady Eve" (1941), "Kings Row" (1942), "The Constant Nymph" (1943), "Heaven Can Wait" (1943), "Wilson" (1944), "Impact" (1949), "The Paradine Case" (1947), "Everybody Does It" (1950), "Has Anybody Seen My Gal?" (1952), "Monkey Business" (1952), "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" (1953), and "John Paul Jones" (1959). He usually played comedic parts, but his roles in "Kings Row" and "Wilson" showed his dramatic versatility.


title: Charles Coburn

text: For his contributions to motion pictures, in 1960, Coburn was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6268 Hollywood Boulevard.


title: Charles Coburn

text: In the 1940s, Coburn served as vice-president of the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals, a group opposed to leftist infiltration and proselytization in Hollywood during the Cold War. Born and raised in the southern state of Georgia, Coburn was a member of the White Citizens' Councils, a white supremacist group which opposed racial integration.


title: Charles Coburn

text: Coburn married Ivah Wills (born August 19, 1878) on January 29, 1906, in Atlanta, Georgia. They had six children. Ivah died on December 3, 1937, in New York City of congestive heart failure, aged 59. The 82 year-old Coburn married Winifred Natzka on June 30, 1959, in Los Angeles. She was the widow of the New Zealand bass opera singer Oscar Natzka. They had one child, a daughter.


title: Charles Coburn

text: In the 1940s, Coburn made his home at the National Arts Club in New York City. His late wife's mother lived there with him.


title: Charles Coburn

text: Coburn died of a heart attack on August 30, 1961, at age 84 in New York City. Winifred moved to New Zealand.


title: TransUnion

text: TransUnion is an American consumer credit reporting agency. TransUnion collects and aggregates information on over one billion individual consumers in over thirty countries including "200 million files profiling nearly every credit-active consumer in the United States". Its customers include over 65,000 businesses. Based in Chicago, Illinois, TransUnion's 2014 revenue was US$1.3 billion. It is the smallest of the three largest credit agencies, along with Experian and Equifax (known as the "Big Three").


title: TransUnion

text: TransUnion also markets credit reports and other credit and fraud-protection products directly to consumers. Like all credit reporting agencies, the company is required by U.S. law to provide consumers with one free credit report every year.


title: TransUnion

text: Additionally a growing segment of Transunion's business is its business offerings that use advanced big data, particularly its deep AI-TLOxp product.


title: TransUnion

text: TransUnion was originally formed in 1968 as a holding company for Union Tank Car Company, making TransUnion a descendant of Standard Oil through Union Tank Car Company. The following year, it acquired the Credit Bureau of Cook County, which possessed and maintained 3.6 million credit accounts. In 1981, a Chicago-based holding company, The Marmon Group, acquired TransUnion for approximately $688 million.


title: TransUnion

text: In 2010, Goldman Sachs Capital Partners and Advent International acquired it from Madison Dearborn Partners In 2014, TransUnion acquired Hank Asher's data company TLO. On June 25, 2015, TransUnion became a publicly traded company for the first time, trading under the symbol TRU.


title: TransUnion

text: TransUnion eventually began to offer products and services for both businesses and consumers. For businesses, TransUnion updated its traditional credit score offering to include trended data that helps predict consumer repayment and debt behavior. This product, referred to as CreditVision, launched in October 2013.


title: TransUnion

text: Its SmartMove™ service facilitates credit and background checks for landlords. The service also provides credit and background checks for partner companies, such as RentSpree.


title: TransUnion

text: In September 2013, the company acquired eScan Data Systems of Austin, Texas, to provide post-service eligibility determination support to hospitals and healthcare systems. The technology was integrated into TransUnion's ClearIQ platform, which tracks patients demographic and insurance related information to support benefit verification.


title: TransUnion

text: In November 2013, TransUnion acquired TLO LLC, a company that leverages data in support of its investigative and risk management tools. Its TLOxp technology aggregates data sets and uses a proprietary algorithm to uncover relationships between data.


title: TransUnion

text: In 2014, a TransUnion analysis found that reporting rental payment information to credit bureaus can positively affect credit scores. As a result, TransUnion initiated a service called ResidentCredit, making it easy for property owners to report data about their tenants on a monthly basis. These reports include the amount each tenant pays, the timeliness of their last payment, and any remaining balance the tenant currently owes. As a result, some companies have started reporting rent payment information to TransUnion.


title: TransUnion

text: In 2015, TransUnion acquired Trustev, a digital verification company specializing in online fraud for $21 million, minus debts.


title: TransUnion

text: In 2017, TransUnion acquired FactorTrust, a consumer reporting agency specializing in alternative credit data.


title: TransUnion

text: In mid-April 2018, TransUnion announced it intended to buy UK-based CallCredit Information Group for $1.4 billion, subject to regulatory approval.


title: TransUnion

text: In 2003, Judy Thomas of Klamath Falls, Oregon, was awarded $5.3 million in a successful lawsuit against TransUnion. The award was made on the grounds that it took her six years to get TransUnion to remove incorrect information in her credit report.


title: TransUnion

text: In 2006, after spending two years trying to correct erroneous credit information that resulted from being a victim of identity theft, a fraud victim named Sloan filed suit against all three of the US's largest credit agencies. TransUnion and Experian settled out of court for an undisclosed amount. In Sloan v. Equifax, a jury awarded Sloan $351,000. "She wrote letters. She called them. They saw the problem. They just didn't fix it," said her attorney, A. Hugo Blankingship III.


title: TransUnion

text: TransUnion has also been criticized for concealing charges. Many users complained of not being aware of a $17.95/month charge for holding a TransUnion account.


title: TransUnion

text: In March 2015, following a settlement with the New York Attorney-General, TransUnion, along with other credit reporting companies, Experian and Equifax, agreed to help consumers with errors and red flags on credit reports. Under the new settlement, credit-reporting firms are required to use trained employees to respond when a consumer flags a mistake on their file. These employees are responsible for communicating with the lender and resolving the dispute.


title: TransUnion

text: In January 2017, TransUnion was fined $5.5 million and ordered to pay $17.6 million in restitution, along with Equifax, by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). The federal agency fined the companies "for deceiving consumers about the usefulness and actual cost of credit scores they sold to consumers". The CFPB also said the companies "lured consumers into costly recurring payments for credit-related products with false promises". Credit bureaus had the most complaints of all companies filed with the CFPB by consumers in 2018, with 34% of all complaints directed at Transunion, Equifax, and Experian that year.


title: TransUnion

text: In June 2017, a California jury ruled against Transunion with a $60 million verdict in the largest Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) verdict in history.


title: TransUnion

text: The San Francisco federal court jury awarded $60 million in damages to consumers who were falsely reported on a government list of terrorists and other security threats. The plaintiffs' team of attorneys at Francis & Mailman, P.C. partnered with another California-based firm in the class action.


title: TransUnion

text: Following up on this, in April 2022, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) said TransUnion "incapable of operating its businesses lawfully".


title: TransUnion

text: On 13 October 2017, the website for TransUnion's Central American division was reported to have been redirecting visitors to websites that attempted drive-by downloads of malware disguised as Adobe Flash updates. The attack had been performed by hijacking third-party analytics JavaScript from Digital River brand FireClick.


title: TransUnion

text: On 17 March 2022, TransUnion South Africa disclosed that hackers breached one of their servers and allegedly stole data of 54 million customers, demanding a ransom to not release it, the group N4ughtysecTU claims responsibility.


title: The Source

text: The Source is an American hip hop and entertainment website, and a magazine that publishes annually or . It is the world's longest-running rap periodical, being founded as a newsletter in 1988 by Jonathan Shecter. David Mays was the magazine's co-founder.


title: The Source

text: The Record Report is a section in the publication in which the magazine's staff rates hip-hop albums. Ratings range from one to five mics, paralleling a typical five-star rating scale. An album that is rated at four-and-a-half or five mics is considered by "The Source" to be a superior hip hop album. Over the first ten years or so, the heralded five-mic rating only applied to albums that were universally lauded hip hop albums. A total of 45 albums have been awarded five mics; a complete, chronological list is below.


title: Ford Cyclone engine

text: The Cyclone engine, also branded Duratec, is Ford Motor Company's latest DOHC family of gasoline V6 engines introduced in 2006. The Cyclone succeeds Ford's previous V6 engine families, including the Canadian built Ford Essex engine introduced in 1981, the Ford Vulcan engine introduced in 1985, the original Duratec V6 introduced in 1993, and the Ford Cologne V6 engine, whose design dates back to 1962. The first version of the Cyclone engine, a 3.5 L V6, appeared in the 2007 Ford Edge and the Lincoln-badged luxury variant, the Lincoln MKX, as well as the Lincoln MKZ. Mazda badges its versions of the Cyclone MZI as it did with its versions of the "Duratec V6".


title: Ford Cyclone engine

text: Although Ford continues using the Duratec name, the Cyclone shares no components or design with the previous Duratec and was entirely new.


title: Ford Cyclone engine

text: Notable Cyclone features include a capacity for displacements ranging up to 4.0 L, DOHC 4-valve per cylinder heads, direct acting mechanical bucket (DAMB) camshaft tappets, variable cam timing (iVCT) on the intake camshafts, and twin-independent variable cam timing (Ti-VCT) on some later versions. Features such as Gasoline direct injection and turbocharging were considerations in the design phase and have been added to the engine as part of EcoBoost. The 3.5 L is ULEV-II compliant and is capable of meeting the PZEV requirement.


title: Ford Cyclone engine

text: The "Duratec 33" is a downsized version of Duratec 35 with both port and direct injection starting in 2018 model year for Ford F-150, serving as the new base engine.


title: Ford Cyclone engine

text: The "Duratec 35" displaces with a bore and stroke. Due to packaging differences in transverse (FWD) applications, the water pump is relocated to the valley behind the timing cover and is driven by the timing chain. The 3.5 L engine will fit into any engine bay the smaller Duratec 3.0 L will, and replaced it in some applications (notably the Ford Taurus) in the 2008 model year. Production began in 2006 for the Ford Edge, Lincoln MKX, and Lincoln MKZ.


title: Ford Cyclone engine

text: Official SAE certified engine output is and on 87 octane gas. This is a substantial upgrade in power from the Duratec 30 and bested all comparable 87 octane rated V6 engines at the time of its launch. For 2011, the 3.5 L received Ti-VCT, helping to boost output to and . The 3.5 L's highest output to date is . This version was used in the redesigned 2011 Ford Explorer.


title: Ford Cyclone engine

text: The engine is assembled at Lima Engine in Lima, Ohio, with expansion planned in Cleveland Engine Plant #1.


title: Ford Cyclone engine

text: It is a twin-turbocharged, gasoline direct injected (GTDI) version of the 3.5 L. This engine is used in the 2013-2019 Ford Explorer Sport, 2010-2019 Ford Taurus SHO, 2014-2019 Ford Flex Limited EcoBoost, 2010-2019 Lincoln MKT EcoBoost, and 2010-2016 Lincoln MKS, and is optional for both the 2014-2019 Ford Police Interceptor sedan and Ford Police Interceptor Utility, both of which are based on the Taurus and Explorer.


title: Ford Cyclone engine

text: The "Duratec 37" is a version of the Cyclone V6 intended to power heavier or premium vehicles. The 3.7 L's additional displacement comes from an increase in bore diameter to , stroke remains identical to the 3.5 L at . Ford Power Products sells this engine as the CSG-637 for industrial uses starting in mid-2015, which replaced the 4.2L Essex and is manufactured under license by Engine Distributors Inc.


title: Ford Cyclone engine

text: A Hiroshima, Japan assembled Mazda MZI 3.7 was installed in the 2008 Mazda CX-9 and was the first 3.7 L Cyclone V6 to see production. The first Ford application of the 3.7 L was the 2009 Lincoln MKS.


title: Ford Cyclone engine

text: A few days before the 2009 Los Angeles International Auto Show, Ford unveiled a new version of the 3.7 L for the 2011 Mustang, making it the first Duratec-badged V6 since the Lincoln LS to be used in a production rear-wheel drive car. Due to packaging differences in transverse applications, the water pump was relocated to the valley behind the timing cover and is driven by the timing chain. This version of the features Twin Independent Variable Cam Timing (Ti-VCT); delivers highway mileage in the Mustang, and was the first production engine to deliver in excess of "and" .


title: Ford Cyclone engine

text: Water pumps on transversely mounted 3.5L V6, 3.5L EcoBoost V6, and 3.7L V6 engines have a tendency to fail and potentially ruin the engine when they do. The water pumps on these engines are internally mounted and driven by the timing chain. As a result, when they fail, antifreeze is dumped directly into the crankcase; mixing with engine oil and potentially damaging the head gaskets and connecting rod bearings. Many of these water pump failures occur without warning and repairs often cost thousands of dollars as the engine needs to be disassembled or removed from the vehicle to access the water pump. In some cases, the engine will need to be replaced outright. A class action lawsuit was started against Ford as a result of this issue, but it was dismissed and no recall was given.


title: Ford Cyclone engine

text: All longitudinally mounted versions of the 3.3, 3.5, 3.5 EcoBoost, and 3.7 V6 use an external water pump.


title: Murders of Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman

text: Bibaa Henry (aged 46) and Nicole Smallman (aged 27) were two sisters who were stabbed to death by Danyal Hussein in Fryent Country Park, Kingsbury, north-west London, England, on 6 June 2020. The reporting and investigation of their killings provoked widespread discussion of women's safety, police misconduct and systemic racism. It also provoked discussion of the access to violent Satanist material available online, which was a motive of the killer.


text: The mother of the two victims Mina Smallman called on the Metropolitan Police Chief Cressida Dick to resign over the way the case was handled. Due to this and other controversies, Dick later agreed to resign.


text: Bibaa Henry lived in Wembley, north-west London, and was a social worker at Buckinghamshire Council described by her family as being "a passionate advocate for safeguarding vulnerable children and families". Nicole Smallman lived in Harrow, north-west London, and worked as a freelance photographer. They were the daughters of the Venerable Mina Smallman, the Church of England's first female archdeacon from a black and minority ethnic background. Their killings occurred whilst the UK was in lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The sisters' family reported them missing on 6 June 2020.


text: Henry, Smallman, and friends had been celebrating Henry's birthday by hosting a picnic in Fryent Country Park on the evening of 5 June 2020. In the early hours of Saturday 6 June 2022, the sisters were murdered. CCTV footage captured the sisters making their way to the birthday picnic, held locally due to COVID-19 lockdown restrictions in the United Kingdom. After guests had left the celebration, the two sisters remained in the park, as evidenced by photographs from a cell phone recovered at the scene; in some of the images, Henry and Smallman are seen playing with strings of lights. In the first 36 hours the police showed little interest in searching for the missing women. Once the women were found, officers of the Metropolitan Police searched the area for evidence.


text: 19-year-old Danyal Hussein of Guy Barnet Grove, Eltham, in south-east London, had drawn up a handwritten contract, signed in his own blood, in which he had pledged with a 'demon', Lucifuge Rofocale,<ref name="Guardian28/10/2021"></ref> to murder six women every six months in return for financial reward including winning the 'Mega Millions Super Jackpot'.


text: According to neighbours, Hussein's father had concerns about his son falling in with "the wrong crowd".


text: At the Old Bailey, Oliver Glasgow QC said "Why he chose [the sisters] or what it was about them that caught his attention is also unclear. But, once their friends had left, two of them were far more vulnerable: distracted by the fun they were having, eye-catching because of the lights they were playing with, and now on their own."


text: Hussein suffered a cut to his hand during his crimes. When he needed treatment for it the next day, he claimed he had been mugged. Investigators believed he would have committed more murders had it not been for the injury, which impeded his ability to hold objects. Around a month after the murders, a DNA sample was linked by police to Hussein's father, who had a past caution. For this reason, the Husseins' home was raided by police.


text: From October 2017 to May 2018, he was monitored by the Prevent strategy when at 15, he accessed far-right material on computers at Thomas Tallis School. Police searches of his devices after his arrest showed that he was still accessing far-right and Satanist material. Hussein is on the autistic spectrum.


text: Hussein was a viewer of videos by Utah-based Matthew Lawrence, also known as E. A. Koetting, a jailed member of the Satanist Order of Nine Angles. Lawrence's videos were subsequently removed from social media. Hussein was active on a Satanic forum led by Lawrence, alleging he was a 'psychic vampire' and asked for advice about demonic pacts. Hussein was active on that forum for two years and last logged in hours before his arrest. Lawrence advised that pacts should be entered to Lucifuge, signed in blood, brought to Lucifuge with only candle light, and organised for wealth; Hussein followed these instructions. In ten days following the murders, Hussein spent £162.88 on lottery tickets and bets but won nothing.


text: Danyal Hussein was arrested and charged with two counts of murder. He told police he had Asperger syndrome and memory problems and refused to answer questions. He pleaded not guilty at the Old Bailey on 11 March 2021. The trial began on 9 June 2021 at the Old Bailey. Prosecutor, Oliver Glasgow QC told the jury, "Given the weight of the evidence against him, only someone who actually believes that an agreement with a demon will work could refuse to accept any aspect of the case against him. (...) It is hard to imagine that anyone could do to another human being what this defendant did to Bibaa and Nicole; but to have planned it, to have prepared it and to have performed it with such ruthless selfishness is truly terrifying. He did not care what he had to do to get what he wanted, and these two women were nothing more than a means to a very disturbing end."


text: Hussein was convicted of both murders on 6 July 2021. In October 2021 Mrs Justice Whipple sentenced him to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 35 years. Whipple told Hussein, "You committed these vicious attacks. You did it to kill. You did it for money and a misguided pursuit of power. This was a calculated and deliberate course of conduct, planned and carried out with precision. Bizarre though the pact with the devil may appear to others, this was your belief system, your own commitment to the murder of innocent women."


text: In the month following the incident, two police officers, PC Deniz Jaffer, 48, and PC Jamie Lewis, 33, were charged with misconduct for sharing "inappropriate" photographs of the crime scene, causing distress to the family and general public. The officers had taken selfies next to the sisters' dead bodies. The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) launched an inquiry into the behaviour of the police officers. Images had been shared on a WhatsApp group and a further six officers were investigated for failing to either challenge or report this. The IPOC reported that: "The investigation has also uncovered further alleged misconduct breaches of the standards of professional behaviour for a small number of officers which include honesty and integrity, and equality and diversity". The two officers pleaded guilty to misconduct in public office. Lewis was dismissed from the police, while Jaffer had already resigned.


text: In December 2021, the two officers were each sentenced to two years and nine months in jail. Mina Smallman, mother of the murdered sisters said in a victim impact statement, "It made me think of the lynchings in the Deep South of USA where you would see smiling faces around a hanging dead body. Those police officers felt so safe, so untouchable that they felt they would take photographs with our murdered daughters. Those police officers dehumanised our children." Jaffer and Lewis had undermined trust in the police, an Old Bailey judge said when jailing them. Following investigation of Jaffer's phone, it was found that he had used racist language regarding a separate case involving the assault of South Asian men. In June 2022 three police officers who received the pictures without challenging them or reporting them each received written warnings but were allowed to keep their jobs. Former Met chief superintendent Del Babu said "If you have something as horrific as pictures of dead women taken, the individuals should be reported. It is more appropriate for them not to be in the police service. The fact they remain is worrying. It sends out the wrong message. It will only add to the heartache of the family. It does not reflect the seriousness of what they did."


text: Mina Smallman has since worked to raise awareness of the misconduct of the police and failures in the investigation of her daughters' deaths. She said that racism ensured that the coverage of these black women's deaths was different from similar instances of stranger killings of white women. Mina Smallman maintains the police did not care about the missing sisters before the bodies were found because one was "a black woman who lives on a council estate."


text: Mina Smallman spoke about Hussein after his conviction, saying that she would not spend her life hating him; she voiced concern that he would be further radicalised in prison.


text: The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) carried out a separate inquiry into how calls from worried relatives and friends were handled by the police. The level of service provided by the police force to the family was found to be "unacceptable". An apology was issued to the family . The IOPC stated that police logs were closed after a family member gave information about the sisters' possible whereabouts, but a communications supervisor recorded the information "inaccurately".<ref name=BBC28/10/2021>Wembley park killings: Danyal Hussein jailed for life for murdering sisters</ref>


text: Vigils were held to remember the victims. The vigil at Fryent Country Park on 3 August 2021 organised by Reclaim These Streets (the same group who organised the vigil for Sarah Everard), was attended by Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, Dawn Butler, David Lammy and other notable figures.


text: The family considered legal action over the police misconduct. Dame Cressida Dick of the Metropolitan Police said: "The Met is not free of discrimination, racism or bias. I have always acknowledged that and do now again"


text: Barry Gardiner MP of the local Brent North constituency told the "Today" programme that the Metropolitan Police "need to have a root and branch reform in the way in which it operates, the way in which it treats people". A local councillor for Brent who leads the borough's community safety also criticised the Met, telling the "Brent & Kilburn Times" that an apology is "no substitute for action."


text: In the year following their deaths were mentioned in coverage relating to the murders of other women in London such as Sarah Everard and Sabina Nessa. While each incident was different, they served to frame a wider picture of the tackling of violence against women in London and in the UK more widely.


text: In the foreword of the UK government's strategy for tackling violence against women and girls the Home Secretary Priti Patel said "these crimes are still far too prevalent and there are too many instances of victims and survivors being let down. The tragic cases of Sarah Everard, Julia James, Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman touched us all. But for every high-profile case, there are sadly many more. And the pandemic has brought new challenges and presented sick perpetrators with new opportunities as more people stayed at home and went online".


title: King of the Gypsies

text: The title King of the Gypsies has been claimed or given over the centuries to many different people. It is both culturally and geographically specific. It may be inherited, acquired by acclamation or action, or simply claimed. The extent of the power associated with the title varied; it might be limited to a small group in a specific place, or many people over large areas. In some cases the claim was clearly a public-relations exercise. As the term Gypsy is also used in many different ways, the "King of the Gypsies" may be someone with no connection with the Romani.


title: King of the Gypsies

text: It has also been suggested that in places where their crimes were prosecuted closely by local authorities the "King of the Gypsies" is an individual, usually of low standing, who places himself in the risky position of an ad hoc liaison between the Romani and the "gadje" (non-Romani). The arrest of such a "King" limited the criminal liability of the Romani.


title: King of the Gypsies

text: The Gypsy King is associated with mythical powers of being able to part water with his sword, a spade, and his head, after it had been cut off, according to tales collected in 1981 from the Romani people in Bulgaria.


title: King of the Gypsies

text: The Boswells were for centuries one of England's largest and most important Gypsy families. The Boswell clan were a large extended family of Travellers, and in old Nottinghamshire dialect the word "bos'll" was used as a term for Travellers and Romani in general. Hence, many claiming the title "King of the Gypsies" come from the Boswell family.


title: King of the Gypsies

text: "Alias king of the Gypsies", from the St Margaret's Westminster, was tried at the Old Bailey on 28 August 1700 for theft with violence and highway robbery. It was alleged he had robbed "one Rebecca Sellers, near the High way, . . . taking from her 3 Gold-rings, and 9 s. in Money" in January of that year. The Jury found him Guilty of theft, but not Robbery, as "It appeared that he juggled [tricked] her out of it." He was sentenced to Penal transportation.


title: King of the Gypsies

text: Is buried in Rossington, near Doncaster in Yorkshire. Langdale's "Topographical Dictionary of Yorkshire" (1822), says:


title: King of the Gypsies

text: "In the church yard, was a stone, the two ends of which are now remaining, where was interred the body of James Bosvill the King of the Gypsies, who died 30 January 1708. For a number of years, it was a custom of Gypsies from the south, to visit his tomb annually, and there perform some of their accustomed rites; one of which was to pour a flagon of ale upon the grave."


title: King of the Gypsies

text: This is similar to the ritual of "stalling the rogue" mentioned by Thomas Harman and in "The Beggars Bush" and by Bampfylde Moore Carew.


title: King of the Gypsies

text: A tradition was reported of annual visits to the grave of Charles Boswell near Doncaster for more than 100 years into the 1820s, including a rite of pouring a flagon of hot ale into the tomb. This may be same person. the grave is situated by the main door leading to the church, shaded by a dark oak tree. It is now covered in moss, but is still readable. The words "King Of The Gypsies" will lie there for ever more, whereas the mystery of the black cat is still unsolved. – information on the grave by A. Needham – P. Needham, of St Michaels church.


title: King of the Gypsies

text: Born c1735 in Wiltshire, buried at Loders, Dorset in January 1806, with his monument reading 'King of the Gypsies'. Robert is likely the father of Lucretia/Lucy, the wife of Josiah Smith. Lucretia died at Halton, Chester, however her burial took place in Beighton, Derbyshire for unknown reasons. Lucretia's grave bears in inscription 'Queen of the Gypsies' which has resulted in numerous folktales surrounding her life. In 1998, a pub was constructed nearby and was given the name 'The Gypsy Queen'.


title: King of the Gypsies

text: "King of the Gypsies" died in 1760 at the age of 90 and was buried at Ickleford near Hitchin, Hertfordshire at the church of St. Catherine, as were his wife and granddaughter.


title: King of the Gypsies

text: Edmund Mashiter a.k.a. "Old Honey", died in Bolton, Lancashire in 1811 aged 90. He was reported to have been "justly entitled the King of Beggars", having been on the road for 70 years. He was reported to have been the son of a schoolmaster, and well educated, but to have taken to the road by choice, and maintained a wandering life until he became bedridden.


title: King of the Gypsies

text: Louis Boswell was buried at Eastwood church, Southend-on-Sea in 1835. In the Burial Register he is described as a "Traveller aged 42" – "This man known as the King of the Gypsies was interred in the presence of a vast concourse of spectators".


title: King of the Gypsies

text: In the churchyard of St Mary's parish church, Calne, Wiltshire, a tomb commemorating Inverto Boswell who was buried on 8 February 1774, son of Henry Boswell King of the Gypsies. It is set in the exterior wall of the church.


title: King of the Gypsies

text: Was noted as "King of the Gypsies" upon his death, aged 60, in 1826 in Twyford, Leicestershire. His funeral on the 10th of February 1826 saw over 60 gypsies in attendance. The Manchester Times reported he had been elected as "King" in the first half of the 19th century and was accorded special burial rites, with the ceremony attended by traveller families from twelve camps. He was a well-known fiddler in the local area, often playing at wakes and celebrations and had a daughter, Beatta Smith, a renowned beauty whose portrait was displayed at Belvoir Castle.


title: King of the Gypsies

text: Taught the Romani language in the 1870s to Charles Godfrey Leland (1824–1903), the American folklorist and founder of the Gypsy Lore Society. Leland claimed Cooper was the King of the Gypsies in England.


title: King of the Gypsies

text: Was described as the King of the Gypsies, in an account of a Romani wedding at Baildon in Yorkshire in 1937 between his son Leon Petulengro/ Smith and Illeana Smith both of Colchester Essex. According to the caption of a photograph Xavier Petulengro cut the hands of the couple to mingle their blood during the ceremony. After their wedding the couple went north to Blackpool. During the war Leon was in the RAF and Ileana (Eileen) was a staff car driver for ICI. The marriage was dissolved in 1947 in Nottingham. Baildon was a famous fair and meeting place for Gypsies. Petulengro/ Smith was well known as a broadcaster on Gypsy subjects. His son Leon Petulengro/ Smith wrote for the "Woman's Own" magazine.


title: King of the Gypsies

text: Born in Orpington, Kent in 1812 and was known as the "King of the Kentish Gypsies". Lived in Folkestone, Kent and was a boxer and scissor-grinder.


title: King of the Gypsies

text: Louis Welch of Darlington was described by British media as the "King of the Gypsies", a title given to the best bare-knuckled boxer in the Romanichal; mainly from the UK and France community, following an alleged attack by six knife-wielding men, possibly from a rival band of travellers, in Cumbria. He refused to give evidence against his attackers, saying it was "against the travellers' code of honour", and a retrial was ordered after the jury failed to reach a verdict.


title: King of the Gypsies

text: The short book "Martin Markall, Beadle of the Bridewell" was published in London in 1610. The author is given as "S.R.", who is usually identified as Samuel Rid the author of "The Art of Jugling or Legerdemaine", a later book of rogue literature promised in Martin Markall. The book is of dubious veracity, and large sections are taken from the works of Thomas Dekker, although Frank Aydelotte, who dates the book to 1608, calls it mostly original. It includes what purports to be a list of the leaders of "the regiment of rogues", which echoed the genealogies of prominent families. Few had anything to do with Gypsies, but they are indicative of the context in which some of the Kings of the Gypsies were identified.


title: King of the Gypsies

text: Both soldiers who had served in France. Bluebeard was captured and executed shortly after being made "their captain". Roberts then gathered about 100 "rakehells and vagabonds" in Kent who were joined by 400 "masterless men". Together they joined Jack Cade and entered Southwark. After the end of Cade's rebellion Roberts took to the woods with a small group living by theft, according to set rules of their own. After a year living like this these "Roberdsmen" dispersed throughout England, vowing to meet every three years, and joining other "commotions and rebellions". Roberts also went "roving" and "kept his court" until he was killed in 1461.


title: King of the Gypsies

text: Was chosen by the remaining "Roberdsmen" at "their wonted place of meeting" "by general assent". He was "a wandering rogue", "much given to swearing, drunkenness and lechery . . . stout of stomach, audacious and fierce". He claimed "droit du seigneur", and ordained that all beggars spent their weekly earnings in full every Saturday night. Rid says that he fought with "300 tattered knaves" in the rebellion in the South West of England against Edward IV and was killed at the Battle of Tewkesbury (1471). Unlike Roberts, who may have been a real character, this Cowdiddle seems to have been a complete fiction.


title: King of the Gypsies

text: Not deterred, the remaining "Roberdsmen" "hie them to their rendezvous . . . and there, with the full consent of the whole company, they chose one Spising to be his successor". Spising is given no first name. He is credited with ordering that all begging wanderers be "stalled as a rogue" by "the Chief Commander then being", paying a fee in beer, though this was excused if his father and grandfather had been rogues. Spising joined the larger rebellion by Thomas Neville, the Bastard of Fauconberg. He led a band attacking Aldgate, and was nearly successful, until parts of his group were trapped by the fall of the portcullis. Spising is reputed to have ruled 11 years before being hanged for a murder in Wombourn, Staffordshire, having escaped the same fate earlier by seeking sanctuary in Westminster Abbey. There is a historical record of a Spising as leader of an Essex contingent of Neville's uprising, but he was executed after it, and his head exhibited on Aldgate.


title: King of the Gypsies

text: Was the next elected, an expert at cheating with loaded dice, and excelled in "all manner of vice". He repeated Cowdiddle's requirement for thieves and beggars to spend their ill-gotten gains and not save them. Rid says he ruled for 8 years before dying of "the [French] pox and Neapolitan scurf". Like Cowdiddle, Dick seems to have been wholly fictional.


title: King of the Gypsies

text: Laurence Crossbiter was the next elected leader, a serving man aged 50–60. His art was "crossbiting"; theft from the customers of whores. He is also reported to have died "his bowels . . . eaten out with the pox while he was yet alive". Rid described him as cowardly and slavish for failing to come to the aid of the rebel Perkin Warbeck.


title: King of the Gypsies

text: Was one of Warbeck's counsellors, "a noted knave". He was next "led to the wonted place of meeting, and there solemnly stalled a rogue and made their general". He is described as formerly having been a tailor in Taunton, Somerset "of proud and haughty disposition", and have "lived in this new government" until 1501. A Skelton was recorded by Sir Francis Bacon as a counsellor to Warbeck, but he says nothing of his activities after the rebellion.


title: King of the Gypsies

text: Was elected his successor "by the General Council". Cock Lorel was "the most notorious knave that ever lived" who ruled until 1533. He professed the trade of a tinker to cover his thefts. Rid says that his knaveries are recorded in an old manuscript kept as "Maunders’ Hall", giving the rogue community a similar structure of that of the trade guilds.


title: King of the Gypsies

text: Cock Lorel was the great mythical leader of Tudor rogues. His name means just that, "cock" being leader, and "lorel" or losel" meaning rascal. He first appears about 1500 in "Cock Lorel's Boat", and is mentioned in Robert Copland's "The Highway to the Spitalhouse" (1535). He is credited with approving John Awdesley's "The Fraternity of Vagabonds", (1561), in which he is given as the creator of the Twenty Five Orders of Knaves, reproduced in Thomas Harman's "Warning for Common Cursitors" and many other works of rogue literature. There is no record of any real individual on whom he was based.


title: King of the Gypsies

text: Cock Lorel is credited with having held a meeting with the leader of the Egyptians, Giles Hather, at their base at The Devils Arse Apeak in Derbyshire. Rid claims that at this meeting they devised a new and secret language thieves' cant, "to the end that their cozenings, knaveries, and villainies might not so easily be perceived and known".


title: King of the Gypsies

text: Became head of the regiment or fellowship of Egyptians in the north about 1528. These, Rid says, travelled in groups of more than a hundred men and women, with horses, their faces blacked, and practised legerdemain and fortune telling by palmistry, delighting the common people with their clothes.


title: King of the Gypsies

text: "the Queen of the Egypties" accompanied Giles Hather, according to Rid. These names were traditional; Hather is mentioned by Thomas Awdesley (1561). "Kit" and "Callot" as names can be traced back to Piers Plowman. Although Tudor government, both local and national, took a close interest in the Egyptians there is no record of the names in their records.


title: King of the Gypsies

text: He was named as voivode of the "Pharaoh's People" in 1496. He seems to have led a group of metalworkers, as he was supplying the Bishop of Pécs with cannonballs. He was almost certainly the same person granted privileges by the King of Poland and Lithuania in 1501, who also recognised the privileges of Wasili as leader of the "Cyhany."


title: King of the Gypsies

text: This "King of the Gypsies" is suggested as a possible model for "A Grotesque Head" of the sketches of human physiognomy by Leonardo da Vinci, dated to (c.1503-07). Giorgio Vasari reported that Leonardo had done a drawing of "the Gypsy Captain Scaramuccia" which Vasari possessed, but it is not known what happened to it.


title: King of the Gypsies

text: In 1990, while most of the family was serving prison time, Polykarp's grandson Martin Erik Karoli proclaimed himself "King of One Million Gypsies", claiming to be slated for a hundreds of years old crowning ceremony in Central Europe. After Polykarp's death in 2001, his two sons publicly rivalled for the title "King of All Gypsies in The World", estimating 47.8 million subjects throughout the world and citing various ancient ceremonies and royal registries.


title: King of the Gypsies

text: Was conferred the title "King of the Gypsies" by the Polish Royal Chancery in 1652, after the death of Janczy who had previously served as the head of the Roma. Later Kings of the Gypsies seem to have been appointed from the aristocracy.


title: King of the Gypsies

text: In the Interwar Period the Kwiek family became almost a "royal dynasty" of the Roma of Poland with some recognition by local police and government officials. One member of the dynasty, Janusz Kwiek, was formally recognised by the Archbishop of Warsaw in 1937 and was subsequently crowned as Janos I in the National Army Stadium before thousands of people, with several European heads of state invited. He announced his intention to petition Benito Mussolini for land for a Romani settlement in East Africa, a plan that failed because of Mussolini's alliance with Nazi Germany, which recommended that the Romani population be eliminated.


title: King of the Gypsies

text: Florin Cioabă acquired the title "King of the Roma Everywhere" in 1997 from his father Ioan Cioabă who had claimed the title in 1992. Reports in 2003 that Cioabă, a Pentecostal Minister, had married off his own daughter at the age of 12 (or 14) caused uproar in the western media. The UN Economic and Social Council visited him in 1999 when preparing a report on Racism and Intolerance and described him as devoting himself to economic activity to support community projects, and exerting "moral authority" and having "some influence" as a councillor.


title: King of the Gypsies

text: He died on 18 August 2013 after suffering a heart attack while on holiday in Antalya, Turkey. He was succeeded as King by his son Dorin Cioabă.


title: King of the Gypsies

text: After his father, Florin Cioabă, passed away in 2013, Dorin Cioabă took on the role of "King of Roma Everywhere". He has been trying ever since to solve one of the recurring issues with Gypsy culture, children getting married at young ages, as he was himself a subject of this practice.


title: King of the Gypsies

text: Johnnie Faa of Dunbar was leader of the 'Egyptians', or Gypsies, in Scotland. Faa was granted a letter under the Privy Seal from King James V in February 1540, which was renewed in 1553. It was addressed to "oure louit Johnne Faw, lord and erle of Litill Egipt" establishing his authority over all Gypsies in Scotland and calling on all sheriffs in the country to assist him "in executione of justice upoun his company and folkis", who were to "conforme to the lawis of Egipt".


title: King of the Gypsies

text: He is resurrected in fiction in S. R. Crockett's "The Raiders" and in Philip Pullman's trilogy "His Dark Materials".


title: King of the Gypsies

text: Son and successor of Johnnie Faa, Johnne Wanne was granted Royal authority over all "Egyptians" in Scotland in May 1540.


title: King of the Gypsies

text: Patrick was the first recorded Gypsy King at Kirk Yetholm. Along with seven other Gypsies he was "sentenced to be transported to the Queen's American for life."


title: King of the Gypsies

text: King William I, known as 'Gleed Nickit Wull' because of a twist in the shape of his throat, was born about 1700, and died at Coldingham in 1784, aged around 84. He fathered 24 children by three wives. His death at Colingham is recounted by William Smith, the Baillie at Kelso, who states that "When old Will Faa was upwards of eighty years of age, he called on me in Kelso, in his way to Edinburgh, telling me that he was going to Edinburgh to see the laird... before he died," and also that after successfully completing this visit "he only got the length of Colingham, when he was taken ill and died." Will claimed to be descended from Johnnie Faa, Lord of Little Egypt.


title: King of the Gypsies

text: Will Faa, "King of the Gypsies", died in Kirk Yetholm on 9 October 1847, aged 96. He was the son of William Faa I. William Faa was an innkeeper (owned "The Queen") and footballer who lived at "The Gypsy Palace" off the Green, and entertained visitors there. The "Kelso Mail" carried his obituary entitled "Death of a Gypsy King", which said he was "always accounted a more respectable character than any of his tribe, and could boast of never having been in gaol during his life." His house continued to be a tourist attraction, and there was reportedly an "Old Palace" on the other side of Kirk Yetholm Green. William died without issue in 1847 when the 'Crown' passed to his sister Esther's husband Charles Blythe (1775-1861). Charles was an educated man who did much to live up to his role. On his death in 1861 there was a tussle between his many children for the right to be monarch. The role went to his daughter Esther Faa Blythe who reigned until 1883 when the gypsy culture was in serious decline. Following a gap of several years in 1898 one of her sons Charles Rutherford was persuaded to accept the office and a ceremonial Gypsy Coronation was held in 1898. By this stage the role was largely an attempt to boost tourism.


title: King of the Gypsies

text: Charles died in 1902 and the title has not been re-established. An Edinburgh housewife is now thought to be the present 'Queen'. A lancet and case belonging to William Faa II can be found in the collections of the National Museum Scotland.


title: King of the Gypsies

text: Charles Faa Blythe was a brother-in-law to William Faa II, and when he died without issue the title of King of the Gypsies was passed to Charles, husband of his sister, Esther. Charles was born in 1775 and died in 1861. He was crowned King, by the local blacksmith, George Gladstone, on 25 October 1847, aged at least 70 years. He was succeeded by his daughter, Esther Faa Blythe, who was born in the early years of the 1800s and died on 12 July 1883.


title: King of the Gypsies

text: Born around 1825, Charles Rutherford (known as Charles Faa Blythe II), was a son to Esther Faa Bythe, the Gypsy Queen. Between the death of Esther Faa Blyth in 1883 and the accession of Charles II in 1898, there was no Gypsy royalty crowned at Kirk Yetholm. His coronation ceremony was really a pageant, with all the locals dressing up for the benefit of the photographers. Many photographs of the occasion still exist.


title: King of the Gypsies

text: William (Billy) Marshall (1672-1792) died aged 120, lived in Minnigaff, Kirkcudbrightshire, Galloway, Scotland. He is buried in the graveyard at St Cuthbert's Church in Kirkcudbright.


title: King of the Gypsies

text: Who had lived in New York City, was claimed by many as King until his death in 1990. Tom Miller made a brief cameo in the movie "Angelo My Love" directed by Robert DuVall, a film showcasing life in Romani America in the 1970s.


title: King of the Gypsies

text: Known for being horse dealers, the Stanleys are Romanichal and arrived in the United States from England in 1857 on a ship called the SS Kangaroo. Those that settled in the Northeast had many "Queens" and "Kings". Phoebe Broadway Stanley (1859-1940) was married to Thomas Stanley and lived her later years in Natick, Massachusetts, where her colorful Vardo (Romani wagon) was spotted in her son's yard by a local antiques dealer, who purchased the wagon from the Stanleys and subsequently donated it to the Long Island Museum of American Art, History, and Carriages where it was restored and now resides.


title: King of the Gypsies

text: In 1953, Anaïs Nin underwent surgery for ovarian cancer in a Los Angeles hospital. In her diary, she mentions that "the King of the Gypsies was having surgery at the same time" and that approximately six hundred members of his tribe were camped in or near the hospital in accordance with their law: "no amount of hospital discipline would drive them away". She spoke with several members of the band, and identified them as Romani people.


title: King of the Gypsies

text: Abram Wood was the head of a family of Welsh Romani people in the 1700s. They were musicians, and spoke an old Romani dialect.


title: King of the Gypsies

text: From 2005 until his death in 2017, the Muslim Roma Kuştepeli Erdin, was the self-proclaimed King of all Romani people in Turkey. He lived in Kuştepe-Şişli in Istanbul.


title: King of the Gypsies

text: The heavyweight champion boxer Tyson Fury is nicknamed ‘the Gypsy King’. He is related to Bartley Gorman, who claimed the title of ‘King of the Gypsies’ on the basis of his prowess at bare knuckle boxing.


title: King of the Gypsies

text: The classic daytime gothic television series "Dark Shadows" featured a fictional King of the Gypsies named Johnny Romano during the 1897 arc.


title: Control character

text: In computing and telecommunication, a control character or non-printing character (NPC) is a code point (a number) in a character set, that does not represent a written symbol. They are used as in-band signaling to cause effects other than the addition of a symbol to the text. All other characters are mainly printing, printable, or graphic characters, except perhaps for the "space" character (see ASCII printable characters).


title: Control character

text: The 1901 Murray code added the carriage return (CR) and line feed (LF), and other versions of the Baudot code included other control characters.


title: Control character

text: The bell character (BEL), which rang a bell to alert operators, was also an early teletype control character.


title: Control character

text: There were quite a few control characters defined (33 in ASCII, and the ECMA-48 standard adds 32 more). This was because early terminals had very primitive mechanical or electrical controls that made any kind of state-remembering API quite expensive to implement, thus a different code for each and every function looked like a requirement. It quickly became possible and inexpensive to interpret sequences of codes to perform a function, and device makers found a way to send hundreds of device instructions. Specifically, they used ASCII code 27 (escape), followed by a series of characters called a "control sequence" or "escape sequence". The mechanism was invented by Bob Bemer, the father of ASCII. For example, the sequence of code 27, followed by the printable characters <nowiki>"[2;10H"</nowiki>, would cause a Digital Equipment Corporation VT100 terminal to move its cursor to the 10th cell of the 2nd line of the screen. Several standards exist for these sequences, notably ANSI X3.64. But the number of non-standard variations in use is large, especially among printers, where technology has advanced far faster than any standards body can possibly keep up with.


title: Control character

text: All entries in the ASCII table below code 32 (technically the C0 control code set) are of this kind, including CR and LF used to separate lines of text. The code 127 (DEL) is also a control character. Extended ASCII sets defined by ISO 8859 added the codes 128 through 159 as control characters, this was primarily done so that if the high bit was stripped it would not change a printing character to a C0 control code, but there have been some assignments here, in particular NEL. This second set is called the C1 set.


title: Control character

text: These 65 control codes were carried over to Unicode. Unicode added more characters that could be considered controls, but it makes a distinction between these "Formatting characters" (such as the zero-width non-joiner), and the 65 control characters.


title: Control character

text: The Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code (EBCDIC) character set contains 65 control codes, including all of the ASCII control codes plus additional codes which are mostly used to control IBM peripherals.


title: Control character

text: Control characters may be described as doing something when the user inputs them, such as code 3 (End-of-Text character, ETX, codice_32) to interrupt the running process, or code 4 (End-of-Transmission character, EOT, codice_33), used to end text input or to exit a Unix shell. These uses usually have little to do with their use when they are in text being output, and on modern systems usually do not involve the transmission of the code number at all (instead the program gets the fact that the user is holding down the Ctrl key and pushing the key marked with a 'C').


title: Control character

text: In Unicode, "Control-characters" are U+0000—U+001F (C0 controls), U+007F (delete), and U+0080—U+009F (C1 controls). Their General Category is "Cc". Formatting codes are distinct, in General Category "Cf". The Cc control characters have no Name in Unicode, but are given labels such as "<control-001A>" instead.


title: Control character

text: There are a number of techniques to display non-printing characters, which may be illustrated with the bell character in ASCII encoding:


title: Control character

text: ASCII-based keyboards have a key labelled "Control", "Ctrl", or (rarely) "Cntl" which is used much like a shift key, being pressed in combination with another letter or symbol key. In one implementation, the control key generates the code 64 places below the code for the (generally) uppercase letter it is pressed in combination with (i.e., subtract 64 from ASCII code value in decimal of the (generally) uppercase letter). The other implementation is to take the ASCII code produced by the key and bitwise AND it with 31, forcing bits 6 and 7 to zero. For example, pressing "control" and the letter "g" or "G" (code 107 in octal or 71 in base 10, which is 01000111 in binary), produces the code 7 (Bell, 7 in base 10, or 00000111 in binary). The NULL character (code 0) is represented by Ctrl-@, "@" being the code immediately before "A" in the ASCII character set. For convenience, a lot of terminals accept Ctrl-Space as an alias for Ctrl-@. In either case, this produces one of the 32 ASCII control codes between 0 and 31. This approach is not able to represent the DEL character because of its value (code 127), but Ctrl-? is often used for this character, as subtracting 64 from a '?' gives −1, which if masked to 7 bits is 127.


title: Control character

text: When the control key is held down, letter keys produce the same control characters regardless of the state of the shift or caps lock keys. In other words, it does not matter whether the key would have produced an upper-case or a lower-case letter. The interpretation of the control key with the space, graphics character, and digit keys (ASCII codes 32 to 63) vary between systems. Some will produce the same character code as if the control key were not held down. Other systems translate these keys into control characters when the control key is held down. The interpretation of the control key with non-ASCII ("foreign") keys also varies between systems.